Join us in exploring the perilous environment of Pergamos, a city overwhelmed with pagan practices and relentless emperor worship. In this episode, we delve into the pressures exerted on early Christians, who were caught in the crossfire of maintaining their faith amidst mandatory proclamations of allegiance to Caesar. Discover what it meant to follow Jesus in a city where danger lurked at every corner—yet where some held fast, refusing to compromise their convictions.
The worship of the emperor was very strong in Pergamos. As a matter of fact, we are told in archaeological writings outside of the Bible that Christians were in danger 365 days a year in Pergamos. One of the major reasons for that is that once a year there’s a big celebration in Pergamos in which incense was burned by every resident proclaiming that Caesar is Lord. And if you believe that God is Lord and you believe that Jesus is Lord, then you are in big trouble in Pergamos.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking as we continue our unshaken journey through the book of Revelation. And today in the series, we’re back in chapter 2, verses 12 through 13, and the words of Jesus to the church at Pergamum, or also Pergamos. His words there pull no punches. You see, this was a city drowning in paganism, a place Jesus himself calls where Satan dwells. And yet, in the middle of that darkness, some held the line. They refused to deny his name, even when it cost them everything. Turn to Revelation chapter 2 and join us as we continue David’s message, Religious Compromise. Just before we get into the word, we want to let you know about a powerful resource from David Hawking called Whatever Happened to Morality. Whatever Happened to Morality is a straightforward, scripture-saturated look at our culture’s moral collapse and what God’s word says about it. You know, if you’re tired of watching right and wrong get redefined, well, this book will strengthen your backbone and give you clarity for the days ahead and some encouragement as well. It’s our gift to you to say thanks for your most generous donation of $20 or more this month. We could use your help. More details later on, but you can donate at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 1-888-75-BIBLE in Canada or online at davidhawking.org. And I’ll share our address later on. But right now, here’s David.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, the letter to Ephesus, the theme is neglected priorities. The key verse is verse 7, you have left… your first love. The first love we describe several views of, but primarily love of God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. You may be doctrinally orthodox, but without love, you’re like sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. You make a lot of noise. You may feel so righteous in all that you are and all that you do, but without God’s love, we’re nothing. The second thing we looked at was Smyrna, and our theme was satanic opposition. There’s no condemnation of Smyrna, but there’s a reminder that the devil is going to cast some of you into prison. It’s going to get tough. Be faithful unto death, and he’ll give them a crown of life. Now come to the letter of Pergamos, and we started it, and we won’t review all that we said, but we simply remind you that it was a monstrous city in terms of paganism. very loyal to Rome, had a giant altar of Zeus on the side of the hill we call the Acropolis. It was about a thousand feet in the air and about 800 feet up that hill. There’s a little ledge sticking out from it. There’s a giant altar, a hundred foot square. I have been there, have walked all over that altar. And it is a marvelous site from the standpoint of geography. You can stand up there and see the whole countryside. There’s also an amphitheater that seats 10,000 people on the side of that hill we call the Acropolis. Pergamos was known for its medical school. The emblem of today’s American Medical Association came right from Pergamos with the serpent around the pole. And you will see that on various archaeological remains of the ancient ruins of Pergamos. It also was known as the first place to have the science of psychology. They had a therapy tunnel with holes in the top, and you would start feeling very bad, and a person up on top, your doctor, would tell you how awful your life seems. But in a few feet, he would give you an encouraging word. And a few feet more, more encouragement, more encouragement. And by the time you finished the tunnel, he would pronounce you well. So all you had to do is go through the tunnel. And like people say, the light at the end might be the light of an oncoming train. And in that case, probably was. But the worship of the emperor was very, very strong. Christians were in danger in this city every day of the year. And once a year, they had a big ceremony in which you had to burn incense on the altar of Zeus. You had to hike up there. Every citizen had to do it. And you hiked up there, put incense on the altar to Zeus, and proclaimed that Caesar is Lord. There are a lot of historians who argue that the worship of Caesar, and that, of course, started with Octavian, who became Augustus Caesar. And from then on, the emperors declared themselves to be Pontifex Maximus, Supreme Pontiff. the one to be worshiped. A lot of historians believe that when they burned the incense on the altar of Zeus, who is the head of the Greek pantheon, the ultimate God, the creator, that really Caesar took that role. So when you said Caesar is Lord, you burned the incense on the altar to Zeus. And no matter what God you worship, ultimately you would recognize that Caesar is the top God. He’s the hot dog of it all. And you, if you did not do that, of course, it meant death and certainly torture and persecution year-round. So it was a very serious situation. Now, we mentioned that there are four things we want you to notice. One is that Pergamos was a dangerous environment, a very dangerous environment, which verse 13 proclaims. And secondly, that Pergamos heard a serious evaluation from our Lord in verses 14 and 15. To Ephesus he said, I have somewhat against you, but to Pergamos he said, I have a few things against you. So we move from one thing now to several things, and we see a deterioration here from the beginning when we started with Ephesus. Now let’s read it again, please, beginning at chapter 2, verse 12, and follow along as I read. Revelation chapter 2, beginning at verse 12, down to verse 17. Verse 17. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith he who hath a sharp sword with two edges. I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is, or throne. And thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith, even in those days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. Repent. 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. Pergamos. was not only a dangerous environment, but Pergamos heard a very serious evaluation from Christ. And something that we need to hear today. We can’t run away from it. You know, to Ephesus, back in chapter 2, verse 4, he said, I have somewhat against thee. But here to Pergamos, I read, I have a few things against thee. There was one issue in Ephesus. Now there are several in Pergamos. And you can really summarize it as being two things. Pergamos heard a serious evaluation that dealt with two matters. One was the doctrine of Balaam, the teaching of Balaam. And the other was the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Let’s take Balaam first. It says, thou hast there them that hold. They’re already committed to the doctrine of Balaam. What in the world is that talking about? Take your Bibles and go back to Numbers chapter 22. What is the doctrine of Balaam? Balaam is a prophet of God. Balak is the king of Moab. In Numbers chapter 22, verse 18, And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more. Well, at this point I’d have to say there isn’t a whole lot of Negatives here about holding the doctrine of Balaam, is there? That’s not bad to say, no matter what you pay me, I must say what God wants me to say. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Look at Numbers chapter 25, verses 1 to 3. It says, Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry. with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat and bow down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Wow. Turn to chapter 31, verse 16. What is the doctrine of Balaam? Three things, I believe, summarizes the doctrine of Balaam. One, to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel. What happened was they were tempted to marry the women of Moab and violate a known principle of God’s word. Two, he solicited them to compromise with pagan practices, to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And three, As a result, they committed sexual sin or committed fornication. Back up and take a look at it again. He cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, got them to marry the women of Moab in direct violation of God’s word. He got them to compromise with pagan practices, and it literally led to those people committing sexual sin. Revelation is not the only book that refers to this. The Doctrine of Balaam, 2 Peter chapter 2. It deals with false teachers in the end times. Watch this. But these as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed speak evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness as they that count it pleasure to riot or revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes sporting themselves or reveling with their own deceivings while they feast with you. Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls and heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children who have forsaken the right way and are gone astray, watch this, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbade the madness of the prophet. And here’s what happened. Balaam said, should I go? And God said, don’t go. He came back again. Should I go? Finally, God says, okay, go ahead and go. And then Balaam does, and God’s upset with him because he did. Because instead of doing what God told him to do, he pushes and drives and shoves and tries to make a deal here with God. He gets on a donkey, and the donkey has brains enough to not go. An angel of the Lord appears, and the donkey stops. He beats the donkey. Three times, literally, hits the donkey three times. And on the third time, the donkey turns around and talks to him. Now, you’ve got to admit that if a donkey turned around and talked to you, you would, you know, start listening. Amen? You’re talking weird, wacko stuff here. And the donkey is talking to him. Why are you beating me? You know, you’re the problem. That’s basically the message, my summary. Amen? And I like to say if God can use that donkey, he can use any of us. Amen? You know? Okay. So he used the donkey to tell this man that what he’s doing is wrong and he’s violating God’s word. Why are you even doing it? The Bible makes it clear why he’s doing it. He sold down the people of God for a mess of pottage. That’s what he did. He wanted the money. He wanted the goodies. And he did what he did when he knew in his heart it was wrong. And he had plenty of evidence, right? Turn over to Jude, just a couple books to the right, just before Revelation, and look at verse 11. talking about all these false teachers again who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, just no morality at all in their life. They deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, going to verse 4. But verse 11 keeps talking about them and says, “‘Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.'” So it takes a lot of Old Testament stories, throws them together, and says this is what they’re like. And one of them is the error of Balaam. Greed was there for reward, for profit. We’re in it to personally gain. We merchandise what God tells us not to. It’s a whole problem of the world. The same writer John, who wrote Revelation, said in 1 John 2, “‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. And if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away in the lust thereof, but he who does the will of God shall abide forever.'” They also had the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and with this we’re done. Revelation 2. Very interesting. It says in verse 15, So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Now back in chapter 2, verse 6, he said to Ephesus, you have this, you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Now you’ve got a church holding to that teaching. There’s a lot of arguments about what it is, and I talked to you a little bit about that in our message dealing with Ephesus, but apparently immorality and compromise was definitely a part of it. It seems to me, and I saw this when I went through all the seven churches of Revelation, visiting them, seeing the ruins, looking at the history, you have a terrible environment for Christians. In some respects, that environment was more open in terms of immorality than ours is today. It was a difficult environment to live for the Lord. Satanism, occultic practices, it was the norm. It controlled society. And it was difficult to be a Christian. It was a dangerous environment. But our Lord’s evaluation is very powerful. Instead of holding to my name and not denying the faith, you’re actually holding the doctrine of Balaam and holding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. In other words, compromise is the problem here. Compromise. You say out of one side of your mouth that you’re really loyal to Christ and you would publicly confess him, but out of the other side of your mouth, you are in fact holding to the doctrines that lead to destruction and deterioration and corruption of that which we hold dear. When we compromise with the world, when we try to put one foot in Christ and one foot in the world, our lives get terribly messed up. Believe me, I know. It cannot be, people. We need to come clean for God, don’t we? We need to walk with the Lord. Yes, all who live godly in Christ Jesus, said Paul, will suffer persecution. When I think about loyalty to Jesus Christ, I think about a man that I met in Russia many years ago when the door was not open and we had smuggled Bibles in. But anyway, I saw in his face a commitment that I did not know myself. Sometimes I wonder if under persecution and pressure in our culture, how many of us would still be hanging out here with the word? How many of us would still be standing up for the Lord in the crisis? We do live in a dangerous environment. We still have some freedom, praise the Lord. And we cherish that. But if it’s taken away, we still need to stand for the Lord. And we still need to understand that our Lord wants us to confess him before men. And he said so. Be not ashamed, Paul said, of the Lord or of me as prisoner. God’s not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. May God help us to see it. Lord, we are so thankful for your word. What joy comes into our heart as we realize we have the hidden manna, our Lord Jesus, the bread from heaven. He is all we need. We do not always know the impact of these letters. We study the backgrounds. We try to understand what was said. I can only imagine what those first Christians felt when they got John’s letter. Lord, we need to hear it again. Some of us are trying to play both worlds, and it’s not working. We can compromise and become so hypocritical. We need to be set free to live for you with all of our hearts. to be loyal to you no matter what. When we fall, the Lord will uphold us. You even tell us that a righteous man can fall seven times. But God, I pray that you’d help us to understand the God of all grace and love and forgiveness who upholds us with his mighty right hand. is the God that asks of us to be loyal to him and his name and his word, even when it’s a difficult and dangerous environment. Lord, build within us a new commitment to you. Some of us need to get rid of stuff that’s in our life that’s not pleasing to you and is tearing us down. We need to make a commitment. We need to stand for what’s right. God, I pray you’d work in our hearts as only you can do. And it’s in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Amen. Thank you, David. David’s going to bring our study time to a close in just a moment. But first, Matt’s here, and we want to tell you more about the book I mentioned at the beginning of today’s broadcast.
SPEAKER 01 :
Matt? Proverbs 14.34 wisely enlightens us. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. 1 Timothy 1.8 adds, but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. We need a moral and spiritual revival in the U.S., Canada, and more today, Jim.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, this month we’re featuring your dad’s book, Whatever Happened to Morality? The Future Survival of America. Whatever Happened to Morality? What does David, what does your dad say? Yeah, what does he tackle inside this book?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, we start with the right to life. Okay. You know, how did our respect for life erode and what does God’s word say on the topic? Wow. The sanctity of marriage. Does scripture require that marriage is only between a man and woman? The value of children. How have modern societies sought to abandon but also corrupt kids? And restrict the role of parents. Right. Yeah. And a big one, pornography. The rapid proliferation of this scourge and its devastation. Homosexuality, is it a genetic result? Sexual disease and human survival? The death penalty? It’s all these. Is this biblical?
SPEAKER 02 :
Alcohol and drug abuse, Las Vegas and lotteries, all on the increase. And God’s word has warnings and wisdom for us. And then the last topic there. Religion and politics. Do they mix? Should they be kept apart? And certainly with today’s moral decay, is it too late for America?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, and how do we stay focused and hopeful?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, this month we have your dad’s book, Whatever Happened to Morality? It’s our way to say thanks for your most generous donation of $20 or more. With your contribution, you become a part of hope for today’s ministry. Yes, pray first and give as God moves your heart. If God is prompting you to give, even a little, it’s because he’s doing something through this ministry that you’re meant to be a part of. We hear from listeners every week who tell us how God has used maybe just a single message or a moment of truth from the Word to wake them up, restore their marriage, or maybe bring them to faith or back to it. If you want to see that continue, if you want to be a part of a movement that’s not backing down in this darkening world, then this might just be your moment to join with us in ministry, to take action. Call 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 24253. Or you can give securely online at davidhawking.org. Click on the donate button and you’re there in seconds. You can also drop us a Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. Your giving makes a difference. It’s about spreading the Word of God clearly, boldly, and without apology. Amen. Let’s get back to David for today’s final word.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we’re talking about the church at Pergamos. I have been there. It’s a very interesting place. There’s a lot of archaeological ruins that are there that tell us a lot about that place. There was a huge amphitheater on the side of a mountain there. And also, we find in that city a monument that has the same insignia as the American Medical Association has. And there was a healing ministry going on there, and I doubt seriously that many people were healed, but they tried. They had sort of a psychological approach to it. You would go through a long tunnel, and someone at the top, through a hole in the roof, would always say something like, well, you’re doing fine, just a little ways to go yet. And they believed when they got out of that tunnel that somehow they were healed of the problems. Well, the great healer is our Lord. And the church at Pergamos was definitely involved with religious compromise. In this text, in verse 13, he says it’s where Satan dwells. Wow. That tells you the whole story. Satan is deceiving the whole world. Well, plan to be with us for our next broadcast. God bless you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you, David. And friend, if you missed anything in today’s study or you want to hear it again, you can listen on demand at davidhawking.org. Just click on the radio button and you can stream our most recent broadcast anytime, anywhere. Well, next time on the program, we stay right in Revelation chapter 2. We’re going to be going from verses 12 all the way through 17 this time. And what we’re about to uncover isn’t some light devotional thought. It’s a direct confrontation. Jesus calls out the compromise, exposes the spiritual rot beneath the surface, and reveals what’s really at stake. And this is a warning aimed not just at the church in the passage, but also to our churches today. And the message, truth, still matters. Well, be sure to invite a friend to listen along with you as we’re bringing you the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, right here on Hope for Today.
Join us in exploring the perilous environment of Pergamos, a city overwhelmed with pagan practices and relentless emperor worship. In this episode, we delve into the pressures exerted on early Christians, who were caught in the crossfire of maintaining their faith amidst mandatory proclamations of allegiance to Caesar. Discover what it meant to follow Jesus in a city where danger lurked at every corner—yet where some held fast, refusing to compromise their convictions.
