Compromise Doesn't Feel Like Compromise

Hey, what's up, y'all? My name is Bennett. I know it looks a little different because I'm in the front seat of a truck and not in our church. But hopefully like you guys, you get out and spend some time in the outdoors with your friends and family. Hey, even though we're not in church right now, I still want you to stay connected. So to do that, you should text NEXT to 808-57, and no matter where you are, you're going to get a text from a real person, not a robot, not AI. You're going to get a text from a person just like me who wants to stay connected with you and check in. I also want to acknowledge that I know life is busy. Things get hard. Things get challenging. But you chose to log in today to watch the message, and we are so happy that you're here. We hope you enjoyed today's service. Hey, good evening, church. Happy Fourth. We're so excited. You guys are all here worshiping with us. Why don't you stand and let's sing. I'm shaking off the heaviness. I'm dancing out my regrets. I'm throwing caution to the wind. No, I'm not ashamed to praise like this. Someone say it's foolishness. But I say it's worth the risk. I can't forget what Jesus did. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me?

I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone. How can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, because I believe. I'm free, I'm free. Thank God I'm free. I found a friend that never quits. No other love's as good as this. And I don't care what anyone says. I'll never be ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone. How can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, because I believe. I'm free, I'm free. Thank God I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sin. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sin. My debt is paid and my record is clean.

I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sin. My debt is paid and my record is clean. Only God can do it. Only God can do it. Only God can do it. Only God can do it. Only God can do it. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. ♪ Look here what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Look here what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Look here what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ We've been singing a hymn every week during this series, this week, we're singing Come Thou Fount, and I encourage you to sing along with us. ♪ Come Thou Fount of every blessing ♪ ♪ Tune my heart to sing Thy praise ♪ ♪ Streams of mercy never ceasing ♪ ♪ Call for songs of loudest praise ♪ ♪ Teach me some melodious song then sung by flame ♪ ♪ Teach me some melodious song then sung by flame ♪ ♪ In tongues above praise the mount I'm fixed upon it ♪

♪ Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it ♪ ♪ Mount of Thy redeeming love ♪ ♪ Oh His redeeming love ♪ ♪ Here I raise my Ebenezer ♪ ♪ Hither by Thy help I come ♪ ♪ And I hope by Thy good pleasure ♪ ♪ Safely to arrive at home ♪ ♪ Jesus saw me when a stranger ♪ ♪ Wandering from the fold of God ♪ ♪ He to rescue me from danger ♪ ♪ Interposed His precious blood ♪ ♪ Oh His precious blood ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Go to grace. ♪ Oh to grace how great a debtor ♪ ♪ Daily I'm constrained to be ♪ ♪ And let Thy goodness like a fetter ♪ ♪ Bind my wandering heart to Thee ♪ ♪ Prone to wander, Lord I feel it ♪ ♪ Prone to leave the God I love ♪ ♪ Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it ♪ ♪ Seal it for Thy courts above ♪ ♪ Prone to wander, Lord I feel it ♪ ♪ Prone to leave the God I love ♪ ♪ Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it ♪ ♪ Seal it for Thy courts above ♪ ♪ Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it ♪ ♪ Seal it for Thy courts above ♪ ♪ Take and seal it ♪

Thank you, Father. ♪♪ ♪ The hill I could not climb ♪ ♪ Though the cross You bear was mine ♪ ♪ A sinner's death You chose ♪ ♪ And with love and grace atone ♪ ♪ I'm covered in Your blood ♪ ♪ Covered by the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ It's all under the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ All sin and shame, it's washed away ♪ ♪ And my debt is paid, cause I'm covered by the blood ♪ ♪ Oh what a mystery, the cross has bent so on me ♪ ♪ That I would find new life, crucified with Christ ♪ ♪ Crucified with Christ, oh I'm alive with Christ ♪ ♪ I'm covered by the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ It's all under the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ All sin and shame, it's washed away ♪ ♪ And my debt is paid, cause I'm covered by the blood ♪ ♪ Oh I'm covered by the blood of Jesus, oh ♪ We sing, come on. ♪ Let all the saints proclaim His glory ♪ ♪ Sing worthy is the Lamb, sing worthy ♪ ♪ The empty grave our testimony ♪ ♪ Sing worthy is the Lamb, sing worthy ♪ Come on, lift it up. ♪ Let all the saints proclaim His glory ♪ ♪ Sing worthy is the Lamb, sing worthy ♪ Sing worthy. ♪ The empty grave our testimony ♪ Come on.

♪ Sing worthy is the Lamb, we sing worthy ♪ ♪ Let all the saints proclaim His glory ♪ ♪ Sing worthy is the Lamb, sing worthy ♪ ♪ The empty grave our testimony ♪ ♪ Sing worthy is the Lamb, we sing worthy ♪ ♪ Sing worthy, He's worthy, sing worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, He alone is worthy, sing worthy ♪ ♪ Oh, He's worthy, sing worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, He is the Lamb, oh ♪ ♪ I'm covered by the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ It's all under the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ All sin and shame is washed away, my debt is paid ♪ ♪ My debt is paid, yes, I'm covered by the blood ♪ ♪ I'm covered by the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ It's all under the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ All sin and shame is washed away, my debt is paid ♪ ♪ All sin and shame is washed away, my debt is paid ♪ ♪ Yes, I'm covered by the blood, oh, I'm covered by the blood ♪ Thank you, Jesus, come on, we need to stop, boys. ♪ Let all the saints proclaim His glory, He's worthy ♪ ♪ Sing worthy, Israel, sing worthy ♪ ♪ The anti-grave artists, oh, sing worthy, Israel, sing worthy ♪ ♪ Sing worthy, sing worthy, sing worthy, Israel, sing worthy ♪ ♪ Oh, sing worthy, Israel, sing worthy, Israel, sing worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb ♪ Come on, we lift him up in this place. Oh, we sing worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, oh. God, we give you all the praise in this place. You are worthy to be praised.

God, we thank you for the gift of our King and Savior Jesus that through his blood that was spilt gave us atonement for our sin, the final sacrifice so that we could experience your mercy and your grace new every single day. And streams of mercies wait for us. God, we thank you so much for that. We thank you that we can be in a country that we celebrate today, where we can worship you freely, Father, that we can worship your name without threat. God, we can come into this place and declare who you are and what you've done for us and what you're going to do. We thank you for that, Father. In Jesus' mighty name, we said, amen. Amen, come on, let's celebrate our God. He's so good to us. Happy 4th of July. Thanks for being here with us tonight. Thanks for worshiping with us. Hey, before you take a seat, why don't you turn to someone on your left, turn to your right. Tell them your name and tell them happy 4th. You can have a seat. Hi, this is Ed Ivy of Convoy of Hope. I want to thank Flatirons for your compassion and partnership. As you know, Venezuela was recently devastated by two major earthquakes.

As the injury and death tolls climb, Convoy of Hope relief workers are on the ground supplying food, water, and emergency supplies to thousands of survivors. Please know your partnership with Convoy of Hope is making this relief effort possible. Soon, the news media will move on to other stories, but this will be a long-term relief and recovery effort. But rest assured, we will continue to be there long after the news cameras stop rolling, working alongside local churches to share the love of Jesus and to help families put their lives back together. Our Ethan Forhetz is in Caracas, Venezuela, and he filed this report. The devastation here is indescribable, and the situation that thousands find themselves in is unimaginable. Throughout Venezuela, thousands of people find themselves with no home to go back to. Food is scarce, and those who lost everything have nowhere to turn. Together, we are giving them what they need for today. We're also reminding them that they are seen, there is hope, and that there's a God who loves them. Can we thank the Lord for what He's doing through Convoy of Hope? And hey, Flatirons, we wanna thank you all so much. Thank you for your generosity. Because of your generosity, we've already been able to support the work that's happening in Venezuela. And again, we also wanna extend an invitation

to those of you guys that are here and online. If you would like to continue to support the relief efforts, you can scan the QR code on the screen. Convoy of Hope is one of our partners, and so again, your partnership allows us to respond as soon as crises like this take place anywhere throughout the world. So again, thank you so much for that. Happy 4th of July, everybody. Can we give it up for 4th of July? Happy 4th of July. 250 years of America's independence. And again, you guys look absolutely fantastic. I can see that you guys are in the spirit. And again, we're just so grateful for you all and to live in a country where we can celebrate the freedom to gather together as Christians and to celebrate our risen King and Savior. And again, we're so glad to be with you all this evening. If you are new here, my name is Stephen. I have the pleasure of serving as a campus pastor here at our Lafayette campus. We're so glad that you are here. The easiest way to get connected is by texting the word NEXT, N-E-X-T, to 80857. We'll send you a few messages. this week of scripture, hope, and encouragement, along with some simple next steps about how to get connected to our community. And before you head out,

we've got some amazing volunteers in our lobby. They would love to meet you, answer any questions that you have, and we also would love to send you home with a free gift, and I would love a chance to meet you as well in person. I also wanna take a moment just to highlight, we've got a very special opportunity for our couples in the fall. Reengage is gonna be launching again in the fall. Reengage is a marriage discipleship experience, and it's designed to help couples reconnect, rebuild, or restore their relationship. For one couple in our church, that opportunity came just a few months ago. They came to Reengage in a really, really tough spot. They had tried to work through what really felt like some insurmountable challenges in their marriage, but a spot in Reengage opened up, and they decided to take one more try, one more stab at it. So week after week, through honest conversations, biblical truth, and a support of a small group, God began doing what, for them, felt like an impossible work in their marriage. They learned to see each other again, to communicate with more grace, and to pursue unity instead of simply surviving. And so whether your marriage is strong, struggling, or somewhere in between, I've been married for 21 years, and my marriage has seen all of those stages,

Reengage is a safe and honest place for you to grow together with each other and with God. So if you'd like to learn more, we've got some information on our website. In addition, we also have a QR code that wanna encourage you to scan. And if Reengage is not the next step towards community for you, again, I want you to stay connected with us. Over the next couple of weeks, we're gonna have some more community spaces opening up, and so I'm really, really excited about that. In just a few moments, we are going to continue with part three of our series, The Seven Letters. I'm really, really excited that we have our lead student, Pastor Aaron Schroeder. I want us to just, before he gets up, let's give him just a warm welcome. Let's just show our love for Aaron Schroeder when he comes out and delivers the word. But before he does that, I wanna turn your attention to the screen so you can check out the church that we're gonna be looking at today. Pergamum was one of the largest and most influential cities in Asia Minor during the first century. It was home to countless temples dedicated to many different gods. And it became the first city in Asia to formally worship the emperor of Rome.

Life in Pergamum revolved around religion and the pursuit of knowledge. Its citizens were highly educated, yet deeply devoted to their beliefs. The city was home to the second largest library in the world, containing more than 200,000 volumes. But beneath its intellectual greatness was a city consumed by idol worship, filled with cults devoted to countless gods and goddesses. For Christians, life in Pergamum was incredibly difficult. Their allegiance to the one true God and their refusal to worship the emperor or offer sacrifices to false gods brought intense persecution. For some, it was a place of death. For some, that faithfulness cost them their lives. Many believers stood firm in their faith, but others slowly compromised, giving in to the culture around them. False teaching spread, immorality took root. The church had begun to drift from the truth. Yet Jesus does not abandon his people. He calls them to repent, to return, and to follow him once again. This is Jesus's letter to Pergamum. All right, church. Well, hey, if you got a Bible, I hope that you do. Revelation chapter two, verse 12 is where we're gonna be today. All the way in the back of the book,

Revelation chapter two. Today we are in week three of this series called Seven Letters, where we are looking at seven different letters that Jesus writes to seven real churches. And so today we're looking at Jesus's letter to the church in Pergamum. But before we jump in, can we just take a second and can we thank God that we get to celebrate 250 years as a nation this weekend? Come on, can we make some noise just for that, man? Listen, listen, I'm so grateful to live in this country. I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have in this country. And here's my prayer. I hope this is your prayer, is that God would continue to pour out his grace on our nation, on our leaders, on our people. And ultimately, my prayer is that God would draw the people of our country closer and closer and closer to him. And so this weekend, whatever you're doing to celebrate the birthday of our nation. Man, I hope you have a ton of fun, but today, here's what we're doing. We are opening up a letter from the king whose kingdom has outlasted every nation that has ever existed, okay? We cannot forget this. And so, with that in mind, let's all stand to our feet for the reading of the word.

This is just something we've been doing throughout this series, showing reverence for God's word. And so, we're gonna read all the way through this letter to the church in Pergamum. Here's what Jesus writes. Don't worry if some of this doesn't make sense. We're gonna break it down. Here's what he says, verse 12. Into the angel of the church in Pergamum write the words of him who has a sharp two-edged sword. I know where you dwell. You dwell where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food, sacrifice to idols, and practice sexual immorality. Verse 15, so also you have some there who hold to the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon and I will war against them with the sword of my mouth. For he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And to the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna

and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone so that no one knows except the one who receives it. You may be seated tonight. Well, throughout this series, here's the question we've been asking. It's a simple question. What does Jesus think of our church? Not what do you think about it, not what does culture think about it, not what do people on, like what does Jesus think about our church? Think about the church. Why, because in Revelation, here's the picture of Jesus we get. We are told that one day, Jesus is going to return for his bride. Jesus is going to return for the church. And he's not gonna return as like meek and mild Jesus. No, here's what scripture tells us. Jesus is going to return with eyes like fire, with tattoos on his thighs, with a sword coming out of his mouth. Now, here's why this matters. Because when you see Jesus like this, all of our opinions are gonna feel really small. But like, it's not gonna matter, man, did I like church today? Man, they didn't sing the song. I like, man, the message,

I like when they preach, I like when, it's like, none of this is going to matter. All that's gonna matter when we see Jesus like this is what did Jesus think of our church? Right, like what did Jesus think when we opened up his word and tried to understand what he was saying to us? What did Jesus think of our worship to him? Listen, whenever we open up the book of Revelation, it becomes really easy to get so focused on prediction and the end times and these timelines. And listen, it's important, it's interesting. But whenever we talk about the book of Revelation, whenever we open this book up, you cannot overlook the very first words of this book. Revelation, chapter one, verse one. It says, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. So understand, the goal of this book is not prediction or timelines or dragons or beasts. Again, all important, all interesting. But the book of Revelation is actually about the transformation of you that's found only in the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so I want you to keep that context in mind as we look at these letters. But with that in mind, Revelation, chapter two, we're gonna break this down. We're gonna see what Jesus reveals to this church, what Jesus reveals about himself,

and ultimately what Jesus is gonna reveal to us today in 2026. And so Revelation two, verse 12, it says this. And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, right. Now I'm gonna make a time out here because some of your translations in the Bible, they don't say angel, it says messenger. Now here's why, I wanna explain this. A lot of Bible commentators, they believe that Jesus was just writing this letter to like the pastor of the church. I don't think this at all. We have a Greek word for pastor. That word's not used here. Also in Revelation chapter one, we are told an angel comes to John and gives him the words to write these letters. So here's what I believe. I believe Jesus is writing this letter to an actual angel of this church. Now here's why this matters. I wouldn't bring it up if I didn't think it mattered. Because seven different times, right. In each of these letters, here's what Jesus does. He says into the angel of this church. So seven different times, Jesus wants us to know that there is something more happening in the church than what we can see with our physical eyes. Right, the church is not just a building. It's not just a service.

It's not just a preacher on a stage talking to people sitting in rows. No, there is a spiritual reality behind every church. Why? Because we are at war against the principalities and powers of darkness. Understand, this is the context for the church in Pergamum, the church we're talking about today. They were. or maybe a better word is they were in conflict. Why? Because here's what they were doing. They were trying to occupy the same space at the same time as Roman powers, as emperor worship, as false teaching, in a culture that was telling them, just fit in. But here's what the church in Pergamum did. They decided, we're gonna forget we're in a conflict. See, when we go to church, we're just going to church because it's what we do. It's a thing on the weekend. It's cultural Christianity. Maybe you've heard that word before. This church is feeling that temptation. Yeah, we believe in this, but it's just kind of something we do. And so here's what began to happen for this church. They started to make peace with the very things that Jesus calls them to resist. It's little compromise after little compromise

after little compromise until eventually, this church is no longer in conflict with the Roman powers that are saying, hey, you worship us. We are also a God. They're not in conflict with this anymore because now they just start to look exactly like the Roman powers. Listen, you can write this down. Compromise will always begin with peace where Jesus called for conflict. Compromise will always begin with peace where Jesus called for conflict. Understand, this is why we do what we are doing right now. This is why we go to church. This is why the church gathers. Something bigger is happening than do I like the kids' ministry? Was the worship good today? Like, listen, we're human beings. We all have opinions. I get it. But something bigger is happening. What we're doing when we gather is we're reminding each other, hey, Jesus is still on the throne. We're reminding each other, Jesus is the king that we worship. We're encouraging one another. Hey, stay faithful.

Keep going in a world that's trying to constantly pull you to something else other than Jesus. Listen, there's a spiritual battle that takes place every time we gather and do what we do. But understand, we don't gather from a place of fear. We gather from a place of victory. Why, because we hold onto the words of Jesus that say, I will build my church and the gates of hell, they will not prevail against it. So here's what this means. The goal of the church, the goal of Flatirons, the goal of what we're doing right now today, it has never been to blend in with culture around it. In fact, the church should always feel slightly disruptive to culture. Now hear me, not hateful, not combative, but the church should be impossible to fully absorb. And so when Jesus says, I'm writing to the angel of the church in Pergamon, here's what he's doing. He's trying to raise up your view of what you even think about when you think about church. It's not just this building I show up to once a month. There is something bigger happening here. And so he writes, verse 12, he goes on, to the church in Pergamon, right, to the angel of the church in Pergamon, here's what I write, here's the words of what Jesus writes. These are the words of him who has a sharp two-edged sword. Now here, Jesus describes himself as a sharp two-edged sword. I want you to hold onto that,

we'll explain that a little bit later. But here's what I want you to notice. In all seven of these letters, seven different times, Jesus reveals himself in seven different ways. Now Jesus is who he is, right? He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But here's what I want you to notice. Jesus will always show up with exactly what you need. Right, like you're coming to church today and you need a protector, Jesus is your protector. You're showing up today, you need a comforter, Jesus is your comforter. You're showing up today, you need a conqueror, Jesus is your conqueror. But to this church, he shows up and says, I am the one with the sharp two-edged sword. Why does he reveal himself in this way? Well, he says this to this church because this church had started listening to voices that they never should have listened to in the first place. Here's what they'd done. They'd allowed culture around them to become louder than the voice and the truth of God's word. And so before Jesus is going to address this church's compromise, he's first going to remind them, here's who I am. And so Jesus says, I am the one with the sharp two-edged sword. So you know what this means? It means I get the final word.

Not Rome, not culture, not your feelings, Jesus. Understand, I get this is not a popular thing to think, but sometimes the most loving thing that Jesus can do is disagree with you. We don't want to think this, but have you ever noticed, grace, it sometimes feels like this double-edged sword. Why is that? Well, because when you're moving towards Jesus, grace is like the greatest gift you could possibly receive. It feels like the most tender, loving gift. But when you're moving away from Jesus, grace begins to feel like a threat. And so to this church that's slowly drifting, slowly moving away from the truth of God's word, Jesus. This reminds him and says, I come to you with a double-edged sword coming out of my mouth, not to destroy you, but to cut away all the lies that you're tempted to believe. And so what are these lies that this church is believing? Verse 13, Jesus goes on. He says, I know where you dwell. You dwell where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you, here it is again, where Satan dwells. Now, I'm sure you notice this, right?

Like twice, Jesus says that they dwell where Satan's throne is. It's like, what is this, DIA? Is he talking about like the crazy blue horse or something? It's like, that's a bad joke. But like, what is, like why would he say you dwell where Satan's throne is? What is he talking about here? This is the only church that he says this to. So let me try to explain this because Bible commentators think this could mean a couple different things. I'll explain what these could be. So some believe that Satan's throne is a reference to the fact or the reality that there is a temple of Zeus that overlooks the city, right? So this was the temple of the Greek god Zeus that overlooked the city of Pergamum. Others think that Satan's throne is a reference to just all of the pagan worship that would happen in all the different temples around Pergamum. Here's what I believe and what I think a lot of the Bible commentators believe. I believe Jesus is pointing to something bigger than just a physical building. See, at this time, Pergamum was the center of emperor worship. They worshiped their emperor. This was the city where Rome demanded ultimate allegiance.

You are going to worship us. But here's what you need to understand about Roman religion. See, Roman religion, their worship of false god and their emperors, this was not a doctrinal religion. This was a ritual religion, meaning they didn't care what you professed to believe. Right, like it wasn't, hey, do you believe, or did you accept Zeus into your heart? Or like, do you believe that you have a personal relationship with the emperor? Like they would think this is weird, right? Like the gods they worshiped were cruel beings. They didn't want a relationship with them anyway. So they did not care what you professed to believe. What they cared about is that you would do the rituals to these gods. So hey, we need you to feed these gods. We need you to sacrifice to them. We need you to stay on their good side. Give these gods what they want so that they will give us what we want. And so think about this. When Christians show up in Pergamum, the good news of Jesus starts to spread throughout this city, Roman leaders, they didn't really care. Like in their head, they're thinking, hey, we worship a lot of gods. Let's worship to one more god.

Go ahead, worship Jesus. And so here's what Christians were told. Hey, you can add in your worship to Jesus, that's fine. But here's what you cannot do. You cannot stop your worship of Rome. You cannot stop your worship of Zeus. You cannot stop celebrating all these pagan celebrations. See, addition was not the problem. Subtraction was the problem. Rome was not offended by another god. Rome was offended by a god who refused to share the throne. Now think about this today for us. Satan will rarely ask you to stop worshiping Jesus. He just asks you to worship something else alongside him. Hey, believe in Jesus, that's fine. But you, like you still get to decide what's true. Hey, believe in Jesus, that's fine. Go to church. But like, hey, you know your happiness should probably come first, right? Hey, believe in Jesus, that's fine. Do the thing, say the prayer. But you know, like your politics are gonna get the final word with this, right? Believe in Jesus, that's fine. But your sexuality, that's off the table. We're not talking about this. Hey, believe in Jesus, that's fine. But your money is your money. You build your own kingdom.

Hey, believe in Jesus, that's fine. Just don't make him king. Like this is Pergamum, this is today. This is any and every culture that says to you, hey, you can love Jesus, you can go to church, you can read your Bible, that's fine. Just don't let him be lord of your life. Listen, Satan has never needed you to reject Jesus. He's just needed you to reduce him, right? Reduce Jesus from king to your consultant. Reduce him from lord of your life to your life coach. Reduce him from the one you surrender to to the one that you check in on every once in a while when you need something. Now, let's take this a level deeper because I wanna show you how this plays itself out in Pergamum and it plays itself out in the same way today in America in 2026. So the emperor at the time that Jesus writes this letter to the church in Pergamum was the emperor by the name of Domitian. Now, here's what you need to know about Domitian. Domitian was like a satanic, deranged mass murderer. I'm taking it easy on him, right? Evil, evil man. Now here's what I want you to see, because Satan has never changed his strategy. There's been different empires, different rulers, different cultures, but still the same lie, right? So when Jesus writes to this church and says,

hey, I know you dwell where Satan's throne is. Here's what Jesus is doing. He's not addressing the person. He's not addressing the emperor Domitian. What he's doing is he's addressing the spirit behind the emperor. The spirit behind him that would lead him to do such evil things. Now, check this out. First John chapter two. Okay, I'm gonna show you this. I want you to stay with me because I'm gonna read a buzzword, okay? I'm gonna read a word. You're gonna wanna get distracted. Hang with me. I'm gonna explain it. First John chapter two. John, who writes the book of Revelation, he also writes this, okay? Here's what he says, verse 18. Children, it is the last hour, okay? So he's saying this before he's getting these visions that he's writing about in the book of Revelation. It is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, okay? You've probably heard this before. Here's what many people miss. So now, many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

In other words, here's what John is saying. He's saying that the Antichrist spirit is something that happens now and has happened many times throughout history. Now, why does this matter? Well, ask ourselves, right? Ask yourself the question, what does Antichrist mean? Which, let me just say this. It is not just someone you disagree with or that you don't like. Which, Christians, can we calm down on calling everything the Antichrist, right? Like, Starbucks is not the Antichrist. Their coffee's terrible. They're not the Antichrist, right? But I say this in love, right? I say this in love. Some of you have spent more time trying to understand who the Antichrist is. You've spent more time doing that than you've spent becoming like Christ, right? So don't get hung up on this, right? Like, it's important. We're gonna talk about it. I'm gonna teach you about it. But don't get hung up on this, okay? So Antichrist, let's talk about it. Anti, what does it mean? It means against or replaced, okay? So in other words, the spirit, not the person,

but the spirit of the Antichrist is anything that opposes Jesus or attempts to take the place where ultimately Jesus belongs, okay? So think about this. All the way back in the garden, this happens. Genesis chapter three, what does Satan do? Satan doesn't tell Adam and Eve there is no God. He simply says to Adam and Eve, did God really say? Fast forward to today, or fast forward to Pergamum. What do they say? They say, hey, Jesus is fine to worship, but also you still need to worship the emperor. He is also a God. Fast forward to today. Hey, Jesus is good. We like his teaching. He seems like a good guy, but keep that to yourself. Culture gets to decide what's true. Listen, the spirit of the Antichrist isn't just something we're waiting for one day. It's anything that whispers to you today, Jesus doesn't get to be Lord here. Now ask yourself a question. Why do the same things keep happening? From Christians living in Pergamum to Christians living in America in 2026, why do the same things keep happening? You ready? It's same demons, different days.

It's the same Antichrist spirits, different days. But here's the good news, and we're gonna talk about this more in a series in the fall, so come back for that. It's gonna be great. But here's the good news. Because the Holy Spirit has power over all unholy spirits, we are still winning, right? Like the same spirit that raises Jesus from the dead, it now lives in every believer. So while the battle may be real, the victory has already been won. So let me just encourage you. When it comes to Antichrist spirits in the world today, yes, we recognize them, we acknowledge them, we stay away from them, but it's like we're not living in fear. We're living in faith knowing that Jesus has already won. So this is the same encouragement he's giving to the church in Pergamum. Hey, here's the Antichrist spirits you're tempted to follow and believe, but don't worry, I have overcome. It's the same encouragement he gives to his church today. Now, back to the text. He says, I know where you dwell, right? You dwell where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name. You did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you

where Satan dwells. Now, real quick, I wanna draw attention to this because there is somebody who gets like a specific shout out from Jesus. Jesus says, hey, Antipas, well done. So we should probably ask ourselves, who's Antipas? Like, what was this guy doing? Now, we don't know a ton about Antipas. Here's what we know. We know Jesus says, hey, Antipas, you are my faithful witness, which, by the way, the only other person in the Bible who's described as a faithful witness is Jesus. And so Jesus says, hey, Antipas, you are like me. You are a faithful witness who was faithful even unto death. Now, here's what we know about Antipas from church history. During this time when antichrist spirits are moving and leading Christians astray, here's what Antipas is doing. He's casting. out demons, and he's refusing to worship Rome. And because of this, here's what we're told in church history, Antipas was dragged out into the city, he was tied up to an idol that they worshiped, and he was slow roasted to death in front of all these people. Jesus says, well done, well done. See, Jesus commends this church

because in the midst of antichrist spirits, there was Antipas, who would not bow, who chose to fight back against darkness. Church, let me just say, today, in the midst of antichrist spirit, we need people to be like Antipas. Those who refuse to deny that Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. And so let me just encourage us because Jesus encourages this church and says, hey, Antipas and faithful witnesses like him, let me just encourage you, be the open Jesus, man. Like be the open Jesus woman. We don't need any more secret agent Christians, right? Like do people in your life know that Jesus is the center of your life? So be the kind of employee who would rather lose a promotion than lose their integrity. Be the kind of student who's more concerned with being accepted by Jesus than accepted by the world. Be the kind of parent who spends more energy raising your kids to follow Jesus than to chase the next trophy or the next scholarship or the success story, right? If Jesus is bold enough to die for you, let us not be so afraid to live for him. And so verse 14, Jesus is gonna go on. He commends this church. He says, well done, well done to Antipas and those like him who stayed faithful

in the midst of antichrist spirits, but now he's going to condemn the church. Here's what he says, verse 14. He says, but I have a few things against you. For you have some there in the church who hold to the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some there who hold to the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Okay, so let me explain this because Balaam and Balak, these are not actual people who are part of this church. Here's what Jesus is doing. He's referencing Old Testament, Numbers chapter 22 through 25, which if you want some homework this week, like go read that story. I'm telling you, it's a wild story, but I'm gonna try to sum it up. So Numbers chapter 22 through 25, here's what's happening. Balaam is a prophet of God. And Balaam is hired by the king of Moab, who is Balak, to speak a curse over God's chosen people, over the people of Israel. And so the king thinks, hey, if I can speak a curse over my enemy, then all is going to go well with me.

Here's the dilemma. Balaam is a prophet of God. He believes in God. He follows God. And now he is going to be paid to speak a curse over God's chosen people. You see where there might be some compromise that's gonna take place. And so here's what Balaam decides. Balaam, this prophet of God, who speaks on behalf of God to the people of God, he decides, well, I don't wanna openly reject God, so here's what I'm gonna do. I'm just going to quietly lead these people away from God. And so Balaam goes to Balak and he says, hey, listen, I don't think me speaking a curse over them is really a great idea, but here's what you should do, Balak. You should go gather all the beautiful women that you can and get them to seduce the men of Israel, which will cause them to sin sexually. And then because of their sexual immorality, here's what God will do. God will judge them. It's a wild story, but let me sum up what's happening. Balaam is basically convincing the people of Israel, hey, just enjoy sexual immorality, just enjoy adultery. In other words, here's what he is. This is another buzzword.

Balaam is a false teacher. Now, we see this throughout Scripture. Jesus, he warns against the realities of false teachers. And so because it's in this passage, let me riff on this for just a second. A false teacher, again, it's not just a preacher you disagree with. It's not a preacher who's misinformed. It's not a 30-second Instagram clip that you saw out of context, right? A false teacher is someone who says, I belong to God, I speak on behalf of God, but I say things contrary to the word of God. And here's where this happens most, with sexual immorality and compromise with the culture. This is what false teachers in the Church of Pergamum were doing. And so Jesus also mentions, hey, you also believe the lies of the Nicolaitans. Now, here's what the Nicolaitans taught. They believed this with all, like this was like their main message. Hey, compromise with the world is okay. Don't worry about it. It's just your body. You got one life. Let it rip, right? This is the lie of the 21st century. Hey, do whatever you want, whenever you want, with whoever you want.

Now, I want you to notice this because in three of the seven letters that Jesus writes to this church, to the churches, he says, hey, the Nicolaitans. and the sword they're gonna meet. Now, I don't fully know what the Nicolaitans were up to. I just know they really ticked off Jesus, right? Like so much that he looks at this church and he looks at us today and he says, hey, you have false teaching among you, so either you cut it out or I will cut it out for you. Now here's what I want you to notice. Isn't it interesting in this text, right? Jesus, he mentions both Antipas and Balaam side by side, right next to each other. One man decided following Jesus was worth everything, even up to death. The other man didn't reject Jesus, he just decided something else was worth more. So church, like how do you fight against false teaching? Teaching that is contrary to what God's word says to be true, because listen, every single one of us is becoming one of these two people. We're becoming more like Balaam or we're becoming more like Antipas. So how do you fight against false teaching that is contrary to the truth of God's word? I'll tell you, it's not with the literal sword. No, it is with the truth of the word of God. So let me just ask you a question.

Where have you made peace with something Jesus told you to put to death? Where are you compromising on what God's word says to be true? Whatever comes to mind for you, here's what Jesus would say, verse 16. He says, therefore, repent. If not, I will come to you soon and I will war against them with the sword of my mouth. Now church, listen, Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose from the grave and he is coming back again. Are you ready for that? Like one day, every single one of us, we will stand before Jesus. And on that day, the question will not be, did you go to church? The question will not be, do you say that you're a Christian? No, the question will be, did you belong to Jesus? Was Jesus actually Lord of your life? And so let me just ask you, how serious are you about your relationship with Jesus? Like how serious are you about your witness? How seriously do you handle God's word? How much longer will you settle for just plain church? How much longer will you flirt with the very sin that Jesus died for? Listen, this letter that Jesus writes to the church in Pergamum, he's not writing to a group of people that hated Jesus. He's writing to a group of people that just decided

something else is worth more than Jesus. And let's be honest, this is the temptation of the American church for every single one of us today. And so if that's true, Jesus looks at us and he says, repent. Now I know that's a word that like is hard to hear. This is not shame, this is hope. Notice Jesus doesn't say, oh, you've gone too far. I'm done with you, you better figure this out. No, he says, repent. This is grace. It's Jesus saying, I love you too much to let you keep going down a road that I know is going to destroy you. This is why repentance matters so much. Because why? There are things in our lives that are keeping us, that are hindering us from him. Now what does it mean to repent? I know that's like a churchy word, you've heard it before. What does it mean to repent? Well, literally it means to change direction. But here's what we learn in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews tells us there's actually two things that we need to repent of. Here's the first one. We need to repent of sin. Now I know like none of us here actually sin, we just struggle with stuff, right?

No, like we need to repent of sin. In fact, like this last week I was preaching at a youth conference and this student came up to me and he's like, hey, would you pray for me? This is his words, would you pray for me? I'm struggling with lust. And I was like, man, I would be honored to pray with you, but like, hey, let's call it what it is. You're not struggling with lust, you're looking at porn, right? He's like, yeah. I was like, okay, so that's a sin. This is not just a struggle, it is a sin. And here's the thing with sin. We are called to repent of sin. There's only two options when it comes to sin. You kill it or it will kill you. But then Hebrews, here's what Hebrews also says. There are some things in your life that you need to repent of that aren't sin. These are things that you just get tangled up in. You get tangled up in the things of this world. And so repent means I need to rethink my way of life. I need to rethink how I go about my life. It's understanding. I understand that the world might say one thing about sex, about power, about money, about success, but God's word says something different. There is a repentance that has to take place when we decide, hey, I'm no longer going to live

for the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. And so Jesus says, repent, repent of your compromise. Are there things in your life that you need to change your direction on? Are there things in your life that you need to change your mind on? Why? Because if you don't, here's the warning from Jesus, I will wage war against you with the sword of my mouth. Now you can look this up, but in modern day Turkey, this is where all these churches are at, that Jesus writes this letter. You can look this up. Right now today in modern day Turkey, 0.5% of the population would say that they are Christians, they are followers of Jesus. So this region, once known as the heart of the early Christian church, is now considered one of the least Christian nations in the world. How does this happen? It's compromise, a lack of repentance. Listen, church, let me just say, on the 250th birthday of our great nation, let this be a warning for the American church. One generation that refuses to repent can leave the next generation wondering if Jesus is really worth following. Church, let that not be us.

Let that not be us. But here's the good news, because Jesus will never confront his people without giving an invitation back. So here's what he says, verse 17. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, which let me just say right now, you got ears, you're listening to the teaching of God's word, let you have ears to hear. Man, my prayer is that you are asking God, hey, where am I compromising right now? So he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and to the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. Now let me explain this, because first, Jesus says, to the one who stays faithful, to the one who conquers against the compromise of the world, God promises hidden manna. Now if you're new to the Bible, here's what this is a reference to. This is the book of Exodus. The Israelite people, they're freed from slavery, from captivity, and they begin to head towards the promised land, and here's what all of them are probably thinking as they're headed towards the promised land. This is risky, I don't know if we're gonna make it. Is God really gonna provide and do what he said he's gonna do? But they decided, man, we're gonna have courage,

we're gonna trust what God says, and here's what happens, the very next day, they wake up, and there's manna that fills the ground. This is, manna would have been like bread. Manna fills the ground, and now they have food to eat as they go on their journey. Now here's what this means. See, maybe the Israelite people at this time, they're probably tempted, let's just go back into captivity, let's go back to slavery. It feels safe, it feels comfortable, it's what we know. But here's what they did, they decided, I'm gonna trust God even though I don't know how this is gonna fully play out. And because of that, here's what God does. God provides bread from heaven, saying, you trust me, I'll take care of you. I'll make sure you have everything that you need. Here's another thing, you know what Jesus calls himself in John chapter six? He says, I am the true manna. See, church, when you fight the temptation to compromise, and you're willing to put everything on the table for Jesus, the world may starve you, but Jesus says, if you would just trust me, I will feed you and you will be satisfied with a bread that the world will know nothing about. This is a beautiful invitation from Jesus. But it only gets better. Then Jesus goes on, he says, so those who stay faithful

to the end, you will receive this true manna. And also, I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone so that no one knows except the one who receives it. Now white stone, what is this, what does this mean? This blew my mind when I learned this this week. This is the beauty of scripture, okay? So the use of the white stone in the first century, this was used in the courtroom. So a jury or a judge after a case, they would receive either a black stone or a white stone and they would cast their vote. A black stone meant guilty, a white stone meant acquitted, innocent, free to go. Now think about your own life for a second. Whether you realize it or not, every single one of us is being handed a verdict every day. We hear this, you're not enough, you're a failure, you've gone too far, your past defines you, or maybe you're getting the opposite verdict, right? You're getting applause from the world. The world celebrates you, the world tells you you're on the right side of history. But here's the question, whose verdict actually matters? Because listen, one day, every single one of us, we will stand before the great judge whose opinion lasts forever. And if you plan to stand before that judge with your own record of what you did, you got a guilty verdict coming.

Every single one of us, man, we're guilty of sin. Every single one of us has bent our knee to something besides Jesus, which means we are all like this church in Pergamum. But this is exactly why Jesus goes to the cross, because on the cross, Jesus takes the verdict that belonged to you, the condemnation that should have fallen on you, fell on him. Understand, the guilty verdict, with your name written on it, Jesus takes it upon himself. Why? So that all who believe that this counted for them, they at the end can stand before the judge, not because you're good enough, not because you cleaned yourself up, not because you never compromised, not because you were born in America, but because you trusted in Christ. And here's what we're told, he reaches into his robe, he places a white stone in your hand, and he says, acquitted, innocent, forgiven, you are now mine. So here's the question as we wrap up, because if you're anything like me, you've spent your entire life listening to the verdicts of everyone else, whose verdict are you going to believe?

The one handed to you by culture, or the one handed to you by the king of kings, and the Lord of lords? This is the verdict that says, you have been made new, you have been washed white as snow, when what? When you believe that what Jesus did on the cross counted for you. Let's pray. Jesus, we love you, and on the 250th of the nation we live in, and we love, and we celebrate, God, we're so thankful for America, and the freedoms we have, but God, I think it's fitting that your timing is sovereign and we're studying churches that received some praise for what they did, but also some condemnation for what they did. And God, I just pray that as we open up your book and we read these letters to these churches, that we would not just think, oh, that's nice, that applied for them some 2000 years ago, but that we would see in the same ways where we as a church, we're so tempted to compromise with the culture and forget the truth of what your word says to be true. And so God, I pray that we would be a church that in the moments we fall, we wouldn't just double down,

but we would repent, we would turn, we would change our direction back towards you. God, let us be a church, let us be a generation that is constantly repenting, turning, changing our direction to look more and more like Jesus so that the next generation will look and see following Jesus is worth it, it's worth it. So God, we're just, we're thankful for the freedoms we have to worship, and God, I pray that our church would just be a church that continues to move with the gospel, to spread the gospel, to live it out, and to be a church that you would look down at and say, well done, being faithful to the very end. Jesus, we love you, we praise you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Lift your hearts, oh say, Lord, can you hear us? There was a moment when the lights went out When death had claimed its victory The king of love had given up his life The darkest day in history There on a cross they made for sinners For every curse his blood atoned One final breath and it was finished But not the end we could have known For the earth began to shake And the veil was torn What sacrifice was made? What sacrifice was made? As the heavens roared

Come on, we worship our King, let's sing. All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world ♪ Oh, He's our Savior, yeah, come on. ♪ ♪ Yes, He did. ♪ ♪ Yes, He did. ♪ ♪ Jesus. ♪ ♪ Lord of heaven and earth. ♪ ♪ Jesus. ♪ ♪ Savior of the world. ♪ ♪ Yeah. ♪ Come on, He's the only one who's worthy. Our King on the throne. Come on, we sing to Him. ♪ At every knee, come bow before the King of kings. ♪ ♪ At every tongue, confess that He is Lord. ♪ ♪ Lift up your sound, let us join with all of heaven. ♪ Let's sing it. ♪ Holy, yeah. ♪ ♪ Holy. ♪ Come on now. ♪ Holy. ♪ Sing for us. ♪ Holy. ♪ ♪ Yeah. ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail. ♪ ♪ Lord of heaven and earth. ♪

♪ All hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail Savior of the world. ♪ Yeah. So good. Thanks for worshiping with us tonight at Flatirons. We love you. Hey, if you need prayer for anything, please feel free to come down front. There'll be a team of wonderful people up here. I'd love to pray with you. I'd love to talk with you. We have a great weekend. Happy Fourth. We'll see you next time.