To the Church of Pergamos
Christ’s Revelation
Revelation 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
Good Works Commended
Revelation 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Antichrists Exposed
Revelation 2:14-16 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Overcomer’s Reward
Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it .
This again is a threefold message. Jesus reveals himself to this age as one that has a sharp sword with two edges, and certainly that is what the elect of this generation needed to overcome. There is no way anyone in this generation would have overcome without that sharp sword with the two edges. It was the armor for the Christians in that generation by which they were to overcome their enemies. The enemy in their midst was such that it required them to possess such a sword, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
Now to see that clearly first we realize that the main messenger to this age was St. Martin. The occupation of Saint Martin prior to his calling was in the fields of warfare, for he was a soldier in the Roman army, and he used to walk with a great sword with him. That was the sign of his spiritual calling, for Christ would reveal himself through him as the great captain of the host of God having a great two-edged sword.
Now considering the very ministry of Saint Martin we can be able to see the acts of that great sword. Let us look at his experiences.
Thus are some of the acts of St. Martin showing clearly that he was a man with the sword of the Word in his mouth, and by that he resisted Satan who was by then dwelling among them, that is in the church of Rome, for Martin’s main enemies were not the pagans whose temples he demolished, but the bishops of the organized Roman church. And the scripture clearly says that Satan had already by this time found a dwelling place among the professed Christians,
Revelation 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
His name which they did not deny is called the Word of God, which is the same two-edged sword, and such a name they could only own it by faith. So, having his faith they held on his name which is called the Word of God. But what is the faith of Jesus Christ?
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The commandment of God is the Word of God, and that commandment which we are to hold and keep diligently is Jesus Christ. Once you receive Jesus Christ, you have received the whole Word of God and thus you have the whole commandment.
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 1John 2:7
But what is the testimony of Jesus Christ? That which the Word testifies; for Jesus is that Word and what he testifies about is what he is. Then what is that testimony?
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy, and these things were a shadow in the Old Testament; for Moses received the commandments of God while the prophets had the testimony of Jesus Christ, that means the Spirit of prophecy was upon them making them prophets of the Word. But what is this Spirit of prophecy?
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12
Now above he said, “They who keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” And here he says, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ.” Therefore, the testimony of Jesus Christ which is the Spirit of prophecy is the faith of Jesus Christ. For faith is not a strong feeling in one’s heart adamantly holding on scriptures, no! It is a gift from God. And being a gift means it is something, it is a substance which one receives in the heart from God:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8
Thus, that substance called faith is the gift of the Spirit of prophecy which you have to receive in your heart to be able to bear the testimony of Jesus Christ, and in order to stand and testify of him. This is God’s power of utterance given you to be able to speak the Word.
So, the elect in the third age had the name of Jesus as the Word of God, but they had also the Spirit of prophecy by which they spoke the Word. These two things are very evident in the experiences of St. Martin who used to be directly confronted with Satan face to face! But he had the Word of God and the Spirit to speak that Word, for God’s Word is called the sword of the Spirit. So, the Word is the name which they did not deny, and the faith of Jesus is the Spirit which they received and maintained!
How the Laodicean church members are devoid of the two! They neither have the Word of God (the living word is a living Oracle that abides in the heart, not a dead letter on a magnetic record or on the pages of a book!), neither do they have the Spirit of Prophecy to speak the oracles of God! They deny both the name of Jesus and the Spirit of Jesus! Jesus is the living speaking present day Oracle spoken by the Spirit of Prophecy who is the faith of Jesus! The only way of receiving the Word of God in you is to receive the living speaking Oracle of today, and the only way you have the faith of Jesus is to have the Spirit of prophecy that either speaks the Oracle of God today or believes the Oracle of God today. Any letters that are not God’s living Oracle today are not the Word of God today! Any belief which is not the Spirit of Jesus Christ, testifying about God’s living Oracle of today is not the faith of Jesus Christ! The Laodicean church falls short of the two! According to them there is no more Oracle, and there is no more Spirit of prophecy; they both went with Branham. But the scripture says,
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Hebrew 3:7-8
The Holy Ghost is the testimony of Jesus Christ because he testifies about Jesus to every season. It matters little whether the church age messenger is alive or dead, it is the Holy Spirit who speaks to the churches, not through a one man show, but through many servants whom God anoints with His Word.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Revelation 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Thus, you only overcome by paying attention to what the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, speaks to you in your day. They who think that throughout the seven church ages God only spoke by seven men are most ignorant about the history of the church. They are quite narrow in their knowledge about the history of the church. Look, Paul was the messenger to Ephesian church age and without doubt laid the foundation of that age, but who is so blind not to see John the beloved apostle with a completely independent ministry whose glory was far above that of Paul! Look at his Gospel book. My! My! What a deep solid revelation of Jesus Christ! IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD…! What an oracle the son of Zebedee had matured up to be! The life, the liveliness and the depth of love breathed by John’s oracles are unequalled to among all apostles! No wonder he was the beloved apostle, a son of thunder. It was not John speaking! No! By no means, it was the revelation of Jesus Christ in him, the Spirit of prophecy speaking.
Now compare with other Gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke; they were writing as scribes, but John was writing as a prophet of the Word. Each of the three spends a chapter or two on the apocalypse’s words of Jesus Christ, that is Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13 and Luke 21, but in the Gospel book of John there is no such a chapter, why? He was given not just to recall and write what Jesus said while on the mount of olives, but the whole future mystery of Jesus Christ was revealed to him which could not fit as a chapter in his Gospel book, so he wrote it separately calling it, “The revelation Of Jesus Christ.” So, the book of revelation for John is instead of Matthew 25 &25, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Search out these things, they are so true! Why? Matthew was a lion with power, Mark a calf with the spirit to endure and Luke a man writing with wisdom, that is why his book is learned in schools, but John was an eagle with sharp prophetic eyes!
Look at St. Patrick, God revealed Himself to him by which he evangelized Ireland. What of John Bunyan who lived after Luther? He wasn’t a mere disciple of Luther! If you read his works, they have more light than Luther by far. Why? The revelation gets brighter and brighter as the age advances. What of the men who followed on after Wesley? They did exploits because they received lively oracles of God’s word advancing from where Wesley stopped. Yes, we must move on! No stopping at all. Branham laid a foundation for us and we shall build on! We shall advance on! Halleluiah!
Now, let us look at the reward for this age, and before that, remember what Abraham met after his battle in which he had slain four kings. He met Melchizedek who gave him bread and wine after he had overcome. Amen!
Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Sounds like bread and wine to me. Hidden manna is special spiritual bread from heaven, but wine means stimulation of revelation, the revelation of a name which no man knows save he who receives it. Now the Word of God though a sword but it is also bread, the hidden manna.
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. Judges 7:9-14
So, the heavenly bread that we eat in due season is also our sword by which we slay the enemy. What about a stone with a name written? The Word is the name of Jesus, the despised barley bread, but the faith of Jesus is the Spirit of revelation, the revelation of the Word, and from that revelation you get a new name. isn’t it? Yes! Quite scriptural.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [small stone], and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:15-19
As I have already said, each age gets a double revelation of Jesus Christ, and the two are one. So also, this age had the message of the sword with two edges. The Word of God and the faith of Jesus. The commandment of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Moses and the prophets. The Word of God and the Spirit of prophecy. The justice of God and the holiness of God. The Old Testament and the New Testament.
Echoes From Paradise 