The Living Dead (7 of 29)
Series: Live Like You're Leaving
Keith Krell
Revelation 3:1-6
Reflect on the following phrases: Jumbo shrimp, good casserole, Slim Fast, ill health, freezer burn, old news, and pretty ugly. What do these phrases share in common? They are all oxymorons. An oxymoron is the combination of two words: ''oxy'' = ''silly''; ''moron'' = ''fool.'' An oxymoron is two words that seem to be contradictory but are joined together. They are terms that shouldn't fit together, but they do.
Now here's an oxymoron for you: dead church. That has to be the ultimate oxymoron-the greatest of all contradictions. How can you have a dead church? How can a congregation be dead if the living Lord indwells it? You would think this would be impossible. Sadly, it's not. Many churches are dead! Their sanctuary is a morgue with a steeple. They are congregations of corpses. They have undertakers for ushers, embalmers for elders, morticians for ministers, and the pastor graduated from the cemetery. Such churches lost vital signs years ago.
So what, if anything, can be done about a dead church? How can a dead church be revived? How can we prevent our church from dying? Jesus will answer these questions and more in Rev 3:1-6. In this text, Jesus declares: Make sure your reputation is reality with your Redeemer.
1. The Character (3:1a). Jesus describes Himself as the One who ''has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.'' The verb ''has'' (echon) conveys both ownership and control. Jesus possesses the seven spirits. This doesn't mean that there are seven Holy Spirits. There is only one Holy Spirit. The number ''seven'' is the biblical number for completion or fullness. Thus, ''the seven spirits of God'' represent the fullness of the Holy Spirit sent to the seven churches (cf. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). It is through the Spirit that God brings revival to His church. This means that revival comes only by God's choosing, not by man's doing. This principle is record ...
Series: Live Like You're Leaving
Keith Krell
Revelation 3:1-6
Reflect on the following phrases: Jumbo shrimp, good casserole, Slim Fast, ill health, freezer burn, old news, and pretty ugly. What do these phrases share in common? They are all oxymorons. An oxymoron is the combination of two words: ''oxy'' = ''silly''; ''moron'' = ''fool.'' An oxymoron is two words that seem to be contradictory but are joined together. They are terms that shouldn't fit together, but they do.
Now here's an oxymoron for you: dead church. That has to be the ultimate oxymoron-the greatest of all contradictions. How can you have a dead church? How can a congregation be dead if the living Lord indwells it? You would think this would be impossible. Sadly, it's not. Many churches are dead! Their sanctuary is a morgue with a steeple. They are congregations of corpses. They have undertakers for ushers, embalmers for elders, morticians for ministers, and the pastor graduated from the cemetery. Such churches lost vital signs years ago.
So what, if anything, can be done about a dead church? How can a dead church be revived? How can we prevent our church from dying? Jesus will answer these questions and more in Rev 3:1-6. In this text, Jesus declares: Make sure your reputation is reality with your Redeemer.
1. The Character (3:1a). Jesus describes Himself as the One who ''has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.'' The verb ''has'' (echon) conveys both ownership and control. Jesus possesses the seven spirits. This doesn't mean that there are seven Holy Spirits. There is only one Holy Spirit. The number ''seven'' is the biblical number for completion or fullness. Thus, ''the seven spirits of God'' represent the fullness of the Holy Spirit sent to the seven churches (cf. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). It is through the Spirit that God brings revival to His church. This means that revival comes only by God's choosing, not by man's doing. This principle is record ...
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