The Hidden Manna

The promise to the church in Pergamos contained three excellent things: hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name. These are the precious things which Jesus Christ Himself guarantees—but only to those who overcome. This promise does not apply to someone who is generous and does many good things, yet cannot control his tongue. Having only a few of the fruits of the Spirit is of no avail; we must partake of all of them in order to overcome.

Before Abraham received bread and wine and was blessed by Melchizedek, he had said to Lot, “If you take the left, then I will go to the right.” Jesus told the Jews that their fathers ate manna in the wil­derness and died. They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. The word which they had heard did not produce eternal life “abiding in them.” They depended on the daily blessing.

The hidden manna is for a hidden life. You need to have hidden treasures in your life which people can neither see nor appreciate fully. Faithfulness in the hidden life gives content and value to both the stone and the name. If the person has done what was before him, with faithfulness and zeal, he can receive the stone with understand­ing. If his inner life is like the field of a slothful man, poverty will come like a prowler, and want like an armed man. Proverbs 24:34. Those who are not faithful in living a hidden life can also be along in the assembly of the saints, but they are not baptized into the death of Christ. Romans 6:4. In 1 Corinthians 14:25 we read that when they came together, each of them was to have something to give: a tongue, a doctrine, a psalm, etc. They did not take this seriously, because they did not want to have any constraints placed on them. On the other hand, those who lived a hidden life bore the responsibility and re­ceived a “new name.”

We are living in a time of apostasy. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Even though Solomon and Saul were blessed, they did not pursue a hidden life of godliness and faithfulness. When it goes badly with a brother, you might hear someone say, “I would not have believed it about him!” It would not have happened either, if he had lived a pure, hidden life.

“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3. These are the brothers and sisters Jesus is coming for when He comes again, and then He will be one with them forever.