I trust you'll turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter number 2. We've been looking the past several weeks out of the seven churches of Revelation, seven literal local churches located in Asia Minor, and Jesus had a message for each of these seven churches. He was telling them, He was writing to them of what He thought of those churches. Can I tell you, Calvary Baptist Church, it really doesn't matter what we think about our church, it matters what He thinks. It really doesn't matter what I think about my Christian life or what you think about your Christian life, what matters is what does He think. What is His insight and opinion and thought of our lives spiritually of our church. Are we what He wants us to be? And as we look at these seven churches, we realize that each of them has something to say about the condition of the different churches even in our own day. The Lord didn't just have a message for them, He had a message for us. We come to verse number 12 where at the third church, as a traveler would make his way on a circuitous route through Asia Minor, the third city, the third church would be the church at Pergamos. Look at verse 12. and to the angel, the messenger of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with the two edges. You'll see that again in Revelation 19 as Jesus comes again and there's a sword that proceeds out of His mouth. Now we know that's not a literal sword. This is a metaphor. It is symbolism. It speaks of the power of the Word of God, that God's Word pierces like a sharp two-edged sword. That's why when we're in under preaching, that's why we need to hear preaching, because the Word of God pierces our hearts, it gets beneath the surface of our lives, and it brings change. Notice he goes on to say, verse 13, I know thy works, I know your works, your life, the condition of it, and where thou dwellest, where you live, even where Satan's seat is. And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days where in Antipas was my fateful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine, the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak, this is the king of Moab back in Numbers 25, to cast a stumbling block. It was a sin or a temptation, an enticement before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate, repent." Isn't it interesting how often Jesus calls on His churches, His people, to repent? or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Verse 17, he that hath an ear. What he's saying is, and we've learned this, is that everybody has ears, and we can all hear. What he's saying is, is that we have an ear to hear, a heart to respond to what God says. Do you know, not everybody responds to what the Lord has to say to us. He said, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. When you begin to look at this passage, God has much to say. I began to water down these different passages in the sense... I didn't mean water down. That's not the right phraseology. I began to break them down and to realize that there was a truth, a single truth that God is saying to us. We learn in the first church, the church at Ephesus, that the first mark of a healthy church is love. Loving Jesus. Do you know the first order of every Christian's life every day is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We're not to drift in our love. We're to grow in our love. Let me ask you a question. Are you growing in your love for Jesus? The second mark of a healthy church we learned was faithfulness. We learned that at the church at Smyrna. That God demands and desires faithfulness in our lives. Not what you and I deem or think is faithful, but what does God say is faithful. Faithful to the God of heaven. That's a mark of a healthy church. It is a faithful church. Faithful to the Lord. Faithful to His Word. Faithful to His services. Faithful to His work and His calling in our lives. Now we're going to find a third mark. The third mark of a healthy church, I put this word down, is foundation. Would you write that down? The third mark of a healthy church at the church of Pergamus you're going to find is foundation. Now here's what I want you to get. Are you listening church? Are we leaning in? You see, the perpetuity. You say, preacher, what in the world does that mean? Perpetuity. That's a wonderful word for all of us to learn. Let's say it together. One, two, three. Perpetuity. That speaks of success, or duration, or longevity. Church, let me say something. Right now, in 2024, America has experienced two great awakenings in her past. Do you know what we're experiencing in America right now? We're experiencing what sociologists are calling the great de-churching of America. Forty-five hundred churches will close their doors forever this year. Forty million Americans who used to go to church no longer attend. And we wonder why our nation is in the downfall that it's in. The problem in many cases, whether it was the individual's life or the church, was the foundation. You see, a church is only as strong as its foundation, the perpetuity, the longevity of a church. Listen, there are hundreds of young people on this property today. Now I'm going to ask you a question. What kind of church are we going to give them? Could it be that one day people would drive by on Main Street and instead of seeing Calvary Baptist Church alive and vibrant and thriving, there's a shopping center sitting here? Because the light's gone out. You see, a church is only as strong as its foundation. Your life, Christian, is only as strong as the foundation upon which you're building your life. Your marriage. Do you realize not only is there a compromising of truth and a compromising of conviction, there's a compromising of our commitments and our commitments and our marriages and our vows and our promises. And your marriage is only as strong as the foundation upon which you're building it. the future of your life is only as strong as the foundation upon which you're building it. Some churches are in a state of decline because they're built on personality. They will mushroom because of the charisma of the leadership of that church, but then when the charisma and the leadership is gone, then like that mushroom that inflated, it begins to deflate. Other times, the church is built, it's founded upon its programs, what it has to offer. Other times, it's its past that a church is just running on the momentum of its past, but somewhere down the line, that momentum will run down. Oh, I had a great past, but you can't live there. It's not what Jesus has done, what is He doing? people. Oh, we have wonderful people at Calvary Baptist. Some of the greatest Christians that I know and servants of God that I know are right here at Calvary Baptist Church. There's no place in America I'd rather be than right here in the world, than right here at Calvary Baptist Church. But you know what? A church can't be built not on It can't be built on the pastor. It can't be built on a personality. It can't be built on its past. It can't be built on its programs. It can't even be built on the people as wonderful as they may be. A church must be built upon the person of Jesus Christ. If we're going to stay true, that's the title of my message this morning. Staying true in a day of compromise. If we're going to stay true in a day of compromise, we must have the right foundation for our faith. Would we not agree with that? Jesus said, Peter, and upon this rock, Peter's testimony of who Jesus was, the Son of the living God. He said, upon this rock of who I am, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16, 18. I Corinthians 3, 12, For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2.20, "...and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." Now here's what I want you to get. Pergamos began with the right foundation. Now here's what you're going to find thirty years later. There's now cracks beginning to form. And if they were allowed to remain, it would bring about its demise. Staying true in a day of compromise. Let's pray together. Lord, we love You. We thank You for Your truth. I pray You'll speak to us this morning. You have a message for us. Help me to deliver Your Word, Father, as You've given it to me over these last several days and prepared a message from it. And Lord, I pray that I would speak only those things that You desire, and I would say, Thus saith the Lord, and share Your truth, that You might change us and grow us, and Lord, that You might direct our lives and our church, that we might be everything that You want us to be in this day, this hour, for You. Lord, there may be someone here today that they've never been born again. I pray that today would be the day they would come to know You as Savior. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Number one, I want you to see first of all the circumstance of their faith. The circumstance of their faith. Look at verse number 13. Jesus writing to this church said, I know thy works and where thou dwellest, where you're living. Pergamos was a magnificent city built on a large hill. about a thousand feet above sea level. on a clear day in Pergamos, you would have an awe-inspiring view of the Mediterranean Sea about 15 miles away. It was 45 miles north of Smyrna. It was the northernmost of the seven cities. It may not have been able to boast of its strategic location and the largeness of its harbors like Smyrna and Ephesus, but yet it was called the greatest city in Asia. It was a royal city. It had the special privilege of being the capital of Asia Minor for the last 400 years. It was a university town. It was a place of literary advancement and boasted of a library of 200,000 volumes in that ancient day 2,000 years ago. It was known for its manufacturing of a special parchment called Pergamina. It took its name after the city of Pergamos where it was located. But listen to me, for everything that was good, For everything that may have been beautiful or exciting in Pergamos, there was something dark and diabolical in that city. Notice if you would verse 13. He said, I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. Preacher, what is Satan's seat? That's his throne on earth. Do you realize that Satan is the God with a little g of this world? He is the Prince and the Power of the air, that He is the archenemy of God and everything that is right and good and holy and pleasing. Are you following me? And Satan is at work right now on planet earth. This is where Satan dwelt, so to speak. If you were to travel to Pergamos in John's day, crowning the Acropolis of Pergamos was a temple complex filled with idolatrous and immoral worship to Roman and Greek gods and goddesses. The great temple of Zeus that had a huge A huge altar in the shape of a throne was there in the midst of this city. They worshipped Athena and Dionysus and Asclepius, which was the idol in the form of a crooked serpent. He was the false god of healing. There was a medical college in that city. Many of you, even in America, you've seen a symbol of medicine or doctor and you'll see a little stake with a crooked serpent, that is the idol of Asclepius. And they worshipped in these temples. Patrons would travel from all over Asia Minor and they would lay down and sleep in the temple of Asclepius hoping that they would be touched by one of the many non-poisonous snakes that roamed its grounds freely. And they believed that those snakes would bring them healing. Can you imagine that? My wife and I have the same idea. For most snakes, the only good one is a dead one. How many want to say amen right there? I'm not going to lay down and let it crawl on me, I promise you that. There was also a temple to Caesar where the people would worship Caesar as a god. Pergamos was Satan's city. It was hell's headquarters. It was his base of operation where paganism and idolatry and immorality and everything evil that went with it, that was dedicated to it, radiated out of Pergamos throughout Asia Minor. And right in the midst of this city of hell was a colony of heaven. Isn't that interesting? The light of the Gospel had shined in this city. There were those in Pergamos that had placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. They had been gloriously born again. And a church was founded in this city. I just want to remind you, 2,000 years later, the Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save. There's no place so dark the light of the Gospel cannot shine there. There is no person so hard that God can't save them. And there is no place so sinful that God's grace is not greater and cannot reach there. Can I tell you? God is greater. Amen? The Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Can I just help us understand, no matter how dark our nation might get, no matter how diabolical things might happen in our land, can I tell you the light of the Gospel is still there. People can still be saved. God can still work. Friend, can I tell you, God is still alive and still at work in 2024. And here's what the problem is. We've gotten this idea that what we need to do is because we're living in perilous times and we're living in the last days, that we just need to circle the wagons and hold on till Jesus comes. And can I tell you that, listen, God's Word is still true. And Jesus said, Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. You're on the winning side. Jesus knows where you live. He knows where you work. He knows where you go to school. He knows the situation and the circumstances of your life. Rest assured, He sees. Now I'm not trying to say that in a threatening way. I'm saying that in an encouraging way. Because Christian, here's what I want you to learn if you don't get anything else today out of the message. The church at Pergamos and the Lord's message teaches us that it doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter what city you're in, what area of the country you're in. It doesn't matter what neighborhood you're in. It doesn't matter where you work. It doesn't matter what school you go to. You can be faithful to God. You ought to jot that down. You say, well, preacher, you don't know how bad the people are I work with. You don't know the cussing and the wickedness and the things that I have to put up with every day. Listen, let me just tell you something. Here was a colony of heaven in a city of hell. They were right there where Satan's throne was and they were faithful to God. And if they could be faithful in Pergamos, you and I can be faithful today in America. Amen? Young person, just because everybody else does it, doesn't mean you have to. Just because you may go to school with people that scoff at God, doesn't mean that you can't love God. Just because you may work or live in a dark place, doesn't mean that you can't be a light in that place. It all depends on your foundation, what you're building on. Amen? Not only do I want you to see this morning the circumstance of their faith, number two, I want you to see the conviction of their faith. Jesus said, I know thy works and where thou dwellest, where you live, even where Satan's seat is, and watch this, and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith. They held fast to the precious name of Jesus. Let me ask you a question. Are you ashamed of that name or unashamed of that name? Do you bow your head in the restaurant and on the job and ask God to bless your food in Jesus' name? Or do you just sort of mumble something real quick and hope nobody sees? What does His name mean to you? They held fast to His name. There's just something about that name. Do you realize there's power in that name? Do you know that people are saved through that name? The Bible says, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name, not the name of Buddha, not the name of Confucius, not the name of Mohammed or Allah or any other god that may be concocted in our world. There is none other name whereby under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Friend, listen, it's a must. We gather in His name. The Bible says, for where two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus says, there am I. Don't you like that? We get to pray in His name. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He may give it you. John 15, 16. We have the privilege of serving in His name. Colossians 3, 17. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Hey, we don't serve alone. We do it in His name. in His power, in His strength, for His glory. We just need to be all in for Christ. Amen. There's power in that name, but I want you to get this. Are you ready? There's persecution in that name. Jesus said, and you shall be hated of all men for My name's sake. Jesus said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. II Timothy 3.12, Yea, and all that will live godly, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now that doesn't mean that you may be placed in jail or that you may have to suffer death and martyrdom or imprisonment for your faith, but it does mean that you may have to take a little bit of jesting and a little bit of scorn and a little bit of mockery on the job or at school or somebody making fun because you're going to stand and hold fast to His name. Jesus said that we're to go forth without the camp bearing his reproach. He bore my reproach. Surely I can bear his. Here were the Lord's saints living in Satan's city. I can only imagine the satanic oppression. ostracized by family and friends, homes plundered, businesses boycotted. They were scorned, ridiculed, persecuted by an unbelieving world around them. But yet they held fast to His name and they didn't deny His faith. Did you see that? Preacher, what is that? That is this right here called the Bible, the Word of the living God. Church, this is the foundation upon which we build our lives and our families and our marriage and our church. You want your marriage to last. You want your family to go forward. You want your future to be successful. Then build on the right foundation. Church, we want to have perpetuity. You like that word? Now you can win in Scrabble. You just got to spell it. If it wasn't for spell check, I wouldn't have been able to spell it. But anyway, if we want perpetuity, the foundation's got to be right. We can't leave this foundation. I want you to note their courage. Can I show it to you real quickly? Can we go into hyper drive? Look, if you would, verse 13. Notice to the point that they were fateful, and it's not denied my faith even in those days where an antipas was my fateful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. My fateful martyr. Do you know that word martyr means witness? Do you know how Christians witnessed their faith in the first century? They died for it. You know what Antipas' name means? It means against all. I like that. Boy, that would be a good name to name your child. Antipas. Against all. You like that? I don't think I got any moms signing up. Someone once said to the Scottish preacher John Knox, who fearlessly stood against Bloody Mary, Queen of the Scots, who was a vehement persecutor of Christians. He said, John, if you take a stand for Jesus, all the world will be against you. John Knox said, then I'll just have to be against all the world. Antipas stood against those who stood against Christ. He remained faithful unto death. That doesn't mean he was ugly. That doesn't mean he had a bad spirit. No, he had a great spirit. Remember how Stephen died? Did Stephen die hurling insults at those around him that were persecuting him? Was he lashing back at those who lashed at him? Absolutely not. He stood there in the power of Christ and said, I see Jesus. He kneeled down as the stones were being hurled against Him and He said, Lord, don't lay this sin to their charge. Isn't that amazing? He was praying what Jesus prayed on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Christian, it's okay to be against some things. Just do it in the right way. Commend the cause of Christ. Let's just be His faithful witnesses. Amen? Then notice the compromise of their faith. Look at verse 14. For all that the Lord had good to say, there was a problem. Oh, the foundation was right. They held fast to His name. They didn't deny His faith. But watch it. Verse 14. But there's a problem. There's a crack. I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." I don't have a lot of time to explain to you who Balaam was. You can go back to Numbers 25. Balaam was an Old Testament prophet for hire. That means they liked money. And whatever the message that you wanted was, that's what Balaam is going to give you. And the king of Moab brought Balaam and was going to pay him a lot of money to curse Israel. Well, he wanted the money, so he tried to curse Israel, but every time he tried to curse them, God turned the curse into a blessing. And Balak the king of Moab was infuriated about that. He said, I brought you here and I'm paying you to curse my enemies and now you're blessing them. Well, guess what? Balaam didn't want to give up the money. And Balaam had another idea. He said, Balak, if you can't curse them because God's not going to let us, let's corrupt them. Send the girls of Moab to Israel. and seduce them, the men of Israel, and draw them into idolatry and immorality. And when you do that, God will have to curse them. Guess how many Israelites died? 25,000. because you don't sin and get by. I love what Jim John, remember Jim John, Gerald John and Jim that came up and he preached on a Sunday night here for our friends down in Guyana, our national pastor for him, going down to do the crusade. We were riding along and here's what Jim said. We were having some fellowship with him. We took him out to dinner and here's what Jim said. She said, you can't sin and win. You ought to write that in the flyleaf of your Bible. Young person, you ought to remember that. You can't sin and win. And there was a group in the church that they sort of got tired of the persecution. And they got tired of the oppression. And they said, you know what? Maybe we just need to be a little more accommodating. Maybe we just need to not be so hard. And maybe we just need to give in in some areas. And maybe we just need to go over here and it's alright to go to the world's parties and do the world's things and all of that. Just don't get too deep in it. And it was corrupting the church because it was bringing idolatry and immorality into the church. And there was compromise. Not all of them, just some of them. That's why he said I have a few things. He said, Thou hast them there. I believe what he's saying is that Pergamos was sort of divided. They had the faithful and the unfaithful, the committed and the compromised, the separated and the accommodating. And here's the thing, when you bring the world into the church, the church loses its testimony to the world. Jesus knew and understood what we need to understand. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Small compromises lead to great compromise that will eventually consume the church and lead to its spiritual demise. And we're going to meet another church that had the lights on and the cars in the parking lot and they had every semblance of being alive. And Jesus is going to write a letter to them and say, you're really dead. That was the doctrine of Balaam. And then the Nicolaitans were the ones who were perpetrating the teaching and the accommodation of the world. I want to give you a few quotes and then I'm going to get to the end of the message. Are you ready? Vance Havner, that great North Carolina preacher said, The church has become so worldly and the world so churchy you can't tell the two apart. D.L. Moody said, It's alright for the boat to be in the water, but it's perilous for the water to get in the boat. Listen to G. Campbell Morgan. All of these guys pastored in a different age. I think the problem was there in Pergamos. It was a problem in these men's day and it's a problem in our day. Here's what G. Campbell Morgan said. There is a toleration which is treachery. There is a peace which issues in paralysis. There are hours when the church must say no to those who ask communion with her, and in the doing of her work upon the basis of compromise. Such standing aloof may produce ostracism and persecution, but it will maintain power and influence. If the church of God in the cities of today were aloof from the maximums of the age, separated from the materialistic philosophies of the schools, bearing witness alone to the all-sufficiency of Christ and the perfecting of His salvation, even though persecuted and ostracized and bruised, it would be to the church that men would look in the hour of their heartbreak and sorrow and national need. The reason why Mia did not look to the church today is that she has destroyed her own influence by compromising with the things of the world. When churches have drag shows, when churches have to determine and have votes on whether or not they're going to ordain people that are of a persuasion that's detestable to God. I'm not saying that God hates people, but God, there are sins that are detestable to Him. It doesn't mean you don't love people to Jesus, but you can't accommodate it for the sake of getting along. You can't compromise the Bible. You can't. You can't. You can't compromise the truths of God's Word to make the world happy. The world is going to write their articles. They're going to spew their Facebook and social media posts. They're going to write their books. They're going to spin their podcasts. They're going to have their news shows, for lack of a better term. that's going to disparage biblical Christianity all because we will not accept what the world wants us to accept. But when you do, and we do, the cracks begin in the foundation that will consume the power of that church and it'll put its witness out. Doesn't mean that God doesn't want to save everybody because He does. But God doesn't save us in our sin. He saves us from our sins. And there's a difference. You don't have to wonder about what Jesus thought about the church and the condition at Pergamos. Look at verse number 15. Look at the last phrase. Which thing I hate. Jesus hates compromise. Hates it in my life. Hates it in your life. Hates it in churches. Because He knows what it does in our lives. You compromise your commitment, sir, ma'am, you'll lose your marriage and your family. You compromise your integrity, you'll lose your testimony. Are you following me? Staying true in a day of compromise. It's not going to be popular. But it's right. Notice what he says in verse 16. Repent, or else get right, or else I will come to thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Do you know what? I want Jesus fighting for me, not against me. Here's Jesus having to fight against His own church because of the cracks in the foundation and the compromise that was creeping in. Isn't that something? Calvary, if we're going to have a firm foundation, if we're going to stay true in a day of compromise, I want you to get this, we're going to have to choose truth over tolerance. Isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing that only Christians do they say that you can't preach an exclusive Jesus as the only way to heaven? By the way, no Muslim is ever going to tell you you get to their heaven any other way than through Allah. But nobody says anything to them. Isn't that amazing? The liberal world will say, you quit preaching about Jesus as the only way to heaven. But yet if you talk to a Buddhist or a Hindu, that's their only way is their gods. Isn't that amazing? You see, they have an intolerant tolerance. The world tolerates anything that accommodates them, but they're intolerant to any message that is against what they are for. We're going to have to choose the eternal over the temporal. That means we may have to have a little bit of discomfort that we might maintain some conviction. And we're going to have to choose conviction over compromise. Are you willing to do that? Because Calvary Baptist Church, if we're not, then there's a crack in the foundation. And somewhere down the line, This church will not have the blessing of Jesus. We won't have Him fighting for us. We'll have Him fighting against us with the sword of His mouth, trying to bring us back to Himself. In any issues of challenge, verse 17, aren't you glad the Lord always ends on a positive note? I know it got tough, but doesn't it need to get tough? Sure it does. Sure it does. There's times that we need to hear the truth. Isn't that right? One of the things I always promised in my ministry to the Lord, with His help, is I would never be an entertainer. I'm a preacher. And that's with His grace and His strength what I intend to be. And I hope to always tell the truth. and to speak it in love. Look at verse 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear. Church, I'm going to ask you a question. Do we have an ear? Are we willing to hear what Jesus says and respond? Or are we resisting Him? Sir, ma'am, your marriage won't be as strong as the foundation upon which you build it. Are you going to hear that message today or are you going to resist it? You're going to do it your way or God's way? Your life, young adult, teenager sitting in the building this morning, are you going to build on your foundation, your philosophy, your way, what the world says? Are you going to go with God? By the way, the success of your life will depend on the foundation that you build on. Because you remember the wise builder and the foolish builder that Jesus talked about? And one built on the rock and the other built on the sand. And one stood when the storms came and the other collapsed. Do you know why our society is collapsing? Do you know why churches are collapsing? Do you know why marriages are collapsing? Do you know why families are collapsing? Do you know why lives are collapsing in our society? It's because they're building on the wrong foundation. And then he's got a message to overcomers. Aren't you glad that we're overcomers in Jesus? Listen to what he says. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth it, saving he that receiveth it. What is this hidden manna, white stone, and new name? Well, let me tell you what I believe it is. I believe the hidden manna is a picture of Jesus. You say, Preacher, why is that? Because the manna of the Old Testament is a symbol, it's a type, not just of the Word of God, but of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus. Because in John 6, He said, I'm the bread of life. I'm the bread which cometh down from God out of heaven and giveth life to the world. Friend, listen, Jesus is the bread of life. Friend, listen, there is no living apart from Christ. He invites you to Him today. When you eat His bread, you don't have to look anywhere else. He satisfies. Amen? He's hidden from the view of man because He's now in heaven, but we can still have sweet fellowship with Jesus when we hold fast to His name and we stay true to His Word. Jesus wants you to have sweet fellowship with Him. Do you know what we experienced a little while ago on Sunday? You can have it on Monday. Tomorrow, you can. Or He can be just as real tomorrow as He was today. or is today. The white stone can speak of acquittal and righteousness, but I believe in this particular place it speaks of an arrival. A white stone was given to an athlete who was victorious in the games. Friend, can I tell you, one day, one day, one day you're going to cross over to the other side. You're going to win the victory. Hey, we're on the winning side. The white stone. And watch this, in that stone is a new name. Do you know Jesus has a name for you? You don't know it yet. He's got a name for you that only you and Him will know. Can you imagine the billions of people that will be in heaven? You think about all the time, the billions of people that will be in heaven. Heaven is going to be a heavily populated place. Isn't that wonderful? And out of the billions of people in heaven, Jesus is going to have a special relationship with you, and He's got a special name for you. You know, sometimes people have little pet names for grandkids or kids or whatever, you know, and stuff like that. And they're special, you know, and it means something. Jesus is saying, I love you so much. And you mean so much to me that I've got a little special name right here that's just between you and me. That you can personally fellowship with Him and enjoy Him. Because that is the sum total of life. He is the treasure of wisdom and knowledge. And when you find Him, you've found it all. I'm telling you, you have. The world doesn't understand that. Oh, but Christian, you do. And when you and I choose to hold fast to His name, we choose not to deny His faith. We have sweet fellowship here. One day when we get to heaven, He said, I've got a name for you. I'm going to give you a little white stone, a little Victor stone. It's yours. It's a symbol of victory. You've won. Dear child of God, we're the winners. Amen? Now let's win now that we might honor Him there. Isn't that true? Isn't that true? What foundation are you building on? Church? Are we willing to stand when it's hard? Are we willing to hold fast to His name and to not deny His faith when it's not popular? Are we willing to stand strong when Facebook out here in the city is saying all kinds of bad things against us that we know is not true? Are we willing to do that to stay true? Are we going to accommodate the world? What are we going to do? Could there be a generation of men and women in this church like there has been in its past? A generation of young people that would just slip forward and say, Lord, I'm not going to be ashamed of your name, and I'm going to live for your truth. I choose, as Rachel McCutcheon wrote, I choose to be a Christian. I will follow Christ. Carry the cross that leads to light. I will be true. Stand for my convictions. Whatever others do, I choose to be a Christian. Now what's your choice? Let's bow our heads in prayer.