THE WATCHFUL CHURCH-I—Revelation 3:1-6
Jesus rebuked the church in Sardis for maintaining a mere semblance of life in Christ.
The church of God must exhibit the vitality inherent to life in Christ.
The church of God must exhibit more than a semblance of life in Christ.
How does a church exhibit a watchful character?
OR
What does a watchful church exhibit?
12 Attributes/Traits/Features of a watchful church.
1—The watchful church exhibits...
AUTHORITY/POWER(:1a)
—Explanation:(:1a)
:1—“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, & the seven stars, says this: .....”
Jesus’ authority—God’s power
“Seven spirits”—1:4—“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you & peace, from Him who is & who was & who is to come; & from the seven Spirits who are before His throne;”—pneumata—1)A Wind; 2)The third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father & the Son; 3)An angel.
“Seven stars”—1:16, 20—“And in His right hand He held seven stars; & out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; & His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”....“As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, & the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, & the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
—Argumentation:
2Cor. 5:18-21—“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, & gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, & He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Col. 1:18—“He is also head of the body, the church; & He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.”
1Jn. 4:4-6—“You are from God, little children, & have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, & the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth & the spirit of error.”
1Cor. 4:19-20—“But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, & I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.”
—Illustration:
Computer & internet/slow because exhibits AUTHORITY of Rose.net—Only transmits at 28800 kbs/Computer has a 56K modem/I don’t really know its possibilities/AUTHORITY either limits or expands possibilities.
Solar Cell power highway phones/Designed to produce power from the sun/Look like pieces of square plastic/Plastic won’t do the trick/Solar cells do/Exhibits POWER
—Application:
?Are we an AUTHORITATIVE Church?
?Are we a Watchful Church?
2—The watchful church exhibits...
SOLIDITY(:1b)
—Explanation/Argumentation:(:1b) Respectability/Depth
:1—“....‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”
“Name”—Symbolic/representative of everything which the name entails—Every thought & emotion which is aroused in the mind by the name’s mention or rememberance.
“Alive”—zaw—To live, breathe, be among the living; To enjoy real life; Having vital power in itself & exerting the same upon the soul.
“Are Dead”—Actual state is ‘dead’ to Christ’s fullness.—nekroV—Deceased, departed, one whose soul is in heaven or hell; Destitute of life, without life, inanimate; Destitute of a life that recognises & is devoted to God.
Antonyms—Superficial/Shallow/Hypocritical/False/Facade
—Illustration:
‘Gold’ Necklaces/gold plated/only the surface is covered/Inside unremarkable the gold is what makes it remarkable/SOLIDITY
Cheap tools/Look nice but quality is only outside/Need SOLIDITY
—Application:
?Are we a SOLID Church?
?Are we a Watchful Church?
3—The watchful church exhibits...
STABILITY(:2a)
—Explanation:(:2a) Strength
:2a—“‘Wake up, & strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die;....”
“Wake up/Be watchful”—grhgorew—‘To watch; Give strict attention to, be cautious, active.’
“Strengthen”—sthrizw—To make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix; To strengthen, make firm.
“Things that Remain”—Have not been given over to death thru incompleteness. ?What are these? —‘Things?’/ ‘Deeds’/‘Worship’/‘SS’/‘DT’/‘Occupation’/‘Marriage’/ ‘Finances’/‘Commitments’, etc...
“About to Die”—If present course continues, death is certain.
—Argumentation:
Heb. 6:18-19—“....by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure & steadfast & one which enters within the veil,....”
Eph. 4:11-16—“And He gave some as apostles, & some as prophets, & some as evangelists, & some as pastors & teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, & of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here & there by waves, & carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted & held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
—Illustration:
Cell Phone Microwave towers/Stabilized by guy wires/STABILITY
Our faith is stabilized by the ‘guy wires’ of Wakefulness thru Reading God’s word—Prayer—Faith—Fellowship—Relationship, etc...
—Application:
?Are we a STABILE Church?
?Are we a Watchful Church?
4—The watchful church exhibits...
COMPLETION/FULLNESS(:2b)
—Explanation:(:2b)
:2b—“....for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.”
“Completed/Perfect”—plhrow—‘To make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full; To cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally.’
Deeds apart from love are nothing.
—Argumentation:
1Cor. 13:1-3—“If I speak with the tongues of men & of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, & know all mysteries & all knowledge; & if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, & if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
—Illustration:
Train track/Laid end-to-end but unanchored—Faulty/Incomplete—Imperfect & dangerous!/Exhibits In-COMPLETION
—Application:
?Are we a COMPLETING Church?
?Are we a Watchful Church?
—CONCLUSION—
Action:
The watchful church exhibits...
AUTHORITY(:1a)
SOLIDITY(:1b)
STABILITY(:2a)
COMPLETION(:2b)
Presented 05/05/02pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence road
Whigham, GA 31797
