Dearly loved by God in Christ Jesus,
Pastor, what can I say to a fellow Christian who believes you should not baptize infants? What can I say to a Christian friend who says that the Lord’s Supper is a sacrifice you make that earns forgiveness? What can I offer to my Christian coworker who believes Christians are going to have a Rapture and unbelievers will be “left behind.”
Ready. Here is a good passage to use. It is Matthew 22:29, “Jesus said, ‘You are in error because you do not know the Holy Scriptures or the power of God.’” We are talking about people who profess the Christian faith and yet believe and practice things that are not Scriptural. We certainly cannot look into anyone’s heart. We can only judge their words and actions.
Jesus’ command, “Judge not and you will not be judged,” [Mt 7:1] does not apply. Jesus was talking about judging others with the attitude that I am free from sin. The Bible teaches plainly that in love and with humility, Christians help one another recognize and repent sin and error when it infects true faith and doctrine.
The believers in Pergamum had not renounced their faith in the midst of the ungodly people surrounding them. For that, the living Christ commended them. At the same time, Jesus had this against them. They were not using God’s Word to expose error. Therefore, Jesus told John, “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:”
Recall that the church in Ephesus had good doctrine but had lost their first love, the gospel. That leads to what we call “dead orthodoxy.” The believers in Pergamum had love for the gospel, but did not practice good church discipline against doctrinal error and false teachers. That leads to what the apostle Paul describes as “a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” [1 Cor 5:6]
The letter Jesus told John to write to the congregation in Pergamum, about 50 northwest of Smyrna, has both commendation and criticism. It also starts the usual way by Christ defining himself. “These are the words of him who has the sharp, double edged sword.”
The region around Pergamum was a Roman servant state much like Judea. The city was a government center not unlike a state capital or our nation’s capital. The population was very familiar with the broad sword, one that cut both ways when swung, as a symbol of authority and judgment against wrongdoing.
Earlier in this Revelation, John said of his vision of Christ, “out of his mouth came a double edged sword.” [1:16] The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Jesus speaks with authority and judgment against wickedness. Jesus wielded this sword from his mouth when by the law he exposed sin like a soldiers sword exposed internal organs. Jesus also wielded the Word of God in the gospel that changes unbelieving hearts to believing hearts, and comforts and strengthens faltering faith.
The congregation existed apparently in a particularly evil city “where Satan has his throne.” Idolatry and immorality were the norm rather than the exception. Our Savior commended the congregation, “Yet you remain true to my name.” Jesus’ name, his reputation, is the One who saves. His name is the gospel. They had remained true in love for the gospel. One of their number, Antipas, was a martyr, literally, “my faithful witness who was put to death in the city-where Satan lives.”
We pray and use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God so that our Savior, Jesus Christ, might commend us as well. This is to be our reputation in the midst of an immoral and idolatrous culture. We use the law to expose sin and use the gospel to remain true to his name; the One who saved us from our sins by his death.
At the same time, we must avoid the sin that had infected the Christians in Pergamum, the leaven that had spread through the whole loaf. They were not using the Word of God to expose error. The error was not in the surrounding culture but in their midst. They had not practiced loving and humble church discipline for the sake of fellow Christians who followed false teaching and false teachers.
A parallel situation today would be a Christian also worshiping, praying, and observing the practices of a cult such as Mormonism, or the lodges, or the religious elements of martial arts, or goddess worship. This is a challenge that faces our foreign missionaries, and missionaries to Native Americans and other immigrant groups. New Christians at times want to participate still in the old superstitions.
This can start out as weakness in a new faith. If left unchecked, it can become a willful sin against what God commands. This is what happened in Pergamum. Some of the believers had fallen into the sins proposed by Balak in the Old Testament, and the Nicolaitans; to sacrifice to idols and commit sexual immorality as part of cultic worship.
Through this letter from John, Jesus wielded the sword of the Spirit to expose this sin. Jesus tells them, “Repent therefore.” If they did not, he would do it himself. He would come in judgment against the congregation for their failure to correct, and if needed cast out those who continued in these sins. Jesus warned them never to take lightly the yeast, or maybe better, the cancer, of false teaching in the visible church
Church discipline remains an important part of our work as a congregation. How important for us to speak or to listen in repentance to the Word of God when it exposes sin and error in our lives, or when we need lovingly hold up the mirror of the law to our fellow Christians who incorrectly believe that I can be a child of God and still participate in idolatry and immorality.
John was to write to the angel of the church in Pergamum, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The Holy Spirit was speaking in this letter as in all the others. We do well to listen to God’s Word and take it to heart.
The goal of our repentance is to receive the “hidden manna.” It is to receive the “white stone with a new name written on it.” The hidden manna is Jesus Christ, the bread of life who keeps our faith alive as the manna kept the children of Israel alive on their journey to the Promised Land. Jesus promises to come to us and nourish our faith and our love of the truth. The white stone was a “yea” vote as opposed to being black balled or rejected. The white stone is Christ’s acceptance of us in his righteousness that is our own through faith. In faith, we bear the new name, Christians, a holy nation of priests, a people belonging to God.
These blessings are ours as we wield the Sword of the Spirit and as Antipas remain a faithful witness where Satan lives. Amen. <SDG>