Your first love is gone

Firstly, we would like to greet you all in the wonderful Name of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Him who keeps us and has brought us together this day.

We thank the Lord for those who still search for God. There are many people in this day and age, who have no interest in God. We are thankful for those who have come to be with us, and I trust you’ve come with a burning heart that loves the Lord Jesus and with a prayer: Lord, as you bless others, please do not pass me by. Don’t be troubled by other things, looking left or right, or wanting to go out and you don’t really know why – that is the devil – pray and ask the Lord to help you.

There are a few announcements before the service begins. God willing there will be a wedding next Sunday – Phakamani Mkhwanazi and Nokwanele Buthelezi.

We would also like to remind you of the Youth Conference 10-16 December.  It is time to invite people. There are indemnity forms at the KSB Reception that need to be filled in by parents whose children attend. The Bible speaks of a reward for one soul that you lead to Christ, let us not neglect to pass on the news of this great salvation and the conference.

God willing, in the first week of March 2025, there will be a Ministers’ Conference. You can also go to Reception to collect invitations. Please take these and invite ministers and any people involved in the ministry to the conference.

May the Lord bless us as we look at His Word together.

The choir sang, great is the grace and the privilege to know the Lord Jesus. I feel sorry for a person who does not know the Lord Jesus. It makes me wonder, is there anyone among us who has a bitter or cold heart that does not even hear when God speaks? May each of us pray, Lord speak to my heart, abide with me.

The choir sang of a pure, snow-white garment. I believe that is why we are here; we want to live a deeper life our Lord and to receive that snow-white garment. The sweetness and wonder of it we can already experience here, not only on the other side.  I constantly desire to live in purity and have peace with my Lord.

There is a word that touched me deeply, which we find in the book of Revelation, chapter 2 from verse 1.

Revelation 2:1 – 7 “To the angel^[a] 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 lampstands. 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 lampstand 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.

These words touched me deeply as I realised again that we don’t see things as God sees them, His ways are far higher than our ways. These are the words of the Lord Jesus; he commanded John to write these words which are clear and simple that even a child can understand them. John was imprisoned because of the Gospel, the prison was an island. Blessed are the other prisoners and guards who are in contact with a person who is imprisoned because of the Gospel.

Christ Jesus had a message that He wanted to bring to the leaders of the churches. The Bible refers here to the “angels” - they were the leaders of the church. This message was written for the church in Ephesus. John wrote what he had been instructed to write. If you read it, you may think, is there anything lacking in this church?

This church sought and followed Christ. They could discern between what is true and what is false. They were on fire for the things of God. There were those who called themselves apostles, this church tested them and found them false. They could discern who came in truth and who came with deceptions. Isn’t it amazing to have a church and have people there who could discern and do what God wanted, they could say ‘no’ and refuse to go on the evil way or even according to the will of man. Is that not praiseworthy?

We may say they did well, but that is not what Jesus said. We might have been satisfied, but Jesus was not satisfied. We could have praised them, but Jesus did not praise them, and He was clear on how He saw things. There is a phrase repeatedly used in the letters to the churches: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says …” That means that this is also for us, we need to hear for ourselves how Jesus sees us. As I see you all, I see people who look good, well dressed, children of God, but I don’t know how Jesus sees you and knows you. Does He see wrong things in us? We cannot hide anything from Him. The choir sings a song that says, You cannot hide from God, though quietly you go, He knows your footsteps ‘ere they fall, no matter how quietly you walk, He sees you and sees things that are unnoticed by others. The way He sees is like through a magnifying glass. Where are your thoughts right now? Maybe they are in Durban, JHB, overseas. Jesus sees every thought.

Coming back to this amazing church which one could boast about, on fire for God, in love with the Lord Jesus, not tolerating evil. Now you, do you hide things, things your cousin has done and because nobody knows, you tolerate it?  My friend, you are in darkness if you live like that, with no truth in you. See how they were praised for all their work, even discerning the works of the Nicolaitans. The church was in unity about this matter, the Nicolaitans could not enter. Who do you agree with, my friend? With your brethren and that which is in the light, or the enemy which is in darkness?

Jesus is open about how He sees His church and what He feels about them. Verses 2 – 4. You have abandoned your love you had in the beginning.

In the book of Jeremiah we read, I remember your works when you were still young, the love you had for God. Remember how you always wanted to share your story with people, but now, where has that gone?

Let us consider our love for God. Where are you right now? Are you ice-cold spiritually, where you sleep with your sin and wake up with it again, your conscience is dead. You are not a blessing at work anymore as you have gone back to your old ways of gossip and causing strife. The first love is gone. Let me tell you, it begins with lies which you listen to and then possibly spread. Oh, the sin of the tongue, it is small yet it can cause so much damage. Will you ever be able to make right with the people you have lied to?

We can forget, but there is not one word that God will forget. Jesus Christ says to this church – this I have against you – you have forsaken your first love. Have you forgotten that great thing the Lord has done for you by saving you? What has confused you?

Your first love is gone.

1 Corinthians 13:1,8 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

If we speak of love we speak of God’s love, Agape love, not the love of the world or lustful love. How have you lost that love? Maybe you were known as one who loved sharing their testimony and many people were blessed by it. Now there is no more time for that as you need to watch news or see which way the economy is going. You are only considering you own problems or blessings and have no time for others. Now you notice that people who used to love being with you, avoid you. Why? You have abandoned your first love.

This church in Ephesus, the members still did what they had done before, but things changed, it was without love and compassion now. Never mind making peace with God. That has become a private matter, and yet you are weighed down by that thing that troubles you, although you may deny that you are troubled, but by sitting in your sin you are outside God’s Kingdom. If we claim to love a person, but show no fruit of love, Jesus says, Repent, repent – leave your ways, go back to the works you did in the beginning. He wants to bring you back to where you were when you first repented, a blessed person.

Child of God, do you realise what is happening in your life right now, what causes this lukewarmness in your life? Those sins which you had parted from when you first repented, why do they come back with such force? Don’t you see brethren, that you have left the way? You are swept up in sinful ways which you don’t even recognise as sinful. God sees you as someone who has fallen. People may praise you, but God sees you as someone who speaks and acts in a hurtful way. This church was known for its works, their toil, their patience, but Jesus saw that they have forsaken their first love.

The Lord Jesus says, repent, return to the works you did at first lest I remove your lampstand. Brethren, if the Lord Jesus should remove that lampstand from us personally and at KSB, what would we be, what would we do? If that had to happen, we would not care about spreading His message anymore.

Each of us should get up and search our hearts – Lord, are things going well? Lord reveal what is wrong in my life. There is no such thing that we can say, I am used to the way of the Lord, I know how things should go. The beauty of this church was incomplete without this first love.

When there is love, I may see a splinter in my brother’s eye, I can go to him and we help each other, but I must see to it that I first remove the log in my own eye. I must always first examine myself before I go to help someone else.

Let us forget our way and look at things in God’s way, what does Jesus say about me and my walk, my thoughts and motives, and the way I talk? The Lord looks at what fills our heart and then flows out of it. Remove that which is evil and unacceptable to God. We can be busy with various things, but the Lord says, I have this and that against you, make this right. We are cursed when we do things in our own way, and we cannot even see that when we do things our way, we are lost.

Oh, my prayer is Lord may You not remove one lampstand from amongst your children, if that would be so we would go into eternal damnation. May there not be one lamp that does not burn with the same brightness as in the beginning. Brethren, what switches that light off? Sin. Bring that sin to the Lord that He can deal with it. To each one who has experienced true repentance, it should not be difficult for you to look back and say, Lord may that be a reality in my life again. Ask yourself, am I still walking correctly before God and acknowledging Him in all my ways? Is there a way of woe in your life? My friend, you know what you are hiding – you need to make it right so that your first love can return.

The Lord Jesus did not want to lose this church, He praised the good works they did, but He wanted to remove that which wasn’t supposed to be there. Remove that which is evil, repent, return to what you were before, lest He remove the lampstand.

Dietmar Joosten

We thank the Lord for His word. You see, God doesn’t beat about the bush, He makes it crystal clear. We are inclined to close our eyes and excuse sin. No, what is wrong is wrong.

You know what your first love was like, I also remember my first love. I know how I preached at first and how my heart was burning. There is only one thing, as we heard, that will quench this love, it is sin. We heard in the beginning how troublesome lies are. Christians think that they can say things in such a good way to hide the truth, but the one who listens sees right through us. Let us not take things lightly, let us search ourselves, to see whether we are where we should be. I see myself as so busy, up and down, sweating for the Lord, but is that how God sees it?

God’s love binds people together. They were united, bonded together, but what does it look like now? The Lord knows what your heart is like. Search your heart, look carefully. Is there pride in your heart? Deal with it today. Get rid of it. Because the Lord says, I resist the proud. Love seeks the well-being of others and seeks advice from others.

Let me end with this. There is something I learnt these days which was very precious. I asked someone where I could get certain trees from the north. I received a reply. I also needed to get something for a machine. I made my decision about where to buy my trees after asking advice. I told my wife, we now need to get the parts of the machines. I thought it was very far away but amazingly that place was only 3 km away from where I had to get the trees. That is what happens where you are willing to work with others, not just do your own thing.

Maybe that is my gift that I must ask others, and not follow my own inclinations. I saw it again these days, follow the advice of others; for me it was a miracle, how God can lead and guide us.

We thank God for this word. Don’t take it lightly. I don’t want to do it either.