Another point
that lets us definitely know where this letter belongs;
"thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my
faith." When did they hold it fast? "Even in
those days when Antipas was my faithful martyr." So,
it has to be right in the midst of martyrs. Who was
Antipas? He was the pastor of the church at Pergamos.
Brother, when old Antipas was there, he held the standard
where she belonged. He said you didn't deny my faith, you
didn't deny my name in those days when Antipas was pastor,
but now I have something against you. Why? You have a
modern pastor now. When was the day, when they held on to
the faith and the name wherein Antipas was a faithful
martyr? He just didn't get killed with 'a bunch.' He was a
faithful martyr. He stood true to the thing. And, I
declare unto you, that many congregations in 'this day,'
have suffered havoc when an old faithful brother has
passed away. The very thing that I'm going to read farther
in 'this letter,' has happened all over our land. People
can look back to when a faithful man has stood on the wall
and has lifted the standard and has not denied the faith,
and did not deny the name, but now they have gone after
the doctrine of Balaam. "Thou holdest fast my name
and has not denied my faith, even in those days wherein
Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you
where satan dwellest." It gets pretty pointed.
"But I have a few things against thee, because thou
hast them there that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who
taught the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed
unto idols, and to commit fornication."
"I
have a few things against thee." Why? You have them
there right in the midst, who have gone after the doctrine
of Balaam. Balaam was a man of God. Balak was a king of
the Moabites. The Moabites were afraid of Israel, and
Israel's enemies were always afraid of them, when they
were obedient to God. The Moabites were afraid of Israel,
and knew they could not handle them, so the devil, working
through Balak, was going to work a way to clip Israel's
power. He was going to bring her down from that place,
from God's presence, and bring her to just an earthly
nation. They could handle her then. He sent over to Balaam
and sent different gifts. Balaam was all ready to
backslide. He said, "Oh, I cannot curse Israel (Boy
those are pretty gifts he has there)." And, every
time they would visit him, the temptation got stronger,
until, my friend, to make a long story short, that man of
God was down there getting ready to curse Israel. Somebody
said, "If it was wrong, why did God say, 'go ahead
with them?'" Brother, when God sees you want to go,
He will say, "Go ahead with them today." God saw
within Balaam's heart, that he wanted to go. He kept
saying, "I can't, I can't." God said, "Yes,
you can if you want to; go right ahead with them." A
lot of people think it is all right to do it because God
let them. He will not stop you. 'This' is a service of
love. God saw he wanted to go and He let him go. He got
down there and you know the story--the angel stood before
him and the ass wouldn't move. Now, what is that a lesson
of? Brother, when we get after something, other than that
which God has ordained and turn our minds to the gifts of
sin and the things of this world (this is a hard one)
Isaiah said, "We become dumber than an ass." Go
back and read the first chapter of Isaiah, verse 3.
"The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's
crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not
consider." What am I talking about?
The
angel of the Lord was trying to stop him and the ass could
see the angel, but Balaam could not. We are living in the
same kind of day and age. God is sending His ministry out
to stop a fallen ministry that is away from God. They are
actually going to curse Israel. What am I getting at? When
you yield yourself and go back to Babylon, and Babylonian
practices, you become a curse to the people of God. I
don't care if you have come from Israel's camp and have
been a man of God for 50 years. When he chose to go down
to the Moabite's camp and entertain a thought of working
up some kind of a league between Israel and the Moabites,
he was a curse to Israel, and the gifts blinded him so
that he could not see God's messenger when he was 'in the
way.' I declare that we are living in the very day and
age, when men of God have done the same thing. What are
they going after? They are going after the gifts, if you
please. That 'handle,' that they put on their name, or
something else, or a position and prestige. I know more
than one, who have given her up for prestige. Brother,
when you start after that gift, it will get in your eyes
so that you will never see a dozen angels, that God has
put in front of you, to warn you. Jude said, in the 11th
verse-- and he spoke of individuals, in a day and age in
which we live, "These are spots in your feasts of
charity." Woe be unto them! (All right Jude, I'm
putting 'a woe' on them, just as fast as I can.) Someone
said, "What do you think you are, a woe angel?"
Yes, when God wants me to be that way.
Woe
be unto them. Don't pat them on the back. Don't be a
partaker of their evil deeds. Put the Word of God on them.
Woe be unto them. They have gone the way of Cain. What are
you talking about? What did Cain do? Cain killed Abel
because Abel's smoke went up and his didn't. Brother, that
is the attitude that this old modern apostatizing ministry
has got today. They are out to get you. They will lie on
you. They will kill your influence and they will do any
thing, and when you get to the seat of the thing, all that
is the matter with them is, they are mad because your
smoke is going up and theirs is not. They have gone the
way of Cain. They have gone the way of Balaam, Jude said.
Someone says, "He was talking about a fallen ministry
in his day--it has repeated itself in the evening light.
Gone the way of Balaam. What? Gone after gifts and
'selling out' the people of God. Gone down there, my
friend, and when he got down there he got ready to curse
Israel, He could not curse them. Why? God said not to
curse that, which he said was blessed. In fact, He said
you cannot 'in one sense of the word.' Every time he got
ready to curse Israel, he started to prophesying. That
'tickles me' every time I read it. He got up, and
"I'm going to really put a curse on her now" and
God would touch his tongue and he would go to prophesying
about the glories of Christ. He started to prophesying the
third time, and he even got up to the star that would
appear over Israel and guide her to the sunshine. Numbers
the 25th chapter. Let us go back and read about it a
little. What did he do? He worked something that the Word
of God calls a stumbling block. He did not curse Israel.
God would not let him -- in that sense of just pronouncing
a curse on her. But he did something that was much worse.
And the Revelation tells us that 'this group right here,'
had those among them that had the doctrine of Balaam, that
allowed Balak to cast a stumbling block before the
children of God. How did he do it? The 25th chapter of
Numbers; let's get a type.
"And
Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit
whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the
people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people
did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined
himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel." He did not put an outward
curse on them. What did he do? Led them down close to the
Moabite camp. Go back and study the history of it. They
were 'way off' from it. God has always demanded a separate
people. The devil has always wanted to get the bloodline
mixed. He likes half-breeds. Balaam led them down close to
the camp of the Moabites and it was just a period of time
after they got down there that the Scripture said they
began to commit whoredom. Began to reach over into the
camp of the Moabites and marry the Moabite daughters, and
It was not long until those daughters had those Israelites
that worshipped the true God eating things sacrificed to
Idols and bowing down to an old Idol worship.
My
friend, where does the stumbling block lay? Right here is
the stumbling block. Many, many people trying to find the
true church, have stumbled over this thing. What do they
cause you to do, 'down there' in Babylon? They cause you
to eat things sacrificed unto idols. They cause you to
commit spiritual whoredom -- spiritual fornication. Can't
we see, my friend, that Christ built a church most
powerful. The devil had used idol worship and deception
and papalism. But, brother, when Christ came with the
power that he had with that church, you know what the
devil said? That church business really works. I'm going
to build me a church. And that is what he did right
through papalism. He built him a church and put him a head
over it, 'the man of sin,' the pope, the head over it.
That is the devils church. He built it contrary to God's
church, to fight against that church and that is why he
gave the beast his seat and authority.
The
devil said this thing works better than dragon power did.
I'm going to step down, you take it. When the truth began
to come out again, the devil saw that this thing wouldn't
fool all people, so he came along with a multiplicity. He
saw the old carnal nature that desired this and that and
the other. So what did he 'come up with?' -- with churches
of your choice. One last stumbling block, to try and keep
you from finding the truth of the matter, and getting back
to where God wants you to be. May we turn over here and
read the rest of the letter.
"So
hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will
come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth." We see that He gave old
Jezebel, which is old mystery Babylon the mother of
harlots, a space to repent. Here He said to repent, or
else I will come and fight you with the sword of my mouth.
They never repented and thank God, God has got a ministry
that is fighting her, with the sword of His mouth. Go on
and give Babylon the cup that is due her. God said 'right
here' in prophecy, that He would fight her with the sword
of His mouth, and that is what He is doing yet today. He
is not fighting this battle in a carnal way, with carnal
weapons, but, thank God, the true people of God are
fighting her with the Word of God. So we see, my friend,
the kingdom was under the earth right here, but it was to
come forth, and it is coming. We will get there after
while, to where she came forth in her visible form - and
what happened? Because we do not shake the tree often
enough today, we have got a lot of birds again. But we are
going through this last shaking time, and He is shaking
the tree again. And when He gets through, He said only
those things that cannot be shaken, or the true branches
-- this thing will never shake the branches off the vine.
You watch a tree in the wind. All that wind will do to a
tree that's thriving with sap in every branch, is to 'take
a greater hold.'
We
are in a 'shaking time,' If the Word of God 'shakes you
loose,' friend, you are not on the right foundation. It
won't even leave a bird's nest.
