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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 3
17 June 2007
Be Ye Separate
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, June 10, 2007)
Text:
Rev 2:12-17
Many churches, leaders and Christians nowadays ignore the doctrine of Biblical Separation. As believers saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, there is a need to be submissive to our Lord and His Word. There are many who profess a false faith, a dead faith that shows no fruit of repentance. They do not uphold God’s Word as the perfect, final and divine Standard—the final and supreme authority and foundation of their faith, doctrines, practices, worship and service. Many even question, cast doubt and criticise God’s Word! God’s Word tells us that we are accountable to God and to one another. God’s Word clearly states, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14), and “withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us…And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
(2 Thess 3:6, 14, 15)
To the church in Pergamos, our Lord Jesus used His Word to expose and fight against the wrong doctrines and sinful practices, and His Word is still for all the churches and for each one of us today. We cannot ignore unbiblical doctrines and sinful practices in the church!
Jesus’ Words to the Church in Pergamos
Recipient: to the messenger of the church in Pergamos.
Pergamos was a city in the north of Smyrna, a political and religious centre. It was famous for a big library with 200,000 volumes, second only to Alexandria. When the Egyptians, who produced papyrus, would not supply Pergamos the paper to build a rival library, the people of Pergamos perfected the art of preparing animal skins for writing. The term “parchment” is derived from the Latin “pergamena,” Pergamos. Pergamos was also a city of idolatry with temples dedicated to Zeus, Athena (Minerva), Dionysos (Bacchus), Venus. It also had a temple to Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, called the god of Pergamum, whose common emblem was the serpent, with a university for medical study.
The church in Pergamos was founded upon the fruitful teaching ministry of the apostle Paul “in the school of one Tyrannus” in Ephesus. Like Smyrna, Pergamos also had a temple for emperor-worship, “where Satan dwelleth” and “Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you” (2:13). The heresies of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans affected this church with immorality and idolatry, and our Lord exposed the heresies and fought against them with the sharp two-edged sword of His words.
Author: Our Lord Jesus manifested Himself as the One who “hath the sharp sword with two edges” (v 12) and “out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword” (Rev 1:16). The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Eph 6:17). The Lord created the heaven and the earth and everything in it by the words from His mouth (Gen 1; Heb 11:3). How powerful His Word is! “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps 33:9). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4:12). When God uses His powerful words to fight against His enemies, who can stand before Him? “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” ( Rev 19:15). Truly, God’s Word is the perfect, final and divine standard and foundation of Christian faith, doctrines, beliefs, convictions, practices, worship and service.
Jesus’ Words of Praise : The Lord Jesus knew not only their works but also where they lived, even “where Satan’s seat” (throne) was, as they lived in a political and religious city which was full of idolatry and immorality. Our Lord praised them for their faith in Him and His name, “and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith.” The term “hold fast” is the same term used in Rev 2:1 where our Lord “holdeth” His servants, and 2 Thess 2:15
where Paul exhorts believers to “hold” God’s Word. When compelled to choose between “Caesar as Lord” or “Jesus as Lord,” the believers in Pergamos chose the Lord Jesus and did not deny their faith in Him, and because of this, Antipas was a faithful martyr. My friends, our Lord still expects us to hold fast to His name and His Word even unto death.
Jesus’ Words of Rebuke: The Lord Jesus says, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate” (v 14-15). The Lord Jesus does not ignore the wrong doctrines and sinful practices. He “cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple” and said to them, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” then “he left them” and did not worship with them (Matt 21:12-13, 17). He rebuked the Jewish leaders severely for their hypocrisy, wrong teachings and iniquities (Matt 23). And our Lord had to rebuke the believers in Pergamos for their tolerance toward wrong doctrines and sinful practices:
Doctrine of Balaam: Balaam was a hireling. He professed that he honoured God’s Word and that the LORD was his God, “I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God” (Num 22:18) while he was willing to go against God’s will, even to curse His people, to gain earthly promotion, honour, and wealth. He was not God’s servant nor did he have a heart for God’s people. When God’s wrath was upon Israel for their great sin of worshipping the golden calf, Moses prayed to God, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written” (Ex 32:32). The apostle Paul had the same mind, saying, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom 9:3).
When Balak, king of Moab, “saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid”
and “was distressed because of the children of Israel” Balak sent his messengers to
Balaam, saying, “Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me” (Num 22:2, 3, 6). If Balaam were a true servant of the Lord, he would have rejected Balak’s suggestion right away, but his heart was for earthly gains, so he said that he would ask the Lord for His will. The Lord said to him clearly, “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed” (Num 22:12). God’s will was so clear to Balaam, but the second time Balak sent more princes with more honour and wealth and reward, Balaam said that he would ask the Lord for His will again! Balaam’s heart was not for the Lord nor for His people, so he hoped that God would change His mind and let him curse His people. Therefore, God gave him up to his corrupt mind and sinful desires. When God stopped him from cursing His people, Balaam counselled Balak to seduce the children of Israel into committing “trespass against the LORD” (Num 31:8) by committing fornication and eating food sacrificed unto idols and bowing down to their gods, and “the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel…And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand” (Num 25:2, 3, 9). However, in the end, the children of Israel repented and God helped them to defeat the Midianites and Balaam was killed with the sword (Num 31:7-8).
The Bible warns against “the doctrine of Balaam” (Rev 2:14), and “the way of Balaam…who loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15) and “the error of Balaam for reward” (Jude 11). Nowadays, we can see many Balaams in the churches. They are not true servants of the Lord, but hirelings. They profess that the LORD is their God, while they are going against God’s will and God’s Word, “they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things”
(Phil 3:18-19). Many modern versions of the Bible which are based on
corrupt texts are produced because of “the wages of unrighteousness” Many claim they are serving the Lord but do not believe in nor submit to His perfectly
preserved Word! They ignore the doctrine of Biblical separation and welcome worldliness and the lusts of the flesh, using their “liberty for a cloke of maliciousness” (1 Peter 2:16). Then, the doctrine of Balaam is to set aside God’s holy Word and to give freedom to live in sin, idolatry and immorality while God’s Word states, “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well” (Acts 15:29).
Doctrine of the Nicolaitans: the Nicolaitans, which, according to early church fathers, refers to those who, while professing themselves to be Christians, live in ungodliness and immorality, disregarding God’s words and godly rules. In Ephesus, Jesus hated and exposed the deeds of the Nicolaitans, but in Pergamos, it became a doctrine. How the holy Lord hated it! Do you and I hate sins and wrong doctrines? The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is that as you are saved by God’s grace, you may do whatever you like, even rock music, worldly shows or performances, immorality, etc., disregarding God’s Word and God’s truth. Many churches nowadays are compromising and tolerating wrong doctrines and sinful practices for the sake of love and unity!
Jesus’ Words of Warning: Jesus says, “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (v 16). God’s Words will expose and condemn those who reject the Lord and His Word, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that
judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).
The Reward for Those Who Overcome: Jesus says, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (v 17). Our Lord hates sins, unrighteousness, idolatry and immorality. If Satan cannot seduce us to sin against the Lord, nor to discourage us to give up our faith, he will tempt us to compromise and tolerate sins,
idolatry, wrong doctrines by ignoring God’s Word. Seeing this, may the Lord help you and me uphold God’s Word, practise Biblical separation and overcome Satan so that we may receive the reward: (1) “to eat of the hidden manna.” Our Lord Jesus is “the bread of life” and “he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:35, 57), and God’s Word is our spiritual bread (Matt 4:4). Then, when we love and submit ourselves to the Lord and His Word, He will let us know more about Him and His Word that those who despise, question or criticise His Word can never receive (John 14:21; 15:15); and (2) to be given “a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” This shows the blessed intimacy between the Lord and His obedient and faithful followers. The Greek word for “stone” or “pebble” is used twice in the NT. Before his conversion, Paul persecuted Christians, saying, “I gave my voice against them” (Acts 26:10), which literally means “I cast down my pebble” (a black one) to condemn them. This term was used in courts of justice, black pebbles for condemning, white
pebbles for acquitting ( Rev 2:17). Then here, our Lord Jesus promises that those who faithfully keep His Word and overcome Satan, sins, idolatry, worldliness and heresies shall not be condemned with those who compromise and tolerate sins and heresies.
Conclusion
My friends, our Lord is still speaking to all the churches and to each one of us today. “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest,... thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith…But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, …also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent…To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone…” To be blessed, we are to practise the doctrine of Biblical separation from sins, unbelief, worldliness, idolatry, and heresies, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:17). Amen.
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