In this century, we have a lot of things to get done every day.
You have to go to work, you have to buy food for your house, you have to take care of your children, you have to clean the house, you have keep up with your social media… and many others things.
It seems you are judged by what you are doing and not for who you are. You have to do it, do all of it and never stop… but sometimes our motivation can be wrong.
The same can happen in the church also. We are always in a rush, doing many things, taking care of people, preparing things to teach to the children, the teenagers, prayers meetings, cell meetings and etc… And all of these things are good. We need it, but maybe you’ve began doing things automatically, and you think that you must do it all to be accepted by God.
There is a big difference between Doing and Being!
Only 5 words, but they are completely different.
One of my teachers in Brazil told me:
God is more interested in who you are than what you do!
If we understand this, it will change the way we see things…
If we do things just because it’s right or because we must do them, like an obligation, we have forsaken the first love.
Things done by love are very different from things done by obligation.
And to help us better understand this, the message I will preach today is: Come back to the First love!
Today you will find out if you have forsaken your first love!
Maybe you are thinking: This message would be perfect for that one person who didn’t come today… He or She really needed to listen this…
But I’d like to encourage you to look inside of yourself now. Forget the others. I’d like to encourage you to recognise that in some point or in some way you may have forsaken your first love. Hopefully you will understand it today and you will be able to return to your First love for Christ. Amen?
Did you know that it’s possible to be faithful without love?
People are married for many years, and some of them don’t love more their wives or husbands, but they still don’t betray their partner.
Did you know that?
You can be a faithful husband without love….
You can be a good worker without passion for what you are doing…
You can be a blessed servant of the Lord, without love for Jesus…
I’ll show you this in the bible…
Read with me:
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp-stands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp-stand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:1-7
Jesus asked John to write this letter to the Church of Ephesus!
The City of Ephesus was one of the most important cities of the time. They were rich and they were important in the spreading of the kingdom of God.
They were doing many things for the Kingdom.
Jesus said to them: I’m writing this letter to the Angel of the Church…
- A Letter from Jesus.
Angel here means the Elder, the Pastor, the Leaders of the Church.
So, God was speaking to the Leaders but also to the whole Church.
This letter today is for me and for you also. If you have ears, listen to the word of God. This is a letter from Jesus directly for you. Amen?!
- Jesus holds the Church and Walks among us
Jesus said that he holds the 7 stars and walks among them. The Church is the light of the world. (Golden lamp stand). Jesus is here today. While we are preaching the gospel, while we worship him, he is walking among us. He is the light, and he puts fire in our hearts to shine to this world.
Also, the bible says:
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to him. Psalms 95:3-4.
Don’t be afraid: Jesus is the Lord of the Church. He hold us and he walks among us. We are not alone.
- Jesus knows your deeds
From the verse 2 to 3 Jesus tells them that He knows their deeds, their hard work, their perseverance. Jesus says: I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. Wow… He adds: you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
They were a good Church. They were working hard, they were going against false teachings, they didn’t tolerate wicked people, they did not accept false teachings, they rejected that… they were a powerful Church, looking to improve on their jobs, their skills and on everything they were doing….
The lesson here is: Jesus knows your deeds. He is looking at everything we do, the things you take part in, things you don’t participate… Jesus knows what the Church is doing… It’s a good sign! He is always with us and is always helping us. We need his help to do things.
Jesus said: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. John 15:5.
We have to remain In Jesus to bear many fruits, because without Jesus we can do nothing! He knows our deeds.
But on verse 4 Jesus brings a warning to the Church.
Verse 4 says: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first..”
The lesson here is:
- Jesus is warning you
The Church of Ephesus was a Church who worked. They did many things, they were faithful, they were creative, they were good servants, they rejected false teachings, they said no to Sin…but… they were doing it with no LOVE.
Jesus said: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
It’s possible to be in a married relationship, to be faithful, to live a good life but have no love…
I believe this letter is for today’s Church.
Maybe we are doing many things in a good way, we are using our skills, we are conquering things…. but we have no more love.
Do you know what the bible says about love?
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Cor 13:1-3
And the last verse of chapter 13…
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”. 1 Cor 13:13
Come back to the First love!
I can do many things, I can speak the tongues of Angels, I can give all I possess to the poor, I can have a faith that can move mountains…but if I have no love, it’s nothing. It seems like nothing.
Love is greater than Hope and faith…
That Church of Ephesus had hope, they had faith and joy, but they had no LOVE. And love is the greater point.
There is a big difference when you look at 2 people who are working for different reasons.
One of them is there only to get money at the end of the week… so they do it out of obligation…
The other one is rejoicing because he loves what he is doing. He does with passion, he has motivation, he is inspired and also he inspires others!
Who are you in the work of the Lord?
Look to the story of Martha and Mary. They both received Jesus in their home. Martha spent all her time doing things for Jesus… Cleaning the place and tidying things up to make it a nice for Jesus, while Mary dropped everything she was doing to listen to Jesus’ voice and to spend time in his presence.
Marta did much more than Mary, but with the wrong motivation….
Mary, out of love, chose to be close to Jesus and adore him.
Who are you within the work of the Lord?
If you look to the past, how were you in The Church?
What did you do out of Love?
Maybe you did a lot out of love…you looked after people, you sought God, you came to the prayer meetings…you were active in the kingdom.
But now, you’ve stopped. The love is gone, or little by little you are losing your love… the love for Christ, for the kingdom.
You may think to yourself: NO! I love Jesus! I love the Church of God.
But, please compare yourself… compare yourself to how you used to be 10 years ago… 5 years ago… maybe you have forsaken that first love.
But Jesus warns us and He gives us a new chance. Praised Be Jesus!
On verse 5 he says: Consider how far you have fallen! Repent.
This is another lesson:
- Consider how far you have fallen and Repent!
We need to check if we have fallen, and where we have fallen.
You need to think and find out where is it that you failed. When you have it, go back, repent and fix it.
This applies to the kingdom of God. Why did you stop? Why were a good, loving servant before but now you’ve stopped?
Where is that guy who stayed up all night praying? Where is that girl who used to have visions? Where is that boy who used to pray for Revival? Where is that man who wanted to change the world with love?
Where is that child inside of you who believed in God as a Father, who wanted to shake this generation preaching the gospel? Don’t tell me that things have changed… The world is the same, people are the same. They still need people like you and me to hear about Jesus Christ. The Church is still the same. The Church needs workers, true lovers of Christ who wants to worship Jesus, and through their lives touch this generation! The time has come to consider how far you have fallen, repent and raise up from the grave! Come back to the first love!
But also, applies to our home! When did you stop praying with your children? When did you stop investing your time with kids?
When did you stop speaking about Jesus at your work place?
When did you stop showing love to your family? When did you stop investing in your marriage?
Maybe the love is gone….
Jesus was preaching about the end of times, and look at what he said:
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Mathew 24:12-13
Because of the increase of evil, The love of most will grow cold….
Do what Jesus tells us to do:
Consider how far you have fallen and repent…
Jesus told the Church of Ephesus to Repent and go back to doing things they did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp-stand from its place.
Unfortunately time passed, and today there is no more Church of Ephesus…they were removed…
But today there is a New chance for us:
We can go back to our first love!
In the last days, evil is increasing, love can be extinguished inside of us… It’s dangerous!
I invite you to try and do whatever you are doing with LOVE!
At the Church,
Work with love. Be faithful, Be watchful, Be respectful, Respect the authority of those who have been placed by God as leader in the church, do things with love.
God is a lot more interesting in who you are than what you are doing…
-He wrote a letter to us to warn us about the way we are doing things, the way we are living as a Church.
-He knows our deeds. He is the only one who needs to know what we are doing, because he knows our heart, and he can search our motivations…
At Home
Live with love. Be patient, Be kind, show your love to your family not only with words, but with care, with attitudes.
Example: A Millionaire family with a kid…grew up…parents working a lot, he had everything, money, toys, family, health…but he had no love.
One day, when he became a teenager he met some people who loved him, and he started to steal ….he went to prison for 5 years..after that, he started to use drugs…He was going deep down…and suddenly he met Jesus. He felt his love, his compassion, and Jesus changed his life completely. Now he is a servant of the Lord and live a good life…The power of love inside home!!! Can change the future of our kids!
Live with love…
At Work
Work with passion, tell to your Co-workers about Jesus, live a life of example that pleases God.
Come back to the first love again! Amen?!
Now, we have time to consider how far we have fallen and repent, ask God to search you and you search your heart and check how far you are from that person you used to be…. the time of prayer you used to have, the motivations you had to please God… it’s time to come back to the first love…
It’s time to lift your eyes to heaven, to give your life to Jesus, to do things with love… to worship God with love, to feel his presence again… to cry in his presence again…. come on…… come back to the first love….we have to live on Jesus’ feet…
May God bless you, strengthen you and give you peace!