The Church At Ephesus

Q: What does the Bible say about hearing God's voice?

The Bible emphasizes the importance of hearing God’s word, as faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:17). In Revelation 2, Christ addresses the churches with a repeated exhortation, 'He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.' This signifies that spiritual truths are only truly heard by those who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God. The Scriptures frequently highlight the necessity of being ready to hear rather than to offer empty sacrifices. It is clear that God places great importance on how His people listen to His word, as this listening is foundational to a vibrant faith and relationship with Him.

Q: How do we know that salvation is not by works?

The Bible clearly teaches that salvation comes by grace through faith, not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Scripture affirms repeatedly that salvation is entirely by grace and not by works of righteousness that we have done. This is echoed in Titus 3:5, where it states that God saves us according to His mercy, highlighting that human efforts or what we deem as good works are insufficient for salvation. Furthermore, Paul emphasizes in 2 Timothy 1:9 that God saved us not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace. Therefore, belief in sovereign grace teaches that salvation is an act of God alone, excluding any human merit.

Q: Why is it important to maintain our first love for Christ?

Maintaining our first love for Christ is essential for a genuine and vibrant relationship with Him. In Revelation 2:4-5, the Lord admonishes the church for leaving their first love, indicating that a decline in love for Christ can lead to spiritual apathy and failure in their witness. This love is characterized by an all-consuming desire for Christ, reminiscent of the fervor in early faith. The loss of this fervent love is grievous to Christ, as it mirrors the commitment and joy we should have in our relationship with Him. Thus, believers are called to remember, repent, and return to that passionate love through devotion, prayer, and faithful works.

Q: How does God view the works of His people?

God observes and values the works of His people, recognizing the labor and patience demonstrated in faith. The letters in Revelation expressly state, 'I know thy works,' indicating that God is observant and appreciative of the efforts made by His people. This emphasizes that while salvation is by grace alone, God still values the resultant works that flow from a genuine faith. Our works are expressions of our faith and love for Him and are to be sanctified by Christ. They reflect a transformed life that seeks to honor God in all aspects, revealing His grace at work within us, as He engrafts us into His divine purpose.

Q: What does it mean that God saves us according to His own purpose?

God's salvation is not arbitrary; it is based on His eternal purpose and grace given in Christ. In 2 Timothy 1:9, it is stated that God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This highlights that salvation is predicated on God's sovereign plan rather than any human merit. This doctrine affirms that God intentionally elects and saves individuals for His glory according to His wisdom and gracious purpose.

Every day, every hour, let me
feel thy tender love. All right, let's turn back to Revelation
chapter two now. It's a very striking. Things
about. These letters to the churches
and revelation. Very striking, very chilling. Actually. One thing is that he said seven
times in every single letter, he says he that had an ear, let
him hear what spirit say it. to the churches. Now, it is quite
clear that only they who have been given an ear or have been
regenerated by the Spirit of God, only they will hear what
the Holy Spirit saith to the churches. That's significant. He's writing to the churches,
to believers. And he says that seven times,
though, to Get our attention. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear yet. And this is very chilling, very
striking. None of these seven churches
are in existence today. None of them. Is it any wonder that the scriptures
place so much importance upon hearing Faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. Scripture says, let every man
be swift to hear or ready to hear. It says today, if you will
hear his voice. It says, be more ready to hear
than to give the sacrifice of fools like his soul. Practice today and so-called
churches all over people are making a great show of religion
a great. Is a great commotion going on
raising of the hands and a lot of. Emotion going on a very little
sitting quietly listening to the. Expounding of God's word. be
more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, the sacrifice
of fools being much talk with them out. And in spite of these
promises, though, and blessings and exhortations and warnings,
apparently these people in these churches left off hearing. Now, you know, and I know I preach
this with the utmost. conviction and. Dogmatism that
no child of God can lose their salvation. Christ said I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. But a church
and he talks about this a church being removed the candlestick
being removed out of its place that is out of its place as a
city on a hill as a place of influence or a useful place in
God's. kingdom, so that is what's happened
here, and apparently it was because they left off hearing. He said
it to every church, Henry. Yet none of them around today.
And then there's another striking thing in this first letter, which
is also in every other letter. It's the very first thing that
he says. It's found in verse two. Look
at this verse two of chapter two. He says, I know thy works. I know thy works. He says this
every time to every church, and it's the first thing he says
to them. Now, the Lord is very observant of and places great
importance upon the works of his people. And once again, though, let me
remind you, this is written to the church. This is written to
believers, believers who should be grounded and settled in the
truth as to how God saves sinners. Is there any doubt? Does that
need clarifying how God saves sinners? Yeah, it does. It's not by works, lest any man
should bow. We're saved by grace one hundred
percent by great without work. It should be understood by you
by the churches here that it is not like Paul said to Titus
it is not my works of righteousness which we have done. That's not
why God saves anybody. not by works of righteousness
which we have done, he said in Titus 3 verse 5, but it's by
his mercy, it's according to his mercy he has saved us and
by the washing of regeneration. In other words, he took an old
sinner who's dead in trespasses and sins and gave him life. That
sinner couldn't call upon God, couldn't, didn't look to God,
like Lazarus in the tomb. He was dead and he was stinking
and the Lord of life had to come by and give life. call that sinner
from the grave by the washing of regeneration, washing him
or her in his blood, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, the
calling of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel.
And Paul also said it in 2 Timothy 1, 9. It is God who has saved
us and called us with a holy calling. It's not that we called
him first, he called us. You know, everyone that calleth
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That came from Joel
2.32, which says, all that call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved, as many as the Lord our God shall call. Until he
does the calling first, there's nobody going to call on him.
But it is God that has saved us and called us with a holy
calling that is his own free will, not man's free will. He
doesn't have one. It wills to sin only. But God
freely calls sinners to himself, not according to our works, 2
Timothy 1.9. God has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works. Could anything
be clearer? That God does not look down upon
any human being and say, well, he looks like a pretty good fellow. He looks like he's worth saving.
No, all have sinned, if I'm sure of the glory of God. There's
none that do good, no not one. There's none righteous, no not
one. But God has to discriminately pick out some and say, I'm going
to save this one, I'm going to save that one. None are deserving
of salvation. But God freely picks some, and
we glorify him for that electing grace, sovereign grace. But it's
according to his own purpose and grace, listen to this, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Is there
a clearer scripture in all the Bible? About how God saves him
and why? Not according to our works, we
don't have any. Isaiah sixty four six says they're filthy
rags, doesn't it? Because the motive is all wrong,
the heart is all wrong. All right, salvation is not our
work, right? It is God's work. One hundred
percent, it's not a cooperative effort either. It's not a cooperative
effort either. It's solely God Almighty's work
in us. Yet this saving work is unto
good works. This saving work is unto good
works, like he said in Ephesians 2, which God hath ordained that
you should walk therein. OK? Salvation is this. Salvation is God Almighty making
a human being just like his son Jesus Christ. That's what it's
all about. That's the reason he saves people. Not to leave them in their sins.
He changes them. He makes them like Christ. He
makes them like Christ in faith, in attitude, in character, in
talk, in walk, in work. In work. It's being made like
Christ in attitude and in action. Is that not right? Certainly
it is. All right? It is just like a
parent. Those of you who have children,
you are observant of the works of your children, the progress
that they make, right? Are you not? And instruct them
accordingly, don't you? Sure you do. And so does the
Heavenly Father observe the works of his children. Now all of them
still must be sanctified by the blood of Lord Jesus Christ. None
of those works are good works in themselves. They must be sanctified
and washed in the blood of Christ because none of them are pure
or perfect or absolutely good in and of themselves. But the
Father does observe them. Isn't that what he says here?
Seven times. And it's the first thing he says
in every single letter. That's significant, isn't it?
I know your work I know your work and he instructs us through
the Holy Spirit now he's commending them at first this is what's
so amazing. He's commending their works look
at it with me I know your work. I know your works in other words
I know and appreciate all you do for my cause and my people
and this is amazing and someday he's going to say to some people
well done now good and faithful That's absolutely amazing. But,
you know, I remind you of those people that the Lord talked about
in the gospel, where he said, when I was naked, you clothed
me, when I was hungry, you fed me and so forth. When I was a
stranger, you took me in. When I was in prison, you visited
me and so forth. And those that had done these
things, they didn't acknowledge it, did they? Those who truly
had some good works, they said, when did we do that? They weren't conscious of it,
they took no credit for it, but the Lord did. He said, I know
your works, didn't he? And we have a lot of people going
around today who acknowledge or readily acknowledge what they're
doing for Jesus, so to speak. And the Lord calls them workers
of iniquity. Why? They're giving credit to themselves,
glory to themselves. And those who truly do good works,
most good works are anonymous, if not all of them. According
to that parable our Lord gave, right? But the amazing thing
is that he's going to say to some people, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. But they're not going to agree
with him. Oh, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us be the glory, but
unto you be all the glory. Right? Whereas those hypocrites
are going to stand before him someday and say, hey, we did
many wonderful works in thine hands. And he's going to say,
you're workers of iniquity. You did it for your own namesake.
You did it to have a bigger church. You did it to make a name for
yourself. You did it to have more numbers and more money in
your coffers. Well, the Lord does know the
works of his people now. He knows. He knows. And you know,
though the attempts of a little child, though the attempts of
a little child are very feeble, yet the parent It's very, very
encouraging, isn't it? She's very encouraging and praises
the child even, don't they? You did a good job. You know
how it is. Sarah tries to do something to
help daddy out. She's not much help, is she?
Four, five years old. She's not much help. She really
mostly gets in the way. And that's us. The Lord has to
do things in spite of all that we do, in spite of us. And, uh,
but yet we look down at that child and say, you're doing a
good job. Daddy appreciates it. That's, that's love in it. That's
love. That's a kind parent. That's
the kind parent that we have to our heavenly father. And then
he says it, I know thy work and I know thy labor, thy labor. And, uh, I believe he's alluding
here to, uh, this labor of love that Paul talked about in first
Thessalonians. When he said that from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, it was a labor of love, your works
of faith and labor of love from you sounded out the word. And
that is what the Lord God is most. Interested in having his
son glorify. And sounded for and he says this,
I know your patience. Verse three. I know your patience. or that is submission to God's
providence, patiently submitting to his providence. Are you with
me? Now, this patience is not mere,
a mere resignation to fate. Anybody can have that, can't
they? Well, I've nothing to do about it, so I might as well
take it. That's just resignation to fate, but patiently accepting
everything in your life, be it good or what we may think is
evil, as being from the hand of a sovereign God and patiently
submitting to it and say, it's the Lord. Thank you. That's the patience he's talking
about here. And, you know, in light of these
things, he's commending them for their works, for their labor,
their patience. In light of these things, we feel so unworthy of
any of these commendations, don't we? So unworthy. feel like we've
come far short of any of this, and therefore we have a need
for more condemnation than we do commendation, but our loving
Heavenly Father tempers it all. He tempers conviction with comfort,
doesn't he? He tempers chastening with encouragement. That's how wise he is, how good
he is to his children. He says this, he commends them
for the fact that they cannot bear, look at it, verse 2, how
thou canst not bear them which are evil. Thou canst not bear them which
are evil, either evil workers, actual immoral, wicked, irreligious
workers of iniquity. I just wrote an article in the
newspaper on this homosexuality thing. And. The servant of the Lord is bound
to call seeing and saying to him as ambassador of God is bound
to stand up and say, hey, this is evil, this is evil, and this
sort of thing is pervading our society. And it seemed like all
of these religious fellows are cowards. And afraid to call it
what it is and bring it out from God's word that the judgment
of God is upon day, which do such things. But whether it be
evil, actual evil workers that actually commit such things or
evil religionists, which I detest equally as much as I do. In other
words, I detest a false gospel equally as much as homosexuality.
It's equally as damning, maybe even more so, false gospel and
all this blasphemous A religion is going on in the name of God
that brings God down to the place of a man that can't do anything.
He tried and he'd fail and Christ died and it was to no avail and
it's all up to you now. He's done all he can do. Now
it's up to you. That makes God just a man, doesn't it? Then
glorify God. Brings a sovereign God down to
a helpless man or a helpless one in the hands of man. And
I detest that. I cannot bear it. Can you? The
Lord commends that attitude, those that cannot bear it. And
he says, I commend you for not bearing them which are evil,
and you have tried them which say they are apostles, and are
not, and have found them liars. In other words, you have been
like the noble Bereans who took the scriptures and went home
and searched the scriptures to see what these fellows and even
Some women are saying. To see whether or not it's from
God's Word or not, that is the child of God. That is the one
that the Lord command those who try the spirits to see whether
or not they be of God and have found them to be false apostles,
transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness, angels
of light. Preaching another gospel, which
doesn't save anybody, another Jesus. Not the sovereign, effectual,
successful Savior who came down to save a particular people and
got the job done and went back to heaven and sat down at the
right hand of God and reigns now as Lord over all and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. But rather they're preaching
another one, a Jesus who can only do what men like him do.
And God's people detest that, don't they? Do you? Then the
Lord commends you for that kind of attitude. Isn't that what
he's saying here? And you call them liars. These men and these
women are lying on God Almighty when they say that God loves
everybody without exception. That's a lie out of hell. That's
the doctrine of devils. God plainly said he hated Esau.
He plainly said he hated all workers of iniquity. He plainly
said he hated those who stir up strife and discord among the
brethren, and on and on and on. The Nicolaitans, which he hated,
we're going to see that in a moment. God loves those that are in Christ. That's who he loved. God, the
righteous Lord, loved with righteousness. And to say anything less is to
lie on God Almighty and to lie to the souls of men. All right? They're liars, not afraid to
call themselves. Neither is any true child of
God. They call a spade a spade. They call a liar a liar. False
apostles. There are no more apostles. Christ commends this intolerance
of false religion and its teachers. He commends it. Modern religion
today thinks we're being unloving and narrow. But Christ commends it. Whose commendation, whose approbation
do we want, huh? Paul said, if I yet seek to please
men, I'm not the servant of Christ. Whose approval do I want? Man's
or God Almighty's? Peter said it one time when they
said, now don't you preach in that name anymore. He said, now
whether or not it be right to hearken unto you or unto God,
you judge. I'm going to stand before God
for eternity. You're going to be dead and gone. And he said
that to Isaiah over in Isaiah 51. He said, who are you that
you should be afraid of a worm? A man that shall die who's a
worm and no man. He said, don't be afraid of their
faces. You go and you tell them everything that this word says.
And modern religion calls us unloving and narrow. I tell you
what, it's not unloving to denounce and hate error, but rather it's
more love for God and the glory of God than anything. No man
belongs in a pulpit who is more afraid of men than he is of God.
No man or woman deserves to call him or herself a child of God
who loves men more than he loves God. And we're going to see this
in a minute, how he said, you've left your first love. It's love for God is what it
is. It's love for his holy character. It's love for his glory. It's
love for his honor when you say these things. And I tell you
what, it's more of a love and a concern for the souls of men
when you say, when you tell them the truth, than to feed them
a lie and prophesy unto them peace, peace when there is no
peace. Right? Isn't it love to men, true love
to men's soul when you tell them the truth? Paul said that it
might become your enemy because I tell you the truth. No, Paul,
you become our best friend. Our best friend. And to tell
me and that the fear of the Lord's beginning of wisdom and all men
everywhere God commands every man every man everywhere to what
except Jesus is a personal savior no to repent to bow before Holy
Sovereign God. And beg him for mercy and grace
and then the mercy and the love and the grace is shown. That's
true preaching. And he commands all of those
who say that in verse three, he says, you born or in other
words, you carry this cross of persecution for his name's sake.
You born up under the, the, the ire and the, and the, the mockers
and the, the scorn and the hatred of religion, religionists and
everybody alike for your stand for the glory of God. It is still that it's still you
can understand, can you, how that men and women could hate
you just for wanting to glorify God, wanting to give him all
the glory and salvation. Just telling men what it said.
I've told you before that I read just Romans, I just read Romans
9 to a man I used to work with and he got mad at me. Well, didn't
the Lord say, it's not you they hate, didn't it? It's not you
they hate, it's me. And they say, we will not have
a God or a man to reign over us. We'll have a God we can do
with as we please. We will not have a baby in a
manger. We will not have a sovereign Lord on a throne doing what he
will. And he says, you've borne up
unto this. In other words, you've borne this persecution at the
hands of, and the Lord sees this. And he says, vengeance is mine,
I will repay. And he says, for my name's sake,
you've labored and you've not fainted. That is all for the
praise of the glory of his name, Jehovah. What Jehovah means? The name. We've got a bunch of
people running around today who call themselves Jehovah witnesses. Jehovah means God our Savior,
doesn't it? God our Savior. Well, is he or
is he not? Or does he just try? Is man the
Savior, or is God the Savior? Those who are truly Jehovah's
Witnesses say that God must save, and that God does save, and God
alone saves. It's not in our hands, it's in
his hands. Nevertheless, he commends his people for their
works and for their patients and their labor and their intolerance
of false religion and false preachers and so forth. But he said, nevertheless. And what a big nevertheless,
this is. What a reproof this is, he says, I have somewhat
against the. Because thou has left by first
love. Now, let me put this in a way
that you can understand it. You never leave off loving someone
that you really love. True love charity, the scripture
says, first Corinthians 13, what never fail. Right, true love
never fails, you ever love somebody, really, you never quit loving
them, do you? These people that end up in divorce
and say, in the end, they say, well, I don't love you anymore. That's
a lie. It's true, you don't love them, but you never did love
them in the first place. Because love never fails, right?
Is that what 1 Corinthians 13 says? Sure. And what he's saying
here, thou hast left thy first love. What he's saying here,
now listen to this. You've left off loving me the way you used
to, the way you first loved me." Now, does that make it more understandable
to you? You've left off loving me the
way you used to, the way you first loved me. And it's truly grievous to Christ
to see the love of his bride The love of his children cooling
toward him. You know, I can't think of anything
that would be more heartbreaking to me personally than to see
my wife. Her love for me or my daughter's
love for me waning and cooling. Can you think of anything that
would chill you anymore? That would grieve you anymore?
And I would readily see it in her. Wouldn't you? You'd readily
see it in her actions. I'd feel it in my own heart.
It would be expressed by her in her lack of feelings toward
me or lack of caring or lack of thoughtfulness and attention
to me. Wouldn't it? In other words,
she would not be loving me the way she first loved me or showed
that love toward me. Brother Barnard had a message
one time, and he called it, Sweetheart Love of the Lord Jesus. Let me describe to you a little
bit what first love is like. Do you remember? It's been too
long for some of us. I know it was back in the dark
ages when you and Roberta started dating, Henry, but try to brush
the cobwebs away. That first love. That first love
of a young man and a young woman is, number one, it's all-consuming,
isn't it? You just can't get enough of
that person, can you? That's the reason I would stay
over at my wife's, her parents' house until 2 a.m., until her
dad said, get, get him out of here. You can't get enough of
that person. You couldn't get enough of being
with that person, right? Christ said, you've left this. That first love is exciting. It is filled with anticipation. All you're going to do is just
sit there and look at each other, but you can't wait. Can you? Or in our case, kiss until our
lips turned inside out. What are you laughing at? You
did it too. Exciting great anticipation,
you look forward to each and every union and you think. You look forward to each and
every union and reunion, look forward to the great anticipation,
Christ said, you left that, he said, were two or three are gathered
might gather my name. I'm going to be there. He said,
you've left off that you don't have that excitement anymore.
You don't anticipate it. With relish. First love is respectful and
awe-inspiring. Do you remember how much you
just looked up to and how you had that girl or that guy up
on a pedestal? He couldn't do no wrong. You were in awe of him or her.
You loved everything about them, everything they said and everything
they did. And every time together, you
learn something new and you appreciate them a little bit more, right?
Christ said you've left that. has been an unholy familiarity. And he says in so many words,
he says, where is that desire toward me that you once had?
You want to read some scripture, you read Jeremiah chapter 2 and
chapter 3 sometimes. You see, I mean, it's almost
word for word. It goes into great detail about
how the Lord says, why have you left off loving me? That sensitivity that you and
I were talking about. Sensitivity to any sin or anything
that would grieve the Lord. Remember how sensitive you used
to be to sin when you were a young believer? And that all-consuming
love for the gospel. He says, where is that? Huh? I remember I used to be on the
road, worked on the railroad. I'd get her picture out. It wasn't
a very good picture, just a little bitty thing. It was buzzy, taken
with one of those little 110 snapshots. It wasn't very good,
you know? Well, I'd get it out every now
and then. Show it to everybody. Christ says, you've left that.
Where is that love for the old, old story? He said, my letters. We used to write letters back
and forth to him. She still got all of those silly
little poems that I wrote her. Still got them all. And she'd
get them out and read them every now and then. I'd get out her
letters and read them. Have you left off reading my
letter, he said. Have you grown tired of my letter? Isn't that exactly what he's
saying? Exactly. And here's some causes of losing
your first love, OK? I've got to hurry. This is so
needful. Turn to the Song of Solomon with
me. Song of Solomon. Here are some causes of leaving
your first love, OK? Provided that you do love him.
Provided that you do. And some of these causes, the
first cause, or one of the first causes of losing that first love
is willful neglect of communion with Christ. Willful neglect. Whether it be in favor of whatever
willful neglect of communion with Christ, whether it be private
or public and both, you can't do, you can't have one without
the other. You cannot let public worship, usurp private worship
or vice versa. You need both. You need both. You need that personal, intimate
communion with your Lord yourself, because I'm not, we're not going
to go into heaven on a buddy system. Are we? You can't get
me there. I can't get you there. I can't.
help you, we can help one another out, but it's all going to be
based upon my personal relationship with him. Okay? Not by the will
of the flesh, not by the will of man, he said. And we need the public worship,
though. We need to exhort one another so much the more as we
see the day approaching, the scripture says. And how this
Hulamite maiden here in the Song of Solomon talked of her beloved
for a while. Man, how she talked of him at
first. What in rapture, if I can use romantic terms, what in rapture,
what enchantment, what admiration, and how she responded to his
overtures of love with deep affection. And she delighted in him and
him alone. Look at chapter one, look at verse two and three.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. And there were
times when you first heard the gospel and it was like it was
directed right at you. Like you and he were the only
ones here. All his love is better than wine. You wouldn't have
dreamed of doing anything else but coming here. Like I said,
when I was just an ordinary member of a church, there wasn't any,
it's not like I, when it's time to go worship, it's not like
I sat down and said, well, am I going to go or am I not? It's not like there
was a decision to be made at all about it. It's to bring it
to believers bread. It's his life, Christ is Christ
our life or is it not? Verse three, he says, because
of the savior of that savor of that good ointment, thy name
is his ointment poured forth. Oh, therefore, do the virgins
love thee. Look at verse seven. Tell me,
O thou whom my soul loveth where you are, where is he going to
be preached tonight? That's where I want to go. Are you holding a service tonight?
I'll be there. Are you going to talk about my beloved? I want
to listen. Christ says you left that. Look over at chapter 2, verse
1 through 3. He says, I am the rose of Sharon,
the lily of the valleys, and that's what he is to the believer.
The altogether lovely one is the lily among thorns, so is
my love among the daughters." The altogether lovely, the most
lovely man who ever lived, the only real man who ever lived,
the only man God approved of, and the only one I can see anything
good in, too, that rose among thorns. a lily among thorns,
as the apple tree among the trees of wood, so is my beloved among
the suns." Verse 7, "'I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the road, by the hinds of the field, you stir not up, nor
awake my leave us alone.'" Leave me alone, I've got better things
to do. Want to come go with us? No, I've got better things to
do. I've got an appointment with my beloved. But then a change takes place
over this woman. After a period of time, familiarity sets in, she begins
to take her relationship with him for granted. And over chapter
5, you know the story over in chapter 5, verses 2 and 3, she
says, I sleep, but my heart waketh. I'm not altogether dead, I look
like it, but not altogether. It's the voice of my beloved
that knocketh, and every time the gospel preaches, he's knocking.
Not on the sinner's heart's door, let them save him, for them to
let him, save him, but on the hearts of his people's door,
I'll come in and suck with you and we'll have communion together. He says, open to me, my sister,
my love, my dove, my undefiled, my head is filled with the dew,
my locks with the drops of the night. And what does he say?
Before she said to everybody else, leave this alone. Now she
says to him, leave me alone. I've put off my coat. I can't
today. I'm, I have a headache. I'm busy. I've got other things. Right? I've washed my feet. What
an excuse. How shall I defile? I don't have
anything to wear. Pitiful excuses, right? What
a sad shape she was at ease in Zion, right? She was at ease
and took for granted his love for her and their relationship
together, didn't she? Took it for granted and she was
at ease in Zion. Presumptuous, wasn't she? But
because of his everlasting love to her, which will never fail,
which never changes, he put his hand in her heart. Verse four. You see that? Religion today
has got it all wrong. They say there's a knob on the
inside of the door and only you can open it. No, there's a hole
in the heart's door of every one of God's people. He goes
and comes as he pleases. I like that. Were that not so,
I'd never open the door. Would you? He put his hand in
by the hole of the door and her bowels were moving forward. She
was stirred up from her near-death sleep, wasn't she? And she was
convicted, and her heart was broken. So willful neglect of communion
with Christ, the putting off of the coat. What is the coat? What is the robe? What is that
robe, that coat? It's the gospel, which speaks
of the robe of Christ's righteousness. You put it off, you put off hearing
the gospel very long, And you won't need it, you'll be warm
and secure in your little religious bed. And you put off your shoes, what's
the shoes? Anybody know what the shoes are
in Ephesians 6? To be shod with what? Preparation
of the Gospel of Pete. And it will cause you to lose
your first love. Secondly, another thing that will cause you to
lose your first love is self-righteousness, presumption, pride. I said it
before, insensitivity to sin and independence. You know, you
ever become, start thinking you're something when you're nothing?
You get, I said this to one of the brothers the other day, and
you know, most people mistake, most people think that their
own, that they have some kind of personal holiness. When all
it is, in fact, is a restraining grace of God Almighty, you know?
What most people call personal holiness is, in fact, the restraining
grace of God Almighty keeping them from doing what they would
do otherwise. Right? We have no holiness of
our own. It's imparted to us. It's someone
else's. And when we begin to be lifted up and think we're
something and we're nothing, we begin to lose our need of
a Savior, don't we? When we begin to get a little
victory over sin, so to speak, we lose our desperate need of
the gospel. We lose our need of hearing about
mercy and grace and forgiveness and the blood, don't we? We get
a little, I've got victory over that. Like the man that came
home to his wife one night and said, but woman behold, I've
overcome my pride. Oh my, how blind, there's nothing
so blind as they say they see. Not so proud as they think their
own, you know. But you think you're something
when you're nothing, and we all get to that point, don't we?
Hey, I've got that handle. Thinking we can do something
when with Christ said with plainly without me, you can do nothing.
Nothing. And presuming upon his love and
his mercy and his grace, the grace of God is always going
to be there. It is, but don't presume upon it. In other words,
his personal affection or his personal revelation or manifestation
of his love and his mercy and his grace to you will not always
be there. He'll make you feel like David. Is the mercy clean
gone? I'm going down like David said,
because God said your sins, your iniquity have separated you from
me. But David, he let David get down
and dirty, if you will, and say, Lord, are the heavens brash?
You're not going to hear me anymore? Am I a reprobate? Am I the only
one? Am I apostate? Am I clean gone? He'll let you get like that one.
Take all this for granted, he'll let you get that way. Lose that love, that sweetheart
love for one. And he says in verse five, back in our text,
he says, now, do you remember? Do you remember now? Oh, how
I hope we remember everything we're hearing tonight, don't
you? He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit
sayeth to the church. Remember, here's another thing that will cause you to lose your first
love, and perhaps this is more than anything, a love for the
world. There's nothing that will chill
love like materialism. Nothing. You know, it's so with
earthly relationships and. It's so with our earthly relationships
with our husband or our wife or our children or whatever,
that we forget each other in favor of things, and then when
we get old and it's too late, we want each other back again,
don't we? Isn't that a crying shame? Men
neglect their wives and their children for the world and for
a career, and then they end up, when they're old and decrepit
and feeble, wanting a little woman to take care of them, wanting
some children to come around and give them some comfort in
their old age, don't they? When they never gave their children
time of day. Women take their husbands for
granted, take his care and his provisions, his protection for
granted, and end up needy widows later on, wishing they had a
husband around. that they could treat cruelly. And forget him
in favor of the children, even. Children neglect their parents,
then when they become older and parents themselves, and they
realize what all their parents did for them, they then try to
make up for it and try to love them all, and they feel so ashamed,
don't they? Of how they never have loved,
and some of them end up regretting, I wish I could have done more
for daddy or mama. And Christ says the same thing
to us, you've left your first love. And he says, remember, therefore,
from whence thou art fallen, we've all fallen into the same
terrible predicament, haven't we? Leaving our first love, everyone
from the preacher on down. And he says, now remember. And
what does he say to do? Repent. Repent, change. You know, that's
what the word means. Doesn't mean give me some theological
dissertation on what repentance is. It means change, turn the
wheel, turn. Doesn't even say that, turn.
Doing a bad thing. Or Paul and the apostles say
throughout their epistles, cease that, stop that, put that down,
cut that out, like little children. And he says this, do the first
works. You remember how you used to bring flowers to your wife
or do little things for your husband or whatever? Spent time
with them and doted over your first love? He says, start all
over again with me. Do the first words. Do as Mary
did. Do you remember what Mary came
in to the Lord? Do you remember that story in
the scriptures where Mary came in and she had something in her
hand? And she is an alabaster baster
box of all, and she broke it and poured it. On her savior. And the Lord, you know, the only
time in the scriptures, John, the Lord said something was a
good work only time. Look at that. I'm going to preach
on that someday. What true good works are. It
was to the Lord. It was to him. Everybody else
denied it. You know, everybody else berated
her. You know, the apostles say, well, she could have sold that
and we just got some money for that and give it to the missionary
or something. No, she didn't care. She was doing it on him.
It was on him. She wasn't doing it for their
sake. She wasn't doing it to be seen of them. She was doing it
out of love and gratitude to him. And it was extravagant,
wasn't it? Real love is extravagant. It's
not stingy. It's not miserly. It's extravagant.
It's charitable. That's what we call love. The
Bible calls charity, giving, doesn't it? And he says, husband,
love your wife, love your husband as Christ loved the church. Give.
And she came and we need to do the same thing. We need to break
with our most prized possessions in favor of Christ. We need to
be extravagant in our love for him. There's no sacrifice, really,
for Christ. There's nothing we can do that
would be a sacrifice. I trade men. Like one woman told
me one time, she said, oh, what we have to give up for Christ.
I said, yeah, like trading a sack of cow manure for pearls. You know what Paul called it
in Philippians? That which I thought was gain
to me, I count but dung, garbage, that I may win the pearl of great
price. We ain't giving up anything for
him. We're getting unsearchable riches
in exchange for nothing. It's our reasonable service anyway.
We need to make that sacrifice, if you want to call it that,
and do what you do for Him, cost what it may, forget everybody
around you. Forget them. If you lose Him, you lose everything,
don't you? If Christ is all, you lose Him, you've lost it
all. Now, look at this. This is, ah,
my, what a merciful, tender, gracious, loving, kind, heavenly
parent we have and Savior. He quickly reverts back to consoling
her, you know, he he was condemning her for a while and he was chasing
in her and then he quickly reverts back to comforting her and and
encouraging her. He said, but you have this. This
is one good thing about you. In spite of her glowing errors
and faults and sin and horrible corruption and sin, he said,
well, you have this this good about you, you hate the deeds
of the Nicolaitans. What on earth could the Lord
find lovely about us? Somehow or other, he does, doesn't
he? Well, this deeds of the Nicolaitans,
I believe what that is, and every other person I give any credence
to said the same thing. This was an antinomian mentality,
or these were an extremely sinful group of people who called themselves
believers, but yet live very licentious lives. Now, the scripture
says, the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, and he hates iniquity,
and so should we. We should hate even the garment
that's spotted with it, right? have no tolerance for it, not
only in ourselves, but all about us. Verse 7, he says, Now he
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. Did you hear all these things? Let him hear. I hope
you heard the comfort, but I hope you heard the conviction as well.
I hope you heard the peace and the joy and the encouragement. I hope you heard the chastening
as well. I hope you were encouraged to
continue on and not quit, but I also hope that you and I both
will repent and do the first work. He says, now to him that
overcometh, what is it that overcomes the world? Somebody say it. What does 1 John say? Faith.
Now remember, faith is a gift of God. It's not ours. It's not
something we drum up. It's a gift of God. And all faith
is, really, is looking to Christ. That's all faith is, looking
to Christ. Faith, the substance of faith is an object. It's not
a do in anything. It's an object. It's a person.
So, He is my salvation. He is my hope. He is my trust.
He is my Lord. Without Him, I can do nothing.
He's my all and end all. And that faith that looks to
Him will overcome. See? Fall in love with Him. To
know Him is to love Him. Fall in love with Him. Look to
Him. He says, look unto Me and be saved. all the ends of the
earth, not save yourself. He says, you look to me, I'll
save you. And this is what overcomes the world. He says, he that overcometh
through this faith in Christ, will I give to eat the tree of
life? Tree of life. Tree of life. Well, you know, had Adam eaten,
there's a lot of conjecture and a lot of speculation about what
would have happened if Adam had eaten that tree of life that
was in the garden. You remember that? A lot of speculation
about that. But what was that? I don't know. I don't know what nobody else
does either, with that tree of life. But had he eaten it? The
Lord said he would live forever. So he borrowed his way out of
the garden. Now, I'm not going to spend my time speculating
what that particular tree was, but I do know beyond a shadow
of a doubt that this most definitely is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the tree of life. Right? Listen to these scriptures. Psalm 1. He is that tree that
is planted by the rivers of water, which will bring forth his fruit
in due season. Right? In Proverbs three verse
eighteen he is the one to whom they who lay hold on him he will
make them happy and fruitful. Revelation twenty two verse two
is the one he is that tree that that is bears twelve manners
of fruit and the leaves are for the healing of the nation. No
doubt whatsoever that the tree of life is talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ. who is our unceasing, unfailing
portion in paradise. We're going to be sitting under
a shade tree in paradise, and it's not going to be an oak,
not going to be an elm, not going to be a maple. It's going to
be the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're going to be satisfied,
so satisfied in the paradise of God. You know, Christ also
is that vine The parable he gave, I'm the
vine, you're the branches, he is that vine into which every
single branch is grafted, right? And they receive all of their
nourishment, all of their life from him. And he is that vine
that we're all grafted into. If I may use this term, we're
in his family tree. The family tree. He's the branch,
or he's the trunk, and we're the branch. connected to him,
the tree of life, and the paradise of God. That's where he is. That's
where he is right now, the paradise of God Almighty, God's heaven.
And he that received with Christ, John said, because many received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God and to
forever dwell in God's paradise with him, to be with him forever.
And I say this in closing. Oh, to be enamored with. the Lord Jesus Christ all over
again, and never lose that sweetheart love, becoming raptured with
him again, so that nothing and no one else can take us from
our first love. So he says, have you left your
first love? Then repent, do the first works.
Let me read this poem. I never grow tired of reading
this, and you never grow tired of hearing it. Tis a point I
long to know. And often it causes me anxious
thought. Do I love the Lord? Or no? Am I his? Or am I not? If I love, why am
I thus? Why this dull and lifeless or
loveless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
out there who never even knew his name. Could my heart, though, So hard
remain and prayer a task and burden prove. And every little
trifle give me pain if I knew the Savior's love. Or like Shank
said, we don't have to believe in the sovereign God. When I turn my eyes within, all
is vain and dark and wild. Filled with unbelief and sin,
can I deem myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed in everything I do. You that love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it that way with you? Yet I mourn my stubborn will
and find my sin of grief in a thrall. Should I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love at all? No, he wouldn't. Could I enjoy his saints to meet
and choose the ways that I once abhorred and find at times the
promise sweet if I did not love the Lord? No. Lord, you decide the doubtful
case. Thou who art thy people's son, shine upon this work of
grace, if indeed it is begun. And let me love thee more and
more, I pray, if I love it all, I pray. And if I have not loved
before, help me to begin today. John Newton, the writer of Amazing
Grace. Tell me, you that love the Lord,
is it thus with you? Yes, it is. Every one of God's
people get into this sad predicament, just like the Shulamite maiden,
don't they? And the Lord has to convict and chasten us that
you left your first love. Now you repent and you do the
first works. All right, stand with me and
I'll dismiss it. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your blessed word, which is Oh, it's quick. It's life-giving.
It's powerful. You can take an old dead center
and give life. Take an old hard heart and break
it sharper than a two-edged sword. How it pierces our old hard hearts.
Not nearly as much as we'd like for it to, but Lord, yet we thank
You that it does. And we thank You for Your Word
and ask that You would truly pierce our hearts with it and
not let us forget it. But remember. Remember. where we've fallen, the pit from
which we've been digged, and plant our feet upon a rock, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and let us never be moved. In Christ's blessed
name I pray, and as he's saying, for myself and for all those
that have heard this, amen. You're dismissed.

The Church At Ephesus

What does the Bible say about hearing God's voice?

How do we know that salvation is not by works?

Why is it important to maintain our first love for Christ?

How does God view the works of His people?

What does it mean that God saves us according to His own purpose?

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The Church At Ephesus

What does the Bible say about hearing God's voice?

How do we know that salvation is not by works?

Why is it important to maintain our first love for Christ?

How does God view the works of His people?

What does it mean that God saves us according to His own purpose?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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