“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds,your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2)
Reputation: Churches all have them. So do individuals. God wants us to be known as holy, not "holier-than-thou". This church had a reputation for doing the right thing, working hard, and standing up against sin and false-teaching, even enduring persecution for Christ. But if we are not careful, we can become self-approving in this situation, smelling like we know how good we are. We lose our passion for Christ Himself, and leaving Him out, we find it hard to repent, or even think we have something for which to repent. After all, we haven't done anything terrible, and have stood up for what is right and true. But as with all the tendencies these churches had, if we do not, we will fall away from God's purposes, and fade away from being the light He made us to be.
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