Robot Christians

Have you ever had someone come to you and say, “I need to talk to you, I have something against you that I want to discuss with you.”

This is exactly what the Lord said to the church at Ephesus. “NEVERTHELESS, I HAVE SOMEWHAT AGAINST THEE.”

Let’s look at what the Lord had against this church, but before the Lord tells us what He had against this church he tells us some GOOD things to say about them.

First, He tells us…

I.THE PLACE

If you had been living during the time of the writing of the seven churches of Revelation, and you wanted to live in the most exciting city in the world, you probably would have selected Ephesus.

• Two hundred thirty cities dotted the coastline of Asia Minor, and many of them were great cities, but Ephesus was the queen of them all.

• Paul went to Ephesus on his third missionary journey. He stayed there two years.

WHY DID HE STAY THERE FOR TWO YEARS?

He had two things to say about those two years in I Cor. 16:9, "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."

Now that was good news and bad news:

1. GOOD NEWS: "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me…”

Notice, he said GREAT DOOR was opened to him. Who opened this door? God did!

That was the GOOD NEWS, but anytime God began to bless a church, you can depend on Satan trying to shut the doors God had opened.

Notice, he says also…

2. BAD NEWS: “…And there are many adversaries."

The church of Ephesus is the first church we read about in the book of Revelation.

The book of Revelations talks about seven churches. They are: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

There were other churches also in Asia also.

They were:

• Troas (Acts 20:5; II Cor. 2:12),

• Miletus (Acts 20:17),

• Colosse (Col. 1:2),

• Hierapolis (Col. 4:12).

The Bible does not tell us why John did not write to them, but we can assume two things:

(1) IT WAS GOD’S CHOICE

God chose these seven churches that were symbolic of the seven kinds of churches that were to exist in the ages to come.

For example, our age is believed by many to be the last church on that list called the Laodicea church.

This church is characterized by the age in which Christians are NEITHER COLD OR HOT SPIRITULLLY.

Illus: Now some people like COLD TEA and some like HOT TEA, but no one likes luke warm tea.

And God does not like a LUKE WARM CHURCH EITHER!!!

There is another reason God did not choose the other six…

(2) THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.

Even though each of the seven churches had similarities, each one was different. This has always been true among churches.

Illus: As you travel across America today you will find that all churches have similarities, yet, still, there are major differences also.

Let us look at the seven verses of scripture that deal with the church at Ephesus to see how we, as a church, compare to that church.

The first thing the Word of God reveals to us about the church in Ephesus is THE PASTOR.

Let’s take a closer look at…

II. THE PASTOR

Of course we can see why this would be the first thing that God deals with because leadership is important to any church.

It must sadden the heart of God that many churches today do not place much value on leadership.

God’s church should always be mentoring those who would be in a leadership position within the church in the future.

Illus: The young adult and youth class is a good place to start training future leaders for the church.

Only after prayerfully and practically recognizing those among the congregation whom God is preparing for these types of roles should be placed into leadership.

Many churches do not do this and this is why they do not have qualified leaders in the church.

Illus: Many churches use the children game called “Tag System”.

What is the TAG SYSTEM?

It comes from the game children play, when you are “tag, you’re it” to serve qualified or not.

Our churches are so desperate for help that there is no vetting process for serving in leadership at all.

And they wonder why next year will be like last year and the next year will be like the last year and next year like the last year, and the next...

You see, all leaders lead in two ways:

(1) In a Good way

(2) In a Bad way

Look at verse 1 we read, "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write…”

Angel here is a messenger!