Tolerating Sin
Sermon 3 in the Series “You’ve God Mail”
Chuck Sligh
July 17, 2011
For the PowerPoint for the sermon, write me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Revelation 2:12-17
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – Sometimes toleration is a good thing.
* There are habits or quirks your spouse has that you don’t particularly like, but you can tolerate them because, after all, he or she is a good person who loves you and tolerates your own little list of annoying habits.
* At work, you can tolerate the guy who comes in and kills an hour of your time every week or two because he’s the nerd who can fix any computer problem you have.
Illus. – But some kinds of toleration are bad.
* For instance, I know a boy with an extreme allergy to peanuts and any peanut products or even peanut residue. – It would be dangerous, and in fact life-threatening if he tolerates ANYTHING with peanuts or peanut oil in it.
* Another illustration of bad tolerance would be if a doctor discovered you had an aggressive, life threatening cancerous tumor. – You wouldn’t think too highly of him if he said, “Well, you should be able to tolerate it for awhile…until it kills you.”
Illus. – There’s good and bad tolerance in the Christian life as well.
* Paul tells us to “bear with” one another, which means to tolerate one another’s foibles and personality quirks and differences in opinion about disputable matters.
* But there’s something that we should never, under any circumstances tolerate—in the church or in our lives—and that is SIN.
In our series on Jesus’s messages to the seven churches in Asia in Revelation 2-3, we come now to the third message, the one to the church in Pergamum in chapter 2, verses 12-17. The first thing you notice is Jesus in a rather threatening pose – Revelation 2:12 says, “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.” A two-edged sword in the scriptures is a symbol of judgment. We like knowing that Jesus will judge those who oppose Christ, but what about when that sword is turned in our direction?—To the church?—To us personally?
This is a fitting picture of Jesus’s attitude towards tolerance of sin, which is the theme of this message to the church in Pergamum. This is serious business, so we’d better sit up and listen carefully as we look at this passage.
You can outline this passage by three words: appraisal, admonition and assurance.
I. NOTICE FIRST CHRIST’S APPRAISAL OF THE CHURCH OF PERGAMUM. – VERSES 12-14
By the time John penned Revelation, Pergamum had been the capital city of Asia for 250 years and was considered Asia’s greatest city. Its library of 200,000 handwritten volumes was second only to that of Alexandria, Egypt. It was a magnificent city, but Jesus is not impressed by such earthly accomplishments. His interest is the church of Pergamum, and it had both good and bad things going on.
Look at verse 13 – “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and 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.”
He describes Pergamum as “Satan’s seat” or literally “Satan’s throne.” There are a number of theories about why He would have called it that.
* Some believe he called it “Satan’s throne” because there was a great altar to Zeus there where animal sacrifices were made 24 hours a day.
* Others think it was because Pergamum was also the center for the worship of a god called Asklepios, the god of healing. Asklepios is depicted with a snake, and because of that association, the medical symbol to this day retains snakes wound around a pole. What’s really weird to us today is that hundreds of thousands of nonpoisonous snakes roamed throughout the temple. Sick people from across the ancient world would come to lay down in the temple, hoping to be touched by one of the snakes and be healed. Since a serpent in the scriptures is symbolic of Satan, these snakes no doubt reminded Christians in Pergamum of Satan.
* A third theory for why Jesus referred to Pergamum as “Satan’s throne” is because Pergamum was the leading center of emporer worship in the province of Asia. Caesar Augustus had a huge altar built to himself there in 29 BC. If a person didn’t bow down and worship his image he or she could be put to death. This had apparently already happened to a man named Antipas, whom Jesus calls “my faithful martyr.”
Now notice that Jesus does two things with the church of Pergamum: First he COMMENDS them and then He CRITICIZES them.
1. In the midst of this wicked, idolatrous environment, Jesus COMMENDS the believers at Pergamum for two things in verse 13:
* He says, “I know thy works.” As we’ll see in a moment, God will come down hard on the members of the church of Pergamum for some pretty serious things. Yet God recognizes their works for Him, and their works were all the more remarkable because they were done in the crucible of persecution.
* Second, Jesus commends them because they held fast Jesus’s name and did not deny the faith. By this point, at least one person—Antipas—had been martyred, and if he’d been a church leader, he might have been the tip of the spear of persecution. Like the church of Smyrna, Jesus applauds them for their faithful stand for Him during persecution.
But all is not well in Pergamum.
2. Jesus’s follows these words of commendation with words of CONDEMNATION in verses 14-15 – “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”
Jesus says He has a few things against the believers at Pergamum. Their sin can be summed up as toleration of those teaching two heresies.
* First he talks about those who believe the “doctrine of Balaam.” Balaam was an Old Testament prophet who was willing to pronounce a curse on the Israelites for money from Balak, the king of Moab. Being superstitious, Balak thought by cursing them, he could conquer the Israelites. Coveting the money, Balaam tried to pronounce a curse three times, but each time God made a blessing come out instead. Fearing he wouldn’t get the bribe he wanted, Balaam hatched another plan for the Moabite king to conquer the Israelites. He told Balak to induce the Israelites to worship idols by having the Moabite women commit fornication with them.
This sounds strange and obscure to us today, but temptation to idolatry and immorality were clear temptations in Pergamum in the first century AD. Civic life in Roman society revolved around idolatry that either incorporated or ended up in sexual immorality.
The “doctrine of Balaam” in Pergamum, then, was the teaching that Christians could participate in the Roman idolatrous feasts and the sexual immorality that accompanied them as well as be good members of the church of Pergamum. They were tolerant of this false teaching and the idolatrous and immoral practices it engendered.
* Second, the Pergamum church tolerated “the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.” Bible scholars aren’t sure exactly who the Nicolaitans were. One tradition holds that they were followers of Nicolas, one of the seven men chosen to oversee the distribution of food in Acts 6. Nicolas apparently later turned aside to a kind of libertarian teaching that pretty much allowed any sin in believers’ lives. One commentary said, “The teachings of this group were an attempt to reach a compromise between Christian life and the cultural customs of the Graeco-Roman society, with special attention to including as much as possible from the latter category.” (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), 194.)
The Ephesian church had also faced this teaching in its assembly, but Jesus praised them for standing firm against it in verse 6, where He says, “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” The problem was that the Pergamum Christians were tolerant of these views. They didn’t necessarily all agree with them, but they tolerated them instead of condemning and censuring them as the Ephesians had.
So the first three verses consist of Jesus’s appraisal of the Pergamum church. They had done some good works and they had been faithful in persecution…but they were allowing things to go unchallenged in their church that were dangerous …and these needed to be dealt with.
II. IN VERSE 16 JESUS GIVES HIS ADMONITION. – “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”
There’s only one thing He tells them to do: “REPENT!” He’s brief and to the point: “REPENT!” They needed to see that they were WRONG and change their whole mindset about these false teachings and sinful practices they had allowed to seep into the church. Their whole philosophy was one of tolerance of sin and compromise with paganism…and tolerance of sin and compromise is INEXCUSABLE. They needed to do what the Ephesian church had done and PURGE themselves of these false teachers and those who practiced idolatrous and immoral practices. If they didn’t, Jesus said he would turn the sword of judgment on them.
III. FINALLY, JESUS CLOSES HIS MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH OF PERGAMUM WITH WORDS OF ASSURANCE IF THEY DID REPENT. – Verse 17 – “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
Those in the congregation at Pergamum who would listen to Jesus’s words and “overcome” by obeying His command to repent, Jesus promised three things:
1. First, He promised “HIDDEN MANNA.”
Manna was a honey-flavored bread God used to feed the Israelites during their years of wandering in the wilderness after escaping Egypt. But what is the “hidden manna” John refers to? I read about 10 commentaries to see what it was, and there are almost as many theories about it as there are commentaries, so I won’t go into all the ideas. The only thing for sure is that Jesus is implying that there is something hidden, surprising, wonderful that will somehow spiritually or perhaps even physically nourish those who obey—something that will not be available to the Christians who remained tolerant of sin and compromise on this earth.
2. The WHITE STONE is almost as mysterious as the hidden manna, but the most logical explanation seems to be a reference to the white stones awarded victors in athletic contests with their name on it that served as a ticket to a special awards banquet. – Those who obey and do not compromise with sin will somehow be rewarded and honored in a special way for their steadfastness.
3. Finally, Jesus promises the overcomers that in the stone will be a new name written on it that no one would know except the receiver. J. Allen, in his excellent commentary on Revelation says this new name, “is personal to each believer and reflects Christ’s estimate of the character formed in the dangerous days of the testimony in Pergamum.” (J. Allen, What the Bible Teaches, vol. 10 (Kilmarnock, Scotland: John Ritchie LTD, 1997), 90.)
The meanings of names in that day, remember, had greater significance than they do today. A new name given to you by Christ reflecting His estimate of your character would be like a personal thank-you note from the King of the Universe. It’s just another way Jesus will reward those who are faithful to Him in this life.
APPLICATIONS
Now that’s the exposition of this passage of scripture. Now let’s bring it down to Christians in the twentieth century.
The issues they faced in Pergamum seem to be distant to us today, but they’re really not. The big fallacy of Pergamum was tolerance of false teachings and sinful practices that blurred the distinction between that which is Christian and that which is part of the world’s system.
Tolerance has a tendency to blur right from wrong and to regard moral truth as relative. In the first century, tolerance argued that it wasn’t a big deal if some of our church members ate and drank at the raucous pagan festivals of their day. After all, there’s no verse that specifically condemns it, and we’re free to do what we please if you can’t give me a chapter and verse—isn’t that what we always hear? Tolerance looks for loopholes to excuse sin rather than looks for crosses to bear.
Let me share two applications that have specially relevance to Christians today:
1. I think many believers have fallen into Satan’s trap through the door of alcohol abuse.
Years ago Christians took a strong stand against alcohol of any kind, often going beyond what scripture actually said, and maybe that’s a fair observation. But today alcohol abuse is commonplace in our society, and sometimes even believers are guilty of it and I believe that our churches are tolerating sin by not addressing this swinging of the pendulum from legalism over to libertarianism. Perhaps you can argue the Bible doesn’t necessarily condemn all alcohol per se, but I think many Christians have become too tolerant of many of the practices that piggy-back the issue of alcohol that the Bible clearly DOES condemn..
If you can go to the bars and nightclubs and hang out with drunkards and get drunk yourself and participate in the raucous revelry that goes on there, you can justify it all you want, but I think Jesus would say to you “Repent!” Many places in the New Testament it deals with this particular issue.
For instance, 1 Peter 4:3 says, “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness [which means “sensuality”], lusts [or literally “passions”], excess of wine [that pretty much speaks for itself], revellings [which means “drunken merrymaking”], banquetings [the Greek word literally means “carousings”], and abominable idolatries.”
It’s no coincidence that excess of wine, drunken merrymaking and carousing are in the same list as sensuality and passions. They’re so often a part of the whole mix that even if you’re not personally participating in such activities, Paul says that you’re playing with fire.
He says in Romans 13:12-14 – “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting [this is the same Greek word we saw before which means, “drunken merrymaking”] and drunkenness, not in chambering [immorality] and wantonness [sensuality], not in strife and envying [all these are the things that go on every weekend at Ed’s and all the bars downtown. Paul goes on to say:]. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”
I could give you several more scriptures that condemn this very thing. I think Jesus would tell you to REPENT this morning if you’re doing these things.
2. Another application is this: Many believers have become tolerant of pornography in their lives.
You see, things are NOT so different from what was going on in Roman times. In the first century the atmosphere of these Roman cities was sexually charged and it was also a very male dominated society – Polygamy was popular and prostitution was rampant and acceptable.
Moral tolerance in the first century went something like this: “How can you judge someone else for partaking in an activity which is so commonplace and acceptable in our society, has been happening for centuries and has even enticed the best of us a time or two?”
Today the argument might go like this: “How can we find fault with pornography once in a while. After all, it’s so accessible and so many people do it. Besides, sexual imagery is all around us. We can’t escape it. In fact, society encourages it, so what’s the big deal?”
The big deal is that though we may be tolerant of pornography, Jesus is not at all tolerant of Christians giving themselves over to lust. He said in Matthew 5:27-28: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” If you’re tolerating this in your life, Jesus’s command is clear: “REPENT!”
I could give many illustrations of how we’re often tolerant of sin in our lives. God is never tolerant of sin. His threat to use the two-edged sword of judgment in our lives is REAL. He means business about sin in our lives. But if we’ll repent and turn from our sins; and if we keep fighting it and follow hard after our sin and root it out and stay close to the Savior to have His power and become an overcomer, God promises He’ll reward you in a special way.
What sin should you repent of today, Christian? Where have you compromised and tolerated sin in your life? Where have you rationalized and made excuses for a sin when what you really need to do is repent and turn away from it?
My prayer is if you’re coddling some sin in your life this morning that you’ll confess it to the Lord and claim 1 John 1:9 that He’ll forgive you if you confess to Him and fight it at every temptation until you become an OVERCOMER.
