Letter to the Church at Pergamos

Audio Version

Words of Jesus or voices from Heaven are in italics.

• Revelation 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
• 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
• 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
• 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
• 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
• 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Pergamos is the chief city of Mysia, in Asia Minor. It was noted for its wickedness, inasmuch that our Lord says Satan's seat was there. The church of Pergamos was rebuked for embracing the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitanes. Antipas who was Christ's faithful martyr, was killed for his faithfulness to the Lord. This city stood on the banks of the river Caicus, about 20 miles from the sea. It is now called Bergama, and has a population of some twenty thousand, They have Christians in this city. Parchment was first made here, and was called by the Greeks pergamene, from the name of the city.

A reference to verse 12 about the sword with the double edges is:

• Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The sword is the word of God. The power of life and death. We will be judged by the word. The sword pierces and discerns our thoughts and hearts. If it is so important that it will judge the world by its contents, don't you think it is our responsibility to read it diligently seeking the Holy Spirit for understanding and not leave the interpretation to someone else who may or may not care about our eternal souls?

The beginning of this church period was one of persecution. We see that from the words, “Where Satan’s seat is.” This refers to the Satanic power abiding within in the evil religious character of the city. Through the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitanes, Satan begins to invade the church itself. As with many churches though, some stay true to the word of God.

Jesus mentions the martyr, Antipas who was slain for His faith. This church was commended for holding fast the name of the Lord and not denying the faith. So we see from this that we can have a church that holds fast the name of the Lord, and not deny the true faith but they did not remain separate from the world. Later they began to embrace false doctrines that can destroy the church.

They held onto the name of the Lord. They would not deny the faith in Jesus but other things crept in to destroy them in another way. A devout Christian will not deny Jesus Christ but he or she could compromise in other areas loving this present world and lose what they first had.

The Ephesus church had no false doctrines but had lost their first love for the Lord. The Smyrna church was the church heavily persecuted and had no words of criticism from the Lord. The Pergamos church was the first church to open its doors to compromise which later led to false teaching and in doing so ushered in apostasy which ruined the church for years.

Some believe in the theory that each church represents different periods in church history. The period they assign to this church is the period where Constantine ruled and stopped the persecution against the churches. This was about 312 AD to 590 AD. However, there are still many churches today that resemble this one. The name Pergamos is derived from two Greek words; "pergos" which means tower or elevation and "gamos" which means married. The words together mean married to the tower. In other words this church was married to the world.

This was the beginning of a long road to church and state working together into a great religious apostasy that still exists today. Pagan customs and idols entered the church at this period although I’m sure not all at once. Constantine wanted a united kingdom and a united church. We get our modern day Easter eggs and such from this time period. Fertility rituals entered the church at this period. Thus we celebrate even today rabbits and Easter bunnies which came down to us from this period in church history. This was not the origins of the customs but the beginning of those customs being brought into the church.

It is sad to say that this was the beginning of the church falling into apostasy and ushering in the dark ages when the bible was not read or kept. I hope it doesn't take a return of severe persecution to get the church to repent and do the first works. This church is like a divorce in a marriage. It resembles spiritual adultery in departing from the word and accepting man's teachings in its place. This is the period that the old Pagan or Babylonian religion mixed with the church. Pagan holidays were made Christian.

Constantine desired to unite his kingdom. What better way would it be to stop the persecution and mix the pagan and Christians by keeping the pagan holidays but giving them a Christian name. Compromise seems to prevail here but it became a deadly apostasy that ushered in the dark ages where Christians were deprived of the written word for centuries. Constantine won victory over other rivals to the throne.

It is said that as he was in battle he saw a sign of the cross and became a Christian himself. However many artists depict the cross he saw differently than the cross Jesus died on. This cross looked more like an Egyptian fertility symbol. Constantine built the city of Constantinople and turned the pagan temples into Christian places of worship. This is when the church began to have large cathedrals and fancy church structures. The pagan idols were not torn down they just changed the names. Instead of Isis, it was changed to Mary. They began to rename other idols to the names of the saints that had died before. They most probably justified this by claiming to remember the dead who died as martyrs. I will add here that we are at the mercy of the historians who write church history or world history.

Satan will give us justification if we desire to do evil. He has a way to make things that are wrong look right and acceptable. By this time the church was tired of being persecuted and they quickly accepted this easy way out and began to compromise sound doctrine for doctrines of men.

• Revelation 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Satan’s throne or dwelling place may have referred to a cluster of temples in Pergamos that had been erected in honor of the idol gods. They had corrupt morals which always accompany idols. It is part of their worship. They had a patron saint of medicine that was in the form of a serpent. Many thought touching snakes would bring healing.

• Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

This church had compromised their doctrine of holiness. They were mingling with the world around them. It could have been because they desired to win them to the church that they let down their standards in doctrine. We see the very opposite here as the Ephesians church.

First they would compromise by eating things sacrificed to idols and that would be one step away from bowing down to the idols and using them to represent Christ or His mother, Mary. It puts another mediator between God and man. We see from this letter that idolatry was creeping into the church. I believe it is demeaning to God to turn Him into an image we can form and make with our own hands. The 1st chapter of Romans also deals with this. Do we not realize that demonic spirits are present in idol or image worship? That is why it gives a religious feeling. That feeling is a substitute for the real thing. It does not bring salvation.

Nothing can replace God or even represent God, we are to walk by faith not by sight.

• Deuteronomy 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
• 16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
• 17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
• 18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
• 19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

The key word, stumbling block is something that causes a person or group of people to sin. It leads to sin. Compromising the word of God will lead to sin eventually. These people began to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. They were tempting themselves to return to idolatry. Idolatry always is accompanied by fornication or sexual impurity. If one reads about false prophets and false religions they are always accompanied by fornication, sexual perversion and even adultery.

There has been certain religious sects that may have started out adhering to the bible but eventually got into polygamy and adultery. A man named Joseph Smith married not only single women but married women as well. The married women's husbands were still living and they were still living with their husbands at the time Joseph married them. The worse thing about that lifestyle was that he even brought God into it and claimed he was doing his deeds by the commandment of God. Many popes, priests, and ministers of the present and the past indulged in sexual impurity, kept concubines, prostitutes and committed abominable things under the cloak of religion. Again I say this part of the study is written with caution assuming historians were correct. There will always be faithful believers in Jesus scattered among those that do evil.

When we begin to compromise sound doctrine, we begin to open the door to evil. This is why I stress over and over to study the word ourselves. Many use the word to justify their evil by quoting only the part they want and leaving off the rest. We must study it for ourselves in context  and ask God to teach us the meaning.

Jim Jones is another one that started out preaching the gospel but left the simplicity of the gospel to draw followers after himself. When a man or woman places himself between us and Christ, it is a dangerous position to be in. The door of deception is wide open when we look to a man instead of Jesus Christ Himself or to an image that supposedly represents God. Jim Jones existed during my generation and I can be more certain the accounts of him are true. He finally led his followers into taking a poisonous drink which caused most of them to die. There have been many other cult leaders that did similar things even got into pedophilia. This is the saddest of all, for little children cannot say no and have no power to resist stronger adults that do evil to them.

A good minister will be humble and never claim to be a spokesman for God in place of our own privilege of seeking God for ourselves. He will help us pray, preach the word, help us understand but then he must step aside and allow us to see Christ, not himself. After the coming of Jesus Christ, we no longer need a mediator other than Jesus Christ. Looking too strongly to a man or woman for answers is opening ourselves us to idolatry and deception. Jim Jones, Joseph Smith, and all others who claim to speak for God are just men. They are not God.

This doesn't mean we disrespect our pastors. We are to love them, support them and be kind for they preach the gospel. The minute they move away from the truth and try to draw us too much to themselves instead of Christ is the time we must flee or be deceived. We only follow men as they follow Christ. If they stop following the Christ and depart from correct word of God, we keep following Christ and not the false teachers. This is why we must study the bible for ourselves in spite of the modern move to lay aside the bible and trust spiritual leaders for the sake of unity.

Unity is good but only if the people being unified are following the truth of God's word. Unity in evil is never good. Unity based on lies is an abomination. God broke up the unity at the tower of Babel. That was an evil unity. All unity is not good. The type of unity we strive for now is the unity of the Holy Spirit, love for one another, faith in Jesus as our Lord, and the unity for the truth of the word of God.

Some false prophets may have been false from the beginning. Remember false prophets also many times will seek and pray to the same God that we seek. They just do not come the same way a true prophet does. A true prophet is out to obey God. He is out to represent the word of God. A true prophet of God would never curse people in order to gain financially.

In the day of grace, a true prophet would desire to save souls not destroy lives. They would be willing to speak the truth even if it caused a loss of tithes as opposed to those who tickle the ears and speak to please the crowds in order to rake in the money.

Balaam’s name is derived from the word Baal. It means, "to conquer the people". What is the doctrine of Balaam? The story of Balaam can be found in the Book of Numbers starting in Chapter 22. The king of Moab, Balak, believed prophets had the power to curse or bless people. He didn't realize some prophets were false. Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam I believe was one who may have started out as a true prophet even to the point of going out and seeking God's permission first before he cursed Israel. Balaam sought God's permission and God said no so Balaam said to the men sent from Balak that God said no.

Balak then sent other men higher in importance. Again Balaam sought permission to go with the men and this time the Lord let him go but was very angry with him for going. Balaam was a man that did not take the Lord’s word but thought he could change God’s mind. This is where we go wrong. If we ask the Lord’s permission and He says no the first time, that should be final and the end of the matter. If we keep going back and asking the same thing, we are guilty of trying to get the Lord to change His mind. When the Lord speaks the first time, it is usually His divine will. The second time He spoke it was only His permissive will. Balaam should have heeded the first word of God.

God will allow us to do what we really want to do many times but usually it will only get us in trouble if He spoke to us by His Holy Spirit at an earlier time differently. For instance we may be convicted of a besetting sin and we give up that sin. Later we are tempted again with the same sin and we ask God for permission. We may then deceive ourselves into thinking He said yes the second time.

This is how the world creeps into the church. Since society changes all around us and we are sometimes fooled into thinking something that once was considered a sin is no longer a sin. We may change but God stays the same. If it was sin 100 years ago, it is still sin today.

Paul said for us not to eat things sacrificed to idols. These people for example may have thought that they could go and sit with those that eat such things in order to win them to Christ. They then started to compromise and eat things sacrificed to idols. They become unequally yoked with unbelievers. In latter times we see idolatry entering into the church.

Balaam was a covetous man who wanted the reward from Balak but he could not curse Israel so he devised a plan for the king to send women to lure the men of Israel into fornication. This would then lead them to spiritual fornication when they started worshipping the gods of Moab that their new wives worshipped. Like Balaam brought Israel into pagan worship, someone was bringing this pagan worship into the church. God’s people were learning to accept pagan rituals; masses, statues, idolatry, and the priesthood participating in them.

• Deuteronomy 18:9-12  "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee".

Many false religions are traced back to tower of Babel later called Babylon. Idol worship had its origins at that place. When God put a stop to their unbiblical unity, they all separated to different lands and took their own religions with them.

Israel was forbidden to worship idols or make idols to worship. Later the church also was forbidden even to eat food that was sacrificed to idols. We cannot serve God and idols. One of the Grandsons of Noah was Cush. He plotted a one-world government and built a tower to heaven in rebellion to God. He was married to the most beautiful woman in the world or so the legend goes. Her name was Semiramis and she was the original mother of the fertility Goddesses. She is Isis, Diana, Artemis and all of the others throughout history. Cush and Semiramis had a son called Nimrod. Nimrod is the one who started the worship of Baal and was the inspiration for other pagan gods. He led the first rebellion against God after the flood. He revived the false religion that led to the destruction of the earth by the flood.

Building the tower might have been attempting to escape another flood if one came. Since God promised Noah that He would not ever destroy the earth with a flood again, so it was unbelief if this was the reason for the builing of the tower. They would never have to fear another flood if they didn’t sin against God. They did not want to seek God on His terms but created gods that allowed them to sin and still have a religion. Nimrod is an example of one who despised God’s government and authority to rule over their lives.

• Romans 1: 21-25 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

The beginning of a reprobate mind.

• Romans 1:26-28 For this cause God gave them up to vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.

Worshipping other things besides the one true God will lead to sexual immorality because it is part of rebellion against the authority of God’s word that forbids such practices. False religion is rebellion against God. Some false religions will not openly claim to do these things and have creeds against them but will practice them in secret. Any rebellion against God’s word will eventually lead to these things.

Man was not created like cavemen. They were perfect but when they rebelled against God; then they could degenerate into men similar to what they call cave men. In the beginning they were brilliant. God doesn’t create junk. Many false religions are of course spiritual fornication or spiritual adultery. All idol worship is spiritual adultery against the true God. Most false religions especially those that use images and idols have literal fornication and rituals included in their worship. This is why many of the false gods were fertility gods and goddesses.

Baal worship came from this rebellion. Somehow it got into the Moabites. Moab was a descendant of Lot who was Abraham's nephew. Moab oppressed Israel on many occasions and sometimes with the help of God the Israelites defeated Moab. This king of Moab named Balak desired to curse them.

The devil tried to corrupt the seed of the woman from the very beginning. He used Cain to kill Abel. Idol worship that sacrifices virgins or take away the virginity of a virgin would help to keep the Christ child from being born of a virgin. God promised Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan. All attempts to cause sexual immorality in religion were an attempt to keep this from happening according to many early writers. After Christ came it stands to reason that Satan wants to destroy God’s new creation. (Those that have been made pure by the blood of the lamb).

Fornication and sexual immorality is a work of Satan to destroy the church. Firstborn children were sacrificed and virgins were defiled to prevent the coming of Christ. I will quote from a source from a book I have called the two Babylons and also can be found on many sources on the Internet one being Raymond Shockley's detailed description of this church on his previous site, "Moments in Bible Prophecy", which I don't think is available any longer since he went to be with the Lord. Here is his words:

“Just in case Satan wasn’t successful in stopping the promised virgin from having the promised son, he would cause the people to practice sacrificing the firstborn. If he couldn’t stop the arrival of the Son of God, then he would create counterfeit gods, goddesses, divine children and new religious systems. Why did the devil do this? If he couldn’t stop the Savior from coming, he could try to confuse the people about which Messiah is the genuine Messiah. Which religion is the genuine religion? Some religious variations are so similar they sound almost like Christianity. This is how the devil works. He mixes just enough of the truth with a lie to lead people away from the true Christ. The cultic image of Mother and Child is present in many cultures. The statue of Mary and Baby Jesus was actually the Mother Goddess and the Divine Child. The corrupted church is responsible for the renaming of the statues. It was common to see the goddess with a tower shaped headdress. This was associated with the tower of Babel because mother-goddess originated in Babylon. When you see the goddess Diana you will see the tower on her head representing Babel. Also, you will see a gross exaggeration of multiple breasts representing fertility. The stag that you will see as well represents Nimrod.”

One explanation of who the Nicolaitanes were: The Nicolaitanes started having the clergy dress different than the rest of the congregation. They brought a pagan mass into worship and began to lord over and dominate the people.

Jesus hated this doctrine. It took away what He died to save us from. The priesthood was changed when Jesus died and rose again. He now is our high priest. There is no other.

When Jesus said "Who taught Balac before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication" according to some researchers, He was referring to the style of mass used in this church. The Lord's Supper or Communion is what we eat as a part of our worship. How does it become a thing sacrificed unto idols? Some older Christian doctrines teaches when a priest prays the words "hocus es corpus menus" over the bread it actually becomes the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. It becomes therefore, a living God. This of course is scientifically impossible. The phrase some have used, hocus pocus came from the words of the priest.

Some go behind a screen to do this because your eyes are not to see Christ turn into the bread. The priest then takes the bread and prays over it. He tells the people the bread is alive.They actually sacrifice Christ over and over many times throughout the world by this practice.

When we do things like this we are saying that Jesus' death on the cross was not good enough. God's perfect plan is good enough. The bread is not alive. It’s only bread that symbolizes His sacrifice. Christ said they were eating things sacrificed unto idols. We must not add to or take away from God's plan of salvation which is perfect. Communion is to be done in memory of what Christ did for us. It is symbolic. It is not to be taught as the bread turning into His actual body.

I want to talk a little about actual fornication and how it harms us today. In this day of rampant sexual immorality, it is very hard for us to understand the danger of fornication and adultery and how it defiles us.

• 1Corinthians 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.
• 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
• 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
• 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
• 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
• 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We are temples of the Holy Ghost. To commit fornication is to defile that temple. To commit spiritual fornication is the same thing. When we serve idols, compromise with sin and allow ourselves to return to the things Christ delivered us from it is the same as a man or woman breaking their marriage vows and cheating on their spouses.

We are breaking the covenant we made with God when we first were saved then later we add to His perfect plan the works, rituals or traditions that are substituted in place of the real worship in the spirit and in the truth. Study the word itself and make up our own minds as we seek God. Actually when a priest or leader does those things described in this Pergamos church, they are doing the worship in place of those that are watching. We all need to worship God but not that way. The bible shows us the true worship in the book of Acts. Pray, seek, sing, listen, read and never stop.

As Satan used fornication to keep the Christ child from coming by way of a virgin to fulfill prophecy, he uses fornication to defile the temples of the Holy Ghost and make us unfit for the kingdom of God. Paul stressed many times for Gentile Christians to keep themselves from idolatry and fornication. These were serious sins that would destroy them as temples of the Holy Ghost. If any do these things there is a place for repentance but repentance means to change, return back to God’s way and sin no more. It doesn’t mean that we can go sin again and then confess to a priest and be okay. To be forgiven of sin is to forsake the sin. We see heroic figures on Television and in the movies commit fornication with different women and then go out and save a whole town or city from the “bad guys”. This puts the thought in our children that the fornication they did must be okay since they were what we consider the “good guys.”

Balaam taught Balak to cast a stumbling block in the way of the children of Israel to cause them to sin. Then God Himself would curse them and Balaam would get his reward. He desired the wages of unrighteousness. The worship of idols brings with them a great deception.

When people began to set up statues in their temples and proclaimed them gods they are promised to receive great blessings and power in this life. The mind is a powerful thing. Under the power of suggestion a person can be told repeatedly that something is going to happen and the mind will begin to believe. When someone walked through the doors of one of those temples some have said that they got knocked off their feet by a mind miracle. They could feel a presence they mistakenly thought was God. If we insist on doing forbidden things, God will allow it but we will be deceived. If we desire to see great miracles and see great things happen without coming by way of the blood of Jesus, we can easily be deceived into believing a lie. This also may be an attempt to mimic real miracles that come through the power of the Holy Spirit. The difference is that signs that follow those that believe and follow Christ will lead people To Jesus, not a subsitute. True miracles from God will lead us into holy living not fornication.

If we reject the word of truth contained in the bible, we open ourselves up to being a lie spoken of in the book of Thessalonians.

Here are five characteristics of the doctrine of Balaam This doctrine has five distinct qualities that should claim our attention.

1. It is fascinating
2. It despises government
3. It is a stumbling block
4. It teaches to eat things sacrificed to idols
5. It teaches to commit fornication

To fascinate means to bewitch, captivate or enchant. This is what false religion will do. It charms the deceived. They will still feel religious and think they are worshipping the real God. This doctrine pretends to be a doctrine from God.

According to Jude this is a doctrine that despises government.

• Jude 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
• 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
• 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
• 11 Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
• 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about by winds; withered autumnal trees, without fruit, twice dead, plucked out by the roots;
• 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Core was Korah in the Old Testament who rebelled against the authority of Moses. So part of the doctrine of Balaam is to refuse godly authority. Even though God forbade Balaam to curse the children of Israel, he tried to find a way around the word of God and do it anyway for reward or gain. Cain came to God with a sacrifice that was unacceptable. He was the first to practice false worship. His heart was not right and He was in rebellion against the authority of God. He wanted to come to God his way instead of God’s way.

We see here a contrast. This church was beginning to depart from godly authority and allowed false religion to enter. At the same time they were coming under the authority of the Nicolaitanes which would rule them with a heavy hand and bring about doctrines of men instead of God.
There were some among them that were rebelling against godly authority and coming under a rebellious authority and false teaching. God's law is plain about idolatry, fornication and covetousness which are also idolatry without actual images. Any religion or church that practices these things are going against God’s word.

Church members who refuse to hear the warnings of a good pastor, who preaches the truth from the bible, are guilty of despising government. When we disobey the law of the land it also falls into this category. If we have the attitude, "God told me it was okay so it doesn't matter what the bible says, I believe it is okay." That is despising government or godly authority.

If we read any church history or history of cults, when they depart from the truth they do get into fornication and adultery along with spiritual fornication and adultery. It happens over and over again. To depart from the truth and throw out the word of God will lead first to spiritual adultery and then to actually physical adultery even when the church teachings that are on the books still forbid it. Sometimes only a few partake of this but sometimes a whole church will partake of this.

• 2Corinthans 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
• 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
• 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
• 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you;

Fornication has increased in alarming numbers among the church. Divorce has increased. There is no fear of God. Again idolatry is spiritual fornication but literal fornication is common place in today's church. The doctrine of being saved and then living a life of holiness has virtually disappeared but it is still what the word of God teaches.

Usually people who teach false doctrine will appear to be super spiritual, miracle workers and such. Later they may try to usurp the authority of the pastor. Of course there are cases that the pastor is a deceiver but sometimes someone who appears to be super spiritual will try to take over the church and lead people away from the pastor. People who follow them are deceived into thinking the new leaders are more spiritual than the pastor. I'm so glad God gave us the word in written form so that we can have something to compare what is going on in today's church world with what the word says.

In contrast to the church of Ephesus who held to strict doctrine and did not allow false teachers, this church began to allow compromise, false teaching, and the beginning of what we can call the "sinning Christians", the sipping saints, and you can be saved and still sin as long as you believe in Jesus doctrine.

• Revelation 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.

The Ephesians church reject the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes but this church embraced it. I will repeat the two meanings: “Nicolaitanes” means “Victorious over the people; a follower of Nicolaus, a heretic” or “to conquer the laity” . nikos - to conquer, laos” - where our word “laity” comes from.

Jesus hates this doctrine because it takes away from trusting in Him alone for salvation. When we try to control other people's behavior by threats or suppression, we rob them of trusting and serving Christ because He died for their sins, forgave their sins and sent His Holy Spirit into them to conquer sin in the future. In other words we rob them of seeking God for themselves and developing a personal individual relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a great robbery in deed when we do that.

Another meaning that I use to believe but am now leaning toward my first meaning above is: Nicolaitanes: They were seemingly a class of professing Christians, who sought to introduce into the church a false freedom or licentiousness, thus abusing Paul's doctrine of grace. I will add here that this second meaning usually follows when one starts following man instead of Christ. DC

Letter to the Church of Thyatira