He says how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and I want you to notice this,
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars.
So this church here is working overtime, not only hating evil, but actually testing people
who are claiming to be the apostles of Christ, they're claiming to be prophets,
they're claiming to be sent from God, messengers of God, and they're testing these people to see
if that's true or not. And apparently in some of these cases, they find out that they're false
apostles, deceitful workers, and that they're liars. Now that takes work. Why? Because the
larger a church gets, the easier it is for false prophets to kind of slip through the cracks.
And when you study the history of the church at Ephesus, it was a very large church.
So how do you know that? Well, because in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20
meets with elders, plural, at the church at Ephesus. So if you have multiple elders,
multiple people who are ordained, you're dealing with a church that's very much
a large congregation. How many? We don't know, but there's enough that, you know,
he has five or six elders. That's a lot, okay? You're dealing with a very large church,
and you know what? The larger a church gets, the more likely it is that false prophets will try
to infiltrate. And in fact, what does the apostle Paul tell the elders at the church at Ephesus?
He says that wolves are gonna come out from among them to draw away disciples after them. They're
not gonna spare the flock. They're gonna try to infiltrate. He's constantly warning them of these
things. So they took that to heart. When he warned them in Acts chapter 20, hey, you know, there's
gonna be false prophets, even of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw
away disciples after them. They took that to heart, because what are they doing now?
They're trying the apostles to see if it's true or not, and they're finding them to be liars.
And you know what? This is an important work for churches to do. And in fact, if someone is slack
in this particular work, if a church is slack in this particular area, the church becomes apostate.
It becomes a cesspool of false doctrine. It becomes a place of tolerance of just any doctrine.
It's important for us, listen to me, what the Bible says, prove all things, hold fast that
which is good. And you know, sometimes people think, well, you know, a church shouldn't be
that way. You know, we should just learn to get along. Yeah, I agree. We should get along with
each other, for sure. But you know what the Bible also says? Fight the good fight of faith.
The Bible says that we should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.
And the Bible says that he that keepeth the law contends with those who don't.
That sounds like fighting words. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15,
32, referring to the Apostle Paul, he says, if after the manner of men, I have fought with the
beast at Ephesus, what advantages that mean? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink for
tomorrow we die. Now, what did you mean by the beast at Ephesus? Well, he's not talking about
like dogs that he's fighting or some animal that he encountered at Ephesus, you know, some bear
that he ate, some livestock that he encountered. He's referring to false prophets. Because when
you read 2 Peter 2, the Bible likens false prophets to beasts that are made to be taken
and destroyed. That's what the Bible says. So he's saying that he fought with the beast at Ephesus,
he's going at it with them, he's exposing them, he's trying them. This takes work, okay?
You say, why is that? Well, because the natural inclination for churches is just to kind of
overlook things, you know, just to kind of bypass people, or just to kind of turn a blind eye to
people who are teaching false doctrine. But you know, the church at Ephesus is not turning a blind
eye, they're doing their due diligence, making sure that everyone is doctrinally sound, that
there's no one teaching false doctrine, a false gospel, teaching things which they ought not for
filthy lucre's sake, teaching things that are against the Word of God, they are doing their
due diligence to do that. Look at verse number three of Revelation 2. So he esteems their labor,
he esteems their work, but he also esteems the labor it takes to endure the Christian life.
And let me say this, in my experience, I feel like it's easier for Christians
to labor in doctrine and know what's right, and it's actually harder to just endure the Christian
life, period. Because I've known Christians even as a pastor of this church, who are doctrinally
sound, they believe the Bible, they don't like false prophets, but they can't get their rear
ends in church. For a couple months, they get out of church. They get out of church,
they stop soul winning. That's not endurance, my friend. You know, that's not a commendable virtue
when you know the Bible, and you just kind of overlook Hebrews chapter 10 that says forsake not
the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is. You've read that before, or what?
I mean, the New Testament spends a significant percentage of time talking about churches and the
importance of being in church. You say, are you saying that the doctrinal part is not important?
No, both of them are important. But you would think that if someone knows doctrine,
and they know about staying away from false prophets, that they would also know that you
got to be in church. Because the house of God is the place for which Christ gave his life for,
the Bible tells us. He purchased it, the Bible says, with his own blood,
and he commands us to be in the house of God. I mean, upon this rock, I will build my church,
and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. You would think people would understand the
importance of just being in church. So he esteems them for their labor to endure the Christian life.
Look at what it says in verse three, has borne and has patience, and for my name's sake has labored
and has not fainted. Now, obviously, we can't necessarily infer that this is referring to
church attendance, but it's just obviously referring to just the Christian life period,
right? Because the Christian life is hard. Living like a Christian 100% of the time,
fulfilling your God-given responsibilities is a difficult task. And you know what? Doing good all
the time, serving Christ all the time is enjoyable, but it can get hard. It can become difficult.
And there are times when you have to listen to me endure the Christian life. Are there times
when it's easy? Are there times when it's just smooth sailing? Absolutely. Are there times when
we're rejoicing and we're laughing and we're just having a gay old time? Yes. But you know what? Let
me just be honest with you. There are other times when, no, it's not easy. It's very difficult,
especially when you're going through a hard time, right? You know what's hard to do the Christian
life? When you're having a hard time. When you're heartbroken, you're going through trials,
you're going through tribulation, you're going through difficulty, you're crying yourself to
sleep, you're suffering at work, you're suffering in your marriage, you're suffering with your
children, you're suffering in your health, finances, and you're still doing the Christian life,
that's commendable. Because it's hard. So as equally as it's hard to make sure that we don't
tolerate false prophets and do our due diligence to expose those people, you know, it's just as
difficult to endure the Christian life and not faint when the going gets tough. It's easy to
commend you when you're in church when everything is great. Roses and daisies, it's another thing
when you're going through a difficult time. You know what? God exalts you, he'll bless you,
and he will commend you as a Christian if you're able to bear, have patience, labor for his
namesake, and listen to me, and not faint. That's what the Bible says. You know, the Bible tells us
thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He says therefore endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in Galatians chapter 6 verse 9,
let us not be weary in well-doing. And does he say because you're just a Christian and just put up
with it, suck it up, don't be a weenie. No, he says, let us not be weary in well-doing for in due
season we shall reap if we faint not. So God's not just this God that gives you all these tasks
to accomplish with no reward at the end of the tunnel. No, he says do right because it's right
to do right, but also do right because I'm going to reward you for enduring those hardships. And you
know what? Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And you know what?
Christians will suffer afflictions all the days of their life. I hate to break it to you,
but you know just because you're a Christian doesn't mean everything's going to be a bed of
roses. There's going to be hardships and difficulties, and in fact the Apostle Paul
said this, we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. The Christian life is
hard. Not all the time, but it is hard. And you know at the times when it's hard, it could be
seasons of difficulty. And let me remind you that the Lord will commend you for bearing
that hardness, for being patient, patient is just another way of saying endurance,
for laboring for his namesake, meaning you're here not because of me, not because of the person next
to you, but you're here because of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you're not fainting, meaning you're
not quitting, you're not throwing in the towel, you're not calling it quits. The church had
is putting in a lot of work here, and so work according to the Bible, according to Jesus Christ
when addressing the church at Ephesus, is not only exposing false prophets, that's a much needed
work, it's not only enduring the Christian life, that's also a need for work, but look at verse
number four. So you know it's all good right now, right? He's just like, you guys are doing this,
you get an A plus, A plus, A plus, verse four, nevertheless. It's just like A plus, A plus,
D minus, nevertheless. It's the but, however, nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee.
You don't want to hear that from Jesus. That's something you don't want to hear.
Hey, you're doing great. However, I have this one thing against you.
And you know that when they're reading this at the church, their hearts are dropping.
They're just like, oh man, we thought we were doing everything right.
I have somewhat against thee, because thou has left thy first love. Verse five,
remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works,
or else I will come unto thee quickly, and remove thy candlestick out of its place,
except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate. So what does he have against them? Well, he says that they left their first
love, and in order to regain the first love, they have to do the first works. And when he started
the Gospels, we come to the conclusion that the first works that he's referring to is the work of
preaching the Gospel, getting people saved, okay? So how do you know that? Because the first thing
that he commands them to do when he recruits them is to become fishers of men, to go and preach the
kingdom of God. That is the very first job that they have, is to go out and preach the Gospel.
And so what do we see here with the church at Ephesus? Well, they're enduring,
they're fighting false prophets, they're enduring the Christian life, but you know one thing they're
not doing? They're not preaching the Gospel. And you know what? This shows us it doesn't matter
how well you endure the Christian life, it doesn't matter how well you hate false prophets. Folks,
if you're not preaching the Gospel and getting people saved, Jesus has somewhat against you.
And you know what? You can still have a great time of fellowship in your Bible reading every morning
and a great time in fellowship in prayer. You can have a great time in fellowship with the afflictions
that abound in your body through the persecution or hardships that you receive. You can, you know,
feel great about exposing false prophets, but if you're not getting people saved, you're not doing
the first works, and according to the Bible, you've left a first love. You're like, well, I love Jesus.
Yeah, I know you love Jesus, but Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments. One of the
first commandments that he gave is go and preach the Gospel to every creature.
You say, well, you know, I got the bumper sticker, though, you know.
I got the bumper sticker. You know, I try to preach in my own little way. Well, no, no, no,
preaching God's way, though. Your own way doesn't work. The Bible says to open your mouths boldly to
make known the mysteries of the Gospel. The Bible says that we need to actually open our mouths and
proclaim the Gospel, and the Bible has clearly laid out what that is, the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And folks, here we are, 2024, in the year of our Lord,
and you know what? 2,000 years after Jesus Christ, we have really honed in how to preach
the Gospel in 2024. We have a systematic way of doing it. So this church is great, but apparently,
as a church, collectively, they were no longer preaching the Gospel. They weren't getting people
saved. And you know what? The church is a hospital for sinners, but it's also a home base to send
soul owners out to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ through the Gospel. You know, there's a
lot of churches out there that may be good on the first part of exposing false prophets. They're
really good at enduring and teaching people how to endure and be persistent, but they are lacking
the first works, and they're no longer preaching the Gospel. Let me ask you a question. When's
the last time you saw someone saved? Or, when's the last time you actually won someone to Christ?
When's the last time you actually tried to win someone to Christ? You know, here at First Works
Baptist Church, we try to provide as many opportunities for you to come out with us
to go soul winning and get people saved on a weekly basis. I hope you take advantage of that.
You say, why? Because we're trying to do the first works to maintain the first love.
And I want you to maintain that first—yeah, I want you to endure the Christian life because
it's difficult. I want you to have an abhorrence for false prophets because God commends that,
but I also want us as a church to be preachers of the Gospel because it's wonderful to see someone
saved. And you know what? It's wonderful in God's eyes when his children are out there bragging
about him and talking about how he can save them. Now, in this verse, we see that he tells them,
uh, remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, meaning, remember how you used to be.
In other words, Ephesus was a church that was preaching the Gospel at one point.
He says, repent, meaning turn and get it right, and do the first works, and here's the threat.
Or else. You ever had someone tell you that? Do this, or else. I mean, that's a threat right
there, right? And let me just say this, Jesus doesn't come with empty threats.
He says, or else. He says, or else, I will come into thee quickly and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Now, what does that mean exactly
when he says that he will remove the candlestick out of his place? Now, go to Revelation chapter 1
and look at the very end. I don't know if that's on or not. Let me check that.
Revelation 1, look at verse 20 of Revelation 1. It says, the mystery of the seven stars which
thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of
the seven churches and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
So right off the bat, we know that when the Bible talks about seven stars, it's referring to these
angels. Now, let me clarify something because often when we think of angels, we think of these
celestial beings, right? And that's absolutely the case the majority of the time in the Bible.
But there are other instances where angels are simply earthly messengers. You know, for example,
if you're out there preaching the gospel, technically, biblically speaking, you would be
considered like an angel because you're carrying the message of God to someone. You are a messenger
of the Word of God. And when the Bible says here that the seven stars are the angels of the seven
churches, we can surmise that this is referring to the pastor of the church, okay? He is the star of
the church, so to speak, the messenger of the church. He's the one that Jesus is addressing
because everything rises and falls on leadership. I mean, do you remember when Jesus went into the
Garden of Gethsemane and he told his disciples, watch with me, watch and pray. He goes and he
comes back. Who does he get on? He gets on Peter. He doesn't get on all the disciples. He actually
rebukes Peter. Why? Because he's the leader of the disciples. And, you know, interestingly enough,
he ends up becoming a pastor later on. So we know that the seven stars referring to the angels,
which are the pastors of these churches, and the candlesticks are symbolically representing
these churches. Now, that should come as a surprise since the Bible says that a city that
is centered on the hill cannot be hid, right? The Bible tells us, ye are the light of the world,
okay? It tells us that we should let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works
and glorify our Father which is in heaven. So essentially, the church is like the light of
our city. It's a spiritual light, right, that brings the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
who is the image of God to shine into those who are lost in this world. We're not referring to
like a literal light, we're referring to a spiritual light that lightens people to the
message of the gospel to get them saved. And even further than that, after they get saved,
they enlighten them to spiritual truths in the Bible. So this is the candlestick. The candles
placed on the candlestick, it's lit up and it brings forth light to all that are in the house.
Now, what did Jesus say? He says, all right, if you stop preaching the gospel,
then if you don't get this right, then I'm going to remove the candlestick out of its place.
Now, the question is, what place is that? Look at verse five again towards the ladder and it says,
else I will come into thee quickly and remove thy candlestick out of its place,
except I'll repent. Well, if you remember in the beginning of the chapter, in verse one,
it says that Jesus, he says, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand,
and I want you to notice this in verse one, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks. So what is the symbolic representation here? Jesus has these seven
churches, and what is he doing? He's walking in the midst of these churches. Why? Because his
presence is in the midst of these churches. Now, if a church's light goes out and that light is
what? It's the gospel. Then what does God do? Well, the same thing he does when something,
when salt has lost its savor, it is cast out to be trotted on the foot of men. It's the same thing
that happens to the branch that's broken off because it's not abiding in Christ. It's cast
forth as a branch. Men gather them and cast them into the fire. They are burnt. What is the
representation there? They become worthless. So a church that's no longer shining the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ will be removed from the presence of God, meaning God will no longer
work with that church to accomplish the work. You say, well, how do you know he will remove him
like that? Well, because of the fact that the gospel tells us, Matthew chapter 28, for example,
when the great commission is given, it says, go ye therefore and teach all nations, referring to
preaching the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And what's the last part?
And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. Amen. But what is required for him
to be with them always? They have to go and teach all nations. Mark 16, what does it say? Preach the
gospel to every creature. And then we see later on that he's working with them, with signs and
wonders confirming the word, right? Well, if the light is gone, if the gospel is no longer being
preached, then the candlestick is removed from the presence of God. God is no longer working with
that church. Why? Because God is interested in working with churches who are actually interested
in bragging about his name, not just being an us four and no more, just being our little thing here,
our little fellowship, and you have to be exactly like us, not interested in reaching anybody new.
Folks, God wants us to reach all nations. He wants us to preach the gospel to everyone
and get as many people saved as possible. And you know what? As long as we have that as our agenda,
the Lord will work with us and our candlestick will not be removed.
Now, I'm always going to be preaching the gospel. I hope that you will also be preaching the gospel.
I'm always going to be preaching the gospel. My kids will be preaching the gospel. My wife will
be preaching the gospel, but I want to make sure that we as a church will continue to preach the
gospel and keep the main thing the main thing, which is the first works. You say, I feel like
my love has waned for the Lord. You know, one thing that'll get that back on track is just
preaching the gospel. You say, man, I feel like my love for the Bible has waned. It's like,
faltering! Then I encourage you, go preach the gospel. And luckily, we have scheduled times
when you can go. And I've said this more than once. If you come to tell me this, like, well,
my schedule doesn't work with the schedule of the church. You guys go after Sunday morning.
I just don't have time. If you had something throughout the week, I would go. Well, great.
Tell me what time and we'll go. You pick any time, as long as it's not midnight, because that's weird.
Like, a reasonable hour, of course, where people would be happy to open the door.
You pick a time, and we'll make time for you. Say, why? Because the first works is important.
And I want you to maintain your first love. And that can only be done if you keep up the
first works. What do we see? We see that being a Christian takes a lot of work,
because it's not just preaching the gospel. It's also enduring the Christian life when it gets hard.
I'm glad if you do preach the gospel, but I want you to endure,
to stick it out to the very end. I mean, I hope I see some of you grow old.
Amen. I hope I see some of you get gray headed and old and wrinkly. Yes.
Some of you have already... I see that already. Okay. There's nothing wrong with that.
That's God's will, though. Hey, I want to grow old preaching the Word of God.
I want to preach the Bible until I'm old and gray headed. I hope that when it's time for me to go
home to be with the Lord, I'm preaching a hard sermon against the sodomites, and I'm just like,
ah, just get a heart attack and just fall over and die. What a glorious way to go out.
Just like, yes! I'm just done. And there's headlines, hate preacher
dies preaching a sermon against the sodomites. I mean, the world would mock it, but I would love
that. That's a great way to go. I don't think I'll have a heart attack, but I'm just saying.
I want to serve the Lord till the very end. I want to be 90 years old preaching the Word of God.
And you know what? You may not be a pastor, a deacon, or an evangelist,
but you should have it as your goal to preach the gospel to your old and gray headed,
so you can no longer do it anymore. You know what the Bible talks about in the Book of Acts,
where the Apostle Paul runs into, I like what it says here, an old disciple. That says a lot.
They ran into an old disciple. You know what that means? Someone who had been serving God for a long
time because they endured. But may I say this? You also have to labor in your hatred for false
doctrine as well. Because why? Because that's what Jesus cares about, trying them which say
they are apostles and are not. And so we see with the church at Ephesus, they did great until that
point. And I believe, obviously I can't prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt. I believe that
Ephesus probably got this right. Why? Because when you get a letter from Jesus, I mean, come on.
It's like, we got to change something here. Okay. Everyone's reading this for the rest of history.
It's in the Bible now. And I'm sure everyone who goes to heaven, they're like, oh, you're from the
church at Ephesus? Oh, wow. How'd that go? Did you guys ever get that right? Did you guys ever...
Yes, we didn't get our candlestick removed. But it's important for us to keep that flame burning.
You remember the flame in the Old Testament that was to burn always for every generation?
How do they keep that flame going? That's to perpetually add what? Oil to it. And what is
oil a representation of? The Holy Spirit. And what does Jesus tell the disciples in Acts 1
8? But ye shall receive power from on high. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Judea and Samaria and the utmost parts of the world.
Obviously, a church that's preaching the gospel is a Spirit-filled church. And the Spirit-filled
church is dependent upon the people asking for the Holy Spirit. God's not going to keep the
Holy Spirit from a church that wants to preach the gospel. As long as Jesus is walking in the midst,
he's pouring the Holy Spirit in the candlestick in order for it to stay lit. But if a church refuses
the oil, they're refusing the Holy Spirit, they're refusing to be empowered by the Holy Spirit,
then God says, okay, then I don't need you anymore then. I'm not going to work with you.
I'm not going to pour anything into you because you don't want the Holy Spirit. Folks,
I want the Holy Spirit in my life. I want him to use me to get people saved,
to change people's minds. So that is the church at Ephesus and their problem with evangelism.
Look at verse number eight, if you would. We're going to look at the church at Smyrna.
He says, unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, this is in the second letter,
these things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive.
Verse nine, I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. I want you to notice
this last couple phrases here in this verse. And I know the blasphemy of them which say
they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.
And you know, you think about this versus like, okay, works, tribulation, poverty,
and then he just switches to Jews. You know what this shows me? It shows me that this is an
important issue with Jesus, right? And it's obviously something that bothers him because
he's like, I know thy works, the tribulation and poverty, but thou are rich and I know the
blasphemy. So what does this show us? It shows us that God knows our works, but he also knows
the evil deeds as well. The Lord is steams the rich in faith, but he also knows the evil deeds
of those which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.
Now today, people, if I were to say something like that, and I have,
they would consider it to be anti-Semitic. But then they would have to say that Jesus
is being anti-Semitic because Jesus is the one who said it. And folks, let me just say this.
This is why it's important for Christians to quote these scriptures, because when you don't
quote these scriptures, what ends up happening is you end up normalizing the narrative that says
that this is anti-Semitic. When Christians stop preaching this, they stop using these verses,
they stop quoting Jesus, then people buy into the false narrative that this is somehow anti-Semitic.
It's not true. And, you know, obviously like there's like a divide within independent
fundamental Baptists of people who believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, and there are
those who believe that they're not God's chosen people, that believers are God's chosen, but
there's a major divide, right? And everyone who I've had a conversation with this in the old IFB
fundamental Baptists who believe that Jews are God's chosen people, this is what I often ask them
and they never, they're never able to answer this question. Because, you know, we can go back and
forth on a ton of verses, right? They can pull out verses from the Old Testament, we have a ton of
verses from the New Testament, and then I say this, all right, this is, this is, answer this question, okay?
Quote to me some verses from Jesus. What does Jesus say about the Jesus?
Just write down every verse that Jesus said about the Jews,
and they refuse. Why? Because the vast majority of what he said was negative.
I said, what did Jesus say? Just one verse about the Jews,
and they don't want to quote it. Why? Because he had a lot of negative things to say,
and, you know, they're not going to say he's wrong about it because he's Jesus.
He is the person of our faith. I mean, he's our God. Jesus is our God. He's our Lord.
He's our Messiah. He's, he is the final authority. So the final authority is saying some pretty
hardcore stuff about the Jews. Now, the reason he's saying they would say they are Jews and are not
is because of the fact that according to the scriptures, the legitimate Jew in the eyes of
God are actually believers. The Bible says in Romans chapter two, verse 28,
for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision outward in the
flesh made of hands. It's referring to the outward Jew, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart and of the spirit, and whose praise is not of him,
but of God. So according to the Bible, the legitimate Jew in the eyes of God are not
those who have been circumcised according to the old covenant, but rather those who have been
circumcised according to the new covenant. And the new covenant circumcision takes place when
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and your heart is circumcised in faith. You believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible says. Romans nine tells us they are not all of Israel,
which are of Israel. And this is why he's saying they would say they are Jews and are not.
Now, some people would try to say, well, this is referring to Christians who say they are
Jews. Kind of like you guys, you know? But the problem with that is that it says,
but are of the synagogue of Satan. And we don't go to a synagogue. And in fact, this would be
completely contradictory of what we do here in church, because a church is a congregation of
baptized believers who gathered together to praise the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus would not call
a church who praises him and believes on him a synagogue of Satan.
Right? Now, the implication, according to this verse, is that the church at Smyrna is possibly
suffering persecution at the hands of the Jews. You're inferring that. Well, it's possible that I
am. But if we're to take holistically the approach from, you know, Matthew all the way to the Book of
Revelation, anybody can tell you the antagonist of the entire New Testament, the one who is trying
to stop the gospel the most throughout the New Testament, the one who crucified the Lord Jesus
Christ, the one who persecuted Paul were the Jews. That's what the Bible teaches. Right?
So he says the tribulation, poverty, but they are rich. And I know the blasphemy. He's like,
I know what they're saying to you guys. I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews
and are not. Now, go with me if you went to James Chapter 2, hold your place in Revelation,
because there's an interesting parallel to this in James Chapter 2, in regard to the poverty,
then being rich, and the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the
synagogue of Satan. In James Chapter 2, before the subject of faith and works, there is the
subject of being a respecter of persons at the beginning of James Chapter 2. And the issue that
James is writing about is the fact that some of these believers are essentially esteeming those
who are a little bit more affluent and have a little more money in the churches. Like,
they are essentially telling them, like, hey, you can have the best seed, you know, you got the gay
clothing, the goodly ring, you can have the best seed, and they're telling the people who are poor
to move out of the way in order to make way for these rich people. And James is rebuking him for
this. Look at verse 5 of James Chapter 2, it says, Harken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen
the poor of this world rich in faith? Now, isn't that similar to what he tells the church at Smyrna?
He says, I know thy works, tribulation, poverty, but thou art rich. You see, the church of Smyrna
is not rich financially, but they are rich in faith, though. And need I remind you, you know,
it's important for us to be rich in faith. Now, no one here is, like, rich, as in, like, at least
I don't think anybody is. I don't think we have any millionaires in our church. We might have some
thousandaires. But regardless of how much money you have, you better make sure that your heavenly
bank account is far weightier than your earthly account. You got more in your faith than you do
in your pocket to be rich in faith. He says, Harken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen
the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that
love him? Look at verse 6. But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw
you before the judgment seats? Now, let me ask you, according to Jesus, who were the people
drawing the disciples to the judgment seats? It's the Jews. Bringing them before synagogues,
councils. You say, I don't know about that. Well, who did they draw Jesus before? Who did they bring
him before? Pilate. He says, have you despised the poor? Do not rich men oppress you and draw
you before the judgment seats? You say, well, I think that's a kind of a stretch, you know.
Well, let's read on verse 7. Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called?
If we compare that to Revelation 2, he says, I know the blasphemy of them which say they
are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. And so the parallel that we see here
is that we have rich Pharisees or rich Jews who are infiltrating churches. And by the way,
you know, it's kind of ironic that this is happening. I'm kind of chasing a rabbit here.
It's kind of ironic that James is writing about this. It's really ironic that James is saying
this. And it could be that towards the latter end of his life, he came to the realization that
he was wrong in a lot of ways. But the reason I say this is ironic is because he was the pastor
at the church at Jerusalem, which was a church of about 4,000. But the reason it was a church
of 4,000 is because he kind of compromised a little bit and was getting in all these Jews
who were still upholding the law of Moses and things that were already done away with.
And he was probably, you know, despising the poor and maybe esteeming some of these rich
Jews who are coming in and trying to infiltrate. The point that I'm making here is that,
you know, money isn't everything. Yes, the Bible says that money answer with all things,
meaning that it pays the bills, it can purchase things, it even helps the work of God.
But at the end of the day, far more important than that is for us to be rich in faith,
to be able to pray things from heaven, to pray your health together, to pray for that,
because, you know, certain things that money actually cannot buy.
Money can't buy your relative salvation. Money can't buy a miracle. The only thing
you can do that is your prayer life. The fervent prayer of a righteous man, the Bible says,
availeth much. Not the funds in your pocket, the fervent prayer of a righteous man.
Go back to Revelation chapter 2. So he tells them he knows their works, tribulation, poverty,
he knows that they're rich in faith, and he knows the blasphemy of those which say they're
Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. You say, why did Jesus have to be so harsh? Well,
it started when he was on this earth. He said in John 844, you are the father of the devil,
and the lust of your father will you do. And, you know, I kind of get a little upset when people
get mad at that verse because of the fact that that was actually a response that Jesus gave
to their statement and their accusation that he was born of fornication.
Which is blasphemous. We be not born of fornication. They're not telling him he's
born of fornication, but they're basically implying that he is. They're blaspheming his name.
So he came back with, well, you know what? You're making it seem as though I'm a bastard child,
that I'm born of fornication, but you are of your father, the devil. So it isn't interesting.
They're basically implying that he's a bastard, when in actuality, they're the bastards.
Because they're not born of God. They're born of Satan. Checkmate. Like Jesus. He cooked them.
Look at verse 10. Fear none of those things which thou shall suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Now, a lot of people have, you know,
understood this verse to mean that if you are martyred as a Christian, meaning you're put to
death for your faith, that you receive a martyr's crown, the crown of life. And that's absolutely 100%
true. But it's not just if you're put to death for your faith. It's if you just live the remainder of
your life for Christ and you die in faith, meaning that you just die as a Christian.
Because it doesn't say there, be thou faithful until someone kills you. It just says, be thou
faithful unto death. You know why? Because God wants you to be a Christian for the rest of your
life. You're like, oh, that's easy. No, it's not actually. If it was easy, everyone would be doing
it. Not everyone finishes well. That's why the Apostle Paul says, I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. And then he talks about the crown of righteousness
that he's going to receive because of it. You know why? Because it's hard to do this thing till the
very end. And you know what? That's why I got to constantly preach to you, preach to the church,
hang in there. I know it's hard. We love you. Stick it out. Keep praying, keep preaching,
keep loving the Lord. It's only for a season. Why? Because I want you to make it to the very end.
And you can make it to the very end. And I'm telling you right now, once we go into that
millennial reign and the Lord Jesus Christ rewards you with the crown of life, you will be grateful
that you endure to the very end. That you are faithful unto death. That's what he's telling
him. And by the way, just go back to my previous point. He says, the devil shall cast some of you
into prison. Now, does this mean that the devil is actually going to come out and just kind of
throw them into prison? No, he actually has instruments of wickedness that he uses for that.
Right? And is there any coincidence that he just got finished saying, I know the blasphemous of
them which say they're Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan? Then he says that those
are the synagogue of Satan, known as the devils, are going to cast them into prison. Okay? And this
isn't the only time the Bible does this, by the way. The apostle Paul talks about how he was
hindered from coming unto them. And he talks about the Jews that are forbidding them to speak into
the Gentiles that they might be saved. And then he says, I would come unto you, but Satan hindered me.
Okay? And so obviously he's relating the two. And this is not painting Jews with a broad brush,
saying they're all of Satan, because that's not true. But let me just say this. Any person,
not just Jews, but of course, this definitely includes a lot of the Jews. Any person who
blasphemes the name of Jesus Christ hates him and believes that Jesus is in hell, burning in
his own excrement, which is what Judaism teaches. And they spit every time they hear the name of
Jesus, they despise Jesus Christ. Yeah, they are of the devil, for sure. And you know what? You
better believe that too. No Christians just say, well, I think they're still of God,
because no person who is of God can call Jesus accursed. And the Jews are notably known for
calling Jesus accursed. Not all of them. We've had Jews come to our church. They've been witnessed
to, eyewitness to Jews. I'm talking about these Christ-rejecting, hating Jews. It does exist out
there. And obviously Jesus is telling us about that. Okay? You can turn that off, Ulysses.
I'm going to say this in here. Look at verse number 12. He says, and to the angel of the
church in Pergamos, write, these things saith he which hath a sharp sword with two edges.
I know thy works without dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. And thou holdest fast my name,
and is not denied my faith. And even in those days where in Antipas was my faithful martyr,
who was slain among you where Satan dwellest. Now,
I mean, do we see a common theme here? Where Satan dwelleth? Where Satan's seat is?
Well, let's just say this, okay? Would it be appropriate to say where Satan's seat is,
where Satan dwelleth would be the synagogue of Satan? I mean, you can relate both of those.
And I don't think that's like stretching the truth there. All in its contents is all the same
chapters within a few verses of another. Satan's seat, where Satan dwells, could be biblically
stated as being a synagogue that belongs to Satan. Because it's something, you know, it belongs to
him. Seat means authority, right? We're not talking about where Satan literally sits. It's
referring to his seat of authority, where he reigns from, and of course, religious, religious
religiously speaking, is talking about the synagogue of Satan.
So it's telling us here that the church at Smyrna, or excuse me, the church of Pergamos,
is located probably near synagogue. And that's not preposterous either, because when you read
the book of Acts, there are churches that are near synagogues. And that's why they're receiving
all types of persecution. And, you know, they're being tried and persecuted. Some are being killed.
But he says here, you hold fast my name. You have not denied the faith. Even Antipas was killed,
was slain among them. So he is praising them for their capability of just enduring persecution,
even in the midst of being right next to a synagogue where they're being persecuted,
right? And he says, you know, you've not denied my faith. In other words, he's saying, you know,
to the very end, people who are being Antipas, for example, they're saying renounce. And he's
like, no, you know, Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Believe on Jesus Christ. He's preaching to them,
and he's being killed because of that. That's why the Bible says that we should not deny him
or else he would deny us. Doesn't mean he's going to deny us salvation. He's going to deny us
rewards. And in fact, he'll deny us the crown of life. Look at verse 14. But I have a few things
against the, oh man, because I was there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things, sacrifice them
to idols and to commit fornication. So what do we have here? Well, he tells them you're doing good
that you're not denied my faith, my name, but you know, you have some false prophets in your
congregation and they hold the doctrine of Balaam. Now, Balaam, let me just give you a synopsis of
who Balaam is. Balaam is in the book of Numbers, and he's a false prophet who Balak, a king,
tried to hire to curse the children of Israel because he didn't want any trouble from them.
And he tried to pay him off, but Balaam is just like, I can't, because God's blessed them.
I can't curse from those whom God has not cursed, so I can't really do it. But he wanted to though,
because he was greedy of filthy lucre. But Balaam is so cunning. He was so crafty.
And obviously he's so greedy that he's just like, I got an idea though. I can't curse them.
I can't do anything to make God go against them. I can't preach against them. However, if you get
them to commit fornication, if you get them to eat things, sacrifice them to idols,
then the result is that God's going to punish them for that. So basically he said,
if you can just get them to sin, then God will punish it, and then the job is done.
And he was actually able to do that. He got them to commit fornication, eat things, sacrifice them
to idols, and therefore God ended up killing a ton of them, thousands of them because of it.
So we see here that in the church at Pergamos, they have some people who have the doctrine of
Balaam. And what this is referring to is that they have someone in the church who's making
sin permissible. Drinking alcohol is okay. That's the doctrine of Balaam.
A little wine every once in a while, a little whiskey every once in a while, never hurt nobody.
It's called the doctrine of Balaam, making sin permissible.
Oh, yeah, you got it all wrong. You don't know the cultural context of that.
That's called the doctrine of Balaam. And you know what that does? That causes God
to pour His wrath upon God's people for transgressing His commandments.
Oh, abortion? That's like Old Testament stuff. There's different reasons. Now,
we live in a different era, different culture. That's the doctrine of Balaam.
And so God condemns the tolerance of false prophets. Now, this doesn't mean we can't
have different opinions on different things. When it comes to essential doctrines and things
that are clearly laid out in the Bible, we're not budging, not moving from it.
No tolerance, zero tolerance when it comes to that. Are there various opinions on
third issues? Yes. But before you have an opinion on what you think is a third issue,
you better make sure it's not a primary issue. A lot of churches say, well, that's a third issue.
No, no, no. Salvation is a primary issue. The deity of Jesus Christ is a primary issue.
There are things that are clearly laid out in the Bible. So before you think it's a secondary
or third issue, you better make sure that it's not a primary one. So He's condemning them for that.
And I'm gonna finish off right there, and we'll go over Thyatira next week. But I do want you
to notice verse 15, it says, So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,
which thing I hate. Now, it's not really clear, because this is the second time it's mentioned,
right? He mentions it with the church at Ephesus, and he says, You hate, you know,
the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, the thing which I also hate. And then he says here, by the way,
you not only have those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, you also have those who hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which, by the way, I hate that. And it's not necessarily clear what that's
referring to, because these are the only instances where these are mentioned. I'm gonna give my
opinion on this, and my opinion is not doctrine, okay? But I've given this opinion multiple times,
and most people in our church know my opinion on this, my interpretation of this. My interpretation
is that if you were to look at who the enemy is from a practical perspective in the chapter,
it's who? The Jews. I don't think that's controversial. That's like one of the major
enemies of the New Testament. That's not controversial at all. Anybody with any
biblical integrity can tell you that, should tell you that, okay? Now, I believe personally
that because the Lord doesn't address them as being Jews, this is probably what he calls them
as the Nicolaitans, because he's saying they would say they're Jews and are not, meaning that he
doesn't call them that. He's probably referring to the Nicolaitans, he's probably referring to
the Jews when he says the Nicolaitans. And if we were to attach that to the Jews, we knew that the
Jews were bringing in a lot of false doctrine. And in fact, the term Judaizer is actually from
Galatians chapter number two. In the original language, that's the term that it uses, to live
as do the Jews, the phrase there is Judaizers. People who come into local New Testament churches,
yes, the local New Testament church, come into local New Testament churches and try to bring
people back under the law. You say, is that really a thing? Well, in Acts chapter 15 it was. Acts
chapter 15, they try to say, unless they are circumcised after the circumcision of Moses,
ye cannot be saved. That's a Judaizing doctrine. That's the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans. Why? Well, because if you have to be circumcised to be saved, what about the women?
How does that work? It's nonsense. And so obviously they had to rebuke that. There's
many instances where the Jews have to come, where they came in and they were teaching false
doctrine, a workspace salvation, and the apostles had to correct them, expose them, preach against
them multiple times. Just read the book of Acts. It's recorded multiple times. And that's why I
believe it's the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. And he says, which thing I hate. Okay.
So what do we see here when it comes to these churches? Well, we covered the first three.
And what we see here is that the Lord Jesus Christ is not only concerned with the heart and the
reigns, as we're going to see in Thyatira, because he is concerned with that. He says,
I the Lord search the heart and the reigns. You know what that means? He sees the inner recesses
of your heart. He is very much concerned with what you think about and what you have in your heart.
He sees it, but you know, he's also concerned about the works that you do.
We need to have both. We need to have a clean heart and we need to have some clean work.
And you know what? The work is not just preaching the gospel, apparently, because he says,
I know thy labor. And he's talking about them enduring the Christian life. He says,
I know thy labor and thy works. And he's talking about hating false prophets and trying them,
which say they're trying those who are evil, not burying them that are evil, trying them,
which say they're apostles or not. That takes work, but it's also work to preach the gospel.
And we see here that we need to be rich in faith. We need to be Christians of labor,
and we need to endure until the very end. Maybe your goal as a Christian, especially young people,
you say, I'm going to stick it out till I'm old and gray headed and I just drop dead as a
Christian. That's a worthy life there. And that's what God expects of us. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the example of these three churches. Help
us to learn from them. And I pray that you bless us as we go on our way. And thank you for a great
friend day, a great Sunday, Lord, may you receive all the honor and glory for that.
I'm thankful for the souls that were saved in service and those who were saved out
when people went out to preach the gospel, Lord, the four baptisms as well.
And may you be honored and glorified through our lives as we live throughout this week,
Lord, and reunite once again on Thursday for our Bible study. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.