A Walk Through Revelation - Part 6

Letter#3
To the Church in Pergamum
Revelation 2:12-17

¹² “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

Pergamum - creative commons image

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

This letter goes out to the church in Pergamum, referred to here by Jesus as where Satan has his throne and  where Satan lives. Wow, that's a pretty strong indictment  against this city. How would you like to tell someone where you're from and have them say, "Oh, that's where Satan lives and sits on his throne...ruling throne." Yikes! I'd be packing up and moving, pronto!

So, why did Jesus use such harsh words about this city? First of all, they were killing Christian believers (Antipas was martyred there, among many others.). It was home to many idol temples and worship of false gods. History tells us that there was a large worship center built in Pergamum to

Asclepium, who was considered a god of healing. Add to that the mention here of the teachings of Balaam, who encouraged eating food sacrificed to idols (taking part in idolatrous rites) and committing sexual immorality. 

He also mentions the teachings of the Nicolaitans...

It seems that the "doctrine" of the Nicolaitans was that it was alright to have one foot in both worlds and that one needn't be so strict about separation from the world in order to be a Christian. This, in fact, was the "doctrine" of the Nicolaitans that Jesus "hated." It led to a weak version of Christianity that was without power and without conviction - a defeated, worldly type of Christianity. (Taken from Who Were the Nicolaitans, and What Was Their Doctrine and Deeds?)

 Jesus exhorts those who practice these things to...

Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Revelation 2:16

 Look back at verse 12, where Jesus says who is writing this letter...

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. Revelation 2:12

 And remember the description John gave of his vision of Jesus back in chapter 1...

In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Revelation 1:16

In Hebrews, it references a double-edged sword...

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

The sword represents His justice and his judgement.

 Whew! Now that we got all that bad stuff out of the way, I want to focus in on what Jesus commended the church (believers) at Pergamum for...

I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. Revelation 2:13

 In the midst of all this pagan worship of false gods, in the face of people who were trying to influence them to include false teachings and evil practices in their beliefs, in spite of the fact that followers of Jesus Christ were being killed for their faith, these Believers remained faithful to the teachings of Jesus. Faithful to Him.

We live in a fallen world where people worship every kind of god imaginable. Sexual immorality is rampant and encouraged. Christians are being persecuted and even murdered for their faith. We must be strong and faithful, just as the Believers in Pergamum were. Satan and his evil schemes against mankind lives. We need not live in fear, for God tells us over and over again in His word "fear not,"
but he also tells us to be aware of the schemes of the enemy. Stand strong in your faith. Remain faithful to God, no matter what, because He always remains faithful to us.

Do you allow things of the world to creep into your life?
Are you grounded enough in the Word of God that you can recognize false teaching?
Are you as faithful to God as you want to be?

Prayer:
Father, thank you for your faithfulness toward us. You never give up on us and you're always willing to forgive, even when we fall for temptation, even when we allow the culture we live in to creep into our hearts and behavior. We pray that you will help us to recognize false teaching and be strong in the face of temptation and persecution. We are grateful for your steadfast love. Amen

An Introduction to the Church at Pergamum

 

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A Walk Through Revelation - Part 5

Letter#2
To the Church in Smyrna
Revelation 2:8-11

Smyrna

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.  Revelation 2:8-11

 Jesus starts this letter to the church in Smyrna by proclaiming Himself the First and the Last, the one who died and came to life again. As we go on and read this letter, I think it will become clear why He wanted the readers to remember that Jesus, Himself had tasted death and yet lives.

Again, He begins with commendations for the church. He said...

I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!

 Seems like a real contradiction, doesn't it?  The people of Smyrna were under severe persecution by the large population of religious Jews in the area. They suffered both physically and financially because of their faith, yet Jesus declares them rich.  They were rich in the spiritual sense of the word. Their faith was strong in the face of opposition and they had a rich reward waiting for them as a result of their unwavering faith.

I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

 Part of the persecution they suffered was slander by the Jews, who were Jewish in name only, not in the practice of living according to God's will, for if they were, they would not have been persecuting people. It's interesting to note that in the book of Corinthians, God says this about believers in Jesus Christ...

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 NASB

and in this letter to the church of Smyrna, He says that the religious Jews are...

a synagogue of Satan.

Persecution was coming from the Jews, but as with all acts of cruelty, the driving force behind the act is the evil one - Satan - forever trying to destroy God's people.

¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

Jesus knew what was ahead for this faithful band of Believers. Both the Jewish leaders and the Roman government were bent on wiping out the church (people) of Jesus Christ. They threw them in prison, tortured and usually put them to death. Jesus is telling the people not to be afraid. That seems humanly impossible. How can you not be afraid of being thrown in jail, tortured and put to death?  I believe what Jesus is saying is "don't be afraid for you future," because he goes on to say that He will give them life as a victor's crown. A victor is one who overcomes - in this case, those who do not deny their faith even in the face of affliction, poverty, persecution and even death.

Finally, he ends this letter with...

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

That "second death" part was confusing to me. We are born once (physically) and born a second time (spiritually). We die once (physically), but is there another death?  I went hunting for an answer and found this explanation...

The promise to the overcomer is that he shall not be hurt by the second death. The second death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:1, 14). Believers may face physical death, but because they have had a second birth (John 3:3-7), no believer will ever face the second death (Eph. 2:1, 5; John 5:24; 11:25).

(Taken from The Message To Smyrna at Bible.com. You can read the whole article by clicking CLICKING HERE.)

How does this message to the Church of Smyrna apply to us today?
Have you ever faced persecution because of your faith?
Do you think persecution of Christians is increasing?

If you live in America, you have probably faced the only mildest form of persecution for your faith. Want to know how the rest of the world is treating Christians?

"In this past century alone, more Christians were murdered for their faith than any other century in human history, an estimated 200 million."  ~persecution.org

Learn more about what is happening to Believers around the world. Check out this link to

Persecution.org  

 Be forewarned - you will be moved to tears and moved to pray - and that is as it should be.

Watch a video about the ancient town of Smyrna - An Introduction to the Letter to the Church of Smyrna. (It takes a few seconds to start.)

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Fair Weather Faith

 photo courtesy micromoth, rgbstock.com

You've heard of fair weather friends, right? Those people in your life who are right by your side when the winds are blowing in your favor. When you have plenty of money, when your marriage is happy and healthy, when your children are stellar students and spiritually grounded, but where are they when things are not so good?

Oh, they'll be there for a while, but if your problems linger too long - if you talk about them too often or if they begin to feel as if they should do something to help you out, then you'll quickly learn who's your true friend and who's your fair weather friend.

When you think about it, are fair weather friends really friends at all? Do they really love you? Are they really committed to the relationship? 

And that leads me to something else I was thinking about this week - Christians who have fair weather faith. You know them. They're committed to God as long as their life is comfy and rosy. As long as it appears that God is answering their prayers in the way they want and within the time frame that seems reasonable to them. But let trouble come their way, let God seem silent for a while and some "followers" become "flee-ers".

Please tell me you are not like that. Please tell me that you are faithful to God through every phase of life.

We know that Jesus said, "In this life you will have trouble," but he was quick to add, "But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

And in Matthew, we read that "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45) 

This doesn't sound like God has promised a rose garden life to Christians. In fact - brace yourselves...God will allow hardships in your life to strengthen you, to help you realize that when you are weak and helpless, He is strong and able. But remember, He has promised to walk through the rough places in life with us. He will strengthen us and give us peace through the storm.

So, let's make up our minds to be faithful followers, fully committed through anything life can throw at us, knowing that God is just as committed to us.

What do you say? Are you in it for the long haul? Committed until you see Jesus face-to-face? Until Heaven is your home? 

  
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Passing it On to the Next Generation

 "For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations" Psalm 100:5

I recently had a conversation with my brother about the legacies we leave behind when we die. We talked about our father and how everyone we talked to at his funeral had a special memory of Dad teaching them something. Dad wasn't a wealthy man, so he didn't leave an inheritance for anyone, but he left a part of himself with everyone he met.

My husband teaching our oldest grandson how to tie fishing flies.

We can do that. You don't have to be rich to enrich another person's life. Sharing yourself with them, your time, your knowledge, your love, your prayers - these all build into their lives and will be a lasting tribute to you after you're gone. And if you're building godly virtues into their lives, you can be sure that they will be passing them on to the next generation.

God promises in Psalms (103:17) that from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.

 

Spend a little time today building your legacy into the lives of others. Something they will remember for years after you're gone. Point them toward the Lord, Jesus, for He is faithful through all generations!

What skills do you have that you can pass on? How do you share or walk out your faith so that the next generation will know God's faithfulness?

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(Copyright© 2013 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)