(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. This morning, I'm going to be continuing what I've been preaching about the seven churches in Asia. Of course, when the Bible says Asia, it's referring to Asia Minor or the modern day country of Turkey. And the Book of Revelation itself is obviously predominantly about the second coming of Christ. It's about end times, events, and the end of the world. But at the beginning of the book, it has this introduction where for two chapters, chapters two and three, Jesus Christ himself gives a personalized message to each of the seven churches in Asia. So the idea is that the Book of Revelation as a whole is going to be sent to each of these seven churches, and then each of the seven churches also gets a personalized message directed at them. And so in this message, Christ talks about the things that they're doing well, the things that they're failing at. And in some cases, he even threatens that they must fix things and that if they don't get it fixed, then he will remove their candlestick referring to the church itself. He's saying, you know, the church is no longer either going to exist or it's no longer going to be considered by God to be a legitimate church or a scriptural church. So we're moving on now to the third church on the list, which is the church of Pergamos. If you would, jump down to verse number 12. Now, of course, these are literal churches that existed back then, and the things that are being said unto them are meant to be taken literally. Now, that being said, of course, they do also have symbolic references to end times events. Just by being in the Book of Revelation, it's not hard to put two and two together that some of these things are symbolic of things that have to do with the second coming. But whenever we're studying scripture, of course, there are lots of things that are allegorical, symbolic, figurative, but we don't ever want to miss the surface meaning because sometimes people get so interested in symbolism that they miss what's right there on the surface. And, you know, we should always make sure to give most of our attention to that which the Bible is just actually straight up saying before we start going and looking for other symbolic things. And that's what I'm focusing more on this morning is just the literal meaning of what's being said. And then on verse number 12 there of chapter 2 in Revelation, the Bible says, And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. So at the beginning of each of these messages to the churches, Christ identifies himself in a different way. If you remember last week when we talked about Smyrna, it said, you know, these things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. Obviously all of these things refer to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the first and the last. Jesus died, was buried, and then three days later rose again from the dead. So he was dead and is alive. Here it says he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Later in the Book of Revelation, Christ is described as having a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth. So Christ does not have a literal two-edged sword as much as he has the word of God in his mouth, right? And the Bible says the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So God's word is likened unto a sharp two-edged sword, and Christ obviously being the word made flesh, he wields this sword of God's word. And so it says these things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. Now when you think about the seat, I always think about the county seat, right? Because that's where the government is located. I would call it Satan's headquarters. He's saying, look, you are located in Satan's headquarters. Now you say, well, you know, Satan's headquarters is in Turkey, you know, Satan's headquarters is in Asia Minor. Well obviously this is probably a reference to some kind of a hub of worship, of idolatry, right? Because there are obviously major temples to false gods in Asia Minor because it's a place at that time, not of Turkish people, but of Greek people, Greek speaking, Greek in their culture. And so obviously the Greeks worship all kinds of false gods, and apparently this was some kind of a hub of worshiping Satan. And guess what? Pagans who worship other gods, polytheistic people, are worshiping devils, the Bible says. And so this was a hub of devil worship in Pergamos. And so John is saying, you know, I know where you do, or Jesus, sorry, John's reporting it, but Jesus says, I know where you live. And man, it is just Satan's headquarters. I mean, this is even where Satan's seat is. You know, you could imagine this as being like, you know, unto the angel of the church in Rome or something. You know, oh man, it's like Satan's headquarters with the Vatican right there. Or hey, you know, unto the angel of the church in Salt Lake City. And it's like, oh man, that is just where Satan's seat is, right? Or today in 2023, the angel of the church in Jerusalem say, oh man, that is a Satan's seat is there. Or you could think of it with Mecca. You could write it to any of these, right? Or Hollywood or something, right? The church in Hollywood, the church in all of these different places, church in Las Vegas, you know, people always get mad, you know, that are from Las Vegas, but come on. It's sand city and I didn't name it that. And so the church of Pergamos is in a place where the devil is running things big time. There's a lot of wickedness and satanic things going on. Probably some kind of a major temple or just a lot of zealous followers of some pagan Greek gods or what have you. And he says, I know thy works and where that dwell is even where Satan's seat is. Now notice one thing that he does not say to them is get out of there. You know, you guys need to get out of there. You're dwelling where Satan's seat is. What are you doing? Why do you have a church there? Go somewhere else for crying out loud. He doesn't tell them to leave. Now this shows you that it's possible for a church to serve God and do great things behind enemy lines as it were, you know, in an ungodly wicked place. Now the Bible does say when they persecute you in this city, flee into another. I think if the persecution gets to a point where you just can't function and you can't effectively do your job as a church, that's when it's time to get out and go somewhere else because we've only got one life to live and our life goes by so quickly. It's like a vapor that appeared for a little time and it vanished of the way. We don't want to waste our time beating our head against the wall or sitting in a prison cell or sitting in a prison cell beating our head against the wall, not able to do the work of God because there's just too much persecution. But at the same time, that's not to say that if an area is wicked or ungodly, oh, just don't go there. Don't plant a church there. And a lot of people just want to abandon some of the more sinful areas or some of the more steeped and false religion areas and we don't necessarily need to abandon those areas. I'm not saying that we would necessarily seek those places out as the next great place to start a church, but at the same time, there's no reason for everybody to just leave when an area is wicked. A lot of people are making a mass exodus from places like California right now. And look, I'm not saying anything negative about people who are leaving California right now because frankly, I think that there's absolutely nothing ever wrong with just taking your family to the best place where you've got maybe the best options for churches or just the best set up in general. I don't think there's anything wrong with moving and just going somewhere for whatever the opportunity, whether it's a church or maybe a job or something. And look, there's nothing wrong with moving for a job as long as you know you have a good church on the other end where you can go. So I'm not down on anybody who's leaving California for greater opportunity elsewhere. But at the same time, sometimes you'll run into these people that just act like you have to get out of California, you know, like somehow you're not as godly if you stay or something in these places. Like, what are you doing? Why are you still there? And trying to push people or influence people to leave places like that. You know, California still has a lot of opportunities for serving God. There are great churches there. You've got Verity Baptist Church up in Sacramento, California. You got Holdfast Baptist Church in Fresno, right? You got First Works Baptist Church down in Los Angeles. So I mean, north, central and south, you've got some great churches. You've got a lot of places in California that are very receptive to soul winning. I mean, when we go soul winning in California, it's not like we get no salvations or few salvations. No. These churches are effectively reaching a lot of people with the gospel, so there's no point in just completely bailing out on California and just saying, well, that's where Satan's seed is. You know, that's not the problem that God had with this church, Pergamos. It's not the fact that they're dwelling where Satan's seed is. In fact, he seems to be kind of congratulating them or taking his hat off to them and lauding them for being able to continue to serve God in a place where Satan's seed is. You know, continuing to serve God in the Californias of this world or other ungodly, wicked places that Satan really has in the palm of his hand. And I'm not even saying that necessarily about California because I feel like sometimes the wickedness of California is a little bit exaggerated, okay? You know, we went on a cross country road trip last summer because I was preaching in all these different churches, and you know what I noticed was that I saw more weirdos in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho than I saw in California. And then I went to Oklahoma, which is the Bible Belt, and the greeter at Walmart was a transvestite, and so it's everywhere, folks. There were all kinds of sodomites in South Carolina. So if you think you're going to leave California and go to South Carolina in order to escape the sodomites, they're already there, folks. And again, I'm not down on people who are moving, but I'm also not down on people who are not moving, and I don't think that there needs to be a mass exodus from anywhere in the United States at this time because, let's face it, all of America has First Amendment protections, and that means we can go soul winning and serve God in all 50 states. Praise God for that. It's nothing to stop us from doing a great work of God in literally all 50 states, including California. And we've got three of our pastor friends that are proving that every day in California. And so this church is where Satan's seed is. He's not telling them to move, but he's congratulating them. He says, I know where you dwell, even where Satan's seed is, verse 13. And thou holdest fast my name, and has not denied my faith, even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelled. Now this word martyr is used three times in the Bible. It's used once about Stephen, who is of course the first martyr of the New Testament. It's used right here about this man named Antipas, and then it's used one time just about martyrs in general. In Revelation 17, it talks about the great whore being drunk with the blood of the saints and being drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, right? So this word's used a couple times. And there are a few other martyrs in the Bible that aren't necessarily labeled with this term. Like for example, James, the brother of John, is of course slain by the sword in the book of Acts. We could bring up other martyrs. But the point is that as we read this, these people are where Satan's seat is, and this martyr is listed by name. Now what that would indicate to me is that there probably aren't just bodies stacking up in Pergamos of all the martyrs for Jesus, because otherwise why would you be bringing up this one specifically and saying, you know, even in the days. And by the way, think about this, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr. What does that mean? It means those days are over. Because he's talking about a past event. He's saying, you have been faithful. You have held fast my name. You have not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr. He's referring to an earlier time of intense persecution that they're no longer going through. Because otherwise he wouldn't be referring back to those days when thousands of bodies were stacking up. Is that what it says? Even in those days wherein this one guy, Antipas, was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. So they're going through persecution back then. And one guy was even killed for the cause of Christ. But we don't want to exaggerate that persecution or exaggerate the amount of martyrs. And that's sometimes what we tend to do as Christians. Now the Bible's clear, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But you know what that persecution typically consists of? It typically consists of being mocked, ridiculed, or, oh, they're going to put you out of the synagogue. And you're going to be ostracized. You're going to be hated of all nations for my name's sake. But here's the good news. The good news is that God typically protects saved Christians who love him from actually being killed or from actually paying that ultimate price of martyrdom. Now a lot of people don't recognize this. And they just act like, man, if you live for Christ, you're going to be killed. If it's the end times of the tribulation, man, we're all getting beheaded and stuff. Folks, that's not really the way things play out in the Bible. Now I can see how that could sometimes make for some good preaching and just talking about all of the people dying and so forth. But in reality, what's more common is for God to protect his people from persecution. We're going to go through persecution. I mean, look at a guy like Jeremiah. Yeah, he's locked in prison. He's sinking down in the mire. He's living in the bottom of an outhouse. He's going days without food. We're going to go through stuff. I mean, Job went through stuff. But what about the latter end of Job? God blessed the latter end of Job more than the first. Yeah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got persecuted, but God protected them. Daniel got persecuted. He's protected. Joseph is persecuted. He's protected. And that's typically how this goes. Are there exceptions to this? Absolutely. Stephen is martyred, right? James is martyred. Antipas is martyred. But these guys are the exception more than the rule. And you say, what about all the millions and millions of people who've died for Christ, you know, throughout church history? First of all, number one, a lot of that is exaggerated as far as the quantities are exaggerated, number one. Number two, just because someone is martyred or is executed or put to death by the Roman Catholic Church doesn't necessarily mean that they were actually a godly saved Christian. Because the Roman Catholic Church obviously executed a bunch of people. And obviously, the Roman Catholic Church, a wicked institution that killed a lot of people, the Spanish Inquisition, obviously tortured and killed people. And I am not discounting that because a lot of that went on, of course. That was big. A lot of that was huge. And obviously, they did kill, of course, many true believers in Christ, many people that actually were saved. But here's the thing. You know who else they killed a lot of is they killed a lot of Jews, they killed a lot of Muslims, they killed a lot of like heretics who are like oneness and denying the Trinity. Like some of the people that they're burning at the stake for being heretics, they really were heretics. I'm not defending the Roman Catholic Church. I'm not defending burning people at the stake for heresy. But for example, people bring up John Calvin also, who's not a Roman Catholic, of course, but for burning people at the stake for heresy in Geneva for executing people. But the two people that John Calvin executed, again, I'm not a fan of Calvin at all. Whatsoever. But, you know, the two people that he executed were a Jew and a guy who's denying the Trinity, who's a modalist. So they really were heretics. And again, not condoning it, folks. My point is that when you see a lot of these numbers of deaths in the Middle Ages, numbers of deaths by the Spanish Inquisition, sometimes these numbers are inflated, number one. But even if you take conservative numbers, the Catholic Church still murdered a lot of people. But does that mean that all the people that they murdered were saved? Because a lot of times it's like, oh, man, they killed 10 million Bible-believing Christians or something. Really, though? Because first of all, how many people did they actually kill? And second of all, how many of these people are denying Christ or believing in just a different kind of damnable heresy where basically you just have, you know, devil one executing devil number two? Okay. Because let's face it. In our world, there's this kind of false left-right paradigm that plays out over and over again, and there's all this controlled opposition, and there's all of this fake dichotomy where we're supposed to choose between Catholic and Protestant. They're both baptizing babies. You know what I mean? Like, they're both steeped in a bunch of unbiblical traditions. So what do we choose? We choose neither, and we are Baptists or Evangelical Christians as opposed to being in one of these Catholic or Protestant. You know, are you Calvinist or Arminian? They're both garbage. And look, I hate Calvinism. I've preached so many sermons against Calvinism, but people ask me if I had to be a Calvinist or an Arminian, which one would I pick? I don't even have to think about that or just immediately say Calvinist, that fast. Because Arminianism teaches that you can lose your salvation. Arminianism is work salvation. It is damnable heresy, and as much as I hate Calvinism, I would rather be a Calvinist than an Arminian any day of the week and twice on Sunday, okay? Because it's a false dichotomy. And Calvinists, the bozos, they love to go around labeling everybody as, oh, you're an Arminian. Like, oh, you don't support Biden? You must love Trump. Right? Oh, you're against Mitt Romney? You must love Barack Obama. It's this false left-right paradigm, forcing you to choose between two wrong choices. And so often the devil is controlling both sides. I mean, look at today in our country today. In America, we've got the Republicans and the Democrats, but then we have a Republican like Ted Cruz. I don't know, is that guy, is that turkey trying to run for president again? Is he a candidate or no? What? No. Yeah, but you know, the guy probably wants to. And that guy, he posts a thing on Twitter like a week ago. It's not that I follow anyone on Twitter, because I don't. I don't even log into Twitter because I don't even, I can't figure out how it even works. And I'm not dumb. I think it's just, I think it's dumb. But anyway, because I do know, I do a lot of other social media that I understand. But Twitter, Twitter just seems like, I don't know, I can't figure out the point. Boomers love it. But here's the thing. Here's the thing about Ted Cruz, who's a Republican guy, and not only is he Republican, but isn't he supposedly like kind of an evangelical Christian kind of guy? Like that's who his base is. That's who he's trying to appeal to. And he literally tweeted like a week ago that Uganda's laws against homosexuality are grotesque and an abomination. And I'm thinking like, man, I could just change a couple words in this sentence. And it would actually be a righteous sentence. How about homosexuality's grotesque and an abomination? That's what the Bible actually says. But instead, this lying piece of trash, this fake Christian, and by the way, if you just want a good laugh, one time I saw this video of all the outtakes from a Ted Cruz political commercial. I don't know how this got released to the public, but it was the most embarrassing thing. But the guy is just such a lying phony. It showed the outtakes from him filming the commercial, and he's sitting next to his mom. And he's like, oh, my mom prays for me for hours a day. And she just looks at him like, what? Like I'm praying for you, son, but you think I pray for you for hours a day? It's absurd. But it's just fake, right? These phony politicians. But this guy, he's, you know, oh, conservative Republican evangelical Christian candidate. He literally says that all countries of the world, all civilized countries of the world need to unite against Uganda for having this grotesque law that's an abomination. And then he just hashtag LGBTQ. What in the world? Like you just like like he's wearing it as a badge. I mean, look, isn't that what the hashtag kind of is? Like, yeah, LGBTQ. Like, yeah, that's what this post is about. I mean, who what kind of a person puts that hashtag on anything unless it's like something the kind of stuff that we would say, you know, then we might put that hashtag as just kind of a, you know, to hell with you to the to the to that community. But the point is that this guy is claiming to be a Christian and calling basically a law found in God's word, an abomination. When the Bible says that he's an abomination and the Bible says that sodomites are an abomination. OK, but he doesn't care what the Bible says. He just cares about, you know, testing the waters, I guess, if maybe he can, you know, become president or something like that or just further his political career. That's all he cares about is himself. OK. But can you imagine saying that a law against sodomites is an abomination when the Bible literally uses that word abomination? Like, like why did he pick that word? Like that's not really that common of a word. It's like he's using the Bible's own word to negate the Bible. That's pretty stinking evil as far as I'm concerned. But it's funny how he says all civilized nations need to unite against us. So he's basically saying Uganda is not civilized because they have this law. So I guess we weren't civilized until 2003, because until 2003, there were still some states that had laws against that. And in fact, in the 1950s and 60s, no state in America was civilized because it was illegal in all 50 states, including California and New York. So it's amazing how we just reached the level of civilization in 2003. You know, some of you kids don't know what it's like to have lived in an uncivilized world, but I do. You know, I was born in 1981, man, and it was like it was like caveman style. It was just it was a it was just a jungle out there, man. And yeah, but thankfully, in 2003, we got civilized. What a bunch of nonsense. But that's what I'm saying. Like, you see how the devil loves to control both sides. Does that mean I'm going to go run out and vote Democrat? Are you serious? The Democrats are just openly worshiping Satan all the time, it seems like. So, you know, it's a false left right paradigm. It's like making you feel like you have a choice. The devil's controlling both sides. And so what I'm saying is that a lot of times you got one false religion kill. You got the Catholics and the Muslims clashing and killing each other. It's like, well, well, which side is God on in that conflict? You know, when the Roman Catholics are clashing with the Aztecs or something, you know, it's like, well, obviously, it's just God using one group of wicked people to judge another group of wicked people. And so we don't want to buy into this attitude that just everybody gets martyred. Everybody gets their head cut off. We should be prepared to go through persecution and we should be faithful even unto death and be willing to die for Christ. But the chances of any of us actually having to die for Christ are very slim. But the chance of you actually having to live for Christ are 100 percent. And yet so many people are willing to die for Christ, quote unquote, or at least that's what they say. But then isn't it funny how they're not willing to live for him? You know, it's kind of ironic, I'll die for Jesus. But it's like they can't get their rear end to church. They can't seem to get out soul winning. They can't seem to take a stand right now when the cost is almost nothing. They can't get up and preach the word of God when it's totally legal and totally free. But man, when that mark of the beast comes, I'm going to die for Christ. Well, you know, it's easy to talk about that. It's easy to talk about dying for Christ because 99 percent of us will never be tested on that. But we are tested every single day on whether we will live for Christ. We're tested every single day on reading our Bible, praying, right? We're tested every week on going to church and going soul winning. Those are things that actually happen. And it's easy to just pontificate about some hypothetical about dying for Christ. The chances are very slim that any of us will have to. And look, I'm ready to die for Christ. If I need to die for Christ, I'll do it. But 99 percent, not going to happen. So like, man, when the tribulation happens, you're going to be the first one that gets smoked. And I don't that's what people have said to me. And I don't believe that for one second. OK, go if you would to Luke Chapter 21. Luke Chapter number 21. I don't believe that for one second. You know, if I were God, I would let all the liberal watered down pastors get smoked first. And I'm not saying that I'm perfect and I'm not saying that I'm a great Christian or anything. But but at least I'm not holding back on my preaching. You know, at least I'm not trying to preserve my life and scared, you know, because the Bible says he that he that seeketh to save his life shall lose it. Right. But he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. You know, obviously, I'm not saying that I am some great Christian or anything, but at least I'm getting up and preaching the word of God with boldness and I'm not worried about the repercussions. So why would God allow me to get to get smoked? And even if he does, it's an honor. You know, I mean, do you think Antipas is up in heaven and like, man, why did God let this happen? It's not fair. Antipas is like, cool, I got my name in the Bible. He's not regretting. If you are one of the very few that are martyred for Christ, and it is a very few, it's an honor. It's a privilege. It's nothing to regret. Did I have to turn to Luke 21? Look at Luke chapter 21. And this is a really interesting scripture, but it says in verse number, well, let's just start in verse 15. I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain, say, no resist. And you shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren and kinsfolk. This is Jesus talking and friends. And some of you shall they cause to be put to death. Again, it's just it's a minority. Some will go to prison. Some will be put to death. And here's an interesting statement. You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but there shall not an hair of your head perish in your in your patients possess your souls. Now, this almost seems like a contradiction at first, because he says in verse 16, some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And then verse 18, he said, there's not a hair of your head perish. So it's kind of like, well, which one is it? You know, and this is the importance of taking things in context. OK, because he says, look, you're going to be betrayed, you're going to be hated. And then a smaller group, some people are going to be put to death. OK, but then verse 17 is applying to everyone. Ye in general shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Hey, the disciples not above his master, nor is the servant above his lord. It's enough for the disciples that he be as his master and the servant as his lord. If they've called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. He says, look, if they hated me, they will hate you. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. You will be hated. You will be persecuted. That's for everybody. What about going to prison? Some will go to prison. What about being martyred? Some will be martyred. How many will be persecuted in general? All of them that are actually serving God. Does that make sense? See the difference there? So then taking it in that context, he says, ye, talking to the larger group, not the smaller exceptional group that actually is martyred, but talking to the big group, the 99%, he says to them, you shall be hated of all men for my namesake, but there shall not an hair of your head perish. And I believe what the Bible is getting at here is that people hating you doesn't physically hurt you. I mean, what if I told you that being mocked and ridiculed and left out of the group, left out of the clique, ostracized, doesn't actually physically harm you in any way? Not a hair of my head is going to perish because of some comment on the internet. Not a hair of my head is going to perish because of an article that some journalist writes. Not a hair of my head is going to perish because some weirdos are protesting and holding up signs out in the parking lot. Of course, they don't do that here. But, you know, when I'm on the road trip and I go visit some of these other churches across America that get harassed by weirdos, not a hair of my head is going to perish and therefore in your patience possess ye your souls. He's saying, you know, patiently endure the ridicule, the criticism, the hate, because sticks and stones may break your bones, but that type of persecution is never really going to physically hurt you. So if you would go back to Revelation chapter 2 with that in mind. So again, he says in verse 13, I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seed is. And even where Satan's seed is, now they're going through a time of relative peace at this point because it's not like it was in those really bad days when Antipas was the faithful martyr. I mean, think about it. What if our church went through a period of intense persecution and one of our church members were killed for the cause of Christ? Even if it were one person, wouldn't you say that'd be a huge deal? Let me ask you this way. You know, many of you are newer to church, newer to the faith, but we do have people here who've been saved for decades and have gone to other churches and so forth. Has anybody ever been a member of a church where one of your fellow church members was killed for the cause of Christ while you went to that church? Nobody. And how did I know that? Because again, this is an exceptional occurrence. That's why. Now again, if we were living in Iran or North Korea and we just started operating our church in Seoul, yeah, we're literally going to get killed. So here's a tip. Don't go there for any reason. And you say, wow, we just really got to reach those people with the gospel. Okay, how are you doing on South Korea? Because why don't you evangelize all of South Korea and then we'll talk. You know, why would we just purposely go to these impossible places or difficult places when they're all of these places where God has given us an open door? And again, it's the mentality that says I'll die for Christ, but I don't really want to live for him. It's like, well, I don't really want to go Seoul winning, so I guess I'm just going to do cloak and dagger operations in Iran or something, because then I only have to go Seoul winning once every two years, once I've gone through all the proper handshakes and signals and I know I'm safe or whatever. It doesn't make any sense. So yes, if the persecution is so intense that you can't operate, flee somewhere else. Otherwise, if it's just California, right, or if it's just Massachusetts or something, I don't know, what are the most commie places in America? You know, ironically, the persecution is actually the worst right now in Texas, when that's supposedly the Evangelical Christian Bible Belt. Of all of our church friends and even people that aren't our friends, the churches that are getting persecuted the most are in Texas right now, 100%. That's where Satan's seat is apparently. Satan's seat is literally Dallas, Texas. I'm not even kidding. I'm serious. But he says, thou hast not denied my faith, even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwells. He's like, man, you guys have stood your ground. You've stood up for what's right. You've stood for the cause of Christ. But now he's going to get negative. But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. So we just finished talking about a church that has endured intense persecution, even to the point of someone being killed for the cause of Christ, which is not the norm. I mean, what did Jesus or what did the Apostle Paul write to the Hebrews? You've not yet resisted under blood in striving against sin. So were the Hebrews all bodies stacking up? No. But here's a church that had gone through serious persecution, even to the point where someone had literally been killed, and they endured all that. Here's what God's trying to say here in Revelation chapter 2, is that nothing outside of us can destroy us, but we can destroy ourselves. It's like when Jesus said, nothing from without the body coming into the body defiles the man. It's what comes out of the heart of man that defiles the man. And here's the thing about our church, or any church, is that our church cannot be destroyed from external forces. No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper. And God has protected the church at Pergamos. They have been faithful to him. He has been faithful to them. They have survived a period of intense persecution. But now they've got people holding the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. Now here's what happened in the story of Balaam. I'm going to give you just a quick crash course in the story of Balaam. In chapters 22 through 24 of the book of Numbers, you'll find the story of Balaam if you want to read the whole story. But basically, Balak, he wants to hire Balaam to curse the children of Israel, because he believes that Balaam has spiritual power, and he believes that if Balaam curses the children of Israel, then they'll be cursed. And then he can basically attack them, and he's going to win, because they will no longer have God protecting them, because God is clearly protecting Israel. And so he wants to get Israel cursed. So Balaam, you know, he really wants to make the money on the job, but every time he seeks counsel of the Lord, the Lord does not allow him to curse Israel. And he keeps going back a second time and a third time, and God continually prohibits Balaam from cursing Israel and hinders him from cursing Israel. And so Balaam ends up not cursing Israel, okay? And Balak's really mad, and that's kind of how the story seems to end when you're reading in the book of Numbers. Chapters 22 through 24, Balaam ends up blessing Israel instead of cursing them. But then when you get to chapter 25, all of a sudden, the children of Israel are committing fornication, and eating things sacrificed unto idols, and intermingling with the wicked heathen. And then God ends up having to punish them and kill them. So in chapter 25, in essence, they're being cursed. So it's funny, in chapters 22 through 24, trying to curse, trying to curse them, trying to, hey, how can I curse those whom God has blessed? These people are blessed by God. I can't bring a curse upon them. And then all of a sudden in chapter 25, what do they do? They bring a curse upon themselves by doing what? Committing fornication, eating things sacrificed unto idols. Now, here's the thing about that. The book of Numbers doesn't really explain that. The book of Numbers just like gives you the Balaam story, and then it's just all of a sudden they're committing fornication. But then here we get a commentary on it from the New Testament saying that Balaam taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and commit fornication. Now, in retrospect, looking at the book of Numbers, that makes sense because that's why A leads to B, even though it's not explicitly laid out in the book of Numbers, is that basically Balaam's influence was causing the children of Israel somehow. You've got to read between the lines. Sometimes the Old Testament leaves a lot of things out. It's just the style that the Old Testament is written in, where it often just really leaves things up in the air, leaves them open to interpretation. Which is great, which makes it really interesting to read it over and over again. You don't get tired of reading it because it doesn't spell out every little thing and you're constantly finding new layers and nuances and things. And so, what's the problem here? Committing fornication and eating things sacrificed unto idols brings the curse of God on a church. And it can also cause the church to self-destruct and destroy itself because a little leaven leavens the whole lump, and the Bible uses that parable specifically about fornication in the church. And this is why, as a church, we need to take a hard line on fornication. We need constant preaching against fornication. And the Bible teaches that if any man is called a brother who's a fornicator, he is to be expelled from the church. That's taught in 1 Corinthians 5. Now, here he says there are some that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. What is this doctrine? I think it's a permissive doctrine that is basically teaching that fornication is okay and that eating things sacrificed unto idols is okay. Now, it might be kind of mind-blowing to you that that would be considered okay in any church or that any church would take a relaxed viewpoint on this. And that they would say, like, oh, well, you know, fornication is no big deal. Because coming to our church, you know that we're constantly ripping on fornication. If you've been to other sound biblical churches, you know that there's always a lot of hard preaching against fornication. And in case you don't know what fornication is, fornication is when people sleep together and they're not married. Two unmarried people having that physical relationship. And so this permissive attitude, God is upset at this permissive attitude toward fornication and idolatry. Both things that in 1 Corinthians 5 will get you kicked out of the church. Both fornication and idolatry are both prohibited in the church. You know, it's funny, I was out soul winning this week and we talked to a guy and he was talking about how, you know, he quit going to his old church. And one of the things that he had negative to say about his old church was that, you know, his daughter had, what was the, Kevin, can you help me out the exact word that he used? A little accident or a little mistake or what? But it was, do you remember? Kevin. But anyway, he used a word, something along the lines of like, you know, she, it was a really mild word. It was like even milder than mistake or accident. It was like just, it was just a little oops or something. I don't know. And got pregnant. You know, like, oops, I got pregnant. What was it? Yes, thank you. She had a mishap. She had a mishap that led to her getting pregnant. And then, and the church, you know, ostracized her for that. And I told him, I said, I said, well, you know, let's be clear here. You know, the Bible does teach that people who commit fornication are to be kicked out of the church. But I said, if she repented and got out of that situation, you know, like, for example, you know, if she's not in that relationship anymore or if they ended up getting married and he made an honest woman out of her and now they're married, well, then, okay, then they should be, you know, allowed to come back. Because the Bible is very clear on the fact that we should forgive people who are repentant and restore them to fellowship. And even the guy who was committing a pretty scary brand of fornication in 1 Corinthians 5, even he was restored to fellowship in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, or at least Paul was saying that they should seek to restore that man to fellowship. So people who are thrown out of the church, it's not necessarily permanent because often they can be restored to fellowship. So I clarified to this guy, I said, you know, obviously, if they were still hanging it over her head after it's totally over and she's repented and she's not in that situation anymore, either she's out of that relationship or she's married, you know, obviously they should have forgiven her and restored her and not bring it up again. And restore her to fellowship. But I said, you know, the church was right to kick someone out in that situation. And look, a lot of people get offended by that. Or a lot of people will want, you know, they'll want their loved one to be able to keep coming to church even though they're living with some dude out of wedlock or pregnant with some dude's kid out of wedlock and they're still living with that dude. You know, sorry, but the Bible's clear on that issue. And so we take a hard line on this and every biblical church takes a hard line on this. You know, and here's the thing, you know, committing fornication is not a mishap. And getting pregnant out of wedlock is not a mishap. Okay. That is a premeditated sin. Okay. I mean, it's not just like, whoops, I commit fornication. Whoa, where did that come from? Okay. There's plenty of time to think about that. Okay. And plenty of ways to avoid that. Okay. It's not an accident. And so, I mean, you probably did have a mishap getting pregnant, but the fornication was on purpose. And that's the issue. The pregnancy is not the issue. The fornication is the issue. Okay. And so here we see that this church has this doctrine of Balaam, which is a permissive doctrine. And I've even heard in Baptist churches people arguing that fornication is not a sin and that it's not, you know, and this is so stupid, but it shows our modern 2023 mentality that anyone would even think this way. Okay. Because God's laws always make sense, even from a biological perspective. They make sense. Right. And stop and think about this. You know, Islam teaches, oh, you may have four wives, my brother. But here's the thing about that is that that doesn't even make sense because half the people on the planet are male and half the people are female. So how does that math work with one dude having four wives? It sounds like God's plan for one man and one woman, the math adds up. Amen. Okay. Well, here's what's so stupid about saying, oh, fornication is fine because fornication produces babies. Now, again, I'm not saying this is the only reason why fornication is wrong. Fornication is wrong because God said it's wrong. God said it's wrong. Don't do it. And by the way, live as long as I have, and especially in the pastorate, and you'll find that a lot of people are suffering repercussions from fornication that they committed before they were married. Don't do it. Remain pure. Both men and women need to stay a virgin before they get married. That's what the Bible teaches. God punishes fornication severely. But I'm just saying, here's another argument against fornication, besides the fact the Bible condemns it like a bazillion times. How about the fact that if you go out and commit fornication, there's the likelihood of the mishap, quote unquote. And so is it God's plan that all these bastard children be produced? Is it God's plan that a bunch of children be produced out of wedlock and that you have all these children floating around? And the world, of course, is normalizing this in 2023. But see, this proposition would have been absurd back when our country was uncivilized in the 1950s, 60s, 70s. This proposition would have been absurd in a Baptist church to say, well, maybe fornication is not a sin. But that's the kind of idiotic thing people are thinking today because they've been so influenced by TV and Hollywood that it just normalizes fornication and normalizes all these kids floating around and being bounced around and I've got three dads and five moms and, you know, this is my wonderful family and we're all over the place. That's not God's plan. God's plan is that one man and one woman get married and stay married for life and raise their biological children. That's the plan. Now, look, obviously there are some righteous exceptions to this, right? People could adopt a child. That's righteous. People could be widowed and then marry someone else because their spouse died and then they marry someone else and then they have children. That's legitimate. That's righteous. But the exception proves the rule in general. What God's looking at is a man, woman and children. That's less than half of households now in America. Less than half of children are raised by their biological mother and father, right? That's the product of fornication, friend. And are you going to actually sit there and tell me that it is God's will for less than half of American children to be raised by their biological parents? That that's somehow the blessing of God? It's absurd. And so do not buy into this doctrine of Balaam that says, oh, fornication is not a big deal so long as they love each other. And by the way, that's why the modern versions have removed the word fornication and replaced it with sexual immorality, which can mean whatever you want it to mean. That could mean it's not consensual. That could mean that you don't love each other, right? That could mean whatever they want it to mean. Whereas fornication means what it means, which is intercourse outside of marriage. And so he's warning them about this because they can be destroyed. It's not the people that killed Antipas that you need to worry the most about because you guys got through that and you were fine. What you really need to worry about are the people in your church that are telling people that it's okay to fornicate. That's the people that you got to watch out for. Verse 15, so hast thou also then that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate? So again, false doctrine and a permissive attitude towards sin. These are the two issues in the church, right? Wrong doctrine, wrong lifestyle. From within, these will destroy them. And God's like, I hate that stupid Nicolaitan doctrine. And you guys have it in your church. You guys have fornication, idolatry, fix it, repent, verse 16. Or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. So what does he mean there? He's not threatening here necessarily to remove the candlestick as he did with the church at Ephesus. But instead he's talking about specifically he's going to fight against the people that are guilty, the ones who are guilty. Not necessarily the whole church. He's not saying the whole church is bad or that the whole church is going to lose its candlestick. But he's saying I'm going to fight against those people that are implicated with the sword of my mouth. He's basically saying if you don't take care of these people, then I will. Now what does he mean I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth? This could mean a couple of things. Remember, what is the sword of his mouth? It's the word of God. So what does he mean by that when he says I'll fight against them with the word of God? Well, the way I see it, it could mean one of a couple different things. One thing it could mean is that basically God speaks the word and it happens. Whatever he speaks comes to pass. His word does not return void. And so if Christ just so much as speaks the word, he created the whole world by speaking it into existence. He could just speak destruction upon these people. He could just speak the word and destruction could come from any avenue on this earth. Or, you know, another possible interpretation, and that's what I think he's saying. I would go with interpretation number one. Another possible interpretation you could take would be that, well, what he means is that, you know, he's going to send someone else to speak God's word to them who is going to faithfully preach what the pastor has failed to preach. Right. So this interpretation could be like, oh, you know, these pastors are not preaching on sin. They're not. And today the big issue, especially in the month of June, is the sodomites. Right. That's just unfortunately that people are like, oh, don't talk about that. Well, I don't want to talk about it either. But it's kind of the thing right now in our society that needs to be fought. And so, you know, imagine a pastor failing to preach against the sodomites and then, you know, people have to turn to some preaching on the Internet to get that hard preaching that they need against the sodomites. Right. But I think it's probably interpretation number one that he'll speak judgment upon them. He says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to thee of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. Of course, the manna also represents God's word. In the Old Testament, they ate the manna every day, which is a picture of reading the Bible every day. And he says to him that overcometh, which is talking about people who are saved. Who believe on Christ, who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, I will give to eat of the hidden manna. Well, think about this. Unsaved people can only understand, quote, unquote, the Bible only on a very superficial level. I mean, they can understand a simple sentence that says everyone is a sinner or they can understand a simple sentence, you know, Jesus died on the cross. And I could ask an atheist, you know, hey, read this sentence. What does that mean? Yeah, it means Jesus died on the cross. So they can understand it on that superficial level. But the Bible is spiritually discerned and the natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God. . . . . . .