First John, we'll continue our
study. We've been going through First
John now for a couple of weeks. First John, we'll read the first
four verses again. Tonight's message is called Fellowship
and Joy. Fellowship and Joy. First John,
we'll read verses one to four. 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 the eternal life, which was with the father
and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that she 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 last week, we looked at verses
two and three, where we considered the humanity of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the fact that he was manifested. God himself,
the word of God became a man. So John is setting forth the
humanity of Christ, along with the deity, because we see that
which was from the beginning. So he goes back to eternity,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon in our hands of handle of the word of life,
for the life was manifested. Remember, we looked at that,
that's God incarnate in the flesh. We have seen it and bear witness. So, and I also mentioned this,
that John and the apostles were not just eyewitnesses, they were
earwitnesses as well. They not only saw the Lord, they
heard him. Now we, by faith, look to the
Lord. We look to the Lord by faith, but they actually saw
him like we see one another. It's incredible. It's absolutely
incredible. So the fact presented here is
that God himself became a man. And it speaks of the incarnation
of the word of God, the second person of the Trinity. John,
who wrote this, epistle and the other apostles again were both
eyewitnesses and earwitnesses. They saw the miracles that the
Lord did. They saw them. I mentioned last
week, they saw Lazarus come forth from the grave. They saw it. They heard the Lord say, tell
it, Lazarus come forth. They heard those words, beloved,
and they saw this miracle occur. It's incredible. I don't think
we often spend enough time thinking about that, that they actually
are eyewitnesses to what occurred. They're not just men writing
a book or writing something. They actually saw this happen. They actually saw him. They touched
the Lord. They spoke to the Lord. They
heard the Lord. And they saw the Lord in the
flesh. There were some, just as there
are today, who denied that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Nothing
new under the sun, is there? There's still people that deny
that the Lord even came, and he's a historical figure, though,
too. There's documents that he really was here. He really, if
you read Geophysis, the Jewish historian, he mentions him in
there. So he was a real historical figure, but yet, just like Just
like shortly after his ascension, people denied that he was actually
here. Solomon writes, there's nothing new under the sun, and
that's so true. There really isn't. There really isn't anything
new. So they're dealing with the error
that has sprung up, which is a Gnostic error, which denies
the humanity of Christ. It says again, like I mentioned,
I mentioned it again, that he was but a phantom. And it's just,
when you think about it, you don't understand how people could
believe this or how people could be carried away by it. But you
got to also remember the mysticism that went on in the various religions
of the day too, just like we have today. There's nothing new
under the sun below it. Look at 1 John 4 verses 2 and
3. Look at this. John is setting forth again the
humanity of Christ. And looking over here in chapter
four, he does it here. Look at this. Verses two and
three. Hereby know ye the spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is what? Come
in the flesh, is of God. Every spirit that confesses that
Christ really was a man. Really was a man. So there's
a way to know if someone's lying to you, too, or trying to pawn
off a false gospel if they deny the humanity of Christ. And people
still do that today. People still do that today. Look
at this. And every spirit that confesses
not that Jesus Christ has come into the flesh is not of God,
is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist.
wherever you have heard that it should come, and even now
already is in the world. Now remember, Antichrist is anything
against Christ. That's what it means, against
Christ. So like the Jehovah Witnesses would be considered Antichrist
because they're against Christ. The Mormons would be considered
an Antichrist because they're against Christ. Their religion
and what they're teaching is against Christ, against him. It's very serious, it's very
serious. It's a form of that. And now
turn over to 2 John. I had Matt read this this week.
Look at 2 John here in verses 1 and 7. Look at this. For many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh. So notice there in 2 John 1,
7, there already is being presented the fact that people are denying
denying that Christ came into the world, that Christ didn't
come in the flesh, didn't come in the flesh. For many deceivers
are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. So they were denying the humanity
of Christ. Now he repeats the words seen
three times in our text. Look at this, seen three times
in the first three verses, and he repeats heard twice. So what
he's doing is he's setting forth the fact of the humanity of Christ. He's setting that forth, beloved.
That they actually saw him and that they actually heard him.
Look at this. That which was from the beginning
which we have heard, verse 1, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon in our hands of handle of the word
of life. For the life was manifested and we have seen it. And bear
witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the
Father and was manifested unto us. So that's twice he's mentioned
seen. He's mentioned heard once, but look at verse three, that
which we have seen again, that's the third time, and heard, that's
the second time, declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship
with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. So do you see the contrast of
what John's doing? He's bringing forth the truth
of the doctrine of Christ's humanity. And he said, we saw over there
in 2 John, We saw, for many deceivers are
entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. So he's saying
that's false. That's false. Anyone who denies
the humanity of Christ, anyone who denies the deity of Christ,
which is what those two religions do that I mentioned, they deny
that he was God incarnate in the flesh. We know what they are from what
the scripture says here. Let's go look at verses three
and four. We'll consider these two verses
and we'll see fellowship with God brought forth before us.
Now fellowship is something John will be bringing forth in this
epistle as we read it, both with God and with the brethren. And
we know our fellowship with both. is only in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have no fellowship with God
except through Christ, and really we have no fellowship with each
other except through Christ. It's all through Him, beloved.
He is the central figure of the scriptures. Let's read those
two verses, verses three and four again. That which we have
seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with the
Son, Jesus Christ. In these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. Now note, through the Lord Jesus
Christ is the only way we can have fellowship with the Father.
The only way. Our Lord said, no man can come
to the Father, what? Except through Him, right? Except
by Him. No man can come to the Father except by Him or through
Him. And John is bringing forth here
that the believers fellowship with the Father, which is something
every believer has. There's no doubt. Every born-again,
blood-bought believer has fellowship with the Father. And the only
way they have that fellowship is through Christ. No other way.
No other way. It's through the Son. And we
must remember, too, that when he's writing here and he's saying,
we and our, that has reference to the apostles. We looked at
that last week, too. That has reference to the apostle.
John is here speaking. I'm sorry. He's speaking in their
name as well as his own. He's speaking in their name as
well as his own. And the father of Christ speaks of the covenant
God and father of his people. It is he who has adopted them
in Christ. It is he who has chosen them in Christ. It is he who
has sent the son to redeem them. And we can only approach him,
the father, through the Lord Jesus Christ and by our union
that we have with him. Remember, he's the head and we're
the body. He's the head and we're the body.
And note the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ are to declare
unto others what they have themselves known and felt of the divine
son's grace and power. John brings forth that he writes
this epistle, that she may have fellowship with us. Look at verse
three, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you
that she also may have fellowship with us. He proclaims Christ. And he proclaims that the only
fellowship that we can have with God is through the Christ. And
he's desiring that others would have this fellowship, too, just
like every preacher who stands up and proclaims Christ. We hope
and pray that the Holy Spirit will work and move in one of
the lost sheep, and they're born again by the Spirit of God, and
they have fellowship with us in and through Christ Jesus,
our Lord. So this is what they're bringing forth. He's bringing
forth that you may also have fellowship with us, and truly
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his son, Jesus Christ.
We proclaim, gospel preachers, get up and proclaim the gospel
truth to all knowing that it's only God, it's only God who can
make it effectual. And we are filled with joy when
we hear of others coming to the Lord. We're filled with joy when
we hear of others who've been born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And we know it's all by the power and by the will
of God. It's all by the power and the
will of God. In Acts 4.20 it says, for we cannot but speak
the things which we have seen and heard. I can't tell you about
a place unless I've been there, right? I can't tell you about
Christ unless he saved me. He saved my soul. He saved my
soul. Now I tell others about what
he's done for me. It's wonderful. And that's what we all do as
believers, isn't it? Every believer tells others, when we get the
opportunity, of the wonderful things that Christ has done for
us. What he's done for us. But here, speaking specifically
about the apostles and preachers, this is what we proclaim, Christ. We speak the things which we've
seen and heard. Now John here would be speaking
about the miracles of Christ and the doctrines of Christ,
his resurrection from the dead, again, of which they were eyewitnesses
and earwitnesses. Never forget that, too. They
were eyewitnesses of his resurrection, too. They saw him. They heard
him. They heard him. And this shows their great love
and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. They proclaimed Christ
Jesus the Lord. They proclaimed him crucified.
And they proclaimed him risen again from the grave. And despite
the displeasure and wrath of man, all they did was preach
Christ. And they desired others to have
fellowship with Christ just as they did. Just as they did. And
truly their fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ. Now let us take note here. Let's
look at these four verses again. Let us take note of something
here. That the word life appears in our text three times before
fellowship. The word life appears three times
in our text here. First the word of life in verse
one. And then the word of life manifested in verse two. And
then eternal life, which is spoken of in verse two as well, which
we know eternal life only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the word of life. Let's look at these two verses.
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. He identifies who Christ is for
the life. the word of life, was manifested.
And we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life, right, which was with the Father and was manifest
unto us. So eternal life only comes through Christ, who is
the word, and the word of life. And the word of life was manifested.
So we see life there mentioned three times before we even see
fellowship mentioned. And look in verse three, we see
fellowship mentioned in verse three, that which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you, also may have fellowship with
us. And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his
son, Jesus Christ. Then look at verse six. If we
say that we have fellowship with him being Christ and walk in
darkness, we lie and do not the truth. And then look at verse
seven. But if we walk in the light, as he is in light, we
have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin. So we see fellowship there mentioned
three times once in verse three, once in verse six and once in
verse seven, four times. And we see in these three verses,
the Greek word in these verses for fellowship there is koinonia,
which means to have communion, joint participation. This word
speaks of the unity that believers have in Christ. Again, he's the
head and we're the body. And it also speaks of the unity
within the local church, the fellowship that the local church
shares. And we know that that, again, is all in Christ and only
in Christ, nowhere else. Now consider this, in our natural
state, there can be no fellowship with the Father or without Christ.
We're dead in trespasses and sins, right? We're spiritually
dead. We have no life, spiritually.
We have no life. And without the word of life,
there can be no fellowship with the Father or with the blood-bought
saints of God. The blood-born-again people of
God are united to Christ, and therefore, it is only based upon
us being in Christ, and we can proclaim truly, truly, our fellowship is with the Father
and with the Son, Jesus Christ. But there's no fellowship until
you have life. Notice the order. He mentions
life, the word of life, and then the fellowship. You must be born again. You must be. You must be. No, no life from the word of
life means no fellowship with the Father. Oh, we have life
through the Son, don't we, beloved? We have life through the Son.
We have life through the word of life. Oh, rejoice. You who are beloved of God, rejoice.
And now we have fellowship one with another, we who believe,
because we're born again of the Holy Spirit of God. So life always precedes fellowship,
always. Because in our natural state,
there can be no fellowship with God and no fellowship with the
saints. But praise God again, the born
again blood-bought people of God are united in Christ. Christ
is what? He's the way, isn't He? He's
the true and living way. He's the true and living way,
beloved. He's the true and living way to the Father. So fellowship
with Him as such must evidently be preparatory
to fellowship with the Father. So we must have life in Christ
before we even have fellowship with the Father. Oh, it's wonderful,
beloved. It's absolutely wonderful. Fellowship
with God brings forth that we have been taken into a near and
dear relation to God. And truly, this is through the
Lord Jesus Christ. That love that God has had for
us from eternity becomes evident. Becomes evident when we're born
again of the Holy Spirit of God. And we have fellowship with the
Son, we have fellowship with the Father, and the Holy Spirit,
as the three are one. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
2 quick. Look at this starting in verse
11. Wherefore, remember that ye being in times past, Gentiles
in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world. And we know that
that's talking about we had no life, because in the beginning
of this verse it says, and you had the quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins. But look at this, there's another
but. But now, in Christ Jesus, you sometimes were far off, are
made nigh by the blood of Christ. Oh my, for he is our peace who
hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us. Heaven abolished in his flesh
the enmity even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to
make in himself of twain one new man, so make in peace. Oh my, what peace we have in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, we are in a union with
Christ. Again, he's the head and we're the body. And oh, what
the intimacy of that fellowship with him and with the Father.
We're sons of God, beloved. We're sons of God. And his banner
over us is love, is love, and ponder Ponder how wondrous this
love is. Just ponder how wondrous this
love is. God has loved his people from
eternity. And he sent his son, the word
of God, the one that we're reading here of the word of life. And
he was manifested. And John and the other apostles
saw him and heard him. And he went to that cross. Knowing
that that was the only way we could be redeemed from our sins.
He came here on a mission. He did to redeem his people from
their sins, and he did it. He accomplished what He came
to do. And when we think about this,
when we think about the fellowship that we have with God the Father,
this will give every true believer, it'll fill us full of joy. Tomorrow's
Thanksgiving, and people always say, what are you thankful for?
Here's something really to be thankful for, isn't it? It blows
anything else out of the water in this earth. Here's something
to be thankful for for the believer. I have fellowship with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my sins are forgiven. Nothing compares to that, does
it? Nothing compares to that. Nothing even comes close to that,
beloved of God. Oh my. So we have a lot to be
thankful for. And when we think about this,
Now we go through struggles, we do, we go through times of
hard times, things come up in our lives, but what joy this
can bring us amidst those times of trials and suffering and tribulation. The true believer can find true
joy and thankfulness here in pondering the fact that truly
our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
Why? because it pleased God to make
it so. Isn't that amazing when you think about that? Because
we always say, why me, right? Every one of us. If we're honest
with ourselves, we say, why me? Because it pleased God. Because
it pleased God. Oh, my. No wonder John wrote,
in these things we write unto you that your joy may be full.
Oh, my. Remember, we love Him because
He first loved us. We who are His blood-washed people,
we esteem others better than ourselves, don't we? We rejoice
in Christ with our fellow blood-washed believers, because we know we
all feel the same way. We're not worthy of this wondrous
salvation that we have in Christ. And to think that He loved me
before I loved Him, which is the truth of the scriptures,
and then to think that we who are His people have communion
with Christ and with the Father. When I think back, and I used
to shake my fist at Him, and I used His name as a byword, what mercy I received. Is it
so with you? What mercy? We don't deserve
it, do we? But what mercy, that should make
us thankful. Oh, should fill us full of joy. Should fill us full of joy. And
then to think that we have all heavenly blessings, all spiritual
blessings through Christ. And think that we have access
to the Father's throne through Christ. To think that God has given us
an understanding of who Christ is and that we now rejoice in
the gospel when there was a time when we didn't even want to hear
it. My. To think that we have the forgiveness
of all our sins because Christ hath redeemed us with his precious
blood. To think that what we looked
at, we're justified before God in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. To think that we have fellowship
with the Father and with the Son, and it's all according to
God's purpose and will. They make you thankful. They
make you thankful. They didn't leave us where we
were. Oh, my. And now the apostles had free
access to God the Father just like we do through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they experienced the truth
of this in their souls. And let us never forget that
this communion that we have as believers together and with the
Father and the Son is begun and kept by the Holy Spirit of God. We're born again by him. And
he keeps us. And he keeps us. It's wondrous. What can we conclude then? Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Now
think upon this, you who are the beloved of God, that the
fellowship with the Lord is the grand marvel of redemption. And
again, this should bring us great joy as we think of how privileged
we are to have this, to have redemption in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. One commentator said it should
be a matter of perpetual delight for God's people. Well, we're
sinners, but it should be something that we think about when we're
down and when we're going through things. We should meditate upon
it a lot. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound, and that's in light of the gospel, the joyful
sound. We've heard the voice of the shepherd. They shall walk,
O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. Psalm
89, 15, and 16. Let's read our text again. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word
of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear
witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with
the Father, and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen
and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us. And truly, our fellowship is
with the Father, and with the Son, Jesus Christ. And these
things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. Now I've
talked to a preacher one time and we were talking about this
very thing, that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto
you. And he said, you know why people don't proclaim Christ
in these other churches and places of religion? Because they don't
know him. Because they don't know him.
They'll tell you what you got to do. Fill your calendar full
of things you gotta do. The gospel preacher just preaches
Christ. Just preaches Christ. 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. Now look at verse four, it says,
in these things right we unto you, this is concerning the deity
and the eternality of Christ, the word, the truth of his incarnation,
that which has come before, the truth of his incarnation, the
truth that he was manifested in the flesh. It also concerns the fact that
eternal life and salvation, which is declared in the gospel, is
in Christ and Christ alone. This also concerns the saints'
fellowship, one with another, and with God the Father, and
with Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, what A.W. Pink also brings
forth, it concerns that which is to follow. As we see, John
continues to talk about fellowship in this chapter, and he warns
believers, turn if you would to chapter two, he warns believers
in chapter two, verse one, he says, my little children, these
things write unto you that you sin not. Well, we repent before
God as We do not want to quench the joy which we have in Christ.
And then look at verse 26. These things have I written unto
you concerning them that seduce you. So John is bringing forth
that they must ever be on guard against false prophets, lest
their joy be affected by their errors and their teaching. And
then over in chapter five, he pens this in verse 13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God. Think of this, there can be no
fullness of joy, which John writes of in verse four, while the soul
is in a state of uncertainty of its acceptance in Christ. Now think of that in light of
what John is bringing forth Let's go back to verse four. And these
things write we unto you that your joy may be full. And the believer has joy in knowing,
knowing that we have eternal life in and through Christ Jesus,
our Lord. Now that doesn't mean we're not
going to doubt. It's not, that's not what's saying. It's not what
it's saying, but we have a joy and security in Christ. a peace
that passes all understanding, all understanding. And the believer's
joy was made complete by fellowship with the Father and the Son and
the Spirit. And this was an important element
in light of the disruptions of the false teachers. So John is
bringing forth that the fellowship that the believer has with the
Father is only through Christ and Christ was a really a man.
He really went to the cross. He really died as the substitute
of his people on Calvary's cross. He really bore the wrath of God
in our place. The sins of all the elect were
imputed to Christ. His perfect spotless righteousness
is imputed to us. It's marvelous. It's absolutely
marvelous. John's stated purpose in writing
this book is fellowship with God, with his children. We've
seen that in the first few verses. And as we study this book, we
see in verse four, the joy, that your joy may be full. And as
we study this book, more too, he's bringing forth before the
believers, and we'll see that in the latter chapters, the assurance
that they have in Christ. the assurance that they have
in Christ. You can know that you have eternal life. I always
ask people, who are you trusting right now? Who are you trusting in an hour? See, in religion, people are
told they'll come to Christ, and then the next thing you know,
they're living however, they're off the rails doing whatever.
But in grace, we are continuously coming to Christ. Continuously. Continuously coming. We repent of our sins. We're
convicted of our sins. We know we're forgiven, but we
still go to the Lord, don't we? Lord, forgive me. We still cry out to him all the
time, don't we? It's not just a one-time thing. I punched my
ticket, I'm good to go now. No, it becomes, Christ, beloved,
becomes our life. He becomes everything to us.
and every facet of our life, he's a part of. He's a part of. It was also John's purpose to
equip believers against the false theology of the Gnostic teachers,
which had sprung up in various churches. We saw in our study
in Colossians that Paul was going through the very same thing,
battling the Gnostics, or battling works-based religion. Nothing's
changed, beloved. Nothing's changed. Gospel preacher
gets up and preaches Christ and Him crucified and tells the hearers
that salvation is in Christ alone plus nothing you do. That we're
redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And we say, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. knowing
that God the Holy Spirit must grant faith and repentance for
us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But he does for his sheep,
doesn't he? And it's wonderful. And we rejoice.
We rejoice. And we desire people to come
to Christ. We desire that. Just as John
wrote here, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto
you, that ye also may have fellowship with us. Truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. Notice it
says here that your joy may be full. This speaks of the complete
happiness which we obtain through the gospel in Christ. Now we
can have up days and down days. I never preached mountaintop
Christianity. I came out of that stuff. We have days when we're
on top, aren't we? And we have days when, oh man,
we're going through the valleys, beloved. But one thing doesn't change,
the peace that we have in and through Christ Jesus. Knowing
that he has me through all these valleys and hills that I'm going
through in this life. Storms come rolling upon us,
just like a storm, just like a thunderstorm comes out of nowhere,
right? We're safe in him. We're safe
in Christ. Sometimes a tornado might come.
Sometimes a hurricane. Sometimes the ground might shake. We're safe in Christ. In Christ, we have peace that
passes all understanding. And we can have joy amidst our
trials. We can. Now, again, sometimes
that joy is mixed with sorrow. Let's just be honest. Because
it is, we shed tears, but He keeps us beloved. And we're constantly
brought back to set our affections upon Christ. To set our affections
upon Him. That's why Paul wrote, set your
affections on things above. That's being Christ in Colossians. Set your mind upon Him, look
to Christ. Look to him alone. He's everything
to the believer. He's everything to us. It says here that your joy might
be filled. So this scripture rings true in light of the verse
that says, where your treasure is, that will your heart be also. So who's the source of our joy
as believers? It's Christ. He's our treasure,
isn't he? Oh my, and we're his treasure. That's pretty amazing. But that's,
that's, it's incredible. He loves his bride. He loves
his bride so much he gave his life for her. So to understand and rest and
trust in Christ and the fellowship we have with him and with the
Father through him will bring the believer great joy amidst
the trials of this life, amidst tribulation, amidst the storms
that come our way. When we truly know this truth
about the fellowship that we have in Christ, we will be satisfied
with Christ alone. We'll be satisfied with Christ
alone. We will no more burn with desire
for other things because we have the pearl of great price, the
Lord Jesus Christ. David knew this. He proclaimed,
the Lord is the portion of my inheritance. And of my cup, thou
maintainest my lot. He keeps me. He keeps me. That's in Psalm 16.5. In the
same manner, Paul declares this. Turn over to Philippians chapter
three. Paul declares this same thing. The fact that he says
all things were deemed by him as done in comparison to Christ
alone. All those things that Paul thought
were gain Look what he says, he says he counted them but lost.
Look at this in Philippians chapter three verses seven to 11. But
what things were gained to me I counted lost for Christ. All
the riches and prestige. Remember he was a Pharisee of
Pharisees, he's a wealthy man. He had a name. He's known among
the Pharisees. Some say he might've been in
line to be a high priest. I don't know, but he is pretty
well-known amongst, he was even well-known amongst the Christians
before the Lord saved him because he was going around slaughtering
them all, slaughtering as many as he could get his hands on.
Look what he says here. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. The Jews disowned him. Probably his whole family disowned
him. Probably his whole family disowned him. Philippians chapter
three, verse seven. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. So think of that. The
prestige he had, the fame, the money, the standing in Jewish
society. He lost it all. He lost everything. But he says this, but what things
were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. So he valued the knowledge of
Christ, knowing him, being born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
He valued that over all things. He valued the fact that Christ
had revealed himself to him over all things, beloved. And then
he says this, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ, and be found in him."
There's the key. The believer is found in Christ. Remember the ark? The wrath of
God was poured out on anyone outside that ark, right? And
the wrath of God was poured out on that ark, right? Instead of
the people inside. But the wrath still hit that
ark, though, didn't it? All that water hitting, hit that
ark, that's a picture of Christ. And the picture of us being hidden
in Christ and safe in Christ is Noah and his family. And to be found in him, in Christ. Look at this, not having mine
own righteousness, Not having a righteousness that's of my
doing? Not saying, well, I'm a good
person. God will accept me because I'm a good person, when meanwhile
we're clothed in our own self-righteousness? No. No, Paul says, and to be
found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law. And the law kills, beloved. But that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. This
talks of the imputed righteousness of Christ to the believer. Paul counts everything but loss
to be found in Christ. Oh my, and he lost everything,
beloved. He did, he did. Look at this, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable unto his death. if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. So the believer in Christ, therefore,
in having communion with God through Christ, prefers communion
with him over all the things in this world. Counting everything in this world
but love. Counting everything in the world
but love. The believer is ready to relinquish all other things,
counting them as nothing in comparison to Christ. Nothing. Nothing. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
fountain from which all this spiritual joy proceeds that John
writes of. Let's go back to 1 John. Look
at verse 4. And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. that your joy may be full. Christ
beloved is the fountain of this joy. He is the fountain which
all spiritual joy proceeds from. It's all through him, through
the blessed one who is set before us. Again, turn if you would
to John chapter four, verse 14. Now John has set forth the blessed
one before us in our text. Look what our Lord tells the
lady at the well, the blessed one, who John has
masterfully set forth before us in the first three verses
of this wonderful little epistle. And look at John chapter 4, verses
13 and 14. Jesus answered and said unto
her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Remember
the lady at the well? And the Lord said, I must needs
go through Samaria. Why? Because one of his sheep
was over there. Not just one, though. We find out later that
there was a whole bunch in the city who the Lord saved. But he goes there. And look at
this. He's talking about the well that's
there that she's drawing water out. Whoever will drink out of
that well shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that
I shall give him shall be In him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. And the one who has that water,
the one who's drinking that water, has joy amidst trials and tribulations,
has peace amidst the storms of life. Because we look to the
one who is the water of life for us, the Lord Jesus Christ. We look to the one in whom our
joy is fulling, and that's Christ. as Christ alone. And by faith
we behold Christ through the preaching of His Word. By faith
we see our Savior and we look to Him. We commune with Him.
And we find full satisfaction and joy only in Christ. Only in Christ. Our hearts and
our minds are engaged with His perfections, with His beauty. And when we think upon Him and
meditate upon Him and who He is, who he really is, God incarnate
in the flesh, when we meditate upon that, we think upon that,
when we think about what he himself has done for me as a believer,
and if you're a believer, for you, when we think upon those
things, it fills us with joy, doesn't it? Amidst whatever's going on. It
fills us with joy. Now we may have some tears mixed
with that due to the circumstances that we're going through, but
it can lift our hearts. It can lift our souls. Thinking
about who Christ is, thinking about he has my life in his hands.
Oh my. Nothing will warm your heart
or make you filled with joy than contemplating with love and adoration
the one who is the lover of our souls. the Lord Jesus Christ,
the one who has redeemed me, the believer says, with his precious
blood, the one who has died as the substitute of his people
on Calvary's cross, the one who the believer says in awe gave
himself for me. It'll fill your hearts with joy
when you think about that, when you think about what he's done.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to keep Christ
in the forefront of our minds. We need to keep the realization
of Christ's eternal love for his people and communion that
we have with the Father through Christ. We need to keep it before
us. We need to keep it before us.
And again, it'll bring us great peace and great joy amidst the
storms of life. Heavenly Father, we thank thee
for the time that we could spend together. We thank thee for your
goodness and mercy and grace to us, we who are your people.
Oh, we have so much to be thankful for, and we have much to be joyful
about. And with our brother Paul, we
count all things as loss for thee, O Lord. And you have revealed
yourself to we who are your people. And we rejoice and marvel and
are in absolute awe of this. Glory to your name, O Lord. Glory
to your name. As we gather together, we who
are your blood-bought people, as we gather together with friends
and family tomorrow, may this be in our minds. Oh, I have much
to be thankful for. I have much to be joyful about. For I have fellowship with the
Father. in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.