(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So keep your place there in Revelation chapter 2, we're going to be looking at the church of Pergamos, but just a little caveat before I begin the sermon this evening, I had my sermon put in a different spot today and the kids needed some paper for paper airplanes, so my wife gave the kids the sermon to make paper airplanes out of the sermon, so if this sermon makes no sense tonight, I tried to put it back together the best that I could, we might have to wing it just a little bit because there's, you know, there's a lot of airplanes in here, okay, no paper airplanes are always good, okay, all right, let's look down at the church at Pergamos this evening, we're looking at, you know, these, if you have a red letter Bible, you know, these words of chapter 2 are completely red, so this means that Jesus is giving the church, Jesus is the head of the church, this is the boss giving us instructions how the church is supposed to run, how the church is supposed to work and he's doing it in a way where he's talking to specific churches and he's saying, you know, what that they're doing right and what they're doing wrong, so we're looking at each one of these seven churches in this sermon series to figure out, you know, how we can make sure that we're doing things the right way according to what the boss, Jesus Christ, wants this church to look like, how he wants it to operate, so of course we see a pattern with the advice that he gives the church, Jesus will give himself a, he describes himself with a name, a unique name with every church that he does, then he gives some things that they're doing right, then he says some things that they're doing wrong and then he gives consequences of what's going to happen if they don't, you know, fix the things that they are doing wrong, okay, look down at Revelation chapter 2 and look at verse number 12 and let's look at the church of Pergamos this evening, and to the angel of the church of Pergamos write, these things saith he with hath the sharp sword with two edges, go to Hebrews chapter 4, so Jesus first of all, he describes himself as the person or the one he which hath the sharp sword with two edges, go to Hebrews chapter 4 and let's just look at this name that Jesus used to describe himself real quickly as an introduction, Hebrews chapter 4, look at verse number 12, Jesus or the Bible says this, it says for the word of God, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the deciding asunder of soul and spirit and to the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, so here the Bible is compared to, you know, a two-edged sword saying it's sharper than a two-edged sword, this is talking about, you know, the word of God and of course we know that Jesus is the word become flesh, so it makes perfect sense in Revelation chapter 2 that Jesus would be the one that has the sharp two-edged, it has the two-edged sword because Jesus is the literal word of God, he's the word made flesh, look back at Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 13, of course the word of God is what we carry when we go out preaching the gospel and we know, you know, you've seen it, if you've been out and you've given the gospel and you've used the word of God, this is why we don't use our own words, this is why we say when we go to the door, if you would like I can show you from the Bible, we don't sit here and explain it in our own words, we sit there and we show people from the Bible, this is not my opinion, this is what the Bible says but, you know, it's one thing to say we want to show you what the Bible says and not what we think, you know, the Bible obviously has credibility, it is the word of God and people need to believe that in order to be saved but it has power and it has more power than any words we could ever say to describe anything because it is powerful, it is sharper than any two-edged sword. So don't forget that when you're out there soul winning is that the Bible has power, you are holding a weapon in your hand, you are holding a very powerful tool. Look at verse number 13 of Revelation chapter 2, so that's a really appropriate and powerful name that Jesus gives himself but look at verse number 13, now he tells them, you know, some things that they're doing right, he says, I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seed is and thou holdest fast my name and has not denied my faith even on those days where Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwellest. So here, they're in an unfriendly environment, you know, they're in an environment where there's Roman rule and they are being persecuted by Jews, by Romans, they are in a situation where one of them has been killed at this point. Antipas has been killed and it says they're holding fast to the word, so like there's very faithful people in this church, okay, that is not the problem. There's people in this church that are holding fast to the gospel, holding fast to the word of God, that's not the problem. Look at verse 14, then he says, but I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them. So we see in verse 13 that there's very faithful people there, that there's people that are doing right, they're holding fast to the point where they're having people killed, at least one person has been killed. I mean, look, that's real persecution, alright, that's real persecution that's happening. Someone has been slain amongst them and but thou there is them among them also, there's other people among them in verse 14 that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak, turn to Numbers chapter 24, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. So this is a super interesting verse, Revelation 2 in verse number 14 is really a key piece to the puzzle of the story of Balaam. So I've preached a whole sermon on Balaam, of course, we remember that Moab wanted Balaam to curse Israel and God said, no, you're not going to curse him and Balaam would not curse him because God said so, Balaam was a wicked person, we know this, alright, but God would not allow him, he said, don't you curse him, God sent an angel to warn him again, you better not say anything against them. And because of Revelation 2, 14, we know exactly what happened, as Paul Harvey used to say, we know the rest of the story. If it wasn't for Revelation 2, 14, we wouldn't know why the last verse of Numbers chapter 24 and then the first verse of Numbers chapter 24, we wouldn't know the true cause of why that happened. So look at Numbers chapter 24, look at the very last verse, the Bible says, and Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place and Balak also went on his way, went his way. So here we have this idea that, you know, Balaam wasn't allowed to curse and he didn't curse the children of Israel and it says he just went home. Remember that Balaam, he wanted so badly to go, he wanted so badly to go because this king of Moab was going to give him all this money, he was going to give him all this big reward and Balaam wanted it so badly. But now look at verse number one of Numbers chapter 25, it says, and Israel abode in Shittim and the people began to commit a whoredom with the daughters of Moab and they called the people under the sacrifices of their gods and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. So all of a sudden we see, we see in Numbers at the end of Numbers 24, Balaam goes home and at the beginning of Numbers chapter 25, you know, all of a sudden Israel is going into fornication and they're worshiping idols and eating things, you know, sacrificed unto idols. They're just getting mixed up with these heathen people. But with Revelation 2 14, we know exactly why that happened, okay? Balaam did an end run around God. This was the point of the sermon on Balaam, you know, was don't try to find loopholes with the Lord. Okay? Balaam lost his life over this situation. So look, we would have never known what caused this if it wasn't for Revelation 2 14. It says, but I have a fuse because there had been those that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak. It was Balaam who went back to Balak and said, Hey, I can't curse them, but here's what you can do. You can move in with them. You can be friendly with them. You can send your daughters into them and look, you can cause them to curse themselves. You can cause them to curse themselves. So let's look tonight at the doctrine of Balaam. Let's look at what the doctrine of Balaam is because this was the problem with the church at Pergamos was this doctrine of Balaam turned to second Peter chapter two. Let's look at every verse in the new testament about Balaam. What is the doctrine of Balaam? We've already kind of seen it in Numbers chapter 25, but let's just do a little bit of a study and kind of get this pinned down so we can figure out, you know, what was happening in Pergamos, what Jesus was warning them about. Look at second Peter chapter two and look at verse number 15. So that's what I love about that's how, I mean, this is one of the miracles of the Bible. You know, you know that the Bible is a miracle and the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit because all of these fishermen and John, all these people, they wrote all these things. It was clearly from the Holy Spirit because it just fits perfectly and fills in the gaps and explains everything and fits perfectly with every other verse in the Bible. You know, that's the beauty of revelation two 14. I love things that you see like that, you know, cause I was always, you know, you read through the old testament and you're just like, yeah, I don't really see, you know, okay, what's up with this Balaam guy. But then, you know, the pieces are put together with the verses that the Holy Spirit gives us in the new testament. Look at second Peter chapter two and verse 15. The Bible says, which have forsaken the right of way and have gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. This is talking about the money he received for betraying the children of Israel, the wages of unrighteousness, the money that he got paid. This is what he was after the entire time. The money that they got paid for basically sold them out is what he did. Look at Jude chapter one, Jude one, look at verse number 11, Jude one. Look at verse number 11. The Bible says in Jude, it says wall unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran. What here? We see it again, greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. The story of Balaam is just money at any cost. That was the story of Balaam. So Jude is referring to Balaam's actions, why he did what he did. So there's three things about Balaam we need to look at if we want to pin down what the doctrine of Balaam is. So Balaam, first he taught Balak. He taught Balak to lead the children of Israel into sin, okay, to separate them from the Lord. Essentially, he could not curse them, so he decided that in order to get the money, he would teach Balak to mingle with them so they could curse themselves, okay, through temptation and through their own actions, through the children of Israel's own free will. He knew that they would curse themselves and the Lord would be mad at them. If you look at Numbers chapter 25, look at verse number three, I'll just read it for you if you're not there, and Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor. This is the false god. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Underline Israel right there and just put Revelation chapter 2, Pergamos. That's exactly what is going on in Pergamos. These people in Pergamos are cursing themselves by allowing things they should not allow in the church. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5. So basically, the church at Pergamos, or I guess you could say the children of Israel in Numbers chapter 25, is a decent model of exactly what is happening with the church at Pergamos, because they're allowing things that they shouldn't allow. And that's what Jesus is coming down on them for. Look, the church itself is not to allow certain things. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, look at verse number 11. And it's interesting that in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, in verse number 11, now we've talked a lot about this verse, especially when the satellite ministry first started. I preached a lot about this verse. Look, I preached a lot about this verse. I don't think I've preached enough about certain things that I want to talk about tonight. But it's interesting that the church at Pergamos, of 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 11, three of the six items are exactly what the church at Pergamos is. They're allowing three of them. Look, as a church, you're not supposed to allow one of these things. They're allowing three. Look at what the Bible says, it says, but now I've written to you not to keep company. If a man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater, all those three things are what we're talking about with the doctrine of Balaam. Fornication, what he taught Balak, covetousness, that was Balaam right there. And idolatry, which is what the people went into with Moab or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat. Now most of the time that we use 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 11, we're talking about things and this is something that sets us apart. This is something that sets us apart. We will not allow these things in the church, these six things. It's not like I'm on a hair trigger to just kick people out of the church. That's not what it's about. It's any man that's called a brother. So when people get plugged into the church and they get into the church, if they're in these things or they're doing these things, there needs to be a conversation that needs to happen in that case. And look, we hope people get right and we want people to stay and grow and all these things. Notice, we always talk about it in the context of the church, but notice it doesn't say in the church, in verse number 11, it says don't keep company with these people. It says, you know, this is why, this is why right here, this is why it is largely irrelevant, in my opinion. This is my opinion. If somebody has a different opinion about this, I have friends that probably have different opinions about this, but it's largely irrelevant to sit here and try to figure out if wicked people are saved or not, because we're to not keep company with them. We're to not have them around anyway. Turn to Matthew chapter 18, I'll give you another example of that. Turn to Matthew chapter 18, it says you're not to eat with them, you're not to keep company with them. It's not just having them in the church. That's I mean, that's one thing, but you're not to have company with them outside the church either. Look at Matthew chapter 18. So if you see wicked people that are in a church and they're trying to damage a church and all this, I mean, whatever, the Bible tells us that saved people are pretty bad. Saved people can do some pretty bad things, that's my take on it. The Bible teaches that and I've seen that in my life. Look at Matthew chapter 18, look at the end of verse number 17, it says, if this process doesn't work, it says, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Look, it doesn't say he is a heathen man. It says he should be to you as a heathen man, this is what it's saying. So look, let's talk about this Matthew 18 process because if there is one thing that I'm kind of kicking myself a little bit about, it's that maybe I didn't preach through this and make sure that everyone understands this as well as they should and how important the process is, especially the first step of this process. Because look, every single one of you are probably going to have to use especially this first step in your Christian life in the church. Let me explain that to you. First of all, look at verse 16, let's walk it backwards a little bit. The Bible says in Matthew 18 verse 16, so let's just talk about this process for a few minutes and then we'll get back to the church at Pergamos, knowing that they're in trouble because they've been allowing some things they shouldn't allow. Let's look at this Matthew 18 process for just a couple of minutes. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 18 verse 16, but if you will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. So first of all, this two or three witnesses thing is a common theme throughout the Bible. It's so common, it is even considered common law in the United States. Did you know that? Two or three witnesses. Let me read you just a small little snippet from justice.org. This is United States common law. Common law is like case law, so it's not a law that's written in the constitution, it's not a law that's written down, it's just case law that uses, it's common sense for the law. Think about it that way. But let me read this. In the comparison of perjury statutes, the two witnesses rule, quote, is derived from common law and it governs the proof required for a perjury conviction under section 1621. Then it says Weller versus the United States gives a case number. The rule means that a perjury conviction may not rest solely on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness. This is common law. Where did it come from? It came from the Bible. It came from the Bible. Much of our laws as they were formed in this country came from the Bible. We will study this in the next year. It's just amazing how much, it would be nice if we followed them, but that's a whole other thing in itself. But it came from the Bible. In 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 19, I'll just read for you, you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 19. I'll give you the source in the Bible of this two or three witnesses rule. But in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 19, the Bible is talking about an accusation against an elder, a pastor. It says against an elder received not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. So there we see again this two or three witnesses rule. Now the question becomes, what is a witness? This is super important that we understand this and it ties directly into Matthew 18. And everybody needs to understand this. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse 15. The Bible says one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin in any sin that he sinneth at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. A witness is someone that saw by the definition in Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15. It is someone that saw a sin or somebody that saw an iniquity that witnessed it. You can't use a word to define a word, but you know, somebody that basically saw the iniquity or sin. It is not someone that heard something and came to a conclusion. This is not a witness. So the question becomes this. A witness is someone that saw iniquity or witnessed that saw sin. The question becomes, what if, because this is going to happen to you as a church member, I guarantee it, it has happened to me, it has happened to my wife, it will happen to anybody that's in a church. What if someone says something that offends me? What do I do? What do I do? I was sitting, because guess what? We sit in this church and we talk for hours. We talk for hours and hours and hours. What do we talk about? We talk about everything. We talk about politics. We talk about the world. We talk about every single thing that's going on in your life, in my life. We talk about all these things. What if somebody says something that I'm like, what did he mean by that? Does that mean that he hates Ukrainian people like me? You see what I mean? The point is, is like people all the time can hear things that get offended. So what do we do? Matthew 18 is what we do. It is very, very simple, but it is super important. It is super important. If you do not do that, look, I mean, if somebody, here's, here's the general rule. Suffer yourself to be defrauded whenever you can, but if not, if there's going to be any root of bitterness that pops up or starts to grow in you, Matthew 18, Matthew 18, you must go to that person individually. That is the key. You say it's such a simple thing. It is super important though. It is super important. Or you can become a railer. You could become a gossip. You could become a busybody. You could become a false accuser. You could become, look, this process, here is the, this process from like an engineering standpoint is a beautiful thing because you know what it does? The first thing it does is it clears up misunderstandings. It clears up misunderstanding. If brother so-and-so and I are sitting around a group of 10 people or five people or whatever and he says something to me and maybe he said something like that last week and I picked it up and I'm like, that kind of felt like it was a shot at me, kind of felt like he's sticking it to me or maybe even he's like not talking to me like he used to. What I need to do is in Matthew 18, I need to approach him and talk to him about it. It is very, very simple, but it's very effective because what it does, if followed correctly, look down at Matthew chapter 18, look down at Matthew chapter 18. Let me turn there real quickly. It clears up misunderstandings like immediately. What you need to do in those cases is if your brothers are trespassing against it, go tell them his fault between thee and him alone. Just pull them aside and say, hey, brother, look, many people have come to me and have said over the last two and a half years said, yeah, I think that this is ... Look, there's nothing wrong with asking your pastor what to do if you have a question. Then what I will tell you to do in Matthew 18 is talk to the person, pull them aside and say, hey, you said this the other day, what did you mean about that? Either it's like, oh, I didn't mean that and then it's done or oh, yeah, I'm sorry or whatever. Two people whose hearts are right that do follow this process will always come together and it will always be healed, always. Here's the second thing that it does. First of all, my wife has done this, I've done this, some of my kids have done this. Look, this is what you do. To build and keep your Christian relationships, this is what you do. You just go and talk and usually it doesn't get past step one because it's just done just like that. If both people's hearts are right, it's perfect, but here's the other thing that it does. Here's the other thing that it does and it's not a small thing. If somebody skips over step one, it is not small and here's why. It flushes out bad actors. Matthew 18, step one flushes out bad actors. Every single bad actor, and I feel bad that I have not explained this more in this church and if I kicked myself about anything over the last six months, this is probably one of them, but look, every single bad actor that has been in this church has skipped step one and what they will say is, oh, well, I was just, I was just, as they go behind someone's back, anyone's back, not just mine, anyone's back and start, you know, you know, I think that so and so is doing this and I think that so and so is doing this and what they're gossiping and what they're doing is what they're doing is they're saying, oh, it wasn't accusing anybody. If somebody was concerned, every single person has had this same thing, but they skipped step one, but they skipped step one on purpose because they're bad actors. So if somebody comes to you with something, you know, brother so and so comes to brother so and so about a third person, look, you need to immediately say, look, we got to go to step one here and that will flush out the bad actors because there's a reason that they are skipping step one. So every single person that has been a huge problem here and it's caused a major disruption has done the same thing. Well, I wasn't falsely accusing anything. It's just, I was just concerned about other people. No, you go to clear up misunderstandings through Matthew 18. That's what you do. All right, so everybody needs to know this so they can correct this if this happens to them. But look, back to the point, it doesn't matter, you know, if people are saved or not really because they're to be treated like a heathen man or a publican. It's not my responsibility to know if somebody is saved or not, you know, whether it be Balaam or whoever else. But the point is it, we're supposed to be separate from him. It doesn't say he is a heathen man. It sees he's to be treated as one until he gets it right. Same thing with these doctrines of Balaam. Look, I'm sure that's painful if you're a saved person and you know, you're put out of a congregation, but the thing is it's supposed to be, it's supposed to be painful. You know, as 1 Corinthians 5 would say, they're delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. And then in 2 Corinthians, that guy gets right and he comes back. But they're not to be in the church. Back to Revelation chapter 2, back to Revelation chapter 2, back to these Balaam doctrines. Revelation chapter 2, what point, think about it this way, these people were allowing fornication, idolatry and covetousness to be in their church. What point would it be if we were separated as we talked about this morning and then we're just allowing all this in the church? There would be no point and if I get up here and I yell about fornication and all this and then, you know, everyone in the church is just living together and not being married. What would be the point of that? You know, it would invalidate everything that I say up here. Now look, it doesn't matter how normal things are today. And guess what? The more normal things are today, the more we will deal with this in here. As visitors come in and things like that, look, we're going to be loving to people, we're going to be getting people right and we're going to be, you know, teaching people in love and all these things and all of that, okay? But I can sort of see, you know, I was thinking about, you know, this church and I can sort of see how it happens. I could sort of see how a pastor gets gun-shy. You know, maybe a pastor, maybe he just relaxes too much for a year or two. Think about this. He relaxes too much for a year or two. Pretty soon, gets to the point where he can't even preach certain things for fear of offending people. You know, I know this guy is in this sin over here, I know this lady is in this sin over here. He's kind of like crossing things out of his sermons. You know, he's reading the Bible, he's just crossing things out of his sermons because it's uncanny how you'll study through a book of the Bible and, you know, the thing that you land on in the book of the Bible is exactly what needs to be preached in the church. Then he starts deleting things. Oh, don't want to offend Bob, don't want to offend whoever, right? But look, pretty soon the problem grows. Pretty soon, getting rid of the sin in the church would mean getting rid of the church. That's the kind of corner you could paint yourself in. But look, there's not a cell inside me that is interested. Look, I'll preach to my family alone before I let something like this happen. Before I, look, I, this is something that I didn't understand fully before I became a pastor, especially over the last few months. I listened to sermons from strong men of God who would stand up and say, look, they would stand up and they'd say, look, you know, I'm prepared for everyone to leave this church. And I'm just like, I'm sitting in the chairs and I'm just like, man, that's pretty harsh. But the man of God has to be that way. He has to be that way. Look, I love you. My wife loves you all. We love you all. But a pastor must be prepared for anyone to walk out the door because the whole word of God needs to be preached. I have learned a ton in the last few months and I'm ashamed to say some of it I've learned the hard way, but I have learned a lot. And look, I actually think that I've been too tolerant of certain things in this church. Look, there is a reason pastors, as you watch other pastors from a distance, they may seem harsh in their responses to things. But look, folks, I have learned this as well. You don't see what they see. You don't see. The pastor can never tell you everything about every situation. I feel sometimes like I'm fighting with two hands behind my back. But by giving bad people the benefit of every doubt, what you do is you endanger the people that are still in the church. That is what pastors are up against. They literally endanger. There's a balance here. There's a balance. I mean, I've always thought that I was pretty decent at judging. I'm glad that my parents raised me with some good ethics and my parents have good character. And I've always thought that I was pretty decent at judging situations right and wrong. But let me tell you something, pastors get put in some messed up situations. If I could give you a fishing analogy, it's like someone, they don't listen to a word you say for years. And they bring you this tangled up ball of fishing line and lures and they're just like. And they're upset when you got to cut a lure off. They're upset when you can't save, they just give you a knotted mess and you can't save every single piece, even though you may try. But you just got to get the manual out. In these cases, you just got to get out the manual and just make sure you're following the manual correctly. And that's what you have to do. So the point is this, this process must be followed. And I know that there's extreme cases, but even for you, even for you in the church with your friends, your brothers and sisters, this must be followed. This will make your friendship stronger. This will stop any bitterness from coming into your relationships with people in the church. Follow this process. Just go talk to them. If you have questions, ask. It's better to just ask. We want strong friendships. We don't want silly misunderstandings to hurt lifelong friendships. Back to Pergamos. So the church was not doing this. The pastor painted himself into a corner. There were some faithful people. I don't know what the percentage was. There were some faithful people that were faithful unto death, but they were just allowing stuff in the church. Look at verse 15. They were allowing fornication idolatry in the church. Look at verse 15. Again, we don't know exactly what the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was, but just the fact that God hates it is enough for me. If God hates it, we should hate it too. Look at verse 16. Repent, or else I will come to thee quickly and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Now it makes sense why he said that was his name at the beginning of this letter to this church. Everybody says, you take care of it or I will, is what Jesus says. I will fight against them. I mean, that's pretty serious. That's pretty serious that if these things are allowed in the church, Jesus is going to come and take care of it. That's serious. I take that seriously and so should you. Look at verse 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone and then a stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that received it. So turn to John chapter six. Let's talk about what Jesus is talking about here. John chapter six, Jesus is talking about how he's the bread of life. This is what Jesus is referring to in Revelation 2 17. He says, him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna. Look at John six and verse 35. Remember this from this morning. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. We know that believing on Jesus is being saved and that is equivalent to overcoming in Revelation. That's what that word means. Go to Genesis chapter 17. Now what's his name thing about? What's his name thing about? Maybe you didn't know this, but you have another name. The Bible says, so I don't know what that is, but look at Genesis chapter 17. We see this a couple places in the Bible. Genesis chapter 17. Look at verse number five. Genesis 17. Look at verse number five. God here is explaining his covenant, his new deal with Abram. And look what he says. He says, neither part of the deal is this. He says, neither shall thy name any more called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham for a father of many nations have I made thee. Look at Genesis chapter 17 and verse number 15, the same thing went for his wife. And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shall call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. So God made a new covenant. God did the same thing with Jacob and Israel. He changed their name and guess what? Just as we were born again, we just found out in Revelation chapter two that we have a new name. We have a new name as we have this new life in Christ. So that is Revelation chapter two, talking to the church at Pergamos. Basically the problem with the church at Pergamos, we talked about this this morning. It was the second S. It was separation. The church at Pergamos was not properly separated. They were not properly separated. I mean, this shows us in Revelation chapter two, how important separation is to God. How important being separated properly in the church is to God. Now look, you all, because you all are separated, you all came to church today when a lot of people don't go to church. Because you are separated, people got saved today. This is how important separation is. The whole idea of the church at Pergamos is separation. You know, I mean, one guy said to me at the door, one guy said to me at the door, the game was just starting and his mom's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're Christians and my uncle's a pastor and she's like, the game's starting and she's just getting ready to shut the door and the kid, there's a teenage kid like maybe 15, 16 at the door. He's like, he's like, man, he's like, don't you, aren't you going to watch the game? I mean, truly just totally sincere question. Aren't you going to watch the game? And I'm just like, I'm just like, I don't even have a TV and he's like, what? He goes, and he's just like, I could hear him just like, like, you don't have a TV. What? Look, we're separated. We're separated. And that's why people got saved today. Guess what? Other people benefit from our separation. Here's another thing I was thinking about soul winning today. I was wondering, think about this for a second. Because you're separated, because we are separated, I wonder before you get that first person saved, I wonder how many miles you walk. Think about that before that first person. Can you remember the first person you got saved? How many miles did you walk before you got that first person led to Christ? How many hours, how many hours did you spend as a silent partner, listening to somebody else give the gospel, practicing with people at your house, going through and studying the word of God, memorizing Bible verses, how much work and effort did you put in? How much perseverance does it take to get one person saved? A lot. It takes being in the Christian life for longer than five minutes. It takes being separated onto growth to get one person saved. And look, if all of us could just get one person saved, you would be doing more than most Christians in this world. Just but think about that. What is persistence over time? What's that word the Bible uses all the time? Think about the diligence that it takes. Think about the kind of leadership that it takes, the kind of personal perseverance and diligence that it takes to just get one person led to the Lord. That's quite an accomplishment to even get to that point. But look, that is the importance of separation in your life. That is the importance of a biblical church being separated, not being conformed to the world. We're talking about personal separation. In Revelation chapter two, we're talking about the church being separated. We're talking about this church that was conforming to the world. The world was creeping in to this church. And Galatians 5, 9 says a little leaven, leaven at the whole lump, and the worse it gets in and the more it gets in, the more it spreads. But guess what? The more separated the church is, the more separated every individual person in the church is, the stronger we get. The stronger we get. The more we know the Bible, the less we're likely to be fooled by stupid things, by stupid process errors that are really just bad actors taking advantage of process errors. And look, if you have a shepherd that does his job and you have strong people in the church, there's no problems. There's not going to be any problems. There will be a separated church that goes out in their community and are hugely profitable, hugely fruitful, and a huge blessing to people in the world and in this town. And that's why separation is so important. Jesus is just pointing this out to the church at Pergamos. And look, he's telling them how serious he takes the management of his church. And we need to take it seriously too. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.