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.
