Christ's Letter to the Church at Ephesus

Q: What does the Bible say about the love of Christ?

The Bible emphasizes the importance of loving Christ fervently, as seen in Revelation 2:4, where the church at Ephesus is admonished for leaving their first love. The Bible speaks extensively about loving Christ as the foundation of the Christian faith. In Revelation 2:4, Christ addresses the church at Ephesus, highlighting that although they were doctrinally sound and diligent in their works, they had left their first love. This passage underscores that love for Christ must permeate all aspects of a believer’s life. True love for Christ manifests not just in feelings, but also in actions, obedience, and devotion; it should reflect a passionate commitment that prioritizes Him above all else. In the grace of the gospel, our love for Christ is kindled by the recognition of His immense love for us, exemplified by His sacrifice on the cross, and should compel us to respond with deep affection, trust, and an eagerness to serve Him.

Q: How do we know that Christians can leave their first love?

Revelation 2:4 indicates that even a faithful church like Ephesus can abandon their first love for Christ, showing that this decline is a real concern in the Christian life. The ability of Christians to leave their first love is evident in the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4. The Lord Jesus acknowledges their commendable works and perseverance but points out a significant failure: they had left their first love. This suggests that it is possible for genuine believers, despite initial fervor and commitment, to experience a decline in their passionate devotion to Christ. Factors contributing to this include neglect, the allure of worldly distractions, and self-sufficiency. Such a decline does not mean that they have lost their salvation but indicates a need for heartfelt repentance, a return to active fellowship, and renewed affection for the Savior. Christians are called to be vigilant and introspective about their relationship with Christ, continually nurturing that initial love through prayer, worship, and meditation on the Word.

Q: Why is returning to our first love important for Christians?

Returning to our first love is crucial for Christians to maintain a vibrant and fruitful relationship with Christ, as seen in Revelation 2:5. Returning to our first love is of utmost importance for Christians because it revitalizes our relationship with Christ and ensures our faith is vibrant and effective. Revelation 2:5 emphasizes this necessity by commanding the church to remember, repent, and return to their first works. The strength of our Christian walk hinges on our love for Christ, which fuels our obedience, worship, and service. When we have forsaken our first love, we risk becoming stagnant, ineffective, and even compromising in our faith. This decline can lead to spiritual apathy, producing a form of religion that lacks the power of true faith. The call to return to our first love invites us to rekindle our initial passion and zeal, fostering a deeper communion with Christ that empowers us to live out our faith authentically and boldly. Thus, it is not merely an emotional return but a transformative process that renews our hearts and minds in alignment with the gospel of grace.

Let's turn, please, to Revelation
Chapter 2. Revelation Chapter 2. The city
of Ephesus was a wealthy, prosperous, magnificent city in Asia Minor. It was famous for the great Temple
of Diana. For many years, it was the center
of commerce in all of Asia. It was connected to all the major
roads of Asia Minor, or to all the major cities by well-maintained
roads, and the harbor at Ephesus accommodated the largest ships
of the day. The Temple of Diana in Ephesus
was one of the wonders of the world. It was a museum, a treasure
house, a refuge for fugitives from the law, for criminals.
That Temple of Diana provided employment for artisans and craftsmen
from all over the country. They made their little shrines,
religious trinkets, statues, and they sold them to folks whenever
they would come to the marketplace or whenever they would be passing
through the city or whenever they would gather for some of
their pagan religious festivals. It was to this city of Ephesus
that the apostle Paul came and preached the gospel of Christ.
For three years, he ceased not night and day, both publicly
and from house to house, to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
A gospel church was established in the city of Ephesus. Multitudes
were saved, converted by the grace of God, and that church
became a lighthouse in a dark world. The church at Ephesus
was zealously devoted to Christ, zealously committed to the truth
of God. And now our Lord is about to
speak to the church at Ephesus. Forty years had passed since
Paul first came preaching the gospel to the Ephesians. Another
generation had arisen and the old generation was getting weary. The old generation had been at
it for a long time now. The church at Ephesus still walked
in the truth. The gospel of Christ was still
proclaimed from her pulpit. but something desperately evil
had taken place. The Lord Jesus Christ discovered
a fault in the church at Ephesus. The pastor didn't see it. The
people in the church didn't see it. But Christ, he who walks
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, discovered a desperately
evil flaw in the congregation at Ephesus. Our Lord said to
the church at Ephesus in verse four, nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Now this letter was not written
to the church at Ephesus alone. It was written to all the churches.
You'll notice in verse 7, he that hath an ear to hear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches, not just to
this church, but to all the churches of Christ. These words of our
Lord Jesus Christ are spoken and written to you and to me. Let every pastor, every church,
every believer examine himself and ask God to give him ears
to hear. and a heart to obey the word
of Christ to his church. Is there in you, is there in me a decaying love,
a decaying of that first love, a decline from that first love
for the Lord Jesus Christ, our dear Savior, always deals with
his people in love and kindness, tenderness. He had a strong word
of reproof to speak to the saints at Ephesus, but he cushions that
word of reproof with a kind word of encouragement and commendation. It would be a blessed thing to
have our Savior give us such laudable commendations as he
gave to the church at Ephesus. Read what our Lord said to the
church at Ephesus, these Ephesian believers. He says in verse 2,
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou
canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them
which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them
liars. and hast borne, and hast patience
for my name's sake, hast labored, and hast not fainted." Verse
6. But this thou hast, that thou
hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Here Christ
commends the church at Ephesus for eight things. Blessed is
that man Blessed is that congregation of believers in which these commendable
characteristics of grace are found. Our Lord says to the Ephesians
first, I know thy works. These were not idle believers.
Their faith was a practical faith. By works of obedience to God,
by works of charity to men, and by works of devotion to Christ,
the church at Ephesus proved their devotion to God. They demonstrated
their faith. They not only professed faith,
they practiced faith. Their works were known and accepted
of Christ because they were diligent in the performance of works for
Christ's sake. The Lord also said, I know thy
labor. They not only walked in good
works before God, but they put themselves wholeheartedly into
their work. They zealously, anxiously went
about serving the cause of Christ in their generation. They served
Christ with all their might. The Ephesians were not lazy,
laudering, listless people. They seized every opportunity
to serve their Savior. They seized every opportunity
to do good unto men. They seized every opportunity
for the furtherance of the gospel. And they did it with willing
hearts. This indeed is a commendable trait. Then the Savior says,
I know thy patience. There are a lot of people who
labor, but they don't labor very long. They labor well, but they
don't labor for a long time. They don't persevere in the work.
After a while, they faint. After a while, they fall by the
wayside. They rise like shooting stars
and they disappear just as quick. But not these people. This church
had labored steadily in the midst of hardship for over 40 years. It had thrown all its energies
into the gospel of Christ, not in spasm, but in a continual
unabated zeal for the glory of God. Fourthly, Christ commends
the church at Ephesus for its intense adherence to the gospel. He says, I know thou canst not
bear them which are evil. This church had an intense hatred
for evil. They hated evil in doctrine and
they hated evil in practice. They loved truth, doctrinal truth
and practical truth. They knew truth from error, they
knew good from evil, and they despised the one and held to
the other. Then our Lord goes on to say,
I know thou has tried them which say they are apostles and are
not and has found them liars. They knew the difference between
truth and error. They knew an apostle of Christ
when they heard him, they knew a man who preached the gospel
when they heard him, and they knew someone who did not when
they heard him. These Ephesians knew the difference
between grace preachers and works preachers. When they heard a
Judaizer, an Arminian, a legalist, or a freewheeler preaching another
gospel, another Jesus, and another spirit, their blood boiled. They
would not endure it. Those who called themselves apostles,
those pretentious preachers, those apostate apostles, those
men who said they were the servants of Christ and they came with
fine words and fair speeches, but they didn't come with the
gospel of Christ. They tried them by the word.
Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You tell us that
salvation is by what we do? You tell us that salvation is
dependent upon the will of man? You tell us that God's limited?
No, no, you're a liar. You're a liar. And they didn't
hesitate to say so. They didn't coddle folks who
were the enemies of Christ and the enemies of the gospel. They
stated things as they were, and our Lord commends them for doing
so. The church at Ephesus patiently
bore reproach and persecution for Christ's sake. Our Savior
said, I know how thou hast borne and hast patience, and for my
name's sake hast labored. In the teeth of opposition, they
stood firm. In the midst of Christ's enemies,
they boldly confessed Him. In the face of hardship, trial,
persecution, and even imprisonment, these believers at Ephesus confidently
served their Master. and the Son of God commends them
for their rare faithfulness and perseverance. He said, I know
how thou hast borne and hast patience, and for my name's sake
hast labored and hast not fainted. They never flagged, they never
faltered, they never quit. These men and women at Ephesus
were rare people indeed. Give me such persevering people.
Give me men and women who do not flag in the work, who do
not falter in their witness, who never quit in their profession
and never quit in their labor for Christ. These were rare people
indeed. And then one other matter of
commendation was their hatred of the Nicolaitans. Our Lord
says in verse six, I know thou hast this, thou hatest the deeds
of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. The Nicolaitans were a
sect. which had arisen in the church
of an antinomian spirit. They contended that since we
are saved by grace and free from law, nothing was evil. There were no things to be considered
evil in themselves. They made every excuse for lewdness
and licentiousness. All true believers, like these
Ephesians and like Christ himself, despise those who promote ungodliness
in the name of grace. And so our Lord commends the
church at Ephesus for these eight characteristics. They are commendable
things. I urge you and I urge my own
heart to follow the example they have given us in these things
that are good and commendable. Yet this church at Ephesus had
one serious flaw, one dreadfully evil weakness, a weakness which
if it were not corrected would end in utter ruin. Our Lord says,
nevertheless, nevertheless, though you're orthodox, though you're
zealous, though you're patient and persevering, though you're
uncompromising in all things and upright in all your ways,
nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast
left thy first love." When I read that statement, I think that's astounding. That's
astounding, that men redeemed by the blood of Christ, saved
by the grace of God, born again by the Holy Spirit, that such
men as this could have a declension in love. That's astounding. Until I hear the Savior speak
those words to this heart. and I find it to be a most common
evil, a most common evil. I stand before you tonight to
preach to my own heart. The message I have to deliver
to you is first and foremost a message from the Son of God
to myself. If any of you have offended as
I have in this matter, This message is for you too. I pray that God
the Holy Spirit will apply his word to my own heart and to yours
and that by the renewing of his grace he will cause us to return
to our first love. Let me give you a statement. Forms a basis of what I've got
to say tonight. Love that is not fed with fellowship
and communion soon decays into something worse than indifference. Love that is not fed with fellowship
and communion soon decays into something worse than indifference. It decays into presumption and
ingratitude. I want to try to answer three
questions. First of all, what was that first
love? What was our first love? Now,
obviously, our Lord is not talking about the grace of love in our
hearts being something that's altogether forsaken. He is not
talking about believers who once loved him but somehow ceased
to love him. You see, true love can never
be quenched. Sometimes I hear men or women
say to me, well, you know, I just don't love him anymore or I just
don't love her anymore. If you ever did, you do. And
if you don't, you never did. True love can't be quenched. True love can never cease. Any
who cease to love Christ never truly loved Christ at all. Love
for Christ is a gift of grace that cannot be taken away. It
cannot be lost, and it cannot be destroyed. Yet God's people
do sometimes leave their first love. Through indolence, neglect
of Christ, and the care of the world, the heat and the fervor
of our love for Christ abates, and the exercise of love toward
Him diminishes. I want to try if the Spirit of
God will speak through me to stir up our memories a little
and let's see if there are not yet some burning coals which
will break out into a flame of love with a little stirring. Go back with me to the place
David was singing about a moment ago. Go back with me to the place
where you first met the Savior. Go back to Mount Calvary. Go
back to the cross of Christ one more time, where the Lord Jesus
Christ first appeared to you, bleeding upon the cross as your
substitute. Oh, I do well remember. I do
well remember the first time he appeared to me. I do well
remember how he spoke to my heart and how he said to me, I am thy
salvation. I have redeemed you. All your
sins are forgiven, washed away in this fountain of blood. I
remember how he spoke peace and pardon to my soul, how the burden
of my heart rolled away, and immediately I fell in love with
him. Immediately. As soon as I believed
him, I began to love him. I fell in love with him at first
sight. At first sight, as soon as he
made himself known, I fell in love with him. Had he at that
time asked of me to give him everything I had, I would gladly
have done it. Indeed, he did require of me
to give him everything I had. And buddy, I gladly laid it all
at his feet, everything. everything. I thought no sacrifice
too great. I thought no duty too demanding. I thought nothing too much for
him to ask. Everything was laid at his feet
for his disposal. I think I could have used the
language of Samuel Rutherford in those days with honesty. I
think I could have said as Rutherford did on one occasion to Christ,
O my Lord, if there were a broad hail betwixt me and thee, if
I could not get to thee except by wading through it, I would
not think twice, but I would plunge through it all if I might
embrace thee and call thee mine. It's that first love, that reckless,
careless, uninhibited, unrestrained love that I'm afraid we have
in measure left. I chose my words deliberately.
That love is reckless. That love is careless. That love
is uninhibited. That love is unrestrained. That's first love. That's what
I'm talking about. That's what our Lord's talking
about. Let me see if I can describe it for you. That first love caused
us to earnestly and zealously confess Christ to men. Do you
remember how it was when you first met the Savior? Do you
remember how anxious you were to get into the waters of baptism
and confess Him before men? Do you remember how anxious you
were at the job or at the classroom or in the neighborhood to confess
Christ to men? You wanted everybody to know
it. You wanted everybody to know it. You had fallen in love with
it. You were like a young lady who suddenly has met the man. Oh! You pick up the phone, you
call your girlfriends, you got to tell them about that. There
doesn't have been a man like this in the world. Why he's the most
dashing, ravishing man you've ever met. His hair lays so beautifully. His shoulders are so broad. He's
strong. He's tall. He's handsome. All
of those things that describe him, you communicate so quickly
to your friends. Why? Because suddenly you found
somebody that you love. You remember how Sally used to
talk about you that way, Bob? That's the way we used to talk
about Christ. That's the way we used to talk about Christ
because we had never met anything or anybody like him. Never. How long has it been since you
confessed to anybody? Say, well, this, that, something's
wrong. That's what it is. Something's
wrong. Somehow your heart, my heart,
is not ravished by him. Oh, yes, Lord, you know all things,
you know that I love you, but somehow that ravishing love,
that overwhelming love, that magnificent engulfing of love,
somehow, just gone. That first love inspired our
hearts to almost unceasing prayer, praise, and communion with Christ. After our conversion by His grace,
we first met Him. We could hardly speak without
speaking to Him. You could hardly walk around
the block without speaking to Him. In the mornings you would
rise and speak to him. As you went about your business
through the day, you'd be carrying on a conversation with the Son
of God. When you came to your home and
sat down in the evening, you'd have to get alone with Christ. You spent your days and your
nights in sweet communion, in sweet fellowship, in sweet prayer,
in sweet praise. Oh, I know that prayer is an unceasing dependence upon
Christ in faith. Yes, I know that. But I know
also there's something to be said for an active, conscious,
deliberate, how can I say it? No, not deliberate,
but so So much a part of us that it is, it is just the breath
of the renewed soul. Speaking to Christ. Worshipping
Christ. Giving praise, thanks, and adoration
to Christ. Communing with Christ. That's
the kind of love I'm talking about. That first love for Christ made
His Word our most delightful treasure. You remember how you
couldn't wait to get alone and start to read the Word. And you
didn't just read so many verses or so many chapters, but you'd
read the Word and study it and seek to understand it. And you'd
come to a text and you'd ask God to open it to you and you'd
search it out. You wanted to understand, to
feed upon the Word of God. It was your most delightful treasure. So much of the time, the book
lies on your coffee table or in your nightstand, closed from
one service to the next. And when you do read it, I wonder, do you read it because
you love it and you feel like you can't live
without it? Or do you read it because you feel like it's what
you ought to be doing? I wonder that of me. I hope you
ask yourself the same kind of questions. That first love made
the house of God, the ministry, the word, and the fellowship
of God's saints the most important and most joyful things in the
world to you. Oh, how you used to come into
the house of God and sing the songs of silence. It disturbs me greatly. I see
men and women, when they first profess faith in Christ, first
confess Him, they first see Him, and they come to know His grace,
come to know something of His redemptive glory, and their hearts
are just thrilled, just enraptured by the knowledge of His grace.
They come in, they sing, and while they're singing, their
faces beam with joy. After a while, they kindly sing
like, well, this is part of the worship service, so we'll sing. And then they sit down, and then
we'll sing another verse or two, and then not even pay any attention
to what we're saying. Ask yourself, how many of you
remember the words we sang? just in the first 15 minutes
of the service. They were singing, oh, how I
love Jesus. I wish I had such love for him
that I could sing, oh, how I love Jesus. That last hymn was saying,
I'm saying that. More love today. This all my prayer shall be more
love for Christ. Come into the house of God and
you sit down and you hear the word of the gospel. How often is it that that word
which once you could not get enough of suddenly
has become common, ordinary, and mundane. I remember the first time I took
the bread and the wine. Oh, what a communion service
it was. It was communion. And now I remember how often
it is that we break the bread and drink the wine. And I fear
it becomes nothing more than a religious ritual and ceremony
we go through. That first love calls us to do
the will of God with unquestioning faith, unhesitating obedience. We would give anything for the
cause of do anything for the glory of Christ and go anywhere
for the bidding of Christ. Whatever it was the Spirit of
God impressed upon our hearts to do was done immediately. Without question, without debate,
without consulting with ourselves or consulting with anyone else.
This is what God has for me to do. I must do it. Things are different. Now we
consult with our flesh and we consult with what's practical
and we consult with the opinions of this man or the opinions of
that. We consult with this thought or that thought and we think
that we just cannot do this thing. No matter how certain we are,
this is the bidding of God's Spirit. We just can't do this.
It must not be of God. It costs too much. It demands
too much. Do you remember how it was in
those blessed days? What peaceful hours we once enjoyed? How sweet their memory still,
when your heart was still burning with those coals from off the
altar. But now we're refined. Now we're
settled. Now we're mature. We've learned
so much. We're more sound than we were. We're more reasonable than we
were then. We're more adult than we were
then. And along with those things,
more cold, more dead, and more useless. What happened? What went wrong? How did we lose our first love?
How did we lose our first love? I asked myself that question.
I was preparing this message. And not just while I was preparing
this message, but I ask myself this question so often. Don,
how is it? How is it that your heart can
be so cold? How is it that you can be so
indifferent? How is it that you can be so unmoved? How is it
that Christ can be of so little significance? You see, I do try to be honest
with myself. I try to be honest with myself.
Rarely, if ever, does this decline in love begin with some climactic
event. Not often. It gradually steals
over our hearts and suffocates us by degrees. But the causes
of this decline, if we're honest, are not hard to find. If we'll
be honest with ourselves, we will find, I'm sure, that any
decay from our first love comes from resources. I give them to
you. I guarantee you this is true
of you and of me, of every man and woman in this place who believes
Christ. These three things are the things that cause our love
to decline. First of all, turn to the Song
of Solomon, chapter 5. Our love decays. Whenever we
willfully neglect Christ, that's the first thing. Now let your
pastor be honest and preach honestly to himself. One of my most besetting sins
is the neglect of Christ, the neglect of sweet communion
with my dear Savior. I'm not a lazy man. Give me something
to do for Christ, for the good of his church, for the furtherance
of the gospel, and I'll immediately put myself in the work. But I am not, I shamefully confess,
I am not nearly so quick to open my heart to communion with the
Son of God. Yet love to Christ very much
depends upon our nearness to Christ. Now, I realize that we
are near God always in the sense that God's elect are always accepted,
always beloved of him. But I realize also that there
is a nearness of spirit, Lindsay, a nearness of fellowship, a nearness
of communion that is in great measure determined by our neglect
or our communion with Christ in great measure. Look here in
the Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 2. The church is speaking, the bride
of Christ, you and I. I sleep. That's a terrible sign. But this is a good sign. But
my heart wake. I'm asleep, but my heart's awake. It is the voice of my beloved,
he's knocking, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled, for my head's filled with the dew and my locks with
the drops of the night. My head's filled with the dew.
And my locks with the drops of the night, the night that I spent
in agony for your soul, the night that I spent in torment of my
own soul for your soul, now open to me, my beloved." And we say, don't bother me right
now. Don't bother me right now. I've
got other things to do right now. I've got business to take
care of. I'm tired right now. I put off
my coat. How shall I put it on? I've already
washed my feet. I don't want to get them dirty
again. Don't bother me now. My beloved put his hand in 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 the
myrrh, my fingers with the sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the
lock. I opened to my beloved, but my
beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone. Too little, too
late. My soul failed when he spake. I sought him, but I couldn't
find him. I caught him, but he gave me no answer." Neglect is the cause of decline. It's very much with us like it
is with the planets and the sun. Some of the planets are as hot
as fire. Others are as cold as ice. Some of the planets move
very slowly in orbit around the sun. Some of them move in rapid
orbit. What's the difference? You see,
some of them are very close and some of them are far, far away. And those that are nearest the
sun are as hot as fire. and move with rapid orbit around
the sun. So it is with us. If we live
near Christ, we can't help loving him. The heart that lives nearest
Christ in sweet communion is most aflame with love for Christ. Another thing that causes our
heart's love to decay is the love of this world. Turn to Matthew
13. Matthew chapter 13. Hear your
pastor well. Hear me well. Matthew 13 verse 22. Our Lord
speaks of those who receive the seed among thorns. He's the one
who hears the word and then the care of this world. and the deceitfulness
of riches choke out the word and he becomes unfruitful. There are few, very few men who
increase in riches and increase in grace at the same time. Very few. I started to say, I don't know
any, I do know one or two, but only one or two. There are very
few men and women who increase in riches and increase in grace
at the same time. Did you ever notice how religious,
dedicated, and committed people become when they're out of work?
When they're in need? When their son's sick, or a wife
is sick, or husband's sick? When mother or dad's about to
die, folks become so committed, so religious. Oh, Brother Don,
I just feel like I've got to be in the house of the Lord.
I just believe that this is what God had me to do. And then everything
gets better, you know. Little boy gets well. Looks like
he's going to live another year or two, maybe. Get you a good
job. Got a little income coming in.
You can see now where you're going to be able to feed the
family for another week without having to go on welfare. And
all of a sudden, well, you know, not so terribly important to
be at church tonight. You know, we're so tired after
working all day. Last month didn't have a job.
So I come to church and beg God to give me a job. Now I've got
one, I won't go. Few people increase in grace
as they increase in wealth, very few. Of all the temptations to
which God's people are exposed in this world, the most dangerous
is the love of this world, the most dangerous, because it's
the most subtle. Too much of this world is an
evil encumbrance to any man. God give me not riches lest I
presume nor poverty lest I steal. Too much of this world, too much
of this world is an encumbrance to any man. Let me illustrate
it for you if I can. Let's suppose that Merle Hart
is going to take a journey. This is back in old days when
you take the journey on the feet. And so in order to take his journey
and to make that long pilgrimage from one place to another, to
climb over those mountains, he gets him a staff, a light but
strong piece of wood so that he can lean on his staff and
it'll help him to progress in his journey. And he looks at
that staff and he says, well, this is rare teak wood. Well, I'll tell you what, boy,
if I get from Danville to Charleston, West Virginia, if I had a hundred
of those things, I could sell them, make some money and pay
them away. And so he decides to give him a hundred of those
staffs. Now he can't make his journey.
Do you see what I'm saying? The one staff, he needs that
one. He can't make the journey without
that one. That one helps him along his
way, but greed causes him to gather up a hundred staffs. And
now he's so busy gathering his staffs, trying to bind them together,
figure out a way to carry them with him, that he can't make
his journey at all. You do see the application, don't
you? The third thing which causes
our love for Christ to decline is our carnal tendency toward
presumption, self-confidence, and self-righteousness. It's
not rooted out yet, Hubert. It's not rooted out yet. Our
Lord says, Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion. I know how you think. We're all
cut out of the same bolt of cloth. We have a tendency, our tendency
is to begin to think well of ourselves after a while. Oh,
we talk about what great sinners we are and we talk about how
terrible and loathsome our hearts are, but we sit alone in our
easy chairs and we read the Word and we begin to think that we
have indeed attained to some measure of holiness and sanctification
by our works that somebody else has not attained them to. Oh,
preacher, I don't think that. Well, why do you talk about other
folks the way you do then? Why do you have that holier-than-thou
attitude toward other folks? Because we think we're somebody. When a man begins to think much
of himself, he will think little of Christ. Presumption destroys
perseverance. Self-confidence destroys faith. And self-righteousness destroys
love. Beware, my friends, beware my heart, my heart beware
of the love of this world, of self-righteousness, and of the
neglect of Christ. For what can we do to regain
our first love? I sound a word of warning to
us all. If we belong to Christ, though we decline in love to
Him, His love toward us will never decline. And because He
loves us, He will chasten us sore and cause us by the sweet
constraint of His grace to return to Him. If we don't love Christ,
if we do not return to Him, if our hearts do not again glow
with love for Him, If our decline is a permanent decline, it's
because our love is a fake, a pretense, a sham profession, and no more. My soul, God, help me. Don't be presumptuous here. Help me to love thee more and
more if I love at all, I pray. And if I have not loved before,
help me to begin today." If you would return to your Savior and
regain that first love, the Lord Jesus Christ here gives us three
words of instruction. First of all, he says, verse
5, remember. Remember therefore from whence
thou art fallen. Remember what a blessed condition
your soul was in when you enjoyed that first love. Do you remember
how he brought me into his banqueting house and his banner over me
was love and his left hand was under my head and with his right
hand he did embrace me? And I had to cry, stay me with
wagons of wine. Do you remember how it was then? Remember where you were when
the Savior found you. Look to the rock from which you're
hewn, to the hole of the pit from which you're dug. Remember what you owe Christ. You were naked and cast out from
your mother's womb. There was no eye that pitied
you. No one had compassion. But he said, I passed by you,
and your time was a time of love, and I said unto you, live. Yea,
I said unto you, live. And I spread the skirt of my
righteousness over you. And I put a crown on your head,
an earring in your ear, a necklace upon your neck, and jewels upon
you, and your renown and your beauty went forth through the
comeliness that I have put upon you. Remember, you owe everything. Then our Savior says, repent. Repent like you did at the first.
Repent of the evil you've done to Christ. Repent of your shameful neglect.
O God, my Savior, let me never neglect Thee again. Repent of your sinful love of
the world. Set your affection on Christ.
Repent of your self-confidence, your presumption, and your self-righteousness,
and then return Repent and do thy first works, that is, return
to just what you were when first you came to me. That's just another
way of saying return to the Lord. Return to the place where first
you met Christ. Return to the foot of the cross.
Bathe your sin-sick soul again in the precious blood of Christ.
As at the first, trust Christ. I come again to the feet of the
cross of my dear Savior. And just like I came the first
time, I come with nothing to offer Him. Nothing. A sinner in need of mercy. A sinner without a claim on God. A sinner without a hope for God. And I trust Him. I trust Him. And trusting Him, as at the first,
let your soul be ravished with His love. Oh, meditate on Christ. Meditate on Meditate on His love,
His grace, His redemption, His glory, His mercy, His majesty. Meditate on Him. Look on Him
until your soul is ravished by His love for you. And continue
looking on Him until your soul breaks forth with love for Him,
love toward Him, love here created by loving Him. that we can speak as the bride
and say, I charge you, oh daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my
beloved, tell him I'm sick of love. My
heart's love's sick. I want to see his face again.
I want to hear his voice again. Oh, that he might kiss me with
the kisses of his lips again. Oh, that he might embrace me
again. If you find him, will you tell
him for me? I miss him. My heart's sick for
him. Now, in order to stir our hearts,
To return to our first love, our Savior gives us a warning
and a promise. The warning is this, verse 5,
if you do not remember, repent, and return to me, I will come
unto thee quickly and remove thy candlestick out of its place,
except thou But here's the promise, verse
7. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the
paradise of God. Those who lose their first love
fall, but those who regain their first love are made to stand.
And that love is fed and nourished by Christ himself, both now upon
the earth and forever in heaven's glory. The tree of life is Christ
himself. He's the bread of life, the tree
of life, the water of life. Love feeds on him. The paradise
of God, of course, is heaven. And the feeding of love by the
hand of Christ is that which he does for us now and that which
shall be done for us forever. The feeding of love is heaven
begun already in the soul. If I could have anything on this
earth I might desire, anything, I would not ask for any increase
in wealth or any increase in health. I honestly desire neither. I honestly desire neither. I
would not ask for any increase in fame or any increase in reputation. I do not desire either. I wouldn't even ask if I could
have anything on this earth I might desire. I wouldn't even ask that
God grant me the most delightful things that life
in this world can afford. I'll tell you what I'd ask. I would ask to have nothing but
love, love for the Lord Jesus Christ,
and do nothing but that which is for the sake of his glory,
and that which is done out of love for him. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit Now
fill my heart and yours with love for Christ. I have some heart against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love. Amen.

Christ's Letter to the Church at Ephesus

What does the Bible say about the love of Christ?

How do we know that Christians can leave their first love?

Why is returning to our first love important for Christians?

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Christ's Letter to the Church at Ephesus

What does the Bible say about the love of Christ?

How do we know that Christians can leave their first love?

Why is returning to our first love important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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