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A Word to the Church of Pergamum

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[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.

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In the book of Revelation, there are seven churches in Asia.

On the island of Patmos, Jesus appeared to John who was praying on a Sunday.

Jesus appeared among the seven golden candlesticks representing the seven churches.

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Jesus praised and rebuked each church by calling the names of each church.

Among them, today, let's take a look at what he said to the church in Pergamum.

When speaking of the Church of Pergamum, Jesus appeared with his two-edged sword.

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Pergamum was a rich and prosperous region.

Pergamum was at that time a very wealthy city with a huge library of 200,000 books.

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Pergamum was a city with many temples.

Along with the emperor's temple, temples of various gods were built throughout the city.

It was common and taken for granted by the people of Pergamum to worship the emperor and worship idols.

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The Church of Pergamum was located in a poor place for a religious life.

The church in Pergamum looked very humble from the outside.

It was like being imprisoned in a huge Satan's den.

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The members of the Church of Pergamum did not give up their faith in these

difficult circumstances. Those who refused to worship the emperor and did not worship

idols were persecuted in many ways.

However, the members of the Pergamum Church did not waver and kept their faith.

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Jesus knows and testifies that they firmly kept their faith. These are the words of Jesus.
[I know where you live. In a city where Satan holds power, you hold fast your faith in me.]

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There is an incident that shows just how much suffering the Pergamum church was there.

It is a case of martyrdom for a person called ‘Antipas’.

Antipas was put to death while keeping her faith in Jesus.

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Who is Antipas? Only his name appears in the Bible.

However, there is a record of Antipas in the sources handed down from the Church.

According to the sources, it is said that Antipas, the bishop of the Church of Smyrna,

was arrested for refusing to worship the emperor and was burned to death on a heated brass bull.

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The members of the Church of Pergamum did not leave or betray Jesus, despite the martyrdom

of Antipas, who they had been living together as a Christian. Jesus greatly commended their faith.

[You did not forsake your faith in me even when Antipas, my faithful witness,

was put to death among you, where Satan lives.]

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However, in the following words, Jesus rebuked the church in Pergamum.
“ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.“ [Revelation2:14]

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This is because some of the Pergamo church members were living an impure life of faith.

One group led a life of faith that was reasonably compromised with the world.

They acted like the people of Israel, who in the Old Testament times fell into the temptation of Balaam and followed the customs of Moab.

They attended the festivals of idolatry and practiced a life of faith similar to them.

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Another group fell into heresy ideas that deviated from the Word of God.

They embraced the false beliefs of people called the Nicolaitans.

He tried to confuse the church with heresy ideology, hinder those who lead a good life of faith,

and even lead them into a heresy.

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Jesus urged those who had wrong faith to repent.
[Revelation2:16] “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.“

He said that if he did not repent, he would fight them directly with the sword that Jesus had.

This is a proclamation that He will judge their sins.

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The Pergamum church heard Jesus' praise and rebuke together.

We must remember what the Church of Pergamum was praised for and try to do so.

We must imitate the faithful of the Church of Pergamum, who did not give up her faith despite seeing Antipas martyrdom.

We must not hurt God's heart by neglecting worship even if there is even a small difficulty.

In order to overcome difficulties and have right faith, we must have the habit of living with the Holy Spirit. Such a person will be highly praised by Jesus and will be a person whom Jesus exalts.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)