Pergamos – Overcoming Compromise
Part of ‘Jesus in Revelation’ series, Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser
Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town

Let’s discuss some of the revelations of Christ that help us overcome compromise in the church today.

Letter to the Church in Pergamum
Rev 2:12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
Rev 2:13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
Rev 2:14 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, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
Rev 2:15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Rev 2:16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
Rev 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one 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 that no one knows

The Sharp Two-edged Sword of Jesus’ Mouth
When we preach and teach the word of God, it cuts both the hearer and the speaker – two-edged.
You can’t speak the truth without being held to its high standards yourself. Compromise is removed that way.
God eventually sorts out all those who speak on His behalf, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. He gives many chances for his people to repent too, and allows opportunity to change and overcome compromise as we see here.
Remember how the sword comes from the mouth of our Lord?
The is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart:
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
IN order to discern the erroneous representation of Christ in the church, we need to be well versed in the New Covenant Scriptures. In order to see the Life of Christ manifest in the church today, we need to continually seek Him first in the Word. The disciples of Jesus were known by their boldness to operate powerfully and speak with authority, and it showed that they had been with Jesus:
Act 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Martyrdom
The key to sacrificing anything for God is to do it right – it has to be done with love.
1Co 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Co 13:2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Antipas – A martyr of the church of Pergamum, described as “my witness, my faithful one”

Sin of Balaam
Num 31:16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.
God told Moses to cleanse the people and not have relation with the pagan nations who knew how to entice men and women to sin. When a mother does not serve God, it influences the next generation too.
Beware of the sin of Balaam who enticed God’s people to sin on their way to their promised land. It is clear that sin means that you miss the mark God has planned for you. When you are on your way to glory, the devil will give you shortcuts and try to distract you with instant gratification, sexual immorality and sacrifice to idols is a distraction and poor imitation of the true pleasures that await us at God’s right hand in His glorious presence.
Sex before marriage is a trap and a lie. God instituted proper sexual relations between and a man and a woman in the marriage that serves as a blessing and bears good fruit of Godly offspring. The devil always ruins a good thing!
Sacrifice to idols in modern society is easily recognizable to spiritual people. Idols make money – that is why people follow an image and worship a created image versus the Creator!
Self-worship is prevalent today as Apostle Paul instructed his protégé Timothy:

2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
2Ti 3:7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
2Ti 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
2Ti 3:9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Overcoming the Nicolaitan Compromise
From MBTC Manual ‘Revelation,’ by Dr Andre Pelser.
“Nicolaitans simply refer to prominent people who want to take charge of the church without having been called to do so. This could refer to businessmen, influential politicians or popular artists who have the favour of the crowds to become leaders but have not been called nor ordained by God for that purpose. Whenever that happens, the church goes into error and people are confused after a while. God hates that.

‘Nico’ means victor of the people and laity refers to lay people, not professionals.
If a successful businessman tells a pastor of a church how the church should be run he is in danger of becoming a Nicolaitan. When a pastor falls for that trap he is in danger of a divine rebuke.
Nicolaitans are neither a tribe nor a nation: it is a spirit that enters the church and tries to control it. In traditional churches where church boards actually run the church and pays the pastor a salary, the danger of the democratic voting system is that a large family in a congregation can actually rule the church by voting their members onto the church board and into leadership positions. This is also an expression of the Nicolaitan spirit. Jesus hates it!
We have to remember that Jesus Christ appoints ministers and the Holy Spirit supplies the gifts! God the Father is in charge of the overall operation. Democracy is not the way of God. Theocracy is the right way to operate, but people hate it because they cannot control it. On the other hand, some leaders abuse the fact that God chooses a man and abuses the authority God places in the ministry gifts by becoming a mini-Hitler, a dictator that bullies people into submission, making them think they are obeying God by serving the man’s personal ambition. This often happens in what is commonly known as church-growth circles.

A church should grow naturally, as God determines. Whenever that growth is artificial it is like body builders blowing up their muscles for a show or a competition – it becomes a total show-off and a bragging session. If God supplies the growth we do not know how it grows. Only God can provide such growth. The moment I can control the growth it is no longer God!
We can sow seeds and water those seeds, but only God can provide the growth!
To the church that overcomes the spirit of the Nicolaitans in their midst God will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life which is in the midst of paradise.”

Pergamos was a compromising state church that was seeking prestige in society. The held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Doctrines of the people, the laity that have influence that want to govern the church, unspiritual people that want to tell the pastor what to do.
Eventually it becomes a business. Those who really lay down their lives don’t really have money in mind at all. The Nicolaitan spirit is rife in the church.
God hates it when people are involved in Church work for personal gain. If you overcome that God will reward you with the hidden manna and a white stone.

I will give it to those who overcome.
What you compromise to keep you lose in the end.

Four uses of the white stone.
1. It is given to victims as a sign of acquittal in Greek courts.
If anyone wants to accuse him, he just shows them the white stone. We have been accused for our sins, but Jesus paid for the white stone for us, He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and He acquits us of all sin.
2. White stone gives you the right to vote – to choose to go to heaven, to go to hell, you gotta serve somebody. You can choose to rely on God or to rely on your own strength.
Jesus has already voted in your favour. God has highly exalted Him, and if you show the white stone, you are on the right side.

3. White stone also given to victors – a white polished stone, sign of a victorious athlete, he won the race and finished the race. He conquered Satan, death and hell and the grave for you, He has already won the white stone for you.
Jesus overcame the powerful drawing of sin in the world, He wants to give you the victor’s stone of victorious living.

4. A stone of hospitality, given to visitors, like the keys of the city. He can go into any restaurant and they will give them a meal. Carte Blanche. No one else knows the name He writes on it.

If you stop compromising your faith, he will acquit you of all accusation against you, He will give you the right to make a choice, He will give you the victor’s white stone so that you can be victorious in your life, and give you an open cheque and carte blanche.

By faith receive the white stone from God, He gives you the victory.
Condition is that you overcome.

Hidden Manna
Hidden Manna. Also revelation of the Word – Jesus. God’s word is amazing and it keeps on opening up – a never ending journey. The spiritual real widens and opens up and we understand more. Something you have never seen, you can’t buy it with money.
It is hidden manna. To the overcomers…
This is linked to the Revelation of Christ at the beginning of this message to the church. He who has the double-edged sword. Jesus is revealing an additional part of Himself:
Deuteronomy_8:3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
John 6:48 I am the bread of life.
John 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
John 6:50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Overcome Compromise
What compromises are you making? Stop it.
Overcome enticement to sin with the Word of God like Jesus, with fasting and praying. Overcome false church structures by centring all your thoughts on Jesus’ wish for a spotless Bride prepared for His return. If you do that, all the other issues seem to fade into insignificance.
Overcome false doctrine and accusation with the truth.
Overcome slander with track record and fruit.
People criticizing Church leaders, are you willing to lay down your life for the church and live humbly off the offering of the people? Are you willing to continually sell your possessions in order to sustain your family and ministry, and continually give to the poor and go on self-funded missions expecting nothing in return from the people?
By God’s benevolent grace, we have now sold and given 15 cars to the church and to others as a family. We have invested millions into missions to reach the entire world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have sold properties multiple times to fund the work and build new churches, some of which we have given away, and many of whom are not even related to Harvester.
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. God will honour you too if you lay down your life and possessions to serve Him. Jesus gives us this promise:
Mar 10:28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”
Mar 10:29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,
Mar 10:30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
Mar 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Pergamos was like a state church, Dutch Reformed Church, Church of England. There were good people in it, but there was an atmosphere of compromise and Jesus exposed every incorrect representation of Himself in the local body of believers. We have reformed church structures and written several theses published for all to read about how to implement Reformational principles, orbital structures, leadership development in the kingdom of God and local church structures centred on Christ.

What wonderful rewards await those who overcome internal compromise by the power of Jesus and His Word!