The Church of Sardis - 11

We are studying in an interesting portion of the Word of God. We're in the book of the Revelation. And we are in the midst of the seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor.

And today we're looking at the Church of Sardis, the fifth of the seven churches. And most of the time when we come to the Word of God, we are mindful of application to individual people. We're thinking of what does this have to say to me? How is this to affect my life?

How am I to live in the light of what I'm hearing? And what's unique about this portion of the Word of God is it's directed to churches. So sometimes we say, well, how do I relate? Are you talking about the churches, the church itself? I can maybe understand application to the pastor or the leadership and the deacons and the elders.

But, well, let me try and help you with that quandary if that's a concern you have. Churches are made up of people. It's people that make up churches.

So there is application for us. I've had the experience of searching for a church on two different occasions in my life. And here's a blueprint of what a church ought to look like as we consider the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have a Bible that's red letter, you'll notice that chapters two and chapters three are red letter. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to his churches. And therefore they're very applicable and appropriate for leadership to consider what does God approve of in a church? What does he condemn in a church? So as we're thinking this morning here in Revelation chapter three, I want to begin by asking the question about reputation.

Because this is what we find. Verse one, And to the angel of the church and Sardis write, These things, says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, I know your works that you have a name. You may have a translation that says, and you have a reputation.

That's the idea. You have a name or you have a reputation that you are alive, but you are dead. Churches develop reputations. There's churches all around us. And if you were visiting this area and you happen to be inquisitive and interested in what is unique about various churches, and you were with somebody who was knowledgeable of the area, you'd be driving by the church. They probably would say, well, that church has a reputation of being what? A Bible believing church or that church is a mission minded church or that's a church that's very active.

They're program oriented. There's always something going on at that church. I've had people say, that's a fun church. I don't know any church that would aspire to be known as a fun church.

Nothing commendable about that per se. A serious minded church, a mission minded church. Well, that's a fundamental church. That's a reformed church. Well, that's a historic church. I candidated at a church about the same time I was candidating here a number of years ago. And when I went to that church to candidate and began to talk to the pulpit committee, it became very clear to me that this was a historic church. They were going to be celebrating their centennial celebration, 100 year anniversary. And what was driving the agenda with the pulpit committee is they were looking for a pastor to be in place for the 100 year anniversary.

They were looking for a live body. And I began to ask questions and it became real clear to me very early on that I wasn't the man for that church. Churches develop reputations over time. I recall talking to a man who was a member of a church for a significant period of time. And the church had a stellar reputation, a sound church, a serious minded church, a word centered church, a reformed church, a conservative church. All the things that we would look to and say, you know, that all speaks of a very God honoring, strong, Bible believing church. And he said to me, he said, I'm concerned.

I said, what are you concerned about? He said, well, and he mentioned the pastor's name. By the way, it's not this church, so get that out of your head. He says, the senior pastor has been here over 40 years and he's not going to be here forever. And I'm concerned about where this church is going when he steps aside, when he leaves the scene. And I said, well, isn't there leadership in place to continue on in the same direction?

And he said, well, I've seen things coming in that have concerned me. So whatever a church's reputation might be today in the passing of time, it may change. Now let's talk for a moment about reputation.

We're not talking about your individual reputation. We probably have a reputation as people, but I'm talking about churches. How significant is the reputation of a church? Because Sardis had a reputation. And you know what the reputation of Sardis was? The reputation of Sardis was, that's a church that's alive, whatever that means.

But the reputation didn't mean anything. Because the sovereign Lord of the church said, I don't care about your reputation, you're dead. You're a dead church, despite your reputation. So this morning as we consider the church in Sardis, I want us to follow this pattern. In verse one, there is a word description of the head of the church. And we've found that in each one of the churches, and we're going to see that again.

It's different for each of the churches. But we're going to look at that word description of the head of the church. Number two, we're going to consider his diagnosis of the spiritual condition of the church.

That is the church of Sardis. Number three, we're going to look at his prescribed remedy for the church. And then lastly, I want us to consider and look at a threefold promise to a believing remnant in the church. So first, let's look at verse one. It says, and to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things, says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know your works that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. What is the description here of Christ, the head of the church? These things, says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Say seven spirits, seven stars.

How would you understand that? Well, you remember back in chapter one when we considered that, there was the mystery of the seven stars and the seven candlesticks and what all that meant. And we had Jesus giving us the answer to that mystery in verse 20. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand in the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. So here is a picture of he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

Let's start with what is clear and obvious that is defined here in scripture. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. An angel there, the Greek word, speaks of messenger. And commentators are divided on whether that's an angel, an actual angel that is dispensed to the church and is being written to that represents that church, a guardian angel of the church, or whether the word angel is more generic in messenger, that here are instructions being given to the elder, the pastor, or the shepherd of that church.

And I've taken, since I began this study, that that's what I think is in mind. It doesn't make much sense that a letter be written to an angel of the church. Now this is, I believe, letters being written to the leadership, the elder, the pastor, the under shepherd of the church. The seven spirits, notice he says, he who has the seven spirits of God. The seven spirits is mentioned in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 4 in the salutation.

And the seven spirits may also refer to Isaiah chapter 11 in verse 2, where we have a description of the spirit of the Lord, a sevenfold description of the spirit of the Lord, that he's the spirit of wisdom and of understanding. He's the spirit of counsel. He's the spirit of strength. He's the spirit of knowledge.

He's the spirit of the Lord and he is the fear of the Lord. So I believe here is the reference to the Holy Spirit in his fullness. So Jesus Christ here is represented in his church through the Holy Spirit. The imagery and the language here shows Christ, the sovereign Lord of the church, mediating his rule through his appointed messengers, elders, pastors, under shepherds, whichever designation you like to make, all referring to the same office.

Now I think that's important and I want you to see this pattern. Each one of these churches is addressed and at the very beginning we have these words. So just flip back to your Bible and we'll walk through these five churches that we've already looked at and you'll see this repetition.

Chapter 2 verse 1. These things says he. Each one of the churches is going to say that.

These things says he. But what follows these things says he is unique to the condition and the circumstances that are going on in that particular church. And it draws from the vision that John had received of Christ in his glory. That's recorded in chapter 1 verse 9 through verse 20.

So it's borrowing language from that portion of that vision. So again, the church of Ephesus. These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Chapter 2 verse 8, the church of Smyrna. These things says the first and the last who was dead and came to life. Chapter 2 verse 12, the church of Pergamos.

These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword. Chapter 2 and verse 18, the church of Thyatira. These things says the son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. These words speak of authority, speak of judgment, and there was judgment being threatened here upon the church. And here we are in chapter 3. These things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know your works that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. And I've wondered why those words and not other words from that vision related to this church. Why not words of judgment toward this church?

And I don't have an answer for that. I think it's interesting to see what is being said. That he is the sovereign Lord of the church, even when the church is in horrible condition. He has purposes for that church, and we're going to see that in a moment. So that opening statement concerning the Lord of the church. Now the diagnosis of the spiritual condition of the church.

What is the diagnosis? Notice what it says. I know your works that you have a name, a reputation that you are alive, but you are dead. Christ the head of the church says, I know something that is true of you despite your reputation. Despite your reputation of being a healthy, alive church, you are in fact dead.

Dead. What a horrible reputation. What a horrible reality for Christ the head of the church to look upon a church and examine the church. He who knows everything there is to know. Nothing is hidden from him.

He knows it all. And he says, as I look at this church, evaluate this church, this is a dead church. Anybody interested in being a part of a dead church? No.

No. We're not interested in being a part of a dead church. This church is a dead church. Now the church was active. The church was busy. It was working at church. Notice what he says.

I know your works. It wasn't like everything had come to a screeching halt. Nothing was happening. The church doors were closed. No, there was work. There was busyness going on. They were working at church. But all their effort, all their work spoke of death. They had a form of godliness, but as Paul would say, denied its power. And the question is, how does that happen? How does a church go from being alive to being dead?

Back to reputation. There was a time that this church had a reputation of being alive. And that church is alive. God is at work. God is active in that church. People are being saved.

Work is going on. God-honoring activity is going on. That was the reputation. But I don't know how much time it elapsed.

The reality is that that church's reputation belied the reality that it was dead. And again, the question, how does that happen? Well, here's how it happens. It happens slowly. It happens incrementally. It happens from one degree of compromise to another. It didn't happen overnight.

It didn't happen overnight. I had a friend of mine who went to pastor a church that had a reputation of being a revolving door. But every three, four years, a man would move out of the parsonage so some other new man could move into the parsonage.

And my friend felt led to go there, and he went. And a short time into his pastorate, one of the influential men in the church came to him and said, Pastor, I'm just going to put my cards on the table here with you and level with you. I'm not real sure that I'm on board and the rest of the church is on board in the direction you're wanting to take this church. I hear you're wanting to revive the church.

I hear you want to do this for the church, that for the church. He says, but listen, I just want you to know I'm not going to be a troublemaker. I'm not going to be a thorn in your side, and I'm going to tell you why.

Because we're going to tolerate you for two or three years, and you will leave and somebody else will come. You're not the most important person in the church. You're not going to change the church. The church has been like this for years, and it's going to continue to be like this regardless of your presence. Well, that puts wind in your sails as a preacher, doesn't it?

No. So I said to my friend, I said, well, what are you going to do? He said, I'm going to keep on keeping on. He says, God called Jeremiah. God called Isaiah, told him to go preach. And guess what? While you're preaching, nobody's going to listen to you, but go preach anyway.

So he said, if that's my law, I'm going to be faithful to the Lord. And if I leave, they're going to have to run me off. Well, you know what happened? They ran him off.

They ran him off. I know this is a bit of an oversimplification, but, you know, from time to time I have opportunity to talk to people about criteria, looking for church, they're moving, and they want to know, you know, what do I look for in a church? And again, this is an oversimplification, but I think a church, a good church, a God-honoring church is at least these three things. It's a church number one of high walls.

You say, what do you mean by that? It's a place where false doctrine and false teachers have a hard time getting in because it's a safe place. The walls are high. The leadership is on guard. The leadership is alert. The leadership is going to spot false doctrine, false teaching, danger whenever it comes.

Wolves come in, the shepherd and the undershepherds are going to be on it. So a church, number one, is a place of high walls. Number two, a church is a place of green pastures.

What do you mean by that? I mean a place where sheep, God's sheep, can be fed, where you can grow as a child of God. Number three, a church is a place of loving, caring, godly shepherds. I was a candidate at a church, not the previous one I talked about. That was a very short interview. I could tell very quickly that first church I was talking to you about, one of the men on the committee says to me, I want to ask you a question.

I said, okay. He says, what do you think about black people coming to the church? I said, well, what I believe about the black people coming to the church, we're going to pastor, we're going to shepherd whoever God brings to the church, whatever the color of skin is. Well, that's not what he was looking for. That alerted me. This is not a place I want to be a part of. But this particular church I went to and I preached a message.

I thought, you know what, there'll be no sleight of hand with me. They're going to know who I am and they're going to know what I propose to be if the Lord would direct me here. I preached a message from Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 15. And here we have God giving a promise to his New Testament church that's fulfilled in Ephesians chapter 4. I will give unto them shepherds who will teach and pastor teachers who will equip the saints to do the work of the ministry.

So Ephesians chapter 4 verse 6 is the fulfillment of the promise that God made in Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 15. And I preached a message from Jeremiah 3.15. This is what a pastor ought to be. This is what a church ought to be looking for in a pastor. Number one, here it is. And I will give you shepherds according to my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

That seems pretty simple, doesn't it? We're looking for men who have a heart for God. I will give you shepherds according to my heart. And here's their job description. Here's what they're to do.

What should they do? Feed you with knowledge and understanding. Oh boy. You mean everybody in the church doesn't get to add to the job description of the pastor? No. Not if you want a God honoring pastor. Not if you want a church that honors God. Not if you want to find a man who's committed to this biblical model.

That's it right there. And the reason I think these letters are addressed to the angel of the church or the messenger of the church or to the leadership of the church is because as goes the leadership of the church, so goes the church. I don't know how long it takes for a church to begin to take on the personality and the character of the leadership of the church. I don't know whether that takes five years, seven years, ten years, but after a period of time, the church begins to emulate, the church begins to mirror, the church begins to look like the leadership of the church. So again, how does a church get to the place where God's evaluation is that it's a dead church? Well, instead of evaluating the church on scriptural terms, letting the Bible set the church's course and direction, it begins to take its cue from the culture and the world. Instead of being a wholly separate people, the church begins to take on the compromising virtues of the world.

Instead of evaluating the church according to biblical pattern and biblical standards, it seems that most of the time, the only evaluation is how does the church look as we think of the three Bs, the three Bs. Buildings, do they have a building? Is it a functional building? Is it an attractive building? Does it have curb appeal?

All those things are true. Check that. Good buildings. Does it have a gymnasium?

Does it have this? Does it have a fellowship hall? Check that. Buildings. Bodies. How many people go there? Is there people there? Is there a youth ministry? Is there a children's ministry? How many people go there? Oh, there's quite a few people. Check that.

Budget. How are they doing financially? Oh, they're healthy. They've got money in the bank. Check that. Oh, there's a good church. Buildings. Bodies and bucks. Really? That's the evaluation?

There better be more going on than that. This is Christ's diagnosis of the church. I know your works, that you have a name, a reputation, that you are alive, but you are dead. Let's consider number three, the prescribed remedy. You say prescribed remedy? What remedy is there for death? It's a dead church.

Well, the only remedy is an infusion of life. Now, the overall evaluation is that it was a dead church, but not everything's dead. Notice what it says in verse two. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. Christ's evaluation is the church is a dead church. There's death and decay going on all around. The church is on life support, but there's still hope because, he says, strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die.

So there's the prospect of recovery here from the deathbed, as it were. And there is a five-fold remedy here, a five-fold prescribed remedy, and let me point out the words that this all hinges on. Verses two and three. Note the word watchful. Be watchful. That's our first word. Our second word is strengthen. Strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. Verse three, remember. Remember.

That's a good word on Memorial Day weekend. Word number four or phrase number four, hold fast. And then the last part of this remedy prescribed is repent. So five things.

Let's look at them. All was not lost. This church still had a pulse, but barely. It was ready to die. So he says be watchful. Be watchful. Your Bible may say wake up.

There's no time. When the church is in this condition, there is no time for indifference. The believing remnant, whoever they are, however many they are, they are few.

Jesus tells us that there is a few that make up this believing remnant. What must they do? Surrender. Give way to the pressure. Give way to the people who are the loudest, the most influential.

No. Get involved. Confront sin and error and make a difference. I know another man who went to a church. He brought an evaluation of the church, and the church leadership had to swallow hard and say, you know what? It's painful to hear what you're saying about the church, but you're right. There's compromise in the church. There's worldliness in the church. There's sin in the church. And God's answer for that is it must be confronted. And those who won't repent need to be disciplined. And we're willing to support that.

Well, why is it for him to deal with that on the front end? But guess what? When it came down to rolling up your sleeves and getting down in the dirt and dealing with sin in the church, people had little tolerance for that. Oh, now wait a minute. I remember we said this, but we didn't mean that. You're going to discipline him? He's this.

He's that. If he leaves, his family's going to leave. The church will... better be careful. So the first part of this remedy is to be watchful, as my Bible says, to wake up. Number two, strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. There are some things that have not completely lost vitality. They can be strengthened.

Find out what they are and give attention to that. Strengthen that. And it varies from church to church. An old man says, you know, there hasn't been a prayer meeting in the church for 15 years. And I believe in prayer.

I said, okay, so what are you going to do? Well, I'm not going to call a prayer meeting because there will only be two or three people show up, but we're going to have prayer. Whoever will show up at the parsonage, we're going to pray. And if God blesses that effort and more and more people want to come, then we'll move it to the church.

Strengthen what remains. Those are the means of grace. That's what God has called a pastor to do, to give himself to what? Prayer in the ministry of the word. Just because there's no prayer going on in the church, you better not abandon your calling. Strengthen, strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For he says, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

Now, that's an interesting phrase and can be misleading. There's nothing about any church that's perfect before God. All that we are, everything the church is, is mediated through the righteousness of Christ. So we're perfect as God sees us through the mediation of his son. I have not found your works perfect before God.

Complete is a better word, I think, than the word we get perfect. But our third word that we're going to key off here for our remedy is remember. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard. Remember. There was a time, evidently, in that church where the word of God was preached and it was taught. And he's saying, remember.

Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard. Somebody has come in and hijacked the ministry of the word and taken the church off in another direction. I'm reading between the lines, but that's what often goes on in a church. I had a man say, listen, all I am is an expositor.

All I am is a man who opens up the word of God and declares, thus saith the Lord with application. And the leadership said to him, well, we're looking for somebody that's got more going for him than that. Well, then what are you looking for? Well, we're looking for somebody who's got a fire in his belly. Okay? Well, we're looking for somebody who's got youthful enthusiasm.

Okay? But what's implied, I'm a man who opens the word of God, preaches the word of God, that wasn't going to be enough. So as he pressed that, they said to him, well, we've tried that. We've had men like that and nothing worked. The church didn't grow.

Well, then you probably ought to look for somebody more according to your liking. No, remember, remember, return to sound teaching, return to sound preaching. That's what he's saying. Number four, hold fast, hold fast. Hold fast to what? Hold fast to sound doctrine. And the last thing he says is repent, repent. You see, sound orthodoxy without the corresponding obedient life is deficient. We're not interested in just sound doctrine. That was what was true of the Ephesian church minus love. They had no love, remember?

And they were criticized for that. And then later on, we have a church. Oh, they're full of love, but it's detached from truth. We love everybody. We tolerate anything. We tolerate every sin. That came under condemnation. No, repent, he says.

Repent. And then there's a warning. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. And it's a threat of judgment. It's a threat of Christ coming and judging the church, condemning the church once and forever. So that's the prescribed remedy to a...it says you are a dead church, but it is a dying church, verse two, so it's halfway between completely dead with no hope and, again, on life support. But then what's the last thing we see here?

The last thing. That is a threefold promise to a believing remnant. Notice verse four. Again, he's writing to this church. You have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. What is implied with that even in Sardis?

You have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not sold out, who have not compromised, who have not defiled their garments, a believing remnant, even in that place. I think a good many of us have talked to people who are in churches that are unhealthy, and God has saved them, and they're struggling, they're wrestling. Do I leave? Do I stay?

Is my presence there a good influence? If everybody who's saved leaves the church, what will happen? And it's hard to tell someone emphatically and dogmatically, get out of that church, because we have here a dying church, a dead church, yet there's a believing remnant in that church. What does Christ say? He has a promise to those remnant who have stayed in that church, and what is it?

Notice with me. Threefold promise. They shall, number one, walk with Him in white garments. Number two, their names shall not be blotted out of the Book of Life. And number three, Jesus shall confess their names before His Father.

Notice that? You have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. White garments are a symbol of righteousness, of holiness, and of purity. The promise here looks to the day of glorification, when we shall be delivered finally and forever from the very presence of sin, from the very possibility of ever sinning with the glorious prospect of never, ever being able to sin.

Can you imagine that? Thomas Watson wrote a great book, if you ever get your hands on it, it's an old, old, old book. He wrote it in 1620. He was a Puritan.

And it's entitled The Fourfold Estate of Man. I got the book, I read it in, I don't know, I think it was in seminary, and did a book report on it. And the seminary prof says, where'd you find that book? I don't even remember where I found it.

I says, is this appropriate? He says, oh yeah, yeah, read that book. I'm thankful I read that book. But he talks about a fourfold estate of man, from the garden, to the fall, and to the condition of a man that's redeemed. Before the fall, it was possible for someone to sin or not to sin.

His will was free in that sense. But after the fall, man was bound in sin, and the only choice he had was to sin. He was a slave to sin.

But in Christ, those who are redeemed now have been restored back to the place Adam was in the garden. We can sin, or we can choose not to sin. And then that glorious fourfold state of man, being delivered from not only the penalty of sin, and the presence of sin, or the power of sin, but the very presence of sin, being in a place, being in a state, not even able to sin. Can you imagine? The desire isn't there to sin, the temptation's not there to sin, the manifestation of sin is gone.

The only thing you're able to do in that state is pursue righteousness and live pure and live holy. I'm ready for that. Are you ready for that?

Are you looking for that? Wow. The second promise here, he says, He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot out his name from the book of life. The book of life. In that book, written before the foundation of the world, the names are written of those who are chosen unto everlasting life and glory. And Christ, the head of the church, assures this faithful remnant that their names shall not be erased from the role of God's elect. And I've had people look at that and say, well, do you think it's possible to have your name erased from the book of life? No. Where do you get that idea?

You don't get it from that. He just says, your names will not be removed from the book of life. They were put there before the foundations of the world. Again, what's the promise and to whom is it made? To those who are faithful and do not defile their garments have the promise that in that day, when the role is called up yonder, they'll be there. That's the promise.

Their names will not be removed from the book of life. You say, I have a question. And my question is, how do you live in this world of ever increasing defilement and not be contaminated and defile yourself?

How do you do that? I think we'd all say as believers, it's getting harder and harder to do that, right? It's not getting easier. This world is no friend of grace. There's more snares, there's more dangers, there's more landmines than ever before. So how?

How do you live? Because this promise is to those who do not defile their garments. So how do we do that? Well, the only way I know that we do that is we've got to do it intentionally and we must do it by grace. Titus chapter 2 says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should do three things. We should live soberly, righteously and godly.

Where? In this present world. That tells me that God will enable and grant grace to us that will enable us to live soberly, righteously and godly, despite the wickedness and defilement that's all around us. And we need to do that looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who did what? Gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people zealous unto good works. That's the only way.

That's the only way. And then there's a third aspect of this promise and what is that? Again, he who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. Jesus will say on that day to his father, before his father, Yes father, these are mine that you gave to me.

I've died for them, I've kept them, and they have been faithful and have not defiled themselves and are therefore worthy to enter with me into your everlasting glory. And that will be no credit to us. That will be all to his praise, honor and glory. God has hardwired salvation and his plan of redemption in such a way, if you understand it according to the way God has revealed it, there is no place, there is no ground, there is no way you'll ever be able to stand before God and take any credit. You won't ever be able to say, well you know what, if things got hard down there, I mean it really got hard, it really got dark, it really got defiling, it really got corrupt, and I just tied a knot and hung on. And he'll say, well I'm glad you put forth effort, but you know what, the only reason you hung on is because I was holding the rope.

Right? You can hang on to a rope, but if the rope isn't attached to something strong, you're a goner. So yes, we must put forth effort, but it's the effort that is spirit induced and spirit empowered. So here's instructions for a church that's dead and dying. And don't leave here and say, well the preacher said, here's the instructions if we're in a dead church or a dying church. Get out!

That's not what this says. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a time that you better get out. Some are here this morning and that's exactly what you did. You got out of a dead church, and you probably have no regrets that you did. But you still carry a burden for those who are still there, and you're wondering. So maybe you'll give a little grace to them and realize, you know what, God's able to keep even them, even in Sardis, a believing remnant that will reflect his glory and give hope to those who are lost and looking to him.

Well let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for Christ, the head of the church. Thank you that we're not left to wonder what he commands and what he condemns, because we have it here in these letters to his churches. Thank you for this church. Thank you for its history. Thank you for its tradition. And thank you for its reputation, and God, may you ever guard that reputation, that 10 years, 20 years from now, whatever's commendable about this church will continue to be commendable about this church, and that the church will continue to grow and advance and be more effective for him who loved his church and gave himself for it. For we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.