Revelation 2:12-17

Editor’s Note: You’ll want to read Part 1 before you dig into this!

The Battle Plan: We must repent.

But what if we did? What if we camouflaged compromise in excuses and rationales, but now we see it for what it really is: a stronghold of Satan right in the middle of our lives? What do we do now? Fortunately for us, that is exactly what happened in Pergamum. No, it was not fortunate that they compromised. Rather, it is fortunate that we now have the advantage of being able to look back and see how they addressed it.

Indeed, the saints at Pergamum had compromised. Jesus had called them down on the carpet with “I have a few things against you,” and starting in verse 16, he outlined the battle plan so that they could engage and destroy the stronghold of compromise. Fortunately, the plan is quite simple, at least on paper. Unfortunately, it is a whole lot harder to actually do.

Jesus’ battle plan is summed up in the first two words of verse 16: “Therefore repent!” Indeed, if we have compromised, the only effective solution is a simple, one-step, frontal assault. Plain and simple, we must repent!

This notion of repentance is, of course, familiar. It was key to the strategy against the complacency Jesus saw at Ephesus. To ensure that we are on the same page, though, a quick refresher may be in order. Repentance starts with grief and shame over the stuff we have done, the way things are right now, and the direction that we are presently moving. Real repentance then involves a complete turnaround and setting out in the opposite direction. In other words, to repent is to stop doing the stuff that we know is wrong and start doing stuff that we know is right.

Of course, if we do that, people will think we are weird. Perhaps they will make fun of us or even beat us up. Our coworkers will no longer respect us, and whatever will we tell our boyfriends? These thoughts (fears) and more are exactly why it is so difficult to dislodge the stronghold of compromise from our lives. In fact, you may experience worse things! After all, in Pergamum, Antipas was killed when he refused to compromise! Then again, if compromise was not so well fortified and heavily defended – that is, if it was easy to overcome – it would not be a stronghold. We must not expect compromise to simply surrender because, although its commanding officer, Satan himself, was beaten two thousand years ago by an open and empty tomb, he will not surrender until the Last Day when he is shackled and thrown, kicking and screaming, once and for all, into the pit!

So no, it is not going to be easy to repent and expel compromise from our lives, but that is no excuse to continue as is. In the rest of verses 16 and 17, Jesus explains why it is so important: “Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” It was, of course, another reference to the broadsword of Revelation 1:16. Such a weapon could be wielded by an expert swordsman to make extremely slow, precise cuts such as that required to separate the sin from the good and eliminate the compromise when we repent. On the other hand, if we choose to not repent, Jesus promises to come quickly and use that sword to fight against us, and in a fight, you do not use a broadsword to make slow and precise cuts! No, in a fight, you swing a sword with speed and strength and so inflict a devastating blow to your enemy. Jesus, then, is saying that, if we do not repent, he will consider us his enemies and use his sword, the Word of God, to destroy us!