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  COMPROMISING IN THE FACE OF SUFFERING AND PERSECUTION
  by Emanuel Esh
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Summary: This sermon delves into the message that Jesus gave to the
church of Pergamos in Revelation chapter 2, highlighting the challenges
of living in a morally compromised society and the need for repentance.
It emphasizes the importance of not compromising with the idols of the
world, standing firm in faith, and overcoming temptations. The sermon
urges listeners to have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the
churches and to be vigilant against the moral and political climates of
the present day.

Duration: 1:08:50 Topics: "Moral Compromise", "Spiritual Vigilance"
Scripture References: Revelation 2:12, Revelation 2:16, Revelation 2:17, Matthew 11:15, Jeremiah 6:16, 1 John 5:4, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 10:14, 2 Timothy 4:3

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into the message that Jesus gave to the church of
Pergamos in Revelation chapter 2, highlighting the challenges of living
in a morally compromised society and the need for repentance. It
emphasizes the importance of not compromising with the idols of the
world, standing firm in faith, and overcoming temptations. The sermon
urges listeners to have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the
churches and to be vigilant against the moral and political climates of
the present day.

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CONTENT
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Greetings in Jesus name. I know that it's the time of season of
celebration for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and I really enjoyed
the singing this morning. I really enjoyed the service last Sunday where
I felt like there was worship and honor given to the Lord Jesus Christ
in that time.

And Aaron had asked me if I would preach the day and I got back to him
and said, well I don't have a message about the birth of Christ this
morning. Should I, would you have someone else preaching? He said no, he
said he wanted me to go on. So I have something on my heart that I'd
like to teach and preach this morning out of revelations.

I know that we are in the, it feels like we're in the end times as we
walk through many things as a nation and as a church, politically,
spiritually and so forth. So I want to look specifically at the message
that the Lord Jesus gave to the angel of the church of Pergamos in
Revelation chapter 2. You can turn there and let's read this scripture
and then we'll move on into the message. So let's stand together as we
read the word of God that Jesus himself gave to this church.

Beginning to read in verse 12 of Revelations chapter 2. And to the angel
of the church in Pergamos write, these things saith he which hath 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 hast not
denied my faith. Even in those days when 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 the 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 unto the
churches. To him that overcometh 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. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, this is the word, your word, the words of Jesus from
your holy book. And Father we come to you as mere mankind this morning
yet you have called us to such a place of honor and glory and blessing
through the life and death and resurrection of your son the Lord Jesus
Christ who shed his blood and paid the price that we might be saved and
that we might walk in holiness bringing you glory and honor and that
being a demonstration of your mighty working power throughout the whole
world both in heaven and in earth. So Father this morning grant us grace
to be all that you are calling us to be.

Give us ears to hear Father what the spirit says to the churches even to
this church today. Father I know that without your Holy Spirit we can do
nothing and so I give my body to you to be used my voice my lips my
tongue and my heart to demonstrate to speak forth the words of Christ
and your heart and your burden to the churches today and to this church
in Jesus name amen. You may be seated.

When I think of the Apostle John on the isle of Patmos in about the year
95 AD that would be about 60 years after Christ was crucified or 60
years after the beginning after Pentecost when the church first was
formed there in the book of Acts and they continued on there and now the
Apostle John who was Jesus closest friend and disciple he's still alive.
All the other apostles had been martyred for the faith. John had escaped
martyrdom they even had placed him in a vat of boiling oil and somehow
miraculously he survived and so they banished him to this island in the
Aegean Sea there which today is owned by Greece and there he was alone
basically and there Jesus came to him and gave him this message to take
it and give it to the seven churches in Asia.

We can have the picture of Asia up here. I want to give you some
historical background to this church in Pergamos so that you can
understand the situation that was there at the time. This is the
Mediterranean Sea you see there or in between Greece and what is shown
as Asia there is the Aegean Sea that is the Greek coastline and we have
the island of Lesbos see if I can there is the island of Lesbos where
we've been working and of course this is Greece over here and in the
Jesus days this was called Asia and this was Asia minor you have Galatia
there and so forth and this is where the Apostle Paul traveled much and
taught and preached and the word of God was given there and there was
churches planted in these cities there in that place.

We understand by the book of Acts that persecution broke out against the
believers against the Christians soon after Pentecost and then that
persecution continued on for many years until around the end of the
third century when Christianity was accepted as the official religion of
Rome and became a part of the state and it's as I understand that is
when the dark ages began and they went for a thousand years until around
the 1500s again when the church rose up and recognized the error of
being one with church and state and the separation was once again made
in the 1500s there of church and state and revival came which has now
gone around the whole world interesting but in the in those years of
those 60 years of church life up to 1895 when this was written there was
a lot of persecution for example Nero in the year like 64 AD there was a
great fire in Rome and Nero was the the ruler of there in Rome and he
blamed the fire on the Christians and in that way there was great
persecution unleashed against them unprecedented maybe lights are bright
up here but this is a picture of an arena filled with spectators and
they would they would take the Christians and they would put them
capture them and put them in in there and bring them out for sport to
watch the animals the wild animals to eat them to tear them apart and
this was what they spent their time doing this was their great delight
these Roman people at this time Greeks or what have you and they would
kill the Christians and slaughter them many many times you also notice
that there's people hanging on these poles and they're burning they
would dip them in tar and they would wrap them with some straw and then
they would light them up and that was to be make light for the the
people a light for the emperor's gardens at night and they would take
the Christians to do that and the Christians suffered they suffered
greatly in those days in about the year 95 when this was written this
message was given to John Domitian was the ruler in Rome he was the
emperor and he was demanding worship from the people and during this
time there was the the idolatry was so entrenched for centuries in this
area in this area of Asia especially we have Rome is over in this area
over here in Italy Rome is where the emperor was but the this whole area
was under the dominion of the emperor and he demanded the people by this
time towards the end of his uh years Domitian there demanded emperor
worship and he demanded the people to worship him and he had to make
idols and statutes where people were supposed to bow down to them or in
some way acknowledge them every time they would pass them and they were
also supposed to take it just a little pinch of incense and offer it
towards that idol or somehow the Christians of course were not willing
to do that and so they suffered this idolatry was very much external and
everyone could see what everyone else would do and when you were in a
crowd and the crowd was was idolizing these idols or this emperor
worship and you didn't do it it was very easy to see they didn't really
care what the Christians believed in heart but they did care about what
the Christians did outwardly or did not do until they suffered that was
the spiritual climate this idolatry had been entrenched for centuries
and they there were so many different gods they had so many different
gods that anyone could have their own god and could talk about their god
and so forth but they did not understand they thought the Christians
were godless because they didn't have any gods small g and so there was
a great persecution against them we also have this is a picture of a
brass bull which they made to burn people in they used all and every
kind of persecution or of wicked evil means and ways to kill people to
not just to crucify them but they found many different ways to destroy
people to kill the Christians and they would do this in front of the
crowds of people watching them be tormented and killed and so one man
came up with a the idea of a of a brass bull and they had a door in the
side they would take the person and put him in there and stuff him into
there in a certain way his his head would be up into the neck of the
bull and they had they would force him in that way then they would light
the fire and begin to slowly roast this man inside the brazen bull and
they had even had special pipes in the in the head of the bull so that
when the person would be screaming in agony it would sound like the bull
was bellowing and the people gloried in that this was the spirit in the
heart of the people of Rome at that time they they they they greatly
enjoyed watching people suffer like that an antipas my faithful martyr
this is the way it was said he died he refused to worship the emperor
and because of that they took this man which was supposedly a leader of
the church at Pergamos and they put him into a brass bull like that and
they burned him and killed him that way slowly letting the fire get hot
that's the kind of persecution that the church was facing that's what
the church in Pergamos was up against there was there in the city of
Pergamos up on a hill which was off the sea at the Aegean Sea they had
so many temples up on that hill so many to so many different gods they
had major lots of big temples and lots of smaller ones the biggest one
of them was this one this this altar to Zeus this was a huge altar set
up there in gleaming white and and there was almost always people there
and there was a continual sacrifices made and smoke would hang out over
that city continually and this went on for years and years and years and
this seems like it this is when it refers to the Satan's seat it seemed
that this may be what he was talking about but this is where Satan dwelt
at that time Satan himself was living in this city this was his dwelling
place and this was his seat and this altar seems to be the place that he
was and there was people in those days who went to Pergamos and they
just they took the gospel to that place to that city and there they were
willing to lay down their lives that the gospel might be preached in
that city called Pergamos and they knew they would suffer and many of
them would die and somehow the church was still there 60 years after
after Pentecost and this is what they were facing and and this is now
the message that was brought to the angel of the church of Pergamos and
to the angel of the church of Pergamos right these things say if he
which hath the sharp sword with two edges and I want us to understand
that when Jesus came when Jesus spoke this message to the church it says
earlier there in in Revelation chapter 2 it says that when it says to
the church at Ephesus he said these things say if he that holds the
seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks and so the picture there is that Jesus there's seven
golden candlesticks there and Jesus himself is walking among those seven
golden candlesticks which are the churches and so the picture is very
clear that Jesus himself knew these churches very well he didn't just
see them from a distance he was there in their midst and he walked in
the midst of them we would like to believe that Jesus walks in the midst
of this church as well but I wonder what does he see what does Jesus
really see as he walks in the midst of this church let's look at what is
happening here if we can to the angel of the church in Pergamos that
word angel is angelus in the greek it means messenger quite uh agreed
upon that it's talking about the leader of the church the bishop or the
elder the one who is in the lead who has responsibility for the church
is the one he's talking about this is Jesus is saying John I want you to
write down this message and give it to the leader of the church at
Pergamos the church the word for church is ecclesia I remember that from
brother Daniel teaching that a long time ago and the word ek means
separation and kaleo means to beckon to call to invite and when you put
these two words together it means those who are called to a prestigious
assembly and the backdrop of that comes right out of Greece there was
there in Athens they had on Mars Hill they had a meeting place where the
local people the local assembly was held and it was those who were
called and those who were specifically chosen to meet in that place and
they would meet weekly or monthly whatever it was and they were called
the ecclesia they were specifically called to a prestigious assembly and
this is the word that Paul has chosen to use or Jesus has chosen to use
to express his body of believers the church and in that church in that
in that body of believers in that body in that that ecclesia there in
Greece there in Athens there was a specific several men who were called
out they were called the bule and they were the ones who kind of oversaw
this meeting and then they had one who was the moderator or the speaker
and the speaker was the one that brought that would bring the message to
them and to tell it to them of what it was what there was a talk about
and he would bring a message maybe from the emperor from someone very
important and he could he was not allowed to change the message
whatsoever even if the message would not be acceptable among the people
he was not allowed to change it whatsoever on his own this is the
picture of the leader this is a picture of the one who was given
authority to work to speak in that assembly and this message is to the
angel the messenger the leader of the church in Pergamos these things
saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges what if Jesus were to
come and walk in our midst here at charity christian fellowship and then
he would give a message to the leader here what would he say i believe
that what Jesus would say to us as a church here it would be relevant to
our current situation today it would we would all understand exactly
what he's trying to say we would all know exactly what he's talking
about he would probably talk about some of our past he might talk about
some of the good things that we are doing or have done but he also would
talk about some of our needs and areas of shortcoming right and i
believe that we would all understand exactly what he's talking about
when this message came to the church at Pergamos could i have a drink of
water i believe that the church at Pergamos understood exactly what he
was talking about and what and and the language that he used oh i'm
sorry the language that he used would expressly they would expressly
understand what he means by that and when Jesus identified himself as
the one these this sayeth he which has a sharp sword with two edges
Domitian who was the emperor at that time they would they would have men
in areas like in the area of Asia there was there would be a man who
would rule over certain areas in Asia maybe in the city and those men
were called proconsuls and those men were over certain areas regions
maybe government like a government of a state and if those men did not
do exactly what this demented deranged emperor Demetian wanted them to
do he would have them killed instantly without problem and so these men
they lived to try to please the emperor in every way they could and it
made them to be very harsh and wicked and evil and they would kill
people under them around them because they feared someone taking over
and they would just kill many of their own people and the sword was the
tool that was used to rule and to reign it was well known that many
people were dying by the sword by these this proconsul and a
specifically one there in Pergamos and so when Jesus identified himself
as the one with his sharp two-edged sword he spoke right into their
present situation that they were facing he would he is the one who's
sitting above all and his sword is the most important sword also the
word sharp there is used that word sharp is the greek word o-x-u-s that
denotes a medicinal cleanser sanitizing something that will attack
infection maybe even anesthesia this was a part this what that word
sharp means Jesus said I'm the one with a sharp sword and that sharpness
means it's it actually does cleansing and so when Jesus says I am the
one with the sharp sword with two edges not just a sword that kills but
this sword also brings healing and cleansing where there is infection
and the the when you think of the of infection in our bodies think of
how COVID-19 infects our bodies and tries to take over but if there's a
healthy body the body can fight off that infection but this is what he's
talking about he's talking about the church in Pergamos and he's simply
saying I have a sharp sword and and that means I can use it for
cleansing and he's indicating that there is an infection there he goes
on to say I know thy works where thou dwellest he knows everything I
know everything that you're doing I know everything that you've been
doing I know what has been done I know what has happened here I know
your works I know that you are doing this I know you're reaching out I
know where your ministries are I know how you're doing this I know your
works he says I know everything about you and where you live even where
satan's seat is he's acknowledging to them I know that you are living in
a very difficult place I know you're living where satan himself is
sitting the church this church in Pergamos would be comforted by those
words he understands where we're living he understands our situation he
realizes that yes satan is living here and it's difficult so that's what
jesus will acknowledge to them and thou holds fast my name they continue
to hold fast and that hold fast is a picture of someone gripping with
all their strength and holding on you can take the picture of a tug of
war and they grab a hold of that rope and they hold fast with all they
have and jesus saying thou has held fast my name and you have not denied
my faith even in the those days where an antibus my faithful martyr who
was slain among you where satan dwells in twice in this verse he is
recognizing that satan is not only sitting there but satan is actually
living in this city and you the church have continued in the midst of
that situation you've continued to hold fast to my name and you've not
left it go and you are whole you've held on to the faith you've not
denied my faith not even when my faithful martyr was slain so when this
began to happen and they took antibus and they put him into that brazen
bull and they fried him in there and they killed him in there and the
christians knew about that and now jesus is coming and he's
acknowledging that in the midst of this time you have not denied my
faith you've not this did not cause you to turn away from me and that
would have brought some comfort and encouragement to the body at that
time recognizing that's where satan was dwelling but i have a few things
against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of
philem there are some in the midst of the church at pergamos that are
holding fast the doctrine of bale they're holding the doctrine of balem
and the doctrine of the nicolaitans so there's two things wrong two
things that were happening here in the midst of this intense persecution
there were some men in the church who were teaching the doctrine of
balem and there was those who also in the church who were teaching that
were holding the doctrine of the nicolaitans which thing i hate jesus
said now i most of us probably understand what the doctrine of balem is
right what is the doctrine of balem someone tell me being destroyed from
within okay let's go a little further on that intentionally causing
someone to stumble into sin thou hast there them that hold the doctrine
of balem which taught balak to cast a stumbling block before the
children of israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit
fornication and so the doctrine of balem is to cast a stumbling block or
to cause people to fall that's the doctrine there and you can get a
numbers chapter 23 24 and 25 to read about that story of balem who was
the that prophet was prophesying he was called by balak to come out and
curse israel because he was afraid israel would take over his kingdom
but balem was not able to curse israel many many sacrifices were offered
there they would meet up on the on this mountain and they would offer
seven uh 12 uh build these altars and and offer bullocks on there on
each one of them and what they would do in those days when they would
offer these in the evil uh in that idolatrous way that sacrificial way
that that sacrificing those animals in order to tell the future they
would inspect the entrails the guts of that animal and would prophesy
upon that would prophesy through that that was a normal thing whether
balem did that i'm not sure but he was unable to curse israel but then
when they were about finished he did say something to be like that
here's something i think you could do get your young women your immodest
ladies to go over there and tempt the young men of israel and and to get
them to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols and so
the young women went over there and they they tempted the men of israel
and they drew them away and had them and got them to eat meat that was
sacrificed to the idols which was forbidden and to commit fornication
with them and so the women went and they did that and the men of israel
fell for that and so balen must have understood that when the church
goes into sin it loses god's blessing and through that a blessing was
lost and a curse fell upon israel and 24 000 people died because of it
that's the doctrine of balem what about the doctrine of the nicolaitans
does anyone know what is referred to there that was one that i had to
study to search it out what is the doctrine of nicolaitans several
points here one is that there's no emphasis on holy living or separation
from the world you imagine this being taught in the church there's no
emphasis on the doctrinal teachings of the bible there's no emphasis on
absolute truth or absolute biblical morality no exclusionary belief that
christ alone is the way to heaven in these days today there are many
church leaders who are preaching a very soft gospel they are not
emphasizing holy living they are not emphasizing a separation from the
world and they're preaching a love gospel that jesus loves you god loves
you and god's going to take you to heaven all these wonderful good
things to tickle the ears of the people but this is a part of the
doctrine of the nicolaitans which jesus says i hate it no emphasis on
doctrinal teaching just very light fluffy surface in a time when when no
answers on the absolute truth or absolute biblical morality very
prevalent today in our society this nation is at the place where you
know there's no real absolute truth it doesn't really there's no place
that you can say this is what truth is no truth is flexible today truth
is this and truth is that it's the uh i had a little bit of the
challenge come up with understanding what it's all about when you talk
about the uh inclusiveness or the x exclusiveness or of the toleration
today the the the theme out there is toleration we just tolerate
everything and the general thought is just everybody should tolerate
everybody else right there's toleration there is no absolute truth
anymore there is no absolute biblical morality there's who is to say
that it's wrong to have sex before you're married that that's not that
doesn't matter anymore no absolute morality no absolute truth no the
bible's very clear on this there is absolute truth and we have absolute
moral standards but when that is broken down in a nation there's such
decay that comes in and this is this was the situation in rome in those
days there was such perversion centuries of perversion centuries of
idolatry the greeks would train their young men in nakedness it was such
a naked society even today when you go travel through greece you see
these statues right in the middle of the parks and most of them are
naked and that was their that was their religion that was their paganism
their their ideals their eye it was they were just lifting up the
nakedness and of immorality and of mankind it was just awful situation
no absolute truth didn't matter anymore the only thing about those who
have say you know everything goes uh tolerance your toleration to all
things and everybody will just tolerate everybody the one thing they did
not tolerate in this system there in rome was those who believed in
jesus christ being the only way oh no there's more than one way to go no
no no no there's only one way the christians said and they had no
toleration for the christians because of that toleration except when it
comes to living the life of jesus christ there is there was no
toleration for that and i believe that we are coming very close to that
very same thing today if you would dare to stand up and proclaim these
things in the years to come maybe even now in some places there is no
toleration repent and he's speaking to the leader of the church and also
i will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword
of my mouth he's calling the leader of the church to repentance or he
will come quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth that
have these doctrines with the sword of his mouth i think back with joy
back around in 2001 when effort was started and we were a small church
here and drew together in fellowship and love and care we as a church we
spent three days in fasting and prayer and during that time we felt like
the spirit of god spoke to us and if you were here at that time not very
many of you do you remember what happened we as the leaders felt like we
as a church had sinned and we specifically identified that sin and we
made confession to the whole church i remember it so clearly i'm
standing back there and somehow the burden of this fell on our hearts as
leaders and we began to express our heart and we we repented we we led
the congregation to repentance of this and something happened revival
broke out for several weeks the spirit of god came making a minister of
life as we took as we humbled ourselves and acknowledged our sin and
allowed the holy spirit allowed the lord jesus to come with that
cleansing sword and to begin to begin to cleanse i think back to those
days with great joy how i long for more of that repent or i will come
quickly and fight against you with the sword of my mouth and this this
word sword there is the word rampia and that is a very unique tool which
they it's a long handled sickle with a curved sickle at the end it's a
it's sharp on both sides but it's got a long handle which was actually
uh first it seemed like it was first was first made in asia here and was
used in their fighting against the romans way earlier on in their major
battles and they had the advantage because in in those days you fought
with a sword hand-to-hand combating close by but these this army came up
with this new tool called the rumpia which had a long handle and on that
hand with a sharp sickle and they they could take that and thrust it
into the into the enemy ranks before they ever got close enough to hit
him with the sword and it was a hacking thing they could do this back
and forth like a a hacking thing and this is what this word rampia means
jesus is saying repent quickly repent or i will come unto you quickly
and fight against you with the sword of my mouth fight against them
those who are holding this doctrine of balaam and nicolaitans i will
come and fight against you and this is the the picture that is used and
it seems like this rumpia this sword was actually native to this area
and they would have known exactly what he means by it and then he goes
on and says he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto
the churches jesus many times in his ministry on the earth used the
similar words he that hath ears to hear let him hear and here in this
last message the churches jesus is once again using this saying he that
has an ear to hear let him hear and i wonder if we have ears to hear
what the spirit is saying to the churches am i able to hear do i have an
ear let me see your hand do you have ears to hear let me let me do that
again do you have ears let me see your hands do you have ears to hear
you want to i want to hear too he that hath an ear to hear let him hear
what the spirit is saying to the churches is it important to hear what
the spirit is saying to the churches i believe it's paramount especially
it has always been but in these last days in these end times we need to
be hearing listening to what the spirit of the lord is saying our life
is so very different than the believers in pergamos in the year 95 ad
right is there anyone in this room that has physically suffered
persecution i know we've say we've suffered mentally emotionally
probably from being mistreated and and shunned and all this but that is
so minor we know so little we are unprepared in that sense but this
whole picture to the church of pergamos was compromised it's known as
the church that was compromising and the situation where these people
were living jesus came to them and said you guys have been compromising
and there were men in this church who were teaching that it's okay to
offer just a little pinch of incense to that idol so that you don't have
to be burned in that in the fire you don't need to be taken out there
and fed to the wild beasts when you walk past that idol just nod your
head a little bit you'll still get to go to heaven you'll still get to
be with jesus for eternity compromise just compromise a little bit with
the i doubt they would say it in those words but the people were
suffering and they were teaching that it's going to be it's okay to just
yield a little bit and this is where jesus comes in and says repent or i
will come quickly unto you either have an ear let him hear what the
spirit says to the churches to him that overcometh the one who overcomes
the one who does not compromise the one who does not give in the one who
does not deny the one who stands in the face of all kinds of things no
matter what they throw at him no compromise i saw a picture of one young
lady standing there in the doorway men were sitting here the soldiers
where she's standing in the doorway a picture of godliness and holiness
and outside of that doorway was the arena of the lions and in the
background you could see them standing up there you could see the people
in the arena and they would do this for over their lunch hour they would
meet together there and have some kind of a sport there and they would
take the christians out there to be devoured by an animal and a picture
of this serene young girl standing there resolution on her face knowing
that she's going to be taken out there and be made sport with in front
of the thousands of people that day no compromise this is the arena
there in pergamos you can still see it today to him that overcomes until
death i'm going to give you rewards he says i will give them i will give
you to eat of the hidden manna i will feed you with eternal life i will
strengthen you with the word of god i will strengthen you with the
hidden manna i know in the wilderness that god sent down manna to feed
his children to feed his people there but now he says to those who ever
come he said i'm going to give you the hidden manna and that manna when
they first tasted it they said it's like angels food it was sweet to
their taste and they did they delighted in it did you ever stop and
consider how much manna rained down upon them daily approximately three
million people that's a good guess maybe there were six hundred thousand
men twenty years and older in the wilderness with moses there at
probably at least three million souls and they would be given manna
every day six days a week and on the sixth day they were given in twice
as much for the seventh day and each one was to get was to gather an
omer of manna for each person in the family probably about three pounds
per person per day do the multiplication someone tell me how many tons
of manna would be falling on every day and god says the church in
pergamos to him that overcomes i i will give him to eat of the hidden
manna i think there was 6500 tons of food per day tons of manna per day
is that what it comes to 6500 tons of manna per day to feed three
million people is that right what you come up with nine thousand tons
three million nine million pounds anyhow look at it think about it to
him that overcometh i will give to eat of the hidden manna and i will
also give to him a white stone and in that stone a name written which no
man knows except he that receiveth it to him that overcomes i will give
to him a white stone i wonder what picture what you see in that picture
jesus says i'm going to come i'm going to come to this person that
overcomes i'm going to give him a white stone and in that stone is a
name written which no one knows but him that receives it it is a
personal that's the right word from jesus himself with a name specific
personal this is a very personal thing a personal reward that jesus is
going to be giving to him that overcomes i think of the the olympics
originated in greece and they would give to those those runners who
overcame those runners who won the race they would give them rewards we
would we call it medals today today it's gold they give a golden medal
to that person who won and that person walks up and the official comes
out and he gives him that reward that medal of highest honor he's the
one who won he's the one who overcame all the other people he didn't
fall he didn't trip he kept on going he had trained himself to endure to
the end and he got a medal and now jesus says to him that overcomes i am
going to give him a white stone in that stone a name written which no
man knows except he that receives it highest honors when they all of
these points every single piece that jesus spoke the church in pergamos
was relevant to them they understood it it brought pictures into their
minds when he spoke them they knew exactly what he would have meant i
believe it was a great encouragement to that church in pergamos that day
at that time and this message was given to the bishop the angel the
leader of that church to take it and give it to the congregation do you
think he changed it you think he did some changes on it you think he
softened up a little bit i don't think so we're pretty far removed from
the church in pergamos it will be it will be disappointing to go home
today and just talk about this message if we did not make some kind of
applications and this last part i would like to for you to tell me for
you to help me understand we looked a little bit at the political
picture that this church was living in we looked at the moral climate
around them we looked at the worship of idols and their worship in those
days what is in this what is facing this church today what is the moral
climate what is the political climate around us today what are the idols
that bombard this society and maybe we don't even recognize it what are
the idols of america today what are the idols that americans are
worshiping someone tell me what are they identity money entertainment
have it your way deception vain fame live it up you only live once so
live it up self self yes preserve myself take care of myself make myself
famous all those type of things how are we treating those who are famous
what do we do with them do we worship them what about the stars what
about the music stars what about the sports stars does it border on
idolatry have we compromised are we compromising am i compromising am i
giving them worth am i allowing myself to be drawn aside to that world
of entertainment and sports am i willing to make application am i
willing to write down but if we're going to identify the challenges that
we the church have we must identify what's in the political scene you
might say we must identify what is in the moral scene and what is in the
idolatrous scene what is this world idolizing what are the people out
there in the world sinners pagans what are they idolizing we mentioned
some things but reality is what is the reality what are they really
idolizing what is the political scene am i involved in the political
scene to where my heart gets all bent out of shape when the elections
are finalized am i getting all bent out of shape because of what i think
might happen with the new president what he might do i'm allowing that
to cause fear into my heart and light the church in pergamos if you
could choose to live in pergamos or live here where would you choose we
like our society we like our lifestyle pretty well don't we but do we
understand the dangers do we understand the compromise that is happening
all around us and surely within us if we want but we must identify those
things for the church in it was not so difficult to identify the
idolatry it was all around them they stood out like sore thumbs they
were they they were singled out because they would not nod to that idol
they wouldn't give any they wouldn't take a little pinch of incense and
offer it to as incense to the emperor and the lions were right outside
the door and they would take that person and say if you just do this
little pinch you won't need to go out there but that's not the situation
today i won't be taken to slaughterhouse i won't be taken out there to
be made sport of by the animals in front of the myriads of people in the
auditorium in the in the arena that's not what happens to me today and
so the lions are not as clearly drawn are they it's much more oh it's
about individual no i no i i can do this and you know i'm fine i mean i
don't want to tell you you should do it but i have no conviction against
it we must identify the idols of america today whether it's fame whether
it's money whether it's power prestige whether it's the time i spend on
my phone watching movies and and idols and i i just i don't feel good
about watching all the big football games big ball games and getting all
involved in those i don't feel good about those things number one it's a
waste of time and it's drawing the heart into the world becoming one
with it and the compromise of just living it up oh what i want whatever
i want to do no one has the right to tell me these things no it's it's
not an absolute truth we can we can do these things we're okay if we're
going to be serious about compromise we must identify the time we're
living in must identify the moral climate we're living in where there's
many churches who have accepted this toleration thing oh we have to
tolerate everybody even if they come in professing to be the immorality
that is prevalent in the world today homosexuality and all those things
well you can't tell them no you have to accept them where they are have
to love them yeah let them come into holy communion yeah teach them how
to live a holy life and it may come soon sooner than we realize where
there will be government intervening enforcing these things the agenda
they have is well laid and they're out to push it if i if i in my
personal life compromise on numerous little issues how will i stand
against the big ones what's that verse in the old testament if the
footmen weary you how will you race run with the chariots if the small
things deter you at the small things if you're compromising the small
things how are you going to live when the chariots how are you going to
run with the chariots you're not going to he that hath ears to hear let
him hear and that means not just allow sound to go into your through
this your earlobes it means a lot more than just hearing sounds he that
hath ears to hear it means you actually have a heart that is in such a
posture that you are able to hear what the spirit is saying to the
churches you're receiving it in your heart and you're doing something
with it you're making the application i want to walk in such a way all
the days of my life can we stand together for prayer our father lord in
heaven i'm crying out to your father to give us ears to hear really
hearing what the spirit is saying to this church today not only what the
spirit was saying the churches in in asia but or the church at pergamos
but to really hear what the spirit of the lord is saying to the church
here at charity christian fellowship lord i ask for a blessing on the
elder the leader grant him grace to carry the responsibility by your
grace father and those men who are being called to help lead out may you
bless them lord may your grace rest upon them they would not find this
to be an overwhelming burden but rather they would walk in the grace of
our lord jesus administrating and carrying out the word of god doing the
will of god being an example to the believers and then father to the
congregation to the assembly those who are called out to a prestigious
assembly those who are especially called by jesus christ himself to be a
part of this of the assembly the body of jesus christ i pray a blessing
i pray father for your holy spirit to bring conviction to hearts lord
grant us the church ears to hear and a heart to understand and boldness
to declare it and to lead the way in repentance that is needed lord we
need to hear grant us this grace that cry out through jesus in jesus
name that wonderful name amen

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/B1N5S2Px_Bw.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/emanuel-esh/compromising-in-the-face-of-suffering-and-persecution/
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