Pergamum

The third church is Pergamum. The salutation is a reminder that the power of Jesus' words are like a two-edged sword. They are powerful. They can cut through all darkness, ignorance, lies, deception, and false philosophies. 

He assures the church, that he is aware of their situation. They live in a wicked place. Satan rules in that place. So, all sorts of evil is happening. But he commends them for remaining faithful. They did not cave into the surrounding culture, and lifestyle.

But there is a particular wrong that some are following. Some hold the teaching of Balaam. Many think that this is an encouragement to compromise God's standards. Some are saying that stuff some people believe, and do, is not really that bad. We should ignore those things, so we can all get along. We see in the book of Judges, that Israel developed this attitude in a lot of ways. And bad things resulted from it. Israel did not develop into the kind of people God wanted them to be. They did not represent him well. And they suffered for it.

Many people today have not paid attention to God's word. They have accepted current political thinking as more important than God's word. So, they do not put God, or his mission, or his values, or a lifestyle that is derived from those things, first. That's why he reminds us of the power of his word in the salutation.

He urges repentance. To return to wholehearted obedience, and faithfulness, to God's word. There will be a judgment against those who are not faithful to what God has revealed.

The overcomer, the one who remains faithful, and obedient, to what God has revealed, will be fed, and supplied for, by God's grace. And he will give each one a new identity. They will be transformed. The transformation will be hidden, because it will be developed between God and the person.