"The Book of Revelation, An Eschatological Study of the Endtimes", by
Chad J. McCoy
Chapter Two
Personal Correspondance
In Revelation chapters 2 and
3, Jesus has some personal words for the pastors of the seven churches in the province
of Asia. They include the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
Now before we begin, think about what
is happening here. Jesus is personally leaving messages for specific groups of people!
Can you imagine Jesus doing that today, actually leaving a personalized message for
you, grading you on your Christian walk, encouraging you, pointing out the things
you are doing right, and exposing your unrighteousness so that you can't ignore it?
By the latter, I don't mean that he would proclaim your sins simply for the sake
of embarrassing you and putting you down in front of others, but rather to open your
eyes to what you are doing. You may be failing in some areas, and know full well
that you are not giving all diligence to seeking his Kingdom. (Or you may be involved
in sin and not recognize that what you are doing is displeasing to the Lord.)
His
message would not allow you to relegate your failings to the back of your mind, convincing
yourself that you are doing ok. His message would bring those things to light, and
you would no longer be able to ignore them. You would have to face them and deal
with them. You wouldn't be able to go on, saying to yourself "I'm ok, I'm doing
all right. I'm not that bad of a person, I'm still saved". If Jesus just delivered
to you a personal letter, pointing out that you are involved in sin, then how can
you argue that you don't have anything that you need to repent of? Your sins would
be brought to light and you would no longer be able to kid yourself about your salvation.
And simply to have Jesus speak to us… what a privilege! What an honor it would
be for the Lord to communicate with us in such a direct manner! There would be no
guessing, there would be no uncertainty about what things in our life were displeasing
to the Lord; we would know exactly what he thought, and what to do to cause our lives
to be a sweet-smelling savor in his presence!
Imagine for a moment your reaction
to a personal message from Jesus, given to you in an audible voice! You would hold
those words to be dear, priceless treasures, and would adhere to them with a fervor
that was consistent and unwavering.
The bible is actually a personal letter
from God to us, and should be obeyed with all the solemnity that we would use if
he spoke to us directly. But us being creatures of this world, who tend to believe
only what we can discover with our own senses, or prove with our sciences, sometimes
have a difficult time grasping the workings of the spiritual world. As such, a physical
manifestation of that realm, such as a miracle, would foster belief in us more easily,
therefore explaining why we would take to heart a personal message more readily than
we would simply the words of the bible.
However, Jesus said that it is a "A
wicked and adulterous generation" [that] "asks for a miraculous sign! But
none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. (Matthew 12:39)
Jesus
doesn't want to have to prove his existence by forcing it on us through miracles,
and visions, and appearances, and audible voices, and through the giving of superhero-like
powers, to the extent that we have no choice but to believe in him and his eternal
kingdom.
From the time Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil, mankind has had a choice, and God has not restricted that choice. We are
free to go straight to Hell, if that is what we wish to do. But God wants us to choose
to believe in him through faith.
It is said by many that they cannot believe
in a God who keeps a supernatural scorecard of who is being naughty and who is being
nice. They can't believe that the God of Love would destroy those who had been naughty.
Since they can't understand the reasoning, they choose to disbelieve in the very
existence of such a situation.
I would point out, though, that God originally
set up a perfect paradise, with the Garden of Eden. There was only love, peace, and
harmony. God wasn't the one who changed all that. Man did, by choosing to give in
to the temptation of Satan.
Let us not forget who the bad guy is here. God set
up a perfect world for us to live in. Satan came with the purpose of wrecking that
paradise, and Man willingly chose to disobey God, therefore entering into an agreement
with Satan. That makes Satan the bad guy, and also puts us in the wrong. God is the
only one still blameless.
God set up this world, and made all the rules. He
can do that, after all, since it all belongs to Him. He does love us, and has provided
great things for us if we obey him, but for those who disobey, the consequences are
their own fault and no one else's.
Consider, that if you owned your own company,
you would be the one who gets to make all the rules. As long as those rules are followed,
everything is fine. But if someone breaks the rules, you fire them. No one thinks
that strange, or cruel, but for some reason they think it is so terrible that God
would do exactly the same.
Should we expect God to set rules, allow people to
break them, and then have no consequences for those actions? What then would be the
purpose of having rules in the first place? You might say then, that there shouldn't
be any rules. But who made this earth, you or God? He who owns, sets the rules.
You
set the rules of conduct in your own house and expect your children and guests to
abide by them. There are consequences for not doing so. You set rules that are to
be followed in your automobile: No smoking, or no eating, or wiping your feet before
getting in, and the radio will play music you like or they can ride with someone
else, etc. It doesn't matter if someone else thinks the rules are excessive, or wrong,
or maybe that you shouldn't have any rules at all. It is your house, your vehicle,
and it is your place to make those determinations - no one else's.
I don't think
anyone has a problem with this. But many have problems when God does the exact same
thing. Why is that, do you wonder?
Before I get totally off the subject of the
Book of Revelation, let me remind the reader that this is another topic completely.
However, I would submit that people do not like authority. They want to be free from
all aspects of it. They want to drive as fast as they want to, they want to be able
to do anything they want with their own property, and their own bodies. The very
concept of a God implies that we are property, that we are owned by God, since He
made us. Ownership implies rights, or more accurately from our perspective, the lack
of rights. But we refuse to give up our rights and our freedoms, and so deny the
very existence of God because it would mean we are living our lives wrongly. We want
to live the way we choose, and we want to go to heaven when we die, at the same time.
We want all of His rewards without having to obey any of His moral laws. That is
childish, immature thinking by anyone's standards.
God has rules. We must obey
them in order to receive the rewards. People can stick their heads in the sand of
denial all they want to, or argue that things should be different than they are,
but it makes no difference. It is not our place to argue or disagree with God. It
wouldn't make a bit of difference if we did, except in the eternal disposition of
our souls.
Now, let's see if we can get back to the subject of the messages to
the churches. Remember, that when God speaks directly to us, we should sit up and
take notice. So these words of Jesus to the pastors of the seven churches should
be paid close attention to. What message is so important that Jesus has decided to
convey it directly to the churches, rather than just have them continue to get all
of their guidance from the scriptures and the Holy Spirit? Let's find out, beginning
with the church of Ephesus.
The Church of Ephesus
(Revelation 2:1-7)
2 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him
who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot
tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are
not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships
for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have
forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent
and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and
remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate
the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the
right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
First of
all, Jesus identifies himself, and then tells them that he knows of all the good
things they are doing, things that are pleasing to him. They are working hard, and
are determined, constant, and resolute in their faith. They cannot stand wickedness,
and anyone coming to them claiming to be of God, they test rigorously, thereby proving
them to be liars. Through all kinds of religious persecution, they have remained
steadfast, refusing to relinquish their beliefs. Not only have they proclaimed the
gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of such persecution, they have done it with such
strength that they are not even growing tired of it. They are not wavering in their
decision to follow Christ, but rather they are drawing strength from their persecutions.
They are glorying in being attacked for the sake of the Gospel. They value the words
of God more than their very breath.
This would seem to be a very strong church,
following in the paths of righteousness, and fearlessly blazing a trail for others
to follow to Christ. You would think that this must be a church that has it right,
that God has stamped his seal of approval on them.
But Jesus says something very
curious. He says that in spite of all the good that they are doing, there is one
thing they are doing that is not pleasing him. He says that regardless of all their
good works, if they do not desist in this one thing, he will come and remove their
lampstand from its place. We know that the lampstand is the church itself. So Jesus
is going to remove the church. Where will he remove it from? What is the church's
place?
I can think of two meanings right away. The church is in Ephesus. One
meaning could be that Jesus will remove the church from Ephesus. At the time of this
writing, God says that he has a church in Ephesus. But if they do not stop doing
the one thing that displeases him, then as far as God is concerned, he will have
no church in Ephesus any longer. The second meaning fits with the first: The church's
ultimate place is heaven. Therefore, God will remove the Ephesus Church from their
place in heaven. If he no longer considers to have a church in Ephesus (first meaning),
then it follows that the second meaning (that they have no place in heaven) is true,
as well.
We can condense all of this down by saying that if they do not stop
what they are doing, they will be lost, unsaved, bound for eternal damnation.
Very, very interesting! They are doing much good, and God is very pleased with them
on those points. But for the sake of one transgression, it means nothing. They will
go to Hell if they do not repent. This should be a warning to us that we should never
take good deeds, no matter how righteous, as a sign of salvation.
1st Peter
4:18 says: And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear?
What does this mean, the righteous scarcely be saved? It means
that for all the good they did, for everything they obeyed, they did not achieve
salvation by any great margin. They barely made it.
Isaiah 64:6 says: All of
us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy
rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
So,
what is this big bad sin that the Ephesus church is committing that is going to keep
them from heaven? Jesus says that they have… what? Murdered? Fornicated? Worshipped
Idols? Blasphemed? No, none of these things. What they have done is to forsake their
first love.
Have we missed something here? They've forsaken their first love?!
What does this mean?
Forsaken means given up, abandoned, relinquished, deserted,
renounced. Ok then, what was their first love?
Well, Jesus makes this clearer
when he says that they have forgotten how they used to be, they have reached such
a state of spirituality that they no longer remember the condition their souls were
in before they became Christians. Jesus says that when they first became Christians
there were things they did, which they no longer do. He tells them that they must
start doing these things again, if they are to have any hope of salvation.
I'm
sure this was extremely clear to the Ephesians; that they knew exactly what it was
they used to do but were no longer doing. Jesus told them that if they corrected
this situation, all would be well with them. How loving of him, to not allow them
to continue in the way they were going, which, in spite of their good deeds, was
leading to damnation. He pointed out their inconsistencies so that they would be
able to correct the problem.
Now we can only speculate on what it was they had
done when they first became Christians, that they were no longer doing. Maybe they
had at first taken the gospel to others, sharing the gospel with them, that they
might be saved, too. Maybe they were no longer witnessing, but simply keeping all
of the things of God to themselves.
Perhaps they used to minister to each other,
meeting needs and taking care of each other, as members of the body of Christ. 1st
Corinthians 12:26 says: If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part
is honored, every part rejoices with it. Perhaps they no longer are as attentive
to the needs of the body as they once were.
We can speculate all we want and
never know exactly what it was they weren't doing, but the lesson we should take
from this is that we are to seek the kingdom of heaven, and keep on seeking. We are
to knock on the door of heaven and keep on knocking. We are to pray without ceasing.
We are not to become complacent, to believe that we have reached a place of spirituality
that earns us the right to rest from some of our works. None of God's commands are
minor to the point of not being necessary to follow them. Jesus did place greater
value on some commands than others, when he said that there was one commandment that
was greater than all of the rest, and that there was a commandment that was second
greatest (Matt. 22:37-39). But that d
oes not mean that the lesser commandments are not important, that we can ignore them
and just make sure we hit all the big ones. A commandment is a commandment, is an
order, is a law, is a requirement he has set for entrance to heaven.
Whatever
the Ephesians had neglected, even though they were following great commandments,
was going to be their downfall.
Our lesson from the Ephesians: Keep on keeping
on.
The Church of Smyrna
Revelation 2:8-11
8 "To the angel
of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and
the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty-yet
you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but
are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I
tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer
persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give
you the crown of life.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says
to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Once again, Jesus identifies himself to the church, so that they will know that the
words being spoken are from heaven.
He tells them that he sympathizes with them.
They are sick and poor, and he says he knows their plight. He understands. He is
with them.
This is a group of people with medical problems, whether it be sickness,
or disease, or broken arms or legs, and they are poor, as well, so they cannot even
afford to do much about their condition. Obviously such a group has no recourse but
to trust in God, the great physician, to take care of them.
Jesus tells them
that in spite of this, they are rich. We know he doesn't mean that they have money
buried underneath their houses that they don't know anything about. He means that
they are rich in heavenly treasure. He is very pleased with them.
The Smyrnans
live in a city where many people proclaim to be Jews, but are liars. Jesus goes so
far as to say that those people are a church of Satan.
You remember Paul before
he was converted went around executing Christians, but believed he was actually doing
the will of God. He wasn't, and God explained that to him in a powerful way (Acts
chapter 9). Paul was sincere enough to want to be doing the will of God, that when
he found out he was in error, he turned from his ways and began to finally do the
will of the one true God.
It looks like this same type of thing is going on in
Smyrna. Here you have God's church, and you have a faction that calls itself God's
church, but is really Satan's church. Here we have Good, and we have Evil. The two
cannot peacefully coexist.
Jesus warns them that they are about to undergo great
suffering. This poor, ragged group of Christians who don't have much good going for
them are about to go through more that is even worse than what they have already
experienced.
They will be thrown into prison (by Satan himself), persecuted,
and even killed.
Now you might think that this is unfair of God. Why is He allowing
these things to happen to His people, who are doing so well spiritually that they
are rich in the treasures of heaven?
Once again, it is not our place to judge
God. Isaiah 55:8 and 9 say it this way: 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than
your thoughts.
It is not our place to ask, Why Me?, or to complain. It is
our job to obey.
Jesus tells the Smyrnans that as long as they remain faithful,
even unto death, they are assured not only a place in the kingdom of heaven, but
much treasure as well.
A study could be done on why this particular church had
no spiritual problems, and yet were materially poor. Is it necessary to be poor and
downtrodden in order to be saved?
No, I don't see any proof of that in scripture.
What I do see, is that a complete reliance on God to take care of our needs, is necessary.
When we can take care of ourselves, what need do we have of a God? We should be able
to have that close a relationship with God while still being worldly wealthy, but
being creatures of flesh and blood, and not of spirit, we can neglect the Lord while
we're busy going about our daily lives.
Those poor Smyrnans didn't have much of
anything to do that would keep them busy all day to the point of neglecting the Lord.
And it wasn't just a lack of things that allowed for a less cluttered day; they were
a needy people with no means of affecting their position for good. They absolutely
had to rely on God.
The mighty Ephesians, with all they were doing right, had
still left something out that was necessary for salvation. The Smyrnans were blameless
in the sight of the Lord.
Does this mean we should all take on a vow of poverty,
sell our houses and cars, and drop our medical coverage? My response is probably
not exactly what you're going to expect.
For some people, the answer is Yes. For
others, No.
If having things is going to cause you to become so wrapped up in
them that you neglect seeking after the Kingdom of God with all your heart, mind,
soul, and strength, then you need to get rid of them. Some scriptures that bear this
out:
Mark 8:36: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?
Matthew 5:29,30: If your right eye causes you to sin,
gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body
than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes
you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of
your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
If there is something that
is going to keep you from heaven, you need to get rid of it, even if it is part of
your own body.
When Jesus sent out the apostles, he sent them with next to nothing.
They were not permitted to take a suitcase or food, or money.
Matthew 10:5-20:
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among
the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of
Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely
you have received, freely give. 9 Do not take along any gold or silver or copper
in your belts; 10 take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff;
for the worker is worth his keep.
11 "Whatever town or village you enter,
search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As
you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your
peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not
welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave
that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16 I am sending you out like
sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17
"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils
and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors
and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you,
do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what
to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you.
Why do you think Jesus didn't want them to take any money,
suitcase, clothes, or even a walking stick? Why did he tell them to sleep at the
homes of those that would welcome them in, instead of lodging at an inn? Why did
he tell them not even to prepare words to say unto the authorities when arrested?
Don't you think that maybe it was because Jesus, being human, understood the human
condition? That if he allowed them all kinds of comforts, they would then be relying
on their own ingenuity; their own ability to see themselves through? That their ministry
would be lessened because of it?
This way, they would be totally dependant upon
God.
Matthew 6:25-34 says it this way: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do
you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor
or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed
like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is
here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you,
O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own.
You can study fasting. What is fasting, but a denial
of your body's basic needs. Why would we do such a thing?
There was a time when
Jesus' disciples tried to cast a demon out of a young boy. They had cast out demons
previously, but they had no success this time. They brought the matter to Jesus,
who cast the demon out. The disciples asked why they had been unsuccessful, and Jesus
replied that there were some kinds of demons that come out only through prayer and
fasting.
Matthew 17:14-21: And when they were come to the multitude, there came
to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15Lord, have mercy on my
son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and
oft into the water. 16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure
him. 17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long
shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18And Jesus
rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that
very hour. 19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast
him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto
you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible
unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
So
we see that fasting can accomplish powerful things in the spirit world. That is,
a denying of self, and a total and complete reliance on God.
The church in Smyrna
had this mastered, and received the crown of life.
So what lesson do we learn
from the Smyrnans, but that we must rely on the Lord for our every need.
Philippians
4:19: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ
Jesus.
The Church of Pergamum
Revelation 2:12-17
"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him
who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 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.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people
there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites
to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15
Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent
therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you 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. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will
also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who
receives it.
Jesus identifies himself to the Pergamum church so that there
can be no doubt as to where these words have come.
He begins by saying that he
understands their situation. Pergamum is the city where Satan himself lives.
Regardless of that, Jesus says he is pleased that they have remained true to him
and have not renounced their faith.
In some ways, they seem to be similar to
the Smyrnans, but where the Smyrnans were persecuted by those of the church of Satan,
the Pergamum church shares residence with Satan himself.
There was a man named
Antipas, who was a great witness for God, probably something like a Peter or Paul.
He was greatly respected by the believers, and was a leader, a mentor.
Once again,
like Smyrna, we have Good and we have Evil. You cannot have the two peacefully residing
together. Something is going to happen, and something did happen. Antipas, that great
witness for the Lord, was executed.
You can imagine how this might have affected
the church there. Some might have even questioned their faith, unable to understand
why God would have allowed it to happen. Isn't God greater than Satan? Why didn't
Antipas prevail? Are we not sincere enough in our walk with God?
But Jesus says
that even during that painful time, the church in Pergamum did not renounce their
faith. They did not let that shake them. Again, this is reminiscent of the church
in Smyrna. But there is something about the Pergamums that make them more like the
church at Ephesus than the one in Smyrna.
Jesus tells them that he has a few problems
with them. Not just one problem, like the Ephesians, but several.
He says that
while not all of them are in sin, there are those in attendance there who are doing
wrong, and if they do not turn from those evil ways, Jesus himself will come against
them and fight against them with the sword of his mouth.
What is it that the Pergamum
church is doing that is so wrong?
First of all, Jesus says that there are those
(not all of them, but there are some) who are following the teachings of Balaam.
What were these teachings that was so angering the Lord?
They were eating food
sacrificed to idols, to begin with. But you say, Paul taught us that an idol is nothing,
so we can eat food offered to idols and it not affect our salvation.
1st Corinthian
8:1-13 tells the story:
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all
possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he
knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God
is known by God.
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that
an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even
if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many
"gods" and many "lords"), 6 yet for us there is but one God,
the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one
Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7
But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when
they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since
their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God;
we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9 Be careful, however,
that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in
an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?
11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12
When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you
sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin,
I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
Paul shows
how even though idols are nothing, eating food sacrificed to them can still cause
sin. The key part of this scripture is: For if anyone with a weak conscience sees
you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to
eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died,
is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way
and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
To put this into different
words: You could be eating food sacrificed to idols, even sitting in the idol's temple,
and it would not be wrong for you, because you understand that an idol is nothing.
But another believer could come by and see you, and not understand what you are doing.
Not everyone may be as mature as you, and they may think that what you are doing
is actually wrong. But the fact is, he sees you doing it, and may think that if you
can do it, so can he. The difference lies in the knowledge that you have - you know
the idol is nothing, he believes the idol is evil. By doing what he believes is wrong,
even though it isn't, he sins, and is destroyed, because his conscience is no longer
pure. And by causing your brother to stumble, you have sinned against him and Christ.
Another
thing Balaam taught was sexual immorality. Somehow, though it's difficult to believe,
there were those in Pergamum who believed they were of God, and yet committed sexual
sin, thinking that it was all right.
Secondly, there were those in the church
that were following the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Jesus had gone on record when
he spoke to the Ephesians that he hated the practices of the Nicolaitans.
From
what little I was able to find out about the Nicolaitans, they were a group that
practiced sexual immorality, and professed to be Christians, while actually hating
Christians. One particular practice among them was the sharing of wives.
The
difference between Balaam's teachings of sexual immorality, and the sexual immorality
of the Nicolaitans seems to be that while Balaam taught that simple fornication was
acceptable, the Nicolaitans held to all manner of evil doctrines and immorality.
But that is neither here nor there. We know sexual immorality is sin, whether
it is practiced only a little or practiced much. The Pergamum church was involved
in this, as well as eating food sacrificed to idols without a clear conscience.
Again,
it is important to see that we should not believe that we are saved simply because
we are doing good deeds, even if those deeds are righteous and pleasing before the
Lord.
Matthew 6:24 : "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the
one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
The
entire church was not corrupt. Jesus said that there were some among them that held
to these false teachings. That indicates not all of them were defiled.
Keep in
mind that this was the city in which Satan lived. Even so, there were those of Pergamum
who were righteous before the Lord.
We need to be strong enough in our faith,
like the Smyrnans, and some of the Pergamums, that we are not shaken by Satan or
his church.
If we can take a lesson from the message given to the Pergamum church,
I believe it would be that you cannot serve more than one master. You cannot follow
the teachings of Christ while at the same time follow the teachings of Balaam and
the Nicolaitans. You must be sold out 100% for Jesus Christ.
Exodus 34:14 : Do
not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Deuteronomy
6:14,15: Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the
LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against
you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.
Back
Home
Next