I was at the gym last night, on the stair-stepper enjoying a good work out. All the workout machines in the area point one direction, and so looking forward in front of me there are always many televisions all lined up one by one. I counted them last night and I counted 20 tvs. All of them on different channels, one playing music videos, one liberal news, one conservative news, one basketball, one home remodeling, and on and on it went.
The allurements are many in America, one was playing music videos with half naked women, shirtless men, throwing around money, guzzling booze, every channel was showing advertisements for food, pizzas, tacos, cinnamon rolls, and I’m there on my stair stepper trying to get in shape, trying to think holy thoughts, and it’s tough.
And it reminded how it is sometimes difficult to be a Christian in our society. Of all the channels on all the tvs, not one of those channels was playing Christian content.
And I realized this is how our lives are in Michigan, in the USA, we are constantly bombarded by all these messages, blaring on the tvs, billboards, radio, films, friends, workplaces, and we have to somehow in all this mess, stay true to Jesus Christ, holy, spotless and blameless, ready for eternal life. That is the challenge we face in our day and age.
And it’s very similar to the situation that the church at Pergamum faced in the first century. Jesus spoke these words to them,
From Revelation 2:12-17: “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: “This is the message from the one who has the sharp two-edged sword. 13 I know where you live, there where Satan has his throne. You are true to me, and you did not abandon your faith in me even during the time when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed there where Satan lives. 14 But there are a few things I have against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to lead the people of Israel into sin by persuading them to eat food that had been offered to idols and to practice sexual immorality. 15 In the same way you have people among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Now turn from your sins! If you don't, I will come to you soon and fight against those people with the sword that comes out of my mouth.
17 “If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! To those who win the victory I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give each of them a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it."
The city of Pergamum in the ancient world was a city seated on a hill, a tall hill, and this place was like the capital of Asia minor. It was a big city. It was a powerful city. It had a steep colosseum, where they would have circuses and gladiator fights, this colosseum could seat 10,000 people.
The library of Pergamum held an astonishing 200,000 books.
As far as the worship of Greek gods went in the Roman empire, Pergamum had temples to all the Greek gods, Athena, Dionysus, Demeter, Asklepios and Zeus, the king of the gods.
Or if you wanted to declare your worship to emperor of the roman empire, you would go to the temple at the heights of Pergamum, where you could worship Trajan.
We don’t have an official record as to who planted the church in Pergamum. But it is recorded in the book of Acts that the apostle Paul passed through Pergamum on his second missionary journey.
The small church at Pergamum found itself in the capital of Asia minor, in the capital for worship to pagan gods in the region. Christians in this area were often regarded as atheists, because they refused to worship the gods of the romans. So they were charged with being atheists, with having no gods.
So they would be brought before the roman governor of the area, and in Pergamum at the roman governors mansion there was a statue of a roman soldier with a drawn sword. Imagine walking past that to your court date. The roman governor had the power of the sword, to decide your case with having your head cut off. Plain and simple, that was the danger, and the early church in this area was being severely persecuted.
Understanding all these details, we can see why Jesus says what he says to the church at Pergamum.
He says, “This is the message from the one who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you live, there where Satan has his throne. You are true to me, and you did not abandon your faith in me even during the time when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed there where Satan lives.”
Jesus says, remember who has the double-edged sword. It’s not Romans. They have one who can hurt your body. But Jesus says I have the greater sword, the sword of eternal life, or eternal death.
A sword to rest on our shoulders to knight us for his kingdom, or a sword with which to strike us, and send us to eternal darkness. It’s a perfect thing to say to the church at Pergamum. They face the sword of the roman governor. But Jesus says, I’m really the one who holds the sword, not them.
It’s just the kind of voice I’ve come to expect from God. It’s not quite what we expect. Sometimes from Jesus we expect Mr. Rodgers, saying, oh gosh friend let me give you a big hug and it’ll all be OK. Don’t worry about it.
The voice of the living God is not that, it’s deep, it’s full of love, it also rebukes us and corrects us and speaks to difficult eternal realities. It’s just the kind of word I’ve known from God in my life.
That’s our first point for today, recognize the unique voice of God. Full of grace and truth.
It reminds me of Chelsey, when her grandfather died in the house fire. Chelsey called out to God about this. What might we expect Jesus would’ve said to her? It’s going to be OK. I love you so much and he’s in a better place. That’s what we might expect the Lord to say. But, what she heard from God was different. God said to her, better he be burned a little now, than to burn forever in hell. That’s intense. That’s cutting. That’s hard. But it’s the truth, and it’s a reminder of eternal truth. It reminds me of this word for Pergamum.
Verse 13, Jesus says this is where Satan keeps his throne. Some read that as metaphorical, well it’s referencing the worship of Zeus and all this. I tend to take it literally, that Satan’s throne in the ancient world really was in Pergamum. It’s the capital of the region. It’s right near the cities of the early church. Perfect place to reign over the Earth, and there Satan kept humanity in the chains of bondage to false religions, false gods, evil things. I wonder if Satan’s throne is still in Pergamum? Hard to say, though we know when the anti-Christ rises he will reign from Jerusalem. But maybe even to this day, perhaps Satan runs his court from Pergamum.
Jesus also speaks to them about the death of a martyr named Antipas, who gave up his life for the faith. He may have been brought before the roman authorities, who accused him of atheism, and when he refused to worship the false gods or the emperor, they may have cut his head off.
I’m sure many of the early church were at the trial, and most likely saw it happened, and wondered if the same would happen to them. But Jesus reminds them, I’m the one who holds the true sword. So keep me first, and do not fear those who can kill the body, but he who can kill both body and soul in hell.
That’s our second point today, keep God first. Keep Him first in all things. Even to the point of death.
But, if it wasn’t death, there was another danger, slow, gradual compromise to surrounding culture. Which brings us to our third point, avoid doublemindedness.
This is talked about in verse 14, which says, “But there are a few things I have against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to lead the people of Israel into sin by persuading them to eat food that had been offered to idols and to practice sexual immorality.”
We’re given by the Lord a reference to Balaam and Balak, which is recorded in the book of Numbers starting in chapter 22. And while studying this record, I thought to myself, this is a key that unlocks the problem that was taking place in the church in Pergamum.
Balaam, prophet of God, who speaks Gods words to people, is summoned by a gentile King, Balak. But Balaam’s motives are impure, he’s doubleminded, he has his own desires in mind, yet he also wants to serve God.
As Balaam travels to the king’s palace, the angel of God stands in the path of his donkey, with a drawn sword, interesting, but Balaam can’t see the angel. The donkey can though. So the angel blocks his path, and the donkey goes off the road three times to avoid the angel. Odd sort of encounter. But somehow this helps Balaam to learn his lesson, that he can’t be double-minded in his life with God. He can’t serve both God and himself.
And the at the climax of these events, even after this encounter, Balaam is still double-minded as he shares the word of God with King Balak. But at last, in a moment of clarity, Balaam is on a mountain overlooking the land of Israel, and he’s overcome with amazement at what God has done, and finally his eyes are opened, he sees the truth, and he speaks only the truth to Balak.
But his failures and double-mindedness have serious consequences for Israel.
I think this helps us to understand something simple though. If we try to live the Christian life and at the same time serve ourselves and our own interests, that is doublemindedness, and we become blind. We can’t really see the truth. That there is angel with a drawn sword before us. And we’re in danger. Thankfully, God does things to wake us up to this reality. And eventually hopefully we see the reality, that God is judge, he has the drawn sword and we must give all over to Him.
Jesus also talks about Christians in this church who were committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. And this is a reference to pagan worship. I’m sure some of the Christians thought to themselves, I don’t want to die, to if I just go the temple, sleep with the temple prostitutes, and eat the meat being sacrificed there, which was a religious practice, then the romans will leave me alone. So there were believers there, worshipping God on Sunday, but during the week, they would be going to the pagan temple, sleeping with the temple prostitutes and eating the meat sacrificed to idols. They were doubleminded. They had one foot in the faith, and one foot in paganism.
Then in verse 15 Jesus says, “In the same way you have people among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
It seems like the Nicolaitans, if they can be linked to Nicolas of Antioch, were teaching Christians that they could mix the practices of other pagan religions with Christianity, and with Judaism, and they could all just be mixed together. So really another form of doublemindedness.
Next Jesus commands them to repent. In verse 16: “Now turn from your sins! If you don't, I will come to you soon and fight against those people with the sword that comes out of my mouth.”
Once again we see the reference to the sword. Of course the sword that God holds is the sword of His spoken word. When God speaks, everything changes. When God speaks, the universe is born. When God speaks, life comes into being. God breathed you out as well, with his word, His voice. You were spoken and commanded into existence by God himself.
This brings us to our fourth point, Repent quickly. If you find that you’ve become doubleminded, if you find that you’re living in sin, then call out to God. Ask Him to open your eyes and soften your heart, so you can see the sin, and mourn over it. When we mourn over sin, this leads us to repentance.
Then the message concludes like this, verse 17: “If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!
“To those who win the victory I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give each of them a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
I like how Jesus always says, if you have ears, then listen. Because not everyone has ears willing to listen. But if you do, he says listen carefully to what I’m saying. Pay close attention.
To those who overcome, who win the victory, Jesus says I will give the hidden manna. What is the hidden manna? Many scholars have wondered at what the hidden manna actually is. I didn’t find any particularly useful descriptions. Most scholars say it’s simply referring to Jesus, Jesus saying I will give you myself. That’s nice. I don’t think it’s right. One commentator said perhaps it’s a reference to God providing food for the church of Pergamum. But that doesn’t quite make sense either, because this is referencing a gift received after death.
One possibility suggested by Arthur Pink is that it may be referencing manna that was stored as a memorial to future generations of God’s faithfulness. And so it could reference some memorial, a record in heaven of all the good things Christians did in the world, as an everlasting memorial to God. A celebration. Manna literally means, “What is it!?” With surprise, because God provided manna from heaven for the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness.
And it says in Malachi, 3:16, that God sees the deeds of those who discuss him and serve him, “Then the people who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the Lord and respected him.”
Many have also wondered what Jesus meant when he said, “I will also give each of them a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
But in ancient times, when someone was invited to an important gathering, like something held by the roman government, or the emperor himself, they would receive a carved sheet of marble with their name written on it. And they would bring it to the festival or event and present it to the guard at the entrance, to enter into the party.
It would be like receiving an invite in the mail to come to the white house and attend a function there. Very prestigious. Thinking of the Christians in Pergamum, who were excluded from everything, and rejected by the culture, and viewed as evil and even killed for their beliefs, Jesus says I have invite for you, if you overcome, to enter into the new Jerusalem, the city of God.
And what does Jesus mean by a hidden name, that only you know? Well. When I think of my journey as a Christian, the truth is that the old me died in 2012 when I became a Christian. And honestly, as we each live the Christian life we’re changed, time and again, glory to glory, new phase to new phase, where by the end we’ve had numerous different names, we’ve been molded and crafted, taken from level to level, and as we do our personality changes, then changes again, then changes again. We’re overcomers. Often, we’re overcoming ourselves and who we used to be yesterday. We overcome the old and increasingly become the new. But hidden for us in paradise, in the New Jerusalem, is still a new level of who we are. We become at last, who we were always meant to be in the first place, the one we always dreamed of being, the person we saw that we could be, in our hopes and in our dreams, a person made to worship God, to love God and be loved by Him forever. A new name, that only we know.
