First Love
Matthew 22:37; Romans 12:11; Rev. 2:4
1. First Love
Do you remember your first love? For some of you this morning like myself, it has been a number of years but I still think you can remember their name. You might remember the first kiss.
Do you remember what it was like? For one, you want to spend all your time with your first love. Every moment you had you wanted to be with that other person. They brought love to your life and it was wonderful to be in their presence. Some of us would do anything for them. Nothing was too much to ask, no amount was too big to spend, and no distance was too far. As the lyrics said to one of my favorite songs, "Ain¡¦t no mountain high enough, ain¡¦t no river wide enough to keep me from loving you." Life was great!
Our scripture this morning is in reference to a first love, Jesus. Revelation 2:4 says,
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
The church at Ephesus had one problem; they had forgotten Jesus, their first love. He had been left out of the equation for church. Other than that, they looked pretty good from the outside.
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Evidently they were about the business of church, worship, bible studies, and ministry to one another. They must have had a clear understanding of the gospel and doctrine because they tested the false teachers. Above all they had endured persecution and had been faithful to the end. I would say they resemble a lot of our churches today.
Our church has all the right ingredients as well. Good bible studies with sound teaching. We have good worship and every now and then a few "amen¡¦s" break out. Our ministry to the community is adequate; VBS, festivals, food closet, children¡¦s ministry, and other ministries design to help our community. It sounds familiar.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
2. Problem - Forgotten Love - Rev. 2:4
The problem they had at Ephesus was they "forgot their first love". There was no longer any fiery passion. It had long sense cooled to doing their duty according to the Word. They were doing all the right things but had no passion. They had become passion-less.
They had forgotten the absolute joy in knowing Jesus for the first time. They had forgotten the loved that we all experience at that moment of salvation when we realize Almighty God loves us so much. They had forgotten the lifting of sin from their shoulders to be replaced by forgiveness. They had forgotten the freedom we all experience in Christ. And sadly, they had forgotten Jesus and had turned their walk into obedience without love and joy, it was only duty.
What was it that caused the church to forget? It does not say. It may have been a matter of lost love or loss of passion over time. Like many marriages today, the fire that was there in the beginning becomes a flicker over time. Ignoring your love can cause that problem over time.
Maybe everything else took priority. The planning, the programming, the problems that we all encounter day to day can take our attention away so that we forget who it¡¦s all about, Jesus. The planning and programming for growth can consume pastor¡¦s to the point that we forget how simple the Lord has made it for us all, Love Him and Love others with everything we are and everything we have. It truly isn¡¦t rocket science but it is hard to live in a world that is lost.
It might be too many drainers in our life. You know who they are. They are always negative about life and always have something wrong with them and seem to love wallowing in their "suffering". They drain everyone around them because they do not wish to change. Too many drainers can suck the life from even the best believer.
The music/worship leader of a large church led fantastic worship services and choirs. Out of 800 people there were 200 in choir. Each Sunday morning he would receive a note from the same person. The note was always critical telling him where he had failed to lead worship. Imagine every Sunday, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, every ministry you do with your own special drainer. He prayed that the Lord would change her heart but it didn¡¦t seem to happen and the notes kept coming. It went on for 6 years until she finally died.
3. Remembered Love - Phil. 3, 4
So how do we go from "passionless-ness" existence to a dynamic first love relationship again? How do we become the on fire believer we once were? Scripture gives us the answer to restoring the "first love" in our lives and in our churches. Revelation 2:5 says,
Remember the height from which you have fallen!
First, remember what it was like to first love. Remember back to the time you knew Jesus as your Lord. The burdens you had been carrying were lifted. You became "lighter", life was no longer a struggle without any end in sight, life became purposeful and fun.
You experienced unconditional love for the first time. You knew that Jesus would never leave you, He promised He would be loving you forevermore. You added a new word to your vocabulary, no! You were now able to say no to lying, cheating, we were able to say no to sin. Sin had lost its¡¦ power in your lives. You were victorious and free of sin. You were free! Free to become what God intended for you to become. And what He has planned is the absolute very best for you.
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
Next, repent of wrongs immediately and get back to doing what you did before when you came to know Jesus as Lord. Confess the sins you have committed, the wrongs against other people and allow the forgiveness from our Lord to cleanse you and make you clean. 1John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
He will make you brand new again. We live life before God and we sin sometimes. As with a new car, it adds a ding to the new car looks. Occasionally we really mess up before God and the damage is so severe it "totals our car" or our life. We are so wreaked we cannot serve the Lord effectively. Like the car, we need a total reworking of our exterior and interior. If we confess our sins are made "as white as snow", or in other words, made brand new.
One major problem we have is forgetting the stuff we¡¦ve done. We tend to hold on to the guilt and shame of sin even after we have received forgiveness. Paul the apostle was a pharisee, a murderer, and it was murder of christians, believers. After all he had done he considered all of it waste. Philippians 3:7,8,13b says,
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Paul even considered all of the good things he had done rubbish, garbage. His only goal was to know Jesus even better than he already did. Verse 13b says,
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind
Forget the other stuff of the past.
Next, focus all your attention on your first love, on Christ. As the hymn says "Set your eyes upon Jesus and the things of this world will grow faintly dim." Paul was constantly looking forward to attain the goal in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:10,12, and 14 says,
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I get the idea that this will not be easy. There are so many "thing" that will take our eyes and minds off of Jesus. Sunday is the easy day, the rest of the week it is not so easy. People and things tend to redirect our focus from Jesus. Why? We live in a sinful world. Keep your attention focused on Jesus throughout the week.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable¡Xif anything is excellent or praiseworthy¡Xthink about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me¡Xput it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
How do we stay focused on Jesus? We dwell on Him and do what He says. All of the "whatevers" in verse 4:8 remind me of only one person, Jesus Christ, these are all of His qualities. Focus and dwell on Jesus, the one who is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. These are Jesus!
Next, do what he says. Put all of these things into practice in your own life by His power. Only by dwelling in Him daily can we accomplish what He has for us.
Jesus has made this pretty easy to remember in our daily walk with Him. What do we do? We are to love God, and love others. You can remember these two tasks throughout your day and they sum up all there is for us to do. Matthew 22:37-40 are the words of Jesus and He says,
¡§¡¦Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.¡¦ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ¡¥Love your neighbor as yourself.¡¦ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.¡¨
If we dwell in Him, forget about all the other "stuff", we will be able to do what He commands of us, Love God and others through Him.
4. Rejuvenated Love
I dare say that most Christians I know, including my self, have grown cold in their relationship with Jesus. How can we keep the spark in our relationship year after year? How can we continue the enthusiasm and passion we once had in our relationship with Jesus forevermore?
We keep fresh and vital by refusing to ignore Him and spend time with our Lord daily. We seek Him daily. Romans 12:1 says,
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God¡¦s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God¡Xthis is your spiritual act of worship.
Each day we are to present ourselves as the offering to our Lord. We are to die to self that we might live for Him. What¡¦s the problem? We are a living sacrifice and we can crawl off the altar at any time. Our difficulty comes in staying on the altar. Remember, the old self has been crucified with Christ and holds no power over you unless you say yes. In Christ, because of His death, we can say no to sin. Just say no when you are tempted to crawl off the sacrificial alter.
Also, join with others who love the Lord. Again, our command is simple, love the Lord and others. When we gather with others we are encouraged, or suppose to be encouraged, because it is one reason we gather together. It always seems that when we gather together as the church or as a part of the church we are rejuvenated. It is when we are rejuvenated we do ministry for others. Our cup is filled to overflowing so we overflow on others from the blessings we have received. Hebrews 10:25 says,
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another¡Xand all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Next, avoid people or groups that drain and drag you down. Obviously we are to minister to those who truly desire to be ministered to but there are those who like to wallow in misery. I have met some who have drained my spirit to the point it becomes depressing. Jesus often left the masses of people to go be with the Father. He needed as fully human that rejuvenation that only comes from being in the presence of the Lord though prayer, meditation, and worship.
Not only people drain us but at times the programs drain us as well. Why? We begin to focus on the success of the program and forgot the people and the Lord. The church at Ephesus is a prime example of this. They were so focused on the law, the rules, the programs they missed Jesus in their midst. Our only reason for doing anything should be to draw nearer to our Lord and help others to draw nearer to Him. Without Jesus everything becomes meaningless. Revelation 4:6 says,
Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Remember we all sin so confess it immediately. Don¡¦t let it take up residence or it will diminish your love and fellowship. Even after salvation, we sin. 1 John said to believers, "that if anyone says he is without sin he is a liar and the truth is not in him". We will all commit sins but we will not remain in sin as believers. Confess the sin immediately, remain in Him and our relationship will grow.
Also rejoice in your relationship with Jesus continually. Don¡¦t worry, be happy. Paul tells us to lift our request to the Lord, all the problems, potential worries, and everything else and rejoice. Philippians 4:4 says,
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
If you are wondering what to do at any moment of the day or night, rejoice. If something is bothering you, lift it to the Lord and know he will take care of you. God loves you so much He offered His Son up for you so what is it you don¡¦t think He will do for you.
Finally, keep it simple. The Lord made things simple for us and that¡¦s part of the problem. We can¡¦t believe that anyone would do such a thing for us. It can¡¦t be that simple, but it is. Confess your sins, trust and rely on Jesus, then rejoice, love Him and love others. It¡¦s that simple.
Invitation
Outline
First Love
Matthew 22:37; Romans 12:11; Rev. 2:4
1. First Love
„« Do anything for your love
„« Want to spend all the time with first love
„« Nothing is too much to ask, spend, drive
2. Problem - Forgotten - Rev. 2:4
„« Lack of passion over time
„« Other people take priority - drainers
„« Other problems take precedent
3. Remembered Love - Phil. 3,4
Remember what it was like to first love - Rev. 2:5
Forget the other stuff - 7,8,13b
Focus all your attention on your first love - 10,12,14
Dwell on Jesus - 4:8
Do what He wants - 4:9
4. Rejuvenated Love
Daily seek Him - Rom. 12:1
Join with others who love - Phil. 4:17
Avoid the drags - drainers of love - people/programs
Repent of wrongs immediately - Rev. 4:6
Rejoice every moment - Be Happy - Phil. 4:4
Keep it simple - Matt. 22:37--40
