Study of Revelation and End Times wk 9

Revelation wk 9 Letter to Pergamum

Tonight we are in week 9 of our study of Revelation and End Times, which brings us to the letter to the church at Pergamum.

We have looked at the letter to Ephesus, which we seen that they had lost their first love, that is they had lost their passion for Jesus, they were doing a lot of church work, but they were doing it out of duty, not out of a loving passion for Jesus Christ.

Then we looked at the letter to Smyrna, the people were very persecuted, and would continue to be persecuted, but our persecution here on earth has no comparison to our time with Jesus in eternity.

No matter what we may face here on earth, we have the assurance that as Christians we will spend eternity in paradise with Jesus, with no pain, no issues, no problems.

Now tonight we will be looking at the third letter of seven, the letter to the church at Pergamum the compromising church.

I. Destination

Revelation 2:12 NASB95

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

Pergamum is called the greatest city in Asia Minor, Pergamum had the first temple dedicated to Caesar and was a huge promoter of the imperial cult.

The city also had a temple dedicated to Aesculapius, the god of healing, whose insignia was the entwined serpent on the staff. (This is still a medical symbol today.)

Pergamum was at one time a royal residence, a principal city of Roman Asia.

It was located about 20 miles inland from Smyrna, and like Ephesus and Smyrna it was a wealthy city, but it was wicked.

There was a lot of pagan worship going on in Pergamum, the city was also famous for its university with a library of about 200,000 volumes, and for manufacturing parchment resulting in a paper called pergamena.

The verse continues: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword: this is a description of Jesus.

The sword is a symbolic representation of the Word of God as its twofold ability to separate believers from the world and to condemn the world of its sins.

The Word of God is the sword of salvation as well as the sword of death.

II. Commendation

Revelation 2:13 NASB95

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.

These letters have a order to them, and as with the first two, this one now gives a commendation, something that they were doing right.

Jesus tells the people, I know where you live - where Satan’s throne is.

Again Pergamum was the center of worship for Aesculapius, whose symbol was the serpent, which we know the serpent also represents the devil, as in the Garden of Eden when Satan deceived Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

There was also a lot of idolatry in Pergamum, there was also a large group of Nicolaitans there.

Pergamum was also known in those days as the headquarters of Asia Minor as the opposition to Christ and His Gospel message.

With the city being called the throne of Satan, Jesus commends the believers that they had held fast to his name.

They had been through persecution and difficult times yet they did not deny the name of Jesus Christ.

They did not even give up the faith, they did not deny Christ even in the days of Antipas, it is believed that Antipas was the pastor of the church, and that he was martyred or killed for his faith.

The pagans tried stopping the Christians by killing the leader, the pastor of the church, but the believers kept their eyes on Jesus, they kept the faith.

The verse closes with, where Satan lives, in this one verse we are told that Pergamum was where the throne of Satan is and where he lives.

This showing or telling us how wicked the city was, and Jesus telling the people they were doing good keeping their eyes upon him.

But then comes the rebuke, what they were doing wrong, or what they could improve upon.

III. Rebuke

Revelation 2:14–15 NASB95

14 ‘But 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. 15 ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Despite their courageous stand against persecution, the believers in Pergamum were not faultless before the Lord.

Satan had not been able to destroy them by coming as the roaring lion, but he was making progress as the deceiving serpent.

A group of compromising people had infiltrated the church fellowship, and Jesus Christ hated their doctrines and their practices.

These infiltrators are called Nicolaitans, whom we heard of in the letter to the church of Ephesus.

The name Nicolaitans means to rule the people.

The Nicolaitans taught the doctrine of Balaam.

The Hebrew name Balaam means lord of the people and is probably synonymous with Nicolaitans.

Sadly, this group of professed believers lorded it over the people and led them astray.

To understand the doctrine of Balaam, we need to know the story of Balaam, which comes from Numbers chapters 22-25.

Balaam was a true prophet who prostituted his gifts in order to earn money from King Balak, who hired him to curse the people of Israel.

God prevented Balaam from actually cursing the nation - in fact, God turned the curse into blessings! - but Balak still got his money’s worth.

How? By following Balaam’s advice and making friends with Israel, and then inviting the Jews to worship and feast at the pagan altars.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!

The Jewish men fell right into the trap and many of them became good neighbors.

They ate meat from idolatrous altars and committed fornication as part of heathen religious rites.

Twenty-four thousand people died because of this disobedient act of compromise.

Which can be seen in Numbers 25:1-9 as the Israelites worshipped Baal, and caused a plague on the nation.

Why did this bit of ancient history apply to the believers at Pergamum?

Because a group in the church said, there is nothing wrong with being friendly to Rome.

What harm is there in putting a pinch of incense on the altar and affirming your loyalty to Caesar?

Antipas refused to compromise and was martyred; but others took the easy way and cooperated with Rome.

The Lord accused the Christians at Pergamum of sinning, of committing spiritual fornication by saying, Caesar is Lord.

Of course, this compromise made them welcome in the Roman society and protected them from Roman persecution, but it cost them their testimony.

Believers today also face the temptation to achieve personal advancement to ungodly compromise.

The congregation or the individual Christian that compromises with the world just to avoid suffering or achieve success is committing spiritual adultery and being unfaithful to the Lord.

Story of the two church in Citrus County that left S.B.C and went charismatic.

IV. Exhortation

Revelation 2:16 NASB95

16 ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Here we have Jesus sharply rebuking the church with the abrupt command, to repent, they have been warned, or otherwise, He will soon come to them and will fight against them with the sword of His mouth.

They were to repent, that is not just asking for forgiveness but to actually turn away from that which they were doing and return to God.

These Christians needed to turn away from the pagan and false god’s and turn to God Almighty and worship Him and only Him.

Or otherwise Jesus will war against them, this act will be a humiliation for the church, Jesus will come and make this church not be able to function on its own any more, it will make it come to the point of closing its doors.

They are to either repent, turn from the world, and turn back to God or they will lose the power, the authority to do what God has called them to do, if they do not repent, then they will not be effective for Jesus, they will not be able to survive.

Jesus will war against them with the sword of His mouth - this is indicative of a spiritual conflict and victory through the word and the Spirit of God.

Jesus is promising that judgment will come upon the church if the people do not repent of their waywardness and turn back to God.

God always gives warnings and chances to repent and to turn back to him, the thing is do we listen, or do we take the hard road.

V. Promise

Revelation 2:17 NASB95

17 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 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.’

We once again here the three things that Jesus ends the letters with: who has ears to hear, what the Spirit says to the churches, the one who conquers.

That is if we will listen up, and listen closely because the Holy Spirit has a message for us, that if we will follow what has been said, that is repent of our waywardness, of following after the world.

If we will conquer our sinful ways, our wrong doings, then He has a promise for us.

Jesus says, I will give some of the hidden manna.

This may refer to Christ as the Bread from heaven, the unseen source of the believer’s nourishment and strength.

Whereas Israel had received physical food, manna, we the church receives spiritual food.

John 6:48–51 NASB95

48 “I am the bread of life. 49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

If we will repent and overcome or conquer our sins, that is stay clean of the worldly ways, then Jesus says, we will eat of the Bread of Life.

The manna represents exclusive sustenance and kingdom fellowship with God for Christians who reject the ways of Balaam, that is false beliefs.

He who overcome will also receive a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

There are two different interpretations that can be looked at with the white stones here, first it can be that it was a pass of judgment, the stone could be a sign showing that the believer was acquitted of their guilt of sin, their consequences of sin and declared righteous before God.

The second interpretation of the white stone, can be that in the Roman days, a white stone was given as a ticket to gain admission to an event, or a feast.

It is said that a white stone with a name inscribed on it was like a V.I.P ticket if you will to the feast, which as Christians we will have V.I.P tickets to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

We can see were either interpretation could work or actually both of them can even work together.

The stone can be that we are being acquitted of the consequences of our sins, due to the shed blood of Jesus Christ, but it is also because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we receive a ticket into heaven, and with a name written on the stone, it is our V.I.P ticket to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:7–9 NASB95

7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

We are blessed to follow Jesus, yes like the believers in Pergamum we will face times of persecution and times of trials, times where it would just be easier to follow the ways of the world, then to remain faithful to God.

But we must see the message to the church at Pergamum here as a warning against compromising in morals or teachings and against deviating from the purity of the doctrine of the Word of God.

We must keep our eyes of Jesus, and not allow Satan or the world or the things of this world to distract us from Jesus, but to remain faithful to Him.

Because Satan is out there roaming like a roaring lion.

1 Peter 5:8 NASB95

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

If we are not careful, Satan will work his way into our personal lives, into our churches and will began to slowly, and quietly to lead us astray, lead us away from God.