Pergamos: The Compromising Church
Rev. 2:12-17
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Pergamos.html
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Before 1974, there was a huge portion of land in the northern part of Australia that belonged to the superstitious Aborigines. That land was covered w/ green ants. The Aborigines believed that those green ants were sacred / descendants of their pagan gods.
A mining company discovered huge deposits of uranium in that land. So they approached the Aborigines about purchasing that land and mining the uranium…but they would not budge: “If you destroy the land of our sacred green ants, our gods will pronounce a curse upon us, and we will have years of drought and famine.
Well, in 1974, they sold that land to the mining companies. Do you know what changed their minds? 8.3 million dollars! “They may be gods, but for 8.3 million they can find another place to live!”
Question:
Are your convictions for sale? I know a lot of Christians who have sold out for a lot less than 8 million dollars.
We’ve looked at Ephesus / careless Smyrna / crushed now…
Pergamos: The Compromising Church
(It was real in John’s day, & there are many like it today, and it represents the church at large in history between the years of 300-500 A.D.)
In 313 A.D., the emperor Constantine declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the church moved out of the catacombs, and into the Cathedrals!
3 Things:
Strength of this church / Subtle Seduction / Standard
1. Strength
v. 12-13a I know where you’re at, and where you live. I know what conditions you serve me under (where Satan’s seat [throne] is).
The Lord says, “I know you’re serving me in the very place where Satan’s throne is located.” Satan operated his demonic, unseen underworld in the spirit realm from the city of Pergamos. Pergamos was Satan’s ancient headquarters…he had office space there…in other words, it was like the Washington D.C. of Asia Minor!
The city of Pergamos was known for its political power, and for emperor worship. It was the first city ever to have a temple dedicated to Caesar. And once a year the residents of Pergamos were forced to enter the temple of Caesar...forced to burn incense upon the altar of Caesar, and to say out loud, “Caesar is God.”
Pergamos was also known for its pagan worship…it was filled with altars and temples to pagan gods. The altar of Zeus (chief of gods in Greek mythology) was located in Pergamos. The huge imposing temple of the goddess Athena was there. The temple of the Roman Emperor Hadrian was in Pergamos, as was the temple of the goat god Bacchus, whose upper body was depicted as a man w/ horns, and lower body as a goat w/ cloven feet and a tail.
Also in Pergamos was the greatest hospital in the ancient world, the ‘Mayo clinic’ of that day. They practiced a combination of medicine and idol worship. The hospital was first and foremost a temple to the Greek god Asclepius, the god of healing. And in this hospital / temple, they used every means of healing imaginable, including a therapy in which you would sleep alone in a dark room at night. Non-poisonous snakes were placed in the room to crawl all over you all night…they believed it to be somehow therapeutic…we still have this today and call it “shock treatment”!
But, for 700 years people came from all over the ancient world for healing to this place. Certainly there were reputable doctors there, practicing medicine current to that date, but overall, the hospital was Satanic, and idolatry was everywhere.
Now, like their brothers and sisters in Smyrna, the Christians at the church in Pergamos were suffering terrible persecutions at the time of this writing. Some of them were dying for the cause of Christ, and Jesus calls one of them by name in v. 13…Antipas
v. 13b Secular history tells us more about this man Antipas, whose name, by the way, means “against all”. Antipas was brought to the temple of Caesar, and commanded to swear out loud that Caesar is God. Antipas cried boldly, “Jesus alone is God!” A Roman official said, “Antipas, don’t you know that the whole world is against you?” He replied, “Then Antipas is against the whole world!” Antipas was put into a large, hollow, brass bull, and a fire was built under it, creating an oven where they roasted Antipas to death.
You’ll remember from our message on Smyrna two weeks ago, that Satan attacked the early church like a roaring lion, but when he found that he could not destroy it, and could not get the people to curse God, he shifted his battle plan!
We move now from the strength of this church to the seduction of this church.
You see, when Satan found he could not destroy this church with the tactics of a lion, he decided to employ the tactics of a serpent. When he saw that he couldn’t get them to curse, he then succeeded at getting them to compromise!
v. 14 Some of you may not be familiar w/ those names Balaam and Balac. You can read the whole story in Num. 22-25. But here’s a brief summary:
Balaam was a prophet of God, and in those days prophets had the power to bless, as well as the power to curse. You will remember that Elijah prayed for it not to rain, and it didn’t for 3.5 years. Elijah was a prophet of God w/ enormous power available to him. Balaam had access to that same power as a prophet.
Balac was the king of the Moabites. Balac had one goal: To destroy the nation of Israel. Here’s what happened…Balac, king of the Moabites, went to Balaam, the prophet of God, and tried to hire his services. He asked Balaam to pronounce a curse upon the children of Israel.
Amazingly, the prophet Balaam actually considered it…he entertained the offer! But, God would not allow it. God turned the curses into blessings. But that’s not the end of the story, no, Balac still got his money’s worth. For when it became obvious to Balaam that God would not allow him to curse Israel, here’s what he told Balac to do:
He said to make friends w/ the children of Israel. (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em / can’t get in the front door, try the back!) He said, after you’ve befriended them, do this: introduce them to your most beautiful women…invite them to commit fornication w/ those women, and intermarry w/ them…invite them to your religious celebrations, and let them eat meat from your pagan altars…in other words, he was saying, cause Israel to destroy themselves…from the inside out!
He was saying, “If you can’t curse them, compromise them!”
And Israel fell right into the trap, and because of their disobedience 24,000 of them died!
The “doctrine of Balaam” mentioned here in Rev. 2:14 is the doctrine of compromise. Evidently, people at the church at Pergamos were getting too friendly w/ the world. They were not standing firm in their convictions. Satan lost at the front door, and couldn’t get them to curse, so he went for the back door and got them to compromise.
Compromise:
It’s the genius of politics, the success of a marriage, and it is the death of Biblical convictions. When it comes to convictions, there is no place for compromise!
In the OT, Pharaoh tried to strike up a compromise w/ Moses. Moses said simply, “Let my people go. We’ll go into the wilderness and worship our God”. Pharaoh did not want them to go at all, and so Pharaoh, a symbol of Satan, offered Moses a series of compromises:
“You can worship your God, just do it right here in Egypt.” (World)
Moses said, “Unacceptable!”
Today Satan says to you and me, “OK, serve God, but stay in the world.”
But, our God demands radical separation FROM the world.
Rom. 12
2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
II Cor. 6
17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing
For us to accept the compromise…to serve God, but stay in the world, is to buy the lie…the devil’s lie--and as Satan mixes truth and error in his big bowl, many Christians swallow it whole!
And then they try to justify it, saying things like, “I can be a Christian and still smoke.” Yes, you can, but why would you want to, when the God of Heaven who created you, and in mercy didn’t destroy you, but in love died for you, and saved you, now takes you by the hand and says, “Come on out of Egypt, and be separate…I will deliver you from this prison of slavery!”
Let’s make this world thirsty for what we have! The only way to do that is for them to see a difference. God calls us to be different. I didn’t say strange, I said different. We don’t have to look like we’ve got 2 left thumbs, but we need to march to the beat of a different drum!
LONG BEFORE THE WORLD WILL EVER SEEK TO CHANGE THEIR ETERNAL FUTURE THEY NEED TO SEE THE POSSIBILITY OF A CHANGE IN THEIR PRESENT!
2 dangers (extremes) we can fall into when we talk about separation:
1. Legalism
Technically, legalism is works salvation…keeping the law. But there is a modern day legalism which says: Keep this set of rules and you won’t be worldly…as a matter of fact, you’ll be more spiritual than those who DON’T keep the rules!
Here’s the problem w/ that: Worldliness is a HEART issue! And transformation must begin in the heart and work its way out. What’s on the inside will always, w/out exception, make its way to the surface. And that’s the kind of conviction that lasts, because it’s real, not just superficial!
2. Liberalism
Liberalism says, “I’m free in Christ, I can do anything I want, I can look like I want, I can go where I want, I’m free in Christ.” That’s the other extreme, and it, too is wrong…because it matters how I look / where I go / what I do! Some Christians love to focus on the part of the verse that says “God looketh on the heart”, and forget the fact that man looks on the outward appearance!” By the way, it’s MAN we’re supposed to be winning!
It’s high time we allow God to form some real convictions with us from the inside out…that will glorify Him because He’ll see that it’s real, and will win the lost because they’ll see that it’s real!
We need to avoid both extremes--legalism and liberalism, and have a Biblical balance.
Pharaoh: “OK, worship God, but do it here in Egypt”
Moses: Unacceptable!
So Pharaoh offers a 2nd compromise:
Ex. 8:28, “OK, serve God, but don’t go too far away.” God told Moses to go 3 days journey into the wilderness. Pharaoh says, if you need to leave Egypt, go ahead, just don’t go so far away...stay near the border…where we can keep an eye on you! Serve God, but don’t go too far away!
To us, Satan says, OK, serve God, but don’t go so far w/ it…don’t go off the deep end! Don’t become a fanatic! You can serve God, just stay close to the border…be a borderline Christian!
We get the word “fan” from the word “fanatic”. And it’s ok to be a baseball fan / hockey / football / basketball fan…but if it’s Jesus that you’re enthused about, you’re not a fan, you’re a fanatic!
That’s Satan’s subtle seduction…his method to get us to compromise.
By the way, it’s interesting what the name Pergamos means: (2 things)
‘Elevated’ or ‘Married’
The persecuted church had gotten the victory, they were popular and elevated…and when Satan couldn’t get the church to curse God, this elevated church fell to the devil’s seduction and compromised…and became married to the world!
The Strength of Pergamos: wouldn’t curse the Lord
The Seduction of Pergamos: compromised w/ the world
Finally, let’s look at…
The Standard of the Pergamos Church:
v. 12 “Sharp two-edged sword” (speaks of the Word of God)
Jesus Christ wrote these 7 letters and in each refers to Himself in a different way. Remember to Smyrna He presented Himself as the One which was dead, and is alive! Why? Because they would be called upon to die for Him!
And so to the compromising church at Pergamos He presents Himself as the Word of God, the standard, not to be compromised, not to be deviated from! Truth is NOT relative, it’s not vague, and it’s not flexible!
And in these days when churches will do just about anything if you’ll just come...and will fall all over themselves in compromise in order to bring Jesus down to man’s level, I say there’s a need for a church that remembers the Words of our precious Jesus, Who said, “Come unto me!”
We must remain true to the Word of God…teach it / preach it / proclaim it / live it / and never water it down just for the sake of a crowd / for fear of hurting feelings / for sake of making it more tolerable to the masses!
That’s why we tackle topics like abortion / social drinking / sexuality / evolution / church discipline / marriage and divorce / gambling / faith healers / prosperity gospel / tongues / and eternal security.
What kind of a church do you want to be? Do you want to be a church that stands firm, and will not compromise? “We’d better stand for something or we’ll fall for anything!”
What kind of a pastor do you want? One that preaches to the offering plate? Or one that preaches the Word w/out apology, in love, yes, but in power! Too many churchgoers today just want their ears tickled, when what we need, all of us, is our toes stomped!
(refute Nicolaitinism, v. 15… “To conquer the people”)
God hasn’t called me to pastor a social club for saints, but rather a hospital for sinners! God hasn’t called us to be keepers of the aquarium; He’s called us to be fishers of men!
I can’t get up w/ a straight face and preach a mamby-pamby, wishy-washy, “Please don’t be offended” kind of sermon! God’s Word is like a pit-bull that barks out loud and clear, if only we’ll not muzzle it! God’s Word speaks to each of us specifically, and cuts to the heart of the matter like a sharp, two-edged sword…and in power the Word of God does the work of God like I could never do--as it speaks specifically, individually, to every listener, as if each one were face to face w/ the Almighty!
Ill—reminds me of the preacher / called to pastor little church near a logging camp / went out one day to their camp along the river / noticed they cut down trees, stamped the ends of the logs w/ their brand / dropped in river to float down to the mill / he was disturbed, though, as he noticed them at times pulling logs out of the river, logs that another camp upstream had cut / they’d pull theirs out and cut off the ends, and then stamp their brand on them! / deeply troubled, he wrote a strong sermon titled, “Thou shalt not steal” / preached it / “Great sermon, preacher, what a blessing!” they said / that week he noticed they were still doing it / on Sunday he preached the same sermon, but this time titled it, “Thou shalt not steal thy neighbor’s logs” / they ran him out of town!
Hey, God’s Word is a sword, an offensive weapon, should we be surprised that if it’s used correctly, it will be offensive!?
Like another pastor who felt God wanted him to preach on the verse, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. He was so afraid of offending someone, his title was, “Except ye repent (in some measure), and be converted (whatever that means to you), I regret to tell you that you will perish (to some extent, more or less)
I pledge to you, that as long as God grants me a voice, and as long as His grace will allow, that as your pastor here at Grace, I will preach hell-hot, heaven-sweet, sin-black, devil-real, Jesus-the way, and I will challenge you to be different, to grow and change, to stand firm, and not to compromise!
Pergamos was doctrinally fairly sound, and they hadn’t denied Christ, but they were married to the world.
Well, Jesus has a proposal, a marriage proposal…
v. 16 Get it right!
v. 17 Jesus Christ describes here a symbol of intimacy rarer than a diamond, and holds out that stone to you today, and says, “Will you marry me”
The Bible says in James 4,
4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
We are to be married to Christ…and a faithful spouse He is…are you faithful to Him? It’s ok to be in the world, not of the world…for a Christian to be of the world is adultery! You might as well be lost if you’re gonna wear their uniform…and God says in this verse we join the other team, we join the enemy, when we hold on to a little of the world.
If you’ve never been saved, Jesus Christ is on one knee, he’s looking directly into your eyes, he’s holding out that priceless stone saying, “Will you marry me?” I believe God wants to save some people here today!
Christian, is it time to renew your vows. As the bride of Christ, let’s be faithful to our bridegroom, and in this marriage, there’s no room for compromise!
Do you have a price tag on your convictions? Businessman, what would it take for you to be just a little dishonest, and make that deal go thru? Sir, what would it take for you to fudge just a little on that tax return? Employee / time card? Teenager, is there a price tag on your popularity, are you prone to compromise in the face of peer pressure? Girls / guys, is there a price tag on your purity? What does it take to get you to sell out…to compromise? When will you finally, and completely, sell out to God?! Invitation is a little different today: all stand / ask God to show you any compromise in your life / if He doesn’t—sit down / if He has / come fwd.
Salvation: “I’m not a compromiser…I’m not saved”
Do you hear Christ proposing?
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Pergamos.html
