A Leaking Church in a Storm

 

When God commanded Noah to build an ark, God specifically told him to cover the ark inside and out with pitch. This was to seal the wood and keep water from leaking into the ark. Because can you imagine what it would have been like otherwise? Can you imagine being in the ark, tossed by the fury of a great deluge, floating on an endless sea of water while torrents fall from the sky—imagine being held in the midst of the water, safe and dry—and then seeing a trickle of water beginning to make its way through the walls. Having a flood outside is bad enough, without having one inside. The last place you want to be is a leaking ship in the middle of a storm.

But that is something like what was happening in the church at Pergamos. When Jesus addresses them in Revelation 2:12-16, the picture is clear. They were in the middle of a storm—surrounded by forces that wanted to stamp out the church, forces that had already brought suffering and death to those within the church. That was bad enough, but beyond the storm outside, there was also a storm inside—beyond the enemies outside, there were enemies within the church, enemies of compromise and false doctrine. The church at Pergamos was a leaking church in a storm.

There are those who believe that each of these churches in Revelation represents a different period of history; different phases of the development of the church. And I've never believed that, and one reason is that because as I look at these seven churches, I think I see in each one a message and a pattern that is relevant for us today, not just for the church at some point in the past. To be a Christian today must feel something as it did for those in Pergamos. There are still dangers from without; there are still those who oppose and try to destroy the church. And yet we also still face the enemies from within. The church today often feels like a leaking church in the midst of a storm.

But to understand more fully what I mean, we'll have to look at this passage a little more closely. There are three things I see here: first, we see the danger from outside. For the church at Pergamos, this danger was something very real. All around them there were people who opposed the work of the church, those who would resort to anything to try to destroy the church. I pictured the church like a boat in the middle of a storm, with waves crashing against the side and rain beating on the roof in an effort to drown it under—and I think that is how it must have felt for the church at Pergamos. There were those around it who wanted to stamp out the church by violence or force the Christians to give up their beliefs.

We see this implied throughout this passage. In our last article, I mentioned that Jesus tells all the churches: “I know.” Jesus knew fully where each church was and what was going on there. And specifically what He tells the church at Pergamos is that He knew where they lived—and that they lived where Satan's seat was. That word seat means a throne. The picture is that they were living in the very throne room of Satan where he was virtually seated as a ruler.

Pergamos was a very important city. It had been the center of a great Greek kingdom and it was now the capital of the Roman province of Asia (in modern-day Turkey). It was also a center of learning—the word “parchment” comes from the name Pergamos because here they manufactured and collected in many books. And beyond all this, Pergamos was an important religious center. There was a great shine to Zeus there which was one of the wonders of the ancient world. There was a temple to Aeschalpulus, the god of healing, to which sick people flocked from all over the world. And it was here that temples were first erected to the Roman emperors. But in the midst of this very important, very pagan, very idolatrous city, a Christian church had been founded. That is the picture we must get in our minds—the church at Pergamos was founded in the midst of enemies. All around it were those who worshipped other gods, who lived lives for other purposes.

In our world, we know something of what that was like because true Christianity is becoming more and more a minority, but it must have been far worse for those of Pergamos. They were living in the very throne room of Satan surrounded by those whose beliefs, lifestyles, worship, and dedication cut directly contrary to true religion. And this was not something abstract, but very practical.

Verse 13 mentions someone named Antipas who was was killed as a martyr or witness for his faith. We know nothing about Antipas or the circumstances of his death; we do not know whether he was executed by the government as a part of official persecution or was merely killed in some kind of mob action. But we do know that he died; that this man, a member of the church of Pergamos, went to death because of his faith. And while it seems that Antipas was so far the only martyr at Pergamos, the reality of the situation was that there would be others.

There were people around them who not only believed and lived differently but were willing to resort to violence and homicide in order to extinguish the church. To be a Christian in Pergamos meant facing that kind of opposition and it meant the possibility of facing death, as Antipas had. That was the kind of atmosphere in which the church at Pergamos lived. That was the situation in which they lived. There were those all around the church who wanted to stamp it out, like raging waves dashing on the outside of its walls.

And the reality is that the church today still faces those who want to stamp it out; we are still faced by opposition from the outside. In America, we have been blessed with religious freedom and have not—up to this point—had to face what Pergamos did or what Christians other places in the world do face today.  But it is still true that there are those who want to stamp out the church. Or, perhaps, not so much stamp it out as shove it into a corner. Few people would say they really want to put an end to the church—though there are those who do--but there is definitely a rising sentiment in American culture that wants to nullify the church; there are those who have no objection to Christianity so long as it keeps its mouth shut and doesn't do anything. There are a growing number of issues on which for a Christian to speak from a Christian perspective is considered taboo. And, of course, in private circles, the same principle holds. There are those who make no crusade against Christians in general, but who would do everything they could to turn their friends or family members away from the faith.

This all the same in principle, though not in degree, as what was going on in Pergamos. The world is still waging war against the church, even if in less obvious ways than actually having Christians dragged out and executed.

I do not want to sound like a doomsayer. We certainly should be thankful that we do not face true persecution in this country; but we also have to realize the reality that even in our world, the church does have enemies. Because the source of this enmity against the church is ultimately Satan; Satan is no more friendly towards the church now than he was 2000 years ago and so, to the extent of his power, he is still going to oppose it. Satan, being who he is, and the church, being what it is, can never exist in peace. The war may be a cold war, a war of attrition, or a full-scale bloodbath, but it can never be anything but a war.

This is a simple reality which the church will face in any age or circumstance—the opposition of the world, the pressure from the outside to renounce and give up the faith. And Pergamos faced it and faced it courageously. They had not given up the faith. They were standing firm against this persecution.

But do you remember the fable of the sun and the wind? One day the sun and the wind were having an argument about which of them was stronger. And so they decided to put it to a test. A man was walking along a road and the sun and the wind challenged each other to see which of them could manage to take away the man's cloak. The wind had the first try and he blew with all his might, whipping around the man until it was almost a hurricane. But the harder the wind blew, the more tightly the man pulled his cloak around him and, for all his strength, the wind could not get it away from him. So when the wind finally admitted failure, the sun made his attempt. He didn't bluster or blow like the wind had. Instead, he just hung in the sky, shining steadily and brightly. And as he did, the man began to grow hot until, finally, he was so hot that he took off his cloak. What the wind could not force the man to do, the sun affected by making the man do it himself.

And that was the situation at Pergamos. The opposition from the outside had not destroyed them, but they were in danger of destroying themselves. That was the second thing we see here—the danger from within.

This letter ought to be one of commendation; here we have a church facing persecution, and facing it bravely; it was a church where people were still coming to church, still confessing their faith in Christ, even when that meant the possibility of death. You would think this would be a church that would merit the highest praise from Christ. But look at verse 14: “I have a few things against thee.” Despite the courage and faithfulness of Pergamos, there was still something wrong, so that Jesus himself had something against them. They were standing against the world and yet, within their own walls they were not living the way they ought to.

Verse 14 compares this church to Balaam. You remember the story of Balaam from the old testament, most famous because it contains a talking donkey. But there is more to the story than just animal oddities. Balak the king of Moab was afraid of the power of the Israelites and so he tried to get Balaam the prophet to call down a curse upon them. But Balaam would not (or could not) curse them; but instead, at his suggestion, the people of Moab entered into friendship with Israel; and specifically, the women of Moab tempted the men of Israel through lustful desires to commit immoral acts and to join them in the worship of Moab's gods. What Balaam and Balak could not do through cursing or through the actions of his armies, they did by a subtler temptation. That seems to be that this was what was going on in the church at Pergamos. There were those in the church who were becoming involved with immorality and idolatry and seem to have been teaching others to do the same thing.

Verse 15 also mentions a group called the Nicolaitans. I talked about this in a previous article; we don't really know who or what the Nicolaitans were, but many commentators believe they taught this kind of doctrine, a doctrine of moral laxity. Perhaps they said that because they were saved by God's grace, then they didn't have to be that careful about how they lived. Perhaps they believed that God would forgive them no matter what and so it didn't matter what they did. We certainly know from elsewhere in the New Testament that there were some then (as now) who taught that.  Perhaps they even used their courage and faithfulness in the face of persecution as an excuse—the fact that they stood up against such adversity seemed to give them the right to cut corners elsewhere.

We don't know all of what was going on in Pergamos and why they were acting the way they were, but the general picture is clear. This church—this church that was standing so firm against the persecution of the world—had allowed themselves to let their won standards and life slip so that they were not where they ought to be before God. No doubt there were still some who were living righteously, but the general state of the church was such that rather than commending them, Jesus can only say: “Repent.”

And we should notice how serious this matter is. At the beginning of the letter, the enemy of the church is Satan, who wished to stamp out the church; but look at verse 16: “Repent; or else I [that is, Jesus] will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them.” Here it is Jesus that is the enemy of the church, or at least of those within the church who were teaching and living in this immoral way. God will not overlook the faults of the church. And if the church betrays her trust, then Christ himself will fight against her.

And the reality is that this is still a danger the church faces. It is still possible to stand against the world and yet be drawn away by subtler things, to give in to temptation. It is still possible to resist persecution and opposition and yet in the very act turn away from God.

If you go to church faithfully, if you have a definite and explicit faith in Jesus, if you hold to the religion of Scripture in the midst of this world, then you will face some opposition or persecution of at least a small degree. But that, in and of itself, does not make you a Christian. 

People suffer persecution and opposition for other causes. Supporters of each political party face ridicule from their opponents. People are bullied because they love particular hobbies. Sports fans sometimes are persecuted for cheering for their chosen team. One must have courage and tenacity to cling even to certain sins. Being willing to stand up for something in the face of opposition is a noble quality, but it does not make you right with God. One can stand against the world without standing for God. One can be willing to die for the name of Christ and still know nothing of Christ. Jesus said that some would come in the judgment with a list of everything that they had done for Christ saying: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” And Jesus' response will be: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

This is the danger which the church at Pergamos faced; a danger of drifting away from God in their personal lives so that they were no longer living for Christ, despite the fact that they were prepared to die for him. And can we honestly look at the church world as a whole in our country and deny that this danger is still very pressing to us? I think we could all look at certain churches and certain religious organizations and say that, even in the midst of their standing against the world, they have compromised their own lives so much that their stand means nothing. Indeed, often the world does not take the stand of Christians seriously because they knew that so many professing Christians are inconsistent in their practice. But rather than looking at the church world, we should be looking at ourselves and remembering that, no matter what our circumstances, this is always a danger. There is always a possibility of falling away.

But though there is a danger—dangers both without and within—there is something more in this passage than danger. There is thirdly--the hope.

Pergamos was in trouble, but it was not lost. Its situation was filled with gloom, but it was not yet doomed. It was leaking but it had not yet sunk. There was a hope for it; a hope that it could weather the storm; that it could stand against both the dangers outside and inside. We do not face exactly the same situation that the church at Pergamos did, but today we do also face dangers both from the outside and from the inside. And so we have the same hope and the same possibility of safety that Pergamos had.

There are two sides to this hope; one is our side; this is what we must do--we must hold fast Christ's name and not deny the faith. In verse 13, Jesus does commend the church for doing these two things. It was only because they had done those things that there even was still a church at Pergamos for Christ to send a letter to. They had not given in despite all the pressure around them urging them to give in. They had remained true. And while, as we've seen, that is not enough, it is an essential part. It is not, in one sense, as hard to be a Christian today in America as it was in Pergamos. We do not face the same kind of opposition and persecution that they did. But we will not survive as Christians unless we make this purposeful decision that they will not surrender; that we will stand firm and not give in, even if it should cost everything.

But we must also flee from all temptation. Notice verse 15 again: there were those within the church who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, “which thing I hate.” That was their problem; they had allowed themselves to love and accept that which God hated. If we are to survive as a Church, or as individual Christians, we must have a commitment to live according to God's standards, avoiding what He would have us avoid and doing what He would have us do. Of course, we all make mistakes sometimes. And we all have the possibility of doing worse than a mistake. This is why it is important to note the third thing we must do--repent when we do wrong.

That is God's message to this church. God doesn't rant against them or just rip them apart for their failures. He merely comes to them with one message: “Repent.” They had failed but God wasn't ready to write them off because of that. He merely was calling upon them to repent, to turn away from their mistakes and begin living the way they were supposed to live.  In 1 John 2:1, John exhorts his readers not to sin; to live a righteous and holy life, but he adds: “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” There is hope for us even when we fail, but only but repenting and turning back to Jesus.

That all is our side. And on God's side, we have God's promise. God has promised us His supply. In verse 17 Jesus says that to those that overcome He will give to eat of hidden manna. Manna was the miraculous food that God sent to the children of Israel in the wilderness. The Israelites were in the middle of a barren wilderness. Mathematically, statistically, there was no way they should have been able to survive. But God allowed them to survive by given them a secret supply. That is God's promise; if we stand against the world, if we stand against sin, if we overcome temptation, then he will supply our needs. He would enable to us to do what needs to be done. We are not fighting in our own strength. We have his supply. 

And we have God's protection. The end of verse 17 ends with the promise that the overcomer will receive a white stone with a new name. There are many different ideas about what is meant by this, but at least part of it seems to be that this represents belonging to God, of being part of his family, his nation. We belong to him and are known to Him. And as such, we have the assurance of his protection.

In verse 12, Jesus identifies himself as one holding a sharp, two-edged sword. There is threat in that posture, since He warns of his coming judgment in verse 16. But there is also promise, for if we overcome, if we remain faithful to Him, then we know that He will be fighting for us rather than against us. The story is told that someone once said to Abraham Lincoln that he should pray for God to be on his side. And Lincoln supposedly responded: “No; because God is always on the side of right. Instead, we must pray that we are on God's side.” And if we are, then we can count on his protection.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote a story about a country that was struck by the Red Death, a plague that nearly always killed those who were infected by it. Because it was very contagious, the prince of the country and his friends shut themselves into a secluded castle where they would be safe from the plague, engaging in a complete quarantine. While those without were falling sick and dying in agony, the prince and his companions were safe and happy. One night, they decided to throw a masquerade, and they all began to revel, dressed in strange and fantastic costumes. It was a grand night, but as the party wound to a conclusion, the prince noted that one of his guests had chosen a costume that seemed in unusually bad taste; one had made himself up in the grotesque appearance of one stricken by the Red Death. The prince stepped up to the man to rebuke him—and then was horrified to realize the truth: it was not a costume. One of their own members, one within their walls, was sick with the plague; and by being there with them, he had infected them all. They thought they had shut out the danger, but the danger came from one in their very midst.

And we must be aware of that danger in the church. We all realize that there are people in the world around us who want to shut down or shut out the church. There are those who wish to destroy or at least silence the church. This was the case for the church at Pergamos and it is, in a different sense, true for us today. We must be willing to stand against these enemies; we must be willing to stand up for what we believe. But we always have to remember that there is a danger from within the church; ultimately, each one of us may be the danger; each of us may be the weakest link. That is why we must remember to hold fast to the truth, keeping our eyes on God and on his promises, and always be willing to turn to God.

When I was younger, I disliked reading Revelation. Parts of it were honestly terrifying and over all I found it depressing, because it is a book about death and destruction, of final and irreversible judgment. And, in that sense, we should find Revelation unsettling; because here we do have warnings. There is real danger in this world and we should not be blind to it. But ultimately, Revelation is not a book of judgment and danger; it is a book of hope and victory. For all the carnage which fills its pages, it ends at the tree of life. It pictures Hell on earth and yet it ends with Heaven on earth. We have known disaster and scarcity. In the great judgment, there will be still greater famine and hunger. If we fail to stand against the danger without and within we may know that great hunger. But, and this is what makes all the difference, we may also overcome, and to him that overcometh God will give the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name as one of God's people.