April 7 Sermon: Repent

This week, we delve into Revelation 2:12-17, focusing on the church in Pergamum's call to maintain a faithful witness amidst persecution. We explore the dangers of tolerating false teachings and the consequences of failing to stand firm in faith. Finally, we are reassured of God's divine protection and the eternal rewards for those who overcome, highlighting the importance of repentance and steadfastness in our spiritual journey.

Consider these questions as you listen to this week’s message from Revelation 2:12-17:

1. How does the example of Antipas's martyrdom challenge and inspire us to stand firm in our faith today, even in the face of societal pressures or persecution?

2. How can the church today guard against the subtle influences of false teachings, comparable to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, that might lead to compromise or sin?

3. Reflecting on the promise of hidden manna and a white stone with a new name, what does this imagery tell us about God's rewards for those who overcome and remain faithful to Him?

Transcript:

On Friday morning there was a 4.8 magnitude earthquake in the New York City area. Now, 4.8 on the Richter scale is rather mild, and the earthquake originated near Lebanon, new Jersey, and it was felt in the Northeast. Now, the reason I heard about it was because of a news article about how long it took for the emergency notification of the emergency alert system. You know the one that comes to our loud. Messages went out from people's phones letting them know that an earthquake had occurred in the New York City area, and in the message residents were advised to remain indoors and call 911 if they were injured. Now, by the time, 45 minutes had passed I'm guessing they were long past that point of what that notification told them to do. People had likely long since left their homes. You know, asking the question, did you feel that? You know, you want to know if it was just in your mind or if it was something other people experienced, something other people experienced, and if you were injured beyond anything that you could take of yourself, or if you could get yourself to the emergency room, you would have long since called 911, right Now you've probably gotten late news yourself and had the thought well, that information would have been much more useful before this happened to me.

Now, as we come back to the book of Revelation this morning, after we took two weeks away for Palm, sunday and Easter, we come to this address to the church in Pergamum. Now, during our time in Revelation thus far, I've been making the point that we can't understand this book without grasping the idea that this is a word of hope to these first century churches in Asia that are going to be experiencing severe persecution for their confession of Christ as Lord. Well, here in chapter 2, verses 12 through 17, we see that the church in Pergamum has already experienced persecution and they have endured. Now, for these believers in this part of Asia, they are receiving the hope of the book of Revelation after their suffering had already begun. But it isn't as if the word of the Lord is late in coming. This is still an important word for them. They have endured the struggles that were put before them and they are commended for standing for the faith even in the midst of tribulation. But there is still a word of importance to them, even though they're already experiencing this tribulation.

So let's line out our three points for today and then we'll get into this third address to the churches in Asia. So first, we're going to look at the call on the church to maintain a faithful witness to Jesus in the face of pressures to compromise. Second, we will see the danger of failing to stand firm. There is a consequence to tolerating false teaching. And finally, we have an assurance of God's divine protection of his people. He is with them, he is there for them. So as we start to consider this important call to faithful witness, here in Revelation 2, we see once again the one who is speaking to the churches.

So think back to that description of Jesus in chapter 1. He is described as being glorious, he is powerful, and this whole thing is connected to the majesty of the ancient of days, and we read that he possessed a two-edged sword, ancient of days. And we read that he possessed a two-edged sword, but he was not holding that sword in his hand, was he? It was proceeding out of his mouth and we understand then that this is his word. And it calls to mind the statement that is very familiar that the author of Hebrews makes about the word of God, makes about the Word of God, for the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Like I said, that's a well-known passage. It reminds us that the Word of God is authoritative, that the Word of God is powerful and, as we see here in Hebrews, it works on us to help us to discern our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts. The Word of God comes to us and not only has authority to guide our lives, but it works in us to give us a desire to amend our lives, to be lined up with the Word of God. So the ones hearing this message are being reminded not only of the one who is speaking by calling back to that image from chapter 1 about the sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus, but they're also being reminded of the authority that proceeds from Jesus. And what he speaks here is an interesting statement Speaking to the church in Pergamum. Here he says that he knows where they reside and that is where Satan's throne is. Now, that's an interesting statement, right? There's a lot of places you might be willing to live Different landscapes, different climates, different levels of population but if you were researching a new area to live and you're talking with someone and they say, oh, we've got great restaurants, great cultural opportunities, we have fantastic schools here. Oh, and by the way, we also have the throne of Satan here. You're crossing that city off your list immediately, right? The idea here is best understood by knowing a little bit about Pergamum. To understand what Jesus is saying here, we need to know something about this city Now.

They were some of the earliest adopters of the Roman imperial cult, where the emperor was worshipped as a god. There was a temple dedicated to Augustus, a former Caesar, and Roma. The city had a great allegiance to the state and the emperor. As you've heard me say before, we have to remember why persecution came to the early Christians. It was that they refused to say Caesar is Lord. They would only say Christ is Lord. They would have been allowed to worship anything and anyone, as long as they were willing to say Caesar is Lord and bend the knee along to with whatever else they were worshiping. So you can understand, then, the pressure that these churches would have felt to capitulate. Don't upset the apple cart Christians. Things are pretty good here in the Roman Empire. Just get in line, bow down to Caesar and everything's going to be fine. We've got a good thing going here and as I've been thinking about the circumstances in the early part of Revelation, thinking about the context of this book, I think I've really come to appreciate and understand the imperial cult much better.

I'm guessing there are others of you like me that when you first heard about this idea of people worshiping Caesar when you were younger, you were just baffled by the absurdity of it. Like the idea of worshiping someone who is a mere man, a few cities down the road, you know this guy is going to die. He's just a man. He could be assassinated tomorrow and whoever led the coup against him we have to worship him the next day Like this is just absurd to me and probably absurd to you as well, considering how most of us were raised. But as I've thought about it, my guess is there wasn't much in the way of conviction as far as people being involved in this imperial cult. It isn't like people really truly believed that Caesar was a god. I doubt that very many people thought he had any divine power. I'm guessing most people probably thought it was absurd, but they went along with it to keep the peace. It was the way in which the state was enforcing control over the people in the empire. Bow the knee to Caesar, and it worked to Caesar, and it worked. Oh, all we need to do is to bow the knee to Caesar and say Caesar is Lord and we'll be allowed to go about our business. Nobody's going to bother us. That sounds like a great deal. Caesar is Lord. Now, obviously, with anything.

There probably were those who were true believers in the imperial cult, but you can easily see how persecution would come to Christians then. In this context, here we are over here keeping the peace by agreeing to this Caesar is Lord stuff. And then you Christians show up with your Jesus is Lord stuff and you refuse the bow to knee to Caesar and you are upsetting the peace. And so my big point, as we think about this, is that you realize that you receive persecution not just from the state, not just from the true believers in this, but there would have been persecution from everybody. Don't upset this. We've got a good deal going on here. We just want to be left alone, so keep quiet. And if you don't keep quiet, we're going to let the state persecute you, because we just want peace.

I think we get that and I think it helps us to understand the level of pressure that would have come on our brothers and sisters in Christ there in the first century in the Roman Empire. And that helps us to understand our first point, then, this idea of the call to faithful witness. If you believe that Jesus is Lord, you are going to come across circumstances where you will be tempted to compromise the truth, and it would be a lot easier just to compromise it, a lot easier to just give in and then go on with your life. But we're called to stand firm. There is one Lord and that is Jesus, and he doesn't share his authority. In the face of persecution, to stand firm is hard. Seriously, it can be hard to stand firm in just a casual conversation with someone, right? Just because you want to keep the peace about whatever it is you're discussing, you can just sort of not take a stand because it's easier, right? Imagine if you were facing social or financial difficulties or, even worse, death. It would be simple and easy to just capitulate and go home and be left alone. But that's not the call on the people of God.

We are called to proclaim the truth of Christ's lordship and this word to the church in Pergamum from the one who has the two-edged sword proceeding from his mouth. This is what we are called to do. We're to show our loyalty to our Savior, regardless of our comfort, regardless of how badly we want our lives to be easy. We're called to hear his word and confess his truth. And we see in this passage that the church in Pergamum has in fact done this. Satan's throne is there, and yet they stand fast. In other words, the pressure on you is great and yet you are standing strong. In fact, we see that Antipas was faithful even unto death. Martyrdom is the ultimate price to be paid for faithfulness to Jesus, and that's what Antipas did.

And in mentioning this idea that Pergamum is a particularly difficult place to stand firm for the faith, we see again this idea of the difficulty they're going to experience, driven home by the repetition of this idea that Satan is dwelling there. It's repeated, so we're meant to understand that Jesus understands they have it particularly hard there, but even though they have this faithfulness, to their credit, there are issues within the church in Pergamum. They are given credit for their faithfulness, but there are still concerns there. And so this brings us to our second point of the dangers that come to us if we want to stand firm for Jesus. Now we see that they're standing firm, but it seems like the foundations of this firm stance where they're standing, they're starting to be stressed a little bit and there's concern that those foundations might not hold, because there are those within their group who are holding to the teaching of Balaam.

Now, you might remember the name of Balaam from the book of Numbers, remember when his donkey speaks to him back then? Well, because of the events in Numbers 25 regarding Baal worship, the name of Balaam by this time had become associated with the most depraved forms of idolatry and idol worship. As it says here, balaam taught Balak to put a stumbling block before Israel and then, at Moab, the Israelites ate food sacrificed to idols and they practiced sexual immorality, and it's important that we remember that the sexual immorality there it was a part of their idol worship. This was a significant part of their idolatry. This was quite often a part of pagan worship, whether it was Baal worship, asherah worship or some other pagan god. It was common and this activity was clearly something that was not easily moved away from in the early church. This was a struggle. We see this mentioned in other places and while they have those in the early church this was a struggle. We see this mentioned in other places and while they have those in the church who are willing to be faithful unto death, faithful to the point of martyrdom, they still have those who are still participating in this pagan worship and this sexual immorality that's surrounding this.

It seems like maybe these issues are not just problems in the worst of churches, but in the ones even who have those willing to die for the faith, and we see that this might have been the teachings of the nicolaitans as well, that that we read about when we were reading about the church in ephesus a few weeks back. So this isn't just a problem in Pergamum. It seems like it's a problem in many places. And at the same time, this isn't just a warning for them in their time, it's a warning for all time.

While we don't eat food sacrificed to idols, sexual immorality is always a temptation for the people of God and for the church, and the answer given to this problem here by Jesus is not to accommodate it or to ignore it. He calls them to repentance. They are to turn from this sin and to stand firm against it. And if they don't, the one with the sword who's proceeding from his mouth will come and he will make war against them. In other words, he will come and he will judge them for their sin. And this is strong language and it's uncomfortable.

Now we like the idea of Jesus coming to judge other people, coming to judge people outside the church. We don't like the idea of facing judgment for our sin ourselves. It's so much easier to think of the coming judgment that Jesus promises as a comfort to these churches, because he's going to judge the Roman government or he's going to judge those religious leaders, the ones who pierced him. That's a comfortable thought. That Jesus is coming in judgment against the state and against the Jewish people who are persecuting the early church. We like that idea. Go get them, jesus, you can judge them. But when it's telling the church to repent or I'll come in judgment, that's an entirely different thing, right?

So the application for us, then, is to realize that, regardless of what our sin is, we need to repent, that, regardless of what our sin is, we need to repent. We need to turn from our sin. Whether it be idolatry, sexual immorality, stealing or lying, we are called to turn from our sin, and while we have the confidence that the ultimate judgment for our sin was poured out on Jesus for our salvation. We need to remember that that does not mean that we do not have punishment in this life for the sin that remains in our lives. Sin has consequences and judgment on it can be difficult, and it's a way in which the Holy Spirit works in us to remove that sin from our lives. And this section of this passage today serves as an important reminder to us of that truth. It's better for us to hear this word and to repent now than to experience judgment for that sin. And so the call on our lives is to repent now and amend our lives now that we might be blessed for our repentance and our faithfulness to Christ's word. And despite this difficult call to repentance, despite the fact that they have issues in this church, there is once again at the end of this section to this church, a word of hope and assurance to the people of God at Pergamum, and so we see familiar words as we land at this final verse. This is kind of actually a familiar formula for us.

Now we're into the third church, the third address of the churches in Asia, and there's kind of a familiar formula right At the end they receive some sort of assurance and it kind of starts the same way or it starts the same way. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches Basically, listen up. This is important and it's of great importance. And here we see that the one who conquers, the one who endures, will be given hidden manna. Now that's an interesting statement. In saying this, jesus isn't saying that there's some manna somewhere from that period in the wilderness where the people of God received manna, and they're going to find it and they're going to be able to use it as special communion bread or as a food that will heal them and give them special powers.

That's not the idea here. What is being alluded to is that by this time, there had become a Jewish tradition that when the Messiah appeared, those faithful would receive manna, like those in the wilderness receive bread from heaven. And Jesus is using this here, this idea, to help them understand how he feeds his people. The idea is one of faithfulness and a blessing from God, special provision for his people. The idea is one of faithfulness and a blessing from God, special provision for his people. They're set apart and they receive grace and mercy from God.

We also get this same idea when it speaks of the white stone, with a new name written on that stone. Now, that doesn't mean much for you and I does it. Okay, is it a polished rock? Is there something fancy about this, jesus? Why am I getting a stone?

But in the ancient world, stones were sometimes used as a means of entry to a banquet, and the idea is that you have to bring this stone to come in to this banquet. It's basically your ticket to get in. And so the idea here for us the way Jesus is using it is that they are receiving admission to something better than any banquet the world can offer them, that anything that they would partake of in this world, the banquet that they will go to with Jesus, with this special invitation, with this special rock, with Jesus, is so much better. They have access to the Messianic feast in the new heaven and the new earth, and that's better than anything that the world has to offer them. All the temptations they're facing. This admission that they have in Christ is so much better. They can give in to the persecution and the pressures of the world and they'll be allowed to go about their lives, and they'll probably have pretty good lives. They'll be allowed to have a presence among the world and go about their lives. But if they're faithful, world and go about their lives, but if they are faithful, there's something more, there's something better. There's a promise of a blessing from God. They will eat with him and never hunger again, because they will have a stone that has a new name on it, and the one who receives it knows it, and he lets them into this eternal feast with the people of God. And as we close up, it is this assurance that we have that white stone that is a great application for you and I.

Today, while we're removed from the first century by oh, nearly two millennia, from the first century by oh, nearly two millennia, we still live in a time where giving in to the culture and giving in to sin is a significant pressure that we face as believers. The call to turn from our sin and stand firm in the faith isn't just for the church in Pergamum, it's for the church in 2024, and it's for every church in every location. Even here, though we live in a world with these temptations that would be so easily given into, we are called to be set apart, and even though each of us has failed in our sin. We have a gift from God Repentance. He calls it to us and he gives us forgiveness, and we can turn to Him, knowing that we have a seat with Him at the banquet In Christ. We have this white stone with a new name written on it, and the one who receives it knows us, and so the pressures that we face to sin have us thinking that, if we give into that sin, we're choosing the path that is better, that is easier, the path that is more fulfilling or more satisfying. But the truth is that there is nothing more satisfying than Christ.

As we face the temptation to compromise the gospel and to sin in this coming week, may we have the promise of God in our hearts and in our minds, because in Christ we have everything we need. May we rest in Him in repentance and faith, knowing that he is so much greater than anything the world has to offer. If we give in, we may have it well in this world, but that white stone that we have promises something so much better. Amen, let us pray. Gracious and merciful God, we are so blessed to have your word and so blessed to see that we have this call in our lives to be set apart and to be holy. We pray, lord, that each and every day we would remember this call to repentance and we would rise each day in newness of life, desiring to live our lives in gratitude for what you have done for us. Help us to stand firm, like those at Pergamum, that we might be a blessing to you and a witness to the world. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray, amen.