Sermon 201108

Providence Baptist Church

More Worried about the Showroom Than the Back Room?

Revelation 3:1-6 (November 8, 2020)

There are a couple of separate ways to be alive, yet dead.

• Being concerned about outward appearances more than the important aspects.
  • Teaching and preaching the truths of Scripture
  • Making disciples
• Deliberately misleading people into believing all is well when there are deep-rooted problems.
  • Church needs to operate with well-defined motives
    • Clear expressions of beliefs and doctrine
    • Dedicated service toward purpose, not pleasing
  • Churches need to be candid about their conditions

Steps for repairing a dead church:

• Remember the purpose for which the church exists
• Dedicate to the purpose of the church
• Repent

Once our names are in the Book of Life they cannot be erase. John was using litotes, a literary device which expresses a thought to an extreme. Example: A parent may say, “Do what I said this minute and I won’t kill you this time!” Contrast with hyperbole, “Do what I said this minute or I’m going to kill you!”

Don’t be concerned about the showroom more than the back room. God cares more about the condition of our hearts than He does about our outward appearances, especially when our outward actions are not genuine.