Open your Bibles with me to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. For our scripture reading, we'll read the first three verses, 1 John 1. That which we've seen 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 from the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we've 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. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you for this place that you've given us to assemble together. And Lord, we pray that you would bless us from your word this morning, and Lord, that you would bless us with your presence. that you'd be pleased to dwell among your people. Lord, take these things written in thy word and reveal them to us. Make them plain to us. And Lord, above all things, cause us to see thee. Cause us to see the Son and rest in him.

Lord, we come before you this morning and we pray for those of our number who are sick, in a time of trouble. Lord, so many. And Lord, you know, even though we often do not, you know the needs of your people. And Lord, we pray that you would bless and be with and protect and keep. And Lord, comfort your people. Lord, for our young ones, Lord, how we thank you for these young ones. We pray your hand upon them.

Lord, you'd protect and keep them in this world, and Lord, in your time that you would be merciful to them. Lord, cause them to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Now again, we thank you for this day, and we again thank you for your word, thank you for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray you'll teach us more of him. Be with us in this hour, set aside the thoughts and cares of this world, Grant it that we might see the Savior, that we might see the Lord Jesus Christ. For it's in his name we pray and give thee thanks. Amen. Look back at verse three of 1 John 1. Lord willing, this will serve as our text this morning.

That which we've seen, that which we've 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. Occasionally, and you probably do too, we'll hear folks talk about fellowship. And here in just a little bit, Lord willing, we'll enjoy a meal together. And hopefully, we'll enjoy a time of fellowship together. And I am so thankful, so thankful that the Lord has enabled us to enjoy each other's company.

That he has given us a true love and concern one for another. But I want us to listen to this passage of scripture very carefully this morning. He says, truly, truly. our fellowship, it's with the Father. And it is with his Son, Jesus Christ. That word fellowship, it refers to an intimate union. One, a union, united in heart, united in purpose, united in love, And John could certainly speak from experience on this subject.

You know, it was John who in the scriptures we read that, think about this, he leaned upon the Savior's bosom. Can you imagine just being that close to the Lord? He leaned upon his bosom. As one of the disciples, he would have been present to see most of those miracles that our Lord performed. John was there present when they came to the tomb and it was empty. He witnessed the Lord's resurrection in Galilee and he watched him ascend into heaven. His eyes were open to see and He was present for so many of those things. Turn over to Revelation 1. Hold your place there. Revelation 1. Look at verse 10.

John wrote, he said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, he says, you write it in a book. And you send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia. and to Ephesus, and Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and under Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and under Laodicea.

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man. clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about with paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool and white as snow, and his eyes were as the flame of fire, and his feet like into fine brass as if they'd burned in a furnace. And his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun as it shines in its strength.

And when I saw him, when I saw him, he said, I fell at his feet as a dead man. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. He was also, when the Lord was crucified, He was present and He was found at the foot of the cross.

In John 19, God's word declares, there stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother. Not just His mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore foresaw His mother and disciples standing by whom he loved, that one whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. And then he saith to the disciple, to John, he said, behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

He certainly knew something about this fellowship, this union, this oneness with Christ. And this is what he says. He says, truly. Now, obviously, what John's saying is true, but what an emphasis, huh? Truly, our fellowship, it's with the Father. And it's with His Son, Jesus Christ. It's with Him. Truly. Let there be no doubt about it. Let all doubt be removed. Truly, our fellowship, our union is with the Father.

And to be in fellowship means to be in agreement with. It means to be united as one, and it means to be in agreement with. Can we speak that from our heart? Can we say that from our heart? I have fellowship with Him. I have union with Him. I agree with Him. I am in agreement with Him.

Now, by nature, we can't. By nature, everything about us disagrees with God. But by His grace and in Christ, we can say that. The believer can say that. And we're in agreement with Him in a number of things. Those who truly have fellowship with Him, we have agreement with Him concerning His eternal purpose. He's the God of purpose. Just listen to a few of these scriptures. In Romans 8, 28, it says, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to what? To His purpose. It's his purpose.

Romans 9 verse 11, Paul tells us that God chose Jacob in everlasting love. And he rejected Esau with everlasting hatred. And he revealed that fact to the boy's parents. He said this, the children, being not yet born, having done neither good or evil, that the purpose of God..."

What is it? The purpose of God. Whose purpose is it? It's the purpose of God, according to election, might stand. Not of works, but of Him that calleth. Ephesians 1 verse 11, we read, "...in whom also We've obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Ephesians 3 verse 11, Paul says, he said, I've preached to the Gentiles, huh? The insearchable riches of Christ that the manifold wisdom of God revealed in the gospel of Christ might be made known to man according to, according to the eternal purpose, the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Timothy 1.9, who saved us and called us with a holy calling Not according to our works. Now that's counter to what men say. But God's word declares, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, given in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Our fellowship. Our fellowship is with the Father, truly. It's with the father, and it's with his son. And with that fellowship, with that union, we're in agreement with him with regard to his purpose. Second, we're in union with him concerning his chief purpose.

What is that chief purpose? What's this all about? Listen, it's to glorify the son. It's to get glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy of all glory and honor and praise. It's about Him. Now again, that's kind of strange to the natural man because the natural man, typically, his primary concern is himself. But the chief purpose of God is to glorify His Son.

Nebuchadnezzar, he learned that lesson, didn't he? He had to be taught that lesson. After all those things happened to Nebuchadnezzar, for a reason, for a purpose, what did he say? He said, now I praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, whose works are truth, and His ways are judgment.

And those that walk in pride, those that are taken up with themselves, those who think this is all about us, He is able to abase. What's the purpose? To exalt Him. He's God. And there is none else. There is none beside Him. In Psalm 70 verse 4. Turn there. Turn to Psalm 70. Psalm 70 verse 4, let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee and let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified, be exalted to God. to God be the glory.

Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. How long does that last? Forever and ever. Eternal praise and glory unto Him. You know, God's glorified when the perfections of His nature are recognized. and honored, when the work of His creation and providence and salvation is praised, not questioned, but praised. He's glorified when the gospel of His grace is preached, when it's believed, when it's received and loved and worshiped, and He's exalted. God's glorified when his people hear his voice and obey it, when they love one another, when they adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

Listen to just a few words here. When our Lord prayed to the Father in John 17, he prayed, This is what he asked. John 17, he said, glorify thy son for this reason, that thy son may also glorify thee. He was taken up with the glory of his father. To glorify him for his love, for his righteousness, for his mercy, for his truth, to glorify him. to glorify Christ who effectually redeemed every believer, to glorify him for his love and grace for his people, to glorify the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. Truly, John said truly, our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son.

Turn to the Psalms again. Turn to Psalm 115. One more verse here. Psalm 115, verse 1. Not unto us, in case there was any question, okay? In case there's any question left in your mind. Not unto us, oh Lord. Not unto us, says it again. But unto thy name, give glory. For thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Well, third. Third, fellowship. with God, fellowship with his son.

It involves walking with him, a walk with him. You know, back in the book of Genesis, I won't have you turn there, but Adam and Eve, remember that? It says they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden. You know, when you hear something and you recognize it, it's probably not the first time you've heard that, right? The Lord had, there was communion, right? And the Lord walked in that garden with Adam.

It was a voice that they recognized and they knew. Again, before the fall, there was harmony, there was union. But after the fall, that was taken away, there was separation. Isaiah wrote this, he said, your iniquities, your iniquities have separated you and your God. In Adam and Eve, they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, or they tried to, amongst those trees in the garden.

But you know the Lord Jesus Christ came, in time, that which divided us, that which separated us. The Lord Jesus Christ came in time and Scripture says He tore down that wall of partition. He removed that which separated us. Turn to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 13. But now, but now, in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Verse 14.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, there's that union again, there's one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in the flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in the ordinance, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.

Over in the book of Amos, we read this, can two walk together except they be agreed? You ever see two people try to walk together that aren't in agreement? It's impossible. We read in the scriptures, though, that Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. David wrote this, he said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Is David walking alone?

He said, I fear no evil for this reason. Thou art with me. See that? That's a walk with God. And David said, He leads me beside still waters. In times of peace, those times that we tend to forget, God's ever with His people. He said, He leads me beside still waters. And listen, that's a person. That's not a creed. We love doctrine, but we don't walk with a doctrine. We walk with a person. And those who believe Him, those who have communion with Him, union with Him, they walk with Him. And He walks with them.

Turn to John chapter six. John chapter six. Look at verse 65. John 6, verse 65. He says, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except the Father, which we're giving him, giving him my Father. God declares the truth that no man is gonna come to Christ. No man can come to Christ. No man is going to believe on Christ except the Father draws him, draws him to himself, calls him by the Spirit of God, by the power of His grace, draws him according to the sovereign will of God the Father. No man can come unto me except it were given him of the Father. Look at verse 66.

From that time, from that time, many of his disciples, they went back and they walked with him no more. And our Lord looked to the 12 and he said, will you go away? Will you go away? You remember Peter's reply, don't you? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and we're sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Other men, they won't walk with Him. They have no desire to walk with Him. And think about this. These folks had heard the truth. They heard the Son of God speak. And when they heard those things, they walked with Him. They walked with Him no more.

If you read on in 1 John 1, 6, you can just look or just let me read it to you. It says, if we say we have fellowship with Him, And we're not walking with him, rather we're walking in darkness. If we say we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness, we lie. We lie and we know not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have, here it is again, we have fellowship with him. We have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. His people, they walk with Him. His sheep, His church, walk with Him. Not this world. Not this world. What fellowship does light have with darkness? We read that.

What fellowship does Baal have with God? Oh, that he would enable us to walk with him, to walk with his people, and to walk with him, to walk with him desiring his presence, salvation. It's found in one place, it's found in one person, it's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Him, we find every true need. He supplies all. He supplies all our needs. To follow Him, to set our affection on things above, Following Him is described in many ways in the Scriptures. One of those ways is following Him in believers' baptism.

In the New Testament, it's the way His people confess Him. It's not coming to the front of the church, but it's following the Lord in baptism. And this is found over and over in the Word of God. It says, those who believed, what did they do? They were baptized. Our Lord said, go into the world and preach the gospel, making disciples and baptizing them.

Those that have union with Him, those that have fellowship with Him, they follow Him. See that? Well, fourth. this thing of fellowship, to have fellowship. If you or I are going to say with John, truly, our fellowship is with the father and with his son, we're in agreement with him in the objects of his love, those that he loves.

You know, when the Lord, when he foretold that Judas would portray Him. And they were all together. And the Lord told His disciples. When He foretold that, He said, it's going to be Judas. Remember what Judas did? He left. He left. Scripture says that he went out Immediately. But then our Lord turned to his disciples and he said this, he said, now is the son of God glorified. And God is, God's glorified in him and he gives this commandment to his disciples.

He tells them, love one another. To love one another. He says, as I have loved you, as I have loved you, you also love one another. And then he said this, he said, by this, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples. How is that? How are folks going to know we're his disciples? It's by his grace and love shed abroad in the hearts of his people. He's done a work of grace in the heart, given a new heart, given a new nature. a new attitude, a new conduct, but he's given this one distinguishing mark by which all men, even the people of this world, are going to know that you're his disciples.

I tell you what it's not. It's not how we dress. It's not some religious dress or outfit. It's not a peculiar language we speak that nobody else understands. It's not claiming that we're holier than anybody else walking on this earth, like those Pharisees did.

He said, by this. By this one thing shall all men know that you're my disciples. You know what it is? That you love one another. That you love one another. Brotherly love, love among God's people. Love for God, love for Christ, and a genuine love for his people.

Well, last, last. Those that have fellowship with him, they will continue with him. Look again at verse 6, 1 John 1. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. A continual walk with Him. To walk with Him and to never leave.

Back in Luke 2, our Lord was He was 12 years old. And his family, he and his family had went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they returned, when they were returning, it says the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and Mary, his mom and dad didn't even realize it. They just thought he was somewhere along there with the crowd. And they had went a day's journey. And they thought, well, he's probably just with some of our neighbors or maybe some of our family.

Scripture says this, that when they found him not, they turned back to Jerusalem. And it came to pass after three days, three days had passed, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, of those scholars. both hearing them and asking them questions. And all they that heard him, they were astonished at his understanding. And when they saw him, they were amazed.

And his mother said unto him, son, now imagine if one of your children had wandered off. She said, son, why have you dealt thus with us? Why have you done this to us? He said, me and your father, we've sought after you sorrowing. And he said unto him, how is it? How is it that you sought me? Wished ye not that I must be about my father's business? Paul told Timothy, he said, continue thou in what? Continue thou in that which you've learned and that you've been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.

The child of God cannot live without Christ any more than he can live without food or water. Continually, we must have him. We must have Christ, the bread of life. Christ, the water of life. He's the, isn't that what he's called in scripture? The living water? We must have him continually. We must have him. In John 15, five, he said this. He said, I'm the vine. I'm the vine and you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, without me, you can do nothing. In Jackie's yard, there's a couple trees. And a few years ago, there was a pretty big storm came through.

And one limb, it knocked completely out of the tree. Well, you can pretty much guess what happened to that limb. The leaves dried up on it, and it died. There's no life going into it. That other limb, we took a strap, kind of grafted it back and tightened it up. You know the difference? The one limb's dead.

The other limb has life, because it's attached to the root. A limb that's not attached to the root, it's going to die, isn't it? But the one that's connected, it has life. Those leaves come out greener every year. What am I saying? We must have him. We continually must have him. I must be one with him, united with him, to have union with him. Otherwise, there's no life. There's no life. Truly, truly, our fellowship is with the Father. and with his son, Jesus Christ. All right, Isaac, come lead us in a hymn.