FIRST LOVE—IS IT FERVENT OR FADING?

In the book “Flickering Lamps” by Henry and Richard Blackaby, we read this vital truth about the church at Ephesus—and the Spirit’s application for us today:

As you would expect with such a solid spiritual foundation, the Christians at Ephesus did many things well. They tested those who called themselves apostles and exposed the charlatans (Rev. 2:2). They also despised the heretical teachings of the Nicolaitans. Having been instructed by teachers such as Paul, Timothy, and John, their doctrine remained orthodox. They also refused to tolerate evil (Rev. 2:2). The church continued to labor, persevere, and endure trials such as the esteemed apostle John’s arrest. For the most part, the church’s behavior was admirable. 

The church at Ephesus must have been gratified to hear Christ commend them for so many behaviors but devastated when He declared, “But I have this against you” (Rev. 2:5). How sublime it is when Christ has no caveats in His evaluation of a church or individual! However, it is foolhardy to assume we can tolerate one sin as long as the majority of our activities are praiseworthy. It only takes one sin to make us deserving of judgment. 

What made the transgression of the Ephesian church so reprehensible was the nature of their sin: “… you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Rev. 2:4). Christ had called the Ephesian church into a personal, loving relationship with Himself. Nothing is more important than that. The Ephesian church had a solid list of exceptional behavior. They only had one shortcoming. One sin negated everything that was praiseworthy, for they had neglected what was most important. In their zeal to be doctrinally, morally, and methodologically orthodox, their hearts had shifted from their Savior. They were still working for Christ, but they were no longer devoted to Him as they once had been. They had overlooked the most important mandate of all: to love the Lord God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). 

Christ’s response to the church’s waning love was decisive: “Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Rev. 2:5). Christ’s declaration might appear harsh. After all, the church’s conduct was generally admirable. But Christ will not tolerate a church that forgets its purpose. A church that forfeits its highest calling is in danger not only of losing its way, but more importantly, of suffering God’s judgment. The church at Ephesus had no time to lose. It needed to return wholeheartedly to its Lord. Despite its fidelity to proper doctrine, the Ephesian church was unacceptable to God. Clearly, even the most influential churches in the world can lose their way. (pp.  19-21, Kindle Version)

Doctrinally sound and missionally active churches may yet be headed for spiritual decline—if they have “left their first love.”  We need to be orthodox theologically, but as Vance Havner said, “You can be straight as a gun barrel theologically and empty as one spiritually.”  Missions and ministries will only be fruitful, if we are abiding in the Vine—in a vital love relationship with Christ—or else we may luxurious leaves, but no luscious fruit. Soon the leaves will wither and the branch is dead and removed.

Lord, rekindle the fire of fervent love for You in our churches today!

SELECTED TO SERVE

Jesus chose twelve men to follow Him. He set the model for them in His service to His Father, and mandated that they walk in His steps. We are selected to serve. It matters not what we do, we have this call as Christians. In this case, Paul was speaking to those who were bondslaves. If they saw that ultimately they were not serving men, but God, there would be a dignity bestowed upon their labor which would be transformative.

We are to serve the Lord COMPREHENSIVELY, “whatever you do.”  If you are a plumber or a pastor, a soldier or a sailor, a builder or a baker—there is no such thing as secular work. It is all spiritual service to Christ, if we are saved. We have been selected to serve.  This is comprehensive in its scope. 

We are to serve the Lord HEARTILY, “do it heartily.”  It would be a difference-maker for the preacher on Sunday morning if he would face his opportunity enthusiastically. That might impact the congregation as well!  It can be a contagious thing. It is an attitude adjustment for the employee on Monday morning that would direct him to say, “Good morning, Lord!” instead of, “Good Lord, it’s morning!” It will affect the mother who is rising in the night at a baby’s cry, if she hears this as a summons to serve Christ. Hear the Psalmist’s exhortation, “Serve the Lord with gladness,” (Ps. 100:2a). 

We are to serve the Lord EXPECTANTLY,  “as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”  We do not work for a paycheck on earth, but a payday in eternity!  We may think ourselves underpaid for the labor we perform. We may work hard all our life and in our old age have little to show for it—we think. But, if we have been faithfully and joyfully serving Christ through that vocation, then He is watching, accounting, and will in Heaven be rewarding us for that work!

I write this on Saturday, and Sunday is coming, so let me say a special word to those who work in church. There will be some pastors who read this who will stand in a pulpit with more empty pews than expectant people tomorrow morning. They may pour their heart out and be met with a yawn from the handful of sleepy saints who are there. Someone will have prepared to direct the music and the singing will not have the energy or harmony befitting praise to God. A Sunday School teacher will have readied a lesson and maybe one or none show up to hear. Elsewhere, a small number give sacrificially to keep the lights on and the doors open. You may be the bi-vocational pastor who perspires under a hot sun Monday through Friday to inspire the people with a sermon on the Lord’s Day or you are privileged to be in a larger work, perhaps with multiple services—yet both of you collapse exhausted on Sunday evening. No matter what we do in the house of God, the Devil will have some critics there to make us feel that we are failures.

Do not forget there is One who attends our gathering who is soaking it all in, and writing it all down. Jesus is sitting in that congregation, choir loft, or classroom!  One day you can hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matt. 25:21). 

The old Gospel song is a wonderful reminder:

Sometimes the day seems long,
Our trials hard to bear.
We’re tempted to complain,
to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear
to catch his bride away!
All tears forever over
in God's eternal day!

It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus!
Life's trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.
One glimpse of his dear face,
all sorrow will erase.
So, bravely run the race
till we see Christ. (Esther Kerr Rusthoi)

In a few minutes I plan to mow my lawn and later review my sermon to the glory of God!

A PETITION FOR PERCEPTION

Over and again, we find Paul recording his passion for the people of God in his petitions offered for them. In Colossians 2:2-3, we hear his prayer for the churches of Colossae and Laodecia. His plea is for their perception of God—His ways, His will, and His work. 

His prayer is for them to have encouragement in the great realities of God. To know Him and experience the Infinite One is to drink from a fountain that flows forever. What could be more fulfilling?

He pleads for them to be enmeshed in the glorious love of God—hearts knit together with love for Christ and His church. Being in union with the Lord enables us to be bound to one another.

His petition is for them to be educated in the grand mystery of God. 

Here is the source of this mystery. This truth once hidden during the Old Testament is now unveiled in the New Testament—fully revealed in the person of Christ. To see Him is to see God. To hear Him is to hear God. To know Him is to know God. 

This leads to the scope of this mystery. The Apostle speaks of “full assurance,” and “all the treasures.”  These come to us in theological instruction—that is “understanding” and “knowledge.”  These truths inform our thoughts and inspire our zeal. This leads to practical application—“wisdom.”  This is truth that informs and inspires us to go beyond what we know to how we live. It impacts our head, heart, and hands.

As a preacher, I need to be praying this for my congregation. As a member of the church, you ought to be seeking to perceive this reality in the revelation of God in Christ. May this Lord’s Day find the pulpits proclaiming the great treasures of truth and the pews filled with eager listeners soaking it in, intent to live it out!

WHOSE CHURCH IS IT?

I was told a story years ago of a fellow in the Burnsville town square who asked an old farmer, “Where is the Church of God?”  He nodded toward the First Baptist Church and said, “That is Preacher Jones’ church.”  He then pointed to the Presbyterian church, and said, “That’s Preacher Smith’s church.”  He mentioned the Methodist church and said, “That is Preacher James’ church.”  Scratching his head, he replied, “If God’s got a church around here, I don’t know where it is!”

It is incorrect for a pastor or member to speak of the church as “my church,” though we understand what they likely mean. However, if they believe it is their church, it is more than incorrect—it is iniquity!

Paul writes of Christ, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (Col.‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬‬). 

Preacher, or Deacon, or Ladies’ Mission Leader, nobody died and left you in charge!  Jesus did die—but also arose—and He is in charge!

Consider, THE PROMINENCE OF OUR FAME. It is a natural tendency—this business of self-promotion. That is rooted in the depravity of our sin nature!  When we want to be the celebrity and think we are capable of dominating the church, it is possible we will make headlines. Yet, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, it will all prove hay, wood, and stubble to be burned into oblivion. That is—if we are saved. Such pride may indicate we are unregenerate and then we will face a worse fire!

Let us seek instead THE PREEMINENCE OF GOD’S NAME. “In all things…[that] He may have the preeminence.”  It is not about our fame, but His name. The glory of God is to be the driving force of the ministry and the devoted focus of the church. May we die to self in order to lift up Christ. Let our humiliation spotlight Christ’s exaltation. Just resign today from being the head of the church you serve.  Jesus alone is worthy of being the Head and He can run things a lot better than we can!

DARE AND DO MUCH

God has not changed.  His power is still limitless, but we have not dared to trust Him and sought to do great things by that great power  Spurgeon underscored this when he said:

But it is also said that there is a want of power largely manifested by individual saints. Where are now the men who  can go up to the top of Carmel and cover the heavens with  clouds? Where are the apostolic men who convert nations?  Where are the heroes and martyr spirits of the better days?  Have we not fallen upon an age of little men, who little dare and little do? It may be so; but this is no fault of the great  Spirit. Our degeneracy is not His doing, We have destroyed ourselves, and only in Him is our help found. Instead of crying  to-day, “Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord,” we ought to listen  to the cry from heaven which saith, “Awake, awake, O Zion;  shake thyself from the dust, and put on thy beautiful  garments.” Many of us might have done great exploits if we had but given our hearts thereto. The weakest of us might have  rivaled David, and the strongest among us might have been as angels of God. We are straitened in ourselves; we have not reached out to the possibilities of strength which lie within grasp. Let us not wickedly insinuate a charge against the good  Spirit of our God; but let us in truthful humility blame  ourselves. If we have not lived in the light, can we marvel that  we are in great part dark? If we have not fed upon the bread of  heaven, can we wonder that we are faint? Let us return unto  the Lord. Let us seek again to be baptized into the Holy Ghost and into fire, and we shall yet again behold the wonderful  works of the Lord. He sets before us an open door, and if we  enter not, we are ourselves to blame. He giveth liberally and upbraideth not, and if we be still impoverished, we have not  because we ask not, or because we ask amiss. (Spurgeon, Service and Honor, pp. 37-38, Kindle Edition).

THE ISSUE OF OUR IMPOTENCE

Often, we may feel that we preach without productivity. Despite attempting to be faithful, we do not find ourselves fruitful. The issue is not with God. Hear what Spurgeon said on this matter:

           “Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?” Cannot He prepare your heart and tongue? No, the Spirit of the Lord is not straitened. Still is that promise our delight “My grace is sufficient for thee.” It is a joy to become weak that we may say with the apostle, “When I am weak then am I strong.” Behold, the, strength of the Lord is gloriously revealed, revealed to perfection in our weakness. Come, ye feeble workers, ye fainting laborers, come and rejoice in the unstraitened Spirit. Come you that seem to plough the rock and till the sand, come and lay hold of this fact, that the Spirit of the Lord is omnipotent. No rock will remain unbroken when He wields the hammer, no metal will be unmelted when He is the fire. Still will our Lord put His Spirit within us and gird us with His power, according to His promise, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” 

           But some have said, “Yes, but then, see how few the conversions are nowadays! We have many places of worship badly attended; we have others where there are scarcely any conversions from the beginning of the year to the end of it.”  This is all granted, and granted with great regret; but “is the Spirit of the Lord straitened: are these His doings?” Cannot we find some other reason far more near the truth? If there are no conversions we cannot fall back upon the Spirit of God and blame Him. Has Christ been preached? Has faith been exercised? The preacher must take his share of blame; the church with which he is connected must also inquire whether there has been that measure of prayer for a blessing on the word that there ought to have been. Christians must begin to look into their own hearts to find the reason for defeat. If the work of God be hindered in our midst, may there not be some secret sin with us which hinders the operation of the Spirit of God? May He not be compelled by the very holiness of His character to refuse to work with an unholy or an unbelieving people? Have ye never read, “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief”? May not unbelief be turning a fruitful land into barrenness? The Spirit Himself is not straitened in His power; but our sin has made Him hide Himself from us. The want of conversions is not His doing: we have not gone forth in His strength. We shake off with detestation the least trace of a thought that should lay any blame to the Spirit of the Most High. Unto us be shame and confusion of face as at this day. (Spurgeon, Service and Honor, pp. 35-37, Kindle edition)

Preacher, let us humble ourselves before the Lord and cry out for His power to attend our ministry!  Church member, if your pastor’s preaching lacks potency, it does not help to talk to fellow Christian’s about him but talk to God about Him and seek the Lord’s anointing upon him. You may find a new preacher with a new power in the same body and with the same voice—now energized with Divine unction.

The issue of impotence is not God. The problem is with us—our prayerlessness, our self-sufficiency, our lack of holiness. The good news is that God now calls us to repentance and reliance on Him that will bring real results of eternal significance. We may have what Jim Cymbala titled his book, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire,” with Pentecostal power!

SAVED TO SERVE

 

Most evangelicals are familiar with Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  We ought to have those words embedded in our mind. 

Yet, we may not be as acquainted with the next verse, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them,” (v. 10). These go together—two sides of the same coin of salvation. While we are saved apart from our works—the root of salvation is solely in the work of Christ—our salvation is never apart from producing works—the fruit of salvation is seen in the work of Christ in Christians. The quote attributed to Martin Luther states it, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”  

We are saved to serve. That is true of every child of God. This Gospel message must be preached. It must also be observed in the preacher’s life as well as heard from his lips.  Otherwise the words ring hollow and we may be branded a hypocrite.  The call is, “Practice what you preach!”

Ours is a POETIC LIFE, “For we are His workmanship…”.  The Greek word for “workmanship,” is poiema.  Our English word, “poem,” is derived from that. We might say it is a life that is “poetry in motion.”  I heard my mentor, Dr. Stephen Olford, put it, “a life of rhyme and reason.”  

God is the Author. He has written the script in His providence. As I look back over the course of my nearly seventy years of life, I can see how God has worked in me and through me. What may seem isolated events at the time, are now seen to be lines of sacred verse that God has been putting together. Since we are still here on earth, we may be sure there are more stanzas to be written.

Ours is also a PRACTICAL LIFE, “created in Christ Jesus for good works…”.  Orthodoxy in our doctrine leads to orthopraxy in our duty. If our belief is Biblical, then our behavior will be practical. God sovereignly created Adam and Eve for a sacred responsibility—to steward the creation and to shun the temptation.  Yet, they failed. Sin is now part of our natural state. 

Jesus came to give us a new nature—to fashion a new creation in Christ. This is regeneration. Yet, we are to flesh out our faith in daily duty. In Christ, His crucifixion means we die to self, sin, and this sphere of the world system (cf. Gal. 6:14), as we have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, we live, so in Christ’s resurrection we live for Him—yet, not I but Christ living in and through me, (cf. Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6). 

Further, ours is a PREPARED LIFE, “which God prepared beforehand…”. Before you were born, God already knew you. He fashioned you in your mother’s womb, infusing you with personality and capacity to be His choice servant. Then, He directed your life to the point of conviction of sin and conversion to salvation by the Gospel of grace. 

How all this transpired has been the topic of theological debate for two millennia of church history—so I will not attempt to resolve every question in this brief devotion. Yet, we cannot deny that God is sovereign and He orchestrates all things to the fulfillment of His will. This all redounds to His glory. 

Perhaps you are familiar with the quote, “Try to explain predestination and you may lose your mind.  Try to explain it away and you may lose your soul.” I am content to accept there is mystery in the harmony of God’s sovereignty in His choices and my responsibility for my choices. To paraphrase the Shorter Westminster Catechism, “The chief end of [Dennis] is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  You can insert your name into that, as well.

In conclusion, ours is a PROGRESSIVE LIFE, “that we should walk in them.”  Perfection is not attainable on earth. That awaits eternity—to be glorified when we see Jesus face to face, “but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,” (1 Jn. 3:2b). While perfection is not attainable, progression is achievable. John also said, “Beloved, now we are the children of God…. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure,” (1 Jn. 3:2a, 3). More and more, as I express the life of Christ within, I exhibit more of His likeness without. 

Jesus is the Model Servant. He set the example for us. We are being like Him than when we are serving others.  We are saved to serve!