November 2, 2025
In the Book of the Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, Jesus Christ speaks to seven churches about their accomplishments, about their character, and their failings. He offered them counsel and comfort, warned them about possible consequences, and encouraged them to listen and truly “hear” the Holy Spirit.
The churches in Sardis and Laodicea received no such commendation.
The churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia received no condemnation.
The other three churches received a bit of both.
Pergamos initially received praise for holding fast Christ’s name in spite of dwelling “even where Satan’s seat is,” even at the risk of martyrdom, which their brother in Christ, the faithful Antipas, suffered, who was slain among them, “where Satan dwelleth.”
Countless times through the centuries, the lives of God’s people have been threatened by worldly powers because they were determined to “…contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). They were crucified, stoned, put to the sword, torn apart by ravening animals for the entertainment of the mobs, or consumed by fire.
Those who refused to surrender their faith lost their lives. Even during the middle ages, when Martin Luther was seeking to reform the church, he was excommunicated, threatened with arrest, imprisonment, and being burned at the stake. What was his response?
“I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”
The Book of Hebrews speaks of the hosts who died before Luther, and multitudes who are perishing today, stating,
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.)
–Hebrews 11:37
We tend to run away from such a possibility, but consider what these martyrs accomplished,
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
–Hebrews 11:37
Satan’s dupes—the Romans, the pagans, even Jews like the unconverted Saul, as well as vast churches that claimed Christ as their Savior—have striven to annihilate God’s people. At the moment, Nigeria is considered the 7th most dangerous place in the world for Christian, with 125,000 already murdered there. And this very day, the president of the United States warned the president of Nigeria that if he allows religious radicals to continue slaughtering Christians, American troops might go there “with guns-a-blazing.”
Persecution of Christians was a real thing in ancient Pergamos, so when the Lord praised the saints of that church for not denying him, for not surrendering their testimonies in the face of tribulation, it was no small praise.
The author of Hebrews wrote, “Ye have not yet resisted unto the shedding of blood” (Hebrews 12:4). For most Americans, this implied criticism is valid.
The penman of the Book of Hebrews amplifies Jesus’ words to the Pergamos church. The true believer had to certify his or her faith by holding fast to their testimony in spite of the likelihood of death.
Joy and I visited a former monastery in France where the priests, who were prohibited from spilling the blood of those they were “helping” to see the light, would instead put the outlet of a large container into the mouth of each victim, pinch his or her lips closed, and pour four or five gallons of water down their throat, distending their bodies, literally tearing them apart, and ultimately painfully drowning them. The modern practice of “”water boarding” is tame compared to the practices of those not-so-holy men.
The horrors that a multitude of Christians through the centuries have faced to maintain their testimonies took enormous faith and courage, yet was small compared to the horrors that Jesu Christ exposed himself to in order to pay for the sins of every man and woman who will have ever lived. Perchance a man might die for another. Jesus died for the sins of the world, and his suffering therefore was arguably infinite.
But we Americans, and the relatively few Christians that reside in a largely amoral and socialized Europe, are just awakening to the possibility of having to actually suffer martyrdom for our faith. We are just beginning to witness the terror, as we hear of men and women pushed beneath racing subway cars, being run over by trucks, raped, knifed, even decapitated, right here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Yet, the terror grows daily, and we ought to be asking ourselves whether our purported love for Jesus is a mere preference or a true conviction–a belief so solid and a faith so secure that it will see us through the darkest, most prolonged, and most unimaginable trials.
So the church at Pergamos received high praise from Christ because many believers were faithful in spite of the grave threats to which they were exposed, where Satan’s agents were many, and bold, and active.
Our Lord, nevertheless, did not hesitate to call out a pervasive attitude he saw among them, a noxious practice. Some would betray others for financial gain, and pervert the truths of God, just as Balaam had done centuries earlier.
If, at any time in history, somebody did something so bad as to have their name’s appear in God’s holy word, we ought to be very careful to avoid that same practice. Certainly, we don’t want to be a Balaam.
Sometimes the things we say or do don’t seem like overt sin. Perhaps we think we are simply displaying love and tolerance for someone by attending a homosexual wedding, or by suggesting that we might somehow draw the erring ones closer to Christ, while essentially sanctioning practices that Christ clearly states are hated by God.
Such are of Balaam. In fact, some are producing a new “Bible” that will remove all passages that condemn homosexual practices.
Similarly, the Lord accused some in the church at Pergamos of inducing others to commit fornication (Rev 2:14).
But we need to be warned, not only about not altering God’s book, but living in aa manner that suggests we don’t really believe it. We dare not mess around with the Bible! Some of us know the last few verses of God’s holy word:
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
The Revelation 22:18-19
Christ went on to warn those in Pergamos,“Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword in my mouth.”
Revelation 2:16
We know that one definition of the “sword of the Lord” is the word of truth. And one implication in this verse is that some honest and courageous men of God will, while wisely quoting the Word of God, lovingly expose and condemn the sin among them, thus revealing God’s’ judgment and warning of the need to repent. Such confrontation between members of a church, though often necessary, but frequently avoided, will ultimately result in many innocents being hurt, and souls lost in what the military sometimes calls, “collateral damage.” And such combat among the brethren–with some exercising Christ’s double-edged sword, and others pretending to do so, can presage the death of a church–a tragedy to God, and a joy to Satan.
Yet, Peter didn’t shy away from discipline in the churc, for he declared,
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first being at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
I Peter 4:17
What can we conclude from this? That we dare not presume on the grace of God to cover wanton and persistent sin in the church, no matter its nature nor how severe we consider it to be. A tiny lesion in the church body can become a consuming cancer. Or, as the Bible warns, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” We must purge out the offending sore before it grows and overwhelms the body.
I know of a church where the pastor was unloving, and behaved in an ungodly fashion. It was pointed out to the leadership, and one retired pastor even agreed that “Something needs to be done.” But he remained silent, and the infection grew. In fact, the deacons came to his defense, Did they help the pastor by covering for him? Now a great scab covers a putrescent mess, hiding it from casual view, but if anyone were to seek to lance the cancer, many would apt to be infected by it.
Jesus has long since provided a simple approach that, taken early in such such a situation, can remedy the problem, and see all the willing participants grown in wisdom, faith, grace, and love.
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 18:15-18
It’s a pity that we don’t have more Peters among us, men who can point up a sin as Peter did after Pentecost, when the malcontents, Ananias and Sapphira, dropped dead at his feet in view of the entire church, leaving all the city in righteous fear of God.
Do you think that God was too harsh? But if they had simply told the truth, as Peter suggested, and hadn’t tried to take fleshly for being more generous than they claimed…..
Someone might call it “tough love.”
Consider the Pergamos church,
“Repent,” Jesus said, “or else I will come unto thee quickly….”
And then the sobering exhortation:
“He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
–Revelation 2:17
We need to bite the bullet! To do the right thing. If we don’t, we may find ourselves in the same condemnation for closing our eyes to the evil in our midst, or, by remaining silent, seeming to endorse such behavior.
He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear!
You may claim to be a peace maker. and even argue that Jesus is the prince of Peace. And you may find yourself crying out, “Peace, peace.!”
But there is no peace.
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,”in his sermon on the mount, he wasn’t referring to someone who tries to sweep problems under the rug, or even to those who try to bring adversaries together through reason and prayer. Sometimes a peacemaker cannot secure peace unless he exposes sin, by lancing the spiritual wounds so that the poisons are purged, the wound can heal, and the sinner can made useful and joyful again.
You may claim to be a lover of souls, a person of gentle heart, filled with a longing to forgive and to see others forgiven. You’re ready to offer a second, or a third chance; even a 70 times 7 chance.
But ask yourself whether your approach is best for the person you pity, much less for Christ’s church. And consider those who may be misled and damaged spiritually, or even physically, because of your silence, your inactivity, even your fear and failure to act.
What does the Lord say to the church at Pergamos?
“Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev 2:16).
There are times when we must ask ourselves whether we are truly serving Christ, or actually condoning and increasing sin.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2:17).