Where Satan Dwells

Revelation 2:12-13 ESV

 

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

 

“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.’

 

We read in Hebrews 4:12 that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” These are the words of Jesus, for Jesus/God is the author of the Scriptures, the living word of God. They cut to the heart and they pierce through the soul in conviction of truth to our consciences and to our hearts.

 

The word of God is not this “light and fluffy” and feel-good stuff that many people are making it out to be. Is it encouraging? Yes, but encouraging also in the sense of exhorting, urging, prodding, insisting, and warning, correcting, and rebuking. For, we can encourage people to forsake evil and to follow Jesus in obedience while we warn them of the consequences of not forsaking their sins and of not following Jesus in obedience.

 

And where Satan has his throne is here on the earth, which is where most humans dwell who are still alive. And as humans, we should be well aware of that fact because we should have experienced the evil that comes from Satan, either against us, or in tempting us toward evil. And we should be well aware of that evil as it visits us on a daily basis via the news or via our own life situations. And we should know how oppressive that can be.

 

So, if in the midst of all this evil on the earth we hold fast to Jesus Christ and to his gospel and to our faith in Jesus, which is evidenced by how we live our lives day in and day out, that is an accomplishment for which all the glory goes to God. For we cannot conquer Satan and his temptations in our own flesh, but only by the grace of God and in his strength and power.

 

And if we are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake for our walks of obedience to the Lord, and if we are undergoing severe trials to test our faith or because we are being opposed for our faith and for our sharing of the truth of the gospel, and yet we remain steadfast in faith and we do not give up and run away, that is to be commended, but still all the glory goes to God in whose power we are able to do that.

 

Revelation 2:14-15 ESV

 

“’But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.’

 

But not everyone has such faith as that. Not everyone who professes the name of Jesus is sold out to Jesus Christ to following him in his ways and in his truth. Many have compromised their faith in order to keep on in their pet sins and so that they can still live the way they want without guilt and without fear of punishment, because they are believing the Big Lie.

 

Many professing Christians are following men (or women) who are teaching a half-truth twisted gospel which is leaving their adherents still bound in their sin, still headed to hell, but with the promise of heaven as their eternal destiny. And this is because they are not teaching or they are teaching against our need to forsake our sins and to follow Jesus in obedience.

 

And so many professing Christians are feeling at liberty to engage in sexual immorality, in idolatry, in self-pleasure, in self-gratification, and in feeding their flesh and not their spirit, and in deliberately and habitually and premeditatedly sinning against the Lord by plotting evil on their beds. They believe their sins are all forgiven and that God’s grace covers them all, and so they believe they can keep living in sin, but that is a Big Fat Lie.

 

Revelation 2:16-17 ESV

 

“’Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’”

 

And so the call here is to repent of such sins, which means to forsake your sinful practices, to desert them, to leave them behind you, and to go with God and to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his ways, and to now walk in holiness and righteousness, free from the control of sin, and empowered by God’s Spirit to be who God has called you to be.

 

In each of these letters (of the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3), if there is a rebuke, and if there is a call to repentance, there is also a warning of some type of divine judgment if they do not repent. And I can tell you assuredly that the Scriptures teach that if sin is what you practice, and if righteousness and obedience to the Lord are not your practice, then you will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what you believe about that.

 

But there is also an encouragement here that gives hope to the repentant. We must listen to the Lord and not ignore his words, and we must obey them if we want to have eternal life with God. If we conquer, meaning we do repent, and now we walk in obedience to our Lord, and we no longer walk according to the flesh and in sin, then Jesus will acknowledge us that we are his, and we will have eternal life with God. So, please take this to heart.

 

Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)

 

Songwriters: Amy Lee Grant / Chris Eaton

 

I have traveled many moonless nights

Cold and weary with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy father you have come

And chosen me now to carry your son

 

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Be with me now

 

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VGVXjGLBQ

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