This is not all. The Roman Catholic Church introduced things such as candles, lampstands, censers, etc., which belong to the Old Testament. Even pagan objects were brought in. This is altogether fornication. Paganism, idolatry, superstition, and Roman mysteries were all Christianized. This is not Christianity but a great confusion!
God rebuked Thyatira not only for its mixture but also for its idolatry. How strange it is that God would rebuke His own church for idolatry! The church was indeed involved with idolatry. In the Old Testament men worshipped the brass serpent. In the Roman Catholic Church men worship the cross of the Lord Jesus. Roman Catholicism claims that it has found the actual cross, and many small crosses have been made from the wood of this cross. Men worship these objects. The Lord Jesus is God, and God has no image. Yet these men made an image of God and worshipped it. They also made images of Mary, Peter, and Mark. Eventually, the whole earth is full of their images! Because of differences in culture, some idols are very sophisticated, while others are crude. Those in advanced civilizations create beautiful images, while those in more backward civilizations have only crude objects. But they are all idols. Their cathedrals are full of idols! When Catholics pray, they do not pray to God in heaven. Rather, they light candles in front of idols and make gestures in the form of crosses before them. They have images of the Father, the Lord Jesus, Mary, Paul, and Peter. They have images of all the suffering saints and the martyrs throughout the ages. Down through the ages, and even today, when prominent individuals in the church die, the Roman Catholic Church canonizes them and makes images of them. These idols are then manufactured and worshipped by all.
This is not all. Even the bones of many martyrs have become objects of worship. If anyone dug out a leg or a bone of a martyr, the Roman Catholic Church would gather around it and worship it. Unless one is well informed about the religion, he cannot guess how many idols there are in Catholicism. Those who are familiar with Roman Catholicism know that it is literally filled with idols.
The church in Thyatira signifies the Roman Catholic Church. The church in Thyatira has two fundamental sins. One is fornication, that is, the introduction of heathen things into the church. The other is idolatry, which is to make idols out of many things in the church.
This church is condemned by God. To those in the Roman Catholic Church the Lord says, “Come out of her, My people, that you do not participate in her sins and that you do not receive her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). God is not pleased with those who remain in Roman Catholicism.
According to Revelation 2 and 3, Thyatira is the fourth church. This church comes after Pergamos. Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos have all passed away. Thyatira appears after them and still remains. It will be with us until the Lord Jesus comes back. It is the fourth church, but it will continue until the Lord Jesus comes again. As believers and as God’s children, we must not touch anything that has to do with Catholicism. Never touch these unclean things. You will be affected by them once you touch them. I remember D. M. Panton once said, “The errors in their books are so numerous that one hardly realizes that they are errors at all.” It is hard for a person to distinguish right from wrong because so many things are wrong, that is, in item after item one finds nothing but error. This confuses the mind! Hence, we can never go the way of Roman Catholicism!