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Good morning.

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Good to see everyone out this morning.

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We're continuing our study of the book of Revelation, so if you will take your Bibles and
open them to Revelation chapter 2 as we get into our study this morning.

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Ahem.

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Let's begin with a word of prayer.

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Our gracious Father in heaven, we come before your throne grateful for all that you do for
us, for your gifts of uh love and tender kindness, for your grace and your mercy that you

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shower upon us.

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We pray that you will be with us as we go through this time of fellowship and this time of
worship and praise, this time of study.

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We pray that as we assemble here this morning that we might do those things which are
right in your sight and pleasing to your will.

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Lord, we ask that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory, when we as a
congregation do not pursue the things that you would have us to pursue, or we fail to

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stand up for the things that we ought to stand up for.

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that you will help us to correct our path to always be one of those candlesticks in your
kingdom that is shining brightly and in fellowship with you.

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Lord, we pray for churches throughout the world that are striving diligently to reach the
lost, that are striving to stand for the truth, to combat error, and to serve you

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faithfully.

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We pray that you will bless them and give them the opportunities to be able to continue

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continue in those labors.

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Lord, we ask that you be with us as we go through this week, and we pray that we might be
mindful of the thankfulness that we are to have each and every day and throughout our

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lives.

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We pray for safety for those who are traveling, and we pray for our nation and its
leaders.

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We pray for the nations throughout the world and their leaders.

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May they realize where every good gift comes from.

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All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.

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John is writing to the church in Ephesus in chapter 2, in the beginning of the chapter,
and he is writing the words which Jesus gave him to write.

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The command to John was what you see right in a book.

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and send it to these churches.

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So chapter two, verse one begins, to the angel of the church of Ephesus, right?

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These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst
of the seven golden lampstands, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you

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cannot bear those who are evil.

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and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them
liars." Notice here in this text that John is going to emphasize as Jesus emphasizes it

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through him that he is aware of their works.

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As an individual, we are judged by our works.

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but as congregations, the congregation is also judged by its works.

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Can you be judged for that which you did not participate in?

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Yes, yes, you absolutely can if you belong to a body that participated in it.

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Just because you didn't take an active part in it, the fact that you belong to the body
means you have an active part in it.

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How do I know?

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Hurt one part of your body.

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See if the rest of the body responds to that.

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See if the rest of the body is somehow connected to the one part of the body that had the
hammer land on it.

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Guess what?

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The rest of the body might not have had the hammer land on it, but it's going to
participate in it.

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It's going to be involved in it.

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Now, you'll notice in this text, as you go through these seven letters, that Jesus
differentiates in some circumstances a part of the church in a city that is not being

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judged for what another part is doing.

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But generally speaking, when you go through these seven letters,

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the church stands and falls together.

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It is only with extreme circumstances where Jesus says to one part of the church, keep
doing what you're doing and the rest of you, and he basically divides out the faithful

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from the unfaithful.

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But in view of the general view of this, Christ deals with a church as

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a unit as an entity that is formed by, individual people and individual groups within it,
but the fact of the matter is he deals with the church as a unit.

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And they are judged or they are blessed based upon what they all have as a single body.

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But notice what else he says.

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He says, I know your works, your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear those who are
evil.

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Sometimes we talk about the fact that you cannot earn your way to heaven, and that
statement is true.

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And yet, God expects us to work.

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Matter of fact, if you go back to the book of Ephesians, as Paul wrote to the church at
Ephesus,

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Paul will write to these Ephesian brethren, and he will say chapter 2 verse 1, And you he
made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the

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course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now
works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the

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lusts our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

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and were by nature children of wrath just as the others.

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But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

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By grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Now, as Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus, he

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says, you once were dead,

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You once were in your trespasses and in your sins.

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You once were lost, but now," he says, you are alive in Christ.

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But notice what else he says.

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"'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God.

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Not of works, lest anyone should boast.'" Now, you might come to this passage and someone
might say, see, our works don't matter.

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That is not what Paul said.

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I know it.

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Our works don't matter.

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You can't work your way to heaven.

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All those things uh we need to be careful with because the very next verse says, for we
are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.

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They never do.

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never do.

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There's a reason they stop at verse 9, because then they'd have to deal with verse 10.

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As you look at this text, Paul is saying you are a tool, you are the workmanship of God.

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And God intends to put you to work.

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Have you ever walked into a shop where nobody has worked?

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for decades and it's now become a storage building.

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Sometimes people, you know, they build a nice shop, they get all their tools arranged and
something happens in life and they're not able go out to their shop anymore.

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Pretty soon it gets taken over and you walk by that once well-ordered, organized table
that has all uh those utensils, those tools on it, hanging above it, and they're all

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covered in what?

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Dust.

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Does having the tool mean the tool is useful?

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No.

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ah The hardware store would like you to believe that if you buy the tool, you will use the
tool.

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And that is strictly not true.

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Just because you own it doesn't mean it's useful.

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God is not in the business of collecting tools to let them sit on a shelf.

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God is in the business of making us workmen in His service.

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Now, you go back over to Revelation and John is going to tell these churches, know your
works.

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And by the way,

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He's going to make that statement to all of us.

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but their works were not sufficient to cause God to owe them salvation.

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That is the true meaning of you cannot earn your way to heaven.

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If you show up at a job where you have employment and you work for 40 hours next week, you
might even get holiday pay.

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But at the end of the pay period, your boss and the company owe you your pay.

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because you worked first, now they owe you something in return.

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If you do not get paid, you can take them to court and sue them and the judge will
determine that they owe you your pay.

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Why?

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Because you earned it.

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There is no point at which we can stand before God and say, you owe me anything.

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nor can we stand before God and say, because I didn't do anything you told me to do, I
expect salvation anyway.

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Absolutely, go ahead.

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Absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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But we can't do it.

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So, as you look at this text...

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John is writing in the church at Revelation, says, I know what you do.

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And there are things that you do that are praiseworthy.

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Something to remember is when it comes to congregations that are struggling, and they may
be struggling with doctrine, they may be struggling with morality, they may be struggling

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like Ephesus was with a failure to love as they ought to love,

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there's probably still something going on in that congregation that we could actually
praise and that is praiseworthy.

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There is an example of a congregation in the book of Revelation where there's nothing
praiseworthy said.

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And there is an example of a congregation in the book of Revelation where there's nothing
negative said,

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but the rest of them fall in the middle.

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And so as we consider the places where we visit, the places where we walk in, the doors,
and the places where people who we know attend at a congregation, and they say, you know

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what, we're really struggling.

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We may be struggling with this or this or this or this, we're really struggling.

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Encourage them

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to find something they can be praiseworthy about in their congregation.

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If for no other reason than sometimes we need to look at both sides of the coin.

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John is going to begin in all of the congregations where there is something praiseworthy,
the praiseworthy thing comes first.

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and then we deal with the problems that need to be dealt with.

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You have here in the letter to the Ephesians, know your works, your labor, your patience
that you cannot bear with those who are evil.

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You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and found them liars.

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You have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not
become weary.

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This is the church that just keeps moving.

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They just keep working.

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They are active.

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They are continually combating false doctrine, and that which is evil and Ephesus was in a
city that had much to combat.

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The problem was, verse four, nevertheless I have this against you, you have left your
first love.

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Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I
will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

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Jesus will say to the church, you can lose your place in the kingdom of God and in the
body of Christ.

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As an entity, a church can be lost in its entirety.

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And we need to recognize that.

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We need to acknowledge the fact that it is possible

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for an entire congregation to lose fellowship with Christ.

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Now what would that mean for someone who is faithful, who is in that congregation?

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Let me say it this way, if Christ has broken fellowship with the congregation, so should
everyone who is in fellowship with Christ.

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because if you're going to be in fellowship with Christ, you cannot be in fellowship with
that which Christ will not fellowship.

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Say again.

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Ephesians 5 11.

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So, as we think about the fact that there is a time and there is a scenario in which
someone must depart from the congregation where they attend if they are desirous to remain

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faithful to Christ.

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We must also acknowledge

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that there are a wealth of examples in the first century church in the New Testament where
there were an abundance of problems but that there was not yet a command to depart from

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them.

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You look at Corinth, were there problems in Corinth?

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You go through the letter to the 1 Corinthians and somebody said as they were dealing with
the book of Revelation, and I thought it was appropriate, if many of us had sat down to

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write the book of 1 Corinthians, we would not have begun by describing them as the Church
of God.

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We would not have begun describing all the good things that they were doing.

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We would not have begun in describing their salvation and justification and sanctification
in Christ, but Paul does.

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We would have looked at all the problems and said there is no way a church in this state
could possibly be in fellowship with Christ, and yet it was.

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But maybe there's an Old Testament example that we could use in this regard.

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You remember when Abraham was met by the Lord?

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three beings were coming and approaching the place where Abraham lived.

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And Abraham was sitting in his tent in the heat of the day and he observes them coming and
traveling by and he runs out to meet them and he begs them and pleads for them to stop and

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to come and to abide with him for a period of time for him to be able to feed them and
provide a meal and he does.

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Long before Abraham realizes that it's the Lord

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and two angels.

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They sit with Abraham, they listen, and they talk with Abraham.

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The Lord reveals to Abraham that within a year he's going to have a son.

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Sarah's going to laugh inwardly.

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That's going to be addressed, and then they're going to be on their way.

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Where are they headed?

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to place where Lot lives, to Sodom, and as Abraham is going with them as he's escorting
them on their way.

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The question is asked by the Lord, should I not tell Abraham what I'm doing?

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And so the Lord reveals to Abraham that he's going to bring justice upon the city of
Sodom.

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What does Abraham ask for?

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Lord, if there are 50 righteous in the city.

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Surely you will not destroy the righteous with the wicked.

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And what does the Lord say?

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If there's 50, I'll spread the city.

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And then Abraham asked for 45.

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For 40, 35.

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Where does he get to?

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an entire city.

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And by the way, when you look at what the text actually states, it wasn't just the city of
Sodom that was destroyed.

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Sodom, its sister city Gomorrah, and seven cities of the plain of Sodom were all
destroyed, leaving only one little city.

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that Lott and his family escaped to.

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all these other cities were destroyed.

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and they could have been spared by ten righteous people in one city.

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I bring all of that out to point out.

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that the impact that can be had on a group of unrighteous people by a small number of
righteous people is significant.

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and that should be taken into consideration in a congregation as well.

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But when you go back again into the Old Testament and you look at the period of the
prophets, there is an occasion where God says, I looked for a man in the whole nation of

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Israel.

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I looked for a man to stand in the gap.

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That is to say in the imagery, I looked for one man who would stand up for God and for
what was right.

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so that the hordes of unrighteous do not run through and destroy my people and I couldn't
find one.

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When you think about those two analogies.

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Lot by himself wasn't enough.

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But there are times where God says, I can't even find one.

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And when you really look at the record of Sodom and Gomorrah...

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You also find that Lot had been quite infected by the sin that he lived in.

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And so his ability to stand as the righteous one and his family to stand as righteous
ones, in contrast to Sodom, had left.

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It was already gone.

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Sometimes we have to remember a couple of things.

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Number one, when a situation becomes bad enough,

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that we're surrounded by those who are doing that which is not right even in a
congregation of the Lord's Church.

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that we have to prioritize saving our family, and that may mean leaving the congregation.

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because you will regret your entire life if you lose your children and your family because
you stayed at a congregation where truth wasn't respected.

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But further, it does also still point out that the impact of a small, righteous group can
be significant within a group of people who have turned away from the truth.

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Now, go back to Revelation.

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Or we're never gonna get done with two and three.

208
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He says, verse five, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the
first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place,

209
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unless you repent.

210
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Over and over, you're gonna see that word, repent, repent, repent.

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He says, but this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

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We don't know a lot about this group other than from history and tradition.

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understand that they were rather loose in their behaviors, both morally and doctrinally.

214
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They were a group of loose people.

215
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And God says, I approve of the fact that you don't tolerate this.

216
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You hate their deeds.

217
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He says, I also hate them.

218
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He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

219
00:25:37,161 --> 00:25:41,375
To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life.

220
00:25:41,375 --> 00:25:44,036
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

221
00:25:44,917 --> 00:26:00,608
Christ, as he writes to the church, streams into plain ordinary language, repent, do the
words, do this, and streams right back into visionary language.

222
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That is the tree of life.

223
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,793
Where is the tree of life a reference to in Old Testament scripture?

224
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Garden of Eden.

225
00:26:12,031 --> 00:26:32,782
He's taking a historical event and a historical place, turning it into a spiritual image
to say, I will give you access to immortality and life if you will repent and overcome.

226
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He also says, I will give you to have this that is in the midst of the paradise of God.

227
00:26:42,143 --> 00:26:47,306
You remember the reason that Adam and Eve were put out of the garden after they sinned?

228
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God said that if they remained in the garden they would eat of the tree of life and they
would live forever.

229
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So the imagery from Genesis 1 and 2 and 3 is brought forward into the book of Revelation
just like so much Old Testament imagery is because these Christians should immediately see

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Tree of Life.

231
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Oh, Paradise of God.

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I know exactly what he means.

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Alright, chapter 2 verse 8, to the angel of the church at Smyrna, write, these things says
the first and the last who was dead and came to life.

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I know your works, tribulation and poverty.

235
00:27:32,912 --> 00:27:38,612
It was said by Jim McGuigan that there were two words for poor in the Greek.

236
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There's one word that meant poor.

237
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And then there was the other word of the Greek that meant poor.

238
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He says it was a P with about 17 different O's, 17 O's and an R.

239
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That's this word.

240
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These people were poor physically.

241
00:28:02,290 --> 00:28:08,133
They were in deep poverty physically.

242
00:28:08,494 --> 00:28:11,315
He says, I know your works.

243
00:28:11,715 --> 00:28:19,075
I know your tribulation and I know your deep poverty.

244
00:28:32,892 --> 00:28:34,613
They could afford both ours.

245
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Absolutely.

246
00:28:35,613 --> 00:28:43,615
He says, you were deep in your poverty, but you are rich.

247
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So many times we are confronted with scripture that tells us that money is not the
standard of being rich.

248
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And John points out, you have no physical wealth and yet you are rich.

249
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He says, know your works, your tribulation, your poverty, but you are rich and I know the
blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

250
00:29:19,997 --> 00:29:24,903
You remember that as Paul would go through these regions and as he

251
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gave birth to the church and converted those individuals who were in those cities who
would follow after him?

252
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Jews from these other cities where he had been and they'd start persecuting the church and
they'd start running Paul out of town and they'd start riots and they would do these

253
00:29:44,324 --> 00:29:54,399
things to persecute these Jews who were becoming Christians and even more so the Gentiles
who were becoming Christians.

254
00:29:56,335 --> 00:30:01,286
And here in Smyrna, it was still going on.

255
00:30:03,333 --> 00:30:14,290
He says, know the blasphemy of these people, of these Jews who say they are Jews and are
not.

256
00:30:14,671 --> 00:30:18,673
A Jew would be one who follows after God.

257
00:30:19,383 --> 00:30:25,839
A Jew would be one who follows after the actions of his forefathers in obedience to God.

258
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And yet he says these aren't Jews.

259
00:30:30,382 --> 00:30:31,983
He goes on to say,

260
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Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.

261
00:30:36,468 --> 00:30:44,732
Now we looked at chapter one and John says these things are shortly to take place.

262
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We look at chapter one and we read that the things which are written, the time is near.

263
00:30:52,415 --> 00:30:59,338
We look at chapter two and he says you are about to suffer.

264
00:31:01,024 --> 00:31:10,817
The entire book is telling the Christians that are going to read the book, this is about
to happen.

265
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And in Smyrna, it was coming fast.

266
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And they were already in tribulation.

267
00:31:20,620 --> 00:31:24,161
And this was going to pile on top of it.

268
00:31:25,242 --> 00:31:26,326
He says,

269
00:31:26,326 --> 00:31:29,571
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.

270
00:31:29,571 --> 00:31:36,341
Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and
you will have tribulation ten days.

271
00:31:36,341 --> 00:31:39,966
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."

272
00:31:41,632 --> 00:31:52,168
Now many times preachers will point out, rightfully so, that faithful until death in the
Greek means up to and including death.

273
00:31:54,134 --> 00:32:03,414
Now, why is John emphasizing to them the need to be faithful even if it costs them their
life if they're only going to prison for ten days?

274
00:32:05,207 --> 00:32:13,619
If you can't survive ten days in prison, you're probably not really where you ought to be
in life.

275
00:32:15,688 --> 00:32:21,442
unless the 10 days isn't 10 literal days.

276
00:32:22,463 --> 00:32:23,864
And it's not.

277
00:32:24,044 --> 00:32:30,078
We're introduced here to something that we've already been introduced to, but it's gonna
happen again and again and again.

278
00:32:30,078 --> 00:32:31,530
We're gonna keep seeing it.

279
00:32:31,530 --> 00:32:38,874
The seven churches, were they the only churches that were gonna read the letter?

280
00:32:39,675 --> 00:32:40,296
No.

281
00:32:40,296 --> 00:32:42,457
Were they the only churches that mattered?

282
00:32:42,598 --> 00:32:43,708
No.

283
00:32:44,140 --> 00:32:48,926
but they were representative of churches all the way till today.

284
00:32:50,454 --> 00:33:01,438
and there were seven of them and by the way the number seven in Old Testament text, New
Testament text, visionary text is a number for the number of God.

285
00:33:02,558 --> 00:33:09,960
It's a number of perfection in Jewish writing so it's a perfect group of churches.

286
00:33:10,781 --> 00:33:14,442
The number for ten is a complete number.

287
00:33:15,486 --> 00:33:27,516
You are going to go into prison until a complete amount of time and some of you are never
coming back out.

288
00:33:31,712 --> 00:33:41,346
He says, no matter what happens, when this suffering comes upon you, you be faithful.

289
00:33:42,046 --> 00:33:45,047
You be faithful if it costs you your life.

290
00:33:45,748 --> 00:33:53,791
You be faithful if they threaten you with death, if they say, know what, you renounce
Christ and we'll let you back out of prison.

291
00:33:54,751 --> 00:33:55,932
You don't do it.

292
00:33:56,852 --> 00:34:01,554
You say, I'll stay here as long as I have to, but I won't give up that name.

293
00:34:03,290 --> 00:34:08,414
and Christ tells them, number one, I know it's coming.

294
00:34:09,216 --> 00:34:12,298
Number two, I know who's behind it.

295
00:34:13,039 --> 00:34:17,843
Number three, I will deal with your enemies.

296
00:34:18,404 --> 00:34:24,119
Number four, I have a reward for those who overcome.

297
00:34:25,371 --> 00:34:35,644
So many times we think of overcoming as we got through the hardship and we're back on the
other side of it and we still remain faithful.

298
00:34:36,084 --> 00:34:39,425
That's not how the book of Revelation uses the term overcoming.

299
00:34:39,885 --> 00:34:47,047
The overcomer is the one who got into the hardship, never was unfaithful, and died.

300
00:34:48,381 --> 00:34:51,548
And Christ says they overcame.

301
00:34:52,289 --> 00:34:53,269
Yes, sir.

302
00:34:57,190 --> 00:34:58,293
Romans 8.

303
00:35:07,555 --> 00:35:08,725
Absolutely.

304
00:35:09,045 --> 00:35:25,800
In Romans 8, you have Paul bringing out some Old Testament Psalms, and those Psalms are
there to emphasize, especially towards the end of the chapter, that when the Old Testament

305
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:34,232
psalmist looked at their situation, he looked at their situation and said, God, you're not
doing anything.

306
00:35:34,773 --> 00:35:36,485
We're suffering.

307
00:35:36,485 --> 00:35:45,977
We're struggling, we're dying, we're being persecuted, and we can't see you taking action
at all.

308
00:35:48,391 --> 00:35:55,786
And yet the psalmist writer comes out of that and says, but we know that we're going to be
faithful no matter what.

309
00:35:56,487 --> 00:36:00,149
We're going to be faithful and you're going to handle it.

310
00:36:03,741 --> 00:36:04,701
That's it.

311
00:36:05,582 --> 00:36:22,129
The psalmist writer realized in view of this, no matter what we do, whether we live or
die, whether we suffer or we're blessed, that whatever God was doing, He's going to do.

312
00:36:22,850 --> 00:36:25,681
He's going to do it through however we suffer.

313
00:36:25,681 --> 00:36:27,912
He's going to do it through however we're blessed.

314
00:36:27,912 --> 00:36:30,713
He's going to accomplish His will.

315
00:36:33,501 --> 00:36:42,561
So many times people come to the passage, all things work together for good to them that
love the Lord, and they think, all right, it's all going to work out in our favor.

316
00:36:44,589 --> 00:36:49,485
Yes, but that doesn't mean you're going to live through it.

317
00:36:52,081 --> 00:36:53,426
That's just, that's correct.

318
00:36:53,426 --> 00:36:55,482
Just, just ask the apostles.

319
00:36:57,467 --> 00:37:00,223
Now that's what John's writing to this church.

320
00:37:00,786 --> 00:37:05,227
He's writing to them and he's saying, not fear any of those things.

321
00:37:06,874 --> 00:37:09,654
By the way, this is not a new message.

322
00:37:10,074 --> 00:37:15,614
This is the same message Jesus gave to the apostles before he sent them out into the
cities of the Jews.

323
00:37:16,874 --> 00:37:19,714
Do not fear those who can kill the body.

324
00:37:20,394 --> 00:37:25,614
Rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

325
00:37:26,474 --> 00:37:36,771
But here He says, you be faithful and I will be one who will be faithful to my promises.

326
00:37:36,771 --> 00:37:42,387
to He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

327
00:37:42,387 --> 00:37:48,073
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

328
00:37:49,621 --> 00:37:52,042
John says there are two deaths.

329
00:37:53,404 --> 00:37:59,408
The one who endures the first one endures what everyone endures.

330
00:38:00,609 --> 00:38:07,513
But the one who is faithful when he goes through the first one will never experience the
second one.

331
00:38:08,795 --> 00:38:17,991
But he who gives up on his faithfulness will endure both the first death and the second
death.

332
00:38:19,063 --> 00:38:21,214
that one referring to judgment.

333
00:38:21,936 --> 00:38:26,239
Now to the church at Pergamos.

334
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:34,245
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, these things says he who has the sharp
two-edged sword.

335
00:38:34,466 --> 00:38:40,050
I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.

336
00:38:40,331 --> 00:38:47,477
Now, can you imagine being the congregation in the city

337
00:38:47,477 --> 00:38:56,493
where John describes the city as the place where Satan's throne is.

338
00:38:59,245 --> 00:39:01,438
Now that's a reputation for a city.

339
00:39:03,471 --> 00:39:08,991
Sodom and Gomorrah, Las Vegas, Washington DC.

340
00:39:11,991 --> 00:39:13,112
He says...

341
00:39:14,775 --> 00:39:18,207
These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword.

342
00:39:18,207 --> 00:39:34,145
I know your works 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 was my faithful martyr who was

343
00:39:34,145 --> 00:39:37,297
killed among you where Satan dwells.

344
00:39:37,918 --> 00:39:40,338
But I have a few things against you.

345
00:39:41,259 --> 00:39:44,841
Christ says, I know what you go through.

346
00:39:45,443 --> 00:39:46,573
where you are.

347
00:39:47,534 --> 00:39:50,737
I know what you've already gone through.

348
00:39:50,737 --> 00:39:57,971
I know that there is one from among your number who has already been killed for my name's
sake.

349
00:40:00,696 --> 00:40:01,545
But...

350
00:40:03,543 --> 00:40:07,027
We have some problems that we're gonna have to deal with.

351
00:40:09,335 --> 00:40:17,910
There are so many lessons, and we can't spend time on all of them that are in these texts,
but one of them is this, and I think it's worth mentioning.

352
00:40:18,951 --> 00:40:22,823
God judges in view of circumstances.

353
00:40:24,809 --> 00:40:34,143
God judges in view of what someone has and is going through.

354
00:40:36,713 --> 00:40:38,814
but he also judges righteously.

355
00:40:39,655 --> 00:40:45,138
So many individuals want God to just be a circumstantial judge.

356
00:40:45,219 --> 00:40:45,959
You know what?

357
00:40:45,959 --> 00:40:54,005
If you're in hardship and if you're in tribulation and if you're in difficulty and if
you're persecuted, you just get a clean slate.

358
00:40:54,005 --> 00:40:58,828
You just get to go on through because look at how hard it was.

359
00:41:00,500 --> 00:41:02,020
And then, you know what?

360
00:41:02,020 --> 00:41:06,600
You've had nothing but blessings all your life and you've had nothing but comfort all your
life.

361
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:07,380
You know what?

362
00:41:07,540 --> 00:41:12,820
You just get a pile of judgments against every tiny little infraction.

363
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:16,675
That is not how God judges.

364
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:30,738
God will tell the judges in the Old Testament Israelite nation that you do not side with
the poor because they're poor.

365
00:41:32,562 --> 00:41:36,259
You also do not side with the rich because they're rich.

366
00:41:37,404 --> 00:41:41,422
You judge righteous judgment.

367
00:41:43,326 --> 00:41:55,205
But even God, in the Old Testament, established that there was a difference between
someone who stole because they were going to starve to death, if they didn't, and someone

368
00:41:55,205 --> 00:42:00,068
who stole something because he coveted his neighbor's possession.

369
00:42:01,672 --> 00:42:04,455
God deals with circumstance in judgment.

370
00:42:05,017 --> 00:42:10,804
And this church is one where God says, know what you've gone through.

371
00:42:12,594 --> 00:42:15,245
but that's no excuse for what you're doing.

372
00:42:16,226 --> 00:42:26,992
He says, I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the
doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of

373
00:42:26,992 --> 00:42:31,554
Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.

374
00:42:31,554 --> 00:42:42,405
By the way, this is the only text that tells us in all scripture where Balak, the king of
Moab, got the idea to tempt

375
00:42:42,405 --> 00:42:43,312
Israel.

376
00:42:45,138 --> 00:42:48,310
Way back in the book of Numbers you read about it happening.

377
00:42:49,371 --> 00:42:53,273
But this text tells us whose idea it was.

378
00:42:54,495 --> 00:42:55,875
It was Balaam's.

379
00:42:56,496 --> 00:43:06,082
The one who couldn't prophesy evil against Israel, who couldn't curse Israel even though
he had been paid to.

380
00:43:07,204 --> 00:43:13,808
When Balak hires Balaam to curse Israel and he can't, he instead pronounces a blessing.

381
00:43:14,356 --> 00:43:18,756
He goes and hires him again, says, go curse Israel, and he can't.

382
00:43:19,196 --> 00:43:21,736
And again, go curse Israel, and he can't.

383
00:43:21,736 --> 00:43:24,376
Bailax says, you've blessed them three times.

384
00:43:26,258 --> 00:43:28,027
gives up on that plan.

385
00:43:30,184 --> 00:43:41,042
But then Moab instead gets their women to go to Israel and convince them, hey, come eat
with us at our idolatrous ceremony.

386
00:43:42,726 --> 00:43:48,536
and then commit fornication with us at our idolatrous ceremony.

387
00:43:51,218 --> 00:43:59,480
because Balaam told Balak, I can't curse Israel, but I can sure tell you how to get them
to curse themselves.

388
00:44:02,072 --> 00:44:08,600
get them to participate in your idolatry and God will do your work for you.

389
00:44:11,723 --> 00:44:18,328
and this congregation had some Balaam teachers in it.

390
00:44:19,490 --> 00:44:21,531
And the church was putting up with it.

391
00:44:22,272 --> 00:44:27,356
When you look at Balaam, and we'll close with this, two things.

392
00:44:27,596 --> 00:44:34,541
Number one, Balaam loved money more than he loved truth.

393
00:44:35,863 --> 00:44:40,987
And number two, Balaam was willing to permit

394
00:44:41,109 --> 00:44:49,185
immorality and evil if it was in his own best financial interests.

395
00:44:50,861 --> 00:44:53,333
Now there's a lesson there for us.

396
00:44:54,294 --> 00:44:57,637
Sometimes people in business say, well, you know what?

397
00:44:57,637 --> 00:45:00,759
I just have to provide what the consumer wants.

398
00:45:01,541 --> 00:45:10,368
Have you ever imagined how hard it would be for a gas station to stay in business without
alcohol inside the gas station or tobacco?

399
00:45:12,310 --> 00:45:17,871
I suggest it's probably monetarily impossible in our country

400
00:45:17,871 --> 00:45:21,571
to keep a gas station solvent without alcohol.

401
00:45:21,851 --> 00:45:23,171
You wanna know why?

402
00:45:23,551 --> 00:45:33,231
I've done work at gas stations that are 24 hour gas stations in the technology there in
the back room, and guess what happens all night long?

403
00:45:34,211 --> 00:45:40,711
There is one thing that gets bought and sold all night long, alcohol.

404
00:45:42,489 --> 00:45:43,263
Yes,

405
00:45:49,881 --> 00:45:55,787
Can you be a New Testament a Christian and you own the business that sells alcohol and
tobacco.

406
00:45:58,799 --> 00:46:02,919
I agree because you're promoting that which is evil.

407
00:46:04,659 --> 00:46:16,079
One of the passages, and we won't go into it because we're already out of time, but one of
the passages that I love to reference for people, Psalm 15.

408
00:46:16,619 --> 00:46:27,655
Go read Psalm 15 and go question what that would mean for a business owner because the
question that's asked in the beginning of that chapter is,

409
00:46:27,851 --> 00:46:32,843
who will stand in the holy hill of the Lord?

410
00:46:32,843 --> 00:46:36,955
The question is being asked is who can stand with God?

411
00:46:38,056 --> 00:46:51,201
And one of those things is one who does not promote unrighteousness, but also it is one
who will swear to his own hurt and not go back.

412
00:46:51,982 --> 00:46:55,393
You know, if you could practice those two things in business.

413
00:46:55,809 --> 00:46:59,811
And in our country, if businesses did practice those two things, you'd have two things.

414
00:46:59,811 --> 00:47:07,934
Number one, you'd have a whole lot of immorality off the shelves and off of the lives, out
of the lives of Americans.

415
00:47:07,934 --> 00:47:12,606
Number two, you'd take care of almost every lawsuit that ever happened.

416
00:47:13,606 --> 00:47:22,930
Because somebody would swear to their own hurt, they would promise to do what they're
supposed to do, and they would do it, and even if it cost them more than they made, they'd

417
00:47:22,930 --> 00:47:24,510
go do what was right.

418
00:47:24,991 --> 00:47:25,931
Yes, sir.

419
00:47:28,242 --> 00:47:30,500
they conform to the world.

420
00:47:33,099 --> 00:47:34,660
You're being conformed.

421
00:47:34,660 --> 00:47:35,359
Absolutely.

422
00:47:35,540 --> 00:47:39,103
My grandfather uh was fired.

423
00:47:39,103 --> 00:47:42,084
As a matter of fact, it hit national news.

424
00:47:42,084 --> 00:47:48,508
My grandfather was a store manager of the A &P grocery stores in Michigan in the 70s.

425
00:47:48,608 --> 00:47:53,590
In 1973, the state of Michigan decided to put the lottery in.

426
00:47:54,071 --> 00:48:01,235
And the A &P grocery store management ownership decided that not only were they going to
put it in their stores,

427
00:48:01,365 --> 00:48:08,500
that they were going to require every single one of their store managers to personally
promote the lottery.

428
00:48:09,402 --> 00:48:13,945
My grandfather told his ownership and management, he said, no, I won't.

429
00:48:14,446 --> 00:48:15,427
And they said, yes, you will.

430
00:48:15,427 --> 00:48:17,268
He said, no, I won't.

431
00:48:17,829 --> 00:48:19,610
And they said, well, you don't have a job here anymore.

432
00:48:19,610 --> 00:48:20,811
He said, OK.

433
00:48:21,432 --> 00:48:30,959
And there was a brother who found out about it down in Florida who was part of the A &P
Associated Press, not associated with the A &P grocery store.

434
00:48:32,107 --> 00:48:40,767
And he wrote an article in his local newspaper about the man who lost his job because of
the lottery coming into Michigan.

435
00:48:41,167 --> 00:48:43,747
And that story got picked up nationwide.

436
00:48:43,747 --> 00:48:58,407
If you find a pamphlet that has Brother Robert Taylor Jr.'s writing on gambling, you will
find in there a story of a man who lost his job in the state of Michigan for being fired.

437
00:48:58,407 --> 00:49:00,007
And that was my grandfather.

438
00:49:01,372 --> 00:49:04,275
He had four kids to raise, he had four teenagers at home.

439
00:49:04,937 --> 00:49:06,559
Didn't know what he was going to do.

440
00:49:07,821 --> 00:49:12,007
And the reality is this, many blessings can come.

441
00:49:13,545 --> 00:49:15,600
by you standing for what is right.

442
00:49:15,703 --> 00:49:17,389
And they did in the life of my family.

443
00:49:17,389 --> 00:49:18,403
Thank you for your attention.

444
00:49:18,403 --> 00:49:19,165
We're way over.

445
00:49:19,165 --> 00:49:20,559
Appreciate your time.

446
00:49:22,097 --> 00:49:23,001
yes sir