Upholding Truth

Revelation 2:12 (NASB95)

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

Pergamum was another one of those well-known cities, located some 65 miles north of Smyrna, along a beautiful valley. Pergamum was the official provincial capital of Roman Asia. It had the second largest library in the known world, at that time, containing about 200,000 volumes. The city also had an amazing number of temples and altars to pagan gods.

Due to multiple moral problems at Pergamum and how easily they could infiltrate the church, the sharp 2-edged sword which begins the letter to the church must have been an eye-opener. This two-edged sword is God’s Word. It is able to separate the godly from the unrighteous. Christ did not need for a vote or a committee to decide. His Word alone, would exact judgment upon those who were untrue to Him.

A story is told by a pastor from North Dakota. While preaching one Sunday morning, an elderly woman, Mary, fainted and struck her head on the end of the pew. Immediately, an EMT in the congregation called an ambulance. As they strapped her to the stretcher and got ready to head out the door, Mary regained consciousness. She motioned for her daughter to come near. Everyone thought she was summoning her strength to convey would could be her final words. The daughter leaned over until her ear was at her mother’s mouth.

“My offering is in my purse,” she whispered.

Mary was truly thinking about what was most important in her mind, her worship of her Lord, not the upcoming trip to the hospital. What is most important to us? Are the things of God uppermost in our minds?

In the church, truth must be upheld against any form of Satanic attacks.

Church In Enemy Territory

Revelation 2:13 (NASB95)

‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

God is aware of the difficulty in living for Christ in such a pagan and perverted society. He understood then and He understands now. The church at Pergamum is noted for three things in particular:

1—They are located where Satan’s throne was.

2—They held fast to Christ’s Name.

3—They did not deny their faith in Christ.

What is meant by a church dwelling where Satan’s throne is? Quite clearly, this city was immersed in a decadent, wicked lifestyle and philosophy of life. Satan’s forces were quite zealous in this community full of activity centered around evil. Hostility from the community would more than likely be a way of life for the majority of Christians.

However, many in the church held on tightly to the Name of Christ. They, like the Reformation leader, Martin Luther, were unwavering in their faith. So much so that, upon threat of death, they did not even deny their faith in Christ. When Martin Luther was told to recant his beliefs, he resolutely stated, I cannot recant; I will not. Here I stand. This is the picture of the church at Pergamum. Like a rock on a peninsula, though constantly pounded by the waves, they stood immovable in their faith. Even when Antipas was martyred for his faithful witness, the church stood firmly for God’s truth.

Our world in which we live is not quite as blatantly and violently hostile toward us. Yet the potential is there for us to be tempted to give in to Satan’s schemes. Church, we must hold fast! We dare not deny our Savior; either by word or deed.

Church Allowing Enemy Teaching

Revelation 2:14–15 (NASB95)

‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

These two verses have a chilling effect upon our spiritual spines. Christ states he has a few things against the church. The big factor is the compromise and infiltration of evil in their midst. Even though the church seemed to be strong, there was a toleration of those who had the disguise of religious fervor. But these individuals were simply using money and power to accomplish Satan’s purposes.

One of the things that the majority of scholars agree is that those people were probably leaders, since they seemed to have had so much influence. Most likely, they would have been so used to rationalizing and justifying wrong behavior for supposedly noble causes, that they would not have believed the idea they were serving Satan.

Why would this be? Remember the account in the book of Numbers in the Old Testament, regarding Balaam. He was not a Jewish prophet, and was most likely a pagan prophet, a soothsayer, or a magician of sorts. Since he was receiving words from God and understood some of the basics about God being the only true God, he probably never thought he was serving Satan. But the fact of the matter was that he did what he did purely for money and power, not for God’s glory and honor.

What exactly did Balaam do? Since he could only speak what God told him to speak in the manner of blessings versus curses, he was unable to get what he wanted—money and power. Instead, he resorted to undermining God’s people.

He did this in three ways.

1—He presented the idea of a stumbling block.

2—He suggested that the people get the Jews to eat food sacrificed to idols.

3—He then showed how this would set the Jewish people up to commit acts of immorality.

He taught Balak to do this so as to cause God’s people to experience defeat, while he collected his money.

You see, whenever you take your eyes off of Christ and what His holy Word requires of us, we can become quite easily sidetracked. Other issues can become stumbling blocks, tripping us in our walk with the Lord.

The eating of food which had been sacrificed to idols could be compared to our acceptance of certain ideas and principles as the way it could or should be, though it might very well be a noose about the church’s neck. It is amazingly easy to justify certain thinking and behavior as being harmless, so that we don’t even recognize the downhill plunge.

This inevitably will lead into the willing, even desirous, commission of blatant sin. With Israel, it was acts of immorality, most likely the sexual. With some in the church at Pergamum, since the Nicolaitans were mentioned again, it was most likely sexual sin being justified. Without getting into a long lecture on the sexual immorality prevalent in our society today, may I offer some insight. I believe one of the reasons the church is not experiencing the power and the victories she could be today in our world, is because there is a laxity and permissiveness regarding sexual purity with the churches. In the effort to be open and non-judgmental, we have inadvertently given a signal that sexual immorality is not as bad as was thought in the past. And if a person doesn’t care for the conservative stance a church takes, it has become quite simple to church-shop till you find another church which is more lenient. Know this; sexual sin will undo individuals, it will destroy families, and it will divide nations.

Yet, please understand there is room for forgiveness and restoration. I will be the first to shout from the rooftops as to God’s forgiveness. However, there is no justification for an intentional opening of the door to those who would practice, promote and protect their sin.

Church Acting Against Enemy Thinking

Revelation 2:16 (NASB95)

‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Yes, there is hope. All is not lost. So, where’s the hope? REPENT! Don’t waste time trying to justify sinful behavior. Don’t promote purity as archaic and cultural. Don’t even sneak around in your covert sin. Whatever it is that is causing you to listen to the advice of the ungodly and live in a way contrary to the truths found in the Bible—REPENT of it!

If the church at Pergamum and churches around the world didn’t and won’t, Christ states He will come quickly, in opposition to those who will not repent.

He will also make war against them with that sword we talked about earlier—His Word. A person cannot stand in sin against the scrutiny of God’s Word and remain standing. There will be a revealing for what a church and its participants truly are. There isn’t a lawyer anywhere who can change it. And if a church is not found to be faithful to Christ; if a church would rather play mind and power games, they will be eliminated.

Church Assigned Heavenly Reward

Revelation 2:17 (NASB95)

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

What about those who do right? There is a promise in this verse of three things that will be given.

1—hidden manna

2—white stone

3—a new name

The Israelites on that exodus experienced receiving manna that seemed to come from nowhere, as it were, to keep them going. To those who follow Christ, it is He we are given to carry us through our journey. We have the Bread of Life. When it seems as if we cannot continue, we know that Jesus will keep us going.

The white stone comes from an ancient custom of voting on a court case. If the accused was found innocent, those in judgment would cast a white stone; voting for him. When the Christian is falsely accused, our faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, causes us to receive the white stone. We are found guiltless.

The new name which no one knows, signifies the very presence of Christ living with us, making us His children. The world may consider us as nothing; to Jesus, we are children of God.

Conclusion

We must realize that it is not important what others may think of us. It is not of any value to compromise so as to be accepted. There is no honor in allowing Satan any kind of a foothold, while pretending to have an appearance of faithfulness.

Regardless of the forms Satan may use to attack us, we must uphold Christ’s truth at all costs.

I am reminded of a story I ran across some time back and I share it with you now. It was about a couple from Stepanovan, Armenia. There was a woman whom everyone called Palasan’s wife. Obviously, she had her own name, but townspeople called her by her husband’s name to show her great honor.

When the devastating 1988 earthquake struck Armenia, it was nearly noon, and Palasan was at work. He rushed to the elementary school where his son was a student. The facade was already crumbling, but he entered the building and began pushing children outside to safety. After Palasan had managed to help 28 children out, an aftershock hit which completely collapsed the school building and killed him.

So the people of Stepanavan honor his memory and his young widow by calling her Palasan’s wife.

Sometimes a person’s greatest honor is not who they are but to whom they are related. The highest honor of any believer is to be called a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Christian, named after the One Who laid down His life for humanity.

You see, despite all the logical, seemingly appropriate reasons, Palasan knew what was right; he knew what needed to be done.

Because we belong to Jesus Christ, we must uphold Him and His Word.