Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Do you have a keepsake, a gift from someone close to you? Maybe it's a ring or a watch, or something that's a remembrance of them. I'm your host, Steve Schwetz. In this study on Thru the Bible, we're going to learn about a gift that Jesus will someday give each of us in heaven.

As Dr. J. Vernon McGee leads us through the early verses of the book of Revelation, he explains a custom the first readers of the book would understand. They would give their close friends a tessera, a cube of stone or ivory with words engraved on it.

We're going to hear about that same kind of gift from Jesus and a secret name inscribed on it. I'm intrigued to know more, aren't you? Well, if you've got your Bible open, turn it to Revelation 2 verse 16. And while you do that, here's a quick introduction from Dr. McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, we'll be coming to the church in Thyatira and also the church in Sardis. Thyatira represents the rise of Romanism or, as we know it today, the Roman Catholic Church, and its dark period that's known as the Dark Ages. Then we come in the church in Sardis to the Protestant Reformation.

Now, there is always a danger of us Protestants of pointing our finger at Romanism and say it's all wrong and we're all right. Well, if you do that, you need to read what the Lord Jesus says to both of these churches. Neither one of them present such a pretty picture on the page of Scripture.

And we hope to give a fair appraisal of each one of them as we come to them in this study that we're going to have today. And so I trust that you will listen with patience and with sympathy to what we have to say, because we will not pull punches for either one, because we believe that the church today is far from the apostolic church, that infant church.

We've come a long way, baby, and we've come a long way from the person of Christ, whether we be in the Roman church or a Protestant church. We do need to come to Christ.

Steve Schwetz: Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the desire to know you through your Word. As we study, Lord, show us the loveliness of Jesus. We pray in his name. Amen. Open Revelation 2 as Dr. J. Vernon McGee takes us through the Bible.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we did not quite finish the message that the Lord Jesus had for the church in Pergamum, the church where Satan's seat was. That's when the world began to get into the church. And yet, it was during this period that many wonderful saints of God stood for the deity of Christ and defended Him and the integrity of the Word of God.

Now I begin reading here at verse 16. He says to this church, and we're speaking now to the church in Pergamum, "Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly. I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." In other words, the only cure was repentance. They needed to turn to God. And the sword of my mouth, the only answer is the Word of God, as this letter reveals.

It's not in any church today. What a mistake we make if we think that the church is the answer. Now, the true church, made up of believers in Christ, are the body of Christ, and they are to be lights in the world as He makes it clear here. But we need to be very careful that it's not the church; it's the person that you're identified with. And it's the Word of God that becomes our authority.

Now He says in verse 17, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." And this is for you and me today. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna." That hidden manna was the Word of God. This is the hidden manna. "And I'll give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth him."

Now, the one that overcometh is the believer in Christ. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, never because we are overcomers, but we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Now this hidden manna again, it speaks of the Word of God, but of the person and death of Christ. The Lord Jesus said He was the bread. Moses didn't give you the true manna. He is that, and the believer needs to feed on Christ.

I want to emphasize it again; this is a must for spiritual growth. And actually, Christ is hidden from view today. He's not known or understood today at all. My, how they have abused Him and how they have missed out altogether. Now the white stone suggests the believer's not blackballed. You're never blackballed in heaven. This is rather a difficult figure to interpret.

"White is everywhere the color and livery of heaven," is the way Trench put it. Now, the stone, I think—and let me just say this—the stone here is not a new name for you and me. Christ is going to give to each one of His own a stone. And that was the way they did things in those days. If you had an intimate friend, you gave them a stone with a little message on it, some word or some name that you had given them.

And on that stone is not a new name for you and me; it's a new name for Him. In a way in which He means to you, He doesn't mean to me. And the way in which He means to me is not the way He means to you. And each one of these names, I think, will be different and it'll be personal and it'll be intimate.

Now that's going to get rid of that song, "There's a New Name Written Down in Glory and It's Mine." Well, you can sing that all you want to. The new name is not a new name; it's a new heart that you've been given, a new life. You've been born again into the family of God. I don't know about your new name there; Scripture doesn't mention that. But He has a new name He gives to us.

Now when we come here to the letter of Christ to the church in Thyatira, now this is Romanism. This takes us into the Dark Ages from 590 to approximately 1517. It was a dark period. Thyatira was inland. You begin to move inland when you leave Pergamum. All the rest of these churches are inland, some of them way inland, as we're going to see.

But Thyatira was situated in a very beautiful place. All these cities, to my judgment, were in a very marvelous location. And this church was. Thyatira was in a location where, very frankly, I'd like to pass on to you what Sir William Ramsay says about it. He says Thyatira was situated in the mouth of a long vale which extends north and south, connecting the Hermus and Caicus Valleys.

And it was not a great pass. In fact, it was an unusual city. It was a city built for defense. But most of the cities built for defense were built upon an acropolis or a promontory and walls put around it. But this city was different. And the strength of it was in the fact that the elite guard was there. It was a city that was built by Lysimachus again, and then by Seleucus.

Seleucus is the one that brought it to prominence. And it was a city that was a military city. The elite guard was there. Rome put the elite guard there. And it was strong because of the guard that was there. But it finally fell to the enemy. And no city was ever so destroyed in that area as this city was and then rebuilt.

So that you see very little of the ruins. And it's rather disappointing to see the ruins of Thyatira today. They only cover one block, and it's a very small block that is there today. But it was a city that was sponsored by Vespasian, the Roman emperor, and it was the headquarters for many of the ancient guilds: the potters, the tanners, the weavers, the robe makers, the dyers' guild.

All had their headquarters there. This is where the labor unions originated, by the way. Apollo, the sun god, was worshipped there under the name of Tyrimnos. And then Lydia, you remember that Paul met over in Philippi? She came from Thyatira, and she was a seller of purple. Now that purple is what we know today as Turkey red.

And I mean that's red, friends. And it was taken from a plant that grows in that area. Now, here is what He says: "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." Now you notice, it's a church that He's judging.

The flame of fire, His eyes, searching out, and His feet like burnished brass. And that speaks of judgment also, as we've seen. Now He has a word of commendation for this church. If you think Roman Catholicism is to be condemned wholeheartedly 100%, I think that you need to check up on the history of it.

The Lord Jesus says in verse 19, "I know thy works, and thy love, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first." Now He says, "I know thy works." And here are six words of commendation to this church of the Dark Ages. Works are actually just credentials of the true believers.

James says, "Show me your faith without your works; I'll show you my faith by my works." There were many who lived spotless lives and by their good works they adorned the doctrine of God. And then love. It was a church that had love in it, in spite of the fact it had gone in for ritualism. It had not completely died during the Dark Ages.

And there are some wonderful saints of God during that period: Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, John Huss, Savonarola, and Anselm. All of these were men that were in the Roman church. Here He mentions their faith, and it's placed after their works and their love in this instance because it's the mainspring that turns the hands of works and love.

And the ministry here is service. Patience was the fact they endured during those days of darkness. And the last works were more than the first. Now in this church, works increased rather than diminished, by the way. All six virtues are produced within the believers by the Holy Spirit. But there is one frightful charge of condemnation.

He says here, and I'm reading my translation, "But I have against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself the prophetess, and she teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols." This was the period when this woman, Jezebel, brought paganism into Israel, the northern kingdom.

Now this was the period that, as the church expanded throughout Europe, idolatry and pagan practice were mingled with Christian worship. The papacy was elevated to a place of secular power under Gregory I in 590 AD and later by Gregory VII, better known as Hildebrand, in 1073 through 1085. And then this is the period that introduced rituals.

Personal faith in Jesus Christ and church doctrine was supplanted by rituals. Here was the period of the worship of the virgin and child introduced, and the mass, and it became a part of church service. Purgatory became a positive doctrine and mass was said for the dead. And these spurious documents labeled the donation of Constantine and the decretals of Isadore were circulated to give power and rulership to the Pope.

As Jezebel killed Naboth and persecuted God's prophets, so the church instituted the Inquisition during this period. And "seduced" here means a fundamental departure from the truth. That's Vincent's interpretation. Now Jezebel stands in sharp contrast to Lydia who came from Thyatira. Jezebel is merely a forerunner of the apostate church we'll see in Revelation 17.

Now He says, "I gave her space to repent of her fornication; she repented not." And there's been no change down through the centuries in this system. Verse 22: "Behold, I'll cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds."

Great tribulation could refer to the persecution that Rome is enduring, I think under communism, and has. Or it may mean the Great Tribulation into which the apostate church will go. "Their deeds" here should be translated "her deeds." And He says, "And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts; and I'll give unto every one of you according to your works."

Children of those that were brought up in the system. And death refers to the second death. And all the churches are the church of all the ages. And reins means here actually kidneys, and it refers to the total psychological makeup: the thoughts, the feelings, and the purposes. He searcheth the reins, that is our entire being.

Now verse 24: "But I say unto you, and unto the rest in Thyatira, who do not hold this doctrine, which are of those who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put upon you none other burden." Actually, this church here, we know from history, had a very brief period because it went down when the city went down, when the enemy came in.

Now the depths of Satan refer perhaps to a Gnostic sect known as the Ophites who worshipped a serpent and they made a parody of Paul's words. All heresy boasts of superior spiritual perception, and that's what this group did. Now in verse 25: "But that which ye have already hold fast till I come."

And that obviously begins now to say to the church, "I'm coming to take you out because of that you should stand for me." And He says, "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations." The works of Christ are in contrast to the works of Jezebel. The works of Christ are wrought by the Holy Spirit.

And we overcome by faith and not by effort. And "give power over the nations" is explained when Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said we're to rule over the nations, even angels. Verse 28, He says, "I'll give him the morning star." And this bright and morning star refers to the hope of the church today: the rapture of the church, His coming for His own, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And now He gives to this church the same He gives to all, verse 29: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches." The children of Jezebel will not hear, but the true children of the Lord Jesus will hear, for the Spirit opens blood-tipped ears. And we're seeing that.

And out of both Protestantism and Romanism there are multitudes that are turning to Christ. And this is a wonderful thing. Now that brings us to chapter 3 and the letter of Christ to the church in Sardis, and this is the Protestant church. This began, I think, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses yonder on the chapel at Wittenberg.

And so let me just say a word about Sardis. It was the capital of Lydia. It was one of the oldest and most important cities of Asia Minor. It was inland. It was a very prominent city, well protected, high on a promontory. Had a natural fortification and you can't even get up there today. We tried it.

And I want to tell you, you just can't climb up the walls. They're just too high and they're just too steep. And it was well situated on a plain watered by the Pactolus River. It was the center of the carpet industry and it was noted for its wealth. Coins were first minted here. You remember the last prince was the wealthy Croesus.

You remember he was captured by Cyrus. But he was considered the wealthiest man in the world and everything he touched turned to gold. Sardis was ruled by the Persians, by Alexander, by Antiochus the Great, and finally by the Romans. It was destroyed by an earthquake during the reign of Tiberius.

Now there are there today at the foot of the hill the ruins of the temple of Cybele and also of Apollo. It's one of the few double temples you'll find in the world. And Cybele or Diana, as she's known in Ephesus, was the goddess of the moon, you see. But when you get inland, she becomes a nature goddess.

And also Apollo, the god of the sun, they were brother and sister. And this was a very corrupt worship, though, just like the worship of Diana at Ephesus. Now they are excavating there. I've been there several times and they're excavating, rebuilding the gymnasium, rebuilding also the synagogue there.

And they have also dug up that Roman road that is there. And the thing that thrills me when I look at that road, I know Paul walked up and down that road. Now let me read verse 1. He says, "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."

Now this is Protestantism. It comes in a period from about 1517 AD to about 1800 AD is the period covered by this particular church here. He mentions the seven Spirits of God. That's the Holy Spirit. And Protestantism today as a whole has a name that it lives, but it's dead. How many Protestant churches just go through the form?

Oh, they're building all the time and people are coming, especially Sunday morning, not many at the midweek service when they really ought to come to hear the Word of God. But that's Protestantism today. It has a name that it lives, but it's dead. And He presents Himself to this church as the one having the seven Spirits of God.

That is, He is the one that sent the Holy Spirit into the world and the church. And Protestantism needs the Spirit of God working in the church. We think we need methods and there are all kinds of Band-Aid courses for believers. You can put on a little Band-Aid and it'll solve all your problems.

My friend, what we need to do is to get to the person of Christ that only the Holy Spirit can make real to us and make living to us. This is the thing that Protestantism needs today. And during the dark night of the Dark Ages, the Holy Spirit was still in the world doing His work.

And He moved in the heart of a man like Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Knox and many, many others. And the Lord Jesus said, "I know thy works." That's the word of commendation. And it's a word common to all periods, however. And this is the period that recovered the doctrine of justification by faith.

"But thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead." That's a frightful word of condemnation and that is a picture of Protestantism today. All of the truth was not recovered by the Reformation. We need to recognize that. I think that today eschatology, prophecy, is just being developed in our day.

Now verse 2: "Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God." Now let me give you my translation: "Wake up and watch out, and establish the things which remain which were about to die. I have found no works of thine full-filled, perfected."

Now this is the second word of condemnation and it's a word of warning. And it had particular meaning in Sardis. You see Sardis, as I said, was on the top of a mountain. I've tried to get up there twice and I haven't been able to make it. Others have tried. But it has one entrance on the south side and that was the only way you could get into the city in the old days.

So all that Sardis had to do was to put a guard at that one place, a detail there, and watch the city. But on two occasions the guard went to sleep. One time it was when there came into the city Cyrus the Persian and the Medians came in and took the city. And then again Seleucus later on did.

For instance, a Median soldier scaled the parapet while the guard slept and that is 549 BC. And 218 BC a Cretan likewise slipped over the wall while the sentries were careless. Now the Lord says something to this church. He says, "You wake up and watch out." Now that was embarrassing to the city; they had gone to sleep on two occasions.

Now He says, "I'm coming to you, so stay awake." And that is the thing He's saying to Protestantism today as a whole. It has turned away from looking for the coming of Jesus Christ and they built up these systems that certain things have to be fulfilled before He can come. My friend, it's tissue-thin from where we are right here to the coming of Christ for His church.

He could come the next moment or tomorrow. Don't say that I said He's coming tomorrow because I don't know. It may be a hundred years. But my friend, that's what we're to look for. Sardis didn't know when the enemy was coming there and we don't know when Christ is coming today. We have no way of knowing at all.

Protestants did recover the authority of the Word of God, the total depravity of man, and justification by faith. But there are many other things that they didn't recover. Now, I'm going to have to leave off there but I'm not through with Protestantism, I can tell you that, because today the practice is to condemn Romanism and then tell how wonderful our church is. Now I want to tell you, the Lord Jesus here says we're not so wonderful either. We'll look at that next time. May God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: If we can help you find a Bible resource, visit ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE. Let's meet back here in Revelation 3 next time as together we study God's Word and watch Him work in our lives.

Today's study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee is brought to you by Thru the Bible and it's made possible by the generous prayer and financial investments from listeners like you on the Bible bus all around the world.