Revelation 2:12-17 - Compromise Kills: Pergamum’s Temptation

Introduction

This past week, I was celebrating the promotion of Wrexham Football Club to the Champtionship league in England.

“Imagine a sports team with all the talent in the world—great players, a winning record—but they start cutting corners in practice. Soon, laziness creeps in, and they lose their edge. The threat wasn’t a rival team; it was their own lack of discipline. That’s what Jesus warns the church about in Pergamum—and it’s a warning for us too.”

Patmos and the Seven Churches

Not opposition, not persecution. The greatest dangers to the church come from the inside rather than the outside.

According to Jesus, this danger is easy to identify. It is compromise. It is choosing to accommodate the world rather than follow the truth.

This compromise can be theological or it can be moral. As we will see in Pergamum, it was both.

Pergamum was one of the chief cities of Asia Minor, rivaling Ephesus and Smyrna for influence.

It was about 16 miles inland and 70 miles north of Smyrna.

It was built on the side of a tall hill, and the temples (to Athena-Wisdom, Zeus-, Dionysius, and Demeter) and acropolis were 1000 feet above the plain below.

Athena: Wisdom, warfare.

Zeus: Sky, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice. King of the gods.

Dionysus: Wine, fertility, ritual madness, theater, and ecstasy.

Demeter: Agriculture, harvest, fertility, and the cycle of life and death.

Asklepius: healing.

They even invented a water system to use siphoning to get water from the river up to the city center and their technology spread throughout the empire.

Apparently, It is the city where parchment paper was first developed, and was exported throughout the Roman Empire

It was the hub of the imperial cult (dedicated particularly to Caesar Augustus).

It is possible that the church started due to church planting efforts from Ephesus, but we don’t know for sure.

Exalting Jesus in Revelation The Church that Compromises the Truth (Revelation 2:12–17)

Main Idea: Though believers and churches are constantly tempted to compromise both theologically and ethically, true followers of Christ will remain faithful and receive from the Lord the reward of eternal life.

Like Pergamum, our greatest danger isn’t out there; it’s within, if we start to compromise.

I. Christ Is the Judge of Heaven and Earth (Rev 2:12)

The characteristic of Christ is specifically chosen to address the needs of the church in Pergamum.

As a provincial capital, Pergamum were granted “the law (or right) of the sword.” (ius gladii).They had the authority to take life at will.

it is taken from Revelation 1:16 “In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

It is an allusion to the Servant Song in Isaiah 49:2 “He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.”

In it is “the imagery of war used in the interests of the gospel of peace.” (Motyer, Isaiah, 308). The Messiah when he came the first time, accomplished God’s will not by military force but a revelation of God’s word, because he is the Word of God (John 1:1).

Now, as the one seated at the right hand of the Father, he has the right to judge the world.

Isaiah 11:4 ESV

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

His judgement is true and it is complete.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Rome might wield the sword on earth, but Jesus wields a sword from heaven. Christ will bring justice to the world!

II. Christ Commends Loyalty to Him (Rev 2:13)

“I know where you dwell” - You live where Satan lives, not only that it’s where Satan has his throne.

Three options for Satan’s throne:

Huge altar to Zeus

The sanctuary of the healer Asklepius, whose symbol was a serpent.

The Temple to Caesar Augustus and Roma

I lean toward it being the Imperial cult, the temple to Augustus and Roma.

Roman worship went from: the home—the “guild”—the city—the Empire

These words would have been a comfort. Jesus knows they are in the viper’s den, and they still loyal to Christ. He sees them. He knows.

Persecution during reign of Domitian (r.81-96). He was the first emperor to demand that he be worshiped while still alive.  He encouraged subjects to address him as Dominus et Deus, “Lord and God.” Now, regarding Emperor-Worship, it was rare that “the living and reigning emperor was actually [seen] as god.  But it was quite consistent with ancient ideas that a great ruler, after he had passed away, should be included on the roll of those whom the state worshipped.”[M. P. Charlesworth, The Roman Empire (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), 94.] On death of emperor, Senate of Rome decided whether or not the dead man deserved honour of deification. If approved he would be added to the list of state gods.  Domitian’s father, Vespasian had not taken this procedure very seriously. On his deathbed, he said, “I think I'm becoming a god”!  But his son, Domitian, took it very seriously, so much so that he sought divine recognition in lifetime.

By being Christians and refusing to say Caesar is Lord, Christians were bad Romans.

“Antipas was killed among you” It is quite possible that Antipas was murdered in the city during Domitian’s persecution, and that it was famous in the city. He may have been the pastor.

Tradition says he was roasted inside a brass bull (Mounce, Revelation, 80).

Jesus commends the church in Pergamum, “Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith”

“Think of Daniel in Babylon, surrounded by idolatry, facing the lions’ den for his faith. He didn’t compromise, and God honored him. The church in Pergamum was like that—faithful in Satan’s backyard, just as we’re called to be today.”

Revelation 6:10 ESV

They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

All of the martyrs from Pergamum, from Smyrna, throughout church history, and all of those dying for the sake of Christ today around the world join with the voices and prayers of the saints that comes before the throne of God!

Jesus says, “Yet a little while” Why? Because of his mercy and his kindness to offer the Gospel until all of the elect of God are gathered.

Revelation 14:13 ESV

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

But the day of judgement is coming, and Christ is the judge. Listen to what end of chapter 6 says:

Revelation 6:16–17 ESV

“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

III. Christ Condemns Compromise (Rev 2:14-15)

The church at Pergamum allowed compromise to grow within the church, even though they stood firm to the outside pressures of persecution.

Jesus says, “I have a few things against you.”

Jesus identifying two categories of compromise:

A. Compromise like Balaam (Rev 2:14)

“Some hold to the teaching of Balaam” - The story of Balaam is in the book of Numbers.

Balaam is the prime example of a false prophet in the Old Testament.

Instead of speaking for God, Balaam manipulated his prophecies for his own benefit

Here, Jesus says he taught Balak to put a stumbling block before sons of Israel

Numbers 31:16 ESV

Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.

It’s like a church that starts bending its beliefs to fit the culture—maybe it’s ignoring sin to seem welcoming or chasing trends instead of truth. It’s subtle, but it erodes faith, just like it did in Pergamum.”

Exalting Jesus in Revelation We Must Not Compromise Our Morality (2:14)

Pagan food and pagan women led to spiritual compromise and adultery on the part of the people of God!

With so many temples in the city of Pergamum, the church found itself allowing some in their midst to buy meat offered to idols at the market and practice the sexual immorality that was rampant in their culture.

Dionysus: Obvious sexual sin because he is the god of wine and pleasure.

Demeter and Asklepius: less obvious because they would go to the temple of Demeter as part of their grocery shopping and the temple of Asklepius when they needed a doctor or medical care.

This is why we need each other in the body of Christ.

I want to read to you a portion of our church covenant.

We will humbly and gently confront one another and receive correction from one another in accordance with a New Testament understanding of church discipline and restoration.

The church in Pergamum did not confront one another or receive correction. Instead, they allowed compromise to creep in.

B. Compromise with the Nicolaitans (Rev 2:15)

Irenaus (c.130-c.195) describes the Nicolaitans

Ante-Nicene Fathers 1: The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus Chapter XXVI

The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles.1 They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practise adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols

Remember, the Ephesian church had rejected them (Rev 2:6).

We often think of false teachers as promoting false doctrine, and they do. But the evidence of their false doctrine is often seen in sinful living. Their doctrine excuses disobedience to God.

IV. Christ Wants Repentance (Rev 2:16)

“Repent” - Here, he commands repentance - a change of conduct away from toleration and compromise with immorality and false teaching.

“Imagine a ship drifting off course. The captain doesn’t wait—he corrects the heading before it’s too late. That’s repentance: turning back to God’s way before compromise sinks us.”

Think about the insidious nature of compromise:

It never happens quickly, so that we don’t notice the change

It lowers standards that might have been non-negotiable ealier

It is not offensive, and is even called “loving”

“What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.” - John Wesley

“I will come soon and wage war against them” - He promises to take decisive action and judge those who mislead his people.

There will be some in churches that find themselves on the wrong side of the battle when Jesus returns. That is sobering.

This should be a comfort to us who are loyal. He will defend his people, both now and in the future.

“sword of my mouth” - His means of judgement

Revelation 19:15 ESV

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

V. A Challenge and Promise (Rev 2:17)

A. Hidden Manna

Rather than food provided by idols, manna is food provided by God.

Manna was the food God provided Israel in the wilderness.

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:54 ESV

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Jesus is our hidden manna—spiritual food that keeps us going when the world leaves us empty.”

Revelation 7:16–17 ESV

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 19:9 ESV

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

We are part of the party in heaven. Hebrews 12:22 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,”

B. A White Stone

A right to enter the New Jerusalem.

The meaning of the white stone is elusive. Commentators and theologians are unsure on the details of how it relates to Pergamum.

One intriguing idea is that a white stone means acquittal in court, while a black stone means guilt.

You have heard of being “black balled,” that was the black stone.

Jesus is emphasizing his role at judge to the church at Pergamum, so it may be what he had in mind.

Some of the pastors of church history says it points to adoption, that we take the name of Jesus; therefore, the family name of God. We are now part of his family!

Nevertheless, they all agree it points to acceptance and victory in Christ.

“new name” - listen to Beale

Exalting Jesus in Revelation Christ Will Acknowledge Us

In the ancient world and the Old Testament, to know someone’s name, especially that of God, often meant to enter into an intimate relationship with that person and to share in the person’s character or power.

When Beale says the satanic name, he means those who take the mark of the beast

Revelation 14:11 ESV

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

In contrast to those who have the name of the beast who are judged by Christ by the sword of his mouth. Those who are in Christ are conquerors who have his name

Revelation 22:4 ESV

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Conclusion

Matthew 16:26 ESV

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Jesus’s words are sobering. Without Jesus, you can have it all but lose your soul.

If you’re compromising, repent today—Christ is ready to forgive. If you don’t know Him, come to Him now; He’s the bread you need. 

He is the bread from heaven. He has what you need. He knows where you live, and he knows how to meet that need. Come to Christ if you don’t know him!

Psalm 34:8 ESV

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

“It’s like getting a VIP pass to an exclusive event—not because we earned it, but because Christ invites us in. That white stone is our acceptance into His family.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

It’s better than we can every imagine.