With the Lord's help, I'd like
to draw your attention once again to that passage of scripture
we read, the second chapter of the book of the Revelation, and
to particularly base our thoughts this evening from the last clause
of verse 25, where the Lord Jesus Christ says to the church at
Thyatira, hold fast till I come. The two verses, 24 and 25, seem
to me to run in together. I'm reliably told that the chapter
divisions and the verse divisions in our scriptures are not in
the original that they were put there by later hands at a later
time and the two verses read that 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
but the word of course already is there in italics and it's
not there in the original Greek and I think it's more likely
that there should be a full stop at the end of the word have and
then a new sentence beginning hold fast till I come It makes a little bit more sense
to separate the last clause into a separate sentence. Hold fast
till I come. These words were spoken then
by the Lord Jesus Christ to the minister, for that's what the
word angel means, and unto the angel of the church in Thyatira
write. These words were spoken to the minister of the church
at Thyatira. This is the book of the revelation
of Jesus Christ. We have to remember that it is
the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. The revelation has little
or nothing to do with the nation at the eastern end of the Mediterranean
Sea. It has little or nothing to do
with what's going on in Europe and what's going on between the
great political powers of the world today. It has to do with
one person. And we see that in the first
verse of the book of the Revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It is the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a speaking
forth to the apostle John as he was there in Patmos, the isle
of Patmos. It says in verse 9 of chapter
1, I, John, who am you also, your brother and companion in
tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and
for the testimony of Jesus Christ. He was there in exile, away from
his beloved people, away from his church, the church over which
he was elder, and he was there for the word of God and for the
testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells us that he was in
the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and he has this glorious vision
He has this sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees seven golden
candlesticks and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks
he sees one like unto the Son of Man. He sees the Lord Jesus
Christ. He sees Christ in some of his
glory he sees Christ in his position in the midst of his churches
and these are identified as the seven churches of Asia Minor
and John is instructed to write the things which thou hast seen,
this is verse 19 of chapter 1 and the things which are, and the
things which shall be hereafter." He has seen the Lord Jesus Christ. He's seen something of the beauty
of Christ. He's seen something of the glory
of Christ. And the description that he's
given us of the Lord Jesus Christ is something very similar to
the descriptions that are given of him in the Song of Solomon
and also in Psalm 45, which speaks about the glorious majesty of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so those are the things that
he has seen. And then he is to write the things
which are, and the things which are in these two chapters, Revelation
chapter 2 and 3, which are the epistles of the Lord Jesus Christ
to the seven churches, the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter, which is chapter 4 through to chapter
22, which is about the history of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the churches and in the world. We could say that chapter 1 deals
with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, chapters 2 and 3 deal
with the pastoral concern of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
here are seven churches two of which are commended, but the
other five churches are rebuked for various faults. Ephesus,
for example, it says, nevertheless I have some words against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love. Smyrna is commended then
Pergamos, I have a few things against thee and then Thyatira,
which we'll come back to in just a few moments, I have a few things
against thee Sardis, we are told, I have not found thy works perfect
before God Philadelphia is commended and And the Lord Jesus says to
them, Behold, I have set before thee an open door. And then Laodicea,
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. They were
churches that had problems. And as you look through the New
Testament, if you look at the epistles of the New Testament.
You'll find that Paul was writing to churches that had great problems. Galatia, for example, was a church
that had problems with the fundamental doctrine of salvation, of justification
by faith. There were those who had entered
the church who sought to bring the children, the Christians
that were members of that church, sought to bring them back to
the bondage of the law. whereas the child of God is delivered
from the bondage of the law. The law cannot bring salvation. The law cannot bring justification.
The law cannot bring sanctification. The law cannot bring glorification.
Indeed, Paul writes to the Corinthians in that first chapter of his
first epistle and tells us that all these things are in the Lord
Jesus Christ, but of him. Are ye in Christ Jesus, not the
law? We're not in the law, we're not
under the law, but we are in the Lord Jesus Christ who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. It is all in the Lord Jesus Christ
and indeed the Lord Jesus says to John I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last, and he is everything to do with our
salvation and the Christian life. It is all in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have everything in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so, as Paul writes to the
Galatians, they have this problem with the law. He writes to the
Corinthians, and they are a church that have problems with the exercise
of spiritual gifts and there is disorder in the church and
then in the second epistle Paul writes and reviews the church
because of gross immorality but notwithstanding the gross immorality,
notwithstanding the problems, they are regarded still as Christian
churches by the Lord the Spirit as he inspires the scriptures
of truth and as they are written and then compiled into the New
Testament. So, here is a church, Thyatira,
and it's got problems. And we're told what those problems
are. there are just two problems verse 20 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 that is spiritual fornication and to eat things
sacrificed and to idols eating things sacrificed and to idols
is is something that is repeated elsewhere in these epistles of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was a question that had
been dealt with by the Council of Jerusalem, which is recorded
in the 15th chapter of the Book of Acts, where the Apostles and
the messengers of the churches concluded that the only burden
that was to be put upon the believers, the Gentile believers, was that
they should abstain from eating things offered to idols. And the churches were notified
of that principle. well, here was one woman that
was in leadership in the congregation there she called herself a prophetess
and she was urging the believers there to eat things sacrificed
and to idols it's not a well-known fact but an awful lot of the
meat that is for sale in our supermarkets today the supermarkets
declined to tell us because I've been in touch with them by email
and I've asked them the question what products do you sell that
is halal meat? and halal meat is meat that is
killed by an Islamic mullah slit in the throat and allowed to
bleed to death while they're saying that Allah is great. And
the supermarkets, they prevaricate when they ask the question and
they will not come out openly to say that they sell halal meat. You have to be very rigid in
your questioning of what goes on today in the business world
as to what is done in the name of Allah. That's as an aside. And the other thing that this
woman, who the Lord Jesus Christ calls Jezebel, is that she is
seducing the people of God. It is a reference to Jezebel
of old. was the one who introduced the
worship of Baal into Israel, into the land of Israel, into
the Northern Kingdom. We're told that Jeroboam, the
son of Nebat, he was the one that caused Israel to sin. He took away the privilege of
the ten tribes in the Northern Kingdom to go to Jerusalem to
worship. And he set up calves Bethel and
Dan for the people to worship. And so he goes down in the record
of God that he was the one that caused Israel to sin. But there
was that link with the prophets Elijah, Elisha and others that
came from time to time to witness and to preach to the children
of Israel in the Northern Kingdom. But we're told concerning Ahab
that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Bethbeel, king
of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.
And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which
he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove, and Ahab
did not provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the
kings of Israel that were before him. And we're told in chapter
18 of 1 Kings that in the land of Israel there were 450 prophets
of Baal and there were 400 prophets of the groves, which ate, we
are told, at Jezebel's table. And so what we're being told
in this epistle of the Lord Jesus to Thyatira is that the pagan
religions have been brought in to the church. And this woman,
who is named by the Lord Jesus Christ as being Jezebel, in other
words, like Jezebel, she has called herself a prophetess and
she is seducing the servants of God in the church to commit
spiritual fornication. They were worshipping an amalgam
of Christianity and pagan religions, very much like the Church of
Rome today, very much like the Church of Rome. It's an amalgam
of paganism and Christianity, which the Lord abhors. And then he the Lord Jesus not
only rebukes the church for its practice, but he also rebukes
the church for its doctrine. But I say in verse 24, but unto
you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have
not this doctrine, this teaching, He's speaking to those that are
faithful, and the inference is that those that are not faithful
are following the doctrine that this woman is declaring in the
church. Now, we know that she was not
the pastor, not the elder, because the epistle is addressed unto
the angel of the church in Thyatira. and we are told that the seven
stars are the angels of the seven churches, or the seven ministers
of the seven churches. But she was obviously a woman
that had come in and had taken prominence and was taking leadership
and was teaching false doctrine. And the Lord Jesus He issues
his rebuke to the church there, issues a call to repentance,
and then he addresses those Christian believers that were faithful
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, I will put upon
you none other burden but that which ye have. Hold fast till
I come. First of all, we want to see
from this passage who it is that is addressing the church. Of
course, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. But as the Lord Jesus
Christ addresses the various churches in these two chapters,
he describes himself in different ways. To John, on the Isle of
Patmos, at the beginning of the vision that he had, he says,
I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And then
he goes on to say, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold,
I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. to the church at Ephesus, he
says that he is the one that holdeth the seven stars in his
right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
And he describes himself in different ways. And here in this epistle
to Thyatira, he describes himself in three different ways. First
of all, he says he is the Son of God. These things serve the
Son of God. And then secondly, he says that
he has eyes like unto a flame of fire. and in the third place
he says his feet are like fine brass he says that he is the
Son of God it is imperative that we be right upon the foundation
if we are wrong on the foundation then the whole superstructure
will collapse are we right upon the Lord Jesus Christ? he is
described here as the Son of God And what the Lord Jesus is
doing here is discounting and disregarding that paganism that
this woman who calls herself a prophetess has brought in. He's saying these things are
nothing. These things are wrong, these
things are error. Here is the truth. I am the Son
of God, the eternal Son of the eternal Father, begotten in eternity
past and continuing into eternity future as the second person of
the Holy Trinity. It is imperative that we are
right upon the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus and his disciples
came to Caesarea Philippi, they recorded in the 16th chapter
of Matthew's Gospel, the Lord Jesus asked the question, whom
do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And the answer that
came back was that people had got it wrong about the Lord Jesus
Christ. For they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and some and others Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. They were wrong in their opinion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord Jesus then asked
the disciples, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter, answering
on the behalf of the disciples, said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. He says you are the Son of the
living God, the eternal Son of the eternal Father. Thou art
the Christ, Thou art the Messiah, Thou art the Anointed One, Thou
art God's Anointed, the Messiah, the He who should come, the Promised
One. And he says that Thou art the
Son of God. that are the son of the living
God the poor people in the Church of Rome they keep Christ upon
a cross you go into their places of worship and you see the Lord
Jesus Christ the image of the Lord Jesus Christ nailed to a
cross what a travesty the Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the
dead all people can accept Christianity so long as it doesn't mention
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead These days, in
theologically liberal churches, they deny the physical resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has never been that they deny
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in our calendars,
that are printed year by year. There is that change from the
Lord's Day, Sunday, to Monday as being the first day of the
week. Why? Because people reject the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ on the first day of the week, and so Monday, the
first day of the working week, becomes the first day of the
week. they reject the resurrection
in our years. We are now in the year 2016 CE,
Common Era. not A.D., Anno Domini, the year
of our Lord. Why? Because the words A.D.,
the counting of the years in Anno Domini, the year of our
Lord, is proclaiming the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
thus, it's a heather bean. Remember how Paul was in Athens
when he saw that the city that was given over to idolatry. And in Acts chapter 17, while
Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. And the people were
quite happy to listen to him. They took him to the Areopagus,
and there he spoke. and they could go along with
what he said about the altar to the unknown God, whom therefore
ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. They could accept
that God made heaven and earth. They could accept that he was
neither worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything.
And they certainly could accept he hath made of one blood all
nations of men. that they should happily seek
the Lord. But when the Lord Jesus Christ
mentions the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, it says
that some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee again
of this matter. They turned away from him, and
thus it continues today. But the Lord Jesus said to the
church at Thyatira that they were to reject the teachings
of this prophetess, this Baal worship, and they were to cleave
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know how important it
is that we be sure upon the Lord Jesus Christ? Newton puts it
like this, what think ye of Christ is the test, to try both your
state and your scheme. You cannot be right in the rest
until you think rightly of him. As Jesus appears in your view,
as he is beloved or not, so God is disposed to you, and mercy
or wrath. is your Lord. What do you think
of Christ? What do you think of Christ, whose son is he? But
the second thing that the Lord Jesus says about himself is that
he has eyes like unto a flame of fire and what I take that to mean
is that his eyes, this sight is penetrating he sees into the
hidden recesses of our hearts. You know we're deceitful Jeremiah
tells us so in his prophecy the heart, he says, is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked and that deceit manifests
itself in the way that we conduct our lives we deceive others into
thinking that we are wonderful people and you know the problem
of the human heart is this that we can go along so far and even
deceive ourselves that we are not too bad that we're not such
great sinners that we don't have an evil heart and that we ourselves
are right with God and we deceive ourselves but says the psalmist,
I the Lord search the heart I search the heart that is there in Psalm
139 where the psalmist speaks about the Lord searching the
heart that we cannot get away from his presence we cannot move
outside his presence that has possessed my reins,
that has covered me from my mother's womb. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me, yea,
the darkness hideth not from thee. but the night shineth as
the day thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect
and in thy book all my members were written and so he goes on
and he speaks about knowing that searching of the Lord and he
says, search me, O God and know my heart try me and know my thought
and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the
way everlasting he has eyes like unto a flame of fire, he looks
into the heart, our hearts are open before him as an open book,
just as this Bible is open and I can read it, so the Lord looks
into my heart and oh, he sees the dreadful things that are
there, he sees the wickedness that is there and the psalmist
cries out, search me, O God and know my thoughts and lead me
in the way of everlasting life. Oh, has the Lord ever searched
your heart? Have you ever been brought to cry before God, Lord,
thou hast searched me, search me, O God and know my heart. So his eyes are like unto a flame
of fire and his feet are like fine brass. Again, brass it speaks
of strength brass is an alloy of copper and zinc and when the
two metals come together when they are melted together they
become a hard metal that is long lasting sculptors cast statues
of bronze and they last and they last and they last it speaks
of strength the Lord Jesus has strength He has strength to hold
his people. He has strength to uphold his
people. We have that picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ coming up from Bosworth, travelling, he says, in the greatness
of his strength. We have the picture in the Song
of Solomon of the beloved leaning upon her husband and there is
that picture of the spouse leaning on her beloved finding strength
from him. and in Deuteronomy we have the
words the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms no matter how deep we go into sin underneath
are the everlasting arms. Buoyed up we are by the everlasting
covenant, fenced in with Jehovah's shalls and wills, firm as the
everlasting hills, where we have the Lord Jesus Christ, oh if
it was left to us we would fall by the wayside we would fall
and perish but he holds his people he holds them as we have that
picture in John chapter 10 of the Good Shepherd he holds his
people in the hollowest hands and he says and none shall pluck
us therefrom what a mercy it is that the Lord holds his people's
hand he holds them and then there is the exhortation hold fast
hold fast I hold fast because I am held what a mercy it is
because if it was left to us we would never hold fast I'm
sure those of you who have had children you can remember days
when your children were becoming toddlers when they were learning
to walk and they would hold their hands up and you as a parent
would hold them by both hands and the child would take those
few tentative steps the child no doubt thought they were doing
very well for themselves they were walking along but the reality
of it was that they were held by the parents and that is the same in our spiritual
life remember the words of Robert Robinson in his hymn and he says,
prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
and then he goes on to say, here's my heart O take and seal it,
seal it from thy courts above here's the one who holds us he
does not say, in the previous book of the New Testament in
Jude in his doxology now unto him that is able to keep you
from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy he it is that keeps us from falling
we hold yes, but he it is that holds us and he holds us and
says Jude he presents us faultless presents us before his father's
throne And I love to imagine that picture that is described
in the Old Testament where words are put into the mouth of the
Lord Jesus Christ. on that final day when we're
all gathered into heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ is there
at the head of his church with all his people behind him and
I imagine the scene in my mind's eye as he steps to one side and
he waves his hand over his people and he says, I and the children
which thou hast given me, everyone, everyone, not one left behind. all those for whom Christ died,
every one of those for whom he shed his precious blood, every
one for whom the payment was made, and remember the words
of the top lady, and payment my God cannot twice demand, first
at my bleeding shirt, his hand, and then again at mine, every
one of those for whom the payment was made will be there, and they
will be presented now unto him that is able to keep you from
falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy presented at courts what a mercy to be
presented at the court of the King of Kings there for all eternity
to hold fast to be held by the Lord Jesus Christ hold fast till
I come well what is it that we hold fast? well first of all
we hold fast the form of sound words to Timothy 1 and verse
13 hold fast the form of a sound word which we are to be grounded
in the truth of the gospel if we're not grounded in the truth
of the gospel then we will wander and we will fall prey to all
kinds of errors this is what happened at Thyatira they were
not grounded in the truth although some were grounded in the truth
but others were not and so they suffered that woman Jezebel which
called herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants
and they took their eyes from off the Lord Jesus they didn't
hold fast to the form of sound words and you look all around
you in the professed church in the professed evangelical church
and they are not grounded in the form of sound words in the
18th century Christians learnt their doctrine from the hymn
book what do they learn from the chorus book today? just nothing
but ditties and nursery rhymes there is nothing quite like the
old hymn books like this like Gaspis and Gospel hymns and the
hymns that were born in the Evangelical awakening would be cast aside. And men and women who profess
Christ, they know nothing about doctrine. They know nothing about
the teaching of the gospel. So to hold fast the form of sound
words. And then Paul exhorts in Hebrews,
let us hold fast our profession. Again he says to the Ephesians
that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about by every wind of doctrine. you see it's dead leaves
that are tossed about by the winds in the autumn you see it
the wind gusts and the dead leaves fall off the tree and they're
carried hither and thither but the plant that has life it is
not tossed about by the wind it is not carried from pillar
to post it is firm it is grounded and so we are to be grounded
in the Lord Jesus Christ then Job goes on to say my righteousness
I hold fast we are to hold fast to that righteousness his righteousness? well Job of course knew that
he had no righteousness of his own he had spoken earlier in
that book that is written under his name He said, for I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon this earth. So it was not his own righteousness,
it was the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've
already referred to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30, that Christ is
made unto us wisdom and righteousness. He is our righteousness. Revelation
19 and verse 8 speaks about the saints being clothed in the righteousness
of the saints. And to her, that is the church,
was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Now the revised, authorised, or the New King James Version
of the Bible adds in the word acts. And it says, for the fine
linen is the righteous axe of the saints, which is a mistranslation
of the original Greek. It is the righteousness of saints,
which is the imputed righteousness that has been wrought by the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we're to hold fast our confidence. because if he that endureth to
the end shall be saved the top lady puts it like this I do like
the old hymns as you well know my name from the palm of his
hands eternity will not erase impressed on his heart it remains
in marks of indelible grace yes I to the end shall endure as
sure as the earnest is given more happy, but not more secure
than glorified spirits in heaven. Hold fast our confidence in Christ. And then the Lord Jesus says, hold fast till
I come. Faith is only temporary, it's
while we're here. But then there's a time coming
when we shall see the Lord Jesus Christ whom having not seen ye
love but then Peter goes on to say then full sight with joy
unspeakable and full of glory hold fast till I come and there
is that reminder that continual reminder that the Lord Jesus
Christ is coming Acts chapter 1, the angels spoke to the disciples. Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus shall so return
in like manner as ye have seen him go. He went into heaven,
and now he liveth to make intercession for his people. But there is
a day coming, a glorious day. when he will come again, as Paul
says to the Thessalonians, the trumpet of God shall sound and
the dead in Christ shall rise. And he describes the events of
that glorious day. And then he says, wherefore be
afraid of that day. No, he didn't. Wherefore, comfort
one another with these words. For how long? Till I come. Hold fast till he come. and then there is that promise
I will give him the morning star but the morning star of course
is the Lord Jesus Christ I will give myself, he says we see the
Lord Jesus Christ through a veil darkly we see and experience
something of him but in a darkly in a shaded manner if I may say
it in that way but there is a day coming when we're in the glory
of heaven, when we will see the Lord Jesus in all his fullness,
when we will see him in all his glory, when we will see him in
all his beauty, and we will worship him we will join with the four
and twenty elders and the other saints of earth that are there
in heaven and we will sing worthy is the Lamb that was slain and
so there is that final exhortation in verse 29 he that hath an ear
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches I would
say to you tonight those things that I've spoken tonight take
them home and get, as it were, your spiritual balance out and
put all those things that I have said in one side of the balance
and put the Word of God in the other side and if the Word of
God goes down and my part of what I said goes up disregard
those things that I said but if they balance then they're right bring everything
to the touchstone of Holy Scripture and examine that which you hear
hear that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith not
what Jeno says but what the Spirit saith not what man says but what
the Spirit says bring everything to the Word of God and try everything
by the Word of God Paul went to Thessalonica and he preached
the Word of God and their reaction was that they hated those things that he spoke about and they
beat him and they cast him out of the city and he came to Berea
and he says concerning the Bereans they were more noble than the
Thessalonians because they searched the scriptures daily to see if
these things were so. And it is up to us to search
the scriptures, hold fast that which thou hast, hold fast till
I come. Remain faithful, remain constant,
and God grant that we might each be brought to that position where
we indeed hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and his
blessing for his name's sake. God attend whilst I am singing,
the joy that from my presence springs, to spend one day with
thee on earth exceeds a thousand days of love. Number 370. The joy that from thy presence
springs. This redmond day with thee, O
Lamb, exceeds a thousand days of youth. God is our sun, he makes our
day. God is our shield, he guards
our way. From evil thoughts of hell and
sin, from foes without and foes within. All needful grace will God bestow,
And crown that grace with glory too. He gives us all things,
and withholds No real good from our bright soul. For O God, our King, whose sovereign
sway the glorious hope and devil's hearts thy presence
flee. Blessed is the man who trusts
in thee. The blessing of the Triune God,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost rest, remain and abide with each this
day and for evermore. Amen.