Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

I Know Thy Works Pt. 3 (Newlen announcement)

Hallelujah! We've been talking about having ears to hear. I trust that you have them all perked up. What is it they got a good laugh out of? The third party candidate, Ross Perot; you all remember Perot? He looked like he was always ready for flight. In one debate they were saying something and he made the comment "I'm all ears," the two opponents that were in the debate lost it at that point. It was very interesting.

I trust that you are all ears tonight. Those were the admonitions that we saw. We saw the common statements; there were three that were made to all the churches. The two we're emphasizing are, "I know thy works." He said that to all seven churches. Then he said, "Let him that has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the church." There were mandates that were given to all the overcomers. We're not talking about that. We may, at the end of this, look at some of the benefits of the overcomer but we're not talking about those right now. We're talking about examining our lives to make sure that we, as the church, are meeting the standards of the Lord Jesus; not to judge ourselves by ourselves, amen? We can look around and say, "I'm doing better than so-and-so." That's not the standard. Jesus is the standard, amen? Perfection is the standard. We can look and analyze our own personal lives or the ministry here and think, "We're not doing a bad job." Jesus is the Judge of the church. In the seven churches of Asia, he tells us what's acceptable and what's not. He tells us the consequences and the benefits of both.

Let's go into Revelation again and take a look at these churches. Remember, we talked about the church at Ephesus and the commendation that was given to them. He said in Chapter  2, verse 2, "I know your works, your labor, your patience," and then he commended them for a few things. What were they? "You cannot bear those that are evil," and what else? "You've tried those that say they are apostles and are not, but are liars."

Now what is it that Christians today are trying to tell us that true Christianity is? "Don't judge. Just accept everybody where they are. Accept everything at face value. The guy said he's a Christian; shouldn't you accept that?" Jesus said, "I want to commend you at Ephesus. Not only do you have the spirit of the Bereans in you as it concerns the study of God's Word, to study and find out whether these things are so, but when you find out what's so, you won't back off from it." That spirit is one that he's commending. He's saying, "You guys are doing a great job. I want to commend you for that."

He also said that they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which He, Jesus himself, hates. We're going to talk about the Nicolaitans probably more next session when we deal with Thyatira. They're referred to numerous times throughout these letters. We're going to deal a little bit more with them. We'll speak toward it again tonight. Remember he commended them for hating the Nicolaitans? "The deeds of the Nicolaitans," he said, "I hate those things."

We need to identify. If we're going to be commended of the Lord and hear, "Well done," we need to identify what the spirit of the Nicolaitans is and do what? Hate it! You have to hate it. You have to hate what they're doing. That is the motivating spirit. We saw that He did have "...somewhat against them, the leaving of their first love." We spent quite a bit of time on that. We talked about how what had been lost was their fervency to move in the supernatural again; what they had freely received, to freely give. We're talking about going into the neighborhood here on the weekends. Let's not loose sight of what we're doing. It's not enough just to go witness. We're to go forth and live lives that are epistles read of men. We're to have the unction of the Holy Ghost in us.

As the Book of Acts referred to the church of Ephesus when Paul returned, he said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?" They said, "We don't even know that there is a Holy Ghost." So he brought the doctrine of the infilling of the Holy Ghost to Ephesus, the church of Ephesus. We saw that Paul, as he left Timothy in Ephesus, admonished him to put in order those things that were lacking, to bring them back to sound doctrine, and get them away from all of the vain jangling that they were involved in. The main problem of the Ephesians' church was not the Pharisees, not the Judaizers, but those that were allegorizing the Word of God. This was the thing that Paul was most concerned with. You can see that underlying spirit here as John is writing under the unction of Jesus to this church.

Sunday night we dealt with Smyrna. We talked about the need to move free from fear of persecution, because they are going to persecute us in these last days. This church was a persecuted church. They were a church that was experiencing martyrdom. Jesus said, "This is going to come to you. They hated me; they're going to hate you. Don't love your life to the end."

Let's go on and grab ahold of the church at Pergamos. The best rendering, "Pergamum," is what is most often referred to, but it's Pergamos here. He says, "Write these things." Now look at the way this starts off. "Write these things," He says, "who has the sharp sword with two edges." These are some very interesting comments. We just saw earlier that Jesus is going to judge them with the sword that comes from His mouth. You don't have to be very familiar with the Word of God to have your mind immediately go to Hebrews, Chapter 4, do you? "The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword." What is it that Jesus is trying to relate to this church, this Asiatic church? Something that immediately stands out is one of the great symbols of Rome.

We talk about the eagle, but one of the great symbols of Rome was the two-edged sword. The Asiatic countries were not familiar with a two-edged sword. The Roman sword, the two-edged sword, used for both cutting and thrusting, was a sign of power. In fact, if you remember what was said in Romans, "Obey those that have the rule over you. The authorities do not bear the sword in vain." Everybody knew what was being referred to when they talked about the bearing of the sword. It was talking about the power of Rome. It was also talking about this--get it down, because this becomes the subject throughout these churches--it's the power of life or death invested in them. Those who represented Rome had the power of life and death. Rome had the power of life and death. The capital offense that was greater than any other, at the time that this was being written, was to deny Caesar worship. You're going to find out that Pergamos was the capital of Caesar worship. About A.D. 28 they officially made Caesar worship the religion and erected a temple.

Augustus was a word that was synonymous with being a savior. They had two great saviors in Pergamos: Zeus and Caesar. "You have many other gods." We're going to talk about them in just a moment. But the two that were referred to as "savior" were Zeus and Caesar. So when we see the reference, "...he that beareth the twoedged sword," what is Jesus saying to these people in Pergamos? Let's paraphrase it, "You think Caesar is bad, you ain't seen nothin'! You want to talk about power? I'm He that bears the two-edged sword and my words," Hebrews says, "are alive. They're sharp, sharper than any twoedged sword. They not only deal with the obvious, they deal with the obscure. This sword can pierce into the spirit of a man. It can even discern your thoughts and your intentions." What did Caesar need to pass judgment? He needed evidence. What do we need in our courts today? You must have evidence. God doesn't need evidence. He can discern thoughts. He can discern intentions, and He brings judgment accordingly. You don't even have to act it out. You're guilty if you think it! We realize that He's bringing them to a higher standard, isn't He?

He's talking about, and in one statement pulls down, the authority of Rome! How many of you think John's message was popular in Pergamos? How many of you found that your words aren't real popular when you go to work and you make statements about Jesus being the Judge that we're going to stand before? He's going to judge the quick and the dead. People don't like to hear about judgment, do they? What about when you hold up the authority of the Word of God against the authority of this nation, its legal system, its mores? People hate it when we stand and proclaim the infinite power of our God!

When John starts off writing what Jesus is saying, "Speak these things to them. This is what He says, He who has the sharp sword with two edges in His mouth. 'I know your works. I'm aware of your works and where thou dwelleth, even where Satan's throne is.'" The word "seat" is better rendered "throne." He said, "...even where Satan's [throne] is, and thou holdeth fast my name and have not denied my faith, even in the days wherein Antipas, who was my faithful martyr, was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." We begin to find out now; He says, "I'm aware of the persecution that you're under. I'm aware of the pressures that you're under. You live right where Satan's throne is." Guess who else lives where Satan's throne is? We do! Washington D.C., the throne of Satan, it is!

Because of this, you and I, on a daily basis--if you're not sensitive in your spirit you won't know this. But if you are, and you've traveled, you can get off the airplane in certain cities and feel a difference. You just get off and think, "Whew! A little freer here!" You get off in D.C. and all the principalities and powers, the powers of darkness, of hell, that rule the world; the spirit of antichrist is stronger here than anywhere else in the world! We've been chosen, privileged, as God's people to be set here and fight it and be killed by them somewhere down the line, amen? Just thought I'd throw that in, in case you got a little too excited about it.

We realize that this is it. We're not here by accident. We've been brought--people from all over the world. How many of you grew up in Sterling? Hold your hands up: one, two, okay. Well, where did the rest of you come from? Now you talk to some of the old Sterling-ites, and they'd just as soon the rest of us weren't here. There didn't used to be traffic. I was talking to one of the men when he used to take a horse and buggy (just joking!). He told me stories about when there was only one light between here and Seven Corners! So they'd just as soon a lot of us were gone. But anyway, we're here. Why? God brought us here, amen? Can you see the bigger picture? Do you see why we are in this area? We're here to do warfare with the principalities and powers. You're not here because you got a better job. You're not here because of the low cost of living. You're here because God brought you here. Do you really believe that? Then let's get about His business, amen? Let's be about His business. He said, "I know wherein you dwell, where Satan's seat is." Now, when you see this being referred to, "Satan's seat," it's two-fold.

I wish I could show you some slides or pictures of Pergamum. It's beautiful, beautiful, the way these buildings sat on the city of Pergamum. It was different than most cities. In most of the Grecian cities, and even in Asia, when they would build the acropolis, they would usually build just the temples of worship, such as in Athens, in the acropolis. The whole city sat up. There's a plain in the little valley and all of a sudden there's a big rock mountain that's about one thousand feet high that just pops up out of the ground. The whole city was built up on top of this thing, and on top of this city, beautiful, beautiful buildings were erected. The focal point was always the temples of worship, and there's a gorgeous amphitheater built into the side, seating approximately 20,000 people.

It had the second largest library in the world, second only to Alexandria. The thing it had that surpassed Alexandria was this; in fact from the root word Pergamos you get the word "parchment." They went from the papyrus of Alexandria to parchments of Pergamos, the sheep skins they would use. It was a tremendous technological advancement in preserving the sacred writings. It was a cultural center. They had gods that were gods of culture, of the arts, and many of these different things. It'll give you a little feel for what's going on.

Now when he talks about Satan's seat, we see two different things. It could be that the central temple was to Zeus, whom they worshiped. Zeus was not always called "savior." He began to be referred to as savior about the time Jesus came along. Wonder if there's a coincidence there? So they begin to refer to Zeus as "savior." There was a tremendous temple that was built. In fact, the replica and some of the remains are in the Berlin museum. What we're looking at is this particular temple site. Some people say maybe that was the seat of Satan; some people say that it was this beautiful crown of buildings that were formed again in this area to the other gods, such as Apollos. Some of the other gods were there, Aphrodite; there's another god that's interesting.

I was doing some studying and trying find out more on this one god. I'll share it with you a little bit later. So Pergamos became the seat of modern medicine. Now believe it or not, there was a guy named Gaylen who was the contemporary of Hippocrates. These guys were establishing what we know today as scientific medicine at the same time. They, of course, have their god that was erected there, the god of wisdom, and the god of healing. Asclepius was the god, the snake god. How many of you know what the symbol of Hippocrates is? Yes, those hypocrites take their oath, the Hippocratic Oath, and they have their entwined snakes, don't they? They had a healing center in the city. Are you catching the parallels?

We're going to talk about the spirit of antichrist. I want you to see what we are talking about. We are talking about healing, education, culture, and humanism as it was manifesting itself there. One other ingredient that I'm getting ready to share with you right now was what comprised the throne of Satan, the complex, all of these buildings of institutions, learning institutions, and temples of worship. They were all combined and overseen by the power of Rome, the civil government. What is it? What are the two ingredients that antichrist is going to use in the last days? What do we find first of all? Religion. It's going to be through the false prophet that antichrist comes to prominence, isn't it? And once he's gotten into prominence, what's he going to do? He's going to use the political power to destroy the religious power. What are they using today to get elected in our country, the church, aren't they? You can't get elected without the church in this country, or I should say religion, not the church. We realize that the spirit is just the same. What always happens when religion raises up a civil leader? What does the civil leader do, always? Did Clinton do it? We won't use the term that secular people use, but we know what happened, don't we?

It's very obvious, the spirit that's taking place where Satan's seat is. Satan's seat is referred to as the power of Rome. The civil government, using its power to suppress Christianity, using its God-given authority; God established government and man is abusing it. Romans tells us that government was created (for what?), our good. Man is using it for persecution of the truth and the church. That's why it is referred to as Satan's seat.

Why are we spending time on this? Why am I taking so much time to share this with you? Because you're going to continue to be inundated by religious people in Washington D.C. telling you that you are the odd man out. "You're wrong; you need to get into politics. God is using this to establish morality. God's using this as the mission of the Church today." It's a damnable lie; it always has been. You can see its roots right here. It is very important to see, as we read on, what the Spirit is saying. Look what he goes on to say, "But I want to commend you that you're holding fast my name even unto martyrdom as Antipas my faithful servant. Thank God for your faithfulness, thank God that you've held onto the faith with all of these other faiths that are manifesting themselves." Athena was there. There was a temple to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the arts. Dionysus, the god of wine, (a lot of people are down in D.C. serving this god), drama, sexual prowess, okay? Some of the terms that are interesting are derivatives, of course we know Aphrodite. We realize they're big into aphrodisiacs. It's a very perverse society. Sounds like today, doesn't it?

Now with that in mind, look what He goes on to say. He says, "I know your faithfulness. I know you are in the seat of Satan where persecutions are coming against you, both civilly and through the religious powers." We remember how prominent that was in Ephesus. There was the riot of Ephesus where for the space of two hours they cried out, "Great is Diana," as they opposed the people of God in this frenzy. These people are going to rise up in these last days, as God continues to bring judgment and your light and my light begin to make them uncomfortable. There is no new thing under the sun. God is no respecter of persons. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Don't think you are not going to experience the same opposition.

We need to read on. He's saying, "I commend you as you stood in the midst of all of this persecution, all of these trials as a people that you've been under." Here in 29 B.C., Caesar worship is now evidencing itself. We've seen the polytheistic approach, all of the different gods that they've been involving themselves with. He says, "But I have something against you, a few things against you." This term "few things" when it's used here in the Greek, it really means--King James softens this thing. It's not like He's saying, "I have a few things against you." He says, "I'm really ticked! This makes me mad. I have this against you." It's not like, "You're doing a great job! There are just a few things that you're doing that I'm not happy with." He said, "These things you have to change. They're not acceptable."

We're going to look at these things for just a moment. He goes on and says, "Here's what I have against you. Thou hast there them that are holding onto the doctrine of Balaam." Now Ephesus had this same spirit. What did they do in Ephesus? They brought judgment, didn't they? In Ephesus, we see that they "...tried those that said they were apostles and they were not." At Ephesus He said, "I know that you cannot bear those which are evil." But here in the church of Pergamos He says, "You have those that are still in your midst who are holding to the doctrine of Balaam. It's not permissible."

Remember, we're not just talking about our individual lives and how to judge ourselves individually. We are talking about the corporate church here and how we're doing as a fellowship. This is because we're not an entity to ourselves, we're just one small part (of what?) the church. What are we doing in this study? We're trying to identify "the church." It's the people that do "these things" that are "the church," amen? The people that are allowing Balaam worshipers, those that are holding to the doctrine of Balaam and have them within their confines; is what they're doing acceptable of God? No! If they continue, their candlestick is going to be removed! That's what we have to see. That's the seriousness of what we're looking at.

So what is our responsibility? We can't just go to work or whatever, run into people that say they're Christians, "Yes, I believe in the Lord," and they're still Baal worshipers, they're still holders of the doctrine of Balaam. They're not people that are haters of evil. What is our responsibility according to the epistle of Ephesians? Those that were in the Ephesian Church, what were they taught? "We are light," and light does what? It reproves darkness. You can't just lay back. You can't just [remain silent] and hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." It's not going to happen.

He goes on and says, "I have these things against you because you have those that are holding to the doctrine of Balaam; he who taught Balaak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel." Okay? Now get these down. It's important. Here is part of the doctrine. He taught Balaak to cast a stumbling block, people that are teaching things that are bringing the church into bondage. Now what was the bondage? We know that the bondage was fornication. We know that the bondage was idolatry. That's what Balaam taught Balaak.

You remember Balaam. He said, "I can't prophesy. I can only speak that God gives me to speak. How can I curse what God has blessed? There's no way I can speak a curse on these people; they're blessed of God. But I'll tell you what, dress up a few of your little foxes and send them down there and seduce these guys. When they go down they'll get them hooked sexually." They get this guy hooked. He's interested in you. Then they're going to do like Rachel and Leah, they're going to bring their idols with them. They're going to do like Solomon's wives and concubines; they're going to have their gods with them. This is going to be brought into your house, it's going to dilute the presence of God, and you're going to be overcome.

What's being taught today? How many pastors do you hear--oh, they think it's a good doctrinal idea. But how many pastors do you see today that are marrying believers and unbelievers? They say, "You shouldn't," but they do it! Why? They don't want to offend anybody. "They might not come to church anymore, might not pay their tithes. We might have two less people here than we had last week and people will think we're failing." So they begin to cater. They begin to allow, they begin to involve themselves in those things that God has called us specifically from. A people that are to be separate, "...come out from among them, touch not the unclean thing, saith the Lord, and I will receive you."

There are prophets of God that are standing up today and seducing the people. You'll see it in 2 Peter as clear as can be said in just a moment. But look at the spirit behind that. Turn over to 2 Peter, check this out. This passage will absolutely blow your socks off when you look at it and understand the power of what's being said. Second Peter, Chapter 2, verse 15 says, "Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." Can we say it another way? The wages of sin, death; this guy loves it! This is what he delights in!

Now what you're going to see is this: This guy could be bought. This preacher could be bought. This is a guy who apparently had the ability to hear from God and when he didn't, he heard the voice of a donkey. He could hear from God. But did he speak for God? No. There are a lot of people today, who have heard from God and still are trying to speak for God, but they've changed the treasures of their hearts. They now love the wages of unrighteousness. They used to love holiness. They used to serve God and now they serve the people.

Is that the spirit of the day? "In the last days they shall heap up to themselves teachers having itching ears." We see the spirit. Now watch what it goes on to say. This is powerful. It says, "He loved the wages of unrighteousness but was rebuked for the iniquity, the dumb ass speaking with a man's voice, [You could probably refer to both the donkey and Balaam in those terms; I would, anyway.] forbade the madness of the prophet. These are wells..." Now check these guys out. Here's the doctrine that we're talking about. Here's what he says you are allowing into your midst in the book of Revelation. When Jesus Himself is speaking to the church through John, He says, "There are those among you that are holding this spirit in your church. These are people that are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest. A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways." Peter said, "The problem is you're tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. These are a people who have no convictions, who have no knowledge of God. The Word of God is not their final authority. The tempest comes and circumstance just blows them whichever way it desires." They go with the pressure! "...to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever."

To follow this doctrine has grave consequences. It's not just saying, "Maybe we won't be blessed as much as those that are obedient." Isn't that the teaching today of the "ultra-gracers?" They don't believe you can be lost. So they tell us, "If you practice all that lascivious behavior you just won't experience the blessings of God in this life, but you'll go to heaven when you die." No, no, no, no, no! It says, "These people have for them the mist of darkness reserved forever." We talked about hell Sunday night. We understand the magnitude of it as Peter is speaking towards this, as John is speaking towards it. Peter goes on and says, "For when they speak great swelling words of vanity," these guys are really impressed with their wisdom. They stand and speak contrary to the Word of God, "and not only do these things, but take pleasure in them that do them."

We talk about all the sickening perversions in our society today. You want to know the greatest perversion? A man that stands in the pulpit and speaks contrary to the Word of God. There's no greater perversion. We read Romans and see that "they do these things and take pleasure in them," and we think, "Gross!" We're reading about the homosexuals, all the perversions, and it grosses us out to think about it. How can they even delight in that? They're sitting around, "creators of evil things," Romans 1 tells us. We have people that are sitting around studying the Word of God finding out how they can twist it to justify their behavior, those that take pleasure in their great wisdom.

Who's the message to? Who's He speaking to? He's speaking to the church. But, who's He speaking to primarily in the church? We saw that in the first chapter, the stars that He was holding, the angels, the messenger to the church, the pastor, the overseer. He says, "I'm saying this to your church and you are responsible!" It's very important for us to understand what's going on here. It says in 2 Peter 2, "They allure..." Grab this one in verse 18, "They allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty..." Isn't that the message today?

But what do they want people to be free from? The message is, "Be free from the law, be free from the Word, and get out of all that legalism. You don't have to do all that! You're free in Jesus!" We need to be teaching liberty from sin, liberty from the powers of darkness, lovers of the law, pursuers of the light; amen? First Timothy says, "The law is good!" We know that, "the law is perfect, converting the soul." There's nothing wrong with the law if you approach it and use it lawfully. The law is for whom? The lawless! We understand that it says, "They promise you liberty, but they themselves are the servants of corruption." "Be free from the law! Be free from the judgment of those around you!" Come into bondage of your own lusts and flesh and call that "freedom!" "I'm free, bless God. Nobody's telling me what to do!" Your flesh tells you what to do every day. "Yes, but that's me!" That's not you.

We realize the bondage these people are in. Look what it goes on to say, "...for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning." You see why God hates the message of the Nicolaitans? It's a message that's brought to people who have been free. It brings them back into bondage through this teaching of lasciviousness, through this "liberty of faith," through this "great grace we have that gives us license." He said, "I hate that! You were better off not having known! [Amen?] That's why I hate this. You were better off not having known." Now you're not just carnal, you're not just the enemy of God; you're deceived. You think you're right with God and you're going to hell!

How many of you know that before you got saved you at least knew you were going to hell and you weren't right with God? The tragic thing is that people who knew they were not right with God, people who knew they were rebels, people who knew they were enemies of God get saved, fall under this kind of deception and think they're right with God! "When your light is darkness," what's the Bible say? "If your eye be single," it's full of [light] but if your light be darkness? Tragic! The power of deception comes through these people who allure others through the lusts, the weaknesses. They're experts at touching people and saying, "I know you have this little flaw that's wrong with you, but God loves you. Come on." They begin to gather all these people and say, "We're just a fellowship of love. We accept everybody just like they are."

Jesus had something to say about that, didn't He? He said, "You go across the sea to make converts. You don't enter in; you won't let them enter in. You make them twofold the children of hell you are." Powerful! Look what He finishes with. He makes another interesting comment. He said, "If they're overcome, the latter end is worse than the beginning. For it'd been better had they not known the way of righteousness than to have known it; those that were propagating the doctrine of Balaam come in and deceive them, and turn them from the holy commandment delivered unto them."

Now the interesting thing is this. You'll find out that in Hebrew, the Hebrew word Balaam and the Greek word Nicolaitans mean the same thing. This is the same doctrine. You can't really distinguish between the two. These things are synonymous. In the references here, you'll find that as we talk about Nicolaitans, this ministry and spirit of Balaam is the same thing. The little distinction between the refined doctrine in the days that John was writing to the church here at Pergamum, was this: Balaam, of course, the emphasis was lasciviousness, it was idolatry. The spirit of the Nicolaitans is what was being dealt with in Corinth. It's the same spirit of eating the meat that was offered to idols, all of that spirit that was there, and the misuse of their liberties that Paul had to deal with. There were those actually teaching, here in Pergamos the same thing we heard referred to in Corinth. They were saying, "You can be a Christian and continue to go up to the temple of Aphrodite, give your offerings, take part in the sexual orgies, and God accepts you." That's the spirit that we're dealing with.

Well, let's find out if that's the case. Let's find out if that's what the Holy Spirit is saying. It's obvious that Peter doesn't think that. He says, "You're going to have that mist of darkness reserved for you. After you have escaped the pollutions, return again, and are overcome, the latter end is worse than the beginning. It had been better that you had not known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn from it." The power of that statement--look over at Jude 11. We find a reference made again to this perverted teaching, the spirit that was dominating people within this church at Pergamos. In the eleventh verse we see, "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and run greedily after the error of Balaam [for what?] for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." Cain, Balaam, and Korah, a group you don't want to hang out with, amen?

Look what it says about Korah, the spirit that these guys are being grouped in. Korah, "the gainsaying," all that means is a spirit of opposition or contradiction. "To gainsay" means to speak against the Truth, the spiritual authority of the church, Jesus Christ. "To speak against" is that gainsaying spirit. They were moving in the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, this spirit of Balaam. It's the same thing. These guys are standing up, speaking against the established doctrine of the Word of God, bringing another wisdom, another perception, based upon their experience rather than the revelation of God's Word. This is part of what's taking place here in the church.

Go back to Revelation and let's see that spirit. If you can grab ahold of that, understand what we have now are people in the church, out there partying and drinking. Now, teachers among us are saying, "Look, you need to love these people. You need to accept them and realize they're just growing."

How many of you know that the Bible teaches long-suffering? We've talked a lot about gentleness. We've talked about the good man that falls and rises up. We know that doctrine here well, and we're established in it. We know about the heart of the father in receiving the prodigal. We understand dunging around the tree. We know the purpose of God. When He recognizes fruit, He purges and prunes so that it can bring forth more fruit. We're not talking about all that.

We're talking about people who are standing up and actively teaching a doctrine of acceptance of this behavior. "If you don't accept it, you're not loving." Now isn't it interesting who's writing this letter? He's the apostle of love. John's the apostle of love and he's the guy that's writing this doctrine. The apostle of love is the one that wrote 1 John, one of the strongest epistles for righteousness. I mean, John, the apostle of love, standing there and saying, "You're of your father the devil," just like Jesus did. "You say you love God and do these things, you're a liar! The truth is not in you." In the midst of that, John's speaking to this church saying, "Look, the doctrine of love is purity. You can't allow these people to continue in your midst this way; teaching them to sacrifice to idols and to commit fornication, teaching them to do it!"

You want to talk about a "stumbling block?" That's the term right there. What is a "stumbling block?" The stumbling block here is the word for a "trigger," something that sets off a trap. What is it that sits upon the trigger of a trap? Here you've got this big bear trap, you open that thing up, and you've got a plate inside that you step on. We have some that are random, such that a guy would just kind of be, "Dum-de-dum-dum-dum," and phhuutttt! He happens to step in the wrong place and there he is.

Most traps have what? Bait, okay? When we're talking about a "stumbling block" we're talking about two things: the trigger and the bait that's on it, the bait, and the guile. We realize here that a stumbling block is when you become the bait; you become the thing that's attracting people away from God. It's not just done in behavior. In fact, you'll find out it's done through solicitation; it's done through indoctrination.

I am not a stumbling block to you if I partake in a disputable matter according to my conscience. We've talked about that by the hour, right? I think we're all aware of that. I'm not a stumbling block if I do that. I am not a stumbling block if I'm doing that and you happen to see me. I'm a stumbling block when I tell you, "What's wrong with you? You're so immature that you can't do what I'm doing? Come on and do it!" Now I'm the bait. Now I'm the stumbling block. Now your conscience begins to be strengthened by my resolve and you partake. You find out your conscience, in fact, was not your own. It's sin, and I'm the partaker in it. Now that's what these people are doing. They're not just "experiencing a liberty."

We know that there is no liberty for this behavior, don't we? I was talking to a guy on the radio the other day. He called in and he wanted to talk about a certain situation. He was talking about what he perceived to be some exceptions to the principals we were sharing. It's amazing; people are always looking for exceptions. We were talking about purity, holiness, and the motivation for divorce based upon spiritual purity. As we were talking about this, the guy wanted to tell a story that he heard on The 700 Club. "There was a lady who was trying to win her husband to the Lord and he never got saved. Finally she succumbed to his pressures, went down and bought him some beer, brought it back, and he got saved, 2 Peter." I said, "What are you trying to say?" "Well, if the wife is totally submissive to her husband and does whatever he wants, she will win him through her submission."

I said, "That's a good theory. Let's see if it works. Are you telling me...?" I began to lead him along a little bit. I asked him another scenario and he was a little, "Well, if the Spirit leads you." So I said, "Okay, now you're telling me that if the husband tells the wife that he wants to swap wives with the lady next door, that she should go over there and his wife will come over here, she needs to submit to that and by doing so, she's going to win her husband, right?" "Well, if the Spirit leads you." That's when you want to reach through the radio, slap them upside the head and say, "There's only one Spirit! The Spirit of Truth leads us into all Truth! The Spirit of Truth is the author of the Word of God! Thy Word is Truth! 'Thou shalt not commit adultery, unless the Spirit leads you.'" It doesn't say that! This is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, of liberty, the Gnostics who focused experientially, "We have a revelation beyond the Word. I have a relationship that supersedes the Word."

It's alive and well, folks. These lame-brained Charismatics who think--they have no relationship with God through His Word, everything is experiential, everything is based upon experience, "another experience." I asked the guy, "What brand of beer was it? Maybe we ought to buy some and give it to the neighbors and they'll get saved. It's the power in the beer. [Singing] There is power, power..." What are we talking about? What an abomination, to equate Michelob with the Blood of Jesus! "If the Father doesn't draw them, get them drunk," no, that's not what the Scripture says! Stupid! So I asked him about murder. He hedged on murder. "Well, if the Spirit kind of leads you..." (I kind of felt he was leading me. If I could have gotten my hands on that guy I probably would have killed him.)

Isn't that what the Scripture says, "If anybody entices you to come away from these commandments, you be the first one to lay your hand on them and kill them"? He' wants to tell me I can come away from the commandments of God and become one with an idol. Corinthians makes it very clear! But that's the spirit. It manifests itself many subtle ways, like through The 700 Club. Everybody goes, "Wow, what a testimony! Glory, Hallelujah!" And it's the throne of Satan; it's the seat of Satan. Listen to what you're hearing! "Let those that have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Try those that say they're apostles and are not; hate evil! Endure the persecutions of governments and ecclesiastical big shots for My righteousness and do not embrace the spirit of Balaam and become the stumbling block." This is what He's trying to get across to us.

"So hath thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate." We saw "Balaam" being the lasciviousness, the deception factor, "go deceive these people." The Nicolaitans--remember the distinction that's being made here--we said they were synonymous in the spirit behind them. The application at this time had to do with--and that's where I got off track on this--we were talking about it has to do with the political agendas. That's important for the day that we're living in, as the state begins to absorb the church, the two becoming one, the trust of the church in the state's protection. "Big Brother is going to take care of us," no longer trusting God, looking for the state to make all of the laws just perfect so we can live in tranquility.

Paul told us to pray for all that are in authority. Paul told us to pray for our political leaders so that we could live in peace. Primarily we're to pray for their salvation, is what the context there says. You'll find that what was happening was this: the state, to take license to kill the Christians--and that's what was going on here in Pergamos--was looking for different ways to label us as traitors to the state. If you didn't burn a little bit of incense to Caesar, you were an enemy of the state. He was a god!

Antichrist is going to become that god. We've seen it in societies past. "If you don't bow down, you're going in the furnace." The believers wouldn't bow, but they were bowing in Pergamos. They were being taught by the Nicolaitans that to compromise with the state wasn't really sin because, "We're to live at peace. We can evangelize in this way. What's it going to hurt to burn a little bit of incense to Caesar? Everybody knows that we don't believe in that. The idol's nothing. It's the demons that are behind them," as the Corinthians argued. You're going to see it in our day beloved, it's coming on us. It's going to happen in this nation. You want to know what laws were passed in Pergamos? You can go to school and chant, "Ohmmm," but you can't pray in the name of Jesus. You can believe in a non-personal god. You can believe from a polytheistic, pantheistic approach, but don't believe in one true God, the creator of heaven and earth, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Everything was lawful but Christianity. It's coming to town, to a theatre near you. That's the spirit.

The Nicolaitans are going to tell you, "For the purpose of preserving your church, your place to worship, your family, so that you don't have any pressure put upon you, for your financial welfare, go ahead and burn a little incense. Pretend you're one of them, but in your heart you know you're not." He said, "No! Be an Antipas. Die for your convictions. Don't pollute yourself with any misunderstanding that you're embracing society's mores." To do so, He says, "I have it against you. Repent [look at it verse 16], or I will come quickly and will fight against you with the sword of my mouth." Here comes the sword again! "The power does not bear the sword in vain." What's He saying? "Let Caesar kill you or I'll kill you." "Let me think now... Give me those options one more time..." What's the one obvious thing here? You're dying, amen? You'd better die in faith. He said, "I'll come quickly with my sword. I am the Supreme Power. If you confess Me before men, I'll confess you before the Father. If you deny Me before men, I'll deny you before the Father." Powerful!

This is how He judges the church. "Surely He's going to give us a little slack." I've read this over quite a few times and haven't found it. But I have found that he that has ears is to hear what the Spirit said to the church. "Pastor, can't we talk about the white stone and the manna?" Maybe later; there are some interesting things that pertain to that in the study. That's not what we're dealing with. We're not talking about the benefits of overcoming at this time. We're talking about the standards to evaluate ourselves by. If we'll keep the standards, we'll be overcomers and the benefits will naturally follow. They'll be the consequence of an obedient life. They'll be the consequence of being a true Christian. They'll be the consequence of a man that's pursuing God. That's what we're looking for.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God. We ask that as You continue to speak to us, we'd judge ourselves by no other standard than the Word of God. We understand that at this time, Jesus, the reason You spoke to the churches of Asia was not that they were the only churches struggling and had things they were doing wrong. You were speaking because of the prominence of social influence and doctrinal perversions that are so easily identifiable with these last days, the time of antichrist. You spoke at a time in history but that transcends time. These things are applicable to every generation. As we examine our own hearts, our only desire is to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant." Give us hearts to do and ears to hear, stir it in us, Father. Stir it in us to be a light to a generation in bondage and darkness. Give us compassion for those that are in bondage, help us to love good and hate evil. Help us to have the spirit of Ephesus, to prefer our brothers better than ourselves, to move in the gifts that you've given us to the edification of the community and not just the preservation of self. Help us to see that we're a body, not individuals. We're on a mission, not a vacation. The night's coming when no man can work. "Here am I, Father, send me."

Let's stand before the Lord. Let's worship Him and honor Him for His Presence. Thank God that we hear those words of the Master to us, where He speaks, "I know your works. I know your deeds. I know that you're living in the city of the seat of Satan." Don't think for a minute, friends, that Jesus isn't aware. We're living in a tough place here. He's aware of it. But when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God is there to raise up the standard. You don't have to depend on your own strength. You're strong when you recognize your weakness. "If God's for us, nobody can be against us." But we are at war; don't mistake it. "I know that you live where the throne of Satan is, but you've kept the faith." Hallelujah! You've kept the faith! Just thank God for it. Slip your hands up and worship Him. Thank Him for that encouragement that He spoke to us. Glory to God! Glory to God! Thank God for that! We're at war and in war some get wounded. We see the spirit of the church of Ephesus where we surround and bring healing to our brothers and sisters that we might finish the race. Thank God for that spirit, the love that's in us.

Tragically we've had a brother that sinned and again having one of our deacons step down. I've shared with you that it's a dangerous position. I've shared with our men, continually, "You're in a dangerous position. You're going to experience temptations you've never known before. It's the power of darkness to destroy you because of the vision, because of the task that's before us." I admonish you all continually to pray for us, as we pray for you. I know that you do. We thank God for it. It's a sad thing. The sin is a unique sin to our day. You say, "What do you mean?" It's a computer sin. Never has man had at his fingertips all of the perversions of the world to just call up anytime you want. You need to be aware of what's before you. You need to be aware what's before you when you're watching television, when you're sitting at the computer screen. You need to be aware of this spirit that we've been talking about tonight and what's before you, because better people than you have gone down. We want you to pray and lift up the hands.

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