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Revelation 2:12-17 Ignore false teachers

Intro…1997 Meeting in Colorado with young pastors…

The rise of the “postmodern/emergent” theology…

Text: Revelation 2:12-17

Big Pic: In order to identify false teaching, we need to hold fast to the teachings of Jesus and not deny our faith.

A little bit about Pergamum:

Just like the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna, the believers in Pergamum faced persecution and false teaching.

They endured the persecution, but succumbed to false teaching.

The city of Pergamum was built on terraces leading up to the only accessible slope if its acropolis.

It was an important center for pagan and imperial religion, but there are also indications of Jewish religion.

v. 12 “The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.”

1:16 The words of God can cut us open, judge our thoughts and hearts.

This is a warning to the church to discipline and deal properly with false teachers.

Because if they don’t (2:16) Jesus will directly intervene.

v. 13 “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”

We know Pergamum was a center for pagan and imperial religion.

This city had temples dedicated to the divine Augustus and the goddess of Roma.

Also to Asklepios (the god of healing, symbolized by serpents).

And a large altar dedicated to Zeus.

They also worshipped the emperor as a god, in fact it was required in the province of Asia.

This city had at least 5 strikes against it…consequently, it was a major problem for the Christians.

Add all the up and hence the name for Pergamum: Satan’s throne.

It became Satan’s throne because it allowed false teaching to creep into the church.

One of the bright spots in the midst of the paganism was Antipas.

He sealed his testimony with his life.

Jesus even shares with Antipas the title of “faithful witness” in 1:5.

Often that’s the case when someone speaks out against false teaching.

They may be the only one doing it and could even pay for it with their life!

Last week we talked about persecution in the church, people dying for their faith.

Someone’s got to speak up when false teaching enters the church, even if it costs them their life!

v. 14-15 Here’s what the church in Pergamum was doing wrong.

Sexual and spiritual infidelity, as well as eating food sacrificed to idols.

Sexual and spiritual infidelity….sounds like our culture today.

The false teachers they were following were Balaam and the Nicolaitans.

As the Israelites wondered through the wilderness, the prophet Balaam advised Moab’s king (Balak) to seduce them in both sexual and spiritual adultery.

(Numbers 25:1-2, 31:16)

The Nicolaitians (followers of Nicolas Acts 6:5) were a heretical Christian sect.

They advocated too much freedom in matters of Christian conduct.

The bigger problem was that Nicolas was just a human. Any group that follows the teaching/writings of a human is in trouble.

That’s false teaching!

v. 13 Here’s what the church in Pergamum was doing right.

Hold fast to the name of Jesus.

Did not deny the faith, even with death threats.

If we can just do the same today, the false teaching will be obvious.

“Well, how do I know if it is false teaching or not?

When we follow Jesus we can’t go wrong.

I Cor. 1:21-23, 2:1-5

As we grow deeper in our understanding of the faith and thus not denying it, we’ll know right from wrong.

v. 16 Either we do what is right, holding to Jesus and our faith or we could face some direct intervention from God himself!

1 Cor. 11:30-32

If we are wise, we will listen up. v. 17

“To those who stand true to the faith, we will receive hidden manna.”

Just as God provided food, (manna) to the Israelites in the desert, God will provide for us when we endure persecution and stay pure from defilement.

This is the sufficiency of Christ for the believers needs.

“White Stone”

Historically a white stone was given to victors of games for entrance to banquets.

A white stone was also used by jurists at trial to vote for acquittal.

This white stone given to us indicates that the believer can be assured of his acquittal before God.

“When we hold fast to Jesus’ name we will be given a new name.”

I love that part of the OT…

This may refer to the work of the HS in conforming a believer to the holiness of God. (Rom. 8:29)

Application: False teaching creeps into the church like mold.

(Starts out small and grows nasty.)

Often it starts out as things that don’t seem that bad or wrong.

“Well that doesn’t sound too bad…”

We need to be leery of words like “tolerant”, “politically correct”, “inclusive”

Who are the Balaams, Balaks, and Nicolaitans of today?

I mentioned some of the Emergent Theologians earlier….

Prosperity gospel…(A certain preacher in Texas…Osteen etc .)

Why is this false teaching so appealing? Because it “tickles our ears.”

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Conclusion: Two friends from Seminary, who are now liberal….

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Revelation 2:8-11 Perseverance in persecution.

Scripture: Revelation 2:8-11 around AD 95 (persecution before and after)

Foxes book of Martyrs…

Big Pic: When was the last time any of us were persecuted for our faith?

(In reality, that would be the ultimate reward.)

Of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, only Smyrna and Philadelphia are not rebuked by Jesus.

Instead, he encourages them as they endure persecution.

Smyrna was a harbor city renowned for its temple to the Mother Goddess and for its provincial imperial cult temples to Tiberious (1^st century) and Hadrian (2^nd century).

Smyrna was a beautiful city with paved streets, a library, gymnasium, and a shrine to Homer who may have been born there.

There was most likely a Jewish presence in the city and they were opposed to this new Christian faith, “followers of the way.”

Their persecution of the Christians was documented in the martyrdom accounts of Polycarp and Pionius.

v. 8 To the angel/leader of the church in Smyrna…

These words of encouragement come from non-other than Jesus Christ himself.

When the church (us) suffers slander and even persecution unto death, Jesus is our savior and redeemer.

When we read the accounts of the martyrs throughout history, when they faced death, they knew that Jesus was their savior…

Jesus prepared the way through death to resurrection life. (1:17-18)

v. 9 Poor but rich.

These people in Smyrna may have been physically or materially poor, but they were oh-so rich spiritually.

That’s the kind of rich you want to be!

We’ll see how in Rev. 3:17 the people in Laodicea thought of themselves as affluent but were bankrupt on the eyes of Jesus.

And Jesus’ scale of “richness” is always the one we want to measure ourselves against.

I got to see that so beautifully in my father’s memorial service last weekend. The richness of his legacy, faith and family…

So whether it’s Jews persecuting the church of Smyrna or anyone persecuting and killing Christians today, they may claim to be doing it for “the right reasons” but in reality, that mindset is from Satan.

PIC v. 10 Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer…

Prison, punishment, torture, scoffing, ridicule etc.

10 days….The persecution for the Smyrnan Christians was brief and ended in either prison or death.

So, even if we do end up dying for our faith, we will receive the crown of life, that is, eternal life.

Eternal life with Christ is the laurel wreath of victory that God promises to those who love him.

1 Cor. 9:25, 2 Tim. 4:6-8, James 1:12

v. 11 “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”

By remaining strong and true in the face of death, we are immune from the second death.

This second death is when the wicked are returned to bodily existence and condemned for evil deeds. They will be cast eternally into the lake of fire. (20:12-15)

We avoid that second death by maintaining our faith in Jesus and resisting the beast, the anti-Christ.

We will worship as priests and reign as kings with Christ throughout the era of Satan’s binding.

2:11, “the one who conquers” We are conquerors by remaining true to our faith in God, even in the face of death.

Application:

The church/people of Smyrna were not rebuked by Jesus, because they endured persecution.

I would guess that for us today, to avoid being rebuked by Jesus, we just need to make a stand for him.

That will be different for each one of us.

That is the application point for each of us today. How/when do we need to make a stand for Jesus when it’s hard to do that?

Whenever that happens to us, whatever the scale, God is pleased.

It’s not the goal of the Christian life to be persecuted or imprisoned etc., but that we will stand true to our faith no matter what.

And when we do that, we become rich spiritually and no one can take that away from us, regardless of ridicule, teasing, persecution etc.

(To hear a podcast of this sermon, please go to www.pacificviewbaptist.com and click on Sermons from the menu on the left.)

Revelation

Intro…most people are fascinated with end times. Some people (Mayans) think the world will end this year…Harold Camping predicted the world would end on May 21 of 2011…movies, songs etc.

Text: Revelation 1:8, 17-19

Big Picture: Christians don’t need to be afraid for the world to end. We may not know all the details, but God does and we need to trust him for the perfect outcome.

Intro to the book of Revelation:

The book is an “unveiling” of unseen spiritual forces operating behind the scenes in history and controlling its events and outcomes.

This unveiling or disclosure is conveyed in a series of symbolic visions from OT prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel and Zechariah.

Like all books of the Bible, God is the ultimate author, but here he used John to convey his thoughts.

Early church fathers identified John as the son of Zebedee, the disciple who authored the 4^th gospel and 3 NT epistles. (1-3 John)

The book of Revelation is a book of apocalypse (revelation, disclosure, unveiling) and prophecy.

This book unveils the unseen spiritual war in which the church is engaged: the cosmic conflict between God and Satan.

In this conflict, Jesus has already won the decisive victory through his death and resurrection.

However, the church continues to be assaulted by evil through persecution, false teaching and the allure of material influence and cultural approval.

As we begin to understand the spiritual realities behind the churches trials, we need to be encouraged to endure suffering and to stay pure.

Revelation is addressed to the first century churches in seven cities of the Roman province of Asia (now western Turkey) as representatives of all Christ’s churches.

seven churches of Asia...

These first century church faced many of the same issues that we still do today. (idolatry, immorality, spiritual complacency)

History repeats itself. Too bad we are still dealing with the same problems.

Man is still sinful, selfish and prideful.

Jesus sent his revelation to John to fortify the churches to resist the devil.

There are 4 basic views concerning the interpretation of this book:

Preterist: the prophecies of this book have already been fulfilled in the early history of the church.

Historical: the book portrays a panorama of the history of the church from the days of John to the end of time.

Idealist: considers the book a pictorial unfolding of great principles in constant conflict without reference to actual events.

Futurist: views most of the book as prophecy yet to be fulfilled.

Some of the symbols in the book are explained and some are not.

We’re not going to study this book as a guide to all the answers about the end of the world.

Some of the symbols (today in chap. 1) are clear, some are more mysterious.

It’s important to notice carefully the words, “like,” “as,” and “as it were.”

These words indicate a comparison, not an identification.

Chapter 1

1:1-3 a great introduction.

The revelation of Jesus Christ…to John…to us.

Blessed is the one who reads these words aloud and blessed are those who hear….that’s us.

1:4-8 a greeting to the seven churches. (no great mystery here…)

The 7 Churches represent all churches

7 spirits..although the HS is one, he also appears as 7 spirits representing perfection.

Through Jesus we are freed from our sins, a kingdom, priests to God.

Jesus will come back in the clouds, all will see

“all tribes of earth will wail” a reaction to the judgment (that’ll put the fear of God in you…)

Describes the characteristics of God: who was and is to come, faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of kings on earth, Alpha and Omega (beginning and end), Almighty.

1:9-11 seven churches of Asia

Just as I’m sure those churches were diverse, we have so many diverse Christian churches today.

Kinda 31 flavors…

1:12-16 A vision of the son of man, Jesus.

And what an image/vision it was!

Long robe with a golden sash around his chest. Designating him as a priest and judge. Daniel 7:9-10

White hairs like wool or snow: represents infinite divine wisdom.

That’s probably why we see pictures of God with a long white beard and white hair…

Eyes like blazing fire: he can see right through our facades. He can say to each church, to each one of us, “I know exactly what’s going on.” 1 Cor. 3:10-15

Feet like bronze glowing in a furnace: he will crush any opponent.

Voice like the sound of rushing waters: like the sounds of the almighty, powerful, loud, deafening, scary.

Right hand, seven stars: right hand is the place of honor, the stars are the angels of the seven churches (v. 20)

This could refer to a superhuman being implying that each church has a guardian angel or refers to a human leader of each local church.

Sword: God’s word, the bible which searches hearts and judges thoughts. Heb. 4:12

Face like the shining sun…of course…

V. 17 Look at John’s reaction….can you blame him?

Actually that should be our reaction when we encounter God…

Jesus comforts him, as always, and reassures him.

And that is a pattern for our faith today.

We encounter God and it scares us, yet as we grow in our faith and understanding of God, he is there to comfort, guide and reassure us.

Now, that’s the kind of God I want to serve and worship!

Well…I hope that whets your appetite for the rest of the book…

And now a few end of times jokes…

At the end of the world, God will look in the book of life and you for all eternity to either the smoking or non-smoking section.

A man dies, goes to heaven, St. Peter says, “What was one of your best characteristics?”

Courage, how so, says St. Peter?

Well, one time I was in a bar with my wife and a big burly dude covered with tattoos, dressed in a black leather started making lewd comments to my wife and whistling at her.

I walked over to him and said, “Listen Sonny, Don’t ever do that again or you’ll have to deal with me. Then I reached up and grabbed his nose ring and yanked it right out and said, that’s just a small sample.

Wow, said St. Peter, that’s impressive. How long ago was that?

About a minute ago ….