Revelation 2:19

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19 I know [eido] thy [sou] works, [ergon] and [kai] charity, [agape] and [kai] service, [diakonia] and [kai] faith, [pistis] and [kai] thy [sou] patience, [hupomone] and [kai] thy [sou] works; [ergon] and [kai] the last [eschatos] to be more than [pleion] the first. [protos]    KJV-Interlinear

19 'I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.   NASB

Thyatira is similar to Ephesus in that it was obedient to God in some areas, but Thyatira was opposite in the direction it went verses Ephesus with respect to its application of Biblical principle to their daily life.

Here, Christ commends them for their daily efforts, their works, which are consistent with Christian charity and duty.  This is not limited to giving in charitable ways, but in the general concept of good deeds, kindness and so forth.

However, sincerity and works are the result of Christian growth and life, not the basis for it.

The Christina life is doctrine first, growth first, and then the results of that growth (which must be sustained), then you have the application to your daily life of the Christian principles that you have learned.

Ephesus, lost track of their daily study of doctrine, and they lost track of their Christian duty.  Their deeds decreased.

Thyatira, on the other hand, maintained their works, and even increased in the quality and quantity of their works, but they too lost track of their first priority, which is Bible study.

On the one hand Christ commends them for their Christian kindness and attitude, and that is the commendation that they have here. However, we will see that works do not constitute the Christian life.Doctrine in the soul, by means of a daily study, is the foundation of the Christian life, not deeds.

With deeds alone, then arrogance and human effort enter into the picture and people begin to believe that they have earned their Christian merits.

Likewise, when deeds alone are emphasized and doctrine is de-emphasized, then compromise into non-Christian areas become unavoidable.  This is where the do-gooders sprout up and then all kinds of social programs enter into life.Then over time, good ideas become expected standards, and then those standards become laws and suddenly people are criminals if they do not comply with the public will.

Deeds become accepted substitutes for ones daily study, and then people do nothing but deeds of one sort or another.  And their definition of deeds become broadened and increased, and pretty soon almost anything one wants to do, is presumed as doing work for Jesus.And it really is doing work from the source of ones sin nature or carnal life, or evil.

This is the state of Thyatira.  They had lost their principle focus on doctrine, as they increased their focus on busy body works.

And if you consider the time in which those folks lived, life on a daily basis moved along pretty slow, so their opportunities for drifting away from God and doctrine were certainly limited.

Today, and this is something that we need to understand, that these letters to the churches of old, apply to us as well and even more so, because even though we have more opportunity for Bible study in our current day, there are also many more opportunities for drifting away from doctrine.

And it is that drifting away, which is of extreme importance.Why?  Because, this is the study of eschatology, which is the study of death and its aftermath, but more so the study of life during the end times.

The end times embraces not only the seven years of the Tribulation, but also the last generation of our current dispensation.

And why is that important? 

Because as we have already studied, there is going to arise in this world a great apostasy at the end of our Church Age.  It may span one or two or three generations, but in the end, apostasy will grow rampantly and prior to the Rapture.  That will be the principle reason as to why the anti-christ will come into power immediately after the Rapture.

Not all of the Christians were guilty of the failures within these churches, but most were, therefore the discipline because of the majority failure.

Therefore we too stand at risk of these same issues, if people do not get their priorities for Bible study, in order.

We cannot change the overall course of history, but we can change our own personal life. And hopfully none of us will be a part of the historical filler that will cause the future that is going to unfold.

John was told to write, and he is writing the history that is going to occur.  Therefore, this book among all of the books of scripture, is of extreme importance, because we know in advance, we are warned in advance, and we are given an out in advance.  But unfortunately most folks will ignore these things, and then what will happen …?

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