I was watching a true story of a murder mystery. In it, one of the murderers was called: “the hammer”. Guess what he used to murder the person? You got it—a hammer. Kind of identified him didn’t it? An identifying name indeed. In our continued study of the churches of Revelation, we enter the inside of the church in Pergamos. As with all declarations from the King of all kings—when He says change, He means now. We ought to take this portion of the book of Revelation very seriously. After all, the one speaking is Jesus Christ, God Almighty, The Eternal One. Specifically to this church though, He is to be identified as “…he which hath the sharp sword with two edges…” (Revelation 2.12). Just as with Jimmy “the hammer”, we have an identifying explanation of Jesus here to this particular church. I believe it’s also attributive to us. In fact, there are both encouragements and deadly pitfalls laying side by side in this church. We also must see these truths in the light of how they manifest themselves in the twenty first century with us.
Jesus, with “the sharp sword with two edges”, dictated His letter to Pergamos through the Apostle John. It was to be delivered to the pastor of this church, with the expressed wishes that it be read to the assembly. The assembly needed to know who they are dealing with. As with all the other churches, and ours, Jesus said— “I know thy works” in verse 13. But He continues with— “…and where thou dwellest.” He does know. He knows more than we could ever know. He knows us, and in this particular case, He knows your town better than you. He knows. No matter how much you think you have a handle on things, it may not be as you think. Have you ever heard someone comment on how great a neighborhood is, only to find out it isn’t? Have you ever heard someone say something about a particular family or group in town, only to find out they aren’t exactly how they seemed? Observation shows that most believers want to think of things in the most positive light. But, a disciple of Christ trusts what Jesus says over opinion, over optimism, and over pessimism. Christ deals in truth and reality. He knows.
Verse 13 says— “…where Satan’s seat is.” The word “seat” here is a throne. It is a place where someone rules and reigns from. It is a place of authority or dominion. It is a place where someone ‘in charge’ calls the shots. So Pergamos was headquarters for the Satan dominion in that region. How nice. This is the way my mind works… I wonder if when this letter was being read aloud, one of the new families who moved from Thyatira said to each other— ‘Honey do you think we can get our deposit back on our rental?’ This is not good news at all. This is the worst news in fact. You live right in the epicenter of not only sin city, but the headquarters of the sin guy. Now, to be fair, sin is everywhere. But this is not indicative of that. This is specific. He said that there is a spiritual throne there, a throne of Satan. Not good for disciples. This means opposition. They were not having an easy time sharing their faith there. Pergamos is not in ‘the bible-belt’.
To clarify how bad it is, and to receive the comfort of knowing Jesus understands what you’re going through, He tells them He saw what had happened and how well they have been handling the situation. Verse 13 continues with— “…and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith…where Satan dwelleth.” It’s not just ‘a‘ throne of Satan, He has set up hisheadquarters there. It isn’t an operational outpost with some ‘angelic heads of the satanic government’. Jesus said— “where Satan dwelleth.” That is serious! And you thought your neighborhood had gone down. In the midst of literally the worst place on Earth, they held fast His name and did not deny His faith. No excuses believers. Jesus said— “I know”. I am so glad He is not aloof. I am so thankful He is on the case and understands what we are going through. Lean in to Him fellow disciple. Don’t doubt Him, He knows! We can thrive for Jesus right smack in the middle of a satanic stronghold. You live where God wants you while you are there. And while you are there, you should “hold fast” to Jesus’ name. Do not be afraid to say it, praise it, use it, and declare it to the lost and dying world around you. It doesn’t matter what the environment is… we hold to Him. So many are saying the name Jesus who don’t even know what they are talking about. We are definitely living in a time of antichrist culture. Yet the people of the antichrist culture actually use His name now. That’s confusing. And that’s the point. In a stronghold of Satan there will be a lot of people like him. He is a duplicator. He is a confuser. He is subtle. He is a slithery and sly deceiver. He will even transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11.14). A culture filled with the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4.3) isn’t necessarily always hostile to the name of Jesus. But in other cases it is. Here in Pergamos, it was. Pergamos was anti—christ.
Place is one thing, but what about someone hunting you down for your faith? You could remain somewhat comfortable in your home town, but what if someone was out to kill you in your home town, just because you shared your faith too much? You see, verse 13 has a line in it that is haunting to us who live in the Western hemisphere. Jesus said He also knew— “…even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you…” western world churches barely understand this. Disciples in Syria today do. They live in it. “Among you” means in front of or with you. How is that for an intimidating stand. Your friend. Your brother. Your covenant family member was killed for holding to Jesus’ faith and proclaiming His name. Jesus didn’t just know about the situation, He said his name… Antipas. Upon hearing the reading of this letter, I could imagine myself sitting in the assembly. You hear that name, and a few things may come to mind. First— sorrow. This was your brother in Christ. That hurts in deep places. But Jesus knows, remember? Second— maybe some fear. You saw it happen. You know this pain up close and personal. But Jesus knows, remember?
There is no reason to sugar coat this, there are some things that this church is lacking and needs to work on. I plan to bring that to our attention next time. For now, why don’t we look closer into this place of stronghold Satan set up for himself. This center of satanic fear mongering. Satan pushed an intimidation campaign on this church. Once someone dies, right there in the midst of you, you will reconsider sharing your faith and speaking that name too loud next time. On the other hand, they “held fast”. So it can also provoke you to more love and good works (Hebrews 10.24-25). I pray that happens for us. I pray that happens for you. When the British committed atrocities all over New England, enough was enough. Once they pushed egregiously on their fellow citizens, colonists saw blood in their eyes. There was a resolve that beat back the most powerful army and navy in the world at the time. I see that same thing in the history of churches. As soon as some blood is spilt, there is a division of those who are serious disciples of Jesus and those who are playing church. Sadly, today we live in a time of complete passivity. Antipas gets killed right in front of you… what do you do? No one should take up arms and go at them. On the contrary, we look at it through the lens of Jesus’ commands. We draw from Him strength to not fight back, but to fight on! We carry the Good news of Jesus Christ more and further. We do not slack, we do not doubt, we do not express carnal arguments. No, instead we handle the Word of God without deceit (2 Corinthians 4.2). We teach, preach, guide and love with the everlasting Gospel more and more. We do as the many fallen Antipas’ have done in the past… press on. Make it worth it!
In 2 Corinthians 4.4 we find what is really happening. Why did they kill this “faithful martyr”? “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” This is what Satan does. This is how Satan operates. Did it work? Did he intimidate you enough? Are you slacking? Are you lacking? Are you too weary? Too afraid? The lost world, the very ones who killed Antipas, need the light. They need the Gospel we are carrying in us.
In 2 Corinthians 10.4-5 we read— “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”. Hear the Spirit speaks through Paul. He speaks of: 1) arguments raised against the knowledge of God; 2) lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God; 3) things or ideas that would lead someone away from obeying Christ. These are where it begins in our lives. If our thoughts are left unchecked it takes up residence and ownership. At this point, we are convinced of lies, and satan can actually rule from that position. Then there are those places given over so much, that it’s now the predominant thinking. The prevalent thinking of a people like that, is antichrist thinking. That place is Pergamos. Are there any truly godly people sacrificing their pretend life for the one to come? I say that because Paul said that to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3.12— “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
Have we gone far enough in this nasty society we live in? Have we told enough? Are we standing enough? Maybe we should use the language of Jesus— “thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith…” To the extreme that— “…even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.” This was said by the one who “hath the sharp sword with two edge”. That sword is meant for business! And I want to be behind it and not in front of it. It’s made to divide and I want to be on the right side of it. He is a warrior of infinite superiority… I’m picking His side, I’m standing with Him.
No excuses believer. We must stand for something and with someone. We must pick a side. I choose Jesus, His faith, and His name. You can have the rest. I’m packing light, because this isn’t my home anyway.