Pergamos: The Church of The Undecided
Revelation 2:12-17, “"Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one who has a sharp two-edged sword: "I know that you live in the city where that great throne of Satan is located, and yet you have remained loyal to me. And you refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s followers. And yet I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you who are like Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In the same way, you have some Nicolaitans among you--people who follow the same teaching and commit the same sins. Repent, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth." Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
The road from Ephesus led north along the sea coast for about forty miles; then it turned inland to the north-east; and fifteen miles inland, it lead to the valley of the Caicus, which there stood the city of Pergamos. Unlike Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamos was a capital city with an air and atmosphere all its own. It had been the capital of the Attalid kingdom, which was one of the parts into which the empire of Alexander the Great broke up. In 133 B.C. the dying king of Pergamos willed it into possession of the Roman Empire thus it never went to war with Rome. Rome immediately made her the capital of the province of Asia an honor, which the city retained until 133 AD. The greatness of Pergamos was not found in its commercial eminence and commanding trade position that Ephesus, and Smyrna had; rather it was found in its historical greatness. There were a few things that made Pergamos truly great. Those were its library, and religion.
Pergamos had one of the most famous libraries in the ancient world. History has told us that it contained no fewer than two hundred thousand books, an astonishing number considering that in that day they had to write everything out by hand. The word parchment was taken from Pergamos because of its great literary activity.
Pergamos was also internationally famous for being a center of religious activity. John uses the words, “Where Satan’s seat dwells”, which was a reference to the altar of Zeus. The altar was eight hundred feet above up the hillside, ninety square feet, and twenty feet high. This was not believed to be the reason why the Apostle John uses this language to describe this altar. It is because of the Caesar worship in Pergamos that John says that this is the Seat of Satan. The worship of Caesar was centered in Pergamos just as Smyrna was. When a temple to a god was made that city would be given the title, which in the Greek is neokoros, meaning temple sweeper. Literally that city would be the temple sweepers of that particular god. The sweeping of the temple was obviously the most menial and humbling of all the religious duties. It was the city’s greatest privilege to render service to god who had taken up residence within it. Pergamos though was a city where the worship of Caesar was the most intense. Even more so than Smyrna, to be a Christian in Pergamos literally meant more than taken your life into your own hands; it meant making a decision between having the Lord of all or the Lord of none. The Christians in Pergamos either were Decided for the Lord, or Undecided for the Lord. Many in Pergamos who had called themselves Christians under persecution denied that they were Christians, but many also did not.
In the backdrop of all of this was a temple of worship to Asklepios, or as the Romans like to call it Aesculapius meaning the god of healing. This god’s temple was called the Asklepeion where suffers from all over the ancient world came to be healed. In this temple they had a medical school, priests, and medical wards. The word Asklepios was Asklepios Soter, or Asklepios the Savior. Now Soter means Savior, and is the Name in, which Christians uniquely and exclusively call out to for Salvation. It is no wonder that the Christians there felt that the application of this title to a heathen God was indeed a satanic perversion of the truth. There is more to the worship of Asklepios though than catches the eye. The emblem of Asklepios is the serpent. The serpent in the Bible is a reference to Satan. This is why the Apostle John refers to this city as the place where Satan’s throne is. Satan tries with all his power to lead us away from God, but Jesus Christ stands before the Father in defense for all those who call out on the name of Jesus. Jesus fights Satan on our behalf. Satan was a member of God’s very inner court, but as a result of Satan’s pride and jealous in wanting to become like the Most High Himself he was booted out of heaven. This temple of Satan was so closely related to Pergamos that it was often said that Asklepios was the Pergamene god. The Devil tries with all his might to torment those who call out on the Name of Jesus Christ and yet while he may try; he is not as powerful as the One who stands at our defense. It is because of His Death on the Cross that we are no longer condemned to die, but are able to now have life and eternal redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, so that we would no longer suffer in the eternal wrath of God but share in the joy of knowing Him who died for us.
Vs.1, “This is the message from the one who has a sharp two- edged sword”
The Prophet Isaiah in 49:2 said, “He made My mouth like a sharp sword.” The Sword is His Word piercing to every fiber of our soul. (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God is our weapon to ward of the demons of hell. It is the weapon the Christ used to ward off Satan in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:4,7,10) The way God defeats Satan is by the faithful setting forth of His Word. Nothing but the truth of Jesus Christ can defeat error.
Vs.13, “"I know that you live in the city where that great throne of Satan is located, and yet you have remained loyal to me. And you refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s followers.” “remained loyal to me”
When we allow the darkness of the shadow of God to blind us; we have failed to understand instead God’s gracious gift to us in Christ, for every sin so that we may have life in Him instead of having accepted the punishment of the devil and rejecting the hope that we have in Christ. When we make a stand for Christ we are in direct opposition to Satan. The Lord Jesus Christ praised the Christians at Pergamos for their doctrinal faithfulness. Biblical theology ought to affect every area of our lives. It is biblical faith that God requires of us. It is in His Word, which is pictured as a sword, which cleanses us and makes us whole. It is by His Word that we are saved. It is through His Word that we will remain pure.
“And you refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s followers.”
All that is known about Antipas was that he was a faithful martyr of the Lord Jesus Christ. If faced with the supreme test of our faith would you stand firm or would you fall? Would you accept death rather than deny our Lord? It is a matter of perspective I think that choice is made. The perspective for those who are born again are that there is nothing greater; no greater honor than to live, or die for the Lord Jesus Christ. After all that He has done for us on the Cross bearing our shame, guilt and every other sin; we ought to give our lives as a living worship to our Creator.
Vs.14, “And yet I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you who are like Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.”
This reference to Balaam can be found in Numbers 22-31. Balaam was a prophet of God who turned away from the Lord and instead wanted to combine the pagan customs of Moab with the belief in the Lord. Really this form of belief is no different than our modern day postmodernism. It is this belief that we can throw anything together and call it our religion that Balaam started. There were two things that Balaam taught that went directly against the Lord’s Word. The first of these things were “eating food offered to idols.”
This was especially rampant in the times of John. To us today this is a remote concern, but to the early Christians it was no laughing matter. It was today what sexual immorality is to the church now. To the early Christians food was a major concern, because it affected whom they could eat with. In the ancient world almost all the meat was sacrificed to god’s and then fed to those who worshiped that particular God. To eat meat sacrificed to another god was considered blasphemy to the early Christians. It means worshipping another God when Jesus said you shall have no other God’s besides the Lord Jesus Christ! “By committing sexual sin”
In the ancient world sexual morals were loose; relationships outside marriage were entirely accepted and produced no stigma whatsoever. The common attitude towards sex is best described in the following quote by Demosthenes, “We have courtesans for the sake of pleasure; we have concubines for the sake of daily cohabitation; we have wives for the purpose of having children legitimately, and of having a faithful guardian of our household affairs.” This attitude is still prevalent in our society, and in our churches. It is the idea that sex is okay even outside of marriage. Sex was not intended to happen outside of marriage, but only in marriage with the opposite sex. It is specifically the Lord’s Command that we be Holy as He is Holy. At the core of who God is, is His Holiness. His Holiness radiates all the other attributes of Himself. It is by His Holiness of His Son Jesus Christ that the Father sent the Son to die for us, which resulted in the salvation through Him on the Cross and our life now being filled by the Spirit of God.
The Apostle James in James 1:27 said, “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” It is this last statement to refuse to let the world corrupt us that the Apostle John is echoing. While we worship a God who is holy, and demanded a sacrifice for our sin thus causing Christ to come down to die for us; we still have to make a choice in whom we will follow whether that will be God or Satan. The age-old battle for the souls roars on like a lion chasing a rabbit. The outcome is evident that in the end Jesus wins and those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ win and to those who do not lose. Balaamism is seen in our society today as postmodernism. Postmodernism is the attitude that we can believe in whatever we want and put it all together and from there form a belief structure out of many religions, teachings, and disciplines. This is why the Lord rebukes the angels, or pastors of the church of Pergamos for permitting this sin to be among their fellowship. Biblical communities of faith stand opposed to any false teaching and cling tightly to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. The teachers of Balaam and false teachers today encourage people to conform not to the standards of God but to the standards of the world.
Vs.15, “In the same way, you have some Nicolaitans among you--people who follow the same teaching and commit the same sins.
Many commentators on this verse have said that the Nicolaitans are the herectial followers of Nicolas of Antioch, who was one of the chosen seven. (Acts 6:5) The error of the Nicolaitans were that people ought to Eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication; (vs.14) however, at the Council of Jerusalem these were the two very things that the Apostles all agreed against teaching the Gentiles. (Acts 15:20) It is very likely that the Nicolaitans were the very people who said that the Christian is freed from all the law, and as a result can do anything he likes. They basically made a public mockery of the Apostle Paul, and turned Christian liberty into Christian license for sin. As Christians we possess perfect liberty, but we cannot ever do what we like to do; we must always do that which God likes us to do. When we truly love God with all that we can muster; we will not live to satisfy our own desires, but the desires of God. Christian liberty is not freedom to please ourselves; it is the freedom from our selfish ways, sin, and Satan in order that we may please God. The church at Ephesus was commended for hating these false teachers while the pastors at Pergamos as a whole accepted these teachers into their fellowship. When we allow false teaching into a community of faith we poison the soul of the body of Christ. Sound theology ought to dictate our fellowships not false teaching.
Vs.16, “Repent, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Repentance means change not only externally, but also inwardly. It is the evidence of following the Lord that we will lay aside our fleshly passions and submit them to the Lord. If we are not willing to change then we stand in direct opposition to God’s will for our lives our sanctification thus provoking the wrath of God rather than the mercy of God. The Risen Christ says that He will not come and fight against us but against them. This refers to the false teaching. The Lord is displeased when false teaching is prevalent in His Church. To teach another person to sin is to engage the wrath of God.
Vs.17, “"Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
As always we must listen to what the Spirit says to us as individuals. When we come into a community of faith the worship is both corporate and personal. It is corporate in the sense that we are worshipping not by ourselves but with other people, but it is individual in nature, because we are not worshipping the people around us but the living God of the universe.
The hidden manna is a reference to those who overcome by faith in Christ. To those who do overcome a special reward will be given; a white stone engraved with a new name.
In ancient times juries voted by casting stones into an urn. A white stone stood for acquittal and a black stone for condemnation. The prisoner was acquitted or condemned assuredly; as white or black stones were in the majority. So then this may mean that, if a man is faithful, God will acquit him. His loyalty has stood the test and the trial of God.
In ancient times a white stone was the symbol of a happy day. A white stone was a symbol of a day of victory- as we speak often of a sunny day. This means that those who are faithful will be reckoned as the victor, and will be welcomed into heaven with victor’s joy.
The white stone could also be a reference to the Roman Empire’s free doling out of entertainment such as circuses, gladiatorial games, and other entertainment’s. The tickets that were used often took the form of a white stone. This very well might mean that when we get to heaven that those who have been faithful will be entertained by God.
It is likely in the former statement that Christ will entertain those who are faithful giving them a white stone with a new name on it, thus guaranteeing the assurance we have held onto in this life that we have been justified by Him through faith in His Son.
The Church at Pergamos was the church of the undecided, because they had not made the Lord; the Lord of all. Either He is Lord of all or Lord of none. As Christian’s everyday we have to make a decision to adopt our lifestyle to be more like the lifestyle of Christ. Our lives ought to be in constant expectancy as the Christians at Pergamos were. While they had the theology down; they did not understand what it meant to adopt the lifestyle of Christ. For many Christians this is true.
They follow not Jesus, but rather what fits their fancies. This is not right. If you call yourself a Christian there is only One whom you can serve otherwise the Sword of God will come and pierce your heart, mind, and soul. Choose whom you will serve. Don’t be a person who is undecided.
Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Jenkins
