Revelation Chapter 2 Pergamum
the church at pergamum, a church in the heart of a city that Jesus calls out for being the city with satans throne and the place where satan dwells
tough words here, yet the church got accolades from Jesus, they have held fast to his name, they have withstood even in the face of heavy persecution, even when Antipas was killed for his faith, killed where satan dwells, The church withstood even living in a difficult situation - right on the doorstep of satan him
why was it the city where satan dwells?
the city of pergamos - was a rival city for commerce with Ephesus and Smyrna
it didn’t quite reach their heights in that area, but where it succeeded them was as a religious center for pagan worship
even to this day you can go to…Bergama, Turkey and still see some of the altars and ruins of the ancient city that was established
in this city there was a temple erected to Asclepius - a Roman/Greek god of medicine
those in search of healing would come and sleep,in the court of the temple hoping to get healing
Perhaps this is why God declares that it is the city where satan dwells
because this place was the heart of religious worship
worshipping other gods in place of God or before God, for personal gain
But this church held fast to the teaching of Jesus
they withstood even in the heart of the regions center for pagan worship and arts and even corruption
their lamp shined bright
Except some held to the teaching of Balaam who taught Batak to put a stumbling block before the Israelites
God is not a God of compromise
God will remember a church of compromise
Your can read the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24
Balaam a seer - or prophet is approached by Balak
Balak is the king of Moab at this point in Numbers, Balak tries to entice Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam won’t and can’t
Eventually, Balaam gets the Israelites to compromise through adultery and idol worship, if he can’t curse them he will get them to compromise their faith and obedience to God.
Numbers 24:17
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.”
God is not a God of compromise
God doesn’t forget a church or individual of compromise
nowhere else is anything of Balaam mentioned in the Bible in terms of anything else he did with his life except this one story
However …this one story is brought up in Numbers 31, Deuteronomy 23, Joshua 13 and 24, Nehemiah 13, Micha 6, 2 Peter 2, Jude 1, and here in Revelation to the letter to the church in pergamos
this was a big deal to God, that Balaam taught Balak to put a stumbling block in front of the Israelites, they were led into sin through sexual immorality and sin by eating food sacrificed to pagan Gods
Balaam centered on self interest, was willing to compromise his position, he was a prophet for crying out loud, was willing to compromise his relationship with God, for some earthly riches…if He could just go and ask god to let him curse Gods chosen people
it’s not ok to compromise when it comes to the commands of God
it’s not ok to compromise when it comes to being friends with the world
it’s not ok to compromise when it comes to doing what God tells us to do
and when it comes to not doing the things that we know God doesn’t want us to do
God is not a God of compromise
It’s a big deal to God when his church compromises to look the world that opposes him
I found it ironic that this was my topic - in youth were reading through the book of James, This weeks passage for James was this…
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4
I think we all need to ask ourselves… Are we a church of compromise? Is my life, when it comes to my relationship with Jesus, one of compromise? Do I serve my self interests in place of what God wants? Do I live a friend of the world? Or am I towing the line like Balaam?
Jesus had something to say about this in Mark 9:42, ““Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
so what do we do with this?
our hope is that as we read these letters to the churches: we allow them to speak to us, to perhaps open our eyes to where we could change our course of action
2 things we need to understand about Jesus as the judge
Application
Jesus sees your struggle
Jesus understands, he sees where we are, what we deal with, he understands the temptations and the difficulty living in a world that is by far now a world that is in opposition to Him, he understands, we see that here in our letter, and all the other letters right?
Jesus offers a way to freedom
Conclusion
To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’”
what is the significance of the white stone?
back in Roman court of law your case would be plead amoungst the jury / judges and they would take a white or black stone and cast them into an urn the black stone was cast to symbolize guilt a white stone was cast to signify innocence at the end of the judgement they would dump out the urn and count the stones if there were more black than white you were found guilty if there were more white you were found not guilty Jesus gives a white stone to those who overcome and on it is written a new name that only the one who receives knows