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[0:00] We're in Revelation chapter 3 this morning, Revelation chapter 3 verses 1 through 6. We're going through the book of Revelation. We are seeing that this is not the revelation of things to come, but rather it is the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[0:14] It is a revelation of who He is, all that He is, and all that He contains. Not just in the future, but because of who He is, how things will play out in the future. We have been going through Revelation chapter 2, and now we're going into chapter 3, which consists of the letters to the seven churches.

[0:32] During this portion of Revelation, we have seen, at least we are seeing, how this is really a total picture of what a healthy church looks like. So we've seen the seven characteristics, or in the process of seeing the seven characteristics of a healthy church.

[0:47] There are different ways the great Bible scholars have interpreted the letters to the seven churches. Some have seen them as different epics throughout church history. Each church, or each letter, representing a different stage in church history.

[1:01] And that is one possible way of interpretation, but that is not necessarily the application that we're looking at, because we don't want to confine Christianity to what we call an American or European faith, because it is a worldwide faith.

[1:17] So what is true of much of European and American church history is the exact opposite of church history in, say, Asian countries. Okay? By that, I mean, we started out on fire, and now we're kind of dwindling down.

[1:31] They started out in persecution, and now they are catching fire. Total opposites at times. So we have been looking at it, that rather than being something representative of history, seven always pictures something in completeness and fullness of Scripture.

[1:46] So we're seeing what a complete church looks like, or a healthy church. I know, on the front end, I'm going to go ahead and say this. These letters are not easy to go through, because when we start talking about health, and we start diagnosing problems and issues, none of us really like to hear the bad news.

[2:09] Just this past week, my wife scheduled me a doctor's appointment. And yes, I said, they're right. She scheduled me a doctor's appointment. I don't like doctors. I don't go to doctors. And not that I don't have anything against them.

[2:21] If you're in that profession, Lord bless you. I'm so thankful for you. I just don't make it a habit of sitting in front of you. And she said, you've had enough of this. You're going to go see a doctor, see what's going on with all this congestion. And the reason I don't like them is because then they begin to tell you what they're going to do to fix the problem.

[2:34] And the young man, who was probably about the age of our son, said, I'm not going to lie to you. It's going to hurt. It's going to be painful. It's going to be terrible. And you're going to hate me for a few days. Makes it sound great.

[2:45] See, I'll see you in four weeks, and we'll get started on it, right? None of us like the diagnosis. But before we can get to the health, we have to have the diagnosis.

[2:57] And that's what we're seeing in the letters to the seven churches. And I say that by way of introduction to the letter to the church at Sardis. One of two letters in the group of seven that has nothing positive to say.

[3:12] The letter to the church at Sardis and the letter to the church at Laodicea, which will be the end one. So if you're physically able and desire to do so, I ask if you'll join with me as we stand together and we read the Word of God found in Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 1 and going down to verse 6.

[3:33] The Word of God says, To the angel of the church in Sardis write, He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this, I know your deeds, and that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

[3:49] Wake up and strengthen the things that remain which were about to die, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. So remember what you have received and heard, and keep it and repent.

[4:01] Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not sold their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

[4:16] He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. And 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.

[4:30] Let's pray. Lord, we are so thankful. We rejoice in the opportunity we have this morning of gathering together, reading your word, Lord, hearing the truth that your word contains.

[4:43] Lord, I pray that that truth would overwhelm us, and it would overcome us. Lord, that it would search us, and it would know us, and it would try us. Lord, that it would conform us more to your glory, that we would be your people for your name's sake.

[4:57] Lord, would you get all the praise? Would you get all the honor? Would you get all the magnificent lifting up? We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. We are now to the letter to the church at Sardis, in Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 1.

[5:15] I want you to see this morning. Excuse me. As we have made our way, I've been trying to make each of these titles kind of alliterate. That's for my name's sake.

[5:25] I'm putting each title starting with an S, and I kind of blew that out of the water because it really doesn't matter. Title's really not important. Really, the truth is important. But the Lord has a way of shaping and changing things.

[5:37] But this morning, I want you to see that the characteristic, one of the characteristics we find of a healthy church, it is a church of resurrection power. A healthy church is a church of resurrection power.

[5:54] Now, all of a sudden, in your mind, you say, well, sure, we are a people of resurrection power. We proclaim the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We exalt in his resurrection.

[6:08] We magnify his resurrection. Each time we take the Lord's Supper, we proclaim his resurrection. And that is great, and that is awesome. And we are standing in the light of his resurrection.

[6:21] But the resurrection power I am talking about is the power that the church contains when the church realizes that it was once dead, and the church is now alive.

[6:32] There is one aspect of church, when you're talking about church, not just the people, but church that has always bothered me as a pastor. When I stand in pastor circles, and I stand around other pastors, and it's just the conversation always tends to go this way.

[6:48] And it's just always kind of concerned me. And I understand where it's coming from, because part of it is true, but part of it is kind of disheartening as well. It says that, well, you know, churches always run in cycles.

[7:00] A church will start out, and it'll grow, and it'll go through these great years of growth, and it'll go through these great years of rejoicing and celebrating, and then inevitably they plateau, and after they plateau, they decline, and then all of a sudden there'll be a revival, and they'll grow, and then they'll plateau, and they call it the humpbacks or the camelbacks of church life.

[7:19] Now, in my mind, I don't like that. I know it happens, but the only reason it happens is because we begin to take our eyes off the gospel, and it becomes man-focused, man-centered.

[7:36] Someone once said that every church, every great church, usually has found its beginnings with a man, and then they begin to take on a mission.

[7:51] That mission turned into a movement. A movement began to catch momentum, and before you knew it, there was a monument, and they were in a morgue. The church did great things, and then it died.

[8:08] We can all think of that, right? We can go through the listing of churches that we knew were magnificent churches, and yet they're not there anymore. And you say, well, the hope is gone.

[8:20] The time has passed. Well, my friend, listen to me. What we're dealing with in the church at Sardis is a church that Jesus says is dead. But we're not focusing on just the present condition of the church because we are dealing not with man, but with Jesus.

[8:38] And in case you missed it, Jesus has a habit of interrupting death all throughout Scripture. He walks into Nain, and there's a widow walking out of Nain, and there's a man up on this funeral pyre as they're carrying him out of Nain, the widow's son of Nain.

[8:59] And I am so sorry. This is the first day that I have coughed in about two weeks, but it has to be on a Sunday, right? So my apologies. It will not stop me because this is a good one. We need to see it. So as Christ walks into Nain, and the funeral is coming by him, he stops the funeral procession, and he interrupts death and tells the widow's son to get up.

[9:18] Lazarus is dead and buried in the tomb four days. Jesus interrupts death and calls Lazarus. When the church goes into a desperate condition, and we call it dead, then the church is ready to experience the resurrection power of Christ.

[9:34] You remember the testimony of Lazarus? You remember that? Dead and buried in the grave four days. Jesus called him out, and they unbound him. Then all of a sudden, all these people wanted to kill Lazarus.

[9:46] Remember? Why did they want to kill Lazarus? Because Lazarus couldn't be quiet about the fact he was dead and gone and came back. And he lived in resurrection power.

[9:58] He said, kill me. It doesn't matter. I've been there before. Jesus called me from there. Go ahead. Send me back. It's okay. It is the power of resurrection power.

[10:10] Not his resurrection, but our resurrection. But before we can get to a church living in resurrection power, we have to see the truth of this passage. Number one, we see an undeniable judgment.

[10:22] An undeniable judgment. To the church at Sardis, to the angel of the church in Sardis writes. You need to understand a little bit about each of these cities, so I'll give you just kind of a quick synopsis of Sardis.

[10:36] Sardis was the oldest of the seven cities that the letters of the seven churches are written. Sardis was founded somewhere around 1200 B.C. John would have been writing this letter somewhere around 90 to 95 A.D.

[10:51] So it had been in existence for almost 1,300 years by the time this letter is written. It had been destroyed no less than two times, once by earthquake, and had been rebuilt both times.

[11:04] So it was a city which knew something about being dead and being born again. It was a city which had a great past. It was a city which was known for the hills which could be seen for over seven miles.

[11:17] You say, well, that's great because these beautiful hills. Well, wait a minute, because those hills were actually hundreds and hundreds of graves. And for over seven miles away, you could see the graves on the hillside behind Sardis.

[11:29] So it was a city which knew something about death. But probably the saddest thing about Sardis was that Sardis was a city which had a great past. A great past.

[11:41] It was a city which had a phenomenal past of fluency, of busyness, of activity, but really was living a terrible presence.

[11:55] It was living in the glory of past accomplishments and wasn't doing anything in present-day life. It was a city time had forgotten.

[12:08] Everything that had to say good about itself was things that were done yesterday, not things that were being done today. And it was to this church in this city that Jesus writes this.

[12:21] What does he say? He says, He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this. Now, we're looking here at an undeniable judgment. Jesus describes himself as he who has the seven spirits.

[12:36] Now, that letter, that spirits, that S should be capitalized, right? Because he's speaking of the Holy Spirit. It is not that there are seven holy spirits of God. Seven is the what?

[12:46] Number of completion. So it is he who knows completely the spirit of God and holds in his hands completely the people of God is what he is saying.

[13:00] Now, why is it important that he has the fullness of the spirit? Because who knows the heart of man, but the spirit of the man? Who knows the mind of God, but the spirit of God? And how Jesus is describing himself here is I am he who has the fullness of the spirit and it is absolutely control of the church.

[13:18] That's the stars of the seven churches. And the reason we see this is because he is about to pronounce bad news. Now, he's going to say things they don't like. He's going to say things they don't agree with.

[13:31] But what he is telling them, before he says them, guess what? I have a right to say it. I have a right to proclaim it. No one knows you better than I know you.

[13:43] I know you better than you know yourself. I know you better than anyone around you knows you. I know you better than the way the community knows you. No one knows you better than me.

[13:54] So with that being said, what I am about to proclaim, you must listen to. It is an undeniable judgment because it is absolutely true.

[14:06] Now that's important because if we cannot trust what Jesus says about us, then we cannot trust anything. And this is what he's writing to the church at Sardis and says, listen, I am speaking for your good and I'm speaking because of my power and because of what I know to be true, not what I think is true.

[14:31] I have the fullness of the Spirit. And now I'm going to tell you what I know. Man often judges on what he thinks or what he perceives.

[14:42] You pass judgment each and every day and you pass it multiple times a day. You say, well, I'm not a judging person. Well, sure you are. Not all judgment is bad. God's given us good judgment. If a car is flying down a road, it turns right here at the gas station, makes that blind turn, and it gases it and it comes up this road right here and one of us sees a little child running out towards that road, our judgment's going to say, grab that child, right?

[15:08] Our judgment's going to say, stop, something bad could happen. That's not bad judgment. That's good judgment, every one of us. But we always pass judgment based on how we think things will be. Christ pronounces an undeniable judgment based on what things are as they truthfully exist.

[15:28] So we see here, as we listen to Christ, pronounce this to the church, understand it is an undeniably true judgment. We don't like it, but we must accept it.

[15:41] If we were members of the church of Sardis, we would have to go there. This undeniable judgment is followed with an unavoidable truth. Friend, this passage just shake us to our core.

[15:51] Listen to them. Look at what it says. Look at this unavoidable truth. I know your deeds. So that's good. At least they were doing something. And that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

[16:06] I know your deeds. He said, I know you're doing things. I know you're busy. I know you have a lot of activity. I even know that everyone around you thinks that you're good. I know that you have a name that you are alive.

[16:20] Man, that is a happening place. Let's paint the church at Sardis for just a moment. The church at Sardis isn't a place that you or I would drive by and say, man, they're not doing anything. Because Jesus says they were doing a lot.

[16:32] It's not even a church that we would say, man, there must not be anything going on there. This would have been a church probably with a pavilion out back, a playground for the kids to play on, a number of church buses in the parking lot, had banners outside, announcing all their activities, had a full schedule of events.

[16:45] If you look the church website up, all these things, he said, you have a name that you are alive. Man, a lot of stuff is going on. But the unbelievable truth, the unavoidable truth that Jesus proclaims is this, but you are dead.

[17:08] You're dead. Though everyone around you thinks that you are alive, though from the outside looking in, it looks like you're doing great things, Jesus says, I know everything, and what I know is you're dead.

[17:26] Tom Rainer wrote a book in 2016. Tom Rainer, who is the head of research and development for LifeWay, which, by the way, we support through the cooperative program. I believe it was 2016, 2017, Tom Rainer wrote a book entitled Autopsy of a Dead Church.

[17:42] Now, that's important because Rainer, along with being head of research for LifeWay, is also part of, called the Rainer Group, which they go in and they help churches across all denominational lines, and they do, churches call them in and have the Rainer Group come in and do studies like, just show us what's going on with our church, how can we be more efficient, things of that nature.

[18:01] So they look at churches across all denominations in our country and in our land. And he wrote this book entitled Autopsy of a Dead Church. And in this, he listed a number of characteristic traits that every dead church begins to exhibit.

[18:19] Now, I'm going to read some to you. I'm not going to really give any kind of into it. I'm just going to say this is what he listed as being characteristics of a dead church. Number one, the past is always exalted as a hero.

[18:35] Man, you know what we did 10, 20, 30 years ago. The past is always lifted up as the hero.

[18:46] Two, they refuse to adopt to changing communities. They refuse. Oh, I've seen it.

[18:56] I know you have too. Churches that refuse to adopt. The demographic of the church does not match the demographic of the community. Rainer said from the outside, looking in, they may look alive, but they're beginning to die.

[19:11] Number three, the budget is shifted to focus primarily inwardly. If you look at their budget sheet, all their expenses begin to be inward focused.

[19:25] Number four, they forget the Great Commission and they make it the Great Omission. They're really no longer concerned about people coming to salvation and knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

[19:38] They really could care less if we proclaim the name of Christ to all the people of the world. Number five, church becomes preference driven out of a selfishness and personal agenda.

[19:51] We know that. That's not how I want it. That's all. He said it. One of the character traits of a church beginning to die.

[20:03] Number six, short term tenured pastors. You know, it's amazing to me. You need to pray for Southern Baptist churches. One thing I realized, and not in the Southern Baptist churches, across all denomination lines, the average tenure of a pastor in any church is about two and a half years.

[20:19] Two and a half years. As a pastor, you are not effective until year seven. That's when they tell you you're not really becoming effective until about year seven.

[20:31] If you look at the most effective pastors across all denominations and you look at church history and see those which last, it was churches that had pastors of 10 years or more. Yet we have made it a routine habit to have short tenured pastors.

[20:46] And we wonder why we have unhealthy churches. Next, a lack of regular corporate prayer. A lack of regular corporate prayer.

[20:59] Not gathering together, praying one another. Nothing else but prayer. Next, no clear purpose or vision. And finally, obsessing over their facilities.

[21:11] Just some of Rainer's observations of what it looks like when a church begins to die. Jesus says, you have a name that you are alive.

[21:23] But the unavoidable truth is, church, no matter what others think about you, you are dead. Now that's an undeniable judgment and an unavoidable truth.

[21:39] And you say, wow, I am glad I wasn't a member of the church at Sardis. Well, let's keep going. Third, we see it was a church of unexcused behavior, which means they had no reason dying.

[21:55] No reason. They had no reason to get to the shape that they were in. It is an unexcused behavior. He says in verse 2, wake up, strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God.

[22:13] Friend, listen to this. This is unexcusable. What is he saying? You started doing things for the kingdom. You began to work and labor for the kingdom. And then you stopped.

[22:25] You fell short. I haven't found your work completed. I want to ask you, church. We're not talking about, let's step away from the church at Sardis for just a minute. Let's bring you home. And let's look at War Trace Baptist Church.

[22:36] Is the work of God complete? No. Because every tribe has not heard. Every tongue has not confessed. Every individual has not had the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

[22:50] On any given Sunday, over 85% of Bedford County residents are not in church anywhere. We do not have to compete with other churches to reach the lost people.

[23:01] We just have to do the work of the kingdom to reach the lost people, right? He said, you started, but then you left it unfinished. Unexcusable. You put your hand to the plow, and then you turn and look back.

[23:15] And you say, well, at least I started good. I got kind of tired. I got kind of wore out. That was hard. He doesn't say it's going to be easy, right? He says it is a labor.

[23:26] It is a work. It is something we push towards. It is something that we do. But not only that, look at what it says. So remember what you have received and heard, and keep it and repent. The reason I find this so inexcusable is they did not die for a lack of knowledge.

[23:42] They did not die because they didn't know. He says, remember what you heard. Remember what you knew. Friend, listen. They knew the truth, acknowledged the truth, and refused to live the truth.

[23:59] And Jesus says, so you died. You knew the truth. You acknowledged the truth. You've heard it. You've believed it. Remember those things. Call them back to mind.

[24:10] But they would not live according to the truth. This is why the death of the church at Sardis is so unexcusable.

[24:21] They should have known better. And this is why in a land such as ours, the death of any church seems to be unexcusable to me.

[24:34] Because we, of all people, should know better. We should know better. It should break our hearts. It's right there. Fourth, look at this. An unexpected return.

[24:45] How is Jesus going to wake the church up? How is he going to shake it up? He says, therefore, if you do not wake up, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

[25:00] An unexpected return. He says, if you do not wake up, wake up. Now, you say, well, how can they wake up? They're dead. It's very easy. Jesus told them to wake up. Now we're beginning to see the resurrection power.

[25:14] Here's the good news, church. If we die, and Jesus says, wake up, guess what? We can wake up. I mean, oh, hey man, you must have totally missed that.

[25:25] Somewhere in there. Even if the church dies, the head of the church still has the authority and the power to tell the church to wake up, get up, and go do what he told it to do to begin with.

[25:37] He does. Because, see, all physical conditions, all signs, all the, you know, everything that the world says about the church really doesn't mean anything.

[25:50] It's only what the head of the church does. He told Lazarus to wake up. He did. He told the little son of Nain to wake up. He did. He told himself to wake up. That's pretty cool, right? He said, he raised himself.

[26:00] You know, all three members of the Godhead are attributed to the resurrection of Christ. There's one point that Jesus himself raised his own body. He said, all right, get up. It's time to go. That is so cool to me. But he can just tell you.

[26:12] And when you're dead in Christ, the word there is you're asleep in Christ. And then there's going to be this day, 1 Corinthians 15, where the dead in Christ will meet him in the air. You know what he's going to do? He's going to blow a trumpet. He's going to say, get up. And they're going to get up.

[26:22] That is so cool. So when he tells the church to wake up, the church has the ability to wake up. And it should. Why? Because he's coming back. He's coming back. Look what it says. Unexpected return.

[26:33] If you do not wake up, I'm going to come like a thief in the night. And I'm going to come in a moment when you don't expect me, which means the only reason, the only way, not reason, the only way to be living expectantly of his coming would be to be awake and laboring until he comes.

[26:49] To be doing his work, to be doing his business until he comes. He says, if you just keep going like you're going, I'm going to show up someday and you're not going to be ready. Now, I don't know about you, but I love Jesus.

[27:01] I love him. With all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my being, and all of my mind, I love the heavenly Father. I love God. I love the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. I love them. Here's the reality. I also, each and every day, examine my life and want to know, if he came today, would I be ready?

[27:20] I'm not talking about ready eternally because I know where I'm going to live eternally. I do. I know where I'm going to live. Can I just, for just a moment, speak as a man and not as a pastor?

[27:31] There are some days, as a matter of fact, one day this past week where just things in my life were just being agitating, right? Being frustrated. Not anybody, just things. It was material things. And just like every other man, when material things get to you, normally what you do is you get mad at those things and you're going to hit those things or throw some things or just kind of have a moment, right?

[27:48] Ladies, it's okay if men have a moment as long as they're not having a moment on you. So just let them, remember that whole saying, every man needs a rock to go beat on. Well, I was outside having a moment. Mine literally revolved around a rock.

[28:00] And I was kind of beating on that rock and hitting it with stuff and I was kind of having a moment. The reality is, if Jesus had showed up then, I probably would not have been really happy. Because I wasn't living very lovingly in that moment.

[28:17] Eternally secure, absolutely. But what if he said, hey, now's the day you're coming up here to the judgment seat. Come on up here. Let's talk about these things. I've been like a thief in the night.

[28:32] Right? How much more so to the church is just taking it easy, doing things half-heartedly, kind of setting back on the laurels saying he's coming and that'll be fine. We'll just wait till he comes. My friend, wait a minute.

[28:42] He's going to show up and we won't be ready and he'll be in our presence before we know it like a thief in the night. He'll be like, now, let's talk about what you've been doing and what you haven't been doing. An unexpected return.

[28:55] Now, let's get to the good news, right? All that to get to the good news and then I'll be finished. The unsold garments of praise. So I was preparing this message. I've been preparing it kind of off and on throughout the week and I remember I was one of these late nights I was talking to my wife and I said, man, it's a church which Jesus had nothing good to say about.

[29:12] She looked at me and she said, did you find something good to say? She has a concern for you more than I did. She wants you. She doesn't want to not not more than I do. She's like, don't just beat them up and send them out the door, right? Sometimes that's what scripture does.

[29:24] Yes, honey, I found something good to say and it's always at this great promise because scripture is always good. What does the word of God tell us? The word of God says he strikes us but heals us.

[29:36] Striking yet healing. He doesn't strike us to hurt us. He wounds us to heal us, right? What a glorious promise and we see that all throughout the Old Testament that God always condones, not condones, confronts the sin so that he can comfort the sinner.

[29:55] He does it all throughout that. He calls it to account. Eve, what did you do? Adam, what did you do? Eve, what did you do? Now come into my presence, right? You know how hard it must have been for Adam to go, well, I ate of the fruit you told me not to?

[30:07] The woman gave it to me and then Eve's like, well, I mean the snake told me I could eat it but they had to own that, right? They had to own that. That's confrontation so that he could bring them in and comfort them and we find it all throughout scripture. Same thing here.

[30:18] Church, you're dead. This is what's going on. You have things in the past that were great. You have this name that you're alive. You have all these half-done deeds, all this half-done work. You have all this stuff going on.

[30:29] Everybody outside thinks you're great but I am telling you, you are dead. You're rotten to the core. Now let's get to some good news, right? He says, but there are a few in Sardis have not sold their garments.

[30:43] This is probably why it's one of the harshest letters to any church. It's probably the best news given to any of the seven churches. This is so sweet. This is the one that makes me want to jump up and say, hallelujah, yes, I want something to do with that.

[30:56] So if you haven't heard anything else, I want you to listen to the remainder of this message. We're not going to take long but you're like, why should I labor so hard to be faithful? Why should I be so concerned to be found faithful when he comes back?

[31:08] Why should I concern? Why do I need to take the effort to not halfway be faithful but to be all the way faithful? Why should I take the effort not to halfway do what he's calling me to do but to do it all the way? This is why.

[31:19] Look at what it says. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not sold their garments and they will walk with me in white for they are worthy. They don't have on the clothes of the dead.

[31:33] They're living in the land of the righteous. They have not clothed, they sold their garments with the filth of the world. They're living spotlessly and this is just a picture of being faithful, right? Your garments are always a picture of your faithfulness.

[31:45] I want to ask you something. If Jesus says you're worthy it really doesn't matter what everybody else says, right? He said there are those who are striving for faithfulness.

[31:58] There are those who are loving me completely. There are those who are laboring and nobody really sees them. It's just a few. The church is dead but there are some. There's always a remnant. There's always a remnant and Sardis had a remnant.

[32:10] He said I want to tell you something about those who are living faithfully for me. Those who are serving me. Those they are worthy of the clothing I'm about to put on them. That's amazing to me that Jesus would look at them and say they're worthy and if we live lives of faithful obedience and we live lives of sacrificial giving to him not only just of our financial resources but of our time and our energy and we say yes oh God you can have all of me not just part of me and we live lives of completed deeds not halfway done works then he says you're faithful.

[32:40] He who overcomes again is this terminology of wrestling and fighting and not just falling into it. Someone said and I can't remember who said it or I would quote them for saying it.

[32:52] Someone said we never drift into good works or good deeds. We never fall into right choices. We always drift into false works bad things bad choices and bad deeds.

[33:04] So unless we live intentionally we'll not ever do faithfully what he's called us to do. Right? If we begin to drift we'll always fall back.

[33:16] We never fall forward. Look at what he says to he who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments and I will not erase his name from the book of life.

[33:27] It's not to say that your name could be written in the book of life and then erased. It's not to say you could lose your salvation. What he's saying here because scripture is the best commentary of scripture? I'm going to put your name in permanent ink in the book of life.

[33:41] Nothing can take it out. And 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.

[33:52] Let me just give you a picture of this and then we'll be through. You know why we should live intentionally faithful lives? Why we should constantly examine ourselves and say Lord am I really alive for you or are my works dead?

[34:07] Am I really living for your glory? Am I living for your namesake or has it really just been kind of halfway commitment? Because Jesus says for those who go all out for me I'm going to give them not only just the white garments of praise I'll write their name in the book of life which means you're living there forever you're resident in heaven that's what that book is it's a record of people living there that's your name in the deed book here's probably one of the best pictures I can ever find in scripture Jesus says I will take him into heaven and I will stand before my father and I'll say God hey father check it out this is Billy Joe now God knows me intimately because I'm the one he's like oh no it's Billy Joe I mean but anyway but he's going to proclaim my name to the father and all the angels that are gathered around going holy holy holy look this is him this is the one this is the one that's been in labor and this is the one that's been striving you put your name there right?

[35:00] you live faithfully for him you live absolutely completely for him you live for his name's sake and not your own then all of a sudden his name all of a sudden takes you into that presence and says look let me proclaim your name your name may not be proclaimed on the earth your name may not be proclaimed in any marquee sign but he says I'm going to go to the courtroom of heaven and I'm going to tell everybody your name that's pretty cool right?

[35:23] just because you live faithfully obedient lives I'm going to tell my father your name you say well God already knows my name yeah I know but he gets to proclaim it out loud and then all the angels will be there as well he says I'm going to profess your name why?

[35:37] because you're alive and you're living in the land of the living you're being faithful you're clothed in white garments one of the craziest things is you get those white garments before that final battle of Armageddon and you wear those white garments into the battle of Armageddon you say why would you wear white to a battle because you're not fighting it there's only one that leaves that battle with any blood stains on him and he's one whose robe is already dipped in the blood and that is the king in the front is Jesus our Lord and Savior then listen to me live faithfully now he will be faithful then he will clothe you with the unspotted unsold garments of his praise as he praises you in the court of heaven not praise you like worship you he proclaims your name hey father I want to introduce someone to you here he is he made it she made it they're here and he goes and gets someone let me go get them let me introduce someone to you isn't that going to be good when Jesus proclaims our name you know the only way we can hold on to that is if we make sure we're not dead men walking now we live for his glory we live for his honor now we have a few short years to live for his namesake until we live eternally because of his namesake and my goal and my objective is that we all take full advantage of those few years he has given us and we live them to the best of his ability for his glory let's pray lord I thank you so much for all you've done thank you for this day you've given us

[37:26] I pray oh god as we come to a time where we respond lord that you would search our hearts and minds you would help us to know where we stand with you lord individually and corporately where as a church we stand before you and say oh god would you give us the true judgment of who we are not from the world's appearances but from your true fair good judgment lord we say we want to be your people for your glory lord may it be possible in the place you've put us we ask it all in christ's name amen daddy

[39:03] Thank you.

[39:33] Thank you.