The church under attack

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30
Paul in speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, warns them of two sources of attacks against the church: the obvious ones, from outside; and the less obvious – those from within. It would seem that the Ephesian church took his warning to heart, as they were commended for their strict adherence to the true doctrine in Rev. 2:1-7.
Today also, the body of Christ is under continual attack. There are the obvious false teachers – ones who preach a gospel of self-enlightenment, improving your own self-esteem and saying that Christianity is merely one of many roads that lead to God. These may be people knocking on your door on a Saturday morning, or they may be university professors. But they are easily discerned, compared to the ones who arise from within the church and seek to lead people astray to follow themselves instead of pointing people to follow Christ.
God, through Paul’s words to the Ephesians some 2000 years ago, is warning us today. Satan’s attacks are not new. We should be discerning.