Revelation 2:12-17 | “You Hold Fast My Name” [ Dear Church ]
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· 11 views“’I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” - Revelation 2:13 (NASB 95) Sunday, February 18, 2024. Revelation 2:12-17 | "You Hold Fast My Name.” Preached to Heritage Bible Chapel in Princeton, MA. This sermon is part of a series of expository sermons through Revelation.
Notes
Transcript
I. The Reading
I. The Reading
A reading from Revelation 2:12-17, reading from the NASB 95 translation of the Bible.
This is God’s Word:
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
II. The Exhortation
II. The Exhortation
The exhortation of this text is given with one word.
It is the word in verse 16 — “Repent.”
Revelation 2:16 (NASB 95)
16 Therefore repent…
This is the application, the action point, the intended result of this message of Scripture —
One word for the church: “repent.”
The Lord Jesus is speaking this word to His Church in Pergamum.
Which means He is speaking to people who are saved, who are Christians.
But their identity as Christians in a covenant community of faith does not make them immune from error.
When the Church is in error the Lord of the Church corrects her.
So the Lord Jesus speaks with loving force.
He is not speaking a suggestion to His Church when He says “repent,” but He is speaking a command. This is something they must do.
The church in Pergamum must repent so that they will overcome.
To “repent” fundamentally means to have a change of thought, a change of attitude, and ultimately, a change in one’s way of life (see LN).
So what then, is the Lord’s church in Pergamum commanded to repent from?
What are they doing that is displeasing to their Lord?
What are they doing that is wrong and cannot continue?
What does the Lord command them to change?
The Lord would have them change what they are holding on to.
In the same way, the Word of God would have us consider today: what we are holding on to?
Everyone, take a look at your hands and think about holding on to something.
That’s the imagery here.
Jesus praises HIs Church in verse 13 saying:
Revelation 2:13 (NASB 95)
13 … you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith …
That’s a good thing to hold on to! “My name.”
The church held fast the name of Jesus and kept the faith even as that faith was put to the test in a very difficult location and context.
They held fast.
To hold fast means to hold securely.
Our hands begin to turn white as we grip something tightly and we do not let go.
While the church in Pergamum held fast the name of Jesus, which was praiseworthy, their error was that they were also at the same time, holding something else — false teaching.
Verse 14 —
Revelation 2:14 (NASB 95)
14 ‘…you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam…
and Verse 15 —
Revelation 2:15 (NASB 95)
15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
There was an inconsistency in what they were holding.
Holding tightly to what is good with one hand, they saw no problem holding tightly to what was evil in the other.
The church in Pergamum allowed false teaching in their midst that was contrary to the truth and the faith they they held tightly in Jesus’ name.
Let me ask us this question:
Are we blameless in all we are holding on to?
Surely the church in Pergamum thought that they were doing well.
But Jesus thought otherwise.
They had a rock solid statement of faith and identity. They endured.
But they compromised the faith because of what they allowed.
Brothers and sisters, it matters not what we think of ourselves.
What matters only, is what Jesus, our Lord thinks of us.
We can do a lot of things right, and we can do a lot of good in the name of Jesus.
But to hold on to evil at the same time, and to not let it go, is to compromise our testimony, our witness, our purity, and our power.
It is all too easy for us to be tempted by the pressures around and outside of us to become lax within, with our disciplines, and to compromise godliness where we must not.
We are tempted to think “this won’t happen to us…”
But consider this —
What if, in order to work at your job, to make your living, you have to sign an agreement that says you affirm things that are contrary to your faith in Jesus?
Will you sign on to that belief in public, so that you can keep your job, your livelihood, your income?
What about the subscription services we pay for so that we may be entertained?
In order to get the one good song, the one movie, or the one show, we sign on and pay and support with our money all of the bad. — Is that okay?
Can we buy a cup of coffee, or merchandise at stores that publically support what is contrary to Christian faith and practice? — Should we?
These are real issues that we face. And the answer may not be so simple.
Why? Because as Christians, Jesus knows that we are in the world, and Jesus doesn’t ask that we be taken out of it.
We remain in the world, but must learn how to live in a way in the world that pleases God in it for God’s purposes.
In John 17:14-15, Jesus prays —
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
God has a purpose for Christians and for His Church in the world, such that He leaves us here, and gives us His Word and His Spirit to know how to live in a way that honors Him, without compromising with culture.
How do we know what to hold on to, and what to let go of?
I suggest, to help us with this teaching and application from this text, we consider our Lord Jesus, and how He is worth us holding on to.
III. The Teaching
III. The Teaching
A. Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding FIRST (12-13).
A. Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding FIRST (12-13).
Jesus is worthy of us holding FIRST.
I say “first” because we have to begin with Jesus.
There is no benefit to holding on to anything else, if we are not holding on to Jesus first.
The Scriptures support this with clarity, even in the beginning where we find God before Creation.
Matthew 6:33 says —
33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Jesus Christ must come first, meaning He is preeminent and before all things.
And in this text, Jesus DOES come first.
Jesus is worthy of us holding first —
1. Because of His COMMAND (12a).
1. Because of His COMMAND (12a).
Look with me at verse 12:
Revelation 2:12 (NASB 95)
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write …
The Lord Jesus commands a message to be written (2:12).
The Lord Jesus commands a message to be written (2:12).
This word, spoken to be written, originates with Jesus.
And so it is, that our posture is always to say first: “What saith the Lord?”
Jesus is worthy of us holding first, because of His command and —
2. Because of His CHARACTER (12b).
2. Because of His CHARACTER (12b).
Not only does God speak, but God speaks in agreement with His Own character, and God acts according to His Word and character.
This is why the Scriptures say there is no changing with God.
He can be trusted in what He says and in who He is and in what He does.
Revelation 2:12 (NASB 95)
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
The Lord Jesus characterizes himself as the speaker (2:12).
The Lord Jesus characterizes himself as the speaker (2:12).
And it is important how Jesus characterizes himself for the message that He is giving to this church in Pergamum.
Remember back to how Jesus is presented in Revelation 1:16, as John turns to see the voice speaking with him and falls to His feet like a dead man when John sees Him. It is written of Jesus:
16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
For the church in Pergamum, a focus is brought not on our Lord’s face shining like the sun, but on our Lord’s mouth, from which proceeds a sharp two-edged sword.
Because it is the teaching, what is proceeding out of the mouth of teachers in the midst of the Lord’s Church, allowed by the Lord’s Church that is in error.
And it is the teaching, that the Lord corrects.
This imagery of the sharp two-edged sword is imagery of the Word of God.
Hear what Hebrews 4:12 says —
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Likewise,
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Praise God for His soul piercing, heart discerning Word!
Just as nothing is hidden from His sight, so also no teaching is quieted in His ears.
Jesus is worthy of us holding first, because of His command: he speaks first…
And because of His character — WHO He is and what He does —
And also —
3. Because of His COMMENDATION (13).
3. Because of His COMMENDATION (13).
The highest aim and desire of our lives should be, as Christians, to please God.
To please God above all and before all though faith.
To hear His approving words say: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The Lord does not begin his message to the church in Pergamum with what they are doing wrong. He begins His message to them first, with what they are doing right.
In verse 13, the Lord says —
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
The Lord Jesus commends his church for faithfulness (2:13).
The Lord Jesus commends his church for faithfulness (2:13).
He says “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is…”
That’s quite a statement!
To the church in Smyrna (2:9), the Lord Jesus referenced a synagogue of Satan. A synagogue was a place of worship.
Satan is the accuser, the adversary.
And Satan somehow had a hold on the religion in the area of Smyrna — the synagogue of Satan.
But in Pergamum, the Lord Jesus says that is where Satan’s throne is!
Somehow, Satan had a hold on the government in Pergamum.
And by the way, Satan is not omnipresent like God. Satan himself cannot be in multiple places at once.
The Lord was, and is, well aware of where Satan is, and where his throne is.
Satan’s throne was in Pergamum.
And to the church, the Lord did not say “Run!” Get out of Pergamum! Leave!
Nowhere does He say that to them in this text, nor is it even implied (see Webster, FTL).
Rather they are to stay right where God has them, for the purposes God has them there.
Vance Havner sympathizes with many saints, who are living in homes where it is not easy to be a Christian. There are faithful believers who live with unbelievers. In workplaces - there are faithful believers who must work where they hear men and women blaspheme God all day long…. (Havner, ROE, 40).
And while the temptation as Christians is to get out and leave — that may not be God’s intent.
The book of Revelation is not about leaving, but enduring. Staying. Remaining. Being faithful to the end. That is possible, that is necessary, for us as faithful Christians.
This throne of Satan may speak to how Satan had a stronghold in government, and how he was influencing the persecution of Christians by means of laws and leaders — emperors who desired worship as gods.
Think back in Daniel’s time, when King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high, set it up on the plain of Dura in Babylon, and sent word with this command:
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,
5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
6 But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”
There are real, and devastating consequences when Satan has control of government.
Your choice as a Christian is to worship an idol…or die.
Trade guilds were popular in Rome. And each trade worshiped its respective god (or idol). And the trades would gather together for feasts as worship to those idols.
What was the Christian to do?
To go to the feast would make him an idol worshiper. But to not go to the feast, would be to lose his work and livelihood — or even his life. (source: commentaries, various).
These were difficult times. The Lord Jesus says:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
Antipas is the only other disciple mentioned by name in Revelation, and Antipas was martyred.
He gave His life for the cause of Christ, for His name, for His faithfulness.
Brothers and sisters, we are not guaranteed a preserved earthly life.
We may find ourselves facing death for the sake of Christ.
Hold fast. Be faithful. Do not deny His faith.
Satan can establish strongholds in government. Let us not be so deceived into thinking he cannot do that with our own governments.
Satan establishes strongholds where he is given opportunity to do so. Where the Word of God is not being applied.
Notice the language of this text says “My faith” — not our faith.
It is not our faith, but His faith that we live and die for.
It is the Word and Witness — the Command and Character of our Lord that is at stake.
Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding FIRST.
For He says “I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev 1:8). He is the first and the last.
Also —
B. Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding FAST (14-16).
B. Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding FAST (14-16).
Again, that word “fast” speaks to how we hold something. We hold it tightly and securely. And as we hold Jesus, we must cling tightly. For there will be many reasons thrown our way to let loose and to let go.
Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding Fast —
1. Because of His CONFRONTATION (14-15).
1. Because of His CONFRONTATION (14-15).
Jesus does not give up on His Church!
After Jesus commends His Church, He confronts his Church.
Look with me at Revelation 2:14-15 —
14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The Lord Jesus confronts his church for errors (2:14-15).
The Lord Jesus confronts his church for errors (2:14-15).
Two errors are mentioned.
Some in the church hold the teaching of Balaam.
Some in the church also hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Notice that in a context, in a location where the Christians should be able to point the finger of fault out “there” — where Satan’s throne is, where Satan dwells….
This text does not permit that, and instead the Spirit guides the finger of fault to in “here.”
It is an error WITHIN the church.
It is an error of teaching.
The story of Balaam may be found in Numbers, beginning in Chapter 22 and following.
Two people are noted in that story: Balak, who is a king of Moab, an enemy of Israel, and Balaam who is some kind of prophet.
Balak wanted the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, and offered him money and reward to do it.
And Balaam couldn’t curse Israel, because God wouldn’t let him. Three times Balaam tried to curse Israel, and three times Balaam could only bless Israel.
So when that didn’t work, Balaam was able to instruct Balak, the Moabite king, how to bring God’s curse on Israel.
Do you remember the covenant promises God made with Israel?
Do you remember that if they obeyed God’s Word, they would be blessed?
But if they disobeyed God’s Word, they would be cursed?
Balaam knew that, and Balaam taught Balak that.
If Balak would put before Israel beautiful Moabite women, then the sons of Israel would take those women for their wives, marry them, and ultimately…worship the gods of Moab. . .
And that is exactly what happened. And Israel gave themselves over to sexual immorality, and to the worship of Moab’s false gods, by eating food sacrificed to idols.
These two sins go together — sexual immorality and idolatry.
Mark this — these two sins are related!
Beware of sexual immorality, for it is not just your purity that is at stake, it is also your heart and your God!
Did not Solomon, the wisest man, also fall in the same way, by worshiping in his later years the gods of his many hundreds of wives, that led his heart away from the true, living God?
Balaam’s teaching led to action as all teaching does….
And that especially is the danger of false teaching.
It’s not that we hear false teaching and have a debate in our minds and it stays there.
It’s that teaching has a way of affecting our wills. The heart. The feet…And if we are not intaking the truth, we’ll go off into error.
The teaching of Balaam contributed to Israel thinking that they were God’s chosen people, so they could live and do as they please without consequence (Havner).
And they were so wrong! God killed 24,000 in Israel for this sin.
The teaching of Balaam contributed to Israel conforming and compromising to the worlds standards.
Steve Lawson says: “The teaching of Balaam is to compromise with the world. It is the mixing of holy things with unholy things. It is having one foot in the church and one in the world. Trying to play both ends into the middle.” (Lawsom, FC, 120).
And so we must ask ourselves, is the teaching of Balaam so foreign to us today?
May God protect His Church from the stumblingblocks of Balaam!
Verse 15 adds another false teaching —
15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The Nicolaitans, whom the Lord hates, appear again — how destructive they must have been!
They taught a similar heresy — that those who fear God can live however they wish without consequence.
And in Pergamum, the false Nicolaitan teachers were not found in the world, but alongside the Balaamites, WITHIN the church.
And the church tolerated this. The church held on to this. The church did not let this go!
Vance Havner identifies this problem as “laxity.” (Havner, ROE, 41) …
He says — “It is the sin of laxity, allowing a condition to exist that should be corrected. We sin when we tolerate what God condemns and look some other way instead of dealing with it.
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil…” — not tolerate it. We are to abhor that which is evil, not put up with it. We are to abstain from every appearance of evil, not give it a chance to grow...
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump….
(Havner, ROE, 44).
Consider how pragmatism infiltrates the minds of the church today.
We think: “Let’s do what works — even it the methods are a bit contrary to what God says.
That bad teaching.
What works doesn’t work, if it is not what God said!
We have to constantly allow the Word and Spirit to renew our minds lest we give in to Balaam and the Nicolaitans even in our day.
Jesus is worth us holding fast — because of His confrontation.
We should be deeply concerned if Jesus let His church continue on in error.
That would mean he did not love His church. That would mean He was not committed to His church enduring.
It is at this juncture that we must turn our thoughts to the cross.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Look how Jesus loved so much, that He confronted our sin, our death, our grave Himself, on our behalf, on the cross!
The cross reveals how committed Jesus is to His Church! Such that He died the death He did not owe, for sinners such as us.
The Law of God says of idolatry:
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
I ask us all, in the presence of the Holy Spirit— if God were to judge you by this standard, would you be found innocent or guilty before Him of idolatry?
Have you placed anything else above God and before God?
The Law of God also says:
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
and
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
I ask us all, in the presence of the Holy Spirit— if God were to judge you by this standard, would you be found innocent or guilty before Him of immorality? Of adultery? Of coveting?
Have you looked with lust at another? Have you coveted what is not yours?
If so, by your own admission, the Bible says you are a an idolater, an adulterer, and a coveter in heart. And on the day of judgment, based on God’s standard, you are guilty and condemned.
May I share with you, that if your heart is broken in view of this truth — that Jesus died on the cross for you: an idolatrous, adulterous, coveter…for you…
He paid for that sin with His own life. He was buried in the grave. And He was raised to life to demonstrate the righteousness of God, and He lives forever — and by faith in His name Jesus will wash you clean from all your sin.
And because of this great gospel,
Jesus is worthy of us holding fast, because of His confrontation, and also —
2. Because of His CAUTION (16).
2. Because of His CAUTION (16).
It is because Jesus is alive — because He has paid the debt for sin — because He has freed us from enslavement of sin — that —
The Lord Jesus cautions his church to repent (2:16).
The Lord Jesus cautions his church to repent (2:16).
Look with me at verse 16:
16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Being saved does not exempt Christians from repentance (S.Park, NTT Notes).
We repent once from sin when we turn to Jesus, and we repent daily as we live for Jesus.
Five of the Seven churches in Revelation are commanded to repent.
Who is Jesus commanding to repent?
Is it the false teachers? Surprisingly, NO!
We would expect Jesus to command the false teachers to repent, but that’s not who he’s talking to.
He’s talking to the church.
Watch the language closely:
Revelation 2:16 (NASB 95)
16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
If the church will not rid themselves of these false teachers and false teaching, Jesus Himself will do it quickly.
Because again — it is not just the teaching, but the fruit of that teaching that is causing destruction.
Think of Antipas and his sacrifice and martyrdom for Jesus. What is that testimony worth, when the church lives like the world?
Jesus will not allow such evil to stand in the midst of His bride. He will defeat the lies with overwhelming truth in action!
The desire is for repentance — and repentance means action. The church is commanded to act - and act quickly!
Isn’t that how false teaching takes hold?
When it is not addressed swiftly, it grows…
Jesus is Worthy of us holding First.
Jesus is Worthy of us holding Fast.
Also —
C. Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding LAST (17).
C. Jesus is Worthy of Us Holding LAST (17).
Jesus is worth persevering and enduring for.
He is worthy, again,
1. Because of His COMMAND (17a).
1. Because of His COMMAND (17a).
Revelation 2:17 (NASB 95)
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…
The Lord Jesus commands his church to hear (2:17).
The Lord Jesus commands his church to hear (2:17).
Let’s not take this phrase too lightly.
For hearing what we struggle with is a hard thing. Because we are tempted to think God’s Word doesn’t apply to “me.” So we disregard it.
I hope this text concerns us enough to hear what the Spirit says to the churches…
This message is for us!
“He who has an ear let him hear….” has its root in OT prophecy, where blindness and deafness signify rebellion and judgment (Park, NTT, Notes).
Hear…with humility.
Hear…with concern.
Hear…being prepared to act in obedience and faith.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We must be on guard for ourselves.
G.Campbell Morgan says this in summary of this text:
“The central lesson of the study is a very solemn one. The Church of Jesus Christ must not tolerate within her borders those who lower the standard of truth’s requirements. This is not a question of holding the truth. The church at Pergamum was orthodox. It is a question of the right application of truth.
The error of these men is one that in subtle form, threatens all churches even until this hour. It is that if a man’s creed be right, his conduct does not so much matter. Truth never excuses sin. All forms of sin are to be treated with ruthless and pitiless severity, and if a man holding any form of teaching should attempt to excuse sin, he is to be excluded from the fellowship of the saints…The test of doctrine is purity of conduct and character.” (G.Campbell Morgan, The Letters of Our Lord, p.55).
We should expect that the world, and non believers, will disagree with our doctrine. But we also should expect they will respect at least, our consistency.
If we as Christians hear the truth and obey the truth, that is a powerful witness, especially when the time comes that we may die for the truth.
Jesus is Worthy of Us holding Last,
Because of His Command, and —
2. Because of His COMFORT (17b).
2. Because of His COMFORT (17b).
The Lord Jesus comforts his church with a promise (2:17).
The Lord Jesus comforts his church with a promise (2:17).
The Spirit ends this message with assurance that is comforting for all who hear (and obey).
Look at the end of verse 17:
Revelation 2:17 (NASB 95)
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
To him who overcomes, Jesus will give hidden manna —
Christians may lose their job or lives because they will not eat food sacrificed to idols, but their sustenance is and remains in heaven — hidden manna.
To him who overcomes, Jesus will give a white stone.
The meaning of this white stone is unknown to us, but the color “white” is used in revelation as a color referencing Heaven (Barclay).
Whatever this stone is, it is something heavenly.
To him who overcomes, Jesus will give a new name, written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.
This once again points to heaven and glory, our future hope. A new name for the new heavens and the new earth, for the new Jerusalem.
A new name was often a sign of a promise and that something was made new.
This new name is promised, and God has made and is making new.
Adrian Rogers said this:
“The difference between the Antichrist and Christ is that one gives you a number and the other gives you a name. When Jesus comes, will your name be called or will your number be up?” - Adrian Rogers
(The Adrian Rogers Legacy Bible, Apply to Rev 2:17, p.1417).
Brothers and sisters, if we are faithful, if we overcome, if we hold fast to Jesus’ name — we will discover in the last day what we believed by faith all along —
We will discover that all the while, we were holding first and holding fast and holding last to Jesus, it was Jesus who was holding fast to us, and we will receive the reward of all rewards — when we see Jesus face to face.