We're going to be talking about the compromising
silent church this morning.
It's found in Revelation 2, the compromising silent
church.
And I began to think this week, what
about if Jesus visited our church?
That's what we're going through, the seven churches
in the next month or so.
What would He say about our worship?
What would He say about the depth of
our prayer time?
What would He say about our own personal
lives?
Can you imagine Jesus visiting the church?
Or coming and visiting our homes and just
spending the week with us?
And that's what He's doing, basically, with these
churches.
So fortunately, we do have a gauge to
check the spiritual condition of our churches.
But let's recap.
What was the first church?
That was Ephesus, right?
They were unloving, unteachable, kind of a know
-it-all church.
They were into the works, the works, the
works.
And then last week, Smyrna, into the perseverance,
through persecution.
And now we get into this church, Pergamos.
And it is a silent compromising church.
This reminds me of, do you remember Mr.
Rogers?
Okay, get that thought in you for this
church.
The Mr. Rogers church.
It's a happy day in the neighborhood, right?
Just smiling, and it's that kind of church.
But here's what happens.
When you compromise in the area of sin,
you're usually silent about it, aren't you?
That's one thing that could be happening.
The next thing that could be happening is
being silent and compromising is often a sign
or a lack of boldness.
You know, I just hope these things work
themselves out, if you said that.
I don't want to touch that one right
now.
Or it could be that you just want
to take the simple, easy route.
And this happens with parents.
Can you relate?
Is it easy to not compromise in your
home and always be on the straight and
narrow?
Or it's like, you know what?
Just let them have their way this hour.
I've got to relax.
I've got to rest.
It's an easier route often.
And church is the same way.
Sometimes there's an easier route.
You know, let's just not say anything.
Let's not confront.
Let's just be silent about this whole matter.
So this is the church that we're talking
about.
Let me move this away, see if that
helps with the feedback.
Like a thermostat, the pulpit affects the spiritual
temperature of the church.
Not a thermometer, right?
You can put a thermometer in your turkey
to tell you what the temperature is.
But a thermostat regulates the temperature in your
home.
The same way.
That's why Jesus is talking to the messenger,
often the pastor, the leader of this church,
because it sets the spiritual tone for the
church.
I'll show you how that works.
If you go to the first church in
Ephesus, the works church, and that person is
all about works and dead works, and they're
just legalistic and they're cold and they're callous,
those type of people will often stay.
And then if you get to the church
that we're in now talking about compromise, and
it's no big deal, and those type of
people will usually stay.
You get to the lukewarm church later on
in Laodicea.
Lukewarm people love a lukewarm message.
Don't they?
God, he never challenges me about anything.
I love this church.
I can go as if I did God
a favor.
I can check it off my checklist.
Every month I went to church.
I'm a good person.
So, see, the pulpit can set the tone,
the climate of that congregation often.
The silent church allows for false teaching.
That's what we're going to find out here.
The pulpit may not be dead like we
talked about in the first church, but it
is misled.
It's taking people in the wrong direction.
Pastors of these churches are often cheerleaders but
never coaches.
So you have to have a good balance.
You have to have the cheerleader, right?
Go, go, go.
You can overcome, but then you better have
the coach who's going to shoot them straight,
who's going to say, come on, get up.
You're better than that.
You don't allow this, and you have that.
You'll see a mixture in a healthy church.
And these types of churches encourage, but they
rarely convict.
Okay, so now you have the setting, right,
of this church.
And think about this.
What about if God's word was silent?
We've talked about this before on all the
difficult things.
What if worship lyrics and preaching remained silent
on the difficult things, never upset, never got
tough?
What about if policemen just handed out donuts?
You see where I'm going, right?
What about if stop signs always said go?
We don't want to step on toes.
Let's just everybody do whatever they want, go
whatever direction they want.
So that's the setting of this church, Revelation
2.12. And to the angel of the
church in Pergamos, right, these things.
Again, this is Jesus.
These things says he who has the sharp
two-edged sword.
Now let's just remember this for a minute.
What does a two-edged sword do?
It cuts.
It removes.
So let the sword of God's word begin
to cut out compromise in your life.
I would say that this is probably the
biggest issue, even in healthy churches, is we
allow compromise to come in.
And we begin to compromise on these things.
And then we begin to compromise on more
things.
And before you know it, remember it's that
analogy I've given before.
The enemy takes you down one step at
a time.
Oh, that wasn't too bad.
That didn't hurt.
I didn't go to hell like they said.
And then you take a step down.
Oh, see, this is fun.
It's no big deal.
I didn't get in trouble.
I still, everything's going great.
And then the next step, and eventually what
happens?
You're down at the bottom thinking, how did
I get here?
Compromise.
And just a real quick rabbit trail.
How many of us are frustrated with the
direction of our nation?
Oh, come on.
There's everybody who would be putting their hand
up.
Do you know that this began decades ago?
40s, 50s, 60s, let's remove God from the
schools.
Let's remove prayer from the schools.
Let's remove this from that.
Let's take down the Ten Commandments monuments.
Those are pretty offensive.
And then you start to get people in
positions of authority that we would have never
allowed in positions of authority.
It wouldn't even happen.
And then they come in, and then they
come in, and Hollywood begins to promote.
You remember Leave it to Beaver?
Right?
Now there's shows, Queer Eye for the Straight
Guy, and dating shows, reality shows, that are
just a parade of filth.
Where did that come from?
The compromise that lets in.
That lets in to the homes and to
the churches.
That's why this is very...
The enemy will never show you the end
result.
He shows you the compromise.
See, that's not that big of a deal.
Everybody's like, oh, Harvey Weinstein, look what's going
on in Hollywood.
Oh, that's been there for years.
That's been there...
These compromises that can happen in our own
lives.
So let's cut out the compromise with the
double-edged sword.
What do you say?
Everybody on the same page, or are you
still tired from all the tryptophan and turkey?
Jesus encourages in verse 13, I know your
works.
I know your works and where you dwell,
where Satan's throne is.
So they must not live too close from
here.
Right?
And you hold fast to my name and
did not deny my faith, even in the
days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr.
He was killed among you where Satan dwells.
So remember, we're talking about the seven churches,
the seven regions in Asia Minor, way above
Israel.
Six, seven, eight hundred miles up there in
Asia Minor.
John is on the island of Patmos, probably
looking out, can see that region, can see
that area.
In this church, Jesus says, I know your
works, you dwell where Satan's throne is.
Many were holding to the faith, even in
the face of somebody being killed.
So this is not necessarily a lukewarm church.
This is actually a church who, and again,
Mr. Rogers, right?
They had the faith, they held their faith,
because in a lukewarm church, you start to
bring in persecution, they'll just run to the
opposite direction.
They'll go to a different church.
So this church isn't necessarily a lukewarm church.
It's a smiling, just allow whatever, but still
holding to their faith.
It was the center of political power and
worship.
The devil felt at home.
I almost want to title this sermon that.
The devil felt at home, does the devil
feel at home?
So this was the place of, they would
have the temple of Zeus, of Apollos, Apollos
in this place.
This huge temple for worship was in Pergamos,
in this area.
It also had the god of healing in
this area.
Do you ever see the symbol for the
medical industry now with the snake?
Guess where that comes from?
Pergamos.
They would actually allow you to lay down
in the temple and allow these snakes to
go over your body because of the healing
aspect of that.
Supposed healing aspect of that.
So that's why when you look at the
Bible and you can see even thousands of
years, even before this time, how the Bible
had it right in even areas of health
and what the body would require and how
to heal the body.
But you have places like this where they
allow snakes to go over your body and
bring in this healing that supposedly took place.
So this is the seat of Satan's throne.
He felt welcome there.
This was a huge place.
New York maybe comes to mind.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, right?
It was a place like that.
So Jesus encourages them, but then he convicts
them.
Here's verse 14.
I'm going to add the first part here.
Mr. Rogers, you're a nice guy.
You feed the homeless and paint homes for
people.
But I have a few things against you.
Because you have there those who hold to
the doctrine of Balaam.
So there's people in the church who hold
to the doctrine of Balaam.
In other words, they're sitting in the pews,
they're coming to church, and they hold to
this doctrine.
And Balaam taught Balak to put a stumbling
block before the children of Israel to eat
things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual
immorality.
Read Numbers 20 through 24 when you get
a chance.
So in the church, it'd be like, hey
guys, there's people here who embrace the doctrine
of Balaam.
And they're causing our people to kind of
fall away.
But it's okay.
I'm not going to say anything.
It'll fix itself.
It'll correct itself.
Now, I'm sure many of you are thinking,
what is the doctrine of Balaam?
Some of you have heard me talk about
it before, and you know what I'm talking
about.
Others have studied this area.
But for those of you who might not
know, because it's important, it's right here in
the text.
The doctrine of Balaam basically says this.
You cannot curse what God has blessed unless
you remove the people from that blessing.
So in other words, God was leading this
massive amount of people, a couple million people,
out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
And they're there in the wilderness.
And this king, Balak, sees these people down
below, all without number.
And he hires Balaam to go and curse
this group of people.
Three different times he tried to curse them.
But what flowed from his mouth?
Blessings.
Only blessings.
From or to this group of people.
So King Balak obviously is getting upset, right?
Why are you blessing these people?
Why are you blessing them?
He said, I cannot go beyond what the
word of God tells me to go beyond.
God has blessed these people.
But then he said, here's the key.
They're blessed.
There's nothing you can do unless you bring
in the women of the area and have
them entice the men or women into sexual
immorality.
Bring in the meat, the things.
Look, this meat is sacrificed to an idol.
I don't care.
I'm hungry.
So, it's an interesting concept for us today.
The doctrine of Balaam is you are in
a very blessed place if you stay within
the shelter of God's protection.
But if you begin to compromise and the
devil says, come on outside.
No, I'm not coming outside.
Come on.
Come on, it's 80 degrees on Thanksgiving.
Come on, come out.
It's okay.
And you remove yourself.
See, I believe there's a blessing within the
sanctity of marriage between a man and a
woman.
I believe there's a blessing staying and obeying
God's word and wanting holiness and desiring prayer
and worshipping.
And you stay.
Oh, though the storms come against me, I
will not fall because God is my shelter.
He's my rock.
Actually, the waters will come up and not
overtake you because you're within that shelter, that
blessing of God.
But the enemy uses things, the doctrine of
Balaam, for enticements to come and we remove
ourselves from that place of blessing.
So that's what the doctrine of Balaam is.
There are people in the church that are
teaching others basically to compromise.
It's not that big deal.
It's not a big deal, right?
Have you ever said that?
Don't leave me hanging because I know we
have.
Because, see, there's also a very troubling trend
in the church.
It began years ago.
I even noticed that many of you have.
I've seen, I've even witnessed soft core porn
on Christian websites.
I've seen pastors trying to be relevant, put
up video clips of movies that were inappropriate
to relate to the culture.
We allow things.
Youth pastors talk about their favorite sexually charged
movie all under the guise of relating to
the culture.
See, there's compromise.
It's not standing because when you get filled
with God's Spirit and holiness is your goal,
you will eat up compromise.
You'll hate it.
You'll say, I can't have this in my
life.
Even though the enemy's coming in and we're
not perfect, there's a standard you put up
and say, listen, I can't allow this compromise
into my home.
But then that person has to be careful
because they'll fall into the Pharisee church when
those become rules and standards by which now
I judge others.
And, oh, you go to the movies?
I would never.
I would never do that.
It's a good thing maybe at first to
be selective in what we view because it
affects the mind and our hearts and how
we think can turn into a ritualistic form
of pleasing God.
And I hold on to these rules.
So we have to be careful in that
area as well.
But he put a stumbling block, which is
an obstacle.
A stumbling block is an obstacle to progress.
If I'm walking along, I'm making progress and
there's a stumbling block, what's going to happen?
Right into the pulpit.
Hit my head.
Fall down.
See, there's something that Satan always puts in
your way often.
That's why you can't say the devil made
me do it.
You can say he put a stumbling block
in front of me, but you can't say
he made me do it.
So there's a stumbling block.
They entice.
See, they put the women of Moab, I
think it was.
Don't quote me on that.
They put these women down in the camp.
Let's just go down into the camp.
Right, walk around.
Oh, what are you guys doing here?
We're just going to the Jordan River.
It's probably the Jordan River.
We're just walking around.
Oh, Moabitess women.
Here's what we do to our God.
And they can be strong for a while,
right?
But the shirt starts to be down, cut
a little bit on the women.
Their skirts are a little too.
And they're going down there, and they're enticing
the people.
They're calling them out of that covering and
that shelter.
So he says, you have there those who
hold to.
Hold to.
So see, a church can, we can know,
you know, he holds to that.
You know, he holds to this.
And I know it's not good, but here's
what we say.
Well, at least they're coming to church.
Who am I to say anything?
At least they're coming, Shane.
I know it's probably not the best thing,
but at least they're coming.
It's interesting.
Meat sacrifice to idols is basically welcoming compromise.
It doesn't happen.
We can't really relate to then, to now.
But back then, if, hey, we just sacrificed
this cow on the altar.
Instead of a child, we used the cow.
We offered it to Molech.
That that life of that cow would be
now absorbed into us.
And we bow down to Molech.
And by the way, do you want some
of the steak that we just offered this
idol to Molech or to whatever God they
did?
Even, I would even, I don't know.
No, thank you.
That just doesn't sound right, does it?
There's something wrong with that.
And that would be, when you hear something,
it just doesn't sound right.
I heard just recently a guy who many
years ago was actually baptized for the dead
into the Mormon church.
He took on the position of this person
who died 50, 60 years ago.
Okay, you are now taking on this position
of this person.
And we are baptizing you for the dead
that they may experience the eternal life.
I don't know about you, but that just
does not sit well with me at all.
Right?
Amen?
Please.
Oh my goodness, 9 a.m. That's just,
that's just, there's something evil about that.
That's just, that's demonic.
But that's what the Mormon church does.
They baptize for the dead.
And so that would be the same thing
as when you hear a meat sacrifice to
idols.
But once you say, you know what, I'm
hungry.
I've been out in the field all day.
You ever smell tri-tip on the barbecue?
And you, you know, it's not that big
a deal.
And then while you're eating, here comes the
women to entice.
And you see the picture, right?
You see they're allowing this compromise.
And it's interesting.
He says food, right, the meat sacrifice to
idols.
And then sexual morality.
Here's an interesting thing.
Food lust, sexual passions, those lusts, they're tied
together.
They're tied together.
It's all that lust of the flesh.
They're often interwoven.
One appetite will feed the other.
I've never met somebody who has, in the
area of sexual sin and really in bondage,
that he's got other areas under control.
It's usually that whole, man, I eat too
much.
I drink too much.
I'm giving over in this area.
I can't, my bodily appetites are controlling me.
Because it's all interwoven.
It's all connected together.
This might help.
You must see the death in something before
you can begin to eradicate it and remove
it from your life.
Steve Schell gave an example I've always remembered.
It's been four or five years ago.
I was listening to a series he was
doing.
And he said, what about if you see
this gorgeous, do you like cake or pumpkin
pie or whatever it is?
You have this and you're hungry and you
see it and, you know, you can't have
it just yet.
It's put into the refrigerator and you go
to get it.
And there's a little note there that says,
oh, by the way, there's just a little
bit of rat poisoning in this.
Appetite's done.
Is it not?
Okay, I'm moving on to something else.
Because, see, they saw the death in it.
They saw the toxicity in it.
And that's what happens with sin.
When we fail to stop seeing the death
in it, when we fail to stop seeing
what it's going to do to our families
or our kids or ourselves, when we fail
to see that death in it, then we
fail, we give up to that power.
Does that make sense?
It's not a big deal.
And they begin to compromise in this area.
That's what they were doing.
So we have this church here that's compromising.
And here's what they were saying.
And, I mean, all of us can be
guilty of this, even this church.
So when I'm preaching on these churches, I'm
realizing that we can fall into a lot
of these categories ourselves.
Here's what we would say.
It's not a big deal.
It's not a big deal right now.
And I've learned, I don't know about you,
but I've learned that the little deals have
become big problems.
Right?
The things we don't want to nip in
the bud.
It's just one drink.
It's just a little flirting.
It's a boys' night out.
It's just a little glance.
It's harmless fun.
Well, we'll make a little bit of money
on the side.
No one will get hurt.
It's just one more prescription so I can
get through the week.
You know what I'm saying?
It's those little things, those little compromises.
It's not a big deal.
And by nature, we don't really like to
confront, do we?
Maybe some people do.
But we really don't like to confront, so
we allow and hoping it will fix itself.
And what we've noticed here is it doesn't
fix itself.
It's usually like leaven that comes in.
And well, I think let's just, that gossiper
that's a slander and backbiter, let's just let
it correct itself.
I don't want to talk to them.
Does it?
No.
Eventually, it doesn't.
Same thing with, well, I know there's some
sin, but it'll hopefully correct itself.
And often, God uses us to help correct
that course.
Those of you who are spiritual, go to
the one who is in sin that you
may be able to encourage them to turn
back to God.
So that's our biblical mandate is to go
to those.
He taught them to sin.
And I want to throw this question out
there.
Who is teaching you?
See, we all have influencers in our lives,
don't we?
Who is influencing you?
Blogs, articles, CDs, books you read.
Who is influencing you?
Somebody is influencing us.
And then Jesus doesn't stop there in verse
15.
He says, and one more thing.
And one more thing.
You also have those who hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which I hate.
Repent or else I will come to you
quickly and will fight against them with the
sword of my mouth.
You have those who hold to the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans.
Last week we talked about, there's three different
scenarios here.
Nobody knows exactly what this means.
It was actually Clement of Alexander, one of
the early church fathers.
He said this about these followers of Nicholas.
They abandoned themselves to pleasures like goats, leading
a life of self-indulgence.
So one thought is the Nicolaitans, that word
breaks up into against the laity.
So it could have been a form of
what we see of this hierarchy in the
church.
Or it could be followers of a false
teacher, Nicholas.
Whatever it is, I don't care.
I know Jesus hated it.
It reminds me, somebody just asked me this
week.
Do you think hell will really be an
actual fire and brimstone?
And I said, you know what?
I don't want to find out.
Whatever it is.
Actual fire burning an actual body.
Whatever it is, I do not even want
to find out.
But see, we get caught up on, do
you really think, do you really believe?
And then they can excuse their actions and
I have to worry about it.
It's the same thing here.
Just know that there's compromise coming in.
What did Jesus say?
Would you consider removing them?
No.
He said repent.
Repent what?
Change the way you think.
Change the way you're treating them.
And deal with it.
Or else I will come to you quickly
and I will fight against them with the
sword of my mouth.
He understood.
And we do too.
If you allow one thing, you often allow
something else.
If a church allows one thing, they often
allow other things.
So here's the concern though.
Jesus said I will remove them.
I will fight for the health of the
church.
Could it be that we might find ourselves
sometimes fighting against God?
Jesus is wanting to remove things, remove people.
And we're not going for or going with
what he wants to do.
I remember Pastor Chuck Smith.
You've heard of him, I'm sure many of
you.
He said something called, or actually he encourages
it sometimes.
It's called blessed subtraction.
When a church goes through blessed subtraction sometimes,
it's healthy.
What he means is when those who leave
need to leave.
When a cancer is uprooted and leaves, that
can be a good thing.
When those who are hurting the body leave,
that can be a good thing.
So there is something known as blessed subtraction
where God will begin to remove hindrances.
Especially if it's a healthy church.
If it's a healthy church, wants God's will,
wants to follow him.
But there's cancer there.
God will begin to help us remove those
things.
If that cancer isn't wanting to change, if
the chemotherapy isn't working, through the word of
God, through the preaching, God will remove those
people from the church, those influencers.
Here's what a church can say as well
in this area of compromise.
I know they live together, but they make
a great children's ministry team.
Oh, here we go.
You want some examples?
I know he left his wife, but he
makes a great usher out there.
I mean, we laugh, but I've seen churches
do this.
I know churches not far from here.
People will be partying at schooners Saturday night,
drunk as a skunk, and then they'll be
helping on worship Sunday morning.
Who am I to say anything?
At least they're coming to church.
Well, they can be coming to church sitting
there, not up here, leading and influencing and
ushering people into God's presence.
See, a church has to be loving, but
yet hold a tight line.
They have to be merciful, yet point out
error.
They have to be grace-filled, but not
gullible.
And we can think of other examples, right?
Well, I know they're caught in this sin,
but they make a great whatever.
And we begin to compromise.
And it's hard to do, right?
Now, let me just throw this out there
in case I start any of you thinking.
If there are ever issues like this that
you have questions on or thoughts on, bring
it to the leadership team, and we'll look
at it.
We take these things seriously.
But on the other hand, there's a lot
behind the scenes that people aren't aware of
that are happening, and we want to jump
to conclusions, not knowing that maybe God is
doing something.
For example, the big one out there is
divorce.
Somebody's going through divorce, and they're all in
sin, obviously, right?
That's what people think sometimes.
But what about if the person is the
victim of the divorce and doesn't want it,
not in sin, not doing anything wrong?
And they want to help or serve in
some aspect of ministry just to be built
up and fed.
But they're not in the wrong.
See, it's not just a blanket statement.
You have to look at the situation, look
at the heart of the person, because if
a church just comes in here and goes,
Nope, you're going through a divorce.
You cannot come in here unless you sit
in the back pew.
That's not going to minister to them.
That's going to have them run to a
different church and get out of here.
So it has to be grace-filled, but
also, Lord, what's your heart?
And also different capacities require different things.
Leadership capacity, you'd have to, you know, someone
going through that would probably have to step
down and have to reprioritize and reassess things.
But if it's just, Hey, can I greet
people at the door?
No.
Your husband left you.
I know it's not your fault and you're
doing everything you can.
You're praying and fasting, but you cannot greet
anybody.
Don't even say hi.
You actually get here a half hour early,
go sit at the front so we can
keep an eye on you.
But isn't that how some are judged?
I mean, that's why you have to have
all the information, the heart of God, and
sometimes you have to make some hard-line
decisions, some hard calls.
Listen, there's things over the past seven years
when we planned the church and I found
out about something, it was true, and immediately,
immediately, right now, step down immediately.
So there can be healing and restoration and
renewal.
There's hard calls too.
But see, that's the heart of God.
Seeking Him, Lord, what's your heart?
Because see, the heart should be grace and
mercy and restoration and love and compassion.
That should be the heart.
And then from that will come the hard
truth of what needs to happen.
But if the heart is the hard truth,
and the heart is, Oh, I can't believe
you sinner.
I can't wait.
They can never allow it here.
And that the heart's wrong, the heart's wrong
from the get-go, and then we go
to try to help, it won't come out
right.
It'll come out wrong.
It's not the heart of God.
So it's a very delicate thing on one
hand, but on the other hand, we have
to address as a church, because here Jesus
is saying if you allow something, and you
know it, it's one thing not to know
it, but if you know something, you have
there those who hold to this doctrine, those
who have a life of compromise, they're infecting
and affecting the church.
Mr. Rogers is not going to cut it
in this case.
He's saying they need to be removed.
Avoiding is not loving, and these things do
not work themselves out.
I've rarely seen a person who's bringing in
destructive teaching or has a bad attitude.
I've rarely seen them change on their own.
God can do it.
Powerful worship service.
They're broken.
They're humble before Him.
It can happen.
But many times He uses us to bring
that double-edged sword of the word of
God.
The word of God is like a double
-edged sword.
It pierces the joint and the marrow.
It is a discerner in thoughts of the
intents of man.
So we bring that word, and we show
it to them.
Jesus says, if you don't remove them or
deal with it, I will, and you may
find yourself fighting against me.
See, what He recognizes, clearly taught, and I
would love to do a whole sermon on
this, purity in the church equals power in
the church.
Do you want spiritual power to see lives
changed, to be filled with the Spirit of
God?
Purity, purity equals power.
Compromising church will not have power.
They might have a lot of great worship.
They might have a lot of books in
their bookstore, probably some you shouldn't be reading,
right?
They'll have, man, that church is alive.
They've got a great children's ministry program.
The parking lot is full.
But do they have power?
Are people coming to know the Lord?
Are they weeping?
Are they repenting?
Are marriages being restored?
In many cases, no.
No.
Listen, I've lived here all my life, and
I know some of the churches I'm trying
to talk about in this.
Rarely will you hear people come to know
the Lord.
Rarely will you hear of people being broken
before God, marriages restored.
You don't.
It's just a cookie-cutter Christianity, and they
just go for the bells and the whistles,
and the top performers, and the pastor who's
not going to offend them.
It's a scary spot to be because there's
no power.
And I know people who go to these
churches sometimes, and they are starving, spiritually filled
with God's Spirit.
They're starving.
One guy ran into me two weeks ago.
He went and talked to the pastor even.
He said, I haven't heard, when was the
last time you used the word repentance?
That's pretty bold.
An excuse for something, well, we're trying to
reach a lot of different people here, and
Mr. Rogers.
It's a compromising, silent church.
Now please understand, any time I talk about
this, it's not like, well, there's Shane looking,
pointing out all the different churches.
Remember I said two weeks ago, we can
slide right into the, we can slide right
into Ephesus pretty easy.
Right, Ephesus, works, no love.
So we have our tendencies too.
We can slide in these directions.
A person by the name of Reader Harris
once challenged a church in regard to power
and purity.
Like, it's what I would do to you,
let's say.
He once challenged a church.
He said, those who want power, line up
on my right.
Those who want purity, line up on my
left.
And it was ten to one.
Did you catch that?
A hundred people in this line, ten in
this line.
See, we want New Testament power, but we
don't want New Testament purity.
I want God to speak to me, but
I don't want to live a life that
magnifies holiness.
God, I want you to use me, but
I don't want to live like the New
Testament disciples.
Don't we want New Testament power?
But do we want New Testament purity?
And holiness?
And removing compromise?
Listen, this is a daily, sometimes weekly struggle.
Don't look at me like, gosh, I bet
Shane removed all the compromise out of his
life.
It never seeps in.
No, it seeps in after Sunday afternoon when
I'm home tired and my little four year
old wants to do whatever she wants to
do, and my other one wants, I'm like,
oh, whatever.
Yes, you can go climb on the roof.
But see, and like, well maybe, you know,
and maybe we shouldn't be too, and compromise
can enter in, but the closer we stay
to Christ, the quicker we'll be able to
discern that compromise.
And your prayer time, that's why a carnal
Christian, a compromising Christian doesn't spend a lot
of time in prayer, because the facade is
broken.
The pride is crushed.
The compromise is illuminated when you spend time
with God.
All these things begin to come out.
That's why in verse 17, he who has
an ear to hear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches.
You're gonna find this in every church we
read about.
He who has an ear to hear, let
him hear, it means open up your ear,
listen what the Spirit is saying to the
churches.
Deep calls unto deep.
You're not gonna be able to hear the
spiritual things of God with a carnal mind.
You're not going to be able to hear
the deep things of God, the spiritual things
of Christ, unless you begin to remove those
areas so you can hear clearly.
To me, compromise is like cotton balls, or
earplugs.
Have you ever used earplugs?
It's funny, you can still hear some noise,
but a lot of noise you can't hear
anything.
You can hear things like this, but that
people talk, and that's what compromise is, it's
in earplugs.
But Lord, I want to hear.
Then take out your earplugs.
No, I want to hear from you, then
take out your earplugs.
I don't want it that bad.
He who has ears to hear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes, to him who overcomes,
I will give some of the hidden manna
to eat, and I will give him a
white stone, and on the stone, a new
name written which no one knows except him
who receives it.
Boy, that's interesting, right?
Well, before I get to that, if anybody
tells you they know exactly what the stone
is, they're just reading commentaries.
There's about seven good ideas out there on
these things, but I'm going to get to
that in a minute.
And I will give him the white stone,
and on that stone, he'll have a new
name written.
So will believers get a new name, or
is your name the same in heaven?
Another area of debate.
But let's talk about this for a minute.
Let him hear.
How do we hear?
I mean, I've got a whole list, but
let me just, in regards to this church,
remove compromise, in a nutshell, remove the destructive
influences crept into your home, or into your
life, or into your mind.
In order to avoid compromise, we remove that
destructive influence.
We know what it is, don't we?
It's the little thing we don't want to
let go.
Now, he who overcomes.
We see again in Revelation 21, way fast
-forwarding ahead in the book, 21, seven through
eight, he who overcomes shall inherit all things,
and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son.
Did you catch that?
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and
I will be his God, and he shall
be my son.
But, the, okay, I'm going to read a
difficult scripture.
Can you handle it?
Okay, this will be edited out of the
compromising church.
You ready for this?
All right.
The compromising church would have read the first
part.
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and
I will be his God, and he shall
be my son.
He'd probably say, worship team, come on up.
Let's just praise God the rest of the
day.
Amen, we're all overcomers, and assuming, right?
Oh yeah, I'm all, it's like reading at
a funeral.
This bothers me, that's why I try to
make it clear when I'm preaching at a
funeral.
When they say, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
Right?
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He restores my, and you want, oh, and
everybody leaves, oh, that only applies if he's
your shepherd.
And most people attending memorial services or funerals
do not know the shepherd.
And you need to let them know.
By the way, this is for those who
know the shepherd.
If you don't know him, you need to
know the shepherd.
Same thing here.
Who overcomes shall inherit basically eternal life, but
the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, not the
snowman.
Right?
The abominable is perverse, wretched, disgusting.
It's this lifestyle that we're seeing unfold in
the news.
This word fits what you're seeing in the
news.
Murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars
shall have their part in the lake which
burns with fire and brimstone, which is the
second death.
So you just have to allow God's word
to speak for itself.
That's why I don't worry too much about
it.
If people need to hear this, let them
hear it.
The Bible says it.
I'm supposed to read it.
Actually, earlier in Revelation, we hear, and I
believe at the end too, if I remove
or add anything to this book, the plagues
that are in it will come upon me.
Don't remove any.
And that's the problem with compromise.
See that, oh, I could stay here for
a little bit.
That's the problem with compromise and the compromising
church is they remove certain things so it
sounds, it tastes good.
Right?
It tastes good.
That's why you have to dip sushi in
things.
Right?
It tastes good.
You have to present this certain type of
God.
Jesus didn't say, it's amazing how many people
in the compromising church know the good things
about Christ, know the glorious things, but when
it comes to hell of which he spoke
of more than heaven, they seem to lose
their mind.
When it comes to repentance, no, we don't
go there.
The blood of Christ, can we take that
out of our songs?
There's a church in town who told his
worship team to remove all mentions of the
blood of Christ.
Oh, my Lord!
It's the blood!
Oh, the blood!
That's what sets me free.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
See, but the compromise...
Okay, hold on.
I'm not done yet.
I almost was, though.
The compromising church, you see how important this
is, right?
But before we sit up on our high
horse, we have to look in our own
hearts.
Where are we allowing compromise to come in?
Well, Shane, I'm not sure.
Does it benefit you and your walk with
the Lord?
Or does it draw you further and further
and further away?
Just personal experience.
That's why I talk about entertainment.
I can watch a movie, probably that I
shouldn't be watching, and I am not edified.
I'm not built up.
I don't love the Lord anymore.
Now I'm fearful and all this stuff.
It just draws us away.
Here's an interesting thing, though.
When you hold the line on compromise, not
everybody's going to agree.
Are they?
A couple years ago, I wrote in the
Antelope Valley Press why it might not be
a good idea to watch Harry Potter.
Oh, you would have thought I shot the
Pope.
Emails, texts, oh, you're a legalist.
Hey, it's just some witch that's doing good
things and it's disgusting and God-honoring, and
go ahead.
But see, when you draw that line, draw
that line, people are like, oh no.
So I'm going to go to hell if
I watch it.
No, you're not.
See, no.
But why would you?
Why would a child of God want to
fill their heart with darkness?
Somebody actually challenged me.
They said, why don't you watch it before
you comment?
That's not a bad idea.
Let's go to Redbox.
And within ten minutes, it's off.
Back to Redbox.
There's like this witch doing something and they're
levitating upside down.
A snake is coming out of their mouth.
I'm like, thank you very much.
But see, it's the carnal, compromising Christian who's
not filled with the Spirit of God who
enjoys it.
Oh, wow.
You could hear a pin drop.
But isn't that true?
Listen, I'm just shooting you straight.
I'm shooting you straight.
When it comes to compromise, you will have
to remove things.
You might not be able to drink with
the buddies or do these things because when
you come out from among them, be separate,
you don't look.
You look like New Testament Christianity.
You don't look like the world.
And the closer you get to Christ, the
more odd you might seem to the world.
Isn't it true?
To me, it's almost laughable how much flack
Mike Pence is getting for saying he doesn't
go to lunch or dinner by himself with
a woman.
I mean, Hollywood's eating him.
They're laughing.
They're mocking him.
You're supporting pedophiles in Hollywood, but you're going
to...
See, I could get on a long rabbit
trail here.
But see, they don't understand.
That's weird.
That's weird, right?
Because you're not filled with the Spirit of
God, that's weird.
So compromise.
Now, don't get weird when you do this,
but I've got a different standard here.
I can't live this way.
I'm removing compromise.
You will not look very appealing to your
900 friends on Facebook who say they're your
friends.
There's a difference.
There's a distinction.
We want New Testament power, but not New
Testament purity.
But let me just...
I don't know if it's encouraging or more
convicting, but when he says...
Again, Shane Idleman interpretation here.
There's different views, of course.
He who overcomes shall inherit life.
All overcomers are believers.
If you're overcoming, you're a believer.
If you know Christ, you will overcome.
That's why we're called overcomers.
So it's almost like saying he who overcomes
is a believer, but those who are cowardly,
unbelieving, sexually immoral, sorcerers, playing around with magic
and witchcraft, idolatry, putting things before God, liars.
Have you met people that's all...
Boy, can they tell a lie?
Every day, it's just something...
Just lie about everything.
They can't just say, no, I didn't run
to the store.
Oh, I got a flat tire.
No, just say you didn't make it.
I mean, there's this...
Now, be careful.
Here's the encouragement.
Most people struggle with lying.
Most people sometimes are fearful and can become
a coward in certain areas.
Myself, I back down sometimes.
See, it's not saying the person who struggles
with this, it's saying the person who is
actually led by this.
If they are a cowardly, unbelieving, blasphemer of
God, or the person is abominable, they're into
sexual perversion, they don't care, they're not struggling.
They've embraced it.
It's who they are.
It's the mark of their lifestyle.
So that person is not a believer.
And there is eternal separation.
However you define this, you'd have to look
up in the Greek and break it down,
but the fire, brimstone, which is the second
death, there's a place...
When you're separated from God, I don't care
if it's a real fire or a literal
fire or whatever it is, you're separated from
God.
There's weeping, there's gnashing of teeth, there's torment
because you're realizing that I didn't have that
relationship with God.
Or Tim Keller wrote a whole book on
this.
I won't even get into all that.
But maybe those people stay mad at God.
There's this gnashing of teeth.
They still hate God even when they're separated
from Him.
Don't live your life with a question mark
there.
Am I cowardly?
Am I an unbeliever?
Am I into all these things?
Do I not know God?
That's why it says, he who overcomes will
receive the hidden manna.
There's nourishment that you're not aware of.
Spiritual nourishment that God will reveal to you
and begin to heal you in certain areas.
He who overcomes, the white stone.
Well, most can agree that it was some
type of victory stone.
And in Rome, John MacArthur, I think in
his study Bible you can find it, there's
a custom in Rome where a white stone
was given to the champions, much like a
gold medal in the Olympics.
His name was written on it and he
received all benefits that a winner would receive.
So John is writing to these people that
would understand this, right?
They would understand, okay, this white stone, it's
going to have a new name on it.
This is the same thing that God gives
us.
The new name comes with the new nature.
The old name is associated with the old
man, in my opinion.
The new name is associated with our new
nature.
Why would we have our old name in
heaven?
I have no clue if that's even, if
we will.
I think what this says, there's some type
of new name.
I call you this or, and you see
people get all bent out of shape on
this.
No, it doesn't.
It just, what it says, whether it's allegory
or true, whether it's a white stone or
uses imagery, the bottom line is there is
a reward and there's a new name written
to correspond with your new nature in Christ.
See, my old name is associated with what?
My old nature.
Oh, you should hear people, oh, I remember
Shane Idling back in the 1990s.
There's still people I run into, they bring
that up.
Oh, you?
I can't believe.
You?
The party guy from high school?
The old man, the old nature, the old
name.
But there's a new name written.
And it does come up about rewards in
heaven, a different thing.
And to me, the presence of God is
my reward.
The presence of God is my reward.
That's why I said earlier, oh, the blood,
what can wash away my sin?
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood, the blood of Jesus.
You think of billions of people on the
planet, right?
And even now, I don't know what the
number is.
I don't know, six billion something out there.
But how many have come before us?
How many may come in the future?
And if a person, do you think a
person sins a million times in their lifetime?
Let's just have fun here.
Maybe quite a bit more, yeah.
I mean, just do the math with a
calculator.
You know, once every 10 seconds.
You know, because our thought life, our mental,
you know, and everything.
But that blood is so strong that the
billions and the millions, I mean, if you
times those, that's like 10 to the 33rd
power.
A number you can't, zero, zero, zero, zero,
zero, zero.
All those sins, when Christ died, future and
going back past.
The Old Testament saints, the New Testament saints.
Oh, the blood.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood.
How powerful is that blood?
I remember there was a church.
He told their worship team, don't mention the
blood of Christ in the songs.
It's too offensive.
And you just want to say, what?
Are you kidding me?
Nothing but the blood.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
And I say that because so many people
say, Shane, you don't know what I've done.
You don't know what I've been through.
God won't take me now.
I've rejected him.
Oh, you can't compare to the millions times
billions, right?
It covers everything.
That's how powerful that blood is.
So the same voice that tells the sea
no further and the wind to stop and
walks on the ocean and says, peace, be
still, and the entire storm has to silence.
I would have loved to see the ocean
that day, just crystal clear.
When Christ speaks and his blood, he said,
I will shed my blood on the cross
that whosoever believeth in me shall not perish
but have everlasting life.
Just believe and receive.
It's already been paid.
It's been paid in full.
That's why he said, it is finished.
It is finished.
Folks, I can't make this stuff up.
I don't get all fired up like, oh,
I'm going to be an actor on stage
Sunday.
It resonates deep in my heart.
Because the closer you draw to Christ, we
all need to go closer.
But the closer you draw them, the more
you see the power in the blood.
Every sin, every sin, every perversion.
Have you ever thought, why do I think
that way?
God, why do I think that way?
The shame, the guilt.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
I hope I get this right.
Quoting somebody who quoted Jack Hayford.
He said, what would you do to a
friend who lies to you as much as
your fear does?
The fear that lies to us, and the
shame and the guilt and the fear and
the trauma and the anxiety.
The blood cleanses all of that, gets rid
of all that.
Yes, there's a fight.
Yes, there's a battle.
But this blood is so powerful that goats
and oxen and sheep had to be slaughtered
daily sometimes.
Slaughtered, slaughtered, slaughtered.
It was a temporary recovery.
And then Christ, the perfect lamb, bore the
sins of the entire world, past, future, present.
Took that sin, paid it in full to
God.
So you can stand before God someday with
tears running down your face and say, I'm
here because of what Christ did.
Nothing but the blood.
That might change your worship.
You might not be able to sit there
now and go, nothing but the blood, I'm
hungry.
Jack's place is gonna be busy.
Is he really going that long?
How many songs?
See, that changes everything.
When all the blood hits your prideful, arrogant
heart and you begin to worship God, it
becomes alive, it comes alive.
And you realize that it cleanses you from
everything.
You walk in new power, new authority.
You don't walk beaten up, you walk lifted
up.
Because of blood.