First Love

All right, so let's continue on.

Where was I?

Yeah, so what I'm going to speak about today, it's been on my heart for a few weeks,

and I'm going to trust that God is going to use this time to do certain things in our hearts, man.

So please be expectant, because I know for a fact that it is important right now,

in this present time, for him to release this to us or to say this to us because of where we are at.

It's almost this sense of we are on the basketball court, we are playing and we've been playing,

and the coach is saying, time out, because he needs to have us gather around him,

and he needs to say a few things before we go back onto the court.

That's kind of the feel I have about this, that he doesn't want us to continue on in the ways that we've been doing over the last little while.

He wants us to take a time out. It's a time out.

And if you are players on the basketball court, you better listen to the coach right now, because he's got stuff to tell you.

Yeah?

So in the Bible, the book of the epistle that's written to Ephesians, the church in Ephesus,

that particular church, it's different from the other churches that we read in the Bible,

in that one of the things that's very peculiar about them is this church,

which was an actual living church that existed in the city of Ephesus,

to that church, when the epistle was written, people living there were a certain way.

One of the things that's very peculiar about them is that they were people who really worked for God in his kingdom.

The Bible says they labored in the kingdom. So there is a difference between working and laboring.

Working is you know what you've got to do, and you do it.

Laboring is what Paul did, right?

Laboring is there is nothing more important than what I am doing. They labored in the kingdom.

The church in Ephesus had people in them who labored in the kingdom.

A great church, can you think about it? They aren't just heroes of the word. They heard it and they did it.

They really believed everything that they heard. They lived amongst a lot of opposition.

You read that even as you read the book of the epistle in Ephesians chapter 6, you see Paul telling them things.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

In fact, Paul planted the church and then he handed over the church to Timothy, and Timothy was leading the church for years.

And then, this isn't in the Bible, but it could very well be that John the apostle was actually part of this church.

The church in Ephesus. So a church with rich heritage.

A church who had people in there who really labored in the kingdom.

And it doesn't stop there. The Bible actually says that these very people, they knew the word enough.

They knew who God was enough to be able to discern right and wrong.

They knew God's precepts, the understanding and wisdom that we heard about before.

They had it to a point where when people amongst them called themselves apostles and started speaking things,

the Bible says that are evil, they were able to look at them in the eye and say, you're wrong.

This is not the way of God. Can you imagine? That's a church who really understands who God is, understands his ways.

That's the church we are talking about. And it doesn't stop there.

The next step is the Bible says this church in Ephesus, they stood up for the name of Jesus.

They were so zealous, so passionate that in that city, in that city that they lived in, they were zealous for Jesus.

When it came to the things of the kingdom, they stood up.

When it came to the things of the kingdom and its causes, they said, we will run, we will labor.

This is all we care about. We aren't talking about a few leaders.

We're talking about that church. The people were a certain way.

And to this church, Jesus writes through John, Jesus sends a letter.

And that's in Revelation chapter two. I want us to look at that letter in a little bit.

But before we do that, the key thing here is you can have a lot of good things happen.

You can be really laboring in the kingdom. You can be seeing results of your labor.

But in Revelation chapter two, before we read those verses, you see Jesus first commending them for the things they're doing.

And then Jesus immediately telling, hey, there is a thing that I need to correct amongst you.

So you can, this is important, you can be so fruitful in what you're doing.

You can labor so well, but there can still be things where Jesus says, hey, I need to fix this because if I don't fix this amongst you, you ain't going to do it the right way.

So let's read those verses before we continue on. Revelation chapter two, two to five.

But I only actually want you at this point to read until verse four. Revelation chapter two, two to four.

If you get there.

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are evil,

but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false.

I know church, you're enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake.

And you have not grown weary.

But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Wow.

It's church.

Anyone who drove a Corolla.

All good.

Thanks Evan.

So you can be a church who's doing so well, who's fruitful standing up.

But then Jesus says you can do all of these things.

Having abandoned the first love.

And I want you to think about this, guys, because this is what the time out that I was talking about really means.

One of the things that he is telling us today is, hey, can you look at your life?

Can you think about where you're at?

Do you see it? You're doing things.

Things you're doing are going well in many cases.

But I don't want you to continue on like this because somehow you have abandoned the first love.

Somehow you're not operating from that place of first love.

Somehow your head has somehow gotten bigger than your heart.

Your head has somehow gotten bigger than your heart.

What does that mean?

It means that you know so much now.

Initially you wanted to know more.

Initially you did not have the knowledge.

And then you came to me and I poured that knowledge and that wisdom and all of these things inside you.

And then your head began to grow.

And your heart was in pace with your head.

But at one point your head began to grow bigger and bigger.

But your heart wasn't in pace with your head.

In other words, you lost that first love that I had.

And the thing is man, the beautiful thing is, Jesus loves us enough to not have us operate like that.

Jesus loves us enough to say, hey, I'm going to pull you aside because I really need your heart.

I ain't interested in your works.

More than in your works, I am interested in you.

I'm interested in getting your heart.

I care about your heart.

I paid for your heart.

I shed my blood for you.

You think I can't have people do this and that?

I can have them do it every day.

But that's not what I am after.

I'm after your heart.

I'm after your heart.

And again, as I speak this, you've got to understand and you've got to think,

am I in this place where somewhere, in some areas, my heart is not as big as my head?

My understanding has grown.

I can recite things just like that.

I can even speak to five people tonight right now without even looking at my notes.

I can do this and that and this and that, but my heart is not there.

I know the exact right things to speak and the best part about this is everyone benefits even when I speak.

And they don't know.

But my heart is not at that place it used to be.

My heart has lost.

The love it had.

Someone wise said this, guys.

No amount of activity in the king's service will make up for the neglect of the king.

No amount of activity in the king's service will make up for the neglect of the king.

It means that you and I can be so purposeful, can be so in it in terms of the things of the kingdom,

but we can be ignorant or neglecting the king for whom we are doing the service.

Our heart is so much about the service to the king that we have lost the real picture.

We have lost the truth that we are to first live for him before we do anything else.

That my heart and your heart first is for the king.

So it is possible to neglect the king, but be at his service and do really well.

And people will even say kudos, but deep down in your heart, you know, somehow, somewhere, it's not right.

And Jesus says, hey, the way I am, I'll pull you aside.

I'll make sure I'll give you the keys to do this well so that when you go back onto that court and you're playing and you're playing ball, you do it right.

You do it for the right reasons.

Because I care about you.

He doesn't want us to be people who labor, but labor for the wrong reasons.

He doesn't want us to stand up and fight for him when our heart is not with him.

It's a good thing, man, that we stand up and fight when there is a need to fight, but our heart must be for him, with him.

Faith without works is dead and works without love is futile.

Faith without works is dead, but works without love, that's futile.

The Bible actually says in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 13, you don't have to read it.

1 Corinthians 3:13

First Corinthians 3 verse 13.

1 Corinthians 3:13

Each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

So there is going to be a day where all of the stuff that I'm doing, every single work, every stuff, every sermon that I teach, every person that I am with and I speak to,

everything that I think and I do in the name of Jesus, every work will be tested by fire.

And some of that work, if when I do it right, it will stand the test of fire.

I want all of the work to withstand the test of fire.

You need to be at a place where every single thing you're doing, you're doing it out of first love.

If you ain't, then we have missed the mark.

The last thing we must be is that people who speak the right words, say the right things, maybe even do the right actions, but we have missed the mark.

That's dangerous.

We have to speak from this place of, ah, I know my master. I know him so well. My heart is so with him.

When I come to you and I speak to you, I don't have to show off anything. I don't have to bring anything extra because I am operating from this place of, I know him so well.

My heart is with him. He is not a stranger that I talk to.

I'm not running on yesterday's oil. I'm running on today's. I have enough supplies that he has given me. My cup runneth over today.

And out of my cup running over today, I can give.

It's not what happened yesterday. It's not what happened a few months ago. It's from today.

So a few questions you need to think about. Number one, what is the engine behind your works and labor for him?

Right now, not talking about a few months ago. Today, what is the engine? What is the primary driver behind your works, behind your toil, behind your labor for him?

What is the reason you're doing it? Are you doing it because you have been doing it? Are you doing it because that's the right thing to do?

Are you doing it because if you don't do it, there is no one else to do it? Are you doing it because you feel good about yourself when you do it?

Any of these answers are so wrong.

What is the primary reason, the driver, the engine behind the labor, behind the work?

Number two, is your head bigger than your heart?

Do you know so much more to your point, man? You can recite things, speak things, you have all of the right words, but the essence of it, it hasn't come here.

You've received it here, but it hasn't made its journey here. You know it here, but you don't understand it here.

You've heard it here and you've even understood it with your brain, but you haven't experienced it here.

There is a journey for whatever you hear to travel from here to here. They say it's 18 inch.

That has to happen.

Whenever you realize that, man, I got it here, but it's not here, and I can speak, and I do, and I can do all of these things.

No. That's where, man, if there is something wrong with my mic, just adjust it.

That's when you decide, no, Aba, you love me so much to pull me aside and say, I care about you.

I don't want you to continue playing like this. I want you to do it right, Derek. I want you to do it right, Aaron.

I want you to do it right, Shereen. I want you to do it well for the right reasons. I care about you.

I can get hundreds of other people to play, but I want you on that field, and I want your heart.

I want you to do it for the right reasons.

Question number three, are you on repeat or are you living a life that is propelled by love?

Are you on repeat or are you living a life that is propelled by love?

You know what on repeat means? On repeat means, you know Sundays, we've got to be here.

And when you come, you even come prepared.

You know, 1 Corinthians 14, 26, that when we gather, we are supposed to give.

So you come prepared for that.

You know that tomorrow when you're at work, you've got to start your day a certain way.

And you're really fruitful at work, not just in terms of the work that you're doing,

but also in terms of witnessing, speaking to people, all of those things you do splendidly well.

Tuesday nights you have house church. The following week on Thursday, you are at hub. You don't miss a week.

You're really useful in the kingdom.

You're on repeat if none of that or some of that is not fueled or propelled by the love for your master.

Do not live your life on repeat.

He doesn't want you to live your life on repeat.

You've got to ask yourself, am I doing things on repeat?

Because if yes, today is the right day for you to hit that reset button because he's got keys for you to start anew.

So this first love, I wrote down a few characteristics.

So what does this first love look like?

So here are a few litmus tests. So if you're listening to me and you're like, well, I want to,

I don't really know if I have that first love or what is this first love?

Here are a few things that you can use as a litmus test.

It's a litmus test for you to determine or understand whether or not you're in first love.

Number one, the way you view the world is it is him and I and everyone else.

It's him and I and everyone else.

That's your view of the world. It is him and I and everyone else.

Your spouse is secondary. Your family is secondary.

Your church family is secondary.

Before anything, it is him and I.

Everything I look at, I look through the lens, him and I and everyone else.

Him and I and everything else.

He's got my heart. I've got his heart. Him and I and everyone else.

Is that how you're living? Is that the place you're operating from?

Is that the place your works are coming from?

Is that the place you're standing up for him from? Him and I and everyone else.

You view the world through the lens of your relationship with him,

not the lens of your responsibilities, not the lens of your needs,

not the lens of your ministry, not the lens of everything that you have to do,

not the lens of all the stuff that happened in the past, the present and the future.

That's not the lens. The lens to view the world is my relationship with him.

Him and I. Out of that, everything else flows.

The first thing, the primary thing, the engine, the driver, whatever you call it, it is him and I.

Number two, you're acutely aware of his presence.

You're so aware of his presence on a day-to-day basis.

It's not a song that reminds you of his presence.

You're so aware of his presence, his closeness, his nearness to you.

I remember the first time I went to Iris' house.

Amma was there, Papa and Iris' brother.

I walk right in and I'm seeing Iris in person for the first time.

Iris' dad says, sit down, sit down. So I sit down.

He's sitting there. Danny, Iris' brother, is sitting there.

Then Iris is on the side.

For the first time in my life, I realized that you can have a wide angle view.

This eye is talking to Iris' dad and this eye is on Iris.

Somehow, I want this eye to be not looking like this, but I don't care at this point because I really want to look at her.

It's the first time I'm seeing her and meeting her in person.

Everything in the room is not as important.

My eyes are on her.

I'm acutely aware.

So in that room, when she went inside the house to bring something, then I'm thinking she's not here.

As soon as she steps in, oh, she's back here.

So aware, so aware that she is in the room or not in the room.

When you get married, that's how it is.

And people say that's how everyone starts and then you lose it.

But may we have marriages where we don't lose it, where that newness is there.

Number three, when you're operating in first love, there is a newness and freshness in the relationship.

There is a sense of awe and wonder, and you do not take each other for granted.

If you're in first love, nothing he does for you, you take for granted.

Nothing he is to you, you take for granted.

You are in awe of him.

He's so close to you. He's so near to you.

He loves you. And the fact that these things are not old for you, these things are so new to you,

they revive your heart. They make you break down in a good way every time you think of it.

You've not matured to a point you've lost it.

This pastor went to China and he gathered a bunch of people who were ministers in China.

They work amongst the underground church in China.

They meet at this apartment because this pastor from North America is visiting.

Obviously no one else should know about it, so it's all done very carefully, meticulously.

No one else knows this meeting is happening, and they all sit down.

There is about 22 of them. It's a 700 square feet apartment, and this pastor starts talking.

The meeting, when you meet in China, starts from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So it's 12 hours. They are all sitting on the ground, on the floor, because they don't have anything else.

And during the service, this pastor actually came with a bunch of Bibles,

and he gave these Bibles to the people who are assembled there.

And one of the ladies, she was supposed to read a particular passage,

and this pastor finds out that as soon as he asked, hey, can you read it,

she basically recited the whole passage without looking at the Bible.

And he was like, oh, that's kind of strange. Maybe she knew it.

At the end of the service, and over the couple of days he spent with them,

he found out that whenever people were asked to read the Bible, they did not use the Bible.

They just recited it. He was curious, so he asked them, why is this?

So many of them spent two, three years in prison.

And during their time there, they didn't have the Bible, but they'll get one letter, one page,

and in it will be a passage. And that's all they have.

But because it's so new, because it's something that they honor, it's something that they appreciate,

it's something that they do not take for granted, they look at that piece of paper,

and they read it, and they memorize it, and they know it,

because they know that this paper can be taken off them any second.

And at the end of this prayer meeting, they asked this pastor,

one day we really want to get to a place in China where we can have churches the way you have it in North America,

where you are so free to meet, where we desperately long for the time when we don't have to be fearful,

when we don't have to do these things this way.

And the pastor responded to them and said, I won't pray for that.

Because in North America, every house has two Bibles or three Bibles, if you're a Christian family.

But not many people open them. Most of us are on our phones.

We use daily scripture reading plans to go through them.

The way you do it, we don't do it. And I don't want you to lose this. I want you to keep this.

The way you are is the right way. You don't want our way.

What am I saying? There has to be a newness, a freshness to our relationship with him,

where we do not take these things for granted.

Where as you read the scripture, as you hear, as you understand, it's not old truths.

There's a new manner for you to eat, to build on.

So ask yourself, do you have that newness in your relationship with him?

Do you have that freshness? Is there that sense of awe and wonder? Do you take him for granted?

The last thing in terms of characteristics I have, it is your relationship, it's relentlessly hopeful and trusting of him.

It is relentlessly hopeful and trusting of him.

And you dream of all of the possibilities of tomorrow. And you dream of all of the possibilities of tomorrow.

When you are in first love, I'm telling you, you dream of all of the possibilities of tomorrow.

And I want to ask you, have you stopped dreaming?

Is it the same dreams you had two years ago, a year ago? Do you have new dreams? Is new being added to you?

Because if you are in first love, I can guarantee you, you're continually dreaming with him.

His spirit is continually opening your eyes. And your dreams are in the same that they were.

It's not that you have to shut them all down, what you had from two years ago to a year ago, no.

But new is being added. New is being released.

So that's the first love part. In that verse, it says, Jesus says, you know, he first commends them, and then he says,

I'm going to correct you because you've abandoned the first love that you had.

I want to talk about that word, abandoned. Abandoning first love is an action on one's part, and it is not something that's inflicted.

Abandoning first love is an action on one's part, and it is not something that is inflicted.

In other words, you cannot complain or point fingers to that person or this thing or those things and say, that is why I lost my first love.

First love and the losing of it, if it happened to you, the abandoning of it is never inflicted upon you.

Let me tell you that. You cannot point your finger at anyone else. It is between you and him.

So I want to remove any such thought that anyone may have that if this person was this way, then this would have worked out better.

No. Abandoning first love is an action on one's part, and it is not inflicted upon you.

I cannot therefore put the responsibility on anything or anyone else but me.

You abandon first love when something else has gotten your heart. So what has gotten your heart recently?

You abandon first love when something else has got more of your heart.

He gets less of your heart because something else has got more of your heart. And what is it?

Because we all start well, but finishing well is even more important.

Starting well is good. Finishing well is even more important.

So what is it that has gotten more of your heart now if he has got less of your heart today?

Here is the other thing about abandon. When you abandon first love,

the reason you abandon it is because you have somehow forgotten where you were grafted from.

Because the Bible says, Romans 11, 17, the picture is that of a wild olive shoot that was cut off from the tree and it was grafted into a cultivated olive tree.

If you have forgotten where you have come from, if you have forgotten or if you take for granted all the things that he did to take you out of where you were at, to put you in this new place in him.

If that isn't even in your memory really, except you talk about it while sharing testimonies with people, if that's what you use it for,

but it's not something that's actively in your mind and in your heart that, oh man, this is where he grafted me from.

I was this olive, this wild olive branch, but he cut me off there and he took me and he planted me onto this cultivated olive tree.

He grafted me from the world. He separated me from all of those things and he has now planted me in a good soil, in the good land.

When I forget that, then I forget everything he has done for me and I begin to abandon my first love.

Here's why I say this, guys. One of the passages that has been strong in my mind over the last little while is Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Don't go there because I'll try to explain it. In Luke chapter 7, Jesus is in the house of a Pharisee.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

His name is Simon. And you find Jesus at this table and he's reclining at the table. Simon is at this table as well and so are many other people.

They're all assembled there. They're gathered there because Simon invited Jesus.

And you actually see, you know the story, you see the woman whose name the people there don't know really, but they all know her as the woman of the city.

She's got a background, a history that people despise. And she walks into this room and at this table, as I said, Jesus is there. Simon is there.

Others are there. And she isn't even seeing Jesus' face because initially she's behind Jesus. And when she is there, she starts weeping.

She starts crying. And the tears fall down onto Jesus' feet. And as she notices it, this wasn't a planned act.

This was her entering the room because she had heard him speak. She knows who he is. And she knows it's not the right place to go to.

She doesn't have the right clothes on her. She knows the looks of the guys in the room. She knows exactly what they are thinking.

But it doesn't matter because I really need to be with him. I really need to be with Jesus.

Because if he is what he says he is, then I've got to be with him. It doesn't matter what it is. I've heard him speak.

And so I'm here. I'm in this room. And I'm entering. But now that I'm with him, I can't but cry.

Because I know that my past is taken care of. I know that they are calling me a woman of the city. But I'm not a woman of the city.

I am his daughter. I know it so well. And how can I not cry? It's not a planned act.

I'm crying and I'm crying and I'm crying. And as I'm crying, my tears are falling on his feet.

Yes, I did bring a flask of alabaster oil. Yes, I did bring that to anoint him. But I didn't cry for the sake of it.

Nothing can now separate me from Christ. Nothing can separate me from him. I love him deeply. I so love him. This is my Lord.

This is my Savior. He has changed everything for me. I was an olive tree, a wild one. But he has grafted me into this cultivated olive tree.

I am in a new land. Everything in the past is taken care of. I have a new beginning. That is where I'm at.

How can I not cry? And so she cries. And she finds out that she is, you know, Jesus' feet is wet.

So the best she can do is sit there and wipe off the tear, cleanse his feet.

And then she breaks the alabaster flask and she anoints him. And a lot of us just stop there because that in itself is a true testament of what worship should be like.

But here is the part that sometimes we miss when we read Luke chapter 7. Jesus turns to Simon.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

And Jesus says, Simon, I walked into this house. You did not wash my, you did not give me water to wash my feet.

Simon, you did not kiss me a welcome kiss when I walked in. But she, and at this point, Jesus turns to her.

Jesus' face is now on her. He turns to her and he says, he speaks to Simon, but she has not stopped kissing my feet.

When she stepped in, she cried. And since then, she's been kissing my feet. You haven't even kissed me once, a welcome kiss.

But she has done that. Simon, you have not anointed my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet.

She has anointed my head. And that is a question you need to ask yourself.

When Jesus is in the room, do you recline with him because you've gotten to know him so much? Or are you at his feet?

Because in Luke chapter 12, five chapters later, or John 12, you actually see Lazarus with Jesus. Lazarus is reclining.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

Mary is there. Martha is there. And this Mary, she's again at Jesus' feet.

It hasn't changed. So important, guys, because we can get so used to Jesus. We can get so used to him.

This is why when we gather for worship, it has to be different. It has to be new.

No one should ever have to ask you to sing. No one should ever have to ask you to worship.

No one should ever have to ask you for your attention. You are there because you really love him.

Everything inside you loves him. And at the end, Jesus says this to Simon. Simon, he who is forgiven much, loves much.

He who is forgiven little, loves little. The picture is my first love, when I abandon it, it's very likely that if I am abandoning my first love,

it's because I do not understand the gravity of forgiveness, the amount of forgiveness, the measure of forgiveness that was allotted to me.

Those who are forgiven little, loves little. Therefore, I tell you, Jesus said, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much.

So no amount of service and no measure of familiarity of who Jesus is can replace true worship and intimacy.

No amount of service and no measure of intimacy can replace true worship and intimacy.

Think about it guys, because I really want you to think. I really want you to share your heart with him.

Because if it really is a time out and he is pulling you aside, I really pray that you will share your true state of heart with him.

Because it will benefit you.

I care less about the teaching and the sermon, I'm telling you. I really don't care.

What really matters is your heart and my heart right now, in terms of understanding where it's at,

and speaking and already engaging with him and saying, hey, I see it. I see why you set time out. I get it. I get it.

I want to be different. I want change. I want a new start again.

You abandon first love in exchange of other loves. You abandon first love in exchange of other loves.

It's amazing how we can get or become lovers of ourselves very quickly sometimes.

Because all of a sudden, everything is about yourself, the things happening to you, the things that did not happen to you,

the success of the problems and the challenges, everything revolves around you.

It is about how you need to be happy, how you need to be served this way, how you like it done that way,

and so you expect everyone else to do it for you that way. And if you don't get it that way, you're unhappy.

Lovers of self, everything revolves around you. You are the protagonist in the story. Everything is about you.

You lose first love very quickly when you go down that path.

Two, you can be lovers of money. It's amazing, again, how you can start a different way.

And when I say money, I don't think dollars. It can also be security. It can be the things that you really love and you don't want to give up on.

Don't think of Ananias and Sapphira as people who just didn't get it.

Can you imagine? They may have truly been converted. I don't know. You can't say no either.

They may have at some point really believed everything they heard.

And they may have at one point be very willing to lay down everything. But somehow money got in the mix.

Don't think of people always as evil. People have right intentions sometimes, but you don't finish well.

We are amazing at reading everything about the Pharisees a certain way, only to realize that, man, Pharisees were pretty good guys back in the day.

So lovers of money. Religion is another thing that can cut you off from your first love.

We've been talking about that for the last little while, so I won't go into it.

The thing is that the trees that are hollow inside could still sometimes bear fruits, but when the storm hits, they will topple.

You've got to find out if you're hollow inside or not.

And I'm talking about right now. This isn't about how you generally are. This isn't about what happened last month. This is today.

Are you deeply in love with the bridegroom or do you only approach him when you need things?

Need things as in for yourself or for others?

Again, think of the church in Ephesus. They approached him for others' sake, I'm sure.

But are you deeply in love with the bridegroom or do you approach him when you need things?

Here's the other thing on the side, guys. You cannot love Jesus with all your heart and be neutral to those made in his image.

You cannot love Jesus with all your heart and be neutral to those made in his image.

I know very well that we love people, but are there people you're neutral about?

They aren't in your good books.

They aren't seen the way God wants you to see them, made in his image.

Happened to me three, four days ago when I was at this place and I saw someone and I can see the wickedness there is in what's going on.

And immediately everything inside me is like, ugh, you don't know it?

The next second I was reminded, what's going on?

Two religions on display.

That's what religion does to you.

You cannot be neutral about people.

You have to love them with the love that the father has for them.

Know that, yeah, the thing that they're doing may be wicked, but behind that is a man or a woman made in the image of God

and my heart to them is a certain way because I love Jesus so much.

I'm not neutral to them, neither do I despise them.

Again, another thing on the side.

You know, one thing that can cut you off from first love, it's comparison.

And doing things for recognition.

Comparison with someone else can very easily cut you off from first love.

When you find yourself in places where you're speaking things or doing things because you just need to do it because if you don't do it, it just doesn't look right.

My goodness, I pray that you refrain from speaking.

I pray that you don't speak in those times.

I pray that you decide to yourself that, hey, I want to be a man or a woman who doesn't speak words for the sake of speaking.

You don't have to compete in the kingdom.

You do not have to compete in the kingdom.

This is just one thing on the side, but it's important for some of us.

Sometimes there's a need to be known and a need for control, a need for approval, a need for recognition.

Throw it away as quickly as you can.

Get yourself to a place where like Mary did, find yourself at his feet.

Remember where you came from.

And these things, guys, when they are left unattended, can soon make you hollow inside.

So please don't be ignorant about it.

Be wise about this.

Go at it.

Kill that needs to be killed.

So if what I said speaks to you, and I know it does because this is the reason I had to speak, it's a time out for us before we continue on.

Here is how we can get back to first love.

So in the same letter, I'm going to read it to you.

I'm going to read it to you.

I'm going to read it to you.

I'm going to read it to you.

Get back to first love.

So in the same letter that Jesus sends to the churches through John.

Actually, let me say this.

There is one thing that I found out as I was preparing this.

Again, it's not in the Bible, so you can take it with huge amounts of salt.

The thing is, John, who was part of this church in Ephesus, they say that at one point he couldn't walk.

This is history.

If you believe history, you can try to believe this too.

So he was the bishop of this church, and as he became older, there were times when he couldn't walk.

So people sometimes used to carry John to the church in Ephesus.

And it got to a point where he was so old, this is before he got to Patmos, of course.

He was so old that he couldn't speak.

So he wouldn't speak much. He would come and sit.

Because all of the other apostles, they were martyred, they were killed.

This guy, John, would come and sit, and they would ask him so many questions because he's got all of the experience.

He has seen everything. They'd ask him questions.

And his answer, regardless of what question was always asked of him, would be,

Little children love one another.

Little children love one another.

I thought it was such a cool thing when I read it, that this man who saw everything, this man who walked with Jesus,

this man who really understood his heart, because the Gospel of John is so different from everything else.

Because the other Gospels were written about, I think, the first couple of years, there was emphasis on it.

Or the last couple of years, there was more emphasis on it.

And then John's Gospel is different. He understood, he knew Jesus in a different way.

And for him to say, Little children love one another, to every question that was asked of him, if he did that,

maybe there is something for you to think about there.

So what does Jesus say?

This is what Jesus, so there is, he commends them for the things that they did well.

Then he corrects them. And third, he gives them counsel on how to get back in first love.

Here is what he said, Remember, Jesus said, Therefore from where you have fallen,

Repent and do the works you did at first. Wake up.

Oh, sorry. That's all there is.

Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first.

So number one, what do you do?

Again, guys, what Jesus said is pretty simple.

Church, this is what's happening. I need to correct you. This is how you fix it.

So we just need to do the same. We don't need to add anything else to it.

We don't need new things to be added to fall back in first love.

Step one, remember, therefore, where you have fallen from.

Remember, remember when, if you know country songs, you'll like it.

Alan Jackson, you can look it up later.

Sing it. I only do that at rare occasions.

So remember when, remember.

Meaning when it all started for you,

the first times in your life when you found out that he really loves you and you loved him back.

How did you do it?

Here's the thing, guys. This is very unique for each of us.

What is for me is not your. The way you are is not the way I am.

This is the beauty about it.

Remember, remember the heights you fell from, in other words.

Number two, repent.

One of the things I want you to do is if this is happening to you,

I want you to hit the reset button.

I want you to stop entertaining other loves.

I was thinking about it.

I was thinking that, man, I want to wake up to him.

I want to more and more wake up to him.

It happens sometimes. It doesn't happen all the time.

Every day for me.

I don't every day wake up to him.

But I want to wake up to him every day.

I want to wake up and plan my day in a way that I'm waking up to him.

I'm waking up to his presence.

I'm waking up to his reality.

I'm waking up to his words over me.

I'm waking up to his promises over me.

I'm waking up to who he is to me.

I'm waking up to what he has done for me.

I'm waking up to his promises for me.

Wake up to him.

So as you repent, as you hit that reset button, start your days differently.

Stop entertaining other loves.

And see if you're doing things today out of yesterday's obedience.

Please listen to that.

See if you're doing things today out of yesterday's obedience.

You obeyed him. You understood it.

And then you started doing things.

But then now you don't repeat because you're living out of yesterday's obedience.

Man, can we be different?

Man, can we live out of first love?

Can we be living out of our obedience today?

Can we be living out of our devotion to him today?

Repentance, the word repentance that Jesus uses here,

almost always when we talk about this and when we talk about,

hey, we need to be, hey, can someone help with the sound there?

Thanks.

Whenever we think of the word repentance and we say, hey, we need to fall back or go back to true love,

people say it's a radical way of living.

Look at these guys. They are so devoted to Christ.

They don't care about anything else that's happening.

They're so devoted. They're so intimate with him.

It's such a radical way of living.

The word radical actually means going back to the root.

Our culture amongst Christians in Christianity has made the very simple things complex sometimes

so that we have to leave everything else to go back to the simple.

Go back to the root.

It is a living out of the place you're at with him, sincerely living out of today's obedience.

Matthew chapter 6, verse 6.

Matthew 6:6

I just want to touch on this verse because it may do something to you if you practice this.

Not it may. It will do this.

Do something to you if you practice this.

Jesus said, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who's in secret.

Can we become a people who don't miss this?

Where this is such a part of our lives.

Nothing groundbreaking guys.

But this is what he said that we should do.

Go into your room, shut the door.

Because as soon as you shut the door, there is another door that opens.

How much do you love it?

And if you don't love it as much right now, it is completely okay.

Because as you spend time with him, as you just lean on him, it'll change.

He gives us new desires.

One of the things I wrote down as I was thinking about this is,

and I hope you get it and you live it because this is so important for everything we talk about.

Priests without prayer and kings who do not exercise authority.

They rob people of their destinies.

Priests without prayer and kings who do not exercise authority.

They rob people of their destinies.

So you can read all you want about being a priest for God.

You can hear all you want about being a priest for God.

You can read and understand authority.

But if you're not a priest who prays, and if you're not a king who exercises authority,

then you are robbing people of their destinies.

So you'll have to watch out for that in your life.

And the last thing in terms of getting back in first love,

is do the works you did at first.

Do the works you did at first.

I really love it.

Do the works you did at first.

Sheldon, do you want to get back in first love?

Do the works you did at first.

So what did I do at first?

I'll tell you what I used to do at first.

Again, this is different for different people.

But you've got to know what are the things that you did at first.

Because Jesus is saying if you want to fall back in first love,

you've got to do the things that you first did.

And it does not always mean the time when you became born again.

It may be the first time you really understood who God is in new ways.

It could be at any time in your life when you knew,

ah, there is another way to live, and this is the way to live.

So I had to ask these questions of myself.

How can I, if I am to fall back in first love, and Jesus said,

do the works you did, that's the best way to do it,

I've got to ask myself, what are the things that I used to do,

that I don't do anymore or do less of, so that I can fall back in first love?

There was a time when I was in Prince George.

I would drive to parks. I would never go to parks otherwise.

But I would drive, I was all by myself, but I used to love just being there talking to God.

No one else but me.

I would watch all of the people around me, kids playing, adults coming in,

and I would just keep talking to Him.

That's all I cared about.

There were times when I couldn't worship and sing out loud in the place where I was staying,

so I would drive to a movie theater, park my car, amongst others,

everyone else is in the movie theater, now I can sing.

And I can really shout.

I'm a Pentecostal boy, or used to be, so it's natural.

It's very easy for me.

But those were my beginnings.

I've got to be truthful, true to myself.

That's how I started.

There used to be time in school when someone prophesied over me and said,

you're like David.

I remember going back home and really wanting to learn everything about David,

because I am like David. God sees me like David.

And I still remember, I would go when I was in 11th grade or 12th grade,

I would take my bag and walk into the school really believing I am like David.

I used to memorize scriptures from the Psalms that David wrote.

Those Psalms have gotten...

I don't read those Psalms much anymore because I've got more interesting things to read and understand.

You see where the problem is.

What are the works that you did at first?

Return to those works.

Do it, guys. It works.

I'm telling you, it works.

We'll wrap up.

Couple other things as we wrap up.

We'll finish at 8.30.

See, the first time I fell in love with him and you fell in love with him,

you know one thing that happened that you may not have realized back then?

There was an Abba cry.

The Bible says this.

Galatians 4.6.

Abba, father, there was a cry that you perhaps did not hear in your spirit,

but that cry happened in your spirit when you recognized who he is.

Let me ask you this then, just taking that thought a little further,

because I found this as I was going through these over the last couple of weeks,

this is super helpful.

That very cry that you at first may not even have understood that happened inside of you,

can you now freely live that out in your present using your mouth and your mind and your being?

The Abba cry.

Can you cry, Abba?

A couple weeks ago I found myself, I was not preparing for this or anything.

I was just, you know, I'm going through a time where I need to get some things right in my head and my life.

So I'm thinking and I'm talking.

I just went into this thing of just crying Abba before I thought about any of this.

Just crying Abba, Abba, Abba and just being with him.

And in a couple of minutes guys, something happened to me.

It was so refreshing, so new.

So if the Abba cry is how we started our lives,

why can't we express that Abba cry in words today?

Sing it out loud today.

Just you.

It's amazing.

Last thing.

Please do not become a professional.

Please do not become a professional.

You know what the word amateur means?

I almost, you know, I titled this first love, but I really wanted to title the sermon, the amateur.

But then it would be a little too cool, so I went away from it.

Be an amateur.

The word amateur means someone who does it for the love of it.

Going back to the basketball court, you're playing it because you love it.

You're playing the game because you love playing the game.

You're not playing the game because you signed a contract.

And because you've got to feed your family.

You love it. And so you play.

Be an amateur.

Do not become a professional.

In the kingdom, Jesus is not looking for professional pastors, professional worship leaders,

professional ministry people, professional sons and professional daughters.

Let me tell you, he's looking for sincere, authentic, simple sons and daughters.

He doesn't want professionals.

Be an amateur.

So this is what God has for us.

He has pulled us aside.

He has told us what's missing.

He has given us the keys to do it.

Now he's sending us back onto the court.

It's easy, guys.

Everything he said that Jesus said.

Remember where you fell from.

Repent.

Do the things you did at first.

Very simple.

Not complicated at all.

That's how you fall back in first love.

Can you do it this week?

You need to think about what your first works were.

Please spend time.

It'll be so rich even in your house churches to share this.

Others will benefit.

It's almost like he's shaking the tree, guys.

He's shaking the tree because on one hand, there are birds in the tree that should not be here,

and he wants these birds to leave.

There are pests that have to fall off.

But he's also shaking the tree because he wants you, the tree,

to understand how deep your roots have gone or not.

He wants you to know if your roots have gone in the direction of the water.

That's why he's shaking.

It's a good one for you to know where you're at.

So you can do simply the things he asks of you.

So you fall back in first love.

So Father, we thank you.

We thank you that you care about us so well.

We are deeply loved people, sons and daughters.

We don't want to be professionals.

Professionals do things a certain way.

We refuse to be professionals.

We want to be amateurs.

Father, I recognize that you're shaking the tree in a good way

to have things fall off that shouldn't be in the tree.

For me and us to have an understanding of, hey, you are planted by the river, you know?

So if you are planted by the river, make sure your roots are traveling in that direction.

You need to know how deep your roots are.

Don't labor, don't toil, don't do things out of anything else or out of own repeat lifestyle.

Do it out of first love.

So Aba, we come.

We thank you for the truth you've shared with us.

We want to live it every day, Aba.

It's easy for us to live it.

The keys are simple.

Thank you for caring about us.

Thank you for pulling us aside.

We love you, Jesus.

We love you.

So as we go, we go celebrating because we are always found.

And you have new plans for us.

New dreams will come, will happen this week, Aba.

New dreams.

New freshness.

Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I don't think there are any other announcements, so that's it, guys.

See you later.