Sermon Tone Analysis

Destination—Pergamum

We visited Ephesus—church that fought against false teaching but lose their love

We visited Smyrna—Persecuted church—encouraged to not be afraid and to be faithful

Today we move on to Pergamum

(NIV)

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.

13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne.

Yet you remain true to my name.

You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.

15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

16 Repent therefore!

Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna.

I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

One of the best excavated cities of the ancient Roman world

Filled with temples to the gods and to the emperors

Had one of the biggest libraries, second only to that in Alexandria, with over 200,000 handwritten volumes

It was the capital of the Pergamum empire (the region known as Asia Minor).

King Attilus, long before the time of Christ, made a peace treaty with Rome which allowed him to control this region

His grandson, Attilus the 3rd, bequeathed this city and the whole region back to Rome

This was a huge win for the Romans because it gave them unrestricted travel back and forth from Rome to the lands in the east.

It also gave them control of all the sea lanes and ports.

This was a good day for Rome, but a better day for the Gospel

Alexander the Great had conquered the entire known world giving a common language.

Now with this bridge of land under Roman control, there was unrestricted travel.

So this city was a strong and significant city in terms of political power.

But the other thing about Pergamum was that it was the place to come and worship the Roman dieties

Nearly every major deity had a temple here.

The Alter of Zeus—The god of the sky, of lightning and thunder, the chief of all gods.

If you needed something done, that was the place to go because he had all the power.

The temple of Dionysus—Maybe you came for pleasure.

This was the god of wine and revelry.

you can imagine that unspeakable things would take place in this temple, up to the taking of human life.

Like going to Vegas or to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras

The temple of the goddess Demeter—If you needed food or a good crop

The temple of the god Asklepion (Asklepius)—The god of healing.

One of the major spots for healing in the world.

Temple filled with snakes.

They would crawl on you and impart some kind of healing power to you.

The temple of Athena—The goddess of wisdom.

The temple of Trajan—The imperial cult of emperor worship.

You would affirm that the Caesar was the lord of your life and your savior and protector.

So imagine that you are a first century Christian.

You have just met Jesus

He is the giver of life and of pleasure

He is the giver of wisdom

He is the healer, the provider

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

And you come back to this city.

Jews will kick us out of the synagogue

The Romans will say we are god deniers—we will be out of the temples, out in no man’s land

Every aspect of life was affected by your stand for Christ.

Your very life could be taken.

Antipas—little is known about him.

It’s clear that he was a martyr, killed by “the sword of Rome”, the symbol of authority and power.

In spite of his death, they have held on to the Name of Jesus

His Name denotes His character and who he is: King of King, Lord of Lords

So the church at Pergamum had been faithful.

But not everyone had.

There were some who were tired of being different.

Some who were tired of the pressure and hardship of taking a stand.

Decided that it just wasn’t worth it.

Some who decided that there must be an easier way.

There was.

Compromise.

The three words which describe the writing of the U.S. Constitution: Compromise, compromise, compromise

Compromise: to settle a despute by mutual concession—both agree to disagree.

In some cases, compromise can be very good.

We would probably never have friends if we never compromised.

But in relation to God, compromise is never acceptable.

His acceptance of us and relationship to us is based on HIS terms, not ours.

LEt’s look at this message to the church

Jesus is introduced as “Him who has the sharp two—edged sword”

This is not an encouraging start to this letter.

Ephesus—The one who holds the seven stars in his hand and who walks among the seven lampstands: a picture of one who sends the angels and who walks among his church

Smyrna—The First and the Last: a picture of the Eternal One who holds our lives in his hands

Pergamum—A sharp, two edged sword: a weapon of war.

Right off the bat, this is a warning.

Commendation

“I know where you live—where Satan has his throne”

“You remain true to my name”—even in the face of persecution, they held on to the Name of Jesus

Condemnation

“I have a few things against you”—here it comes

There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam.

Balaam:

The Israelites had finally arrived to the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jerusalem

The King of Moab, Balak, was terrified because they had heard what the Israelites had done to the other nations they had encountered.

He summons Balaam

Some confusion as to exactly who he was or where he was from: Pethor “near the River”.

Could be the Euphrates, although other archeological evidence suggests that Pethor was closer to the Jordan River.

Who ever he was, I don’t believe that he was an Israelite

And I don’t believe that he was a prophet of God, although God in His omnipotence and wisdom used Balaam for His own purposes.

If he was a prophet of God, the suggestion from Revelation is that he later turned away.

Balaam at first refuses to go with the messengers

On the second attempt, I think that God knew Balaam’s heart, that he really wanted to go with these men and was being tempted by the money even though he said he wasn’t.

God says, go but only say what I tell you.