“I’m grieving”

“we actually had one of our director of the entire um Southern Baptist kind of mission um board up there in the state of Maine who was officing only miles away from where all that took place and so I've been in contact back and forth just praying for these guys as they Min to minister to families who are suffering unbelievable loss and sorrow and grief in this period and in this time but as we walked these streets we came to a couple different places one is Portland Maine we went to Augusta Main and then we ended up in the mountains for a Men's Conference in bethan with over 200 men that I'll tell you about in a minute but when we were in Portland what I realized very quickly is you had”

“Crystal river that runs through it but the turbulence and the storminess and the destruction of the sea is going to be no more chaos and Calamity will be eradicated No More Tears because hurtful memories will be replaced No More Death because mortality will be swallowed up in life no more mourning because sorrow will be completely comforted no more crying because sounds of weeping will be soothed no more pain because all human”

“dependency upon God what did this final part of this message say he who has ears to hear Let Him hear what the spirit says to the what churches we are one of the churches that need to hear what the spirit is saying this church did not die because it was attacked outwardly this church died because of the death of its members there was no vibrancy there was no faith”

“could be revived but unless such a Revival occurs this small remainder will also fall subject to spiritual death did you notice that Jesus did say here um in another part of this uh passage that he said you are about to die the end of verse two he says strengthen what remains and is about to die it wasn't that they couldn't wake up but they they needed to wake”

“compromised and sick and ultimately dying and this church was in the curve of death it's very interesting that the word that is used here when Jesus said you appear to be alive but you are dead the word that is used is the Greek word necross necross is the Greek word for death there's another word in the Greek thas which means the death of the physical body but necros means something that is in the process of of corrupting”

“breathe in the power of the spirit of God because we are a born again people born again to life that which is of the flesh is flesh fleshly things die and the reason that this church was dying is because it had become a fleshly church so what did Jesus say to the church how did he address address this issue in the church go back to Revelation 3 we talked about observing the autopsy of a Dying church”

“of they have to actually sign over a deed to a developing company to make it into a restaurant called Grace restaurant how does that happen well we're going to talk about how that happens and I think one of the things that I want to begin with if you're taking notes with me today I want us to observe the autopsy of a Dying church I want us to observe deserve the autopsy of a Dying church because this was the case in Sardis they were dying and they”

“through us and outward to the community around us so in light of that let's learn something now from the church at Sardis so we don't ever become the church at Sardis and I think he's not only writing to the church he's also relating to two kind of groups within the church a faithful group and a dying group and for the dying group he's meaning to write this in such a way that it would convict them and it would draw them and it would renew them by his spirit and so the question we got to ask”

“Decay what was true of the city of Sardis had become true of the church at Sardis let's begin to work our way through this passage today and let's start by first observing what I would call the autopsy of a Dying Church let's observe the autopsy of a Dying Church Jesus the great physician Jesus the”

“answer be and would that answer center around the fact that Jesus rose died Rose and conquered death for you and that you have made him Lord and Savior and that his blood has cleansed you from all sin if you if you can't say that today then you don't know Jesus and you don't have saving Faith are you having any particular seasons of deep Delight in the Lord is he teaching you and instructing you are you seeing his faithfulness and”

“this is a crucial issue for us to consider and for us to understand because we are a church living today and we believe that God has given us a mission that we must be passionate and attentive to and prioritized for in our lives but we cannot Overlook the fact that the loss of churches means the loss of light and witness across Ross the landscape of America and of course we've”

“and something that is in the process of dying it can mean that which is departed it can mean that which is ultimately in the process of moving away and so here he's talking about the ebbing out of the life that that this church is in a a dying State and it's necrotic I love the way way that John MacArthur said it in such a straightforward manner he said the”

“order that he would draw the church and then he's going to give the church a promise look what he says in verse four and five he said yet you have still a few names in Sardis people who have not soiled their garments that's the idea of of di that's like my boys when they take their jeans and they go outside and they play outside on an acre and a half and they come in and the knees are always skint and they have green on them and they have brown on them from the dirt this idea of like soiling something you see this church at Sardis would have understood this because the primary kind of economic way that they made money was actually dying wool in their context and”

“that and so why does he say this where does this go what does this mean Tom rer in his book in 2014 wrote a book called the autopsy of a dead church he used to be the president of LifeWay and they've done all kind of Christian research and his findings were that there are some symptoms that are kind of relative and alike for most churches that started strong but did not end strong and this is what he said he said these churches that are dying they treat their past as”

“preferences and comfort unhealthy churches give half-hearted attention to the conversion of the Lost in contrast living churches devote time and resources and energy to both local evangelism and worldwide missions in the message to Sardis we saw Christ revealed as the lifegiver he alone grants spiritual Vitality to those with a comos”

“churches were planted but the fact of the matter is that churches that are dying and closing are outpacing every effort to reestablish to replant and to ultimately Revitalize churches around us today of course Co brought a massive escalation to this trend to this move because many churches found themselves at a place of not being able to survive beyond the pandemic and the crisis but”

“ministry of that church and what had happened to this church was that it continued to live out its tradition it continued to practice it religion it continued to walk through its patterns and Pathways but somewhere along the way this church was not living in the spirit it had been broken in the flesh flesh and as a result this church was dying you see ladies and gentlemen it is”

“million-- dooll renovation Grace the restaurant accommodates nearly 200 diners on its ground floor and balconies and still finds room for a gigantic Central circular bar and so as I approach the subject at the church at Sardis this is exactly the same thing that's going on with Sardis how on Earth could a church like this with all these people all this vibrancy all this move of God all these baptisms all this faithfulness within a couple Generations turned into a dying Church to the point”

“surrendered spirit filled Spirit engaged Spirit fruit bearing church and the day that we fail to recognize the essential movement and work of the spirit is the day that we begin to die as a church we must we must understand that this autopsy of a dead church is a a powerful reminder that the church is not just a body of people it's not a social order it's not”

“to end by saying we need to hear the spirit calling us today hear the spirit calling us today we observe the autopsy of a dead dying church we consider the instructions of the living Christ but now number three let's look together and talk about hear in the spirit calling us today because before we leave this Cemetery of dead of a dead Church let's recognize our own vulnerability and”

“pattern number two how clear and Vivid is your assurance and your certainty of God's forgiveness and fatherly love for the sins and the things that you struggle with if you died and went to heaven today and Jesus asked you why should I let you into my heaven what would your”

“in relics on the streets what I see at this Men's Conference is life and at the end of Joseph preaching the third and final message we had a moment where we wanted to give guys the opportunity to respond to the gospel and guys to get right with the Lord and God to shut off their sin and before he could even pray there's about 30 men on their knees confessing their sin giving their lives to Jesus and though there's dying churches around the state of Maine God is always in the business of taking a Remnant and small few in moving in power in Dark Places and so I'm just grateful”