Pergamos

"Pergamos" – Revelation 2:12-17 Third message in the series on the seven churches of Revelation. Pergamos — “height” — was the capital of a kingdom full of pagan temples, with the great altar of Zeus and the worship of the emperor: “where Satan's seat is.” It was a brave church that held fast Christ's name even when Antipas, His faithful witness, was killed; but it began to mix faith with the world, tolerating the doctrine of Balaam and that of the Nicolaitans. The message covers who raised up the seven churches, what Jesus commends and corrects in Pergamos and in Thyatira, and the promises to him that overcometh: the hidden manna, the white stone with a new name, and the morning star.

I. No mortal has ever cared to raise up a church.

A. Churches are not held up by their leader; being a pastor is not a status.

1. To invade the place that belongs to God in dealing with human beings overwhelms a mortal.

2. The seven churches were real; Paul raised them in what is now Turkey, and the Holy Spirit preserves the Scriptures.

B. If you do not open the Bible at home, the Word is not active in your home.

1. As you come to know the Scriptures, your faith and spiritual knowledge grow.

2. It is the hardest book to memorize because it seeks the spirit, not the flesh.

3. We are soul, spirit and body, and what is developed today is the flesh: everything for oneself.

II. The seven churches and who raised them up.

A. Most arose from the missionary work of Paul and his co-workers.

1. Ephesus (Paul, then Timothy); Smyrna (disciples from Ephesus, then Polycarp); Pergamos (Paul's circle, Antipas).

2. Thyatira (converts from Paul's journeys, Lydia); Sardis and Philadelphia (from Ephesus); Laodicea (Epaphras).

3. John did not found them, but wrote them the messages of Jesus from Patmos.

III. Pergamos: where Satan's seat is.

A. Satan tried to destroy the church by persecution, and today he keeps at it: harm and gossip.

1. If anyone wants to destroy the church it is Satan, not this one or that one; a double life leads to hell.

2. Meddling with the church is the greatest danger: God never forsakes it and always rises to defend it.

B. Pergamos means height: a brave church that began to mix faith with the world.

1. Faith and world do not fit and never will; that is what keeps you today from hearing and rising.

2. Capital of a kingdom, a great library, pagan temples, the altar of Zeus and the emperor cult.

3. Idolatry continues in every age, and it is also idolizing oneself.

C. Trials exist so we may see what is in the heart, for the heart is deceitful.

1. As time passes we bargain with the world; quality of life is thinking on all that is good and true.

2. God sends; the angels watch, guard and write; build up your soul with spiritual knowledge.

3. Paul lived spent and died a martyr; the Gospel is not rose-colored.

IV. The good in Pergamos: Antipas, my faithful witness.

A. They held fast Christ's name and did not deny the faith, even when Antipas was killed.

1. A holy, godly man, with no double life or attitudes, who chose to die rather than deny Christ.

2. He preached against idolatry and many abandoned the idols; that provoked the wrath of the pagan priests.

3. “Witness” in Greek is the root of “martyr”: a symbol of faithfulness, courage and perseverance.

B. Even where Satan's seat is, there were believers who did not deny Christ.

1. Today people live halfway, and the lukewarm do not please God.

2. Adam fell through disobedience: of everything you may eat, but not of this; that is obedience.

V. What Jesus corrects: Balaam and the Nicolaitans.

A. The doctrine of Balaam: idolatry and immorality, which go hand in hand.

1. It is what brings God's people down, and it comes from within.

B. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans: eating things sacrificed to idols.

1. Immorality is characteristic of these times and of every age.

VI. The promise to him that overcometh: the hidden manna and the white stone.

A. On this earth one must overcome, whether one wants to or not.

1. The hidden manna is food forever.

2. The white stone bears a new name: in heaven you will not be called as you are here.

3. The warrior is not lost and does not let his own be lost; life is “I am, or I am not.”

VII. Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29).

A. “He that hath an ear”: each one comes to earth with a book written by God, and must give account.

1. Salvation is free, but we give account for what we left undone.

2. God is interested in people who are effective for the Gospel.

B. Jesus appears with eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass: authority and the power to see everything.

1. He commends love, faith, service and patience, and that the last works are more than the first.

2. He rebukes their tolerating Jezebel: immorality, idolatry and false teaching that seduces His servants.

3. A city of guilds (dyers, wool workers); Lydia, the seller of purple in Acts 16, was from there.

C. A church can have many works and at the same time tolerate wrong teaching.

1. Jesus calls to repentance and faithfulness: there is no more beautiful quality in a human being.

2. To him that overcometh: power over the nations and the morning star (the next study's theme).

3. Without the Holy Spirit none of this is understood; He comes when we repent and are born again.