The Church in Pergamum

So, if you have your Bibles with you, you might like to turn to Revelation chapter 2 again.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

And I'm going to read to you from verse 12 onwards.

I think we've got the readings up on the screen.

Revelation 2, verse 12.

Revelation 2:12

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write,

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.

I know where you live, where Satan has his throne.

Yet you remain true to my name.

You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,

who was put to death in your city, where Satan lives.

Nevertheless, I have a few things against you.

There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,

who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin,

so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.

Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Repent, therefore.

Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the one who is victorious, I will give him some of the hidden manna.

I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it,

known only to the one who receives it.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

So, we come to the church in Pergamum,

a church which, I suppose you would say,

received a kind of mixed report from the risen Christ,

delivered through John.

Just a word about the city of Pergamum today.

If you go to Turkey, it's a city called Bergama.

B-E-R-G-A-M-A.

And it rose to prominence as a city in the ancient world,

round about the 3rd century BC,

during what's called the Attalade period,

when Attalus conquered the city.

It soon became very prominent when the Romans took over,

and in fact became the capital of the Roman province of Asia.

Also there were two notable altars.

One was to Asclepius.

Some of you might know Asclepius if you've been to Kos,

where the first, at least the first hospital we have any remnants of,

is on Kos,

and is dedicated to Asclepius.

Asclepius's symbol is a serpent wrapped around a pole,

and was taken up by medical professions across the world into the modern day.

Asclepius was the god of healing.

The other altar of significance was,

up on the hill above Pergamum,

there was a massive altar dedicated to the Roman god Zeus,

who was the kind of king god of the Roman pantheon of gods.

And because of all this,

there's also a temple dedicated to Augustus and Rome.

And because of this,

it became the centre of the imperial cult of the Roman Empire.

A very Roman city, as you would say.

And I want, by way of introduction tonight,

just to run through some stuff.

Because this was a city,

which the risen Christ describes as the habitat of Satan.

And the challenge of that seems to me,

which is, I think, a similar challenge to what we have today,

although I think we would be a little more uncomfortable

in widely using the language of satanic to describe our culture.

At the same time,

I think you would agree to me,

agree with me,

that there is a lot about our culture,

which is going badly wrong at the current time.

I have described this to congregations in the area

as kind of economic challenges.

It is a surprise to me,

if I'm being quite honest with you,

that the American economy has picked up a little bit,

whereas ours is still flatlining pretty well.

But I think there will be economic challenges

across the West,

and particularly across Europe,

in these coming days.

And we feel that at home

when we read about people

who are the victims of the so-called economic crisis.

Some of you, maybe some of them,

I don't know.

And we talk about the environmental challenges of the world.

I think they're huge.

And, you know,

you have to take your own view

on what you make of the climate science and all that,

so I'm not here to tell you what to think.

But it does seem,

although, you know,

one would say in terms of weather patterns,

it's happened over a fairly short period to date,

I think it's a tendency at the moment

that we're looking at

that weather patterns are changing.

And when it comes to trying to fix the planet,

the idea is, you know,

that we will reduce our carbon dioxide emissions

and that's going to cost a lot of money,

which has got to be factored in

to the cost of living.

Nobody who manufactures stuff

isn't going to pass the cost

of environmental responsibility.

They're not going to pay that themselves.

They're going to pass it on to the customer

through the goods and services

that they provide.

And then, really seriously,

the emotional challenges of our day.

In the Times today,

there's a big article about people in their 20s,

a large number of whom are not at work

because they are mentally unwell.

They're suffering from anxiety,

depression, these things.

Things that we shouldn't take lightly,

but we should ask questions about,

well, what kind of a society is it

that's creating people

in the prime of their lives

who can't even go to work

because they're not well?

I think I have gone as far as saying,

you know, one of the things that troubles me

about our environment,

our culture at the moment is,

it seems to make people ill.

So I want to talk to you today

about the challenge of evangelism

in a hostile environment.

Get round to Pergamum in a few minutes,

but that basically is their lot.

How do you set about

trying to win people for Christ

in a city where Satan

and the Roman Empire hold sway?

Both of whom had a reputation

for trying to destroy organizations

or agencies or people

who posed any threat whatsoever

in their direction.

So I want just to think for a moment,

if I may, about these challenges.

And I think the challenges of Pergamum

are the challenges of today.

And I want to just draw your attention to,

it's not our set text this evening,

but I just want to draw your attention

to Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Before I do that,

I'm going to talk to you about six things

that I think are important

in our evangelistic engagement

with a hostile culture.

The first thing is,

we need to be praying Christians.

In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

the great apostle bids Christians

to pray at all times in the Spirit.

Paul's not that interested

in the kind of prayers

where people just gabble away

or just say stuff for impact or effect.

He's interested in prayer in the Spirit.

Prayer directed to God,

directed by God,

in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But Acts 17 is where I want to draw your attention to.

And I want to draw your attention to it

because it is the only example

in the New Testament

of a sermon preached to Gentiles,

i.e. non-Jewish believers.

Paul, believe it or not,

on his missionary journeys,

had a plan.

The plan was,

he would go to what you might call

the warm contacts.

He'd go down to the synagogue

and start preaching

that Jesus was the Messiah.

And he'd use,

it's a challenge to preachers,

he would use the Old Testament to do that.

Didn't have a New Testament then.

And in Athens,

on the Areopagus,

which is a hill

just outside the wall of the city today,

Paul preached to a crowd of people.

We don't have time tonight

to go in depth

into the content of his sermon,

but it is fascinating to look at

in relation to the fact

that Paul is speaking

to Gentiles,

non-Jewish people.

And Paul says,

in Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

that before he addressed the crowd,

he said to them,

you know,

as I walked around your city,

I see you're a very religious people,

he said.

In fact,

he said,

you know,

I can tell that

by the number of altars there are.

He said,

and I came across an altar

to an unknown God.

He said,

so I want to,

this is Paul's sense of humour,

right?

I mean,

you don't have to laugh.

Paul said,

I found this altar

dedicated to the unknown God,

but I'm going to tell you

about the God you can know.

And proceeds to talk

about Jesus,

the Messiah

and the coming judge,

who created the world

and all that therein is it.

But before Paul got round

to his message,

he had spent time

observing the lives

of these Athenians.

So he could kind of

get the vibe

of their culture.

So he could address them

in a way

that they might understand.

In Acts chapter 17

Acts 17 · chapter mention

and verse 23,

we read how Paul

engages them

by quoting to them

from their culture.

He quotes

a verse

of a poem.

I mean,

in my book,

it's not much of a poem

because it doesn't rhyme,

but the quote is,

we are his offspring.

Paul uses

what you might call

the culture

of local creative art

to try and communicate

with these people.

Oh,

that in our churches

we could reignite

our imaginations

to communicate

in such a way

that connects

with our culture

rather than flies

over the heads

of those

who show up.

And then there is

a challenge

in Acts chapter 17

Acts 17 · chapter mention

and verse 30.

Let me read that

to you.

Paul says,

in the past

God overlooked

such ignorance.

That's a kind

of polite way.

What Paul was

basically saying to them

is,

in the past

God overlooked

your ignorance.

He said,

in the past

he overlooked that,

but now

he commends

people everywhere

to repent.

I think that,

you know,

I had a,

what's called

a peripatetic ministry.

It sounds highfalutin.

What it means is

I went to a different

church every Sunday.

And what I would say

is that

there was,

you know,

quite a lot of history

in the sermons,

quite a lot of Greek,

you know,

look how smart I am,

I quote Greek.

Greek.

But,

but,

what most

messages I've

listened to

were very low on

was challenge.

I felt like,

you know that

proverb we have

in English,

you know,

you can take a horse

to water,

but you

can't make it drink.

A lot of preaching

felt to me like that,

you know,

the horses

have showed up

to listen

and they've been

taken to the edge

of the river

and then the preacher

takes us back

and gives a blessing

and we all go home.

No,

people need to be

challenged.

And my experience

of evangelism

amongst men

in particular

is

the firmer the challenge

the more likely

you are to get

a response.

And then

we know this

from 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and verse 2

that we're called.

So in a lot of churches,

evangelical churches

in particular,

people think

that the moment

that somebody's

converted,

their job is done.

Wrong.

It's a new beginning,

it's a new start.

Paul says to this

young church

Timothy

and second,

young church leader

in 2 Timothy,

preach the word,

be prepared

in season

and out of season,

correct,

rebuke and encourage

with great patience

and careful instruction.

what did Paul

imagine

that Timothy

might preach?

Did Paul think,

sorry to use

Anglican speak

for a moment,

that it would be

highly effective

for some preacher

to stand up

and give a few

garbled thoughts

on the collect

of the day?

No, he didn't think

that at all.

In chapter 3,

Paul tells us

exactly what he wants

Timothy to preach about.

2 Timothy 3,

16,

all scripture

is God-breathed

and is useful

for teaching,

rebuking,

correcting

and training

in righteousness.

Paul didn't imagine

that preachers

could just stand up

and do their own

fang.

He imagined

that the faithful

preacher will stand up

with the word of God

in his hand

and to the best

of his or her ability

will give exposition

to that.

I said that

every

moment of

any approach

to evangelism

needs to be

surrounded by prayer.

My experience

was for every

new Christian

we had in the church

that I was minister

at,

that we had to spend

a lot of time

and resource

in taking somebody

across the line

and giving their life

to Christ

to kind of

keep them there,

to stop them

from falling away

and becoming

backslidden.

An important part

of that

was making sure

that new converts

were prayed for.

Anybody remember

Operation Andrew?

My memory is

that what it

asked church members,

people like you,

to do

was to split

into groups

of three

meeting in

your homes

or in the coffee

shop or wherever

and the three

of you

would bring

the names

of three people

who you really

wanted to

play a part

in bringing

them to Christ.

You would then

pray together

so you'd have

nine people

to pray for

and three of you

praying for those

nine people.

I can't

think for a

moment

why we don't

do that today.

Our experience

back then

and different

time I get

that but our

experience back

then was

a remarkable

number of people

came through

to trust

Christ

not

as a direct

result of us

praying

but I can't

help thinking

that our

prayer

for these

people

men and

women

went

you know

it was a

wasted time.

There was a

book some of

you may have

read some

years ago

which was

called

What Happens

When Women

Prayed

and the

stories and

testimonies

that came out

of these

groups of

women

that met

I think

they called

them Lydia

groups or

something like

that and

they pray

together and

there's some

amazing outcomes

of those

prayers.

Look we

think there's a

lot of stuff

to do today

to engage

with our

culture but

trust me

there is a

lot of

praying that

needs to be

done as

well.

I want to

go on just

before I talk

about Pergamon

very briefly

to talk about

this fine

balance between

collusion and

compromise and

I want to say

to you to start

with always

remember the

church isn't

I mean the

church is

institutionalized

it's certainly

the church of

England is which

is the only one

I can speak

of with any

inner knowledge.

The church is

not an

institution in

a normal sense

it's a living

body.

I read an

article recently

in the

American

New American

Scientist

American

Scientist I

think it's

called and

it was talking

about how

every day

every movement

everything we

do is a

miracle.

Talked about

how avoiding

serious disease

could be down

to a very

minimal factor

like at the

right time

you coughed

and by coughing

you expel

from your body

something that

if it had taken

hold in your

body would

have caused

you serious

illness.

It talked

about the

signals your

brain sends

out to do

a very

simple thing

like blinking

your eyes.

And as we

know in

1 Corinthians

12

Paul speaks

about the

church as a

body.

And you

know only

too well

that there

doesn't need to

be much wrong

with your body

for it to lose

its balance

and for you

to be

seriously

undermined

in your

ability to

do things

because of

that.

We won't

talk about

the tongue.

James does

that and

warns us

about the

tongue and

how the

same tongue

that blesses

God is the

same tongue

that we used

to curse

men and

women with.

But just

the everyday

balance.

You know

I'm sure

we should

wake up

thanking

God and

praying to

him that

God would

maintain our

physical balance

in our

health and

the reason

why Paul

calls the

church a

body is

that he

makes the

point that

when one

part of

that body

is out of

kilter with

the rest

the whole

body is

impacted.

He also

makes the

point that

we can't

all be

hands.

We can't

all be

feet.

We can't

all be

heads.

The church

is a body

with different

parts as

Paul.

And by

that he

means we

are a

group of

people who

are gifted

by God

with spiritual

gifts in

order to

glorify God

to serve

the church

and to

bless the

world.

So

the church

is a

living body

and the

issue of

balance is

a huge

issue.

But here's

a question

which I

think is

impossible to

answer and

I feel it's

a bit unfair

asking you.

But how do

we know

when we've

crossed the

line between

compromise and

collusion?

I'm making

the assumption

that compromise

isn't always

wrong.

wrong.

But it can

quickly become

the foothills

of unhelpful

collusion.

So now

the church

in Pergamum

and the

risen Christ

through his

letter

delivered by

John

starts by

saying

talking about

sorry

let me

turn over

talks about

these are

the words

of him

who has

the sharp

double-edged

sword.

At the

time that

John was

writing there

were two

kinds of

weapon that

were described

as a sword.

one was

a makaria

which is

more like

a big

dagger

than a

sword.

And the

other was

the

ramphosa

which is

a proper

sword

both sides

of which

were home

to be

very very

sharp.

And it

was said

that

soldiers

could

split things

down the

middle very

easily.

with their

ramphosa

with their

big

swords.

That's the

word that's

used here.

The other

word is

used in

the New

Testament.

I think

it's

something like

Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

and verse

10 which

talks about

the double-edged

sword.

That's not

a ramphosa

that is

a makaria

that's the

short dagger

thing.

Of course

scholars have

written pages

on the

difference

between the

use of

those two

words for

sword.

what it

means is

that this

double-edged

sword that

the risen

Christ has

tells us

of his

sovereignty,

his double

sovereignty.

He is

sovereign of

all that

goes on

on the

earth but

he's also

sovereign of

what will

be.

so there's

an element

of the

amazing

authority of

Jesus with

this double

-edged sword

but there is

also a

measure of

judgment.

It's a word

that we don't

really like to

think about too

much in the

church today

but that's

the meaning

of that

symbolism.

I know

where you

live.

It sounds

like a

threat doesn't

it when you

read it out

like that?

I know

where you

live.

Where Satan

has his

throne.

Again

wide

speculation as

to exactly

what John

was referring

to there.

Some think

it was

that altar

to Zeus

on the

hillside

there.

Some think

it was the

temple of

Asclepius.

Some,

probably me,

think it was

the temple

dedicated to

Augustus and

Rome which

made Pergamum

the centre

of the

cult,

the Roman

Empire.

What the

risen Christ

likes about

them is

they remain

true to the

name of

Jesus.

He says

you didn't

renounce your

faith in me

and he

gives only

one example

but one

example of

somebody who

is so

faithful to

Jesus under

the threat

of this

hostile

culture that

it cost him

his life

and to pass

my faithful

witness who

is put to

death in

your city

where Satan

lives.

I mean

imagine that

there isn't

crisis to

them.

I know

where you

live and

it's where

Satan lives.

And by

and large

I'm impressed

by your

faithfulness.

I'm impressed

that you

don't collude

with the

cult of

Rome.

And I'm

impressed

that you

resist

the

satanic

forces at

work amongst

you.

people.

But then

he goes

on and

says

nevertheless

nevertheless

and so

reminds me

of my own

school reports

I think

you could

summarize my

school reports

as yes

but.

Mike

sets himself

extremely low

standards and

consistently fails

to achieve

them.

So these

people in

this awfully

hostile culture

were faithful

in the face

of martyrdom.

But here's

what the risen

Christ thinks

they need to

pay attention

to.

Thinks that

their balance

as the body

of Christ

is being

put out

of kilter

by these

forces.

He says

there are

some of

you who

hold to

the teaching

of Balaam

who taught

Balak to

entice the

Israelites to

sin so

that they

did two

things

unacceptable.

They ate

food that

had already

been sacrificed

to idols.

In other

words not

only Jewish

people would

find that

unclean but

Christians would

find it

unclean as

well.

And then

they committed

sexual

immorality.

It would

be nice to

say wouldn't

it that

today's church

is free of

all that.

You know

we don't do

that stuff.

Except

remember you

know the job

I had was

the exercise

of discipline

across 256

churches

in a large

area.

I would

love to put

my hand on

my heart

and say to

you we

didn't have

any of

that.

When I was

a parish

priest I

found the

chairman of

churches

together

where's

Tim?

Not him.

Chairman of

churches

together and

the secretary

of the

PCC.

I don't

quite know

how to

put this.

Let's

just say

they were

naked in

the middle

of a

wood and

my dog

discovered

them when

I was

walking with

my dog.

I had to

put my

hand on

my hand

and say

I have

come across

none of

this sexual

immorality

of the

church but

friends I

have.

And part

of the

problem is

our culture

is obsessed

by sex.

So much

so it

has perverted

our

understanding

of what

love is.

The Bible

word for

love is the

word agape.

You know

that.

It's a

word that

doesn't

primarily

call upon

our heart

strings.

It's not

about what

we feel.

it's how

we set

our will.

How do

you think

if Jesus

said love

your enemies

how would

that work

if he

really meant

desire your

enemies?

It would

be an

impossible.

No we

need to

think about

love and

loving our

neighbor as

wanting the

best for

that person

even if we

don't necessarily

like them.

you know

what would

that do

to the

debate about

asylum seekers

if we fed

that understanding

of love into

that?

Look

at

the teaching

of Balaam

actually Balaam

it's very

interesting that

the word

Balaam

the name

Balaam

and the

name

Nicolation

followers of

Nicholas.

So in

Hebrew

the word

Balaam

is made

up of

a root

word which

means to

conquer

and then

which is

balai

and then

the word

aham

which means

people.

So the

word

Balaam

means

conquering

people.

the word

Nicholas

is a

mixture of

two other

Greek words

one is

Nikan

which means

to conquer

and

Laos

which means

people.

I mean

whether these

were two

distinct groups

of people

who encoded

language

remember

we said

that this

book is

apocryphal

it's written

in a hidden

language

so that

people

wouldn't

necessarily

understand it

if they

didn't

know the

keys to

understanding

it.

But these

two names

given to

these two

heresies

actually both

meant the

same.

They were

about

controlling

subjugating

people.

Is there

anything

further away

from the

gospel community

than the

desire to

control

people?

Is there

anything

that could

be worse

in a

relationship

in a

marriage

where one

person seeks

to control

the other?

And

this

these

heresies

led

people

into

very

dark

behaviors

dietary

and sexual

immorality

and the

risen

Christ

has a

very clear

message

verse 16

Repent

therefore

as a

consequence

of this

collusion

with these

people in

the church

repent

of that

otherwise

I will

soon come

to you

and will

fight against

them with

the sword

of my

mouth

they will

come

under

judgment

and it

will be a

dark day

for them

and for

the church

of God

why?

Because in

their midst

they tolerated

heretical

teaching

that sought

to control

the people

of God

rather than

the God

whom we

worship

who empowers

us

with his

Holy Spirit

God

I never

understood

years ago

when I

was ordained

I was

ordained

in

Canterbury

Cathedral

I didn't

live in

Canterbury

or even

in Kent

as such

I lived

in Croydon

and the

Church of

England

with this

kind of

slightly

mixed up

thinking

made a

archdeaconry

of the

Diocese of

Canterbury

completely

separate

from the

Diocese of

Canterbury

and there was

a reason for

that

the reason

was that

the Archbishop

of Canterbury

then had

his summer

palace

in Croydon

and it was

felt that

would be wrong

of him to

leave his

diocese when

he went

on his

holiday

so if you

can't take

Mohammed to

the mountain

move the

mountain to

Mohammed

so I was

getting ordained

there

and it

was a

great

privilege

and Donald

Coggan

was the

Archbishop

of Canterbury

and for

the

ordination

retreat

we were

invited to

stay in

the palace

at Canterbury

with the

Archbishop

and Mrs

Coggan

who came

down to

breakfast

every day

and we

had normal

chat over

breakfast

Coggan

was very

against the

idea of

the

ordination

retreat

as a

kind of

massive

wind up

and you

know

when they

did that

I mean

people who

had been

in college

for three

years

had nervous

breakdowns

and couldn't

show up

in the

cathedral

on the

Sunday

morning

they were

so

mentally

disturbed

by it

Coggan

was very

relaxed

and it

was just

at the

time

that the

Bishop of

Durham

had declared

that there

was no

such thing

as a

physical

resurrection

of Jesus

do you

remember

that

and it

was terrible

you know

harush over

that

and quite

rightly so

in many

ways

and some

upstart

of an

ordinand

not like

me

said to the

Archbishop

across the

table

so are you

going to

throw him

out then

my Archbishop

choked over

his boiled

egg

and said

well I have

no means

to throw

him out

and

the upstart

ordinand

said what

do you

mean

he said

there's

been a

studious

attempt

in the

church's

disciplinary

measures

to avoid

any

disciplinary

measure

which would

involve

wrong teaching

or heresy

that bit

of legislation

I think

put together

in 1972

was replaced

at the end

of the

1990s

which came

into force

I think

in 2002

called the

clergy

discipline

measure

I mean

you can

get thrown

out of

the church

of England

if you

baptise

somebody

twice

but you

can deny

the resurrection

or say

that Christianity

from next

week onwards

will be

about nudity

and nobody

can do

anything

about it

it's amazing

isn't it

I mean

I was one

of them

you know

still am

I mean

so

the issue

of how

do we

tackle

in our

churches

wrong teaching

I think

is an

interesting

one

who

adjudicates

what is

wrong teaching

who decides

on that

and the

Roman Catholic

Church

has a

magisterium

that does

make decisions

about these

things

and you

know

I mean

who's the

German

cardinal

who got

made

the Pope

retired

early

Ratzinger

I thought

Ratzinger

I mean

he's a

highly

cultured

and

intellectual

man

as a

matter

of fact

but he

was kind

of hired

by the

Pope

as a

sort of

you know

the Pope's

kind of

attack dog

to any

province

of the

Roman Catholic

Church

that decided

to go off

on its own

and teach

things that

the church

found

unacceptable

you may

remember

there was

quite a lot

of press

in that

the Roman

Catholic

Church's

resistance

to

same

sex

relationships

drew a

lot of

attention

to the

count

I think

it's got

some

very

highfalutin

term

the council

that looks

at all

this

and the

Church of

England

doesn't

have that

and I

think

independent

churches

probably would

struggle to

work out

well who

would be

responsible

for

dealing

with

wrong

teaching

I

mean you

might say

the senior

pastor

that's

okay

as long

as it's

not the

senior

pastor

who's

doing

the wrong

teaching

but

surely

surely

you can't

read this

letter to

Pergamum

without

thinking

there ought

to be

some

mechanism

to stop

people

just

turning

up in

churches

and teaching

what the

hell they

like

I mean

does that

seem mad

to you

so

they were

called to

repentance

and

then

the risen

Christ

says to

them

I will

soon

come to

you

if you

don't

do

this

if you

don't

repent

I'll

soon

come to

you

and

we'll

fight

against

them

with

the

sword

in my

mouth

verse

17

whoever

has

ears

let

them

hear

what

the

spirit

says

to

the

churches

may

that

be

our

prayer

friends

as we

meet

together

in this

Lent

season

that the

church

today

in the

light of

this

antagonistic

culture

might be

really

attuned

to what

the

spirit

says

to

us

and

then

a

common

theme

in these

letters

the

promise

to

the

one

who

is