Jesus Calling
Pt. 3: Holding Fast to His Name
11-17-2024
Last slide – Hold fast to that which is good.
1) Jesus is my JUDGE.
“12“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.” (Revelation 2:12, ESV)
· Two-edged sword = judgement.
“2He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.” (Isaiah 49:2, ESV)
“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. 13And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12–13, ESV)
2) Jesus sees how INTENSE my struggle is.
“13“ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. 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.” (Revelation 2:13, ESV)
· Satan’s Throne (dwells) =
This city was a legal center for the district and at the same time an old stronghold of emperor worship, where already in 29 B. C. a temple had been built to the divine Augustus and the goddess Roma, which was served by a powerful priesthood. Especially abhorrent to the Christians was the local cult of Aesculapius whose symbol was the serpent, which was called “the god of Pergamum” but to Christians was the symbol of the serpent of Eden. In addition to these pagan cults there towered on the Acropolis a throne-like altar of Zeus Soter (Savior) which commemorated the defeat of the barbarian Gauls by Attalus about 240 BC. - R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1935), 103–104.
Zahn takes it to refer to the cult of Aesculapius. He points out that under Diocletian Christian stonecutters from Rome carved out in the quarries of Pannonia not only pillars, capitals, and baths, but also victories, cupids, and even the sun-god in his chariot but refused to carve an image of Aesculapius, for which refusal they were put to death as being followers of Antipas of Pergamum. So much at least is certain that the Lord himself (not John as some say) regarded Pergamum as the one city among the seven where Satan even had his throne and thus ruled as king. All seven were thoroughly pagan, this one was the worst. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1935), 104.
· Antipas -
Show picture of where he might have been executed.
3) Jesus also sees where I’ve FALLEN SHORT.
“14But 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 that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” (Revelation 2:14–15, ESV)
· Teaching of Balaam
Now, the Lord says, the church in Pergamum has some members that are holding to the same teaching and are running to the idol feasts and the fornication practiced in the pagan temples in order to gain immunity and pagan favor for themselves.
The two aorist infinitives express actuality. This eating and this fornicating also go together. It was so in the case of the sons of Israel; it is so in the case of these members in Pergamum who were repeating Israel’s folly. - R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1935), 107.
· Nicolaitans -
4) I must REPENT to escape judgement.
“16Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Revelation 2:16, ESV)
· Repent -
Strong’s Concordance:
Meaning: I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent.
Word Origin: From the Greek words "meta" (meaning "after" or "beyond") and "noeo" (meaning "to think" or "to perceive"), thus implying a change of mind or heart.
· Make war
“31Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.” (Luke 14:31–32, ESV)
5) Jesus gives the conqueror INDIVIDUALIZED rewards.
“17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, 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.’” (Revelation 2:17, ESV)
· Hidden manna -
Trench, Epistles to the Seven Churches: “There can, I think, be no doubt that allusion is here made to the manna which, at God’s express command, Moses caused to be laid up before the Lord in the Sanctuary, Exod. 16:32–34; cf., Heb. 9:4. This manna, as being thus laid up, obtained the name ‘hidden.’ … This ‘hidden manna’ … represents a benefit pertaining to the future kingdom of glory.”… All the statements regarding the heavenly joys are given in figurative language, and one of them is our eating and drinking there—note the feast in Matt. 8:11. The symbolism of the hidden manna is most appropriate here after the eating of things offered to idols in v. 14. In John 6:30, etc., Jesus calls himself (his flesh and blood… the manna, “bread from heaven,” to be eaten by faith. The fact that in John 6:49, etc., Jesus is “the living bread,” while in Revelation “the hidden manna” indicates the heavenly bliss, causes no difficulty. - R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1935), 109.
· White stone, secret name -
“16He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);” (Mark 3:16–17, ESV)
Ψῆφος = pebble; the adjective “white” may well imply that a diamond is referred to. “A new name having been written” on this stone, ὄνομα καινόν, means a name “new” as replacing one that is old, the perfect participle indicating that, once written, this name remains. The remarkable thing is that no one knows this name save the person who receives the pebble. We think that those are correct who take this name to be the name for the person who receives the pebble and not a secret name of God or of Christ. - R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1935), 110.
