Love Notes to the Church
Part 3
“Pergamos: The Lax Church”
Rev. 2:12-17 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
In our series called Love Notes to the Church, we’ve been looking at the 7 churches Jesus directly addressed when he first appeared to John on the isle of Patmos.
The first church was Ephesus, known as the LACKING church because they had lost their first love for Jesus.
Then the 2nd church was the church at Smyrna, known as the LOYAL church, for they had stayed true to Jesus through intense trials and persecutions.
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Now today we’re going to look at the 3rd church, which was located in Pergamos.
Pergamos was a beautiful and cultured city in the province of Asia.
It was a major center for literature and the arts.
One of its kings had greatly beautified Pergamos, and increased the number of volumes in the city library to 200,000–so it was a very literate, educated populous.
But while it was educated and highly sophisticated, Jesus says that Satan’s throne was there!
Part of the reason may be that it was a key center for the worship of greek mythological gods like Dionysus, Zeus, and other false, pagan gods.
And the risen Lord also points out that a Christian man named Antipas had been murdered there for his faith.
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Jesus begins with affirming the church’s positives:
“I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.”—2:13
So clearly the Pergamene believers lived in a difficult, spiritually dark place, surrounded by pagan influences.
Yet, Jesus says they held fast to His name and did not deny Him in difficult times.
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Nevertheless, the Lord had some issues regarding them—“But I have a few things against you,”
His issues are why the Pergamos church is known as The LAX or COMPROMISING church.
According to Jesus they had carelessly allowed two destructive teachings to creep into their fellowship—the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
We’ll deal with the Nicolaitans later in this series and focus on the Doctrine of Balaam today.
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Jesus called out the doctrine of Balaam:
Revelation 2:14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.”
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The Doctrine of Balaam is about the advice Balaam gave to Balak, the king of the Moabites, which encouraged the Moabites to seduce the children of Israel into idol worship and sexual sin, resulting in God’s judgment.
In other words, the doctrine of Balaam was the doctrine of COMPROMISE.
The doctrine of Balaam was the message that a child of God could live like the world and still serve God.
In other words, it’s the false message that you as a believer in Jesus Christ can have “the best of both worlds!”
One foot in the world and one foot in the church!
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The doctrine of Balaam encouraged Christians to forget they were called to be separate from the ways of the world.
Whereas the Bible teaches, “So leave the corruption and compromise (of the world); leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”—2 Cor. 6:17 The Message
This is why The doctrine of Balaam is so damaging—it makes believers indistinguishable from the unbelieving world.
Matt. 5:13 ERV “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its taste, it cannot be made salty again. Salt is useless if it loses its salty taste. It will be thrown out where people will just walk on it.”
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Furthermore, the doctrine of Balaam is the message that “a little sin, a little compromise” doesn’t hurt, especially if it brings financial gain!
—You can cut on those taxes,
—compromise your convictions at the office party,
—play both sides of the fence at work,
—lift a little bit out of that tip jar at Starbucks
—or hold back from supporting God’s work
And it’s okay!
A little corner cut here and there is no big deal!
But here’s the thing—the bottom line with the doctrine of Balaam is the person swallowing it is reduced to compromising their biblical convictions for the sake of money or other kinds of material, fleshly gain.
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And when a person does this they sell away their integrity.
You see, Balaam sold his integrity for the money Balak paid him to destroy Israel.
He shook hands with the devil in a plot to wipe out God’s people.
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And Jesus is calling out this same error in the church in Pergamos!
Paul wrote of how false messaging like this spreads:
Gal 5:9 “This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough (your whole life as well as a church)!”
So the doctrine of Balaam is about your integrity being up for sale.
Balaam sold his integrity and reputation for money that perishes.
It reminds us of Judas, who sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver—silver he threw away once he realized what he’d done.
Or Achan in the OT who sold his integrity for the silver and gold from the enemy’s camp, bringing a curse on Israel and death to himself.
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Now what exactly is integrity?
Integrity can be defined as: “wholeness; uprightness; honesty or moral soundness and solid character.
The term “integrity” has within it the idea of an integer.
In math an integer is one whole number.
It is not one number and part of another number.
It is not fractionalized or divided.
Rather, an integer is completeness or wholeness.
Likewise, when we walk in integrity and our beliefs have been integrated into our behavior, God says we are whole or complete people!
A person of integrity is not fractionalized with duplicity or hypocrisy.
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Integrity isn’t lost overnight.
It’s chipped away in a hundred different little decisions we don’t think really matter.
ILLUS: Scientists now say that a series of slits, not a giant gash, sank the Titanic.
Instead of the huge gash, they found six relatively narrow slits across the six watertight holds.
It was many little gashes, not one big one that sank the great ship!
Little decisions in little things MATTER because if there’s integrity in the least, there’s integrity in the greatest!
Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too.”—Luke 16:10 ERV
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So if a person of integrity begins a job, they finish it.
If they make a promise, they keep it.
If they commit a huge mistake, they admit it.
If they believe something, they support that belief with their lifestyle.
They pay their bills.
They tell the truth.
They’re prompt and on time, honoring the time of others.
They give their company an honest day’s work.
They don’t cut unethical corners.
They give some of their finances to the Lord’s work.
They walk their talk.
Solomon wrote, “Better is the poor that walks in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.”— Prov 19:1
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So let me give you a few of the benefits of walking in integrity:
• Safety and Security
“He who walks with integrity walks securely.”—Proverbs 10:9 NKJV
• Protection
“May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.”—Psalms 25:21 NKJV
• Guidance
“The integrity of the upright will guide them.”—Prov. 11:3 NKJV
• Family
“The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.”—Prov. 20:7 NKJV
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So the church at Pergamos shows us that Jesus hated the doctrine of Balaam, because it led His church into moral and ethical compromise.
The risen Savior calls for integrity among His people!