Turn with me to 1 John, chapter
1. 1 John. The first general epistle
of John. Not written to any one particular
assembly, but just written to the churches. 1 John, chapter 1. I'd like to read the first four
verses, that's where I'll look. Lord willing, begin this book.
That which was from the beginning, which we've heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we've looked upon, and our hands have handled of the
word of life. For the life was manifested and we've 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 His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full. Now this epistle,
this letter, was written under the inspiration of God's Spirit
by John. John, the apostle of the Lord. And it's commonly believed that
this is the John. that referred to himself in the
Gospel of John as that disciple that Jesus loved. You know, isn't
that just a blessed, precious thought? That the Lord would
love me. I know this. I know what He says
concerning His love. It's a distinguishing love. I
know that the world of false religion hates whenever the Lord
would declare, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. And man,
I'm telling you, the world would just bow up and just say, that's
just not fair. I'm thinking, who are thou? Oh man, that replies
against God. God said that. But that the Lord
would set His affection on one such as me. That the Lord would
have mercy on me? I don't deserve that. I've never deserved that. I'm
telling you. I've told you before. I've got
a witness. My mama is here. You have never
met a rebel like this rebel. I'm telling you. Somebody say,
well, you don't know what I did. Oh, brother, let's don't start
comparing notes. But I'm telling you, I'm going
to be right with you. But that the Lord would set his
affection on one like me. John. John was one that was intimately
close to the Lord. John was one of the three that
was allowed to go into the room when the Lord raised Jairus'
daughter. Remember Jairus, he came to the
Lord and said, my daughter, she's sick. She's sick unto death. The Lord said, I'll come. Well,
before he got there, A woman had an issue of blood. Remember
that? And she came and she touched
the hem of his garment. And the Lord stopped. And He
turned. He said, Woman, thy faith has
made thee whole. She was fearful. And from that
moment, that issue of blood that she had had for years, spent
all of her money trying to get it fixed, If she wasn't any better,
the Lord here stopped and Jairus' daughter died. Servant Jairus
came and said, your daughter's dead, don't bother the master
anymore, she's dead. The Lord looked at Jairus and
he said, only believe. He went in and he told the folks
there, he said, she's not dead, she's sleeping. Oh, they just
laughed at him. Oh, you just, you know. He went in with Peter, James,
and John, closed the door, and spoke to that girl. She opened
her eyes, got up. John was with the Lord on that
mountain of transfiguration. He saw the Lord transfigured. His face shined brighter than
the noonday sun. He was with the Lord when the
Lord was in the garden of Gethsemane. Remember, he went off and prayed. He had three of them stay. He said, y'all pray. Pray with
me. The Lord went off and prayed. They went to sleep. John. It was John. Remember when Peter
said, I'm going fishing. I quit. I'm going back to what
I used to do. The other disciples said, we'll
go with you. We'll quit too. Fished all night. Next morning,
the Lord's standing on the shore. He said, children, have you any
meat? No. John looked. He told Peter, he said, it's
the Lord. But John, that blessed disciple
that Almighty God allowed to be put on the Isle of Patmos
in exile, God Almighty spoke to John, told him, He said, you
write down what I'm about to tell you. And John wrote out
the book of Revelation. John. John sets forth here and
he starts off and he says, that which was from the beginning. Now you know, a believer's total
hope and his trust and His joy is found in the Eternal God. Deuteronomy 33, 27 says, The
Eternal God is thy refuge and underneath of the everlasting
arms, and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and
shall say, Destroy them. Now listen. Here's something that I pray
that God Almighty allow me to enter into. That God Himself,
the Eternal God, is my refuge. I know that. I know it in my
head. Lord, give me a heart for this. Give me a heart, Lord, that truly
believes You. Again, I know it. I know I know
it in my head. The devils know it too. They
know it in their head. But I want a heart for this.
The Lord, who is eternal, said this, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham was, I am. He's eternal. He's the eternal
son. Proverbs 8.23, I was set up from
everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was. I think
to myself, I was thinking this morning, I was going over my
notes, I got to thinking, God is eternal. He never started. He is eternal. I wonder how long
It was before He created the earth. You know, I thought, I
mean, just a thought, you know, God is eternal. I can't even
enter into that. I don't know how to think it.
God Himself, He is the eternal sacrifice before He ever created
man. There was the Lamb, slain from
the foundation of the world. He is the eternal God of creation. When he was pleased to create,
this is what the scripture says, and God said, let there be light. Let there be water. Let there
be heavens. And He made it. He just created
it, you know. And for God Almighty to create
something, all things were made by Him and without Him was not
anything made that was made. That means He had to be here
to make everything. Eternal God. But when the Lord
says, that which was from the beginning, I know what He's talking
about. Somewhat he's talking about something
in time now because Eternity has no beginning So if you say
the beginning of eternity, well, that's not gonna work What do
you mean the beginning of eternity you go back as far as you can
go back and you say well, okay? Here's where eternity began right
here. Well, what about all this? That
which was from the beginning and I believe, I believe I'd
be right here. It's the beginning of when God
Himself came forth in the three-fold character of His glory. The Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the glorious person of the
Lord Jesus Christ as God revealed Himself to man. Now listen, nobody
has ever seen God. The Lord Jesus Christ declares
Him. Nobody has seen God but the Son. No one knoweth the Father but
the Son, and Him to whom the Son will reveal Him. So here's
what do we know about. What do we know about God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? What do we know
about Him? Only as we behold the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's all we know. to whom the
Son will reveal Him." So when he said, that which was from
the beginning, it means the commencement of the manifestation of God Almighty
in the person of the Messiah. That which was from the beginning. I would say this, well, when
do you think that was? Well, I would say that when Adam
was created, He walked with God. What did Adam know about God?
Only as the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Him. Only as the Lord
Himself. Mr. Robert Hawker made this statement
concerning these opening words, that which was from the beginning,
that. That, which was from the beginning.
He said, observe the peculiar blessedness in which the Holy
Spirit has influenced the beloved disciple to speak of his Lord.
He started off and he said, that. which was from the beginning.
He didn't say his name. What he said was, he used a word
that was singular, this is the only, this is the one who alone
is spoken of. That. That. It's like when that angel came
to Mary concerning the Lord that she was going to bear, conceived
in the womb of a virgin. And this is what that angel said
concerning the Lord Himself. That holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. That. You know, a believer hears that
word, that. That which was from the beginning. And you know, you know exactly
who that is, is. How about in Song of Solomon?
Shulamite. Song of Solomon 3, verses 1 to
3. She says, by night on my bed, I sought him. Now, I got to reading
that again this morning, and I'm thinking, that's happened
before. You that know him, you know what
I'm talking about. You wake up in the middle of the night, and
you think, the Lord... Are you dreaming? I don't know.
Are you awake? I think so. I don't know. But
I can tell you this, the Lord manifests Himself. David spoke
of that. She says, by night on my bed
I sought Him in her mind, in her heart, whom my soul loveth. And look, still at night on her
bed, I sought Him, but I found Him not. And this is what she
says, I will arise now and go about the city and the streets
and the broad ways, and I'll seek Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. The watchman that go about the
city found me to whom I said, Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth? Somebody say, Who are they talking
about? If the Lord ever gives you a
heart, you'll know who you're talking about. You're talking about Him.
The Lord Himself. Oh, that precious that. That. That precious Him. That which
was from the beginning, and listen to what John says, which we have
heard. Now I want you to notice, he's
going to talk about hearing, he's going to talk about seeing,
he's going to talk about handling. What's the sense that he starts
with? What sense? You know, the senses of a man.
That which we have heard. Faith cometh by hearing. hearing
by the Word of God. It was the Word Himself, God
the Word, that John actually heard. He's saying, we heard
God speak. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, here is the Lord God of Heaven actually
dwelling among men. And John said, we listened. We heard His voice. We heard
Him speak, the One who tabernacled among men and manifested the
Godhead bodily. John said, I heard Him. He wasn't
invisible. He wasn't just a voice. I spoke to Him face to face. That which we've heard, which
we've seen with our eyes. John said not only did we hear
Him, we looked at Him. I've watched Him. He was man. He was a man. Residing, eating,
sleeping, going about daily activity. I heard Him and I looked at Him.
He said, we've seen him with our eyes, which we've looked
upon. You know that's always amazed
me. I'd read that and I said, that which we have heard, which
we have seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon. Is he saying the same thing? That
which we've seen. Now John had just said that we've
seen him. But now he's saying now, but
we looked on him. What was the difference? I tried to look this up. The
first word seen means to physically behold. John said we saw him. I looked at him. But that word
looked upon, means to perceive or to learn
by perception and admiration. A lot of people looked at him.
But John said, I mean a lot of people saw him, just saw him.
But John said we looked upon him. We saw him too, but we looked
upon him. What John was saying was it wasn't
just merely that we saw him with our eyes, but we were vitally
aware by God's grace of who we were looking at. John said, we
looked at him. And then he says this, and our
hands have handled of the word of life, the evidence that he
was truly man was subjected to another proof. John said, I heard him, I saw
him, my eyes, I looked on him, but I touched him. The sense of touch. He was not
an illusion. He wasn't an apparition. He was
just... John said, I touched him. You know, when the Lord came
to his own, in Luke 24, They were frightened after he was
raised from the dead. And this is what he said to them.
Behold my hands and my feet. Look, look, look. But then he said, handle me and
see. For a spirit hath not flesh and
bones as you see me have. You know, I tell you, I enjoy
being able to, you know, I'm out somewhere and I'm separate
from Glenda, you know, and I appreciate being able to pick up the telephone,
you know, and talk to her, you know, but I tell you what, it's
not quite as good as being home and holding her, you know what
I mean? Handle me. Handle me. John said we We handled
the Word of Life Himself. And then He said in verse 2,
For the life was manifested, and we've seen it, and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father,
and was manifested unto us. He said, for, now look at the
wording here. It's so easy just to pass over.
For the life. You notice that it didn't say,
for life was manifested, which it was, but it was the life. This is the life right here. This is life. There's one source
of life. I don't care if it's a man, I
don't care if it's a dog, I don't care if it's a flower. The life. I am the way, the truth
and the life. Where's the life of a flower
come from? The Lord. The Lord. The life
was manifested. The life himself. The one who
is eternally been with the Father. One who is the cause and giver
of all physical and spiritual life. There are men and women
walking around today that just don't know the Lord, but they're
physically alive. When Almighty God gives a man
or woman new life, I give unto them eternal life. They'll never
perish. There's something else there.
He gives them Himself. He gives them the life Himself. John says, and the life was manifested
according to God's will. We've seen it. That life who
is the messenger, the angel of the covenant of God's grace,
the angel of the covenant of God's people chosen in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we've seen it, we bear witness.
It was manifested. It was manifested. It had been
prophesied that the life was going to be manifested. You remember
when Isaac and Abraham, God told Abraham, He said, concerning
your son, your only son Isaac, I want you to take Isaac and
go to a place that I'm going to show you and I want you to
sacrifice him unto me for a burnt offering. Abraham got his stuff, came to
the place. Abraham told the men with the
donkeys there, he said, y'all stay here. Lad and I are going
to go up yonder and we're going to worship. We're going to worship
God. He was going up there to sacrifice Isaac, so what is he
going to do? He's going to go up there and worship God. That's
what the Lord told me. Isaac going up and he says, My father,
he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering? Abraham said, My son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And John says, God
did provide himself a lamb. That life was manifested. We've
seen it. Bear witness and show you that
eternal life which was with the Father manifested unto us. It's
the same thing John said in John 1.14. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory. We looked on Him. The glory is
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And
then verse 3, so that which we've seen, heard, declare we unto
you that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship
with the Father, with His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, John is saying that what we've
announced unto you is not hearsay or tradition. What we've seen,
we've heard Him, And the reason that John says, I'm writing this
declaration unto you, as I've been directed by the Holy Spirit
of God, is that you might be joined with us in fellowship. And we might have fellowship
together, and our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. Now I want us to just think for
just a moment. is the heart of this precious
fellowship. You know, fellowship, partnership
in communion is what that means. I looked it up. Fellowship, partnership
in communion. What is the basis of fellowship? Well, I believe the answer to
that question is found in Amos 3.3. How can two walk together
except they be agreed? You know, if two people don't
agree, you're not going to have any fellowship. There's not going
to be any partnership in communion, fellowship. Now I know this,
if two are going to be agreeing, when it comes between God and
man, here's what's going to happen. The direction of that agreement
is going to have to be me being made to agree with God. Because
I can tell you this, whatever the Lord has said, that's going
to stand. That's going to stand. And whatever
I've got to say, apart from what He's got to say, or in opposition
to what He's got to say, He's going to have to give me a new
heart to agree with Him. Unless I am, by faith, brought
into agreement with God, There's not going to be any fellowship
between me and the thrice holy God. John says, these things
we've seen and heard declare unto you that we also may have
fellowship. Fellowship with us and our fellowships
with the Father and His Son. Now I want to ask you something.
Fellowship made to agree with God. Has the Lord given me a
heart to agree with Him? Let me just ask you this. Genesis
6-5 says this, And God looked and saw that every imagination
of the thought of man was evil continually. You know what I have to do to
have fellowship with God, I'm going to have to agree with Him.
Man by nature will say this, now I don't believe that every
imagination, and I said, well, I'm going to tell you this, if
God says that every imagination of the thoughts of my heart is
evil continually, Lord, I'm an evil, continuously evil man in
thought, word, and deed in myself. I agree with you. Have all sinned
and come short of the glory of God? Lord, I agree with you. Without me, you can do nothing. You can do nothing! Nothing! Lord, I agree with you. Without you, I can do nothing.
Jonah says salvation is of the Lord. In its inception, in its procurement, in its application? How much do I have to do with
salvation if salvation is of the Lord? How much have I got
to do with it? Lord, I'm going to agree with
you. All that the Father giveth me. Do I believe in election? If
I have fellowship with God, I do. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Is salvation sure? If I'm in
fellowship with God, I agree with Him. And Him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. Do I believe that salvation
is eternal? If I'm in agreement with God
and have fellowship with God, I believe that. Whenever God
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, you
hear Him. You know what the believer says in agreement with God and
fellowship with God? He says, just like little Samuel
said, Lord, speak, thy servant heareth. The Lord reveals to
us who we are and who He is. And a believer is given a heart
to agree with Him. to have fellowship. John said,
that which we've seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye
also may have fellowship with us. And all believers do. Believers have fellowship with
each other, because they all believe the same thing. And truly
our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And then lastly, Verse 4, And
these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. You know, happy, being happy,
has to do with my environment. It just, I mean, sometimes I'm
just not happy. But joy has to do with being
by the grace of God able to just calm down and find fulfillment
in God's Word. I believe God. Joy. Being able to rest in the Lord. Whether my circumstances make
me happy, Henry Mahan asked Walter Groover one time, he said, Walter,
are you happy down here in Mexico? And he said, happiness doesn't
have anything to do with it. This is where I believe God wants
me to be. This is where the Lord put me. This is where I joy. I joy in the Lord. And whatever
the Lord is pleased to bring my way, He doesn't remove my
joy in Him. I rest in Him. I rejoice in His grace which
is sufficient. Now some of you know something
about going to the doctor and you hear some news that you didn't
want to hear. I didn't think I was going to
hear that today. Are you happy with what you heard?
No, I'm not happy. But do you rejoice in the Lord?
Is your joy in the Lord Himself? Do you find comfort? Do you find
that you can rejoice in Him? whose righteousness has justified
you? The Lord who orders all these
things and bringing about all these things is going to never
leave me, never forsake me? Happiness is just for a moment.
Joy is in Christ. Do you rejoice in Him whose love
never fails? Do you find joy in Him who has
finished the work? Let me ask you this. You that
know him, do you rejoice that your name is written in heaven?
That's what the Lord told him. He said, rejoice that your name
is written in heaven. I'm thinking, you know, the bumps
and trials that he sends in this life, Paul says that, you know,
they grieve us. They are. As we see ourselves
slipping away, We're getting older and I've said before, you
know, and I tell you what, I really thought I was 10 feet tall and
bulletproof. I can do anything. I can do anything. I just can't
do anything like I used to could. Is that good English? Used to
could. You know. You know what I mean.
These things we write in you that your joy may be fulfilled. Lord bless the word to our heart
for Christ's sake.