WEBVTT 00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:04.960 We're reading from John 1. This is very much 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.259 a repeat of Genesis 1, but I don't think Michael's 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:11.359 going there this morning, he told me, but we're 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:15.500 in John 1. Verse 1 to 14. This is God's Word. 00:00:27.690 --> 00:00:31.789 was not anything made that was made. In him was 00:00:31.789 --> 00:00:35.530 life and the life was the light of men. The light 00:00:35.530 --> 00:00:38.310 shines in the darkness and the darkness has not 00:00:38.310 --> 00:00:42.289 overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose 00:00:42.289 --> 00:00:46.429 name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness 00:00:46.429 --> 00:00:49.829 about the light that all might believe through 00:00:49.829 --> 00:00:54.210 him. He was not the light but came to bear witness 00:00:54.210 --> 00:00:57.609 about the light. The true light which gives light 00:00:57.609 --> 00:01:00.869 to everyone was coming into the world. He was 00:01:00.869 --> 00:01:03.770 in the world and the world was made through him, 00:01:04.329 --> 00:01:07.849 yet the world did not know him. He came to his 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:10.829 own and his own people did not receive him. But 00:01:10.829 --> 00:01:13.969 to all who did receive him, who believed in his 00:01:13.969 --> 00:01:17.129 name, he gave the right to become children of 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:20.849 God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will 00:01:20.849 --> 00:01:24.269 of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 00:01:24.269 --> 00:01:28.329 God. and the Word became flesh and dwelt among 00:01:28.329 --> 00:01:31.829 us and we have seen His glory, glory as the only 00:01:31.829 --> 00:01:36.810 Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." 00:01:36.810 --> 00:01:41.030 And then we turn to 1 John 1, and that's on page 00:01:41.030 --> 00:01:46.709 959, if you have the Pew Bibles, and we're reading 00:01:46.709 --> 00:01:54.579 the first four verses. 1 John 1. which was from 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:57.299 the beginning, which we have heard, which we 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:00.120 have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.519 and have touched with our hands concerning the 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.760 word of life. The life was made manifest and 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.620 we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:13.180 to you the eternal life, which was with the Father 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:16.919 and was made manifest to us. That which we have 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:21.080 seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:24.099 you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:26.819 our fellowship is with the Father and with his 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:30.580 Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things 00:02:30.580 --> 00:02:34.800 so that our joy may be complete. This is God's 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.120 word and may he add his blessing to the reading 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:42.979 and preaching of that word. Thanks Anton. Good 00:02:42.979 --> 00:02:46.349 morning everyone. So it's great to be together 00:02:46.349 --> 00:02:51.110 here in Armidale on this beautiful crisp, we 00:02:51.110 --> 00:02:54.689 might say, Sunday morning where we have the privilege 00:02:54.689 --> 00:02:59.129 to sing together, pray together and hear God's 00:02:59.129 --> 00:03:03.729 word in our midst. Now as you may have noticed, 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:08.810 we have new Pew Bibles which are in the ESV translation 00:03:08.810 --> 00:03:12.169 and they're in that translation because we'll 00:03:12.169 --> 00:03:16.370 be using the ESV from now on to lead our services 00:03:16.370 --> 00:03:20.090 and to preach from. And you may have also noticed 00:03:20.090 --> 00:03:24.419 that we're starting a new series today. in the 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:27.900 letter of First John, which should be taking 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:31.500 us, God willing, pretty much to the end of the 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:34.840 year. Now, I just wanted to say a couple of things 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:39.680 on this series before we get into the passage 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:42.719 that we have before us this morning. The elders 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.060 here at Grace wanted to take you through this 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:49.099 little letter because it's a really... powerful 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:53.500 part of scripture that gets us, the people of 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:58.900 God, to focus in on what is the Christian life. 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.080 Hence why the title of this series reflects that 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:05.639 very thing. Now, John, the apostle, he covers 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:08.419 a whole load of subjects in this letter. And 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:11.199 through this series, we want to particularly 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:15.780 focus in on what he has to say about what we 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:20.060 as Christians must believe, how we're to relate 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:24.600 to one another in the church and how we are to 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:28.339 live our faith out in this world. We also want 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:30.319 to take you through this letter because John 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:34.670 deals with issues that are so very important 00:04:34.670 --> 00:04:39.230 to us personally, like our assurance of faith 00:04:39.230 --> 00:04:44.550 and our identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. In 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:48.410 fact, John pretty much tells us there in chapter 00:04:48.410 --> 00:04:54.250 five, verse 13, his purpose for the book. And 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:57.250 listen to these words. He says, I write these 00:04:57.250 --> 00:05:00.790 things to you who believe in the name of the 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:06.509 Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal 00:05:06.509 --> 00:05:09.750 life. Listen to what our apostle is saying there. 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:14.670 He's written to us, the church, to help us in 00:05:14.670 --> 00:05:18.810 our assurance of salvation and to know what we 00:05:18.810 --> 00:05:23.470 have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are a people. 00:05:23.790 --> 00:05:29.610 who have at this very moment eternal life because 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:33.670 of our faith in the Son of God. Church, what 00:05:33.670 --> 00:05:36.069 our author sets out to achieve here and what 00:05:36.069 --> 00:05:40.389 we want to really explore in this series is that 00:05:40.389 --> 00:05:44.769 as we come to know and to trust and to live in 00:05:44.769 --> 00:05:48.430 light of what Jesus has achieved on behalf of 00:05:48.430 --> 00:05:51.720 his people, that we would hopefully become a 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:55.459 more confident and thankful and humble people 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:59.139 who really walk and act differently in this world. 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:02.600 That's what First John is somewhat about and 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:05.060 what we'll be looking at in this series in the 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:07.980 coming months. But before we get into this series 00:06:07.980 --> 00:06:11.160 and the text that we have before us this morning, 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:15.480 why don't you join me in praying for what we're 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:17.500 doing here together? Would you please pray with 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:23.939 me? Father God, we are so thankful that we are 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:27.379 able to gather together here in this building 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:32.379 so publicly, that we're able to plan on a series 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:37.079 and ask for you to lead and guide and give us 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:40.339 direction through it. Lord, we are such a privileged 00:06:40.339 --> 00:06:44.740 people that we're even able to have pew Bibles 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:48.279 and so much access to your word. These are all 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:51.689 such... wonderful blessings and grace from your 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:54.569 hand. This morning, Lord, as we come to the word, 00:06:54.689 --> 00:06:57.750 we would ask that you would teach us by your 00:06:57.750 --> 00:07:00.750 Holy Spirit that the Lord Jesus Christ would 00:07:00.750 --> 00:07:03.589 be held high among us and that you would have 00:07:03.589 --> 00:07:06.750 all the glory. And we ask for this in the name 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:12.810 of Jesus. Amen. One of my mates who has travelled 00:07:12.810 --> 00:07:17.110 the world extensively made me aware of something 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:21.149 once, and that's that Australia, in his opinion 00:07:21.149 --> 00:07:24.389 at least, is one of the hardest places in the 00:07:24.389 --> 00:07:29.160 world to speak to people about the Gospel. He 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:32.560 said that literally anywhere on the face of the 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:34.879 planet that he's gone to go visit, people are 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:39.560 ready to engage, ready to listen, and even argue 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:44.519 about what it is to be saved and justified before 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:48.990 God. But not here in Australia. because for the 00:07:48.990 --> 00:07:52.490 most part he reckons Aussies are somewhat prone 00:07:52.490 --> 00:07:56.170 to think a similar thing and that's that they're 00:07:56.170 --> 00:07:58.889 happy for him and they're happy that his faith 00:07:58.889 --> 00:08:01.970 has kind of made him feel like a better person 00:08:01.970 --> 00:08:06.009 but they're doing just fine in the way that they're 00:08:06.009 --> 00:08:10.529 doing things. Whatever works for you, mate, kind 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:13.829 of thing. My friend gets really frustrated by 00:08:13.829 --> 00:08:17.740 that response because at its core it reveals 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:21.480 a fundamental misunderstanding in our culture 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:26.379 about the true nature of the gospel. The gospel 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:31.339 isn't something that's subjective, like a TV 00:08:31.339 --> 00:08:34.820 show that you can decide whether is good or bad 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:39.159 based on your personal taste. No, the truth of 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.779 the gospel is absolute. which is to say remains 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:48.399 true regardless of whether someone believes it 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:53.600 or not. To put it simply, when it comes to the 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.860 truth of the good news of Jesus Christ, whatever 00:08:56.860 --> 00:09:02.409 works for you mate, doesn't work at all. And 00:09:02.409 --> 00:09:04.309 I mentioned that to you this morning because 00:09:04.309 --> 00:09:08.370 the truth of the nature of God, the place of 00:09:08.370 --> 00:09:12.549 Jesus in the Christian life and the way of salvation 00:09:12.549 --> 00:09:16.049 being somewhat up to the individual was very 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:19.769 much the problem that our apostle here, John, 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:24.830 wrote into this church in first century Ephesus, 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:28.950 which is in modern day Turkey. You see, at some 00:09:28.950 --> 00:09:34.830 point, John had written his gospel and it's circulated 00:09:34.830 --> 00:09:38.990 quite far and wide but over time there was different 00:09:38.990 --> 00:09:43.450 false teachers that had different takes on what 00:09:43.450 --> 00:09:46.830 John and the other apostles taught about repentance 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:51.769 and faith and even about the nature of God and 00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:57.100 Jesus Christ himself and because Greek philosophy 00:09:57.100 --> 00:10:02.480 had a place for different opinions, being relevant 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.299 for the individual, whatever works for you kind 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:10.519 of thing. Well, that mindset had somewhat infiltrated 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:14.720 the church. And the danger was Christians could 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:20.799 be carried away by that hashtag my truth mindset, 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:25.169 which would have drastic and eternal consequences 00:10:25.169 --> 00:10:29.389 on all who adopted that way of approaching the 00:10:29.389 --> 00:10:35.350 gospel. And so John wrote into this problem refuting 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:39.210 false teachers that had married the mission of 00:10:39.210 --> 00:10:43.769 Jesus to different Greek philosophies while also 00:10:43.769 --> 00:10:48.250 encouraging maturity in the faith that was once 00:10:48.250 --> 00:10:52.570 and for all delivered to the saints. That's a 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:56.309 bit of context for this letter. And so with that 00:10:56.309 --> 00:11:00.610 in mind, we turn our attention to verse one here. 00:11:01.389 --> 00:11:04.529 We read, that which was from the beginning, which 00:11:04.529 --> 00:11:06.909 we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes, 00:11:06.970 --> 00:11:09.250 which we've looked upon and touched with our 00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:13.919 hands concerning the word of life. There's a 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:16.080 couple of things that I want you to see here. 00:11:16.139 --> 00:11:20.480 First, look at where John takes our attention 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:25.759 from the get -go. It's to the very beginning, 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:30.120 right? Now as I just read those first few words, 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:32.620 as Anton read them just before, you may have 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:36.919 been thinking to yourself, what exactly is John 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:40.519 talking about here? What was from the beginning? 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:47.100 What does our author have in mind here? Well 00:11:47.100 --> 00:11:49.720 if we look at the end of verse one in our text 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.179 this morning, John's speaking about the word 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:58.679 of life. Now before we jump to any conclusions 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:02.340 and think that he's only speaking about a message 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:06.960 here, it's clear that John has seen, that he 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:11.029 has looked upon, that he has touched this very 00:12:11.029 --> 00:12:13.809 thing that he's speaking about, which he was 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:17.090 able to do, because if you look there in verse 00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:22.529 two, it was manifested in this world, which is 00:12:22.529 --> 00:12:25.669 to say this thing that he's talking about was 00:12:25.669 --> 00:12:30.809 revealed in such a way that he was able to physically 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:35.450 experience it. Church, I think we have a better 00:12:35.450 --> 00:12:39.129 understanding of what's going on here when we 00:12:39.129 --> 00:12:43.370 understand what he's saying here in light of 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:48.669 John 1. Because our author is actually speaking 00:12:48.669 --> 00:12:53.409 about two things simultaneously. Yes, he's talking 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:56.289 about the word of life, which is the gospel, 00:12:56.330 --> 00:13:00.009 yet at the very same time, he's speaking about 00:13:00.009 --> 00:13:05.110 the word as a person, who as we just heard is 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:11.519 Jesus. They're not contrary things, but one and 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.960 the same thing that's been from the beginning 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:18.879 that came into this world which John has heard, 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:23.299 which he has handled and seen. It's one and the 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:27.299 same thing. Think about it like this. Imagine 00:13:27.299 --> 00:13:32.179 that you've been speaking to someone and they've 00:13:32.179 --> 00:13:36.100 been texting a person. They've read all their 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:39.159 messages, they know the tone, they even understand 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:43.340 the personality behind the words. You might say 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:46.659 that they really have got to know that person, 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:50.820 right? But one day, that person shows up in real 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:54.120 life, they shake their hand, they see the way 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:57.360 that they move, they see the expressions in their 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.340 face, and then they hang out with them. They're 00:14:01.340 --> 00:14:04.500 no longer just a message on a screen, right? 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.820 No, they're a real present and physical person. 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:13.759 I think that's the sort of thing that John is 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:19.580 trying to grapple our minds with here. Just like 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:22.820 how the message and the person behind them are 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:25.539 one and the same thing, John is saying to us 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:30.740 here, Jesus, he is the word of life. He is the 00:14:30.740 --> 00:14:34.700 message of the Good News who was from the beginning 00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:39.279 with the Father and he existed before he came 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:44.539 to be seen in this world by myself and others 00:14:44.539 --> 00:14:50.220 who heard, handled and saw him. And that's the 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:51.860 second thing that I want you to notice here. 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:55.700 I want you to see the language of verse 1. See 00:14:55.700 --> 00:15:01.169 how it's all in the plural. that which we've 00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:06.289 heard, we've seen, that which we've looked upon. 00:15:07.789 --> 00:15:11.509 What's John doing here? Well, what I think he's 00:15:11.509 --> 00:15:15.649 doing is he's making sure that we know that he 00:15:15.649 --> 00:15:19.970 is united to the other apostles and to the gospel 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:24.139 that they preached. And he's saying in so many 00:15:24.139 --> 00:15:27.899 words that it would be wise to listen to us because 00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:32.960 we knew Jesus. We saw him, we heard him, we walked 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:37.360 with him, we knew who he was because we were 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.720 the ones who were with him when he was here. 00:15:41.680 --> 00:15:45.019 It's a style of writing to ensure us that we 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:48.419 can be confident with the words that our apostle 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:52.179 is giving to us here because he's a guy who really 00:15:52.179 --> 00:15:57.879 was with Jesus in his earthly ministry and in 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.139 his inner circle with the rest of the apostles. 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:06.799 He was part of those people that Jesus personally 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:12.799 chose to speak on his behalf. All this to say 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:16.600 church, John opens his letter with an absolute 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:19.679 left hook in regards to the false teachers that 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.639 had made their way into the church there in Ephesus 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:28.799 and were confusing people with this new and approved 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:38.379 Greekified Jesus. He wasn't a recent idea. No, 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:42.399 we see it here. John opens his letter by saying, 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:48.740 Jesus, the word of life already existed in the 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:52.679 beginning with the father. He really did come 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:57.179 into this world and we really did walk and talk 00:16:57.179 --> 00:17:01.340 with him. And this Jesus didn't just tell us 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:05.640 the good news. He is the good news. He is the 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:11.539 very Word of God, the very word of life made 00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:15.660 flesh. All in all what John is telling us here 00:17:15.660 --> 00:17:18.720 is that the gospel isn't a new thing but has 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:22.000 been something, but is something that has always 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.619 been. It wasn't invented yesterday or it wasn't 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:29.559 made up by a bunch of guys 2 ,000 years ago there 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:33.519 in Jerusalem. No, it's unchanging and rooted 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:37.079 in eternity because it's rooted in the person 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:43.230 of Jesus Christ. And so the church must be very 00:17:43.230 --> 00:17:47.829 aware of anyone who brings us any other teaching. 00:17:49.089 --> 00:17:51.049 That's the first thing we see here. The second 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:54.609 thing that John draws our attention to is that 00:17:54.609 --> 00:18:00.630 truth and life are found in Jesus. Truth and 00:18:00.630 --> 00:18:07.049 life is found in Jesus. I really love how the 00:18:07.049 --> 00:18:11.339 ESV shows us what's going on here in the underlining 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:14.759 Greek by their use of dashes. If you have a pubile 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:17.720 you'll see there's a few dashes going on there. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.519 It's like John is explaining to us who Jesus 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.460 is and then goes off on this little tangent. 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:28.000 It's a really beautiful thing. It's like explaining 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.160 to someone something about the love of your life 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:34.160 that you get really excited about and then as 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.079 you're explaining you just need to add in this 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:40.569 extra little detail. because there's just so 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:44.930 many good things to say about that person. That's 00:18:44.930 --> 00:18:48.589 somewhat the vibe of what's happening here. John 00:18:48.589 --> 00:18:51.529 explains something to us about the word of life, 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:55.049 about Jesus, our Lord, and then he needs to add 00:18:55.049 --> 00:19:00.029 in this vital detail about Jesus. Now, unlike 00:19:00.029 --> 00:19:03.410 someone who does go off on a tangent and usually 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:07.490 gives superfluous information, that's definitely 00:19:07.490 --> 00:19:13.930 not what's going on here. John is saying something 00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:17.049 absolutely vital for us to understand because 00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:21.930 he's saying to have eternal life and relationship 00:19:21.930 --> 00:19:27.410 with God. Well, that is only found in the gospel. 00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:33.240 that they proclaim. Listen to how our apostle 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:38.779 puts it here in verse 2. The life was made manifest 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:43.779 and we've seen it and testified to it and proclaim 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:48.480 to you the eternal life which was with the Father 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.240 and was made manifest to us. I want you to see 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:56.079 a few things here. First, John reiterates that 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.420 the Jesus that the apostles really walked with 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:03.759 was the eternal life who would really come into 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:08.339 our time and space sent from the Father. That 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:11.980 is who they proclaim to us. They proclaim Jesus 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:15.599 who is the eternal life that they saw in the 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.779 flesh. That's going to become, that detail is 00:20:18.779 --> 00:20:21.980 going to become really important as we go on 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:25.539 in this book and this series. Second, John tells 00:20:25.539 --> 00:20:28.740 us that the proclamation of this man and the 00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:32.740 message being Jesus and the gospel is of eternal 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:36.599 significance because of its very nature. And 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:40.839 third, because of the very nature of Jesus and 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:45.039 the gospel. John is saying that this is absolute 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:50.900 truth. It's absolute truth for all humanity. 00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:57.819 It's from God and thus it's not an optional extra 00:20:57.819 --> 00:21:01.359 kind of thing. And so there's a couple of things 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:04.259 that we see straight off the bat in just these 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:07.500 first couple of verses that our apostle gives 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:11.359 to us. First, the gospel wasn't invented by the 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.559 apostles but has been from the very beginning 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:19.359 in Jesus who was with the Father and came into 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.619 this world. These men, these apostles, they walked 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:28.019 with him. And second, the gospel is of eternal 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:33.259 worth and is absolutely true because of its very 00:21:33.259 --> 00:21:38.829 nature that is rooted in the triune God. himself. 00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:42.890 The third truth that the church must pay attention 00:21:42.890 --> 00:21:46.589 to is found there in verse three and it's John's 00:21:46.589 --> 00:21:50.930 explanation as to why he is writing to us and 00:21:50.930 --> 00:21:56.390 it's simply this. Like what he and the other 00:21:56.390 --> 00:22:01.609 apostles experienced, he wants all of us to experience 00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:07.430 that as well. He wants us to experience true 00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:12.099 fellowship. Listen to how he says it in verse 00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:16.480 three, that which we've seen and heard we proclaim 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:22.819 also to you so that, so that you too may have 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:26.579 fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship 00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:30.460 is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:38.980 John proclaims this message to us so that we 00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:42.779 too may have fellowship. It's an interesting 00:22:42.779 --> 00:22:48.359 Greek word he uses here. It means a real lasting, 00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:54.299 a real intimate relationship with something that 00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:58.980 you have in common. Kind of like a marriage, 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:05.400 but with whom? Well, first of all, Notice it 00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:11.019 here in verse 3, he says, with us. With us. That's 00:23:11.019 --> 00:23:13.619 really interesting because the stress of that 00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:17.900 phrase isn't on having fellowship maybe with 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:21.160 one another like you would naturally think, but 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:27.119 with John and the other apostles. Which is really 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:32.200 quite interesting until we understand the context. 00:23:32.430 --> 00:23:36.809 in which our apostle writes into here. You see, 00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:40.329 John was speaking into a context where, as we've 00:23:40.329 --> 00:23:44.569 seen briefly, individualism in the Christian 00:23:44.569 --> 00:23:49.150 life was a real danger for the church, very much 00:23:49.150 --> 00:23:52.990 like this day and age for us. And so John is 00:23:52.990 --> 00:23:56.619 saying that the Christian life was... never designed 00:23:56.619 --> 00:24:00.839 to be a choose your own adventure where one picks 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:04.900 and chooses what seems good and right and true 00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:09.779 to them. Like what the false teachers were making 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:13.900 allowance for by marrying Christ to different 00:24:13.900 --> 00:24:18.059 Greek philosophies. No, to believe what the apostles 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:22.640 taught about Jesus and to accept the truth of 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:26.609 their teaching To believe it, that is to really 00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:30.410 be part of the church that they are the foundation 00:24:30.410 --> 00:24:35.549 of. I really think that's what John wants us 00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:39.109 to see here. To have fellowship, relationship, 00:24:39.509 --> 00:24:44.250 connection, one has to be in fellowship, we might 00:24:44.250 --> 00:24:47.789 say, with the apostles by believing and accepting 00:24:47.789 --> 00:24:52.869 what they taught about the Jesus that they really 00:24:52.869 --> 00:24:58.660 walked. and talked and lived life with. And let 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:00.779 me just say here, brothers and sisters, a church 00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:05.160 that is built on the foundation of the apostles 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:09.440 and the prophets, as Paul will put it, is a church 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:13.519 that's committed to the teaching of the apostles 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:19.680 as found in their inspired words to us, as found 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:23.990 in the Bible. That's how we come to have this 00:25:23.990 --> 00:25:27.670 fellowship with them and how real disciples of 00:25:27.670 --> 00:25:33.450 Jesus are made. Listen to a wonderful American 00:25:33.450 --> 00:25:36.309 missionary here, a guy by the name of Paul Washer. 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:40.079 He says, in modern day evangelism, the precious 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:43.599 doctrine of regeneration has been reduced to 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:46.619 nothing more than a human decision to raise one's 00:25:46.619 --> 00:25:50.839 hand, walk an aisle, or pray a sinner's prayer. 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:54.519 As a result, the majority of Americans believe 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.259 that their born -again disciples, even though 00:25:57.259 --> 00:26:01.279 their thoughts, words, and deeds are in continual 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:04.319 contradiction to the nature and the will of God 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:09.109 as revealed in the Bible. Brothers and sisters, 00:26:09.170 --> 00:26:14.029 John's goal for the church, for you and me, wasn't 00:26:14.029 --> 00:26:18.289 merely to get people to pray a prayer or make 00:26:18.289 --> 00:26:22.269 a one -time decision and then go on to then pick 00:26:22.269 --> 00:26:25.769 and choose what seems good and right and true 00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:31.250 to us. No, his goal is that the people of God 00:26:31.250 --> 00:26:37.890 would share in one life together. And that comes 00:26:37.890 --> 00:26:43.069 by accepting what the apostles have shared with 00:26:43.069 --> 00:26:44.950 us. And that's the second thing that I want you 00:26:44.950 --> 00:26:47.210 to see here in verse three, because he doesn't 00:26:47.210 --> 00:26:50.710 just leave it here in this natural relationship. 00:26:50.789 --> 00:26:53.250 He talks about something supernatural happening 00:26:53.250 --> 00:26:57.210 here as well. Notice that the apostles' fellowship 00:26:57.210 --> 00:27:02.670 is with God the Father and with his son Jesus 00:27:02.670 --> 00:27:06.660 Christ. And so what he's saying is that when 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:09.180 we're brought into fellowship with the apostles, 00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:12.400 which is another way of saying accepting and 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.740 believing their message, we're also brought into 00:27:15.740 --> 00:27:19.980 relationship with God himself. To put it simply, 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:25.079 accepting apostolic doctrine does something supernatural. 00:27:25.450 --> 00:27:29.069 It brings us into fellowship with God the Father 00:27:29.069 --> 00:27:32.990 and His eternal Son Jesus Christ Himself. That's 00:27:32.990 --> 00:27:37.650 why John has written and why the Apostles proclaim 00:27:37.650 --> 00:27:43.529 the Gospel to us. It's so that people will come 00:27:43.529 --> 00:27:51.569 to experience fellowship and true life with the 00:27:51.569 --> 00:27:56.279 Triune God Himself. I want to give you an example 00:27:56.279 --> 00:27:58.839 of this. It's not a perfect example, so please 00:27:58.839 --> 00:28:01.960 forgive me from the get -go. But it is an example. 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:05.279 Imagine you go to check your mailbox and you 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:09.220 find a hand -delivered envelope sealed with the 00:28:09.220 --> 00:28:13.700 royal crest. You open it, inside is a formal 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:16.960 invitation from the King's personal ambassador. 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:21.500 It reads, you sir, you madam, you're invited 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:25.710 to come to dine with the King. All expenses paid, 00:28:26.230 --> 00:28:30.390 your place has been prepared, come quickly. Surely 00:28:30.390 --> 00:28:32.490 you'd think to yourself that this is a mistake, 00:28:32.630 --> 00:28:34.930 that you've done nothing to deserve this kind 00:28:34.930 --> 00:28:38.509 of treatment, but because the invite is legitimate 00:28:38.509 --> 00:28:41.789 and it's personally addressed to you, you go. 00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:45.750 Now imagine this. Imagine that when you get there, 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:48.869 to the palace, you're led straight to the king's 00:28:48.869 --> 00:28:52.599 table where he stands to welcome you. You're 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:55.480 not kind of pushed off to the side kind of thing, 00:28:55.779 --> 00:29:00.839 but invited to personally sit with him next to 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:06.319 his ambassadors to share laughter, food, and 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:11.119 the same joy as his people. To put it simply, 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:16.039 to sit at the table with them is to sit in fellowship 00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:21.730 with him. And it goes further. to accept their 00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:27.950 message really is to accept the invite from the 00:29:27.950 --> 00:29:34.269 King. That's somewhat what I think John is telling 00:29:34.269 --> 00:29:41.549 us here. When we accept the proclamation of the 00:29:41.549 --> 00:29:44.069 apostles, their message which is the gospel, 00:29:44.589 --> 00:29:48.089 We're not just agreeing to an idea or signing 00:29:48.089 --> 00:29:52.589 up to some kind of weird life of religion. No, 00:29:52.710 --> 00:29:56.230 we're stepping into a real living fellowship 00:29:56.230 --> 00:30:00.109 with God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ, 00:30:00.589 --> 00:30:04.009 through the almighty power of the Holy Spirit 00:30:04.009 --> 00:30:12.329 at work. The proclamation, the acceptance, The 00:30:12.329 --> 00:30:16.990 belief of the gospel has supernatural ramifications. 00:30:19.029 --> 00:30:20.869 There's one last thing that I want to draw your 00:30:20.869 --> 00:30:23.890 attention to. It's brief, but it's found there 00:30:23.890 --> 00:30:26.569 in verse four, and it's what this fellowship, 00:30:26.789 --> 00:30:31.589 this relationship, this intimacy produces. Verse 00:30:31.589 --> 00:30:34.529 four, and we're writing these things so that 00:30:34.529 --> 00:30:42.579 our joy may be complete. Our joy. Our joy, hear 00:30:42.579 --> 00:30:46.519 that. When we hear and accept the gospel, the 00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:50.539 good news and come into fellowship and relationship 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:53.740 with the living God, we're brought into a life 00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:58.720 that's not burdensome or heavy or horrible. But 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:02.359 as our apostle tells us here, is a real delight 00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:06.980 and joy. Church, I want you to notice what we've 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:13.309 seen so far. Verse one. The word of life. Verse 00:31:13.309 --> 00:31:20.289 three, true fellowship. Verse four, joy. Notice 00:31:20.289 --> 00:31:24.490 how our apostle lays it out for us. True gospel 00:31:24.490 --> 00:31:29.990 proclamation leads to true fellowship, which 00:31:29.990 --> 00:31:35.170 leads to true joy. Let me say that again. True 00:31:35.170 --> 00:31:40.230 gospel proclamation. leads to true fellowship, 00:31:41.150 --> 00:31:48.049 which leads to true joy. In other words, as the 00:31:48.049 --> 00:31:52.569 Bible defines it, joy comes by sharing in the 00:31:52.569 --> 00:31:56.829 life that comes from our heavenly father and 00:31:56.829 --> 00:32:02.410 is found in his beloved son. And we find joy 00:32:02.410 --> 00:32:05.950 in that fellowship as we engage in it with our 00:32:05.950 --> 00:32:12.369 brothers and sisters in the church. As we finish 00:32:12.369 --> 00:32:15.529 up in these very interesting verses that are 00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:19.049 going to open our series, much like John's original 00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:24.509 audience, we live in a world that propagates 00:32:24.509 --> 00:32:28.970 the whatever works for you message. It's even 00:32:28.970 --> 00:32:32.650 crept into the church to a degree. Christians 00:32:32.650 --> 00:32:36.740 accept all sorts of teaching that comes through 00:32:36.740 --> 00:32:40.940 YouTube and podcasts that tell them that if you 00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:44.599 really want to have real joy and fullness and 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:46.960 happiness in this life, then all you have to 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:51.019 do is listen to my secret wisdom, to my teaching, 00:32:51.140 --> 00:32:55.180 to buy my book, and even in some cases give money 00:32:55.180 --> 00:32:59.359 to my ministry. Then and only then will you find 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:01.839 that real joy and happiness that you've been 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:08.480 after, Christian. But listen to our apostle's 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:12.920 approach here. Listen to his message to us, the 00:33:12.920 --> 00:33:17.000 church. He's saying that fullness of joy is found 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:22.539 and always has been found in fellowship with 00:33:22.539 --> 00:33:27.819 the living God and with others who are in that 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:32.940 fellowship with him. Brother, sister, if you 00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:38.170 are trusting Jesus. If you're fellowshiping with 00:33:38.170 --> 00:33:42.809 his people, then you're already a participant 00:33:42.809 --> 00:33:48.390 in that joy. This is what brings real and lasting 00:33:48.390 --> 00:33:55.190 joy. Not career success, money, fame, relationships 00:33:55.190 --> 00:33:57.890 or whatever you might be searching for, but a 00:33:57.890 --> 00:34:02.730 life that is rooted in the triune God and experienced 00:34:02.730 --> 00:34:05.809 and experienced with those who have responded 00:34:05.809 --> 00:34:10.829 to the same proclamation of truth as found in 00:34:10.829 --> 00:34:17.050 the teaching of the apostles. Have you accepted 00:34:17.050 --> 00:34:23.110 that invitation from the King? If not, then we 00:34:23.110 --> 00:34:25.250 love that you're here with us this morning and 00:34:25.250 --> 00:34:27.840 I would love to speak to you. straight after 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:30.900 the service about what that might look like. 00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:34.619 But for now, why don't we come together and why 00:34:34.619 --> 00:34:37.760 don't we pray? Would you please pray with me? 00:34:42.780 --> 00:34:45.460 Lord God, we thank you for these words of eternal 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:49.239 life, the good message of the gospel. We ask 00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:55.190 that as we sing together, that as we leave as 00:34:55.190 --> 00:34:57.829 we fellowship together and then as we leave that 00:34:57.829 --> 00:35:01.530 these words wouldn't depart from us quickly that 00:35:01.530 --> 00:35:04.769 you by the work of your spirit would plunge them 00:35:04.769 --> 00:35:08.469 into our hearts that we would have our eyes raised 00:35:08.469 --> 00:35:13.070 to you Lord Jesus that you would change us by 00:35:13.070 --> 00:35:16.090 the work of the spirit by the power of the gospel 00:35:16.090 --> 00:35:20.050 that we would indeed be a different people in 00:35:20.050 --> 00:35:24.199 this world for your glory. And we ask for this 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:24.880 in your name.