Mike Bickle emphasizes the concept of divine affirmation, explaining that eternal rewards are God's way of expressing His appreciation for how we love Him. He reassures that these rewards are not about status but about the depth of our relationship with Jesus, who honors our heartfelt intentions and struggles. Bickle highlights the importance of memorials in our faith, illustrating how acts of devotion, like those of Mary of Bethany and Cornelius, are eternally remembered by God. He encourages believers to remain steadfast in their love for God, assuring them that their efforts will be recognized and celebrated in the age to come.

Tonight we're looking at session 7. We're looking at divine affirmations. The way that the Lord... This is the most precious, to me, of all. It's the way the Lord is going to communicate to His people that He's going to express how He feels about the way that we loved Him. Now, review. There's about 7 or 8 points I cover in the review, but this is the one I can't 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 go, I'm not really interested in eternal rewards. No, this is Jesus, the most generous, kind man. Very wealthy. He says, I can afford it. I want to show you how you moved me by the way you loved me on the earth. And our love is so weak, but His rewards are so generous because His evaluation is so generous. And then the verse in 1 Corinthians 2, we've looked at, I think, every week in the review. Paul says, it's not even entered the mind of a man the level of the glory that God has prepared. So it's not just when you think about the New Jerusalem, it's more than you can imagine. The eternal rewards, they're far beyond what we would casually think when we read these kind of simple little phrases of Jesus. Jesus spoke more about eternal rewards than anybody else. He gave these little phrases. And He's saying, now come, search out the Scripture. Those phrases are big ideas. They're vast. They're more glorious than you could imagine. Paragraph B, again, just repeating, because it's an idea that's new to many people, that every person will have a different measure of the glory of God and a different experience in their relationship with the Lord in the age to come. Yes, we're all equally and freely in the family. We're all in the city as a free gift. But our relationship and what we do and our spiritual capacities will all be different, just like they are now. They'll be different, but they're based on how we responded to the Lord in this age. Look at Romans 2, 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4. Paul says, the time is coming, and he relates it to the coming of the Lord, the second coming, verse 5. When the Lord, when He does return at the second coming, it says He's going to both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. Now when we think of Jesus at the second coming, that we stand before Him, and He reveals the hidden things of the heart, the things that nobody else sees, and the counsels, the deep thoughts and intentions of our heart, our first thought is, oh no! Paul says, no, no, you're reading it wrong. At that time, each person's praise will come from God. And the idea of praise isn't worship, it's affirmation. The Lord's going to praise, He's 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 don't mean just the what it would look like, but the intention to go all the way to be wholehearted. And yet, we find ourselves coming up short of the thing that we set our heart to do. But the Lord's saying through Paul, but God is going to honor those deep counsels of your heart. He's going to see them. These are not just kind of passing thoughts, you know, spiritual sentiment, you know, for a few weeks, you thought about going hard for God, and then you thought, no, I don't really want to. When he talks about the counsels of the heart, he means the deep resolve. You've set your heart in this, though you struggled, but the Lord says, I see the movement of your heart. And 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. I mean, just the doctrine, the theological point of God praising people, that's like, you know, kind of gives you a spiritual whiplash. God praising, no, God, no. And again, it means he affirms. But Paul says it again in Romans chapter 2. He's talking about the Jew who is one inwardly, whose praise doesn't come from men, but his praise comes from God. Again, it's the idea of affirmation. Well, this wasn't something that only Paul and Jesus emphasized. Peter did as well. Paragraph B. 1 Peter 1. Peter says the genuineness of your faith. Faith in this context means your responsiveness to God. The genuineness of your responsiveness to God. It's more precious than gold. It's more valuable than gaining money. Gaining money could be really helpful. This is not a put down on money, but what Peter's saying, there's something actually far more valuable than money. It's laying a hold of the grace of God to have a responsive heart. He means genuine faith. To have a heart responding. He says you're going to find out that when the money's gone, and it will be, the day we die, we don't bring any of it with us, but that genuine faith, that responsiveness to God is going to result in praise in the age to come. It's that same word that we're uncomfortable with. God praising his people, affirming, but it's, Peter adds other words as well. He says, and it's going to result in honor. I mean imagine the greatest one. Jesus, I mean the indescribably great one wants to honor you. He wants the glory of God released in you. He doesn't lose anything when he puts honor on you. That's how great he is. That's 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. And now we all know the verse in Isaiah 44 where God will not share his praise with another, or his glory with another. And he's talking about that status of being the infinitely supreme one. He won't share the status of his supremacy, no. But that's not what this is talking about. The infinitely great one who's filled with honor wants to honor his people. And again for our love which is so weak, but it moves him. I mean this is so moving to me that he cares this much about the way we respond to him. Paragraph C. I mean Jesus continues. I mean this is almost hard to say, but in John 12 verse 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. I'm like, oh Lord. I don't know if I can take it. And the Lord says, no it will be right and it will be good. It won't diminish any of the honor of God when God expresses how deeply he feels about the way that we've loved him. I love the word anyone. You can be the most ungifted, uneducated, no impact on anybody. Well I mean there's no such person, but lack every opportunity that 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 verse 26. To bring to mind and to say back to God. Say it with your mouth when you're being tempted to quit. Quitting your pursuit of obedience. There's that area. I can't quite get sustained obedience in that area. I'm just going to quit. You read John 12 verse 26. He says, If anybody, if you'll keep, serve me in that area. Or maybe it's not an area in your character. Maybe it's service, but nobody is appreciating you. And it doesn't seem like it's doing any good anyway. But it is what the Lord stirred your heart up to do. But you're a little discouraged because you were thinking it would have more power and more people would appreciate it, but doesn't seem to have either. But beloved you're still serving Him. And when you're tempted to quit in your struggle against sin, in that area, or to quit because the labor seems too small and too unappreciated, speak out loud to the Lord. John 12 verse 26. Lord it is written, 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, the Father will honor him. I mean, I just don't know what to do with this verse besides just smile, cry, and keep confessing it. This is fantastic. I don't really do this much, but turn to the neighbor next to you and say, this is really a good one. I mean, this is that good. Okay. I'm not one of those preachers that tell people what to do to the guy next to them, but I like those guys, but that's not typically how I do it. Okay. Now, paragraph D. We know this verse well. Matthew 25, 21. Well done, good faithful servants, because we hear it all the time at funerals. Like I tell people, don't get your theology from funerals. All those guys aren't going to hear well done, and they're not going to receive their crown. That's for people that were consistently faithful to the Lord. I mean, they 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, not, I don't think it's so common that it's like just everyone assumes they're 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 neighbors this is another good verse. No, I'm kidding. Top of page two. So we've been looking for a moment there on affirmation. There's a few other verses where God delights 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 in an individual way and however it happens, where He tells you, well done. I don't think He says well done once, and then a million years from now He says, well, I told you. I haven't 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 don't think it's a one-time statement where He stamps our passport and we get into heaven. I mean, 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 what the grace of God really means is live for yourself and live in carnality and be comfortable with compromise and just coast and don't even concern yourself. No, in the grace of God it empowers us to be wholehearted and when we fail it gives us confidence to start over again tomorrow. That's what grace is about. Well, I think the Lord will communicate His affirmation individually by the Spirit or, you know, in person in ways that are moving, that will move us beyond measure. I think that 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's a ceremonial dimension of God honoring His people. Because there's so many, there's a number of these things in the Bible that God initiated. These kind of ceremonies. And so they're His idea. He came up with them. And so I think that these statements will be given in different terms many times over many years, individually, socially, and even publicly in ceremonial, you know, ways that have, you know, like a, there's 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, and the most powerful, and the most creative, one that ever walked the earth, he can do it far better than everybody else can. And again, there's precedent for all of these things in the Scripture. Well, Roman numeral three, top of page two, we're going to look at the, an overview, just a snapshot, but I want to stir you up to this idea of a memorial. And you'll see at the end of paragraph B, there's quite a few verses in the Scripture on this idea of a memorial. And the reason I want you to grasp it, because eternal rewards, a number of them, 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, as a memorial, that it will be remembered forever. And it will be recalled over and over and over again. This is His genius. It's 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. Now, paragraph A, the reward I'm going to emphasize the most in this session, and it has a number of different implications, so I'm going to get to it in a few minutes, but I just want it in your mind. It's Revelation chapter 2, verse 17, where Jesus is speaking, talking to the overcomer. It says, I'll give him a white stone. And on the stone, he'll have a new name. And He goes on to say, no one knows that name. It's something that I alone know, and I will speak it to them. There's many implications to this. And so what happens, and this is a, I believe at the core of it, it's about affirmation and honor. It's the verses we looked at where the Lord says, I'm going to praise and honor, and I'm going to release my glory in my people. But you're going to notice in paragraph B in the next few verses, which I'll be brief on and just leave it to you to study. I want you to identify, I mean, I want you to note how often the Scripture identifies there's a precious stone, a gem, a jewel, and there's the name of a person engraved on that precious stone, and it's in context to a memorial. It's something that's to draw attention and to give honor and to give remembrance to what God did or what people did. So it's 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. Because a number of the eternal rewards that Jesus talked about in Revelation 2 and 3, because He spoke of 18 different ones, a number of them are based on this principle, but when you see the precedent in the Bible of this principle, you go, this is really something I can count on. This is something God has thought through and is very intentional about us understanding. He's very intentional. That's why it's all through a number of places in the Old Testament because God's saying, I want you to know I've been thinking about this long before you were even born, long before Jesus ever came. I had this in the plan. And these find their fulfillment in the age to come. Paragraph B, 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 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, a ritual, which serves a remembrance or a reminder of a purpose, or a person, or an event. Now look at paragraph B, how many mentions of the Scripture of this idea. Again, it signifies its importance. Now one of the great examples of a memorial is one of our favorites that we talk about here at IHOP all the time. Paragraph C, Mary of Bethany. Mark 14, she pours out the fragrant oil, which was very costly for her to do it. She's a young single woman. And it's like, I'm assuming this costly oil was her life inheritance. They said it was like a year's wages. You know, just say $50,000 worth of perfume poured out at one moment. That's remarkable. Because she was maybe the only one besides Jesus' mother who believed Jesus when he said, I'm going to die. I mean, the guys kept saying, well, what do you mean? And Jesus said, wherever, verse 9, wherever, forever, this act will be told as a memorial. 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 wasn't like she's a preacher or had a big public ministry. She just had a big heart. And Jesus said, I want you to, I see in this verse, his delight in having the story told over and over and over again. That's what he's like. Then the other really favorite one is Cornelius. Paragraph D, Acts 10. Cornelius is a Roman soldier. He's a Gentile. The angel appears. He goes, your prayers and your giving to the poor, they're remembered before God. They're a memorial. The story will be told, Cornelius, forever. I mean, I can't imagine the shock of Cornelius when that angel came. I can imagine the angel saying, Cornelius, your giving to the poor is really, God remembers. He goes, yeah. That sounds right. But, my prayer meetings? Are you kidding? Here's this crusty old Roman soldier. I don't even know what I mean by that, but just picture it. No Holy Spirit. He's not bored again. No Bible. No worship music. Sitting next to three or four other crusty old Roman soldiers. No Holy Spirit. No Bible. No worship. God of Israel, do something. They don't even have a Bible. Hits the guy. You pray next. God help. Hey, it's your turn. I mean, these were not good prayer meetings, I bet. I don't think I would have wanted to go to his prayer meeting. No Bible. No Holy Spirit. No prophetic worship. None of that. I wouldn't have wanted to go to his prayer meetings, but God showed up. Said, Cornelius, forever I will tell the story of your prayer ministry, your prayer life. Like, again, he doesn't ever, he doesn't 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's a memorial. Paragraph E, you're going to notice this. I'm going to leave you on your own to read this, but it connects these ideas. This is God speaking to Moses. He says, here's 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, but I want you to engrave the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, those 12 sons of Jacob. Write their name in the stone and it is a memorial. So it connects three ideas. The jewel, the precious stone, the engraved name, the fact it's a memorial, it's meant to be recalled generation after generation after generation, and it's connected to the presence of God. It was so that when the high priest brought it into the holy place, it would be brought before God in remembrance to God. So Jesus now, he's the high priest, and he says, I'm going to write your name on those stones with my own hand, and I'm going to see to it that what you have done is remembered forever, and I'm going to bring it in the holy place. I'm going to say it to God with my own mouth. And remember, when you read these verses, these verses were, the idea was God's. It was not Moses' idea. Moses went, jewels. Where are we going to get jewels? Where are we going to get engraving instruments? Put it on the high priest. We don't have a high priest. Yeah, your brother is the high priest. Okay, what? I mean, it was all brand new ideas to Moses. The point is, they were God's ideas. The point is, this is how he thinks, and he set this in motion. Moses was 1,500 years before Jesus came and died and rose from the dead. 1,500 years, he was setting the stage that we would get at God's sake. This is what I'm about right here. I'm the high priest that will write your name on precious stones that I will give you, and I will declare it before the Father with my own mouth. We'll get there in a few minutes. Look at your neighbor and say, this is another good verse. No. Okay, we're done with that one. Paragraph F. It's not just deeds. It's words. We've looked at this verse several times, Malachi 3, that those who feared the Lord, they spoke one to another, and the Lord listened. And the Lord says, I so appreciate that conversation, not because it was so insightful. I don't 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 and encouraging, building up each other. I mean, you don't impress God with insight. He's moved because they decided to speak words of love. Beloved, we have so many reasons to criticize everyone around us at various times. I mean, whether it's the guy over you, under you, the guy that works with you, the person that lives with you, the person that used to live with you. There are so many reasons, given time, to criticize and to look and say, bah humbug. But the Lord says, the people that fear the Lord, they speak differently. They speak with a different spirit. They have the same human tendency, but they resist it. That's the fear of the Lord part. They go, no, I'm not going that direction. And the Lord says, I'm listening, but not just listening. I'm writing it in my book, and it's the book because this conversation will be brought up again, and I'm going to boast about it when I'm with you face to face in the resurrection. I'm going to tell you about what you said and how it moved me. He says, not only just those that spoke to one another, but those that meditated on God's name. He puts two things in this promise. Those that spoke, encouraging words to each other, to encourage people to move on in God and not to give up and spoke God's promises over each other, but the people who meditate on God's name. Beloved, you don't waste time when you're at home or in our ministry context here, in a prayer room with your Bible open, reading it. You may not feel anything, but you're meditating on it. He didn't say to those that feel power when they read the Bible. He says, no, those that are exerting their mind, they're engaging their mind in the Word of God, thinking on God. Sometimes you feel power, sometimes you feel nothing, but you just stay with it. And the Lord says, I see that. Wow, that's good. And there's a number of other types of memorials there you can read on your own. I just want you to see how big of a principle this is, how big this is in God's heart. Top of page three. Oh, this is again so beautiful. Now, again, Jesus gave 18 promises in Revelation chapter 2 and 3. There's 18 eternal rewards that are distinct. I mean, there's no other two chapters in the Bible that has this kind of intense amount of information. But again, the problem, or the challenge, not the problem, Jesus only gives a phrase. Then he says, now go search the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit. Just look at human tendency and culture and see where there's any of the handiwork or the thumbprint of God in the culture that you can gain insight into what I mean by this simple little reward. And some folks, they just read the rewards and just wonder, you know, I'll give you a white stone and put your name on it. And they say, okay. They got this idea. They got like a little rock about the size of a baseball and they got their name on it. You know, Mike. Thanks, Lord. Appreciate that. He goes, no, no, no. No, I created the new Jerusalem. I'm more spectacular. Not a little white rock with your name on it. Trust me, there's a whole lot more to it than you're imagining. Well, let's look at Revelation chapter 3 again because remember, it's Revelation 2 and 3 is where these promises, so many of them are. And they're not only there. Jesus spoke about eternal rewards more than anybody. I mean, anybody outside of Revelation 2 and 3 just in the Gospels, just 50 different references to eternal rewards by the looks of Jesus. And I have that on the first handout in session one. 50, over 50 references. That's remarkable. But notice this. Where we're going is to verse 5. But I want you to pay attention because in verse 5, let's go to the end and then start at the beginning. 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? Because as you'll see, I got a bit on this that we're not going to spend time on. When God, when Jesus confesses your name, He doesn't just say, you know, 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 isn't just a one momentary blurt. I believe in Jesus. I did it. No, it's 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's how we confess Him. It's much more than just uttering a phrase, although uttering a phrase is good too, but it's a much bigger idea than that. So look at verse 1. I want you to connect. I want you to notice the connection. Jesus is talking here in Revelation 3 verse 1. He's going to link their name with their reputation. In verse 1, then He's going to link their name with their deeds in verse 2. Then in verse 5, He's going to say, I'm going to tell your name, meaning I'm going to tell your story, your reputation. I'm going to talk about your deeds. So first in verse 1, He's going to connect a person's name to their reputation. This is Jesus talking. He goes, then He's saying something negative, but I want you to see the connection, how He connects a name to a person's profile, their story, their reputation. He goes, I know your works. You have a name, your life, but actually, spiritually, you're really hurting. You're dead. You've got a reputation. You've got a story going all around Asia, how on fire you are. The story or your name is that you're alive. He goes, it's not true, but I'm going to help you. But I want you to understand He's connecting. He's saying that when the name is told, the story of that church or those people are being told. So it's not just the Lord uttering your name in one phrase and then moving on to the next point. He goes, verse 4, you have a few names who have not defiled their garments. So now He's tying their name to their activity. Here in verse 4. He says, you have a few names. A moment ago I said it's verse 2, but it's verse 4. You have a few names. They haven't defiled their garments. Now, defiled their garments means they've stumbled in compromise and they've settled into compromise. A defiled garment doesn't mean they've tripped one day. It means they've settled into it. But the point I'm wanting to make in verse 4 is that Jesus, now when He speaks in their name, He's talking not of just their story or reputation. He's talking about their deeds. He ties that to their name. Now He says in verse 5, but if you overcome, you'll be clothed in white garments. We looked at that a couple sessions ago. But if you overcome, you resist this defiling lifestyle that others in your midst are yielding to, other believers are. You resist it. You overcome this. I'm going to tell your name. I'm 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're not talking about a casual conversation with two guys on the street. We're talking about the Son of Man saying your name to the Father and telling your story to the Father. And the angels, and there's a multitude of angels, and Jesus is saying, Father, and when she was 12 years old, and when she was 23, then when she was 29, and she had this crisis, and she wouldn't give up, and then she stumbled, but she came back. She refused to give in to shame or despair, and she stayed steady with me. Father, this is what she did. And the angels are going, yeah, it's just, I can't imagine what the implications of this is, how valuable, how glorious, because I feel certain He's going to highlight the setbacks. When things didn't work, and we were disappointed, and we were mistreated, but we stayed steady in walking in the Spirit, and didn't say, well, if you're going to treat me that way, you know, I'm done with the kingdom of God. Say, well, if you're going to treat me that way, I'm going to operate in the opposite spirit, and have Jesus tell my story before the Father on the last day. That's kind of a really neat thing. This is real, though. This isn't just a neat story. This is real. I look at this verse, and I go, my goodness, this is awesome! Paragraph two, Jesus is not telling these Christians at Sardis, He's not saying, if you overcome, you're going to be born again, and then I'm going to mention your name so you have entry into the New Jerusalem. No, they're already born again. They already have an interest in the New Jerusalem. That's not what He's talking about. He's talking about telling their story if they overcome. Paragraph three. I've 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 councils of your own heart where nobody saw you, and every force of darkness and your human weakness was beckoning you to quit, and you said, no! I'm going to resist that sin. I'm going to resist that rejection. I'm going to stand in the difficulty. I'm going to obey God, and I don't care who affirms me or applauds me. God is who I'm living before. Beloved, you've done that many, many, many times. Some of you have been believers 20, 30, 40 years. You forgot when you did it 20, 30, 40 years ago, but every single one of those episodes is in His heart. He goes, I'm going to tell it. And I'm not going to just tell it once. And He's not just going to make a private communication. I believe He'll tell it socially in context of people you're connected to. You won't be connected like best friends to billions of people the first day you get to heaven. But I think He'll tell you in a way that it's not just going to bless you when He tells it. It's going to bless the people who love you. Do you know how blessed I feel? I mean, we're all the same. When somebody tells someone I love how amazing they are, I go, oh, I love this. Tell me again. Tell me about whether it's a friend or a family member. You know, one of my sons, somebody tells me, tell me the story about how amazing my sons are again. Tell me another story about Alan Hood and how dedicated. I love these stories about Alan. Tell me again. It's not just that He's going to tell you just for you. He's going to tell other people because they will find pleasure in hearing about you. And 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. And a lot of material to be told. It isn't about big public ministries or you're in the marketplace and your company made $100 million and you gave more to the kingdom than anybody. I mean, there's a few guys that get to do that. A very few. That's not the big story. The big story is just staying steady when you're resisted, when you're ignored, when you're criticized by believers. You just stay steady because your eyes are on Him. You don't like what the believers are saying because we think about unbelievers. But beloved, your life is deeply connected to believers. And it's weak believers because they're human. And the people get hurt in the church more than they get hurt outside the church. People say, man, we don't get hurt because you care so much about the people in the church. And they're weak. But you care so much. And the Lord says, that's the context I'm going to use to keep sending your vision upwards towards me. Don't get locked in to what they say or do or don't say and do. If it hurts, send your attention upward. I'll write it in my book and I'll retell that story. I want to give the Lord more material. Again, that's kind of a neat little... No, this is not a neat little thing. This is real. You can take this and you can build your life on this reality. Paragraph four, kind of saying the same thing. We love retelling stories. We don't tell them once. There are stories, number five, that are so moving, you can't just tell it once. There's just no possible way. It has to be told over and over and over because you're moved and you love telling it about somebody. Going back to paragraph B, the Mary of Bethany. The Lord says, I want that story told over and over and over and over. Matter of fact, wherever the gospel is preached. Where is the gospel going to be preached? 12,000 people groups. Everybody will hear about Mary because I want it because that's what she did just as a memorial before me. 12,000 people groups. That's how many people groups. There's 200 nations but there's 12,000 distinct people groups in the earth according to many mission organizations and the gospel will be preached in every one of those nations, those ethnos, those people groups and the story of Mary will be told. But if the principle is still true because it's not limited to Mary and Cornelius and the Old Testament high priest, this is how God thinks and administrates his kingdom. He says, 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's not just the phrase. We'll 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 and the father will rejoice and the angels will rejoice and when it's all said and done, the devil's a liar. The whole thing is worth it. It's all worth it. It's worth it. Denying ourself, exerting effort, I mean to get up and press in when everything in our being just wants to give in and go the way of the world. It's worth it. You all know that. You wouldn't be here if you didn't think it was worth it. That's why you're spending Friday night in a Bible study and a worship service. Paragraph C. Jesus said this very point we're talking about from Revelation 3. He said it back in Matthew 10. He said it several times actually in the Gospels because he didn't speak it in Revelation until many scholars say 60 years later. You know, Jesus appeared to John and gave him the book of Revelation when John was like 90. When Jesus was speaking it before his death, you know, John was in his 20s many people think. So this is a long time before he spoke in Revelation. He goes, whoever confesses me before men, I'll confess him before my father. Beloved, this is not just again saying, Jesus saying, Father, they're saved. No, he's going to tell your story. When you confess Jesus, I don't mean you're telling every detail, but you're taking your stand in whatever situation that taking a stand, because it will mean different in many different situations. We're confessing. We believe in his leadership. We trust his leadership. That is my confession. I'm standing with that man and his leadership no matter what it costs me. And his confession is, they stood with me in my leadership no matter what it cost them. But Jesus flips it now, verse 33, the most terrible thing I could imagine. But if they deny me, it doesn't mean they stumble. Peter stumbled, denied the Lord. He came back and repented. It doesn't mean they stumble in a fierce moment. It means stumbling and staying in that mode. I'm not making light of a one time denial. I don't want to make light of that. But he's talking of something bigger than, you know, a few moments under pressure. It's like, no. You stumble. You go, wait, wait, no. That's not me. Uh-uh. That's not happening again. And you set your heart and you go, I am not settling in to that way. The Lord says, verse 33, if you do, you stand before God, I will deny you. I will say, he did not honor my leadership. Though he was an elder of the church, though he was a pastor, though he had a Christian upbringing, he did not honor my leadership. Man, I mean, that is terrifying to me. And it's not about weak people. It's about people, because we're all weak. The grace of God is sufficient for that. It's about people who settle into a mode of response that is saying, I'm not going for his leadership anymore. I look at that, I go, that is, I can't 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, and a lot of people in the church are moving in the course of the culture in a kind of a sweet hostility that's going to turn into an angry hostility against Jesus and his word. Beloved, don't buy that foolish, dark rhetoric that seems so intelligent and informed. I'm seeing more and more believers jumping into that social narrative and imagining that they're smart and brilliant and they're deceived and foolish. There's no future in that direction. He's worth it. Top of page four. The white stone. Here's the main passage. Because now we've tied together the white stone. Again, it's that precious gem, that jewel of the Old Testament. The name is engraved on it, but it's your name engraved on it. But it's more than your name engraved on it. It's even new things about you and your walk with God engraved on it. And that stone, the Lord himself is the designer and creator of it. He gives it to you as a most precious gift. And this is much more than acceptance of this statement, if you've been forgiven of your sins, you're accepted in the city. He's talking far more than your acceptance in the New Jerusalem and your forgiveness. He's talking about him making a statement about the way you live. Him confessing your new name. And it's written on the stone for all to see. And it's not just for all to see. The point is, he's unashamed about it. He's bold about how he's relating to you. It's not about all to see. It's about the fact that he's bold about it. That's the part I like. But let's look at the larger context here in Revelation chapter 2. He's gonna give the temptation first that they need to overcome to get the white stone with the engraved name upon it. And I think this white stone is so much more glorious than a little white rock that has your initials on it. This thing is dynamic. I mean, it's 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 love him. I mean, I don't know what this white stone is, but it's amazing. That I do know. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, it's never entered the heart of a mind all that God has prepared. It's bigger than what we're thinking. But let's look at the context. Verse 14. He's talking to the church. Thyatira there. He says, Well, some of you believers, he's talking, you hold the doctrine of Balaam. He said, who's Balaam? Balaam was a guy who taught the children of Israel to commit immorality. I'm just saying a real summary. It's an important story, but I don't want to go into it now. He taught the children of Israel to commit immorality. And that doctrine was in the church of Thyatira. That doctrine is in the church right now. There's more heterosexual immorality going on in the church of Jesus in America, and there's more homosexual immorality going on in the church of Jesus. It's the doctrine of Balaam. It's that immorality is okay. It is all over the church in the West, this doctrine. And he says, verse 17, to the one that overcomes it. He's not talking about sinless perfection. They set their heart against this, and they said, I'm going to do, I'm going to carry my life in this area under God's leadership, and I may not always have the victory, but I'm never going to settle in and accept defeat as my new way of life. I'm not going to. I'm going to re-sign up if I do it 100 times in a day. I mean, the amount of pornography that is going on in the church that is going is silently accepted. The reason I have so much energy against it, it's so destructive to our spiritual life, and we're so disconnected from the Lord in those lifestyles, and I'm jealous. Like, when I have energy on this, I'm fighting for people's greatness. I'm fighting for their liberty and their greatness and their peace, and they'll never find it in those pathways. Never. They really need to set their heart and say, Lord, I don't know how this works, but I'm going to find out how it works between now and when I meet you. I'm going to find this out. Beloved, if anyone that's hungry, they will find a way of freedom from the Word of God and the Spirit and the counsel of committed believers, they'll find their way forward. Just they can't quit and give up and give in in any of those areas. He says, if they, verse 17, overcome all, give them the white stone. And I will engrave, I will personally, like the high priest, I will engrave their name on it, but I'll engrave their name that has new dimensions of how they relate to me. And I've got a number of paragraphs on that in there. I don't want to take time on it now. Well, paragraph B, I guess I'll give a little bit. A new name that will reflect new dimensions of their relationship with Jesus in the resurrection that are more than just they're saved by faith. It's in addition to that. The dimensions of their relationship, we don't know the specifics of it. It will indicate their faithfulness, this new name. 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 their roles and authority as well as a statement about their character as well as an affirmation of who they are. There's many things related to this and sometimes it's a term of endearment. The Lord is communicating His affection. So a new name has all of these possibilities. We don't, the Bible, Jesus doesn't give us the one, two, three on this, but He goes, just search the scriptures out. You'll put it together if you stay with it long enough. Paragraph C, we got Simon and Abraham and Jacob and then you could add Gideon in Judges 6. You know, Gideon, he's shaking like a leaf, hiding. The angel appears, mighty man of valor. You know, Gideon goes, who, me? No, no, I'm scared to death. He goes, no, yeah, you are, but we know where you're going. You're a mighty man. That's your calling. Like, really? I don't feel mighty right now. Well, God names His people and actually brings them into their destiny. Paragraph D, this new name, it's like a name engraved upon a plaque or an award or a championship ring or something like that. It indicates their achievement, their role in the government, their new relationship with the Lord. Because the paragraph one in the ancient world, these stones, and that's what Jesus is comparing it to because they understood it, although His stone is far beyond anything they could imagine, they were given as awards to honor those that did valiant service in a community or they were valiant in battle or athletic accomplishments or many, many different things. And paragraph two, those that receive these stones, they were granted a number of privileges by being the bearer of that stone. It was like the admission ticket to many prestigious events. So that's how they would have understood the stone back then. So I believe there's elements of that when He gives this stone. And everybody doesn't get one of these stones. Those that overcome. Those that look at, the context is immorality and idolatry. I just didn't put it all in it, but you read Revelation 2, because you overcome those two tensions in the culture because idolatry is a big issue too, but that's not, I don't want to focus on that right now. Paragraph E, I show you why I think this stone that He gives us is a precious stone, because the stones He gave in the past, paragraph E, and the stones in the New Jerusalem are all precious stones. They're gems. There's many different types of them. Many different colors and textures and looks and feels. I think everybody that receives one of these, I'm just guessing, I'm just conjecturing, I don't think one of them will be the same. But one thing I'm sure of, it's not some little white rock with your initials on it. It's glorious. I think it's more glorious than you can imagine. No one knows how spectacular it is. Now, here's how I imagine it. Okay, now this, I'm going to say it wrong, okay, so don't, I'm telling you that I'm saying it wrong. So, you're not going to find this in the Bible, but here's the kind of thought I'm imagining, because I know these gifts are far beyond our imagination. So I said, Lord, what if? He didn't give me an answer. I'm imagining, imagine there was a stone that had just, like a stone that was crystal, like a diamond, a big one. It had had a illuminating light. It was like a crystal sphere orb all around it. I don't even know exactly what I'm thinking of, but something. And then in this stone, using human possibility, I mean human terms, it has like video capacities. And you look in that stone, because humans do that, I mean God do way more human, and all the stories and the episodes of your life can be retold. And there's all the insights that God had. Plus more, plus more, plus more. And the story behind your name is in that connected to the stone. You know how a person gets a cell phone, and they got connection to so much information. You know, what if? He says, I'm giving you a stone, I'm going to let you have an access to the story of your life that I saw that you don't even grasp. I mean, I don't even know if that's true, but I know that the stone is going to be far greater than that, and it's going to tell our story somehow. And I tell you, Jesus is way smarter than Steve Jobs. And He's way more powerful. So whatever that stone is, it's going to be amazing. Whatever that is, when I stand before the Lord, the Lord will say, you know what, I love that you were pressing it, but now you missed it. It's way beyond that. Beloved, your story has thousands of episodes. What if you could, you had an ability for your story that you could share it with others, again, for their enjoyment, not for your exaltation, because I love the story of virtue of the people I love. I love it. Tell me again what you did and why you did it. Top of page five. Well, we're out of time. So God, communion with Jesus, He writes His name on us. When He says writes His name, I have it broken down a little bit, but look at paragraph D. No, look at C. The precedent is that God, by His finger, wrote with His own finger. He wrote the Ten Commandments on a stone. And the idea is it's the very finger of God that writes His word upon the stone of our heart. That's the imagery. I mean, it's meant to be understood that way. And Jesus said, it's My finger writing on you. And when God writes His name on us, it's not, again, just a tattoo. It's an anointing to perceive the knowledge of God. It's an enlarged capacity. It involves these things, and I'm sure many more. I'm sure I'm at the beginning of the beginning of understanding. Look at this in paragraph D. Here's the new covenant. And the new covenant lasts forever and forever. It doesn't end at the resurrection. The new covenant really gets into fullness in the resurrection. He goes, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take My finger and write it on your heart. I'm going to transform your emotions. And I'm going to write it on your mind. I'm going to transform your understanding. And some of you, just like today, you all have a different capacity. Some of you understand a lot more than the other guy, and some of you respond a lot more than the other guy or gal. And in the resurrection, some of you will have a far greater capacity. And the Lord says, I'm writing to those that overcome. I'm going to, you know, the only word I could think of is I'm going to accelerate. I don't really know. Again, a bit of this is conjecture. But I'm using the Scripture. When God writes His name on a mind, it means you understand the Word that He's writing on you. If He writes it on your heart, it means your desires are renewed with holy desires. Top of page 6. He says, I'll give you the morning star. And it's the same thing. The morning star, by the way, is Jesus. He says in Revelation 2, I will give you the morning star. Then in Revelation 22, He goes, Oh, just so you know, I am the morning star. I'm going to give you more of me. I'm going to enlarge your capacity. Now, He's talking about in the age to come. He's not only meaning, I mean, that principle is true in this age, but He's talking about writing His name on us and giving us the morning star after we overcome. And again, there's an application in this age. We certainly grow more in the Lord than that. But look at it. Revelation 22. I mean, Revelation 2. Again, the issue is immorality. He says, verse 20, I have this against you. You allow the teaching of this woman Jezebel to seduce you. She's seducing her logic. The way she's using the Bible is making people comfortable with immorality. Verse 26, the one that overcomes that, the one that says, no, that's a lie. I'm going to give the morning star to. And later, He says, I'm the morning star. He's talking about communion with Him. He's talking about in law, at least it includes in large capacity to interact with Him. And then lastly, Roman numeral 8. I really love them. I love them all. He says, if anybody, Revelation 3, I mean, Roman numeral 8, Revelation 3, He goes, if anybody hears my voice, if anybody responds to my leadership, when He says, open the door, He means response to my leadership, I'll dine with him. Like, what? This is the most intriguing thing. I've thought on this a lot. I'll dine with this? Okay, now, Lord, I've done the math. There are going to be several billion of us. Like, when I'm eating with you, will I like, hi? I mean, will we really like, I mean, will we really see each other? I mean, that's a big table. A couple billion people, that's a big table. Well, He means things. I don't fully understand, but there's something here. I mean, I believe that in the, with His physical resurrected body, He ate with the twelve after the resurrection. You know, Luke 24, He went back, and He ate with them. And He says, hey, and I'm going to eat with you in the age to come. We're going to be eating at a table. And I believe there will be settings where people are really, just like, you know, honored guests at state banquets with the head of state. You know, the table setting, the order, the protocols are all in place. I have no doubt there will be dimensions of that. And it will be based on people, how they responded to the Lord in this age. It really matters. I mean, we will all eat with Him. Again, a couple billion, big table spread. I'll buy. Hey, I'll take it. But I think there's more to it than that. There's precedent for the smaller gatherings. Again, but Jesus has a physical resurrected body. But He's omnipresent as God by the Holy Spirit. But He's only one place and at one time in His physical human resurrected body. Well, amen. I don't know where that's going, but I want to open the door. He says, if you open the door, we'll have dinner. I go, I'm going to open the door. I'll take my chances. I don't know where it's going, but I'm not going to be passive about your leadership in my life. I don't care if people respond to it, they criticize it, they like it, they don't like it. I've only got a small amount of time on the earth. You've got one minute on the earth. It's called 70 years, 80 years of strength. Beloved, it's the time to respond to Him and open that door. It's the time, right? You'll be gone in a minute. If you're 20, you'll be 80 in a minute. I mean, you'll be there in a minute. King David said, our life is like a vapor. You're there in a minute. It's worth it. Amen and amen. Let's stand. Father, here we are before You. We love Your leadership. We love the way You think, Lord. We love who You are. Lord, there's so much of this I don't know, these little phrases. Lord, show me more of the Word. Show me more of Your thumbprint, Your handiwork and culture. What part of it is expressing You that I can learn from? Lord, we want to learn. We want to be anchored in more understanding that's real. Father, anchor our heart in this. Now again, I want to invite people to come forward that are saying in your heart, I just need to really set my heart in a new way tonight I'd like to go wholeheartedly not worry about who treated me bad in the church. It's going to happen your whole life. Just forget who treated you bad. Don't give up on Jesus and His kingdom because there's some weak people around you. Say, no, Lord, I'm all the way. I'll go serve Him. I'll go give Him money. I'm just going to make my story better for the age to come. Anyway, it's time to set your heart in a new way tonight. And you would like prayer. I want you to come up, if you would like prayer. Just come stand on this front row. And then again, we prayed for the sick a little bit, but I just love to always pray for the sick. If your body's sick, come stand on the front row first so the folks behind you can have space. Yeah, just come stand right here on that front row. There you go. I invite the ministry team to come up. And anybody in leadership at our missions base or our local church, I want you to come and help us if you can. If you're in the room, in any place in our ministry here, Holy Spirit, we say yes to you. Some of you, the Lord is saying, shut the door to immorality. Don't buy the lie on the YouTube preacher that tells you that it's okay. It's not okay. It will steal your life. It will steal your life. There's freedom. Lord, we say yes. If you're involved in immorality in any way, you want to get out of it. Well, we're going to get married now. Well, then stop doing this and that and wait till you get married. Being engaged isn't room for crossing lines. I mean, let's go all the way with this leadership. Lord, here we are. I ask for power. I ask for impartation. Yes, Lord. Lord, here we are. I ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to rest on us right now. Today is a new day with a new... The Lord says, there's forgiveness. My forgiveness is abundant. Say yes to me today. Say, I am to your judgment. The spirit of liberty in this house right now. Holy Spirit, in this room, do not need physical healing. Raise your hands for me. The Holy Spirit. The devil is a liar. He says, I will remember your love forever and forever.