#28 – Pergamos Finally Commended

Pergamos is finally commended because they have not denied Christ’s faith. I think it is important that we see Who’s faith it is, notice that Jesus says it’s “My faith” (2:13). Because our faith really belongs to our Lord, let us be careful what we do with it, how we handle it.

There are some doctrines in Scripture where the church is of differing thoughts and opinions, however sad that might be, we are in the process of learning, and (Romans 14-15) tells us how to deal with one another in such cases. However, there is doctrine that is non-negotiable, such as…..

1. The Trinity – God is One – the Father, Son, Holy Spirit possessing all the attributes of Deity 
2. The person of Christ – Born of virgin birth – Jesus is 100% God and 100% man
3. Salvation – is by grace alone – through faith alone – in Christ alone
4. The death – burial – and resurrection of Jesus Christ
5. The Scriptures – are entirely inerrant and sufficient for all Christian life
6. The second coming of Christ – Jesus is coming bodily to earth to rule and judge
7. The gospel as defined in (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

We need to take our stand on precious doctrines like these because far too many people are turning away from the fundamental doctrines of the faith and are swiftly sliding into apostasy  (1 Timothy 4:1)

The Pergamos believer’s stand for Jesus had been costly, even when this church was undergoing severe persecution they stood for the Lord and for His Word. Notice, Jesus mentions a man by the name of Antipas (2:13), He refers to him as – “My faithful martyr.” History tells us that Antipas refused to worship Caesar, where people would offer the pinch of incense and say “Caesar is god.” Because of his refusal to worship Caesar, Antipas was placed inside of a brass bull where a fire was built under the bull and Antipas was roasted to death

There was corruption in the membership of Pergamos , tells them that some of their number hold the doctrine of Balaam. Balaam was a man intimately acquainted with God, he knew about God, about God’s character and he even talked with God, and yet he was motivated by greed and he was guilty of leading the people of God into immorality and idolatry (Numbers 22-25).

Four times Balaam tries to curse Israel, each time the Lord turns his curses into blessings. When he sees that his attempts to curse have failed, Balaam suggests they should corrupt them, leading them off into immorality and idolatry, bringing the wrath on them (Numbers 31:16). The doctrine of Balaam is wickedness and worldliness, and the church at Pergamos was tolerating people in their midst who claimed to be Christians, but who lived like the world around them, living immoral lives and participating in pagan worship

This same problem is rampant in the modern churchthere are so many who believe that since you are saved by grace and kept by grace, you can live any way you please. It is no wonder that society has no respect for the church. It is no wonder that there is no power in the church. We live as we please without regard for the clear commands of the Lord. Here is the fact of the matter, if you are saved you will not be like the world around you. If you are saved, you will walk differently, talk differently, and you will have different standards than the world. When Jesus saves a soul, He creates a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Lord changes everything about that saved person’s life, they are different and they live like it.

Others there held to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. As we learned in (Revelation 2:6) the word “Nicolaitans” means “to conquer the people.” Their doctrine was built around wanting to be noticed, wanting to be lord’s over the people by elevating themselves above the people and demanding they should be worshipped. I don’t think we have this problem, but we must always be on the lookout for the one who wants to be in leadership so they can get a grip on power in order to lord over the people. Jesus calls upon the church at Pergamos to “repent” – gr. “metanoeo” (met-an-o-eh’-o) which means to think differently, to reconsider, a change of mind.

Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of direction. If they refuse to repent and not deal with the corruption and confusion in their midst, Jesus was going to come to His church and fight against those who trouble it. Notice – the change of pronouns in (2:16) from “you” to “them.”

He will come to His church and afflict those who are not His people – who bring trouble into His church. It is a fearful thing to be found on the wrong side of the Lord