Pergamos: Satan’s Throne
Revelation 2:12-17
Intro
Pergamos was about one hundred miles north of Ephesus, with Smyrna located about halfway in between. Unlike Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamos was not a port city but was located about fifteen miles inland from the Aegean Sea. Not was it on any of the major trade routes. Yet, as its ancient capital, Pergamos was considered Asia’s greatest city. By the time John wrote this section of Revelation, Pergamos had been Asia’s capital for almost 250 years. It still survives today as the Turkish city of Bergama.
Much of Pergamos was built on a large, conical hill towering some one thousand feet about the plains. Which made it a heavy will fortified city.
Pergamos was as home to a huge library with approximately 200,000 handwritten volumes, which was only second to the library in Alexandria. Because of its library, Pergamos was an important center of culture and learning. The physician Galen, second only in prominence to Hippocrates, was born and studied in Pergamos. The city saw itself as the defender of Greek culture in Asia Minor.
Pergamos was an important center of worship for four of the main deities of the Greco-Roman world, and temples dedicated to Athena, Asklepios, Dionysos, and Zeus were located there. But overshadowing the worship of all those deities was Pergamos’ devotion to the cult of emperor worship. Pergamos built the first temple devoted to emperor worship in Asia, in honor of Emperor Augustus. Later they built two more temples to other emperors. Those it became the center of emperor worship in the province, and there, more than in any other city in Asia. Christians were in danger of harm from the emperor worship cult. Elsewhere Christians were primarily in danger on the one day per year they were required to offer sacrifices to the emperor; in Pergamos they were in danger every day. It is likely that the martyr Antipas was executed for refusing to worship the emperor. The church at Pergamos was one that lived and served in the shadow of Satan’s headquarters.
Notice with me the introduction Jesus used to introduce himself to Pergamos as the one “which has the sharp double-edged sword” (v. 12). In ancient times, the highest symbol of authority was the sword. It represented the greatest authority that people knew. It represented absolute authority. His introduction leads one to believe that God was not all that happy with the church. But let’s see what Jesus had to say to them.
I. Dedication (v. 13)
a. Notice the dedication of this church.
i. Here was a church in the shadow of Satan’s throne and Jesus noted their dedication.
ii. Imagine their struggle
iii. The headquarters of Satan is a strategic place where he can best use his influence.
b. Jesus tells them, “You remain true to my name.”
i. To remain true to the name of Jesus means they were loyal to the person of Jesus.
ii. The name is a symbol of the Person.
c. Then Jesus goes on to say, “You did not renounce your faith in me.”
i. That means they had not denied the purpose for which Jesus came
ii. They had not turned their back on the gospel.
d. Despite the difficult circumstances in which they found themselves, the believers at Pergamos courageously maintained their faith in Jesus Christ.
II. Détente (vv. 14-15)
a. There was problem in Pergamos.
i. It is a problem that exists today as well, perhaps more strongly than ever in history.
ii. Notice their détente.
1. Détente means: an easing of friction between two parties.
2. It means compromising so as not to muddy the waters.
b. The church was faithful; it believed in Jesus
i. It was a strong church, an orthodox church.
ii. They had not denied his faith, but they were tolerating false views.
iii. They tolerated what should have been expelled from the church.
iv. The church didn’t hold false doctrine.
v. It was a proper, orthodox, fundamental church.
vi. But it held fellowship with those who did.
vii. That was the thing Jesus attacked.
c. What did they allow in their fellowship?
i. First of all, they allowed the doctrine of Balaam.
1. Balaam was called by a king to curse Israel in Numbers 22-23.
2. Balaam did not try to change the theology or to curse the nation.
3. He just encouraged them to compromise the purposes of God.
4. He polluted the people socially and spiritually.
5. The end result is seen in verse 14, a stumbling block before the children of Israel, and it resulted in the eating of things scarified to idols and committing immorality.
6. They taught that orthodoxy gave license to sin.
a. Believe the right thing and you can do anything you want to do.
ii. Notice the problem: the church believed the right things, but they tolerated those who had the doctrines of Balaam and false teachings.
1. God never intended a church to tolerate error.
2. We have a similar situation in our churches today.
3. We don’t want to cause waves with the world over issues like homosexuality or abortion, so we will allow false teaching to enter in and adjust our doctrine, to keep everyone happy.
III. Direction (v. 16)
a. Notice the direction Jesus give them, “Repent.”
i. He was not talking to the people who had the doctrine of Balaam.
ii. He was speaking to the church.
iii. He was telling the church to repent.
iv. How could the church repent though?
1. They were not guilty of believing those things right.
b. Jesus essentially says to the church, exclude those people from fellowship.
i. Do not give them false security.
ii. They were wrong; they were destroying what the church believed, so the church should remove them.
iii. Jesus said to the church, Exercise discipline.
c. Do we realize the danger of someone who fights against the things of God.
i. The danger of someone in the fellowship who stands for that which contradicts the doctrine and gospel of Jesus?
ii. Jesus said, you as a church had better repent and act on this matter, or I will come and work against them.
1. Basically, you take care of them, or I will take care of them.
IV. Delight (v. 17)
a. The hidden manna typifies the spiritual food provided by God in his Word.
i. He is talking about individual feeding, not a church function.
ii. Manna was divinely supplied but had to be humanly gathered.
iii. God gave it, but the people had to gather it.
iv. God will not spoon feed you.
b. There are many ideas to what the white stone means.
i. The whiteness represents the purity and holiness of God.
ii. The new name represents the name that a believer receives in Christ.
iii. Sometimes a white stone was given to a man after a trial.
1. The stone symbolized that he was not guilty.
2. Sometimes after a battle, the victor was given a white stone which represented victory.
3. Sometimes a stone was given to signify citizenship.
c. When we apply that to our Christian faith, it forms a beautiful picture.
i. But it must be very clear that the church must not tolerate those who lower the standards of truth.
ii. It is not a question of holding the truth; Pergamos did that.
iii. We must rightly apply the truth.
Closing
As a church tonight, we face the same choice that Pergamos faced. We can repent and receive all the blessings of God. Or we can refuse to repent and face the terrifying reality of having the Lord Jesus Christ declare war on us. We need to remain truth to the Word and never compromise our position.
Prayer
Lord tonight I pray that we would learn from the lesson of Pergamos. I pray that we would be a people that stand in the face of adversity on the solid rock. Holding true to the Word of God, that you have graciously given us. It is my hearts desire tonight, that we would never allow ourselves to come into a position where we would even consider compromising your Word. Lord, be with us now as we go out in the week. Watch over us and equip us for the word that lies ahead. For we ask this things in your Son Jesus Christ name, Amen.
