As always, I want to say for those
looking for audio versions of this
teaching in which the graciousness and mercy and enthusiasm of the Lord
are
reflected in the tone of the vessel (brother) ministering, please refer
to
Deoram Bholan's audio CDs available through www.thechange.org.
Thanks.
Sincerely, Peter Van Breemen
Letters
to the seven churches, part
3
PERGAMOS
The
third letter was unto the church at
Pergamos. This church
represents that period
in church history following the establishment
of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, early in
the fourth century A.D. It represents the period of great
spiritual decline, and
the ascendancy of man controlled apostasy. Since this was a gradual
process, there
were still many who held fast to the faith and did not deny the Lord's Name. But
others became so engrossed in counterfeit
forms of church life that the very seat of Satan became entrenched within the
growing church structure. Thus it was a period of
increasing contrasts and
conflicts. And
so, the Lord spoke:
"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 Antitpas was
My
faithful martyr, who was slain among you,
where Satan dwelleth."
Revelation
2:13
"Antipas"
is representative of all
those who remained faithful
and resisted the encroaching apostasy of that period. The fact that he
was
slain speaks of the power of entrenched authority
to 'kill out' the resistance of those who
continued to stand
for pure and unadulterated Christianity.
The
ability of Satan to so rapidly establish
his 'seat of power'
within the organized
church structure was a direct result
of the
church-state marriage. Such a union constituted spiritual adultery and
unfaithfulness to the Lord. Therefore, the Lord withdrew His favor
rapidly. He expressed
His disfavor
in these words;
"But
I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there
them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balak
to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to
eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to
commit fornication."
Revelation
2:14
Balaam
was a true prophet who was corrupted
by desire for
material gain.
Therefore, he promoted compromise with heathen
religious practices in order to secure what he
wanted. Balaam
therefore becomes a
type of ambitious leaders who increasingly caused the people to
"sacrifice
unto idols" by introducing
many pagan beliefs and practices. By leading the
people into further 'fornication' with the state,
they caused
the 'arm of flesh'
to arise in strength and dominate the affairs of the church.
Not
only did the "doctrine of
Balaam" become firmly entrenched
during this period; the "doctrine of the Nicolaitans"
also increased rapidly. And thus the
"deeds of the
Nicolaitans" among a few in the Apostolic period of the church became,
in
the Pergamos period, an established doctrine.
Increasingly the ministries took on sacerdotal importance, becoming
fashioned
after the priesthood of the pagan religions. This put more and more
power into
the hands of fewer,
as a hierarchy of
authority began to grow. Thus the ground-work was being laid for
complete
carnal usurpation of the Lord's spiritual authority, and
the bringing
about of a counterfeit
form of
Christianity, the nadir of which would be reached in the next period of
church history.
But
for those who would hear what the Spirit
was saying to
the church, the Lord
spoke a word:
"To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will
give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new
name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
Revelation
2:17
The
overcomers are always privileged to "eat" of that which is not available to
the many, for they draw
on God's grace to rise above the carnal tendencies which
continually draw
most of people into various compromise
positions in their Christian life. The hidden manna was
that which was placed
in a container and deposited in the Ark of
Testimony as a memorial of the Lord sustaining the people
of Israel in the
wilderness. It was hidden within the Ark. The
Ark was a type
of Jesus Christ in
His incarnation and glorification. He is
ready to reveal His hidden mysteries to those who are ready to receive (See Matt. 13:11).
The apostle Paul spoke of this when he said, "in whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge"
(Col. 2:3). By the Spirit of revelation
the Lord gives
those who are hungry to eat of the precious
truths of the
living Word. To the
overcomer was also promised a "white
stone with a new name
written."
The "white stone" is a token of a course finished and a
race
won; it constituted the prize, in ancient
times, for those who were victorious. The "new name written" on the stone is
symbolic of the new
realm of glory which will be inherited by those who attain unto the
prize of
the high calling (see Phil. 3:14).The whiteness of the stone indicates
that purity of life which marks those who will enter that realm where they will
see the Lord and be in
fellowship with
Him. It
is symbolized elsewhere as
being clothed
in white (Rev. 3:4-5, 7:9, 19:14).
Because
of the increasing apostates of the
Pergamos era, the
Lord's words were spoken as a sharp sword with two edges (Rev.
2:12). His
command was to repent; "or else I
will come unto
thee quickly, and will
fight against them with the sword of My mouth"
(Rev. 2:16). He
did this by raising up many faithful servants
who denounced the false teachings
and practices of a
power-hungry clergy who were increasingly making merchandise
of the people to further their own
ends. By the time
this era of the church came to a close, the darkness which almost
totally eclipsed the light of Truth had
engulfed the Christian
world. For several hundreds of years there would be
only slight glimmers of light among small groups of faithful followers here and there.
Truly the night had
come when no man could work effectively (Jn.
9:4-5).