Give us grace that we, like them,
the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee. saying about the church and its
one foundation. Now, I wanted to look at one
of these seven letters written by our Lord to the churches.
It's been a long time since we've looked at these together. Fr. Stoniker dealt with one of
them, but it hadn't been years, and perhaps we'd do well to go
back and deal with all of them again. This one is written to
the church in a place called Sardis. Let's read verses one
and two again. Unto the angel of the church
in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven
spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works that
thou hast to name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and
strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For I
have not found thy works perfect before God. Now, this is written
to a church that was formerly located in Turkey. In fact, all
seven of these churches, Laodicea and Ephesus and Philippi and
so forth, They were all located in Turkey. All of them. And now none of them are. This church at Sardis died out. It's gone. It can happen. It has happened. Now how long, and whatever You
know, it says the church is written to the churches. Is this a church?
I believe it is. So whatever things are written
are written for our learning. How long will this little church
remain? That remains to be seen, doesn't
it? Now, we all heard the seriousness of our Lord, our Lord's word
to the church at Sarch didn't, I hope, we heard. That's why
he says at the end of every single letter, at the end of every single
letter, he says, he that hath ears to hear, an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Lord saith to the churches. This is to us,
it's not to the world out there. to us the professing the visible. Lord knows. Who are here. That in here and each of us needs
right now. Starting with me. The angel as
it were of this church. Need to fervently pray at this
very moment. That God would give us an ear
to hear. No one. That he would give us an ear
to hear what he says to this church right here. Sardis is
gone. We're here. We're here. If we do not, then we are one
of those who has a name on them and are dead. That's what he talked about.
Verse one, he says, under the angel of the church in Sardis,
right, angel being preacher. That's what that's talking about,
preacher, pastor. An angel is not a glorified term,
really. Angel means a messenger of God.
So that's what the word means, a messenger of God, a herald,
one who's sent by God to herald a message from God. a lofty title. It's an old word, meaning a herald
sent by God to tell his message. As the angels of old announced
things for God, preachers do just that now. Some esteem them
as such. Others do not. Nevertheless,
he says to me and to the church through me, write these things.
Write. Write. with a pin of iron and rock and
it is written these things are written and these very things
have been read by millions and millions billions of persons
throughout time. Many have read what you're reading
this morning. And most have missed Christ. I said that's how serious it
is. All right, he says now in verse one, these things, saith
he, that have the seven spirits of God. God, in scriptures, talks
about the Holy Spirit of God. Why does it say seven spirits? The best way we can understand
this, and we can't fully, seven has always represented perfection.
In Scripture, when God created the heavens and earth seven days,
whether he literally did it in seven exact days, we're not sure,
but seven days represents perfection. When it was all created, there
was nothing left to do. Nothing, no works left to do. Seven, perfect, God's perfect
work, nothing to be added to it. Seven spirits being the perfection
of God. God is perfect, holy, just, complete. Christ is the one who is speaking
here. Christ is the one, Scripture
says, in whom all fullness dwells, all the fullness of the Godhead,
perfection of the Godhead. And he, it says, has the seven
stars. What are these seven stars? Well,
they are ministers of his you know stars do not you look at
stars and you think they're burning object no they're not. No they're
not. They're reflecting light. They're not on fire. The sun shines. No it doesn't. No it doesn't. The sun does not
emit any light. There's one star that shines
in the heavens right? the bright and morning star. In other words, there's one in
the morning. There's one star you see. It's a star, all right.
It's up in the heaven, shining brightly. It's called the sun.
All else gets their light from the sun. Stars are reflected
light of the sun. If they shine at all, they're
reflecting the light of the sun. Is that not a good picture? The
moon, Scripture said, no, it shineth not. But if it does give
any light, it's from the sun. So these seven stars are ministers
of his, and if they give any light at all, it's the light
of the sun. Ministers of his, and seven being
perfect, once again. Now they are not perfect in themselves,
but because he has them, they are. Very powerful. I like what one
old preacher said years ago. I think it was Brother Luther
Huck. No. What's his name? I forget. Doesn't matter. He
said, the church, it does not surprise me that the church has
withstood so many years of persecution, tribulation, all that. But what
does surprise me? And it has withstood so many
years of bad preaching. Bad preaching. But nevertheless,
God has his true servants, seven of them. And they shine as lights
in a dark world. Stars that eventually go out. Eventually go out. You see these
stars, these shooting stars sometimes. And they fall, and that's it.
Eventually burn out. The apostles were such stars,
weren't they? Bright and shining lights in
this world. And then after the apostles,
there were men with names. Men, mind you, not one woman. Men, according to scripture. It's not glorifying the male
gender. No. But it's just being true
to God's word. You understand that? The world
would call us, I don't know, chauvinistic or something. No,
I'd just rather choose to believe we just believe what God says.
And trying to be true to God's word. Men through the years with
names you've probably never heard. Clement. Origen. That's a man's name. Justin Martyr. These were men in the first and
second century. Polycarp. What a name. Polycarp. But he was a giant in effect.
Chrysostom. Some of you have heard a few of these names. But
you've heard these later names. At any given time, God has had
his star like Augustine. Erasmus. A giant over a man who
shined a lone star over in Germany. Martin Luther. And I honor those
men, and I render honor to whom honor is due. Knox, John Knox,
John Calvin, and on and on it goes. And he still has. And seven
being perfect, there's no shortage. When our Lord said, the harvest
is great, the laborers are few, he didn't say it was a shortage.
Do you understand that all of God's people are going to hear
his voice? Yes, they are. They are going to hear his voice. And so Christ, the head of the
church, says in verse 1, I know the one who has all things in
his hands, the one who is all and in all, and the one who has
all things given unto him of the Father. I know thy works.
He says this to all the churches. You know that? The Lord says
this to every church. He begins every letter by saying
it. I know your works. I know your word. You know, there
was a time when grace churches would hesitate about saying anything
about works, because religion throughout the world is a works
religion. And when most men learned the
gospel, they were so afraid of saying anything about works,
thinking that people would misconstrue what they're saying. Luther didn't
like the book of James. That's a shame, isn't it? That
shows how fallible he was and how he erred. But he didn't like
it because it talked about Abraham being justified by work. Bless
his heart, Martin Luther. He's one of the most godly men
ever lived. But God says this seven times, doesn't He, to the
church. I know your works. He's observant of them. Because,
Scripture says, faith without works is what? Dead. Dead. And faith worketh. Faith worketh. That works today
and so real faith living faith work. Faith is justified or revealed
or proven. Our faith is proven Abraham when
it says he was justified by work means that his faith. He proved
his faith by his work. Did he love God? He sure did. How do we know? We said so. No. No, he didn't. How do we know
he loved God? He took his only son up on that
mountain. Does God love his people? Oh,
yeah. How do we know? God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son. Well, our Lord
says to the church, to us, I know thy works. Observe and know. And thou hast a name, verse 1,
he says, thou hast a name that thou livest. and art dead. What is the name in which is
life? What's the name that is life
itself? Scripture says our life. I told you any time I ask a question.
What does the scripture say our life is? True life. Christ. So
one who is in Christ is a Christian. Oh, that name is abused today. I just don't call everybody that.
And I don't run around calling myself that. Because it's such
a blessed term and name. Be careful. A name. Christian. Christ our life. Quickened. We
say we're quickened. Quickened by His Spirit. Made
alive by His Spirit. We say that. All professing believers
in this room say that. That we've been quickened. Made
alive in Christ. But he says to some. You're listening. Well, I'm glad
we should. Most of the messages, I believe,
are comfort, aren't they? Can you say that? Can you bear
me witness that that's so? I think I'm learning that to
strengthen, comfort, console God's people in the tribulation. But we need the, we need the
warnings, don't we? We really do. We need the rebuke,
don't we? I do. This is written to the angel,
as well as the church. Remember? Boy, as he says, you're
dead. Well, verse two, he says, be
watchful. Be watchful. This is written throughout the
scripture, isn't it? If you read God's word at all, how many times
does it say watch? Watch. Starting with me, I'm
I'm supposed to be a watch man. Watchman, what of the night?
Watch, I'm supposed to watch out. I quoted to you Ephesians,
or I'm sorry, Acts chapter 20, where Paul spoke to the Ephesians. He said, I cease not day and
night to warn you with tears. With tears. Warn. Warn. That's
a faithful watchman. A true watchman Like the Isaiah
book, Isaiah 56, is it 59? It talks about his watchman. Those preachers are supposed
to be watchmen. Now they're sleeping. Greedy
dog, dumb dogs, you've written it. Supposed to be out watching
when the wolves creep in. No, true and faithful. Watch. Watch. How do we watch? Be watchful. How do we watch? What's scripture
say over and over again? Watch. How? Watch unto prayer. Lord, make me watch. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Lord, open my eyes. Lord, keep me from sleeping.
And things creep in unaware. The Lord said, if you don't watch,
I'll come upon you unaware. I don't want to be that way. Let us not sleep as do others,
literally or spiritually. Watch, watch unto prayer. The
disciple, aren't you glad for those stories of the disciples
and their weaknesses and their moments where they couldn't watch
for one hour? Bless your hearts having to sit
to listen to my voice over and over and over and over again. It wouldn't matter if I was the
greatest preacher on earth. If they still listened to the
same voice over and over again, you'd get mesmerized and you'd
get sleepless. The disciples fell asleep. Three times. They could not stay
awake. Bless their hearts. And I mean
that seriously. Robin, I mean it seriously. Bless
their hearts. And bless God for writing that.
Because you get the same way, don't you? I get the same way. Many a time I've sat at my desk
down there and got sleepy. But studying is a weirdness to
the flesh. Well, he says, watch under prayer. Lord, open my eyes. Lord, open my eyes. And he says,
strengthen the things which remain. Strengthen the things that remain. This is the verse that caught
my eye and made me want to deal with this. Actually, it came
to mind. the things which remain. And I'll tell you why in a minute. But he says, strengthen. That
means build up, encourage, exhort. And that's what I want to do. God help me to do just that.
Strengthen, build up, build you up on this most holy faith, which
is Christ the Lord. The things which remain. He says
in verse 4, thou hast a few names, even in Sardis. which have not
defiled their garments. A few names, a remnant meaning. It means a remnant, even at this
present time. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. A remnant. If there hadn't been
a remnant, we would have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. We're
no different. Had God not chosen us, we would
have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. We'd be out there in it, destroyed
with them. But there is a remnant, a few
names, he said, even in Sardis. A few things that remain, even
in Sardis, even in Virginia. As I said, this text came to
my mind as if somebody spoke it out loud to me. When I was
traveling through the heart of Virginia, the heart of Virginia,
being Lynchburg, the heart of Virginia. Bible
Belt, you know, I've been throughout the South. I have. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi,
all these places, Arkansas. I don't think there's a more
religious place on the top side of this earth than Lynchburg,
Virginia. Is that right, Barbara? You all
go there, your son lives there, has a house there. I was struck
riding through there on the way and on the way back with all
the religion like Paul at Mars Hill, Antioch, was it? I was
struck. Literally, there is a religious
sign every 100 yards, slogans everywhere, everybody wanting
everybody to know how religious they are. That's what Paul said
to those Grecians. He said, I perceive that thou
art too religious and don't know the true God. And the unknown
God, he says, is the one I want to declare unto you. And there
are more so-called churches today than ever before. More so-called
churches. They're just buildings. They're
just wood, hay, and stubble. And they're erecting more stubble. There's not going to be one stone
left standing on another. Everywhere, every day, aren't
there? Are you astounded by this, what you see all around you?
Don't grow used to it, people. Does it sicken you? People by the thousands flocking
to them, or else they couldn't be building these places, giving
millions upon millions of dollars to them. They couldn't be doing
this if people weren't supporting them. Look at chapter 2. Go over to chapter 2 of Revelation. Look at verse 9. He says to the
church at Smyrna, verse 9, he says in the middle part, I know
the blasphemy of them which say they're Jews, and are not. They're
the synagogue of Satan. You see that? They say they're
Christians. They're not. They're the synagogue
of Satan. I said that to two fellows one
time who stood on my porch one day and came to me in the name
of Jesus Christ. And I said, you're of your father
the devil. They are. They really are. I
read to you from 2 Corinthians 11 out there. They transformed
themselves into ministers of righteousness. Ministers of Christ, come in
Jesus' name. No sir, the synagogue was Satan.
Look at verse 13, second of Revelation 2. I know thy works, he says,
you dwell where Satan's seat is. We're in a hotbed, we're in a
Bible belt, but very few people know anything about the Bible.
We're in the most religious part of this country, but it's all
that's all it is. It's religion. And, you know,
I guess going down to Winston-Salem, it's about as bad. Winston-Salem,
about as bad isn't it, Brenda? It's that way everywhere. Now,
he says you have a few names, even in Sardis. You see what
he's saying there? You have a few names, even in Sardis. who have not defiled their garments. All right, you've got all this
religion throughout the world. All this religion around us.
And that's fitting, isn't it? The Jews in the wilderness in
that little tent. Remember that? It's always been
this way. Ron, it's always been this way.
It has always been this way. Why? God's showing us. This is
the way it is and many call but you. The church of all in the
wilderness the church in the wilderness where the Jews and
I met in this little brown tent out in the middle of nowhere
a little brown tent look what much to a little brown tent. And all the work peoples of the
world would pass by. And some might say that down
there is the truth there is nowhere else it's right there. You mean they're right and all
this is wrong? Look at all this. God's blessing. Look at the blessings
of God. That's not proof of God's blessing,
is it? If it is, Donald Trump's the
most God-blessed man on earth, isn't it? That's not proof of God's
blessing. It might be God's judgment. Well, Noah, remember, Noah preached
Christ for 120 years. 120 years. How many people? Now, honestly, how many people
went in there? How many people heard the message?
They all heard it. How many people entered the yard?
It's astounding, isn't it? And the most astounding, one
of the most astounding verses in all of God's Word to me, is
found in Luke 18, where our Lord said, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? Meaning? Now, you heard that,
didn't you, Becky? You heard what Jesus Christ said. Shall he find faith on the earth?
Meaning is so scarce. Now, you think you're right and
everybody's wrong. How has the few names, even in
Sardis, that haven't defiled their garments in the religion
of the world or the materialism of the world? A few names. All
right, you've got all that religion out there, and then on the other
hand, here we are. And I don't hesitate to say we're
God's church. I don't say that roastingly. God has made us to differ. We
see our calling. God hath chosen, God hath made,
God hath, God hath, of God are we. That's what we say over and
over, that's what we believe. And on the other hand, see, we've
got these little places like here, Crossville, Hydeville,
places. Preaching and declaring and standing
for the truth. I mean really, standing for the
truth. Declaring God as God. We do,
don't we? Our brethren do, don't we? They're
stars. We do, don't we? Somebody say
amen. We declare God as God every time
we stand here, every time we meet together. Why? Because we
like the sound of it? Because we like Calvinism? No!
They're God-lovers. God-lovers. All things work together
for them that love God. Who are God-lovers? Tammy, who
are God-lovers? Teresa, who really loves God?
Let's test the whole world. Let's test this whole blooming
religious world. Who loves God? I'll tell you
who loves God. It's the one that worships God.
I mean, really worships God in spirit. What's that? From the
heart. How do you know what's in the
heart? It comes out of the mouth. It doesn't just draw near with
the lips, but it comes out of the mouth. What? God is God. God is God. Now, He'll be God
if He... No! Who loves God? It's those who
love His glory. It's those who love His honor.
It's those who love His salvation. And you're loving this right
now, aren't you? Do you ever get tired of me? Sammy, you want
to do this, don't you? You want to stand up to your
friends and people and just say it like this. I get the opportunity.
I'm doing it for you. Our God is God. If you'd love
for every one of your family coworkers and all that to hear
this, wouldn't you? They're not. You are. Our God
is God. Aren't you glad? Aren't you thankful?
Yeah, our God is sovereign. I don't mean in theory, in principle. I mean actually. Sovereign over
all things. Who loves God? It's those who
glorify God as God. He's no God at all. If you must
make Him or let Him, That's absurd. That's ridiculous. Well, let's go on. We stand declaring
God as God, declaring His sovereign salvation, His sovereign grace
and sovereign mercy. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. It's no surprise to me that God's
going to burn up this God-forsaken, wicked place. You look around,
you're vexed with a conversation of the wicked, aren't you? You
live in Sodom, Sardis, Rocky Mount, Virginia. It's a hotbed
of religion. It's a vile place. Growing up,
Virginia needs to be burned up like Lebanon. Isaiah said, Lebanon's
not fit to burn. burn this place up. As much as I hate the wickedness,
how much more does God, who's holy, hate wickedness, who loveth
righteousness and hates wickedness? And He's going to burn it up. He's going to burn it up. One
of these days, that's actually going to happen. No more. No more mercy. But it's of the
Lord's mercies that we're not concerned. So we say it to the
high heaven. We say it with every breath in
our body. God hath had mercy upon us. Sovereign
mercy. We didn't deserve it. Mercy is
always sovereign. Sovereign grace. What do we have that we have
not received? Gift, gift, gift. Everything
we have is a gift from God. We don't just say that. We mean
it. Grace! We mean salvation is by grace.
What does that mean? We need it. He gave it. He did it. We can't. He did.
That's what it means. We say that Jesus Christ is God's
salvation. We don't say that in theory and
principle and word only, do we? We really mean that and believe
that, and we say it. Honestly, every time you come
here, I appoint you to Jesus Christ. I may not say certain
words by rote. That's not the gospel. The good
news is pointing sinners to that serpent on the pole. And if you're
appointed to him, Christ's death. Christ's sovereign, successful,
particular redemption. Well, that's not just a point
of theology. The love of God's at stake. The wisdom of God.
The glory of God. The purpose of God is at stake
in the blood of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ. Christ's
precious blood. Not one drop It should have been
shed for such vile creatures as that, but yet He poured out
His soul unto them. Now, not one drop of that, Jeanette
Berry, you're not willing for one hair of His head to fall
to the ground, nor one drop of His blood to be shed in vain,
are you? Every drop of Jesus Christ's blood was shed for His
people only, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses
us. That's not doctrine. That's the
glory of Jesus Christ. He paid it all. I mean, he paid
it off. He paid what? Redemption. We say, we talk,
we preach about, where am I? I'm on Revelation 3. We say,
we preach, we declare. What I'm saying, even in Sardis,
there's a few names. There's a few. And this is how
you know. And they all say glory, don't
they? They all say God. They all say Jesus. They all
say blood. They all say mercy. Very little. Great. But there's
a few who really, truly are declaring Him, His glory. We say that once saved, always
saved. Why? Because we're hard-shelled? because we're hyper-caliber,
primitive, but no, because Christ said it. Well, he said, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. And his glory and
his honor, John, his word is at stake, if that's not so. He
said, all thou hast given me, I have lost nothing. Now, his
glory is at stake if he loses one of them. And people say,
well, Jesus tried, but what your Jesus did, mine didn't. Your
Jesus tried and he failed because he's another Jesus. My Jesus
purposed, came, worked, saved, sat down, expected. He's not walking the banisters
of heaven. Scripture says he shall not fail,
meaning he got the job done. Whatever he was given to do,
he came and he did it. And it says, I love this, it
says he's not even discouraged. Don't you love that? There Jesus
is outside their heart, thawing the rain, knocking. You won't
let him in. Mine's not. I don't want a Jesus that doesn't
have sense enough to get out of the rain. Do you? I don't
have sense enough to get out of the rain. I'm the idiot. My God, my Christ is wisdom itself,
power itself, salvation itself. He is salvation. If I'm in him,
I'm saved. Now, buddy, that'll make that
old sinner rest. As I said, where am I? Oh, a
few names. There's just a few. I challenge
you. Listen to them. Are you hearing
this anywhere else? No, sir. Except you got to go
Scripture talks about a scattering of corn. About the truth being
like a scattering of corn on the mountaintop. You ever read
that? Like a smattering of corn. Like the Lord took His church
and threw it to the wind. The wind being the Holy Spirit
where He planted them where He would. But it's a few and far
between. You had to go a long way to get
to that tabernacle. Oh, we can worship down here. You've heard this before, haven't
you? Well, here's a church. Here's a church. Why don't you
worship there? Sir, visit the church of your choice. I want to be a part of the church
of God's choice. Don't you? Am I splitting hairs?
I want to be a part of the church of God's choice. Blessed is the man, the church
whom he has chosen. I choose, and it's wrong. There's
a way that seems right. Well, this looks good. Probably
wrong. Probably wrong, wrong. Well,
I got a curry. He says, remember, and he said,
I haven't found thy works perfect, verse 2. I have not found thy
works perfect before God. This little church right here
is as good as it gets. I mean, it really is. You've
been to various places. I mean that with all my heart.
In all, to all the, well, the ones we know of, there may be
of the great churches, I'm sure there are. I'm sure there are. Maybe 7,000 haven't vowed to
need a bail, that I don't know about. I don't know them all. But all of the ones that you
and I know, this is topsy. Maybe I'm biased. Honestly, God. Well, there have
been others who say that, too. But this is far from perfect.
We're far from perfect. Just starting with this preacher
and on down the line. Far, far from perfect. We've
come far short to the glory of God. I have as a pastor and preacher. You have as a minister. So that's what he said there.
I know your words, they're not perfect. Remember, verse 3, he says, remember,
here's a good reminder, remember how thou hast received. What? What have we not received? Remember where you were. This will make the gospel. You
know, I remember as a young believer, Every time a man said, mercy,
I just got tears in my eyes. As a new believer, fresh out
of the pit, freshly dug out of the pit, I remember everything
I read, when a man said, sovereign grace, mercy, Christ. I just
think it's the greatest message I've ever heard. What happens? message is the same. As a matter
of fact, preaching gets better. We forgot where we came from. We forgot the pit from which
we were digging. We forgot how we received mercy. We received mercy. That we weren't
looking for it. We weren't seeking it. We weren't
God-seekers. We were God-haters. But God. Nancy, those two words should
never cease. We should never cease to be amazed
by those two words alone. We should never cease to prick
our heart. But, God, we have received. What do we
have we have not received? What does this little church
have that it has not received from God? Everyone in here is
an object, if you're a believer, is an object of God's sovereign
electing grace. You've received everything you
are, everything you know, or ever will know or ever will be.
We say, remember, remember that. That'll keep us from getting
puffed up, pride, that'll keep us from being judges of others.
It will. We'll receive. Freely receive, freely give. And remember, he says, what you've
heard, how you've received and heard. You see that? Remember
how you have received and heard. Remember what you heard. As we said a moment ago, when
we first heard, there was a time when we first heard the truth,
when we first heard who God is, when we first heard who Christ
is, when we first heard what we were, what we are. We first
really heard the Word of God. We may have read it for years,
may have heard others read it and so forth, but finally there
was a day in God's purpose, in God's time, when God said, God
digged my ear, like David said. Thou hast digged my ear. We had
worldly wax in our ears for years, but God finally, one day, digged
our ear. I love to watch that happen.
I love to watch it. Sometimes it's very plain. Preach
and preach and prayer and preach and preach and preach and people
you see, they're not listening. They didn't hear a thing. But
one day, It's like a light goes on, and
that's exactly what happens. It's like their ears are open. I love to see that. And the wind
bloweth where he listens. The Holy Spirit does that to
whom and when he purposes. And he digs the ear, and we hear
for the first time. And we think, and we do, we hear
from the Lord Himself, we do. Christ said, My sheep hear My
voice. My sheep hear My voice. Another, My voice. And when you first heard that
Gospel, you thought you were the only one in the room. And you thought your wife was
talking to the preacher about you in private, didn't you? Revealing all your inner secrets
when they probably never had a conversation. Didn't you? That's God who's a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And in His time, big
dreams. Remember how that was heard.
Everybody hadn't heard it. They hadn't heard it. They hadn't
received it. Who had received our report? He said that lamentably. He said
that with a tear in his eye. Who had believed our report?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And us, and us and
our children, that's who. Remember that. Don't ever grow tired.
If we ever get tired of this life, we're dead. If we ever get tired of this
man, send somebody to me. That's right. I know. A few names,
he says, defiled their garments. What is our garment? What is
our garment? Christ is our covering. They
should walk with me in flight. They're worthy. They're worthy. How are we worthy in Christ? Worthy as a lamb. That's what
they all say. None of them say we're worthy.
We're worthy to be here. None of them. Nobody in heaven
thinks they belong there. Everybody outside makes it. That's
right. Nobody in heaven makes it. Start
with the people. Mary Magdalene. You name it right
you have the heart. One word worthy is. But he says,
you're worthy. And the Scripture says, of whom
the world is not worthy. Doesn't it? Explain that. Why
should I? Why do I have to? I don't think
this world is worthy of Stan Anderson. I really don't. I don't think
M.W. knows who's in their midst. I
really don't. He doesn't think that. He'd wish
I wouldn't bring his name up. But that's so. Isn't it? I don't think this world's worthy
of Ed Perry. One of these days the Lord's
going to take him, the righteous is going to be taken, going to
perish, and the world... Ed who? But your name is written
in glory. Right beside Abraham. He said, now go on. He says,
he that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white. Who is he
that overcometh? John says a lot about this, doesn't
he? John wrote, I heard a legalistic
fellow the other day preach, or quote John chapter 5, where
he said, he quoted part of it. I got something. Brother Todd
and I got furious at that man. He quoted, he said, this is the
love of God that we keep his commandments. His commandments
are not grievous. It's wonderful. Whichever is born of God overcomes
the world. And he stopped on these reformed families. Those
emphases in how you ought to live. And I, you know, we ought
to live. But he stopped. And there's a
colon there. There's not a period. And this
is the victory that overcometh the world. Not our works, but
faith. And what is faith? It's in Christ. Todd and I wanted to lynch him.
They should have been. He misquoted God's Word. He quoted
Heaven. He didn't give glory where it belonged. Where am I? Well, he said in
our text, he said, he that overcometh, and that's
those who believe Christ. Christ said, they're not of the
world, even as I'm not of the world. Who's he that overcometh? Well, he that believeth Jesus
is the Christ, and all that that means. And he said, I'll not
blot his name out of the book of life. I want my name there, don't you?
But if you're in Christ, your name's there. And I will confess
his name before my Father and before his angels. See, all of
God's—and I'm not trying to be clever here—but all of God's
people are under one name. I received an invitation by my
distant cousin to attend a family reunion down in Alabama, full
of mayhems down there, and he sent me this invitation to come
to this family reunion. I've never been to one before.
And along with it, he sent me a family tree. And all these
mayhems descended from this fellow named Samuel. Samuel, way on
back. I don't know who he was, Samuel,
and he probably didn't know either. Samuel was probably a serial
killer. Probably was. Mass murderer or something, yeah.
But Mahan's, Mahan's, Mahan's, see we're all under that name.
Everybody that was invited, everybody that's in on that, everybody
that's going to be at that family reunion is under one name. Now
there are many different names. There are names like, see that's how vain I am, I don't
even remember the name Mahan. There's some others, Hubbard
I think is one of them, several other, a bunch of names. All
bunch of names, but they all have one thing in common. They
come from this fella named Samuel Mahan. Descendants of Samuel
Mahan. Everybody in heaven had many
different names. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, They're all under one. They're all there because of
one person. And that's what it's going to
be, a reunion. I never knew Sam. I'm not going
down there, by the way. I'm not going down there. I'm
not interested. You know, after so long a period
of time of talking about cousins and so and so, well, You're cousins? Oh, yeah, I am. You're related
to him? Yeah, we are. Well, big deal.
Great. Let's go on. But up there, we
all want to know why we're there and who is the Lord, whose name
we're in, whose name we mean in Christ. And that's what they're
doing down here. What they're doing down here.
And he says, I'll confess his name. Christ is going to call
our names. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. He knows his sheep. He says,
I know them by name. Yeah, but there's a billion Samuels
around today. There was a bunch more Samuels. He knows them. He knows everyone.
Don't call them out individually. His name, his sheep, they know
him. He knows them. Call them by name. Confess them
before the Father and before the angels. And so he says, in closing, he
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. Oh, he says, I know your works.
He said, I'm perfect. He says, remember what you've received.
Remember what you've heard. repent, repent. I didn't even
cover that. I'm sorry. But hold fast. I didn't cover that. Hold fast.
What does that mean? Don't let go. Don't let go. Repent means turn
from what it is you're doing. Turn around. And lay hold, like
Paul said. I am covering it. Good. I am
covering it. Paul said, forgetting the things behind. Forget yesterday.
Forget it. Paul said, I'm not there yet.
I haven't arrived. He said, but I press to lay hold
on them. Prize. Hold fast. Repent. Turn. Hold fast. Remember
what you've received, what you've heard, what you've clothed in. Don't forget. OK John what was
that number. Three hundred eighty eight.