Rely on Jesus Christ; depend only on Him

In its early history Pergamum became a city-state, then a powerful nation after Attalus I (241-197 B. C.) defeated the Gauls (Galatians). It stood as a symbol of Greek superiority over the barbarians. Great buildings were erected and a library containing over 200,000 items was established. The Egyptians, concerned with this library which rivaled their own at Alexandria, refused to ship papyrus to Pergamum. As a result, a new form of writing material, Pergamena charta, or parchment, was developed.

In the days of Roman dominance throughout Asia Minor, Pergamum became the capital of the Roman province of Asia. In a gesture of friendship, Mark Antony gave Pergamum's library to Cleopatra; its volumes were moved to Alexandria.

Not only was Pergamum a government center with three imperial temples, but it was also the site of the temple of Asklepios (the Greco-Roman god of medicine and healing), and the medical center where the physician Galen worked (about A. D. 160). Here also was a temple to Athena and a temple to Zeus with an altar showing Zeus defeating snake-like giants. In the Book of Revelation, John spoke of Pergamum as the place "where Satan's throne is" (Revelation 2:13).

Many scholars associate this church and the cultural environment surrounding it with conditions during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (313AD). Constantine believed that the Lord Jesus was responsible for the civil war victory that led to his ruling the Roman Empire. He, therefore, declared Christianity to be the religion of Rome. The similarity with Pergamum is that people entering the church were coming out of affluence, great learning, and lifestyles that gratified the senses and were centered on anything but the One True God.

Balaam's story can be reviewed in Numbers, chapters 22-25 & 31. It is briefly summarized in II Peter 2:15 and Jude, verse 11. I think it was Professor Howard Hendricks of the Dallas Theological Seminary, who coined the phrase "Prophet for Profit" in reference to Balaam. It does a good job of describing the inner motives of Balaam. The story begins with the king of Moab, Balak, fretting over the Israelis, who were approaching his borders. He decided to send for Balaam, whom he had observed, has the power to curse or bless people. Balak was a wealthy king and his messengers offered Balaam a rich reward for coming to their aide by cursing the Israelis. Balaam saw quickly how profitable it would be to become Balak's ally, but Balaam also knew that he was only able to say what the Lord God told him to say. So he asked the men to spend the night in his house, and he sought the will of God in the matter.

God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed."

So Balaam returned to the elders of Moab and Midian, Balak's messengers, and told them to keep their money and return to their homes, he would be unable to help them. At this point in the story Balaam has not revealed his inner motives. He has acted appropriately. However, Balak was not interested in taking no for an answer. He sent even more impressive messengers to tell Balaam that he could name his price if he would reconsider. Balaam told these new messengers once again that even if Balak gave him a royal mansion filled with gold, he could do nothing contrary to the command of the Lord. Then he revealed his greed. Rather than just telling these men to leave, he said,

"Please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will speak to me."

I expected God to say to Balaam, "What part of no don't you understand." "Go back to these men and tell them you cannot go with them, and I don't want to hear another word about it." Instead God told Balaam that he could go with these men, and that he could only say what He gave him to say. The passage goes on to say that God was angry because Balaam was going. He was so angry that He sent an angel to kill Balaam on the journey. Balaam's donkey was more spiritually aware than Balaam (greed does that to a person). The donkey saw the angel sent to slay Balaam and turned aside. About the third time this happened, Balaam became extremely impatient and was about to beat the poor beast. The donkey then spoke to Balaam and imparted the wisdom Balaam needed to stay alive. Balaam then saw the angel and was told that his greed had nearly cost him his life. He was allowed to continue his journey to Moab, but was warned again to say only what God told him to say.

Balaam's persistence in trying to please Balak and obtain the reward was then made evident. First he attempted to curse the Israelis on three separate occasions. Instead, God caused Balaam to bless His people. Having failed to win Balak's favor (and his money), Balaam must have stayed in Moab and devised a strategy for overcoming God's chosen people. We see here in Revelation that Balaam taught Balak how to cause the Israelis to stumble. Balaam was clever!?! He was able to get what he wanted and still not directly disobey God. I can almost here his alibi as God calls him to account for his actions.

"Now, God you only told me to say what You gave me to say."

"You didn't say anything about a little match making with idol worshippers." I did not force those Israelis men to marry these women of Moab and Midian, and I certainly did not tell them to worship other gods." "Why are you blaming me for all of this?"

Balaam might have convinced himself that he was doing right, but he was far from the Heart of God. His god was still himself. His well being was his number one priority.

Jesus told the believers in Pergamum that they had some people like that in their church. People who had not died to self. People who had the veneer of Christianity, but at their core were worshipping at the shrine of "WHAT"S IN IT FOR ME?". Many of these people being affluent and well educated were naturals to be selected for leadership positions in the church. If these people continued to depend primarily or exclusively on their own "wit and wisdom" independent of the Lord, the Pergamum Church would conform to the patterns of this world. They would make decisions based on human logic and emotions driven by greed, envy, personal glory, and pleasure. In this condition, people cannot or do not accurately discern the Will of God. Romans 12:2 explains to us that in order to know the Will of God we must not conform to the patterns of this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This verse of Scripture, or rather the consequences for not heeding it, has been illustrated in the lives of countless Christians.

How many times have you faced a decision and wanted, desperately, to know the will of God in the matter, but were unable or unwilling to understand which way He wanted you to turn? The problem is that most of us go into these situations with a will of our own. We have our self interest at heart and hope God's Will is in line with our desires. Self centeredness is the pattern of this world. If we conform to it, we cannot expect to be clear about the Will of God. Discerning God's Will in this paradigm is increasingly more difficult as the significance of the decision increases. Those matters most important to us are the very matters in which God seems to be silent. He isn't silent, of course, but our will screams so loudly that we are unable or unwilling to listen to His direction. We may pray for God's guidance and then go behind Him and attempt to manipulate the situation in our favor. If we get what we want, we praise God and grow more in love with ourselves. If we are denied this desire, we may piously say that it wasn't God's will, and He knows best, but deep down inside we make another mental note:

God doesn't really have my best interest at heart.

Our relationship with Him grows even more distant and cold, and we become even more independent of Him.

Just imagine you are sitting in a business meeting of the First Church of Pergamum. No one is sure of the Lord's Will on the matters before them, because they are too busy making sure their will is done and that everyone gets a chance to admire their "sound business acumen". No one bothers to ask for a season of prayer to hear from the Lord. Nothing even approaches the supernatural. Everything is decided by empirical evidence. Faith is fine for matters of the heart, but this is business, and it would be fool-hearty to step out on faith unless the money is in the bank. It would indeed be fool-hearty, since they haven't got a clue what the Will of God is in the matter. These meetings go on indefinitely until the most vocal finally get their way or everyone is too tired to pursue the issues and they decide to table them until next month. Somebody moves to adjourn, and, at last, the whole body finds something upon which they can agree. Jesus says, "I have this against you!"

Out of this chaos, yet another problem emerges. The Nicolaitan folks seem to have some ideas that appeal to the educated and affluent. They like the idea that there are two classes of Christians - leaders and spectators. They, of course, view themselves as the leaders with the God given talents to guide laity. The laity, too, find a sense of comfort in having so little expected of them. With the Nicolaitan philosophy and their "professional ministers" to guide them, they can, with a clear conscience, avoid the time consuming and difficult responsibilities of ministering to the needs of the people around them.

This interpretation of the "teachings of the Nicolaitans" comes from a decomposition of their name. Nikao means conquerors, and laos means the people. The philosophy goes beyond the selection of leaders called elders or overseers, as God ordains. Their teaching is founded on the belief that the "ordinary" people do not have the capability to know and understand the things of God. By virtue of their background and training (not their spiritual gifts and spiritual maturity), only a select few are qualified to preach, teach, evangelize, baptize, and disciple others. Most of the folks just don't measure up and would be better off just sitting under the wise counsel of the elite. Their preparation for leadership is not the problem. Losing site of the purpose of Christian leadership and their "servant heart", these people started to think they were above and better than the average believer.