I Will Give To Each of You As Your Works Deserve

The title of this literary piece is taken from Revelation 2:23 where Jesus is speaking to the Church in Thyatira.

18 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
19 "'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works” (Rev 2:18-23 ESV).

Many will be surprised when they read of this Church in Thyatira. Jesus commends them for their love, faith, service, and patient endurance – and that their latter works exceed their first. That is no mean accomplishment. Yet, for all that is right with this church, there is something terribly wrong – the practice of sexual immorality and spiritual idolatry. Is it possible that this can happen in a Christian church?

Wherever you have saved sinners filling the pews, you have the potential of having unrepentant sin in the pew as well. The same holds true for so many pulpits in today’s churches – there are pastors who have no holy unction in their preaching because they carry unconfessed sin in their hearts.

In the Thyatira Church they had a woman Bible teacher, who passed herself off as being a prophetess with special knowledge. She is leading believers away from the truth with her false teachings. This is happening in churches today. God will bring judgment against churches who put up with such false teachers in their congregations, as He did the Church in Thyatira. God will bring sickness and illness upon the false teachers and all those who follow their teachings. The Lord also promises to bring great tribulation to those churches who are committing spiritual idolatry.

God will not tolerate any of His churches to fool around with sin. The Lord made it very clear:

7 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:7-8 ESV).

God will not be mocked. And He won’t play the fool. And anyone who tries to play God as the fool is a fool, indeed. What you sow is what you will reap – this principle applies both to churches as well as to individuals.

You will reap what you sow!