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So we're up to the third church in the book of Revelation and The title for the sermon tonight is of the church in Pergamos. Okay, the church in Pergamos now Out of the seven churches when I when I read through the book of Revelation When I when I consider the church in Pergamos It's probably like the words that Jesus Christ speaks to this church to me I'm more probably the more difficult ones the the more cryptic if it will Okay, and as I came to prepare this sermon I was kind of you know, there was some things I just sort of you know, hadn't fully grasped, you know, I haven't fully understood But I hope I've done well enough here to give you a good Presentation of the things that I said some other churches have things that are very clear You know, if very things that are easy to understand and there are some things that are easy to understand with this church But there's also some other things that you know Really require a bit of study in the Bible or maybe even an understanding of the of the city of Pergamos at this time if you're sort of interested in the history of Churches, I don't tend to go into history all that much when I go through the Bible I know a lot of preachers do they like to go back and look at you know, this city was like this This was the you know, this was the kind of you know, a people that live there These were the influences of the people but I try my best to stick with what the Word of God says and try to minimize you know the the Additional things that people tend to look at when they go through the Bible But look at Revelation chapter 2 verse 12 Revelation chapter 2 verse 12 the Bible says and to the angel of the church in Pergamos, right? And just a reminder the angel there is the pastor So all these churches have a pastor and it says these things save he which have the sharp sword We've two edges the sharp sword. We've two edges now This is the you know The double-sided sword now when we talk about the sword the reason I asked Brody there to read through Ephesians chapter 6 Because we were looking there at the armor of God and one of the pieces of the armor of God Was the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God You know the Lord Jesus Christ has left us with a sword Okay left us with a sword so we can do spiritual battle and that is your Bible Okay, and you know what? It's not just you that holds the Bible It's not just you that uses the Bible or this church that uses the Bible But we see there in verse number 12 It's Jesus that has the sharp sword with two edges You see even Jesus Christ uses the Word of God You know even Jesus Christ can quote the Bible and we've seen him when he was walking the earth and you know Doing his ministry, you know, he went to fight He went to battle against the devil using the scriptures the devil's there trying to tempt him Trying to make him fail trying to make him fall. Of course He could not because he was God manifest in the flesh, but Jesus Christ showed us the example He used the Word of God he used scriptures to defeat the enemy to defeat the devil Okay. Now one thing I just quickly read to you that was read earlier just in Ephesians 6 13 It says you don't need to turn there just as wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God That you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand Brevin we live today in an evil day. Okay. I mean, I'm constantly surprised Just just how wicked this places get in, you know, apparently not long ago. Apparently New York has now Legislated that abortions can be done up to nine months pretty much, you know till the baby's being delivered They're now allowing abortions. I mean just the things that I'm here. I mean It shouldn't surprise me, but it does surprise me sometimes, right? You know, I mean the fact that even abortions are legal. Anyway, the first place is just disgusting It's just terrible. Okay. I mean they're just increasing in the same wickedness, you know It's not like the nine-month-old is any less of it or any more of a baby than one that's two weeks old or whatever Okay, but just hearing these things and just knowing we know what when a baby is born how fully developed it is You know how it has a sense it knows its mother when the baby is born and is put on the chest of the mother and he Relaxes and you know when it's born the baby knows that it needs to cry to breathe I mean, it's a fully functioning human being and they want to be able to destroy that baby They want to be able to murder little children I mean we just live in a wicked age, you know and and the Bible tells us You know in this time this evil day We need to put on that whole armor of God and of course I just wanted to focus there on this on this on the sword It says in verse 17 and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit Which is the Word of God you see we're commanded to take the sword of the Spirit. We're commanded to go to battle Okay, it's not just armor, you know and protect yourself from all the attacks that come your way No, you've got to take up the sword and go to battle with the sword that Jesus Christ has given us. Okay Your thoughts might be you know, but it's just a book I mean, it's just it's just letters on a page, you know, what kind of sword is this? You know, well, I mean if you've studied the Bible if you've if your life has changed as a result of the Bible It's a powerful sword. Okay, it's actually had an amazing impact on your life already I mean just the fact that you know, you're no longer on your way to hell But you're on your way to heaven proves that it's a sharp sword You know and the Bible tells that actually if you can keep your finger then go to a Hebrews chapter 4 Please Hebrews chapter 4, you know just to reinforce something that's said about the Word of God but the fact if you've been able to have a More fulfilling Christian walk in your life because of the Word of God it shows the effect that the sword can have on your life Okay, where sometimes you know, it is going to hurt you sometimes when you look at your life you look at your sins, you know that that sword of God is cutting through and Sometimes we don't want to know what the Word of God says right because we're comfortable in our life We're comfortable in our sins and sometimes we don't like hearing preaching Not not that the new man the new man loves the preaching but that old man the flesh doesn't like the preaching because it cuts deep Into the flesh there, but look at Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 The Bible says for the Word of God is quick. Okay when it says quick it means it's living Okay, you know the words in this book. It's not just a static Printing like like your average novel that you're gonna find in any bookshop The Bible tells us here that the Word of God is living. It's alive Okay, there's a spiritual life that's contained in these words and that's why it has an impact within you It says for the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Okay piercing even to divide and asunder of soul and spirit That's why it's sharper than a two-edged sword I mean if you're going to battle with a two-edged sword the most you can do is cut, you know The body, you know damage the body stab the flesh But the sword of God the Word of God goes deeper dividing asunder the soul and spirit It goes deep into us into you know The other if you want to call dimension of where our soul and spirit resides and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and Intense of the heart it's able to discern your thoughts. It's able to discern the things that it's in your heart That's why sometimes when you hear preaching, you know from from either myself or from other preachers or whatever and you're like It's it just sounds like you're preaching about me. It sounds like you know something about me and you're preaching about me It's not me. It's not the preacher writes the Word of God that has discerned your thoughts and your heart That's how deep it goes. It's extremely powerful to use and that's why the world hates the Word of God That's why you know, this dark world doesn't want to know what the Word of God says, you know Even someone like an Israel Folau, you know And what I believe is to be an unbeliever all he has to do as an unbeliever is quote the Word of God And causes damage just even as an unbeliever You know, even there's someone that's unskilled with the sword of the Spirit is able to cause damage You know how much more then are the preachers cause, you know called by God, you know The pastors of churches or preachers to stand up with the Word of God and cause some damage in this spiritually dark world You know damage to the to the kingdom of Satan Alright, and but I just wanted to point out to you that you know in the in if you go back to Revelation 2 12 It's the same weapon that's used by Jesus Christ Here's the one that has the sword with two edges now when we talk about a double-edged sword You know, I look this up a little bit but you know Most like swords in general you have your single-edged swords and usually your single-edged swords I have a bit of a have a bit of a curve to it Okay, and they're apparently they're better for slicing for cutting through things Okay, but then you have your double-edged swording a double-edged sword basically sharp on one end and sharp on the other end Okay, and the idea there is just so you can actually you know, you may not cut as effectively as a single-edged blade But you can cause a lot of damage because no matter which way you swing it, you know You can cut that way and if you're in battle Let's say you're cutting down that way and you and then you know on your way back up You can cause damage once again because it's sharp on the other side Whereas a single-edged sword can only cut one way and then you've got to readjust your angle before you can cut again But a double-edged sword doesn't matter which way you move it. It's going to cause some damage It's going to cause some some some effects with how you wield it So, you know as preachers as people that get up behind this pulpit because it is a powerful weapon We also must be trained to use that weapon. Okay, because people can cause unnecessary damage as well You know unnecessary damage, you know, or even destroy fellow brethren because of you know, unskillfully using the Word of God You know, so you need to know the Word of God needs to train yourself, you know Practice preaching in order to be able to use that sword very effectively and let's go to verse number 13 Now it says Jesus says of this church in Pergamos. I know thy work. So again, this church is doing good works, right? They're doing works and the Lord recognizes the works that have been there and it says and where they are dwellest Even where Satan's seat is now, this is where it gets a little challenging, you know, Pergamos is being said here This is where Satan's sits Okay, and it's it's more than just sort of this figurative thing we have look let's keep reading and thou holdest fast my name and Hast not denied my faith Even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth Okay, so it's not just this passing thought that it's Satan's seat there, but Satan dwells there says Jesus Christ Okay. Now just a few key things there. Obviously this church Has been facing certain persecution one of their church members Antipas was Put to death, you know, he he suffered a martyr's death But yet this church did not you know remain strong this church was unmovable It says here that they held fast in the name of Christ. Okay, they held up the name of Christ They did not deny the faith I assume these guys went through some persecution some tribulation where they've been pressured to to deny the Lord God But no, they stood up for Jesus Christ even at the face of death, okay But what really interests me is the fact that there's Satan's seat is there and that Satan dwells there, you know And I don't know, you know, do you think these this is figurative speaking? Do you think it's just some sort of spiritual application or do you think there's more to it? You know, I don't have a full answer to that But I did look this up and and some people say that well I mean, this is that this is a recorded fact is that in Pergamos there was this altar of of Zeus Okay, Zeus is a Greek God and is the God he's basically the king of the gods so he's the top god in you know, Greek mythology in Zeus and apparently there was an altar, you know, I significant, you know a significant monument that was built that was called the altar of Zeus and that altar it Still exists today not in Pergamos But it was taken to I think a museum in in Germany in Berlin and you can still see that if you were to go there It's and if you look at the altar, it's I mean, it's not the entire thing It's it's just mainly the steps that lead up to the altar But there's all these pictures of all these other pagan false gods around there So it gives us an idea of what Pergamos was like, you know, obviously this this this City was full of idolatry. The city was full of worshiping false gods or other gods like that And so maybe that's what he means by there being a a seat of of Satan that being that altar of Zeus You know, that's a possibility. I'm not discounting that completely Okay, but when I when I just want to base these things on the Word of God, you know We know that Satan is real, right? We know the devil's a real, you know fallen being you know a fallen cherub and that he's roaming the earth You know, he sees he's going about this earth like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour now I want to take you to a story in the book of Isaiah. Keep your finger there in Revelation 2 and go to Isaiah 14, please Isaiah 14 verse 4 Isaiah 14 verse 4 and this is a prophecy of Isaiah Long before the king of Babylon has anything to do with Israel before they're you know being taken into captivity or anything like that Isaiah is given this prophecy from the Lord in Isaiah 14 verse 4. Look what it says here. Isaiah 14 verse 4 it says That thou, this is God speaking to Isaiah, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say how hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased okay, so this is a prophecy about the destruction of Babylon in you know in the Old Testament days there and if you just drop down to verse number 9 So it's it's a prophecy against the king of Babylon right drop down to verse number 9 It continues on says hell from beneath is moved for thee. Now the thee there is the king of Babylon Okay at thy coming it stirs up the dead for thee even all the chief ones of the earth you have raised up from the thrones all the kings of the nations and They shall speak and say unto thee, thou also become weak as we, thou become like unto us Thy pomp is brought down to the grave and the noise of thy vials The worm is spread under thee and the worms cover thee These are like the worms of hell. Verse number 12 look at this how art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning how art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations So it's quite an interesting thought here this prophecy of Isaiah that is prophesying He's preaching against the king of Babylon right says look your end is hell You know it's opening up for you the worms are ready to cover you and then he goes straight into you know Preaching against Lucifer you know that that being you know the name of Satan prior to his fall and saying how Satan has fallen from heaven and so what I gather from from this guys is that we obviously again We know with other verses Satan roams this earth and it seems like when I put this together what we see there in Isaiah 14 You know that the king of Babylon was under the influence of Satan all right I mean that's pretty clear the king of Babylon is being prophesied against but by extension So is Satan okay, and it seems like Satan had set himself up there Or this is a future prophecy, but sets himself up in Babylon, and he's causing problems there, right? He's calling causing problems for the people of God and of course Babylon was taking out I'm sorry Judah the southern kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity into Babylon. There's always this association with Persecution of God's people again persecution of Christians now the other thing we know about Satan is not he's not God right He's not omnipresent He can't be everywhere at once and so from what I gather here if we look back at if we can you can go back to Revelation chapter 2 now I Would say you know I'm not going to be dogmatic about this But I would say that Satan had literally set up camp in Pergamos Okay, right while there. That's where his seat was that's where he was dwelling in Pergamos And yeah, you could say that altar of Zeus was built because you know if Satan is having this spiritual influence in this world Obviously he's going to drive the people of that city It's not to worship the true God of the Bible But to worship false gods and you know get into idolatry and to get all those kinds of things So it would make sense to me that Satan was in that city at that point in time and his purpose was to destroy this church in Pergamos You know he already got got in a way with with killing one of their one of their church members And you know what other what other you know? What are the damage was he trying to do to that church, and this is why this this it starts off here? We've talking about the sword of the Spirit that Christ has a sword because as we get to the end of this you'll see that Christ says look We'll get into it later, but basically it says look I'm gonna defend you guys okay, and you know it would make sense that you know he would be defending them because Satan is literally Literally the real Satan right is literally there attacking that church, and let's go to verse number 14 Please revelation chapter 2 verse 14 Revelation chapter 2 verse 14 The Bible says, but I have a few things against thee so even this church had a few issues right Against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam Now Balaam is a prophet or a false prophet if you will in the Old Testament now Again, this is he's a challenging figure in the Bible. I mean you go and ask the average Christian Do you think Balaam was saved or unsaved? You're probably going to get a 50-50 response. You know you're probably gonna get yeah Look these are the reasons why I think he's saved and here are the reasons why I think he's unsaved And you know what I'm not going to tell you right now what I believe I think I need to do a little bit more study in Balaam I mean I can't I know the passages obviously that deal with it And I know the arguments for him being unsaved, and I know the arguments for him being saved But you know that's not the key thing right now The key thing is even if he was a saved you know real prophet of God You know being being used by God in and then maybe he turned bad the fact is he had some false teaching He had some false doctrine and this church had allowed this same doctrine to creep into their church All right now to have a look at this it says there Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam So it's not necessarily that the pastor held to the doctrines of Balaam But the church had certain members that was holding to some false doctrine Okay, and we need to be aware of that right like you know this church We're open to allowing anybody to come in here You know anybody to come in and learn and grow and of course I don't expect a person to walk in and be on the same page with us on every single doctrine You know you know of the Bible. You know obviously there are going to be some differences But you know that's where you need to work with the people you need to work with them explain things answer questions But it seems like these guys these folks you know or people that hold to these false doctrines. We're not being corrected You know they'll just sit in there. You know causing problems for the church So what are some of these false things that were being taught here? It says there in verse number 14 just in the middle there so the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak now Balak is Was the king of the Moabites okay? And the king of the Moabites basically wanted to pay Balaam or he did pay Balaam to curse Israel okay, he recognized that Balaam had some type of You know Gifts all right of prophecy and he hires Balaam and says look Balaam I want you to curse the Israelites You know and then when Balaam goes and asks God can I curse them God says no all right? Don't you dare curse them all right, and so he goes back and says Balaam look. I can't curse the Israelites God told me that I can't okay, and but what does he do so Balaam you know just being sneaky You know still trying to find a way to curse like he realizes I can't curse Israel, but but Balak wants or Balak wants Israel to be cursed So we've got to come up with another way right because because here's the thing with Balaam if you when you study his life You realize this guy was all about the money right he was getting he was getting paid to do certain prophecies or doing certain things He was definitely chasing the money, so what did he teach Balak? He says he he taught Balak taught Balak sorry to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel To eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication all right now keep that in mind They you know that he taught Balak to cast a stumbling block okay before the children of Israel now keep your fingers that fingers there Let's go to the story in the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 25, Numbers chapter 25 verse 1 Numbers chapter 25 verse 1 Let's get a little bit of this story Now when you're reading through the book of Numbers, okay, and you get to chapter 25 Your first thought you know as you read it. You're not going to think this has anything to do with Balaam Okay, you know because you don't even notice that till several chapters later, but look at Numbers 25 verse 1 the Bible says an Israel abode in Shittim and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab Okay, so that's the whoredom. That's the fornication that was referred to in the book of Revelation Okay, and notice they they committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab And I told you that Balak was the king of the Moabites Okay, so these were people that were under his rule and verse number two and they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods and the people did eat and bow down to their gods and Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and the Lord said unto Moses Look at this look how angry God was he says take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord Against the son that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel And Moses said unto the judges of Israel Slay ye everyone his men that were joined unto Baal Peor Okay, so this is what happens that some of the Israelites, you know that they see the daughters of Moab, you know They're you know infatuated by them, you know, and they commit whoredoms They commit fornication and as you see many times in the Bible when these when these when these you know Supposedly, you know children of God, you know take on you know wives of another nation or women that worship other gods Then their hearts are turned against the Lord God They worship other gods they bow down to other gods and they even sacrifice and they eat of the food that was sacrificed unto The God so that's a story that you see that develops there. Okay. Now, let's go to numbers 31 numbers 31 verse 16 Numbers 31 verse 16 because you're probably wondering what does that have to do with Balaam, you know Well numbers 31 16 gives us the answer numbers 31 verse 16 Bible tells us behold these caused the children of Israel Look at this through the council of Balaam to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor And there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. Okay, so Balaam could not curse Israel okay, but he goes to Balak the king of the Moabites and says look here's a way that Israel can be cursed I can't curse them, but I know a way that God can curse Israel. Okay. Here's what you're gonna do This is this, you know, I'm just sort of you know, coming up with a story here But here's what you got to do King Balak, you know, you know send send send the prostitutes of your land of the Moabites You know send your your whorish women out there, you know to appease the children of Israel send them out there You know to to brief befriend them to spend time with them to you know Just just to you know build build friendships and then those men will fall Those men will commit whoredoms and the Lord God will step in and curse Israel for you on your behalf that that's what happens right because Balaam gives that council gives that advice to Balak so that gives you a picture of that story a little bit now. Let's go back to Revelation chapter 2 verse 14 Revelation chapter 2 verse 14 And so this church had allowed certain people to come into the church Why were they seeking to bless the church were they seeking to to edify the church? No, they were in the church seeking to destroy the church They were they were there trying to you know, cause a curse to fall upon the people of God. Okay Hey, they were behind the scenes, you know when we read numbers 25 There was no sign of Balaam. All right, and here's how wicked some of these false prophets are They're behind the scenes. They come into a church. They act nice. They act like a prophet of God Right, but then they they bring about situations to cause problems Okay to cause divisions or cause, you know false doctrine to come into the church, but hey, they have their hands clean It wasn't me. It wasn't me, but they gave counter to other people They they you know gave it they whispered a word to this brother they whispered a word of gossip to that person so that person causing problems within the church and Here are not only not only problems not only not only conflicts But people were now eating foods that were sacrificed unto idols and I've covered this topic before there's nothing wrong with that in of itself Except when you knowingly are participating in that Okay, when you you are participating and that's giving honor to that false god So these guys, you know are giving honor to these false gods in the church and the communion fornication With people within the church and of course the Bible teaches us that if someone in the church is communion fornication They are to be kicked out of the church. Okay, so this wasn't going on now They had some good works and you know, they were in a place of idolatry They were in a place where Satan was dwelling so I can fully understand how Satan had allowed who had organized for these You know these people like Balaam to creep into the church So the lesson is there for us guys, you know the false prophet and this is this is basically just the wolf in sheep's clothing Then you're not gonna notice them on the outside. Okay. I mean if they look like a false prophet on the outside They're not a wolf in sheep's clothing. They're just a wolf in wolf's clothing Okay, and they're easy to spot but the wolf in sheep's clothing the ones that are behind the scenes causing problems They're hard to spot they look like a normal believer a normal prophet of God there Anyway, Revelation chapter 2 verse 15 Revelation chapter 2 verse 15 So we've got these people that follow the way of Balaam in the church, but also in chapter 15 It says so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans Which thing I hate and I've already covered this with the first church and went through the Nicolaitans Just once again, we don't know enough in the Bible to tell exactly what these people taught But it's enough to know that whoever is in this church trying to influence us with false doctrine We need to get rid of them. Okay, otherwise, you know, God says here Jesus Christ says here that he hates those things Okay, verse number 16 verse number 16 Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly Look at this repent. So he's telling the church look sort it out Repent right get rid of these people He goes or else I will come unto thee quickly look and we'll fight against them with the sword of my mouth That's why Jesus Christ spoke of the sword in his mouth. Okay, and the sword is the Word of God. Okay, so my What I gather here is this church may not have been preaching from the Word of God all that much They may not have been using scriptures as strongly as they should have, you know The Word of God was not, you know getting rid of these people Maybe they were just preaching your feel-good sermons. Maybe they'll preach in sermons without many passages Okay, or being very vague with teaching I've seen this in church, you know, very vague on the gospel, you know Well repentance is a change of way which leads to a change of of life It's like well, what does that mean? You know There's there's no explanation so vague that you can even allow people that hold other False doctrines other other gospels to come into the church and be an influence in a bad way to the church No, you know it sounds to me just just from what I'm seeing there Jesus I'm look I've got the sword and if you don't sort it out, I'll bring the sword Okay, because it sounds like to me they weren't using the sword, you know that they were given the two-edged sword being the Word Of God, so just a reminder guys that this church must be built on the sort of God It must be built on the Word of God. All right I don't want to have a preacher up here if you get up here and you never open the Word of God as a preacher Oh, man, that's a big strike. You're probably not gonna preach again No, you never if you never open the Word of God In fact, if you do that, you'll never preach again, right? But if you only open to one verse and your whole sermons on one verse boy, that's one strike, right? I'll give you a free strike So you're out no But I want you guys opening the Word of God using the sword of the Spirit that's been given to our disposal because it's powerful Okay, it's powerful. It'll get rid of the false prophets for the false teachers as well in the church Now one thing I do want to show you here is during the book of Revelation. So go to Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 verse 15, okay Because you know this Bible the scriptures I can't We can't really cause much that I mean besides Bible bashing someone I guess, you know If I get someone just smack him over the head of this book, it's pretty it's pretty big I think I can cause some damage right physically that is but look at Revelation chapter 19 verse 15 And As we read this I just want you to think about how powerful the Bible is, okay Revelation 19 verse 15 This is the the return of Christ when he comes back on the white horse and it says in verse 15 and out of his mouth Goeth a sharp sword that with it He should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God, I mean this is quite a picture when he's treading out the winepress, you know That's when you're stepping on grapes and you're seeing that the juice the grape juice is flowing out there That's what it's gonna be like when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and fights, you know And he brings that sharp sword right and it's just gonna be a bloodbath. Okay drop down to verse number 16. Oh Sorry, that's where we were It says and he half on his vesture and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of Lords And of course, that's Jesus Christ verse number 20 verse number 20 We'll just drop down a bit and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him With which he deceived them that he had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone Look at this verse 21 and the remnant to the rest of the armies of the Antichrist and the remnant were slain With the sword of him That sat upon the horse, so he's saying what did you does Jesus have a sword, you know on his thigh Is that way is that way he's slain these people? No, it's look which sword proceedeth out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh You know what guys when this book when this Bible is in the hands of Jesus Christ when he speaks those words It does physical damage it can kill people it destroys people Okay, using this word these words is what Jesus Christ is using. It's not a piece of metal that's on his thigh No, it's coming out of his mouth He's speaking these words of God this this, you know, two-edged sword and it's destroying the armies of the Antichrist I don't know what that's gonna look like, but that's gonna be an amazing scene All right, I mean just just Jesus Christ speaking the Word of God and it's destroying people it's killing people it's causing a bloodbath It's the same book that we've got in our hands. All right, so man Yeah in the hands of God in the hands of Jesus Christ what he's able to accomplish, you know We're able to accomplish something similar in the spiritual in the spiritual realm. Okay, we get out there We preach the gospel with these words. Okay, we can actually turn the tide of someone's eternal destination from hell to heaven Okay, they can and they're what are we cutting through? What are we destroying? We're destroying the false teaching. We're destroying the false Gospels We're destroying the false sense of righteousness within themselves and showing them what the Word of God says Okay, and given them life given a lot the life that comes by hearing the Word of God. It's a powerful book Please pick it up read it every day You know, don't let it just sit there gathering dust on your bookshelf or only pick it up when you come to church No, make sure you take this weapon The Lord God has asked you in this evil day to put on the whole armor of God and the whole armor also Includes the sword of the Spirit. All right Let's go back to Revelation chapter 2 verse 17. We're almost done Revelation chapter 2 verse 17 So Jesus Christ always ends with this little conclusion every time he speaks way Church He says he that have an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches and to him that Overcomeeth and already we cover that that's those that are saved Okay to him that overcometh will I give to eat 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 received it Okay, that's what we get the hymn. You know, there's a new name written down in glory and it's mine. Oh, yes, it's mine What it comes from here that? Our one of our promises this is sort of I'm going to try to unpack it just a little bit to you Okay, is that we're given this white stone with a new name. Okay with a new name Which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it So it sounds like in these the new heavens and the new earth we're going to be given new names Okay, that's what it sounds like to me and it's going to be given to us on this white stone Now something else that's quite interesting, um, if you guys can go to Revelation chapter 3 Revelation chapter 3 You guys are just right there and while you while you're going there I'm just going to read to you from Isaiah 62 verse 1 just very quickly Isaiah 62 verse 1 This is of course referencing Old Testament Israel Okay But as we all know there were many saved that were in Old Testament Israel and there were many that were not saved But here speaking of the saved, of course, it says for Zion's sake Now Zion is a name given to Jerusalem. It's given to some other places But at this point in time it was given to Jerusalem and we also know in the book of Revelation There's going to be a new Jerusalem a new Zion. Okay. But anyway for Zion's sake Will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth and The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all kings thy glory And and thou shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name Okay. So here we have the Old Testament Saints being promised There's going to come a time when they're going to be called by a new name. Okay, which the Lord shall name It's going to come from the Lord Okay, and we see in the book of Revelation for the believers the New Testament believers the New Testament Saints that we too Are going to be given this white stone with this new name. Okay further proving the fact that we're one fold We're one people. Okay Old Testament Saints New Testament Saints We're going to be given this new name now Revelation chapter 3 verse 12. Look at this This is obviously I don't want to go too much into it because it's about another church But we can kind of put some things together here The Bible says him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God So just a pillar is obviously a piece of stone that's standing up straight Okay, and it can be used as for the foundations or it can be used to just build or you know Elevate certain things a pillar there now So we're gonna so him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God? so all of us are gonna have a pillar in God's temple and He shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my God now These are the words of Jesus Christ. Okay. He says the name of my God He's of course We know that's referring to God the Father and the name of the city of my God that being New Jerusalem It says that which is New Jerusalem Which cometh down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name Okay, so a few things there, you know that there's this pillar that's going to be Given to each one of us. Um, it's gonna have the the name of God So let me just say that again the name of God It's gonna have the name of the city of God and it's also gonna have a new name that's given to Jesus Christ Hey, what's that new name? I don't know. Okay. Well, obviously we don't know but it's it's you know It's here in this pillar which has to do with New Jerusalem. Okay, it has to do with New Jerusalem And we know when we looked at New Jerusalem that it had foundations Remember those foundations had the name of the Apostles of the Lamb they're written there in okay So there's something significant about this new heaven new earth something significant about New Jerusalem where there's these names as you know It's kind of like you know, some people put plaques on a wall like a building and says, you know This building was dedicated to or you know was constructed by this person There's this like this plaque there, but it's kind of be something similar like that in the new heavens and new earth But it's gonna have all our names. It's gonna have the name of God It's gonna have the names of Jesus and just just an interesting thing Now it says that it refers to that as a pillar now The reason I go to turn there is I'm just gonna read to you from Genesis 28 just quickly You don't have to turn there but Genesis 28 verse 16 and it says here this is about Jacob and Jacob builds a few pillars himself, but We read this not long going in a previous sermon, but it goes and Jacob Awaked out of his sleep and he said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not And he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place? there is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven and Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put up for his pillows and Set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it Okay, so we see Jacob here talking about hey this God was here, right? It says and it terrifies him, right? So he gets the stone that he slept on and he sets up that stone as a pillar Okay, and that's where I link what we read there in in Revelation chapter 2 verse 20 or sorry of revolution 2 verse um Sorry 17 where it speaks of the white stone with a new name and also the pillar that's set up for each one of us as well It could be that that same stone that's given to us is set up for that pillar or that stone might be representative of the pillar that's built there in the house of God So, you know kind of like how you know some sometimes if you if you're in a competition and you win a competition Your team gets a trophy but then you might get like a winner's medal, you know that represents that trophy You know that you keep forever and that's kind of how I think I kind of think of it Is that that winning trophy represents this pillar that's built there for all eternity But you get this winner's medal to represent that you know as that white stone I'm not sure you know, if you try to look it up other places in the Bible, it's challenging This is what I said. It's kind of quite cryptic here about this church But you know that that's you know It's a great privilege that the Lord's gonna honor us with this new name Okay, and a pillar in the new heavens in the new earth. So let's leave it there. Let's pray