Revelation 2:12-17 – Pergamum, Holds to False Teachings
Pergamum
is about 55 miles north of Smyrna. It
was built on a high mountain with walls around it. It was the political capitol. It was famous for its education with schools,
colleges, and a large library. There
were around 100,000 people living there.
There were 3500 theatres in Pergamum.
Pergamum was the center of the government in Asia. Satan lived there. (Rev. 2:13) The people
worshiped many gods. There was an altar
to the Greek god Zeus. Caesar was the
emperor and called himself a god and was worshiped by some of the people.
(Note: there are no churches in Pergamum
today.)
John
wrote to the church at Pergamum and identified Himself as one who has a sharp
double-edged sword. Jesus knows where
they live – where Satan has his throne.
Yet they were faithful.
The
church was divided and He had some things against them. There were false teachings in the
church. Some of the people practiced the
teachings of Balaam who enticed the Israelites to eat food sacrificed to idols
and commit sexual immorality. They also
obeyed the teachings of the Nicolaitans like in Ephesus.
Jesus
told them they needed to repent or He would come and fight against them with
the double edged sword of His mouth. The
sword is His judgment. Jesus will not
tolerate rebellion forever. There will
be consequences. Jesus words are
important and true. They needed to
change the direction of their lives. Jesus
tells us we can fight against wrong teaching by putting on the armor of God in Eph 610-18.
Repentance
begins in the mind. If you repent and
change your mind, Jesus will change your heart.
Repentance is a wonderful gift of God – to stop believing wrong and
start believing what is right.
Do you
need to change the direction of your life?
Do you
profess a faith you do not practice?
Jesus
says “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches. To Him who
overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new
name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” – Rev. 2:17. Don’t stop listening to the Holy Spirit.
In
Exodus when the Israelites were in the desert, God gave them manna to eat. When they no longer needed manna, they put in
a jar and then into the ark. The manna
was a picture of Jesus. He is the bread
of life and the true bread from heaven.
This manna is food from heaven.
This probably means food for the spirit while we are on earth. This is a promise that we will dine with the
Lord in heaven. If anyone eats this
bread, he will live forever (John
6:48-51).
The
white stone declares a person innocent. The
new name represents a new person you become when you receive Christ as your
Savior. You are born again. You are not defined by who you were or what
you’ve done or what’s been done to you, but what Jesus has done for you. You are clean. You are loved. You are forgiven. Your old nature is gone. The Holy Spirit will begin to empower your
life. You will have a change of
mind. You are a changed version of
yourself. You will get new desires. You will want to read and study your
Bible. You will want to meet with God’s
people. You will want to stop
sinning. You will want to learn and
grow.
Has God
given you a new name?
How are
you a new person in Christ?
Revelation 2:18-29 – Thyatira, Holds to
False Teachings of Jezebel
Thyatira
was a small city and the least important.
It was about 35 miles from Pergamum.
It was busy and wealthy and many trades were there.
Jesus
identified Himself as the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and His feet
are like burnished bronze. This shows Jesus
is powerful, strong and holy. Jesus is
aware of all that his people do and He knew all the things the Christians in
Thyatira did. They believed and trusted
God completely. They had love, faith,
service, perseverance, and they were doing more than they did at first. Their faith had grown. He is pleased for the most part.
But
there was a problem with this church, too.
They tolerated a woman He called Jezebel. Jezebel in the Old Testament she called
herself a prophetess. A prophetess
brings a message from God, but her message was a false one. She was the wife of King Ahab. She was wicked and taught sexual immorality
and eating of food sacrificed to idols making Israel turn from God. You can learn more about Jezebel in 1 Kings 16, 19 and 2 Kings 9.
Jesus
said He had given her time to repent, but she was unwilling. He said He would soon punish her. He would cause her suffering and strike her
children dead. These children could be
her children or her followers. God is
patient, but He will not tolerate sin forever.
Jesus knows the hearts and minds and will repay each according to their
deeds.
For the
rest of them who were true believers, He will not put any others burdens on
them. They are to hold on to what they
have until He comes. This will be His
second coming. That will be a great and
wonderful day. There will be a great reward
for all believers. Believers will have
authority over the nations and will share in His power when He returns. True Christians will share the rule and
authority with Christ. They will share
His glory. (Ps. 2:8-9)
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.” – Rev. 2:29. Not only does the church at Thyatira need to
listen to the Spirit, but we do as well.
Revelation 3:1-6 – Sardis, The Dead Church
Sardis
was about 30 miles south of Thyatira. It
was on a mountain side and in a good position to defend itself. It was not as strong a city at it once was.
John
wrote to the church at Sardis telling them that these are the words of Jesus
who holds the 7 spirits of God and the
7 stars. What are these 7 spirits?
“And the Spirit
of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the
Lord.” – Isaiah. 11:2. The 7 spirits of God are the work of the
Spirit in the churches. The stars are
the angels over the churches. This all
means that Jesus looks after the 7 churches.
Jesus knows
their deeds and they have a reputation of being alive, but they are dead. They once had strong faith, but over time
their faith had become weak. This is
like some churches today. Faith became
weak over time. It was a slow process
and no one saw it coming. The church
seemed to be full of life, but Jesus knew it was dead.
Deeds
are your actions or your works. What
do deeds have to do with our relationship with the Lord?
“For it is by grace your have been saved, through faith – and this
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can
boast. For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.”
– Eph. 2:8-10. James
2:14-26 tells us “… faith without deeds is
dead.” The Sardis church heard
the Word of God, but didn’t do anything with it.
When
you hear the Word of God, what are you doing about it?
Jesus
told them to “wake up” and strengthen what remains and was about to die. They needed to be aware of what was
happening. They needed to be ready for
His return. He commanded them to
remember what they have been taught and heard.
They must come back to the Lord and obey His Word. They must repent. If they don’t wake up, He will come and not
announce His coming. He will deal with
them and they will be judged.
Most of
the people didn’t live like Christians should.
They were only playing church.
Their beliefs made no difference to their lives. There were a few people who walked with
Jesus, dressed in white, and were worthy.
These white clothes represent acts of righteousness. These are clothes of the faithful. Jesus gave promises to those who stand firm
and who are victorious in Him: They would
walk with Jesus dressed in white; God would never blot their names out of the
book of life; Jesus would acknowledge their names before God the Father and His
angels.
What is
the book of life? God has
a book of life. In it are the names of
every person written before the foundation of the world. If your name remains in the book, you will
all go to heaven. If you don’t accept
Jesus as your Savior, you name will be blotted out of the book. If your name is blotted out of this book, you
cannot go to heaven. We will see more
about this book in Revelation 13, 17,
and 20.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.” – Rev. 3:6.
What
will Jesus say about you – are you dead or alive for Him?
Do you
need to wake up?
Are your
clothes soiled or are they white?
Does
your name remain in the book of life?
What can you do to be faithful?
Next
week we will study Revelation 3:7-22
– the church in Philadelphia and Laodicea.
Hope to see you here.
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