The Church at Pergamum

Destination—Pergamum

We visited Ephesus—church that fought against false teaching but lose their love

We visited Smyrna—Persecuted church—encouraged to not be afraid and to be faithful

Today we move on to Pergamum

(NIV)

To the Church in 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.

One of the best excavated cities of the ancient Roman world

Filled with temples to the gods and to the emperors

Had one of the biggest libraries, second only to that in Alexandria, with over 200,000 handwritten volumes

It was the capital of the Pergamum empire (the region known as Asia Minor). King Attilus, long before the time of Christ, made a peace treaty with Rome which allowed him to control this region

His grandson, Attilus the 3rd, bequeathed this city and the whole region back to Rome

This was a huge win for the Romans because it gave them unrestricted travel back and forth from Rome to the lands in the east.

It also gave them control of all the sea lanes and ports.

This was a good day for Rome, but a better day for the Gospel

Alexander the Great had conquered the entire known world giving a common language.

Now with this bridge of land under Roman control, there was unrestricted travel.

So this city was a strong and significant city in terms of political power.

But the other thing about Pergamum was that it was the place to come and worship the Roman dieties

Nearly every major deity had a temple here.

The Alter of Zeus—The god of the sky, of lightning and thunder, the chief of all gods. If you needed something done, that was the place to go because he had all the power.

The temple of Dionysus—Maybe you came for pleasure. This was the god of wine and revelry. you can imagine that unspeakable things would take place in this temple, up to the taking of human life. Like going to Vegas or to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras

The temple of the goddess Demeter—If you needed food or a good crop

The temple of the god Asklepion (Asklepius)—The god of healing. One of the major spots for healing in the world. Temple filled with snakes. They would crawl on you and impart some kind of healing power to you.

The temple of Athena—The goddess of wisdom.

The temple of Trajan—The imperial cult of emperor worship. You would affirm that the Caesar was the lord of your life and your savior and protector.

So imagine that you are a first century Christian. You have just met Jesus

He is the giver of life and of pleasure

He is the giver of wisdom

He is the healer, the provider

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

And you come back to this city.

Jews will kick us out of the synagogue

The Romans will say we are god deniers—we will be out of the temples, out in no man’s land

Every aspect of life was affected by your stand for Christ. Your very life could be taken.

Antipas—little is known about him.

It’s clear that he was a martyr, killed by “the sword of Rome”, the symbol of authority and power.

In spite of his death, they have held on to the Name of Jesus

His Name denotes His character and who he is: King of King, Lord of Lords

So the church at Pergamum had been faithful.

But not everyone had.

There were some who were tired of being different. Some who were tired of the pressure and hardship of taking a stand. Decided that it just wasn’t worth it.

Some who decided that there must be an easier way. There was.

Compromise.

The three words which describe the writing of the U.S. Constitution: Compromise, compromise, compromise

Compromise: to settle a despute by mutual concession—both agree to disagree.

In some cases, compromise can be very good. We would probably never have friends if we never compromised.

But in relation to God, compromise is never acceptable. His acceptance of us and relationship to us is based on HIS terms, not ours.

LEt’s look at this message to the church

Jesus is introduced as “Him who has the sharp two—edged sword”

This is not an encouraging start to this letter.

Ephesus—The one who holds the seven stars in his hand and who walks among the seven lampstands: a picture of one who sends the angels and who walks among his church

Smyrna—The First and the Last: a picture of the Eternal One who holds our lives in his hands

Pergamum—A sharp, two edged sword: a weapon of war.

Right off the bat, this is a warning.

Commendation

“I know where you live—where Satan has his throne”

“You remain true to my name”—even in the face of persecution, they held on to the Name of Jesus

Condemnation

“I have a few things against you”—here it comes

There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam.

Balaam:

The Israelites had finally arrived to the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jerusalem

The King of Moab, Balak, was terrified because they had heard what the Israelites had done to the other nations they had encountered.

He summons Balaam

Some confusion as to exactly who he was or where he was from: Pethor “near the River”. Could be the Euphrates, although other archeological evidence suggests that Pethor was closer to the Jordan River.

Who ever he was, I don’t believe that he was an Israelite

And I don’t believe that he was a prophet of God, although God in His omnipotence and wisdom used Balaam for His own purposes.

If he was a prophet of God, the suggestion from Revelation is that he later turned away.

Balaam at first refuses to go with the messengers

On the second attempt, I think that God knew Balaam’s heart, that he really wanted to go with these men and was being tempted by the money even though he said he wasn’t.

God says, go but only say what I tell you.

On the way, God gives him a stern warning.

Balaam’s donkey balks, Balaam beats her, the donkey starts talking, and Balaam replies. Apparently he didn’t think it strange at all.

Angel appears and tells him that he is on a reckless path but gives him permission to go on.

Balaam arrives in Moab and 3 times he blesses the Israelites and then he turns around and prophecies destruction of Moab

You would think that this is the end. Balaam turns around and goes back home.

But the story goes on. In chapter 25, we read that the women of Moab invited the Israelite men to sacrifice to their gods.

In the worship of these gods, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with them.

But Moses says in that this was the work of Balaam

Jesus confirms this in the message to Pergamum.

Apparently before he left Balak, my guess is that he was still after that money prize.

He said, “hey, you want to know how to defeat these Israelites? Here’s what you do. Get them mixed up with your religion and with your women”.

And that’s what happened. The Israelites compromised the worship of the one true God and His standards of purity.

He had called them out of Egypt and had told them that they were on a new path, in a new life. He had told them what His standard was.

And now they were compromising those standards

This was the teaching of Balaam: That you could hold to two different standards. That you could be set apart for God, yet relieve the pressure of being different.

There were some in the church at Pergamum who were teaching that one could be a Believer, but make sacrifices to the gods and take part in all that the worship of the gods involved, including prostitution.

Furthermore, they followed the teachings of the Nicolaitans.

Again, little is known about them. But there are some clues from the early church fathers:

The second century writer, Irenaeus of Lyons: The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained [as a deacon] by the apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence [Against Heresies 1:26:3].

Nicholas from Antioch is one of the men ordained as a deacon

Could it be that an ordained leader of the church later taught heresies that started the sect of the Nicholaitans? There is no way of knowing for sure.

Whoever they were, it seems that they taught that one could be a follower of Jesus and still indulge in pagan practices.

Command

Stop! Repent! How is that you can think this way?

Compromise has such a way of creeping in on us.

Aviation: start to ignore air law and manufacturers standards.

Joe Vane flying overweight

All of God’s people from the time when God called Abraham, have had to guard against compromise. And it is still this way in the church.

Can light mix with darkness?

Can you cheer for the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones at the same time?

Can oil mix with water?

Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” GOD FORBID!!

It’s impossible to say with a serious face that I am sold out to being a follower of Jesus, yet I compromise by worshipping what the world worships.

This is not a joke to Jesus. This is not something that you deal with casually

“Oh, but His grace is sufficient. Surely he will overlook my “little indiscretions.”

Yes, His grace is immense and we exprerience it ever day. But when He has made it clear to the areas in which you are compromising, and you do nothing about it, there are consequences.

We hear a lot about freedom today. “I am free to________”

“We don’t live under the law anymore. I can be all things to all people.” This is true

But both Paul and Peter say that yes, you were called to be free. But don’t use your liberty as a means of sinning or of covering up sin.

Yet compromise continues to creep in on us.

The things we watch which include sex and violence

The company we keep in which they never find out that we are Believers

The activities we partake in which are meant only to satisfy carnal desires and cravings.

It sheds new light on the last statement of where Paul talks about all the depraved things that people do.

There are those who not only do these things, but approve of those who do them.

These are people who KNOW God’s righteous decree that all them who do such things deserve death!

But compromise creeps in so slowly that we convince ourselves that these things really aren’t SO bad. We got away with it once, twice, three times. Maybe for a lifetime.

Jesus says, “If you dont repent, I will come to you and war against those people with the sword of my mouth.”

What kind of war? He doesn’t say.

The Sword of His mouth—the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God

Hebrews: The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts your body apart and goes right to the heart, judging your thoughts and intents. It uncovers everything and lays it bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (my paraphrase)

With the sword of His mouth, He will lay bare all the ways in which we have compromised the true worship of Him.

Do we want Jesus coming to us and making war against those among us who are compromising?

Promise

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Not just to the church at Pergamum. whoever! Whoever reads these words and hears the Spirit speaking to them.

Not just hear, as in hearing sounds. But LISTEN and RESPOND!

Because there is a prize for those who are victorious.

Hidden manna—that miraculous bread which fed the Israelites

In , the people asked Jesus for a miraculous sign. “Do something like God did for our forefathers when He gave them bread to eat in the wilderness

Jesus says to them “I am the bread of life. Those who come to me will never go hungry”

“Those who are victorious will experience the very life of Christ”

It is impossible while living a life of compromise

A white stone with a new name

Various interpretations about what the white stone signified

Could be a reference to the Urim and the Thummim carried by the High Priest to determine the will of God