We begin this presentation with the church at
Pergamos, the third church that falls within the time
frame that Dr. Carroll has in his text.
Revelation 2:12-17 KJV 12 And to the angel of the
church in Pergamos write; These things saith he
which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even
where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name,
and hast not denied my faith, even in those days
wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was
slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou
hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who
taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the
children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols,
and to commit fornication.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of
the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and
will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
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17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will
I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
The city of Pergamum was the center of the imperial
cult; the name of the city means “Fortress”. The city
dates from the time of nearby Troy 1200
B.C. Alexander the Great’s general Antigonus seized
Pergamum for Alexander’s Kingdom. The city passed
to Lysimachus, another general of Alexander’s who
succeeded him after his death.
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Pergamum became a city-state under the control of
the Seleucid’s in 263 B.C. The city later changed
alliances to Rome, and still later under Attalus II (159-
138 B.C.) the city was willed to Rome. The city was
made famous by its library of 200,000 scrolls and
rivaled Alexandria’s.
Pergamum popularized writing on goatskin sheets
later known as “Parchment” a corruption of the name
Pergamene. The city was known for its Altar of Zeus
and its large theater at the top of the acropolis.1
1 http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/revelation/Revelation2/
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The church at Pergamum represents those churches
from AD 313 to 590. This is the church "falling
away" that Paul described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
This church age is from the time of Constantine in
AD313 to the time of the Rise of the Papal Church of
Rome in AD538, when that "man of sin" was revealed
(the pope). This was a period of deteriorating moral
standards and doctrinal corruption. Christian
standards were lowered, and a union was formed
between Christianity and paganism through the acts
of Constantine and the Roman Catholic Church.
We can see here that COMPROMISE has come into
the church. In exchange for religious tolerance and
acceptance, the true principles of Christianity were
sacrificed to accommodate pagan beliefs. This church
is allowing those who hold to different doctrines that
are not of Christ to dwell with them and commune
with them.
Again, the doctrine of the Nicolaitans pops up, which
is the doctrine of doing away with God's law. This
Jesus hates! God's Law is a law of love that will never
be done away with.
Look at what the Psalmist would have said to this
church: 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
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2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in
his law doth he meditate day and night.
(Psalm 1:1, 2)
Do we see compromise throughout the "Christian"
churches today? I believe we do. You only need to
look at the church councils in certain denominations
that have meetings to discuss whether or not to allow
practicing homosexual men and women as clergy.
I mean, come on! Talk about ignoring God's Word!!
Some churches have even allowed this to happen
recently, like the Lutheran church. They now allow
practicing homosexuals to hold positions in the
church. Now there are many others.
This compromise will get worse before Jesus returns.
We really need to hold on to a NO COMPROMISE
Christian attitude as we near the end.
Despite the compromise that came into the church in
Pergamos, there were still a few (God's remnant) that
held on to the truth of His Word and sought to
maintain the true faith of the apostles. Jesus
understood the opposition this church faced by being
in close proximity to Satan’s power. Jesus takes this
into account with the Church of Pergamos, He
acknowledges
their
location,
but Smyrna the
persecuted was also faced with difficult decisions.
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The church of Smyrna thrived under persecution, and
so did the persecuted church. The last Emperor to
persecute Christians was Galerius, who died an
excruciating death as his body rotted from within
while he was alive. Days before his death, he recanted
his orders of Christian persecution and then died.
Following his rule was Constantine, a neophyte
Christian, who made Christianity the religion of
the Roman Empire. Being a new Christian, he was
willing to make compromises to the pagans allowing
mass conversions, allowing pagan priests to become
Christian priests. The problem was many of these
conversions were more convenient then real.
Pagan practices were just repackaged with Christian
names, keeping many of the older rites. An example
is Easter, the name is pagan in origin, but in order to
help pagans feel more at home with the “Resurrection
Sunday”, the name Easter remained.
The power behind Pergamos was Satan. Jesus refers
to the city as “Satan’s throne”. There are several
opinions what this could mean.
Pergamos had the temple of Zeus at Pergamum, Zeus
the Greek god and Marduk the Babylonian god are by
most accounts the same god with a different
name. The meanings are the same, just different
names according to Heroditus, the Greek historian.
The goddess Ashtora of the Philistines, Isis of Egypt
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and Artemis of the Greeks are essentially the same but
with different names. The source behind this
deception is Satan himself.
Pergamum, according to Revelation chapter two, was
the demonic spiritual powerhouse behind this
evil. Despite being in the fortress of Satan’s
operation, the church did not deny faith in Christ. The
church during the time of Constantine was known as
holding to the name of Christ. Pergamum still had
faithful saints willing to die for Christ. Antipas was
an early model of faithful saints, faithful to the Lord
despite the condition of the church.
Unlike Ephesus, Pergamum was willing to indulge
the ways of the world into their system. Balaam was
a prophet hired by the king of Moab, Balak, to find a
way to destroy Israel. Israel was entering his land on
the way to the Promised Land, and he was unable to
curse them because each time a blessing occurred.
Balaam suggested intermarriage with the Moabites,
eating food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality
as the method to destroy Israel. This is the doctrine
of Balaam, to combine the things of God with the
ways of the world.
There
groups
would
later
be
known
as
the Gnostics. Today, a great example of Gnosticism
is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Many
Christians are embracing a novel with a different
Jesus. The Jesus of Gnosticism was married to Mary
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Magdalene a Temple prostitute and had a child named
Sarah. Dan Brown presents this as fact, and many
who might call themselves Christians are embracing
this book.
The same was occurring here in this Church. This
proto-Gnostic
group
was
teaching
sexual
freedom. The Greeks at their various temples
had Temple prostitutes. This church allowed those
who taught sexual promiscuity was permissible to be
part of the leadership. These very issues plague the
church today, and again some churches teach the
permissibility of sexual freedom, including gay rights,
marriage, and sexual liberty.
The Church at Ephesus refused the Nicolaitans to be
part of their leadership or teachers. Pergamum not
only embraced their doctrines, but they also allowed
them to be part of their leadership.
This is what happened with Pergamum during this
church age. The pagan’s world was allowed to be part
of the Church. Doctrines contrary to scripture
introduced into the Church, became a corruption of
the truth.
One of the doctrines introduced was the teaching the
Church
had
become Israel,
(Replacement
theology). This position being allowed took away
the literal meaning of scripture and replaced it with
allegory.
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Heresies that became part of the Catholic Church:
A.D. 300
Prayers for the dead
A.D. 300
Making sign of the cross
A.D. 375
Worship of saints and angels
A.D. 394
Mass first instituted
A.D. 431
Worship of Mary begun
A.D. 500
Priests began dressing differently than
laypeople
A.D. 526
Extreme unction
A.D. 593
Doctrine of purgatory introduced
A.D. 600
Worship services conducted in Latin
A.D. 600
Prayers directed to Mary1
1 http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/revelation/Revelation2/
In verse 16, Jesus admonishes the church to repent.
The Greek word, Metanoeo, means to change one's
mind, i.e., to repent. What this church needed to do
was make a total change. This same counsel applies
not only to this church but any church permitting
sexual impurity as part of their doctrine. Continual
sinning without repentance will bring the judgment of
Christ against the offender. During this time, the
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Church saw the invasions of the Huns, the Vandals,
and many other problems.
In verse seventeen, Jesus had a specific promise to
those in this age who “Overcame”. Manna was the
bread
from
heaven
given
to Israel in
the
wilderness. Christ makes the same promise to those
living in this church taking him seriously. Jesus also
mentions the giving of a white stone. There is still
debate about what this means. Some feel in the
Pergamum Theater, white stones were used as
admission to the theater. Here, Christ uses this
imagery for admission into the kingdom of God for
the overcomer.
Jesus also mentions a new name in this verse. When
we come to Christ, we are “Born again” on the outside
we look the same but spiritually we are born again.
Each believer has a unique relationship with Christ, a
special relationship. In heaven, we will have a special
name only known to Christ and the believer.
Conclusion to Chapter Nine
As we have seen, much change took place in these
years. Those changes were not good either. We have
seen the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church
which will only grow in power as it continues. It will
also go further and further away from the truth of
God’s Word. In the next chapter we will resume Dr.
Carroll’s text, The Trail of Blood.
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Chapter Ten
