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And the title for the sermon this morning, brethren, is The Church in Pergamos. The Church in Pergamos, if you haven't been listening to the picture on Thursdays, I've been going through the seven churches of the Book of Revelation. I'm doing a series through that. And we're up to the next church, which is the Church in Pergamos. Now, we are going to obviously turn to the Book of Revelation in a moment. But I just want you to quickly look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse number 12. Hebrews chapter 4, verse number 12, which reads, let me just turn there here. It says, for the word of God is quick. Now, when it says the word of God is quick, that word quick means living. It's alive, okay? Now, it's not, you know, obviously, have you ever heard of the term the quick and the dead? Okay, so you've got the dead that are dead, and you've got the quick that are living. The word of God is living. I know we look at this book, it looks like any other book that might be on your shelf. It might look like any other book. You know, it's bound, it's got pages, it's got ink on the pages. It may look like any other novel. But these words are alive. They're living words. They have an effect on your day-to-day life, okay? It's our nourishment that we need in order to continue living a faithful life for our Lord God. Okay, so it's quick. It says, and powerful. Brethren, these are powerful words that come from the Bible, okay? And then it says these words, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divine asunder of soul and spirit. Now, it says sharper than any two-edged sword, okay? It means that this is a two-edged sword. What is a two-edged sword? Well, you know, I was doing a little bit of reading about this, but, you know, in times of battle, you could generally have a one-sided sword which cuts one side. Normally, these swords are a little bit, not necessarily straight, but they're a little bit more bent by the angle. And they cut a little bit better, the one-edged sword, okay? But the advantage of a two-edged sword that if you went to battle, every swing you take on the battlefield cuts the enemy, okay? You're not necessarily so concerned about the surgical precision as a one-edged sword gives you, but any way you swing that sword, it's going to cut. And so, for example, let's say you're in battle with a one-edged sword, you'd swing one way, but if you had an enemy on the other side, you'd have to quickly adjust your stance and take a swing at the other way, okay? So, you've got a bit of a delay when it comes in that way, you're having that one-edged sword. A two-edged sword, it doesn't matter which way you swing it, you're going to cut, okay? You might cut that enemy that way, they might be still standing, and then you cut back the other way and you finish him off, okay? That's the advantage of a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways, okay? Now, we saw that it's living, it's powerful, it's a two-edged sword, which is why we have to be careful when it comes to preaching God's word. You need to understand it cuts both ways. You know, you don't want to give a little child a sharp sword, okay? Because will they do damage? Can they cause damage? Absolutely. They can cut themselves, they can cut their, they can cut anybody, you know, they can cut their friends, they can cut their family, you know, you've got to be careful with God's word. This is why, you know, in order to preach God's word, you've had to gain experience, just like, you know, being a soldier, taking a two-edged sword to battle, you have to train yourself, you have to get used to that sword, understand how it cuts, right? You've got to make sure that you're cutting down an enemy, not cutting down yourself or a friend. When it comes to preaching God's word, and I'm talking to the men that preach here on a regular basis now, you've got to be careful with a two-edged sword, okay? Yes, you can cut in a godly precision, you can cut a good way, but if you use God's word the wrong way, if you've got a bad interpretation, you can cut another way and cause damage that you didn't necessarily mean to, okay? So you have to be careful with God's word. Sharper than any two-edged sword, look how sharp it is, piercing even to 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 when we think about the joints and marrow, we think about obviously a physical body. Yeah, a sword can cut through, I guess, joints in a sense, but this sword, the word of God cuts through a deeper intention of who you are, okay? Maybe another dimension if you want to consider it that way. I mean, you know, can you touch a soul and spirit? Can you touch someone's thoughts? You can't, I mean, I can't even see it. Can you see my thoughts? You know, we can't see these things, but somehow God's word cuts more than just the physical body, but even down to the soul and spirit. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know, God's word knows your thoughts. God knows the intents of your heart. Let's keep going there. Look at verse number 13. It says, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest or revealed in his sight, but all are naked and open unto the eyes of him to whom ye have to do. You know what this Bible does? It shows your nakedness. It just shows everything about you. This word has an effect on all our hearts. It identifies our problems. It shows us our sins. It shows us a way of salvation. This is why sometimes when a preacher, and I've had this said to me, you know, when I'm preaching a sermon, someone might come up to me later on, sometimes a little bit uncomfortable, and kind of like, was that sermon about me? You know, were you preaching about me, pastor? No, I wasn't preaching about you. I mean, I guess so. I guess I was preaching about you. But I didn't know I was preaching about you. It's not my decision as to who I'm preaching to. It's God's words decision. He knows your thoughts. He knows your hearts. The word of God. It's a living word. Okay, it knows exactly how you feel. That's why sometimes you hear preaching. God, man, that must be about me. I don't know. I don't know your thoughts. I don't know the intents of your hearts, but God's word does. Okay, so this is a powerful word that we use, you know, as we preach God's word. Now, let's turn to Revelation chapter 2. As I said, the title of the sermon is The Church in Pergamos. And so we're up to the next church in this series. We're up to the third church in the series. And let's go to Revelation chapter 2 verse 12. So we need that foundation so we can understand what Jesus Christ is speaking about here in Revelation 2, chapter 2 verse 12. Revelation chapter 2 verse 12. It says, And to the angel, and if you've been here for the Thursday, so you've been listening, you know that angel represents the pastor. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos writes, These things save he which have the sharp sword with two edges. Reverend, who has the sharp sword with two edges? Jesus Christ. Sharper than any two-edged sword. All right, so this is what's wonderful about Jesus. He has the Bible. He is the Word of God, by the way. But he utilizes the Word of God as well. Okay, he speaks to us through the Word of God. And Jesus Christ is just reminding the church, I am the one that has the sharp sword with two edges. Now, we need to remember, not just for the preaching to this church, that we need this sharp sword, this double-edged sword, but also in our daily life. As we live our Christian life, Reverend, you need to take up this sword, okay? Why? Because we're often battling the wickedness of this world. We're battling Satan and the temptations that come his way. And you guys know these passages. I won't get you to turn there. You know, Ephesians 6, 13, which reads, Wherefore take unto you, the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Reverend, we need to stand firm on God's Word. We need to stand firm in our faithfulness, but you can only do it by putting on the whole armor of God. But then it says in verse number 17, and take the helmet of salvation, and then it says this, And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So we already saw the Word of God is a sword. Now, it's referred to as the sword of the Spirit. And please don't forget, this is an important part of our day-to-day life as we live this Christian life. Yes, it's good to be armored. Yes, it's good to be protected. Yes, it's good to have the helmet and the shield. But it's not just, we're not just on the defense. We're also on the offense with the sword of the Spirit. Now, as many of you went soul winning yesterday, praise God for you. By the way, the salvation's praise God. You know, maybe you haven't even thought about the fact that when you went soul winning, you were taking the sword of the Spirit. You were going on the offense. You were going into a wicked world, okay, sheep amongst wolves, and you were presenting people the gospel, and you present the gospel through the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. Yes, many of you actually took that two-edged sword and went and basically went slaying some false gospels out there. That's what you're doing, right? When you're teaching someone the gospel, you know, trying to reveal to them that salvation is not by works or not by some other gospel or by some church, what you're doing is taking that sword and going on the offense and cutting down their false understanding, false doctrines, and you're freeing them from the hands of the enemy. Yes, that's what you're doing when you're going soul winning. Hey, that's what we're doing when we're fixing our lives in accordance to God's Word. And we know, hey, you know what, Lord, I've not been living in accordance to the way you want me to live. I'm going to live according to your Word. You're now taking that sword, and you're doing some surgical adjustments to your own life. You're taking out the cancer and fixing up your own life to be more godly. All right, so let's keep going there. So we learned that Jesus Christ is the one that has the sharp sword with two edges. What a blessing. What an honor that Jesus Christ gives us his sword and we can use it for ourselves, you know? Praise God for that, okay? It's the same weapon that was used by Jesus Christ. Just remember that. It's the same weapon. So should this just be collecting dust on your bookshelf? No, it's a powerful weapon. It's a living weapon. The same one that Jesus Christ used. And we know that when Christ was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Satan came tempted in Christ, and what did Christ do? He quoted the Word of God. He quoted scripture. He took out the sword. He went on the offense, and the devil fled from him. All right, now let's keep going. Verse number 13. Revelation chapter 2, verse number 13. So what does Jesus Christ have to say to the church in Pergamos? He says, I know thy works. Okay, so it recognizes, yep, you've got works. You're doing works for me. And where thou dwellest. I know where you live. Now we know that where they live is the city of Pergamos, okay? There's something very interesting about where they live here. And let me just say, out of all the seven churches that are listed here in the book of Revelation, what Christ says to the church of Pergamos is probably the most cryptic. You know, if you look at it, it's probably the most cryptic out of all the other churches that are there listed in there, okay? But I'm going to do my best to try to bring out what Jesus Christ is speaking about. So he goes, I know where thou dwellest, which is Pergamos. And then he says this, even where Satan's seat is. That's interesting. So at the time when the book of Revelation was being written to the church in Pergamos, Satan's seat was right there. That's where he's residing at this point in time, okay? Now I want you to know something about Satan. Satan is not like God. God is omnipresent. God can be everywhere at once, you know. But Satan is not that type of being. Okay, Satan can only be in one place at a time. Obviously Satan has his own kingdom. Satan has his own devils that he uses to, you know, cloud the minds of people in this world. But Satan can only be in one place at a time, okay? He's not a God being. He's a fallen cherub, okay? He's just an angel that thought too highly of himself and was cast down out of heaven, okay? He's just this being. And so at this point in time, where thou dwellest, Pergamos, Satan is right there. Satan's seat is right there. Now we'll go into that in a moment. It says, And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith. So hey, they're standing for Christ. You ought to think if they're in a city where Satan himself is right there, there's going to be some great persecution coming their way. But Jesus says, look, I've known your works. You're standing firm for my name. You've not denied the faith. I guess they've been tempted or pressured, persecuted to deny the faith. Then he says this, Even in those days, wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. Now notice that twice in this verse, Jesus Christ says that's where Satan sits. This is where Satan dwells. Satan dwells in the same city that you dwell in. That's what he's saying, okay? And as a result of this, Antipas, a faithful martyr, a martyr is someone that dies for their faith, okay? So Antipas stood up for the Lord Jesus Christ and was slain, okay, in Pergamos. Obviously, this would make sense if Satan's right there trying to destroy this church, this church in Pergamos. So some thoughts are, well, what does this mean, that Satan's seat is there? Let me give you one of the first things that I've heard at least in different, there are different interpretations as to what this means. And look, I can't even tell you right now where Satan's seat is. You know, if you say, where is Satan's seat? You know, I take a guess. It could be Washington, D.C., okay? It could be the Vatican. Yeah, it could be Vatican. I mean, maybe he's been in all these different places. You know, maybe he's in Jerusalem right now. I don't know exactly where Satan's seat is, brethren. But regardless, it could be Sydney, okay? But regardless of where it is, hey, this church continued. Even though they said, look, Satan is right here in our city, they still stood firm for Jesus Christ. They didn't think, oh, let's just get out of here because this is Satan's seat. No, they had works. They had a job to do, even in such a wicked city like Pergamos. So the first thing that I remember hearing taught about this idea of Satan's seat is that in the city of Pergamos, there was a large monument for Zeus, okay? Is Zeus a Greek god? Yeah, Zeus, okay? They had a great monument for Zeus, which is known as the Altar of Zeus. That monument, that icon, that image, that idol still exists. But from what I understand, it's been moved somewhere to Germany, okay? But it still exists. It's in Germany somewhere now. Maybe that's where Satan's seat is. But anyway, some people say, well, that's what it was. Because if you go to Pergamos, you can still find the steps that that Altar of Zeus was established. And on those steps, you'll find images of other Greek gods. And so obviously, it was a city of great idolatry. Now, that would make sense in one way if this is where Satan is. Of course, he's not going to want the people of this city to turn their hearts to Jesus Christ. He's going to want their hearts to turn to Zeus and to these other Greek gods of that place. So yeah, in one way, I suppose that makes sense. But the best thing to do when you're trying to understand something like that is just to go back in the Bible and just see how else Satan works in different cities, you know, with different kings and things along this nature. So please keep your finger there and please turn to Ezekiel chapter 28. Please turn to Ezekiel chapter number 28. I'll give you a moment to turn there. Ezekiel chapter number 28. So, you know, by looking at all these verses with Revelation and what we're going to be looking at Ezekiel and then later Isaiah, is that we learn a little bit more about Satan. The fact that, yeah, he can be in one place at a time and Satan just targets one city, one place at a time just to cause havoc and damage and turn people away from the Lord God. But in Ezekiel 28 verse 11, please. Ezekiel 28 verse number 11. So God's given these words here. It says, Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation, remember the word lamentation, we're going through the Book of Lamentations. That's like sorrow and woe, you know, take up a lamentation upon the king of Israel. So he's telling Ezekiel, look, can you preach against the king, sorry, the king of Israel, king of Tyrus, king of Tyrus, can you go and preach a lamentation, sorrow and woe against the king of Tyrus? All right, so Tyrus is a city obviously. We've got a king here. And it says, And say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, thou sillest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. So something we learned about king Tyrus is that he's full of wisdom. And apparently, you know, these things will obviously lift his pride, you know, a bit very wise, a very handsome man, okay? Perfect in beauty, right? I guess maybe not just the way he looks, maybe the way he dresses richly with his robes and whatever else that kings did in these days. And so Ezekiel is pointing to Tyrus and this is about him. But notice verse number 13. Talk about Tyrus. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. What? Eden in the book of Genesis? Eden when God created man and woman and put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Tyrus has been in Eden? No, Tyrus has not been in Eden, okay? Tyrus has not been in Eden. Let's keep going there. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone was like covering, the saddest, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the oinks, the jasper, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emirate, and the carbuncle, and gold. The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. And so this king of Tyrus supposedly has these tablets, pipes, musical instruments that have been prepared from him from the day he was created. Now, this tells us a few things. Obviously, it's not about King Tyrus anymore. Obviously, it's about the one controlling King Tyrus. It's obviously the one who has put his seat in Tyrus at this point in time, okay, which is Satan. Satan's the only one that would fit this. We know that Satan came as a serpent, you know, to tempt Eve at this point when she was in the garden of Eden. But notice quite interesting thing that we learn about Satan here is the fact that he's been created with these instruments, the music, and, you know, it doesn't, it shouldn't be surprising that one of Satan's major ways to destroy people's lives is through music, you know, so much wicked, you know, perverted music about fornication, about drugs, about all these horrible, I'm not saying music itself is terrible, but I'm saying that this, you know, Satan was created to be a musical being so Satan knows how to corrupt music, okay, to turn you away from the Lord God. All right, anyway, let's keep going. It says there in verse 114, Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth. So cherub is a type of angel, okay. So it's not King Tyrus anymore, okay. Obviously, we saw the word of God breaks through past the joints and the marrow into the soul and the spirit and the soul and the thoughts, okay, and the intents of the heart. You know, what is influencing King Tyrus? Satan, Satan is in Tyrus right now. That is his seat. And, you know, his cause in this city, obviously to be one of weakness and using King Tyrus as his vehicle, you know, for weakness. So it's definitely about Satan. Thou anointed cherub that covereth. I have set thee so that was upon the holy mountain of God and has walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day thou was created till iniquity was found in thee. So Satan was created perfectly until iniquity or sin was found in him. Notice that it says in verse 15, thou was perfect in thy ways. And then when it said about King Tyrus, the perfect, you know, and perfect in beauty. So you can see there's a similarity here, okay. The king, yeah, looks wonderful, presentable, probably full of pride because of the way he looked. Well, Satan had a similar issue. He was perfect. You know, he was the anointed cherub, not just a regular cherub. He was a special anointed cherub, okay, for the purpose of playing music for God. Let's keep going to verse number 16. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have fueled the midst of thee with violence and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Look at this. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Full of pride because of the way he looked. King Tyrus, look at me, my riches, my beauty, my kingdom. Okay, lifted up with pride. Verse number 17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic. Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee. It shall devour thee and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee. Thou shalt be a terror and never shalt thou be anymore. And so of course that's speaking about the fact that one day Satan is going to be cast into the lake of fire and be no more in that sense where he can influence the nations. Alright, please turn to another passage. Please turn to Isaiah chapter 14. So the reason, once again, that we're going through this is just to show you how Satan can be working behind the scenes in the heart of a king and working within a city, okay? Tyrus was one of his targets at this point in time. Now when we go to the book of Isaiah, we have a different city that Satan is dwelling in, okay? And that city is the city of Babylon. Now don't forget, when Israel, sorry, when Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon, that was king of Babylon. Sorry, when Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon, that was king Nebuchadnezzar. That was the king Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked man, the king Nebuchadnezzar was a prideful man, but praise God, the man gets saved. The man gets saved, okay? Now when Babylon gets taken over by the Medo-Persian empire, it was the king that was reigned was king Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, okay? And this is what we learn about king Nebuchadnezzar's grandson because Isaiah 14 is prophesying about the fact that the Babylonian kingdom would be taken down by the Persians. And it says there in Isaiah 14 verse 4, Isaiah 14 verse 4, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, how hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased? So you say, what king of Babylon? Well, it can't be Nebuchadnezzar because it's the king when the city ceases, in that sense, that power base ceases, which was, again, king Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, all right? Drop down to verse number 9. So we know this is about a proverb against the king of Babylon. Now let's get going there. Verse number 9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. So you say, well, yeah, this man's going to die. Remember how he took the, you know, the objects, yeah, the gold and silver, the objects from the temple of God and he had this drunken banquet and they were just drinking from the vessels of God and then a hand appeared writing these words on a wall, if you remember that story. So yeah, I mean, this guy is a wicked man, this man's heart is far from the Lord, obviously not saved. And so the fact that hell is getting ready to receive him makes perfect sense. But you start to see the language starts to change here. It says, it stirs up the dead for thee. Verse number 9. Even all the chief ones of the earth have raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. And look at verse number 10. And they shall speak and say unto thee, Thou also become as weak, weak as we. Thou become like unto us. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, so your pride, your, you know, your elevation has been brought down to the grave and the noise of thy vials. It says, the worm is spread under thee and the worms cover thee. You might say, well, that's the maggots and stuff that eat up the body. I personally believe there are worms in hell as well. Okay. But anyway, let's keep going. Verse number 12, it keeps going about this king's fall, the king of Babylon. How art thou fallen from heaven, heaven? How art thou fallen from Babylon? How art thou fallen from heaven, oh, Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations? So you can see there in two passages, you know, where God starts speaking about a king and automatically just naturally, without changing topics, without changing subjects, all of a sudden he's talking about Satan. Okay. So we learn that Satan just loves to establish himself in a certain city at a particular time influencing the politicians, influencing the kings for his wicked purposes. And as we saw in the time of John's writings, that city was Pergamos, we saw in the writing of Isaiah that it was a Babylon. Okay. And so Satan can only be in one place at a time, you know, and I'll just leave it up to you guys to decide, you know, where is Satan right now. Okay. But regardless of what city is in Brethren, even if it's a city that our church or a godly church is, you know, doing the works of God, we don't stop. It just means there may be persecution that will fall greater upon that church than in other places. Alright. So that's how Satan likes to work. City, politicians, power bases and influencing things behind the scenes for wickedness and to turn people's hearts away from the Lord God. Okay. So as we go, taking God's sword, the two-edged sword, preaching the gospel, you know, if Satan, you know, I kind of feel like Satan will not want to set up in Sydney if he sees the people who are blessing up at the church going out there, using God's word and going on the offense. Going on the offense. I don't think Satan will want to reside in a city like that. Okay. But anyway, let's keep going. Verse number 14. Verse number 14, please. Sorry, Revelation chapter 2, just in case you don't know. Verse number 14. Revelation chapter 2, verse number 14. Then Jesus Christ says these things. But I have a few things against thee. So yeah, it's again that sandwich. What did you call it, brother? The compliment sandwich. Something nice, something bad and then something nice. Okay. That's how Jesus Christ deals with his churches. All right. I think it's a good technique. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast here them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast the stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things, sacrifice unto idols and to commit fornication. So one of the things that God has against his church is that there are people within the church that hold to the doctrine of Balaam. Say, what is the doctrine of Balaam? Well, we'll have to learn a little bit more about Balaam. So keep your finger there and turn to Numbers, please. Turn to Numbers, chapter number 25. Let's start there. Numbers, chapter 25. Numbers, chapter 25. Now, you know, there are different views as to what people think about Balaam. Is he someone that could preach God's word to some extent? Yeah, he could. Okay. But some people believe that Balaam was a complete false prophet, you know, unsaid, false prophet, maybe reprobate, and that may very well be true. In fact, I'd probably lean more toward that view, that Balaam was a false prophet. There are some people that believe that Balaam was a true prophet of God, but just, just wicked, just fleshly, just carnal, okay? One thing that Balaam definitely wanted was riches, okay? He would preach for the wealth, you know? He would preach whatever people wanted as long as he got paid. That's the kind of person that Balaam was, all right? And I've heard the different views whether he was a true prophet just misguided and worldly or whether he was a false prophet. I've heard the different views and you can, you can create a strong position either way. So I'm not sure, I put, look, I lean more toward him being a complete false prophet, but I can't really be sure, okay? But it doesn't matter. Regardless of what we think about it, the point is that Balaam would preach for money. He would preach for wealth, okay? He'd preach whatever people wanted as long as he got paid. And what we learnt in Book of Revelation is that his doctrine, by his doctrine he taught Balak, Balak was the king of the Moabites at this time, to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel. All right. So let's try to understand what is this doctrine of Balaam? What did he do? How, what influence did he have on the king, on King Balak who was the king of the Moabites? Well look at Numbers 25 verse 1. Numbers 25 verse number 1. It says, And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. Okay? So, you've got these ladies from Moab, they've come to the men of Israel, you know, some whores, and the men begin to commit fornication, whoredoms with these women, right? They're selling themselves like prostitutes. Verse number 2. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods. So don't forget, one of the reasons why God did not want the Jews or the Israelites to marry non-Israelites, especially of heathen nations, is because they would turn their hearts against the Lord and turn people's hearts to false gods. So that's what they're doing, right? They're not just committing whoredoms, but then they start to spark up a relationship. Oh, you know, if you want to be with me, come and worship my God. You know, come to our church, come to our false religion, and join up with us, and you know, you want to stay with me. That's what these women are doing, right? Sacrifice unto their gods. Look, and the people did eat and bow down to their gods. So they definitely had an impact. You can see what's happening here. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindred against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and look, these are the words of God. Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun. And the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal Peor. So every man that was committing hoardings with his Moabites, who started to worship these false gods, Moses said, Look, we've got to slay these people. We've got to put them to death. So God's anger will be turned away from our nation. All right. Now, as we look at that little portion, you know, we don't see the names of Balaam, we don't see the names of Balak, okay? But let me tell you, these two were definitely involved. You know, Balaam was definitely involved in what just took place. You're there in Numbers. Now go to Numbers 31, which just confirms what I've just told you. Turn to Numbers 31. Turn to Numbers 31. And verse number 16. Numbers 31 and verse number 16. Numbers 31. Look at verse number 16, which just talks about what took place, what we read there in Numbers 25. It says, Behold, these caused the children of Israel, look at this, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor. Remember Balaam Peor? It says, And there was a plague among the corrugation of the Lord. All right, so God sends this plague to correct, to judge the nation of Israel. But I want you to notice, the reason they hooked up with these Moabite women is under directional counsel of Balaam. Now let me, without going into the whole story, let me just give you a quick summary of what took place. King Balak did not like the Israelites. King Balak hired Balaam, you know, to preach against the Israelites, to preach curses upon them, hoping that by his preaching somehow, God will curse the nation. So Balaam, he goes, all right, it's good money, I'll preach this. But then he goes, I better check with God. Okay, so he goes to the Lord and say, Lord, you know, is it all right if I just preach these curses against Israel? And God says no. Okay, this is why people have different views, was he a legit prophet or was he just a false prophet? Whatever it is, he was a wicked man. Okay, God says no. So he goes, all right, I can't, you know, God said no, I don't want to upset God directly. So Balaam comes up with another plan. He goes, all right, you know, Balak, I can't curse God, but I know a way, I can give you counsel for a way that Israel can be cursed. Send your ladies, send your most attractive women, send your prostitutes of your land into Israel, all right, and then they'll sleep around and then God will curse them. That's what happened. Okay, this is the doctrine of Balaam. Okay, for money, you know, trying to destroy the lives of God's people for money. All right, this is the doctrine of Balaam. So I hope that kind of gives you an illustration, an idea of what's taking place. Please go back to Revelation chapter 2 and let's go back to verse number 14. All right, verse number 14. Let's just read that verse again. But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak, again, this is all behind the scenes. It's all sneaky. I'm not going to curse them, but hey, we can arrange events for people to fall, we can secretly arrange things for people to turn against God, and that's what these false prophets in the church of Pergamos are doing. Okay, they're teaching these kinds of doctrines. All right, not just to commit fornication, like they're not saying, hey, commit fornication, they're not preaching, they're not getting behind the pool, but saying, hey, commit fornication, but what they're trying to do is open the doors of that sin to infiltrate the church. Okay, hey, maybe they're not preaching against modesty, maybe they're not preaching against, you know, dressing a certain way that would not attract the eyes of a man. You know, they might be going out there, bringing in the whores, and who cares how they're dressed. I don't exactly know. But another thing they're trying to do, it says to eat things, sacrifice to idols, and to commit fornication, so we know about the fornication part, but also to eat, food sacrifice to idols, because you saw that the after effects of committing fornication with ungodly women was that they would go and then worship the false gods, the false religions of those that they slept with. Okay, so they're trying to, behind the scenes, not openly, behind the scenes, cause God's people to commit sin. Alright, so you've got people like that in your church. Again, these are sheep in wolves' clothing. Okay, they don't do things openly. Like, if any guy got behind this pulpit and just started to preach to you, yeah, go ahead and sin, you're not a sheep in wolves' clothing, you're a wolf in wolves' clothing. Right? No, no, they disguise themselves. They disguise themselves, right? And they put thoughts, they put ideas into people's heads, you know, and you know, is alcohol really that bad? You know, what's wrong with just one drink? You know, they're just opening the doors so for someone to get drunk and commit all kinds of wild sin in their life. It's just that sneaky behind the scenes. I don't, you know, I don't want anyone to know that I'm false prophet, but I'm going to try to open those little doors out there, you know, and cause people, God's people to fall. So, yeah, they creep in unawares, brethren, they creep in unawares. We have to be careful. All right, let's keep going there. Verse number 15, Revelation chapter 2, verse number 15. I don't have a lot to say about verse number 15 because I kind of covered this a little bit last time, but it says, So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. So again, just God in general, Jesus Christ in general, just hates false doctrine, being taught in church. Okay, let's keep going. What does Jesus Christ say? So this is the instruction. So, we're going to tie all this together, the fact that Jesus Christ is the one with the sword of two edges. It says in verse number 16, repent. Okay, get rid of these people, is what Jesus Christ is saying. Yeah, get rid of them, or else, or else, well, man, if Jesus Christ said that to me, you know, Pastor Kevin, repent, or else. I'll be like, what God, what, what. Oh man. Anyway, or else, I will come unto thee quickly. This is not the second coming of Christ, by the way. I will come unto thee quickly, look at this, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. All right, so, I don't know exactly what the, okay, so we know that there's a sword that comes out of Jesus Christ's mouth. It's the same sword that was mentioned earlier. All right, but it's saying, look, you repent, you fix things, or else, I will come with a sword. So what we learn here Brethren is a couple of things. What is the best way to combat false doctrine? You go on the offense. You take out the sword. We preach the Bible, Brethren. We preach the Bible. You know what this tells me about the church of Pergamos? They probably weren't preaching the Bible as well as they should. I reckon it's the kind of church you go to, they're a saved people, they love the Lord, they're trying to do the works, but maybe they're just not studying the Word of God. They've not prepared themselves properly, you know it's the kind of preacher you might go, you know a sermon you may listen to, they take one verse, we start with reading one verse and then the rest of it's just the wisdom of man. You know, it's just watered down preaching, you're not taking out the sword, you're not fighting false doctrines, and Brethren when you're not teaching God's Word and you're not staying firm in God's Word, then the false prophets will easily creep in and start teaching their nonsense. Because if you don't have a church that knows God's Word, then it's easy to be deceived. And let me encourage you Brethren, read your Bibles. You have a two-edged sword, you've got no excuse not to pick up this beautiful book, this powerful book, and read it every day. Let me encourage you, say why should I read it, I can just come to church and learn God's Word. Well how do you know I'm not going to teach you something false? If you haven't yourself gone into God's Word to confirm and understand what God has to say for you, alright, we need to all pick up the two-edged sword. Let's not get comfortable, I just trust the preachers in my church. You, you pick up the, God's given you the sword. You take it up, alright, and that will help you not to be deceived by some false prophet, by some Balaam preacher that's trying to lead you into sin and destruction. And so Jesus Christ says, look, this is what I believe he's saying, repent, get the sword yourself, clean house, preach the truth, or else Christ is going to come with his sword of his mouth. I don't know what that means exactly, but I don't think it's good. I don't think it's good, I cry sometimes, I'm thinking there's going to be like a major disaster, a major shake up. You know, here's the thing, when you preach God's Word faithfully, and someone that wants to influence the church in a negative way, when they see a church that stands true on God's Word and they're not, they're not, they're not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, those people that want to influence the church in a negative way, they just automatically leave themselves when they know they've got no influence, okay? But the thing is, another way that God cleans house is just major problems in a church, shakes it up, you know, just shakes it until the false prophets fall out. Sometimes though, when a church is shaken, even good Christians get shaken up a bit and they fall out of the church, house of God. So yeah, we have to make sure, we just preach God's Word faithfully and that'll turn away those that want to influence our church with false doctrine. All right, keep your finger, actually you don't have to keep your finger there, but go to Revelation 19 please, Revelation chapter 19, I want to show you just a couple of other connections here in the book of Revelation, the fact that Jesus Christ says that he has a sword of his mouth, and this kind of blows me away, but in Revelation 19 we have the return of Jesus Christ, all right? Now I told you earlier, this book is more than what you think, it's not just a book, it's a living, it's powerful, okay? It just cuts, it cuts through, you know, the dimension of the soul in the mind, wherever that is, okay, whatever that looks like, it just, it has a powerful work, but somehow, you know, I mean, can I cause some damage to someone with this physical book? I guess I could, right? I guess I, you know, if someone tried to break, I don't know, let's say someone tries to, you know, comes in guns blazing into this church, I guess I could take this Bible and just smack them across the head or something, you know, I guess maybe if there's a Christian that's just not listening to God's word, I could just, come on, you know, Bible bash someone, I guess it can cause some damage, okay? But Jesus Christ is able to take his words, take the two-edged sword and cause a lot of physical damage, not just spiritual, okay, a lot of physical damage as well. And Revelation 19 verse 15, look at Revelation 19 verse 15, talking about the coming of Christ, and out of his mouth go with a sharp sword, well that makes sense because he already said that. 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 and wrath of almighty God. You know, Jesus Christ is going to smite the nations with this, somehow, a sword that proceeds out of his mouth, okay, look at verse number 16. And he hath on his vesture, on his, sorry, on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, so no doubt we're talking about Jesus Christ. Look down to verse number 20. And the beast, that's the antichrist, and the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and then that worshipped his image, these both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone, look at verse number 21, and the remnant was slain, the remnant of the armies of the antichrist that go to battle against Jesus, and the remnant was slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which saw proceedeth out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. So somehow, Jesus can take these words that we hold dear, that we read about, we know he cuts, we know that it slaps our face, it steps on our toes, we know that we get uncomfortable sometimes when we hear God's word, but Jesus Christ can take these same words, the two-edged sword that proceeds out of his mouth, and destroy physically, destroy entire armies, the armies of the antichrist, just by speaking God's word. How powerful then is God's word? How powerful truly is this book? Look, if the words of this book, as you went and saw them yesterday, as you've proven it yourselves, if the power in this book is able to cut through false religion, false gospels, and turn the eternal destination for one individual person, just one, okay, from hell to heaven, then how powerful are these words indeed? How powerful. How sharp, you know, so sharp that it destroys the armies of the antichrist. You know what? We don't have that power, okay, but we do have a great power to change the eternal destination of a man by preaching God's word. Please be thankful for the words that you have in your hands. All right, let's go back to Revelation chapter 2, I told you to turn away, sorry. Revelation chapter 2, verse number 17, Revelation chapter 2, verse number 17, it ends with this one. Hear that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh, you may recall that's someone that is saved, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna. Now again, I'd said to you that the words of this church are a little bit more cryptic than the other ones. Obviously we know what manna is, manna that fell from heaven, that fed the Israelites. We know that Jesus Christ references his own body as manna, you know, as we partake of the Lord's sacrifice, that we've eaten of that manna, but then God says there's hidden manna, there's some other manna, okay, again, I'm sure it's along the lines of being fed, I'm sure it's along the lines of the body of Christ, something along those lines, okay, so we get to eat of that, and then it says, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saying he that receiveth it. So we go, what is that about? We probably haven't heard a lot of preaching about this topic. Well, when we get to be at home in heaven with the new heavens and the new earth, God's going to give us a white stone with a name. No one else knows this name. It's just a name between you and God, okay? It's a name that God gives you, all right? Now, I'm Kevin, but I'm sure it's going to be something else, okay? I'll just show you a few passages, just how important names are to God. If you can please just go to Genesis 17, go to Genesis 17, you don't need to keep a finger in Revelation anymore, but go to Genesis 17, Genesis 17 verse number 5. Names are important to God, you know, I would encourage you, if you're having a child, give serious consideration as to what name you're going to give your child, okay? Don't just go, oh, this sounds nice. You know, names have meanings, you know, and you see that just names in general, just super important to God. Genesis 17 verse 5, Genesis 17 verse 5. It says, neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham. So Abram's name got changed by God to Abraham. What does that mean? It says, for a father of many nations have I made thee. So Abraham means a father of many nations. You know, God gives Abraham this special name. You are going to be that father of many nations, praise God. There are many nations or ethnicities represented even today in this church. And Abraham, our spiritual father in the faith, he believed on Christ. Yeah, it's true, you know. Abraham still having spiritual children of the faith as it were, of multiple nations. Drop down to verse number 15, Genesis 17, verse 15, not just the men, the ladies also. And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. So God changed his name of Sarah, Sarai to Sarah. Verse number 16, and I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her, yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall be of her. Now look this up, Sarah basically means princess. Something along the lines. Authority, authority, yes. She's the mother of kings. And yes, those of us that are saved, we've been made kings and priests. And so you can see how names are important to God. They've got meaning, they carry meaning. God can change a name that better fits that individual's, I guess, life. The plan or the life that somebody has lived. Go to Genesis 32, go to Genesis 32, and verse number 28. Genesis 32, and verse number 28. Genesis 32, verse number 28. And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. So Jacob, renamed to Israel by God. For as a prince, thou hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. So what's the name of Israel? A prince. A prince, you know. He's got authority, he's got power with God and with men. And so you see how important the names are that God gives, that he changes names different times just to reflect upon who they are, what their life is all about. So let's conclude on this thought, brethren. If one day God is going to give us a new name, a new name that only you and God knows, what name do you think God will give you? What kind of life are you living for God right now? You know, will he call you a prince? Will he call you a princess? Will he give you a title, you know, a powerful name, powerful title to your name? You know, I truly believe this name will reflect, just like when we see God changing the names of people in the book of Genesis here, it reflects their life, who they will become and who they were. And I just wonder for you, brethren, think about what name would God give? Would it be a name where that says, that represents the word faithful? You know, a name that just means trustworthy. You know, someone that stood strong for the Lord. You know, a pillar. You know, what kind of name would God give you? You know, I don't want to receive a stone and it says, toss to and fro. Well, I'm glad no one else knows about that name. I mean, we don't want that kind of name, right? We don't want a wishy-washy kind of name. What a name that reflects the fact that we've loved the Lord. Hey, maybe that's the name, right? Something about loving the Lord, that would be a great name, a great meaning to our name. So brethren, this is obviously a name, any total name, an everlasting name between you and God. And I want you to start reflecting upon your life. Like if you were to die today right now, what kind of name are you going to get? He just made it. He just got saved. Praise God, he just got saved. You know, I guess the thief on the cross couldn't do too much. Actually, I actually believe the thief on the cross actually is going to have great rewards. Because I just wonder, by his story, recording the Bible, how many people have come to Christ just by that wonderful story that a thief could just in faith turn to Jesus and ask for salvation. And today that shall be with me in paradise. How many people have actually believed on Christ just because of the story of the thief on the cross? So I think the thief actually has a lot more going for him than what we may think, okay. But obviously, if you want to have the strongest name, with the best reputation you possibly have, just a special name between you and God, then let me encourage you, start thinking about your life. Have you served the Lord the way you should? You know, can you do more? Can you improve upon the meaning of that name that God will give you? Okay, so let me leave you with that encouragement. Hey, and probably the best way to start, get a hold of the two-edged sword, double-edged sword, okay. Stop pointing it at other people and stop pointing it at yourself. What cancers, what rubbish do I need to take out of my life to improve the name that God will give me? Okay, let's pray.