Thirty Days of VictorySample

In this message to the church in Pergamum, we find that it was very hard for the Christians in the early church to live out their faith in Pergamum. They were facing pressure to leave the faith from the public and from people within the church. So much corruption and idolatry took place in Pergamum that it was nicknamed "the city where Satan has his throne" (2:13). Christians in Pergamum had to be courageous to keep the faith.

Is it hard to remain faithful to God in different parts of your life? Maybe you're surrounded by crude coworkers, and it is hard to keep your speech pure or not fall into the gossip that happens. Different temptations surround us everywhere in life, from cutting corners to taking advantage of others in several different ways. When we live out our faith courageously, people notice that we are different, and we are victorious in Christ.

In verse 17, Jesus promises spiritual nourishment and acceptance to those who live for him in these circumstances. The manna is symbolic of the manna that God nourished the Israelites with in the wilderness, and the new names on the white stones are widely believed to be representative of acceptance into God's family.