The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

her pretension by her refusal to submit her claims in this respect to be judged by that
which she owns herself to be the Word of God. Her infallibility must not be tested, but
received; whereas Scripture itself, with a claim no less absolute, on that very account
submits to every possible test, assured that the more complete the test, the more will this
claim be manifested and made good. The true coin fears not the test which would at once
expose the counterfeit. Faith in Rome is credulity and superstition only: faith in Scripture
is intelligent, reasonable, and open-eyed.
"In Scripture, the Church does not teach at all. The Prophets speak and the rest judge. The
Word itself is the rule by which all is judged, and the conscience is kept directly in the
presence of God Himself. All are exercised as to what is spoken: they are to take heed what
they hear as well as how they hear. This exercise is necessary to maintain the soul in vigor
and independence. Vigilance, the constant habit of reference to God, and walking before
Him, are to be ever emphasized and insisted on.
"We tend continually to follow human authorities and traditional teachings, which God
has continually to break through for us, sending us afresh to His Word, that our faith may
not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Thus alone true spiritual health
is realized and preserved."
It was this letting go, losing sight of the Word of God, that brought into the professed
Church of God all the evils symbolized by the expression, "to commit fornication, and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols." We found these evils beginning to come in Pergamos, but
in the Thyatira period of church history it prevailed to such an extent that the professed
Church became apostate. While there were plenty of perverters of the Word of God in the
Pergamos period, none at that time claimed to be inspired of God, and the divinely
appointed channel of Divine grace and truth. The Word of God was still honored in
Pergamos, and had its faithful witnesses there; and these witnesses, through their
enlightening influences, testified against the threatened evils of Nicolaitanism, Balaamism,
and Jezebelism. But in Thyatira, the Word of God seemed to remain no longer.
Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel
It is Jezebel's teaching and doctrine that prevails in Thyatira, and while in this period of
church history there were believers in the true doctrine, these believers, including the
symbolical angel or messenger, the ministering class of that period, were unwilling or
unable for some to testify, to witness, as they ought against Jezebel, for we hear the Savior
saying to these: "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."
Concerning the little, despised, humble, local assemblies, the Waldenses, etc., and their
pastors of this period, we should keep in mind that as a remnant, they are distinctly
singled out in the Thyatira message, and that neither the Jezebel system nor her children
are included among them. By so doing we will be better able to appreciate this testimony
on the Lord's part as to what He saw commendable in them. How little do we know of the