On Tuesdays, I remember that God is my Judge.

12"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has(A) the sharp two-edged sword.

13"'I know where you dwell,(B) where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not(C) deny my faith[a] even in the days of Antipas(D) my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of(E) Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might(F) eat food sacrificed to idols and(G) practice sexual immorality. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of(H) the Nicolaitans. 16Therefore repent. If not,(I) I will come to you soon and(J) war against them with(K) the sword of my mouth. 17(L) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.(M) To the one who conquers I will give some of(N) the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with(O) a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'” (Revelation 2:12-17)

I am going through the judgments Jesus makes on the seven churches in Revelation. In this passage, I see a few things:

1. Some churches may live amongst considerable evil and temptation.

2. Some among us may be seduced by appealing aspects of evil.

3. We are to resist that evil and recognize the power of Satan behind it. If we fall, we must repent.

In Center city, we are surrounded by evil. We have temptations all around us. If we are not careful, we can easily be tempted to turn our affections from Jesus and each other. We can become cynical, disengaged, or wholly committed to pursuits that replace Jesus in our hearts and minds. The warning here is to be careful and resist. Jesus has a great reward for us, both now, and in the future.

-- Charlie