The Letter To The Church At Pergamos Series

THE LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT PERGAMOS

Revelation 2:12-17

In the early part of the last century, an American ship was wrecked off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England. The sea had been calm and the weather clear, but the vessel was caught in a treacherous current that slowly lured it off its course. Before the captain and the crew realized what had happened, the ship had crashed into the rocks. (Source:Dr Alan Carr: Thesermonnotebook.com)

If we are not vigilant, the powerful currents of compromise can lead the church to a place of shipwreck. If we take our eyes off of Jesus and lose our focus, great danger awaits us.

Pergamos was a church that had many positive attributes, but there were some major problems within that assembly. Jesus confronted them concerning these issues, told them how to correct them and warned of the consequences they would face if they did not heed His warning.

Likewise, we are a church that has many positive attributes, but we must be alert, watchful and always on guard against the destructive force called compromise. Simply put, we must remain faithful to Jesus and not allow the things of this world to infiltrate this assembly. I would like to examine “The Letter To The Church At Pergamos” with the hopes of learning from their error.

- We will begin as we have with the prior two letters by considering:

THE RECIPIENTS OF THIS LETTER

v12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,

This letter was written to the Christians in the church at Pergamos. Pergamos (or Pergamum) means high tower or “citadel”. The city of Pergamos was built on a 1,000 foot hill about twenty miles from the Aegean Sea. It once served as the capital of the Roman province of Asia Minor. Pergamos was also the center of Greek culture and education, and it housed a 200,000-volume library. This was long before the days of the printing press, so the books in this library were hand written with ink on parchment. In fact, Pergamos is the word from which we get our English word “parchment”. Parchment is a writing material that is developed from animal skin; and it is believed that parchment was originally developed in Pergamos.

Pergamos was the first city in Asia to build a temple to Caesar and it became the center of Caesar worship. Once a year, every Roman citizen was required to walk into the temple, place a pinch of incense on an altar and say “Caesar is god.” Pergamos was also the center of four major cults; the people of that city worshipped Zeus, Dionysius, Athene, and their chief god was Asclepius. Asclepius’ symbol was a serpent and who was considered the god of medicine and healing. This symbol portrays a serpent coiled around a rod and is still associated with medicine today, (it is usually seen on most ambulances). There was a famous medical school connected to Asclepius’ temple and their teachings combined medicine with superstition. People came to Pergamos from all over the world to seek healing from this false god.

In the midst of the secular and idolatrous society, was an assembly of faithful Christians; they were a people who refused to renounce their faith in order to avoid persecution. Jesus saw their faithfulness and praised them for it in this letter, however He also rebuked them for certain issues concerning their doctrine and He warned them of the consequences of not repenting of their sins.

- This leads us to:

THE AUTHOR OF THIS LETTER

v12b “these things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword”

Jesus identifies Himself as “the One who has the sharp two-edged sword.” This is a reference to the word of God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “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.” (Hebrews 4:12). It was with the sword of His Word that Jesus would judge the evildoers in the church at Pergamos. He said “repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” (v16)

The judgments of Christ are true, righteous, and accurate. He alone has the power and authority to judge His churches. This was true in each of the 7 Churches of Asia, and it is true concerning His churches today!

- Now that we have seen the recipients and the Author, let’s examine the content of this letter. We will begin with:

THE PRAISE IN THIS LETTER

v13 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.