25.  But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

    26.  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end,
    to him will I give power over the nations: 

    27.  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of
    a potter shall they be broken to shivers:  even as I received of
    my Father.

    28.  And I will give him the morning star.

    29.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
    the churches.

To this congregation Christ manifests himself in the character of him “who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass,” denoting the fact that he is the great discerner of all hearts and that he is able to render unto every man according to his deeds.  Whether the expression, “his feet like fine brass,” has any particular signification, I am unable to say.

This letter opens with a commendation of the works, the charity, the service, and the faith of this church.  In these things they had made considerable advancement.  Nevertheless, Christ had something against them, because they had suffered “that woman Jezebel” to teach false doctrines and to seduce the servants of Christ to compromise with idolatry and to commit fornication.  It is improbable that Jezebel was her real name; but she was a Jezebel in character, named in this letter after King Ahab’s wicked wife, who killed the Lord’s prophets, seduced her husband into idolatry, and fed the priests of Baal at her own table.  Some have supposed that this appellation designated a number or class of people teaching these doctrines; but the manner in which “her children,” or disciples, are spoken of would seem rather to point out a particular woman—­one who was a leader and the chief instrument of mischief.

The long-suffering of Christ had been manifested in this case.  He had given her an opportunity to repent of her evil deeds, but she would not.  Now he declares that he will cause his judgments to descend upon her and her followers.  By casting her into a bed is doubtless meant that he would bring her down upon a bed of sickness and pain and thus make her a most distressing object.  Her partners in sin were to suffer “great tribulation,” and “her children,” or disciples, he would kill with death, or deadly pestilence.  Thus would this whole corrupt party be visited with divine judgments according to their works; while their great pretensions to wisdom and discernment, “as they speak,” or as they term it, will be shown to be nothing but the “depths of Satan.”

The frequent references to these gross sins in the letters to the churches may seem a little strange to us in the altered circumstances of society in which we live; but when we consider the tone of public sentiment and the prevalence of idolatry at that time, it will be seen that the lapse into these sins was very easy.  Some compromised with the heathen by joining in their idolatrous feasts, maintaining that the meat was not affected one way or the other, and this proved but a stepping-stone to the licentious principles and the corrupt practises of those with whom they thus associated.