INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER UNIVERSITY MIKE BICKLE A BIBLICAL OVERVIEW OF ETERNAL REWARDS Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God I. REVIEW A. In the age to come, Jesus will give eternal rewards to His people, expressing how He feels about the way we love Him in this age. Jesus power and creativity are far greater than man s, so we can expect far greater glory and diversity in the eternal rewards that He will give. 9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9) Tonight we are looking at session seven. We are looking at divine affirmations. This is the most precious to me of all. It is the way the Lord is going to communicate to His people, how He is going to express how He feels about the way that we loved Him. First, review. There are about seven or eight points I cover in the review each week, but this is the one I cannot say too often. For those that are visiting for the first time, eternal rewards I say this every time are really about Jesus expressing how He feels about the way we loved Him. Eternal rewards are not about us gaining superiority or status over other people in heaven. Some people think of it that way and they say, I am not really interested in eternal rewards. Now this is Jesus, the most generous, kind man, very wealthy. He would say, I can afford it. I want to show you how you moved Me by the way you loved Me on the earth. Our love is so weak, but His rewards are so generous because His evaluation is so generous. Then the verse in 1 Corinthians 2. I think we have looked at it every week in the review. Paul says it has not even entered the mind of a man the level of the glory that God has prepared. So it is not just what you think about the New Jerusalem; it is more than you can imagine. The eternal rewards are far beyond what we would casually think when we read these simple, little phrases of Jesus. Jesus spoke more about eternal rewards than anybody else. He gave these little phrases. He is saying, Now come and search out the Scripture. Those phrases are big ideas. They are vast. They are more glorious than you can imagine. B. Believers will differ from one another in the measure of glory expressed in the rewards they receive. 41 for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:41-42) Again, just repeating this because it is an idea that is new to many people that every person will have a different measure of the glory of God in a different experience in their relationship with the Lord in the age to come. Yes, we are all equally and freely in the Family. We are all in the City as a free gift. Our relationship, what we do, and our spiritual capacities will all be different just like they are now, different. They will be based on how we respond to the Lord in this age.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 2 II. DIVINE AFFIRMATION: RECEIVING PRAISE AND HONOR FROM GOD A. The Lord delights to verbally affirm the love and godly choices of His people. After Jesus returns, He will reveal the counsels of the heart, or the deep thoughts in the heart of each believer, and will openly affirm each one (1 Cor. 4:5; cf. Mt. 25:21; Jn. 12:26; Rom. 2:29; 1 Pet. 1:7; Rev. 3:5). 5 The time the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one s praise [affirmation] will come from God. (1 Cor. 4:5) 29 he is a Jew who is one inwardly whose praise is not from men but from God. (Rom. 2:29) In 1 Corinthians 4:4, Paul says that a time is coming. He relates it to the coming of the Lord, the second coming. Verse 5, when the Lord does return, at the second coming, it says that He is going to both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. When we think of Jesus at the second coming, that we stand before Him as He reveals the hidden things of the heart, the things that nobody else sees, the counsels, the deep thoughts, and intentions of our heart, our first thought is, Oh no! Paul would say, No, no, you are reading it wrongly. At that time each person s praise will come from God. The idea of praise here is not worship. It is affirmation. The Lord is going to praise, that is, He is going to affirm His people when He reveals the counsels of the heart. Meaning, you have deep thoughts about how you want to serve God. I do not mean just the what it would look like, but the intention to go all the way, to be wholehearted. Yet we find ourselves coming up short of the thing that we set our heart to do. What the Lord is saying through Paul is that God is going to honor those deep counsels of your heart. He is going to see them. These are not just kind of passing thoughts, you know, spiritual sentiment as in for a few weeks you thought about going hard for God and then you thought, Nah, I do not really want to. When he talks about the counsels of the heart, he means the deep resolve. You have set your heart in this, though you struggled, but the Lord would say, I see the movement of your heart. I think some of you are going to be shocked when the Lord praises you for it or affirms you. Now some people are really uncomfortable with the idea, just the theological point of God praising people. That kind of gives you a spiritual whiplash. God praising? No. Again, it means He affirms. Paul said it again in Romans 2. He was talking about the Jew who is one inwardly, whose praise does not come from men, but his praise comes from God. Again, it is the word, affirmation. It is the idea of affirmation. B. The genuineness of our faith, our response to God, will result in praise and affirmation from God. I assume He will affirm people in different settings privately, socially, and in public ceremonies. 7 the genuineness of your faith [responsiveness to God], being much more precious than gold [money] that perishes may be found to praise [affirmation], honor, and glory (1 Pet. 1:7) Well, this was not something that only Paul and Jesus emphasized. Peter did as well. 1 Peter 1:7, Peter said, The genuineness of your faith. Faith in this context means your responsiveness to God. The genuineness of your responsiveness to God is more precious than gold. It is more valuable than gaining money. Gaining money can be really helpful. This is not a put-down on money, but what Peter is saying is that there is something
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 3 actually far more valuable than money. It is laying hold of the grace of God to have a responsive heart. He means a genuine faith, to have a heart responding rightly. He said that you are going to find out when the money is gone and it will be the day we die; we do not bring any of it with us that genuine faith, responsiveness to God, is going to result in praise in the age to come. It is that same word that we are uncomfortable with. God praising His people, affirming. Peter adds other words as well. He said that it is going to result in honor. I mean, imagine the greatest one, Jesus, the indescribably great one, wants to honor you. He wants the glory of God released in you. He does not lose anything when He puts honor on you. That is how great He is. That is how big He is. Some people have this idea that, if humans get any honor or any glory or any praise, somehow God is diminished. Now we all know the verse in Isaiah 42:8 that God will not share His praise with another or His glory with another. He is talking about that status of being the infinitely supreme One. He will not share the status of His supremacy, no. That is not what this is talking about. The infinitely great One who is filled with honor wants to honor His people for our love, which is so weak, but it moves Him. This is so moving to me that He cares this much about the way we respond to Him. C. Jesus promised that the Father would honor anyone who serves Him. The infinitely great God honors people. We are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little (C. S. Lewis). Jesus spoke of honor varying according to our response to His leadership (Mt. 5:19; 18:4; 20:26-27; 23:11-12; Mk. 10:43-44; Lk. 9:48; 14:11; 18:14; 22:26; Jn. 12:26). 26 If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (Jn. 12:26) This is almost hard to say. Jesus said in John 12:26, If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. Jesus said, Not only will I honor him, but My Father will make it His business to honor that person. Like, O Lord, I do not know if I can take it! The Lord would say, No, it will be right, and it will be good. It will not diminish any of the honor of God when God expresses how deeply He feels about the way that we have loved Him. I love the word, anyone. You can be the most ungifted, uneducated, no-impact-on-anybody person well, I mean there is no such person lack every opportunity, but you set your heart to serve God. Jesus says, I assure you, My Father will honor you on the last day. It will be worth it. You know this is a great verse, John 12:26, to bring to mind and to say back to God, to say it with your mouth, when you are being tempted to quit, quitting your pursuit of obedience. There is that area. You feel, I cannot quite get sustained obedience in that area. I am just going to quit. You read John 12:26. He says, If anybody if you will serve Me in that area Or maybe it is not an area in your character. Maybe it is service, and nobody is appreciating you. It does not seem like it is doing any good anyway. It is what the Lord stirred your heart up to do, but you are a little discouraged because you were thinking it would have more power and more people would appreciate it, but it does not seem to have either. Beloved, you are still serving Him. When you are tempted to quit in your struggle against sin in that area or to quit because the labor seems too small and too unappreciated, speak John 12:26 out loud to the Lord, Lord, it is written that You will honor me if I keep serving You. Father, You will honor me. The devil is a liar. It is written, Anyone who keeps serving You, the Father will honor. I mean, I just do not know what to do with this verse besides just smile, cry, and keep confessing it. This is fantastic. I do not really do this much, but turn to the neighbor next to you and say, This is really a good one. I
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 4 mean, this is that good! Okay, I am not one of those preachers who tells people what to say to the guy next to them. I like those guys, but that is not typically how I do it, okay. D. Jesus will say, Well done, showing how He generously He evaluates our weak work. Our life vision should include living so as to hear Jesus say Well done! at the end of our life. We are called to set our heart to walk in excellence in our relationship with God, refusing to settle for less. 21 Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things (Mt. 25:21) 1. Good points to godly motivation with a sincere intention to do God s will. 2. Faithful highlights diligence and follow-through of our intention to do good. Now Matthew 25:21. We know this verse well, Well done, good and faithful servant, because we hear it all the time at funerals. Like I tell people, do not get your theology from funerals. Not all those guys are going to hear, Well done, and they are not all going to receive their crown. That is for people who were consistently faithful to the Lord, who, sure, did fail, they stumbled, they tripped, but they refused to stay down. They got back up and got back on the path. Well done. This is a wonderful statement, but not for everyone. I do not think it is so common that everyone can assume they are going to hear this. This is a most wonderful statement. This is the sort of thing that we set our life vision to go after this lifestyle. This is a big thing, not a small thing. Okay, tell your neighbor, This is another good verse. No, I am kidding. But that was! So we have been looking for a moment here at affirmation. There are a few other verses about God delighting in His promise to verbally affirm His people. By the way, I think that affirmation will have many settings just like human affirmation does in this age. I think you will have individual one-on-one conversations with the Lord where He communicates it in an individual way, in however it happens, where He tells you, Well done. I do not think He says, Well done once, and then a million years from now He says, Well, I told you already. I have not changed my mind. You know I never change. No, I think when He says, Well done, this is going to be communicated in different ways over and over, forever. I do not think it is a one-time statement where He stamps our passport and we get into heaven. This is really worth pouring everything out for and resisting all the lies that are in the culture. You know, these lies that are being promoted about the grace of God and that what the grace of God really means is live for yourself and live in carnality and be comfortable with compromise, just coast and do not even concern yourself. No, the grace of God empowers us to be wholehearted. When we fail, it gives us confidence to start over again tomorrow. That is what grace is about. Well, I think the Lord will communicate His affirmation individually by the Spirit or in person in ways that will move us beyond measure. I think He will communicate it socially, meaning in the context of some of your friends. Maybe a lot of friends. I think there will be ceremonies where there are rewards given. I think there is a ceremonial dimension of God honoring His people because there is a number of these things in the Bible where God initiated these kinds of ceremonies. So they are His idea. He came up with them. So I think that these statements will be given in different terms, many times, over many years, individually, socially, and even publicly, in ceremonial ways, like when there are banquets where people honor people. All kinds of award banquets. Well, if humans know how to do that, and if humans are moved by that, the most generous, the most powerful, and the most creative One who ever walked the earth can do it far better than everybody else can. Again, there is precedent for all of these things in the Scripture.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 5 III. GOD REMEMBERS: AN OVERVIEW OF MEMORIALS IN THE SCRIPTURE A. One of the great rewards of heaven is to receive a white stone with a new name on it (Rev. 2:17). I understand the white stone to be related to Jesus expressing His affirmation for His people. 17 I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written (Rev. 2:17) We are going to look at just a snapshot here, but I want to stir you up with this idea of a memorial. You will see at the end of paragraph B that there are quite a few verses in the Scripture on this idea of a memorial. The reason I want you to grasp it is because a number of eternal rewards, are connected to these many, many passages. The principle is in these passages where God declared that certain activities or certain events would be honored, because He said that as a memorial it will be remembered forever. It will be recalled over and over and over again. This is His genius. It is His idea. When you see how often this is stated by God in the Scripture, it sets the stage for us to understand some of these rewards. The reward I am going to emphasis the most in this session has a number of different implications. So I am going to get to it in a few minutes, but I just want it in your mind. It is in Revelation 2:17 where Jesus is talking to the overcomer. He said, I will give him a white stone, and, on the stone, he will have a new name. He went on to say that no one knows that name; it is something He alone knows, and He will speak it to them. There are many implications to this. So this is at the core of it; it is about affirmation and honor. It is like the verses we looked at where the Lord says that He is going to praise and honor, release His glory in His people. B. A memorial is established to honor the memory of God s activity or someone s devotion to God. A memorial is a monument, statue, holiday, or ritual which serves as a remembrance or reminder of a person or an event (Nelson s Bible Dictionary). The Scripture mentions many memorials (Ex. 3:14-15; 12:10-14; 13:6-9; 17:14; 28:12, 29; 30:16; 39:6-7; Lev. 2:2, 9, 16; 5:12; 6:15; 23:24; 24:7; Num. 5:26; 10:10; 16:40; 31:54; Josh. 4:7-9; Neh. 2:20; Zech. 6:14; Mal. 3:16; Mt. 26:13; Mk. 14:9; Lk. 22:19; Acts 10:4; 1 Cor. 5:7; 11:25-26). Note the connection of individual names engraved on precious stones to a memorial and God s presence. In the next few verses, on which I will be brief and leave to you to study, I want you to note how often the Scripture identifies there is a precious stone, a gem, a jewel, and there is the name of a person engraved on that precious stone. It is in context to a memorial. It is something that is to draw attention, give honor, and give remembrance to what God did or what people did. So it is these ideas He puts together in the Old Testament: a precious stone, an individual s name, the name engraved on the stone, and it being about a memorial. Jesus spoke of eighteen different eternal rewards in Revelation 2-3, and a number of them are based on this principle. When you see the precedent of this principle in the Bible you think, This is really something I can count on. This is something God has thought through and is very intentional about us understanding. He is very intentional; that is why it is all through a number of places in the Old Testament, because God is saying, I want you to know I have been thinking about this long before you were even born. Long before Jesus ever came, I had this in the plan. These find their fulfillment in the age to come. Now, a memorial is established to honor the memory, number one, of God s activity, like when He split the Red Sea, that type of thing or, number two, of somebody s devotion to God. So a memorial establishes what God did or what people did in response to the grace of God. A memorial is a monument, a statue. It could be a plaque, a reward. It could be a ritual which serves as a remembrance or reminder of a purpose, a person, or an event. Paragraph B lists how many mentions of this idea in the Scriptures, and again this signifies its importance.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 6 C. The story of Mary anointing Jesus with costly oil is spoken as a memorial to honor her devotion (Mt. 26:13; Mk. 14:9). 8 She has come to anoint My body 9 Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her. (Mk. 14:8-9) Now one of the great examples of the memorial is one of our favorites that we talk about here at IHOPKC all the time, Mary of Bethany. In Mark 14, she poured out the fragrant oil, which was very costly for her to do. She was a young single woman. I am assuming this costly oil was her life inheritance. It said it was like a year s wages. You know, just say, $50,000 worth of perfume poured out at one moment. That is remarkable! She was maybe the only one besides Jesus mother who believed Jesus when He said, I am going to die. I mean, the guys kept saying, Well, what do you mean? Jesus said, verse 9, Wherever forever this act will be told as a memorial. As in, I want the story told over and over and over and over. We don t even hear of Mary in the book of Acts. It was not like she was a preacher or had a big public ministry. She just had a big heart. Jesus said, I want you to tell her story. I see in this verse His delight in having the story told over and over and over again. That is what He is like. D. Cornelius devotion to God in his prayers and alms was spoken of as a memorial (Acts 10:4). 4 So he [an angel] said Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:4) Then my other real favorite one is Cornelius, Acts 10. Cornelius was a Roman soldier. He was a Gentile. The angel appeared and said, Your prayers and your giving to the poor are remembered before God. They are a memorial. This story will be told, Cornelius, forever. I mean I cannot imagine the shock of Cornelius when that angel came. I can imagine the angel saying, Cornelius, your giving to the poor God remembers. And I imagine Cornelius saying, Yeah, that sounds right. But, my prayer meetings? Are you kidding? Here is this crusty, old Roman soldier. I do not even know what I mean by that, but just picture it. No Holy Spirit, as he is not born again. No Bible. No worship music. Sitting next to three or four other crusty, old Roman soldiers. No Holy Spirit, no Bible, and no worship. God of Israel, do something! They do not even have a Bible. He hits the guy, You pray next. God, help! Hey, it is your turn. I bet these were not good prayer meetings. I do not think I would have wanted to go to his prayer meeting. No Bible, no Holy Spirit, no prophetic worship, none of that. I would not have wanted to go to his prayer meetings, but God showed up. He said, Cornelius, forever I will tell the story of your prayer ministry, of your prayer life. Again he does not have a preaching ministry in the book of Acts or anything. This is the big thing: he had a couple guys at a prayer meeting that he stuck with for years and got God s attention. It is a memorial. E. As a memorial, the names of the sons of Israel were engraved on two stones placed on the shoulders of the high priest s ephod (Ex. 28:12; 39:6-7) and also on precious stones on his breastplate of judgment (Ex. 28:21, 29). Does Jesus wear an ephod with names engraved on the stones? 12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders as a
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 7 memorial 21 The stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name 29 Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually. (Ex. 28:12, 21, 29) 6 And they set onyx stones they were engraved with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 He put them on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. (Ex. 39:6-7) I am going to leave you on your own to read this. You are going to notice this connects these ideas. This is God speaking to Moses. He says, Here is what I want you to do, Moses. I want you to put these precious stones into the garments or the breastplate, the ephod specifically. I want you to put precious stones in the garment of the high priest. I want you to engrave the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, those twelve sons of Jacob. Write their name in the stones, and it is a memorial. So he connects three ideas. The jewel or precious stone, the engraved name, and the fact it is a memorial. It is meant to be recalled generation after generation after generation, and it is connected to the presence of God. It was so that when the high priest brought it into the holy place, the tribes would be brought before God in remembrance. So now Jesus is the high priest. He says, I am going to write your name on those stones with My own hand. I am going to see to it that what you have done is remembered forever. I am going to bring it in the holy place. I am going to say it to God with My own mouth. Remember when you read these verses, the ideas were God s. These were not Moses ideas. I can imagine Moses saying, Jewels!? Where am I going to get jewels? Where are we going to get engraving instruments? Put it on the high priest? We do not have a high priest. Yeah, your brother is the high priest. Okay. But what? I mean these were all brand-new ideas to Moses. The point is they were God s ideas. The point is this is how He thinks. He set this in motion. Moses was 1,500 years before Jesus came and died and rose from the dead, 1,500 years. God was setting the stage that we would see. God is saying, This is what I am about, right here. I am the High Priest who will write your name on precious stones. I will give it to you and I will declare it before the Father with My own mouth. Look at your neighbor and say, This is another good verse. Okay, we are done with that one. F. A memorial included godly words and deeds recorded in the Lord s books (Ex. 17:14; Mal. 3:16). 16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name. (Mal. 3:16) It is not just deeds; it is also words. We have looked at this verse several times, Malachi 3:16, that those who feared the Lord spoke one to another and the Lord listened. You know, the Lord would say, I so appreciate that conversation, not because it was so insightful. I do not think God was moved by their insight. I think He was moved by their love. They were talking about loving God, and they were affirming, encouraging, and building up each other. I mean, you do not impress God with insight. He was moved because they decided to speak words of love.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 8 Beloved, we have so many reasons to criticize everyone around us at various times, whether it is the guy over you, under you, the guy who works with you, the person who lives with you, the person who used to live with you. There are so many reasons, given time, to criticize and to look and say, Bah-humbug! The Lord would say that the people who fear the Lord speak differently. They speak with a different spirit. They have the same human tendency, but they resist it. That is the fear-of-the-lord part. They say, No, I am not going that direction. The Lord would say, I am listening, but not just listening; I am writing it in My book. It is in the book because this conversation will be brought up again. I am going to boast about it when I am with you face to face in the resurrection. I am going to tell you about what you said and how it moved Me. The verse says it is not only just those who spoke to one another, it is also those who meditated on God s name. He puts two things in this promise, those who spoke encouraging words to each other to encourage people to move on in God and not to give up, who spoke God s promises over each other and the people who meditate on God s name. Beloved, you do not waste time when you are at home or in our ministry context here at a prayer room with your Bible open, reading it. You may not feel anything, but you are meditating on it. He did not say, to those who feel power when they read the Bible. No, it is for those who are exerting their mind, they are engaging their mind in the Word of God, thinking on God. Sometimes you feel power. Sometimes you feel nothing. You just stay with it. The Lord says, I see that. Wow! That is good. There are a number of other types of memorials here. You can read on your own. I just wanted you to see how big a principle this is and how big this is in God s heart. G. The Passover feast is a memorial to honor Israel s deliverance from bondage in Egypt (Ex. 12:14). The stones left in the Jordan River memorialized Israel entering the Promise Land (Josh. 4:7). H. Observing the Lord s Supper is a memorial to honor Jesus death (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 5:7; 11:25-26). IV. JESUS CONFESSES THE NAME OF THE FAITHFUL BEFORE HIS FATHER A. Jesus promised to confess the name of those who overcome before His Father and the angels (Rev. 3:5; cf. Mt. 10: 32; Lk. 12:8) He will tell the story of their love for God. Jesus linked someone s name with their reputation, or story, (3:1) and with their deeds (3:4). 1 I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Rev. 3:1-5) Oh, this is so beautiful! Again, Jesus gave eighteen promises in Revelation 2-3. There are eighteen eternal rewards that are distinct. There are no other two chapters in the Bible that have this kind of intense amount of information [about eternal rewards]. Again, the challenge is that Jesus only gives a phrase. Then He says, as it were, Now search the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit. Look at human tendency in culture and see where there is any of the handiwork or the thumbprint of God in the culture by which you can gain insight into what I mean by this simple little reward.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 9 Some folks just read the rewards like, I will give you a white stone and put your name on it, and say, Okay. They have this idea they will get a little rock about the size of a baseball, and it has their name on it, you know, Mike. Thanks, Lord. Appreciate that. He could say, No, no, no! I created the New Jerusalem. I am spectacular! Not a little white rock with your name. Trust me, there is a whole lot more to it than you are imagining. Well, let s look at Revelation 3 again. Remember it is Revelation 2-3 where so many of these promises are, though they are not only there. In just the gospels alone, Jesus spoke about eternal rewards more than what He spoke in Revelation 2-3. Fifty different references to eternal rewards by the lips of Jesus. I have that on the handout from session one. Over fifty references, that is remarkable! Notice this. Where we are going is to verse 5. I want you to pay attention because in verse 5 let s go to the end and then start at the beginning at the end of verse 5, He says, I will confess this man or woman s name before the Father and before angels. Wow! Can you imagine Jesus telling the Father your story? As you see I have a bit on this that we are not going to spend time on. 1. Jesus confessing your name includes more than a one-time declaration of your name so that you may be permitted to enter the New Jerusalem. It is more than a reference to being saved. When Jesus speaks someone s name to the Father, He will be declaring their love, deeds, and obedience to the Father. When Jesus confesses your name, He does not just say, Bill Tom Mary next. To confess your name is to tell your story. To confess His name is to tell His story. To confess the name of Jesus is not a just a one-time, momentary blurb, I believe in Jesus. I did it. No, it means to stand for what He stands for, to confess who He is and your confidence in His leadership. It says that we overcome by the word of our testimony. Our testimony is what we think about His leadership. That is how we confess Him. It is much more than just uttering a phrase. Although uttering a phrase is good too, it is a much bigger idea than that. So look at verse 1. I want you to notice the connection. Jesus is talking here in Revelation 3:1. He is going to link their name with their reputation in verse 1. Then He is going to link their name with their deeds in verse 4. Then in verse 5 He is going to say, Now I am going to tell your name, meaning, I am going to tell your story, your reputation. I am going to talk about your deeds. So first in verse 1, He is going to connect a person s name to their reputation. This is Jesus talking. He is saying something negative but I want you to see how He connects a name to a person s profile, their story, their reputation. He said, I know your works. You have a name, your life. Actually, spiritually, you are really hurting. You are dead. You got a reputation, a story, going all around Asia how on fire you are. The story or your name is that you are alive. He went on, It is not true, but I am going to help you. I want you to understand that He is saying that when the name is told, the story of that church or those people is being told. So it is not just the Lord uttering your name and one phrase and then moving on to the next point. He said, verse 4, You have a few names who have not defiled their garments. So now He ties their name to their activity here in verse 4. He said, You have a few names who have not defiled their garments. Now defile their garments means they have stumbled in compromise and they have settled into compromise. A defiled garment does not mean they tripped one day. It means they have settled into it. The point I am wanting to make in verse 4 is that here when Jesus speaks of their name, He is talking not of their story or reputation, but He is talking about their deeds. He ties that to their name.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 10 Now He says in verse 5, If you overcome, you will be clothed in white garments. We looked at that a couple sessions ago. If you overcome, you resist this defiling lifestyle that other believers in your midst are yielding to. You resist it, you overcome this, I am going to tell your name. I am going to tell your real story to the Father. Can you imagine the most High, the greatest One, the infinitely superior One in greatness, is going to find joy in talking about you to the Father. I mean, we are not talking about a casual conversation of two guys on the street. We are talking about the Son of Man saying your name to the Father and telling your story to the Father and the angels. There is multitude of angels, and Jesus is saying, Father and when she was twelve years old and when she was twenty-three then when she was twenty-nine and she had this crisis, she would not give up. And then she stumbled, but she came back. She refused to give into shame or despair. She stayed steady with Me. Father, this is what she did. The angels are nodding, yes, yes. I cannot imagine what the implications of this are, how valuable, how glorious, because I feel certain He is going to highlight the setbacks, when things did not work and we were disappointed, we were mistreated, and we stayed steady in walking in the Spirit and did not say, Well, if you are going to treat me that way, you know, I am done with the kingdom of God. Say, Well, if you are going to treat me that way, I am going to operate in the opposite spirit and have Jesus tell my story before the Father on the last day. That is kind of a really neat thing! This is real, though. This is not just a neat story. This is real. I look at this verse and I think, My goodness, this is awesome. 2. Jesus was not telling them how to be born again. He was not saying, If you overcome the temptations related to defiling your garments, then you will be born again. Jesus is not telling these Christians at Sardis, If you overcome, you are going to be born again, and then I am going to mention your name so you have entry into the New Jerusalem. No, they are already born again. They already have an entrance in the New Jerusalem. That is not what He is talking about. He is talking about telling their story, if they overcome. 3. Jesus may tell the story of a believer s love and dedication to God many times throughout eternity. The story of a devoted believer has many episodes. I have said this a couple times, but I like to say it. He may tell the story of your love, of other people s love, your dedication, many, many times, different stories. You have multitudes of episodes in your life, many in the private counsels of your own heart where nobody saw you. Every force of darkness and your human weakness was beckoning you to quit. You said, No, I am going to resist that sin. I am going to resist that rejection. I am going to stand in the difficulty. I am going to obey God. I do not care who affirms me or applauds me. God is who I am living before. Beloved, you have done that many, many, many times. Some of you have been believers twenty, thirty, forty years. You forgot when you did this, twenty, thirty, forty years ago, but every single one of those episodes is in His heart. He says, I am going to tell it. I am not just going to tell it once. He is not just going to make it a private communication. I believe He will tell it socially, in context to people you are connected to. You will be connected like best friends to billions of people the first day you get to heaven. I think He will tell you in a way that it is not just going to bless you when He tells it; it is going to bless the people who love you. Do you know how blessed I feel I mean we are all the same when somebody tells someone I love how amazing they are. I say, Oh, I love this! Tell me again. Whether it is a friend or a family
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 11 member, like one of my sons, somebody tells me, and I say, Tell me the story about how amazing my sons are again. Tell me another story about Allen Hood and how dedicated he is. I love these stories about Allen! Tell me again. It is not just that He is going to tell you just for you. He is going to tell other people because they will find pleasure in hearing about you. The Lord will find pleasure in them finding pleasure. I mean this is a big love kingdom. This is dynamic. I just want to have a lot of material to be told. It is not about big public ministries. Or if you are in the marketplace and your company made 100 million dollars and you gave more to the kingdom than anybody. I mean, there are a few guys who get to do that, a very few. That is not the big story. The big story is you staying steady when you are resisted, when you are ignored, when you are criticized by believers. You just stay steady because your eyes are on Him. You do not like what the believers are saying, because we think about unbelievers [who are not hurting us]. Beloved, your life is deeply connected to believers, and they are weak believers because they are human. People get hurt in the church more than they get hurt outside the church. People say, Man, we do not get hurt so much in the world. The reason is because you care so much about the people in the church. They are weak, and you care so much. The Lord would say, That is the context I am going to use to keep sending your vision upwards towards Me. Do not get locked in to what they say or do, or do not say or do. If it hurts, send your attention upward. I will write it in My book, and I will retell that story. I want to give the Lord more material. Again, that sounds, Ah, that is kind of a neat little thing. No, this is not a neat little thing. This is real. You can take this and you can build your life on this reality. We love retelling stories. 4. After reading a good biography, we tell others about it. We enjoy retelling stories about the heroic and virtuous deeds of others, including our friends and family members. 5. There are stories that I tell over and over throughout the years. Some stories are so moving that one telling is never enough. One reason that Jesus will praise His people is because aspects of their life story move Him deeply. It is why you tell stories about the nobility of others. When we hear somebody s story that moves us, we want others to know it. We do not tell them once. There are stories that are so moving, you cannot just tell it once. There is just no possible way. It has to be told over and over and over because you are moved and you love telling it about somebody. B. Jesus wanted the story about Mary of Bethany to be told over and over as a memorial to her (Mk. 14:3-9). 9 Wherever this gospel is preached what [Mary] has done will be told as a memorial to her. (Mk. 14:9) Going back to Mary of Bethany, the Lord said, I want that story told over and over and over and over. As a matter of fact, wherever the gospel is preached. Where is the gospel going to be preached? Twelve thousand people groups. Everybody will hear about Mary because I want it, because what she did is as a memorial before Me. Twelve thousand people groups, that is how many people groups. There are 200 nations, but there 12,000 distinct people groups in the earth, according to many mission organizations. The gospel will be preached in every one of those nations, those ethnos, those people groups. The story of Mary will be told.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 12 The principle is still true, and it is not limited to Mary and Cornelius and the Old Testament high priest. This is how God thinks and administrates His kingdom. He might say, I thought of this idea of telling the story again and again because I love to tell the story. Well, Lord, we want to tell Your story! The Lord says, I know you will forever. Forever we will be crying, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. It is not just the phrase. We will be telling the story of the Lamb that was slain, not just that phrase. The song means more than that one phrase. We will tell the story of the worthy, slain Lamb, and the slain Lamb will tell the story of the way His people loved Him in their weakness and it moved Him. The Father will rejoice, and the angels will rejoice. When it is all said and done, the devil is a liar. The whole thing is worth it. It is all worth it. It is worth denying ourselves, exerting effort to get up and press in when everything in our being just wants to give in and go the way of the world. It is worth it. You all know that. You would not be here if you did not think it was worth it. That is why you are spending Friday night in a Bible study and a worship service. C. One of most glorious things that can happen to anyone is Jesus declaring their name, or story, before God on the last day (Rev. 3:5), and the most terrible thing is if He denies them on that day. 32 Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father. (Mt. 10:32-33) Jesus said this very point that we are talking about in Revelation 3, and He said it back in Matthew 10. He said it several times, actually, in the gospels. He did not speak it in Revelation, many scholars say, until sixty years later. You know Jesus appeared to John and gave him the book of Revelation when John was like ninety. When Jesus was speaking before His death, John was in his twenties, many people think. So this was a long time before He spoke in Revelation. He said, Whoever confesses Me before men, I will confess him before My Father. Beloved, this is not just Jesus saying, Father, they are saved. No, He is going to tell your story. When you confess Jesus, I do not mean you tell every detail, but you are taking your stand in whatever situation it is, taking a stand. It will mean different things in many different situations. We are confessing that we believe in His leadership, we trust His leadership. That is my confession, I am standing with that Man and His leadership, no matter what it costs me. His confession is, They stood with Me in My leadership, no matter what it cost them. Jesus flips it now in verse 33, the most terrible thing I could imagine. If they deny Me, when they stand before God I will deny them. It does not mean they just stumble. Peter stumbled and denied the Lord. He came back and repented. It does not mean they stumble in a fierce moment. It means stumbling and staying in that mode. I am not making light of a one-time denial. I do not want to make light of that. He is talking of something bigger than a few moments under pressure and it is like, No. You stumble and you say, Wait, wait. No, no, that is not me. Uh-uh, that is not happening again. You set your heart and you say, I am not settling in to that way. The Lord says, verse 33, if you deny Me, when you stand before God I will deny you. I will say, He did not honor My leadership. Though he was an elder in the church, though he was a pastor, though he had a Christian upbringing, he did not honor My leadership. Man, that is terrifying to me!
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 13 It is not about weak people, because we are all weak and because the grace of God is sufficient for that. It is about people who settle into a mode of response that is saying, I am not going for His leadership anymore. I look at that and I think, I cannot think of anything more terrifying than the most glorious, the most generous, the most powerful, most High God, the Man Christ Jesus saying before the Father of glory, No, he did not respond to My leadership. He said no to Me. Well, the culture was all going the other way. A lot of people in the church are moving in the course of the culture in a kind of a sweet hostility that is going to turn into an angry hostility against Jesus and His Word. Beloved, do not buy that foolish, dark rhetoric that seems so intelligent and informed. I am seeing more and more believers jumping into that social narrative and imagining that they are smart and brilliant, when they are deceived and foolish. There is no future in that direction. He is worth it. D. A person s name written in God s books in heaven includes details of their story along with many small deeds that expressed their love for God (Heb. 6:10). God keeps detailed records in His books (Dan. 7:10; cf. Ex. 32:32-33; Ps. 69:28; 87:6; 139:16; 87:6; Isa. 4:3; Dan. 12:1; Mal. 3:16-17; Lk. 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27). 20 but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. (Lk. 10:20) V. WHITE STONE WITH A NEW NAME (REV. 2:17) A. Jesus promised to give a white stone with a new name on it to those who overcome (Rev. 2:17). I understand the white stone to include Jesus expressing His affirmation of His people and more. 14 those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to commit sexual immorality 17 To him who overcomes I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. (Rev. 2:14-17) Here is the main passage about the white stone. We have tied together the white stone again, it is that precious gem, that jewel in the Old Testament with a name engraved on it, but here it is your name engraved on it. It is more than your name engraved on it; it is even new things about you and your walk with God engraved on it. The Lord Himself is the designer and creator of that stone. He gives it to you as a most precious gift. This is much more than the statement of you being forgiven of your sins and your acceptance in the city. He is talking far more than your acceptance in the New Jerusalem and your forgiveness. He is talking about Him making a statement about the way you live. He will confess your new name. It is written on the stone for all to see. It is not just for all to see; the point is that He is unashamed about it, and He is bold about how He is relating to you. It is not about the for all to see; it is about the fact that He is bold about it. That is the part I like. Let s look at the larger context here in Revelation 2. First, He is going to give the temptation that they need to overcome to get the white stone with the engraved name upon it. I think this white stone is so much more glorious than a little white rock that has your initials on it or something. This thing is dynamic. I mean it is commensurate with the glory of the New Jerusalem and the glory of Jesus Himself. He designed it as a statement of how He feels about you and the way you loved Him.
Session 7 Divine Affirmation, Memorials, and Communion with God Page 14 I do not know what this thing, this white stone, is, but it is amazing. That I do know! Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, it has never entered the heart of a man all that God has prepared. It is bigger than what we are thinking. Let s look at the context. Verse 14, He is talking to the church of Thyatira there. He said, Some of you believers hold the doctrine of Balaam. You ask, Who is Balaam? Balaam was a guy who taught the children of Israel to commit immorality. I am just giving a summary. It is an important story, but I do not want to go into it now. He taught the children of Israel to commit immorality. That doctrine was in the church of Thyatira. That doctrine is in the Church right now. There is more heterosexual immorality going on in the church of Jesus in America. There is more homosexual immorality going on in the church of Jesus. It is the doctrine of Balaam. It is the teaching that immorality is okay. It is all over the Church in the West, this doctrine. He said, verse 17, to the one that overcomes it He is not talking about sinless perfection, but that they set their heart against this. They said, I am going to carry my life in this area under God s leadership. I may not always have the victory, but I am never going to settle in and accept defeat as my new way of life. I am not going to. I am going to re-sign up, even if I do it 100 times in a day. I mean, the amount of pornography that is going on in the church and is silently accepted! It is the reason I have so much energy against it. It is so destructive to our spiritual life. We are so disconnected from the Lord in those lifestyles. When I have energy on this, I am fighting for people s greatness. I am fighting for their liberty and their greatness and their peace. They will never find it in those pathways, never. They really need to set their heart and say, Lord, I do not know how this works, but I am going to find out how it works between now and when I am meet You. I am going to find this out. Beloved, if anyone is hungry, they will find a way of freedom from the Word of God in the spirit in the counsel of committed believers. They will find their way forward. They just cannot quit, give up, and give in, not in any of those areas He says, verse 17, If they overcome I will give them the white stone. I will engrave it personally, like for the high priest. I will engrave their name on it. I will engrave their new name that has new dimensions of how they relate to Me. I have a number of paragraphs on that here. I do not want to take time on it now. B. A new name will be given to overcomers that will reflect new dimensions and capacities of their relationship with Jesus and indicate their faithfulness, character, and possibly their new role in the Millennium (Isa. 62:2; 65:15). Names express one s character, status, and role. As parents give their child a name of endearment, so Jesus will give names that reveal how He feels toward His people. Well, I guess I will give a little bit. Overcomers receive a new name that will reflect new dimensions of their relationship with Jesus in the resurrection that are more than just that they are saved by faith. It is in addition to that. Expanded dimensions of their relationship. We do not know the specifics of it. This new name will indicate their faithfulness. It will indicate their character. It will possibly even indicate their new roles, because often, when God gave somebody a new name in the Old Testament or New Testament, it indicated a shift of role and authority, as well as a statement about their character, as well as an affirmation of who they are. There are many thing related in this. Sometimes it is a term of endearment. The Lord is communicating His affection. So a new name has all of these possibilities. In the Bible, Jesus does not give us the one, two, three on this. He implies, as it were, Just search the Scriptures out. You will put it together if you stay with it long enough.