Apostles Church

BACKGROUND AND SETTING

Of the seven churches that are addressed here in Revelation, Pergamum sits the furthest northwest in Asia Minor.  It was not as important or influential commercially as Ephesus or Smyrna, but it was evermore so religiously and politically.  In fact, Pergamum was a capital city here in this Roman province.  Just like we might say that DC is the political capitol of the US, but NYC is the financial capitol, Pergamum was tantamount to the religious capital of this region.  It was the first city to openly support the imperial cult and was known for its grandiose acropolis which sat somewhere between 1,100 and 1,300 feet above the surrounding plains - approximately the height of the Empire State Building. 

Within this acropolis they had several temples dedicated to pagan gods - including zeus and asclepius.  We discussed the past two weeks how these early Christians were immersed in the language of the empire, breathing the air of the empire, well the people in Pergamum were even more so immersed in that language and breathing that air than the people at Ephesus or Smyrna. 

We have to remember that the Christians here in Pergamum were for the most part all converts from this imperial, pagan religion.  So if you were to walk into a church there it's not as though you’d see a bunch of people who grew up in church Sunday School learning about Noah and the ark, or doing David and Goliath coloring books.  They weren't long accustomed to the church culture and language.  These are people who grew up living in fear of a plurality of gods and worshipping at temples where soliciting prostitutes was a part of worship and the pagan priests would engage in grotesque blood lettings and self mutilations to appease the gods.  They came from a tradition of seeing Caesar as the supreme savior of humanity.  So when people in Pergamum began worshipping and following Jesus, it was so counter-cultural that their neighbors didn't even have a category for it. 

The makeup of the Roman city was actually not too dissimilar from New York in many ways.  There was an incredibly high population density.  Because of the poor sanitation systems the life expectancy was very low, which means that the population was kept high, in part, by a steady stream of newcomers.  So the residents of the city were largely disconnected from one another and from the city as a whole.  There was immense pressure for people to assimilate to the culture in order to "fit in".  

As we begin to walk through this text, I actually want us to jump to the very end and start there. 

17 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, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'

THE CONCLUSION FIRST
   
So what does Jesus mean that he will give the one who conquers “hidden manna” and a “white stone with a name on it”?  Those are kind of arcane symbols – what does he mean? Regarding the manna he is probably referring to himself.  Back in the Gospel of John, Jesus, in referring to the story of the Exodus where God miraculously provides for the Israelites with this bread from heaven called manna, says that he is the “true bread from heaven”.  In other words, the “true manna”.

That’s pretty straightforward, but what’s the deal with this white stone?  There are several possible interpretations, but the two most common are these: In the Roman judiciary system it was the common practice that when someone was on trial, their verdict would be rendered by using a colored stone.  A white stone would indicate acquittal, a black stone would indicate guilty as charged.  So he could mean that the one who conquers will receive a verdict from God of “not guilty”.  But white stones were also used commonly as tickets of entry to banquets.  So he could be saying that the one who conquers will receive a ticket to the heavenly banquet, so to speak. 

However we interpret those two symbols – the manna and the white stone – whatever they were actually referring to, they are communicating the same thing.  All of the possible interpretations essentially point to the same meaning.  That to the one who conquers, eternal life and acceptance before God will be granted.  Eternal fellowship with the Father will be the reward. 

Now that we know the conclusion of this passage, our natural curiosity takes us back up to verse 13 to find out what it means to ‘conquer”. 


A COMMENDATION AND A REBUKE

v. 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.

Why does Jesus identify Pergamum as the place of Satan’s throne?  Remember that Pergamum is the seat of the imperial cult – that it is literally the epicenter of idol worship.  Also, one of the temples in the acropolis was dedicated to ascelpius.  The symbol for this god of healing is a serpent wrapped around a staff.  This serpent symbol would have been all over the temple, potentially on currency, in homes, on pottery.  The image would have been ubiquitous and obviously reminded these Christians of Satan as represented in Genesis. 

Regardless of why Jesus uses that phrase to describe Pergamum, he’s indicating that it’s a place where Satan has a great concentrated presence –to the point where opposition to the church has turned deadly, where at least one among them – Antipas – was actually killed for identifying himself with Jesus. 

So Jesus commends the church here for remaining faithful to him even when some amongst them are being murdered for it.  They’ve refused to deny – verbally at least -  that they belong to Jesus.  Look at what he says next though. 

14But 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. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

We don’t know who these people the Nicolaitans were exactly, except to say that they were some philosophical sect within the church that taught something very similar to what we see happen in the book of Numbers where we read the story of Balaam and Balak.  So in the Old Testament book of Numbers, we read that Balak was the king of the Moabites when Israel was being delivered from Egypt.  So when he saw this huge number of Israelites advancing towards his land out of the desert he became threatened and wanted to keep them from overpowering his kingdom.  So he sought help from this man named Balaam who essentially advised him to lure the Israelites away from their God with idol feasts and sexual temptation.  Well that’s what Balak did and it worked – Israel disobeyed God by giving themselves over to the Moabite culture.  And this is exactly the sin that some of the Christians in Pergamum had fallen into. 

What the Christians at Pergamum had apparently done is elevated this issue of faithfully proclaiming Jesus publicly to a level of moral supremacy at the expense of other issues.  They basically said, we’re okay because we’re doing this thing well.  They’d been so busy patting themselves on the back with their right hand for their faithfulness in the face of persecution that they’ve lost sight of what their left hand was doing.  And Jesus is saying, “that is not okay”.  Your faithfulness in part does not excuse your disobedience.  He is calling them to be a People of Absolute Purity.    Not to be selective moralists, but people of purity.

This is just as strong a word to us today as it was to them.  In fact, much of the American church has been known for this kind of duplicity over the past 20 years.  For Pergamum it was that they were faithful with their vocal proclamation despite persecution, but they refused to speak out against teachers who were leading people into engaging in idol worship and sexual immorality. 

For us it doesn’t look quite like that.  But what does it look like?
•    We favor an ethic of life for unborn children, but we don’t care for orphans. 
•    We’re faithful to read the Bible, but we speak harshly to our spouses. 
•    We’re really committed to telling people about Jesus, but we refuse to yield our sexuality to him. 
•    We oppose euthanasia, but in our hearts we often see the elderly and sick as a nuisance and inconvenience

What is it for you today?  What is the issue that you’ve elevated to the level of moral supremacy?  What good thing that God has truly called you to do, that you are doing faithfully and well, but that you’ve put it on such a pedestal that you’ve attended to it at the expense of other things – things that you’ve persistently ignored? 

Do you say, “I give of my finances faithfully” but you don’t serve?  Do you say, “I serve with my time”, but you don’t give of your finances?  Do you say, “I don’t use curse words and foul language” – but then you gossip about your coworkers. 
See, it’s great if you’re willing to identify yourself with Jesus on your census forms, but if unwilling when coworker wrongs you, that is a God-dishonoring duplicity and Jesus is saying, “I have a few things against you”. 

•    When Liberals say, “I care for the environment and care for the poor”, but disregard God’s created intention and command for family structure and sexuality, that is duplicity. 

•    When Conservatives say, “I support traditional family values”, but they selfishly disregard the poor and don’t care for the environment, that is duplicity.  And Jesus is saying, “I have a few things against you.”

What we have a tendency to do is to take whatever commandment we excel at being faithful to, and we assume that it is the most important one and that there will be some leeway with these other things because God is so proud of us for this great job we’re doing over here.  We just assume our virtues to a place of ultimate prominence so they are now the standard for righteousness.

Jesus is saying to the Christians at Pergamum, and New York City, who are doing that, “you’d better repent and understand that I’m calling you to be a people of absolute purity”.  Our endurance isn’t measured in increments.  Jesus is saying that we need to endure to the end, to conquer, and not compromise. 


WEDDING ANALOGY

Why is Jesus being so particular about this?  If God is gracious and forgiving, why is it so important to embrace absolute purity?  In other words, if Jesus forgives us, why is he insisting on this purity?


“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

Here is a theme that runs throughout the Bible that we need to understand – it’s this wedding theme.  Paul here is continuing this Biblical wedding theme that you see all throughout the scriptures by describing Jesus as the Groom and the Church as the Bride.  He says that Jesus has washed the Church, cleansed her, so that “he might present the church to himself in splendor (or as radiant), without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

Here’s the deal: It’s not like God has come up with these arbitrary rules and is making his people follow them because he loves rules so much.  He is calling his people to obey his law because by doing it, by embracing purity, we are presented to Jesus as a radiant church. 

At a wedding, we generally don’t wear our everyday clothes, right?  No, at a wedding, you put on fancy clothes.  A woman spends hours primping and having bridesmaids help with hair and jewelry and makeup.  The purpose for all of that, for the radiant, beautiful wedding dress and veil and jewelry isn’t because the outfit is the main focus of the wedding, but rather because the radiant, beautiful wedding attire needs to appropriately adorn the radiant, beautiful bride.  It wouldn’t be fitting for a beautiful, glowing bride to walk down an aisle towards her soon to be husband wearing a long flowing veil and sweatpants, or a sleek silk gown with footie  pajamas underneath because the chapel is cold– it wouldn’t accurately represent her.  The beauty of the dress needs to reflect the beauty of the bride. 

Jesus, as the Bridegroom has washed his church, the bride, and made her pure.  That is fundamentally what the church is – pure.  Living a life of purity is like putting on a beautiful white dress.  Disobeying God and indulging in sin is like saying, the heck with the wedding, I’ll just wear sweats and be comfortable.  For us to be accurately represented as the Church of Jesus, we need to be adorned by a life of purity, not laxity or disobedience, but purity because it reflects who Jesus has made us. 

Let’s look at these two particular rebukes here.  Why does Jesus call out Pergamum for eating meat sacrificed to idols and engaging in sexual immorality?  Again, it’s not as though he has just created some arbitrary rules and he’s intent on us keeping them.  What he wants is our true allegiance and loyalty.  When the Church at Pergamum ate the idol feast and partook of the temple prostitutes, it wasn’t just breaking a rule, it was pledging allegiance to something other than God.  Do you see that?  Jesus’ response isn’t a frustrated, “dang it, they broke one of the rules”, it’s a heartbroken, “UH, they’ve given themselves to another.”  Do you see the difference?





These issues of faithfulness and sexual morality aren't just about rules to keep, but a people to be.  It's deeper than the act, it's pledging allegiance. 
•    Guys, when you look at pornography it's not just that you're disrespecting the humanity of women and dishonoring your wife or future wife, it's that you're pledging your allegiance to something other than Christ - it's saying, I refuse to worship you alone as God, I will instead follow this other way – and I’m going to call it something euphemistic like pleasure, self satisfaction, sexual liberty, etc.  
•    Women, when you engage in sexual intimacy with someone who is not your husband, it’s not just that you’re breaking God’s rule on sex, it’s that you’re pledging yourself to something other than Jesus, your King.

•    When we speak slanderous words against out coworkers, become judgmental towards friends, participate in drunkenness, use crude language, covet our neighbors things – it’s not just that we’re breaking rules, it’s that we’re refusing to pledge allegiance to our God who has loved us and saved us. 

MORE THAN CONQUERERS

That being said, here’s how we’re going to be tempted to read this: “If I conquer then I will receive this eternal reward that Jesus talks about.  So to conquer, I have to be pure which means following the rules.  Jesus has a few things against me, so if I’ll just do those things better then God will accept me.”

If we leave here thinking that, we’ve completely missed what Jesus is saying.  The refrain of the Bible over and over is that we are not good enough to earn God’s favor – in fact, it says that we are wholly depraved and incapable of doing so.  Jesus’ call to be a people of purity has nothing to do with earning the manna or the white stone.

When we read the conclusion of our passage from Revelation we asked the question, “What does it mean to conquer?”.  Let’s look to what the Apostle Paul says in Romans Ch 8 for our answer. 
 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Christ is our conqueror - the work of salvation is not ours to do, we cannot do it.  Christ is the one who died for our sin, in our place.  Christ is the one who rose again, defeating death on our behalf.
Christ is the bridegroom, we, the church, are his bride.  He is the one who has pursued us, he's the one who's wooed us, he's the one who's secured our good.  Our response is to be a people of purity - a fitting bride. 
So to be the one who conquers in Rev 2 means to trust wholly in Jesus for our forgiveness and to pledge our allegiance to him in every area of our lives.  Which means not elevating some virtue in our lives to moral supremacy at the expense of other areas of our lives.  That in every part of our lifestyle we see a rebellion against God taking place, that we would squelch it beneath the Kingship of Jesus.  He wants us to be a people of purity, because it’s the only fitting attire for the people of God. 

I want to end with this encouragement:
Church, Jesus is saying to us today “well done” for some things. 
•    For those of you seeking greater ways to use your time and resources in service to the poor, well done! 
•    For those of you intentionally pursuing community and becoming a people who love each other deeply, well done!  
•    For those of you committed to fervent and consistent prayer during the Lenten Season, well done! 
•    For those of you committed to simplifying your lifestyle so that you can be more generous to those in need, well done! 
•    For those of you committed to being the kind of parents that raise your children in such a way that they will hear about and experience the love of God, well done! 

Church, God is doing some wonderful things amongst us.  He is working in some really beautiful ways in our community.   And today he wants to commend us for being obedient in those areas, and call us into greater experiences of his grace and presence by bringing the totality of our lives into that same obedience, that we would truly be a People of greater Purity.