Turn back to Revelations chapter
2. Lord willing, I'd like to go
through these letters to these seven churches. I was reading some of this here
for the past couple of days. And I thought, my, this is something
we need to look at. So tonight we're going to look
at the first one. I titled the message, Return
to Thy First Love. Return to Thy First Love. Relationships take effort, don't
they? especially the longer we're around
each other. Really, being honest sometimes gets you in trouble, but it does. It takes effort.
It takes a lot of effort. We cannot neglect one another
and expect to have a good relationship. It's not going to happen. People
who have dear friends, are people who have worked on their friendships. Solomon said, to have friends
you must show yourself friendly. Good marriages are made through
much effort, love, and consideration of one another. At the very root of any worthwhile
relationship is love, is love. There is nothing that will bond
a relationship together like love. It'll carry you through
the hardest of times, the best of times. It'll bond you together
like, what was that gorilla glue you was talking about Dale? It'll
bond you together. Love will cause you to forego
your comfort for someone else's comfort. Our Lord, it says, though he
were rich, he became poor. It says he had no place to lay
his head. I've always had a place to lay
my head. I've always had a comfortable
pillow to lie on. He had no place. The foxes have
holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man
has no place to lay his head. He foregone all comfort that
we might have comfort. We lay down not only in a comfortable
bed. I wouldn't care to lay down in
a ditch if I could lay down with a quiet conscience. If you can lay down and you have
a real peace and comfort, it doesn't matter what your body
lies on. Really, it doesn't matter. And our Lord has provided us
that. So love will cause you to forego your comfort for someone
else's comfort. It will cause you to bear one
another's burdens without murmuring. It makes it a lot easier to bear,
doesn't it? Love does. Let's look at this chapter, the
church at Ephesus. And the first thing that stood
out to me, it says, unto the angel of the church at Ephesus. You know who that angel is? The
pastor. And I looked at this and I read
this and I thought, Pastor, it's your fault. You let this happen. You didn't notice what was going
on. You were so busy, and I'm getting into the latter part
of my message, but you were so busy going, coming, doing, preaching,
doing the right things. But you neglected your first
love. And when the pastor neglects
it, you're going to neglect it. It's going to go right down the
line. And when I read that, And all of them start out like this.
Everyone that he writes to these churches, he writes to the pastor. He does not go around the chain
of command. He does not go around the person
whom he has set up as an authority figure in his church, the undershepherd. A lot of responsibility. Unto the angel. Now Ephesus, let me give you
a little background here. Ephesus was a very prosperous city. It had the famous temple of the
goddess Diana, and it drew a lot of attention, and it drew a lot
of commerce because of her. It was a city of commerce. It
was a center of commerce. There was much traffic flowing
through that city. It was a rich city. City of about
two hundred and twenty-five, fifty, somewhere around a thousand
people. Large city for that time. And Paul came to this city and
he preached the gospel. And God raised up a church, a
flourishing church in this city. And that church became a flaming
witness of Christ in Ephesus. And I mean, they stood against
that temple That image of the goddess of Diana. You remember
Paul over an axe when he stood up against it? You know, they
got together, those artists got together. They said, we are in
danger of losing our jobs. They said, you know, this man
is turning these people away from the goddess Diana. This
is how we make our money off their religion, off their superstition. We make our living off from it.
And they were just attacking Paul. And these people had to
put up with that. They had to deal with that. But
they became a flaming witness of Christ in that city. But something
was going on unnoticed and undetected by the pastor and the people. And if that heart loved for Christ,
it was diminishing. It's like a coal. When you take
it out of the fire, you lay it over here by itself, it starts
to cool down. It starts to cool down. Love to Christ had declined. Now they still love Christ, but
with us, now with us, up and down isn't it? It's never
that way with our Lord. His love never changes. But with
us, we can grow in love, and I tell you what, we can decline
in it, too, through neglect, through neglect. Now, let's look
at this. Christ, the first thing He does,
He commends this church before He ever, before He ever says
one word about the problem. He commends them. This is long
before the book of How to Win Friends and Influence People
was written. This is the book. This is the
book. And here is a lesson for people
like me, in a position of authority, for parents. This is a good lesson
for parents, is how to correct people. How to correct even children. Point out the things they are
doing right first. Point that out first. Our Lord
does. The first thing He does, He points
out what they're doing right. He said, I have no problems with
what you are doing. The problem I'm having is what's
going on in here. It's your affections to me. your
affections toward me. Now he says in verse 2, I know
thy works and thy labor. I want you to notice how he points
these things out. I know. I know thy works and thy labor.
This church was very busy in laboring in the gospel. They
sent the gospel out. They evangelized that city. And
our Lord recognizes it. So what they're evangelizing
and they're preaching was correct, or he would not point it out
as a good point. He would not commend them for it. Christ knows
all that we do in His name. Our labor in the ministry never
goes unnoticed by our Lord. Not at all. He never forgets
it. Never forgets it. And He says here, I know thy
patience. I know thy patience. For more than 40 years, this
church labored. This church never quit. This
church is not like the Galatians. They did not turn to another
gospel. They were not being turned to another gospel. This church
held fast. This church stood fast on the
gospel. They did not quit in the face
of strong paganism. Right in the teeth of Satan. In the face of much opposition,
they did not quit. They labored. They labored. They stood against the opposition.
And they did not back down one iota in the preaching of the
gospel. And he says this, I know also
this about you, that you cannot bear them which are evil. This
church had discernment. They did not go along to get
along. They withstood the evil of their
days. They exposed evil. They departed
from evil. They held to the true doctrines
of the gospel. They preached the true doctrines
of the gospel. And they were, listen, they were
a moral group. They were, not like the Nicolaitans,
which he says here. He says here also, I know you
cannot bear them which are evil. I know that thou hast tried them
which say they are apostles and are not. And you found them to
be liars. You didn't put up with them.
You did not, for a minute, put up with those liars. What did
John say over in 1 John 4? Does he not say, try the spirits? They did. They took the gospel,
the word that was given to them through the preaching of Paul,
and these men came along, these Judaizers, and they listened
to them preach. They said, no, no, you are a
liar. Get out of here. They exposed
those birds. They didn't put up with them
at all. They were legalists, they were Arminians, and they
ran out. They were not afraid to expose
them. When another gospel was preached, they exposed it. They exposed it. And I'm telling
you something, when you do that, you're going to face strong opposition.
You're going to face strong opposition when you do that. He says also concerning them,
I know thou hast born You've borne ridicule, resentment. People have shunned you. Your
name has been slandered. You've been talked about and
misrepresented all over town. And you have borne this. You
have borne the persecution that comes with the gospel. And brethren, if we're true to
the gospel, it comes. Now it comes. He says, you have
borne and with patience. And for my sake, you've labored. You've labored. So we know this
about them. They are preaching the gospel.
They are laboring in the gospel. And they are doing it right.
The Lord's commending them for it. He's commending. Their heart is right in this.
In this, their heart is right. You are faithful. They serve
Christ. In that city, in the face of all opposition, they
served the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully. Faithfully. He said this, I know
this also about you. There's eight things he commends
them for. I know that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate. Basically, the Nicolaitans taught
that since we are saved by grace and we are free from the law,
nothing was wrong for them to do. That is true antinomianism,
and that is an absolute misrepresentation of grace. Grace teaches us to
what? Deny ungodliness. It teaches us to deny these things.
The Nicolaitans, they freely committed fornication, adultery.
They were eating things sacrificed to idols. They were just like,
there's nothing wrong with what we do now. And the Lord said, you hate the
deeds of those Nicolaitans and I hate them too. It's a good thing to hate the
same thing the Lord hates and to love the same thing the Lord
loves. That's what you call being in tune with one another. But then here comes the charge. Here comes the charge. It's one
of those charges that stab you right in the heart. It's one
of those charges that you didn't realize. You didn't realize it
through all this preaching and doing and standing
up against opposition, that your love had declined toward Him. How can that be? Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love. You didn't quit loving Christ
because that's not possible. Not if you're born of God. You're
not going to quit loving Him. But your love declined and your
heart drifted away. This thing of salvation, I don't
know if I can get this across, but this matter of salvation
is a heart thing. And it is a real relationship
with the Lord. It's not just a different type
of religion. Though we are. Because there
is only one true religion. There's two religions, one of
works, one of grace. But it's that heart. It's that
heart relationship. It's that heart affection. You
know it. It's like between a husband and
a wife. You know it's there. But on our part, it can grow
cold. It can be neglected. Their problem was a heart problem. He said, you're first loved.
You left your first love. I tell you what, we never have
loved until we've loved Christ. Really? You know, there is that
natural love, fleshly love, but I'll tell you what, that's just
that far above animal love. That's just about that far above
animals. Seriously. But when the love of God is shed
abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, that is the first time
you experience real love. And Christ is your first love. He's your first love. Remember
when you first heard the Gospel in power? Think back. Remember when you first believed
and you were enamored and excited about hearing the gospel? Remember
when you were eager to confess Christ? I thought this today. When was
the last time my heart burned when I heard the gospel? You
remember when he was walking on the road to Emmaus with those
disciples and they said, did not our hearts burn within us
when he talked with us? When is the last, this is just,
this is something. When's the last time my heart
burned when I heard the gospel? When I heard the voice of my
master? When I heard the voice of my
husband? The voice of my King, the voice
of my Lord, the voice of my substitute. When's the last time my heart
burned? When did that happen? When is the last time that happened? When's the last time that I prayed
and it was not a labor, that I was speaking to my Lord and
not just saying a prayer. It was said to me one time, someone
said to me, just say a little prayer for me. Is there a little prayer? There
is no such thing as a little prayer. If you have the ear of
God, if you have the attention of God, is that little? No. No. And no way. Remember, look, let me give you
this illustration. Remember when you fell in love
with your spouse? Do you remember that? I was thinking
about this today. Remember when you longed to see
them coming? You used to long to see them
come to the door. Remember when you longed to be with them? And then you hated it when you
had to separate and go home. Remember that? Remember when
you were first married and you were thrilled with one another.
You were thrilled with one another's presence. Is it still like that? I told Mike this today. I'll
probably get shot when I get home. I said, when we were first
married, and Mike agreed with me, I said, when we were first
married, I said, if I was upset just a little, it would bring
a tear to her eye. I said, now I have to slap her
off her feet to get the tears out. That's what time does to
us. Serious, you live with me long
enough. You live with me long enough, I assure you, you get
calloused and hard real quick. You grow up real quick. But that's
us, isn't it? Is that not us? Does the Lord
not have to send trials To bring a tear to our eye. When one time
it was just a little, we did something we thought was wrong.
But now it takes tougher things to do that. Maybe that's why
trials get so much more difficult when we get older. We're not
as tender. We're not as tender. He said you left your first love. You did. Here's what happens. Responsibilities come along. Work, kids, school, taking care
of the house, busy doing this, busy doing that, and someone,
if not both, always get neglected. Always. It happens. And the church at Ephesus, And
all churches at one time or another, and listen, and all individuals
at one time or another are guilty of this. You left your first
love. You left. Our love diminishes
because we give attention to something or someone else. And
we just get taken up with it. Our love gradually cools off
even though we still preach, pray, study. And at the same time, not even
realizing it, that our affections and our love for Him, to have
Him, have you seen Him whom my soul loves? It gradually cools off. This is why Paul tells us in
Colossians 2.2, set your affection on things above. Set your mind,
set your heart where Christ is, at the right hand of God. Our Lord said, where your treasure
is, your heart will be also. Is Christ your treasure? Is he
the treasure that you found in the field? Is he the treasure? As I said earlier, relationships
take effort. You get out of it what you put
into it. When we neglect Christ, when we neglect that quiet communion
when everybody else is gone, get it off to ourselves, when
we neglect that, we grow cold. We grow cold. Look over in Song
of Solomon, Chapter 5. Song of Solomon, Chapter 5. I am coming to my garden, my
sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with
my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk my wine with my
milk. Eat, O friend, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is the voice of my beloved
that knocks, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. filled with dew in my locks with
the drops of the night." And here's her response. I mean,
he's out there in the night. He's out there redeeming us.
He's out there redeeming us. He's out there taking care of
our sins and putting them away. And notice her response. I have
put off my coat. How shall I put it on? I've put
off my coat. I'm ready for bed. I'm tired. I have washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? There is such a thing as communion
with Christ. We're having it here. We preach
the gospel. We are to do this. This is joyful. There's a special
blessing here. But now, we're individuals. We go home. And we have communion,
fellowship, with our Lord in our hearts. And it's real. It is real. There is such a thing as communion
with Christ in our hearts. And those who draw up close to
Christ experience His love, His warmth, his peace, his joy, they
experience it the most. You get closer to the sun and
see how much warmer it gets. Here's something to be thankful
for. His love to us never declines. Our love does, but His love never
declines. Let me read you something over
here. I've got it marked. In Hosea,
I was reading some of this today, and I thought, my, I'm going
to have to preach from this. Hosea and Gomer. But listen to this
over in Hosea, chapter 14, in verse 4. He says, I will heal
their backsliding. I will love them Freely. Freely. Now, if he loves me freely,
and if he loves me with an everlasting love, that's not going to change.
He loves his children. He loves his bride. He loves
his wife. He loves the church with pure,
hot, fervent love. And it never flickers. It never
even flickers. That's how He loves us. Now how to return? How to return
to this? He said you left your first love.
Return. Return. Remember therefore from
whence thou art fallen and return. Remember who saved you. Think
upon Him. Let me read you another one from
Song of Solomon. Let me read you something here
in Song of Solomon, chapter 2. I want you to listen to this. Listen, before I read this. Return to this. Return to this. If you've had it, return to it. I am the rose of Sharon. and
the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so
was my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees
of the woods, so was my beloved among the sons. I sat down under
his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my
taste. He brought me to the banqueting
house, and his banner over me was love. Stained me with Comfort
me with apples, for I am sick of love, I am lovesick. When's the last time you was
ever lovesick? His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand doth embrace me. Call those things to remembrance. Remember, from whence thou art
fallen. I charge you, O ye daughters
of Jerusalem, by the rows and by the hives of the field, that
you stir not up nor awake, my love, till he please." And you
go on reading that. It's just a great, great love
letter. Return to that. Return to that. Remember, therefore, from whence
thou art fallen. Remember the one who saved you. Remember his substitutionary
work. Remember his grace. that brought
you, remember Him for who He is, God, Man, Substitute, our
Lord and Savior, our Husband. Remember Him in humility. You're
the one that grew cold, not Him. Remember Him in faith. Remember
Him in love. Think upon it. You know, when
you love something or when you love someone, they're on your
mind, aren't they? They're on your mind. A lot. A lot. There's none like Him. They said also over in the Song
of Solomons, why is your beloved? What is it about Him that makes
Him more or better than any of the others? Then she goes on
describing him. Have you seen Poison? I mean,
I ought to go back over and find that. Well, let's find it. Let's
find it. I have to find it. It's in Song
of Solomon. Okay. Somebody finds it, you
tell me. Chapter 5, 4th verse, we start
at. Okay, let's, I'll tell you where
we start. We start verse 1. I am coming
to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I've gathered my myrrh with my
spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my
wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O beloved. I slept, but my heart waketh.
It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to
me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, for my head is
filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? I have washed my
feet, how shall I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by
the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I
rose up to open to my beloved, and my hands dropped with myrrh,
and my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the
lock. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn
himself." Do you blame him? Remember this, our beloved is
the sovereign. The dime weighs on the dollar,
always. He withdrew himself and was gone.
My soul fell when he spake. I sought him, but I could not
find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchmen
that went about the city found me. They smoked me. They wounded
me. The keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. I
charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, you tell
him I'm lovesick." And they said, well, in verse 9, "'What is thy
beloved more than another beloved? O thou fairest among women. What
is thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost charge
us? Tell us.' And boy does she." I'm glad you asked. My beloved
is white and ruddy, the cheapest among ten thousand. His head
is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy and black
as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of does
by the rivers of water washed with milk and fitly set. His
cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers, his lips like
lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold
rings set with the barrel. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yea,
he's altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this
is my friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem."
I bet Vicki's never described me like that. And I bet none
of you wives have ever described your husbands like that, because
there's none like that. There is none like that. Oh,
He's altogether loving. Not a blemish in Him. Not a blemish. He says, repent. Turn to Him. Repent of what you've done. Repent
of your coldness, your deadness. You're the one left. Repent of
it. Repent of shunning Him. Repent! of saying, I'm just too
tired. I put off my shoes, my coat,
and I'm washed up, and I'm showered, and I'm ready to go to bed, and
I'm tired. Repent of that. Repent of that laziness of heart. I tell you, it takes effort.
Do the first works. They said, do the first works.
What's that? Return to Him. When I saw this,
I thought, you return to Him, and I thought of that dove returning
to the ark. It had no place where it's feet. Look upon Him like you did the
first time, with love and admiration. Be alone with Him as much as
you can. He says here, if not, if not,
I will come and remove the candlestick. I'll remove the church. Stay
here. He'll take his people out. He'll take his sheep out, one
by one, and he'll just take it out. It'll be gone. Oh, I'm sure meetings will be
going on here, but he won't be here. The gospel won't be here.
That's serious. Serious business. Christ will
not tolerate a rival for his love. There's not one husband,
one wife that would tolerate a rival for your love. You wouldn't
do it. He says, return, return. Let me find my place here. Remember therefore, verse five,
from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first work,
or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick
out of his place, except thou repent. And then he said, but
this thou hast, thou hast to hate us the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
We are dealt with that. He that hath ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh,
I will give to eat of the tree of life." You know who the tree of life
is? It ain't a what? It's a he. Him. He's the tree of life. You'll feast on me. You'll be
with me. And where is he? which is in
the midst of the paradise of God, in heaven, in heaven. Return to thy first love. Let
us never get so busy that we neglect that union, fellowship,
personally in our hearts with him.