SECRET THINGS
I was thinking of what was brought before us in the preaching on Lord’s day, that Jesus called Mary by name (John 20:16). He knew her by name. The gardener could not have done that, but Jesus did. We have each been called by name by the Lord Jesus. We sang in our hymn,
‘Called by that secret name
Of undisclosed delight’. (Hymn 79)
Here is the promise to the one who overcomes: “to him will I give of the hidden manna; and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he that receives it”. We sang:
‘There on the hidden bread
Of Christ once humbled here’. (Hymn 79)
These dear saints in Pergamos were in the place of testimony. It speaks about the throne of Satan and where Satan dwells; they were there in testimony. The Lord said to them, “thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith”. They were faithful; they were holding fast the Lord’s name in the scene where Satan, as it were, was on the throne, a terrible situation and circumstance to be in. The Lord speaks to those who overcome to encourage them, but He begins by saying “And to the angel of the assembly in Pergamos write: These things says he that has the sharp two-edged sword”. That is one of the things that John notices in the previous chapter, “and having in his right hand seven stars” (Rev.1:16), which we know are the angels of the seven assemblies. Then it says there, “out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth; and his countenance as the sun shines in its power”. The sharp two-edged sword is part of the character in which the Lord appeared, and He was going to use it. He speaks of those that hold the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. He says, “Repent therefore: but if not, I come to thee quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword of my mouth”. It seems that these evil principles came in early. One of the commendations that the Lord gave to Ephesus was that “thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate” (v.6). It is as if the works were there before the doctrine was there; that may be so. It has been suggested that the Nicolaitanes were libertarians, and my mind went to the scripture, “Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Far be the thought”, Rom.6:1,2. It seems to be the character of what there was here in Pergamos; the Lord speaks of idolatry and fornication and eating of idol sacrifices, features that Satan would like to bring in. They were actual things, but no doubt they speak of principles too. The Lord is going to make war with them with the sword of his mouth. It is a sober matter.
What appealed to me in this passage were the hidden manna and the new name that no one knows but he that receives it, these secret things. First of all, it says: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies”. We know that in the first three letters, these words come first, but then in the following four letters what is said to those who overcome is put first, then the hearing what the Spirit says, suggesting that there is a need to overcome in order to hear. But the Lord’s eye is on those who overcome in all of these assemblies. He has something for them all, something precious and blessed for them, even to Smyrna. He does not say a lot about Smyrna, but He says, “He that overcomes shall in no wise be injured of the second death” (v.11), as if to say that the sharp two-edged sword will have its effect and they will not be injured by it. The Lord speaks of Himself there as the First and the Last and says that He became dead and lived, bringing in the thought of life. But here He speaks of the hidden manna, something that we are to feed on, and I feel my own lack
in feeding on the hidden manna of ‘Christ, once humbled here’. What a blessed subject of contemplation to think of Him ever pleasing the eye of the Father. He said, “My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work”, John 4:34. What a work that was. He could speak of Himself as the true bread which comes down out of heaven. Here the Lord says, ‘I will give it to him’, that heavenly food that there is in contemplating the life of Christ here. It is heavenly food; that is what the Lord would give.
Then He refers to “a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he that receives it”. There is a secret side to that, suggesting our individual links with the Lord. We would desire to be one of those who overcome, feeble though we may be. He says, “I will give to him a white stone”. The Lord called to Mary and she responded immediately. She turned round and said, Rabboni (John 20:16). Think of the Lord giving her a new name, a white stone with a new name written on it, and the Lord would have a new name for every one of us. He will be able to call us by it and we will learn what that is as we receive that stone of white.
Well, may we be encouraged. There is much to discourage around us: there is not only the world and how Satan would operate, but doubts and fears may arise in my own heart too. But the Lord would seek to encourage; encourage us to hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies, and encourage us to overcome that we may have these secret precious things from Him. The hidden manna is not for the world to see but it would be for the saints to share, and then there is the secret name – a new name written which no one knows save him that receives it. O how precious and blessed are the promises to the one who overcomes! May we be encouraged by them for the Lord’s name,s sake.
Robert McClean