A Sermon For You
A Ministry of Huckaby’s Evangelism
Sermon Title
Thou Hast Left Thy First Love
By-Evangelist Gary Huckaby
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
My Sermon Title Text comes from the book of Revelation 2:4;
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Pastor, I am having problems in my Christian life. I have been saved for years, yet, somehow I don’t feel like I did when I was first saved. I find myself relying on what other people tell me and not what the Word of God tells me. What has happened to me?
Preacher, So much has happened to me since I was first saved. I have been married three times. I have quit going to Church services. I don’t even read the Bible like I did when I was first saved. What has happened to me?
Brother Gary, said another, "I once knew I was in the perfect will of God. But now, I’m not so sure. So much has happened to me in the past few years. I know I’m not all that I should be, but just how do I get back to that place and know it like I did when I first was saved, when I was first in love with Jesus Christ?
Listen my friends to what God says in His Word; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Again in Philippians 1:6; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Never give up, never let your emotional feelings be your spiritual thermometer, always keep on going with what you know is right, The Word of God. Prayer, and answers to those prayers, soul winning, witnessing the Gospel to others, giving, and living your life in the will of God.
(1) Faith Not Feelings Should Keep Us In Our First Love
The Bible tells us that we are saved by Grace through faith, Ephesians 2:8. I do not find anywhere in Scripture that feelings are a part of salvation. Now that is not to say that one will not have the sensation of feelings when they come to Christ for salvation, but that feelings are not the confirmation that one is saved.
Man is created as a three fold being. We are body, soul, and spirit. When a person is in the right spiritual condition it is when the spirit is first in control, then the soul, and last the body. If this order is not followed then we find ourselves being led in the wrong way. When the body is allowed to be the leader, the whole person is out of the order that God intended for a person to be. If the soul is allowed to be the leader of a person, then the emotions will be their guide. It is the spirit that must be the leader for a person to be able to be Spirit filled, and to live the godly life that God wants us to live.
Feelings are connected with the body and soul, and has nothing to do with the spirit. This is why feelings are not a confirmation of our salvation. It is through faith in the Word of God, faith in Jesus Christ and by His Grace that we are saved. If feelings were connected with our salvation, we would not feel saved much of the time. Faith not feelings will keep us in our first love for Jesus Christ.
(2) Faithfulness Keeps Us In Our First Love
The second thing that will keep us in our first love is faithfulness. Faithfulness to the Word of God. Reading the Word daily will build our faith for the Bible says in Romans 10:17; So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faithfulness in prayer. The apostle Paul tells us to "Pray without ceasing." "Pray always in everything." The faithful prayer life will keep us in our first love.
Faithfulness in attending church services. The Bible says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25. Regular attendance to church services will keep one in their first love for Christ. It also helps others to be exhorted to serve Him.
Faithfulness in witnessing to the lost for Christ will also keep us in our first love. I have learned that when all seems wrong within us spiritually, when we do not know we are in God’s perfect will, when the joy of salvation has left us, that witnessing will often return that joy. Be faithful in your witness for Christ, and you will stay in your first love for Him.
(3) Constant Communion With The Lord Will Keep Us In Our First Love
Again, constant communion will keep us in our first love for Christ. The little epistle of 1John is all about our communion with our Lord, and should be constantly read and studied by the child of God. We must have constant communion if we are to keep our first love. Communion with our Lord, and communion with other godly people will help to keep us in our first love.
No friendship can last without communion. No marriage will last unless there is communion between the husband and the wife. No partnership will continue in a good manner without communion, so why should we think that our spiritual relationship with the Lord will be spiritual unless we have communion with the Lord constantly?
(4) Our First Love
Do you remember sir when you first met the woman whom you ask to be your wife? Do you remember how you acted after going out with her, how your heart leaped for joy that you had found the one whom you wanted to spend your life with? Remember how you got ready before your dates, how you put on that Cologne to make you smell good for her. Everything you did was to impress her, to get her to like you more. The gifts you bought her, the places you took her, the conversation you had with her before she became your wife? One of the reasons many marriages fail today is that you sir have forgotten your first love for your wife. You got bored with the old routine, you became complacent with the everyday things in your marriage. If you want to keep your first love for your wife, and have that love to keep growing then "REMEMBER" you first love. Return to your first love, and you will know happiness in your marriage.
Do you remember your first child? That little baby resting in your arms. The cuddles you had for it. How much love you had for that child or for any other children born to you. Those cute little faces, those little fingers, and toes. You watched that child grow into a grown person, and somewhere along the way you forgot your first love for the blessed little child that God had entrusted to you and your family. REMEMBER from whence thou are fallen and REPENT. Come back to your first love for your family, come back to your first love for Jesus Christ. Come back dear ones and repent of your loss of the first love.
If you are hearing this message and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, please come to Him for eternal salvation right now. Believe on Him, receive Him as yours.
Huckaby’s Evangelism
P.O.Box 1011
Pine Mountain, Ga. 31822
glhuck@earthlink.net
glhuckaby@excite.com
