September 28, 2003
Title: Pergamum
Text: Rev. 2:12-17
Introduction
1. We see John on the Isle of Patmos...
He is isolated...
Punished by man...
yet visited by God...
He is praying...
and suddenly Jesus comes to see Him...
and it is an incredible vision!
He sees Jesus walking among the lampstands...
He sees Him dressed in a long robe and a golden sash...
He sees that Jesus’ hair and beard is white
His eyes are blazing like fire...
His feet are like glowing bronze...
and from His mouth, is a sword...
a sharp, double-edged sword...
2. We learned about the sword of Jesus this morning...
the sword that was swung in battle and conquest...
But as Jesus speaks to John about the 7 churches...
He comes to the church of Pergamum...
And just as Jesus has revealed Himself differently to each church...
to the Church of Pergamum, He reveals Himself as He "who has the sharp, double-edged sword" coming out of His mouth.
And as we study this Church, you will see that there is a reason what Jesus revealed Himself like this to that church.
Read Text: Revelation 2:12-17
Body
1. First, lets look at the city of Pergamum (or Pergamos depending on your translation)
A. Pergamum was located about 40 miles northeast of Smyrna.
It is the present city of Bergama in Turkey.
Which is located on top of the ruins of Pergamum.
The city was wealthy and cultured and educated.
B. 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.
It contained over 200,000 books...
which is especially impressive when you realize that these were scrolls...
not like the books that you have today.
Pergamum wanted to make their library even larger...
so they invited Aristophones, the director of the library at Alexandria to come to Pergamum...
But when the leader of Egypt heard about it...
He had Aristophones arrested and put an embargo against Pergamum...
This meant that Pergamum could no longer get the papyrus they needed to make books (or scrolls).
So, instead of just giving up, the people of Pergamum went to work and invented an alternative that was known as "pergamene paper".
Later this was shortened to "parchment"
And parchment became the "paper" of choice for many, many years, until paper was later developed by the Chinese.
C. This shows that the city of Pergamum was cultured, sophisticated, and educated...
and it helps us to better understand God’s message to the Church of Pergamum.
The first temple for emperor worship was built in Pergamum.
The worship of Jupiter was very prominent...
so much so that they had built a beautiful and exquisite altar to Jupiter.
In 1871, an altar was found in the ruins of Pergamum that bore the inscription: "Zeus, the Savior".
The city was filled with pagan temples...
so much so that the very presence of satan seemed to have settled upon the city.
which is why Jesus refers to Pergamum in our text as the city "where satan lives"
This gives you an idea of the city of Pergamum...the city where the Church of Pergamum was located.
2. Let’s look at the Church more closely
A. The city that I have described sounds lik a good place for a church...
One writer said, "where the night is the darkest, the light must shine the brightest"
Antipas is described as a "faithful witness" was put to death in Pergamum.
In this letter, Jesus condemns the Christians in Pergamum for associating with...
and tolerating people who hold to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans
The Nicolaitans are thought to be a group of people who tried to work out a compromise between Christianity and paganism
They taught that because of the spiritual freedom that they have in Christ...
that gave them the spiritual freedom to worship idols and embrace immorality.
This reminds me of the words of Paul in Romans 6:15 "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means"
B. Satan will try anything he can to destroy the church...
if he is unable to do so by persecution, like we studied last week in Smyrna...
then he will try to destroy the church through compromise...
If he can get the church 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.
3. Jesus told the church, "repent, therefore"
A. Jesus knew that there was great pressure upon this church to conform to the paganism surrounding it.
He told them, "I know where you live...right in the middle of satantown"
"and I know that you are allowing false doctrines to creep into the church"
"and I know that some of you who call yourselves Christians...
you are embracing these evil things...
and it has affected your relationship with Me"
you need to repent"
B. He also told them..."If you don’t, ...
"I will come to them and fight against them with the sword of My mouth"
As I mentioned, there is a reason why Jesus revealed Himself to this church as
He "who has the sharp, double-edged sword" coming out of His mouth
This could be a reference to what we studied this morning, the Battle of Armageddon
but more likely...given the circumstances of what was going on in this church...
it is a reference back to the sword of truth.
Hebrews 4:12-13 says, "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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (NIV)
C. They needed Jesus to reveal truth to them...
and cut out the lies and compromise and paganism...
so that they can overcome...
and be recipients of "hidden manna"...
which Beacon Bible Commentary implies that it, "signifies intimate communion with Christ in the present, feeding our souls on the Bread of Life" (pg 505)
And if they overcome, they will also receive "a white stone with a new name written on it".
Some commentators indicate that the white stone was used as a type of "admission ticket"...
only this ticket, instead of getting you in to see the latest movie...
this ticket will give you admission to the presence of Christ.
Conclusion
1. The message to the Church in Pergamum is very clear...
But what about the message to the church in Belleview?
I believe the message is the same...
Christ wants our church to be a bright light in a world that is filled with shadows...
He wants us to be a Christian in our pagan society...
in our schools
in our shopping centers
in our neighborhoods...
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...
and by way of our hearts...into the Church.
2. God wants our church to be pure...
We may not have the Balaamites or Nicolaitans to blame...
but we have new age philosophies...
we have relativism...
where everything is relative...
there is no black and white...
everything is gray...
we have the philosophies of the world beating at our door...
and if we aren’t careful...
the world will seap in between the cracks...
and before you know it...
Belleview COTN looks just like the world...
3. God knows our hearts...
He wants us to not be tossed to and fro by every false doctrine that comes down the pike...
He wants us to be faithful...
He wants us to have some spiritual depth...
He wants us to have an anchor...
4. The Christians in Pergamum were
too tolerant...
too permissive
too lax...
too closely identified with the pagan world...
and as a result, they weren’t being effective in their community...
5. Jesus is walking amongst His church at Belleview,,,
and His message for His Church...
don’t tolerate false doctrine...
don’t fall for the philosophies of the world...
live for Christ...
6. If you have allowed the world to seap in...then you need to repent...
if you don’t....you will find yourself on the losing end of the sword of the Lord
but if you do...Christ will give you "hidden manna"...
and a ticket to the most wonderful banquet that you could ever imagine.
Let’s pray
