Revelation 2:24
But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
The verse belongs to what John saw on the Isle of Patmos in the messages to the churches in Asia, standing in the opening chapters of Revelation and in the message to Thyatira in chapter 2. The name Thyatira symbolizes the Christian church in a period of the Christian era, and the number seven indicates completeness, so the verse extends to the end of time, remains in force today, and portrays conditions existing in the churches of the religious world today. It pictures the state of professed believers as wheat developing among tares, with truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error, in a church full of zeal, activity and charity whose service is endangered by false teachers. It addresses the faithful rest in Thyatira who have not accepted the false teaching and have not known the depths of Satan.
The depths of Satan denote false teaching claimed as deep truth and also the evil seen in sexual misconduct and corrupt relations worked through Satanic deception. To those faithful ones Christ promises to put no other burden upon them, and the accompanying charge is to hold fast what they already have until He comes. The verse shows Christ discriminating in weighing the characters of those who take His name, proving every individual is under His supervision and that He is acquainted with the thoughts and intents of the heart as well as every word and act, with all about each religious experience and whom each loves and serves. It belongs to an earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, confronting indifference to the signs He foretold and giving evidence that the end of the world is right upon us.
The verse must be heeded and understood, especially as to what it means to lose first love, requiring seeking the Lord with all the heart, humbling the heart before God, loving God supremely and neighbor as self, and giving due respect for their works' sake to those who have borne the burden in the heat of the day. When believers so seek and humble themselves, God sees it is safe to work with them and for them, and the truth prospers in their hands and goes forth as a burning lamp. The verse therefore calls for prayer for wisdom, close and critical study of Revelation, close self-examination, and being wide awake to see and speak intelligently about what is to be in this last remnant of time, so as not to have a name to live while dead. The same danger faces believers today when worldly plans, schemes and interests absorb time and attention and let the work languish, so the verse calls for resisting and correcting wrongdoing and for following Christ as the true Watchman in constant diligence by understanding His progressive work, coming into line, establishing the work in many places, and laboring with far greater earnestness, faith and self-sacrifice.