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The Church That Compromised the Truth Msg 612 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: As we sang that him, I was reminded of an
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  Speaker 1: experience that Synthi and I had years ago at a
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  Speaker 1: conference ground out in northern California, Mount Herman. John Fisher
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  Speaker 1: had been asked to bring a concert on that Saturday
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  Speaker 1: night before our conference began, and it was full of
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  Speaker 1: teenagers and Synthi and me we were the oldest ones there,
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  Speaker 1: sitting in amidst all of the kids. They were sitting
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  Speaker 1: in the windows and sitting on the aisles, and Fisher
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  Speaker 1: began to sing some of his songs, Love Him in
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  Speaker 1: the morning when you see the sun rising, love Him
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  Speaker 1: in the evening. You know you've sung Fisher songs. And
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  Speaker 1: the kids knew every one of them. They never had
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  Speaker 1: to look at any one of them. He said, okay,
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  Speaker 1: let's sing now, my Jesus I Love THEE. And he
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  Speaker 1: started and two people were singing my Jesus I Love THEE.
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  Speaker 1: And he stopped and he said to the kids, must
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  Speaker 1: have been a thousand of them there. He said, you
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  Speaker 1: don't know this, And one kid near the front said,
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  Speaker 1: you write that, John. He said, no, I'm not quite
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  Speaker 1: that old. He said, that's an old hymn. So he said,
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  Speaker 1: take that book out in front of you and pull
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  Speaker 1: it out and look at Paige so and so. And
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  Speaker 1: they turned and he said, now that's where this song,
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  Speaker 1: that's where you'll find the words of this song. You
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  Speaker 1: should have seen it. These kids were singing like this.
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  Speaker 1: They did not know one word of My Jesus I
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  Speaker 1: love the though they knew all of Fisher songs. That's
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  Speaker 1: why we sing the hymns. I want your kids, and
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  Speaker 1: I want you to become acquainted with the heritage of
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  Speaker 1: our faith. And the heritage of our faith is contained
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  Speaker 1: in two books, the Bible and the Hymnal. And you
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  Speaker 1: will find by putting truth to music, it will stay
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  Speaker 1: with you longer. I know there are words that you
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  Speaker 1: won't understand in some of the old hymns. I saw
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  Speaker 1: two of them today that maybe got tripped up on.
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  Speaker 1: One was abba, where you sang of the Lord Jesus
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  Speaker 1: and the Father. Abba is an Aramaic word that's found
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  Speaker 1: in I think it's Romans eight fifteen. It's an Aramaic
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  Speaker 1: word for daddy. It's the very word Jesus used when
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  Speaker 1: calling on the Father. It's the most intimate term in
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  Speaker 1: the Aramic language, forefather. And then you read the word paraclet. Paraclet,
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  Speaker 1: which is found over in John fourteen twenty six, translated
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  Speaker 1: helper in the New American standard, Parocitas is from the Greek.
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  Speaker 1: Is the Greek word to call alongside, and the idea
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  Speaker 1: is to be of comfort or help, and the spirit
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  Speaker 1: is called the paroclitas. So it's translated in the Old
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  Speaker 1: King James Our transliterated parah cleat, not para keat, parah cleat,
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  Speaker 1: and parah cleat is the helper. And in the old
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  Speaker 1: hymns you will hear words like this, and you'll see
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  Speaker 1: them and just helpful to them to have that in remembrance. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: I have a real good friend who graduated in Seminary
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  Speaker 1: just a year before I did. And name is Roper.
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  Speaker 1: First name, I forget what ed Dave Dave, Yes, Dave Roper,
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  Speaker 1: never forget old. What's his name? Dave. Dave is an
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  Speaker 1: only child and was raised by real godly parents. His
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  Speaker 1: daddy was a pastor at Schofield Church for almost fifty years.
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  Speaker 1: Magnificent family. Dave says, for as long as I can remember,
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  Speaker 1: I remember hearing the hymns. He said, my mother never
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  Speaker 1: sang lullaby, shall always sang hymns to me, and when
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  Speaker 1: she put me to sleep at night, you always stood
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  Speaker 1: by the crib and sang hymns. As I grew up,
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  Speaker 1: we sang the hymns, he said, when I got the seminary,
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  Speaker 1: I knew almost all of them by heart. What a
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  Speaker 1: great legacy. Dave lives on his mother's gone, but she
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  Speaker 1: invested in his life. Stay with the hymns, great songs,
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  Speaker 1: great songs, choruses of worship. I sing them all the time,
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  Speaker 1: sing them all week long. But I want us to
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  Speaker 1: cultivate a love for the hymns for the offering. Let's pray, Father,
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  Speaker 1: we thank you for the value of worship and the
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  Speaker 1: role it plays in our lives. Nothing can replace it.
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  Speaker 1: How easy in a fast moving, loud, chaotic world where
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  Speaker 1: there's so much nothing that fills the space about a
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  Speaker 1: How valuable it is to connect with you, our eternal God,
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  Speaker 1: and your son Jesus, and your Spirit the Paroclitos. Without you,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, we would have never been created. Without your son,
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  Speaker 1: we would have never been redeemed. Without the Spirit, we
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  Speaker 1: would never know truth, who has been given to guide
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  Speaker 1: us into all truth. We would never know the conviction
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  Speaker 1: of sin. We would live, and then we would perish.
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  Speaker 1: But because we have You, whom we adore, our Father,
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  Speaker 1: Because we have your Son whom we worship, and your
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  Speaker 1: spirit on whom we wait for leading, for comfort, for hope.
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  Speaker 1: Because we have the Godhead, we are surround by the
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  Speaker 1: eternal presence of that which gives life purpose and meaning.
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  Speaker 1: The battlefield today is filled with young men and women.
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  Speaker 1: They've come to realize their desperate need for you. Some
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  Speaker 1: may never discover you. Some will find you in a
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  Speaker 1: foxho in a tank, in a parapet, some of them
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  Speaker 1: by a wall, some of them held prisoners. We pray
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  Speaker 1: for those who courageously fight for what is right. Give
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  Speaker 1: them courage in spite of the media, Give them strength
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  Speaker 1: to go on regardless of the obstacles. Give them determination
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  Speaker 1: that outreaches the evil of the regime. And give us victory,
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  Speaker 1: Our Father, May justice prevail. May these people be delivered
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  Speaker 1: from this horrible dictator, and may we know the joy
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  Speaker 1: of another victory. We trust them to You, and their
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  Speaker 1: parents and their families and their children. We commit them
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  Speaker 1: to you now, Thank you, Father. For those who aren't
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  Speaker 1: with us for whatever reason, some of them sick, some
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  Speaker 1: of them near death. We pray that you will be
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  Speaker 1: for them a comfort in life as well as through
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  Speaker 1: the journey their passing. Minister to us in our deepest needs,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, through your word to day, as we consider
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  Speaker 1: what it says for us in light of where we live,
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  Speaker 1: be honored in our giving, not just in the gift itself,
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  Speaker 1: but in the motive behind it. And may we remember
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  Speaker 1: that it is all because of your grace that we
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  Speaker 1: have our occupation, we have the ability to earn a living,
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  Speaker 1: and now we have the joy of giving to you.
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  Speaker 1: In the name of Christ. We pray this, And everyone said, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Let's think of the pros and cons of compromise. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if you were raised like I was, there are no pros.
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  Speaker 1: All compromise is wrong. It's a sign of weakness, not
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  Speaker 1: sticking by your guns, giving in to things that you
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  Speaker 1: have no business giving into. And on and on and
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  Speaker 1: on it went. Because life back then, it seemed, at
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  Speaker 1: least to my parents and to theirs, life was very
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  Speaker 1: black and white. If it's wrong as wrong. If it's right,
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  Speaker 1: it's right. There's no gray area, there's no middle ground.
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  Speaker 1: Now I've lived long enough to know that there's a
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  Speaker 1: lot of gray. I'm married. That's one thing that proves
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  Speaker 1: I know how to compromise, and my wife knows how
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  Speaker 1: to compromise, and I've raised four children. That proves that
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  Speaker 1: I know something about compromise. And I'm not alone. You're
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  Speaker 1: the same. That's why Webster gives this definition. Compromise is
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  Speaker 1: a settlement of differences by consent reached by mutual concessions.
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  Speaker 1: A settlement of differences by consent reached by mutual concessions.
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  Speaker 1: For years, Cynthia and I had an electric blanket, and
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  Speaker 1: we we found the best kind for us to buy
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  Speaker 1: was a dual control electric blanket. That's a compromise because
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  Speaker 1: if it's a single control electric blanket, I would never
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  Speaker 1: turn it on and she would have it on ten.
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  Speaker 1: And so by having dual control, she she can have
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  Speaker 1: hers all the way up until it smokes, and I
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  Speaker 1: can have mine off sleeping on it because I am
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  Speaker 1: really hot natured and she is really cold natured. Well,
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  Speaker 1: the benefit of that is you get twice the length
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  Speaker 1: of benefit from it, because one side burns up ultimately
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  Speaker 1: and you can flip it over and you get another
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  Speaker 1: whole new blanket, and it works. Compromise. You compromise when
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  Speaker 1: you give in at appropriate times and for the right reasons.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah Teasdale put it like this, When I have ceased
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  Speaker 1: to break my wings against the faultiness of things and
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  Speaker 1: learn that compromises weight behind each hardly opened gate, when
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  Speaker 1: I can look life in the eyes, grown calm and
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  Speaker 1: very coldly wise, life will have given me the truth
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  Speaker 1: and taken in exchange my youth appropriately. Sarah Tsdale calls
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  Speaker 1: that wisdom. The right kind of compromise reveals wisdom. I
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  Speaker 1: would say, if you want a friendship that will last,
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  Speaker 1: you must compromise. In order to cultivate the friendship. You
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  Speaker 1: give into some of the things your friend enjoys, and
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  Speaker 1: your friend gives into some of the things you enjoy.
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  Speaker 1: If you are a leader and you want people to
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  Speaker 1: follow you faithfully and consistently, you know the experience of compromise.
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  Speaker 1: Leaders who don't compromise wind up leading only those who
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  Speaker 1: want to be enslaved. If you have disagreements and you
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  Speaker 1: want to come to an agreement, you must compromise often.
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  Speaker 1: George Herbert once put it this way, a lean compromise
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  Speaker 1: is better than a fat lawsuit. There's an old Italian
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  Speaker 1: proverb that says it's better to lose a saddle than
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  Speaker 1: the horse. That's a compromise, but it's wise. Now. On
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, there is the con side to compromise.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe that's why Webster left room in his definition for
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  Speaker 1: a second line to make a shameful or disreputable concession.
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  Speaker 1: The synonym for that is accommodation. When I see people
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  Speaker 1: shaping their theology to fit their lifestyle, I observe the
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  Speaker 1: wrong kind of compromise, and I often call that accommodating theology.
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  Speaker 1: A person who chooses to have an affair and to
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  Speaker 1: be unfaithful, and to break the bonds of marriage, and
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  Speaker 1: then tries to justify it with scripture is accommodating his
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  Speaker 1: theology so that it fits his life or her lifestyle.
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  Speaker 1: In matters of character and principle, there's no wobble room,
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  Speaker 1: there's no option to compromise. Every time you compromise in
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  Speaker 1: character or in your principles, you lose. It's wrong. In
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  Speaker 1: matters of morality and ethics and biblical fidelity, there's not
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  Speaker 1: to be compromised. If you compromise in those areas, you're wrong.
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  Speaker 1: I'm wrong, and there are real consequences that follow. Let
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  Speaker 1: me show you some examples from the Bible. Look at
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  Speaker 1: First Thessalonians chapter four, not Second Thessalonians. First Thessalonians Chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: Paul ends the chapter by talking about our Savior coming
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  Speaker 1: for us in the sky and taking us home to
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  Speaker 1: be with him in the air. But before that, he
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  Speaker 1: is bringing the letter to a conclusion by the first
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  Speaker 1: word finally, and he's writing to Christians. That's why it's
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  Speaker 1: addressed to brethren. Finally, then, brethren, we request and exhort
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  Speaker 1: you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from
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  Speaker 1: us instruction as to how you ought to walk and
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  Speaker 1: please God, just as you actually do walk, that you
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  Speaker 1: excel still more. There's always room for improvement, isn't something
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  Speaker 1: you could say as a paraphrase Verse two, For you
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  Speaker 1: know what commandments we gave you by the authority of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus, And right out of the choot he
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  Speaker 1: mentions one of the commandments, and there's no wobble room.
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  Speaker 1: Verse three, for this is the will of God your sanctification,
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  Speaker 1: that is that you abstain from sexual immorality. Stop. I
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  Speaker 1: don't care what culture says. I don't care what the
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  Speaker 1: running commentary of the fraternity or the sorority may be.
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  Speaker 1: I don't care what the word is around the office.
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  Speaker 1: I don't care what's believed in your neighborhood or mine.
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  Speaker 1: I don't care what the media may say, or what
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  Speaker 1: may appear on the films of the movies I may attend.
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  Speaker 1: I don't care what any of that is communicating. I
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  Speaker 1: know from the scriptures that I am to abstain from
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  Speaker 1: sexual immorality. There is to be no compromise, no none, zero.
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  Speaker 1: If you compromise with verse three, you lose, and you
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  Speaker 1: begin a process of consequences. That's what the Bible teaches.
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  Speaker 1: Look at First John, chapter two, on your way back
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  Speaker 1: to revelation. First John chapter two, Verse fifteen. Here's another
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  Speaker 1: truth that's not to be compromised. Do not love the world.
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  Speaker 1: That means the world's system. That means do not give
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  Speaker 1: in to the allurements of the system nor the things
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  Speaker 1: in the system. If anyone loves the world, the love
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  Speaker 1: of the Father is not in him. I don't see
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  Speaker 1: any wabble room in that. If you adore the world
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  Speaker 1: and give yourself to the things of the world, and
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  Speaker 1: buy its philosophy and invest in its values, there isn't
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  Speaker 1: a love for the Father. If you do all of
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  Speaker 1: that with the Father, then you are out of step
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  Speaker 1: with the world. There's no compromising verse sixteen. All that
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  Speaker 1: is in the world, and he identifies the categories in
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  Speaker 1: three statements. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes,
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  Speaker 1: the boastful pride of life is not from the Father.
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  Speaker 1: It's from the world. So if you throw yourself into
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  Speaker 1: the system, you are at that moment walking away from
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  Speaker 1: fellowship with your heavenly Father, and there are consequences. Years ago,
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  Speaker 1: I heard the evangelist give an illustration, as I was
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  Speaker 1: just a teenager, but it made such an impact on me.
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  Speaker 1: I've used it many times. If on a rainy day,
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  Speaker 1: you put on a pair of white gloves and you
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  Speaker 1: walk out where it's muddy and you play around in
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  Speaker 1: the mud, the mud never gets glovy, the gloves always
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  Speaker 1: get muddy. I have never seen glovy mud ever. I've
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  Speaker 1: never seen mud turn white, but I've seen many white
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  Speaker 1: gloves turn the color of mud. In fact, every time,
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  Speaker 1: Churches can also compromise, not only individuals. Churches can compromise.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, I should have mentioned, compromise is a
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  Speaker 1: lot like erosion. Three similarities. Erosion is slow, it is silent.
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  Speaker 1: It is subtle. Erosion is never fast. It's a slow process.
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  Speaker 1: That's why compromise is so effective. When the enemy wants
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  Speaker 1: to really get us on his side, he starts with
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  Speaker 1: something little and he leads to something greater. It's always slow.
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  Speaker 1: If you're determined to keep a diet and you eat
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  Speaker 1: a half an Oreo cookie, you're sunk. Before the day's over,
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  Speaker 1: you finish the package. I don't know how it works.
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  Speaker 1: I just know I've done that so many times. I
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  Speaker 1: can't name him. But it's so slow. It's a process
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  Speaker 1: of twelve to fifteen hours, and you keep thinking, if
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  Speaker 1: I have a cookie, was that good? There's no reason
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  Speaker 1: I should let mold collect on the balance of all
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  Speaker 1: the cookies. Second, it's never loud and boisterous. It's always quiet.
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  Speaker 1: Erosion doesn't make big noise all the time it's going on.
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  Speaker 1: It's very very quiet. Furthermore, it's not obvious, always subtle.
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  Speaker 1: It's like the frog and the kettle. He started at
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  Speaker 1: normal water temperature and turned the heat just on low
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  Speaker 1: and let that water boil. That frog will boiled to
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  Speaker 1: death before you'll get out. Can happen in a church.
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  Speaker 1: I have a friend who wrote a book, and in
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  Speaker 1: the book he gave this story. Said, when I lived
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  Speaker 1: in the Deep South, I was new to this city,
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  Speaker 1: and I looked in the Yellow Pages for the listing
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  Speaker 1: of all the restaurants. An entry for a place that
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  Speaker 1: had been named something unusual caught my attention Church of
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  Speaker 1: God Grill. Arousing my curiosity, I dialed the number and
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  Speaker 1: the man answered, hello, there, Church of God Grilled. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I said to him, that's an unusual name. How did
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  Speaker 1: it get its name? He said, we had a little
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  Speaker 1: mission down here in town, and attendance started dropping off,
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  Speaker 1: so we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sundays
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  Speaker 1: to help pay the bills. Well, folks liked our chicken
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  Speaker 1: more than they liked our church. True story, and we
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  Speaker 1: wound up doing such a good business. We eventually shut
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  Speaker 1: down the church all together and kept on serving chicken
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  Speaker 1: dinners and just gave the restaurant the name Church of
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  Speaker 1: God Grill. But we're really not a church anymore. Classic
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  Speaker 1: example of compromise. Now over in Revelation chapter two, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to read about a church that was located in
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  Speaker 1: a place that was a difficult place for churches to survive.
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  Speaker 1: Was in a place called Pergamum Pergamum Revelation two, verse twelve.
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  Speaker 1: The church in Pergamum looked at the church at Ephesus,
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  Speaker 1: which was strong and discerning and orthodox, but loveless. We've
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  Speaker 1: looked at the church in Smyrna that was apparently fairly small,
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  Speaker 1: but it was a suffering church, and they went through
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  Speaker 1: deprivation because of the tribulation they were going through and
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  Speaker 1: the persecution. We now look at Pergamum. If you travel
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  Speaker 1: today in westernmost Turkey, you go fifty miles north of Smyrna,
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  Speaker 1: you'll come to a stack of rocks that was once
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  Speaker 1: a great city. Fifteen miles inland from the Aegean Sea,
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  Speaker 1: you'll come to a place once named Pergamum. There's hardly
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  Speaker 1: anything left there today, but how much there was there
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  Speaker 1: in those days. It was a place of emperor worship.
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  Speaker 1: It was a place where Augustus in twenty nine BC
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  Speaker 1: allowed a temple to be erected in his name. It
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  Speaker 1: was called the Temple of the Divine Augustus and the
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  Speaker 1: Goddess Roma. It was in Pergamum where there were four
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  Speaker 1: major cults named after the four major gods, and the
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  Speaker 1: gods were Zeus, Athene, at h e n E or Athene,
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  Speaker 1: the patron god Dionysius. The third and the fourth, which
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  Speaker 1: was especially unique to Pergamum, was Asclepios hard word Asclepios,
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  Speaker 1: the snake god. Asclepios was the god of healing, or
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  Speaker 1: so they taught. Snakes brawled wildly throughout that temple, and
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  Speaker 1: those who came to be healed were urged to lie
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  Speaker 1: down and let the snakes crawl over and about them.
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  Speaker 1: And it was taught through this superstitious cult that if
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  Speaker 1: they would be touched by the snakes, they would ultimately
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  Speaker 1: be healed, which gave great popularity to the city of Pergamum.
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  Speaker 1: There was a church there, not an easy place to minister,
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  Speaker 1: especially since it was what you and I might call
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  Speaker 1: a resort city where you came to worship at one
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  Speaker 1: of the gods, or you came to find healing at
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  Speaker 1: the temple of Asclepios. By the way, the symbol of
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  Speaker 1: the medical profession a twisted serpent, it's taught by some
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  Speaker 1: represents this god of healing that was once extant in
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  Speaker 1: the city of Pergamum. That's debatable, but it's a possibility.
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  Speaker 1: The church that was located in Pergamum had an uphill climb.
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  Speaker 1: It's a tough place to minister. Try to imagine if
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: you've ever ministered at or attended a church in a
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: resort city or a city that is wholly given over
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: to a lifestyle that is different from the teachings of
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: the scriptures, you know what it is like. I have
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: a good friend named Chuck McIlhaney who is a minister
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the Sunset District of
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: San Francisco. He is right there among the homosexuals and
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the lesbians of San Francisco. He has been there now
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: over twenty years. He serves faithfully in this church that
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: is regularly attacked, marched on. The signs are frequently written
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: over with statements that are pornographic or certainly obscene. He
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: continues to change his phone number so that he doesn't
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: get those kind of calls. His family lives in what
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: you and I might call a bunker. The children, when
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: they were small, slept in a room without windows, fireproof
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: because his home was firebombed more than once. They have
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: a large dog they keep in the basement to help
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: protect them, and on and on it goes. But Chuck
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: mclhanney stays by the stuff that's this church at Pergamum.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: When the Lord describes himself, he describes himself as the
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: one who has the sharp two edged sword. Noticed down
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: in verse sixteen. The sword is mentioned again, the sword
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: of my mouth. It's a symbolic of that which cuts through,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: that which cuts both ways. The Rumthaya sword is the
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: big battle sword that we looked at earlier in our
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: study of Revelation. It's not the little dagger, the machira.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: This is the Rumphaya used twice here in Revelation two
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: twelve and sixteen. And it's a two edged sword. And
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Jesus is now going to cut through all of the
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: things that characterize the church at Pergamum. He's going to
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: reveal what was strong and good, and he's going to
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: reveal what was weak and in need of correction. Look closely.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: After describing himself, he names their strengths verse thirteen. I
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: know where you dwell. I don't want to go any
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: further till until I described the word dwell, because it
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: appears later at the end of verse thirteen. Same original word.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Kata is the Greek term for down for down. Oh
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: is a Greek word for dwell to dwell down. It's
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: a picture of permanent dwelling. When you buy a home
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: and take out a mortgage and you live there, you
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: are kata oike owing in that home. You are dwelling there,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: living there. It's your address, it's your place of residence.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Jesus says to the people in the church at Pergamum,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: I know where you live. I know where you dwell,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: and he adds where Satan's throne is. The first strength
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: was that they didn't try to escape the pressures of
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: their location. Always remember that Christianity is not let me
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: put it positively, Christianity is a conquest life, not an
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: escaping life. Those who don't understand Christians often see us
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: as people who rush to what is easy. We live
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: for the pie and the sky, by and by, say
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: the skeptics. We've got our hope set on heaven and
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: our dreams are all about the next life. But the
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: truth is, many a soul, including Chuck mclhaney, including the
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: people at Pergamum, including those who minister in hard, difficult places.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Many a soul who knows and claims the name of
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Christ is in a place where Satan has great sway.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: It's a picture of having influence, clout, and authority. I
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: know where you reside. I know it's where Satan's throne is.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: In fact, the end of the verse says it's where
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Satan also dwells. I just can't rush on before giving
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: you time to let that soak in. You may be
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: visiting with us today and you may find yourself longing
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: for a lot more peaceful place to live. This isn't
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: where you live. And you witness this wonderful church, and
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: you see this kind of fellowship, and your tendency is
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: to think, I'm going to do everything I can to
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: move there. Well, as soon as you get here, you're
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: going to realize it's not all that's cracked up to me.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: And you will find yourself surrounded by people just like you,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: and you'll give up the cold of the north, but
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: you'll pick up the heat of the South. You will
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: maybe move from a place where there hasn't been much prejudice,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: and you may find when you get here there is
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: a lot of prejudice. Whatever you may find, it's going
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: to be disappointing because there is no ideal place, and
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: this is not the only place on earth. To live.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Some are so committed to this state that that's the
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: only state they can think of. And if you move
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: out of Texas, you've like, you've got to confess it.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's you. You've gone too far. And they
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: are the ones often that character have a characterization of Californias.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Like everybody in California's a nut. They live on the
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: left coast and they're half baked and wild and you know,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: fruits and nuts, all of that stuff that you hear
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: about out there in California. You know what, Some of
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: the godliest people have ever met are Californians. Some of
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: the deepest roots ever been around are people from California.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Some of the finest folks I've ever rubbed shoulders with
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: are my California friends. Is it an easy place to minister?
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: It's a very difficult place to minister. It's very difficult.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: It's extremely difficult if you plan to stay and spend
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: your life there. But is it impossible? No place is impossible.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: This is not a utopia ministering here. It has its strengths,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: it has its weaknesses, but it's not like it was
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: in Pergamum, where Satan's throne was imagine that. So the
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: next commendation is worth mentioning. Not only did they live
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: there and didn't try to escape. Look at what it says,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: you hold fast my name, You did not deny my faith.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: So they were true to their faith, these saints were.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: They held fast to his name. Look at this, even
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: in the days of Antipus, my witness, my faithful one,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: who was killed among you. We know nothing more about
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: Antipus than what appears here. Nothing legend has it that
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: he was that he was roasted alive in a hollow
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: brass bull where the heat was increased, and the persecutors
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: killed him inside this hollow brass replica of a bull.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true. That's legend, probably isn't true.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: But he was killed. He didn't die a natural death.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: He was killed among them. So there, by the way,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: see the word witness. It's the Greek word martus m
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: A r t us. We got our word mark her
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: from it. What a wonderful epitaph for Antipus. Here lies Antipus,
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: my witness, my faithful one. Nothing greater could be said
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: of anybody than when the Lord gives him this evaluation.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: But the point here is many of you have stood
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: fast to my name. You have not denied the faith
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: that has been passed along to you from the Apostles
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: and the prophets. I commend you for that. In many
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: a tough place today, across America and incontinence beyond our shores,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: there are tough places to serve, and there are people
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: standing fast, and they represent the person and work of Christ,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: and they are good witnesses. They are faithful to his name.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: And the Lord would say to each one of them today,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: I'm pleased with you. That honors me because I know
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: where you is not an easy place to minister. It's
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: where Satan dwells. Now. Having said that something to them
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: that was nice and encouraging and commendable, there is a
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: butt in the text verse fourteen. But remember we talked
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: about when you get an evaluation for your work and
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: your boss goes on and on about your strengths and
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: thanks you for this, and thanks you for that, and
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: you get a little more nervous and a little more
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: nervous why because you're waiting for the other shoe to fall.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: You know, there's a butt in there somewhere in his plan.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: As he talks to you. Nobody's perfect in their work,
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: and these people were not doing a perfect job. Matter
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: of fact, they had compromised. The disappointing factor is that
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: not all of them fit in verse thirteen. In fact,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: maybe some of those in verse thirteen, who who had
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: remained in that difficult place and had faithfully served Christ,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: where looking the other way and compromising in a wrong way.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: And they're revealed in verse fourteen and verse fifteen. Jesus says,
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: I have a few things against you. So I have
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: a few things against you, because you have there some
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: notice carefully, who hold the teaching of Balim, who kept
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: teaching bailak to put a stumbling block before the sons
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: of Israel, to eat things, sacrifice to idols, and to
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: commit acts of immorality. You have some who follow the
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: teaching of Balim. And you have also another group. We'll
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: look at that in a moment. They're called the Nicolaatins
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: in verse fifteen. But first, those who held to the
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: teaching of Balim. What was that? Well, put in the
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: margin of your Bible and read it later, Read it later,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: numbers twenty two through twenty five. You read it all
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: for yourself. It's too long. A story for me to
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: give you, But if I could cut to the chase,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: it's the sad record of a prophet who played along
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: with a plot without coming right out and cursing the
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: God of Israel. He placed foreign women in the path
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: of these warriors, lured them into a relationship with them,
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: and they ultimately would ter marry with them, and they
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: would drop their strict standard as they adopted the gods
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: of these that they were fornicating with and intermarrying with.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: They would lose their distinctives and they would begin to
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: worship these foreign gods. And carrying with that was a
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: sexual promiscuity that almost without exception a company's idolatry. And
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: that's exactly what happened here. And there were those who
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: taught that it was okay to do these things, and
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: including committing acts of immorality, even though we just read
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: Paul's words in First Thessalonians four and verse three, where
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: that's not to take place. What's wrong with the church.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: They tolerated that, they compromised. They didn't let that bother them. Hey,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: you know, it's free country, live and let live. People
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: make up their own minds about things, so it's not
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: very many of us, and it's certainly not the whole church.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: So we'll just allow that to unfold without stopping and
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: dealing with it. Look at fifteen. You also have some
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: in the same way who hold the teaching of the Nicolaetans.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: It's believed by many that this was the cult that
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: began the whole idea. And I get this carefully, that
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: there is a gap between clergy and laity. It began
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: to be effective, especially in the fourth century, when there
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: was an increased emphasis on the structures that were built,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: so that there was a great gap between the altar
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: where the priests ministered and the pews of the congregation
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: where the others of the church met, so that if
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: you go to some of these ancient places today, you
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: will observe this long Gothic structure that puts the clergy
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: in one group and separates them by even distance from
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: the congregation. Ultimately, the Bible wound up in the dead
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: language of the clergy, Latin, and the people were kept
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: stone ignorant of the scriptures. They didn't even have a
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: copy of the scriptures that they could use, and when
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: they did, if they found, it was in Latin, which
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: they could not read, and it was kept that way
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: so that the clergy had a corner on truth, and
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: they remained unaccountable and out of touch from the laity.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: And all of this may very well have gone back
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: to the teaching of the Nicolaotans that the clergy is
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: unaccountable and lives in a realm not to be invaded
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: by are questioned by the layperson. And they allowed some
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: of that teaching to go on. But as you go
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: back and look at both of these you see them
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: happening in a church at Pergamum that really was made
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: up for the most part of people who stayed in
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: a hard place and embraced what was good and true.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: What was wrong, Well, they compromised. They said, let's not
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: address this, let's not deal with that. One man put
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: it in these words. If you can't identify it a
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: little more like this, it is not difficult to guess
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: at the subtle whisperings of the devil to the members
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: of this church. Now you are a man broad understanding.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: You know very well that a few grains of incense
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: have in themselves no importance. Whatever isn't Christ within your heart?
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: Has He not saved you by his grace and listen
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: to the appealing message. That's the important thing. Keep Christ
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: within your heart by all means, But do not forget.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: You're also a social being. You're not a hermit living
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: out in the desert. This is Pergamum, and life in
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: Pirgamam makes certain demands on its citizens. If you do
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: not wish, therefore, to find yourself ostracized from the social
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: life of your city, and to suffer the disagreeable consequences
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: which such a calamity would certainly have on your job
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: or on your family, on your whole life, you cannot
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: ignore the code of good manners of the citizens of Pergamum.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Come on down to the temple. Be civilized, Since, as
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: far as you are concerned, the gods are not real beings,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: their temple cannot possibly have for you any religious meaning.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: It's only a pleasant social function. Think of it that way.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: You will be expected, of course, to cast a few
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: grains of incense into the fire on the pagan altar,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and it's a little smoke that will go up nothing
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: but smoke, nothing to it. Then at a certain moment,
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: when others bow their heads, you too will bow yours.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: Your mind, your head, not your heart, that's all. Is
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: it reasonable to believe that such sacred things like the
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: grace of Christ and your relationship with him can in
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: any way be affected by such trivial external material things
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: like a few grains of incense, a puff of smoke,
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: and a slight inclination of the head. That's how it works.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: That's a mud talking to the glove. That's how the
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: world thinks. Come on, shot, come on, open your church
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: to whatever may want to meet here. This is a
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: this is a large assembly hall, and this is a
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: place where others ought to be able to meet and
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: worship their gods, and you worship yours on Sunday. Come on,
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: board of elders, have a heart. There are places that
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: people need to meet in in the city. And don't
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: let it bother you. This is not what you necessarily embrace.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: But at least you're providing a building for him and
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: they're sincere see how it works. Or come on, you
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: guys who watch over the teaching at Stonebrier Community Church,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: don't don't get all and uproar over somebody that teaches
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: a little heresy. I mean, everybody's got his weakness. I
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: mean there aren't that many. It's only fifty sixty people
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: in the class. And it doesn't matter that he doesn't
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: believe in the inspiration of the Bible or the holy
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: walk with God. I mean, he's not a drunk, he's
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: not promoting group sex. It's not that. Come on, have
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: a heart. Well, how would the Lord really feel about that?
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: But we don't have to wonder. It's right here in
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: verse sixteen. Repent or else. Let's just start there. How's that.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: Let's correct the problem. You repent or else, You change
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: your mind, you change your direction, You come to terms
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: with truth. You embrace the truth, the whole truth, nothing
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: but the truth. You stand fast on it or else
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: or else what. I'm coming quickly, and I will make
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: war against them with this rumphaia of my mouth, this sword.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: I'm going to cut my way into the congregation, and
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: I am going to reveal the error of this teaching,
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: and I am going to cause consequences to fall upon
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: this church for that kind of compromise. By the way,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: if you wonder how the Lord feels about war, he's
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: making war against those who stand against him. Be a
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: little careful about believing. A lot of the junk you
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: see or hear in the media. Get your filter cleaned
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: out and working in good order. Filter it all through
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: the scriptures. Don't let the suave presentation of the political
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: correctness of our times dull your edge. Don't be afraid
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: to think alone and to be the only one in
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: the group that doesn't buy it. The Lord admires that
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: there's no reason to make a federal case out of
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: every single thing on earth. I go to a restaurant,
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: they serve beer to people sitting some distance away from you.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Don't stand up and say that's wrong. I take a
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: stand against that. Yeah, you you do that. You know what,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: don't tell him where you go to church. If you
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: do that, please please. I love the way old Vernon
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: McGee used to put it. We're here to fish, not
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: clean up the fish bowl. Okay, but you be sure
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: when you fish, you're catching the right stuff, and you're
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: eating the right stuff, he says, repent or else. So
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: that is so wrong what they were doing. He even
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: talks war against them with the sword of his mouth.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: Let it say what it says. Doesn't mean you've got
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: to become cranky or narrow minded, or legalistic, or squint
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: eyed or grim faced or negative or a naysayer. It
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: just means you got convictions when it comes to truth,
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: and you won't let it slip by. You gotta say something.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: You gotta turn around in the face of truth and
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: live by it or get away from it. Don't get
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: you know, one foot on one side and one foot
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: on the other, trying to hang in there. You ever
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: seen that little poster of the raccoon that's at the
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: at the boat harbor. He's got a front and back
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: Paul over here on the pier, and on this skiff
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: that's no longer tied to the pier, he's got this
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: other paw and back Paul is a foot Paul Paul,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: and and and and it's the boat is starting to
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: slip away, and there's he's he's hanging his little belly
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: hairs are dangling in the water. And it says, hang
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: in there, hang in there. You can't do it. You're
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: gonna get wet, you're gonna get muddy, You're gonna suffer
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: the consequences. There's a point where you say that's enough.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Jeff McGruder, for a long time of presidential aid for Nixon,
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: comments on the Watergate scandal. Quote, we had conned ourselves
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: into thinking we weren't doing anything really wrong, and by
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: the time we were doing things that were illegal, we
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: had lost control. We had gone from poor ethical behavior
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: into illegal activities without even realizing it. I've heard Coulson
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: say the same thing. Howd that happen? Little by little,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: day at a time. So the Lord catches them up
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  Speaker 1: on this and says, I know you live in Pergamum,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: and I know it's a tough place, but I want
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: you to know war's coming. I'm not going to just
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: settle for this. One old writer adds, this is like
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: an eternal roll of thunder from the throne. It's not good.
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: Did you hear the hail last night? Just by the way,
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: talk about thunder. I'm sitting in my study and I
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: hear this. Now you gotta understand. Cynthia's gone. She's uh.
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: She and I were encountered this week ministering, and she
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: stopped spend some time with Colleen, who's ministering at a conference.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: And so I'm alone, and I hear. I go to
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: the door, no one is there. Then I hear, so
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: I call my son, Chuck, and he and I talk
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: and he settles me down, and then it starts to
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: all over the place, and I can see my cars
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: caving in and roof giving way. And I mean the
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: report from the from the TV is like it's coming.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: It's coming. So we got a little rain ice. Of course,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: the ice was that big, but you know, it fell
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: all around. It was like thunder for men.
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: You know what.
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: I was totally helpless, so were you. If it had
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: blown a window out, I couldn't stop it. If a
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: tornado had touched down and swept across our neighborhood, it
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: wiped this out. It's like a roll of divine thunder.
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: Never underestimate the judgment of God. Live in the fear
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: of God's holiness. It'll do wonders for your walk. There's
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: nothing nothing wrong with that. A hatred for sin fits
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: beautifully with an adoration for the Savior. They work beautifully together.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: And for those who repent, looking Verse seventeen, to him
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: who overcomes word for repent or taken to mean that idea,
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: I will give him hidden manner. It's a picture of
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: divine food. Just as I provided refreshing food in the wilderness,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: I'll give you restorative fellowship and food. He says, I
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: will give a white stone. Look at that, I will
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: give him a white stone. In ancient days, votes from
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: juries were often given in a dark stone or a
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: white stone. The black stone meant condemnation, and the white
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: stone men acquittal. He says, I will acquit you, I
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: will forgive you, I will release you from this bondage,
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: and I will give you a whole new beginning. Condemnation
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: is gone, war is over. And the third, I will
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: give a new name written on the stone, which no
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: one knows but he who receives it. It's a picture
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: of a whole new identity, and you will experience it.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: And you can hardly describe the relief you will get
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: when you deal with the compromise in your life. The
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: enemy's favorite and most successful tactic is compromised. Forget that.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: Let me give you four realities regarding compromise, and threw
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: here we go. Number One, Compromise never occurs quickly. There's
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: no such thing as the fast track with compromise. It's
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: a slow journey. It's so slow and easy, it just
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: comes naturally. Compromise never occurs quickly. Second, compromise always lowers
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: the original standard. Our standard of holiness is right here.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: Compromise always goes below it never takes you above it.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: Luther thought he could stay in the church and clean
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: it up and turn it around and get it moving
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: in the right direction. Never could do it, never could
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: do it. Finally, leave it threw him out. Was worth
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: it the whole beginning of the Reformation as a result
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: of this man's courage. Third, compromises. When you compromise, you
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: rarely offend anybody. Matter of fact. The world will love
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: you for it. Finally, compromise is often the first step
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: toward total disobedience, first step toward total disobedience. It was
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: the late Great Francis Schaeffer who wrote this, here is
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: the great evangelical disaster, the failure of the evangelical world
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: to stand for truth as truth. There is only one
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: word for this, namely accommodation. Chuck Colson adds, the early
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: Church did not embrace the culture. They scandalized it. They
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: scandalized it. Will not become significant in the Lord's eyes
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: as long as we're just like all the others. We
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: will become significant in his eyes when we see him
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: and him alone as our God and Master. Remember, broad's
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: the gate that leads the wrong way. Narrow is the
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: gate that leads to eternal life. And I've often said,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: it's never broader than the Word. The I Am, the Way,
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: the Truth and the life. No man comes to the
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: Father but through me, said Christ. Pretty narrow, Yep, it's narrow,
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: not Christ, and not Christ plus not Christ. Along with Christ,
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: the Way, the Truth, the life, Well, heaven isn't for
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: those that are sincere and mean well and worship some
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: God and just faithfully give them the way you mean
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: to tell me, if they've done this all their life
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: and they are moral the way put her down. Anything
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: more than that is compromised. Let's bow together showing well.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: It's a serious note we end on. And it should
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: be because above and beyond all the flare and growth
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: and joy and fun and happiness of that church at Pergamam,
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: if all of those things were there, there was always
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: that gnawing aching compromise. Doctrine will compromise. It'll ruin you
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: every time, moral compromise. It'll take you down. Now's the
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: time to repent. I appoint you to Christ. There's no
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: other one who can help you with it. No other
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: one can make things right, No other one is able
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: to forgive you, give you a whole new story, whole
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: new beginning. We bow before you, our Father, and we
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: bow before none other. We worship your Son, and we
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: worship none other. And we are just as comfortable being
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: as narrow as your word is narrow. While at the
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: same time we search for ways with winsomeness and joy
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: to reach those who've lost their way. Help us in
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: the tension of these two demands to be guarding against
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: compromise and what we believe in how we live. Thank
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: you in advance for good that will come from your
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: truth that has been delivered today. Lead those who've never
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: come to your Son to arrive today to discover a
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: whole new way of living. By asking the name of Christ,
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: we all said Amen.
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, The Church that Compromised the Truth was
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in two thousand and three, two thousand and six,
• 57:05
  Speaker 2: and twenty twenty four, and the sound recording was copyrighted
• 57:09
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four by Charles Rswindahl, Inc. All rights
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.