Opener:
We are excited to be here as we are continuing our sermon series this morning on the seven churches found in the book of Revelations.
We have already looked at the church in Ephesus. This is the church that worked very hard for the Lord, and they stood up to those that were evil, yet they left their first love.
Last week, we were looking at the church in Smyrna which experienced a tremendous amount of persecution for their faith. We learned of the Bishop Polycarp who was martyred for his faith in Christ. In the face of all this persecution, Jesus encouraged this church not to fear and to remain faithful to Him and He will reward them with a everlasting crown.
Today, we are looking at our third church which is found in Pergamum. At the time, like Smyrna, the church in Pergamum was at the center of Roman emperor worship. Duly noted, there was a large throne like alter there that was built on a cliff that overlooked the city to the Greek god of Zeus. This was one reason why John makes reference to Satan’s throne. Located about 50 miles north of Smyrna, we see Pergamum was a leading religious center in Asia Minor. Pergamum was known for its civilization and their education centers. They were involved in various industries such as: pottery, tapestries, and paper products. They were known for their wealth and fashion. Mark Anthony was seen in this library and would even send out books to Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. The city had a huge library of some 2000,000 volumes and was second only to the city of Alexandria. Basically, was like the Google of their time.
Now that we have a little background of this church, Let’s hop into our text this morning found in Revelation 2:12-17 NKJV -12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
As we look at this church, they had a tremendous battle with worldliness that was taking place inside the church. It is really important for us to remember that Satan uses all kinds of ploys to get the church side tracked. One of those ploys is that he sends corrupt people to try to influence the church from being pure and holy.
I found a story from Joby Warrick who writes a harrowing story about a Triple Agent about how a Jordanian physician who was radicalized on Islamic websites. This young physician would stay up late at night after his work in the daytime among the pediatric patients in Amman, Jordan and be infused with the vitriolic rhetoric of the Islamic preachers on Youtube until he wanted to get involved in the jihad. He did so after he was picked up by the Jordanian spy agency who found his online postings. They were going to attempt to send him into Pakistan as a spy but when he got there, he revealed why he was there. He told the jihadists that he was working for the Jordanians and had some connections to the CIA. Over a period of about a year, this young physician put on a suicide vest and made it into the CIA compound in Khost, Afghanistan and killed himself along with 9 other top CIA officers working in the Middle East. Once the investigation was done by CIA Director Leon Paneta, it was discovered that the CIA had let down their very high standards that they normally followed because they were so desperate to get Osama bin Laden and his top two lieutenants.
The same thing can happen to churches when they drop their guard in pursuit of all sorts of so-called success. There are three main areas which open the door to worldliness in our lives and these are shared by John in 1 John 2:16 NKJV16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. To lust after something is really to have an intense desire for that object to provide satisfaction for yourself often at the expense of others. So the lust of the flesh seeks after pleasure, travel, addictions, movies and a host of other activities that satisfies the flesh. The lust of eyes speaks to an intense desire to see something exciting. This typically involves around possession of things that we don’t currently have but really want. The pride of life is when a person exaggerates ones personal value. They are driven by self ambition and have a prideful desire to have more prominence and to be recognized.
When these three things become rooted in a person’s life, they can become deadly. The longer that they linger in this area, the weaker and weaker spiritually they become and this in turn affects the church.
I. The worldly and corrupted church
A. Comprise
a. Let’s turn to our text this morning in verse 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
b. There no doubt were faithful followers of Jesus at this church, however there were also some that were beginning to be influenced by false teachings.
c. Let me say this, teaching matters! It matters that you and I are taught in a balanced way, with the correct information.
d. There were some of these believers that started to embrace a compromised lifestyle and soon found that idolatry and immorality was accepted.
B. Seduction
a. This spiritual seduction that was seeping into the church was not blatant, in fact, if was very subtle and it happened over a period of time.
b. This really is how Satan creeps in. He introduces you to something that seems attractive to you and then over time you get sucked into his scheme, if you do not confront it in your life.
c. This church had two specific areas that they were compromising in.
i. The first is that some believers were following the teaching of Balaam.
ii. While others started following the teaching of the Nicolaitians.
C. Teachings of Balaam/Nicolaitians
a. The teaching of Balaam stems from a prophet name Balaam that told King Balak at the time, that in order to get the Isrealites to sin, that he should enticed them with sexual immorality and food sacrificed to idols.
b. Balaam came up with a scheme to use Moabite women to slowly and quietly seduce the people to sin, by doing this, it turned the people to idolatry, sexual temptation, idol worship, and committing indecent acts of immorality.
c. The Israelites fell into these traps and as a result were hit with a plague.
d. The teaching of Nicolaitians was very similar in that they encouraged the people to lead lives of unrestrained indulgence.
e. They too practice adultery, and eating things that were sacrificed to idols.
D. Knowing better
a. The Israelites knew better than to practice idolatry and would have openly rejected it.
b. Yet, they were seduced to sin by following their own selfish desires.
c. Many in the church may have been unaware of this false teaching creeping in, but it began to gain a foothold in people’s lives.
d. During this time period, the government actually made it legal to practice the worship of Balaam. In fact, they encouraged it. Let me say this, just because something is legal, does not mean that the Word of God is O.K. with it.
II. Repentance
A. Turn around
a. Let’s turn there to verse16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
b. The Lord is very clear in His command to this church. He does not mince His words. They are being called to repent!
c. The repentance the Lord is talking about here is more than a tearful time at the alter or feelings of guilt for what was done.
d. This was a call to a change in behavior, a change of mind, a change of lifestyle.
B. Hard work
a. The church was in need to put some work hard to reform their lives.
b. The church cannot tolerate evil in any form or else they would face the judgment of the Lord.
c. This rebuke was not only for this church in Pergamum but look at the Corinthian church.
d. Paul gives them a warning too found in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NKJV 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
e. A church fails when it compromises their tenants of faith. The church is a place where you hear God’s truth. Upon hearing this truth, there are times that we will be convicted in our lives and that is a good thing!
C. Tenants of faith
a. Being an Assembly of God church we have several core beliefs that lead our teachings.
b. These four core believes are taken from the Word of God
c. The first core doctrine is Salvation that God has given those that repent victory over sin and death in their lives.
d. The second core teaching is that we believe in Divine Healing. Wherever Jesus went, He ministered with compassion and He healed many that were sick.
e. The third doctrine is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This truth explains the passion and power to witness to others.
f. The fourth doctrine is that Jesus is coming back again and that we should be watching and waiting His return.
g. Along with these four fundamental truths, there are 16 key doctrines that we adhere to. If you are interested in reading about these truths, you can view them on : ag.org.
D. Stay guarded
a. As believers, we need to practice spiritual discipline in our lives.
b. We do this through the study of the Word of God. We do this by being guided by the Holy Spirit in our lives.
c. We stay guarded by when we see our train getting off the rails a little bit, we need to repent and come back to Christ.
d. I would venture to say that Most Christians have a keen sense of what is right and wrong. Knowing and doing as we all know are two different things.
e. We do have an enemy that has studied us and keeps tract of us and he seems to know all our weaknesses.
f. He will use every trick in the book to try to get you sucked into his agenda for your life.
III. The Word of God
A. In the know
a. Knowing all this, it is important that we study and learn from the Word of God.
b. The bible gives us insight into matters pertaining to life and death, and how we can get victory in our lives.
c. Hebrews 4:12 NKJV says: 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
d. This double-edged sword is a picture of a weapon that was used in battle, having two sharp cutting edges. No matter how it was wielded it would cut true and deep.
e. The Word of God will cut in such a powerful way that it will divide truth from error.
B. Powerful
a. Not only does the Word of God cut truth and error. It has the ability to repair and regenerate us.
b. The word breaks us free from sin and death. It breaks us free from living a complacent life.
c. It has the power to light up our path so that we do not have to walk in the darkness. We can walk according to the light of the bible.
d. The Word of God has the ability to bring joy into our hearts and causes us to grow spiritually.
e. It gives us a hope when the situation is hopeless.
f. Without a doubt, the Word of God is the most powerful weapon against anything that you will encounter in this life and the one to come.
C. Only works
a. The Word of God needs to be a priority in our lives. If it is not, then we will ultimately lose the importance of it in our lives.
b. I have been reading in my morning devotional about how Esau sold his birth right to Jacob for a meagar bowl of stew. In other words, he did not value his birth right.
c. The Word of God should be a part of our everyday lives, taking time to read it privately and meditate on it.
d. We should take time to share with others in our community and those that we come into contact with.
e. We should spend time living it out in front of others.
Closing:
As we close up this morning, in reviewing this church located in Pergamum. Much like Pergamum, evil in society is literally all around us and it is attempting to infiltrate the church and our very souls. We do not want to be a believer or a church that is marked by worldliness or corruption in spiritual matters. These believers in this church, they let compromise into their lives and as a result were rebuked by the Lord. He called them to repent and to make a commitment to changing their lifestyles. Maybe that is you this morning. Maybe there are some things in your life that you need to repent of before the Lord. This morning, we are going to allow the Holy Spirit into our hearts and reveal to us if there is anything not of God. As the worship team sings, I would invite you to come up to the alter and to spend a moment allowing the Spirit to do that!
