Then shall my latest breath whisper
thy praise Lift thee the parting breath my heart shall raise His spirit fresh shall be, Born
of the pride to be, Born of duty, Born of duty. Alright, let's ask the Lord to
bless time together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for the privilege of coming here tonight. We thank you that
in your sovereign providence you have seen fit to bring us
here, each and every one of us, say that from the heart and we
were glad when they said unto us, let's go to the house of
the Lord. So make this a glad hour. Give us glad tidings along with
all that we need, the chastening, rebuke, reproof, correction,
instructions, comfort, and encourage them. Do all of these things,
Lord, through your word. Speak through your word. Leave
us not to ourselves, either the preacher or the hearer. Bless
us for Christ's sake. Speak to us. We pray for this
man, Brother Callistus, Brother Stevenson, these men. earnestly
pray for their strength and faith, that you would strengthen their
faith, that you would give them a firm resolve to preach the
gospel and to be faithful in a few things, and bless their
preaching there in India to the conversion of many souls. We
pray that your will might be done and make it clear to them
and to us. And we also pray for your people
everywhere that meet together tonight. Pray for the Groovers
as they meet with those dear folks in Mexico and other places. Lord, bless your people throughout
the world who Meet to worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ
Jesus and those who have no confidence in flesh, but put it all in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name we pray,
we're met together. Amen. All right, Revelation chapter 2 is
our text tonight. Revelation chapter 2, I believe
this is an appropriate message for this time of year. Besides, something's been on
my mind for a while. You've often heard me say, or
warn anyway, that when the weather grows warm, sometimes the heart
grows cool. It's a time we need to beware,
because so many things distract us, and I need this. I can enter
into this because I, too, become distracted by other things and
become spiritually cold, just as you. And we need this. We need this. All right, the
title of the message is First Love, First Love, which the Lord
here admonishes this church that they had left their first love. All right, look at verse one.
Under the angel or the pastor of the church of Ephesus. Now, that's significant for us. First letter is written to this
Gentile church, Ephesus. And I thought about this, too.
One of our favorite books in all the Bible. Is Ephesians is
one of my favorite. One of my favorite, it really
is. The book of Ephesians and we love it and we ascribe wholeheartedly
to its doctrine, don't we? Ephesians 1, all of those verses
about God's sovereign predestinating grace and so on and so forth. Ephesians 2, by grace you say,
So this is significant that he begins this letter and admonishes
this church at Ephesus. Because it's not the love of
doctrine that saves us or keeps us. But it's the love of Christ.
His love for us and ours for him. His love for us saves us. and keeps us and keeps us loving
him, so it's a person, it's not doctrine. So that's significant
in it to the Ephesians, to the church at Ephesus. All right,
read on. These things saith he, these things saith he that holdeth
the seven stars in his right hand. Now we, over in chapter
one, it tells these seven stars, or these seven preachers, or
churches, seven churches. And this one who is speaking
here has them in his right one hand. He's holding them all in. You know how many people are
in churches? He's got them all in his right
hand. And who's speaking? That's the Lord. And Christ speaks
and it says, he who holdeth these things in his right hand. And
I thought about several other things he holds. Scripture says
in whose hands our breath is and all our way. Scripture says
he who upholds all things. Scripture says he has the keys
of hell and death. And so he holds all things in
his hand. The head of the church is speaking
here. And I thought of when God said
out loud from heaven, he said, this is my son. And he said it
twice. Hear him. Good. Hear ye him. All right, who's
talking here? The one God said, you better
listen. All right, hear him. These things
saith he who holds all things in his hand. who walketh, read
on, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
Don't let this symbolism obscure the picture for you here. He's
still talking about the church. He who walks in the midst of
the church. Didn't Christ say where two or
three are gathered, I'm there. Two or three are gathered
in my name, I'm right there. Now, that's not. That's that's
fact, he said, I'm there, I am there. And didn't he say at the
when he left this planet, he said, Lo, I'm with you. When? Always. Didn't he say that? Lo, I'm with you. Always. He who is always observing, beholding. Scripture says he whose eyelids
try the sons of men. Always. Like a father, a faithful
father has always got an eye on his children. Right? A faithful
shepherd's always got an eye on his sheep. He knows where
they're at. He knows where they're at. My dog thinks that. He thinks
I'm omniscient and omnipresent. I know where he's at and I know
where he's into. All the time, you know. He can
just make one wrong move and he'll hear this, no. I know he
thinks, how did he see me? Well, our God is omniscient and
is omnipresent. And he says, I'm with you, he
who walks in the midst and has you in his right hand. He's speaking,
all right? What's he saying? What's he saying? Well, he gives
at first, in a couple of verses here, he gives some words of
commendation, if you're taking notes. The Roman numeral number
one, words of commendation. And this is just like a loving
parent. You know, it's wise and it's prudent before you get ready
to chastise or rebuke or correct your child. To maybe say something
positive. Isn't it? Huh? You ever try that?
Say something positive. Or to your wife. And make them
listen to you. Compliment them or something.
You know, that way you don't begin on them. You understand
what I'm saying? This is what our loving, kind,
and tender Lord, He gives some words of commendation before
He gives words of Admonition. All right, all right,
here's what he said in verse 2, I know that works. I know
that works. And that labor and that patience. He acknowledges that his people
do do works, they do good works, they do. We're not to acknowledge
them. We're supposed to be like those
people who said, Lord, when did we do this thing? I don't I don't
recall I haven't done anything. We're supposed to say, John,
like Paul told us, when we've done all that's required of us,
we're still unprofitable servant. That's what we're supposed to
say. After we've done everything that's required of us, and when
is that? But we're supposed to say, I'm
still unprofitable. It's just my reasonable servant.
But he does acknowledge works that we do. And he says, I know
your works. How does he know them? Well,
not only does he see them, but the scripture says he does them. It is God which worketh in us,
Philippians 2.13. It is God which worketh in us
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So they're not
really our works in all of our It's just like when our children
were really young, and they were incapable of doing anything,
and we just kind of helped them. Actually, Rick, we did it all,
you know. But then we made them think they were doing it, and
after they got done doing it, he said, good job, you know.
And they're real young. They're just being. This is exactly,
our Lord is encouraging like that, isn't He? Well done, thou
good and faithful servant. Thou hast ordained all our works
in us, the psalmist said. And what do we know and do that
our father and our elder brother have not taught us and instilled
in us? What do we know and do that he
has not instilled in us? God's people do good works. They
do. And they're worthy of note by
other people. They're not worthy of God's notice.
He's kind. He's gracious. He's teaching
us something here, Jeanette, and if he recognizes and does
not thank him then per se, but as far as we're concerned he
is, and if he does it, how much more should we acknowledge? Right? Everything. Everything. A glass
of water. Anything. He said, I know your
work, good work, labor of love, labor for the truth, patiently.
He said, I know that patience, how you patiently, you patiently
wait on Christ now. He said, I'm coming again. And
the world says, where's the promise of His coming? And believers,
I wish you'd come back, Lord, come quick, don't we? We keep
waiting, waiting. I love the story of that little
boy, you know, where his dad told him to wait for him there
in downtown London. You remember that? His dad told
him to wait on the doorstep of a little business there. His dad got busy on business
and went home and forgot about it. And hours later, and it was
dark, he remembered. That happens. And he rushed back. Oh, he thought, where can I find
him? And he went back to where he
told him to wait, and there that little boy sat. He said, son, I was
worried about you. He said, well, you told me to
wait right here. And that's what our Lord said. Wait, I'm coming
back. So we wait. Sure, we should hurry,
don't we? We should hurry. We keep waiting. I know you patiently wait. And
for my name's sake, look at verse 3, in my name's sake, Sorry,
verse 2. Thy patience and how thou canst
not bear them which are evil. Cannot bear them which are evil.
Either evil worldlings. You know, this world. The people
in it vex. They ought to vex. They do vex
God's people. Doesn't it? Sometimes we want to call down
fire on it, don't we? We just wish the Lord would just
consume this place, don't we? It's evil. You feel like Lot
vexed with the conversation of the wicked, don't you, John? Well, and evil men and seducers
too, especially these false prophets. And then he goes on to say that.
You've tried them which say they're apostles and are not. You've
found them liars. We tried one here two Wednesday
nights ago, didn't we? We tried him by his very speech.
We heard him personally lie on God. Isaiah 820 says, if they
speak not according to my word, to the law and the prophets,
if they speak not according to my word, there's no light in
them. And this fellow absolutely flatly denied scripture, didn't
he? He called Jesus Christ a liar, God a liar, God's word a lie,
didn't he? And he claims to be a preacher.
He's not. He's a liar. If we tried him
by this and by his own mouth, by man's words, he'll be condemned
or justified. So he commends us for that. There ain't very many other places
doing it either. I'm not going to mention his
name. I'm going to try not to ever
mention that man's name again. But there's a lot of places showing
films by him, aren't there? But it's not to condemn him. And many may think we're hard
along these lines, but the Lord commends us for this. We did the right thing, Joe.
That man needs to be exposed, doesn't he? Well, he says they're not,
and he found them liars. Verse 3, and he's born up under
and has patience. and has patience. For my name's
sake, you've labored and have not fainted or quit. Quite often in scriptures he
talks about for his name's sake, doesn't he? For my name's sake. He said he saved us for his name's
sake. That he does all of this. Everything
he does is for his name's sake. His name is who he is, John. And we don't... That name is to be used and held
in high esteem. I love that psalm that says,
Ye make mention that his name is exalted. While this world
goes about demeaning that name, and bringing it down and down
and down, using it, that name, Lord. Oh, you know, they use
that as a, that's been a common byword for years. Oh, Lord, have
mercy. And anytime I do that, it's just
so that you might cringe and remember. You've heard it. And
Jesus, they use His name so lightly, don't they? And Christ. They even say, for Christ's sake. Not us, buddy. He says, you've
labored for my name's sake. When we say Lord, we mean it.
When we call Him Lord, we mean it. We say it reverentially. We say it with respect. We say,
that's the name He has above every other. And it shouldn't
be used lightly, or carelessly, or flippantly, or familiarly,
but worshipfully, Lord. And when you use it, you better
mean it. You better know who you're talking about. When we
say, Lord, we don't mean we make Him that. We mean He was that
before the world began. Lord Jesus. When we say Jesus,
we mean this One that came, He saved His people. He came with an express purpose,
and that is to save God's elect that God gave to him, and he
did it. Call his name Jesus. And when
we say Christ, we mean there's none other. Christ means the
anointed one. That means there's just one.
One Lord, one faith, one truth, one way, one life, one Christ. He is Christ. One high priest. One mediator, right? One advocate. One. He's the one. He's the Christ. We labor to define that name. No one. Right? Our Christ is Christ. Our Lord
is Lord. Our Jesus does just that. Lord Jesus Christ. And for this
we stand. And we've borne persecution.
He says you've borne, you've had patience. We've borne persecution
for it. Haven't we? We labor to make
others and we don't faint. He says you hast not fainted.
Not going to quit. Not going to quit from this course.
And we're not going to veer from this course. Not going to join
hands with those who claim to believe Jesus. It's not Jesus. Are we? Not going to compromise. Not going to Not for a minute,
are we? I'm not going to quit. If anything,
I want us to get stronger and stronger in our old age. The
older this church gets, I want it to take a stronger and stronger
stand, don't we? And say like Martin Luther, though
the world is against us, here I stand. I can do no other. This is the gospel. I'm not going
to waver an inch. All right? Read on. Verse 4. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against that. In spite of all this, and I'm
thankful, I need encouragement, don't you? I need it. I need to know that the Lord
is watching, the Lord approves. I need to know that we're telling
the truth. That we're standing for the truth.
I need to know. I need to know. I need to feel
that we have his approbation or approval, that we're preaching
according to this word. Though the world is not, I want
to know that I have, that we have God's favor for Christ's
sake. Don't you? I do. But I need this
rebuke. And so here he begins to rebuke
us, and he says, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee.
Look at it every eye. Verse 4, Because thou hast left
thy first love. This is written to the church. Written to the churches. And Christ said the church would
not. The gates of hell will prevail. His church or his people. And it can't they can't fall.
For the love he's talking about here is well. In 1 Corinthians 13, he talks
about charity. And he said charity never fails. Didn't it? That means love. Love
never fails. John, his love never fails. And that's the reason, buddy,
when we talk about the love of God, too, man, we're talking
about love that saves. Love that purpose love that predestined
love that purchased love that applies. Love that keeps. Factual saving love God's love
aren't we and he sheds abroad and all his people. In all of
God's people scripture says he sheds abroad his love. There are new creatures old things
pass away and all things become new. If love never fails, how can
you leave your first love? What's he talking about? Well,
let me reword it so that we might understand what he's saying here.
You've left off loving me the way you first loved me. You get that? You've left off
loving me the way you first loved me. Barnard always referred to
it as a sweetheart love for Christ. Sweetheart. Y'all do remember
that, don't you? Has it been too long? Henry. Yeah, you're the elder statesman
in here, bud. Has it been too long? You remember when there was no,
when her almond tree wasn't first? When there was no gray hair in
that head? Huh? Or do you remember Nancy when
he had plenty of hair in that head? Or has it been too long?
Sweetheart love, wasn't it? I'll tell you a little bit about
sweetheart love. First love. When you fall in love with someone.
At first. That's what he's talking about.
When you first fall in love. Here's what that is. It's all-consuming. I mean, it is all consuming. You can't get enough of that
person. Can't get enough of being with them. Calling them on the
phone. Writing to them. And they to
you. And how many times do you read
their letters? Well, you get in the picture
here. Our Lord says you've left your first love. It's all-consuming. You can't get enough of being
with them. You call upon them. You read their letters over and
over again. You get the picture here? Christ said you've left
your first love. This first love is exciting.
The anticipation. When you're away, the anticipation
is just... You can't wait. Can you? You remember, Jeanette's over
there just smiling. She remembers. She remembers. They anticipate, you look so
forward to the next time you see that loved one. You remember
that? Christ said, you've left your
first love. Are you listening to me? When you couldn't wait to hear
the gospel. That first love, that sweetheart
love as Barnard was respectful, full of respect for the other. I couldn't think of a better
term, but awe-inspiring. Totally taken up with that person,
everything they do and say. For a woman, he's your hero,
isn't he? Oh, my hero. He may be a bum,
but he's your hero, isn't he? Huh? Oh, you just Look up to
him. He may be short, but you look
up to him. Smitten with that person. Smitten
with them. He loved everything about them,
everything they say and do. Christ said, you've left your
first love hanging on their every word. And I just, and I think about,
you know, we go through and we see new pictures of Christ constantly.
Like in Ezra and Nehemiah. I remember when, as a young believer,
when I first, and I repeat myself a lot, I know. So did the Lord, didn't He? Barely, barely. I remember as
a young believer, when I first heard the types In the Old Testament,
I was literally on the edge of my seat, my hands on the front
of the pew in front of me, Rick. Just digging. Wow! Christ said, You've left me first
now. Now, here's some causes. What happened? Why? Why does
this happen? Why does this happen? Here's some causes, all right?
And turn with me to the Song of Solomon, chapter one. Song
of Solomon, chapter one. And I'll give you a few causes
of this. Number one. The cause of leaving
our first love, number one, and principally, is a willful neglect
of communion with Christ. A willful neglect of communion
with Christ. Both private and public. Private and public communion
with Christ, you know what I'm talking about when we say communion
with Christ. This human maiden here. About
whom this story. Is written. She is the church. She represents every believer
here. The beloved. of course, is the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the story of the church
and the bride and the bridegroom. Shulamite maiden and her beloved
church and her Christ. And with this maiden, now remember,
she's unworthy to be called this beloved's bride. Are you with
me? She's unworthy. to be, have this man. Remember that. All right. At
first, though, she's taken up with and she talks about her
beloved. Look at it. Song of Solomon, chapter one,
verses two and three. She says, Let him kiss me with
the kisses of his mouth. Thy love is better than wine.
In favor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured
forth. Therefore, do the virgins love
thee. It's talking about the church when they hear the gospel.
It's better than wine. I'd rather do this. It just gives
me a feeling of peace and joy and contentment. It fills me
up, unlike I've ever been filled with whatever. This is the best. It doesn't get any better than
hearing the gospel. That's what the church says when they first
hear the gospel. I'm going to read on. It says in verse 7, Tell me,
O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest
thy flock to rest at noon. Tell me where you're going to
be. I'll be there. You going someplace? The flock
going to be there? I'll be there too. Can I come? Why should I be as one that turneth
aside by the flocks of thy companion? Who should I go with? Where should
I go? What should I do with whom? But
Christ and his people. What could possibly? This is
what she's saying at first, Joe. There's nothing that has my attention.
There's nothing I'm interested in. And nobody's going to keep
me from being with my beloved and his flock. And she meant that. Things change don't they? Christ doesn't change. The gospel doesn't change. The
gospel doesn't change does it? Well then what changes? We change. We change. Look at chapter 5
now. Run over there to chapter 5 and
look at what she says here. Verse 1 through 3. I am coming
to my garden. Now this is Christ speaking.
He says, I'm coming to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I've gathered
with my myrrh, with my spice. That ring a bell? Myrrh and spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I've drunk my wine with my milk. Old friends drink,
ye drink abundantly, O beloved. Here's what she says, I'm sleeping. But my heart wake up, because
you can't seem to pay attention. It's the voice of my beloved,
I know he's knocking, saying, open to me my sister, my love,
my dove, my undefiled. My head is filled with dew, my
locks with the drops of the night. And here's what she said, I've
put off my coat, I'm tired. I've washed my feet. I don't
feel like it now. That's what she's saying. That
sound familiar? I remember when I was dating,
when Mindy and I were dating, 18 years ago, maybe 19. We dated
for three years. At the time, I was working on
the railroad. And on the road, on call, I was home about 8 hours. And gone 36 hours. And home 8
hours. Gone 36, 48 hours. Home 8 hours.
Buddy, I wasn't thinking about sleeping when I got home. I needed
it. I needed every hour of sleep
I could get. Bad. I was thinking about one thing. Whole way home. And getting to
that gal. And I remember staying over there till the wee hours of the morning. We didn't let no boy do that
at our house, Hannah, but I remember doing it. And I was older, too,
and her daddy saw, you know, that we were eventually getting
married. But I remember, you know, 2 or 3 a.m. and Brother
Steve, I hadn't been to bed yet. And I'd give him my phone number.
I was on call. I'd give him her phone number. They'd call me.
I hadn't been to bed yet. You ever been without sleep for
about two days? There's nothing worse. You know what I'm talking
about, don't you, buddy? It didn't matter. Well, I'd have
scaled the highest mountain, swam the deepest sea. You think I'm kidding? You know what I'm talking about,
don't you think? Sleep was of no consideration.
Why? I want to be with that woman. And I'm not, well,
how can I say this without it sounding? I didn't miss any church services. I just didn't do it. I mean, for you to check up on
me, but I didn't do it. Why? Well, it's not me. It's
the grace of God and His keeping grace, constraining grace. What
I'm trying to say with Joanne, I loved that gospel as much or
more than I loved that gal. And I had to be there to hear
it. Sleep was of no consideration. Well, willful neglect of public
and private communion with Christ, it begins, I've got to hurt it. And I didn't say this, it goes
way back. Whitfield, some of them, talked
about the beginning of apostasy beginning missing Wednesday night,
missing midweek service. I'm talking about preacher to
three hundred years ago, they had midweek services then. And
they said the beginning of apostasy is when someone begins to miss
on midweek and then Sunday night in a Bible study. And then they
go. That's just the way it is. I've
seen it, too. Willful neglect. And you say,
well, you're talking about you're talking about the church, though,
I said, I thought you said it can never quit loving somebody. I think about this now. If you truly love somebody, you'll
never leave. That's a fact. If you truly love
Christ, you'll never leave him. Though you go and get in these
cold and indifferent times or whatever, you'll never leave,
though. Remember when Christ said to
the church at Laodicea? Turn back to Revelation again.
Remember when he said to them, you're neither hot nor cold?
Remember that? He said, I would if you were
one or the other. Remember that, John, you remember
that? See, I would that you're one or the other. Cold, if it's
cold, it's all right. He'll heat you up again. Light
a fire under you if you're hot. That's good. But lukewarm? Well, you can't ever leave somebody
if you love them. That's just a fact. Now, listen
up. If these signs that we're talking
about grow worse and worse, And a person leaves. Then what
does that prove? They never did that, right? So
how should we take this? Don't presume. Like the Newton
poem, if I had not loved thee before, let me begin today, you
know, in that sense. More love to thee, O Christ,
more love to thee. That's why we sung that song. So we should be alarmed and not
presume. That's why the Lord wrote this,
isn't it? Why he wrote it, Dickie, isn't
it? Sure it is. All right? Here's
another reason, a cause for leaving that sweetheart love. Another
cause is, and this is responsible for the first, love for the world. Remember, Remember how we began
to talk about when the weather warms up. Why is that? Things to do, places to go. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. Our Lord warned, love not the
world nor the things of the world. Never get to the point where
we can't do without whatever. We need to stay. We need to be
where we can never do without this gospel. Never do without
it. Nothing spiritually deadens us
more than this word. Nothing. Materialism. Things.
Why? Why? Because it feeds us flesh.
And this is what we battle with. It's flesh lusts against spirit. And we talked about this, John,
you and I talked about this. How that when you feed the old
man, he gets stronger, doesn't he? And you've got an even worse,
harder battle on your hands. Keep feeding him and starve the
new man. The thing to do is starve the
old and feed the new. My pastor, The one said that
here's another thing and there's many things. Here's another thing that another
cause of this leading first love sweetheart love is self-righteous
presumption. I'm saying. I'm all right I believe. I want to be like Brother James,
Joe. I want to get saved every time I hear it. Don't you? And that breeds this self-righteous
presumption, breeds insensitivity to sin, allows things that we
once disallowed. All right, let's look at the
next verse and let me get through here. Remember, therefore, look
at verse five. Remember, therefore, from whence
thou art calling. Remember from whence this is
the best thing to awaken us. Bring us to ourselves. Remember where you came from. Isn't that? Two things, actually. Remember the pit from which you
were digged. Remember where the Lord found you. And remember, if you've left that first love,
remember what you leave them. You remember, we need to come
to ourselves like that prodigal son, don't we? Every now and
then, Lord needs to bring us to ourselves and realize, I'm
feeding on husks. The prodigal son was down in
the pig pen eating husks. And he thought, I used to sit
at my father's table, clothed and in my right mind. Now look
at me. He came to himself and said, I'm going home. Remember from which I came and
the pit from which you were digged. Do we want to go back like a
dog that would vomit? I want to go back to that mess.
I'm messy enough. I'm in a bad enough mess now. I don't want to get worse. Do
you, Brother Henry? Remember, he said. And so our
Lord says, remember and repent. Look at that. He says, repent.
Repent. What's repent mean? Change your
mind. That's what your husband said.
Change your mind. We need to come to a conclusion in our own
head, don't we? Hey, whenever we get in this
state, we need to realize it, don't we? And say, hey, you know
the song we sing, I'm resolved no longer to linger. Repent. And it also means to
turn. It means actually Hey, I'm in
a mess. Lord, help me. And turn, turn,
repent. This is repentance that needed
not to be repented of. And he says, do the first works.
Look at that. Do the first works. What's that?
What's the first works? Lay hold right on the beginning
of your confidence. What's that? The gospel. Come
right back where it all started and do what you started doing.
What's that? Sitting, worshiping, exhorting
everybody else to be faithful in a few things. You know, make
your ruler over other things. First word, worship. Isn't that
what he said? This is the three characteristics
of the true concision, circumcision. They worship God. They rejoice
in Christ Jesus. worship, prayer, study, fellowship
with believers, whatever, like the Shulamite maiden said at
first, which she did at first. Where y'all going to be? I want
to be there. Read this, or else. Well, those are two powerful
words, aren't they? Or else. Boy, the Lord hangs big doors
swinging on little hinges, don't they? Or else. What's that? Lord, I will come unto thee quickly
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou
repent. Now he's talking to the whole
church. Talk about that church at Ephesus. And he warned them. All right,
where is the church at Ephesus? Do you know where the church
at Ephesus is? There is not. Where is the church? Philadelphia. There is not. Laodicea. Sardis. Macedonia. There is not. There
are not. These words. What about this little group?
Is this indispensable? Brother Joe, this little, little
building of wood hay and stubble on top of the hill in the middle
of the county of, you know, a few thousand people, is it indispensable?
Not to God it's not. But it better be to us. Like
I said, our children. Like we read over Nehemiah, fight
for your children, for your husband. You got a husband doesn't know,
believe this gospel. He needs to hear it. He needs
to be here. You got a child, a son, a daughter,
you got a wife, a friend, a neighbor, a mother, a father. This lighthouse
is the only one I know of in Franklin County. Isn't it? So this is what he's saying here.
He's not saying we're going to lose our salvation. Brother John,
that's not what he's saying. He's saying move your candlestick. Remember we talked about the
candlestick putting on a bushel to see by light in the light
of the world. He said, you lose. I'll just
take away your candlestick. I need that. I need that. But then he ends up by further
commending them. He doesn't end on that. He doesn't
end on it. He's like a wise parent, loving,
kind parent. He doesn't stop there. Look at
verse 6. He said, but this you have. And he said, oh, where
else now? Did your dad ever deal with you
like this, Roberta? Now, I'm going to wear you out. Or I'm going to this, I'm going
to that. You better straighten up or else. But, and he And he
encourages this, you have, he said, you hate the deeds of the
Nicolaitans, which I also hate. And he mentions this to another
church and what who they are and what they did. I'm not really
sure. Except that they. Were just out and out. They were
professing believers who were just rotten to the core. And the church said, We know
you're nothing to you, like the church at Corinth, remember that
fellow? Well, that's the best I can do with that. They recognized
that when they saw it. And then it says in verse 7,
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. The Holy Spirit says to the churches,
this is all written to the believers, to him that overcometh, will
I give to eat of the tree of life. What is it that overcometh? That's right. That's what 1 John
5 says. Who is he that overcometh? But he that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ. Those that know and believe and
love the gospel. What is it that overcomes? Faith
overcomes. Faith in Christ. Where does faith
come from? It's all together, inseparable. Inseparable. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. And all of this started, this
leaving the first love, that's where it started. Leaving the gospel, slowly but
surely. And it's not any one of our faults,
per se. I mean, what am I saying? It's not that one of us is any
worse than another, or more fleshly, or more worldly, or more this
or more that. We're all prone to it. the preacher. There have been as many, ratio-wise,
there have been more preachers leave for the world and for things
than churchmen. That's right. I've known in my
lifetime, bunches of them. Bunches of them. You know, it's not any one of
us, you know, well, she's, you know, she was really bad, and
the Lord saved her. Now, you know, she just has that
tendency. We're all, and none, and none,
in our flesh, love of no good things. We're all susceptible,
right? And but by the grace of God,
every one of us in here would fall. And so this equally applies
to all of us equally. You understand what I'm saying?
That's why I preached it. I need it. I need Him. For Him that overcometh will
I give to each of the tree of life. That's what I want to eat,
don't you? Or rather, who? That's the person
there. He said, except you eat my flesh
and drink my blood, I want to eat Him, Lord. I want to eat
Him and I want to be eaten up with Him. Got that? I was eaten up with her. When
I started dating her, I could have literally. And I tried. And we won't have none of that
around our house either. But you know what I'm saying? And
this is what I'm saying spiritually. You love somebody, boy, you just,
you're eating up with them. I want to be eating up with the
crowd. Don't you? in the midst of the paradise
of God. That sound good to you? That sound good like a good place
to be, Brother Rick? Wouldn't you like to be there
right now, buddy? Right now. We get a little foretaste here
every now and then. We come home and it tastes good. Good eating. All right, I hope
somebody needs to have an idea. Let's stand and do this. I really thought we would thank
people, again, for the privilege of being here. I ask that you
would let your word, for your glory, your honor, for that word
that you magnify above all your name, your word, He said, He
had my words, and He immediately loved me. So let us say the words of the
Word, and I'll hear it always, speaking my faith. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.