1 John 1:1-4
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
1 John 1:5-7
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
Ephesians 2:8-10
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Please open your Bibles to 1 John 1
The apostle John was a passionate man!
I wonder if it was John’s passion for truth that caused him to be “the disciple whom Jesus loved?”
I love it when we read in the book of the Gospel according to Luke and he says in …
Luke 1:1-4
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
That is great! Luke the investigative historian, gathering all the information he could get from all of the available eye witnesses he could find!
But even greater would be to hear from an actual eye witness who had been with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry here on earth to the very end!
Well, we have one right here in the passionate apostle John!
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read 1 John 1
What are the major things we see in verses 1-4?
We have actual eye witnesses of something and this letter is being written by one of those eye witnesses; the apostle John, the beloved disciple.
There is something John and others have seen, heard and touched. They have experienced this “something” with their physical senses. If we go back through the Gospel biographies of Jesus we see that this was not a momentary experience but lasted for three years!
So, what was this “something” that they all experienced with their eyes, ears and hands?
This “something” which was actually Someone who was
- “That which was from the beginning”; preexisting creation
- “the Word of life”; Word capitalized indicates that it is a proper noun, a name
- “the Life appeared”; Jesus was born into humanity, the incarnation
- “the eternal life, which was with the father”; Jesus is the source and giver of this eternal life which was with the father and which has now been made available to us
What are they going to do with this first hand testimony of what has appeared and been given to us?
- This we proclaim; verse 1
- We proclaim to you; verse 2
- We proclaim to you; verse 3
Why are they making this proclamation?
- “…so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” John 1:3
Fellowship … what is fellowship?
In our church we could have a fellowship of motorcycle riders; those who own and ride or have previously owned and ridden motorcycles. We would have a common interest and a fellowship that would exist between us because of that common interest and common experiences.
We could also have a fellowship of arts and crafts people such as knitters and other types of needle work. They would be able to discuss and share talents that others would not understand.
Obviously our main fellowship would be our common love of Christ and our desire to follow and please Him.
Have you ever wondered why we as a church do not participate in ecumenical services around the area? Wouldn’t we have fellowship with other groups?
For instance, what if a group wanted to hold an ecumenical service with JW’s, Muslims, Jews, Baha’is and Sikhs, and, what if these folks invited us to join?
Would we participate in the service?
After all, all of these religions are monotheistic; they believe in one true god.
Would we be able to join them in worship?
John 1:3b says,
“…our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Now, the JW’s, the Muslims, the Jews, the Baha’is, the Sikhs all do believe in one true god but they also reject the deity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
What is our task according to 1 John 1:1-3?
We are to proclaim Christ!
We are to proclaim “That which was from the beginning”
We are to proclaim “the Word of life”; Jesus!
We are to proclaim the name of Jesus who was “the Life (that) appeared”; and was born into humanity as the Son of God
We are to proclaim the availability of “the eternal life, which was with the father”; Jesus, the source and giver of this eternal life!
We are to proclaim that this eternal life is only found through Jesus the Son of God.
Now if we did that do you think we would be invited back next year?
But, why do we have Good Friday service with Pioneer Christian Fellowship and the Free Methodists and other churches? Because we have a common fellowship with them through faith in Jesus Christ!
Why do our pastors meet for prayer with the pastors of PCF and the Free Methodist and Central Baptist and First Baptist and others? Because we have a common fellowship with them through faith in Jesus Christ!
A common fellowship doesn’t always mean a common goal!
Imagine if both the Democrat and Republican parties decided to hold their national presidential nominating conventions in the same venue on the same date?
That would be fun, wouldn’t it?
They both have the same goal; to get someone elected as president of the United States of America but there probably wouldn’t be a lot fellowship going on and probably not many survivors.
Common interest but no fellowship …
Just imagine the day before the last Superbowl game and something happens to one of the locker rooms in the stadium. An announcement is made to the teams that they will have to share one locker room.
Well, that certainly should not be a problem. They both have a love for football, don’t they? They should have great fellowship; telling stories and telling about what works best for them.
So, before the game both teams are going over their game plans, one at a time so that they can share their strategy and help their friends.
They are both drawing out their special plays to use in various circumstances, especially the trick plays, they’ll get a kick out of them!
Then they all give each other a big hug and head out to the field, right?
Fellowship in football; of course it can work. Right?
So, what are we saying here?
Are we saying that we should not associate with anyone unless they are a believing Christian?
This is where we need to be careful …
Example …
The motorcycle I ride is a 2000 Yamaha Venture MM Limited (which is 19 years old and I picked for way under the book value!).
There is a group called VentureRider.org – a Yamaha Venture information group which is also open to all riders or wannabe riders.
If I were to join I would be having fellowship with other riders but not necessarily Christian fellowship.
As a Christian my main motivation in that group would be to proclaim salvation through faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Now, that doesn’t mean that I would stand up on my motorcycle seat and start preaching at the first meeting I attended but my eyes, ears and heart should be open to anyone who would be receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What is one of our memory verses?
1 Peter 3:15
“In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
We are always to be on mission for Jesus.
But what if after I have joined they make a decision to declare that one of the main objectives of the group is to proclaim that all religions are valid, that all religions are paths to God?
What if on their website and on other advertisements they make this belief known?
What if they were to hold a press conference to let the whole world know of this belief?
How would that affect people who know I am a follower of Jesus Christ and that I am also associated with this motorcycle group?
How will that knowledge affect my witness?
What should I do? Should I stay or should I go?
What if that witness starts to affect my relationship with Jesus?
What should I do then? Should I stay or should I go?
What’s happening? Is the group affecting me more than I’m affecting the group?
We must always have interaction with the world. We must always have a lower level of fellowship with the world but it can never affect our fellowship with Jesus or with other believers!
So, in summary,
- We must know who Jesus is
- We must proclaim Him to the world and to other Christians
- This will enable fellowship with Jesus and with other Christians
- Our joy will be complete
As we head into 2019 let’s make sure we evaluate these questions:
- Do we have true Christian fellowship with other believers?
- Am I a true Christian believer of just a church attender?
- Do the unsaved people in my life have more influence on my life than I have on theirs?
- Do I have a Biblical view of eternity?
Prayer and comments as we come to the time for communion …
Communion will NOT save you and make you into a true Christian!
Communion itself will not bring you INTO fellowship with God.
Communion is for those who are already in fellowship with God and in fellowship with other believers.
So, what WILL bring you into fellowship with God? (basic plan of salvation through faith in Jesus …)
If you are out of fellowship with God (in sinful rebellion) you can get that straightened out today.
If you are out of fellowship with other believers (sin – holding grudges, gossip, slander, hatred) you can get right (repent – forgive, make restitution, etc.) today.
Why is communion not for those who are out of fellowship with God and other believers?
Communion is a remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf for our salvation.
Communion is also a glimpse of the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. There will be no squabbling with others or with the Lord at that great feast.
The sacrifice of Christ that is remembered in communion is also what has made it possible for us to participate in that great Wedding Feast in Heaven!
(Communion, prayer and dismissal)
