Compromise

Compromise: Hell’s Trojan Horse

3/12/2008

Rev 2:12-17

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 stumblingblock 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 Nicolaitans, 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.

(KJV)

Intro.

• In 1871, an American named Heinrich Schliemann began excavating an ancient city in Turkey.

• To the amazement of many, this retired businessman had discovered the lost city of Troy.

• Today, you can still see the ruins of its towers and its walls, which were 16 feet thick.

• According to the Homer’s Illiad, the Greeks besieged Troy for ten years without success.

• After the death of the warrior Achilles, many wanted to give up the fight.

• But the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, came up with a plan to get the Greek army into Troy.

• Odysseus built an immense wooden horse. He and his warriors hid inside it.

• After leaving the horse at the gates of Troy, the Greek army sailed away.

• The Trojans thinking the Greeks had given up and had left the horse as a gift, brought it inside the gates.

• That night, while the Trojans were sleeping, the Greek ships quietly returned.

• The soldiers in the horse slipped out and opened the city gates.

• The Greek army quietly entered Troy and started fires all over the city.

• The Trojans awoke to find their city in flames.

• As they tried to flee, they were killed by the waiting Greeks.

• The story of the Trojan Horse and the fall of Troy have come to represent the subversion of anything from within.

• That is what was happening to the church at Pergamos.

• Whereas Satan was trying to crush the Smyrnan church by persecution from without, he was trying to collapse the Pergamos congregation through corruption from within.

• That is the way our enemy operates. He either tries to crush us with hardship and hostility or corrupt us with compromise.

• And we need to take heed to the fact that what ten years of outward assault on Troy was unable to accomplish was done in one night when the enemy was brought within the city.

• The Trojan Horse at Pergamos was what Jesus called the doctrine of Balaam.

• It became a stumbling block to the believers, leading them to accept idolatry and immorality while trying to maintain their distinctiveness as Christians.

• As we see from Scripture, the danger of the doctrine of Balaam is that it tries to wed the people of God to the ways of the world, and that is something that has never worked and will never work.

• God’s people are to be a peculiar people. God’s people are to be a distinct people.

1 Pet 2:9

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

(KJV)

2 Cor 6:17

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,

(KJV)

2 Cor 7:1

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

(KJV)

Eph 4:24

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

(KJV)

1Thes 4:7

7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

(KJV)

Heb 12:14

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

(KJV)

• God’s people are to be a separate people. Friendship with the world is not an option.