The Persevering Church

Each generation can offer its observation and description to help others grow “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Pet. 3:18a). Thus, this book is offered to point us back to the verse: “All Scripture is God-breathed, and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
The heroes of faith were hearers/doers (James 1). They listened and learned, but they also practiced the truth. They heard, then spoke, and acted. We tend to soak up the truth and then blot it out by non-use. The persevering church is more than a social center and a once-a-week storage depot for increasing numbers of adherents. It should be a reporting center where we come with the Word and by the Spirit, to contribute to the life of the local fellowship.
This effort to treat Ephesians in a thematic fashion seeks to show that the highly respected Ephesian church—be it one or a circuit of fellowships—had strengths and weaknesses, ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, not unlike our own. The more carefully you study New Testament literature, the fewer similarities you find with modern ideas of ecclesiastical success!
This volume makes no attempt at an in-depth study of Ephesians. Many others have already achieved such a goal. Rather, it seeks to look at the Ephesian church (and our churches) from the level of daily life.
In part one, Occasion, we explore five essential areas that comprise the foundation for the Ephesian or any other local church. What doctrinal and human stuff makes up the church? What is God doing with that “stuff”?
In the section, Outlook investigates the makeup of the people in this fellowship. Jew and Gentile have been moved from a caustic past to a compatible present—a marvelous accomplishment by the Lord through his Holy Spirit. The “oneness in Christ,” created out of all races and cultures in humanity make up this fellowship. Any persevering modern church, whatever its headcount, must have a heart count that adds up to a realistic unity, not a contrived uniformity.
“Objective” is the final portion of the book. It moves from the basics of the faith and the blend of the faithful to the need for focusing on the Lord. The rigors of being an earthling, the importance of home and social relationships, and the reminder of spiritual warfare demand constant attention from the church. Paul’s emphasis on the need for weaponry, tested and adequate, helps to underline the gravity of our struggle with the world, the flesh, and especially the devil.
The epilog is a reminder to our generation of believers of the concerns of past generations. Gradual attrition of the membership may well lose the quest for doctrinal purity and church unity. For the devil achieves the most when he spins a web of loveless busywork about the local church. The first and last admonition for the Christian is to love.
The goal at the outset of this book is to awaken a biblical and realistic understanding of what a persevering church is. Such a church is not necessarily one inundated by crowds of people but is one inhabited by those who know the joy and sorrow of worshipping and working with others who God has also released from darkness and despair.