Pergamos - The Politically Correct Church Pt. 1

Introduction

So far, we have looked at two of the seven churches of Asia Minor…The first one was Ephesus, who was a passionless bunch. The second was Smyrna, who was a persecuted bunch, and today, we will look at the third church, Pergamos, who was a politically correct bunch!

Before we learn about the church, we need to learn about the city...

Pergamos was the capital city of Asia Minor. It was renowned for its political power, its intellectual achievement and its pagan worship. It was a wealthy city given over to luxury and fashion. There are two special features that caused Pergamos to stand out in its time.

First, there was a 200,000 volume library there. That may not sound like many books to us, but when you consider that every page of every book was handwritten on papyrus and parchment, it was quite an achievement. Along those same lines, Pergamos was the place where parchment was invented. Parchment was a type of writing material developed from animal skins and far stronger than papyrus, which was made from reeds.

Also within the city they had various other temples of worship. Temples that were dedicated in the city belonged to the cults that worshipped Zeus, Dionysos, Athena, and Asklepios.

Asklepios was the god of healing, whose insignia was the entwined serpent on the staff. (Sounds like what we have in medicine today.) People would come from all over to the city of Pergamos to enter the temple of Asklepios. Serpents crawled all over the temple floor. Those who would come to be healed would lie on the floor in hopes that one of the serpents would touch them, signifying that the god Asklepios had touched them and they believed that they would be healed.

There were three temples in Pergamos devoted to emperor worship.

Once each year, every Roman citizen was required to walk into one of these temples, place a pinch of incense on an altar and say “Ceasar is god.”

This pagan ungodly worship characterized the city of Pergamos.

Within the walls of carnality God established His church and His witness in the city of Pergamos. We do not know when or how the church of God was planted in the city, but only that the church literally existed.

The name Pergamos means ‘married.’

All churches are indeed married to Jesus Christ the Lord. We are His bride, but the church in Pergamos found themselves married to the world, they were a compromising and carnal church.

The Lord Jesus has strong words to say to the church in Pergamos. The church in Pergamos adopted this philosophy, ‘We must go along to get along.’ - In other words, they were politically correct…

They were not always like this…they started out strong and well talk about that this morning and tonight we will get into what they did wrong…

It is to the Christian congregation in this city that Jesus addresses this letter. They were a church in desperate need of a word from the Lord. So, when Jesus comes to them, He comes as One having “the sharp sword with two edges.”

The two-edged sword is a clear picture of the Word of God:

Hebrews 4:12 KJV 1900

12 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.

Jesus comes to them declaring that He has a word for them!

The first thing I want you to notice today is...

The Habitation of the Church

Revelation 2:13 (KJV 1900)

13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is...

This church operated right in the middle of a city chosen by Satan as his headquarters on earth.

Regardless of what some people think, some preachers preach and some songs say, Satan is not now, nor has he ever been in Hell. He dreads that place more than any lost man ever has. When he is sent to Hell, it will spell his eternal doom, and he knows it...

Revelation 20:10 KJV 1900

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

In our day, Satan is free and he operates as the “god of this world”, 2 Cor. 4:4; and as “the prince and power of the air”, Eph. 2:2.

In other words, Satan is active in our world and he has a seat of power somewhere. It might be New York, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Moscow, or any of a thousand other places.

When you went into Pergamos, you could feel the presence of Satan. Many of us enjoy living in an area inhabited by a number of Christians, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. But, in Pergamos, where pagan science and medicine education was flourishing, the number of Christians were few. Satan sat upon his throne in Pergamos.

These words are used to let these people know that Jesus knows they are living in a tough place. He knows where they are and He has a word just for them.

Adrian Rogers said, “We make excuses for not living as we should because of the office where we work or the school we attend or the family we live in. But this passage tells us we can be Christians and live for Jesus no matter what the circumstances.”

It should do our heart well to know that Jesus knows exactly where we are. The Lord Jesus knew where this church existed and He knew what they faced.

The Lord Jesus again says that He knows their works.

That can be a good thing or that can be a bad thing.

It is good if we are laboring with the Lord, it is bad if we are laboring against the Lord.

We do not dwell on this earth on accident. We are Sovereignly placed here for a Sovereign purpose. He knows where we labor and where we live!

Notice second of all:

The Holding Fast to the Church

Revelation 2:13 (KJV 1900)

13 ...thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

The Lord praises those, who were dwelling in the shadow of Satan’s throne, for their faithfulness to His name.

They might have saved themselves from persecution by merely whispering His name among themselves. Or they might have concluded that they must get along with Satan’s crowd, and so, in order to maintain peaceful coexistence and satisfy the enemy, they wouldn’t make a spectacle of themselves by identifying themselves publicly with Jesus Christ.

Far too often, we allow the world to cause us to run and hide in fear. They are trying their best to drive the church away into oblivion. We must make our stand in this world and be willing to stand up and speak up against the evils and wickedness that mark our society, whatever the cost!

The church in Pergamos was doing a couple of things right and Jesus commends them for it.

The Lord Jesus acknowledges the saints for their faithful persistence to His name, His faith, and His cause.

This church was not ashamed of Jesus. They stood strong for the Lord Jesus Christ. A name represents the person’s character. The church at Pergamos confessed Jesus as Lord and did not waver on that fundamental doctrine.

Matthew 10:32–33 KJV 1900

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

The church in Pergamos had not denied the Lord Jesus even in Satan’s capital.

The church did not deny the faith even though they faced inward temptations and outward tests.

John Phillips wrote, “The great precepts of the Lord’s virgin birth, His miraculous life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension into glory, His coming again, those were all doctrines loyally held by the believers there.”

Jesus says that they were persistent in the faith even when one of their own was killed for the faith.

The persecution brought the church closer together.

Antipas receives a great word of acknowledgement by the Lord Jesus and a great welcome from the Lord Jesus.

The name Antipas means “against everything.” Antipas was against everyone and everything that was against the Lord Jesus and because of that the world turned on him and killed him.

Antipas refused to offer the pinch of incense and say “Caesar is god...” Because of this, they placed him inside of a brass bull…A fire was built under the bull and Antipas was roasted to death.

Athena (wisdom), Zeus (king of kings), Dionysius (partying), Asclepius (health)….

Denying these gods would make one an atheist…Can you imagine this? A born again Christian being accused of atheism…These Christian’s we’re persecuted, like Smyrna,

It is still costly to be a fundamental believer. If you hold to the right doctrine and live the right kind of life, you are going to offend some people and you are going to be persecuted:

2 Timothy 3:12 KJV 1900

12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Be sure, when that happens, your Lord sees, knows and He will reward your faithful service in His time.

In just the last year, there have been:

Over 340 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination.

4,761 Christians killed for their faith.

4,488 churches and other Christian buildings attacked.

4,277 believers detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned

These numbers are heart-breaking. And yet, they do not tell the whole story.

James 1:2–4 KJV 1900

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Conclusion

We will finish up this thought tonight…Just like with Smyrna, there’s just too much to condense it all into one message. Tonight, we will find out why exactly I titled this message, Pergamos - The Politically Correct Church...

Right now though, I wonder; is your relationship with Jesus all that it should be?

Are you actively separating yourself from the world to love Him and Him alone?

• Do you profess to know Jesus even while you are living for the world? If so, you need to repent...

• Maybe you would like to come to Jesus for salvation. He is still saving all those who come to Him by faith...

You think about it, if you’re not a Christian this morning, consider this…The Christians in the first century would not let go of their faith in Jesus - no matter what. If all these people, including people today are willing to suffer and die for their faith in Jesus, He sure must be worth knowing and following…If people cling to Him at such great cost, then He must be worth clinging to!

• Maybe you would like to come pray for your church. In a day when so many churches are abandoning the right path, we must have the will to stay the course for the glory of God...

If He has spoken to your heart, you need to get before Him and do business with Him today.