Becoming As Little Children

The Lord Jesus promised that “the gates of hades will not prevail against” the builded church (Matt. 16:18). That doesn’t mean, however, that there wouldn’t be attempts. In fact, the devil has quite an arsenal of spiritual weaponry to use against the church. He can’t destroy it (which he has failed to do for thousands of years), but he can at least make life difficult for the believers (which he has successfully done for thousands of years). We think of jealousy, sin, personality conflicts, racial differences, and doctrinal divides as the ultimate and most serious troubles that might beset the church. These things have certainly inflicted their share of sorrows upon us, but we often overlook the most common, deadly piece of equipment. It was the instrument used to kill Jesus, the head of the church, and countless thousands of His true believers down through the ages. It is often merciless, rarely identified as godless, and sometimes appreciated, even by good people.

That weapon is religion. Nothing, it seems can chill the fervor of a group of people more effectively than spiritual staleness.