Postby Deep Woods » Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:52 pm
Jesus does love us....but just because He loves you does not get you into Heaven and if you think it does you need to go study your Bible and pray.
John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
And keepeth my works unto the end. The works that I command and that I require, to the end of his life. The works of righteousness of which Jesus is the author. The most grand conqueror is the man who overcomes sin.
Telling people what they want to hear, instead of the truth, is the mark of the lack of courage for the fear of offending...
The question is Do you love Jesus??..Does your lifestyle, friends, the places you go, etc. show or prove your love for Jesus?...Do you have works, "fruits meet for repentance"?
Some profess to be “believers”….But do you even know what faith is? Do you study God’s Word in depth?
Do you even know what faith is…………
The Greek word for faith as used in New Testament Scriptures like Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? And also in Matthew 8:26, Matthew 14:31, Matthew 16:8, Luke 12:28 is…..
oligopistos, ol-ig-op'-is-tos meaning; incredulous, i.e. lacking confidence (in Christ):--of little faith.
The Greek word for faith as used in the New Testament Scriptures like Matthew 8:10, 9:2, 9:22, 9:29, 15:28, 17:20, 21:21, 23:23, Mark 2:5, 4:40, 5:34, 10:52, Luke 5:20 and more than 150 other Scriptures is…….
pistis, pis'-tis meaning; persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:--assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
Revelation 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
Revelation 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Revelation 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Revelation 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Pergamos: the impure Church.
I. LET US STUDY THE CHURCH ITSELF. We gather four things concerning.
1 . It is directly under the eye of Christ, and responsible to him. This is a feature common to all the Churches. But it is imperative on us ever to keep this fact in the foreground of our thinking about Church life.
2 . It was in a very peculiar situation. Some three days’ journey north of Smyrna, on the banks of the Caicus, in the province of Mysia, was Pergamos situated.
The ruins of it even now attest its greatness in ancient times, when it stood high on the roll of famous cities. It was the abode of royalty; it was the metropolis of heathen divinity. Our Lord looks at it as the place “where Satan’s throne is.” Not all its palaces, temples, and towers, not all the prestige of its worship, could hide its iniquity from our Saviour’s eye. When we are taught to look at the world’s great cities in the light in which Jesus views them, while many are saying, “What a noble city!” we shall say, “Satan’s throne is there.” Not that the beautiful in art, and the costly in material, and the strong in structure, are not reckoned by Christ at their real value; but that where men worship these things for their own sake, where they are used to hide corruption, and where impurity of motive and of life poison all, material beauty is forgotten in the moral badness. “Man looketh on the outward appearance; the Lord looketh on the heart.” We have, however, a further clue to the reason why Pergamos was called “Satan’s throne.” There paganism reigned supreme; impure, sensuous, licentious worship was observed.
The eating of things offered to idols would make it impossible for Christians to enter into the social life of the Pergamenes without a compromise with idolatry; and so fierce was the opposition of the citizens to the Christian faith, that in the early days of the Church, Antipas had to seal his testimony with his blood. Are there not many of our cities of which our Lord would say, “Satan’s throne is there”?
3 . This Church was weakening its power of resistance by tolerating mischief within its pale. (Ver. 14, 15.) Some held the teaching of Balaam, leading to a compromise with idolatrous rites. Others held the teaching of the Nicolaitans; i.e. there were those in the Church who held false doctrine, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and who, by a time- serving policy, ingratiated themselves into the tolerance, if not into the good will, of the idolaters, while they did not keep themselves from the lusts of the flesh. In a word, instead of the Church being and giving a protest against the world, the world was creeping into the Church, and corrupting it. The Church grievously lowers its position when it endures sin within its pale, and when it retains within it those who, while nominally holding the Christian faith, do not live the Christian life.
How can a Church give a bold, unflinching, and powerful testimony for Christ against the world if its own hands are not clean, if it is seen catering for the smiles and pandering to the tastes of those who are “of the earth, earthly”?
4 . This looseness in discipline and life was the more disappointing because of its contrast with the past. Time had been when the Church was known for its staunch adhesion to Christ, and for fidelity even unto death (ver.13). Of Antipas we know nothing more than is named here. No historic roll, save this, refers to him. But Christ never forgets. To be remembered by him is fame enough.
But at that time when Antipas was martyred, the Church itself held fast Christ’s Name, and did not deny the faith. So that it is the more saddening to see such a declension. The fact cries aloud to Churches as well as to individuals, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” No prestige of the past can serve for the future or even for the present. It is comparatively useless for Churches to proclaim a past fidelity unless they can show a present one. Nor is it enough to remain nominally true to Christ’s Name and doctrine, if looseness of morality, or if conformity to the world, finds a place within. If so much of the wooden and earthy is built up into the fabric of the Church, it will have a sore trial by fire. “The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.”
II. LET US SEE HOW THE SAVIOUR APPEARS TO THIS CHURCH, AND
WHAT HE SAYS TO IT.
We have observed before that our Lord shows himself to the Churches according to what they are. It is remarkably so here.
1 . How does our Lord here represent himself? (Ver. 12.) As having a sharp, twoedged sword. This indicates:
(1) That our Lord has the supreme right of critically judging, not only the state of the whole Church, but of every member in it. We all stand, even now, before his tribunal.
(2) That there is infinite power of discrimination. There is no confusion. Worthy and unworthy members may, perchance, be mixed up in a common fellowship. Christ never confounds one with another. At every moment the two-bladed sword discriminates between the precious and the vile.
(3) The action is as precise as the discrimination is severe. The sword is “sharp.” Even of earthly judges it is true that “they bear not the sword in vain.” Much more is it true of the Supreme Judge. Let careless ones tremble. “Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion!” No one can be lost in a crowd. No one can poison a Church of Christ with impunity. Hearts awake to righteousness will thank God for this; but it is enough to make careless and inconsistent professors tremble; for if ever the hypocrite attempts to pass with the true Israel of God, down will fall the lightning gleaming sword, and divide infallibly between them!
2 . What does our Lord say?
(1) He calls on the Church to repent.
(a) On the whole Church. Supposing a Church to have evil men within its pale, how can it “repent” of that? There is but one way. If it be wrong to have them, repentance cannot consist in retaining them. They must be “put away” (1 Corinthians 5.). Discipline is an imperative feature in a Church’s life. Without it, any Church imperils its very existence.
(b) On the false ones to repent. The guilt of a hypocrite within the Church is greater than that of the worldly without the Church, because committed under the cloak of religion.
(2) He warns (ver. 16). “I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” “Begin at my sanctuary” (Ezekiel 9:6; 1 Peter 4:17).
(3) In spite of difficulty, our Lord expects men to conquer. “To him that overcometh.” Difficult, indeed, it would be. To resist evil anywhere in the world is hard enough. To resist it where Satan’s throne is, is harder still. To conquer it when it is poisoning the Church is the very hardest of all. Yet Christ expects this. The conquest of difficulty is the world’s glory; and shall the Church do otherwise than delight therein? For no forms of evil can be so strong as to overmatch the power with which he will supply us.
(4) For the victor there is a glorious promise (ver. 17).
(a) The “hidden manna.” If the believer will shun the idol feasts, and renounce the luxurious banquets in which the ungodly revel, he shall hereafter feed on richer food, even the “hidden manna.” What is this? Surely the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But does not the Christian feed on him here? Yea, indeed. But so much interferes with the enjoyment. Who can enjoy a feast, however rich, with unalloyed delight, when the songs of revelry and lewdness, and the cries of woe and sin, are sounding in the ears, or while earth’s impurity and corruption are ever before our eyes? Here our enjoyment of spiritual food is mixed with alloy. But there is a feast provided for us out of sight. Whoever reserves himself wholly for Christ’s service here is one of those for whom the hidden feast is reserved.
(b) The “white stone.” Among some, white stones were symbolic of happy days; with others, signs of acquittal; in the Olympic games, white stones with the victor’s name were given to the victor. A white stone was thus often a mark of honour among the heathen. But from none of these heathen customs do we get our conceptions of our Lord’s meaning here. The passage will interpret itself.
This white stone is
(a) a token between the victor and Christ;
(b) a token between him and Christ alone;
(c) a token which it was a privilege and honour to possess;
(d) a token the privilege and honour of which were read in the name inscribed
upon it.
Surely with this data we can, by comparing Scripture with Scripture, easily see what that secret token may be in heaven, between Christ and the believer, which shall certify to him his special privilege and honour. “I will give to him… upon the stone… a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it” (Revelation 3:12). The new name is Christ’s own new name — Jesus. No one knows the meaning of this Name but the victor. None but saved ones can possibly read it. They can read it fully when they have overcome. And even then it will require an eternity to understand it; for as the salvation grows from more to more, so will it ever expound the meaning of the great, the infinite Name.
(1) That each member in each Church is distinctly and personally responsible to the Lord Jesus Christ. With him alone our account stands.
(2) Each one stands as it were between these two alternatives — between the twoedged sword of judgment, and the white stone of honour. The one discovers, divides, judges, avenges, pierces; the other is an eternal love token between the Saviour and the saved.
(3) If there has been hitherto any unreality in our confession, or any impurity in heart and life, or any compromise with the world, let us heed the words, “Repent: or else I will fight against thee.” In one hand Christ holds the sword, the sharp edge of which we must feel except we repent. In the other he holds the gem, flashing and gleaming with the brightness and whiteness of the star, and says, “If thou wilt leave thy sins and cleave to me, that sparkling diamond of purest lustre is thine, a love token forever between thee and me.”
But instead people have made themselves a religion that justifies them "in sin"..instead of "leaving their sin"...
Matthew 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
JESUS' Word is still preaching the same message today!!!!
Not that watered down, feel good, don't make anybody mad, lie of satan message that is being spoken in the worldly church of our day.
If you don’t like the message in GOD’S Word, it just proves your rebellion towards HIM and your sadly fallen state.
But there is hope!! See God’s Word for instructions…look for the words repent, then Holy Spirit, then sanctification.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!!!!!
Biblical assurance of salvation does not flow from a past decision or a prayer, but from the examination of one’s enduring lifestyle in the light of Scripture.
1John 2:4, 1John 1:6, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Job 13:16
