Repent! The Letter to Pergamum - Revelation 2:12-17

Good Morning Harmony!

Happy first day of Spring!

We’ve started the book of Revelation, and now we’re on chapter two, the letters to the churches.

As we’re going through these, I couldn’t help but wonder, what if Jesus had written a letter specifically to Harmony? What would it say?

Think about that just for a moment. Jesus, dictating a message to the angel of Harmony Baptist Church. Jesus dictating a message that contains an address to both the strengths and weaknesses of Harmony. What would He say about us, today?

Thing is, He did. Every letter here in chapters 2 and three are addressed to all of the churches for all time, so Harmony is one of these churches. At this point we’ve addressed the churches in Ephesus, who had lost their first love, and Smyrna who was faithful unto death.

Now do I think the letter we’re going to look at today is written specifically for Harmony? Well no, but I do believe that there is a reason that all of the letters are to all of the churches, so maybe there’s someone here individually that is struggling with this letter, or maybe its so we can help someone struggling with the content of this letter, or maybe its just a warning - whatever it is, let’s seek wisdom in prayer as we get started today.

Prayer

In the allegorical poem The Faerie Queene, Edmond Spencer depicts the church as a lovely lady accompanied by the Knight of the Redcrosse, who represents in many ways the individual Christian.

Within the poem an evil enchanter deceives the knight into thinking that the fair lady, the church, has been unfaithful to him. So he leaves her and goes out on his own.

As he is going, he finds another lovely young lady, and he follows her to a quiet secluded wood under a foreboding tree. The knight hears someone shout a warning, telling him that he should flee lest he should buy pleasures from a lurking lady at the cost of his life. At first the knight is frightened by this warning, but then the overwhelming beauty of the lady overcomes him.

This lady, was a witch in disguise.

Then the tree speaks to him, informing him that once he was a man, but that witch transformed him into a tree. And now, even though he is a tree, the heat and cold pain him, and he relates how one day he saw the witch for who she really was:

A filthy foul old woman i did view,

That ever to have touched her, I did deadly rue.

When he recoiled from the witch in horror, she turned him into a tree.

Spencer’s point was simple: sin always promises, but it never pays. Sin disguises itself as something desirable, something beautiful, refreshing, even rewarding. But underneath all of those false promises lies the filthy and foul, and regret.

Today’s message is on the letter to Pergamum, Revelation 2:12-17 -

Revelation 2:12–17 CSB

“Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword: I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death among you, where Satan lives. But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

And what we will see is that we need to be convinced not to flirt with evil. We need to see sin for what it is, a false exterior that leads to regret and pain.

and the main point today is that

MAIN POINT:

THE PERGAMUM CHURCH MUST REPENT OF NICOLAITAN TEACHING.

And as we’ve said a few times, this letter doesn’t stop at the Pergamum church - its a letter that was written to every church and every person that ever will act or be as the church at Pergamum, so for us today the message is this: we must repent of teaching that leads us away from Jesus.

Now Pergamum was forty miles north of Sardis. The Roman writer Pliny called it the most famous city in Asia. It was the center of Roman power and authority. Those in Pergamum worshipped power. Around 29 BC it became the site of the first temple to Caesar, honoring Augustus Caesar. Pergamum also housed a temple to Zeus, the god of power. The altar from that temple to Zeus is in the Berlin museum, and was visited often by the power thirsty Hitler frequently. If you wanted power, you went to Pergamum.

And there was no real distinction between religion and politics in Pergamum. For the pagan, politics was religion and religion was politics. For the believer then, there was a constant line of temptation to compromise their beliefs for political gain.

For us today, we can look around us and see the similarities to the city of Pergamum. Washington is a place where many look to for their power. Others look to Hollywood, or to Nashville. Some may look across the pond at Russia right now.

In any case, there is a lot of temptation that floods its way into our lives that presses on us to compromise on our beliefs.

There’s actually a thing called deconstructionism.

Deconstructionism is the heading most recently applied to the process of questioning, doubting, and ultimately rejecting aspects of Christian faith.

Now don’t misunderstand, it’s ok to have questions, it’s even ok to have some doubts, and if you have those, then talk to someone about them - let’s get some discipleship going on and address those things head on. because if we don’t, then that can lead to that ultimately rejecting the truth that is there, those fundamental aspects of our faith.

Because deconstructionism is a result of the unfortunate habit where we seem to downplay those deep questions and ignore those who hold them. To openly investigate our beliefs, and even changing one’s convictions, is a biblical concept - that’s how discipleship works.

Because what happens through deconstructionism is it almost always acts as a polite cover for “demolition.” Modern “deconstructionism” usually means replacing uncomfortable truths with culturally or personally popular ideas.

Absolute truth then becomes relative truth, sin in a pretty package.

So with that context in mind, let’s look at our passage today in some more detail, beginning with

1. THE SWORD OF JUDGEMENT - v.12.

Again, Jesus begins with a command to the angel of the church and then a description:

Revelation 2:12 CSB

“Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword:

and we see this ties back to chapter one’s description John laid out of Jesus, in verse 16:

Revelation 1:16 CSB

He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.

and we will see this same sword in chapter 19 in verse 15:

Revelation 19:15 CSB

A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.

And as we discussed when we went through chapter one, this sword should be viewed as an image of judgement - Jesus will speak decisive words of judgement, words that are final.

So why is the word picture here a sword?

Think in context of where the believer was at that time - the Romans used swords for judgement, and so this is a threatening image to those that are not in that relationship with Jesus.

So we can fear the Roman sword, that can take away life and limb here, or we can fear the sword that separates us from an eternity with Jesus and ultimately leads to hell.

Again, true believers don’t have to worry, but if you haven’t taken that step towards a relationship with Christ, then you certainly need to.

I’m not trying to scare anyone into a relationship with Jesus, but I’m not going to hide truth here either - there is no relative truth in the Bible.

God gives believers both the hope that we have in our faith in Christ and the tools necessary to convince the world why they need Jesus.

Look, I’m not a fan of fire insurance Christianity, because it doesn’t work - to be born again you need to have actually trusted in Jesus and be actively following Him. And I say that from experience.

I prayed a prayer at 16 to get saved, thinking it was to personally benefit me in some way - then when I was 17 I realized that I had just mouthed some words and I had no idea what I had done. So I had to make that right, I had to accept Christ for who He was and it was more than just fire insurance. That’s why it’s difficult for me to hear people say things like “I prayed a prayer once when I was x years old” yet they aren’t living a life that represents Jesus. We need to be doing discipleship there, not just letting that slide, because maybe they aren’t saved, maybe they are in that same boat - they did it for entry into heaven thinking it was going to be everything they wanted. That’s how our world markets it after all, right?

But at the same time a lost person isn’t going to know that they need Jesus unless we can communicate that need in a way that they can understand, so here’s a clear example, the consequences of not being in that relationship - judgement, second death, and Hell.

And for us as believers, because the book is written to believers, this is really a reminder of whose we are, and why we desire to see everyone come into a relationship with Jesus, because we know the consequences of not believing or false belief.

That’s why the next verse talks about

2. THE FAITHFULNESS - v.13.

of these believers.

Revelation 2:13 CSB

I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death among you, where Satan lives.

I know where you live, I know its not a great neighborhood, I know sin is all around you, I know there’s temptation knocking at the door twenty-four seven. I know the persecution going on, as those you hear truth from and love are being killed - I see your faithfulness as you hold on to my name.

We saw similar reference back in 2:3 to the church at Ephesus:

Revelation 2:3 CSB

I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.

And we’re going to see it again in the letter to Philadelphia:

Revelation 3:8 CSB

I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Holding on to my name, for the sake of my name, have not denied my name - they’re conducting themselves for Jesus’ glory - they’re not changing their views or their actions because of where they are or who they’re around.

They’re faithful to Jesus, even though they are in the city that here is defined as Satan’s throne and where Satan lives.

Remember, Pergamum was home to those great temples, no difference between religion and politics - its as though Pergamum was the religious capitol, having the temple to Zeus and Caesar Augustus. Thus it was rightly identified as where Satan lives.

Thing is there was a problem that needed dealt with - So Jesus issues

3. THE CALL TO REPENT - vs. 14-16

Jesus calls out His church, those that are in relationship with him -

Revelation 2:14 CSB

But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.

I have some things against you.

The teaching of Balaam - we’re talking about the Balaam of Numbers 22-24, where Balak sends for Balaam to curse Israel. And in summary Balak sends one messenger, Balaam prays, God says don’t go. Balak sends another messenger offering more prosperity - sin dressed up pretty - and so Balaam decides to pray again. God had already given him an answer. So what it is saying is that Balaam, as a spiritual leader to Moab, where Balak was king, Balaam is compromising - he doesn’t take God’s initial answer or God’s Word seriously the first time, and so he compromises - its a very subtle compromise, because he does go back and ask God again, but that was the compromise.

And what we don’t directly see is that what happens in chapter 25 of Numbers, which is Israel beginning to take part in sexual immorality practices with the daughters of Moab at Peor, and began to worship their gods - we don’t see who placed them there until chapter 31 of Numbers:

Numbers 31:16 CSB

“Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam’s advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the Lord in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the Lord’s community.

And Revelation 2:15 says in the same way -

Revelation 2:15 CSB

In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

In the same way - so who were these Nicolaitans?

There are a lot of different theories on names associated with them, but the bottom line is that they were causing the same things for believers as what was going in Peor. They were compromising, allowing a little bit of sin, because they wanted to continue to be a part of society. They didn’t want to be outcasts, so they were participating in all of the festivals and whatnot that were going on in Pergamum - they were still trying to follow other gods while being believers.

Do we have that today?

You bet! That’s why we have to place our faith and trust in the uncompromisable truth of Jesus, that’s why we have to persistently work out of faith with fear and trembling - because relative truth is no truth. Truth is truth, it cannot be relative.

Sin is sin, all of it. I hear all of these arguments about how this sin is worse than that sin, your sin is worse than my sin, we try to pick the lesser of two evils - but somehow we forget that it all is sin, and it all is a problem.

We value Christ and honor God because of what He did for us -

Romans 5:8 CSB

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ died for us, for our sins. Understanding our own sinfulness helps us to understand what it was we needed saving from. The bible points us to the truth, so that we can celebrate what the teaching of our own human sinfulness declares, the magnification of God’s grace -

Romans 5:20 CSB

The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more

The law made us aware of our sin, but His grace runs abundant.

We have to be able to recognize biblical teaching amidst compromise teaching. How can we see the difference? If the teacher or author or anyone is teaching something that minimizes human sinfulness or avoids talking about God, or to place anything even remotely close to where God is in our lives, that’s a dangerous place to be. That’s why verse 16 specifically calls out to repent -

Revelation 2:16 CSB

So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

This is calling on the church to have some church discipline.

Now I’m not quite sure at what point it became such a terrible thing for churches to have church discipline, but its outlined in Matthew 18 -

Matthew 18:15–18 CSB

“If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.

Church discipline has a real purpose. First, it’s to prevent folks from following that track of allowing sin to continue. Maybe they don’t see that sin or know it is a sin because they are a new believer and they need to be discipled, so that they can learn to understand.

And wee aren’t talking perceived sin, but actual sin - so we aren’t talking about where their car is parked necessarily, or what someone else said.

Then if they won’t listen, take two or so others with you - witnesses of the conversation and people who can make a determination. Not partial people who will only see your side, but people who can discern and make clear decisions and able to decipher the facts.

If there still is a problem, or if there is no clear call, it goes to the church. If the sin is a sin and the church makes that call, then we are to be separated from them - protects the church and the individual, or it should.

And all of this is in the interest of restoring that member to the local body of Christ -

Church discipline is a good thing when its done properly. It’s meant to cause a person to turn away from that thing that is causing them to be drawn away from God. We have to be willing to do that as a church to save them - notice that last part of verse 16 is He will come fight against them - if we truly love them and want what’s best for them, then we have to be able to properly disciple them away from sin.

The letter to the church at Pergamum, this letter to all of the churches ever, is telling us to protect one another from those outside influences, that sin that is knocking at the door. Discipleship is part of that, discipline is part of that, its each one of us watching out for one another. Not gossip, not spreading things around the community, its simply watching out for one another in a world of false teachers and worldly influence, and unfortunately there is a lot of that in churches today.

I don’t have all of the answers, but I sure do pray that every word that comes out of my mouth and everything we do in this church follows Biblical truth and proclaims Jesus. And if I ever veer off course I certainly do pray that someone will come get a hold of me and set me straight or at least have a conversation with me on what it is that I did. We can go through the process- we should go through the process, it’s important. It protects us from guilt and shame and all of that ugliness of sin.

and then Jesus closes with

4. THE PROMISE - v. 17.

as He does in all of the letters.

Revelation 2:17 CSB

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Here again, it is a promise to the churches, so all churches. To the one that conquers - this is singular if you’ll notice in every letter, so it is that we have both individual responsibility for ourselves and a responsibility as the church in this sense. It throws back to the point that these letters are for both us as a church and for each of us individually.

It’s interesting that this promise includes “hidden manna” and a “white stone”. The hidden manna in a way corresponds to the food offered to idols, in that it is food. Jesus sustains us, and He provides all of our needs. The white stone here we just don’t have a lot to go off of here as to what it is or what it really represents other than victory in Jesus and our admission into Heaven. Since the manna corresponds to the food offered to idols, one could assume that this white stone in some way corresponds to the sexual immorality, perhaps a promise of true intimacy. Whatever it is it appears that it will be a private thing between the individual believer and God, because it has a new name inscribed on it that no one else knows but God and that individual.

So where are you on this conquerer scale?

The Great Shepherd is concerned about the flock at Pergamum. He was concerned that a little compromise would lead to ultimate destruction.

We must repent of teaching that leads us away from Jesus.

There is good news. Its not too late.

In The Faerie Queene, the lady that symbolized the church doesn’t abandon or give up on the knight. In her search for the knight she meets a lion, and this lion is not a threat, rather it is her protector and champion. With this lion, she sets out to find the knight.

In God’s great mercy, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is our protector and champion of the church. Don’t mess with the false teaching or temptations of this world. Sin makes promises that it cannot keep. Jesus’ Words remove that false beauty of Satan and we can then see him and sin for what they really are. Ugly, vile, and disgusting; promising high on nourishment and intimacy, but delivering only cheap imitation. Sin doesn’t satisfy.

Do you have ears to hear? Fight the good fight. Overcome. Feed on the manna that Jesus gives. Enjoy the intimacy He promises. He knows you as you are, and He loves you. There is no love better than this.