Salvation in Symbols and Signs

Pergamus

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ivor Meyers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis

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Series Code: SISS

Program Code: SISS000009A


00:30 We are beginning to move into the seven churches
00:35 into the Book of Revelation I should say,
00:37 we're actually, we're actually getting somewhere
00:39 in our last session we got through the church of Smyrna,
00:43 the session before that, we got through
00:45 the church of Ephesus... so, we're now in Pergamos,
00:48 we're now moving to the next church
00:51 or the third church in the sequence of the seven churches
00:53 and there's... there's... there were four verses
00:56 we covered in the last session together,
00:59 we have about six verses in this session,
01:01 the next session is going to be even longer than that,
01:04 so I'm hoping that we can actually
01:06 just move through this entire section of Pergamos
01:08 and understand it in relation to the history
01:11 and of course, in relation to us
01:12 we also have a question that came from
01:14 the floor, right here, that we want to touch on
01:18 from our last session concerning death
01:22 so we want to touch on that but before we do that,
01:23 before we get into church,
01:25 let's begin with a word of prayer,
01:26 Jason, would you have prayer for us?
01:28 Sure, "Dear Heavenly Father,
01:29 thank you for another day of study, Lord,
01:31 please be with us as we go through our study
01:34 and help us to retain the information that is discussed,
01:37 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. " All: "Amen... "
01:39 All right, so, Seth asked a question
01:42 and he didn't want to be on camera,
01:44 he didn't want to get videoed, so, we're just going to pretend
01:47 that I'm Seth, could someone get me a wig,
01:49 Seth's hair is a little longer than mine is
01:53 and it was a neat question,
01:55 we talked about the first death and the second death,
01:57 we talked about the fact
01:58 that in the Bible, there's really just one death,
02:00 because the first death is actually a sleep,
02:02 but the disciples didn't get it, in John chapter 11,
02:06 Jesus tried to explain to them that Lazarus, who had died,
02:09 was actually sleeping
02:10 because the first death is like a sleep that you wake up from
02:13 and that those who believe in Jesus, never really die...
02:16 and then He asked us the question,
02:17 and he asked Martha the question,
02:19 He asked us, "Do you believe that?"
02:20 and we didn't quite get it so, the Book of Revelation
02:24 which is the final book of the New Testament,
02:25 adds this phrase, "The Second Death,"
02:27 you don't find it anywhere else in the Bible,
02:29 it's only in the Book of Revelation,
02:31 "the second death," but in reality,
02:32 it's death, there's sleep and there's death
02:35 and death... when you experience death...
02:37 it's final... and that's what the phrase,
02:39 "second death" means, the phrase, "second death"
02:42 is descriptive of the type of death,
02:44 it's not sequential,
02:46 so the question that Seth asked was,
02:48 "Well, if Lazarus died
02:50 the first death, of course,
02:52 and Jesus resurrected... then he must have died again
02:54 the second death, is he going to actually
02:58 be like... or if he was lost...
03:00 would he experience a third death...
03:01 what's the third death?"
03:03 And so the answer to that question is,
03:05 "Well, no, because Lazarus never experienced the 'second death,'
03:09 what he experienced was going to 'sleep' a second time,
03:13 and so it's not sequential. "
03:15 Ivor: Or he died the "first death" twice.
03:17 James: He died the "first death" twice...
03:18 he experienced the "first death" twice,
03:20 yeah, so... so "second... "
03:22 the word... the phrase "second death"
03:24 is not described in a sequential...
03:25 like, first death, second death, third death,
03:27 it's described being an experience,
03:29 it's an ultimate experience of dying
03:31 and not being resurrected,
03:32 Yvonne: It's an internal separation from God.
03:34 James: It's an internal separation from God.
03:36 Ivor: It occurs at the end of the 1,000 years,
03:38 where the Bible specifically says, "this is the second death"
03:42 those who are not found in the Book of Life,
03:44 were destroyed in that second death,
03:49 so, if someone dies now,
03:52 and by some means, came back to life
03:55 and then... died again,
03:57 they still wouldn't have died the second death
03:58 because the second death occurs at the end of the millennium.
04:03 So, again, second death, first death... it's not like,
04:07 "Okay, if he died a second time, it's...
04:09 like in the case of Lazarus, it is descriptive, as you say,
04:13 no coming back from the second death.
04:15 Yvonne: Right...
04:16 James: No coming back, good,
04:18 okay, we're in Revelation chapter 2
04:20 we are in the church of Pergamos
04:22 which begins in verse 12, and I'm thinking that
04:26 there are a lot of verses here, if we could read through them...
04:27 Jason, if you could read maybe the first three verses
04:29 and then Yvonne, if could read the next three?
04:33 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write;
04:36 These things saith he which hath the sharp sword
04:40 with two edges; I know they works,
04:42 and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is:
04:45 and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith,
04:49 even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr,
04:54 who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
04:57 But I have a few things against thee,
05:00 because thou hast there
05:01 them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
05:05 who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock
05:09 before the children of Israel,
05:10 to eat things sacrificed unto idols,
05:12 and to commit fornication.
05:14 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine
05:17 of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
05:20 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
05:23 and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
05:26 He that hath an ear,
05:27 let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;
05:30 To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
05:33 and will give him a white stone, and in the stone
05:36 a new name written, which no man knoweth
05:39 saving he that receiveth it. "
05:41 Okay, so, here is a basic description
05:45 of the next age of the church,
05:47 the church has begun with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
05:51 they're on fire for Jesus,
05:52 but they're in danger of losing their first love
05:54 and that's the apostasy that creeps into that early church
05:57 just toward the end of the first century
06:00 100 A.D. and onward and then it goes through some
06:04 fierce persecution which culminates 303 to 313 A.D.
06:08 under Diocletian and that ends in 313
06:12 and in steps a man by the name of Constantine,
06:16 now, Constantine's rule beginning in 313
06:20 is exactly the opposite of what has been taking place
06:25 in the Roman Empire up to that time...
06:28 Constantine actually fled from the Emperor,
06:29 he went to England where his father was,
06:31 he worked under him for a while, he died... his father died...
06:36 and he became very strong in his influence with his soldiers
06:39 and he... from that position... was able to go back to Rome
06:42 and eventually, take power,
06:44 he had watched what happened with the Christians
06:47 and how they had been persecuted
06:50 and how the persecution had affected the empire,
06:54 and he saw that the blood of Christians was seed
06:57 and so he watched the strength of the Christian church grow
07:02 and he decided... rather than persecute them,
07:04 "I need their help, I need their aid,
07:07 I need them to be on my side" and so Constantine began
07:11 to restore to the Christians their land and their rights,
07:15 their personal property, their churches,
07:17 he turned... overturned Diocletian's persecution
07:21 and he was able to gain the support of the Christians
07:25 but it was at a terrible cost
07:27 because the Christians now were compromising their faith,
07:31 Constantine was a Christian so... so...
07:35 he was a professed, nominal Christian
07:38 but he still believed in a lot of the pagan traditions of Rome
07:41 and he wanted to keep those in there,
07:43 he was a Civil Magistrate, he was the Leader...
07:46 became the Emperor there in the Roman Empire
07:49 and so... this was the time when the church was elevated...
07:53 now the word "Pergamos" means acropolis or elevation...
07:57 the period that we're looking at here
08:00 is about 313 A.D. to 538 A.D. and it's a time...
08:04 in the age of Constantine,
08:06 when the church is elevated in the status in the world,
08:10 it's a time when that elevation comes with a terrible cost
08:13 and the cost is compromise
08:15 and that's what we see taking place here
08:17 in this phase of the Christian church.
08:20 Yvonne: And is that not the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes?
08:22 James: The doctrine of Nicolaitanes
08:24 includes compromise.
08:26 Ivor: So, it set the stage
08:28 for what comes in that third church period,
08:32 So, remember, when we talked about...
08:34 the second church
08:35 where there was persecution going on
08:38 and you know, under persecution, we're more apt to be faithful
08:41 we're being persecuted... we're being faithful...
08:43 but as soon as Constantine comes in
08:45 and he elevates the church and says,
08:48 "Hey, you know what? No more persecution for you... "
08:50 and things start looking "up" for the church,
08:53 this is where you see... it's interesting...
08:56 that under the...
08:58 under the second church... he's like...
08:59 "I look there... those who say they're Jews and are not... "
09:02 where are they when persecution is going on?
09:04 They're compromising...
09:06 now when compromise...
09:08 when Constantine comes up on the scene
09:11 and Christianity is elevated...
09:13 guess who are the ones that come to the front...
09:15 to the forefront to seek positions of...
09:19 "Hey, we can help you and you want to do this...
09:22 okay... yeah... we're willing to compromise"
09:25 these were the ones that were already compromising
09:28 under that second church period so now you have this
09:31 "marrying" if you will... of Church and State
09:37 under this man named Constantine
09:40 and what the people actually end up doing,
09:43 is they began to put more trust in a king
09:47 instead of their Priest in heaven.
09:50 So they began to put emphasis...
09:52 "we're going to trust Rome...
09:55 Rome is going to be our protector"
09:56 well, wait a minute, I mean, talk about a love story...
09:59 "Guys, I'm supposed to be your protector,
10:02 what do you mean 'Rome is now marrying you,'
10:06 wait, you're marrying who? Rome?
10:07 wait a minute, I'm your husband, I'm your protector. "
10:12 And what they're saying is,
10:13 "Well, you didn't do a good job of protecting us...
10:14 so... we're going to... "
10:16 this is the what... this is the "love story drama"
10:21 unfolding before us is now...
10:22 "she seeks to marry one other than her husband"
10:25 Jason: That sounds like an affair doesn't it?
10:28 It sounds like they're truly getting divorced,
10:30 it sounds like, "well, if they're compromising,
10:32 then they're having an affair, they're cheating... "
10:34 they're kind of just... "well, we'll take some of this
10:36 but we'll go ahead and get some of that too. "
10:38 Ivor: Absolutely, absolutely.
10:40 James: And we see this in the Old Testament again,
10:42 we see it in the Book of Hosea, it's really clear...
10:44 "They went to their lovers...
10:47 and they didn't know that I gave them the corn
10:48 and wine and the oil, says the Lord..
10:50 and you were supposed to call me 'husband'"
10:53 and the whole history of ancient Israel
10:57 is being repeated here in the New Testament Christian Church,
11:00 in the ages of these churches... we move through these churches,
11:03 we see that same history being repeated,
11:05 so what about some of these symbols...
11:08 let's break some of these down, verse 13,
11:10 "I know thy works. and where thou dwellest,
11:12 even where Satan's seat is: and you hold fast my name,
11:17 and yet not denied my faith,
11:19 even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr,
11:22 who was slain among you, where Satan dwells... "
11:25 so what is this talking about historically?
11:27 Yvonne and Jason: I have no idea,
11:31 break it down for us would you?
11:35 laughter...
11:38 Jason: We'll be here all day...
11:40 more laughter...
11:43 Ivor: So what we're seeing here is,
11:46 when the Bible says, "where Satan's seed is"
11:49 Satan has set up his... his... his authority
11:52 at this point in time, this is where Satan's seed is
11:56 and I think... we may tie this a little bit later but...
11:59 James: To the third trumpet...
12:01 Ivor: To the third trumpet...
12:02 James: where the angel comes down from heaven...
12:03 Ivor: We were talking about... oh, oh...
12:07 yes, yeah, yeah... but when we look at this...
12:10 setting up of...
12:11 it's almost as though Satan is now setting up his authority
12:15 right, that he did not have in church number 1,
12:18 and church number 2.
12:19 James: Right... Yvonne: Hmmm...
12:20 Ivor: All of a sudden you see a seat there
12:22 and a cycle... okay, what's happening here?
12:24 This is like a precursor
12:26 of something that's coming... down the road...
12:27 James: He's coming in now
12:28 to the church and establishing his seat in the church.
12:30 Ivor: Exactly... because remember,
12:31 according to 2nd Thessalonians,
12:33 "a man of sin will ultimately sit in the temple of God
12:37 showing himself... that he is God. "
12:40 So Satan's seat here is being set up...
12:43 now what's interesting is that in the same verse
12:46 it talks about... "Thou hast held fast my name,
12:50 and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein
12:52 Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain... "
12:55 so there's no historical record of a man by the name of Antipas.
12:59 James: There's no historical record.
13:00 Ivor: Right, however, when we look at names...
13:03 especially as it relates to the seven churches,
13:06 we see that these names are symbolic...
13:07 Balaam... Old Testament figure
13:10 but Balaam is not alive in the...
13:13 Jezebel... which we'll see in church number four.
13:15 James: And Balac...
13:17 Ivor: Yeah, Balac... these names all represent
13:20 something... okay...
13:22 and so just as Jezebel is not alive
13:25 during the fourth church period but she is described...
13:27 there's a symbol behind the word "Jezebel"
13:29 so Antipas... is actually two words being brought together,
13:33 Anti... against... and Pa... Pa's... Fathers
13:39 so here you have this... this... this symbol...
13:45 of someone who is against the Fathers...
13:49 and you'll remember that it was this time in history
13:53 where we begin to hear about these so called "Church Fathers"
13:58 who are now teaching things that...
14:00 or claiming to have power over the church
14:05 an authority over the church... eminence...
14:09 James: Yeah, John warned about those
14:11 who wanted preeminence in the church
14:13 and if you can imagine...
14:14 Ivor: Pergamos... James: Yes, yes...
14:16 Ivor: exalting...
14:17 James: Yes, Paul warned about people who would
14:19 draw disciples after themselves
14:21 so that they could exalt themselves,
14:23 again about the "man of sin" exalting himself,
14:25 and so you have this... this...
14:27 John... to me... is the most significant
14:30 because he's writing in his letter...
14:32 and I'm just going to find it here real quick,
14:34 just to read it, he's writing his letter,
14:37 now he's on the Isle of Patmos
14:38 and he is writing to the church there,
14:44 and... here he is... he's an aged disciple...
14:48 the disciple that Jesus loved...
14:50 he's been through everything with Christ
14:52 and then gone through everything with the early church
14:54 and then God has given him the Book of Revelation,
14:55 he's writing that... and I read these words so many times
14:57 and I just couldn't believe this,
14:59 I think it's the third epistle here,
15:02 "I wrote unto the church but Diotrephes,
15:06 who loveth to have the preeminence among them,
15:09 receives us not. "
15:11 What? I'm writing to the church,
15:14 this is 3rd John and it's verse 9,
15:17 he's writing to the church, "I'm a disciple of Christ,
15:21 I'm an Apostle of Christ, I've known Him forever,
15:24 I'm writing to the church and there's someone there
15:26 who wants to have the preeminence...
15:28 he won't receive me... he won't receive us... "
15:30 when I read this... and every time I read it
15:32 I just think, "How could that be?
15:34 Here's a man who walked with Christ
15:36 and there are people in the church
15:38 who won't receive him right in his day when he is still alive"
15:41 this is taking place... now this development...
15:44 so what's happening is...
15:45 when it says that Satan's seat is being established
15:47 in the church, it's talking about
15:50 what is Satan's... what is his seat?
15:52 What was Satan wanting, well he says in Isaiah 14...
15:56 he says, "I want to sit in the sides of the North
15:59 I want to be like the most High,
16:01 I want worship, I want preeminence... "
16:04 Well, he didn't really want to be like the Most High
16:07 because the "most High" is like John...
16:08 the "most High" is not like these men
16:11 who were seeking the preeminence
16:13 so to be like the "most High" is to be humble...
16:16 but... but... he wanted the place and the authority
16:19 and so when it says, "Satan's seat... "
16:21 it's talking about the very thing
16:22 that Satan wanted in Isaiah 14,
16:24 verses 12 through 14... he wanted authority,
16:27 he wanted preeminence, he wanted...
16:28 that's what's taking place here
16:30 as the church compromises...
16:31 people come in... they're saying,
16:32 "Oh we don't have to go... undergo persecution anymore... "
16:34 this is great... we can be Christians...
16:36 and we can prosper and we can have the preeminence
16:39 that our hearts desire... our natural hearts desire...
16:42 and then there are people who are saying,
16:43 "No, we're against this... we're against these fathers...
16:46 these... these... false figures
16:48 that are 'saying' they're Christian...
16:49 even from John's time and coming in here...
16:51 and they don't have the spirit of Christ... "
16:53 as John says in another verse,
16:54 "There are many Antichrists
16:56 that are coming in the world... many Antichrists... "
16:58 Ivor: So remember, Paul,
16:59 when he's writing his letter to the seven churches,
17:02 has been warning, "Watch out for these guys... "
17:04 right now... Paul's writings were
17:06 hundreds of years earlier now, right?
17:08 Now we're beginning to see the fruit
17:10 of what Paul was warning about in those letters to the seven...
17:15 in his letters to the seven churches
17:17 we are beginning to see that fruition
17:19 of what Paul was talking about, "man of sin...
17:22 sitting in the Temple of God... showing himself that he is God,"
17:25 these... the desire for preeminence
17:28 and division coming in...
17:30 we're seeing these things being fulfilled here.
17:31 Yvonne: Hmmm...
17:33 Jason: I had a question... okay going back to
17:35 Antipas... does that...?
17:37 Ivor: Antipas...
17:39 Jason: Okay, Antipas, like...
17:42 from reading that, how do you know
17:45 that there's nobody in history,
17:47 like where did you get that from?
17:49 James: Good question...
17:50 Ivor: Yeah, so... as you look at the...
17:52 here's a good thing to...
17:54 when you're studying the Book of Revelation,
17:56 history is going to be important,
17:57 the witness of history is going to be important,
18:01 when... also... it's also good to have commentaries...
18:06 so you can kind of glean from other scholars
18:10 historical scholars, scholars on prophecy...
18:14 scholars on history and see okay,
18:16 "What have they said
18:18 when it comes to this particular verse?"
18:20 And then you've got to take the good
18:22 and reject the bad... accept the good
18:23 and so, historically speaking...
18:27 as you look at all these figures,
18:29 you can see reference or record
18:32 to the existence of certain characters.
18:34 Antipas... there's no record or existence...
18:37 so we... we're just left with...
18:39 "Okay, who is this Antipas?
18:41 It sounds like this would be someone that everyone knew,
18:43 "His faithful martyr... "
18:45 but you have no record of him in the New Testament,
18:47 and so... again... when you're looking at
18:49 The Book of Revelation and then you...
18:51 you see... okay... Jezebel...
18:53 was a real person but she's not...
18:56 why is he speaking about Jezebel
18:58 as though she's present in the church,
19:00 no, no, no... this name is symbolic
19:02 so once we come to that conclusion, and say,
19:05 "Okay... names here... in reference to the churches
19:09 represent symbols... " then we can say,
19:12 "Okay, well that opens up then for me...
19:14 not to look at Antipas as an actual person
19:16 but what might this name have meant
19:19 or what would the name have been a symbol of?"
19:23 And then the only way we have to do that
19:25 is to actually look at the name... what does it mean?
19:27 Remember names carry significant meanings
19:30 so Jesus... He will save His people from their sins,
19:33 that's what the name means, right?
19:35 Look at various names...
19:36 that's another actual symbol... Jacob... one who prevails...
19:39 Israel... one that will overcome,
19:41 James: Jacob... one who deceives,
19:42 Ivor: Yes... yes... James: Jacob... supplanter...
19:44 Ivor: So names...
19:46 names in the Bible represent character,
19:49 so all we have to go on "Antipas" is not...
19:52 "Okay... hey... Antipas... "
19:54 all right... well, what do I have left?
19:56 Let me look at his character,
19:57 let me look at what his name means,
19:58 and I see the name... Anti... Fathers...
20:01 Anti fathers... wait a minute... what... where am I?
20:04 Well, we're in the Holy Place.
20:06 What time?
20:07 We're in the time just before 1,260,
20:10 ha... yeah... this is the time period
20:14 where people were coming up on the scene
20:17 who were claiming to have preeminence
20:19 and authority... so...
20:21 James: In the church...
20:22 Ivor: In the church... so whoever this symbolically is
20:25 he must have been against the preeminence...
20:29 faithful martyr... "I'm not bowing to you,"
20:33 you see what I'm saying?
20:34 "I'm not going to bow... no... call one your Father... "
20:37 all right, so God is the holy Father
20:40 but apparently there were other powers
20:43 who were now trying to claim that title.
20:45 All: Hmmm... hmmm...
20:46 James: So it has to match the context which...
20:49 we have several options here, I mean several examples here,
20:53 of individual names that represent a System
20:57 or represent a principle rather than an individual,
20:59 we have Jezebel, we have Balac,
21:02 we have Balaam, Antipas, fits into that context,
21:05 also, it has to... we have to go back to history
21:08 and see if we can find it,
21:09 if we can't find an individual in history,
21:11 there's no historical records, what's the other option?
21:13 And then when we find another option
21:15 like the principle of... "against the Fathers,"
21:17 it has to fit the history,
21:19 were there men who were standing up
21:21 claiming they're "Fathers of the Church,"
21:22 claiming preeminence in the church,
21:24 that had to be opposed and in that opposition
21:27 we see God's people being martyred
21:29 and they were, in fact, when this started happening,
21:33 there was a... there's a famous statement
21:35 in a book called "The Great Controversy,"
21:37 it talks about compromise taking place,
21:38 and it says, "The faithful followers of Christ,
21:42 at this time said, 'Let there be division even war... '"
21:45 so there was a clear demarcation that started to take place here
21:49 during this time of compromise
21:51 where the church now is getting ready to go underground
21:53 because they're not willing to compromise
21:55 and allow those pagan principles...
21:57 and those principles of preeminence to come in
21:59 and by-the-way, what's interesting is,
22:01 preeminence... self exaltation
22:05 leads to the compromise of the truth.
22:08 It starts with the wrong heart right here
22:10 and then the truth... compromise and truth follows.
22:14 Ivor: And what did Lucifer say?
22:15 "I will exalt... I will exalt my throne...
22:19 my seat... above the stars of God,
22:22 I will be like the most High. "
22:24 James: Isaiah 14...
22:26 Ivor: So here's something I want to point out,
22:27 if I can, very quickly...
22:28 because we've been looking at this pattern
22:30 in the Old Testament and guess what, now,
22:32 we saw the first church... that Adam onward...
22:35 the second church... persecution,
22:37 oh, that's the Book of Exodus,
22:38 that's the Children of Israel coming out of captivity,
22:41 well guess what part of history occurs
22:44 in the Children of Israel after they come out of Egypt,
22:47 they enter into the Promise Land...
22:49 whew... ha... persecution is over...
22:52 we're here and they get a...
22:54 they... they say, "You know what?
22:56 We don't want a Priest reigning over us... "
22:58 James: Prophet... Yvonne: That's right...
23:00 Ivor: "We want a king... " and who was that king?
23:03 Saul... and who was Saul? He was an anointed one,
23:06 who was beautiful... who was comely to look at
23:09 but guess what?
23:10 That anointed one ended up turning against God,
23:15 that story sounds very familiar and what did Saul do?
23:19 He was a King who fell because
23:22 he served the authority of the Priesthood,
23:25 in other words, in him... was a combination
23:29 of State and Church, exactly what we have happening
23:35 with Constantine.
23:37 Yvonne: Wow!
23:38 James: And he tried to persecute God's faithful people,
23:39 tried to kill God's faithful people.
23:41 Ivor: Absolutely, absolutely.
23:42 James: Why? Even his son, Jonathan... and David.
23:44 Yvonne: And it was a love story because God said to Samuel,
23:48 "They're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me. "
23:52 Ivor: And that is exactly
23:54 what the church of Pergamos ends up doing,
23:57 in rejecting their High Priest, for a King...
24:00 "We want your protection,
24:02 we want to be like the nations around us,
24:04 we want authority now, we've been persecuted too long,
24:06 give us a King... "
24:08 what ends up happening?
24:09 They begin... they... in essence...
24:12 reject their High Priest for a King.
24:14 Yvonne: Wow! wow...
24:16 James: And as you read through these verses...
24:17 it talks here about Balaam ,
24:19 and we know Balaam's all about money,
24:21 all about getting ahead, so he was a prophet of God...
24:24 God even talked to him through the donkey
24:28 he compromised for money
24:29 so you have a church here compromising for money,
24:31 for prestige, for a place in the world,
24:34 Balac, of course, he wanted to see
24:38 God's people conquered, how can we do it?
24:40 So Balaam finally comes up with a plan?
24:42 "If we can get them to compromise in one area,
24:44 just one area... okay...
24:46 well you've got the Ten Commandments...
24:47 you've got the doctrine of Nicolaitanes... "Antinomianism,"
24:50 if we can just compromise one of those Commandments,
24:52 so in 321... Constantine brings in
24:56 what's known in history to be "The first Sunday Law,"
24:59 and the Sunday Law is taking the pagan worship of the sun
25:02 but bringing it into the church,
25:03 so he's compromising in one area... just one area...
25:06 Ivor: Marrying of paganism with Christianity.
25:09 James: Marrying the women of Balaam,
25:11 the woman... the Canaanite woman...
25:13 so you see that... all that history playing out...
25:16 committing fornication, being unfaithful to God
25:19 and then, "repent or I will come unto thee quickly,
25:23 and remove thy candlestick from my place
25:25 I'll fight against it with a sword of iron... "
25:27 now here's... this is powerful because
25:29 this is... the sword of his mouth
25:30 is talking about the Word of God
25:32 and this was what God kept alive and He's keeping alive...
25:35 He's going to keep fighting all through the dark ages,
25:37 the Word of God is going to be kept shining
25:39 and fighting and fighting till finally...
25:42 it's going to actually not come back void,
25:44 it's going to accomplish what its purpose is,
25:46 you've got Luther, you've got Wycliffe,
25:49 you've got others who... the Word of God...
25:51 they never meant to leave the church...
25:53 leave the compromised church even,
25:55 but the Word of God... He constrained them...
25:58 I was constrained...
25:59 I'm constrained by the Word of God.
26:02 Ivor: So that manna that He gives...
26:04 as the reward... goes right in line with that,
26:07 He says, "For you who remain faithful
26:09 not compromising my Word,
26:11 I'm going to give you more manna,
26:12 I'm going to give you hidden manna... "
26:14 James: And I'm going to give you a white stone
26:17 and we talked about that a little bit
26:19 but the stone... in this context...
26:21 the stone is representing what?
26:24 Ivor: So, when your name is... you think about Hollywood...
26:27 when they write your name in stone,
26:29 it's saying, "All your names are immortalized"
26:32 so what Jesus is promising here is He's saying,
26:34 "Look, if I write your name in stone,
26:36 that means you're going to last forever,
26:38 you're going to last forever...
26:40 so it's a promise again of eternal life...
26:43 don't compromise, remember my love for you
26:46 don't compromise,
26:47 I'm going to give you the Word of God,
26:49 I'm going to give you eternal life,
26:50 be faithful and you will get this reward. "
26:52 James: And that stone also represents...
26:54 all through the New Testament, the stones of the Temple,
26:57 the true church, Jesus is the cornerstone
26:59 and we're built on Apostles and Prophets
27:01 so, they had to... in a sense...
27:03 they had to leave the established church
27:06 the outward church, they had to go underground,
27:09 they're getting ready to go underground
27:10 but God is promising them,
27:11 "You're still going to be a part of 'the church,'
27:13 you're going to still have that promise that I've given you
27:16 to be a part of the church in heaven,
27:18 the New Jerusalem, the church of the first born. "
27:20 Ivor: Amen...
27:21 James: So, okay, we are out of time...
27:24 again, we want to remind our listeners
27:26 that they can send their questions in to...
27:29 Jason: sss@3abn. org
27:31 James: sss@3abn. org
27:34 Yvonne: Send your video questions.
27:36 Jason: Yes.
27:37 James: Video questions, video questions...
27:39 Yvonne: Video questions... yeah...
27:40 All right Ivor, take us out with a word of prayer, would you?
27:43 Ivor: All right, let's pray,
27:44 "Heavenly Father, we thank you for the study of your Word,
27:47 Lord we thank you for showing us
27:48 the history of Israel being repeated
27:51 and how we can be faithful Lord
27:54 and receive that white stone receive that name,
27:57 Father, please bless us as we continue to study your Word
28:01 and help us to see that Revelation
28:02 is not a book of terror but it is indeed a love story,
28:05 help us Lord to love you with all of our hearts,
28:08 we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. "
28:10 All: "Amen... "


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Revised 2016-08-08