if you would please, to the last book of the Bible, the book of the Revelation. And turn, if you would please, to chapter number 2. Revelation chapter number 2. Imagine with me for a moment, if you would, as you're turning there. Imagine with me for a moment. Late in the middle of the night, someone knocking on my door. Kevin, I have a letter for you. I take that letter out of the hand of the messenger and I realize that it's from the Apostle John, who's been incarcerated on the Isle of Patmos. I take the letter and I open it and on the front it reads, Calvary Baptist Church. I take the message and I open it up and I look all the way down to the bottom and I see who it's sent from and it says, The Lord Jesus Christ. And then I came to church on that Sunday and the next Sunday morning early. We've gathered, we've worshipped, we've sang. The final song, just like the quartet sang there, is now finished and everybody's ready for the next part of the service as we begin the preaching. And yet I step up and I hold up a letter in my hand and you begin wondering, what's that letter? What's that in the pastor's hand? And I say, church, let me just say to you this morning that everything that we had planned and I was going to say to you, I've sort of laid it to the side because we have a letter written to us from the Lord Jesus Christ. Every person in this room would be on the edge of your seat. You would be leaning forward with anticipation, but yet also some reservation, wondering what Jesus would have to say to our church. Now here's the reality. The reality is there were seven churches to which that actually happened. I'm going to go back to chapter 1 of Revelation for just a moment, and then I'm going to read our text. Could I do that? Look over at chapter 1 verse 11. He's talking to John. He sees a vision of the glorified Christ on the Isle of Patmos. He hears the Lord's voice and here's what he says, verse 11, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. What thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia. And then he lists those seven churches. Then even when you come to chapters 2 and 3, you have the actual letters that was written to those literal churches there in what we would understand as Asia Minor or modern day Turkey today. But I believe the Lord didn't just have a letter or a message for them, but I believe He was also writing to us and therefore we ought to perk up and we ought to move to the edge of our seat and there ought to be some hesitation and some reservation in our own lives because Jesus has something to say to every one of us. You say, Preacher, how do you know that? Because in each of the letters that we're going to study over the next seven weeks or so, you're going to hear this phrase, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. You say, Preacher, I don't just have one ear. I have two. Wonderful. Wonderful. I don't believe He's asking us, do I have a literal, physical ear. I believe He's saying the person that has a willingness, they have a heart, they have an eagerness to hear what Jesus has to say to them. And the church that is ready to receive what Jesus has to say to that church, but not just hear it, but respond to it. Someone's wisely written these words, the spiritual life of a congregation depends on the individual life of its members. A church is not a building. A church is not seats and carpet and wood and plaster and the different parts that make up this building. That's not a church. A church are those who are saved by the grace of God. They are born again. They are washed in the blood. They have been scripturally baptized and they've banded together to worship God, to carry out the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in this world. You see, it is God's people that make up His churches. Listen to me. You are Calvary Baptist Church. And the spiritual life of our church depends upon the spiritual condition and well-being of the individual lives that make up this church. And over the next several weeks, we're going to look at these messages that were sent to these seven churches that I believe are representative of the conditions of Christians in churches of all ages. What we know as the seven churches of Revelation. Here's what I've entitled the series. Are you ready? I've jumped ahead. These guys are going crazy in the back. But that's okay. We're going to go back and get the text. What Jesus Thinks of His Church. Can I help us understand something this morning? It doesn't really matter what I think about you and me. It doesn't really matter what I think about us as a church. It doesn't really matter what you think about us as a church. What matters is what does Jesus think about our church. How are we in alignment with Him and what He desires for His churches to be? And this morning we're going to look at the first of them in chapter 2. Now that's where you're at. Look at verse number 1. He says, under the angel, we know that to be the messenger, the pastor of the church of Ephesus, right? These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." That is Jesus describing Himself as John saw Him in chapter 1. You're going to see in five of the seven churches, He's going to reveal an aspect of Himself that John saw in chapter 1. Verse 2, I know thy works. Jesus knows who we really are. and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. And is born, you persevered, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted, you've not become weary. Verse 4, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent. And do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, speedily, suddenly, and will remove thy candlestick, the idea of a light bearer, their witness, their influence, their impact in the world of that day. I will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, there's a good thing, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, here it is, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. You know there's a promise to you overcomers in this verse. To Him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Aren't you glad we're overcomers? And God has some promises, seven promises to you as overcomers in these seven churches. Isn't that a blessing? Let's pray together. Father, as I bow before You this morning, I am convinced beyond doubt that this is what You would have me to preach. Lord, You have dealt with my heart. Lord, I believe that You have something for each of us this morning. Lord, I pray that Your presence and the power of Your Holy Spirit would be evident in the service, that You would work in every heart and life and in my own life, Lord, as I've lived with this message since I prepared it. And Father, I pray that You would speak to us today and we would hear and we would respond. And I'll thank you for what you do. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. I entitle the message this, Ephesus, Striking the Missing Cord. You see, when you come to the church at Ephesus in the letter that Jesus wrote, you're going to find that they were a desirable church. The very name Ephesus means desirable. I believe if we moved to the city of Ephesus and we were looking for a church, this would be the church we would join. This was where we would move our membership. This is where we would raise our family. This is where we would want to serve God. This is where we would want to grow in grace. It was just a church in that town that was on the go for God. And I want you to notice very quickly, I'm just going to give you a quick overview of how the Lord revealed Himself to the church. Verse 1, He that holdeth the seven stars, that means He has the pastors of the churches in His hand. He's walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. We know that the seven stars are the seven angels or pastors of the churches. The candlesticks are the churches because as a church we are the light of the world. Can I tell you we're the light here in King, but not just in King, but all the surrounding communities, our state, our country, to the uttermost part of the earth. We're to be shining the light of Jesus Christ. Amen? We're His lampstand planted here on Main Street. And we recognize that Jesus is in the center, but He's not standing as John saw Him. He's now walking around. He's examining. He's scrutinizing. He's seeing. Can I help us understand? Every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, the Lord sees. Every Monday and Tuesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday, the Lord sees. Because when we come together, we're Calvary Baptist Church gathered, when we leave this place in a moment, and let me just put a little stop and say, thank you for your patience on Sunday morning as we're trying to leave the parking lot. You're so kind. Thank you for that. I never hear anybody blowing at somebody. I don't hear bad things. I thank you for that patience. I believe it's well worth the time. that you have to wait to get out of the parking lot for what God's doing in our lives here at Calvary. Now that's a side note, okay? But when we leave, we are Calvary Baptist Church scattered. We're to be individual lights in the places that God has led us in our work, our schools, our neighborhoods, our communities. God sends us forth from this place as His lightbearers. We're to lift Him up. It reminds us that He's the head of the church. Calvary Baptist Church belongs to Him. He's the central in everything that we do. Every ministry. Every effort of our church is designed to lift up the name of Jesus Christ and to make Him known. He said, I know thy works. It means to know with perception. It's a penetrating gaze. He looks beneath the surface to the inner reality of His church. And that means He looks beneath the surface of my life and your life. He knows what we are on the outside. But can I help us understand something? He knows even better than we do what we are on the inside. Warren Wearsby said that in each of these letters the Lord gave each assembly an x-ray of its condition. I had a couple of those this week. I hope I look better on the outside than I do on the inside. Have you ever noticed that? Let me give you something real quick because I want to get to the heart of my message. Let me just give you a little bit of idea of what this church was all about. They were fervent in service. Look at verse number 2. He said, I know thy works and thy labor. That means toiling to the point of weariness. The First Baptist Church of Ephesus was a beehive of activity. The lights were on. The parking lot was full. The seats were full. Understand, it was a house church. Or at best, it was a large room that they gathered in that probably a member owned, like maybe Lydia there in Philippi. But I'm sort of modernizing for our own imagination. They had a missionary zeal to reach the unreached regions beyond them. They were the first church that you're going to come to. Jesus writes a letter and it's a circular route. They're in Asia Minor. And Ephesus, if you're traveling in that area, would be the first city, and this would be the first church. And here's what's interesting, it's the mother church. All the other six churches were founded out of this church. that evangelistic fervor to take the good news of the gospel across the street to their family and friends and neighbors and co-workers. They took seriously the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel there. They were fervent in their service. Don't you believe that's good to be fervent in service for the Lord? They were faithful in suffering. There's two words in verse 3, actually, and thy patience. It means to bear up. You know what? There's times that this world gets hard. We have things happen in our lives. Difficulties come. But here it was more than just that. It was persecution. They were suffering for righteousness' sake. You know, in John's day it wasn't popular to be a Christian. You know what? It's getting that way in America. They faced fierce opposition from a pagan world around them. Hey, Christians didn't boycott the world in that day. The world boycotted Christians. They experienced the loss of their livelihood. Their homes were confiscated. They were shunned, mocked, scorned, beaten, imprisoned, and we're going to see in these letters some even martyred. I jotted this down in my notes. You'll tell the greatness of a church or a Christian by what it takes to stop them. Satan's going to do everything in his power to stop this church. He's going to do everything in his power to stop you from being the person and the Christian that God wants you to be. Proverbs 24 10, I just jotted it in my notes. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Like the apostles, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for His name. They were firm in their inseparation. Look again at verse 2. He said, Thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say you've examined them that say they're apostles sent from God, and are not, and you've found them to be liars. And verse 3 is almost a summary of it all. You've borne, that means you've persevered and you've had patience for an unnamed sake. You've labored and hast not fainted. You've just stayed at it. You've been exactly what a church should be. Everything was so right and so good. They were fervent, they were faintful, they were firm, but they were flawed. You see, they weren't just a desirable church. They were a defective church. What could possibly be wrong? I mean, when you look at that first list and you didn't have the rest of it, I mean, this is the church. I mean, this is it. I mean, look at it. They've got something for everybody. Every individual, no matter where they are in life, there's a ministry to meet that need. They're going, they're doing, they're serving, they're influencing, they're impacting, they're planting churches, they're moving the gospel forward, the kingdom of God is advancing because of the work of this church. But Jesus said, you have a problem. Look at it in verse 4. Nevertheless, I've got so much good to say, but I can't let this go. I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. You know, as I was preparing the message, I thought about the history and the heritage of this great church. You know, it truly was a great church. It was planted by the apostle Paul. It was pastored by men like Apollos and Timothy and Onesiphorus and Tychicus and the apostle John. But now 35 years later, there's a problem. They've left their first love. We call it the honeymoon love, the love of sweethearts full of passion and excitement. So it reminds me of the woman whose husband was neglecting her. He was not as affectionate as he was in the beginning years of their marriage. In fact, he really paid hardly no attention to her at all. He had lost all the romantic fire and she was suffering as a spouse. And one day a newly married couple moved across the street. They were fresh off their honeymoon and they were so in love. Matter of fact, the woman began to watch this couple through the window. Do you have any window watchers in your neighborhood? Now it's just a ring doorbell. Every morning this young wife would send her husband off to work there at the door. Before he left, he would grab her and he would embrace her. I mean, he would lay a smacker on her, but he would kiss her. And he would then start out to the car, but he couldn't stand it, get about halfway down the sidewalk, turn around and go back. He'd wrap his arms around her, hug her up, lay a passionate kiss on her, say goodbye, head to the car, but he'd get almost to the car, turn around, run back. He'd grab her, and he'd hug her, and he'd kiss her, and all of that. And he'd go on five or ten minutes, where he couldn't hardly get to work. She watched that for about a week and just couldn't stand it. She'd had all she could take. She said to her husband, she said, come over here and look at this. He said, look at what? He said, I want you to look across the street right there. Don't you see that? Do you see that? I want you to watch what's going on over there. Do you see what's happening? Now why don't you do that? Why don't you do that? And the exasperated husband looked at his wife and he said, I can't. And she said, why? He said, because I hardly know the woman. Honeymoon love. The church at Ephesus, their love had cooled. They loved the Lord, but they weren't excited about Him. John Phillips put it this way, he said, the furnace was still there, but the fire had gone out. There was still a measure of warmth, but the coals no longer had a bright red luster. They had merely a dull and dying glow with that slow but certain cooling of passion for Christ Distance had crept in. Left. Subtle, but intentional. They weren't even aware of it. Everything was good. The church was going. It was growing. It was amazing. All that was being done. But Jesus said, there's a problem. We could say they were all in. But it was mechanical and artificial and going through the motions and doing what they were supposed to do. It seemed like everything was in tune, but a chord was missing. They had left their first love. That was their condition. But I want you to notice He gives them a cure. Look at verse number 5. Here's God's divine prescription pad for restoring our first love, for rekindling the flames of devotion. Somebody described revival. See, we think you have to have a set time of the year to have revival. That's why we call it Spring Jubilee because I believe you can have revival anytime and all the time. I believe that. Revival is not an event. It is a state. And somebody described revival as falling in love with Jesus all over again. I believe we can just fall in love with Him again and again and again and again. I'm going to use the divinely inspired outline of the Lord Jesus. I'm not going to alter it. Look at verse 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen. He said, I want you to call to mind. I want you to go back to the way it used to be. The tense of the word means to keep on remembering, to never forget it, to let it be fresh in your minds. You know, when you love somebody, you think of that person. You spend time with that person. On my phone, okay, on my phone is a picture of my wife. So every time I open my phone, there she is. Every time I open my phone, I see her. And it affects me, and I'm glad for that. It reminds me. And when you love somebody, the joy and the thrill of being with them and what they mean to you. But listen, if we're not careful, we can get over it. And you know what's the matter with a lot of marriages among Christians? We've gotten over being married. and the joy of that relationship and the thrill of companionship and spending time with that individual. If we're not careful, being married becomes old hat. And you know what? That's what happens if we're not careful. We'll get used to being saved. A person will come, and they'll come to Christ, and they'll be excited, and boy, they're exuberant, and they have zeal. They don't have a whole lot of knowledge, but man, they're zealous. I love to hear young Christians pray. They don't know all the lingo. They just talk to God. I love it. It's just real. It's fresh. It's personal. You know, sometimes we feel like we've got to use all these superlatives to impress God, and I believe God's just waiting on us to talk to Him when it's not real praise. And you know what somebody will say? A critic will say, well, they'll get over it. I want to be like Gypsy Smith. I asked him why he was so happy as a Christian. He said, I never lost the wonder of it all. We'll never lose the wonder of being saved. And Christian, you'll never lose the wonder of where you were and where God's brought you to and what He's done in your life and that heaven's your home. And one day, you are going to reach the promised land. And one day, you are going to touch the nail-scarred hand. And one day, you are going to be in the immediate presence of Jesus. Don't ever get over that. And repent. Oh, I get so tired of X Twitter. and preachers fighting over repentance. And how you got to... this guy... and he's fired up on this. But they're always dealing with sinners. You know what I never read? I never read one statement on Twitter or X about Christians needing to repent. But you know what's interesting to me? That he tells us to repent more times than he does the world to repent. Repenting is an ongoing thing. It's a changing of the mind. that leads to a decision that we make that alters the direction of the life. But the mind has to change. I have to recognize there's a problem and change my mind about the problem. And what Jesus is saying to this church is you may not see it and you may not recognize it, but as the Lord who sees all, I know where you're at. I know what's going on. I know the cord that's missing in your life. Now I needed you to change your mind and agree with me so it'll alter the direction of your life." That's what he said. And then he says, do the first works. You say, preacher, that's not another R. The Lord didn't alliterate there, so I'm not going to either. How about that? First works. Can I help you understand what that's not? That's not a call to more doing and busyness. Sometimes we substitute busyness for blessing. Somehow the more we do, the better Christian we are. Now I think we ought to do for God, don't you? But it can never be a substitute for the first work. Oh, they had plenty of works of doing. But they needed the first works. You say, preacher, what is that? That's loving Him. That's what it is. You know, we first get saved. It's all new. Coming to church for the first time regularly is new. Reading the Bible for the first time, I mean really reading the Bible, it's new. Praying for the first time, new. Sharing your faith for the first time, new. Serving in a ministry for the first time, new. It's all new and exciting and fulfilling. And then over time it's just what we do. And Jesus said, you've stopped thinking about Me and spending time with Me and talking to Me and worshiping Me like it was the first time. Many a Christian was at one time what we would call being on fire for God. Couldn't get enough. And then over time their love cooled. And they started missing here and missing there, stopped hitting miss in their devotional life, no longer sharing their faith, beginning to allow the world to creep into their lives, and they begin to drift, and then they come to the point they're no longer even living for God. But it started here with the first little problem of first work of loving Him. Christian, I want you to jot this down and I want you to forget it. Loving God is the most important thing that you will do as a Christian. More important than sharing your faith. More important than serving in a ministry. More important than having a position in the church is loving Him. That's it. You see, you can do without loving. Did you know that? But you can't love without doing. It's just going to flow out of it. You find it? You see? Loving God is the most important thing that you and I will do as Christians. I'm going to give you a verse. Are you ready for it? Mark 12, verses 28-30. There was a man who came to Jesus. He was a scribe. He thought he would trip the Lord up. And he began to ask Him about what was the great... He said, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him and said, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. It is the first work of loving God with all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my mind, with all of my strength. It's doing that when you do something with all of your strength that implies intensity and intention, sustained effort, ongoing concentration. Can I help you understand? Great marriages don't happen. They're built with hard work. And can I tell you a close relationship with Jesus and loving Him and doing the first work doesn't just happen. It's intentional. I couldn't tell you how many messages I've heard preached on Ephesians 2. Verses 1-7, Church of Ephesus, leaving your first love. I couldn't tell you how many times I've heard it referenced. I couldn't even tell you how many times I've preached it. But you know what I've never done, and I've never heard any other preacher do, is tell you how to love God. What does it look like when I do love God? I mean, you're telling me that's the first work, that I'm to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. What does that look like? And preacher, how do I do that? How do I make that intentional in my life? I'm going to give it to you. Are you ready? You ought to jot it down. Put it in the flyleaf of your Bible if you weren't taking notes. Because this is the crux. Because you don't get anything if you don't get this. Because you'll walk away and say, well, I need to not leave my first love, but what are the first works? How do I love God? Well, I'm going to tell you. Are you ready for it? Number one, love Him most or first. Now you say, preacher, that's a given. But listen to the verse. I'm going to give you a verse for every one of them. Matthew 10 verse 37, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. You know what he's saying? He's not saying that I'm not to love my father and my mother and my children Family members and people. It's not what he's saying at all. But what he's saying is that my love for him should be so great that my love for them looks like hate in comparison. Are you ready? My wife doesn't mind being second in my life. She wants to be second. She wants Jesus to be first in my life because if I will love Him most, I'll love her better. And if you'll love Him first, you'll love everybody else that you're supposed to love better. Tell God you love Him. When was the last time those three little words was in your prayer life and it wasn't just something you say? We're so quick to just say, in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name, without any of the ramifications of what that even means, it's just something we tack on to the end of our prayer. Do not realize that He's the ground of access. He's the way into the presence of God. And that way is the new and living way, the broken body and the shed blood of Christ. You and I have absolutely no right in the presence of a holy God. The only way you have any right to talk to God in any measure and expect anything from Him is because you're coming in Jesus' name through that way of access provided by Him. I don't want my I love you to God to ring hollow. I want it to be real. I love you. Lord, I love you. Remember what John 21 jotted down? You can find the verses. I didn't put them in my notes. The Lord is setting across a fire from the apostle Peter that denied Him and He looks at Him and He says, Lovest thou me? Do you love me? Lord, you know I love you. We understand the difference in the words. But you know what Jesus is evoking from Peter? And I love you. Can I tell you what Jesus wants from you? And I love you. Tell Him you love Him. Number three, love His Word. Psalm 119 verse 47, And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. You know that God's magnified His Word above all His name. You can't love the Bible without loving God. Oh, how love I thy law! Psalm 119 verse 97. Oh, how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day. You can't meditate on the Word without thinking about Him. Isn't that pretty amazing? Talk to Him in prayer. Talk to Him in prayer. Psalm 116 verse 1, I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Do you know what He's saying? I love You, Lord, because You hear me when I pray. Thank You for hearing my prayers, Lord. I love You. I love You. I love You. You ready for the next one? I'm moving along. Hate sin. You don't love God? Hate sin. Psalm 97 verse 10, Ye that love the Lord hate evil. God didn't say hate evil people. He didn't say hate sinners. He said hate sin. It ought to do something to us when we see the sin and the violence and the wickedness of our nation. But you know what's happening? I see it enough on TV, or you see it enough on TV, that we get immunized to it, and it doesn't bother us, and we don't hate it anymore, and the world knows it, and the devil knows it, and that's why they keep putting it in your face. And that's why they put it in front of your children. Because you know why? After a while, it just becomes normal, and we get used to the dark. Young people, don't get used to... You know what's terrible about sin? Preacher, what's terrible about sin? It rips the love of God, our love for God, out of our hearts. Because I'm loving something else more than I do Him. Honor Him and obey. John 14, 15, Jesus getting ready to go to the cross and He looked at His disciples and He said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. Can I help us understand something? Are you all still with me this morning? Y'all back there? Y'all still with me? Okay. Alright. Loving Jesus is not fuzzy. It's not sentimental. It's not the hair standing up on our back of our neck or our arms. It's not getting goose bumps. It's not that at all. It's not the excitement of a camp meeting or a big circle. That's not it at all. That might flow out of it, but that's not it. Loving Him is very simple. It's very concrete. It's not subjective. It's objective. Jesus said, if you want to love Me, then obey Me. Keep My commandments. You want to love Jesus on Monday? Then obey Him on Monday. You want to love Jesus on Tuesday? Then obey Him on Tuesday. That's loving Jesus. Loving Jesus is not just something I do three times a week when I come to church. But yet it is, because didn't He say, don't forsake the assembly of ourselves together as a matter of some? Yes. Let me give you the last one. Are you ready? Love God's people. I just can't stand her. She's your sister in Christ. He just rubs me the wrong way. That is your brother in Jesus. That's who they are. I'm going to preach tonight on why we use the King James Bible. You want to come. It's not going to just be a rip, snort and spit message. It's going to be a very concrete message that will make you think and you're going to have concrete reasons for why you use the King James and why we use it as a church. You know what? Some people, they have the idea that you hate everybody else that doesn't use a King James Bible. That's the way preachers sound in pulpits. But yet, that's still my brother. He may not use the Bible that I use, but if He's saved, He's still my brother. And I need to love Him. Everybody may not worship exactly the same way we worship, but if it's my brother in Christ, I'm to love them. They're the people of God. I can't love the Father if I don't love His children. That means I don't call out wrong. It doesn't mean that we don't stand for what's right. But what it does mean is that we love people. Listen to what Jesus said. This is my mom's favorite verse in the Bible. I think it's her life's verse. If a man say, I love God and hated his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? I'm hearing my mama's voice ringing. Now Kevin, you've got to love your sisters. How can you love God whom you haven't seen if you can't love your sisters whom you have seen? And I'm saying, but he's not my sisters. That was her life verse. No, it's a true verse. I'm loving someone who's invisible. Have you ever thought about that? I've never seen God. But I love Him. But sometimes we don't love those that belong to Him who have skin on them. And this commandment have we from Him that he who loveth God love his brother also. You can't love God if you don't love your brother. You say, well, preacher, they get on my nerves. Well, then pray more for them. Because I'm going to tell you what, if you'll pray for them, God will help you love them. Morning. Church, listen to me. I was reading a book called Strength for Living by Robert J. Morgan. Here's what he wrote. We can't love God too much, but we can love Him better. I'm never going to get to the point that I love God too much. It sort of reminds me of a young Bible college student. He was married, come into the office of the president of the college. I only remember who it was now. He said, I got a problem. He said, well, what is it? He said, I just believe I love my wife too much. He said, I just love her too much. And he began to list some things and at the end of it he said, man, you don't love her enough. You can't love her too much. I'm telling you, you can't love God too much, but you can love Him better. Everyone in this room can love Him better. I don't care what position you hold in this church. I don't care how much you do for God. I don't care how many hours you spend serving God. That will never take the place of you every day making it the first order of your business to love Him. to love Him. That's my job every day, to love God. Everything else is going to flow out of that. This was a church that was doing for God, but they weren't loving God. And Jesus said, I'm not going to let that go. And I'm going to tell you, He's not going to let it go in your life, and He's not going to let it go in my life, and we can love Him better. Maybe you're sitting here this morning, Christian, and you're listening to me, and there's something just a little off in your spiritual life. And maybe you don't even realize what it is. And you're doing all the things you've done before, but yet you feel mechanical at times. And at times you feel like you're just doing it and going through the motions because of what you're doing. It may be that there's a cord missing. You're not loving Jesus better. And what you need to do is strike the cord, the missing cord, in this matter of loving God and falling in love with Jesus all over again. Because He's going to ring the joy bells in your life and the fulfillment's going to come back. Can I remind us, listen, we may be loving an invisible person, but He's a living person. And we can know and fellowship with Him. And Christian, God wants you to love Him better this morning. Maybe you've left your first love and you didn't even realize it. But as I preached, you realized there was a cord missing, and you need to strike the missing cord in your life. Let's bow our heads and close our eyes. No one moving around, please, unless you have to get up to go to the bathroom or to leave for work. God speaking to our hearts, church. What does Jesus think about your love for Him? What does Jesus think about that? How's your love life for the Lord? How many Christians would lift your hand this morning and say, Preacher, God spoke to my heart in the message today about loving Him, and you'd lift your hand, you'd raise your hand. I'm seeing hands going up all over the building. He that hath an ear, let him hear. What are you going to do about it? You can put them down. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to stay right where you are, or are you going to respond to Him?