Heresy in the early church

Revelation 2:12-17
 
Christian believers in the city of Pergamum were at risk. As the provincial capital of Asia it had been given the “right of the sword,” that is, the authority to execute at will. But of course the believers would reject Rome as the ultimate authority because that belonged to God alone. In spite of this crucial difference and the difficulty it imposed (Antipas, one of their own had been martyred for being a faithful witness) members of the church had remained faithful to the cause. Additional opposition to the church came from the fact that Pergamum had become the official center for emperor worship. Yet the church remained true.
       There was one thing, however, that bothered John a great deal, and that was that some of the members had begun to pay serious attention to the teachings of Balaam (remember that he was the one who taught Balak how to lead God’s people astray – to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality). The church at Pergamum had strongly resisted some kinds of deviance but not all. So John warms them sternly to repent. If they don’t he will come and fight against them with the “sword of his mouth” (v.6, cf. “the sharp two-edged sword” in v. 12).
       So here we have what might be considered an average evangelical church in the first century. It was surrounded by a pagan environment, influenced by false doctrine, opposed by the ruling force, yet bore a faithful witness for Christ. Those are still the same forces that face every bible-believing assembly. It follows that the church of today needs to be aware of the many heretical ideas and practices that have plagued us from the beginning. Almost every current theological error was already around in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. John would tell us today, as he did to those at Pergamum, that if we remain faithful he will give us some “hidden manna” (deep spiritual treasures) and a “white stone” (a token that would admit them to the messianic banquet) with our new name written on it. God calls his people to follow him and this may involve persecution because that’s how the world greeted him. However there is also “manna” (unfathomable insights into all it means to be in Christ.)