Return to Your First Love
Do your remember your first love?
I do. I was just a teenager. When I met her I fell in love with her at first sight. She was beautiful and sleek. She had curves that had never been seen before. She was fast and handled perfectly. I spent all of my money on her and all of my time with her. I loved my 1957 Chevy. It had a 283 V-8 engine and I could blow everyone off of the road. I spend all my free time cleaning and waxing her. That 57 Chevy was the love of my life. I no longer have that car, but I will never forget it.
Do you remember your first love?
Most of the things in my early life I no longer remember, but I do remember when I accepted Christ as my Savior and my Lord. I remember how much I enjoyed going to Sunday school and Church. I remember my teachers and Pastor. Going to church to worship my Lord was very important to me. Because of my love for Christ, I never got into trouble as a teenager. I wanted to serve my Lord more than anything else in my life. As a teenager God was calling me into His ministry, I was ready to accept, until I saw some things happen in our church, that I knew even at that young age, was wrong and against God’s commandments. Because of those circumstances, I did not accept God’s call in the ministry until 40 years later. I made a grave mistake by turning away from my first love in Christ. The church that I was attending also had forgotten their first love and made traditions more important than loving and worshiping Christ.
Let’s read about a church in the Bible that also turned away from their first love.
Rev 2:1-11
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 and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices 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.
(NIV)
At the time of this letter was written, Ephesus was a flourishing city with a population of about 225,000 and possessed a huge harbor. The harbor could accommodate the largest ships in the world. Ephesus grew to become one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world. The temple of Diana was there, which was one the seven wonders of the ancient world, being the largest Greek temple ever constructed. Diana was believed to be the mother goddess of the world by the Greeks. Diana was the goddess of fertility, life and reproduction, so the worship of Diana was immoral beyond description. The worship consisted of sexual orgies and sexual mutilation. The Church at Ephesus had much to contend with, just has our churches today has to contend with pornography and homosexuals.
The Commendation:
Rev.2
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Christ tells the church that He knows of their hard work and perseverance. The church in Ephesus was surrounded by all kinds of sins. There were the sexual sins of the worship of the goddess Diana. With Ephesus being one of the wealthiest cities in the world, there was the obvious sin of the love of money. The saints of Ephesus had over come all of this. They hated all that was evil and could not tolerate wicked men.
Sin is rampant in our city just like it was in Ephesus. Do we hate the sin that is in our world today and do we not tolerate wicked men? Pornography is rampant in our city and nation, the killing of unborn babies is accepted even by some so called Christians and now it appears Hobbs will get our first horse track and casino. Are we standing up against these sins or are we just sitting back and letting it happen? Christ commended the church at Ephesus for their hard work against the wicked and also for their "toil to the point of exhaustion" for their service to Christ. Are we toiling to the point of exhaustion trying to reach the lost and to bring them into the fold of the church? Also do we know the word of God well enough to test someone’s teaching that may come into our church? Today many people including Christians are being deceived by false doctrines that have come about since the Sep 11th terrorist attack.
1 Tim 1:1-5
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work-- which is by faith.
5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
(NIV)
The church in Ephesus knew the doctrine that Paul and Timothy had taught them. They tested all the teachers and Pastors and if anyone taught a doctrine other than what Paul had taught them, then that person was removed. Paul told them to steer clear of controversies concerning theology, but build up the faith through love.
The Condemnation:
Rev. 2
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
I teach a children’s discipleship class on Wednesday nights. These kids really show what it means to love Christ. They are on fire for Christ. They fight over who is going to read the next verse. They all want to answer my questions and they try to out shout the others to get their comments in. To my amazement, they told the Pastor that one-hour is just not enough time for this class. Two weeks ago we had 6 kids and last week we had 15. These kids are bringing their friends, because they are excited about Christ. We as adults should act as these children. Are we that excited this morning to hear God’s word? Are we bringing our friends to church with us? We should be! We need to become more like children in our love for Christ. Kids don’t fight over who is more important in the class or who is smarter, they just want to study the word and show Christ their love. When they walk out of the class they are excited, not because of anything that I have said, but because they love Christ.
Matt 18:3
3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(NIV)
Is our love for Christ equal or greater than these children I told you about?
Do you remember when you were first saved? You loved the Lord so much that He was on your mind constantly and all you wanted to do was to serve Him. Is it still that way today or is it like what happened to the church in Ephesus? Are we more concern about how our church looks, who is doing what and who is getting the most attention from the Pastor? Have our egos taken over our first love?
If we still had our first love, we would be praising and worshipping God with a joyful noise. We would be inviting everyone that we see to our church. We would be witnessing to the lost. If we still had our first love, we would love each other and forgive each other of sins that we may have committed toward each other. God knows our hearts and He will bless those who love Him. Is your heart right with God? If we will return to our first love and do those things that we first did as new Christians, God will pour out His blessings upon this church. We can’t just sit back watch a church die. This isn’t God’s will for this church either. Come together as one in Christ. Come together filled with love for Christ. Come together filled with love for one and another. Theology or religion will not save our church. Returning to your first love of Christ will save it. By returning to your first love God will richly bless His church here at Belvue. You will see a revival began that will exceed all expectations.
John 3:16-18
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
(NIV)
God loves us so much that He allowed His one and only Son to suffer and die on that old rugged cross. Would you give up your son or daughter to save the life of someone here today? I love each one of you, but not enough to sacrifice my son. God did it because His love for us is a perfect love. Shouldn’t we love God just as much as He loves us?
Rom 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(NIV)
We all have sinned. There are not any here today that have not sinned. None of us can live a perfect, holy and righteous life. We have all fallen short of the expectations that God has for us.
Rom 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(NIV)
Because of our sins we deserve a life in hell, but because of God’s love for us, He has given us a way to obtain eternal life with Christ.
John 14:6
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(NIV)
There is only one way to heaven. Only through Jesus Christ can we have eternal life with God. Living a good life can’t get you into heaven. Buddha or Mohammad can’t get you into heaven. Only Jesus Christ can save you.
Rom 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(NIV)
To spend eternity in heaven you must confess that Jesus is Lord of all and you must believe in your heart (not in your mind) that He died on the cross for your sins and that God raised him from the dead on the third day.
Rom 10:13
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
(NIV)
If you are here today and you don’t know Jesus as you Savior, He loves you and what to give you the gift of eternal life in heaven with Him. Come down to the front during the invitation and I will help you with a prayer that will save you for eternality. Come now.
