We have been studying the Book of Daniel on Wednesday nights and I would like to invite you all to come at 6:30 on Wednesday nights and join us. But last Wednesday, we talked about how Daniel and his 3 friends were tempted greatly to compromise with King Nebuchadnezzar’s and the world’s ways. We also learned that Daniel and his friends stood strong in their conviction to God and didn’t let temptation lead them astray.
Today, we are going to pick up from that idea and talk about what the Bible says about using TRUTH to overcome any compromising situation. But first let’s talk about lizards. Chameleons in particular.
Chameleons are one of God's fascinating little creatures. If you put a chameleon in a jar with green grass, it will begin to turn green. If you add some red berries, it begins to take on the color of the berries. Chameleons change colors to blend in. It's part of their adapting to the environment and also a vital part in their survival. They will also change colors to warm up or to cool down, or to communicate fear or anger. Again, this is a way to adapt to their environment.
Some people are like chameleons. Whatever situation or environment they find themselves in, they adapt and take on the “color of that environment.” They're thinking and behavior adapt so they blend in and look like the world around them. But for followers of Christ, our true color should never be compromised. We have been called to live a life devoted to Christ and not compromise the truth of who He is and who we are in Christ.
Today we are going to again use chapter 2 of Revelation beginning in verse 12 to see what Jesus had to say about the church at Pergamum and how they compromised their faith in Christ by “changing their color” and becoming like those around them. As a result, Christ rebuked them.
PRAYER
In Revelation 2:12, Jesus writes a third message to another church. This message was written to the church in Pergamum which was located north of Ephesus and Smyrna and about 15 miles inland from the Aegean Sea. This city had around 160,000 people and was the religious and cultural center of that region. As a cultural center, some estimate that Pergamum may have housed as many as 200,000 papyrus and parchment volumes in its library. That was their books of that day. As a religious center, it was home to four major pagan temples;
? the temple to Athena the goddess of wisdom and the arts;
? the Temple of Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy;
? the Temple of Zeus, the ruler of the heavens and father of the other gods;
? and the shrine of Asclepius, the god of medicine, which was expanded into a popular medical spa.
Jesus was well aware of the city where this church was. With four major temples dedicated to pagan worship, Pergamum could certainly be identified as where Satan's throne is (v.13.) In a city and culture that thrived on the worship of multiple false gods, the believers were to be commended because they were holding on to the name of Christ. To the culture around them, Jesus was just one of many gods, but these believers knew his name was above all other names and only through him could one be saved. They held strong to the fundamental truths about Christ and would not deny their faith.
READ Rev. 2:12 - “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword:
In the Roman empire, Pergamum had been given the rare power to carry out Capital punishment, which was symbolized by the sword. To the church in Pergamum, Jesus made it clear that He is the one who has the authority to judge by identifying Himself as the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword.(v.12)
But this isn't the only place in Scripture where a sword is used as a metaphor for Jesus' words of judgment. In Revelation 1:16, when John saw Jesus in his earlier vision, he described a sharp double-edged sword that came from his mouth.
The writer of Hebrews declared “the word of God was sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. So Jesus is telling us rather bluntly by his powerful word that He is truly the one who ultimately judges.
READ Rev. 2:13 – “I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death among you, where Satan lives.”
Notice that in this message to the believers at Pergamum that Jesus included a clear acknowledgment of their commitment to him. Read verse 13. They were facing persecution for their faithfulness to Christ, and Antipas is given here as one specific example of what they encountered.
We know very little about Antipas. But legend says that Antipas was slowly roasted in a large brazen bowl for refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord and sacrifice to the false gods. This cannot be verified though. While we don't know the details of how he died, we do know he stood for the truth of Jesus Christ and ultimately paid the price with his life.
Many believers today, like Antipas, are standing strong in their faith, even if it means death. They're keeping a bold witness to others in the midst of whatever Satan throws at them. Have you ever faced a situation where you were tempted to deny your faith and Christ? If you ever did, ask God for forgiveness but also ask him to help you stand strong in your beliefs and your witness for Christ from this day forward.
READ Rev. 2:14-15. “But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
So, Jesus first gives the good news. But even though Jesus had commended their witness, he still condemned several actions being lived out among the people in the church. While many of them were remaining faithful to God and doing the works of Christ, others were compromised in the truth by mixing it with false doctrine.
And the same type of forgery of the Scripture is being done today. People intermix Scripture with their own beliefs and take Scripture out of context to make it sound like what they want to hear. That is a dangerous thing to do. Jesus says in Revelation 22:18-19 – “ I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.” Jesus mentioned two specific false teachings that were gaining a strong foothold in the church at Pergamum: the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.
During Israel's wilderness wanderings recorded in the Old Testament book of Numbers, Balak, the king of Moab, was afraid of the Israelites. The Israelites had come out of years of bondage in Egypt, and Balak was afraid they were going to rise up and kill him and his people. Balak sent word for Balaam to come and place a curse on the Israelites so that his army could destroy them.
Balaam was a prophet and God told him not to place a curse on them, but instead offer words of blessings. Balaam knew he could not curse the Israelites, so instead he taught Balak how to manipulate and entice the Israelites into sin. Balaam taught Balak how to defeat the Israelites through moral and spiritual compromise. You can find that story in the Book of Numbers 22 through 25.
Little is known about the Nicolaitans, but they appear to have allowed people to live without rules in self-indulgence. It may have been closely linked to the teachings of Balaam. This would explain the attraction of pagan idolatry and sexual immorality. Like those following Balaam, the Nicolaitans were leading people to compromise the truth that only comes through Jesus.
Can you think of a biblical truth that people sometimes deny? One I can think of is that Jesus is the Only Way to heaven. We, as Christians, know that Jesus Christ Himself said so. We believe it’s so. We know it’s so. But so many in the world today are enticed to believe that there are many ways to get to heaven.
Another truth of the Bible that is sometimes denied is the issue of right and wrong. What is morally right? What is morally wrong? Back in the 1960s is where the term “If it feels good, do it,” came from. And the hippie age did just that. People know the difference, yet they compromise with the world. And as the title of this message proclaims, “Compromise is NOT the answer.”
READ Rev. 2:16. “So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”
So, Jesus gets to the end of this letter and he ends it with a pretty stern and solemn warning to the church at Pergamum. They must repent! He assured them that failure to do so would bring dire consequences. Failure to heed and repent meant the word that came from His mouth would be a sword that would fight against those following the false teachings. The Israelites had put Balaam himself to death with the sword, and the sword of my mouth, Jesus says, will be quick and fierce judgment on those who followed Balaam's teachings.
There is a clear warning from Jesus for all of the churches today. Jesus is committed to fight against false doctrines and false practices within the church. So, as his followers, we also should be devoted to do the same. Jesus told them that if the church at Pergamum would do that, that is, repent, stand on the truth of Christ, they would receive two rewards.
The first reward would be that they would be given hidden manna (v. 17.) That term “hidden manna” is a much debated term today but most agree that it refers generally to God's provision for the believer, both in this life and in the eternal life to come.
If you remember, in Exodus 16, God provided manna in the wilderness for the Israelites to feed and sustain them. Some of that Manna was hidden in a golden pot and placed inside the ark of the covenant as a memorial to God's provision for his faithful followers. In Jewish tradition, this hidden manna had been preserved and would feed and sustain God's people when the Messiah came. Like the marriage feast of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation 19:9, this manna symbolized eternal life. That thought alone should inspire us to never compromise when it comes to standing on the truth of Christ and his word.
Folks, God has called us and has placed SEBC in this community to be the lighthouse for His Word. His challenge for us is to take time, spend time, even today, spend time praying for your church. Pray that we, as a church family, will be able to recognize and reject any false teaching, and pray also for those opportunities to share biblical truth with our community.
READ Rev. 2:17 - “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
And here is the second reward for those who remain steadfast in their commitment to Christ; a white stone (v. 17.) We think so what. We're rewarded with a rock. We don't think much about rocks. In fact, most of us try and remove rocks from places we don't want them to be. But this rock would have been an incredibly precious gift in that time.
While the exact meaning of the term is still debated today, a white stone could remind the Church of the white stones given by judges to indicate they had found a person innocent. Or the white stone might symbolize the white stones that were often used as admission tickets to public events. Either way, the white stone was similar to the hidden manna in that it symbolized a gift or blessing from the Lord. Some scholars believe it to represent eternal life we gain through the forgiveness of Christ.
And on this white stone is a new name that was going to be inscribed. Names carried a level of authority, and to be given this special name by Christ Himself signified both Christ's authority over that individual and an intimate relationship with the individual. You see, when we come to Christ, we're given a new name, there's an old song that says there's a new name written down in glory and it's mine oh yes it's mine. Once we have that relationship with Christ we now share a relationship with him and are given a new name.
To close all of this out, while this letter was written to the church at Pergamum it also could have been written to many of our churches today. So many churches are turning away from sound doctrine and the truth of God's word. They are doing much like what the apostle Paul said would happen; that there would come a day when people will only want to go to church to have their ears tickled. If we compromise our position on biblical truth, then we also stand in danger of receiving judgment. God honors those with uncompromising faith and we would do well to remain uncompromising in our churches as well as in our individual lives.
Don’t compromise what you have heard today with what the world is saying. Jesus is the only way to get to heaven.
Acts 4:12 - 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
John 14:6 - 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
You may ask, “How can I receive salvation. What must I do?”
Romans 10:9-10 - 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
So now you know the TRUTH, You know the WAY. So, won’t you come.
PRAYER
