Message summary: Be assured that the immutable God of the universe knows where you live and where you stand. Today, let us make a renewed commitment, like Antipas and the church in Pergamum, to remain true to His name and be His faithful witness!

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"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" (Revelation 2:13).

Dennis is a fellow teacher in our Sunday School class and a longtime missionary to Nigeria where Christ's followers have faced intense persecution for many years due to the spread of radical Islam. He showed me a photo of a man who had been slain for his faith. The actual face of a martyr is not something you are accustomed to seeing.

At any given time scores of our brothers and sisters are being persecuted for their faith. Most of the time these persecutions take place under the radar but periodically the awful plight of Christians being persecuted for their faith makes the news.

Persecution has been a part of the church's experience from the very beginning. In fact Jesus forthrightly told His disciples they would be persecuted (John 15:20) and later the apostle Paul wrote, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).

In the New Testament record of the church age there are three named martyrs; Stephen, James and Antipas. Today let us consider Antipas who, apart from this single reference in Revelation, is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament.

The book of Revelation is certainly one of the hardest books to understand which has led to a variety of interpretations by earnest followers. The first several chapters are letters from Christ to churches.

In the daily Scripture text Christ is speaking to the church in Pergamum, an otherwise unknown church in Asia Minor (present day Turkey), and one of the seven recipients of the letters to the churches. It was a wealthy city and its name meant citadel.

Jesus said to this church, "I know where you live". Aren't you glad today that Christ knows where you live! He knows all about your special circumstances and difficulties.

Antipas, who had the descriptive character of being Christ's "faithful witness" was martyred late in the lifetime of the Apostle John, although little else is factually known about him from respected historical sources. However, by tradition, he was reputed to be the bishop of the Christian church at Pergamum and martyred because of his consistent faithful witnessing in the face of all the satanic evil present there.

One source states, When Antipas was advised, "Antipas, the whole world is against you!", he replied, "Then I am against the whole world!" Antipas was supposedly roasted alive in a hollow life-size bull, which had a bonfire under its belly, because he refused to renounce his faith in Christ Jesus. His faithful witness and martyrdom due to his unshakable faith in Christ Jesus are what earned Antipas mention in the pages of Holy Scripture.

Pergamum had a remarkable distinctive and we are uncertain precisely as to what Christ meant – "where Satan lives". Suffice it to say this must have been an evil and hard place to hold onto the faith! Christ commends this church for remaining true to His name and not renouncing their faith in Him. The verse ends with this phrase, "where Satan lives" which suggests that there are specific locations of evil and satanic influence that are harder to serve than others. God bless our faithful brothers and sisters who live for God in difficult places like this such as Nigeria and missionaries, like our friend Dennis, who follow God's call to serve in extremely oppressive areas. Christ commended this church for remaining true to His name. They did not renounce their faith even during the most difficult of circumstances.

What about you? Be assured that the immutable God of the universe knows where you live and where you stand. Today, let us make a renewed commitment, like Antipas and the church in Pergamum, to remain true to His name and be His faithful witness even when or especially when the going gets tough, really tough!

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13