Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Repentance is commanded to the angel of the church in Pergamos as part of the last testimony given to John to write the things seen and to come, delivered as message after message to the churches, standing together with the messages to Ephesus, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. As one of the messages to the churches in Asia, it portrays the state of things existing in the churches of the religious world today. The names of the churches are symbolic of the Christian church in different periods of the Christian Era, and the number seven indicates completeness, so the messages extend to the end of time and are in force today. The figures used are symbolic of the state of professed people, with wheat developing among tares and truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error.
The verse is Christ's command to repent, with the warning that if repentance is refused He will come quickly and fight against those who persist in wrongdoing by means of the sword of His mouth. That sword is words of truth, sharper than a two-edged sword, spoken by faithful witnesses. Those words will lead many to become true converts and will be proclaimed as the world's final test. They stand against false claimants who blaspheme and follow seducing spirits as part of Satan's synagogue.
The warning shows compassion and long-suffering toward the erring, for God bears long with perversity while patiently and lovingly pointing out errors and pleading for a return to Him. If repeated invitations of mercy are refused and a self-chosen way is continued, He speaks more plainly and sends judgments to lead to repentance and forsaking of sins. The threat of a swift coming and opposition by His word is that plainer speaking and judgment. It reveals a close supervision of every individual, for Christ weighs character and knows the thoughts and intents of the heart and every word and act, knowing all about each person's religious experience and whom each loves and serves, so there is need of close self-examination.
The verse applies in the time when everything that can be shaken is shaken so that only what cannot be shaken remains, when every case is coming in review before God as He measures the temple and the worshipers therein. The one who hears what the Spirit says to the churches and overcomes will be given hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written in it that no one knows except the one who receives it. It gives an earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, confronting indifference to the foretold signs and presenting evidence that the end of the world is right upon us. It calls to advance and receive the grace of God so its effect is saving day by day, with watchfulness and prayer in faith bringing rich and precious blessing through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The verse belongs to the warning in the second chapter of Revelation that must be heeded to understand what it means to lose first love. It calls for seeking the Lord with all the heart, giving due respect to those who have borne the burden in the heat of the day, loving God supremely and neighbor as self, and humbling the heart before God. So truth prospers and goes forth as a burning lamp and it is seen to be safe to work with and for His people. In its setting the warning calls for Satan to be cast out and for wrongs to be named plainly. It confronts selfishness that leaves destitute fields unworked by calling for earnest effort to put workers into those fields.
Repentance is commanded to the angel of the church in Pergamos as part of the last testimony given to John to write the things seen and to come, delivered as message after message to the churches, standing together with the messages to Ephesus, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. As one of the messages to the churches in Asia, it portrays the state of things existing in the churches of the religious world today. The names of the churches are symbolic of the Christian church in different periods of the Christian Era, and the number seven indicates completeness, so the messages extend to the end of time and are in force today. The figures used are symbolic of the state of professed people, with wheat developing among tares and truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error.
The verse is Christ's command to repent, with the warning that if repentance is refused He will come quickly and fight against those who persist in wrongdoing by means of the sword of His mouth. That sword is words of truth, sharper than a two-edged sword, spoken by faithful witnesses. Those words will lead many to become true converts and will be proclaimed as the world's final test. They stand against false claimants who blaspheme and follow seducing spirits as part of Satan's synagogue.
The warning shows compassion and long-suffering toward the erring, for God bears long with perversity while patiently and lovingly pointing out errors and pleading for a return to Him. If repeated invitations of mercy are refused and a self-chosen way is continued, He speaks more plainly and sends judgments to lead to repentance and forsaking of sins. The threat of a swift coming and opposition by His word is that plainer speaking and judgment. It reveals a close supervision of every individual, for Christ weighs character and knows the thoughts and intents of the heart and every word and act, knowing all about each person's religious experience and whom each loves and serves, so there is need of close self-examination.
The verse applies in the time when everything that can be shaken is shaken so that only what cannot be shaken remains, when every case is coming in review before God as He measures the temple and the worshipers therein. The one who hears what the Spirit says to the churches and overcomes will be given hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written in it that no one knows except the one who receives it. It gives an earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, confronting indifference to the foretold signs and presenting evidence that the end of the world is right upon us. It calls to advance and receive the grace of God so its effect is saving day by day, with watchfulness and prayer in faith bringing rich and precious blessing through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The verse belongs to the warning in the second chapter of Revelation that must be heeded to understand what it means to lose first love. It calls for seeking the Lord with all the heart, giving due respect to those who have borne the burden in the heat of the day, loving God supremely and neighbor as self, and humbling the heart before God. So truth prospers and goes forth as a burning lamp and it is seen to be safe to work with and for His people. In its setting the warning calls for Satan to be cast out and for wrongs to be named plainly. It confronts selfishness that leaves destitute fields unworked by calling for earnest effort to put workers into those fields.