The Lord Jesus has things against us and for us. We are wise to receive them both - the commendation and the rebuke or the warning. We’re wise to heed God.

Don’t let us be people who only hear part of the word. Take all of it.

First, the One speaking has a two edged sword, which is the word of God. Revelation 2:12 - ""And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword." It is sharp, and cuts to the heart. It discerns us, and separates good from evil. It is the word by which we are judged. John 12:48 - "The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day."

We must heed this word, because Christ uses it. He doesn’t use our standard. He doesn't say, “Serve me your way.” He demands that we come to his terms, and walk as he walked [1 John 2:6]. Herman Bavinck wrote, “Holy Scripture must judge us, not the reverse.” Let God’s word - not our feelings and preferences - determine everything about us. God saves according to Scripture, and our salvation is tested thereby.

I spoke to a woman recently, who has come out of false religion. I exhorted her to PUT AWAY the old things. She has many religious friends who don’t preach the gospel, and she needs to discern between religious activity and the true gospel. She must put away friends and family, if they don’t teach the truth. She’s to reach them, but not to partake of their evil. We must all be the same way: God’s word comes first.

Secondly, Christ knows we hold fast to his name. Revelation 2:13 - ""'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." He knows that we are faithful, and suffer for Christ.

Following Christ is not easy, and there are many obstacles. We have war within, and war without. 2 Corinthians 7:5 - "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within." Satan is after us, and he uses false religion. It’s said the most hated thing in the world is the gospel of God’s grace, but we endure, seeing the reward [Heb 11:26]. We’re persecuted by friends and family, and doors shut in our face, but Christ says, “I know your works. I see you.”

Therefore, let us not despair. We suffer for the Son at his permission. He rules over things, and if clear skies were best, then we’d have no clouds. Let us get grace from the One who cares, loves us, and has promised to help. He’s not an absentee god!

Thirdly, Christ has things against us. Revelation 2:14-15 - "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." Christ can be for us - showing us our good deeds - and against us - reproving our wrong - at the same time.

Many foolish and ignorant men can only see part of the gospel, and deny the other parts. Rather than learning what they don’t understand, they twist the Scriptures. They preach a gospel of man’s logic, rather than the revealed word of Scripture. They don’t understand the mysteries of the kingdom, and they corrupt themselves in head knowledge. Jude 1:10 - "But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively." Those who are commended today will be disciplined tomorrow, if there’s no repentance. God will judge us by our deeds.

Balak couldn’t defeat Israel, so Balaam taught him how to deceive us. He preached licentiousness - sin that grace may abound. He said, “We’re justified by faith, so it doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you believe the gospel. We can’t tell who is saved. We can only tell their confession.” This satanic delusion is as much from Satan as persecution. It is a different tactic: he uses both frightful things and soothing things to disturb us. He’ll chase us away with persecution, or he’ll draw us near with sexual immorality and idolatry, which is worshiping wrongly, or loving the things of this world. These things disturb us, and many are vexed by falls. Christ knows that we’re dealing with Satan, and he commends us for standing. Resist this false religion to the death. Give it no compromise.

Christ says he hates this false teaching, and that’s not language he uses often. In fact, nowhere else does Jesus say he hates a particular sin. You may think it’s homosexuality, murder, or racism, but the sin God hates is sexual immorality, whether married or not, and false worship, which lives unrighteously in the name of Jesus. We must be careful not to be deceived by the white sins of false religion.

Fourthly, our Master’s words are plain: “Repent.” Revelation 2:16 - "Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth." He wants our full repentance. He wants us to turn from sin, and not to coddle it. He wants us preaching the whole counsel of God.

Do not, for fear of people leaving, hold back any part of the gospel! Preach good works, and justification by faith. Preach, “Come to Jesus,” and divine sovereign election. Preach come as you are, and preach leave with his cleansing. Preach the whole of Scripture, because every word is profitable [Prov 30:5]. Preach, “Only believe,” and preach seek, ask, knock, and forsake all.

I spoke with a foolish man recently. He has gone to publicly rebuking faithful men, because he can’t understand Scripture. He only sees justification by faith. He doesn't see forsaking all, denying yourself, and striving to enter in. Repentance, he says, is not the gospel, because all he sees is faith. His theology rejects and misinterprets large portions of Scripture, and he won’t be corrected. He will lose his soul, and the Lord Jesus will fight against him with the same Bible that he quotes, except the Lord Jesus will reveal all of it, even the parts this man rejected. It isn’t worth it. Interpret Scripture properly, and follow Jesus. Our gospel must make us holy.

Finally, Jesus has a promise for everyone who overcomes. Revelation 2:17 - "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.'" Conquering is not easy. We have the lusts of the flesh and the trickery of Satan. We have people in our churches who hate the gospel, and they want to silence us by buddying up to the preacher, giving him big money, and threatening to leave. They want you intimidated enough…soft enough and self-serving enough…so that you hold back God’s truth. They threaten with angry faces. They flatter the preacher, and then they fire him.