Back at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, the apostles sent out a message to the churches and said, Dont eat things offered to idols. It sucks you back into idolatry. They have married the world, as it were, and are in danger of the judgment of the Lord of the church. And then He says, And a new name written on the stone and I read where they would do that. 0000003225 00000 n

It was an abuse of freedom. And the Lord will come and make war with you sooner or later unless you repent. What was the city like? They would always put their worship point at the heights in ancient times, and so they had built this famous throne, as it were, or altar to Zeus.

The command is very simple. The first letter, you remember, was written to Ephesus, the church that left its first love. Youre allowing them to feel comfortable.

Some say it represents simply a diamond, and Ill give you something that is very precious, namely eternal life. Im not under any illusion. Ill give you the true bread, the spiritual bread from heaven which the world doesnt see. J.N.

Modern correspondence ends with the authors name. The throne of Satan was this Gentile base of false religions. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. They were teaching that.

Why does he write these books? My witness, My martus, My martyr, My faithful one. And in this case you will notice that the description of Christ that is selected is that which articulates His judicial authority. What made it tough for Christians was they didnt worship Caesar at all. We noted that back in verse 9. It sees Him as executioner.

We do know, according to Acts chapter 16 that Paul passed through the area. hb``f``f [P#0p4 qC1C#?P%MRGX^e}5jejD+Ko y endstream endobj 11 0 obj <> endobj 12 0 obj <> endobj 13 0 obj <>stream

Jesus Christ then is the author. You believed the truth and you sustained that belief faithfully. And so Satan had set up his enterprise there and this little church was feeling the heat of it and it was in some ways succumbing to it. He offers us fellowship, a new beginning, and a shot at a clean slate. And the emblem or the idol of Asklepios was a snake. Ill give you that bread which will sustain you.

A living serpent was kept within the precincts of the temple as an object of worship. If he couldnt curse them, hed earn his money another way. Ephesus the starting point, and then on to Smyrna, and then on about 50 miles, 55 miles or so north to the city of Pergamos. Perhaps that was the throne of Satan.

Repentance means doing a U-turn and changing direction. Were reminded of 2 Corinthians 6 where Paul says, What fellowship has light with darkness? I belong to you and you dont deny it.

Some of them, however, who had attached themselves to the church were being sucked into the world. Some say its the white stone thats similar to the one on the breastplate of the high priest called the urim and the Thummim, by which the high priest could determine the will of God. He is the one who picks up the quill, as it were, and puts the words that Jesus gives him. startxref It provided for their physical needs and sustained them through the long journey. But even though there were those who had managed to cling to their faith in the midst of pagan philosophy there were those who were walking perilously close to the edge. The words of counsel that Jesus has for the church of Pergamos are cutting and concise; repent or else I will come to you quickly and fight against your with the sword of my mouth. He is the one who wields the sword.

All rights reserved. And when you know they were worshiping the Caesars, you know that Satan was there. They had developed along with Caesar worship, of course, all of these other pagan forms of worship. Some of us arent even willing to sacrifice our popularity or our wrong desires for the sake of staying separated from the world. And as long as you worshiped Caesar, you could worship somebody else. White symbolized acquittal and black condemnation. During this time the church chose to turn away from simple faith and to substitute bible truth with pagan traditions and rituals, undergoing a seismic shift in thinking. The synagogue of Satan, I might remark, was perverted Judaism.

Ill never forget having an experience with a well-known and popular preacher and writer whose wife came to me and said, Could you help me? In fact, it was such a significant library that it was later sent to Egypt as a gift from Antony to Cleopatra. Not only was he orchestrating Caesars the worship of Caesar from there to flow out to the Roman world, the known world, not only was there this massive altar on the Acropolis that looked like a throne and a Satanic one at that because it reflected a false religion, but there was the very bizarre and strange worship of Asklepios. Parchment is a writing material developed from animal skin. hb``Pg``` |@Q004|0Jq,:q-*rl\.Kn2M5634 ----e66 h ;: y_0We68+r!

We are not to be separate.

Went on to divorce his wife and marry for a third time. And in this city they built the first temple to Caesar. To enter into deep and meaningful communion with him that will sustain us on every level; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Yes. This has been going on for years. Its in this world. Thats quite an amazing statement. Jesus compares this philosophy to the doctrine of Baalam who led the Children of Israel into sin and idolatry through compromise in the wilderness. It conjures up all the old life patterns. The name Pergamos means height or elevation and was a fitting name for the city which was built at an elevation of 1000 feet. Czechowski: First Contact With Europe. 0000006172 00000 n In fact, this was the first city in the ancient Roman world to build a temple to Caesar. Registered User

The subtle shifts began under the authority of Emperor Constantine. Hed corrupt them. It sees Him as judge. The church, of course, has become worldly. Satanic power was manifest right out of that city. And what was worse, the saints were doing nothing about it, absolutely nothing. What was the problem with Balaam? That is the ancient god Asklepios, the god of healing. Now lets look a little more closely at the letter and see the commendation. 0000007542 00000 n First is the correspondent the correspondent or the one who writes.

And here is a person who is right in the transition, a witness becomes a martyr because the witness pays the price. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. endstream endobj 145 0 obj <> endobj 146 0 obj <> endobj 147 0 obj <>stream There was a true church here; there was a growing church here; there was a real church there, a saved church, waging an uncompromising war right at the throne of Satan. Now secondly, we look from the correspondent to the city itself. They were actual historical churches, churches that really did exist.

They were therefore supposedly made Christians by putting a little water on their heads. %PDF-1.5 % Oh, I think it represented the bread of life. This is a sin. What concord has Christ with Belial? Pergamos is a picture of any church that courts the world, any church that marries paganism in any form. I know there are people in this church in that category. This issue was settled long ago, having been discussed and mandated from the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and still here are some, decades later, saying God tolerates this.

0000003957 00000 n These messages were directly given to those specific churches because of the very specific issues at hand.

This would not have been an easy task. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. endstream endobj 134 0 obj <>>> endobj 135 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 792.0 612.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 136 0 obj <> endobj 137 0 obj <> endobj 138 0 obj <> endobj 139 0 obj [/ICCBased 168 0 R] endobj 140 0 obj <> endobj 141 0 obj <> endobj 142 0 obj <> endobj 143 0 obj <> endobj 144 0 obj <>stream He says Ill give you the hidden manna.

Mingled into their medicine, of course, was a lot of superstition.

It could be described as gluttonous orgies of lasciviousness. 0000008298 00000 n endstream endobj 151 0 obj <>stream

And its the Holy Spirit inspiring it as John writes it, as Christ gives it. 0000004845 00000 n If you dont know Jesus Christ, the hidden manna isnt for you; the white stone is not yours, and all you have is the sword of His judgment. 0000003591 00000 n

You watched My faithful one. 'g8e8KgmY9^x,P bEAV

You look, for example, at a time period say from the year 300 to 600 and you see that under the Roman Empire, under the direction of Constantine in those early years, the church married the world.

These letters likewise describe not only a single church in history but a kind of church that exists through all the history of the church.

0 I walked in a restaurant where I was to meet him, and he was sitting with two unseemly women at a bar, drinking.

We give you praise in our Saviors name, Amen. In other words, you could engage in pagan rituals and embrace parts of pagan philosophy while still embracing Christianity. So much good, so many faithful, but I have this against you. This particular city is less than a hundred miles from Ephesus. And when you put it all together, certainly this is Satans throne. It was merely a mass state religion. God absolutely condemned such a union in Israel and here the Lord Jesus Christ condemns such a union in Pergamos. The 7 Churches of Revelation Introduction, Literature | An Impetus for Revival and Reformation, Remembering The Reformation Behind The Scenes, Australia & New Zealand Behind the Scenes and Bloopers, Lineage 3ABN Interview Behind the Scenes, College of the Barbs, Waldensian Valleys, 360, MISSION MOVEMENT: THE WALDENSIAN TRAINING SCHOOLS, WALDENSIANS MOTTO: LUX LUCET IN TENEBRIS, ENGLAND: FROM THE AGE OF ELIZABETH TO THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION, THE BRITISH ISLES AND THE CELTIC CHURCH (400 600 AD), EUROPE IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES (1300 1500), JOHN CALVIN: VANGUARD OF THE FRENCH REFORMATION, MARTIN LUTHER: POINT MAN OF THE REFORMATION, HUSS AND JEROME: THE BOHEMIAN REFORMATION, GEORGE WISHART AND THE SCOTTISH REFORMATION, JOHN WYCLIFFE: MORNING STAR OF THE REFORMATION, WILLIAM MILLER: EARLY LIFE AND CONVERSION, WILLIAM MILLER: STUDY AND CALL TO MINISTRY, ELLEN WHITE: FIRST VISION AND CALL TO MINISTRY, John Andrews: The Ablest Man In Our Ranks, ELLEN WHITE: CALL TO MINISTRY AND EARLY YEARS, M.B. The third promise to the overcomers was the promise of a new name. Commenting on the doctrine of the Nicolaitans in his book The Letters to the Seven Churches W.M.

Hidden manna, a white stone,s, and a new name. I want to be faithful not to deny the faith and I also want to be faithful to expose error, lest the Lord Himself come against me and my church with a sharp two-edged sword. When a victor won in the games, whatever great games were being held, it was not uncommon for the victor to be given as part of his prize a white stone. It survives everything, even the onslaughts of hell. So when you hear that Asklepios was there, the serpent god, that sounds Satanic.

0000010480 00000 n What are we talking about? 0000004292 00000 n Culture and tradition have their place but not when they are at cross purposes with the word of God. Because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam. Verse 15, You also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Whats He saying? Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. When God speaks of His name he speaks of it synonymously to his character. When Jesus calls to us, as he did to the church at Pergamos, and urges us to turn back we would do well to listen to his warning. And they were really mandating not the obvious private sexual sin, but the public orgies that went on in pagan life.

And so weve got to deal with issues lest the Lord come against us and smite us with a sword out of His mouth. Dont miss this. This is the place of his operation. Jesus words were simple.

And I walked up to him and said, Im here to speak with you, and pulled him away and said, This is the first and last time Ill ever meet you in a place like this. We went on to discuss the lifestyle, the patterns of the lifestyle. Please be aware that these items are sent out from our office in the UK. We sent you an email.

The issues at stake are biblical.

0000009007 00000 n How did it start? My witness, My faithful one who was killed among you, in your midst. You never denied My name or My faith, even in the day of Antipas. Christianity is so personal, isnt it? So that with it He may smite the nations. It is a sword of judgment. A new identity in Jesus. Now when you go over to chapter 2 verse 12, the one who has the sharp two-edged sword says this. What can He mean here?

trailer H\j0z9& [icH|B>-]A- Y>;B Jesus tells the church at Pergamos that he knows their condition. When He introduced Himself to the church at Smyrna in verse 8 He said, The First and the Last who was dead and has come to life. Thats encouraging because some of them were dying for the faith in Christ, and He was writing them as the one who was resurrected, who had conquered death for Himself and for them. You must note also that He says here, where you dwell, where Satans throne is a mark of permanent residence. We move from the city to the church. They worshiped Christ and Him alone and refused on the one day a year when you had to burn incense to Caesar to do it, and therefore lost their citizenry rights and lost their lives in some cases.

They had created a brass bull hallowed out, they set afire, and put him in it. Jesus says I am the bread of life (John 6:35) If we are willing to overcome the temptation to compromise, the first reward we receive is the opportunity to feed on Jesus.

Why does He say hidden? If you look back at what happened in the history of the church, you can understand this kind of thing.

0000026014 00000 n Ancient correspondence began with the authors name. H\0y And the council at Jerusalem also said stay away from all immorality. Pergamos is believed to have been founded by the Aeolian Greeks around 1150 B.C. It wasnt a question of denying the faith. But you have some there and theyre advocating it and theyre teaching it and youre not stopping them. Women in every city. Perhaps Hebrews 4:12 says it as well as any, For the Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any what? He says, You have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam. We dont have the time to go back, but you can take your Bible, go back and read Numbers 22, 23, 24, and 25 this evening after the service, and youll fill in the whole story of this fascinating character by the name of Balaam. Heathen priests became Christian priests. 0000006798 00000 n So he went to Balaam who was a prostitute prophet and could be bought. We know who that is from chapter 1 verse 16 because back in chapter 1 you have the vision of Jesus Christ. Antipas paid the supreme price for not compromising. And then He says, You did not deny My faith. You did not deny My truth, My gospel, the message of salvation by faith. There have always been the Nicolaitans who in the name of perverted grace and ascended knowledge think they can live above Gods standard. Thats how personal it is. Whos that? Theres no room for compromise. In the city of Pergamos was a medical school. In other words you have been faithful to Me. So what did he do? The liberal or dead church, as we would perhaps want to call it today, those who have departed from the true faith and embraced the world are all around us.

Every time he tried to do it he failed. Notice the Mys, would you? And so, people are eating things sacrificed to idols and committing acts of immorality. My name always means who I am, person and work. You stayed true. Verse 12 says, To the angel or the leader, the messenger, the one who will take this letter back to the church at Pergamos, probably one of their pastors, to the messenger of the church in Pergamum, write and that is, of course, the Lord Jesus telling John to write. In Revelation chapter 19 we see the same imagery in verse 15.

He needs help desperately. And I said, Whats the problem? She said, Its his lifestyle. And so Balaam tried to work his plot and have the women of Moab seduce the men of Israel into intermarriage and then he could bring Israel into a blasphemous union with Satan and idols and fornication, and that would debase Israel. We want our faith to be real, we want to hold fast to the name. They stood boldly for Christ. Since the UK is now no longer a member of the EU, you may be charged an import tax on this item by the customs authorities in your country of residence, which is beyond our control. Yes, we want to reach out in love. And that is perhaps the most dominant period in the church history when the Pergamos mentality was evident.

What about the church?

This particular sword is the sword of judgment that is used to cut down those who disobey the Lord Jesus Christ. The second letter was written to Smyrna, the persecuted church. Now just what is Satans throne?

Each is significant. Our faith, our belief.

rj,MW]fey&EY#P/CNkhw\grL Q"Z[Jd His plot went like this, the Moabite women will move in among the Israelite men and the Moabite women will sexually seduce the Israelite men, suck them into intermarriage. And then this counsel is so wonderful, To him who overcomes who is the overcomer?

It may be an abuse of your Christian freedom. To the true Christians, He says, here is a promise after these fearful threats. One identified with an Old Testament character, the other identified with a New Testament period character, anyway, by the name of Nicholas. There were some people in this church saying its okay to intermarry, intermingle with the pagan system. The church is never to be a place of the mingling of those things.

0000000016 00000 n When you know that Zeus was there and big upon the hill looming over the whole place was an altar to this false god, you know that Satan was there. James 4 says, Friendship with the world is enmity with God. There can be no compromise. 0000015025 00000 n You belong to Me and I dont deny it either. We dont want to be a compromising church. He devised a plot. You never deviated in your theology and you never deviated in your fidelity.