THE CHURCH AT PERGAMOS

THE COMPROMISING CHURCH

Restoration Fellowship Sunday AM Service

01/28/2018

ILLUS:  A Man Went Out Hunting For Bear

·      He found a really big one and had his gun loaded.  Had the bear in his sights.  He was just beginning to squeeze the trigger when suddenly the bear turned around and said, “Excuse me!”  This is a true story by the way. 

·      The bear went on to say, “Isn’t it better to talk than to shoot?  Why don’t we negotiate the matter? 

·      “Tell me” asked the bear, “What is it you want exactly?”  The hunter thought about it for a moment and said, “What I would like is a fur coat.” 

·      The bear replied, “Now we’re getting somewhere!  That’s good!  Let’s talk about that because let me tell you what I want.”  The hunter said, “What?”  The bear said, “I want a full stomach.  So maybe we can reach a compromise?” 

·      So the hunter set his gun down.  The bear and the hunter disappeared into the forest alone.  A few moments later the bear emerged from the forest alone.  Apparently the negotiations had been successful. 

·      The bear got a full stomach and the hunter got a fur coat.

·      That’s how compromise works.  You always lose.

Jesus is really into the church.  It is His bride.  He really loves His church.  If we want to be close to Jesus, we will love the church as well.

We are living in a time where a lot of people are talking about how to redefine the church or re-envision the church.  I don’t think we need to re-envision the church.  I think we need to rediscover the church.  I don’t think we need to redefined what God has already defined.  I think we need to get back to the original template for the church given to us in the Scripture, the church that turned the world upside down.

Satan has changed his strategy from persecution to infiltration and imitation.  Satan is no fool

Revelation 2 - Message to Pergamum

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.’

Pergamum, that’s where the church of Pergamos was.  It was built on a rocky hill where the Mediterranean could be seen on a very clear day.  Pergamum was sort of the cultural center of this whole area known for its library housing 200,000 roles of parchment.  Now that doesn’t mean a whole lot to us but you’ve got to understand that parchment was made out animal skin and every one of these volumes was written down by hand.  200,000 volumes.  It was so impressive that Antony actually took it and gave it to Cleopatra.

In this great city of Pergamum was one of the wonders of the ancient world; it was the altar of Zeus, which was one of the largest and most famous. It was shaped like a giant throne.  So when you came in to Pergamum, the first thing you saw was this giant throne of Zeus.  Also Pergamum had other gods that were worshipped there, including one called Asclepius, this god was known as the god of healing.  This god was depicted as a snake and in the temple of this particular god, there would be non-poisonous snakes slithering about on the floor.  The person that wanted to be healed would come from all over the world, would lay down on the floor with the snakes in hope that snakes slither over them they would be healed. 

That’s the kind of crazy city that Pergamum was.  Then add to this the fact that this was the head city for the worship of Caesar.  The first temple for Caesar worship was built here and it was dedicated to Caesar Augustus.  You may remember that Caesar Augustus was the Caesar who was in charge giving the decree that the entire world should be taxed.  Of course this caused Mary and Joseph to journey to Bethlehem and prophecy was fulfilled. 

At this point the Caesars were accepting and even demanding worship.  So all of this wickedness was going on in this city and here’s the assessment of Christ of Pergamum.

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.

·      The devil had a foothold in Pergamum.

·      “I know where you dwell.  I know it’s hard.  I know you are under a lot of pressure.  I know that Paganism is everywhere.  I know there are these temples erected to these false gods. I know that there are temple prostitutes that walk the streets.  I know that you see these people lying on the floor with snakes crawling all over them.   I know you have to look at the alter of Zeus every day you walk around in the city.  I know that you have to hear people say Caesar is lord.  I know it’s hard.  I know where you dwell.

13 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 believers in this city had a lot on the ball but they had some problems that Jesus wanted to make them aware.

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

·      Nicolas, the founder of the Nicolaitans was one of the seven chosen to be a deacon in the early church. 

·      Apparently Nicolas strayed and went apostate and was leading people astray. 

·      His influence was strong because he was one of the original seven in the early church.

·      Basically the teachings of Nicolaitans were “You got be real.  You have to live in the real world.  Even if you live in a pagan culture, it’s okay to say Caesar is lord.  It doesn’t mean anything.  It’s okay to engage in a little immorality.  It’s okay to cross the line.  It’s okay to compromise.”

·      That was the teaching that was beginning to infiltrate the church of Pergamum that they could lower their guard.

·      Hey man your sin is forgiven.  Your position is secured.  So even if you blow it God will forgive you. 

Roman 6: 1 What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  2 May it never be!  How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

·      People will say to you, “You need to relax a little bit Mr. Christian.  What’s with all the Bible quotes?  You’re not fun anymore.  You won’t go out and do all the stuff we use to do together.  You need to be a little easier.  Don’t be so uptight.  Come on in and have few drinks with us.  Go ahead and mess around sexually.  A little idolatry, a little immorality won’t hurt.”

·      Here’s the problem with that.  Small things always turn into big things.  That’s how most people are brought down.  Not by falling down all at once.  But by giving a little here and giving a little here and the next thing you know they are gone. 

·      Little things grow up.  Little sins may seem innocent and then they become big, ugly, gnarly, life-threatening sins.

ILLUS:  Venom of a Baby Rattler

·      Oh look at this little thing.  This would never bring me down.  I’m so strong.  I’ve been a Christian for 25 years.  Pssst!  What’s that?  I’ll play around with it.

ILLUS:  Samson

·      Isn’t that what Samson said?

·      Delilah – “Tell me the secret of your strength that I may afflict you?” 

·      You know you’re in a messed up relationship when a girl says that to you.

·      Delilah – “I want to afflict you.  How do I do that?  You’re so strong.”

·      Samson – “Oh!  If you tie my hair in braids, I can’t do a thing.  I lose all my strength.”

·      Delilah – “Is that so?”

·      He falls asleep on Delilah’s lap, which is stupid in it of itself.  She ties his hair in braids and she says, “The Philistines are upon you.”  In come the Philistines to grab Samson.  He throws them left and right like a rag doll.

·      D – Why do you mock me?  Why do you make fun of me Samsypoo?  Now come on and tell me the secret of your strength so that I might afflict you?”

·      As the story progresses He gets closer and closer to the truth until he finally reveals that if she shaves the hair on his head he will be like any other man because Samson had taken the vow of a Nazarite.  The power was not in his hair but his commitment to God but it was symbolized by his long hair.

·      She shaves his head, the Philistines show up, this time he did not cast them aside.  As the story comes to a close we find the great Samson with eyes gouged out, grinding mill, and putting on a show for the Philistines.

·      Oh sure in the end he was able to put his hands on the foundation pillars of the temple of their false god and push them aside and kill the Philistines.  But also in the end, he died with them.  That’s how compromise works. 

·      That’s how sin works.  Yes it’s fun at first.  Yes, you think you can handle it.  But little things turn into big things and the next thing you know the party is over.

·      Most people don’t fall away all at once; it starts a little bit here and a little bit there.

When did this world start becoming more attractive than your Christian walk? 

·      Did it start when you started mowing your lawn instead of going to church on Sunday?

·      Or when you got a divorce due to irreconcilable differences?

·      Did it start when you found yourself more excited about the latest movie than what you learn in church?

·      Or when you started pursuing leisure activities and found a new love interest and then one day you realize how miserable you are?  There’s that old familiar emptiness again. 

Satan tries to bring Christians down through a steady drone of small seemingly insignificant temptations. 

·      So you find that you may be fighting him on one front and setting up house with him on another. 

·      Compromise is happening and there’s a breakdown in your life.

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.

·      They were also falling for the doctrine of Balaam.

·      Balaam is brought up a number of times in the New Testament.

·      His wicked philosophy or doctrine is cited by Peter and Jude, and now by Jesus Himself.

·      This is important because Christ is singling out Balaam. 

Story of Balaam in Old Testament (Numbers 22)

·      There was a wicked king named Balak.  He hired Balaam to curse Israel.

·      We don’t know much about Balaam.  He was called a prophet but he was a strange prophet.  He was a prophet for profit.

·      Balak hires Balaam to curse Israel because they are Balak’s enemy.  Balaam agrees but he is outside of God’s will. 

·      He’s riding his donkey and all of a sudden his donkey stops.  Balaam doesn’t know why.  What happened is that the donkey saw an angel of the Lord standing in front of them with a sword drawn.

·      The donkey has more sense than Balaam.  Balaam is getting frustrated and starts beating the donkey to get it moving.  The donkey goes a few more feet and the angel stands in front of them again.  This time the donkey is freaking out and starts falling into a ditch and shoving Balaam’s leg into a wall. 

·      Now Balaam is really mad and starts beating the donkey over and over again.  The Bible says the Lord open the animal’s mouth and the donkey said, “What have I done to you that you would beat me like this?”

·      What’s more amazing is without missing a beat, Balaam says, “Because you won’t do what I told you to do.”  Excuse me do you normally talk with donkeys. Doesn’t that strike you unusual?  And Balaam is arguing with his donkey.

·      Now the angel is making himself visible to Balaam and the donkey.  The angel tells Balaam, “Don’t curse Israel!”  Balaam says, “Right” but he’s thinking, “But there is so much money in it.” 

·      Balaam goes back to Balak and tells him he can’t curse Israel, they are God’s people BUT if got some really foxy Moabite chicks (attractive women) to go down to those young Israeli boys and entice them to do stuff.  Get them to come into their tents and worship your false gods.  When they do that, God will be angry and He will judge His own people and He will do the work for you.

·      That’s exactly what Balak did and that’s exactly what happened.  The judgment came upon the people. 

·      Here’s what it was all about.  Balaam wanted his cake and eat it too.  You can’t have it both ways.  Balaam’s idea was I really want to curse them and get the money but I can’t do that.  Okay, so I’ll come up with another plan, that way I get what I want.  But he is still disobeying God.

·      This is the doctrine of Balaam.  This is an idea of compromise.  I want to live in both worlds.  I want to be a Christian.  I want to go to heaven when I die but I want to live like hell until I do.

·      I want to have everything there is to have.  I want have a party.  I want to get drunk.  I want to commit immorality.  I want to lie when necessary, cheat if I have to, steal, whatever I need to do to get ahead.  I want to do that but I want to know that I’m okay with God too.

·      I know that’s crazy so I have to justify it.  Enter the doctrine or the philosophy of Balaam.  Oh yes, you can do both.  We are free in the Lord man!  He’s given us this freedom don’t be so legalistic.  Don’t be uptight.  Go ahead and compromise a little.  This is what the doctrine of Balaam is.

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.’

·      Jesus is saying, “Pay attention to what I’m saying to you, this is your wakeup call!  Don’t do this anymore.

·      I’m wondering if I’m speaking to a compromising Christian right now.  I’m sure if I asked you to raise your hand you would not.  But you know who you are because you’re really uncomfortable right now.  You’re sort of hating what I’m saying.  That would be an indication that something may be not right.  You know you’ve been lowering your guard.  You know you’ve been making compromises.

·      Jesus is saying, “Listen to what I’m saying to you.  I’m saying it to you because I love you.

·      A lot of times I think that we feel that when God tells us certain things, He’s out to ruin our fun.  He’s out to rain on our parade.  Nothing can be more false.  God tells us these things to protect us.

16 Therefore repent

What is compromising?

·      Compromising is sin.

·      What is sin?

Ø Sin may be defined as any violation of the divine standard.

Ø Sin is not a mistake.

Ø Sin is not bad habit. 

Ø It is not my bad. 

Ø The biblical word for a violation of a divine standard is the word “sin.”

Ø (Say sin.)

Ø The reason I want you to say it is because it is not a popular word but it is the only word God recognizes when it comes to the need for the repentance.

The Nature of God

·      Now the reason there is sin, it has to do with the nature of God.

·      The Bible describes God as perfect and righteous in all of His ways.

·      So God cannot have any relationship with sin and maintain His holy integrity.

Sin in the Bible, violating God’s revealed, righteous standard is associated normally with death. 

·      Ezekiel 18:24-32 - Why will you die?  Repent so you won’t die!

·      Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. 

·      James 1:15 says when sin is completed, it brings forth death. 

·      Hosea 14:1 says your downfall is because of your sin. 

So death is associated with sin. 

·      In the Bible, death means separation.

·      What’s the separation?  Fellowship with God is lost when sin is introduced. 

·      God must separate from sin. 

·      Since we are sinning, He has to separate from us in terms of our personal relationship.

·      A distance occurs when sin is introduced into our lives.

·      That distance is a gap in our lives where God use to be that is then filled with consequences.

·      Reason for the consequences is because God is no longer there to block them.

·      There is a spiritual death between God and us when we sin.

·      ILLUS:  You remember when God told Adam, the day you eat the fruit, that same day you will die.  But he didn’t fall dead that day.  He didn’t physically die that day, but he died.  The Bible says that God removed him from the garden and from intimate fellowship with Him.  So there was a spiritual death. 

Repentance is necessary because of the existence of sin.

·      Repentance is divine.

·      Repentance is a lifestyle.

·      Repentance is an internal resolve and determination to turn from your sin. 

·      We can’t do it by ourselves.  We need Jesus.

·      Without that internal resolve and determination there is no real repentance, then you and your consequences must learn to live together the best way you can cause you are stuck with them.

Video (If we have time.)

Three Keys To Real Repentance:

1.    There is recognition of sin.

Ø To repent, start with the recognition of your sin. 

Ø Because if you don’t believe there is sin then you don’t need to repent of it. 

Ø It is sin because there is a violation of the divine standard.

Ø 1John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Ø The Greek word, confess means to say the same thing.  You must say about that thing what God says about it.

2.    There must be remorse.

Ø There must be remorse over what you now recognize.

Ø 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 

Ø 2 Corinthians 7:11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner; What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!  In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Ø God sorrow is “I’ve hurt God.”  You may have hurt your neighbors, you may have even hurt yourself, but the One that sin has offended the most is God.  So he says, “Godly sorrow leads to repentance.”  That this thing, whatever the thing is has hurt the heart of God.  He says it must be “Godly sorrow” not the “worldly sorrow.”

Ø Worldly sorrow is “you got caught.” 

Ø Godly sorrow is “I’ve hurt the heart of God.”  Godly sorrow, guilt and shame over sin must be the reaction to the recognition of sin.

3.    There must be the decision to reverse it.

Ø Then once recognizing it and being remorseful over it, there must be the decision to reverse it.

Ø How do you know that this thing is real and you really want to deal with it?  Fruit. 

Ø In other words, doing something that demonstrates that you want a reversal. 

Ø He uses the word over and over again in Scripture, “return, return.”

Ø Zachariah 1:3-4, “Return to me so I can return to you.” 

Ø Malachi 3:7 say, “Return to me so I can return to you.” 

Jesus is saying, “I want to come back to you but you keep dying on me by refusal to address the sin.”

James 4:7  Submit therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

·      Don’t misread that!

·      He didn’t tell you resist the devil first.  He said submit to God.

·      A lot of people say, “I can’t get rid of this devil.”  You won’t because he has got space to work in.

·      Submit means to place yourself underneath the authority of someone. 

·      Place yourself under the authority of God and then resist the devil, why?

·      Because the devil can handle you but he can’t handle God working with you.  How do you do that?

James 4:8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

·      Repentance is a lifestyle.

·      You are acknowledging that Jesus is Lord every time you repent.

·      Repentance opens the door for God to limit, postpone, avoid, reverse, cancel, or empower in the midst of dealing with your consequences.

·      It is His prerogative but you’ve open the door for one, many, or all the above.

Acts 3:19-21

19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;  20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 

He says, “Repent and return so you can be refreshed.” 

Your deliverance is in your repentance.

The Hard Question:

Is our church more like the early church or the church of Pergamos?

Am I like the early church Christian causing the world to go upside down or am I like a Christian from the church of Pergamos?