First Love

Revelation knowledge is the intrinsic understanding of the Father and His will and works.

1. It comes in three stages as revealed by the preceding scripture:


2. Revelation: the impartation of truth into our spirit.


3. Enlightenment: the flooding of the mind with what we have seen in the spirit.


4. Understanding: the working out in our experience of that which we received in the spirit, saw with the mind, and are now applying in life experiences.

The revelation that is the most life-changing and impacting is revelation knowledge. That, in essence, is our first love. It would be well noted that we can have no higher revelation than we have in Christ or a more complete revelation than we have in the Word of God. There are, however, those moments of profundity when our eyes are opened to a new wisdom, new ideals, or a new application of the truth we have in Christ as confirmed in the Scripture.

One's calling should be determined by the vision given in his spirit by the Holy Spirit. That inner voice is the revelation of the plan and will of God for one's life. It becomes the powerful motivation of his life, with him, from that moment on, becoming like Peter and John who testified to the Sanhedrin in the face of their threatening: "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20).

Every great servant of God is motivated by a particular knowledge that is given by divine revelation. That revelation becomes the Energizer Bunny of his life that keeps him going in good times and in bad. A person will flounder in ministry until this happens. From the point of his revelation, he becomes totally single-minded and focused; giving his whole attention to that aspect of the Word and ministry; trusting God with everything else.

In my early years as an evangelist, I was so focused that friends would accuse me of only having one message. They claimed that I just changed the text, illustrations, and format but preached the same old message. My reply would be: "When you start practicing this message, I will preach number 2!"

What they were saying was the truth, though. My whole attention was consumed with the Lordship of Jesus, faith and obedience, and resting in the Lord. That was what people were hungering for and they responded well when I preached it.

Vision based on revelation knowledge will supercede all the trends and fads that go on in the Christian world, remaining constant and a clarion call to those who ears to hear. While the bearer of this revelation may vary in presentation and passion, he will not long be able to long deny it in his life.

The following thoughts might be helpful:

1. The revelation driven person will have a passion for sharing his message with others regardless of the setting or the number of listeners (See Acts 8:26-35).


2. The revelation driven person will be governed by a sense of higher purpose for his life (See 1 Corinthians 9:16-17).


3. Persistence. The revelation driven person will be ready in season and out of season to share the message given (See 2 Timothy 4:2).


4. A revelation driven person will have a poise associated with his message and calling that causes him to stand out among others (See Joshua 3:7).


5. A revelation driven person will have the pleasure of seeing much fruit resulting from his obedience (See Romans 1:13-16).

The tragedy comes when one, for various reasons and motivations, begins to forsake his first love. While yielding to his first love, he is governed, guided, geared up by it and to it. When he becomes distracted, his passion begins to die and revelation fades. At that point, while he may continue to do and say the same things, the convincing fervor is gone.

Jesus said in His letter to the church at Ephesus: ""Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent" (Revelation 2:5).

Although there is a much more profound thought to this passage, an immediate warning is that one can come to the place that he is no longer effective in the ministry. This is the essence of being "burned out." The simple message is: "Repent!" Although the message is simple, the process may be much more involved. That is where loving care and counsel can mean so much.

Jeff