## First Love

## Revelation 2:2-5

Re 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

There is something very special about your first love isn't there? It is filled with excitement and amazement. The first girl I remember having a crush on was the funeral director's daughter. Her name was Joan Vest. My mom would send $.25 with me for lunch when I was in elementary school. I could buy a hamburger for $.15 an Orange Crush for $.05 and still have $.05 left over for dessert, and I loved dessert! But I would take that nickel and buy an ice cream for this little girl. Now, if you know me…you know I must have been in love to give up my last nickel so she could have ice cream. : ) I am sure that many of you had similar experiences with your first love.

But that isn't what we are talking about in this passage. The phrase 'first love' isn't necessarily talking about first in time…it is a reference to first in priority. That which is most important! Now if I were to illustrate that phrase with a young lady, it would be a different girl. It would be a girl by the name of Patty Jo Reynolds. A young lady that 32 ½ years ago became my wife. She takes top priority, above all others, she is my first love. This morning, if you are married…you ought to be able to say the same thing about your spouse, and if you haven't told them lately you ought to take the time right now to let them know that they are still number one in your heart.

But the Lord wasn't talking about human relationship in this passage. He was talking about the relationship that an individual has with Him!

Mt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

The believers in the church of Ephesus had at one time loved God in this way, but they had left their first love. And you know the first one to realize that was the Lord. In our relationship with one another, we don't have to tell someone that our love has grown cold toward them…they know it! They know it because of how we behave toward them. And the Lord knows when our love toward Him begins to cool and grow distant. And His message to the folks at Ephesus was that He knew it and that He didn't want things to remain like that!

I. Love Can Fade.

A. The Admonition to Ephesus.

1. Some have said that this was a reference to their coldness toward reaching others.

2. I can understand that.

3. I believe that when we begin to drift in our passion for our Lord, we will also lose interest in reaching others for Christ.

4. Both are intimately tied together.

5. Jesus demonstrated clearly that His love and focus was always about others.

6. He also told those who would be His disciples that their love for others would be the identifying characteristic of their love for Him.

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

7. The Ephesians were once excited about their faith, and they were still doing the right things, but their love and passion had dimmed.

B. This Was Not A Small Matter.

1. If this wasn't corrected, it would have devastating consequences.

2. "…I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

3. Now what does that mean?

a. Jesus explained the imagery in 1:20.

b. The stars were the angels (or pastors) of the churches.

c. And the candlesticks were the churches.

d. Now we can understand the impact of what Jesus said in v5

e. If the church didn't get back their love and passion…it could result in losing their influence…no more a light in their city!

C. This admonition wasn't just for the people of Ephesus.

1. It applies to every one of us today.

2. It is just as important, if not more so, in our culture today.

3. So the question for us this morning is this:

II. How Is Our Love?

A. We can only lose something we first have possessed.

1. If you have never accepted Christ as your Savior, then you have never known this love.

2. If you have no relationship with Jesus this morning, God wants you to know that He longs for you to come to Him by faith.

3. The Bible tells us that He first loved us…as a matter of fact He loved us while we were yet sinners!

4. Let me take just a moment and explain to you how you can have a relationship with an Almighty and Holy God.

B. God's love is for all of us.

1. The need is universal.

Ro 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Ro 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

2. Without Christ we have no hope of eternal life.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

3. We can come to Christ right now!

Ro 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Ro 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

4. Once we are born into the family of God by grace through faith, we become His child forever.

Joh 3:16 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.

5. This morning if you do not know that you are born again…place your faith in His finished work on Calvary.

C. However, this admonition is to those who have known His love, and have grown cold toward Him.

1. What causes our love to fade?

2. Many things can contribute to this in our lives, but the number one reason is neglect.

3. Losing our focus…allowing other things to take precedence in our lives.

4. Taking our relationship with Christ for granted.

III. How Do We Get It Back?

A. The Lord said to repent.

1. Repentance involves a change in our thinking that will result in a change in our behavior.

2. It means that we must stop, don't go any further, and turn back to God.

3. Love is an emotion, but it is demonstrated by our actions.

4. I can tell my wife that I love her, but unless my words are reinforced by my actions it will be meaningless.

B. The Lord said to remember.

1. Remember what?

2. Remember where we used to be in our walk with the Lord.

3. Remember how it was in the beginning?

4. Remember the excitement of the Word of God in our lives?

5. Remember how we couldn't wait to get to church and hear more about Him?

6. Remember how we used to talk about Him to others?

7. If there is a time in our lives that we remember when we were closer to Him, then this message is for us!

C. The Lord said to re-do. "…do the first works…"

1. Go back to doing what we used to do.

2. What does that mean to us?

3. It means that we should return to the same fervor and zeal for serving God that we had when we were first saved.

4. That may mean that we must fall in love with the Lord all over again.

5. It will require that we re-focus our attention on Jesus Christ.

IV. We can love God better.

A. Prayer and Bible Study- communication is vital to a loving relationship.

B. Prepare ourselves for meaningful worship - there is a difference between coming to church and coming to worship.

C. Practice living for Him daily and in all circumstances of life.

D. Proclaim the gospel to others in obedience to His Word.

E. Prove our love for Him by what we do.

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

How is our love? Have you embraced the love of God by faith? If not, why not come today and trust Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Christian, has our love for Him faded? It is time to come back to our first love. Time to return to doing the first works. Time to prove our love for Him by our obedience. Come now.