Letter 3: Pergamum

Within these 7 letters we have:

7 distinct promises
7 distinct warnings
7 distinct introductions

(each introduction is directly connected to the warning given and the promise hoped for)

· Introduction 1: Him who walks among the golden

· Introduction 2: Him who died and came back to life

· Introduction 3: Him who has the sharp two-edged sword

Sharp two-edged word

vs. 12 ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

Sharp two-edged sword = The word of God

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. – Revelation 1:16

Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

** Satan’s Throne**

vs. 13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne

The Throne of Satan is not in hell.

My Name and Faith

vs. 13 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.

Teaching

vs. 14a & 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 also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

The church in Pergamum held fast to the name of the Lord but not to the word of the Lord.

“The soul can do without everything except the word of God, without which none at all of its wants are provided for.”― Martin Luther

Immorality

vs. 14b so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

War

vs. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

“We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.”― John Stott

Hidden Manna

vs. 17 To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna,

New Name

vs. 17 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.’

καινὸν

New (καινὸν) Name

New Jerusalem (3:12)
New Song
New Heaven
New Earth
All things New

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.