Citadel

Thesis: There exists in many believers’ lives a tendency to compromise holy living which must be expelled by pure and simple repentance.

Objective: Call believers to repent of the compromises they’ve made in their holy conduct.

1. Intro
   1. Strongholds
      1. Just like physical strongholds in war
      2. Highly camouflaged
      3. Well-entrenched
      4. Heavily defended
      5. Satan is in control
      6. And is - or will be soon - using as a launching pad for further attacks
   2. Review
      1. Ephesus
         1. Jesus knows us
         2. We must not be complacent.
         3. We must prevail over complacency by
            1. remembering where we were
            2. repenting of where we are
            3. getting back to doing the stuff we did before
      2. Smyrna
         1. Jesus knows our situation.
         2. We must not fear.
         3. We must be faithful until death, period.
   3. Today, Pergamum or Pergamos if older translation
      1. Modern Bergama
      2. Geography
         1. 45-50 miles north of Smyrna, appr 80 north of Ephesus
         2. Furthest north of all seven churches
         3. Inland. Not a port.
         4. In fact, quite the opposite: the name Pergamum, in Greek, means “citadel,” which makes sense because the city is built on terraces ascending the one passable side of a cone-shaped hill which rises appr 1,000 ft above surrounding valley
      3. History
         1. Former capital of the kingdom of Pergamum
         2. Like Smyrna, joined Roman Empire when last Pergamenian king bequeathed his kingdom to the empire in 133 BC.
      4. Religion
         1. If Smyrna was a center of Imperial cult in Asia, Pergamum was the center of Imperial cult in Asia. First temple of the Imperial Caesar cult.
         2. Home of Zeus worship, throne-like altar at acropolis on top of hill calling “Zeus the Savior”
         3. Asklepius, god of healing, symbolized by serpent on coins, throughout city
         4. Also Athena, Dionysus, pagans, the worship of all of which involved sacrifices and temple prostitution
         5. Significant Jewish population
      5. Extremely diverse
      6. Highly educated
         1. Library rivaling Alexandria, Egypt
         2. Invented parchment when Egypt banned papyrus export
      7. Prosperous
   4. What problem could a church in Pergamum have?

   5. Revelation 2:12-17: “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

      “The One who has the sharp, double-edged sword says: I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is! And you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives. But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

      “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

2. Jesus knows our temptation (12-13).
   1. Revelation 2:12-13: “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: “The One who has the sharp, double-edged sword says: I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is! And you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
   2. Once again, typical salutation
      1. Jesus introduces himself as “the One who has the sharp, double-edged sword.”
         1. Again, alludes to Revelation 1:16: “He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at midday.”
         2. Sword described is a long, broadsword.
            1. Difficult to manufacture
            2. Expensive
            3. Prestigious
            4. Versatile
            5. extremely fine cuts
            6. devastatingly lethal blows
         3. Historically, such a sword has represented...
            1. Authority
            2. Judgment
            3. War
            4. The Word of God
         4. All of these are present, but given that the sword comes from Jesus’ mouth - instead of a tongue - particularly represents the Word of God.
         1. Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.
         2. The idea is that the word of God should help us determine right and wrong now, or it will be used to condemn the wrong later.
   3. This Jesus commends the church at Pergamum.
      1. “You are holding on to My name”
         1. The idea is that of a bride who has taken her husband’s name
         2. Through thick and thin, she holds on to that name.
      2. “You did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas”
         1. Christians were commanded to recant or die
         2. The believers in Pergamum refused to recant
      3. But it wasn’t easy.
   4. In fact, Jesus also says, “I know where you live...”
      1. “where Satan’s throne is”
         1. Direct allusion to the throne-like altar of Zeus
         2. Also alludes to the Imperial cult, which worshiped the Roman Empire and emperor on his throne
      2. “even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you”
         1. Don’t know anything about Antipas, the circumstances surrounding his martyrdom
         2. People of Pergamum so committed to Imperial, Zeus, Asklepius, that Christians were persecuted with extreme prejudice
      3. “where Satan lives”
   5. Bottom line: it was tough for Christians in Pergamum
   6. Worse,
      1. Most believers in Pergamum likely gentiles, coming out of that pagan culture
      2. rubbing shoulders with all these pagans.
      3. Only a matter of time before someone realized that, if we do this like the Gentiles, and maybe a little of that, we’re not nearly as strange, not nearly as persecuted, not nearly as difficult.
   7. Jesus knows our temptation.
   8. He gets the pressure that comes from being different from everyone else.
   9. He gets the challenges that come from being constantly in the midst of people who live entirely contrary to Him.
   10. He gets temptation because He experienced it firsthand
       1. 40 days in the desert, tempted by Satan
       2. How easy would it have been to do things the way the Pharisees did?
       3. Garden of Gethsemane
   11. So when He sees us in the midst of a tough situation or life, and we find ourselves tempted, He knows.
3. We must not compromise (14-15).
   1. Revelation 2:14-15: But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
   2. And that’s exactly what was going on in Pergamum.
   3. Moving into vss 14-15, we see that they weren’t just struggling with temptation.
   4. “I have a few things against you.”
      1. “You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam.”
         1. Reference to the account of Numbers 23-24
            1. King Balak wanted to curse the Israelites, so he called Balaam, a two-bit prophet-for-hire, to do so.
            2. At first, Balaam refused, but when Balak persisted, Balaam agreed.
            3. An angel almost killed him three times, but his donkey veered off the road in each case
            4. When Balaam started beating the donkey, the beast spoke.
            5. Gets to Balak, agrees to make sacrifices and say what God has to say.
            6. Ends up blessing Israel three times, much to Balak’s chagrin.
            7. Finally heads for home, and the next thing we read, in Num 25, is that the Israelite men were being seduced by Moabite women, who then invited them to worship Baal.
         2. This didn’t just happen: Numbers 31:16: “Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam’s advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the Lord in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the Lord’s community.”
         3. Balaam’s teaching apparently, “Hey, as long as you’re an ‘Israelite’ - as long as you’re a ‘Christian’ - you don’t really have to obey all the law. You can compromise.”
         4. And that’s exactly what was going on in Pergamum:
            1. they were eating meat sacrificed to idols.
               1. 1 Cor 10:25: “Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for consceience’ sake.”
               2. Christians were allowed to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but...
               3. In Pergamum, it was more than just eating. They were actually participating in the pagan rites and rituals.
            2. they were committing sexual immorality
               1. porneuo
                  1. origin of English pornography
                  2. Strong’s
                     1. “to prostitute one’s body to the lust of another”
                     2. “to give one’s self to unlawful sexual intercourse; to commit fornication”
                     3. a metaphor for being “given to idolatry, to worship idols, to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another into idolatry”
                  3. Every one of these meanings was prohibited in Scripture
                  4. But it was all integral to pagan worship going on in Pergamum.
                  5. And the believers there allowed themselves to get involved in it!
         5. Apparently, in an effort to “fit in” and avoid persecution, etc., the believers in Pergamum began participating in the pagan rituals
      2. “you also have those who hold to the teachings of the Nicolaitans”
         1. Some debate on exact origin and nature of teachings
         2. Ultimately, general consensus among scholars: held that Christian liberty was a license to to do any number of things, particularly in the area of sexual relations.
         3. Translated into a doctrine of free love: hop in bed with anyone you feel like. It doesn’t mean anything.
         4. And despite Scriptural prohibitions of such behavior, that’s what the believers at Pergamum were doing!
   5. It wasn’t as though they completely abandoned the faith
   6. Jesus Himself acknowledged that they still claimed His name and clung to the faith even in the midst of persecution, etc.
   7. They were still “Christian.”
   8. They just attended the pagan rituals
   9. Loved a lot of people
   10. And it probably didn’t just happen in a single instant.
       1. Like Israelites in Numbers, probably started with one person who told only his closest friends
       2. Who went out and copied, and told their closest friends
       3. Who went out and copied, and told their closest friends
       4. Lather, rinse, repeat
   11. They were compromising.
       1. “settle a dispute by mutual concession” (Google)
       2. “to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand” (Wikipedia)
       3. I give a little, you give a little, we both get most of what we want.
       4. Compromise can be essential in matters of opinion. E.g., you like cream carpet, I like beige, so we get blaze orange instead.
       5. But when it comes to matters of sin - behaviors outlined explicitly in Scripture
       6. when it comes to matters of real holiness, as opposed to legalistic counting-your-spices types of things compromise is totally out of the question.
   12. But they were compromising just a little bit. Just one or two areas.
   13. They weren’t hurting anyone. In fact, by acting a little more like their pagan neighbors, they were probably literally saving lives
   14. But Jesus still said, “I have a few things against you.”
   15. He didn’t like their compromise, and that’s exactly the point.
   16. We must not compromise.
   17. When Jesus tells us to do - or not do - something, it’s not okay to compromise, even if we do obey most of it.
   18. Yet, how often do we do exactly that? We call ourselves Christians, but...
       1. that doesn’t really apply when we’re at work, or
       2. I’ve got to cuss, drink, cheat, lie, flirt, you-fill-in-the-blank so my friends will respect me, or
       3. this juicy tidbit is just too good not to share; they need to know so that they can pray - yeah, that’s it, or
       4. it’s what two people who love each other do, or
       5. it doesn’t mean anything, or...
       6. it’s just not convenient right now, or...
       7. it’s just one, or...
       8. it’s only...
   19. Clearly, we compromise.
   20. But the truth is, believers are called to holiness
       1. Leviticus 11:45: For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.
       2. Matt 5:48: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
       3. Hebrews 12:14: Pursue... holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.
       4. Merriam-Webster:
          1. holiness: “the state of being holy”
          2. holy: “perfect in goodness and righteousness”
       5. There is no exception in perfect!
       6. There is no shadow or hint of wrong in real goodness or true righteousness!
   21. When it comes to the manner in which we behave, we must not compromise.
   22. We must repent (16-17).
       1. Revelation 2:16-17: Therefore repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth. “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.
       2. But what if we did?
       3. What if we had camouflaged it in all sorts of excuse and rationale, but now we see it for what it is: a stronghold of Satan right in the middle of our lives?
       4. What do we do now?
       1. Fortunately, that’s exactly what happened in Pergamum.
       2. Not fortunately that it happened
       3. Fortunately in that we now have the advantage of being able to look back and see what they did.
       5. They had compromised. Jesus pointed it out. He called them down on the carpet, said “They are wrong,” and “You’ve got to fix them.”
       6. And then, as He had for Ephesus and Smyrna before, Jesus outlined the battle plan so that the believers in Pergamum could engage and expel the stronghold of compromise in their lives, and so we can engage and expel the stronghold of compromise in ours.
       7. Warning: It’s simple on paper, but a whole lot harder to actually do.
       8. Jesus battle plan is found in vs 16: You’ve compromised. “Therefore repent!”
       9. If we’ve compromised, we must repent.
       10. Simple, one-step, frontal assault. We get all the troops together, and we repent.
       11. We talked about repentance a couple of weeks ago, but to make sure we’re on the same page
           1. Grief and shame over the way things are, the direction I’m going, the stuff I’ve done. I.e., I’m wrong, it’s my fault, and it’s not okay.
           2. Turn around, set out in opposite direction. I.e., STOP doing the stuff that I know is wrong. And START doing stuff that I know is right.
       12. But wait, Pastor Jeremy!
           1. All my friends will think I’m weird.
           2. They’ll make fun of me, maybe even beat me up.
           3. My coworkers won’t respect me anymore.
           4. What am I going to tell my girlfriend?
       13. I want to tell you something
       14. True strongholds are, by definition, well fortified and heavily defended.
       15. If it’s not well fortified and heavily defended, it’s not a stronghold.
       16. These are exactly the defenses you can expect to meet when you attack the stronghold of compromise in your life.
       17. I can’t tell you that these things won’t happen. You may experience worse!
       18. In Pergamum, Antipas was martyred - killed - when he refused to compromise.
       19. You can’t - you mustn’t - expect the stronghold of compromise to just surrender.
       20. Because its commanding officer - Satan - though beaten two thousand years ago by an open and empty tomb, won’t surrender until the Last Day when he is shackled and thrown, once and for all, into the pit.
       21. So no, it’s not going to be easy to repent and expel compromise from your life.
       22. But that doesn’t mean it’s not what you need to do.
       23. Jesus explains why it’s so important in the rest of vs 16 and 17.
           1. “Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”
              1. The broadsword described could be used by an expert swordsman to make extremely slow, precise cuts - to separate the sin from the good and eliminate the compromise when we repent.
              2. But if we choose not to repent, Jesus promises to come quickly and use that sword to fight against us.
              3. In a fight, you don’t use a broadsword to make slow and precise cuts.
              4. You wield it with speed and strength to devastate your enemy.
              5. Jesus is saying that, if we don’t repent, He will consider us His enemy and use His sword, the Word of God, to destroy us.
           2. That’s the negative, what happens if you don’t repent. But that doesn’t make repentance any easier.
           3. Fortunately, verse 17 does.
              1. “I will give the victor some of the hidden manna”
                 1. Notice that most of our excuses for compromise involve us losing something: friends, family, money, job
                 2. Jesus here promises that, if we will repent, He will provide what we really need.
              2. “I will also give him a white stone”
                 1. Many different uses for a white stone
                    1. Justification. Jesus wipes away the guilt of our compromise.
                    2. Victory. A white stone was handed as an award to those who won in the games.
                    3. Admission. A white stone was given to those who would be admitted into a feast.
                 2. This is Jesus’ way of saying that, if we truly repent, we will be welcomed into God’s kingdom as holy champions!
              3. “and on the stone a new name is inscribed”
                 1. Name represented identity and character.
                 2. Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables:
                    1. After being released from prison, Jean Valjean found that his name and the associated record prevented him from going anywhere in life
                    2. So he assumed a new name and became a businessman and mayor.
                 3. How many of us are in the same boat? I might repent, but I’ll still be tainted, broken, inadequate old me.
                 4. If we will truly repent, Jesus will grant us a new identity not tainted by our past compromise, a new character not broken by sin, and the possibility of a real and bright future with Him.
              4. And all of this starts right now.
       24. If we repent, no, it won’t be easy.
       25. But it will be worth it.
       26. We must repent.
   23. Conclusion
       1. So, do you see the stronghold of compromise in your life?
       2. Are there areas where you know today that you haven’t been perfect or holy?
       3. Are you making excuses to rationalize why you do things that you know aren’t quite right, not quite in line with Jesus?
       4. Do you need to repent?
       5. Altar call.
       6. Pray