I like Murder Mystery’s. And before you get mad and leave the church because you are thinking that I am promoting violence.
I like them because I want to solve the mystery or who did it before the show reveals it.
And the key is the Autopsy – It usually reveals the cause of death which gets you thinking on the person who would commit the murder.
AUTOPSY - a postmortem examination to discover the cause of death or the extent of disease.
You might be asking yourself what and the world does this have to do with your message.
Well I am glad you asked, because God performs an autopsy on a dead church in the Word of God.
And it reveals to us the cause of death so that we can understand the cause or the causes of that death so we will not become a dead church
This morning I would like to preach with the Power and the Presence of the Holy Spirit on this topic: An Autopsy of a dead church.
REVELATION 3:1-6
PRAYER
If I were to take a trip to London, among the sites in which I would like to visit would be the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
The tour guide would tell me that this is the place that the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to preach.
He would tell me that the 5,000 seat auditorium there was never large enough…they packed it to overflowing Sunday after Sunday in Spurgeon’s day.
He would tell me how on Sunday nights, they would actually ask church members to stay home because so many visitors wanted to come and fill the building.
But today, that church is only a shadow of what it used to be.
If you were to visit the Metropolitan Tabernacle, basically what you would hear is wonderful stories of “the way it used to be.” The good ole days…
Such could be said about the church of Sardis in our text this morning.
At one time they had a reputation for being exciting, alive, and vibrant and on fire for God!
VS 1 – I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest
It would have been great if the verse ends there but it continues and art dead.
But as Jesus Christ writes to this church in Sardis, they were all reputation and no reality. They were all form, and no force. They were glorying in past splendor, and ignoring their present state. They focused on Past Reputation, rather than Present Reality.
I. THREE STAGES THAT CHURCHES GO THROUGH
A. SPIRIT FILLED – DYNAMIC
B. A MACHINE – GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS - DYING
C. A MONUMENT – THE GOOD OLE DAYS – DEAD
The greatness of NLBC is not just a past reputation, it is a present reality!
So Jesus tells this church that they are now dead, and then Jesus does an Autopsy to show us today how this church died so that we will not do the same thing.
II. THE AUTOPSY OF A DEAD CHURCH
A. THE HOLY SPIRIT – POWER OF GOD WAS MISSING
1. THE POWER TO CONVICT 2. THE POWER TO GUIDE 3. THE POWER TO EQUIPS MINISTRIES 4. THAT ENERGIZES THE CHURCH
I hear this from Christians were ever I go. We are tired. Are you listening we are tired because we have trying our hardest to do God’s work without God’s Power!!!!
The first thing we find in Jesus’ autopsy is that they were powerless!
And where do we get this power?
ACTS 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
The Evidence of this power is
Proclaim the Word of God With Boldness
EPHESIANS 5:18-21
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Our Music Changes – It is not about making us feel better – It is Praising the Lord
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
We have a heart of Gratitude or thankfulness
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God
Accountability
B. THEY WERE APATHETIC
The only thing that’s worse than being powerless is to be powerless and knowing there is a problem, and we really do not care or not willing to do anything about it.
What’s the difference between ignorance and indifference? “I do not know and I do not care!”
Jesus describes this dying or dead church as
Powerless
Apathetic.
There is great news in these verses for a Christian who is sick, dying or is dead spiritually and a Church that is sick, dying or is dead.
Jesus is the Great Physician and only God can raise the dead
III. HELP FOR A SICK, DYING OR DEAD CHURCH
A. VS 2 WE NEED TO WAKE UP!!!!
1. The World Lures Us to Sleep
EPHESIANS 5:14
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
WE NEED TO WAKE UP
2. We Need To Wake Up Because The Lord Is Coming Back
ROMANS 13:11
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
3. We Need To Wake Up Because People Are Dying Without Christ.
I CORINTHIANS 15:34
Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Your Friends – Family – Loved ones – Neighbors – people you go to school with and work with need us TO WAKE UP!!!!!
Sardis was located at the junction of 5 major roads, which made it a center of trade. The city of Sardis was built upon a plateau that was 1,500 feet above those roads. Three sides of that plateau were completely unapproachable. The cliffs were smooth and virtually unscalable. The only way you could get into Sardis was from the south side, and even that was a steep climb! And they considered their city to be untouchable.
The leaders felt so secure, for all they had to do was post guards on the south side of the city.
Sardis was taken by the enemy on 2 different occasions. Once by Cyrus of Persia, and once by Alexander the Great.
Do you know how the city was taken? In both instances, the guards FELL asleep!
And in Godly irony Jesus proclaims: “Wake up!” What happened to the city of Sardis was about to happen to the church at Sardis.
And I believe that God’s message to us at NLBC is do not go to sleep! Do not let the blessings of God lull you into a restful sleep - false sense of security.
The guards of this city became apathetic and confident, and fell asleep, and the enemy entered in!
NLBC, we cannot be careless, we cannot be comfortable, and we cannot assume that all is well.
Do not be like the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, and be found sleeping when you are supposed to be praying, and do not be found resting against the back of your pew when you are supposed to be kneeling at the altar!
Church, if we are not careful, we will wake up one day and realize that all we have to talk is about is the good ole days, how it used to be, because like this church of Sardis which does not exist, NLBC could be another statistic!
B. VS 3 REMEMBER
Remember (Not To Dwell) therefore how thow hast received and heard.
We need to Remember what we base our faith and church on and that is the Word of God.
Ministries Sunday School Songs We Sing Message We Preach
Should all be Bible based and Bible centered
The word of God does the work of God far better than we ever could!
C. HOLD FAST
Remember to hold fast
Stand your ground (remain)
The problem with churches today is that they no longer take a stand. Churches today are easily ignored, because of a simple formula:
No movement = No friction
The unsaved people of the city of Sardis saw the local church there as being neither dangerous nor desirable.
They were able to easily ignore it, for it had a dying witness and a decaying ministry. Nobody got saved, but at least no one got offended!
D. REPENT
I pray that this morning if you are a member of NLBC you do not want to see us die but to be REVIVED
Symptoms are there
LACK OF POWER
APATHETIC
The Lord wants to Revive our Church
WE MUST WAKE UP
WE MUST REMEMBER WHAT WE BASE OUR FAITH AND CHURCH ON WHICH IS THIS OLE KING JAMES BIBLE
WE MUST REPENT
The Lord told the church of Sardis what the problem was and how to fix it.
The choice was up to them just like it is up to us this morning.
What will your choice be this morning?
Maybe you are here this morning and you have never received Christ as your personal Savior.
You are going to make a choice this morning. Receive Jesus Christ as your Personal Savior and go to heaven
Or Reject Jesus Christ and continue on the road the Bible calls the road of Destruction that leads to an eternity in Hell.
Jesus Loves You – Died For You – Paid Your Sin debt – So What will you do with Jesus this morning?
HE THAT HATH AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CHURCHES
