Pergamos

Today we continue on our journey back in time with Jesus around the 7 churches of Revelation. 

Sean has already taken us through the letters to the 1st two churches on the journey which were Ephesus and Smyrna. Today we look at number 3, Pergamos, the most northern of all the cities. As you will recall, the message was given to John while imprisoned on the island of Patmos. Let’s begin with a video introduction to Pergamos.

Let’s read from  Revelation 2:12-17 what Jesus wrote to the Christians at Pergamos but remember the letter is also for us.

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “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. 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. 

Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. “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. ” ’

I’ve underlined 4 things in the letter which we’ll look further at today;

1. Where Satan dwells

2. The doctrine of Balaam

3. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans

4. The two-edged sword

 

1. Where Satan Dwells

One of the interesting things we learn from Revelation is that Pergamos was the place where Satan dwelt, where his throne was. Satan is limited, he is not omnipresent like God. We know from Job 1:7 that Satan travels about the Earth;

And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

But even though Satan travels to and fro across the Earth, he has a residence. Satan offered Jesus all the Kingdoms of the World from a high place, it does not specify where but perhaps it was where the very throne of Satan was;

Matthew 4:8-9

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Jesus would not bow down and worship Satan. This is the temptation that the Christians were facing in Pergamos and they were holding fast against it and suffering persecution because of it.

Pergamos was a place of wealth and luxury with strong influence over Asia Minor. There were 2 parts of the city. The lower part where most of the people lived and the upper part where the temple was and this is where it is thought Satan’s throne was. Pergamos wasn’t the capital of Asia Minor (that was Ephesus) but there was evil power in control. Satan does not need to be in a capital city to have control over the World. Where is Satan dwelling today? Like a coward, he remains in hiding but the time is coming when he will emerge in plain sight on the world stage in the person of the Antichrist. One day he will be caught by someone stronger and thrown in the Lake of Fire. Hollywood would be a suspect, I’m sure there are other places you could think of with the characteristics of Pergamos.

Idolatry and sexual immorality were rampant in Pergamos. In fact it was legal and normal in Greek society for men to have wives, mistresses and prostitutes. True Christianity preaches marriage between one man and one woman. The atmosphere in Pergamos was therefore intolerant and threatening to Christians. Antipas had been murdered, the Church was being persecuted for standing up to the truth of the Gospel and not bowing to Caesar as Lord.

Even though Jesus commended the Pergamos Church for standing up to Satan and not denying Him, Jesus told the Church that he had a couple of things against them because they had some members who followed bad doctrine - the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and these doctrines Jesus hates. If it’s one thing Jesus hates, it’s false doctrine. How can the one who is the Truth bear lies from the very mouth of Satan himself? The fact is that doctrine effects behaviour. That is why we will hold fast to the Creeds and historic teachings of the Church at PCC.

2. The doctrine of Balaam

We need to understand what Jesus meant when he said that some of the Christians in Pergamos were following the doctrine of Balaam.

Balaam was a prophet from Pethor which is thought to be quite a way North of Israel in Syria about as far as Auckland is from Wellington.

Balaam lived at the time of Moses when Israel was on the threshold of the Promised Land camped on the plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan river just across from Jericho of which everyone knows the famous story of the Walls that came Tumbling Down.

Being afraid of the Israelites who had wiped out the Ammonites, the Moabite King Balak sent his messengers to ask Balaam to come down and curse Israel for a fee. Balaam initially refused but God knew his heart. Eventually Balaam set out on that famous talking donkey to go and curse Israel. 

But each time Balaam prepared the ritual sacrifice and went to curse Israel, a blessing came out his mouth.

Proverbs 26:2

Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.

We don’t need to be afraid if our enemies curse us. The Gates of Hell cannot prevail against the Church. The Church grows stronger when it is attacked from the outside. There are many examples of this even in modern times. The Church had massive growth in China when it was persecuted by the Communist government.

Moses wrote in Numbers 31 that Balaam came up with a different plan for cursing Israel. He told King Balak to tempt Israel with prostitutes and idolatry. And Israel fell for it ! The Israelite men ended up with Midianite women, worshipping Baal which included sex as part of the worship. In doing so, they brought a curse on themselves. The way a Church can be destroyed is by weakening it from within through divisions and sin.

Very similar to the doctrine of Balaam, the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was a problem for the Pergamos Church. 

3. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans

Who were the Nicolaitans? In this version of the Bible, the thing Jesus hated about them was their “doctrine.” The word comes from the Greek word erga, which means works or “deeds” which is the word found in other versions of the Bible. However, the meaning is so all-encompassing that it pictures all the deeds and behavior of the Nicolaitans — including their actions, beliefs, conduct, and everything else connected to them. The name “Nicolaitans” is derived from the Greek word nikolaos, a compound of the words nikos and laos. The word nikos is the Greek word that means to conquer or to subdue. The word laos is the Greek word for the people. It is also where we get the word laity. When these two words are compounded into one, they form the name Nicolas, which literally means one who conquers and subdues the people. It seems to suggest that the Nicolaitans were somehow conquering and subduing the people.

Gnostics teach that the physical world is not important, it’s only the spiritual that matters and that we all carry the divine spark, we are all in fact little gods. So what you do with the body doesn’t matter. It is important that we don’t excuse sin through preaching only Grace.

This is what some of the Christians at Pergamos were doing by going up to the temple where Satan’s throne was, eating meat offered to idols and going with temple prostitutes believing that because of God’s grace they were covered. They were no different to the pagans in their behaviour except they went to Church on Sundays to worship the Lord. These few in the Church are who Jesus was pinpointing but the rebuke was to the whole Church for tolerating it. 

Notice how Idolatry and sexual immorality go together. They are very serious sins, they bind us to the World and they are not covered if there is no repentance. 

All idolatry of self has at its core the three lusts found in 1 John 2:16: 

“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.” 

If we are to escape modern idolatry, we have to admit that it is rampant and reject it in all its forms. It is not of God, but of Satan, and in it we will never find fulfillment. This is the great lie and the same one Satan has been telling since he first lied to Adam and Eve. Sadly, we are still falling for it. Even more sadly, many churches are propagating it in the preaching of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel built on the idol of self-esteem. But we will never find happiness focusing on ourselves. Our hearts and minds must be centered on God and on others. 

The progressive modern church is friends with the world, is accepting of abortion (child sacrifice) and sexual immorality. Unrepentant sinners are being welcomed into the Church and Jesus hates these practices.

It ought to greatly disturb us when we see that the Church today is also embracing idolatry (prosperity doctrine) and sexual immorality (adultery and divorce, Christians living together, the pornography stats, gay priests etc etc). This is bringing about Balaam’s curse. 

4. The two-edged sword

Just as with Pergamos, Jesus threatens to make war against those Christian’s involved in such sins with the sword of his mouth, what He calls the two-edged sword if those involved do not repent. Apparently the Romans had 2 types of sword, an ordinary singular sword and a heavy two-edged sword. The two-edged sword was very sharp and shaped a little like a spade. It was held in two hands and swung around in a circle and able to kill an entire band of soldiers at the same time. Jesus warned the Church to put it right before he would come to deal with such sinners in the Church in a similar very heavy way. This is what every Church at the time was afraid of as they had all heard the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

Hebrews 4:12-13

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. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

When we love the Lord and others with everything that is in us, there will be no room in our hearts for idolatry or sexual immorality. This is why when asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” 

Matthew 22:37

Conclusion

The letter to Pergamos is a message to a compromising Church but as usual, Jesus provides the way out and a promise;

 “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. ” ’

Revelation 2:17

If the sinners in the Church Pergamos repented and stood against these practices, Jesus promised them they would receive the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name on it that Jesus promised to the overcomers. There is a lot of speculation as to what the hidden manna and white stone are. David Pawson who we are learning from in this series said that what was in keeping with the message to Pergamos would be;

1. The hidden manna is a promise from Jesus that he will provide for us in the desert, when the World persecutes us and takes away our jobs. We do not have to go along with the culture to survive as Jesus will provide just as he did for Israel when he gave them manna every day in the desert.

2. In Paris there used to be a bridge that lovers put a lock on that eventually got so heavy that the locks had to be removed. The white stone with a name on it was something a man would give the love of his life that would be just between the two that would act as a reminder of their love. To those who remain faithful to Jesus and keep themselves pure from the World, he also wants to give something unique like a white stone with a new name on it to show that person they are very precious to him.

As always, Jesus concludes by saying that anyone who can hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches, not just Pergamos, but especially compromising Churches everywhere.

Amen.