Join me tonight, if you would,
in the book of Revelation, chapter 2. Revelation, chapter 2. And as you're turning, I just
want to say thanks for making the special services so memorable. Great time. And it is wonderful
to have special preaching times without a special agenda. Just gathering together to hear
the Word of God and no under tow about trying to get a bunch
of people up front just preaching the gospel and that's what will
do it. That's what saves people and
that's what encourages people. That's what brings the lost sheep
out of darkness and that's what brings the saved sheep to his
feet. It's just good preaching. I'm
thankful to have Brother Gene come up and boy they were, I
appreciated the messages an awful lot. Excellent messages and remember
him as he pastors down there. The book of Revelation chapter
2, and we're going to be spending a little time on verses 12 through
17, but I want to say some things about these two chapters that
I probably mentioned and we've thought about in the past, but
it certainly is worth restating. And that is every time that the
Lord speaks to one of these seven churches, he reveals himself
in a very special manner. And the way he reveals himself
certainly helps us to understand that these are not seven church
ages. These are the way that the Lord
reveals himself. And by looking at all of these
seven churches and the way that the Lord revealed himself to
the seven churches, we can get a compiled look, if you please,
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And I say that, and I want to
look at an example that is in the scriptures is sort of like
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They all have something to say
about the Lord Jesus Christ, and there are very few things
that every one of the Gospels mentions. Mark may say something that none
of the others say. And John may say something that
none of the others say. There are a few things that all
of them say, an incident or circumstances that they all mention. But some
of them may be only in two or three of those gospel letters.
But by putting them all together, we're given a grand view. We're
given a glorious view of the Lord. And I want to look at four
examples of this. If you'd turn with me to the
book of Matthew chapter 27. And then we're going to look
at the revelation of Jesus Christ to all seven of these churches.
And it's such a blessing, and we're not going to spend a lot
of time on that revelation. It's just a blessing to look
at them. Here in the book of Matthew chapter
27, and I want to look at the four inscriptions, superscriptions. These are the statements made
in the scriptures with regard to the cause of his death. Now every criminal that was executed
either had these superscription, these accusations They were carried
before them or they hung around their neck. This is the reason
that this person is taken to execution. Now these, this is
the superscription or the reason for the Lord's death. Now notice
with me in the book of Matthew and set up over his head, his
accusation written. This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. All right, now turn with me to
the book of Mark, chapter 15. Mark, chapter 15. We read in
the book of Mark, chapter 15, this is his accusation. Now,
not that he had four, but the writers of the gospel were led
by the Holy Spirit to put these particular words in their gospel
letter that went along with the rest of what they had to say
about the Lord Jesus Christ. So we put them all together and
we get the message. Notice here, verse 26, the superscription
of his accusation was written over the king of the Jews. That
was the reason that he was put to death according to the book
of Mark. Turn with me to the book of Luke,
chapter 23, and we notice here, Now, we cannot just use one of
these to get the full view of his accusation. We must go to
all four of them and put them together and we're going to see
that same principle brought out there as the Lord is revealed
to the seven churches of Asia. In the book of Luke chapter 23,
And verse 38, and a superscription also was written over him in
letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the
Jews. now turn with me to the book
of john john chapter nineteen and verse nineteen we have these
words recorded in the book of john all of these put together
gives us a semblance of what was written as the accusation
the writing the superscription of his accusation here in the
book of john chapter twenty excuse me chapter nineteen and verse
nineteen and pilot wrote a title and put it on the cross and the
writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Now, if
we put those all together, it says this is Jesus of Nazareth,
the king of the Jews. And that's his accusation. That's
the reason he was sentenced. That's the reason he was put
to death. Now, if we look at only one book,
now every book is complete in itself, but I'm glad we have
them all. Every book has the gospel in it. I never saw that
as completely as when Brother Heller was up here and preached
a message from the book of Colossians and only used as his proof text
verses out of the book of Colossians. And I said, wow, that's good.
But it could be done with every book of the Bible. And I'm sure
that it has been because some of those letters, those first
letters, the letter to the Ephesians, Colossians, Corinthians, the
two letters there, the Thessalonians, That was all they had for a period
of time until it was put together. So the gospel and all the proof
texts were right there in those letters. But I'm glad that we
have all 66 of these letters, these books put together so that
we can compare scripture with scripture and our view of the
Lord Jesus Christ is not diminished but it is magnified. Our view
of grace is not diminished by putting them all together, but
it is magnified. It is caused to be large, great,
huge, magnificent, and all of the other superlatives that we
could use about this, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, his message
to the seven churches, turn over there with me if you would, to
the book of Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3. As we look here,
we find that the revelation of Jesus Christ is mentioned in
chapter 1 and verse 1. but that could be a verse that
is at the heading of every book the heading of every chapter,
and by and large, the heading of every verse, the revelation
of Jesus Christ. And we could also put there John
6, 6, for he himself knew what he would do. He's not going to
be caught off guard. He's not going to be caught up
short. He knew exactly what he would do in every circumstance,
for he had purposed the events that were taking place so that
he could carry out his eternal purpose at that very moment.
Now, here in the book of Revelation chapter 2, we find Christ revealed
himself as this to the church at Ephesus, he that holdeth,
verse 1, chapter 2, verse 1, the latter part, he that holdeth
the seven stars in his hand who walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks. Now, that's how he revealed himself
to the church at Ephesus, how he revealed himself to the angel
of the church at Ephesus, and I'm convinced that when that
angel, that pastor received this letter from John, who essentially
was sending it from the Lord, he got up and read it. He didn't
keep it in his study. It wasn't a private letter. It
was a public letter to the church at Ephesus, and this is how he
revealed himself to the church at Ephesus, to the pastor at
Ephesus. I am he that holdeth the seven stars in his right
hand. I am the one that upholds the churches. I'm the one that
upholds the pastors. I'm the one that upholds all
things. by his very power. Now, dropping down to verse 8,
we find that he revealed himself to the church at Smyrna, and
we looked at this last week. Christ revealed himself as the
first and the last which was dead and is alive. My goodness,
when you put the two together, we've just got a wonderful statement
made about our Lord and Savior. and only out of two. Two out
of two isn't bad, is it? It's just grand to see how he
revealed himself. So when you get these all put
together, we have a wonderful description, almost like how
he revealed himself in chapter one. Now, he says, I'm the first
and the last, I'm the sovereign king, I was dead, I am alive
forevermore, as he shares himself there in verse 8. In verse 12,
to the angel of the church at Pergamos write, these things
saith he which hath a sharp sword with two edges. Now, we got three
out of three, that's pretty good. Every time that he shares himself
with these churches, he is sharing a characteristic and an attribute
about himself that is to the glory of God and to the glory
of those churches and a wonderful message that those pastors now
have to preach. This is what he once shared to
those churches from the pastor. This is a message not for the
study. I'm sure the pastor could say
I've got a real blessing out of this letter that I just got
from John who ultimately was sent by the Holy Spirit from
the Lord himself but this message is for the churches and so we
have the revelation of Jesus Christ to the church there at
Pergamos, he that hath the sharp sword with two edges." Now that's
the Word of God. We're going to see that that's
the word of God. That's the church that we're going to be looking at
tonight. But he is the one that gave. He is the one that declares.
He's the one that reveals. He's the one that uses the word
of God. It is absolutely essential that
we hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the truth of the
gospel. And that's how he reveals himself
to our old sin-sick hearts. That's how he creates life is
through the ministry of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it's essential that it goes out. There is no one ever been saved
without the preaching of the gospel. It is necessary. And here's the revelation. Now,
let's just go over to verse 18. And it says Christ reveals himself
there to the church of Thyatira, the angel of the church in Thyatira.
These things say the son of God. My goodness. That's just good. He reveals himself to the sun
and we put all these together in the letters to us. This one
that's writing these letters and sending them out. He is the
son of God. He is Jehovah. the Son of God,
who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like
fine brass." What a revelation he sent to this church here in
Thyatira. And if nothing else, if they
heard nothing else, if they saw nothing else, if nothing else
was given, if all they got was that, What a message he sent
to them as he revealed himself to those churches and to this
church in particular in this manner. Can you just hear the
saints of the Lord? Now it's going to be the dividing
line. This has been a dividing line
throughout the centuries. Abel believed that he was the
son of God. Cain did not. Cain did not. Adam did not believe he was a
son of God when he sinned against him. He's God, but he's not.
I'm going to be as good as he is. Oh, this very thing, to know
him as a son of God. What was it that Peter said? Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. And Jesus said to him, blessed
art thou, Simon, son of Jonah. Now, what did he say there? Simon,
son of Adam. just took him back to his natural
lineage. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, son of Jonah, son
of Adam. For flesh and blood did not give
this to you. You didn't get this as an inheritance
from your father Adam. You didn't get this from your
daddy either. Blessed art thou Simon Barjona for flesh and blood
did not reveal this unto you but my father which is in heaven.
So he sent this revelation of himself to this church and he
says, I am the son of God. And there are the saints in that
church says hallelujah. But it's a dividing line. It's
a dividing line. In fact, one of the dividing
remarks made in the scripture is that God's people are going
to confess that He is the Son of God. They will confess it. And it won't be just a verbal
thought off their lips. It will be from the heart. That
is part of the gospel explained to our heart in an indescribable
way that we will have no thought or doubt about him being the
son of God, he is the son of God. He is. Now, other people may not believe
it. We're not going to argue about it. He is the son of God. He is the Son of God. Now let's
look, go on just a little further there. In chapter three, verse
one, the church of Sardis, to the angel of the church of Sardis,
this is the revelation of Jesus Christ to them. He that hath
the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Now there's
a manifestation of God's spirit to our heart that is absolutely
complete. That word seven is complete.
We do not, we do not, and we will not, as God's people, be
anticipating something else. We will not have to speak in
tongues to be assured that we're saved, in other words. It is
complete. It is the absolute, complete
Holy Spirit. We look at Him and He has given
us His sanctification. He has given us His redemption.
He has given us His hope. He has given us His glory. He
has given everything that God has prescribed that we need.
It is complete. There is no need for a second
blessing. Now, it's not to say that we're
not looking for the 73rd blessing, though, is it? Every day is a
blessing from the Lord. Every day is the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Every day is the forgiveness
of our sin, and every day is in good standing with God. I
love it. All right, now going on here,
verse 7 of that chapter, the church at Philadelphia, the angel
of the church, write these things, saith he, he that is holy, My
goodness, that was a revelation of Jesus Christ. He set apart
from everything and everyone else. And unless we have that
holiness, we'll not see God. And the religious world is trying
to create it in their own self, and it's given by the Lord. His
holiness is given to us. He says, he that is holy. Now
I like this, he that is true. He can be trusted and God's people
will trust him. They will not question the word
of God. They will not question. I wonder
if this be true or not. My goodness, God's people will
just trust the word of God. The word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper than any two heads of sword. Heaven and
earth may pass away, but my word will never pass away. And you
know what the church says? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Heaven and earth will come. Kings
and princes will rise and fall, but your word will never pass
away. It will always have its same
result in me and the same effect over me, even in our old age. He said, I'll purpose you to
bring forth fruit. through the word of God. He goes
on to say here, he says, he that hath the key of David, I like
that, and so did the church. He that openeth and no man shutteth,
and he that shutteth and no man openeth. I'll tell you what,
this church got a double blessing. Now they may have some words
sent to them, that there's some things against them, but can
you ever, ever, in your whole born put together, ever find
fault with the revelation of Jesus Christ when he says, I
am absolutely sovereign and I will rule as I see fit and I will
open doors and no man can shut and I will close doors and no
man can open. And that church is just on cloud
nine. Every one of these churches to
get these words, this revelation of Jesus Christ personally written
to them and I hope And I pray that when we go through here,
the same impact will be upon us. This is a personal letter
to us about his revelation, his revealing, and who he is and
what he is, and how he affects his people in such a mighty way. He that openeth and no man shutteth,
and he that shutteth and no man opens. And then in verse 14,
under the church of the Laodiceans, my goodness. They, they were,
uh, well, we're going to find out that they had several things
against them, but notice the revelation. These things say
at the amen. Now that word could be translated
the, so be it. It is as it is, as I have purposed
it. Things will turn out as I have
planned. The Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Now that's not
God's first creation. That word beginning, we get our
same word architect from that word. I am the designer of heaven
and earth. I am the architect of heaven
and earth. I'm not created by God the Father,
I am As the scriptures tell us in John, in the beginning was
the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Now there's only a handful of
people, most of religion, that would doubt that Jesus is the
son of God. Most religion is that way. But
in comparison to, they're just props. They have no authority. They have no rule. They're just
props. And they will say he's not the
son of God. They will say that he's the beginning
of the creation. He's a little G. Now we have
a religious organization that preaches that from the pulpit. But hundreds and hundreds of
religious organizations practice it. He's just a little G. He
is God. Now that's the revelation of
Jesus Christ. You put them all together and
you got a handful. You put them all together and
you got a gunny sack full about the Lord Jesus Christ and his
revelation to these churches. How he appeared to them, how
he revealed himself to them, and the glory that the churches
had for just receiving these letters. They were on good standing
just to get them. Now the Lord gave six of them
opportunity to repent. But he's in charge of repentance,
too. So he gave six of them opportunity to repent. I'll come, he said. One passage we read, he says,
I'll come quickly. That quickly is not in the original. I'm thankful
he just doesn't come down and go like that, aren't you? I'm
thankful he brings his word and his spirit and works on his people
that they may be conformed to the image of his son. It's the
work of God. It's the work of God. All right,
now let's look at this one church here in verses 12 through 17.
This church at Pergamos. And these things saith he, verse
12 of the first chapter, excuse me, second chapter, Christ revealed
himself as the one which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Now there are swords that are
single edged. And they do damage. or they protect or whatever.
But this sword has two edges. Now turn with me, if you would,
first of all, over to the book of Ephesians chapter six and
verse 17. And we read about this, the Lord,
as he sent this wonderful letter to the Ephesians, he had this
to say in chapter six and verse 17 about his word, the word of
God. It is a sharp two edged sword. Now, I had in my mind eye for
a long time that this was a thick sword with real long, big or
narrow angles, big angles, that's what it was. And how could you
do anything? This is a very thin blade and very sharp on both
sides. And it has a purpose in being
sharp in both directions. And we're gonna look at that
in just a moment. Chapter six and verse 17, take the helmet
of salvation. Now that's an impossibility.
I'm thankful that when the Lord saves us, that he gives us the
grace to put our hands up and let him put it on our head. The
helmet of salvation. We don't do it. We can't do it.
We're dead in trespasses and sin. It's not going to happen.
But thank God he quickens us, and we, by the grace of God,
are thanking him for his helmet of salvation. And then it says,
the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This is God's
grace to us to have his word. Now in the Old Testament, he
left us his word through prophets. In the Old Testament, he even
left his word around the inside of a building. He left his word
on two stone tablets. Moses broke the first two and
he rewrote them. He left his word. But you know,
the most valuable, most important place he has ever left his word
is on God's people's heart. When they're made anew, when
they're a new creation Christ Jesus, he said, I will write
my laws on their heart, and they shall do them. I'm thankful for
God doing that, because when it's just here, or just there,
or on tables of stone, nobody is given the ability of keeping
it. But when it's written on our heart, His Spirit keeps it
for us, and that's by His grace and grace alone. So we have the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Now turn with
me back to the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 2. 2 Corinthians, chapter
2. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 2,
the Apostle Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to write this message
to the Corinthians, a second letter to them, how blessed they
were. Even though there was a lot of
problems there, and the only solution to all of these problems
is he preached Christ to them. I preach Christ and Him crucified.
And they say, now, how's that? How's that the answer? How's
that the answer? It takes me back a while when
I had all those most difficult questions and I posed them to
a preacher, and all he said is, that's not the issue. The issue
is Christ. The issue is Christ. Now, they had a lot of problems.
The issue is Christ. We could send in the psychiatrists
and the psychologists and all the social workers and all the
other things to go in there, but the only way that they were
ever going to be corrected is the preaching of Christ. Now,
notice here in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14, the scriptures share
this. Now, thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. He always
makes us triumph. To some of those downtrodden
Corinthians, this was good news. You mean it's not me? It's Him? Hallelujah! I can rest in Him. And that was such sweet news
to them. Now notice, going on here, it
says there in 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 15, the scripture says,
but we are unto God a sweet saver of Christ. In them that are saved,
and in them that perish to the one, we are the saver of death
unto death. Now that sword has two edges.
And that sword that God uses when it comes to his children,
when it comes to his elect, He is performing heart surgery to
the salvation of their soul. My goodness, he goes down where
no one has ever been by the word of God, by the sword of his spirit. And he goes down into the heart
and he creates life where there was death. He creates light where
there was darkness by the word of his power. But that same sword
is the sword of judgment to those that are without Christ. It is
the same sword that Stephen used, and they gnashed on him with
their teeth. It is the same sword that was preached on the day
of Pentecost. And there 5,000 said, men and brethren, what
shall we do? As the Spirit brought them to
their knees. And the word was, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. So the sword of God's spirit
cuts a fine swath to the saving of the souls of his people and
to the dividing asunder. Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity, for I never knew you. All right. So it is a powerful
sword. And that's what he revealed himself
here as in this book of of Revelation chapter 2 there to this church
at Pergamos. He revealed himself to the pastor
and to the church as the one which has a sharp, I like that
word sharp, a dull sword will get you hurt. Yeah, a dull knife. More people are hurt with a dull
knife than ever a sharp knife. playing around. Yes, it won't
work. Well, he has a sharp sword. And his spirit uses it effectually
and effectively. And his word goes forth. It's amazing. It's amazing when
people say, you know, that message really got to me. And you say,
my goodness, we were talking about Xerxes. You know, it's
just how God takes word, his word to the hearts of people
that you never thought that word, that passage, that thought was
ever going to be used in that way. But it's the Lord's word
working on the Lord's people in a miraculous way. And he is
the one that wields the sword. And he's the one that works the
grace. All right. Now, let's go back over here
to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 2. Now, as
he spoke to this church at Pergamos, and he revealed himself to this
church as the sharp sword with two edges, he said this, and
we brought out last week as we looked at this, I know what a
wonderful thing it is that God knows. What a wonderful thing
it is that God knows, the Lord Jesus Christ knows. The Lord
knew all about this. I was looking at that passage
of scripture on prayer this past week about he has knowledge of
what we have need of before we ask. That's a glorious passage
of scripture. That just shares so much about
our Lord. And the same is true. I have
knowledge of what word you have need of before you even know
that you need it. I have knowledge of what you have need of, spiritually
speaking, before you even know that you need it. Isn't that
the truth about us in our lost condition? He knows what he's
going to do. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. We couldn't even raise our hand and say, that's the verse
I need. But he, in his power, knows what we have need of before
we ask. And he works that work. Now he
says here, I know thy works. where thou dwellest, even where
Satan's seat is. Now this must be Salt Lake City. This is a place where religion
is really, this is the headquarters. Nashville, Tennessee. This is
the headquarters. This is right there where all
of it is, where the high-powered, high-toning people are. 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. My goodness, this is difficult
times for the saints of God. Persecution was all about them.
Persecution even to death. This is serious times. Now, in
every age, in every century, There has been places just like
this. And I'll tell you what, there
are religions right here in our town. If they were given the
opportunity, if they were given the permission, they would be
as mean as this right now. It hasn't been that long ago
they were mean, but the Lord has constrained them. Now we
can say they constrained him through the law, they constrained
him through the constitution, the Lord constrained him. The
Lord constrained him. And if he purposed tomorrow,
it would be a capital offense to know Jesus Christ in the way
he's revealed in scripture. It has been in the past. It was
here. My goodness. We look at that town where Diana
of the Ephesians, what happened? The economy was disrupted because
a bunch of people were saved and they were not buying the
idols anymore. My goodness. And if that happens,
it isn't the religion, it's the economy. It's the economy, it's
the money coming in. They could care less who attends
as long as they send their ties and offerings. Yeah, that's it. Now here, it's
a serious place. Verse 14, it says there, I have
a few things against thee because thou hast there in your midst
and you know about it and it just upsets me. What do they
have there? You have them that hold the doctrine
of Balaam. Now this takes us way back to
the Old Testament and I'm not gonna go back there and read
that. You can do that. But what this is and what Balaam
did He compromised Israel. What did he do? He brought some
Moabitish women around him. He compromised Israel. And this
is what happened here. There were those in this church
that had compromised the gospel. And all you have to do is say,
you know, I know what it says, but I just believe the gospel
is being preached everywhere. In all the churches. Now that's
what I used to think, but the scriptures do not bear that out. They do not bear that out. It
is more, there's more to the gospel than preaching that Jesus
died for everybody. Now that's a compromise. They've
compromised. I was speaking to a person today. We have a visitor from afar.
There's even soap advertised about him. Pope on a rope. Now if you go around the world,
you go to South America, Central America, you go to Canada, in
every place the message and the beliefs of that group are different
because they have incorporated all of the native religions into
this, wherever they go, and have added Christian names to it.
There are members of that group that don't even recognize their
own group in another country because they don't recognize
the gods and goddesses that they have assimilated. Now, that is
just a grand scheme and we don't even worry about that, but I'm
telling you, the Lord has been so pointed about watching out
for the gospel being preached in local communities, local churches
to the point, he says, what I have against you is you have compromised
the gospel. You have taken out. There's no
reason in this world to back up from the gospel. It is the
power of God unto salvation. And you take out a part of the
gospel, you've lost the power of the gospel. It is no longer
dynamite. It isn't even a little firecracker. It's just putty. It's flour and
water. It won't create life. It won't
move anything. And so it's essential that the
gospel continue on, even if people do not want to hear it. I didn't
want to hear it the first time. But if people don't want to hear
it, it doesn't give us the right to stop it. Now, turn with me,
if you would, over to the book of Romans. Romans. There should
be no compromise. No compromise. Now the Lord would
not allow Balaam to curse Israel. But Balaam got Israel to compromise. Compromise. And all he did was
make the Moabitish women a little closer to the Jewish men. And that's adultery. And there's
something worse than that. Spiritual adultery. There are
more said in the scriptures about that than the other. Now turn
with me here to the book of Romans chapter 11. They have allowed
this. They've tolerated this. It might
be their children. It might be their brother or
sister, father or mother, whatever it is, or friend. And they have
brought them in. and allowed them to speak and
they brought up the stuff and nobody has said anything against
it nobody says you gotta be quiet we're not tolerate that they've
allowed it in the lord said i have that against you uh... i i know
this when the lord says i have this against you it's something
to listen to it's something to listen to now i'll get this romans
eleven verse five romans eleven five scripture says Even so,
then at this present time also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, now if you believe
this, if God has given this to you, if you understand this,
if you hold to this, that it's by grace, then he goes on to
say, it is no more of works. If it's grace, don't add works. Not even a little bit. And don't
ever say, well, I know that they don't quite hold to the doctrines,
they don't quite hold to the teachings of the word, but I
know they must be saved. Don't ever say that. Don't ever
say that. That's the Lord's business, but
don't ever say that. My goodness. Don't ever compromise
the gospel. If we know, if the Bible teaches
what it is and there are those who want to compromise it, don't
ever give them an inch. Don't give them an inch. It's
the gospel that is the power of God and the salvation. Don't
give them an inch. Now if God saved them, thank
God, but don't give them an inch. All right, it goes on here and
says, otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be works,
then it's no more grace. You can't mix the two. If it's
works, don't even talk about grace. And if it's grace, don't
ever mention works as being a part of or complementing Grace. It doesn't mix. It can't be in
the same house together. And that's what happened over
here in this church at Pergamos. I know thy works, and they're
good, and you have been persecuted, but you have among you those
who have served Balaam. They have mixed in. They have
brought in their own damnable heresies. They've been permitted
to speak. They've been permitted to present.
Please, don't do that. Now, turn with me to the book
of Jude. That little book, Jude, right
before the book of Revelation, we read these words, Jude, verse
four. Now they may come in and they're
ordained to do it, but they are heart checks. They're heart checks. If they come in and they're ordained
to do it, There's a check going on. Are you going to put up with
it? Are you going to allow it? Are you going to compromise it?
Are you going to compromise the gospel for them, family, friends,
loved ones, neighbors? What's it say here? Verse four,
there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old
ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace. Now that's serious. Turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness. denying the only Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what have they done? They've
taken the big L Lord and made a little L Lord. They've denied
the effectual work of grace. They've been ordained to this.
They come in, they're the testers of God. Will you permit this
to happen or will you say, we cannot have this happen? He said
to the church at Pergamos, I have this against you. You put up
with those guys that follow the doctrine of Balaam. Now it goes
on to say here, I will therefore put you in remembrance that though
you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people
out of the land of Egypt afterward, destroyed them that believe not.
Now this is the end of it. Those who believe not, they don't
have any hope. Don't give them any. Don't give them any hope. In
unbelief, don't give them any hope. Don't give them an inch. Don't give them any hope. What's
he going to say? The angels which kept not their
first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved
an everlasting change under darkness unto the judgment of the great
day. And in verse 12, these are spots
in your feasts of charity. When they feast with you, feeding
themselves without fear, clouds they are without water. They
have the appearance of, but my, there's nothing in them. carried
about in the winds, trees whose fruit withereth without fruit,
twice dead, plucked up by the roots." Now, as Jude wrote this,
we go right over here to the book of Revelation, chapter 2.
There it shares with us, this is what I have against you. It
says there in verse 14, I have a few things against you because
thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. who taught
Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
He caused them to compromise." Oh, be careful. Be careful. Be careful. Don't allow this.
Stop it. First, at the very first, don't
ever say, please don't ever say, well, I know we made a mistake
right there, but we can put up with one. We can't put up with even one.
It's not tolerable. It's a narrow way that leads
to life. It's a narrow way. It's so narrow. And it's revealed by the Lord.
It's so narrow. compromise. And he goes on to
share with us there in verse 15, so hast thou also them that
hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. And you look
up that word Nicolaitans and it comes to us from the same
word that we get the word Balaam from. So he's double stating
to them. that this compromise, you've
tolerated it. Now, one of the other churches,
you hate the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. And here he says,
thou hast them also whom that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. This church has compromised on
the truth. Let's not make an issue. This is the pastor's daughter.
Let's not make an issue. This is the deacon's son. Let's
not make an issue. We'll let them teach. And we know that they're not
real correct on it, but we'll, oh. Sorry. We can't. Now, most of you know my feelings
about meeting a missionary for the first time. I came back and
he says, I saved you from a lot of agony. And then we had him
up here. And I just fell in love with
him. And I shared that if he preaches the first time, and
it is not the gospel, he will not speak the second time. But
he did all right the first time, and the second time. It's not
worth it. It's not worth it. It's not worth
people saying, well, they'll just let anybody in their pulpit.
It's not worth it. And that's what the Lord said
to this church. It's not worth it. It's not worth the compromise. It's not worth following after
Balaam. It's not worth following after the Nicolaitans. And then
he says in verse 16, repent. Now, that's a wonderful word. False repentance. I'm sorry I
ever got caught. Now, I'm sure there's a bunch
of churches. Well, we're sorry, Lord, we got caught. But no change
of heart. But true repentance, true repentance,
that from God is I've offended my God. I've offended the Lord. Now when God touched this church,
I pray, it's our hope, isn't it? That they said, oh Lord,
we've offended you. Instead of, oh my goodness, we
got caught on that again. There's a big difference. Repentance,
that is only human repentance. Only worldly repentance is the
kind of repentance that Judas had. Turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Matthew. Did you know he repented? Right
here in the book. Turn with me. This is worldly
repentance, though. This is the worldly repentance. He betrayed the Lord Jesus and
got some money for it. Matthew chapter 26, verse 3.
That's, excuse me, chapter 27. I'm sorry, chapter 27, verse
3. Then Judas, which had betrayed
him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself. Now, isn't that interesting?
Now, I've had people say, he got saved. No, no, that's not the meaning
of that word. The meaning of that word is he
repented himself. He was sorry he got caught. He was sorry he
got caught. It was human worldly repentance,
false repentance, sorrow for consequences, not the cause of
sin. He was repenting for the effect
because of fear. And nobody repents godly repentance
because of fear. They repent godly repentance
because of God's love. I've offended my Lord. I've offended
my God. I've offended Him because of
sin. I have been an offense to Him. And that's godly repentance,
which works well. God is the giver of that repentance. He's the one that authors that
repentance. And this is what Christ gives. He cannot be of works or the
merit of men. It's given by God. The man of
godly sorrow, sorrow having offended God, is the effect of God's love
in us. Oh Lord, I've offended you. And
that's what he's asking for here. And he's going to work in his
people there. There may be some of those Balaamites
and some of those Nicolaitans that never get it, but there's
going to be somebody there that's going to get it. Repentance.
Oh God, forgive us. We've offended you. We've offended
your word. Now quickly, in verse 17, he
shares this. Back there to chapter 2, verse
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. I'm just reminded of what we
have had brought to our attention there in the book of John chapter
six. I am the bread of life. I am that bread that came down
from heaven. Our fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness. And Jesus says God gave you that manna in the
wilderness. And I am the bread of life and
it's not gonna be very long and there's gonna be a huge split.
Boy, this is hard saying, this is a hard saying. But to the
church and those who trust Christ, to hear him say, I am the hidden
manna, unexpected manna. I am the bread of heaven. I am
the bread of life. I am the sustainer for you. To him that overcometh, I'll
give to eat of the hidden manna. We're going to get to eat Christ.
We're going to get to feast on his merit and his work upon his
righteousness and his peace. We will feast. It will be a daily,
everlasting feast upon all that Christ is and all that he stands
for, the hidden manna. Oh, it's a surprise to us. We're
groping along, sustained on corn husks. And the Lord shows us
the hidden manna. It's hidden. How do we get to
see it? It's revealed. Oh, there it is. I've been so
satisfied with this pig husk, these husks left over by the
pigs. And when he came to himself, he said, my father's servants
bear better than I am. I think I'll go home. And then
it tells us there, and I'll give him a white stone. Now this word
is only used twice in the New Testament, twice in all the Bible.
Here it is once. The ancient Greeks used white
pebbles for acquittal. I'll give you the white stone."
That's in verse 17. I'll give to Ede of the hidden
manna and will give him a white stone. And what that is, that
the vote went out. The election went out. And the
Lord is giving white stones for his people. They are his. He voted for them. He elected
them. They belong to him. Now the only other place it's
used is found in the book of Acts chapter 26. The apostle
Paul uses this and in regret he uses this because he cast
black stones. You ever heard of being blackballed?
Well they used to vote. They voted on people. They voted
on people for their execution. Now if all of the judges gave
a white stone, he was acquitted. But if one judge gave one black
stone, you're out to the cross. And Jesus said, I'll give you
the white stone. Acquittal. Doesn't mean we're
not sinners, but we've been acquitted. Now notice here, Acts chapter
26, verse 10, it says here, which thing I also did in Jerusalem
and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received
authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them. I gave them the black stone. He voted against them. Now, Saul
of Tarsus voting against them did not counteract them being
given the white stone by the Lord. Chosen in Christ, chosen
by Christ, given a white stone. And then it says in that white
stone, and in the stone, going back to the book of Revelation,
a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth
it. Now, I think this is what's written
there. This is the name that's written
there. We don't know it by nature. We only know it in grace. And
that is what we read over there in the book of Jeremiah, chapter
33, verse 16. This is her name, the Lord our
righteousness. That's the name, Lord our righteousness. So the Lord said, he that overcometh,
I'll give the eat of the hidden manna, I'll cast a white stone,
And on that stone is written a new name, the Lord our righteousness.
And everybody that has that stone and that new name says, thank
God, I know where I was going without it. Thank God for his
grace, it's not of works. Don't mix works and grace. Don't
compromise on that point, he said. Don't give in on that point.
Don't allow it to be brought up. Keep silence on this point. Don't let anybody interrupt you
on this point. It's of grace, free grace, free
and sovereign grace. It is of nothing else and nothing
else needs to be spoken about. Our friends may come here, pastor
friends may come here. Preaching all kinds of things,
you know what's gonna happen to them? Sit down. Sit, listen, maybe
God will give you a blessing. Sit and listen, just sit and
listen. Just won't have them, all right. We'll stop there.