 Amen. All right, so keep your place there in Revelation chapter two. We're gonna be looking at the church of Pergamos, but be just a little caveat before I begin the sermon this evening. I had my sermon put in a different spot today and the kids needed some paper for paper airplanes. So my wife gave the kids the sermon to make paper airplanes out of the sermon. So if this sermon makes no sense tonight, I tried to put it back together the best that I could. We might have to wing it just a little bit because there's a lot of airplanes in here. So, okay, no, paper airplanes are always good, okay? All right, let's look down at the church at Pergamos this evening. We're looking at, you know, these, if you have a red-letter Bible, you know, these words of chapter two are completely red. So this means that Jesus is giving the church, Jesus is the head of the church. This is the boss giving us instructions how the church is supposed to run, how the church is supposed to work, and he's doing it in a way where he's talking to specific churches and he's saying, you know, what that they're doing right and what they're doing wrong. So we're looking at each one of these seven churches in this sermon series to figure out, you know, how we can make sure that we're doing things the right way according to what the boss, Jesus Christ, wants this church to look like, how he wants it to operate. So of course we see a pattern with the advice that he gives the church. Jesus will give himself a, he describes himself with a name, a unique name with every church that he does, then he gives some things that they're doing right, then he says some things that they're doing wrong, and then he kind of gives some consequences of what's gonna happen if they don't, you know, fix the things that they are doing wrong. Okay, look down at Revelation chapter two and look at verse number 12 and let's look at the church of Pergamot this evening. And to the angel of the church of Pergamot's right, these things say that he with half the sharp sword with two edges, go to Hebrews chapter four. So Jesus, first of all, he describes himself as the person or the one, he, which half the sharp sword with two edges. Go to Hebrews chapter four and let's just look at this name that Jesus used to describe himself real quickly as an introduction. Hebrews chapter four, look at verse number 12. Jesus, or the Bible, says this, for the word of God, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the deciding asunder of soul and spirit and to the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So here, the Bible is compared to, you know, a two-edged sword, saying it's sharper than a two-edged sword. This is talking about, you know, the word of God and of course we know that Jesus is the word become flesh. So it makes perfect sense in Revelation chapter two that Jesus would be the one that has the sharp two-edged, it has the two-edged sword because Jesus is the literal word of God. He's the word made flesh. Look back at Revelation chapter two and verse number 13. Of course, the word of God is what we carry when we go out preaching the gospel and we know. You know, you've seen it. If you've been out and you've given the gospel and you've used the word of God, this is why we don't use our own words. This is why we say, when we go to the door, if you would like, I can show you from the Bible. We don't sit here and explain it in our own words. We sit there and we show people from the Bible. This is not my opinion. This is what the Bible says. But you know, it's one thing to say, we wanna show you what the Bible says and not what we think. You know, the Bible obviously has credibility. It is the word of God and people need to believe that in order to be saved but it has power and it has more power than any words we could ever say to describe anything because it is powerful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. So don't forget that when you're out there. Soul winning is that the Bible has power. You are holding a weapon in your hand. You are holding a very powerful tool. Look at verse number 13 of Revelation chapter two. So that's a really appropriate and powerful name that Jesus gives himself. Look at verse number 13. Now he tells them some things that they're doing right. He says, I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seed is and thou holdest fast my name and has not denied my faith even though those days were antipas was my faithful martyr who is slain among you where Satan dwelleth. So here, they're in an unfriendly environment. You know, they're in an environment where there's Roman rule and they are being persecuted by Jews, by Romans. They are in a situation where one of them has been killed at this point. Antipas has been killed and it says they're holding fast to the word. So like there's very faithful people in this church. Okay, that is not the problem. There's people in this church that are holding fast to the gospel, holding fast to the word of God. That's not the problem. Look at verse 14. Then he says, but I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them. So we see in verse 13 that there's very faithful people there. That there's people that are doing right. They're holding fast to the point where they're having people killed. At least one person has been killed. I mean, look, that's real persecution. All right, that's real persecution that's happening. Someone has been slain amongst them and but thou there is them among them. Also, there's other people among them. In verse 14, that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balaak, turn to Numbers chapter 24. Who taught Balaak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. So this is a super interesting verse. Revelation 2 in verse number 14 is really a key piece to the puzzle of the story of Balaam. So I've preached a whole sermon on Balaam. Of course, we remember that Moab wanted Balaam to curse Israel and God said, no, you're not gonna curse him and Balaam would not curse them because God said so. Balaam was a wicked person. We know this, all right? But God would not allow him. He said, don't you curse him? God sent an angel to warn him again. You better not say anything against them. And because of Revelation 2 14, we know exactly what happened. As Paul Harvey used to say, we know the rest of the story. If it wasn't for Revelation 2 14, we wouldn't know why the last verse of Numbers chapter 24 and then the first verse of Numbers chapter 24. We wouldn't know the true cause of why that happened. So look at Numbers chapter 24. Look at the very last verse. The Bible says in Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place and Balaam also went on his way. So here we have this idea that Balaam wasn't allowed to curse and he didn't curse the children of Israel. And it says he just went home. Remember that Balaam, he wanted so badly to go. He wanted so badly to go because this king of Moab was gonna give him all this money. He was gonna give him all this big reward and Balaam wanted it so badly. But now look at verse number one of Numbers chapter 25. It says in Israel abode in shittim and the people began to commit hordom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. So all of a sudden we see in Numbers at the end of Numbers 24, Balaam goes home. And at the beginning of Numbers chapter 25, all of a sudden Israel is going into fornication and they're worshiping idols and eating things sacrificed unto idols. They're just getting mixed up with these heathen people. But with Revelation 214, we know exactly why that happened. Balaam did an end run around God. This was the point of the sermon on Balaam. It was don't try to find loopholes with the Lord. Balaam lost his life over this situation. So look, we would have never known what caused this if it wasn't for Revelation 214. It says, but I have a fuse because there had been those that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balaak. It was Balaam who went back to Balaak and said, hey, I can't curse them, but here's what you can do. You can move in with them. You can be friendly with them. You can send your daughters into them. And look, you can cause them to curse themselves. You can cause them to curse themselves. So let's look tonight at the doctrine of Balaam. Let's look at what the doctrine of Balaam is because this was the problem with the church at Pergamos. Was this doctrine of Balaam? Turn to 2 Peter chapter two. Let's look at every verse in the New Testament about Balaam. What is the doctrine of Balaam? We've already kind of seen it in Numbers chapter 25, but let's just do a little bit of a study and kind of get this pinned down so we can figure out what was happening in Pergamos, what Jesus was warning them about. Look at 2 Peter chapter two and look at verse number 15. So that's what I love about, I mean this is one of the miracles of the Bible. You know that the Bible is a miracle and the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit because all these fishermen and John, all these people, they wrote all these things. It was clearly from the Holy Spirit because it just fits perfectly and fills in the gaps and explains everything and fits perfectly with every other verse in the Bible. That's the beauty of Revelation 2.14. I love things that you see like that. Because I was always, you read through the Old Testament and you're just like, yeah, I don't really see, okay, what's up with this Balaam guy? But then the pieces are put together with the verses that the Holy Spirit gives us in the New Testament. Look at 2 Peter chapter two and verse 15. The Bible says, which have forsaken the right away and have gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosar who loved the wages of unrighteousness. This is talking about the money he received for betraying the children of Israel, the wages of unrighteousness, the money that he got paid. This is what he was after the entire time. The money that they got paid for, basically sold them out is what he did. Look at Jude chapter one. Jude one, look at verse number 11. The Bible says in Jude, it says, wall unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran, what? Here we see it again. Greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. It's just Balaam, the story of Balaam is just money at any cost. That was the story of Balaam. So Jude is referring to Balaam's actions, why he did what he did. So there's three things about Balaam we need to look at. If we want to pin down what the doctrine of Balaam is. So Balaam, first, he taught Balaak. He taught Balaak to lead the children of Israel into sin, to separate them from the Lord. Essentially, he could not curse them, so he decided that in order to get the money, he would teach Balaak to mingle with them so they could curse themselves through temptation, through their own actions, through the children of Israel's own free will, he knew that they would curse themselves and the Lord would be mad at them. If you look at Numbers chapter 25, look at verse number three. I'll just read it for you if you're not there. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Pior. This is the false God. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Underlying Israel right there and just put Revelation chapter 2, Pergamos. That's exactly what is going on in Pergamos. These people in Pergamos are cursing themselves by allowing things that they should not allow in the church. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. So basically, the church at Pergamos, or I guess you could say the children of Israel in Numbers chapter 25 is a decent model of exactly what is happening with the church at Pergamos, because they're allowing things that they shouldn't allow. And that's what Jesus is coming down on them for. Look, the church itself is not to allow certain things. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, look at verse number 11. And it's interesting that in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 11, now we've talked a lot about this verse, especially when the satellite ministry first started. I preach a lot about this verse. Look, I've preached a lot about this verse. I don't think I've preached enough about certain things that I want to talk about tonight, but it's interesting that the church at Pergamos, of 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 11, three of the six items are exactly what the church at Pergamos is allowing. They're allowing three of them. Look, you're not, as a church, you're not supposed to allow one of these things. They're allowing three. Look at what the Bible says. But now I've written to you not to keep company. If a man that is called a brother, be a fornicator or a covetous or an idolater, all those three things are what we're talking about with the doctrine of Balaam. Fornication, what he taught Balaac, covetousness, that was Balaam right there. And idolatry, which is what the people went into with Moab, or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one, know not to eat. Now, most of the time that we use 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 11, we're talking about things, and this is something that sets us apart. This is something that sets us apart. We will not allow these things in the church. These six things. Look, it's not like I'm on a hair trigger to just kick people out of the church. That's not what it's about. It's any man that's called a brother. So when people get plugged into the church and they get into the church, or they're doing these things, there needs to be a conversation that needs to happen in that case. And look, we hope people get right and we want people to stay and grow and all these things. But notice, we always talk about it in the context of the church, but notice it doesn't say in the church, in verse number 11. It says don't keep company with these people. It says, you know, this is why, this is why right here. This is why it is largely irrelevant in my opinion. This is my opinion. If somebody has a different opinion about this, I have friends that probably have different opinions about this, but it's largely irrelevant to sit here and try to figure out if wicked people are saved or not. Because we're to not keep company with them. We're to not have them around anyway. Turn to Matthew chapter 18. I'll give you another example of that. Turn to Matthew chapter 18. It's not just having them in the church. I mean, that's one thing. But you're not to have company with them outside the church either. Look at Matthew chapter 18. So if you see wicked people that are in a church and they're trying to damage a church and all this, I mean, whatever. I mean, the Bible tells us that saved people are pretty bad. Saved people can do some pretty bad things. That's my take on it. The Bible teaches that. And I've seen that in my life. Look at Matthew chapter 18. Look at the end of verse number 17. It says, if this process doesn't work, it says, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Look, it doesn't say he is a heathen man. It says, he should be to you as a heathen man. This is what it's saying. So look, let's talk about this Matthew 18 process, because if there is one thing that I'm kind of kicking myself is that maybe I didn't preach through this and make sure that everyone understands this as well as they should. And how important the process is, especially the first step of this process. Because look, every single one of you are probably going to have to use, especially this first step in your Christian life in the church. Let me explain that to you. First of all, look at verse 16. Let's walk it backwards a little bit. The Bible says in Matthew 18 verse 16. So let's just talk about this process for a few minutes and then we'll get back to the church at Pergamos, knowing that they're in trouble because they've been allowing some things they shouldn't allow. But let's look at this Matthew 18 process for just a couple of minutes. The Bible says in Matthew 18 verse 16, but if you will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. So first of all, this two or three witnesses thing is the same throughout the Bible. It's so common. It is even considered common law in the United States. Did you know that? Two or three witnesses. Let me read you just a small little snippet from justice.org. This is United States common law. Common law is like case law. So it's not a law that's written in the Constitution. It's not a law that's written down. It's just case law that use it. It's kind of like common sense for the law. Okay, think about it that way. But let me read this. In the comparison of perjury statutes comparison of perjury statutes, the two witnesses rule, quote, is derived from common law and it governs the proof required for a perjury conviction under section 1621. Then it says Weller versus the United States gives a case number. The rule means that a perjury conviction may not rest solely on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness. So this is common law. Where did it come from? It came from the Bible. It came from the Bible. Much of our laws as they were formed in this country came from the Bible. We will study this in the next year. It's just amazing how much it would be nice if we followed them but that's the whole other thing in itself. But it came from the Bible. In 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 19 I'll just read for you. You turn to Deuteronomy chapter 19. I'll give you the source in the Bible of this two or three witnesses rule. But in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 19 the Bible is talking about accusation against an elder a pastor. It says against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses. So there we see again this two or three witnesses rule. Now the question becomes what is a witness? And this is super important that we understand this and it ties directly into Matthew 18. And everybody needs to understand this. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse 15. The Bible says one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin. In any sin that he sinned at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. A witness is someone that saw by the definition in Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse 15 it is someone that saw a sin or somebody that saw an iniquity that witnessed it. You can't use a word to define a word but somebody that basically saw the iniquity or sin it is not someone that heard something and came to a conclusion. This is not a witness. So the question becomes this a witness is someone that saw iniquity or witnessed that saw sin. The question becomes what if, because this is going to happen to you as a church member I guarantee it. It has happened to me it has happened to my wife it will happen to anybody that's in a church what if someone says something that offends me? What do I do? What do I do? I was because guess what? We sit in this church and we talk for hours we talk for hours and hours and hours. What do we talk about? We talk about everything we talk about politics we talk about the world we talk about a single thing that's going on in your life in my life we talk about all these things what if somebody says something that I'm like what did he mean by that? Does that mean that he hates Ukrainian people like me? You see what I mean? The point is like people all the time can hear things that get offended. So what do we do? Matthew 18 is what we do. It is very very simple but it is super important. It is super important. If you do not do that look I mean if somebody here's the general rule suffer yourself to be defrauded at whenever you can but if not if there's going to be any root of bitterness that pops up or starts to grow in you Matthew 18 you must go to that person individually that is the key. You say it's such a simple thing it is super important though it is super important or you could become a railer, you could become a gossip you could become a busy body you could become a false accuser you could become look this process here is the this process from like an engineering standpoint is a beautiful thing because you know what it does the first thing it does is it clears up misunderstandings it clears up misunderstanding if brother so and so and I are sitting around a group of ten people or five people or whatever and he says something to me and maybe he said something like that last week and I picked it up and I'm like that kind of felt like it was a shot at me kind of felt like he's digging it to me or maybe even he's like not talking to me like he used to what I need to do is in Matthew 18 I need to approach him about it it is very very simple but it's very effective because what it does if followed correctly look down at Matthew chapter 18 look down at Matthew chapter 18 let me turn there real quickly it clears up misunderstandings like immediately so what you need to do in those cases is if your brothers or trespass against it go tell him his fault between the and him alone just just pull them aside and say hey brother I'll look many people have come to me and have said for the past two and a half years said yeah I think that this is look there's nothing wrong with asking your pastor what to do if you're if you have a question and then what I will tell you to do Matthew 18 talk to the person pull them aside and say hey you said this the other day what did you mean about that and either it's like oh I didn't mean that and then it's done or oh you know yeah I'm sorry two people whose hearts are right that do follow this process will always come together and it will always be healed always but here's the second thing that it does so first of all like this you know my wife has done this I've done this some of my kids have done this look this is what you do to build and keep your Christian relationships this is what you do you just go and talk and usually it doesn't get past step one because it's just done just like that if both people's hearts are right it's perfect but here's the other thing that it does here's the other thing that it does and it's not a small thing if somebody skips over step one it is not small and here's why it flushes out bad actors Matthew 18 step one flushes out bad actors every single bad actor and I feel bad that I have not explained this more in this church and if I kicked myself about anything over the last six months this is probably one of them but look every single bad actor that has been in this church has skipped step one and what they will say is oh well I was just as they go behind someone's back anyone's back not just mine anyone's back and start you know I think that so and so is doing this and I think that so and so and what they're doing is what they're doing is they're saying oh I wasn't accusing anybody I was just concerned every single person has had this same thing but they skip step one but they skip step one on purpose because they're bad actors so if somebody comes to you with something you know brother so and so comes to brother so and so about a third person look you need to immediately say look we gotta go to step one here and that will flush out the bad actors the reason that they're skipping step one so every single person that has been a huge problem here and it's caused a major disruption has done the same thing well I wasn't falsely accusing anything I was just concerned about other people no you go to clear up misunderstandings through Matthew 18 that's what you do alright so everybody needs to know this so they can correct this if this happens to them so look back to the point it doesn't matter you know people are saved or not really because they're to be treated like a heathen man or a republican it's not my responsibility to know if somebody is saved or not you know whether it be Balaam or whoever else but the point is we're supposed to be separate from him it doesn't say he is a heathen man he's to be treated as one until he gets it right same thing with these doctrines of Balaam look I'm sure that's painful if you're a saved person you're not of a congregation but the thing is it's supposed to be it's supposed to be painful as 1 Corinthians 5 would say is they're delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh and then as 2 Corinthians that guy gets right and he comes back but they're not to be in the church back to Revelation chapter 2 back to Revelation chapter 2 back to these Balaam doctrines Revelation chapter 2 what point think about it this way about fornication idolatry and covetousness to be in their church what point would it be if we were separated as we talked about this morning and then we're just allowing all this in the church there would be no point and if I get up here and I yell about fornication and all this and then everyone in the church is just living together and not being married what would be the point of that it would invalidate I would get up here now look it doesn't matter how normal things are today and guess what the more normal things are today the more we will deal with this in here as visitors come in and things like that look we're going to be loving to people we're going to be getting people right and we're going to be teaching people in love and all these things and all of that okay but I can sort of see I was thinking about this church and I can sort of see how it happens it's gun shy maybe a pastor maybe he just relaxes too much for a year or two think about this he relaxes too much for a year or two pretty soon gets to the point where he can't even preach certain things for fear of offending people you know I got this I know this is in this sin over here I know this lady is in this sin over here he's kind of like crossing things out of his sermons he's reading the Bible he's crossing things out of his sermons because it's uncanny how you'll study through a book of the Bible and you know the thing that you land on in the book of the Bible is exactly what needs to be preached in the church he starts deleting things don't want to offend Bob don't want to offend whoever but look pretty soon the problem grows pretty soon getting rid of the sin in the church would mean getting rid of the church that's the kind of corner you can get yourself in but look there's not a cell inside me that is interested look I'll preach to my family alone before I let something like this happen before I look I this is something that I didn't understand fully before I became a pastor especially over the last few months I listened to sermons from strong men of God who would stand up and say look they would stand up and say look I'm prepared for everyone to leave this church and I'm just like I'm sitting in the chairs and I'm just like man that's pretty harsh but the man of God has to be that way he has to be that way look I love you my wife loves you all we love you all but a pastor must be prepared for anyone to walk out the door because the whole word of God needs to be preached I have learned a ton in the last few months and I'm ashamed to say some of it I've learned the hard way but I have learned a lot and look I actually think that I've been too tolerant of certain things in this church look there is a reason pastors as you watch other pastors from a distance they may seem harsh in their responses to things but look folks I have learned this as well you don't see what they see you don't see the pastor can never tell you everything about every situation I feel sometimes like I'm fighting with two hands behind my back but by giving bad people the benefit of every doubt what you do is you endanger the people that are still in the church you know that is what pastors are up against there is a balance here there is a balance I've always thought that I was pretty decent at judging I'm glad that my parents raised me with some good ethics my parents have good character and I've always thought that I was pretty decent at judging situations right and wrong but let me tell you something pastors get put in some messed up situations if I could give you a phishing analogy it's like someone they don't listen to a word you say for years and they bring you this tangled up ball of phishing line and lures and they're just like ugh and they're upset when they, you know you gotta cut a lure off and they're upset when you can't save they just give you a knotted mess and you can't save every single piece even though you may try but you know you gotta go out in these cases you just gotta get out the manual and just make sure you're following the manual correctly and that's what you have to do so the point is this this process must be followed and I know that there's extreme cases but even for you even for you and the church with your friends your brothers and sisters this must be followed this will make your friendship stronger this will stop any bitterness from coming into your relationships with people in the church this process just go talk to them if you have questions ask it's better to just ask we want strong friendships we don't want silly misunderstandings to hurt, you know, lifelong friendships okay back to Pergamus so the church was not doing this they were not the pastor painted himself into a corner there were some faithful people I don't know what the percentage was there were some faithful people that were faithful they were doing stuff in the church look at verse 15 they were allowing fornication idolatry in the church look at verse 15 so has thou also that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaotans which thing I hate again we don't know exactly what the doctrine of the Nicolaotans was but just the fact that God hates it is enough for me if God hates it we should hate it too look at verse 16 repent or else I will come to thee quickly and I will fight against them Lord of my mouth now it makes sense why he said that was his name at the beginning of this letter to this church Jesus basically says you take care of it or I will is what Jesus says I will fight against them I mean that's pretty serious that's pretty serious that if these things are allowed in the church Jesus is going to come and take care of it that's serious I take that seriously verse 17 he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches him that over cometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone and then a stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that received it so turn to John chapter 6 let's talk about what Jesus is talking about here John chapter 6 Jesus is talking about how he's the bread of life this is what Jesus is referring to in chapter 17 he says him that over cometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna look at John 6 and verse 35 remember this from this morning and Jesus said unto them I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst we know that believing on Jesus is being saved and that is equivalent to overcoming in revelation that's what that word means go to Genesis chapter 17 now what's this name thing about what's this name thing about maybe you didn't know this but you have another name the bible says so I don't know what that is but look at Genesis chapter 17 we see this a couple places in the bible Genesis chapter 17 look at verse number 5 Genesis 17 look at verse number 5 God here is explaining his covenant his new deal with Abram Abram and look what he says he says neither shall thy name any more called Abram but thy name shall be called Abraham for a father of many nations have I made thee look at Genesis chapter 17 and verse 15 the same thing went for his wife and God said unto Abraham as for Sarai thy wife thou shall call her name Sarai but Sarah shall her name be so God made a new covenant you know God did the same thing with Jacob and Israel he changed their name and guess what just as we were born again we just found out in Revelation chapter 2 that we have a new name we have a new name as we have this new life in Christ so that is Revelation chapter 2 talking to the church at Pergamos basically the problem with the church at Pergamos we talked about this this morning it was the second s it was separation the church at Pergamos was not properly separated they were not properly separated I mean this shows us in Revelation chapter 2 how important separation is to God how important being separated properly in the church is to God now look you all because you all are separated you all came to church today when a lot of people don't go to church because you are separated people got saved this is how important separation is the whole idea of the church at Pergamos is separation you know I mean one guy said to me at the door one guy said to me at the door the game was just starting and his mom is like yeah yeah yeah we are Christians and my uncle is a pastor and she is like the game is starting and she is just getting ready to shut the door and the kid there is a teenage kid like maybe 15-16 at the door he is like man he is like aren't you going to watch the game I mean truly just totally sincere question aren't you going to watch the game and I am just like I am just like I don't even have a TV and he is like what he goes I mean he is just like I can hear him just like like you don't have a TV what look we are separated we are separated and that is why people got saved today guess what other people benefit from our separation here is another thing I was thinking about soul winning today I was wondering think about this for a second because you are separated because we are separated I wonder how many miles did you get that first person saved I wonder how many miles you walk think about that before that first person can you remember the first person you got saved how many miles did you walk before you got that first person led to Christ how many hours how many hours did you spend as a silent partner listening to somebody else give the gospel practicing with people at your house studying the word of God memorizing Bible verses how much work and effort did you put in how much perseverance does it take to get one person saved a lot it takes being in the Christian life for longer than 5 minutes it takes being separated unto growth to get one person saved and look if all of us could just get one person saved you would be doing more than most Christians in this world just but think about what is persistence over time what's that word the Bible uses all the time think about the diligence that it takes think about the kind of leadership that it takes the kind of personal perseverance and diligence that it takes to just get one person led to the Lord that's quite an accomplishment to even get to that point but look that is the importance of separation in your life that is the importance of a biblical church being separated not being conformed to the world we're talking about personal separation in Revelation chapter 2 we're talking about the church being separated we're talking about this church that was conforming to the world the world was creeping in to this church and Galatians 5.9 says a little leaven leaven at the whole lump the worse it gets in and the more it gets in the more it spreads but guess what the more separated the church is the more separated every individual person in the church is the stronger we get the stronger we get the more we know the Bible the less we're likely to be fooled by stupid things by stupid process errors that are really just bad actors taking advantage and you have strong people in the church there's no problems there's not going to be any problems there will be a separated church that goes out in their community and are hugely profitable, hugely fruitful and a huge blessing to people in the world and in this town and that's why separation is so important Jesus is just pointing this out to the church at Pergamus and like he's telling them how serious he takes the management of his church and we need to take it seriously too let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer