The Church at Thyatira

(Revelation 2:18-29) "And unto the angel of the church in thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and they works; and the last to be more than the first.  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.  And I will kill her children with death; and all the church shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.  But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.  And I will give him the morning star.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."  Thyatira was a very wealthy city.  It served as the main business/commercial route between Pergamos and Sardis.  It was located in the northern part of Lydia on the river Lycus.  Thyatira was perhaps most noted because it was an important trade and manufacturing city.  The city was known for its purple dye and dyed garments.  Lydia, whom was converted under Paul at Philippi, was from Thyatira and a seller of purple.  (Acts 16:13-15). In their pagan worship, they worshipped their chief deity Tyrimnos, also known as the Greek sun god Apollo. 

First of all, it should be noted in this letter, God commends Thyatira for several things, which was more than any of the three previous churches.  It was the first church of the seven to be noted for its love.  The primary problem of that church, according to the Lord was "toleratng the woman Jezebel".  Who was Jezebel?  In I Kings, Jezebel was the most wicked, devious woman in the Bible.  She was the wife of King Ahab.  Jezebel desired for Israel to worship Baal.  She brought Baalism into Israel.  She is accused by God of being a false prophetess.  She taught two things.  (1) She seduced God's people to commit fornications, acts of immorality, which is idolatry.  (2) Eating things sacrificed to idols.  A picture of the union of God's people with the world and Satan.  God said he had "given her space to repent, but she has no desire to repent of her immorality." 

This particular church age under Thyatira is called the pagan church or the corrupt church.  History refers to this period of time as "The Dark Ages."  The Thyatira church ages begins where the Pergamos church age ends and continues "marrying" into the world.  Although there had always been "heads" in the Church throughout, and during the time between 312 A.D. and 606 A.D. full blown "heads" and Church hierarchy continued to emerge.  In 607 A.D. trouble over the title of "Universal Bishop" assumed by the patriarch of Constantinople, John the Faster, flared up again, for John's successor, Cyriacus, also insisted on using this title.  Boniface III thereupon secured from Emperor Phocas a decree acknowledging that "the Sea of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches" and that the title of "Universal Bishop" should be reserved exclusively for the bishop of Rome.  This was nothing new.  Long ago the great lawgiver, Justinian, had legally recognized the primacy of the Roman pontiff.  But at this time the repetition was considered necessary to curb the titular pretensions of the Patriarch.  Therefore Boniface III, in 607 A.D. is recognized at the first "official" Universal Bishop, or Pope. 

The Roman Catholic Church continued throughout this time period to grow in numbers, power, and influence.  Tragically, it also continued to allow in many damaging false doctrines and practices and drifting away from scriptures as their sole source of truth and relying more heavily on "traditions" being their sole source of truth.  Examples of these traditions are: the worship of images and religious relics, use of "Holy Water" and prayer beeds, dead saints being canonized by the church, celibacy of a priesthood as a requirement, the doctrine of purgatory, the sale of "indulgences" to get people out of purgaotry, the Inquisition, transubstantiation....meaning the belief that the bread and wine taken in Comunion truly became the actual body and blood of our Lord Jesus.  Also, the Bible was being forbidden to the "laity" or people, the "Seven Sacraments" became required for salvation.  Church tradition was being made equal to the Word of God, and the Apocryphal books were added to the Bible as the cannon.

You can see over time as the church age progressed that Satan used different forces to pervert the Word of God and rely on the teachings of man instead of solely relying on scripture as the basis upon which to live.  This letter to Thyatira says not to tolerate or be led astray by false doctrines which are contradictory to God's Word.  We must base our doctrine solely upon the Word of God.  That's why it's crucial we be grounded in the Word. (II Timothy 3:16, 17)  We must know the truths found in the pages of God's word.  If we are sound in our doctrine, we won't be led astray by all these false doctrines being thrown at us.  At this very hour the world is being deceived by false doctrines and false teachers.  It's tragic.  We've had men that once mouted the pulpits to preach God's word that now have compromised and become heretics.  The church is in the mess she's in today because she's strayed from God's word and instead has incorporated the teachings of man as its doctrine.  We must come back to heeding the word of God.  We must follow and practice God's word .  Otherwise we'll be deceived.