Number 8 In A Series of Studies on Revelation -

Pergamos: The Compromising Church - Revelation 2:12-17

The message to the church at Pergamos may be one of the most needed messages for churches today. We will find it very relevant.

When it comes to the Lord's churches we must get a good understanding of two things.

(1) How the Lord works for us.

(2) How the devil works against us. In the seven letters to the seven churches, four of them have something to say about Satan (2:9, 13, 24; 3:9). What we are about to discover is that Satan's strategy against God's churches is not always the same.

· In Smyrna Satan's strategy was intimidation...worked from without.

· In Pergamos his strategy was infiltration...worked from within.

1. City. Pergamos was located about 45 miles north of Smyrna (consult a map). Note three things about this city.

Intellectual city. One of the great libraries of the ancient world was in Pergamos. Their library was second only to the one in Alexandria, Egypt.

Idolatrous city. This city was devoted to emperor worship. The reigning Caesar was its god.

Iniquitous city. Pergamos was said to be "Satan's seat." It was the headquarters of satanic activity. An altar of Zeus stood on a hillside overlooking the city. This altar was in the form of a throne or chair, 40' high.

2. Church, Revelation 2:12a. "Unto the angel of the church of Pergamos write..." There was only one church in each of these cities. But there was one.

3. Christ, Revelation 2:12b.. "Unto the angel of the church of Pergamos write; These things saith that hath a sharp sword with two edges."

· Rev. 19:15 With a two-edged sword Christ smites the nations.

· Rev. 19:21 With a two-edged sword Christ destroys the antichrist and his followers.

4. A Commendation, Revelation 2:13.

Labor....Doing.

* "I know thy works...." Christians are not saved by works, but they are saved to work. What are you doing on earth for heaven's sake?

Location....Dwelling.

"And where thou dwelleth, even where Satan's seat is..." This was a dark, difficult to live, if you were a devoted Christian. What a great place for a church. The whole don't need a doctor; the sick need a doctor, Matt. 9:12. We are to shine in a dark place. We are to stay true in a difficult place.

"Where Satan dwelleth." We might have the idea that Satan is headquartered in hell and occasional visits the earth to do his work. Actually, the earth is the command-center of the devil and he is not in hell at the present time. Actually, Satan will not be in hell until much later, as we shall see Revelation 20. At the present, Satan is the prince of this world. Christ said Satan was dwelling at Pergamos.

Loyalty….Determination.

* "And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied by faith..." They did not budge on the issue of who Jesus Christ is. Jesus is the God- man. All heresy has come out of a denial of Jesus' deity and Lordship.

"Even in the days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you..." We know nothing at all of this man. Human history has no record on this matter. But this was not overlooked by Christ. Christ was aware of the dedication and death of Antipas. God has pastors, missionaries and evangelists all over the world - He knows them all.

5. A Condemnation, Revelation 2:14-15.

"I have a few things against thee..." Remember, Christ is present among His churches to inspect and correct them.

A "few things" are too many things when it comes to eternal things.

A "few" bad things tolerated in a church usually neutralizes the many things they do. One bad member can give the whole church a bad reputation.

"Because thou hast there then that hold the doctrine…" There are people and movements in our day who downplay "doctrine." But it seems as though they are not away of what the word "doctrine" means. It simply means "teaching." No Christian movement is without teaching. They all teach something. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine" and shall "turn away their ears from the truth \, and shall be turned unto fables," 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

"The doctrine of Balaam..." The story of Balaam is recorded in Numbers 22-24. You may remember him – he had a dialogue with a donkey. There is an interesting and important development of Balaam in the New Testament.

It beings in 2 Peter 2:15 as "the way of Balaam."

Then it develops in Jude 11 into "the error of Balaam."

Finally, in Revelation 2:14 it has been formalized into "the doctrine of Balaam."

"Balaam tried to make the best of both worlds, so he ran with the hare and hunted with the hounds," Maclaren.

"Who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel..." Balaam taught Balak the way to corrupt Israel by intermarriage with the Moabite women. This introduced two awful sins into the holy nation of Israel.

Idolatry. "To eat things sacrificed unto idols."

Fornication. "To commit fornication."

The first was a spiritual sin and the second was a sensual sin.

Balaam's teaching was the seduction of the unequal yoke. Solomon's compromise, 1 Kings 10:23; 11:1, 3-4. Paul's commandment, 2 Corinthians 6:14-17.

In the church at Ephesus Christ went out – they left their first love.

Now in the church at Pergamos the world comes in. This was one of the sins of the church at Pergamos - the wickedness of the world came into the beliefs and behaviors of these believers. It is amazing that people are still debating what God settled long ago. Moral impurity still threatens churches - then and now. Fornication, adultery, co-habitation, pornography, homosexuality.

Ignored by some.

Openly tolerated others.

Even endorsed by a few.

Billy Sunday, professional baseball player turned evangelist in the early 1900's, said to us about the term "worldly Christian" -- "you might as well talk about a heavenly devil."

"The doctrine of the Nicolaitans..." In Revelation 2:6 it was their "deeds." Now it is their "doctrine." In Ephesus they "hated" it, but in Pergamos some were "holding" that doctrine. We cannot be absolutely sure what this doctrine was. It may have been a teaching developed by Nicolas (Acts 6:5) who advocated wicked living in the name of God. It is thought this doctrine also divided the church into clergy and layity, ignoring the priesthood of all believers. They unduely exalted the clergy. Whatever it was, Christ said,"Which thing I also hate..." See 2:6. God didn't change His mind about it. We should hate what God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19.

"Ye that love the Lord hate evil," Psalm 97:10.

6. Counsel, Revelation 2:16.

"Repent..." Of what? A false tolerance; worldliness. In Ephesus they were to repent of lovelessness. In Pergamos they were to repent of laxity.

"Or else..." My grandson, Quinton, has a cute way of letting me know he is serious. "No kidding, papa." God is saying, "No kidding."

"Or I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth..." God was saying, "If you do not deal with these Balaamites and Nicolaitans, I will!"

Maintain distinctiveness. The way God's people live should be clearly different from the way unredeemed people live.

Maintain doctrine. God's churches do not decide what is right and what is wrong. That has already been decided for us. Our authority is the Word of God.

Maintain diligence. We have to be on guard, alert to all the elements around us that would compromise the true gospel.

Maintain discipline. A diseased part of the body must be removed to protect the health and life of the whole.

7. Challenge, Revelation 2:17 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches..."

"Ears" are not just for holding up our glasses. They are for hearing. And the ears mentioned here are not just physical ears, just spiritual ears.

"The Spirit saith..." The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church is connected to the word of God.

"To the churches..." This message was to Pergamos, but beyond Pergamos. It was to the first century, but beyond the first century. It was to them and to us.

8. Comfort, Revelation 2:18.

"He that overcometh." God's people are overcomers, not by our strength but by His strength. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 12:11.

"Shall I give to eat of the hidden manna..." God gave Israel manna for 40 years. Two million people for 40 years. We have a big God! But the manna here is not physical manna, but spiritual manna. Jesus is ‘the bread of life." He is the "hidden" manna to the lost world.

"I...will give him a white stone..." This may mean to couple of things from the customs of John's day.

Judges "determined a verdict by placing in an urn a white and a black pebble. If the white one came out it meant acquittal; thus the white stone would mean the assurance that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus," - Charles Ryrie.

There was a custom of giving to intimate friends a tessera, a cube or rectangular block of stone or ivory, with words or symbols engraved on it. It was a secret, private possession of the one who received it. Christ says that He is going to give to each of His own a stone with a new name engraved upon it. "In the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."

It will be His personal and intimate name to each of us.

Prepared and delivered by
Dr. Jerry D. Locke
Lake Worth Baptist Church
4445 Hodgkins Road
Fort Worth, TX 76135-2136