“I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” (Revelation 2:13)
Friends, you need to know in your hearts that God is aware of your situation. He knows where you are, and He has not become at all discouraged about the circumstances that surround your life. He is still in control!
Our nation’s moral decline seems to have accelerated at such a rapid pace that it is almost mind-boggling. The crime rate has increased drastically, our economy has fallen and unemployment is scary at best. To drive down busy highways and notice how many empty storefronts there are is a visible sign of the times we are living in. What were once successful businesses, some of them even large corporations, are now dark buildings with boarded up windows…empty inside…and some of them for several years. It almost makes one wonder what the media isn’t telling us about the real picture of our economic condition. Reading the daily newspaper is like watching an episode of end-time prophecy unfolding before our very eyes.
We need to understand that every restraint on pornography, public nudity, homosexuality, violence and sex on T.V., and every other form of immoral behavior in our nation can be and is being lifted simply at the whim of those in authority, and we are daily losing the Godly values that have kept this nation strong for over 200 years. We, as a nation, are quickly coming to the point that we put Sodom and Gomorrah to shame with the immorality that is taking place in America. Once during a prayer vigil at church, I was praying, and the Spirit of the Lord led me to the 24th chapter of Matthew, verses 4-35. As I knelt there reading that scripture, I wept and the Lord spoke to my spirit, “These things must come to pass before the end.” I would encourage you to read this portion of scripture and prepare yourselves, for God’s Word will surely come to pass.
In the letter to the Church at Pergamos, (Revelation 2:12-17) Jesus introduced Himself as “He who has the sharp two-edged sword” Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” He is telling this church that He has come to judge according to the Word of God…He has come to divide the truth from the false, the real from deception. He reminds these people that He is aware of where they live…in the very place where Satan dwells. I would imagine that everything in that city was corrupt, perverted, wicked and evil. We cannot conceive how horrible that place had to be for Jesus to call it “Satan’s seat”. A faithful Christian named Antipas was even martyred there. Yet in the midst of those awful conditions, He was very much aware of the beautiful faithfulness of His people in Pergamos. He was fully aware of their good works, and even in the face of persecution, Jesus knew what was happening in their lives. I want to remind you my faithful brother or sister today, Jesus also knows what is happening in your life. He is unlike any other friend you have ever known before. He will not turn His back on you when the going gets tough. He will stick with you to the end. He knows where you hurt. He knows the persecution you endure. He knows where you have been and what He has in store for you. He knows every desire of your heart, your motives and the intents of your heart. He knows if you are sincere when you pray, or if you are playing games. He has not by any means forgotten you. He hasn’t gone on vacation. He’s not in some foreign mission field somewhere. He hears every prayer you lift before Him, and He sees every tear that you shed. And…He is intimately concerned about you and your well-being.
But in verses 14 & 15, Jesus begins to deal with some of the things that were taking place in this church that would benefit us to look at also. “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” Balaam was a man of extreme compromise. When called by Balak to curse Israel and then found that God had indeed blessed them, the temptation to give in to the enticements offered him were more than he could bear. His doctrine included eating things sacrificed to idols and committing fornication. The same was basically true of the Nicolaitans, and Jesus was distraught over it all.
In our day, there are those who teach that with “a few magic formulas” we can lay claim to all the world has to offer. Many are speaking blessings to those who God says are cursed. Many are trying to make us believe that sexual impurity is just a problem, and that God will somehow bless their unholy union. Some even go so far as to claim that their adulterous relationships are within the will of God. We debate the issue of homosexuality, when God’s Word clearly states that it is an abomination to Him. (Leviticus 18:22) We are taught that we can compromise with the world in order to entice the world so they will somehow come to know the truth and get saved. Believe me when I say this in love, the world is not looking for the Church to be like they are. They are looking for the Church to be different, and to have the answers they need for their lives!!! God says, “Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17) We have stopped dealing with sin in our midst as the early Church once did. Why do you think they were persecuted? We have begun to condone sin so as not to offend those who desire to maintain their perverse lifestyles. Don’t get me wrong, we are to confront sinful people with a sincere heart of love and a true desire to restore the sinner, but we are to deal with the sin! God would not have us to condemn people, but He will not tolerate undealt with sin in His Church.
And that’s just what Jesus is telling this church in Pergamos, “There is deep compromise in your fellowship, and there is gross sexual perversion that has not been dealt with.” He is saying “Deal with sin in the body of Christ. Clean it up! Repent of it, or I am coming to judge them according to My Word which has the power to divide good from evil, righteousness from unrighteousness, holy from unholy.” We need to understand that Jesus is not coming for a compromising Church. He is not pleased with a people who are trying to mix Christianity with the world’s system…His desire is not to have an unholy and unclean bride. He will not claim a sin-filled vessel, an unclean thing as His own.
Let me stop right here for a moment. Please understand, if you are new in the Lord and you are overcoming more and more day by day, you are not among the compromising Christians I am referring to. If you are seeking the Lord for power to overcome those sinful inclinations still in your life and if you are sincere in your desire to live a holy life, pleasing to Him, know that He will give you that power. Keep walking with Him. He is faithful to complete that which He has begun in you.
But what I am saying is that we are to strive to be “…blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life… ” (Philippians 2:15-16a) Jesus prayed in John 17:15 that God would not take us out of the world, but that He would keep us from the evil one. We are to be salt and light, we are to be clean vessels that God can use to freely pour out His grace and love to a lost and dying, sin-filled world through. If we are heaped in sin ourselves, how are we to offer hope to anyone else? What a glorious promise awaits us if we will deal with sin in our own lives and in our Church Body, “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17)
Jesus sets us free from the bondage, or slavery to sin so that we don’t have to keep on serving the devil anymore. We are free from the bondage of sin, but we must “reckon”, or consider ourselves free. In other words, we must BELIEVE that the work has been done before we act upon it. Galatians 6:1 states it clearly, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” Paul didn’t say here to condemn him, nor did he say to tolerate or ignore the sin. The idea is restoration within the Body of Christ.
Pray with me:
Father, I
thank You that You have provided Power through the Holy Spirit so that I don’t
have to live in the bondage of sin any longer. I thank You for giving me
VICTORY over sin and that You are there with me to strengthen me every time I
am tempted. Now I invite You Lord, to search my heart, find the uncleanness in
me and to cleanse me and empower me to overcome by the power of Your might. I
thank You for Your grace and mercy in my life. And I praise You for Jesus, who
paid the penalty that I might be free. In Jesus Name I pray…Amen.
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