Reflections on Revelation #50

Day 50

“Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, 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 except the one who receives it.” Rev 2:16-17 NASB

The church at Pergamum is drifting into compromise, not rushing in intentionally. People don’t just get up one morning and decide to give up their relationship with God or become totally secular. When Christians become secular, it is because they allowed themselves to gradually drift into it. Perhaps they are not praying, or wrestling in private prayer, as much as they used to. Maybe they are just not reading the Bible and other spiritual books the way they used to. The drift into secularism is gradual.

The problem is that compromise is rarely offensive. People slip into it without even realizing it. Compromise tends to be popular; it makes everybody happy and offends no one. But it offends God. I should probably qualify that last statement. There is a difference between conciliation and compromise. Conciliation is a good thing. The results of compromise, on the other hand, are not spiritually healthy.

With compromise comes lower personal standards. People don’t naturally drift upstream, the natural drift in any church is downstream toward a lower standard and a lesser clarity in doctrine. Unless people are willing to swim against the tide through vigorous application of Scripture, a church will inevitably move to lower standards, like Pergamum did.

What is Jesus’ solution to compromise? He leaves us in no doubt. REPENT! The Greek form of the word implies that repentance is something they need to start. The Pergamenes evidently don’t think they need to repent, but Jesus insists that the wrong kind of tolerance requires repentance. If they won’t confront the people who are destroying the church, He will come and “make war with them by means of the sword of His mouth.”

The remedy for a compromising spirit is, first of all, a firm decision. To repent is to make a total turn in your life, to renew spiritual disciplines. To repent means to stop drifting along and doing what feels good or what comes naturally. To repent is to become intentional in what you do spiritually. To make time in your life for the things God would have you to do, such as meditation, study and sharing your faith.

No matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, it’s not too late to turn things around.

1 Comment
  • Henny Vanderpol
    Posted at 08:54h, 22 February Reply

    Thank you for that message Ross. It is always good to stop and take stock, “Am I doing what God wants me to do?” Your explanation makes it clear, we are like the people of the first seven churches. We make the same mistakes. We have to be alert, the devil likes to steal, kill and destroy and he does that in a sneaky way. To stay alert is to focus on Jesus in His Word, in conversations and I community of followers

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