Revelation 2:24-25 “As for The Rest of You… I Will Ask Nothing Further of You; Only Hold Tightly to What You Have Until I Come.”

 

Revelation 2:24-25 “As for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, really), I will ask nothing further of you; only hold tightly to what you have until I come.”^[1]TLBP.

 

 

6.         The Counsel: to the Faithful (Revelation 2:24–25).[2]
E.  The Message to Thyatira: The Church That Is Compromising or Permissive, Revelation 2:18–29
1.   The recipients a.   The messenger of the church b.   The Thyatira churchDS1 2.   The speaker: Jesus	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;
3.   The commendation for deeds or works a.   For love & faith b.   For service & perseverance c.   For expanding ministries	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.
4.   The complaint: Allowing a Jezebel to teach a.   They tolerate a false prophetess b.   They tolerate false teaching, sexual immorality, & idolatry	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.
5.   The warning: To the compromising & corrupt a.   To Jezebel: She will be cast into a bed of suffering	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.
b.   To Jezebel’s followers: The same fate c.   The purpose for the warning 1)   To honor Jesus 2)   To execute justice	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.
6.   The Counsel: To the Faithful a.   There Will Be No Other Burdens or Demands Made Upon the Faithful	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.
b.   They Must Hold Fast	25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
7.   The promise: To the overcomers   a.   They will be given authority & power over the nations	26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 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.
b.   They will be given the Morning Star, Christ Himself	28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.[3]

 

 

6. The Counsel about Conduct (Revelation 2:24–25)

• The counsel about conduct. “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira … which have not known the depth of Satan” (Revelation 2:24). The Lord had some counsel for those in Thyatira who had not been defiled by Jezebel. First, the sanctity of conduct. “I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye had already” (Revelation 2:24, 25). The commandments have not changed. The standards are the same. Jezebel’s influence is not tolerated in the least. Second, the steadfastness of conduct. “Hold fast till I come” (Revelation 2:25). There is a twofold emphasis on steadfastness here. “Hold fast” emphasizes steadfastness and “till I come” also emphasizes steadfastness in conduct.^[4] 

6 (Revelation 2:24–25) Faithfulness—Stedfastness: There Is the Counsel to Hold Fast. Note the reference to the “depths of Satan.” Compromise with the world—refusing to separate from the world and to live a pure and holy life—is living in the depths of sin. It is being planted and imbedded, immersed and enmeshed in the depths of Satan, in the very depth of Satan’s lifestyle.

But note the glorious promise to the faithful believer who has separated himself from the world and its pleasures and possessions: Christ will put no other burden upon him. What does this mean? It means two things.

1. No other burden can refer to the prohibition laid upon the Gentile Christians by the Jerusalem Council. They were forbidden to eat meat offered to idols (Re. 2:20; Ac. 15:19–29).

2. No other burden can mean that Christ does not expect the believer to completely separate himself from the world, not in the sense that he has to live as a hermit. We are to live in the world but not of it. There are obvious pleasures and sins of the world and of the flesh that we must not touch. But there is much upon earth that we are to use and enjoy as we walk from day to day. Christ does not put the burden of extreme restrictions upon us; He only demands that we separate and have nothing to do with things that harm and destroy our bodies, minds, and souls. 

Now, note the counsel: we are to hold fast until Christ comes. We are to hold fast …

•           to the commitment that we have already made to Christ.

•           to the spiritual growth that we have already achieved.

•           to the ministries that we have already launched.

We are not to give in to the seductions of the world no matter how appealing and attractive. 

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Ga. 5:16).

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ep. 4:1).

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Ep. 5:15).

“Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing” (Ph. 3:16).

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Th. 5:21).

“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end” (He. 3:6).

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession” (He. 4:14).

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)” (He. 10:23).

“He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:6).

“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee” (Re. 3:3).^[5] 

“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,’ to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; only hold fast to what you have until I come.” ^{Re. 2:24–25 NRSV.}

Many in the church in Thyatira had not followed Jezebel and had seen through her deception. After the church would repent and get rid of Jezebel and her teaching, Christ would not place any other responsibilities on them other than simply to hold fast to what they had until His return. All they needed was their pure faith, not the deep things of Satan that Jezebel had been teaching.

This teaching of “deep things” probably involved so-called secret insights that were guaranteed to promote deeper spiritual life. Jezebel may have considered her insights to be deeper knowledge of God, but Christ explained that these “insights” were really the teachings of Satan. It is also possible that Jezebel may have been saying exactly what she meant; that is, she may have been teaching that in order to stand strong for the faith, a person had to plumb the depths of Satan to prove one’s spiritual strength. In either case, Christ condemned her teaching. 

 

DEADLY ATTRACTION

There is great danger when we try to accommodate and integrate nonbiblical ideas into our faith. Christ warned against seeking “the deep things of Satan.” What was the appeal of such knowledge? Christians were being led astray by the teaching that what happened in the body was inconsequential; therefore, it was not sin. So, one appeal was that sexual desires could be fulfilled outside of marriage without consequences. An even more deadly appeal to the “deep things” was the sense of pride that such knowledge stimulated in those seeking it. Believers should hold tightly to the basics of the Christian faith and view with caution and counsel any new teaching that turns them away from the Bible and the basics of its moral teaching, from the fellowship of the church, or from the basic confession of faith. [6]

 

Christian Excellence.

“But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.” These few words give us three ideas concerning Christian excellence. 

I. Christian excellence is an attainment. The words are addressed to Christians at Thyatira, and they are represented as having “charity,” or love to Christ, and “patience,” or holy fortitude and magnanimity under all the trials of life. These are all elements of Christian excellence, and these they are represented as having attained. They had achieved the goodness they possessed by holy efforts in the use of means.

1. Christian excellence is an attainment in contradistinction to a native growth. It does not spring up in the soul as an indigenous germ. It is a seed that has been taken in and cultivated.

2. Christian excellence in contradistinction to an impartation. In a sense it is a gift of God; not in the sense in which life, and light, and air, and the seasons of the year, are the gifts of God,—blessings that come upon us irrespective of our own efforts; but rather in the sense in which the crops of the husbandman, the learning of the scholar, the triumphs of the artist, are the gifts of God,—blessings that come as the result of appropriate labour. We shall neither grow good nor be made good. We must become good; we must struggle after it. 

II. Christian excellence is an attainment that requires fast holding. “Hold fast” whatever is attained. Little or much should be retained:

1. Because it is worth retaining. Its value will appear by considering three things.

1)      The priceless instrumentality employed to put man in possession of it. The mission of Christ.

2)      It’s essential connection with man’s spiritual well-being. There is no true happiness apart from it.

3)      Its capability of unlimited progress. It may be like a grain of mustard, but it can grow. What glorious harvests are enfolded in one grain of true goodness! It should be held fast.

2. Because there is a danger of losing it.

1)      Men who have had it have lost it before now.

2)      Agencies are in constant operation here that threaten its destruction. Hold it fast, therefore. 

III. Christian excellence in an attainment that will be placed beyond danger at the advent of Christ. “Hold fast till I come.” An expression this implies that it will be secure enough afterwards. He comes to every Christian at death. “I will come again and receive you unto myself.” When he thus comes:

1. He crushes forever our enemies. He bruises the head of Satan under our feet.

2. He removes from us everything inimical to the growth of goodness.

3. He introduces us into those heavenly scenes where there will be nothing but what ministers to the advancement of goodness. Take heart, Christian; the struggle is not for long! —D. T.^[7] 

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Revelation 2:24-25 “As for The Rest of You… I Will Ask Nothing Further of You; Only Hold Tightly to What You Have Until I Come.” 

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^[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

^[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Revelation. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

^DS Deeper Study

^[3] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Revelation. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

^[4] Butler, John G. 2010. Analytical Bible Expositor: Revelation. Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

^[5] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Revelation. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

^[6] Barton, Bruce B. 2000. Revelation. Edited by Grant R. Osborne. Life Application Bible Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

D. T. D. THOMAS

^[7] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. 1909. Revelation. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.