Bible verses about "stagnation" | Worsley

² and envies, and all evil-speakings, as new-born babes desire that rational milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby:

¹ To the angel of the church at Ephesus write, These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; ² I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and that thou canst not bear those that are evil: and thou hast tried those who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne trouble, and hast patience; ³ and for my name's sake thou hast laboured, and hast not fainted. ⁴ Yet I have somewhat against thee; for thou hast left thy first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works: else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, if thou repent not. ⁶ But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. ⁸ And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, These things saith the First and the Last, who was dead and is alive; ⁹ I know thy works and affliction and poverty (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of those that say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Fear none of the things which thou wilt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall suffer affliction ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. ¹¹ Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He, that overcometh, shall not be hurt by the second death. ¹² And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith He, who hath the sharp two-edged sword; ¹³ I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and yet thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr; who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against thee; for thou hast there those that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. ¹⁵ So thou hast also them that hold the like doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate. ¹⁶ Repent therefore---if not, I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword that goeth out of my mouth. ¹⁷ Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna: and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth, but He that receiveth it. ¹⁸ And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God, who hath eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass; I know thy works, ¹⁹ and thy love, and thy service, and thy faith, and thy patience, and that thy last works are more than the first. ²⁰ But I have a few things against thee; because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who saith that she is a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. ²¹ And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. ²² Behold I will cast her into a bed, and those that commit whoredom with her, into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds: ²³ and I will cut off her children by death; and all the churches shall know, that I am He who searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. ²⁴ But to you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, As many as do not hold this doctrine, and who are unacquainted with the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will lay on you no other burden: ²⁵ but what ye have hold fast till I come. ²⁶ And to him that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, will I give power over the nations: ²⁷ and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken in pieces; as I also have received of my Father; ²⁸ and I will give him the morning-star. ²⁹ Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

¹ And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead: ² be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect in the sight of God. ³ Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent: for if thou be not watchful, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come upon thee. ⁴ Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy. ⁵ He that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name from the book of life; but I will own his name before my Father, and before his angels. ⁶ Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. ⁷ And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith the holy One, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth and no one shutteth, and shutteth and no one openeth: ⁸ I know thy works, and behold I have given thee an open door, and no one shall be able to shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. ⁹ Behold, I will give up those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews, and are not, but speak falsely; behold, I will make them come and bow before thy feet, and they shall know that I have loved thee. ¹⁰ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which is to come upon the whole world, to try those that dwell upon the earth. ¹¹ Behold, I come quickly; hold fast what thou hast, that no one may take thy crown. ¹² Him, that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, (the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God,) and my own new name. ¹³ Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. ¹⁴ And 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 hot: ¹⁵ I wish thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will cast thee out of my mouth: ¹⁷ because thou sayst, I am rich, and wealthy, and have want of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst be rich; and white raiment that thou mayst be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear: and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayst see. ¹⁹ Whomsoever I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any one hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. ²¹ To him that overcometh I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also have overcome, and am set down with my Father on his throne. ²² Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

¹ Now on the same day, Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the sea-side: ² and many people were gathered together to bear Him, so that He went into a ship and sat down, and all the multitude stood upon the shore; and He spake to them many things in parables, ³ saying, "Behold a sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he was sowing, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the birds came and ate them up: ⁵ some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and they soon sprung up indeed, because they had no depth of earth; ⁶ but when the sun rose, they were burnt up, and withered; because they had no root: ⁷ and others fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them: ⁸ but others fell on good ground, and yielded fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty. ⁹ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." ¹⁰ And the disciples came to Him and said, Why dost thou speak to them in parables? ¹¹ And He answered them, saying, Because it is granted unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not granted: ¹² for whosoever really hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundantly; but whosoever thus hath not, even that which he hath, shall be taken away from him: ¹³ for this reason I speak to them in parables; because though they see, they will not see; and though they hear, they will not hear, nor understand. ¹⁴ And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, Ye shall hear by the hearing of the ear, and not understand; and in seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is grown stupid, ¹⁵ and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; least they should see at all with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. ¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear: ¹⁷ for indeed I tell you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear what ye hear, and have not heard them. ¹⁸ Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the gospel-kingdom, ¹⁹ and regardeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and snatcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he who received the seed as by the way-side. ²⁰ And he who received the seed as upon stony grounds, is one that heareth the word and immediately receiveth it with joy: ²¹ yet hath he no root in himself, and therefore is but for a short season; and when affliction cometh, or persecution on account of the word, he is as soon disgusted. ²² And he that received the seed among the thorns, is one that likewise heareth the word; but the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choketh the word, and so it becometh unfruitful. ²³ But he who received the seed into good ground, is one that heareth and understandeth the word, who indeed beareth fruit, and yieldeth, like fertile lands, some an hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. ²⁴ Another parable propounded He unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man, who sowed good grain in his ground: ²⁵ but while men were asleep, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ Now when the blade shot forth, and produced the corn, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants came to their master, and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? whence then are the tares? ²⁸ And he said unto them, Some enemy hath done this. The servants therefore said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹ But he said, No: least in plucking up the tares ye root up the corn along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together till harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather the weeds together, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but carry the wheat into my barn. ³¹ Another parable delivered He unto them, saying, The gospel-kingdom is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. ³² Which is indeed one of the lest of all seeds: but when it is grown, is the greatest among herbs, and even becometh a tree; so that the birds of the air come and lodge in it's branches. ³³ Another parable spake He unto them, saying, The gospel-kingdom is like leaven, which a woman took and put into a large quantity of dough, till the whole was leavened. ³⁴ All these things spake Jesus in parables to the multitudes; and at this time He spake nothing to them without a parable: ³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I will publish things which have been concealed from the foundation of the world. ³⁶ Then Jesus leaving the multitude went into the house; and his disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field: ³⁷ and He answered them, and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; ³⁸ the field is the world; the good seed are the children of my kingdom; and the tares are the children of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰ As therefore the tares are gathered together, and burnt in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world: ⁴¹ the Son of man will send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all that commit offences, and those who do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, ⁴² and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ But the righteous shall then shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. ⁴⁴ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hid in a field, which a man having found conceals, and being rejoiced at it goes and sells all that he has, and purchases that field. ⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking precious pearls, ⁴⁶ who, having found one 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 cast into the sea, and inclosed fishes of various sorts; ⁴⁸ which, when it was full, they dragged to the shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, and threw out the bad. ⁴⁹ So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous; ⁵⁰ and shall cast them into the fiery furnace, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁵¹ Then saith Jesus unto them, Did ye understand all these? they say unto Him, Yes, Lord: and He said unto them, ⁵² Therefore every teacher, who has been thus instructed in the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven, is like a master of a family, who brings forth out of his store things new and old. ⁵³ And when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence: ⁵⁴ and came into his own country, and taught them in their synagogues; so that they were amazed and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom and these powers? ⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ and his sisters, are they not all here among us? from whence then hath this man all these things? ⁵⁷ So they were prejudiced against Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is no where less honoured than in his own country, and in his own family. ⁵⁸ And he did not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

⁶ for which cause I remind thee to stir up the gift of God which is in thee through the imposition of my hands.

²⁵ not forsaking our assemblies, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.

⁴ but let patience have it's perfect work, that ye may be entirely perfect, failing in nothing.

¹ But this know, that in the last days there will be difficult times; ² for men will be selfish, covetous, arrogant, proud, blasphemers, undutiful to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without natural affection, perfidious, false accusers, intemperate, savage, enemies to the good, traitors, ⁴ headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness, but strangers to the power of it: from such turn away. ⁶ For of these are they who insinuate themselves into families, and captivate weak women, that are laden with sins, ⁷ and led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ And as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth; being men of corrupt minds, and of no judgement in the faith. ⁹ But they shall not proceed far: for their folly shall be evident to all, as theirs also was. ¹⁰ But thou art well acquainted with my doctrine, conduct, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, ¹¹ sufferings, which befel me at Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and how the Lord delivered me out of them all. ¹² And indeed all, that are desirous to live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. ¹³ But wicked men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But continue thou in the things which thou hast learnt, and been assured of, knowing from whom thou hast learned them; ¹⁵ and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus: for all scripture is by inspiration from God, ¹⁶ and is profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly fitted for every good work.