Letters to the 7 Churches: Pergamum Revelation 2:12-17 | Pastor Daniel Reese

Welcome to 563 Church, where with Pastor Daniel

Rees, we'll be exploring Revelation chapter 2,

Revelation 2:12–17

verses 12 through 17 where Jesus addresses the

Church in Pergamum, a city known for its strong

pagan worship and the throne of Satan. He commends

them for remaining faithful to his name despite

living in a challenging environment where some

have compromised their faith. This passage warns

against false teachings and encourages believers

to hold fast to the truth, promising a hidden

manna and a new name to those who overcome. will

be this morning. I think I saw him, but I don't

see him right now. There he is. Everybody, our

associate pastor is in the house this morning.

Schnecklau family, you're officially stuck with

us and we're so glad you all are here today.

If you have your Bibles, Revelation 2, we'll

be looking at the third of the seven churches

that Jesus addresses in the book of Revelation.

We've looked at Ephesus, where Jesus commends

them on several things. They were doing several

things well, but warns them that if they don't

get back to what they were doing at first, at

the beginning, He would come and He would remove

their lamp stand, which in essence is saying

that He would not be with them anymore. His spirit

would not dwell in that place anymore. After

some study we learned that what they were doing

at first was living in an honest community where

repentance and confession were a part of their

culture. That's what they were doing at first.

Then last week we looked at the church in Smyrna,

and Smyrna was known as the persecuted church.

And Jesus spent some time encouraging them and

reminding them that if they were to remain faithful,

they will be victorious over any attack that

comes their way. This morning we're gonna study

a church that started off so well. And we're

gonna study one particular man. that started

out so strong. And by the time this is over,

it goes really bad. And I want to talk this morning

so that we are aware, so that we can make sure

that this never happens to us. All right, Revelation

chapter two, we'll start in verse 12. If you're

willing and able, we'd love for you to stand

as we honor the Lord's word together. Jesus writes,

or says, and to the angel of the church in Pergamum,

write the words of him who has the sharp two

-edged sword. I know where 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 the teaching

of Balam, 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. So also, you have some who

hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore,

repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war

against them with the sword of my mouth. He who

has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says

to the churches. 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 that no one knows except the one who

receives it. Let's pray. Father, thank you for

your words to us. Help us see. the stumbling

blocks that are before us always. Help us open

our ears and our hearts to understand what you

were saying to this church in Pergamum. Let this

not be our story. We ask all these things in

Jesus' name, amen. So again, we know this is

Jesus speaking again and we know that this church,

Pergamum, is in a dark place. The city of Pergamum

is hostile towards the gospel, and it is a place

in which having faith in Jesus could get you

killed. There are temples to all kinds of different

gods in the city. There's a temple to Zeus. There's

a temple to Athena. The circumstances in which

they lived could be compared to what we learned

last week with what Smyrna was dealing with at

the same time. But you will notice that once

we get to verse 14, the story changes because

he didn't have anything against the church in

Smyrna. But by the time we get to verse 14, Jesus

begins to point out some things that they were

doing wrong. And these things are the difference

between Smyrna and Pergamum. So the Nicolaitans

are in Ephesus and they're in Smyrna. These guys

are everywhere. They're all over the region.

Now, there's a little bit of wordplay going on

here in this text. You see in the text, it says

you tolerate the teachings of Balaam, and you

tolerate the teachings of the Nicolaitans. And

it sounds like it's two different, two separate

things that are happening, except when you get

into the original language. Because what's happening

here is Nicolaitian is a Greek word. It comes

from the name of Nicolus. The Greek for Nicolaitian

means to conquer the people. And then balam is

the Hebrew for the exact same thing. Baal means

to conquer and ha 'am means the people. So both

of these can be defined as conquer the people.

And what's going on is that there was this sect.

within Christianity that had decided is no longer

going to follow the teachings of the apostles.

It's no longer going to follow the scripture.

They're going to give Jesus his name to what

they're going to be, but they're going to live

it out in a very different way. And it's all

built around these trade guilds that they had

to join in order to do business. Think of it

like a union, if you will. In the first century,

You couldn't just do business. You had to join

a guild. So if you were a silversmith, you would

have to join the silversmith guild part of town.

If you were a CPA, which I don't know if they

had those back then, you would join the CPA guild.

And what would end up happening is these guilds

would worship these pagan gods. And what would

happen is they would go to the temple of Athena,

who was the goddess of wisdom, and they would

sacrifice idols or sacrifice foods to this god.

They would eat those foods. They would then bring

in temple prostitutes and things like that. And

because there's kids in the room, let's just

say it goes badly. All right? It gets rated X.

And basically what was happening is what was

the Nicolaitians, the Balaam and the teachings

of Balak are saying, you can do that, you can

do those things and still be a believer because

that's just business. That's good for business.

Now what makes it so difficult and where we're

going to spend the majority of our time together

this morning is this. I was reading a book this

week by Roland Wirth called The Seven Cities

of the Apocalypse in Greco -Asian Culture. I'm

sure you've all read it. I'm sure you know what

I'm talking about. In that, he begins to cite

some first century manuscripts and some ancient

manuscripts that say the founder and main teacher

of the Nicolaitans was a man by the name of Nicholas

from Antioch. which means he was a Gentile who

became a follower of Jesus. Now, let me show

you why this is hard. Because Nicholas is in

the scripture already. He's in the scripture,

but he's not in the scripture as a heretic. He's

not in the scripture as a evil man. If you have

your Bibles, turn to Acts chapter six. Now in

Acts chapter 6, we are following the fastest

Acts 6 · chapter mention

and largest church in the history of the world.

Basically, they went from 120 to 3 ,000 people

in an afternoon, which is pretty cool. Some cool

things have been done since that afternoon, but

nothing happened that quickly. And so the Church

of Jerusalem, they had 12 disciples over it.

And all of a sudden, there's now 3 ,000 of them.

and they're growing every day. So it was this

monumental growth. Now, if you are a systems

guy or lady, if you really like putting things

in order, this would have been a nightmare situation

for you. Trying to systemize or trying to put

into place systems where everybody is cared for

and loved would have been a nightmare. So that's

what's going on. Let's read starting in verse

1 of Acts chapter 6 It says now in these days

Acts 6 · chapter mention

when the disciples were increasing in number

a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the

Hebrews because their widows were being neglected

in the daily distribution and The 12 summoned

the full number of the disciples and said it

is not right that we should give a preaching

the word of God to serve tables So here's what

they're basically saying We as the leaders, we've

got to study, we've got to teach, we've got to

handle the big vision of what this thing looks

like. We need other people who are gonna be willing

to step in and serve, because we can't do it

all. So that's the call that goes out. And then

pick it up in verse three. It says, therefore,

brothers, pick out from among you seven men of

good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom,

whom we will appoint to this duty. but we will

devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry

of the word. And what they said pleased the whole

gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full

of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip,

and Procurus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenius,

and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. So feeding

widows in the first century is just service.

It's not this big thing of honor. It was the

simple act of service that needed to be done.

And Nicholas, who's this young man who says,

this is so awesome, right? Maybe I can't teach,

maybe I can't study the way they do, let me help

in this way. He rises to the occasion. And so

then my question becomes, how do we go from Acts

chapter six to Revelation chapter two? How do

we get from, let me serve, I believe in this

mission, I believe what God is doing amongst

the people, to Revelation chapter two. Now surely

it's not too hard to believe that this happened,

right? Doesn't it happen all the time? And here's

the thing, if we're really honest, all of us

want to belong to something. We want to belong

to something. We wanna be a part. Even if we're

anti -something. We're with that bunch of people

who are also anti -something, right? That's the

funny thing about trying to be an individual.

You tend to pair up with people who are trying

to be the same individual you are, right? This

is what it looked like for me in high school.

It was, the big thing when I was in high school,

I don't know if it still is, I haven't seen it,

but the big thing for me in high school was golf.

It was these fellow students. who wanted to be

an individual that didn't want to fit into a

stereotype, so they dyed their hair black, they

wore dark black makeup, all their clothes were

dark, they didn't want to be stereotyped like

a jock or like a whatever, just a normal high

school student, so they wanted to be individuals.

But it wasn't like there was just one guy doing

the goth thing. There was like a hundred of them.

It's the same thing. We all want to belong. We

all want friends. We all want to be able to use

our natural abilities. And so could it be that

some in the church, they find their niche, but

they don't find Jesus. They find their niche.

The church provides this thing for people where

we can come in and we can join a group and we

can learn the language and then you can be a

part of it. We have all these different ministries

We have all these different groups within our

church and you can come in you learn the language

And then you are a part of it all you have to

do is learn the language right and you're in

just a timely amen every once in a while or Or

something like mm -hmm I get it right like you

learn those things you learn when to raise your

hands in worship That's all you have to do Could

it be that Nicholas found his niche? but not

Jesus. So that when discipleship really begins

to occur, so does rebellion. Surely this isn't

hard to believe, right? Not only do we know people,

but surely all of us have had a dark night of

the soul, where we wake up at 3 a .m. for no

reason and we're praying, but it feels like nobody's

listening. Anybody else? Well, we're reading

the Bible and we're doing the cognitive act of

reading, but it's not reading us. There's something

really powerful that happens when the scripture

reads us. And surely we've been there ourselves

where we've seen these mighty things of God and

all these things that he has done. We had this

really great beginning when we think back to

the beginning of our faith, but we wake up at

3 a .m., right, with all this doubt. and all

this frustration, and then we begin to question

if any of this is really real. Paul is gonna

say to the church and Philippians, he's gonna

say that we are to work out our salvation with

fear and trembling. Work out our salvation with

fear and trembling. I've never seen that verse

on a coffee cup. I've never seen that verse on

a T -shirt. I don't think any of you have a bracelet

that says, work out your salvation with fear

and trembling. Because the reality is, we like,

we like fairy Jesus. Who flutters about, just

sprinkles love on everybody. And when everything

is going our way, we don't want fear, we don't

want to work. We don't want those things, but

Paul's going to say that this journey that we're

on, this narrow path that we're on, we have to

work it out with fear and trembling unless we

start out in this really beautiful place and

have it in the end go really badly. If you don't

want it to end badly, Paul's saying you have

to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

You see what's happening here. You've got Acts

chapter six. with people looking at Nicholas

saying, this guy's full of wisdom, he's full

of the Holy Spirit, and by the time it's all

said and done, Jesus is going, not only do I

despise him, but I despise anyone who listens

to his teachings. I have this against you, that

you tolerate this, because you've drifted so

far off. So here's the question we wanna answer.

Here's the question we have to answer this morning.

How do we know that we won't have this messy

end? How do we as individuals know that we won't

have this messy end of our faith? How do we know

as a church that we won't have a messy end where

this just ends badly? Well, I want us to take

a look at what it actually looks like to work

out our salvation with fear and trembling We're

gonna do it quickly and we're gonna do it in

such a way that you can leave here today You

can walk out these doors and go. Okay. I've got

some things that I need to look at I've got some

things I need to deal with So if you ever Bibles

head over to Hebrews chapter 3 How do we work

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

out our salvation with fear and trembling? How

do we make sure that we don't have this end?

in a train wreck of destruction? How do we make

sure that we stay pure? How do we make sure that

we don't go badly? How do we work at our salvation?

Starting in verse 12 of Hebrews chapter three.

It says, take care, brothers, lest there be any

of you, an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you

to fall away from the living God. Now there's

a collision right here of irreconcilable ideas

right here. Here's what just happened. The author

of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says, brothers,

which means those who believe in Jesus, those

who know Jesus, those who are related to me through

the blood of Christ. He says, pay attention to

your heart, lest you find it evil and unbelieving.

Pay attention to your heart so that you don't

find it evil and unbelieving So how do we work

out our salvation with fear and trembling number

one pay attention to your heart? Pay attention

to what's going on there the Bible says that

the heart is the wellspring of life That's the

life that we talk about here so often this really

deep life the best possible life the richness

of life that Jesus brings. That's the wellspring

of our heart. And the author of Hebrews is saying,

pay attention to it. Pay attention to your heart.

Now I want to stress to you how important the

Sabbath is. Because we can get physically tired,

yes? Like we can wear ourselves out. But what

concerns me the most is when we are soul tired.

When our souls are just exhausted, do you know

the difference? Soul tired is when we have not

had time to debrief and we end up bitter and

angry at our situation We start hating our job.

We start hating our situations. We hate our community.

We hate our neighborhood Why did we buy this

house? Why did we buy this car because we've

not had time to rest? and see how much God has

blessed us. We have not gotten quiet where we

could hear God speak to us and tell us his purpose

for why we are in those situations. Now I've

been a part of several churches throughout my

life, some good, some bad. The bad ones I like

to call Camelot. Now if you know the story of

the Knights in the Round Table, Camelot from

the outside looked perfect. But on the inside,

on the inside of its walls were murder and betrayal

and adultery and all this other junk going on

inside the walls. And in church, if you create

an environment of perfection, which is an absolute

joke by the way, then everybody starts acting

out Camelot. So what happens is married couples

appear to be perfect when they walk through our

doors. But the reality is they haven't slept

in the same room for years. Or students learn

to pretend that everything is fine when it isn't,

and we hear about a suicide. Or we hear about

how they're hurting themselves. Now, I'm not

trying to be offensive. I'm just telling you

that you can't create the moral ideal that's

not real, right? We can't do it. We are sinners.

We are sinners and we are in need of Jesus. And

listen, if you follow the life of Christ, if

you study his life, the most consistent accusation

that's made against him is that he was a friend

of drunks and whores. So as a church, we had

better be the friend of drunks and whores because

that's the business of Jesus. And I'm telling

you, it's damning. for us to create an environment

where we have to pretend that we're okay when

we're not actually okay. The Bible says that

Jesus walks through Samaria and he gets exhausted

and so he sits down. So if Jesus gets tired,

so do you. The Bible tells us that Jesus is in

the garden. He's overwhelmed to the point of

death. And if Jesus gets overwhelmed to the point

of death, so will you. Pay attention to your

heart. Because if your heart's going, something's

wrong. Something's wrong and you just stuff it

and ignore it, it will eventually kill you. It's

going to eventually implode and cave in. You

can't ignore the wellspring of your life screaming

out to you that you're polluted. that something's

wrong, that something's not right. And this is

where pride is such an enemy. This is where pride

will kill you, because we want to think that

we can fix ourselves. We can overcome the addiction.

We can overcome the sin. We can overcome our

marriage issues. And we have no concern, and

we say, I got it. That's why I always try to

be open and honest and say, not only am I a proponent,

of Christian counseling. Not only am I going

to encourage you to go see a Christian counselor,

not only am I going to plead with you to talk

through your issues, but I'm an active participant.

I'm not going to pretend that I know everything

going on in my heart because there's things that

I see in my heart and go, listen, I don't even

know what that is. I don't even know what's going

on here and sometimes you need a shepherd to

help you walk out of your junk. Pay attention

to your heart. It is a wellspring of life. Look

what he says next in verse 13. But exhort one

another every day, as long as it is called today,

that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness

of sin. Now this text alone, we could do a sermon

in and of itself. It's rich with application.

But let me start with the one that is not so

obvious. Pay attention to what's going on in

you. The Bible just says, know your heart and

walk with others in enough honesty that when

you're struggling or when the dark night of the

soul is there and when you're tired and when

you're overwhelmed, the saints, fellow brothers

and sisters can come around you and love you

and invite you into their home and care for you

and get you through that situation where they're

holding you accountable. Do life in such a way

that that's your reality. But how can you ever

be encouraged if you're lying? How can you ever

be encouraged in small group this week, or Bible

study this week, or your accountability group

this week, when it's your turn to unpack your

junk, and instead of saying like, this is something

I'm really struggling with, this is a struggle

that I have, you kind of throw out a strength,

like it's a weakness. I was in a Bible study

one time, this is word for word. He says, listen,

I've been struggling this week with reading my

Bible. I'm reading it too much that I'm neglecting

my children. I think that might be a sin. Can

you pray with me through that? He's throwing

out this strength like it's some sort of weakness.

What if you got really honest this week with

your people? So what ends up happening is this

when we are constantly pretending there's all

this pain and doubt and frustration and maybe

some anger and maybe we don't even know why or

who we are angry at. We go into the one place

that we might be loved and encouraged and helped

and we lie. We lie. We say, I'm fine. I'm fine.

Encouragement. It's about taking the risk of

being known and it's hard. I saw an acronym of

the word fine the other day. I'm sure you've

heard of it. Fine is feelings in need of expression.

When you say you're fine, you have feelings in

need of expression. I've been learning that truth

lately. Then it's got the other part of it there

too. And here's something that some of us need

to learn and hear real well too. Not only is

this part of the text and working out our salvation

with fear and trembling, it's us taking the risk

of being known, but it's also us not being so

self -absorbed that we don't see anything but

us. To pay attention to those around you so that

you are able to notice when they are running

on fumes Listen you can you can see when people

are on fumes and Words are powerful aren't they?

Words are powerful that I bet I bet if you thought

about it long enough You could think back ten

years ago to some moment where somebody insulted

you somebody wounded you You still to this day

replay that in your head and wish you could go

back in time to handle it differently, right?

If I gave you if I gave the opportunity to come

up I Guarantee there would be story after story

of those who would say life was going so well

Everything was going smoothly and there was all

this energy that day was going some so well And

then somebody said this sentence to me and it

destroyed me Now I'm not talking about people

who weren't trained well by their mothers, that

are just rude individuals. It's like the people

who say, you look tired today. Anybody ever told

you that? You look tired today. I mean, what

are you supposed to do with that? I never quite

understood what you're supposed to do with that.

Like, I would go take a nap if I could, Brenda.

You know what I mean? So obviously I can't, so

thank you for telling me that I look like trash

today. That means a lot to me, right? Don't tell

people they look tired. I'm not talking about

those kinds of things. I'm talking about mean,

hurtful things that have crushed us. People who

have betrayed us. Words are powerful. Have you

ever had that person that said that thing to

you that gave you all this energy? that completely

changed your day. I don't know if you've ever

been in that place where you're just running

on fumes and somebody that really loves you gives

you that extended hug. You know what I'm talking

about? The extended hug that makes you fight

back tears. Like if they would have just given

you the normal hug and the normal pat on the

back, you would have been all right, but a little

encouraged, but they just kept hugging you and

it kind of got awkward. And it was kind of weird

in that little squeeze, then you have to fight

back those tears. It's like, why'd you hold on

for that extra second, man? Right? It's like,

why'd you do that? I would have been all right.

Words are powerful. Encouragement is powerful.

And there's something else going on in this text.

There's the fact that sin hardens. Sin hardens

your heart. You want to know how it doesn't?

Let me try and explain how it does, specifically

for those of you who know Jesus and are trying

to walk with Him. I'll use the example of what

probably 90 % of our counseling resources go

through. Probably because of our age and what's

happening in our culture, but we have, I haven't

been shy about it, we have a real porn problem.

Probably 90 % of all counseling has to do with

some form of pornography. And listen, 35 % of

it, it's been women. So this is not just a male

problem. Everything from relationships to chat

rooms to texting to social media, all those things,

it's just dark. I'm worried about our boys. I'm

worried about our teenagers who don't see that

women have a soul. They just see them as bodies.

It's an estimated... It's even estimated in a

survey that's done by Christianity today that

37 % of pastors are stuck in that cycle. So let

me unpack for you how sin hardens. You have a

man or a woman who wants to love Jesus. and they're

starting to grow in their relationship with Christ.

And so they're praying, and they're seeking the

scriptures, and they're hanging out with people

who are doing the same thing, and they're being

known, and they're being honest, and there's

this kind of secret, right? There's this junk

in our lives. They're being honest enough, but

not completely honest. So what ends up happening

is all that energy, and all that vitality of

life. that was given to them to pursue Jesus

gets shifted into managing shame. And so what

was vibrant and passionate and a full -on pursuit

of Jesus, all that energy goes now into shame

management, trying to manage the shame of our

wickedness, trying to manage the shame of our

sin and our prayers, instead of being used to

grow us in Christ, They just become confessions

of, I'm sorry, please forgive me. So what ends

up happening is that a chasm begins to grow in

our relationship, in our heart, and it grows

harder and harder. And then you wake up one day

and you're like, is any of this real? Because

we were never fully honest with what was going

on in our hearts. That is how sin hardens our

heart. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a slow,

steady, habit of living an unconfessed life.

Now here's what's so amazing. The Bible just

said simply by taking a risk of being known and

having the saints come alongside of us, we might

be healed and our hearts may be kept from being

hardened. Simply by the encouragement and the

love and the support of the saints. But they

can't give it if they don't know One more thing

look at Hebrews 3 15 So if we're gonna work out

our salvation with fear and trembling it takes

paying attention to our heart It takes running

the risk of being really known and not being

so self -absorbed that we don't see the needs

of others in verse 15 Today if you hear his voice

now, let me stop right there So if at some point

today whether it's it's A story I told or a worship

song we sang, if at some point today that I've

said something and you felt something begin to

stir in you, begin to stir in your soul, if I

gave that story and you thought, oh crap, he's

reading my mail, like he's talking about me,

he's talking to me. If God's spoken to you while

you're in here, if that wellspring of life, your

heart, your soul has begun to press you while

you're in here, it's begun to stir while you're

in here. Like he's speaking to you, that's God

speaking to your soul. And so today if you've

heard his voice, do not harden your hearts as

in the rebellion. Now here's a general rule of

scripture, this one's free if you ever studied

the scripture. We always want to be we and us.

We never want to be they. We never want to be

they. General of scripture, they not happy. We

and us happy. We wanna follow that girl. So we

don't want to be they and they just got thrown

out here. So we don't want to harden our hearts

like they did. Who's they? Verse 16. For who

were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it

not all those who left Egypt led by Moses, and

with whom he was provoked for 40 years? Was it

not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell

in the wilderness, and to whom did he swear that

they would not enter his rest, but to those who

were disobedient? Okay, real quick. He's going,

okay, if God speaks to you, if God speaks to

you, follow him. Because if you don't, you're

going to harden your heart like the Israelites

did. If he speaks to you, follow him. And basically,

he begins to reference the story where God brought

the nation of Israel out of Egypt. He destroyed

the entire army of Egypt, the largest army in

the world at that time. He brings them up to

the promised land. And he goes, I've got this

land for you. Go and take it. And what do they

do? They send in spies. And spies come back in

and they say what? No way. No way. They're too

big, they're too tall over there. No way. So

God goes, do you not remember, right? Do you

not remember that I killed that entire army,

that big one, the biggest on earth? Remember

when I did that like three weeks ago? Do you

think maybe that I could handle tall people?

Do you think maybe I could handle this group?

And they're like, yeah, I guess you could, but

we don't really wanna do it. We don't really

wanna do it. And God goes, you remember that

frog thing? Remember when I turned water into

blood? Remember when all the first born of the

nation were killed? That was easy for me. That

was easy for me. Why don't we do this? And the

Israelites said no. And God's response was, I'm

gonna make you wander the desert. And when all

of you are dead, when all of you are gone, I'm

going to take your kids in to get the glory.

Look at me now. If Jesus is wooing you towards

healing, it's going to happen one way or another.

If he's stirring in you, it's going to happen

one way or another. Your sin will find you out.

My kids will tell you, one of the most common

prayers we pray for our children is that they

will get busted in their sin. If it's porn, it

might end your marriage. If it's laziness, it

might get you fired. If it's pride, God has a

way of humbling us. Here's the thing, the Bible

says your sin will find you out. So if you've

got junk in you, and you're hiding secrets right

now, you're on the clock. You're on the clock.

Now some of these guys that I've walked with,

Some of these guys you've walked with for years

at a time, 10, 15, 20 years. And Jesus has been

calling them to come. Let's walk away from this.

Let's find healing from this. Let's get counseling

for this. Let's discuss this. Let's overcome

this sin that you've been dealing with for decades.

And they keep ignoring it or they just get right

to the edge where they don't have to be honest

anymore. When they know in their heart that it

doesn't satisfy, they know in their heart there's

going to be devastation. They see how distant

they are from their spouse. They see how distant

they are from when they first started walking

with the Lord. Maybe the Lord's stirring in your

heart this morning. Look at all the shame that

you have in your heart. Look at how dirty you

feel. The call this morning from the Church of

Pergamum is to work out your salvation with fear

and trembling. And if there's anything in you

like no way, no way I'm gonna confess that, no

way I'm gonna bring that to light, no way I can

tell my spouse that, no way I can tell my parents

that. No way I can do anything with that. I just

have to deal with it on my own. Look right at

me and then we'll have time to respond. We need

each other to be fully engaged in walking and

healing. We need each other. Your faith is not

meant to be lived out alone. If there is some

fear in you right now, Some fear in you right

now. Lean into it. Lean into it. Don't ignore

it. Work at your salvation with fear and trembling.

So when everything comes against us, when all

this pain comes against us, we can look across

the room, we can look on our phones and find

people that, they're sinners too. Your testimony

is a powerful tool in the hands of the Lord.

What has he helped you overcome? If there's anybody

in this room that is walking in perfection, I

will gladly hand over my mic to you so you can

teach all of us. But that's not reality, is it?

Instead, you got a messed up center like me trying

to point you to the abundant life. And it's not

easy. Sometimes there's fear and sometimes there's

trembling. So if you feel the Lord speaking to

you, something's stirring in your soul. Don't

ignore it. Pursue healing. So I'm going to pray

for us. have time to worship, we'll have time

to respond. And then, man, my hope. My hope is

that you'll stop pretending. Maybe for once in

your Christian walk, just stop pretending. Find

healing. I think anybody that's ever come to

me and asked for some counseling or some guidance

thinks that they're going to surprise me. with

what they've done, with what they've thought.

The reality is I'm not surprised anymore. I've

heard it all. And it's so good for my soul when

I see them lay themselves bare. and walk into

freedom they've never experienced before in the

Christian walk. That's my hope and prayer for

you. So Father, as we close out our service this

morning, I pray for a little bit of fear. I pray

for a little bit of fear to come into our hearts.

Pray that as you stir things in us, that you

will humble us. I pray for those that just have

no community. I pray, Father, that they will

find community here, a church made up of sinful

people, pursuing the righteousness that you offer

us. So God, I pray you move as we sing. Move

us towards obedience. Help us lean into the fear

and help us trust you with it. So Father, we

give you this time. It's your name we pray, amen.

We're gonna sing, altar's open. There's something

that happens when you bring. your things and

lay it at the altar. There's nothing special

about it, but there's something in our hearts

that changes. So I would encourage you, if that's

you today, if you feel like the Lord is moving

in you, then come lay it at the altar. If you

need prayer, then I'm gonna be up here. I'm gonna

invite the elders to be up here. I'm gonna invite

anybody that's ready to... to just minister in

that way, whether you're an elder or a deacon

or just anybody else, I'm gonna invite you to

come minister as people come. If he's stirring

in your heart, may you be healed this morning.

Thank you for listening today to 563 Church,

a production of Cornerstone Church, Eldridge,

Iowa. For more information about our church or

just getting right with God, please visit us

at 563church .com. You can also find us on Facebook

and Instagram. Have a great week!