Active, But Not Alive

Active But Not Alive

I. Glad To Be Here...

Praise the Lord!!!

How many in here this morning are glad to be in

the house of the Lord?

In Psa 122:1 David said... I was glad when they

said unto me, Let us go into the house of the

LORD.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad to be here this

morning. Amen?

I didn’t come dragging my feet into the house of

God this morning!

I came leaping with joy. Amen?

I didn’t come here because I was obligated this

morning!

I come here because I wanted to. Amen?

I been waiting all night for this. Amen?

It’s a privledge to be in the house of the Lord.

Amen?

Sometimes we just don’t know how good we got it!

We take church for granted!

We come into the house of God dragging our feet!

Wishing it would all hurry up and be over with!

We want the preacher to give us three points and a

joke,

And a benediction so we can be the first ones to the

buffet line at Golden Corral!

Well I’m here to tell you if that’s the kind of

attitude you walked in here with this morning

something’s wrong!

Some changes need to take place in your life!

Amen?

It’s a blessing to come into God’s house without

fear of persecution,

It’s a blessing to have a place to come and hear the

word of God spoken with power and authority,

And it’s a blessing to have a place to go and

fellowship with other Christians who love the Lord!

I don’t know about you but I’m glad to be in church

today,

I could have been anywhere else in the world,

But I’m glad to be in church!

And not just any church, I’m glad to be in Church

Alive!

I could have gotten up and put on my suit and tie

this morning and grabbed my Bible and headed

over to Church dead,

But praise God I’m right here in Church Alive!

And I’m glad to be in a church that’s alive because

if this was a dead church then you probably

wouldn’t want to hear this message this morning!

Turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter

3.

I want to preach on the dead church this morning.

And the title of this message is "Active, But Not

Alive!"

Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

II. The Dead Revived...

Each week in America, paramedics arrive on the

scene of an accident,

A scene where the victim has crossed the barrier

between life and death.

There is no heartbeat.

Breathing has stopped.

All the vital signs of life are absent.

They are clinically dead. Amen?

But the paramedics don’t accept this death as final.

They begin CPR, perhaps inject a drug that

stimulates the heart.

For a few frantic moments, nothing may seem to

happen.

But then all of a sudden, the victim begins to

cough, taking a few ragged breaths,

and the heart begins to beat, pulsing life through

the body.

In a few moments, the victim is stabilized.

And instead of sending a corpse to the morgue,

the ambulance takes a patient to the hospital.

If not for the expert care of those paramedics,

How many knows that the accident would have

been followed by a funeral.

Death had overcome these victims,

But there death wasn’t final.

It wasn’t permanent. Amen?

Because with the proper stimulus, they were

revived.

That is the way I picture the church at Sardis.

Jesus pro-nounces it dead, but there is hope that

spiritual CPR can revive it.

Jesus said in verse one thou "art dead",