# 4 - Letter To The Church At Thyatira Series

Letter # 4 – Letter to the Church at Thyatira

Revelation 2:18 - “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:’”

Son of God

As Jesus commences His letter to the Church at Thyatira, He introduces Himself to them as the Son of God. This term, ‘Son of God,’ is a term that created waves of dissent and confusion back in the days of Jesus, as it does even in today’s world. People are willing to accept Jesus as a teacher, as a prophet, as a messenger and so much more, but to accept Him as the Son of God is so difficult for many people. But Jesus categorically introduces Himself as the Son of God, whether He’s accepted as such or not.

By not accepting Jesus as the Son of God, people are inadvertently rejecting the Father’s claim about Jesus as well, because more than once God the Father proclaimed in the hearing of more than one person that Jesus was His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. You can read it in the following passages.

Mt.3:16,17 – “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

We find in the above verse the Father and the Holy Spirit both acknowledging Jesus to be the Son of God, and if this is so, who are we mere mortals to deny that Jesus is God’s Son?

Again we read in the account of the transfiguration of Jesus before the three disciples, Peter, James and John, Mt.17:5 – “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

In the above verse it’s clear again that the Father acknowledges Jesus as His Son. It is one thing for Jesus to claim to be God’s Son, but it’s another thing for the Father Himself to claim that Jesus is His Son.

What about us?

• Do we know Jesus as the Son of God or are we still in doubt as to His identity and therefore delaying our very own Salvation?

• Do we know people around us – family, friends or neighbours who doubt or disbelieve that Jesus is the Son of God? If so, we have a responsibility to share our faith with them, and pray that they will come to know the Lord for who He is and be saved.

Eyes like a flame of fire

The second description of Jesus is of having eyes like a flame of fire. It’s not an imagery used anywhere else except in this passage and again in Rev.19:12. From the very description of the eyes of Jesus it’s evident that His gaze is no ordinary gaze. It sounds like a consuming gaze – a gaze that consumes that which is not right in His sight. No unrighteous, hypocritical, or unauthentic person could gaze upon such eyes.

What about us?

• Are we living lives that are authentic and righteous, or are we living hypocritical lives, claiming to be something we are not with the intent of deceiving people?

• We should not for one moment think that we can deceive God, because He sees right through us.

Feet like fine brass

It appears, from this verse that the feet of the Lord Jesus were rather strong and meant in this context for more than just walking. We’ll look at this in depth later.

Better than before

Revelation 2:19 – “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.”

Works

Jesus begins by commending this city church for several things, the first one being their works. This was the one thing He had commended the Churches at Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamos as well for. This was a good sign that they were living the way the Lord wanted them to live, at least to some extent. They were putting their faith into practice.

Love

Jesus then commended them for their love – something the church at Ephesus fell short on. For this church, their love seemed to be the thing that their works stemmed from. Perhaps they loved God and loved one another as Jesus expected them to.

Service

The love resulted in serving the Lord and one another in every possible way. Love cannot exist in isolation - it must result in service to both God and one another.