Pergamum: A Church in Satanic Territory | Revelation 2:12-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I wanted to keep going. But here we are, God's word. We're still worshiping in the word. So turn your bibles with me to Revelation chapter two. Let's read together.

And to the angel, the church, and Pergamum write the words of him who has the two has the sharp two edged sword. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon in war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. Lord, we ask that you help us with this passage.

Help us see your heart. Help us know your mind, and help us be conformed to your will. Help us be the church that you want us to be. And so even now, provide us the ears that can hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We wait upon you, oh Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I want you to use your sanctified imagination for a brief moment. Imagine that the resurrected Christ wrote a personalized letter to us here at Maranatha Bible Church, and, in his introduction, he writes, the one who has the two edged sword. Would that comfort you or would that concern you?

Perhaps your immediate response would be, well, it depends what he does with the sword. And that would be an appropriate reaction. Thankfully, if we honor the context of the book of Revelation, we know what this sword is all about. It's mentioned a total of three times in this book. And interestingly, each time it is brought up in connection with Christ, it is associated with his mouth.

And so in Revelation one sixteen, we've already covered that chapter. We saw how Christ in his manifest glory before John the Apostle reveals a sword protruding out of his mouth. It's not until we go to Revelation 19 verse 15 where we have the account of the return of Christ, the bodily return of Christ, where we see that sword in operation, where we see it functioning. And what was its purpose? We're told there in that verse that Christ will strike the nations with the sword of his mouth.

And so we can conclude that the sword represents. It represents something obvious. The swift and sudden power of Christ's word when he executes judgment. And how his judgment is based upon his word. So with that understanding, you might be impressed to see that this introduction to the church in Pergamum is Christ conveying that he is the final judge and that he will bring vindication.

He will ultimately put all things right by just the word of his mouth. However, that's not the purpose of Christ revealing this about himself to this church. No. No. No.

Instead, when you keep reading carefully, you'll discover that the unstoppable authority of Jesus Christ when he wants to execute judgment is not confined solely to his fiercest foes. It also applies to those within his church. Scroll down to verse 16 again in Revelation two just to confirm that. He writes to this church. He's not speaking to the world, to this congregation.

Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. This should lead us to ask something very important. What did this church do to warrant such a serious threat? And that's what this message is about.

We're going to discover together, we're gonna uncover what it is that these believers were doing for Christ to say to them, if you don't change, I'm going to go to war with your church. But before we go there, let's consider his commendation in verse 13. Look what he says here. I know where you dwell. Out of all the things that Jesus could say that he knew about this group of believers, he tells them, I know you and I know where you live.

Now many of us in here know that choosing where we live is one of the most important decisions that you will make throughout your life. But what I find here is that it is not just crucial for us to figure out and pray about and plan about, it is also something that the Lord considers and cares about. When I was reflecting on those first few words of verse 13, my mind went to Paul's sermon in Athens. When he was preaching there to all those pagans and those epicureans and those stoic philosophers heard this new thing and so they grabbed Paul and they said, tell us more about what you're preaching about. And he took the time to introduce to them in a very unique way who God is in his nature.

And there's a part there in that evangelistic message that I'm sure will bless you and you're welcome to turn there with me in Acts 17. Look at this little section of Paul's sermon in verse 26 of Acts 17. He says, and he, speaking about God, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. Again, he's introducing to these unbelievers who the true God is and he highlights two major areas of God's providential work. It can be summarized with two words, Time and place.

Look again. He has determined allotted periods. That speaks of duration. And then he goes on to say the boundaries of their dwelling place. That speaks of location.

What is Paul trying to teach here? Essentially, that the Lord is continually arranging the timing and the location of our living. And this is not reserved just for his orchestration of nations and governments. No, no, it applies to your individual journey and mine. If you have difficulty believing that, I think of a Psalm where the Lord recounts the history of Israel and he reminds his people through the Psalmist of how their journey in Egypt came about.

Let me quote this to you from Psalm one zero five and verse 16. When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. Who is the one that sent Joseph to live in Egypt? God. From the human understanding, when you read the story in Genesis, it looked like he was a victim, Carried as a captive into a foreign land.

It looked like a despicable eviction if you will. But as you continue in your Bible and you come to one passage here, at least one, you are granted the lens of providence and you realize that God was behind the scenes all along leading Joseph in unlikely circumstances and through unlikely means to plant him in a place for a greater purpose. He sent Joseph to Egypt because he determines the boundaries of our dwelling place. You know, when Joelle Joelle and I were planning for our wedding and we were at the same time looking for a place to live, I frequently borrowed the words of the apostle Paul in Acts 17 when I came before the Lord. I would tell the Lord, you have determined the boundaries of my dwelling place.

You know where we're supposed to live. You know what city. You know what neighborhood. I trust in you, but you gotta guide me there. And through a grueling searching process, the Lord came through.

And I can say on behalf of our household that we can see how God led us perfectly. I encourage you, many young families here praying and looking and wondering. He determines the boundaries of our dwelling place. Trust in him. Rely on him.

Believe in him, and he will lead you wonderfully. Now as we come to this church, the Lord tells this group of believers that he knows where they live. And shockingly, he confirms to them that it's where Satan lives. What language does he use again in verse 13? I know where you dwell where Satan's throne is.

We're looking for a church building, are we not? I haven't heard from one person that they're interested in looking for the place where Satan has his headquarters. But God, the Holy Spirit raised up a church in this kind of a neighborhood. And that is significant for many reasons and we won't get there just yet. I have to give you a brief reminder of the ontology of Satan.

He is he is not omniscient, though he is incredibly knowledgeable. He is not omnipotent, though he is fiercely powerful. And he is indeed not omnipresent though he has a vast kingdom with his agents spread throughout the earth. And at this particular time in history, Satan the strategist thought it would be most beneficial to set up his headquarters in a place called Pergamum. Why?

You can imagine the range of speculations. But I think if you just peek into history a little bit, you might have some kind of an answer, though the Bible doesn't tell us explicitly. Pergamum was one of the most influential cities in Asia Minor at the time. In fact, it served as the capital for a great period and it was innovative in many, many ways. Many believe that it was the place that started imperial cult worship, where they really were the ones who were pioneers in honoring emperors as divine.

And it spread, they flourished and they influenced others. You you can say that this was a trend setting city. More than that, it was a learning center, a major one. It boast of a library that hosted around 200,000 scrolls, And it came only second to the great library of Alexandria in terms of size and significance. And when I learned that, I thought to myself, is it possible that Satan chose to concentrate his efforts here knowing that it would be more effective in spreading his corruption.

Being that this was a prominent cultural place, being that this was an intellectual hub, did Satan know if I really focus here, I can reach many other places. We think of our own kind of, areas in America that influence not only the nation but the world. Think about Hollywood and what they pump out. Makes you wonder who's really behind it. I don't think really it's a guess.

And so we see here that the enemy was very very mindful of where to go, where to be, and whatever the reason may be, Jesus makes it clear that Satan's presence and Satan's influence was especially potent in this place. It wasn't difficult to see with the natural eye. The crime, the violence, the antichrist communities. And I've mentioned this in the past that it blesses me to know that the Lord built a church here. But I don't wanna focus on that because we mentioned it before.

I wanna applaud these Christians. Assuming they had the choice, they chose to remain here, to minister here, to gather here, to sing here, to hear sermons here, to evangelize here. You know, there are many Christians who desire to be a part of a church where things are most comfortable. Thinking, you know, the less political and societal pollution and corruption there is, the easier it will be to plant and grow something for God. That's not true because you have to remember, the purpose of the church is not to be safe, it's to be salt.

And over the years, I've heard some people even ask why we have a ministry in Chicago. Given all the violence and corruption in our government. And my answer is always the same, why not? What? Should all the Christians just pack up and move somewhere just because there's a warmer state with less property taxes?

Is that really the goal of Christianity, to be as snugly as possible in America? No. We're on a rescue mission. That's why we're here. And I consider a great honor and privilege to be in this city, in God's providence, that his spirit worked in the hearts of people to make Maranatha Bible Church possible.

If the Holy Spirit is doing something here, it means he wants us to do something here. And so we're we're looking for the heavenly mission. That's our perspective. When it comes to our dwelling place, when it comes to where we're gonna park ourselves, where we're gonna raise a family, yes, we should be wise, yes, we should be stewards of different resources, but consider your calling ultimately as a follower of Jesus Christ. We're all getting out of here very soon.

We're not trying to make this as comfortable as possible. We're trying to rescue as many people as possible. And I love this church for that reason and Jesus praises this church. They stay here. They saw the opportunity to be a light in a uniquely dark place.

How dark was it? So dark that this community threatened the believers with death from time to time. We've been threatened before as a church, never received death threats yet. I say yet on purpose. And this assembly was never deterred even when faced with potential martyrdom.

They never denied the faith. They never were ashamed of the name of Jesus Christ. And interestingly, the Lord wants them to know that he was aware of an intense period of persecution. Come back to Revelation two thirteen again. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness.

Who is Antipas? I don't know. Because this is all we have about him in the Bible. You can look at some church fathers who give us a little bit more understanding and that might be helpful, but when it comes to biblical data, all we have is this man's name. Some believe he was an elder.

Some believe he was just a faithful member. But what I find interesting is that the Lord names him. He could have been general about the martyrdom of this church, but he actually highlights this individual by name and I believe there's a purpose. Because when you understand the meaning of the name Antipas, there is profound insight. Some believe Antipas is just an abbreviation of the name Antipater, which could mean like the father or instead of the father.

But if you were to just derive your definition with the name as it is, it's quite simple. Anti, we commonly know that word to be oppose or against something, anti, and the Greek, pass, pause, forgive me Greek speaking people, simply means all or every or the whole of something. So bringing this together, we could say that the name Antipas means against everything. Against all. Do you see the significance of that?

I do. Because if we go with that definition then I believe we're given a clue as to what it takes to be a faithful witness unto Jesus. A willingness to stand against everything that tempts or threaten us to disown him. In other words, if you and I wanna be a faithful witness unto Jesus Christ, be ready to stand alone if you have to. And that is not even super Christianity, that's entry level discipleship.

Do you remember the words of Jesus in Luke fourteen twenty six? If anyone would come after me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Antipas is not a superhero Christian. He's level one discipleship. Yes.

Was he faithful unto death? Yes. Is it something to to applaud and to commend? Absolutely. But based on Jesus' teaching, if any one of us wanna be considered a follower of his, then you must consider him more important than any of your closest relationships.

You must consider him more valuable than your personal ambitions. That if your father or your mother discourages you from following Christ, your siblings, your cousins, your aunt, your uncle, whoever it may be, you say no, I will stand against anyone who stands in the way of me following my Lord. This is what it means to be a faithful witness. Antipas models that for us here in a very brief way. Just by his name, we get an understanding, a reminder at the end of the Bible what it means to follow Christ.

This church didn't flinch in the face of demonic intimidation. Even when one of their members was killed for their faith, they did not give in. They were never moved. But tragically, they lacked one thing. They lacked the one fear that they should have had and that was the fear of God.

That's why Jesus introduces himself in the way that he does. It's as if to say, you stood firm when Rome drew its sword against you, but you forgot that I have a sword. Now you might be wondering, how can you say, preacher, that this church did not honor the Lord Jesus Christ? They were willing to die for him. Yes.

Without a doubt. But I'm here to tell you that their honor as a church was partial. It was not total. What do I mean by that? Well, let's come now to the criticism in verse 14.

But I have a few things against you. Now pause there. The church of Smyrna that we heard about last week, Jesus had nothing against him. He just encouraged him, do not fear. The church in Ephesus, the first time around, he said this very specifically, the Lord said, I have this against you.

It was one thing. You've walked away from your first love. But with the church in Pergamum, he says, I have a few things against you. What are those few things? Well, it can be summarized with a number of the people in this church who are adhering to false teaching.

And let's finish here to see what it is that they were believing. But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. Verse 15. So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

So in this church, you had different pockets of people who are believing things contrary to the Bible. And the Lord says, this is what I have against you. Now when we come to this passage, we have to understand something. That Jesus, as we as we heard when we started the series in Revelation, relies heavily on the Old Testament. And so he makes an he makes a commentary, he makes an allusion back to the story of the character Balaam.

You remember Balaam, do you not? He was essentially a sorcerer. And when Israel was delivered out of Egypt and was traveling through the wilderness leading to the promised land, there was a king of Moab, modern day Jordan, by the name of Balak. Balak, like other kings, was very fearful hearing the reports of what the God of Israel was doing on behalf of his people. And Balak understood that they are approaching his territory, his land.

And so in desperation, instead of submitting himself to the true God, he wants to try to overthrow them. And so he hires a witch, a warlock if you will. And he hopes that he can defeat the people of Israel in the supernatural. So the price was right for Balaam, though initially he refused, he was recruited, and we know there numbers 22 to numbers 24 that Balaam over and over tries to pronounce a curse upon the people of Israel without their knowledge. And each time it failed.

Every time he uttered a curse, God was right there and turned it into a blessing. He gave up. You come to the end of numbers 24, he gives his final oracle and you just read the simple ending to that chapter. Balaam packed his bags, he goes his own way, Balak does the same. But then something incredibly strange happens in the opening of Numbers chapter 25.

You have to go there with me to see it. Numbers 25 verse one. This is immediately after we learned that Balaam failed to hex the people of God. What do we find in this chapter? They experienced great defeat.

Numbers 25 verse one. While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal Peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. What was the consequence of that?

Verse nine. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty four thousand. So God in his discipline unleashes a plague and it destroyed twenty four thousand, and if it wasn't for a righteous man named Phineas who stood in the gap, it would have been much more. This is strange. And if you don't finish books of the Bible, if you don't honor beginning to end of a book that you start, then you might miss the insight because it comes later, numbers 31.

Is there an explanation for this? Yes, there is. Look at what Moses says in review of what happened here in numbers 25. Numbers 31 verse 16. Behold these on Balaam's advice caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.

Here's the main takeaway from this. When Balaam learned that he could not curse the people of God, he taught Balak, the king of Moab, how to corrupt them. And this was his advice to the king of Moab. Listen, I've tried over and over. You saw it with your own eyes.

You heard it with your own ears. I cannot pronounce a curse upon this people. They are blessed. But I'll give you a different strategy. Find the most beautiful woman you have in your kingdom.

Send them off into the camp of Israel. Let them seduce the men sexually and they will be seduced to spiritual adultery. Guess what? It worked. You see, Balaam had enough knowledge of the character of God that if he can get the people of God to embrace sin, then they would invite God's judgment.

So what's the strategy? If I can't get him from the external if I can't get him from the outside, I'm gonna work within. And that is what Balaam did. And now we come to the final book of the bible and we read Jesus drawing from this very account to speak to a local new covenant church saying, some of you in there are believing the teaching of Balaam. Meaning what?

It's very simple. Just as Balaam's seduction led Israel back into worldliness, there was a group of people in this church who are embracing a doctrine that encourage compromise as well. Does that make sense? How did that look like for these Christians? It looked like this perhaps.

That they would go to temples, they would indulge in their feasts to false gods, they would engage in sexual activities, and they would come every Sunday to worship Jesus Christ. They were persuaded that this was okay. They were told that they could relax. They were convinced that they can enjoy the world and still serve God. There's so many things that we can say about this, but let me make one thing clear.

If Satan can't frighten a church, if he can't intimidate them, if he can't pressure them from the outside, he will try to weaken a group of believers from the inside. His strategies have always been the same. Think about it. Back in numbers, we find that the curses did not work against Israel. And we come to Revelation, we realize that threats from the government did not move this church in Pergamum.

So what does the enemy do? Something that proves to be more effective than anything else. He sends his agents to mingle with the people of God to corrupt them. In the former case, he sent unbelieving women. Listen here, young men.

Be careful of the women that are introduced to you. Be careful of the women that walk into your life. Same thing for you, ladies. Be careful of the men that show up in your DMs. Satan has won many of the people of God, lure them away by sending a girl with pretty eyes and a nice voice.

Sending a guy that seems promising and reassuring and comforting. In the former case, he sends beautiful women. In the latter case, he sends in false teachers. That's how he works, which brings us to another crucial point. Notice back in Revelation two that he also mentions the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

We don't know exactly what the Nicolaitans taught. It might have been very similar to what these Balaamites believed. But the mention of the Nicolaitans in Revelation two verse 15 does show us what false teaching promotes. Is this the first time in our study of Revelation that we heard about these Nicolaitans? Good.

No. We heard about them in the letter to the Ephesians. Go back to Ephesians or rather Revelation two six. Notice what the Lord says this. There.

Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. So in the first part, he mentions their works. In this letter, he mentions their teaching. This was a movement. This was a sect.

And here's what we learn, putting this together. Bad doctrine will always lead to bad behavior. Wherever there is corrupted teaching, it will, in one way or another, corrupt character always. And that is one of the reasons why Jesus values what a church teaches. You know, we're coming here week after week.

We're trying to understand what Christ desires from his church. Yes, the universal church, ultimately, the local church. And here's what we learn at this point. Doctrine is up is not up for negotiation. Doctrine is incredibly important to the heart of our God and it should be equally important to us.

What a church teaches, Christ considers carefully. And the purity of doctrine, of what's being taught, of what's being believed by the people in the church is not the only thing that Christ considers. In the unique cases where you have a mixed group, Jesus according to this letter also holds responsible those who know the truth yet refuse to confront error in the church. Who does he call to repent here? Who does he ask to turn?

Look again here in verse 16. Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against him with the sword of my mouth. We might assume that Jesus is threatening those who are believing the lies of Balaam's teaching or the Nicolaitans. That's not who he is primarily addressing.

Say, what are you talking about? Look at verse 14 again. But I have a few things against who? You. Who's the you?

The church. The entire church. So do you know what this teaches? That not only do you have people believing different things, the people who knew the truth, who were faithful to his name, who were faithful to the faith refused to confront the error in the church. And Jesus says, I'm looking at you.

I'm looking at you leaders who refuse to address this issue. You elders, you know some in your church are not believing, are not upholding the bible and you're not doing anything about it. You members of the church, You refuse to in love according to Matthew 18 approach the one who is in sin and call them to repentance instead. You fellowship with these ones who are unashamed of their compromise. And so he's calling the entire church into account, not just those who are following false teaching, even those who are in the truth and know about their false teaching and don't do anything about it.

This is profound. This is very important for us to hear because again it reinstates what the church is about. We're supposed to look out for one another. You know, an elder is not just here to just preach sermons and do weddings and funerals. That's not what a pastor is about.

He watches over your soul. And this idea of false teachers creeping in the church is more complicated than ever in church history. You know why? Because at this time, it would be people physically walking through those doors, sitting at the love feast and talking to people, inviting into their home and teaching them and leading them astray. You know how false teachers work in many times, in many ways today?

They don't need you to show up here. They're in your pocket. They're in your YouTube history. They're on your social media. They're on your podcast.

They're on those one minute reels and people build their theology in sixty seconds. TikTok. I know people that are getting their theology from TikTok. God help us. But it doesn't lessen the responsibility.

The Lord wants his church to be pure, not just morally, but doctrinally. Yes. Is there room for differing opinions with secondary and tertiary matters? You better believe it. We have to be compassionate and understanding.

But with these clear things, these non negotiables, or anything that is so obvious in the word of God that's not up for debate, I am personally worried about any minister that refuses to talk about sin from the pulpit. And you should be worried about them too. I don't believe a church should every week be a time where people are rebuked and are called to repentance. Ultimately, we should all know a greater encouragement and if repentance is preached rightly, it will encourage people. It'll bring life to them.

But for somebody to never mention sin, for somebody to never warn about false teaching, from time to time to warn people, hey, be careful what you're hearing out there. They're in danger. I I'm worried about any church that doesn't have church discipline, that doesn't have membership, that calls people accountable, that if they live in unrepentant sin, then there's gonna be constant. I worry about that. That's what the church of Pergamum is teaching us.

So yes, they were faithful in many ways, but they just let people do their own thing. Let people believe what they wanted to believe. Let people live how they wanted to live. And the Lord says, I'm calling you all to repent. Because the church has a responsibility in wisdom and love to approach those who are not in the right and to invite them back into the truth.

Now we come to the last verse because the Lord ends on a good note, on an encouraging note in verse 17. Let's revisit it again, shall we? He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. You can imagine the countless theories that have circulated over the centuries about this verse.

Hidden manna, a white stone with a name on it. It can get quite complicated and people try to go to the culture of this time to make reference of what these things could mean. I think the hidden manna is more obvious to us as people understand the totality of scripture, but what's this white stone all about? Let's look at these things separately. In fact, let me just start here.

This is not as complicated as people make it out to be. Because when you look at this letter, you'll learn that what Jesus is offering here counters the evil substitutes that some of these Christians were tempted by. What were they condemned for? Going to these feasts that were dedicated to false gods and engaging in sexual immorality. What the Lord is saying, hey, instead of indulging in those feasts, why don't you eat some of the manna that I have?

And instead of finding your trust and finding your thrill and illicit behavior, why don't we deepen our relationship? I have hidden manna. Remember what manna was? Right? The name actually means, what is it?

Back in Exodus, they didn't know what it was. It was a flake like thing that would show up in the dew every morning. What is it? And it had like a, honey flavor to it, but more importantly, it was supernaturally provided. It was something that God gave every single day.

And interestingly, the Lord is so precise. He says, I have hidden manna. He didn't just say manna. I have hidden manna. Oh, how do we make sense of that?

Well, we learned that when this manna first arrived on the scene, the Israelites were instructed to take a jar of that manna and to put it where? In the Ark of the Covenant. To be preserved. And that manna never rotted. If you had manna one day and you try to, because of your unbelief, put some in your pocket or in your cupboards because you didn't know if God was gonna provide the next day, it would turn into worms.

But this one little jar of manna was kept in the presence of God in that little compartment and it would serve as a memorial for the rest of their time signifying I am faithful to provide for you. Jesus says to this church, I have hidden manna for you. In other words, I have spiritual nourishment because that manna points to another substance. Jesus made it clear in John chapter six when he made bread multiply in the wilderness. They said, this is this is the prophet that Moses spoke about.

And he goes, no. I'm here to tell you that I'm not offering physical bread, the bread of heaven, me. So when he says I have this hidden manna, it's a symbolic way of saying I have spiritual nourishment. It will never waste. It will never rot.

It will never dissatisfy. And it's it's able to sustain you. It's able to satisfy you. So think about it. Why go to those feasts?

Why fellowship with unbelievers? Why go to those places that dishonor my name when I have something more permanent, more lasting, more pure for you? And then he follows it with this, I have a white stone with a new name written on the stone. Again, there's no biblical cross reference that can help us understand this and there's many many many ideas out there that in Roman times, a white stone would be used as an admission ticket into a feast if you successfully won an athletic competition or it was used in a judicial setting to say you're innocent and so they would extend a white there's all these ideas. But I believe the mystery is intentional.

So, imagine we never preached on this and you read revelation, you came up to me and you said, hey, what's this white stone about with a name written on it? You know what the right answer would be? I don't know. And you won't know either. That's the point.

Christ is making an invitation to each individual believer that if they overcome worldly Christianity, then he will give them something that will be a secret. The name that is written on it, is that a name for me? I don't know. Is it a name about him that no one's ever heard about? Quite possibly.

Either way, this depicts intimacy. Because what defines a rich deep bond is two people who share an experience, who have knowledge about something that no one else does. Some of you husbands and wives, you have names for each other that, no one else knows about. And that's good. Because you don't want somebody else calling your husband what you call them and vice versa.

Here's the Lord saying, I wanna share a unique name between you and me. So instead of going to these women and sleeping with them, justifying it with this false doctrine of grace, Instead of you ladies throwing yourself at one guy to another from relationship to relationship, even if it's in this in this case, even if it's in the context of spiritual practice, false spiritual practice. Instead of doing that, I'm inviting you closer to my heart. I wanna exchange something with you that will be more meaningful than anything else outside. Are these things ultimately realized in heaven?

You can make a case for that. Yes. Can you say that it's gonna be a physical stone, a pearl of some sorts, a a gem that he'll give to you? Sure. But I also believe that in both cases, the hidden manna and this white stone, the idea behind it is available now.

You know what the secret is to overcoming the seductions of this world? Satisfaction in Jesus Christ. You will never, listen to me, you will never overcome temptation unless you first taste the sweetness of Jesus. Never. And this is what he is reminding this church.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. So I must do my duty, my brethren. I must do my job, my family. This church is growing. It's exciting.

I think we see new faces every single week, and I'm thrilled about it. Not because of numbers, but because I hope that what God is doing in this place is he's raising up people who are craving the bible, the word of God being taught. But it's also very possible that there can be an esteem for the truth. There can be passion about the faith. There can be a level of faithfulness to the name of Jesus while there's also compromise somewhere else.

Does your life align with what Jesus says it means to be a disciple of his? Are you with some people doing some things, believing ideas that contradict his word? How much does his word govern your life? Let me say it this way. Are you an Antipas?

Have you determined that I'm willing to stand against anything and everything? Think about how fascinating this man was. He refused to continue to live if it meant denying Jesus. Death was something that he was willing to accept if it meant that he would end faithfully. Life was not life if he had to disown his savior.

Is that the level of conviction that you have? And it's not proven ultimately with your head on a chopping block and terrorists threatening you deny Christ or you lose your head. It's also proven in you looking out into the world, hearing all the seductions even within Christendom and you saying that's false because I know my word. That's something that Christ does not want. I will not accept it.

Jesus said this and you're saying something else, I refuse it. No matter how much it benefits my flesh, no matter how much it helps me in society, I will deny it. That's an Antipas. And for those here who have determined that, be fortified in your faith. Because Christ promised that when you overcome, you will know a level of satisfaction now and there will be a depth of your knowledge of Christ that awaits that will make anything that you resist now so worth it.

May the Lord Jesus Christ help us. Let's pray. Lord, we trust that we have ears to hear what your spirit says to this church. Thank you that you know where we dwell, and thank you that you know the condition of our hearts. We ask, Lord, that you would probe and that you would examine every person here and highlight anything that goes against what you asked of us.

Lord, may this church be a church that is pure in its teaching, that will never deviate from the word of God, that will never be ashamed of the scriptures, that will be able to say confidently, thus says the Lord, and never shy away from it. We pray that every member of this church would also have that same conviction, that we would not have a mixed crowd here, that every person would uphold the truth, that in love, in gentleness, and compassion, we would help each other stay in the truth. And so Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear all the falsehood that's being promoted around us. All the teaching that seems to be Christianity but it's distorted. Give us discernment and thank you that you've given us the tools to be discerning your word, your spirit, your people.

Lord, if there's one person in this place who knows that they're living in compromise, perhaps they're being seduced by the doctrine of Balaam, unequally yoked with others, but justifying it. Rescue them today. Rescue them today. Lord, for anybody else here who knows that they are turning their back on some component of your word, Lord, may your conviction be louder than ever, louder than ever even now. We wanna please you.

So, Lord, we pray that you sanctify the pulpit. Keep it holy. Sanctify our hearts and our minds. Keep us near you. We celebrate now because you love us enough to speak the truth to our hearts.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's sing to the Lord, shall we? Let's stand.