How does forgetting our foundations affect our future?
- Ephesus was the capital of Asia minor and was the heart of the area, but they had forgotten where their heart and love goes to. They had lost their first love for God.
- They were doing many things right.
- These are the five key things Christ commended the church in Ephesus for::
1. Working hard.
2. Persevering.
3. Resisting sin.
4. Critically examining the claims of false prophets.
5. Enduring hardships without becoming weary.
- One of the key things they did well was to resist false teachers, Paul had warned them about false teachers when he was ministering to them. Acts 20 v 29-31 - "29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."
- This was the kind of danger he was talking about, because they had resisted they had stayed strong but this led to a problem.
- They became proud and relied on their own strength because they had resisted these false teachers. They had persevered hard times and hard tests and id not grow weary but it was also under their own strength. Psalm 37 v 39 - "The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble."
- This was the kind of faith they needed, they needed to get back to the heart of God and have the romance with God all over again.
- Jesus reminded them he was head of the church as he walks amongst all 7 lamp stands.
- God cares about our potential!
- In writing these letters John starts off by encouraging the church them telling them how to correct some failures. This is because God wants us (the Church) to succeed and build his Kingdom well. Ephesus had some very strong points but it was also weak in a few places. God wants to work in our weaknesses to strengthen us.
- The source for everything they did needed to be the love of God. John and Jesus emphasise the need for God's love in sharing the Gospel and being the Church - John 13 v 34 and 1 John 3 v 18-19.
- All the hard work and hard times they went through affected their affection and love.
- "When defending against the faith, guard against any structure or rigidity that weakens your love for God."
- The question - does our love for God grow as become more mature in the faith or does it decrease? I believe it should grow as our understanding of love grows.
- Lets not lose the love we had for God when we became a Christian, lets grow it!
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