Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it. (Rev 2:16–17)
O God, you give some of the hidden manna. What is this hidden manna but you? Your holy communion on the altar is the hidden manna. This secret and intimate manna lives within us. This manna is hidden in the darkness of faith. O all mysterious but very real Word!
You give us a white stone, which is no other than divine immobility where you confirm the soul in a most exquisite grace with purity and an inconceivable candor. There the soul is given a new name which is engraved on the white stone which shows a new life in God. The stone signifies permanence and the whiteness purity. In the Old Testament, new names were given to Abraham, father of all believers and souls of faith, to Sarah, and to Israel. In the New Testament, Peter and Paul received new names. This name only God himself can give because no other can put a person in this state. O grand and wonderful state! Who will understand this unless you experience it?
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.” (Rev 2:18–19)
O God, the admirable expressions in this book! The fire coming out of his eyes shows knowledge and love of God the Father. The feet of brass show his humanity united with divinity, making such great fires capable of engulfing a thousand worlds. However, where are those who let themselves be ignited with fire? Alas! We are all ice even with such a great conflagration.
Conformity with the qualities of which Jesus Christ speaks about is admirable. He speaks here with a pastor of high perfection and ardent love, encouraging him to persevere in the imitation of God’s extraordinary love. But for what does Jesus Christ praise this great pastor? For his faith, because the measure of his faith is the measure of all graces, and exterior and interior advancement. As you have believed, so let it be done for you, says Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:13). Next, he praises him for his love. Faith and love are companions. Where there is much faith, there is much love, and where there is a much love, there is a much faith. But also, where there is little faith, there is little love, and where there is little love, there is a little faith. We measure our love by faith.
But how do we know this faith? By a general, continual, and persevering abandonment in both the interior and the exterior, which even the most distressing states do not cause us to turn back. Confident faith and a full trust remain even in its apparent loss. We never change our way, even with the biggest disasters. It is then that we know the solidity of our faith and the truth of our love.
This angel praises his patience in suffering his injuries while in service and his faithfulness to serve as a true pastor. But mainly the angel praises that his last works are much greater than the first, and that his vigilance is much stronger at the end than at the beginning. O, where do we find such pastors? They are very rare!
“Yet I hold this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, who teaches and misleads my servants to play the harlot and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her harlotry. 22 So I will cast her on a sickbed and plunge those who commit adultery with her into intense suffering unless they repent of her works. 23 I will also put her children to death. Thus, shall all the churches come to know that I am the searcher of hearts and mind and that I will give each of you what your works deserve.” (Rev 2:20–23)
But, O Pure Love, O Divine Exactor, from whom nothing may be hidden, what reproaches do you give to your pastor, to which you have given such great praises? O God, with your purity, all other purity is impure! O pastors, governors of the flock of Jesus Christ, your call is strong, and what an accounting you will have to render. It is not enough for you to be holy yourself, but for others to also be holy. And God is not content that you banish these types of sins from your heart, but that you banish them from your church and from the middle of your flock. Sins such as fornication and adultery rob God of the honor we give him.
We must give God honor because otherwise we have a fornication of the heart and an adultery of the spirit. This is a thousand times more dangerous and evil than that of the body because it removes our heart and spirit from God to whom they belong uniquely. Once removed, they prostitute themselves to idols or to infamous creatures.
This miserable Jezebel signifies the corrupt nature taking the spirit away from the attachment to God to engage in disorderly and brutal desires. God invites us to repentance. But in his desire to save humanity, and seeing that his invitation is nothing to them, what does he do? He stops them and puts them in a sickbed with infirmities and diseases. This is the ordinary way of God to bring people back through their mistakes, diseases, and afflictions. This brings the person back to his duties and obliges him to necessary repentance when he did not embrace God’s will voluntarily.
God assures us that he is the searcher of hearts and minds. O Lord, you are the judge of all! Ah, we are blind about ourselves! We hide our true heart under another heart. We cover ourselves with worldly excuses and hide our wrong intentions. We act out of self-love and yet persuade ourselves and others that we are working for God. However, God gives each of us what our works deserve. Those who have a great multitude of works and hope for a great reward will be astonished to see that God, who searches the hearts and minds, will find these works empty. Our works are not counted by their number but by their goodness. That is why they are weighed on the scale and not by numbers. O how the world will be surprised! Those who have a great number of works and have worked well will be found without works. Others that have seemed very useless will have a heavy weight of good works. O God, it is very good that you have a reason to reserve for yourself justice in all things!
“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,’ to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; 25 only hold fast to what you have until I come.” (Rev 2:24–25)
God is wonderful, for though he seems to reproach this good pastor for what is done in the church, God promises him that he will not carry the burden of the iniquities of others. Since God is exact and pure, he is full of goodness and compassion for the weakness of creatures.
He adds, Only hold fast to what you have, that is to say, hold on to my grace so that you persevere in faith, love, patience, and service to the flock. My God, you are admirable! You beautifully soften the wounds that you seem to make.
“To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations; 27 to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered—28 even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. 29 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev 2:26–29)
God reserves a wonderful advantage for those who conquer by the interior death, in which all is destroyed, because the believer does not rest in propriety. In this soul, Jesus reigns solely. The souls faithful to Jesus give him all the glory of the victory, without attributing anything to themselves. This is good justice, because he only has the victory in us. This shows that nothing in this world, either exterior or interior, has been able to prevent this victory in those emptied and annihilated souls. These people who do not oppose Jesus in anything are quite rare! I will give them authority over the nations.
They have authority over the nations in many ways. First, they have very great authority over both souls and bodies. Secondly,