Confronting the Crippling Compromise
Due to a power interruption, we were not able to record the audio from this sermon. The transcript is below.
Introduction
[End times’ nature: strife, conflict, kingdom building]
Warfighting is complex. The obvious part of warfighting we see in the movies: the men, the weapons, the machines, the ammunition, etc. Without those, there is no warfighting to be done. As a result, those things receive a lot of attention, money and training (as they should).
In warfighting, the news reports linger in two places: the battle front and the home front. On the one hand are the reports of the divisions engaged, the named battles and the ground taken (or lost). The 82nd Airborne division, Gettysburg or Iwo Jima. These captivate and engage. On the home front, the reports are more sobering: casualty names, numbers and causes.
In warfighting, deaths come by different sources. The obvious would be direct action by the enemy whereas the less obvious would be things like accidents or diseases. I was curious to see American war casualties by combat vs. by other reasons.
Here is what I found at www.military.com.
In the American Revolution, a soldier had a 2% chance of dying in combat; 5% chance of dying from dysentery, malaria or small pox.
In the War of 1812, 15,000 Americans died. 15% of them from combat; 85% of them from disease.
In the Mexican-American War (1846): 2% of our soldiers fell to combat; 15% to disease.
In WWI: of the 120,000 dead, half of them died in combat, half of them to trench foot or Spanish flu.
It was only by WWII, was there a greater chance of dying in battle than of dying by disease. For every 1000 who served, 9 were KIA and 3 died from disease or accident.
It holds true, then, for much of our nation’s wars, we were far better prepared to deal with bullets than bacteria.
I bring this up as perhaps the best overall framework to classify the pictures we see in the book of Revelation is one of “war.” This is well illustrated in chapter 12. Turn there and let’s read beginning in verse 7. After the Lord Jesus was born we read:
7Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child….16But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
“War” is an apt category for the Christian life. In the heavenlies, there is one like a Dragon and with his agents, he violently opposes of God and the church. As in physical warfighting, in spiritual warfare, there are times when the church is well equipped to fight the frontal assaults of our enemy while at the same time is unguarded and susceptible to his more subtle assaults.
Proposition
With great historic creeds like the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed the church has drawn lines in the sand between obvious error and truth. In the church, we are well equipped to sniff out attacks on the deity of Christ, the Trinity, the Virgin Birth or the Resurrection but what about Paul’s warning in Colossians 2:8:
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
“Philosophy,” “empty deceit,” “human tradition.” We might wonder why Paul takes the time to warn the church in this way. These things he mentions are dangerous to the church because they are woven into a culture’s self-understanding.
The devil has been working since the Garden to re-write how we thinks of ourselves and of our culture.
Our text is Revelation 2:12-17 and the Lord’s letter to the church at Pergamum. Like an army well-equipped to battle its declared enemy but poorly prepared to battle the unseen, we will see a church anchored on the unassailable truths of the gospel but vulnerable to the divergent philosophies of their culture. The question our text answers is this:
“How do we defend against the subtle attacks of our enemy?” The letter gives us three principles:
We must remember the core doctrine of the faith
We must resist compromising with the culture
We must root out corrupt teaching and living in our midst
Transition
READ Revelation 2:12-17.
PRAY.
Main Point A
What does it say and mean?
[Text: Revelation 2:12-13
[Point Statement: In order to defend against the subtle attacks of our enemy, we must remember the core doctrine of the faith.
2:12
And to the angel of the church in Pergamum…
Pergamum was a city well north of Smyrna. An inland city built on a cone-shaped hill about 1000 feet high.
It was very famous for its library; it contained over 200,000 volumes and was rivaled only by the library at Alexandria.
It was also the official center of emperor worship in Asia.
Now, every city in Roman times was expected to contain sites for worshipping the emperor but Pergamum was chosen by Rome as the center of it in Asia Minor.
To refuse to confess “Caesar is Lord” would subject you to confiscation of property (like what happened at Smyrna), exile (like what happened to John) or death (like what happened to Antipas).
With that were temples to Zeus, Athena, Dionysius and one to a god called “Asklepios” god of healing who was called the “Savior” and whose image was that of a snake.
In the end, this thick commitment to false gods was explained by the Lord in the first part of 13:
I know where you are living, where Satan’s throne is…where Satan dwells.
Most commentators point out the temple to the Emperor towered over the culture and everything in their culture was filtered through it.
The demanded confession “Caesar is lord” was probably policed as zealously as mask-wearing is today or, in a previous time, neighbors in communist countries ratting on each other to the authorities.
You probably could not avoid the pressure of having to confess Caesar or set up little shrines to Caesar or go to the temple to worship him.
They didn’t mind if one would confess “Jesus is Lord” as long as he also confessed “Caesar is lord.”
With the emperor worship, the healing god, “Asklepios the Savior” was also very prominent. I mean, when is worshipping our health not popular?
Once again, a key to understanding the church’s situation at Pergamum is found in how the Lord introduces Himself to them. Look back at verse 12:
[The Lord commanded]…write: this is what He says, the One who has the double edged, sharp sword…
This carries two meanings.
#1: He comes with His Word.
We have already seen this description of Christ in 1:16:
…from His mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword…
As we can see from that verse, the sword isn’t a physical weapon in the Lord’s hand but it is His word from His mouth.
His word is described in various ways in Scripture.
“Sharp”: Isaiah 49:2
The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword…
“Strong”: Jeremiah 23:29, Hebrews 4:12
Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
“Spirit’s”: Ephesians 6:16-17
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
In contrast to the commitment of the culture of Pergamum with its abundant temples and voluminous library, the Lord comes with His word.
#2: He comes as the only true Word. 2:13
Yet you hold fast to My Name and you have not denied faith in Me even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness, who was killed among you…
In the Bible, the “name” of God is synonymous with the Person of God. Holding fast “My Name” is the same as believing and following the God of the Bible Himself.
One illustration is found in Acts 4. Peter healed a man who had been lame from birth by saying:
I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!
The Pharisees asked him about this later, saying:
By what power or by what name did you do this?
He first explained the power was in the Name:
…let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…by him this man is standing before you well.
Then he connected the Name to the Person:
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
At Pergamum, the church confessed their loyalty not to an idea but to a Person, to only one name, that is, one God: Jesus Christ.
He commended them also as they held fast to “faith in Me.”
Jesus pointed out they were faithful to believe in Christ even when Antipas was murdered. His murder didn’t move them to disbelief.
When something believed might result in your death, what is the temptation?
To believe something else! To rethink whether believing in something that might get you killed is worth it.
For the church at Pergamum, it was worth it. They kept the faith even when a member paid the ultimate price for it. They trusted that believing in the name was worth whatever costs that might come with it.
What does it matter?
Our point here is in order to defend against the subtle attacks of our enemy, we must remember the core doctrine of the faith. Jesus Christ is the core doctrine of the church.
First, His word.
Only by His word preached, do men and women come to faith in Him.
Only by His word taught, do we grow in intimacy and wisdom with Him.
Only by His word put into practice do we gain victory against our enemy.
The church at Pergamum was born and maintained its identity in a culture steeped in satanic presence and influence by holding on to Christ as He was preached in His word.
Do you have a regular practice of reading God’s word? Beloved, we cannot know Him naturally; we were born enemies ignorant of God and of His glory. We also cannot discern the philosophies, empty deceits and human traditions that work to swallow us up apart from the wisdom and categories of God’s word.
It is only by reading, studying and hearing God’s word can we do successful combat with our enemy.
But, secondly, more importantly, His word teaches us of His Person. Believing in a certain set of doctrines will not keep us from falling to the devil’s subtle attacks. What I mean is that learning and agreeing to the Apostles’ Creed on its own will not safeguard anyone from Satan.
It is our connectedness to Him in a personal relationship that keeps us.
In Him, we are anchored. In Him, we stand on the Rock. In Him, we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. In Him, we have all the covenant promises of God.
This is why it is so important to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.
Consider how you live: are you displaying the fruit of the Spirit?
Consider your stewardship of what God has given you: are you tithing your money, your time and your talents?
Consider how you speak, what you listen to, who is in your friend group: are these things bringing honor and glory to God?
Do they prove that you have put your faith in Christ? Beloved, this all matters greatly because all who follow Christ walk a hard road. At Pergamum, that road included negotiating the presence of Satan himself.
Transition
Remember my warfare analogy? The bravest warrior is useless if he has malaria or trench foot. If he was to persist in the battle, he has to prepare for the small, subtle challenges that might undermine his ability to fight.
What undermines a believer’s ability to hold fast to Christ is making small compromises with our culture.
Main Point B
What does it say and mean?
[Text: Revelation 2:14-15
[Point Statement: In order to defend against the subtle attacks of our enemy, we must resist compromising with the culture.
“But I have this against you…” Even as the church held fast to the Lord as the one, true and living God, they added worldly philosophy into what they believed.
The Lord rebukes them over two things.
#1: 2:14:
But I have, against you, a few things: you have, in that place, some holding the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel to eat food sacrificed to idols and to be sexually immoral.
Greed. Sexual immorality. Idol worship. These are the teachings of Balaam: three add-ons the church believed was appropriate to include in their life.
Before we go further, think on that: believe in the Name, faithful to Christ AND greed, sex and idols.
I listed them in order they appear in the actual story of Balaam in Numbers 22-25. Let me remind you of this story.
[Movement]
Israel moved from their wilderness wandering north through Edom and Ammon, countries east of the Promised Land.
Each time they entered a kingdom, Moses would ask those kings if they could go through; he promised they would not disturb anyone. Each refused.
So, in battle Israel crushed Sihon, king of Edom and Og, king of Bashan in Ammon. Now, they were camped in Moab, just opposite Jericho.
Balak was king of Moab. And he, along with the elders, were terrified of Israel. He decides he’d get a famous seer, Balaam, to curse Israel.
Balak send a delegation with money to Balaam with this message. Numbers 22:6:
Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.
At first, Balaam won’t come because God told him not to. There was also money involved.
Balak sends a new delegation with more money. Balaam wants to go this time and asks the Lord for permission. The Lord agrees and tells him he cannot say more than the Lord tells him.
The Lord comes against him on the way with an angel that only his donkey can see; remember? The Lord gave him permission to go but opposed him because his heart wasn’t right about going: the money was what motivated him. This is what Peter said in 2 Peter 2:15:
Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing.
Once Balaam gets to Balak, he only blesses Israel (three times!) rather than curses them. Of course, this infuriates Balak but Balaam told him he’d only say what the Lord allowed.
It seemed to end well but then we read this in Numbers 25:1
While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. [The daughters] invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
That anger led to the Lord killing 24,000 of the Israelites who whored with the women and bowed down to their gods.
Moses sent the army to war with Balak and destroy him which they did. But, they kept the Moabite women alive. Moses was furious. He said this in Numbers 31:16:
Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.
Balaam wouldn’t curse Israel but taught Balak how to get Israel to curse herself.
Balaam’s greed for the treasures Balak offered him, led him to giving advice to Balak about corrupting sex which then turned the Hebrew men to idol worship which brought down God’s curse upon them.
At Pergamum, they were listening to and practicing Balaam’s teaching: allowing greed, baptizing sexual immorality and cuddling with idols.
#2: 2:15
So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
As Pastor Tim mentioned when he preached on the letter to Ephesus, this teaching was worldliness. It was anti-holiness, anti-supernatural teaching.
Not a lot is known in specifics apart from Balaam’s teaching fit right into the teaching of the Nicolaitans and vice versa.
What does it matter?
Once again remember the warfare analogy. In this case, the church was fighting well against obvious satanic errors while allowing the little devils of greed, sex and idolatry to run rampant. As a result, they were rebuked.
We don’t need to really ask ourselves what are “our” little devils. We have the same ones (and more as I’m sure they did).
What about our greed? Or I could ask, what about our “jealousy”?
Greed for “likes” and “followers.” Jealous of someone else’s.
Greed for rank, role or position. Jealous of someone else’s.
Greed for money or possessions. Jealous of someone else’s.
Greed for health. Jealous of the strong, the healthy, the thin, the beautiful.
Our greed and our jealousy influence our decision-making. Instead of gratitude, we scheme for a way to get more. Instead of peace, we are constantly agitated about what we don’t have. Instead of kindness, we find ways to backbite or tear down.
Beloved, often we don’t act like we have all things in Christ.
What about our sexual immorality?
Listen, I want you to hear me about this. Sexual sin is gateway sin. You’ve heard of gateway drugs, right? Alcohol, nicotine, marijuana: these drugs often give a person permission to try others. They created that dopamine thrill that suggests “there’s more where that came from.”
Sexual sin is a gateway sin. Look what it did to the Hebrews in Balaam’s time? It led to bowing down to idols. To King David? It led to murder. To King Solomon? It led to idolatry and the destruction of the nation.
To us? It can lead to abortion, murder of a child. It leads to lying, cover up and scandal. It leads to suicide for the addicted or the caught.
None of these is the unforgiveable sin; that’s not what I’m saying. But sexual sin is gateway sin and if you allow yourself a little porn, a little G.O.T., a little YouTube, a little explicit lyrics, a little sexting, a little flirting then you are traveling down a path that leads to more sin. Guaranteed.
Just as with the Lord coming against the nation with a plague that killed 24,000, He promises in our text to make war with those who commit this sin. Make war against His own people. Why? Because we think it is acceptable to keep a little devil around.
What about our idolatry?
As a nation, we clearly have a health idol: COVID has made that obvious.
As a church we have mask idols and no-mask idols. Get mad if you want but your anger might prove my point.
We have money idols: we want more, we’re afraid of losing what we have, we hoard it, or we spend it like crazy on ourselves.
We have distraction idols: which of us (young and old) in our church can now sit down and read a book without getting distracted after 60 seconds and giving up after 180?
If you want a list of your idols then ask yourself what makes you mad or sad. If the answer is not connected to the Lord, it’s probably an idol.
Transition
We must remember the core doctrine of the faith: Jesus Christ alone. We must resist compromising with the culture. The last point contains the explicit call to action for dealing with the little devil, Balaamite sins that infect our congregation.
Main Point C
What does it say and mean?
[Text: Revelation 2:16-17
[Point Statement: In order to defend against the subtle attacks of our enemy, we must root out corrupt teaching and living from our midst.
As with four (4) other churches, Jesus issued a rebuke to the church at Pergamum.
2:16
You must repent, therefore. If not, I will come to you quickly and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
“You must repent, therefore.”
“Repent” involves a changed mind, a changed commitment and changed actions.
Changed mind. Repentance is foremost a changed mind. They believed and followed the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. What they believed was contrary to God’s word. They had to put it down and embrace the truth of God’s word.
Changed commitment. No longer could they desire the benefits that came to worldly living. They needed to revive their interest and desire to follow after Christ.
Changed actions. Then, with proper understanding and a new zeal, they needed to walk in the way of the Lord and not the way of Balaam.
The fact that they had been holding fast to Christ where Satan actually dwells was good but insufficient.
They were not effective in the mission of God as long as they were dabbling in sins like greed, sex and idolatry.
Back to the warfare metaphor: to have a good frontal defense but no defense on the flanks is good but insufficient. The enemy will still have a way in.
Repent or “I will make war against them.” Isn’t that interesting?
The people against whom the Lord will make war are those holding to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. The people who must repent is the entire church.
It’s easy to see how those holding false teaching and living sinfully must repent. But why must the entire church repent?
Beloved, I felt like I said this every week in our study of Ezra and Nehemiah: the sins of the individual are the sins of the community.
We as a church are not off the hook simply because we might not be the perpetrator of the sin or sinful living.
Do you remember 1 Corinthians 5? The man who was sleeping with his step mother? Who did Paul rebuke: the man or the church? The church!
Individuals in the congregation are able to live sinfully if the congregation tolerates that sin, excuses that sin or minimizes that sin.
If individual freedom rather than corporate holiness matters more. If God’s law is always run over by God’s grace.
If no one will step forward and confront a brother or a sister on what is clearly sinful living, then the sinner will have no reason to stop.
And, others who watch will have no reason to refrain, “No one seems to care” they might say or “the leaders didn’t make it a big deal it mustn’t be a big deal.”
Then, soon enough, that place isn’t a church anymore: just a bunch of people who are doing what is right in their own eyes.
So, the Lord puts the responsibility for making the correction on everyone, “Repent.”
To those who heard that letter, if they did not repent, then their Lord will war against them by His word: the piercing, dividing, hammering word of God.
He won’t come to pull up the tares, He’ll set fire to the field.
What is at stake is the mission of God and, if a church will not follow God as He’s instructed, the Lord will blow out that candlestick and move on to one that will.
What does it matter?
Beloved, there is no perfect church. Every church is mixed up with right and proper teaching and wrong and hurtful teaching. Every church has people interested in striving after holiness and people who aren’t.
The Lord has proven Himself to be longsuffering and patient. The Holy Spirit is a gentle and persistent teacher. And He has given the church the tools to learn and know God’s word, the Spirit’s power to resist compromising with the world and the charge to rebuke, exhort and challenge each other.
This is why I say the three great gifts of God are the Word, the Spirit and the church.
You and I, as members of Christ and of this church have the obligations to be each other’s keeper. The author of Hebrews says this in chapter 3:
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Do you want people in this church to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin?
Do you want someone in this church to have an unchecked evil, unbelieving heart?
Jesus said this recorded by Luke in his gospel (17:3):
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him
Well, you might think that since you’re such a rotten sinner having done this and that and the other, you don’t have the moral authority to correct another brother. Or, you are just certain that the log in your eye is too great for you to work on the speck in your brother’s.
Shouldn’t those just make you humble in your confrontation?
Does the Scripture anywhere say that you have to have all your business worked out before you can come to the aid of a brother or sister? No. Nowhere. Never.
I mean, if you were at the airport and you saw something, would you say something? Of course! You wouldn’t want your silence to lead to an exploding airplane.
Why would you allow your silence with your brother’s or sister’s sin lead to an exploding marriage or crippled faith?
Beloved, exhorting one another day by day is not easy work but it is essential work. I don’t see my sins and I don’t want to see my sins. Someone has to be willing to both show me and confront me about them. Or (remember last week?) I will be a stranger to holiness and the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
But, more importantly, from our text today, if we do not rebuke each other in the Spirit, then our Lord will take matters into His own hands and make war against us.
Conclusion
To the one who conquers, I will give to him the hidden manna and I will give to him a white stone and upon the stone a new name written that no one knows but the one who receives it.
Jesus was once urged to eat food by His disciples. He responded that “I have food that you do not know about.” Food hidden to the eyes.
Physical manna was God’s miraculous provision; the Hebrews depended on it in their wilderness wandering. Now, the Lord feeds us with His word. At Jesus’ temptation He cited Deuteronomy 8:3:
It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
The Lord promises provision to us that is yet hidden. Spiritual food that will satisfy completely. Not the false and fleeting satisfaction that comes from greed, sex or the thrill of secrecy, but the ever-lasting satisfaction that can scarcely be imagined.
It will be prepared and delivered to all who have believed and walked faithfully (not perfectly but faithfully). A white stone – a victor’s stone, a stone of acquittal and innocence – with our eternal name known only to the Lord.
Beloved, once again the Lord beckons us to put our faith in Him and walk faithfully according to His word. He knows the greatness of our temptation and subtle genius of satanic assaults. He know those things tempt us to believe there can’t be anything greater or more satisfying.
But, if we hold fast to God’s word and His Spirit, we will see by faith the beauty of what He promises to us so that what we see now with our eyes will not tempt us to stray but fuel our thanksgiving to God.