The Church of Pergamum
Notes
Transcript
I hope you have been enjoying this series on the seven churches. We are moving right along. Today we are on church number 3 mentioned in chapter 2 beginning at verse 12.
If you have your Bible go with me to Revelation chapter 2. Let’s see what Jesus wrote to the church at Pergamum.
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.
13 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, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.
15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Pergamum at the time of John’s vision was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. On the city’s acropolis stood a great altar to Zeus, the chief Greek god. Nearby was an elegant temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. Outside the city wall was a shrine to the Greek god of medicine, Aesculapius, with his symbol in the form of a serpent. Consequently, Jesus recognizes it as a place where Satan dwelt and had his “seat”. This city was a center for both idolatry and persecution of Christians.
This church in Pergamum did an amazing job of demonstrating their faith. The church is being attacked by Satanic opposition, persecution is growing and they are holding on to Christ. They wouldn’t deny the faith. They didn’t compromise their beliefs. They didn’t water down the Gospel message.
Jesus mentions here in this passage one of their members that was put to death in the city. His name was Antipas. This is the only place where he is mentioned in scripture. His name has a unique meaning. It means, “instead of all”. What a way to be remembered? He is remembered for his faithful witness. And Jesus calls him “my” witness. Antipas not only bore witness to the truth about Jesus, he had a personal relationship with Him, belonging to Him.
So, Jesus calls out the city as a place where Satan lives. It is an evil city. They have made Zeus a thrown and they have made other monuments to other gods. But the church has remained faithful even unto death. But there is still something that Jesus has to call the church at Pergamum to repent. Look at verse 14.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.
15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Let me show you what Jesus was talking about. Go to the book of Numbers chapter 25.
1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women,
2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods.
3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”
The Israelite men were having sexual relations with a group of people, the moabites, that did not worship the god of Israel. They worshipped different gods and the Israelites were getting mixed up with this group of people. And see know how much God hates idol worship. It’s in one of the big 10. Don’t have any other gods before me. God didn’t mess around with this.
And some of the people at the church in Pergamum was getting mixed up in this. They were wanting to be a part of the church and they were wanting to be a part of what was going on in the city.
Jesus said you can’t serve two masters. God doesn’t want us to put anything in front of Him.
There may be things that seem okay. People say the right thing. They look the part. But they are deceiving believers all the time. Let’s look at some of the different religions in the world
Buddhism
Buddhism
The goal of Buddhism is enlightenment. They strive for no more suffering, what they call nirvana. Sounds good right.
The truth is they have no god. Buddha who was a man is who they burn incense to. He died and did not come back to life.
I am amazed at how many christians will have the little buddha statues in their house. Christians will talk about enlightenment all the time. Christians will talk about Karma. These are all related to Buddhism.
Confucianism
Confucianism
It is a very moral religion. They promote morality, respect for other people, and peaceful natures. They truly want people to become better. Sound great doesn’t it.
But here’s the problem. They follow the teaching of Confucius, not God. They don’t believe in God, and they thing that people are born good. They also believe that people can change themselves with knowledge, not through God’s salvation.
Have you heard of Feng Shui. This comes from confucianism. It is the concept that stuff should go in a certain place in order to achieve perfect balance. What about yin and yang. They believe that all the good will be balanced with evil. The goal of this religion is for all people to become supremely good, but the system they’ve set up means that this will never happen. The better things get, the more evil will have to come into the world to counteract it. This is language that you hear in our culture today.
Hinduism
Hinduism
They outwardly believe in a concept of one god. Sounds good right? But here’s the catch. They believe in hundreds of other gods that are part of Brahman. And they don’t believe in sin.
Islam
Islam
It’s simple. They believe there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. They believe that the only valid view of Christ is the one that’s in the Koran, which says that Jesus is the son of Mary and a servant of God, but Jesus is not God.
They believe there is only one god and he is to be obeyed. He is omnipotent and omniscient. They believe in angels and the devil. So, all of this sounds like what christians believe.
Allah is not a personal God. He is far above all men and cannot be known. He wants justice more than he wants love. Allah asks his people to make war against “the infidels,” but the God of Christians tells His people to “turn the other cheek.” Allah prefers judgment over grace, and power over mercy. He is the source of good and evil. They believe that marriage is for having kids, so men can have up to four wives and as many concubines as they want. However, if they have more than one wife then they are required to treat them all equally. Women have to obey their husbands, and if they don’t, then they can be beaten or physically harmed.
But the truth is God is a God of love and He invites those who believe in Him to be loved by Him and to know Him personally.
And I could go on and on about all the different religions of the world and tell you about each one of them and how they are like christianity and how they are different. The truth is Jesus says
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. Jesus is the only religious leader that died for His followers. Jesus is the only religious leader that rose from the dead. As believers, we have to be aware of what we are allowing into our house. God says...
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
God will not put up with you allowing any other gods ahead of Him. He says...
14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
When he says whose name is jealous he means only of God. or a desire for exclusivity in relationship.
The church at Pergamum was wanted to be a part of both sides of the fence. I hear people in Hollywood and news people and celebrities and athletes that will say things and try to be inclusive of all religions, but the truth is you can’t have your cake and eat it too when it comes to religion. God wants you to worship Him only. He gave us a book to read and follow and that is the only way that we are to follow.
God’s word tells us that we can’t have both in our life.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
The world we live in, it would be easier to go along with the crowd. It would be easy to say that it is okay to worship who you want. To believe what you want to. It would be easy to say that it is okay to do what makes you feel good. But God’s Word tells me to...
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
We are to live and walk in the Holy Spirit. As we do this then we will not carry out the cravings of the old, sinful nature.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
And here again we see Jesus giving the church here at Pergamum some instructions
16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
We must repent. He keeps it simple here. You have to repent. If you have allowed things to come into your house that shouldn’t be there then repent. If you have let idols come into your house, get rid of them. If you have allowed yourself to be persuade by false doctrines, repent. Come clean and let Jesus come and cleanse your life.
The church at Pergamum, by their compromising spirit, even though they still claimed membership in the church, they were putting themselves on the side of Christ’s enemies. And Jesus will some day soon destroy His enemies.
It is so important that we keep on winning victories through Christ by faith. And one of the days we will eat of the “hidden manna,” that Christ describes in verse 17.
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Jesus tells us that He is the true manna, the true bread from heaven.
48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
All of these religions that we have talked about today is about works. But with Christ it is not about works but a relationship and Jesus wants us to feast with Him and partake of the life that He has for us.
The life with Christ is not about going through forms and ceremonies, but by continually believing on Jesus and feeding on His Word. As bread, He was given and broken and must be taken. We must take Him as Lord and Savior if we are to receive His life. As bread He sustains our spiritual life as we continually partake of Him.
And He ends this letter by telling us that instead of being drawn into the immorality, lusts, and desires of the world, we will have the “white stone” of forgiveness and acquittal. What does this mean?
In the time of John, a white pebble was used in judicial matters as a vote of not guilty. Our sins are blotted out and we become justified, just as if we had never sinned. We will also receive a “new name,” which in the Bible means a new nature, a new authority, and a full inheritance.
Isn’t that something worth living for?
Today, I want us to take communion to remember what Christ came for.