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A Threshold Decision at Pergamos

Ruins of the temple of Trajan at Pergamos. Roman citizens had to offer incense to the emperor once each year, for which they were given a certificate showing they had complied with their civic duty. This temple was one place where this could be accomplished (photo by Joel Meeker). Source: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/revelation/seven-churches-of-revelation/pergamos/

Here’s a throwback sermon from January 3, 2016 I preached to the congregation of Bible Apostolic Church.

Text: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2).

The book of Revelation is probably one of the most misunderstood and discussed books in the Bible.

Many, including myself, often read its pages attempting to figure out answers to questions we describe as the end times, or eschatology (the study of the end times).

In those pages, written by the apostle John – John the beloved – students of the Word of God try to figure out future events coming to this world.

My interest today is not about when, where or how the catching away of the Church will take place.

Nor am I going to discuss seals, vials, elders, or the four beasts sitting around the throne.

I’m not even interested in who the beast, false prophet, or antichrist are, and if they are alive right now.

I know that rockets are dropping all over Jerusalem and Israel even while I am in this podium, and that many are discussing the coming of the Lord for that very reason, but that is not why I have lifted this text to our attention today.

You see the Book of Revelation is primarily written to reveal Jesus to us. It is a disclosure of the everlasting Truth of who Jesus Christ is yesterday, today, and forever. And along with that is the unveiling of the Church in its relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:” (Rev. 1:1).

It is a “Jesus” book, and in its pages we see Jesus Christ as:

  • The Alpha and Omega – the Almighty.
  • The One in the midst of the candlesticks.
  • The One holding the seven stars of the churches.
  • The One sitting on the throne.
  • The Lion of the tribe of Judah.
  • The Lamb slain.
  • The reigning King on a white horse.
  • The Judge of the living and dead.

It is also a book written to the church about the past, present, and future.

It is specifically addressed to seven churches: “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”

Seven Churches of Asia:

  1. Ephesus              
  2. Smyrna               
  3. Pergamos 
  4. Thyatira               
  5. Sardis                           
  6. Philadelphia
  7. Laodicea

Some believe that these seven churches are symbolic of various ages that the Church will have gone through from Acts until today:

Church~Name Defined~Time Period

Ephesus ~ Desirable ~ 100-200 A.D.

Smyrna ~ Myrrh ~ 200-300 A.D.

Pergamos ~ Marriage/Elevation ~ 300-500 A.D.

Thyatira ~ Continual Sacrifice ~ 500-1500 A.D.

Sardis ~ Remnant ~ 1500-1900 A.D.

Philadelphia ~ Brotherly Love ~ 1900-Rapture

Laodicea ~ People Rule ~ Present-Rapture[1]

I think it is referring to conditions evident in churches right now, spiritual conditions that exist in local assemblies and even in the lives of its individual members.

Today, as we enter a new year and a fresh start, you are at a threshold moment.

This moment can be your last step in a life of mediocrity, defeat, condemnation, insecurity, enslavement, abuse, addiction, hypocrisy, and self-hate as you step over the threshold of Divine mercy and grace into the life of righteousness, peace and joy Jesus has always had prepared for you.

TAKE THAT STEP.

There is conflict at the threshold. Your flesh has been in control and doesn’t want to take that step. 

Satan does not want you to be victorious. He’ll appeal to you in anyway he can to keep you from crossing the threshold.

Three Tactics of the Devil at the Threshold (Bishop Norman L. Wagner):

1. Compromise

2. Change

3. Quit

With that in mind, it is this third church mentioned in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ that I am bringing to your attention today: Pergamos.

PERGAMOS[2]

Revelation 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;  

  • Pergamos literally means “married with the world.”
  • It refers to a condition and time when satan changed tactics to attack the Church.
  • We all want to be accepted.
  • So, satan stopped persecuting the church and began popularizing it.
  • The church became the “in thing” to join.  And so it became fashionable.
  • But while fashionable it was impure. Those joining didn’t leave their sinful practices and those already in it became influenced by the world.
  • This led to a condition where the Church would become unfaithful to Christ and married to the world.
  • Jesus is stating here that He is coming with a two-edged sword  to divide the true Church from the false church that is full of compromise and polluted works.

(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. 

  • Even as popular culture tried to pervert, popularize, and convolute the name of Jesus, the Church held on to the truth of the mighty God in Christ.
  • They still understood:
    • Neither is there salvation in any other…
    • In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily…
    • Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name…
  • God has always had a True Church that has held onto His name.
  • Somewhere and somehow Truth has always been preserved.
  • Even when satan changes tactics, God is always steps ahead preserving and protecting the Church.
  • You see, Truth doesn’t need protecting. Truth is true whether all believe it, or none do.
  • It was Adrian Rodgers who said:
    • It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. Let me tell you something, friend, it is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It’s better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. There is only one Gospel and Paul said, “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” -Adrian Rodgers, National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 1996
  • Pergamos had martyrs who died for Truth by holding fast to the name of Jesus – Antipas (thought to be the pastor).
  • Unfortunately, there are some who have not taken hold of that lovely name and cherished it like they should. Instead, they’ve taken the name of the Lord in vain by living compromised lives in partnership, relationship, union, agreement, fellowship, and marriage with the world.
  • I plead with you today, as John did in his epistle:
    • “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).
  • All of these fleshly appetites gone out of control married to the world are temporal. They won’t last. Only what you do for Christ will last. They won’t satisfy. Only Jesus can satisfy your soul.
  • You would never consider cheating on your spouse. Why then do you so easily and nonchalantly cheat on your Maker who is your husband?

(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. 

  • It was Balaam who couldn’t curse the Hebrews. So, he encouraged Balac to have his pagan people intermarry with the Hebrews.
  • Thus, the Hebrews brought a curse on themselves when their gentile wives brought false gods, heathen practices, and compromise into their homes.
  • The devil wants you to bring a curse on yourself by allowing a marriage of the holy with the profane in your life.

(15)  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.  

  • The doctrine (deeds) of the Nicolaitans: Corrupted Paul’s teaching concerning grace, and made it a license to sin.
  • They were sensual and unrepentant.
  • They turned the grace of God into lasciviousness.
  • Paul wrote in reponsse to them: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2).
  • 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

(16)  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 

  • REPENT – Jesus here gives to John the very first word of the Gospel that He shared in the beginning – REPENT.
  • It is the only solution for your sin.
  • It is better to fall in humble repentance now than to be broken by God’s judgment.
  • Psalms 103:8-11, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”

(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.

  • Hidden manna = Divine provision both natural and spiritual.
    • The Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our sustenance.
  • White stone = a sign of purity and innocence.
    • Even in this wicked age of compromise God can keep you pure and declare you innocent.
  • Name recorded in stone = worthy of eternal life.
    • God would not condemn the True Church to Hell because of the failures of their generation.

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12).

I ask you today:

Are you ready to be an overcomer, or are you content to live a compromised life married to this world and bound by your lust and pride?

Will you step through the threshold?

Your last step of defeat, pain, sorrow, heartache, and compromise can be today as your next step over the threshold becomes an entrance to a life of victory, righteousness, peace, joy, Divine Provision, Divine Favor, purity, innocence, and the Lord’s promise of eternal life.

Come on, leave that worldly compromise. Settle it once and for all.

Take advantage of this threshold moment offered by Jesus Christ to  you today.

This Threshold Decision at Pergamos is a decision to once and for all divorce yourself from this wicked and perverse world and be truly espoused (married) to Christ.

[1] Purpose Institute. #5206 – The Book of Revelation. Lesson 1: The Church. 2014.

[2] Dustin L. Abbott. 2007. Revelation Unveiled. Pages 44-48.

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The Church and the Old Time Power of God -Bishop James A. Johnson

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Nothing Can Separate Us -Bishop James A. Johnson

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Bible Preaching

When God Remembers

Stephen Kuntzman | June 29, 2025 | 6:30 pm

Text: 1 Samuel 1:1-20

(1) Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:  (2)  And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.  (3)  And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.  (4)  And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:  (5)  But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.  (6)  And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.  (7)  And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.  (8)  Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?  (9)  So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.  (10)  And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.  (11)  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.  (12)  And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.  (13)  Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.  (14)  And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.  (15)  And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.  (16)  Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.  (17)  Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.  (18)  And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.  (19)  And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.  (20)  Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

Shiloh = Tranquil.[1] A description for the Messiah, but also a description of the Church.

A safe place. A habitation of peace.

She came to the Tabernacle, to safety, to pray and to pour out her sorrow.

Samuel = heard of God.[2]

God heard her prayer and he remembered her.

She left Shiloh to go home with a promise from the man of God.

Make sure that when you say, “the Lord said,” that the LORD truly said it.

So many of our people are already broken-hearted and don’t deserve the added burden of a false word.

The reason they leave isn’t that they are disappointed in God, but they are hurt from the false word of propheliars (those who speak a false prophetic word).

Elkanah was a Levite, as was his son Samuel and Samuel’s grandson Heman:

(33) And these are they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel [Samuel],  (34)  The son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,  (35)  The son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,  (36)  The son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,  (37)  The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,  (38)  The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.[3]

Heman = Faithful[4]

He was “the chief of the singers…composed psalms and hymns, which are in the book of Psalms.”[5]

Heman wrote Psalm 88. The most sorrowful and despairing psalm of the 150, it ends without any resolution.

Still, Heman keeps his focus on God, despite questioning God. “Why” is ok.

Like his great-grandmother Hannah, even though he feels forgotten he continues faithfully praying, seeking and worshipping God.

The psalm ends with no answer, but Heman never gives up His belief that God is the only source of deliverance and salvation.

Psalms 88:1-18  (A song and a psalm by the people of Korah for the music leader. To the tune “Mahalath Leannoth.” A special psalm by Heman the Ezrahite.)

(1) You keep me safe, LORD God. So when I pray at night,  (2)  please listen carefully to each of my concerns.  (3)  I am deeply troubled and close to death;  (4)  I am as good as dead and completely helpless.  (5)  I am no better off than those in the grave, those you have forgotten and no longer help.  (6)  You have put me in the deepest and darkest grave;  (7)  your anger rolls over me like ocean waves.  (8)  You have made my friends turn in horror from me. I am a prisoner who cannot escape,  (9)  and I am almost blind because of my sorrow. Each day I lift my hands in prayer to you, LORD.  (10)  Do you work miracles for the dead? Do they stand up and praise you?  (11)  Are your love and loyalty announced in the world of the dead?  (12)  Do they know of your miracles or your saving power in the dark world below where all is forgotten?  (13)  Each morning I pray to you, LORD.  (14)  Why do you reject me? Why do you turn from me?  (15)  Ever since I was a child, I have been sick and close to death. You have terrified me and made me helpless.  (16)  Your anger is like a flood! And I am shattered by your furious attacks  (17)  that strike each day and from every side.  (18)  My friends and neighbors have turned against me because of you, and now darkness is my only companion.

God hears your prayer, even when you don’t think He does.

God hears Your whispers.

Samuel then heard God: Samuel! Samuel! — Speak for thy servant heareth.

[1] Strong’s. H7886.

[2] Strong’s. H8050.

[3] 1 Chronicles 6:33-38 

[4] Strong’s. H1968.

[5] John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible. 1 Chr. 6:33-38.

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A Good Story – Harold Hoffman

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The Great Mountain

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More Vile

Stephen Kuntzman | March 9, 2025 | 6:30 PM

Text: 2 Samuel 6:16-23, “(16)  And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. (17)  And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. (18)  And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. (19)  And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. (20)  Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! (21)  And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. (22)  And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. (23)  Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

Picture the moment:

  • The ark of the covenant is being returned to Jerusalem to the city of David (on a hill south of Mt. Moriah, the Temple Mount, where Solomon’s Temple will one day stand to permanently house it).
  • It was been away from Israel for 20 year.
    • 7 months with the Philistines
    • Then the Ark was taken to Abinadab’s house in Kiriath-Jearim, where his son Eleazar, watched over it for 20 years.
    • Then the house of Obededom cared for it for 3 months.
    • “And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness. And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet” (2 Samuel 6:12-15).
      • “With gladness” = with joyful music, jubilant dancing and passionate singing.

Peering from their home, Michal watched David and despised him for his worship to God.

She so reviled him that the moment he came into the courtyard shemet him and with words dripping with sarcasm, irony, disrespect and even hate, she mocked him for his act of worship –

for making himself small in humble worship to His Lord.

True worshippers forget their surroundings.

They forget what their positions, titles, and roles

They got lost in adoration of the One who fills all space and time.

True worshippers don’t take into account others may think or say, they simply want to offer their praise and worship to their God.

Michal was bitter and like her father, Saul, she was more concerned about the people’s opinion than she was that her husband worshipped his God.

So, in a move of manipulation, she tried to shame David with words that she thought would reduce his joy and gladness, but David had already faced this attack before.

Years before, Saul dangled his daughter as a prize. It was witchcraft anf manipulation.

One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab [Michal], as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.”[1]

Not an offer out of friendship or good will, but a trap.

Saul’s main struggle was his overwhelming concern with what the people would think of him, which is why he said, “Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.”

In other words, let them do my dirt work for me so that the people won’t think badly of me.

Manipulation and control – witchcraft.

The struggle every leader faces is “their faces” (Jer. 1:4-10), and Saul failed miserably in this area.

You will remember what the LORD said to Jeremiah:

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.[2]

Saul’s attempt in trying to persuade David to wear his armor in his fight with Goliath was for the same reason he wanted Samuel to worship with him after God rejected him.

He was more interested in what the people thought. He was terrified of public opinion.

Saul thought that David wearing his armor would be good for Saul.

Saul was two years into his kingship when he showed his fear of public opinion and it was here that he lost the dynasty:

“And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.”[3]

In 1 Samuel 15 it looks as if God was willing to give Saul a second chance of sorts, but his disobedience led to his ruin and it was partly due to fear of public opinion:

“And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”[4]

Later Saul lies to Samuel, but still asked for special favor before the people:

“Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.”

Saul’s worship wasn’t from his heart to God, but from his mind to manipulate the peoples’ perception.

This was what Saul taught Michal.

If David had never laid down his kingly robes, but instead marched stoically before the Ark, Michal would have been thrilled with this display of Royal pomp and circumstance.

The key difference between Saul and David is here:

“And Samuel said, When thou [Saul] wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?” (1 Samuel 15:17)

Humility – the willingness to make himself “MORE VILE” – is what separated David from Saul and distinguished him in God’s eyes as “a man after his own heart.”

David laid down his kingly robes and returned to his humble origins where he first met God as a shepherd boy.

In the Ancient Hebrew, vile also means “gathering to the staff.”

When the shepherd called the sheep they swiftly came to him.

The staff of the shepherd was his tool of authority. With it he would direct, discipline and protect the flock.[5]

David heard the voice of the Shepherd and gathered himself to His Staff in an offering both of animal sacrifices or worship and in a spirited display of  a Living Sacrifice.

David learned worship shepherding in the fields long before he became a king, it was east to lay aside his kingly robe to worship his King.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

You must make yourself More Vile.

It’s easy in our multigenerational Pentecostal culture to think that worship is in the dance, the shout, the jump, the tongues,

BUT real worship is when you become vile and base to yourself.

You submit your self in an act or personal requirement to lay down your pride, personal rights, what you consider “justice” — lay down your gift and be reconciled.

Why? Because someone has ought against you, not you against them.

We wear robes of dignity, pride, position (that’s beneath me), entitlement, religion, but Jesus is looking for His robe on you: garments of praise, robes of righteousness.

More Vile:

  • But it doesn’t make any sense
  • What will people think
  • Costs you something – a sacrifice
  • Requires a demonstration of true leadership – a true shepherd (Jesus at Calvary became “more vile”)

Michal, if she ever had it, lost it that day when she reviled and mocked a true worshipper because of her fear of what others might say,

But David, that shepherd-king gave it all in worship.

Jesus is here and He knows what it is like to humble Himself and be seen as vile:

Philippians 2:5-11, “(5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  (6)  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  (7)  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  (8)  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  (9)  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  (10)  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  (11)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

[1] 1 Samuel 18:17, NLT.

[2] Jeremiah 1:4-10

[3] 1 Samuel 13:11-14

[4] 1 Samuel 15:24

[5] H7043. Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible.

Categories
Bible Preaching

The Ever Present Ark

Stephen Kuntzman | April 20, 2025 | 6:30 PM

Jeremiah 3:15-16, “(15) And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.  (16)  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5, “(1) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  (2)  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  (3)  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  (4)  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  (5)  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Zechariah 8:3-8, “(3) Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.  (4)  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.  (5)  And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.  (6)  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.  (7)  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;  (8)  And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”

Exo 25:10-22, “And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

Categories
Bible Preaching

Where the Glory Dwells

Stephen Kuntzman | March 16, 2025 | 6:30 PM

Text: Acts 7:44-8:3

(44)  Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. (45)  Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; (46)  Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. (47)  But Solomon built him an house. (48)  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, (49)  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? (50)  Hath not my hand made all these things? (51)  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (52)  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: (53)  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (54)  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. (55)  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, (56)  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (57)  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, (58)  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. (59)  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (60)  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (8:1)  And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (2) And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. (3) As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Where the Glory Dwells

God’s greatest desire from the Creation, throughout time and even tonight is to have fellowship with you.

It is for this reason Jehovah told Moses, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”

  • God’s desire was to dwell with His people, so He commanded Moses to build a tabernacle—a mobile dwelling place.
  • This was a shadow of something greater. It was a temporary structure representing a permanent truth.
  • God’s plan for man was that He could be with them, but just as in the Garden of Eden, a certain design was followed with no deviation.
    • You have to do it God’s way. This idea of “me and Jesus, we got our own thing going” is false.
    • Jesus has His own pattern going on and you must press into it, or you will never be in true fellowship with Him:
      • Luke 16:15-16, “…Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
      • Everyone who presses, enters, into the Kingdom of God is born again of water and Spirit.
      • No other way to enter but according to pattern.
      • Press into the kingdom of God!

Jehovah explained this New Birth to Ezekiel,  – “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”[1]

  • God’s presence would no longer dwell in a temple made with hands—He would dwell in the hearts of His people!

Jesus explained how this was going to happen to Nicodemus, “(3)…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (4)  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? (5)  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (6)  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7)  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (8)  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”[2]

All that Stephen was preaching in his defense to the Jewish religious leaders of his day was simply confirming the fulfillment of millennia of divine prophetic to dwell in his people:

“Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands”

As prophetically necessary as the tabernacle of witness was,

as exceeding magnifical as Solomon’s Temple stood,

as hopeful as Zerubbabel’s Temple in drawing people back to national worship,

and as audacious as Herod’s Temple tried to be,

they were not where our Lord ultimately desired to dwell.

He wants to dwell in you.

Isaiah 6:1-4, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”

  • Isaiah saw that God’s true temple was not an earthly structure.
  • Yes, the realm of His glory would fill the earth, but that is because the presence of God filled the temple, and the whole earth was to be filled with His glory.
  • How? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
  • You carry God’s glory.
  • You are a Glory-Carrier filled with the smoke of God’s glory and filling the whole earth with the weight of God’s presence, power, and authority.

John 7:38-39 – “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

  • This living water represents the Holy Spirit, bringing life wherever it flows.
  • Ezekiel’s vision of the waters that flowed out from under the threshold of the sanctuary teach us the levels of the anointing of God.
  • It is one Spirit, but many depths with a process of maturing that you will go through as a Glory-Carrier.
    • 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
    • One degree of glory – anointing – to another.
  • The trees in Ezekiel’s vision represent God’s people, bearing fruit by the Spirit’s living waters.

Revelation 21:3, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

  • The goal of redemption was not just salvation, but union with God—to become His habitation.
  • In a world where people seek their own glory, we carry the glory of God. We are Glory-Bearers, His habitation:
    • (19)  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;  (20)  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;  (21)  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:  (22)  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.[3]

Where the Glory Dwells

And there stands Saul, watching with approval the stoning of Stephen.

He heard Stephen’s defense, and how that God’s desire throughout time was to dwell among His people.

Yes, on that day, Saul could resist the argument of Stephen, but was the Holy Spirit in Stephen that Paul couldn’t resist.

It was the Glory Stephen carried that shown out of him with His last words pleading for Divine clemency on his persecutors that pricked the heart of Saul.

When you truly meet as bonafide glory-carrier, Spirit let, Holy Ghost driven man or woman, you will be changed.

We know it changed Paul, because he refers back to the words of Stephen when he is also making his argument for Christ on Mars’ Hill:

Acts 17:22-28, “(22) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.  (23)  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.  (24)  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;  (25)  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;  (26)  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;  (27)  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:  (28)  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

It was the Christ in Stephen that Paul couldn’t resist and to whom he eventually surrendered to and received into his earthen vessel.

Stephen’s body was dead, but the river of life in him began when he received the Spirit of Christ into his temple, then it flowed into Saul…now Paul, and from Paul to us today.

That same Jesus Christ is here tonight to dwell with you.

You are the glory-carrier of God…His vessel, and out of your belly flows a tributary of living water filling the while earth with the Gory of God.

Where the Glory Dwells

[1] Ezekiel 36:26-27

[2] John 3:3-8

[3] Ephesians 2:13-22

Categories
Bible Preaching

What’s In Your Hand?

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 2/9/2025 | 6:30 PM

Exodus 4:1-2, “(1) And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.  (2)  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.”