The Compromising Church

Beginning in Revelation 2:12, we read, “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He…’—that is, Jesus Christ—‘…who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”’ Notice twice in verse 13, He says, “Where Satan dwells.” Verse 14, “But 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 Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 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.”

No doubt you have heard the phrase, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” That’s exactly what Satan did with the church at Pergamos.

Last time we looked at the church at Smyrna. We saw that Satan came as a roaring lion to persecute the Christians. He came openly with hostility and persecuted them and even had them put to death. But now we look at the church at Pergamos, which is the church to which he came subtly as the serpent.

Satan comes in both ways. He comes as a roaring lion in open persecution. He knows that persecution can’t destroy the church, because the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church; it only fans the flame, and the church grows. So he comes in subtlety as the devil or Satan—he’s mentioned here in this passage—and he tries to subvert the church by introducing false doctrines in the way that we live, which is detrimental and displeasing to God.

When a boat goes out on the ocean, it reminds me that the church is on a sea of ungodliness and wickedness. Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” As long as the boat in on the water, it is okay; it’s made to be on the water. But if the water gets inside the boat, it starts to sink. So if the church is in the world, it’s okay, as long as the world doesn’t get into the church. The minute the world moves into the church, like a boat with water in it, it starts to sink.

So was the case with the church at Pergamos. The world was coming into the church. The world was seeping in, and its ship was beginning to sink. In verse 13, the Pergamos church was dwelling “where Satan’s throne is.”

Try to imagine what that must have been like. They were living in a city where Satan actually had his throne or his headquarters. So the world was beginning to creep into this church. They were to be a light to this dark world, but then they became like the world. They were to be a good witness, but instead, they were a bad witness to the world around them.

James 4:4 tells us, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity…”—or “hostility”—“…with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be an enemy of God. I don’t want God to come to me and say, “I have a few things against you.” So I’m going to learn the lessons that I can from this letter to the church at Pergamos.

There are four sections to this letter that I want to draw your attention to. The first is in verse 12, the correspondence. It says, “To the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.’” I want you to notice, first of all, the “angel.” It is the Greek word “aggelos.” It can either mean a real, literal angel or it can mean a human messenger. And since this is a letter written to this “angel,” I think it is more appropriate that it is written to the pastor of the church at Pergamos. So it’s probably not an actual angel but a man or pastor or spiritual leader of the church.

Secondly, notice the church at Pergamos. How it got started or when it got started, we don’t know. The only thing we know about the church at Pergamos is what is written here in this letter. This church at Pergamos probably started as a result of Paul’s ministry in the nearby city of Ephesus. As the church got established in Ephesus—Paul spent three years there—Christians went out from there to Pergamos and established a church there.

The city of Pergamos itself is an interesting place. It was 45 miles north of Smyrna. It is located in modern-day western Turkey, along the coast of the Aegean Sea, across from the continent of Europe. It was the capital of Asia Minor. The city was a blend of political power and pagan worship. It was also a sophisticated, academic learning center. It was filled with beautiful palaces, temples and idols. One of the main idols worshipped there was Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks. On a nearby hill was a big altar built to Zeus. There was licentious and sexual activity; they had priestesses for the worship of Zeus. They had the God Alscalpus, the god of healing, that had as its symbol a serpent’s pole with a snake. Modern medicine uses that as its symbol today. There was a temple there where you would go to pray to the God Alscalpus, and you were supposed to get healed. More likely, you would be demon possessed.

One of the great universities was in Pergamos. It had a library of 200,000 books. And that was before the days of the printing press, and all the books had to be hand written on parchment. From the word “Pergamos” we get our word “parchments.” It was in Pergamos that they started to use animal skins or parchment to produce books.

Pergamos was a very dark and demonic place. It was also the place where they built the first temple for emperor worship to Octavius Caesar.

Notice, also in verse 12, the description of Christ. It says, “These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.” In each letter to these seven churches is a description of Christ. Each description is fitting for the needs, problems or condemnation of that church. This description is taken from Revelation 1:16, where it says, “Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.” In Hebrews 4:12, it says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” So the word coming out of Jesus’ mouth, represented by His sword, is referring to the Word of God or the word that Christ speaks. Jesus will judge on the basis of His Word, which is true.

The church had false doctrine, verse 14; they had “the doctrine of Balaam.” In verse 15, they had “the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.” So they had false teachers among them.

When Jesus described Himself to the church at Ephesus, which had left their first love, as the one “who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands,” that was a comforting image. When He wrote to the church in Smyrna, they were being persecuted and dying for their faith, He described Himself as the one “who was dead, and came to life.” Now when He comes to Pergamos, His description is of a stern authoritarian and He warns them. His Word would come and be like a “sword” that will judge in truth and righteousness.

In light of this, the symbol of Roman authority was a sword. So this was a reminder to the church in Pergamos to be fearful and submit—not to the sword of Rome, but to the sword of Christ’s Word. And we in the church today are to be submitted in Christian fellowship to the Word of God.

The second section, in verse 13, is the commendation. These are the things that Jesus commends in the church. “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name…”—notice that—“…and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr..”—or “martus” in the Greek or “witness”—“…who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”

Notice that He opens with “I know.” Every letter to the churches opens with the statement “I know.” What does He know in Pergamos? He knows “where you dwell,” even where “Satan’s throne is.” So God knows the church, He knows the dark world we’re in, He knows the opposition from Satan that comes from the world around us.

It’s important that you note the reference to Satan in verse 13. There really is a devil or Satan. He doesn’t like God, he doesn’t like Christians and he doesn’t like the church.

I’ve been a pastor long enough to know that Satan does everything he can to oppose, to attack and to seek to destroy the church of Jesus Christ. But I’m so glad that Jesus said, “I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Satan is not omnipotent, not omnipresent, not omniscient. But God is. Jesus is building His church, and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it.

It’s interesting that four times Satan is mentioned in light of these seven churches. First, he causes the persecution of the church in Smyrna, in chapter 2, verse 9; secondly, he has his throne in Pergamos, in chapter 2, verse 13; thirdly, he has the deep doctrines in Thyatira, in chapter 2, verse 24; and fourth, he uses the synagogue of Satan, the false christians, to oppose the soul-winning efforts in Philadelphia, in chapter 3, verse 9. So there really is a devil, he doesn’t like the church and he does all he can to attack the people, the pastors and the ministry of the local church.

What does He mean by where “Satan’s throne is”? I believe He means literally that this is where Satan puts his throne on earth. Can you imagine being a Christian in a town where Satan’s headquarters are? There has to be somewhere on earth right now where Satan’s headquarters are set up. He’s not in hell shoveling coal and torturing people. He’s in some city where he has his headquarters. He’s promoting his lies, his damnable heresies.

He couldn’t beat the church by persecution, so he joined the church. The word “Pergamos” means “marriage” or “to be joined.” It’s a period of history in which Constantine became a so-called “Christian” and merged the Roman government to the church, or the church was taken over by the Roman government, which was a sad and tragic situation. This period was from 312-606 AD. It was the merger of church and state under the Roman emperor Constantine when he gave his edict of tolerance. But he introduced a lot of the pagan Greek gods into the church. It was a marriage of the world and the church together. So He says this is where Satan’s seat is.

It’s interesting that the altar to Zeus, which was on an acropolis on the mountain in Pergamos, was actually built in the shape of an altar and is presently in a museum in East Berlin. Archeologists discovered it, shipped it back to Germany, put it back together, and you can now see it in this museum.

Pergamos had these pagan religions. The mystery religions of Babylon had transferred to Pergamos and had headquarters there. So God plants His people in the darkest places. If you think of wicked cities, God always has His witness there. Think of Lot, who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. Can you think of any city more wicked than Sodom and Gomorrah? Yet the Bible says that Lot was a righteous man, “oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked.”

By the way, a lot of times, as Christians, we want to run from the darkness. But God wants us to be a light to the darkness. “Let’s go somewhere else where everything is fine!” No. God planted you here; let your light shine for Jesus Christ, even in the darkest places.

So Pergamos was a wicked, wicked place, but Jesus has two things to commend them for. First, they were faithful to Christ’s person, and secondly, they were faithful to trust Christ personally. He said, “You hold fast to My name.” What does that mean? The name is always reflective of the character, the nature and the person of someone. So He is saying that they hold fast to who Jesus is.

I believe that they were orthodox in their belief about Christ. There is nothing more important for you and I as Christians than to know what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ. We have to have a Christology which is sound Biblically and is orthodox.

Let me give you a quick survey about this point regarding Christ. The Bible teaches that He is the second Person of the triune Godhead—one God, three Persons. There is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—one God.

“Well, I don’t understand that.”

“Welcome to the club.”

And by the way, I’m glad that I can’t fully understand God. If He were small enough for my brain, He wouldn’t be big enough to meet my needs. God transcends anything I can fully comprehend.

So there is one, divine essence in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the second Person of the Godhead.

The Bible says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” So Jesus was sent by the Father, but He came voluntarily from heaven to earth. He came into this world through the womb of the Virgin Mary. If you take the virgin birth out of the doctrine of Christ, you don’t have a divine Savior. It’s foundational. So Jesus had full humanity and, at the same time, full deity. It’s called the “hypostatic union.” That means two natures in one Person, Jesus Christ.

Then for 33 years, Jesus led a sinless life; He never had an evil thought, never said an evil word, never did an evil deed. Then He went to the Cross voluntarily and died a substitutionary death. All the sins of all humanity were placed on Christ, who became that divine substitution; He took our place and died in our stead. The prophet Isaiah said, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities…And by His stripes we are healed.” So He died a substitutionary death to save us from our sins, to propitiate God the Father and reconcile us back to Him, to redeem us by His death. Then He was buried and three days later, He rose from the dead.

“Up from the grave He arose;
With a mighty triumph o’er his foes;
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with the saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

You can’t take the Resurrection out of the Gospel message. So if you’re talking about who Jesus is, He’s the one who rose from the dead. He is the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Then 40 days later, after appearing to His disciples, He went back to heaven in style. From the Mount of Olives, Acts 1, they saw Him ascend visibly and bodily. The angel said to them, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

So we have His Incarnation, His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, His exaltation—He’s at the right hand of the Father—and His return. Jesus Christ is coming back, and He will reign on earth for 1,000 years. He’ll set up the millennial kingdom, at the end of which, it will flow into the eternal state.

We won’t have to worry who we will vote for, for President, when Jesus comes back. When Jesus returns, “As the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” So who cares about the Presidential election. Jesus will come to sit on His throne, and He’ll reign forever as the son of David.

That’s the doctrine of Christ.

This church at Pergamos, as we’ll see, did compromise. But they had orthodox beliefs; they weren’t really wrong in their doctrine, but they were wrong in their behavior. The two go together; you can’t believe right and live wrong. You have to have proper belief and proper behavior. It’s very important.

Notice also, in verse 13, that they were faithful to trust Christ. “You…did not deny my faith.” It seems that the first statement, “You hold fast to My name” means that they had sound doctrine. “You…did not deny my faith” seems to indicate that their individual, personal, subjective faith and trust in Jesus Christ. They were looking to Him, trusting Him and hoping in Him; that they were not divided in the sense they put their faith and trust in Him.

Then He describes one named Antipas. “Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” We don’t know anything about Antipas, other than it says here that he was martyred. Tradition says that he was put inside a big, brass bowl that was heated up, and he was incinerated for his faith in Jesus Christ.

The name “Antipas” means “against all.” Tradition says that when he was going to be executed, he was asked, “Don’t you know that the world is against you?”

Antipas said, “Then I am against the world.” So Antipas is famous in this passage for giving his life as a witness or martyr.

The Bible tells us that when Daniel was taken to Babylon, he refused to eat the king’s meat. He wouldn’t defile himself with the king’s meat. We live in a very pagan culture, but we are not to be defiled; we are to take a stand. Daniel and his friends were commended.

The third section, in verses 14-16, is the condemnation and His warning. He said, “But 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 Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which things I hate.”

In these two verses you have the word “doctrine.” You have “the doctrine of Balaam” and you have “the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.” The doctrine of Balaam He describes in verse 14: he “taught Balak…”—who was the king of Moab—“…to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”

The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22-25. It is an intriguing story. Balaam was a prophet of God but was worldly minded. He loved money and gold. He pledged allegiance to God, but he really worshipped gold.

As the children of Israel came out of Egypt in the exodus, in pilgrimage to the Promised Land, about 3 million people, the king of Moab, Balak, saw this great crowd of people and was afraid he would be attacked and overrun. So he hired and paid this prophet Balaam to curse God’s people, so they would be destroyed. Balaam agreed to do this.

Balak and Balaam went up on this mountain above the people of Israel. Balak told Balaam to curse the people, but when Balaam opened his mouth to curse the people, the only thing that came out of his mouth was blessings. So Balak said, “No, no, no! I hired you to curse the people, not to bless them! Let’s try another mountain. Maybe the angle wasn’t right.” They went up on another mountain, and when Balaam again attempts to curse the children of Israel, he again could only bless them. The king said again, “I want them cursed!! I don’t want them blessed!!”

Balaam said, “I’m sorry king; they’re blessed of God. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

The king said, “Isn’t there anything we can do?! I’ll pay you lots of money if you’ll help me here.”

So Balaam had an idea. Here is his doctrine. The king could send women from Moab into the camp of Israel and entice the men of Israel. They could have sexual relationships with them, pull out their little gods in the tent and they’ll get the men of Israel not only to commit fornication but to worship their idols. So there was idolatry and sexual immorality involved. Many times idolatry leads to immorality.

Then the curse of God came upon the people of Israel, because they comingled and married these Moabite women, which God told them to separate from and not to intermarry with. So because of their sexual immorality and idolatry, it brought a curse upon the children of Israel. That’s why it says, “…who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.” So this was how Balaam told the king they could curse them, and sure enough, it worked.

Then in Pergamos they had “the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,” verse 15. The word “Nicolaitans” is two words: “nikos” and “laos.” “Nikos” means “to conquer.” We get our word Nike from it. It means “victor.” The word “laos” means “people.” So it has the idea of ruling or controlling people. But in this passage, it conveys that their false doctrine of ruling over the people also involved a liberal, licentious lifestyle, which resulted in sexual deviancy. It was closely akin to the doctrine of Balaam.

The Nicolaitans said is that it doesn’t matter how you behave, as long as you believe right. As long as you have good doctrine, it doesn’t matter how you live your life. That’s not true. You cannot separate belief from behavior. You can’t say, “Well, God’s going to excuse me. God will put up with me.” So you believe right, but you don’t behave right. God wants the two to work together. Truth matters and holiness also matters. So the Nicolaitans wedded themselves to the world for worldly power, pleasure, possessions and to satisfy their passions.

The same thing happens in the church today. We have people abandoning the Word of God and incorporating the things of the world into their lives in order to have power, possessions and to satisfy their sinful passions. Notice that in verse 15, God says, “…which thing I hate.”

Do you know that God hates certain things? If you love God, you should hate evil. You need to love the things that God loves and hate the things God hates. So what is the cure for the worldly church? To hate the things that God hates.

Verse 16 says “Repent, or else…”—this is a very stern ultimatum—“…I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword or My mouth.”

The word “repent” means “to change your mind.” It’s the Greek word “metanoeó.” It also involves a change of direction, so you do a 180˚ turn; you’re going this way, you turn and go the other way. It starts with a change of mind. It starts with a change of attitude.

So He is saying to them “Repent. You’re tolerating these false teachers, living these wicked, sinful lives. You shouldn’t allow that. You’re not confronting them. You’re not dealing with that.” Don’t let the world come into your church and into your life. The Lord takes this seriously. He says, “I will…fight against them with the sword of My mouth” or with the truth of God’s Word.

There is a chapel in Germany with this inscription:

“You call Me master and obey Me not;
You call Me light and see Me not;
You call Me the Way and walk Me not;
You call Me life and live Me not;
You call Me wise and follow Me not;
You call Me fair and love Me not;
You call Me rich and ask Me not;
You call Me eternal and you seek Me not;
If I condemn you, blame Me not.”

It’s so easy to give God lip service. “Oh, I love you God.” But we really love gold and pleasure and are worldly. Jesus said you can’t have a divided heart. He said it like this: “For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” You have to have a single eye set on God and not on the world. One of the problems we have today is not that we’re in the world but that the world is in us. Our philosophy and our desires are to live like the world and to be accepted by the world. So the cure for this is repentance—no compromise.

Last but not least, in verse 17, we have the section the commitment from Christ. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” There is always a closing promise. “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.”

“He who has an ear, let him hear…”—notice that it is plural—“…what the Spirit says to the churches.” The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to transform the child of God into the image of the Son of God. This is why when we congregate we open the Bible, we read the Bible, we preach the Bible and God the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to convict us and to change us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Now notice the promise “to him who overcomes,” verse 17. I’m convinced that the overcomers are not a group of Christians who are members of the Deeper Life Club. They’re not super saints or those who grit their teeth and clench their fists and say, “I’m going to be a good Christian!” Rather, it is a reference to true Christians, all those who have been born again. So if you are a Christian, you are an overcomer. This promise is for you.

1 John 5:4-5 says, “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Now notice the two promises: “the hidden manna” and “a white stone.” What is manna? Remember in the Old Testament when God provided the little wafers of bread? The Israelites would get up in the morning in the wilderness and they saw these wafers of bread lying on the ground. They picked them up and ate them. They didn’t know what to call it, so they called it “manna,” which means “what is it?” Can you imagine asking, “Can I have some more ‘what is it’?” So they ate manna and were satisfied.

But they still died; it wasn’t eternal. So Jesus says in John 6:48-51, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna…”—there it is—“…in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” Jesus is the true manna, the bread of life, who comes from heaven, who brings eternal life. If we eat thereof, we will have eternal life. I think it’s just another way of Jesus saying that we’ll have eternal life.

Then He talks about “a white stone,” in verse 17. What is the “white stone” that Jesus is talking about? We can’t be sure, because the Bible doesn’t explain it. But there were several ways that a white stone was used at this time. Whenever a judge tried a case, he would use either a white stone or a black stone to indicate either an acquittal, innocence or guilty of the crime and you were punished. So Jesus was saying, “I will acquit you; I will forgive you.”

A white stone was also used in the Greek athletic games. Whenever an athlete would run a race or box or throw the javelin or wrestle and they would win their match, not only did they get a laurel wreath around their head, but they got a white stone. After the end of the games, those who were victors and had a white stone, that was their ticket into the festival where they would eat and celebrate their win. So it could be that the Lord was saying, “You will come to heaven and enjoy ‘the marriage supper of the Lamb.’”

Another way this white stone was used is as a traveler, when you stopped and someone took you in and gave you hospitality by feeding you and giving you a place to sleep, you would put your name on that stone and give it to your hosts when you left. You would tell them that whenever they were in your country, they should give you this stone, and it would remind you of their hospitality and you would show them the same hospitality. What a beautiful picture. Could it be that Christ is saying, “I’ll remember you when you die, and you’ll go to heaven with Me for all eternity”?

So basically Jesus is saying, “You’re going to have eternal life; don’t fear death.” Be a faithful witness, even if you are martyred. Truth matters. You’ll have the manna to satisfy. You’ll have the white stone to bring you into eternal life. What a glorious truth that is!

Now the white stone has a new name written on it. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me what the new name is. I don’t know; that’s why it says “No one knows.” How am I supposed to know if it says, “No one knows”? So don’t ask me that question. We’ll have to wait to find out. It says that there is “a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

Now let me wrap up this letter to Pergamos. There are many things we could draw attention to, but I will mention three. Number one, don’t compromise with the world.

You ask, “What is ‘the world’?” 1 John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

“The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” are the three things on Satan’s guitar. He plucks those three strings. “The lust of the flesh” is your passions. God created you with these passions, but He wants you to use them in the will of God and not to pervert them in sexual immorality. “The lust of the eyes” is your possessions. “Oh, I gotta have that!” You want to serve God and mammon. You begin to live for the things of the world. “The pride of life” is your position. “Look at me. Look what I’ve accomplished! Look at who I am!” The Bible says that “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” The Bible says, “The proud He knows from afar.” There is nothing more worldly than a proud heart. So Satan wants to rip you off in the area of your passions, your possessions and your position.

We have nothing to boast about; we are saved by God’s grace. It’s all God’s grace and all God’s mercy. So we need to understand that we shouldn’t be overcome by the world.

Number two, remember that Satan is real. He has come to “kill, steal and destroy.” He hasn’t come to give you life; he has come to take life and to destroy your life.

Number three, if Jesus is saying to you, “I have a few things against you,” then what you should do is repent.

Maybe today, as you’ve read this message, God has spoken to your heart. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says.”

Maybe it’s your passions. Maybe you’re living for possessions. Maybe you’re proud about your position. Maybe it’s some other besetting sin that you are struggling with. Repent.

If Jesus is saying to you, “I have a few things against you,” that’s a scary thought. I don’t want anything between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face I can see. I want to live in such a way that when I die, I hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I don’t want to get to heaven and He says, “John Miller, get over here! I’ve got a few things to talk to you about.” Oh, no! I want to have a heart that’s right with God.

If God puts His finger on something in your life right now, repent. Change your mind. Turn. And the Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Let’s pray.