Revelation 2:12-17 (Pergamum, Conquer Your Lust)

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Pergamum, Conquer Your Lust Revelation 2:12-17 February 9, 2020

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for us. What kind of love is this, God? This agape, this love is so much greater than anything this world has ever seen.
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And Lord, we admit it's so much greater than the love that we have in our hearts, but you loved us first and now you're teaching us to love.
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We pray through this sermon today that we would love you more than the things of this earth, that we would love the
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Creator more than created things, even the good gifts that you give us, money that provides for the needs that we have, sex, wealth, possessions, power, all of these things that have a purpose but can never be elevated to the place above the
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Creator. Lord, they were made and have a purpose that glorifies you.
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We pray, Lord, that today our hearts would glorify you first, even as we enjoy the good gifts you've given to your children.
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We pray for wisdom in this, from your Word, in Jesus' name, Amen. The children of Israel came out of Egypt by a mighty deliverance through the plagues that God sent to bring them free, and after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they eventually made their way up towards the
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Promised Land. As they went, they were opposed by wicked kings and by God's mighty deliverance, they conquered in His name.
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But before crossing into the actual Promised Land, they camped out on the other side of the
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Jordan. And as they camped there, the kings of that land got together with fear in their hearts and sought to oppose the children of Israel.
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One of the more prominent kings in that area was Balak. Balak. And his strategy for defeating the
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Israelites was to summon a diviner, a magician, a sorcerer, whose name was
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Balaam. So he called for Balaam, and after being called a couple of times,
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Balaam agreed to come, because God spoke through a messenger and convinced him to come.
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Normally, this diviner would not just listen to the voice of God, but would listen to demonic spirits.
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And yet God, being sovereign over all things, chose to use even this magician, this diviner, for a purpose.
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Yet, when this diviner, Balaam, chose to come, he did so perversely, wickedly, in his heart, thinking that the
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God that he was hearing from was like all the other gods, Baal and the other gods of the nations. And so he came.
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As he went along his way, because of the perversity of his own heart, an angel from God, in fact the
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Bible says the angel of the Lord, took up a sword and withstood him in his way.
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And Balaam, this wicked prophet, this wicked diviner, coming from a foreign land, comes upon this mighty angel bearing a sword, only he cannot see the angel.
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His donkey can. And so his donkey veered off into a field. And Balaam was frustrated and struck his donkey.
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The donkey returned and continued on the path and went into a narrow road. And there the angel opposed him again.
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And so here the donkey pushed up against a wall to avoid this angel carrying a sword.
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And in so doing, the donkey crushed the foot of Balaam, which made him very angry, and he struck the donkey a second time.
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Progressing on, the angel stood in front of the donkey again. And again, the donkey is able to see this angel.
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And so rather than progressing into the sword, he sits down. And here's where the story gets particularly interesting.
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Sitting down, Balaam is so frustrated, he strikes the donkey a third time. And the donkey responds.
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Not by kicking him back, but by actually speaking. And if you have trouble with this miracle, just remember the greatest miracle in the world,
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Genesis 1 .1, and God created the heavens and the earth.
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We are dealing with a God who created the vastness of the universe by a spoken word. It's not hard for him to make a donkey speak.
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Yes, it's supernatural, but God can do that. And the donkey says, what did I do to you? Now you know that Balaam is completely blinded by rage because he carries on a conversation with the donkey.
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He says, you made a fool of me. That's what you did to me. And I would kill you right now if I had a sword.
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Of course, the Lord opens his eyes and he can suddenly see that there is the angel of the
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Lord bearing a sword right in front of him. And so Balaam recognizes his foolishness and, with a rebuke, is allowed to continue on the road.
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But told, you must say only what the Lord God tells you to say. So he makes it to this king,
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Balak. And coming to Balak, they offer sacrifices. And then in the morning, they go up on top of a hill and offer sacrifices.
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And this diviner, Balaam, goes off by himself to hear a word from God.
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Coming back to Balak, Balak is, he's on pins and needles. He's ready to hear
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Balaam just stick it to the children of Israel and curse them. Because, according to Balak, anyone that Balaam curses will be cursed.
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Of course, we know, Genesis 12, 3, that God has blessed Israel. And those who bless
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Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. But Balak thinks that Balaam has the power in his words, not accepting the power of God's Word.
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So Balaam begins to prophecy. He opens his mouth and says, blessed are the children of Israel.
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He blesses them. And you can just see the fury in Balak's face.
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You bless them. I brought you here to curse them. Well, he shakes that off and he says, let's try something else.
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Let's go to another mountain, a more powerful mountain, where maybe the demonic spirits of these other gods will visit
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Balaam. So they go and they do the whole process all over again. And here again,
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Balaam goes off by himself, comes back and prophesies, saying, is
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God a man that he would change his mind? They're blessed. And he blesses them a second time, which makes
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Balak just very irritated, very frustrated at this point in time.
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But, trusting in his gods as he does, he thinks, let's go to Peor, because Baal of Peor will surely curse the
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Israelites there. So they go to a third mountain and offer sacrifices again. But this time,
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Balaam doesn't even need to go off by himself and hear a word for the Lord. He just begins to bless the children of Israel a third time.
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And he's profuse about it. How lovely are the tents on the fields of Moab.
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And he blesses them with flowing water and aloe and palm trees and wonderful things.
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And you can just imagine how Balaak's blood is boiling.
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And so in a fit of fury, after Balaam has prophesied the third time, he claps his hands, saying, enough!
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Flee! Get out of here! I would have given you blessings, but you forfeited the chance for that.
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Now get out of here! But Balaam is not afraid. And he says, if you would have given me a house full of silver and gold,
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I wouldn't have taken it. I can do nothing else but bless the children of Israel. And then he goes on to say,
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I see him, but not now. I picture him, but not near.
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He's seeing that angel of the Lord who once held the sword in front of him. He's seeing him, not now, but 1 ,500 years later.
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He's seeing a vision of Christ. He's seeing a vision of the coming conqueror who holds a sword in his hands.
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And so he continues to bless, and then he curses the nations that called him there. Israel will crush
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Moab and Amalek and all of the nations that opposed
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Israel. It's really a hilarious scene if you read it in Numbers 22 to 24.
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And I think part of the humor in it is to get us to recognize that those who stand against the
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God of Israel are foolish and worthy of mockery in the sense that they oppose the living
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God. What a silly thing to do. To think that they could come and stand against Yahweh, the
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King who created heavens and earth. A mockery.
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And so you think, crisis averted, story's over. The forces of evil cannot conquer the forces of good.
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Righteousness prevails. Israel is victorious. The enemies have to flee and they will be conquered.
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They have no power. They're weak. And so it is in Numbers 22, 23, and 24.
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But just before Balaam departs, we're told a few chapters later in Numbers 31, he had one more thing to say.
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He teaches Balak a strategy that will work. He suggests, not that they go in with swords and conquer
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Israel. Who could do such a thing? But send your beautiful Moabite women in and tempt them and you'll destroy them from within.
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And so Balaam returns to his hometown and Numbers 25, we'll get there in the course of the sermon.
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Numbers 25 is the story of the death of many Israelites. It didn't come by the edge of the sword because the enemy outside, who does oppose the church, has no power over us.
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It's the lust of our own flesh. Our lust for sex, for money, for power.
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Our lust destroys us where the enemy cannot. It's what happened to Pergamum.
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Many within the church. Let's go there. Revelation chapter two, verses 12 through 17 today.
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Lust is a far greater threat than martyrdom to the perseverance of faith.
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So conquer lust by preferring God above anything
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God created. That's the message today. We're in danger, brothers and sisters, but that great danger is not from without, even if they kill us by the edge of the sword.
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Martyrdom for the name of Christ. It's not the great danger.
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They can touch the body, but they cannot touch the soul. But lust can destroy body and soul and hell.
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It takes over in the form of idolatry. So let's read it. Revelation 2, 12 and following.
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And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write, the words of him who has the sharp two -edged sword,
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I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
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But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught
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Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
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So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent, if not
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I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
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He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers,
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I will give some of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.
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So we're moving now, do we have a map of the seven churches guys? The seven churches of Revelation.
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We began here, the first one was Ephesus and we're moving northward. Last week we spoke about Smyrna and this week we're at Pergamos or Pergamum and then it trains around this way and finishes in Laodicea.
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So these are the churches of Asia, the seven churches to whom the book of Revelation is addressed and today we are up north in Pergamum.
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A little bit about Pergamum. To the church, well to the angel of the church in Pergamum.
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What was Pergamum like? Well it was famous for a couple of things. One, it had a library of 200 ,000 volumes which if you go back to the time in which we're dealing, around 90 -95
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AD, that is a major library. That is notable in all of the world as a library.
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The paper for books was being made in Pergamum. So that particular kind of paper was generated there and there was also a temple there that was meant to bring healing to the nations.
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So Asclepius was the god. Have you guys ever seen, say, the
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United Nations World Health Organization? The symbol for that is a rod with a snake wrapped around it and you'll see that on ambulances.
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It's a symbol of medicine. Well this pictured the god Asclepius who had a rod and a snake wrapped around it.
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Where did that imagery come from? Well in Pergamum, this was a temple.
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But that traces back to the Bible in Numbers chapter 21 where God told
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Moses to take a serpent, a bronze serpent wrapped around a pole and lift that up into the air so that if anybody looked at it they would be healed.
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That's where the imagery first came from. And then tracing from there it found its way into Greek mythology and this false system of belief and healing that would happen here in Pergamum.
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So the temple in Pergamum is a place where the nations flock to looking for healing but looking to idolatrous gods.
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So it was with Israel. When that serpent was lifted up, this one -time event where God called
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Israel to look at it and be healed from the snake bites, Numbers 21, they were obeying
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God. But over the course of time that image, that bronze snake on a pole became an idol.
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They even gave it a name, Nahushtan. And they would go and worship and seek the favor of God through Nahushtan.
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Of course Hezekiah comes in 2 Kings 18 and destroys that because it became an idol. And yet, isn't it true that the true healer, true healing comes through Jesus Christ?
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And by being lifted up on the cross, John 3 14 and 15, those who look to Him are healed of our sins and finally will be physically healed in the new heavens, in the new earth, in the resurrection of the body.
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Jesus is the healer, pictured by Moses' serpent, the bronze serpent lifted on the cross.
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But at Pergamum, it was an idol. It was a temple that the people flocked to.
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So Pergamum was, I think in that sense, the seat of Satan, the worship of a false deity.
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Next in Revelation chapter 2, we're in Pergamum. The words of him who has the sharp two -edged sword.
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Here, Jesus is pictured as bearing a sword. What is the sword that Jesus bears?
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Well, earlier in Revelation 1, we saw the sword comes from His mouth. It's His word.
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It's words of judgment. Balaam saw the angel of the
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Lord from afar. Chapter 24, verse 17, the book of Numbers.
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He saw him, but not now. He beheld him, but not near. Jesus bears a sword.
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In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, it says, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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God will judge the world by a man. That man is Jesus. We often picture
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Jesus in His humility because in His first coming, He humbled Himself unto death on a cross.
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He didn't fight back. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and laid down His life willingly.
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But the picture in Revelation chapter 1, and here again in Pergamum, is Jesus as a judge, a strong conqueror, a mighty warrior bearing a sword.
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So in verse 13, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.
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God bearing the sword has all power and could easily have fought off the attackers of Antipas, but we learn
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He allowed in His purposes for Antipas to be murdered, to be martyred.
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You hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.
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The enemy outside of the church cannot conquer our faith. They cannot conquer the faith.
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In Jude chapter 1 verse 3, we're told to contend for the faith. And here in verse 13,
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Jesus says, you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith.
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There are many faiths in the world. There are faiths built around Asclepius and around Baal and all forms of idolatry, but this faith is different from them all.
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Jesus calls this faith His faith. My faith is built around His name.
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Christ, Jesus, Christianity, His faith cannot be overcome from the outside.
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Even in the killing of Antipas, His name, Antipas, anti, against, pas, all, against all, there in the wicked seat of Satan, where the powers of darkness are overwhelming the church from without, against all, against the temple, against the library of worldly knowledge, against a culture that hated this new message brought to it.
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Antipas stood, and though he lost his life for the sake of the gospel, he conquered the enemy against all.
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He stood and conquered, even in his dying, because there's no sting in that.
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Christ has conquered the grave, and Antipas conquered death by believing in Christ.
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Christ raising him from the dead on the last day. So in verse 13, it's not a picture of defeat.
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Change our thinking on this. This is actually a picture of victory. Jesus is commending them in verse 13, isn't
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He? Here is a man who was faithful, a faithful servant who was willing to die for the sake of the name.
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My faithful witness who was killed among you where Satan dwells. Guys, you're gonna get attacked from the outside in this life.
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There will be many who will oppose you, and to the degree that you stand for the faith, once for all delivered, and you contend for that faith,
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Jude 1 3, you will be opposed from without. But there is no power, no weapon formed against you that can prosper against Christ who bears the sword.
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We have nothing to fear from without, but do be afraid of what comes next. Look with me in verse 14.
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But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught
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Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrifice to idols and practice sexual immorality.
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Brothers and sisters, it's very unlikely that an armed jihadi is going to kick down your front door while you're up in another room and kill your children on Super Bowl Sunday.
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But it's highly likely on Super Bowl Sunday that if you leave the room while your children are watching the soft porn of the halftime show, that the enemy will enter your home by a more subtle and sneaky and dangerous way and cut down the life of your adolescent.
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This is the danger that we're warned of in Pergamum. It's not to fear those who bear the sword or to be afraid of lust.
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Sexual immorality, we're told at the end of verse 14. And Jesus is not taking this lightly.
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He says, I have a few things against you. 1st Timothy chapter 4, there are some ascetics who teach to abstain from marriage and to abstain from certain food.
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But in 1st Timothy chapter 4, we're told that everything that God makes is good and is to be enjoyed with thankful hearts.
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Such is the case with money and power and sex. These are the creations of God that bear a purpose.
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In the same way that planets in the universe orbit around the
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Sun. I'm stealing John Piper's analogy here. The Sun blazing in all its glory and holding the planets in orbit.
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Those planets are on a trajectory that were intended by God. But take the
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Sun out of the solar system and let those planets run free without an orbit, without boundary, without reference to that blazing
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Sun. And these planets become rogue, destructive, killers.
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Sex is not dirty. It's created by God and it's good.
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It's His good idea that in a way represents Him to teach us to delight in Him, kept within its proper orbit.
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But without reference to Christ, without His boundaries, there are teachers that come, lying and deceitful teachers like Balaam, who taught
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Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel. There are teachers who come and deny the proper boundaries and orbit that God has sent around His beautiful creation.
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Balaam represents those teachers. Balaam is a false teacher.
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He was a diviner from the beginning, collecting diviner's fees. And God used him in the case of numbers 22 to 24 to bring rebuke to the enemies, but at heart he was perverse.
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And before departing, he taught them to sin. Today in the church, there are pastors who stand in pulpits and preach contrary to the very words of the
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Living God. There are preachers who stand before men with men, marrying them in Jesus' name.
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And it is an abomination, according to Romans chapter 1. And women with women.
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The end of Romans chapter 1, we're told those who approve of such things are sharing in that guilt.
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False teachers will bear a heavy responsibility for denying the
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Word of God. But who is it in these verses that fall?
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If you look ahead here, verse 16, therefore repent, if not
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I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
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The them corresponds to those who are holding to the teaching of Balaam. Those who are under that teaching, who agree with that teaching and walk in that teaching, they're being led like sheep, them, to the slaughter, to the edge of the sword.
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And here's why I bring this up at this particular moment, because in our cultural moment, you will be told it's unloving to echo the words of the
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Bible. It's unloving to tell the truth. It's unloving to call for what it is.
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In fact, the very opposite is true. It is unloving to preach like Balaam preaches to Balak.
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It is unloving to give a card of license to practice the very things that God hates.
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It is unloving to lead a sheep to the slaughter. It is unloving to say, go and do as your flesh desires.
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It's unloving to preach such perverse things that Balaam taught.
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In the scripture here, we're told Balaam is a false teacher, and he taught
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Balak to put a stumbling block. It is unloving for any preacher to put a stumbling block in front of the feet of the sheep.
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God's Word could not be clearer, and here Balaam is the liar.
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We must trust what God is saying at this point. In Numbers 22 to 24, we began the sermon, kind of the telling of that story, but I want to flip back now to Numbers 25.
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The victory from without was accomplished in Numbers 22 to 24, but it was immediately followed by defeat from within in Numbers 25.
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Balaam and Balak depart from one another, Numbers 24 verse 25.
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We're told in Numbers 25 verse... I'm sorry, Numbers 31 verses 15 and 16, that before they finally departed,
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Balaam taught Balak this strategy. Okay, so bringing it back now to what happens, chapter 25 verse 1 and following.
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While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.
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These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
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So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the
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Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the
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Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.
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And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting.
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Pause for a moment. In the midst of this judgment that God is pronouncing, Moses calling the people to repent, a powerful leader in Israel with a powerful daughter of one of the clans of the
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Midianites, thinking that they were untouchable because of the power that they wielded in their cultures, walk in the face of Israel into a tent.
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Verse 7, when Phineas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly.
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In the very act, thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were 24 ,000.
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This is how God regarded the sexual immorality of the
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Israelites. Lust will be conquered sooner or later.
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Turn with me back to Revelation chapter 2, verse 16. Lust will be conquered sooner or later, sooner by the
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Word of God, by the sword of the Spirit, by the sharp edge of His Word dividing the thoughts and intentions of the heart, bringing salvation through the message of Jesus Christ, deliverance sooner or later by the other side of the two -edged sword in the judgment of the wicked, terrifying judgment.
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Therefore repent, if not I will come to you soon, and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
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This same incident was discussed in 1st
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Corinthians chapter 10, verse 8. Flip back there with me.
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We're told in 1st Corinthians chapter 10, verse 8, we must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 23 ,000 fell in a single day.
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The thousand difference there might be the leaders that had already been killed, or it could be the fact of stretching out beyond a day.
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In any case, 23 ,000, 24 ,000, it's the same incident that's mentioned here. 1st
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Corinthians 10, 8, we must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 23 ,000 fell in a day.
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We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
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That's numbers 21 with their grumbling, and the serpents were released among the people. Chapter 10, verse 11, now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.
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Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall.
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What a sober warning. Lust will be conquered sooner or later.
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We see in the warning judgment passage here in 1st Corinthians 10, 8 and following, that judgment will fall on the sexually immoral, who will not inherit the kingdom of God, and yet verse 13 is hopeful.
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Take note of this, and maybe memorize it, repeat it to yourself from time to time when you fall into the throes of temptation.
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No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
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When you hear the language of the progressives, as culture changes from generation to generation, you would think that there was something new under the sun.
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In reality, there's not. The same temptations that are befalling this generation of people have been present throughout time.
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We're reading about them now. They were there in Pergamum. They were there for the
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Israelites among the Moabites. There's nothing new under the sun, and when you're struggling with sexual temptation or temptations for food, probably not sacrifice to idols, but food and its appeal outside of the boundaries or beyond, in your temptations do not think that what you're struggling with is anything new.
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There's no temptation that's not common to man. We're told, verse 13, God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.
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That's your ability in Him as you stand in Christ, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
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The teaching of the Scripture is that this temptation that you struggle with, the fight that you're in, is not only winnable, it's won in Christ.
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It's not unusual. It's expected. You are in a battle that you should expect that you would be in, but it has no power over you.
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The victory that Christ won on the cross paid the penalty of sin. Romans 8 .1, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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He also broke the power of sin in your life. Walking by the
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Spirit, filled with the Spirit. When you treasure Christ above all things,
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He gives you the victory and the power over created things.
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He gives you that power. Believe this verse, that He is faithful. When you turn your eyes to Jesus and you look to Him on the cross, you treasure
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Him and value Him. The power of the devil's suggestion, which actually originates in your own desire, by the way,
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James 1. Your own desire that the devil plays on and pushes you toward sin.
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Those desires lose their power. They lose their control over you in the power of the
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Spirit. It is not more than you can bear, but God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.
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And with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
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That is the promise of the Word of God. So lust will be conquered sooner or later.
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Revelation 2 .17, He who has an ear, let him hear what the
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Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers,
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I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.
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This white stone, Matthew Henry thinks that it's the white stone of acquittal versus the black stone of condemnation.
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In trials in the ancient world, the the one who's acquitted would be given a white stone. The one who is found condemned will be given a black stone.
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That could be the imagery. Certainly the the whiteness represents purity because in Christ, no matter what sins you have committed in the flesh, if you're covered in His blood, washed in His blood, you are made pure.
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You're white. You are acquitted, declared righteous, justified. But I love this imagery of what's written on the white stone.
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It's a new name, a new name that God knows.
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The name that you bear on earth was given to you by your parents, but God has a name for you that He alone knows.
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In 1st Corinthians chapter 13 verse 12, it says,
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For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
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Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
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You are fully known and you have been fully known. He has a name for you.
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Lamentations 324, the Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore
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I will hope in Him. This warning of conquering comes with the promise, you will be given hidden manna.
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The Israelites were not satisfied with manna. In Numbers 21, they craved meat, they craved something tastier, but the manna, the bread of life, far beyond what the
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Israelites gathered from the ground, the bread of life, Jesus Himself is fully satisfying for all eternity.
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When He says, I will give you manna, hidden manna, this is a satisfaction, an intimacy, a connection with Him as the bread of life that is so deep in the secret place of your heart, available now, not just when you get to heaven.
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He is the bread of life and He is able to satisfy the deepest longings of your heart.
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This is the promise, a hidden manna that you can taste and be satisfied.
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And when you eat of that manna, this bread comes through the Word of God as you're looking to Him.
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You're looking at Christ and you see in Him everything that satisfies the soul. When instead of looking at things that tempt your soul, you turn your soul to Jesus and you begin to pray and you say,
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God, I thank you for the cross. Thank you for the blood that was shed for me.
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As you begin to pray like this and you thank Him for regeneration, you thank Him for the Spirit that now dwells in you, you thank
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Him and you thank Him for your family and the provisions of your life. As you're thanking
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Him, as you're satisfied in what He has already done, the heart ties to the idols of this life are broken.
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The hidden manna satisfies you. You remember that you have a new name.
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You are new. He has declared that you are a new creation. You are not controlled by the lusts of the flesh.
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He has given you a new name. This is the promise. This is what's worth waiting for.
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To see Him and to be known fully even as you are fully known. To know Him fully and to see
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Him face -to -face. This is what sets you free. That's the promise that's given.
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It is such, such good news. A name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.
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We support a ministry here called She Has a Name. It's part of Seeds of Hope.
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Women who are at this moment in prostitution, many in Camden, someone will come to them in the name of Jesus with a sword.
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But it's a sword of deliverance to cut them free from their heart ties to the things of this world.
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Preaching good news in the name of Jesus. And as these women believe, they are set free and they are reminded you have a name.
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She has a name. There's a white stone in heaven with a new name for you.
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And working with these women, Seeds of Hope, help them establish their lives upon the rock.
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Finding deliverance. Maybe there's a woman here that would want to get involved with She Has a
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Name. To call up Seeds of Hope and volunteer to help. But all of us need to be reminded of this.
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We have a name. We belong to the King of Kings. So what do we do?
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How do we apply Pergamum? Pergamum, conquer your lust.
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That's the message. Lust must be conquered. It must be killed. And you will find that you're killing it day after day after day until you see him.
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You're in a war. You have to die daily. Die daily. This will be the battle of your life.
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This will be the battle of your life. And you will have victory in his name. No temptation has befallen you except what is common to man.
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And with the temptation, he does provide a way of escape. So the man of God will stand up under it.
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That's how you have to approach it. As a conqueror. John Piper, living in the light, money, sex, and power.
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Making the most of these dangerous opportunities. He writes this. The remedy. You guys ready for the remedy?
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You always want an application at the end, right? What do we do? What's the remedy? The remedy is to wake up to the all -satisfying glory of God.
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Isn't that beautiful? If that could happen, if the blazing beauty of the
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Sun could be restored to the center of the solar system of our lives, then money, sex, and power would gradually or suddenly come back into their
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God -glorifying orbits. And we would discover what we were made for.
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We would escape the broken solar system we made when we exchanged God for something else.
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Beautifully said. The remedy is to put that Sun back in the center of your solar system. Christ in all of his glory at the center of your life and let everything else revolve around that.
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Be satisfied in him. Look to him. Jesus is the answer to your struggle with lust.
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And my struggle with lust. Jesus is the answer. What is lust? It's a lack of contentment.
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You're lusting for more because you want. But godliness with contentment is great joy.
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That's where the deliverance is. Finding your contentment, your satisfaction in Christ.
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And the things of earth grow strangely dim. We went to a concert of Shane and Chain with the youth group a couple weeks ago.
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And Shane, one of the two Shanes of Shane and Chain, he talked about how he's been wearing the same t -shirt for four years.
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Because he wrote a hymn from Psalm 23. But when he began to put a melody to Psalm 23, the
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Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He remembered, I am a professional wanter.
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All I do is want. I want. I want a bigger platform. And he talked about how his daughters are professional wanters.
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So he made a t -shirt that says, I shall not want. To be reminded. But the deliverance for him, that's an ongoing deliverance from that wanting, is to be satisfied in Christ.
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To sing that song. I would encourage you to go and listen to it. Psalm 23 by Shane and Chain or Psalm 63 is another one.
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Your love is better than life. Let's make war on lust before it satisfies its desire to kill your faith.
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Lust is the killer. Lust is the enemy. Lust has a lot more power than the sword of a jihadi.
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Let's kill sin before it kills us. In the words of John Let's pray. God, we hear this warning to the church of Pergamum and it is sobering,
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Lord. We perish the thought that you, Jesus, would come and judge us with the edge of a sword.
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We thank you that in your mercy you have penetrated our lives with that sword of the
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Spirit, the Word of God, to open our eyes to see who you are and find deliverance in you now.
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So much better to be saved now than to face judgment later.
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And Lord, I'm aware because I know human nature that in this room there are many who are struggling with lust for money or sex or power or other things created by you.
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The things that have gotten out of orbit. Pray for deliverance in Jesus' name.
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We call on you now, God. Set your people free. Make us more than conquerors through him who loved us.
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Come by your living and active word. Use this church at Pergamum and the words that you spoke to that church to change us on the inside.
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Only you can do this part, Lord. I can preach until I'm red in the face. I can yell till my vocal cords are strained.
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But only you, God, can come now and change a lustful heart. Do that by revealing the glory of the
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Son. Open eyes to see how satisfying
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Jesus Christ really is. Eternally satisfying. Give the hidden manna.
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You've given us that white stone, Lord. One day we'll see it. We're declared righteous and given a new name.
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We claim that. Ask for victory in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand.