A Letter to Pergamum: Seduction

Good afternoon, everybody.

This time of year, I'm always so thankful when the light is just streaming in the windows.

It just transforms this space.

If you're just joining us for the first time, welcome.

I'm Tommy.

I'm one of the pastors at Church of the Advent.

And for the last couple of weeks, we've been looking together at this amazing book in the

Bible.

It's the last book in the Bible, the book called Revelation, the Revelation of St. John.

And it's fascinating.

It is confusing.

It is at times intimidating.

There's a lot going on.

It's hard to make sense of it.

But we've been looking at this letter because it's incredibly relevant for us as the church.

Because this letter is all about, this book is all about the role of the church in God's

plan to renew the world.

Or we might put it this way.

If the Gospels tell us about the death and resurrection of Jesus, then Revelation tells

us about the death and resurrection of the church.

The book of Revelation tells us about the great wedding at the end of all time where the church

is joined to the bridegroom of Christ.

It's a grand and marvelous book.

And so we've been looking together at it, asking this question.

Who are we called to be as God's church in the world?

There are so many different kinds of churches.

What does Jesus want from us?

What does Jesus call us to focus on as His bride, as His people?

And so we've been asking that question.

This week we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 2, verses 12 to 17.

Revelation 2:12–17

The first couple of chapters of Revelation contain seven letters that Jesus writes to His church,

to His bride.

These are letters of preparation for all that is to come.

And the letter to Pergamum is particularly relevant to us because Pergamum was, in many

ways, like the Washington, D.C. of Asia.

And so we're going to look more closely at this.

And Jesus tells us two things in this letter.

First of all, He tells us about a two-pronged attack that we as the church need to be on

guard against, a two-pronged attack.

And then the second thing He shows us is He gives us a two-part promise, hope to sustain

us through all that is to come.

So let's pray, and then we'll open God's Word.

Lord, we thank You for Your Word, and it would be such a temptation to take Your Word and to

put it on a dissection table and to dissect it and to parse it out and to cut it apart

and to evaluate it.

But Lord, we need most desperately to sit under Your Word, to be on the table.

And we need Your Word to dissect us and to open up and expose those deep places where

we most need Your love and Your grace.

And so, Lord, we pray that that's what would happen tonight and that through that we might

see Your Son, Jesus Christ, the living Word, face to face.

And it's in His name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So first of all, Jesus, in this letter to the church at Pergamum, warns them and us.

These are open letters.

They're meant for all the churches.

He warns us about a two-pronged attack that we need to be on guard against.

The church faces two threats.

One is external and one is internal.

The first that we see is the threat of persecution, overt persecution.

So I'll read from verse 13.

Jesus says,

I know where you dwell, speaking to His people in Pergamum, where Satan's throne is.

Yet you hold fast to 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.

So Jesus is describing Pergamum as the place where Satan dwells, where His throne is.

Now, that's pretty strong language.

And it makes a little more sense when you understand that Pergamum was the seat of Roman power in Asia.

This was the place of Roman authority, the center of Roman authority in Asia.

And along with that, Pergamum was also the center of the imperial cult.

So these are people who worshipped their political leaders as gods.

They worshipped the emperor as a divine being.

And so that's what defines this culture in Pergamum, the worship of political power.

And so it makes sense if you think about that kind of culture, men and women who are worshipping their political leaders,

it makes sense that Christians would not be very welcome in a place like that.

Because anywhere you find a Christian community, anywhere a Christian community dwells,

they are inherently subversive to the political powers.

They're inherently subversive.

Because Christians submit to their political leaders because they are called to, they're commanded to,

and so they submit.

But their true allegiance remains with a higher king.

And they know that for now they submit.

And yet they also know that even as they submit,

they know that one day that regime will come to its end.

Its days are numbered.

And so Christians are seen as a threat to political leaders,

especially totalitarian leaders.

Christians are subversive.

Subversive.

And so they are persecuted.

And here we see that the persecution has gotten quite fierce,

and one person has actually been violently killed as a result of this antipathy.

And so Jesus says,

you're facing persecution, and yet he commends them.

He says, you're holding fast to the faith.

You're staying faithful even in the midst of overt persecution.

So he's encouraging them.

So that's the external threat, persecution.

But what really concerns Jesus, and the focus of this letter,

is the other attack, the internal threat,

the second prong of attack which we might call seduction,

or spiritual seduction.

Verse 14, he says,

But I have a few things against you.

You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam,

who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel,

so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

Now he's referring back to a specific time in Israel's history.

And as a matter of fact,

these seven letters written to the seven churches in Asia,

each letter actually corresponds to a period of time in Israel's history,

beginning with creation and going all the way through the intertestamental period.

It's pretty fascinating, actually,

when you realize that these letters are a recapitulation of Israel's story.

That's something we'll get into down the road,

but just a little preview of what's to come in Revelation.

But for now, I want to focus on the fact that

he's referring back to a specific time in Israel's past.

This is the time where they were wandering in the wilderness.

They had been in the wilderness for almost 40 years at this point,

and they had had a series of great military victories in Canaan.

And so the king of Moab is named Balak,

and he sees what's happening with Israel,

and he's afraid, and I think rightfully afraid,

that the Israelites are going to come for him next.

And he realizes that he needs to do something

because it doesn't look like he's going to be able to defeat them

if they decide to attack.

And so he sends word to a man named Balaam.

And Balaam is a pagan prophet.

And Balak sends word to Balaam and says,

Hey, I'm going to pay you a bunch of money

if you come where I am,

and I want you to curse my enemies.

I want you to curse Israel and weaken them

so they're no longer a threat to me and I can defeat them.

And this is a fascinating story.

We don't have time to get into all the details.

But the short version is Balaam agrees,

and he comes to curse Israel,

and he goes out and he looks upon Israel,

and he goes to speak a curse.

But instead of a curse,

a blessing comes out.

And he blesses them.

And he's confused, and Balak is furious.

So Balak says, What are you doing?

And he says, Let's try again.

And so he takes them to another place.

He says, All right, there's Israel.

Curse them.

And he says, Okay.

And he goes to curse them again.

And again, he blesses them.

So Balak gets even more angry.

And so Balak says, A third time.

Let's try one more time.

Let's go to another place.

So they go to another high place.

They look down on Israel,

and for a third time,

Balaam blesses the people that he's been paid to curse.

And so Balak is furious.

And he says, I paid you all this money,

and you've blessed my enemy three times.

Now they're stronger.

And what we find out later in Numbers chapter 31

Numbers 31 · chapter mention

is that Balaam responds,

and he says, Okay, the overt attack is not going to work on these people.

But I've got a plan.

Seduce them.

Seduce them with idol worship.

Seduce them with sensuality.

Seduce them, and then they'll fall apart from the inside.

And in fact, that attack is quite devastating.

And so by referring to this,

what Jesus is saying to the church is,

he's saying this,

he's saying the real danger that we face

in a place like D.C.

is not external.

The real threat is not the secularization of the West.

Right?

The real threat is not limits to religious freedom.

The real threat is not the social rejection

that we might experience by our neighbors and coworkers.

Now these are important issues,

and some of you work on issues like religious freedom.

So they're important,

but that's not the real threat to the church.

The real threat is not external.

It is internal,

from the inside out.

It's like termites in your home.

The real threat is the spiritual seduction

to idol worship.

And there are a couple of things

that this shows us that we need to see

about the seductive power of idols.

The first thing that we can see is this,

that the spiritual seduction that we're talking about

is not something that happens through our intellect.

It happens through our body

and how we use our body.

So in verse 14,

Jesus mentions eating food sacrificed to idols,

and He mentions sexual immorality.

And the word that is translated sexual immorality

is actually a broad word

that can mean indulging in your lusts,

any one of your lusts,

in a kind of unlawful way.

And so the focus here is on bodily indulgence.

And so the issue is not simply

that these things are wrong or bad

or they're on God's list of things

that we should avoid.

The real issue and the real concern,

and this is the insight that the Bible gives us,

that you're not going to find

in a lot of other places.

Here's what it tells us,

is that the way we use our bodies,

what we do with our bodies,

is tremendously important.

That most of us don't realize

that our bodies are actually the gateway

to our hearts and to our desires.

And what we do with our bodies,

particularly the repeated habits

and patterns and rituals

that we live within day in and day out,

those have a massive formative impact

on our hearts and on our desires.

Our bodies are the gateway to our hearts.

And so what happens is,

over time,

as we unthinkingly,

unthinkingly and uncritically

imbibe the pleasures of a culture,

we come to love the idols of that culture.

When we are uncritically

enjoying the pleasures of a culture,

we can very easily come to love

the idols of that culture.

Right?

So people hear about idol worship

and they think,

well, what's the big deal?

I would never worship an idol.

You know,

the idea of worshiping an idol

in this day and age

feels very primitive

and ancient

and pagan

and weird.

And people say,

well, I would never do that.

But the problem

with that way of thinking is,

we are assuming

that idol worship

is an intellectual decision

that we make.

We're treating it

like we treat all religion,

including Christianity.

We're treating it

as though it's just a belief system

that we decide to adopt intellectually.

And the truth of the matter

is it has very little to do with that.

It's not something that happens

at the level of consciousness.

Idol worship is much more subtle than that.

It happens in us

without us realizing.

And most of the time,

you realize it only when you look back.

It's in retrospect

that you look back

and you realize

how much an idol

has taken hold of your heart.

Right?

So I never consciously chose

to worship the idol of consumerism.

You know,

I didn't look at that belief system

and say,

that looks pretty good.

I think I'll sign up for that.

You know,

I mean,

what happens, right?

I just got used to

and started to like the fact

that I could go to the grocery store

and there were like,

you know,

600 different salad dressings

I could choose from.

You know,

or I just got used to the fact

that there are,

you know,

1,500 different churches

that I can choose from

that will exactly meet me

and do exactly

what I want them to do.

And I just started

to get used to the fact

that I could just swipe left

or right on human beings.

You know,

I got used to being able

to customize my order

at Chipotle.

I got used to listening

to my music with Spotify

and then I just started to

think that the rest of my life

should work like Spotify.

So we just sort of become

idolatrous without even knowing it.

It just sort of sinks in

on an unconscious level.

So that's the first thing

is that idol worship

is not something

that's an intellectual decision.

It happens through our bodies

and the way we use our bodies.

It's very pre-conscious,

subconscious.

The second thing

that we need to see

about this seductive power

of idolatry is this.

Not only do idols tear us away

from the God who made us,

but idol worship gives rise

to all kinds of beliefs

and practices

that devalue

and dehumanize people.

So you look at any culture,

you look at any culture,

and you look at the beliefs

and practices

in that culture

that devalue

and dehumanize people,

and chances are

behind those beliefs

and practices

you will find idol worship.

Right?

So the Canaanites,

the reference in our passage

to the Canaanites,

they regularly practiced

child sacrifice to Baal.

And the reason they did that

is because in their culture,

fertility was an idol.

They had come to worship fertility.

Good weather,

abundant crops,

lots of kids,

that was their idol.

And it makes sense

in a world that they lived in

why fertility would matter.

But it wasn't just a good thing,

it had become an ultimate thing,

and it was worth any sacrifice.

It was worth whatever it took

to guarantee fertility.

It was worth sacrificing

the life of your child.

That's what it took.

Right?

So there was an idol

underneath this

dehumanizing practice.

But every culture

has examples like this.

Right?

So you see

some cultures

around the world

still practice stoning.

We say,

well, how in the world

could anybody do that?

Well,

underneath that practice

you find

that family honor

has become an idol.

To have honor

and to have a good name

as a family

is a good thing,

but that's become

an ultimate thing.

And when that's

the ultimate thing,

it's worth any price

to maintain that honor.

And so you have practices

like stoning that result.

Some cultures

treat foreigners

with contempt,

and they treat other people

who are of different races

or ethnicities

with contempt.

They're unwelcome.

And under that

you see the idol

of nationalism.

Right?

So these idols exist

and they give rise

to all kinds

of dehumanizing,

destructive beliefs

and practices.

Now,

now think about

our own culture.

And I just spent

a little time

thinking this week

about what are the issues

that people

in our church

have been discussing

with me.

What are the concerns

that people

have talked about

with me?

And I just,

you know,

a few examples

just from the last

couple of weeks.

Number one,

the fact that we ship

millions of tons

of waste overseas

to some of the poorest

countries in the world

who have no ability

to deal with

or process our waste,

including e-waste.

And we're literally

burying communities

of the poor

in our garbage.

Or the reality

of divorce.

You know,

there's been some

really painful

struggles recently.

People I know

struggling,

fighting to save

marriages,

people wanting

to walk out.

And what you realize

is, again and again,

you see people

who abandon

their spouse

and abandon

their children

because they're

looking for

personal fulfillment

elsewhere.

Or look at

gentrification.

Just this past week,

some of us got together

and had a very hard

conversation about

gentrification.

And you know,

gentrification is

a mixed bag.

And yet,

what we see

is that all too often

development,

urban development

happens with no

regard for justice.

And all too often,

the poor are the

ones who suffer

and are dislocated,

ejected from their

communities that they

grew up in.

Think about the

ongoing reality

of abortion.

A lot of people

in our church

have been very

concerned about

the legislation

that is being

pushed and passed

around abortion.

We've talked a lot

about the Me Too

movement and what

that has exposed

in our society.

This pattern of

men in power

abusing that power

to sexually assault

and take advantage

of women.

And you think about

all of these issues

and they all seem

unrelated and yet

I want to ask you

this, what do all

those issues have

in common?

They all have

something in common.

See, people on the

left are concerned

about some of these

issues.

People on the right

are concerned

about some of

these issues

and yet all of

these issues

have the same

core cause.

They are all

rooted in idol

worship and in

fact it's the same

idol across the

board.

It's I think one

of the most

powerful and

seductive idols

of American

culture which is

the idol of

radical individualism.

It gives rise

to all of these

and in every case

you see beliefs

and practices

that are devaluing

and dehumanizing

people.

Beliefs and practices

that are declaring

some people are

more important

than other people.

Some lives are

more important

than other lives.

This is the symptom

that lets us know

that there is an

idol at work.

And so here's the

thing.

It is much easier

to spot the idols

in someone else's

culture than it is

your own.

We are almost

completely blind

to the idols

that we are

enthralled to.

And this is the

brilliance of

Balaam's strategy

because he says

here's what Balaam

is really saying

and here's what

Jesus is worried

about.

Balaam is saying

if I can't curse

the Israelites

what I can do

is trick them

into cursing

themselves

because that's

what idol worship

really is.

When we give

ourselves to an

idol we are

cursing ourselves.

We're giving

ourselves to

something that

will destroy us

and rob us

of our humanity.

So this is why

Jesus in this

passage comes

with the sharp

two-edged sword

as it says in

verse 16

the sword of

his mouth.

Because only

God's word

is able to

cut through

and pierce

our hearts

and expose

the idols

that have

colonized us.

Only when you

hold your life

up next to

God's word

and when you

compare

your reality

and your

experience

and your

priorities

and your

loves

and your

desires

with God's

word

with God's

calling

with God's

description

of what a

human being

is and what

we're here to

do.

When you begin

to make that

comparison you

begin to

realize how

far off the

rails we

have gone.

And so

Jesus warns

us about the

two-pronged

attack of

persecution on

the one hand

and seduction

on the other

and while we

might be able

to resist

persecution

we can easily

be taken in

by the idols

of our age.

And yet Jesus

doesn't leave us

in this place

he also gives us

a promise

and it's an

amazing

two-part

promise.

Verse 17

he says this

to the one

who conquers

I will give

some of the

hidden manna

and I will

give him a

white stone

with a new

name written

on the stone

that no one

knows except

the one who

receives it.

So let me just

explain these

images so we

understand what's

happening here.

First he says

I'm going to

give the one

who conquers

hidden manna.

Now what's

that?

Well again

this is referring

us back to the

time when Israel

was in the

wilderness.

When they were

in the wilderness

they were

starving and

so God

sustains them

with manna

right?

Bread that

comes from the

sky and

God instructs

his people to

take some of

this bread from

heaven and to

put it in a jar

and to put that

jar in the ark

of the covenant.

Hide the manna

away.

No one is allowed

to touch it.

Not even the

priests are allowed

to touch the

hidden manna

because God

says this is for

future generations.

You're going to

save some of this

for future generations

so that they

know and remember

that I'm the

Lord your God

who brought you

out of Egypt

and set you

free.

Right?

So it's set apart

for future generations.

So what is

Jesus saying?

He's saying to

his church,

he's saying to

us, that hidden

manna that was

set apart so long

ago, that's for

you.

It was for you.

He had you in

mind when he set

it aside to begin

with.

And Jesus is

saying to the

one who conquers,

you will eat of

that manna,

that heavenly bread.

And you know

again, we every

week we can't

come to this

table and we

eat the bread

that comes from

heaven.

We eat not just

bread and wine,

but we eat the

body of Christ,

the blood of

Christ.

He sustains us

within himself,

the hidden

manna.

And the promise

that Jesus gives

is that we will

eat this meal

together every

time we gather

until that great

wedding supper of

the Lamb.

And so the

invitation corresponds

to the warning

that we saw a few

minutes ago.

Right?

We talked about

how our appetites

and our desires

can lead us to be

seduced by idols.

And they

dehumanize us.

And Jesus is

saying if you can

hold out, if you

can resist the

seductive power of

idols and instead

of trying to get

nourished, instead

of trying to get

your needs met

there, eat the

bread that comes

from heaven.

Eat the food that

doesn't dehumanize

you but rehumanizes

you.

Come to the table

and eat a meal that

will make you more

truly and fully

human.

That's the invitation.

The hidden manna,

it was set aside,

it's for you.

Come and eat.

And then the second

promise Jesus makes

concerns a white

stone.

He says you'll be

given a white stone

with your name on it.

And again, this

points us back to the

wilderness.

We remember that the

high priest, the high

priest of the people

of Israel had a breast

plate.

And on that breast

plate, there were

stones and on each

stone was a name of

one of the twelve

tribes of Israel.

And so Jesus is

saying, I am the

great high priest and I

have a stone with each

of your names on it.

And you know, when the

Bible talks about your

name, it's not just

talking about phonetics,

right?

The Bible is talking

about your entire

character, your entire

personality, your

identity.

And so Jesus is saying,

I have a stone with

your true name on it,

with your true identity

written on it.

And so the invitation

is when we come to

him, we are given

that stone, we are

given that name and

that identity.

And so again, it's an

invitation away from

idols.

He says if you give

yourself to an idol,

that idol will

dehumanize you.

It will rob you of

your identity.

It will convince you

that you're someone or

something else.

You know, this is the

great irony of idols.

If I worship beauty, if

beauty is the thing that

matters most and I want

to be attractive and I

want to be the most

beautiful person in the

room, what happens?

I will always feel ugly.

I will always feel ugly.

If I worship intelligence

and I want to be the

smartest guy in the room,

I'm going to spend every

day feeling stupid,

feeling like a fraud,

terrified that somebody's

going to find out that

I'm not as smart as they

think I am.

And on and on and on.

That's how idols work.

They convince us to

believe lies about

ourselves.

But Jesus says if you

come to me, I will give

you your true identity.

I'll give you your true

purpose.

You'll finally figure out

who you really are.

And this name is

infinitely particular.

He says no one knows

it except the one who

receives it.

And me, Jesus.

And that means that you

are infinitely particular.

And isn't that ironic?

We live in this

individualistic culture

and we think that the

way to gain a sense of

identity is to assert our

rights and to express

ourselves to the world.

And anybody who gets in

the way of that needs to

be battered down because

only I, only I can

determine who I am.

That's the road to

identity.

And Jesus says no.

If you try to keep

yourself, if you try to

define yourself and hold

on to yourself, you're

going to lose yourself.

But if you give yourself

away, if you give

yourself to me, then the

day will come when we see

each other face to face

and I will give you the

identity that you've been

looking for your whole

life and it will make

sense.

And you will know that

you are so infinitely

particular that there

never has been nor will

there ever be anyone

quite like you.

You know, I was just

recently at a gathering

celebrating the life of

Fred Rogers.

And somebody talked about

the power of that message

that Mr. Rogers would

always talk about how

unique and how special

each child was.

What was interesting is

this is a room full of

adults.

But as this person

described that message,

the adults were hanging

on every word.

Right?

With bated breath.

Every single grown up

child in that room was

still longing to know

that.

I do matter to somebody.

I am infinitely

particular.

The way I'm made up

somehow has value and

meaning.

I'm not like this by

accident.

And so what Jesus is

saying is I'm going to

give you this name and

it's going to show you

that no one has ever

been like you.

No one will ever be

like you.

And what that means is

when God created the

heavens and the earth,

he had you in mind.

The world needed someone

exactly like you.

So these are the promises

that were given by Jesus.

So this is the two-pronged

attack and the two-part

promise.

The church must be on

guard not only against

persecution but also

against seduction.

The church has held up

quite well over the

centuries against

persecution.

By the way,

persecution tends to be

a good thing.

It's seduction that does

damage.

And then we have this

two-part promise.

To the one who conquers,

Jesus will sustain us

with his own body

and he will give to each

of us our true name.

So let me ask you this

final question as we

prepare to pray and move

on with our service.

as you think about your

own life, and you know,

I've done a lot of

thinking this week.

I think, you know, I

just, I don't think I've

experienced that much

direct persecution.

You know, maybe some

here and there, but I

mean, nothing like what

the Bible talks about

and you think, is

persecution really that

big a deal?

I really haven't

experienced that much.

And here, if we're

reading this passage,

here's what I think we

need to ask ourselves.

If I look at my life

and I'm totally honest,

is there anything in my

life worth persecuting?

Is there anything in my

life worth persecuting?

Or have I been so seduced,

so taken in?

Is my faith so

compartmentalized and

privatized and squishy

and compromising and

perpetually agnostic that

it's not worth time and

energy to persecute?

That's a hard question,

but I think we need to

reflect on that.

But here's the hope that

if there's anyone here who

does desire to stand in

the faith and the hope of

Jesus Christ, if there's

anyone here who does

desire to be the one who

conquers, as this passage

talks about, this is why

the gospel is such good

news.

Because, you know, in the

days of Balaam and

Balak, when the Israelites

were taken in with idol

worship, you know how they

put a stop to it?

Phinehas, the priest,

realizes what's going on.

He goes, he gets a spear,

he comes up to one of the

Israelites, and he jams the

spear through him.

He kills him.

And that puts a stop to it

right quick.

But we realize that Jesus

is the greater Phinehas.

He's the greater priest.

He's the true high priest.

And that when Jesus saw his

people totally taken in by

idols, and when Jesus saw his

people utterly compromised and

seduced and inert and

spiritually dead, he didn't

take up a spear and threaten

his people with a spear.

In fact, he allowed himself to

be killed by a spear and by

nails on the cross at Calvary.

And because of that, anyone who

comes to Jesus in faith, no

matter how compromised or how

seduced you may feel that you

have become, if you come to

Jesus in faith, if you ask for

his forgiveness, and if you ask

for him to spiritually strengthen

you, he will do that.

He will forgive you and he will

set you free.

Because the truth of the matter is

that Jesus Christ is the one who

conquers.

He's the one who has conquered.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.