WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: First Love Publishing Date: 2023-09-03T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/first-love/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 All right, so let's continue on. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Where was I? 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:15.000 Yeah, so what I'm going to speak about today, it's been on my heart for a few weeks, 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:21.000 and I'm going to trust that God is going to use this time to do certain things in our hearts, man. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:27.000 So please be expectant, because I know for a fact that it is important right now, 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:34.000 in this present time, for him to release this to us or to say this to us because of where we are at. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:42.000 It's almost this sense of we are on the basketball court, we are playing and we've been playing, 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:49.000 and the coach is saying, time out, because he needs to have us gather around him, 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.000 and he needs to say a few things before we go back onto the court. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:01.000 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. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:05.000 He wants us to take a time out. It's a time out. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:13.000 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. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:18.000 Yeah? 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:26.000 So in the Bible, the book of the epistle that's written to Ephesians, the church in Ephesus, 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:31.000 that particular church, it's different from the other churches that we read in the Bible, 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:36.000 in that one of the things that's very peculiar about them is this church, 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:43.000 which was an actual living church that existed in the city of Ephesus, 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:48.000 to that church, when the epistle was written, people living there were a certain way. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:57.000 One of the things that's very peculiar about them is that they were people who really worked for God in his kingdom. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:03.000 The Bible says they labored in the kingdom. So there is a difference between working and laboring. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Working is you know what you've got to do, and you do it. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:10.000 Laboring is what Paul did, right? 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:16.000 Laboring is there is nothing more important than what I am doing. They labored in the kingdom. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:24.000 The church in Ephesus had people in them who labored in the kingdom. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:31.000 A great church, can you think about it? They aren't just heroes of the word. They heard it and they did it. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:36.000 They really believed everything that they heard. They lived amongst a lot of opposition. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:44.000 You read that even as you read the book of the epistle in Ephesians chapter 6, you see Paul telling them things. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:52.000 In fact, Paul planted the church and then he handed over the church to Timothy, and Timothy was leading the church for years. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.000 And then, this isn't in the Bible, but it could very well be that John the apostle was actually part of this church. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 The church in Ephesus. So a church with rich heritage. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.000 A church who had people in there who really labored in the kingdom. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:17.000 And it doesn't stop there. The Bible actually says that these very people, they knew the word enough. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:21.000 They knew who God was enough to be able to discern right and wrong. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:27.000 They knew God's precepts, the understanding and wisdom that we heard about before. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:35.000 They had it to a point where when people amongst them called themselves apostles and started speaking things, 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:41.000 the Bible says that are evil, they were able to look at them in the eye and say, you're wrong. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:48.000 This is not the way of God. Can you imagine? That's a church who really understands who God is, understands his ways. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.000 That's the church we are talking about. And it doesn't stop there. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:04:00.000 The next step is the Bible says this church in Ephesus, they stood up for the name of Jesus. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:09.000 They were so zealous, so passionate that in that city, in that city that they lived in, they were zealous for Jesus. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:12.000 When it came to the things of the kingdom, they stood up. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:18.000 When it came to the things of the kingdom and its causes, they said, we will run, we will labor. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:22.000 This is all we care about. We aren't talking about a few leaders. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.000 We're talking about that church. The people were a certain way. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:38.000 And to this church, Jesus writes through John, Jesus sends a letter. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:43.000 And that's in Revelation chapter two. I want us to look at that letter in a little bit. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:51.000 But before we do that, the key thing here is you can have a lot of good things happen. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:59.000 You can be really laboring in the kingdom. You can be seeing results of your labor. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:07.000 But in Revelation chapter two, before we read those verses, you see Jesus first commending them for the things they're doing. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:12.000 And then Jesus immediately telling, hey, there is a thing that I need to correct amongst you. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:19.000 So you can, this is important, you can be so fruitful in what you're doing. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:31.000 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. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:38.000 So let's read those verses before we continue on. Revelation chapter two, two to five. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:46.000 But I only actually want you at this point to read until verse four. Revelation chapter two, two to four. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:59.000 If you get there. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:06.000 I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:12.000 but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.000 I know church, you're enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:21.000 And you have not grown weary. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:27.000 But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Wow. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:38.000 It's church. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:47.000 Anyone who drove a Corolla. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.000 All good. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Thanks Evan. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:57.000 So you can be a church who's doing so well, who's fruitful standing up. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.000 But then Jesus says you can do all of these things. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:06.000 Having abandoned the first love. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:12.000 And I want you to think about this, guys, because this is what the time out that I was talking about really means. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:19.000 One of the things that he is telling us today is, hey, can you look at your life? 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.000 Can you think about where you're at? 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.000 Do you see it? You're doing things. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:30.000 Things you're doing are going well in many cases. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:38.000 But I don't want you to continue on like this because somehow you have abandoned the first love. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.000 Somehow you're not operating from that place of first love. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:51.000 Somehow your head has somehow gotten bigger than your heart. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.000 Your head has somehow gotten bigger than your heart. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.000 What does that mean? 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.000 It means that you know so much now. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.000 Initially you wanted to know more. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.000 Initially you did not have the knowledge. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:09.000 And then you came to me and I poured that knowledge and that wisdom and all of these things inside you. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.000 And then your head began to grow. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:15.000 And your heart was in pace with your head. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.000 But at one point your head began to grow bigger and bigger. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:24.000 But your heart wasn't in pace with your head. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 In other words, you lost that first love that I had. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:37.000 And the thing is man, the beautiful thing is, Jesus loves us enough to not have us operate like that. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:43.000 Jesus loves us enough to say, hey, I'm going to pull you aside because I really need your heart. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.000 I ain't interested in your works. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.000 More than in your works, I am interested in you. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.000 I'm interested in getting your heart. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.000 I care about your heart. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.000 I paid for your heart. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.000 I shed my blood for you. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.000 You think I can't have people do this and that? 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.000 I can have them do it every day. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 But that's not what I am after. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 I'm after your heart. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.000 I'm after your heart. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:13.000 And again, as I speak this, you've got to understand and you've got to think, 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:21.000 am I in this place where somewhere, in some areas, my heart is not as big as my head? 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.000 My understanding has grown. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000 I can recite things just like that. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.000 I can even speak to five people tonight right now without even looking at my notes. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.000 I can do this and that and this and that, but my heart is not there. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:43.000 I know the exact right things to speak and the best part about this is everyone benefits even when I speak. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 And they don't know. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:51.000 But my heart is not at that place it used to be. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:55.000 My heart has lost. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.000 The love it had. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.000 Someone wise said this, guys. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:08.000 No amount of activity in the king's service will make up for the neglect of the king. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:19.000 No amount of activity in the king's service will make up for the neglect of the king. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:28.000 It means that you and I can be so purposeful, can be so in it in terms of the things of the kingdom, 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:33.000 but we can be ignorant or neglecting the king for whom we are doing the service. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:39.000 Our heart is so much about the service to the king that we have lost the real picture. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:44.000 We have lost the truth that we are to first live for him before we do anything else. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:49.000 That my heart and your heart first is for the king. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:58.000 So it is possible to neglect the king, but be at his service and do really well. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:11.000 And people will even say kudos, but deep down in your heart, you know, somehow, somewhere, it's not right. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:16.000 And Jesus says, hey, the way I am, I'll pull you aside. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:29.000 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. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:33.000 You do it for the right reasons. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.000 Because I care about you. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:44.000 He doesn't want us to be people who labor, but labor for the wrong reasons. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:51.000 He doesn't want us to stand up and fight for him when our heart is not with him. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:12:02.000 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. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:11.000 Faith without works is dead and works without love is futile. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:23.000 Faith without works is dead, but works without love, that's futile. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:27.000 The Bible actually says in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 13, you don't have to read it. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.000 First Corinthians 3 verse 13. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:42.000 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. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:56.000 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, 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:06.000 everything that I think and I do in the name of Jesus, every work will be tested by fire. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:15.000 And some of that work, if when I do it right, it will stand the test of fire. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:21.000 I want all of the work to withstand the test of fire. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:30.000 You need to be at a place where every single thing you're doing, you're doing it out of first love. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.000 If you ain't, then we have missed the mark. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:47.000 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. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.000 That's dangerous. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:14:00.000 We have to speak from this place of, ah, I know my master. I know him so well. My heart is so with him. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:10.000 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. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:15.000 My heart is with him. He is not a stranger that I talk to. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:25.000 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. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:31.000 And out of my cup running over today, I can give. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:37.000 It's not what happened yesterday. It's not what happened a few months ago. It's from today. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:44.000 So a few questions you need to think about. Number one, what is the engine behind your works and labor for him? 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:56.000 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? 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:07.000 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? 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:18.000 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? 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:23.000 Any of these answers are so wrong. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:31.000 What is the primary reason, the driver, the engine behind the labor, behind the work? 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:37.000 Number two, is your head bigger than your heart? 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:48.000 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. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:56.000 You've received it here, but it hasn't made its journey here. You know it here, but you don't understand it here. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:03.000 You've heard it here and you've even understood it with your brain, but you haven't experienced it here. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:13.000 There is a journey for whatever you hear to travel from here to here. They say it's 18 inch. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.000 That has to happen. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:22.000 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. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:27.000 No. That's where, man, if there is something wrong with my mic, just adjust it. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:34.000 That's when you decide, no, Aba, you love me so much to pull me aside and say, I care about you. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:40.000 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. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:49.000 I want you to do it right, Shereen. I want you to do it well for the right reasons. I care about you. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:56.000 I can get hundreds of other people to play, but I want you on that field, and I want your heart. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.000 I want you to do it for the right reasons. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:09.000 Question number three, are you on repeat or are you living a life that is propelled by love? 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:19.000 Are you on repeat or are you living a life that is propelled by love? 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:26.000 You know what on repeat means? On repeat means, you know Sundays, we've got to be here. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:30.000 And when you come, you even come prepared. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.000 You know, 1 Corinthians 14, 26, that when we gather, we are supposed to give. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:38.000 So you come prepared for that. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:42.000 You know that tomorrow when you're at work, you've got to start your day a certain way. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.000 And you're really fruitful at work, not just in terms of the work that you're doing, 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:53.000 but also in terms of witnessing, speaking to people, all of those things you do splendidly well. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:18:01.000 Tuesday nights you have house church. The following week on Thursday, you are at hub. You don't miss a week. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:07.000 You're really useful in the kingdom. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:17.000 You're on repeat if none of that or some of that is not fueled or propelled by the love for your master. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.000 Do not live your life on repeat. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:25.000 He doesn't want you to live your life on repeat. 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:30.000 You've got to ask yourself, am I doing things on repeat? 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:50.000 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. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.000 So this first love, I wrote down a few characteristics. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:57.000 So what does this first love look like? 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:01.000 So here are a few litmus tests. So if you're listening to me and you're like, well, I want to, 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:04.000 I don't really know if I have that first love or what is this first love? 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000 Here are a few things that you can use as a litmus test. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:13.000 It's a litmus test for you to determine or understand whether or not you're in first love. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:21.000 Number one, the way you view the world is it is him and I and everyone else. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:25.000 It's him and I and everyone else. 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:33.000 That's your view of the world. It is him and I and everyone else. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.000 Your spouse is secondary. Your family is secondary. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:41.000 Your church family is secondary. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.000 Before anything, it is him and I. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:49.000 Everything I look at, I look through the lens, him and I and everyone else. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Him and I and everything else. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:59.000 He's got my heart. I've got his heart. Him and I and everyone else. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:04.000 Is that how you're living? Is that the place you're operating from? 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:07.000 Is that the place your works are coming from? 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:18.000 Is that the place you're standing up for him from? Him and I and everyone else. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:22.000 You view the world through the lens of your relationship with him, 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:27.000 not the lens of your responsibilities, not the lens of your needs, 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:33.000 not the lens of your ministry, not the lens of everything that you have to do, 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:37.000 not the lens of all the stuff that happened in the past, the present and the future. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:43.000 That's not the lens. The lens to view the world is my relationship with him. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:47.000 Him and I. Out of that, everything else flows. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:54.000 The first thing, the primary thing, the engine, the driver, whatever you call it, it is him and I. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:00.000 Number two, you're acutely aware of his presence. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:05.000 You're so aware of his presence on a day-to-day basis. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.000 It's not a song that reminds you of his presence. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:15.000 You're so aware of his presence, his closeness, his nearness to you. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.000 I remember the first time I went to Iris' house. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.000 Amma was there, Papa and Iris' brother. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:27.000 I walk right in and I'm seeing Iris in person for the first time. 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.000 Iris' dad says, sit down, sit down. So I sit down. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:33.000 He's sitting there. Danny, Iris' brother, is sitting there. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.000 Then Iris is on the side. 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:40.000 For the first time in my life, I realized that you can have a wide angle view. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:47.000 This eye is talking to Iris' dad and this eye is on Iris. 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:55.000 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. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:01.000 It's the first time I'm seeing her and meeting her in person. 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:06.000 Everything in the room is not as important. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.000 My eyes are on her. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.000 I'm acutely aware. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:16.000 So in that room, when she went inside the house to bring something, then I'm thinking she's not here. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.000 As soon as she steps in, oh, she's back here. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:30.000 So aware, so aware that she is in the room or not in the room. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.000 When you get married, that's how it is. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:39.000 And people say that's how everyone starts and then you lose it. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:46.000 But may we have marriages where we don't lose it, where that newness is there. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:55.000 Number three, when you're operating in first love, there is a newness and freshness in the relationship. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:01.000 There is a sense of awe and wonder, and you do not take each other for granted. 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:07.000 If you're in first love, nothing he does for you, you take for granted. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:11.000 Nothing he is to you, you take for granted. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:17.000 You are in awe of him. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:21.000 He's so close to you. He's so near to you. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:27.000 He loves you. And the fact that these things are not old for you, these things are so new to you, 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:34.000 they revive your heart. They make you break down in a good way every time you think of it. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:45.000 You've not matured to a point you've lost it. 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:51.000 This pastor went to China and he gathered a bunch of people who were ministers in China. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:54.000 They work amongst the underground church in China. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:58.000 They meet at this apartment because this pastor from North America is visiting. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:06.000 Obviously no one else should know about it, so it's all done very carefully, meticulously. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:11.000 No one else knows this meeting is happening, and they all sit down. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:16.000 There is about 22 of them. It's a 700 square feet apartment, and this pastor starts talking. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:21.000 The meeting, when you meet in China, starts from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:28.000 So it's 12 hours. They are all sitting on the ground, on the floor, because they don't have anything else. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.000 And during the service, this pastor actually came with a bunch of Bibles, 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:34.000 and he gave these Bibles to the people who are assembled there. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:39.000 And one of the ladies, she was supposed to read a particular passage, 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:43.000 and this pastor finds out that as soon as he asked, hey, can you read it, 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:48.000 she basically recited the whole passage without looking at the Bible. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.000 And he was like, oh, that's kind of strange. Maybe she knew it. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:55.000 At the end of the service, and over the couple of days he spent with them, 00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:01.000 he found out that whenever people were asked to read the Bible, they did not use the Bible. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:05.000 They just recited it. He was curious, so he asked them, why is this? 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.000 So many of them spent two, three years in prison. 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:16.000 And during their time there, they didn't have the Bible, but they'll get one letter, one page, 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.000 and in it will be a passage. And that's all they have. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:25.000 But because it's so new, because it's something that they honor, it's something that they appreciate, 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.000 it's something that they do not take for granted, they look at that piece of paper, 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:32.000 and they read it, and they memorize it, and they know it, 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:38.000 because they know that this paper can be taken off them any second. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:42.000 And at the end of this prayer meeting, they asked this pastor, 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:51.000 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, 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:57.000 where you are so free to meet, where we desperately long for the time when we don't have to be fearful, 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.000 when we don't have to do these things this way. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.000 And the pastor responded to them and said, I won't pray for that. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:12.000 Because in North America, every house has two Bibles or three Bibles, if you're a Christian family. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:17.000 But not many people open them. Most of us are on our phones. 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:21.000 We use daily scripture reading plans to go through them. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:28.000 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. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.000 The way you are is the right way. You don't want our way. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:38.000 What am I saying? There has to be a newness, a freshness to our relationship with him, 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:44.000 where we do not take these things for granted. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:51.000 Where as you read the scripture, as you hear, as you understand, it's not old truths. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:27:09.000 There's a new manner for you to eat, to build on. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:14.000 So ask yourself, do you have that newness in your relationship with him? 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:26.000 Do you have that freshness? Is there that sense of awe and wonder? Do you take him for granted? 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:35.000 The last thing in terms of characteristics I have, it is your relationship, it's relentlessly hopeful and trusting of him. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:41.000 It is relentlessly hopeful and trusting of him. 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:51.000 And you dream of all of the possibilities of tomorrow. And you dream of all of the possibilities of tomorrow. 00:27:51.000 --> 00:28:01.000 When you are in first love, I'm telling you, you dream of all of the possibilities of tomorrow. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:07.000 And I want to ask you, have you stopped dreaming? 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:22.000 Is it the same dreams you had two years ago, a year ago? Do you have new dreams? Is new being added to you? 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:29.000 Because if you are in first love, I can guarantee you, you're continually dreaming with him. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:36.000 His spirit is continually opening your eyes. And your dreams are in the same that they were. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:40.000 It's not that you have to shut them all down, what you had from two years ago to a year ago, no. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:49.000 But new is being added. New is being released. 00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:57.000 So that's the first love part. In that verse, it says, Jesus says, you know, he first commends them, and then he says, 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:03.000 I'm going to correct you because you've abandoned the first love that you had. 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:12.000 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. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:22.000 Abandoning first love is an action on one's part, and it is not something that is inflicted. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:37.000 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. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:49.000 First love and the losing of it, if it happened to you, the abandoning of it is never inflicted upon you. 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:59.000 Let me tell you that. You cannot point your finger at anyone else. It is between you and him. 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:11.000 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. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:24.000 No. Abandoning first love is an action on one's part, and it is not inflicted upon you. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:30.000 I cannot therefore put the responsibility on anything or anyone else but me. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:38.000 You abandon first love when something else has gotten your heart. So what has gotten your heart recently? 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:44.000 You abandon first love when something else has got more of your heart. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:54.000 He gets less of your heart because something else has got more of your heart. And what is it? 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:00.000 Because we all start well, but finishing well is even more important. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:07.000 Starting well is good. Finishing well is even more important. 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:16.000 So what is it that has gotten more of your heart now if he has got less of your heart today? 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:25.000 Here is the other thing about abandon. When you abandon first love, 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:33.000 the reason you abandon it is because you have somehow forgotten where you were grafted from. 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:47.000 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. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:32:02.000 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. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:12.000 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, 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:18.000 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. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:31.000 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. 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:40.000 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. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:50.000 When I forget that, then I forget everything he has done for me and I begin to abandon my first love. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:33:00.000 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. 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:07.000 Don't go there because I'll try to explain it. In Luke chapter 7, Jesus is in the house of a Pharisee. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:18.000 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. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:23.000 They're all assembled there. They're gathered there because Simon invited Jesus. 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:33.000 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. 00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:43.000 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. 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:52.000 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. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:34:01.000 She starts crying. And the tears fall down onto Jesus' feet. And as she notices it, this wasn't a planned act. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:12.000 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. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:22.000 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. 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:32.000 But it doesn't matter because I really need to be with him. I really need to be with Jesus. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:42.000 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. 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:51.000 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. 00:34:51.000 --> 00:35:00.000 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. 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:07.000 I am his daughter. I know it so well. And how can I not cry? It's not a planned act. 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:13.000 I'm crying and I'm crying and I'm crying. And as I'm crying, my tears are falling on his feet. 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:22.000 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. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:33.000 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. 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:43.000 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. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:51.000 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. 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:58.000 How can I not cry? And so she cries. And she finds out that she is, you know, Jesus' feet is wet. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:07.000 So the best she can do is sit there and wipe off the tear, cleanse his feet. 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:20.000 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. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:28.000 But here is the part that sometimes we miss when we read Luke chapter 7. Jesus turns to Simon. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:37.000 And Jesus says, Simon, I walked into this house. You did not wash my, you did not give me water to wash my feet. 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:50.000 Simon, you did not kiss me a welcome kiss when I walked in. But she, and at this point, Jesus turns to her. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:37:03.000 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. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:13.000 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. 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:24.000 But she has done that. Simon, you have not anointed my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet. 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:34.000 She has anointed my head. And that is a question you need to ask yourself. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:45.000 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? 00:37:45.000 --> 00:38:02.000 Because in Luke chapter 12, five chapters later, or John 12, you actually see Lazarus with Jesus. Lazarus is reclining. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:11.000 Mary is there. Martha is there. And this Mary, she's again at Jesus' feet. 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:29.000 It hasn't changed. So important, guys, because we can get so used to Jesus. We can get so used to him. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:41.000 This is why when we gather for worship, it has to be different. It has to be new. 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:52.000 No one should ever have to ask you to sing. No one should ever have to ask you to worship. 00:38:52.000 --> 00:39:05.000 No one should ever have to ask you for your attention. You are there because you really love him. 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:21.000 Everything inside you loves him. And at the end, Jesus says this to Simon. Simon, he who is forgiven much, loves much. 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:35.000 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, 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:46.000 it's because I do not understand the gravity of forgiveness, the amount of forgiveness, the measure of forgiveness that was allotted to me. 00:39:46.000 --> 00:40:03.000 Those who are forgiven little, loves little. Therefore, I tell you, Jesus said, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. 00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:14.000 So no amount of service and no measure of familiarity of who Jesus is can replace true worship and intimacy. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:26.000 No amount of service and no measure of intimacy can replace true worship and intimacy. 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:37.000 Think about it guys, because I really want you to think. I really want you to share your heart with him. 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:47.000 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. 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:56.000 Because it will benefit you. 00:40:56.000 --> 00:41:08.000 I care less about the teaching and the sermon, I'm telling you. I really don't care. 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:17.000 What really matters is your heart and my heart right now, in terms of understanding where it's at, 00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:30.000 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. 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:38.000 I want to be different. I want change. I want a new start again. 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:50.000 You abandon first love in exchange of other loves. You abandon first love in exchange of other loves. 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:56.000 It's amazing how we can get or become lovers of ourselves very quickly sometimes. 00:41:56.000 --> 00:42:11.000 Because all of a sudden, everything is about yourself, the things happening to you, the things that did not happen to you, 00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:19.000 the success of the problems and the challenges, everything revolves around you. 00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:28.000 It is about how you need to be happy, how you need to be served this way, how you like it done that way, 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:35.000 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. 00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:47.000 Lovers of self, everything revolves around you. You are the protagonist in the story. Everything is about you. 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:52.000 You lose first love very quickly when you go down that path. 00:42:52.000 --> 00:43:00.000 Two, you can be lovers of money. It's amazing, again, how you can start a different way. 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:11.000 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. 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:17.000 Don't think of Ananias and Sapphira as people who just didn't get it. 00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:30.000 Can you imagine? They may have truly been converted. I don't know. You can't say no either. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:36.000 They may have at some point really believed everything they heard. 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:44.000 And they may have at one point be very willing to lay down everything. But somehow money got in the mix. 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:53.000 Don't think of people always as evil. People have right intentions sometimes, but you don't finish well. 00:43:53.000 --> 00:44:03.000 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. 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:15.000 So lovers of money. Religion is another thing that can cut you off from your first love. 00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.000 We've been talking about that for the last little while, so I won't go into it. 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:32.000 The thing is that the trees that are hollow inside could still sometimes bear fruits, but when the storm hits, they will topple. 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:39.000 You've got to find out if you're hollow inside or not. 00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:47.000 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. 00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:56.000 Are you deeply in love with the bridegroom or do you only approach him when you need things? 00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:01.000 Need things as in for yourself or for others? 00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:08.000 Again, think of the church in Ephesus. They approached him for others' sake, I'm sure. 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:16.000 But are you deeply in love with the bridegroom or do you approach him when you need things? 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:26.000 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. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:34.000 You cannot love Jesus with all your heart and be neutral to those made in his image. 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:41.000 I know very well that we love people, but are there people you're neutral about? 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:46.000 They aren't in your good books. 00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:59.000 They aren't seen the way God wants you to see them, made in his image. 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:08.000 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. 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:14.000 And immediately everything inside me is like, ugh, you don't know it? 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:20.000 The next second I was reminded, what's going on? 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.000 Two religions on display. 00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:29.000 That's what religion does to you. 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:33.000 You cannot be neutral about people. 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:37.000 You have to love them with the love that the father has for them. 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:46.000 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 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:53.000 and my heart to them is a certain way because I love Jesus so much. 00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:58.000 I'm not neutral to them, neither do I despise them. 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.000 Again, another thing on the side. 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:11.000 You know, one thing that can cut you off from first love, it's comparison. 00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:16.000 And doing things for recognition. 00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:24.000 Comparison with someone else can very easily cut you off from first love. 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:36.000 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. 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:39.000 My goodness, I pray that you refrain from speaking. 00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:42.000 I pray that you don't speak in those times. 00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:50.000 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. 00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.000 You don't have to compete in the kingdom. 00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:02.000 You do not have to compete in the kingdom. 00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:07.000 This is just one thing on the side, but it's important for some of us. 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:14.000 Sometimes there's a need to be known and a need for control, a need for approval, a need for recognition. 00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:17.000 Throw it away as quickly as you can. 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:22.000 Get yourself to a place where like Mary did, find yourself at his feet. 00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:25.000 Remember where you came from. 00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:32.000 And these things, guys, when they are left unattended, can soon make you hollow inside. 00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:37.000 So please don't be ignorant about it. 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:40.000 Be wise about this. 00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:41.000 Go at it. 00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:44.000 Kill that needs to be killed. 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:54.000 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. 00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:59.000 Here is how we can get back to first love. 00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:03.000 So in the same letter, I'm going to read it to you. 00:49:03.000 --> 00:49:05.000 I'm going to read it to you. 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:07.000 I'm going to read it to you. 00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:09.000 I'm going to read it to you. 00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:13.000 Get back to first love. 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:20.000 So in the same letter that Jesus sends to the churches through John. 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:22.000 Actually, let me say this. 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:24.000 There is one thing that I found out as I was preparing this. 00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:29.000 Again, it's not in the Bible, so you can take it with huge amounts of salt. 00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:38.000 The thing is, John, who was part of this church in Ephesus, they say that at one point he couldn't walk. 00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:40.000 This is history. 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.000 If you believe history, you can try to believe this too. 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:52.000 So he was the bishop of this church, and as he became older, there were times when he couldn't walk. 00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:56.000 So people sometimes used to carry John to the church in Ephesus. 00:49:56.000 --> 00:50:01.000 And it got to a point where he was so old, this is before he got to Patmos, of course. 00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:05.000 He was so old that he couldn't speak. 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:08.000 So he wouldn't speak much. He would come and sit. 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:12.000 Because all of the other apostles, they were martyred, they were killed. 00:50:12.000 --> 00:50:18.000 This guy, John, would come and sit, and they would ask him so many questions because he's got all of the experience. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:23.000 He has seen everything. They'd ask him questions. 00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:28.000 And his answer, regardless of what question was always asked of him, would be, 00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:31.000 Little children love one another. 00:50:31.000 --> 00:50:34.000 Little children love one another. 00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:41.000 I thought it was such a cool thing when I read it, that this man who saw everything, this man who walked with Jesus, 00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:47.000 this man who really understood his heart, because the Gospel of John is so different from everything else. 00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:57.000 Because the other Gospels were written about, I think, the first couple of years, there was emphasis on it. 00:50:57.000 --> 00:51:01.000 Or the last couple of years, there was more emphasis on it. 00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:06.000 And then John's Gospel is different. He understood, he knew Jesus in a different way. 00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:14.000 And for him to say, Little children love one another, to every question that was asked of him, if he did that, 00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:18.000 maybe there is something for you to think about there. 00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:20.000 So what does Jesus say? 00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:29.000 This is what Jesus, so there is, he commends them for the things that they did well. 00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:36.000 Then he corrects them. And third, he gives them counsel on how to get back in first love. 00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:42.000 Here is what he said, Remember, Jesus said, Therefore from where you have fallen, 00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:46.000 Repent and do the works you did at first. Wake up. 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:48.000 Oh, sorry. That's all there is. 00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:54.000 Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. 00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:57.000 So number one, what do you do? 00:51:57.000 --> 00:52:00.000 Again, guys, what Jesus said is pretty simple. 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.000 Church, this is what's happening. I need to correct you. This is how you fix it. 00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:07.000 So we just need to do the same. We don't need to add anything else to it. 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:11.000 We don't need new things to be added to fall back in first love. 00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:17.000 Step one, remember, therefore, where you have fallen from. 00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:23.000 Remember, remember when, if you know country songs, you'll like it. 00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:27.000 Alan Jackson, you can look it up later. 00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:32.000 Sing it. I only do that at rare occasions. 00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:38.000 So remember when, remember. 00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:42.000 Meaning when it all started for you, 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:49.000 the first times in your life when you found out that he really loves you and you loved him back. 00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:51.000 How did you do it? 00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:55.000 Here's the thing, guys. This is very unique for each of us. 00:52:55.000 --> 00:53:00.000 What is for me is not your. The way you are is not the way I am. 00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:02.000 This is the beauty about it. 00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:11.000 Remember, remember the heights you fell from, in other words. 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:16.000 Number two, repent. 00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:19.000 One of the things I want you to do is if this is happening to you, 00:53:19.000 --> 00:53:24.000 I want you to hit the reset button. 00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:29.000 I want you to stop entertaining other loves. 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.000 I was thinking about it. 00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:34.000 I was thinking that, man, I want to wake up to him. 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:36.000 I want to more and more wake up to him. 00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:39.000 It happens sometimes. It doesn't happen all the time. 00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:40.000 Every day for me. 00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:43.000 I don't every day wake up to him. 00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:47.000 But I want to wake up to him every day. 00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:52.000 I want to wake up and plan my day in a way that I'm waking up to him. 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:55.000 I'm waking up to his presence. 00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:57.000 I'm waking up to his reality. 00:53:57.000 --> 00:53:59.000 I'm waking up to his words over me. 00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:01.000 I'm waking up to his promises over me. 00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:05.000 I'm waking up to who he is to me. 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.000 I'm waking up to what he has done for me. 00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:12.000 I'm waking up to his promises for me. 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:17.000 Wake up to him. 00:54:17.000 --> 00:54:22.000 So as you repent, as you hit that reset button, start your days differently. 00:54:22.000 --> 00:54:27.000 Stop entertaining other loves. 00:54:27.000 --> 00:54:33.000 And see if you're doing things today out of yesterday's obedience. 00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:35.000 Please listen to that. 00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:40.000 See if you're doing things today out of yesterday's obedience. 00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:43.000 You obeyed him. You understood it. 00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:45.000 And then you started doing things. 00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:51.000 But then now you don't repeat because you're living out of yesterday's obedience. 00:54:51.000 --> 00:54:54.000 Man, can we be different? 00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:57.000 Man, can we live out of first love? 00:54:57.000 --> 00:55:00.000 Can we be living out of our obedience today? 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:09.000 Can we be living out of our devotion to him today? 00:55:09.000 --> 00:55:14.000 Repentance, the word repentance that Jesus uses here, 00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:17.000 almost always when we talk about this and when we talk about, 00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:21.000 hey, we need to be, hey, can someone help with the sound there? 00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:24.000 Thanks. 00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:29.000 Whenever we think of the word repentance and we say, hey, we need to fall back or go back to true love, 00:55:29.000 --> 00:55:32.000 people say it's a radical way of living. 00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:35.000 Look at these guys. They are so devoted to Christ. 00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:38.000 They don't care about anything else that's happening. 00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:41.000 They're so devoted. They're so intimate with him. 00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:44.000 It's such a radical way of living. 00:55:44.000 --> 00:55:51.000 The word radical actually means going back to the root. 00:55:51.000 --> 00:56:03.000 Our culture amongst Christians in Christianity has made the very simple things complex sometimes 00:56:03.000 --> 00:56:09.000 so that we have to leave everything else to go back to the simple. 00:56:09.000 --> 00:56:14.000 Go back to the root. 00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:26.000 It is a living out of the place you're at with him, sincerely living out of today's obedience. 00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:28.000 Matthew chapter 6, verse 6. 00:56:28.000 --> 00:56:33.000 I just want to touch on this verse because it may do something to you if you practice this. 00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:36.000 Not it may. It will do this. 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:39.000 Do something to you if you practice this. 00:56:39.000 --> 00:56:46.000 Jesus said, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret. 00:56:46.000 --> 00:56:53.000 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who's in secret. 00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:59.000 Can we become a people who don't miss this? 00:56:59.000 --> 00:57:04.000 Where this is such a part of our lives. 00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:06.000 Nothing groundbreaking guys. 00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:10.000 But this is what he said that we should do. 00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:12.000 Go into your room, shut the door. 00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:18.000 Because as soon as you shut the door, there is another door that opens. 00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:20.000 How much do you love it? 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.000 And if you don't love it as much right now, it is completely okay. 00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:30.000 Because as you spend time with him, as you just lean on him, it'll change. 00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:34.000 He gives us new desires. 00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:38.000 One of the things I wrote down as I was thinking about this is, 00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:44.000 and I hope you get it and you live it because this is so important for everything we talk about. 00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:52.000 Priests without prayer and kings who do not exercise authority. 00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:57.000 They rob people of their destinies. 00:57:57.000 --> 00:58:07.000 Priests without prayer and kings who do not exercise authority. 00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:12.000 They rob people of their destinies. 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:16.000 So you can read all you want about being a priest for God. 00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:20.000 You can hear all you want about being a priest for God. 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:23.000 You can read and understand authority. 00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:31.000 But if you're not a priest who prays, and if you're not a king who exercises authority, 00:58:31.000 --> 00:58:41.000 then you are robbing people of their destinies. 00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:45.000 So you'll have to watch out for that in your life. 00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:51.000 And the last thing in terms of getting back in first love, 00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:55.000 is do the works you did at first. 00:58:55.000 --> 00:58:58.000 Do the works you did at first. 00:58:58.000 --> 00:59:00.000 I really love it. 00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:03.000 Do the works you did at first. 00:59:03.000 --> 00:59:06.000 Sheldon, do you want to get back in first love? 00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:10.000 Do the works you did at first. 00:59:10.000 --> 00:59:12.000 So what did I do at first? 00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:15.000 I'll tell you what I used to do at first. 00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:19.000 Again, this is different for different people. 00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:23.000 But you've got to know what are the things that you did at first. 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:26.000 Because Jesus is saying if you want to fall back in first love, 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:32.000 you've got to do the things that you first did. 00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:36.000 And it does not always mean the time when you became born again. 00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:43.000 It may be the first time you really understood who God is in new ways. 00:59:43.000 --> 00:59:46.000 It could be at any time in your life when you knew, 00:59:46.000 --> 00:59:53.000 ah, there is another way to live, and this is the way to live. 00:59:53.000 --> 00:59:55.000 So I had to ask these questions of myself. 00:59:55.000 --> 00:59:58.000 How can I, if I am to fall back in first love, and Jesus said, 00:59:58.000 --> 01:00:01.000 do the works you did, that's the best way to do it, 01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:04.000 I've got to ask myself, what are the things that I used to do, 01:00:04.000 --> 01:00:11.000 that I don't do anymore or do less of, so that I can fall back in first love? 01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:15.000 There was a time when I was in Prince George. 01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:19.000 I would drive to parks. I would never go to parks otherwise. 01:00:19.000 --> 01:00:25.000 But I would drive, I was all by myself, but I used to love just being there talking to God. 01:00:25.000 --> 01:00:27.000 No one else but me. 01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:30.000 I would watch all of the people around me, kids playing, adults coming in, 01:00:30.000 --> 01:00:33.000 and I would just keep talking to Him. 01:00:33.000 --> 01:00:35.000 That's all I cared about. 01:00:35.000 --> 01:00:42.000 There were times when I couldn't worship and sing out loud in the place where I was staying, 01:00:42.000 --> 01:00:48.000 so I would drive to a movie theater, park my car, amongst others, 01:00:48.000 --> 01:00:51.000 everyone else is in the movie theater, now I can sing. 01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:54.000 And I can really shout. 01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:58.000 I'm a Pentecostal boy, or used to be, so it's natural. 01:00:58.000 --> 01:01:01.000 It's very easy for me. 01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:03.000 But those were my beginnings. 01:01:03.000 --> 01:01:06.000 I've got to be truthful, true to myself. 01:01:06.000 --> 01:01:11.000 That's how I started. 01:01:11.000 --> 01:01:15.000 There used to be time in school when someone prophesied over me and said, 01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:17.000 you're like David. 01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:22.000 I remember going back home and really wanting to learn everything about David, 01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:25.000 because I am like David. God sees me like David. 01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:29.000 And I still remember, I would go when I was in 11th grade or 12th grade, 01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:36.000 I would take my bag and walk into the school really believing I am like David. 01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:44.000 I used to memorize scriptures from the Psalms that David wrote. 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:49.000 Those Psalms have gotten... 01:01:49.000 --> 01:01:54.000 I don't read those Psalms much anymore because I've got more interesting things to read and understand. 01:01:54.000 --> 01:02:01.000 You see where the problem is. 01:02:01.000 --> 01:02:06.000 What are the works that you did at first? 01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:10.000 Return to those works. 01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:13.000 Do it, guys. It works. 01:02:13.000 --> 01:02:15.000 I'm telling you, it works. 01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:21.000 We'll wrap up. 01:02:21.000 --> 01:02:23.000 Couple other things as we wrap up. 01:02:23.000 --> 01:02:28.000 We'll finish at 8.30. 01:02:28.000 --> 01:02:34.000 See, the first time I fell in love with him and you fell in love with him, 01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:40.000 you know one thing that happened that you may not have realized back then? 01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:43.000 There was an Abba cry. 01:02:43.000 --> 01:02:47.000 The Bible says this. 01:02:47.000 --> 01:02:49.000 Galatians 4.6. 01:02:49.000 --> 01:02:55.000 Abba, father, there was a cry that you perhaps did not hear in your spirit, 01:02:55.000 --> 01:03:02.000 but that cry happened in your spirit when you recognized who he is. 01:03:02.000 --> 01:03:06.000 Let me ask you this then, just taking that thought a little further, 01:03:06.000 --> 01:03:11.000 because I found this as I was going through these over the last couple of weeks, 01:03:11.000 --> 01:03:13.000 this is super helpful. 01:03:13.000 --> 01:03:19.000 That very cry that you at first may not even have understood that happened inside of you, 01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:26.000 can you now freely live that out in your present using your mouth and your mind and your being? 01:03:26.000 --> 01:03:29.000 The Abba cry. 01:03:29.000 --> 01:03:32.000 Can you cry, Abba? 01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:37.000 A couple weeks ago I found myself, I was not preparing for this or anything. 01:03:37.000 --> 01:03:43.000 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. 01:03:43.000 --> 01:03:46.000 So I'm thinking and I'm talking. 01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:52.000 I just went into this thing of just crying Abba before I thought about any of this. 01:03:52.000 --> 01:03:56.000 Just crying Abba, Abba, Abba and just being with him. 01:03:56.000 --> 01:03:59.000 And in a couple of minutes guys, something happened to me. 01:03:59.000 --> 01:04:05.000 It was so refreshing, so new. 01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:09.000 So if the Abba cry is how we started our lives, 01:04:09.000 --> 01:04:13.000 why can't we express that Abba cry in words today? 01:04:13.000 --> 01:04:15.000 Sing it out loud today. 01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:18.000 Just you. 01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:24.000 It's amazing. 01:04:24.000 --> 01:04:27.000 Last thing. 01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:34.000 Please do not become a professional. 01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:43.000 Please do not become a professional. 01:04:43.000 --> 01:04:45.000 You know what the word amateur means? 01:04:45.000 --> 01:04:52.000 I almost, you know, I titled this first love, but I really wanted to title the sermon, the amateur. 01:04:52.000 --> 01:04:56.000 But then it would be a little too cool, so I went away from it. 01:04:56.000 --> 01:04:58.000 Be an amateur. 01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:04.000 The word amateur means someone who does it for the love of it. 01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:12.000 Going back to the basketball court, you're playing it because you love it. 01:05:12.000 --> 01:05:16.000 You're playing the game because you love playing the game. 01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:20.000 You're not playing the game because you signed a contract. 01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:23.000 And because you've got to feed your family. 01:05:23.000 --> 01:05:27.000 You love it. And so you play. 01:05:27.000 --> 01:05:30.000 Be an amateur. 01:05:30.000 --> 01:05:33.000 Do not become a professional. 01:05:33.000 --> 01:05:39.000 In the kingdom, Jesus is not looking for professional pastors, professional worship leaders, 01:05:39.000 --> 01:05:44.000 professional ministry people, professional sons and professional daughters. 01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:50.000 Let me tell you, he's looking for sincere, authentic, simple sons and daughters. 01:05:50.000 --> 01:05:57.000 He doesn't want professionals. 01:05:57.000 --> 01:06:14.000 Be an amateur. 01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:17.000 So this is what God has for us. 01:06:17.000 --> 01:06:19.000 He has pulled us aside. 01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:22.000 He has told us what's missing. 01:06:22.000 --> 01:06:24.000 He has given us the keys to do it. 01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:30.000 Now he's sending us back onto the court. 01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:32.000 It's easy, guys. 01:06:32.000 --> 01:06:35.000 Everything he said that Jesus said. 01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:37.000 Remember where you fell from. 01:06:37.000 --> 01:06:38.000 Repent. 01:06:38.000 --> 01:06:41.000 Do the things you did at first. 01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:42.000 Very simple. 01:06:42.000 --> 01:06:45.000 Not complicated at all. 01:06:45.000 --> 01:06:48.000 That's how you fall back in first love. 01:06:48.000 --> 01:06:50.000 Can you do it this week? 01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:53.000 You need to think about what your first works were. 01:06:53.000 --> 01:06:54.000 Please spend time. 01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:58.000 It'll be so rich even in your house churches to share this. 01:06:58.000 --> 01:07:07.000 Others will benefit. 01:07:07.000 --> 01:07:10.000 It's almost like he's shaking the tree, guys. 01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:16.000 He's shaking the tree because on one hand, there are birds in the tree that should not be here, 01:07:16.000 --> 01:07:18.000 and he wants these birds to leave. 01:07:18.000 --> 01:07:21.000 There are pests that have to fall off. 01:07:21.000 --> 01:07:25.000 But he's also shaking the tree because he wants you, the tree, 01:07:25.000 --> 01:07:30.000 to understand how deep your roots have gone or not. 01:07:30.000 --> 01:07:36.000 He wants you to know if your roots have gone in the direction of the water. 01:07:36.000 --> 01:07:40.000 That's why he's shaking. 01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:43.000 It's a good one for you to know where you're at. 01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:47.000 So you can do simply the things he asks of you. 01:07:47.000 --> 01:07:49.000 So you fall back in first love. 01:07:49.000 --> 01:07:51.000 So Father, we thank you. 01:07:51.000 --> 01:07:54.000 We thank you that you care about us so well. 01:07:54.000 --> 01:08:00.000 We are deeply loved people, sons and daughters. 01:08:00.000 --> 01:08:03.000 We don't want to be professionals. 01:08:03.000 --> 01:08:05.000 Professionals do things a certain way. 01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:09.000 We refuse to be professionals. 01:08:09.000 --> 01:08:15.000 We want to be amateurs. 01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:19.000 Father, I recognize that you're shaking the tree in a good way 01:08:19.000 --> 01:08:23.000 to have things fall off that shouldn't be in the tree. 01:08:23.000 --> 01:08:29.000 For me and us to have an understanding of, hey, you are planted by the river, you know? 01:08:29.000 --> 01:08:37.000 So if you are planted by the river, make sure your roots are traveling in that direction. 01:08:37.000 --> 01:08:41.000 You need to know how deep your roots are. 01:08:41.000 --> 01:08:47.000 Don't labor, don't toil, don't do things out of anything else or out of own repeat lifestyle. 01:08:47.000 --> 01:08:50.000 Do it out of first love. 01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:52.000 So Aba, we come. 01:08:52.000 --> 01:08:55.000 We thank you for the truth you've shared with us. 01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:59.000 We want to live it every day, Aba. 01:08:59.000 --> 01:09:01.000 It's easy for us to live it. 01:09:01.000 --> 01:09:03.000 The keys are simple. 01:09:03.000 --> 01:09:05.000 Thank you for caring about us. 01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:07.000 Thank you for pulling us aside. 01:09:07.000 --> 01:09:09.000 We love you, Jesus. 01:09:09.000 --> 01:09:11.000 We love you. 01:09:11.000 --> 01:09:16.000 So as we go, we go celebrating because we are always found. 01:09:16.000 --> 01:09:18.000 And you have new plans for us. 01:09:18.000 --> 01:09:21.000 New dreams will come, will happen this week, Aba. 01:09:21.000 --> 01:09:24.000 New dreams. 01:09:24.000 --> 01:09:26.000 New freshness. 01:09:26.000 --> 01:09:30.000 Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:09:30.000 --> 01:09:36.000 I don't think there are any other announcements, so that's it, guys. 01:09:36.000 --> 01:09:38.000 See you later.