Today we will be going over the Exalted Christ’s message to the church in Pergamum. In the former two churches, we learned some important lessons. In Ephesus, we can have great doctrine, but fail to apply it in our hearts, thereby losing sight of Christ as our first love. In Smyrna, we saw that, regardless of how the world treats us—and it will persecute us—we are to regard the Name of Christ above all. All true riches and honour are found in Him, and so we should see worldly riches and honour as merely tools for furthering the Name of Christ (that is, seeking to honour Him above all, pursuing His aims and desires before our own). When we get to Pergamum, we will see that their problem was refusing to call out heretics living within their ranks—thereby giving tacit approval and affirmation of their false beliefs. So, both Ephesus and Pergamum failed to keep Christ above all—albeit in quite different ways.
The first verse in Jesus’ message to Pergamum introduces Christ in a powerful and explicit way, which highlights the rebellion found in that church. Jesus said, “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword” (Rev. 2:12). What is this “sharp two-edged sword”? We saw this sword in Revelation 1, which represents the words of His mouth. Elsewhere, the Bible refers to itself as the “sword,” and the sword of the Word is the only offensive that a Christian possesses (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). So, Christ came to address Pergamum with His weapon, which is meant to stand as a dire warning. This is different from His introduction to Ephesus, where He is described as the one “who walks among the seven golden lampstands” (i.e., the One who stands in the midst of the churches, and is therefore ever-present and aware, and intimately connected to them). The problem in Ephesus is that they forgot Christ, even while having much knowledge of Him (godly knowledge lacking application). In Pergamum, the problem is that they hold His Word loosely, and therefore it is a weapon brought against them.
Jesus continues, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” (verse 13). Not much is known about why Pergamum was referred to as “Satan’s throne,” but much emphasis is placed in that designation in its repetition as “where Satan dwells.” Given that characteristic, we can know that Pergamum was regarded as a chief center for all manner of wicked allurement and satanic influences. So, despite the high degree of wickedness and temptations that the church in Pergamum faced, they, as Jesus said, “hold fast to my name” and “did not deny the faith” even under the threat of death. The implication of this was that Pergamum was continuing to “hold fast” (ongoing action) to Christ’s name, even at the time when Jesus gave this message to them. So, what is the issue?
Jesus said in verses 14-15, “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says this about the teaching of Balaam,
the instruction Balaam gave to Balak, which is here called his doctrine, was, that Balak should get some of the most beautiful women in his kingdom to ply the men of Israel, and draw them into uncleanness, and so to idolatry; by which means, God being angry with them, he might get an advantage over them: that the Israelites did commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and eat things sacrificed to idols, and bowed down to Baal Peor,
This was not merely about concern over what was sold in the marketplace (whether or not it was food previously sacrificed to idols), but taking an active part in the so-called love feasts and festivals commemorating idols. In other words, certain professing believers in the Pergamum church were actively teaching and practicing the worship of other idols, seeking to seduce—as Balaam did—God’s people to sin against Him. Many believe that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was the same sort of sin. At the root of the problem was the toleration of false doctrine and practice. So, those who want to claim that doctrine does not matter, and that we should simply “tolerate” other allegedly Christian viewpoints in our churches, actively oppose Christ, who personally holds such people as those who are in open rebellion to Him. What we need to realize is that every false teaching comes with a false corresponding practice. This cannot be avoided, since one’s doctrine determines one’s practice. Hence, Jesus said to such people, “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth” (verse 16). The church tolerating false teaching and heresy will have Christ Himself come “against them with the sword of my mouth.” Thus, we ought to be sensitive to what is and is not tolerated in our churches, since whatever is tolerated is also being approved, and therefore those “tolerant” of these evils are regarded as practicing such things themselves. Paul spoke to this very issue:
11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Cor. 5:11-13).
The purity of the church is at stake whenever a professing believer spreads false teaching and heresy in the church. The proper response of the local church is to first call them to repent, and, if they do not, then expel them (the goal of excommunication would be both their reconciliation, and to protect the church). Again, it is important to get this: whatever church tolerates false teaching and heresy in its ranks, is, in God’s eyes, as one and the same with them. It poisons the whole church and leads them to reject Christ. It brings about judgement upon themselves.
The rest of Christ’s words to Pergamum are the following: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” Only the saved can hear and thus practice Christ’s admonition. The “manna” was the substance that the Israelites received during their forty-year sojourn in the desert. It may refer to receiving spiritual satisfaction—something that was stored-up for us. The white stone may depict the victor status or be a positive expression of God’s favour. The name would be something that accurately conveys the person it is given to, and show God’s abiding favour and ownership over him. We cannot know what these mean for certain, but we can know a general gist of what they depict.
Next time we will be looking at the Exalted Christ’s message to the church of Thyatira.