Focal passage: Revelation 2:12-19
D.L. Moody once said, “A ship at sea is where it was designed to be – in the water. But once water starts to get into the ship, if no action is taken, it is only a matter of time before the ship sinks. Although the ship is meant to be in the water, the water is not meant to be in the ship.”
As Christians, we are meant to be in the world, but the world must not be in us.
One of the tactics that Satan uses against the church is subtle and often very effective, as he lulls us to sleep from within, tricking us into thinking that there are other things as important as serving Christ and loving the lost. He says you can have Christ and all that the world has to offer as well.
Pergamum was located some 50 miles northeast of Smyrna, and while it was not as large as the two previous cities we looked at, it too, had a claim to prominence. Pergamum was the city where important decisions were made for the empire, sort of the Washington, D.C. of first century Asia Minor. In this message to the churches, Jesus speaks to Pergamum as He who has the sharp, double-edged sword. The sword was symbolic of power and authority in the Roman world, and here Jesus declares that He has all power and authority, even over the empire.
The believers in Pergamum had held fast to Jesus, even while living in a hostile place for Christians. And they were commended for it. However, there were also some in their midst who had fallen into the sin of eating food that had been sacrificed to idols, committing sexual immorality and following the practices of the Nicolatians. Emphatically, the believers of Pergamum were called to repent of these sins or else there would be great judgment against them.
Our relationship and love for Christ should compel us to guard against worldly corruption because if we are believers, we have been redeemed by Christ.