DISCRIMINATION WITHIN THYATIRA AND DETERIORATION PATTERNS OF THE CHURCHES

The Discrimination Within the Church

 

This is for the Purpose of Sifting Over the Chaff From the Wheat

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

In the first three churches, this statement came before the end. But in the last four it comes last. This may not have any significance, and then again it may. One writer has suggested that the last four churches are so mixed that there is only a remnant that are capable of hearing, namely, the overcomers. These alone are the remnant, the ones capable of hearing and repenting.

The Deterioration Pattern from Church to Church

Ephesus: The loss of first love.
Smyrna: The same thing persisting.
Pergamos: Mixture with the world and loss of expectation of Christ's coming.
Thyatira: Loss of moral and doctrinal purity and the incorporation of paganism in doctrine and life.