Stepping Off the King's Highway — Revelation 2:12–17

Name: Stepping Off the King's Highway — Revelation 2:12–17
Uploaded: 2026-09-14T21:00:46+00:00
Duration: 36 min 24 s
Channel: Medical Lake Community Church

00:00hopefully you've read the book Pilgrim's Progress. I mean, it was written a long time ago. I know if

00:04you pick it up now, it may be kind of hard with the old English. However, I think they have

00:08a

00:08new rendition of it in modern English, but it's a great story of Pilgrim's Progress. It's the story

00:13of Christian who goes from the city of destruction to the celestial city and all of the events that

00:18take place along the way. How he leaves the city of destruction with this large burden on his back

00:24and it's not till he comes to the cross where faith in Christ releases that burden and he's

00:30made a new creature in Christ Jesus. So, he's on the king's highway marching toward walking towards

00:37the celestial city and one of his co-laborers or co-workers with him was Hopeful and Hopeful was

00:43traveling along with him on the king's highway heading toward the celestial city. So, they're

00:49going along and I mean, it's the king's highway. So, I mean, it's the king's highway. It doesn't mean

00:55it's always flat. It doesn't mean it's always easy. However, it is the king's highway. So, as they're

01:02walking along, Christian looks over to the left and he sees this path that is paralleling the king's

01:08highway and the path is comfortable and the path is soft and the path is a path of least resistance

01:16that he's not getting on the king's highway. There's some struggle that he's going through on the king's

01:20highway. But this path over here looks like a path that he could and it just parallels the king's highway

01:25so he should be safe. So, they climb over the fence, get onto the path and it goes to

01:31Bypath Meadow is what Bunyan called it. And so, it was great for a while. It was easier, less resistance,

01:38but they soon noticed that the road began moving further and further away from the king's highway

01:45till eventually they realized they were clear over here and they needed to retrace their steps to get

01:51back to the king's highway. But in doing so, they're captured by the giant despair and thrown into the

01:57king and to his dungeon because they got off the king's highway. If Christian and Hopeful had not taken

02:05that first step into Bypath Meadow, they would have never ended up caught by giant despair and ended up in

02:12his dungeon. It reminds us and the text reminds us today that we need to guard against taking the

02:20first step in compromising our faith with the culture around us because the second step is much

02:27easier after you take the first one. If we walk away from the king's highway, we're going to be

02:35embracing and compromising with a culture that is not necessarily godly.

02:43And it always will lead us away from God.

02:47So, in Revelation chapter 2, we're going to be looking at the third church, Pergamon.

02:52We're going to see that even under intense persecution, do not compromise with the culture,

02:58but remain faithful, rejecting the temptation to conform to the culture. And that's what's

03:04happening in this church right now. Have you ever noticed how strong the pull is to get off of

03:11the king's highway to pull us off to another path? Have you sensed? I mean, this week I've sensed that

03:16pull, how strong it is that wants to get us off the king's highway. And it seems to be a

03:20parallel path,

03:21but eventually we realize we're way far away from the king's highway. So, the city is Pergamon.

03:28Pergamon. Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, and now that we're going to head down southeast as we go down and

03:35end up in Laodicea. So, in Pergamon was the royal imperial seat of government. So, the proconsul was

03:42there of the region. So, he was there. A lot of strange cult-like activities were taking place in

03:49Pergamon. We are told in the text that the throne of Satan's power was in this city.

03:56It also was the center of ancient medicine, Ecclipsius. He had a stick with a snake wrapped

04:04around it, physician's stick. And what he did is he merged traditional medicine with the occult

04:11and brought about healing. So, it was known as a healing center. Held one of the oldest libraries

04:17in the world, 200,000 volumes. The only larger library was Alexandria. So, this was a really,

04:22it was an intellectual university city. And atop the mountain was the great altar at Pergamon known

04:30as the altar of Zeus Sorter. And Sorter in Greek means savior. So, it's an altar to Zeus the savior.

04:40They sacrificed almost 24 hours a day on this altar. It was not a temple, but a place of sacrifice.

04:50You

04:51was on the relief as a depiction of the Greek gods fighting the giants. And I'm not sure who the

04:57giants are. I know who the Greek guards are, but I'm not sure who they were fighting. But on that

05:01relief, it's there. And you notice, it looks like a throne. The relief around there. Teresa and I got a

05:08chance to actually see that Pergamon Museum in Berlin. A German man found it. Archaeological dig,

05:15got permission from the Ottoman government to take it to Berlin. And we got to see some of the

05:18reliefs of that. It looks like a throne. So, it became the center of imperial cult worship,

05:25where you worship the emperor. And it was known for its parchment paper called Pergamon that they

05:30made. So, the destination, to whom is Jesus addressing this particular letter right here,

05:36this particular section? The destination is Pergamon. And to the angel, verse number 12 of chapter 2,

05:43to the angel of the church, again, the angel is the messenger, probably the pastor of the church,

05:47to the angel of the church in Pergamon, write the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

05:54And again, he's pulling out of chapter 1, one of the designations about himself, the sharp two-edged

05:59sword. Sharp two-edged sword. This sharp two-edged sword speaks of judgment. Think of a sword as

06:06judgment. But it also speaks about the Word of God. Or you could combine the two. You could say judgment

06:12by the Word of God or judgment through the Word of God. So, it speaks of judgment and it speaks

06:17of

06:17the Word of God. In the Revelation and in Hebrews, we see two definitions of this. Revelation 19,

06:23from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nation. So, that's judgment. And he

06:28will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of

06:33God,

06:33the Almighty. And in Hebrews, we see that it's a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the

06:38heart the Word of God is. For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged

06:43sword,

06:44piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of morrow, and discerning the thoughts

06:48and intentions of the heart. So, the sword of justice has two sides, discerning the truth,

06:55that's Hebrews, and then punishing evil, that's the book of the Revelation. So, it's judgment by or

06:59through the Word of God. So, Jesus is going to use this sword to encourage his people and punish those

07:06who are fighting against him. Remember, this is his church. And things are going on in his church

07:11that we're going to see are not pleasing to him. He's going to fight against to keep his church pure.

07:18So, we have here a commendation. Jesus knows his church and he knows what she's experiencing.

07:25Look at the commendation, something good. Verse number 13,

07:29I know where you dwell. I know where you live. I'm familiar with it. Where Satan's throne is,

07:36yet you hold fast my name, my teaching, my character, my gospel, and you did not deny my

07:43faith or faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you,

07:50where Satan dwells. Twice, the throne of Satan, and then where Satan dwells. Obviously, it's an issue.

07:57Obviously. Because this throne is not a throne. It is a specific throne. In the text, it's called

08:03the throne. And the readers to this would know exactly what John is talking about. You and I may

08:09have questions exactly what it is, but they knew in that day exactly what that throne was.

08:14Some examples of possibilities are the temple of Augusta and Roma, possibly a temple. The great

08:21throne altar that we saw, a throne-like altar of Zeus, Soter, that's a possibility of Satan's throne.

08:26Could be the temple of Asclepius, linked with the symbol of the snake, and Satan is also attached

08:32to the symbol of the snake. Could be that. Or it could be just the bema seat where the procouncil

08:36rules from the bema seat. I'm leaning toward the altar of Zeus, for it was a place where sacrifices

08:43were offered. It was a place where people were worshiping, and I think that probably fits better.

08:50Satan was the one who's causing the problem here in Pergamon. Satan is energizing people to cause

08:57the problem. And it says, my faithful witness. That witness is the same word for martyr.

09:05Same word, exact same word, martyr in the Greek. It means someone who gave the ultimate witness by

09:11laying down their life for Jesus' name. Him martyr, my faithful witness. And apparently those days that

09:19he was alive, it says those days, and the days, those days must have been some bad days

09:25surrounding the martyrdom. Antipas must have been super difficult. However, no matter how difficult

09:30it was, they did not deny faith in Jesus. They held fast to him. Their church refused to offer

09:37incense on the altar and say, Caesar is Lord and God. They wouldn't do that. Antipas paid a price for

09:42that. We don't know a lot about him, but we're told from tradition, from stories of history,

09:48that they arrested him. They took him and they placed him inside a large brass bowl, image of a

09:57bowl. They placed him inside, shut the hatch door and built a fire underneath it and roasted him alive.

10:05My faithful witness, he was willing to give his life for the message of the gospel for Jesus.

10:15Two charges, the risen Christ gives towards his church here. Two charges with a two-edged sword,

10:22he levels against his church. Look at verses 14 and 15. Here's the rebuke. But I have a few things

10:30against you. In other words, this was great. You were faithful. You didn't offer, but there's a couple

10:35of things I need to talk to you about. You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam,

10:40who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food

10:46sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the

10:53Nicolaitans. So you have teachings of Balaam and the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Here's a problem,

10:58the rebuke. What we need to notice is that the danger for the church of Pergamon was from within,

11:05not from without coming. It was inside the church. There are people inside the church teaching the

11:11teachings of Balaam about practicing idolatry and sexual immorality. In other words, there's people

11:17in the church accusing you, or actually say encouraging you to be part of what's happening

11:24in the culture. I mean, everyone else is doing it. Just participate with them. It's okay.

11:32They were in the church. It's not like outside the church telling us they were inside the church.

11:37Who's this Balaam guy? Who's this? Maybe you remember a little story in the Old Testament,

11:41but who is this Balaam? Balaam was an opponent and a seducer of God's people. He was opposed to

11:47God's people and he brought in a seduction for God's people. Numbers 31 says, behold, these on Balaam's

11:58advice caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident

12:03of Peor. And so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. So by his advice,

12:09he brought in sexual immorality to the people of Israel, which caused a destruction of 24,000 people

12:14on that day. He was a, I don't think he was a prophet of the Lord. However, God did speak

12:21through

12:21him. God did speak. And in fact, you remember the story he's going along, the angel of the Lord's

12:26there with the, with the sword and the donkey's riding on the donkey and the donkey presses him

12:30against the wall. And Balaam smacks a donkey. And then, and then the donkey opens up and starts

12:35talking to him. And Balaam has a conversation with the donkey. And you're going, is that normal?

12:40Do you normally talk to your donkey? I mean, he didn't seem like he, so that's the story of Balaam,

12:45but he's going and he wants to curse Israel. He's hired to use his gift of prophecy to curse Israel,

12:51but God wouldn't let him do it. He wouldn't let him curse Israel. He blessed Israel.

12:56God interceded for his people. In fact, the writers in the new Testament, Jude and Peter

13:01talks about Balaam. Woe to them for they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the

13:07sake of gain to Balaam's heir. In other words, did something, use their gift for money and perished

13:13in Korah's rebellion. And second Peter forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed

13:18the way of Balaam, the son of Beor who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own

13:24transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrains the prophet's madness.

13:30So we have people in the church teaching it's okay to participate in idolatry and it's okay to

13:36have sexual immorality. It's all right. Listen, everyone else is doing it. So the two charges were

13:42participate in idolatry. That's the first one. Participate in idolatry and say, well, how would you,

13:48none of us, none of us have idols in our house and some of them may have when they came

13:52to faith,

13:52but you're asking, how would they participate in idols when they know there's only one true and

13:56living God? Here's the situation. In those days, meat was taken to the temples and sacrificed to

14:03some idol. The priest got a small portion of it. The rest was taken to the marketplace and sold to

14:09anyone who wanted to buy it. So if you went to the marketplace to buy meat, most likely that meat

14:15had

14:15been sacrificed in a temple to some idol. And so the question is in those days, what do you do?

14:21Do you eat

14:21the meat? Do you not eat the meat? What's the price? What should I do? What should I do? What

14:26if you're

14:26invited to an unbeliever's house for dinner and they're serving meat that's been sacrificed to an

14:31idol? What am I supposed to do? Well, Paul told the Corinthians about this because it's an issue in

14:36the first century. If any of the unbelievers invite you to dinner and you are disposed to go,

14:41eat whatever is set before you without raising any questions on the ground of conscience.

14:47So they provide food for you. Don't ask, hey, did this come from the temple? Don't ask.

14:53But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it for the sake

14:59of

14:59the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. So in other words, if someone tells you,

15:03hey, this has been offered to an idol, well, see, look, you know, I can't, I'm not going to participate

15:07in that. So if they tell you, say, no, I can't participate in that. For the conscience is actually

15:11the person who's, who's, who's invited you to dinner. So idolatry was a big thing in those days.

15:17It was, it was attached to the meat that they eat in the, in the, in the marketplace. And the

15:21second

15:22one was to commit sexual immorality, commit sexual immorality. Often in the old Testament,

15:29idolatry is seen as sexual immorality or prostitution. You say, well, why would that be?

15:35Because Israel was married to God. God was their husband. And every time they moved away from God

15:41and worshiped idols, they were committing spiritually, spiritual adultery against their

15:46husband. And you know, as well as I do, that Jesus has called his church, his bride. We are his.

15:54When we step outside of that relationship and begin middling around with idols, we're committing

16:00spiritual adultery and they're linked together. Often in the old Testament, look at Jeremiah chapter

16:05two. For long ago, I broke your yoke and burst your bonds. God speaking to Israel, but you said,

16:12I will not serve. Yes. On every high Hill and under every green tree, you bowed down like a whore.

16:20Sorry. That's in the Bible. They were bowing down in worship of idols and they were committing like

16:27adultery, like a whore. And even in that day, in the first century, in temples, pagan temples,

16:34they have what's known as temple prostitutes. And you would go in as an act of service, as an act

16:40of worship to whatever small G God that you're serving. And you would engage with a temple

16:45prostitute as an act of spiritual worship. So you see how it's connected together, even in their minds,

16:53idolatry, sexual immorality. So the teaching of Balaam encouraged a progressive teaching of

16:58accommodating to the culture around them. Pagan festivals, meat sacrifice to idols.

17:05This teaching encouraged Christians to attend cultural festivals and participate in the cultural

17:12lifestyle without discernment. That's important. Without discernment. The church had compromised

17:18with pagan morality, causing some to depart from biblical faith and thus corrupting the church from

17:23within. Warren Wiersbe said, the congregation or the individual Christian that compromises with the

17:30world just to avoid suffering or achieve success is committing spiritual adultery and being unfaithful

17:36to the Lord. So this is seen together. Idolatry and sexual immorality are seen together.

17:42Leon Moore says, it is more likely that both referred to idolatrous practices, feasting on sacrificial

17:48meat and licentious conduct, which is sexual immorality, were usual accompaniments of the

17:53worship of idols, both in the Old and the New Testament. Numbers 25. While Israel lived in Chittim,

18:00the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of

18:06their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. That's how it happens. The culture around

18:13them sucked them in to go over and bow down and worship to idols when God is the one leading

18:18around in the wilderness. Why would they do that? Michael Wilcox said, for some, the temptation is

18:24too strong and they give way. Compromise creeps in. The distinction between the church and the world

18:31is blurred. There's too much tolerance, too little discipline. That's an important statement. Too much

18:37tolerance, too little discipline. So Satan was seducing the church of Pergamum with questions

18:44like, what's the harm in it? What's the harm in it? What's the harm in placing a little bit of

18:51incense onto an eye, onto an incense thing to burn to the emperor claiming he's lording? You know he's

19:00not lording God, but what's the big deal? I mean, why can't you just do that? You'll keep your job

19:04if you do that. But just be friendly with worldly powers. Just be friendly with worldly powers.

19:13Yeah, but that's not what John said. John said this in 1 John, do not love the world or the

19:18things in

19:19the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is

19:24in the

19:24world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from

19:30the

19:30Father, but it's from the world. Come on, just embrace worldly powers and just yield to them.

19:37Even if they're telling you to violate God's law, don't worry about it. And he's saying also, hey,

19:43everyone else is doing it. Why not you? Come on, your neighbor's doing it. Your friend at work is

19:49doing it. Your buddy, they're all doing it. Why can't you do it? Everyone else is doing it.

19:56Peter addressed this, and I love what Peter said. Listen to what he said. For the time that has

20:00passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. This is what they want to do. Living in

20:06sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this,

20:15in other words, all those things he just mentioned, with respect to this, they are surprised when you do

20:20not join them in the same flood of debauchery. In other words, nope, that's not, I can't do that.

20:28And they malign you, but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and

20:34the

20:34dead. That's in Peter's day. That's in our day too. You're a good person at work. Why won't you

20:39participate in this? No, I can't. This would violate what God asked me to do. I cannot do that. And

20:43then

20:43they make fun of you and they mock you and they malign you. So if we're supposed to be careful

20:49of the

20:49culture around us, what should we be looking for? What's the trends in the culture in America in

20:572026 that we ought to be paying attention to in the area of sexual immorality? So I need to say

21:04up

21:04front, not everything in our culture is ungodly. It's not like we're antisocial. We just leave our

21:10culture and don't go. Not everything in our culture is ungodly. We have to have the ability

21:16to discern what is right and what is wrong. It's not all ungodly. There's a lot of good things in

21:22our, especially American culture, a lot of good things in our culture. So we don't just abandon

21:27culture, but we abandon those trends that are pushing us towards sexual immorality or adultery.

21:32We said, we're not going to go there. We can't do that. Idolatry, that's not a problem for me. I

21:37don't

21:38have an idol in my house. Well, it was a problem in the first century. Look at what John said

21:44at the end

21:45of first John, last verse. In fact, it was known that when John finished speaking anywhere he spoke,

21:51he would say these words right here, these exact words, little children, keep yourselves from idols.

21:56It's obviously a problem then. It's a problem for us today too. Say, but I don't have an idol in

22:01my

22:02house. Did you know that covetousness is idolatry? No. Yeah. Colossians, look what Paul said.

22:12He said, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, that which comes from Adam, sexual immorality,

22:19impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Well, what is covetousness? Well,

22:28Youngblood and Stapleton define it as an intense desire to possess something or someone that belongs

22:34to another person. More broadly, it encompasses an unreasonable desire for what we do not possess,

22:41extending beyond material goods to include honors, manifesting as pride, and fleshly desires.

22:49In fact, when you look at the 10 commandments, the last one, it says, do not covet your neighbor's

22:53house or your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's servants or your neighbor's cattle. Don't covet it.

22:58Why? Because that's idolatry. It's saying, God, you're not giving me what I deserve. I deserve this

23:04and I want it. I want my neighbor's house and I want my neighbor's wife and I want my neighbor's

23:07cattle.

23:08No, that's idolatry. Whatever you love and devote your time, energy, and money to can become your God.

23:19Money, position, power, self, even other people can become a God.

23:29Now, what about sexual immorality as a trend in our nation? Micah Campbell said, remember Doris Day,

23:35Doris Day movies? He said, whatever happened to the Doris Day movies when an unwelcome kiss

23:40received a slap in the face? Doesn't happen today. In fact, Micah goes on and says, if people who lived

23:48a hundred years ago could see what we call entertainment today, they would be shocked. Sex, foul language,

23:54and violence were unspeakable in those days. Now, our kids are growing up in a world so vile that what

24:00was once detestable in the sight of family, neighbors, and God is now considered normal.

24:06So let me add social media into there as well, not just television.

24:12So what are some patterns in America, trends in 2026 America? Number one is this,

24:16casual sex is still very common. However, the youngest generation seems to be moving away from

24:23that, which is interesting. However, it's still very common. See, sex is not seen as between a

24:28husband and wife in the intimacy of a covenant of marriage. It's seen like something people do,

24:33like, hey, let's go play a round of golf. That's how it's viewed. There's no intimacy in it. It's

24:38simply the act together that two people do for the individual pleasure. No intimacy,

24:43no covenant of marriage. It's just casual. And it causes problems.

24:50Greg Askimopoulos, hopefully I pronounced his name correctly, was saying that the Illinois

24:55Department of Natural Resources reports that more than 17,000 deer die each year after being struck

25:01by motorists on state highways. According to Paul Shelton, state wildlife director, the peak season for

25:07road kills is in the late fall. Why? The bucks are in rut in November. They're concentrating almost

25:16exclusively on reproductive activities and are a lot less wary than they normally would be.

25:23Deer aren't the only one destroyed by preoccupation with sex.

25:30It's all over the place. You know it. You see it. You're aware of it. You see it. And it's

25:35pulling us

25:36away from the king's highway. Oh, come on. Everyone else is doing it. It's okay. Some other trends in

25:43America in 2026. Sexual health is increasingly framed as part of overall well-being. In other

25:48words, if I don't have sex, I'm going to die. I can't be healthy if I don't have sex all

25:52the time.

25:52So that's the idea in the American mind is so they're out having sex. Casual sex is common

25:57because that's part of my well-being. It's not just reproduction. It's my well-being.

26:02Here's one that we need to consider, and it's going to probably get worse.

26:07AI-generated sexual material are expanding the meaning of intimacy.

26:14I was scrolling through X last week, and I ran across a service, I guess you would call it. I

26:20don't

26:20know if you call it a service, but all they asked you to do is upload two photos. They would

26:26take

26:27those two photos, and they would create a movie scene of those two people kissing.

26:34All you got to do is put it in the picture. Two people, and it creates a scene of kissing.

26:39In the schools, we have high schoolers taking photos of their friends or girls and then taking

26:45them to AI and putting naked bodies on them. This stuff is coming. AI can be a wonderful boon to

26:53our civilization or a complete disaster. And also lastly, non-monogamy and polygamy are increasing.

27:03Non-monogamy and polygamy are increasing in America. Thropples.

27:10There's actually a website, and I highly recommend you do not go there. Obviously, I cannot tell you

27:15what to do, but it's called the Liberated Christian Website. Roland Croucher tells us about this.

27:22It's professionally presented, devoted to the freeing up of conventional Christian attitudes

27:28towards sexuality, nudity, monogamy, etc. Thousands visit the website daily. It's a website

27:35that encourages Christians to be open to swinging and claims that the Bible isn't against a lifestyle

27:42of sexual freedom with multiple partners. Inside the church, guard against taking the first step

27:53and compromising with the culture for the second step is much easier.

28:00So this teaching of Balaam, teaching of the Nicolaitans seem to have the same results.

28:04We're not quite sure exactly what the teaching of the Nicolaitans are, but it seems to have the same results.

28:10At Ephesus, the church hated the works of the Nicolaitans. Here, this church has them in their midst.

28:16They haven't gotten rid of them. They're there in the midst of the church.

28:20So now they need to change the way, to change the way that they think, the way that they view

28:24culture.

28:25Look at verse 16.

28:28Therefore, repent. Start thinking differently about these things.

28:32Start thinking differently about idolatry and sexual immorality.

28:37Repent. If not, I will come to you soon, suddenly, and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

28:43Here again, the sword is brought back up again as judgment.

28:47Repent. Repent. You can't live any way. You can't live any longer in this sin.

28:51Change the way you think. I'm going to come, and I'm going to bring judgment.

28:54It will come soon.

28:56If they don't repent, Jesus is going to come and fight against those committing idolatry and sexual immorality in the

29:02church.

29:03He wants his church pure.

29:05He's going to fight against them.

29:08See, the church must fear Christ's sword more and not the sword of the Roman pro-council.

29:15Be thinking about him, not about the Roman pro-council.

29:19Now, a dual promise awaits the believers at Pergamon.

29:24Dual, verse 17.

29:26He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

29:29Again, that's just a reminder. This is for churches of all time, so the churches will be aware what could

29:34happen in a church.

29:36To the one who conquers, overcoming one, the conquering one, I will give some of the hidden manna,

29:42and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows

29:48except the one who receives it.

29:51So, two rewards here. Two rewards.

29:55And we'll let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

29:57So, the verse says hidden manna.

29:59What is, well, we know what manna was, right?

30:01Manna came down at night on the ground.

30:03It was in the morning. They went and collected it, and they ate manna while they were traveling around the

30:07wilderness.

30:07So, we know what the manna was.

30:09But what sense is it hidden?

30:11How is it hidden manna?

30:14So, it could be that it's reserved for believers who enter the eternal ages.

30:19It's just for believers and not for the rest of the world.

30:22It could be that it's restored in heaven, symbolizing Christians being rewarded with eternal life or fellowship with the God

30:29of heaven.

30:30Or the hidden manna could be the resurrected Christ who's ascended, hidden from our view right now, who's promising to

30:37come again.

30:39Jews put it like this.

30:40As the first Redeemer brought the manna down, so the second Redeemer will bring the manna down.

30:46It could be Jesus, the hidden manna.

30:47It could be.

30:48See, Jesus said, I am the bread of life in John 6.

30:51I am the bread of life.

30:53Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

30:56This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

31:00I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

31:02If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

31:05And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh.

31:09So, it could be Jesus, the hidden manna.

31:12There's also another possibility.

31:14If you remember the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat on top, inside the Ark of the Covenant

31:19were Aaron's rod that budded and a golden urn full of manna, hidden in the Ark of the Covenant and

31:28the mercy seat on top, which God says that is his throne.

31:36What he's saying, ultimately, is Jesus invites all believers to the true joy of the banquet of heaven, whatever this

31:44hidden manna is, whatever.

31:47The manna, the heavenly food of Israel, is contrasted with the meat sacrificed to idols.

31:52So, you got one side and you got the other side.

31:55Then we have this white stone.

31:57What is this white stone?

31:59What could that be?

32:00What's the meaning of the white stone?

32:02Well, it's uncertain.

32:03I can't say dogmatically what it could be.

32:05Here's some options.

32:07Number one, if you're at a trial and the judge is going to acquit you of the trial, in other

32:14words, you're not guilty, he'll place a white stone in the basket.

32:18If he thinks you're guilty, he'll place a black stone in the basket.

32:22Maybe acquittal.

32:24Jesus has died for us and acquitted us before the Father, perhaps.

32:28Stones were also used to entrances to festivals.

32:31In other words, if you're having a party at your house and you only want 20 people to come, you

32:35would hand out the stones to the 20 people.

32:38If they would come to your house, present the stone to you, you would be allowed to come in.

32:42Entrance into festivals.

32:43Okay?

32:45Possibly also the high priest, remember the Jewish high priest, had a breastplate on with 12 stones of the children

32:51of Israel, 12 total.

32:53Those stones were over the heart of the high priest.

32:57Jesus, our high priest, has us on his heart.

33:00Could be another way of looking at it.

33:03Even though we're not exactly sure what the white stone is, it is some assurance of blessing.

33:09It is a blessing, this white stone.

33:13In the ancient world, we have a name written on it.

33:16In the ancient world, a person's name was their whole person, their character, who they were.

33:20You set the name that reminded you of who they were, the person.

33:24And the new name now represents the new character, the new nature of the person who received it at salvation.

33:30And this is a secret name.

33:33Someday, when I get this white stone, it'll have a name on there.

33:37My name.

33:37I'm not sure what it is.

33:39I don't know.

33:40But it would be my name that he gave me.

33:42He says, you're mine.

33:44And you'll have a white stone with your name on it.

33:47And it's secret.

33:48Only you know what it is.

33:49It's something between you and your God.

33:52This white stone.

33:55God has given believers new characters known only to God and the person.

34:00And it is a precious name, whatever that may be.

34:03Okay, so what do we take away here?

34:05What do we take away?

34:06Well, walking with Jesus comes with a price to pay.

34:10Antipas knows that.

34:12We saw that last week also in Samaritan.

34:14There's a price to pay for walking with Jesus.

34:17We don't associate with those things that are contrary to the word of God.

34:21We can participate in culture, but not those things that are contrary to the word of God.

34:26We have to say, no, I'm not going to do that.

34:28And they'll malign us and they'll joke about us and they'll make fun of us.

34:31I don't care.

34:33Walking with Jesus comes with a price to pay.

34:36Two, do not compromise with the world in idolatry and sexual immorality.

34:40Remember, covetousness is idolatry.

34:43Denying biblical teaching.

34:45Say no.

34:47And you, through the Spirit's power, have the ability to resist that.

34:53Third, the believer has a new name, a new nature, a new character.

34:58Live daily in the new person and not the old.

35:02Someday you'll get that stone with your name written on it.

35:06Your special name that God has for you.

35:08I wonder what it will be.

35:10All I know is it's going to be glorious as he hands me the white stone

35:14and allows me to feed on the hidden manna in his eternal banquet in heaven.

35:19Let's pray.

35:20Father, thank you.

35:22Thank you for this text.

35:25Jesus had some issues with his church.

35:27However, they were faithful.

35:28Even when tough times came, they would not yield to their culture.

35:32And Antipas died for his faith.

35:35Thank you for that testimony of him.

35:36But I pray for us that we would guard against allowing idolatry and sexual immorality to come

35:43within the church and to be broadcast from the church out.

35:46That these are acceptable practices.

35:49We want our sexual ethics to be aligned with your word, Father.

35:52We want to do exactly what you have asked us to do and not do what you've forbidden us to

35:58do.

35:59And so, Father, I pray as we're walking the King's Highway, please, please let us reject the temptation

36:06to go by Bypath Meadow where it's easy, comfortable, and less resistance.

36:13Thank you for what you've done.

36:15And thank you the Celestial City is at the end of the King's Highway.

36:19For that's what we're all longing for.

36:22We pray in Jesus' name.

36:23Amen.

36:24Amen.

Stepping Off the King's Highway — Revelation 2:12–17

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