It held one of the most famous libraries in the world, numbering some 200,000 volumes of parchment. Emperor worship in Pergamum was as intense as in Smyrna. Add to this the worship of Bacchus the god of wine, and of Dionysus whose worship involved obscenities impossible to describe, is it any wonder that John called the place “Satan’s throne”? Here the highest capacity in mankind, the capacity to worship, was degraded into corruption. The city reeked with the stench of its heathenism; evil hung in its streets like a clammy fog. It was not easy to be a Christian.

1 – The character that Christ takes to himself (vs 12)

It is Christ who is holy and the just judges of the whole earth. The earthly governor is limited in his power. Christ has great might and rules forever. Time is not a factor.

2 – The compliment Christ gives to the church (vs 13-14)

The compliment is threefold:-

• The district they lived – It was the first city to build an altar to Caesar. There was worship of the emperor. It was the Lourdes of the ancient world. Satan actually had his throne there. In Pergamum they mixed science and superstition. The worship of snakes was mixed with science. The serpent is the emblem of Satan in the Bible.
• The doctrine they held – The church in Pergamum had to contend with emperor and snake worship for 365 days of the year. The church had to have its head together with doctrine and theology. It is too easy for much of today’s churches and so doctrine is not given much importance.
• The risk they took – Satan will devour them. They knew what persecution was and the threat of death was real.

3 – The challenge Christ gives to the church (vs 14-17)

There were some in the church who had become very lax. They would attend the pagan festivals.

• They were eating things sacrificed to idols.
• They were committing fornication.
• Christ’s reward to the conqueror.

Our offensive weapon is the Word of God.

Categories: Revelation