Okay, shalom everyone. Let's us turn please to the book of the Revelation this afternoon in a new covenant in the Brit HaChadashah. Revelation chapter 2, we are going to look into a few verses that deal with the letter that was written to the church of Pergamos or Pergamum. You remember that we have studied how the Messiah Yeshua, the glorified Messiah, after he finished the work on the tree, on the cross, God has raised him from among the dead, placed him at the pinnacle of the universe, and he has given a letter that John would put down on a paper in order to give it to those churches.

this not one letter in a sense it is of course the whole book of revelation but seven letters seven messages to seven local assemblies in asia minor and i want to read those verses in verse 12 to verse 17 and just talk a little bit about this to help us to understand what he was writing to this particular church verse 12 and unto the angel of the church of Pergamos write these things says he which has the sharp sword with two edges I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is and thou holdest fast my name and has not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwell.

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Bil'am, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that 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 says unto the churches to him that overcometh will I give to it of the hidden manner and I will give to him white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it and I stop here with this passage today now beloved brothers and sisters I tell you that one thing we do learn from those passages of Scripture, that God, even though He's writing now 2,000 years ago through the Apostle John, giving this information to those seven assemblies, local assemblies in Asia Minor, those seven letters that were written in chapter 2 and chapter 3 of the book of Revelation are really addressed as well to us today.

think about that in every local area whether it is toronto here or jerusalem or tel aviv or any place in this world there are local assemblies that are founded god save people bring them into a relationship with himself and then what happened once they get saved they become children sons and daughters of the father they form a local assembly in area whether it is a toronto in our case it be anywhere else in this world and every local assembly local church have a certain condition in this local assembly see what is an assembly what is a church a church is not a building a church is not brick and stone a church is believers in the lord jesus the messiah which united together, and they formed an assembly, a local testimony.

Now, when John received the revelation from Yeshua the Messiah, years ago, 1900, 2000 years ago, the Lord had addressed those local assemblies one by one, naming certain things, certain problems that existed in each one of them. You remember we studied the church of Ephesus from verses 1 to verse 7. This is the assembly, the local assembly that existed in a city called Ephesus. Ephesus means desirable. They had a desirable condition, but there was a problem and a reason there, if you remember. They have left their first love. They maintained good doctrine, good teaching. They did a lot of good deeds, but there was a problem there. And the problem was that instead of the affection that they once had for Yeshua, they have left it, and their affection was set in someplace else.

In fact, that particular church, as we have studied it, had a danger of neglecting to do the right thing, priority neglected. Then last week, last Shabbat meeting, we talked about the second church by the name of Smyrna. And we discovered that this was a suffering church. A local assembly that suffered. You know what? I don't know if you and I realize how much believers suffer today for the name of Yeshua the Messiah in many, many countries. But this particular church of Smyrna really suffered the Roman persecution. They have suffered so much that he promised them the crown of life for those that have been faithful to him the name smyrna come from the word more or mar in hebrew mara mar which is bitterness they have experienced bitter persecution and suffering by the hands of the roman persecution and we talked about that they would suffer for 10 days we have looked at and those 10 days represented either 10 literal days or other 10 Roman emperors that have caused a lot of persecution upon the believers in this area or this time of the Roman persecution and you remember it's not only that he's dealing with local churches he also gives us a church history here the first church Ephesus talk about the first hundred years of church history the second church deal with us from about the 100 to 313.

The lesson that we learned from the church of Smyrna is the period of time of Roman persecution of the body of Messiah. They have experienced much persecution. By the time we get to the third church, we get another aspect of the experience of a local assembly but it also deals with a history of the church from about 313 AD all the way to about 600 AD. It's another period in church history. We're going to talk about it but before we're going to talk about the period of church history we want to talk about this condition that existed in this local assembly. You notice first of all the Lord is addressing the local assembly the local church and you notice what he says to them in verse 12 he began with the destination where does he write to it says in verse 12 and unto the angel of the church of Pergamum or Pergamos we have just came from there a few months ago visiting Asia Minor visiting Turkey and we've literally have been in the location there are many ruins in the area of Pergamos today but Pergamos and the meaning of the word pergamum is much marriage.

Much marriage. It talks about a church that became married to, if you will, to the world and its system. It's a church that was mixed with some things of God and some things that have crept in into the church at that particular time. The word pergamum is speaking about much marriage.

there is various ways of looking at this a elevated marriage i have a note here in my notebook here elevated marriage they have been elevated and they end up married to this world if you will to the roman empire that was influencing the believers at that time and so the lord is writing and he says unto the angel of the church of pergamos write and in verse 12b he is giving us a description of the messiah who is the one that is writing it says in verse 12b it says these things write he which has a sharp two-edged sword in his hand you see this description of the messiah having that sword in another passages

in hebrews it's speaking about the word of god is like a sword with two edges it's like a two-edged sword the word of God is really cutting or dividing asunder and telling us when we are right and when we are wrong when we are walking in the right way and when we are walking in the wrong way and he's the one that's holding that sword in chapter 1 earlier in verse 16 it says that he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went sharp two-edged sword it's the word of god see the one that is speaking to the local assembly at pergamos is the one that coming out of his

mouth this two-edged sword and isn't it true beloved brothers and sisters the word of god oftentimes when we take it in a proper way and appropriated to our lives it speaks to us it convicts us it shows us where we are wrong and where we need to be corrected and he is writing to this local assembly to pergamos and he says i am the one that have this two-edged sword i am the one that is able to judge you to deal with you to correct you and to instruct you and he's writing to this local church of Pergamos and you see what happened in the next verse he is giving them a commendation before he

deal with their problem he first of all give them a commendation you know we oftentimes in our dealing with people we don't find something positive first of all we immediately find something negative and immediately we deal with the negative before we deal with the positive here's the lord jesus the messiah the glorified messiah telling to john to write down to this local assembly and he's telling them listen first of all you tell them something that i'm commanding them i have something to command them and so in verse 13 he's saying to them i know your works i know what you are doing I know your works, and apparently they had certain things that they have

done.

He says, I know everything about you. He says, I know your works, and also he's saying to them in verse 13, he says, I know where you dwell. Now, remember, Pergamos was known as the first city in Asia Minor where there was set up a temple worship of Caesar as God. Actually, the worship of Caesar as God began in that location called Pergamos. And there, there was a local assembly of believers, professing believers. They were dwelling there. They were part of this city. But in that particular city, there was actually a lot of cult worship.

the caesar was worship there was a worship of all kind of gods and zeus and others and in the midst of it there was a local assembly who were dwelling there and the lord jesus telling them i know your works and i know where you dwell and you notice look what he's saying to them in verse 13 he says even where satan throne is you know sometimes we think that just the same like the lord jesus have a throne in heaven satan have a throne in hell but actually it's not correct satan is dwelling every time if you will he is the prince of the power of the air like we have it in the

new testament he's the god of this world we have it in second corinthians chapter 4 is the prince of the power of the air we have it in the book of ephesians and every time he set his throne in different areas in a different way he's seeking to lead the world away from god well what we find out here the lord jesus from heaven the glorified yeshua ha-mashiach is saying to john john i know where this group of professing christians dwell professing believers dwell they are dwelling in a city called Pergamos and that area you are in an area even where Satan throne is why because out of that city of Pergamos the worship of

Caesar as God has started there were all kind of temples and altars that have been situated there where there was all kind of cultish things have been done by men the worship of all kind of gods and right there this group of believers of professing believers have been there in that local area and so can you imagine can you imagine how difficult it must have been for those particular group of people to dwell in an area where cultish worship had been so prevalent, so exposed, and they had to make a decision like the one that was before them, like Smyrna, whether they will worship, will say Caesar is Lord, or whether they will say Yeshua,

Jesus is Lord.

So you know what happened? Now, let me just go back a little bit when it comes to history, a little bit to mix with this, a little bit, not only the local setting, but also to look at it in a progressive setting of the church age, the church period of time. While the first hundred years we have Ephesus, where there was a desirable condition, apostolic assembly, Jewish believers who came to faith in the Messiah, preached the gospel to the world around them, there was a good, healthy condition. Then the church have gone through history of persecution by the Romans. And can you believe it? when they were so persecuted, all of a sudden, at about year 313, we have the famous story of Constantine.

And you remember Constantine was one of those emperors? The church had mingled, the church religion became, the church of Christianity became the world religion. And he imposed Christianity upon the Roman Empire. And so everybody became a Christian. people or babies have been baptized by the hundreds by the thousands everybody become a christian professing christian apparently he is the one who has set the first pope in the city of rome and what happened is that constantine have helped to have the church mingled together with the world and there was that marriage of church and state now just think with me while the church called to be called out one a people that are separated from this world here come constantine and mingle them together and if you remember in the time of smyrna the believers the church have suffered persecution now all of a sudden those who were part of the church were being elevated They're no longer persecuted.

They had to make a decision. Well, before they had to decide whether to say Caesar is Lord or Yeshua is Lord. Now, there is no fear anymore of persecution. And they started to say, wow, they had to make a decision. Are they going to mingle with the world? Are they going to make Christianity allow all kind of things, cultish things to enter in with true faith in Christ and the Messiah? And what happened, things have completely changed. And from about the year 313 A.D. all the way to about 600 A.D., there was a period of time in church history where the world and the church were mingled together.

And what happened? All kind of things have been allowed. The fundamental teaching of the Word of God had been set aside. And all kind of things have been crept in And that's where we are today with all kind of teaching that we are hearing today about what, how a person can get saved. And a person can get saved through baptism and all kind of things that have been taught that are really not found in the Word of God. And so, what happened? Here is the Lord Jesus telling to John and John putting on paper through the angel. He says, write to Pergamos, I'm the one that holds the sword with two edges.

he says i know where you local assembly of pergamos where you dwell you are dwelling where satan's cities and notice what he's commending them still he's saying to them you hold the fast my name and you have not denied my faith now what happened in the midst of this there was some commendation that he gave to this local assembly and he says even though You are located in an area where Satan has so much power. A throne was coming from there. You hold fast my name and you do not deny my faith. You know, there's two expressions. My name and my faith are very interesting.

You know that it is amazing that a Christian or a believer in Yeshua the Mashiach, the Messiah, When there is time coming and he's challenged, is he going to not deny the faith and hold faith to the name of Yeshua the Messiah? There are time coming that Christians, or believers I should say, would be challenged whether they are going to not deny the name of Yeshua and not deny, as it says here, not deny his faith.

the faith which was once given to those apostles the faith that had been given to us through the word of God like we have in the book of Jude as we have if you just turn back for a moment to the book of Jude just turn back book of Jude just some verses there Jude the servant of Yeshua the messiah the brother of james to them that are sanctified by god the father and preserved in yeshua the messiah and call this mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied beloved when i gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you

that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints you notice this expression earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints i remember listening to an interview that one of the sisters in Israel have given when somebody asked her in Arad in south of Israel they asked her do you mean to say that you have to believe in Yeshua the Messiah in order to be saved do you mean that you have to believe in Yeshua the Messiah in order to have your sins forgiven do you have to share the name of Yeshua the Messiah with others around is it so important well the Bible teaches there

is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved nobody is going to be saved other than the name through the name of Yeshua we don't say it the Bible says it God says it in his word John 14 Yeshua said I am the way the truth and the life no one come to the Father except through me and Acts chapter 4 that there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved so the question is clear is the answer is right in scripture no one can come to the father except he's doing it through the messiah yeshua the son of god who gave his life who died on the

tree for the sin and sins of this world for you and i who are sinners by nature and by practice The believers in Pergamos did not deny his name, and they held fast to his name and to the faith which was once delivered to the saints.

So he gave them a commendation, and you notice what he told them even in the next part of verse 13. He said, even in those days, you notice that, Wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan's throne is. Apparently, we don't know much about Antipas, but one thing we do know that the meaning of the name Antipas means against all. Here's a man by the name of Antipas, who stood and suffered as a martyr because he stood for the name of Yeshua the Messiah. And he did not deny his name. Now I tell you, it's easy to be said. It's another thing to go through when a person have to suffer this by a world that rejects the Lord Jesus our Messiah.

By the way, the first martyr in Scripture for the name of Yeshua was this Hebrew Stephen who suffered and ended up to be stoned by his own brethren because he confessed that Yeshua from Nazareth was the promised Mashiach. Yeshua from Nazareth, the one that came from heaven according to the Hebrew scriptures. He didn't deviate from what he understood from the Tanakh, from the Old Testament. The New Testament was not even existing then. But he just shared with his own brethren. And then eventually he died as a martyr. And here, beloved, you see how the Lord is so gracious. He, first of all, commending the beloved believers in Pergamos.

But while there is commendation, there is a lot that he had to correct. And you know, beloved, you and I need to be also corrected. And I can show you here from the next verses, verses 14 and 15. Here there is two-fold problem that the local assembly in Pergamos had had, and also from historical setting, there was a problem in that particular church age of the professing church of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Notice two things in verses 14 and 15. The first one is there was the tolerating of the teaching of Bilaam. Look at this. Let me read those verses to you. Verse 14. But I have a few things against you, the Lord is saying to them.

Because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Bilaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Now I'm going to read just verse 14 for this particular moment. In verse 14, the first thing that he's mentioning here is there were some among this local community who have held the doctrine of Bilam. Now you and I might ask the question, what is the doctrine of Bilam? What is the teaching of Bilaam? Now, you see, the teaching of Bilaam are clearly given to us, explained to us, right in the next stanza here, in verse 14.

He says, the teaching of Bilaam, what did Bilaam do? He taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, To eat things which have been sacrificed unto idols and to commit sexual immorality. Now, let's just think for a moment. Let me talk a little bit about Bilaam. Bilaam was not a Hebrew, by the way. The story of Bilaam is written to us. We have read some of it already earlier. In the book of Numbers. The book of Numbers in Hebrew, we call it Bamidbar. In the book of Numbers, when Israel, our own people, came out of Egypt, They were on the way to the promised land.

They had passed by Moab area and they were ready to move into the promised land. There was a king of the Moabite by the name of Balak who was a wicked man. When he saw the progress of the children of Israel, when he saw that Israel was moving forward and heading towards the promised land, he was concerned that Israel would take him over. So what did he try to do? He tried to curse the people of Israel as they were passing by, ready to go into the promised land. So what did he do? He hired a false prophet. You know what? Let me just tell you.

A false prophet, a person that we hire him for to do a job without him called by the Lord. What we're going to get is exactly what we buy. What he got is exactly what he bought. He sought to have Bilaam cursing the children of Israel. So he called him to come to him and he told him, listen, I'm going to give you some money and all what I want you to do, I want you to curse these people so I can win the war against them and I'm going to consume them. So Bilaam came. And I want you to turn with me to the book of Numbers for a moment.

I want you to see that. In chapter 22, in the book of Numbers, we read this. It says in verse 1, And the children of Israel set forward, and they pitched in the plain of Moab, on this side Jordan of Bajericho, and Balak the son of Sippor saw all that Israel had done unto the Amorites. And Moab was so afraid of the people because of them, there were so many. And Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

and more i've said unto the elders of midian now shall this company lick up all around about us as the ox licked up the grass of the field and balak the son of tippo was the king of the moabites at that time this is verse 4 of numbers chapter 22 look what it says in verse 5 and he said messenger therefore to bilam the son of beor to pethor which is by the river of the land of the children of his people to call him saying behold there is a people come out of egypt behold they cover the face of the earth and they abide over against me come now therefore i pray thee and

curse me these people he called Bilam to come to curse the people of Israel I'm not going to read everything here but as Bilam comes he asked God should I curse these people and you know what God said to him in verse 12 God said unto Bilam he said thou shall not go with them thou shall not curse the people for they are blessed god told to be la bilam you don't curse these people they are blessed people they are not perfect people they are blessed people but you see bilam wanted to make a deal he wanted to make money so eventually we find out that bilam seeking to curse the people of israel and

every time he opened his mouth to curse them he end up blessing the people of Israel if you just read by the way there is four times that he took four parables he sought to speak against Israel and every time he opened his mouth he ended up blessing the people of Israel he says in verse 8 of chapter 23 how can I curse whom God has not cursed or how shall I defy whom the lord has not defied and he ended up blessing the people of israel four times he sought to curse them but it didn't work because god did not pronounce cursing on israel now mind you let me just say israel were not

a perfect nation israel were many times disobedient to the god of our fathers israel was disciplined by god but they were god's people and god is the one who will discipline his people and he will not allow others to curse them so you know what happened we don't read it in the old testament by the way we only read it in the new testament that Bilam what he did because he could not curse the people of Israel what did he do?

He taught Balak to do something that would help the people of Israel to be punished by their own God. And that's what we read here in the book of Revelation chapter 2 and verse 14 we read there are some people among you there that have the doctrine of Bilaam. And what is the doctrine of Bilaam? He taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things which have been sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. So what do you think Bilaam did? He taught Balak to do something that will succeed in causing the people of Israel to stumble. and to be disciplined by God.

By the time we get to the book of Numbers, chapter 25, what did Balak do? He paraded before the children of Israel all the good-looking women of Moab. And when the men from among the people of Israel look at the women of the Moabites, they got attracted to them, and they end up marrying them and committing both physical fornication and also spiritual fornication. They end up to have sexual immorality. But more than just that, they end up to worship a false god. Look at Numbers chapter 25. Look at verse 1, 2, and 3 of Numbers chapter 25. And Israel abode in Shittim. And the people began to commit hudom with the daughters of Moab.

You see? Verse 2. And they called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods. And the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Beloved, listen to that. What is the lesson for us here in this particular passage? This wicked prophet, false prophet, have taught the people of Israel, I should say he taught the king of Moab to set before Israel a stumbling block. And what did he do? He caused him to parade the daughters of Moab. And the daughter of Moab says, Come, come have some good time.

And you can have what you want. You'll have a lot of pleasure. and you know what? It was attractive to them, and they have gone out, as we read here, they commit hudam with the daughters of Moab, and eventually they did not only commit physical fornication, they end up to worship the gods of Moab. And what we read in verse 2 of chapter 25, they called the people to the sacrifice of their gods, And the people did eat and bow to their gods. And instead of worshipping the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they end up to worship the gods of the Moabites.

Now, very similar to that, in a different way, in a very crafty way, happened to the local assembly of Pergamos. And what happened, there were individuals in the midst of this local assembly, which what we read, they have the same teaching that Bilaam had. You know, a little bit of Jesus, and a little bit of everything around, you see? And there is not only, perhaps, they didn't have physical fornication, but there is a lot of spiritual fornication. A mixture with that which is true and that which is false. And you see, you notice that Balak is the one that was taught by Bilam to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to commit that fornication.

Now, that's the condition that existed at that time. And it didn't only exist in the local assembly of Pergamus, but that's what happened, by the way, beloved brothers and sisters, in this period of time, where Constantine made the church and Christianity the religion of the world. And so everybody was a Christian, you see? Everything was a Christianity, you see? Everybody, you believe in Jesus, or you don't believe, a mixture of everything. And all of a sudden, people that we never knew the Lord all of a sudden became Christians. Professing, that is. Because we know, in reality, that God knows the hearts, and salvation is only by faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

No one can sneak in unaware, but this was the condition that existed without. That is the condition, the professing condition that existed in this particular time. The doctrine of Bilaam. And by the way, Bilaam is mentioned a few times in the Scripture. If you just for a moment turn to Jude one more time, and notice in verse 11, just one page back, in verse 11, not only that we hear of the doctrine of Bilaam, we also hear of the error of Bilaam. In verse 11 of Jude, Jude verse 11, Woe unto them, for they have gone in the ways of Cain, they have ran greedily after the error of Bilaam.

the greediness of Bilaam for a reward. You see, he wanted a reward. This Bilaam is found more than once, twice, three times in a new covenant because there was not only the doctrine of Bilaam and not only even the heir of Bilaam. You know what? If you go back to 1 Peter, one more verse. 2 Peter 2 and verse 5 says this. Listen to what it says about Bilaam. The way of Bilaam. It says in verse 15 of 2 Peter 2, which have forsaken the right way and gone astray and they follow the way of Bilaam. We have the way of Bilaam. We have the error of Bilaam. We have the doctrine of Bilaam.

And that's the way that was against the will of the Lord. And so apparently, in this particular local assembly of Pergamos, There were those that have been teaching the doctrine of Bilaam. And the Lord is warning this local church at Pergamus. He says, you be careful. I have this against you. I am telling you, set it aside. You can't allow those who teach the doctrine of Bilaam to remain in your midst. Unless they confess it and repent of it. and change their ways, and change their teaching. So he taught Balak to cast this stumbling block before the people of God. And you know, beloved, today, isn't it amazing how many excuses we hear today, even in this period of time of church history?

You know, especially today, in which we live in. Today, homosexuality is being allowed. And today, all kind of people live together without getting married.

all kind of things is being allowed and we people condone it this is what can we do i mean that's the way it is but the bible teach otherwise the bible does not condone it god condemn it we need to repent of it and we need to ask the lord lord i change my ways i want you to help me i confess it before you and then the lord can bless and restore but that's what existed in this particular time notice the next verse not only remember we said the first problem number one was the teaching of Bilaam but here's the second thing is the teaching of the Nicolaitans in the next verse he says

so has thou also notice in additional to those that are teaching the doctrine of Bilaam you also have those who hold to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate he says by the way this is the second time he says about this nicolaitans again we do not know what kind of a group of people they must have been but we know this is the group that is the ruler over the people the nicolaitans come from the word laity and clergy and all the separation between the clergy and the laity and he says by the way you notice here he talks about the doctrine of nicolaitans in verse 6 he says the deeds of

the nicolaitans some who have held to the doctrine of the nicolaitans and what does that do that only promote the separation between the clergy and the leachy as if there is an elevated group of people that are to be elevated separated from the ordinary people of god but the bible doesn't teach us this the bible teaches of the priesthood of all believers the bible teaches that every person is just as near to the lord as the other but he sees here those who taught the doctrine of the nicolaiton and beloved this thing the lord Jesus says I hate he doesn't ever want us and I think we must not think I'm sure we need to

get a hold down deep in our hearts the importance of understanding that there is no superiority in the body of Messiah the body of Messiah composed of believers from every people tongues and nations and that each and every one of us is just as important in the body of Messiah he gave us gifts yes there are those that have the gifts as teachers and pastoral responsibility and evangelization and all kind of gifts but the gifts are not to elevate a person but a gift is to cause a person to say lord how can i use this gift for the benefit of the people of god and for your honor and for your glory use me

oh lord with the gift that you have given to me and help me to be humbled before you so I will recognize that everything that has been given to me given to me from you.

And that's what he's saying, the accusation that he has against this local assembly. And the twofold, as we have mentioned, the doctrine of Bilam that some held and the doctrine of the Nicolaitan which he hated. So now, in the next verse, notice, in verse 16 he gives them an exhortation. Every letter he gives. The destination is the local assembly. The one that writes is the one, the glorified Messiah from heaven. Then he gives a commendation. Then he gives a condemnation. And then he gives an exhortation. Now, by the way, to the church of Smyrna, there was no condemnation. There was nothing to say bad about the suffering church.

they have suffered so much he didn't condemn them they didn't elevate themselves they didn't have any issues that others had but here in Pergamos by the time that the Pergamos age have come things like that have crept in the church became married to the world and they have allowed all kind of things to creep in there was no longer separation from the world and then he had to condemn them and then he gave them a warning in verse 16 he gave them the warning And he noticed what he told them. He told them, repent or else. Repent or else I will come unto you quickly and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

He's saying to this local assembly, he says, you know, you better repent. If you're not going to repent, he says, I'm going to come and I'm going to fight with you against those with the sword of my mouth. You know, he is promising to fight against those that have those two things. The doctrine of Bilhab as the doctrine of the Nicolai. He says, you better repent. And by the way, repentance is a turning around completely, 180 degrees. To recognize before the Lord that, yes, I may have practiced this. Yes, I may have done that. Yes, I have even believed it in the past. But I repent before you, Lord, and I confess that your word is right and I don't want to associate with the doctrine of Bilaam.

I don't want anything to do with the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which you hate, Lord. I repent. And here is that warning. He says, repent or else I will come unto them. And you notice that he end up to give them this warning. He says, I'm going to come and I will end up fighting against them with the sword of my mouth. They speak about judgment. They speak about judgment. And here is the Lord from heaven giving this warning to those particular individuals that judgment is going to come and there must be a need to do those corrections in the local assembly. In the book of 1 Peter, we read in chapter 4, judgment must begin at the house of God.

It's very easy to talk about somebody else. It's very easy to correct everybody else when we don't correct our very local area, our very small area. And that's what the Lord is giving the warning. He says, you better repent, he says, because otherwise I'm going to come to you and I'm going to fight against you with the sword of my mouth. And you know, beloved, it's sad. It's really sad. But today in which we live in, there is all kind of churches that allow all kind of, and I'm saying churches in a quotation, my professing church, that allow all kind of things to go on, on one name called love, you know, Because we love everybody, so we're going to allow everything to happen, and everything is right, we condone everything, everything is okay.

Because Jesus loves me, you see. He will not judge me, He will not discipline me, because He's love. He died for me. Well, we read in the Bible, in the book of Hebrews, Whom the Lord loveth, He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He has received. It is so much better to be corrected by the Lord, to confess before him our weakness and our failure and that he will correct us than to allow things to go just like that and never have the blessing of the lord upon the people of god and so now quickly here he's giving them a promise in the last verse here that we have read in verse 17 and you notice the promise is a three-fold promise three things he's telling them in verse 17 he that has an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches he speak to an individual he but the spirit saying it unto all the churches it's to everyone he that has an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches and now notice to him that overcome i will give him number one to eat of the hidden manna Number two, I will give him a white stone.

Number three, it says that in that stone there will be a new name written which no man knoweth except he that receiveth this. You notice those three things? Number one, he says, the one that will overcome and will stand for these things. He says, number one, he is going to give him to eat from the hidden manna. And what is the man? The Hebrew word for man is the bread that God had provided for the people of Israel. When Israel, our own people, came out of Egypt, God had provided our people man in the wilderness. And this man is a picture of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

He is the one that came from heaven. He is the bread that came down from heaven that we read in John chapter 6. The people who will stand, the people that will overcome, the person that will overcome, he promised to give him the food, to give him spiritual food, to be nourished with the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. That's number one. Number two, he is going to give him that white stone. And the white stone, if a person being acquitted, he receiving a white stone, If he had been charged as guilty, he will receive a black stone. So the white stone would speak to us of a person that had been accepted by God.

And God will not need to discipline this particular person. And number three in verse 17, and I will give him a new name. And the new name would speak to us of the approval that one received from the Lord. And you remember Abraham, whose name was changed from Avram to Avraham. Jacob, his name was changed from Yaakov to Yisrael. And the thought there is not that there is loss in anything, but there is again that new name would speak to us of an approval by God, of a blessing by God. And that's what the Lord Yeshua the Messiah had promised to those who overcome the condition of the church of Pergamos.

Now, what is the conclusion? What is the lesson that we learn from that particular church? We learn that sometime we need to realize of the importance of not to have religious compromise. you know we sometimes compromise we compromise to make things easy you know we allow things we agree with things just to make things easy and those particular people when they suffered in the beginning and they were fleeing now they have been accepted and everything is fine you know you just come and be mingled with us and everything going to be fine well religious compromise is very serious and the lesson that we learn from the church of pergamos or from the letter to the church of pergamos is the necessity not to have religious compromise we are to stand on the a b c of the word of god we cannot change certain things we cannot change that's what the lord had given to us in scripture we might fail into certain conditions such as this but if we do we should confess it and says lord i confess that i fail before thee i repent of it and i want to change and i want to continue to go in a direction that is pleasing unto thee and that is the lesson that we learn from the letter that had been written to the church of Pergamos.

May the Lord help us and set our affection on Yeshua and he is able to lead us on and to move us in a way that is pleasing to God. Can we say amen to that?