Thought On This Chapter
REV 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy
patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried
them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
REV 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my
name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
REV 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
There is much we can learn from these letters to these
specific local churches. We can learn what pleases Christ and what does
not. First He lets them know that He knows the good things that they are
doing. He knows their works, their labor, and their patience. Those
are all commendable things and the Lord is pleased with those. How much
works, labor, and patience does you local church have?
Still in the good list He says, "how thou canst not
bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles,
and are not, and hast found them liars:" We are to judge people. We
need to not bear them which are evil. You cannot do that unless you look
at them close enough to tell that they are evil. They are also commended
for examining people who claimed to be apostles and were not. They
examined their teaching to tell if it was false. They found them to be
liars. God commended them for identifying false teachers. How is
your local church doing on identifying and marking the false teachers today?
There are plenty of them out there. You can find a multitude of them on
"Christian TV"
REV 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my
name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Still in the good list, they borne. That speaks
of carrying a load. And again patience is mentioned as well as laboring
for His names sake. And finally hast not fainted. Has your local
church fainted? Have they quit carrying the load? Have you lost
patience in waiting for results? God commends this church for not
fainting. We need to do the same. No matter the results, just keep
doing what is right. Keep running a bus route, keep knocking doors and
putting out tracks, keep teaching good solid Sunday school lessons. Keep
the preaching true to the word.
Even with all that, they were lacking something.
REV 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
The first love is Jesus. They were doing all this
good works without Him. Is your local church keeping close to Jesus?
Thought On This Chapter
REV 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till
I come.
Time and again in these letters to the 7 churches you
see what God thinks of false teachers. He shows His great displeasure of
those who follow these false doctrines and we see that God is not too happy with
those who allow it unopposed. They might not be following it themselves,
but they allow others in their midst who do. We are to not follow false
teachers and their wicked doctrines. We are also to stand up against them
and not allow them in our local assembly.
We are to do right, and there is quite a list of right
things that these churches were doing. We are to do all of those.
However, these letters teach us that only doing right is not enough to please
God. We also must oppose wrong teachers and their false doctrines.
We are to do both and we are to hold fast until Jesus comes. Not just for
a week or a month or a year, but continually. We can't get soft and take
the path of least resistance. There is a great need for more believers to
stand their ground for the truth and hold fast.
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King James Bible Main Index:
REV 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
REV 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
REV 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
REV 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
REV 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
REV 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
REV 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
REV 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
REV 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
REV 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
REV 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
REV 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
REV 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
REV 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
REV 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
REV 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
REV 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
REV 2:18 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;
REV 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
REV 2:20 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.
REV 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
REV 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
REV 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches 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.
REV 2:24 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.
REV 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
REV 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
REV 2:27 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.
REV 2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
REV 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
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General Information About the Book of Revelation.
This book teaches us that in the end good will be
victorious over evil. God will accomplish His established plan and
purpose.
When reading Revelation look for:
Christ among seven candlesticks.
Christ on the throne.
Christ in the midst of 144,000.
Christ on a white horse.
Christ on the Great White Throne.
Christ the light of the Holy City.
Christ the Bright and Morning Star.
General
information on the book of Revelation continued.
Thought on This Chapter
REV 2:20 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.
Jezebel was one of the wickedest women in
the Old Testament. She was a baal worshiper. It was a common thing
for a worshiper of baal to have bel incorporated somewhere in their name.
Jezebel led many into worshiping her false god. The woman referred to in
verse 20 is not the same woman but she has much in common with the Jezebel of
the Old Testament. This Jezebel was also a false teacher and someone who
seduced God's people to worship false gods. These two Jezebels had more in
common than just a name. They were both enemies of God working evil
against His people. God is rebuking the church at Thyatira because they
allowed this woman to teach her heresy. What this church should have done
is kick the false teacher out. It is bad enough for a person to be
involved in wickedness, but it is even worse to be actively dragging others into
it.
REV 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of
her fornication; and she repented not.
Here we see an example of God's
longsuffering and that He is truly not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance. Even with all of Jezebel's wicked teaching,
God did not bring judgment right away. He gave even Jezebel time to
repent. Some people wonder why judgment is not brought down immediately on some false
teacher who is teaching some wickedness and doing great damage to God's people.
The answer is that God wants them to repent so that He does not have to bring
judgment upon them. His waiting is a sign of His love and patience. God will
send people into the false teachers life to rebuke them and try to warn them
that they need to repent. Jezebel refused to repent. God is
longsuffering and does give space to repent. But there is an end to His
patience. The wheels of God's justice are sometimes slow, but they never
slip.
REV 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a
bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they
repent of their deeds.
REV 2:23 And I will kill her children with
death; and all the churches 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.
This is not talking about her physical
children. This is talking about her followers. Her spiritual
children so to speak. You see John use the same kind of language in the
book of 1st John. John called believers that he ministered to and wrote
the letter to his children.
God says that not only will Jezebel
receive judgment but her followers as well. The judgment will really be
their choice because they were given space to repent and warnings to repent but
they refused. They chose to receive judgment rather than forgiveness.
We have a merciful, loving, longsuffering,
God. But never forget He is also a Holy, righteous, and just God.
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