# What Causes Us To Leave

Category: Repentance & Restoration
Key Passage: Revelation 2
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: August 21, 2022

Revelation chapter number two. And just for a little bit tonight, I feel like the Lord would have us focus on this one truth from His Word. We’re going to try to narrow it down, really, to one word, basically. You’ll find yourself, by the way, good to have Brother Campanelli with us also tonight. Every time he comes, we put him to work. Amen, he’s good at it, so might as well get him work. Good to have them tonight.

But you’ll find what is called the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor. That’s basically where Turkey is now, that part of the world, but there were seven actual churches, and He sent letters to them. It starts off to the angel. We think most people that have really studied it out, the angel means messenger.

I think you’re really talking to the preacher, the pastor of the church. He’s a messenger of God there. But as to every one of the seven letters, it’ll end with this: “He that hath ears, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” So it’s just not singular to that church. It’s to the church as a whole. It’s to you and I. You make up the church. There’s a message in every one of these letters to all of us.

We’re going to focus on the very first one, to the church in Ephesus. It’s a great church, a great church. It seems that God had used Apostle Paul to start the church. I think it’s Acts 18. You can read about that; we won’t go there tonight. But it’s a great church. This point is a little bit older. It had been through some struggles. Some of this is not Bible, but historians think that at this point, the church had had a church split. They had been through some problems, and maybe that just changed them a little bit going through problems. I don’t know exactly what caused it. We’re going to look at the one problem God tells them about the church. Great church, but they had one flaw. God points it out, and they want them to get it right.

We’re going to look at that tonight, just really one word about their flaw. Revelation chapter number two, we’re going to start in verse number one. Would you please, if you’re able, stand just to show the Word of God respect? It’s worthy. Not maybe the Bible is worthy of that respect. So just briefly, while we’re reading our text here, we’ll do that if you would please. Revelation 2 and verse number 1.

He says, “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” Can I just time out for a second and say a word about this? This is Jesus. He comes to every one of the churches wearing a different hat. He comes to this church, and He has seven stars in His right hand.

We won’t take time to do it, but the former chapter tells us those seven stars are the seven preachers. Just a word about that: if God is calling you or if you’ve been called to preach, it’s a wonderful, wonderful honor. You’re in His right hand. That’s amazing. It’s awesome. Don’t lower yourself to do anything else. God’s called you to preach; that’s a wonderful honor. You’re in His right hand. Then He says He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks from chapter one; we know that’s the seven churches. He walks in the midst of them.

The middle, the heart of this church—every church ought to be Jesus. We ought to bleed Jesus. We ought to just think Jesus, promote Jesus. He ought to have the preeminence: Jesus. Everything successful this church does is Jesus. It’s just all Jesus. He walks in the midst of them. By the way, chapter one, He’s wearing His priestly garment. It was one of the jobs of the priests; He would trim the golden candlesticks or put the oil in there and take care of them.

The Lord takes care of this church. He’s the one that has provided for it. He’s the one that led it. He’s the one that started it. He’s the one that will give us further growth. He’s the one that gave us this land over here. He’s the one that helps us build over there. He’s the one that helps us to see people saved. It’s all Him. He is the one that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. That’s Jesus. Let’s keep going, would you please? Verse number two. I know that works. I’m sorry, but can we pause, or just let me say a few words about these? I’m trying to get to the heart of the message. But, you know, preachers, we’ve got to chase rabbits. And while we’re chasing rabbits, we might as well shoot them, amen.

In every one of the churches, He starts off, “I know thy works.” Every one of them. We don’t get saved by works. We’re saved by the grace of God. We’re going to go to heaven by Jesus’ shed blood. He’s our only way to heaven. I don’t get saved by works, but once I am saved, I am created in Christ Jesus unto good works. He’s concerned about our works. Your works will never save you. The Bible says, “Not by works of righteousness, but according to His mercy He has saved us.” Once I’m saved, He doesn’t save me, take me to heaven, boom, and leave me here to work for Him. He’s concerned about my works—not to get saved (that Jesus handles)—but that I ought to work for Him since He gave me salvation. The first thing He says to all seven churches: “I know thy works.”

He goes on: “And thy labor.” Man, you got some blisters on your hand; you work for Me. And “thy patience”—they’ve been through the rough times and they’ve just been patient and they’ve stayed after it all these years. And “how thou canst not bear them which are evil.” It wasn’t just one of those churches that thought heaven’s good, hell’s good, Jesus is good, the devil’s good—everything’s good, no. They stood for something. He said, “You’ve… how thou canst not bear them which are evil.” They did right about it. And “thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars.” You stood. A church ought to stand, but it ought to stand in love. True love stands. They had a proper balance. They’ve stood for the truth when they needed to.

Verse number three: “And hast borne, and hast patience.” You’ve been through the battles. You’ve borne the weight over the years. “And for my namesake hast labored.” It wasn’t about them looking good; it wasn’t about their name. It was for His namesake. They had proper motives, the right motives for the Lord. “And for my namesake hast labored and hast not fainted.” They didn’t quit in the heat of the battle; they kept going for the Lord. It was a great church. Some think of the seven churches as one of the best, one of the greatest.

Some history says that John, remember John the Revelator, exiled on the Isle of Patmos, eventually, we think he got off, but he was very severely wounded and just weak. Some say at the very end of his life, Apostle John, they would bring him to this church; they’d have to carry him. He’d come into this church and just talk about how we ought to love one another. That was really his message. You read the book of John; it talks about that a lot—the new commandment again, that you love one another. He’d talk about that a lot. Great church. Great church. But here’s the one thing Jesus has against them. I want you to see it, verse number four right there. He says, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”

That’s the one thing. He tells him how to fix it—a three-part remedy, verse number five. He says, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” Let me just say a word about it. Notice there’s a difference between repent and do your first works—two different things. Be careful with that word, repent. I’ve said that often. God repented in the Bible over 20 times. Be careful with that word; it’s biblical. If you’re going to get saved, you’ve got to repent, but what that means is the key. Remember, repent. Oh, my goodness, I’m not right. I’m not where I used to be. I’m not where I ought to be. Have a total change of mind. And then you start doing your first works; you go back and start doing those things you used to do.

Or else, watch, or else, “I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” It’s a good church, but God said, “I can’t let this one pass by. I’m going to have to take your church out of there if you don’t get this one right.” They left the first love.

Just a couple of things. Verse number four. Would you go back to verse number four right there? He said, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” A lot of times when we hear this saying “first love,” we think that is automatically talking about timeline first—when we just got saved. When you just get saved, man, you’re so excited. My sins are forgiven. I’m going to heaven. I’m a child of God. Satan can’t get me. I’m in the hands of Jesus; He’ll never cast me out. That’s wonderful. Sometimes or often that is your first love. But it’s not necessarily talking about a timeline; your first love, He’s talking about quality first, first place, if you will.

That’s why He says in the next verse, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.” He’s not necessarily talking about time—the first time you got saved; that probably is for many of them. But I think about the other night, Brother Patrick talked about getting saved when he was just a boy. For someone like that, it’s probably their best time with the Lord, probably wasn’t when they got saved. It’s not necessarily time-wise; it’s quality. It’s the time you are the closest to the Lord. It’s the time when you are just hand in hand, when you’re walking, you’re having your closest relationship with the Lord. It’s the times you remember when you just felt like you were so close and you were in love with the Lord. You could truly sing, “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.” That’s what He is talking about when He says you’ve left your first love. That’s what it means by first: your best love, if you will, for the Lord.

When you’re in love with Him, someone recently was describing to me the difference. They said the difference is: you love your kids, but you’re in love with your grandkids. It’s when you’re just in love with Jesus, your first love. Now, another thing about this I used to get wrong all the time: “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.” I often would just hear it all my life, and I always say, “You’ve lost your first love,” but that’s not what it says. He says, “Thou hast left.” I have walked away. I have just turned, and I’ve left that sweet time in the habit of God. I have left. The Bible says, “In thy presence is fullness of joy.” When you’re really close to God, that’s when you have fullness of joy. Remember those times when your prayer time was so sweet, and you felt like you could just reach out and touch Him? That’s your best time with the Lord. Here’s the amazing thing: we leave it. You’ve left your first love. As you live for the Lord over the long haul, all of us—I know myself, I’m so guilty of it—I walk away from that first love. When I think about it now, I think, man, I’ve got a hole in my head big enough to drive a Mack truck through. That’s just dumb, dumb, dumb. But we’ll all do it. For a little bit tonight, that one word: left. We left. The title would be, “Why Do We Leave?” Why do we leave? We’ve left, and we leave the first love.

Why do I do that? You can be a born-again Christian, saved, a child of God, but you have no peace because you have something between you and God. You’re still saved, you’re still their Father, but it’s like one of our children one time. My wife said, “I don’t feel close to them because I feel like I’m getting onto them all the time.” A child of God that’s not living for God can have that. They’ve got the relationship—father, child—but they don’t have the fellowship, and they don’t have the peace, they don’t have the presence of God in their life, they don’t have the fragrance of God, as Bob was singing about. They don’t have all that because they’ve left. We leave it. We don’t lose it; we leave it. Why do we leave the first love?

Would you look over in Mark chapter number four quickly? This is a parable. Jesus is talking about the sower and the seed. It hits those four different grounds, and this is the thorny ground. If you read it in several of the Gospels, you’ll notice that when that seed hits the ground, that ground is ready for it. It receives it. It grows. Then something happens. Mark chapter number four, look at verse number 19, would you please? Mark 4, verse number 19. He says there, “And the cares of this world.” As the seed grew, it became a good, strong plant; it was producing. “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entered in, choked the word, and it becometh what?” If it becomes unfruitful, it means at one point it was fruitful, right? It had somewhat of a first love because it became unfruitful. What happened? Something caused that person, that seed, to leave. What was it? The cares of this world.

Sometimes the thing that causes me just to turn away from the Lord is the cares. Sometimes you just worry. I’m over here walking hand in hand with my Savior. I’ve got first love. When you’re in love with the Lord, it just seems like nothing bothers you. But we walk away for worry—just the worry about the cares of this world. He’s God; we’re holding hands with the One who holds tomorrow. But I walk away just so I can worry, like I can really do anything about it—and 99% of the time, I can’t anyway. If I can do something about it, I go do it instead of worrying about it. There have been times in my prayer life where everything’s great. But then there are times where I spend my prayer time, shame on me, contemplating how to solve the problem instead of truly praying. Even in my prayer time, I’m leaving my first love so this puny brain can try to figure it out when He is omnipotent God. Shame on me, I leave the first love for worry. What pleases God? Faith. Hebrews 11:6: “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.” How do you get saved? By putting your faith in what Jesus did on the cross. That’s the thing that pleases Him. And I want to leave that sweet relationship with Him for my worry. I’ve been there a million times. It’s such a sad thing. What does the Bible say in Isaiah 26:3? “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” I’ll be so careful. I’ll leave the first love for the cares of this world. The devil is good at putting them right in front of our face.

What else does He say chokes this seed? He said, “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.” What a shame. People are just chasing that almighty dollar, and they’re devoting their life to it. Jesus said it so clearly: “You cannot serve God and mammon [money].” You see people walk away. They’ve got this first love; it’s so sweet and rich, powerful answers to prayer. And yet I leave it for an old, stinking green piece of paper. Did you notice how Jesus worded that? He said, “the deceitfulness of riches.” It makes you think, “If I just have enough money, I’d be happy.” Friend, that’s so deceitful. The highest rate of suicide is among the very wealthy. Sometimes the more you get, the more you have to worry about. It’s deceitful. Money’s not the root of all evil; the love of money is the root of all evil. I leave that first love for the deceitfulness of riches. What’s the next thing? He says, “and the lust of other things entered in.” Other things. It can be just, “I got to have the American dream!” Friend, much better than the American dream is going to heaven forever, amen. If you have that first love, He can handle all that stuff. As the Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” He can handle these things better than I can anyway. Why do we walk away? He said, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.”

Just the things of this world—cares of this world. Are y’all still with me tonight? We’re trying to hurry along. You know a preacher’s got to get three points. Amen. We got our first one in. What causes me to leave? Cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, other things in this world—they just enter in and choke me. Then let me say this, just one word on this one: plain old pride, pride. You can word it like this: self-sufficiency. It’s like a little boy who jerks his head loose from his parents and takes off on his own course; he’s going to fall. Sometimes we get a little too big for our britches. We think, “We don’t really need God. I’ll just do it on my own.”

Would you look over, if you will, in Psalms 138? Psalm 138, verse number six: “Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly. But the proud He knoweth afar off.” I’m not going to be right there hand in hand. I’m not going to have that first love when I have pride. I can know Him, but I’m going to know Him afar off. I can be a born-again Christian, but I’m not close to Him simply because of pride. Pride has so many different forms and shapes. This is a form of pride: sometimes I’ll get so busy trying to do something for the Lord on my own that I leave the Lord. You’re going to do the work of God without God?

Over there in Proverbs 27, he talks about a generation whose eyes are lofty. It’s kind of like the guy who said, “These hands right here have earned everything I got.” Well, who gave you the hands? You and I could have been born in agony because of what our mother did. We’ve got no reason for our pride. We all need God. He’s been good to us.

Sometimes we leave because of pride. Sometimes that reveals itself as, “I just don’t want to confess my sin.” I’m still saved by the blood of Jesus Christ; I’m His child, but I’m not close. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If I confess, fine. If not, I’m leaving my first love. Sometimes we’re just not willing for the Holy Spirit to go through your life and say, “Hey, I’m tired of doing it God’s way; I want to do it my own way.” And God says, “All right. I’m never going to change, though.” And we leave Him. We leave our first love. Part of the Model Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” That’s going to be a daily moment of getting things right, because I don’t want to leave Him.

Sometimes I get so opinionated, I can’t hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. You’ve heard me talk about television. They say Henry Ford drove by a Ford broken down on the side of the road and stopped to help the guy. The young fellow was so prideful, like, “You old man, what do you know about cars?” Henry Ford just hopped back in his car and left him broke down and drove off. But here’s the thing: I can be like that sometimes. I can be so opinionated about what’s right, and the Holy Spirit says, “Okay, all right.” And I leave first love. What a shame. I’m prideful. I don’t seek His blessings. Israel was like that. God said, “Look, the ox knows who its master is, but Israel, you don’t know I’m the one who made you, and you leave Me.” They left their first love. What a sad thing.

Sometimes I leave Him because I just want to be frustrated about it for a while. Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit, but you just want to go over there and have your fit. God says, “All right,” but I leave Him. I leave my first love. Sometimes I’m just not willing to forgive. Somebody hurt my heart; you don’t know how bad they hurt me, preacher. If you won’t forgive your Father, now you’re still saved, your Father which is in heaven won’t forgive either. Still your Father, still saved, but there’s no fellowship between you and your Father. Not close. What a sad, sad thing. When I leave, I leave first love. He’s always there, but we leave. “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.”

Sometimes my tongue—I’m just not willing to bridle my tongue. Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt.” I leave Him because I just want to say what I want to say. He’s waiting for that first love. By the way, He’s always waiting for us if we just come back humbly. He’s like a mom or a dad just waiting for you. He longs to be close to you. If you’re a child of God, He’s your Dad. If I come back honest, sincere, and humbly, He’s longing to get back close to you. Why do I leave?

Sometimes I leave Him for the things of the world. Number two, pride. We define the word “lust” as this inner desire, typically something bad, but it’s in you. When you get saved and live for the Lord, I don’t think you ever just have no lust. The Bible says when you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Here’s the problem. Look over in James chapter number one, verse number 14: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

When I’m just flirting with temptation, I allow myself to get enticed. That lust is inside, and then you’ve got trouble. I’m not willing to not walk on the edge of the cliff. If I walk on the edge of the cliff long enough as a Christian, I’m going to fall. Satan is a master fisherman. He’s always looking for the right lure to entice you. He’s studying you. He’s always trying to entice you. I’ve got my first love with Christ. It’s wonderful, sweet, and precious. If I’m not careful, I’m walking over here, flirting with temptation. I’ve already left, actually, when I flirt with temptation, because it’s just a matter of time before Satan gets that right lure, and it’s going to entice me.

It can come in so many different forms. Can I name one lure he uses? Movies. You have got to guard what movie you watch because Satan is always trying to cast that lure. He’ll get you in that relaxed mode, and then he’ll pump you full of that enticement. Hollywood is often Satan’s pipeline. You would not let a lady come to your house and ask to commit immorality, but we’ll let that inside our house on that tube. We must guard against things that are always trying to entice us. The problem is we leave first love.

Music. That music will pull you. Music is a powerful tool for good and right. There’s a group called “Pictures of Grace.” It’s great music, and it can encourage you. Or it can be like a thousand pounds pulling you away when you’re trying to stay with your first love. You’re not going to be spirit-filled and listen to the wrong kind of music. The spirit realm and music go hand in hand throughout the Bible. Dress. So often we just want to dress like the rest of the world. I’ll be so careful about that. The devil can use that.

We are here with first love. We are with the Lord. It’s sweet. It’s precious. It’ll bring you what you’re looking for: love, joy, and peace. But we leave the Lord for the world. Sometimes the Lord looks at me and says, “Paul, why are you leaving Me? It’s been so wonderful.” But I’ll leave it for worry, for the world, for my little petty sins. It’s the craziest thing in the world. He told this church in Ephesus, “You’ve left your first love.” God won’t just let it slide; He said, “If you don’t, I’m going to remove that church out of there.”

How many of you know my dog, Dixie? She’s part Great Pyrenees and part Lab. If you walk by her, she has to rub up against you, and you get white fur all over you. I like to take walks often in the morning in the woods behind my house. If I were to ever take a walk without her, she would be picketing in front of my house holding signs: “I’m going on strike!” She goes on the walks in the morning; that’s part of the deal. Dixie loves it, and she usually just takes off running, about 90 miles an hour. Sometimes she gets worn out and comes back panting. Sometimes she comes back and doesn’t want to leave. She’ll chase deer, turkey. She’s gotten sprayed by skunks too many times.

Anyway, she comes back, and sometimes she will just follow me everywhere. I think, “Dixie, man, I’m trying to pray. How can I pray and focus on the Lord when you’re right there all the time?” But I like to be like that with the Lord. I like to be that: “Lord, I just want to stay right by You. I won’t leave You. Wherever You go, I just want to be right there.” You have the greatest life: love, joy, peace. You have the fragrance of God about you. First love. Would you just ask, “Lord, is there something that’s drawing me? Why do I leave You?” Would you focus on that a little bit tonight?

Bow your heads and close your eyes. If you say, “Preacher, I want to stay right close to Him. God spoke to my heart. I want to keep that first love.” Lift your hand. I like to stay right beside Him. I like to dwell in His presence. Thank you for letting the Lord work in your heart. Maybe you’re here tonight, and you say, “I know what’s been drawing me. The Lord put His finger on something, and it’s the thing I’m leaving my first love for.” Anybody like that tonight? “Preacher, this is the thing that’s causing me to leave my first love.” All of us are there from time to time.

Maybe you’re here tonight, and you say, “Lord, show me when I’m leaving You. When I’m walking away, would You remind me, ‘Hey, you’re walking away from the first love’?” Lord, I’m asking You, when I leave You, would You remind me in Your mercy? You’re leaving the first love. I want to do my best to stay, but Lord, would You show me when I’m leaving? God bless you. Me too. Me too.

One last thing: If you’re here tonight and say, “I’m not even a child of God. I’ve never been redeemed. I’ve never had my sins washed away. I’ve never been saved.” If that’s you tonight, He loves you. He wants to save you. Once you are saved, it’s yours; He doesn’t take it back. If you’re here tonight and say, “I know I’m a sinner. I know Jesus died and rose again for me. I want to go to Jesus for my salvation.” Right where you are, would you go to Jesus? Tell Him, “Oh, dear Jesus, I admit I’m a sinner. Jesus, I believe You died for me on the cross. Right now, I’m coming to You, Jesus. Would You pay for all my sins? Would You make me Your child?” Would you thank Him for saving you? If you pray now, He will be your Savior. Would you let us know about that?

Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Father, thank You for revealing to us what we all do from time to time. Lord, help us not to leave our first love. Lord, maybe even tonight, we need to remember, repent, and do our first works. Father, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Sometimes, when I am growing and keeping my first love, hand in hand with Jesus, He says, “All right, now you learn a little bit. Now we can go places together.” Sometimes He says, “All right, you’re learning that. Now we can go a little bit faster and accomplish more.” We can accomplish so much in this world as I grow and do not leave my first love. One more verse: “Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me. Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heaven but Thee?”

I appreciate you being in the Lord’s house on a Sunday night. I’m thrilled to have every person here tonight. A little over twelve hours from now, Rutherford County Christian School will officially start. That’s an exciting thing. Pray that God blesses it and uses it for His glory. America needs it. Glad you’re a part of the team. Praise the Lord you’re here tonight. Every person is a blessing. Let’s keep praying for that individual mention to get saved. Make that a matter of prayer this week. Brother Alan Johnson, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please?

Original File: What Causes Us To Leave - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 08212022