Letter to the Church in Pergamum

{Revelation 2:12-17}
"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

"'I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'

[Rev. Dwight Yoo]
Pergamum was a center of religion & commerce, much like the other city,Smyrna. Christians, pagans, & cults all could be found there.

Balaam is a reference to the book of Numbers. He is a man who is hired to curse Israel by one of their enemies, Moab. Balaam was prevented from cursing them. Israelrites were convinced to marry Moabite women. Because of this intermarriage, Israel was misled into worshiping other gods.

Nicolaitans were false teachers. They taught that sexual immorality & idol worship was ok. Basically worship Yaweh among other gods. In order for people to do trade/businesses, the Israelites would have to join guilds. These trade guilds would worship during these festivals and go to worship at other temples.

Jesus accuses the church. He is completely serious about their compromises with the followers with Balaam & Nicolaitans. The church was good about standing strong during outright persecution. However, they did not hold onto God's teachings. They lost to Satan's quiet attack.

This quiet attack to belief is the equivalent of a sucker punch. A fight that you are ready for is one thing. An enemy that attacks you without warning is a completely different story. It's like an earthquake vs. a tsunami. You don't notice the tsunami. An earthquake is quite obvious. The tsunami comes out of the deep and crashes with unforeseen devastation.

Why do we Compromise?
SATISFACTION & BELONGING

We seek satisfaction from things other than God. We look to immediate desires & pleasures. We know we should look to eternal things, spiritual things. But instead we want immediate gratification. We want what we want and we want it now.

Christ and the church is compared the most to a marriage. We are married to God. But we think it is ok to be mostly faithful. But in a relationship, being mostly faithful means we are unfaithful. There is no such thing as partial faithfulness. Instead we seek out other people to tell us we belong. That we are ok and loved. The in-crowd. The out-crowd.

Hidden Manna - Those who turn to God will find heavenly nourishment. It is hidden because we cannot clearly see it. But heavenly things await. Rewards in heaven that are not clear to us now.

White stone - Represents life. It means that we will live instead of death. It also represents an invitation. God is saying He knows us and says we are in God's family. There's going to be a party forever. Jesus is the one who can turn water to wine. The joy of the party is who you are with.

Letter to the Church in Smyrna

{Revelation 2:8-11}

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

"'I know your tribulation and your poverty ( but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.'

[Rev. Dwight Yoo]

Smyrna was a large city. It was fully of loyalists to Rome. It was dangerous to be a Christian in this city. The jews incited the people against the christians.

In verse 8, Jesus introduces Himself as "the first and the last". Because the Christians were under such intense persecution, Christ introduces himself to reassure his people. He is in control of everything. Many followers would be killed, so Christ says he was in control of life & death.

In verse 9-10, the christians are the ones who have been stripped of rights. They were no longer citizens of Rome, so therefore they could not run businesses. They had no rights or privileges and were not protected by Roman law. Jesus is saying that because these people were faithful to Christ even to intense persecution and the point of death, they will inherit from God. "Ten days" refers to a brief time of suffering. This is not a time where they will be rescued... they will die in prison. But they will have eternal life.

Applications are difficult in our context. We are not being persecuted to death.
So I will give three applications to how we can handle suffering.

1. Jesus calls us to live in the reality of His Truth, rather than false perceptions. (Illustrations:Matrix, & The Truman show)
   
2. Jesus calls us to recognize & resist a real enemy, over whom we have real victory. (Satan is working against the kingdom of God)
   
3. Jesus does not save us from every problem, but He saved us from our greatest problem. (Our problems are not all instantly solved. But we are reconciled to God...)
   

Secondary summary: Why we suffer...

• Suffering reveals the children of God. (1 Peter 4:12)
• Suffering makes us perfect. (Romans 5:3)
• Suffering draws us closer to the heart of God. (Romans 8:28)
  

Jesus, the First and the Last

{Revelation 1:9-20 ESV}

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

[Rev. Dwight Yoo]

Who is this Jesus? (This is the passage.)

How does what we see affect what we are going through?

ver 12-13 - John sees an image of Jesus among golden lampstands. The seven churches. Seven is a number of perfection rather than an actual number. Jesus could have shown any image. What does this mean? Jesus is PRESENT among us...now.
Contextually, the church was struggling. There was persecution. Romans were killing christians. Internally there was false teachers.

In our own church, this is an encouragement to me. Our church is not being persecuted. But in our times, there are many churches closing. Christianity is not very popular. In many academic circles, being a christian is considered intellectually suicide. Our own lives have struggles personally. Our hope is not in any one person or any plan. Our hope is in Christ. He is among us and He is the caretaker and the priest of the church.

Lampstands represent the light of knowledge which gives light to the world. In those times, the priests take care of these lampstands. He is to keep the lamps lit and care for them. Jesus now does this as the head priest of the church. He keeps our lights lit. It is He who keeps the church spiritually lit and shining.

ver 14 - Jesus SEES and SPEAKS. Back then, white hair symbolized wisdom. The full head of white hair is full of infinite wisdom. The eyes were flames of fire... eyes of judgment. Nothing is hidden from Him. He sees everything. We can trick other people by pretending... but Christ sees all. He is not fooled. But not only does He see... He also speaks. His mouth is a sword that sounds like rushing waters. This is authority. He gives both encouragement as well as rebuke. He sees faithfulness... We are not condemned, but this does not mean Jesus says only nice things. Jesus also rebukes! God will also have harsh things to say to us. God also disciplines us because He loves us. He will does what is best for us, even when we want something else.

Our prayer should be like Samuel. "Speak, your servant is listening..." We should listen to God. Like the first beatitude... "Blessed are those who hear and take it to heart".

ver 16-17 - The glowing face is a CONQUEROR. The vanquishing warrior. This is Jesus. On one hand, we can say... the natural reaction of one to God is like dropping dead. Through Christ however, we can say that God comes like a Father. one who comes to us gently. You don't need to fear, because I have conquered everything... even death. God is saying something like this: "Do not fear any situations. Fear me." Consider the story of the boat in the storm. Jesus is asleep and the boat is being tossed to and fro. The disciples waken Him and Jesus wakes up. Then Jesus tells the storm to be still. And all is still. Then the disciples are afraid of Jesus... who is this Jesus. There is a healthy fear/respect for God which displaces all the other fears in our lives. Fear about our job situation. Fear about ourselves & our evil hearts. Fear about how we appear before others. Christ says... "Look at me. Don't fear what you are going through. You don't even have to fear death. I have conquered death." There is nothing to fear with a heavenly Father of such power & authority. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom is knowing how to handle any situation that comes up in life. When you start with seeing Christ for who He is... everything comes into perspective. We will live lives as more than conquerors as a result.

When Jesus says He is first & last. It means He created the world and will also bring the world to judgement. It also means that Jesus has been through human suffering. If you feel disowned by your father, Christ can say He has been there. The people of the church are being martyred. Jesus also says... I have been there. Not only has Jesus been through it, He has won. You will have the victory through Him. He will have the final say, the final word.