Grace and peace to you through Jesus Christ who has the sharp, double-edged sword to fight for you. Amen.

Lord Jesus, you have the sharp, double-edged sword of the Law and the Gospel. Make us faithful witnesses of your Law and Gospel. Make us willing to remain true to your name and ready to be put to death for our faith in you. Lead us to heart-felt repentance so that we may enjoy the blessings of heaven – the hidden manna, the white stone, and a new name. In your holy name we pray. Amen.

A king wanted to capture a certain city. However, the city wall was so high that the king’s soldiers were unable to scale it. The city gate was also a strong defense, because it was made out of thick, heavy wood. When the time came to attack, the king ordered his men to knock the gate down with their battering ram. But each time they tried, the city gate held firmly and those inside would defend their positions so vigorously that the king’s soldiers, coming under such heavy fire, would have to retreat.

Seeing that his frontal assaults were ineffective, the king took a different approach. He decided to lay siege to the city and at night he would send several of his soldiers to sneak up to the gate and deposit there several clay pots, filled with termites. This tactic would take much longer, but the king knew that the devastation wrought by those termites would be greatly effective for weakening the city’s defense. The next time his soldiers hit that gate with their battering ram, it wouldn’t be as strong.

The city I’m speaking about is the church. The king attacking this city is the devil. When the devil attacks the church openly, by way of persecution, or obvious false doctrine, Christians immediately recognize what’s going on and will hold firmly to God’s Word. However, by introducing subtle sins gradually — little by little, like termites — Satan infiltrates the church and seeks to weaken and devour it from within.

Jesus’ letter to the church in Pergamum warns that there is a greater danger to our faith than Satan’s battering rams. The greatest danger comes from Satan’s termites. These termites can be tolerance of "insignificant" sins. It may be embracing ‘the flavor of the day" in our permissive society. It may be compromising our faith for the sake of earthly gain and comfort. Satan loves to make Christians think that "little," "insignificant" compromises are not worth worrying about. Sadly, the congregation at Pergamum fell into the temptation of allowing tolerance and compromise inside its church. Jesus told them, and he tells us, that compromise with sin is the opposite of faithfulness. Compromise will lead to Jesus fighting against us. But, faithfulness will lead to Jesus acquitting us.

On the hill against which Pergamum was built there were hundreds of temples dedicated to every god imaginable. A colossal altar to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, was carved from the mountain’s solid rock. There were temples to Athena, Dionysus, and, of course, the Roman emperor. There was even a monument to "the unknown god," should one perhaps have been left out. It was a city where every god was exalted except Christ.

Jesus said that this idol worship was so pervasive in Pergamum that Satan even set up his throne in that heathen city. Satan was the glad recipient of all that ungodly worship.

Satan ruled and reigned within this city of sin. In the face of such blatant false teachings and idolatry, the Christians in Pergamum stood in strong opposition and held fast in their devotion to Christ. Jesus commended them for remaining true to his name: "I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives." They did not renounce their faith in him, even though the persecution they experienced was severe. In fact, at least one of their own members, Antipas, was put to death — martyred for believing in Jesus.

However, over the years, Satan has discovered that the frontal assault of persecution doesn’t accomplish his objective. Although persecution may eliminate some Christians, Satan isn’t able to destroy the Church through persecution. In fact, Satan has learned that persecution makes the church stronger instead of weaker.

Since an all-out frontal assault on Christianity in Pergamum wasn’t working, Satan resorted to the "back-door" approach and some of the believers were led astray. As a result Jesus lodged this complaint: "I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans." Jesus makes reference to a lesson from Bible history concerning Balaam, the rebel prophet, and the evil Moabite king Balak, who had hired him to curse the Israelites. Whenever Balaam tried to curse the Israelites, he only ended up blessing them. However, Balaam did succeed in harming the nation of Israel because he coaxed the Israelite men into the beds of Moabite women. "The [Israelite] men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices of their gods." (Numbers 25:1-2) The once faithful Israelites were led astray and as a result of their sin, 24,000 Israelites were killed by a plague sent from God.

Evidently, a similar situation took place in Pergamum. Perhaps the worshipers of Zeus became friendly with the Christians and invited them to their worship, which just happened to include great food, a fun time and some temple prostitutes. Some of the Christians joined in the festivities. Perhaps they justified their actions by saying that they didn’t believe all that stuff, but it was entertaining – especially the sex part. Some of them accepted the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which said believe in Jesus, but join the party too. These Pergamum believers were not being defeated by a direct approach but by a much more subtle enemy – giving in to the weakness of their sinful lusts.

It was bad enough that some of the members of the church had fallen into these sins. But what was even more disturbing was the fact that the congregation tolerated their behavior. Jesus could not tolerate this toleration of the unfaithful. Jesus described himself as the one who held the sharp, double-edged sword. One edge of this sword is the Law that criticizes and kills. The other edge is the Gospel that rescues and saves. Jesus said that if they failed to repent, "I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." When we remember that Jesus’ word has the power to cleanse lepers and still storms, this threat to use it against men is a terrifying one.

The church in Pergamum had tolerated sinful behavior among its members. Does this sound at all familiar? Are termites, similar to these, eating away at our congregation or at our own faith?

It is fairly easy for us to point out and expel the "big," "obvious" sins of sexual affairs or false doctrine or despising the Means of Grace in Word and Sacrament. But what about those "smaller," "more insignificant" sins like lack of Bible study or inconsistency in worship or lack of sharing our faith? Or what about pornography on the internet or gossip or greed or getting drunk or road rage. Maybe we fall into the sin of the Nicolaitans by saying "nobody’s perfect, and anyway, Jesus forgives."

Or maybe there’s a different kind of termite – compromise. To the majority of Americans, religious pluralism is one of the highest virtues. They see no reason for an exclusive faith. In fact, because you refuse to acknowledge any god but the Holy Trinity and because you reject the countless other deities worshiped in our world, your neighbors see you as a threat. You are considered intolerant, undesirable. Do you give in and hide your faith and your witness, just because you are afraid to stand out in the crowd, as Antipas did in Pergamum and was killed?

I am a new homeowner. For those of you who own your own homes, you know how difficult this can be, especially when you have no clue how to fix things on your own. Two weeks ago our sump pump backed up and we had water in our newly finished basement. Plus, about once a week, the pilot light goes out in our furnace and we wake up to a house that is about 54 degrees inside. I have three options: 1) I can fix the problems; 2) I can ignore the problems and hope these things don’t happen again; or 3) I can hope that the sump pump and furnace go out at the same time so the water freezes in my basement and doesn’t do any damage.

Jesus cares about how we live. He wants us to fix the problem of sins and moral compromise. He says to us: "Repent! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." Jesus will come in judgment on those who take sin and morality lightly. Jesus cares about the witness we give to others and he hates it when people allow the termites of "little" sins to eat away at faith.

If we listen to God’s Word with believing hearts, the edge of the gospel will cut away at the weakened parts sin has caused in us and in our church. Christ will lead us to die to sin and live in righteousness. Enabled by the sword of the gospel, we will say no to Balaam and his lies. We will say no to the easy, compromising religion of Nicolas. We will say yes to the faith of Antipas, who followed Jesus even to the point of death.

The longer we Christians live in this life, the more we tire of fighting the termites. Also, our repeated failures begin to eat at us so that we often feel like giving up. This too is a tactic of our enemy. Satan wants to wear us down. So, Jesus gives us another reason to repent. Repent, because he will acquit us.

Jesus calls all of us to heed his call to repentance because he wants us to overcome in this world. He says, "To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna." God gave manna — heavenly bread — to keep the Children of Israel alive for 40 years in the wilderness until they reached the Promised Land. Jesus refers to himself as the manna from heaven — the Bread of Life. Heavenly food graces your table each time you "taste and see that the Lord is good" in his holy Word. Each time you come to the Lord’s Table in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is present, miraculously strengthening you, sustaining you, and defending you. But one day this holy meal will no longer be necessary because you will see your Lord face-to-face and join him at the eternal feast in heaven.

Jesus goes on to say, "I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it." In the ancient Greek world jurors would cast their vote for acquittal by presenting a white stone. God, the divine Judge, has heard the charges against you. He has seen the wounded body of Jesus, his arms outstretched, pleading for you. He has seen the garments of Christ’s righteousness covering you in Baptism. The decision has been reached. The Almighty God has taken out two stones – the black one for the guilt we deserve and the white one for innocence. By his grace in Christ Jesus, the white stone of acquittal has been given to you.

On this white stone is inscribed your new name, a name that declares you to be a child of God, a forgiven sinner, one who is righteous by faith. In the Bible a new name often signifies a new relationship with God. For example, when Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, or Jacob’s name to Israel, or Saul’s name to Paul. We will be given a new name. We are no longer what we once were. Instead of sinners, Jesus calls us saints. Instead of enemies of God, Jesus has made us friends of God. Instead of being hell-bound, we are destined for heaven.

My friends, Satan is still attacking the church. He attacks openly through persecutions and blatant false doctrine. Yet, he also attacks quietly through seemingly little sins and instances of not following God’s Word. Therefore, as a congregation and as individuals let us stand firm together in all of God’s Word. Let us keep encouraging one another never to use "love" as an excuse to turn a blind eye to sin. The true love that Jesus gives us in his Word will lead us to an ever-deeper trust in him as our Savior. This love will show itself in everything we do – especially in calling others and ourselves to repentance. Then instead of Satan attacking us, we will be attacking him. Amen.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. (Revelation 22:21)