The Compromising Churches (Revelation 2:12-29)

• “In racing there’s a time you don’t think about life, you don’t think about money, you don’t think about anything but winning.
• When we were entering turn three on the second to last lap, all that mattered to me was that I came out first
• I know Fittipaldi felt the same way.
• Indy is the biggest race in the world, and this was the last couple of laps.
• I made up my mind that I was not going to lift my foot off the throttle no matter what, and I figured Fittipaldi wasn’t going to either.
• When we went into that turn side by side at over 200 miles an hour, we both knew only one of us was going to come out of it.”
• some of you might know that I’m quoting Al Unser Jr., and some of you know that he was the one who did not make it through that turn
• he spun out of control and hit the concrete wall at over 200 miles an hour
• he walked away from the smoldering debris clapping at Fittipaldi’s courage, and giving the thumbs up sign as a gesture of respect for the other driver’s good fortune
• wouldn’t you say that a good set of nerves is needed for someone considering Indy racing?
• there are other lines of work that require heavy nerve
• I’d say if an astronaut ever loses his nerve, his career is over
• the same could be said about test pilots
• if a narcotics officer ever loses his nerve, his career won’t last long
• if a commodities trader ever loses his nerve, it’s likely that her career is gone
• certain types of work demand a higher nerve quotient than other kinds
• and it might surprise you to hear me say that church work is near the top of the list of occupations that are nerve intensive
• if church workers lose their nerve, there’s a good chance they’ll lose their church
• it takes a lot of nerve to build a church and keep a church on a God-glorifying path over a long period of time
• church historians can point to thousands of examples of church workers over the years who lost their nerve, and as a result, lost their church
• this morning, we’re looking at two churches who are suffering from illnesses that threaten their very existence
• we’re going to discover that in each case it is basically a loss of nerve on the part of church leaders and on the part of church workers that is at the root of these life-threatening diseases
• let’s briefly look at the concerns of Jesus for these two churches
• FIRST IS THE CHURCH AT PERGAMUM
• please open your Bibles to Revelation 2:12-17
• Pergamum held the official title of the capital of Roman Asia
• it was a beautiful and wealthy city, with a huge library, and many palaces
• and it was the unofficial capital of what I told you about last week: emperor worship
• in fact, Pergamum had three temples to the emperor cult
• it was the first city in Asia to openly support the imperial cult
• refusal to take part in worshiping the emperor was considered a form of high treason
• not only did Pergamum have three temples to the emperor, it also had temples to other gods as well: Dionysus, Athena, Zeus, and so on
• and because of its temples both to the emperor and to these gods, Jesus identifies this city in verse 13 as the place “where Satan has his throne”
• Pergamum was a stronghold of both pagan religion and emperor worship
• and it was an unusually difficult environment for a Christian church
• and Jesus says, despite the great wickedness surrounding you, you’ve got one great thing going in your favor
• you’ve stayed true to my name
• (Revelation 2:13) I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
• it appears that, like in Smyrna, there had been some definite time of persecution, when members of the church were faced with the challenge of denying their faith in Christ
• at least one man, Antipas, had been martyred
• according to tradition, he was slowly roasted to death in a bronze kettle for refusing to deny Christ
• despite all the persecution, and in spite of their pagan past, these believers had been faithful to the point of death
• they had stayed true to Jesus’ name
• and yet, verse 14 says:
• (Revelation 2:14) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you
• what Satan couldn’t accomplish through suffering, intimidation, suffering, and death from outside the church, he achieved from within the church
• because, as Jesus points out, there’s something seriously wrong within the church at Pergamum
• (Revelation 2:14) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
• (Revelation 2:15) Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
• the problem was one of compromised lifestyles
• let me explain what the problem was
• if you remember the story of Balaam in the Old Testament, Balaam was asked to curse the people of Israel
• but God wouldn’t let him
• instead, Balaam pronounced a blessing
• but what of a direct frontal attack, Balaam was used in a more insidious way
• Numbers 31:16 tells us that Balaam gave advice that led Israel to become involved in sexual immorality and idolatry
• and some in the church of Pergamum were following that example
• these people, the Nicolaitans, seem to have argued that since the pagan gods didn’t really exist, there was nothing wrong in participating in the pagan feasts
• you need to know that these pagan feasts involved temple prostitutes and sexual immorality
• sexual laxity was not considered a serious sin by the Greeks and the Romans
• and it seems that some Christians at Pergamum were participating in these holiday festivities, and so no harm in indulging themselves at the temple feasts and in the sexual excitement everyone else was enjoying
• sexual freedom and idol worship was the order of the day
• they said, “What’s the problem? These idols aren’t real. We can bow on the outside; what’s important is our hearts. Let’s get the Romans off our backs. Look what happened to Antipas. A little compromise won’t hurt”
• a greater value was being placed on safety and comfort than on faithfulness and fidelity to Jesus Christ
• and according to verse 14, the problem wasn’t church-wide
• only some were arguing this way
• but church leaders lacked the nerve to confront it
• they lacked the nerve to call it compromise
• they lacked the nerve to put an end to it by hook or by crook
• “Where’s your nerve?” Jesus was asking this church and its members
• “Where’s your nerve? You lose your nerve, and you’ll eventually lose this church”
• “I don’t care how scary it is to confront, I don’t care how costly it is to your fellowship, I don’t care if it means losing a third of your congregation”
• if you lose your nerve to confront compromised teaching, you’ll eventually lose your church
• the church will become weak and flabby on the inside, and therefore become vulnerable to deception and disease, and after that it’s only a matter of time
• so in verse 16 and following, the message to the church is, repent fast!
• the entire church is summoned to repent for a sin of which only a few were actually guilty
• repent, Jesus said, for losing your nerve in confronting compromised forms of teaching!
• look with me at the next church – the church in Thyatira
• Thyatira wasn’t a great city – it was a work ing person’s town
• and the problem here, as described in verses 19 to 21, was compromised leadership
• now, this church had a lot going for it
• (Revelation 2:19) I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
• this church had some great strengths
• their state reflected some outstanding progress in love and faithfulness
• it was a church that was getting better in these two areas, rather than worse
• but Jesus reveals a perilous flaw in the church
• (Revelation 2:20) Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
• in the church at Thyatira, a certain woman had risen in the ranks of leadership to the point where she was virtually uncontested beyond accountability to anybody
• John referred to her as Jezebel
• most scholars feel that was not her real name, but rather a title conferred upon her to underscore her wickedness
• now, Thyatira was a real trade town
• it wasn’t a big town, but a lot of trade took place there
• in order to participate in the commercial life of that city, people had to join trade guilds, which would be analogous to trade unions or trade federations in this country
• without belonging to these trade guilds, it would be very difficult to make a decent living
• the economy revolved around these guilds
• history tells us that each guild had its own patron deity, feasts, and seasonal festivities that included sexual revelries
• and to belong to a guild meant that you had to participate in these guilds and all the immorality surrounding them, or else face ruin in your livelihood
• clearly, any dedicated Christian could see that this kind of involvement in idol-worship and sexual immorality was deep trouble
• they knew they should stay a country mile away from food that was offered to foreign gods and sexual immorality
• and this woman, a prophetess and teacher, stood up and said, “Go ahead and participate. Join the carousing. Sure, worship Christ. But because you have to make a living, go ahead and get drunk in your guilds. Join in the sexual revelries. Compromise with the pagans around you. You have no choice – it’s good for your career”
• verse 21 tells us that she herself was guilty of sexual immorality
• and yet she was still a key leader in the church, despite her teachings and despite her lifestyle
• and Jesus says to them, in essence, “Why are you putting up with compromised leadership? Don’t you see the damage she’s doing to your church? The lives she’s leading astray? Where’s your nerve? Stand up to this woman!”
• despite being a loving church, a church that was increasing in their faithfulness and service, this church lacked the nerve to practice tough love on one of its own leaders
• they compromised their leadership
• verses 22 and 23 tell us that even though the church was unwilling to discipline this woman, God wasn’t
• God promised severe discipline – probably sickness, suffering, and even death, if she and her followers didn’t repent
• and he tells the rest of the church – probably a minority – to hold on; to stay faithful – until Christ returns again
• so the problems of the two churches in Pergamum and Thyatira were similar
• the churches were on the ropes because they lacked the nerve to confront compromised lifestyles and compromised leadership
• I told you earlier that church work is near the top of the list of occupations that are nerve intensive
• it takes a lot of nerve to build a church and keep a church on a God-glorifying path over a long period of time
• church historians can point to thousands of examples of church workers over the years who lost their nerve, and as a result, lost their church
• I’m sure that the people in these two churches saw compromise
• but they didn’t want to do anything about it
• they didn’t want to make waves
• the majority of churches today are unwilling to confront and lovingly discipline their own people
• and they end up tolerating compromise, false teaching, and immorality
• I want to tell you three stories as we close this morning that illustrate what I’m talking about
• story number one: Jesus enters the temple
• gentle Jesus, meek and mild, takes a whip and drives people out of the temple
• the dust is flying; tables are being turned over; animals are stampeding
• what motivated Jesus to take such drastic action in the temple?
• Jesus saw God’s honor being compromised
• Jesus saw compromise, and he couldn’t tolerate it
• something had to be done to stand up for God’s honor
• how can a person who loves God stand idly by while God’s honor is being defaced?
• story number two: a young boy goes to deliver food to his brothers in the army
• he overhears Goliath, the giant, taunting God
• and David says, “I can’t believe it? Why doesn’t somebody do something about this? Why doesn’t somebody take him on?”
• the answer comes back, “Because he’s big”
• and David says, “So what? God’s honor is at stake, and that is a non-negotiable”
• that’s a cause worth taking a risk for
• any time God’s honor is at stake, it’s worth fighting for – even if there’s risk involved; even if it means causing a few waves
• story number three: a story I’m involved in
• it’s important to realize as I recount this story that I made mistakes
• there are things that I should have done differently as I looked back
• but the problem was open and flagrant sin within the congregation
• one of our church members was openly and continually committing a sin, that was endangering not only his own spiritual condition but the condition of the entire church
• and the issue, I believe, was not his sin, but of his refusal to repent of that sin and make a change
• so we began to practice loving discipline
• we met with him privately, and encouraged his repentance
• nothing happened
• the leaders of the church met with him, and encouraged his repentance
• nothing happened
• and eventually it became apparent that we as a church had to practice loving discipline, and to take action to remove him from our fellowship for open and flagrant sin, and an unwillingness to repent
• there was no pleasure in this
• it was done with a lot of prayers and a lot of soul-searching
• this wasn’t a witch-hunt; there wasn’t any “holier than thou” attitudes
• but at that point, the only loving thing left to do was to confront, in a loving and yet a strong manner
• the church struggled with that
• we lost people who weren’t happy about it
• I still remember a matriarch of the church saying, “This has happened before and we’ve always swept it under the rug; I don’t see why we’re confronting it now”
• ironically, at the same time, a deacon was dressed casually for the Lord’s Supper, and there was more of an iron resolve to confront and discipline him for that than to practice loving church discipline in this other matter
• but it was a tough time for the church, and for me as a pastor
• but I’ll never forget the Sunday when this man stood in front of the church
• as a result of the church discipline, he finally repented and came clean with God
• and I’ll never forget the time when he stood in front of the church and said, “Thank you for loving me enough to confront me. If you hadn’t practiced loving church discipline, I wouldn’t be here.”
• I’ll tell you – there weren’t many dry eyes in the place as we welcomed back a man who had wandered away, but had come back because a church loved him enough to not let it slide
• listen to me
• a believer’s silence in the face of compromise is a chilling indication of spiritual weakness
• for a believer to stay mute in the face of compromised teaching, compromised lifestyles of leaders or other believers, or compromised zeal, is unthinkable!
• the stakes are too high
• God’s honor is too important
• the witness of the church is too important
• this morning’s warning is very simple
• you can’t miss it
• believers at Richview Baptist Church, don’t lose your nerve
• there’s too much riding on it
• pray that the pastor of this church never loses his nerve
• pray that the deacons of this church never lose their nerve for confronting compromise
• let’s pray that all of us will love God deeply enough to do what David did, to volunteer to do battle with any giant that threatens the honor of God or the integrity of the church
• no matter what the cost
• don’t tolerate false teaching and compromised lifestyles
• the two extremes we need to avoid are these:
• unloving orthodoxy – the sin of the Ephesian church, which didn’t tolerate false teaching, and yet had left their first love
• and on the other hand, don’t be found guilty of the other extreme – loving compromise, the sin of the churches in Pergamum and Thyatira
• so will you today resolve that whenever you see God’s honor at stake, in the form of compromised lifestyles, teaching, and leadership, that you will take godly and bold action?
• will we be a church that doesn’t lack nerve when it comes to God’s honor?

Adapted in part from a message by Bill Hybels