The Seven Churches and the Kingdom Today
Topic: Ephesus: Discerning Evil at Ephesus and in the Kingdom Today
Scripture: Revelation 2:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:10; Ephesians 6:10-18
Greetings Kingdom Citizens and Sons of God:
Now I have heard many people and especially people in leadership downplay the influence of evil and the demonic. People say the Kingdom of God is greater than anything so we do not
have to worry about evil and the premise of that is correct but the entire concept of that statement could not be further from the truth. If we look at the condition of Ephesus we know the fact that there was great false god worship (Diana of the Ephesians) and great acts of immorality. If we look at today, there is very little difference. But one of the things that the people at Ephesus was praised for was for not bearing or standing evil and trying those who call themselves apostles but are not. Now when you start dealing with this, carnal people want to draw back and not deal with sin and people who are false prophets and christs.
It is amazing how we can see something and know it is wrong but yet still allow it into the church and allow it to become part of the church culture. God gave us the spirit of discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10) so that we can see the demonic and then allow Holy Spirit to give us counsel on what to do about those situations. Remember in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in chapter 6, God spoke to the Ephesians about being clothed in the armour of God for protection.
This armour not only plays defense for the son but also plays offense. However what happens to most people is they play defense and never play offense and what happens when you play a one-sided war with the enemy you get beat down. Any time you play defense and never play offense a person will get tired eventually from being beat on. However, God gives you the shoes of the gospel and the sword of the Spirit to play offense. You need your shoes to move and walk in your destiny and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God to defeat and destroy every weapon of the enemy. So the whole armour protects you.
Now here is the beautiful part. You have a Heavenly Father that has already fixed the fight and He will warn you by His Spirit of the traps and movements of the enemy. It is up to you to listen to the Father and move on His counsel in the appropriate manner. If you do not heed the Word of the Lord then you are at great risk of attack and influence by the enemy. The church at Ephesus discerned the evil and were able to stand for the truth knowing and seeing what the lie is being clearly uncovered and made aware by God.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
