"white Stones And New Names" Series

Title Slide

From across the street, my friend, Randy, made a beeline at full sprint for my front door one summer day. We were about ten years old at the time. Breathless by the time he ran up our steps and rang the doorbell, excitedly he told me he had found treasure. In his hand was a white stone with a gleam of metal. He was certain it must be gold. So off we went on bikes to the train tracks where he found the white stone. We spent some hours searching for more until his dad popped our bubbles. The gleam in the stone was a piece of worthless quartz.

Yet, the treasures Christ promises to the Pergamum church are heavenly treasures of infinite eternal value. They don’t need to find a special map to locate them. There is no X marking the spot to dig up. These treasures are intertwined with the precious grace of Jesus Christ. These three also foretell of the treasures we will one day receive from Christ. Each symbol originates from the Old Testament.

Slide 2:

Let’s begin with the “hidden manna”. This word pair is found only here in Scripture. Why is it hidden leads us to ask why do we hide things? The manna would not be hidden because it is shameful. Other times we hide papers in a lockbox because they are private. Or another reason we hide valuables in a lockbox or safe for protection. The truth is we don’t know what aspect of hidden Christ is using - but we do know what manna is – that special food God supplied his people in their wilderness journey. Some conclude this hidden manna refers to Christ as the Bread of Life. Others propose manna refers to the future Communion in heaven with Jesus. Or on a broader scope – that all our needs will be provided for. Whichever you lean towards, one day we will find out.

Slide 3:

The second treasure is the white stone. Again, no other Scripture mentions such a stone. But going back to the priesthood, when lots were used to assign special roles – whomever God selected would often draw a white pebble. The white stone could possibly represent election to live in the presence of God. White is also the color of righteousness as believers are made white as snow righteous by Jesus Christ as if they had never sinned. Receiving a white stone like this would indeed be a treasure beyond compare!

Slide 4:

Finally – the new name written on the stone! Again no Scripture mentions a mass renaming of believers. Yet, in Genesis, in relation to his covenantal promises, God renames three people: Abram became Abraham. Sarai -Sarah. And Jacob - Israel. For fans of The Queen on Netflix, when King George dies, the new queen is asked to select her new name. Her transformation into Queen Elizabeth with new regal identity happens after being anointed. This very tradition is linked to this text as believers receive their Crown of Life.

Hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name – all three pledged by Christ to the believer who overcomes in cooperation with The Holy Spirit. Priceless treasures reserved for you. And no one will ever pop your bubble to say a single is worthless. Surely, like Paul in 2 Timothy 4 finishing the race, these treasures whet our appetites for the future.

With these three treasures in mind – now comes the harder question:

Slide 5

What hurdles in cooperation with the Spirit were they to overcome to gain these three treasures?

The first is brutal persecution to the point of death. Though Caesar Dianetius was long dead – Christians in Pergamum continued to be harshly persecuted. Why might that be? As the ancient capital of Asia Minor - Pergamum was its religious center. They built temples to honor nearly every Caesar and Roman god. Given this religious fervor, it is no wonder Christians face severe persecution. In our text – Christ grieves for Antipas – the only time in Revelation a martyr is named

It is little wonder then that Christ equates Pergamum with Satan’s throne. In addition, an image of the serpent was commonly worshiped there - perhaps a reference to Genesis 3 – the serpent who tempted Eve and Adam. Visually too the city’s acropolis took on an ominous appearance of a dark throne casted a glowing red in the sunset.

Yet when it came to persecution – Christ was in the stands cheering them on: Verse 13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me.” To receive words like this from Jesus Christ would have come as great encouragement to this church. Jesus knew their hearts and their circumstances just like he knows our own. Taking this as our encouragement can help soothe this tension we feel when are targeted for small P persecution or big P persecution because of our faith so that we might persevere in cooperation with the Spirit and gain those treasures intertwined with the grace that is already ours.