Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
***
ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

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Revelation 2:18-22
A message to the angel of the church in Thyatira!
By Brother Mike (3-20-19; 45 minutes)
   

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 ;
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 .
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 .
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not .
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 .


INTRODUCTION     

In this study, we will cover the first half of the message to the angel of the church in Thyatira, which is Revelation 2:18-22. Here, Christ says through the apostle John, These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass. Why does Christ her call Himself the Son of God and not the Son of Man? And, what does it mean that He has eyes like unto a flame of fire, and feet like fine brass? The answers to these questions and more, we will find in this study. 

Now, Christ begins by first listing the good things about the church in Thyatira. He says, 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. What, here, are the good works of the church in Thyatira? And, what is the definition of each particular good work? The answers to these questions and more, we will find in this study.  

Next, Christ lists the bad things about the church in Thyatira. He says, 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. Who does the woman Jezebel typify or picture? And, what does it spiritually mean that she is teaching and seducing Christ's servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols? The answers to these questions and more, we will find in this study.  

Now, finally, Christ not only tells us the good things and bad things about the church in Thyatira, but He now begins to tell us the consequences of the woman Jezebel's sin. He says, Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. What does it spiritually mean that Christ will cast Jezebel into a bed? And, who are those that committed adultery with her? And, what is the Great Tribulation that those who committed adultery with her were cast into? The answers to these questions and more, we will find in this study.

Now, may the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has eyes like unto a flame of fire, and feet like unto fine brass bless this study unto His people, amen.  


Revelation 2:18
:

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 ;  

In this verse, Christ first commands the apostle John to write unto the angel of the church in Thyatira. As in the case of all seven of the churches of Asia, the angel of the church is the body of Christ in the church, and the body of Christ in the church are all the elect. Therefore, when Christ commands John to write unto the angel of the church in Thyatira, it is a command to write unto the elect of the church in Thyatira. And, because the angel (elect) of the church in Thyatira is one of the seven angels (elect) of the churches of Asia, which seven angels (elect) symbolize the totality of angels (elect) that would arise during the Church Age (see Bible Number 7 ), it is also a message to elect throughout the Church Age.  

Now, Christ first says unto the elect or angel of the church in Thyatira, These things says the Son of God. These things, of course, refer to all that is about to be written, but why does Christ here emphasize that these things say the Son of God? In scripture, Christ is most often referred to as the son of man, so why does He here call Himself the Son of God? Well, the term son of man places emphasis upon His humanness, but the term Son of God places emphasis upon His Godness or deity. So, by saying, These things say the Son of God, Christ is emphasizing His Godness or deity. That is, the things about to be said about the church in Thyatira are not from man, but from God Himself, which places the utmost authority upon what is to be said about the church of Thyatira, and this immediately mandates for us to listen very carefully.   

Next, we are told that Christ, the Son of God who is about to say these things concerning the church in Thyatira, has eyes like unto a flame of fire. What does this mean that He has eyes like unto a flame of fire? We already answered this question back in Revelation 1:14 , but it means that Christ has eyes like unto judgment because a flame of fire is symbolic of judgment. And, that He has eyes like unto judgment means that He brings judgment upon everyone He sees. In short, Christ, the Son of God, is the judge. 

But, not only is Christ, the Son of God, judge over everyone, but we read that His feet are like fine brass? This is exactly what we found in Revelation 1:15 where we read,   

Re 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace . . .  

The idea that His feet are like fine brass is that, like fine brass that has been purified by fire, His feet have been purified by fire. And, since His feet symbolize His whole being as we learned back in Revelation 1:15 , we are being told that Christ's whole being has been purified by fire. But, by what fire has Christ's entire being been purified? Well, since fire is commonly known to be symbolic of judgment in the Bible, we are being told that Christ's whole being has been purified by judgment. Yet, when did Christ ever come under judgment? The only time that Christ ever came under judgment was on the cross. Therefore, His entire being must have been purified through His suffering on the cross. And, what was His entire being purified from? Well, the sins of the elect, of course, for He bore their sins in His own body by taking on their deserved punishment upon Himself, which was death, and after having paid the price for their sins, He rose from the dead, having been purified. Therefore, when we are told that His feet are like fine brass, it is telling us that He has been purified from the sins of the elect that He bore in His body on the cross through the resurrection from the dead.  


Revelation 2:19

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

Here, Christ lists the good things about the church in Thyatira. And, these things were not only the good things about the church of Thyatira in the 1st century AD, but they were good things about many churches in leading up to the end of the Church Age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988 as the church in Thyatira was a type of what would become of many churches at their latter end.  

Now, Christ first says to the elect of Thyatira and to the elect in many churches near the end of the Church Age, I know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your patience. Here, the word and in the sentence, I know your works, and charity ... can be translated as even so that the entire sentence now reads, I know your works, even charity, and service, and faith, and your patience. So, when Christ says, I know your works, the works He has in mind are charity, and service, and faith, and patience.  

Let's first consider that Christ knew their work of charity. The word translated as charity is the word normally translated as love. And, the Lord defines love for us in 2John 1, 

2Jo 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it

Thus, we are being taught that to love is to keep God's commandments so that when our verse tells us that Christ knew the love of the elect in Thyatira, which was also an example of the love of the elect at the latter end of the Church Age, He is saying that he knew how obedient they were to His commandments, for in that He knew their love is the same as saying that He knew their obedience to His commandments, as this is love, that they walked after His commandments.  

Yet, He not only knew their love, but we are told that He knew their service. This word translated as service can also be translated as ministry and is here used broadly to refer to any service or ministry done unto God or the elect. Thus, Christ knew their service of the ministry of the Word. He knew their service of prayer. He knew their service of distribution to the poor. He knew their service of worship. He knew their service of caring for the widows. He knew their service of serving tables. He knew their service of singing to the Lord. He knew their service of teaching. He knew their service of childcare. Indeed, He knew all their services or ministries whatever they were, and He commends them for them by here saying that He knew their service.  

Now, we are also told that He knew their work of faith, and we are not surprised to hear this as He is the one who granted them their faith in the first place, for faith is a gift of God. We read in Ephesians 2,  

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God :
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast .  

Thus, God knew their faith as He is the one who gifted them with that faith, and He did this through the hearing of the Word of God as we read in Romans 10,  

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God

So, God gifted them with faith through the hearing of the preaching of the Word of God. And, it was this faith that motivated them to all good works with obedience to Christ Jesus. And, Christ knew this, so He told them that He knew their faith. 

But, not only did He know their work of love, service, and faith, but we are told that He knew their work of patience. Patience, here, has to do with patience or endurance in keeping to the faith even through many trials and hardships. Thus, when Christ said that He knew their work of patience, He was commending them for their work of patience, endurance or steadfastness in the faith even through their many trials and hardships. Indeed, Christ knew their patience.  

Now, finally, Christ says of their works, and the last to be more than the first. So, He not only commended them for their work of charity or love, and work of service, and faith, and patience, but He said that the last of these works were more than the first. What a tremendous commendation! Yes, Christ had some very good things to say to the elect of the church of Thyatira, which was an example or type of the commendations he had for the elect of many of the churches at their latter end as well before the Church Age came to an end.   


Revelation 2:20
:  

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

So, although Christ had some good things to say to the elect of the church, He now reveals the things which He has against them, which is that they allow the woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce the servants of Christ to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. With respect to this verse, the first thing we should say is that the scriptures clearly teach that a woman should not teach in any church of Jesus Christ. We read in 1Timothy 2,

11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection .
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence

And, we read in 1Corinthians 14, 

34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law .  

Thus, by letting a woman teach in the church, the elect of the church in Thyatira went in complete opposition to Holy Scripture just as many churches in our day have done. They say that the culture has changed so that women should now be allowed to teach. Yet, scripture teaches that it has nothing to do with culture. We read in 1Timothy 2,   

11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection .
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve .
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression

That is, a woman is not to teach for two reasons: first, we read that Adam was first formed, then Eve. Thus, the reason that a woman is not to teach has nothing to do with culture, but it goes all the way back to the creation order of things, and, so, transcends culture. Because Adam was created first, He is to have the preeminence of being the teacher and leader, and the woman is to be the follower and helper. Second, we are told that Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Thus, a woman is also not to teach because in being deceived by the serpent in the garden, it was revealed that her nature is more liable to deception than is the man's. Therefore, she is not to teach lest she be deceived into believing and teaching lies. Now, this is not to say that a woman is any thing less than a man, for they are both equal, but the man and the woman were created to have different roles. The man was created to be the leader and teacher while the woman was created to be the helper and follower. Yet, because of the increase of sin in our days, these roles are being flipflopped like never before. We see an increasing number of women taking on the man's role, and an increasing amount of men taking on the woman's role, which goes against the natural order of things, and makes both the man and woman appear out of place and contrived. 

Now, returning to our verse, we are told that this woman teacher's name was Jezebel, and that she calls herself a prophetess. The name Jezebel is reminiscent of the wicked queen Jezebel who was married to king Ahab of Israel (1Kings 21:5,7). She encouraged idolatry in Israel, and she slew the prophets of the Lord (1Kings 16:31;18:13). So, in that this woman teacher's name in the church of Thyatira was Jezebel identifies her with Idolatry, the worship of false Gods or Christs. We also read that she called herself a prophetess, so she thought she was getting divine messages from Christ when, in fact, these messages were from the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist, Satan himself. And, notice that she taught and seduced Christ's servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols, which infers that in her system of belief, disobedience to the law was permitted. Thus, it appears that in her teaching, obedience to the law was not necessary, which led Christ's servants into disobeying the law in respect to fornicating and to eating things sacrificed to idols. 

Yet, there is a spiritual application to this verse as well. In this respect, the woman Jezebel represents or typifies the apostate church in the latter days. We see this in that the word woman can also be translated as wife, and, in the bible, the wife is a type of the church. For instance, we read in Ephesians 5, 

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord .
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body .  
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing .
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish

Notice, here, that the husband's relationship to the wife is compared with Christ's relationship to the church, and the church's relationship to Christ is compared with the wife's relationship to her husband. Thus, clearly, the man or husband is a picture of Christ while the woman or wife is a picture of the church. In this way, the woman or wife Jezebel is a picture of the church, and this is further supported in that the name Jezebel means chaste as the church is spiritually chaste or the picture of a spiritual chaste virgin wife for the Lord. But, because the woman's name is Jezebel who was a wicked woman in the Bible, she is a type or picture of the apostate church near the latter end, which became quite evil by the end of the Church Age and beginning of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988. 

Now, we are told that the woman Jezebel called herself a prophetess. She is here a picture of all the Christian churches in leading up to the end of the Church Age on May 21, 1988 who claimed to be the prophet of the Lord, but, in fact, by September 7, 1994 of the Great Tribulation, they had spiritually killed (silenced) the elect in the churches, which was reminiscent of what Jezebel did to the prophets of the Lord in the Old Testament when she physically killed them (1Kings 18:13). And, we are told that Jezebel (who is a picture or type of all the churches) taught and seduced or deceived Christ's servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. That is, the leaders of the churches deceived many in them to worship false Christs, and to believe in and follow their false teachings in leading up to and into the spiritual Great Tribulation that began in the churches on May 21, 1988 and continued for 23 years until Judgment Day finally began on May 21, 2011, which marked the end to anyone ever being eternally saved again. Ever since that date, all babies conceived and then born are guaranteed to remain spiritually dead, and they are thus certain to die on or before that Last Day of Judgment Day in which we now find ourselves.  


Revelation 2:21

21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not .  

In this verse, we are told that Christ gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. That is, Christ gave the woman Jezebel who was in the church in Thyatira of the 1st century AD time to repent of her physical fornication, and she repented not.  

Yet, there is a spiritual application of this verse as well. Since we already learned that the woman Jezebel was a type or picture of the Christian church near the end of the Church Age, and we learned that physical fornication was a type or picture of spiritual fornication, which was the following after false Christs, we are being told that in leading up to the end of the Church Age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988, Christ gave the Christian churches time to repent from following after false Christs and teachings, and they would not repent. Therefore, Christ gave them over to Great Tribulation as we will discover in our next verse.    


Revelation 2:22

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 .  

So, because the woman Jezebel would not repent of her fornication, Christ says, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds

Now, let's first consider what it means that Christ will cast her into a bed. Literally, it states that Christ is casting her into a bed. And, to be casting her into a bed is to be putting her in a place or position where it is easier for her to commit adultery as adultery is more easily accomplished in a bed. Thus, figuratively, in casting the woman Jezebel into a bed, we are being taught that God somehow made it easier for her to commit adultery. 

Then, we are told that Christ is not only casting the woman Jezebel into a bed, but He is casting them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation. So, somehow God made it easier for the woman Jezebel to commit adultery, and those who committed adultery with her were cast into great tribulation.  

Yet, once again, there is a spiritual application to all this. Since Jezebel was a type or picture of the apostate Christian Church as we learned previously, in that Jezebel was being cast into a bed was a picture or type of what happened to the apostate Christian Church (Jezebel) at the end of the Church Age and at the beginning of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988 when the apostate Christian Church (Jezebel) was cast into a bed; that is, she was given over to the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist, the Man of Sin, Satan, which made it much easier for the Church (Jezebel) to commit spiritual adultery (the worship of false Christs) with all those in the Church because Satan now had complete rule over the Church to do his bidding. And, the result of all those in the Church worshipping false Christs was that they were all cast into spiritual Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988 with the removal of any possibility of ever becoming eternally saved ever again in any church, and the complete giving over of the Church to Satan Himself; all because Jezebel (the Church) and all those in the church who committed spiritual adultery with her (all those who followed false Christs with her) would not repent. Thus, we discover why it was that the Great Tribulation came upon all the churches on May 21, 1988: it was because they would not repent of their spiritual adultery of worshipping or following false Christs and their false teachings. Indeed, they didn't even recognize that they were following a false Christ, but, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God fed them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie (2Thes. 2:10-11).   

Now, to refresh our memories, what were some of the false teachings of the churches (of Jezebel) in leading up to the Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988? Well, to refresh our memories, there was the false teaching that Christ died for everyone, and now it was up to each individual person to make a decision for Christ so that salvation became partially of God and partially of man. And, there was the false belief that God was still giving direct revelation today in dreams, visions, tongues, prophesyings, words of knowledge, readings or channelings, and the like. And, there was the false teaching that Holy Scripture consists of more writings or books than what are found in the Protestant Canon of Holy Scripture. And, there was the false teaching that you must be water baptized to be saved. And, there was the false teaching of infant baptism both in Catholicism and Protestantism. And, there was the false belief that raised catechisms or statements of faith above Holy Scripture. And, there were the false teachings of Dispensational Premillennialism, Historic Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and, to lesser degree, Amillennialism. And, there was the false teaching which allowed women to be pastors, elders, or teachers of the congregation. And, there was the false teaching that said, you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit until you have spoken in tongues. And, there were many more false teachings propagated by various churches in leading up to the Great Tribulation. Indeed, many had committed adultery with Jezebel (the Church), and, so, God cast them all into Great Tribulation beginning on May 21, 1988 wherein eternal salvation was no longer possible to any of them in any church, and all the churches were cast into a bed in which adultery with false Christs became the norm. In fact, if you are still in a church because you have not obeyed Christ's command to depart out (see Why leave all churches? ), then you are committing spiritual adultery with a false Christ. You must repent, and depart out from the Great Harlot, the Church; never to return lest you also suffer the penalty of death, which we will consider in more detail in our next study. But, for now, let's summarize and conclude on the things we have learned about the message to the church in Thyatira, and then we will finish up on this message in our next study.   


CONCLUSION  

Now, to conclude on this message to the angel (the elect) of the church in Thyatira, Christ began by saying, These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. Here, we found that He calls Himself the Son of God and not the Son of Man to place emphasis upon His deity, which, in turn, places great authority upon what He is saying. Furthermore, we found that Christ has eyes like unto a flame of fire and feet like fine brass to reveal that, first, He is the judge: all things that His eyes see, He makes judgment upon and, second, He has been purified like fine brass through the fires of the cross to pay for the sins of His elect, and, now, His body (the elect) are pure and holy as all their sins have been paid for. 

Next, Christ further said to the angel (the elect) of the church in Thyatira, 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. Here, we found the good works of the elect to be charity (love), service, faith and patience because our sentence that reads, I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience is better translated, I know thy works, even charity, and service, and faith, and they patience. In the case of charity (love), we found it to be the equivalent to obedience to Christ's commands, for we read in 2John 1:6, And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. In the case of service, we found it to be any service done either unto God or man. In the case of faith, we found it to be a gift from God through the hearing of the Word, and it is what motivates the elect unto obedience and good works. Finally, in the case of patience, we found it to be equivalent to patient endurance to Christ even through all trials and hardships. Yes, these are all the good works for which the elect of the church in Thyatira were commended for.  

Now, Christ next listed the bad things about the angel (the elect) of the church in Thyatira. He said, 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. In these verses, we found the woman Jezebel to be a type or picture of the apostate Church nearing the end of the Church Age. It was her; that is, Jezebel, the apostate Church, which taught and seduced Christ's servants in the church to commit spiritual fornication; that is, to worship or follow false Christs, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols; that is, to believe and follow the false teachings of another Christ. 

Then, finally, because Jezebel would not repent, Christ said, Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. Here, we found that for Christ to cast her into a bed meant to put her (Jezebel, the apostate Church) into a position in which it would be easier for those in the Church to commit spiritual adultery (the worship of a false Christ) with her. This casting of Jezebel (the apostate Church) into a bed we found to have been fulfilled on May 21, 1988 when Jezebel, the apostate Church, was given completely over to the rule of the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist, the man of sin, Satan, which put Jezebel (the apostate Church) in a bed or a much better position for those in the church to commit spiritual adultery (the worship of a false Christ) with her. And, because of the spiritual adultery committed with Jezebel (with the apostate Church) by the people in the Church, they were all cast into Great Tribulation beginning on May 21, 1988 wherein there could be no more possibility of eternal salvation for any of those within the Church who had not already become saved by May 21, 1988. 

Well, for now, let's end here, and we will finish our study on the message to the angel (elect) of the church in Thyatira the next time.   


Now, may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .

1:16-20
2:1-7
2:8-11
2:12-17 
2:18-22 
2:23-29 
3:1-6 
3:7-13
3:14-22       

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