No Compromise

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This is a sermon that is part of a series of messages based on Revelation 2-3. This message is about the message that was given to the church of Pergamos and emphasizes God's desire for His church to remain pure and holy; not compromising or accomodating with ungodly and pagan practices.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

We have been following the messages in Revelation 2 that Jesus sent to the churches in Asia (Turkey). We are studying these messages with the understanding that they should be interpreted and applied the same as other prophetic scriptures in the Bible. That is, we should recognize that the message was given originally to a specific audience and contained a direct meaning for those original readers or hearers. However, we believe that the prophecies have additional applications to all Christians in all time periods as we try to take the messages and rightly apply the principles to our current time and place.

We have studied the message to Ephesus which emphasized the importance of maintaining the fervency of love for God and not allowing our devotion to grow cold and die out. Last week we looked at the message to Smyrna which emphasized the opposition and persecution that the believers were enduring and the admonition for them to remain faithful even until death, but do not fear what man could do to them.

Today, we are moving on to the third church that is mentioned – Pergamos.

What do we know about Pergamos? Pergamos (or Pergamum as it was also called) was another city in the general region of Turkey. It was situated about 60+ miles directly north of the city of Smyrna. It was the northernmost city of all seven that are mentioned here in these chapters.

Pergamos was not a coastal (harbor) city, and therefore did not attain to the same commercial greatness of either Ephesus or Smyrna, which both were closer to the sea and were important trade cities. However Pergamos surpassed both of the other cities as a cultural center. (Barclay)

The city was important even before the days of the Roman Empire and was a capital city for previous kingdoms. Then, in 133 B.C., the king of this city and the region willed his dominions to the possession of Rome. Even then, it remained the capital of the Roman province of Asia. (Barclay)

It was built up on a conical hill and maintained impressive power and prestige. Even prior to the time when the city was bequeathed to Rome, Pergamos was the location of a renowned library and the city came under the wrath of Ptolemy when a Pergamene king tried to persuade the librarian from Alexandria to come and work for them in Pergamos. (Barclay)

As a result, an embargo was launched against Pergamos to prevent papyrus from being purchased for the library. Therefore, out of necessity, parchment was invented from the skins of animals and some centuries later became much more popular and prominent than papyrus because it was more durable. (Barclay)

We’ll have more to say as we go on regarding some additional characteristics of this place called Pergamos.

Let us turn our attention now to the message that Jesus Christ gives to the church in Pergamos. As we noted in prior messages, Jesus follows a pattern in each of these messages and I have identified the pattern like this: a word of revelation; a word of commendation; a word of accusation; and a word of exhortation.

I. A Word of Revelation (v. 12)

Here again, Christ uses an interesting description of himself to identify some quality or characteristic about himself that we need to understand.

“…him who has the sharp sword with two edges.” (cf. 1:16)

(Barclay) Roman governors were divided into two classes: those who had the “right of the sword” and those who did not. The “right of the sword” gave the governor the authority over life and death and the right to execute anyone. The Roman leader based in Pergamos would have had this authority, so this could be a reminder to the Christians there that Christ’s authority and power was greater than the Roman proconsul.

Other writers refer more to the idea that is implied by various other passages in the Bible where the word of God is symbolized by the sword:

• Eph. 6:17 “… and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.”
• Heb. 4:12 (NKJV) 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.
• Revelation 19:15 (NKJV) Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

It seems to me that Jesus Christ is revealing the fact that He is the Word of God revealed in the flesh (John 1:14) and He has the same power that God’s word has always had. His Word has the power of creation and the power of destruction. He speaks and worlds come into existence that did not exist before. He speaks and calms the storms. He holds all things up (together) by the Word of His power. When He returns he will strike the nations by simply speaking their demise into reality.

This is the One who has taken notice of their condition and made an assessment of them. He has the authority and the power to do with them whatever He chooses or wishes.

II. A Word of Commendation (v. 13)

A. He knows their works

We mentioned last week that this is a phrase that appears in all of the messages to all seven churches. It seems to be a reminder that God intimately knows all about every detail of our lives. He knows all of our actions and keeps a record. The Word teaches that we all will be judged some day for the deeds done in this life. (1 Peter 1:17; Rev. 20:13-13)

B. He knows their environment.

“…where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”

This phrase tells us that Jesus knows all about the environment in which this church exists. He understands the darkness and the level of wickedness and evil that the believers contend with on a daily basis.There are a number of ideas among Bible scholars about what this phrase refers to including:

• Temple of Zeus with a throne-like altar on a crag above the city. (Zond. Pict. Bible Dict.)
• Temple of Asclepios (god of healing), whose temples were the closest thing to hospitals in the ancient world. This god was referred to as “Asclepios the savior” by many. The emblem of this god was a serpent wrapped around a stick. (Barclay)
• Temple dedicated in 29 B.C. as first provincial temple for the worship of Roman emperors. This “emperor cult” worship led to the practice of men required to confess Caesar as Lord under threat of death. (Barclay)

All of these were probably adequate reasons for this city to be called Satan’s seat. None-the-less, Jesus is acknowledging the extreme adverse conditions in which they were required to live out their faith.

As Jesus prayed in John 17… that the Father would protect the disciples from the evil (One) in the world, even though He did not remove them from the world.

“The darker the night, the brighter the light shines.”

(Barclay) “The principle of the Christian life is not escape, but conquest.”

C. He knows their strong faith

“You hold fast my name.”

“You have not denied my faith…”

These people had faithfully held onto their allegiance to Christ, and their apparent confidence in the truth. They had not given up their confession of faith in the Lord. They had remained strong in their beliefs even in the midst of strong persecution and opposition. One example of which was the martyrdom of Antipas.

Some believe that Antipas might have been a pastor of this church.

“martyr” – same word that is normally translated “witness.” Because of the persecution and frequency of death, it was often assumed that a true witness would suffer death for Jesus.

III. A Word of Accusation (v. 14-15)

In spite of all the good things that the Lord has said about them, he goes on to bring a word of accusation against them for their blatant failures.

The point that seems to stand out to me so much is the fact that all the while these people were maintaining the right “theology” or the right terminology and were apparently willing to “die” for their faith, yet they were apparently not willing to stand against those in their “congregation” who had adulterated the practice of their faith to include various practices of sensuality and immorality.

(Barclay) [These wayward members] sought to persuade Christians that there was nothing wrong with a prudent conformity with the world’s standards.

They were compared to the OT figure, “Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.”

(F.G. Smith) “When Balak desired Balaam to pronounce a curse against Israel, God by various means miraculously prevented Balaam’s doing so; but Balaam craftily instructed Balak to make use of the women of Moab to seduce the men of Israel to sacrifice to their idols and to indulge in the licentious accompaniments to such idolatry.”

(Bible Background Commentary) Other nations could not destroy Israel, but Balaam knew that if he could subvert their morals, God would withdraw his blessing and judge them….

“Those who hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” (God hates the “thing” – i.e. teachings, not the people.)

Nicolaitans were mentioned earlier in connection with Ephesus, but I didn’t really talk about them.

The writers of early church history described these people as living their lives in “unrestrained indulgence,”  “shameless in uncleanness,” and “[they] abandon themselves to pleasure like goats.” (Barclay)

I fear that we are living in a day and age when the church is accepting more and more of the practices of the world into its fellowship with little or no objections. We seem to be simply agreeing that this is the way the world is now. But God’s Word still stands for biblical morality and standards of righteousness and holy living.

The verses we read during our Scripture reading earlier clearly stated that God expects His people to be different than the ungodly and immoral practices going on in the rest of the world.

IV. A Word of Exhortation (v. 16)

Jesus gives a very short exhortation to these people living in Pergamos…. REPENT!

He is making it very clear that He wants them to stop the way they are going and make a turnaround.

The Bible tells us that godly sorrow brings repentance. Believers who have strayed from the truth of holiness and godliness and have incorporated worldly standards of morality and sensual living need a God-given sense of sorrow and remorse for their compromise and sin. Then, they need to repent; turn around and straighten out the areas of fault and compromise in order to once again line up with the truth of God’s Word.

Conclusion:

I think this passage of Scripture reminds us of the importance of having God search our hearts and see if we are cutting corners and compromising with the philosophies and practices of the world.

We need God’s Spirit to reveal to us any tendencies to accommodate the spirit and practices of our society in order to avoid any stigma that might accompany our faithful obedience to God’s standards of holiness and righteousness.

Our closing song is a prayer that asks God to search us and reveal any spiritual need in our hearts. Let us sing this prayerfully and honestly before we close this service this morning.

Cleanse Me Oh God