Pergamum - The Worldly Church / Revelation 2:12-17

The Subtle Danger of Tolerance

I had one of those weeks this week. You know, sometimes as I’m working through the text, it just comes. You get it, you put it together, it flows, and you really feel like God is there in the process. In a very odd way for me sometimes, it feels like being on “Rambaldi fluid.” If any of you ever watched the show Alias, you know what I’m talking about. My wife and I got hooked so bad we watched the entire third season in about a four-day period.

This week was not one of those weeks. In fact, this week I really struggled. You can probably tell even by my demeanor tonight; this text bothers me. The reason is that I think it’s very timely. In the history of our church, this text comes at a very interesting moment.

C.S. Lewis wrote a classic work called The Screwtape Letters. If you’ve never read it, I encourage you to get it. The whole premise is a fictional dialogue between a higher-up demon and his young apprentice, training him on how to be effective in ruining people’s lives. The essence of their interaction is that the young guy is too bold and out front, while the old guy whispers in his ear, “If you would be more subtle, if you would be more sly, if you would work behind the scenes, you would be far more effective.”

After reading it, I did a project where I asked, “If I were going to ruin my own life, what would I do?” It’s a very convicting thing to write because you begin to realize your own weaknesses. As I think about our church, particularly in the season we’re in right now, I have to ask: what would be the “Screwtape Letter” of The Well Community Church? If we were going to take out the movement and the mystery of what is happening here right now, what would we do? I think we would do exactly what happened to the church at Pergamum.

I am praying that this text will be as terrifying to you as it is to me, because I realized it is right where we are. If we’re not careful, we’ll be ranked right along with the saints at Pergamum, who mingled with the nations and learned their ways.

From the Catacombs to the Palaces

The word Pergamum means “marriage.” This is the church considered to be the “worldly church.” As you trace the history of these churches in Revelation, you see a pattern. Ephesus lost their first love. Smyrna, which means “bitter” (the word used for myrrh to embalm corpses), was the sweet aroma of suffering. There was no rebuke given to Smyrna; they were told to remain faithful until death in the midst of persecution.

Historically speaking, very little bad comes from persecution. Where there is suffering, you usually find the people of God thriving. The church grows at exponential rates when the heat of persecution is on. The biggest danger to a church is not persecution, but tolerance.

That brings us to Pergamum. A man by the name of Constantine rose to power. He was a pagan vying for control of Rome. He met the forces of Maxentius at the Tiber River, and he was outnumbered and outmatched. So, he did what any general would do: he prayed. He sought the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he saw a vision of a flaming white cross with the words In Hoc Signo Vinces—“In this sign, conquer.”

He had his soldiers paint crosses on their shields and he won an incredible victory. When he took the throne, he issued the Edict of Milan in AD 313, the “Edict of Tolerance.” In almost an instant, Christianity went from the catacombs to the palaces. This sounds good on the outside, but it was the poison that began to kill the revolution of the New Testament church. The gospel got clouded. It was no longer grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It became Christ and… you just added Christ as another action figure on the mantle of your gods.

Pagan priests became Christian priests. Pagan temples became Christian temples. This syncretism meant the purifying fires of persecution cooled to a gentle breeze of tolerance. You were no longer at risk of death for your faith; now, everyone was a “believer” simply because they were Roman. Sound familiar?

Professor John Walvoord said it this way:

“The parallel in history… is all too evident. With the so-called conversion of Constantine, the time of persecution was replaced by a period in which the church was favored by the government. It soon became popular to be Christian, and the conscience of the church was quickly blurred. It became increasingly difficult to maintain a clear distinction between the church and the world and to preserve the purity of biblical doctrine… The church committed the same sin which Israel was guilty of in the Old Testament, namely the worship of idols and the union to the heathen world.”

Dwelling Where Satan’s Throne Is

Let’s look at the text itself. Jesus begins with a warning that the sword is coming. He is described as the one with the sharp two-edged sword—the rhomphaia, a four-foot cleaver ready to cut whoever opposes Him.

Revelation 2:12 (NASB)

’And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

In Hebrews, we are told the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. Jesus says, “I’m coming, and I’m coming with my sword to do some damage to those who oppose me.”

Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

He then says, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.” Pergamum was the center of emperor worship. In most cities, you offered incense to Caesar once a year; in Pergamum, they did it every day. It was also home to a massive temple to Zeus and a temple to Aesculapius, the serpent god of healing. In that temple, people would lie on the floor while snakes slithered over them, hoping for a cure. Because of this, Pergamum is called the place where Satan dwells.

Yet, even in that environment, some held fast. Jesus mentions Antipas, His “faithful witness.” History records that Antipas was placed inside a brass bowl, like a barrel, and roasted alive. Think about that. We flinch when someone says “boo,” but this man was literally sautéed for his faith and never wavered.

Revelation 2:13 (NASB)

’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.

The Stumbling Block of Balaam

But then comes the rebuke. Jesus says, “I have a few things against you.”

Revelation 2:14 (NASB)

’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.

He mentions the teaching of Balaam. If you remember the Book of Numbers, King Balak hired a mercenary prophet named Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam tried, but he could only bless them. Eventually, Balaam realized that if he couldn’t curse God’s people from the outside, he could get them to disqualify themselves from the inside.

He told the Midianite women to seduce the Israelite men. He lured them with a “buffet” of food sacrificed to idols and the promise of sexual immorality with temple prostitutes. These men had been eating manna—honey-flavored crackers—for years. Suddenly, they were offered brisket and beautiful women. They loaded the buses and went.

Their greatest enemy wasn’t the nations around them; it was the lust within them. They syncretized their faith with paganism.

Exodus 32:6 (NASB)

So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Jesus also rebukes the Nicolaitans. These were people who believed you could “launder your sin under grace.” They taught that because you were a believer, it didn’t matter how you lived. You could be a hedonist, and God would just forgive you.

Revelation 2:15 (NASB)

’So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

The Myth of the Open Mind

Do you think we have this in our day? People who believe we should have an “open mind,” that we should accept lifestyle choices, and that we should reject biblical foundations of morality to be “progressive”? We live in a post-modern, relativistic age where people think the Bible is archaic.

We live in a Sheryl Crow world where the philosophy is, “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.” I assure you, there are a lot of things that feel good but are destructive.

When you say you’re a Christian, people are watching. When you say you go to The Well, people are watching. They want to know: how are we going to respond to these issues? Are we going to take a biblical stand, or are we going to trim ourselves to fit the culture?

Statistically, most churches today are no different in areas of morality than the unchurched world. Divorce rates are technically the same. We have become like Pergamum. Entire communities of so-called believers have punted truth in the name of tolerance.

People ask me, “Pastor, what’s your stance on abortion? What’s your stance on homosexuality? What’s your stance on premarital sex?” I tell them, “I don’t have a stance. Let me tell you what the Bible says.” I’m not smart enough to have an opinion worth a darn, and I certainly don’t want to argue with thousands of years of divine revelation. Call me a simpleton, but I’d rather die a simpleton than punt the Scripture to be “progressive.” I want to anchor myself to something bigger than me.

A Call to Biblical Distinction

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul deals with a church that was proud of its tolerance. A man was sleeping with his stepmother, and the church was bragging about how “open-minded” they were. Paul tells them to remove the man from their midst.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 (NASB)

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

He says that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. In Pergamum, it wasn’t everyone who held to these false teachings; it was only “some.” But “some” was enough for Jesus to say, “I’m coming with my sword, and you aren’t going to like it.”

Paul clarifies that we aren’t supposed to judge the people outside the church. If you’re here tonight and you don’t know Christ, I’m not holding you to a biblical standard of morality. That’s impossible for you without the Spirit of God. If you’re hungover or in a sexual relationship outside of marriage and you’re not a believer, I’m just glad you’re here to hear about the grace of Jesus.

But if you call yourself a brother or sister in Christ, it’s a different story.

1 Corinthians 5:11 (NASB)

But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler– not even to eat with such a one.

We have lost the distinction of holiness. The number one accusation against Christians is that we are hypocrites. And the reason is that we are. We’ve allowed holiness to drop and tolerance to rise.

People ask, “Would it be okay for a guy who divorces his wife for no reason to stay in leadership here?” No. Because of chapter and verse. We would graciously call him to repent and reconcile. If he refused, we would follow Matthew 18. If he still refused, we would eventually have to say he is no longer welcome in this community until he repents.

That’s hard. I’ll get hate mail for saying that. People will call me intolerant. But I don’t fear them. I fear the One who is coming with the sword of His mouth.

Revelation 2:16 (NASB)

’Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

If the standard of holiness drops, God removes His lampstand. His presence leaves, and we just become a glorified social club. The beauty of what is happening at The Well is that God is using broken people to help other broken people find healing in Jesus. But when we drop the standards, the mystery is gone.

The Promise to the Overcomer

Jesus finishes with a promise. To the one who overcomes, He will give “hidden manna” and a “white stone” with a new name.

Revelation 2:17 (NASB)

‘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.’

Jesus is the Bread of Life. He told His disciples, “I have food you know nothing about.” When we stay true to Him, He provides a satisfaction the world can’t offer. The white stone was a victor’s reward, a ticket to a banquet. And that new name? That’s a sign of intimacy. There are names I call my wife that I would never tell you, because she is my bride. Jesus says, “If you hang in there, I will give you an intimacy with Me that no one else knows.”

Most Christians define their lives by mountain-top experiences—camps or retreats. Peter had one of those on the Mount of Transfiguration. He wanted to stay there and build houses. But the voice from heaven basically said, “Shut up and listen.”

Why? Because the ministry isn’t on the mountain. The ministry is down in the valley where Satan’s throne is. It’s in your friendships, your dorm rooms, your offices, and your gyms. That is where we need to be faithful like Antipas. That is where we must hold fast to the truth.

May it never be that we as a church drift from divine revelation. May we always cling to something bigger than ourselves. If we don’t, He is coming, and He is coming quickly.

Lord, thank You for this word. As convicting as it is, I pray that we would cling to Your Word. Let us find grace and truth in chapter and verse. Even though society might allure us into “progressive” thought, may we remain old-fashioned when it comes to Your Bible. We have no other words to cling to but the ones inspired in Your Scripture. In Jesus’ name, Amen.