A Resolute Church Needs Right Teaching (Revelation 2:12-17)

Hi, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into Newsong Churches Podcast.

We're a biblically faithful, gospel-centered Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

You can learn more about us at Newsongportperry.ca.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

Reading from Revelation chapter 2, verses 12 to 17.

Revelation 2:12–17

And to the angel of the church in Pergamon, write the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

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.

But I have a few things against you.

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 might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

So also you have some who hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans.

Therefore, repent.

If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

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, and I will give him a white stone, and with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

The word of the Lord.

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.

Let's pray.

Our minds would receive the good word that you have for us.

That Lord, you would speak to us and open our eyes to behold your truth, your goodness, your beauty.

Here in poor Perry, as in Pergamum.

So Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be always pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So as we journey through these early chapters of Revelation together, the question for us is what does Jesus have to say to his church?

This is a great place, I think, to turn in the Bible to answer that question, because Jesus is literally dictating letters to his church.

That John, who's in exile on Patmos, kind of 40 kilometers, maybe 40 miles off the coast of what's modern day Turkey, he's in exile for his confession of Christ.

And Jesus is speaking to him what he wants to share with his church.

And so it's very interesting the order.

Mike and I were just talking about this before service.

Beginning with Ephesus and then Smyrna, and today we're looking at the letter to Pergamum.

If you look at the map, if you find where Patmos, Patmos is, you'll notice Ephesus is the next major city.

And then it's like the letters are just going further and further out from there.

I mean, the idea is Jesus isn't just speaking to specific churches in a specific time in a specific day.

He is doing that, but he's doing more than that.

He's speaking to the church as it goes out from there, as it goes through all time.

He's speaking to our church today.

And he wants it known that he knows our church, he knows his church, he knows the strengths of his church, and he knows its weaknesses as well.

And because Jesus knows his church and loves his church, he wants to address his church.

And so this morning we're going to be looking at the third letter in this sequence of seven letters addressed to the church in Pergamum.

And here's what Jesus wants to say to the church in Pergamum.

A resolute church needs right teaching.

A resolute church needs right teaching.

So as we explore this letter today, I want us to consider what this means for us as Christians, and what does this mean for us as a church, if indeed we are a resolute church, which I think we are.

So turn with me, if you will, to in your order of service or in the bulletins in front of you, pardon me, the Bible's in front of you, to page 966, and we're going to be looking at Revelation 2, 12 to 17 together, this letter to Pergamum.

A resolute church needs right teaching.

So here's three questions I want us to ask.

What makes for a resolute church?

Why does a resolute church need right teaching?

And finally, what promises of Jesus strengthen the church's resolve?

Question one.

Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who is killed among you where Satan dwells.

Okay, so let me ask you this.

How does going to church in Pergamum sound to you?

Because it sounds pretty intense to me.

First, because Jesus says that it's in Pergamum where Satan's throne is.

I think I'm saying that right.

It's a god of healing, represented as a serpent.

I wonder where we've seen a serpent before.

One commentator writes this about Pergamum.

The one Jesus called the deceiver had the mind of the whole city, from politics to medicine to religion.

So going to church in Pergamum meant worshiping Christ in a city shrouded in spiritual darkness.

Second, going to church in Pergamum sounds pretty intense because being a Christian in Pergamum could cost you your life.

This was the case for Antipas, whom Jesus describes as his faithful witness, who is killed among you.

There's a real spiritual battle taking place in Pergamum.

And going to church there means taking the risk that you could be one of its casualties.

Yet despite the hellish hostility and violence that this church faces, these Christians in Pergamum have remained resolute, determined, unwavering in their commitment to Christ.

And in two crucial ways, Jesus affirms this church's resolution.

Number one, Jesus says, you hold fast to my name.

To hold fast to Jesus' name was to remain loyal to him, even especially under pressure, persecution, hostility, suffering, all of these things can cause a question cause a Christian to question his or her loyalty to Jesus, can't it?

Maybe it's done so in seasons of life like that for us.

We might ask, is the gospel worth this pain?

Is it worth this suffering?

The answer for the Christians in Pergamum was a resounding yes.

See, despite everything that this church was facing, despite its crushing losses, it has kept its trust in Jesus and not wavered from confessing him as Lord.

That's the kind of church I want to go to.

Number one, they've held fast to Jesus' name.

Number two, they did not deny Jesus' faith, or other translations might put it this way: you did not deny your faith in me.

Either way, the idea is the same.

Despite the hostility of its neighbors and the political pressure it faces, this church has not shrunk back from proclaiming the good news of Jesus who is risen again.

I suspect that even for committed Christians, whether in Pergamum or even here in Port Perry, when we face hostility, the principal temptation is not so much to abandon our faith in Jesus, but maybe to shrink back.

To make to shrink back from making our personal faith publicly known.

Maybe we get quiet or perhaps we dodge questions.

But this wouldn't do for Christians in Pergamum.

They wouldn't deny their faith in Jesus.

So in Jesus' eyes, what makes for a resolute church?

Number one, holding fast to him, and number two, not shrinking back from proclaiming him publicly.

Friends, when I read this description of Pergamum, I can't help but think of Newsong's own history.

Newsong was a church founded as a church resolute for the gospel.

Our chief allegiance is to Christ, and our chief call is to make his good news, the good news of his cross and resurrection known.

And so for those of you who are around when Nusong was founded, you'll remember very well that this was the stand for the gospel that was being taken.

And it's the gospel on which New Song still stands today, and which we are committed to standing on moving forward.

We are founded by leaders and members resolute for the gospel, and resolute for the gospel, we remain.

And some of us know the cost that that resolution is called for.

Costs relationships, costs reputation, costs resources.

But New Song is a church founded on this resolution that we are for the gospel and we want to make Christ known.

See, a resolute church is made up of resolute Christians.

Resolute Christians who hold fast to Jesus.

They know that holding fast to Jesus is worth it.

And we've seen that it's worth it from Jesus' letters to these churches.

At least it's made worth it from its promises.

Back in his letter to Ephesus, we read that those who uh conquer, those who persevere, may eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

That those who conquer, those who persevere, those who hold fast, those who are faithful unto death, he writes to Smyrna, I will give the crown of life, and you will not be hurt by the second death.

Why would we hold fast to Jesus no matter what pressure we face?

Because we know it's worth it.

And because we know that Jesus will hold fast to us.

This is the promise in Hebrews 13.

I will never leave you, says our Lord.

I will never forsake you.

We don't hold fast to Jesus for dear life as if he is not holding fast to us.

And so therefore, holding fast to Jesus, we don't shrink back from making him known to our neighbors.

We pray for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus.

I think a great opportunity that we're doing in the coming week is our prayer walk.

We're not going around proselytizing, twisting arms, dragging people into church.

We want to be agents of God's blessing in our community.

And we want to be known as Christians who want to make God's blessing known.

So therefore, we want to go into our neighborhoods and pray for God's blessing on the homes and households represented here.

It's how we want to go about proclaiming his truth and his life-giving word by praying these blessings over our community.

We want to be known as Christians who don't shrink back, but who want to make the gospel known.

A resolute church holds fast to Jesus and it doesn't shrink back from making him known publicly.

But let's look at Pergamum again.

When it came to exterior pressure, the church in Pergamum stayed resolute.

But Jesus has a warning for Pergamum.

Even churches that stand up in a hostile culture are not immune from succumbing to false teaching, even from within.

This is why I want us to ask the second question.

Why does a resolute church need right teaching?

Verse 14.

You have some there who hold to the teacher 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.

So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Okay.

So as resolute as the church in Pergamum was, Jesus has two serious concerns about their doctrinal and spiritual health, and you better believe that those two things go together, doctrinal health and spiritual health.

One commentator says, while the Christians of Pergamum were resisting the influence from without, they were carelessly indifferent to the influence from within.

What's Jesus concerned about?

Well, number one, there are those who hold to the teaching of Balaam.

Okay, let's go back into our Sunday school memory bank and let's remember the Old Testament story of Balaam.

In Numbers 22 to 25, Balak, the king of Moab, right, a rival kingdom to Israel, hires Balaam, a sketchy prophet for hire kind of guy.

And he hires Balaam to curse God's covenant people, Israel, who are wandering right now in the wilderness.

But God prevents Balaam from cursing them, and he blesses Israel instead.

However, Balaam advises Balak to use a more effective strategy than merely cursing them.

He suggests Balak ought to seduce Israel into joining the Moabites in idolatry as well as sexual immorality.

Israel succumbs to this temptation at peor, which provokes God's judgment against Israel.

Okay, so bottom line, whether it's peor, whether it's Pergamum, no congregation is immune from drifting away from God's word.

Drift happens when our desire for creaturely goods, like at Peor, a desire for security or success or even sex, overcomes our desire for our greatest good, which is God Himself.

There are those who hold to the teaching of Balaam.

That's Jesus' number one concern.

Number two, there are those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

And we've already met the Nicolaitans in Jesus' letter to Ephesus.

Listen to this, chapter 2, verse 6.

You, that is you, church in Ephesus, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

You might say, whoa, strong words.

Isn't hate a strong word, Jesus?

Why would Jesus hate their teaching?

Well, consider this.

The Nicolaitans illustrate a challenge for the church of every generation.

How does the church, pardon me, how does the gospel relate to culture?

See, because of God's common grace, Christians should gladly affirm and cooperate with society whenever its values are good and true and beneficial.

When society goes about educating or healing or building or protecting, this is all part of being salt and light rubbed into the fibers of our society, right?

But because the world is fallen, the gospel does more than merely affirm culture.

It also calls culture to repentance, wherever its beliefs and practices conflict with God's good will for human beings.

Now the Nicolaitans preached a gospel, in scare quotes, that no longer challenged the culture, but accommodated it.

They revised the content of the gospel so that Christians in Pergamum could comfortably embrace idolatry and sexual license, which contradicts God's word.

And that's why Jesus hates their teaching.

Notice Jesus doesn't say he hates the Nicolaitans as such, he hates their teaching.

He loves the church too much to tolerate those who edit the true gospel of Jesus to suit the spirit of the age.

Here's what one commentator, Darrell Johnson, says The Church of Jesus Christ is to be an inclusive community in the sense that all are welcome.

But the church is not to be inclusive of all ideas, all presuppositions, of all social and spiritual persuasions.

All of us are welcome.

But all of us are then called by the head of the church to repent, to change our minds, to submit our thinking to the thinking of Jesus Christ.

So a resolute church which stands up for the faith can still wobble, can still drift if it doesn't pay mind to write teaching about the gospel.

And friends, I just want to say this is why we do the expositional preaching that we do at New Song.

And, you know, I wouldn't be wrong.

God does love you.

Surely, I hope you know that.

But I could just as well get up here and say, you know what I think?

I think God wants us all to be monks.

Just take my word for it, you know?

And you'd be able to like, well, hold on here.

This is something of what the Nicolaitans were doing, appointing themselves as spiritual authorities, teaching a gospel that they saw fit, and saying, Well, take my word for it.

See, we open up God's word together because we want to know what God has to say to us, his church.

And we want to understand it rightly.

We want to apply it rightly.

This is more than just any one preacher getting up and saying, Well, take my word for it.

This is this is us getting to know God through his word and getting to know God's will through his word as well.

We want to know the true gospel.

And we find the true gospel in God's true and life-giving word.

Here is where we find that God loves the world and saves it from sin and death through his crucified and risen Son, Jesus Christ.

So we always go back to his word.

And we are on sure ground when we stand on his word.

And it's his word that we proclaim.

Now, the Nicolaitans, I don't think, came into their congregation blatantly contradicting the basics of the gospel.

I don't think they came into the congregation and said, Well, you know, Jesus is just a big lie about his resurrection, right?

You know he wasn't really who he claimed to be.

You know he didn't really exist, right?

Like they're not going around saying things like that.

I think what they're trying to say is something a little bit more subtle, a little bit more like, okay, so you have the Bible and you've got some of the content of the gospel.

Can we expand our definition of the gospel beyond what the Bible has to say?

Maybe we can give ourselves a broader license.

Maybe we can give ourselves broader freedoms than the freedoms we discover in God's Word.

See, counterfeit gospels are very subtle things.

And we need to pay mind to the true gospel if we're going to spot the counterfeits.

Many of you have received emails from me asking for gift cards very urgently.

But I'm always going into a prayer meeting, you know, so I can't have them, right?

I need you to go ahead and buy them, you know.

And many of you have let me know that you've received a sketchy email like that.

Many of you have checked the like sender, and it's some random, weird sequence of numbers.

And you realize, well, this is not a real email.

Creighton does not really need gift cards.

Creighton doesn't really go to prayer meetings anyway.

You can spot a counterfeit because you know what a real email from me looks like.

And you know what's reasonable for me to ask, etc., because you know me, I hope.

Well, friends, the same is true for the gospel.

We spot counterfeits, not by studying all the counterfeits.

We spot the counterfeits when we know the real deal.

And when we know the real gospel, we will spot counterfeits because we know this does not conform to the content of the gospel.

And the Christians in Pergamum can spot the Nicolaitians for what they are because they should know the true gospel.

And friends, in a social media age like we live in, you know, the scr the the scroll, the newsfeed, the whatever is filled with a lot of Christian content, isn't it?

Some of which is quite good.

Some of which, I think, can be very misleading.

And it leaves us feeling anxious, like, how can I tell the right thing from the wrong thing?

Well, maybe let me suggest a few questions that help us spot the counterfeits, that could help the Pergamum Christians spot this counterfeit gospel.

Question number one we could ask is this Is Christ at the center?

Right?

Is Jesus presented as Lord and the only way to know God, or is he just one solution among many?

Right?

We read in the gospel reading this morning from Matthew 11 that we can only know the Father through the Son.

Okay, so is Jesus a way or is he the only way?

Is he at the center here or is he on the periphery?

That's probably question number one.

Is Christ at the center?

Question number two, I'm gonna try and get through these quickly.

What does it, pardon me, is Christ at the center?

Does this call me to repent, right?

Does this, this post, this book, this video, whatever it is, does it ask me to take my sins seriously, or does it offer me something like a band-aid, right?

Because if sin and death really are our deepest spiritual problem, then any solution has to address the real problem, right?

Does it ask me to take my sins seriously?

Does it call me to repent from my sin and turn to Christ?

And question number three: does this lead me to grace?

Right?

Does this leave me trusting Christ's finished work on the cross and in the resurrection, and therefore lead me to a greater assurance and joy?

Or does it leave me feeling more anxious, as though I have even more and harder work to do?

Right?

Is Christ at the center?

Does it call me to repent?

Does it lead me to grace?

Here's at least three questions we can ask that help us to discern what's gospel and what isn't.

But friends, there's good news.

Even if we've drifted, Jesus still calls us to himself.

He calls us to repent.

Verse 16.

Jesus says to this church in Pergamum, which has come under the influence of these Nicolaitans, he says, Therefore repent.

If not, I will come to you soon and wage war with them with the sword of my mouth.

Now that might sound like bad news, but the good news is this Jesus still calls sinners to repentance.

Jesus still calls us to turn around and turn to himself.

He wants us to know the stakes.

The stakes are high.

Make no mistake.

He will come with the sword of his mouth, right?

This is an image we've already seen in chapter one.

It's an image that'll come up again towards the end of Revelation.

Jesus' word is true, therefore it cuts down falsehoods.

Jesus' word is life-giving, therefore it cuts down death.

And friends, this is either a sword that will fight for us or it will fight against us, depending on where our allegiance lies.

He who has ears, Jesus says, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

So why does a resolute church need right teaching?

We need a right, we need right teaching because we need to stay true to Jesus.

Right?

Because we need to be able to spot the counterfeits, the bala's, and the Nicolaitans of our time and stay true to the real life-giving gospel.

Okay, question number three.

What promises of Jesus strengthen the church's resolve?

See, Jesus does not just throw his church back on itself, try harder, spot them even closer.

Jesus actually gives us promises that we can bank on to be the sort of church to carry out the work that he calls us to.

He gives us grace to accomplish his will.

So here's the promises.

Verse 17.

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 that stone.

And no one except the one who receives it, pardon me, no one knows except the one who receives it.

So the one who conquers, as we've seen, is the Christian who perseveres through persecution, right?

Perseveres through pain.

It's the Christian who takes up her cross now in anticipation of new life to come.

To the one who conquers, Jesus gives two promises with eternal significance.

Promises for you and for me.

Promise number one is this it's hidden manna, right?

Again, let's go back in our Sunday school memory banks, right?

Let's think about Israel wandering in the wilderness.

They're hungry, they're unable to provide for themselves, they are in danger of starvation.

So, what does God do?

God sustains them for 40 years of wandering with manna from heaven, right?

These wafery substances rained down on them.

Mana was God's daily provision, teaching his people to depend on him one day at a time.

Now, fast forward to John chapter 6, and we find Jesus explaining manna's full significance.

John 6 · chapter mention

What does Jesus say?

I am the bread of life.

Your fathers, right, your ancestors, they ate manna in the wilderness, and what happened?

They died.

If anyone eats of this bread, that is himself, he will live forever.

And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh.

So what's Jesus saying?

Mana kept your ancestors alive one day at a time for 40 years, but the true heavenly bread will keep you alive forever.

That bread is me.

That's Jesus.

Now, I do think Jesus is talking about more than just holy communion in John chapter 6, but almost certainly I think Jesus is not talking about less than holy communion.

John 6 · chapter mention

As the Book of Common Prayer tells us, the Lord's Supper is purposed by Christ Himself to preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.

So when we come to the Lord's Supper by faith, we come to participate in and partake of Jesus, who is himself the hidden manna which sustains us into eternity, where we are promised we will feast with him at his table.

This is the hidden manna Jesus promises us.

It's the hidden manna which sustains us, come what may.

But Jesus gives us a second promise.

He will give us a white stone with a new name.

Now the exact meaning of this white stone is debated.

I found at least nine interpretations of what this nine what this white stone is about.

Possibly they're all true, because they don't necessarily contradict one another.

In the ancient world, a white stone could symbolize acquittal by a jury.

It could symbolize uh victory and being invited to a victory banquet.

Or it could um uh or pardon me, victory in a sporting match, or admission to a great banquet.

Whether the emphasis is justification or triumph or welcome, each of these points to Jesus.

It points to what he has secured for us, what he has accomplished on behalf of us, his people.

And the new name reminds us that our deepest and truest identity is a gift that we receive from Jesus Himself.

We are known by Him, we belong to Him, and we will never be forgotten by Him, because our names are set in stone.

So, what strengthens a church's resolve to stand resolute to pressure from without and drift from within?

It's the promises of God.

It's the hidden manna which tells us that Jesus sustains us to eternal life by his body and blood.

And it's the stone with a new name which tells us that Jesus knows us truly and that his promise of eternal life is for us a sure thing.

So, church, God's promises can point us to Jesus.

They can call us and strengthen us in our resolution.

But don't neglect the bread of life.

Come to the Lord's table often.

As often as you have opportunity, as often as we, New Song, have opportunity, we come to the Lord's table because we want to feast with and participate in and partake of Jesus, who is our hidden manna that sustains us.

And when we come to Jesus, when we open up his word, we do so as those who want to know who Jesus is, but want to know who we are in him as well.

We discover who we truly are the more we know and glorify Jesus.

I love the way that John Calvin starts his Institutes of the Christian Religion, this enormously influential work of theology.

Calvin starts it like this: he says, nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

For Calvin, that order is very important.

Because if we want to know who we truly are, and isn't identity always the question of our moment?

Rightly so.

We want to know who we are.

I want to know who I am.

Well, Calvin and Christ in this very letter is saying, you will know who you are when you know who I am.

And the more we know who Jesus is, the more we know who we are in him.

And that is good.

Friends, a resolute church needs right teaching so that we may partake of, cling to, grasp on to the promises of God which sustains us.

So, Christian, hold fast to Jesus.

Above all else, he will hold fast to you.

Don't shrink back or drift from the gospel.

There is no greater news, and there is no new other name under heaven and earth by which we may be saved than that of Jesus.

And Christian, delight yourself in the promises of God.

God gives you great and gracious promises.

He wants you to cling to them by faith today.

He wants you to come to the Lord's table today with a heart full of faith, singing as we come, so that we can receive his hidden manna all over again.

New song, let's stand upon God's true and life-giving word as the resolute church he calls us to be.

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.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today.

If you live in the area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.

Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.

If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.