Latest / The TakeAway / Revelation 2:12-17 Pergamum - Living in the midst of a sinful Culture

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Revelation 2:12-17 Pergamum - Living in the midst of a sinful Culture · The TakeAway

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to the Takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter and verse by verse, to help you understand God's Word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, welcome again to the takeaway.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barrens, and on today's episode, we will be looking at Revelation chapter 2, 12 through 17, the Church of Pergamum, the church in the midst of a sinful culture.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get started, I want to remind you again that there is a pattern that repeats in the letters to the seven churches that we need to see and understand.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: First, to each church, Jesus identifies himself with the characteristics of himself that best fits their current situation.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is a reminder to us also that he meets us where we are.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Second, he encourages them in their good works.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Third, he points out their bad works and calls them to turn back or repent of them.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, he tells them what their judgment will be if they don't repent.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, he tells them what the reward will be if they endure till the end.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is God's promise for us also.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now to every single church and believer, Jesus meets us where we are and offers promise to us if we endure.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: However, as we will see, not every church is doing something bad, not every church is doing something good, and some are doing both good and bad.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to learn from these churches so that we can stay on the straight and narrow path, so that we can either that so that we can enter into God's promises and receive the reward He has for us.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: As we look at Pergamum, there is a big question we need to ask ourselves.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: The question is, what do we do when false teachers and believers are among us and try to entice us with the things of this world?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: How do we confront this and keep ourselves in check?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: So before we get uh diving into the scripture, there's a quick history lesson I want to give.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Is that as John was writing the letter of Revelation, uh the scroll here, he was on the island of Patmos.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: He was banned there, and he was he was writing this revelation as Jesus appeared to him, and then he sent this out to the seven churches.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this would have gone along a major trade route in Asia Minor.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you can Google Asia Minor in biblical times, and you can see this trade route in the seven churches to get a visual picture of how this would have traveled.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, these seven churches were along this trade route, and they would have been um, or these cities would have been major cities, and then this these letters would have gone out from there to all the other churches and across the area.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, they didn't get seven separate letters, they got the the book of Revelation essentially, and they would have read the letters to all the churches, so they would have seen that.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And not only would this have had an impact on them individually as a church in that particular city, and it would have understood it, but this would have had an impact on individuals just as we are reading this to try to understand what's the takeaway for us.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Each characteristic of Jesus and each issue, um, good work, bad work, judgments, and promises that all come up through these seven letters are relevant to us today.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we want to try to take away.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Pergamon was located about 50 miles north of Smyrna and was a leading religious center of Asia Minor.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was a home of pagan worship and cults, including Zeus, Athena, and many other false gods.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: It became a Roman province around 130 BC, and like Smyrna, they participated in and encouraged the worship of the Roman Emperor.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: They were also known for their pottery, tapestries, parchments, and had a library with some 200,000 volumes.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And this was second only to that of Alexandria.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now, like Smyrna, the believers experienced persecution for their faith in Christ.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And as John indicates, the believers remain true to their faith and the name of Christ.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in verse 12, we read, and to the angel of the church of Pergamon, right, the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you remember, the angel slash messenger, that's what angel means, right?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Most likely is talking about the pastors of this church.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: So they would have been read, they would have been receiving this as they were the messengers.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword, and again, back in chapter one, this is just one characteristic of who Jesus is or what he has about him.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he's meeting them where they are.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, they're dealing with false teachings as we read forward, and he's coming with a sharp two-edged sword to divide and to conquer and to deal with, to bring truth and judgment, to deal sharply with these false teachings.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, verse 13, 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.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: So he's he's reminding them first that there was a witness that was killed among them, and they could have been scared and scared away, and they weren't.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: They stayed faithful through that.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, he's also indicating this is where Satan's throne is.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, some people will spiritualize this to say it was the government or religious leaders and they were evil, but that's not what scripture is saying.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been following with me as we've been going through Revelation, it self-interprets itself the majority of the time.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And when it doesn't, I think we should just take what it says as a literal thing.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Satan is his Jesus is saying his throne is set up here, and this is where he dwells.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, uh don't get this wrong, right?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So the devil is the God of this world, and we can see that 2 Corinthians 4 4, like he abides in this world.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um and most of the world's citizens live and die in unbelief and sin, thus serving and following Satan, right?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So um, people that's what 2 Corinthians 4 4 says.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in Pergamus, he was even more powerful as the king ruling from his invisible throne.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Pergamus was in a very pagan atmosphere, completely perverse to Christian testimony.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: In the middle of that was situated this little church to which Christ addressed the letter.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, in verse 13, you will note that he says, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Satan's got his operations all over the world, but he's got his throne here.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's quite an amazing statement.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Make no mistake, his throne is not in hell, it's in this world.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is the field of his operation.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hell is the place of his incarceration.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is the place of his operation.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: His power was unleashed from this city, and some in the Pergamous church had fallen victim to Satan and become thoroughly engulfed and even married to the world.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Frankly, not persecution, but this kind of compromise is the fastest way to destroy the church's life and testimony.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, but I have a few things against you.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now the prophet Balaam, you can find this back in Numbers chapters twenty-two through twenty-nine.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I would encourage you to read this to understand this story more fully.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: But we see that after the Israelites had defeated the Amorites, the king of Moab, Balak, was afraid the Israelites would destroy his nation as well.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now Balak asked the prophet named Balaam to curse the Israelites.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: However, the Lord directed Balaam not to curse the Israelites.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So Balaam blessed them instead.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now later, Balaam disobeyed the Lord and taught Balak that he could weaken the Israelites by enticing them to commit sin.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: The Israelites who committed serious sin and turned from the Lord were slain.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: So there's the false teaching.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's what he's talking about.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So to bring context into it.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now don't be fooled.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: There are people all around us who are trying to put a stumbling block before us, talking about me and you now.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Who are they and how can we identify them?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's pretty easy.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone that is trying to get you to do anything outside of God's will, like drinking, drugs, partying, certain kinds of entertainment, or anything that pulls you away from the body of Christ and your relationship with Jesus.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: The question then becomes: do you know enough of God's word to discern the difference?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: We should be surrounding ourselves with other believers, reading and listening to God's word and biblical teachings.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And a big one that gets overlooked often by many is discipleship.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Get a spiritual mentor, someone that is a spiritual elder to you that can pour wisdom and understanding into your life and hold you accountable.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Be open to allow them to confront you in the hard places of life.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: The only limitation to your relationship with Jesus is you.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um the second you become unwilling to correct course, you have left your first love.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it's really important that you get plugged in and that you are surrounded and devoted to the Word of God, His teachings, and the fellowship of the body.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is the only way to protect yourself.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You have to know truth to stand for truth.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't, you could be easily enticed and led astray.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so how do we prevent ourselves from falling into false doctrine?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in Acts 17, 11, we read, Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: So there's the trick.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: We have to examine the scriptures daily to know truth, right?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Not only so that we can identify false teachers or even true teachers.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: So even listening to me today, I give you a lot of scripture reference and I tell you where I'm pulling the material from.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I would encourage you to examine the scriptures daily to see for these things for yourself, to see, you know, so go study, read, pause the episode if you have to, and go look up these references that I'm giving and see what they say for yourselves, to know that what I'm saying is true.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so now verse 15.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaatians.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: We've read about them in the previous church.
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  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, repent.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's the sword of my mouth again.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um so as we discussed, the Nicolaitians were covered uh in the church with the church of Ephesus.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: They were also enticing and seducing people away from God.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we see false doctrine was leaking in, and now Jesus is saying uh the judgment would be repent from false teachings, or I will fight against you with the sword of my mouth, you know, bringing that truth and uh ultimate judgment.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Jesus really hates uh liars and false teachers and wants truth to be taught.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really important when you share the gospel, we share the word of God that you teach it and share it with truth and accuracy.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manner, 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.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here we're entering into promises, and he has a promise for every single one of these seven churches, and he has a promise for all of us.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: The key to receiving the promises that God has is staying faithful to his word and true and um doing good works.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, not doing good works to receive promises or to receive God's favor, but good works as an overflow of your relationship with him.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: It goes back to first and foremost, you must have a relationship with Jesus and him pouring into you.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then the overflow of that, that relationship should have such an impact on you that you do good works, that you imitate our Lord and Savior.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it's in the imitation of the good works, then that we receive promises because we are entering into life with him.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the key.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, uh, going back to the scripture here, in Exodus 16, we read about the manna and the quail.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, God will provide for us in the desert places of life, just like he did Israel.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So in Exodus 16, we read that he was um providing for them manna, which was like a heavenly bread.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't know where it came from, they didn't have food to eat, and they prayed.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: And God provided for them manna every single day.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he provided for them quail for meat.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Jesus is that hidden manna, he is the bread of life.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like he is offering himself to us as a promise if we stay firm, and that bread will bring life into us here as well as in eternity.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the white stone.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, what is what's up with this white stone?
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, what's interesting about that is we aren't told exactly what the stone is about.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: However, it does have a new name on it, which we are all gonna receive.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: The stone could be a sort of imitation, also, um, something we should be excited about, like being handed an invitation.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have this stone with our new name that Jesus gives us, and that new name is gonna better identify you than the worldly name that you have now.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you that.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just like he gave uh Saul a new name and called him Paul, um, you know, and he renamed Peter, and um, you know, as well as some others, but Jesus identifies us with who he created us to be, and he has a new name for us.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe this stone is a type of invitation that we will be carrying with our name, and um, you know, it's it's it's a promise, it's a blessing to to have this.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what's the big takeaway today?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, that would be to avoid false teaching by staying in the word of God and getting connected to a healthy church and get a mentor to help you stand your ground.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah 53, 6, we read, All we like sheep have gone astray.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the inequity of us all.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are all sheep and we need a shepherd.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus invites us to let him be that shepherd.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is he your shepherd?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: I would hope that he is, and I would invite you to accept him to be the Lord of your life.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So many people have just accepted Jesus as Savior, um, but have never taken the step to allow him to be Lord.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the only way that we can truly allow him to be Lord is we have to know his word.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We think, well, what does God want from me?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: What does he want me to do?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you're not in God's word, if you're not hearing biblical teaching, there's no way for you to really know that.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's not going to send you an email or a text or hit you up on Instagram or Twitter.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's given us his word.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the word, as we read in the Gospel of John, and his word is what we have, and you have to know it to understand it, to know how to live it.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I really encourage you, you have to be plugged in and you have to start somewhere.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And a good place to start is with devotionals.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Find a good devotional that you can start.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, some are loftier than others, but get that.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's just a small bit of truth that you could start devouring on a daily basis.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then go a little further.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Start reading scripture on your own, listening to teachings.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is a great place as we go chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, anything you can do to fill yourself with truth.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the more you fill yourself with truth, I promise you, if you were to start today in six to eight weeks from now, you will start to see a difference in your life.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Your life will begin to change, even though you don't feel like you're gaining understanding.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you, it's impacting your life.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: You have to absorb the word of God.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: I can't stress it enough how important it is.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I thank you for listening today's episode.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, next week we'll be looking at Thyartira, the tolerant church, and um what that did to them.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I hope that you would join us for that.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: So let me close us in prayer and let me pray for you.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you so much for your revelation, the truths that you teach us.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, thank you for your word that you gave this to John so that we can have this and read about this and understand the impact it makes on our lives and how to change our lives to better live for you and enter into a relationship with you, Jesus.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I pray for our listeners today, God, that you would anoint them and give them the power and the strength to read your word and put on the armor of God to confront the lies and the deceptions that are in this world, that they can stand their ground, to not fall into the false indoctrinations that are happening all around us that are enticing us to walk away from you, God, and that we would not only be able to recognize it, but turn from it, that we would be able to stand against it and war against it and bring truth to those areas to free people, to free their minds and their hearts and introduce them to you, Jesus, so that they too can have a relationship with you and enter into that.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I thank you again.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: We pray this in your precious name, Jesus.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you again for joining today.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that you enjoyed today's episode and that you'll join us as we um look at thyre tire next time.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you and God bless.