Today's scripture reading comes from Revelation 3, verses one through six. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You had the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not sold their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The grass withers and the flower fades. Amen. Please be seated. I just want to say to begin that I will never again take for granted what it is like to be together with you and to look you in the eyes, best as I can without these lights shining, but to look you in the eyes and to see each other and to be together. rather than to be in our own homes looking at a TV or a phone from a sermon and a worship service delivered through another phone. Do you remember what that was like? Well, let's never take that for granted, to be here together in God's house under God's word together with God's very presence. Well, we've undertaken this exciting task to work our way through the book of Revelation. Revelation is the 27th book in the New Testament. And if you count 39 books in the Old Testament, that means this is the 66th book in the Bible. I'll share a secret code with you in the weeks to come about the connection between that and 666 in Revelation. No, I'm just kidding. Remember, Remember, that just hit me this morning for the first time. This is the 66th book, and I thought that joke would be appropriate, but it is a joke because as we've shared, the book of Revelation is not some secret code to figure out for the elites. You have to remember that. It is to secure us in the truth of what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for us. It's not a puzzle to confuse. It's a picture book to clarify. You have to remember that. It's not to satisfy an idle curiosity. It is to satisfy your soul by feasting upon Christ and the gospel. It's not a hodgepodge of strange images of dragons and beasts and swords that have no connection otherwise, but it's a tightly woven story of the victory God will bring about when he ties up all the loose ends of what he started in Genesis chapter one. That is the book of Revelation. We're in a section now in chapters two and three where the Lord is speaking directly to seven local churches. We've spoken of the significance of those seven churches in Revelation. Seven is a number for completion or the wholeness of something. And so he is speaking to these seven local churches. This morning the church in a city named Sardis. But the seven refers to the fact that he's speaking to the entire church throughout every age and every place, including New City Presbyterian Church right here this very morning. He's speaking to his church and what he says here to each of these individual churches, pointing out certain things that are good, certain things that need to be repented of. All of these to every church is something that every church needs to hear. As he says at the end of this in verse six, to all who have a ear, let the churches hear. Let every church hear what he's saying. And so we need to listen to what the Lord is saying here to Sardis. Now he's saying, notice he begins, to the angel of the church. That is the word for messenger. That's the word for newsboy. Probably that refers to the pastor who will be preaching these messages to their church. Probably the pastors of these churches gathered together to visit John on the island of Patmos to receive these. And they went back as the newsboys, as the messengers, to these churches with these words from Jesus to the angel of the church in Sardis, right? The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Remember, we saw that in chapter one. With each of these churches, he highlights a title or an attribute of himself that he's already alerted us to in chapter one. And here he says, I'm the one who has the seven spirits. Remember seven? What's he speaking of? The one perfect spirit. He's speaking of the Holy Spirit. I am with you. I walk among you in my spirit, the Holy Spirit." And he says, I also have the seven stars. The stars refer to the church, a unique angle on the church. The church is a lampstand that shines here on earth in the darkness. Yes, the church is also a star that shines in the darkness. Probably this description of the church as a star is referring to every church's personality, you might say. Every church personified, every church has a unique personality, and the Lord knows it. And so Jesus says, I hold the church, and I know the church, and I know you. And so he starts right in here this morning, making it clear that he knows this church. And what we're gonna see this morning is he knows there is a false reputation they're resting in and the need of the hour is a true repentance. Those are the two major things we're gonna look at this morning. The deceit of a false reputation and the need for true repentance. Notice verse one, he says, I know your works, you have the reputation of being alive. Oh, thank you very much, Jesus, I can hear them saying. Thank you very much, Jesus, we never could have done it without you. And I can hear Jesus saying, would you please let me finish my sentence? I know your works, you have the reputation of being alive, but you're dead. Ooh, haunting words. Yeah, people think you're alive. You think you're alive. You've believed the hype. You've rested in these thoughts you've had about yourself for quite some time. But I'm coming to you to tell you that the truth is you're dead. Notice he says they're dead because their works are not complete in the sight of God. That refers to their works being empty. That refers to a certain form of something but it's not filled with what it should be. There's an emptiness in the form. I just noticed these beautiful pumpkins. Those are pumpkins, right? Pumpkins? They're beautiful. Thanks to our interior beautification design ministry team for all the work they've put into beautifying this place. Now that's a pumpkin. It has the form of a pumpkin. Now, if I got my handy dandy knife that we'll be carving pumpkins with here in some weeks and cut into that, I would see an empty pumpkin, at least what I thought was a pumpkin. It has the form of a pumpkin, kind of looks like a pumpkin, but it's not complete. It doesn't have what it should. It doesn't contain what it should contain in order to be a pumpkin. That's what Jesus is referring to. He's saying you have the reputation of being a church. You look like a church. You meet on the right day as the church. You have a sign outside that says you're a church, but you're not a church. At least you're in danger of that, Jesus is saying to Sardis and to some churches. You miss what actually makes the church a church. Jesus spoke very clearly about this in his ministry. Remember in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said, I've come to build my church. Upon what, Jesus? Well, upon this proclamation that Peter just proclaimed, that I am the Christ. And when people come to know the Christ that I am, the Christ who came, who is the God-man, who is the Christ of the cross who will suffer and die to take the stain and the guilt of real sin, of real sinners, and my blood will cleanse them. That's the Christ, the king that I am. There's no king like me. Upon this message of the Christ that I am, in believing that I am who I say I am, upon this I will build my church. In other words, the church is built on nothing less, nothing more than the gospel. That's what the church is. This was a big deal about 500 years ago as we approach Reformation Sunday. It's a significant point in history because these believers, these men and women during the Reformation had to wrestle with the question, what does make a true church? Is it a sign out front? Is it a certain name? Is it a certain institution or leader that we're connected with? What makes a church a true church? And the answer that they came away with as they wrestled with the Scriptures is the same answer Jesus gave. What makes a church a church? is the gospel, and to the degree that the gospel, that is the news of the person of Jesus Christ and who He is and what He has done through His death and resurrection. in our place, that that news, to the degree it is clearly taught and proclaimed and preached and celebrated, and to the degree that it is clearly signified in the sacraments, and to the degree that there is discipleship and discipline that brings about the fruit of repentance that is appropriate for the gospel in the church, to that degree that a church has those things where the gospel is made clear and proclaimed and celebrated as bringing about the fruit of repentance, is properly administrated in the sacraments, there you have a true church. And to the degree that the gospel is confused, to the degree that the sacraments themselves confuse the meaning of the gospel by saying that the sacraments do something they really don't do, And to the degree that proclamations are made that betray the gospel or that lives are lived grievously and unrepentantly in a way that doesn't well reflect the gospel, to that degree, that church may have a sign out front, they may be part of a certain denomination or institution. But that is not a church. And this was a big deal for the Reformers because they were excommunicated from the one institution that called themselves the true church. So they had to wrestle with this question. Are we really out of the true church? No, because it's not institutional. It is organic in the sense that for those who are in Christ and gather in Christ and proclaim Christ, we are the church in every place, whether we have a sign out front or not, whether we belong to a certain institution or not. And so Jesus here is saying, you look like a church, you may act like a church, but it doesn't matter if you have the reputation of being a church or not. He says, if you don't have the gospel, if you haven't remembered and held on to the things that you heard and received, as he says in the coming verse, referring to the gospel, You are not alive, but you are very dead. This brings to mind words from the prophets. Remember God's words through Isaiah when he said, these people draw near to me with their mouth. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Jesus speaking to The religious elite spoke these damning words, essentially saying, you have the reputation of being alive, but you're dead. He said, woe to you, scribes, teachers, Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you're like whitewashed tombs. That's a whitewashed pumpkin. Whitewashed tombs, it looks so good. But underneath it's so bad and so empty. You're like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, Jesus says, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness and wickedness. So you also are outwardly, you appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. You clean the outside of the cup and inside it's full of greed and self-indulgence. You're blind. Of course, Jesus tells in his Sermon on the Mount of the people who will stand before him and say, Lord, Lord, aren't you thankful? Aren't you thankful for the works we did and the reputation we had of the great spiritual works that we did for you and for your church? Lord, we're glad to finally be here and to see you and to come into heaven. And the Lord looks at them. And he says, essentially, that may have been your reputation, that may have been what you thought about yourself, but I never knew you. Haunting. And Jesus is loving enough to speak these haunting words to this, His church in Sardis and in every place. deceived into resting in their reputation, or perhaps a reputation that was true of their past, but it's certainly not true of who they are now. He says, you have a certain view of yourself, but you're deceived. You are deceived. And he's speaking to the church corporately, and he's speaking to people individually. So it's good for us to think of New City corporately. It's good for us to think about ourselves individually. It's good for me, as I did all week, to think of Ryan McVicker. And we have a certain view of ourselves, but can easily be deceived. He says, you say you're alive, you say you're alive, but you're dead. You look at various churches and ways that churches can rest in certain outward appearances or values or reputations. You say, I'm alive, Jesus, because in our church we cry like crazy at every song and we speak in strange tongues, Jesus, and man, we express ourselves more than anyone ever could. And Jesus says, but you're dead, you don't know my word. And the slightest breeze of a false teaching would come and just wipe you out because you have no theological depth or love for my truth. And another church says, oh Lord, we are alive because we're a church of the truth and we know your word. Lord, our members go to bed with John Calvin's Institutes every night, wrapped up in their arms. and they know it, and they've memorized the catechisms, and they've memorized scripture. Oh, do we know your word, and do we know the nuances of the five solas we say before we go to bed every night, and the five points of Calvinism, the 27 points of Calvinism? We have the truth? And the Lord says, but you're dead. because you go to worship and there's no joy in your heart, and there's no life or love for the truth, for me, to whom that truth points to. They're words on paper to you. A church says, Lord, we have a reputation for being alive. We serve the poor and sacrifice for the poor. I keep food in my car for whenever I see those people on the side of the road with their signs, and I always give them food. Lord, I'm alive. And he says, but you think that in serving the poor, that's your salvation. And you've completely twisted the gospel because of the good work you've done, but underneath it's death. And another church says, well, I know, we know that our salvation is not in serving the poor. We understand the doctrine of justification. We understand that there is no good works we can go do that would earn our favor with God. And the Lord says, but but you have no love for each other. You have no love for the poor. You don't serve the poor. There's no fruit of the gospel or the love of Christ among you. You see, we can rest in reputations. We can look at things on the surface and think we're alive because of Christ. Lord, we're a church or we're a family. We are pro-life. Lord, we are a pro-biblical marriage family. And we have signs in our yard to prove it. And bumper stickers even of the candidates that line up with these. Lord, we are alive. And the Lord says, oh, no, no. Now half the population. around you will never take you seriously as a Christian. Because when they see you, your chief identity is now bound with a political party. That's your identity, not Jesus Christ. That's not pleasing to me. Now I want you to love these people. Now when people who might disagree with you, or live or act differently, they will feel utterly ashamed to ever come into your church or to ever talk with you. You've just cut off any conversation you could ever have genuinely about the gospel. Well, another church says, well, that's not our problem. No one would ever feel shame coming in our church. We have flags all over our church to prove it, even rainbow flags. And we have signs that say love is love. I mean, if that's not showing people that we love them, I don't know what is. Lord, we are alive. Look at our signs and our flags. And the Lord says, oh, you're dead. You've despised my word. You've redefined what love is just so you could fit in. just so you could fit in, so people would talk well of you on local chat forums and online discussions. That's what you've wanted as a church. You haven't wanted to honor me. Lord, we're alive because our minister is serious about gospel ministry. I don't know if that's my reputation or not, but I won't tell you all the things that I thought about this week of how my works are so incomplete, but there's a lot of questions Jesus could ask me. There's a lot of reasons he could say, no, that is death, to think that's your reputation. I haven't made the sacrifices for you that the Lord has called me to make. I haven't cried the tears, I haven't cried the tears for the struggles in your lives like I should have cried. No, sometimes I go through the motions, if I'm being honest, and I don't do all that I can, humanly speaking, to serve and to deny myself for the sake of this flock. Our leadership, our staff, our deacons, our elders, our small groups, We say, well, that's where the life of our church is. I agree, it's fabulous, the best I've ever seen. But if we ever rest in that, it is a dangerous thing. The Lord comes and says, do you know what parish you're in for the diaconate? If a need came up in your life, do you have a deacon to call? Do you know who your elder is? Could you go to him this morning and does he know how to pray for you? And do you know him? Does he know you? Men, women, communing members who are boys and girls. Members, you know you took vows when our leaders were ordained, and those vows included serving them as well in prayer, praying for them, encouraging them, lifting them up. How often are you praying for the leaders of our church who have undertaken an enormous task? to serve this church. Members, we take vows. Every person in here takes vows every time someone is baptized. The children of believers who have been baptized, you've taken vows. You have taken vows, not just their parents, but you. When's the last time you've seen a young person who, when they were baptized, they were an infant, and now they're five years old, and you stopped them and said, I remember when you were baptized. Are you reading your Bible? I just wanna tell you from an older person's perspective, follow Jesus Christ and it's worth it. When's the last time you've asked one of these children that you vowed to about their walk with Christ and just encouraged them? We've taken those vows. Do you see how even in the vows we take, we can walk through the motions? We say, well, we're a reformed church, we are a covenantal church, we take these things seriously, our liturgy, baptism. But Jesus says, have you really? Or are you going through the motions? You say, I'm alive, but you're dead. You say, I have a reputation as a godly dad, godly mom, a godly single person. I'm a Christian teacher. I'm a Christian student. I go to a Christian school. I have a Bible class. And the Lord Jesus says, but are you a Christian? You say you're alive, but you're dead. Have you looked to me with all your heart and put all your trust in me and recognized that I'm your only hope in your life and the only thing that will ever satisfy you? The only one who can ever save you and bring you through death is that at the center of your life, the Lord says. That's the question I have for you. You say, I'm wise, that's my reputation, that's who I am. I'm wise, I'm wealthy, I'm healthy. And Jesus comes and he says, under that reputation is someone who is dangerously asleep. Notice in the next verse he says, wake up, because the problem here is the sleepiness. Jesus says, I know what's really there. Wake up, you're dangerously asleep spiritually. That's what he says in verse two, wake up. He's okay, maybe apparently not fully dead, that's good. Nearly dead. Maybe we have a church in a coma here. Maybe there's a faint pulse. Because there's still a chance to wake up. That's great, that's good news, okay. We're in a coma, almost dead, but not dead yet. And why in a coma? Because these people had become too comfortable. Too comfortable. And they fell asleep just like the city of Sardis. Jesus is brilliant here. He uses imagery that everyone in the city knew about itself, even outside of the church. Sardis, above all places, was known to be impenetrable. Did I say that right? Impenetrable. It was settled on the top of a mountain on three sides. There were sheer drop-offs, cliffs on three sides, and on the fourth side, a narrow way in and out that was always guarded. It was proverbial. Like we would say, you know, something that can't be done, well, yeah, that'll happen when pigs fly. In their day, proverbially, outside of even Sardis, it was, well, you'll never do that. I mean, the day you'll do that is the day someone will break into Sardis. That was the way to speak of these things, because everyone knew that you can't break in to Sardis. And so what happens when everyone there knows that they're really comfortable? Over time, you start to go through the motions, and even the guards start to go through the motions, and people just sort of go along their very comfortable way. But we know, on one occasion, there were people, enemies, invaders, who had long been scouting from a distance, and a guard at the top of a cliff dropped his helmet, and it went crashing way, you know, hundreds of feet down. And they thought, well, that's interesting. And they kept watching. And a while later, they saw that guard come out the bottom a secret passageway. And he just didn't even think that anyone would be watching. And so they discovered the secret passageway and they took the city by night. These thieves came in by night. It happened a second time where by night thieves, invaders came in and they took the city that had been asleep. And Jesus here says, my church, My church is in a coma. Maybe you are in a spiritual coma. You're dying, it's dangerous, you need to wake up, and this has happened because you are too comfortable, and because you're too comfortable, you've become too compromised. Notice he speaks of clothes being soiled. That's a picture of someone out in a drunken stupor, falling in their clean clothes in someone's vomit. and it's a disgusting sight. And I guess that happens when you get too comfortable and too compromised. You fall asleep, morally, spiritually, you walk out, you're in a drunken stupor, you fall asleep and soil your clothes in your own vomit. Jesus says, some of you are in this state. Jesus is saying here, you've become too comfortable and too, I mean, look, notice, this is very different from the other churches. The previous four churches I believe we've already looked at, there was always something being used to attack this church. You know, Satan would come. The Nicolaitans came. Jezebel came and tempted and deceived and there's persecution and all that stuff. Notice here, none of that's needed. Satan didn't need to come. Jezebel didn't need to come. They're already asleep. And I wonder if this actually is not Satan's greatest strategy for the church, what we see right now in the 21st century of the American church. I think, I mean, just conjecture. Satan hates it when he has to go persecute because he knows that wakes the church up and it purifies people's faith and it strengthens them so they're willing to die and it's a great witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that last week. It's not martyrdom so much that's dangerous for the church, it's worldliness that's dangerous for the church. That's what will wipe a church out. And I wonder if what we see is a nice, comfortable culture where we can get comfortable and we can just fall asleep. And if Satan kind of likes a religious, Christianized country or environment where we talk of the things Christian, but we're not really Christian. You know, there's a famous Presbyterian preacher from Philadelphia, Donald Gray Barnhouse, and he shared the story one time illustrating this point. And he asked a provocative question. He said, what would it look like if Satan himself took over a city and most of the ideas people have are, well, it'd be dark and gloomy and trash all over the place and houses falling down and poverty and all those things. And to make his point, he said, no, actually, houses are beautiful, yards pristine, the parks are kept perfectly, wonderful schools, The birds chirping, great weather if Satan could take over a city. I mean, people walking up and down the street, so polite to one another and kind and generous, helping one another. If Satan took over a city, there would be a church on every corner. Beautiful churches like this one on every corner. Music ministry, great. Programs, fellowship, great. There's only one catch. In all these beautiful churches, in this beautiful, comfortable city, Jesus Christ would never be preached. That's what it would look like for Satan to take over a city. A Christless Christianity. People comfortable, loving life, asleep. Okay with a life where the cross isn't at the center. Where Christ and him crucified is not proclaimed. He said, that's what it looked like for Satan to take over a city. Worldliness is more dangerous than martyrdom. Jesus says, my church is in a coma. And Jesus, notice, says, I am the thief coming in the night. That would have been code, they all knew that. It'd be like, Kids hearing stories growing up of what took place on 9-11 in New York, Twin Towers, when you hear that, you know exactly what's happening. Same thing here. These would have been the stories. Oh, the thieves in the night, they came in when we were asleep and not on guard. Jesus says, I'm the thief. and I'm coming in. This is Jesus' creative way. You say, well, what's that mean that Jesus is coming like a thief in the night? He's not talking about his final return here. He's talking about the way that he comes to the church now and into your life now. And this is Jesus' creative way of saying, I love you enough to come, and if necessary, to disrupt you. in order to save you from the deceit of thinking you're alive when you're really not. And this looks different for every church and every There's no way I could have a list right now to say, here's what that looks like when Jesus comes like a thief in the night in love to rescue you from lies and deceit and ways of life and thinking. There's no way I could tell you what that looks like, but Jesus says, I do and I will. It looks different for every person, every situation, every life, different seasons of life. But we do know what Jesus' goal is in this. We don't know what it looks like, but we know what his goal is, and his goal is to bring about true repentance. Out of that false reputation, out of that false resting in something that's not true, He brings about true repentance. Now, I wanna talk about repentance because this is a word the Bible uses a lot, Jesus uses it a lot. There's a lot of, I think, wrong ways of thinking about it, and so it's really important. I wanna be able to use this word, and you know what we're talking about. I wanna start by saying, when you hear the word repentance, don't think, moral improvement. That's not what biblical repentance means. It's not recognizing bad works and trying a little harder to have better works. That's not a biblical repentance, this word metanoia that's used for this here in the Greek. You know, you can see how the idea of repentance is really twisted in harmful ways throughout history because There are times when the church and many churches fall asleep. So in the 1700s, for example, the churches that once were very strong and filled with truth and love, they had fallen asleep and had died, and many recognized the problem is there's a lack of repentance, there's a lack of taking sin seriously, and so they emphasized taking sin seriously, and that was repentance. And so people walked around and they would complain about their sins, they would hate their sins, they would live with this deep, dark regret continually, but they would stay there, and they were miserable. So repentance almost came to be identified with someone who walks around miserable because they're a sinner. And it was to just show, I'm taking this seriously. And that's gonna wake the church up if we can teach people to feel miserable about their sin. Well, that's not repentance. And then others thought they would wake the church up. You see this in many of the tent revivals that started to happen. We're gonna wake the church up. And we're gonna do it by helping people to feel the depth of their sin in a way that will cause them to express themselves physically in ways that will show that they're serious. And so you get the convulsions and the dancing and the, you know, the extreme expressions of what became manufactured physical and emotional expressions trying to show that we're serious about our faith. Two dangerous extremes, both using the language of repentance. And I want to say that true repentance, first of all, begins with you viewing yourself and life in the light of God's face. Notice his language here in our passage. He says, I've not found your works complete in the sight of my God. So when you think, first of all, about your life and your thoughts, your actions, your sin, you don't think of it compared to someone else who's better or worse than you. It's in the light of God's face. And in the light of God's face, by His grace, there is an internal change that you can't manufacture. This is that great big theological word. regeneration. God, by His grace, regenerates. He brings life. And when that happens, there is an internal change so that no longer do you take sin lightly, no longer do you enjoy it, no longer do you think you can sweep it under the rug, no longer are you not offended by it. But there's an internal change that begins to feel very what's the word I'm looking for, very regretful that you have thought and lived and acted the way you have, the way that you've treated people. There is a regret, there is a sadness, and there's a hatred for your sin more than others. You recognize the plank in your eye, this internal change that does begin to hate what's wrong and hate what's ugly, and you recognize in the light of God's face, this isn't the, what God wants. This isn't the way He would have a husband treat his wife. This isn't the way He would have a parent parent their child. This isn't the way He would have me go into worship, the state of this heart, or the way I'd treat others. This is ugly, and you recognize that, and you hate it, and you regret it. That is part of repentance. It's a genuine feeling toward those things of hatred and remorse, but it doesn't stay there, you see. There is that internal change. What comes next is not just this change, but this change brings about a true and genuine confession of your sin, that you honestly before God confess intentionally the ugliness of your life, the ugliness of your ways and your thoughts, and how you have betrayed, how you have murdered, how you have been an adulterer, how you have taken advantage, all those things, how you have lied, stolen. And this brings about a conversion, okay? So there is an internal change, we hate our sin, we regret it, oh, I hate the ugliness. And then there's a confession, Lord, here's my sin. And then there is a conversion. Now let me explain that. When I say conversion, I'm talking about an initial conversion of becoming a Christian. And that looks different for different people. Some of you had a major crisis in your life and there was a vivid expression of a converted life where you turned away from the world and turned to Jesus Christ and became a Christian. That's wonderful. It's also wonderful for a child quietly growing up in a Christian family who never had a crisis moment, but God, in the kindness of his grace, regenerated that heart. There was an internal change over time, and there was a growing hatred and remorse for the ugliness of sin, and a true confession, and a recognition that that child has no hope apart from Jesus Christ, and they trusted in Christ, and there was a conversion from death to life. There is an initial conversion, and our ongoing Christian life is a continuation of that conversion. We are continually being converted, not continually being saved and then unsaved, saved and then unsaved. No, you are saved in Christ. But our life is one in which there is a continual conversion, not just moral improvement. To understand repentance, you have to use biblical language. When the apostle Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live and the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, gave himself, that's repentance. It's coming out of the old into the new. It's not saying I wanna become a little bit better because I was bad. It's saying I'm gonna put off my old self and put on my new self. That's what the Apostle Paul said. It's saying I'm not gonna walk in the flesh. That's ugly and destructive. and dishonoring to my God, I'm gonna walk in the Spirit. And every day, it's us experiencing that conversion out of the old into the newness of the new creations that we are with the fruit of the Spirit, not the works of the flesh. Because of this internal change, there is a hatred and a regret for our sin every day. There is a confession of our sin every day. And there is a conversion, recognizing that's not who I am anymore in Christ. And so I will walk according to my true identity in Christ. Why am I telling you this? Because, geez, look at what he said here. What do you do if you're asleep? Notice what he says. in verse three. Remember then what you received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I'll come like a thief. So Jesus' answer here is to repent, to keep and repent. what they received and heard, that's the gospel, to repent. In other words, to repent and believe is what he is saying here. Let me just say that as a result of this, why does this matter? What does true repentance lead to? Notice, it leads to people wearing white robes that are brilliantly clean and justified and right without any stain because they're worthy. And because they wear white and because they're worthy, their name is in the book of life. And Jesus says there's already a few. That's the one good thing this church has going for it. There's already a few, but Jesus is saying, I want more people wearing these white robes who are worthy and whose name is in the book of life. Well, how do we get that? How do I get my name in the book? Do I wash off my vomit? Nah, you can't do that. What can I do to be more worthy? Well, the only answer is to remember what you've heard and received and to believe it, to hold on to it, to remember what Christ has done. This is the gospel. This is the news. That little gospel. He says, strengthen that what little remains. Maybe they were singing some songs that just had a little gospel left in it, and he's saying, oh, hold on to that. Maybe there's a little piece in their liturgy where there's a little gospel left. Hold on to that. Strengthen it. Bring that up to the center. Kids, maybe you feel dead spiritually, but At night, your parents say a prayer, and in that prayer, there's a praise for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that is what brings you to that little gospel. It can bring you to life because you recognize what Christ has done, what he's doing, and what he will do, that he sought you by grace. even though you are unworthy. He saved you by grace at the cost of the cross, where he, with his great name, took your bad name before God and was stained with your name. He took the vomit-covered robe, gave you the white robe, cleansed with his blood, and when he rose from the dead, he, after having the terrible reputation of a criminal on the cross, became the one whose name was above every name, and he gave you his name. He gives you a new name. And this he writes in the book of life. And I wanna tell you, in this day of forgetfulness and fickleness and fraudulent activity, I mean, I'm a forgetful person. I forget my passwords all the time. Because I'm all, now I just, every time I just say, forgot my password, send me an email and I'll reset it. I don't know what any of my passwords are now. I've had to apologize this week to people for just forgetting things. We live in a fickle age. You know, you're in, you're out. You're committed, you're not committed. I mean, that's everywhere. A student athlete commits to a certain college. No, I'm out. I'm transferring. I didn't like the way the coach spoke to me. You know, we live in a very fickle age. We live in a fraudulent age. Someone this week said, hey Ryan, did you email me and ask me to not call or text you but to give you a bunch of money because you were in a meeting? And it's like, what? Someone got my name and even snapshot from the website and made it look like my email, but it was a fraudulent email and they're sending it around trying to get money. So if you get that, I'm not asking you for money. But it's, you know, you can steal info from Apple and Google and they're always working hard to guard against the fraudulent activity. But Jesus is saying here, with these words that he'll never erase your name from the book. He's saying, I'm not forgetful, and I'm not fickle, and I'm not fraudulent. If your name's in my book, it's in my book. I've sealed it with my blood, and no one will ever take that name away, and I'll never erase it. It's sealed with my blood, and I have a witness. Notice, he says, I've spoken your name to the Father. Jesus has talked about you to the Father. Your name will never be taken out. It's sealed with his blood. He has a witness, the Father. And so Jesus here says to the church, he says to New City, he says to you, remember the gospel. Rest securely in your beautifully clean clothes and that your name is in the book and run the race knowing that we are conquerors in Christ. Because, because, We are conquerors because the one in whom we trust is the one who makes dead people alive, and he can make you alive this very morning. No matter how asleep you are, he can wake you up and make you alive by his spirit. Opening your eyes to the gospel. He can make this church alive. He's the one that makes dead people alive. Praise him, amen.