The Church in Pergamum

12“To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: 13“I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise. 16Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.

Pergamum was a capital city about 100 kilometers north of Smyrna, and around 130 BC it became a Roman colony. If Ephesus and Smyrna served commercially as the centers of Asia, the region of Pergamum served culturally as the heart of Asia. Pergamum lies where Bergama in present-day Turkey is.

Pergamum reached its height in the time of the successors of Alexander the Great of the Greek empire. In particular, around the third century BC, Attalus I made it the capital of the Attalid dynasty, and because he handed over his territory to Rome, this place became the capital of Asia. In the time of the Roman Empire, Pergamum was a place where idol worship and emperor worship flourished. Temples to every emperor were built there in turn, and so it became the center of Roman emperor worship.

With the development of parchment, Pergamum became a city of learning, with a university and one of the two greatest libraries in the world, holding 200,000 volumes. It had the Asclepion, the finest general hospital, and many physicians, so it was always crowded with people. Many people there were armed with the world’s learning and medical knowledge, so they were proud of Pergamum, the city they lived in. The pity is that architecture, culture, arts education, and medicine were all bound up with idols and temples, and this hindered the spreading of the gospel. Worldly knowledge is certainly necessary, but the gospel cannot be understood through worldly knowledge, so the persecution believers suffered was all the more severe.

Pergamum is known as the birthplace of Zeus. If it was where Zeus was born, you can imagine how full of idols Pergamum was. With the shrine of the serpent god, the temple for worshiping the Roman emperor, the temple of Zeus, and the shrines of all sorts of gods, it could be called the headquarters of idol worship. That is why Christ called this place where Satan’s throne is.

Wherever people turned their heads there were shrines to idols, so living among them and keeping the faith would never have been easy. The people they met and the surroundings they lived in were all bound up with idols, so believers would have suffered much pain and persecution to keep a pure faith. As long as believers live in the world, they cannot avoid having relationships with people. They have to work to provide food, clothing, and shelter, so they have no choice but to live mixed in among people.

Even so, believers who have received God cannot worship the idols the people of the world serve. The world could not tolerate such a choice by believers. To serve God as our master in such a hard environment, we must understand the word fully and grasp God’s will deeply. Only by living with our hope set on the kingdom of God can we be unafraid of persecution and endure even suffering and the refining fire with joy. Without such faith, we will give up our hope of heaven, have no choice but to compromise with the world, and in the end surrender to Satan’s power.

To the believers of the church in Pergamum, who were in such a dangerous environment, Jesus Christ said that only if they held the sword of the word could they discern the evil one and live for the salvation of people.

Revelation 2:12

12“To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:

The sword of Christ symbolizes God’s authority and the power of judgment held by the one whose power is absolute. The word that comes from God’s mouth is sharp, because it never compromises and is never taken back. The word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and it is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So whoever is struck by the sword of Jesus Christ cannot live, and even Satan cannot stand against it.

When Jesus showed the church in Pergamum the sharp two-edged sword, he was asking the believers of the church in Pergamum not to compromise but to overcome the forces of darkness by the word alone. The only way believers can defeat Satan is the word. Believers who are not full of the word have no strength to resist Satan. Pergamum was so corrupt, so steeped in sexual immorality and pleasure, that Christ said Satan’s throne was there. The moment believers living in such a place abandon the truth, they will have no choice but to take in its ways of thinking.

The church in Pergamum was built on top of the “temple of Serapis,” an Egyptian god. Astonishingly, God established a church in Pergamum, where Satan’s throne was, and called people who had served idols and made them born again as believers. That a church was established in Pergamum, where Satan’s throne was, is close to a miracle, and something only God can do. Yet the church, which should have lived holding truth as sharp as a sharpened sword, could not overcome the temptations of the world and grew more and more corrupt.

But even in these surroundings there was a believer who fought against those who persecuted them and died a martyr for his faith. He was Antipas, the pastor of the church in Pergamum. There are not many records about Antipas, so we cannot know the details. But Jesus called him a faithful witness, and from that we can know that he did not compromise with them and proclaimed only the word of truth. Under Emperor Domitian he refused emperor worship to the end. So they heated a bull made of brass in the fire and horribly burned Antipas to death, and so he was martyred.

Antipas was convinced that God is alive, and he also knew that when he put off this body, all suffering would end. He had faith that if he relied on God to the end, an eternal world was waiting, and that is why Antipas did not deny Christ to the end.

Two kinds of people live in the world: those who believe there is a world after death, and those who live content with the present and believe that when they die, everything ends. Those who believe there is no afterlife will see clearly with their own eyes, the moment they put off the body, that heaven and hell exist.

God has hidden wisdom in all the things he created, and in our conscience and faith, so that we can know him. So everyone, looking at the intricately made creation, cannot help acknowledging God without even realizing it. We cannot know whether today will be our end or whether our last day will come ten years from now, but we must believe that there is a kingdom where we will live forever after death. Antipas knew this, and so he willingly accepted martyrdom at the hands of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.

If Satan threatened to kill you as Antipas was killed unless you denied Christ, what choice would you make? You may say, how could such a thing happen in a world like today’s, and why use such an extreme comparison? But we must not forget that Satan, who tempted Adam, is still going around today looking for people to take with him to hell. In countries without freedom of religion, believers are still being persecuted today and are keeping their faith at the cost of their lives.

To push many people into hell, Satan is still corrupting pastors today and feeding believers wormwood. Going further, he uses the culture of the world and the weakness of people’s hearts, and walks around like a roaring lion to lead people to hell. That is why we must hold the word of truth, as sharp as a two-edged sword, and must live it out.

Daniel 3:19

19Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

Daniel’s three friends were sons of the royal family and the nobles of Judah. Yet these very men risked their lives and to the end would not bow to the golden image, because they had resolved not to compromise with what was unrighteous. However much the king of Babylon threatened to throw them into the burning fiery furnace, they could not betray God.

The Judean names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Even when King Nebuchadnezzar, who held the power of the world, threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace, they believed that God is almighty and able to deliver them. Yet they said that even if he did not deliver them from the fiery furnace, they would not bow to the golden image. For they believed that God is always unchanging, whether he saves them or not. In the end, the place they had to go when they put off the body was God’s embrace, so they had no fear. Antipas too, like these three friends, could not even think of betraying God, and so he would have accepted death.

Job, a man of faith, also suffered as the great wealth, the children, the power, and the honor he had enjoyed in the world disappeared one by one, and the comfortable life he had enjoyed vanished. But as he watched the world’s power disappear, he came to realize how great a grace he had received and how abundant a life he had lived until then. So he gave heartfelt thanks to God. For rather than looking at the suffering he was going through, he believed in God, who had blessed him so that he could live in God’s glory in the eternal kingdom. That is why Antipas, and Daniel and his three friends, were able to choose martyrdom. If you have the same faith as they did, you will receive the blessings these people received. And God will remember your faith, and you will be someone he speaks of with pride to your descendants.

Even though they had a pastor like Antipas, who was martyred, the believers of the church in Pergamum made convenient compromises with the world and did not drive out the Nicolaitans. The believers in Ephesus drove the Nicolaitans out through argument so that they could not gain a foothold in the church, and that shows how immature the believers in Pergamum were. They were not armed with the word, so they could not discern the spirits properly, and in the end they were rebuked by Jesus Christ.

At that time the church in Pergamum was in the hardship of being forced to confess Caesar as lord in the emperor’s temple. Caesar is a title that refers to every Roman emperor. Unless they denied Jesus Christ and confessed Caesar as god, they had to face whips and torture, so the believers gave in one by one.

In our country too, during Japanese colonial rule, many pastors and believers suffered being forced into Shinto shrine worship. Many more pastors and believers were martyred for their faith, but the torture they endured was a pain too great for human strength to bear. Of course, it is only right to overcome it by faith. But rather than condemning the pastors or believers who took part in Shinto shrine worship, it would be more important to make our faith firm, so that we do not deny Christ if we find ourselves in that place.

If evil people came to our church and threatened to kill us right here unless we denied Christ, how many people in our church do you think could keep their faith? It is a question I ask you every time I preach on the seven churches, but look back on yourself once, and help the brothers and sisters in the faith beside you to have a firm faith.

If even one of us were martyred, the fear felt by those of us left behind would be great. When the whole congregation becomes one and resists Satan’s power together, rather than each suffering alone, we can still endure well by faith. The problem is this: if you were alone and evil people held a gun to your child’s head and told you to deny Christ, could you tell your children even then that they must keep their faith even if they die?

When Jesus was carrying the cross to atone for sin, being whipped and suffering, Peter saw what was happening and in the end betrayed him. The Peter we know did some rather outlandish things, but he was not the kind of person who could betray Jesus. But the fear of death that humans feel is such that it can make a person betray even Jesus. Now we would say, how could we ever betray the Lord? But no one can be sure of themselves without being in that situation.

So what we must do is to do our very best, right now, to keep our faith, and to have a humble faith for the salvation of the brothers and sisters in the faith beside us. We must believe the word of Christ, that whoever believes will still live even if he dies, and whoever lives and believes will never die, and we must have a faith that does not fall, however persistently Satan attacks.

Thankfully, because we are living in the body, we have the chance to repent and the chance to be martyred. Believers who are martyred like this will live forever in the kingdom of God in their souls, even though their bodies die, and that is why Jesus said that whoever believes will never die. There will be many temptations and persecutions in this world, but if we keep our faith to the end, we are in that very act already living as those who have been raised, and so we become God’s people who will never die.

Revelation 2:14

14But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

The church in Pergamum had seen Antipas martyred to keep his faith, yet it made no effort to drive out those who taught and followed the teaching of the Nicolaitans. The teaching of Balaam sets a snare for believers, making them offer sacrifices before idols and eat things sacrificed to idols. It makes them give their hearts to wealth and commit the sin of adultery with idols. To abandon God, the one God, and follow the teaching of Balaam is evidence that one’s heart has already been taken by Satan.

The leaders who had learned the word from Jesus taught them never to commit adultery with idols, never to give their hearts to wealth, and to live only by the word. But rather than endure persecution to keep their faith, the believers of the church in Pergamum worshiped Caesar, because they wanted to live comfortably without suffering. They wanted to worship Caesar and live safely in the world, yet on the other hand they also wanted to attend church and be saved. The believers of the church in Pergamum were attending church with a double-minded faith.

Look at Numbers 22. Balak, the king of Moab, was afraid as he watched Israel’s continuing victories. So he gave great wealth to Balaam, who loved the wages of wrongdoing, and asked him to curse Israel. Balaam took the wealth and stood before the altar to curse Israel, but God did not allow him to curse Israel. Balaam tried endlessly to curse Israel so as to keep his promise to King Balak. But by God’s compelling work, he kept praying nothing but prayers that blessed Israel.

Balaam was a man who had heard God’s voice, and he had also heard his donkey say that an angel was blocking the way ahead. But greed had blinded his eyes, so he wanted to curse Israel as King Balak asked. But God, who blesses Israel, blocked Balaam’s curse, and so Balaam was never once able to curse Israel.

If you read Numbers, all of Balaam’s prayers seem to bless Israel, so you might think Balaam was someone who helped Israel. But look at Balaam meeting his death at the hands of the people of Israel. Then you see that Balaam’s prayers of blessing, pretending to bless Israel with his mouth alone, were neither devotion nor faith. Friends, you must never do what God has told you not to do, and the word he has told you to deliver, you must deliver even if it means death.

Balaam coveted the wealth King Balak gave, so he disobeyed God’s word and in the end died miserably. How truly sad it is that there are believers who follow the teaching of such a Balaam. The followers of Nicolaus, the deacon who had gone astray, infiltrated church after church and worked very hard to water down the word of truth. The believers of the church in Ephesus discerned such people but spent so much time arguing with them that they lost their first love. The believers of the church in Pergamum, on the other hand, did not know the word well, and so they fell to the teaching these people gave.

If believers think that living well in the world is blessing and at church pray only about the problems of the world, they are false believers like Balaam, with nothing to do with God. The people of Israel, who had to go through many hardships, forgot to give thanks once they began to win victory after victory under God’s guidance. And just as Balaam lured them, they worshiped idols like the Gentiles, committed sexual immorality, and became corrupt.

The church in Pergamum was accepting such ideas without even discerning them. Only by knowing the truth rightly can we judge what is false and untrue. Only by knowing the word can we drive heresy out of the church through argument. But because they did not treasure the truth, the believers who did not understand God’s will wandered this way and that, lost. Believers who do not hold the sharp two-edged sword may lose eternal life through falsehood, so they must always discern the spirits and resist with the word.

Revelation 2:16

16Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Jesus Christ warned the believers caught in the teaching of the Nicolaitans that if they did not repent, he would act himself. For believers to realize their sin and repent, they must first know the word of truth. If they do not know the word, they cannot discern the true nature of Satan, who leads them to the second death, and they will fall into the eternal lake of fire.

Look at the believers of the church in Pergamum: even though a brother in the faith had been killed, they worshiped idols, ate the sacrifices, committed sexual immorality, and enjoyed pleasure. They seem unlikely to recover their faith. If they do not take alarm and repent as Christ warned, everything they gained by chasing a vain world will come under God’s wrath.

Jesus saw Antipas’ martyrdom and loved the church in Pergamum. So he said that if only the believers repented, he would help them. But if they did not repent, he said, he would come to the church quickly and make war against those people with the sword of his mouth. That is a very fearful word. Satan’s power cannot defeat Jesus Christ, so he can drive it away at any time. But after he judges Satan, his wrath will turn toward those who did not obey, so we must obey with all the strength we have.

Through Antipas’ faithfulness the church was given a chance. We, like Antipas, must repent and keep our faith with the faith that says, “If I perish, I perish.” Antipas surely would have prayed for the church in Pergamum when he was martyred, and would have pleaded with an earnest longing for the believers to be saved. Because Antipas prayed, Jesus Christ said that if they did not repent, he himself would fight those people and set the church right. Someone’s intercessory prayer is this precious, and because of someone’s sacrifice we have been given one more chance.

What have you thought, having listened this far? Consider whether you truly set your hope in heaven alone and live by the word, or whether you have learned and know the word, but your heart and your actions have nothing to do with it.

Because Jesus chose the cross, not the world, you too must not set your hope on the world but on the saving of souls and on heaven. Because Jesus came into this world solely to solve the problem of sin, you must strive not to sin, and you must not harbor any other intent.

The world cannot tell apart the church and believers who act according to the truth from the church and believers who do not preach the truth. There is wheat that lives by the word and chaff that keeps the teaching of Balaam, but the world sees them all as church and believers. They cannot discern spirits, so if believers do not set an example of faith, the world distrusts Jesus Christ and stays outside salvation. Only when believers beat their bodies and bring them into submission and live godly and honest lives are those people given a chance to hear the word of Jesus Christ.

But if believers follow the teaching of Balaam, Jesus, who looks at the heart, will judge them. People can be deceived, but God, who looks at the heart, cannot be deceived. So we must always keep our faith with fear.

Revelation 2:17

17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.

Jesus said that to those who overcome he will give a white stone and the hidden manna, and that on the white stone is written a new name which no one knows but he who receives it. “The name written on the white stone” is interpreted in various ways, but it would be Jesus Christ, who accomplished the work of salvation. A believer’s salvation is coming to righteousness by believing in Jesus Christ. So when believers see the new name written on the white stone, the emotion they feel will be beyond words.

The ancestors of old ate the manna in the wilderness and still could not escape death, but whoever eats the bread of life that came down out of heaven will never die. The living stone, the cornerstone, and the white stone speak of Christ, who atoned for sin, and only those who receive salvation can know this. Those who know this precious name of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and faith are the believers. This is the blessing you are receiving now.

Just as Pergamum was full of idol worship, the world today is no less full of idol worship than Pergamum, and it is growing ever more corrupt. But live as those whom God has called. You are fighting against the sinful world, its knowledge and culture, and habits that are hard to change, and God will help you always win. In this harsh world, God is protecting with his great power and fullness those who resist Satan with the sword of the word.

May you always hold to the truth and live precious lives in this harsh world. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.