(Revelations, iii. 1-6) <br /> <br />"Write to Sardis," saith the Lord, <br />"And write what He declares, <br />He whose Spirit, and whose word, <br />Upholds the seven stars: <br />All thy works and ways I search, <br />Find thy zeal and love decay'd; <br />Thou art call'd a living church, <br />But thou art cold and dead. <br /> <br />"Watch, remember, seek, and strive, <br />Exert thy former pains; <br />Let thy timely care revive, <br />And strengthen what remains; <br />Cleanse thine heart, thy works amend, <br />Former times to mind recall, <br />Lest my sudden stroke descend, <br />And smite thee once for all. <br /> <br />"Yet I number now in thee <br />A few that are upright; <br />These my Father's face shall see, <br />And walk with me in white. <br />When in judgment I appear, <br />They for mine shall be confess'd; <br />Let my faithful servants hear, -- <br />And woe be to the rest!"<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sardis/
