Sermons
TEST Sermon – Part 7: Jesus Wants an Uncompromising Church
September 29, 2024
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Dr. Josh Franklin
Revelation 2:12-17
Jesus Wants an Uncompromising Church
Revelation 2:12-17
Dr. Josh Franklin • Senior Pastor
Invite you to take your copy of God’s word and join me in Revelation chapter two. Revelation chapter two. We’ve been in a series entitled our final victory, and really we are seeing how the book of Revelation gives us hope. Nothing that is happening in our world today is a surprise to God. He knows the end from the beginning and he is ultimately sovereign overall.
His purposes will never be thwarted by man. His plan will come to pass. And we see it in the book of Revelation. We remember that the outline of the book of Revelation is in Revelation chapter one, where he says, write the things that you have seen. That’s chapter one, the things that are chapters two and chapter three, and the things that will be, which is chapters four through the end.
And that’s a good outline for the entire book as a whole. We’re right now in the section of the things that are the things that have happened in church history. And we remember that these seven churches that have letters specifically written to them, they are letters that are written to real churches. We’ve covered two of them today is the third church, the church that met in Pergamum. And there was a literal church that this was addressed to, which had characteristics that needed to be addressed.
However, there are two other meanings that we need to remember whenever we’re looking at these seven churches that in every church age, in every time, even today, you have characteristics of each of these churches in churches all around the world. And God has a message for those churches there with those characteristics as well. But the second meaning is many commentators have found that if you look throughout church history, you see kind of time periods where this kind of church with its characteristics were on a greater display. So last week we looked at what could be called the persecuted church, and it’s a time period of 100 to about 312 AD. And why do we say 312 AD?
That’s when Constantine became the emperor and he actually made it legal to be a Christian. And then he ultimately favored Christianity to where Christianity became the religion of the empire. And we’re going to see how that was going, but also bad in today’s message. But the time period before that was the letter to the Ephesians, the ephesian church, which was really the apostolic church era, that time period of 30 when Jesus was resurrected and he ascended back to heaven. All the way up until about 100, you had the ephesian believers who were so good in so many things, but they had left their first love.
And last week we saw the persecuted church, which had ten time periods of great intense persecution leading up all the way to the very end, where you had some of the most intense persecutions to believers. We saw that with the church of Smyrna. Well, today we have revelation, chapter two, verses twelve through 17. If you found it in honor of God’s word, would you stand one last time as we read verses twelve through 17?
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos, write these things, says he who has the sharp, two edged sword. I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things, sacrificed to idols to commit sexual immorality. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaidans, which thing I hate.
Repent. Or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 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 to eat. I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.
Would you pray with me? Dear heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the book of revelation. Lord, you promised a special blessing to those who would walk through and study this book and digest it and seek to live in accordance to it. And, Lord, I pray that the message for today would not stay in the first century. It would not stay in a time period in the past.
It would. It would be for today, and it would be for us. Lord, I pray that each one of us would, individually and as families, and then collectively as the church, recognize that you want an uncompromising church. Father, I pray that we would speak the truth in love. Lord, there may be somebody here who’s never given their life to you.
I pray that before this message is over, they would call out to you in repentance and faith and say, Jesus, be my lord and be my savior. May we never be ashamed of you. In Jesus name, amen. You may be seated.
Jesus wants an uncompromising church. When you think of the word compromise, what comes to mind now? You may think to yourself of some positive aspects of compromise. And there are some positive aspects of compromise. If you grew up in a very strong religious, conservative home, compromise may be looked upon as something very, very sinful, very wicked, very evil.
I remember a movie that I watched as a boy, chariots of fire. And you had Eric Little, who was that olympic runner who made a decision. The race is going to be on a Sunday, and I am not going to run on the Lord’s day. I’m not going to run on Sunday. And I remember a phrase from that movie where one of the people in charge of the events and things, but speaking to Eric said, compromise is the language of the devil.
And that phrase has stuck in my mind ever since I watched that movie. Compromise is the language of the devil. Well, I will tell you, there is a brand of compromise that is the language of the devil. And that’s what is talked about here in revelation. And yet, all of us know a thing or two about compromise.
Two sides cannot come to an agreement. They’re at an impasse. And so in order to move forward together, each side gives a little. And we know this. That is a positive aspect of compromise.
You know, politicians in DC, we want them to govern our nation in such a way that we have our ideals. But oftentimes you can’t get your ideals done. You’ve got to take the best deal that is available at the time. You have to compromise a little bit to move forward. Instead of shutting down the government, you make a decision, okay, we’ve got to figure this out and move forward.
And that’s seen as a positive. It’s something in the country. Even boys and girls on a playground or in the schoolyard will compromise. Two different factions want to play different games. And ultimately somebody says, how about this?
The first ten minutes will play your game, and the next ten minutes will play my game. Compromise. Everybody wins. It’s something positive for everybody. Perhaps you work somewhere where they require you to work a certain amount of weekends a month or perhaps certain holidays that you can’t take, that others can take.
And what do you do? You compromise a little bit. You say, well, maybe I’ll do that this year, and then next year I’ll get it back, that sort of thing. Compromise on work in government, even amongst children, we understand if you’re married, you understand the positive benefits of compromise. I was thinking about compromise in my marriage.
Lydia and I, we compromise. You know, she’s more hot natured and I’m more cold natured. And so, you know, we adjust the thermostat. Sometimes it’s too hot, sometimes it’s too cold. And finally, we came to a decision.
We would compromise. She said that if we could turn it down to where it’s very cold in the house, I had the opportunity to put on more clothes.
Compromise. Every married man knows the end of this phrase. You can either be right or you can be, wow, I need to educate you. You can either be right or you can be happy. You can make a decision.
Well, those are positive aspects to compromise, but yet that’s not what is described here. Jesus has a stern word for some in the church, a Pergamos, because of their compromise. And we’re going to see the negative, sinful aspects of this compromise. And really what you have here is you have three lessons that Jesus has, three messages that Jesus has for this group of believers that I think would be instructive to us as well. The first message is, there’s a recognition for courage.
There’s a recognition for courage. He makes this statement at the very beginning. He says to the angel of the church. We describe that as the pastor, for reasons you can look up later, but it’s the pastor of the church at Pergamos. What was so significant about Pergamos?
Pergamos was one of, if not the most, royal city in Asia Minor at the time. It was the capital for many, many years. It was so picturesque, but it was full of idolatry as well. It had a library that had 200,000 volumes in it. It rivaled Alexandria, which was far greater.
But the library alone, think about the handwriting that had to take place in the scrolls, and all of that was kept there in pergamum. Pergamos. Well, it describes a wonderful church, but at the same time, a church that had a stern word against it. Notice what he says in verse twelve. He says, the angel of the church in Pergamos, right these things, says he who has the sharp two edged sword.
Why would he reference the sword? Pergamus was so loyal to Rome that they had been given the ability to perform capital punishment by the sword on those who were convicted and sentenced. Very few cities had that ability, had that right, but Pergamus did because it was so loyal to Rome, and they would use a sword to do it. But Jesus is the one who has the two edged sword. We think of the verses of scripture that talk about the Bible as a two edged sword, the word of God in romans four, verse twelve.
And we described how that two edged sword really symbolically relates that it can cut and it can also heal. It can save. The word of God can save, but it can also condemn and it can also judge, depending on the person who is hearing and reading its content. Well, he says this in verse 13. I know your works, and notice this next phrase.
I know where you dwell. And notice what he says where Satan’s throne is. Many commentators have looked into what was happening there. He said that this is where Satan is. And you say, well, Satan has his headquarters and all over the world.
No, he is not omnipresent like God. And yet here Jesus says twice, this is where Satan dwells. Many commentators have been confused about what, what was this? We can go through the options. I put it in a handout that you can grab at the point desk later on.
But some have seen it as just all of the idols that existed in Pergamos at the time. But then some have seen it as symbolic, because the greatest temple to Zeus was there in Pergamos. And really, that’s what I think is going on here. The temple to Zeus was here at Pergamos. I think it’s interesting that in the 1930s, you had Germany, right during the time of the rise of Hitler, went to Pergamos and took this temple apart, the temple of Zeus, and ultimately put it, and put it back together in Berlin, Germany, you could go and see it today, the very stones that were from Pergamos put together as the temple of Zeus.
So when Hitler was in power, you have this seat of Satan, this throne of Satan right there in the heart of Berlin, Germany. Fascinating. Well, some have looked at the God of healing, which is Asclepius, and he has the rod with the snake around it. And if you remember the symbols of the medical professions, you know that this, that symbolism of the rod with the snake, it comes from the God of Asclepius and the God of healing. Well, they had a major temple there where Satan dwells.
The snake is a symbol of Satan. It could be that it’s referring to that. Fascinating. I don’t know if you want to hear this or not, but people came from all over to be healed of certain different ailments, and they had a certain kind of performance that took place in this temple to Asclepius. They had non venomous snakes that would be roaming in this temple.
And the person who was injured, the person who was needed healing, they would lie down and throughout the night, if the God of Asclepius was favoring you and trying to give you healing, the snakes would crawl on you.
Wow. Well, you know, let’s just say you had a broken leg and you were there during that time. You lied down. If you began to feel some of those snakes, I’m pretty sure that you would miraculously be able to walk on that leg? Pretty sure I know I would.
Well, it could be that it’s a reference to this satanic symbol as the snake. But some commentators also reflect on this. It was the seat of emperor worship because of its loyalty to Rome. It was at this place, this city, where they were so loyal to Rome that they would have worship the emperor. Last week, we talked about how Polycarp would not burn the incense and would not say, caesar is lord.
He wouldn’t deny his faith in Christ. But here in Pergamos, you had the great center of emperor worship, where they were magnifying a man instead of goddess. Regardless, the application is so important for us to wrestle with. He says, I know your works. Jesus says, I know where you dwell.
That word dwell is a word that doesn’t mean temporary dwelling. It means you have your home. There you are right there in the middle of this incredibly satanic city. You know, oftentimes, believers who feel convicted in their heart over the sinful practices of their neighbors, of their coworkers, of their school, schoolmates, different things that they are involved in. The message that we need to hear this morning is that Jesus knows where we dwell.
He knows where we dwell. He knows that we haven’t escaped. We haven’t run away to the hills. We have chosen to be a light in a dark place. We have an option.
We could just kind of maintain a holy huddle, or we could do what Jesus said, which was, be in the world, but not of the world. We could be a boat that is in the water without the water getting in the boat. Now, Jesus will have a word of rebuke in just a moment, but never use where you dwell as an excuse for loose living. Never allow the devil to convince you. Well, it’s because of where I live.
It’s because of the people I hang out with. It’s because of my coworkers.
Jesus says, I know where you dwell. I but notice the commendation that he gives here. He says, where Satan’s throne is. And notice. And you hold fast to my name.
You did not deny my faith even in the days, even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. He is really telling the christians there, I know where you live. You’ve chosen to be a light in a dark place, and you have held fast to my name. You have not been ashamed of me, and you have held fast to my faith even when things were difficult. We don’t know much about antipas.
According to history. But some in church history have described how he was martyred, for his faith, would not worship the emperor, would not deny Christ. And so they heated up a bronze bull, a hollow bronze bull, heated it up, put him in it, and set it on fire to the point where he was roasted inside of it. During the days of Antipas, when someone like that was martyred, notice that word, martyrde. It’s the same greek word as witness.
It’s the same word that’s used in revelation one, verse five, to talk about Jesus as the faithful witness. Same word. And here he says, the faithful martyr. You could say the faithful witness. Jesus is trying to say.
Antipas did not deny my name. You have not denied my name, and it is commendable. It is a recognition of their courageous. And Jesus would want to say that to us today, even if we dwell in the midst of Satan’s kingdom. In two Corinthians four, four, it describes Satan as the God little g of this world.
Regardless of where you live, the influence and impact of Satan’s kingdom can be felt. Wonder, where is Satan’s throne today? Maybe it’s in Washington, DC, maybe it’s in Hollywood. And you can argue a number of other places, but places where Satan is flourishing. Jesus says to us, no matter where we live, he says, I know where you live, and you have not denied my name.
You have not denied my faith, even when it was easy to do so. And it was commendable for the courage that they had. I read this story where Billy Graham, he was asked in the state of Florida to come and do this kind of ecumenical message. They were highlighting preachers and pastors and ministers from several different denominations. And so they were all coming together from lots of different backgrounds, and they were so excited collectively to have Billy Graham speak.
Well, when they had Billy Graham to speak, they also chose to ask George Beverly Shea, the one who would popularize I’d rather have Jesus and wrote the music for that. Well, he was asked to sing, and if you’ve ever heard him sing, you know that they could have asked no one greater than George Beverly Shea to open that time with a song. And he was going to sing how great thou art. And right before they were going to begin this program, this interfaith, not just inter denomination, but interfaith collective gathering, it involved people who were not christian. And so one of the organizers came up to George Beverly Hsieh, and there’s some verses there that are highlighting Jesus as God’s son.
In that song. He said, could you just leave those parts out from that song, how great thou art. Could you just leave those parts out? I mean, we’ve got some people here who are not christians, and if you could leave it out, that would be great. And George Beverly Shea responded.
Someone who was sitting close by remembers, and I testified to this. George Beverly Shea, with a sweetness but a seriousness, looked back and said, I could never do that. I could never do that. That would be being ashamed of my lord. And then he said, it’s okay.
I don’t have to sing. That’s what George Beverly Shea said. Of course, the organizer who has him right there on the stage at the time, he says, you know what? Sing what you want to sing. And he let him go ahead and sing how great thou art, all the verses.
Now, here’s an example of courage. And no matter where you dwell, no matter where you live, you think to yourself, man, if I could ever get out of this place of toxicity, this work environment where it just feels like I’m the only Christian, instead of praying for you to be able to escape, pray that you will have the courage to stand, the courage to be a light in a dark place. The lesson from Pergamus is that there is a recognition for courage. Jesus sees, Jesus knows where we live and how we stand for him. A second lesson, you’ve got it right here, is rebuke for compromise.
And he describes two different doctrines. Here. He describes it. Look at verse 14. He says, but I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel.
We don’t have time to go back into this story, but it’s in numbers 22 through 25. And if you remember the story, you remember how Balaam was. He was a hireling. He was someone who Balak was wanting to curse the people of God. And in order to get his attention, God spoke to his donkey and spoke through his donkey to him.
Why are you hurting me now, it’s fascinating that God could speak through that donkey when he couldn’t get his prophet to do the right thing. God can use whatever he desires to use to get our attention. Well, balaam, he tried to be persuaded by wealth. Balak says, if you’ll curse them, if you’ll curse the people of God, then I’ll give you this. I’ll give you that.
And so he begins to try. But instead of cursing them, he blesses them multiple times. But finally, they come up with a scheme. And that scheme is to seduce the men of Israel through the moabite women. And this has nothing to do with racial differences.
It has everything to do with cultural differences when it comes to the application for today. These moabite women were seducing the men, and then ultimately, it let down their defenses to where they would burn sacrifices, just like the pagans would. They would not be devoted to God. And in the same way, second Corinthians 614 says, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. One thing that we must never compromise is our faithfulness to God when it comes to the most important earthly relationship we’ll have, and that is with our spouse.
No, you should not. A believer should never marry an unbeliever. Never. Really. And a believer shouldn’t date an unbeliever.
Why? We have example after example. How? Not how it doesn’t go. You want it to go where you’ll lift up that non believer, and then they’re going to change their ways.
They’re going to believe like I do one day and regularly. What happens? Instead of you lifting them up, they drag you down. You once had a passion for the Lord, and now your heart has grown cold to God and the things of God. Don’t be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
Well, these israelite men, they were unequally yoked together with pagan women. And ultimately it led into idolatry, worshiping a false deity, something that they were not doing at the time. But now they are practicing this. They are compromising to appease their new relationships, and they also committed immorality. Well, what was going on in Pergamos at the time?
In the church, there existed those who were faithful to God, who were courageous in the middle of Satan’s city. But then they were tolerating some that were followers of Balaam. What really was the doctrine that you could be sexually immoral. You could even participate in the pagan festivals of the day, the pagan festivals where sin and immorality reigned. You could participate in those things and then also say, but my heart is for Jesus, and I love Jesus.
Jesus knows that. He knows where we are, and he knows what we’re doing. And he says, this immorality that you’re tolerating in your midst and this idolatry that you’re tolerating in your midst is something that should not be going on in our world today. We have. Tolerance is the word that we are always promoted to be tolerant of anything and everything.
And yet Jesus wants a pure church. He wants a loyally devoted church. There are pastors, quote unquote pastors, who have prostituted the gospel message to appease the world, to play footsie with the world, and at the same time say, but I love Jesus. And yet God’s word is clear that we are to abstain from sexual immorality. In ephesians five three, it says that there should not even be a hint of sexual immorality with God’s people.
And yet you have the message of the world today. You can sleep with whoever you want to sleep with whenever you want to sleep with them. Your heart can be devoted to Jesus. No, it cannot. You can’t.
Well, I can practice the paganism of my coworkers or the paganism of my schools or the paganism that exists. I can be there, but then my heart is for Jesus. That was the doctrine of Balaam. And Jesus says, you are tolerating some of those who are practicing this way and you need to weed it out. It’s like leaven, where a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Well, he also talked about the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and these Nicolaitans were basically abusing christian liberty. You know, you had this in other parts of the Bible. Paul had to address this libertines who basically could say, I can say I love Jesus and live any way I want to live. What was the rationale? They say, well, if we’re saved by grace and not by works, then I can live however I want to live.
My salvation is secure. I’m going to heaven when I die. That’s all I care about. So today I can live just like my pagan neighbors, but be devoted to Jesus. My body is for the world, my spirit is for Jesus.
And that duality was something that Jesus said. I know what you’re doing. Cut it out. Repent. He’s got some of the strongest language for these statements.
He even goes so far as to say, if you don’t do it in verse 16, repent, or else I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Now you’ve had in your mind Jesus being against the lost person, Jesus being against the world, Jesus being against the devil. What about Jesus being against God’s people who are tolerating immorality and idolatry in their midst? We see this in our world, we see this in the american church in particular. We want to be acceptable to Europe, we want to be acceptable by Hollywood or be politically correct all the while.
Jesus knows where we live and he knows if we’re courageous or not. God wants a pure church. He wants you to stand for him. He wants your whole devotion, and he wants the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to be an uncompromising church. Well, he says that he will come to you with the sword of his mouth.
He’s not going against all of them. He’s going against those who in particular are following the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Notice what he said. He said, this doctrine I hate. There’s a teaching today that maybe Jesus was soft on lgbt issues.
No, he was not. He was very clear. He says, haven’t you heard from the beginning that a man should leave his father and mother, cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh? He is affirming a husband and a wife and the permanence of marriage. He is clearly describing his affirmation statement.
Jesus could not have been clearer. And here Jesus could not be clear either. Well, we have to go on to the next message, and that’s a reassurance for comfort. He says, if you do this, if you have an ear to hear what the spirit is saying to the churches and you overcome, you do what I’m telling you to do. He says, I will give some of you the hidden manna.
We remember the manna coming down from above to feed the children of Israel into wilderness. Jesus is saying, I will nourish you, I will strengthen you, I will provide for you. And he said, not only that, I will give you a white stone. In that day and time, capital punishment could occur where a group of people could vote, and you either had a black stone saying, you’re guilty, or a white stone, you’re acquitted. And Jesus is saying, I will give you a white stone.
I will give you a stone of acquittal. You are innocent. Now that made a whole lot of difference to that church in Satan’s seat. They came from pagan practices, they came from immorality, much like the Corinthians did. In one corinthians where Paul says, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified.
And here he says, I’ll give you a white stone. You are declared not guilty. And then he says, and I’ll give you a name which no man knows except him who receives it. In that day and time as just a fact of history, these pagans living in pergamos would walk around with little stones in their pockets with the names of one of the gods that were written on those stones, just carrying it in their pocket, walking around as kind of a good luck charm. It could be that Jesus is referencing this and saying, instead, you don’t need that anymore.
You don’t need that good luck charm. You will have my name. Or it could be referencing the fact that Jesus will give us a new name, kind of like he gave Simon the name Peter, where you have Abram being given the name Abraham. Regardless, Jesus is saying that he is in intimate fellowship with the person who overcomes. He knows where we live.
He knows whether we’re tolerating the practices of those. He doesn’t describe the lost people. On the outside, the gospel is for them. But on the inside, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ should be clear. It should be a place where people can find the truth of God’s word, not truth, mixed with the messages of this world.
Jesus says, I know where you live. I know those of you who have held fast to my name, don’t tolerate immorality in your midst. You can’t go to the pagan festivals of Zeus with their drunken orgies, with their idolatry, burning incense to the emperor. You can’t do these things while at the same time saying that you’re loyal to me because you’re nothing. And Jesus would say to us today, you can either love him or love the world.
First, John 215 says, love not the world, neither that which is in the world. If you love the world, the love of the father is not in you. Is your heart drawn toward this world to be acceptable by this world? You want to be pleasing in their sight. Live your life for an audience of one.
You know, I don’t know if you remember the Olympics this past July. There are two things I will take away, two things that I’ll remember from the Olympics. Number one is a breakdancer from Australia. Okay, you can look that up. But the second is really a shameful display where those in Paris who were organizing this just desecrated a symbol of the christian faith, the Lord’s supper.
And before you start emailing me saying, look, they said that it wasn’t representing the Lord’s supper. It was, and they wouldn’t dare do that to another religion. But they did it to the christian faith through transsexual immorality, on full display before children, before families watching the opening ceremony. What a desecration. What a shame.
Now, that’s a picture of what was happening in Pergamos, where you would have christians who were participating in these drunken festivals of the gods, while at the same time saying, I’m a Christian. And Jesus says, that’s the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. And I hate it. If Jesus hates it, I hate it.
But something happened after this terrible display at the opening ceremony the very next day. I don’t know if you remember this, but there was an incredible power outage across the entire city of Paris where Paris went dark except for one lone light. And that was the catholic church at the highest point where everyone could see it. Now you know, you could tell me. Well, they had their church that was on a generator.
No, no, no, listen. I think God was sending them a message and God’s sending us a message this morning. Perhaps you are that lone light in the midst of a dark world. If no one else sees you and your faithfulness, Jesus sees you. Jesus knows and he’s proud of you.
Let’s pray.
Dear heavenly Father, I pray right now that you would help us live our lives for an audience of one to please the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear God, I pray right now, if there’s anybody here who has never given their life to you, that, Lord, you would draw them to yourself. You would help them understand there’s a heaven to gain in eternity. There’s a hell to avoid.
Away from your presence, away from you. Lord, I pray right now that we would choose to follow you not half heartedly, not 1ft in the world and 1ft in the church fully devoted to you. You gave your life for us. We can live our life for you. I pray that each believer that is listening would understand.
Jesus knows where they live. He understands the darkness that is surrounding them. And instead of escaping, he wants them to be a light that all can see and be drawn to you. May we have the strength to do that. In Jesus name, amen.