Rewind, Play, Pergamum
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The holiday season is over, it's time to get back to the book of Revelation
And today we are going to continue with the church in Pergamum, so let’s dive into the scriptures this morning and re-read this text as we begin.
Revelation 2:12 NASB
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
Let’s pray
As we begin I wanted to briefly remind you of a couple of messages I shared in December.
After we went through this church in Pergamum the first time, the holiday season came upon us and it was more appropriate to talk about Christ specifically, than to keep going in our series.
But I didn’t want to lose you through the month, completely, so I had to make a few sermons that reflected the truth of the Christmas season while still being able to be applied to what we were already talking about.
One of those messages, I had entitled the Christmas Apocalypse. - I started with a story of a faithful little boy who ventured into the rain, all alone.
The boy went into the rain and weathered the storm, and became obedient to the desires of his heart and that of his father’s heart. To share the gospel, like His father, who was serving the Lord in full time ministry.
And the fact that the boy went, even without the Father, is a lasting testament to the father, for he was able to teach his son the values of God.
He was able to share his system of values with his son and his son embraced them as his own calling. The son became convinced of the importance of sharing the love of God in people’s lives, and his obedience saved the life of a member of their community.
Likewise, I had hope, that you saw Christ, going out of the comforts of heaven. Going out to embody flesh. Going out with the knowledge that the great adversary knew he was coming, and wanted to destroy him, Satan had been anticipating the day from the beginning of the world.
And yet… he came.
My intention was to remind us of that great determination in the character of Christ… And to be inspired by a little boy, who also could be so determined, to go all alone if need be, because he had that same drive as Christ, to be so determined to save souls.
If that little boy was “driven,” than perhaps we could be more like this little boy.
And so we ended that sermon with this question: Church, do we go? Do we go out into the rain?
Do we also, become obedient, to do the uncomfortable thing? To to the hard work we know needs to be done because we love Christ.
Or... are we just fine where we are at, satisfied with our comforts, unwilling to go and serve and be uncomfortable?
This story of the boy, revolved around the message of the gospel, to share the good news… but in reality… it could be any work that God has laid on your heart.
Take this idea one step further and ask yourself, what has God given me, as a gift, or a responsibility, and am I doing it in a way that honors him?
Or… Can I acknowledge to myself that - perhaps - I have been too comfortable as of late to walk into that rain? Perhaps too comfortable with what is going on in my life that I have lost the determination, or the will, to do what I know God’s love would tell me, is right to do.
I think this is another accurate description of the church in Pergamum. They are, in the words of Jesus in Matthew 13, that wild mustard tree. It has been left to itself. It has grown out of control, and in its neglect, false doctrines have nested in the branches of this church.
And what is interesting about this church in Pergamum, is that the congregation, not specifically only the leaders, but the congregation is either, unaware of the nests, or that they are so overgrown, that they can’t even distinguish what false doctrines look like anymore.
This is most likely caused by the complacency of the people, the church, who has learned how to settle into the city of Satan. They have learned how to survive in such a wicked place. In fact, they have gone so far as calling this place home.
There name in the greek means thoroughly married. And that is what has happened. They have married themselves to the ideas of this world.
So in their rest from persecution, in their compliance with the world, they have become an overgrown mess.
Matthew 13’s account, Jesus says birds have nested in your tree. And the evaluation becomes, is that OK? Can we live with birds in our tree?
Today, we probably don’t consider birds as much as mice perhaps. Mice often come into our homes and cause destruction of our stuff.
I want to share one embarrassing story of my family.
Margo and I were married back in January 2004. In April of that same year we started working at a group home near Philadelphia.
Margo had just finished her internship up in Lancaster, PA, where she was working in a leadership position at a place called Big Brother’s Big Sister’s.
If you didn’t know that, it’s because Margo was probably too humble to tell you that she has a degree in human services, and quite specifically, she loves people and kids and had a deep compassion for them.
Well… I had a heart for ministry, Margo had her degree, and we decided to set out on this new quest to help raise children from disadvantaged homes.
It was a great opportunity for us. We both grew up quick. And the Lord saw us through the newlywed years with 8 children in our first three months together, in addition to us living together 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.
Well after a couple of years God finally answered our prayers and brought Midori into our lives, and shortly there after Harry.
Well, in case you haven’t noticed, everyone loves Margo. I just go along for the ride most of the time... and everyone wanted to give us a baby shower.
In reality it was a huge blessing because we needed two of everything. While at the group home, we lived with the kids for several days, and then we were off a few days. So we needed cribs for the group home, and we needed cribs for our apartment.
To make a long story short, when we moved back to Newark Valley, we had twice as much stuff as we needed, and all we could afford was a one bedroom apartment. So, I put everything in storage.
After 6 months, we upgraded a little bit to a trailer, but we still had to store a lot of stuff.
Well what do you think happened to my stuff in storage? It got destroyed by mice. In every box there was little pieces of poop, shredded pieces of paper, and so on.
The problem was embarrassing. But the real problem was that we never took the time to do the hard work, of simplifying our possessions.
We had neglected a large part of what God had given us… and I think the same is true about the church in Pergamum.
Revelation 2 Verse 13 says:
13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”
That they had… They still had stayed true to professing Jesus Christ and Him crucified. They still acknowledged the saving work of Jesus Christ, but... other doctrines, other problems were in the church, and everyone was… either just letting in, or letting it go, or worse yet, did not even know that these doctrinal errors were actually eroding their favor with God.
They were quite possibly too busy with their own desires to care.
That’s why in Verse 14:
14 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam.”
After Christmas, and on New Year’s eve, I shared another sermon with you called,
“Uncover the Truth.”
In this sermon it was my aim to challenge you. To make to wiggle just a little bit. To make you uncomfortable as you considered the possibility of certain facts about the Bible, or certain facts of the Christmas story, in a little bit different light than perhaps you ever considered before.
So I concluded, with a simple and yet sweeping remark…
If we want to “uncover the truth” about any subject, we must all go to the source of truth.
This would be true of your Bible reading. Don’t just take the translators word for it. Do the research, dig into the facts.
This would also be true of our relationships, do not take other people’s word for it, go talk to that person, find out what is really going on with them.
You see, many people, myself included, can hear something that rattles our thinking.
We hear something that seems off, something that possibly even hurts us, perhaps it comes in the form of rumors, or gossip, and although it seems impossible to refute, my hope, my intention, was to convince you, that it may not be true.
Go - and do your research. Take initiative to go through the scientific model if need be, and dig into the truth of the matter before you draw any conclusions.
Likewise Church, to be truly unified, we need to be truth finders… we need to go to the source, and work all things out.
The same is also true about our relationship with Christ.
If He is laying something on your heart, are you willing... to be open and honest with yourselves and say, yes, I have neglected that area of my life, and that needs to change?
For Pergamum, it was a sin of the church. The church had neglected their responsibilities to look after the church.
They had allowed men to come into the church, who cast stumbling blocks, which had begun to pull them away from their duties. It pulled them away from caring what happens inside their church, and inside their hearts.
And God was not pleased with them. They needed to do the hard work associated with doing things, His way, the right way.
So, to summarize, I hope you can see that - We should have determination, to continue on even when the going gets tough.
We should take to heart the mutual responsibility to take care of the church.
This implies:
Being honest with ourselves, when we unearth those things that have been neglected, or need to be changed.
Simply put, it’s called: being responsible...
And doing the right thing.
So that was my intro… Ready for the sermon?
So look back with me to Revelation 2 and verse 14:
14 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
So let me tell you a story about these guys Balaam and Balak.
Please read Numbers 22:1-3
Let me backup a chapter to explain what Israel did to the Amorites.
Please read Numbers 21 beginning in verse 21
Israel took this area between the two rivers and settled in their villages.
So if we flip back to Numbers 22 - read again the first four verses.
So Balak, king of Moab called to the Elders of Midian to summon Balaam.
To put this part in perspective…
From the bottom of Midian’s territory to Jericho is over 300 miles.
Read Numbers 22:5-6
Balaam lives near the Euphrates river - guess how many miles that is away?
Over 500 miles from the Euphrates river to Jericho, and even further than that to Midian.
So the point is - Balaam is widely known.
I also wanted to give you some background on this general area from where Balaam is from.
Please turn with me to Joshua 24.
This chapter is when Joshua was on the way out, and he gave a farewell address to the nation of Israel much like Moses did.
Joshua 24:1 “Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
2 Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.
3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.”
Focusing on this historical fact, that Abraham lived in a land that served other gods… I was doing some studying on this area and I found that according to other Hebrew scholars and writings, Terah, the father of Abraham, did not just serve other gods, but made idols and sold idols.
And Genesis 12:4 says specifically, that God called Abraham from this town called Haran.
[Picture - This area of the world is what we now know as Iraq]
So they grab this guy Balaam from this false idol world, and ask him to help curse the nation of Israel.
And as we keep reading Numbers 22, Balaam seems very comfortable with their request. This is not new. He was willing to curse anyone.
Pick up the reading in verse 15-35 of chapter 22
So after Balaam arrives, King Balak takes him out to see the people. Balaam tells him to build altars and make sacrifices, but every time Balaam speaks what God says, it blesses the people rather than curses them.
King Balak gets more and more upset for they try this 3 different times, setting up altars, burning sacrifices, and Balaam has only good things to say for Israel.
Read Numbers 24:10-13
Here’s what I think you need to see.
The Bible, on one hand, speaks very clearly that Balaam would only speak as God has told him to do so.
The Bible also makes it clear, that if anyone offered Balaam all the riches of a kingdom, Balaam would not be swerved to speak anything else than what God has told him to say.
In fact, in all accounts, up to this point, there really is no reason to condemn Balaam at all. Even when God’s angel appeared to him in the road, he was humble, wanting to only do what pleased God.
And if this was the only place you had ever read in scripture, you would have walked away complimenting Balaam for his behavior.
He looked good on the outside… but on the inside, he was selfish.
In fact his name says it all - Balaam means
Hold your place here in Numbers while I give you a few verses -
2 Peter 2:15 adds to this by saying - (NASB)
15 “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”
Jude 11 (NASB)
11 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”
So as we come all the way back to… Revelation 2:14
14 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.”
Balaam had inevitably found the answer to get paid, and to help destroy God’s people. He kept teaching Balak... His answer was to make them stumble, as to fall into judgement from God.
Numbers 25 - Immediately following Balaam’s arrival and departure we read:
1 “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel. 4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. 9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.
One of my favorite commentaries was a gift to me by my former Pastor Mike Speigel. In this book is written (J. C. Coghlan, D. D.) thoughts that was so well worded, that I thought I’d share it with you.
“Now what is that view of religion that may be considered the "doctrine of Balaam"?
As illustrated by his character, it would seem to be this, that what we have to do is to serve God without loving Him; to seek our own will and our own ends, and yet to contrive to keep out of punishment at His hands; not to desire our will to be moulded to God's will, and to be subservient to it readily and in all things;
but to desire our will to be done, as far as ever it can be, within the strict letter of God's commandments.
This is the main feature in the "doctrine of Balaam." Strict duty, without any love; resolute observance of a disagreeable rule, not earnest obedience to a loved parent: determination to escape punishment — no desire to please God. Now this is very much the sort of "religion" into which many honourable, upright men have a tendency to sink.
To those who have no sense of religious obligation — no dread of the future — no regard for God's law — Balaam furnishes no lesson at all.
They and he have no points in common. You cannot warn them against being like him, because he is so much below what he ought to be.
Now, the particular act of Balaam alluded to in the text is quite in harmony with such a character as I have described. He "taught Balak," says St. John, "to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."
Balaam would not curse, because he was told in so many words not to curse; but he brought about a like end, by worse means — all in order that his own selfish desires might be gratified: as it would seem they were, (J. C. Coghlan, D. D.)
Let me wrap this up this way -
What is your motivation for being at church today?
Is it to obey a command… like the one that says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, in hopes that it will keep you from being discipled by your heavenly Father in some way?
Or did your values bring you here. You are here because you love Jesus Christ, and you want to be where his people are. Your love brings you here, even when its hard. Because you can’t be swayed from your determination to fellowship.
But why do we do anything? Why are we an Elder or Deacon? Is it the love of ruling, to make our own decisions, to do things my way, or is it the call to serve?
Why do we tithe, or why do we fix this place up, or why do we witness, or why do we serve in any capacity? Is it from a heart that loves God with all your heart soul and mind, or is it something else.
I would encourage you to uncover the truth, to look deep inside your soul and say, Search me God. If there be any selfish way in me, please flush it out.
Psalm 139:23-24 - I love the way The Message (MSG) paraphrase says it:
23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.