Revelation 3

'Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain'

Revelation 3:2

Sardis

In Sardis, Jesus makes a new beginning with the church. First of all this is evident from the description of Himself. His introduction is very similar to the that of the first church, Ephesus. Towards both churches, Ephesus and Sardis, Christ calls Himself the One who holds/has the seven stars. But where in Ephesus the seven lampstands were still mentioned, here Christ has the seven Spirits of God. The lampstands are the seven temporary manifestations of the church as a bearer of God's light. Three of those lampstands had already disappeared, Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamus. Thyatira had become entangled in its own web of idolatry and fornication. God had to start something new and Christ points to the eternal Source of light and energy that manifests Himself through time in the seven successive churches, the Spirit of God. Those temporary light bearers, the lampstands, come to an end, whereas the light emanating from the Spirit is eternal.

But while the lampstands, the outward testimonies, have partly disappeared, the seven stars are still complete. They are the faithful, who could be addressed by Christ and who have laid down his message in the churches. They are the eternal possession of Christ.

The seven Spirits of God blow a completely new wind in Sardis compared to the centuries that preceded it. It is the renewal of the Reformation, which brought the failure of the Catholic Church to light. It did so on the basis of three important principles: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide and Sola Gracia - only scripture, only faith and only grace. Only scripture and no ecclesiastical or papal authority determines what the truth of the Christian faith is. Only grace through faith in Jesus Christ forms the way to salvation and not the works done for the church.

The reproach

That it is about a new beginning is also evident from the reproach that Sardis hears from the mouth of Jesus: she had to consider how she had received and heard it. This church has received an old message back from God as 'new'. The authority of the word, the importance of faith and the power of grace were not new and were rediscovered. God's Spirit worked in the hearts of the reformers to make a new beginning in the church. However, the reformers had their roots in Thyatira and Pergamon. The teachings of people like Augustine (Pergamon) and Thomas Aquinas (Thyatira) and with them the Hellenistic traditions of Plato and Aristotle, continued to exert influence. The return to scripture was only partial. That is why Sardis is reproached by Jesus that her works are not found to be 'full' by Him.

Scripture became the only authoritative source in name only. The writings of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas also retained authority and continued to exert influence. This was true for both Luther and Calvin. As a result, certain errors continued to pollute the church. One of these was infant baptism, which essentially contradicts all three principles of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura - it is not based on scripture - Sola fide - faith cannot yet be present in newborns - Sola Gracia - a human act takes the place of grace. A second error was the permanent rule on earth by the church - this time the Protestant church - which took the place of a longing for Christ's coming for his church and for the subsequent reign of Christ. The prophetic word remained largely closed. Protestantism was largely Amillianistic. There was no room in Protestant doctrine for a future reign by Jesus Christ.

Because not all errors were completely dealt with, the reform movement fell for new errors, such as liberalism. As early as the 1920s, a quarter of the Dutch Reformed were liberal. In the twentieth century, even the creation in six days, the fall of man, the flood, the miracles – including those of Christ – and even the resurrection were challenged. How dead the Protestant church is and thus confirms the words of Jesus, is evident from comments by certain liberal ministers who dare to claim that God is dead. In that respect, the reform movement ultimately fell deeper than the Roman church. Jesus rightly says to Sardis: ‘you have the name that you are alive, but you are dead’. This is a very serious admonition and that right at the beginning of Jesus’ message to this church. In essence, no church is addressed as severely and harshly as Sardis.

Be Vigilant

That the Protestant churches arose alongside the Catholic church and that the latter church did not cease to exist is evident not only from history but also from this letter. Christ urges the church in Sardis to ‘be vigilant and strengthen the rest’. The rest are the believers from the Roman church. They could draw inspiration from Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide and Sola Gracia. The influence of the reform could have been much stronger and greater if it had consistently held on to the confessed principles.

Another characteristic of this church is that Satan is not mentioned, just like in Ephesus. Satan was mentioned in Smyrna (as 'roaring lion'), in Pergamon, which lived where Satan dwelled and in Thyatira, which had the depths of Satan within itself. The unnamed Satan is characteristic of the new beginning. It is still young and unsullied, just like the first Christian church. Satan does not yet play a significant role. Satan is still busy in Thyatira and Christ suddenly starts something new. The reformation is starting. The Spirit is working fully and there are no hindrances from Satan - yet. The only hindrance is the condition of the church itself. It is too attached to the fifteen centuries of church history and as a result it is essentially 'dead'. The potential of God's work is therefore not fully utilized.

Furthermore, in Christ's message to this church we find a clear reference to his return. A lack of vigilance would seriously hinder their view of his coming. ‘If you do not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come on you.’ Unfortunately, looking forward to the coming of Christ for his church has completely faded into the background in the Protestant churches. The subordinate position of the prophetic word in the Protestant churches has largely robbed them of the view of the coming of Christ. The rapture of the church, as described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4, is looked forward to by only a few Protestant believers. In the US, the rapture view is held only by 1/3rd of Protestants, and that is where the idea of ​​the Pretrib Rapture lives most. They will be completely surprised by his coming. He comes to them as a thief in the night.

As in every church, Jesus also has his faithful ones in the Protestant churches. They are those who have not ‘defiled’ their garments. They have not allowed themselves to be carried away in their christian walk by the wrong elements in this church like Protestant liberalism, in which the authority of Scripture is distanced and the church wants to rule with the world. Those who have distanced themselves from this receive the wonderful promise that they will ‘walk with Christ in white garments’. All overcomers will be clothed in white garments. Their names will not be erased from the book of life. Christ will confess their names before his Father and before his holy angels.

The core of this church is to receive something new and to keep it. That 'new' is the central authority of Christ. He is the source of grace (not the Church), He will rule the world (not the Church) and He the determines the truth (not the Church). Those who give Christ that place of authority are not ‘dead’, like this church and their names remain in the book of life. Their hearts are free from the ecclesiastical stains and they receive as an outward sign the white garments with which they will one day walk with Christ. They have honored the authority and with it the name of Christ as the highest on earth and Christ will confess their names before his Father and his angels.

Philadelphia

Jesus presents Himself to the church in Philadelphia in an entirely new way. The descriptions which He gives of Himself in the first five churches are derived from his presentation of Himself to John in the opening section of Revelation. But in Philadelphia we read something new. He is the Holy and True One, who has the key, not of death and Hades – as in chapter 1 – but of David.

As the Holy and True One, Jesus is absolutely unique. No human being can say that of himself. Before his virginal conception, it already came from the mouth of Gabriel: 'Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God'. When the demons saw Him, they said, ‘I know who thou art; thou art the Holy One of God.’ He cast out demons, while they testified, ‘Thou art the Holy One of God.’ Demons are fallen angels, who, when they saw Jesus, received memories of their former task of crying out, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.’ Being holy, He is the One who is completely separated unto God, who could never, ever be approached by any evil, even though He daily associated with tax collectors and sinners, and even though He touched lepers and the dead. Instead of the uncleanness being transferred to Him, His purity and His life force were transferred to them. Lepers were cleansed, the dead were raised.

Just like holiness, Jesus shares the property of truth with God, whom He calls ‘the true God’ in His prayer in John 17. He Himself is the true light, the true bread, the true vine – the same word for ‘True’ always appears in the Greek original text. He is just like God, who cannot lie because it goes completely against His Being. But that is still too passive. ‘Not lying’ only means that no more lies will be added. But as the True One, He is a fighter for the truth and against lies. He clears away all lies, exposes them. Everything will one day come into full light through Him. He will unfold the complete truth about everything, about everyone’s life, great and small.

In addition, He gathers around Him a circle of people who also want that, who also want to fight for truth and against lies. He calls them the ‘true’ worshipers, who are sought by the Father, who worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Philadelphia is about these people. For in Philadelphia He finally finds a congregation that He does not have to reprimand but to which He can open the door wide, to which He can entrust much and which He can let go their way – because, unlike the other congregations, they recognize His authority as the only competent authority and, like Him, fight for truth.

Jesus was disappointed in the new thing that He started with Sardis. They were not vigilant, allowed old errors to exist, did not finish their works, did not complete them. What Sardis left undone is finished by Philadelphia. All the error that Sardis allowed to exist is dealt with in Philadelphia{ infant baptism, mixing of church and state and blindness to the soon coming of Christ. In Philadelphia Jesus receives the place in His congregation that is His due, that of all authority. There is complete obedience to God's Word, without mixing it any longer with the erroneous words of men.

The Key of David

The key of David primarily concerns the Spirit of true worship, as David, led by God's Spirit, did in the Psalms. New insights emerged in the figurative language of the Old Testament and, just as after his resurrection, the scope of the prophetic word opened up. The deeper meaning of the descriptions of the patriarchs, the meaning of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the journey through the desert, and so on. All of this gave an enormous enrichment to worship, resulting in a stream of worship songs.

In addition, the key of David was necessary for unlocking the prophetic Word, with a future for the people of Israel and a restoration of the throne of David. The rapture of the church also found a place in the expectation of future glory. All those truths from God's Word, which had completely disappeared from the church's view, were rediscovered around the year 1800, after it became apparent that the reformation of Sardis would not yield complete works.

That Jesus presents Himself here as the One who has the key of David is, given the passage about it in Isaiah, very striking. There we find a situation that is strongly reminiscent of that of Sardis and Philadelphia. It concerns two successive court marshals, who are in charge of the house of David. The first, a certain Shebna, has hewn out a grave for himself in the heights. Instead of caring for the house of David, he was occupied with his own death. This strongly resembles the reproach that Sardis receives from Jesus: that it has the name of living but is in fact dead. The truth of rapture and resurrection has been largely replaced by a doctrine of the hereafter. Within the Protestant churches, Jesus' word about his return for his own is applied to death. A 'grave had been hewn out' in the heights.

This Shebna would be thrown far away by God. Likewise, for Sardis, Jesus would return as a thief, if she were not vigilant. Shebna would be replaced by Eliakim. God would place the key of David on him and then the same words would follow about 'shutting and no one will open' and 'opening and no one will shut' as Jesus said in his message to Philadelphia to Himself. So it is not Philadelphia who opens or closes. It is Jesus. It seems that while the door was closed for Sardis, a door opens for Philadelphia. And only Jesus determines when doors open and close. The incompleteness of the works of Sardis opened the door to the church for the world and Jesus allows that. It is a judgment of God on an erring church. Although Protestantism had a very positive influence in the world in the early days, this changed in the 19th century and humanism and materialism began to take hold. Halfway through the 19th century, the lie of evolutionism was given a platform and since then society has been in rapid decline. Towards the end of the 19th century, Nietzsche wrote as a messenger of his time: God is dead. In the twentieth century, ministers of the Reformed Church started claim the same. But in the midst of a society that turned away from God, there was that community with small power, to whom Jesus showed the greatest  visions possible by opening a door with the key of David. The movement of the Revival, which flourished from the beginning of the 19th century, has had a worldwide influence on a modest scale. Christian communities such as the ‘Brethren’ and the Baptists emerged alongside the already existing Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. Characteristics of these faith groups, which together form Philadelphia, is above all the factual and completely consistently implemented 'Sola Scriptura' - without any authoritative place for a product of the human spirit. From this came the already mentioned adult baptism, the central place of the Lord's Supper, the deep spiritual meaning of the Old Testament, the rapture of the community, the future for Israel and for the Davidic royal house and the return of Jesus with the clouds of heaven according to the prophetic word.

The Synagogue of Satan

Characteristically, the 19th century also saw the rise of the great Jewish banking families and secret societies, who with their growing capital financed everything that fitted in with their agenda of a future godless world government. Zionism was also part of this movement. This corresponds strikingly with what Jesus calls in this letter to Philadelphia 'the synagogue of Satan' and 'Jews who are not Jews'. In this context, Jesus gives a promise to this community that in itself has little power. History will end with this powerful elite, who achieved so much under the leadership of Satan, and who, with God's permission, will briefly seize total power in the world. However powerful, they will one day have to prostrate themselves before the faithful witnesses of Jesus from Philadelphia. And they will be forced to acknowledge something. We would think: to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. And they will indeed acknowledge that. Every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. But Jesus asks these people for a special confession, namely that He loved the believers of Philadelphia. Jesus apparently appreciates that the great ones of the earth, who thought that everything could be bought for money, who do not mind an extra million dead or ten million seriously injured for the rollout of their world government, that these despisers of the small and lowly on earth, acknowledge His love for this church with little power. Of course that will not happen until after the return of Jesus with power and great glory.

Jesus gives a second promise. The power of this synagogue of Satan, of Jews who are not Jews, will end in the hour of temptation that will come over the whole earth. Jesus will keep the believers of this church from that. Note, it does not say that he will keep her from temptation. All who want to live godly will be persecuted. No, it says that Jesus will keep this church from (not: in) the hour of temptation that will come over the whole earth. Later in Revelation we read about that hour. It is the period of tribulation, which is described in chapters 6 through 16. This church does not have to go through that. She is preserved from it. This cannot mean anything other than that the rapture of the church takes place prior to that very special period of tribulation. The church receives this promise because she has kept ‘the word of his patience’. It is precisely this church that, with the opening of the Word, increasingly gained insight into the depth of Christ’s suffering.

A third promise concerns the crown, which this church receives if she holds on to what she received. This crown is seen on the heads of the elders in Revelation 4, which are a representation of the saints that comprised Christ's church during the past 2000 years. Every promise Christ makes, is for all overcomers of all of the seven phases of church history.

A fourth promise is for the overcomers. They are made into a pillar in the temple of God. Note the repeated ‘my God’, in the description of the reward. Temple of my God – the name of my God – the city of my God – coming down out of heaven from my God. This church has, through recognition of the authority of Jesus (that was the key, the key of David), the truth of God's word fully received back from God, in all its richness. It is only by grace that believers in this church can hold on to that truth - given the open door that Jesus gave and the little strength that they themselves have. Those who are able to hold on to this truth by grace become, very appropriately, a pillar of that truth in God's temple. After all, the church is 'the pillar and foundation of the truth'.

Laodicea

The last letter of Revelation, the one to Laodicea, shows like no other: the insignificance of the believer and the greatness of Christ. While the church experiences an absolute low point, Christ shows the overwhelming power of his love. The insignificance of the company of believers is most clearly shown by the ‘works’, which Jesus describes in their being cold nor hot but lukewarm, such that He will spew the church out of his mouth.

The lukewarm spirit of Laodicea is the cooled ‘hot’ of Philadelphia. In that sense, the situation is somewhat similar to the church of Ephesus, of which Christ has to say that she has left her first love. But in the case of Ephesus there are still many qualities and works that the Lord can praise. In Laodicea that is completely lacking. There is nothing for which the Lord can praise Laodicea. Nothing. Moreover, this church is characterized by an appalling lack of self-knowledge. This church thinks a great deal of itself. The image it has of itself is diametrically opposite to how Christ sees her. She thinks she is rich and enriched and has need of nothing. But Christ sees her as the wretched – pitiful – poor – blind – naked. How can the self-image of a church be so completely different from the image that Jesus has of her?

It is because Christ and church, Head and body, have a completely different concept of what wealth is. The church feels rich because two millennia of cultural history have fallen into its lap and it has an enormous wealth of Christian songs, Christian reflections, Christian ideas, Christian doctrines, Christian methods, Christian buildings, Christian - you name it. Moreover, this church lives in a time when science and technology are taking off enormously, with all the prosperity, media and instruments that are available to it as a result. Many different songbooks with hundreds of Christian songs in many different musical styles. In short, there is much outward display of wealth.

True wealth

Christ has a completely different concept of wealth, namely the inner wealth of an eternal life in community with Him. The cultural wealth that the church believes it has, prevents it from drawing on the treasures that can truly make it rich, the treasures in Christ. Ignorance of the nature of Christian wealth and of its own condition is the core. The only reason that this situation is not completely hopeless is the enormous love of Christ, who, even in this last, very disappointing phase of his church, continues to urge believers to mine their real Christian treasures in Him. He proposes to his church to ‘buy’ from Him.

Given the condition of the church (poor, blind and naked – only with the appearance wealth), this ‘buying’ cannot be understood other than figuratively. At most, it means that it gives up its apparent treasures and acknowledges what its condition is, namely poverty – that there is nothing that it could offer God. Man always comes to God empty-handed. As David says: 1 Chronicles 29:16 'O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name is from your hand; it is all yours.' To that reason Jesus begins this letter by introducing Himself as ‘the beginning of God’s creation’.

That absolutely does not mean that He was also created by God. Christ is absolutely not a kind of created first instrument that God would have used for the creation of the rest. That would make God dependent on a creature, both in creation and in redemption. No, Christ is God. And as God He stands at the beginning of all creation. Without Him nothing exists. Or, as John 1 says: ‘Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that was made.’ Therefore everything a person is, does and has, comes only and completely from God. A person or a church can offer Christ nothing in exchange for what Christ wants to give. Only empty hands. Recognition of one’s own nothingness. David formulates it like this: Psalm 51:19 ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.’ And Isaiah says: ‘Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.' (Isaiah 55:1)

These are three things that Christ offers his church, of which it is in sore need: First of all, gold refined by fire. That is nothing less than the divine nature, divine righteousness. Christ went through fire to be able to offer that to his church. Typical of Loadicea is that the love of the church for the Lord, who was immersed in the deepest suffering of the cross in order to be able to justify her, has become superficial. Less and less is spoken, prayed and sung about the cross of Christ. After all, we know that now. People want a ‘practical faith’, which ‘we can do something with during the week’ or ‘which can enrich the world’. Politics and social issues are given an increasingly greater place in the church. Christ and his wealth and his work fade into the background. Christ offers such a congregation his gold again, the glorious massive splendor of his great work and of his Person, who has become part of believers.

Secondly, Jesus offers his lukewarm and naked church white clothes, so that her nakedness is covered. What the white clothes are, we know from the letter to Sardis. There believers are clothed with white clothing ‘because they are worthy’. It is the clothing with which the ‘overcomers’ of Sardis are clothed. Later in Revelation we read that the white linen with which the heavenly armies are clothed at Christ’s return to earth are ‘the righteous deeds’ of the saints. White clothing is about the pure, God-dedicated life of the believer, for which he is ultimately rewarded. This too is grounded in the grace of God. They are ‘good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them’. But Christ nevertheless attributes them to the believer before his judgment seat. But then the believer must know what Christ considers important for his life and what not. Otherwise it will turn out that it was only built with ‘straw and stubble’ instead of ‘gold, silver and precious stones’ and that his work will perish, that is, be judged as worthless. The believer himself, however, will be saved ‘as through fire’. Christ grants his lukewarm church that she will get more out of it than just her own self-preservation.

Third, Christ offers his blind church salve to put on her eyes, so that she will be able to see again. The lack of self-knowledge and of what is important in the church of God is becoming fatal to this church. It is high time that she once again lets Christ open her eyes to the treasures that can be found in Him only and that He wants to work out in the lives of His own.

Babylon the Great

Elements of Laodicea can be found in the totally apostate church in Revelation 18, Babylon the great. We read there of Babylon: Revelation 18:7 'According to the measure in which she glorified herself and lived in wantonness, give her torment and mourning in the same measure. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and I shall see no mourning.' Babylon, like Laodicea, is accused of being focused on herself and thinking far too highly of herself. The difference is that repentance is still possible for Laodicea, but not for Babylon the great . She falls completely, with everything in her, under the final judgment of God.

A person we miss in this last letter is Satan. The adversary was mentioned in Philadelphia (people from Satan's synagogue) but not here. A church that has become as lukewarm as Laodicea and yet brags about itself in this way does not need 'Satan'. It is its own 'Satan'. It must be delivered from its conceit. With a lukewarmness like that of Laodicea, Satan has no concern for the church and can direct all his efforts to the world. That world, given the attitude of Laodicea, who has a wrong image of wealth, will automatically enter the church.

It is the grace of God and the love of Christ that He sends punishment into the midst of the church that has deviated from Him. The goal is that the church or believers within it come to self-insight and repent. The goal is to once again partake of the great riches that Christ offers and that can be found in Him, gold, white clothing and eye salve.

Christ at the door

And then Christ concludes with a beautiful loving call, which at the same time shows the seriousness of the situation in the church and the unparalleled love that moves His heart. This is not a call to repentance to unbelievers. This is a call to repentance to believers. He stands at the door and He knocks. The church has sunk so far that Christ is outside. His authority, His work, His Person have become of secondary importance. But He calls on everyone in Laodicea to open the door for Him very individually. And then He wants – despite the great sadness of church history, in which Christ had to make a beginning again and again and again and He ultimately ended up standing outside – despite this ultimate failure of man, He still wants to have fellowship with that man, so much so that He wants to have a meal with the one who opens the door for Him. And He invites the one who opens the door, to also have a meal with Him. This is beautiful reciprocity. He wants to be involved in what occupies the believer. The believer may be involved in what occupies Him. The latter is a bridge to the glory that follows in the reward for the victors - the glory of heaven in Revelation 4 and 5.

In the perseverance of His eternal love, Christ shows Himself as the ‘Amen’, the ‘faithful and true witness’, who, no matter how badly humanity fares, remains with what has been decided by God in eternity and does not deviate from it one inch. ‘2 Corinthians 1:20 ‘For all the promises of God are in Him yes and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.’ He is the only human being whose faithfulness and truthfulness endure through everything. 2 Timothy 2:13 ‘If we are faithless, He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself.’

The individual nature of the invitation also says something about the spirit of the times in Laodicea. Christ does not expect that things will ever be right with the church as a whole. But that does not deprive Him of the express desire to maintain an intense community of love and desire with the individual believer. The corona period of som years ago were an illustration of the pitiful situation the church of Laodicea is in. Church services seemed to have been abolished and believers had become completely dependent on their own faith in Christ. In such emptiness, this invitation from Christ remains standing proudly as a beacon of hope for everyone who believes in Him.

The Throne

There is an enormous ascent in this letter. Therefore, this letter testifies so much to the power of Christ's love. A letter that began with such lukewarmness in a church that Christ had to spew it out of his mouth, ends with a meal of Christ with the believer and of the believer with Christ. And that last one ends in the unparalleled reward for overcomers of Laodicea: to sit down with Him on his throne, as He sat down with his Father on His throne. In which of the seven letters do we find such a reward? While the church sinks lower and lower, the rewards that Christ gives his overcomers climb higher and higher. In addition, there is a connection with successive moments in the history of mankind:

Ephesus - Eating from the tree of life - Garden of Eden, before the fall (Genesis 2)

Smyrna - No harm from the second death - Wages of sin, fall (Genesis 3)

Pergamos - Hidden manna and a stone with a new name - Ark in the desert (Exodus)

Thyarira - Rule over the nations with a rod of iron - Conquest of Canaan (Joshua)

Sardis - Being clothed in white clothes and confessing one's name before the Father and the angels - Priesthood in the land (Judges - 2 Samuel)

Philadelphia - Pillar in the temple of his God - Temple building under Solomon (1 Kings 6)

Laodicea - Being seated with Him on his throne - Blessed rule under the Son of David (1 Kings 9, 10)

In the letter to Laodicea we find no reference to the coming of Christ. However, the coming of Christ is included in the promise of ‘eating with Him’ and ‘sitting with Him on his throne’. In this way, the letters to the seven churches seamlessly transition via these Laodicean promises into the heaven of Revelation 4, where we indeed see the church represented in the twenty-four elders who are seated on golden thrones (promise to Laodicea), dressed in white garments (promise to Sardis) and crowned with golden crowns (promise to Smyrna and promise to Philadelphia).

What we also find in these seven letters is a reflection of the judgment seat of Christ. Paul writes twice in his letters about the fact that we as believers will appear before the judgment seat of God or of Christ. However, nowhere in the letters do we read what is brought up before that judgment seat. Perhaps in these two chapters with seven letters we find indications of what Christ considers important, what He wants to see in the lives of believers and what He brings out of the lives of believers before the judgment seat.

Looking back on church history, seeing the present situation the church is in and the riches that are to be found in the heavenly Christ, what else is left than this one prayer? Amen, come Lord Jesus!