"And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. " - Rev 2:12-17

Christ gave us a model for resisting the enemy to us when He was tempted by the devil - who cherry picked scripture to prove his point. He overcame Him with the same Word of God! He did not say "The Father told me...", or "The Spirit revealed it to me..." - as we hear people say very casually nowadays, but simply responded with - "IT IS WRITTEN...".

God has caused His Word to be written down as being beneficial for teaching, encouragement, and all doctrine. It may be tempting to supplement or augment the Word with our feelings, our interpretation, our instincts - but that is not the model we have been given. If what we are sensing is from Him, then we should be able to find Scripture to back it up and point to - not verses taken out of context, but a coherent thought clearly articulated in context, and supported by other scripture as well.

It is the only offensive weapon in our spiritual armory, and if we disregard it, and start using our own weapons, we are destined to fail - regardless of our good intentions and personal godliness!Once we start elevating our learning, our morals, our values, over what scripture teaches, whether that is in the form of extreme liberalism or ultra-conservatism, we are done. The Word of God is a package deal - you either deal with all of it or none of it - you have not been granted the right to cherry pick - in fact, cherry picking/twisting is exactly the work of the enemy all the way back to the garden of Eden!

THE REPORT CARD OF Pergamum

Pergamum was one of the great cities of the ancient east - a center of learning boasting of a huge library with a vast number of books, a center for healing and medicine focused around the temple of the serpent god Aesculapius, a place deeply rooted in pagan practices, and a seat of power for many kings. Aesculapius is also where we get the symbol of healing displayed on EMS staff and vehicles - a caduceus - a staff with two serpents around it. Look up the legend of Aesculapius or caduceus to learn more.

Christ also says something extremely interesting - He says this is where the throne of the enemy is! In the post pinned to the top of this page you will find our logic for reasoning that the enemy was thrown out of heaven when Christ completed His mission, and that he is now here on earth... a limited being in time and space, mad at humanity in general and Christians in particular. It is in this context that the congregation of Pergamum was looking to spread the gospel and dealing with resistance and corruption that threatened to infect and kill it.

A. Issuing Authority : From the One who has the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

To the church at Pergamum, dwelling in the midst of paganism, learning, and spiritual wickedness, He takes on the identity of the offensive weapon of the sharp sword to not only underscore the message of warfare, but also the healing process of surgical removal and cutting out of evil.

B. What's going well : A few things.

Again, the word Works is not found in all manuscripts, but it is not necessary. Christ knows the situation of His church, and the difficulties it is facing in terms of holding on to an unknown/unpopular name and a 'foolish' Gospel. The church is commended for its performance in clinging to the faith even in the face of martyrdom - as exemplified by Antipas - who is honored by Christ giving him His own title - that of the Faithful Witness!

This is a person we know nothing about at all - yet the Lord picks him out for his faithfulness!! Truly in the day when He comes, there are many that are last now that will be first then! This should give us great encouragement that even when we think we have completely failed from a worldly perspective, we are actually more than victors in His eyes!!

C: What's not going well: A lot!

Two factor have combined to create problems in the Pergamum congregation, and one of them takes us back to the Old Testament.

Balaam, an Old Testament prophet, was happy to attempt to curse Israel, on Balak's (King of Peor) prompting - for money! Unfortunately for him, every time he opened his mouth, blessing poured out. He was not able to curse them!

Frustrated, he instead chose an alternative path to please Balak for that money. He taught him to teach Israel to sin by committing idolatry and sexual immorality. That way, Israels sins would cause God himself to curse them - and do you know what? This strategy works!!!

It worked then, and it continues to work now. This was compounded by the Nicolaitan doctrine that Grace would enable these sins to be covered as well, freeing the congregation to indulge in them! What a one-two punch! No wonder Christ has the severest image of Himself as a sword against this great wickedness!

The eating of food offered to idols is a subject the apostle Paul also addresses. He acknowledges that an idol has no power at all, being a man-made thing, and all food is given by God and is good. He distinguishes between one who accepts food as food, regardless of its source - but warns that this mature attitude is not present in all believers - and someone with a more tender sensibility, who might be injured, when he sees a more mature saint eating food that had been offered to an idol, so he urges all to avoid it. Re: immorality, he pleads with the church to not join the bride and temple of Christ with the body of a harlot, but to keep both pure for her eternal Husband. (1 Co 10:14-33)

D: Recommendations and next steps/consequences

Change! Having been warned very explicitly of the issue, the congregation is told to turn away from these things or else Christ is going to come quickly and fight against - "them" - not the whole church - but "them", those that persist with this idea of loose living - with the Word of His mouth, which is to condemn them.

E: The benefits of following the recommendations

The faithful follower of Christ, like Him, will have bread to eat that the world does not know of (John 4:32). The hidden manna of the higher spiritual life, to do the will of God, brings health, life and well-being.

The white stone could signify justification ( look up - the opposite of being "blackballed" - which is where the term originates), other commentators have cited something called a "tessera hospitalis". When one person was received kindly by another, or a contract of friendship was entered into, the tessera hospitalis was given. It was so named from its shape, being four-sided: it was sometimes of wood, sometimes of stone. It was divided into two by the contracting parties; each wrote his own name on half the tessera. Then they exchanged pieces, and therefore the name or device on the piece of the tessera which each received was the name the other person had written on it, and which no one else knew but him who received it. It was carefully prized, and entitled the bearer to protection and hospitality.

There is another tessera, or white stone—the "tessera gladiatoria". Before a young man could appear as a gladiator in the great public games, he had to pass through a long and severe process of training. During that time he went under the name of tiro, or apprentice. When he made his first public appearance in the arena, if he proved victorious, he received an oblong tablet of ivory (tessera gladiatoria) as a reward and sign of his proficiency, on which was written his name, that of his master, and the day of his first fight and victory. He was then admitted to the rank of the spectati (distinguished persons). The name of tiro was dropped, and his new name of spectatus was inscribed upon his tessera.

It may seem that today the church is back to the days of Pergamum, where feasting, idol worship, and immorality are the norm around us - and we are the ones that are conspicuous by our non-conformity and even the subject of ridicule by the "learned". Let us draw a sober lesson from the Pergamum church - our Lord desires us to be separate from the world even while we are in it, and His standards can only by met by completely surrendering to the leading of His Spirit that will keep us from being overcome by the pollution of the world, and with the temptation, make a way to escape it.

Let us pray that Word of God may dwell richly in our hearts and bear fruit in our lives - and give Thanks for it and the gift of Grace this Thanksgiving holiday!!