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330.
I'm sorry, I don't know anything different.
So.
Uh-huh.
Loving God and Father, we ask for thy health now as we would open Thy word. We just pray that what is brought before us by the Holy Spirit will be that which we need for encouragement and help on our in our pathway. Thank you for time together Father. We thank thee for the encouragement that our brother and our to us and now we would just pray that they'll help us to keep our thoughts on the meeting by self.
I think of the, uh, the heat this afternoon and thank you for this beautiful day. We just asked for thy blessing. Now as we're together, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen. Amen.
00:05:05
I suggest perhaps starting at verse 8 and just reading uh down to the last verse in chapter 2.
Revelation chapter 2.
Starting with first eight.
And unto the Angel of the church in Smyrna, right these things say at the 1St and the last, which was dead, that is alive.
I know thy works and tribulations and poverty without rich, and I know the blast from eight of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be trying, and he shall have tribulation 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that happened here, let him hear with the Spirit saith unto the churches.
It overcometh shall not be first of the second death.
And to the Angel of the Church in Pergamus right these things say, as he which hath the sharp sword is too a deep sleep. I know by works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seed is. And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among. You are saved as long. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there then that hold the doctrine of failure.
Who taught Malik to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication? So hast thou also then hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, Which thing I hate? Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith under the churches to him that overcometh will thy give eat of the hidden manna.
And will give him a light stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth dead. And unto the Angel of the Church and thyatirite these things, saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and my patience, and my works, and the last to be more than the 1St.
Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferers that woman Jezebel, which called herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants, to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication.
And she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent their deeds, and I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts.
And I will give unto everyone of you according to your works. But unto you, I say, and unto the rest in thy Tyra, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you.
None other burden without which you have already hold fast till I come.
And he that overcometh and keepeth my work unto the end, to him will I give power over the 90s. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the Potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father.
And I will give him the Morning Star.
See that happen here. Let him hear when the Spirit saith under the churches.
Each one of these churches or assemblies, I think the word is ecclesia. It really means assembly or uh.
They have a name, and the meanings of the names are very instructive. So Ephesus means amiable, and what is more amiable to Christ than the church?
Purchased with his own precious blood as his own bride. And, uh, just that picture that we have in the Old Testament of, uh, Boaz buying his wife Ruth. And uh, he didn't have to lay down his life, but we know that the Lord Jesus laid down his life. Well, emphasis here is a picture of the church in its entirety and how precious it is to the Lord. And, uh, he loved it and he just wanted that return of love. But then you have here in verse 8, the address to the assembly in Smyrna. And Smyrna, I believe, means suffering.
00:10:08
And uh, so there's uh, this assembly, the period of time, there were 10 persecutions, It says in verse 10, at the end of it, it says you shall have 10 tribulation, 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. And so the Lord in his wisdom, his kindness, his mercy, uh, that, uh, the testimony might be preserved and uh, that there might be fruit for himself.
Glory for his name at the beginning of the church age allowed persecution, he allowed suffering, and umm, the Saints turned to the Lord. There's evidence as you read of the martyrs, Fox's Book of Martyrs and other books.
Why they suffered, But there was real affection, a real devotion, a real faithfulness of the Lord because of suffering. And so they suffered in that period of time.
And the Lord allowed it. And so in the day that we live in, oftentimes there is suffering in our lives and how thankful we ought to be to the Lord for what he allows in our lives. That just draws us to himself. And sometimes he takes something away. Perhaps it's our health, perhaps it's our work, Perhaps it's something that's being a hindrance to us. And umm, we get closer to the Lord, we have that distraction removed. Or perhaps as Paul had, he's, he cried to the Lord and prayed three times.
That the thorn in the flesh might be removed and it wasn't. And, uh, the Lord says, Paul says himself that it was used of God for his preservation, that he might not be puffed up and proud because of his, uh, work among the God, the people of God. And so you have here the Lord Jesus addressing this, uh, assembly. And it's the next stage, the next period of the characterized the assembly after, uh, the.
The period of first love was uh, umm, the love of the Saints had waned a little than the suffering. The persecution came and God allowed it, as I say, and it was for that there might be fruit for himself.
Its significant in verse eight, at the end of verse eight that he says these things, say at the 1St and the last which was dead and is alive. He presents himself as the eternal one, but the one who is the resurrected 1.
He went through death. He knew what it was to be persecuted unto death.
Yeah, wonderful to have a savior that knows what suffering is. He knew when the church was going to be persecuted and, uh, in each one of these 10 persecutions, uh, periods of persecution, how much they suffered, some of them were going to be put to death. And, uh, they could look at the Lord and say he went through that. He suffered death. He was falsely accused. He was, uh, uh, barbarously, uh, treated and, uh, tormented.
And put to death. But he's a risen Savior. And so he's presented here as the one who is alive. Resurrection is a real thing. And so he gives them this as an encouragement. And he tells them how he knows their works and their tribulation and their poverty. But thou art rich. And so they were persecuted. And from one place to another they went. But the Lord, you know, preserved some. And he preserved his testimony during that era.
I noticed in the end of verse eight there in Mr. Darby's translation, these things says the first and last who became dead and lived.
And that brings that out even better, doesn't it?
I guess we can say that here in North America and the US and Canada, we.
We really don't know anything about what this is like, this kind of tribulation and suffering and persecution that the assembly in Smyrna went through. But there are there are many countries where many of our brothers and sisters, right at this very moment, our brothers and sisters in the world are separated what these brethren and smarter did.
00:15:11
Almost 2000 years ago.
I used to remember them in our prayers.
If you look at Acts chapter 8, you see the limits that God set on things very nicely here. It's, uh, Acts chapter 8 and verse one. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him.
And so the enemy was allowed to do his work, but it only produced fruit for God. There were those that it was a great persecution, but you know, it says in verse four. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.
That wonderful.
You know those dear brethren, they were poor. They left Jerusalem with nothing.
Perhaps the clothes on their back in a few possessions that they could carry. They were absolutely necessary to live. They had to leave everything behind. They were persecuted, but they were rich. They had Christ, they had eternal life. They had a home in the heavens. They had the risen Savior as an object for their hearts. And what the Spirit of God presents to them here is that it was worth suffering for Him. He suffered for them, and it was worth suffering for Him.
Net Lovely.
It's worth suffering for the Lord Jesus. Have you suffered for the Lord Jesus at all? Do you and I ever suffer for the Lord? Or would we rather escape some circumstances or some situations that we we or would be rather unpleasant? And our brother Bob has said, Robert has said quite accurately, that we're probably not going to suffer persecution to this extent and death and martyrdom in North America. But there are other ways that we can suffer for the name of Christ. We can suffer reproach. Just name the name of the Lord Jesus.
In a public way.
And so how infrequently we do it because we're gonna suffer.
There were those there who, uh.
Would have liked to have made Christianity into a religion acceptable to the flesh, to the first man, and uh.
The that which God gave to the first man is a perfect religion is contained in the Old Testament, in the law, the Jews religion, but that's been uh, done away now. And, uh, the father seeketh, uh, those who will worship him in spirit and in truth, not after just the ordinances that men can appreciate.
That have to do with sight and sound and rituals and on and on. But there were Jews here, uh, those which say they are Jews, which are really seeking to turn Christianity into a religion pleasing to the flesh so that they would escape persecution and, uh.
That really has been done. Uh, Christianity has been turned into outwardly in a religion that can be.
Pleasing to the flesh, and where the 1St man can enter in and take part and say I'm a Christian and I'm baptized and go through all kinds of things that seem very religious and satisfying to the flesh, and think he's accepted with God and suffer no persecution on account of it, because the world recognizes it and accepts it. And so there were those there who really were a plague to the suffering.
At Smyrna.
And.
The Lord recognizes what was taking place. He calls it the blasphemy.
The blasphemy and calls says they are of the synagogue. The end of verse nine of Satan who's the adversary of the people of God. There's a correlation between Smyrna.
00:20:03
Where suffering is prominent in Philadelphia later on in chapter 3, where weakness is what is prominent, thou hast little strength. And there too, and the address to Philadelphia, verse 9, Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not but to lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
And so both of these assemblies, neither is there a disparaging or a censoring word, so to speak, by the Lord. He doesn't have to say I have a few things against thee, or I have against thee this or that. There's nothing but encouragement to each of those assemblies. Suffering and weakness is acceptable in His sight. There's no censure for weakness or suffering, but they're both plagued by a religion that's pleasing to the flesh.
Uh, Christianity made acceptable to this world.
I remember when I was first saved and I went to one of the places my dad used to go to.
Talking about making things acceptable to the flesh, They didn't. They didn't just have an organ there, they had a complete orchestra. Complete orchestra.
So that wasn't worship, that was entertainment, really.
Got bored with patience at the beginning of the Christian era. And so the whole of the book of Acts generally takes up God's ways in connection with the church at in its earliest history. And his patience with those that were Judaizers, we might say. And yet his firmness with them that, uh, Christianity was not to be mixed with Judaism, that they were entirely distinct and that Christianity.
Takes up with the person of Christ and that Christ is a heavenly man and that you and I are heavenly citizens. We're sons of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. Our riches are in the heavens. And so God did not want Judaism mixed with Christianity. But as her brother has said, Judaism was acceptable to the natural man because it gave him something to do. But Christianity, Christianity, the work is all done.
It's done by Christ. We wouldn't want to add anything to it or take anything from it. And so the enemy was seeking to introduce or to corrupt the truth. And that was one of the tactics that the enemy had in the book of Acts is to corrupt the truth of God and to introduce false doctrine very, very early into the church period. But during this time of tribulation, if you look at first Peter chapter one, God not only encouraged them, the Lord Jesus himself with this letter.
But Peter encouraged them as well, and he says in chapter one and verse seven, perhaps verse 6, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations or trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, may be found under praise and honor and glory.
At the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love, and whom though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Well, the Lord was working with his Saints in the early period of the Church, and He's working today too. And our faith is tried in the fire, as it were. There are trials that come, and God is seeking in His grace, in his wisdom, in his love for us, that if there's anything that's mixed with my faith in Christ.
If I'm relying upon the flesh in any way.
That, uh, there's going to be gonna be tested in the fire and, uh, oh, how he loves us and how he delights, delights to have our faith in himself, not mixed with something else. And so today we have, uh, an age of prosperity and often times we're not as dependent as we ought to be because we have money in our wallets and things like that. And so how, how he delights to just, uh, have us to be dependent upon himself. And so the trial of their faith was precious to him.
00:25:03
Isn't that nice?
When your faith is tested and when you have a difficult trial to go through and he's testing your faith, it's precious to Him. It's precious to him to see how you respond and how you trust Him for the trial that you're going through.
I think it's important to remember when he does passes through a trial like that, it's not so he can find out what our response is, because that's because he knows what the end is from the beginning, so we can know what our response will be.
Well, there's a special encouragement given here because many of them would be martyred.
And uh, the encouragement is that be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of light.
And so their natural lives would be cut off just as the Lord's life was cut off. He was cut off in the midst of his days, says and Daniel and umm.
The Lord Jesus was murdered as a young man and many of them as children during that time of persecution. Young people.
And older people were persecuted and martyred. They were put to death. Some of them were burned at the stake, some of them were, umm, gruesomely dealt with torture. But uh, speaks of them at the end of the Hebrews Chapter 11. And, uh, they didn't accept deliverance because they would not deny the name of the Lord. And so they were faithful unto death. They were loyal to the Lord and to his name and to the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And that they were in relationship with him as the children of God and they wouldn't give it up. And so he says, I will give thee a crown of life. And so there's a special reward for those that are martyrs, those that give up their lives and their lives are naturally speaking put, uh, they're ended before the time in a cruel way. Why God has a reward. So what an encouragement it was to them, no doubt, to read these verses of Scripture.
And to realize that the Lord would reward their faithfulness. It wasn't their motive to look for that reward, but uh, they were encouraged while they laid down their lives that the Lord would see things in the proper light and that one day it would be made right.
That persecution is uh.
Well, what we can read of it is, uh, really almost beyond what the mind can take in and, uh, what the Saints suffered. And there's none of us that would read it that say, I could never, uh, endure it. I could never go through that and be faithful to the Lord. And we really, you realize after reading enough of those accounts that it's only his grace at that time that would enable anyone of his own to endure that you can't, uh.
Is it where? Plan ahead, so to speak and say, well, I'm I'm finally there. I've arrived the place where I could endure that. No, it's just His grace at the time.
And yet it was limited. He says 10 days here and that persecution, there were 10 great persecutions corresponding to this reference to 10 days under the Roman Empire. Uh, over about 250 years, there were laws that were reprieves between them. The Lord knew how much his own could endure. And, uh, they thrived in between and they thrived under it.
And, uh, all up until.
Uh, about the time of the reign of, uh, Constantine.
10 tremendous persecutions that they endured, but you know, that crown of life is referred to in another place, and that's in the book of James.
James chapter one and verse 12.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. You know we read to we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, and brought out in the previous meeting how the apostle did not hold his life dear, He laid it down for his brethren. He gave his life and service to Christ.
00:30:19
And he suffered a martyr's death too. But you know, you might not suffer a martyr's death, but if you endure that temptation, the temptations that can come and trials even in a land like this, uh, where maybe there's not persecution of being put to a stake, but they're scorning. There's a despising of a testimony for Christ and the individual life. There's a crown of life for faithfulness and enduring temptation, even if it might not end in martyrdom.
And you know, it's I. It's almost hard to say this because it might seem to speak lightly of what those Saints of God endured beyond description, but.
To, uh, be brought before council and say, either confess obedience to this idol and bow down and kiss this idol and renounce Jesus Christ or die. To say I'll, I'll never renounce him and be let out to death.
Is an act of a moment, but a lifetime of enduring temptation and standing for Christ.
Is precious in the sight of the Lord too. And he says there's a crown of life for that. Blessed is the man endure temptation. When he has tried, he shall receive a crown of life.
I remember Bob Tony telling a story once somewhere in South America, I don't remember, maybe in Bolivia, I'm not sure where these, uh, terrorists came in and they wanted, and they came into the meeting room there and they wanted them to deny the Lord Jesus by stamping on their Bibles. So some of them laid, they went outside. They, they went outside the ones that were going to stamp on their Bibles, if I remember the story correctly. So they stamped on their Bibles.
And because they because they said if they did, they were going to be shot.
So what ended up really happening was they shot the ones that stamped on their bibles and spirited ones that didn't.
I could just, uh, diverge for a moment and something that maybe has come up a little recently in connection with the thought of persecution. This was a general persecution of the Church of God and the days of Smyrna. It was widespread and most of the church was under that, in that sphere of things of, of that awful persecution.
And again, just to repeat something said in the last reading meeting in any period of the Church's history we will find.
All of the conditions I believe that are given to us and these churches somewhere, but each of them also speaks of the general condition of the Church of God at a certain period in history. So Ephesus was that very earliest period and then followed by those 10 great persecutions under the empire, Roman Empire.
And so on. And we'll, we'll go through them, Lord willing, but I don't believe in the day that we're in that the church as a whole, widespread throughout the world is going to come under a persecution in the way it was in the days of Smyrna. I don't believe Scripture bears that out again. Uh, the words of this prophecy refers to the entire book, including these two chapters. And it is true that persecution, uh, as it did in Smyrna has the effect.
Of purging the Saints of God and that which is not real.
Is is weeded out because that which is not real will never suffer for the name of Christ, and only what's real is left. It's a it's a trial of fire that purges away the dross, so to speak.
And it's true that that is the effect where there is persecution in the world today amongst believers, and it has a purifying effect. But I don't believe that we're going to see a worldwide persecution of Christians again in that way. When we come to the Church of Philadelphia, the Lord says I have set before thee an open door and none can shut. None can open it. Only he, when he opens it, none can shut it. And.
00:35:01
It's a wonderful thing to trace the history of the Church of God. There's different historians that have given it to us.
And at the time of the spread of the British Empire, in which it was said, it was an empire in which the sun never set because it spread around the globe. They had colonies around the globe. And the result of the power of that empire was a general piece. And it allowed the spread of the gospel in a wonderful way. And it really gave the underpinnings of the recovery of the truth of God that we know and enjoy today. And the Lord opened that door and he set an open door to the truth and in the lands.
And under the governments where he has set that open door and the truth is spread, I don't believe anyone will shut it. I don't believe there will be a general persecution of the Saints of God where we will not be able to meet together and practice the truth of God that has been recovered in his grace to us. Now there has been a thought that has gone out and it's gained great momentum that when Christ comes again, he's not going to come again and claim a, a church and weakness and failure and and all these kind of things, but that.
The Lord is going to allow worldwide persecution of the church, and it's going to purge out what's not real, and then Christ is going to come and claim His purified bride for himself. But that's not the testimony of Scripture. Scripture says evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. And really we get the last condition of the church, generally speaking, in Laodicea. It spewed out of his mouth that empty profession that's nauseous to him. I don't think a worldwide persecution.
Is, according to scripture, that's going to purge the church so it's pure and ready for him when he comes.
It's going to be an individual pathway. It's going to be enduring temptation, uh, for that crown of life like we have in James and those places where the Lord has set before, uh, us an open door and the, uh, opening up of the, of the truth of God and, and the way to practice it. And so one can sympathize and, and we all should feel it as we look at the condition of the Church of God today and all the sin that has come in and failure and weakness and the lukewarm state of things.
And, you know, you could almost desire maybe the persecution would come in just to clean things up, just to bring us closer to the Lord. But the desire to have it so has given birth to the doctrine that it will be so. And it's being preached. And that has LED one more step. Then the church will go through the tribulation, or at least the first half of it, to purge it, and then we'll be caught up. You see, one bad doctrine leads to another. And I'm not saying that the thought or intent behind it was bad.
But I don't believe it's according to scripture and I believe it leads on to bad doctrine as to the truth.
Of what the church will pass through in this scene.
To for the church to go through the tribulation means the church will suffer under the wrath of God, because the tribulation is the pouring out of the wrath of God.
But Christ suffered that wrath for us, and to say that the Church will have to endure wrath is as much to say Christ didn't suffer it for us. No, we may endure chastening, we may endure temptation, we may endure trial.
Will not endure wrath. We will not go through that tribulation.
As you say the enemy's tactics in chapter 3 of Revelation verse 17, this is the tactic he's using now. Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.
There was a man in Ohio that, uh, got saved a few years ago and, uh, his name is Dan Strong, Roman Catholic. He was brought up Roman Catholic and, uh, we did business for many years and, uh.
He sat in his car one day and he got saved.
His daughter had got saved and she sent him a Bible and uh.
He became in earnest about his soul and he got saved and we used to get together and have breakfast together in a restaurant every Tuesday morning and, umm, he was only saved for perhaps three or four weeks. And uh, he said to me, you know.
He said, uh, persecution didn't work very well, did it? I said, what do you mean? He said, well, persecution didn't stamp out the Christian testimony. And, uh, he says, but, uh, you know, the enemy has another tactic and it's working beyond his wildest dreams. It's called prosperity. And, uh, it's, it's really working very well. So I don't think he's gonna change his tactics. Now, this is a man that saved maybe three or four weeks. And he had that discernment to know that, uh, the enemy's tactic today is to lull the Saints to sleep.
00:40:14
And to occupy them with riches and goods and all those things that are brought out in, umm, Revelation Chapter 3, typically. But as you say, the persecution ended at the time of umm, Constantine, perhaps the, uh, uh, perhaps around the year 300 or 313, I think it was. And umm, so then they, that period of church, uh, church history, Pergamus begins.
And it becomes a mixture of the world and the Church, a worldly religion. But what the Lord was seeking to preserve right now at this time with the persecution, was to preserve that testimony for Himself.
What has been brought out by, uh, Steve and Robert is is borne out by the fact that when we look at Laodicea, not to jump ahead too much, but.
There's really no mention of, uh, that kind of persecution. There's, there's kind of a false, uh, empty shell of profess profession of being, uh, an assembly. A third says I will do that out of my mouth. That's the false part of the way to see it. Umm.
And then there are there are those who he says, those whom I love, verse 19 of chapter 3, as many as I love. I refuse to umm.
And so on in first and then in verse 20, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and come into him, and we'll stop with him. And he was me, and to him that overcometh boy ran to sit with me in my throne.
So on so there were those who were real and lazy part of the bride of Christ and and they will be they'll be fine. They'll they'll be taken up at the rapture. But the profession of of later the seat as an assembly has a testimony the Lord would have to do that as really no persecution.
Spoken of there, and the Lord walks in the midst of the assembly, and he sees who is who, who is real and who is not. And he owed to his work according to what he says.
Messages to the seven churches and kind of think to ourselves, well, yeah, they were wrong at this and they were wrong at that. And over here they they had this. That was wrong and we're OK.
We're we're, we're, we're going on, we're by the praise of God, we believe we're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus alone.
But there's a danger for us to think that all these things that are brought out here in these seven epistles.
Or for all the other Christians in the world. And we're we don't really need them because we're OK.
Let's be honest with ourselves, brother. And I speak to myself first.
We need these expectations that are in the 70s ethical and the word says here in each one. I believe through each one. He's 1/2 an ear. Let him hear what the Spirit says unto the church.
Sometimes I wonder.
If the Lord.
To, uh, give us instructions to send a.
Send uh to write to the to the assembly in Montreal or the assembly investor or wherever it might be.
What would he have to say to us, President? So let's take to heart and apply these things to ourselves, not to other Christians that we see around us that we think are on the wrong track. Maybe the Lord has unto the Lord has things for us to see.
00:45:21
To keep up on the right track following him.
The last, uh, word that he gives to them is umm.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee crown of life. Umm, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says under the churches. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. And so you might say, Well, why does he bring this in here?
He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. Well, I wonder if it isn't that the fact that there was already false doctrine creeping into the church and umm, there were those that, uh, even in that day began to attack the work of Christ, the person of Christ, the finished and the holy work. And, uh, with question eternal security. And we have that even in the day that we live in those that would say that, uh, it's possible to be saved and lost again. And, uh, those kinds of, uh, false doctrines, but the Lord Jesus himself.
I find this very comforting that in spite of all of the error that has come into the Christian profession, we can go back to the very words of the Lord Jesus and how the apostles have built upon His word as well. And umm, he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. And so there is life. They were looking forward to life with Christ, to depart and to be with Christ. It wasn't going to be trying to hold on to salvation for themselves, but the work was already done.
So I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
Now you have this address to the church at Pergamos, this assembly here in the state of things for the next, uh, uh, couple 100 years, maybe 170 years or so, 180 years, you have, umm, Pergamus and Pergamus, uh, uh, the name means, uh, I believe twice married. And it wasn't just umm, uh, the church in testimony, uh, being associated with Christ himself, but it was.
Uh, really, uh, the church joining forces with the world and accepting the protection of the world. And that's really a part of what, uh, brought down the, umm, umm, the, uh, time, the period of the Reformation. They joined with the world as well, didn't they? But here at the, uh, to escape the persecution perhaps, and, uh, to lessen the, uh, stress, they, uh, compromised. And, umm, uh, as brother Steve has alluded to earlier is, uh.
Christianity became the, uh, accepted religion of the of the Roman, Roman Empire, and so here they joined with the world. It says, uh, I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seed is.
And so the Satan seat is, it really speaks of the seat of the government of this world. And the enemy is the, uh, God and the Prince of this world. And he's behind the, he was behind the Roman Empire that were when they took the Lord Jesus and uh, in an unrighteous way, crucified him, the Lord of glory and in an unrighteous way, he's in the behind the scenes.
Uh, moving men and, umm, a part of the government of this world, this world system. Now we know that the Lord is over it all, and I'll just turn to that in Roman in, uh, Revelation chapter 17 and verse 17.
Revelation 17 and verse 17 it says, For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree, and to give their Kingdom under the the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And so all that men are doing in this world politically is being allowed of God and we may be distressed in some measures. We see the decline of the government in the United States and in Canada in the western Christian world. But God is allowing it and all that man is doing is only bringing forth the purposes of God.
Things are being set up that the during the tribulation the conditions will be right for the judgments to be executed as the Lord has outlined them to be in this Book of Revelation. So in Pergamus we have the mixture of the Church with the world.
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God hates the mixture, doesn't he?
God hates the mixture.
He hates the mixture.
Keep thyself pure. That's for the individual. But when it comes to a collective testimony, there's responsibility. And so This is why he writes to those that are in oversight. In that assembly to the Angel of the Church of Pergamos, there were those that were responsible brethren at that time, and they were responsible for how the Christian testimony was reflected before this world.
When Constantine had that vision.
In a battle that he was in or he claimed to have a vision, we don't know that he really did, but I had a vision. And so he said of the cross and he heard these words in this sign conquer. And so he put the cross on the top of the Roman standards right there with the rest of the idolatrous symbols that were there. And he went on and he was victorious and, uh.
So in, in, in the end, Christianity was adopted as the religion of the Roman Empire. Uh, Roman armies were marched through rivers to baptize them and make them Christian And, uh, the profession of Christianity swelled and all of a sudden these, uh.
Brothers and sisters in Christ that had been so persecuted were now instead of being chased and hounded, they were at a different status. And those who had been leaders among the Saints of God were now welcomed into the courts of kings and given honors and given power and privileges and money. And all of a sudden, you know, to someone out there in the world, that was quite a thing to have. Well, I think I'll get religion too. And I think I, I can do that too. And, and pretty soon there was all kinds.
Of unreality that just swelled into the ranks of professing Christianity, and it began to grow tremendously. There are some things of note, though. Here he does say, And thou holdest fast my name, and has not denied my faith. In that period of time there were some great councils of leaders of the Church, and discussions came up as two doctrines as to the person of Christ and the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
And God overruled in those things, and they they held on.
To the truth of Christ Person is the eternal Son of God, His incarnation.
And his perfect manhood, his sinless humanity and so on, as well as the fundamentals of the faith of, of salvation and so on. But what was happening in the background was these, uh, uh, unbelievers coming in and bringing idolatry with them. They didn't leave their idolatrous practices behind and it wasn't judged. And instead the church began to go out and say, well, as one Pope said, uh.
Uh, well, you can't stop them from getting drunk, but is it? They're gonna get drunk. Let's, uh, have them get drunk in the name of Christ and took their Pagan festivals and gave them Christian names and, uh, stamp Christ on all that idolatry, all that was swelling in even at the same time that those councils were held, that, uh, were overruled of God, that preserved the doctrines of Christ and the fundamentals of the faith. And so the Lord's seen with an unseen sheathed sword, He's about to judge this.
He's not going to allow this to go on. And he says, repent. You've got uh, uh, those that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who's cast a stumbling block before my people to cause him to sin. What did Balaam do? He told Balak, if you can go get the children of Israel to sacrifice to idols and commit fornication, you'll bring the judgment of God down on them. And that's exactly what swelled into the church was idolatry. And they came in and got stamped with a Christian name. It's still with us today, brethren.
These things are real.
These things are very real and I know it's, it's somewhat mocked, but you know, Christmas is a Pagan, uh, holiday stamped with the name of Christ. It absolutely is. There is not an encyclopedia that you can pick up in the library. They won't tell you that. This is a common knowledge. Easter, Halloween, all of these things that were adopted by the church are just Pagan in their origins. Have they changed their character on the sight of God because of the years?
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As God said in some spiritual alchemy that what was sin is not sin any longer.
It's very real. And yes, as our brother said, it's not just Pergamus that needs to have these things applied. We do too. We do as well. Idolatry came in and got have the name of Christ stamped upon it. And the Lord says I'm ready to judge that. I'm ready to judge it. But he says repent. He calls them to repent. He desires to have a change among his people and to to see what he's going to judge and be separate from it for his glory.
And he brings out here the fact that there was a faithful martyr in those days, one that wouldn't compromise, one that was faithful. And he says even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. And so there were those that were faithful, as you say, that wouldn't bow the knee to those that were idolatrous. And, uh, oftentimes.
They were persecuted. He mentions one name and God in his grace, uh, in his kindness as an encouragement, I believe to us and others in different dispensation in different areas of the church history. And, uh, even at this end of the age period, perhaps, uh, brethren and, uh, China and other places where they're still persecuted to death, The name of Antipas is there, Antipas, my faithful martyr. So God recognizes individuals.
They're never forgotten. And so don't think that I'm just a person that's not gonna make a difference. None of us liveth unto himself and no man dies unto himself. It says in Romans, I think it's chapter 14. And so everyone of us makes a difference. And if you desire to walk faithfully with the Lord and hold the truth of God, enjoy the truth of God and to uh, uh, enjoy the things that have to do with the work of and, uh, the person of the Lord Jesus, you're going to encourage your brother.
Be faithful in it. And the enemy is doing everything he can to get us to give up a little bit of Paul's doctrine. Just a little bit. Not all of it, but just a little bit. Now, if you just take a little bit of it away and soften it a little bit, then, umm, you know, the natural, the flesh will say that, uh, there will be more prosperity in the church. There'll be more, uh, it'll be more acceptable to the Saints and so on. But oh, how wonderful it is that all of God's truth is perfect. And it's, uh, that which nourishes us and.
Paul could say to Timothy in chapter 2, second Timothy chapter 2 and verse two. He says the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. There are thou therefore endure hardness as a soldier, a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So isn't it nice this man Antipas is mentioned he made a difference in his life.
In his testimony, his life was cut short because of it. But you and I can make a difference in the Christian testimony today if we're faithful to Christ, faithful to the truth of God, faithful to the Word, loyal to the Lord Jesus because he's worthy of being loyal to.
We passed over it, but I might just mention in verse 12, just at the end of verse 12, it says these things sayeth he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. And so the real failure became came in because the word of God was set aside and your the failure in your life and mine. If there's failure in the assembly, failure in the home, whatever it might be, it begins because we set aside some portion of the word of God.
And we?
Walk in lawlessness.
In our own wills. And so the Lord reminds them about his word. Cut two ways. It was sharp. 2 edged sword.
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Now he mentions it again in verse 16. Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against thee.
Against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says under the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hinted manna.
Well, the sword of his mouth, his word is not going to change. He's not going to compromise his word. And so they lived in an era of compromise as we do, don't we?
That sort of you're a little slip. And then correction. Brother Robert is helpful. He says, I'll come unto thee quickly. But the sword, he says, I'll fight against them. Those that the Angel of the Church of Pergamus had allowed in and should not have allowed in. That which came in and should have been judged but was not judged. And it's the same with you and I. The sword is not against us, but against whatever we might allow in our lives. That's evil. Then the Lord applies it in that way. Judgment is behind us.
But the sword gets applied to that which we might allow in our lives, and collectively as well. And so he says, I'll come unto thee, uh, fight against them. If they won't purge that out, then he's going to use the sword to purge it out, is really the thought.
This is the birth of Christendom, which is a contraction for Christ's Kingdom.
When the world and the church merged, so to speak, and the church became worldly and the world became churchy, and uh, you. It's that which the Lord spoke of more in connection with the Kingdom of heaven, of that mustard seed that grew into a great tree and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches. This was the beginning of its tremendous growth. We get its full growth in the next church, Thyatira.
I'd like to make a comment in connection with the overcomer.
The umm.
In the first three churches that we have here, we have this statement, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, and then you have the promise to the overcomer.
In the last four.
You have the promise to the overcomer, and then you have the statement. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. There's a difference there. I'd like to turn to the Book of Numbers, just for a moment.
Numbers, Chapter 13.
I believe what as Justin brought before us, the disciples in the Gospels were faced with the overwhelming odds of of the world closing in upon him. The Lord Jesus could say be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.
And here in Numbers chapter 13.
Which is really the first time in the Word of God that we have the thought of overcoming.
We have umm and I'll read a few verses here.
Uh, in verse 26.
They went and came to Moses and to Aaron. This is after they returned from from spying out the land.
And umm, to all the congregation, the children of Israel under the wilderness of Perrin and Kadish, and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and show them the fruit of the land. And told him, and said, We came to the land, whither thou sendest, And surely it blows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Nonetheless the people be strong as well in the land. The cities are walled and very great. And moreover we saw the children of Enoch there. And then the amount the Amalekites will the land of the South and the Hittites.
And the Jebusites in the Amorite dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan, All these overwhelming odds against the people of God. And now we find in verse 30 and Caleb still the people before Moses, and said, let us go up at once and possess us where we are well able to overcome.
But the people that went up with him said we are not able to go up against the people before they'd be stronger than we.
Well, we could go on further and just see what transpired, but here in our chapter we find that every time there is that which is presented to the overcomer.
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It's in connection with overwhelming odds that are absolutely possible to deal with in the arm of the flesh every single time.
And I just enjoy how every time there is something that is presented to the overcomer, it's presented in relation to the difficulty that was there. Just for example, in the first example, we have Ephesus and we have the difficulty of how they left their first level. What's presented to the overcomer, that which is the most beautiful picture of.
Of that tremendous love of Christ as seen in the cross. That is what's presented to the overcomers. So we have that in each case.
Where there is something that is presented to the overcomer, it's in relation to that which is on their plate at that particular time. But I would just like to draw our attention to the 17th verse where we have in connection with, umm, those deer ones at Pergamos. He's at half an ear. Let him hear with the Spirit, dance under the churches to him, and overcome us. I will give to eat of the hidden manna.
Yeah, we know. We think of the man that was was given to the people of God all the way through the wilderness, and then we think of that portion that was taken and put in the ark that nobody could see except God. And yet here, when there is this situation where there is overwhelming odds against the dear ones at Pergamos, what is presented to those that could overcome was that portion of Christ that only God could see. But those that would overcome, it's just like God says. Well, you know, I'm going to let you have a little look.
And that which I enjoy, my beloved son, the Lord Jesus. And So what he gives is a little portion of the hidden manner that only he could see. You know, it's so beautiful to go through each of the overcomers and to see that which is presented to them is in relation, relation to the difficulty that was before them. And it's so beautiful that with overwhelming odds, that which is absolutely impossible for them to deal with in their natural in their natural flesh, they could go through with the Lord, just like the Lord could say to the disciple of the good cheer. I have overcome the world, just like Caleb could say. And he's still the people. Don't worry about the odds, the people.
There in that day they, they took the difficulties and they compared it with themselves, but Caleb took the difficulties and compared them with the Lord. And the result was there was that overcoming spirit and there was great blessing brought. Well here in this portion we have that spirit, that portion of Christ that's hidden from all. And yet to the overcomer that's opened up and the overcomer can see that portion of Christ that God sees in His beloved Son.
Just as thought as to the overcomer.
I think that's beautiful, and we have to remember that the only way we can be overcomers is because the Lord Jesus himself has already overcome.
Satan would like us to you know, he would like to twist our thinking into thinking, well, you can you can do something really wonderful for for the Lord. He knows he can't take our salvation away. So he.
But he can twist our thoughts so that we get off track and he'll say to us, well, you can be a real hero, you know, amongst the world's people and, and be an overcomer, umm, in your own strength. But it's not in our own strength that we can be overcomers. It's because the Lord Jesus himself has overcome. And in the 5th chapter, I I've just enjoyed noticing that the.
In chapter 5.
Where umm the end of verse five, one of the elders says to John, the uh lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. I believe in Mr. Darby's translation it says that he is overcome.
So as to be able to open the the book and to.
The Lord Jesus has overcome, and if we're going to be overcomers in any way, it has to be in His power and his strength and because of what he has done.
What more encouraging to, uh, a child of God and a condition of things like Pergamus where the worldly church isolates him and his desire to be separate from all that's going to be judged and all that dishonours the Lord. What more encouraging to him in walking and in a separated path despised by others than to feed on the hidden manna. The the Lord said, I am that bread from heaven.
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The manna is Christ once humbled here.
Christ come down into this world and walking a lowly path, and to have his own pathway opened up to the soul by God himself to see Him in all his moral glory.
In his earthly pathway, he himself, who is separate from his brethren, was cast off and despised. You couldn't get a greater encouragement for one who was isolated by Pergamus.
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
Alright, our God and our Father, we look to thee now and thank thee for thy precious word once again. And we pray that we might glean these things for our own souls, not only to be instructed as to uh, what has uh, befallen, uh.
By people and all that has come into the profession to see what thou art uh, judging but to have its own application in our souls, each one of us individually and collectively. And we pray that we might be encouraged by thy precious word because the word to the overcomer. What more uh precious could thou uh, uh thing could thou give to us than thine only begotten Son who thou gave him calvers cross and thou thou it's given.
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Uh, to us is the occupation of our renewed hearts.
And so we pray that it might be so with each one of us in a real way to enjoy, to take up and, uh, and holy hands hold our precious Savior, whom we have heard, whom we have seen, whom we have looked upon.
And our hands have handled of the word of life. So we commit ourselves to thee now in his precious and worthy name.