Watch Out

Revelation 2:12-17

I-10 in Louisiana was one of the most horrendous highways in the United States in the late 90s, and it still is today. You spend more time dodging potholes than looking at the beautiful scenery. Each pothole is unique; you might have one that takes only a tire, and another that takes your entire vehicle. Some can even rearrange your spine or cause you to have a TBI. I have driven on fields that were smoother and less treacherous than the roads in Louisiana. In Indiana, we would call some of their potholes sinkholes. It is an actual adventure; your passengers help you navigate while screaming, “Watch Out!”

We laugh, and rightly so, until it causes damage or an accident. The same is true of stumbling blocks that have crept into the Church. How many of us have heard something like, “That family is the family that runs the church.” Or what about this, “That is the patriarch who decides what is preached, taught, and how the money is spent.” One more, “If you upset that person, you will be asked to leave.” Sometimes teachings or beliefs can create stumbling blocks. “Order needs to be welcome, song, announcement, three more songs, offertory, message, and invitation.” Do not deviate from that order! We do not believe in raising hands or singing a chorus seven times. Let some hymns have you sing the same chorus four times. We hold to teachings that man has created rather than those inspired by the Holy Spirit from His Word. The sharp two-edged sword refers to the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 notes that “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The apostle Paul also uses the metaphor of a sword to describe the Word (Eph. 6:17). That the sword is two-edged depicts the Word’s potency and power in exposing and judging the innermost thoughts of the human heart.

Hebrews 4:12 NASB95

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ephesians 6:17 NASB95

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I promise you there were absolutely zero Baptists in the Upper Room! There were no denominations in the Upper Room! There was only the Church that the Lord had established.

The early Church faced the same issues we do today. Jesus rebuked the Church of Pergamum because they strayed from His teachings and allowed teachings that were stumbling blocks. Christ gives three detailed instructions for them and us. The first instruction in “Watching Out” is that Christ already knows. The second instruction in “Watching Out” is that Christ commands repentance. The last instruction in “Watching Out” is that Christ is giving us a new name.

Christ Knows:

Growing up, my dad would always say, “I know what you did.” In my mind, I am thinking, how does he know what I did when he was not there? It baffled me. But he did not know; it was his way of getting information out of me. I promise you, I have told on myself more times than I can remember. That is when I learned I would be a horrible crook. I would not be able to withstand police interrogations.

But there is One who does know all we do. He knew it before the foundation of the earth. He sees us from end to beginning (Job 28:24; 34:21; Hebrews 4:13; Psalm 103:14). He also knows our good deeds and how we have stayed Faithful to Him.

Job 28:24 NASB95

“For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.

Job 34:21 NASB95

“For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps.

Hebrews 4:13 NASB95

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Psalm 103:14 NASB95

For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.

Therefore, why do we act as if we get away with sin? He already knew we would sin before we did it. And yet, He was still willing to die on the Cross for us (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:4). His love is one we can truly understand. He knows but still chose to die for us. We need to repent of our sins and ask for His help in growing us into His image.

Romans 5:8 NASB95

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4 NASB95

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Repent:

I love to hear people say, I am not as bad as that murderer, or rapistist. I am not as bad as that person in the LGBTQ community, or someone who aborts babies. Jesus said if we broke the least of these, we broke them all. Every day we stumble; some days it is nothing great, and others we fall flat on our face. We should be convicted by the Holy Spirit and repent of our sins.

What happened in Pergamum is that they allowed false teachings inside the body. They allowed worldliness into the house; they allowed man’s tradition into the house; they allowed culture to invade the house. Worldliness is any preoccupation with or interest in the temporal system of life that places anything perishable before that which is eternal.

It is slight compromises that produce worldliness to overrun God’s rule. The moment we hold to denominational doctrine, by-laws, or man’s traditions over Sola Scriptura, we have compromised. Pergamum allowed these false teachings to persuade them instead of allowing His Truth to rule them. Listen to Paul’s words in Romans 12:1-2; Titus 2:12, and even James 1:27.

Romans 12:1–2 NASB95

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Titus 2:12 NASB95

instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,

James 1:27 NASB95

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

We need to repent of our sins against God, through Jesus’ blood (Luke 13:3; Matthew 3:2). I want that New Name He is going to give me.

Luke 13:3 NASB95

“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Matthew 3:2 NASB95

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

New Name:

He has a new name for you and me. For all that have believed in faith and endured to the end. Not the name we have here but the New Name that is not tainted. Jesus renamed Simon, Saul, and Levi. They were filthy in sin, but Christ took away their reproach and gave them a new name.

Their old names were associated with their failures, but their new name was associated with Christ and His victory over them. An everlasting name (Isaiah 56:5; 62:2; 65:15). We are not that old person any longer; we are a new creation in Him—a White Stone with a New Name on it.

Isaiah 56:5 NASB95

To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

Isaiah 62:2 NASB95

The nations will see your righteousness, And all kings your glory; And you will be called by a new name Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.

Isaiah 65:15 NASB95

“You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, And the Lord God will slay you. But My servants will be called by another name.

It seems best, however, to understand the white stone in light of the Roman custom of awarding white stones to the victors in athletic contests. A white stone, inscribed with the athlete’s name, served as his ticket to a special awards banquet. In this view, Christ promises the overcomers entrance to the eternal victory celebration in heaven.

There will be a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it. As is self-evident from that phrase, we cannot know what that new name is until we receive it (cf. Deut. 29:29). Kainos (new) does not mean new in contrast to old in time, but new in the sense of qualitatively different. The new name will serve as each believer’s admission pass into eternal glory. It will uniquely reflect God’s special love for and adoption of every true child of His

Deuteronomy 29:29 NASB95

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

We have been given a new name as the body of Christ, THE gateWay Church! We are the Church that is made up of followers of THE WAY!