Program Extras

Series: Revelation
Dr. Woodrow Kroll
November 8, 2007 

Woodrow Kroll:  Hi, this is Woodrow Kroll inviting you to join us right now for another edition of Back to the Bible.

DRAMA--Jesus:  To the church surrounded by wickedness, I know that you live near Satan's throne. Yet you hold fast my name, but I have a few things against you. You have some there who deceive the others so that they might eat foods sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 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. (Revelation 2:13-17, paraphrase)

Woodrow Kroll:  Well, welcome to Back to the Bible. And again I’m Woodrow Kroll here along with my co-host, Tami Weissert, and a few other friends as well. And thank you for being here for our study today.

Now what you just heard is a dramatic reading from the second chapter of the Book of Revelation and it is also the passage that we are looking at in today’s study.

Tami Weissert:  Now, we’ve talked about this radio drama the past couple of days, but for anyone that might have missed it, you can get a copy of this entire radio drama covering all of Revelation for yourself. And you can just go online to backtothebible.org.

And let me tell you, Dr. Kroll, as I was listening to the drama right now, two things kind of stick out to me when I think of this church. First, that they need to be very careful about guarding themselves about the negative things that are all around them.

And second, it seems like this church would be a shining light in major darkness. I mean, it would have potential to reach a lot of people for Christ.

Woodrow Kroll:  Isn't it always true that your light always shines brighter when you're in the darker place? I mean, light shines better at night than it does during the daytime.

So, if you are a church today, you belong to a church in a bad neighborhood, thank the Lord for that because you have a light shining in that neighborhood that others do not have. And I think that's what's going on here at the church at Pergamos.

Well, now, let's talk about the city first of all; and then we'll talk a bit about the church. This is a town called Pergamos or Pergamum. It can be spelled either way. It's located about 70 miles north of Smyrna, which is the church we talked about yesterday.

Remember, I said that Smyrna is the modern city of Izmir. So, this is 70 miles north of this modern city. It's only about 10 miles, maybe 15 miles from the coast of the Aegean Sea. But it does pretty well put this church on the edge of nothing. You know, this is not a seacoast city. This is not near the great city of Ephesus. This is pretty far out there.

This is a town that is just infested with idolatry. That's why I call this the church in a bad neighborhood because there are religious groups that have mushroomed in this city. It had a massive altar to Zeus, the great Greek god. That massive altar today has been removed; and it's in a museum in Berlin, Germany. But there was an elegant temple there to the goddess Athena. Dionysius and Demeter were also worshipped there. So, it was a cult center.

It was a tiny church in a tiny town that was just infested with horrible influences on this church. Small church, small community, large university, a large library. But here's a church that is in a small town with a lot of bad influence. And it's trying to be a light in a dark place.

What do you say to a church in a bad neighborhood?

You may have a bad neighborhood in your town. There are prostitutes in the neighborhood. There are drug dealers on every corner. It's a rough neighborhood. There's a lot of gang activity. And you don't have to be a Las Vegas or a New Orleans or a New York or a town like that. It can be a small town that you live in and find these things to be true. What does Jesus have to say to a church in a town that is in a bad neighborhood?

Well, let's find out. Revelation 2 beginning at verse 12:

"And to the angel" (the messenger, the, perhaps, pastor), "of the church in Pergamos write, 'These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells"'" (Revelation 2:12-13).

Now, there's a lot of intrigue in that verse. So, let's kind of unpack it. Jesus says three things about this downtown church in a bad neighborhood.

First of all he says, "Good job." He wants to commend them. He says, "I know your neighborhood. Satan's throne is there. This is enemy territory. You are trying to do Gospel business in enemy territory."

It is also the seat of political wickedness. It's the capital of a province in Asia. It's the seat of religious wickedness. Remember I said the altar of Zeus was there? And the health center, the hospital of Asclepios was there. Now, He talks about this being a satanic center. I mean, there are just dark, dark, horrible influences on this little church.

But He says, "I know your neighborhood. I commend you. I know that you hold fast to My Name. You refused to deny the name of Jesus even when others did. And I know you did not deny the faith."

He singles out one particular Christian here by the name of Antipas. We don't know anything about this guy, but Antipas is singled out for special mention. Reportedly, Antipas was roasted slowly in a brass kettle during the persecution under the reign of Emperor Domitian. We don't know how accurate that is. But if it is accurate, it shows you why Jesus points out Antipas as a wonderful example of a person who tried to be a shining light in a very dark neighborhood.

So, three things Jesus has to say to this church:

Number one is, "Good job. I know everything about you."

Now, Jesus has said to the church at Pergamos, "Good job." But He also has to say, "Watch out."

Look at verse 14:

"But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth" (Revelation 2:14-16).

Now He says, "Look, I commend you. I know you're in a tough neighborhood. You've done a great job. But I want to warn you as well." He says, "Watch out, downtown church in a bad neighborhood, watch out."

And here's why He says you need to watch out, verse 14, "Your church is infiltrated with the doctrine of Balaam, the teaching of Balaam."

Now, you remember back in Numbers 22, 22-25 actually, remember the story of Balak, who was the king of Moab? Balak tried to get Balaam to put a curse on Israel. In fact, he paid him to put a curse on Israel. But instead, Balaam blessed Israel. Numbers 31:16 says that he advised Israel, however, to commit immorality with the women of Moab. And as a result of that, even though he blessed Israel, he told them it's OK to live in immorality. It's OK to participate in pagan rituals. It's OK.

So, the bottom line of the teaching of Balaam is this: This is a person who blesses God with his mouth--at least one side of it--and the other side says, "It's OK to have a little sexual indiscretion. It's OK to live in immorality. It's OK for you to have an affair with a person at the office or a neighbor or someone at church. It's OK, as long as you worship God."

Basically, what He is saying here is this is a church that was infiltrated by the teaching of Balaam, and at the same time was trying to reach out to the community that had infiltrated it.

So, He says, first of all, "I want to caution you that your church is infiltrated with the teaching of Balaam."

Secondly, He says, "I want to caution you," verse 15, "because there are those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans."

Now, if that sounds familiar to you, it's because we encountered this doctrine the other day in our study. The Nicolaitans were a heavy shepherding movement. They were a movement where the pastor ruled as the absolute dictator of the church. They were a movement in which the pastor conquered the people. That's what Nicolaitan means, "laity conqueror."

Probably in this church, there were people who did not exercise their rights as believer priests and just left everything up to the pastor. The pastor took that opportunity, took the ball and ran with that. And this was a church that was dominated by a few people: pastors, elders, people who really had the power in the church.

And Jesus says, "I hate that. I don't want that to be the case."

Yes, there has to be a leader in the church. And that leader has to be the under-shepherd of God. But that leader is not a dictator. That leader is a person who gets his orders from God just like everybody else does.

And as a result, He's saying, "I don't want your church to be a church dominated by one or two people. I want you to be the church, all of you to be the church."

So, He says, "I'm cautioning you. First of all, I caution you because the doctrine of Balaam has come into your church.

"Secondly, I caution you because there are some people in your church who hold to the church polity of the Nicolaitans, that the pastor rules everything."

Then He says this. And this is a severe caution to the church. He says, "I want you to repent or I'm coming back to clean house."

I mean, that's pretty tough stuff from the Lord Jesus. He says, "Either you repent or I'll be back to clean house."

Now, again, this is a church in a bad neighborhood. This is a church that is doing whatever it can to reach out to the world. But, unfortunately, in its evangelism, it has failed to separate itself from the world it wants to reach. It's a church that's become so much like the world around it that Jesus says, "Either you repent of your sin or I have to come and clean house in My church because, remember, judgment always begins at the house of the Lord."

In the 21st century, our century, is there any parallel to this in the church today?

Is it possible that in the church today there is immorality in the church? Is it possible in the church today that there are one or two people who are making all the decisions for the church? Is it possible that in our churches in the 21st century there are people who reach out to the community and claim to be Christians but are sneaking around behind the Lord's back and living like animals?

Is it possible?

Well, you and I are both smart enough to know that it's not only possible, it's happening. This is true in a lot of places today. Maybe you know of cases in your own church where it's true.

What Jesus is saying is this, "Look, you've got to step up to the plate and confront sin where sin is found because if you don't confront sin, I have to."

Now, I want to show you how prevalent this is in our society today. Just about the time that you thought that the greeting card racks had become full of everything and covered all the bases, somebody found an untapped market. It's the untapped market of the mistress.

*There is a line of cards today that is called, "The Secret Lover Collection." What the founder of this line of cards says is, "This is a line of cards" (I'm quoting now), "committed to providing a greeting card collection with empathy and understanding, without judgment, to lovers involved in secret relationships." So, you can go to the card store and buy your wife a birthday card and your mistress one at the same time.

Now, basically, the woman who is behind this collection says that she launched it because she saw a market. There was a need out there for cards for your mistresses. There was a need out there for cards for people that you are sleeping around with--and in sin doing so. As a result, this whole industry came into being because this is the way life is today.

Now, Jesus is saying to this church, "Good job." But He's also saying to this church, "Watch out--because, if you're doing a good job in being evangelistic that doesn't necessarily mean that, while you reach out to the community, that there aren't problems inside the church that you need to deal with and haven't dealt with yet. Good job and reach out."

Tami Weissert:  If you're not having sin in your life and you're trying to be evangelistic to someone and bring them into your church, how do you guard against just the worldly perspective and views that, you know, you're opening your doors and having people come in because you're trying to reach them for Christ? How do you guard against letting that influence your church?

Woodrow Kroll:  Yes, we are to reach out to the world and bring them to Christ. But that's where the pulpit of the Church has to become a place where sin is really defined as sin and not tolerated.

The unfortunate thing is, in order to reach the world today, there's a whole segment of the Church that says, "Don't call sin, sin; call it a lack of creativity or call it not living up to your potential or, you know, don't call sin what Jesus called it. Soften your approach, and you'll win more people to the Lord through that softened approach."

Now, look, we have two opportunities here to reach the world. One of them is through accommodation. We can accommodate the world to reach the world. A lot of churches have chosen that method.

The alternative to that is just that--to provide an alternative. And that's what the New Testament Church did. Nobody ever confused the New Testament Church with the world. I mean, they clearly knew these people were living an alternative. In the 21st century, the church sometimes blends into the community to such an extent that there is no alternative there.

I think that's what Jesus is saying to this church. He says, "Look, you're doing a good job; but watch out because there are some very serious tendencies in your church that I have to warn you about."

In just a minute, I want to come back and talk about the last thing that Jesus has to say to this church.

Tami Weissert:  Well, I hope you’ve been enjoying those little snippets of radio dramas that we’re using to start our studies. And you’re going to continue to hear them throughout this eight week study on Revelation here on Back to the Bible.

You know, we want you to start digging into your own Bible, and these dramas are great way to bring a sense of newness to a familiar passage of Scripture. But did you know that these dramas cover the entire Book of Revelation? Yep, all 22 chapters.

The drama is called, The Time is Near. And it's a 30-minute dramatic interpretation of the entire Book of Revelation. Now you're going to want a copy of this! And we’re making that available to you on CD. I really think that it'll help you experience Revelation like you never have experienced it before.

You can order your own copy by calling us at Back to the Bible, the number is 1-800-759-2425. Or you can order the CD called, The Time is Near, online at backtothebible.org.

Now, let’s jump back into the study with Dr. Kroll here on Back to the Bible.

Woodrow Kroll:  Here's the last thing that Jesus says to this church. Look down at verse 17 of Revelation 2. As He concludes the message to the church at Pergamos, He says this:

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it"' (Revelation 2:17).

What He has to say is this:

Number one, "Good job."

Number two, "Watch out."

Number three, "Buck up."

You know, just kind of buck up. "Hang on. Downtown church in a bad neighborhood, you overcome your problems. You stay true to Me, and you deal with the problems in your church. You will be a light in a shining place. And to you I'm going to give this hidden manna, this bread that the world doesn't know anything about. Don't buckle under the pressure of sexual or social pressures. But instead be strengthened with the power of God's Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." That's what Paul told the Ephesians in chapter 3 (:16-17).

So He says, "Look, buck up, you can overcome this. You can deal with this problem and be a light. And when you are, I will give you hidden manna." Notice that's one thing He says, "I'll give you a white stone with your name on it."

Now, we have tendency to think of stones as something you throw in a pond. Now, why a white stone? Things that are important are gold, like the gold medal at the Olympics, or silver or bronze. But a white stone?

Well, remember, this is biblical language here and better than an Olympic medal is the Judgment Seat of Christ before whom every Christian must one day stand. Jesus Christ will judge the things done in our bodies whether they're good or bad. And He's specifically saying this to the church at Pergamos: "I'm going to judge your ministry in your bad neighborhood. But I'm also going to judge your sin in your church."

So, He says, "Get rid of that sin. Repent, so I don't have to come. And you can overcome this. And when you do, I'm going to give you a white stone. And it's going to have your name on it." Not a gold medal. Not the Urim and Thummim that had the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on the breastplate of the priest.

Stones in the ancient world were often used as a way to render a verdict. So, if the verdict was innocent, white stones were cast into a bag. If the verdict was guilty, black stones were cast into a bag.

Now, when He says, "I'm going to give you a white stone," basically what He is saying to them is, "You take care of the sin in your church and when it comes time to stand before Me at the Judgment Seat of Christ, I'll give you a white stone. I will say you are acquitted of your sins. You have dealt with the sin in the life of your church, and you can be rewarded for the work your church did."

Now, just think about what the alternative to that is: You don't deal with the sin in your church. You may have great success as a church now. But when you stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, the judge says, "I've bad news for you. Nothing done is rewardable for eternity because there was sin in your life when you did it and you knew it and you didn't repent of it and you didn't take care of it."

So, I think there's a lesson for us in the 21st century here. The lesson is good job. If you're a church, a downtown church in a bad neighborhood, hang in there. But don't let the neighborhood seep into the church because if you do, then you are robbing yourself of rewardable activity for all eternity.

The bottom line is this: For those who say it's impossible to live a pure life in the midst of a bad neighborhood, God says, "Take a long look at the church at Pergamos. It's a church that had its problems, to be sure. But they dealt with those problems, repented of their sin, and that made their light in a bad neighborhood, that much brighter."

Don't let anything in your life hinder your light to the world. And nothing hinders light faster than sin.

Well, we'll be back to conclude in just a minute.

Woodrow Kroll:  You know, one of the things that I'm convinced of is, that when you're making a difference for God, you're going to see some hard times in this world. It's going to be a battle.

And right now, here at Back to the Bible, we're really in a battle.

You know, our program is being aired in more places than it ever has been before. We're seeing and hearing about lives being changed all the time, every day. And people are coming on board and recognizing just how important it is to read the Bible. And this is a pretty exciting time to be a part of Back to the Bible.

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Look, Back to the Bible has championed the Bible for over 65 years and we're going to keep spreading the message of the importance of God's Word for years to come.

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So, may I ask you something? Would you prayerfully consider helping us here at Back to the Bible, right now? You know, I don't like to do this, so you don't hear me come on the air and ask you to help us like this very often. But as President of Back to the Bible, it's my responsibility to let you, our friends and listeners, know about our need, and to ask God to burden you about that need. I really only do this because I need your help. And I'd love to hear from you today.

Would you give us a call here at Back to the Bible? Here's our number. It's toll-free 1-800-759-2425. Now please, write that number down. Or if you prefer, you can send your gift to Back to the Bible, Box 82808, Lincoln, NE 68501. And whatever God impresses on you to do, I want to say right now, "Thank you." Your help is needed and it's deeply appreciated.

Woodrow Kroll:  Thanks for being here with me today for our personal Bible study. I hope you're enjoying our study of the Book of Revelation. I want to encourage you to make this station a preset on your dial. And then join me each day at this same time over the next several months as we study the Bible together. God's Revelation has so much to say to us today. And I guarantee that it's going to give you new hope for the future.

Tami Weissert:  OK, speaking of the future, what are we studying tomorrow?

Woodrow Kroll:  Well, tomorrow we're going to look at the church at Thyatira. In Turkey, they call it Tyatira today, but we'll say it's Thyatira. I call this "the universal church of toleration." Now, you're asking yourself why? Well, because this is a church, like the 21st century church, that has learned to tolerate just about everything.

Plan on joining me, won't you? Thanks for being here today. God bless you. I'm Woodrow Kroll. Have a good and godly day.

*© 2006 PreachingToday.com and Christianity Today International, Alex Johnson, "When You Care Enough to Risk Everything," msnbc.com (8-17-05); submitted by Larry Trotter, Wake Forest, North Carolina.