Knowing the Church Series Part 18
When Jesus Christ delivered the message to Pergamum, He was seen having a two-edged, large, piercing sword. In other words, He meant business. When concluding the message, He tells them to repent. Their behavior needs to do a 180, or else He is making war against them with the sword of His mouth. Like all the churches, something has to be overcome: laid low, defeated.
Pergamum: The Church Stumbling Blocks
The Reasons Listed
What is the piercing sword? Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." No person with an unrepentant heart will ever hear Jesus's word to the churches. How many people comfortable in their church today have a repentant heart about their church?
The people of Pergamum were living where Satan's throne resided—the very source of His power and place from where He sent it forth. There came a good word from Christ, at least in the days of Antipas when he laid down his life and overcame the wickedness of his surroundings. This idea is followed by a but for five reasons. 1) Some hold the teaching of Balaam, 2) Balaam's teaching was to place a stumbling block before Israel's sons, 3) Eat idol sacrifices, 4) Commit acts of immorality, 5) Hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans.
Pergamum: The Church's Stumbling Block of Being Bound with Unbelievers
A crucial principle needs to be understood if one is to understand these churches correctly. The principle is found in Matthew 18. I will not elaborate except that believers and unbelievers are not to be bound together and understood as belonging to Christ. The term to overcome demands that believers leave such a fold and its evil, or unbelievers are sent away. Regenerate, born-again believers do not build temples to Satan but the Church of Jesus Christ, or else they are not believers.
To see how subtle Satan's deceptions can be, read Numbers 22 to 24, and you will see Balaam proclaiming only God's truth. Talk about an angel of light. However, the first line of chapter 25 says, "While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab." They intermarried and crossbred "believers" with unbelieving Gentiles. Understand only the remnant in Israel is saved. Today, Satan (as he used Balaam to place a stumbling block) teaches the church that it is more loving to keep unbelievers part of the church than to question them when their behavior becomes questionable.
Pergamum: The Church's Stumbling Block of Idolatry
My dear readers, let us be clear. Idolatry is like the sin of adultery; only it is a betrayal of God, our creator, and redeemer. To worship an idol is to refuse God's existence, especially in false religions. When God is acknowledged, He is worshipped and not idols. You think that is not true! Psalm 138:1, A Psalm of David, "I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the (false) gods (emphasis added)."
Furthermore, immorality is the fundamental sin Satan uses as a stumbling block because it is tightly linked together with idolatry, as just previously stated. All idolatry is heinous in God's sight; the intermarriage of Jew and Gentile is particularly disgusting to God because both are involved at the same time.
Pergamum: The Church's Stumbling Block of the Teaching of the Nicolaitans
Christ concluded His revelation with the teaching of the Nicolaitans, and too much has been written for me to explain in this post, so I must summarize. One of the first deacons in the church from Acts 6:5 was "...Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch." He was reported by some church fathers to become an apostate and walk away from the faith, taking followers who sinned by even invoking immorality in worship.
Contrary to Nicolas, in history, numerous men have done many selfless acts, so the Catholic church appointed them particular saints of honor. These men continued to be praised and carry esteem to the point of drawing attention, as they always do, away from Christ to themselves. In our culture, the mythical characters we know as Saint Nick and Santa Claus go back centuries.
What is The Great Sin? In Jesus' words, "So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans." When an apostate draws men after him and away from Jesus Christ and becomes a teaching of Satan, that becomes a war with God. The fact that multitudes of people poo, poo the teaching as harmless does not change God's mind.
This revelation to the church concludes with the words, "To him who overcomes ...I will give ...a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'" Many people had their names changed in scripture, always signifying life transformation. The transformation included a new heart, mind, character, and identity as a completed son of God. The Gospel proclaims sinners as transformed saints. Any other way of receiving eternal life is another Gospel and another way to heaven other than by grace.
A Church Walks in the Shoes of Pergamum: a Church of stumbling blocks whenever it propagates the teaching that allows believers and unbelievers to worship together as acceptable to God. "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial (Satan; emphasis added), or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)
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