Text: Rev 2:1 – 3:22
Theme: The problem with the church
Introduction:
- Have you ever looked the church and asked yourself the question: “What is wrong with the church today?” [e]
- I have asked myself this question on numerous occasions [e]
- Why this question?
- Firstly, let’s define who the church is:
- The church (in a nutshell) is the Body of Christ…you and I, and not the physical building [e]
- We make up the church of God [e]
- Secondly, why must the church exist?
- The church exists because it was ordained by Christ to be a body that met regularly together [e]
- Hebrews 10: 24 – 25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” [explain Scripture]
- Thirdly, for what purposes does the church exist?
- The church exists for basically 2 reasons:
- For outside this building, the church (every single one of us) is called to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ [e]
- This responsibility falls upon every single one of us [e]
- Matthew 28: 19 20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
- Inside the church building, we are to preach and teach the Word of God [e]
- We are to pray for one another and we are to help each other out [e]
- I am not going to go deep into this, but rather in the light of this, we find that the church seems to have gone off on a completely different direction than from what God requires [e]
- And it’s not a recent problem that has arisen in the church, but ones that are age old as the enemy of our souls has been instigating these issues from the day the New Testament church was born [e]
- So to answer the question, “What is wrong with the church?”, lets look at 7 churches in the Bible and see how the same plagues affect us today
- Turn with me to the book of Revelation 2
1. The church has lost it’s first love
- [read 2: 1 – 4]
- When we talk about love, we refer to the heart [e]
- The heart always has to do with love [e]
- Why the heart?
- The heart is an organ that keeps the body alive [e]
- When the church loses it’s first love, it means that Jesus, Who used to be our first love, has been replaced [e]
- He is there [e]
- He has a degree of importance to us [e]
- We still mention His Name every now and then [e]
- But something else has replaced Him as our first love [e]
- Christ is the One that keeps this body called the Body of Christ alive [e]
- When a church replaces Christ with other loves, the church then become in danger of dying spiritually, because the Heart of the church (Jesus) is gone [e]
- How do you recognise a church that has lost its first love?
• There is no desire to worship [e]
• There is no desire to attend [e]
• There is no desire to be part of the program of the church [e]
• There is no desire to be part of a ministry [e]
• As the human body devoid of a heart grows cold, so does the church grow cold…we also begin to grow cold towards each other [e]
- Today, lets go back to the Cross [e]
- Lets get back to Jesus…our First Love [e]
2. The church has allowed agents of satan into it and given them a voice
- [Read 2: 8 – 9]
- I was talking to Elder Steven on Friday, and we spoke about this one character that has entered into our little town and has started holding “Truth Workshops”, and how he has now started speaking against preaching methods which God has allowed for centuries to share His Word with His people [e]
- The church is now allowing agents of satan to have a place behind the pulpit [e]
- These individuals are blaspheming against God and His Word [e]
- We always have folk asking: why we don’t this person to preach here or that person to come pray here? [e]
- Why don’t we have visiting preachers like so many other churches do? [e]
- It is because we want to keep the Gospel pure and we want to keep the Word unadulterated [e]
- By the way, we are having a guest speaker next week….
- In these days, not everyone who stands behind a pulpit is placed there by God [e]
- Not everyone who preaches has been given a mandate by God [e]
- Not everyone who calls themselves by the title of pastor has been called by God [e]
- I said this before, and I will probably say it again in the future…
- Be careful where you go [e]
- Be careful who preaches to you [e]
- Be careful who prays over you [e]
- Be careful of so-called prophets who have a word for you [e]
- Be careful because there are many agents of the enemy that have been promoted to pulpits [e]
3. The church has deviated from the true Word of God….issues of doctrine
- [Read 2: 12 – 15]
- Doctrine! That seems like such a big word…doesn’t it! [e]
- But when we talk about doctrine, we are talking about preaching the true, properly interpreted Word of God [e]
- There are many churches that have taken the Word of God and have perverted it to suit them and their lifestyles [e]
- There are many churches that don’t hold true to the Word of God [e]
- There are many churches that preach a gospel that pleases the ear and justifies a certain lifestyle [e]
- Today, I want to declare that this pulpit shall be used for the following:
• To preach Christ…that He died for our sins and rose on the third day thereafter[e]
• To preach that there is only forgiveness of sins by accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour and by asking for forgiveness of sins [e]
• To preach the Triune God in the Persons of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit [e]
• To preach that hell exists for those who reject Christ [e]…there is no such thing as a sugar-coated gospel [e]
• To preach a message of salvation constantly [e]
- The Word was never designed to be preached for popularity…it was designed to be preached to populate heaven [e]
- Church, don’t be swayed by every wind of doctrine [e]
- Don’t get carried away by the persuasive Words of men [e]
- Satan has set up people to tell you that the Word you hear is too hard [e]
- Satan has set people to tell you that the other church is better…that there airconditioning works….that the pastor is powerful….that your church is not going anywhere….that the grass is greener on the other side [e]
- Beware you don’t fall into the trap of false doctrine [e]
4. The church has allowed sinful people to hold ministry positions
- [Read 2: 18 – 21]
- Today, there are many people who call themselves….God does not call them [e]
- The church today, in order to please people, have placed them in positions of leadership [e]
- Look at the Word of God…those who don’t belong behind the pulpit seduce…they don’t minister [e]
- We always learnt that the anointing flows from the top down [e]
- That is the spiritual order of things [e]
- So it stands to reason that anyone with a contrary spirit will also release that spirit upon the church [e] [read vs 20 again]
- When sinful people hold positions of authority in church…the church will catch that same sinful spirit [e]
- Let us purpose that here in this church, we keep ourselves pure to minister [e]
- Yes, people may leave for this reason, [e]
- They may get upset [e]
- They may hate us [e]
- But all that matters is that God approves [e]
5. The church has become as “dead”
- [Read 3: 1 – 4]
- I was talking to Emily on Friday evening at youth club.
- She was telling me about her first semester at med school [e]
- Then she told me that next semester, they are going to work on a cadaver (a body) [e]
- While it’s not my cup of tea, I would like to point out a few things:
• That body would not respond, no matter what is done to it [e]
• That body will never again come to life with all the medical equipment available, unless the Lord come and revive it [e]
• That body over time will decompose and turn into dust [e]
- We cannot have a name that suggests we are alive, but be dead [e]
- Come on church, it’s time to revive [e]
- Are we a dead church? [e]
- Have we lost our excitement for the Lord? [e]
- It’s time to awake!! [e]
6. Yet another church infiltrated by agents of the devil
- [Read 3: 7 – 9]
- Wow! For the third time the Bible speaks about the church being infiltrated by agents of the devil [e]
- What is the definition of “infiltrate”?
- “Infiltrate” is a word used by intelligence and spy agencies around he world [e]
- “Infiltrate” means to come in under the disguise of someone friendly with the intention of causing as much harm and damage as possible [e]
- When the Bible yet again mentions agents of satan in the church, we are being cautioned once again to beware of many who are in churches, who are running churches, but have been promoted there by satan. [e]
- Agents of the enemy are recognised by their ability to break a church, rather than build it [e]
- Agents of the enemy are those that will be promoting and supporting confusion [e]
- Agents of the enemy are those who sow discord [e]…let me ask you a question:
- How many of you have encountered people who have spoke badly about our church,
- spoke badly about our leadership,
- spoke badly about our ministries
- and asked you to leave and join their churches? [e]
- I boldly declare today that these are agents of satan [e]
- The church is designed to be a body that shines that light of the Gospel to a dark world, but satan has got us destroying ourselves [e]
7. The church has become lukewarm
- [Read 3: 14 – 17]
- The Lukewarm church is a sermon that has been preached on numerous occasions [e]
- What does the Bible mean by “The lukewarm church”?
- Simply, it is a church that is not cold…not dead and dysfunctional [e]
- It is a church that I not hot…on fire and excited for the Lord [e]
- Rather it’s a church that is “going through the motions” [e]
- The programs are there [e]
- The different ministries are there [e]
- There is a staff that ensures that everything is up and running [e]
- But it’s people are doing everything “half-heartedly” [e]
- We come to church…for the sake of coming to church…and not to meet with the Lord [e]
- It’s a church that has allowed the “blessings” to replace the “Blesser” [vs 17] ! [e]
- God is important, but my lifestyle supersedes Him [e]
- Church has it’s place…just not a place of importance [e]
- I am happy with the ministries, but I cannot be involved [e]
- Are we a lukewarm church? [e]
Conclusion
- [Read 3: 19 – 22]
- The Word of God may be a bit hard on the church (that is you and I) today, but why does God allow that?
- It is because He loves the church [e]
- The church has been described as the Bride of Christ [e]
- Jesus is coming back for a church without spot and blemish [e]
- He wants us to get ready for His coming [e]
- Over the weeks to come our focus is going to shift to the second coming of Jesus [e]
- It’s time for the church, that is you and I, to start to prepare for His coming [e]
