All right, take your Bibles, if you will, and
turn with me to the book of 1 John chapter number
one. 1 John chapter number one, and oh, I wrestled
a little bit. I'd planned and prepared to start
a sermon series in the book of Revelation, and
I think I got about 90%, 95 % of the way there
on that first message, and wow. conviction for
me, amazing start to the book of Revelation.
But through prayer, I believe the Lord would
have us go through the book of 1 John. And there's
some truths here in the 1 John. I think it'll
be probably a six week series. And then as soon
as we complete the six week series on 1 John,
we'll jump into the book of Revelation. By the
way, just start reading the book of Revelation.
and start preparing your hearts for the book
of Revelation, a tremendous, tremendous book
of the Bible that gives you a glimpse of the
present and gives you a glimpse of the past and
gives you a glimpse of the glorious future we
as Christians have and man alive. We serve a
great God who's given us a wonderful book called
the Bible. Now, we get into 1 John, 1 John chapter
number one, 10 verses. And as you begin to study
this and you read this, you begin to notice that
God, God wants us to have joy. And not only joy,
but as you read this, you begin to realize that
God wants not just joy, but he wants you to have
joy that is full, that you may have joy that
is full. Now we're getting through here a little
bit. First John. written not by John the Baptist.
You remember, John the Baptist was a voice crying
in the wilderness, but there's another John,
John the beloved, one of the 12 disciples. And
John the beloved was used of God to write the
book of John, the gospel of John, used by God
to write first John, second John, third John,
and the book of Revelation. And we're gonna look
a little bit into first John right here, that
your joy may... Now, before we read this, look
at this. I remember having a family member and
oh, not a Christian, but he was always grumpy.
I mean, it didn't matter what was going on in
life. He always had that look and grumpy, grumpy.
It didn't matter if things were going good, grumpy.
At least he was consistent. When things were
going bad, he was grumpy. Now, that's the way
it is for many non -Christians. But Christians,
God desires you and God desires me to live a
life of joy, fullness of joy, joy unspeakable
and full of glory. And God desires you, God desires
me. to have joy. Now, I have no doubt in the
room this morning, many of you, most of you probably
live a life with fullness of joy. Now keep it
up, the Bible's right here is gonna give you
some instructions how to have that joy and how
to keep that joy. But for some of you, you're
Christians and maybe you smile on the outside,
but inside of you, oh boy, there's anxiety, there's
fear, there's anything but joy. What if God,
now this is a question, What if God gave us an
entire chapter to explain how fullness of joy
or joy unspeakable and full of glory is possible
or can be restored? Can I just tell you, he did
give us a chapter in the Bible that explains
with great detail how you not only can have joy,
but fullness of joy. We're gonna study it, we're
gonna look at it. And I believe without a doubt
for some of you this morning, all of a sudden
the light switch is gonna switch and you're gonna
go from a life where there's fear, there's anxiety,
all of a sudden you're gonna go to life that
has fullness of joy. It's gonna be exciting,
let's do this. Let's stand for the reading of
God's word. What we're gonna do is we're gonna
read the first four verses. What I'll do is I'll
read the first three verses to you if you'll
follow along. And then when we get to verse number
four, I want you to read along with me. And here
we go, verse number one. That which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
upon, and our hands have handled of the word
of life, for the life was manifested, and we
have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto
you that eternal life which was with the Father
and was manifested unto us. That which we have
seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye
also may have fellowship with us. And truly our
fellowship is with the Father and with the Son,
Jesus Christ. Ready, verse four? And these things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Read it again. And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. This is exciting,
this is very exciting. We're getting things written,
inspired by God, through John the beloved, writing
to Christians, you and me, that we might have
fullness of joy. And I just wanna shout it from
the mountain. Joy is not only possible, it's
what God desires in your life. Fullness of...
And that's the title message, that your joy may
be full. Before we go any further, let's go to
the Lord in prayer. Dear Father in heaven, we
love you. And I needed this message. I believe
the Christians here this morning need it desperately
also. I believe some marriages need this. I believe
some teenagers desperately need this. And I pray
that you help us to see that joy, fullness of
joy is possible. And I pray that you help us
all to decrease, help us to learn something this
morning, guide us and direct us, help us to have
ears to hear. We sure do love you. We need you,
Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated.
Wow. As you begin to look at 1 John, 1 John's
an absolute amazing book in the Bible. And if
you begin to think with me, John the beloved,
used of God in a mighty way, one of the 12 disciples,
And originally God used him to pen the gospel
according to John. And this is interesting, gospel
according to John. Now I would like you to turn
over, if you will, to John chapter 20, the gospel
of John chapter number 20. And John the beloved.
John, that disciple who walked with Jesus, talked
with Jesus, followed Jesus in a way, handled
Jesus, got to witness the death of Jesus, the
resurrection of Jesus, John the beloved. And
in John chapter number 20, John chapter 20, look
with me at verse number 30, if you will. Look
at this in verse 30. And many other signs truly
did who? Jesus, okay, that's half of you. And
many other signs truly did who? Jesus, in the
presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written, these are
written, that ye might what? Believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing.
ye might have life through his name. When we
begin to first of all look at the gospel according
to John, the gospel of John was written that
you might believe. Boy, you begin to study the
book of John. It begins in John chapter number
one. In the beginning was the word, the word
was with God, the word was God. It begins to
tell us that Jesus is God in the flesh. In the
first couple of chapters, you begin to realize
that Jesus is the lamb of God, which, take it
away, the sin of the world. As you study the
book of John, it says in John chapter one, verse
12, but as many as received him, Jesus, to them
gave you power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on. his name, believe on
his name. And as you read the gospel of John,
it's a book written trying to lead people to
trust Christ as their savior. It's trying to
lead you and trying to lead me to receive him.
It's trying to lead us, John chapter three, to
be born again. John chapter three, verse 16,
for God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth in him,
believeth in him, should not perish but have
everlasting life. We study the book of John.
We look at the book of John. It's leading people
to salvation. It's leading people to trust Christ,
accept Christ, to receive the gift of eternal
life, to be born of the spirit, to be born again
and become a child of God. Now really before
we get into the next part of this, it begs the
question, have you been born again? Has there
been a time in your life when you received him?
Has there been a time when you look at John chapter
6, he that cometh to me, I will of no wise cast
out? Has there been a time when you accepted
him, you received him, you believed in him, you
trusted Jesus as your only hope for heaven? By
the way, Jesus is the way, John chapter number
14. And there's no way to go to heaven. The only
way to heaven is accepting Jesus Christ, accepting
the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Okay, we say amen to that. Amen to
that. Amen to that. Okay, you're doing good.
Actually, this is perfect. It's more like this
morning, amen. Amen. Okay, we'll try it over
here. You know, have you received Christ as your
Savior? Not you, them, okay? Them over there.
You got ahead of yourself, okay? Have you received
Christ as your Savior? Amen. Okay, over here,
have you received Christ as your Savior? Amen,
amen, amen, amen. Okay, good, good, good. Have
you received Christ as your Savior? Amen, amen
in this case, okay? Don't be a smarty -pants.
Over here, have you received Christ as your Savior?
Amen. Now it's important, there is a time. Now
is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day
of salvation. If you're here this morning, you're
not sure that you're going to heaven. The only
way to go to heaven, it's not of works, not of
your baptism. The only way is to receive the
gift of life. on him, praise God for the book
of John. Now, the reason I spent time with that
is as you go over to First John chapter one,
go back to First John chapter number one, the
book of First John is given to us for a different
purpose, a different reason. And as you begin
to think about First John, First John is explaining
to you and explaining to me how the children
of God are to live. Now that you've trusted Christ
as your savior, here's the way that you should
live your life. Look at verse number one again.
That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon and our hands have handled
of the word of life. There's so much there, that
which was from the beginning. Jesus was in the
beginning with God. He's looking to God and John's
sort of giving a picture of his years with Christ.
Verse two, for the life was manifested and we
have seen it and bear witness and show unto you
that eternal life which was with the Father and
was manifested unto us. And so we get to verse
John. John begins to explain to us how the children
of God are to live out their life. Now, live
out their life. I've been born again. I'm a child
of the king. I have been born again. I'm a child
of the king. I received him. I'm on my way to
heaven because of what Jesus did on the cross.
I believed on his name. Now, I need some instructions
this side of eternity how to live my life, how
to live my life for the Lord. Now, sort of, When
we get through this, you're thinking about, we
started with the fullness of joy or joy. Joy,
look at verse four again. Look at verse four
again, the way it's worded. And these things
write we unto you that your what? Joy may be
full. So 1 John begins to explain how the Christian,
the person who already believes can live a life
filled with joy. Now I want you to notice something.
Go to verse number three with me. Go to verse
number three. You gotta see this. That which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you that
ye also may have fellowship. Now fellowship,
say that word with me again. Fellowship with
us, and truly our what? Fellowship is with the
Father and with his son, Christ Jesus. Look with
me at verse six, look at this. If we say that
we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
we lie. And do not the truth, verse number seven.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship. Now, all of a sudden,
you see a common denominator in chapter one.
You see this word fellowship, fellowship, fellowship,
fellowship, four times. It begins to talk about
fellowship. And I wanna just park there on that
word fellowship for just a moment. What exactly
is fellowship? We have over there a fellowship
hall. Well, many people will define fellowship.
They'll say, well, fellowship is eating together
or socializing together or enjoying one another's
company. Now, those are not necessarily bad,
but this is more important as we begin to look
at 1 John, 1 John, and this is key to the rest
of the sermon this morning. It's not just talking
about socializing together. In 1 John, it's teaching
believers how to live out their Christianity.
And it's talking about not just fellowship, but
it's leading us to biblical fellowship. Okay,
biblical fellowship. Biblical fellowship. Biblical
fellowship is fellowship of sharing life together
in Christ. You and I, we participate. We partnership.
We come together today with fellowship. We have
something in common. You and I, we fellowship
around the Savior, the one who saved us. We fellowship
around the common denominator that were saved
by the blood of the crucified one. We fellowship
around the truth found in God's word. We fellowship
because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside
of us. We fellowship because we have eternal
life. We fellowship because we're a part of the
family of God. We fellowship. the thought that
we are children of God because of Jesus Christ.
And so when you all of a sudden begin to see
this word fellowship, he's leading us somewhere.
He's telling us something. He's saying, hey listen,
you what? Well, I'm not trying to get there.
I almost gave it away right there. But fellowship,
he's saying we come together in fellowship. The
main reason we come to church here is not to
socialize around the football game last night.
or we socialize around some hobby that we have.
There's nothing wrong with a hobby or a football
game, but the main fellowship that we're talking
about is fellowship because we have the same
savior, the same salvation, the same spirit.
And it's a common thing in Acts chapter number
two, there were 3 ,000 people that got gloriously
saved and baptized. In Acts chapter two, number
42, it says, and they continued steadfastly in
the apostles' doctrine and in... Fellowship.
Fellowship. Say that word with me again. Fellowship.
Okay. Now, the fellowship, the fellowship of
the believer, the fellowship of the same person
is connected in our shared life with Christ.
The early church did not simply enjoy just getting
around to be with other. They didn't just come
together because we like each other. That wasn't
it. They came together because they fellowshiped
around the Savior, around the Word of God. around
the same purpose, around the Holy Spirit, about
them being believers. The early church did not
enjoy fellowship just around, they shared Christ
together. Now I want to say it again, many people
come to church, they'll come to Chesapeake Baptist
Church looking for fellowship, and they begin
to look out, if they're not careful, that our
fellowship is around sports, or hobbies, or common
interests, or social activities. There's nothing
wrong with those things, but a biblical fellowship.
Biblical fellowship is rooted in Christ. We have
fellowship that's shared together in Christ.
We're walking together with Christ. Go back to
verse number three. I want to show you something
very important, and I think this will help you
just grow in this thought process right here.
Verse three, that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship.
Have fellowship with who? Okay, stop right there.
Fellowship with us. So all of a sudden he's saying
we have fellowship believer with believer. Fellowship
believers with believers, okay? And that's part
of it, and I'll get back to that in a minute.
The second part, look at the second part. And
truly our fellowship is with the what? Father
with his son. The first fellowship, you can see
it matters, is our fellowship with God. with
the Father and Lord Jesus. And I'm gonna sort
of try to help you illustrate this. If you think
of fellowship in a vertical manner, our fellowship,
vertical is God fellowship. Each and every one
of us in here this morning needs to have a vertical
relationship with the Almighty God. That includes
salvation, yes. But it includes a walk with God.
Walking in sun, light, all of my journey. God's
saying that for you to have this fullness of
joy is where we're getting at, or this joy to
the full right there, there has to be some fellowship
with the Heavenly Father. You have to, as an
individual believer, have fellowship with the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, there is
vertical fellowship, but there's also horizontal
fellowship. That is fellowship with the believers.
But let me say, sometimes people come to church.
And they come back, and by the way, it's a hospital,
come to church, and I want you to come to church,
but when you come to church, and you come to
church, and you've neglected that vertical relationship
with God, and you're living in darkness and sin,
you may come to church, but you're not gonna
make much of a difference horizontally with the
believers around you. You understand that? So
the fellowship that he's talking about, he's
leading us to, is a vertical fellowship where
we daily walk with God. We daily read the Bible.
We daily go to God in prayer. We daily go to
God and say, God, my life is yours to control.
God, I give you my life. Today I want to do your
will. And we have a relationship. Then you get
to church. And all of a sudden your fellowship
is you bear one another's burdens. You exhort
one another. You encourage one another. And there's
fellowship around the centrality. around the
truth found in the word of God about us being
saved by the blood of the crucified one. We experience
fellowship because we share Christ together.
Yesterday was a great day. Deacons, trustees,
we load up in my van, we drive down to the region
around Ohoskie, and we get out there, Brother
Barry, you met us with coffee, which was a blessing.
We went into that church and we dreamed, we dreamed.
about a church being planted, people being gloriously
saved by the power of the gospel, people getting
baptized, people under the preaching of God's
word. And there's something about that fellowship
that we had yesterday. Brother Gray says to us,
let's go tell some people about Jesus. And we
went out to the community. I met this man named
Timothy. I gave him the gospel. It was an absolute
amazing time. First of all, because the deacons
and the trustees, we had a fellowship, a vertical
fellowship with God. We prayed, we studied our
Bible, we were trying to live for Him. Then all
of a sudden it works out in our fellowship together
horizontally with the believers right there.
And I'm saying, not to get ahead of myself, but
it's hard to look back at yesterday and see anything
but a fullness of joy. A fullness of joy. So
we go in this, this is where sometimes people
don't understand. Fellowship, fellowship is more
than just a relationship. When a person trusts
Christ, he is born into the family of God. I've
quoted it several times, but John chapter one,
verse 12, but as many as received him, Jesus,
to them gave him power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name right
there. And so when you trust Christ as your Savior,
you become a child of God. That relationship
is established by God. Now, listen to the statement.
A child does not become a child every morning.
He wakes up a child because he's a child. Likewise,
believers do not become God's children every
day. They're God's children because of the new
birth. So a relationship gives you a place in
the family. Relationship gives you a place. When
you're born again, you're in the family of God.
When you're born again, the Holy Spirit dwells
within you and you're a child of the King. You're
sealed, Ephesians chapter one, until the day
of redemption. So listen to this, but fellowship
is something different than a relationship. Fellowship
is the enjoyment of that relationship. For example,
a father and son may still be family while not
enjoying closeness. The relationship may remain,
but when a father and son are butting heads,
they have a relationship, father, son, but when
the fellowship is not right or the close is not
there, the fellowship suffers. The son is still
the son, but there's something wrong in the fellowship.
Now for you and I as believers, we believe, we're
in that family of God, but the closest to God
depends upon fellowship. A relationship with
God is established by grace, but fellowship with
God must be maintained by walking in the Spirit.
Extremely important as life change you when you
begin to look at that. If you're saved by the
blood of the crucified one, praise God, you have
a relationship with God. But fellowship. with
God brings joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Fellowship, a closeness to God, walking in sunlight,
all of my journey, thinking about the great God
that created me, that guided me, and you have
that vertical relationship where you talk to
God. Then, or you don't have a relationship with
God, distance then replaces your closeness. You
begin to hide from God rather than be open with
God. Fear is replaced, or your fear, your joy
is replaced by fear. So here's a statement. A
relationship gives you a place in God's family,
a relationship. Fellowship is the daily enjoyment,
enjoyment of that relationship. That word joy.
Fellowship is the daily. enjoyment of that relationship.
Okay, another way, a relationship is being God's
child, but fellowship is walking closely with
your father, your heavenly father. Wait a minute,
a relationship is established by the new birth.
You must be born again. But fellowship needs
to be maintained by walking in the light. That's
why fellowship, is such an important truth. John
in First John is not merely discussing salvation,
he's discussing you being close with God. He's
discussing you in a daily walk with God, enjoying
that relationship with God. And if fellowship
is important, think about it, fellowship is important.
And I've already gotten there, I didn't mean
to do it like this, but without fellowship, you're
not gonna have any joy. Without a fellowship
with the Almighty God and by the way your fellowship
with believers If you're not first and foremost
that vertical closeness with God fellowship with
God You're not gonna make a big difference in
the people around you that that's why I often
well a husband is supposed to lead his family
for the Lord, but he doesn't have an individual
personal relationship with God and the family
suffers because of it if we have a church filled
with people we have thousands of people, but
nobody in the church is close with God. What
are we doing? What are we doing? The idea is
we as individuals, we have fellowship with God.
You get up and you read the Bible. You talk to
God. You say, God, I want to give you my life.
And I'm repeating that because it's important.
Then when you come to church, next thing you
know, woo, fellowship with the believers. It's
glorious and wonderful. So let me ask you this.
If fellowship is so important, and it is, What
helps our fellowship and what hinders our fellowship?
The answer's already there. It's in the Word
of God in this chapter. But think with me, what
help, if fellowship is important, and it is,
you wanna have joy, you need a fellowship with
God. You want joy, you need a fellowship with
other believers. But if it's so important, what
helps your fellowship? and what hinders your
fellowship. This is important right here. And
okay, look with me at verse number four. Look
at verse four. And these things write we unto
you that your what? Joy may be full. This then
is the message which we have heard of him and
declare to you that God is light and in him is
no. darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do
not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another and the blood of Jesus Christ, the son
cleanses us from all sin. What helps our fellowship
is walking in the light. Walking in the light.
Boy, this book is a powerful book. I'm just saying,
this is an absolutely an amazing book. It's true
from beginning to end. It is a life -changing
book. It's a glorious book. It's a lamp into
my feet and a light into my path. And we ought
to have a hunger and thirst after righteousness,
which is found in the word of God. It's sort
of like bread. Bread, you think about, I like
fresh -baked bread. How many of you like fresh
-baked bread? But this is the bread of life.
And you get to devour this bread of life, and
you don't even get fat. I like bread, but it
makes me fat. But this is the bread of life,
and we can chew on it, we can study it, we can
read it, we can come to church and hear the preaching,
or we can go to Sunday school and hear the teaching
of it. This is a life -changing book. And the
Bible says to walk in the light of God's word,
walking in sunshine all of my journey. And listen,
here's a point, here's a point. What helps you
to have that fellowship with God? What helps
you with that fellowship with other people? Make
sure that you daily walk in the light of God's
word. Boy, there's a lot of things this side
of eternity that keeps you away from the light
of God's word, the light of God's word. I talked
to a man yesterday as we're witnessing a guy
named Timothy and asked him if he was to die
today if he'd go to heaven. He said, I don't
even know. He said, I don't even know what I
believe. He said, I used to go to church when
I was a kid, a Baptist church. And he said, one
time me and my brothers, we snuck out of the
church and we hid from the pastor over there
in the car right there during the sermon right
there. But somehow he stopped the church, came
out and he knew where we were, drug us back in
there. Those pastors, they know where you're
at. They're gonna go get you. They're gonna get
you. But then he said, you know, in today's world,
he said, and he began to list some of the things
that he was listening to. and some of the things
he was listening to on both television and the
internet, YouTube videos, and over and over again,
everything he mentioned was something that was
adamantly against the word of God, leading him
away from the word of God. And he said, I just
don't know. What he's doing is he's walking in
darkness. Boy, there's no joy, there's no hope,
there's no fulfillment, but we as Christians,
We need to walk in the light of God's word, read
God's word, study God's word, listen to the preaching
God, walk daily in the light. To walk in darkness
is dangerous. To walk in sin is dangerous. Next
thing you know, we walk in darkness, we skip
our Bible reading. we watch something we shouldn't
watch, we listen to something we shouldn't listen
to, listen, we skip going to church, we do this,
next thing you know, boy we're no longer walking
in the light and we're hiding from God over here
and we wonder why inside of us, by the way, be
not drunk with wine wearing his exes, but be
filled with the spirit and when all of a sudden
we do sinful things, we give in to press down
the spirit that lives and dwells inside of us
and we wonder why we're miserable. We wonder
why we're miserable. Well, the fullness of joy
is possible with a walk in light. But number
two, I want you to notice this. I want you to
notice this is extremely amazing the way God
put this in here. I want you to see this. Look
at verse number eight. If we say that we have
no what? We deceive ourselves and the truth is
not in us. Okay, if we say that we have no sin.
Okay, look at verse number nine. If we confess
our what? Okay, we confess our sins. Now, this
is interesting. The issue that John has with
believers, it's not an issue whether we ever
sin or not. The issue is what believers do after
they've sinned. If you just hear me out on this,
believers sometimes struggle with sin. Sometimes
you don't think right. Sometimes you don't say
things that are right. Some things you don't
walk in a way that pleases God, and that's called
sin. Okay, in the book of Romans chapter seven,
the apostle Paul said it like this. He said,
that which I would, I do not, I do not. And then
he said, there's no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me. And he begins to talk about
the battle of the flesh and the spirit. Then
the apostle Paul says this, O wretched man, not
that I was, but a wretched man that I am. For
example, I have no doubt this section right over
here. I have no doubt this section. I have no
doubt this section. And I have no doubt this
section. There's somebody in that section. You
thought some things you shouldn't have thought
this week. You said some things you shouldn't
have said. You did some things you shouldn't
have done. That's called sin. It's not if you
sin, but here's the thing. When you sin. Now,
this is important. When we think about that,
the issue is not perfection. Fellowship, when
we talk about fellowship, is not perfection.
This is where many Christians struggle. They
think, if I sin, fellowship is forever gone.
But John says the opposite. He's assuming that
we do sin. So if we confess our sins, and he's
telling us what to do, and what he's telling
us to do. Well, first of all, when you sin, look
at verse number eight, if you say it. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Okay,
when we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
The first thing right there is don't lie to yourself.
Don't deceive yourself. Many Christians saved
by the blood of the crucified one live a life
of sin and they get in the habit of deceit. Well,
it's okay. It's just the way the world is today.
And they lie to themselves. They lie to themselves
about all sorts of issues. We won't go into the
issues. It was not really that big of a deal.
Well, sin is a big deal. So rather than confessing
their sins, they deceive themselves. They make
an excuse for sin. They begin to live lives of
sin. They begin to justify their sin. But no,
no, no, no, don't deceive yourself. Sin is exceedingly
sinful. Sin is destructive. When you live a life
of sin, you lose fellowship with God. When you
live a life of sin, you lose that fellowship
with others. Okay, we got that, right? Amen.
The second part, it says in verse number nine,
and you ought to memorize this. This ought to
be in the forefront of your mind. You ought to
hide it in your heart. It says if we confess
our sins, if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from sin. all unrighteousness. Here's what
he's saying. Fellowship's important. Brings fullness
of joy. But as soon as you sin, as soon as you
have that sinful thought, don't wait a week to
confess it. Don't wait a month. Don't wait a
year. Immediately say, God, I'm sorry. I should
not have had that thought. It was displeasing
to you. I wanna honor you with my life. God,
forgive me. All of a sudden, there's a fellowship,
that vertical fellowship, and God says, I forgive
you, restored fellowship. There's joy unspeakable
and full of glory. Boy, you do that action where
all of a sudden, somebody angers you, and man,
life, they shouldn't have done it. I don't know
if you'd ever do that, but you might do that,
okay? And you shouldn't have acted that way.
Okay, some of you actually did that this week.
I can see it in your eyes this week. But as soon
as you sin, stop. And boy, hang your head in
some ways and say, God, I shouldn't have done
that. That was sin against you, God. I knew I
went against your will. Father, up in heaven,
forgive me. But one of the reasons it's written
that way, and I wanna say this from a mountain,
I'm gonna say it from a mountaintop right here,
is sometimes you sin and you don't confess that
sin. And that one sin leads to you, well, I already
sinned, I might as well go farther. So you take
a deeper step into sin, and a deeper step into
sin, and a deeper step into sin, and a deeper
sin. And this getting deeper into sin leads you
far away from the great God that loves you. Your
fellowship is gone, and the joy unspeakable is
gone inside of you. So immediately it's saying,
confess your sin. He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. Glory, glory, glory. Back to
verse number four, if you will. Verse number
four. And these things right we unto you, what?
That is absolutely Amazing. It is. You can have
joy. Joy, how? Fellowship with God. Fellowship
with, somehow have fellowship with God. You're
saved, have fellowship with God. Somehow listen
to him, talk to him, say Lord my life is yours
and give over your thoughts to him. And then
all of a sudden. that leads to, and by the way,
it's not a side note, but it's a side, it's what
the really Christian's life is all about, is
making a difference. One of the greatest things
we ever do as Christians is fellowship with other
Christians. That's verse three, it is. And I
want to, it's hard not to say this, it's not
really the sermon, but it is a sermon. Going
to church, fellowship among believers, it's not
a have to go, but wow, it's one of the highlights.
for a Christian. It's one of the joys. I look
forward to Sunday. Matter of fact, Sunday morning
wasn't enough for me, Brother Jerome. I had to
get Sunday morning twice, early bird service
11 so I could have some more. Not you guys, but
I did. I love church, the fellowship. And the
fellowship with the believers is to exhort one
another. And so much the more as you see the
day approaching. And boy, you know, one of the
things in the church today, And this is not a
gripe, it's just reality. So many churches today
believe in less church. So they no longer have
their midweek Bible studies. They no longer have
their Sunday night services, because nobody will
come anyways. And why don't they come? They don't
have fellowship with the Father. But when you
have fellowship with the Father, this is one
of the highlights of your life, is the creation
that God gave us, the church. The church where
we get to encourage one another, help one another.
By the way, it's part of the church. You come
in here, you're right with God. You all of a
sudden see your brother or sister in here that,
boy, has had a hurting week. You can encourage
them, strengthen them, help them, and really
be a blessing to them, bearing one another's
burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ.
What does it lead to? Leads to that joy unspeakable
and full of glory. What does it lead to that?
Joy may be full right there. This is why, this
is why. Don't think that church, church, church,
okay, your hobby, great, great, great, good.
I like your hobby. Nothing wrong with a hobby.
But it's not the main thing here, church. Jesus
is. And sports, woo, glory. Have fun with your
sports. Nothing wrong with that. But that's not
what brings us together. Christ brings us together.
In this side of eternity, make sure your fellowship
is right with God, fellowship's right with God,
then fellowship with believers and give it a
test. I believe out of shadow of doubt, you follow
that simple plan, that simple plan, fellowship
with God, fellowship with believers, you're gonna
have joy, fullness of joy. Let's pray. Dear Father
in heaven, we love you. I could have gone farther.
We don't think we need it at all. I think everybody
understands. I do pray for certain situations.
the person here who's never accepted you as their
savior. This message does not help them unless
they have been born again, helping to realize
their need to receive you and receive that gift
of eternal life. I pray for the many Christians
that are here that have fellowship with you every
day, that have fellowship at church, and I pray
that you help them to remember this sermon, remember
this truth found in 1 John as the days go by.
and when they maybe get sidetracked. But no doubt,
God, there's quite a few people here who are
here, but they don't have joy. Help them to just
follow the guidelines of this chapter. Work on
their fellowship with you. Work on their fellowship
with other believers. And I pray decisions are
made this morning. We need you, in Jesus' name,
amen. Stand with me if you will. moment the piano
and the organ are gonna play, and I've already
said it, but decision, I do believe, and can
I just just say I'm thankful for Sunday morning
people, Sunday morning only people, you're wanted
here, you're needed here, but I've actually praying
that some of the people that just normally come
on Sunday morning will start making a decision,
say I'm gonna try Sunday night, I'm gonna give
it a whirl. because I'm gonna have fellowship
with God and I can come make a difference in
something. The Midweek Pick Me Up service, Wednesday
night, is one of the greatest services in the
history of a church. It's amazing. I pray some
decisions are made saying, Pastor, I'm gonna
give it a whirl, but make decisions this morning
as the piano and the organ play. If you're here
and you've never