Revelation 2:12-17

Revelation 2:12-17 Πέργαμος Outline: I. SALUTATION AND NAME OF CHURCH IDENTIFIED, Verse 12 II. IDENTIFICATION OF CHRIST AS SENDER, Verse 12 III. ASSERTION OF KNOWLEDGE, Verse 13 IV. COMMENT AND CONCERN, Verse 14-15 V. EXHORTATION, Verse 16 VI. ADMONITION TO HEED, Verse 17 VII. PROMISED BLESSING, Verse 17 ∞≻≺∞ BRIEF INTRO: We have already looked at Ephesus and Smyrna. These two churches have showed us so far that devotion is never to be forsaken for doctrine and that God is sovereign in all of our sufferings as christians. Ephesus means desirable and Smyrna, myrrh, which denotes death. Ephesus was the church that had everything going on in it that a strong healthy church should have. From the outside they looked very desirable! Yet our Lord found fault in them. They had left their first love. Their fire for seeking the Lord above all else had dwindled and though they had a lot of good that was noteworthy, without love all their good was meaningless (1 Cor 13:1-4). Smyrna was the persecuted church. They suffered greatly for their faith in the Lord and yet even in all their suffering and hardship there is nothing negative recorded that was said from our Lord to this church. It seems that in their persecution they only grew deeper in the Lord and closer to the lord. As Tertullian said “the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church”… so this church in Smyrna, which by virtue of itʼs very name speaks greatly of death and being crushed, had only grown in a positive direction in all 1 of itʼs suffering. Ephesus in Church History (but prophetically as Christ was dictating this to John on the Isle of Patmos) speaks of the Apostolic age before 100 AD. Smyrna speaks of the age of persecution which was roughly between 100 AD to 313 AD. And now we have come to Pergamos which we will see speaks of the Imperial church age from 313 AD to 590 AD. In the Apostolic age they were doing great and had a lot of desirable qualities, but still their love for the Lord was waning away. In the age of Persecution believers were hit hard from the outside. Horrific and grave was their suffering for the name of Christ which they bore. Yet they were not at all defeated or made weak by their suffering. So when satan saw he could not destroy the church from without by way of persecution he decided to join the church by uniting the church with the world and sought to destroy the church through compromise (both doctrinally and morally) and complacency. I. SALUTATION AND NAME OF CHURCH IDENTIFIED, Verse 12 A. Pergamos 1. Per = means mixed, objectionable mixture. We get our word perverted from this prefix. 2. gamos = means marriage. We get our word monogamous from this suffix. a) Mixed marriage or an objection mixed marriage. Not a positive thing B. Pergamos the city 1. This city was located 77 Km north from Smyrna and 29 km from the sea. Ephesus and Smyrna both had harbors, pergamos did not. 2. Today the city is called Bergama and has a population of about 48,000. In Biblical times the city had a population of about 200,000. 3. It was the center of the province of Asia for nearly two centuries. 4. It was a great religious center a) Both the cult of the emperor and b) Greek paganism 2 5. The great altar of zeus was located here. It was one of the seven wonders of the world. a) The great altar to Zeus stood on a foundation that was 38m by 35m and was 15m high. This was all enclosed in a colonnade. The front of the Pergamon Altar, as it is reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. b) This temple was 800 feet above the cities ground level. c) Zeus is said, among the greek, to have been born in Pergamos. 6. Another venerated idol was Aesculapius (whence our word scalpel). a) The Caduceus was the official emblem of the city b) This symbol originally came from the brazen serpent of Moses. Numbers 21:8-9 This was destroyed by Hezekiah 2 Kings 18:4 (1) and explained to us by Christ John 3:14 This was an anticipatory sign of the cross of calvary. Brass=judgment, snake=sin Caduceus 7. The church lived in a very dark place and therefore was tempted very strongly 3 II. IDENTIFICATION OF CHRIST AS SENDER, Verse 12 A. These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges 1. The sword is the word of God 2. “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” Hebrews 4:12 3. Jesus will have to say sharp things to this church for their compromise. III. ASSERTION OF KNOWLEDGE, Verse 13 A. Jesus has full knowledge of all their doings. B. Satanʼs throne 1. is not in hell. He is not the ruler of hell. He will be sent there where he will be tormented and punished for all eternity. He is the prince and the power of the air. 2. Satan is fixed to a location. At this time satanʼs throne was here in pergamos in all of itʼs compromise. C. You holdest fast my name 1. The heresy of Arius (which states that Jesus is not God) was present and debated over in this era of the church. It was finally settled at the council of Nicea that Jesus is indeed is “Very God of Very God,” Light of Lights,” “perfection of perfection”. in the midst of all the intermingling with the world and compromise with morality in this church era, one thing they did not do was deny the Lordʼs name. D. hast not denied my faith 1. “They did not deny the body of Christian truth which accompanies faith in Christ, to which he refers in the expression “my faith”.” 1 2. We are called to earnestly contend for the faith, Jude 1:3 1 John F. Walvoord The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Pg 67 4 E. Antipas 1. Little to nothing is know of this faithful man and what we do know is unverifiable. 2. There is one legend that he was killed by being placed into a red hot bronze pot. 3. What we know for sure is that his name means “against all”. All was against him in his walk with and faith in the Lord and so in a sense he was against all because he was not willing to compromise. a) We need more people like this today! b) Jesus says I know this Antipas. IV. COMMENT AND CONCERN, Verse 14-15 A. Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam 1. The teaching of Balaam a) cast a stumbling block in front of Israel (1) taught that it was okay to eat things sacrificed to Idols (2) taught that it was okay to commit fornication 2. Balaam is mentioned three times in the NT a) “The Doctrine of Balaam” Revelation 2:14 (1) Spiritual unchastity; marriage with the world b) “Way of Balaam” 2 Peter 2:15 (1) Hireling=making a market for his gift c) “Error of Balaam” Jude 11 (1) Sacrificing eternal riches for temporary gain 3. The prophet Balaam a) He was Gentile not a jew. Yet he was still a prophet 5 (1) Soothsayer. Josh 13:22 (2) From Mesopotamia. Deuteronomy 23:4-5 (3) By Euphrates, Aram. Numbers 22:5; 23:7 b) Hired by Balak, King of Moab (1) Rebuked by his donkey Numbers 22 (2) Refused to curse Israel Numbers 23,24 (3) Taught how to defeat Israel, Numbers 31:16 (a) Get good looking single girls to entice the young guys of Israel to marry them and thus brake the laws of God. He taught how to get Israel corrupted. 4. Compromise was really the problem with the teaching of Balaam. a) If you sow a look you will reap a though b) If you sow a thought then you will reap an action c) If you sow an action then you will reap a habit d) If you sow a habit then you will reap a destiny e) If you sow to the wind you will reap the whirlwind. One always reaps a lot more than he sows. And you always reap of the same kind that is sown or of the same field that seed was sown in. B. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans 1. This was the ruling of the clergy over the laity. 2. They hired their priests to be spiritual for them. They were to steeped in compromise to worry about being spiritual. 3. Jesus says that he hates this teaching. 4. He told the church of ephesus that he hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. So He hates both the deeds and the doctrine of these people. 6 5. Ephesus was commended by the Lord for hating what the Lord hated. Pergamos did not hate this doctrine but embraced it. V. EXHORTATION, Verse 16 A. “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the”sword of my mouth…” VI. ADMONITION TO HEED, Verse 17 A. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;” VII. PROMISED BLESSING, Verse 17 A. “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” 1. The overcomer. a) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:5 b) “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11 2. Hidden manna a) Manna fell for 38 years during the wilderness wanderings of the people of Israel. At the end of the 38 years they took some of the manna and put it into a pot and the pot into the Ark of the Covenant. b) This is a type of the word of God. Jesus taught us to pray give us this day our daily bread. Daily was Israel to collect the manna and so to we are to collect dally manna from the Lord in his word. Every day we need a relationship with Jesus or we will breed worms and stink. (1) John 6:32-35, 47-50 3. A white stone and new name! 7