THEME: It Is Written
SERIES: Seven
TITLE: That Ugly Word
Scripture: Revelation 2: 12-17
I . COMMENDATION
Pergamum known as Asia’s greatest city. Why?
1. A huge library of 200,000 handwritten volumes.
2. Official center of (Caesar worship).
There were 4 main deities of Greco-Roman world:
1) Athena- goddess of (wisdom)
2) Asklepios- god of (healing)
3) Dionysius or Bacchus- god of (wine and revelry)
4) Zeus- (king) of all gods
II. CRITICISM
Two groups were mentioned:
1. Those who hold to the teachings of Balaam. Find his story in Numbers 22-25.
“Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam’s advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the Lord in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the Lord’s community. Num.31:16 (HCSB) The Peor incident is found in Numbers 25 where the Israelites “began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.”
2. Those who hold to the teachings of the Nicolaitans.
III. CORRECTION
“Your flip and callous arrogance in these things bothers me. You pass if off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a small thing, but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast.” I Cor.5:6-7
4 Lessons to learn:
1) Compromise never (occurs quickly).
2) Compromise always lowers (the standard).
3) Compromise is seldom (offensive).
4) Compromise is often the (first step) toward total disobedience.
SERIES: Seven
NEXT WEEK: Cancer- Rev.2: 18-29
