One writer has said that “Pergamum” means “marriage” and that the Church there symbolizes the “marriage” of the Church with the secular world when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion about 325 A.D. However, the word “Pergamum” literally means “height, elevation, a tower or stronghold”. This could also point to an alliance between the Church and the world because Jesus says, speaking of those in Pergamum, “I know where you dwell, WHERE SATAN’S THRONE IS.” (Revelation 2:12) So, while Pergamum was a tower or stronghold, elevated above its surroundings, it was in the midst of Satan’s kingdom. But, we as Christians are not to rely upon the world for protection, but upon the Lord. “For Thou hast been a refuge for me, a TOWER OF STRENGTH against the enemy. Let me dwell in Thy tent forever; let me take refuge in the shelter of Thy wings. Selah.” (Psalms 61:3-4) “I will say to the LORD, ‘My REFUGE and my FORTRESS, My God, in whom I trust!’” (Psalms 91:2) Thus, Pergamum does symbolize the union, the marriage of  misguided Christians and the world.

            Satan discovered that persecuting the Church from without as evidenced in the Church at Smyrna would not destroy it. In fact it made it stronger. Only true believers would sacrifice everything, even their lives, for Jesus. False believers would seek to save themselves when confronted with trials and tribulations. Thus, persecution actually PURIFIED the Church. It is the same today. True Christians recognize and understand that EVERYTHING that occurs in their lives is being used by God for their good. (Romans 8:28) Nothing happens outside the providence of Him. Therefore, if that which appears to be evil closes in upon us, if we are threatened with the loss of material possessions, the loss of freedom by being cast into jail, or even the loss of life, we can still praise the Lord and worship Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. The prophet Habakkuk said it well: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, {though} the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I will exult in the LORD, I WILL REJOICE in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

            Seeing that this strategy of persecution from OUTSIDE the Church did not work Satan realized that the way to overcome and corrupt the Church was from the INSIDE. Thus, when Christianity was made the state religion by Constantine and incentives for becoming a Christian - tax breaks, clothes, jobs, - were instituted, many who had no true knowledge of Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of the world, became professing believers. It did not take long for the leaven of a sinful world to begin manifesting itself in the Church. Pagan festivals  became “Christianized” so the new believers would feel at home in their new religion, pagan beliefs were mixed with the simple Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and something that still reverberates down to this day is the acceptance of the teaching of the Nicolaitans. More on that later.

            The thing for which Jesus condemns this Church is that there are “some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit {acts of} immorality.” (Revelation 2:14) To get the full story on Balaam read Numbers 22 - 24. Balaam, a gentile prophet and soothsayer, was hired by the Moabite King, Balak, to curse Israel because he recognized Israel as a major threat to the survival of Moab. Balak promised Balaam, “I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse this people for me.” (Numbers 22:17) Balaam coveted Balak’s money and desperately desired to do as Balak requested, but the Lord would not allow him to curse Israel; rather, He had Balaam bless Israel three different times. Needless to say, this infuriated Balak. “Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, ‘I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, THE LORD HAS HELD YOU BACK FROM HONOR.’” (Numbers 24:10-11)

            Balaam plead his case before Balak and told him he had warned him that he could only speak what the Lord had given him to say. Thus, Balak’s plan of destroying Israel from the OUTSIDE failed. Yet, because Balaam coveted Balak’s money he counseled Balak on how to overcome the Israelites: from the INSIDE. He told Balak to have the Midianite women seduce the men of Israel. In doing this the Israelite men began to turn from the Lord and worship the idols the women worshipped. Also, it would destroy the blood line of the Israelites as they intermingled with the foreign nations around them. Balaam’s plan was to literally marry Israel, a called-out, separated people unto the Lord, with the pagan nations they were called to destroy. In doing so Israel would in time cease to exist, just like all the nations they fought against - Moab, Ammon, Philistia, etc.

            Balaam was a false prophet; one who loved money more than the Lord. He was a hireling such as mentioned by Jesus in John chapter ten. He did not care whether Israel was blessed or cursed as long as he could be enriched by his actions. The honor of man meant more to him than the honor given by the Lord. His desire was to cause Israel to stumble and be destroyed.

            What has this got to do with the Church at Pergamum? Jesus said there were some there who held the teaching of Balaam. That means there were false teachers and prophets in their congregation that introduced heresy and immorality to them. Today we have churches and denominations that deny that salvation comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ. That is too exclusive a teaching to be politically correct. It excludes the Jews, Muslins, Hindus, or just plain, ordinary nice people from being saved. Salvation only through Jesus is blasted as being intolerant, an elitist belief that unfairly condemns all those who are not born again Christians. The world, and increasingly, those INSIDE the churches who call themselves “Christian” are beginning to waver from this FUNDAMENTAL doctrine that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and embracing the teaching that BEING GOOD is all that matters to God. As long as you live a good life and do not hurt anyone, God will just smile at the sin (after all they are just SMALL sins) in your life and welcome you with open arms into Heaven. They conveniently forget that, “THERE IS SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Jesus Himself warns that, “NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS TO ME, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23) It should be a sobering revelation that DOING “christian” things is not enough to save anyone. It is our confession that we are sinners in need of forgiveness, our understanding that we CANNOT save ourselves, recognizing the sacrifice Jesus made on the Cross for us, and our acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that brings about our salvation. The “Balaams” in the Church would have us believe Jesus is simply ONE way to reach Heaven; that to be so narrow minded as to reject someone or their religion as inadequate to get them into Heaven because they do not believe in Jesus is the height of arrogance. Those who hold to the teaching of the Bible that Jesus and He alone is able to save us are ridiculed and mocked; they are labeled as bigots and right-wing nuts, uneducated and ignorant of the truth. They face the rage and hatred of the world and those who call themselves “Christian”, but are not. No greater heresy exists in the false churches and denominations than this. The idol, Tolerance, is being worshipped more and more each day as we allow the truth to be replaced by that which appeals to the flesh.

            Balaam’s counsel to Balak also introduced immorality to the Israelites. This too has proven to be an effective strategy of Satan’s today. How many denominations, at the very least, turn a blind eye to the murder of the unborn by abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, evolution, the radical feminist movement, and in some cases actively embrace them?

 The sanctity of human life has been diminished so drastically that violent crime, including murder, by younger and younger children is becoming an everyday occurrence. These children have been taught that the unborn are no more than a blob of tissue that can be discarded at any time with impunity. If the adults in their lives can justify the murder of the most defenseless among us, why are we surprised when they kill those with which they are angry or simply inconvenienced?     

Homosexuality is enjoying its greatest acceptance in history; not only among the unbelievers in the media such as book publishers and Hollywood producers of TV and movies, but among some of the most well known denominations. It has now become commonplace to find PRACTICING homosexuals in positions of leadership in a variety of churches. Homosexuals and Lesbians fight tenaciously to infiltrate our public schools and organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America. They realize that if they can expose, through positions of authority, their sinful lifestyle to our children and convince them that it is simply an acceptable, alternative lifestyle, all resistance to this perversion will be eliminated. So well has the homosexual lobby done their job of legitimizing their warped values anyone who disagrees with them is labeled as being homophobic. The Church should be hanging its head in shame for not only being intimidated by the ridicule and slander it receives from those who have exchanged the truth of sexual purity for the most degrading types of sin, but for ACTIVELY helping its advance. The sexual sin of living together outside of marriage is so commonplace that many, not only in the world, but in the Church, would be shocked to realize they are committing the sin of fornication. We as Christians have done a poor job of  being the salt and light in the world Jesus commanded us to be. With hardly a whimper of protest passing our lips we have allowed false teachers to poison our minds and the minds of our children. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah about those who claimed to be wise and know Him, but lived in darkness. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the LYING pen of the scribes has made {it} into a lie. The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught; behold, they have REJECTED the word of the LORD, and what kind of wisdom do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to new owners; because from the least even to the greatest everyone is greedy for gain; FROM THE PROPHET EVEN TO THE PRIEST EVERYONE PRACTICES DECEIT. And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. WERE THEY ASHAMED because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, and they DID NOT KNOW HOW TO BLUSH; therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time of their punishment they shall be brought down, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 8:8-12) Do not be deceived. Judgment will be brought upon all who sow to the flesh.

The feminist movement has probably done more to tear down the family unit than any other single thing. In the search for equality women have become more masculine in their manner and behavior and men have become more effeminate. The greatest plague upon our society is fatherlessness. Our young men do not know what it means to be a man, to be a protector and a provider for those whom he is responsible for. The feminists bristle at the mere suggestion that they need to be protected or provided for; they look upon that as weakness and just another way men subject them to slavery. Certainly men have overstepped the bounds God placed upon them in their relationships with women, with their wives, with their daughters. Certainly a woman is not a piece of property owned by the man; any REAL man finds the thought of forced submission repulsive, but in the feminists’ zeal to free themselves of any kind of male leadership, they have proved to be as domineering, as abrasive, as violent, as sinful as man. The feminist movement is not about equality; it is about superiority. The less a feminist has to do with men the better, even to the point of encouraging Lesbianism because that is the ultimate anti-male relationship.

Our daughters are taught to hate men, to view them as oppressors who seek to enslave them to their evil desires. They are told that all men are pigs and cannot be trusted. Male bashing is an acceptable national pastime. The men’s group, Promise Keepers, whose whole premise is to love and respect women, wives, and daughters, and to teach their sons to do the same, is denounced by the feminists as an evil plot to subjugate women.

Adam was created as a triune being: spirit (the masculine part of us), soul (the feminine part of us), and body, with the spirit (which consists of our conscience, intuition, and ability to commune with God) being in authority over the soul (which consists of our emotions, will, and intellect). The day Adam and Eve fell into sin the spirit (masculine) died to God just as He said would happen. At that point the soul (feminine) took control. Room does not allow me to expand upon this truth more, but suffice it to say the feminist movement is a physical picture of what took place in the Garden of Eden at the Fall of mankind.

Because the Church at Pergamum had allowed the teaching of Balaam to gain a foothold there the teaching of the Nicolaitans had also taken hold. The word “Nicolaitan” literally means “to conquer or rule the common people”. What had happened when the Church became the state religion was an influx of non-believers who knew nothing of Jesus Christ or true salvation. What resulted was a class of people, the LAITY, who desired the promise of salvation without a genuine knowledge of the Lord and no desire for holiness. Holiness was to be left to the experts. Today we have priests, pastors, ministers, bishops and so forth who have been ordained by man and we have the laity. We have forgotten that we all are to be priests unto the Lord; we all are to fight the Good Fight; we all are to be holy as God is holy.

It is time the true Christians arm themselves with, “the sword of the Spirit, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD” (Ephesians 6:17); not that we might destroy those whom the Lord died on the Cross to save, but that we might EXPOSE the truth, and with that exposure the Light of the world, Jesus Christ, may bring a healing, not to our physical bodies only (that is so superficial), but a healing first to our spirits that we might worship in Truth and then to our souls that we might be one with each other and Him.

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