Bible Questions Answered:
“....what is the first love, and how
was it lost?”
Carrie/ Oslo, Norway
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Revelation 2:1-7 KJV
1 Unto the angel of the church of
Ephesus write; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in
His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks (lamp
stands);
2 I know thy works, and thy labor,
and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not,
and hast found them liars:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience,
and for My name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.
4 Nevertheless I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence
thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will
come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent.
6 But this thou hast, that thou
hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear
what The Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that over cometh will
I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God.
The church at
Ephesus, was founded by the Apostle Paul, a place very near and dear
to his heart. Though he faced opposition, for three years he labored
there.
In this
congregation were Aquila and Priscilla and Timothy.
The Apostle John
received this revelation from the Lord on the Isle of Patmos, later
he would reside in Ephesus.
The Ephesian
believers had been zealous. They became a great description of what a
Christian Church should be.
2 I know thy works, and thy labor,
and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not,
and hast found them liars:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience,
and for My name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.
6 But this thou hast, that thou
hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
The Devil and his
emissaries, have, as their sought after place of occupation, the
church of Jesus Christ.
The Nicolaitanes, a
group infiltrating the church, were those who turned Christian
freedom and liberty into a spiritual license to be in the flesh. They
demanded sensuality, heathen customs, and immorality, as part of
worship.
In the Ephesian
church, somewhere between all their patience and labor, the worst
thing had happened.
They had grown
spiritually superior, and mechanical, while their zealous love of the
Master, had grown cold.
5 Remember therefore from whence
thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will
come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent.
(Remember therefore from whence thou
art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; )
Christians, just being
spiritually correct is “not,” enough!
Ecclesiastes
7:20 KJV
For there is not a just man upon
earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Isaiah 53:6 KJV
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way; and The Lord hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 64:6 KJV
But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away.
Ephesians 2:8,9
KJV
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is The Gift Of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
Titus 3:5,6 KJV
5 Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of The Holy Ghost;
6 Which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior;
I John 1:8 KJV
If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and The Truth is not in us.
Romans 3:9,10,23
KJV
9 What then? are we better than
they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and
Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one:
23 For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God;
I Corinthians
10:12 KJV
Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall.
Galatians 3:22 KJV
But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be
given to them that believe.
Philippians
3:12-14 NLT
12 I don’t mean to say that I have
already achieved these things or that I have already reached
perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection
for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I
have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the
past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on to reach
the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God,
through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Hebrews 12:1-4
NLT
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip
off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so
easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God
has set before us.
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on
Jesus, The Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of
the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame.
Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
3 Think of all the hostility He
endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give
up.
4 After all, you have not yet given
your lives in your struggle against sin.
The Christian
faith, is opposing sin, is full of patience, is of labors and
correction, but one thing more than all! The Christian faith is
“DYNAMIC,” and not “static.” And that is how we must be in our adoration of The Living,
Loving Savior.
Christians, should never rest on their laurels, (i.e. past
accomplishments), while growing cold in love to The One who made our
salvation possible!
Christians we must
carefully maintain that “first love,” relationship with our
precious Lord!
Deuteronomy 4:29
KJV
But if from thence thou shalt seek
The Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy
heart and with all thy soul.
II Chronicles
15:15 KJV
And all Judah rejoiced...with all
their heart, and sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found
of them: and The Lord gave them rest round about.
Psalm 18:1 KJV
I will love thee, O Lord, my
Strength.
Psalm 34:18 KJV
The Lord is nigh unto them that are
of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 42:1,2 NLT
1 As the deer longs for streams of
water, so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, The Living
God..."
Psalm 73:25 KJV
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and
there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Psalm 84:2 KJV
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth
for the courts of The Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for The
Living God.
Psalm 116:1,2
KJV
1 I love The Lord, because He hath
heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because He hath inclined His ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.
Psalm 119:2 KJV
Blessed are they that keep His
testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart.
Song Of Solomon
8:6-8 MSG (The Message)
6-7 Hang my
locket around your neck, wear my ring on your finger. Love is
invincible facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of
hell. The fire of love stops at nothing— it sweeps everything
before it. Flood waters can’t drown love, torrents of rain can’t
put it out. Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold— it’s
not to be found in the marketplace.
Matthew 5:6 KJV
Blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Hebrews 6:10-12
NLT
10 For God is not unjust. He will
not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown
your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do.
11 Our great desire is that you will
keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain
that what you hope for will come true.
12 Then you will not become
spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the
example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of
their faith and endurance.
