Untitled Sermon

Pages 156–157

Theme: FIRST LOVE LOST

Text:

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Rev. 2:4.

Introduction.

Christ’s method of dealing with His Church.

I. What is First Love?

1. The love of espousal or engagement (Jer. 2:2).

2. The love of the new convert.

II. The Necessity of Keeping First Love.

1. Without it orthodoxy and service are nothing.

2. No Church has a right to exist without it (Rev. 2:5).

3. Without love all is lost (1 Cor. 13).

III. Signs of Lost Love.

Not necessarily by:

1. Lack of activity (Rev. 2:2).

2. Lack of orthodoxy (Rev. 2:2).

3. Lack of patient suffering for Christ (Rev. 2:3).

But manifest by the absence of:

4. Personal love in service.

5. Joy in our activity for Christ.

6. Unselfishness and forgetfulness of self.

IV. How First Love is Lost.

The secret of failure is found in the words: “From whence thou art fallen out,” implying that the Ephesian Church had gotten out of an atmosphere in which it once lived. This may have happened

1. By neglecting to maintain fellowship and communion with God, by the reading of the Word of God and prayer.

2. By spiritual pride. Forgetting unworthiness still as at the time of conversion.

V. How to Regain Lost Love.

1. Remember—your past experience, the atmosphere in which you once lived, etc.

2. Repent—turn back, confess, promise reformation.

3. Return—do the first works over again.

Conclusion.1

1 Evans, W. (1913). How to Prepare Sermons and Gospel Addresses (pp. 156–157). Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association.