We're in chapter three, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show unto his servant, John, things which must come to pass. All of these things, are evidence of the working of God in the earth. And it is often true that people look at the book of the Revelation as though it is a textbook on what's going to happen in the future. I believe that's a great mistake. I'm not saying there are not things spoken of here that will occur in the future, but it's primarily a book about the unfolding of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. And he's the one, as we will read in chapter five, who took the book which was sealed from the Father, And he prevailed to open that book. And he has opened the seven seals of that book.

And he is the revelation of God. And we could never have known anything about the purpose of God and the way of God had it not been that he has opened that book. He is that one who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's that one in whom we can clearly see the purpose of God manifested in the earth. And what is that purpose? That purpose is to magnify the glory of his grace in the redemption of his people. That's why Jesus Christ came into the world. He didn't come into the world to try to save the world. He came into the world to save the world. He came into the world to save his people in the world. and out of the world.

And so we rejoice today as we look in this book and we read these things and we understand that when the Spirit is saying these things to the churches, specifically to these particular seven churches, He is actually speaking to all the churches in all times.

His church, He doesn't have but one. You know, we speak about churches and there are indeed assemblies of God's people that gather in various places in the earth. I don't know where they all are. You couldn't probably find them all if you searched high and low, because a lot of them are not in places like this.

The Lord said where two, or three are gathered in my name, he said, there I am in the midst. The Lord is with his people wherever they are assembled together. And he does call God's people out to assemble together. And it doesn't have to be a large gathering for God's people to assemble together, but he's there in their midst when they are gathered in his name. Now because they say, we're gathering in the name of the Lord, that doesn't mean that that causes God, the Lord Jesus, to then come and visit them. But it means those whom he has ordained to meet together, he is in their midst. He doesn't wait until there's a certain number or a crowd to come. And he doesn't necessarily come in visible ways, but he does come in ways that are known to the people of God. He does meet with us and he blesses us in ways that we can't imagine.

How beautiful it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. A lovely thing. A blessing that cannot be supplanted by anything that the world has to offer. when the Spirit of God is moving among God's people and causing them to love one another, to bear one another's burdens, to seek to build one another up in the most holy faith, that's a glorious thing. It ought not be counted a light thing by any. And so it is that the angel this message here in chapter three, verse one through six. And 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 a 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. Remember therefore how thou hast received, and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. and I will not blot out his name. I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. May the Lord give us such an ear today because these are those to whom this word is addressed specifically, those that have an ear to hear.

Now a man that doesn't have an ear to hear, he's not gonna hear it. Nothing that the Lord said there will resound in his mind. The warnings that the Lord gives won't mean anything to him. When the Lord said here, I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. That has no effect on him, man that doth hear. But the man that does hear, he says, whoo. He said, those are strong words. I need to pay heed to this. I need to think on these things.

What is it to have a name to live and be dead? is to be caught up in external forms of religion. To be more satisfied with the outward things than desiring the inner working of God in our heart. And from time to time, all of God's people fall into those ruts. And we become habitual in what we do. And we read the word of God because we know we should read the word of God. But we don't have real joy in it. What causes that? Coldness of heart. Having a name to live and yet be dead.

Now he doesn't mean absolutely dead because we were. dead in trespasses and sins, but what did he say to those whom he loves? He says, you hath he quickened. He has made us alive. He has given us ears to hear. And so when we hear this, we are concerned about it.

We don't want to be like that. Do you want to have a name to live and yet be dead? No, the man that hears the word of God, he doesn't want that. He wants the Spirit of God to work in his heart and mind to constrain him. He wants to hide the word. He's with David, Lord, hide the word in my heart that I might not sin against thee. He desires those things of God.

And that's to whom he's writing here. And those that have no ears to hear, they pass it off. It doesn't mean anything to them. They have no concern about it. I know thy works. Can we say to the Lord, well Lord, you just don't know me. No, he knows what you are. He saw you when you were under the fig tree. Remember Nathanael? I don't know what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. But Nathanael knew what he was doing under the fig tree. And guess what? The Lord saw him when he was under the fig tree. And the Lord sees and knows his people. And there's nothing in us that he does not know. And so when he says, I know thy words, we're not fooling him. He knows what we are.

And that causes us concern. See, a lot of people, and I say this over and over, but it's a true thing, a lot of people, when they think about, oh, well, the Lord knows my heart. And they think that's a good thing. And they say, oh, well, you know, He knows I mean well, and all that kind of stuff. The Lord does know your heart. And that causes me great concern. He knows exactly what I am. And I pray, oh Lord, show me what I am, that I might not be lifted up in any way with pride or have any thoughts to myself that somehow or other I am doing something that would cause God to say, man, look at him. Though he knows our works. And you know the amazing thing is he loves his people nonetheless. David, we talked about him a minute ago. The Lord said, David, I know what you did.

And it's forever recorded in history. So you won't forget. And the people of God won't forget that though you are a great sinner, a murderer, a liar, yet I have loved you from before the foundation of the world. And you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

What a glorious thing. Now the man that doesn't have ears to hear that, he says, well, that doesn't seem quite fair. Doesn't seem quite right. But you see, the Lord saves sinners. That's good news to sinners. It's bad news to religious men. They don't want to hear that. He says, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. He said, you have an aim to live and you're dead, be watchful and strengthened. And he says, you got a few things, but he said, they're about ready to die. You realize every day of your life, you are ready to die.

I'm talking about physically, you're ready to die. You got one breath, and that's the one you've got right now. The last one you took, that was the only breath you got. And the next one, The Lord may give it to you and he may not. You're ready to die. But that's not what he's talking about specifically. He's talking about the weakness of the flesh. You're ready to die at any minute. I mean, you would turn away from the Lord tomorrow. Now we say, oh Lord, just like I believe Brother Al was saying there earlier, we say, oh man, you know, look at these guys. I never would have been like that. I wouldn't have been like Jeroboam. I wouldn't have been like the other ones. I would have never been like that. I'd never been like Judas. I certainly would have never done that.

You're ready to die. Remember what the Lord told Peter? Peter said, Lord, all these other guys, they'll leave you, but not me. He said, Peter, you're ready to die. He said, Satan's desired to have you. And he would have you. He'll sift you as wheat and he'll destroy you in a moment just like that.

But he said, but Simon, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Oh, what a glorious thing. I mean, that's the only thing that made the difference between Judas and Peter was the Lord prayed for Peter. He didn't pray for Judas. He said, go do what you gotta do. He said, it'd been better if you hadn't ever been born.

The grace of God. He said, strengthen the things which remain. Can you do that? No, but you see, he that hath an ear to hear says, oh Lord, give me strength, help me. I know that I'm about to die, and I know my weakness will overwhelm me, and if you don't keep me from falling, I will fall.

What a glorious Lord he is, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. That's what we are. Your works are not perfect before God. And if your salvation or your blessing in any way depends on your works before God, you're in trouble. I have not found your works perfect before God.

Remember therefore now, how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. I've not found your works, perfect. But he said, remember how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. What is it that we have heard? that Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners, that Jesus Christ is the righteousness of His people. We have heard that. And so if we ever, when we have any tendency whatsoever to look to any other righteousness other than His, we need to repent.

Oh, don't ever entertain those notions. Now, I tell you not to do that, but I know you will do it. Oh, not me. Yeah, you will. You won't go to sleep tonight before you've thought of some righteous deed in your mind or something that you think is good. You know you will, I will too.

And if the Lord didn't keep us, we'd be overwhelmed by those things. And he that hath an ear to hear, he says, repent of it, turn from it, don't be going down that way. If you don't, if you don't watch, what did the disciples say? Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.

Did they do it? No. We came back, they were asleep. He left them again and said, couldn't you watch with me? And they said, yeah, yeah, we will. And he came back again, and they were asleep. And he came back the third time, and they were asleep. Now, did he say, I'm done with you? No. He said, I know what you are. I know you are. See, you've demonstrated it right here. I know exactly what you are. But he loved them anyway. Because the scripture says, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. He did. They didn't.

He says, I'll come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I'll come upon thee. Now Paul said, brethren, he said, ye are not in the darkness. He said, the Lord will come as a thief in the night, but he said, ye, brethren, are not in the darkness, that they should overtake you as a thief in the night.

See, we're not ignorant. We're not as the blind, we're not as those that just going around out here without any concern or any thought. We know the Lord has said he will come again. And that they will not overtake us as a thief. Now will it be a startling thing? It'll be a startling thing to everybody. But it won't overtake us as a thief in the night because brethren, we're looking for him. And those that look for him, the scripture says, will he appear the second time without sin unto salvation? We're looking for him.

See, we're not ignorant of these things. We're not those that have no concern for these things. He said, thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. They have not defiled their garments.

How can a man defile his garments? Can a man defile his garments by all of the things of the world? Is he saying here, you need to walk according to this standard? Is he promoting in them some deed of holiness that they can say, well, Lord, here, my garments are white. How can you make your garments white? How can you walk worthy of the Lord? How can it be? See, the way that men, what he's saying, you've not defiled your garments. Why?

Because we know that our garments are made white in the blood of the Lamb. Anything you put on that garment will defile it. We have a robe of righteousness and it's a spotless robe. Don't go trying to make it better. How foolish that men would seek to make things better.

Well, we're going to do something that's really going to cause the Lord to love us. We're going to do something that's going to cause the Lord to bless us. We're going to do some things. And God's going to say, man, I'm appreciative of it. When he says, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Is he looking at the things they did? Or is he looking at what he made them? See, he sees us as he looks at Christ.

They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. And we read about that, those white garments later on is that great army that are clothed with white. And how did they overcome? They overcame by the blood of the lamb and they have washed their garments and made them white in the blood of the lamb. They are worthy. You realize God's people are worthy? God's people are worthy.

He says, I know your works. But it says it's not your works that makes you worthy, he said it's the blood of Christ that makes you worthy. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. You know what a lot of people look at when they, or say when they look at that? And I've heard men preach this.

Oh, the Lord, he may blot your name out of the book of life if you don't want worthy. That's the total opposite of what he says here. He didn't say, I'll blot your name out of the book of life. He said, I will not blot your name out of the book of life.

Now, brethren, that's a glorious thing. Think about that. He's not talking about that it's possible that he may block some people's names out of the book of life. God changes not. He's not in the business of changing the book of life. He wrote the book of life. He put the names in the book of life. He doesn't have an eraser that he goes in there and takes them out.

He said, I will not blot the name of those who walk worthy out of the book of life. How you gonna walk worthy? Only one way, and that's to be walking in Christ, with Christ, in Christ. Clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He said, I'm not gonna blot your name out of the book of life. because I put it there to start with. He says, you belong to me.

He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. Now, how foolish is it to think that when the Spirit of God works in men, that he gives them a desire to sin that grace may abound? How foolish is that? Now you have a tendency to think that way, and you would, left to yourself, walk in that way. But see, he said he's giving us an ear to hear.

I don't want to sin that grace may abound. Lord, keep me back from my secret sins. Lord, you see what I am. It's not a pretty sight, except as you see me in Christ, and that's the way I want to be. As you see me in Christ, I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Christ said that. He said, I'll confess his name.

Because he belongs with me, these are with me. You ever been with somebody, maybe it was at some kind of an event or something, and you were with somebody that had the credentials or whatever, and you didn't know what was going on or what was gonna happen, but you just looked over there and you saw the one you were with and you said, I'm with him. Rather than that's how we are, we're with him. And if we're not with him, then we don't have a place of entrance. But if we're in Him, we come in because He's in.

He's the one who is the author and finisher of our faith. You know, just that one little simple phrase ought to forever take away anybody's idea that they're gonna hold fast to the end in themselves. You've got to have faith, brother. He's the author. He's the one that wrote it, that ordained it, and he's the finisher of our faith. He's beginning and the end of it, in other words. And all things in between. Because our faith is not our faith. Our faith is him. People say, well, what do you believe? I believe Christ. I believe Christ is the Savior of sinners. He's the one I believe. He's the one I believe. I might not hold to your creed, your confession, or whatever you want to call it. I might not jot every I and cross every T just like you think I ought to.

But by the grace of God, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. But we not only wholly lean on Jesus' name, we reject all others. See, it's none but Christ. Christ alone.

And he will confess our name before the Father because the scripture says that he will present his bride spotless before the throne of God. The same bride that he says, I know your works. He said, I'm gonna present you spotless. How is that? Because he's clothed us in the righteousness of Christ.

That's the only way that a man can walk worthy. It's the only way that a man can be blameless before the throne of God. It's the only way that a man will be received by the Lord. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church. What's He saying to us? He said, watch. Watch and pray. He says, I love you, Peter. Satan's desired to have you. He says, you belong to me. And I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Oh, he is going to worry Satan.

I'm glad that he is because if my salvation depended in any wise or any blessing I've ever received, if it ever depended on anything that I could do or muster up or think, I'd be done for. But he is our righteousness, our sanctification, and our wisdom. before Almighty God. Somebody have a question or a comment? Well, thank the Lord for his faithfulness and continued mercy.

And I know I, you know, I don't need to necessarily tell you this, but I need to tell myself this, to remind myself every day that the only reason I stand is because of Him. And if He departs from me tomorrow, I'll depart from Him. But my hope, my expectation, that on which I cling, like Job of old said, said, though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.

See, a lot of people don't look at the blessings of the Lord. They say, well, you know, the Lord's blessing us, we're gonna serve Him. Well, what if he quits blessing you? How you gonna stop? Job said, I would. He said, it don't make a difference what he does. If he tomorrow says, I'm casting you away. See, those in whom the Lord has drawn with cordial love, they say, Lord, whatever seems good in your sight. If I should die with mercy sought, when I the king have tried, this were to die delightful thought, as sinner never died. What a glorious thing.