Sardis: Remember What You Received and Heard (Rev. 3:1-6)

[Sung Psalm: 69]

What a striking statement! "But now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written..."

Moses understands how serious this moment is! Israel's sin deserves death. God had said – just a few days earlier – not to make graven images and bow down and worship them! And now Israel has done precisely what God had told them not to do!

Exodus 32 is the prime example of the sort of sin that Jesus sees in the church in Revelation 2-3.

And Moses sees that Israel's sin is so heinous that Israel has forfeited the right to be called children of God. They should be blotted out of God's book.

In other words, Moses offers to die for his people – to be blotted out of God's book in place of Israel! That's remarkable! I don't know too many people who would be willing to endure hell for the sake of others!

But Moses asks God to blot him out of his book. And God says, no – whoever sins him will I blot out of my book.

The best way to make sense of this is to say that God has a book of all those who belong to him. Every time a person confesses Christ as Lord, every time a person is baptized – their name is added to the book. And every time a person apostatizes – every time a person rebels against the LORD, his name is blotted out.

Later in Revelation we'll hear that there are those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, from before the foundation of the world – in other words, the elect – those whom God chose from before the foundation of the world!

Those whose names are written in the book from before the foundation of the world will never be blotted out!