The Church at Pergamum: A Compromising Church - Revelation 2 - 1/24/10
Turn with me this morning to the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation, chapter 2. We want to continue on today, looking at the question, “What does God think of His church?” Here in Revelation 1, we find the disciple John, living on an island off the coast of Turkey, writing about 95 AD, some 65 years after Jesus has died and resurrected. He is given a vision of Christ, and Jesus gives John a message in chapters 2 & 3 for 7 churches in Asia Minor, the area we know today as Turkey. Jesus has words of encouragement and words of rebuke for these churches. And we want to look at these churches to see what message God might have for us as well.
First we looked at the church of Ephesus. It was a CARELESS church. This was a large church, an active, working church, a well-taught church, a weathered church, they hard faced trials -- yet it was a church that faced a rebuke. We often look at large, active churches as healthy churches, but often they are not. Jesus told the church at Ephesus they had lost their passionate love for God. And we want to make sure that we are always more concerned about who we ARE, in our hearts, than just being concerned about what we DO.
Then, we looked at the second church, the church at Smyrna. It was a CRUSHED church and a CROWNED church. They faced pressure and poverty and putdowns, but they faithfully endured, and so they received commendation from the Lord. The Lord tells them that persecution will come, but to continue to live faithfully and He would reward them greatly.
Today we go on to look at the church at Pergamum. It is a COMPROMISING church. Let’s read the message to this church in Rev. 2:12 -17. READ - PRAY.
As John writes to these 7 churches, he writes in the geographical order that the regional mailcarrier would have taken in going from town to town. After leaving Smyrna, a letter carrier traveled along the coast of the Aegean Sea for about forty miles. Then the road turned northeast along the Caicus River. About ten miles inland stood the impressive city of Pergamum, a citadel city built on a hill one thousand feet above the surrounding countryside, creating a natural fortress. Located on a high conical hill it commanded the surrounded area with it’s presence. And from the city you could see the Mediterranean Sea 10 miles in the distance. The Roman Historian Pliny called it “By far the most famous city in Asia.” It is the present city of Bergama in Turkey. The city of Pergamum, or Pergamos as it is called by some translations (It’s the same name simply the masculine and feminine forms) didn’t have the beauty of Smyrna nor the commerce of Ephesus, however it was still a great city in it’s own right, a city of culture and government. Rivaling Ephesus as the leading city in the region, Pergamum had become the capital of the province of Asia Minor. The city was wealthy and cultured and educated.
Three things characterized the city: It was renowned for its intellectual achievement, its political power, and its pagan worship. Intellectually, they were well-known for their library which was the 2nd largest library in the world, 2nd only to the library of Alexandria in Egypt. There was a 200,000 volume library there. That may not sound like many books to us, but when you consider that every page of every book was handwritten on papyrus and parchment, it was quite an achievement. These were scrolls, not like the books that we have today.
Along those same lines, Pergamos was the place where parchment was invented. Parchment was a type of writing material developed from animal skins and far stronger than papyrus, which was made from reeds. The story goes that 300 years before Christ, a ruler of Pergamum seeking to expand the great library wooed Aristophanes of Byzantium, who was the librarian at Alexandria, to come to work for him. However Ptolemy who was the ruler of Egypt became irritated when he thought that he could lose this outstanding scholar. So he threw the librarian in chains, and then he imposed an embargo on the shipment of papyrus to Pergamum. Papyrus was the primary medium for writing in that day. And so the great minds of Pergamum got together and developed a technique to smooth and polish tanned animal skins to develop what came to be known as the Pergamum material or in the Latin – parchment, which of course finally replaced papyrus completely.
1st - intellectual achievement - then Pergamum was also known for its political power. The first temple of the imperial cult was built in Pergamum in honor of Rome and Augustus. The city thus boasted a religious primacy in the province, even though Ephesus became its main commercial center. Pergamum was very wealthy, and the center of emperor worship with many temples devoted to idolatry.
As the seat of government in Asia it was here that Caesar worship would have been at it’s strongest. You’ll remember that the Romans didn’t care what god or gods you worshipped as long as you were willing to worship Caesar. There were three temples in Pergamos devoted to the emperor worship cult. Once each year, every Roman citizen was required to walk into one of these temples, place a pinch of incense on an altar and say “Caesar is Lord.” And so it was here that believers were required to take the title that belonged to Christ and ascribe it to Caesar, and if they didn’t they could be executed.
Because the city of Pergamum was the capital of Asia it was the administrative home of the Roman Governor. Roman governors were divided into two categories those who had the “Right of the Sword” and those who didn’t. Those who had the “Right of the Sword” literally had the power of life and death, on their word a person could be executed on the spot. The proconsul who had his office in Pergamum had this right of the sword and at any moment could use it .
As Jesus speaks to the 7 churches, He uses different titles for each church. To the church in Ephesus he described himself as the one who walks among the churches, to the church in Smyrna, a city that had been destroyed and rebuilt he describes himself as the one who died and is alive. And here in Pergamum his description is the one who has a sharp two-edged sword. Verse 12 - To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. Christ is reminding these believers in Pergamum that the last word is still with HIM; He has the sharp two edged sword. Rome might be powerful, but Christ is more powerful. Christ ultimately is the one with the power of life and death! Fear Him!
And third, Pergamum was noted for its pagan worship: The city was filled with pagan temples, so much so that the very presence of Satan seemed to have settled upon the city. Pergamum was practically overrun with pagan temples. Pergamum was a rival of Ephesus in the temples to Zeus, Athena, and Dionysis. 800 feet up the hill the city stood on was a forty foot altar used to present sacrifices to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. This altar looked like a throne carved into the side of the mountain. This altar was one hundred feet square and forty feet tall. Come out tonight, and you’ll get to see all these sights in our video presentation.
There was also a temple in Pergamum to Asclepios, the god of healing and medicine. His temple was filled with snakes and when a person needed healing, they would go into that temple, lie down on the floor and spend the night there. If a snake crawled across them during their stay, they considered themselves healed. These temples were the nearest thing they had to hospitals in the ancient world and people from all over the Roman Empire flocked to Pergamum for relief of their afflictions. Some have suggested that because Asclepios was called “Asclepios the Savior” that Christians would have viewed this as so blasphemous that this was the throne of Satan mentioned. An ancient coin depicts the Emperor rendering honor to Asclepios, raising his right arm in an exact gesture of the Nazi salute. The symbol of this god was a snake entwined around a staff. This image can still be seen today as the emblem of the medical profession.
Pergamum was also the center for the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine and orgy. People would come out to plays at the massive open-air theater that held 10,000 people, and then go next door and eat and drink and throw up until they found themselves in a state of semiconsciousness. Then they would go have sex with the temple prostitutes. The Dionysus worship was so immoral that the Romans even outlawed it eventually.
There was also a temple to Demeter, the goddess of Grain. All these pagan temples taught that you get what you need for life somewhere other than from God. And so, as we think of the city of Pergamum, we realize that the church there operated right in the middle of a city chosen by Satan as his headquarters on earth. Satan is not now in Hell. He dreads that place more than any lost man ever has. When he is sent to Hell, it will spell his eternal doom, and he knows it. In our day, Satan is free and he operates as the “god of this world”,and as “the prince and power of the air”. In other words, Satan IS active in our world today.
Look in verse 13 - I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. -- Jesus told the church in Ephesus that He knew their works, to the church in Smyrna that He knew their worries, and here He tells the church in Pergamum that He knows their whereabouts, He knows where they live. He recognizes the fact that Pergamum is not an easy place to live in and still remain unstained by the immorality and idolatry of the surrounding culture. Jesus knows they are living in a tough place. He knows where they are and He has a word just for them. He knows your situation too! He knows it when you are in a difficult marriage. He knows it when you face persecution on your job, at school, at home, or even at church.
We are told that they “lived” in Pergamum. There are two words translated “live or dwell” in the New Testament. One means “to take up a temporary dwelling”. The other one, the one used here, means “to settle down to stay; to take up a permanent residence”. These people had settled down in Pergamum and they were not running away from the trouble around them.
Far too often, we allow the world to cause us to run and hide in fear. We love to isolate ourselves. We must make our stand in this world and be willing to stand up and speak up against the evils and wickedness that mark our society, whatever the cost! It may be much easier to live somewhere else in easier circumstances, but our duty is to stay and become a testimony for the Lord and overcome the world in which we live. These Christians hadn’t cloistered themselves away somewhere safe, they were in the marketplace in the city.
And Jesus still expects us to live in the world today. This is where we belong, ready to stand up and declare our faith in Jesus and to stay true to who we are. God placed the nation of Israel at the crossroads of the world. It wasn’t just a little desert area, but the intersection of the two main highways in the Middle East. Why? Because He wanted the Jews to impact their culture. And today, Christians need to speak up and impact the culture. George MacLeod said, I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace, as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Latin and Greek . . . at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that's where He died. And that is what he died about. And that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about.
Jesus said to the church at Pergamum, I know where you live! Yet you remain true to my name! What a commendation! Continuing on in verse 13 - Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives. Of all the 7 cities, Pergamum was the one in which the church was most likely to clash with the Roman imperial worship. The pagan residents of the city were willing to accommodate other gods, but they were not willing to tolerate an exclusive religion, whose Savior claimed, "No one comes to the Father but through Me." In our day today, people don’t care what you believe, as long as you don’t make a big deal out of it. In spite of opposition, the church at Pergamum was committed to Christ; they did not deny their faith. Jesus singles out a martyr, Antipas, who opposed the idolatry of the Empire and was faithful unto death.
Jesus says, You did not renounce your faith in me . This church was doctrinally pure. They held on to the fundamentals of the faith, and Jesus praised them for it. Antipas is called a “faithful martyr” or faithful witness. This is the same name that was given to Jesus in Rev. 1:5. Antipas has been all but forgotten by history. Still, Jesus knows his name! We need never fear that our sacrifices for Him are in vain. He sees them all and will reward them openly some day!
Satan will try anything he can to destroy the church. He tried using persecution like he did at Smyrna, but the church at Pergamum was faithful to the name of Christ. So, if he is unable to destroy the church by persecution, then he will try to destroy the church through compromise. Satan comes and seduces Christians through the culture. If he can get Christians to lower their standards and begin to accept the practices of the world, and not only accept them, but allow them to creep into the church, then Satan has accomplished what he has set out to do. He has gotten the church to relax her standards and before long, Satan understands that the church will look just like the world. You won’t be able to tell one from the other.
What is our weapon to combat that? It’s the one weapon of offense given to the Christian, the word of God. We see Jesus comes to the church at Pergamum with the two-edged sword. Hebrews 4 tells us, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Jesus told the church, "I know where you live...right in the middle of satantown." He says, You have remained true to my name; you haven’t renounced your faith. But then He goes on to give the rebuke. Look at verse 14 - Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Jesus says, You are embracing evil... and it has affected your relationship with Me! In Ephesus, they had TRUTH and rooted out the false doctrines, but they did not have love. Here in Pergamum, they were probably loving and accepting, but they strayed away from the truth. In spite of their faithful stand, all was not well with the church. They are rebuked for tolerating in their church the false teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.
Scholars think both are very similar. It makes reference to Balaam in verse 14 - Balaam found out he could not curse Israel, but he realized he would be able corrupt them by getting them to marry the beautiful women of Moab. So he taught or advised Balak to tempt Israel in marrying the daughters of Moab. This would defile their separation and cause them to abandon their pilgrim character. It was a teaching that promoted a breakdown in separation from the world. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.
It’s easy for us to get righteous and puffed up and proclaim that WE would never worship idols or commit sexual sin. But hold on there is no evidence to suggest that this sin was widespread in the church. Jesus does not say that the majority of the church practiced idolatry or committed sexual sin. This was not an immoral church, but as the NLT translates this verse - You tolerate some among you. It wasn’t that the majority of the church was committing sin, it was that they weren’t condemning sin.
Notice that not all the people among them were immoral, but they tolerated evil. They had professing Christians in the church whose lives did not match their Lord’s commands. And the church allowed it to go on unconfronted. Sort of like the church at Corinth - Paul writes in 1 Cor. 5 - It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
Too many times, as Christians, we use the old excuse of Satan - Am I my brother’s keeper? But the biblical answer is YES, you are! Galatians 6 - Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
The Greeks at their various temples had Temple prostitutes. Very likely these who followed the teachings of Balaam were those who indulged their sexual passions, sinful though they were, yet tried to hold good standing in the church. These very issues plague the church today, and today some churches teach the permissibility of sexual freedom, including gay rights, marriage and sexual liberty. Many well-known denominations today say, surely Paul was a male chauvinist, the Bible tends to be so narrow, God wants us to love and accept everyone -- and so they throw out the clear teachings of scripture and allow all kinds of sexual perversion and sin in the name of Christ. And God is furious. God WILL bring judgment!
Basically, the “doctrine of Balaam” is wickedness and worldliness. The church at Pergamos was tolerating people in their midst who claimed to be Christians, but who lived like the world around them. There are so many who believe that since you are saved by grace and kept by grace, you can live any way you please. It is no wonder that society has no respect for the church! Someone said, “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians—who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
If there is one thing that characterizes modern life it is one of sexuality. But if you are saved, you are to walk differently, talk differently, and you will have a different set of standards than the world. But worldliness is not only doing what is forbidden, it is also wishing it were possible to do it. Many people say, I’d never do THAT! But they fantasize about it. They lust after forbidden pleasure. They face daily mental slavery to illegitimate pleasure. What did Jesus say about that? Matthew 5 - You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
The teachings of the Nicolaitans, many believe, were those who found a way to compromise to say they followed God, but who also worshiped Caesar. In verse 6, we see that the church at Ephesus did not tolerate this; but the church at Pergamum did. They said they could simply go through the motions of worshiping Caesar, because they knew the truth.
The sad fact is that today there are many who go through the same twisted thinking - we tell ourselves, It doesn’t matter what I DO, it just matters what I believe. And Satan gets these foolish Christians to engage in all kinds of sinful activities.
Pergamum had no problem accommodating Christianity--one more god was not a problem. And it was easy to appease the state religion. A bust of the Emperor was set atop an altar with a fire burning below. To make a sacrifice to the "Spirit of Rome" all one had to do was to sprinkle a few grains of incense on the fire and say the words, "Caesar is Lord". That’s all; simple and easy.
But the call to faith in Christ is a call to be set apart. Paul urges us in 2 Corinthians 6 - Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. This is a call to separate ourselves from the unbelieving world. Not to avoid unbelievers -- but to avoid their sinful practices and lifestyle.
Paul cautions us in Romans 12 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, - the idea is Stop letting the world squeeze you into its mold! Far too often we let our desires to be accepted and fit in to shape who we are and what we live like. But we need to STOP that. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Do you want to live like God wants you to? Then change the way you think! The church of Pergamum was being influenced by worldly ideas. What this church needed to do was make a total change. This same counsel applies not only to this church but to the church in 2010.
Jesus tells the church in verse 16 - Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. This word repent means “to change the mind.” To change your thinking. Repentance is really a change of mind that results in a change of action.
John 8:32 tells us, Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. If we really want to break free from the world’s way of thinking, if we want to break free from the trap of all Satan’s schemes, if we want to break away from worldliness and self-centeredness and all types of negative thinking, what do we need to do? We need to come to the word of God. Psalm 119:9 - How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. . . I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
God warns in verse 16, that He WILL bring judgment for sin. That double edged sword, that reminded the Christians at Pergamum that Christ, not Caesar, was the one in control - that same sword is a reminder that God will bring judgment to His church. Many Christians think that God only brings judgment to unbelievers. NO! That is far from the truth. 1 Peter 4 - For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God! Today, don’t allow Satan to deceive you into thinking that you can sin and get away with it. Numbers 32:23 - You may be sure that your sin will find you out. Galatians 6:7 - Don’t be misled. Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death.
What does God want for us here at Bethel? The same thing he wanted for the church at Pergamum. Christ wants our church to be a bright light in a world that is filled with darkness. He wants us to be a Christian in our pagan society - in our schools, in our shopping centers, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces - wherever we are. We may be surrounded by those who have false beliefs, but Christ would have us to stand firm and to not let the false doctrines into our hearts. God wants our church to be pure, to flee from sexual immorality. We may not have the Balaamites or Nicolaitans to blame, but we have new age philosophy, we have relativism that tells us there is no real truth, we have worldliness that tells us we can worship God on Sunday and live like the devil the rest of the week. And if we aren’t careful, we will look just like the world
God knows our hearts. He wants us to not be tossed to and fro by every false doctrine that comes along, even if it is taught by those who call themselves Christians. And if we will remain faithful, God will reward us with a reward that is out of this world. Will YOU answer God’s call to live faithfully?
Let’s pray.
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There is so much more that we can learn from this church. Please come back tonight, as we’ll watch a video that takes us to Pergamum, shows us these sights, and teaches us so much more.
