The grace of God is designed to free us from compromise, not make us comfortable in compromise. Dr. Tony Evans talks about what happens when we treat truth Like it's only a matter of opinion. The word of God is not open for negotiation. Not when God has spoken clearly on a subject.
This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Witnesses view events from different angles, and although their personal perspective may be relative, reality never is. Today, Dr. Evan shows how to resist the world's efforts to redefine the reality of God's Word.
He takes us to Revelation 2.12 to begin. Let's join him. Jesus starts and he speaks. The first and the last Which he said about himself in Spyrna now says in verse 12: The one who has the sharp two-edged sword says this. This is spoken by the risen Christ.
Not as a baby in a manger, nor as a... A man walking the streets of Galilee, but now as the risen Lord, and he says, How I'm operating right now is with a sharp sword with double edges. coming out of my mouth. Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is piercing and penetrating.
In its Ability and power. to affect Change for good or for judgment.
Now the problem today Is that we, and by we I mean even many Christians. Have lost faith in the power. of the sword that comes out of Jesus' mouth. We have lost five. Faith.
In the power of the word. Oh, we respect it. Because we'll carry it under our arms or punch it in on our device. He says to the church at Pergamum, The sword that comes out of my mouth, my word. is sharp.
It cuts. It has authority. Having said that, he now commends them in verse 14. I know where you dwell. I know where you live.
I know where you have church. I know the community you're in, he says that to Pergamum Bible Fellowship. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast my name and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas. My witness, my faithful one who was killed among you.
where Satan dwells. And so he writes this church. Telling them, I recognize what you're going through. And that you're seeking to be Christian. In a realm of Caesar worship, of Zeus worship, because they had temples to all these false gods, as well as.
The government, Caesar. He says, here's my problem. While you still claim me. You compromise. You still will say, I'm a Christian.
But you will tolerate compromise.
So the issue with this church is a lack of conviction. The God of the Bible does not accept compromise. on biblical principle, not preferences, principle. He says, and you've got this going on in your church. And he comes to the next verse, and he says who they are.
He says in verse.
So you also have some who in the same way hold the teachings of the Nicolaidans. The Nicolaidans were doing the teachings of Balaam.
So here's the problem. B tolerated compromise. He says, you have some in your midst who are teaching this, and you're not saying anything.
So wait a minute. Even if you are not compromising, But you tolerate compromising. You tolerate the Nicolaitans. Yeah. infecting the church.
By saying it's okay to compromise your standards, compromise your morals, compromise your deities. You can compromise and.
Well, God understands. They misunderstood grace. One of the greatest words, the greatest word in the Christian language is grace. It means unmerited favor. But they did not use graves properly.
They were using it like Romans chapter 6, verse 1. Shall we sin that grace may abound? Let's put it another way: shall we sin just because we know God will forgive me? And you've heard people say that. Oh, oh, God, God will forgive me.
So they were using grace as an excuse to sin. That is both a misunderstanding and misuse of the greatest word in the Christian language. Here's how you know you are using grace properly. You are using grace properly, not when it frees you to sin, but when it is so powerful it's freeing you from sin. Shall we sin that grace may abound?
He says, God forbid. He says at the end of Titus chapter two: grace teaches us to deny ungodliness. Not be comfortable in it. That's called having the grace of God in vain. The grace of God is designed to free us from compromise, not make us comfortable in compromise.
That means it's neither not understood or it's not applied. The idea is: this great word is a powerful word for victory. But for Nicolaitans, We're letting folk off the hook. making them feel comfortable in their compromise. No.
Your job. is not to make. Yourself or people in your circle of influence feel comfortable in their compromise. because their compromise could be messing you up. There is this false view, well That's their business.
Um I don't judge.
Okay, let's get this straight. You are not supposed to judge. Preferences. But you are to judge. Principles.
They say, it's not that you don't judge at all. That's a misunderstanding. You judge principles. Because We want the sword to be sharp. You don't tell your children, well, I'm not going to tell you what to do.
I don't judge. We don't tell your kids that. Nor do you want your kids bringing foreign ideas into your home. Because th those other folk are not their parents. This is God's house.
He doesn't want foreign ideas. being communicated in the house. A lot of folk don't understand churches. The job of the church is not to bring the world's ideas into the church. That's not the job of the church.
The job of the church is to bring God's word to its members, whether or not it agrees with the word out there. A lot of folk only want church to be made spiritually comfortable. Not to be spiritually corrected. And unless you come to be corrected. as well as inspired.
You have misunderstood. And so, what we wind up doing is going to dull church. There's no sword cuz nobody getting cut Refusal to compromise can cost you money. Refusal to compromise can cost you relationships. Refusal to compromise can cost you position.
Refusal to compromise can cost you notoriety.
So I don't want to stand up here and tell you that If you Don't compromise. It's all going to work out right then and there, and there will be no price. It costs Anthropus his life. But if you want to see the two-edged sword You don't just want to have church. You don't just want to sing songs and clap your hands.
You want the sword. Then he says it can't be with compromise. Can't be like the hunter who was hunting for a bear. He was bear hunting. He came with a big rifle and he came upon a bear.
And he cocked the gun, getting ready to shoot the bear. The bear said, just a minute. Why you want to shoot me? The hundred seconds, because I'm cold and I need a fur coat. The band said, Well, look, before you shoot me, Can we just negotiate?
You know, let's have a meal together because I'm hungry. About 30 minutes later, the bear came walking out the forest.
So everybody got their prayer answered. I'll wait a minute. I'll give you time. The bear's stomach was full, and Honda had a coat. Because Satan looks for compromise so he can eat you up.
Eat me up, eat us up. Because he knows that compromise even he's already against you and he knows compromise will bring God against you. When Dr. Evans returns in a moment, he'll warn us about the lure of going with the flow. and give us advice on how to deal with that temptation.
Well, as we've been learning, the difficulties in front of the seven churches in Revelation are the same challenges modern day congregations face. and it's equally true for modern day individuals like you and me. That's why Tony's current series is so important to study on your own and with your small group or Bible study. To help you do that, we'd like to send you the Jesus Challenge as our gift. All we ask is that you make a donation to help keep Tony's teaching on this station.
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Again, that's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
Well, here's Dr. Evans now with the second part of today's message. We're living in a day. when more and more churches are compromising to please the world. as though God is open for negotiation.
The Word of God is not open for negotiation. Not when God has spoken clearly on a subject. He has spoken And he has not stuttered.
So he says to them, I have this against you. It's such a whopping issue, he says. Therefore repent. Or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the word of my mouth. And he's talking to his church.
I will make war with them. Who's the them? The Nicolaidans who were teaching the false doctrine.
So if you care about them, You better go talk to them. You see, you may not be the one compromising, you just may be tolerating them. He says, Well, if you care about them before I get to them, you better get to them. Because when I get to them, it's not going to be pretty because they're messing up a bunch of other folk. He says, I want you to repent.
Repent of your compromise and repent of tolerating. The compromise of others who are influencing others to compromise. And then he comes to the great verse. Verse 17. He who has an ear, let him hear.
What the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, To him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone, which no one knows but he who receives it.
Okay, he that hath an ear, let him hear. Because just because you can. You have an ear, doesn't mean you hear. To the one who overcomes. That's our word.
Nike. Overcomes what? Overcomes the temptation to compromise or to tolerate compromising. To the one who overcomes, to the one who operates by divine conviction. Particularly among believers, because he's talking to what was happening in the church.
You can't control what non-believers do. But in the family of God, the care for one another means that we need to correct, help, challenge one another when we are compromising. on biblical principles. To the one who overcomes Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give him first hidden manna.
When they went through the wilderness, there was the Ark of the Covenant. That was a little chest. Where the law was in it. and there was a jar with manna in it. The reason he put the jar in the box was so that they would remember that God was their provider.
Just as he's applied manna, he will be your provider. The manna was hidden because it was up in heaven until he was ready to release it. To the one who overcomes. I will give him or her Hidden mana. What that means is God's got some stuff he wants to do he ain't ready to show yet.
It's hidden. He's not ready to show it yet. He's not ready to let you see it yet. And it won't be released until he sees an overcoming.
So if you're compromising, you could be holding back something God wants to release, but he can't release because it's hidden because you haven't given them freedom to release it because of compromise. And to those who overcome, when they stand before the Lord, they will get the reward of special provision not available. to every Christian. You all know if you get on the airplane, you sit in coach, you are not getting food. They're not going to feed you.
Cause you ain't coach.
Now if you in first class They'll give you food.
Now, it ain't that much to talk about, but they'll give you some food if you in first class. They'll even come and pull the curtain. Between first class and coach, So you can't see the hidden manna. They won't even let you see the hidden manner. That is only given.
To the people in first class.
Now, everybody's on the plane. But everybody on the plane is not treated the same. You may all be Christians. But that doesn't mean God is relating to all Christians the same way. St.
John chapter 2, at the end of the chapter, it says, and many believed on him. Many got saved, but it says, but he would not commit himself to them. Because even though they were saved, they weren't committed. And what God has today are a lot of saved, uncommitted people. A lot of Christians who love the Lord on Sunday and compromise on Monday.
Who love Jesus in the praise service, but love the world. in their weekly activity. Who, if they were accused of being a Christian on their job, there would not be enough evidence to convict them. Because they compromise just like everybody else on the job. And he says, for that, the manna stays hidden.
There will be some things when you get to heaven, God will say, I would have done. But there was too much compromise.
So I wasn't free. And these are the rewards you lose out even then. He says, and then I'm going to give the one who overcomes. The temptation to compromise. I'm going to give him a white stone.
That's what he says in verse 17. I'm going to give him a white suck. Then I'm going to give him a white stone.
So are you married ladies, you have a wedding ring on. You got a diamond on your finger, or if he was cheap, cut glass that looks like a diamond. You have a stone. On your finger. That stone means you're special.
Stone means you're not just one of the crowd. There's a special relationship. On the stone, he says, I'm going to write. A name nobody else knows. Verse 17 says, A sacred name.
When you go to these big concerts, If you are a special person, Of note. They will give you a Backstage, pass. The backstage pass allows you to go places that the general public can't go. And depending on what the pass allows for, there are different degrees that you can go back. And if you got an all access pass, you can go back to meet with the star of the show because you have gained access at a deeper level.
All believers go to heaven, but all believers don't have... Backstage passes. Those are segmented based on how special you are. And how special you are will determine.
Some of what you get now, and some of your rewards then predicated on how you view. your commitment of compromising.
So you carry my name, I like that. But you compromise and tolerate compromising.
Now none of us is perfect, but he's talking about a toleration of it rather than a resistance to it. Dr. Evans will return shortly with a story about name-calling. Stay with us for that. First, though, a quick reminder about the special package of resources we put together to help you stand firm and faithful in the face of whatever obstacles you run into.
It starts with all eight full-length messages in our current series, The Jesus Challenge. It also includes the Living as an Overcomer book, workbook, and Bible study video. They go hand in hand with the material from this series. These will help you unlock the insights packed into what Jesus said in the first three chapters of Revelation. It is all yours with our thanks when you make a contribution in support of Tony's ministry.
But this offer won't be around long. You can call our resource center any time of the day or night at 1-800-800-3222. the number again one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two or simply visit us at tonyevans dot org to request the Jesus Challenge package.
Well, Dr. Evans will return to wrap up today's message shortly. But he wanted to share this important thought first. You only have two options to get to heaven. One, you can be as good as God.
That's perfect. Because God is perfect and he only accepts perfection. But if you can't do it that way, he has another way. And that is grace. He will give you salvation free of charge by your accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
And if you will go to him for salvation, he promises to give it to you free of charge just for the asking. There's more to the story. And Dr. Evans would love to share it with you. Just visit tonyevans.org and and follow the length that says Jesus.
He has a short, powerful video that explains what real Christianity is about. along with some free follow-up resources. It could be the most important few minutes of your life. Be sure to check it out at tonyevans.org.
Sometimes the church's effort to bring more people in can wind up pushing God's word out. On Monday, Dr. Evans will take a look at the danger of dumbing down God's standards. But right now he's back with his closing thought. A number of years ago.
I was at a conference. 4,000 people were at this conference. I was one of the 4,000. in the crowd. The speaker at this conference was then President George W.
Bush. He was the speaker and Everybody showed up. to hear what the president had to say.
So We were sitting there in the crowd of four thousand Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome the President of the United States. George W. Bush. So the The crowd applauded as the President of the United States walked in. He said, I want to.
Greet you all and thank you. for the privilege of being able to address you today. And then he paused. He looked over into my section. Oh.
Tony Evans. I see you over there. How you doing? Because we had become friends when he was governor. Yeah, it's great to see you.
Great to be with you, Tony Abbott.
Now I got 4,000 people looking at me. For my two minutes of fame, I got 4,000 people looking at me. Because the president Knew my name. And he called my name out in the midst of all these other people. Because of our relationship.
He called my name. Uh And that was a special moment. Because he wasn't calling everybody's name. He called my name. Listen, one day the king of kings and lord of lords.
is gonna step forward. And when he steps forward, all of the believers will be around the throne. But don't you want to be one of the folk? You know, oh Billy, I see you over there, Billy. You walk with me during your life.
Ruth. I see you over there, Ruth. You are a faithful servant of mine. Betty, I see you over there, Betty. Girl, you hung in there for me.
Daniel, I see you over there, Daniel. I thank you for hanging in there with me. All of us will be a part of the crowd who know Jesus Christ, but only some will get their names called because they refused to compromise and stood up for the values of the kingdom of God.
