1st John chapter 1 this morning 1st John 1 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 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. There's a lot said right there,
a lot said. But you know the simple, statement
that he's making in those three verses is that which we have
seen, we're telling it to you. Isn't that what he's saying?
He's added some things, some qualifications, some explanations,
but that's the simple message of it. We've seen something and
we're telling you about it. That's the simple statement he's
making. Lot of definition in there too.
I understand that we're gonna look at that, but that's the
simple breakdown and it's important to see that Sometimes break the
scriptures down and see what? See what's being said always
important We've seen something and we want you in on it We want
you to get in on it Everything else in this verse
is an explanation of that. We've witnessed something and
we're going to tell you about it so you can get in on it. Well,
let's see if we can answer the obvious questions that are raised
by that. What did they see? That's kind
of first into what are you talking about? What did you see? What
did you hear? Well, he tells us that, but maybe
Not in the way that you might expect because you know what
he's talking about. You know what he's talking about. But
look how he describes what they saw. The word of life. The last part of verse one. We've
seen the word of life. We've heard the word of life. Our hands have handled the word
of life. Referred to also as eternal life. Eternal life. in that same three
verses, the life, that eternal life. Verse two there, we show
unto you that eternal life, which we saw. And so that's the definition,
that's the description of what they saw that John gives here.
It's that life, that eternal life that is said here to have
been with the father. and have been, and to have been
manifested unto us. And so the question also kind
of arises, how do you see a word? How do you see a word? How do
you lay eyes on eternal life? How can you handle with your
hands the word of life? That's kind of strange language,
isn't it? If you think about it, well, the answer from God's
word is simply this. You can see a word. when that
word is made flesh and dwells among you. You can
lay your eyes on eternal life when that life is a person. And this can only be the one
who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I'm the life. If you see me, you've seen life. That's what John said. We saw
the life. We saw that eternal life. You've seen me, you've seen the
truth. Not if you've collected some
facts and made some kind of a doctrinal or systematic theological statement
out of it. If you've seen me, you've seen
life and truth. And you've seen the way to God. John said we were there when
the Word of God was made flesh. We were there. We embraced Him. We laid our hands on Him. Can
you imagine that? We spoke with Him. He spoke to
us. We witnessed for ourselves that life is a man. Have you
ever done that? The man, the man, Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. And what they did see and what
they're able to tell about here. What specifically did they see?
What does the word of life look like? Well, you know, we know that
by faith. And the scripture says that's even more sure than what
you can see with your eyes. But what did they see? What is
it that they were able to tell about? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ
did so many things that. And said so many things that
the Apostle John said that if everything he did and said were
recorded that the world itself couldn't contain the books that
should be written. So it's not about telling everything that
he did and everything that he said, although everything he
did and everything he said and everything he is. His life. It's the Word of God. But we've
seen the Gospels that were written by God's grace. Some of the things
he did were written. Some of the things he said were
written, and we have them before us, and we know why they were
written, that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing on him, we might have life through
his name. And that's kind of what John
is saying here, isn't it? We've seen him, and we're going
to tell you about him for a specific reason. So you'll have fellowship
with us. You'll be on the same ship we
are. He is the life. And this is life. This is what's interesting. Believe on him that believing
on him you might have life. So this is life that can be seen,
but it's also life that can be had. Life that can be experienced. Because he is eternal life, that
eternal life, you can have eternal life. And this life is in God's
Son. We know firsthand, John said,
we saw him, we saw him give life. We saw that he is life. Think
about all that they saw. They saw him give life with authority. They heard him say, I give life
to who I want to give life to. And they saw him do it, didn't
they? They saw him walk through a multitude
of people at the pool of Bethesda and single out one man and say,
will thou be made whole? Passed by hundreds. So they saw
that he is life and that he gives life, can be experienced and
had, and that he gives it sovereignly. He gives it to whom he will,
just like he said he does. It's not just a doctrine we believe.
We saw it happen. We saw him pass by some and save
others. They saw him say to that one
man, they saw him walk past a multitude of Jews and come to the place
where Zacchaeus was and say to him, Zacchaeus, you come down
here I must abide at your house today because you're a son of
Abraham. Now think about this. Men argue today and debate and
fuss and fight over whether or not Christ is sovereign. John
said we saw that he is. We saw him dispense life at his
sovereign discretion. And we're gonna tell you about
him. There's not anything to argue
about once you've seen him, is there? There's just nothing to
argue about. Maurice Montgomery said one time, you can argue
about the sovereignty of God all day if you want to, but I
don't want to, you know, because I've been to the potter's house.
Isn't that what the Lord said? Come down to the potter's house
and see. Of one lump, he makes one vessel
into honor and another into dishonor just because he wants to. And
once you've been to the potter's house or like John said, we saw
the life and we saw him give life and they saw him dispense
life sovereignly as he said he would have the authority to do.
And there's not much to argue about at that point. I don't
want to argue. You think about that. If a sinner
cannot see that Christ is the sovereign giver of life, Do you
want to argue with him about it or do you just want to declare
the gospel unto that sinner that we've seen? Like John. John said we've seen life, eternal
life, the word of life, so let's sit down and debate. No, just
let me tell you about it. Isn't that what we want to do?
We have lost loved ones that don't know anything about life,
what life is, who life is, how life is given. You want to argue
with them or you just want to tell them about it? The Lord
says, tell them about it and if they won't hear you, go find
somebody that will. Isn't that His way? Don't sit
there and debate and argue and fuss and fight over it. Go find
somebody that will listen to you. This is not a debate, it's
a declaration. That's what John said, we're
going to tell you about Him. And the reason we're telling
you about Him is we want you to be in on it. We want you to
have fellowship with us because our fellowship is with Him. They saw Him speak and it was
done. They witnessed that. The Word
of Life walked on this earth and said live and the sinner
lived. They watched it happen. They heard Him promise. That
eternal life was to be had simply by coming to him, not by trying
to establish your own righteousness, not by obeying or stopping something
or starting something, but by believing on him who alone is
righteous. This is why he came. Look at
John six, the gospel of John chapter six, verse 35. This is important now. Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believed not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven. Why did Christ come to this earth?
Look at it. He answers that you clearly not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the father's will, which has sent me that of all, which he
has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me that everyone would see the son and believe with on him
may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. Now that says a lot right there. But one of the things
it says is that he did not come hoping some would believe on
him and have life. He came to see that they would.
Didn't he? He came to see to it. And that's
what John said we witnessed. We watched the word of life walk
among men. We watched that eternal life
come to men. And we want you to have that
life. And that's why we're telling you about him. We touched him and we can testify
to you that God really was manifested in the flesh His name was God
with us this life was manifested This thing wasn't done in a corner
we witnessed it we saw him We saw what God did. He sent his
only begotten son eternal life is not defined by going to heaven
when you die. You talk to religion about what's
eternal life. Well, we'll go to heaven when we die. No, eternal
life is somebody. And that was evident to us, he
said, every day that we walked with him. And we're trying to
tell you that we're trying to declare to you that life is a
person. He's that one that was with the father and came down
and dwelt among us. How I wish I could learn that
and how I wish I could communicate that. to sinners. He is the life. He is that life. He's the word of life. And if
you believe on him, you have life. Christ is not just somebody who
provides life or makes it available. He is life. Oh, how I want to
know that. God hath given to sinners Eternal
life When did he do that when he gave us his son this life
is in his son He that hath the Son of God hath
life And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life He said there in verse 3 as I've
already mentioned We want you to get in on it. That's why we're
telling you that Of course we tell it for his glory so that
he'll be honored and glorified in it because he is glorified
by his great and mighty grace in Christ and what Christ did
on Calvary, what he accomplished, who he is. But here's the other
reason we want you to get in it. We want you to have fellowship
with us. That word is participation, association,
community, communion, intimacy. Partners associates companions. We want you to be one of us Who
knows him and who has seen him? How are we gonna see we weren't
there Paul said I saw him as one born out of due time And we have a more sure word
of prophecy Than just what somebody saw we have the Word of God We
have the truth of God But we want you to have, and here's
the thing, it's not just about us. We want you to have fellowship
with us, he said, but it's not just about us. We don't want
you to come and be part of this church here because we're such
great folks. And I say that although there's
nobody I'd rather be around than y'all. There's just not. But
if this was just a club, there wouldn't be a whole lot to it.
But to fellowship, listen to what John said here, to fellowship
with us is to fellowship with God and His Son. That's a bold
statement right there, but I'm telling you right now, you're
not gonna find that anywhere else in this town. When Moses told Hobab in Numbers
chapter 10, he said, come with us and we'll do you good. Remember
that? You ever heard anybody quote
that? Moses said to Hobab, you come with us and we'll do you
good. He wasn't just whistling Dixie. Numbers 1029, Moses said unto
Hobab, the son of Rigel, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law,
we are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I'll
give it to you. Come with us. Come thou with
us and we will do thee good. And here's why. For the Lord
has spoken good. Concerning Israel if you're part
of Israel now It's gonna be good for you That's what John is saying. We want you in on it. We want
you to be one of us We want you to be part of it because our
fellowships with God Going with us will do you good because we're
following him we're going we're here We're walking with him. We're walking in his light. I
And we write to you, we preach to you, he said in verse four,
that your joy may be full. When you see him and acknowledge
him and become one of his people, one with us, associates with
us, have communion with us and communion with him, your joy
will be full. You're not going to find that
in this world. People are still trying. People that I love, they still
try, and you're not going to find it in this world. What do you rejoice in? What's
your joy, John? This one who's saying, your joy will be full. If you
hear what we say, believe what we say, believe the one that
we speak of, and become one of us. Come with us. We'll do you
good. Your joy will be full. Well, what is it exactly you
rejoice in? Well, we're the circumcision, the covenant people of God, which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in a person. Your joy will be full because
your joy won't depend on what happened to you today or yesterday
or what will happen to you a week from now. Your joy is a person,
steadfast and faithful. If he's your joy, he's always
your joy. The joys of this world come and go, they fade and flee.
Fade, fade, ye earthly joy, they will. That's okay, because Jesus
is mine. And have no confidence in this
flesh. Verse five, this then is the message. This then is the message. You
see what he said now in that first verse. We've seen and heard
and handled and we're going to tell you about it. What have
you seen, heard and handled? The word of life, the life, that
eternal life that was with the Father and was manifested in
this world. And we want to do it so you'll
be one of us, so you'll enjoy what we do. So you'll have the
joy that we do. So you'll have the hope that
we do. So you'll have the life that we do. And here's the message now. When
we tell you about Him, here's what we're going to say. It's what we heard of Him. We
got it from Him. We didn't make it up. We didn't
read the Bible and become Bible scholars and use human deduction
and come up with a system. We heard what He said and we're
going to tell you about it. This is just plain and it's simple.
That God is light. And in him is no darkness at
all. I look at it. I've just got that one verse
in my note, but I want to go. I want you to see this together.
Verse five again. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declaring 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.
God is holy. And the only way you're going
to have fellowship with us and him is if you're holy. Isn't
that right? Isn't that what he said? You
can't walk with him unless you're also light, walking in the light. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. You see the
context? He said we want you to have fellowship with us and
with him who is light. But the only way that's going
to happen is if you walk in the light. And if you do, the blood of Jesus
Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. How are you going
to be holy? How are you going to be like,
how are you going to walk with him? That's like, there's no
fellowship between light and dark. He is light. There's no darkness in him. If
you're going to walk with him, you're going to have to be light.
How's that going to happen? Not by you straightening up and
flying right and turning over a new leaf and going about to
establish your own righteousness. It happens by the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's son, cleansing you from all of your sins. This
then is the message, is it not? This is our gospel. You must
have fellowship with God. That's what we lost in the garden.
How's that going to happen? We want you to have it. We're
going to tell you about him so that you'll have it. How are
you going to have it? By his precious shed blood. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves. And that's what you do. And if
you reject his blood, you say, well, I know Christ died for
me, but I gotta do this. I gotta do that. I gotta live
the Christian life. You're in trouble. What you're
saying is that what you're doing, there's no sin in it. That you
can actually add something to what he did. You're a liar. You're lying to yourself and
you're calling God a liar. This then is the message. That's
what we heard him say. And that's what we're gonna tell
you. We declare unto you that God is light. We tell you of
him whom we have seen and heard and handled, but in doing so,
we tell you this. Here's God's message. God is
holy. Christ is holy. He is the light of the world.
If you're gonna have fellowship with him, you must be holy. And
that comes through cleansing. The cleansing power of the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, God's son. This is the message that
we heard from him, and he told us to tell you. And it's not
complicated, is it? It's simple and clear and plain. And see, and we have such hope
that sinners can have fellowship with God. We want to make sure
it's plain. God is light. That's wonderful,
isn't it? God is light. You think about
all the properties of light. That's wonderful, but it's also
part of our problem. First Timothy 613, listen to
this. First Timothy 613, Paul said
to Timothy, I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth
all things and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment
without spot, Unrebukeable unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ you do what John said he's going to you keep what he
said you Tell what he said and only what he said be true to
what he said Which in his times he shall show And this is just
referring to the Lord Jesus Christ who he just finished verse 14
with Which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only
potentate the king of kings and lord of lords who only hath immortality
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no
man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. And how in the world John has
stated that the end goal of our preaching Is that you everyone
who's interested in everyone who will hear like us may have
fellowship with God But if God is light and no man can even
approach unto him, how can we have fellowship with him? You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ said no man cometh unto the father I'm glad he didn't stop there,
aren't you? You can't approach him He's light in your darkness
No man cometh unto the Father, then there's no hope. Yes, there
is, but by me. When Christ, as our representative,
has fellowship with God, when he approaches unto God, when
he has communion with God, association with God, when he has acceptance
before God, we do. It's not just saying there Christ
will show us the way to God. It's not just saying there that
he's, that we, And it is saying this, that he brings us to God,
but it's also saying this, when he went to God, as our representative,
right after he said what he did, he went to the cross. He said,
no man cometh unto the Father but by me. What he's saying is,
when I go to the Father, that's you going to the Father, because
you're in me. When he's seated on the right
hand of the throne of the majesty on high, Paul said, we're seated
there with him, right now. In the heavenlies. Well, one thing is for sure.
We see this in the text here too, don't we? If we pretend
to have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness, we lie.
We lie. We're just playing games with
God. That's not a good idea, my friend. That's not a good
idea. We're liars. Well, how is it then that we
cannot walk in darkness? If you if you say you have fellowship
with him and you're walking in darkness You're a liar that how
can we not walk in darkness who every thought of ours is dark.
Everything we do has darkness in it Well john said that's where we
come in by god's grace we're going to tell you about him Who
is light so you can walk in his light? Walk in his truth Listen
to this second corinthians 4 6 to know him now and to believe
on him is to walk in the light second corinthians four six for
god who commanded the light to shout out of darkness when he
built this universe when he created this universe out of nothing
he said let there be light before he even created the sun didn't
he he said let there be light and there was light that god I wish I could tell. I'm like
John. I wish I could tell it right. Don't you? Who knows that
you know who walk in darkness. They need a word. They need the
truth. You know what they need. They
need Him. May God give us grace to tell it like it is. That God. The God who commands
it now. He doesn't want it. He commands
it. He's not trying to get it done.
He commands it. Let there be light. That God shined in my heart.
John said, isn't that what he said? We've seen him. We've heard
him. We have ears to hear. Blessed
are our ears for they hear. He shined in our hearts. And
when he did, he gave us the light of the knowledge of God's glory.
You know what God's glory is? That's what the gospel is about.
all of the glory of God in saving sinners through the precious
blood of His Son that alone cleanses from all sin. That's God's great
glory. He gave us the light of the knowledge
of God's glory in His Son's face. And that's what we're trying
to communicate. That light. We've seen Him who is life and
light, and we're trying to tell you about it. And we know that
it's by that means, that that God who commands light and there
is light, it's by that means that He gives light. Because
that's how He gave us light. The light of the knowledge of
His glory, which is in the face of His Son. This is the light
you must walk in, and it shines in the face of Jesus Christ.
And if you walk in that light, His light, the light of the knowledge
of God's glory in Christ, then the blood You see that? If we walk in the light as he
is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. We know that
that's true. We know that it's true. Now,
we know that Christ's precious blood did not cleanse every sinner
from their sins. He said, I lay down my life for
my sheep. And he told the Pharisees, you're
not of my sheep. And we know that because you
don't believe. And the reason you don't believe is because
you're not my sheep. But I laid down my life for my sheep, and
they have eternal life. They have it. And they will never
perish. John 10, pretty clear. Our Lord
Jesus Christ laid down his life for a specific people. And by
the way, lest we pass over this, think
about what John is saying here that Christ's blood does. It doesn't give sinners a chance.
You see what he says his blood does there? It cleanses from
all sin. Is that what it does? That's
not what religion says. No, they don't say that at all.
And they say that it provides a chance, that he's done what's
necessary so that we have another chance, you know, to do the right
thing, to make a decision for him, But what John is saying
is something else. He says, if Jesus Christ shed
his precious blood for you, then you're clean every whit. It cleanseth
us from all sin. That's pretty good news, isn't
it? It actually, that's what, you know what a good word to
describe that would be? Effectual. It cleanses us. It doesn't potentially cleanse
us. It cleanses us from all sin. Well, here's the question, man.
Did his blood cleanse me? We see clearly in the word that
he didn't cleanse everybody with his precious blood. Did his blood
cleanse me? I don't know, but I know how
you can know. Do you believe on him? Are you walking in the light
of God's word concerning his son, Jesus Christ? Are you going
about to establish your own righteousness? It's one or the other. It's one
or the other. And John said, if you're walking
in his light, if you've seen what we've seen, except by eyes
of faith, by his word, by his gospel, if you have fellowship
with us and you're walking in the light as he is in the light,
then his precious blood cleansed you from all your sin. You can
know that. That's how you know. Now look at these next verses,
and this is very important. It's already been established.
Now, let's think about what we've seen already. That if we are
to walk with God, and that's the goal. We're telling you what
we're telling you, so that you'll walk with us and with Him. We must have no sin. And what
these last four verses are saying is that if you imagine that you
can accomplish that on your own, you're not only a liar, but you're
calling God a liar. And here's the truth of it. One
of you is a liar. If you say now, let's read it
Verse seven If we walk in the light as he is in the light we
have fellowship one with another And the blood of jesus christ
his son cleanseth us from all sin If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us If we
confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we already know how that
happens, the cleansing. It's the precious blood, isn't
it? If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and
his word is not in us. And this is not just saying now,
if we say that we have never sinned, that's a lie too. But what this
is saying is if in any circumstance, in anything that you do, ever
do, if you ever say, what I just did was not sin, you're a liar. It's not just that we haven't
lived a sinless life. It's not just that I can't say
I've never sinned. I can't ever say I didn't just
sin. I cannot not sin. That's the
truth. Everything else is a lie. So the thing to do is to confess
that we're full of sin and that we must have his precious blood.
If we're going to have fellowship with God, if we're going to have
life, if we're going to have light, if we're going to be saved.
Oh, the precious blood is my only hope. I must confess, that's
why God gave the law. Not so you could keep it. Not
so you'd know what to keep. So you could live your life,
you know, by it. God's not naive like that. You are, but he's
not. I am, but God's not. That's not
the purpose of his law, to clean you up. We know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
which is every one of us, And it says them so that every mouth
may be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. So we are to stand guilty before
God and readily confess that in ourselves we can never have
fellowship with him. This then is the message John
said, and it sure enough is. But as the publican in Luke 18,
13, We plead for mercy on the basis
of the precious blood of Christ. He said, Lord, be merciful. And
that word is propitious. And that word is sin offering.
And that's the blood of Christ. Lord, be propitious to me on
the mercy seat. That precious blood that cleanses
from all sin. Be merciful to me in that blood
and having come on that basis. God is faithful. Did you see
that? You come if we can, if we come
confessing. God be merciful to me, the sinner,
if we come confessing our sin and pleading the precious blood
of Christ as our only cleansing, our only righteousness for God,
the only way we can ever walk in fellowship before God. God
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Isn't that so simple? Do you
need your sins forgiven? He's faithful and just. What does it mean that God is
faithful to forgive us our sins? If he charged every one of us
with sin and put us all in hell, would he not still be faithful?
No. He wouldn't. And I'll tell you
why. Because he promised. He obligated himself, didn't
he, when he said, you come. You come to me for mercy and
you'll have it. You come to me for life. You come to me for
rest and I'll give it to you. So if we come, the only way he
can be faithful is to give it to us. That doesn't limit God,
that makes Him glorious, doesn't it? Oh, He promised that He would. If we come to Him by Christ crucified
in that precious blood that cleanses from all sin, did He not say
we'd not be condemned? Did He not say we'd have everlasting
life? And that's how John described
it, that eternal life. In other words, we have Him.
To have life is to have Him. If you come to God by Christ
Jesus, the sinner's righteousness, the sinner's sin offering, the
sinner's substitute, you'll find God faithful to that promise.
You'll have every blessing that God has. Because it's all in
him. And he's just to forgive. That's pretty good news, because
I'll tell you this, if God can't forgive you without being just,
you're not going to be forgiven. How can God be just? and justify
a sinner. How can God say I have no sin
and it not more his justice? How can he look upon me as guiltless
and spotless and blameless and unreprovable in his sight and
still be the just and holy God that he is Christ and that precious blood that
cleanses From all sin. No wonder John said in Revelation
unto him that washed us. He loved us. And he washed us
from our sins in his own blood. Unto him be glory. And as our sins are washed away
in that precious blood of Christ, God is able to justly justify
everybody he shed it for. Romans 3, 24, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation. That's
that word the public can use. God be propitious to me. It means sin offering. God received the sin offering
on my behalf. It's translated merciful because
it's the same thing. Through faith in his blood. To
declare his righteousness. For the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this
time his righteousness that God might be just. And the justifier. of him that believeth in Jesus.
He is faithful and just to forgive. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed
from the cross, Father, forgive him. And the Father can and does because
of what Christ was doing when he said it. And being justified
by Christ in his precious blood, We have fellowship with God. Isn't that wonderful? What was lost in the garden is
restored, and then some. Because we have not only the
fellowship that personal holiness affords, like Adam and Eve had,
which obviously might be lost, because it was lost. But we have
the same fellowship with God that the son has with God. We
have the same fellowship with God that father and son have
with one another. Infinitely sweet and glorious
and can never be broken. Never, ever be broken. We're
sin abounded, grace did much more about. And we're more than
conquerors through him that loved us. May God give us grace to
tell it faithfully. May He be pleased to call His sheep out of darkness
into the marvelous light of His precious Son. Let's pray.