Christ Speaks to Seven Churches in Asia Minor
PERGAMOS: A CHURCH IN SIN CITY
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| PERGAMOS: A CHURCH IN SIN CITY.
Rev. 2:12-17 THE HISTORICAL SITUATION IN PERGAMOS. It is popular today to blame the spiritual deadness in our churches on the evil day in which we live. The unfaithful offer many supposed reasons for their lack of faith; the world is evil, everyone is doing it; times are financially tight; hard times are here; and you don't know my situation. Yet Scripture never allows for circumstances to hinder or dampen one’s commitment and faith in God. The world says; we cannot be honest in a crocked world, sex is too persistent to keep ourselves pure and everyone does it, the trend of our times is divorce, remarriage, and living together outside marriage, and further drugs, abortion, homosexuality are normal ways of life. Sadly many churches in unbelief have surrendered to the world’s sinful attitudes. The Bible tells us times in Pergamos were as bad as they are today! The Roman Emperor was viewed not only as a ruler but as God. The Emperor and Roman government was looked to for all needs. Their government was socialistic and the people were dependent on it for their subsistence. There were three temples dedicated to the worship of Roman emperors located in the city and it was the headquarters of the imperial cult called the Concelia. Today the current situation is much the same. In our modern culture many people look to the American President and Washington DC for their prosperity. Many Christians looked forward to having a Christian President and were elated when George Bush was elected. Yet, even with a professing Christian President nothing was changed. The American people love sin and they proved when they electing Bill Clinton who was unashamedly a reprobate and the most disgraceful president the nation has ever had up to our present time. The United States in 2008 and 2012 elected a President who is openly a Marxist socialist, pro-abortion, who has legalized same sex marriages all the while claiming to be a “born again” Christian. America is a good example of a nation where Satan’s seat is. The true Bible believing Christian must understand that Washington DC cannot change the morality of this nation and has no desire to do so. Only individual citizens who give themselves to the Lord and take a public stand for the truth can make any difference in the morals of our country. Sadly, the majority of churches in America today are not upholding God=s truth as did Pergamos. Many professing Christians have voted for and helped unashamedly, immoral candidates. Pergamos was a city of idols. The idol Zeus the male god was worshiped at a great altar in the city and there was a temple to Athena the female idol. When Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians, the priest-king, Attalus fled the city and went to Pergamos with his priests and sacred mysteries.6 Pergamos was located in Asia Minor, Turkey during 241-197 B.C.E. Pergamos was a beautiful area. The city sat in the midst of mountains, between the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea. After the death of Attalus the III (who reigned from 138-133 B.C.E.), the Romans came into power. Under the Romans, Pergamos became the capital and cultural center of the Graeco-Roman world.7 There they set up their kingdom outside the Roman empire, and thrived under the care of the devil. Dionysus the Bull god was worshiped and was a powerful force in the everyday life of the people. The health god was Asclepius, a healing snake god, and there was a huge health center dedicated to this idol. Here in the midst of all these false gods there was active persecution of Christians. In many ways it was not unlike today when in America you can worship any god or religion, but is it taboo to even mention the name of God, post the Ten Commandments, pray publicly to God, or speak of Jesus Christ. Pergamos was truly the seat or throne of Satan. Download 107.08 Kb. Share with your friends:
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