It Starts Small

Jesus commends the church at Thyatira for their good works, love, faith, service, and patient endurance. The believers were producing good works that was evident of their salvation by grace.

⁸ For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10

They had something the church in Ephesus was missing: love. Many residents in Thyatira worshipped the sun god and Zeus, but the faithful believers in Thyatira worshipped the Son of God. As a result they had a godly love for others. Their motive was a heart full of the love of God.

They also engaged in service toward others. The Greek word used here is deacon. It suggests relief work. This church reached out compassionately with assistance to the poor. If a person did not belong to a trade union, it would be incredibly difficult to provide for one’s self much less a family. The church knew this and lent it’s service towards the needy and poor. It was probable that true believers did not belong to the trade unions as the unions held banquets with their members that included the worship of false gods and food sacrificed in those false god’s name. Refusal to participate would mark the person for persecution and an expulsion from the guild.

The word “patience” literally means to remain under. Patience is the ability to hang in there. They were people of perseverance and did not throw in the towel when things got tough. They had fortitude and tenacity. Patience has to do with our understanding of God’s sovereignty. If we know that God is in control of our circumstances, then we keep at it, for we know that God is working out the situation according to an eternal plan.

This was a bustling church and active in serving the community.