THE INFILTRATED CHURCH
REVELATION 2: 12 - 17
PART 3 of 4
12) And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges:
13) I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast My Name, and hast not denied My Faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
14) But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15) So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
16) Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17) 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 saving he that receiveth it.
(King James Version), public domain
COMMENTARY
Pergamos, a great religious center, was located 60 miles north of Ephesus. The great altar of Zeus, one of the seven wonders of the world, was located there. Ponder that for just a moment. They had a medical center there and worshiped the god of medicine, Aesculapius, under the sign of a coiled snake. There was a 200,000 volume library there as well. Intelligence, money, religion; they had it all! And God's church was there. But God's church had been infiltrated by Nicolaitanism and Balaamism. Christ needed to cut them out, so to speak, with the double-edged sword proceeding from his mouth.
Alexander Hislop documented in his famous book, Two Babylons, how the "headquarters" of Satan's religious system which was centered at Babylon fled to Pergamos when Babylon fell in the days of Belshazzar. This ancient mystery religion endured for several centuries in that environment of pantheistic paganism. It later moved to Rome. If Hyslop's analysis of "Satan's throne" is correct, it becomes a very literal description of the unseen principalities and powers centered at Pergamos.
Pergamos has two meanings: "marriage" and "elevation". It was elevated to a place of power. It speaks of
the time when the church and state were married under Constantine and
his successors. When you study Roman history, you discover that Constantine had a "vision" in a dream when he and Maxentius was contending for the throne upon the death of Diocletian and Galerius. He called upon Christian bishops to explain their religion to him. He accepted the new doctrine of religion, and declared himself to be its God-appointed patron and protector. He won a great victory over Maxentius and became emperor of the world. His first act as emperor was to liberate Christians and to stop their persecution. He bestowed unwanted honors on the bishops; they sat on thrones with the nobles of the empire.
And so it was, that the church was no longer awaiting the second coming of Christ. The bishops got confused about the church reigning with the return of Christ. They decided that the church was reigning, so they were no longer looking for Christ's return. It wasn't until The Reformation period that that changed.
The church had a major issue under Constantine: Arias contended that Jesus was a great man, but was not God. His opponents disagreed, since "The Word was God." The battle in the church went on for two years, with Constantine being called in to referee on several occasions. Finally, Constantine called a great church-council to settle the question, in the city of Nicea. There were over 300 bishops there, with Constantine sitting on a golden throne, presiding over the council, as the head of the Christian church. His other title at that time was Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest of the Heathen (the same title that the Pope bears today).
Eventually, the result of the council of Nicea was to acknowledge that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, thus they did not deny His Name. (verse 13)
The Pergamites had not kept the false teachers out of the church, as the first two churches had. Their teaching was permitted with the end goal for the church to compromise with the world. Doesn't that sound familiar? The Church of Pergamos had not only allowed those who claim to be saved into the church, but they were also allowed to preach their false doctrine, infecting the congregation. The spirit of compromise has surely been one of the greatest evils in the Christian church and in Christians ever since the church at Pergamos.
I have heard with my own ears, our preachers casually use The Lord's name in vain. One of them even said that keeping the Sabbath holy does not mean all day long! We are taught to test the spirits and know what is of God, but when you don't read and study the scripture, you fall for false teaching.
Even today, we must repent of our attitude of compromise to one of insistence of doctrinal and moral purity. We must stand firm on what The Bible teaches and not waver to the left or the right. We can be loving without being accepting.
And to those who overcome, he is promised a new name, chosen by God, Himself; known only to Him and us individually; a name of special communication and fellowship with Him. Let me quote Dr. Henry M. Morris from his commentary related to those who overcome: "we are assured access to God's presence and faithful provision of all needs." How reassuring is that? We are assured access to The One Who created everything, everyone, and Who put time in motion! We are assured of His love 24/7.
Dear friend, the rapture is closer than you may realize. I am now looking at days rather than decades for His return. Please, if you don't have that relationship with my God, please go to our
Pathway to Salvation page and change that. I look forward to seeing you in Heaven.
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