The Church Of Pergamos - The Worldly Church

[0:00] I've been teaching on the seven churches of Asia for some time now and today I'm going to continue I spoke about the Church of Ephesus which is the desirable church and I spoke about the Church of Smyrna was the church of Smyrna the suffering church the persecuted church all right and my God's grace today I'm going to move on to the church in Pegamos the church in Pegamos Revelation chapter 2 Revelation chapter 2 to the angel of the Church of Ephesus write these things say he who holds the seven stars in his right hand he who sorry say who works in the midst of the seven golden lampstands I know your works your labor your patience that you cannot bear those who are evil and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and I found them lies and you have persevered and have patience and I've labored for my name's sake and I've not become weary nevertheless I have this nevertheless I have this against you that you have left your first love remember therefore from whence you have fallen repent and do the first works or else I will come and I'll come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent but this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes I will give to each from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God verse 8 and to the angel of the church of Smyrna write these things say the first and the last who was dead and came to life I know your works tribulations tribulation and poverty but you are rich and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan do not fear any of those any of those things which you are about to suffer indeed then indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes he sorry he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death and to the angel of the church in Pergamos right these things say he who has the sharp two-edged sword I know your works and where you dwell where Satan's throne is and you have sorry and you hold fast that and you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful martyr who was killed amongst you where Satan dwells but I have few things against you because you have you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balaam to put a stumbling block before the children

[4:06] of Israel to eat things sacrificed to other idols and to commit sexual immorality thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which things I hate repent or else I will come to you quickly and I will fight against them which them with the sword of my mouth he was near let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manner to it and I will give him a white stone and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except he who receives it amen amen so you you see that the letter to the first church the church of Ephesus was a letter warning them to repent and come back to their first love from which from where they are falling else they risk losing the lampstand the lampstand or the lampstand being taken away from them unless they repent and if they they those who have ears if they hear what the spirit is saying they will be given the tree of life which is in the paradise of God and then the letter was written the next letter was written to the church of Smyrna the church the suffering church and was admonished to be faithful unto death that Satan is about to put some in prison and test them for 10 days but they should be faithful unto death he who shall be faithful he who overcomes or endures to the end will will not suffer the second death hallelujah so um and then he goes on to talk about the the church we are about to deal with which is the church of

[6:12] Pergamos I told you the church of Ephesus Ephesus means delight delight delight delight delight so it was the delight so it was the delight so church the church the desired church and after the desired church which was the first um part after the the desired church was the early church after Jesus died right through that period until um towards the end of the last apostles dying and the the the companions of the apostles' death around that time.

[6:49] So that was the early church, the first church. That was the desired church, the desirous church. And then the next one was the church that came under intense persecution.

[7:02] They were being persecuted and executed because of their faith. Under the Roman government, and I told you how in Smyrna, the church in Smyrna came under attack both from political authorities and from religious authorities.

[7:25] The religious Jews hated them. They hated them. They attacked them. And the political authorities, because Caesar must be Lord everywhere.

[7:35] So if you don't proclaim Caesar as Lord, you stand the risk of losing your job, losing your family, being in prison and losing your life. And so they were suffering.

[7:47] And you know, as I told you, the place of Smyrna in those days, the city of Smyrna was the crown of Asia, the beauty of Asia, the pride of Asia.

[8:02] And so to be there, it was a place where the Roman authorities and the Roman government, all the imperial powers had their eyes there. And so, and they were very loyal to the seat of government.

[8:16] So if you were not hailing Caesar, you have a lot of enemies there because they were loyalists to Caesar. And so they suffered so much.

[8:28] And what was funny and what was ironic, actually, in those days was, the more they were killing them, the more they were multiplying. The more, you can't stop the church.

[8:41] And you can't protect the church. You just have to live the life of the church. And every member of the church is specially designed, specially chosen, identified, and elected, and appointed, selected by God.

[9:03] So in 2 Timothy 2, verse 19, it says that, nevertheless, the foundation of the law stands firm, having the seal. God knows those who are his.

[9:15] Every member of the church has been intentionally chosen by God. You don't become a church member by accident. You know what I'm talking about the church? I'm not talking about the, the gathering of people into a service.

[9:30] I'm talking about the people who belong to Christ. Who are Christ's, and they live for Christ, and they gather with their believers.

[9:42] That's what I'm talking about, the church. So, the more they persecuted the church, the more the church was growing, the church was becoming vibrant, the church was becoming, was increasing.

[9:54] How the church does well, or let me put it this way, the church is supposed to multiply. So, the church started with, so to speak, 120 people in the upper room, according to Acts chapter 1, verse 14 and 15.

[10:10] 120 of them, when Jesus left, there were 120. Even though there are about 500 people who saw Jesus physically after the resurrection. All right. So, there are these 500. But, in the upper room, it was, in the spiritual student, there were about 120 people, men and women.

[10:26] So, the church is made up of men and women. 120 people in the upper room. 120. In Acts chapter 2, verse 41, suddenly, 3,000 people were added to the church.

[10:39] 3,000. So, there you can see that the church started multiplying. The church was growing. So, the church has always grown. Because God adds to, verse 46, verse 46 and 47, in Acts chapter, verse 46, says, and then, continued daily, one accord in the temple, and breaking of bread, and they ate their food, in the temple, verse 47, praising God, and having favor with the people, with all the people, and the Lord added, daily, to the church.

[11:07] Who did he add to the church? Those who had been saved. Who did he add to the church? Those who had been saved. Who did he add to the church? Those who had been saved. So, God, personally, added, you are saved.

[11:19] He adds you to the church. Why are we adding people, who are not saved, to the church? An unsaved person, cannot be a member, of the church. You can be a member, of an organizational church, they will have you, on their books, but God knows, you are not one of us.

[11:36] You are not saved. It's only those, who are saved, who can be part of the church. It's only those, who are saved, who can be part of the church.

[11:49] Because the church, is a community, of the redeemed. It's not the gathering, of the masses, where nice people gather, and everybody's, everybody comes and feels, or it's a place, where you are encouraged, when you are down, you feel part of, and it's a place, where you can share, and be cared for, and share, you can share, and be cared for, and participate, and can be helped, and you can get that, in a pub.

[12:18] The church, is the body of Christ. So, they will be, God was adding, to the church, those who have been saved. Hallelujah.

[12:29] And, so, there and there, you can see, that more, verse, it says that, and the Lord, and the day. Okay, so, on that day, in verse 41, when Peter preached, the word, on that day, 3,000 were added.

[12:44] Okay, and that day, say that day. That day. Say that day. That day. That day, 3,000 were added, to the church. But afterwards, every day, many were being added.

[12:57] We didn't, the Bible didn't tell us, the number, it could be 3,000, every day. It could be, 2,000, every day. So, now, it was a daily occurrence. The church was growing daily.

[13:09] That's why, any church that is not growing, is doing something wrong. It must be, something wrong. You can't, give birth to a child, and the child is not growing. It's a medical concern.

[13:22] Church, nature, by itself, in nature, every living thing, is meant to grow. And the church, is a living organism. And the church, is supposed to be growing.

[13:35] Don't be part, of the, attacking the growth, of the church. You will never, you will pay for it, with your life, and family. You temper, with God's family, you will temper, with your family.

[13:47] You temper, with God's family. I mean, I don't like, when the people, and you forget, that the church, is not a person, just an individual, or it's not, about a group of people, whom you don't like, and you can't stand.

[14:02] But it's Christ. So, Christ appeared, to Saul of thousands. He said, why do you persecute me? He said, who are you? He said, I'm Jesus, who you persecute. You are, the more you attack the church, you are attacking me personally.

[14:12] It's a personal thing. So, never take interest, in attacking the church. Never develop the interest. It doesn't matter, what has happened. It doesn't matter, who has done what.

[14:23] Never be part, of attacking the church, because God, will come after your family. Yeah. God will come after your family. You can't attack, attack his family, and you're okay. No, no, no.

[14:35] Watch people, who have fought churches, and have, have taken part, in attacking churches. Watch their families. Watch their families. Watch their families. And usually, it doesn't happen immediately.

[14:45] Sometime, 10 years later, 20 years later, it's so miserable. If you attack the church, God will take, attack your family. Your family will be exposed, to the elements, of nature.

[15:01] It's just an advice, to people. Because, the church looks, like a soft spot, to attack. But God, watches those who, are, for there was this guy, Bible says that he killed, he executed James.

[15:16] God, God didn't mind him, you know. I didn't know he was, digging his old grave. He, he's called Herod. Herod. Herod executed James. And then, Bible says, according to Acts chapter 12, from verse 1 to 3, Bible says, when he saw that, he pleased the Jews.

[15:31] He gave him a political leverage. He gave him a political advantage. When he saw that, this thing works politically, he proceeded, to go for Peter. Yeah. And because he saw that, he pleased the Jews, he proceeded, further to seize Peter also.

[15:48] Now, it was during the days, of unleavened bread, so you can't just kill him like that. So, put him in the prison. Let's wait for the, safe day to kill. They put him in prison. And then, when you read the text, very carefully, this guy was determined, to, to, to fight the church.

[16:04] From, I think, 21, 22, 23, somewhere day, Herod, one day, he was given a royal oration. So, on that, 21, and on that day, Herod, already in royal, sat on his throne, and gave an oration to them.

[16:17] And the people said, this is the voice of God. And the people kept shouting, the voice of a God, not a man, the voice of a God. And he was enjoying it, because he loved the political power.

[16:30] He was enjoying it. The Bible says that, because he did not give glory to God, an angel striked him, and he was eaten by maggots, there and then, live on the spot. Did you see? And immediately, watch this, God did not delay.

[16:45] Immediately, an angel of the Lord, struck him, struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms, and died on the spot. In the royal apparel, in the royal regalia, worms were, were eating him.

[17:00] He, you see, because, sometimes, God will be quiet, doesn't mean he's weak. Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate it. Bible says that, God is slow to anger. Waiting, hoping that we will repent.

[17:13] Yeah. But don't let us think, God, God, God, slagness, as some men do. He's just hoping that, this girl, this lady, change from this approach, you are taking against the church.

[17:26] Change, and you are not changing. He'll give you enough rope, for you to hang yourself. And there is an angel, assigned to you and your family. Amen. Peace. Amen. You will be eaten by worms, in your royal garment.

[17:40] In public, you are sitting, those who are claiming, that you are so powerful, they will see, that you are just rubbish. Rubbish. They will begin to go, but everybody can imagine, everybody will be moving up, worms, worms, worms.

[17:53] And he was there, he said that, worms were eating him up, immediately. The one who they say is God, God, prove to him, that you are not. I will stop the people, but you, have to refer their glory, to the appropriate goddess.

[18:11] That's why, that is why, the teachings, and the deeds, of the Nicolaitans, is dangerous in the church. Where pastors, and church leaders, become very celebrities, like, they have faces, like, they are reducing, our fellowship, to become, an event, where, the stage is set, and when you are on the stage, you are a very powerful person.

[18:33] You are the center of attraction, God forbid, we have to fight it, from this, we shouldn't have that, in this church. We shouldn't have that, in this church. What we should have, in this church, is teachers, not celebrities.

[18:50] God, Christ, should be the only, celebrity, amongst us. Because we are, a community, of the saved. We can set, our stage, like the world stage.

[19:01] We can, decorate our setting, and you go, and you may, it may look like, you're going to, let's say, a concert, or a theater, because of, the way things are done. We can do, but, there is still, going to be, a significant difference, between a concert, and a church, because, it's completely different.

[19:18] The center of attraction, is different. The personality, what focus is different. It should be, word centered, and God worshiping. So, he, God stopped him, in his tracks, in his tracks.

[19:36] And, so, the more they were killing, the people, the church was multiplying. God asked to the church. So, in Acts chapter, four, verse one, and two, and three, and four.

[19:50] Very interesting text. Now, as they spoke, to the people, the priest, and the captain, of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them. Watch the verse too quickly. They came upon them, being greatly disturbed, that they taught the people, and preached Jesus, preached in Jesus, the resurrection, from the dead.

[20:07] So, they were disturbed, watch this, they were not disturbed, just because of the preaching. But the message, they were preaching. From the inception, of Christianity, our message, has always been a border.

[20:21] The Christian message, is always a border, to any society, community, group of people. The Christian message, is a border, to anybody, who wants to continue in sin.

[20:39] It's a border, the Christian message, you can't take, so these are religious leaders. They are not political figures. They were religious leaders, they couldn't even take the message. And guess what?

[20:52] The message, has never changed. And the message, should never be watered down, and the message, should never change. The message, has never been popular, and it will never be popular.

[21:04] Once the message, is becoming, Jesus said, woe unto you, if all men speak well of you. He said, that's what happened, to the first prophet. The first prophet, like the, the, the, the support, the light, the fame, the liking of the people, the first prophet, but true prophets, they kill you.

[21:26] Yes, it shouldn't be surprised, that people wouldn't like, pastors like us. It shouldn't be surprised. It shouldn't be surprised, that people wouldn't like, people like the, bishop who came here.

[21:39] Don't be in a church, and join a team, that attacks the pastors, of the church. It will never be well with you. You are safer, staying out, and attacking, even that would have, its own, replication on you, and your family.

[21:52] But you are better, staying out, and talking rubbish, than staying, as a Judas, your entry will be gashed out. And the wages of iniquity, you will never live, to enjoy it.

[22:06] I'm teaching some things, that church folks, must know. We have become, so worldly. That we butcher, God's system, of keeping the church going.

[22:18] There was a man, sent from God. It's not an angel, sent from God. It's a man, sent from God. Can you imagine, when you call, Apostle Paul, the one who was supposed, to go and pray for him, he said, this man is too messy, I can't go.

[22:34] Why are you so much, focusing on, what, the negative things, that people thrive on, on a man, when you know, that the hand of God, is actually upon the person. It's different, if you don't know.

[22:45] That's a different theory. But you know, you are a first hand, beneficiary. Well, so, the more, they were killing them, and let me talk about, that chapter four, verse two.

[23:01] So, they, look at the next verse, verse three. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody, until the next day, for it was already evening. They arrested, and put them in prison.

[23:12] For what? For preaching the message? Church, like, religious leaders, arrest them. God, those times, they were rulers.

[23:23] Look at the next verse. That's the one I want you to see. However, somebody shout however. However. Shout however. However. Shout it louder, however. However. However, many of those, who heard the word, believed.

[23:37] And the number of the men, came to about, five thousand. They were killing them, for the message, but those who God has appointed, unto salvation, actually believed. The message, that was putting them in prison, was the message, that it was saving, the same people who believed.

[23:55] Did you see that, the church was growing? The church was increasing. Then Ananias and Zaphira, came in. And tried to inject, falsehood into the church. Try to inject, inject iniquity into the church.

[24:08] Try to bring, introduce smartness, carnality into the church. And God said, I will not have none of that. All of the, and all of that. I will not have that.

[24:19] So God said, no, no, no, none of that. God brought instant judgment, and moved them, cleared such guys, from any church. Cleared them out of the church, according to Acts chapter 5.

[24:32] And Bible says that, and verse 11, and when God did that, when God did that, great fear came upon, all the church, and upon all, who had these things. Because this is now strange.

[24:43] And Bible said, God did strange miracles, through the apostles. And then the verse 13, look at the verse 13. Yet, none, none of the rest, dead, joined them.

[24:54] Look at verse 12. Let me show you something, verse 12. Verse 12. And Bible says that, and through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done amongst the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon. They were one accord.

[25:04] They were, they were a group of people. Okay, I want to, I'm trying to establish something, before I move on to the church of Pergamos. Go to the next verse. Yet, none, none of the rest, joined them.

[25:16] So, the public can't just get up, and say, I'm going to be sitting amongst them. You can go amongst them, and be comfortable. When you go there, you will know that you are an outsider.

[25:32] That's how the church is supposed to be designed. Oh, you didn't get what I said. When you enter a true church of Christ, and you are not saved, you will know that this one, you are an outsider.

[25:46] It doesn't mean you are not wanted, but you will know. You don't belong here, unless, you also become a saved person. So, Bible says that, they will be trembling, and falling on their feet, and saying that God is in your midst.

[25:59] They will come amongst you, with their sin, they wear their sin coat, and come in, and you are coming, you are coming to church, to target a girl. And all along, you know, and all along, and then you also come in, because you are targeting a girl, because this girl, she thinks she's tough.

[26:14] I'll prove to her that me, I'm tougher. Unbelievable. But when you finish, you go and drink, mess up, and you come amongst us. No, no, no, no. There's a problem with the church, when such people feel uncomfortable, and I missed.

[26:26] Such people shouldn't feel comfortable, and I missed. We can't be looking for church growth, at the expense of church purity. Oh, but you know, it's an outreach, because people, outreach happens out.

[26:47] It happens out. Let's go out and preach to them, and bring them in. Those who are saved, it's a community of the redeemed. Don't forget it. Amen. So, God said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[27:04] This church has a major assignment, and you can't mess up, so God killed them himself. Bible says, Ananias died. Three hours later, the wife came. That tells you how long their church services used to be.

[27:15] Three hours later, the wife came, and God cleared the wife as well.

[27:27] The Bible says, the fear came upon all those who were in the church, and those out, and nobody dead joined themselves to them. But guess what? Even though no one dead joined themselves to them. Look at verse 14.

[27:39] And believers were increasingly added to their Lord. Believers. Both men and women. They were increased. Many were being added. God was added people to the church.

[27:51] People were being added. Who were being added to the church? Believers. No community activists. Believers. Most of you don't actually have a clue what the church is supposed to be.

[28:07] You have a clue. I'm going to show you the difference between Christianity and Christendom. Believers were increasingly in their multitudes.

[28:20] They were being added to the church. So did you realize that the church was always growing? Yeah. The church was always growing. Throughout the book of Acts. Acts chapter 6 verse 7. Look at Acts chapter 6 verse 7.

[28:31] And the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. That number was in. So church grows.

[28:42] If in spite of the face of adversity, the church will always grow. Adversity brings church growth. Persecution always will bring purity in the church and pure growth.

[28:58] Wow. Yeah. I was sharing with some people. I don't know. Maybe Thursday rather. I was talking about how there are certain things that if you take away from Christianity, there's no way Christianity thrives.

[29:10] Christianity cannot thrive in the absence of persecution. Or suffering. Because Jesus said, I need to suffer. Peter said, no, you can't suffer. Jesus said, hey, get behind me, Satan.

[29:21] Christianity thrives in the presence of suffering. I'm talking about true suffering for the cause of Christ, for the name of Christ.

[29:32] I'm not talking about your own problems and your own, you have gone to take somebody's wife or somebody's husband, and now you have lost your job, and someone is trying to shoot you, and you are suffering for Christ.

[29:45] No. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your righteous cause as you take a stand for Christ. Your righteous cause. It's very important.

[29:57] Righteous cause. Righteous cause. Someone is a righteous cause. Righteous cause. Is somebody learning something?

[30:08] I have a burden on my heart. Because the church, many of us, what we're told is the church is actually not the church Christ died for.

[30:20] And in our generation, we must have a church and a group of people who are settling this matter once and for all. They won't like us. I was studying and I found out that the early Christian church, and the Christian church is designed to be like the Jewish community.

[30:35] The only race that have been there for thousands of years. Yeah. Yeah. Because they have the word. Even not the full word. And they've been practicing the Torah.

[30:48] Yeah. They practice it. They teach their children. Practice it. Teach their children. Practice it. Teach their children. Practice it. And they are prosper. Prosperous everywhere in the world. Yes. The word works.

[31:02] If you work it, it's your generations that will benefit. Yeah. Amen. So, it seems to me, it seems to me that God, the way he has arranged, organized, the way he works is that he has his people who, he does not just allow everybody to join.

[31:26] That's how he was with the Jews. And the church was born. And when you study the text very carefully, you realize that the church was an exclusive community. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go to Acts chapter 2, verse 7.

[31:38] Verse 47. Please. Praising God and having favor with all the people, and God added to them. So, what happened was that the community saw the beauty of their lives.

[31:50] They transformed life. So, they commanded the respect of the people. The people liked their lifestyles. They liked the quality of their life.

[32:02] They liked, everybody would prefer my daughter marry a Christian. Yeah. In those days, any woman who wants to have peace of mind and love, good, healthy children, wrong that they want to, I want to marry a Christian brother.

[32:18] Even though they didn't want to be Christians, they wanted a Christian. Because, and you know your cousin, who became a Christian, and this guy was the terrorist of the family. Now, he's the darling of the family, after becoming a Christian.

[32:30] And so, Christians, the transforming power of the gospel, makes us have a lifetime, which people like. But they like our lifestyle, but they hate our message more than they like our lifestyle.

[32:43] So, they like our lifestyle, but when they come, they meet their message. They don't like their message. They don't like their message. Europe was built, or Europe became Europe based on Christendom.

[33:01] Christendom. And so, even in the United Kingdom, our laws were based on the Judeo-Christianism. Christian principles, founded on Christian ethos, Christian ethics, Christian practices, became the foundation of our United Kingdom, UK laws.

[33:18] And so, being a Christian was normal. In times passing, you know, being a Christian, that's why every community was practically, the whole of the continent was Christian.

[33:28] America, Christian. It's just Christian. That's called Christendom. They were everywhere. It's just normal to be Christian. And, our morals were biblically inspired, or biblically driven morals.

[33:41] So, Christian, the morals of, of Europe, unlike other nations, like, other continents, like Africa, other continents, like Asia, and, their morals were not built around the Bible.

[33:55] But, Europe and America, the morality of the community was built around the Bible. Yes. Yes. Then comes, the apostate church, and then, times goes on, and they say, we don't want the Bible.

[34:08] So, if you don't want the Bible, then you have to define your own morality. Yeah. So, then they bring this new kind of morality, that is, what, upside down. Turn everything upside down.

[34:19] No, nothing is, you can't tell the Bible is the one that we should obey, or the Bible, the rules of the Bible, oh, it's misogynistic, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's anti, anti-social, it's, and then, so, let's, let's have our own freedoms.

[34:34] Let's have our own morals. Let's, let's redefine most of the things that have been defined in our community. Let's redefine everything. Now, already, Bibles have been driven out of the hotels, taking them out of hospitals, cleared their Bibles, but previously, everywhere, you have given your Bible.

[34:49] It was part of the society, but now, clear it up, because we don't want it, and if you don't want it, then you have to define your own morality, and so we come up with morality that are un-Christian, or that are anti-God.

[35:02] And then, once you come up with such morality, the next thing is, you have to fight for the society to accept it. And so you have to now begin to preach tolerance. Tolerate me, tolerate me, tolerate me, tolerate me, you have to tolerate me, tolerate me, and then guess what?

[35:17] They don't know what I'm talking about. And guess what? After a while, watch this, after a while, the message of tolerance becomes the message of intolerance. They now can't stand us. Then that persecution starts again.

[35:30] Because they will attack you for holding the firm, the biblical morals. You become a victim of society. You become the enemy of the state. You become the enemy of the society, enemy of the society, because you hold biblical principles, and you are intolerant.

[35:45] Now they can't tolerate you. That's what happens. That's what happens. You, they don't want you.

[35:58] That's what persecution, so they can't, and unfortunately, listen, we can't change the message. It's not a message. It was given to us. And we, we are his people. Yes.

[36:10] Oh. You can't change. How do you find out who is a true Christian and where true, what is a true church? Check the message. The message. The authority is based on the word. Yeah.

[36:21] If the word says it, that's what we live for. Yeah. That's what makes us church. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Hmm. So the church was growing.

[36:35] The church was growing. The church was growing. Say the church shall grow. The church shall grow. Say the church will multiply. The church will multiply. Church multiplication is God's order, God's way.

[36:48] He himself adds to the church. And read throughout the Bible, the church was growing even though they were killing some. The more you're killing them, the more they are growing. So, emperor after emperor realized that this thing is not working.

[37:03] So there was one great emperor who who sat down and observed the trend in the second part of the fourth century.

[37:22] He sat down, observed the trend, observed the trend and realized that we can't stop these people. So if you can't stop them, join them.

[37:34] Watch this. I'm going somewhere. If you can't stop them, join them. And so the emperor Constantine declared himself a Christian. At that time, the Christians were being executed regularly, being thrown to lions, being watched in the Colosseums while animals eat them alive.

[37:58] They were being bent at the stake. They were being tortured. And suddenly, Emperor Constantine becomes a Christian. And guess what? He didn't just become a Christian, but he declared Christianity the state's religion.

[38:12] So that is where you have Christendom, not the church. Christendom is when, Christendom is a geopolitical term.

[38:23] it has to do with group of people in a certain place who are ruled by the sovereignty and the dominion of the Christian religion.

[38:38] So you don't have to be a Christian to be part of Christendom. You are just part of, is it the way we have Saudi Arabia? Everybody there is supposed to be kind of a Muslim. So their laws are based on the Quran or some of these Arabic nations.

[38:52] their laws are based on the Quran. In Christianity it doesn't work like that. So when Emperor Constantin made Christianity the state's religion and it became people, in fact, people were, ah, in the early 300s, the early parts of the 4th century, people were being paid to be baptized.

[39:16] You won't, you'll be paid to be baptized as a, and so it was like, people, that's where all this, a lot of other things, the statues, the Christmas, the Easter, some of all these things came after Christianity has become Christendom.

[39:32] So when it became Christendom, now it's no more based on a group of people, it's not the church, it's more, in fact, some scholars call Christendom Constantinism, Constantine, because it's only religion.

[39:50] and so what, so it began to spread in all across Europe, Christianity, so there and then what happened was that the church became married to the world.

[40:03] So now it's no more the church, but it has become something else, the church but married to the world. But God has always said friendship with the world is enmity against God.

[40:15] That is Pegamose. Pegamose, the term Pegamose, the term Pegamose means marriage. It means marriage and it also means a strong tower.

[40:29] Okay? Pegamose means marriage and it means a tower. It means a marriage and a tower. Watch this. So when he says that to the church and now Pegamose was the capital, the Roman capital of Asia, all of Asia, the Roman capital was Pegamose.

[40:50] So it was a very important city. And the church there, so when he says that the church of Pegamose, the church in Pegamose, he's talking about the church that became married because they couldn't stop them by persecution, so they had to join them, infiltrate them, and water them down.

[41:08] That was Satan's plan. So there were priests and bishops who were unbelievers. Some of you were Christians by unbeliever bishops. Let me show you.

[41:23] Jesus said something about Matthew 13 verse 31. You'll like it. He said, the kingdom of, he said, another parable he spoke to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a master seed.

[41:35] Scream, master seed. Oh, come on, say it again. Master seed. Master seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Master seed is an edible fruit of a tree.

[41:50] Isn't it not interesting, this is the third parable he was talking about in Matthew chapter 13. The first parable he spoke about from verse 1 and verse 2, he talked about a man goes to sow a seed, and some birds came to eat the seed.

[42:06] Verse 2, or verse 4, sorry, birds came to eat the seed. It's edible. He said, the kingdom of God, he told them a parable, and he said, the kingdom of God is like a man who sows seed. The seed the man was sowing is edible.

[42:18] And then, in verse 22, somewhere there, 23, somewhere there, he talks about another parable he told them, that the kingdom of God is like a man who sows good seed in his field.

[42:29] But when men slept, an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. So the seed that was sown was wheat. Does that make sense? The seed that was sown was wheat.

[42:40] He said, the kingdom of God is like a man. It looks like the seed that is sown, the kingdom of God's seed is always edible. Then it comes to the master seed, an edible fruit of a tree, of a herb.

[42:56] Edible, you can eat it. We are meant to be palatable to God as the seeds of the kingdom. The kingdom people, we are meant to be palatable to God and to the church. We are enjoyable.

[43:10] I've always never been somebody who is trying to be seen at the expense of my message. I just told you, I'm a Christian. I'm telling you, and I'll die a Christian.

[43:22] I'm a Christian. Not by morality, but I want to represent God. So I'm not talking about because I don't do this, I don't do that.

[43:35] Not doing something doesn't make you a Christian. It's your heart that is on fire for God and His word is your rule. The word of God is ruling you. That's testing me you a Christian.

[43:45] So the church became married to the world. The church of Pergamos is the church that is married to the world or you can put it, is the worldly church.

[43:59] It is okay for the church to be in the world, but it is wrong for the world to be in the church. It is okay for the boat to be in the water, but it's a crisis when the water starts getting to the boat.

[44:12] Pergamos, what has happened to you? Now you have become a worldly church. And the church is God's exclusive possession. So it's not supposed to be around where Satan plays.

[44:26] Suddenly now you have, you have, put it on the screen, verse 12, Revelation chapter 2, verse 12. He said, go to the verse 30, let me show you something.

[44:38] I've even left the two-edges. He said, I know your works and where you dwell. Where Satan's throne is. How come church, now church is built and pitched where Satan's throne is?

[44:50] How did you end up there? How did you end up in partnership with Satan? this morning I was talking to one of the art ministers and one of our sisters and I was telling them about how the problem is, you know, in modern day architecture, it used not to be common but nowadays it's common especially even in most of these new flats they are building.

[45:16] It's called there's no difference, there's no wall between the kitchen and the living room. open plan, yes, that's it. Open plan, open plan.

[45:29] So you can be in the kitchen cooking and then at the same time having a conversation with the one in the living room and if your food is from South Africa, sorry, from West Africa, then the smell will be all over the place.

[45:43] I don't know about East and South, but West Africans have food is very powerful. Okay, all right, open plan, let somebody say open plan.

[45:56] Say open plan. Open plan. The worldly church now has adopted an open plan approach. Wow. Open plan, so anybody walks in and out without any definition, demarcation, anybody walks in, come and check us out if you are not happy, go and then we don't have to make you feel threatened, we just have to be very nice and then we have to be very careful, we don't even have to mention sin.

[46:24] When we are leading you to Christ, we don't have to say, I'm a sinner, but what are you? Because it's not politically correct, it's quite harsh on the ears of people. Excuse me, the message is the message.

[46:38] The message is harsh on their ears, but their situation is even harsher Satan is living with them. Some of them, Satan has hijacked their health. Today's title is actually the church in Pegamus, the worldly church.

[46:55] We don't want to be a church of Pegamus. We don't want to be a worldly church. Why would you come to a church and no one is looking after you? That is dangerous. When you go to hospital, they always assign somebody to your case.

[47:10] Someone must look after you. If you come to a church and no one is looking, some of you will tell you go to Kegui. Kegui is not for me. What is for you? What is for you?

[47:24] You have an exaggerated opinion of yourself. You are not a serious Christian. The Bible said they continue in the apostles' fellowship. Why is it that you don't want to continue in fellowship? You come to church like you are just coming for an event, come and sit down for us to preach and hear nice music, watch screens, go and you have to take a religious box.

[47:40] You are not pre-having Christian. a part of a community. You have to be part of a society so that when you are missing, we can identify you. He's not there. When we see another man's car spanked behind your house, which other one is this?

[47:58] And then we come and we find out that it's your brother. Then we say, okay. But some of you, you just sneak in and sneak out, sneak in and sneak out, sneak in and sneak nobody knows you.

[48:12] Nobody can, when you don't come to church, nobody notices it because you are not actually part. You're just running around. And some of you, you kept searching from church to church.

[48:23] You've been searching and searching and searching and searching. The search never ends. But look at your life. You don't have any beautiful Christian testimony. You keep searching and searching and searching and searching. I'm talking to you.

[48:36] End the search and settle down. Christ died for this thing. Christ died for this thing.

[48:47] He died. What is it? He died for the church. He died. What have you died for? I'm not a businessman and I'm not looking for a job.

[48:58] I'm not a trust man. I'm a servant of Christ. He died so that you can have your freedom. You can be raised in church. you can be strong. Hallelujah.

[49:11] I prefer being identified as a preacher of God's word than a miracle worker. I prefer being described, being identified, being recognized as someone who preaches the true word of God, the pure word of God for the nourishment of God's people more than someone who can pray for things to happen.

[49:35] Because magicians also can pray for things to happen. But they can never teach the true word of God. Never. You can never preach the true word of God unless you are sent.

[49:54] Let's finish. We don't want an open plan system. That is what God meant for the church to be. Christ died for the church.

[50:08] I'm talking about the worldly church. So he said, you are dwelling, you are verse 13 again, Revelation chapter 2. I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas, my faithful martyr, who was killed amongst you, where Satan dwells.

[50:36] Faithful martyr. The Greek word translated martyr is also witness. So Jesus himself, beginning of Revelation, he identifies himself as a witness.

[50:47] Revelation chapter 1 verse 5. Jesus calls himself, me am a witness. He says that from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. He describes himself as a witness.

[50:57] Revelation chapter 11 verse 3. Bible talks about how he went after the witnesses of God, three witnesses in the tribulation, three witnesses, and I will give power to two witnesses, and they will prophesy, that's Elijah and Moses, okay, they will prophesy 1,260 days, that's three months, sorry, three years, I'm sorry, three and a half years, they clothed in sackcloth, witnesses.

[51:27] In Revelation chapter 17 verse 6, the haloth was killing the witnesses of God, and I saw the woman drowned with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Christ, the martyrs, the witnesses of Christ.

[51:39] Jesus said in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the Atomos.

[51:50] We are called to be witnesses, witnesses, and faithful witnesses, witnesses, Stephen, Stephen was called the faithful martyr, which is this faithful witness, Acts chapter 22 verse 20, Paul said, when his faithful martyr, Stephen was being killed, I was there, and when the blood of your martyr, which is your witness, Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.

[52:24] Witness, witness, he said, in Revelation, he says that where my faith, Jesus himself was giving witness to one brother called Antipas, he said, my faithful martyr, or witness, Antipas, and you hold first faith, where, in the days, in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, my faithful witness, who was killed amongst you, where Satan dwells.

[52:53] Antipas, Antipas means, the name Antipas in Greek means against all, so the worldly church, there was one guy who was like Pastor David, who said, me, I will not give him, I will not give him, I will not change my message, he was a faithful witness, and you stand the risk of being attacked, Antipas, so Antipas stood against the wordliness of the church, and because of that, he became like an inspiration for others who were also true witnesses, but wanted to live, so Antipas was the, like he became like a model for the church, and the remnants in the church to stay strong, and so Jesus was giving reference to him, but I know that you have kept my faith, where Antipas, because had it not been for Antipas, there wouldn't have anybody to keep the faith, and to even keep the name of Jesus, but thankful, you would think Antipas has failed, God, heaven gave him a standing ovation, and gave him a reference, because you stood for the name of Christ, what are you standing for my

[53:57] Christian brother, with all this noise, people see you jumping up and down, what are you standing for, what are you standing for, or are you just looking for a testimony, where the church has been designed like a testimony center, come just as you, it doesn't matter what you are practicing, that's why I don't want people coming to me, who don't have a real interest in the things of God, coming to me, please pray for me, I'm living for this, I don't want that, I don't want that, I don't want that, I'm a messenger called to save lives and raise Christians and teach his word, wow, love that, I don't love that, I don't love that, I don't love that, I don't love that, I don't love that, I don't love that, let me just end on the verse 14, I just couldn't wait to get to verse 14, there are other details in verse 12

[54:58] I didn't touch on, because I just wanted to get to 14, and I have a few things, but I have a few things against you, because you have, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, this is it, oh, oh, hey, doctrine of Balaam, you are there, you, there's this church and people are teaching, the doctrine of Balaam is the teachings of Balaam, and what did Balaam do?

[55:31] Who taught Balaam to put stumbling block, stumbling block, before the children of Israel, to each thing sacrifice to idols, and to commit sexual immoralities?

[55:44] The plan, the plan, let's water them down, by making them become idol worshippers, and commit sexual immoralities.

[55:55] Listen, idolatry and sexual immorality go together. let's look at Balaam.

[56:07] Balaam was a prophet. He was hired, those times you can hire their services, but he wasn't like the, he was a prophet, in those days there are these people who are like seers, you can employ their services, and they have their own giftings, they can use it to help you.

[56:27] And so he was a prophet and employed by a secular king called Belak. And Belak said, I've seen the Israelites coming, these people of Israel, they are dangerous, and I want you to stop them.

[56:39] Just go and curse them, and when you curse them, they lose their potency and they can't take over my land. And initially he didn't want to go when they called for him, but because of the wages of iniquity.

[56:52] They promised him, we'll give you this, we'll give you this. He decided to go, and on his way, his donkey saw an angel of the Lord with a sword, and the donkey was not going. He whipped the donkey, abused the donkey, kicked the donkey, and for the first time in human history the donkey spoke.

[57:06] He said, ah, why? why? What have I done? That you have struck me these three times? And then Bible says that the Lord opened the eyes, and Balaam, the donkey spoke, and go to the next verse, verse 20, and Balaam said to the donkey, because you have abused me, because he hit him, and then the donkey moved, and his head, his leg hit, and he got very violent against the donkey, so the donkey had to speak back.

[57:34] The donkey spoke back. And the Bible says, so the donkey said to him, I might know your donkey, and I have been serving you all this while, faithfully, whatever this was.

[57:48] Can you have the donkey became, it's a serious situation. Please, don't desire, don't move in the direction of disobedience, something may speak to you.

[58:05] Something may speak to you. If I'm speaking and you're not listening, some other thing may speak to you. You meet all kinds of things if you're not careful.

[58:19] You meet all kinds of things. All right, let's finish about this Balaam. Say Balaam. Balaam was referred to a few times in the scriptures.

[58:31] So when he said, anyway, he went ahead, let's leave that, sorry, that wasn't supposed to be part of my, so he went ahead and went and then they said, go and curse the people. But when he went, he curses them and then the thing turns into a blessing.

[58:44] He was cursing them and turning into a blessing. So Balaam told him, Balaam told him, stop, because I asked you to curse them, why are you blessing them? And then he said, listen, when I curse them, that thing turns into blessing, because you cannot curse who God has blessed.

[59:02] So when I curse them, it's a blessing. When I curse them, only blessing is coming. And he said, okay, then stop, stop, because the people have multiplied me blessed too much. Stop it. He said, no, I've already started the process.

[59:12] I can't stop it. Now, verse 23, verse 19, he said, for God is not a man that is alive, has he spoken that is not doing it.

[59:22] Look at verse 20. He said, verse 20, now, verse 23, 20. Behold, I have received a commandment to bless. He has blessed and I cannot reverse it.

[59:33] That's the false prophet. He said, I cannot reverse it. And I look at the next day. For God has not beheld, he has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen wickedness in Israel.

[59:44] The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of the king is among them. You can't harm them. So, the guy was a professional cursor. His services are, for a king to employ his services, that man was good.

[60:00] So, he declared that he was not working. So, they said, stop it. He said, I can't stop it. And you know what? He advised Balaam, because he knew the way spiritual things. He advised Balaam, the king, he said, if you want to get these people, let me show you, send in the girls.

[60:16] Send girls in, because once they like the girls, they will follow up, and they also follow their idols. So, Numbers chapter 25, verse 1, 2, and 3, you will like what you are seeing, you're going to see that.

[60:29] Numbers 25, verse, now, Israel remained in acacia groove, and the people began to commit halotry with the girls. We are cursing them into work, just let girls go in.

[60:43] Now, Israel remained in, verse 2, verse 2, let's go to verse 2. And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.

[60:57] Look at verse 3, verse 3 is the worried one. So, Israel joined to bow poor, and the anger of the Lord. So, God said, no, these people have now gone far, I'll deal with it.

[61:12] So, God was protecting them, now turned against them, why? Because of fornication, sexual immorality, and idolatry. So, in Revelation, he said, you, this worldly church, you have permitted, watch it, now, I know you're aware, and you hold fast my name, and you did not deny, verse 14, let's go to verse 14, please.

[61:34] But I have a few things against you, because you have, you have there, those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, send the girls in, send sexual immorality in, send it in, send it in, so, what looks like normal, is actually a satanic plan.

[61:57] It looks normal. So, then if you try to speak against it, they will look at you funny. Why are you talking about this thing? But everybody in the resources of their mind know this is the truth. They know this is the truth.

[62:10] Worship is our agenda. Worship is our agenda. And we are believing God for a radical move of God in our united kingdom. And we take a certain level of purity of the people who are praying for this, for that to happen.

[62:26] Because the Bible says that the foundation of the Lord stands firm, having the seal, that God knows those who are his. Let all who name the name of God depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2 verse 19.

[62:36] So, there must be a departure. We must depart from some things. Now, you are determined to take a stand for the kingdom and for God.

[62:48] Satan has now to react against you and use some desires inside you and create a system to strip you of your dignity in Christ. And there are a lot of people listening to me, you are struggling.

[63:02] You are struggling with your life. And especially in the area of sexual immorality, you are struggling. Struggling. It has become a tag of war.

[63:12] And you have never struggled like that in your life until you now decided to do it well for Christ. Why? Satan has gotten involved. Satan has gotten involved, but I pronounce victory for you.

[63:24] I declare that you have the victory. You have the victory. receive the victory. In the name of Jesus. We have the victory.

[63:37] We will build together for God. You are saved. You are part of us. We will fight for you. We will protect you. We will celebrate you. We will keep you amongst us. We will never give up on you because you are a very important part of us.

[63:51] Satan will not ensnare us. You will not be ensnared by sexual immorality. You will not be ensnared by idolatry. You will not be ensnared. You will be part of this historic move.

[64:01] You will be part of a great part of this historic move. You shall be a great part of this historic move. In the name of Jesus. So shall it be.

[64:12] In Jesus name. Amen. Thank you m.

[64:24] Thank you. h