Rev2: 12And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. 13I 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.
The Risen Christ is "...Him who has the sharp two-edged sword."
The issue of "Satan's throne " is derived from several points.
1. Pergamum was charged with attempting to please society, instead of the Lord, to the point of both false apostles and priest in favor of powerful hierarchy. This lead the way to a paganization of the church.
2. As in the previous blog, the largest non-Christian altars were there.
3. The Caesar worship continued. Even though Constantine was on the throne for a period of time.
Interesting note here, Christ calls the place Satan's throne then immediately commended them for holding fast His Name.
The controversial issue in the days of Antipas was this:
To clarify, the word Antipas means "against all." There was no record as to who the Antipas was.
Arius (an Arien of considerable note) denied the eternity of the Word! It came down to the question, was Christ truly the son of God, or the greatest being that God ever created? Constantine attempted to put this question to rest by calling a church council. He brought over three hundred bishops to Nicea and together they set to answer the debate. Constantine, himself, presided as head of the Christian church. He bore the title Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest of the Heathen. (The same title the the Pope uses today.)
It is told that a brilliant Arian (no name given for this person) was about to convince the opposition in favor of unitarian heresy when an African( no name given for this person) stood, displayed scars on his back (from being thrown in an arena with wild beasts which had massively disfigured his back) and declared these are the brand marks of Jesus Christ and he would not hear the blasphemy said here! He then began to speak clearly giving a stirring, convincing talk concerning Christ's deity. The council attributed the speaking as the work of the Spirit of God and confessed the true deity of Jesus as God and man in one Person, part of the Holy Trinity- God, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We still cannot confirm the truth of this story but it does speak to the spirit pervading in the meetings.
Think about what this means. The matter of the deity of Christ was settled once and forever in a public way, holding fast in His Word and His name not denied!
Blessings on all,
Calabash
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