The Church in Pergamum

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — 1 Timothy 1:15-17
• Hymn — Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
• Prayer of Invocation
• Prayer of Confession
• Assurance of Pardon — Colossians 2:13-14
• Apostles' Creed
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — Hail to the Lord's Anointed
• Scripture Reading — Revelation 2:12-17
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Lord's Supper — Till He Come (stanzas 1–2)
• Lord's Supper — Till He Come (stanzas 3–4)
• Benediction
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Church in Pergamum

Scripture: Revelation 2:12-17

I. Christ as Judge Encourages the Committed Church

A. Christ introduces himself as the one who holds the sharp two-edged sword (Revelation 2:12)

1. Two Greek words for sword appear in Revelation; here Christ wields the longer sword, symbolizing supreme judicial authority
2. The Roman governor in Pergamum, as capital of the Asian province, exercised "the right of the sword" — authority over life and death — in the name of the emperor
3. Pilate's boast of power over Jesus (John 19:10) is answered by Christ's reminder that all power is given from above; in his exaltation, Christ alone is the true judge

B. Pergamum was a center of intense pagan idolatry — "where Satan's throne is" (Revelation 2:13)

1. Four patron deities: Zeus, Athena, Dionysus, and Asclepius; the city was called "the altar of the ancient world" for its vast temples on the Acropolis
2. Pergamum was the first city to erect a temple for Roman emperor worship
3. Asclepius, god of healing, was worshiped under the emblem of a serpent — symbolically connecting his cult to Satan in Christian eyes
4. Pergamum was also the first city in Asia to erect a temple for Roman emperor worship

C. Despite this hostile environment, the church remained faithful

1. They held fast to Christ's name and did not deny the faith, even when Antipas — likely a church leader — was martyred
2. Revelation pulls back the curtain (apokalypsis) to reveal that behind earthly persecutions lies a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12)
3. Stephen's vision of Christ standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7) is a model: seeing the true judge by faith enables the church to endure

II. Christ as Judge Warns the Compromising Church

A. The charge: some in Pergamum held the teaching of Balaam (Revelation 2:14-15)

1. Balaam, hired by Balak king of Moab to curse Israel, instead blessed Israel three times; he then advised Balak that Israel would forfeit God's protection by being drawn into idol worship
2. Israel's worship of the Baal of Peor with the daughters of Moab resulted in a plague that killed 24,000 (Numbers 25); this became proverbial for spiritual adultery
3. The Nicolaitans appear to be the same group as those holding the teaching of Balaam — eating food sacrificed to idols and practicing sexual immorality

B. The warning: repent or Christ will come and war against them with the sword of his mouth (Revelation 2:16)

1. The angel of the Lord confronted Balaam with a drawn sword (Numbers 22:23, 31); Balaam ultimately died by the sword (Numbers 31:8)
2. The pronoun shift in verses 14–16 is significant: the faithful in Pergamum are not the idolaters, but they must repent of tolerating compromise within the church — the elders likely needed to exercise discipline

C. The example of Phinehas: righteous jealousy for the Lord's name within the covenant community

1. Phinehas acted decisively against the Israelite who brought a Midianite woman into the camp during the Baal of Peor incident; God stayed the plague and gave Phinehas a covenant of peace
2. The church today must be as faithful in maintaining purity within the church walls as in resisting persecution outside them
3. Paul's instruction applies: do not associate with a professing brother living in unrepentant sexual immorality or idolatry; purge the evil person from among you (1 Corinthians 5:11-13)

D. Application: the church must champion its heroes of faith while still honestly evaluating their failures

1. Hebrews 11 commends figures like Samson and David for their faith and courage while Scripture also condemns their moral failures
2. Ecclesia semper reformanda — the church is always reforming, learning from both the strengths and the failures of those who came before

III. Christ as Judge Rewards the Conquering Church

A. Promise of hidden manna (Revelation 2:17)

1. Manna evokes Israel's wilderness journey — God sustaining his people with bread from heaven through Moses
2. Bread and fellowship were intertwined; to eat with someone was to share communion — hence Paul's instruction not to eat even with an unrepentant brother (1 Corinthians 5:11)
3. By the time of John's writing, manna had become an eschatological symbol for the end-times feast with God when Messiah comes
4. Jesus identifies himself as the true manna: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:51)
5. The hidden manna is received now by faith through the Spirit; it will be fully revealed at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19) — Colossians 3:3-4

B. Promise of a white stone with a new name

1. The manna itself in Numbers 11:7 was described as resembling bdellium — round and white like a pearl in Jewish tradition — connecting the stone to the manna
2. Whiteness throughout Revelation signifies purity and righteousness — garments unsoiled by compromise with paganism
3. A stone symbolizes permanence and unshakeableness; the saints are permanently established in holiness before Christ, whose hair is white like wool (Revelation 1:14)
4. The new name on the stone echoes Isaiah 62:2 and Isaiah 65:15 — God's people, the true eschatological Israel made up of Jews and Gentiles, receive a new identity in Christ
5. Only those truly united to Christ by faith know this name — this new status and relationship with the Father through the Son (Luke 10:22)

C. Closing exhortation

1. The life of the believer is now hidden with Christ in God, awaiting the day of full revelation in glory
2. The church must exhort one another within the walls to live according to the whole counsel of God, as those accountable to Christ who is judge of all