South Nettleton Baptist Church
The Dead Church
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- IntroductionWe have talked about several churches so far:The Loveless ChurchThe persecuted ChurchThe compromising ChurchThe Corrupt ChurchAnd today the Dead ChurchRemember this is Jesus speakingNow the church that is dead. Have you ever seen a dying church? A church that is happy with the way things used to be. It stays in the past and how great it was then. It wants to go back to those days. And so, it stops moving forward. It refuses to get up and get going!I) The RecipientsThe angel of the church (minister)There is little hope of a church ever become alive again if the minister is not on fire.Boy shot on you tube video. Dr. would not give up, neither should a preacher!II) The MessengerJesus ChristSpeaks of the SEVEN SPIRITS (sevenfold ministry of the Spirit)He is the Comforter(NKJV)16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—2. He is the Spirit of Truth(NKJV)17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.3. He is the presence of Christ(NKJV)18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.4. He what the believer feels when he acts Christ like.(NKJV)21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”5. He is the presence of the Trinity(NKJV)23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.6. He is the Teacher(NKJV)25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.7. He is Peace(NKJV)27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.2. The number 7 means completeness or perfection.i. A dying church needs to do a few things:it needs to seek the Christ in the Spirit of God!(NKJV)13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”ii. needs to seek the convicting power of the Spiritiii. needs to seek the Fruits of the Spirit(NKJV)22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.iv. Needs to seek the guidance of the Spirit(NKJV)13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.v. needs to seek revival(NKJV)11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.vi. Needs to seek the witnessing power of the Spirit!(NKJV)8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”3. Jesus held to seven stars (ministers) in His hand.i. had been chosen by Christii. had been placed where they were by Christiii. and had been placed for a reason!a. to arouse himself and the church(NKJV)16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and ordained you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.III) The complaintNotice there is NO pat on the back for this church.Jesus goes straight into the complaintThe church had many programs, ministries, activities for all ages!It had a great reputation outside in the communityit was entertaining and fun to go therethe church looked aliveHOWEVER, it was spiritually deada few where still “alive” in the spirit, however, they were dying quicklyTO DIE SPIRITUALLY:• to have a form of worship but to deny the power thereof ()• to focus upon ritual and ceremony instead of Jesus Christ• to focus upon activities instead of Jesus Christ• to become formal in worship instead of alive in Christ• to conduct activities in order to keep the organization going instead of learning about Christ and sharing about Christ• to hold services and activities for social fellowship instead of for spiritual growth• to lose one’s zeal for witnessing and sharing Christ and for seeing others grow• to become complacent and lethargic in the study of God’s Word and in prayer and spiritual growth• to sit in worship and Bible classes as a matter of form instead of hungering and thirsting after the Word• to use the ministry as a means of livelihood instead of preaching and teaching to win and grow people in ChristANY CHURCH NO MATTER HOW BIG IS A DYING CHURCH THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN IT!VI) The CounselWatchRouse yourself and keep awakebecome alive in ChristWAKE up and get back into the SpiritThe word WATCH is a commandnot a choiceStrengthenthe things that are leftget rid of the things not neededrevive the things that spread the Word of ChristV) The Warningwe must remember what it was like when we heard the gospel and received the Spirit.We must repentWe must fear our Father and know His judgement will fall on those who refuse to repentVI) The Promisethe overcomers3 promisesThe overcomer will be clothed in whitethe overcomer will not be blotted out of the Book of LifeThe overcomer will be acknowledged by Christ before the Father!
Revelation 3:1–6NKJV
