Revelation Study Series 4 - God's Mysterious Plan Fulfilled
10.31.21
Message…
Revelation 2:12-17b
12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the One with the sharp two-edged sword:
13 “I know that you live in the city where satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to Me. You refused to deny Me even when Antipas, My faithful witness, was martyred among you there in satan’s city.
14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.
15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.
16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
17b “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. ...
*Pic of Pergamum Altar
This was dedicated to Zeus as well as other false gods.
Actual altar, not a replica.
It’s believed that Antipas, killed for his faith...was placed in a large brass pot the shape of a bull and burned to death in boiling oil. Probably in the center of this altar.
You can see this altar, not in Pergamum. It was moved piece by piece in the early 1900’s and reconstructed in Berlin...where it is still today.
Adolf Hitler used this as an inspiration for his construction of the Zeppelin Field Stadium in Nuremberg.
*Pic of Zeppelin Nuremberg
Here in the center was Hitler’s podium instead of the altar where he gave his many speeches that would ultimately cost 55 million their lives in WWII, including 6 million Jews.
*Pic of Pergamum Today
Pergamum was the capital of Asia in its day. A beautiful city situated on a hill 1,000’ above the surrounding countryside.
The Lord commended the Pergamum believers for their faithfulness and their stand for Him. They were living in difficult times, in a difficult place.
The Lord called Pergamum “satan’s city”. This city was filled with pagan practices, and false worship.
“Pergamum” - “marriage and elevation” -Revelation, pg. 37, Tim Lehaye
The Pergamum church married itself to political power, pagan practices, and elevated church hierarchy.
Like the church in Smyrna they worshipped the Roman emperor as a god, along with other false gods.
There was a temple built for the Greek god, Zeus...god of the sky. Another temple for the goddess Athena.
And, another temple for a god they called Dionysius...
“...Dionysius...the god of wine, the goat-god. He is depicted with horns, but with his upper part as a man and his lower part as a goat, with cloven feet and a tail.” This is where we get our modern visual image of satan’s appearance.
With all the pagan and occult worship that went on there, satan’s presence and influence was strong.
(There are parts of our world today, parts of our very own country...that I would say satan has a stronghold...LA, Hollywood, Vegas, New Orleans as examples.)
The Lord praised the believers for their faithfulness, under tough times, persecution...they stood strong! But He also rebuked them…
If we had to sum up in one word what the church looked like in Pergamum...it would be the word, “compromise”.
Revelation 2:14
14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.
“tolerate” - “allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of...without interference.” You go along with it! You allow it to go on!
In the OT the book of Numbers tells us of a ruler of the Moabites named Balak (Numbers 22-31)...and a man named Balaam who was a sorcerer.
Balak sent men with money to hire Balaam to curse the Israelites who had been traveling through their land.
God warned Balaam to not go with the men, but Balaam motivated and blinded by the money desired to go with them. Eventually the Lord told Balaam to go for it was clear that is what his heart wanted.
There is a very comical scene as Balaam sets out on his donkey. At one point his donkey came to a halt, and then changed directions.
In the path of the donkey, unbeknownst to Balaam was the angel of the Lord with a sword drawn in His hand. The donkey could see the angel of the Lord...Balaam could not.
After beating his donkey, but still nowhere for the donkey to go because of the angel of the Lord...the donkey just fell down.
Balaam was so mad that he beat it with his staff...and the Bible says that the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and spoke to Balaam questioning why he was beating him.
Then Balaam’s eyes opened and he could see the angel of the Lord standing in the way with the drawn sword.
He had exerted his heart, his will, his desire over God’s...which spiritually blinded him…
Anytime you put your will before God’s you will be blinded to God’s working and the reality of your situation!
You can not go with God, and go your own way!
James 1:14-15
14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
You would think that Balaam had learned his lesson.
Revelation 2:14
14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.
While Balaam did not curse the Children of Israel...Balaam counseled the Moabites to have their women seduce the men of the Israelites and intermarry with them.
This led many of them to “compromise” their faith. It led them to practice idol worship which corrupted them before the Lord...it caused them to stray away from the Lord. (Numbers 31:16)
God told Moses to gather all the ringleaders of men who had committed this sin against Him by taking the Moabite women who had been practicing pagan worship...gather them up and kill them. (Numbers 25)
The church of Pergamum represents a church who indulged in false practices of the world. They let the world come in and allowed compromise.
They may not have agreed with everything but, they “tolerated” many things.
It was a church consumed with religion over relationship.
From 312 A.D. - 606 A.D. many pagan religious practices entered into the church. It has been said that during this time period the church became more Roman than Christian…
“prayers for the dead” - Not in Bible
“making sign of the cross” - Not in Bible
“worship of saints and angels” - Specifically, forbidden in the Bible. --Revelation, Tim Lehaye
1 Timothy 2:5
For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.
Revelation 19:10a
“Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. …”
“worship of Mary” and “prayers directed to Mary” - Never instructed and against Scripture! Worship only God!
“the doctrine of purgatory introduced” - From the cross, Christ declared “It is finished!” The work He came to do, to offer Himself as the only and complete sacrifice for mankind's sin. -Revelation, Tim Lehaye
Titus 3:5-7
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
You are either saved from the fire or you are not. And, if you can buy your way out, or work your way out...then Christ finished nothing on the cross! He did finish the work...He is the only One who could!
“worship services began being taught in Latin” - a language most didn’t understand, forcing them to rely on what someone else was telling them what was being said.
-Revelation, pg. 37, Tim Lehaye
(This week while driving I passed a church that had a sign saying “Lunchtime Mass - 25 minutes”.) There is so much wrong with that! Does that serve God or serve man? Worship will never be out of convenience!)
None of these things are of God...they are all religious practices of man.
You can be a believer and still be caught up in false teachings, practices, ritual, ceremony, traditions, and legalism...it is possible! The Lord says He hates it!
Revelation 2:16
Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
The authority by which we live and worship is not of man, nor the religious practices of the church, or our culture...but by the Word!
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.
22 On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.’
23 But I will reply, “I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.”
Many who practice religion may be the most devout people you know...yet what they believe is “devoutly” wrong!
Revelation 2:17
17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Hidden Manna…
The “victorious” are the ones who accept Christ as their Savior.
John 6:47-51
47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.
48 Yes, I am the Bread of Life!
49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.
50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is My flesh.”
God had Moses and Aaron take some of the manna, put it in a jar, and hide it in the Ark of the Covenant.
Christ is not hidden to anyone that wants to see Him! But, He is hidden to all that are spiritually blind. Hidden to those who don’t believe. Hidden to those caught up in religion instead of relationship!
White Stone...
“The best theory regarding the meaning of the white stone probably has to do with the ancient Roman custom of awarding white stones to the victors of athletic games. The winner of a contest was awarded a white stone with his name inscribed on it. This served as his “ticket” to a special awards banquet. According to this view, Jesus promises the overcomers entrance to the eternal victory celebration in heaven.
The “new name” most likely refers to the Holy Spirit’s
work of conforming believers to the holiness of Christ (see Romans 8:29; Colossians 3:10).”
-www.gotquestions.org
Practical Application...
We are not to be corrupted or compromised by the things of this world. You cannot serve God and anything else.
“No one can serve two masters…” Matt. 6:24
God does not want nor honor devout religion, ceremony, ritual, or legalism. He does not want you to “tolerate” man made religious practices. He hates those things! He wants a relationship! He wants true worship!
If we find that there are areas where we have let the world compromise our faith/belief...We must repent!
Revelation 2:12
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the One with the sharp two-edged sword:
The Lord uses His Word like a sword to fight! We believers hold the same Sword of the Lord! It is God’s Word that will keep the compromise of the world and religion out of our lives...out of our church!
We use His word to show others what is Truth as opposed to fiction...no matter how much a person believes their fiction to be true!
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Psalm 119:130
The teaching of Your word gives light,
so even the simple can understand.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
