In the first letter, [John] says, I know your work and toil and your patient suffering—I know that you work and toil, and I see that you are patient; lest you think that I will remain a long time away from you—and that you are not able to bear evil persons and those who call themselves apostles you have found to be liars, and you have suffered patiently for the sake of my name. All of these things are in view of praise, and no ordinary praise. And yet it is good that such persons and such a class of people and such elect persons be admonished in every way, lest they be robbed of those blessings which are their due. But he said that he had a few things against them. You have forsaken your first love, he said. Remember from where you have fallen. When someone falls, he falls from a height, and therefore he says from where, since even to the very end works of love must be practised, for this is the principal commandment. And, therefore, unless this be done, he threatened to move the lampstand from its place, that is, to scatter the people. However, they hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which he also hates, and this is deserving of praise. Works of the Nicolaitans refer to the fact that before that time there were factious and troublesome men who as ministers made for themselves a heresy in the name of Nicolaus, so that what had been offered to idols could be exorcised and eaten, and that anyone who had committed fornication might receive the peace on the eighth day. And, therefore, he praised those to whom he wrote and promised to such great people the tree of life, which is in the paradise of their God.

In many places, and especially in the Psalms, you will find speech addressed to the angels. Power has been given to man—at least to him who has the Holy Spirit—to speak even to the angels. I shall give one example from these instances, so that we might realize that angels too can be taught by human voices. It has been written in the Apocalypse of John, Write to the angel of the church of the Ephesians, ‘I have something against you.’ And again, Write to the angel of the church of Pergamum, ‘I have something against you.’^[1] Clearly it is a man who writes to angels and enjoins something.

He speaks periphrastically of the church in Ephesus as an angel of the church in Ephesus. For the guardian angel of the church has not sinned, so that it requires the admonition to repent. He is rather most holy and for this reason exists at the right hand of the Lord, giving as proof of this the purity of his nature and flashes as of light. Moreover, what need would there be for him who is conversing with the Evangelist to say, write to him [the angel], since the holy angel was present and was listening to the conversation (being on the right hand of the one speaking)? And, finally, the saint himself interprets the vision seen by him and says, He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. He did not say to the angels of the churches but to the churches. And so, also in the remaining interpretations you will find the words write the following to the angel of the church, not that he is speaking about the angel but about the church.

He blames part of this church, and he praises part of this church, according to the quality of its name. For Ephesus may be interpreted as either great fall or my will in it. . . . He shows that what he writes to the individual churches, he is saying to all the churches. For, it was not the church of the Ephesians alone, which, should it not repent, was to be moved from its place, nor was Pergamum only the seat of Satan, and not everywhere. Likewise, the remaining things of the individual churches are common to every church. . . . The tree of life is Christ, by the vision of whom holy souls are nourished in the celestial paradise and in the present body of the church.

And he says, You are not able to bear evil men, for you have acquired the habit of hating evil, and you have tested those who have called themselves apostles but are not, and you have found them to be false. Those in Ephesus fulfilled the divine command that they should not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Therefore, they tested those who preached the gospel among them, and through this testing they found some to be false apostles who were proclaiming counterfeit doctrines. He speaks of those who were disciples of Cerinthus, who were contemporary with the Evangelist and were proclaiming profane teachings.

You have sinned, yet you still can be reconciled. You have someone to whom you can make satisfaction, yes, and one who wills it. If you doubt that this is true, consider what the Spirit says to the churches. He charges the Ephesians with having abandoned charity. He reproaches the Thyatirenes with fornication and eating food sacrificed to idols.^[1] He accuses the Sardians of works that are not complete.^[2] He censures the people of Pergamos for teaching false doctrines.^[3] He upbraids the Laodiceans for placing their trust in riches.^[4] And yet he warns them all to repent—even adding threats. But he would not threaten the impenitent if he failed to pardon the penitent.

But I wonder that some are so obstinate as to think that penance ought not to be allowed to the lapsed or as to consider that pardon ought to be denied to the penitent when it is written, Remember whence you have fallen and repent and do the former works. This is certainly said to him who, it is ascertained, has fallen and whom the Lord exhorts to rise again through works since is it written, Alms deliver . . . from death.^[1] Certainly not from that death which once the blood of Christ extinguished and from which the water of beneficial baptism and the grace of our Redeemer freed us, but from that which afterward creeps in through sins. In another place, also, time is given for repentance, and the Lord threatens the one who does not do penance. I have, he says, many things against you: that you permit your wife Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication and to eat of things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time that she might repent, and she does not want to repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed, and those who commit fornication with her are in the greatest tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.^[2] The Lord certainly would not exhort to repentance if it were not because he promises pardon to the penitent.

For although he wishes that we remember those instances in which we have badly fallen, he exhorts that we might not fall again. And that our faults which we have committed might be cleansed, he shows a way by which one might come to pardon when he says, Repent. That is, wash away your sins with tears, just as that sinful woman, as a type of the church, washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiped them with her hair.^[1] And he exhorts and commands what one should do after repentance: Do your first works, either by an extraordinary goodness or do those works which you had done in the earnestness of your first conversion.

By the words I will come to you, he does not suggest any movement that involves a change of position, since God fills all things. Rather, he indicates, as it were, a change from his longsuffering to punishment. He speaks of the removal of the lampstands, that is, of the churches as his own abandonment [of them], which, when it comes against the sinners, brings them into every kind of distress and trouble, so that they might also say, My eye was troubled with anger, and My heart was troubled within me.^[1]

Note that he did not say that he takes away [the lampstand] but that he moves. For the lampstand signifies the one Christian people. Therefore, he says that this lampstand is to be moved, not taken away, so that we might understand that in the very same church the evil are moved and the good confirmed. Moreover, he means that by the hidden but nonetheless just judgment of God, that which is taken from the evil is given as increase to the good. This fulfills that which is written, He who has, it will be added to him; but to him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken from him.^[1]

Similar, too, are those who claim to be followers of Nicolaus. They keep one of the man’s sayings, forcing its meaning: One must misuse the flesh. But this admirable man showed that we ought to curtail pleasures and desires and to use this discipline to weaken the impulses and onset of the flesh. Those who wallow in pleasure like goats are (you might say) violating the body and are plunged in the delights of passion. They do not realize that the body, whose nature is fleeting, falls into rags, while the soul is buried in a slough of vice, when they follow the instructions of pleasure rather than a man of apostolic faith.

Of the Nicolaitans, it is interpreted as a pouring out or the folly of a fainting church. And this is rightly said of heretics who have been poured out from the container of the truth and have tumbled headlong into the mud of deceit. And, concerning this pouring out, it is said in the Law: You are poured out as water; you will not rise up.^[1] Clearly, the foolishness of a fainting church is the perverse teaching of the heretics, for they do not bring healing to the wound of the people, but they afflict upon the people the greatest of weaknesses, thinking foolish thoughts about God and being themselves fully taken over by ridiculous ideas. Concerning such persons it is said: They have restored the sorrow of my people to dishonor, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.^[2]

He who has an ear, that is, who is obedient by obeying the divine precepts, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He says the Spirit, either because the visions of the Revelation are effected by the Spirit, or he calls Christ spirit, in that he is and is known to be God. Just as he does not fail to be called Son of man in that he is and is known to be man. For the Godhead is said to be all together spirit, as the Lord himself says in speaking to the Samaritan woman: God is a spirit, and it is necessary that those who worship him, worship in spirit and in truth.^[1]

In still another sense, a persecution can be considered as a contest. Who sets the terms of any contest if not the one who provides the crown and the prizes? You will find the terms of this contest decreed in the Apocalypse, where he proclaims the rewards of victory, especially for those who really come through persecution victorious,^[1] and in their victorious struggle have fought not merely against flesh and blood but against the spirits of wickedness.^[2] Obviously, then, the superintendent of the games and the one who sets the prize is the one who decides who is the winner of the contest. The essence, then, of a persecution is the glory of God, whether he approves or condemns, raises up or casts down.

The tree of life which paradise once bore, now again the church has produced for all, even the ripe and comely fruit of faith. It is necessary that we bring such fruit when we come to the judgment seat of Christ, on the first day of the feast. For if we are without it we shall not be able to feast with God nor to have part, according to John,^[1] in the first resurrection. For the tree of life is wisdom first begotten of all. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, says the prophet, and happy is every one that retains her.^[2] A tree planted by the waterside, that will bring forth its fruit in due season.^[3] That is, learning and charity and discretion are imparted in due time to those who come to the waters of redemption. One who has not believed in Christ nor understood that he is the first principle and the tree of life, since he cannot show to God his tabernacle adorned with the best of fruits, how shall [this person] celebrate the feast? How shall he rejoice? Do you desire to know good fruit of the tree? Consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how pleasant they are beyond mere human words. Good fruit came by Moses, that is the law, but not as good as the gospel. For the law is a kind of figure and shadow of things to come, but the gospel is truth and the grace of life. The fruit of the prophets was pleasant, but not so pleasant as the fruit of immortality which is plucked from the gospel.

Who conquers, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, that is, from the fruit of the cross, which is in the paradise of my God. The church is to be regarded as paradise, for all things were done in figure, and Adam was the shadow of the one to come, as the apostle teaches.^[1] Indeed, the tree of life is the wisdom of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who hung on the cross. In the church and in the spiritual paradise, he gives to the faithful food of life and the sacrament of the celestial bread, of which you read, Wisdom is the tree of life to those who embrace her.^[2]

He has spoken of the toil of the church. He has described the perversity of the heretics. Now to those still in their failures, he exhorts to repentance, and [he] promises rewards after this toil to those who are victorious, so that, entering into paradise, they might freely eat from the tree of life, for which Adam was expelled from paradise, lest he eat anything from it. And so he says, which is in the paradise of my God, where, namely, the wind breathes life, where the mysteries give virtue, and he furnishes the fruit of the tree of life, that is, an eternity which does not fade away.

Every person has a physical ear, but only the spiritual person has a spiritual ear, such as was granted to Isaiah.^[1] And to such as conquer in the struggle against the demons, he promised to give to eat from the tree of life, that is, to grant them to share in the blessings of the future age, for eternal life is figuratively depicted through the tree. And Christ is said to be both, as is clear from what Solomon says and what our apostle writes in another passage. For, concerning wisdom, Solomon says, She is the tree of life,^[2] while John writes about Christ,This is God and eternal life.^[3] If, therefore, we are allowed to attain to these things, let us accomplish the victory over our sufferings. For, most certainly proper recompense will follow our trials, by the grace and beneficence of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

But I wonder that some are so obstinate as to think that repentance is not to be granted to the lapsed, or to suppose that pardon is to be denied to the penitent, when it is written, “Remember whence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works” [Rv 2:5], which certainly is said to him who has fallen, and whom the Lord exhorts to rise up again by his deeds [of penance], because it is written, “Alms deliver from death” [Tb 12:9] (ibid., 51:22).

He speaks to this church concerning the endurance of persecution, and to this the name also corresponds. For Smyrna may be rendered myrrh, which designates the mortification of the flesh.

The Lord calls himself first because of the essence of his deity but calls himself last because of the incarnation and the economy of the flesh. Who was dead, he says, and came to life. He who came into the trial of death, he says, by death put death to death.

The next letter shows the following manner of life and habit of another group. And so he says, I know you that you are poor and labor, but you are rich. For he knows that for such persons there are hidden riches with him. [And he knows] the slander of the Jews, whom he denies that they are Jews, but rather a synagogue of Satan, for they are gathered together by the antichrist. That they might persevere even to death, he says to them: Whoever will persevere, will not be harmed by the second death, that is, he will not be punished in hell.

He praises the works of his church, for through many tribulations she contends for the kingdom. He indicates expressly the grace of poverty, because [the church] despises very much the things of the present time, so that she might acquire future things. But you are rich. You are rich in faith and are filled with an abundance of blessings. And you are slandered by those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. For the church often sustains much insult from those who claim that they confess God, but do not confess him. Rather, their congregation is bound to the devil as its source. For that reason, he exhorts his church not to fear those who kill the body, but afterward have nothing which they can do.^[1]

I know your tribulation and your poverty—indeed, you do not speak, as do the wicked Jews, who say, Why have we fasted, and you did not notice it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you paid no heed?^[1] But you are rich, he says, since you have Christ as a wealthy patron, although indeed for us he became poor, taking the form of a slave.^[2] and the blasphemy of those falsely called Jews. Judah means confession, and Israel means those who spiritually see God. Therefore, those who are true Jews and the spiritual Israel would be those who confess Christ. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is the circumcision which is outward and physical pleasing to God, as Paul says, rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and the circumcision is a matter of the heart, not of the flesh.^[3] For that reason, those who have remained Jews in unbelief are a blasphemous synagogue, under the leadership of Satan.

In the things of the flesh you have tribulation and poverty, which you endure for my sake, being beaten by unbelievers and being deprived of present goods. But in the things of the Spirit you are rich, for you have the hidden treasure in the field^[1] of your heart.

TYCONIUS: He speaks to every church that is poor in spirit yet possesses all things, as the apostle says, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.^[1] And you are slandered by those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Here certainly it is shown that he was not speaking only to a special church, for it was not only at Smyrna where there were or are Jews who slander. However, it is possible that there is a double meaning of Jews here, either those who are openly Jews outside or those who are Jews within [the church], that is, false Christians. For religiosity is characteristic of the Jews, as the apostle says, He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal.^[2] And again he says, We are the circumcision who worship God in spirit, and put no confidence in the flesh.^[3] Nor ought we ourselves to abandon those [in the church] when they are even called a synagogue of Satan. For we know that the Lord has presented us with an example of longsuffering by tolerating Judas even unto the end.

He speaks of those future trials and evils which will come upon them from the impious, and he comforts his faithful, that they not be fearful of the tortures of the persecutors. And he indicates what they would be strong enough to suffer and what the enemy would be able to do. . . . For, just as in the early period of the catholic church, after the banishment of the apostle, whose sayings these are, the sufferings continued and many tribulations were inflicted upon the church, so we know that also in the future more [sufferings] will be inflicted when the antichrist arrives, although even now the church often sustains many sufferings in various places and regions from heretics and from native populations.

But he says, You will have tribulation for ten days. This is to say, should you consider the present evils which you suffer in comparison to the perpetuity of the future blessedness, you will regard these without doubt as small and as quickly transient as though of ten days duration. And therefore, the apostle said: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.^[1]

Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. These words are fitting for the universal church, against whom the devil is always waging war with unavoidable hostilities. And for this reason the course of the present life is signified by the ten days, since in the Decalogue there exists in brief form a summary of the law. For here are the required divine commandments where there is need for continence. For this reason also the Lord said, Agree with your accuser, that is, the law, while you are with him in the way of this age.^[1] In this way he indicates the entire time when, with the law instructing you, there is conflict against the manifold allurements of desire, so that when the five physical senses are subdued through the grace of God, victory is achieved. And when duplicated on account of the twofold sexes, the five senses become ten.

I also think that the ten days may be interpreted as the total course of this life in which there will never fail to be a threefold temptation for the faithful. For the life of man upon the earth is a trial,^[2] and this is so as the seven days pass by and continue to pass by until the whole time of the present life is unfolded. The devil was permitted to bring this temptation even upon our Lord Jesus Christ as the head of the church. This spiritual battle of the church of Christ is further indicated in the figure of a woman who is in struggle. For the Lord said to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman. She will watch^[3] your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel.^[4] It is, therefore, clearly recognized that in this age, which is completed in the course of seven days, the church of Christ is subjected to various trials. These receive their most powerful and principal expression in the three sins, in the passion of fleshly desire and the unrestrained gluttony of forbidden excesses.^[5]

The enemy attempted to deceive the Lord by way of bread, as though he were a second Adam, since he had given the first Adam a draught of death when he persuaded him to taste what was forbidden to humankind. And so by rendering the first Adam a captive to the belly, he intended to bind him in addiction also to other desires of the flesh. And the enemy was also allowed to attack the Lord with the temptation to vainglory when he exhorted him to throw himself headlong from the pinnacle of the temple, adding the witness of the psalm which says, He has given his angels charge over you and the following.^[6] And just as the enemy had deceived the first man with the suggestion, You shall be like gods knowing good and evil,^[7] so he exhorted the Lord to throw himself down incautiously out of the desire to display the deity which he had laid aside. And the enemy tempts also a third time through which it is indicated that greed for the glory of earthly kingdoms and the pomp of worldly wealth must be condemned.^[8] When this threefold temptation is added to the times of this life, which are indicated by the seven days, the number ten is fulfilled, and for this reason it is said, for ten days you will have tribulation.

Let very willing vigilance and care be bestowed, moreover, upon the bodies of all who, although they have not been tortured, yet depart from the prison by the glorious exit of death. Neither their valor nor their honor is less that they themselves should not be among the blessed martyrs. They have endured, as far as it is in their power, whatever they were prepared and ready to endure. In the eyes of God, the one who offered himself to torments and to death suffered whatever he was willing to suffer. For he himself did not fail the torments, but the torments failed him. He who has acknowledged me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father,^[1] says the Lord. They have acknowledged him. He who has persevered even to the end, he will be saved,^[2] says the Lord. They have their virtues incorrupt and immaculate. And again it is written: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. They endured even unto death, faithful and steadfast and invincible. When to our wish and to our confession in prison and in chains is added also the end of dying, the glory of martyrdom is consummated.

These words pertain to the entire church. For also the apostle teaches this when he speaks of Adam and says, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.^[1] And thereupon he indicated the church by moving to figurative speech, saying, She will be saved through the bearing of sons, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with modesty.^[2] No one believes that this is spoken of a woman who is dead, and not rather of the church of Christ.

This then is done in them through grace so that the change brought about by divine gift may begin in them here. The change begins first through justification, in which there is a spiritual resurrection, and afterwards, in the resurrection of the body, in which the change of the justified is brought to completion; the perfected glorification, remaining for eternity, is not changed. To this end, first the grace of justification, then the grace of glorification changes them so that the glorification itself remains, unchangeable and eternal in them. For here they are changed through the first resurrection by which they are enlightened that they may be converted. That is, they change from death to life by this, from iniquity to justice, from infidelity to faith, and from evil acts to a holy way of life. Therefore, the second death has no power over them. Concerning such people, it is said in the Apocalypse: Blessed is the one who shares in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them.^[1] Again it is said in the same book: The victor shall not be harmed by the second death. Therefore, just as the first resurrection is found in conversion of the heart, so the second death is found in eternal punishment. Let every person who does not wish to be condemned by eternal punishment of the second death hasten here to become a participant of the first resurrection.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. This is a very apt statement. For, while all, the just and the sinner alike, are subject to the first death, which is the separation of the soul from the body, so that the divine judgment might be enforced: You are earth and to earth you will return,^[1] those who have overcome temptations should not be harmed by the second death, which is the result of sin, and which the Lord specified when he said, Let the dead bury their own dead.^[2]

He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death. Having eaten of the forbidden tree, [Adam] procured this [death] for posterity. However, watering the tree of the cross by the water and blood which flowed from the holy place of his side, Christ caused the firstfruits of salvation to sprout up where he knew the original evil had arisen, saying, Rejoice, I have overcome the world.^[1] Thus, if anyone conquers, he will conquer in him.

The third class of saints are persons who are strong in the faith and are not frightened by persecution. But since there are even among them some who are inclined toward illicit indulgences, he says, I will fight with them by the sword of my mouth, that is, I will say what I will command, and I will tell you what you are to do. For there are some who have taught the doctrine of Balaam and have placed a stone of stumbling before the eyes of the sons of Israel, to eat what is sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. And this was known a long time ago. For he gave this advice to the king of the Moabites that in this way he had scandalized the people.^[1] So, he says, you have some among you who hold to this teaching, and under the pretext of mercy you corrupt others. Whoever conquers, he says, I will give to him from the hidden manna. The hidden manna is immortality. The white stone is the adoption as a son of God. The new name is that of Christian.

Pergamum may be rendered dividing their horns, for by his judgment he distinguishes between the virtue of the faithful and the deceit of the Nicolaitans, so that the horns of the sinners may be broken and the horns of the just one may be exalted.

The city to which this is said was given to idolatry, but he is expressing approval of those in it who remained faithful through the endurance of trials. The two-edged sword is either the word of the gospel, which cuts the heart and separates the faithful from the unfaithful, or it is the relentless judgment against the impious.

I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. This he says to every church, since the tempter is everywhere, and to him it is said, She shall watch your head, and you shall watch for her heel.^[1] For the world is placed in evil.^[2] Those persons are the throne of Satan whom he owns in wickedness.^[3] The Evangelist reverts to the species, for although the entire sevenfold church is symbolized by these seven locales, nonetheless certain things have occurred in them specifically which he either praises or rebukes.

Antipas was a most courageous martyr in Pergamum, whose martyrdom I have read.^[1] Here the Evangelist recalls his memory as a demonstration of their endurance, as well as of the cruelty of those who were deceived.

You hold my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you. Indeed, Christ is killed among many, who either do not believe that he rose again, or who deny him among themselves through condemnable faults, and this is where Satan dwells.

Nevertheless, the Lord has something against this church because there are some who hold the teaching of Balaam, which is interpreted without people or without property. For Balaam is a type of the adversary who does not gather a people for salvation, nor does he rejoice in the number of the multitude that is being saved. Rather, as long as he destroys all and remains without a people and without any property, then he rejoices. It is he himself who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel. For Balak is interpreted to mean throwing down or devouring. He has thrown Israel down so that it might be consecrated to the idol, Phogor^[1], and he has devoured them by the eating of pleasure and luxury.

It seems that this city had two evils. There were a good number of Greeks, and among those regarded as faithful the shameful Nicolaitans were sown as evil weeds among the wheat.^[1] And therefore he reminds them of Balaam, saying, who through Balaam taught Balak. Through these words it is clear that he refers to the mental Balaam, that is, the devil, who through the sensual Balaam taught Balak to throw a stone of stumbling before the Israelites, namely, to sacrifice to idols and to commit fornication. Through the pleasure of this heresy, they fell so low that they offered sacrifices to Beelphegor^[2].

But I have a few things against you. To be sure, he speaks against some members who must be blamed, but not against those to whom he says, But you did not deny my faith. You have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to practice immorality. To eat and to commit fornication are the two principle forms [of sin] that the hypocrites struggle to enjoy, as the Lord says, Inside you are full of plunder and incontinence and every iniquity.^[1] Idolatry is spiritual fornication. You have lost, it says, all who go whoring from you.^[2]

The Nicolaitans receive their name from the deacon, Nicolaus, of whom Clement^[1] reports that, when he was reproached for jealousy of his very beautiful wife, he responded that whoever wanted might take her as wife. On account of this, the faithless taught that the apostles had permitted to everyone a promiscuous and communal intercourse with women. In addition, the Nicolaitans are said to have proclaimed certain fabulous and virtually pagan ideas concerning the beginning of the world and not to have kept their foods separate from those which had been offered to idols.

Let us show from the Apocalypse that repentance unaccompanied by baptism ought to be allowed valid in the case of heretics. It is imputed to the angel of Ephesus that he has forsaken his first love. In the angel of the church of Pergamum the eating of idol sacrifices is censured, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Likewise the angel of Thyatira is rebuked on account of Jezebel the prophetess, and the idol meats, and fornication. And yet the Lord encourages all these to repent and adds a threat, moreover, of future punishment if they do not turn. Now he would not urge them to repent unless he intended to grant pardon to the penitents. Is there any indication of his having said, Let them be rebaptized who have been baptized in the faith of the Nicolaitans? Or let hands be laid upon those of the people of Pergamum who at that time believed, having held the doctrine of Balaam? No, rather, Repent therefore, he says, or else I come to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

You also have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and war against you with the sword^[1] of my mouth. He speaks of a sword.^[2] . . . The sword is the commandments of both Testaments by which the contemptuous are spiritually overcome. For those who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.^[3]

And I will give to him a white stone, that is, a stone indicating victory and bright with glory, and upon the stone a new name which no one knows except him who receives it. For it is said, What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has come into the heart of man, that has God prepared for those who love him.^[1]

To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna. This manna is the invisible Bread which came down from heaven, which indeed was made man, so that man might eat the bread of angels.^[1] And the figure of this was indicated beforehand in the manna given in the desert. Whoever ate of that bread were said by the Lord to have died, because remaining faithless, they did not eat of this hidden and uniquely spiritual manna by which [Christ] offers immortality to the faithful. For he said, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have eternal life in you.^[2] For, indeed, whoever at that time was able to eat spiritually, they were worthy to obtain the same immortality, as were Moses and others. As the apostle teaches, They ate the same spiritual food.^[3] For the visible manna was in no way detrimental to those who used the bodily food in a spiritual manner. So also now, the spiritual manna of the Lord’s body does not profit persons in the present if they receive it unworthily, for they eat and drink judgment upon themselves.^[4]

And I will give him a white stone, that is, the adoption of the sons of God. This stone is a precious gem and may be understood as similar to that pearl that the merchant found and valued as equal to all his possessions which he sold.^[1] Another translation renders this as pearl.^[2] And upon the stone is a new name, that is, the name of Christian, for which reason we read, And you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will give.^[3] And besides baptism I mention also martyrdom, which no one knows except him who receives it. Although hypocrites seem to bear the name superficially, they are unable to enter the power of its meaning, having the form of religion but denying the power of it.^[4] Therefore, the same John says, He who says that he knows him but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.^[5]

And I shall give to him a white stone, that is, the body made white by baptism. And on the stone is written a new name, that is, the knowledge of the Son of man. Which no one knows except him who receives it. That is, no one knows it except through revelation, and for that reason it is said of the Jews, For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.^[1]

The hidden manna is the Bread of Life which came down from heaven for us and became edible. Figuratively, those good things are also called manna which are in the future going to come down from heaven, from where comes also the new Jerusalem. Those who conquer the devil shall obtain these things.