Saturday, January 28, 2012

First century church problems


We sometimes think that we are the only ones who have problems. If we are not so naive as to think that we are not the only ones who have problems, then we are confident that our problems are so much worse than others.
But in this short space, we are going to consider, from concrete examples, some of the problems in the first century church. I believe you will find that they were plagued by the same types of problems that churches have now. Study and meditate upon the following examples: lying (Acts 5:1-11), hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-14), forsaken duty (Acts 6:1-6), factionalism (1 Corinthians 1:10-17), false teachers (2 Timothy 2:16-18), immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-13), unfaithful preachers (2 Timothy 4:10) and indifference (Revelation 3:15-17).
So we see that churches had their own problems in the first century. How did they overcome them? By heeding Paul’s instructions: “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). Churches can also overcome sin by heeding the Lord’s words: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Revelation 2:5). Do not think we are unique when we have to deal with sin and wickedness. Churches throughout the ages will continually deal with these problems until the Lord comes again. Watch and pray lest you fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41).

Kyle Campbell

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