Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Revelation 2:12-17

Introduction: germs…

FCF: Please understand this morning that Satan is not trying to get you to quit church.

He is not trying to get you to curse the name of God.

He is not trying to get you to abandon your commitment to your ministries.

He is perfectly good with you being here this morning and loves the fact that you will fill your Sunday morning with activities.

His goal is quite a bit different than the Satanic Panic of the 80s will have you believe.

He wants you to try to have both.

Be a present father just also have a private porn problem.

Be a mother, but concern yourself more with how others percieve you as a mom than whether you are pointing them to Christ.

Seniors he want you to come to church just so long as you put yourselves on a shelf and never think about how you could help another family or individual follow Christ a little better.

No come to church for what you can get not to follow Titus 3.

It is a sad to see men give more care to their hobbies than their hearts.

I’m not talking about some Whoo Whoo ultra feeling stuff.

I’m saying that Satan is fine with you hanging out with men from the church just so long as you spend zero time in the worD.

The thought that has infiltrated the church at Pergamos was what Jesus called the doctrine of Balaam.

It became a stumblingblock to the believers, leading them to accept idolatry and immorality while trying to maintain their distinctiveness as Christians.

As we will see from Scripture, the danger of the doctrine of Balaam is that it tries to wed the people of God to the ways of the world, and that is something that has never worked and will never work.

God's people are to be a peculiar people.

God' s people are to be a distinct people.

God's people are to be a separate people.

Friendship with the world is not an option.

We are not to worship at its altars.

We are not to learn its ways.

We must not be pressed 'into its mold.

Yet, that is what was happening in the church at Pergamos.

Let us not imagine that it doesn’t happen in churches today.

The doctrine of Balaam is still finding its way into modern congregations, opening the way for worldliness to destroy the people of God.

It's Location ''where thou dwellest

Pergamos was primarily known for one thing: religion.

On a hillside overlooking the city was the giant altar of Zeus a throne of stone rising 40 feet into the air.

On every corner, instead of finding a church, you would find a temple or altar to a pagan God.

It was a primary center for the worship of the Emperors.

Religions of all kinds thrived in Pergamos.

In fact, there is an ancient say-ing that whenever any kooky religious idea was expelled from some part of the world, it would find a place in Pergamos.

Something we must understand about ancient religions is that they were usually associated with immorality: prostitution, sodomy, orgies, and lewd entertainment.

Thus, Pergamos was not only a religious city.

It was a wicked city.

And, according to Jesus, it was the capital of Satan's kingdom.

It was the location of his seat, or throne.

It was the place "he dwelleth" - the place he called home.

But God had a light in the heart of Satan's kingdom.

And to that congregation, he said, I know thy works, and where thou dwellest.

1.

He knew their opportunities.

2.

He knew their obstacles to overcome.

the culture, the false religions,

3.

He knew their opposition.

4.

He knew their obedience.

He wanted the church at Pergamos to have the assurance that He knew where they were and what they were up against.

Your service to God Matters, and he notices.

They were firm in their devotion - “holdest fast my Name”

In their personal lives and in their public ministry, the Name of Jesus was lifted high.

Everything they did was identified with Christ

They maintained sound doctrine “hast not denied my faith” This was a church that clung to the fundamentals of the faith and would not compromise one precious doctrine of the Word of God, even when public opposition and Satanic oppression joined together to bring about the martyrdom of one of their faithful members.

What we see in Pergamos is a church that was unashamed of their Christianity and unwavering in their doctrine.

If you had attended one of their services,

you would have sung songs of praise

heard genuine prayer that sprung from the hear

heard preaching that was doctrinally sound.

They were preaching the Gospel and worshipping Jesus, but they were in need of repentance because they had compromised with the world.

Its Liabilities

1.

The doctrine of the Nicolatitines a sect of Jews that made a structure over the believer.

Much like a priest that comes between you and God.

2. The doctrine of Balaam Balaam was an Old Testament prophet.

His story begins in Numbers 22.

The Israelites, in their wilderness wanderings, had come to the borders of Moab.

They had just conquered the Amorites, and it looked like Moab was their next target.

So, the king of Moab sent messengers to Balaam to hire him to curse the Israelites.

To his credit, before Balaam answered the messengers, he prayed and asked God what he should do.

God told him that he could not go with them or curse the Israelites.

And that is what Balaam told the messengers.

He refused to go with them.

But they didn't want to take no for an answer.

So, they upped the price.

Balaam went.

Along the way, God sent a messenger to Balaam the angel of the Lord.

As a result of that encounter, Balaam confessed his sin and offered to return home.

Instead, the Angel of the Lord told him to go with Moabites, but only to speak the words that God gave him to say.

Balaam obeyed.

Instead of cursing Israel, he blessed them.

Four times he blessed them.

And throughout the process, he up-held the Name of the Lord and refused to deny the Word of God.

That is the condensed version of Numbers 22-24.

READ NUMBERS 25:1-3

And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

The infiltration of Moab came by their daughters.

They came into the camp of the Israelites and caught the eyes of their men.

They invited them to their sacrifices feasts full of immorality and idolatry.

Soon, the men are eating at the tables of false gods, sleeping in the beds of pagan women, and bowing themselves down to worthless idols.

How did it happen?

READ NUMBERS 31:13-16

Balaam held fast the Name of the Lord.

He would not deny the word of God.

But he taught Balak (the King of Moab) to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel.

To keep from losing the reward he had been offered, He counseled Balak to send his women to seduce the men of Israel to make marriages with them and blend with them.

It was a teaching that attacked the separation and sanctification that God expects His people to maintain.

That is the doctrine of Balaam.

It is the teaching that God's people can mix with the world while maintaining their Christian distinctiveness, and it is widespread in our churches today.