Remember Your First Love Revelation 2:1-7
Do you remember your first love?
Valentine's Day - Time to remember those that we love and those who love us.
This is a good thing to do.
1) Makes us more appreciative of the things that people do for us.
2) Makes us more aware of the responsibility to those we love.
3) Makes us be less likely to take each other for granted.
We are in the Spirit on the Lord's Day - Time to remember who we love and
Who loves us.
This is a good place to be.
1) Makes us more appreciative of what Jesus did for us.
2) Makes us more aware of our responsibility to express our love to Him.
3) Makes us more aware of our responsibility to express our love to others
on His behalf.
4) Makes us less likely to take His love for us for granted.
Our text this morning points out how we can best remember Jesus and not take
His love for granted.
I. Remember Who Is In Control - 2:1
A. Jesus controls His messengers - in His hand - Revelation 1:20
1. Be careful to preach as it were, the very utterances of God- 1
Peter 4:11
2. Be mindful to teach all that He commanded - Matthew 28:18-20
B. Jesus is within His church - Revelation 1:13,20
1. Be alert to meet the needs of those in distress. James 1:27a
2. Be careful to keep yourself unstained from the world. James 1:27b
C. " So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to
Whom belongs the glory and dominion forever, and forever." 1
Peter 4:11
II. Remember Your Role - 2:2,3,6
A. Good deeds ( works ) - 2a
1. " For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. "
Ephesians 2:10
2. Acts of kindness: random and deliberate
3. Hands of generosity.
4. "John proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him
with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went about doing good,
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God
was with Him. " Acts 10: 37,38
B. Toil - 2b, 3
1. Unflagging.
2. Hard at it for the Lord
C. Perseverence -2c
1. Stedfast endurers
a. Patient
b. Longsuffering
2. Stick to it no matter what comes or who irks you kind of
people.
D. False Christian Testers - 2d,e
1. Cannot endure workers of evil ( by their fruits you will know
them ) - 2d
2. Test Self-called Apostles - 2e
a. Bible named apostles
- of God - Only - Moses, Jesus - Hebrews 3:1,2
- of Jesus ( Test: How old are you? ) Acts 1:21,22
- of the church - ( like Barnabas ) 1 Corinthians 9:1-6
3. Hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans - 6
a. Literal etymology - " Destroyers of the people "
b. People destroying philosophy ?
- Christian liberty means anything goes.
- The body is evil/ the spirit is good
- Indulging the body doesn't hurt the soul
- If God's grace is made know by forgiveness, then let's sin
all the more
4. Testing the spirits - 1 John 4:1-21
a. Test of Loyalty - Who is Jesus? - 2,3
b. Test of The Spirit - Have they received the Holy Spirit? ( Acts
2:38,39 ) - 4
c. Test of Truth - Do they accept apostolic authority? - (Matthew
16:19) - 5,6
d. Test of Love - Do they love God and demonstrate it to fellows?
7-21
III. Remember Our First Love - 2:4
A. Our relationship with Jesus - Revelation 1:5
" Him who loved us and loosed us from our sins. "
1. Do you love Jesus and demonstrate it in your relationship with
others?
2. Or do you love a good fight over things with no eternal
consequence?
B. Our responsibility to others - Revelation 1:6
" He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. "
1. Bridges need to be built to God by the bridge builders
( priests )
2. Are you a bridge builder or a bridge burner?
IV. Remember Our Position - In Christ - 2:5
A. When you have fallen, you still have hope! 1 John 1:7-9
1. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
2. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us
3. From ALL unrighteousness.
B. Jesus Reiterates His Solution - 2:5
1. Remember where you started ( from whence you fell )
2. Repent ( Change your mind and return to begin again. )
3. Do the deeds you did at first.
a. Be busy centered around the right person - Jesus
b. Be busy centered around meeting the needs of others.
V. Remember His Promise - 2:7
A. Do you have ears to hear? Then lsiten up!
B. Overcomers will eat the tree of life -
C. Location: Banks of the River of Life in the Paradise of God
( Revelation 22:1,2)
Conclusion:
1. This Valentine's day by all means remember the ones you love - make it
special
2. This Valentine's Day remember your first love and first order of
business.
A..We can be a very busy organization without being an effective organism
( Living Body )
B. " Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God and everyone
who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. The one who does not
love does not know God, for God is love. " 1 John 4:7,8
4. This Valentine's day could mark a very special day for you if you never
have accepted God's gift of love for you.
5. This day could mark the day that you stepped into the love of God and
left the stain of the world.
6. God makes this offer: " For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not persih but have
everlasting life. " John 3:16
A. Jesus died to loose you from your sins and set you free.
B. Jesus arose from the grave to show you that it's true.
C. Jesus returned to heaven to make intercession for His people.
7. Will you take advantage of His offer of love?
A. Change your heart today and believe Him - He is the Christ, the Son
of God.
B. Repent of your sin - Change your attitude toward and He will change
your life.
C. Confess Him as Lord of your Life - Change your allegience from self
to Him.
D. Yield your life in obedience to Him - Demonstrate your willingness to
bury your old ways in the water grave and He will give you His
down-payment on eternity.
8. We love Him because He first loved us.
9. What is your first love?