1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,600 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,280 All right, so we are going to be starting a new series here this 10 00:00:27,580 --> 00:00:27,980 summer. 11 00:00:28,140 --> 00:00:30,220 It's probably not going to last the whole summer, but it's going 12 00:00:30,220 --> 00:00:33,420 to take up a good portion of our summer, and that's going to be 13 00:00:33,420 --> 00:00:34,580 here in First John. 14 00:00:34,580 --> 00:00:38,260 So if you have your Bibles, turn there with me to the book of 15 00:00:38,260 --> 00:00:39,020 First John. 16 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:43,420 If you want to know where First John is, find Second John and 17 00:00:43,420 --> 00:00:45,180 turn back a couple pages. 18 00:00:47,660 --> 00:00:49,180 Sorry, couldn't help it. 19 00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:53,540 It's towards the end of the New Testament. 20 00:00:53,540 --> 00:00:55,310 Yep, we have the so. 21 00:00:55,310 --> 00:00:58,910 So just for everyone's clarity, you've got the Gospel of 22 00:00:58,910 --> 00:01:03,390 John, and then you've got the first, second, and Third John, which 23 00:01:03,390 --> 00:01:04,030 comes later. 24 00:01:04,430 --> 00:01:08,550 And so I know that sometimes you'll hear in church someone referencing 25 00:01:08,550 --> 00:01:09,870 John, and they say, which one? 26 00:01:10,030 --> 00:01:13,350 Usually if someone just says John, they're talking about the Gospel 27 00:01:13,350 --> 00:01:13,790 of John. 28 00:01:14,030 --> 00:01:18,350 And then usually people will preface their statements to first, 29 00:01:18,350 --> 00:01:20,430 second, third John, or 1, 2, 3, John. 30 00:01:20,430 --> 00:01:24,480 So just to clarify that this is first John, not the Gospel of 31 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,160 John, and what we're going to be studying here in this whole book 32 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:33,640 is really, it can boil down to one thought, and it's a real relationship 33 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:34,360 with Christ. 34 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,000 A real relationship with Christ. 35 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:42,640 Don't raise your hand, but probably if you have been saved for 36 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:47,200 any amount of time, either yourself or you know of someone that 37 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,640 has struggled with assurance of salvation. 38 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,080 Now, what is assurance of salvation? 39 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,240 Assurance of salvation is having the confidence that you are 40 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:55,640 saved. 41 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,480 There is another theological term that we will mention through 42 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,520 this study, and that is what's called eternal security. 43 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,640 Eternal security is the fact that when we are saved, we are secured 44 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,800 in Christ as a believer in Christ, to know that we have salvation 45 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:14,680 and know that we cannot lose that salvation. 46 00:02:15,310 --> 00:02:20,870 And so that's a theological fact that isn't affected by my belief 47 00:02:20,870 --> 00:02:21,310 at all. 48 00:02:21,470 --> 00:02:24,830 It's affected by the fact that that's the truth of the word of God. 49 00:02:25,070 --> 00:02:28,350 But there is something called assurance of salvation that can waver 50 00:02:28,350 --> 00:02:29,950 in the life of a believer. 51 00:02:30,190 --> 00:02:33,190 And so one of the passages of Scripture that I take people to when 52 00:02:33,190 --> 00:02:36,190 it comes to having complete confidence in their relationship 53 00:02:36,190 --> 00:02:39,470 with Christ and having that assurance of their salvation is First 54 00:02:39,470 --> 00:02:39,790 John. 55 00:02:40,190 --> 00:02:43,590 And so that's not the only way that we can study one John, but that 56 00:02:43,590 --> 00:02:46,590 is a perspective that we can take about the assurance of salv. 57 00:02:47,810 --> 00:02:51,930 But also it tells us what type of relationship that we have with 58 00:02:51,930 --> 00:02:53,970 the Lord when we come to him in faith. 59 00:02:54,050 --> 00:02:56,370 And so that's what we're going to be talking about in this series, 60 00:02:56,450 --> 00:02:59,010 a real relationship with the Lord. 61 00:02:59,570 --> 00:03:04,610 So look there with me in First John, chapter one, verse one. 62 00:03:05,010 --> 00:03:07,730 And we're going to go very slowly through this study. 63 00:03:08,050 --> 00:03:11,570 We're going to just tonight talk about these four verses. 64 00:03:11,570 --> 00:03:14,470 Now, we will have some cross references and we will talk about 65 00:03:14,470 --> 00:03:17,190 a few different places in Scripture that align with what's 66 00:03:17,190 --> 00:03:18,070 being taught here. 67 00:03:18,310 --> 00:03:20,470 But we're going to look at these first four verses and we're 68 00:03:20,470 --> 00:03:25,030 going to see what John is really basically introducing with 69 00:03:25,030 --> 00:03:26,470 this whole book of the Bible. 70 00:03:26,470 --> 00:03:29,510 And so he says in verse one, that which was from the beginning. 71 00:03:30,150 --> 00:03:31,510 Now we need to stop there. 72 00:03:31,510 --> 00:03:32,470 What is he talking about? 73 00:03:33,510 --> 00:03:35,990 Is he talking about the beginning of this earth? 74 00:03:36,710 --> 00:03:38,030 No, he's not talking about that. 75 00:03:38,030 --> 00:03:39,430 He's going back further than that. 76 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,640 And he's going to be referencing a person here. 77 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,200 And so I think that it would be good for us to understand some 78 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,080 of the parallels in Scripture that can help us know who he's talking 79 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:49,360 about. 80 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,080 And so if you have your Bibles and you're able to turn to other 81 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:54,480 places, go with me. 82 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,320 We could go to Genesis 1:1 in the beginning and, and the fellow 83 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,240 that we're going to be talking about was there at creation, but 84 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,880 this is talking about before that. 85 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:08,320 And so go to the Gospel of John and look at the Gospel of John, 86 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:10,800 chapter one, verse one. 87 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:16,720 Now, same human author, same inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 88 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,160 And so we see that these two passages of Scripture are tied together. 89 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:26,000 And so by reading John chapter one, we're going to understand who 90 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,960 John is talking about in chapter one of first John. 91 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,840 And so look at John chapter one with me. 92 00:04:32,140 --> 00:04:34,700 And we're going to read just the first section here. 93 00:04:34,780 --> 00:04:36,140 It'll, it'll suffice. 94 00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:38,220 Once we start reading this, you'll, you'll understand. 95 00:04:38,700 --> 00:04:41,020 It says in verse one in the beginning. 96 00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:42,780 Sound familiar? 97 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:45,180 He's talking about that which was from the beginning. 98 00:04:45,500 --> 00:04:48,379 In the beginning was the Word. 99 00:04:48,540 --> 00:04:49,820 Now let's pause right there. 100 00:04:50,780 --> 00:04:53,220 Some of you that have been in church a long time might know who 101 00:04:53,220 --> 00:04:57,460 he's referencing here, but we want to be clear about the fact that, 102 00:04:57,460 --> 00:04:59,620 hey, there's different people with different backgrounds and you 103 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:00,980 might not know who he's talking about. 104 00:05:00,980 --> 00:05:05,460 So who is the word Jesus, right? 105 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:08,100 The, the Greek word here is Lagos. 106 00:05:08,740 --> 00:05:11,700 And, and so what we're talking about here is not just the Word as 107 00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:14,020 the Word of God in the concept of the Bible. 108 00:05:14,340 --> 00:05:16,700 In John chapter one, he's talking about Jesus here. 109 00:05:16,700 --> 00:05:21,860 He says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 110 00:05:22,740 --> 00:05:24,660 and the Word was God. 111 00:05:25,380 --> 00:05:29,140 And so what we can see here is that there's a lot, there's a lot 112 00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:31,300 of theology packed into verse one. 113 00:05:31,460 --> 00:05:34,740 And I can sit here and analyze this verse all day. 114 00:05:34,740 --> 00:05:36,820 We won't for the sake of time. 115 00:05:36,980 --> 00:05:39,780 But some things that you need to glean from this verse in John 116 00:05:39,940 --> 00:05:43,220 1:1 is that Jesus is God. 117 00:05:43,220 --> 00:05:45,900 He's not just there with God. 118 00:05:45,900 --> 00:05:48,340 He's not just a creation of God. 119 00:05:48,580 --> 00:05:52,340 It does say at the end of that verse, and the Word was God. 120 00:05:52,830 --> 00:05:55,230 So it's important to understand that, because we take 121 00:05:55,710 --> 00:05:59,590 many passages of Scripture that teach on the Trinity, but this 122 00:05:59,590 --> 00:06:02,070 is one of the passages that speaks to the relationship between 123 00:06:02,070 --> 00:06:06,230 God the Father and God the Son, and how they are distinct, but 124 00:06:06,230 --> 00:06:07,630 yet at the same time God. 125 00:06:07,790 --> 00:06:09,470 And that's a deep concept to think about. 126 00:06:09,470 --> 00:06:12,350 But what we can see here is, yes, Jesus was with God, so he's 127 00:06:12,350 --> 00:06:14,030 distinct from God the Father. 128 00:06:14,350 --> 00:06:15,150 And so there are. 129 00:06:15,150 --> 00:06:17,670 There are a lot of false teachings out there that, that Jesus 130 00:06:17,670 --> 00:06:21,540 and God are the same person and they take different forms at 131 00:06:21,540 --> 00:06:22,100 different times. 132 00:06:22,100 --> 00:06:23,260 That's a heresy. 133 00:06:23,420 --> 00:06:25,980 We see that Jesus and God the Father interact. 134 00:06:26,460 --> 00:06:29,580 And so there's many cases in the New Testament which speaks of 135 00:06:29,580 --> 00:06:31,340 that, specifically Jesus's baptism. 136 00:06:31,900 --> 00:06:35,340 And obviously Jesus right before he goes to the cross in the 137 00:06:35,340 --> 00:06:35,740 garden. 138 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:39,340 But yet at the same time, there were people that taught, yes, 139 00:06:39,340 --> 00:06:44,940 Jesus, God the Son and God the Father, they're different, but one 140 00:06:44,940 --> 00:06:46,140 is above the other. 141 00:06:46,220 --> 00:06:50,240 And actually Jesus is a creation of God, therefore he is 142 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:51,280 not God himself. 143 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,840 But what we can see here in verse one of John chapter one is 144 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,520 that he was with God and the Word was God. 145 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,000 The same was in the beginning with God. 146 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,559 All things were made by him, and without him was not anything 147 00:07:05,559 --> 00:07:06,240 made that was made. 148 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,560 And so this speaks of Jesus's interaction at creation as the Creator. 149 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,560 And so we could take this all the way Back to Genesis 1, right 150 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,240 in the beginning, before the beginning, there was Jesus, and Jesus 151 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:17,920 is the Creator. 152 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:18,370 He's. 153 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:20,920 And so what we can see, another aspect of this is Jesus's 154 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:21,880 eternality. 155 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:27,880 Jesus did not start his life in Bethlehem, there in the manger. 156 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,680 That was his incarnation. 157 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,240 That was Jesus manifested in the flesh. 158 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:34,840 But Jesus is eternal. 159 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:36,920 He always has been and he always will be. 160 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,280 And so we see that there in this passage. 161 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:40,120 And then verse 4. 162 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,240 In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light 163 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,160 shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. 164 00:07:47,420 --> 00:07:51,180 And he goes on to talk about how John the Baptist was the one 165 00:07:51,180 --> 00:07:53,980 that was the professing Jesus Christ before he comes. 166 00:07:54,060 --> 00:07:56,860 And then, of course, there's a very famous verse there in verse 167 00:07:56,860 --> 00:07:57,140 14. 168 00:07:57,140 --> 00:08:01,380 And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld 169 00:08:01,380 --> 00:08:04,380 his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full 170 00:08:04,380 --> 00:08:05,660 of grace and truth. 171 00:08:06,220 --> 00:08:09,980 And so take John chapter one in mind when we come back to First 172 00:08:09,980 --> 00:08:10,860 John, chapter one. 173 00:08:11,100 --> 00:08:17,270 Obviously, John here is referring to Jesus and how an individual 174 00:08:17,270 --> 00:08:19,230 can come to know the Word. 175 00:08:19,230 --> 00:08:20,830 And so that's what we're talking about here. 176 00:08:20,830 --> 00:08:24,110 When he says that which was from the beginning. 177 00:08:24,510 --> 00:08:26,910 And so he's referencing Jesus here. 178 00:08:26,910 --> 00:08:31,109 He's referencing the person and work of Jesus Christ and the 179 00:08:31,109 --> 00:08:33,470 relationship that we can have with Jesus. 180 00:08:33,470 --> 00:08:37,190 And we're going to see that he introduces people into knowing that 181 00:08:37,190 --> 00:08:38,990 they can have that relationship with Christ. 182 00:08:39,310 --> 00:08:41,870 So essentially, that's what we're finding ourselves here in the 183 00:08:41,870 --> 00:08:42,670 first few verses. 184 00:08:42,969 --> 00:08:46,329 So he says that which was from the beginning, which we have heard. 185 00:08:46,889 --> 00:08:49,449 Now, John is speaking here in a personal way. 186 00:08:49,929 --> 00:08:50,889 He's saying as. 187 00:08:50,969 --> 00:08:55,169 As an apostle, as a follower of Christ, we have heard him, we 188 00:08:55,169 --> 00:08:56,169 have heard his teachings. 189 00:08:57,369 --> 00:08:59,649 And then he says, which we have seen with our eyes. 190 00:08:59,649 --> 00:09:03,569 They've witnessed his work, which we have looked upon and our 191 00:09:03,569 --> 00:09:05,049 hands have handled. 192 00:09:06,169 --> 00:09:09,849 And so John is writing about Jesus, referencing the beginning. 193 00:09:10,290 --> 00:09:10,450 And. 194 00:09:10,450 --> 00:09:14,530 And this indicates that the one that he's referencing, this eternal 195 00:09:14,530 --> 00:09:19,610 being, this God that he is emphasizing here, he says, this is 196 00:09:19,610 --> 00:09:23,090 the one that we have experience with our own senses. 197 00:09:23,650 --> 00:09:24,930 The idea is this. 198 00:09:24,930 --> 00:09:27,970 The eternal God of the universe was experienced through 199 00:09:27,970 --> 00:09:28,530 Jesus Christ. 200 00:09:28,530 --> 00:09:33,570 And John was able to see him, hear him, feel him, understand him. 201 00:09:33,730 --> 00:09:37,090 And so that's the idea is he says, I know Jesus. 202 00:09:37,090 --> 00:09:38,610 I've experienced Jesus. 203 00:09:39,100 --> 00:09:41,580 This is the interaction that I had with him. 204 00:09:41,660 --> 00:09:43,660 Here's the proof that he is real. 205 00:09:43,820 --> 00:09:44,860 He came to earth. 206 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:46,140 John 1:14. 207 00:09:46,700 --> 00:09:48,860 The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 208 00:09:49,580 --> 00:09:50,860 So Jesus came to earth. 209 00:09:51,180 --> 00:09:55,420 John and others experience him in. 210 00:09:55,820 --> 00:09:56,620 In their life. 211 00:09:57,580 --> 00:10:01,660 And so the idea here is that this one that he is bringing up, 212 00:10:01,660 --> 00:10:04,220 this one that he is introducing here, is one who can 213 00:10:04,220 --> 00:10:08,890 be experienced and known and have a personal relationship with. 214 00:10:09,290 --> 00:10:11,490 And I think that's important for us to understand when it comes 215 00:10:11,490 --> 00:10:15,930 to teaching about Jesus, is that Jesus isn't just this entity 216 00:10:15,930 --> 00:10:17,810 that's far away and distant. 217 00:10:17,810 --> 00:10:20,810 He is someone that we can experience, that we can know and 218 00:10:20,810 --> 00:10:22,649 that we can interact with in our lives. 219 00:10:22,649 --> 00:10:27,250 And so John is emphasizing this, this personal relationship 220 00:10:27,250 --> 00:10:27,850 with Christ. 221 00:10:28,090 --> 00:10:30,810 And so that's something to, to recognize here. 222 00:10:31,610 --> 00:10:34,850 And so what, what is the implication that he's referring to 223 00:10:34,850 --> 00:10:35,010 here? 224 00:10:35,010 --> 00:10:39,670 The implication was that John's words have weight. 225 00:10:40,150 --> 00:10:42,230 They have the eyewitness account. 226 00:10:42,470 --> 00:10:45,470 What basically John is saying is that don't take my word for it, 227 00:10:45,470 --> 00:10:47,350 there's others that have experienced Jesus. 228 00:10:47,990 --> 00:10:50,630 And so he's not speaking of a tradition. 229 00:10:50,630 --> 00:10:52,109 He's not speaking of a myth. 230 00:10:52,109 --> 00:10:55,750 He's not speaking of something that has been passed down from generation 231 00:10:55,750 --> 00:10:57,990 to generation for thousands and thousands of years. 232 00:10:57,990 --> 00:10:59,190 Jesus was. 233 00:10:59,190 --> 00:11:01,670 No, he says Jesus was experienced by us. 234 00:11:02,830 --> 00:11:06,510 And so he ends verse one with this phrase. 235 00:11:06,510 --> 00:11:08,830 He says of the word of life. 236 00:11:08,830 --> 00:11:12,750 And so John identifies Jesus as the word of life. 237 00:11:13,470 --> 00:11:16,670 This is that same reference to John, chapter one, when he refers 238 00:11:16,670 --> 00:11:18,590 to him as the Word Lagos. 239 00:11:19,070 --> 00:11:21,030 And there's a whole study that we could do with that. 240 00:11:21,030 --> 00:11:23,630 But ultimately it's a reference to Jesus's deity. 241 00:11:23,870 --> 00:11:28,030 It's a reference to Jesus all powerful nature, his all powerful, 242 00:11:30,030 --> 00:11:33,510 no limitations, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence. 243 00:11:33,510 --> 00:11:36,030 He's referencing that verse 2. 244 00:11:36,750 --> 00:11:41,150 For the life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness 245 00:11:41,150 --> 00:11:45,670 and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and 246 00:11:45,670 --> 00:11:47,150 was manifested unto us. 247 00:11:47,870 --> 00:11:51,550 And so he says, hey, this life, the life of Jesus was manifested 248 00:11:51,550 --> 00:11:52,190 among us. 249 00:11:53,070 --> 00:11:54,790 And so Jesus is, he's. 250 00:11:54,790 --> 00:11:57,590 He's trying to prove that Jesus was physically real. 251 00:11:57,590 --> 00:12:00,370 Now why would he want to do that? 252 00:12:01,170 --> 00:12:04,530 None of us, maybe that are in this room might understand the context 253 00:12:04,530 --> 00:12:05,490 or maybe you do. 254 00:12:06,050 --> 00:12:09,730 But the reason why he's making such an effort here in chapter one 255 00:12:10,210 --> 00:12:15,250 to prove that Jesus was real was because that there was this belief 256 00:12:15,250 --> 00:12:17,650 system called Gnosticism at the time. 257 00:12:17,810 --> 00:12:20,690 And essentially it was teaching that Jesus wasn't something 258 00:12:20,690 --> 00:12:22,610 tangible that was actually there. 259 00:12:23,090 --> 00:12:24,850 It was, it was something else. 260 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,840 And there were some different schisms that were happening, some 261 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:29,880 different groups that had different philosophies of this. 262 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,840 But what John is essentially trying to expose is this Jesus, yes, 263 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,680 is 100% God, but yes, he's also 100% man. 264 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,720 He's trying to teach the complete understanding of who Jesus 265 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:40,040 is. 266 00:12:40,999 --> 00:12:43,800 And so he's explaining that Jesus is the word of life. 267 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:45,840 He's explaining that he can be experienced. 268 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,480 He's explaining that not only did Jesus come and preach the message 269 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,670 of the truth, but also he preached the message of a personal 270 00:12:52,830 --> 00:12:53,950 relationship with him. 271 00:12:54,350 --> 00:12:56,790 And so he says, hey, we want to show you that. 272 00:12:56,790 --> 00:12:58,670 We want you to experience that. 273 00:12:59,230 --> 00:13:05,550 And so in calling Jesus the source of eternal life, John is probably 274 00:13:05,550 --> 00:13:08,470 going back and remembering the things that were told to him of Jesus, 275 00:13:08,470 --> 00:13:08,670 right? 276 00:13:08,670 --> 00:13:11,470 Jesus explained, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 277 00:13:11,870 --> 00:13:14,230 And so he says, I'm the resurrection and the life. 278 00:13:14,230 --> 00:13:17,590 And so John is recounting the teachings that Jesus himself had 279 00:13:17,590 --> 00:13:18,190 given to him. 280 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:20,400 And so Jesus is saying, I'm eternal. 281 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:22,720 I'm God, I'm the way to salvation. 282 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,440 And that's what John is recounting here when it comes to 283 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,320 knowing Jesus as a personal savior. 284 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,360 And he references again the relationship with the Father. 285 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,160 Then we get to verse number three, which I think is important 286 00:13:34,319 --> 00:13:36,720 to understand, because this is. 287 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,840 Now he's talking about the theology of who Jesus is. 288 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,160 So he's trying to paint the picture of the complete understanding 289 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:44,720 of who Jesus is and what he did. 290 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:49,600 But then he's going to take it from the concept of the broad picture 291 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:50,600 of who Jesus is. 292 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:55,680 And now he's going to give an invitation to the reader for a relationship 293 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:56,200 with Christ. 294 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,240 And so it's one thing to talk about who Jesus is. 295 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,360 It's another thing to invite other people into that relationship. 296 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,520 And so a lot of times what happens is when we talk about the 297 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:10,120 word theology, we think that it's something distant or it's something 298 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:12,360 that's only found in a classroom. 299 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,520 But really, theology should apply to every aspect of our life. 300 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:20,200 It should apply to our lives as a witness for Christ. 301 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:21,560 So my theology. 302 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,120 So what I believe about God, what I trust in the truth of God, 303 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,800 knowing Him, that affects the way that I interact with others. 304 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,200 So if I truly believe that Jesus is who he says he is, I'm going 305 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:35,480 to treat other people differently. 306 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,600 I'm going to be more passionate about sharing him. 307 00:14:39,050 --> 00:14:42,930 And so what we see here is that John's theology about Jesus 308 00:14:42,930 --> 00:14:45,370 drove him to tell others about Jesus. 309 00:14:45,770 --> 00:14:48,210 And I think that's important for us to understand that theology 310 00:14:48,210 --> 00:14:51,770 isn't just this dry thing that we look at and we go, yeah, that's 311 00:14:51,770 --> 00:14:52,850 for those theologians. 312 00:14:52,850 --> 00:14:55,050 But all I need to know is that Jesus loves me. 313 00:14:55,290 --> 00:14:56,810 You do need to know that Jesus loves you. 314 00:14:56,810 --> 00:14:58,290 And that's part of theology, right? 315 00:14:58,290 --> 00:15:00,090 Knowing the true love of Christ. 316 00:15:00,650 --> 00:15:02,650 But there's so much more to know about God. 317 00:15:02,650 --> 00:15:06,090 But it's not just about knowing it intellectually, but then 318 00:15:06,090 --> 00:15:09,370 it's taking it from the intellectual side of things and applying 319 00:15:09,370 --> 00:15:11,330 it to our hearts and applying it to our lives. 320 00:15:11,730 --> 00:15:14,970 And so this is I think the transition from John saying, this 321 00:15:14,970 --> 00:15:17,570 is who I'm talking about to now you can know him as well. 322 00:15:17,890 --> 00:15:18,330 Verse. 323 00:15:18,330 --> 00:15:19,170 Verse number three. 324 00:15:19,570 --> 00:15:22,930 He says, that which we have seen and heard. 325 00:15:23,170 --> 00:15:25,890 He says, so the things that I've seen and the things that I've 326 00:15:25,890 --> 00:15:28,730 heard, He's given a testimony of his experience with who Jesus 327 00:15:28,730 --> 00:15:29,010 is. 328 00:15:29,570 --> 00:15:29,830 He. 329 00:15:29,900 --> 00:15:32,620 He says, we declare. 330 00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:34,140 Declare we unto you. 331 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:38,380 So he says, I want to declare to you what I know about Jesus. 332 00:15:38,460 --> 00:15:42,220 I want to declare to you what I have experienced about Jesus. 333 00:15:43,100 --> 00:15:43,420 And. 334 00:15:43,420 --> 00:15:45,820 And I think it's important for us to do that in our own lives. 335 00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:46,660 It's. 336 00:15:46,660 --> 00:15:49,060 It's important for us to share with people what we believe about 337 00:15:49,060 --> 00:15:49,660 Jesus. 338 00:15:49,660 --> 00:15:52,580 It's important for us to explain to people what Jesus has 339 00:15:52,580 --> 00:15:53,340 done for us. 340 00:15:53,740 --> 00:15:55,420 You'll hear me say this over and over again. 341 00:15:55,750 --> 00:15:58,590 Of the best tools for evangelism is telling people your 342 00:15:58,590 --> 00:16:02,430 testimony, telling people who Jesus is and what he has done for 343 00:16:02,430 --> 00:16:02,710 you. 344 00:16:03,270 --> 00:16:04,430 It's a very simple thing. 345 00:16:04,430 --> 00:16:06,230 All of us should be able to recount that. 346 00:16:06,550 --> 00:16:12,950 And sometimes it's hard to get enough passion and desire and boldness 347 00:16:12,950 --> 00:16:13,990 to tell people that. 348 00:16:14,150 --> 00:16:16,870 But really, it's not something that we're doing in the concept of 349 00:16:16,870 --> 00:16:19,990 going down and memorizing every passage of Scripture and being 350 00:16:19,990 --> 00:16:21,750 able to preach a sermon with three points. 351 00:16:22,100 --> 00:16:24,060 No, it's just telling people what Jesus has done for us. 352 00:16:24,060 --> 00:16:27,380 And so he says, we want to declare this unto you. 353 00:16:27,860 --> 00:16:33,300 And so the purpose of John's declaration about Jesus's eternality 354 00:16:34,100 --> 00:16:36,020 is a physical nature. 355 00:16:37,220 --> 00:16:42,580 The fact that he's the Word of life is to basically explain to people 356 00:16:42,580 --> 00:16:44,500 how they can know him completely. 357 00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:48,180 It's not about just showing that he knows a lot about Jesus. 358 00:16:48,180 --> 00:16:49,940 It's about bringing people to the truth. 359 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,480 And he says, hey, you can enjoy this fellowship as well. 360 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,240 He says that ye also may have fellowship with us. 361 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,640 He says, we want you to experience what we have experienced. 362 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,600 We want you to have that same fellowship, and not just fellowship 363 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,840 with other believers, but ultimately fellowship with the Lord. 364 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:10,520 And so that's a. 365 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,560 Basically, the first four verses here is just a great outline 366 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:14,920 to how to share the Gospel. 367 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:15,760 Number one. 368 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,240 To think the right things about who Jesus is according to his 369 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:23,200 word, to recognize all those aspects of his deity, his humanity, 370 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,560 his eternality, his holiness, all of these things about what the 371 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,120 Bible teaches us about Jesus and then his work. 372 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:31,360 And then take that and say, you know what? 373 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:32,600 I want to share that with others. 374 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:34,240 We want you to taste of that grace. 375 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,760 No, the truth is that we are called to witness. 376 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,160 It's not an Optional thing as Christians. 377 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:46,920 But sometimes we can share our faith almost begrudgingly, Almost 378 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,920 like, well, we're forced to share our face. 379 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:50,080 So I gotta do this. 380 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,480 But how much more effective could we be for the cause of the 381 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,880 gospel when we are excited and looking for opportunities to tell 382 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,320 people about Jesus and his love for us? 383 00:18:00,799 --> 00:18:07,040 I think that so many times we do what we do without joy and excitement. 384 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,400 And so he's going to address that here in a few moments. 385 00:18:11,390 --> 00:18:13,990 He says here, hey, we want you to have fellowship with us. 386 00:18:13,990 --> 00:18:16,350 And truly our fellowship is with. 387 00:18:16,590 --> 00:18:20,990 And so he says here, this is where a true relationship is found. 388 00:18:22,030 --> 00:18:26,270 Fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ. 389 00:18:26,990 --> 00:18:30,430 And so he doesn't say, hey, join our church and have fellowship 390 00:18:30,430 --> 00:18:34,310 with us, and then you can find a relationship with God. 391 00:18:34,310 --> 00:18:36,350 He says, no, it all starts. 392 00:18:37,370 --> 00:18:40,890 Everything in the Christian life starts with a relationship with 393 00:18:40,890 --> 00:18:41,290 God. 394 00:18:42,170 --> 00:18:43,530 Everything else follows that. 395 00:18:43,690 --> 00:18:47,690 Change, service, desire, love, all these things. 396 00:18:47,690 --> 00:18:50,850 They fall after understanding who God is and what he has done for 397 00:18:50,850 --> 00:18:51,010 us. 398 00:18:51,010 --> 00:18:54,890 And so the idea of fellowship here is really what I believe is 399 00:18:54,890 --> 00:18:59,250 one of the most important ideas in this letter, because it's 400 00:18:59,250 --> 00:19:03,140 talking about the fellowship that we have with God that affects 401 00:19:03,140 --> 00:19:04,780 the fellowship that we have with others. 402 00:19:06,140 --> 00:19:10,340 The Greek word is koinonia, and we emphasize that here at our 403 00:19:10,340 --> 00:19:11,660 church on fifth Sundays. 404 00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:14,140 But the idea of fellowship is this. 405 00:19:14,300 --> 00:19:17,740 I fellowship with the Lord and experience that relationship. 406 00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:21,580 And that relationship that I have with him will then manifest 407 00:19:21,580 --> 00:19:23,100 itself in loving others. 408 00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:26,140 And John is going to get to that here in this very book. 409 00:19:26,140 --> 00:19:29,680 He basically says, in so many words, if you love God, you will 410 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:30,200 love others. 411 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:32,800 If you don't love others, the love of God is not in you. 412 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,320 You don't understand the love of God if you can't love others. 413 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,720 And what happens sometimes in our humanity is we say, well, you 414 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,280 know, I love God, but I can't stand other believers. 415 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:44,040 I can't stand people around me. 416 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,200 You know, I've heard people even say, and, you know, kind of 417 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,200 a running joke, the church would be a great place if there wasn't 418 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,160 all the problems with the people. 419 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,240 But the truth is, that's really what it's all about. 420 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:54,120 That is the church. 421 00:19:54,700 --> 00:19:58,540 And so what we have to do is we have to grow in our koinonia, 422 00:19:58,620 --> 00:20:03,060 our fellowship with God, so that we can grow in our koinonia 423 00:20:03,060 --> 00:20:04,540 fellowship with those around us. 424 00:20:05,260 --> 00:20:08,020 And so what we see here and what we see throughout scripture 425 00:20:08,020 --> 00:20:12,300 is that God is always more concerned with the motivation behind 426 00:20:12,380 --> 00:20:12,940 our action. 427 00:20:14,140 --> 00:20:15,940 He's concerned at the heart of the issue. 428 00:20:15,940 --> 00:20:18,660 And he says, you got to know this fellowship, you got to know 429 00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:21,100 this fellowship with God so that you can have the right fellowship 430 00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:22,380 with everyone else in your life. 431 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,200 And maybe you've heard me say this before, but if I want to be 432 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:31,160 a better husband, I need to be a better Christ follower. 433 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,000 And that better husband will fall in line if I want to be a better 434 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:35,760 co worker. 435 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,679 For me to be a better coworker, the best coworker that 436 00:20:38,679 --> 00:20:41,600 I can be in Christ, it means to be a better Christ follower. 437 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,720 Because the more that I mirror Christ in my life, the more I'm able 438 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,280 to exemplify the values that he has called us to live in our life. 439 00:20:49,750 --> 00:20:55,150 And so this idea of fellowship speaks of a, one commentator said 440 00:20:55,150 --> 00:20:59,190 this, a living, breathing, sharing, loving relationship with 441 00:20:59,190 --> 00:21:03,350 Christ and with other people around us, as hard as it might be, 442 00:21:03,670 --> 00:21:05,270 as difficult as it might be. 443 00:21:05,590 --> 00:21:08,430 And so I believe this is one of the greatest statements that we 444 00:21:08,430 --> 00:21:12,310 can find in all of Scripture because it basically tells us this. 445 00:21:12,630 --> 00:21:15,870 All of what we have and the riches of our salvation are found 446 00:21:15,870 --> 00:21:17,470 in a fellowship with God. 447 00:21:17,470 --> 00:21:18,670 It's a real relationship. 448 00:21:18,670 --> 00:21:22,330 So, for example, if someone's struggling with assurance of salvation, 449 00:21:22,730 --> 00:21:25,650 let's think about some of the reasons why they struggle with assurance 450 00:21:25,650 --> 00:21:26,250 of salvation. 451 00:21:26,650 --> 00:21:28,810 I, I, I've heard people say, well, you know what? 452 00:21:28,810 --> 00:21:32,730 I don't know if I said the right words when I got saved. 453 00:21:32,730 --> 00:21:34,250 I don't know if I said the right words. 454 00:21:34,890 --> 00:21:39,450 Truth is, is that at the end of the day, it's not about the right 455 00:21:39,450 --> 00:21:40,170 words to say. 456 00:21:40,170 --> 00:21:42,050 It's about, do you have fellowship with God? 457 00:21:42,050 --> 00:21:43,130 Do you have faith with him? 458 00:21:43,210 --> 00:21:44,490 Are you walking with him? 459 00:21:44,550 --> 00:21:47,020 And, and that's the idea that I think that we have to go to in 460 00:21:47,020 --> 00:21:51,580 our lives is that if I could lose my salvation, I would. 461 00:21:51,740 --> 00:21:54,100 And so therefore don't get stressed in what I have done. 462 00:21:54,100 --> 00:21:56,940 Get, get focused on the belief that I have in Christ. 463 00:21:56,940 --> 00:22:00,939 If, if we look at the, the true, like, for example, I've said 464 00:22:00,939 --> 00:22:02,780 this before and some of you have heard me say this. 465 00:22:03,180 --> 00:22:06,780 If someone comes up to me and says, you know, I don't think you're 466 00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:07,660 really married to your wife. 467 00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:10,970 And I'm going to look at them and I'm going to say, you're crazy, 468 00:22:10,970 --> 00:22:12,050 because I know that I am. 469 00:22:12,050 --> 00:22:13,010 Why do you know that you are? 470 00:22:13,010 --> 00:22:13,730 Because I am. 471 00:22:13,890 --> 00:22:17,490 And I've been there and I was at the wedding and I walk with her 472 00:22:17,490 --> 00:22:18,250 every single day. 473 00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:22,530 I know that I'm married, you know, and, and so you see how silly 474 00:22:22,530 --> 00:22:24,130 it is when we talk about concepts like that. 475 00:22:24,370 --> 00:22:26,370 But then we have so many Christians that say, well, I'm not 476 00:22:26,370 --> 00:22:27,250 sure if I'm saved. 477 00:22:27,570 --> 00:22:29,730 Well, there's a lot of factors that go into that. 478 00:22:29,970 --> 00:22:32,370 And, and the truth of the matter is, is that if someone is 479 00:22:32,370 --> 00:22:35,050 struggling with that, go through the book of First John and 480 00:22:35,050 --> 00:22:36,410 say, is this something that is my. 481 00:22:36,410 --> 00:22:37,810 Is characterized in my life? 482 00:22:38,370 --> 00:22:40,450 Do I have a real fellowship with God? 483 00:22:40,850 --> 00:22:43,250 Do I have a real relationship with him? 484 00:22:43,730 --> 00:22:46,530 Or is it just, well, I've always gone to church, so I must 485 00:22:46,530 --> 00:22:47,250 be a Christian. 486 00:22:49,170 --> 00:22:50,490 Correct me if I'm wrong. 487 00:22:50,490 --> 00:22:51,890 Not right now, but maybe later. 488 00:22:53,010 --> 00:22:55,770 But if you go through this and you see what he's talking about when 489 00:22:55,770 --> 00:22:59,210 it comes to salvation, he never once says, well, have you gone 490 00:22:59,210 --> 00:23:00,130 to church your whole life? 491 00:23:00,690 --> 00:23:01,570 Doesn't say that. 492 00:23:02,770 --> 00:23:06,780 So the mark of a believer is not attendance. 493 00:23:07,580 --> 00:23:09,380 Now, is attendance something that we should do? 494 00:23:09,380 --> 00:23:11,740 Of course, but that's not what saves us. 495 00:23:11,740 --> 00:23:15,780 And so he says, here it is, that fellowship with him that ultimately 496 00:23:15,780 --> 00:23:17,820 is the fellowship that's manifested in our life. 497 00:23:17,820 --> 00:23:19,340 I'll use this analogy. 498 00:23:21,499 --> 00:23:25,740 A lot of times people will say, I'm, I'm a good Christian because 499 00:23:25,820 --> 00:23:29,660 I read my Bible, I pray, and I go to church. 500 00:23:30,780 --> 00:23:32,700 That me, that makes me a good Christian. 501 00:23:34,580 --> 00:23:38,460 But then what if I told you, you know what, I'm the. 502 00:23:38,460 --> 00:23:39,940 I'm a good baseball player. 503 00:23:40,340 --> 00:23:43,140 I go out and I practice every single day. 504 00:23:43,860 --> 00:23:45,780 I, I go and I hit the ball. 505 00:23:45,940 --> 00:23:47,540 I go practice my throwing. 506 00:23:47,700 --> 00:23:50,500 I do all that well, how did, how did you do in your game? 507 00:23:50,820 --> 00:23:54,300 Well, I struck out every single time I went up to bat. 508 00:23:54,300 --> 00:23:55,060 I missed every ball. 509 00:23:55,060 --> 00:23:57,500 That was to me, am I a good baseball player? 510 00:23:57,500 --> 00:23:57,780 No. 511 00:23:57,780 --> 00:23:58,100 Right. 512 00:23:58,100 --> 00:24:00,140 Because the proof is not in the disciplines. 513 00:24:00,140 --> 00:24:01,460 The proof is in the product. 514 00:24:01,460 --> 00:24:01,860 Right. 515 00:24:02,300 --> 00:24:04,460 And so there's a lot of people that say, I'm a great Christian, 516 00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:07,180 I read my Bible, I pray, and I go to church. 517 00:24:08,380 --> 00:24:11,020 Well, did you exemplify the fruit of the spirit? 518 00:24:12,060 --> 00:24:13,860 Love, joy, peace. 519 00:24:13,860 --> 00:24:14,220 Right. 520 00:24:14,220 --> 00:24:15,140 All of that list. 521 00:24:15,140 --> 00:24:17,980 And so what we're seeing here is that we can do all these things 522 00:24:17,980 --> 00:24:22,660 to try to manufacture Christ likeness, but at the end of the day, 523 00:24:22,660 --> 00:24:23,980 it's the heart of the matter. 524 00:24:24,460 --> 00:24:27,220 And so the true test is not, hey, I read my Bible this morning. 525 00:24:27,220 --> 00:24:29,500 I hope that you read your Bible, and that is a great help. 526 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,120 But how many of us know that reading my Bible does not necessarily 527 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:34,920 equate for me following Christ? 528 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:37,320 Someone can read their Bible and go, that's great. 529 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,080 Now let me go live my life in the spirit. 530 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,440 Or someone could read the Bible and say, that's Great. 531 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,760 I'm going to go live my life in the flesh, and therefore, I'm 532 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:46,920 not going to exemplify anything that the scripture says. 533 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,480 And so what I'm cautioning on is this. 534 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,320 Sometimes what we gauge people's relationship with God is. 535 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,800 Is through, hey, do you do all your spiritual disciplines? 536 00:24:56,190 --> 00:24:58,310 But at the end of the day, it's the true question is, are you 537 00:24:58,310 --> 00:24:59,390 in fellowship with Him? 538 00:24:59,470 --> 00:25:01,670 Because if you're in fellowship with him, all of those 539 00:25:01,670 --> 00:25:03,710 spiritual disciplines will fall in line, and that'll be the 540 00:25:03,710 --> 00:25:04,750 natural thing to do. 541 00:25:05,390 --> 00:25:07,470 I could buy my wife flowers every day. 542 00:25:07,710 --> 00:25:08,230 I could. 543 00:25:08,230 --> 00:25:11,070 I could take her to all of her favorite restaurants, but at the 544 00:25:11,070 --> 00:25:12,750 end of the day, show no love. 545 00:25:14,030 --> 00:25:17,270 Now, if I'm walking with her in love, I'm going to do all those 546 00:25:17,270 --> 00:25:18,910 things that demonstrate my love. 547 00:25:18,990 --> 00:25:21,870 But sometimes what we can do is we can try to start from the end 548 00:25:21,870 --> 00:25:23,710 and try to work our way back to the core. 549 00:25:23,980 --> 00:25:26,940 And what it has to be is that true fellowship with Christ. 550 00:25:27,740 --> 00:25:33,180 And so this is the idea of coining, not talking to somebody. 551 00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:35,580 I don't know how my relationship is with them. 552 00:25:36,060 --> 00:25:37,700 I'm not walking in step with them. 553 00:25:37,700 --> 00:25:39,260 I'm not sharing life with them. 554 00:25:39,260 --> 00:25:41,660 And so therefore, there's going to be a lot of uncertainty 555 00:25:41,660 --> 00:25:42,940 in my relationship with them. 556 00:25:43,260 --> 00:25:46,780 Let's go back again to, like, a relationship between a husband 557 00:25:46,780 --> 00:25:47,260 and wife. 558 00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:49,820 Someone walks up to me and they say, how. 559 00:25:49,820 --> 00:25:51,420 How's your relationship with Alicia going? 560 00:25:51,420 --> 00:25:53,570 And I go, I think it's going pretty good. 561 00:25:54,130 --> 00:25:56,330 Okay, when's the last time you talked to her? 562 00:25:56,330 --> 00:25:58,210 I haven't talked to her in, like, a couple years. 563 00:25:58,450 --> 00:26:00,690 But my assumption would be that everything's okay. 564 00:26:01,250 --> 00:26:03,690 Okay, when's the last time you spent time with her? 565 00:26:03,690 --> 00:26:05,250 I just don't spend time with her. 566 00:26:06,050 --> 00:26:06,690 Okay. 567 00:26:07,730 --> 00:26:09,370 And then at the end, I might say, well, you know what? 568 00:26:09,370 --> 00:26:09,650 Maybe. 569 00:26:09,650 --> 00:26:11,730 Maybe the relationship isn't as good as I thought it was. 570 00:26:12,690 --> 00:26:13,490 You see, the. 571 00:26:17,010 --> 00:26:18,930 I want to call it the foolishness of that. 572 00:26:19,700 --> 00:26:21,940 It's the same thing sometimes as Christians, there's a lot of Christians 573 00:26:21,940 --> 00:26:23,700 that aren't walking in fellowship with the Lord. 574 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:26,180 And then there's a lot of reasons for uncertainty. 575 00:26:26,180 --> 00:26:28,020 Well, I don't know if God really does love me. 576 00:26:28,020 --> 00:26:30,020 I don't really know if he really did save me. 577 00:26:30,020 --> 00:26:32,500 I really don't know if His Word is applied to my life. 578 00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:33,420 Because you know what? 579 00:26:33,420 --> 00:26:34,340 I'm struggling with this. 580 00:26:34,340 --> 00:26:37,540 I'm struggling with knowing that where is God in all of this? 581 00:26:37,540 --> 00:26:39,980 And I think that a lot of times what happens is that we're 582 00:26:39,980 --> 00:26:42,340 walking out of stride with fellowship with Him. 583 00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:46,680 And so it's so much more than just saying something, getting part 584 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,120 of a church and then saying, okay, everything must be okay. 585 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,480 There is a challenge here to walk in stride and fellowship with 586 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:52,960 the Lord. 587 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:54,440 Now, that's not what saves us. 588 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:55,600 What saves us is faith. 589 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,520 But what I'm saying is, is that what he's about to explain here 590 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,359 in a few moments is that sometimes we can have a relationship 591 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:07,160 with Christ and then we abandon the, the truth of his word 592 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:08,400 and we lose our joy. 593 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,240 And so he says, I want you to understand this fellowship so that 594 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,100 you can have true joy. 595 00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:17,340 And so this, this simple statement here means that one can 596 00:27:17,340 --> 00:27:19,420 have a relationship with God. 597 00:27:20,540 --> 00:27:23,140 And, and so for a lot of people that were reading John's letter, 598 00:27:23,140 --> 00:27:24,460 this was confusing for them. 599 00:27:25,340 --> 00:27:27,860 They, they didn't really understand the concept of having 600 00:27:27,860 --> 00:27:29,500 a personal relationship with God. 601 00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:31,820 And there's a lot of people in our society today that don't understand 602 00:27:31,820 --> 00:27:32,220 that. 603 00:27:32,380 --> 00:27:36,180 Like, go into a church with religion and say, you can know God 604 00:27:36,180 --> 00:27:39,220 and be personally in a relationship with Him. 605 00:27:39,220 --> 00:27:39,980 They're going to say what? 606 00:27:40,670 --> 00:27:42,910 Because that's a foreign concept to someone who is trusting 607 00:27:42,910 --> 00:27:44,910 in other things for their salvation. 608 00:27:45,950 --> 00:27:48,990 And so this kind of relationship that John is describing 609 00:27:48,990 --> 00:27:56,630 here is only possible because of who Jesus is and what he has done 610 00:27:56,630 --> 00:27:57,070 for us. 611 00:27:57,230 --> 00:27:58,430 John 14:6. 612 00:27:58,510 --> 00:28:00,030 I am the way, the truth, and the light. 613 00:28:00,750 --> 00:28:04,550 And so the only reason that we can know God is because of who Jesus 614 00:28:04,550 --> 00:28:04,830 is. 615 00:28:04,910 --> 00:28:07,630 That's what John is saying, you want to find God, find Jesus. 616 00:28:08,210 --> 00:28:10,930 If you want to know God in a personal way, know Jesus. 617 00:28:11,570 --> 00:28:14,210 And that's what he's explaining here to these people that 618 00:28:14,210 --> 00:28:16,370 were confused about knowing God. 619 00:28:17,570 --> 00:28:22,250 And so it has more to do with just knowing someone intellectually. 620 00:28:22,250 --> 00:28:25,010 Like, I know a lot of people, but I don't have fellowship with 621 00:28:25,010 --> 00:28:25,330 them. 622 00:28:26,050 --> 00:28:33,010 And so when we have fellowship with Jesus, we will become more like 623 00:28:33,010 --> 00:28:33,330 Him. 624 00:28:34,170 --> 00:28:39,650 It'll be more of a relationship that is, is not just 625 00:28:39,650 --> 00:28:42,570 I know of someone, but I know him in a personal way. 626 00:28:42,570 --> 00:28:44,890 Like, I could ask you right now, how many of you know? 627 00:28:45,290 --> 00:28:48,450 And I'll name some famous person and you know of that person, 628 00:28:48,450 --> 00:28:50,970 but you don't know that person on a personal level. 629 00:28:51,770 --> 00:28:55,290 And so what we're seeing here is a difference between knowing God, 630 00:28:55,610 --> 00:28:59,800 knowing His existence and knowing about him, and knowing different 631 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,160 facts about him, and then knowing him on a personal way. 632 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,080 And that's, that's the distinction here. 633 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:07,520 And so what is he saying here? 634 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:12,360 He says, having a shared life, a shared life with Christ and a shared 635 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:13,800 Life with others around us. 636 00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:18,520 He says that, that, that, that you can have fellowship with us. 637 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:19,200 Meaning. 638 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,240 So it's not just about a relationship with God. 639 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:23,560 It is, and that's where it starts, but it's also a fellowship 640 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:24,360 with God's people. 641 00:29:25,410 --> 00:29:29,890 And I think that that's important to understand because the 642 00:29:30,050 --> 00:29:33,890 temptation for our society today is having a lot of segmented 643 00:29:34,450 --> 00:29:35,210 relationships. 644 00:29:35,210 --> 00:29:38,130 So, like, okay, I want to have a relationship with God, but I don't 645 00:29:38,130 --> 00:29:39,410 want to have a relationship with other people. 646 00:29:40,130 --> 00:29:44,930 The truth is, is that the Christian life was not made or created 647 00:29:44,930 --> 00:29:48,450 by God to be an isolated event. 648 00:29:49,090 --> 00:29:51,010 We are supposed to be around other Christians. 649 00:29:51,540 --> 00:29:53,060 We are supposed to fellowship. 650 00:29:53,300 --> 00:29:53,780 That's. 651 00:29:53,780 --> 00:29:55,380 That's the way that God has created us. 652 00:29:55,380 --> 00:29:59,460 And the, the analogy I had given this in our Bible study recently. 653 00:30:00,100 --> 00:30:02,020 The way that I had it explained to me is this. 654 00:30:02,660 --> 00:30:03,060 If. 655 00:30:03,060 --> 00:30:09,420 If I go fishing and I catch a fish and I pull that fish up and 656 00:30:09,420 --> 00:30:10,100 I want to take a. 657 00:30:10,100 --> 00:30:10,460 I'm. 658 00:30:10,460 --> 00:30:12,860 Let's say, let's say in a world where I'm going to release 659 00:30:12,860 --> 00:30:14,900 this fish, okay, some people are like, release a fish. 660 00:30:14,900 --> 00:30:17,300 I'll never release a fish that's going on the frying pan. 661 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:18,160 I understand that. 662 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,920 But let's say hypothetically, we're going to release this fish 663 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:26,640 and I pull that fish out of water and does that fish die right 664 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:26,920 away? 665 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,280 Some of you know that that fish can survive outside of water 666 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,679 for, for a short amount of time, but that's not the way that 667 00:30:33,679 --> 00:30:35,240 God has designed that fish to live. 668 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,320 That fish is designed to be in the water. 669 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,400 That's the way that God has created that fish. 670 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,640 And so for a Christian to live outside of the fellowship with God 671 00:30:43,970 --> 00:30:46,530 and outside the fellowship with other saints, other believers, 672 00:30:46,610 --> 00:30:48,050 it's like a fish out of water. 673 00:30:48,050 --> 00:30:51,490 Yeah, we can survive, but we're never going to be properly 674 00:30:52,370 --> 00:30:55,930 healthy and growing and thriving because that's not the way 675 00:30:55,930 --> 00:30:57,090 that God has created Christians. 676 00:30:57,090 --> 00:30:58,890 So can a Christian be isolated? 677 00:30:58,890 --> 00:31:02,930 Yes, but that's not how a Christian can live in a healthy way. 678 00:31:03,250 --> 00:31:05,650 And so there are a lot of factors that fall into that. 679 00:31:05,650 --> 00:31:08,610 Obviously health issues and obviously folks that are not able 680 00:31:08,610 --> 00:31:09,170 to get out. 681 00:31:09,660 --> 00:31:12,060 But that is not an excuse for the fact that we should still be 682 00:31:12,060 --> 00:31:13,180 around other Christians. 683 00:31:13,180 --> 00:31:16,260 That's the whole purpose of what he's going to get to here. 684 00:31:16,260 --> 00:31:20,460 And so he kind of breaks down the book into two categories. 685 00:31:20,460 --> 00:31:24,980 You have the category of a relationship with Christ and then 686 00:31:24,980 --> 00:31:27,620 how that relationship with Christ affects my relationship with 687 00:31:27,620 --> 00:31:27,900 others. 688 00:31:29,100 --> 00:31:32,780 And so let's look at the result of the relationship and there's 689 00:31:32,780 --> 00:31:35,100 a lot of things that we could talk about with the result of the 690 00:31:35,100 --> 00:31:35,660 relationship. 691 00:31:35,660 --> 00:31:39,140 But he says here in verse four, and these things write we unto 692 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:40,940 you, that your joy may be full. 693 00:31:41,500 --> 00:31:45,340 And so the result of this fellowship is joy. 694 00:31:47,260 --> 00:31:51,020 This joy is not just a circumstantial happiness, but it's 695 00:31:51,340 --> 00:31:55,820 a consistent sense of cheerfulness. 696 00:31:57,260 --> 00:32:00,660 We would call it maybe even in this world, optimism, the fact that 697 00:32:00,660 --> 00:32:05,220 we know Christ, no matter what happens to us, it's not, hey, everything's 698 00:32:05,220 --> 00:32:06,100 going well in my life. 699 00:32:06,100 --> 00:32:08,420 It's no matter what happens, I have a relationship with Christ, 700 00:32:08,420 --> 00:32:09,540 and so I can have joy. 701 00:32:10,020 --> 00:32:15,700 And so it's not cheerfulness based on circumstances, it's cheerfulness 702 00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:18,180 based on your fellowship and your relationship with Christ. 703 00:32:19,060 --> 00:32:22,060 And so we know that that's something that even Jesus brought 704 00:32:22,060 --> 00:32:23,060 before the disciples. 705 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:24,500 John 15:11. 706 00:32:25,700 --> 00:32:31,870 Jesus says these things, have I spoken unto you, that my joy, that's 707 00:32:31,870 --> 00:32:36,710 Jesus speaking, my joy might remain in you, and that your joy 708 00:32:36,710 --> 00:32:37,630 might be full. 709 00:32:38,190 --> 00:32:41,150 And so Jesus tells us the source of that joy for a believer, 710 00:32:41,150 --> 00:32:42,190 and that is his joy. 711 00:32:42,590 --> 00:32:46,590 So Jesus says, if you can't find joy, there's an issue there. 712 00:32:47,310 --> 00:32:49,910 Now, again, let me, let me reiterate some. 713 00:32:49,910 --> 00:32:52,430 Sometimes when people hear me preach about joy, they say, pastor, 714 00:32:52,830 --> 00:32:53,950 go through a hardship. 715 00:32:54,270 --> 00:32:55,990 You know, am I supposed to just be laughing? 716 00:32:55,990 --> 00:32:56,710 And no, no. 717 00:32:56,710 --> 00:32:59,320 And we're not talking about silly stuff, circumstantial happiness. 718 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,400 We're talking about joy in the midst of hardship. 719 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,960 And what Jesus says is, because I extend you joy, you can 720 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:06,680 have joy in the midst of every situation. 721 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:14,880 And so even, even, even Jesus in John 17, John 17, if you don't 722 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,440 know the context of John 17, it's Jesus's high priestly prayer. 723 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:20,520 So again, he's interacting with the Father. 724 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,930 And his prayer for the, the believers is this. 725 00:33:25,410 --> 00:33:30,530 He says, and now come I to thee, to the Lord, and these things 726 00:33:30,530 --> 00:33:34,010 I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled 727 00:33:34,010 --> 00:33:34,610 in themselves. 728 00:33:35,650 --> 00:33:40,410 So it's the heart of Jesus that we would have the joy that he 729 00:33:40,410 --> 00:33:41,570 has given us in our life. 730 00:33:42,130 --> 00:33:44,490 And, and there's a lot of other passages that speak joy. 731 00:33:44,490 --> 00:33:45,690 The joy of the Lord is our strength. 732 00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:47,810 That's the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah, chapter 8. 733 00:33:48,290 --> 00:33:52,330 And so fullness of joy is, is a possibility for Christians, that 734 00:33:52,330 --> 00:33:56,070 it's not just the possibility, it's the expectation for Christians. 735 00:33:57,030 --> 00:33:59,510 But it doesn't mean that all Christians are going to find this. 736 00:33:59,830 --> 00:34:03,630 It just means that if we're living properly with fellowship with 737 00:34:03,630 --> 00:34:06,510 the Lord and fellowship with others, we can experience this same 738 00:34:06,510 --> 00:34:06,950 joy. 739 00:34:07,430 --> 00:34:09,270 And so he says, you can find this joy. 740 00:34:09,670 --> 00:34:11,110 And that's what we share with other people. 741 00:34:11,110 --> 00:34:14,230 We share this, hey, if you know Christ, this joy is available 742 00:34:14,310 --> 00:34:14,950 to you. 743 00:34:15,990 --> 00:34:20,430 And so John starts the book with the. 744 00:34:20,430 --> 00:34:24,730 The very beginning, the very basic nature of who Jesus is. 745 00:34:24,730 --> 00:34:25,530 He is God. 746 00:34:26,090 --> 00:34:27,290 He is eternal. 747 00:34:27,690 --> 00:34:29,050 He is the Creator. 748 00:34:29,530 --> 00:34:33,650 He told us that Jesus didn't just stay in the spirit form, but 749 00:34:33,650 --> 00:34:40,570 that Jesus also took form as a man and was 100 man, and was manifested 750 00:34:40,570 --> 00:34:43,290 so that other people could experience him, touch him, understand 751 00:34:43,290 --> 00:34:45,050 him, have eyewitnesses of him. 752 00:34:45,610 --> 00:34:47,850 He told us that Jesus is the word of life. 753 00:34:48,730 --> 00:34:50,970 He told us that God is. 754 00:34:51,770 --> 00:34:54,370 Jesus is different than God the Father. 755 00:34:54,370 --> 00:34:56,730 So there's different persons of the Godhead. 756 00:34:57,130 --> 00:34:59,250 He told us that we can know that God. 757 00:34:59,250 --> 00:35:02,330 We can know that relationship with him with fellowship. 758 00:35:02,570 --> 00:35:06,490 And he told us that that can only be found through Jesus. 759 00:35:06,890 --> 00:35:09,810 And he tells us that the product of that relationship with 760 00:35:09,810 --> 00:35:10,890 Jesus is joy. 761 00:35:11,450 --> 00:35:14,490 And so that's his introduction, just those four verses. 762 00:35:15,710 --> 00:35:20,430 And so now John is going to transition from the introduction 763 00:35:21,150 --> 00:35:23,230 to dealing with. 764 00:35:23,390 --> 00:35:27,710 He jumps right into the idea of sin and relationships. 765 00:35:28,270 --> 00:35:28,790 And so. 766 00:35:28,790 --> 00:35:33,550 So he says, okay, if you trust in Jesus, this is what the Christian 767 00:35:33,550 --> 00:35:34,430 life looks like. 768 00:35:34,990 --> 00:35:39,670 And he's going to talk about the desire, hopefully the desire 769 00:35:39,670 --> 00:35:41,150 for a Christian not to sin. 770 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:43,640 But then he talks about what we do when we sin. 771 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,680 And so there's a beautiful thing to understand that as a Christian, 772 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:49,880 the expectation is that we don't sin. 773 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,440 The reality is that we will sin. 774 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,960 But the other blessing is that God has given us an avenue to come 775 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,200 back into restoration in that fellowship. 776 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:03,000 Sometimes that fellowship can be broken because of our sin and 777 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:04,040 because of our issues. 778 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,840 But the beauty of a relationship with God is that he 779 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,760 is always there, extending that hand of forgiveness, extending 780 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:11,800 that hand of grace. 781 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,200 And we, in our humility, can come back to him and have that relationship 782 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:15,800 restored. 783 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,200 We never lose that relationship with Christ. 784 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:24,240 In the concept of salvation, I use it similar to this is the idea 785 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:29,000 that if my children say, you know what, dad? 786 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,240 We don't want anything to do with you, that would be a heartbreaking 787 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:32,600 thing. 788 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:37,930 But that would not, biologically speaking, in our nature, 789 00:36:37,930 --> 00:36:44,050 that would not make that child estranged when it comes to He. 790 00:36:44,050 --> 00:36:45,130 He is my child now. 791 00:36:45,130 --> 00:36:48,010 He might not see me as a father, but there's nothing that's 792 00:36:48,010 --> 00:36:48,370 going to change. 793 00:36:48,370 --> 00:36:50,450 Micah, Nora and Silas, they're my children. 794 00:36:51,170 --> 00:36:54,290 But at the same time, there are things that they can do to drive 795 00:36:54,290 --> 00:36:57,090 a wedge in our fellowship and our relationship. 796 00:36:57,810 --> 00:37:01,890 And so as a Christian, there's nothing that we can do to lose our 797 00:37:02,620 --> 00:37:04,220 nature as a child of God. 798 00:37:04,380 --> 00:37:07,740 But there are things that we can do to drive a wedge in our relationship. 799 00:37:07,740 --> 00:37:09,180 And God's character doesn't change. 800 00:37:09,340 --> 00:37:12,460 It's we who need to come back in repentance and confess our sins 801 00:37:12,460 --> 00:37:15,820 before him so that we can have that renewed and restored relationship. 802 00:37:15,980 --> 00:37:17,900 And that's what we're going to talk about next week. 803 00:37:17,900 --> 00:37:18,540 Okay. 804 00:37:18,940 --> 00:37:21,180 His expectation for us is to walk in the light. 805 00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:22,780 But when we don't, what do we do? 806 00:37:22,940 --> 00:37:26,060 We have that restoration with him and that forgiveness in Him. 807 00:37:26,060 --> 00:37:29,700 So I'm excited to speak to those things as we go along in this 808 00:37:29,700 --> 00:37:29,980 study. 809 00:37:31,030 --> 00:37:34,510 So I think that First John is a book of the Bible that many of 810 00:37:34,510 --> 00:37:36,390 us might know certain portions of. 811 00:37:36,630 --> 00:37:40,070 But I will say that it is a wonderful book to point people to 812 00:37:40,310 --> 00:37:43,990 when they are struggling with their relationship with God. 813 00:37:44,470 --> 00:37:46,150 Maybe they're like, I don't know if I'm saved. 814 00:37:46,790 --> 00:37:49,150 The very first thing that I tell people to do is read the book 815 00:37:49,150 --> 00:37:49,790 of First John. 816 00:37:49,790 --> 00:37:52,070 Because in the book of First John, you can see what it means to 817 00:37:52,070 --> 00:37:56,350 have a relationship with Christ and ultimately how to abide 818 00:37:56,350 --> 00:37:56,750 in Christ. 819 00:37:56,750 --> 00:37:56,980 And. 820 00:37:57,050 --> 00:38:00,970 And then he concludes with, you know, if you love God, what do 821 00:38:00,970 --> 00:38:01,370 you do? 822 00:38:01,610 --> 00:38:02,650 Keep his commandments. 823 00:38:02,650 --> 00:38:02,970 And. 824 00:38:02,970 --> 00:38:05,050 And we're going to conclude that in First John, chapter five. 825 00:38:05,130 --> 00:38:08,170 Well, I appreciate your attention here this evening, and 826 00:38:08,410 --> 00:38:12,090 I know that that's a lot to take in here on the first session. 827 00:38:12,090 --> 00:38:17,090 But I think that ultimately, as, as believers, we, we need to 828 00:38:17,090 --> 00:38:17,690 have the right. 829 00:38:18,090 --> 00:38:20,730 We got to start with the right belief about who Jesus is. 830 00:38:20,970 --> 00:38:22,090 It has to start there. 831 00:38:22,980 --> 00:38:26,140 Everything else will fall down if we don't have the right perspective 832 00:38:26,140 --> 00:38:28,260 of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. 833 00:38:30,020 --> 00:38:32,660 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 834 00:38:32,660 --> 00:38:33,300 podcast. 835 00:38:33,540 --> 00:38:35,860 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 836 00:38:36,660 --> 00:38:37,820 You would like to find out more. 837 00:38:37,820 --> 00:38:40,300 Information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at 838 00:38:40,300 --> 00:38:45,140 middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 839 00:38:45,860 --> 00:38:50,840 You can also email me directly at John Josh Massaro@middletownbaptistchurch.com 840 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,000 if you've enjoyed this podcast. 841 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:57,560 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates. 842 00:38:58,280 --> 00:38:59,240 Thank you so much. 843 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:00,200 God bless. 844 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:01,720 Have a wonderful day.