129 LECTURE V. REVELATION ii. 28. AND I WILL GIVE HIM THE MORNING STAR. THE epistle of which we are now about to treat, is addressed to the Church of Thyatira, and will present us with a view of the Church of Christ, differing most widely from those which have preceded it. We have, in the former discourses, beheld the visible Church of the Redeemer, as pourtrayed in the first epistle, in her apostolical purity; in the second, in her faithfulness, devotedness, and poverty, during the era of the martyrs; in the third, as suffering from the temptation of outward prosperity, when Christianity had become the dominant religion of the Roman world; but in the present epistle we shall see her, as exposed to greater perils than had ever yet assailed her, arising from a far more dangerous source, even from the prevalency of internal error; and from the ruinous effects of false teaching within herself. The preface of this epistle is remarkable, as in the preceding cases, for its beautiful appropriateness to the lessons which are to follow. "These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass."a The great and glorified Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, is about to speak of the errors and misconduct of His people, and He therefore reminds them that there is nothing which can a Revelation ii. 18. |