Pergamum: The Compromising Church

Revelation chapter 2 verses 12 to 17 We want to continue our study under the heading the things which are, as you recall back in chapter 1, verse number 19 We already talked about the things which John had seen He recorded those things And now we're in the midst of talking about the things which are the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia, written in A. D. 9 The outline remains the same: the analyzation, the affirmation, the accusation, the admonition, the application We'll begin first of all with the analyzation: the correspondent, the city, and the church

Revelation chapter 2, verse number 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamum right, the one who has a sharp two-ed sword says this We'll stop right there That's the correspondent If you go back to chapter 1, verse number 16, Christ is described as in his right hand he held seven stars And out of his mouth came a sharp, two-ed sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength The author is Christ For he is the one who has a sharp two-ed sword So, no matter where you're at tonight, the church

Pergamum and the letter they receive is for us that we might, by way of warning, understand the implications of compromise And by way of warning, understand that if we don't deal with those who have compromised, That God, with the sword of his mouth, the sword of his spirit, will come and deal with us Point number two, the city As we continue our analyzation of this letter, Pergamos was located 70 miles North of Smyrna, 15 miles from the coast of the Aegean Sea And in 29 B, Pergamus, or Pergamum, however you want to say it, was given permission to erect and dedicate a temple to Augustus

Making it the official center of the imperial court It was Sir William Ramsey who said that beyond all other cities in Asia Minor This city gives the traveler the impression of a royal city, the home of authority In 133 BC, Pergamum was named the capital of the Roman province of Asia It was the official center of Caesar worship One author said it this way: A short distance from the altar of Zeus that had been erected there in the city was an elegant temple to the goddess Athena Dionysus and Demeter were also worshipped there, as well as Asc, the god of healing

Was honored with a great medical school whose college of medical priests was associated with the worship of this God The idol of As was shaped like a serpent. A symbol still used by the medical profession today, though many do not understand its ancient associations Many of us have seen the snake wrapped around the pole on medical symbols Its root is in Pergamum, where they worship the god of healing, the god Asclepius Interesting Let's move on to the church We're not quite sure how the church was born, when it was born, or who even pastored the church there in Pergamum

But we do know something about the church because it tells us that they lived where Satan dwelt The text tells us, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is That's very interest This church, this little church was located in the place where Satan's throne is Now we know that Satan is not omnipresent We know that Satan can only be one place at a time And in a moment, we'll talk about how we know this is Satan's throne And why Christ calls it Satan's throne

But you need to understand, as 2 Corinthians 4: states, Satan is the God of this world. 1 John 5, 19 says, The whole world lies in the arms of the wicked one John 12, John 14, and John 16, Christ says that Satan is the prince of the world Christ at the very outset helps us understand that because Satan's throne is here, it's very easy for some people to begin to compromise To court the world, Satan is extremely tricky He's extremely crafty If you study the nation of Israel, you'll see that their problems were their willingness to compromise They would intermarry with Gentile people

They did not follow God's commands to destroy the Canaanites God would give them a command They would not do it They would intermarry with people who were not of the same faith as they were, and they inevitably would go down the wrong way Whenever a Christian marries an unbeliever, the unbeliever will win out That's going to happen It's evident in the nation of Israel It's evident in the scriptures That's why Christ says to Paul's pen in 2 Corinthians: Be ye not unequally yoked together with the unbeliever For what fellowship has light with darkness? There's no fellowship there

Now I know that God can do a great work, and I know there are people who have been believers In their sinful condition, they have married an unbeliever, and God has done a miraculous work But let me tell you something, that's a miracle of Almighty God But nine times out of ten, the world wins out by evidence in Solomon's life, the nation of Israel's life Just read the Old Testament It's filled with it God has never changed his mind, un It's a mockery to his name And yet, in this church, There were a few, a faithful few, and God would commend them

So let's move from the analyzation to the approval Verse number 13. I know where you dwell Where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast my name and did not deny my faith Even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you where Satan dwells See the emphasis on where Satan dwells? Twice the Lord says that That's where the church was located Why does he say that? There are several reasons

One is because of the altar of Zeus that was there, that hung 40 feet over The edge of the Acropolis, and so from any place in the city of Pergamum, you could see the altar there erected to Zeus Another was because it was a center of emperor worship There were different cities that were involved in the worship of Caesar, but the center of it, the hub of it, was in Pergamum But the main emphasis was on the temple of As, the god of healing

They belie that if you went into this temple where the floor was filled with snakes, that if you went into that temple and you saw Slept on the floor and allow the snakes to crawl over your body, that that would be the key to your healing Asclepius was the god of healing as representative by a serpent It is not true, according to Genesis 3, verse number 1, in Revelation chapter 12, verse number 1, that Satan Is the serpent It's no wonder that Christ would say, This is the home of Satan This is where his throne is But I want you to notice what Christ says: He says, I know where you live

To the church of Ephesus, he said, I know your deeds To the church of Smyr, he said, I know your suffering To the church of Perkim, he says, I know where you live. I know your circumstances. I know your situation It's not that Christ sits up there and because He's omnipres, by way of observation, He knows your situation That's the word gn That word is not used here It's the word oid, which deals specifically with experiential knowledge. I know by way of experience where you live. I know your condition. I know the circumstances surrounding your environment

How do I know that? Matthew 4, verses 2 to 4 When Christ was on earth Satan came to him, and Satan would begin to tempt him and unleash a flurry of temptations upon the Lord Jesus Christ During those 40 days in the wilderness, Christ says, I know what it's like to be in conflict with Satan. I know that So he begins to commend them He gives them the approval based on two things One is their position. I know where you're at. I know what you're facing. I know what you're going through The church was in a treacherous position

He says, I know your position, I know your circumstances. I know your courage within that position. I know it And then he says, because of their position, he commends them for their perseverance That's point number two Listen to what he says You hold fast my name You hold on to my name You hold on to my essential character You hold on to me You don't deny my name You hold on to my name, the name Which one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father

They were committed to the name of God, they were not committed to Caesar, it was the hub of emperor worship And Caesar was the God of the city, but Christ was the God of the church And they stood firm on the deity of Christ, that he was fully God, that he was fully man They believed in who Jesus Christ was, they did not deny his name But Antipas He's mentioned He's called my faithful witness What a great name. I was thinking tonight, you know, if my wife and I have another kid, that would make it seven, and it's a boy, I'm going to name him Antipas

Number one, it begins with an A, and all my kids' names begin with A But the name Antipas means against all Anti, again, pos all Against all What a name This guy was against everything that was against God He was for God, but he was against everything and everyone else who stood against God And he stood so firm that they boiled him alive That's the kind of men we need to have, isn't it? We need more men like Antipas, who are against everything else that God is against They are for what God's for, they're against what God's against, and everybody else knows it

And so, for Christ to pick this man out, he calls him my faithful witness Look back at chapter 1, verse number 5 It says, These words, and from Jesus Christ, the what? The faithful w It says of John the Apostle in verse number 2 and in verse number verse number, yeah. 9 That he bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, so much so that he was exiled to Patm He too was a faithful witness But Jesus Christ specifically calls Antipas my faithful witness He gives Antipas his name That's amazing This man is so faithful, I'm going to give him my name

That's how committed he was That's the kind of people God's looking for You know, you go to the doctor and he says, you're looking good, you're walking, you're talking, you're even feeling good, but there's a problem And you want to know what that problem is, especially if it's a major problem And for Pergamum, it was a major problem Verse number 14, but The but of Scripture speak so loudly to us all But I have a few things against you, he says Remember, with the church of Ephesus, he had one thing against them Now he says, I have a few things The list is growing. I have a few things

Against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam Who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality Thus You also have some who, in the same way, hold the teaching of the Nicolait He says, I have this accusation: number one, against certain people Number two, about a critical problem First of all, against certain people There are some of you. I have this against you as a whole because there are some of you who buy into a certain teaching

Within the church, there is always good and there unfortunately is usually evil Those who will hold fast the name of Christ based on conviction and commitment and courage, yet those who succumb to the world's influence because they decide to compromise Their stand Christ says, There are some of you who hold this How many is the sum? I don't know Only a few, more than one, or Christ would have said one So there was a few Again, in verse number 15, he says, There are some But notice, he says, I have this against you as a whole Because you haven't done something, you've allowed this to continue

Folks, I want to know something You cannot allow false teaching to exist in the church And you can't allow people to live in sin in the church You can't do that Christ says, I have this against you, the church, Pergamum, because you have allowed this to continue on You have tolerated it You have put up with it You have not dealt with it properly There are some in your congregation who do these things And although I have this against a certain number of people, understand that if you know about it and don't do anything about it, I have this against you You have tolerated sin and ev

And thus, the testimony of your church is affected And then he says, I had this against certain people, number two, about a critical problem It says, there are some who hold the teaching of Balaam Who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality? What is the teaching of Balaam? Well, to do that, after our service is over, you might want to go home tonight and read Numbers 22 to 25 Balaam was a prophet of God But he was a prophet for prophets He was a P-R-O-T for P-R-

Did you get that? The doctrine of Balaam, the teaching of Balaam, is the teaching that walks softly on immorality It walks softly on the intermarrying with pagan women It walks softly on idolatry And he says, I have this against you You've allowed it to continue You haven't done anything about it There is never ro for compromise in the life of a Christian Which leads us to number four, point number four, the admonition Christ says, rep, therefore Repent Repent immediately from corruption Repent, therefore

He doesn't say, you know, I really appreciate the love you've been showing these people in sin Doesn't say that People who will do what I ask them to do without reservation, without compromise And Christ says, if you know about it, you've got to repent from your ways And if you are of the some, if you are of the few Who have compromised your stand and have flirted with the world, then you've got to repent from your corruption You have got to turn from your wickedness You've got to repent from your involvement in the world You got to repent from your compromise

You've got to repent from your seeking to be entertained by what the world offers Because if you do not repent, From your corruption, point number two, you will reap immensely the consequences You're going to reap the consequences He says Repent, therefore, or else He says these words: I am coming to you quickly, and that ain't the second coming either He says, I'm coming to you quickly He says, I will make what? War War against them with the sword of my mouth. I'm going to make war with them Folks, listen, if this doesn't get you, if this doesn't convict you Then I pray for your soul

If you know of someone in sin, someone who's living in sin And you don't confront them, and you don't go to them as a brother in Christ, as a sister in Christ, and plead with them to repent and get right with God and follow the avenue of Matthew 18 If you don't do that, God says, I'm going to come make war with those people Do you want God to make war with your people? Do you want God to come quickly and make war with his people? I don't. I want to protect them from that. I want them to understand their God and love their God

And Christ says, the consequences will be quick, and the consequences will be devastating Lastly, the application That's verse number 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches Once again, Christ says, Listen up Are you listening? Are you hearing? Do you know what's being said? Are you awake? He says, to him who overcomes To him, I will give some of the hidden manna And I will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone, which no one knows but he who receives it Three things by way of application Number one is salvation Number one is salvation

That's the overcomer That's the one who believes in Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Jesus says, if you don't know me, now is the time If you are bought into this teaching, now is the time for you to understand that you can be an overcomer You can overcome sin, you can overcome death by believing in my name and giving your life to me If you do, I will grant you many things We saw at the church of Ephesus, they were granted the tree of life The Church of Smyrna, the over, the crown of life, and protection for the second death

If you're here tonight, And you are entrenched in the world You love the world You are consumed with the world That's all you care about You need Jesus Christ You need Him as your Savior You need to give your life to Christ Number two, he says, the over, I will give him of the hidden manna What's that? From salvation, we move to sustenance Manna in the Old Testament was what Israel was fed from heaven, according to Exodus 16, verse number 15 And nowadays, the church itself is fed with that spiritual sustenance that God gives to his people

When they collected the manna, they put some manna in the ark and they closed it up, and that was the hidden manna Christ says, I want to let you know that that which is once hidden can be yours You can have my life And Christ is that bread of life, we know that And because he is, we understand that the bread of heaven is that manna that feeds us and sustains us. I look at it this way Christ says, If you're an overcomer, I will sustain your life. I will give you everything you need. I will give you manna from heaven. I will give you my bread

And then he says, And I would give him a white stone. A white stone What's that? Well, when they passed out a verdict in ancient times, they either gave the man a black stone or a white stone The black stone meant he was guilty And the white stone said he was Acquitted Christ says, If you an overcomer, you're set free You're no longer guilty You are set free This is your security This is your security You are set free from the enslavement of sin The white is a color that refers, I believe, to the righteousness of Christ White seems to be heaven's color

In Revelation:, we're given white garments In Revelation 7, 9, we wear white robes In Revelation 19, we're clothed in white linen In Revelation 20, it's God's white Throne white is the clothing and the color of heaven And then he says And I will give him a new name written on the stone, which no one knows, but he receives it What is a name that no one knows? I don't know If I knew it, that verse couldn't be in the Bible No one knows it, but the one who receives it In heaven, We go there because we're new creations In heaven, all things will be made new In heaven, is the new Jerusalem

And in heaven, we sing a new song But our security is wrapped up in the fact that we are given a new name, a new identity, a new character, a new quality It was A. W Toz who said in his book, The Root of the Righteous, Every farmer knows the hunger of the wilderness The hunger which no modern farm machinery, no improved agricultural methods can ever quite destroy

No matter how well prepared the soil, how well kept the fences, how carefully painted the buildings, let the owner neglect for a while his prized and valued acres. and they will revert again to the wild and be swallowed up by the jungle or the wastel The bias of nature is toward the wilderness, never toward the fruitful field It's a reminder to all of us, so easily our nature, our sinful nature, moves the way of the world so easily, so freely We need to keep it in check We need to cultivate our life of faith, remain true to the Word of God, and never, ever comp.