Remember Your First Love
November 03, 2002

Pastor Ronel Domingo, our guest speaker, talked about God's commendation, condemnation and commands to the Christian congregations in Ephesus.  Quoting Revelation 2:1-7, he encouraged the churches today to derive lessons from God's message to the Ephesians.

A. Commendation

The Lord was pleased with the church in Ephesus for its hard work, perseverance, patience and steadfastness.  At a time that cult practices and different ideologies thrive in Ephesus, the Christian congregations held on to the Gospel.

²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for My name, and have not grown weary...⁶You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans which I also hate.

B. Condemnation

The Lord rebuked the Church in Ephesus for forgetting their first love or losing their passion for God.

⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

C. Commands

The Lord commanded the Church in Ephesus to refresh their memory, repent and do the things they did at first.

⁵Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 

In applying the Lord's message to our Christian life, Pastor Domingo exhorted the churches today to refresh their passion for God which they had when they were new converts. "Have we lost our passion for Him, we who are the bride of the Groom?"

One indication, he said, that we lost our passion for Jesus is when we stop evangelizing.  "If our church stops evangelizing, it stops growing and begins deteriorating."

The two greatest commandments are to love God and to love our fellowman.  To show our love for God, we have to obey His commands.  One of His commands is for us to reach out for the lost and share with them the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

In conclusion, Pastor Domingo cited the need for Christians today to make sacrifices to reach out for the lost, as an individual and as a corporate body.

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"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."

Verses quoted from the NIV