Remember Your First Love!

Well, it's good to be back, once again, with all of you here just this past week on Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning. Ben Light and Darlan I returned from our trip to West Africa. We spent nearly three weeks over there with United Youth Camps in Nigeria, followed by a week touring around in Ghana to follow. So, you know, came home to actually weather that was warmer than there. You can imagine. I think this was, God bless this, was probably the coolest trip I've ever had in West Africa. That was for Darlan's introduction. It was her first travel over there, and everybody was saying, it is so cold here. And I thought, you know, sleeping on the beach in a tent at 80 degrees with the breeze blowing, perfect. Perfect. And God sure, sure blessed that. We came home to a broken dryer, which is a little bit of an adventure if you're bringing suitcase loads of, you know, clothing from the other side of the planet and need to do laundry. But we got that resolved, and I think about caught up on emails and phone calls, checked in with Ben Light this morning, and he's running his circuit and says things are good. So, appreciate the welcome back. And I'll have to say, you know, this was particularly exciting trip for me personally, because it was my first opportunity to introduce Darla to the brethren over in West Africa. I had been telling them for years, yes, I have a wife. And they say, when will we see her?

And someday, someday, you know, they had heard of her by the hearing of the ear. They'd seen of her by the eye on Facebook, but to meet her face-to-face was wonderful for them and a very joyous meeting. And, you know, for us it was, too, all the names that she had heard, all the pictures she had seen, the brethren and the congregations that she had prayed for, for all the years, it was just a blessing to be able to introduce them face-to-face and have that wonderful time together.

For me, I felt like there was a part of my life that she was not a part of, by and large, you know, over the course of the last decade. And although she would support and pray for me and, you know, work on the process with me in the home front, I felt like, okay, now she's been able to move into and be part of my life and to have her sleeping in Africa with me, as opposed to, you know, 7,500 miles away, kind of took away some of the homesick process as well.

So I do thank God for that. I've made nearly 30 trips to West Africa without her since 2010, and there's legitimate reasons why she was not able to come before now, but she could be a part of this now experience directly. I've mentioned before that 80% of the congregation in Nigeria is of the age 50 and under. There's lots of young adults, there's lots of young families, there's lots of children, and it's really a blessing. It's a young church in so many ways. And this trip highlighted to me the craving that that group had. I asked Arlof if I could use this term for a mother figure in the congregation.

You know, especially since the death of Mrs. Kimbo through her medical treatments and their travel, you know, they had not been able to be there, or she has not for over a year now. And I'll just say they rallied around Darla enthusiastically. Ladies especially kind of grabbed onto her and was like, hey, nice to see you, Mr. Moody. And, you know, grabbed my wife and embraced her, and we're so very happy to meet her and make that interaction.

Many of them, the men and the women, affectionately called her mum, or mummy, or auntie Darla. And I would say her reception was so warm, partly because she is my wife, partly because there's a need in that congregation there for a pastor's wife, and frankly, partly because somebody was willing to make the effort to come. You know, there's not people lining up to go to West Africa and Nigeria specifically.

If you get online and you read the State Department travel warning, you won't go. And I had people from there emailing me in advance and said, are you sure you want to bring your wife? I don't know if it's a good idea. But, you know, we're careful of where we go, who we travel with, and God is with us, and you can't just erase all possibility of risk. You're willing to do that.

But she was willing to go through the process. You have to get certain immunizations, even walk in the door, mandatory, and you have to get your visa, and you have to jump through the hoops. So for somebody to do that is, to them, a great expression of love, and they're incredibly appreciative of that. Another aspect, the Darla's first trip that I noticed, was how she responded to the environment of West Africa. And honestly, this is where I want to take, then, to the thrust of my sermon today. Her response was different than how I've typically responded myself after 30 trips.

You know, after 30 trips, I'm pretty comfortable with that environment over there. And by comfortable, I mean, there's not a whole lot of surprises anymore. Right? I mean, there's still things from time to time, but I walk in the door, and I'm used to what I'm seeing, I'm used to what I'm hearing. You know, I used to take my phone out and take tons of pictures, and the pictures have become less and less over the years.

I've become adjusted and somewhat comfortable with that environment in many ways. Darla, who's a shutterbug, anyway, took a picture of everything. And, you know, in the market and down the street, and took videos on the boat ride out to camp, which, you know, is pretty exciting. I said, think of where you're at. We're in the middle of Africa, in maybe Crocodile infested waters. I didn't want to ask too closely, you know, riding through the bush, through these channels, on this boat, out to where we were having the youth camp.

You know, so the camera was out and the pictures were being snapped left and right. To someone who's experiencing that place for the very first time, the first response is, aw, right? It's excitement. It's, everything's new and you're just trying to drink all of this in. And, pointy questions was kind of the result. You know, look at this. Why about that? How come of this? And you're just, you're curious and you're wanting to drink it all in. Why are there cows in the middle of the highway? You know, why is that guy riding a camel, you know, down the side of the street?

And again, just so many things that are unique to what we have here. It's a wanting to see and taste and touch almost everything. Almost. Everything. She saw her first grasscutter. I told her these were like the swamp rats on Princess Bride and they kill them in the bush and sometimes you're just driving down the highway and somebody's holding it by the tail waiting for somebody to stop and buy it. It's a delicacy beyond goat and chicken and these things if you go into one of the restaurants there. This is top shelf.

But, again, there's just so many different things that you would see and that you would interact with. It's wanting to roam down the streets and wander through the markets and meet the people and interact with the children that come running up. It's wanting to stop and turn aside and play the ping-pong game in the market. We were in Ghana. We'd just arrived and we had this boatload of laundry from sleeping on the beach for a week in Nigeria that's not going to survive until we get home. So Darla, Ben, and I went and did the laundry mat and we set out with Henry Aikens and Darla said, let's just go for a walk.

It was going to be an hour and a half. So we walked down the street and looked at the little shops and coming back up and she noticed over here there's a ping-pong game going on at this homemade table and wooden ping-pong rackets that have been made. She just jumped over and said, can I play? And they said, sure. And they handed her a ping-pong racket, right?

Playing back and forth on this table. And Henry Aikens looked at me and he says, wow, your wife is down to earth. And I don't know what the big impact was, but it was suddenly like, oh, she's normal, kind of like the rest of us, which was great. So as this trip began to unfold, there was actually a biblical concept that impacted me about all of this as we went along. And that is the concept of first love. Right?

First love. As I said, after all my travel over there, in some ways, it had become comfortable to me, but somebody's seeing it with fresh eyes. There was a zeal and excitement and first love. So I want to talk today about the concept of first love, and the title is, Remember Your First Love. Remember your first love. Brethren, first love is a passion for something up front. Right? It's a zeal and it's an affection for something that you've discovered, you've learned about, that the door is open to you and now you can't get enough.

You want to drink it in, you want to wrap your arms around it, you eat, sleep, dream about it. It's the last thing you think of when you go to bed, and it's the first thing you wake up to in the morning. First love. And it's highly prized by you. And your response to that then, because it is highly prized, is one of energy and love for that which has captured your focus. And I would describe Darla's first trip to West Africa as first love.

And frankly, it went both ways. Since I've been home all week, my phone and we're on a different time zone by, I think, nine hours right now from Nigeria and eight from Ghana, but my phone, I get up in the morning and this whole stack of messages and people that are saying, thank you so much for coming and bringing your wife. We send our regards to you, especially to Darla.

And it's sort of like, yeah, we love you, but we really love her and thank you for bringing her. So this was something that went back and forth in both directions. And as it pertains to our calling from God, first love is special and that first love is unique, but it's something that we're called never to lose. Again, for me, it's easy for me to become in some ways, you know, that the zeal of something when you become familiar is like, okay, I've know this, I've been through that, and sometimes that edge of excitement can start to wear off, but I'll just say, if I ever lose the passion and the love for going over there and serving God's people, I'm really of no use in His service.

So we have to keep that first love alive. You remember the first love in your life? First love of discovering God's Word? It's the passion we had when He opened our minds to understand who He is, what He's offering us as part of His family for eternity, that calling that He's extended.

It was our zealous response, the gospel message of God's grace and forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It was the enthusiasm by which we pursued that relationship with Him. We said, this is what God is offering, this is the purpose of my creation, and you grabbed hold of it, and suddenly you couldn't get enough. You drank in of His Word, and you prayed to Him without ceasing.

Again, it was the times when we fasted often, and we meditated daily. We prayed without ceasing because we wanted to grab hold of the pearl of great price and never let go. But you know what the challenge is for us as God's people? If we're not careful, if we're not alert to it, we can begin to let that first love slide away, slide away through our fingers, because we get comfortable with our calling.

We get familiar with it. Okay, I know the purpose why I'm here. I know what God is doing in my life. I've known it 30, 40, 50 years. We get very familiar with it, and we should be familiar with it, but if we're not careful, we can be comfortable to the point that we let that zeal for it begin to slip through our fingers, and our first love then begins to wane.

In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 4, if you'll turn with me there, please, Revelation chapter 2 and verse 4, Jesus Christ offers some words of correction to the Ephesian church, and by extension to all who would have ears to hear. And it follows on the heels of some very positive praise that Jesus gave to that church. But he says, I have a warning for you, and please, he says, take this correctively. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 4, Jesus says, nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

You have left your first love, Jesus said. And so the point is, as Christians, it's not that we necessarily have to forsake this calling in order to, shall we say, jeopardize our standing as the church of God. Understand if we have become those who are simply going through the motions. You know, we're keeping the Sabbath because that's what the Bible says to do.

Keeping the Holy Days because that's what the Bible says to do. And we're going through the motions, but we don't have a love for it and a passion for it. We're at risk as well. We're at risk of missing out because the love and the zeal for it isn't a part of us anymore.

And the admonition from Jesus Christ is, remember your first love. Remember it, he says, and return to it. Return to it. Verse 5, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. He says, unless you repent. He says, if you've forgotten your first love, you need to turn, you need to change, you need to get back on that path, you need to do whatever it is that you can do to ignite that zeal and fire within you again. Because, as he said to the Ephesian church, we'll come back to this a little later, he had high praise for them, but he said this element could actually remove your right, your candlestick, your lamp, from being a viable part of the Church of God.

So, again, it's an illustration, but it's one I saw, this principle at work, in our trip to West Africa as I looked at Darla's first-time response. And, frankly, I considered my response by comparison. World travel is still a great adventure for me. I love it. To get on a plane and to fly across the world to see different places and different people. It's exciting, but I have to admit, it's more of a, if I use the word duty, it's more of a responsibility in some ways than it used to be. There's three times the number of congregations over in West Africa, for Nigeria and Ghana, than there was when I began this process. And the workload has increased, and I would say, you know, some of the thrill and enthusiasm has kind of turned into the duty and the work and the service, which I love and is great as well. But if I, again, ever move to the point that I lose the love and the passion for God's people, for caring in this way, then I'm not effective in His service any longer. And, brethren, if we ever lose the passion for God's way in our own life, lose our first love, then we're at risk as well. Indeed, it must continue.

This is such an important principle for us that I want to actually go back and lay some foundation. Jesus Christ, in Revelation here, is talking to the church in Ephesus as He gives this warning. And there's a foundation to this. There's a storyline. There's a string of events that occurred in that congregation that actually brought them to the point of having really good standing in certain ways before God. But receiving this warning, you've lost something along the way. So let's take a look at this. Jesus does say, he who has an ear, let him hear.

So let's let you some background to what brought them to this point.

The name Ephesus itself means desirable. And, indeed, if you and I had lived in Ephesus, probably like much of the population there, we would have said, this is a pretty desirable place to be. Ephesus was a beautiful and affluent city which lay at the mouth of the Kaster River on the west coast of Asia Minor. And it had massive population, really, by cities of that day. 300,000 people, as estimated, lived in Ephesus at the time of the start of the New Testament Church. 300,000 people. It was the most easily accessible city in Asia, both by land and sea. So you can imagine the opportunities it brought in, and the commerce, and the, you know, the people that came from faraway places in and out that brought various things that were exciting to that city. Three major Roman highways from the east ended in Ephesus, where there was also a deep water port accessible to the largest of ships. So it was a trading community by land and by sea. And, as a result, it was a very prosperous region to live in. You had art, you had culture, you had abundant trade, you could receive goods from afar off. You had opportunities for jobs and advancement. It was a very affluent city. It was the most important trade center west of Tarsus. It contained a theater which seated an estimated 25,000 people. Maybe we'll need that next year for Crystal's dinner. Growing every year. It was a place of culture, right? A place of art, a place of entertainment. It was a city full of exciting things. But Ephesus also had a dark side.

Ephesus was a city that was overrun by idolatry, pagan temples, and immorality. It was the epicenter of the worship of the goddess Diana. The Temple of Diana, or Artemis, as it's called as well, was named among one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Just this incredible structure.

And people were drawn to it, and they were drawn to the pagan worship that centered around the goddess Diana. This is the culture in which the church in Ephesus began.

So you can go to the book of Acts, and we will in a moment, and you can see how it sprung forward.

The hands of the Apostle Paul in that region, by God's work and direction, brought forth the church in Ephesus in the early 50s AD. Acts chapter 18 records Paul's first preachings in the synagogue of Ephesus, where he left then Aquila and Priscilla as he went back to Jerusalem for the Holy Days. If we turn to Acts chapter 19, we can actually read much about the inspired beginnings of that church, as well as the surrounding environment that they came forth in.

Let's go to Acts chapter 19.

Again, the foundation of Ephesus, beginning in verse 1. Acts chapter 19 in verse 1, and it says, And it happened while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus, and finding some disciples, he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit, or perhaps it could be worded, we've not so much heard, that a Spirit has been given.

Either way, they were apart from this. Paul then says, Well, and to what were you baptized? John's baptism. He declared to them and baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ, laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Going down to verse 7, it says, Now the men were about twelve in all.

So not a massive congregation that started out. Twelve men, families, in addition to them.

It says, And Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

But when some were hard-hearted and did not believe, but spoke evil of the way before the multitude, he departed from them, withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tauranus. And this continued for two years so that all who dwelled in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Paul's usual routine was to go into a Gentile region, but there were synagogues as well, scattered throughout those regions. That was the logical place to go first. Go to the synagogue, where they're keeping the Sabbath, where there's people keeping the Holy Days, primarily Jews, but Gentiles in the midst as well. He would step in the door, he would get up to speak, he would preach the name of Jesus Christ as the anointed, as the Messiah who had come. And frankly, when they had had enough and they threw him out, those who believed then would follow, and they would meet in a house in a rented facility, sometimes down by the river, and the church would continue to spring up from there. And this was the same, the founding of the church in Ephesus. And throughout this time period, Acts chapter 19, a number of notable things that we actually think about today took place in the foundation of the start of the church of Ephesus. Verse 11 says, Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them. This is part of the foundation by which we use the anointed cloth today. Verse 13, And some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves, the call in the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We exercise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. Also, there were seven sons of Siva, a Jewish chief priest who did so, and the evil spirit answered, saying, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?

I thought about that with some of my trips and some of the things I've seen and encountered, and I thought, I hope I never received that response. I pray I don't. Okay? I would imagine these people, their blood ran cold. Verse 16, And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped upon them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. This became known to all the Jews and Greeks, dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. It became clear to people, God is working here, and he's working through this man Paul. The words he preaches are true. The name of Jesus he declares is true, and the result actually had a dramatic impact on that city. 300,000 people, very pagan environment, and yet the word of God was going forward. The response was powerful. Verse 18, And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all, and they counted up the value of them, and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver. This was no small event that happened out in the open. They didn't burn just any books. They burned the books of sorcery and witchcraft and magic. Verse 20 says, So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. First love, right? First love. Actually, take these things that were once a part of your life and say, we are done with them. Throw them into the fire. Burn them up. This is not our life any longer. First love. The Church of Ephesus received the word of God joyfully. They responded with enthusiasm over the truth. They preached publicly. They burned their books publicly. They stood up boldly for the word of God in that pagan place because they were passionate about their calling and the truth they've received and the Spirit of God in them. They burned with zeal for this way of life. It was first love openly expressed. And again, it had a major impact on this city. This wasn't happening off in the corner somewhere out of sight.

This was open and expressive in a city that worshiped completely under different circumstances altogether. Verse 23, then, let's see some of the impact. About that time, there was a great commotion about the way. It stirred things up in this great city. For a certain man came named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Diana and brought no small profit to the craftsmen.

He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and he said to them, men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover, you see in here that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul is persuaded and turned many a way, saying they are not gods which are made with hands. He said, so not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all of Asia and the world worship. They said, this is spreading throughout the known world, and it's having an impact here. And we have a problem with it. That was response of the city of Ephesus. Verse 28, now when they heard this, they were full of wrath, and they cried out, saying, great is Diana of the Ephesians. So the whole city was filled with confusion and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and the rest of Paul's travel companions here. And when Paul wanted to go into the people, the disciples would not allow him. It was a mob scene, and they said, do not step into the middle of that. Verse 31, then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater.

Again, historical sources uncovered, say, exceeded 25,000 people. I don't know, Matt, many were there that day. Probably hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even. Verse 32, some therefore cried one thing and some another. The assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. You know, hooray for the mob! Let's go smash windows and flip over some cars. We don't know why, but it's the mob mentality that sometimes erupts. They did not know even why they were there.

Verse 33, and they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward, and Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, great is Diana of the Ephesians. I mean, can you imagine? I guess they had a love of their own, right? They had a passion of their own, crying out hundreds, thousands of people. Great is Diana of the Ephesians, this mob that simply wants to drown out, choke out the Word of God. Acts chapter 20 in verse 1 says, after the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. And so, brethren, this is the culture that the Church of Ephesus was brought forth in. And you know, despite all of the challenges, they survived and prospered anyway.

Because of their first love, they had this zeal, they had a passion for the truth of God, they embraced it, they lived it, they, you know, so much so that they threw their former lifestyle away into the fire, right? And embraced what it is that God had brought to them. They embraced it wholeheartedly, and they taught it openly. Openly in a place that had a culture so opposed to what it was they were doing. The book of Ephesians was written roughly 10 years later. Paul's letter to that church, 60 AD, and that book describes a growing and a dynamic church. The initial years of the Church of Ephesus started out strong. They embraced their first love for God and His word, and they responded accordingly. But you know, Paul also had a stark warning for this church.

There's a period of time he was gone, and then he came and traveled back through.

And in Acts chapter 20, we see Paul passing again briefly through that region. And when he gathered the Ephesian elders together, he issued a very stark warning for them. Acts chapter 20 and verse 28.

Again, Paul backed through the region. He's gathered the elders together, and he said, therefore take heed to yourselves to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Divisions, heresies, false teachers, church splits. That's what Paul prophesied for the Church of Ephesus. Says, this is what lies before you. You are the Church of God, but understand this is what is going to happen in your midst. Question, brethren, would these things destroy their first love for God in His way? With the constant wrestling and challenge in their midst, not only from a pagan culture on the outside seeking the press in, but from internal turmoil. Would that cool their first love for God? With the future years of challenge and internal tests begin to quench the Church's zeal. Verse 31, Paul says, therefore watch, watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. He gave an impassioned plea the entire time this church was being raised up and established in Ephesus. Verse 32, so now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. So this was the last time the Apostle Paul would see the elders of Ephesus face to face. The last time he would personally journey through there. He wrote the book of Ephesians actually after this point to them, but he gave them the warning. And again, it was his impassioned plea as he saw them for this last time face to face. He directed them back to his teachings, back to the word of God, back to the foundation that was their first love. Now approximately 10 years later, 62 to 65 AD, Paul wrote to Timothy, Timothy whom Paul had appointed to be pastor of Ephesus. And in the book of 1st Timothy, we begin to see some of the challenges creeping into the church, which Paul directs Timothy to address. There's a thread that you can follow the Church of Ephesus.

And Paul has a warning also for Timothy. 1st Timothy chapter 1. 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse 3. Again, we're talking about first love. The absolute importance to not only start out with that zeal, but to hang on to it and maintain it. Never allow it to slip from you. How could it slip from you? 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse 3. As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, Remain in Ephesus. They may charge some that they teach, No other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes, Rather than godly edification which is in faith. And so these years later, the Church of Ephesus is actually being torn apart. Being torn apart by fables, by stories, by false teachings.

That's likely a reference to the fact that some people were holding up some genealogies over others.

As in, well, you know, I'm from the tribe of Israel, actually. And even though I'm of the Church of God, I'm of the original covenant people of God. And somehow that makes me better than you in the size of God who are maybe Gentile by descent. You know, endless genealogies, vain disputes. Paul says they are tearing the Church apart, and they're going to rob people of their love.

Verse 5, Paul says, Now the purpose of the commandment is love. Love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. And so love is the purpose of the commandment. Paul says, love is supposed to be what is the result of living God's way and embracing it, and it binds the people of God together, whereas falsehoods rob that love.

Verse 6, From which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Again, he's talking to Timothy about the Ephesian church, and his admonition to that pastor is, set these things straight before it's too late, before the first love is gone, before, as Jesus Christ might someday say, I remove the lampstand from its place. This is all we know about the story of the Church of Ephesus, until roughly 30 years later when John writes the book of Revelation.

All right, jump forward now to the book of Revelation. This is the background. This is the history. This is the culture they came forward in, and this was the internal struggle they faced as a church. The Apostle John was an old man. By this time, he was the last living apostle of the original 12 that Jesus had appointed. He had been banished to the island of Patmos for teaching the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. It was while he was there that he received the contents of the book of Revelation in vision. What's included in that is the message to the seven churches, including Ephesus from Jesus Christ. Let's go to Revelation chapter 2 once again. I want to actually back up in the letter to them, and let's see how they were doing after 40 years from their founding. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 1.

Revelation chapter 2 verse 1, to the angel or the messenger of the church of Ephesus write, these things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, he says, I know your works, your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear with those who are evil, that you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, that you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary. This is a great compliment to receive as a church. You know, I think if Jesus Christ said these words to us, we would feel like these are good words to receive. And frankly, they were good words for the church of Ephesus to receive. He says, you can't stand sin and evil. Right? There's a standard about that congregation that they wouldn't tolerate open and ongoing sin in their midst. He says they rejected false doctrines. They rejected false teachers successfully. They'd heeded the warning of Paul and Timothy, and they were aware. The truth was important to them, and they knew what it was. They had preserved the right doctrine. They compared the teachings of those they heard against the Word of God. They had made correct judgments about what is true, about what is false, and when they were confronted by a false teacher, they put them out of their midst. This is something that Jesus Christ is complementing the church of Ephesus for. They didn't allow the the pagan culture to permeate the church, and they didn't allow those who said they were apostles and were not to influence them away from the truth of God. Again, good things. Good things. He said this church continued to work and continued to work in a good way. Jesus expresses his appreciation for their labor, and in the Greek that word labor is kopos, k-o-p-o-s, and it means wearisome toil. Okay, this was the congregation. They worked hard, backbreaking work. They'd worked through the heat of the day. They preached the gospel. They got the word out. They remained open in public in what it was they were doing. They did a good work, and it had not been easy because of the culture in which they live. Jesus said they had patience and perseverance, which indicates a passage of time. We are 40 years later after the founding of the church in Ephesus from Acts chapter 19. 40 years later, they had not quit. They remained steadfast and immovable as a church, and they were still there. They were holding fast after 40 years.

And Christ says, you know, I compliment you on these things. All good things.

And yet he isn't finished. Verse 4, Jesus says, nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. First love lost, Jesus Christ said. You know what? They were defenders of the faith. They were defenders of the word of God. They were defenders against false teachings coming in. They were defenders of their family. They held steadfast, and yet they lost something along the way. Something God had given them in abundance in the beginning. They had let it slip through their fingers, their first love. Why did this happen? How could this happen?

Again, as a church, they had the right teaching. They had the right doctrines.

They were working in a way that was pleasing to God. But how could they lose their love?

Ben Light and I had the pleasure of conducting three baptisms when we were in Ghana, and one ordination to Deacon. Excuse me, the baptisms were in Nigeria. One ordination to Deacon in Ghana. It was a very joyous time there, and throughout the last several months, I've been in back and forth communication with those who were baptized. I counseled them when I'm there in person, and we've counseled over WhatsApp many early Sunday mornings. It's evening their time, morning my time, their day off, and for a number of weeks now, walking through counseling sessions with three individuals there in Nigeria. And something that's usually apparent to me when someone's going through the baptism process is their excitement, right? Their zeal. For what it is, they're learning about God's way and the fact that they say, yes, not only do I know this, but I want to commit to it. I have to commit to it. And there's a passion and a zeal to go through that process. And it's almost like they want to, they say, steamroll over you to get to the baptism tank. It's, let's go. And that's great. That's exciting. And I love to see it. And, you know, it's something that is called first love.

Somewhere we all started, I hope. We had two baptisms on the Sabbath at the end of youth camp out at the site. You know, the whole Legos congregation boated out. We had 115 people out at the youth camp site on the ocean. We had two baptisms in the swimming pool that we had used for camp prior to the church service. One person was not able to arrive early. A lady in her upper 30s, but when she did arrive, we said, we'll do the baptism after services. And when the service was over, we said, what do you want? We got the pool? Swimming pool? Or we got the ocean?

All right. She says, oh, I want the ocean. Which you got to understand, nobody goes into that ocean over there. Number one is actually a pretty violent surf. None of us went into it during camp. A few of us have swum in it in the past. Jenny's been out there in the ocean in the past. We've fished somebody out of it that was getting drug out to sea in the past. So we just kind of keep out of the ocean, and most there don't swim that strong anyway. But she says, I want baptized in the ocean. And kind of looked out, and had settled some by that point. So we changed back into our wet clothes, and Ben and I went out into the ocean with her. And as you're waiting out, you're getting knocked into by these waves and this drag that's going out. And you're trying to get out far enough that you can, you know, put this person underwater, you know, waist deep anyway, hopefully. And as we're going, and you get hit by the first round of waves, and the second round of waves, by the third hit of the waves, she says, I don't know, I don't know, let's, you know, I don't know if I can do this. And we're kind of holding on to her, you know, don't want her to bolt. We said, you can do this. And at this time, here comes this swell. And we just said, go down now. And she goes down, you just kind of just wave, swamp over the top. Darla, let's go to the videotape. And Darla was, camera was out, right? Complete immersion. And Ben and I are just kind of holding on to her, so the drag doesn't take her out to sea at that point. But, but she was excited. Came up out of the water, she was excited. And we were excited for her. And the whole congregation standing on the shore and watching, 100 plus people were, were excited. This is first love. Very exciting moment.

So what happened to the Ephesian church? What happened to their first love? You know, could it happen to you or I? I have a couple of thoughts to consider on this. Number one, battle scars.

Battle scars. I want you to think about the impact of what that church dealt with over the years.

Fending off false doctrines. Defending against people who claim to be apostles but were found to be liars. False teachers even rising up in their midst trying to divide the church and lead people astray. Brother, what would that do to a church? Paul prophesied this. He said, as a church in Ephesus, you are going to continually contend with this. What would that do to a church?

The Ephesians had begun with an excitement and a love for the truth, but internal betrayal and spiritual battles had eroded much of their enthusiasm, and it replaced that with battle scars.

Right? Their first love, frankly, had taken a beating because of what they experienced. This church never stopped resisting heresy and never stopped resisting false teaching. They had the truth, and Jesus Christ complimented them for that.

But the constant and relentless battle took its toll on their numbers, partly, but the ones who remained, it says, Christ said, you've lost your first love. You have to get it back at all costs.

And the risk is real, brethren. But even in the midst of that, God's people are called to hold on, hold on to their love, their passion, and their zeal for God, for His truth, for His church, for their fellow brethren. Never let the love be torn away, no matter what the battle is. No matter what it is, maybe you've experienced personally. Pray for it to be constantly renewed in you, and be like David. Ask God to restore the joy of His salvation. If you walk through a trial or a circumstance or a challenge within the congregation and you find your first love is being zapped, go on your knees before God and ask Him to restore that joy of His salvation.

Second thought I have on this is why they would have lost their first love.

Let's think about this. After 40 years of living this way of life, again it can be easy to become comfortable with it to the point that the absolute preciousness of the blessing, what God has extended to you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it becomes almost maybe common in your thinking. We know that. We know what He did. You know, and the point is it no longer impacts a person as it once did. The springing forth of this message, again, was simply from taking my wife to West Africa and seeing how she responded to everything with first love. And I'm like, why are you taking the camera out? Well, because it's exciting and it's new and I want to drink it in. Wasn't that at our baptism? Wasn't that when we began this way of life and we read and we studied and we prayed and we fasted and we did all these things. We just couldn't get enough. But after 40 years, for 40 years, sometimes that precious blessing just, it doesn't have the same impact as it once did. The Ephesian church knew that Christ died for them, right? They knew God had forgiven their sins and given them His Holy Spirit. They knew the plan of salvation. They knew the fundamental beliefs. They knew the Ten Commandments. They knew the teachings. They knew how they were to live this way of life. They could actually intellectually defend it so that nobody else could take it away from them. But they had lost the passion for their calling. They become comfortable with it. And as a result, they lost the love. They lost the love.

The original converts had grown old and tired. If you think about it and rewind to Acts chapter 19, when it started out with fire and zeal, right? 30 years old, say, when you're called into the truth.

They're now 70 years old at the time of the writing of the book of Revelation. Lifespans, frankly, weren't as long then as they are today. Perhaps they had grown old. Perhaps they had grown tired, fighting the continual battle of the things they had seen. Additionally to that, you consider the time frame the second and third generation Christians had been born into this way of life. And they did not experience the same, maybe we say, zealous upstart that their parents had who were called out of the world. They didn't experience the same passion of burning their books of witchcraft, or seeing Paul cast out demons and perform great miracles, or stand in the face of the mob shouting, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. They'd heard about those things. They believed those things. They believed this word is true. And why would you give your life to anything else? This makes sense. But the upstart passion of having to fight to grab a hold of this way and change your life was not there for that second and third generation. The same as it had been for the first. They knew the truth of God, and they believed it. But the same passionate love for a renewed life was not there in the same way. Brethren, we always have to remember, we always have to appreciate what it was like to have God call us and reveal His truth to us. Remember the joy you experienced out of discovering this word is true. And it's true not only because you can go back, maybe historically, and prove it. It's true because it works. You've tried it, you've lived it, and it works. It works in your life, and it brings blessing. Remember that joy. Remember the joy of having your sins forgiven and receiving the Holy Spirit of God. Remember the joy you had at baptism.

Remember the passionate love it stirred up with you to walk anew. A different way of life, not according to the course of the world, but according to the calling of God. Remember your zeal, enthusiasm, the passionate desire to live this way. The lesson of the Ephesian church is that it is possible to live the truth of God correctly, but not love it. It's possible to live the truth of God correctly, but not love it. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 5, Jesus Christ says, remember.

Remember, therefore, He says, from where you have fallen, repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. He says, unless you repent, return to your first love, Jesus says. Repent. Call to mind what it was. That was that joy and passion from the beginning. Never let it slip through your fingers. He says, if you've lost it, get back there any way possible. Verse 6, but this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. We won't go into them today, but let's just say, do we hate the deeds of those who promote compromise to the truth of God?

That's what the Nicolaitans did. Can we convince you to compromise because of this exception or that exception? Do you hate the deeds of those that would teach compromise to the truth? Jesus says, I do. Verse 7, he who has a near, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him whoever comes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And so this message is to you and me today.

It wasn't just historically to this group of people in their time.

You know, sometimes there's discussion over, well, was this letter just to them?

Was this letter pertaining to an era in time? Was this letter pertaining to different segments of the church that could exist at the same time? You know, put the other seven letters together. You know what the answer to those questions are? Yes, on all counts. So it is to us today to impact us, to learn, and to grow. Do we hear it? Do we allow the lesson of the Ephesian church impact us today? If you're feeling a loss of your first love, bring the matter to God. I say, get down on your knees fervently before God. Bring that matter to Him. Pray for His help. Immerse yourself in the Word of God, as you once did in the beginning. Find the zeal and the thirst for learning. This is how He talks to us, that coupled with His Spirit.

The two convicting agents, the Word of God and the Spirit of God, use them to be convicted of heart and full of zeal once again. Study it with the same passion that brought you into a mature relationship with God. Our church president, Rick Shabie, has encouraged us all to read together through the book of Deuteronomy as we come up to the Feast of Tabernacles this year. If you go on to ucg.org, there's actually a reading schedule for it. It runs the five days of the week, and I believe yesterday we finished up at Deuteronomy chapter 10, right? That book was written to Israel as they were approaching the Promised Land after 40 years of wilderness wandering. As they've come up to the brink of the Promised Land, they're about to step in, receive their inheritance from God, and the point was, remember the law. Remember the commandments. Remember the blessings of God that have brought you along the way. And I believe the purpose for the book of Deuteronomy and the teaching of it was to help the people of Israel to recapture that first love as that next generation stepped into the Promised Land of their inheritance so that they would receive it as God intended. Brethren, as you and I approached the Feast of Tabernacles this year, let's study this book with the fire of first love, putting ourself in this place on the brink of the kingdom of God, considering the inheritance that we stand to receive. Pray without ceasing. Fast often.

Let's use this time well. Meditate on the blessings of God's way in your life. Brethren, don't become complacent in the spiritual disciplines of a Christian. Prayer, Bible study, fasting, meditation, fellowship. Let's exercise these things. Don't become complacent. It's not only based on head knowledge that we are called into this understanding. Frankly, we are called into a loving relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and one another. And so, brethren, the admonition from Jesus Christ to this church and indeed to the entirety of the church of God is remember your first love and embrace it today.