What does it mean for two teams to be rivals?
The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a “rival” as “one of two or more striving to reach or
obtain something that only one can possess.” Rivalries come in many different forms,
but we all understand that in a rivalry only
one side can win. Spiritually, there
is a rivalry that goes in the heart of every human being: the war to worship
our Creator or to worship some rival to His glory. This rivalry has eternal consequences, for
our Creator has declared that there are to be no rivals to His throne.
In Revelation
2:12-17, Jesus reminded the church at Pergamum that He was a King who would
suffer no rivals and charge them to repent.
This is a timely message for the church today. We must remember that Jesus is a King who
will suffer no rivals in our church or in our lives. My prayer today is that we would recognize any rival to Christ’s glory in
our lives, repent of that idolatry,
and swear full allegiance to Jesus
Christ.
[12] “And
to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the
sharp two-edged sword. [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.
[14] But 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. [15] So also you have some who hold the teaching of the
Nicolaitans. [16] Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and
war against them with the sword of my mouth. [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.’ (Revelation
2:12-17 ESV)
I.
Jesus Will Not Allow His Church to Serve Two
Masters (13-14)
Remember that Satan attacks the church from both without (as a roaring lion: 1 Peter 5:8) through persecution and
from within (as an angel of light: 2 Corinthians 11:14) through
corruption. We see both of these attacks
here upon the church at Pergamum. What
we are going to see is that they were standing up to one but not the
other.
Jesus commends
the church at Pergamum for faithfully enduring attacks from without (13). Like Smyrna, Pergamum was a place where worshipping
Jesus as Lord would get a person persecuted and possibly even killed. Jesus calls the city where they dwell the
place “where Satan’s throne is” and “where Satan dwells.” This church was planted in Satan’s front
yard. Most commentators believe that Pergamum
is described this way because it was the capital city of Asia Minor and was the
official center for imperial worship. It
was the first city to build a temple to a living Emperor (Augustus in 29 B.C.). Pergamum was also a center of pagan worship as
well, with temples to Zeus, Athene, Dionysos, Asklepios. It was the seat of satanic power in Asia
Minor.
In spite of the persecution that this church was
facing, they were holding fast to His
name. He says that they had not
denied His faith even in the days
when His “faithful witness” Antipas
was killed. The point is that this
church was being faithful against Satan’s persecution. They were holding up against the attack from
the outside. Notice also that this is
the fourth time that we have seen the truth that those who belong to Jesus will
suffer in a world hostile to Him (1:9, 2:3,9-10).
“BUT” Jesus also has a rebuke for this church (14-15).
He has “a few things” against
them: they are not faithfully enduring attacks from within. They have a group of
people in the church who are teaching believers to engage in idolatry and
immorality. The connecting phrase, “so also,” in verse 15 implies that the “Nicolaitans” are leading this church
astray in the same way that “Balaam”
led the sons of Israel astray. So “the teaching of Balaam” (14) is an
illustration of “the teaching of the
Nicolaitans” (15).
Jesus says that Balaam “taught Balak to put a
stumbling block before the sons of Israel” (14b). This account takes place in Numbers 22-25. Balak was the king of Moab when the
Israelites were traveling through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Since he feared the Israelites, he decided to
hire the prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel. Though God would warn Balaam not to, he
eventually agreed and tried to curse them multiple times. However, each time Balaam tried to curse
God’s people, he ended up blessing them because no spirit speaking through
Balaam could curse what God had already blessed. So according to Numbers 31:16, Balaam then advised Balak to send the daughters of
Moab among the sons of Israel to seduce them.
This way, God would judge them!
This is the “stumbling block” that
Jesus mentions here. This resulted in
Israel sacrificing, eating, and bowing to the gods of Moab and so kindled the
wrath of God that 24,000 Israelites were killed in a day.
Likewise, in the church at Pergamum, there were
false teachers called the “Nicolaitans” teaching
believers that they could eat “food
sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality” (14). Now this is not the same issue of Christian
liberty that Paul addresses in some of his letters (Romans 14:13,21; 1 Corinthians 8:4-13; 10:18-31). This is more in line with what the Jerusalem
council decided in Acts 15:20-21,
namely, “meat that was eaten at pagan
feasts rather than that sold in the open market after having been offered to
idols. ‘Sexual immorality’ should also
be understood literally as a part of the pagan festivities.”[1] The “Nicolaitans” were teaching Christians that they could partake in
the idolatrous and immoral feasts that would take place at many of the imperial
and pagan temples. Jesus here REBUKES this church for thinking that
way and for tolerating that teaching.
Worldliness had crept into this church. They were a church that was trying to serve
two masters. Jesus said this was
impossible (Matthew 6:24). Remember that in a rivalry, there cannot be two winners. Likewise, no church and no Christians can
serve two masters, because Jesus will not suffer any rival to His throne. We either worship Jesus or we worship some
rival to His throne, which we call an idol.
Idolatry is simply the worship
of something or someone other than the one true God of the Bible. It is the worship of some rival to His
glory. Here’s why this is important: WE
ALL WORSHIP because God created us as worshippers. It is not a question of “if” we will worship,
but of “what” we will worship.
This is such a relevant word for the church in
America today. We seem to live under the
same illusion that we can claim to belong to Jesus and worship all the gods of
American culture as well (money, possession, recreation, entertainment, sex,
power & fame, etc.). Worldliness has
crept into the church once again. Much
has been written about how little difference there is between the world and the
church in this country. We pursue the
same goals, we’re in just as much debt, we have similar values, our marriages
are just as pitiful, etc. Could it be
that we are living under the illusion that we can serve two masters? God help us when we are more passionate about
watching some stupid television program than we are about the fame of Christ’s
name! What rivals to God’s fame are
present in your life?
II.
Jesus Promises to Judge Those Who are Unrepentant (12,16)
Because this church was trying to serve two
masters, Jesus’ prescription for them is to “THEREFORE
REPENT” (16a). Repentance for this
church will certainly mean repenting of idolatry and immorality the part of
some, but repentance as a church will
also mean refusing to tolerate these false teachers, their doctrine, and the
immorality in the church. This church is
a contrast to the church at Ephesus, which was commended by Christ for not tolerating false teachers and
immorality in the church (2:2,6).
Jesus says that if they do not repent, He will come soon and “war against them” with the sword of His mouth (16b). Did you notice this description of Christ given to this church in verse 12? He is the one “who has the sharp two-edged sword.” This sword is an instrument of judgment. Revelation
19:15,21 says that this sword is
for the striking down of the nations. It is a weapon of war that Jesus will use to wage
war against the unrepentant.
These are serious consequences for idolatry and
immorality in the lives of people who call themselves Christians and in the
life of the church. One of the beautiful
things about the book of Revelation is how interconnected
it is. Both idolaters and the sexually
immoral are found in the lake of fire (Revelation
21:8). This means that Jesus’ waging
war against the unrepentant will result in their eternal judgment.
In a conversation this week I was warned that if a
church actually took some of these warnings seriously and refused to tolerate
sin within the church that it would cause more harm than good. I was told that it would simply stir up too
much. It is true that the type of
intolerance that Jesus commends will not go over well with everyone in such an
age of unqualified tolerance and everyone thinking, “that’s none of your
business.” While I admit that I am
somewhat fearful of the fallout that could ensue from removing someone from a church’s
membership, I am much more fearful of this image of the risen Lord Jesus ready
to wage war against the church that tolerates immorality! May we remember who we are called to
ultimately be faithful to and that He WILL be faithful to judge both immorality
and the toleration of it in His church.
III.
Jesus Promises to Reward Those Who are Repentant (17)
There is good news. Jesus also promises to reward those who are
repentant. The “one who conquers” will be given two things. He will be given (1) “some of the hidden manna” and (2) “a white stone” with a “new
name” on it that “no one knows except
the one who receives it.” Now there
are several things that the “hidden
manna” and the “white stone”
could mean, but at a bear minimum, they refer to the conqueror’s eternal reward. I say this because all the promises to the
conquerors in these seven addresses seem to be promises of eternal life or
reward (2:7,11,17, 26-28, 3:5,12,21).
Having said that, I take this to mean that the one
who conquers will be given a personal ticket
to the Messianic banquet in God’s future kingdom. There was a Jewish tradition, or legend, that
believed that Jeremiah had taken a pot of manna and hidden it in the ark before
the Temple was destroyed in the Old Testament.
According to tradition, when the Messiah came, He would restore the
Temple for good and the ark and would partake of this “hidden manna” with His people.
The meaning of the “white stone”
that most fits this picture is those given to gladiators who were victorious at
the games. They could use these white
stone for admission to prominent banquets that common people and slaves were
not allowed to attend. It was sort of
like a “VIP” pass. Here it functions as
a promise that for refusing the idolatrous, immoral pagan feasts, they will
participate in Christ’s end-time feast. I
take the “new name” to be a reference
to Christ’s name (3:12). That no one knows this name except those who
receive it does not mean that it is a secret, but that simply that the
unrepentant cannot know or experience this reality.
Notice again that persevering, or conquering, involves repenting. In other words, that Jesus is not to be
rivaled in your life doesn’t mean that you won’t have to repent from time to
time. True believers still find
themselves seeking to serve two masters at times, but true believers will repent when they see what is taking
place. The reason we do so is because we
see, with the eyes of faith, a King who offers an infinitely better sustenance
and satisfaction than anything this rival world offers. In John
6:22-59, Jesus said that He was the “manna”
that had come down from heaven for the eternal sustenance and satisfaction of
His people and that the way He would accomplish their eternal sustenance and
satisfaction was by dying for them. All
one has to do to experience this is to come to Him and embrace Him as King
above all other rivals. Will you do so
today?
The address to the church at Ephesus taught us
that Jesus is a King worthy of utter devotion.
The address to the church at Smyrna taught us that Jesus is a King worth
dying for. This address to the church a
Pergamum teaches us that Jesus is King who will suffer no rivals. Church, He is
worth forsaking any rival to His glory.
Never forget that.
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