history he was a survivor of
all the apostles all of them were martyred except John and
he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos and lived according to
the best records past 90 years of age and he begins if you look with
me at verse 1 he begins this general epistle as he began the
gospel of John. Talking about Christ, the Word,
he says in verse 1, that which was from the beginning, which
we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon in our hands of handle of the Word of life, the Word. That's the way he began the gospel according to John. Turn to John 1. Let's look at
how he began what they call the gospel of John. He says in verse
1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning
with God. And down in verse 14, and he
said, and the Word, the Word of life was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And here in our text tonight, in the beginning was
the Word, that which was from the beginning which we have seen,
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory,
which we have heard, which our eyes have seen, which we've looked
upon, our hands have handled of the word of life, that which
was from the beginning, that which was. He was before all
things. Like you started, John, let's
look at this again. In the beginning was the word.
When things began, He was already there, the Word of God. When
things began, He was with God. In the beginning of all things,
He was God. See that? He was God. In Proverbs
8, let's look at this a minute along with what I'm saying around
there, Proverbs chapter 8. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. And that which was from
the beginning, which was from the beginning, we declare unto
you. Look at Proverbs 8. This is Christ speaking. Verse
23, I was set up from everlasting. From the beginning or ever the
earth was. Proverbs 8, 24, when there were
no depths, I was. brought forth. When there were
no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not
made the earth nor the fields nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there, I was
there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth, then I was by him, as one brought
up with him. I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him." So you get the picture. It's the Trinity. Let's go to 1 John 5 a minute. John deals with this. No man
can explain the Trinity. God the Father, the Son, the
Holy Spirit. But we know it's a fact. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Father, Son, and Spirit. And
here in 1 John 5 verse 5, Now who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now this is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ.
Not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit
that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. Now listen,
there are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one. And that's
what John is saying in this first verse of his general epistle.
He's saying, that which was from the beginning, the Son, the Son. All right, let's look at the
verse one again, now something else here. That which was from
the beginning was God, was with God, and all things were made
by him. Now watch this, which we have, says four things, which
we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes,
which we've looked upon, our hands have touched. And what
he has said there in the beginning, that Jesus Christ is God, God
Almighty, God Almighty, Eternal God. And what he's saying here,
that John is simply showing us our Lord truly, for a fact, really,
became a man, flesh and blood and bones. That's what he's saying. He's not a vision now. He starts
out verse 1 of 1 John there, that which was from the beginning.
And we've heard him. We've actually heard him with
our ears. Heard him speak, not just once. We heard him daily.
We heard him privately and publicly. And we've seen him. We studied
him. We looked upon him. We watched
him. Morning, noon, and night for
34 years. We watched him. Not a vision. Not someone that appeared to
us. But we heard him. We saw him
with our own eyes. We looked upon him. Studied his
every move over a long period of time. And we touched him. We actually held his hand, put
our arms around him, and John leaned upon his breast, a real
person. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made of a woman, born of a woman,
made flesh, and dwelt among us. And he who was with God in the
beginning was made flesh, the second Adam. All right, verse
2. He calls him here the word of
life in verse 1, the word of life, the word of life. And then
he says in verse 2, the life, not a life, the life, the life,
the divine life, the eternal life, the life, the life. was manifested, actually
made flesh, and we've seen it. And bear witness and show unto
you that eternal life, that one fountain of life, that one source
of life, that one eternal life, which was with the Father, where
we talked about in the beginning was the Word with God. And He
was literally actually manifested to us, that life. I want you to turn to 1 John
5, 20. And we know that the Son of God is come and has given us an understanding
that we may know him that is true, and that we're in him that
is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. Now, this is the true
God, and this is eternal life. That's what we're talking about,
he said. This is life. This is eternal
life. That which was from eternity
past, who knows, who can he mestimate? With God. And he was manifested
to us. And we saw him on a daily basis
and heard him and looked upon him and touched him. And this
life The life, the eternal, that eternal life was manifested. That eternal life which was with
the Father was manifested to us. Manifested. Now He is the eternal life because
of four things. Number one, this is what John's
been saying. He is the life, eternal life,
because number one, He's God. He's the author of life. It's in Him and of Him. He's
the only life. He's the only life. All life
is from Him, God. Secondly, He is eternal life
because He has purposed and promised eternal life to His people. He
is life. And He's eternal life to us because
He purposed it and promised it to us. We didn't merit it or
earn it or deserve it or even want it. But in himself, of himself,
because of his own will, he purposed that we'd have life. And then
thirdly, he has the power to give it. No one else has it, no one else
has the power to give it or to obtain it, but he has the power
to give it, and he has the right to give it because of his redemptive
work. He says over here in John 5 if
you want to look over there for a moment It'll give us a little
more light on this in John 5 John 5 verse 21 listen to this John 5 verse 21 Father Raiseth
up the dead and quickeneth them even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will so So he's God Because he's alive, because he purposed
and promised it, because he has the power and the right to give
it. You're quick in whom he will. You're quick in whom he will.
And then down in verse 26, for as the Father hath life in himself,
so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. Now here's
the fourth reason. Verse 2 of our text, the life,
this life, divine eternal life was manifested. And we've seen
it and bear witness and shown to you that eternal life which
was with the Father manifested to us because He's God. Because
He's purposed and promised life for His people, all of them.
Because He has the power to give life and He has the right to
give it. And then fourthly, because that
life which is given is Himself. sustained and perfected by Him. Sustained and perfected through
union with Him. Now let me show you that in Colossians
3, verse 3. Colossians chapter 3, verse 3. You're dead. There's no life
in you. No life in human nature. When
Adam sinned, we died. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, He's my life. He's your life. Then shall you
appear with Him in glory. Because He sustains it, protects
it, and glorifies it through a union with Him. All right,
let's look at verse 3 and 4. That which was from the beginning,
where it was with God, was God. It was manifested, that light,
light. And that, verse 3, which we have
seen and heard, declare we unto you. That which we've seen and
heard, we declare unto you through preaching. through preaching,
and we declare it to you. And verse 4 says, and these things
we write unto you. We declare it and we write it.
And we declare his person, his office, and his work through
preaching. What do we say? Well, we say he's the true God.
God over all, blessed forever, he's the true God. That's where
we start. And he's truly man, the second Adam, made of a woman,
made under the law. He's the Lamb of God, slain from
the foundation of the world, prophesied by every prophet of
old. He's the only mediator, prophet,
priest, and king. He's in sum and substance of
all spiritual life, spiritual blessings, grace, and glory.
And we've seen Him. We've seen Him. He that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, we've seen him, and we've heard
him, and believe on him, hath everlasting life. And that which
we have seen and heard, we declare to you." We declare. Now, the two reasons, he said,
why we declare this to you, in verse 3 and 4, and here are those
two reasons. We declare it and we write it,
and here's the two reasons. We declare this gospel to you
that you may have fellowship with us. That's why we declare
it. You may have fellowship with us. I fellowship with the Father. That's the first reason. That
you may have fellowship with us. What is this fellowship? The other word is communion.
Relationship. But here is this fellowship with
the Father and with His Son, and this which we've seen and
heard declare we unto you, that you may have fellowship with
us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ. What is this fellowship? Well,
number one, the fellowship of Christ, the fellowship of the
Father, is the fellowship with the covenant God, the covenant
God. Warburton talked about the mercies
of a covenant God. Covenant God. Turn to Ephesians
1. This is that covenant God. This
is that fellowship with a covenant God. Ephesians chapter 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He might have fellowship with
God the Father and His Son. Blessed be the God and Father
of Jesus Christ. He's a covenant God. He's blessed
us. With all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ, according as He chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him, in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. That's the first. That's the
first blessings of this fellowship, the mercies of a covenant God.
Then secondly, we are sons, heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ. That's what he said over in 1 Peter, in 1 Peter chapter
1, verse 3 and 4. It's sonship, sonship, heirs
of God, sons of God, joint heirs with Christ. Listen to 1 Peter
1.3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, God the Father
and the Son, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead to an inheritance with heirs of God, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God. What's this
fellowship? That which we've seen and heard
that John said, I declare to you, that you may have fellowship
with the Father, with the Son. Mercies of the covenant God.
Mercies. It's sonship. Heirs of God. Joint heirs with Christ. Turn
to Galatians 4 and look at another scripture that has to do with
this. this sonship. Galatians 4, verse 4, But when
the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
you're sons, because you're sons, God has sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, My father, my father. You're no more a servant, but
a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. That's
that fellowship. John says God Almighty. Jesus Christ, God Almighty, was
in the beginning. And He was manifest. But that
life, that life was manifest to God. And I've heard Him and
I've seen Him. And I handled him, I looked upon
him. And I declare unto you, that you might have fellowship
with us. And our fellowship's with the
Father and with the Son. Covenant God. Covenant God. Father. And it's a sonship. It's a relationship. Father and
Son. We cry, Father. He's my Father. Christ said,
I go to my Father and your Father. The disciples then teach us to
pray. He said, well, start this way, my father. That's fellowship. That's what I'm talking about,
he said. Here's the third thing. Our lives are ordered and presided
over by our father. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price, you hear? And your life and my life is
presided over by him. That's what he said in Psalm
37. My father, when an orphan is adopted into a family, the
father and mother become his father and mother, and from then
on, his life is ordered and directed by that father. And this is the blessings of
that fellowship. Look at Psalm 37, verse 23. The steps of a good man, that's
a righteous man, a believer. The steps, every step. How many
steps did I take coming in here tonight? How many steps did I take this
morning, yesterday? Yesterday, yesterday, yesterday,
yesterday. When I took my first step as
a year old. My steps have been ordered by
my father. That's what he said. The steps
of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. They're ordered.
They're established. They're ordained. They're ordained. That's what that word means.
And he delights in his way. He delights in his people, in
his sons. I delight in my sons. I delight
in my grandsons, daughters. I delight in them. God delights
in His sons. He orders their steps. I can't
order the steps of my sons. I wouldn't if I could, because
I'd mess them up like I mess myself up. But my Father never
messes anything up. He ordains every step. Steps
of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And He delights in
His way, and though He falls, He'll not be utterly cast down.
You can't cast him down. You can't destroy him. You can't
separate him from the love of God. The Lord uphold him with
his hand. That's that fellowship we're
talking about. Almighty God became a man. I
saw him. That life, that eternal life,
which I saw and heard, I declare unto you that your fellowship
might be with him covenant God, the Father, and the Father who
alters every step of His chosen. Boy, that's peace. That's comfort. And then third, fourthly, and
we live here, and oh, fourthly, we're reconciled to Him. He's
not angry. We're reconciled to Him. We can
nearer still nearer. We can draw nearer to God. That's
right. Drawn near. Drawn near. Christ has reconciled us to Him.
There's no judgment. There's no condemnation. His
banner over us is love. He loves you, Christ said, like
He loves me. Father, Thou lovest them as You
love me. God's not angry. His banner over
us is love. We're reconciled. Come boldly
before the throne of grace to find mercy and help, mercy and
grace to help in time of need. Then fifthly, we live here in
peace, in a world of no peace, we have peace. That's right. Christ is our peace. In a world
where men's hearts are like troubled seas, we have peace. It's all
right. We have rest. Christ said, you
come to me and I'll give you rest. There's no rest except
in him. There's no peace except in him.
We have contentment. Paul said, even down here in
this prison, I have learned in whatsoever
state I am to be content. I know how to abound. I know
how to be abased. But I know how to be content.
John Newton said, content with beholding his face, my all to
his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
his love, his love, a palace, a toy would appear, and prisons
would palace his proof, if he had dwelt with me there. We have
peace, we have rest, we have contentment, We live without
fear of death, no fear of judgment. There is
no judgment to them who are in Christ. We live in hope. Christ in you, the hope of glory,
a sure, living, blessed, good hope in him. That's that fellowship. He said, look back at my text,
this awesome message. Awesome, this is exciting That
which we've seen the light that eternal life with verse 3 we
declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us fellowship
fellowship We're not seeking to build a
large church I would tell everybody in the tristate that Or gain
a personal following John didn't say anything about building an
organization. We're not in competition with
other denominations or religious sects. We don't need anything. All our needs are supplied by
our Lord. But our desire is that people
to whom we preach and declare this gospel might have fellowship,
this fellowship, with a covenant God with a heavenly Father, with
a Lord who ordains the steps of His children, with a God who
is reconciled with the blood of His Son, with a God who gives
us a good, living, eternal hope in Christ Jesus. That's what
we want you to have. That's it. And second thing is verse 4 says
that your joy might be full. I challenge you to find that
joy anywhere else. That peace, rest, contentment, freedom from fear, that hope,
it's only found in him. That's right. Philippians 3,
this is what we want for ourselves, and this is what we want for
those to whom we declare this message and write this gospel. Philippians 3, verse 8, we talked
about it Sunday. Yea, doubtless I count all things
but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count
them but dumb, that what? I may win Christ, and be found
in him. not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness of God, which is of God by faith,
that I may know him, that I may know the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship, the communion of his sufferings, being made
conformable to his death, if by any means I might attain to
the resurrection of the dead. So verse 5 of my text, now that's,
that's, we declare this gospel, we write it, and that's our two-fold
reason. You might have fellowship with
Him, and if you have fellowship with Him, you have fellowship
with us, because we're the same body, and your joy may be full. That's our motive. And verse
5, he said, this then is the message. This then is the message. I just
wonder if we could somehow get that across in this day when
folks are trying to build religious organizations and enterprises
and followings and numbers and get people saved. Are you trying
to get them saved or do you want to know the law? Want to change
their way and do all these things? Our goal is that you may have
fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and your joy be
full. Now this is the message. This
is the gospel, the only gospel. This is the good news from a
far country. This is the message which we've
heard of Him. This is the message we heard
from Him. This is the promise We heard
from Him. This is the gospel we heard from
Him, and we declare it to you, that God is light. In Him there's
no darkness, and such as walk in this light. Well, who is this
light? We'll turn to John chapter 1
again. This is the way he started his
other book. John chapter 1. God is light. What is this light? Who is this
light? God is light. In Him there's
no darkness. Look at verse 1 again, John 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. And all things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. And in Him
was life. Who are we talking about now?
Christ. In Him was life. And that, the life, was the light
of men. That's the light is Christ. And the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. There's a man sent from
God whose name was John, and Satan came for a witness, to
bear witness of that light. Who is that? Christ. That One who was in the beginning,
and who was made flesh, and we saw Him and heard Him. He's the
light that all men through Him might believe. John was not that
light. He was sent to bear witness of
the light. This is the true light. which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. But sad to say, he was in the
world, the world was made by him, but they didn't know him.
He came into his own and they didn't know him. But as many
as received him, those that have seen him and heard him and believed
him, Christ the light, to them gave he the power to become fellowship
with God. Sons of God. Sons of God. Even to them that
believe on His name. And these folks were born. They
weren't born of natural genealogy and human blood. They were not
born of the will of the flesh nor the will of man. They were
born of God. Any doubt who that light is?
God is light. In Him there's no darkness. Christ
is wisdom as opposed to the darkness of ignorance. Everything out
of Christ is ignorance. It doesn't matter what it is. Christ is light. In Him there's
no darkness. The world is darkness. In it
there's no light. Christ is holiness as opposed
to the darkness of evil. Christ is the righteousness of
God as opposed to the darkness of men's own work. Christ is
the light of truth as opposed to the darkness of deceit. Christ
is the light of the way of life as opposed to the way of death.
Christ is the pure brain, the pure water of life. Christ is
the message. Now if we say, verse 6, that
we have fellowship with God, this communion I'm talking about, God. Father. Sovereign Lord. Master. Fellowship with Him. In union and holiness. All these things we talked about.
And we don't walk in Christ. If we walk in the darkness of
tradition, law, sin, human works, Ignorance. We lie. And we do not the truth. That's
just so. That's just so. We are sent and we are a witness
to bear witness of that light, the true light. And he's the
only way to the Father, and he's the only way of fellowship with
the Father. He said, I'm the way, the truth, and the light.
No man comes to the Father but by me. That's the light. That's the light. And those who
walk in Christ walk in the light, and those who do not walk in
Christ, the truth, the light, the door, the shepherd, the prophet,
priest, and mediator, they have no communion with God. Doesn't
matter who they are. But verse 7 says that we walk
in the light as He's in the light. We have fellowship with God. fellowship with one another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from
all sin. Now we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse 10 says if
we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar and his word
is not in us. But if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sin. cleanses from all unrighteousness. My little children, let's look
at verse 1 of chapter 2. These things write unto you that
you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And I hope that's a blessing
to you. I know that it is.