But there is a powerful insight to be learned here. Outwardly everything looked great.Īnd for these good things Christ commends them. They had withstood persecution and not fainted. No doubt their pastor was an expository preacher, giving them clear application points to every sermon. People in their neighborhood would have looked at them and said, "Man, those folks must be some kind of good Christians, they sure are busy."Īnd not only were they busy for the Lord. On the contrary they were very busy working for the Lord. So here in verses 1-3 Christ commends them. The Ephesian church had refused to bow the knee to Caesar and had stood firm in the midst of persecution. with the emperor Nero, there was widespread persecution of Christians. This church existed during one of the most difficult times in all of Christian history.
Their problem was not their failure to understand good doctrine, their problem was not that they lacked perseverance.
They understood who they were in Christ, how to walk with Christ and how to engage in spiritual warfare. We also have the book of Ephesians to help us understand the profound degree to which they had been taught the truth. It was a wealthy city and yet a very pagan city, as it was home to the largest temple in the ancient world, the pagan temple of Artemis.Īcts 20 gives us background on this church where it tells us that Paul had preached among them for three years. Four major trade routes went through this city, making it somewhat cosmopolitan in the ancient world. The City of Ephesus was mighty and majestic. It is to this end that I speak to you this morning. God does not want us to become like Ephesus. It is a prophetic word, it is a preventative word, it is a prescriptive word. That is why our text has been recorded in God's word. We must on guard, corporately and individually, against losing our passion, we must guard against becoming what the church at Ephesus had become. It is not that this has happened to our church God is here and is working in our midst. Out text this morning paints a picture of a church A picture which in many ways shows us why so many churches today are in decline a picture, not only of a church but of individual Christians who somewhere along the way allowed the good to replace the best in their spiritual lives. But why then have some 80% of churches in our country either reached a plateau or are in decline? When we share our faith and make disciples for Christ, He has promised to bless our efforts, to multiply them and to give us success. Of all the endeavors of humanity there is only one which carries an absolute promise of God's unending blessing: The expansion of the Kingdom of God. Satan wants us to become so satisfied with where we are, with what we are doing and with what we have accomplished, that instead of maintaining a red hot passion for Christ and for His kingdom, we would lose our zeal for Christ and His kingdom replacing a once consuming internal passion with a complacency that is content with the religious status quo The fervor we once had for Jesus is replaced with an acceptance of things as they are. When he cannot deceive us, divide us or daunt us what he will often do is divert us. It is perhaps the most insidious tool, because it is masked behind the façade of success. When these tactics are not completely successful there is another tool he uses to stop the forward progress of a particular church or congregation. When God's people refuse to allow sin in their midst Satan often brings persecution and difficulties against the church, all in an effort to discourage and dishearten God's people.
With a nasty tool chest full of things like gossip, jealously, suspicion and pride, he causes God's people to take their eyes off of Jesus and His commandments and causes them instead to focus on earthly things which have no eternal value. Where this does not work he introduces schisms and division, knowing that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Whenever he can he tries to introduce false doctrine into the church. The scripture tells us that he is our enemy who like a roaring lion is seeking whom he may devour.Īny cursory study of the New Testament will show that the Devil employs many tactics as he tries to thwart the work of God. Wherever God is at work, be certain that Satan is not far behind. The scripture tells us that we are not unaware of his schemes. Think about it, it's one of the Devil's oldest schemes. There's an old saying which says, "The good is ever the enemy of the best." There's no where that this is truer than in the kingdom of God in the lives of Christians and in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Scriptures: Revelation 2:1-7 Introduction