Join us on a spiritual journey through the scriptural exploration of Revelation Chapter 2, as David Hocking analyses the perilous coexistence of godly teachings with pagan practices in the ancient city of Pergamos. Learn about the strong influence of Satan’s seat, how it impacted the church, and the unwavering faith of believers like Antipas. Gain insights into the celestial conflict that surrounds us and the comforting presence of ministering angels, juxtaposed with a determined adversary.
God sends his good angels as ministering spirits to take care of us, but there are also demons working constantly against us. Someone asked me last week, do you believe that there are demons here? I believe with all my heart there are demons, and they don’t like a thing that we’re doing here. I also believe that God’s angels are here.
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Thank you.
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This is Hope for Today with David Hawking. On today’s program, we’re moving even deeper into Revelation chapter 2 to focus on verses 14 through 17. And in this passage, Jesus continues his message to the church at Pergamum, or Pergamos. He’s already praised them in verses 12 through 13 for their loyalty under pressure, but now he needs to confront them for what they’ve allowed to fester, false teaching, moral compromise, and a tolerance for what God calls evil. He draws a line in the sand and calls his people to repentance. No excuses, no delays. And there’s a promise here for those who overcome and a warning for those who don’t. Turn to Revelation chapter 2, verses 14 through 17, as David Hawking continues this powerful message called Religious Compromise. First, though, Matt, we always like to share from friends of this ministry, and you’ve got one right there.
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I do. May the Lord bless you as you all faithfully continue to preach the Word, sharing the gospel as you remind us of our foundation in Christ. It is so much at the heart of this ministry to bring the lost to salvation in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Also, we are very much about discipleship. And Matt, this letter says, you have taught me and encouraged me to be the best representative for our blessed Lord Jesus. Life is a struggle, and it really is out there with so many folks. The listener continues, but with teachings like yours, it makes getting up in the morning worthwhile. And thanks for your letter. And thanks to all of you who have written us recently. And I’ll tell you in just a bit how you can send a letter to Hope for Today. And here’s David with today’s lesson, beginning with a quick review of what we’ve studied so far.
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Now let’s read, please, beginning at chapter 2, verse 12, and follow along as I read. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith he who hath the sharp sword with two edges, that Thracian sword. used in the book of Revelation for the fatal blow of the word of God taking vengeance on unbelievers. Interesting that that would be used here. Verse 13, I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat or throne is. And thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith, even in those days in which Antipas, which means against all, was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth save or except he that receiveth it. I had a number of questions last time about a simple statement. I mentioned that according to this passage in chapter 2, verse 13, it says, Satan’s throne is there. Also, the last phrase of the verse says, where Satan dwelleth or dwells. And the question was brought up to me, did you really say that Satan could actually have his headquarters in Pergamos? And the answer is yes, you heard it exactly right. I don’t know if I’m right or not. But if I take the Bible literally, and there’s no symbolic language here, then Satan literally did that. Understand, Satan is not ubiquitous. He’s not omnipresent. He can’t be everywhere at once. But apparently his headquarters on earth at that time, where he set up his pagan system, was in Pergamos. And last time we told you that the Babylonian religion, which is traced all the way through the scriptures till we come into Revelation 17 and learn that a woman sitting on a beast represents it. Babylon, the great mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, that Babylonian religion literally did, after the fall of Babylon, shift to Pergamos and made their headquarters there. Later, they will shift also to Rome through the Etruscans. And one of its most famous members who became the supreme pontiff, the high priest of the Babylonian religion, was Julius Caesar. From Augustus Caesar on, from 38, 30 BC rather, on, every emperor took the title. Every emperor proclaimed himself as the high priest of the ancient Babylonian system. Something a lot of us, years removed, failed to remember. And we mentioned the position of the enemy, that his seat was there, and some of you start asking questions about Satanism and demonism and ask me to say a few words about it. I’m going to take just a little bit. I don’t ever give a whole lot of attention to him. Whatever the Bible says, that’s it. And I don’t want to be fascinated by anything that he does, because he is a deceiver. But let me tell you just the following. The word Satan… appears 19 times in the Old Testament. And interestingly, 14 of those times is in Job 1 and 2. And if you read that, you get a pretty idea, good idea of what Satan’s doing. He’s going to wear you down and try to just strip everything away and destroy you. But anyway, 19 times in the Old Testament, but you’ll find his name 36 times in the New Testament. Now, he is identified in the book of Revelation in two primary ways. Satan is identified as that old serpent. And secondly, as the devil. I didn’t make this up. Turn to Revelation chapter 12. I know a lot of you know it, but sometimes it’s good to know the scripture where you turn. Who is Satan? Revelation chapter 12, verse 9. It says, the great dragon, also known as a dragon, symbolized by a dragon, the book of Revelation, the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world. Turn to chapter 20, verse 2. Revelation 20, verse 2. He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent. I like that, you know. Not that classy, new, innovative, creative one, but that old, crusty serpent. He’s doing the same thing he’s done for years. that old serpent who is the devil and Satan. So two terms identify Satan. He’s that old serpent, which reminds you of the Garden of Eden. And remind yourself in Pergamos that the symbol they took of the healing powers of their pagan system was the serpent. The same thing that was in the Babylonian religion was picked up. By the religion of Pergamos. The serpent was the symbol. And they worshipped the serpent as the god of Scepulis. And they called him the god of healing. Can you believe that? And it was a counterfeit, I believe, of something that happened in the Old Testament to the people of Israel. Remember that Israel was always in conflict with what god, what name? Baal, right on target. Baal, Baal, they say in Hebrew. That is a direct connection with the Babylonian religion. The head of the Babylonian pantheon is Bel. Baal, Baal, the Baal of the Phoenicians, the Baal of the Philistines, the Baal of the peoples around Israel, the Baal that Israel finally adopted and corrupted themselves terribly over, is the same one, the God of fertility, the God of sex, the God of all good things, said pagan theology. And all of a sudden, Israel is now involved with Baal worship. That old serpent. Nothing’s new. Symbolized by the snake. Now the devil, interestingly, never appears by that name in the entire Old Testament. Find that interesting? Don’t find the word devil in the entire Old Testament. But you find it 61 times in the New Testament. He’s called the devil. So the term that applies to him more than anything else is the devil. We also have the plural devils or we say demons. Use four times the plural in the Old Testament referring to his agents and use 51 times in the New Testament. New Testament. One of the interesting things to me is that demonic activity was very strong at the life of Christ and not as strong afterwards. 42 of the 51 times it refers to the devils and demons are all in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 42 out of the 51 times even mentioned in the New Testament. We have also the word unclean spirits used 28 times, also referring to his demons. Now, the devil’s also called the adversary. Twice he’s called that, 1 Timothy 5.14 and 1 Peter 5.8. Tells us to be sober, be vigilant, your adversary, the devil. walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He’s also called the accuser of our brethren, Revelation 12, 10, describing what he does primarily. We also have him called the God of this world, 2 Corinthians 4, 4. He’s also called the prince of the power of the air. He’s in control of all that is sinful and evil. He’s also called the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. He is active in the lives of unbelievers even when they don’t know it, Ephesians 2.2. He’s also called the enemy. He’s the one that sows the tares, and Jesus identified the enemy as the devil in Matthew 13.39. He’s also called the wicked one four times. All of these things describe him. His character, I would summarize as being four things. One, he’s a murderer. He’s a murderer. John 8, 44, Jesus said so. He is going to kill and destroy. Anybody that follows him is headed for a destructive life. Secondly, he’s a deceiver. In Revelation 12, 9, it says he deceiveth the whole world. Second Corinthians 11, 3 writes to Christians and says, but I fear lest as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted for the simplicity that’s in Christ. He makes things more complex than they really are. He takes the wonderful, simple, glorious, clear-cut news of the gospel and makes it a humongous religious system so that the people are so deceived they don’t know what the truth is versus all that religion has thrown at them. That is the devil’s work. He’s active in religion. Make no mistake about it. He’s also a liar, John 8, 44. He’s the father of lies, according to Jesus. He’s the one who originated lying, not God. The Bible says it’s impossible for God to lie, Hebrews 6, 18. But the devil is called the father of lies in John 8, 44. That’s about the devil. You know what else? He’s a confirmed sinner. Do you ever think about that? I guess that’s something we all assume, but let’s just say it. In 1 John 3, 8, he has sinned from the beginning, and he can’t keep from sinning. He’s a confirmed sinner, and there’s no hope for him. His final destiny is the lake of fire. He’s a conquered foe. We have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, praise God. We have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. That’s what the Bible says. We don’t need to fear him. You leave it in the hands of the Lord. You put on the spiritual armor. But I think the thing for our benefit in Pergamos, to show you the impact of Satan actually setting up headquarters there, perhaps through this pagan religious system, the text actually says it’s where Satan dwells. It’s not just his character I want you to understand, which I think is obvious to a lot of us, especially who have background in Christianity. But there are two things about his control that we better understand. One is that he has a vast demonic kingdom. It appears that he is everywhere at once because there are so many demons. Revelation tells us that stars represent angels. And in chapter 12, we see the devil bringing down a third of the stars of heaven with him. Is it possible that in God’s economy, just from a standpoint of math, that we have good angels, two-thirds, evil angels, one-third? Now, I don’t know about you, but I like those odds. Now, God sends his good angels as ministering spirits to take care of us, but they’re also demons working constantly against us. And there’s a war going on that I can’t see. The Bible speaks about this angelic conflict. It’s going on all around us. It’s a terrible battle and a war. It’s going to be all over one day, but it’s going on now. He not only controls a vast demonic kingdom or network, the Bible says in Matthew 25, 41, that the lake of fire, hell, was prepared for the devil and his angels. Demons are angels. But also in Revelation 12, 7, it mentions the devil and his angels fighting Michael, the archangel, and God’s good angels. But he also controls, apparently, according to the Bible, what we would call a world system of non-believers. This is kind of tough. I want you to turn to 1 John 5. And I hope that all of this is a little bit helpful as we look at the statements about Pergamos, that that’s where Satan’s seat is and that’s where Satan dwells. 1 John chapter 5, we have this interesting statement in verse 19. 1 John 5, I want to read verse 18 because of a precious promise there also. It says, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. You said, whoops. Do you sin? It is a present tense. It’s talking about a habit of sin. And some say what it’s referring to is our new nature, that we have an old nature that does sin, but the new nature does not sin. That’s one way of looking at it. The other way of looking at it is that we don’t make a habit of it, even though we do sin. It’s a very difficult statement. But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one, one of the names of the devil, toucheth him not. Did you all hear that? Come on, let’s read it again because there are Christian seminars, books, and everything else telling us something else. Let’s read it again. It says, he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not. Do you remember in the case of Job, God put a hedge around him? The devil actually couldn’t do anything to Job that God wouldn’t permit and allow. You say, why would a holy, righteous, loving God allow Satan to rip us apart? Not to tear you down, the Bible says that the God of all grace, after you’ve suffered a while by satanic attack, after you’ve suffered a while, will make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Apparently, all of the satanic pressure that we get in life, and some of it we don’t even recognize, is coming from the enemy. But apparently, all of it is being used by God to not wipe us out, but to make us stronger. So that we will trust the Lord more than ourselves. Because we get so confident, we get cruising along thinking we can somehow cope with everything and handle everything. And all of a sudden, the Lord releases the hedge somehow. so to speak, and allows the enemies of hell to absolutely destroy us. It becomes unbearable. And all of a sudden, we learn a lesson we can learn no other way. We need to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. There’s not a person here, no matter how long you’ve known the Lord, no matter how strong you think you are in the Lord, that can go one day without the Lord. That’s how serious is the battle. Now verse 19. 1 John 5, verse 19. And we know, not we think so or hope so or feel so, we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. Very interesting, because literally in the Greek, it’s the same as back in verse 18, the wicked one. Some translations do make that correction. The whole world lieth in the wicked one. So there is a world that is under his control. There’s a vast network of demons that are under his control. And what it means is the whole system of this world. which is described in Revelation very graphic language as a beast with seven heads. And it’s a system that God is against and God is going to destroy. And it is empowered, according to Revelation, by Satan himself. And that system, that Babylonian religion, from the Tower of Babel till now, set up its headquarters at the writing of Revelation chapter 2 in Pergamos. And that is historically… Too close to not say, take it literally. Take it literally. That’s where Satan’s seat was. That’s where Satan was dwelling at this time. And it was from Pergamos that the entire Roman Empire was permeated with the pagan system that started all the way back with Babylon. And will continue to the end time, just take different forms.
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Well, that’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David’s back to close out our study time today in just a moment. And just before he returns, you know, if your jaw dropped to the ground the last time you tuned in to the news or or maybe you had to cover your kids’ or grandkids’ eyes because of what appeared without warning on the screen. Well, Matt and I have a resource that’s going to show you what God’s Word, the Bible, says about why we see so much craziness going on in the world today and the hope that believers can have.
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Matt? Western culture is working furiously to abandon democratic principles and moral values. We no longer seem capable of controlling ourselves in our pursuits of pleasure and material gain. The good life, Matt.
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Yeah.
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The good life has brought corruption, greed, and self-destructive narcissism. You know, Jim, we talk of human rights, but care little for the innocent and plenty of talk, but little true compassion and care. The sanctity of life. Yeah.
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is sacrificed on the altar of convenience, career, and license. The rights and privacy of the individual seem more important than our responsibilities to one another and our desire to work for the common good.
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Yeah, I mean, whatever happened to words like duty, altruism, responsibility, accountability, and concern for others? I mean, why do crime and violent acts flourish in our cities And our police departments seem helpless in their efforts to control the rampage. All right. Our news sources.
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Matt, this is something that is close to my heart because for years, as you know, I had classes in journalism. I was on the school newspaper. And it was impressed upon us repeatedly to maintain the highest level of honesty and integrity in reporting. And today… Our news sources so often lack integrity, to say the least. Entertainment outlets glorify evil as good and good as evil.
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The most tragic of all, Jim, is that we’ve left God out of our public life. We’ve decided the so-called political doctrine of separation of church and state means people of faith stay isolated. out of government. But government can intrude on our beliefs and practices.
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Yeah, we need a moral and spiritual revival. Do indeed. Well, this month, folks, we have a powerful and encouraging way to say thanks for your most generous contribution of $20 or more. Yeah, it’s my dad’s book, Whatever Happened to Morality. Great book it is, isn’t it? Inside, your dad takes us into the Word and history for answers, encouragement. This book is so hard to put down. And your donation today is a ministry investment in the future work of Hope for Today.
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And as always, please do pray for Hope for Today.
SPEAKER 02 :
Indeed, prayer is the key to the effectiveness of this radio broadcast. And to get your copy of this resource called Whatever Happened to Morality, call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE. In Canada, reach us at 1-888-75-BIBLE. You can also make your donation and receive the book online at DavidHawking.org. DavidHawking.org. And I’ll have our address for you in just a moment. And before we wrap up, friend, you know, if you need prayer for any reason, we’re here for you. And please do pray for us as well. And if God has used this ministry in your life and you’d like to partner with us in ministry to become a part of this ministry, you can give a donation online at davidhawking.org or call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada and Bible by the numbers 24253. And for those who prefer to write our address in the U.S., Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. Let’s go back to David.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, friends. Thanks so much for staying with us. We’re in Revelation chapter 2, talking about the church at Pergamos and the religious compromise that went on there. Boy, they eat things sacrificed to idols. They committed fornication or sexual sin. They had the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which God says, I hate. In verse 14, God says, I have a few things against thee, because you have people there holding the doctrine of Balaam—talk about compromise—who taught Balak of Moab to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, and to eat things, sacrifice unto idols, and to commit sexual sin, fornication. Wow! Talk about religious compromise. Wow! And that kind of stuff is present in our world today. Well, plan to be with us for our next broadcast. God bless you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you, David. And friends, if you haven’t shared this broadcast with someone lately, well, why not do that? You know, the gospel, it’s too good to keep all to ourselves. I’m sure you can think of at least a couple of people, I know I can, who don’t yet know the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior, or maybe a believer who needs the encouragement of God’s Word. let’s let everybody know that they can listen to this Bible teaching session. And if you missed any part of today’s broadcast, remember you can always catch up on the latest programs for a limited time at davidhawking.org. And be sure to check out all the great Bible study resources we have for you while you’re there. Well, next time, we’re not slowing down here. The vision of Jesus in Revelation chapter 2, verses 12 through 17 to the church at Pergamum, it gets even more intense. And we want to learn from that church. So do join us next time right here on Hope for Today.
Join us on a spiritual journey through the scriptural exploration of Revelation Chapter 2, as David Hocking analyses the perilous coexistence of godly teachings with pagan practices in the ancient city of Pergamos. Learn about the strong influence of Satan’s seat, how it impacted the church, and the unwavering faith of believers like Antipas. Gain insights into the celestial conflict that surrounds us and the comforting presence of ministering angels, juxtaposed with a determined adversary.
