1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,200 We're in this section where we're studying the letters to the seven churches and we've 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:18,680 seen the message to Ephesus so far and how they were in danger of becoming a loveless 3 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:19,880 pharisaical church. 4 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:26,520 We've seen the letter to the church in Smyrna and they were facing the danger of persecution 5 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:32,760 and now we're going to come to the church in Pergamum who is facing the danger of becoming 6 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,440 an inclusive church. 7 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:40,640 You might not think that sounds so bad at first but it is and it can really tear a church 8 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,480 apart and send them down the wrong path. 9 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:48,440 For instance here in Greenville so if you go about 20 miles from our church there is 10 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:55,400 a historic church called First Baptist Greenville, one of the most historic churches in South 11 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,440 Carolina and it's a very well known church. 12 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:04,640 It was the very first president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention was the pastor 13 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,840 of First Baptist Greenville. 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:13,080 Not only that but First Baptist Greenville served as the very first campus for the Southern 15 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:20,120 Baptist Theological Seminary, my alma mater and it started there in Greenville and its 16 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,120 first campus was at First Baptist Greenville. 17 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,640 They stood as this pillar of orthodoxy. 18 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,360 You looked at them and you saw that as an orthodox church. 19 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,160 They are a forerunner in orthodoxy. 20 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:38,920 But today First Baptist Greenville is no longer part of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. 21 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,760 They're no longer part of the Southern Baptist Convention and what once stood as a pillar 22 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:48,960 of orthodoxy has now become a forerunner in heresy. 23 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,920 Very much if the Bible calls it sin they call it good. 24 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,320 If the world loves something and approves of something they say well we love that thing 25 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:57,600 and we approve of that thing. 26 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:02,520 We're going to incorporate it into our church and so you look at this church and it stood 27 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:10,400 again as once a pillar of orthodoxy and now they're a church full of heretics. 28 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:19,120 They were a church that beautifully reflected Christ and over time they became a church 29 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,160 that reflected the culture. 30 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:27,040 And my question is how does something like that happen? 31 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,640 They have a lot in common with Pergamum. 32 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:33,360 The church in Pergamum was well known for being an orthodox church. 33 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:38,400 They were well known for being a church that reflected Jesus in a sinful world but over 34 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,760 time they started incorporating things into their faith and into their church that had 35 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,560 no business being there in the first place and Jesus says they are in danger of becoming 36 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,520 a church full of heretics. 37 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:52,520 So that's the question. 38 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:58,360 How does the church go from being a reflection of Christ to a reflection of the culture? 39 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,840 And I want you to see that you've got to consider this church, this church in Pergamum in the 40 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,800 midst of the culture that was around them. 41 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,000 You look with me at verse 13, if you have your Bibles there. 42 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,200 Revelation chapter 2, we're going to start in verse 13. 43 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:20,000 Jesus says, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. 44 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:25,840 Yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, 45 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:31,720 my servant, my faithful witness who was killed among you where Satan dwells. 46 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:32,720 So here's what you need to know. 47 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,440 One of the main things about Pergamum, Pergamum first and foremost was the official capital 48 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,200 of the Roman Empire in Asia Minor. 49 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,400 So the Roman province in Asia Minor, Pergamum was the capital. 50 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,680 So if you want kind of an analogy today, you could think about the city of Ephesus back 51 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,120 then as being like our modern day New York, right? 52 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,760 They were the epicenter of commerce and culture. 53 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:57,760 That's what they're known for. 54 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,160 It's New York, right? 55 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,520 Well, Pergamum, modern day equivalent. 56 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,200 It would be like Washington, DC. 57 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,760 Rome ruled Asia Minor from Pergamum. 58 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,280 So they were a very political culture is what they're in right here. 59 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,640 And honestly, the city was a bit of a kiss up. 60 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:16,240 Okay, let's just call it like it is. 61 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:17,960 They like to kiss up to Rome. 62 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:19,880 They knew that they would never be as good as Rome. 63 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,880 They know that they could never have the splendor of Rome. 64 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:27,800 And so they sought to make their city look as much like Rome as they possibly could. 65 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:33,800 Like literally everything in their city was an imitation of what you would find in Rome. 66 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,320 They built a temple to the first living emperor. 67 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,160 They were the first city to do a temple to a living emperor. 68 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,640 And at the time it was Caesar Augustus. 69 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:47,140 They emphasized worship in the imperial cult and worship of the emperor in the city. 70 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:50,840 And because of all this kissing up, they did to Rome. 71 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,640 Rome named Pergamum. 72 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,560 They gave them the right to be the judgment seat of Rome in Asia Minor. 73 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,920 So Pergamum was said to bear the sword of Rome. 74 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:03,800 I mean, that's how important this city was. 75 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,360 They bore the sword of Rome. 76 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:13,560 So they were a place that was a highly political culture, but also it was a highly pagan culture. 77 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:14,560 Right? 78 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,280 I mean, if you think about Rome, there's a lot of temples to false gods and goddesses, 79 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:19,280 right? 80 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,680 Well, again, Pergamum tried to imitate that in their own city. 81 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,120 And so they built all these temples to gods and goddesses. 82 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:32,640 And so Pergamum was a city in which Christians would be most likely to feel pressure to conform 83 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:34,840 to the surrounding culture. 84 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,920 And we don't have to look forward to see those type of similarities in our world today, do 85 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:39,920 we? 86 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:45,560 It seems like the church today is always under that pressure, either politically or culturally, 87 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,840 to conform to whatever they want us to conform to. 88 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:54,080 And it's because of this political and pagan presence in Pergamum that Jesus says, you 89 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,760 dwell in the place where Satan's throne is. 90 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:02,640 It was Satan's throne because of the amount of pagan worship and things that were going 91 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:03,640 on there. 92 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,160 And so he's saying that Satan is unleashing all sorts of attack on the church in this 93 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,920 city because of their faithfulness to Jesus. 94 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:17,280 But to their credit, again, notice in verse 13, Jesus says, they hold fast to his name 95 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:20,440 and did not deny the faith. 96 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:25,480 And we know from documents that we have from the first couple centuries that if a Christian 97 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:31,320 was found to be guilty of being a Christian, basically, they would be brought before a 98 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:32,800 Roman official. 99 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,480 And if they wanted to avoid punishment and death, they only had to do one thing. 100 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:38,840 What did they have to do? 101 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:44,960 Can't or yeah, curse the name of Jesus, basically, like literally, if you will curse the name 102 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:46,960 of Jesus, you get off scot-free. 103 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,080 You can go home today. 104 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,200 Jesus is saying here, you have not done that. 105 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,800 So there's a good chance that many of the Christians in Pergam had already been brought 106 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:58,400 before a Roman official. 107 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,440 They had been given the opportunity to curse the name of Jesus. 108 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:03,880 And Jesus says, you did not do that. 109 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:05,360 You held fast to my name. 110 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:11,160 And that phrase hold fast there, it means to keep carefully and to keep faithfully. 111 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,080 And this is something that they were presently doing. 112 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,520 And so Jesus says they didn't deny the faith. 113 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,800 They didn't regret sticking with Jesus and being faithful to Jesus, even if it meant 114 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,160 persecution, even if it meant punishment. 115 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:23,560 And this is what was happening. 116 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,680 There was all this pressure to conform. 117 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:30,400 And Jesus reminds them, you didn't even conform and give in, even in the days of Antipas, 118 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:31,400 my faithful servant. 119 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,280 And we don't know a lot about Antipas. 120 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:38,040 I'd love to know more about him if we could ever find some works that tell us more about 121 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:39,040 him. 122 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:43,120 But basically church tradition says that it was the apostle John, the guy who's writing 123 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,160 this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 124 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:52,600 The apostle John actually ordained Antipas to be the pastor of the church in Pergamum. 125 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:58,880 And because of his faithfulness to Christ, he was arrested and then he was burned alive 126 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,440 for his faith. 127 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:06,480 And Jesus says, even in those days, you held fast to my name. 128 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,440 Now you have to understand, that's a lot of pressure coming your way, right? 129 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,000 You've got political pressure. 130 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,080 You've got this cultural pressure. 131 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:18,720 And what I want you to understand is that Satan's main goal is to get Christians to 132 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:20,600 concede our faith. 133 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:21,600 That's what he wants. 134 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:27,200 More than anything, Satan wants Christians to concede our faith. 135 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:32,880 And he's going to throw everything he can at us to get us to concede our faith, whether 136 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:37,280 that's the political rulers of the day saying, you must do what we tell you to do, even if 137 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,960 that means it goes against your religious beliefs. 138 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,280 Or if it's the culture coming and putting pressure on us and saying, if you don't affirm 139 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,360 the things we affirm, if you don't accept the things that we do, if you tell us we're 140 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,560 wrong, we're coming after you. 141 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,640 Good thing we don't live in days like those, right? 142 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:55,920 That's a joke, obviously. 143 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,760 This is the days that we're living in constantly. 144 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,680 I mean, that describes our world perfectly. 145 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,840 And you have to understand that they're facing all this. 146 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,120 And Satan fully believes that every Christian has a price. 147 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:10,120 That's convinced of it. 148 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:11,120 Right? 149 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,080 I mean, if you think back to Peter, Peter said, I'm going to hold fast. 150 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,000 Jesus, even if all these other guys desert you, you can count on me. 151 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,000 I never will. 152 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:19,920 I'm going to be with you to the end. 153 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:21,840 And then what happened? 154 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:23,480 Some pressure came, right? 155 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,520 And some people said, hey, don't you know him? 156 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:26,840 Aren't you one of his followers? 157 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:27,840 And what did Peter do? 158 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:29,280 He said, oh, of course I am. 159 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,560 I'll put me up there right next to him. 160 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:33,680 Now, he denied three times. 161 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:38,320 He even brought a curse upon himself in the midst of all these denials. 162 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,640 Peter's price was the price of his life. 163 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,280 He said, I'll be faithful unless it calls me my life. 164 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:45,640 That was his price. 165 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:51,760 I actually read about a tribe, an Aborigines tribe, and they had this land. 166 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,760 And this land was sacred to him because it had some green ants on it. 167 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:57,640 And they thought that the green ants were gods. 168 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,000 And so they worshiped these green ants as gods. 169 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,640 And I don't think they realized that the ants were actually green because the land was rich 170 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:07,040 with uranium. 171 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:13,560 And so some scientists came and offered to buy the land because they wanted to mine the 172 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:15,480 uranium and things like that. 173 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,280 And the Aborigines said, no, no, no, we can't do that. 174 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:19,820 This is sacred land. 175 00:10:19,820 --> 00:10:20,820 These are our gods. 176 00:10:20,820 --> 00:10:22,480 We will never sell this land. 177 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,840 They said, what if we gave you $8.3 million? 178 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:26,840 And they said, you know what? 179 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,040 They'll be fine, right? 180 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:30,520 They'll find another place to live. 181 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,280 Yeah, yeah, they're gods. 182 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:33,280 They'll be all right. 183 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,160 So they ended up selling the land for $8.3 million. 184 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:37,680 Obviously, they had a price. 185 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:38,680 They said, hey, we're faithful. 186 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:41,480 We're going to worship these things as gods. 187 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,200 But for $8.3 million, that's pretty nice. 188 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,400 You see, this is what I want you to consider. 189 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,400 Satan thinks that every Christian has a price. 190 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,840 My question is, what is the price of your convictions? 191 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,080 We like to think that we don't have a price, right? 192 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:57,640 But then some pressure comes. 193 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,160 Then the government says, if you continue to meet as a church during this time of lock 194 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,760 up, we're going to shut you down. 195 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,000 Look at the pastor in prison. 196 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,200 Are you willing to remain faithful if it means you have to go to prison? 197 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,960 Are you willing to remain faithful even if it means that you could have to pay a fine 198 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:15,160 or something like that? 199 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,600 For many of us, it's the price of our comfort, right? 200 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,200 I'll worship Jesus as long as things go well for me. 201 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,880 And I'll continue to be faithful as long as I remain happy and healthy and comfortable 202 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,000 and everything's going right. 203 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,320 Or for many of us, it's the price of our lives. 204 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,240 I think everyone in here would say, even if they held a gun to my head, I would not deny 205 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:35,240 Jesus. 206 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,000 And that's easy to say when there's not a gun held to our head, isn't it? 207 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,880 We don't know what we would do in that situation. 208 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:44,280 Lord willing, we would be faithful. 209 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:49,880 But for many people, their faith, the price of their life is enough for them to say, no, 210 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,440 I don't believe in Jesus. 211 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,960 Satan fully believes that you have a price, something that would get you to walk away. 212 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,720 And so he sends all this pressure, political, pagan pressure. 213 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:05,160 And so this was the culture in which this church existed. 214 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:09,600 But I want you to see, as we continue reading this letter, I want you to see how that culture 215 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,480 began to invade the church. 216 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,000 So they weren't just a church in the midst of the culture. 217 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,680 The culture was now in the midst of the church and it was beginning to tear it apart. 218 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:19,240 So look at verses 14 and 15. 219 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:23,440 This is what Jesus says. 220 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,520 He says, but I have a few things against you. 221 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:26,520 So here's all the good stuff. 222 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,800 You held fast and I'm my name also. 223 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,600 I have a few things against you. 224 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:38,000 You have some there who hold to the teachings of Balaam, who taught the lock to put a stumbling 225 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,560 block before the sons of Israel. 226 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:44,480 So they might eat food, sacrifice to idols and practice sexual immorality. 227 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:50,400 So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaotans. 228 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,760 So he's referencing the Old Testament figure Balaam. 229 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:54,160 Anybody remember Balaam? 230 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:55,160 Yeah. 231 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,720 He had a famous talking donkey, right? 232 00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:59,800 Never seen one of those would have been pretty cool. 233 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:04,480 But you might remember that Balak, the king of Moab, he hired Balaam to go and do what? 234 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:05,800 What was Balaam supposed to do? 235 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:07,520 Yeah, curse the Israelites. 236 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:08,520 But what happened? 237 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,240 Every time Balaam opened his mouth, rather than curses coming out, what happened? 238 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:13,240 Blessing. 239 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:14,240 It's hilarious. 240 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:15,240 Right? 241 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:16,240 Balak's like, all right, you're a prophet. 242 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:17,240 They know you're a prophet. 243 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:18,240 Go and curse them. 244 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,640 And God says, actually, every time he does that, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit upon 245 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,240 him and blessings are going to come out instead. 246 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,280 So Balaam came up with another tactic. 247 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,760 I don't know if you remember this part of the story, what he did. 248 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,320 He said, okay, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. 249 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:32,320 All right? 250 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:33,320 I can't curse them, obviously. 251 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:34,320 Guys, don't let me do that. 252 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,440 So I'm going to send some Moabite women among them. 253 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:45,000 And the Moabite women seduced the men of Israel and led them into sexual immorality and idol 254 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,920 worship and idolatrous practices and things like that. 255 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:55,360 And Jesus is saying here that just as Balaam coerced the Israelites into corrupting their 256 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:01,440 faith, the Nicolaitans in this context were coercing the Christians in Pergamum to corrupt 257 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:02,440 their faith. 258 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:09,120 You see, the Nicolaitans, they were a heretical group that basically preached cultural accommodation. 259 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,560 They wanted cultural accommodation and secular living. 260 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:15,320 They encouraged unrestrained indulgence. 261 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:22,920 First of all, they told that because Christians were saved by grace, Christians were free 262 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:23,920 to do anything. 263 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,480 There's a whole movement of that going on today, by the way. 264 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:28,880 It's called the Free Grace Movement. 265 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,520 We do believe in free grace, but not the way they preach it. 266 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,000 There's a movement today that is in the spirit of the Nicolaitans that says, you have been 267 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,000 saved by grace. 268 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,320 Jesus has done it all. 269 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,480 Therefore, you can literally go and do anything you want. 270 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,520 There are people within this group who say, you don't even have to ask for forgiveness. 271 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,160 You don't need to repent of your sins. 272 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,160 Why would you ask for forgiveness when Jesus has already died on the cross? 273 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,120 So they say, just go and live however you want and live in the freedom that Jesus has 274 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:55,640 done it all for you. 275 00:14:55,640 --> 00:15:00,920 And the Nicolaitans were saying that, and they were saying, whatever the world does, you 276 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:01,920 need to do. 277 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,720 Whatever the world believes, you need to believe. 278 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:10,040 They taught that Christians should be indistinguishable from the culture around them. 279 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:16,000 And Jesus says, many of you in this church in Pergamum, you have fallen for that. 280 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,160 You have believed that, and you think that this is what you were supposed to do as a 281 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:21,480 Christ follower. 282 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:26,920 And so they start being inclusive, and they start including all these things in their religious 283 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:32,200 practices that have no business at all being in the church. 284 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,600 They're trying to avoid confrontation with the world, and they think the answer to that 285 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:36,600 is inclusivism. 286 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:41,520 But I want you to understand something, being inclusive doesn't make you non-confrontational, 287 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,720 it just makes you nonsensical. 288 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,240 That's all it is, just plain and simple. 289 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,720 One of the best examples of this that I think of when I think of this idea is, you might 290 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:56,200 know the actor Russell Brand, I think he stopped acting now, he's got a podcast. 291 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:01,680 But he's got a bunch of random tattoos on him, and they all come from different religions. 292 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,840 There's some Hindu tattoos, there's some Buddhist tattoos, there's some Christian 293 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:05,840 tattoos. 294 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,760 There's some different religions of the world, and he thinks that it makes him a citizen 295 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:10,760 of the world. 296 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,560 Like, hey, I'm a citizen of the world, look at me with all these different tattoos, I'm 297 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,960 non-confrontational, I'm one with all these people. 298 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,840 And I'm thinking, no, it just makes you look nonsensical, right? 299 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,240 Because those are conflicting ideologies. 300 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,840 You can't believe in reincarnation and resurrection, they don't go together. 301 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:33,200 This doesn't make you this non-confrontational person, it just makes you look nonsensical. 302 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:38,120 That's exactly how the church looks when we try to bring things into the church to try 303 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,600 to be inclusive and not offend people outside of the church. 304 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,680 It does not make us non-confrontational, it makes us nonsensical. 305 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:50,320 Which is exactly why we have Christians today who have brought things into the church and 306 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:56,320 into their lives as Christians that have no business being there as a Christian. 307 00:16:56,320 --> 00:17:00,240 Like there are some Christians today, thank you Bethel, that have taught, not your Bethel, 308 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,520 sorry Bobby, I should make that clear, Bethel Church, okay? 309 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,760 Your Bethel is wonderful, we love her, okay? 310 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:11,080 But Bethel Church has started this movement of grave-sucking, where people literally go 311 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:15,840 to the graves of dead people and they put their mouths on the ground and they inhale 312 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:20,520 and suck and they're trying to benefit in some way from the legacy of the person who 313 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,400 died there. 314 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:27,520 And they call themselves Christians, that's pagan, that's nonsensical. 315 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,880 There's a seminary that literally had a chapel service where they put a bunch of plants on 316 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:35,800 stage and they repented to the plants for what the humans had done on earth. 317 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,880 And they were talking to the plants and praying to them and repenting and I'm thinking, guys, 318 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:41,600 what are we doing here? 319 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:46,440 And those are obviously like, you know, far out there, right? 320 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:47,440 We can admit that. 321 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:53,320 But there are some more subtle ones that come into our lives that have their roots in paganism 322 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:58,120 and in other religions and things like that, things that we don't like to talk about and 323 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,920 might hit a little close to home for some people, like horoscopes. 324 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:07,320 A lot of Christians look at a horoscope, think that you can look at a horoscope and it'll 325 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:11,560 just tell you, oh man, if you're, whatever, you're gonna have a great month or you're 326 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,680 gonna have a month of stress and all this kind of stuff and they buy into it and they 327 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:19,400 think this is literally, it's telling me my future. 328 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,520 It's telling me what my month is gonna be like this month and I'm thinking, you think 329 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,560 that little horoscope is God? 330 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,280 You think it knows what's going on? 331 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:28,160 That's not the sovereign Lord. 332 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,360 You know, they do this with the zodiac signs too. 333 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,760 People use this to excuse their sin all the time, don't they? 334 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,040 Well, I know I'm grumpy and I'm angry, but that's just a cancer. 335 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,040 That's what we do. 336 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:39,800 It's like, no, you've got sin in your heart. 337 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:40,800 You need to repent. 338 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,320 Like, you don't just excuse yourself because you were born in a certain month. 339 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:45,320 That's ridiculous. 340 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:46,840 But Christians buy into it. 341 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:48,800 That has its roots in paganism. 342 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,320 I mean, Christians today, there are Christians who will say, if you do good things to people, 343 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,920 I expect good things that are gonna come back on me. 344 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:56,920 That's karma. 345 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,480 That is literally karma. 346 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,400 I know we would never say we believe in karma, but literally every person believes in karma 347 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,920 in some way because they might not write out, come and say like, okay, I think if I do good 348 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,160 things in the world, good's gonna come back and happen to me. 349 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,120 But what happens when we have done good in the world and then we just get hit with a 350 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:16,720 barrage of bad stuff? 351 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,120 We go, what did I do to deserve this? 352 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,560 God, didn't I do all these good things? 353 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:23,560 Here's the reason you're upset. 354 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,960 It's because you expected God to do something good back for you, right? 355 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,040 There's karma in all of our hearts. 356 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,960 We say we don't believe in it, but it's there deep down. 357 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:33,960 This is what I'm saying. 358 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,800 The spirit of the Nicolaotans is alive and well today. 359 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:44,320 And one of the reasons it's so alive and well today is because it is our desire to be non-confrontational. 360 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:45,760 Most of us, at least. 361 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,280 We don't want confrontation with the government, and so we bend to their will and we do whatever 362 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:51,880 they tell us to do. 363 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,080 We don't want confrontation with the culture, and so we try to blend in and try not to offend 364 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,640 anybody who doesn't believe what we believe. 365 00:19:58,640 --> 00:19:59,800 We don't want to upset people. 366 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,000 We want people to like us. 367 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,280 We want people to think that we're cool and that we're hip and that we're with it and 368 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,600 that we're not some crazy people who are following a crazy religion. 369 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,520 We don't want confrontation, but let me tell you something. 370 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:18,800 In our desire to avoid confrontation, we've invited corruption. 371 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,680 I get the desire not to have confrontation, right? 372 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:23,560 2014, Alex wouldn't have said that. 373 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:24,920 He would have fought with anyone. 374 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:26,600 Thank God for sanctification. 375 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,040 But I'm old now, okay? 376 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:30,880 So I don't like confrontation anymore. 377 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,200 I try to avoid it at all costs, but there needs to be a time when Christians are willing 378 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:40,520 to stand up and say, if we have to have confrontation, then we have to have confrontation. 379 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,880 Because if we stick to this idea of we're never going to have confrontation, we're 380 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,800 just going to keep inviting all sorts of corruption into our church. 381 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,080 You see what gets me today, and I'm going to try not to go on a rant, because I don't 382 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,280 have time to go on a rant right now, but y'all got me worked up. 383 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,800 So let me just say this, all right? 384 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:56,800 There you go, Brian. 385 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,560 Thank you, sir. 386 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:04,040 For some reason, Christians today are too afraid to grab this book and say, thus says 387 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,160 the Lord, and I don't understand it. 388 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:08,840 We see what the culture is saying. 389 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:10,720 We see the sin that's going on in the world. 390 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:15,000 We even see Christians participating in sin, and we don't want to upset them. 391 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,280 We don't want to offend them. 392 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:17,600 We don't want to hurt their feelings. 393 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:21,600 And so we back off and we refuse to say anything rather than just saying, you know what? 394 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:23,520 This is what God says. 395 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,680 This is what the word of the Lord says, and I'm not going to act like it doesn't say 396 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:28,680 that. 397 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,480 What good does that do anybody? 398 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:35,240 I mean, if we're just ignoring the sin of the world and we're not saying anything to 399 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:39,960 them, we're basically saying, I'm content for you to go to hell, right? 400 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:41,280 Is that not what we're saying? 401 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,720 Well, you keep living in sin. 402 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:44,720 You keep doing what you're doing. 403 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,560 I'm not going to, who am I to say anything to you? 404 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:48,800 Who am I to say anything to you? 405 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,160 I'm not perfect either. 406 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:51,600 And so we just don't say anything at all. 407 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:52,720 We don't tell them that it's sin. 408 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:54,760 We allow them to continue in their sin. 409 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,120 And what's going to happen, folks, is one day they are going to die and they are going 410 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:03,240 to stand before God, and He's going to say, I never knew you. 411 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,680 Even if we're right there next to them, and they look to us and they say, why didn't you 412 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:07,680 say anything? 413 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:12,840 Why didn't you say, if you knew this was going to happen, why didn't you say anything to 414 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:13,840 me? 415 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,120 Why didn't want to hurt your feelings? 416 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:20,400 I would have rather you hurt my feelings in that moment than me spending eternity in 417 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:21,400 hell. 418 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,400 Do you see the problem here? 419 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,480 Christians are too shy and too timid today. 420 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,720 We're too afraid to call abortion murder. 421 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,120 We tiptoe around that topic and act like it's not, but it is. 422 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:35,920 I'm tired of people acting like that it's not, and we're too afraid to do it. 423 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,760 We're afraid to call homosexuality an abomination. 424 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:40,800 We're afraid to call gluttony a sin. 425 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,040 We're afraid to call premarital sex and cohabitation a sin. 426 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,000 We're afraid to call out sexual abuse within the church. 427 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:52,200 We're afraid to affirm the clear teachings of Scripture just so people will like us and 428 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,240 we won't get canceled as a church. 429 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,320 Where are our priorities? 430 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,800 This is exactly what happened to the church in Pergamum. 431 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:07,280 This is exactly how they ended up in the situation they ended up in. 432 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:12,720 At one point they were a beautiful reflection of Christ, but because they kept accommodating 433 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,240 and being inclusive and bringing things into the church and bringing the culture into the 434 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:21,440 church, they became a church that reflected the culture. 435 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,840 Just like what happened to 1st Baptist Greenville, folks. 436 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,600 And how did this happen? 437 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:33,240 Well, they started compromising on sound doctrine, didn't they? 438 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,880 They knew the doctrines of the Lord and they started compromising on all those doctrines. 439 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,920 And see, that's the whole point of what Jesus is getting at here. 440 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,400 He's saying when the church compromises on sound doctrine, she ceases to be a reflection 441 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,960 of Christ and begins to be a reflection of the culture. 442 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:54,640 Now one of the biggest problems with saying that today is that people don't like doctrine, 443 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:55,640 do they? 444 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,680 They say, preacher, don't preach one of those sermons where you're just teaching a bunch 445 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,200 of doctrine. 446 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,360 God help me if I don't. 447 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,120 Because I need people to know what the Word of the Lord says. 448 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:09,600 I need people to know what sound doctrine looks like and that it comes from the Word 449 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,400 of God so that when you have a Jehovah's Witness come to your house and they start telling 450 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,920 you why there's no such thing as a trinity, you can say, hold on a second. 451 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:18,840 I know what the Bible says. 452 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:19,840 I know sound doctrine. 453 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,080 I've been trained up in the way of the Lord. 454 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,600 And so I know how to confront this or when you're talking with an atheist and they say, 455 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,200 hey, you know, all religions are the same. 456 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,120 If you have no answer to that, what are you going to say to them? 457 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:36,000 If you don't know sound doctrine or if you're talking with a Mormon or someone else who 458 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,960 appears to be Christian and they use the Bible and they talk about Jesus, if you don't know 459 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:45,560 sound doctrine, what is stopping you from falling into their heresy? 460 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:46,560 Nothing. 461 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:51,360 And so I know everybody wants these short sermons full of jokes and pithy stories. 462 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:54,960 I know people want all these sermons that are just fluff and they make you feel good 463 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,080 and you leave there just going, oh man, that was great. 464 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,440 And I laughed a whole bunch and blah, blah, blah. 465 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:05,240 But I will not compromise on sound doctrine because our souls are on the line, folks. 466 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,280 If I was a motivational speaker, I could make you laugh all day. 467 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,800 I make you feel good about yourself. 468 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,200 But God has called me to pastor. 469 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,560 He's called me to preach the Word. 470 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,360 I am responsible for what I teach you. 471 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:22,040 And so my sermons might not be always fun. 472 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,040 I get that. 473 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:25,560 I've heard they could be a little long. 474 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,240 I don't know, maybe. 475 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:31,240 But it's for a reason. 476 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:36,880 It's because I love you and I want you to know sound doctrine. 477 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:43,640 I want you to know what the Bible says because one day you will stand before God and you will 478 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,320 have to give an account. 479 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:51,040 And in this life, you're going to encounter so many distractions and so many people who 480 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:55,760 want to lead you astray that I can't afford not to teach you sound doctrine. 481 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,840 People say, well, doctrine divides pastor. 482 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,160 Yes, it does. 483 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,920 Divides truth from error. 484 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:09,320 Divides true Christianity from cultural Christianity. 485 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,880 This is why we need to be in the Word of God always. 486 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,800 We need to know what the Bible says because listen to me, church, if it can happen to 487 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:22,240 the church in Pergamum and if it can happen to First Baptist Greenville, why couldn't 488 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:23,720 it happen to us? 489 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:28,640 I mean, George's Creek is a few pastors away and a few generations away from being the 490 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,640 next First Baptist Greenville. 491 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,560 That's why I keep telling you, I want to die in the pulpit. 492 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,000 And then after that, whatever happens, it's in the hands of the Lord. 493 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:40,920 But while I'm here, I will continue to preach this sound doctrine because our souls depend 494 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:41,920 on it. 495 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,040 And you might say, well, pastor, is it really this serious? 496 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:45,040 Yes, it is. 497 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:46,040 Look at verse 12. 498 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,440 I want you to see what Jesus started this letter by saying. 499 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:57,320 He said, into the angel of the church in Pergamum, right, the words of him who has the sharp, 500 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,320 two-edged sword. 501 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,800 Now keep in mind, what was Pergamum known for? 502 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,160 Because they had kissed up the Rome, they were said to bear the what of Rome, the sword 503 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:08,160 of Rome. 504 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,920 Jesus is cheeky this way. 505 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,800 He likes to pull on things that are familiar to them. 506 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:18,360 Yeah, they had the sword of Rome, but Jesus says, yeah, I've got a sword too. 507 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:19,840 The sharp, two-edged sword. 508 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,720 What does that refer to? 509 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:23,720 The word, right? 510 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:28,480 I mean Hebrews, if you can pull it up there, Mazzan, Hebrews chapter 4, verses 12 through 511 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,720 13, this is what the Bible says. 512 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:38,520 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the 513 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,840 division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and 514 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,720 intentions of the heart. 515 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:51,080 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of 516 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,840 him to whom we must give an account. 517 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,480 So Jesus tells this church, I know that you think you're great. 518 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,480 I know that you're in this city that thinks it's great, that you have the sword of Rome, 519 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:08,720 but I have the sharp, two-edged sword that pierces, that divides. 520 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:10,920 And it's amazing what he's saying here. 521 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,560 He's saying that there are two possibilities here. 522 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,760 This sword is a comfort to some, isn't it? 523 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,200 Does the word of God comfort your soul? 524 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,320 Yeah, comfort is mine. 525 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:26,520 But this same sword that is a comfort to some is judgment for others. 526 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:27,520 Right? 527 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:28,520 This is what Jesus says. 528 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:35,640 John chapter 12, verses 47 to 48, if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do 529 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:39,840 not judge them, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 530 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,960 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge. 531 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:48,920 The word that I have spoken will judge him on that last day. 532 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:53,320 So that's Jesus saying that this word can be a message of life and salvation, or it 533 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,280 can be a message of judgment and condemnation. 534 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,480 So He calls us to repent and remain faithful. 535 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:00,960 That's what He says in verse 17. 536 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,400 Look at how He closes this letter. 537 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:10,200 Verses 16 and 17, He says, therefore repent, if not, I will come to you soon and war against 538 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,400 them with the sword of my mouth. 539 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,840 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 540 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,880 To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a 541 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:26,240 white stone with a new name written on that stone that no one knows except the one who 542 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:27,240 receives it. 543 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,240 So He says, there's a great reward. 544 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,520 If you repent, you remain faithful to Christ, there's great rewards. 545 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,120 You get the hidden manna. 546 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:35,120 What is that? 547 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:36,120 Anybody know? 548 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:37,120 You're our resident, theologian, Joseph. 549 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:38,120 You remember? 550 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:39,120 Okay. 551 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:40,120 Cool, cool, cool. 552 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:41,120 All right. 553 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:42,120 So Joseph says he has no idea. 554 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:55,640 So the hidden manna, remember, what did the Israelites, what did God give the Israelites 555 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,440 as they're going through the wilderness? 556 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:02,880 Manna, bread from heaven, and the manna was said to be hidden in the heavenly places, 557 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:03,880 right? 558 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:09,120 And so that was how they were sustained throughout their journey through the wilderness. 559 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:15,200 Well, the Bible teaches us in John chapter six that Jesus himself is the true bread 560 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:16,320 of life. 561 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:17,880 He's the true bread from heaven. 562 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:19,400 He is the true manna. 563 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:25,160 And though Jesus is hidden from our sight now, Jesus is saying the ones who overcome 564 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,800 or promised that hidden manna. 565 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:32,520 It's referring to the fullness of Christ and His ability to nourish us and sustain us 566 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:34,360 throughout all of eternity. 567 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:39,080 And then you get this really cool reward here where He says you get a white stone with your 568 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:40,440 name on it, right? 569 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,200 So two interesting little cultural things that this could refer to. 570 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:50,960 In these days, whenever there was a courtroom hearing, the jury, if they were asking for 571 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:56,520 the verdict, if a person was guilty, the jury would put forward a black stone. 572 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:02,200 But if the person was found innocent, they'd put forward a white stone. 573 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:06,960 And so Jesus is saying here, you receive this white stone as a symbol of your being declared 574 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:08,460 innocent in the eyes of God. 575 00:31:08,460 --> 00:31:12,720 And not only that, when you think about the games that they had at this time, the athletic 576 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:19,280 games, much like our Olympics today, the victors of those games often received a white stone 577 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,640 with their name engraved in it. 578 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:26,000 And they gave that to them because you could present that to a person, that white stone 579 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:30,840 with your name on it, and it would admit you access into the celebrations that were taking 580 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,200 place afterward. 581 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:33,720 And so here's this really cool picture. 582 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:39,520 Jesus is saying, if you repent of your sins and you trust in me and you remain faithful 583 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:46,520 to me, you will be declared innocent in the eyes of God and you will be permitted access 584 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,640 to the celebration that's coming. 585 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,440 The marriage supper of the Lamb where Christ and His bride will be joined together in that 586 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,680 heavenly celebration. 587 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:57,600 And so that's what Jesus is getting at here. 588 00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:59,560 This is an amazing reward. 589 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:04,840 And so church, we must not let the culture infiltrate the church. 590 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,760 We cannot afford to compromise on sound doctrine. 591 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:13,680 And I understand again, our desire to avoid confrontation, but like I said, if we must 592 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,960 have confrontation, then let's have confrontation to the glory of God. 593 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:22,400 If that's what it takes for Christ to purify His church, then we should be willing to do 594 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:23,800 it, right? 595 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:29,720 We want to be a pure church, a people who aren't perfect, but a people who see our need 596 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:34,640 for Christ and we repent of our sins and we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. 597 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,560 And so we pray for boldness. 598 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:42,560 We must throw ourselves in the love and the mercy and the grace of Christ. 599 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:44,640 And we keep running forward. 600 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:50,400 Keep chasing after Christ until we receive the reward of that upward calling, where we 601 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:55,480 receive that white stone being declared innocent, permitted access to the marriage supper of 602 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,640 the Lamb, and we will be with our Savior forever. 603 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:04,240 As Jesus says here, He who has an ear to hear, let him hear. 604 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,760 All right, Joseph, you know the oldest here? 605 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:32,040 But you get the word of wisdom tonight because you failed miserably earlier.