This morning, we return to our studies entitled Christ's Message to His Church. Last Lord's Day, we began looking at the church in Sardis, the dead church, in Revelation chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. So please turn with me in your Bibles, the Word of God, to Revelation chapter 3, Begin our reading at verse 1. Revelation 3, verse 1. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, these things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard. Hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but 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. Thus far we've considered a brief look at the city of Sardis and how the Lord describes himself to this church. And also we've looked at the first point in our outline, the rebuke given in verse one, and then we made a couple of applications concerning that. This morning before we take up Point number two in our outline, I'd like for us to underscore a few things from verse one. I want to highlight and underscore these things, and I want you to underscore these things in your mind as well. First, the identity of Christ. I hope you've been following how our Lord comes to each of these seven churches with a description of himself. which is tailor-made for the needs of that church. When you're at home this week, look back at the letters we've covered and see if you can remember why Christ reveals himself to each church in the way in which he does. Sardis, he says to Sardis, I have the seven spirits of God. I hold the seven spirits of God. and the seven stars. The sevenfold spirit is a symbolic reference to the Holy Spirit in all of his fullness, all the fullness of his gifts, his graces, and operations. The completeness of his person is given to the church. We read that in John chapter 14, verses 16 and 17, John chapter 15, verse 26, and Galatians chapter 4, verse 6. And so, brethren, in light of that fact that the Lord has the Spirit in all of His completeness and He sends the Spirit upon His church that they might function in the way in which He has designed, it is incumbent upon us to pray for the Holy Spirit. to pray that we wouldn't just come Sunday after Sunday in a room devoid of the Spirit's operation in our hearts when the Word of God is proclaimed, when the prayers of the saints are ushered into heaven. And as we sing the praises of Zion, oh, may we pray that the Holy Spirit would be amongst us. Let us never be content with just seeing one another's smiles. Well, let us say as those who sought our Lord, sirs, we would see Jesus. And if we would see Christ in all of his fullness and his operation, we must pray that the Spirit would come and work through the Holy Word, which he has inspired. Pray. As we sang this morning, this is a prayer. Holy Spirit, living breath of God, breathe new life. and to my willing soul. Bring the presence of the risen Lord to renew my heart and make me whole. Cause your word to come alive in me. Give me faith for what I cannot see. Give me passion for your purity. Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me. That is our prayer, and that is a prayer that our God will answer. The seven stars were identified as the angels or messengers of the church, as we read in chapter 1, verse 20, and chapter 2, verse 1. And I believe these are the leaders or elders or pastors of the church. As we read in Ephesians chapter four and in verse 11, it talks about the ascended Christ giving gifts to his church. And among the gifts that Christ has given to his church are pastor teachers. This is what the Lord gives to this dead church because this is what they needed. the Holy Spirit and elders under shepherds and pastors. That's what Grace Fellowship Church needs. And we thank God that he has been pleased to grant us his spirit as we've come to worship him and live as his people. And we thank God that he has given us pastors to watch for our souls. And so brethren, this altar calls us again to lift our voices and open our mouths wide and ask God to pray to the Lord of the harvest that he might send forth laborers into the harvest. The harvest is white. The fields are white unto harvest, the Bible tells us. There are many to be gathered in. God has a people who must be saved and they'll be saved if they hear the gospel of Christ. They hear that gospel preached by those who are God's people. And in particular, those who are God's servants, those who have been called to proclaim his truth, those are the ones who are needed. And so we must pray that God would raise up churches, that God would send churches pastors, men to labor and watch for their souls. We must pray for men who preach like the Lord. You remember what the Bible says about our Lord? It says he didn't preach like the scribes. He preached with authority, power, and unction, and the people heard him gladly. Let us pray for those kind of men that don't hem and haul in the pulpit and cut corners and want to win a popularity contest by not speaking about sin and the dangers of living in sin and men who will not point men and women to the cross of Christ. We understand that the gospel is an offense to those who do not believe. But brethren, we must preach that gospel. We must share that gospel. Pray that God would bring his Holy Spirit upon us and that he would give us spirit-filled preachers to preach his word. That's what this church in Sardis needed. And wherever these are absent in the church, that church is dead. Christ calls this church dead. The majority of the people in Sardis in this church were either terribly backslidden or they were not converted at all. The scripture says there are few in Sardis, just a few did not defile their garments. But to the rest, as Christ looks upon this church, he says, it is a dead church. He says, I know your works. This repeated phrase highlights the omniscience of Christ. He knows all things. King David makes that reality abundantly clear in Psalm 139. And he starts with these words, you have searched me and known me. And then he continues with how vast God's knowledge is of us. His examination of all things is so thorough, so accurate, so comprehensive, so meticulous, so complete, so detailed, so perfect, pure, and righteous that we need not ask another for help as we examine our hearts. Look at what David did when he understood the omniscience of God. He says, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Lord, if you search my heart, if you take your word, and open up the recesses of my heart, and show me what I really am, and if you find any wicked way in me, Lord, is that your prayer? Lord, if you find anything amiss in my life, if you see anything in my life that's contrary to your holy law, Lord, grant me the grace to deal with it and lead me, he says, into the way everlasting or in the everlasting way. So when we seek to obey 2 Corinthians 13 5, which tells us, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. When we were coming along, we were told never to do that. You put your stake in the ground and you sign your card. Don't ever doubt that you're God's child. Don't even question it. Just go back to that card. Well, the Bible says examine yourselves as to whether you're in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified, says the Apostle Paul. The first Thessalonians 2.4 says, God is the one who tests our hearts. Beloved, when we come to the table of remembrance this evening, we humble ourselves under the command to examine ourselves before we eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Let us ask our all-seeing Savior to help us do so with judgment-day honesty as we come to the table, that we might take it aright. Unless we be those whose lives don't match our reputation or our fine name, we need to plead with God. that we would not be identified like these in Sardis. You have a name that you are alive, but you're dead. Now, the second point in our outline is the remedy for what this rebuke has rendered. This call to change is given by our Lord, and he gives a remedy to those whom he has rebuked. The first thing he says is, be watchful. Be watchful. Verse two. Or some of your translations may read, wake up. The 1901 American Standard Version says, watch. The King James says, watch. The New King James says, watch. The ESV in the New American Standard and NIV say, wake up. If you remember our brief sketch of Sardinian history, you'll recall that Sardis was conquered by Cyrus the Persian and Antiochus the Great. And they were successful because there were no watchmen on the wall, no one on guard duty. And so the enemies of Sardis came in because they were negligent in their responsibility to watch. The Sardians had become complacent because they thought their city was unassailable. They were at ease. This disposition seems to have found its way into the church. It was true of the city and its history, and now it seems to be true of this church. I came across an interesting piece of literature by a former slave who is believed by some to have been an ancient citizen of Sardis. Listen to his instructive and insightful words. He opens by saying, Speaking of this one who says, no one has ever beaten me, I challenge. And he challenged the foxes, and he challenged the donkeys, and he challenged the frogs, the serpents. And then a lone voice rose up. I'll race you, said the tortoise. This hare was making fun of this tortoise one day for being so slow. Do you ever get anywhere, he says, mocking him and laughing. Yes, replied the tortoise. I get there sooner than you think. I'll run your race and prove it. The hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the tortoise. But for the fun of the thing, he agreed. So the fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off. The hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try and race with a hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the tortoise should catch up. The tortoise, meanwhile, kept going slowly but steadily, and after a time passed the place where the hare was sleeping. But the hare slept on very peacefully. And when at last he did wake up, the tortoise was near the gold. The hare now ran his swiftness, but he could not overtake the tortoise. Some renderings of that fable said, and the animal shouted, the tortoise won. The tortoise won. And the tortoise just smiled to himself. Many have derived lessons from this children's fable. But perhaps the most well-known morals from Aesop's fables were these. Slow and steady wins the race. That's an exhortation to perseverance. Or you may have heard this moral. The race is not always to the swift. And that's a rebuke to proud self-confidence, which leads to arrogance and careless idle ease. These words echo the Holy Scriptures as the wise man speaks of being moved by, as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. In Ecclesiastes 9, we read these words. I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill. but time and chance happen to them all. These things men trust in, men trust in their swiftness, men trust in their strength, men trust in their own wisdom and their own understanding and their own skill. Matthew Poole says, there are some times or seasons unknown and casual to men. but certain and determined by God, in which alone he will give men success. We needn't glean our exhortations from ancient fables, for we have the abiding and fallible word of God. Listen to the prophet Amos. Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes, Go to Kelna and see and go from there and go to Hamath the great. Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms or is their territory greater than your territory? Amos six verses one and two. And then in verse three, Amos goes on and describes their ease. Amos sets forth the series of searching questions to those who were at ease in Zion, who live in abundance, eat and drink and sleep and are secure, that think tomorrow shall be as the day, and neither fear nor believe the threatening and judgments of God. When men and women are at ease in Zion, they forget about the things that matter most. They don't take careful attention to their never-dying souls and to make sure they're walking right. The people in Sardis were asleep. They're called to be watchful. They're called to wake up. And so we find that this is a word for us to never be in a position where we just go through the motions. He says, be watchful, be watchful. He says, I know your works. He speaks to them in this verse, and this is why the rebuke came. He says, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Their works were imperfect, but there are religious works that are wood, hay, and stubble, and they shall be burned. much like the prophesying, and the casting out of demons, and the many mighty works that we read of in Matthew chapter 7, they'll receive no commendation from God. Or the ability to speak in tongues of men and of angels, and the ability to understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and the ability to remove mountains because of your faith, or the work of bestowing all your goods to feed the poor, And even if you give your body to be burned, the ultimate sacrifice, it is of no profit if it's not done for God. And exemplifying the gifts of love because it's lacking something. It's no profit. It's not complete in the eyes of God. Much like the plowing of the wicked and the abomination in his sight. Many of churchgoers' works are filled with nothing but air, emptiness, and they are empty when they are not animated by the spirit of life. When we looked at the parables of the sower, the parable of the sower in Mark chapter four, Christ talked about those who had the word choked because of the cares of this life, because of their love for the things of this world, and their fruit, it says they were unfruitful, actually. They did not bring any good works forth. Their fruit was no fruit at all, or as Luke says, it was not brought to maturity. It did not yield the seed that God had and promise to those who are the good soil. He says your garments are defiled. So there are few in Sardis who had not defiled their garments, so that means the rest of those folks whom Christ calls dead had defiled their garments. They lived corrupt lives, they wallowed in sin, soiled their garments, rubbing shoulders with the ungodly world. And Sardis, these had given themselves over to pagan cultures, pagan idolatry. They wanted to get along. They did not want to be persecuted like the other churches. And so they softened their message, or they didn't preach at all. They stopped sharing the gospel with folks to avoid the persecution. Christ says, watch. Watch. So as we consider this remedy for this sinful ease, our Lord says, be watchful. In verse two, the Greek word behind our English word is Gregorio, which means to watch, to keep awake, to be watchful, to be vigilant. And it's a contrast to being sleepy. It calls for one to give strict attention or to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtakes them. It's a verb that demands action. Some translations use the phrase wake up. And we see a vivid picture of this in Matthew chapter 26. When our Lord enters the garden of Gethsemane, he says this to his disciples that went with him into the garden. Then he said to them, my soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. Christ called those three who he took into the garden to be vigilant, to be on guard, to be giving close attention Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said, Peter, what? Could you not watch with me one hour? Then our Lord gives them this exhortation, watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, if we look back in Matthew chapter 24 and 42, and verse 43. And in Matthew 25, verse 13, our Lord speaks of his second coming. He ushers this, he, he, he pronounces this word again, watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming, but know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ADT and all those security systems that we have are our way of watching our homes. So when we're asleep, the alarm goes off if anything or an intruder comes upon our property. But if we know, if we don't have such devices in our home, if we knew what hour the thief would come, we would prepare ourselves and we'd be ready to fend him off from harming our families or stealing our property. We would be vigilant. We would be wakeful. We might be nodding, but we'd be drinking coffee. and we'd be taking energy shots, and we'd be doing all the things necessary that we could. It's like when I was driving professionally at times, there were more hours left to go than my body was willing to make, and I was called upon to be vigilant, and watchful, and alert. So you roll down the windows, or you snack on Doritos. You do everything in your power to stay awake. What must you do to stay vigilant and be on guard for the enemy of your soul who seeks your demise? Our Lord says, watch. Therefore, for you know not the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man cometh. Many people will be taken off guard and surprised when our Lord returns because they are not ready. Many unconverted people, as the hymn writer says, will be all unprepared to meet him in that day. This is where we get our name, Gregory. It means to be watchful, vigilant. We should be happy to have a pastor and a deacon by that name. officers who are watchful and vigilant. He says also here to not only watch but strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. It is the responsibility of those who labor in the word and doctrine to prepare the people and equip the people of God to be strengthened in their faith and strengthened in their walk with God. I was reading this portion from William Gurnall, excuse me, and I couldn't help but to see the necessity of these things. Now, Gurnall was speaking primarily to preachers, but it might be good for you to understand how preachers are exhorted to instruct the people how to be strengthened in the Lord. Gurnall says, speaking of preachers, they need to be repetitious. He talks about how preachers are repetitious. He's speaking about this passage in Ephesians, how the apostle Paul is repeating himself. And he said this, but he's saying it again. And sometimes people are weary of preachers saying the same thing over and over and over again. So Gurnall says, such preachers are not likely to reach the consciences who hop from one truth to another but dwell on none. Every hearer is not so quick as the preacher to take a notion as it is first darted forth. So he's saying that The preachers might have a lot of points and a lot of things to cover and sometimes people get lost in all of the exposition. Instead of the preacher taking his time to hammer home a good point or a needed point or what that congregation needs to hear, he's moving on too rapidly. He said, Paul here goes over and over the same exhortation. He said, there are three sorts of truths. that we must preach in our ministries. He said, first of all, there are fundamental truths, those catechized points. Secondly, he said there are those truths that are often to be preached, which ministers observe to be most undermined by Satan or his instruments. And then thirdly, he says there are daily and practical uses, those truths of daily use and practice. They're fundamental truths, those things which the people of God need to have a great grasp upon like they know their names. It's sad to say some of us have experienced in our lives embarrassment because the truths that we should have known In the times when we're speaking to someone about the gospel, or we're trying to instruct our children, even in the Sunday school class, and we need those truths for our own lives, and we need those truths to be deeply grounded, that we might instruct others. Gurnall says, these are landmarks, and show us the bounds of truth. And as it is in towns that but one upon another, if the inhabitants do not sometimes walk the bounds to show the youth what they are, when the old studs are gone, the next generation may lose all their privileges by their encroaching neighbors, because not able to tell what is their own. He's talking about surveying land, knowing the boundaries of your property. He says, if you don't know where the boundary lines are of your property, your wicked neighbors might encroach upon your land and say, this is my property, this is my land. So he says, you old guys need to show the youngsters before you leave where the boundaries are because enemies will come or bad neighbors will come and try to overtake your land. in this truth, the gospel, and the truths of the word of God. The enemy will overstep his boundaries if you don't know the truth, if you don't know where you stand in Christ, if you don't know what truths are yours in him. He talks about ministers looking forward to preaching those truths that help the people of God, those truths that they need because those are the areas where Satan comes the most. So a minister must know his congregation. He must know what the people of God are struggling with. He must know what's attacking them. He needs to know what makes them sad and sorrowful and weak that he might minister to them. And so he must teach those truths where he sees the enemy coming and attacking their souls. The preacher must read and study his people, and diligently as any book in his study. And as he finds them, dispense like a faithful steward unto them." He said, Paul takes notice that the Galatians had been in ill handling by false apostles who had bewitched them to go back to the law in that great point of justification. And Paul dealt with that severely in Galatians. He saw the evil one crouching upon that property of justification by faith and trying to make the people of God think that they had to be circumcised before they could be Christians. And preachers must do this, must deal with false teachers and false teaching and all those notions that men and women may have that are not biblical. He says this, who will blame a dog for continuing to bark when the thief is all the while in the yard? You don't get mad at your dog if the thief is in the yard, because he's alarming you. He's calling you to watchfulness. And may I say it reverently, your pastor sometimes are like barking dogs. We keep saying the same thing because we keep seeing the same thing. We're desirous that the people of God will walk wholly in this area. Perhaps some are struggling or not really giving good attention and not being watchful in those areas. And when they've been counseled to do this and to do that, that they might walk with Christ and humility. neglect those things, they dodge the pastors, and they don't do those things, and we weep and cry for your souls, and we teach you the same thing over and over and over again until we all get it. He says, our people complain. He says, we are so often reproving the same error of sin. And the fault is their own, he says sometimes, because they will not leave it. He says, when he talks about this daily truth that we must know, must be like your staples on your table. And Peter talks about that in 2 Peter chapter 1. Those things we must add to our faith, the virtue and the knowledge and the self-control and the perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love. He said, pardon me, he said, he had, you may see, been speaking of such graces and duties that they could not pass a day without the exercise of them and therefore will be ever there monitor to stir up the pure minds of his people. Some of these old Puritans are hard to read, but I tell you, if you take your time, forgive my stumbling over these things, but those are some choice words by a servant of God who desires the people of God to be strengthened and to strengthen the things that remain. There were things in their lives that were waning and things in their lives that were ready to die. The fundamental truths that must be proclaimed and preached and nailed down More important than secondary truths, there are truths, brethren. And he says the people of God sometimes say that those are baby truths, that's baby meat. Or as the writer of Hebrews says, the elementary principles. Can we move on to something more lofty and something more profound and something deep? Why do you keep giving us this milk? Perhaps sometimes the milk is given because the milk is needed. because it's those fundamental things that keep us in the hour of temptation. We sing a hymn here. It says, when Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, the great accuser of the saints, he accuses you. What do you do? What do you do in such a time as that? Do you find yourself going back to the Word of God, to those foundational truths? Do you say, upward I look and see Him there by faith? See who? See Christ Jesus. who put an end to all of our sins? Do you lay hold of the promises or do you let the evil one bombard you with all these assaults about your sin and about your wayward walking and your inconsistency? Do you let him bombard you to the point where you think, I must not be a Christian? Or do you go to the word of God and lay hold of those promises that speak of who we are in Christ Galatians tells us, Corinthians, Isaiah, Psalms, Romans, all speak promises to us. Isaiah 53, he was bruised for our iniquity. He was wounded for our transgressions. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. That's the truth of God's Word that you must bathe your mind in when Satan tempts you to despair and attacks you. Psalm 103, listen to the psalmist. As he takes these truths home to his heart, he blesses God and needs the truth. These foundational, fundamental, familiar passages of scripture will keep us. He says, he has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. God knows who we are. Our Heavenly Father knows who we are. He knows everything about us. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our strengths. He knows how to encourage us. He knows how to build us up. And when the enemy of our souls comes, brethren, I'm saying we must take these scriptures and strengthen our souls and strengthen our lives. Romans 6 says sin shall not have dominion over me. Romans 8 says God spared not his only son, but he delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Who shall lay any charge to God's elect? None. These are promises that we throw back at the enemy and say, I am God's child, And when I sin, I have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the righteous. And if I confess my sins, he's faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. These are the promises that we bathe our souls in. This is how we strengthen our souls. If those souls are ready to die like these in sorrow because we've not meditated and memorized those passages of scriptures that keep us in the way, then We will have to receive this rebuke from our Lord. Brother, may we find ourselves strengthening ourselves in the Lord, walking with our Lord. We might strengthen the hands which hang down in the feeble knees and make straight paths for our feet. So that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. As we read in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 12 and 13. To be strengthened means to firm up, to make stable. It's like putting on a cast. When our legs are broken and unstable, we shore them up. with cast and boots, and North Carolina's having a field day. But thank God they're shoring up a lot of folks and making them stable. And so when you put your boot on and you put your cast on, stay out of the potholes. Stay away from those stairs that are too difficult to climb. There are potholes in this life. There is a lot of traps and all kinds of things that trip up the people of God. Brethren, our Bibles call us. Our Lord gives us these commendations. It wasn't just for this century, this church. These things are for us. I hope we can glean from these letters a word for us. It wasn't just for them. It's for us. And go through these letters, and we'll come back. Go through these letters and see what Christ is saying to these churches, and make these things your prayers. Plead with God. If you see any of these things that Christ condemns in your life, ask God to forgive you. If you see any of these things in these letters that are commendations and they're true of your life, open your mouths, pray all the more, and praise and thank God for his mercies to you because he has given you his spirit and he has given to the church his men to instruct you in the word that you might be a holy people. We'll come back and we'll look more at this remedy where our Lord says, be watchful, strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die. And then he gives these words of exhortation. He says, remember, verse three, hold fast and repent. And then he gives the promises and we'll come back to that another time. Her brother and I hope that we are desirous. And I know as I look upon your faces, I am, I am delighted. And I don't know how, how some of you feel, but my heart was made glad on last Lord's day evening. We, we sometimes feel this place to capacity. But it's difficult at times to get the brethren back on the Lord's Day when we come to the table of remembrance. Sometimes it's difficult to get the brethren back when we gather as a corporate body to pray. There are reasons. There are providential hindrances. And there's also ease. and lackadaisicalness at times about the things of God. But my heart was made glad last Sunday, and I'm sure my brother pastors can say that as well, maybe some of you. As I heard the men pray, one after another, no pauses, not the same men who pray every month, every first Sunday, but different voices, different men raising their voices to heaven and pleading with God on behalf of his kingdom. Oh, how that makes our hearts glad. to see this in this place. Oh, may God give us more of a spirit of supplication and prayer in this place, that we would see the importance of not letting those things die in our life, but stir up our hearts that we might come and plead with God as his people and not be satisfied. Well, yeah, I can pray at home for what's going on at Grace Fellowship Church. No, I was thinking about when Peter was in prison and the folks were praying and praying. So and God answered their prayers and Peter was delivered and they didn't believe it when he came to the door. Oh, may we be those who find ourselves praying in this place together. Brethren, if we were persecuted, I guarantee you. If the authorities were coming after us, I guarantee you. We'd be in here locking arms and pleading and praying and fasting and asking God to be our portion and our help. But are we at ease in Zion? Or do we really need God? Do we really need His Spirit in this place? Let's plead with Him together that His name might be praised and glorified in the earth. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you've not left us to ourselves. We thank you for the great mercies. We thank you for your spirit. We thank you for your only begotten son, who gave his life a ransom for many. And we thank you that many of us in this room are among that many for whom Christ has died. Father, we pray this morning, if there be any more in this room who are the elect, those whom you have chosen before the foundations of the world, we pray that that gospel message might grip their hearts. Oh, Father, we pray that they would not wrestle with the fact of whether they are elect or not. We pray that they would recognize that they are sinners in need of a Savior. And Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the only Savior of sinners. And it's in His name we pray. Amen.