pergamus

Pergamos, A Church In the Process of Being Corrupted

Rev 2:12-17

Now we begin to come to really troubled churches.

 Ephesus had a serious problem, but there was no corruption of either Truth or Practice

 Smyrna was a persecuted church and pure because of that.

 Pergamos had major problems—which is sad, because they were a church that had gone through persecution and held up well—but they had allowed corruption to seep in.

1. The City Pergamum was: (From AT Robertson)

a. A Great City “…on a lofty hill…”

b. An intensely pagan city

(1) “…a great political and religious centre. Ramsay (Op. cit., p. 281) calls it “the royal city, the city of authority.”

(2) It Had “…many great buildings, including a library with 200,000 volumes, second only to Alexandria. …”

(3) The Kingdom of Pergamum became a Roman province B.C. 130. Pliny termed it the most illustrious city of Asia.

(4) As a center of learning—“…Parchment (charta Pergamena) derived its name from Pergamum.

(5) As a center of Pagan worship

(a) “…It was a rival of Ephesus in the temples to Zeus, Athena, Dionysos, in the great grove Nicephorium (the glory of the city).

(b) Next to this was the grove and temple of Asklepios, the god of healing, called the god of Pergamum, with a university for medical study.

(c) Pergamum was the first city in Asia (A.D. 29) with a temple for the worship of Augustus (Octavius Caesar).

(d) Hence … Pergamum is a very centre of emperor-worship “where Satan dwells” (2:13). ….). Like Ephesus this city is called temple-sweeper (neōkoros) for the gods.

2. Who Jesus Is To Them ""And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, 'These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword…”

a. He comes to them as Judge!

b. Imagine that you are the pastor (angel) of this church, and you get this kind of communication directly from Jesus!

c. Why should a pastor, elder, or deacon be particularly chagrined and embarrassed by this communication from God? Because, the eldership (pastors) are the junkyard dogs of the church—If some strays have wormed their way in—it is the fault of the man of God.

(1) First, one of the qualifications (largely neglected in considerations for ministerial qualifications) is that a elder-pastor-bishop be trained, taught, and able to defend the Faith and the congregation from false teachers.

(Titus 1:9-11) "holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. 10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain."

(Acts 20:28-31) ""Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 "Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears."

(2) Peter set the example with Simon—(Acts 8:18-23) "And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 "For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.""

(3) Paul set the example several times,

(a) Including once when he publicly rebuked Peter—(Gal 2:11-14) "Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?"

(b) Paul named names of false teachers (sometimes—other times he mentioned them but not by name

(i) (2 Tim 2:16-18) "But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some."

(ii) (1 Tim 1:18-20) "This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme."

d. The corruption had risen to the point where Jesus had His weapon drawn—and the weapon of our warfare is the weapon of the Word, of Truth—

(1) (2 Cor 10:4-6) "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."

(2) (Eph 6:17) "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;"

3. Commendations—“…13 "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….”

a. They were a working church—"I know your works

b. They had a particularly rough assignment, because they were in an area of intense demonic activity “…and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is…”

c. They had remained faithful and orthodox in doctrine—“… And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith…”

d. They had persevered in spite of a local persecution which had resulted in the death of a faithful believer—“…even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells…”

4. Condemnations—“…14 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…”

a. First—the extent of either heresy—“…you have some…”

(1) The two corrupt groups in the church were in the minority

(2) The problem was not that the church was overthrown—they were not—yet.

(3) The problem with most of the people (and apparently the leadership) was that they were practicing unbiblical toleration of these sins

(a) Like in 1 Cor 5—they had an attitude of overlooking sin, (and perhaps were puffed up like the Corinthians, proud of their “tolerance”)

(b) Like in 1 Cor 5, they had not exercised church discipline

b. Heresy #1—Balaam’s doctrine—The Error of Balaam—The History of Balaam


(1) There were two parts to his heresy—

(a) He was a prophet for hire—2 Pet 2:15 "… the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…"

(b) And he encouraged people to follow a lifestyle of sexual immorality and syncretism—mixing of religions.

(c) And these ideas are popular today!

(2) Balaam is a curiously prominent man in the Bible—he is referred to by name 60 times in the OT and NT.

(3) Balaam truly had a prophetic gift, though he himself was not a redeemed man.

(4) The Story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22-24: nearly three chapters are devoted to discussing this man and his “ministry” of sorts.

(5) To get the full background story on what was going on with Balaam, you have to look at other passages.

(6) The overview of the full story is this:

(a) Balak, the king of Moab, hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam was a hireling prophet—since he was from Mesopotamia, he may have been part of the hereditary priest class that stayed in power no matter who the rulers were.

Deu 23:4-5 "Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. 5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee."

(b) Balaam would not curse Israel, because God told Balaam that He intended to bless Israel.

(c) During one instance, when it seemed as if Balaam was wavering in his conviction not to curse Israel, God spoke to Balaam through Balaam’s donkey. 2 Pet 2:15-16 "Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet."

(d) Though he could not or would not curse Israel, Balaam did advise the king of Moab to seduce Israel through sexual temptation, which resulted in a plague and many deaths in Israel, and he counseled the Israelites to engage in this mixing of religions—Num 31:16 "Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD."

(e) Balaam was later killed in battle by the Israelites— Josh 13:22 "Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword…”

c. The Character of Balaam

(1) Balaam was a prophet for hire—

(2) Even though he is a symbol of evil religion, Balaam talked to God, and God to him!

(3) Balaam had loose views about sexual purity and morality. Objective righteousness and holy living were not factors of any importance to Balaam.

d. The error of Balaam

(1) “Error is plane, ‘a wandering, a straying about, whereby one, led astray from the right way, roams hither and thither,’ metaphorically, ‘error, a wrong opinion,’ relative to morals or religion…”

(2) Balaam had strayed from truth, he had strayed away, like the false teachers will in the last days.

g. Summary note—

“…Balaam went wrong because he allowed himself to hanker after gain…He not only went wrong himself, but he abused his great influence and his reputation as a prophet, to lead astray the Israelistes by drawing them away from the holy worship of Jehovah to the impure worship of Baal Peor. So these false teachers use their prophetical gifts for purposes of self-aggrandisement, and endeavor to make their services attractive by excluding…all that is strenuous and difficult, and opening the door to every kind of indeugence…”

e. Heresy # 2, the Nicolaitans—15 "Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate…”

(1) There is some degree of disagreement among scholars as to who the Nicolaitans were

(2) Drawing on various sources, they were a group who:

(a) Practiced the same kind of wickedness as the Balaamists did

(b) Were descended theologically from Nicholas, one of the “seven”

(c) Believed in establishing a hierarchy above the people. (Walvoord, Scofield, et. al.)

(d) We have warnings from the New Testament about leaders that “lord” it over the believers

(1 Pet 5:1-3) The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: {2} Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; {3} nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock…”

(3) Note what Jesus says about them—He hates their doctrine! This hatred of their teachings has to do with their corruption of God’s church and their oppression and temptation of God’s people.

5. Commands—“…16 'Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth…”

a. Repent—

(1) A constant call in the Bible which shows to always begin a fix to our sins by first turning toward God, whether initially when we are first saved, or repetitively, when we repent over our sins as believers

(2) What would their repentance involve? (Note, he is addressing the orthodox, not the heretics!)

b. First, the orthodox believers needed to:

(1) Acknowledge their sin

(2) Confess that their tolerance of sin being openly practiced in the church was itself a sin.

(3) Then the orthodox believers had to take action to cleanse their church

c. Or…Jesus was going to come and take care of the problem Himself… “…or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth…”

6. Promises—“…17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

a. “…To him who overcomes…” The promises are for believers only

b. “… I will give some of the hidden manna to eat…” In the New Testament, the Bread of Life is Christ Jesus

c. “…. 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."'" God knows the secret things, and He gives us a mystery here—a mysterious “stone” with our “new name” on it. This can be compared to casting lots or declaring guild or innocence in a court of Law (Walvoord)

(1) A black stone indicates guilt, or lostness

(2) A white stone indicates innocence