PERGAMOS The Commendation Revelation 2v13.
"I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast My Name, and hast not denied My Faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth".
The word "church" is ekklesia which means "called out". We have been called by God out of a fallen world, which is under His judgment. God's people, from the beginning, have been a "called out people"; from the time of Abraham (Genesis 12v1-3), called by God out of idolatry, called out of the nations to the present day we have been pilgrims. Abraham was the first to be called "the Hebrew." This word means "passing through." Jesus said to His disciples "you are not of this world even as I am not of this world." (John 17v14) Paul said we are an embassy in a foreign land (2nd Corinthians 5v20) He said "our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." He gives the perspective of this in 1st Corinthians 5 when he says that the one who was to be put away for serious moral error, was " to be delivered unto Satan ." (1st Corinthians 5v5). In other words everything outside the church is the domain of Satan.
We are not of this world, but we have to live in it and we have to preach God's message to the world, and it all gets very difficult because the world is, at worst, anti-God, at best, indifferent. Our lifestyle and the principles of what we believe must be different to a satanically- inspired world. Therefore the pressure to compromise is very strong. To live spiritually in a secular world is far from easy, and requires qualities of endurance beyond what we have in ourselves. In today's pagan culture the pressure is on us, at schools and universities, in the workplace and in offices, to conform to the ways of the world. This situation was even more pronounced in the case of the saints at Pergamos, and he gives them wonderful commendation. He says to them "you are holding fast My name, you have not denied My faith." This may seem rather basic to any church situation, but in the very place where Satan was visibly in control, this was an amazing commendation.
When the Lord Jesus Christ will assess the faithfulness of His people, He takes into account not only what they did, but when they did it. To hold fast His name and not to deny His faith in a place like this must have been courage and loyalty of the highest order. What does it mean to hold fast His name? Much is made of this kind of statement today, when people talk of "being gathered to his name." Is it just placing His name above the entrance door to our churches or above the preacher's head in the pulpit? Is it to hold a form of service that is different to another church round the corner? This is what it has come to mean in the spiritually tepid climate of the present day. It meant testifying by their lips, and living by their lives all that His name means. In (Ephesians 1v19-21) Paul said that Jesus had received name which was above every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come." He also said "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth (Philippians 2v10) In a city which gave reverence to heavenly names and earthly names, these people presented the name of Christ without a rival. In Psalm 23 it says " He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." The reputation of Christ in this world depends upon His people walking in paths of righteousness. The modern day divisions and schisms in the Christian church tarnish the reputation of the name of our Lord. (1st Corinthians 1v10) For them to hold fast His name meant real sacrifice, real courage, real living and real unity. Additionally He says "you have not denied My faith." The word means "contradicted" Is my life a contradiction of the faith of Christ or do I by my deeds and doctrines "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour?"
The extent to which they were faithful to Christ in a pagan world took place even in the days when one of their number was martyred for his faith, possibly before their very eyes. We have seen similar courage today when a number of Egyptians saints were publicly beheaded in Libya by the servants of Satan. They were publicly asked to recant their faith, by just uttering one word "Allah". Each one of them uttered one word "Yeshua" which means Jesus and they were martyred. Many of us become discouraged when we get a wrong look from people, or we are not accepted in a clique, or when ill health comes, or we suffer financial loss, these held fast and kept the faith in the face of the threat of death. Let us search ourselves as to where we are in our faith in Christ. There is a clamour in the world today to accept "multi- faiths". Plurality is a doctrine of demons disguised in the cloak of "tolerance"; that is tolerance, of course, of every religion except the one which says the truth, that there is only one way to heaven, there is only one Saviour of mankind.
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