The Letter to Pergamos, Part 2
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Introduction
Introduction
Last week, we began our look at the church in Pergamos, but we were not able to get past Jesus. Isn’t that a great position to be in! I so wish that all of us would get to the point where we could not get over or even past Jesus.
We looked at the authority of Jesus and His word. We were reminded of the timelessness of God’s word. I pointed out that there is no greater authority than Jesus Christ. Jesus said:
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
We are to submit ourselves to the authority of Christ. Let’s take the next few moments and look at what was going on in the church in Pergamos.
“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.” ’
Worldliness was the issue in Pergamos.
Worldliness was the issue in Pergamos.
Worldliness was the issue in Pergamos.
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.
In , you can read the details of Balak hiring Balaam to curse Israel. However, God would not allow Balaam to curse Israel. So, Balaam conspired with Balak by advising him in how to get Israel out of God’s blessing.
NKJVLook, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
The Lord refers to two things in Pergamos:
Immorality
Immorality
The Moabite women tempted the Israelite men to commit sexual immorality. This eventually led to the Israelite men committing idolatry as well. The church in Pergamos had the same issue in that there were those succumbing to immorality. They were in adulterous relationships and the church was tolerating these relationships. To our own condemnation, church people today are guilty of the same things.We look at pornography, we are guilty of lust, and all manners of immorality. We tolerate sin because we are all unrighteous. We fail to be holy. Rather than being holy, we are so wrapped up in the lust of the flesh that we have not only given in to immorality, but have given into idolatry.
Idolatry
Idolatry
The Moabite women in Numbers and the women in Pergamos turned the hearts of God’s people away from Him by leading them to participate in idol worship. The worship of those idols included immoral acts. Our society has become one that is obsessed with self gratification. It has subtlety infiltrated the church over the past few decades and now even believers are guilty of idolatry.We have given the things of this world preeminence in our lives. We are driven by that which is temporary rather than what is eternal. We come to worship God with divided hearts, forgetting that God demands all that we are. We are commanded to love Him with all that we are.
NKJVAnd you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
Our divided hearts cause us to be guilty of breaking the first and greatest commandment.
While not all of us may be guilty of immorality like the small group in Pergamos, we will find that we are guilty of idolatry. Simply defined, we are guilty of idolatry when we put something or someone as more important in our lives than God.
It doesn’t necessarily start with a great big sin, but many small sins will lead us to accepting worldly thoughts, beliefs, and even behavior.
Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.
The fully grown foxes were able to raise up on their hind legs and eat the grapes from the bunch, but the little foxes would gnaw on the vine and cause the plant to die. The application is that the smaller, so called benign sins do as much, if not more damage to our spiritual lives than the bigger sins.
As we continue to buy into and ascribe to worldliness, the more we become like the world and the less we are like Christ. It will progress to the point where we are no longer living under the authority of God and His word. We will be spiritually weak and develop unbiblical beliefs. The only thing we can do is:
Repent, or else!
Repent, or else!
NKJVRepent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Jesus provides the church with an opportunity to repent. Now, understand something: He is not only giving the immoral and idolatrous people an opportunity to repent. He is also giving those who tolerated these things an opportunity to repent. The judgment of Jesus was going to come on both those that committed these sins and those that tolerated them. If you go back and look in Numbers, God killed 24,000 Israelites who committed immorality and idolatry with the Moabites. Folks, I am afraid that many of us are facing the judgment of Christ. It is time to repent. We must lay aside our worldly pursuits, worldly affections, and our worldliness. Then, we must pursue holiness by bringing ourselves back under the authority of the Bible.
Holiness is not just the absence of sin and worldliness, it includes the filling of the Holy Spirit.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:16-26If we overcome our immorality and idolatry, Jesus will give us rewards! Don’t continue to give up the eternal rewards that await you for the sake of temporary gratification.
If we overcome our immorality and idolatry, Jesus will give us rewards! Don’t continue to give up the eternal rewards that await you for the sake of temporary gratification.
Decision
Decision
The invitation is very simple this morning: come and repent. If you have not been saved - repent of your sins, believe in Jesus and be saved. I will stand down here ready to explain to you how to do that. If you have been saved, you may need to repent of immorality, idolatry, worldliness, or even just a general lack of holiness. The altar is open, come today and lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us.