Memory Verse: Romans 8:6 – “For to be carnally minded is death: but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”.
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| Revival – A Ministry of the Holy Spirit |
Text: Ephesians 2:1 – “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;”
The text talks about God giving life (revival) back to a person/Church who had been dead or cold in sin.
Introduction: The Church is created to function very much like the human body and all living things. For a Church to function excellently well it must have all its departments very healthy. As a body of Christ, the Church must grow from grace to grace.
So, since the Church is a living entity, then, it can die. A Church can become dead (cold) though still in existence. Read Revelation 3:1-6 – about what Jesus saw in the Church of Sardis.
How To Know A Cold Church
- Move away from the original plan of the Church. Read Ephesians 2:20
- Weakness of major departments of the Church
- Confusion in the Church
- Carnality is encouraged
- Godly members replaced with carnal members
- Spirit-filled services are replaced with feasting, dancing, and other irrelevant things. Romans 14:17 – “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
- Matters relating to sin/wrongdoing are not severely rebuked. 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
- Fewer testimonies of God’s goodness due to unseriousness in the things of God
- Members losing interest in participating in evangelism
- Prayerlessness
- No more love for in-depth study of the word of God
- Smartly avoiding the use of the name of Jesus openly
- Messages/Teachings are more focused on earthly/material gains
- Impoverished spiritually
- Converts become scarce
How To Know A Living Church Of Jesus Christ
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| “Pray without ceasing” |
- Revival fire burning nonstop. Leviticus 6:12-13 – “And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.”
- Holiness and righteousness are preached and practised
- All activity is focused towards God only
- Beautiful doctrines of the scripture are taught openly
- Prayerfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing.”
- Everything is done in line with the word of God
- True religion is cherished and practised. James 1:27 – “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
- Jesus Christ is recognized as the true head of the Church. Colossians 1:18 – “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
- Preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Conclusion: Church is a place where the presence of the Trinity (God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) is experienced. Also, where Christians are alive.
When a Church is cold, the presence of God departs, and the Christians that are left become cold spiritually.
A cold Church has no revival power, and the presence of God absent. It may appear appealing but it is lifeless.
Prayer: Every sign of spiritual death in my life be uprooted by the awesome power in the blood of Jesus, in the name of Jesus.
Revive me spiritually o Lord, in the name of Jesus.
Feel free to share this Truth. The Word of God is nothing but the Truth, and only the Truth can set us free!
