This morning we’re continuing our series of messages from the Book of Revelation. We’ve been looking at 7 messages addressed to 7 churches in chapters 2 and 3. This morning we’ve come to the church of Pergamum. I invite you to open your Bibles with me to Revelation 2:12-17.

The focus of this message to the Pergamum Church is deception in the church and what to do about it.

Revelation 2:12: “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of Him - Jesus - who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is....”

Pergamum was a town in what is today western Turkey. It was beautiful - wealthy. It was a university town. In Pergamum there was library that had collection of 200,000 books. And in Pergamum there was the usual assortment of pagan temples - emperor worship - and satanic activity.

One of these temples was the temple of Esculapius - a god whose idol was in the form of a serpent - symbolic in scripture of Satan. There was also a temple for the god Zeus - which had a large throne in it - about 40 feet high - that Jesus could have been referring to as “Satan’s Throne.” The point is that Pergamum was a center of Satanic activity.

So, Jesus says, I know where you live - what its like - and - verse 13 - “you hold fast My name and you did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas My witness, My faithful one - who was martyred for his faith - who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” Even in the midst of great persecution - Church of Pergamum - you have remained faithful.

Verse 14: “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, that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality”

Hear this: It is possible to be faithful to Jesus Christ and to still be in trouble spiritually. Even when we’re living faithful to our Savior Jesus Christ - we still need to be on our guard against Satan’s deceptions. Even within this church of faithful of believers - faithful even to death - they were being led into sin through the deceptive teaching of evil men.

There were two ways they were being deceived. The first deception involves The Teaching Of Balaam. You can read the background on this in Numbers 22-25 and chapter 31.

About 1401 B.C. - Moses had led Israel through the wilderness to the plains of Moab - overlooking the promised land. Balak - the king of Moab - saw all these Israelites and became really afraid that they would attack Moab.

So Balak - the king of Moab - hired Balaam the false prophet to curse Israel. But, every time Balaam tried to curse Israel - God put words of blessing in his mouth. No matter what Balaam did - he still couldn’t curse Israel.

Since the direct approach didn’t work - Balaam went to plan B. Balaam taught Balak - the king - how to use Moabite girls to entice the young Jewish men to take part in their immoral and idolatrous feasts. The reasoning was that if the Israelites were sinful enough God would become angry with His people and destroy them.

Plan B worked. The men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the Moabite women - who invited them to sacrifice to their gods. And pretty soon the Israelites were bowing and worshipping the Moabite god - the Baal of Peor.

Since then - the teaching of Balaam has symbolized the kind of sin that seduces - that deceives - God’s people into immorality. This type of deception and sin was going on at Pergamum. The faithful were being led into idolatry and immorality.

The second deception is in verse 15: “So you also have some who hold The Teaching Of The Nicolaitans.”

The Nicolaitans were a group within the church that claimed to have some special relationship with God - a special knowledge about God - so that they claimed to be better than everyone else. And, because they claimed to have this special understanding of things spiritual - they were authoritatively teaching in the church. What they advocated was probably on one hand an appeal to physical lust and on the other hand an ambition for power - exercised in the name of religion.

The bottom line is that the Nicolaitans were using their authority to lead others away from Jesus. They had replaced a relationship with Jesus with their own rules and regulations. They had replaced the authority of Jesus over His church with their own authority. And the faithful were being deceived into following them.

How could a church that had remained faithful under direct persecution - how could a church like this fall into sin? And yet it happens everyday.

Its not the big sins that get us - right? Its the little sins that add up - that undermine our obedience and faithfulness to Jesus. All the little mind games we deceive ourselves with - the compromises - allowing ourselves to go along with the deception and lies that Satan throws at us.

Let me share one example of how dangerous all this is. Our church building is located on Brotherhood Way - a really great location - freeway close - a place in San Francisco that actually has places to park - a beautiful setting. And, because of our neighbors - a very interesting street.

At the west end is the Greek Orthodox Church - then the Masonic Temple - the Armenian School and Cultural Center - the Church of Christ - us - the Jewish School - the Jewish Temple - and at the very top the Roman Catholic Church. Quite a collection.

We often hear this statement, “We are people of different faith experiences.” or, “Brotherhood Way expresses the openness we can have to each others faith traditions.” That’s deceptively wonderful - warm and fuzzy - very politically correct - and a temptation to buy into.

In 1995 - during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations - here in San Francisco - Anglicans, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, Muslims, Christians, and Jews - gathered together at Grace Cathedral to offer prayers - chants - and incantations - to at least a dozen deities. Costumed children from around the world participated in the interfaith worship service by bringing flowers to the altar and co-mingling holy water from the Ganges, the Amazon, the Red Sea, the Jordan River, and other “sacred” streams - pouring them into a “bowl of unity.”

There is today, a religious body - led by Episcopal Bishop William Swing - which is in the process of setting up a permanent “United Religions” facility - here in San Francisco. Bishop Swing has some 200 different religious bodies signed on to join - including many claiming to be Christian. What a great idea - bringing all these different “faith traditions” together to lead humanity forward in one united spiritual voice.

Brothers and sisters in Christ - it will be a disaster if the true Church of Jesus Christ ever decides to go along with this man centered - Satan inspired - deception. And yet, many claiming to be Christians - the faithful - see nothing wrong with this ecumenical experience.

Within the Armenian Churches - evangelical and others - there are those who do not believe that the word of God, in the Old and New Testaments, is the word of God - inspired by God as His all sufficient rule of faith and practice. There are those - when the Bible speaks of salvation through Jesus Christ, that He is the only means of salvation, there is disagreement as to the meaning of this truth. And there are those who advocate our unity with organizations such as Bishop Swing is initiating. This is especially dangerous if people who hold to these heretical beliefs are in leadership. Where will they try to lead us?

How do we recognize deception? How do we protect ourselves from it.?

Jesus says in verse 16: “Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth”

“Repent then.” Literally: “Therefore change your mind.” Do a 180º change of direction. Don’t take this lightly. Don’t just go on being deceived. You can’t be complacent with this. Wake up! Purpose to do those things that will alert you and keep you from deception.

“If not - Jesus says - I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.”

Held in the hand - a sword is a symbol of war - of oppression - of authority. But in 2:16 we read that this sword comes from the mouth of Jesus. This sword is symbolic of the word of God - with which Jesus is going to make war against the deception and sinful practices in the church of Pergamum.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Bible exposes sin - and is able to cut it out of our lives. It gives discernment - brings Godly wisdom to our deepest thoughts. The Bible instructs our soul and spirit in the things of God.

How do we recognize and protect ourselves from deception? We must be saturated with the word of God. God’s word should be ingrained in our thoughts and our actions.

Years ago - when I was in college - I was teaching a Bible study at a church I was attending. And one Wednesday evening I was teaching about the need to study the Bible for ourselves.

Before the study I had prepared a Bible passage where I had changed some of the words and phrases in the text - just slightly - so that the difference in wording was subtle - so that the meaning became pure heresy.

That night the class was pretty typical - about 15 college kids - only one person brought her Bible. Everyone just sat there expecting me to teach them. So, I asked them to open their Bibles - even though only one person had one - and told them where I’d be reading from.

Then I read the verses according to the way I had changed them. Not one person said anything. Then I started to teach from the passage. At first I didn’t say anything to controversial. But, I just kept adding to the deception and the lies as I went along.

After about 20 to 25 minutes into the study - finally one person said something like, “Excuse me, but what do you mean by that?” Interestingly it was the girl who had brought her Bible who asked the question.

When I explained what I’d been doing - I told them that there was no way they should just blindly accept what I was teaching - without reading and studying on their own. How would they know if I was deceiving them?

This is hard for us to hear. But, its a warning we need to listen to. This morning - how many here have their pew Bibles open to follow along with our message? How do you know I’m right in what I’m saying? How many people bring their own Bible to church - the translation they’re familiar with - to better understand - to take notes - to underline - to go home with and think about what’s being said? After the service - what do we discuss during the Coffee Hour - the food - our concerns about the church - football - or the messages? How about quality study time this week? individually or as a group?

How do you know that you haven’t settled for a belief - a type of Christianity - that isn’t taught in the Bible? How do you know that you haven’t been led down some path whose end is spiritual destruction?

The way they teach people to recognize counterfeit money is to have them do and in-depth study of real money. If we know the real thing - its easy to recognize the deception. We must be saturated with the word of God.

Finally - to the Pergamum Church - and us - there is this promise to those who resist deception and remain faithful - verse 17: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him 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, which no one knows except him who receives it.”

The hidden manna is symbolic of the manna God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness and which Moses hid in the Ark of the Covenant. Its a reminder of God’s provision - His grace and faithfulness to His people forever. White inscribed stones were given as invitations to banquets or important events - in other words - to the one who conquers Jesus will give a complimentary invitation to the great banquet of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.