Friday, February 19, 2016

LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES (PART 5)



 Text: Revelation 2:12-17
 Scriptural References: Rev. 2:12-17, II Pet 2:15, Jude 11, Exodus 34:12, Prov. 13:20, 1 Corinth 5:11

We all come from different backgrounds and have had different experiences in life. Every tribe or place we come from has its weaknesses and shortcomings. But God is bringing this truth to all of us at this time so that we can make necessary adjustments where we are missing it, as such, anywhere this truth hits us or our traditional beliefs; we must not take it personal. If any word comes forth that addresses any of our weaknesses or shortcomings, we must not fight it, but look at it in line with scriptures and make adjustments where necessary.

The Church at Pergamos

Address: Pergamos means marriage. It was a city which had lots of antiquities for sale. Parchment was first used in Pergamos. Parchment is a former writing material made from dried and treated sheepskin, goatskin, or other animal hide, formerly used for books and documents. A person is supposed to marry only one person. Thus, it was expected of this Church to be married to Christ alone but the church was trying to combine God and Satan together. The church is known as:
·         The compromising church
·         The heretical church
·         The incomplete church
·         The church in bad or evil surroundings.

Attribute: Jesus introduced himself as “he that hath the sharp sword with two edges” indicating the Word of God. Thus Jesus was introducing himself as the Word. He commended them for holding fast to His name despite the fact that they were dwelling where satan’s seat was.  

Approval: The following are the things the church was commended for:
·         Their steadfastness. They kept the faith despite dwelling in a place where satan had his headquarters at that time. This means no matter the kind of evil surrounding us, we can still stand steadfast in Christ.

There were martyred for the faith. Jesus even mentioned the name of Antipas who had never been mentioned before in the whole Bible. This teaches us that God is keeping record of everything we do. We should remain consistent in whatever we are doing for God even if no one is recognizing it or encouraging us, because God is watching and it is He that will bless. Even in our secular work, God is watching and even where we think our earthly boss is not treating us fairly, we must still do the job as unto God because God will always reward us and it may not necessarily be through our boss. Jacob had his wages reduced three times when he worked for Laban, but he kept doing his work consistently and at the end God blessed him greatly making him one of the wealthiest men in his time.

Accusation: God had accusations against this Church and these accusations were:
·         Tolerance of corrupt doctrines and heresies. Anything you tolerate begins to influence you. As Christians we are supposed to be the ones influencing our environment and others. But when we allow evil doctrines and corrupt practices around us, we will ultimately be the ones to be influenced negatively. Thus we must never tolerate evil around us. You cannot prevent corrupt doctrines from spreading around but we must never harbour or encourage it.
·         Embracing the doctrine of Balaam. The doctrine of Balaam can be seen in II Peter 2:15. This practice is the practice of covetousness. Balaam’s services could easily be bought. These days, many believers think they can bypass the standard God has given. The practice of getting what you want to get at all cost. Many people are ready to help God if God cannot help them. Some people are ready to get whatever they need at all cost and as a result fall as a prey to satan. Anything God cannot give you is not your own.
·         They did not take heed to stand against the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. It was a doctrine that made immorality acceptable. We are ambassadors of Christ on this earth and we must live as such. We must not allow any corrupt doctrine influence us no matter how popular that doctrine may be. As long as it is not in line with the word of God, we must stand against it.

In the Historical Era, this church was typical of the middle age Church mixing with the world. This era was known as the Constantine era. Constantine was an emperor that in a bid to motivate his troops to battle said that he had seen a sign of the cross in his dream; and in the dream he saw a writing which said “with this sign conquer”. Many times, people look for what they can use to motivate others towards achieving their own selfish goals, thus we must be careful how we allow people influence us towards a particular course of action, lest we become like the men of Ephesus who caused uproar in the days of Paul without even knowing why they were gathered there.

In the latter years of his life, Constantine created the “Edict of Tolerance”. With this, he invited all people to join the Church irrespective of the kind of lifestyle they lived. Thus people became church goers without recourse to the kind of lives they lived, thus making the church lose its power. Some of the things introduced by Constantine were:
·         Making prayers for the dead
·         Making the sign of the cross
·         The worship of saints and angels
·         The worship of Mary
·         The doctrine of purgatory.

In the modern times, Churches that fall into this category are churches that are supported by the government. There is hardly any church that earns support from the government and still retains its cutting edge.

 Key lessons to learn from this letter:
·         The word of God must remain the standard whether it is popular or not.
·         You must mind your company and the things you tolerate.

 In as much as we must not live isolated lives, we must also be careful not to be wrongly connected, because this would lead to our destruction. We must choose carefully the friends and company we keep; choose good and godly company even for our children.
·         Know your borderline. Every relationship has its boundary and most times
when we cross our boundaries, we expose ourselves to harm. We must be able to define our relationships to differentiate between those we can call close friends and interact with and those who are just people we must relate with either by virtue of our work, environment, etc.
·         We must learn how to have contact without being contaminated. This is a necessity for every Christian because we live in a corrupt world where the whole system is corrupt. We should be able to live in this evil world without allowing the evil in the world influence us.
·         We need to learn to trust in God.

Advice, Assurance and Appeal: Jesus advised the Church to repent. He warned them that if they didn’t repent, he will come quickly and will fight against them with the sword of His mouth which is the Word. In Rev 2:17, He appealed that “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” and in the latter part of that same verse, He assured that he that “overcometh” will:
·         Be given to eat of the hidden manna
·         Be given a white stone. This was known in history to be a sign of victory.

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