Seven :: Wake Up! (Sardis)

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6 (The Church in Sardis)

In week 5 of our "Seven" series we're looking at Jesus' words to the church of Sardis. Jesus accuses the church of being dead even though they had a reputation for being alive. This was a church who had a history of doing things in the name of Jesus but had grown complacent. They had settled for having an appearance of life to others but being spiritually dead in the eyes of God. Jesus exposes this reality, not to shame them but to call them back to faithfulness. Jesus' heart is to see us be fully awake and fully alive. If you aren't, then He longs to revive you!

Guest Speaker: Charlie Craige (Georgia State FCA)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm going to read our text today. We're going to be in Revelation chapter 3. This is Jesus through the Apostle John writing to the church at Sardis. And I'm going to read it and then I'm going to pray for us. Text is also on the screen if you don't have a Bible with you. And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write, The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, I know your works, and you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then what you have received and heard, keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot out his n blot his name out of the book of life. 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. I'm going to pray for us, and then Charlie's going to magically appear right here. Holy Spirit, would you just come? God, we just ask you to fill this place. God, we pray over Charlie right now. As he comes to teach your word, we pray that you would fill him with power, courage, boldness, clarity. As he preaches your word. Lord, we pray that people would see straight through any individual to see Jesus. God, our prayers that you would stir their hearts, that they would respond to you. Would you move in power? In Jesus' name. Amen. Can we give it up for Charlie?

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Man, give it up for Pastor Blake and Katie. I don't know about you guys, but I'm grateful that they obeyed the call of God on their lives to plant Kingdom City Church and to do what God's placed in their heart to do and create a space for believers to come together and be empowered to be sent as well. Amen. So like Pastor Blake said, I'm Charlie, and I get to lead FCA at Georgia State University and been doing that for about three years. And I want to give a thank you to Kingdom City Church for supporting the mission that we're doing at Georgia State and empowering us to be able to reach athletes and coaches and see God move on a secular campus in really a special way. And I would love to talk all morning about it, but that's not my assignment. I get to talk about the church of Sardis, and I'm excited about this. As I was preparing, I was thinking to myself, man, this really is maybe a church that's not as easy to prepare for. I don't think any of them are, but just at first glance, when I first, when Pastor Blake first asked me, I was like, man, sure, uh, this is gonna be great. And and got to look into the church of Sardis and was like, man, this is really some heavy stuff and a lot of detail and a lot of um prep work behind the scenes. So I want to do it justice and use my time to both challenge us and to encourage you. All right, so I'm gonna do those two things today. Also, one thing about me is usually when I get to preach, I get to sweating. All right, so I got my my sweat towel up here. So just to let you know that, yeah, yeah, I am not having a medical emergency if that's the case I'm I'm good. I'm good. I'm just super, super pumped to be here and to share with you. All right. So so a little bit of history for Sardis as a city in the context of the Apostle John that Jesus is writing through the Apostle John. Context to it is the history of Sardis is this was an ancient city, the capital city of the kingdom of Lydia, one of the richest cities of the ancient world, famous for their immense wealth, so a wealthy city, a prosperous city. They are credited by many historians as being the first place to mint silver and gold coins. So a pretty cool fact, right there. They're situated on an impregnable Acropolis, about 1,500 feet high, according to history, overlooking the Hermes Valley. So a beautiful place. So a prosperous place, a beautiful place, and they're also known for textile manufacturing and also garment industry industry as well. So we got the history, and now what's the reputation of this city in the secular context? Whenever we're looking at the city of Sardis and at the time of the New Testament, the the reputation that this city held was a reputation of prestige, all right? A reputation of having a rich history, a strong history, a well-respected history. Whenever you said the name Sardis, it was like, man, man, this is something that was of importance, a place that had some glory. And the issue there for the city at the time is that this was written, is that they had political power in the past, but when they come to this present in the New Testament, it seems like some of that power had faded away. And it seems to have a reputation of having former glory rather than a present strength. So that's kind of the context of where they're at at the time of this letter being written. And then we have the spiritual climate of the city. So what was it like spiritually speaking? Just like most of the churches in that area, the city was full of pagan worship, full of cult practices. They had a chief goddess that they worshiped, Artemis, associated with fertility, immortality, and they built one of the largest temples in the region dedicated to that goddess. So, like most Roman cities, this was not a Christian city, right? They have this pagan thing going, these cult practices going. On top of that, they have this kind of emperor worship going on, where they worship the emperor as not just being a man, but also being a god. And Christians, usually in this context, in this age and in this region, usually Christians would be who refuse to participate in those kind of practices, would be experiencing persecution. They would experience social exclusion, economic hardship, and even persecution to the point of being executed. So that was the case for most uh churches and Christians in that area at that time. And then we come to the point that John is writing about right here, and it's the state of the church. If I say state of the church, right? Is it okay if I work y'all today? I'm working today, so we can make this a team effort. Is that good with y'all? Amen. Amen. Hey, there we go. We're working now. All right, so the state of the church in Sardis, Jesus does not have a lot of compliments for this church when you read this text. We're like, man, Jesus doesn't have a lot of good things to say about the church of Sardis. And unlike other churches that are addressed in Revelation, there's no mention of them being persecuted. There's no mention of them having false teachers, there's no mention of them having bad theology, but yet Jesus still calls them lifeless. Everybody say lifeless. Right? Other churches were facing heavy persecution, suffering, pressure from Jewish communities. Other churches were uh facing false teaching, um, heresy, sexual immorality, and idolatry, compromising with pagan culture. Uh, the church of Ephesus is mentioned of how this church uh lost its first love and lost its fire and its passion for Jesus. But yet we look at the church of Sardis, and it is implied that they're good on theology, that they're safe from at least extreme persecution, that their morals are aligning with scripture, that there's not really any idolatry taking place, that there's not compromise taking place, and that Jesus is their first love. This is what's being implied here, that they're not a lukewarm church, but Jesus still calls them a dead church. And the thing that I have to ask myself when I'm reading this passage and this text is what in the world? Like, why would Jesus be calling them a dead church when they're not dealing with these same struggles and issues and patterns that these other churches in the area are dealing with? Jesus says, Man, you're getting your theology right, you're getting your worship right, you're getting all you're not you're not facing this extreme suffering of persecution and pressure from Jews. You're good on all of that, but Jesus still says, You're lifeless, you're dead. There's not a lot of real spiritual activity happening here. So the issue with this church is that they had gotten comfortable. Everybody say comfortable, that the church had gotten comfortable, structured, and routined. So much so that the very one who gives life, Jesus Christ, who gives life, the very one who gives life is calling them dead. And it's implied that the city of Sar Sardis and the culture there must have been tolerant towards Christianity. Because there's no mention of persecution, there's no mention of suffering, there's no mention of pressure from the city and external things of that nature. So it is implied that this city must have been tolerant towards Christians, and they did not have to worry about persecution, they didn't have to worry about pressure, and the pagans did their things while the Christians did their own thing and they all lived comfortably together. Y'all stay over there, we're gonna be over here, y'all worship your goddess, we're gonna worship Jesus, you do your thing, we'll do our thing, and they're all living at peace or are living comfortably together because nobody's bothering the other. And this church is so comfortable that it's implied that they loved Jesus, but they just didn't require his power. That they lived so comfortably that they knew how to pull off church and they knew how to be with each other, but they forgot how to be on mission. That they're so comfortable that they knew about God and they knew about sound doctrine, but they kept Jesus in the box of their knowledge. That this church had gotten so comfortable that they lived according to the ways of Jesus, but absent of the spirit of God that John 6 says brings life. That this church was doing all the things right in the natural, but they were missing it in the spiritual. That the city of Sardis and the church in Sardis, they lived at peace, not because the city was a Christian city, but because the city was tolerant, and for that tolerance and comfort to be maintained, this church did not need to be shaking things up by spreading this gospel of Jesus. They simply kept it amongst themselves. And this church likely avoided confrontation with culture, which allowed them to live at peace, and it all sounds good, but it actually means something else. It means that they're misaligned when it comes to the mission and the purpose that God has for his church. Amen. So point number one right here that I really want us to get is that for Jesus, perception does not equal reality. Everybody say perception does not equal reality. So Revelation chapter 3, verse 1, Jesus says, I know your works, and you have a reputation for being alive, but you're dead. He says, I've seen your works and I see what you're doing, I see the routine that you're in. And he says, You have a reputation for looking alive and for doing good things, but to me, I can see what's happening behind the scenes and what's happening in your heart and what's really going on. And he says, You look good on the outside, but what's really going on is you're dead on the inside. And here's the big idea behind this is that church growth is kingdom growth and it's God's idea. Amen. We talk about church growth and we talk about we're we're so excited about what God's doing here and Chambly and here at Kingdom City Church, but church growth is God's idea, amen. The church growth is Jesus' idea, that he loves his church more than we love the church. And a church that is not growing by introducing lost people to Jesus, it's not a church, amen. A church that is not desperately and passionately declaring to their city and to the world that there is a God who loves them and gave his life for them is not a church. A church that is not empowering the found to reach loss is not a church. A church that only gathers to worship God and hear good teaching and to love on each other is not operating as the church of Jesus Christ. Some people who would critique this would say, man, it's a social club. Some people who would critique this would say, man, it's just a Christian community event. But what Jesus says about it is it is dead. That it might be a safe space to escape the current culture, but Jesus doesn't call his people to safe spaces. Jesus calls his people to be on gospel mission. Can I get a good amen in the house? In Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. It's the great commission. And Jesus says, Go, everybody say, Go. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So this is the commission that Jesus gives his disciples, the commission that Jesus gives his followers. And it's a commission from Jesus, not a suggestion. Amen. In Luke chapter 14, Jesus gives this parable, and he has the master of the house who represents God the Father, and then he has the servants who represents the disciples of Jesus. And what he says here in Luke 14, he says, Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone, say anyone, and urge anyone you find to come so that my house will be full. That Jesus cares about his house. Jesus cares that lost people would come in and see him and know him and be saved. That Jesus cares what's going on inside the house. That the church isn't just a gathering of the saints, but the church is also a sending of the saints. The church is a empowering of the saints. That in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, it says that you will receive power. If I say power, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you to do what? To be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That we have a mission. Amen. That an alive church is a church that is on mission to reach lost people in this present age. That a church that is on mission is a church that is desperately reliant on the Holy Spirit to empower believers to be effective witnesses. Amen. So now read this text. I'm like, man, Jesus is calling this church a dead church. And I'm like, man, how did they get here? In this context, how does the church of Sardis get to this point to where Jesus is like, man, I'm not critiquing you on your theology, I'm not critiquing you on how you gather, but I am saying that you're not an alive church. So how is life sucked out of a church? I have a few points right here. As we protect our reputation instead of pursuing transformation. And I'll just let you know, I can preach for two hours on each and every one of these points, but I want to honor our time right here today. How is life sucked out of a church? We protect our reputation instead of pursuing transformation. We improperly measure success. We prioritize comfort over mission over mission. We point to people on a platform instead of pointing to the person of Jesus. We blend into culture instead of standing out. We confuse reaching lost people with pleasing lost people over pleasing God because this is his house. We quench the Holy Spirit in order to serve some other separate agenda. So basically, the life is being sucked out of this church because there is a fear of man more than there's a fear of God. That there's a reverence towards culture with this church in sorry more than there is a reverence towards God. So the people of God in this time and in this setting right here are saying we're just going to stick to ourselves so we don't mess up this good thing that we have going right here and just love one Jesus and be with each other and hear good preaching and just have a lot of Christian fun and just let the world around us go to hell. That they're not on mission and they're misaligned with the great commission that Jesus has given us. Amen. Are we doing okay today? Is this good stuff? I do have good news coming. That's okay. Point number two, right here. Jesus says, so so he critiques and he says, Man, y'all, this stuff going on is terrible, it's awful. But then because of Jesus' grace and because of his mercy, he also gives them a solution as well. And what he says is wake up. He says, Wake up and strengthen what is left. Verses two and three wake up, strengthen what's remain, because it's about to die. For I have not found your works to be complete in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard, keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. So Jesus says, Hey, this is where you're at, this is what you can do about it, and this is what's going to happen if you don't do anything about it. So historically speaking, uh historians say that the city of Sardis back in 556 BC and also again in 214 BC, that the city was captured two separate occasions, but because of the same reason. Because the guards on the city gates had either fell asleep or become distracted. And because they fell asleep and became distracted, uh, an enemy came in and took over the city. So Jesus is using this analogy and this reference right here of coming like a thief in the night, and you're not going to know when he's going to come and when things are going to not go well for you because of the situation that happened in the history, historical context of the city. And Jesus also says that there is something good there, but it needs reviving. So Jesus gives the criticism, he gives the solution, but he also acknowledges that, man, there is a small remnant there, but but if we don't do anything about what's going on, like it's all going to be gone. There's going to be no purpose, there's going to be no mission, and this church is not going to make it. So he says, I see what's happening, but also I see that there's something good there, but it needs reviving. It needs awakening. It needs strengthening, or it will not make it, and it will no longer exist. The church wasn't actively rebelling, but they were sleeping spiritually. So they weren't like actively rebelling against God and like saying, Man, we're going to do our own thing and preach our own message and compromise and do stuff like that. But but what's happening is like, man, we're just we're misaligned. We're not accomplishing and pursuing the great commission that Jesus has left for us to accomplish. So what does this look like? Complacent when things are urgent. Everybody say urgent. In Luke chapter 12, verses 39 and 40, it says this understand this. If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar, a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. Verse 40. You also must be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when you least when least expected. So here's the reality. The reality is that heaven and hell are both reality. And as Christ followers, we are commissioned by Jesus to tell every person that we know about the saving power and the saving grace of Jesus' gospel, and that the stakes are high, and this mission is critical if we truly believe what the Bible says. That there's this complacency when there should be a sense of urgency. All right. The next one right here is there's activity, but there is no anointing. What do I mean by that? Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6 says, Not by my power, not by strength, says, not by power, not by strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord. All right. What does this mean for us? I can do as many good and religious things as I please, but if I am not desperately depending on God to show up, then all I have done is share information or receive information. That I want to be desperately depending on God's spirit to do something in my life, to do something in the life of my church, to something in the life of my family, something in the life of my community. I don't want to just do good things. I don't want to just do spiritual things, but I want God's presence and God's power to be working in and through me. He says, not by might and not by power, but by the Spirit of God. A spiritual hobby does not bring freedom. Amen. Serving to make church happen does not bring freedom. Amen. Praying out of routine or out of habit does not bring freedom. God, the Holy Spirit, brings freedom. Amen. Empowerment from God, the Holy Spirit, brings about freedom. Not by my power, not by my skill set, not by my intelligence or by my talent, but it is by God's Spirit that something really happens and that a difference is truly made. Can I get a good amen in the house today? That we need power from God. All right. Everybody say, I need power from God. Isaiah chapter 10, verse 20 declares that it is the anointing that breaks the yoke. That's the anointing that makes a difference. What is that? That's the empowerment of God's Spirit working in and through me to do far more than I can do in the natural. I don't need more activity. I need more of God. My next faith with no fire. Faith with no fire. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 6 says this. Therefore I remind you, stir up. Everybody say stir up. Stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. The fire of your faith can grow dim if it's not stirred up. I think that's what preaching does for us, right, Pastor Blake? Is that preaching stirs us up? That it should both challenge us and it should also encourage us, that we should be stirred up to do something when we leave an environment and a gathering like this. That the old song says, Revive us again. Anybody ever heard that? Right? Revive us again. But some that says, Hallelujah, thine the glory, revive us again. I think the verse says, Hallelujah, thine the glory. That's a chorus. Hallelujah, Amen. Hallelujah, thine the glory. So it's glory to God. And then it's also saying, do something amongst us, God, to revive us again, to rekindle the flame, to start the fire back up, to get the fire going again within us, that we can understand there's not something that just needs to happen in the natural, but there's something that needs to happen in the spiritual. That we need to fan the flame of our faith by doing what? Returning daily to the presence of God through prayer. Returning daily to the presence of God through worship and through scripture. Because intimity with Jesus is what fuels a spiritual fire. Amen? That we guard our hearts from complacency by doing what? Repenting quickly, obeying what God shows us to do, and removing things from our lives that slowly cool our devotion. To surround ourselves with believers who are pursuing God passionately. Why? Because spiritual fire spreads when you stay close to people who are burning for Jesus. Amen. Next one right here: tradition, but no transformation. I don't know if you grew up in my context, but every time we talk about tradition, there's always a bad thing. But there are good traditions. Like what we're doing right now is a good tradition given to us by Jesus. All right. So there are good traditions, and then there are empty traditions. And that's what I'm talking about here. This empty tradition does not bring transformation. Tradition absent from transformation has nothing to do with age, but everything to do with surrenderance. We put language to a lot of new things that sound better than old things, but it turns out to be just like the old thing, but just with a new name. Go back and listen to the message. No land on you. If you are seeking a feeling or a result from God, but not seeking God, then that's empty tradition. If you love what you do in the name of God more than you love God, then that's what? Empty tradition. If you're seeking your preferred expression to God more than actually seeking God, then that's what? It's empty tradition. Dead churches and dead Christians love to talk about and honor tradition more than they seek transformation. And if God needs to tear apart my tradition, I'm talking about me. If God needs to tear about, tear apart my tradition in order to bring about transformation, then my prayer needs to be God tear it up. Amen. All right, someone ask for your prayer when you go home today. When you pray over your meal today, say, God, tear it up. I'm not talking about this fried chicken. I'm talking about my perspective. Amen. My perspective on the things of God and the things that I have built in my life that may be blocking transformation that God wants to bring about in my life. A dead church does not want God to surprise them. I'm gonna say that one more time. A dead church does not want God to surprise them. In Acts chapter 2, verses 2 through 4, it says, suddenly, everybody say suddenly. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there, then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, that one set upon each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. That suddenly something happened. Don't get stuck talking so much about a move of God that you don't actually make room for a move of God. Amen. Don't get stuck so much talking about a move of God that you forget to actually expect for God to move. Don't get so used to what God did in the past that you forget what God wants to do right now and what he wants to do in the future. That we need a suddenly moment, that we need to posture our hearts with prayer that says, surprise me, oh God. That says, Surprise me. Do something unusual in my life. Do something that's outside of my perspective. Do something that's outside of the box that maybe I placed you in. God, would you surprise us? Somebody say, Surprise me, God. A dead church doesn't want God to change them. In Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, Paul writes, and he says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And he goes on to say, Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. So what does this mean? Present my life as a living sacrifice. Present my life as a living sacrifice, not living in comfortability, not living for stability, not living for safety, but living sacrificially. And I'll be the first to say obviously, those things are not bad. Those things are good and we need those things in our lives. But if they stop us from living sacrificially before God, and if they stop us from experiencing transformation from God, then we have to rethink some things on what am I actually bringing to the altar for God to take. Amen? For God to do something with, to present my life as a living sacrifice, that there's something I need to surrender and give to God so that He can do more with those things than I can do with those things. God's desire is for us to be made in the image of Jesus Christ. And guess what? That requires a lot of change. Amen. Maybe it's just me. Maybe all are good. Preacher to myself. Y'all encourage me today. All right. Maybe God's desire for my life is for me to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. And if he's going to be working that transformation in my life, then that's going to require a lot of change. And I have to embrace that. I have to lean into that. So how do we awaken and strengthen what remains? Number one, we have to wake up. What does this mean? We have to have an awareness before there's an awakening. That Jesus' first command to them is awareness. Have an awakening. Get your foot, refocus, get your focus back. That before renewal can happen, we must recognize the truth of the condition of our soul. That spiritual sleep ends when we become honest about where we really are. Like, where am I with my walk with God? Like, am I sleeping? Am I comfortable? Am I just used to having my own routine in my own little Christian circle and not living a life that's on mission? Spiritual sleep ends when I'm honest about where I really am. Spiritual sleep ends when we stop hiding behind our reputation and hiding behind our facade. Spiritual sleep ends when we allow Christ to examine us. Revival starts when denial ends. Amen. Secondly, how do we get out of the state of sleeping? Secondly, we have to strengthen what remains. This means we have to feed the fire. Everybody say, feed the fire. Jesus says something interesting. He says, strengthen what remains, or it's going to die. Strengthen what remains, or it's no longer going to be in existence. That means that Sardis wasn't completely dead. Everything happening there wasn't completely wrong, but they were close to the edge. There were still believers there who had an active faith. There were still believers there that kept the spark of spiritual life going. There is still a remnant of devotion there that Jesus is recognizing. That revival often begins by protecting and feeding the small embers that are still burning, the right things that are still taking place. This means restoring prayer, restoring scripture engagement, restoring authentic worship, restoring authentic godly community, restoring confession and repentance, service and generosity, evangelism and a rhythm of sabbathing and having godly rest. That this is how we feed the flame and strengthen what's still there. Number three, Jesus says, remember the gospel. He says, return to the source. When he says, remember what you have received, what you first received and heard. This points back to the original gospel message in the early fire of faith. For many churches and believers, awakening happens when we rediscover the wonder of the gospel. Amen. Awakening happens when we return to spiritual simplicity and devotion to Jesus. That awakening and strengthening happens when we remember what it felt like when our faith was active and when our faith was alive and we were on mission, pursuing the Great Commission. Amen. That he says, remember these things and strengthen these things and lean into these things. Number four, obey what you know. This means that truth has to be practiced. That Jesus says, keep it. And what does that mean? To keep it. This means to guard it, to hold fast to it, and to put it into action, to obey. Spiritual renewal doesn't come through leaning, through learning more information, but through living what we already know. All right, the truth that we already know. We can put those things into practice. Many believers don't need to know, they don't need more knowledge, but they need a renewed obedience. Amen. Everybody say obedience. Number five, repent. This is what he means when he says to turn your heart back to God. To turn your heart back to God. Repentance is more than just feeling bad about something. Man, I'm really, really off track right here, and I really feel bad about that and just continue about doing the same thing. That's not what repentance is. Repentance is changing direction, it's reordering your priorities, it's turning back towards Christ and his mission for his church. Repentance is a doorway to revival, to awakening, to getting those things back to where God would have them to be. When God revived people in his Old Testament, it always started here at repentance. Revival begins where repentance begins. So my closing point right here, and Jacob and the team, y'all can go ahead and come back up. Is Jesus acknowledges what's still there, the good that's still there, and he encourages the faithful few who are there. I want to read verses four and five again, where Jesus says, Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Verse 5 says, The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out from the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. So Jesus sees the faithful few. I think a big encouraging part for me in this series is every week Pastor Wade gets up here and says that Jesus sees us. Right? He he sees us. And that's a two-sided coin. He sees who we are, the public part, and also the parts that we don't want anyone else to recognize in our lives. That Jesus sees me, that Jesus sees us as a church. And we notice that Jesus says that there are a few people. A few people. And to us, we say, man, that's not encouraging. And that sounds small because it is small. But to Jesus, it matters. To Jesus, your dedication and your devotion, even when you feel like, man, everybody else is moving in the wrong direction, and I'm the minority that's trying to go in the right direction. Understand that Jesus sees you and he recognizes that, and he says that he's going to honor that. We can see all throughout scripture that God always worked through the faithful minority. In the Old Testament, there was Noah who lived in a corrupt generation, that there was the prophet Elijah. And then the Bible says that there was also 7,000 other prophets, but they were still in the minority when it came to the amount of pressure that was against them. That the Bible says that Daniel in the city of Babylon, that the early disciples, even within the Roman Empire, that there was a faithful few that Jesus still used. Gospel, God measures faithfulness, not popularity. Amen. Is anybody glad about that? That God measures faithfulness, not popularity. Secondly, that purity still matters to God, that holiness still matters to God. That Jesus says they have not soiled their garments. In scripture, garments often symbolizes righteousness and purity. That these believers had refused to be apathetic with the culture, that they refused to drift spiritually, that they refused to be silent and ignore the moral decay that was happening around them. And Jesus honors that. Number three, the faithful will walk with Christ. This is a promise from God that He says that they will walk with me in white. In the ancient world, walking with someone signified relationship, honor, and closeness. The reward of the faithfulness isn't just heaven, but it's deeper fellowship with Christ. With Christ Himself. The greatest reward of faithfulness isn't man, what can I get in the natural, but it's closeness and it's fellowship and its devotion with Jesus. Number four, Jesus says that their names are secure. Everybody say secure. Jesus says, I will never blot his name out of the book of life. Cities in Rome kept a citizen role. And when someone died or when someone committed treason, their name could be removed. And this is what Jesus is Jesus says when he uses his imagery. He's saying that the faithful belongs to him permanently, that their salvation and their identity is secure both in life and in death. That this is the greatest reward. Number five, Jesus will publicly honor the faithful. Just imagine the moment that Christ Himself is declaring before heaven that this one belongs to me, that this one is faithful. That when everyone around me was unfaithful and going in one direction, that this one remained faithful. That God sees that and God says that He is going to honor that before all of heaven. Amen. That the faithful may feel unnoticed here on earth, but one day their loyalty will be publicly honored in heaven. If I was in my old school church, I'd be shouting all over the stage. That he says that he will publicly honor them before all of heaven. So the crowd may drift, the culture around us might compromise, the church might grow sleepy, but Jesus always knows the names of the ones who stay faithful. And one day that remnant will hear Jesus say to them, Come and walk with me. Hallelujah. Come on, give God a hand clap of praise this morning. So maybe you're here today and you're saying, Man, I feel like I've been putting in a lot of effort and I'm not getting the results that I want to get. Maybe you're here today and you're saying, Man, I've been faithful with God, but I feel like everybody around me is just doing their own thing and nobody's just quite locked in the way that I'm locked in. And I will just encourage you and say and say, stay humble before the Lord because He sees you and He will honor you. Amen. And that's what matters most. And maybe you're here today and you're saying, Man, I feel like part of that church of Sardis. And I've just been kind of going through life and just going through the motion and just remaining comfortable, having my Christian circle, and we talk about the other people who are on the outside of that circle, but we're just being with each other and loving on each other and just loving on Jesus, and we're not on mission. And Jesus' challenge to you is saying, I haven't called you to safety, I've called you to be on mission. So wherever you are in this response time that we have right here in prayer team can go ahead and come up, wherever your response is right now and needs to be, I'm saying be honest with God. Bring it to God because the truth that we see in scripture is that Jesus sees us and he knows us, and he's saying, Hey, surrender it to me and give it to me. Let me pray for us. I'm gonna give it back over to Sam. Lord, thank you so much for today. God, I thank you that you see us and that you know us. I thank you that our faithfulness to you does not go unnoticed. That one day we're gonna stand before you, and you're going to say, Come and walk with me. And what a joy that's gonna be to know that everything that I put into this faith journey, everything I put into my walk with God, that God is going to recognize it, that God does recognize it, and God is going to honor that. And I'm grateful. And for those of us who are in the room and you're challenging us and you're saying, Wake up, I pray that our hearts would be softened, and I pray that we would respond, and I pray that we would move when you say move. In Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said.