Bible verses about "stagnation" | Common

¹ "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands: ² I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot bear evil men, but you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false; ³ I know you have persevered and have endured for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember then from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶ But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.' ⁸ "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'These are the words of the First and the Last, who died, and came to life: ⁹ I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and I know the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful even until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.' ¹² "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword: ¹³ I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to my name, and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to practice sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent therefore, or else I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna. And I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.' ¹⁸ "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: ¹⁹ I know your works, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that your works are now more than at the first. ²⁰ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality. ²² So I will cast her on a sickbed, and I will throw those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ And I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴ But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I will not lay upon you any other burden; ²⁵ only hold fast what you have until I come. ²⁶ He who overcomes, and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations ²⁷ "He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as when potter's vessels are broken in pieces" ²⁸ just as I also have received from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. ²⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

¹ "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. ³ Remember therefore what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. But if you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. ⁴ Yet you have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. ⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' ⁷ "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'These are the words of him who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: ⁸ I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word, and have not denied my name. ⁹ Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lielook, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall never go out of it. And I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. And I will write on him my new name. ¹³ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' ¹⁴ "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation: ¹⁵ I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot! ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, "I am rich; I have become wealthy, and have need of nothing"and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, ¹⁸ Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments to clothe you, and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I rebuke and chasten. So be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹ To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

² Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ² And great crowds gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow his seed. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where they did not have much soil, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ But other seed fell on good soil and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear." ¹⁰ The disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" ¹¹ And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For whoever has, to him will more be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive. ¹⁵ For this people's heart has grown dull. And their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and they understand with their hearts, and turn so that I should heal them.' ¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. ¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. ¹⁸ "Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ But he who received the seed on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. ²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one who received seed on the good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." ²⁴ Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' ²⁸ He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them up?' ²⁹ But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the weeds you also root up the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers. Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" ³¹ Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; ³² it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." ³³ He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened." ³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables; and without a parable he did not speak to them. ³⁵ So was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world." ³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." ³⁷ He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸ the field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. ⁴⁴ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and then in his joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ⁴⁵ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he had found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. ⁴⁷ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ which, when it was full, they drew it up on the shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ⁵¹ Jesus asked, "Have you understood all these things?" "Yes," they said to him. ⁵² And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been instructed for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." ⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴ And coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." ⁵⁸ And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the Day drawing near.

⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

¹ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding a form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, weighed down with sins and swayed by various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. ¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, yet the Lord rescued me from them all. ¹² Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, knowing from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.