Let us hear God's word from Revelation 3, beginning in 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. The grass withers, the fire fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Amen. As we begin here today, I want you to think about your name. And obviously, we have personal names, we have middle names typically, and of course surnames. And these identify who we are. and the connections, family connections, and so on. Often, of course, we are named according to something important in the family, maybe a family name, a generational name, or something like that. Of course, our names have meanings, and sometimes this is why we are given the name, or a name connected to a character in the Bible or something. But we can also talk about our names in regard to what other people think of us. What kind of name do we have in the community or something like that? And sometimes the name that we have is accurate. Sometimes it's very wrong. People have a very wrong view of us or somebody else. We think maybe they're better than they are or worse than they are or something like that. But what matters most, of course, is God's view of us. What name do we have before God? What is his view of us? Well, this briefly in mind, here we come now to the last few verses of this message. We have attempted to heed Jesus' very challenging words here to the believers in Sardis. He confronts those who claim to be Christians, who say that their name is Christian. They even go on about doing Christian things. But he says that they're dead, that their name is actually a misname. There's no real fruit. The tree is alive, but it's not producing the way it should. And so as we saw last time, Jesus gives five commands to them. First, to be watchful. Second, to strengthen the things that they do have. Thirdly, to remember that God has saved and given us truth. Fourthly, to guard the things that we have been given. And then fifthly, to repent and turn away from half-hearted faith and turn to Him fully. Now, you may remember there's also an implied idea of being filled with the Spirit to be perfected, to fill up, and so forth. And then we ended with a strong warning that if we do not obey, if we are not watchful, then Jesus will come suddenly and bring judgment. He wants all or nothing. So we pick up then with his next point here, and that is in verse 4, where he says, you have a few names, even as Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Now, last time I mentioned about some of the different C's that we see in this message here and that the commendation for obedience is really missing here in this message, but this is the closest we get to it. He doesn't strictly commend them, but he obviously is referring to the few who are faithful, and so there's at least an implied commendation here. And the verse actually begins with a very strong contrast. For some reason, the New King James doesn't have it. But your translation may have, nevertheless, or rather, or something like that. If you have but, put an underline under it. It's a strong contrast here. These people who have a name but are dead, who are going to face judgment, is what he's been talking about. Now this strong contrast, nevertheless, there are some that I am pleased with. You're having a few names, as he says. So notice how the word name is used here. Note the contrast, obviously, with verse 1. The name, the nominal name of being a Christian, and now the genuine name. They are true to their name as a Christian. They say they're a Christian, and they're living like one. Now, remember what I mentioned, especially a couple of weeks ago when we started this message, that there is no clear indication here in the message or in things outside of the scriptures that indicates there was persecution in Sardis for Christians. There was not persecution from the civil authority nor from the Jews, even though there were many Jews there, not even from the trade guilds. And this was likely because they were compromising. They weren't living according to their faith. But even these believers in Sardis, the faithful ones, there's no indication that they, too, were facing persecution. Maybe there was some, but it's not mentioned to us here. Surely these were not compromising. They were not avoiding the things of the Lord and participating in the things of the world. But instead, they were not sacrificing to idols or participating in the love feasts and to trade guilds. They were saying that Jesus is the Messiah, even if the Jews didn't like that. They surely would have refused to say that Caesar is Lord. But it seems like the apathy of the people of Sardis, meant that even the faithful believers were not being persecuted, or at least not that much. All right, let's turn here a moment to Matthew chapter 13, and use this parable of Jesus here. to help us in our understanding. Now, I intend to have us look at a number of passages today. I think it'll be helpful for us, especially as we get into the next verse. But here in Matthew 13, we have this familiar parable, the parable of the sower, or some call it the parable of the soils. And so in verse three, Jesus says, Behold, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded crops, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And then verse 18, he explains this. Therefore, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who receives seed by the wayside. Obviously, these are unbelievers, right? Verse 20. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." You might say that this kind of seed and soil and so forth fits with the message to Pergamos and Thyatira. But now here, verse 22. Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. This seems to be the connection with the believers in Sardis, most of them anyway. But then verse 23, but he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it who indeed bears fruit and produces some 100 fold, some 60, some 30. Well, this refers to the few in Sardis, to the true believer, to those who have a name of being a Christian and are actually living that way. So let's come back to Revelation 3 now and look more at verse 4. And let me point out a few things here in this way. Notice it says that these few names have not defiled their garments, but instead they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Jesus is very likely making a historical reference here. You might remember me mentioning that in Sardis the textiles was a key trade there, in particular wool for their textiles. And so you think of wool, you think of dyes, you think of white wool, and so Jesus' reference here is is very deliberate, and he is saying that their garments are not defiled. They're not dirty. They haven't been out working in the barn or something to that effect. They're not a mess. Now, his point here, of course, is that their garments are without sin. They are not acting like the world. but they're acting like their name says, that they're Christians following Christ, walking with him. And so they're not being disqualified or rebuked here in any way. Now, when we talk about white here, obviously this is referring to moral purity, to holiness, to godliness, not acting like the world. Unfortunately, in our culture today, we have to clarify this. We are not talking about skin color. It has nothing to do with this at all. It has to do with purity, holiness. Now, we could look at all kinds of passages that would say this. For example, in Daniel 7, verse 9, we see that God is the Ancient of Days, has white. In Matthew 17, verse 2, we see the garments of Jesus being very bright and white like snow at the transfiguration. And in Acts 1, verse 10, we see about the angels that are dressed in white. Let me read here a moment, this is from Daniel chapter 12, and in verse 9, it says, angel speaking to Daniel, go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Let's turn a moment to Revelation 19, and we see this idea here in this way. In Revelation 19, in verse 7, Revelation 19, 7, "'Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.'" Right? Her garments are not defiled. "'And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.'" And then if you look down at verse 14, "'And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.'" And so clearly you see this idea of whiteness referring to holiness, righteousness. And so these believers in Sardis, at least some of them, did not have these defiled garments. They had white garments. They were doing what God had said, what Jesus had said. And so again, as it says here in verse four, they have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white. It's something they're already doing, but there is this idea that they're going to continue to walk in white with Jesus. Now, here's another time where this message connects with Ephesus. I pointed out a few of these here, I think it was two weeks ago, but notice here the idea of walking. In chapter 2, verse 1, we see about Jesus walking among the seven golden lampstands. And so the idea here is that Jesus is walking among His churches, and true believers are walking with Him. We're walking in this close relationship. If you look at chapter 14, just a moment, and in verse 4, it says here about the 144,000, verse 4, these are the ones who are not defiled with women for they are virgins, right? Spiritually speaking is the idea here. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And so true believers are following Christ. Simply, we're walking with him and after him. This also is likely a historical reference by Jesus because the Roman soldiers would wear white as they would march through the city after a victory. And so here is Jesus, our king, our military leader, leading the way. He is holding the scepter and we are walking and following with him dressed in white like these Roman soldiers. because we have conquered not the Gauls or some other human enemy, but we have conquered in righteousness, in our sanctification. So then at the end of verse four, he says here, for they are worthy. Now, of course, this does not mean work salvation. We are not worthy for heaven because we've been clean enough or white enough. That's not the point. We are worthy because ultimately God has made us worthy through Christ. But note the idea here then, if we are walking with Jesus, if we are dressed in white, if we are not defiled, this is evidence of God working in us. This is evidence of a true faith, striving for holiness. We're a true disciple. We're living according to the name that we say that we have as Christians. And so our point simply is this, the godly will be rewarded with more godliness. And that reward is especially a close and closer even relationship with Christ. Now do you see the implied point here? Jesus knows who are his. Lots of people tell us they're Christians, but only he knows truly who are his. He knows them also by name. Note this individual focus. It isn't just, oh, I know the believers at Rocky Springs. But he knows us specifically by name. It's very personal. And so notice then also this point. The emphasis of verse four is on the here and now. Verse five is going to talk about heaven. But right now we're talking about being white, walking with Christ in this life, in our sanctification. Verse 5 is in the future. All right, so a few thoughts here from verse 4. So let's look now at verse 5, and notice there are three promises given. He who overcomes, first, shall be clothed in white garments, secondly, and I will blot out his name, excuse me, will not blot out his name from the book of life, and thirdly, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels." Okay? So let's look at the first one here, and obviously it connects with verse four. Those who are white, who are holy, who are righteous in this life, they are the overcomers. They are the ones who will be perfected in holiness forever. And so verse four leads naturally to verse five. The verse four in this life, verse five, the next life idea. And so this challenge to overcome, this C number six here in our message, makes this connection with what Jesus has already said. And so if we are persevering in white living, in wholehearted sanctification, not half-heartedness, if we are true to the name that we say that we have, then the eternal reward is more whiteness. And in particular, glorification, we call it. We are perfected in holiness. Now, note this, if you will, the whole story. When we come to faith in Christ and we are justified, we are declared to be white, we are declared to be righteous and holy, and that is because of what Jesus has done for us, and that's perfect. We saw that even in our confession of faith, or excuse me, confession of sin here a moment ago. But now, as we are living in whiteness as Christians, we know, of course, that whiteness is not all that white. It is mixed with sin. We are far from perfect. And yet, there is a difference between those who are striving under righteousness and those who are very apathetic about it. We may only be bearing 30-fold fruit, but we're bearing fruit. But now here in verse five, this is the terminus, this is the end of it all. It begins with our declaration and then our life of sanctification, but it ends in our glorification where we will be perfected in every way forever. And so to the one who is overcoming, the one who is persevering, the one who is fighting to do what is right, to conquer and oppose sin, to say yes to righteousness and no to wickedness. Jesus will confirm you in holiness, in glory. He will finish what He started. You remember these words, I'll just read briefly here. This is Hebrews 12 verse 1. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. So note this walking, running with him idea. The author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hey, how are you doing with the running, as it were? How are you doing with this race? Are you persevering? Hey, there's this challenge here, this command for us to overcome. But here is the first promise that Jesus gives for those who do overcome. All right, let's look now at the second one. This is going to take a little bit more of our effort because of the new idea. He says, secondly, for those who overcome, I will not blot out his name from the book of life. Notice, first of all, notice we have the word name again. And we saw that in verse one, the nominal believer. We saw it in verse four, the true believer. And now here twice in verse five, here not blotting out his name. And then I will confess his name. And so both of these are referring to true believers. And then if you look down at verse 12, we'll see this idea again. About halfway through the verse, it says, I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name. Now there the focus is on God's name, but nevertheless, the idea of names is very significant here in these messages. And so what is important here is not the name we were given by our parents. What is important here is not the name that people have of us. What is important is what God thinks. Has he put our name in this book? Will he confess our name on the day of judgment? Here's the focus. All right, so again, Jesus is very likely making historical references here. In both Greek and Roman culture, Citizens would have their name on a list, right, a role of the citizenry. We will have something, of course, like that in our culture. In the Old Testament, we read for numbers 26 here a couple weeks ago, and remember the census there after the end of the wilderness wandering and so forth, and all those names that we read and so forth? God likes names on a list, and so we see it in that way. In Greece, for example, Greek citizens would then be blotted off the roll if they were condemned as a criminal or if they died. Now, of course, we might use white out or delete or backspace or something, but they would actually drip ink on it and blot out the name. So it wouldn't be on the list anymore. Let me read a moment from Dr. Osborne, and he speaks to this, but also has another idea here. First, he says, in both Jewish and Hellenistic worlds, the erasure of a name meant exclusion from the commonwealth or community. When Greeks were convicted of a serious crime, their names were removed from the civic register. In the Old Testament, removal of a name was associated with capital punishment and erasure from the national memory. And he references Deuteronomy 29 verse 20. And then he quotes from a synagogue liturgy that we've discovered from the year 80 AD, so roughly 15 years before these things here in Revelation. And here's what it says, May the Nazarenes, right, followers of Jesus of Nazareth, and the minim, now this is a Hebrew word that means the heretics, so the Jewish heretics. whether Christian or whatever. So let me start again. May the Nazarenes and the Minim perish suddenly and be blotted out from the book of life. It is very likely that Jesus is making a reference to both the pagan culture and the list of names being blotted out and here to the synagogue. And so Jesus is saying, hey, I'm not going to blot you off this list. if you overcome, if you persevere to the end. And not even death is going to take you off the list. Every year Stan gives us an updated roll of membership here at church and sometimes it changes and sometimes there's additions or subtractions and so forth. But look, not even death is going to change those who are in the book of life. We will not be blotted out. And so note that encouragement. True believers who are dressed in white, who are not defiled, who have been saved by God are in this book. All right, now let's read several passages here now. Let's turn to Exodus 32 and do just a brief look at some of these passages in regard to the Book of Life and some teachings here. In Exodus 32, this is in the golden calf context. And at the end of the chapter, Exodus 32 verse 32, Moses is speaking to God here. So Exodus 32 verse 32, he says, Yet now if you will forgive their sin, but if not, I pray blot me out of your book, which you have written. Notice Moses interceding here. And then God says, the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. Now, let me pause here and address this briefly. Joe even made reference to this somewhat this morning with the Seventh-day Adventist. If you're in the book, can you actually be blotted out? Or to put it another way, can you lose your salvation? Can you do something to apostatize and therefore be taken out of a book that you were in initially? I think the answer to this question has to be, you may be in a human book, a list of, you know, church membership or something like that, but if you're not really a Christian, if you say you're a Christian, but you're not really a Christian, then you never have been in the book of life at all. And so you can't ever be removed if God has put you there. And we're not put in that book because we've done something really great. We have enough white garments or something. We were put in that book initially because of God's grace, his electing grace. And so if God has put us in the book, we can't be removed. But do you see how Jesus is emphasizing the evidence here? If we are in the book, then we will live accordingly. We will overcome. And so we will never be blotted out. And so just a brief connection in that way to that question. Let's turn here a moment to Psalm 69. And here now David makes a reference to this idea. Psalm 69, note verse 28, David is speaking of his enemies. And those include fellow Israelites, right? Verse 28, let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous. So this imprecation here of David. Let's turn to Daniel chapter 12. I read verses 9 and 10 here a moment ago. In Daniel chapter 12, verse 1, you might remember I read from this passage in verse 1 of Revelation 3. And so Daniel 12 verse 1, At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of death shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." Remember, we started the message with Jesus, right, with the stars that he has, referring to believers. And so notice here about the reference to the book. Let's turn to the New Testament now. Let's turn to Philippians chapter 4. In Philippians 4, Paul is speaking about these two women in verse 2. And then in verse 3, then, Philippians 4, verse 3, he says, I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. So obviously Jesus, or excuse me, Paul here, is specifically saying about believers being in this book. Let's come then to Revelation, and there's a few other places. Let's turn to chapter 13, and note the opposite idea here. This is in the context of the beast of the sea and the dragon, your political power and such, serving Satan. And notice in chapter 13, verse 8, it says, And so those who worship the earthly powers here are not true believers. Chapter 17, if you look at verse 8 here, this is in the context of Babylon, this harlot sitting on the beast. And in verse 8 of chapter 17, the beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. So notice what I said a moment ago. The book of life, you don't add names into it throughout history. This is already from the foundation of the world. those who were in and who weren't. Then if you look at chapter 20, beginning in verse 11, Revelation 20 verse 11, And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which was the book of life. And they never judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." So notice these three references in Revelation to those not in the book. Well, if you turn to one more here in chapter 21, at the end of the chapter, verse 27, referring to the new heavens, the new earth, the new Jerusalem, verse 27, "...there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." There are other passages we could look at. You could look at Luke 10 in verse 20 or Hebrews 12, verses 22 to 24. There are other passages that speak of this book, either directly calling it the book of life or more indirectly. You know, what Jesus is talking about here in his message to Sardis is a message of evidence, you might say. who are showing evidence that their name is genuinely Christian. If they are persevering to the end, their name's not added to the book because of what they have done, but it's evidence that their name is in the book. And this is evidence that it's never going to be removed. And so note what he is promising here. If you persevere in whiteness, in holiness, And we have the promise that we will never be taken out of this book. We will never lose our salvation. We were guaranteed heaven. Not because we've earned it, but because it's evidence that God has chosen us to be his. Great encouragement here. All right, well, let's continue then. The third promise now in the verse. His note the opposite, I will not blot out, and now it says, but I will confess His name before my Father and before His angels. Note again the word name, and note the point here that Jesus knows this person by name. How can He confess our name if He doesn't know who we are? So again, note this personal relationship. We're not just some number or some part of a group, and we're not known individually, but he knows us specifically. Note that encouragement. Let me also mention this. Sometimes you'll hear people, when you read promises like this, to say something along the lines of, Jesus is referring to the martyrs. to those who have confessed Christ and died for it. And so the promise that Jesus is giving here is for those who have died for their faith. Now, certainly, there's truth to that. We talked about Polycarp and Smyrna and some of the suffering there. We talked about Antipas and Pergamos and how he was martyred for his faith. But you see how Jesus words this. It's not, verse 5, to those who overcame and died for their faith, but just to the overcomer. To any believer, whether they die for their faith or not, to any believer who overcomes, who perseveres in righteousness, they will be confessed by Jesus before the Father and before the angels. And so take comfort in this. All right, let's look at a few passages briefly. Let's start with what we did last week, and that is Matthew 7. We ended that strong threat that Jesus gives. If you do not watch, I'm going to come in judgment like this thief suddenly. And I ended by having us read here from Matthew 7, verses 21 to 23. And these people are showing sincerity. They look like they're Christians. They're doing Christian things. And we have those devastating words in verse 23. And then I would declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So these people have their name on a roll. They might even be praised in their local church. They're not on the heavenly roll. They're not known by name by Christ because, of course, ultimately, His view of our name is what is most important. And so note, then, the contrast. There were many in Sardis that are going to be given this word. There are many that Jesus does not know by name, but to the overcomer. to the few, to the remnant who persevere in righteousness. He does know us by name. He's not going to say, depart from me. But He will confess our name before the Father and the angels." So let's turn here then to Matthew 10. Matthew 10 is when Jesus sent out the apostles to minister and so forth. And in verse 32, Note what he says, Matthew 10, 32. Therefore, whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Now this may lead to martyrdom, but not necessarily. And then if you turn over to Luke chapter 12, Jesus then says this. Luke chapter 12, and in verse eight, He says, also I say to you, whoever confesses me before men, him, the son of man will also confess before the angels of God. For you denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And so here in Revelation, notice how he puts those two together. Matthew says about the father, Luke says here about the angels. And now Jesus says, the promise to the overcomer is I will confess your name. This is one of mine. when he speaks to the Father and when he stands before the angels in glory. And so Jesus is saying to the overcomer, you're going to be perfected in white. Your name will never be erased. And I will openly acknowledge you before everyone in heaven, basically. We will be vindicated. We will not lose our heavenly citizenship. Instead, we'll be ushered in and everyone's going to welcome us." What an encouragement to the true believer. What an encouragement here in Sardis to the few who are faithful, and they're easily in the minority here. You know, maybe out of a hundred there were, whatever, five or something that were true believers. That can be very discouraging. And so note these words of encouragement here from Jesus, but note also the implied warning back to what we saw last week in verse 3, to the half-hearted, to the unbeliever, these promises are not for you. It is only for those who have a true name of Christian. All right, well, let's look then briefly at verse 6 here in Revelation 3. It says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So we come here again. to this command. This is C number seven, the call to hear as just like verbatim, the previous four, everything is the same. It is a command that Jesus gives and note again, it's the spirit who is speaking and this corresponds with Jesus who is speaking. They're saying the same things. Remember also that he's saying this to the churches. which is referring to the multiple house churches in each of these cities. Here's Sardis. It's referring to all seven of the cities, and by extension, all churches throughout history. So as I've said, hey, multiple times, let me say again, every one of these messages is for every church. Now, this message to Sardis may not apply to us right now at this moment, but maybe it did 30 years ago. Maybe it will in 30 years. Maybe it doesn't apply to the church as a whole, but maybe it applies to some individuals sitting here today. And so we need to listen. Don't just assume, oh, this doesn't apply to us. Maybe it does, or maybe it will, or maybe it has. And so keep this in mind then. This is a command that Jesus is giving. Obviously the people here in Sardis need to hear this. This warning, these five commands. But remember also that this call to use your ears is spoken typically throughout the scriptures as a rebuke. And so even for the true believer, we need to use our ears because we all can grow apathetic. We all can be doing well and then We think, oh, you know, we rest on our laurels and then we stumble and fall. We all need to make our calling and election sure. We all need to make sure our name is written in the book of life. We all need to make sure that when we say we're a Christian, that it really is a true name for us. Don't presume, don't assume. How do we answer this question? Obviously, we pray. But then we look for the fruit. What's our tree like? Do we just have leaves? Or is there actual fruit? How is our living? Is it white? Is it clean? Is it holy? Is our faith genuine? Do we actually have a relationship with Jesus or are you just saying the right things? And so as I've said in the previous four, let me say again, are you listening? Jesus commands us to do so. Let me end with this thought. It is sometimes the case for us to think, well, you know, this must have been something way back when or something, or those churches over there. But let's not assume that we are alive and that we are not dead. We live in a culture of Christianity in our modern day America that is, there are a lot of leaves on the tree, but you wonder how much fruit there is. And so let's heed this warning, let's obey this command, and by God's grace, we can overcome and persevere to the end. All right, so a few thoughts for us, and we'll pick up with a message to Philadelphia next time. Let's pray together. Our Father, God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its message here. Lord, as we have this challenging message, help us not to explain it away or ignore it or whatever, but to hear it as you intended. Lord, we pray that you would be merciful to each one here. that each one of us would live up to the name of Christian. We pray, Lord, that you would show mercy to each one of us here with our name in this book of life, and that you would strengthen us by your spirit to persevere, to overcome, to live white lives, holy and pure, And we just pray for your mercies in this way. For your people, Lord, encourage us with these words. Help us to press on. Help us to persevere, knowing that someday we will be perfected in righteousness and holiness, knowing someday you will acknowledge us in front of everyone and usher us into glory. Lord, we certainly yearn for that day. And again, Lord, help us in these intervening days as we await that, that we might honor you in all that we do. We pray all these things then in Christ's name. Amen.