Pergamum: The Compromising Church
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Tonight were going to take a journey, were going to take a flight, and were going to launch our flight from the book of Leviticus and were gonna fly over the entire Bible and land in Revelation. So let’s begin by looking at the book of Leviticus.
They will be on the screen.
Why are we studying the book of Revelation and starting in Lev. thats a fair question, most people dont know much about the book of Lev. but this book is instruction for the levitical preists in Israel, so that they could lead the nation of Israel in proper worship. The whole book was given by God to Moses for the nation Israel while they were camped at the foot of Mt. Sianai this is the 2nd year after the exodus from Egypt.
2 years after the exodus and they are still a long way from entering the promised land but they have arrived at the foot of the Mt. Sinai. The book is given to Moses in the first month as they camped there, in the 2nd month they are still at the foot of the mountain and the book of Numbers was given to them. But Lev. is God’s instructions for His newly redeemed people, they have been rescued out of Egypt, they have been redeemed out of slavery they were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. They had been engulfed in pagan culture. We learned that Egypt was a land of unlimited false gods, their concept of worship, was distorted and clouded and unclear, because they were exposed to the craziness of the worship of idols in Egypt.
Their tendency as a people even though they declared themselves to be God;s people by obeying the command of God by smearing the blood on their doorposts and survived the wrath of the death angel God sent to Egypt, and were lead out of Egypt and into the wilderness and now are about to recieve the 10 commandments from God. But their tendency is to hold on to paganism, their tendency is to try to keep idols for themselves. Its just very familiar, and that is why they build a golden calf, even after they had recieved the law of God right before.
Well God will not permit them to live and worship like the Egyptians, God will have NO OTHER GODS BEFORE HIM. He will not tolerate idolatry, or Egyptian immorality. So God gives Lev. to define their worship. To show them what acceptable worship to God is. It is very carefully laid out. The first few chapters lay out the sacrifices that they are to offer, chapters 1-16 instructs the people to be PURE and at the same time indicts them for any and all impurity.
So the opening is about confronting sin, repenting, and offering sacrifice. From 17-27 is instructions on how to be personally holy. So chapter 18 were in the section that teaches us how to seek after personal holiness.the motive is always the same. BE YE HOLY FOR I AM HOLY. It is said over and over again, it is actually said 50 times in the book of Lev. So this is a manual for pure worship. Now why am I saying all of this bc i want you to look at the 18th chapter. not all of it, just a fly over.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
he is clearly saying “YOU ARE NOW THE PEOPLE OF THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD, YOU ARE NOW MY PEOPLE AND I AM THE ONLY GOD.” He says you cannot behave like the lost people.
And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
Levit
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
Levit
WHY ALL OF THIS?
Because thats how those people behaved, thats how life in Egypt was, thats how life in Canaan was. DONT
‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
Leviticus
This is a sobering thought in light of the happenings within our world today. why should we take such a hard stand for Biblical marriage, ONE MAN ONE WOMAN, why should we take such a hard stand against abortion? Because God calls His people to live differently in a world that is profaning His Holy name.
You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you
‘Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
This is a call for separation. Separation from pagan culture, separation from immorality, separation from idolatry. The reason.... I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD!
You don’t do those things, you have been redeemed from those things. I just want that to settle in your minds because that has always been God’s standard for His people always. The church in our day is working very hard to be as much like the culture as possible. Instead of fleeing those things, for decades its been popular for preachers to get people to come to church and make people feel like there at some event. Church has become sinner friendly, which is on the one hand good because we are to SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE, but far too often we simply just love without ever mentioning the truth about an issue.
The church has become entertaining instead of edifying, deceptive instead of honest, frivilous rather than worshipful. Churches dont like that they are an offense to the culture, and they think if they can just get close to what the world enjoys they can somehow win them over.
the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—
Now let me be clear, we are to do everything in our power to win people for Jesus Christ, however the draw cannot be world centered, it must be Christ centered. WE ARE TO BE COMPLETELY SEPARATED FROM THE WORLD. We don’t speak as they speak, we don’t think as they think, we don’t laugh at what they think is funny. While we are not supposed to be little Christian robots, we are called to be different from those who do not know the one true God. Church leaders today talk less about theology and more about methodology.
YOu can have all the methods in the world but without preaching God’s word, and maturing people in their faith what you will have is a room full of confused people, who come to church for all the wrong reasons. As the world becomes more hostile towards the gospel of Christ, and the church of Jesus Christ, churches will compromise, they have already shown that to be true. They dont wanna be rejected or ignored, and so they’ll fall in line.
Now go to the book of Revelation.
Let’s visit a church that was like this. a Church in a town called Pergamum. This is the 3rd of seven churches Jesus is writing to while giving the apostle JOhn this message to send to them. In each of those town a church had been established John was familiar with these churches, because He was the founding pastor of all of them. John had been arrested because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, because of his view of Scripture and his view of JEsus he had been arrested, and sent to Patmos which was a rock in the Agean sea. He was left there at 90 years old to breaks rocks, this was how the world felt about Christians.
The Lord knows what is going on in these churches so the Lord gives to John a letter to each church, the letter to Ephesus was a a good letter he encourages them for all they were doing well, but He ends by saying you have left your first love. The letter to SMyrna no condemnation, SMyrna was a faithful church, they were a persecuted church but they would not bow the knee to the world. They were persecuted unto death, their pastor POLYCARPE was executed, burned at the stake. They were faithful, persecution was everywhere. It reached the town of Pergamum and let’s see what the Lord says to them.
Revelation 2:
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,
‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
Revelation 2:12-17
POWERFUL
Alot to say. This is an actual place, let me give you a little backround. Pergamum was about 100 miles north of Ephesus in Asia minor, Smyrna was halfway. it was 15 miles in land it wasn’t a port city but it was considered to be Asia’s greatest city. By the time John wrote Revelation Pergamum had been Asia’s capital for 250 years. since 133 BC when their last independant King handed over the city to ROME. BTW Pergamum is there today, if you go to modern day Turkey you will find its ruins near a place called BURGAMA.
It was a city on a hill for defensive purposes.
It was an important center for learning. There was a massive alter to Zeus there, it was a center of worship where they worshipped the greek gods there were temples there to Zeus, and others. But there was a massive Temple there for emporer worship.
Christians there was in grave danger, the city was full of idolatry, full of immorality. The Christians were targeted because 1 day a year the people there were required to offer a sacrifice to the emporer. If they didnt they would die.
If CHristians said Jesus is Lord, I will offer no sacrifice to caesar it would have cost them their life. It is likely that this man named Antipas was killed for refusing to worship the emporer
This is a gross place, but really educated and satisfied with itself.
Revelation 2:12-
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,
‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:
Angel-pastor
It was engulfed in idolatry, and they also were sucked back into familiar sins. The temptations were all around them, they had been rescued out of that life but it was a powerful force.
PRINCIPLE: You cannot hang around the dead if you expect to be found in the land of the living.
(explain)
They were living with sin surrounding them, and that old life they used to live was just so comfortable they slipped it back on like a old pari of tennis shoes.
They also faced persecution
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Judgement will begin with the church at Pergamum.
A SHARP REALITY
A SHARP REALITY
THE SHARP TWO EDGED SWORD
This is a term of judgment
Jesus is not speaking to them as a