The Guy Who Walked With Jesus - 1 John 1:1-4 - May 5, 2013
Series: That We May Know – Life With Jesus - #1
This morning we start a new series of messages in the book of 1 John. And what I’m going to encourage you to do, is to read through this book once a week during the course of this series. It’s not a long book – you can easily read it through in one sitting. But maybe your question is this: “Why would I ask you to do that?” Why? Because this is God’s word and it’s for us today. I have the privilege of standing before you week after week and trying to share with you what God has been laying on my heart, what He has been speaking to me – but as much as I enjoy doing that, as much as I might pour my heart into that - it’s not enough. Each of us needs to be getting into God’s word on our own as well. And if we’re reading the same things, if we’re talking about them week after week as we meet for worship, we’re going to be growing together in the Lord and that’s what we want to see happening.
I’ve called this series: “That We May Know – Life With Jesus.” In the 5th chapter of this epistle – this letter – John says this, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13, NIV84)
I want you to read through this book week after week so that you may know if you have eternal life or not. And what you’re going to discover is that woven throughout the fabric of this book are – I believe - nine ways to test yourself to see if you really are in the faith. I encourage you to take those things seriously. Because chances are that some of you here this morning – good, loving and gracious people – have been going day by day thinking you’re good with God – but in reality you’re not. You’re going through the motions, but you’re fooling yourselves, and you need to know the truth so that you can humble yourself, surrender to God, and begin to walk in the reality of new life with Jesus.
And then there are others of you here today and your need is something a little different. See, you are living in light of the truth, you’ve believed, but you have no assurance of your salvation. You have fear in your heart. Fear that God will reject you, turn away from you, cast you aside. Fear that He doesn’t hold your future in His hands. Fear that God is not big enough to save you from hell or to help you in these present moments. You need to know that you have eternal life so you can really begin living the life that God has set before you and called you into.
And there are still others here today, and you’re walking with God, and you’re certain of your salvation – and that’s great – but the book of 1 John was written for people like you too. This is God’s word and God has preserved it down through the centuries because it’s His truth for us today. And together we can grow into this life which we’ve been given, we can allow the Spirit of God to shape and form our characters – to conform them even – into that of Jesus as we take His word to heart.
So let’s begin! I’ll invite you to open your Bibles with me please to the book of 1 John. 1 John, chapter 1, and we’re going to begin reading in verse 1. Now 1 John is one of those little books that can be hard to find as you’re flipping through your Bible. It’s in the New Testament, right near to the end. You have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, then you have the book of Jude and then last, but not least, the book of Revelation. If you’re coming from the other way you’ve got the book of Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, and then 1 John. And if you’re here this morning – a guest or a visitor and you don’t have a Bible, but would like to follow along – we’d be happy to give you one. It’s yours to keep no strings attached – simply raise your hand and we’ll make sure you get one …
Alright … now this is what we read beginning in verse 1 …
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” (1 John 1:1–4, NIV84)
Folks this morning I want to talk to you a bit about a guy who walked with Jesus. His name was John. He was an ordinary guy. Worked as a fisherman. Day after day went by as he and his brother and his father cast their nets into the waters and dragged in the haul of fish to sell at the markets. It went on like this for some time – probably would have gone on like this until the day he died – except for the fact that one day he met Jesus.
Jesus came along and said to John, and to John’s brother James, and some friends of theirs, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) And we’re told that “immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:19)
A long time ago now an advertisement appeared in a London newspaper – today it would be on Facebook or Twitter or some other social media site – but the advertisement read like this:
"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful." The ad was signed by Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer. Amazingly, the ad drew thousands of respondents, eager to sacrifice everything for the prospect of meaningful adventure.” (Today In The Word, August, 1989, p. 33.)
Isn’t it true that we want life – we want our lives – to have significance, to have meaning? I think that’s fair to say, isn’t it? None of us want our life to have been meaningless, we want it to count for something. I think John must have felt the same way. He can’t see it yet but his decision to get out of the boat and follow Jesus, is going to radically change his life. At this point he’s a relatively young man. For the next three years he’s going to do life with Jesus, walking with Him, learning from Him, serving with Him, and ultimately, being changed by Him. And then for all the decades that follow, the truth of what he experienced, of what he learned, of what he continued to live, was going to shape everything about his life. He was going to see friends killed for the same faith he shared with them. He’s going to experience persecution and exile for his own faith. But he’s going to remain true to what he’s held on to all those years because he knows its real. And not only was it real – it had meaning – meaning that would last far beyond him. And it has.
He wrote this letter. Chances are good that he’s also the one who wrote 2nd and 3rd John, The Gospel of John, and the Book of Revelation as well. Some significant parts of the New Testament have been written by his hand as he was guided by the Holy Spirit. This letter is written towards the end of his life. He’s had the better part of a lifetime to live, consider, and to experience the reality of the things that he’s sitting down to write. These are the things he wants us to know – why? - so that you can get out of the boat and begin to live a life that has meaning. That type of life finds its essence – its heart – its very life - in who Jesus is.
See, walking with Jesus changes people’s lives. In the book of Acts, which is the story of the birth of the early church, we read of how Peter and John were speaking to crowds of people, teaching them, and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. God had worked through them to bring healing to a lame man. Not everyone is happy with them for doing that. They get arrested and thrown in jail overnight. The next day they’re hauled before the authorities, and the people, and called to give an account for what they’ve done and said. And the Bible tells us, not only what they said, they pointed people towards Jesus telling them that “Salvation was found in no one else,” but it also tells us how the crowds responded. This is what it says: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13, NIV84) It’s having been with Jesus that made the difference.
Look again at the opening line of this letter. It says, “That which was from the beginning,” – John was there from the beginning of Jesus’ three years of public ministry. He was there to witness, first hand, the things that he is going to share with them about Jesus. These aren’t things that someone else told him about, not rumors which are flying around, but these are things that he can personally verify, for he goes on to say, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” (1 John 1:1, NIV84) There’s a sense of progression there. John has heard what Jesus had to say. He’s listened to Jesus’ teaching. He’s watched with his own eyes as Jesus has lived it out. And not only has he seen it with his own eyes, but he’s looked at it – he’s examined it closely to see if Jesus was for real. And then he’s touched it, he’s lived it, he’s experienced it – he had experienced the reality of what he is about to proclaim and it had transformed his life. Being with Jesus had made all the difference.
And people can often tell when you and I have been with Jesus as well, can’t they? There’s something about someone who is spending significant time walking with Jesus, being in God’s presence, walking with Christ, doing life in Him, and through Him and with Him, that makes all the difference.
Consider the things that John saw and experienced and lived and learned while he walked with Jesus. Jesus initially called 12 men to follow Him, to be His disciples. One of these was John. And John, along with his brother James, and another man named, Peter, are going to become part of Jesus’ inner circle. These three men seemed to have been closer to Jesus than any of the other 9. In fact several times John is called the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” Now that doesn’t mean that He didn’t love the others – He did – but Jesus seems to have been even closer to these three men, and even more so to John. They had a deep seated friendship that grew up as they did life together.
In three years of walking with Jesus, John saw Him do things that John couldn’t have conceived of. He saw Jesus cure the leper. Society wanted nothing to do with lepers – they were outcast – they were feared and shunned and avoided. Jesus touched them, not just with His words, but with His hands. He cured, what at that time, was incurable, and He didn’t do it with fancy medicines, but He simply spoke and the people were healed.
It was the same with the lame and the blind. Jesus renewed their bodies and restored their sight. Matthew tells us that the news about Jesus “spread all over …, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” (Matthew 4:24, NIV84)
Even demons obeyed Jesus – they recognized Him as the Son of God – and they had no choice but to bow to His authority over them. And John witnessed all of this – he saw it with his own eyes! And it must have been amazing! How could you not be changed as you witnessed these things day after day? But there’s more!
When the crowds of thousands were hungry, Jesus fed them from but a few loaves of bread, and fish, and when everyone was satisfied, there was more left over then was begun with! John was there, along with Peter and James, at the Mount of Transfiguration when the true glory of Jesus was revealed – he saw it with his own eyes! And he was there when Jesus raised a little girl from the dead.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night He was betrayed, Jesus took that inner circle of Peter, James and John, farther into the garden to keep watch and pray as Jesus Himself wrestled in prayer before God. John was nearby, in the hours before the crucifixion, as Jesus cried out to God “take this cup from me” and He was still nearby when Jesus prayed again, “yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
And when Jesus is betrayed, it is only Peter and John, of all the disciples, who follow along at a distance (John 18:15). And it’s John who gets himself and Peter access into the High Priest’s courtyard. It’s John who’s present to hear what happens when Jesus is brought before Pilate.
It’s John who is standing beside Mary, Jesus’ mother, as Jesus is being crucified and it’s John to whom Jesus speaks saying, “Here is your mother.” (John 19:24) Not that Mary was really John’s mother but that Jesus was asking John to care for Mary as though she was his own mother and Scripture tells us that John does that very thing, taking her into his own home and caring for her.
When the disciples are told that the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty, Peter and John run to see for themselves, but John is faster and gets there first. He sees it with his own eyes and Scripture tells us that he is the first of the 12 to believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. (John 20:8)
He saw the risen Jesus, recognized Him with his own eyes. He talked with Him, ate with Him, and marveled at it all. And it’s in the Gospel that bears his name that John writes these words: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25, NIV84) He had seen it, heard it, experienced it, lived it, and now he wants everyone to know!
When I got my pilot’s licence I couldn’t talk about anything else! Everyone I met I wanted to tell them about how amazing it was to fly. The sensation as the rumbling on the runway stopped and the wheels left the ground. The incredible freedom of gracefully moving in three dimensions by simply applying pressure to the control stick. The excitement of a spin, the thrill of a perfect steep turn so that you hit your own slipstream as you came around in a full circle. The joy of seeing the world from a different perspective. The thrill of a stall, the fulfillment of a perfect landing in a raging crosswind. But I didn’t just want to tell them about it – I wanted them to experience it for themselves! I wanted them to come flying with me, and know that the things I said were true, not just because I had said them, but because they had experienced them too! I wanted to share my joy with them; I wanted them to share in my joy with me.
Maybe that helps give us a little bit of an idea of what John is hoping will happen as the people read this letter that he is writing. He’s experienced all these amazing things. Based on all he’s seen, and heard, and experienced, he professes Jesus to be the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah, the only one through whom we can receive forgiveness for our sins, the only one through whom we can be reconciled to God, and the only one through whom we can receive new life – spiritual life. Walking with Jesus has transformed his life, filled his heart with joy, and he wants us to share in that with him.
John is a passionate man - a zealous man. For some reason, you see those famous paintings of the Last Supper, or of the disciples, and so often they make John look like a wus – very effeminate. I don’t know where they get that from because it’s not the picture of him we are given in Scripture. Jesus calls John and his brother James, “Sons of Thunder.” (Mark 3:17) Makes me think they were loud, and they were bold, and they weren’t all that timid. And it’s James and John, who, when a certain village refused to welcome Jesus in, turned to Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54, NIV84) John was a man of zeal, a man of passion, and we catch a glimpse of that in these opening verses of 1 John, because he has that same passion, that same zeal, that same enthusiasm that you and I would know Jesus, as he knew Jesus, that our lives might be transformed, as his life was transformed.
In verse 3 he indicates that he wants us to share in this fellowship with him and to know the same fellowship that he has with the Father and the Son. “This,” he says, “would make my joy complete – that you would enter in, to know and experience this life, this hope, that is only possible through Jesus Christ.” You see, by this time in his life, John is one of the last actual eye witnesses to all that took place – and he needs for the world to know this Jesus he is proclaiming. And his whole purpose in testifying as he does is that others may walk with Jesus, as he has walked with Jesus, that they may know the fellowship, the life, the hope, that are possible in Jesus alone. And I want to ask you this morning: Do you know this yourself? Do you know this Jesus that John is professing? This Jesus he has walked with, and talked with, and done life with? Or do you know a Jesus of your own creation? A Jesus who speaks only what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear? A Jesus that fits the world’s idea of what God should be rather than God as He has revealed Himself to us?
John’s purpose in testifying is so that we can know this Jesus and enter into fellowship with him, and all the other believers, but also with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now what do we think of when we think of fellowship? We tend to think of food right? Come and join us for fellowship as we share a meal together. Fellowship though is so much more than just sharing food with one another. “Fellowship” is a word that means “fellow participant.” It conveys the idea of a close, mutual relationship of shared idea, belief, and experience. We get an idea of what fellowship is all about from Acts 2 where we read this testimony of the early church:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42–47, NIV84)
That whole idea of doing life together, sharing the same hope, holding the same faith, walking with the same Jesus, building into one another’s lives – that’s fellowship. So many times you hear someone say, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” And you know what, they’re right! Going to church does not make you a Christian. But, if you are a Christian, you should want to go to a church, to be with brothers and sisters in the faith, to worship together, to grow together, to serve and love one another – to fellowship with one another.
Maybe this illustration will help us understand this idea of fellowship better …
“A young fellow who was fed up with church went to see this wise old Christian in his cabin to get some advice. He told him all the things that were bothering him about church, and how he felt that he would be better off without the company of other Christians. As he was speaking, the old man silently took the fire tongs and removed a red-hot glowing coal from the middle of the fire and set it on the hearth. The coal glowed for a while, but eventually dimmed and turned black. He let it sit there a while and then took the tongs and placed the coal back in the middle of the fire. Within seconds the coal was glowing red hot once again. The young man took the wordless lesson and left determined to stay with church. Pastor Mike Wilkins said, “Just as coals soon burn out when they are removed from the company of other coals, we will not last long in the faith if we are removed from true fellowship.” (Formative Fellowship by Mike Wilkins, www.sermoncentral.com)
John had something worth saying because he had walked with Jesus. He’d done life with Him. He’d experienced the reality firsthand. He knew it to be true, and knowing it to be true, he wanted others to know about Jesus as well. See, Jesus is the truth, and its truth that sets us free.
If you’re walking with Jesus, you have a story to share as well. And I want to challenge you today: Who are you telling? Who are you zealous and passionate for that they would know fellowship in the body of Christ? Something like less than 2% of Christians share Jesus with someone else in the course of any given year. Less than 2%!
We have the greatest news the world has ever heard and it appears that we’re ashamed to tell it. That just isn’t right!
A lot of time it’s fear that holds us back. But keep this in mind: your story, like John’s story, is not so much about you - it’s about Jesus. When you share your story you are giving testimony – you are witnessing to – the things that you know to be true about the Lord. You’re sharing the things you have experienced, lived, and wrestled through as you’ve walked with Jesus.
And maybe we struggle to share our faith sometimes because we haven’t been experiencing life with Him. We go through all the motions but maybe we’ve headed out on our own. It’s time to come back, to seek His face again, and to start walking with Him once more – because it’s being with Jesus that makes all the difference in the world.
Let’s pray …
