Pergamum: The Church of Subtle Compromise

As I've noted each week, the literary structure of the seven sermons in these two chapters creates what we call a chiasm.

Chiasm, meaning that the content of each sermon, it narrows in its scope and focus and then broadens back out again.

In fact, we may, do I have this, Becky, on the screen? Does it look like it has an X and maybe the different names of the churches?

There you go, there, now you can see it again.

You can see kind of the, so chiasm, as we talked about in that first message, chiasm comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X.

And so it narrows in its scope of content and then it broadens back out again.

That's what's happening with these seven sermons and the way that they are organized for us.

And that's helpful to our understanding.

As we thought about Ephesus just a couple of weeks ago, the parallel to Ephesus would be Laodicea, which has very similar issues.

Last week we considered Smyrna, which has a parallel of the church in Philadelphia, which are the only two churches that do not have complaints from Jesus or corrections.

They're the only two healthy churches, we would assume, among the seven.

And now we get this morning to Pergamum, which initiates a section in the center of this chiasm that groups three churches together.

And these three churches, what we find as we read through them, are all at various stages of decline.

And their order seems to present a progression that moves from bad to worse to worst.

You can consider, you can read through the whole thing later this afternoon if you want, but let me just summarize it for you.

Pergamum has adopted a subtle or infant form of compromise.

It did not fully embrace error.

It did not fully embrace false teaching or immorality, but it was tolerating members in the church that did.

And what we find as we move through these three churches, the common sin is this sin of compromise.

So what we find in Pergamum is kind of this subtle infant compromise.

Then as we move to Thyatira, we find that they were much more blatant and open in their compromise.

So that the church as a whole generally was embracing false teaching and ungodliness.

Then we move to the third church in the grouping, that's Sardis.

And the condition of Sardis' compromise is such that Jesus just simply says that they are dead.

They're dead.

With the exception of just a few faithful members in the church who are remaining faithful to the Lord and to the gospel,

the church ultimately was full of unbelievers.

And we see this progression.

We're going to focus in on this thought and this progression over the next three weeks.

The commonality is compromised, but there's different levels of compromise in each church.

And what we find is that if in Pergamum, if we are a Pergamene type church and we don't repent of that and we don't move away from that subtle compromise,

ultimately we become a Thyatira church, which eventually is going to lead to a Sardis church, a dead church, an unbelieving church.

And so a Pergamene spirit will set a church very quickly on the trajectory of spiritual death.

And that's the warning that we heed as we come here.

Now, the sermon to Pergamum has an overall tone of judgment.

Jesus is the righteous judge here, and he is warning them that compromising truth and godliness

under pressure from the world or as a result of our sinful flesh will incur his righteous judgment.

So not only are we to remain faithful in belief in behavior,

but we must lovingly correct and discipline those who are not.

And so there's a very specific instruction that we begin to see unfold in this sermon to this church.

And as with every church, Jesus provides a promise so that the overall tone may be judgment, but it's not all judgment.

He provides in the conclusion a really wonderful promise here that we will get to,

that the benefits of being faithful to Christ far exceed anything that this world has to offer.

So then we are to be motivated then, not only by the reality of Christ's judgment as the righteous judge,

that great eschatological judge and king who will return to judge the world,

but we are to be motivated by the glorious promise that he gives to all who conquer,

to all who conquer in his name.

And just as a side, this should be the nature of our tone in evangelism.

Julie and I were, I don't know if it was, I don't know where she found it,

but she was watching this video of someone the other day that essentially,

I know what they were trying to say, but essentially they were condemning those who would come to Christ

merely out of a fear of going to hell.

Hell.

And I hate that.

And I hate it for this reason.

Because Jesus talks about hell so much.

He talks about judgment so much.

And the reason is because the judgment that is to come for unbelievers

is to motivate their repentance and their turning to Christ.

Now in our evangelism, if all we ever talk about is hell,

and we never talk about the goodness of God and the graciousness of Jesus

and the prize and the treasure that Jesus is, there's a problem in that.

But if we're always only emphasizing the treasure that is Jesus

and we never warn of hell, there's a problem in that as well.

There's a balance to it, isn't there?

We are motivated not only by the judgment of Christ,

we are motivated by the promise of Christ.

That's the full gospel.

And as we come to this particular sermon to the church at Pergamum,

we find this balance in the words of Jesus.

He is the righteous judge who will come

and he threatens judgment for all who do not follow him.

But he is also a gracious savior

who promises the hidden manna, eternal life and salvation

for all who do conquer through him.

And that's the balance of the sermon as we go.

Let's consider first the church identity and Christ title.

Look with me at verse 12.

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write,

the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

Many cities have a unique identity in the world.

If I were to mention your first thoughts

that maybe come to mind when I say Las Vegas, Nevada,

probably the first thing that comes to your mind

is not its proximity to the Grand Canyon or the Hoover Dam.

That might be in the mix,

but it's probably not your first thought.

Well, it comes to your mind.

Well, it's known as Sin City.

It's the place where many people go

to live out some sort of debauchery

that they hope doesn't follow them home.

And that's what we think about.

It's known for being an adult playground, so to speak.

Paris is the city of love.

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world.

Salt Lake City would be the heart of Mormonism.

Many big cities like this, they have a personality.

They have an identity that people generally know them by.

Pergamum had such an identity.

In the Roman province of Asia, at this time in its history,

Pergamum was known for its pluralistic religion.

It was the religious capital of the region.

And if you lived there, in Asia that is, during the first century,

you would have most likely thought of Pergamum as a melting pot of religion.

That was what its identity was.

It contained a plethora of religious landmarks.

Civil life in the city was permeated by pagan ritualism.

And what I mean by that is that it would be impossible

to go about the routine task of life in Pergamum

without witnessing or engaging with pagan ritualism,

pagan forms of worship.

It really was constraining in their culture.

It went so deeply in their culture that it touched everything that they did.

And so we're going to come back to that in just a moment.

So let's just move on to the Christ title now.

Jesus refers to himself here as the one who has the sharp two-edged sword.

The sharp two-edged sword.

Now remember, this is not John's estimation of who Jesus is.

This is Jesus' self-revelation.

He tells John, write this to the pastor of the church in Pergamum.

Here's who I am to this church.

Here's how they should think of me at this point.

I am the one with the sharp two-edged sword.

The sword in that culture symbolized authority, power,

especially as it relates to punishment.

And the New Testament uses this imagery as a result.

Romans chapter 13, you'll remember Paul writing about

Romans 13 · chapter mention

the Christian relationship to government.

He says, would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?

Then do what's good, and you will receive his approval.

For he's God's servant for your good.

But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.

So when this type of language was used,

it was automatically going to be associated with power,

authority, and pending punishment from that authority.

And that the sword is sharp and two-edged means that it is effective,

fully capable of inflicting swift and total punishment

by whoever it is that wields it.

And Jesus says, the way that I want Pergamum to think of me

is as the one who wields the sharp two-edged sword.

And early readers would have immediately recognized this

as a contrast to Rome.

And it's really what sets the tone for the rest of the sermon.

Rome carried a tremendous sort of power.

But in Jesus' words here, it was nothing compared to the authority of Christ.

Rome threatened a harsh judgment in this life,

but Jesus is that eschatological judge

before whom every man and woman and boy and girl

will have to stand in judgment.

And the fact that Jesus uses this title here

and in the consequence formula of verse 16

shows how serious of a matter

this issue of subtle compromise truly is.

This is the sin in the church.

And he says, now I want you to think of me

as the one with the sword.

And the question we are forced to ask at this point is,

which sword do we respect most?

The sword of Rome or the sword of Christ?

Either our fear of persecution will weaken our faith

and diminish our fear of God,

or our fear of God will strengthen our faith

and cause us to stand boldly in the face of hardship

for the name of Christ.

That's what's at play here.

This was a very serious issue.

This was confronting the church in Pergamum

every single day of their lives.

Will we fear most the sword of Rome

or the sword of God, the sword of Christ?

Of course, Jesus tells us in Matthew 10,

do not fear those who kill the body,

but cannot kill the soul.

Rather fear him who can destroy both soul

and body in hell.

So Jesus very clearly tells us what it is,

is the right decision in those moments.

And that's what he's gonna begin to work through here

in this sermon to Pergamum.

Well, that's the identity in Christ's title.

Let's consider now the commendation from Christ

in verse 13.

The commendation.

Read it with me.

I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.

Yet you hold fast my name,

and you did not deny my faith,

even in the days of Antipas,

my faithful witness,

who was killed among you,

where Satan dwells.

I know where you dwell, Jesus says.

I know, I know.

And this is in the context of commendation.

Have you ever suffered through a season of life

and felt the comfort of someone

who just simply acknowledged your struggle?

There was nothing really that they could offer you.

They couldn't really change your circumstance.

But just in the way that they approached you

or talked with you or prayed with you

or whatever it may have been,

you just kind of felt seen

and a little bit understood.

And that was enough to kind of give you

a comforting pick-me-up

to continue on in your perseverance.

I hope you've experienced that before.

And can you imagine if that's the experience we have

when there is a human comfort in our lives

that God sends?

What kind of comfort must this be

to the church in Pergamon

when they hear from their Lord and Savior?

When he just says and he makes this statement,

I know, I know.

I've talked with Terry about this a number of times

in different circumstances that we face in life,

how comforting it is just sometimes to know

that Jesus knows.

He is aware of what we're facing.

He's aware of our struggle.

There's a sense of comfort that comes

just from those words.

And surely the church in Pergamon

felt that comfort from the Lord.

He was well aware of how difficult it was

to be a Christian in that city.

And he commended them on being faithful to the gospel,

even when facing extreme persecution.

The church had, as a whole,

held fast to the name of Jesus, he says,

and they refused to abandon the faith.

They are confronted day by day

with that question of the sword.

Will we follow Rome or will we follow Christ

when those two things conflict together?

And over and over, this church in Pergamon

had said, no, we will follow Christ.

We will not abandon the name of Christ.

We will be faithful.

And Jesus commends them.

Let's consider for just a moment

the magnitude of this perseverance in Pergamon.

The fact that Pergamon is the religious capital

or was the religious capital of Asia

is what merits this description

that it is the place where Satan's throne is.

Do you see it there in verse 13?

Again, I know where you dwell,

where Satan's throne is.

I mentioned there were a number

of religious landmarks in the city.

It was the home to the Asclepius Healing Center,

named after the Greek god of healing, Asclepius.

Mythology portrayed this god as a snake.

You will be familiar with his symbol

because it's still the symbol

used in the medical world today.

It's a staff with a serpent intertwined around it.

The heart of this type of mythological religion

was in Pergamon.

There was a healing center there.

People would travel from all over

to come and pray to this god.

They would go into this temple scenario

where snakes were kept

and they would lay

and snakes would come along them

and they would hope that

that some type of healing

would be transferred to them

through their worship to this god

as he passed on this healing property

through the elements connected to this temple.

Now, I don't care how sick I am.

I'm never gonna lay down

and let snakes crawl all over me.

I'd just rather die, I think.

But this is in Pergamon.

This place is right in the...

But it's not the only thing that's in Pergamon.

Also in Pergamon is an enormous altar to Zeus,

that great Greek god of gods.

It was massive.

It was known as the Zeus savior.

It was a place of pagan religion and worship

and everything that comes along with that

right there in the heart of Pergamon.

But perhaps the most important religious site

at the time was this temple

to the imperial cult of Rome,

the place where Romans would go

to actually worship their Caesars.

Now, we talked about last week in Smyrna,

Smyrna's loyalty to Rome

had actually granted it the possibility

of a temple of its own to the imperial cult,

but it was the second temple in the area.

The primary one was in Pergamon.

Why?

Because this is the religious capital.

If you were gonna set up a temple somewhere

for your religion in that day and age,

it would have been Pergamon.

So Pergamon, the city,

is somewhat of a microcosm

of the pluralistic ideas of Roman religion.

But there is a tremendous irony in all of this

because what Jesus goes on to say

is that in the midst of this pluralism,

this tolerance for multiple religions,

there is this intolerance for Christianity.

That's the irony, isn't it?

Romans didn't care who you worshiped.

They didn't care if you worship Jesus.

Their problem was the exclusivity claims of Christianity.

They didn't mind adding more and more gods

to their set of religions.

What they didn't tolerate

was to take away any gods from their set of religions.

And then Jesus and Christianity comes on the scene

and Christians begin to preach the gospel

that says there is only one God

and there is only one Lord

and it's not Caesar.

It's Jesus.

And unless you repent and believe in him,

you're gonna be judged by him

and you're gonna spend eternity in hell.

That was the message.

That was the intolerance.

So this ultimately religious tolerant society

is intolerant of intolerance.

Remember also that Roman religion

was not based in doctrine,

but ritual.

That's really what they cared about.

It wasn't so much what you believed.

They didn't care so much about your religious position.

They cared about your religious participation.

Participation.

That's what they really, really mattered to them

because to them, the culture

and the way that the city

and the culture would worship

had something to do with

how the God would treat the city as a whole.

Participation in their forms of worship

was important culturally for them.

And as I said earlier,

daily life in a place like Pergamum

was saturated with pagan practices.

A faithful Christian would stick out

like a sore thumb in that city.

It would not take very long

for you to draw attention.

Maybe not even necessarily

because of what you're doing

or what you're saying,

but because of what you're not doing

and what you're not saying.

And the context led to this devastating moment

in the church's history.

Jesus talks about Antipas,

the faithful witness.

We don't know much about him.

Tradition says that he was

a faithful Christian leader in Pergamum

who suffered an excruciatingly torturous death

because of his faith.

Like extremely torturous.

You can look it up on your own later.

And as we read in verse 13,

we get this idea

that Antipas' death

was not only shocking,

but it was perhaps sudden.

Maybe this was the first real martyrdom

that this church had experienced.

That he was killed,

as Jesus says,

among them where Satan dwells

indicates that perhaps

some of the people in the church

were present

at one of the specific

religious landmarks in the city.

And that's where Antipas

suddenly was taken

and executed before them.

Now, can you imagine

having to be a witness

to the torture and execution

of a beloved brother

or sister in Christ,

knowing

that all eyes are now set on you.

And that if you refuse

to do what they want,

as far as their pagan practices

are concerned,

you're the one that's going to have

to face that type of death next.

That's what Pergamum was up against.

That's what they're dealing with.

And Jesus commends them.

He says,

but you've held fast

to the name of Jesus.

You have not abandoned my faith.

He says,

and he commends them greatly on this.

Of course,

the religious irony of Pergamum

is just as prevalent today.

We live in a deeply pluralistic,

albeit secular,

culture

that is tolerant

of every possible belief

and behavior

except the one

that isn't tolerant.

And if you're going to live

as a faithful Christian

in this world

and if you're going to live

as a faithful Christian

in this city,

you're going to have to remain

steadfast in the faith

and there's no way

you're going to be able

to hide that.

You won't be able to hide it.

At some point,

you'll have to face

the same question

that the Pergamum people faced.

will we care more

about the sword of Christ

or the sword of Rome?

Let's consider the complaint here.

Verse 14,

I have a few things against you,

Jesus says.

You have some there

who hold the teaching of Balaam,

who taught Balak

to put a stumbling block

before the sons of Israel

so that they may eat food,

sacrifice to idols,

and practice sexual immorality.

So also,

you have some

who hold the teaching

of the Nicolaitans.

So despite the commendation,

a serious problem

is developing in Pergamum here.

Though they had been faithful before,

they were beginning

to cultivate a subtle,

doctrinal,

and moral compromise.

Now the church as a whole

is not embracing

idolatry and immorality.

That's not at all

the indication that we get here.

It's not that they're all

participating in these things,

but they weren't shutting

the door to it either.

That was the problem.

They'd let their guard down,

and they'd let their guard down

by allowing some people

in the church

to adopt these sinful practices

and beliefs

without consequence.

So the issue,

the compromise there,

is not that the whole church

is erring,

it's that they are tolerating error

without confronting it

in the church itself.

Now we first hear

about the Nicolaitans

in Jesus' sermon

to the church in Ephesus.

There's not a lot

that we know about this group either,

but essentially,

their teaching was

seducing Christians

to participate in idolatry

and in sexual immorality

while also trying to maintain

a Christian identity.

Okay?

Now you can put two and two together

as to how we face this

even still today.

Here there's teaching

that's creeping its way

into the church,

into the Christian circles,

and it's saying

you can still be a Christian

and do this

and think this

and tolerate this.

That's the teaching

of the Nicolaitans essentially.

And there were some people

in Pergamum

who are beginning

to adopt this teaching.

They're beginning

to hold to it.

They're participating

in idolatry

and in sexual immorality

and they think it's fine.

And in the midst

of all of that,

they're trying to still

maintain a Christian identity.

And Jesus comes in

and he confronts this

and he says,

no, this isn't actually possible.

This is a sin.

This is a problem.

And this Old Testament illustration

that Jesus uses

for the Nicolaitans

is helpful to us.

You can read all about Balaam

and Balak

in the book of Numbers

this afternoon.

And I would encourage you

actually to do it.

It's a fascinating story.

Balaam was known

for being a pagan prophet.

People believe

that he had this ability

to speak to them

on behalf of the gods.

But he was a mercenary prophet.

He would speak

on behalf of whatever God's people

were paying him

at the precise moment.

You will recognize Balaam

probably not so much

for anything

that a god said through him,

but for what the god,

the one true god,

said through his donkey.

Remember Balaam's donkey.

And what's the point of that?

Well, the point of it,

what it tells us,

is that God can speak

through anybody.

He doesn't only speak

through believers.

He speaks through unbelievers.

He speaks through animals,

apparently.

He can speak through anything

that he wants to speak.

And then this story

begins to unfold

with Balaam and Balak,

who was the king of Moab.

Now, he's the king of Moab

during the wilderness

wandering years of Israel.

And Balak hired Balaam

specifically to pronounce a curse

on the nation of Israel.

He was terrified of them,

as everybody was.

And he promises Balaam

an exorbitant amount of money

and pleasure

if he would pronounce this curse.

And as the story unfolds,

it just doesn't work.

Every time Balaam

tries to pronounce a curse,

God changes it to a blessing.

And so Balak and Balaam

get frustrated.

They go to multiple places

and it doesn't work.

And so that's the end

of the story there

until Balaam comes up

with a different solution.

And he tells Balak,

here's what you need to do.

You need to get

the most beautiful women

in Moab

and you need to put them out front

and you need to send them

into the camp of Israel

to seduce the young men

of Israel.

And if they'll seduce

the young men,

they'll end up marrying

these women

and you will be able

to assimilate Israel

into your nation

and you will be king

over both.

You see, it's not so much

a blatant form of compromise

as it is a subtle one

in Balaam's plan here.

And it worked.

They put the most beautiful

Moabite women out there.

Many young men go,

according to the scripture,

using language of the scripture,

go whoring after them

and after their idols.

They begin to participate

in the sexual immorality

that comes along

with pagan worship of idols.

And as a result,

God judges the nation

and 24,000 men in Israel

are killed by a plague

that God sends.

It's a massive statement.

It's the same statement

that Jesus is making

to Pergamum

because the Nicolaitans

are doing the same thing

Balaam was doing.

They were seducing

with their teaching

Christians

to try to maintain

a Christian identity

while participating

in sexual immorality

and idolatry

in cultural worship.

And what Jesus is saying,

and we'll get to this again

in just a moment,

but what Jesus is saying

is I'm going to come

and those who are doing this

are going to be destroyed.

Just like the 24,000

in Israel were destroyed,

so will these people

be destroyed.

Jesus highlighted

two specific sins

that came from this teaching.

Eating food sacrificed

to idols

was a willing participation

in celebrations

and feasts

and family parties

that would take place

in these temple locations.

And these rituals,

these worship rituals,

even if it was just

for a birthday party,

there's plenty

of historical documentation

that these places would,

these things would take place

in the context

of a religious building

or in a religious worship,

and what would inevitably unfold

is all sorts of sexual sin.

And some elements

of the Nicolaitan teaching

were justifying Christian

participation in these things.

Now, whether it was

to avoid persecution

like Antipas,

or whether it was just

to satisfy their own

lustful desire,

some of these Christians

were beginning to capitulate

to these things.

And the problem

for the church

in Pergamum

was that they were

allowing it to happen.

They were allowing it

to happen.

They agreed

to disagree

on things

that we have no business

agreeing to disagree on.

They were compromising,

and Jesus was prepared

to judge the church

for the compromise.

Now, finding the modern parallel

to this is not hard.

Our culture worships

at the altar

of expressive individualism.

That, essentially,

I am my own God.

I determine my own identity.

I determine who I am,

what I'll worship,

what I'll do,

and how I'll live.

That is our cultural,

secular form of worship.

And it is always bound up

in some type of sexual sin.

And in our day,

it's bound up

in this sexual revolution

that is embodied

most notably

in the LGBTQ plus movement.

There's no denying that.

And to live

in the United States today,

in the month of June,

in Pride Month,

in the midst of Pride Week,

is really no different

than living in Pergamum.

They don't care

if you worship Jesus.

So long as your version

of Christianity

accommodates practices

that the Bible condemns.

They're fine with a church

that's Christian.

Just make sure you put

that rainbow flag out front.

It's really no different

than what's happening

in Pergamum.

But here's the thing

about this.

This compromise

is not just about

homosexual ideas

and activities.

And we are being foolish

and deceiving ourselves

when we mercilessly

make homosexuals

public enemy number one.

Because here's the problem

of compromising

the Christian church

in the United States today.

We have been compromising

on sexual sin

long before the LGBTQ plus

movement became a thing.

What we see now

is the fruit

of the church

tolerating sex

outside of marriage

for years.

Tolerating drunkenness.

Tolerating errant views

of divorce

and remarriage.

tolerating pornographic media.

Not even in some type

of pornographic subscription.

But simply in thinking

that it's okay

to entertain ourselves

night by night

by watching explicit nudity

and sex unfold

on the TV

in front of us.

We have compromised

in this

far, far longer

before any type

of homosexual activity

became prevalent

in our churches

or in our society.

And that's certainly

a part of it.

And it's the major note

of our day

in the cultural movement

that is before us.

But it is not just about

the major cultural notes.

There are serious problems

of compromise

that are much different

than the homosexual agenda

in Christian churches today.

And there are plenty

of churches

in our area

and around

and around our world

who are not

participating in things

but they're beginning

to tolerate it

in the church.

They're agreeing

to disagree

on things

that we have

no business

agreeing to disagree on.

We are blatantly

compromising the truth

that Jesus has made

abundantly clear.

That's what Pergamum

is beginning to do.

And Jesus says

because of this toleration

not because of

what you're doing

but because of

your toleration

you need to see me now

as the one

with the sharp

two-edged sword

that is going to come

and is going to judge

all of those

who are against me.

And when we begin

to tolerate

these ideas

and practices

in our church

even if we aren't

ourselves embracing them

we forsake the truth

we abandon

the lordship of Jesus

and we invite

the judgment of God.

It doesn't mean

that we don't show

kindness and love

and even welcoming

to our events

and to our services

to people

who disagree with us.

But there is a difference

between doing that

and pretending

as if this is not

an issue at all

and welcoming

into membership

anybody who just

simply says

that they want

to be a Christian

despite whatever

their life may say.

That's what Jesus

is confronting

here in Pergamum.

Now let's look

at his correction

and his consequence

verse 16.

What's the solution?

Not culture war.

That's not the solution.

The solution

therefore

repent

if not

I will come

to you soon

and war against

them with the sword

of my mouth.

Now remember

at this point

Jesus' complaint

is that they are

tolerating people

in the congregation

that are participating

in idolatry

and immorality.

The repentance

then that Jesus

is calling the church

to

is to

discipline

those

in the church

who are holding

Nicolaitan teaching.

This is so very important

because this dynamic

of church discipline

is so absent

in churches today.

Jesus commanded it

in part

because sin

will spread

like gangrene

through a church

without it.

If we become

tolerant

of ideas

in the church

eventually

it's going to

take over.

Within a generation

or less

a passive

congregation

that is generally

faithful

will totally

abandon

the gospel

itself.

And the progression

of these three churches

is what proves it.

A Pergamum-like

church

that doesn't

repent

and discipline

wayward members

will inevitably

become a

lifeless

dead

Sardis

gospel-less

church.

Why should we

care about

this kind

of discipline?

Because if we

don't

we lose

the purity

of the church

and if we

lose the purity

of the church

we lose

the church.

The second

thing though

Jesus commands

church discipline

as a means

of pursuing

and loving

wayward

Christians

or even

the culture

at large.

When he

taught that

process of

discipline

in Matthew

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18

Jesus links

it with that

famous story

of the shepherd

who leaves

the 99

and goes

to the 100.

what is that

story about?

It's about

the pursuit

of a sinner.

It's the

pursuit

lovingly

to restore

someone

who has

left

the fold.

Church

discipline

is an

act of

love

and verse

16 shows

that very

clearly.

Look at the

difference in

the pronouns

used here.

Jesus says

he will

come to

you

the church

that second

second person

plural

he will

come to

you the

church

but he

will

war

against

them

he will

war

against

them

he'll

come

to

you

but

he'll

war

against

them

those

who

are

holding

the

Nicolaitan

teaching

and it's

in this

context

that he

says that

they are

to repent

what is it

exactly

that Jesus

wants them

to do?

Well Jesus

doesn't war

against his

own people

that's one

of the

promises

we have

he doesn't

have to

but the

one with

the

two-edged

sword

will

indeed

judge

those

who

are

not

his

true

people

and

discipline

is an

attempt

to restore

someone

to

faithfulness

so that

when Jesus

returns

they will

not be

his enemy

he will

not be

at war

with them

that's

really

that's

the spirit

of

discipline

it's

not to

take

this

posture

of

superiority

over

someone

or to

lord

over

someone

else's

life

true

church

discipline

and the

way

that we

confront

people

that we

love

is an

act

of

love

it is

a

pursuing

of

them

so that

when the

lord

does

come

he will

not be

at war

with

them

that's

the

point

of

it

and

what's

Jesus

telling

the

program

church

to do

repent

by dealing

with the

people

in the

congregation

confront

them

in their

sin

confront

them

so that

when I

come

to

you

I

will

not

be

at war

with

!

Jim

Hamilton

says

the

process

of

discipline

is

motivated

by a

desire

to keep

Jesus

from making

war on

those

who are

holding

to false

teaching

we call

people to

repent

because we

love them

and we

want to

keep them

from

judgment

and if

they do

not

repent

we're

to follow

the steps

prescribed

in Matthew

18

because we

love

them

and want

to keep

them

from

judgment

that we

need to

be

careful

that in

the way

that we

deal

with the

people

that we

love

inside

and outside

of the

church

that our

love is

expressed

in loving

discipline

not in

subtle

compromise

we don't

call people

to repent

because we

hate them

and if

your overall

attitude

is arrogant

and hateful

almost you

know the

people that

they're almost

happy to

tell someone

they almost

take joy

in the fact

that someone

is lost

and is facing

God's wrath

I was talking

to a man

several years

ago

he's actually

dead now

but this

man several

years ago

he's talking

about going

soul winning

and he was

offended

that a person

on a doorstep

wasn't very

kind to him

and his

response to

the man

was fine

go to hell

then

so that

that's the

kind of

discipline

that Jesus

is not

encouraging

here

that's

actually

if that's

your spirit

when it

comes to

our world

and it

comes to

discipline

in the

church

you're

actually

the one

that needs

to be

disciplined

that's not

what Jesus

is dealing

with here

he's talking

about a

loving

pursuit

we discipline

because we

love them

and to

tolerate

idolatrous

and immoral

ideas

will be a

death sentence

for our

church

and the

people who

have turned

away from

the truth

because the

fact is

Jesus

is coming

and he

is coming

soon

and I

don't want

him to be

at war

with me

and I

don't want

him to be

at war

with you

either

so what

do we

do

we preach

the gospel

we bring

it back

to the

word

we love

people

through

that

let's

finish

with the

call and

conquer

verse 17

he

who

has

an

ear

let

him

hear

what

the

spirit

says

to

the

churches

to

the

one

who

conquers

I

will

give

some

of

the

hidden

manna

I

will

give

him

a

white

stone

with a

new

name

written

on

that

stone

no one

knows

except

the

one

who

receives

it

unfortunately

Jesus

never

ends

these

messages

with a

threat

he

always

concludes

with a

promise

a

promise

for the

one

who

conquers

to

conquer

is to

persevere

in

faith

not

because

you're

just

so

strong

you

persevere

in

faith

through

the

ultimate

conqueror

Jesus

he

conquers

on

your

behalf

that's

what

he

does

that's

the

measure

of

his

grace

and

in

the

context

of

Pergamum

conquering

involves

holding

fast

to

the

name

of

Jesus

and

not

abandoning

the

gospel

despite

being

immersed

in a

culture

that is

completely

opposed

to

him

it's

to

remain

faithful

to

the

Lord

remain

faithful

to

our

Savior

rather

than

finding

easy

forms

of

compromise

now

let's

look at

the

blessing

two

things

they're

kind

of

enigmatic

aren't

they

he

says

that

to

the

one

who

conquers

they

will

receive

the

hidden

manna

manna

of

course

was

the

food

God

supernaturally

sustained

Israel

with

during

the

40

years

they

wandered

in

the

wilderness

what

does

that

mean

for

us

God's

not

dropping

honey

flakes

from

the

sky

today

what

does

that

mean

well

Jesus

tells

us

what

it

means

in

John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter

6

Jesus

says

to

them

truly

truly

I

say

to

you

it

was

not

Moses

who

gave

you

the

bread

from

heaven

but

my

father

gives

you

the

true

bread

from

heaven

for

the

bread

of

God

is

he

who

comes

down

from

heaven

and

gives

life

to

the

world

and

they

said

sir

give

us

this

bread

always

and

Jesus

said

I

am

the

bread

of

life

whoever

comes

to

me

shall

not

hunger

whoever

believes

in

me

shall

not

thirst

what

does

Jesus

mean

when

he

says

to

the

one

who

conquers

I

will

give

the

hidden

manna

he

means

he

gives

himself

to

those

who

come

to

him

he

is

the

bread

of

life

you

will

never

thirst

!

again

this

promise

is

far

superior

to

even

the

threat

of

the

sword

of

judgment

it

is

wonderfully

promising

to

whoever

will

come

to

Jesus

no

matter

what

their

perspective

has

been

up

to

this

point

no

matter

what

their

sin

is

at

this

point

he

will

receive

them

and

he

will

give

them

the

bread

of

life

he

is

the

hidden

manna

that

will

sustain

his

people

for

all

of

eternity

not

for

40

years

in

a

desert

place

but

forever

and

ever

what

about

this

white

stone

then

well

this

one's

harder

a

white

stone

with

a

new

name

most

likely

refers

to

a

cultural

practice

that

would

award

athletes

or maybe

important

people

for

different

gatherings

and

celebrations

with a

token

and the

token

was a

small

white

stone

and it

would

have

the

inscription

of

a

winning

athlete's

name

on it

which

meant

that

no

one

could

have

access

to

this

banquet

unless

their

name

matched

the

token

that

they

had

only

that

person

could

use

it

it

was

their

access

that's

most

likely

what

this

white

stone

is a

reference

to

and the

name

here

is not

some

secret

code

it's

not

that

when

you

get

to

heaven

if

you're

a

believer

you're

going