Study Guide: "Marriage of Convenience"

Text: Revelation 2:12-17

OPEN:

This message to the church in Pergamum begins with a reminder that at once erases any excuse for surrendering to pressure of any kind.  The Lord designates himself as the one "who has the sharp two-edged sword." The great sword with its two razor sharp edges is the symbol of omnipotent power.  The two edges may indicate his ability to use the sword in two directions--one edge for dealing with the world, and the other edge for dealing with his Church. It is good to remember at all times that our God is an awesome God.  He is not weak or faint of heart. We never have excuse to bail on him, thinking him outwitted and outmatched by the world.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Revival is desperately needed when the Church allows its influence to be compromised.

I. The City Proved a Hard Place To Stand For the Lord.

1. Historical description of the city.

The modern Turkish city of Bergama, situated 55 miles north of where we were last week in Smyrna.

At the time John wrote Revelation, Pergamos had been a capital city for more than three hundred years – first of the Attalid kingdom and then of the Roman province of Asia.  Pergamos was historically the greatest city in Asia Minor – it had all the atmosphere of an ancient capital city and all the pride of centuries of greatness behind it.

It boasted one of the most famous libraries in the world, containing no fewer than 200,000 books, an immense number in an age when every book had to be written and copied by hand.  So close was the connection of Pergamos with literary activity that the word parchment is in fact derived from the name Pergamos.

It was a famous center of religious worship.  It was the center of the worship of Asklepius, the god of healing.  To his temple there came sufferers from all over the ancient world.  The temple had medical wards, medical schools, and priests.  As the last outpost of Greek civilization, Pergamos was proud of the worship of Greek gods.  Behind Pergamos there rose a conical hill which was dotted with the temples and shrines of the pagan gods (such a hill might well be known as Satan’s throne).  In particular, one of the most famous shrines was that of Zeus. It stood on a ledge which jutted out from the hillside 800 feet up.  It was 90 feet square and 20 feet high.  All day long the altar to Zeus was shrouded with the smoke of countless sacrifices to Zeus.  It dominated the city.  No one could fail to see it; the eye of anyone in Pergamos was drawn to it.  As it stood there on its jutting ledge on the hillside, it would have looked like a great throne.

2. Life was hard for the Pergamum Christians.

  1) The message to the church at Pergamos begins with the grim statement that the Christians there have to live “where Satan has his throne.”  Pergamos was therefore not simply the place where Satan existed in an abstract kind of way, but the place where Satan wielded a very special authority and power.  Pergamos was a place where the anti-God forces of the universe were at their most authoritative and powerful.

  2) It is in this adverse climate that the church of Pergamum finds itself.  

3. The Lord offered words of commendation.

  1)These Christians were unable to avoid pagan pressure..

When the New Testament speaks of the Christian living anywhere in this world, it ordinarily uses the Greek word paroikein (1 Pe 1:17; Heb 11:29).  Paroikein is the word characteristically used of a stranger and sojourner – someone just passing through; it is the word that usually describes a temporary residence in contrast with a permanent residence.  It is the word which is summed up in the statement: “The world is a bridge; the wise man will pass over it, but will not build his house upon it.”  The word paroikein looks on the Christian who in this world has no permanent home in any city, but whose home is in that city whose maker and builder is God.

The significant thing about this passage is that it is not the word paroikein which is used; instead, it is katoikein, and katoikein is the word that is regularly used for residence in a permanent and settled place. For the Pergamum Christians, there was no way out.

  2) The risen Christ goes on to commend these Christians because they were remaining true to His name (v.13).  

Literally, they had never lost their grip on Christ.  There was much in Pergamos deliberately calculated to pry them loose from Christ, but grimly they held on.

  3) Further, they had not renounced their faith.  

The word renounced is in the aorist tense.  In Greek the aorist tense points to one particular action done and completed past time.  This phrase means that in Pergamos there must have been some definite hour of crisis, some definite outburst of persecution, in which the Christians of Pergamum had remained firm and true.  One martyr is mentioned by name.  We know nothing historical about Antipas, but later legend tells us that he was killed by being roasted to death in a brazen bull.

II. The Problem in Pegamum was Compromise.

In verse 14 the tone of the letter changes.  The praise stops and rebuke and warning begin.

(It seems the two things for which the church was commended, became their downfall – became comfortable near Satan’s throne (the word may also mean “marriage); somewhere along the way they had and accepted a marriage of convenience with Pergamos and began the long slide down the slippery slope of compromise that leads to spiritual ruin.

1. Their Membership Included Followers of Balaam.

The Balaam reference is to Numbers 25. Balaam was a false prophet who had been hired by Balak, the King of Moab, to curse Israel, but when he tried to do so he found he could not. Every time he tried to curse them, words of blessing came out of his mouth. God would not let him curse his people. 

So, in order to achieve the end for which he had been hired, he paid beautiful maidens from Moab and Midian to parade before the young men of Israel, tempting them into sexual immorality. Since these women were worshipers of idols, by that means he introduced idol worship into the tribes of Israel. Thus he corrupted and enticed them into sin. 

There were those in Pergamos who were trying to teach the people of the church to sin.  They were encouraging them to do two things:

1)   They encouraged them to “eat things sacrificed to idols.”

To us it seems remote, but to the early Christians it was a burning issue.

When a man sacrificed some animal in a pagan temple, only a small part of the animal as burned – sometimes no more than a few hairs cut from its forehead was burned in the fire.  Of what remained the priest had a certain share and the remainder was given back to the worshipper.  The worshipper made a feast with his share for his friends.  The feast might be held in his own house, but more commonly was held in the temple of the pagan god.

Could a Christian attend such a party?  Could he share in a party held in the temple of a heathen god? Could he eat food that had been offered to a pagan god?

Dare the Christian compromise? The false teachers said, “Sure.”  They declared it unnecessary to cut themselves off from all social fellowship in this way.  They argued the way of conformity, the way of compromise.

2) They were encouraging them to “commit sexual immorality.”

It is said that chastity was the one completely new virtue which Christianity introduced to the ancient world.  In the ancient world sexual morals were loose.

The early church was in constant danger of relapsing into the standards and lifestyle of the world.

2. They were also being seduced by the error of the Nicolaitans. 

Though it is difficult to know exactly who these people were, the name means "conquerors of the people." It appears they claimed to have a special relationship to God. They professed to be the beneficiaries of intimate revelations that were not given to others, and that they therefore had an inside track with God.

3. Probably both of these false teachings worked together. 

One appealed to physical lust, and the other to the ambition for power exercised in a religious way.

III. Remedy for a Compromised and Compromising People.

1. Turn away from Compromise.

(v. 16) "Repent, then"

This is the same command found in verse 5 when addressing the church in Ephesus: "Repent!"

"Repent" is a military term that means to make an 'about face.'

The "or else" is to have the Lord come and struggle against you.

2. Listen and Receive.

(v. 17) "Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it."

Don't miss the message. Compromise is a short cut that prevents us from experiencing God's power.

Israelites were instructed not to hoard manna, but collect just what they needed for one day-at-a-time. Those who disregarded the Lord's command revealed their lack of faith and blatant disobedience. The hoarded manna rotted and became maggot infested.

The symbolism of the white stone is unclear. In this ancient age the white stone was often a token of acquittal in a legal case; or it was a symbol of victory in an athletic contest, to grant entrance into the celebrations to follow. It could also be an expression of welcome to a guest from a host.

What we can safely say is that this is a promised reward to the overcomer.

The new name is evidently the new name given these who overcome, who sanctified themselves as holy over and against all pressure to be otherwise.

CLOSE:

It's interesting to me that the Lord Jesus didn't say to leave their strategic spot between a rock and a hard place; he told them to change and overcome.

Revival is desperately needed when the Church allows its influence to be compromised. I need renewal when I allow my influence to be compromised out of comfort or convenience.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)