In this sermon, the preacher discusses the importance of remembering and returning to one's first love for God. He emphasizes that it is possible to have many good qualities and be committed to serving God, but still lack a deep love for Him. The preacher urges the listeners to reflect on their initial love for Christ and to repent and restart their relationship with Him. He emphasizes that God desires a personal and intimate connection with His followers, not just religious activities or obligations.

And you can see that we have only seven verses this evening, and yet there's a lot of wonderful truth in these seven verses. You remember last week we had a revelation of the Lord and saw the magnificence of the Master, our Lord in the midst of the churches, measuring every motive and searching every servant and weighing every work. And that's where we are this evening, with the Lord standing in the midst of the churches. And he's going to send this letter to the church in Ephesus. And this is the last letter the Lord wrote to that church. These seven letters to the seven churches are the seven last letters of our Lord. In fact they're the only unabridged messages we have. Every word is here, what he wanted to say, what he meant to say. And he's sending this letter to the church in Ephesus. I think we should think just for a moment about the city of Ephesus. If you don't know, it was the chief city of Asia at that time. It was the metropolis of religious thinking. The great temple of the goddess of Diana was there. You remember Paul coming to Ephesus in the Acts of the Apostles. And this great temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. I think we should get that into our minds. It was a masterpiece. It was 418 feet long. It was a masterpiece. And it was 239 feet wide. It had 100 exterior columns rising 69 feet into the air. And 39 of these were the most beautiful hand-carved columns ever seen. It was reckoned to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And I'm telling you all that not because it's very important, but that you can contrast the little church of believers in Ephesus with this great temple of Diana. Diana was a goddess that was worshipped by millions. The word means the goddess of fertility. It's an abominable thing. If you look in Thessaloniki sometime, you will find a picture of the goddess of Diana. It's a female with a great number of breasts. And I'll say no more. It's called the goddess of fertility. And countless thousands went to worship before this abominable thing. But in a dark street somewhere, and probably with no building of their own, there were the true believers of Christ. The real born-again bloodbath people. Remember when we talk about the church in Ephesus, we're not talking about a building in Ephesus. We're talking about God's people gathering together, maybe in an upper room in a back street. And I think that we should correct what's here before us. In the first phrase it says, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write. And I'm sure that dear old Darby, who was a great, great scholar, was perfectly right when he changed it. Because it should read, unto the angel of the church in Ephesus. The church of Ephesus might be a title for some folks. But the church in Ephesus would direct you to the believers who were gathered together in some little insignificant spot, probably in a back street. But although the city was the great metropolis, and although the temple was one of the wonders of the world, yet the Lord of glory had his eye and his heart was towards these few scattered sheep in the back street. He was thinking about them. But that shows you that you're very important to the Lord. And I want to get this bit over as we begin. You see, we're going to look at these seven churches and these living letters, these last letters of our wonderful Lord to them. And I want you to think that these churches were actual, literal, and I should say, persons and places. They were the persons born again in Ephesus. Let's remember this, that the Lord is speaking to a local church. Don't let's forget that. There was not the chaotic state then, but there is now. And the believers gathered together, or the Lord gathered them together on the first day of the week that they might remember him. But we want to get the actual, literal place and people into our minds. They were there all right. It was the church in Ephesus. You see, everything that our Lord does and did, and forever will do, everything that he did was wonderful. His name, of course, is wonderful. And everything that he said was wonderful. Never mind speak like this now. And everything that he did was wonderful. And everything that he wrote was wonderful. And this is his letter. This is a letter from the Lord. It's his own letter. He worded it. He sent it. And you see, there is something wonderful in it, because while firstly it is sent to this actual, literal place, yet there's a dot in it. Because when you examine it in its depth, it is not only actual and literal to a place and people. It may well be prophetical and historical. It may be outlining for us a period of the whole church history. And I think it is. I think that underneath the literal writing to the actual people who were the Lords in Ephesus, I think that we're getting a picture of the first hundred years of church history. And you'll find that when we get each church, while they are actual, literal places, they are periods. And we'll come down the whole church period. And when we come to the last one, which is the Laodicean church, that is the period that the church is in now. We're at the very last days. So there's something wonderful there. It's not only actual and literal. It is also prophetical and historical. And here's something that's in every one of these seven letters. Not only actual and literal. Not only prophetical and historical. But each one of them ends with a personal, individual promise. The Lord speaks to individuals. In a moment we're going to see that he's speaking to John and asking John to write to the angel of the church in Ephesus. But the letter was not for this messenger in the church. In fact, every time you hear this word in the heart of the letter, he got half ears to hear. Because it was for the whole church. But every time as we come to the end of these letters, see verse seven tonight, he got half an ear. Let them hear what the Spirit said unto the churches. To him, and we're to a person now, because this is personal. To him that overcometh will I give to each of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And we'll have to look at that very carefully when we come to it. All I'm underlining now is that there is a personal and an individual promise to the person who will overcome it. And so I want you to keep that in mind as we go to all the other letters, if the Lord will. We must see them as actual literal places. We must see the depth that's here of the prophetical and historical period that they represent. And at the same time we must never miss the personal and the individual promise that's there for you and I to make our own. And so we're ready for starting now. We need to take a moment with this word angel. Verse one, phrase one. Unto the angel of the church in Ephesus writes, It is our Lord that's speaking of course. As he's speaking to John on the Isle of Patmos and saying to him, Unto the angel. And I think that everybody here would be intelligent enough to know that our wonderful Lord was not directing John to write a letter to a shining angel in heaven. That would be nonsensical. Nonsensically the translators didn't use another word. It's an old Greek word that's there. And it can rightly be translated angel. And it can just as rightly be translated messenger. Because the angels of course are messengers. And you see the Lord had a special messenger in the church. This is a very difficult little phrase for church gatherings to get over. And they don't want me to say it you know. Because there was a pastor in the church in Ephesus. He's like a robot now. And I'll tell you there are seven churches and I'll tell you there are seven messengers. Wonder who he was now. That would be more difficult wouldn't it. Yet I believe you know I could put my finger on the person. Let's turn back to Paul's letter to Timothy. And we're at 1 Timothy. And we're at chapter 1 please. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul's the writer here. You can see that he commences with the word Paul. No ecclesiastical nonsense about him. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour. And it's a great thing to know that the gifts given to the church are commanded by God our Saviour. And the Lord Jesus Christ which is our hope. On to Timothy. My own son in the faith. Paul in legend to Christ. Great mercy and peace from God our Father in Jesus Christ our Lord. I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus. You know Paul left from there when I went into Macedonia. That thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. You know he was left there of the pastor of the church at Ephesus. And I think that if you measure back to when John wrote the letter, the revelation. And to this place here I have a feeling that Timothy was the angel of the church at Ephesus. I'm sure of that. You needn't swallow that unless you want to. But that's what I believe. And if it wasn't Timothy, I shall also say to you that it was a person who was the messenger. You see it was somebody who was responsible to receive the message of the Lord for the church. And not only responsible to receive the message of the Lord, but responsible to make it plain to the church. And not only to receive it and make it plain and pass it on, but pass it on. You know by now that Dr. Ironside was a very great help for me. He sort of took a liking to me when I was just a young believer. And he may have seen long before I did or anybody else that maybe the Lord had given me a gift. I don't know. But he used to come to see me in the mornings and ask me questions. And I can tell you in those days he tied me up in a knot very often. And I can remember once he entered into the room and he said to me, Hello, do you know the difference between God's truth and God's message? And I always found when I was talking to the doctor that the best thing that I could do was to be honest. In fact it's the best thing you can do when you're talking to anybody. And I said to him, no sir, I don't know. Is there any difference? He said supposing I came to the morning meeting next Sunday morning and I stood up to preach to the assembly and I preached about the Lord's coming again. Would that be the Lord's truth? I said it would. Yes, the Lord's coming again, sir. That would be the Lord's truth. He said, would that be the Lord's message for that particular morning meeting? I said, it might not, sir. He said, now you're finding out that the Lord's truth is not always the Lord's message. So he said, I instruct you. If you're ever going to be the ruler in a big assembly or a small one, that you have to pay great attention all week long and get along with the Lord and receive the Lord's message for the saints on Sunday morning. Because the Lord might want to come to the assembly to say something. And if you're just wasting your time and filling Sunday morning up with some doctrine that you know, it may be the Lord's truth, my boy. But it may not be the Lord's message. That's one of the great tasks of a ruler in the assembly, especially the ruler that labors in words and doctrine. I must get along. I must wait. I must pray. I must listen. I must tune in. I must be the Lord's messenger with the Lord's message for the Lord's people on Sunday morning. And how often it has happened to be true in this assembly. Scores of you come to me and say, Pastor, that was the Lord's word for me this morning. I would like it to be so. Yes, I think this is something that we must get a hold of. I think I should finish this and do this. Dr. Ironside said to me, Now you know, Willie, you know now that the Lord's truth is not always the Lord's message. Is that right? I said, yes. He said, I'll tell you, we see. If you get on your knees and get the Lord's message, you'll suddenly find out it's the Lord's truth. That's very good. The Lord's truth is not always the Lord's message. But the Lord's message is always the Lord's truth. And so there was a messenger here, and he was responsible. He was responsible for the spiritual conditioning of the church at Ephesus. He had to receive this message. He had to make it plain. He had to pass it on. He had to press it home. And having looked at the messenger, let's look at this next phrase. Unto the angel of the church in Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand. You see, this is the manager of the messengers. Because the seven stars were the seven messengers. And I try to tell all our young men who go preaching, that unless you're in the Lord's hands, you're no use. You just want to swank it with sermons and headings and imitating somebody. You're not going to be much use to the Lord. You know, you're wiggling about on your own. You seek to be in the Lord's hands. It means the Lord has control of you. It means the Lord may set you aside. And I came up here at seven this evening. There was only the one lady in. She's in the back seat. And I nearly fell, and I could hardly get down the steps, and she couldn't help me very well, and she cried, bless her. And I thought, you know, while I was holding on to the seat, and descended me away tonight, while I'm ready to go. Because I'm in his hands. And then I've got to take my time and be sure of what he wants me to do. And even though I could scarcely crawl here, I felt I should come. And now I'm absolutely sure about it. You see, you must be in the Lord's hands. He must be able to move you, or remove you, or put you back, or bring you forward. Some months ago, this whole assembly was on its knees because I'd got a call to a very big church in Belfast. And I had to be in the Lord's hands then. If he wants me to go, I must go. If he wants me to stay, I must stay. I have to get my heart into the place where I'm prepared to go to attend hut in the country with the Lord, if he wants to. You know, it's a tremendous study for you young men and young women to go through the Scriptures and see the things that he had in his hands at times. You know, to start you off, I couldn't exhaust it because it's too long. You remember Jairus' daughter? You remember she was dead? My daughter is even now dead, said Jairus. And you follow the Lord right into the room? And he took her hand in his. She was a little girl, she was only twelve. Her hand must have been small. I think it was tiny. Must have been a white little hand, a weak little hand. It's now a dead hand. It's cold. It's lifeless. But it's in his hands. And the moment that he took that tiny, lifeless, cold, dead, useless little hand in his and squeezed it, she got life. You see, the Master is life. This is life. You remember this? That after Passover supper he took the bread in his hands and he break it. It was unleavened bread. And he break it. And after the same manner also he took the cup. Took it in his hands. And you know what he said, don't you? He said, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do so the Lord's will. Yes. You see, when he took the little hand in his the Master was life. When he took the bread and the wine the Master was the Lamb. Yes, he was letting them see the atoning work of the Lamb. And here the Master is the Lord. He's got the creatures in his hands. Now you follow it up and you'll find there are about a dozen more but I can't take the time to do them for you. I'm only starting you up. But you can see the messenger here and you can see the manager of the messengers. And then there's something more here. Unto the messenger of the church in Ephesus, right? These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand could walketh in the midst of the seven gold and candlesticks. You know, he's the Master. He just walks through the churches. Sometimes we see our beloved Queen inspecting the gardens. And she walks down one row and down another one. And these great big men stand so stressed because she's their Sovereign. And she looks at their boots and looks at their buttons and looks at their bugbeats. And she's inspecting them. She's the, she's the Sovereign. And so I think that you can see the Master of the messengers here and the manager of the messengers. The Master of the church or churches and the manager of the messengers. This is who is saying these things. These things saith he. So it's the Lord that's sending this letter to the church at Ephesus. Now I want you to notice the Master's remarks for a moment. He says, I know thy works. He'd been watching this little local church. He says, I know your works. And I think he was thinking there about practical things. Good works became, of course, after salvation. Because we don't do good works to be saved, you know. We do good works because we are saved. It's not good works that saves us. It's not at works, salvation. But we're saved unto good works. And I think it's their practicality that it is. He says, I know thy practicality. And then he says, I know thy labor. You see, there's a special figure of speech here in the Greek New Testament and you mightn't just notice it. But I'll do it like this for you and you'll notice it. I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which they are apostles and are not and hast found them like and hast borne and hast patient and for my name's sake hast labor and hast not paid. It's a special figure of speech and each one must be emphasized. That's why it's there. It's a special figure of speech for emphasizing each deity. And he's saying to them, I know your practicality. I know your works. And then he says, I'm thy labor. I know your activities. I know where you take the gospel to. I know the places you go around to take your spam. I know about your prayer meetings. I know everything that goes on. I know your practicality and I know your activity. And then he said, I'm thy patience. Well you know that patience is a quality and it's a God-given quality. Yes. And these people have this God-given quality and I'm sure we need a lot of it in these days. He says, I know thy practicality and I know thy activity and I know thy quality. You see the Lord's very honest about everything. And then he said this, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. You see, this is competitive. These people just wouldn't bluff their way along, you know. Nor if an old modernist came into this church, I'm afraid. And I will have to talk to him. And I'm afraid that if ever a modernist appears without us knowing, creeping in on the words in this platform and I'm behind him, he will only get a few phrases. And then I shall stop him. Because we can't bear it. And we're not bearing it. Some preachers will bear everything now. Preacher can say whatever he likes. Heard about a preacher not far from here the other night saying that when the minister puts the drop of water on the baby's brow, grace enters. That's from hell. You don't get saved like that. That's potpourri. Because some of the believers just nod their head. Oh well, we one can't bear that sort of thing. And so he's saying to the church, you know, I know all about your practicality, and I know your activity, and I know your quality, and I know your sincerity. And at the end of verse two, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not understand the laws. You always get boys coming around saying there's something, you know. And in the early days there were boys visited even these little local churches the way at Ephesus and tried to put it over that they were apostles. But this church, Martin Justice, after all that, has tried them. And found them liars. Of course you remember that people in the early church had the spirit of protection. And when Ananias and Sapphira tried to put something over, Peter knew they were liars. And this is what you call solidity. Which is I know all about your practicality. And I know about your activity. And I know about your quality. And I know about your sincerity. And I know about your solidity. You're solid. You won't let anybody bluff you. And then in verse three he said I'm half born. You know the storm had blown in this little church a time or two. And they were persecuted in those days. He says I know all about your dependability. I know when they taunt you. And when they persecute you. And when they slander you that you're not born. That's their dependability. And then he comes back again you see to their quality and to their practicality or their activity. And then he said lastly in verse three I'm half not fainted. He says I know all about your immovability. Very easy to faint when you're not well. And if ever I had the chance of fainting it was tonight. I could have cleared out righteously tonight. Maybe that's what the devil would have liked me to do. But I've been on the canvas before. And before it comes to him I always get up. Yes I want you to notice this. This is the master's remarks. I know your practicality. I know your activity. I know your quality. I know your sincerity. I know your solidity. I know your dependability. I know your immovability. Now tell me this. This was a great big church. Yes indeed it was. Well the Lord is commending them for all that. And yet although there are so many things that the master can commend them for it has to stop at verse four and say nevertheless. Although you're doing well boys nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. That's tremendous you know if you take time to take it in. You know you can have a whole lot of activity and a whole lot of qualities and a whole lot of sincerity and a whole lot of dependability and immovability and not be in love with the Lord at all. Do you get that? Because that's exactly what he said. Yes this is something that we need to take time with. You see it's possible, it's possible for me to love the message and not love the master. It's possible for the singers and the great singers and Sunday night and John's there. And it's possible for the singers to love the song and not love the Savior. And it's possible for you to love the crowd and not love the Christ. And it's possible for you to love the place and not love the person. And it's possible for you to love the meeting and not love the master. You know after all this is what Christ wants. He wants your love. He said I know, I know all about your activity now. And I know you'll stand up and I know you're solid and I know you're sincere but I'll tell you this. I want you to love me. What he's actually saying, that's one of the translations isn't it? It's the correct one. He said look I have something against you. You don't love me the way you used to do. It's the first love he's thinking about. I wonder could he say that to any of us or to most of us this evening. You don't love me the way you used to do. Now this is what I call the master's rebuke. And then you can see the master's request. And it's the word remember. Remember therefore from whence thou art brought. I wonder have you got away from loving him. I wonder do you just go to church because it's the thing to do. I wonder do you just come to the class because there's certain things you like. Can you remember now a day when you loved him better than you do now. Those first days when your shackles fell off. When you were born again. When the thrill of God's deliverance filled and flooded your very soul. When you knew nothing about anything and yet you were in love with Christ. Did you love him better then than you do now. He says remember. And then he went on to say this. Repent. And then he went on to say this. And do the first works. Remember, repent, restart. Let the restart over again. My dear friends this is what he wants. He wants you to put your arms around him. He wants you to look into his face. He wants you to do things for him. Not just for a meeting. Not just for a party. Oh no dear. For him. He wants you to do that. That's what he says. Now that's the master's request. He wants you to look at this. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works. Or else. Mind you when the Lord says or else. That's what the terrorists say now when they put a gun to your head. Your wallet. Or else. The Lord just saying this to you. He was saying this to the church. I think we need to get that into perspective. You see this little church in Ephesus. Three saints in this back street. They were doing very well. But they were getting so churchy. That they were not the same as they used to be at all. They didn't love the master the way they used to do. He said that's what I want now. Or else. Watch it. Or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of its place. You know the Lord can do without this church. He's not tied to Windsor Avenue you know. Not for a moment. You know you can look a way down through church history. And while you might not want to think about denominations. You can go down into church history and you can find denominations. That were really on fire for God. And who did wonderful things. And who brought Christ to the country and turned the country upside down. And then they got away from the Lord. And to make the candlestick removed. They called countenance. And I can tell you you can go back to Ephesus tonight. And for fifty miles around us. There is no church of Jesus Christ. Not a one. The Lord removed the candlestick. He can remove the denominational candlestick. He can remove the local candlestick. And he can remove the personal candlestick. The candlestick. The candlestick. The denominational candlestick. He can remove the local candlestick. And he can remove the personal candlestick. You can become a castaway. Oh I'm not talking about you being lost again. I'm talking about you being put out of usefulness. The Lord just puts you on the shelf. Not using you anymore. You're just going to do as you like. You've got the bits between your teeth. You're neither going to remember or repent or restart. Well he can remove you. It's not tied to you you know. That's exactly what he's saying. And now he comes back again. I wanted to put this in with their activities and all the rest of it. And I think it should be verse 6. But this thou must, see not of this, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate. Now this is something that Christ hated. And it must be something awful when Christ hates it. There have been many debates about this. I think of this as a compound word. It's two words. It is the word Nicola. And the word Nicola means to conquer. And the ends at the end of it, just like Christianity, it's a people. And these Nicolaitans were people who got up into the church and they wanted to conquer. And they wanted to rule over the other believers. This is what you call potpourri. Oh I know that the Roman church wasn't there then. It was Protestant potpourri as well as Roman potpourri. You know I went out preaching many years ago and the Lord blessed me and we had little revivals across the country. And one of the presidents of the Baptist Union of Ireland came to me once and said to me, if you write me a letter I'll recognize you as one of our preachers. I said, I hope you know who you are. Do you know who you are? He was a draper at the draper shop this time. I said, you sell clothes, don't you? You're a sort of glorified ragman. I can't see a glorified ragman coming round to me to ask me to ask him to be recognized as a servant of the Lord. That's what you call Baptist potpourri. That's what it is. And let me tell you, I hate it. I have no blush on my face when I say it either. I hate it. And I've always hated it and I always will. Now what a fellow thinks of himself coming round standing tough and nonsense like that. I said, they'll put you in a box one of these days and throw soil on you. And you won't be talked to like that. Not for a moment. Let me tell you that there is not only Baptist potpourri, there is Brethren potpourri. Oh yes, we get pokes among the Brethren too, big jims of poke. Now great poke he was too. Made a mess of it. Nearly as wicked as the rest of them. Oh yes, but if you don't bow and say Amen, the way they say it, they'll rule over you. The Lord gets it. So do I. And against it I shall always preach. Without any hesitation. I have no trouble speaking out against that, no matter who it offends. Some of the Baptists quiver in their shoes. They're quivering here. I hate it. The Lord says this. He says thou hast one being. But thou hast this. Which I also hate. Friends, you know some of my friends here tonight. The Fathermoon community, where I was in the country. They come in through the door. If you're behind them some night, don't worry yourself. He says to me, how do you like it? And they call him one. And I say, how do you like it? There's no pokery about that, is there? Bless God for them. Bless. We don't swank it around here. It doesn't mean more good, you know. Just to hear them say, how do you like it? Otto. Yes, you've got me, secondly. I want you to get the hold of this. You see, that's what I would call their notability. You see, they have practicality. And activity. And quality. And sincerity. And solidity. And dependability. And immovability. And this is notability. The Lord noted this. They were noted for this. I hated every shape and form of pokery. And why wouldn't they? It has pushed the churches. Oh, let's see each other as sinners saved by grace. And God has given some of us gifts. And what we have got, we have to receive. And we're just all finally saved by grace, you know. Let's keep it like that. Now, this individual promise is a very wonderful one. Verse seven. Let them hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. Now, here's the individual promise here. For him that overcometh. And you've got to overcome this pokery. That's one thing. And you've got to overcome this getting away from your first love. And you've got to overcome this loving the message and not loving the message. He says to him that overcometh. Will I give to each of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Well, that's a mighty saying, isn't it? I wonder why he said it just like that. Well, I think it's really amazing that the Lord should say that. You know, I think that this is one of the great sayings of my Master. Will I give to each of the tree of life. You know, the Master had many super sayings. I know that everything that he said was tremendous, never mind speak like this man. But he said last week, I have the keys of hell and of death. Do you know anybody else who would ever dare to say it? He'd be a real fool. No man ever came round yet that I know says I've got the keys of death. And there's no man that I've ever met who would say I am the Father. I won't. They wouldn't dare, these are super sayings. And surely this is a super saying when he says to these overcomers, to him that overcometh, will I give to each of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Now, the great thing is why did he say it? Now, what does it make you think about first of all? Let's get round it like that. Well, you see, it makes me think about Adam and Eve. And it's perfectly true. It's your way to Adam and Eve. I suppose you know a lot of things about this. Some people question that, you know, the modernists, they question it. They say it's symbolic and just nothing at all. Let's have a look at this carefully for a moment. We're at 2 Corinthians and at chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And Paul writing here to these believers said, verse 2, For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, is one of the things he fears, as the serpent beguile Eve through his subtlety. Now, I can tell you that Paul believed this Genesis story. He believed that the serpent beguile Eve through his subtlety. He believed that. So do I too. Modernists may not believe that. I can tell you that this passage is inspired by the Spirit of God. For God was directing Paul here. Now, you'll notice this very carefully, that the serpent beguiled Eve. Not Adam. Not just Eve. Adam was never beguiled. Don't you get that into your head. Have a look at Paul writing again, so you see. This is 1st Timothy, and it's the 2nd chapter. 1st Timothy, chapter 2. Verse 13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. Well, that's very wonderful, isn't it? Because that's just exactly what we believe. That God created them male and female in the day that he created them. You know, when I was in Mount Athos, a fellow came to see me one evening, one of these clever clouts. And he said to me, will you talk about Genesis 1, you talk about these days as if they were literal days. I said, that's right, that's what I believe. He said, you know, these days were not literal days. These were periods. Periods of how long? Well, he said, I don't know, maybe millions of years in each one of these periods. Well, I said, put a figure on it, just for the argument. He put a figure on it. He said, well, each day would be a million years. So that we have seven million years in there in those days. Is that right? Yes. What day was Adam created on? The sixth day, he said, the sixth. Life is the one below. Yes. Is it a million? Yes. So that Adam lived right through that day. So he's got a million years up when we come to the end of the chapter, is that right? I'll tell you, sir, that when you come into the sixth chapter of Genesis and you read how many days Adam lived, it says so many years. Just hundreds of years. It should say one million so many hundred years. Stands and looks at me, you know, like a fish out of water. And I would like to tell you what I said to him, but I can't do it very well, because I was a bit rough on him. I said, you're that gloom and stupid, you can't read. And that's just what I thought about him, a big man, common royal swank. And he's as stupid as can be. You know, periods, and of course. I want you to get the whole of this. See where we are, we're at verse 16. For Adam was first formed any, and Adam was not deceived. Did you get that? Is that what it says there? Adam was not deceived. I can tell you he wasn't. You know, the old serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. And Eve was deceived. But the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Adam was never deceived. And what made him go wrong? He wasn't beguiled. And he wasn't deceived. I'll tell you what made him go wrong. He left his first love for Eve. That's what made him go wrong. He knew that she had done this thing. That she had gone into sin. And he went in with her. He left his first love and lost everything. Lost everything. For that other God. And let me tell you that when you leave your first love, you may keep up the activity, and the solidity, and the so-called sincerity, and the immovability, and all the rest of the jargon. But I'll tell you, you're losing out. You're losing out. And I'll tell you that when you repent, and get back and love the Lord, you'll get everything you lost. You'll be back into the paradise of God again. You see, he lost his love for Jehovah. He lost his service truly for God. He lost the fellowship and the friendship. He lost so much. Ah, well, when you love Christ, with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, you get back everything you lost. Isn't it a great word for a church like this? He says, whom that overcometh. I will give. Next week, we're going to go into the, you see, to last. We're going into the next church. It's mine. And I'll thank the Lord for getting through. Let's just give the Lord a word of thanks. Lord, we give thee thanks for answering prayer and undertaking for thy servants. And now, our Father, we pray that thou will undertake for us to have heard thy holy word. Our God and Father, we pray that we may be able to sing and sing sincerely from these hearts of ours. If ever I love thee, my Jesus, tis now. And Lord, if there be anything intervening that would prevent us from saying that, wilt thou graciously deal with it and cause us to repent and restart. We pray, Lord, that thou will bless us as we separate one from another. May thy grace and mercy and peace be the potion of my sins here and in every place till Jesus comes and glory dawns for his name's sake we ask it. Amen.