Fellowship And Life (1 John 1:1-4)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.919 Well, if you would please remain standing and let's turn our attention now to 2 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.990 the first letter of John. It's towards the back of the New Testament, 3 00:00:09.429 --> 00:00:12.869 one of the last few books, a small book, only five chapters, 4 00:00:14.589 --> 00:00:19.870 the first of three letters written by the Apostle John that we have in our 5 00:00:20.030 --> 00:00:24.059 cannon. I'm going to read to you the first four verses this morning. 6 00:00:24.699 --> 00:00:30.059 In these verses we learn why this letter is so important. John begins to 7 00:00:30.579 --> 00:00:34.539 open up for us his themes and what we have to look forward to and 8 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:40.450 in the rest of the book to come. So a John First, John 9 00:00:40.530 --> 00:00:51.600 Versus one through four, that which was from the beginning, which we have 10 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:56.159 heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon 11 00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:00.399 and have touched with our hands. Concerning the word of life, the life 12 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:07.390 was made manifest. We have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to 13 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:12.109 you, the eternal life which was with the father and was made manifest to 14 00:01:12.269 --> 00:01:18.700 us. That which which, that which we have seen and heard, we 15 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:23.420 proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us. And 16 00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:29.900 indeed our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ, 17 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:37.849 and we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. Amn, 18 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:52.120 you may be seated well before we get to the specifics of these four 19 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.680 verses in particular, I wonder if a little bit of an inner introduction to 20 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.280 this letter might be helpful, and I think I can begin to explain it 21 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:07.109 best by using a children's game. One of the Games you get to play 22 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:09.469 as a child, and wanted of the games I enjoyed, was connect the 23 00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:15.110 dots. You remember, a bunch of jumbled dots on a page doesn't look 24 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:19.939 like anything until you draw a line from one to another, to another to 25 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:23.939 another, and then slowly a picture starts to emerge. Maybe it's a flower 26 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:28.259 or a clown or a house, but what didn't look like a house before 27 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:31.050 now, all of a sudden is obviously house because you connected the dots. 28 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:38.810 Well, we understand the history behind behind first John in somewhat of a similar 29 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:46.280 way. They're all these DOTS, testimonies from church history, stylistic things in 30 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:51.360 the letter, connections between the Gospel of John and here and various other historical 31 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.840 and theological details. You have all these dots, all of this information or 32 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:59.949 evidence that you have to put together, but once you do it, a 33 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:06.189 clear picture starts to emerge of the history. It doesn't answer all our questions. 34 00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:09.789 Indeed Marror scholars who've spent lots and lots of time answering questions that we 35 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:15.180 still don't know the answers to or trying to answer questions, but it does 36 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:20.340 tell us we do know with a great deal of certainty, quite a bit. 37 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:24.979 So what's the story behind this letter? Well, to summarize it for 38 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:31.210 you, the Apostle John wrote this letter in likely when he was living in 39 00:03:31.449 --> 00:03:37.530 Ephesus or in working with the churches around there. He was likely an elder 40 00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:43.919 saint writing in this area, and we often think of Paul being the apostle 41 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.000 to the gentiles, and he is particularly in his calling, but it seems 42 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:53.479 that John also served these same Christians. You remember that the Ephesian Church was 43 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:59.949 likely planted by Paul in the early s of the first century. Timothy had 44 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:03.949 come first. Timothy was likely written around sixty five a d. But now 45 00:04:04.069 --> 00:04:10.580 John Is there, but good time after that too. This letter first John 46 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:14.900 was probably written in the early s in the lay at last part of the 47 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:18.540 first century. So you kind of imagine it. This church had been around 48 00:04:18.699 --> 00:04:25.329 for thirty, forty years. Seeing at least a couple generations perhaps, of 49 00:04:25.569 --> 00:04:32.129 people come grow, children being raised and pastors and people had having done come 50 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:39.000 and various difficulties dealt with. Now it's being addressed by this elder apostle, 51 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:45.120 the last generation, maybe one of the last apostles, one of the later 52 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:53.149 books of the New Testament. But there's a problem, though. The church 53 00:04:53.269 --> 00:04:58.670 in Ephesus and in the surrounding areas had been established by Paul, cared for 54 00:04:58.910 --> 00:05:03.149 by Timothy, now mentored by the Apostle John. They weren't without struggle, 55 00:05:03.189 --> 00:05:10.939 and no church ever is. Sometimes people longingly think if only we were back 56 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:14.779 in the early church, everything would be perfect. That's not the case. 57 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:19.660 At every moment in the Church's history there has been difficulties and struggles, and 58 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:24.050 this is why the letter to John, or the letter from John here, 59 00:05:24.089 --> 00:05:27.569 is very relevant to us. But he can see, deals with the same 60 00:05:27.610 --> 00:05:33.209 kinds of questions that we face today. The particular circumstance seems to be that 61 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:38.720 there were people who had once belonged to that church, but we're now departing 62 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:44.560 from the church. They were teaching new things, they were progressing Christianity to 63 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:48.759 the next stage, or so they sought thought they were calling into question old 64 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:54.629 things. They were claiming that those who would follow them would find real truth, 65 00:05:55.589 --> 00:06:04.100 real fellowship with God, Eternal Life. We live many years removed from 66 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:09.459 the early years of the Church and, sadly, we're now used to the 67 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:15.379 den of sub Christian and Anti Christian voices, but you can imagine what it 68 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:18.889 would have been like to perhaps face this on a large scale for the first 69 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:24.329 time. Indeed, this only seems to have expanded. Most of the writings 70 00:06:24.410 --> 00:06:28.970 that we have in the second century are largely polemical writings against this sort of 71 00:06:29.089 --> 00:06:33.360 thing, trying to establish core doctrines about, for example, the divinity of 72 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:41.959 Christ, his humanity, his two natures. The actions of these false teachers 73 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:47.750 were casting serious doubts in the hearts of true believers, doubts about whether or 74 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:55.750 not they truly had fellowship and life with God. John Knew Jesus, but 75 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:59.949 I don't know Jesus. I never saw him, I never touched him. 76 00:07:00.829 --> 00:07:02.779 You can imagine the kinds of questions that they would ask, only a few 77 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:12.660 generations away from the apostles that were still living among them. John Rights is 78 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:15.889 one who was in in those first days. As one who was there and 79 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:24.410 saw and felt and touched Jesus. John writes during this challenging time as an 80 00:07:24.449 --> 00:07:29.930 elder churchman, inspired by the spirit, and what he does is he exposes 81 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.360 and he warns the false teachers in this letter, but it's not his primary 82 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:42.120 aim. His main purpose is to talk to true believers, to reassure them, 83 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:49.069 to answer their questions. How can I know the truth from a lie? 84 00:07:50.629 --> 00:07:56.670 How do I know whether or not I personally have fellowship with God? 85 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:03.779 Am I really a Christian? As he says at the end of the letter? 86 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:09.339 I write these things to you, who believe in the name of the 87 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:16.209 son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. That's 88 00:08:16.209 --> 00:08:20.649 what John Wants to his original audience and it's what he wants for us as 89 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:26.329 well. It's what the spirit of God wants for us. God is writing 90 00:08:26.449 --> 00:08:31.800 to us through his apostle, that you, who believe in the name of 91 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:37.600 the son of God may know that you have eternal life. This is a 92 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:45.870 letter of reassurance, it's a letter of love, of comfort, but there's 93 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:52.710 also testing and questions. It's not easy. In some places are very difficult, 94 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:56.700 but it's a letter that it's ultimately aiming. How I mean to help 95 00:08:56.779 --> 00:09:01.139 us know the answer to these questions, that we can walk away with certainty 96 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:07.940 about who we are and who we are in Jesus. Now, most likely 97 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:13.490 John had already written his Gospel in which he had thoroughly answered questions about who 98 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:18.529 Jesus is how we can have life in his name. But just because you 99 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:20.889 hear something ones doesn't mean you don't need to hear it again. Right, 100 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:26.200 and in this letter, John Ames not so much to tell us who Jesus 101 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:30.960 is and how you can have life in him, but rather how you can 102 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:33.639 know you have life in him. And so it's an important letter, not 103 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:39.190 just for those early Christians in Ephesus and throughout the throughout the the world, 104 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:46.309 but for anyone who's ever wondered what does it mean to know Jesus? So 105 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:50.230 now let's talk about these verses, in particular, verses one through four. 106 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:58.419 John Opens his letter up with these very grand, proclamatory words. That which 107 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:05.340 was from the beginning. Right. We have other ways of starting things. 108 00:10:07.169 --> 00:10:13.649 I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time, this, 109 00:10:13.970 --> 00:10:18.289 to my mind, is elevated above that, not just because it's scripture, 110 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:20.919 and it is that, but the way that he begins that which was from 111 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:26.279 the beginning. It's a great way to start and, in a way, 112 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:31.679 though, it pushes US forward. It asks us what was from the beginning, 113 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:37.789 that which was from the beginning. It's an incomplete thought. What was 114 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:41.309 from the beginning? Well, for those who remember the Grand Words of John's 115 00:10:41.429 --> 00:10:46.870 Gospel, the Gospel according to John, we know exactly what was from the 116 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:50.779 beginning, because he begins in very much the same way. The Gospel of 117 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:56.019 John Sounds like this. In the beginning was the word, and the word 118 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:01.259 was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning 119 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:07.009 with God. So, this letter having already been written, when John says 120 00:11:07.049 --> 00:11:11.049 here that which was from the beginning, he's making a connection. He's saying, 121 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:15.330 okay, I'm going to tell you and talk to you about the one 122 00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:22.159 whom you already know, clearly echoing his famous words from the opening in his 123 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:26.919 Gospel. So these words announce a connection to what has been said before about 124 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:33.549 Jesus. They proclaim Jesus, they herald Jesus, even before he's mentioned his 125 00:11:33.669 --> 00:11:37.909 name. Now I'll just pause there and side bracket a little piece of advice. 126 00:11:37.070 --> 00:11:41.309 If you want to understand first John Better, it be great thing for 127 00:11:41.350 --> 00:11:46.750 you to start reading through the gospel of John and his other letters as well, 128 00:11:46.379 --> 00:11:50.220 to read them in connection with one another. What you'll find is there 129 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:56.299 are so many things, so many things that connect the two and will help 130 00:11:56.340 --> 00:12:00.740 you to mutually understand. This is, of course, true for all of 131 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:09.769 scripture, but especially true here. Back on track, these words that which 132 00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:15.649 was from the beginning. They teach US something as well. The Christianity is 133 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:20.440 not a faith, contrary to the claims of these separatists, that changes and 134 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:26.960 Morphs, that shifts with the Times. No, Christians are people who are 135 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:33.149 always going back to the beginning, back to Jesus, who is eternal and 136 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:39.029 the beginning of all things himself. This is Pritt made particularly. This point 137 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:48.059 is made particularly strong later when Paul says that our fellowship is with with God. 138 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:54.500 Read again. This is verse, Verse Three. He says that which 139 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:56.379 we have heard, seen and her or sorry, that which we have seen 140 00:12:56.460 --> 00:13:01.610 and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you two may of fellowship 141 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:05.529 with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the father and with his son, 142 00:13:05.690 --> 00:13:11.210 Jesus Christ. I'm emphasizing that word our there because it's an unusual form 143 00:13:11.330 --> 00:13:16.360 of the word our. It only occurs eight times in the New Testament. 144 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:20.279 There's lots of other ways to say our but here he's emphasizing it, he's 145 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:26.200 using this special word to say our fellowship, our fellowship, it's different. 146 00:13:26.309 --> 00:13:31.149 He actually one of the other eight times it's used is in First John to 147 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:35.990 twenty two, where he says Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, not 148 00:13:37.190 --> 00:13:41.149 only for hours, using that word again, but also for the sins of 149 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:45.379 the whole world. It's this way of emphasizing this, not just this, 150 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:50.139 but this, and here he's using the word to say our fellowship is different. 151 00:13:52.580 --> 00:14:00.370 These people that are leaving Christ do not have Christ. Our fellowship is 152 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:05.690 with the father. So in our passage, what is John Saying? He's 153 00:14:05.730 --> 00:14:11.440 emphasizing already from the beginning that there's a choice. He's preparing us for distinctions 154 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:15.840 he's going to make between those who confess the word of life and those who 155 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:22.320 don't, those who walk into darkness and those who don't. Our fellow sheep, 156 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.789 he says, is with the light, with the father, and with 157 00:14:24.950 --> 00:14:31.110 the son for son. That's a very offensive thing to say and I recognize 158 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:37.710 that John is not speaking here in a modern mode. He's not saying to 159 00:14:37.909 --> 00:14:43.059 each his own, he's not saying everyone must find his own path or all 160 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:48.980 roads lead to God. He's making very exclusive claims. John is making a 161 00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:56.690 claim to exclusivity. He's saying that only through fellowship with the Apostolic Word Can 162 00:14:56.809 --> 00:15:01.769 one have fellowship with God, the father, and with his son, Jesus 163 00:15:01.809 --> 00:15:07.360 Christ. So, as you see, these are very strong things that he 164 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:16.080 is saying and we ought to pay attention. So let's go forward. After 165 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.080 these grand words, that which was from the beginning, John Begins to explain 166 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:24.909 in more detail what was from the beginning, and he describes it in this 167 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:31.509 way that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, 168 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:35.500 which we have looked upon and touched with our hands. Concerning the word 169 00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:43.700 of life, this phrase word of life has a double meaning. First, 170 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:48.259 it refers to Jesus, the incarnate son of God, who is from the 171 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:54.490 beginning and is the eternally living God. That John is referring to Jesus is 172 00:15:54.769 --> 00:16:00.330 clear from these first two verses, especially if you already know about Jesus from 173 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:04.840 the Gospels. The word of life is Jesus, the one who was with 174 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.919 the father, yet distinct from him, and yet eternally God with him. 175 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:15.679 This Jesus that John is talking about. This word of life, the word 176 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.950 that was in the beginning, was with God and was God. Is Not 177 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:26.429 an ideal or I'm or an idea or a principle. He was God who 178 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:30.309 was made manifest to us. That's what he says here. He was revealed 179 00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:33.700 to us. And how was God revealed to us? How was the word 180 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:42.460 of God revealed in the flesh or, as we say, incarnated, or, 181 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:47.529 to put it in very specific terms, he, being the eternal son 182 00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:52.889 of God, became man and when he was on the earth he was fully 183 00:16:53.009 --> 00:16:59.889 man. That's why John says that he and others at that time heard him, 184 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:06.759 they saw him. I like how John Emphasizes with our eyes. This 185 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:11.160 isn't a metaphorical seeing. This isn't a contemplation. You know, the Bible 186 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.750 uses seeing in that way. We use it in English that way. John 187 00:17:15.789 --> 00:17:19.430 Saying, I'm that's not what I'm talking about. I saw him with my 188 00:17:19.910 --> 00:17:23.309 eye, and not just me, we did. We all did. We 189 00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:33.099 looked at him, we touched him with our hands. Kids. That means 190 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:40.859 that, just like you can hear my voice right now, John and Mary 191 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:48.849 and James and many other people heard Jesus's voice in the same way they heard 192 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:55.289 him. They resonated, resonated in one way in a big room, resonated 193 00:17:55.329 --> 00:17:59.599 another way in a small room. They saw him with their eyes, they 194 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:03.799 touched him with their hands. Just as you can reach out and hold the 195 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:08.279 hand of your mom or your dad, they could hold the hand of Jesus. 196 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.109 In fact, in one place in the gospel of John, we read 197 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:22.150 about John Leaning on Jesus, resting upon him. Jesus wasn't a dream or 198 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:29.339 a ghost or an appearance of God. He was real human flesh. He 199 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:33.259 was God incarnate, God in the flesh. And that's what Jesus that's what 200 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:40.980 he is referring to when he says the word of life. He says that 201 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:42.970 which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched 202 00:18:44.009 --> 00:18:49.690 with our hands, concerning the word of life. But John also means a 203 00:18:49.930 --> 00:18:56.839 second thing by it. Jesus came as the word of God, as God's 204 00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:02.240 message to the world, the in the flesh, message to the world to 205 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:08.079 love sinners and save them. Now Jesus is gone, he's not here in 206 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:12.349 his humanity. We can't touch him, we can't see him. We can't 207 00:19:12.630 --> 00:19:21.150 hold his hand, but even though he's gone, John says that he continues 208 00:19:21.430 --> 00:19:26.859 to be with us, to come to us, and he does it through 209 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:30.819 the preaching of him, through the preaching of the Bible, through the preaching 210 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:37.609 of the Apostolic Message, what we sometimes call the word. Here again what 211 00:19:37.690 --> 00:19:42.049 John says. He says the life was made manifest. This is verse two, 212 00:19:42.329 --> 00:19:48.329 and we have seen it and we testify to it and proclaim to you 213 00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:55.119 the eternal life. We are proclaiming to you, the word of life, 214 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:59.680 the eternal life. We are proclaiming to you that which was with the father 215 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.640 and was made manifest to us. Listen to how he goes on in verse 216 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:07.309 three. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you. 217 00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:15.549 This is an amazing thing. He connects the word of life that was made 218 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:22.099 manifest before their eyes with the same word of life that is being testified and 219 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:27.740 proclaimed. And notice how he also says that the effect of the incarnate word 220 00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:34.619 is the same effect as the proclaimed word. He says in verse three that 221 00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:40.450 which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that 222 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:49.359 you too may have fellowship with us. Isn't that a remarkable statement to say 223 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:53.759 I knew Jesus, I saw him with my eyes, I touched him with 224 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:59.720 my hands. I have fellowship with him. I had fellowship with him. 225 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:03.470 We were together, we were united. And you know what, you too 226 00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:10.230 can have fellowship with him, even though he's in heaven, because of his 227 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:15.190 word proclaimed. You can have fellowship with the word of life. Through the 228 00:21:15.309 --> 00:21:22.460 proclamation of the word of life, the effect of the message has the same 229 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:29.420 effect as the man John and others are proclaiming Jesus, who'd they have seen, 230 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:33.329 so that those who, like us, who have not seen him, 231 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:42.650 can have fellowship also with the word of life. Amazing Fellowship with John, 232 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:52.920 Fellowship with Jesus. Do you know what this word fellowship means? It's a 233 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:59.480 word that explains what happens when two or more people share something in common, 234 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:04.430 when they're closely knit together, when they talk with one another or share something 235 00:22:04.549 --> 00:22:10.990 one another. It's a word that's often used in the ancient world of marriage 236 00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:17.059 in particular, a high point of human fellowship, of beat of coming together. 237 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:22.180 Here at our church we talked about having fellowship meals sometimes. Maybe you've 238 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:26.220 heard that. Why do we talk about fellowship meals? We have a fellowship 239 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:30.009 meal. Will you come to our fellowship meal. Well, we use this 240 00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:36.849 phrase to describe an event in which we get together and we share together common 241 00:22:37.049 --> 00:22:41.210 food. I bring some Pasta, you bring some salad, someone else brings 242 00:22:41.289 --> 00:22:45.599 some bread and together we share something. Together. We have fellowship. But 243 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.559 of course we call them fellowship meals because it's more than that. We not 244 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:55.200 only share our food with one another, but as we sat and talk, 245 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:03.109 we share our experiences, our ideas, are feelings, our lives. And 246 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:08.549 what happens when two people share in fellowship with one another? Well, if 247 00:23:08.630 --> 00:23:14.259 it's a bad kind of fellowship, it can be ruinous. Paul, for 248 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:18.460 example, warns Christians not to join in the fellowship of marriage with unbelievers. 249 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:25.900 He says this in second corinthiand and fourteen. Do not be equally or sorry, 250 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:32.769 do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For What Partnership has righteousness with 251 00:23:33.049 --> 00:23:40.410 unrighteousness or lawlessness? Or what fellowship, he says, has light with darkness? 252 00:23:41.369 --> 00:23:45.720 These things do not go together and likewise you should not have fellowship in 253 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:49.960 this way. But the fellowship John Writes about is a fellowship that we should 254 00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:56.349 have, a good fellowship of Fellowship. We should strive for it's just the 255 00:23:56.470 --> 00:24:00.549 opposite of bad. It's good. Listen to what he says in verses five 256 00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:03.549 through seven. I haven't read these yet, but I'll read them now. 257 00:24:04.750 --> 00:24:10.099 He says, this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaimed 258 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:15.779 to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 259 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:21.819 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, 260 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:26.130 we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the 261 00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:30.490 light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, 262 00:24:30.049 --> 00:24:33.970 and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from sin. 263 00:24:36.690 --> 00:24:41.839 This is a good kind of fellowship. This is the highest kind of fellowship 264 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:45.599 that we had, can have and ought to seek. So do you see 265 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:49.720 what's going on here? Then? John is saying that through the message that 266 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:55.710 is proclaimed about the word of life, we actually receive the word of life, 267 00:24:56.349 --> 00:25:03.470 light, life cleansing from our sins. Jesus didn't come just to gather 268 00:25:03.710 --> 00:25:08.019 a small group of people around him for a short period of time and then 269 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:15.339 that was it. Jesus comes to gather around him a multitude of people from 270 00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:22.049 all tribes and tongues and nations spanning across history, past present. In his 271 00:25:22.250 --> 00:25:27.809 time and future for us. Now we join with John and with many others 272 00:25:29.130 --> 00:25:37.880 in the fellowship of the saints through connection with Jesus. When John writes to 273 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:41.359 these people and he wants to reassure them that life comes to them and that 274 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:48.200 they have fellowship with God, he was wanting for them a very great thing. 275 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:53.069 It's why he concludes the section by saying, we are writing these things 276 00:25:53.109 --> 00:25:59.589 so that our joy may be complete. Wonder if this sounds self centered to 277 00:25:59.670 --> 00:26:03.269 you. Why? Why are you writing that your joy may be complete, 278 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:07.940 John? Shouldn't you be writing that our joy may be complete? Well, 279 00:26:08.019 --> 00:26:11.980 of course he wants their joy to be complete. That's why he's telling them 280 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:15.059 about Jesus. That's why he's reminding them about who they are in him. 281 00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:21.769 But you know what John is saying here? He's saying what every good pastor 282 00:26:21.930 --> 00:26:27.529 feels. Though he loves his people, the wellbeing of the church matters to 283 00:26:27.569 --> 00:26:33.000 him. It brings him joy when they are well, when they are reassured, 284 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:38.480 when they know that they belong to Jesus Christ. The wellbeing of the 285 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:42.519 Church of Christ matters to him, just as it matters to Jesus, our 286 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:49.390 savior. John wants us to remember, or maybe for some of us to 287 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:57.750 learn for the first time, the dramatic change that he and other disciples experienced 288 00:26:57.829 --> 00:27:04.460 in their lives when they started following Jesus. He wants us to understand that 289 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:11.099 this change that happened to him happens to everyone who follows after him by hearing 290 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:18.329 and believing his word. He wants us to see how the people who first 291 00:27:18.329 --> 00:27:25.089 turned out of darkness and death and sin into fellowship with God. It wasn't 292 00:27:25.130 --> 00:27:32.160 just for them that we too control hearn from darkness and death and sin into 293 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:37.599 fellowship with God who gives light and life and forgiveness. He wants the churches 294 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.799 around Ephesus to remember, and the church is beyond that, and even us 295 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:51.309 to remember, that Christianity is about Christ it's about receiving him as he has 296 00:27:51.509 --> 00:27:56.470 come to us. John doesn't want to give us anything other than the one 297 00:27:56.670 --> 00:28:03.019 that the he has heard and known and seen and believed, because only in 298 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:07.700 him will we find the cleansing of sins, only in him can we find 299 00:28:07.859 --> 00:28:15.410 eternal life. Do you want to know Jesus? Do you want to know 300 00:28:15.730 --> 00:28:22.609 if you're a Christian or not not? That's something Paul are John will address 301 00:28:22.730 --> 00:28:26.880 in the coming weeks. But the answer to those questions will start right here, 302 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:34.759 with knowing Jesus Christ, the one who was seen and heard and touched 303 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:41.589 and who now comes to us as the one who has preached. Are you 304 00:28:41.750 --> 00:28:52.869 hearing him? Believe, receive and you will have eternal life. Let us 305 00:28:52.869 --> pray