“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
“‘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.

Revelation 2: 12-13

Pergamum was the first city in Asia to build a temple to Caesar and it became the capital of the cult of Caesar worship. One writer said that Pergamum was “given to idolatry more than all Asia.” The church at Pergamum was surrounded by a culture that was pagan and full of cults. How different is their situation compared to the increasingly godless culture we face in 2024?

First, Jesus commended this church for its faithfulness to the faith, but there was a problem:

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. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Revelation 2: 14-15

The church at Pergamum was caught up in the pressure to conform to the norms of the day – idol worship, sexual immorality and the teachings of the Nicolaitans who adhered to a type of syncretism, combining Christianity with pagan religion. Clearly, there was a problem with compromise in the church and compromise with the world ends in the destruction of faith.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

1 Corinthians 5: 6

Jesus provides a prescription for this church:

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. 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 except the one who receives it.

Revelation 2:16-17

Given the choice of repentance or war, the options are clear. Think about the pressure churches today are feeling to compromise. Think about the pressure you may feel to do the same.