Results 1 - 8 of 8
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | Norrie | 50937 | ||
We just had a sermon/Bible study on this last week. The Church at Ephesus lost their passion and being passionate is better than plain performance. The Ephesians had strong convictions, they were doing all the works, everything they were doing was right, they just lost their passion, they didn't have their "heart" in it, they were just doing what they were supposed to do w/o that fire or zeal. | ||||||
2 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | New Creature | 50942 | ||
So your saying they were merely going through the motions of churchianity and religiousity, without the empowerment of God's Holy Spirit. Is that correct? | ||||||
3 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | Norrie | 50956 | ||
Basically. :) They were doing what they were supposed to be w/o the love/passion that you have when you're on fire, kinda like the couple married 30 yrs that just exist together, fires long gone, she still cooks and cleans, keeps house up and he still takes out trash and fixes cars, whatever is his chares, but last passion, just do it because it's what you do. | ||||||
4 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | New Creature | 50971 | ||
Are some people doing what they do without the fire (fire to me meaning, without the empowerment of God's Holy Spirit). | ||||||
5 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | Robert Nicholson | 50987 | ||
Goodmorning New Creature: The seven churches of Asia which are found in Rev. 2-3 represent local churches of God which existed in Asia at about 96 A.D.. Interestingly, the Spirit of God through John points out the condition of each. However, when we look closely at each church we find that each represents a time in history which at the time of the writing of Rev. was future except for the first church at Ephesus. Ephesus represents the apostolic age. The Lord says: a) "I know thy works, and thy labour and thy patience" V.2 Labor in this verse is given in the sense that they labored to the point of exhaustion. b) "thou canst bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not and hast found them liars. This church was doctrinally correct and stood guard against false teachers and exposed such as false. In v. 3 the Lord summerizes the intensity of their labor, their doctrine and faithfulness to that doctrine. Nevertheless, even though the appeared to be correct, the Lord points out this major problem in V.4 "Thou has left thy first love" An example of this can be found in the experience of Mary and Martha in Luke 10V38. Martha was a hard worker and was busy trying to make things right for the Lord. She was frustrated with her sister's seeming lack of exercise. Yet we find that the Lord points out "that Mary has choosen the better part". What was Mary doing? Sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus and hearing his word. Martha was distracted by all of the work she thought necessary and forgot that it was important to be close to Christ and to hear his word. In Ephesus, we have those who labored intensely supposedly for God. However, it would seem that their motivation was out of duty rather than out of love. When we first come to know Christ as our Saviour, we are in our first love. Our desire is to be pleasing to him because of his love to us and ours to him. However, as time goes by there is a distinct danger of doing things out of a sense of duty rather than love. We may pride ourselves in doctinal correctness, in our ability to see error in others and in our stand for the truth, but if we are motivated by anything other than love for Christ, we labor in vain. God wants our hearts more than anything else. In V. 5 they are told to repent. Or the Lord would removed the lampstand from their presence. I believe the lampstand is the Lord's presence in their midst. At a certain point he will withdraw and leave them alone to their own organized religion. You mention "People doing what they do without the fire" This is a good way of putting it. I believe the fire speaks of our desire to please the Lord Jesus because we love him and if we are willing he will by his Spirit raise us to higher heights in himself. "You have left your first love" is a challenging searching question which we can apply to ourselves. Why do we do what we do for the Lord? In Christ Robert |
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6 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | New Creature | 50989 | ||
Thank you Robert for your helpful reply. In your reply you said "I believe the lampstand is the Lord's presence in their midst" That leads me to ask; If the lampstand is removed from their presence, does that mean that the Lord's presence departs from their midst? And without the Lord's presense are they not merely "organized religion" What you stated reminds me of the following quote I post for you. “When the Holy Spirit withdraws, ... he sometimes allows the forms which he has created to remain. The oil is exhausted, but the lamp is still there; prayer is offered and the Bible read; church going is not given up, and to a certain degree the service is enjoyed; in a word religious habits are preserved, and like the corpses found at Pompeii, which were in a perfect state of preservation and in the very position in which death had surprised them, but which were reduced to ashes by contact with the air, so the blast of trial, of temptation, or of final judgement will destroy these spiritual corpses.” (Pastor G.F. Tophel) Love and Peace |
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7 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | Robert Nicholson | 51022 | ||
Grace and Truth: I agree that the Lord will withdraw if people contiually reject him. You will notice that in the last church Laodica Rev. 3:14- that the Lord is outside the professing church altogether. In v. 20 he appeals to individuals "Behold I stand at the door and knock; and any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him, and sup with him and he with me" This is certainly a sad time for the church who has choosen rest on their own riches and ignore Christ altogether. I enjoyed you quote. There is a great difference between profession and possession. God wants our individual hearts and love, afterall it is a personal relationship we have in him. God bless you Robert |
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8 | thou hast left thy first love | Bible general Archive 1 | Robert Nicholson | 51024 | ||
New Creature: Sorry for the mix up in my last post on your name Robert |
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