#37 On the Nature of God: Revelations from Revelation: Pergamum

What grades did you make when you were in school? Were you ever satisfied with a C or D when your parents were unhappy that you didn’t make a higher grade? (I can almost hear them now, “You are capable of doing better. I know you can.”) In other words, they thought that a C or D was not good enough when you could do much better.

The church at Pergamum was something like that, Revelation 2:13-16:

“‘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. But 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. So also, you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.”

The Pergamum church seems to have decided that all was well if they continued as they were. They had been faithful and not denied the name of Jesus even in a period of bitter persecution that resulted in a member being killed. They might have thought that they were surely doing good enough. Not so. Jesus said that they were capable of doing better.

To humans, things might have looked okay. The main problem was that there were a few that had taught false doctrine and had not been corrected by the majority. Some taught that you could eat food offered to idols and practice sexual immorality; no doubt with temple prostitutes. The church even allowed some to teach the erroneous and sinful doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Some must have thought that everything would be alright even though these errors were being tolerated. Jesus did not. It is the nature of God to oppose error whenever it is taught.

The solution was straightforward: Repent or have Jesus oppose them with the sword of His mouth. This unrepentant situation would surely remove Pergamum from the roll of faithful Churches.

It is the nature of God to provide the proper medicine to remedy this spiritual malady: They needed to identify those who were teaching error and get it stopped.

The nature of God is to know about His churches and urge them through the written word to repent of error and begin again to teach and practice the truth.

The lesson to us is straightforward: Oppose error that’s being taught, and repent of any wrong teaching that we have done.

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