Compromising in the face of Suffering and Persecution — Emanuel Esh

Greetings in Jesus' name. I know that it's the time of, season of celebration for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I really enjoyed the singing this morning. I really enjoyed the service last Sunday where I felt like there was worship and honor given to the Lord Jesus Christ in that time.

And Aaron had asked me if I would preach the day, and I got back to him and said, well I don't have a message about the birth of Christ this morning. Should I, would you have someone else preach? And he said no.

He said he wanted me to go on. So I have something on my heart I'd like to teach and preach this morning out of Revelations. I know that we are in the, it feels like we're in the end times as we walk through many things as a nation and as a church, politically, spiritually, and so forth.

Christ’s Message to the Church in Pergamos

So I want to look specifically at the message that the Lord Jesus gave to the angel of the Church of Pergamos in Revelation chapter 2. If you can turn there and let's read this scripture and then we'll move on into the message.

So let's stand together as we read the word of God that Jesus himself gave to this church. Beginning to read in verse 12 of Revelations chapter 2. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, these things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.

I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is and thou holdest fast my name and has not denied my faith even in those days when Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.

But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication.

So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate. Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 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. Let's pray. Heavenly Father this is the word your word the words of Jesus from your holy book and Father we come to you as mere mankind this morning yet you have called us to such a place of honor and glory and blessing through the life and death and resurrection of your son the Lord Jesus Christ to shed his blood and pay the price that we might be saved and that we might walk in holiness bringing you glory and honor and being a demonstration of your mighty working power throughout the whole world both in heaven and in earth.

So Father this morning grant us grace to be all that you are calling us to be. Give us ears to hear Father what the spirit says to the churches even to this church today. Father I know that without your Holy Spirit we can do nothing and so I give my body to you to be used my voice my lips my tongue and my heart to demonstrate to speak forth the words of Christ and your heart and your burden to the churches today and to this church in Jesus name amen.

You may be seated. When I think of the apostle John on the isle of Patmos in about the year 95 AD that would be about 60 years after Christ was crucified or 60 years after the beginning after Pentecost when the church first was formed there in the book of Acts and they continued on there and now the apostle John who was Jesus closest friend and disciple he's still alive.

All the other apostles had been martyred for the faith but John had escaped martyrdom they even had placed him in a vat of boiling oil and somehow miraculously he survived and so they banished him to this island in the Aegean Sea there which today is owned by Greece and there he was alone basically and there Jesus came to him and gave him this message to take it and give it to the seven churches in Asia.

Historical Background: Persecution and the Roman World

We can have the picture of Asia up here I want to give you some historical background to this church in Pergamos so that you can understand the situation that was there at the time. This is the Mediterranean Sea you see there or in between Greece and what is shown as Asia there it's the Aegean Sea that is the Greek coastline and we have the island of Lesbos see if I can there is the island of Lesbos where we've been working and of course this is Greece over here and in the Jesus days this was called Asia and this was Asia minor you have Galatia there and so forth and this is where the apostle Paul traveled much and taught and preached and the word of God was given there and there was churches planted in these cities there in that place.

We understand by the book of Acts that persecution broke out against the believers against the Christians soon after Pentecost and then that persecution continued on for many years until around the end of the third century when Christianity was accepted as the official religion of Rome and became a part of the state and it's as I understand that is when the dark ages began and they went for a thousand years until around the 1500s again when the church rose up and recognized the error of being one with church and state and the separation was once once again made in the 1500s there of church and state and revival came which has now gone around the whole world.

Interesting but in the in those years of those 60 years of church life up to 80 -95 when this was written there was a lot of persecution for example Nero in the year year like 64 AD there was a great fire in Rome and Nero was the the ruler of there in Rome and he blamed the fire on the Christians and in that way there was great persecution unleashed against them unprecedented.

Maybe lights are bright up here but this is a picture of an arena filled with spectators and they would they would take the Christians and they would put them capture them and put them in in there and bring them out for sport to watch the animals the wild animals to eat them to tear them apart and this was what they spent their time doing.

This was their great delight these Roman people at this time Greeks or what have you and they would kill the Christians and slaughter them many many times. You also notice that there's people hanging on these poles and they're burning.

They would dip them in tar and they would wrap them with some straw and then they would light them up and that was to be make light for the the people light for the emperor's gardens at night and they would take the Christians to do that and the Christians suffered they suffered greatly in those days.

In about the year 95 when this was written this message was given to John Domitian was the ruler in Rome he was the emperor and he was demanding worship from the people and during this time there was the the idolatry was so entrenched for centuries in this area in this area of Asia especially we have Rome is over in this area over here in Italy Rome is where the emperor was but the this whole area was under the dominion of the emperor and he demanded the people by this time towards the end of his uh years Domitian there demanded emperor worship and he demanded the people to worship him and he had him make idols and statutes where people were supposed to bow down to them or in some way acknowledge them every time they would pass them and they were also supposed to take just a little pinch of incense and offer it towards that idol or somehow the Christians of course were not willing to do that and so they suffered.

This idolatry was very much external and everyone could see what everyone else would do. And when you were in a crowd and the crowd was was idolizing these idols or this emperor worship and you didn't do it.

It was very easy to see. They didn't really care what the Christians believed in heart but they did care about what the Christians did outwardly or did not do and so they suffered. That was the spiritual climate.

This idolatry had been entrenched for centuries and there were so many different gods. They had so many different gods that anyone could have their own god and could talk about their god and so forth but they did not understand.

They thought the Christians were godless because they didn't have any gods small g and so there was a great persecution against them. We also have um this is a picture of a brass bull which they made to burn people in.

They used all and every kind of persecution or of wicked evil means and ways to kill people to not just to crucify them but they found many different ways to destroy people to kill the Christians and they would do this in front of the crowds of people watching them be tormented and killed.

And so one man came up with a the idea of a of a brass bull and they had a door in the side and they would take the person and put him in there and stuff him into there in a certain way his his head would be up into the neck of the bull and they had and they would force him in that way.

Then they would light the fire and begin to slowly roast this man inside the brazen bull and they had even had special pipes in the in the head of the bull so that when the person would be screaming in agony it would sound like the bull was bellowing and the people gloried in that.

This was the spirit in the heart of the people of Rome at that time. They they they they greatly enjoyed watching people suffer like that an antipas my faithful martyr this is the way it was said he died he refused to worship the emperor.

And because of that they took this man which was supposedly a leader of the church at Pergamos and they put him into a brass bull like that and they burned him and killed him that way slowly letting the fire get hot.

That's the kind of persecution that the church was facing. That's what the church in Pergamos was up against. There was there in the city of Pergamos up on a hill which was off the sea at the Aegean sea.

They had so many temples up on that hill so many to so many different gods. They had major lots of big temples and lots of smaller ones. The biggest one of them was this one this this uh altar to Zeus this was a huge altar set up there in gleaming white and and there was almost always people there and there was a continual sacrifices made and smoke would hang out over that city continually.

And this went on for years and years and years and this seems like it this is when it refers to the satan seat it seemed that this may be what he was talking about that this is where satan dwelt at that time.

Satan himself was living in this city this was his dwelling place and this was his seat. And this altar seems to be the place that he was. And there was people in those days who went to Pergamos and they just they took the gospel to that place to that city and there they were willing to lay down their lives that the gospel might be preached in that city called Pergamos.

And they knew they would suffer and many of them would die. And somehow the church was still there 60 years after after Pentecost. And this is what they were facing. And and this is now the message that was brought to the angel of the church of Pergamos and to the angel of the church of Pergamos.

Right. These things say if he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. And I want us to understand that when Jesus came when Jesus spoke this message to the church it says earlier there in in Revelations chapter 2 it says that when it says to the church at Ephesus he said these things saith he that holds the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

And so the picture there is that Jesus there's seven golden candlesticks there and Jesus himself is walking among those seven golden candlesticks which are the churches. And so the picture is very clear that Jesus himself knew these churches very well.

Christ’s Presence and the Church’s Accountability

He didn't just see them from a distance. He was there in their midst and he walked in the midst of them. And we would like to believe that Jesus walks in the midst of this church as well. But I wonder what does he see.

What does Jesus really see as he walks in the midst of this church. Let's look at what is happening here if we can to the angel of the church in Pergamos. That word angel is angelus in the greek it means messenger.

Quite uh agreed upon that it's talking about the leader of the church the bishop or the elder. The one who is in the lead who has responsibility for the church is the one he's talking about. This is Jesus is saying John I want you to write down this message and give it to the leader of the church at Pergamos the church.

The word for church is ecclesia. I remember that from brother Denny teaching that a long time ago. And the word ek means separation and kaleo means to beckon to call to invite. And when you put these two words together it means those who are called to a prestigious assembly.

And the backdrop of that comes right out of Greece. There was there in Athens they had on Mars Hill they had a meeting place where the local people the local assembly was held. And it was those who were called and those who were specifically chosen to meet in that place.

And they would meet weekly or monthly whatever it was and they were called the ecclesia. They were specifically called to a prestigious assembly. And this is the word that Paul has chosen to use or Jesus has chosen to use to express his body of believers the church.

And in that church in that in that body of believers in that body in that that ecclesia there in Greece there in Athens there was a specific several men who were called out. They were called the bule and they were the ones who kind of oversaw this meeting.

And then they had one who was the moderator or the speaker. And the speaker was the one that brought that would bring the message to them and to tell to them what it was what there was a talk about. And he would bring a message maybe from the emperor from someone very important and he could.

He was not allowed to change the message whatsoever. Even if the message would not be acceptable among the people he was not allowed to change it whatsoever on his own. This is the picture of the leader.

This is a picture of the one who was given authority to work to speak in that assembly. And this message is to the angel the messenger the leader of the church in Pergamos. These things saith he which sword with two edges.

What if Jesus were to come and walk in our midst here at charity christian fellowship. And then he would give a message to the leader here what would he say. I believe that what Jesus would say to us as a church here it would be relevant to our current situation today.

It would. We would all understand exactly what he's trying to say. We would all know exactly what he's talking about. He would probably talk about some of our past. He might talk about some of the good things that we are doing or have done.

But he also would talk about some of our needs and areas of shortcoming right. And i believe that we would all understand exactly what he's talking about. When this message came to the church at Pergamos could i have a drink of water.

I believe that the church at Pergamos understood exactly what he was talking about. And what. And and the language that he used oh i'm sorry the language that he used would expressly they would expressly understand what he means by that.

Thank you. And when Jesus identified himself as the one these this saith he which has a sharp sword with two edges Domitian who was the emperor at that time they would they would have men in areas like in the area of Asia there was there would be a man who would rule over certain areas in Asia maybe in a city.

And those men were called proconsuls. And those men were over certain areas regions maybe government like a government of a state. And if those men did not do exactly what this demented deranged emperor Domitian wanted them to do he would have them killed instantly without problem.

And so these men they lived to try to please the emperor in every way they could and it made them to be very harsh and wicked and evil. And they would kill people under them or around them because they feared someone taking over and they would just kill many of their own people.

And the sword was the tool that was used to rule and to reign. And it was well known that many people were dying by the sword by these this proconsul and a specifically one there in Pergamos. And so when Jesus identified himself as the one with the sharp two-edged sword he spoke right into their present situation that they were facing.

He would. He is the one who's sitting above all and his sword is the most important sword. Also the word sharp there is used. That word sharp is the greek word o-x-u-s that denotes a medicinal cleanser sanitizing something that will attack infection maybe even anesthesia.

This was a part this what that word sharp means. Jesus said I'm the one with a sharp sword. And that sharpness means it's it actually does cleansing. And so when Jesus says I am the one with the sharp sword with two edges not just a sword that kills but this sword also brings healing and cleansing where there is infection and the the when you think of the of infection in our bodies think of how COVID -19 infects our bodies and tries to take over.

But if there's a healthy body the body can fight off that infection. But this is what he's talking about. He's talking about the church in Pergamos. And he's simply saying I have a sharp sword and and that means I can use it for cleansing.

And he's indicating that there is an infection there. And he goes on to say I know thy works where thou dwellest. He knows everything. I know everything that you're doing. I know everything that you've been doing.

I know what has been done. I know what has happened here. I know your works. I know that you are doing this. I know you're reaching out. I know where your ministries are. I know how you're doing this.

I know your works. He says I know everything about you and where you live. Even where satan's seat is he's acknowledging to them. I know that you are living in a very difficult place. I know you're living where satan himself is sitting.

The church this church in Pergamos would be comforted by those words. He understands where we're living. He understands our situation. He realizes that yes satan is living here and it's difficult. So that's what Jesus will acknowledge to them.

And thou holds fast my name. They continue to hold fast. And that hold fast is a picture of someone gripping with all their strength and holding on. You can take the picture of a tug of war and they grab a hold of that rope and they hold fast with all they have.

And Jesus is saying thou hast held fast my name and you have not denied my faith even in the those days where an antibus my faithful martyr who was slain among you where satan dwells in twice in this verse he is recognizing that satan is not only sitting there but satan is actually living in this city.

And you the church have continued in the midst of that situation. You've continued to hold fast to my name and you have not left it go. And you are whole. You've held on to the faith. You've not denied my faith.

Not even when antibus my faithful martyr was slain. So when this began to happen and they took antibus and they put him into that brazen bull and they fried him in there and they killed him in there. And the christians knew about that.

And now jesus is coming and he's acknowledging that in the midst of this time you have not denied my faith. You've not. This did not cause you to turn away from me. And that would have brought some comfort and encouragement to the body at that time recognizing that's where satan was dwelling.

The Doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans

But i have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of balaam. There's some in the midst of the church at pergamos that are holding fast the doctrine. They're holding the doctrine of balaam and the doctrine of the nicolaitans.

So there's two things wrong. Two things that were happening here in the midst of this intense persecution. There were some men in the church who were teaching the doctrine of balaam. And there was those who also in the church who were teaching that were holding the doctrine which thing i hate jesus said.

Now i most of us probably understand what the doctrine of balaam is. Right. What is the doctrine of balaam. Someone tell me being destroyed from within. Okay let's go a little further on that intentionally causing someone to stumble into sin.

Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of balaam which taught balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. And so the doctrine of balaam is to cast a stumbling block or to cause people to fall.

That's the doctrine there. And you can get a numbers chapter 23 24 and 25 to read about that story of balaam who was the that prophet was prophesying. He was called by balak to come out and curse israel because he was afraid israel would take over his kingdom.

But balaam was not able to curse israel. Many many sacrifices were offered there. They would meet up on the on this mountain and they would offer seven uh 12 uh build these altars and and offer bullocks on there on each one of them.

And what they would do in those days when they would offer these in the evil uh in that idolatrous way that sacrificial way that that sacrificing those animals in order to tell the future they would inspect the entrails the guts of that animal and would prophesy upon that would prophesy through that.

That was a normal thing. Whether balaam did that i'm not sure but he was unable to curse israel. But then when they were about finished he did say something to be like that. Here's something i think you could do get your young women your involved ladies to go over there and tempt the young men of israel and and to get them to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

And so the young women went over there and they they tempted the men of israel and they drew them away and had them and got them to eat meat that was sacrificed to the idols which was forbidden and to commit fornication with them.

And so the women went and they did that and the men of israel fell for that. And so balaam must have understood that when the church goes into sin it loses god's blessing. And through that a blessing was lost and a curse fell upon israel and 24 000 people died because of it.

That's the doctrine of balaam. What about the doctrine of the nicolaitans. Does anyone know what is referred to there. That was one that i had to study to search it out. What is the doctrine of the nicolaitans.

Several points here. One is that there's no emphasis on holy living or separation from the world. You imagine this being taught in the church. There is no emphasis on the doctrinal teachings of the bible.

There's no emphasis on absolute truth or absolute biblical morality. No exclusionary belief that christ alone is the way to heaven. In these days today there are many church leaders who are preaching a very soft gospel.

They are not emphasizing holy living. They are not emphasizing a separation from the world. And they're preaching a love gospel that jesus loves you god loves you and god's going to take you to heaven all these wonderful good things to tickle the ears of the people.

But this is a part of the doctrine of the nicolaitans which jesus says i hate it. No emphasis on doctrinal teaching. Just very light fluffy surface in a time when when no emphasis on the absolute truth or absolute biblical morality very prevalent today in our society this nation is at the place where you know there's no real absolute truth.

It doesn't really you know there's no place that you can say this is what truth is. No truth is flexible today. Truth is this. Or truth is that. It's the uh i had a little bit of the challenge to come up with understanding what it's all about.

When you talk about the uh inclusiveness or the exclusiveness or the toleration today the the the the theme out there is toleration. We just tolerate everything. And the general thought is just everybody should tolerate everybody else.

Right. There's toleration. There's no absolute truth anymore. There's no absolute biblical morale. There's who is to say that it's wrong to have sex before you're married. That that's not. That doesn't matter anymore.

No absolute morality. No absolute truth. No the bible's very clear on this. There is absolute truth and we have absolute moral standards. But when that is broken down in a nation there's such decay that comes in.

And this is this was the situation in rome in those days. There was such perversion. Centuries of perversion centuries of idolatry. The greeks would train their young men in nakedness. It was such a naked society.

Even today when you go travel through greece you see these statues right in the middle of the parks and most of them are naked. And that was their that was their religion. That was their paganism. Their their ideals their eye.

It was they were just lifting up the nakedness and of immorality and of mankind. It was just awful situation. No absolute truth didn't matter anymore. The only thing about those who have say you know everything goes uh tolerance to toleration to all things.

And everybody will just tolerate everybody. The one thing they did not tolerate in this system there in rome was those who believed in jesus christ being the only way. Oh no there's more than one way to go.

No no no no there's only one way the christians said. And they had no toleration for the christians because of that toleration except when it comes to living the life of jesus christ there is there was no toleration for that.

And i believe that we are coming very close to that very same thing today. If you would dare to stand up and proclaim these things in the years to come maybe even now in some places there is no toleration.

Thou hatest the doctor nicolaitan which thing i hate. Repent repent. And he's speaking to the leader of the church and also i will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

He's calling the leader of the church to repentance or he will come quickly and fight against them that have these doctrines with the sword of his mouth. I think back with joy back around in 2001 when effort was started and we were a small church here and drew together in fellowship and love and care.

We as a church we spent three days in fasting and prayer and during that time we felt like the spirit of god spoke to us. How many of you were here at that time. Not very many of you. Do you remember what happened.

We as the leaders felt like we as a church had sinned and we specifically identified that sin and we made confession to the whole church. I remember it so clearly i'm standing back there and somehow the burden of this fell on our hearts as leaders and we began to express our heart and we we repented.

We we led the congregation to repentance of this and something happened. Revival broke out for several weeks. The spirit of god came and began to minister life as we took as we humbled ourselves and acknowledged our sin and allowed the holy spirit allowed the lord jesus to come with that cleansing sword and to begin to cleanse.

Repentance and the Sword of Christ’s Word

I think back to those days with great joy and how i long for more of that repent or i will come quickly and fight against you with the sword of my mouth. And this this word sword there is the word rompia and that is a very unique tool which they it's a long handled sickle with a curved sickle at the end it's a it's sharpened both sides but it's got a long handle which was actually uh first it seemed like it was first was first made in asia here and was used in their fighting against the romans way earlier on in their major battles.

Uh and they had the advantage because in in those days you fought with a sword hand-to-hand combating close by. But these this army came up with this new tool called the rompia which had a long handle and on that hand with a sharp sickle and they they could take that and thrust it into the into the enemy ranks before they ever got close enough to hit him with the sword.

And it was a hacking thing. They could do this back and forth like a a hacking thing. And this is what this word rompia means. Jesus is saying repent quickly repent or i will come unto you quickly and fight against you with the sword of my mouth fight against them.

Those who are holding this doctrine of balaam and nicolaitans i will come and fight against you. And this is the the picture that is used. And it seems like this rump field this sword was actually native to this area and they would have known exactly what he means by it.

And then he goes on and says he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches. Jesus many times in his ministry on the earth used the similar words he that hath ears to hear let him hear.

And here in this last message the churches jesus is once again using this saying. He that had an ear to hear let him hear. And i wonder if we have ears to hear what the spirit is saying to the churches.

Am i able to hear. Do i have an ear let me see your hands. Do you have ears to hear. Let me let me do that again. Do you have ears let me see your hands. Do you have ears to hear. You want to. I want to hear too.

He that hath an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. Is it important to hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. I believe it's paramount especially it has always been.

But in these last days in these end times we need to be hearing listening to what the spirit of the lord is saying. Our life is so very different than the believers in pergamos in the year 95 a .d right.

Is there anyone in this room that has physically suffered persecution. I know we've say we've suffered mentally emotionally probably from being mistreated and and shunned and all this. But that is so minor.

We know so little we are unprepared in that sense. But this whole picture to the church of pergamos was compromised. It's known as the church that was compromising and the situation where these people were living.

Resisting Compromise Under Persecution

Jesus came to them and said you guys have been compromising. And there were men in this church who were teaching that it's okay to offer just a little pinch of incense to that idol so that you don't have to be burned in that in the fire.

You don't need to be taken out there and fed to the wild beasts. When you walk past that idol just nod your head a little bit. You'll still get to go to heaven. You'll still get to be with jesus for eternity.

Compromise. Just compromise a little bit with the world. I doubt they would say it in those words. But the people were suffering and they were teaching that it's going to be. It's okay to just yield a little bit.

And this is where jesus comes in and says repent or i will come quickly unto you. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him that overcometh the one who overcomes. The one who does not compromise.

The one who does not give in the one who does not deny. The one who stands in the face of all kinds of things no matter what they throw at him. No compromise. I saw a picture of one young lady standing there in the doorway.

Men were sitting here. The soldiers were. She's standing the doorway a picture of godliness and holiness. And outside of that doorway was the arena of the lions. And in the background you could see them standing up there.

You could see the people in the arena. And they would do this for over their lunch hour. They would meet together there and have some kind of a sport there. And they would take the christians out there to be devoured by an animal.

The picture of this serene young girl standing there resolution on her face knowing that she's going to be taken out there and remain sport with in front of the thousands of people that day. No compromise.

This is the arena there in pergamos. You can still see it today to him that overcomes till death. I'm going to give the reward. She says i will give them. I will give you to eat of the hidden manna. I will feed you with eternal life.

I will strengthen you with the word of god. I will strengthen you with the hidden manna. I know in the wilderness that god sent down manna to feed his children to feed his people there. But now he says to those who ever come he said i'm going to give you of the hidden manna.

And that manna when they first tasted it they said it's like angels food. It was sweet to their taste. And they did. They delighted in it. Did you ever stop and consider how much manna rained down upon them daily.

Approximately three million people. That's a good guess. Maybe there were six hundred thousand men twenty years and older in the wilderness with moses there at probably at least three million souls. And they would be given manna every day six days a week.

And on the sixth day they were given in twice as much for the seventh day. And each one was to get was to gather an omer of manna for each person in the family probably about three pounds per person per day.

Do the multiplication. Someone tell me how many tons of manna would be falling on every day. And god says the church in pergamos to him that overcomes i i will give him to eat of the hidden manna. I think there was 6500 tons of food per day.

Tons of manna per day. Is that what it comes to. 6500 tons of manna per day to feed 3 million people. Is that right. What's come up with. 9 000 tons. 3 million. 9 million pounds. Anyhow look at it think about it.

To him that overcometh i will give to eat of the hidden manna. And i will also give to him a white stone. And in that stone a name written which no man knows except he that receiveth it. To him that overcomes i will give to him a white stone.