They Lost Their First Love

SUM. That is the picture we have here, a church that once was alive & vibrant, but it had lost its first love. And this passage both concerns me & encourages me because it goes a step farther & says, "See what is happening, & do something about it."

II. WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?

A. Have you ever noticed that when love is alive & exciting, it is always described as something warm, or hot, or passionate? But on the other hand, when love begins to fade it is described as cold.

Jesus talks about this in Matthew, chapter 24.. He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem, & persecution of Christians, & He warns them, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12-13)

B. David writes in Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation..." That verse tells us, first of all, that there ought to be joy in salvation. When you are saved from your sin, the result ought to be joy.

When we read the accounts of conversion in the book of Acts we find that the people went on their way rejoicing after they had repented & been baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Over & over again the result was joy!

But that verse also tells us that joy can be lost. "Restore my joy," He said. In other words, "I've lost it. I need to get it back again."

3rdly, it teaches that restoring that joy is possible. That is why this letter was written, to say, "Put on the brakes before it is too late. Stop, before you have lost all your love, & here is what you need to do."

C. Vs. 5 goes on to say, "Remember the height from which you have fallen." (Revelation 2:5) We need to remember: Remember that you were lost & dying in your sin. But God reached down, & you reached up, & you met each other. "Remember that," He says.

Remember when you became a Christian. Remember the excitement & the fervor that grips the heart when love is new & fresh. Remember the wonder of the grace & mercy of God. Remember & treasure it. Hold it warm & glowing in your heart. Never forget what God has done for you.

"Remember the height from which you have fallen."

D. Then He says, "After you remember, then 'Repent & do the things you did at first.'" That's a strong word, "repent." We find it again & again in both the Old & New Testaments. The prophets constantly cried out to the nation of Israel, "Repent, repent!"

ILL. John the Baptist preached, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!" When Jesus began His ministry, one of the first words in His sermons was also "Repent!" There is a need for people to repent, to change, to turn around, to start a different kind of life.

1. You repent of two things. You repent, first of all, of the sins that you have committed, sins that violate the law of God, pride, selfishness, greed, immorality, whatever they might be.