Dear Church, Pt.4 - The Church in Pergamum

Pastor Jimmy Knott
August 31, 2008
The Danger of Compromise

Revelation 2:12-17

"Every man has his price." The moment when they abandon their standards, principals, and convictions for personal gain or in order not to lose something.

We live in a world of compromise - an age of compromisers. The enemies most successful tactic is to convince us slowly, inch by inch, to compromise our relationship with God.

Some in the church of Pergamum where compromising. There are several examples of compromisers in the bible. Adam sinned with Eve and lost paradise. David compromised and sinned with adultery and murder. Peter compromised his faith and denied Christ 3 times. Judas compromised Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We need to try and avoid compromising at all costs.

A Fascinating City - Revelation 2:12
Pergamum was known as the greatest city of Asia Minor. It was the Roman capital city in that area and had a huge university with 200,000 volumes of books. This was before the printing press! It was a city full of culture, intellectualism and was a religious city not necessarily known for a lot of commerce. It was full of altars, temples, idols, and plenty of emperor worship. The reference to Him with a sword is symbolic for a powerful judge. Pergamum had the right of execution-they could kill anyone, anywhere, for any reason by the ruler. We should fear the Lord more than this ruler. Hebrews 4:12 - the 2 edge sword, God has the final word.

A Serious Evaluation - Revelation 2:13
We don't know when the church was founded but it came out of challenging circumstances, such as, Roman rule, pagan worship, persecution, and a dangerous environment. God knows where we are. He put believers in non-believer areas to serve Him and to share His message. What better place to plant a church than near Satan's headquarters. Most had stood tall-stood firm.

2 Criticisms - Revelation 2:14-15
Some had taken on practices that let to a certain lifestyle. There were false teachings. Balaam had gain from wrong doing.
2 Peter 2:12

Jude 11
References to Balaam. A true profit of God that compromised his connection with God for personal gain. He cursed Israel for a bribe. We do this too. How does this make God feel?

James 4:4 - we become enmities of God. He puts us in the middle of sin to witness but we compromise. You become an enemy of God.

1 John 2:15-12-17 - things of the world. The church of Pergamum was married to the world and lowered their standards. It became hard to tell the difference between the acts of Christians and the lifestyles of Non-Christians. "Mugwamps" - fence straddlers

Repentance - Revelation 2:16
This is not about losing salvation. It offends God and he won't let us continue - He will go against you. He gives us 2 options:
1. Repent, be honest about the worldly compromise that is in your life
2. The Lord will fight against you - not good odds, you will not win

A Fabulous Promise - Revelation 2:17
Hidden Manna is only known to those of faith. When we compromise we are saying that Jesus can't meet our needs. We should go to God to provide. The reference to a new white stone with a name could have been related to a good luck charm, a ticket for an event, payment for food, or most likely a judge ruling of not guilty. We all have unique and individualistic relationships with Christ. It could be that we have a name that is shared only between ourselves and God. Showing that we are uniquely related to God for all eternity.

Compromise is costly. Commitment is always rewarded. Is it in your life? Do you live one way at church and another way at home or work? Anytime we compromise we damage Christ and His church.