Participants: Ivor Meyers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000009A
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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... " |
Revised 2016-08-08