“Thou Hast Left Thy First Love”
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love.” Is not this our case? Our doctrines may be correct; we may hate
false doctrine, and may not receive those who are not true to principle;
we may labor with untiring energy; but even this is not sufficient. What
is our motive? Why are we called upon to repent?—“Thou hast left
thy first love.”
Let each member of the church study this important warning and
reproof. Let each one see if in contending for the truth, if in debating
on the theory, he has not lost the tender love of Christ. Has not Christ
been left out of the sermons, and out of the heart? Is there not danger
that many are going forward with a profession of the truth, doing
missionary work, while the love of Christ has not been woven into the
labor? This solemn warning from the True Witness means much; it
demands that you shall remember from whence you are fallen, and
repent, and do the first works; “or else,” says the True Witness, “I will
come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent” (
Revelation 2:5
). O that the church might
realize its need of its first ardor of love! When this is wanting, all other
excellences are insufficient. The call to repentance is one that cannot
be disregarded without peril. A belief in the theory of the truth is not
enough. To present this theory to unbelievers does not constitute you a
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witness for Christ. The light that gladdened your heart when you first
understood the message for this time, is an essential element in your
experience and labors, and this has been lost out of your heart and life.
Christ beholds your lack of zeal, and declares that you have fallen, and
are in a perilous position.
Present Love and Law Together
In presenting the binding claims of the law, many have failed to
portray the infinite love of Christ. Those who have so great truths, so
weighty reforms to present to the people, have not had a realization of
the value of the atoning Sacrifice as an expression of God’s great love
to man. Love for Jesus, and Jesus’ love for sinners, have been dropped
out of the religious experience of those who have been commissioned
to preach the gospel, and self has been exalted instead of the Redeemer
of mankind. The law is to be presented to its transgressors, not as
something apart from God, but rather as an exponent of His mind
and character. As the sunlight cannot be separated from the sun, so