The Seven Churches - Pergamum

Notes from our Wednesday night Bible Study...

Revelation 2:12-17

The sharp, double-edged sword.

• What is this sword?
• To each church, Jesus identifies himself with a different picture.
• To the church in Ephesus he was the one who holds the seven stars and walks among the golden lampstands.
• To Smyrna he described himself as the first and last who died and came to life again.
• Why do you suppose Jesus used the imagery of the sharp, double-edged sword with the church in Pergamum?
• This is a sword of justice.
• The word of the Lord is a sword that cuts right through to the heart of a matter.
• It discerns our motives and actions.
• It judges the thoughts and intentions of our heart.
• He says, “These are the words of the one who knows everything about you.”
• I know you inside and out.
• I know where you live.
• In spite of where you live, I know that your heart is still faithful to me.
• Another thing is that Rome had given Pergamum the rare authority of capital punishment, symbolized by the sword.
• Christians there were very familiar with that sword.
• It was one of fear.
• But the sword of Christ was one of comfort, hope, and encouragement.

Pergamum – where Satan dwells

• The second largest city in Asia.
• Center for politics and religion.
• It was thought to be very advanced.
• It had the second largest library in the world with over 200,000 volumes.
• The largest in the world was in Alexandria.
• They wanted to build a library greater than Alexandria, but Egypt tried to stop this effort by cutting off the exportation of papyrus.
• This forced them to come up with another kind of paper—parchment, literally “of Pergamum.”
• It had a major university for medical studies.
• One of the major gods they worshipped was called Asclepius.
• God of healing.
• Medical symbol.
• Many considered it to be the most illustrious city in all of Asia with its magnificent buildings and extreme wealth.
• It had temples to many gods including Zeus.
• The first city in Asia with a temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus.
• It became a center for emperor worship.
• Many think this explains the reference about being the dwelling place of Satan.
• Do you think it is Satan’s literal throne or figurative?
• Personally, I don’t think it’s a literal earthly throne.
• But it is a place where the influence of Satan and evil was everywhere—a place where he felt welcomed.
• Is there a city in the U.S. that comes to mind when you think about this?
• Las Vegas—aka, Sin City.
• It’s a city where people travel hundreds and thousands of miles to bow to the idols of money and sex.
• So you understand what kind of place this was.
• Add to all of that violence toward Christianity.
• Christianity stood opposed to everything the citizens of Pergamum were so proud of.
• So they persecuted the church and killed Christians.

• One of those Christians was a man named Antipas.
• Not much is known about Antipas, but I want to spend some time talking about him anyway.
• He was martyred for the cause of Christ.
• It apparently happened at a much earlier time (…in the days of Antipas…)
• Jesus called him “my faithful witness.”
• Rev. 1:5 – Jesus is called the faithful witness.
• Jesus here pays tribute to this martyred saint by giving him the same title that he himself bears.
• What does Jesus say we will be in Acts 1 after the Holy Spirit comes upon us?
• His witnesses.
• A witness tells about what he has seen.
• Jesus said of himself, “I only say what the Father says.”
• That’s what we do also.
• Sometimes being a faithful witness can make you unpopular.
• A faithful witness speaks the truth no matter what.
• In a place like Pergamum, where it would be very tempting to compromise, he didn’t.
• That’s what I see not only in Antipas, but in the church at Pergamum.
• Isn’t it great that there was a church in a city like Pergamum?
• Uncompromising in the face of such pressure.
• Jesus commended them for it in verse 13.
• “You did not renounce you faith in me, even in the days of Antipas.”

• But the church was not without its problems.
• There apparently was a segment of the congregation that did not represent the values of the leadership and the church at large.
• On one hand he said that the church was faithful and uncompromising.
• Then he says that there are people within the church who are compromising.
• So there was this faction in the church that didn’t get it.
• But he was holding the entire church responsible.
• Why? Because a few can affect the whole church.
• It’s the churches responsibility to deal thoroughly with sin.
• So what were these people doing?
• Following the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.
• Balaam is a reference to the distant past.
• The Nicolaitans are a reference to current things.
• Balaam taught Balak how to lead the Israelites into sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and indulging in sexual immorality.
• Who was Balaam and Balak?
• Balaam was a false prophet who sold his services to an evil king named Balak.
• He was paid to curse the Israelites for Balak, but instead ended up blessing them because God wouldn’t let him curse them.
• But somewhere in the meantime, Balaam gave Balak some evil advice.
• He showed Balak how he could get the people of Israel to compromise their faith in God.
• He recognized that God was their protector.
• So if he could get the people to compromise, that protection would be weakened and they could be destroyed.
• Numbers 25:1 – “While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab.”
• We took a look at the Nicolaitans a few weeks ago.
• The Nicolaitans believed you could be a Christian and indulge in sin at the same time.
• The big message here is compromise.

• Compromise with the world is dangerous ground.
• It’s spiritual adultery.
• James 4:4 – “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
• of adultery as the worst thing a husband or wife could do to each other.
• But Christians do it to God all the time.
• Sunday morning we talked about doing things God’s way verses doing things the world’s way.
• When we do things the world’s way—accept and live by worldly standards—we are compromising.
• We’re committing spiritual adultery.
• In a world where truth is what you want it to be, we stand out as different.
• Sometimes we can be the biggest appeasers in the world.
• We ignore sin because we don’t want to hurt feelings or cause problems.
• Obviously we don’t want to ignore sin or hurt anyone’s feelings, but a line has to be drawn somewhere.
• If you identify yourself with Christ then live like it! No compromise!

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give him three things.

• Some of the hidden manna.
• Heavenly food.
• It sustained God’s people.
• It was a sign of God’s faithfulness and presence with his people.
• Jewish apocalyptic teaching says that God will once again use literal manna from Heaven to feed his people.
• Many believe this will happen during the Great Tribulation.
• This could also be in relation to the marriage supper of the Lamb, because they will also receive a white stone.
• A white stone.
• An inscribed stone was commonly used as an invitation to a banquet.
• It’s your placeholder at God’s table.
• It’s your ticket to Heaven.
• Another use for stones at this time was in court.
• When a case was tried, jurors would drop a stone into an urn to decide a verdict.
• A black stone for guilty, a white stone for innocent.
• So whichever way you want to look at it, he who overcomes will be declared not-guilty and have a place reserved in God’s Kingdom.
• A new name.
• Some think this will be the name of the Lord.
• But I don’t think so.
• It says that it will be known only to him who receives it.
• He will give us a stone that has a name specific to us inscribed upon it.
• It was common, when something momentous happened in a person’s life, for their name to be changed.
• Abram to Abraham; Jacob to Israel.
• All throughout Scripture you see this happen.
• When you were born, you were named according to your parent’s experience.
• Jacob name means “grabber” because he grabbed the heal of his twin brother as they were being born.
• Later God changed his name to Israel which means, “struggles with God.”
• This happened after he spent the night wrestling with the Angel of the Lord.
• We’ve watched Israel struggle with God throughout history.
• The new name represented who that person was.
• Their character and purpose.
• They were named after who they really were.
• Our parents named us based on what they thought best and what they liked.
• But one day something momentous is going to happen and we will be changed.
• Jesus himself will then give us a new name based on who we really are.
• Specific to us.
• He knows us.
• When Jesus hands us that white stone that declares us not guilty and reserves our place at God’s table, we will know the name written on it to be us.
• It will bear witness with us that that’s who we really are.
• I know “Paul Church.”
• The thought of “Paul Church” inheriting the Kingdom of God seems almost impossible for me.
• The name “Paul Church” represents weak, corruptible flesh.
• But God knows my real name—a name that represents who I really am.
• Isaiah 62:2 – “You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.”
• Out of his mouth comes the sharp, double-edge sword that knows the thoughts and motivations of our hearts.
• That cuts through the exterior to see clearly what’s inside.
• So that the new name he gives us will truly be the real us.