Revelation Series—Part 7: The Morning Star

Today’s program continues our study of the book of Revelation and the Thyatira era. We’ve already covered the Ephesus era of God’s Church (here), which Christ Himself founded, and the Smyrna era (here), which began with the works of Polycarp and ended with the true Church having to flee into hiding. And we’ve covered the Pergamos era (here), which found God’s Church moving from the bounds of the Roman Empire ultimately into the heart of southwest Europe.

Today we’ll look at what Revelation 2 reveals about the last works of the Thyatira era of God’s Church. During the Middle Ages in Europe, the Catholic Church dominated religion—and it dominated culture and politics as well. Religious freedom was rare. In fact, the Bible itself was rare.

Most people went their whole lives without reading a Bible for themselves; people’s understanding of the Bible came from only one source: whatever the priest said.

Today, although many people still do not read the Bible, it is by their choice and not because the Bible is unavailable. The Bible is the most-printed book in the entire world! Literally billions of Bibles have been printed. It has been translated into the common languages of billions of people. And many organizations hand out copies for free. You can read it on your computer right now—or even on your phone. And for the most part, nobody in authority can pressure you not to read the Bible.

How did this happen? How did the Bible go from rare, mysterious volumes to the world’s most accessible book? Before Gutenberg’s printing press and before the activism of Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation, there was one apostle of God who worked to break the monopoly on the Bible and make God’s Word available to everyone: Peter Waldo.

Watch today’s program to see how this one man was used by God during the Thyatira era.