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. You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good evening everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. You can all find your seats. We'll get started Go ahead and open up your hymnals. We're gonna start in a song number 413 stand up stand up for Jesus Song 413 stand up stand up for Jesus Four one three stand up stand up for Jesus All right on the first stand up stand up for Jesus Jesus Ye soldiers of the cross Lift high his royal banner It must not suffer loss Victory unto victory His army shall he be Every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord in me Stand up stand up for Jesus the trumpet call obey or to the mighty Conflict in this is glorious day Ye that our men now serve him against a number Oh Right with danger and strength to strength Stand up for Jesus In his strength Flesh will fail you He All right Heavenly Father Lord, thank you for this evening. Thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church and thank you for Pastor Shelley and his family. Thank you for all the people here tonight. We ask that you Fill this room with your Holy Spirit Lord Help us all to be edified tonight for the evening service and help us all sing praises under your name Lord It's in Jesus name. I pray. Amen All right. Next song up is no song number two zero seven only a sinner Two zero seven only a sinner Song 207 only a sinner All right on the first He's rooted right I am face. I'm only a sinner Stay by grace This is my story to God be the glory I Be my case Oh God's face, but now I'm a sinner Say Oh I'm only Oh Thank you so much coming to Steadfast Baptist Church if you do not already have a bulletin and you'd like one or usher can come by and He can get you a bulletin. Just keep your hand lifted up for a few minutes as he walks through Also in the front we have our Bible memory passage Verse number eight of Proverbs 31 any child that's 18 or under it can quote the verse can get an ice cream And if you can quote the entire chapter Proverbs 31 there is a special prize to all those who are able to memorize the entire chapter Since we're only eight verses in you sub plenty of time Even if you haven't started to pick up on that and you can memorize it several weeks for that on the inside We have our service time so winning times and then church stats Make sure you're turning that into our soul winning captains and lieutenants on the right We have the list of expecting ladies and we have several ladies who are expecting also you can add miss Sarah Cardona Who's expecting in July congratulations to them? Exciting and Then down below we have the congratulations to the Zermano family on the birth of Priscilla Zermano she was born on the 9th at 11 26 p.m. Weighing six pounds seven ounces and Nineteen and a half inches long. Congratulations to them. That's really exciting On the back we have our prayer list and we have upcoming events I'm gonna just go over the events real quick. We have the Mexican missions trip at the end of the month If you haven't already signed up that window is closing as fast as you can imagine So make sure to let us know on that Also, we have the ladies Christmas party on the 8th all ladies are Welcome to attend it is nursing's only though so It's it's something that we need you guys really when I make you know I hear the word nursing most guys are just thinking about like football or something, you know, like tuned out But this it's actually an announcement for you guys You need to watch the kids All right We need to give these ladies a nice evening for their Christmas party so they can have some fun And we watch the kids and as always say you can always throw peanuts at them or something, you know I mean can't you can't you can't survive for three hours? I mean, come on and so Also the 11th is Christmas caroling so that's always a lot of fun December 16th Children's Christmas music recital. I'm really excited about this And we have a lot of talented Musicians in here and so we're excited for you kids to showcase some of that music 24th is a cookie bake-off. The 31st is our New Year's Eve party We'd like to go over our prayer request list as well We've been praying for brother Cameron for his leg and apparently it's it's been getting really close It's been healing a lot actually and it's getting really close to being a lot better And so they're actually really hopeful that maybe in the next Month or so to kind of check up that things are gonna be really close to normal and so this has been a long-term prayer request and Honestly for the longest time they didn't even know what's going on And so to have this much improvement is actually a very it's a big miracle And so just continue to please pray for brother Cameron and for his leg and everything that would go smoothly It's crazy to me to think about how much pain that guy's in and how he's like the happiest person you'll ever meet and so He just makes me feel bad when I feel bad because when I'm feeling bad, I'm like the grouchiest person you've ever met So, you know, he's an he's an inspiration Also been praying for the Wallach's daughter Haley who's pregnant We've been praying for his niece as well. And then we've been praying for miss Cooley stepdad. We've been praying for Brother Oz his brother we've been praying for the names grandmother We've been praying for brother rich for a job. We've been praying for miss Melissa a friend of hers Allen is also struggling with cancer and then been praying for the good ones mother-in-law We've been praying for her to have a recovery So a lot of things to pray pray for for our church family If you have other prayer requests, please email those in or submit it in our cards so we can add to our list But we'll just say a quick word of prayer as a church family Thank You Heavenly Father so much for our church and being gathered here. Thank you so much for these expecting ladies I pray that you please be with them during their pregnancies. Please help their children's development. I pray that you'd also help all of our Church family that's not able to make it this evening. That's sick. Please give them speedy recovery Some of these more serious health issues and these chronic issues. I pray that you would just please give them health Please give them favor Please allow them to have peace and comfort during their difficulty and I also pray that you would help our church family that needs favor right now with the job or With life decisions. I pray that you would just come alongside them and those of our family and friends that need to hear the gospel I pray that you would just give us boldness Give us the opportunity to preach the gospel to them and that we could see them save and we just thank you for all you Give us and it's your son's name. We pray Jesus name. Amen Um That's that's pretty much all I have as far as bulletin. I did release a video on on some of our social media platforms this week and about just some upcoming vision for the future as far as our church is concerned and some of our church plants and We tried to email it out to everybody too. I would assume most people in here If not, all probably seen that video but just isn't as a kind of an update I didn't want to necessarily release it in person because I felt like people's feelings would be hurt Whoever I told first or whatever. So that's why I made the video. So it's a free-for-all and whatever but as far as Oklahoma City our church plant that's up there but brother or really evangelists Fur has been doing an excellent job up there and Is really the church has been going really well But he has decided that he would rather just serve in church rather than becoming a full-time pastor and so that kind of leaves the opportunity for someone else to step in and become that pastor and And having a lot of conversations with brother Oz that's something that he wants to do is become the pastor of the church there in Oklahoma and so Really it's probably still gonna be a while until that happens just just kind of mostly based on practical reasons So just trying to help him get to a point where you know, he can have a full-time job He can relocate his family They can give birth to the next child and everything like that We're gonna kind of that'll be a little bit of a slower transition But that is kind of the goal and the vision for that church and for brother Oz and so we're really excited about that for him He's been doing a great it's it's really gonna be hard to lose him Because he does so many good things for our church and there's such a great family but I think that he's gonna be a big asset to the Oklahoma Church and to that area and It'd be great to see that church just kind of be independent and do its own thing And you know get away from our issues, you know, so now I'm just kidding But I think that he's been doing a great job. And so we're looking forward to that also Evangelist Duncan or Bannock who was sent from our church down to Houston he's also been doing a really good job down at Houston the church has actually been growing and the soul winning has really been going great down there while he's there preaching really good sermons and Honestly, there's nothing you could say negative about brother Duncan He's a great guy great family, but I think because he has such a unique opportunity to go to the Philippines We we've kind of made a decision to try and send him out there and to do a work in the Philippines which would open up again pure words what's going on with that, but we have Another guy in Oklahoma City search actually Salvador Alvarez who's originally from Puerto Rico But he speaks Spanish and English fluently and he's really a great preacher It's great soul winner great guy and and really has a lot of potential to be a great pastor Really is gonna meet the qualifications very soon So we're gonna transition him down to pure words and he's gonna take that church and it's gonna become independent as well so we're kind of we're kind of shuffling a lot of people and and to be honest with you most most of the shuffling is kind of like what I think is probably the best vision for These men these churches and everything like that and but I've talked to all these men I've talked to a lot of people and it really just makes sense from the long term Especially, you know brother Salvador has a great opportunity to reach a lot of Hispanic people And if you've ever been to Houston, there's a lot of Spanish-speaking people I mean, it's like almost 25% if not more of the people there only speak Spanish And so it'd be great to have someone down there. That's that's bilingual that can really reach that community Really do a big work and possibly even run two churches run in English and a Spanish Church A lot of people have done that successfully and other areas and I think Houston is another area where that could be really a successful opportunity and so His his wife and him are very dedicated the ministry. They want to be in the ministry. That's been their lifelong goal and You know, it's just it's just inspiring to me that someone that's not necessarily from the contiguous United States can move here and speak English better than the vast majority of Americans and Get a job be promoted buy a house I mean, it's a young guy who's married has kids bought a house speaks, you know English very well very articulate. I mean that just shows that he has a lot of He's very hard-working and he's very Industrious and and so I really think that you know brother Salvador can go really far if Being empowered and given the right opportunity and so I'm really excited for what he can do down in Houston I'm really excited for what brother Oz can do in Oklahoma and and I'm really excited what Duncan can do in the Philippines because Every single person has ever talked to me about it has basically just said like it's one of the most receptive places you could ever go for the gospel and Brother Duncan's a really good soul winner and so, you know, we're gonna actually have him try to partner up a little bit with pastor Stuckey over there and Pastor Stuckey has multiple church plants are already going plus There's other areas that could possibly even use a church plant. So, you know, I talked with pastor Stuckey about it I just thought instead of trying to compete with you know, pastor Stuckey who's just like knocking out of the park It's like let's just you know Join his team a little bit and just kind of assist him where it makes sense and then you know from there kind of launch Out into whatever makes the most sense So evangelists are bannock will probably just help with some of pastor Stuckey's church stuff and then we'll develop Where what's the most logical church plant or start a church or whatever and just get him doing all of that work. And so You know and God willing I think that evangelist urbanic wants to be a pastor one day And so, you know if that's what is the right fit then we could we could do that But honestly, you know for me We're just we're just sending the advantages are bannock to the Philippines to just do the work of the Lord Whatever that is and when whatever makes the most sense and is achieving the best results And so we're gonna be a little flexible there But you know God willing we could start more churches or grow the churches that are already over there and and help them to thrive Do more evangelism get a lot of people saved. I saw someone put online It's like we're gonna set up Basically, like a marriage service over there, you know, like a marriage, you know Hooking up young guys with you with young women over there something I don't know pastor pastor Stuckey was like man all the good women in my church. Just keep getting married to American guys They need it, you know, he's always wondering how to do for money, but he needs to basically create some kind of like a Scheme to basically sell wives. I'm just kidding. Don't don't get any ideas. All right Obviously, you know, so funny about it Most of the Filipino women that you meet they're like the most humble ladies They like don't even like people that are rich or have lots of money So that stereotype is like totally the opposite of most of these young ladies I heard a testimony from one that she like was kind of disappointed to find out that her husband owned a dishwasher Because she thought he was too rich or something I was like, I just want to wash the dishes by hand and I'm thinking like can you imagine American woman saying that? You know, she would be upset that he didn't have to before she'd be upset that he had only one. All right, so No, we're excited about that. I've never been to that part of the country So I'm planning on taking a trip out there kind of at the beginning of January Just to kind of scout the area and and that way I have some eyes on the land and I can do some soul Wanting to and then I can talk a little bit more intelligently about that part of the world It's basically literally like the exact opposite end of the world I mean, it's like they're about 13 hours off from us timeline wise and so it's almost exactly like the other opposite side of the world exactly and So it's really exciting all the work that's going on. Of course. A lot of these things are gonna take a little bit of time to happen But because it's involved these men Possibly changing jobs and houses and moving and all this stuff like we just want to give you a pretty big announcement So then that way our time of notice so that way people aren't like what are you doing? You know like what's going on or that way, you know people can make practical plans We did set up against a Gibson go for evangelists urbanic. It is our basically He's gonna be you know, fully sponsored by our church So we're gonna help pay for him to go over there and just do that full-time. I don't know What that looks like entirely yet, but we we feel like we can Do that for now and we look we're gonna we're gonna support him He's made a lot of sacrifices for the ministry and for his family and we want to basically sacrifice for him so that way he can do a great work and earn all kinds of spiritual rewards and We're really excited for him and all these men and their opportunities and of course this doesn't mean that there isn't more opportunities for Steadfast or the or the future or anything like that. It's just we're trying to get these ladies married off You know pure words and okc. So that way we can you know, basically do more things in the future And of course, obviously we'll still be friends with these people Hopefully unless they turn into heretics or something and then we'll then we'll destroy them but you know other than that, you know, it's gonna be fun and we're gonna have a lot of we're gonna have a good time and But just pray just pray for them that everything goes smoothly and you know, of course I've always I made plans to stay in Houston my whole life and be the pastor of peer-words Baptist Church my whole life and that Changed and you know, it was it's kind of disappointing because that's what I wanted but at the end of the day It's like it's Christ Church and it's the work of Christ. It's not about me. It's not about us It's not even necessarily about what we want Sometimes it's just like what's the most important thing for Christ and for Christ's people and for the work of the Lord and allowing? Ourselves to be adaptable to that work and and basically being subservient to that work You know the apostles I don't think they really wanted to leave Jerusalem But you know, it was God's will to get him out and instead of just leaving God had to kick him out Okay, and so sometimes we want to make sure that we're sensitive to the Lord's will and that we're not Making him kick us out, but we're willing to go, you know He might even get a whale to swallow you and drag you where you need to go, right? So it's better to just go the first time and to just do what he wants you to do So I just wanted to make that announcement. I'll probably say something in Sunday just for our Sunday morning only glory and But again things will probably evolve and and as we have big Changes or some of these things get established then I might make another announcement about it But I just wanted to say that also one other thing if you say you know what? I can't believe you would do this I hate these people they're terrible and I have all I have this huge list of horrible things that they've done This is your one time to tell me Okay So now is your opportunity to tell me and and you can't be like afterwards be like I knew him He was bad all along. Okay. I knew brother Oz, you know, it was just such a bad guy or whatever And I just didn't tell anybody. Okay. This is your opportunity, you know before The before everything the dust is settled, you know, if you have something against these people and look I I really say that You know somewhat jokingly because I don't think anybody has anything legitimate but of course, it's very serious right and of course it also helps me like Identify who the bad people are in our church because when you hate all the good people it starts to become pretty obvious You know, who's really the bad person, but that's a little psychological warfare on you. Alright, so you reprobates Go ahead and and write me up an email That's pretty much all I have as far as announcements. Let's sing Psalm 139 Psalm 139 Alright everybody sets Psalm 139 All right, we're gonna sing it out real loud on the first Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You can turn your Bibles to Revelation chapter number two You Revelation chapter two we're gonna read the entire chapter as Is our custom starting in verse number one? Revelation chapter two the Bible reads under the angel of the church of Ephesus Right these things sayeth he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks, I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not and has found them liars and has born and has patience and for my name's sake has labors and has not fainted nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place Except thou repent but this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolai attends Which I also hate he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith under the churches to him that overcome it will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God and under the angel of the church and Smyrna right these things say it the first and the last which was dead and is alive I Know thy works in tribulation and poverty But thou art rich and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the synagogue of Satan Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and you shall have Tribulation ten days be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith under the churches He that over cometh shall not be heard of the second death and to the angel of the church in Pergamos Right these things saith he which hath a sharp sword with two edges 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 in those days were in Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things Sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith under the churches to him that over cometh Will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written? Which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it and under the angel of the church and Thyatira right these things say at the Son of God who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire And his feet are like fine brass I know thy works and charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the Last to be more than the first not withstanding I have a few things against thee because thou suffers that woman Jezebel which calleth herself a prophetess To teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things Sacrificed unto idols and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds and I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he which Search at the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works But unto you I say and unto the rest in Thyatira as many as have not this doctrine in which have not known the depths Of Satan as they speak I will put upon you none other burden But that which he have already hold fast till I come and he that overcometh and keepeth my works under the end To him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter Shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my father and I will give him the morning star He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer father in heaven. We thank you so much Lord for Revelation chapter 2 I pray that you give pastor Shelley clarity of mind as he expounds the chapter to us And Lord, I also pray that you help us to draw valuable lessons from the scripture this evening We love you and in Jesus name. I pray Amen Amen, so we're in chapter 2 of Revelation And it's it's coming right off of the description that we left here in chapter 1 talking about these seven candlesticks Jesus Christ makes it clear in verse 20 if you just look at that last phrase It says the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches and so in the opening portion of Revelation It talks about how there was a letter written to seven churches. They're symbolized or pictured as a Candlestick, so there's seven Candlesticks each one pictures a church and it starts here with the first church in verse 1 under the angel of the Church of Ephesus, right Interesting about this is it mentions Angel in a singular sense notice that it's being addressed to the angel of the church It's not necessarily being addressed to the church It's being addressed to the angel of the church now the word angel in your Bible can mean a few different things Typically when we hear the word angel I think of a person with a halo and wings and they're flying or something like that But the word angel sometimes can just simply mean messenger so it's just kind of a more sometimes has a more broad definition someone that's just the messenger of Something so when we talk about the angel of the Lord that just means the messenger of the Lord So in the Old Testament, sometimes it'll talk about the angel of the Lord, but it's pretty clear It's a pre-incarnate Christ and here's the thing Christ is not an angel But what he is is he's the messenger of the Lord and so that's what that means in that particular instance Additionally in the book of Revelation, we're gonna find a couple other places where it talks about an angel Talking to John but then John when asking him about him or falling down. He's like, hey, I'm not someone that should be worshiped I'm one of your fellow brethren And so in fact just a saved Christian could be considered a quote angel in the Bible You even have think about the two angels which went down to Sodom. They look like men Did they not I mean they confused them as men they could just been men they're just messengers So sometimes we've got to you know Get Hollywood and cartoons out of our brain as far as what an angel is Because many times the angels not necessarily what we think it is now there of course is angelic beings in the Bible There are creatures that fly there's some really interesting, you know things described in the Bible Things that have wings for sure, but in this particular instance, you know, what I believe it's alluding to is the leader of the church The angel of the church is kind of like the main Messenger and he's that angel in a context and so it's most likely he's just talking to the pastors of These particular churches the letters are being addressed to the pastor or the leader of the church And that's what it's meaning by the angel and the angels are even in his hand if we looked in chapter 1 It talked about the seven stars and it talked about the the seven Candlesticks and they're in his hand and I think in the same way like, you know These angels are kind of in Christ's hand as well We have here. It says these things say he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden? Candlesticks okay, so The Bible tells us the stars are the angels the candlesticks are the churches and they're in his hand, you know They're in Christ's hand you know you could think of it as his hand is a hand of protection a hand of guidance a hand of leading that he's The he's the overseer He's the bishop of our souls And so he's the really the one that even is guiding the angels guiding the stars guiding the candlesticks You know we come to church and Jesus Christ isn't leading in a physical sense our church But he is leading it from this sense This is the leader of our church is the King James Bible and we believe that the Word of God is not just text on a page but rather it's Jesus Christ himself and That he is leading us. Of course. The Bible says we're two or three are gathered together He's there in the midst and I think it's interesting when we think about the language It talks about how he's in the midst of the candlesticks And then it's kind of like that symbolism is how Jesus Christ is literally in our midst He's in the midst of the church and not just our church every saved church in the world I believe Jesus Christ is there in the midst of the candlesticks He's in the midst of the churches and that those leaders are in Jesus Christ's hand You know, sometimes people think like we need accountability for leadership Well, how about Jesus Christ having them in his hand is that enough Accountability for you, you know and really if we had spiritual goggles where we could see the spiritual world We would we we'd probably be a lot more terrified of the decisions. We're making Realizing how Christ is directly involved and the spiritual realm is directly involved in our lives that there really is Christ here with us and that he really is Making decisions as far as advocating for us or Protecting us and even other times chastening us disciplining us being upset or disappointed and things that we do and That's gonna be evidenced in chapters 2 and 3 about how Jesus Christ has a lot of mixed feelings When it comes to these churches, he likes certain things and then he doesn't like certain things, you know Jesus Christ isn't this idea of someone who just loves everything There's this this hippie Jesus that's just cool with everything and likes everything and that's not the Jesus of the Bible Jesus of the Bible is holy and righteous and he only likes the truth he only likes that which is pleasing unto his father and Everything that is contrary to him in the Word of God he hates He's not even afraid to have strong emotions, you know, Jesus Christ hates things and it's mentioned in the Bible There's this attitude out there where hatred is just bad But you know what that's a foolish idea because everyone hates something Everyone hates something and it'll be funny. They're like, I hate you because you're so hateful and you're like that sounds a little ironic You know How dare you hate anyone? I hate you and you're like you hate me like yeah, it's like wait a minute I thought hate was bad. It's like everyone hates someone you can't If you love anyone then you're gonna have to hate someone and if you hate someone then you're gonna love someone In fact the more you love the more you hate, you know, if you love your children you're gonna really hate anybody that tries to attack them or hurt them and you know the person that doesn't love their children doesn't really care if someone hurts them or attacks them and so having these emotions is Good, and we want to have them like Christ has them We want to have the same emotion that he does because he's always right in these particular instances Additionally it notice it says in his right hand who walk in the midst of the seven golden sticks You know, these are in his hand. He's holding the candlestick, you know, he's keeping the candlestick in its place verse 2. I Know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and Al can't not bear them which are evil and thou has tried them which say they're apostles and are not and has found them liars and has born and as Patience and for my name's sake has labored and has not fainted nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first love So initially he commends the church at Ephesus for some of their Positive attributes some of the things they have going right number one He they work and they labor and they have patience and they don't like bozos and and notice You know, that's a positive attribute Jesus Christ likes churches that don't like bozos that don't like liars and That are willing to kind of investigate right people that are trying the spirits and testing people and trying to see like is this guy Legitimate or not. Jesus Christ likes that attribute about them. He doesn't like this well, let's just give everybody the benefit of the doubt and let's just never Test anyone and let's make let's not care if they're bad at all It's like no no if someone is going around preaching lies We want to figure it out if someone's an infiltrator if someone's not legit We want to figure this out and we don't want to deal with them. We want nothing to do with them We're gonna cast them out. I Love the fact that it says you can't bear them which are evil Why would you want to bring evil people in your church? You know, isn't there churches a day that we really really want to bring in evil people and want to they kind of almost brag About it. They kind of act like look how loving we are We bring in the worst people and we love them where they're at You know, whereas first Corinthians chapter number five says there's certain people that shouldn't be allowed to come to church You know If you're gonna have a certain lifestyle That you're unrepentant in then the Bible says that person's supposed to be cast out Of course those who are repentant, you know, you can come back from you can come from any background theoretically But those who are unrepentant and certain grievous sins are not welcome to church the junkard the fornicator The idolater the covetous person the extortioner those people can't be living that type of lifestyle And be active and participating in church now, it's not saying sinners because then no one could show up Okay, we're all sinners. We all lie. We all do things that are bad But you know what? Not all of us are getting drunk every single day. Not all of us are committing fornication Not all of us are extorting people not all of us are worshipping idols like the Catholics Okay, those people are not allowed to come to church. Okay until they get rid of that sin in their life They have to clean themselves up then they can come into church and Why would I want to bear with that person that's evil, you know in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 It says that we're supposed to put away from ourselves that wicked person and you know, there are people that are just living in wickedness They're just evil and we just don't want them to be a part of the church You know, it says you can't bear like why would I want to bear with you? You know, you just got too much evil and you know the people that are lying about who they are False teachers, of course, you would never want to bear but I think that there's a lot of churches that do this I think a lot of churches they have you know, they'll have like a hundred and fifty missionaries that they support and and they'll like have them all come and preach for them every once in a while randomly and Sometimes they'll get up and just be you know saying things like oh you have to repent of all your sins You know to be saved and the church doesn't even believe in that and you're thinking like let's let's corner this guy And let's figure out really what he believes because why would we want to literally be giving money? sacrificially to the church to then support someone that's not even saved and I think that that actually is happening. I think that unfortunately there's a lot of churches today that are supporting missionaries that aren't even saved and and to me that Christ is not liking that Christ is not thinking like oh you give to a hundred and fifty missionaries but handfuls of them are not even saved and As opposed to maybe a church like ours we support a very few number of missionaries, but at least we know that they're saved At least we know that when they go out and preach the gospel. They're gonna do a great work for God And you know what Christ is literally saying hey I'm appreciative of the fact that you found these guys as liars, and you want nothing to do with them Not the church that just says well We just want to bless everyone and not really figure out where they're at or test them or make them feel uncomfortable Or anything like that. No you know if you're gonna be a missionary you need to be filled on you need to be made uncomfortable You know we need to figure out where you're at you need to figure out if you can even give the gospel It's like why would I pay for you to go give the gospel to someone across the world when you can't even give the gospel Right now you know it's like get the get start giving the gospel now and start being able to win people to Christ right now He also says here though they have something against them because they've left their first love Now this is ambiguous But I believe when you kind of think about it logically and you compare a lot of scripture It becomes clear what he means by this first love He also says in verse 5 remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works Or else I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy candlestick out of his place except our pants so According to the text it kind of uses two different phrases first love and first work alluding to the same thing Now I want you to go to a couple places go to Matthew keep your finger go to Matthew 28, but the last Portion of Matthew Let me explain. This is my theory. Okay. This is just my personal opinion. You can have your own I believe the reason why he made it ambiguous is Because if he had spelled out Exactly what they were supposed to do and made it clear then you would have all these fake churches Doing this in a in an insincere way now I believe it's very clear that the first works and the first love is preaching the gospel is Going out and preaching the gospel and evangelizing people and trying to get them saved That is the first works and I'm gonna try and prove that here in a minute But what if the text had said this you've lost your first love You need to go back out there and preach the gospel to the lost and and and make it clear how to be saved Then you know what you would have all these fake churches going out Preaching the gospel to people because it was so clear in the text, but they're not even saved and you know that really wouldn't benefit our society if every one of these horrible churches were going through up and down the neighborhoods like the Mormons and like the Jehovah's Witnesses because they already taint the neighborhoods don't they they already give us a bad name They already give religion a bad name They already have plaques up and say no religion or don't knock or no soliciting just because of Mormons Just because of Jehovah's Witness. In fact, if you live in Phoenix, Arizona Where there's a ton of these Mormons Every single door in certain neighborhoods have giant signs saying like no soliciting No visitors don't talk to us because the Mormons have knocked on their doors dozens and dozens and dozens of times and they hate Mormons and When you knock on the door, they're like no Mormon and you're like, I'm a Baptist. Sorry, you know, okay Right, but they just ruined it and imagine if that was happening with every Pentecostal and every non-denominational church at every Catholic I mean, I believe that it's probably ambiguous because the unsaved can never figure out what the Bible really means So God making it a little ambiguous we get it and they don't just like Jesus gave us a lot of parables where we get it and they don't and It's just because he doesn't want them to go out there and do all this stuff and ruin the world So that's why I believe he used this type of language So as we get it perfectly, but the world is kind of still confused or lost on that particular issue That's my personal opinion. You can have your own opinion as to why it's worded this way Now Matthew 28 to prove why I believe that the first works is preaching the gospel is We have here the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ in Matthew 28 and and look at verse number 19 the Bible says go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever commanded you and lo I'm with you all way even under the world Amen now if you pay attention it says teach baptize teach Right. That was the formula that the basic group notice in the second teach. What did it say teach all things? So what do you think that that first teach was then what's the prerequisite to even getting baptized according the Bible? It's teaching them how to be saved. And so that's the first thing. What's the first thing? What's the first work? What's the first love preaching the gospel getting them saved then the second one will be what? Baptism then what will be the third one teaching them everything in the Bible you say what's that? That's church, right? So we go out we get someone saved then we bring them in we get them baptized And then what we do then we teach them everything that the Bible has to offer them Okay, and so what's a church that's forgotten the first works. They're not going out and preaching the gospel anybody They're not going out and teaching anyone and as a result, they're having very few what? Baptisms, right It's typically only the people that are already in their congregation a lot of the youth and a lot of the children that are getting saved Or getting baptized because they're not going churches that are going are gonna have baptisms churches that don't go and have a lot less baptisms and So you can see a lot of churches today are kind of forgetting the first works Aren't they a lot of churches? They aren't going out and preaching the gospel even ones that are good and even ones that are saved Go go to Matthew chapter number five go to Matthew chapter five Just logically thinking Isn't the first step to Christianity getting saved? So that fits pretty well with the first love with the first work how about the fact that according to the the the discipline What is what does Jesus Christ say if they don't do it? He said he'll remove their candlestick. Okay. What does a candlestick do a Candlestick holds candles. Okay. I'm getting really philosophical on you. All right What does a candlestick do it holds candles? All right, and What's the purpose of the candlestick? The purpose of the candlestick is it's lifted up high and it can hold multiple candlesticks so it can maximize the utility of the light Right because if I have a candlestick or I'm sorry if I have a candle It may not give much light if I'm holding it down low or what if I have it behind the pulpit, you know what's gonna really maximize its utility is being up high and Not even just having one having multiple Right and that's kind of alluded to in a lot of parables in the Bible in Matthew chapter number five It says in verse number 13 You're the salt of the earth But of the salt of loss of Savior wherewith shall it be salted it is thenceforth good for nothing But to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of men Here are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid neither them in light a candle and Under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house Let your light so shine before men that they may see her good works and glorify her father which is in heaven So when Jesus Christ was preaching about candles and candlesticks, what did he want? He wanted the candles to get into the candlestick and then be lifted up to shine Brightly on the whole city so that everybody could have light now. Let's think about what Revelation told us What is the candlestick? It's Church and What is what is Jesus Christ? What he wants all the candles to go get plugged into what? Plugged into church and then when all the candlesticks are plugged in the church and lit up. What is that gonna do? It's gonna light up the city. So how does that work? It's a bunch of soul winners getting plugged into a soul winning church Preaching the light of the gospel and going out and getting a bunch of people saved but what if that one angel what if that one messenger instead of putting his light on the Candlestick and causing other people to do so he just takes it and hides it Well now it's kind of like that salt. That's not good for anything. And then what does he do? He tosses it out He gets rid of the candlestick, right? Because what's the point of having a candlestick if you have no lit candles? Now it's just in the way now. It's just it's serving no purpose, right? So what's the point of having a church that doesn't have the gospel or isn't preaching the gospel it loses its purpose Okay, and so that's why he's talking about it in this punishment way go if you would the second Corinthians chapter number four Just to the right After Romans you got first and second Corinthians look at chapter number four I want to hit this point for a moment because I don't want you to ever Get doubtful of what the first works means the first works. I believe is very clearly Preaching of the gospel and getting people saved and in the Bible uses a lot of ways to describe this Look at verse number three second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3, but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost What is it comparing the gospel to a light and it's saying if you didn't have this light you'd be lost Okay, notice verse 4 in whom the God of this world that blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the Glorious gospel of Christ Who is the image of God should shine unto them for we preach that ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves Your servants for Jesus sake for God who commanded the light to shine out of? Darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ But we have this treasure and earth and vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us So this is a little bit of difficult language but what he's trying to say is that us preaching the gospel is that light and That light shines in the darkness shines in the darkness of this world What darkness the darkness of the social media? The darkness of CNN the darkness of TV the darkness of all the propaganda The darkness of the public full system the darkness of all the false religion in this world Lying to people deceiving people and causing them to destroy their lives The only light that they have comes out of your mouth when you open your mouth to make known the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it's the only real light that anybody has and Not just that obviously we want to get them saved then get them baptized then get them in the church because this is the only Light of the world. This is the only message that gives any real light to the path of our feet For that for the word is a lamp Right and a light under a path I mean we need to use this as our navigational tool in life And he's saying that the gospel is that light Like that we put that candle on the candlestick and it shines brightly and of course Christ is really concerned with that Candles that aren't being lit Don't really serve a purpose for him go up the first Corinthians go back to the left go to 1st Corinthians chapter number one It's super clear that the light is a picture of the gospel we see that we're supposed to make that shine and I think that that's really clear. So some people might say that well, how do you know? It's the first work though Well one point that I've already made is that in the Great Commission? It was the first point wasn't it teach all nations? That's kind of like the first I want to give another in my mind clear example of why preaching the gospel is the first work and The Apostle Paul talks about himself and what he was commissioned to do look at verse 17 for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel Not with wisdom of words. Thus the cross of Christ should be made in an effect What is the work that Paul was sent to do? What was the first work preaching the gospel now again? He did baptize some people and of course, it's not that he was against baptism. But what was that first work? It was preached in the gospel That's what he was sent to do he wasn't sent to baptize That's the second work. And in some cases you have men only doing the first work or only doing the first and second work you have the Philip the evangelist going out and joining himself unto the Philippian or unto the eunuch and basically, he Says hey, what's stopping me at baptized and he preached he basically checks his salvation Make sure he's saved or gets him saved and then basically they get baptized and then he's gone So if you look at the Great Commission, he teaches and he baptized but he didn't teach everything Okay, but it was still what the first work because there's no point in teaching someone the Bible until they get saved and Those of us that have tried you realize this point When you go to your Roman Catholic mom and you try to show her the Bible and she's not saved She won't get it when you go to your Pentecostal dad and you try to show him You know stuff about tongues or whatever and he's not saved he's not gonna get it like, you know, people just don't understand the Bible when they're not saved and It's the same way as if someone's been blind their entire life If you were to try and describe to them the color purple, it would be a futile exercise Because they would be like what's purple? Well, it's kind of like blue and red. I'm like, what's blue and red? Well the colors the sky's blue what does the sky look like Like you can't how can you describe something to someone that's never seen in their entire life? It's impossible just like it would be to explain doctrine to someone who's unsaved. They don't even have the light bulb on yet Okay. So the first work is super clear preaching the gospel go to Hebrews chapter 6. I'm gonna I'm gonna prove this even more You thought that I was done I had more and Tell them what they get next. Okay, they get Hebrew six. All right, go to Hebrews chapter number six This is an important point why because if we don't do this we cease to be a church did you notice that? So we better make sure we're dialed in on whatever the first work is Because if we're not doing it Christ is literally saying hey, I'm gonna take your candlestick away So no matter what you believe you better believe that you're doing the first work Right now, of course, we want to then establish what that verse work is so that our church is really emphasizing it Look at Hebrews chapter 6 look at verse 1 therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ Let us go on under perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith or God So he says we're gonna leave the very most principal Foundational doctrine. What is the first thing he mentions? He says repentance from dead works and a faith or God, you know that is salvation What is repentance from dead works dead works was trusting that you're going to church? Circumcision and helping people is gonna get you to heaven and your pendant from that you said that doesn't save me My works won't save me and I put all of my faith in Jesus his death bear and resurrection that saved me That was the foundation. That was the moment someone got saved Most people are still trusting in what their dead works and their dead works will never get them to heaven There's nothing you could do to save yourself, but trust in Christ. And so that's the principle doctrine notice Here's another word the foundation the Foundation go if you would back to first Corinthians But go to chapter number three go to 1st Corinthians chapter number three when you're building a house What is the first thing you build? the foundation You're not gonna build the roof first. You're not gonna put the curtains on you're gonna do what you're gonna build the foundation And any construction project that is the most essential first work is getting that foundation Right, and if the foundation is wrong, the whole building is gonna be screwed up. You have to get that foundation Correct. Look at first Corinthians chapter number three. Look at verse number ten According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another bill if they're on but let every man take heed how he buildeth there upon For other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ Notice what is the foundation? It's Jesus Christ So the foundation the first step in the Christian life is what getting saved and believing on Jesus Christ and he's that foundation Go go to Romans chapter 15 I want to go one more go flip one page back or two pages back to the left. Look at Romans chapter 15 verse 20 I'll show you again and Look at verse 20 it says yay, so I have strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was named Lest I should build upon another man's Foundation. So again Paul was I'm not baptizing or doing it So I'm just going up preach the gospel and he's like where he's already gotten laid where the foundations already been there I don't need to do any work So what's that first work the foundational work and what was Paul really trying to do? he was trying to get a lot of foundations laid and Then he was allowing other people to come build houses on that right and if you think about the early church What really gets churches started going to an area and getting a lot of people saved? Then we can start getting them baptized then we can start building a church then we start taking all those candles and we put them in what a Candlestick. Okay, and and see here's the thing What would be the point of having the candlestick if then none of those people are gonna ever preach the gospel again? It doesn't it doesn't make any sense. So what was that first love getting saved? What was that first love preaching the gospel? What was that first work? It was getting people saved and preaching the gospel and when a church ceases to preach the gospel it ceases to be a church Ceases to be a church, you know, if you look at our bulletin, you know what the first thing is the service and soul winning times. I Mean we really are putting here on our first like one of our works our spiritual multiplication and our physical multiplication Okay, and then we have restoration of the sick. Alright, so that's basically what our structure looks like, but what's our first work? Preaching the gospel That's what we emphasize and we should always emphasize and never stop emphasizing That's so important go back if you would all the way to Revelation chapter number two Super Important that we recognize this and he makes one more final point here in verse six He says but this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate another ambiguous Section of Scripture and again, I believe everything's purposeful Why would he not tell us or why is it that when we search through the Bible? We can't figure out what the deeds of the Nicolaitans were and I'm gonna appeal to a similar logic But you know, it took me a long time to think about this one day I just kind of clicked and I thought you know if he had put a particular deed This is what people would say Let's say he just said I hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. They commit fornication Then they would say well, the only thing we can hate is fornication This is what churches would do wouldn't they? Whereas if Jesus doesn't hate one deed you say well what deed does Jesus hate? Read this And you'll figure out what things he hates He doesn't need to tell you what's deed it was because the deeds insignificant the point is that they hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which are obviously contrary to the Bible and What it's trying to help us understand is it's okay to hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans Sometimes there's just certain things out there that we should just hate, you know Pedophiles reading books to children in libraries if you don't hate that there's something wrong with you And this is not the church for you. Okay? I mean, there's so many evil things going on in this world that it's like if you can't hate that There's something wrong with you Okay, he's like hey, I really like that you hate these these deeds Think about it Christ is saying like I'm this is one thing that I really like about you guys How much you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans? You know and some people would be like, oh you guys just obsessed with hating pedophiles or whatever It's like you know what I guarantee Christ is thinking like I just love the way that steadfast hates pedophiles. I hope so I Hope that it's not like the church is like welcoming them into the church or something like that I mean, that's a commendable thing to be a church that hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans and he's saying are the deeds the Nicolaitans Pedophilia, I have no idea what it is, but let's just substitute rape. Let's just substitute Bestiality, let's just I mean we could plug and play all kinds of weird things But there's some things out there that we should hate we should abhor that which is evil and cleave that which is good Now I want to make one other point before we kind of move on to this next church And and this is something kind of new to me when I was thinking about this this section of Scripture but it seems like Christ makes a connection in each epistle to the churches to his description of himself now Notice how he described himself in verse 1. He was someone who's walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks Meaning what he's present in the church He's there in the church guiding and protecting the church. Okay, but when you don't do the first works, what's that punishment? He removes the church. And so we see kind of a direct connection He's trying to remind us like hey the whole reason you even have a church is because of Jesus The whole reason you're protected is because of Jesus The whole reason you're not removed and not destroyed is because of Christ and if you don't go out and preach the gospel well, then he himself will remove your church and so he's kind of letting us have a little clue here as the who he is to remind us of Why we need to behave the way that we do and he's gonna kind of do this subtle clue throughout these chapters look what it says in verse 7 he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches to him That overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God Verse 7 to me kind of confirms what I've been saying to you that what we're reading here is not always just on the surface That you kind of have to be spiritual to understand it Don't you isn't that what he's saying he that have an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the church meaning that? Unsaved people aren't gonna catch what we just put down The first works are gonna kind of go over their head The first love is gonna kind of go over their head the deeds of the Nicolaitans You know people do they'll be like well I found this old book somewhere that said this is what the deeds of Nicolaitans were And it's like it's not about finding out what it was It's just recognizing the fact that he hates certain deeds and then we use the Bible to figure out what they were Not some secular source that'll tell you what they supposedly did because then this is what people do again Well, that's the one thing we can hate and it's like that's not the there's not one thing There's a lot of things. Okay, and you say well, how do I know you got to read the Bible? You got to study the Bible You got to have the ear of the spiritual ears and pay attention to what Christ is saying under the churches And of course him that overcometh Consistently, this is brought up in the Bible in first John It's brought up but the person that overcomes is the person who believes in Jesus Christ If you if you just go back like one page or two to first John 5 It tells us what it means to overcome look at verse 4 first John Chapter 5 verse 4 for whatsoever is born of God Overcome at the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus the Son of God, so the whole world The devil the God of this world and the whole world is trying to get you to not do one thing What is the one thing that the devil and the whole world wants you to not do believe in Jesus Christ? And what's the one how do you overcome is you believe in Jesus Christ? That's what it means to overcome them because just every force of this world money and sports and fame and riches and drugs and alcohol and fornication and Adultery and just food and culture and racism and social media Everything's just trying to just drag you down into hell with them And you know the person that overcomes is the person that says all of that is junk I just believe in Jesus Christ and they're saved and notice what that person gets in Revelation chapter number two they get to eat of the tree of life Which is in the midst of the paradise of God that person's going to heaven It doesn't say the person that gives up all their sins Or is so much better than everybody else or is born in a specific ethnic family. I was born Jewish No, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who you are It matters if you believe in Jesus Christ or not And those are the people that overcame are the people who believe they basically escape the lies of this world This whole world is a big lie. And the one truth is faith in Jesus Christ That's the person that overcomes verse 8 and under the angel of the church and Smyrna, right? These things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive. So now we've moved on to a second church We talked about Smyrna Notice the description of who's talking changed a little bit, didn't it? It was kind of talking about the person that's in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks now We're talking about the person that was and is to come and he's alive. He was dead and is alive Verse 9. I know thy works and tribulation and poverty Thou art rich and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not But are the synagogue of Satan fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Behold the devil so cast some of you into prison They may be tried and you shall tribulation ten days be thou faithful in a death and I'll give thee a crown of life He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith in the churches he that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death so again Not all of this is gonna be plain. We kind of have to take a spiritual ear unto what's being described What I think is interesting here is that What what is he kind of what's the message he's trying to give to them Be thou faithful unto death. That's kind of the overarching message. You're gonna go through tribulation There's there's difficulty here. There's struggle here Some of you have been cast into prison and it doesn't say all of them just as some So not the whole church just some of the church and they're gonna be tried and they're gonna have tribulation ten days But he wants them to be faithful in death and he's gonna give them a crown of life what I think is interesting is What could give you the confidence to be faithful unto death? The resurrection Knowing that you will rise again And what do you get the crown of life with that and how does Jesus Christ describe himself in verse number eight? he said he's the first and last which was dead and Is alive so what is that pointing to the resurrection of Jesus Christ? So he's describing himself as the resurrection to remind them Hey you guys be faithful in the death because why because you will get a crown of life and we see that connection of him Describing himself in a certain way just to try and remind them of what they're supposed to do Hey Christ is in the midst of the golden candlesticks. So we need to make sure to do the first works Hey Christ is the resurrection So, you know what? We need to be faithful unto death and he's using these descriptors to kind of remind us of the attitudes and behaviors that we need To have even though we're not Smyrna and even though we're not Ephesus we can still learn from their example We can learn that the Jews are not the children of God Who are they? They're the synagogue of Satan. You say who said that Jesus? I Didn't say that now I'm repeating it. Okay, and you say what does that mean? You know, obviously when we when we use the word Jew in the Bible, it can mean a lot of things you know the Jew could mean someone who's ethnically from a Particular heritage it could mean someone who lives in Judah. They may not even be like Jewish of Jewish descent They may just be a person that lives in Judah. And so they're a Jew Also the Bible alludes to Jews as being a spiritual thing someone who's believed in Jesus Christ has become a spiritual Jew and Then there's also people that may not even be ethnically Jews may not even live in Judah But they're of the religion of Judaism where they basically are of this Antichrist God-hating religion and they're basically a Jew and you say what what Jew is it here in verse number nine, I Would say it's any of them that are not saved all three apply if someone is saying like I'm really a Jew because of my Genetics they're lying if someone says I'm a Jew because I live in Judah That's not accurate if someone says I'm a Jew because I practice the Talmud and I do the Passover they're lying the only real Jews in this world are those who have believed in Jesus Christ and Those who are not and still claiming that they're Jews They're the synagogue of Satan and there's only one religion that has synagogues Judaism and I believe even the Jews today Can be described here as the synagogue of Satan those who worship the devil now I don't think that they I don't believe that the vast majority of Jews think that they're worshipping the devil I think there probably is some that do are like kind of trying to worship the devil on purpose But I think the vast majority of Jews are sincere in their religion like they they truly believe their religion They're truly practicing what they think is the right religion, but they're obviously just worshipping a false god Similarly you have this throughout the whole Old Testament people are constantly worshipping an idol Sincerely worshipping that idol, but what was that idol? It was really a devil It was a demonic spirit that they were really ultimately worshiping I don't think they necessarily knew or realize what they're doing. I think a lot of Hindus in this world They sincerely think that they're worshipping their weird false gods But Not realizing those false gods are really just the devil and demonic spirits Okay, and again I think that's the same with Jews and I wouldn't say that every single Jew is a child of the devil and every single Jew Can't be saved, but at the same time they are Actively worshipping the devil when they're practicing that religion, and they need to be you know Told that so they can stop worshipping the devil and they could end up believing in Jesus Christ and getting saved And and not going too far down that road to where they become what the Bible describes reprobate meaning that they'll never get saved Okay, so we want to make sure we understand those points of course. They're the enemies of the New Testament They're the enemies today. They're the ones that hate Jesus the most You know it's funny. There's this little tiff. That's going online right now between Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro I don't anybody heard of this okay a couple people all right Basically Candace Owens is basically saying like I don't think that Israel should just bomb Palestinian children and all these people in Gaza Just because of Hamas existing and and Ben Shapiro's is basically saying oh you're anti-semitic and such a terrible person for For saying that because you know these these children are just shields for Hamas So basically you're just promoting Hamas by not wanting their children to die and Then she like basically just quoted scripture Like she just basically took a quote from the Bible and just posted it and then like Ben Shapiro said like you're being anti-semitic For just like quoting the Bible But you know I was actually surprised. She kind of just said well. You know what? I Can't be at fault for quoting the Bible You're the one that's in the wrong you know and I'm more or less is paraphrasing what she said and I'll be honest I don't really like Candace on that much, but just the fact that she least stood up for the Bible Against men and she kind of acted like I'm surprised that you're attacking. You know the Bible verse that I put Let me in let me let you in on a secret Candace. He's a Jew Jews don't like Jesus they crucified him through the hands of the Romans and They hate the New Testament They hate the Apostle Paul They hate the Jesus Christ of the Bible I don't know why you think that Jews love Jesus all of a sudden or something I don't know why you think like oh, I'm gonna quote Jesus, and then this Jew didn't like it It's like why can't Americans and Christians wake up and realize Jews don't like Jesus They spit if they say his name The Tiny hats don't like Jesus my friend, okay and we need to wake up the world on this issue, and I'm glad that some people are waking up and Realize you know there's no reason to support one Antichrist religion against another you know I think we should just be like stay away from all of us and Of course if anything we preach them the gospel right why not preach them the gospel even the Jew Let's go to verse number 12 the Bible says and to the angel of the church in Pergamos, right? These things saith he which had the sharp sword with two edges I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is and thou holdest fast my name and has not denied my faith Even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a Stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrifice and idols and to commit fornication So as thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches to him that overcometh What I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written Which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. So here he's talking to the church at Pergamos Notice how he describes himself. He describes himself as having the sharp sword of two edges now again These descriptions are consistent with the vision that John had described in chapter number one He's talking about how there was a sharp two-edged sword that was proceeding out of his mouth he described him as having these seven stars and having these seven candlesticks and so He also described himself as the person that was and is and is to come so he's using all the same language But kind of making it more relevant to the passage that we're looking at here when we look at Pergamos They're dwelling in a really dark area spiritually according the Bible. This is where Satan literally dwells and You know Satan's not God God can kind of be everywhere God God is in heaven, but he's also got like an on my presence meaning he's everywhere, right? But the devil is not everywhere the devil is spatially located meaning he can only be in one place and he's Deciding to dwell here at this point in human history Today the devil is dwelling somewhere. I don't know where that is and You know, we don't really necessarily know where that is But I would guess this that there's a lot of persecution and a lot of darkness in that area okay, so wherever you see Christians and churches having some of the greatest persecution and Having a lot of evil. That's a very likely location where the devil or a major demon is at Have you kind of pay attention some people would think like oh you're getting heavily persecuted. You're doing something wrong Maybe you're just in enemy territory You know and that's that's pretty cool Kind of to think about like you can have a thriving church where Satan literally is Like he can't even defend his own territory folks Okay, you can just come into his neighborhood and take over his neighborhood, right and he had it Sometimes you have martyrs though, right? You had a faithful martyr Antipas who is slain but you know also the devil sometimes he can't destroy you directly So he has to destroy you by other means the children of Israel could not be destroyed by Balaam Balaam was unable to curse the children of Israel So after failing multiple times to curse them what he ended up having to do is he had to try to seduce them with sin and get them to destroy themselves and Often that's how that's how the devil works He can't destroy you because you're saved and because God's protecting you But what he can do is he can entice you to sin or try to lead you away With bad people and with temptation and you destroy yourself and that's what the devil really wants And so in this church, we see kind of the same doctrine the doctrine of Balaam That stumbling block of eating things sacrifices and idols and fornication was creeping into that church and it was going to destroy the church fornication destroys churches And really fornication destroys everything it touches according the Bible fornication destroys a country too because whenever the men Prostitute thy daughters. It causes the whole land to fall to whoredom is what the Bible says and you know America is being destroyed today because men aren't protecting their daughters and Frankly speaking, you know It's just the reality if a man was always keeping his daughter Well-dressed and never allowing her to be alone with some young man, there would be a lot less fornication Because men don't like their daughters to be violated in the presence I don't know if you know this or not, you know, it kind of irritates the fire out of them Okay The reason why it's happening is because dad's not there is he he's either not in the home or he's not around or we're sending All of our young ladies into college to where they're basically just committing rampant fornication Being destroyed by men that don't love them don't care about them and it's just destroying our culture. It's destroying our population Women aren't having children anymore and I preach those sermons on this. They're destroying their own value women have an intrinsic value They're worth something and their virginity is worth something But when they go and prostitute themselves and just give it to a bunch of young men for free They basically zap all the wealth that they have out Because then young men run into a young lady and they say hey, I'm interested in you and she's like well I've been around the entire block and they're like, bye And Then they're like, oh men are pigs and men are disgusting and men are awful Well, you kind of just ruined yourself and then expect people to want to pay for something that you don't have anymore Right. Imagine if you went to the car dealership and you're gonna buy a car and they said hey Every single person has driven this car and it has 10 million miles on it But we still want you to pay the price for a new car. You're like get out of here I'm not gonna pay the price for a new car When it doesn't even have tires and the wheels and the upholstery is jacked up and there's smoke peak There's smoke stains everywhere and it's like women Have literally been driven up and down every single street with smoke stains and everything all over it And then they're thinking I want a new price car and it's like sorry Hey you had great value, but you sold that to someone else and you know what now you're destroyed and Fornication destroys the young ladies in our society and you know There's nothing wrong With some man deciding that he's still gonna love that young lady and take her and still pay that price Because you know what there was women there were whores in the Bible that end up being great women later So it's not that they can't be redeemed and restored but they also need to be realistic about life and our culture and our society is destroying young women and it's destroying men and it's gonna cause it's gonna cause us to have a Giant population of single ladies that are just these angry blue-haired liberals who just vote for the worst politicians and They have their cats and they're just but I mean you've met ladies like this you meet that old lady That's just bitter and has no children Boy, they're the most bitter people you've ever met in your life You know, it's because children make women sweeter Okay, and and you know when they've just wasted their life and no one loves them and no one cares about them And they've been divorced ten times, you know and their own cats don't even like them It's just it's just like, you know, it just destroys society and it creates a lot of problems I'm just telling you what's happening. We you laugh. It's really sad Because it's it's it's happening It's literally happening and it's destroying our culture It's a stronger society and it can destroy a church if we let all the young ladies in here Go out and be whores then who are all the young men gonna marry and Who's gonna bring in the next generation? No one that's why us as men we have to stop and break that chain and break that cycle and say you know what? We're gonna protect our daughters and we're not gonna let them get violated and we're gonna we're gonna marry off a bunch of virgins To a bunch of young men and they're gonna repopulate Christianity and repopulate this world because you know what? The world is destroying itself, but we don't have to and as God's children, you know the worst thing For the devil is when we just start popping out great children So what he wants to do is destroy us, but we can't let him do that Even if even if he's in our backyard, you know Also notice that it says in verse 15 the doctrine of the Nicolaitan so the deeds weren't just bad It was also the doctrine and when you study the Bible doctrine is brought up over and over Super important, you know, what does he describe himself as? Well, he had said that he's the one with the sharp sword of two edges What is that sword according the Bible is the Word of God and what's the two edges? you got the Old Testament and you got the New Testament and Every doctrine can be defeated with the Old Testament side and the New Testament side You can just slice that thing up in a hey fornication We can destroy that with Old Testament and we can destroy fornication with the New Testament It's that sharp two-edged sword that we go out and you know what battle we do we battle doctrine Oh, why do you care so much about doctrine? That's the battle we're in Hey, we were in a physical battle. We'd have shooting practice And we'd be rolling around and we'll be learning how to create grenades and all kinds of different things But you know what? Our war is a spiritual warfare and what we were with is the Bible That's why we're studying. This is we're doing shooting practice right now We're sharpening our short this evening and we're learning how to use the shield of faith And we're learning how to use the right kind of armor that the Bible has and how you defeat doctrine with the Bible That's how you defeat it let's look at verse number 18 and Under the angel of the church in Thyatira, right? These things say the Son of God Who hath his eyes like unto flame of fire and his feet unto like fine brass I know thy works and charity and service and faith my patience and thy works and the last three more than the first not withstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel Which call herself a prophet is to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed unto idols And I gave her space to repent of her fornication She repented not be old I'll cast her into a bed and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds and I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he which Searches the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works But unto you I say and unto the rest and Thyatira as many as not this doctrine And which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak I will put upon you none other burden But that which you have already hold fast till I come and he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him Well, I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter Shall they be broken to shivers? Even as I have received my father and I will give him the morning star He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the church. So we have our last church mentioned Thyatira and He has a big issue here where there's a woman Jezebel who's teaching and she's not only just teaching she's teaching false doctrine Not a really good example of women preachers in the Bible You say what's the good example of women preachers in the Bible? You don't have one. Okay It's always a negative story somehow. Oh, what about Deborah? Well, it was a shame that the king had to go and ask Deborah He was such a coward that he had to ask Deborah to hold his hand to the paddle Look when you need a woman to hold your hand to the battle, that's not a positive story. Okay, I Mean imagine some guy challenges you to a fight and you're like I need my old I need this lady to Walk with me, you know, it's like that's embarrassing. Okay, if you need some lady to tell you how to fight and You know when the Bible brings up women preachers in this context It's always negative because the Bible says that women aren't supposed to be the pastor not supposed to be the teacher They're supposed to keep silent in the church. And of course, what's one of the things they're gonna do potentially teach false doctrine Now it doesn't mean that men can't teach false doctrine. It's just that they're more susceptible Obviously she was tricked in the garden by the serpent women are a little bit more easily deceived They're a little bit more emotional And so as a result God has ordained it that men are the leaders men are the pastors men are the teachers this woman not only is teaching false doctrine, she's causing people to commit fornication and Notice that God was really gracious with her Which I believe is kind of an example of why she was probably saved but you know because she just decided to just keep living a very unrepentant life a Sin that would have got her thrown out of church if handled properly notice what he does He's gonna kill her and her children with death. That's a serious punishment. Some people say all the God of the New Testament's really nice This isn't that nice. It's gonna kill her and her children with death But it it's showing you that God is serious he takes church serious He takes what's preached by in the pulpit seriously, you know those of you that want to preach behind the pulpit Do you ever wonder like I wonder if God's gonna kill me for what I preached Instead of seeing like am I gonna get popular on YouTube? You should wonder if God's gonna kill you for what you said Because that's more important than getting viral or then getting lots of views because you know What Joyce Meyer gets a lot of views on on YouTube? But you know what God's not pleased with her and you say well, why is God not killing her probably because she's not saved and That's why I think you know, but you know if you are saved Then you should be terrified to get behind the pulpit and then preach lies The false prophets they get to do it because God wants to use them to try and trap people and test their hearts You know what? God doesn't want to test us as saved people seeing how many lies we can preach he gets really angry at that and he's gonna judge his people and Notice how he describes himself in this particular passage in verse number 18 He says that his eyes are like unto a flame of fire Now that's important. Go through to Hebrews chapter 12 for a moment. Go to Hebrews chapter number 12 Why is he describing his eyes as a flame of fire is to show you that God still gets angry If you saw somebody and their eyes were on fire What does that denote? This person's mad Right this person's seeing wrath. Okay, and let me tell you something Jesus Christ still has wrath in the New Testament Especially for false doctrine and I like that this passage even brings up a woman preacher Showing that God and Jesus Christ is not a respecter of persons. He's not gonna go easy on her just because she's a lady He's still gonna kill the ladies That means that you ladies need to take Christianity seriously Christianity is not a religion just for men. It's a religion for men and women It's not just for men and women. It's for children Because you know what at one point in the Bible God sent two she bears and they tear 40 and two children Because they were wicked and you know what? We all that are in this room need to take Christianity seriously because we've been given much I noticed what the Bible says about Jesus Christ says about God verse 29 For our God is a consuming fire Our God is consuming fire. Now. I showed you that go back a few chapters to chapter 10 I'm gonna show you another thing keep that in your memory bank for our God is a consuming fire Hebrews chapter 10 look at verse 26 For if we sin willfully After that, we receive the knowledge of the truth remaineth no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries. What is fiery indignation super mad? And it destroys people. What was it that we read in Revelation chapter 2? He's super mad at this lady And what does he do? He destroys her. Okay, let's keep reading He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment suppose he shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and have counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith He was sanctified and unholy thing and had done despite under the Spirit of Grace for we know him that hath said Vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompense say the Lord and again the Lord shall judge his people It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God notice what it says You should be afraid to fall into the hands of God You should be afraid of God you say well is God gonna send me to hell Well, if you're saved no, you know what he could still burn you in this life He could still destroy you with a fiery indignation in this life And you know what he doesn't like it when his people just say nuts to the Spirit of Grace people say Oh, you're one saved always saves a license to sin When did I say that? No one's handing out licenses to sin, you know, I don't go in my office and print out you may lie three times today Here you go. Oh You wanted fornication. Sorry. Here you go Like it's not the Catholic Church where we're selling indulgences folks I've never sold an indulgence. I've never asked or told or encouraged anyone to ever sin a single time and Let me tell you something. I'm saying the exact opposite you sin God's gonna come down on hard on you He's gonna destroy you and he can destroy you in this life Go if you would all the way to Deuteronomy chapter 4 for a second go to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and you say Why go there? Well, we got one edge of the sword. Let's get the other edge of the sword Okay Deuteronomy chapter number four and look at verse 24 Because we read a quote about for our gods are consuming fire. Look at Deuteronomy 4 verse 24 for the Lord thy God is a Consuming fire even a jealous God. Hey, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's because the New Testament's quoting this passage, isn't it? But what was the verse proceeding? What was the verse proceeding this? Well, what does it say? It says take heat on yourselves Lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God Which he made with you and make you a graven image or the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God has forgiven thee What was it that made God so angry and caused him to make this passage saying he's a consuming fire? Idolatry wasn't it idolatry go back if you would to Revelation chapter number two Why do you think it is that Jesus Christ has his eyes as a flame of fire? Because our God is a consuming fire and he's a jealous God and he doesn't want people to be sharing him with idols Does he he gets very mad when people are getting mixed up in idolatry? What does it say in verse number 20 again not withstanding? I have a few things against thee because thou suffers that woman Jezebel which called herself a prophetess to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and To eat things sacrificed unto idols. What was it that caused him to get so mad at this woman wanted to destroy her Idolatry, what was it in the Old Testament idolatry? Is it anything different? No The Lord is the same yesterday today and forever. I am the Lord I change not it's the same consuming fire of the Old Testament is the same consuming fire of the New Testament And you know as a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the Living God Now I just want to finish on this thought we already read the passage but in verses 26 to 29 He talks about how the person who overcomes and keeps his works under the end is gonna have power over the nation's and They're even granted the same privilege. He says he received of his father is the morning star but This is what I was thinking about This morning star title or whatever has been given unto Jesus Christ kind of alludes to the idea of him being at the top and You know, I was thinking about you know Just a lot of us men we can kind of relate to the idea of being in a job The top person is kind of like the CEO right if someone said hey, I'm gonna give you the CEO position they're kind of saying like we're gonna give you the top dog position right and Kind of in the same way, I think it's kind of alluding to this this idea and I you know You go to a job or you go work for a company Sometimes when you interview they might ask you this question like what's your goal? Like what's your five-year goal or what? What's your career aspirations? And if you work for a really really great company, or there's a really great company that you're trying to work for What would be like kind of the top aspiration wouldn't it be being like the CEO? Saying like I don't even just want to work for you guys. I want to be at the top of that company That would be a really lofty and admirable goal To work for that company and I think for a lot of us some of us even have that aspiration We say like I want to keep rising the top. I want to get promoted at work I keep showing I show up early because I want to get the next promotion. I'm Clocking an extra. I'm Doing overtime like I'm trying to work my way to the top or if you have your own business or trying to build it Like we're all striving like that as men in our company But do you realize that you work in the company of the kingdom of heaven You've already been hired and What Jesus Christ is trying to say is hey, I want to give you the top position. I Want to get you where you got the Morning Star. I want to put you all the way there, but how do you get there? Well, what did he say? He said in verse 26 he that overcome it so saved you have to be saved Otherwise you're not even in the company but notice this and keepeth my works under the end Now again, some people twist passages in the Bible say like oh you have to do this to be saved This isn't talking about salvation. This is talking about being the top of the top of the top Meaning what yet your works don't get you into heaven but you know what your works do is once you're in heaven, they determine your position in heaven and Notice who's at the top. It's the one who keepeth my works unto the end It's not well, I went to steadfast Baptist Church a few times No, it's the person that went to church to the end well, I went so winning a few times in my life No, I went so winning to the end Well, I tried to keep his commandments for a while. No, I kept his commandments to the end Well, I you know, there was a controversy online. I made a comment one time on YouTube. No, it's the person that dies of martyr It's the person that is faithful unto death it's the person that says hey, I'm gonna keep your works under the bitter end But you know how many people today? Didn't show up for their secular job Like if you said I want to become the CEO of this company, but then they just skipped work today that doesn't seem very like Coherent like why are you skipping work? You think you're gonna be promoted like, you know, we're in the holiday season You're hoping for that holiday bonus You're like, but I'm just not gonna go to work in November and just see It's like you're not gonna get the the holiday bonus when you're skipping work. You're not gonna get the holiday bonus You're not gonna get the promotion when you're not doing your job But then think about how many people are just like Oh Church. I'm gonna skip church this week I'm gonna skip Biblery. I'm gonna skip soul winning. I'm gonna skip the things of God. Well, guess what? You're not gonna get promoted That's Just the reality who's the person that's gonna get to the top it's the person that keeps his works under the end I'm gonna say this there's gonna be a lot of people in heaven that frankly speaking they Don't do a lot You know, they're not really that high of a position They're the least in the kingdom of heaven, but they're still there because they believe in Jesus Christ You know what this church we're not striving to be the least in the kingdom of heaven This is a church where we're trying to encourage people to be at the top And if that means that our church never runs thousands then okay, but guess what? There's not gonna be thousands at the top anyways You say why do I go to church on Wednesday night? Well, are you trying to get to the top? Why do I go so winning? Why do I do things that nobody notices? Well, what are you working for? You know realize you you are employed you are in the company and you are gonna get a position that's gonna last Forever some of us are striving so hard to get a position that we may only have for a few years But did not realize you're working right now for a position that will last for all of eternity and here's my question Where do you want to be in that company? Where do you want to be in the kingdom of heaven? It's important that we think about the sins we're making in our lives and and you really get to see what people believe by their actions Do you really even I mean if you really believe and the rewards that God's gonna give you would live differently If you don't really care about it or whatever it'll be pretty obvious to and You know these churches are evidenced by what by their works unless steadfast Baptist Church be a church where we have so many believers that are striving to be pleasing unto the Lord and have works unto the end and for him to look down and have a lot of positive things to say about us rather than just being like You Know I'd rather him have lots of I'd rather be one of these churches where it's a lot of positive things a lot of things He likes about us and about us even personally So let us make sure that we're thinking about who Jesus is to remind ourselves of who we should be. Let's close in prayer Thank Heavenly Father so much for this this great chapter and these instructions you gave to these churches. Thank you for being such a great leader Someone who protects us someone who guides us Someone who's given us hope through the resurrection someone who gives us the ability to fight with that two-edged sword and someone who is Gonna reward us according to works whether they're good or bad and I pray that you would help motivate us not to live lives of destruction and while we're still saved rather live a life trying to earn rewards and a position in heaven that is worthy of Being called a Christian and I pray that you would just help to continue to motivate us for us to have more faith in your word and To do all the things that we do for your honor and for your glory and in Jesus name we pray. Amen All right for our last song we're going to do 356 I Must tell Jesus Three fifty six I must tell Jesus Three five six I must tell Jesus All of my trials I cannot bear these Burdens alone My distress he kindly will help me For his own I must tell Jesus I must tell Jesus I cannot I Must tell Jesus Jesus can't help me I must tell Jesus All of my troubles He is a kind Passionate friend If I Make up my troubles I Must tell Jesus I must tell Jesus I cannot I Jesus can help Tempted and tried I need a great I Must tell Jesus I must tell Jesus I cannot I Must tell Jesus Jesus can't help me Jesus How the world We My heart I I Must tell Jesus I cannot Tell Jesus Jesus You