Ephesians 6:10

Satan's Attack on the Spirit-Filled Church

Ephesians 6:10

1952

March 25, 1979

I. Introduction: From Armor to Warfare

Look with me, would you, at Ephesians chapter 6.  This morning again I’m not going to continue our series of Ephesians simply because we’re going to take a little break the next few weeks and I don’t want to get into chapter 6 verses 10 and following until we can do it as a unit.  It is the section on the armor of the Christian and it deserves our concentrated attention, and rather than just begin and then depart and then come back to it again, I’d rather wait until after Easter and then really go at it with all of our efforts.

And sothis morning I want to sort of use Ephesians 6:10 to 12, which is our next Scripture, just as a jumping off point to begin some thoughts that I think are really essential for us today.  About once a year I get the feeling that I need to speak pointedly to issues regarding the future of Grace Church.  And this Scripture, as I was reading it over and praying about what the Lord would have me share with you this week, really kind of set the tone for me.  You’ll notice in verse 10 of Ephesians 6, which is the next verse in our continuing study, “finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.”  And we’ll stop there.

And I was reading that I was saying to myself that really is the way to end the book of Ephesians because what the apostle Paul is saying is this: if you are a true Christian as defined in chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 3, and if you are living the way a true Christian should live as defined in chapter 4, 5 and 6, then you can be sure of one thing and that is that you are going to run right into the enemy.  It is impossible to live in the manner that Ephesians outlines without having conflict with Satan.  It’s impossible.

And that’s why having said all of this he says “the final thing you need to know is that you have to be strong.  You have to put on the armor of God because you’re in a spiritual war.”  It’s a war.  I remember when I first came to Grace Church that I thought it was a honeymoon, and then a few years later I kind of felt that it wasn’t quite so adventurous.  It was more like work.  I’d have to crank out all these sermons, preach them on Sunday, start all over again on Monday again, and since I hadn’t had any backlog I was telling you everything I knew, I was racing like mad to stay up, and it was work.  

A few years ago I woke up and realized it isn’t a honeymoon and it isn’t work.  It’s war.  We’re in a battle.  It’s a war, and that’s essentially what Paul is saying here.  If we are, as Ephesians 4:1 says, “walking worthy of the vocation to which we’re called.”  If we’re walking in humility and unity, not in the vanity of our mind as the Gentiles.  If we’re putting on the new man.  If we’re walking in love, not lust.  If we’re walking in light, not darkness.  If we’re walking in wisdom, not foolishness.  If we’re not drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit.  

If we’re not singing the world’s songs but psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and if rather than being proud and individualistic we are submitting ourselves one to another, and if we are submitting as wives should to husbands as to the Lord, and if husbands are loving their wives as Christ loved the church, and if children are obeying their parents and parents are nurturing and rearing their children to the things of God, and if employees and employers have right relationships biblically and with Spirit-filled impact, then believe me, we will counter the system. We will run against the grain.

MacArthur begins by explaining why he is pausing the regular Ephesians series. The next section (Ephesians 6:10–20) on the Christian’s armor deserves sustained, unified attention after Easter. But verses 10–12 provide a powerful launching point:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.” (Ephesians 6:10–12)

He says this is precisely how Ephesians should end: if we are truly Christians as defined in Ephesians 1–3 (chosen, redeemed, united with Christ, indwelt by the Spirit) and if we are living as Christians should in Ephesians 4–6 (walking worthy, in unity, holiness, love, light, wisdom, Spirit-filled in marriage, family, and work), then conflict with Satan is inevitable.

The Christian life is not a honeymoon,

Not merely hard work,

But war.

He recalls his early years at Grace Church: at first it felt like a honeymoon, then like relentless work (sermon preparation every week with no backlog). Eventually he realized: “It isn’t a honeymoon and it isn’t work. It’s war.”

If we truly:

Walk worthy (Eph 4:1),

Walk in humility and unity,

Put off the old man and put on the new (Eph 4:22–24),

Walk in love, not lust (Eph 5:2–3),

Walk in light, not darkness (Eph 5:8),

Walk in wisdom, not foolishness (Eph 5:15),

Are filled with the Spirit, not wine (Eph 5:18),

Sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs instead of the world’s songs,

Submit to one another (Eph 5:21),

Live biblically ordered marriages, families, and work relationships,

then we will run counter to the system. We will “run against the grain” of the world, and that inevitably invites conflict.

II. Grace Church in the Crosshairs

MacArthur describes how Grace Church has increasingly drawn attention:

A call from CBS inviting him to debate a feminist from the National Organization for Women.

Clippings from newspapers across the country misrepresenting the church, with people asking if he has “gone crazy.”

The point is not self-importance, but visibility:

The church is known not only for what it believes, but often for what others think it believes.

God’s blessing, growth, and influence mean the world can no longer ignore the church.

He notes:

Letters come from pastors all over the world—India, the Orient, Europe, South America, Africa, New Zealand, Australia—asking, “What are you doing? Why is God blessing?”

The eyes of the world, both Christian and secular, are on the church.

Whenever God greatly blesses a church, Satan targets that church. If you think you’ve come to Grace just to nest comfortably, you are mistaken. He believes the church is likely to be tested more severely in coming days.

III. The Biblical Reality of Spiritual Conflict

I think about the apostle Paul, the same town of Ephesus.  He went into Ephesus and incredible things happened.  He went into that town and he began to preach the Word of God in the synagogue “and some hardened their hearts,” it says in Acts 19, “but some believed and the ones that believed listened to him,” and he taught but finally the others were so antagonistic they ran him out of the synagogue and he went to the school of Tyrannus, and for two years he taught every day, probably from 1:00 in the afternoon to 5:00 in the evening for two solid years. And it says that great things happened, miracles were wrought by the hands of the apostle Paul, the people who were involved in incredible kinds of magical worship began to burn their magic books.  There was riot.

And the guys who sold the little silver gods that were part of the trade found that they weren’t able to do it anymore.  People were really becoming iconoclastic.  They were smashing their idols and the city was in incredible uproar, and it says in Acts 19 “so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” And that great Ephesian church founded by Paul, later on given direction by Aquila and Priscilla and finally by Timothy and Apollos, knew the best of men and the best of circumstances and the greatest history. And yet when they began to really move Satan began to attack, and he began to attack in very subtle ways because that’s always his plan.

You know I believe in Ephesians 3:20, “Now in him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think according to the power that worketh in us unto him be glory in the church.”  I believe He wants glory in His church and I believe He gains that glory by allowing the church through His power to do things beyond what we can even dream, and I think God wants to go way beyond where we are now.  I think we’re just beginning to see what God would do when a group of people is totally committed to walk a worthy walk, when a group of people is totally committed to live the kind of life that Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 calls for.

Scripture presents the believer as a soldier:

Paul told Timothy to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).

God’s blessing brings responsibility; when He multiplies our influence, He also permits warfare.

MacArthur draws on Ephesus’ own history:

Acts 19: Paul preached in the synagogue; when hearts hardened, he moved to the school of Tyrannus and taught daily for two years.

Miracles occurred; people burned their magic books.

The idol-trade collapsed; artisans rioted because their idol business (linked to Artemis/Diana) was ruined.

Scripture says: “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:20).

The Ephesian church had:

The greatest founders and teachers—Paul, then Aquila and Priscilla, Timothy, Apollos.

Powerful impact on a deeply pagan city.

Yet, as they advanced, Satan attacked, and he did so with subtlety.

MacArthur links this with Ephesians 3:20–21:

“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think… unto Him be glory in the church…”

God aims to display His power and glory in the church, doing more than we can imagine—but as that happens, spiritual opposition intensifies.

Old Testament Glimpses of Cosmic Conflict

But as soon as that begins, Satan will oppose it.  We see it all around us.  You go back into the Old Testament for example and you see God sending an angel in Daniel chapter 10, and a demon withholds that angel so that that angel cannot accomplish the divine purpose, and God had to dispatch a greater angel, a stronger angel to blast that demon out and send that angel on his way.  You’ll find in Jude 9, Michael the archangel having a battle with Satan over the body of Moses.  Satan trying to restrain Michael from claiming the body of Moses for God.

He cites examples:

Daniel 10: God sends an angel, but a demon “withstands” him until a stronger angel comes to clear the way.

Jude 9: Michael the archangel contends with Satan over the body of Moses.

These show that there is a high-level spiritual war in the heavenlies, and the church is involved in it (Ephesians 6:12).

He laments that American Christianity has become:

Smug, content, subcultural,

More eager to accommodate the world than to confront it,

Convinced that we can win people by becoming like them, whereas Scripture calls us to counter the system.

IV. “Not Ignorant of His Devices”: The Need for Warning

But just the opposite is true.  We have to counter the system. Well, we need to be aware of the fact that Satan’s going to attack.  You know James in chapter 4 says “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8 and 9, Peter says “Be sober, be vigilant.”  Why?  “Because you’re adversary the devil like a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.  Whom resist steadfast in faith knowing the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”  In other words, Satan is going to be there.  Resist him.  Be sober.  Be vigilant.  Be aware.  Be alert and know what he’s doing.

2 Corinthians 2:11 says that “we should not be ignorant of his devices lest he gain an advantage of us.”  In Acts chapter 20 Paul was talking to those same leaders in the Ephesian church, and he said to them this: he said, “I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in, not sparing this flock and of your own selves shall men arise teaching perverse things.”  He says, “I know as well as I know my name.  I know as well as I know the sun comes up tomorrow you’re going to get it as soon as I leave from outside and inside, wolves from the outside and false teachers from the inside.”  “Therefore,” verse 31 of Acts 20, “I have not ceased to warn you night and day for the space of three years with tears,” he says.  Part of the ministry is a warning ministry.

Believers are commanded:

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8–9). We must resist him, “steadfast in the faith.”

We must not be “ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11), lest Satan gain an advantage.

MacArthur recalls Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:

“After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things…” (Acts 20:29–30)

Paul knew with certainty that:

Attacks would come from outside (wolves),

And from inside (false teachers from among them).

Because of this, he says, “I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31). A faithful ministry includes warning.

Given God’s evident blessing on Grace Church and its growing influence, MacArthur feels compelled to warn the congregation about how Satan attacks churches.

V. Christ Walking among His Churches (Revelation 1)

How does Satan attack us?  Well, for the answer to that I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 1.  You know I had an interesting thing happen to me one time.  I went into a room.  I was called in to where a girl was filled with demons and the demons all had different voices.  They used her mouth and so forth to speak, but the voices were not hers, and it was amazing because there was a terrible thing going on in this room and this girl had flipped over a desk and was slashing and smashing things around.

And when I walked in the door all of a sudden she hit the chair and just looked at me in a frenzied look and in a voice not her own, because I knew her own voice - the voice said, “Get him out.  Not him.  Get him out.”  My reaction to that was I was excited, because I was glad those demons knew who’s side I was on.  They know.  Believe me.  

To see Satan’s strategy, MacArthur turns to Revelation 1–3.

John’s Vision on Patmos

John is on the island of Patmos, exiled for his faith.

On the Lord’s Day, he is “in the Spirit” (Rev 1:10), prepared to receive revelation.

He hears a great voice commanding him to write to seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (Rev 1:11).

These churches are:

Historical churches in the first century.

Also prototypes of churches that exist in every age. In every era we can find churches that resemble Ephesus, Smyrna, Laodicea, etc.

The Lampstands and the Son of Man

John turns and sees:

Seven golden lampstands – defined as the seven churches (Rev 1:20). The church is meant to be a light in a dark world.

In the midst of the lampstands, “one like unto the Son of man” (Rev 1:13) – Jesus Christ Himself, walking among His churches.

Christ’s description:

Wearing a full-length garment and golden sash – combining the roles of prophet, priest, and king.

Head and hair “white like wool” – symbolizing holiness and purity.

Eyes “like a flame of fire” – penetrating and searching, able to see through all pretense.

Feet “like fine bronze, as if they burned in a furnace” – images of holy judgment (He judges His church; judgment begins at the house of God).

Voice like many waters – majestic, powerful, authoritative.

Seven stars in His right hand – identified as the angels or messengers (ministers) of the churches (Rev 1:20).

Christ is actively moving among His churches, holding their leaders in His hand, evaluating them with piercing holiness, ready to speak words of commendation and rebuke. Revelation 1 is the evaluation; Revelation 2–3 are the resulting letters.

VI. The Seven Churches: Satan’s Strategy in Five Descending Steps

Out of the seven letters:

Two churches receive no rebuke:

Smyrna – the persecuted church.

Philadelphia – the evangelistic church with the “open door.”

Five churches receive warnings, showing a descending progression:

Losing first love (Ephesus).

Compromising with the world (Pergamum).

Tolerating sin (Thyatira).

Dead orthodoxy (Sardis).

Lukewarm apostasy (Laodicea).

MacArthur warns that the same degeneration has occurred in thousands of churches across history: they start strong and end with “Ichabod” (“the glory has departed”) written over them.

1. Ephesus: The Church That Left Its First Love (Revelation 2:1–7)

Look at verse 6.  It says “This thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate,” and the Nicolaitans apparently were resulting from an individual named Nicolas who was a man who espoused sexual immorality.  Someone said of Nicolas “he abandoned himself to pleasure like a goat.”  Whatever this thing was, and we’re not really sure, it seems to have come from that.  We know that it has to do with licentious, lewd, immoral, evil, fornicating-type of behavior.

And he says, “You hate that.  You have the works going.  You’re laboring.  You’re patient.  You don’t tolerate sin.”  And verse 2 says, “You even try them who say they are apostles and are not.”  In other words, “You deal with the false teachers, you have a biblical standard, you’ve got a statement of faith, you’ve got a theology, and you measure men by it.  You’re doctrinally solid.  You’re dealing with sin.  You’re working hard.”

Man, it sounds like a great church, and it says in verse 3, repeating, “you have borne.”  You’ve endured things in the past, and you’ve come out all right, and you “have patience and for My name’s sake you labored.”  Listen, that’s the greatest motive for anything a Christian does.  “For My name’s sake you did it.”  The glory of God was their motive, the highest motive in all the universe.  You even had the right motive.  You were serving My glory, My name, and you labored and you didn’t faint.

Christ introduces Himself as the One who holds the seven stars and walks among the lampstands (Rev 2:1). He commends Ephesus:

“I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience…” (v.2).

They toil to the point of exhaustion (kopos).

They endure hardship in a very hostile environment (pagan Ephesus, temple of Diana/Artemis).

They “cannot bear them which are evil” (v.2) – they deal with sin; they do not tolerate evil behavior.

They test those who claim to be apostles and are not – they are doctrinally discerning, biblically solid.

They hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which Christ also hates – apparently a group teaching licentiousness and sexual immorality.

They have borne up, endured, and “for My name’s sake…labored, and hast not fainted” (v.3). Their motive is God’s glory.

By all external measures, this is a model church: hardworking, doctrinally sound, morally serious, disciplined, motivated by Christ’s name.

But Christ’s fiery eyes see deeper:

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Rev 2:4)

This is the church where love died. They exchanged:

Hot-hearted affection for Christ,

For cold orthodoxy and performance.

This is Satan’s first subtle attack: to cool the heart’s affection while leaving doctrine and activity intact. This danger is acute for a church like Grace:

So much ministry, so many programs, so much truth—very easy to shift focus from Christ Himself to the work of the ministry.

Jesus taught Peter that ministry must be rooted in love:

“Simon, son of John, do you love Me? … Feed My sheep.” (John 21:15–17)

Without love, ministry is hollow.

Application to individuals and church:

Has the “honeymoon” ended?

Is your Christian life simply orthodox performance—going through motions of church, service, doctrine—without a burning love for Christ?

If you love anyone or anything more than Christ—self, family, leisure, money, success—you have lost your first love.

Christ’s remedy (Rev 2:5):

Remember “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen…” Recall the warmth, joy, and zeal you once had.

Repent Not loving God supremely is not a minor slip; it is a fall that requires repentance.

Repeat “…and do the first works.” Return to the basics: Scripture, prayer, worship, fellowship, witnessing—“stay close to the fire.”

Ephesus did not repent, and Christ threatened:

“I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy lampstand out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev 2:5)

Historically, the Ephesian church died. This shows that Satan’s first victory is not gross heresy or scandal but the cooling of love.

2. Pergamum: The Church That Compromised with the World (Revelation 2:12–17)

There’s a second thing to be aware of.  Verse 12 of chapter 2.  We skipped the church at Smyrna because that was the persecuted church and it isn’t warned.  “But to the angel at the church in Pergamum write; These things saith he who has the sharp sword with two edges.”  That’s the Lord, and the sword is a sword of judgment coming out of His mouth as in Revelation 19, Hebrews chapter 4.  He says “I know thy works,” verse 13, “and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is: and that thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith even in those days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.”  

Stop right there.  He says, “Pergamus, I know everything about you.  My searching, penetrating gaze reveals all these things.  I know your works.  I know you’re involved.  I know you’re active.  I know there’s something going on, and I know that you are where Satan’s throne is.  You’re in a tough place.”  And man, Pergamus was a tough city.  Do you know that Pergamus was the center of emperor worship, the center of the worship of Caesar?  

Do you know that it was the center of the worship of Zeus, the great god - some say the greatest god of all that system of deities - and that in the city of Pergamus they had built a huge altar to Zeus in the shape of a throne, and so some feel that the throne of Satan, as mentioned in verse 13, is a reference to the altar of Zeus, the greatest, most famous, largest altar in the world.

On the other hand, Pergamus had its own god by the name of Asclepius.  He was the Pergamese god who was associated with healing, the god of healing.  He’s always been associated with snakes, and in Pergamus they had a temple and a medical school.  You still see a snake on the symbol of a physician, and that really comes from Greek mythology, from this Asclepius, the god of healing.  And in the temple they had nonpoisonous snakes all over the floor, and people who were ill would come and lie there so that those snakes could crawl over them and everywhere they touched them they would be healed.

Listen, it was tough being in Pergamus.  It was tough being a little group of Christians in the midst of a terrible Pagan society.  So He says, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is, and I know you hold fast My name and you have not denied the faith, even to the point where some of you died, namely one dear brother, Antipas, whose life was taken away in that place where Satan dwells.”  Boy, you know it’s tough, but let me tell you something, folks.  To live in a tough city, to be in a tough environment, to live in a tough time of the world and name the name of Jesus Christ.  Listen, there’s no reason to lower the standards even then.  That doesn’t change them.  Even then they’re the same.

God says, “I know it’s tough there.  That doesn’t change the standards.  I know it’s hard.  That doesn’t change anything.  Even though you’ve endured and even though you’ve been martyred and even though you’ve worked on for the Lord, even though you’ve upheld his name,” verse 14, “I have a few things against you.”  And what is it?  

“Because you have them there that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.”  Let me tell you what that is.  Balaam got the children of Israel to intermarry with the pagans and to get into their idolatry, and what He’s saying here is: that’s compromised with pagan systems. And the problem in the church at Pergamus was they were compromising with the world.  

They were intermarrying.  I don’t know whether that actually was going on, whether there were actually Christians intermarrying with non-Christians.  Very likely that was happening.  But the church at Pergamus began to court the world.  They began to indulge themselves in worldly things.

They were violating 2 Corinthians 6, “What fellowship has light with darkness.  What concord has Christ with Belial?”  They were to “come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing,” but they were the worldly church.  They had let the world come in.  They were doing what the world wanted them to do.  They were aping the world.  

It’s amazing to me, and I’ve been telling this to you now for months.  It’s amazing to me how the church of Christ in America today is going all out, whole hog, to ape the world.  They do it in so many ways.  If the world’s view of the family changes, the church accommodates it.  If the world’s view of the woman changes, the church accommodates it.  If the world’s view of the homosexual changes, the church accommodates it, and we get on the bandwagon with everything the world does.  We want to identify with it.  It’s shocking.  Just shocking.  The church becomes materialistic because the world is materialistic.  The church becomes preoccupied with entertainment because the world is preoccupied with entertainment.  And just to give you an illustration with that, something I was reading this week.  Do you know that in the last ten years, while there is a steady rise in the number of born-again people, there’s a corresponding steady decline in the number of church members?  Because these people aren’t going to churches.

Listen.  You know how Satan attacks a church?  First it’s very subtle.  We lose our first love.  And then all of a sudden we begin to compromise with the world because the easiest thing to lead you into compromise is a lack of love for God.  If you really love God and you love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, your desire above all things will be to maintain His absolute honor.  Right?  And to do that you can’t compromise with the system.  But as soon as you cool in your love, then it becomes easier to fall into the trap of the system.  By the way, you’re going to love something, and if it isn’t God you’ll wind up loving what’s around you.

Christ now speaks to Pergamum, presenting Himself as the One “who hath the sharp sword with two edges” (v.12)—the sword of judgment (cf. Rev 19:15; Hebrews 4:12).

He commends them:

“I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is…” (v.13).

Pergamum is a very difficult place:

Center of emperor worship,

Home of the massive altar to Zeus,

Center of the cult of Asclepius, the serpent god of healing.

They live “where Satan dwells.” Yet they:

Hold fast Christ’s name,

Have not denied the faith, even when Antipas was martyred.

But Christ has something against them:

“Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam…” (v.14)

Like Balaam leading Israel into intermarriage and idolatry (Numbers 25; 31:16), some in Pergamum:

Compromised with paganism,

Ate things sacrificed to idols,

Committed fornication.

This represents compromise with the world. The church begins courting the world: adopting its values, joining its practices.

MacArthur applies this sharply:

Many churches now adopt the world’s views on the family, women, sexuality (including homosexuality), materialism, and entertainment.

Instead of confronting, they accommodate.

He highlights the “electronic church” as an example of worldly influence:

TV-based “church” that provides an entertainment-driven, fantasy experience—professional music, perfect production, no parking hassles, no difficult people.

Viewers never need to commit to a real local body with real sinners, discipline, stewardship, mutual love.

The electronic church often mimics the glitter, show, and celebrity culture of the world. It becomes “cultural religion,” not cross-bearing discipleship.

Pergamum also tolerates those holding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (v.15)—probably a libertine group promoting sexual immorality. Thus, compromise with the world opens the door to moral corruption.

Christ’s call:

“Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (v.16)

Notice the progression:

Once love for Christ cools (Ephesus),

It becomes easier to compromise with the system, because the passion to guard God’s honor has faded.

3. Thyatira: The Church That Tolerated Sin (Revelation 2:18–29)

There’s a third church that I want to mention to you.  The church at Thyatira, verse 18.  “Unto the angel in the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine bronze.”  He’s searching, penetrating and coming in judgment and this sounds so good.  “I know thy works, and love, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.”  You’re even getting better at this stuff.

Now here’s a church that’s really working.  Boy, they’re active, and they’ve really got it all going.  If the church in Pergamus married the world, the church in Thyatira is celebrating their anniversaries.  This is the church that tolerates sin.  Ephesus lost their first love.  Pergamus compromised with the world.  Thyatira tolerant of sin.  The floodgate was open and sin is there.  Verse 20.  In spite of all your works, all your love, all your service, all your faith and patience, and all this stuff, and that it’s even increasing, “I have a few things” - by the way is not in the Greek manuscripts.  “I have this against thee.  Because thou allows that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication, and eat things sacrificed unto idols.”  

You know what that church did?  They had all those good things, love and service and faith, but they let the church become a victim of a false teacher.  They just allowed sin to come in, have its heyday.  There were people committing fornication.  Sounds like the Corinthian church doesn’t it?  And by the way, that went out of existence too.  But here came this woman and she was seducing and involving them in the idol worship of the day - and I’ve told you this before - but idolatry of those eras of history involved sexual activity, and so here were these people just having a great time, getting involved in the filth and the rot of the world.

You know, people, there’s more of that going on in Grace Church than I think ever has in the past, but we’re not going to tolerate it any more than we have in the past.  It’s a rare day when you have a couple come in for premarital counseling and you ask them “Have you gone to bed together?” and they say no.  That’s becoming a rare thing.  Is that shocking to you?  It’s becoming a rare thing.  This is a very vile and evil world we live in, and people are drawn into sin if they’re not aware of what’s going on and they don’t build their defenses and walk in the Spirit.  But I’ll tell you, we’re not going to tolerate it any differently than we ever tolerated it.

We have a lot more of evil around us by virtue of volumes of people, but our tolerance for it is no more existent than it ever has been.  But this church began to allow it and God was even patient, verse 21: “I gave her space to repent.”  God even gave a little time for repentance “and she repented not.”  And then He says, “Behold I’ll cast her into a bed.”  She likes beds so much, I’ll put her in a bed.  She wants to commit fornication, I’ll put her into a fornicating situation.  And verse 23 says it will be a bed of death.  “I’ll kill her children with death.”  That’s what I’ll do.  Whoever those people are who have listened to this Jezebel are designated as her children, and He says, “I’ll kill her children with death.”  It will be a bed of death.  I’ll put them in bed - death bed.  And the churches will look and say “I am he that searches the minds and hearts: and I’ll give every one of you according to your works.”

Listen, the Lord will judge this church, beloved.  Don’t you think you can be a believer and get away from God in His chastening.  Not at all.  The bed of vice will be exchanged for a death bed.  Because they’ve committed adultery, they’ve committed adultery, verse 22 says.  Why?  Because the believer is married to Christ, and fooling around with idols and sexual activity is a form of adultery.  I tell you, He says to the church that tolerates sin, “you better repent.”  You better turn around.  And if you don’t repent, end of verse 22, “I’ll kill you with death.”

Now for those of you who aren’t involved, in verse 24 He says, “I’m not going to put any other burden on you.  Just hang on to what you’ve got till I get there.  But to those that are evil, I’m going to bring a judgment.”  Here is the church that tolerates sin.  Beloved, there are so many churches that do this.  They just don’t want to deal with sin.  They just don’t want to confront anybody.  They say, “You mean you discipline people in your church?”  We do.  Because the Bible says to.  “Oh, we don’t want to get into any of that because we might make…”  You see tolerating sin.  Compromising with the world.

If Pergamum flirted with the world, Thyatira married it.

Christ presents Himself as “the Son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass” (v.18)—again, searching holiness and judgment.

He commends them (v.19):

Works,

Love,

Service,

Faith,

Patience,

And more works—their last works are greater than their first. They are improving in activity.

Yet despite all this, He says:

“I have [this] against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel…” (v.20)

They allow a false prophetess—likened to Jezebel—to:

Teach and seduce servants to commit fornication,

Eat things sacrificed to idols.

The church is flourishing in activity but tolerates false teaching and gross sin. Idolatry in that era often involved sexual acts; the church has allowed pagan-style immorality to infiltrate.

MacArthur parallels this with contemporary patterns:

Increasing rate of fornication among professing believers, even at Grace—premarital sex becoming “normal.”

He states plainly: the church must not tolerate such sin; it must continue to discipline.

Christ has been patient:

“I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” (v.21)

But judgment is coming:

He will cast her into a “bed” (the bed she loves becomes a bed of suffering and death).

Those who commit adultery with her will face great tribulation unless they repent.

“I will kill her children with death” (v.23)—those who follow her into sin will face severe discipline.

All churches will know that Christ searches hearts and minds and rewards according to works.

For those not involved (v.24–25):

He places no further burden—only that they hold fast until He comes.

The third step of decline:

Loss of first love (Ephesus),

Compromise with the world (Pergamum),

Then toleration of sin and false teaching (Thyatira).

Many churches today avoid discipline to “keep the peace,” but Christ here threatens severe discipline on those who allow sin unchecked.

4. Sardis: The Church That Was Dead (Revelation 3:1–6)

And it just descends.  You start with a loss of love, and then pretty soon when you don’t love the Lord anymore you’re willing to compromise.  You compromise a little bit and pretty soon your compromise becomes a tolerance and sin floods the church and you go right from that kind of a situation in Thyatira into the next chapter.  Verse 1, you’re in the Sardis church and this is a church that is content with programs.  All of a sudden the life is gone.  A church that tolerates sin becomes a degenerate, dead church, and He says “I know thy works,” verse 1, “that thou hast a name, that thou livest but are dead.”

A dead church, a corpse.  Do you know that Sardis was one of the greatest cities in the ancient world?  In fact, its greatest king was named Croesus, and when we want to say somebody is really rich we say they’re as rich as Croesus.  That church, or rather that city, was literally synonymous with wealth.  That city went out of existence.  That church went out of existence.  The church because it was a degenerate, dead church.

Just a few things kicking a little bit.  Verse 2, “Be watchful.  Strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die.”  They were either dead or ready to die.  All they had left was form, like the rhyme of the ancient mariner, corpses man the ship, dead men pull the oars, and dead men steer the vessel.  The thing was going, functioning - just everybody was dead.

This is when the church becomes a group of activities, a series or programs.  You have your classes and you have your little groups and you have your activities for the kids and for the young people and for the adults, and everybody’s very busy, and the fleet’s rolling, and the people are coming.  It’s just that there’s no life there.  God’s not there.  “Ichabod” is written.  The glory is departed.

And the sequence is easy to see.  You lose the first love.  A loss of that first, consuming, passionate love and you begin to compromise with the world.  You compromise with the world and sin floods in and you begin to give in to sin and tolerate it, and when sin completely takes over the church, then the spiritual life is choked out and what you have is a dead church.  Like Samson, you’re moving around.  You just don’t have any strength.  You’re a victim.

And so He says in verse 3, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.  If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”  Oh, He says, there are “a few names in Sardis that have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy.”  There were still a few.  This church is just barely hanging on.  A few things that are dying, and a few people that are left.  Started in Ephesus, tremendous church; began to lose its first love, and now we’re down - just a few are left and this is the way it goes.  Few hanging on, whose garments are white; just a few.

From tolerating sin, the church can descend into spiritual death.

Christ says:

“I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” (v.1)

Sardis was once a great, wealthy city (Croesus), but it decayed. The church mirrors the city:

It has a reputation for life—programs, activities, public image—but in reality it is a corpse.

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die…” (v.2). Even what’s left is on life support.

Only “a few names even in Sardis” have not defiled their garments (v.4). A small remnant of true believers remains.

This is the program-driven church:

Plenty of classes, youth activities, adult ministries,

Organizational movement, but no spiritual life.

Like Samson still moving, but without strength; like a ship manned by dead men.

Christ’s remedy:

“Remember… how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” (v.3)

If they will not watch, He will come like a thief; they will not know when.

The sequence is clear:

Loss of love,

Compromise with the world,

Tolerance of sin,

Spiritual death—a church running on momentum and reputation, with only a few true believers still alive.

5. Laodicea: The Lukewarm Apostate Church (Revelation 3:14–22)

You know the next step?  The next step in the descent of the church comes as Satan attacks in his final blow in verse 14 of chapter 3, the church of Laodicea.  Our Lord warns the church that leaves its first love, the church that compromises with the world, the church that tolerates sin, the church that is content with its forms and it’s rituals and its organization and its programs, and lastly He warns the church that is the apostate church.  The church that is no church at all, Laodicea.

“To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hold: I would thou wert cold or hot.”  And what our Lord means there is this: cold means indifferent to the gospel, unsaved and not interested, just not even concerned.  Not hypocritical.  No pretense at all - unsaved, unmoved, uninterested.  

I wish you were like that, or that you were hot, believing, saved, redeemed, but you are neither hot or cold.  You are lukewarm and that is the worst of all.  That is playing Christianity.  That’s the hypocrisy that nauseates Christ, and He says, “because you are lukewarm and neither cold or hot I’ll spue you out of my mouth.”  The cold He preaches to through His messengers.  The hot He embraces in His bosom.  The lukewarm He spits out of His mouth.  They are the hypocrites, and this is the hypocritical church, the phony church, the church that is no church.

And this is liberalism today.  This is what we have in the world today, under the guise of Christianity, that deny the Bible, deny the deity of Jesus Christ, deny all of the great tenants of the Christian faith and yet say they are Christian churches.  This is the church of the humanists, and when you ask them, “Tell me about your church,” what they say is not, “Well we are seeing God’s Word prevail.  We are seeing people redeemed.  We are seeing God touching lives.”

No, they say, “I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.”  Look at us.  We’re successful.  We’ve got a big organization and we’ve got a lot of money.  There are huge churches around the world, great denominations, massive religious systems, that fall under this category.  They’ve got all the money and all the trappings and all of the paraphernalia but they are apostate and they will be spewed out of the Lord’s mouth.

He says to them in verse 17, “You don’t know that you’re wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked: and I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nakedness does not appear; and anoint thine eyes with salve, that thou mayest see.”  “That thou mayest see.”  So He’s really saying to them, “I don’t think you’ve got your evaluation right.”  And He says, “As many as I phileo” – as many as I phileo” – as many as I reach out to in deep concern, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

The last stage is not a sick church but a false church—a church that is no church at all.

Christ describes them as:

Neither cold (openly unbelieving and uninterested),

Nor hot (genuinely redeemed and fervent),

But lukewarm—professing Christianity without reality.

He says:

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (v.16)

The cold can be evangelized. The hot are embraced in fellowship. But the lukewarm—religious hypocrites—He finds nauseating.

This pictures many liberal/humanistic denominations today:

They call themselves Christian, but deny the Bible, the deity of Christ, the atonement, and the core doctrines.

Their boast:

“I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing…” (v.17) Large buildings, institutions, money, prestige—material success.

But Christ’s evaluation:

“Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” (v.17)

He counsels them:

To buy gold from Him refined by fire—true spiritual riches.

To buy white garments—true righteousness, to cover their shame.

To anoint their eyes with salve—true spiritual sight.

He says:

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (v.19)

This is the final result of the unchecked downward slide: apostasy.

VII. God’s Preservatives: Smyrna and Philadelphia

And what does the Lord say to these churches?  Well, beloved, let me tell you, these are seven absolutely incredible letters.  Five of them, mark it, are warnings.  To two of the churches there is no warning.  To the church at Smyrna and Philadelphia apparently there needed to be no warning.  The church at Smyrna was the persecuted church.  The church at Philadelphia was the evangelizing, aggressive, soul-winning church.  Seems to me that those two things are wonderful preservatives.  

When a church is persecuted it tends to maintain its purity because all of the impurity drops out.  You’re not about to identify with an outfit where you’re going to get persecuted unless you’re pretty serious.  Right?  So persecution has a way of purifying and so does evangelism, because as long as you’re heart is toward the world and as long as you’re aggressively reaching the lost you tend to be going outward rather than ingrown. And the Philadelphia church, the church with the open door, was a blessed church, and the Smyrna church, the church that was being rained on by the fires of the opposition, was a blessed church, but the other five stood in need of deep warnings.

And there’s a progression to the five warnings.  They start at what seems a very, a very light kind of situation and they become so oppressive as to finally become apostate and a church which is utterly no church at all.  There’s a descending thing that we’ve seen happen in many churches throughout history.

Amid the five warnings, two churches receive no rebuke:

Smyrna – The Persecuted Church (Revelation 2:8–11)

Christ knows their works, tribulation, and poverty (they are materially poor but spiritually rich).

They face slander and coming imprisonment: “The devil shall cast some of you into prison…”

They will endure tribulation, yet Christ says: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (v.10)

Persecution purifies the church:

It strips away nominal attendees; only serious disciples remain.

No one joins a persecuted church lightly.

Philadelphia – The Evangelistic Church (Revelation 3:7–13)

Christ holds the key of David, opening and shutting doors sovereignly.

He says: “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (v.8).

They have little strength, but have kept His word and not denied His name.

They are characterized by an open door—a heart for evangelism and missions.

Evangelism preserves the church:

It turns the church outward instead of inward.

It crucifies pride and comfort.

As long as we care about the lost and walk through the open door, we avoid becoming an ingrown, self-focused, dying body.

MacArthur’s plea: if we at Grace Church will:

Stand firm like Smyrna under whatever opposition may come,

And go outward like Philadelphia through the open door of evangelism,

we can avoid the path of Ephesus–Pergamum–Thyatira–Sardis–Laodicea.

VIII. Application Points

Guard Your First Love for Christ. Examine whether you still love Christ with the freshness, joy, and zeal you once had. If not: remember, repent, and return to the first works.

Refuse Compromise with the World. Reject the pressure to adopt the world’s thinking on morality, identity, marriage, entertainment, and success. Be separate without being isolated.

Do Not Tolerate Known Sin. In your life and in the church, deal with sin biblically. Loving discipline protects the purity of the body and honors Christ.

Beware Mere Activity and Reputation. Programs, attendance, and visible “success” are not proof of spiritual life. Ask: is God truly at work? Is there repentance, growth, and real holiness?

Reject Lukewarm Religion. Do not be content with a comfortable, respectable Christianity that neither offends nor saves anyone. Christ hates lukewarmness.

Embrace Persecution Rather Than Avoid It. If faithfulness to Christ brings reproach, welcome it as purification rather than flee to safety by compromise.

Give Yourself to Evangelism. An outward-facing, gospel-preaching, soul-winning church is less likely to rot from within. Evangelism keeps us dependent, humble, and focused.

Stay Aware of Satan’s Devices. Do not be naïve: Satan aims at this church and at your life. Stay spiritual awake, saturated with Scripture, prayerful, and obedient.

IX. Suggested Memory Verses

Ephesians 6:10–12 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Revelation 2:4–5 “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works…”

Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

X. Key Cross-References

Spiritual warfare: Ephesians 6:10–20; 1 Peter 5:8–9; James 4:7.

Satan’s schemes: 2 Corinthians 2:11.

Warnings to shepherds: Acts 20:28–31.

Cosmic conflict: Daniel 10; Jude 9.

Worldliness vs. separation: 2 Corinthians 6:14–18.

Discipline and judgment in the church: 1 Corinthians 5; Hebrews 12:5–11.

XI. Teaching Outline

Title: How Satan Attacks a Church: Lessons from the Seven Churches

Introduction: The Christian Life as War

Eph 6:10–12 – spiritual armor because of spiritual conflict.

Grace Church’s visibility and the inevitability of attack.

Christ Walking among His Churches

Revelation 1: John’s vision.

Lampstands, stars, and the searching, judging Christ.

Step 1 – Losing First Love (Ephesus)

Commendation: works, doctrine, discipline, motive.

Condemnation: left first love.

Command: remember, repent, repeat.

Consequence: lampstand removal.

Step 2 – Compromising with the World (Pergamum)

Context: “where Satan’s throne is.”

Commendation: loyalty under persecution.

Compromise: doctrine of Balaam and Nicolaitans.

Application: cultural accommodation, entertainment-driven religion.

Call to repent or face Christ’s sword.

Step 3 – Tolerating Sin (Thyatira)

Commendation: love, faith, service, growing works.

Problem: Jezebel, immorality, idolatry.

Christ’s patience and promised judgment.

Application: sexual sin and church discipline.

Step 4 – Dead Orthodoxy (Sardis)

Reputation for life, reality of death.

A few remaining faithful.

Remedy: remember, watch, repent.

Danger of program-driven, Spirit-less Christianity.

Step 5 – Lukewarm Apostasy (Laodicea)

Neither cold nor hot; nauseating lukewarmness.

Boasting in wealth and self-sufficiency.

Christ’s counsel: true riches, true righteousness, true sight.

The apostate church as no church at all.

God’s Preservatives: Smyrna and Philadelphia

Smyrna: persecuted yet faithful; purified by suffering.

Philadelphia: open door; preserved by evangelism.

Conclusion and Exhortation

Judgment begins at the house of God.

Preserve first love, holiness, separation, evangelism.

Prayer for Grace Church to remain a bright lamp, not a dead monument.

XII. Discussion Guide

War, Not Honeymoon

In what ways have you tended to view the Christian life as a “honeymoon” or mere “work” rather than warfare?

How does Ephesians 6:10–12 reshape your expectations?

First Love

Describe what your “first love” for Christ looked like.

What signs suggest that love may have cooled?

Which of the three commands—remember, repent, repeat—do you need most right now?

Compromise with the World

Where are you most tempted to adopt worldly values (family, sexuality, money, entertainment)?

What concrete boundaries might you need to re-establish?

Tolerating Sin

Why is it so hard for churches (and individuals) to confront sin?

How can we cultivate a culture where loving, biblical discipline is normal rather than shocking?

Dead Orthodoxy vs. Living Faith

How can you tell if your spiritual life (or your church) has slipped into “program mode” rather than Spirit-empowered life?

What would “remember, keep, and repent” look like in practical terms?

Lukewarmness and Apostasy

What does lukewarm Christianity look like in your context?

Why is lukewarmness so offensive to Christ?

Persecution and Evangelism as Preservatives

How can we prepare our hearts to accept persecution if faithfulness demands it?

What is one specific step you can take this month to walk through the “open door” of evangelism?

Praying for the Church

Based on these five warnings, what should we be praying for our local church?

Take time as a group to pray that God would keep you from losing your first love, compromising, tolerating sin, dying spiritually, and drifting into lukewarmness.

Reference

John MacArthur. https://www.gty.org/sermons/1952/satans-attack-on-the-spirit-filled-church