Revelation 2 Consistent Faithfulness June 13-14, 2015 ****** When you come to Pittsburgh, you can tell that sports rule this city. The depth of knowledge of the average Pittsburgher when it comes to the Pirates, Penguins or the sacred Steelers is astounding. Cities all over the world are known by their passions. When I traveled out to Orange County, California last year; I saw that beauty rules that area. I have never seen such great passion when it comes to landscaping, homes, parks, clothes, muscles, tans and teeth. Everywhere I looked I was reminded that I was not from Orange County. When I traveled to Nashville it was obvious that music rules that city. Cities over time become known for the characteristics that set them apart. Once I was on a mission trip to a community about a mile away from the downtown area of Chicago. One of our jobs that week was to minister to people in the community in a park that was the social gathering place of that neighborhood. In the mornings we would do a sweep of the park so that we can set up games for the children of the community to play in the afternoon. So, as we went thru the park that first morning we filled up bags with drug needles, drug paraphernalia, and other stuff. Now, I thought, well, maybe we re the first group here this summer and it needed a special, one time, big effort clean-up from the fall, winter and springs months. So as we headed back out the next morning, the same things, the same amount and this was leftover from a Monday night. We actually had a system set up to quickly remove our students from the park whenever the gangs would show up. This park was known throughout Chicago for its gangs and violence. This was a rough place to say the least. I will never forget when this wonderfully faithful girl in our ministry came up to me because she wanted to talk. I assumed she was going to tell me what God was doing in her life or how much she loved the trip. I will never forget these words that were spoken through tears. Why would you ever bring us here? What type of youth pastor are you? This is the most evil place on this earth. I admit, I was taken back, I just grabbed a hold of her and pointed to some little children and said we are here to tell them about the hope of Jesus. Now, once I had a daughter myself, I came across some pictures from that mission trip and I remember thinking to myself. Why did I ever bring those students there? What type of youth pastor was I? That is the most evil place on this earth. You could sense that Satan ruled this place. Satan had a hold on that community. Satan was firmly on the throne there. 1
As we come to the second chapter of Revelation Jesus describes a city called Pergamum as the place where Satan lives and has his Throne. That s a pretty interesting description to say the least. It s probably not an ideal marketing strategy for that city s tourism committee. Come to Pergamum, a city of beauty, of culture and of course the devil himself. Just dial 666 within the next 15 minutes and you will receive 10% off your cruise to hell. Probably not what you want to be known for. One writer noted that historically speaking, the city of Pergamum was a major center of pagan idol worship in first century Asia. Temples to all different types of Greek and Roman gods were located there and the idol worship that took place in these temples was characterized by prostitution, sodomy, orgies and all other forms of sexual immorality. History also informs us that when Roman soldiers first began to draw near to the city of Pergamum to overthrow it, representatives of the city met with the soldiers and struck a deal with them. In exchange for their lives and freedom, the people of Pergamum would voluntarily subject themselves to Roman oversight. And they would build a temple dedicated to Caesar worship. In this wicked, dark city which was pretty much controlled by Satanic influences, there was the sudden appearance of a bright light; a church. And to be sure, Satan noticed it, and what s more he was annoyed by it. That s why he initially subjected it to all kinds of persecutions, but as we shall see, when he found that he wasn t winning the war via persecution, he changed his strategy. So let s dive in to our text for this weekend. Revelation 2: 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. Wow, what a message: good job- repent- hope is coming! In this passage Jesus does what we call the sandwich statement. Have you ever got these from your boss? You re awesome at this- but you could do better at this. ended with some encouragement. Maybe you have gotten one of these. I love your passion for our company, how about next time we take a client out for lunch you maybe don t belch and 2
tell jokes about his home state and alma mater. Yet, I know with hard work and little more professionalism, your future is bright here at our company. It s a nice way of saying, Don t do this again, while still encouraging someone to grow. Let s go through the sandwich statement and look at three spiritual growth encouragements from Christ to us today. Growth encouragement 1: Stay true to Christ when pressure is applied. 13. 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. Because the city of Pergamum was the capital of Asia it was the administrative home of the Roman Governor. Roman governors literally had the power of life and death. On their word a person could be executed on the spot. The governor of Pergamum had this right of the sword and at any moment could use it against the church. Apparently it was used against Antipas. We could probably imagine the scene of the death of Antipas. Antipas who was known to be a Christian, was summoned before the Governor of the Province. A statue of the emperor was set on a stand, and sacred fire burned before it. All he had to do was sprinkle a few grains of incense on the fire and say, Caesar is Lord, and he would be released. Who could blame him, right? The rest of the city did it. What harm would there be in just saying a sentence that he didn t even believe in his heart. He could have gone back home and lived the rest of his life in peace. But Antipas could not bring himself to give to Caesar the title that belonged to Christ. Christ was his Lord, not Caesar, even if it meant the whip, the sword, the lions or the stake. And because Antipas would not deny Jesus, he was killed. When the pressure mounted and he was tempted to deny his Lord, he stayed true to his faith. Do you ever wonder how you would ve acted if you had been in Antipas shoes? I have wondered if I would be strong enough to endure the pressure he endured. Now we live in a country that doesn t put this specific type of pressure on us. But we may find that our faith in Christ is about to cost us a friend or a job promotion. If that happens I hope all of us will show the courage of Antipas. Multiple times in our walk with Christ we will have defining moments in which we have to choose between strengthening our relationship with Christ or strengthening our relationship with the world and what it offers. Remember Antipas and that Jesus called him a faithful witness. Are you a faithful witness? Let s take a look at growth encouragement 2: Be aware of spiritual drift. 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 3
ate foods sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Wow- a powerful statement: I have a few things against you. Most of us will not recognize this man. His name is Heinrich Schliemann. In 1871, Heinrich Schliemann began to fulfill a dream he d had since his youth; he started excavating an ancient city in Turkey. He was looking for the lost city of Troy and to the amazement of many, this retired businessman found it. Today, you can still see the ruins of its towers and its walls, which were 16 feet thick. Schliemann s desire to find the ancient city of Troy can be traced back to his fascination with the Greek stories surrounding it. One of those stories is found in Homer s Illiad. According to Homer, the Greeks besieged Troy for ten years without success. And then when the warrior Achilles was killed, many wanted to give up the fight. But the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, came up with a plan to get the Greek army into Troy. Odysseus built an immense wooden horse, then Odysseus and his warriors hid inside it. And after leaving the horse at the gates of Troy, the Greek army sailed away. The Trojans thought the Greeks had given up and had left the horse as a gift and brought it inside the gates. That night, while the Trojans were sleeping, the Greek ships quietly returned. The soldiers in the Trojan horse slipped out and opened the city gates. The Greek army quietly entered Troy and started fires all over the city. The Trojans awoke to find their city in flames. As they tried to flee, they were killed by the waiting Greeks. Through the years the story of the Trojan Horse and the fall of Troy have come to represent the subversion of anything from within. Well, this letter to the church at Pergamum helps us to understand that Satan acted something like Ithaca. When Satan found that the outside attacks weren t as effective as he d hoped, he changed strategy. He started creating internal problems, most of which could have been avoided if the believers there had been more careful in choosing who they d do life with. Once again the text says: 14 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 foods sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Balaam, for those who don t know about him, was an Old Testament prophet. His story begins in Numbers 22. The Israelites, in their wilderness wanderings, had come to the borders of Moab. They had just conquered the Amorites, and it looked like Moab was their next target. The king of Moab sent messengers to Balaam to hire him to curse the Israelites. To his credit, before Balaam answered the messengers, he prayed and asked God what he should do. God told him that he could not go with them or curse the Israelites. And that is what Balaam told the messengers. He refused to go with them. 4
But they didn t want to take no for an answer. So, they upped the price and Balaam went. Along the way, God sent a messenger to Balaam, the angel of the Lord. As a result of that encounter, Balaam confessed his sin and offered to return home. Instead, the Angel of the Lord told him to go with Moabites, but only to speak the words that God gave him to say. Balaam obeyed. Instead of cursing Israel, he blessed them. Four times he blessed them. In Numbers 25:1-3 we learn that the King of Moab, at Balaam s advice, changed his strategy. In a sense he decided to infiltrate Israel s army using his own brand of Trojan horse: Moabite women. They were sent into the camp of the Israelites to catch the eyes of the men. And they did. They invited the Israelite men to their sacrifices; feasts full of immorality and idolatry. And in short order, the Israelite men are eating at the tables of false gods, sleeping in the beds of pagan women, and bowing themselves down to worthless idols. The result: God ordered the deaths of the rebellious. When reading this story it s so important for us to see how Israel s rebellious slide into idol worship led to the deaths of thousands. It s important for us to see how it began. According to Numbers 31:16 it all began with Balaam s advice to the King of Moab to have the women of Moab offer sexual companionship to the men of Israel. Now why would Balaam, a prophet of God, hang around and eventually offer advice to the King of Moab that would help him create problems in Israel? He did it because the king offered him a reward. You see, Balaam wanted the best of both worlds. He wanted to enjoy the blessings of being God s prophet but he also wanted to have some of the king s money. So he refused to curse the Israelites and he refused to say bad things about God, but at the same time he compromised his position and he came up with some evil advice which he knew would cause the Israelites problems. And here in this letter to the church at Pergamum Jesus tells them that they have gone the way of Balaam. Apparently the Christians in Pergamum were following Balaam s lead; they wanted to enjoy the things of God and at the same time they wanted to indulge in sin without feeling guilty. This is a good time to check our own hearts. Do you want the benefits of following Christ: the joy, the promise of heaven, the blessing of his hand on your life, yet do you dabble in sin or do you simply not take sin seriously sometimes? Do you desire the blessings without the accountability? So many people have the mistaken idea that God s a kill joy. God s not a kill joy. God wants you to enjoy the best of life. His commandments weren t given to make living a pain---they were given to keep the pain to a minimum! To run the best possible spiritual race we ve got to cast aside lies and sins quickly. Jesus continues on in the passage by saying: 5
16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Maybe today is the day that you finally lay down the sins that have been holding you back in your journey with Christ. I encourage you to take that step today. Lastly, let s look at growth encouragement # 3. Pursuing Christ comes with incredible rewards. 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. In this letter to Pergamum we find Jesus promising the people of God two things; they will receive some of the hidden manna and they will receive a white stone with a secret name written on it. Most likely the hidden manna is symbolic of fellowship with Jesus and the white stone is symbolic of being declared innocent. Back in Jesus day jurors were often given two stones at the start of a trial; a white stone and a black stone. After both sides of a case were presented, a juror would show his belief in the guilt or innocence of an individual by casting forward one of those stones; the black stone if he believed the person on trial was guilty and the white stone if he believed the person was innocent. You can be sure that when it comes to our sin. Jesus doesn t walk around under the mistaken impression that we re innocent of any wrongdoing. Not at all, Jesus knows you and I through and through. He knows the very thoughts of our hearts. He knows we re guilty of sin, and we re not talking just once or twice, but countless times. That s why He came and died on a cross for us, so we could have our sins forgiven. Jesus, by giving us a white stone, is in no way saying we re innocent of wrong doing. What He s is doing is reminding us that if we wholeheartedly give our lives to him, on judgment day He will stand before the Father cast His vote in our favor. That s why you received a stone when you walked in today. I wanted you to be reminded that its because of Jesus that you have hope. And my hope today is that out of your love and appreciation for what Christ has done for you, that you will walk out of here today deciding to honor Christ with your life. That you will choose to lay aside sin because you are struck again by his amazing love and grace in your life. Let s take some time and go before the Lord. Please hold your white stone and let us pray. Notes and illustrations borrowed from: Darren McCormick and the Baker Exegetical Commentary on Revelation 6