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Take your copy of the Scriptures, if you would, and turn to the last book in the canon, the book of Revelation, chapter 2. I’ll be reading verses 12 through 17. Revelation 2, starting at verse 12. But first, let’s ask the Lord’s blessing upon the preaching and reception of that word. Let’s pray together.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your promise and that You have come to us in the power of Your Holy Spirit through this, Your Word, and You’ve enabled us to praise You and to give ourselves to You. Once again, Lord, we do pray that You would indeed give us a great appetite for this, Your Word, acknowledging that we do not live by bread alone, the bread of this earth, but by every word that comes forth from Your mouth. Help us to long for and recognize our Savior as He works and is proclaimed through this word. Lord, we thank You. Help us to focus our attentions now, Lord. Drive out all that would harass us from the remainder of our week in the world and of our own flesh and of our enemy, Satan, these great enemies of old.

We do pray, Lord, this indeed for Your glory and for our good. And we ask it in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And all God’s people said together, Amen. Amen. Revelation 2, starting at verse 12. Please now give your full attention. This is the word of the true and the living God. Apostle John, through the work of the Spirit, says, This is the letter to the church in Pergamum. Verse 12, and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write, the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword, I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast to my name and do not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden man. I will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but this word of the Lord indeed endures forever. May he add his blessing to it at this time.

Throughout the book of Revelation, as we have seen and we will see, Satan is depicted as a defeated foe who in an act, a final act of desperation, wages war on the people of God. In certain instances, we read of Satan empowering the beast to persecute Christ’s church, using the full power of the civil realm, the state, at the tip of the sword. But in other instances, Satan does what? He takes a much more subtle approach. And as the father of lies, Satan is not only the persecutor of God’s church, but also the seducer. of God’s church. And in this book of Revelation we read both of the beast who makes war upon the saints and also we read about the harlot, the one who seduces.

And similar to if you’ll remember the church in Smyrna and the letter given there in the context, the environment in that church was, the Pergamum church is also under intense persecution. Persecution from the hostile God-hating Roman Empire. The Pergamum believers are also up against another enemy. They face the enemy from within. A seducer who lures God’s people into spiritual adultery, which is idolatry.

And this morning we’ve come to this third letter, this third letter of Christ to the church of Pergamum. And these seven letters as we’re going through them, remember, are part of that larger vision which began in Revelation 1 verse 12, there we’re given a description of the resurrected Christ. Right? John is granted the privilege of seeing the resurrection Christ in all of his glory.

And he does his best to describe what he sees. And he speaks of the struggle between Christ and the devil, his ancient foe. And he uses this language, apocalyptic language. That’s language where his words that he uses are symbolic, they’re symbols. Symbols pointing to what is behind the story, which is ultimately Christ’s certain victory over Satan and over his allies. And remember back when we started this, some of those principles that we laid out, Revelation is revealing. And Revelation is full of the Old Testament. And indeed these symbols used by John here in this letter are from the Old Testament.

Jesus is on full display. in this book, not as the slain lamb, but as the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, the first and the last, the one who was dead but is now alive forevermore.

And in the book of Revelation, Jesus is the great high priest, right? This one who loves us and freed us from our sin by his blood. This one who makes us to be a kingdom of priests to serve our God. And in this book, Jesus is God’s final prophet. He speaks about the course of this present evil age. which is the great tribulation, that final period of human history, represented, spoken of in the New Testament as the last days. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is described as God’s all-powerful King, right?

That one who in the end is victorious. He is the ultimate authority. He is the one with the authority. He holds in His hands the keys of death and Hades. Those are under His authority. And therefore He can and will do as He promised. He will undo the curse of sin and death and will make all things new. And it’s that very reality and truth for which all of creation longs to come to pass.

And while it’s true that Revelation is a mysterious book, it is a misunderstood book, We have to remember that this book is so very practical, speaking to his church even today with a message that can be grasped, it can be understood, that it’s meaningful and applicable and is a book for us for our good, for our comfort, for our peace, for our assurance as we await the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And remember as well that when Jesus speaks to each of these churches, He’s describing hardships that these believers are facing, these believers of John’s time in their context, what they actually were facing. But he’s also speaking to us. It says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Remember also that Jesus knows, as we read in these letters, the exact circumstances facing each one of these congregations.

If we look at them as a whole, there’s five of the seven churches are commended for being faithful to Christ, while three of those five are also rebuked for sins and failures that they are engaged in. Two of these congregations, the congregation in Smyrna and in Philadelphia, receive no rebuke at all.

But what they do receive is an exhortation to persevere. And the churches Also, in Sardis and Laodicea receive only a rebuke and are not commended for anything. One of these churches thinks it has life but is actually dead, the church in Sardis. The Laodiceans think that they are rich but they are actually poor.

And since Jesus is always present with his people, he knows what each of these churches face and he knows what this church faces, even we as we sit here today. If you remember in the previous message a number of weeks ago, it was to the church of Smyrna. And while the circumstances facing the Smyrna church are very similar to those facing the church in Pergamon, the Smyrna church, you’ll remember, lived in a city, a city that was large. It was a large city with a large secular Jewish population.

It was devoted to emperor worship. And Christians there were barred from the marketplace for refusing what? To pay homage to the emperor of which they worship. They were slandered as well by the Jews. And the Christians in Smyrna lived in utter poverty as a result, refusing to confess that mandatory citation, Caesar is Lord, which is to take the mark of the beast. These Smyrna Christians paid strongly for their confession.

To the contrary, no, Jesus Christ is Lord. Many of the believers there were imprisoned, they died at the hands of the beast of Rome, but Jesus makes a promise to them, to this persecuted church of His, And in verses 10 to 11 of Revelation chapter 2, Jesus tells the Spernans what?

Do you remember? He says, do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. And for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. In verse 11, the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

And we hear this and of course our minds are drawn to what we see as the negative aspect of this. We think it doesn’t really sound like a very good promise after all. The fact remains though that while they will face persecution for a brief time, ten days, by persevering they will receive the crown of life. It is a promise.

And looking ahead we read that well-known passage about the millennium where we see Jesus in chapter 20 verse 4 it says, the souls of those who have been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or taken its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Therefore, though it looks as if Satan is victorious over the saints in their persecution, in their death, he is in reality being defeated. Those who suffer for the brief ten days will be raised to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years. It’s, of course, symbolic of a long period of time. It’s one of the greatest glories and mind-blowing realities in all of redemptive history, that fact that Satan loses most when his wrath against God and his people is the greatest.

So with that in mind, let us look at our letter for today, the letter to the church, to Pergamum. The city there, Pergamum, of course, was a short, a brief 60 miles to the north from Smyrna. It was known for, interestingly enough, the animal skin parchments that were produced there. The name of the city is actually where we get our word in English parchment from. It comes from the name of the city.

The city had libraries, it had temples, notably temples dedicated to Athena and Dionysus and to Zeus the savior. Also there was a temple to the god of healing. whose symbol was the serpent. And just like in Smyrna, there was a massive temple there to the goddess of Rome, as well as to other emperors. Pergamon was dominated by different types of pagan religions, and their Caesar was worshipped as a god.

You can feel thinking through this, you can feel some of the difficulty that it would have been for believers there who profess, no, Jesus Christ alone is Lord. And of course Christians there because of this were mocked by the Roman soldiers. They were labeled infidels. They were subject to removal, expulsion. They were in prison. Sometimes they underwent capital punishment. They were put to death.

And the Jews there in Pergamum considered Christians to be disloyal, a rebellious sect to be shunned. But it was the Christians’ refusal to make that declaration to call Caesar Lord that angered the Romans and justified arresting the believers there. Also, just like in Smyrna the Jews, they loved telling the Romans who the Christians were and where to find them. Christians here in this city, Pergamum, faced the terrible wrath of that devil-driven beast that we read about in Revelation 3 verse 8 where it says, He was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.

But as we’ve seen this victory, this apparent victory of Satan is a facade, it is a shell, it is empty. This letter to this church begins, like the other letters, with a familiar address and a specific word from our Lord. And hear it in the call back to John’s vision of the risen Christ in chapter 1. We’re in verse 12 of our chapter, chapter 12. It says, and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write, the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. The two-edged sword, of course, we remember that back from chapter one. And that image of a sword is obviously significant throughout this letter. The sword is symbolic.

It’s symbolic of Christ in his kingly office bringing judgment on his enemies. It is symbolic of Christ’s judicial power, power to judge the nations according to what? According to the truth of God’s word, warning the apostates of Christ’s coming judgment upon them. But the sword is also symbolic of more.

You see, the Roman governors were granted by the emperor the power of the sword. They were granted this power of the sword to put Christians to death, those who refused to acknowledge Caesar as God. And though the devil-driven beast, the Roman Empire, employs this sword of theirs against Christians and wages war against them, it is Christ’s. uses the same symbol to remind his church of what? Of the only, of the one who truly wields the true sword of power and justice.

And by this, Jesus is making plain to us this truth that all who persecute Christ’s people with the sword in this life, it is they who face judgment, the judgment of Christ in the next. But the warning here has a target, another target. That’s another target. And it’s for those who seduce believers through false doctrine. They also will face the sword of His judgment. The church is Christ’s bride. And you don’t mess around with His bride without consequences. He will protect her with all of His power and care and love and might.

And you remember this when you read verse 13. He says, I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast to my name and do not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” Where Satan’s throne is, where he dwells.

Christ is the Lord of his church. He knows what the Christians in Pergamum are facing. The city is steeped in paganism, in emperor worship. The greatest landmark in the city was the Temple of Zeus atop a large hill which dominated the city’s skylines. This is where Satan lives. It’s where his throne is. But even so, saturated with paganism, the Pergamum Christians stayed faithful to their Lord, about which they are commended. Even after one of their brothers Antipas was put to death in this very city, the city where Satan dwells. But we read on, that even though faithful under persecution, what does he say? Jesus yet has a strong word of rebuke for this Pergamum church.

The church has become too tolerant, coexisting with false teaching and compromise. And we pick up in verse 14, but I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also some of you hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. these doctrinal errors, it is evident, are so grave that Jesus threatens to what? He says in verse 16, “…to come to you soon and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.” For what? For tolerating heresy. Jesus commands the church there to repent lest he come in judgment.

And we see it here, right? That though believers in this church have been faithful against the outward pressure by the Roman government to deny Christ, some of these same believers are seduced. They’re seduced by false teachers in the congregation, leading them astray and away from Christ by deception. These false teachers aren’t forcing believers to deny Christ at the point of a sword. They’re doing what? They were alluring them, alluring them to deny Jesus in another way, in a more subtle way.

And how is that, right? We know what this way is by the Old Testament, right? It gives us the answer. Then we find the very similar circumstances mentioned by John here in Revelation. Jesus calls out those who hold to the teaching of Balaam. That’s why we read from Numbers. The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22 to 25. And through deceptive counsel we read that Balaam lures Israel into worshiping idols, lures them into immorality, thus bringing God’s wrath upon the entire nation. Numbers 25, one to nine, and numbers 31, 16.

That’s why we read this earlier. And listen again to the magnitude and the context of what happens here. Verse one, it says, while Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. This is strong language and a vivid language. These invited the people to the sacrifice of their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to their gods.” What people? The people of Israel.

Verse 3, so Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. Baal, the demon god, the god of Israel’s neighbors in the ancient Near East. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs, the people, and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked himself to Baal of Peor.

And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought the Midianite women to his tent, to his family, in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel.” Open, open rebellion, open compromise, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and he left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her belly.” And then what?

It says, “‘Thus the plague of the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were 24,000 And you see here, Israel never in this whole event denied pointedly by word exactly Yahweh. Rather, many in Israel began worshipping Baal without ever formally denying Yahweh, the God who delivered them. But you can’t see this as anything but what it is. It is a denial of Yahweh because Yahweh alone is God. He will not share His glory or His worship with any other.

And as a result, what happens? As a result of Israel’s spiritual adultery, God not only brought judgment on a few, but a full 24,000 died from a plague that God sent on the people. And in the summary, in chapter 31 of Numbers, We read this, “‘Behold, these,’ on Balaam’s advice, “’caused the people of Israel to act treacherously “‘against the Lord in the incident of Peor. “‘And so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.'” That’s a summary of what took place in chapters 22 to 25.

And so in Revelation, when Jesus threatens the church in Pergamon with the sword for tolerating the Nicolaitans, The reason has to be similar to the false doctrine, this corruption, this alluring compromise of Balaam. So these Christians there in Pergamum would stand firm, refusing to deny Christ outwardly under the Roman boot at the point of a Roman sword, all the while entirely comfortable engaging in pagan practices among their pagan friends and family and those with whom they worked outside the family of the Church. And just like in the days of Balaam, when the people of Israel worshipped Yahweh and Baal at Peor, here in Pergamum, Christians were being led away from Christ by those who were amongst them, amongst them saying, it’s okay, it’s fine to worship Jesus, and at the same time engage in these necessary common pagan ceremonies and sexual practices that went along with them. And those very things, that were prominently part of the civic and the cultural life of Pergamum were those ceremonies, those pagan rituals, those pagan rites, which included sexual practices and orgies. which to be able to God or not to be engaged in.

So we can see this implicit denial of Christ by the Nicolaitans in his warning, Jesus’ warning to his church about eating meat sacrifice to idols. And in his reminding them that they must avoid all sexual immorality, especially when they’re tied and bound up to paganism.

And you know that these common themes, if you’re familiar with the New Testament, are throughout. They seem ancient and removed to our ears. But what’s behind them is not foreign to us. It’s not far from us. Think back to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians. The Holy Spirit through him addresses the same issues. Or in Acts 15 as well at the Jerusalem Council, the first General Assembly of the Church. When the doctrine, when the church leaders affirmed with one voice the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. And at the same time, what else did they do?

They insisted that Gentiles avoid eating meat used in pagan sacrifices and from sexual immorality. They weren’t, of course, talking about being vegan or being celibate. God isn’t anti-meat or anti-sex. It’s talking about the fact that Christians cannot eat meat leftover from these pagan sacrifices and rituals. And then given and sold in the marketplace at reduced prices, on sale. For a Christian to eat this meat is to sanction or to give approval of these pagan practices of animal sacrifice and these fertility rituals as they were. So Paul calls this what? Remember in 1 Corinthians 10 he calls it sharing the table with demons. It’s clear that Christians are to avoid all sexual relations outside of marriage.

But it’s especially serious this issue in places like Pergamum where temple prostitution and drunken orgies were directly tied to the civic and cultural and commercial life of that city. and that they were so prominent and rampant. And it’s easy to see how these things could happen, right, in one sense. To do business, Christians would be invited to pagan feasts where ungodly things were going on. And you know, since going along and participating in these things would help your social standing or your standing at work and business, they could easily rationalize this and blow it off as something not that big a deal. And also by marrying someone whose family was well-connected, right? A very common practice. That would get you ahead in life.

And so Christians were tempted and did marry outside the church. Just like Israel with the Moabite women. They did it to avoid the stigma and persecution of being identified as a follower of Jesus Christ. in an intolerant world for such things. And just like the Israelites themselves, just like they treated themselves to these Moabite women, the Christians in Pergamum saw nothing wrong with being sexually involved with pagans or joining them in these religious practices. And for this, for these very things, Jesus, what? He will come to them with the sword of judgment. The principle for the church in Pergamum and for us today is quite clear.

Christians are not to. They cannot worship Christ and at the same time participate in pagan, non-Christian religious practices. We have one master, Jesus Christ, the one who loved us and died for us and freed us. And we serve him alone. Engaging in any way in paganism is just that. It’s denying this Christ, this one who loved us and freed us and died for us.

And it invokes his wrath when it takes place. And you know, tragically and crushingly, we see that what Satan fails to do by brute force, he succeeds in doing by the seduction of the church in these subtle ways. Christians in this church had no qualms, no qualms about worshiping Christ on the Lord’s Day and then participating in the rest of the week in pagan practices. God’s teaching as a result about sexual matters was being challenged and destroyed to them by pagan sexuality. With professing Christians marrying outside of the church, taking part in these sexual activities directly tied to paganism. This was and is a very serious issue. And Jesus warns this church in Pergamum of their danger, and he commands them to repent.

We, brothers and sisters, even in our day, must be sensitive. We must have our eyes open. What did Paul say? Awake, quie like men, the old-fashioned language said. Be men, that is, be strong in the strength of his might. Be alert. We can’t live with our eyes closed and our minds and our bodies open to all the delights and dangers of the devil. We must be aware. We must be aware of the bewitching schemes all around us, enticing us, luring us, seducing us, to syncretism, to mixing with the world and those things that are not given by the Lord.

And you know, many, many people You’re probably aware of this, right? Near universal among secular people, but trending among even those who profess Christ. This trend, this belief. Many, many people believe that things like pornography are harmless. Even beneficial, some say. And there are many. Because we love to hear approval of what our flesh longs after and loves. who callous their hearts, spiritual amnesiacs, they forgot who they are, who have no problem engaging in such things throughout the week, and then come on the Lord’s Day, and they sit under God’s Word, and they partake of the supper, bewitched and self-deluded that it’s all fine, and they go right back into this digital hell hole. Their souls decaying, decaying, drifting from the Lord who loves them and freed them. It’s an awful thing.

And what’s the word to that? It says come, come back, come back to Him with eyes open and hearts broken, yes, and He will restore you. He will again free you and remind you of who you truly are and what you truly are. If you belong to Christ, who you truly are, what you truly are, is a child of the King made new. New creation. And if you’ve never come, come, come to Him. Find cleansing, find relief, find freedom and peace and life. Come, come to Jesus and He will give you real peace. Not the peace of the world, not the lying facade of peace offered by it, but true peace.

Well, we pick up, we continue on in verse 17, and we see here this exhortation followed by a blessing, the blessing of the covenant. It says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. To those who overcome, by remaining faithful to Christ, He promises them. He promises them to eat from the hidden manna.

This might be a reference to the man preserved in the holy place, right, that we read about in regards to the tabernacle. But it’s more likely points to something else. It points to John 6. You’ll remember there in John 6, Jesus promises to feed his people with what? With the living bread from heaven. This living bread from heaven is none less than Christ’s gospel promise. And that promise is presented and given through the sacraments, even in the supper we’re about to share in.

And he says, those who overcome will be given a white stone as well, with a new name. The white stone, right, it doesn’t only stand for purity, it does that, and by the way, should be a refreshing comfort to anyone who’s been damaged or scarred and marred by sexual immorality, But it says the name which appears on it is known only to the one who receives it. And that’s language that we hear as well in Revelation 19, right? Like the rider of the white horse of judgment, Christ himself, he has a name known only to himself. And you see the white stone binds the recipient to the Savior.

A friend of mine would say, A Savior who one day will come with His sword to execute judgment on the nations that have persecuted His people, along with those who seek to lead Christ’s people to lure them, entice them away from Him through adultery, the adultery of spiritual seduction. And the bearers of that white stone never need to fear the sword of justice because they belong to Christ and He knows those who are His.

What a glorious thing. Brothers and sisters, may we remember, may we remember who we are and to whom we belong and the brutal reality of what was done to free us and to make us that kingdom of priests to serve God. And may we delight in what He’s done for us, in the life He lived, the life He gave, even unto death, so that you would be freed from, yes, your sin and guilt and the punishment thereof, but also free to walk in the works that He set before us.

Live, brothers and sisters, for Him. Live for Him. Live for this One who became nothing so that you would have everything. May we truly live like we mean it for all of our lives. Oh, oh, how our lives will be transformed if we did so. And that’s my prayer and our prayer that we would indeed comprehend and acknowledge more and more as He transforms us and He gives us eyes to see and hearts to trust Him. Change life indeed.

What a glorious Savior we have. Amen. Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we do thank You and we praise You. We praise You for this Word of comfort. We praise You for Your Word whereby You change us through Your Spirit, whereby You grow us, whereby You shave the calluses more and more from our hearts. this word by which we grow, not only in our intellect, but in our souls as we, as our longing and our affection for Christ increases, the more and more that you shed those calluses, that you give us a healthy heart that beats and lives for Him. Help us to know, dear Lord, we pray for this congregation.

We thank you for the love in the fellowship, in the peace that you’ve granted us here. Lord, we pray that you continue to grow us, continue to make us truly a peculiar people, that the outside world would see and wonder, why are they like that? How are they at peace? What joy?

And we do pray, Lord, that you would use those very things, the Professional Rommel’s and the lives that we live in fidelity, Even stumbling, falling, forgiving, seeking forgiveness, reconciling. Use these very things in the countenance of our hearts to draw your elect in.

Help us, Lord, in this endeavor and help us to gather the saved as well. Help this city, we pray, to know more and more where peace is found, where truth is proclaimed, where love is shared, and where disciples grow. Lord, we do pray for those suffering in this, our body, in special and particular ways. We pray that you would help us to know, help them to know, just who you are and the safety and security and promise that truly and surely is theirs by virtue of your work. And through it all, Lord, help us to know and recognize and remember that you are the God of the resurrection of the dead and that we truly in one day will be made new. Help us to know the presence of our Savior and His love in sustenance, in plenty, and in want.

And that we are your beloved children. We do pray, Lord, for the children of this congregation as well, Lord. Protect them, bless them, encourage them, build them up, not only physically, but spiritually. That they would, like the children of Zion, come to one day, long to be in the house of the Lord, singing your praises, being filled and filled and cleansed Bless us, we pray, for the remainder of this service. We ask all these things through our mighty Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.