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\pard\plain\s5\keepn\nowidctlpar\sb120\sa40\qc\b\fs28 WEEK 4: STAYING THE COURSE 
\par\fs24\cf6 Jesus\rquote  message to the Church at Pergamum and Thyatira
\par\pard\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\qj\b0\cf1
\par You might find it helpful to have 2 presenters (A and B)
\par Bibles
\par A bowl of small white or light-gray stones
\par A candle and matches
\par Permanent black marking pens
\par\cf7
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\b\lang1024 OPTIONAL FOCAL POINT:\cf1  \b0 Arrange Bible(s) in a central location, along with a bowl of pale, pocket-sized stones and a lit candle.
\par Potential songs coujld include:
\par\lquote You are the Rock of my Salvation\rquote\line\lquote On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand\rquote\line\lquote Lead me to the Rock\rquote  
\par\b\cf5 Have someone read Revelation 2:12-17: To the Church in Pergamum
\par\s10\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\i\cf8\lang2057 INTRODUCTION
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\i0\cf1\f1\lang1024 A.\tab\b0\f0 In our modern post modern society, \lquote experience\rquote  is so important that it is essential that we make structures that enable the Lord to touch our hearts. After all, the only body without emotions is a corpse! 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 CS Lewis suggested sixty years ago that if Western Europe is to be successfully re-evangelised, it would be through the performing arts. Whilst that is only a part of the picture, it is a very important part and we need to do all we can to encourage all such ways of expressing the gospel. Music in particular has an important role to play in this respect. It has been described as having the greatest influence on people\rquote s lives these days with the exception of television. And what is it that we hear all the time on television? Music of course! 
\par At the same time, we can never afford to forget that the Word of God is our bedrock, our ultimate truth and yardstick. There is no other \lquote safe\rquote  way to build our lives than on this foundation. The Church we are going to be looking at today, however, Pergamum, was effectively sidestepping biblical teaching \endash  as all too many are today.  
\par\s10\fi0\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8 INTO THE PAST
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\i0\cf4\lang1024 A. Geographically\cf1  \b0 Go forty miles north along the sea coast from Ephesus, turn to the north-east, then head fifteen miles inland to the Valley of the Caicus and you reach Pergamos, the capital of the Province of Asia. 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 In 133 BC this city had chosen to follow Rome rather than Greece. Like all capital cities it prided itself on having an atmosphere all its own (just like London, Edinburgh, Paris and Berlin do). Pergamum was the greatest city in Asia Minor, and it had centuries of greatness behind her. Pergamum was known as an intellectual centre, with all the humanistic pride and status that implies. The library had some 200,000 volumes, and rivaled that of Alexandria. (The word \ldblquote parchment\rdblquote  is derived from the name Pergamum). 
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\lang1024 Ann Graham Lotz, Billy Graham\rquote s daughter, tells us that rather than \ldblquote separating themselves from the falsely religious and intellectual society around them,\rdblquote  the Christians in Peregamum had accommodated themselves to it. 
\par\b B: \b0 Has there ever been a culture as carried away and dedicated to \lquote feelings\rquote  as our own? No previous generation has made such an industry out of entertainment. Is this good or bad?
\par Think for a moment. What are the distinguishing marks of our culture? In what ways are we in danger of doing the same?
\par\b A: \b0 Pergamum was a centre of religious worship \endash  but John boldly describes it as the seat of Satan (Rev. 2:13). Who did the people worship? Above all, Aesculapius, (or Asklepios as the Greeks called him) \endash  the god of feeling. From all over Asia Minor, those who were suffering streamed to its courts. The Temple offered medical wards, medical schools, and priests galore. Think of it as \f2 the Lourdes of the ancient world. Asklepios was also called Asklepios S\'f4t\'e7r \endash  Asklepios the Saviour. \f0 So far as Christians are concerned, Asklepios represents a counterfeit god!  
\par Pergamos was the place where Satan not only had secured a foothold, but where he wielded special authority. It was where the anti-God forces of the universe congregated. And it was right there that the church of Pergamos dwelt. 
\par\b\cf9 B.\b0  \cf1 This word \lquote dwelt\rquote  literally means \lquote to live in permanently.\rquote  \cf9 It is as though the Lord is saying the Christians were not to be just temporarily there; they had to go on living there, not trying to escape but to be overcomers where they were. The idea that Christians should automatically vacate the inner cities in search of the suburbs as their wealth increases is not necessarily God\rquote s priority for their lives, or His strategy to take cities for Himself.\cf1
\par Think about how the Lord Jesus challenged the Gadarene formerly named Legion, once he had been set free from his demons: he sent the man back to his own land to be a witness to Christ \endash  in a very inhospitable place. \cf9 Think of Christians who have made similarly courageous decisions to stay put in our own day. \cf1
\par\b A: \b0 During the Kosovo war, some missionaries in Albania. made the costly decision to stay where they were, despite strong pressure being put on them to leave. They faced extreme peril, even having a bullet come through their living room, narrowly missing their five children. They believed that if they left it would make them no better than \lquote hirelings and false shepherds\rquote  rather than true pastors of the flock of Christ. God honoured their courageous stance.  They cared for many refugees, and were even allowed to give an unedited testimony to the Lord\rquote s goodness on the main BBC news! 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 In the same way, there are times when the Lord does not want us to opt out from difficult places. This cuts against the modern way of thinking that if something is difficult, you may as well give up and get something else. Jesus taught a great deal about the importance of perseverance in the context of prayer because He knew how tempted we would be to give in. 
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\lang1024 A. Pergamos smouldered with idolatry. A hotbed of Caesar worship, the city \i gloried\i0  their devotion to the Roman ruler. Christians regarded this as nothing less than giving worship to Satan. This made Pergamos a supremely perilous place for believers. 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 In many cities the danger that Christians faced tended to be only on the appointed day each year when incense had to be burned, and people reaffirmed their declaration that \ldblquote Caesar is Lord.\rdblquote  For the most part, Christians were left in peace for the rest of the year. In Pergamum, however, followers of Christ feared for their lives 24/7. As a result of their loyalty to Jesus Christ they risked their lives 365 days a year. Imagine what a strain that would be! The new-born church, as yet almost without a history, struggled to sustain its integrity \endash  perhaps its very existence \endash  in a city enamoured with its history: a background of academic pride; all the arrogance of heathenism and the pagan wisdom that focused around the worship of the Olympian gods. Christians felt weak and helpless in the face of all of this. 
\par\s10\fi0\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8 INTO THE WORD
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\i0\cf1\lang1024 2:13\b0   There were Christians in Pergamos who held fast to His name. One of these was Antipas \endash   the first and only 'named' martyr we read of in the Book of Revelation. The word \i martus \i0 originally meant a \lquote witness\rquote  to Christ, but it quickly came to have the meaning we more normally associate with it.  
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 To Antipas Jesus Christ gave nothing less than His own title, for He called Himself, in Revelation 1:5, \ldblquote The Faithful \i Martus.\i0\rdblquote  Those who suffer for Christ will, in the end, share in His glory. The crown is always worth the Cross.
\par\s11\fs8
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\b\fs24\lang1024 2:14\b0   In verse 14 the tone of the letter changes. The praise stops and the rebuke and warnings begin. There were those in Pergamos who were encouraging the people in the church to sin. There was a real danger that, by taking part in these orgiastic feasts, and eating food that had been sacrificed to idols, the church would catch the infection of heathenism and end up being swamped by the surrounding sea of paganism. 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 The only way to handle such temptations to compromise is to resist them. There is nothing new about such things! In a survey amongst Spring Harvest teenagers some years ago, seventy per cent said they thought there was nothing wrong with sleeping with someone before marriage, provided that you love them. The Greek world certainly had no problem embracing the idea of extra marital relationships. Demosthenes, one of their famous speakers declared, 
\par\tab We have courtesans for the sake of pleasure; concubines for the \tab sake of daily cohabitation and wives for the purpose of having \tab children legitimately and of having a faithful guardian of our \tab household affairs.\rquote  
\par\s1 What does the Bible teach about this? (see Searching Issues: Is there anything wrong with Sex before Marriage, by Nicky Gumbel (Alpha) 
\par\s0 In verse 16\b   \b0 we see false teachers encouraging the believers in Pergamum to to stop trying to be different and just to conform to the accepted standards of the world. 
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\b\lang1024 B: \b0 Such things can easily ensnare believers to \lquote accommodate\rquote  the truth (and their testimony) to suit the values of those we are living amongst. How do you think Jesus, the bearer of the sharp two-edged sword, feels about this. He who is not afraid to state things as they are. As Ann Graham Lotz reminds us, the Bible speaks about the devil as well as God, about judgement as well as salvation, about hell as well as heaven.
\par\b A:\b0  The Risen Lord does not say, \lquote I will fight against \i you\i0:\rquote  He says \lquote I will fight against \i them\i0.\rquote  Who is His wrath directed against? Not the whole church but rather those who are encouraging others to take the wrong way. The greatest anger of Christ is against those who teach others to sin. (See Luke 17:1-4 for instance \endash  but consider doing a Bible study on the subject of the 'wrath'  and 'anger' of God. It may be a largely forgotten theme these days, but it is an important one in Scripture. 
\par\b B: \b0 The Lord knows it requires special grace for us to thrive in a place where satanic forces are particularly strong. We saw in Ephesus that there were striving to impose a rigid, loveless orthodoxy. Here the focus of attack was to entice people to find ways to avoid the clear teaching of Scripture. That translates today as 'If it feels good do it!' 
\par\b A: Revelation 2:17 \b0 speaks of the hidden manna, which those who overcome will eat. Manna had been placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, in the holy place before God. This 'angels\rquote  food', or 'bread from heaven' (16:4)  was due to be seen (and tasted again) when the Age of the Messiah dawned. The point was this: that those who had the courage not to eat the meat which had been offered to idols would, in the world to come, eat the Bread of God. In the short term they might have to forgo certain earthly pleasures \endash  but in the long term, heavenly joy would be theirs.
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 As for the white stone (2:17) \endash  in ancient times judicial decisions were made by casting stones into an urn, with white stones symbolising acquittal and black stones, condemnation. The message is clear: if we are faithful, God will acquit us \endash  and if someone is faithful he or she will be counted among the number of the people of God. 
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\b\fs24\lang1024 B: \b0 White stones were also symbols of happy days. It was essentially the symbol of the day of victory \endash  much as we would speak of a \lquote red letter day.\rquote  You might like to reflect on such days, when the Lord's presence has been strong, and a whole raft of 'solutions' come your way. 
\par\fs24\cf9 Even amid the perils of Pergamos no one could pluck a Christian from the hand of Christ\cf1. \cf9 Those who are faithful will be reckoned as victors and welcomed into Heaven. \cf1
\par\s10\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8\lang2057 INTO THE HEART
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\b0\i0\cf1\lang1024 Even though you may not be being physically persecuted, have you suffered as the result of your Christian faith and principles?  
\par\b\cf3*Option 1: \lquote Handling challenging situations.\rquote\cf1  \b0\i Either \i0 a\i) \i0 invite someone the week beforehand to share the following, or b) break into smaller groups and share what you have learned about the dangers of \lquote giving in\rquote  to peer group pressure, and to the standards of our culture. 
\par How would you handle it differently next time? 
\par What strengthened you at such times? 
\par What do you regret? 
\par Are you currently feeling any pressure to accommodate or \lquote blend in\rquote? 
\par If so, pray for one another. Never undersestimate the amount of good we can do for each other in prayer. It makes such a difference that I have rejigged the well known commerical: "The prayers of others can reach the parts our own cannot." But in order for that to happen we need to be humble enough to reach out for help, and to to share honestly what it is we need prayer for. 
\par\b\cf2*Option 2: \lquote Stones of Remembrance.\rquote\b0\cf1  Pass out the stones. Follow the above activity by writing relevant action word(s), or verb(s), on one of the stones, such as: believe, endure, hope, resolve, witness, etcetera.   
\par Break for tea and have a stretch before embarking on the second section. Share the messages on your stones with each other. 
\par Re-gather with a song: 
\par Then read Revelation 2:18-29: the message to the Church in Thyatira
\par\s10\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8\lang2057 INTO THE PAST: THE CHURCH IN THYATIRA
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\b0\i0\cf1\lang1024 Thyatira was a less important community than the other cities we have considered. It was not a natural fortress, but it did serve as the gateway city to Pergamos. Its main function, therefore, was to delay an enemy until Pergamos was fully armed and ready to resist. Poor Thyatira was fated to be captured, razed, and rebuilt because it was \lquote on the way\rquote  to a major city. Because it was not a centre of special religious importance, the church there would not have faced the danger or the splendour of heathen religion, or the menace of Caesar worship. 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 Lydia, the seller of purple dye, came \f2 from\f0  Thyatira (Acts 16:14). (Purple dye was extremely expensive in those days). \f2 It was a major commercial centre, a centre of the wool trade as well as the dyeing industry. \f0 The city also possessed more trade guilds than any other town of its size in Asia. The danger which faced the church at Thyatira came as the direct result of these powerful trade guilds. 
\par At the centre of the problem was a woman who was known as \lquote Jezebel.\rquote  The original Jezebel (from Sidon) had brought her own gods and goddesses into Israel (Baal, and Astharte) and imposed them on the nation, thereby defiling the worship of the True God. This Jezebel was seducing Christians away fro\f2 m the worship of the True God, permitting, and perhaps even encouraging fornication, and the eating of food offered to idols. 
\par There certainly were \f0 Jewish renegades who became famous soothsayers and fortune tellers. For instance, t\f2 here was a woman who indulged in divination and who was regarded as a prophetess. She was called the Sambatethe, and many people consulted the oracle at her shrine for guidance. It is most unlikely that Sambatethe, the priestess of the local oracle, could have been this Jezebel, however, (2:20). Because the letter clearly shows that \f0 the peril that was threatening the Church came primarily from \i inside\i0  the church. 
\par No merchant or trader could hope to prosper unless he was a member of a trade guild. The social activities of these trade guilds were intimately bound up with the worship of the heathen gods. The guilds shared common meals together, which would begin and end with a cup of wine poured out as an offering to the gods \endash  heathenised \lquote grace\rquote  before and after the meal. How could a Christian join in such a ceremony, where the meat had already been offered to Apollo, or Artemis, or to the local god? 
\par In addition, these feasts degenerated into drunken and immoral carousing. Belonging to the guilds, however, protected a merchant\rquote s business interests. On the face of it, to refuse to join would be to commit commercial suicide. The church was very clear, however,  that no Christian should have anything to do with these guilds. The believer needed to make a deliberate decision to keep his garments unspotted from the world. 
\par It was this woman called Jezebel who was arguing that Christians should become members of the guilds, attend the heathen functions, and compromise with the heathen world and worship to protect their business interests. Every Christian in Thyatira would have to choose, therefore, between business prosperity and loyalty to Jesus Christ. 
\par Jezebel must have been a woman of strong personality, of great ambition and influence. If her arguments had succeeded, it would have been the end of the Christian Church in that place. It would have meant absorption into heathenism via syncretism. What is syncretism, and why is it such a danger today? It is the attempt to lump all religions under one banner, and to assume that they are all the same. Tempting though such a stance may be, it is entirely illogical. How can God be personal and knowable, and at the same time be impersonal and million-fold as with the Hindu deities? The continued existence of the Church depended its continued determination to trust that Jesus was, and is, the only way, to the Father (John 14:6) This verse is a key one for the Church in our generation. 
\par\s10\fi0\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8 INTO THE PRESENT: Avoiding the temptation to compromise 
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\b0\i0\cf1\lang1024 When society or an employer demands conduct and practice which is not right, or specifically dishonouring to the Lord, what is a Christian to do? Is trade to come first, or is Christ to come first? The situation in Thyatira is curiously modern. There are thousands of men and women today who are facing, or evading, the same choices that confronted the Christians of Thyatira 1800 years ago. 
\par\s10\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8\lang2057 INTO THE WORD
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\i0\cf1\lang1024 2:19  \b0 Amazingly, although the letter to the church of Thyatira is a letter of warning and of criticism, it begins with undiluted praise. Here is something which every preacher and teacher must learn: to encourage constantly, and never to discourage people to the point where they are unable to function. When we have reason to rebuke or to criticise others, we must make it clear that we are doing so 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\f3\lang2057\'a7\tab\f0 not because we dislike them, but because we like them.
\par\f3\'a7\tab\f0 not because we think they are useless, but because we think they have it in them to be useful.
\par\f3\'a7\tab\f0 not to hurt them, but because we wish to help them. 
\par\s4\fi0\sb100\sa100\fs24\lang1024 The Lord warned the believers at Thyatira that they would suffer intensely for what they were doing unless they repented. It is essential for our well-being that we heed the Lord\rquote s warning. He means what he says!  
\par\b\fs24 2:23  \b0 When it says that the Lord \i searches the reins (or hearts), reins\i0  are the kidneys, which in Hebrew thought are considered to be the seat of the emotions, whilst the heart, \i cardiac,\i0  was considered to be the intellectual centre, the source of thought life. Both our emotional life and our intellectual life are laid bare to the Lord\rquote s scrutiny. May the Lord cleanse us on the inside so that we can bear His loving scrutiny. 
\par\b 2:24  \b0 This verse refers to those who know the 'deep things' of Satan. This probably meant the Gnostics, who claimed that Christians must know far more than the simple truths of the Gospel; they claimed a special, secret knowledge was needed, which, of course, only they could supply. In fact, it is usually amongst the simplest people in the world that true Christianity thrives best: in places such as Mozambique and China.  
\par\b\fs24 2:26  \b0 The Risen Christ encourages His people to overcome and \i keep His works to the end.\i0  The Christian life is less a once-off battle than a campaign which requires great faithfulness. That's why we have called today's study 'Staying the Course.' 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\fs24\lang2057 On the face of it, how could the Church survive in such an environment against such odds? From every human point of view the only thing which could possibly await the Church was total destruction and annihilation; from the divine point of view, however, what awaits the Church is total triumph. It was the conviction of the early church that the menacing might of Rome was nothing compared with the gracious power of God.
\par\s10\fi0\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\cf8 INTO THE PRESENT
\par\s4\li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\b0\i0\cf1\lang1024 Whilst some of us think far too much of ourselves, more of us are deluded by feeling we are spiritually no use to anyone. Condemnation is a powerful weapon in the hand of the enemy. If we have experienced much rejection and abuse, the criticism may have seriously undermined us. It can drive us to despair, and to getting rid of things that really do matter because they seem too hard for us: turning away even from the things and people that the Lord has given us. This is why we need to look not at circumstances (which can oppress us) but rather, as a consicous act of the will, we much choose to seek the Lord who loves us, and to let His hope refill our heart. He is the First and the Last, Who died and came to life again (Rev 2:8). 
\par\s0\fi227\sb60\sa60\lang2057 Some of us have poured our life out for people who don\rquote t seem to notice or care what we have done for them. Don\rquote t confuse their lack of response with God not appreciating all you have given \endash  and all you have suffered in His service. It is easy to say we\rquote ve had enough, and to say, in effect \lquote Thus far and no further.\rquote  No wonder Jesus says so often, \i Do not be afraid\i0  (Rev 2:10). There are times when \lquote give and take\rquote  can lead to a happy outcome \endash  but at other to compromise would mean denying the Lord. 
\par There is no guarantee we will not suffer for taking such a stand. The Christians in places such as China have paid a huge price for doing so \endash  but God blesses them because of that. The good news is that the book of Revelation points us to a time when all suffering will come to an end. All ostracism, persecution and rejection will end: in eternity, if not before. That is why the Lord challenges the suffering church in Smyrna, \i Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the Crown of Life.\i0  
\par It hurts the Lord if we put anyone or anything else before Him. That is when we may encounter Jesus\rquote  eyes of blazing fire (Rev 2:18b), as the church of  Thyatira did when they welcomed Jezebel. This woman was no doubt a charismatic personality, but she was pedaling the dangerous line that to win the world for Christ you had to be like the world. Paul teaches that this is not to be so. (Rom. 6:1-2) Whatever her precise tactics, Jezebel was leading many in Thyatira astray into immorality. Any church of which she was a part soon resembled the world around it to such an extent that you could hardly tell the difference. 
\par What was missing in Thyatira was any sense of holiness and purity. That is why this message is so crucial for our generation. The fear of the Lord has been described as the missing ingredient in the Church. It is no use offering as an excuse the fact that other people are doing something. Ultimately, it is not so much that people break God\rquote s laws but that the Word of God finds out if we refuse to honour God and to seek forgiveness. 
\par That is why we cannot afford to turn our back on the need for holiness. I once wrote that \lquote God\rquote s purposes in sanctification are designed to last a lifetime. I misspelt the word \lquote lifetime\rquote  and my spell checker helpfully suggested as an alternative, \lquote God\rquote s purposes in sanctification are designed to last a lunchtime.\rquote  God is not into instant sanctification! It takes time to learn the ways of God. 
\par That is why Jesus speaks here to those who do \i not \i0 hold to Jezebel\rquote s teaching, telling them to hold on to what they have until He comes (vv. 24-25). That may not sound exciting but it is essential! Tragically, many of the Christians at Thyatira preferred the short term pleasures of sin rather than the heavenly rewards Jesus holds out to us. 
\par Any old piece of driftwood can float downstream: it takes a live fish to swim against the current. Many in Thyatira preferred the easy life, and were either unable or unwilling to hear this Word. \fs24
\par Verse 28 contains a lovely promise that the Christian will rise over the darkness of death and receive the Morning Star. It is also a promise of Christ Himself, for in Revelation 22:16 the Risen Christ says, \i I am the bright morning star.\i0  The one who is faithful unto death will receive the greatest prize of all \endash   nothing less than the presence of Jesus Christ Himself. Hallelujah!
\par\s10\fi0\li360\ri360\sb200\sa200\b\i\fs24\cf8 OPTION* 
\par\fs24 Allow a time for prayer in smaller groups for those who feel used and abused, underappreciated, fearful of suffering, or convicted of having bailed out something they had felt God was asking them to do. 
\par Have someone close the time with a prayer for us to be built together in love as \lquote living stones\rquote  \endash  and for God to activate those precious \lquote action\rquote  words we wrote earlier on the literal stones. 
\par\s0\fi227\li0\ri0\sb60\sa60\b0\i0\cf1
\par}