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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually. #tonyevans #tonyevanssermon #StandingFirm
God’s word a sharp two-edged sword is
there to cut on your behalf and against
that which is against you but God’s word
will not cut when it’s been dulled by
compromise you might get acceptance from
the culture but what you won’t get is a
two-edged sword for you word of God is
not open for negotiation not when God
has spoken clearly on a
[Applause]
subject
let me tell you a little bit about
pergamum
pergamum was a city some 45 miles north
of Ephesus a very wealthy City but a
city controlled by the devil a very
Progressive City a very uh noted City
but it was one a city run by
hell Jesus starts and he speaks the
first and the
last which he said about himself self in
sperner now says in verse 12 the one who
has the sharp two-edged sword says this
the one who has the sharp two-edged
sword says this the one who has the
sharp two-edged
sword says
this so Jesus Christ is talking but he
describes himself as the possessor of
the two-edged
sword this is not the first time we’ve
seen that phrase chapter 1 verse 16 of
Revelation in his right hand he held the
Seven Stars and out of his mouth came a
sharp two-edged
sword in chapter
19 of
Revelation verse 15 from his mouth came
a sharp sword verse 21 and the rest were
killed with the sword which came from
his
mouth it says out of the Lord Jes Jesus
Christ’s
mouth comes a very
sharp two-edged
sword this is spoken by the Risen
Christ after he rose from the dead and
ascended up to heaven and now he speaks
back to his church not as a baby in a
Manger nor as a a man walking the
streets of galile 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 the sword
has two edges both sides of
sharp uh that can cut you going and
coming it’s sharp for blessings and it’s
sharp for judgment it’s sharp for help
but it’s sharp for correction it’s it’s
sharp for your benefit but it’s also
Sharp
to deal with you if you need to be dealt
with so when you read about Jesus having
the sword he is speaking about the
authority Matthew 28: 19 and 20 Jesus
says all authority belongs to me in
heaven and on Earth translation I’m in
charge
now so when Jesus
says a sword is coming out of my mouth
he is laying claim to Authority from
Heaven to history from eternity to
time from Heaven to
Earth so Jesus Christ sits as the Risen
Lord ascended on the right hand of the
father speaking to his people the church
at pergamum and he says I’m in charge
here and I have a sword where where is
the sword it’s 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 any
many even many
Christians have lost faith in the power
of the sword that comes out of Jesus’s
mouth we have lost faith in the power of
the
word Christians in particular and
certainly the society at large has lost
confidence in God’s word they are going
to every other word they may sprinkle a
little Bible on it to make it sound good
but they’re going to every word and
they’re wondering why the word is not
working because the word that works must
be the word coming out of his mouth not
the word coming out of your
mouth but see what we have today are
folk changing
books or dumbing down the book to please
other books dulling the sword from being
able to cut
anything he says the sword from my mouth
it’s
sharp and if you’re
uncut it can’t be coming from my mouth
you you follow the logic if you’re
unaffected
unchanged because the way you know
you’re
affected is you’re changing so if
there’s no change you’ve not been
affected no matter how much you enjoy
the word you heard because if you cut
you bleed
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 you and I are living in a time in
a post-christian
era
where identification with Jesus Christ
is incre increasingly becoming a
negative as you’re seeing this onslaught
of the
rejection of the Christian faith as as
as it it now
becomes to be a Christian and to hold
his word is now being called hate
speech that you’re now living in a world
and a
society that now is
antagonistic to the claims of Christ
where it’s not some easy thing anymore
in increasingly large places to be
identified with the second member of the
Trinity the Lord Jesus Christ but he
wants you to know before he gets any
deeper into this I got the sword in my
mouth and it’s
sharp but he compliments them and he
says you’re doing this where Satan
dwells you’re living in a hostile
environment
but now he comes to verse
14 he says but I have a few things
against you okay now I like I like the
fact that you’re still claiming me you
claiming my name you’re claiming
Christianity and a hostile environment
but I have a
problem because you have there some who
hold the teachings of
balum who kept teaching Bala to put a
stumbling block before the sons of
Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols
and to commit acts of
immorality 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 amen so the issue with this
church is a lack of
conviction you will compromise
like
balum now the story of balum is found in
numbers chapters 22 to Chapters 25 so
let me summarize the story of
balum balam is a
prophet Israel is on the
March BC not balum BC who’s the king of
Moab he’s a he’s a little scared because
Israel’s gotten so large and so powerful
he’s got to do something so he contacts
balum BC contacts balum BC says
balum I want you to curse God’s
people and we going to give you some
change to do
it we gonna give prophit for the
prophet we will pay you to curse God’s
people balum consults with God and God
tells him you can’t curse my people they
my
people balum baac UPS the
price that we’ll pay you a little more
if you will curse God’s
people balum gets on a
donkey balum is right fting this donkey
to meet with
BAC on the way the angel of the Lord
stands in front of the
donkey so the donkey starts backing
up the donkey balam hits the donkey says
gety up because balam doesn’t see the
angel of the Lord he just see the donkey
backing up
Wham it says the donkey sees the angel
of the Lord again and moves over to the
side balum Wham whacks it get going
Dunkey gets going again sees the angel
of the Lord then falls
down balum whacks it for a third
time this
time the donkey is tired of getting
hit so according
to Numbers chapter
22 the donkey looks back at BAM and says
why you keep hitting
me so we got a talking
donkey all right it gets even worse cuz
balam talks back to the
donkey so the Dunkey is talking to balum
and balum is talking to the
donkey and he says why you not taking me
where I need to go then all of a sudden
the angel of the Lord appears to
baalam says God was behind
this cuz I don’t have one Dunkey I have
two if I if that’s the word we want to
use I can say that still be Christian
because it’s in the Bible okay all
right balam can’t curse the people of
God God keeps blocking the
curse so balum tells BAC I’m not going
to be able to curse him I I I know you
offer me a lot of money but God’s
blocking this thing so if you want to
get them here’s how you got to get
Israel make them
compromise it says intermix them with
your
women get them to
marry
they will adopt your
Gods if you will just get them to
compromise then God will curse them for
you oh so much theology there I I can’t
curse them because they’re God’s
people but God’s character can’t stand
compromised so if we can get them to
compromise because God’s character won’t
accept compromise God himself will do
for you what you’re asking me to do that
I can’t do God will interject cuz God
won’t accept
compromise and so that’s exactly what
Bic did he got them to interconnect he
calls it immorality leading to idolatry
which brought God’s judgment on
Israel so that God was no longer
operating for the
people what’s that got to do with you
and me and why is he telling that to
them guess what he’s telling them
compromise will keep God’s word from
cutting anything in your
life so many Christians wonder why God
is not moving because of
compromise you compromise spiritual
value you compromise with other gods you
compromise we compromise with lifestyle
we compromise in so many ways where you
need to understand once you do that The
God Who is for you can no longer be for
you he says in verse 15 so you also have
some who in the same way hold the
teachings of the
nicians the nicians were doing the
teachings of
balum so here’s their
problem they 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 nickel
itans that is infecting the
church by saying it’s okay to compromise
your standards compromise your morals
compromise your your deities you you can
compromise and God
understands let let me say it another
way
they misunderstood
Grace one of the greatest words the
greatest word in the Christian language
is Grace it means unmar
favor but they did not use Grace
properly they were using it like Romans
chapter 6 verse1 shall we sin that Grace
May abound let’s put it another way
shall we sin just because we know God
will forgive me you’ve heard people say
that oh oh God God will forgive me right
okay 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 yeah he says at the end of Titus
Chapter 2 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 refusal to compromise can
cost you
money refusal to compromise can cost
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 cost 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 wna want to be you know
be sing songs and and clap your hands
you want the
sword and not
D then he says it can’t be with
compromise he says and you tolerate the
teachings of the nicians that’s why
whether it’s a pull pit up here or
whether it’s a Sunday school class or
whether it’s a small group false
teaching that contradicts the word of
God is not to be
accepted
nor does God want a little bit of his
word and a little bit of the world
stirred together to make the word more
palatable like putting
10% poison arsonic in food to kill rats
all you need is
10% the rest of the food can be solid
but that 10% will do am
in we’re living in a day when more and
more
churches are compromising to please the
world they’re compromising on biblical
standards 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 there two answers to every
question God’s answer and everybody else
is and everybody else is wrong
he has spoken and he has not
stuttered so he says to them I have this
against
you and it’s such a big issue
compromises it’s such a whopping issue
he
says therefore
repent or else I am coming to you
quickly and 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 nicians who were teaching
the false Doctrine so if you care about
them you better go talk to
them 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 Manner 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 we’ve all talked to people who can
repe what you said but you know they
weren’t paying
attention so that means pay attention
this is big he that hath an ear so now
while he’s talking to the churches he
says I’m speaking to every individual so
now it’s
self-examination to the one who
overcomes that’s our word n oh
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
Mana hidden Mana okay remember some
things God does some things God does
some of it is in time and some of it is
in eternity okay we don’t get it all now
we get some of it now some of it later
okay but if you overcome what I will
give you is hidden Mana so let’s talk
about mana mana was corn flakes from
above okay when Israel was going through
the Wilderness and they ran out of of
food God rained down corn flakes from
above or Mana uh the Hebrew word Mana
means is a question what is it okay
that’s what the that’s what the word
Mana means what is it
okay why would he call a food a question
because he wanted him to answer the
question what is it well it was a
supernatural provision of God that
stayed hidden until God was ready to
release
it when they went through the Wilderness
that was the ark of the Covenant that
was a little chest where the law was in
it and there was a jar with Mana in it
with with some these corn flakes 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 supplied
Mana he will be your provider
okay the Mana 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
manner 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 compromising you
could be holding back something God
wants to release but he can’t release
cuz it’s hidden cuz 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 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 manner
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 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 G give him a white stone that’s what
he says in verse 17 I’m G give him a
white St H Mana then I’m GNA give him a
white stone okay so all you married
ladies you got 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 okay but you you you have a
stone on your
finger that stone means you’re
special okay 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 secret
name 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 one day the king of kings and Lord of
lords is going to 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 look oh Billy I I I you
over there Billy uh 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 refus to
compromise and stood up for the values
of the kingdom of
[Music]
God
h