My 13th birthday present was this Bible. That was when I started getting serious about reading the Bible. I went through Hebrews, Romans, and 1 John so many times I could picture where the verse was on the page. If you said “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” I could say, “1 John 4:4. It’s on the right hand side, first column, near the top.” But all that familiarity didn’t mean I obeyed it very well. Knowledge is no guarantee of faithfulness. It also doesn’t mean there is nothing left to learn. Even though I’ve read it hundreds of times, I learned more again just this week.) Today we are starting a series from 1 John called Deeper. Here is what I want to cover in the next few minutes:
Why this series is important. What 1 John 1:1-4 teaches. Where deep joy is found.
Why is this Series Important?
We all want to be deep. I never have anyone contact me and say “Pastor, help me have a more superficial faith.” We want something that’s lasting, substantive, profound, and intense. We want deep lives. This series has the potential to change your life. It depends upon what you are willing to let God do. (Every few weeks I’m out weeding my front flower bed. It’s no normal weed that grows, but some traveling, viney, Satanic plant that spreads everywhere. Weed killer was like fertilizer. Last year I ignored them. This year I just pulled them every two weeks. Finally got out the shovel and started digging. Why are those weeds so pernicious/insidious? Because they are rooted deep….somewhere in the pit of hell. They live and even thrive regardless of what happens at the surface.) Sin is deep in the world, so we must be deep in Christ. This study of 1 John calls us to root ourselves in Jesus, in order to thrive in a fallen world.
What I’m going to say next sounds political, but it isn’t, so don’t get excited. We are not better off today than we were 4 years ago. And we aren’t better off today than we were 8 years ago, or 20, or 100. And 4 years from now we won’t be better off either, no matter who wins the election. How can I say that? Because that’s what the Bible says reality is. 1 John 5:19 “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Isn’t that encouraging? As Martin Lloyd Jones said: “The NT teaching is that however much the world may change on the surface, it is always under the control of evil and of sin…the world is will always be the world, it will never get better.” The roots are deep. One day Christ will come and set all things right, but until then, if you are a Christian, do not be surprised when bad springs up in the world. Don’t let that cause you to spiral into depression or hopelessness. Don’t let that de-motivate you from living justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly. And don’t forget the first part of that verse. Even though the world is the world, all who trust Christ are the children of God. That can’t be changed. Victory is on the horizon.
That means to survive in a world that is dominated by sin, our roots must be deep. The Apostle John calls us to this deep life. In this series he will point us to a deep clean, the forgiveness that is ours through Jesus. He will call us to a deep knowledge, the maturity that comes to those who know God. He will challenge us to a deep hope, the perspective that changes how we live. We will start with Deep Joy. Some of you are not the slightest bit interested in that idea. Joy seems to deal with emotions and that isn’t what you care about. Others of you are wildly emotional and would love to stop the mood swings between happiness and misery. The rest of you are interested in deep joy, but aren’t sure it is actually possible. Let me explain why all of us should be eager to increase the depth of our joy. For authentic Christian experience, there are three parts. Picture a stool with three legs. There must be a “trisection of authentic Christian experience.” Truth, Obedience, Devotion. (believe right, do right, feel right)
We all find a different one of these more challenging than the others. One reason can be our emotional makeup. In the book “The Essential Difference: The Truth About The Male and Female Brain” Simon Baron-Cohen describes how “men have a tendency to analyze and construct systems while women are inclined to empathize.” [Amazon review] That means when men are operating sinfully they might not “relate very well to the emotional needs and lives of others.” While women might find it easy to connect emotionally, their sinful inclination might be to soften the hard edges of truth. Wherever our weak-point is, John challenges us to give attention to each of these three areas. If you are a follower of Christ, you can probably point to which of these is the biggest challenge for you.
• Truth. Do you believe the right things about Jesus, or do your doubts overwhelm your ability to trust? Do you stand on a firm foundation of God’s revelation even if you don’t understand all of it, or do you vacillate from belief system to another? Are you able to make confident life choices based upon what God has said, or are you unable to accept that some things are clearly right or wrong and non-negotiable?
• Obedience. Do you do the right things, or do you allow yourself to keep on doing what you know is sin? Are you good at telling other people what is right and wrong, but not so good about living that way yourself? Do you feel love for Jesus, and enjoy worshiping and Christian community, but have parts of your life that don’t match up with what you say you believe?
• Devotion. Do you feel deep-rooted love for God and others, or is your faith all about facts and function without feeling? Do you respect the Bible and order your life around it, but find it impossible to love blacks, liberals, gays, Muslims, or politicians? Are you careful about believing all the things you were taught, and doing all the things you know you should, but have no passion for Christ? Are you a believer and a doer but not a lover of Jesus?
Every person in this room could point to one of those three and say, “That’s the one I find most difficult.” Throughout his letter, the Apostle John speaks to these three themes. They are wrapped up in what it means to have deep joy. That’s why this series is important.
What does 1 John 1:1-4 Teach?
v.1 “beginning” the dawn of time, even before time began. Christ is the eternal God who became flesh. Someone we could see, touch, listen to. As John wrote these words, there were already those who said that Jesus wasn’t human. He only appeared to be. He didn’t have a flesh and blood body. So John makes it clear that Jesus was God in human form.
• We Have Heard: Jesus wasn’t a silent apparition. We heard his voice speaking, teaching, praying, laughing. We heard his sandals make contact with the dusty road as he walked up to Jerusalem. We heard him cry out as the nails tore his flesh. We heard him command the demons to leave and the sick to be healed.
• We Have Seen: This was personal. Not some distant, invisible event. This wasn’t second-hand information. With our very own two eyes we saw him.
• We Have Looked at: That might not be the best translation of what John says. To us, looking at something isn’t very intense. If you asked me, “Did you read today’s paper?” And I said: “I looked at it,” it means, I didn’t read every word. But John is talking about more than a casual glance. They stared at Jesus, studied him, observed him day after day in all kinds of settings.
• We Have Touched: we rubbed shoulders with Jesus, grasped his hand, stepped on his toes, helped him put the boat in the water, felt his arm on our shoulder. While they ate the last supper, John leaned against Jesus. Thomas, Peter, John, and the rest touched Jesus after his resurrection. He was still solid, still flesh.
Notice how John doesn’t say “we saw Jesus and heard Jesus and touched Jesus.” No, he says, “We have seen...we have heard...we have touched.” You might ask what the difference is. Bryan Wilkerson gives a great example:
If someone says to you, “I saw Fenway Park,” all they’re telling you is that at some point in the past they made visual contact with the ballpark. That’s the past tense. If someone says to you, “I have seen Fenway Park,” that’s the perfect tense. They’re telling you that they not only saw it, but that the seeing of it has made a lasting impression on them. The Green Monster, the white lines, the red dirt of the infield—they’ll never forget it. They’ve been changed by the experience. That’s what John is saying here. We didn’t just see Jesus and hear Jesus and touch Jesus. We experienced Jesus, and the experience of seeing, hearing, and touching Jesus continues to shape our lives.
He is the one we have heard. We listened to his stories, marveled at his words, laughed at his jokes, winced at his rebuke, wondered at his wisdom. We saw him day after day, working, playing, praying, eating, sleeping, walking the dusty roads. We gawked at his miracles. Stared as he walked on water, healed the sick, and fed thousands from one boy’s lunch. We felt him wash our feet, and calm us with a touch. We fell down and grabbed his feet after his resurrection. His words are still ringing in our ears. His miracles are still vivid. Our hearts beat faster as we think of him. In fact, the experience is so real that Jesus has become our life.
V.2 In John’s world facts were determined by two or more witnesses. That was how disputes were settled and guilt determined. When John says “we have seen and testify” he is “virtually swearing a deposition.” [Yarborough] And what he swears is that Jesus isn’t just a source of life. He is life. To know him is to live. Christ existed before Bethlehem. He is the eternal son, who was with the Father, and then was sent to us in human form. John is testifying the Gospel message, the good news that God sent his son into the world. The eternal Word became flesh, lived among us, carried our sins to the cross and was slaughtered, then defeated sin and death three days later. He is the Word of life, the one who brings meaningful, eternal life to all who believe.
v.3 Jesus didn’t come just to save us from hell, he came to bring us into fellowship with God. He is the basis for all connection between humans and God and between each other. When we share Jesus in common, that is true fellowship.
v.4 There is some textual question as to whether this reads “our joy” or “your joy.” It makes little difference. When we are all wrapped up in fellowship with the Father and Son and each other, your joy is mine and God’s joy is ours. But how is it possible for Christian people to have full joy while they live in a world under the control of the evil one? Even the people John wrote to were being threatened. He talks of joy when they struggled with worldliness, false teaching, and spiritual deception. How can joy be complete, full to the brim when times are troubled? That brings us to the last section:
Where Is Deep Joy Found?
(One morning this week, I was walking across the parking lot and passed someone from our church. I asked, How are you? And she said, I’m full of joy. That has to be the first time I’ve ever gotten that answer. It so surprised me that I didn’t understand. I asked, What?)
Deep joy comes from believing the truth about Jesus; obeying Jesus; loving Jesus. Joy must be deeply rooted in Christ. Since the roots of evil are deep in our fallen world, our roots in Christ must be deeper. Anything less than that will not survive. Nothing superficial will endure. Joy isn’t that you have no enemies, no problems, no challenges. Joy is that you are ready to meet every enemy, problem and challenge through a power greater than yourself. Joy doesn’t come by ignoring reality. (Some Christians find joy the way toddlers play hide and seek. They cover their eyes and think, if I can’t see trouble, trouble can’t see me.) True joy is never a denial of reality. As Martin Lloyd-Jones writes: “It is a deep and profound, dynamic thing that enables me to stand whatever may be happening to me, whatever may be taking place in the world, because I know him, because I see him, and because I know that nothing can separate me from his love.” “Joy is the response and reaction of the soul to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” If your faith is in Christ today, and you sense a lack of joy, I would ask you which of those three areas need strengthening: Truth? Obedience? Devotion?
• You can be passionate in your worship, feel love for Jesus, but if you are not deepening your knowledge of truth, if you are not maturing in doctrine, then you will not have deep joy. If there’s a worship service you don’t appreciate, or if no one helps you in time of need, your joy will vanish because it is not deeply embedded in the truth of Jesus.
• You can be very knowledgeable about Scripture, well-taught in doctrine, but if you have no passion for Jesus, if it is simply dry information, if it doesn’t change your life, you will not have deep joy. Your lack of devotion, passion, emotion in your relationship with Christ is the reason why you are joy-deficient.
• You can know a lot of truth and feel great love for Jesus, but if you are not being obedient, if your morals, ethics, priorities don’t line up, then you cannot have deep joy. Your secret or stubborn disobedience is the reason why you lack profound joy.
If you belong to Jesus, if your trust is in the only Savior, please ask yourself: which of these is preventing me from deep joy? Truth, obedience, or devotion?
(Dad promised to put up a basketball hoop in our driveway. Got the backboard for Christmas. He got a pole and painted it black. I bought a net and attached it to the rim. I had my basketball ready to go. It was January. Waiting for Spring thaw to dig the hole. “The frost is still in the ground.” I chiseled away at the frozen ground. Poured boiling water on it. By March I’d made an inch-deep hole.) Some of you will not be able to achieve deep joy because of the frosty hardness of your heart. There is a frozen barrier that keeps you from believing the truth of Jesus. Or a cold hardness stops you from obeying Jesus. Or a deep frost that prevents your devotion to Jesus. As long as that frost is in the ground of your life, deep joy will elude you. I pray that the radiant love of God, the warmth of his Spirit would dissolve that hardness and allow you to dig down deep and find full joy. Hear these words of Jesus. “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” John 16:24
