Be Strong in the Lord.
.
To the angel of the church in Pergamum
write:
These are the words of Him who has the sharp,
double-edged sword.
I know where you live--where Satan has his
throne. Yet you remain true to My name. You did not renounce your
faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness, who was
put to death in your city--where Satan lives.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:
You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak
to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and
by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who
hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon
come to you and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.
I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known
only to him who receives it. Revelation
2:12-17 |
The speaker is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
sharp, double-edged sword is the word of God, which is able to slay both
sin and sinners! God’s word is powerful, and when used properly it
is able to stop Satan in his steps. Use it!
As believers, we do not need to fear this sword...
if we are walking in obedience.
Jesus states, "I
know where you live… where Satan has his throne!"
He knew that they had a very tough assignment and He honored their strength
for staying where they were planted. He commends them for remaining
true to God even when Antipas was killed – right there in the city where
Satan lives.
The Lord knows what opportunities we have for
serving Him. As a matter of fact, He arranges them. The Bible
teaches that the Lord "orders our steps." Psalm
37:23 He also is aware of our
temptations and the discouragements we experience. When going through
trials, the church of Pergamos had not denied the faith, fallen into unbelief,
or given in to fear. Christ commends them for being steadfast, but
reproves their sinful failures. You see, God has a high standard
for us to uphold. Jesus gave His very life for us, and it makes
sense to God that we should give our whole life to Him.
NEVERTHELESS!
We often see bumper stickers that have one
simple word on them: "Nevertheless." That is in reference to what Jesus
prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was praying just before being
arrested and put to death. At that time He prayed, “O My Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will,
but as Thou wilt.” Matthew
26:39 KJV Here it makes our blood
run cold! Do you ever worry that God may feel this way toward us?
"You are doing good; nevertheless…."
"Nevertheless, I have a few things against
you. You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam."
His story is found in the book of Numbers. Balaam was not an Israelite,
but an internationally known priest-diviner. Balak thought that this
man could put curses on the Israelites, and he hired him to do so.
God, however, told Balaam not to do so. At first Balaam turned down the
men that Balak sent, so Balak sent more men with promises of great financial
reward. Well, Balaam tried to talk God into letting him go.
He got permission, but then the Angel of the Lord stopped the donkey he
was riding on. This happened three times, and each time he beat the
donkey. On the third time God let the donkey speak! The man
actually got into a conversation with the donkey!
Read it sometime – it is great reading.
In the end, Balaam told them how to destroy
the Israelites through sexual immorality. Because of that, he was killed.
That story is found in Numbers 31. You have to read the text closely,
but it is there.
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
The person who misunderstands Christian liberty
will fall into a number of sins. The church at Pergamum did just
that. And it is still going on. I have heard of people who
thought if you prayed before committing sexual sins that God would not
consider it a sin. Ignorance is amazing! God has taken away
the curse for eating foods offered to idols. (See
1 Corinthians 8.)
The Nicolaitans also taught that sexual sins
were not wrong.
When we teach (or allow) false doctrine, it
plants a root of bitterness in the church. It is imperative that
we teach a life of holiness without teaching legalism. James
3:2 states, "We all stumble in many ways.
If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able
to keep his whole body in check."
So love the sinner and help him or her grow in the Lord. Just don’t
teach false doctrine, which includes permissiveness. When someone
messes up they need to repent. But God is wise enough to convict
them -- convicting sinners is not our job. It is also important
to forgive ourselves when we sin!
Revelation 2:16 is powerful! "Repent
therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against
them with the sword of my mouth."
God really wants us to repent! Repentance is turning from sin, being
truly sorry we have sinned. True sorrow comes when we realize that
we have offended the best friend we ever had! And who is that friend?
Jesus!
God says, If
you don’t repent, I will fight against you!
| If anyone teaches false doctrines and does
not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly
teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy
interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy,
strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men
of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness
is a means to financial gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world, and
we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge
men into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith
and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God,
flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance
and gentleness.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take
hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good
confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God,
who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying
before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this
command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which God will bring about in His own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives
in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him
be honor and might forever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6: 3-16 |
| The
saintly Horatius Bonar, reflecting on faithfulness, stated that the little
things could either make or break a Christian.
He
wrote, "A holy life is made up of a multitude of small things. It
is the little things of the hour and not the great things of the age that
fill up a life like that of the apostles Paul or John, or David Brainard,
or Henry Martyn. Little words, not eloquent speeches or sermons;
little deeds, not miracles or battles, or one great heroic effort or martyrdom,
make up the true Christian life. It's the little constant sunbeam,
not the lightning, the waters of Siloam that go softly in their meek mission
of refreshment, not 'the waters of the rivers great and many' rushing down
in torrent, noise, and force, that are the true symbols of a holy life." |
As we serve the Lord it is very important to
keep our eyes on the goal -- and the goal is serving God in a way that
pleases Him. The Bible teaches us that we should not compare our selves
to others. Jesus is our standard!
Each one should test his own actions.
Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody
else, for each one should carry his own load. Anyone who receives
instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap
destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will
reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at
the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 5:4-9 |
Faithfulness is very important,
even if we do not understand what God has in mind!
| Pauline
Hylton writes,
My
parents, Salvation Army officers, were out on a miserable December night
for an open-air meeting. Not another person was around, but my dad
said, "God doesn't need people to be out listening--he only needs
us
to be faithful." So they played a few carols and Dad gave a short
message before everyone retreated inside.
A
few weeks later, Dad was ringing the bell at a mall when a lady asked him
if he had been on that street corner two weeks earlier. She explained:
"My father had been in a coma for six months. We were dreading the
holidays since Dad was not really with us. But then we heard the
carols, and to our amazement, my father sat up and said, 'That's God's
music.' And with that he died." We seldom know how much we
encourage others.
Citation: Pauline Hylton, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 6.
PreachingToday.com |
God’s message for us today
1. He wants
us to be faithful to Him. He wants us to remove sin from our own
lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. Because we have a fallen
nature, we cannot clean up our own lives! We must have the help of
God!
2. He wants
us to keep the doctrine of the church pure. Church is not a social
club. And doctrine is not a club we use to bully others. Church
is a place where we serve and worship God and we teach God’s word according
to the way God wants it taught. Not all scripture needs interpretation!
God is able to speak plainly! Not everything Jesus used was a parable.
Sometimes He spoke very plainly, like when He said, “Go and sin no more!”
3. He wants
to set the standard for our lives! “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Let us close with Isaiah 30:15-21.
| This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy
One of Israel, says:
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in
quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee!
You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your
pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a
flag staff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He
rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed
are all who wait for Him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help!
As soon as He hears, He will answer you. Although the Lord gives
you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will
be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether
you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind
you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." |
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