Faithfulness to Christ Requires an Acceptance of Persecution
Preaching Portion: Revelation 2:12-17
Subject: The Church at Pergamum
Theme: Embracing Persecution
INTRO: Put yourself
in the shoes of the Christians who were trying to survive when the Turks
conquered the various cities of Asia Minor in the latter half of the Middle
Ages.
·
Imagine you were a member of one of the churches
in Ephesus, Pergamum, or Sardis.
·
You want to remain true to your Christian
convictions, but at the same time you have children to feed and clothe – you
need a job in order to live.
·
You are given an option of converting to Islam
to escape persecution, or you can choose to remain true to your Christian faith
and live a life of servitude under Muslim rule or be put to death!
·
Given these choices Christianity did not have
much of a chance of survival. Historian Philip Jenkins states that in 1050 the
region had:
o 373
bishoprics
o Citizens
were all virtually Christian
o 400
years later there were only 3 bishoprics
o From
the 11th century on the Christianity community was devastated
piecemeal and the Turk shredded Christian institutions beyond repair
·
During this time period priests and monks were
killed, enslaved and churches fell silent.
·
Author Efraim Karsh in his book Islamic Imperialism: A History, says; “As a universal religion, Islam envisages a
global political order in which all mankind will lie under Muslim rule as
either believers or subject communities.”[1]
·
There is persecution going on now I our world
because of Christ. Egypt has had over 100 churches burned and looted with the
killing of priests and raping of women.
·
The Arab Spring seems to be an orchestrated
strategy to overthrow by force throughout the Middle East – destabilizing it to
accomplish their ultimate – the absolute destruction of Israel.
·
The strategy is in place that Christians are
being persecuted globally. If not the loss of life, then by means of civil
jihad that undermines our freedoms to preach the gospel of Christ accurately
without being branded as a intolerant hate-mongering homophobic type.
PROP: Persecution is part of the way of Christ.
T.S: Let us investigate the correlation of suffering as it
pertains to the church at Pergamum in Revelation 2:12-17.
1.
Persecution – Historical Review
a.
It is interesting in how history past sounds
like history present at times. While circumstances and procedures differ,
principles and reasons remain the same.
i. Christianity
was attacked out of ignorance and misunderstanding. This new way threatened the
status quo of the religious establishment.
ii. Christians
were considered anti-social because they would not participate in pagan rituals.
When investigations started Christians remained silent and secretive which only
heightened curiosity by the police of the day.
iii. Christians
would not participate in community religious activities that were designed to
placate community gods. Consequently, Christians were blamed for every tragedy
that occurred – earthquakes, floods, fire, or droughts.
iv. Christians
were hated for their beliefs. Tacitus spoke of Christians as a “class hated for
their abominations and deadly superstitions.”
v. Under
Tacitus it was generally believed that the Communion Supper was actually
infanticide/eating the blood of children. This false rumor fanned the flame of
hatred against Christians.[3]
1.
As a side note it is interesting at how even
today accusations are leveled at Christians without an ounce of truth or even a
process for debating the truth.
c.
Consider today
i. Hobby
Lobby is being fined $1.5 Million/day for not allowing abortions via the
company’s insurance policy for employees. They have defeated the government on
three previous cases and yet the government is now filing a fourth case against
them.
ii. Consider
the outspoken Doctor at the National Prayer Meeting with President Obama
present in which he spoke against the spiritual direction of the nation and was
immediately targeted by IRS
iii. Consider
the defeat of DOMA by the Supreme Court – you can now give a well-reasoned and
sound argument in the defense of scriptures and yet be called a “hate monger.”
2.
What Pergamum Teaches – Revelation 2:12-17
a.
Do not gloss over the fact of the two-edged
sword Christ is a discerner of all actions and thoughts. He has perfect
comprehension of the matter
b.
This is a church that has the testimony of
faithfulness in the very headquarters of Satan. As a result there was one who
was martyred – Antipas.
i. Here
is an illustration of one in the New Testament that stood for the truth and it
cost him his life.
ii. It
is recorded in scripture to draw attention and remembrance of what may be
expected to take up your cross and follow after Christ.
c.
Yet there are some concerns about this
congregation that has a report of standing for Christ in Satan’s hometown. They
have coddled the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.
i. These
teachings were designed to create stumbling blocks that would lead to other
sinful practices of eating meals that were offered to idols and sexual acts.
d.
There is a call to repentance or face the
presence of the Lord that will come and
war against these heretics.
i. While
it is incredible that such behavior would be allowed to exist within the
church, I think the larger argument is that of tolerating that which destroys,
hurts, and frustrates the manifested presence of God among the people of God.
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