Hold On To What You Have

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations — that one will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery — just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Rev 2:24-27

The phrase Satan’s so-called deep secrets indicates that when a church drifts in these areas of moral standards, it almost invariably involves the rise of mystic rites and rituals. People love to feel they are being let into special, secret things. You find these mystic cults arising in many of the movements of our day. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians he speaks of the deep things of God, (1 Corinthians 2:10). Whenever God has something good, Satan imitates it. These dark and hidden matters are Satan's imitation of the wonderfully deep truths in the Word of God. Now to those who refuse these, Jesus says, Hold fast what you have. Do not let it go. Do not accept these degrading moral standards. It may be difficult to live for Christ in a worldly church, but hang on to your moral standards at least. Hold on, Jesus says, until I come. Then, Jesus says, He will rule them with an iron scepter. This is a quote from Psalm 2. It is a promise of reigning with Christ. It is referring not to the new heavens and the new earth, but to the millennial kingdom, the earthly kingdom over which the saints will share a reign with Christ.

Then our Lord becomes even more specific: I will also give him the morning star. You have to get up while it is still dark to see the morning star. In the book of Malachi, there is a great prediction by the prophet that the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings (Malachi 4:2 KJV), i.e., the Lord Jesus will return in power and great glory. He will be like the sun appearing in the darkness of this world's night. But before the sun rises, the morning star appears. He is saying that there will be an appearing of himself for his own before he comes in power and glory, visible to the world. It is a promise of the rapture of the church. He will appear for his own, who have been held and kept by the Spirit of God from the evils of the society around. It is not that they do not at times fall, but they invariably recover, and repent, and turn back to him. That is the sign that our faith is real. Those who have real faith will repent. Someone has well said, If your faith fizzles before you finish, it is because it was faulty from the first! True faith holds on to the end.

Lord, I desire to see the morning star, to be ready and to hold on to what I have until the Lord Jesus comes for his own. Amen.