"And so in Jesus’ right hand are the churches, and in his left is the Holy Spirit. And John Stott says, “If only he would bring His hands together! If only the Spirit would fill the church! Then this church would be alive.” That’s what a dead church needs – the life-giving energy of the Spirit of God. That’s what a complacent church needs, for he is the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2):
· It is the Holy Spirit who can breathe life into formal worship.
· It is the Holy Spirit who can animate our dead works until they pulsate with life.
· It is the Holy Spirit who can rescue a dying church and make it a living force in a community.
· It is the Holy Spirit who can transform our actions and change a church that’s lost its oomph.
"Again, John Stott says of the Holy Spirit, “A stale church can be refreshed by him, a sleepy church awakened, a weak church strengthened, and a dead church made alive.” See how this all goes together: if we’re complacent, our job is to wake up, verse 2. Our job, verse 3, is to remember the gospel, obey it and repent – that’s what we must do. There’s no new message, no new angle, no new emphasis. It’s not something that we haven’t yet heard about. The gospel is all we need. But here’s the promise: as we return to the gospel, as we glory in it, as we meditate on it, as we obey it, as we’re captivated by it, and as we repent of all the other things that we allow to become more important than Jesus, THEN, as we do that, the Lord Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to transform us to be all that we ought to be. I love this. There is no case for driving a wedge between word and Spirit, between the gospel and the Holy Spirit. We’re to remember what’ve we’ve heard – the gospel, to obey and repent. And then the Spirit brings the church back to life. But he doesn’t do it separate from the gospel."
Paul Williams speaks on "Names in a Book" from Revelation 3:1-6.God Bless.
Dear Freedom
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