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Well known to us in present grace.
Well may our hearts rejoice 270.
No.
Question that's been on my heart and I want to emphasize the word suggestion.
But I would.
Suggest that we might consider 3 chapters, the first, the first Epistle of John, the first chapter, and perhaps a couple of verses into the second chapter for one of our reading meetings.
And then for another reading meeting, the second John two, and for the last reading meeting John three, What I have on my heart is specially the very precious.
You might say family ministry.
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And also the 2nd and the 3rd chapter ministry directed toward a sister and her children.
The second epistle and the third epistle toward a brother.
And going on.
And with the thought of encouraging us with that aspect of ministry.
And the thought of the encouraging of our hearts.
Of the necessity and the vital importance of spiritual mothers and spiritual fathers.
In the assembly.
And so as a suggestion, I'm wondering if we might consider those 3 portions.
You say first God cut from one and a little bit. First John chapter 2, at least the first couple and then second John and 3rd John.
If the brethren would feel at liberty for that.
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 his Son, Jesus Christ.
And these things right, we unto you that your joy may be full.
This, then, is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto 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.
But 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.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in US.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man's sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
For he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him.
If we keep his commandments.
He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word in him, verily is the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in Him.
He that saith he abideth in him, saw himself also so to walk even as he walked.
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Set partner.
There this thing.
Just one short comment.
In the day in which we live, which is marked by such confusion and darkness.
Difficulties, questions, discouragements, and that among the people of God in the Christian profession, not only in the world in general.
It's so precious that here our blessed God by the Spirit takes us back to the beginning and gives us something to firmly found ourselves, our lives, our faith, everything.
On and we need that brethren today. We need that as that which will steady us in a day which admittedly is like a day that we, perhaps many of us, never thought we would see in terms of the confusion and darkness. So I just say it's very, very precious that the Spirit of God begins by taking us back in Christ to the beginning.
To the family of God. That's why we find children mentioned here.
And so we have two families characterized before us in the Epistle of John.
And the one family is of God, and the other is of the wicked one, the.
And how marvelous that each and everyone that sits in this room today that knows the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior is of the family of God.
And it's remarkable that the 1St 2 verses give us such a close and intimate association with that one, the Lord Jesus.
It's important what you said about the beginning because God never surrenders what was in his heart in the beginning and.
And so that's why John takes us back to the beginning. When the Lord called John, he was mending Nets, and that's what he's doing. In these three epistles, there was already departure come in. And we can see that as we read these epistles in Paul's day already all of the departure that has come in has already started. And so we need to go back not to the church fathers, but to the very beginning, to those that witnessed the Lord in his life. Just make a comment on the difference between Paul's ministry and John's.
And the character of John's ministry, because it's often misunderstood, is that Paul describes to us the order of the House of God and the Assembly, and he gives us a doctrine in connection with that.
And so there's an order to your house and what you do and what you don't do and how you carry on things.
But John takes up a slightly different aspect, he says. What's it like to be in that family?
And so we're now partakers of the life and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's what he's describing. And so in John's ministry, everything is black and white. There's no Gray area.
And So what our brother was saying, imbo was saying, was that.
It's very black and white, and in John's ministry, if you say you sin, then you're not acting like a child of God. That's not characteristic of a child of God. It's possible that a believer would sin. And in fact we read in the epistle that we're lying if we say that we don't, but we're not acting like a child of God. And so he goes right back to who the Lord Jesus Christ is because we are partaker of his life and nature.
And so in the second epistle, just to anticipate, here we have the life in nature of the family of God. And it's true of the youngest believer that's three years old and comes and says mommy, I I got saved last night that their partaker of that life and you're not going to get a different life in heaven. Colossians tells us when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. You have that life now if you got, if you're three years old and you got saved last night.
Don't have more life than our brother here. It was quite a bit older, has in the second epistle you get that life displayed in the home. And so that's why the sister is addressed. And so there's special directions as to her in the conduct of the home and the family, because they bear a particular responsibility there. And then you see in this trying days of departure with the atrophies that came in and loved to have the preeminence and things were not in the assembly the way that they should be.
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You see that divine life displayed in the Assembly of God and how he ought to conduct himself, and what provision God has made in a day of weakness and breakdown.
We know that we have passed from death unto life.
Because we love the brethren. What a joy it is to be at a place like this.
With so many of the dear Saints of God who have a deep affection in their souls for the man who went to Calvary's cross and received the judgment of God well.
We we love the brethren, is an evidence that we have this new life.
And it's most sweet when this is absent, when the deep affection for one another is missing and the meetings are not important, and it's easy to find an excuse not to be present at the prayer meeting, or especially the breaking of bread remembering the Lord in his death.
There's always grief on the part of the Lord Jesus himself and on the part of the Saints who have a concern for their welfare. We know we've passed from death into life because we love the Brethren. To be with them is a special, special joy to our hearts. I believe it's helpful, too, to realize that the Apostle Paul in his ministry unfolds the councils of God.
But the Apostle John in his ministry unfolds the very nature of God, and I've enjoyed that in connection with the difference in the three outstanding scriptures that we have that bring before us the sinless humanity of Christ.
Three that are perhaps most familiar to us, and in each one there's a little different character.
We find with the Apostle Paul he says in the end of 2nd Corinthians 5 who knew no sin. Why does he say who knew no sin? Well, you know God when he chose the writers, he chose them from special backgrounds in certain situations.
To give moral weight and to illuminate the things that they were used to God to pen by inspiration. And Paul was the intellectual. Paul was the one who knew he was the learner. And so Paul is used to pen. He knew no sin. Then we have Peter in his epistle. He says who did no sin. Why is Peter used to say he did know sin? Well, because Peter was a doer. Peter was one who had a lot of energy.
He was. He was a doer. I picture Peter as a very active, perhaps impulsive even type of person. And so he says of the Lord he did no sin. But it's interesting that John goes beyond Peter and and Paul just turn over to the third chapter. We could quote it, but we'll read it here.
Verse five of chapter 3. And we know that he was manifest to take away our sins. Now notice this and in him is no sin. Not that he just simply knew no sin or did no sin. That's blessedly true. But John, who takes up the person, he gets to the very heart of the matter. He's bringing before us the very nature of God. This is God manifest in the flesh.
This is the one that John could say we've seen and we are hands of handle of the word of life. And John, as I say, goes right to the very heart of the matter. And he says he did. He he knew, I'm sorry, in him was no sin. And brethren, we need to tenaciously hold on to that precious truth. And as we embark on John's ministry here to realize this precious, precious truth, and I say that because I realize there are young people here.
And perhaps those who are not so young, and we are bombarded at school and at work with all kinds of teaching from Christian circles that would teach. Yes, it's true, the Lord knew no sin, or He did no sin. But, brethren, we need to hold on to this truth, that in him was no sin, He was God manifest in the flesh. The Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. And don't let anybody tell you.
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That the Lord didn't sin, but he could have, because if the Lord could have sinned, then I have no foundation to rest my salvation on.
I have nothing to lean on that's secure for eternity. But brethren, He bore our sins. He took the penalty, and He was the only one that could do it, because in Him was no sin.
That's the point of John's ministry is that in John's gospel you say what is eternal life. John and his gospel says, I'll show you eternal life. It's a person.
He says what is the truth? He says, I'll show you what truth is. It's a person. The truth is, it is in Jesus.
But now what he's taking up in these epistles is that what is true of him is true of us, is we are partakers of that same nature that we have a holy nature.
And our conduct flows from that. We have a new nature. We have a nature imparted to us of God. Whatever is born of God cannot sin. And if I sin, I'm not acting like a child of God. And that is what he is really telling us. In Fellowship we use these words going down in this chapter that we might have fellowship. You know, I went to a funeral and the funeral director wasn't the Lords at all said, well, we're going to have a little time and the fellowship hall at the back afterwards.
And people talk about fellowship. Even worldly people talk about fellowship, but we have fellowship between ourselves as real believers. But what is the character of the life that we possess where holy brethren and a believer is never going to be happy if they're going on in sin, any more than if we lay a fish there on that table? The fish couldn't be happy because he's not in his element. And the believer? We've been partakers of a life in nature to which sin cannot attach itself.
In him was no sin.
And we're not going to be happy if we go on in a pathway of sin and self will we are.
Are in possession of a life of one who said I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me. I have meat, teeth that you know that of.
He said to the Samaritan woman. That is true of you and me. That is true of the three-year old that is saved.
Now it's true and we he developed sat down and the further down in the chapter but as to when we don't act like that what to do about it. But that is true of the believer and that's what he's trying to bring out in this chapter. And that is why John is very abstract and I may put it this way, because you say what is fellowship, people talk about fellowship. If you go to the grocery store and they say will that be plastic or paper? And I think of those paper bags that you can fold them up and stand up and people put words on them love or truth or fellowship.
And I say, yeah, that's true. People use words, but what is in that word? And John describes to us what fellowship is. John describes to us what truth is. He describes to us what eternal life is. And that's what you get in John's epistle because people use the word while you, you love your brethren. And our brother spoke of that. But then they attach all kinds of wrong behavior to that word, love and so and well, if you love me, then you wouldn't, you would go along with me and what I'm doing. But John tells us we're going to see that in the second epistle.
What love really is. And so this is what we get here. But he goes into the beginning.
And that's why it's so important to read the Gospels, because we see what eternal life is, especially when we look at John's Gospel.
But we're in possession of that life hath everlasting life.
John Foster, 15.
The Lord speaking to his disciples, he says in verse 27.
John 15 verse 27 And ye also shall bear with this, because you have been with me from the beginning. I think this is the beginning that the apostle John refers to. And I would like to say this. We believe that John as a young man was the apostle that lay on the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ as a man going through those three years or so.
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And it is him that the spirit of God's brother Jim mentioned to us, raised up, he had that intimate relationship of love with Christ. And so he reveals eternal life come from heaven to earth.
And all the little different He takes us to heaven, to eternal life. But this so eclipsed everything else in John's life.
That he said this is the secret of full joy to know this one eternal life come to earth to be close to him. This was true of the apostles. They handled him, but they reported this one that they heard and seen and handled. They reported him to us and if we're going to have full joy in this life, regardless of the circumstances that we're passing through.
And they don't surpass the experiences of the apostles. But John, learned in the secret of full joy is to know this one who is eternal life come to earth for our present enjoyment. Now I want to make this application to us. All of us here present this morning, have different circumstances of life. There's only one.
Who can give you full joy in those circumstances of life? It's not your brethren, it's not the assembly, it's not your work, it's not your wife, your husband. The only one who will give you full joy is this one John is bringing before us as eternal life, and if we are occupied with him, we will have full joy regardless of our circumstances of life.
So we want to look at this one that John describes now, so that our hearts affections will be drawn out to him and we will have full joy.
Who know is life eternal?
And the Lord Jesus, when he was here, he could say I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so if we know Him, we have life eternal.
And that's never to be taken away. Never.
Brother Ch Brown.
Used to say that the key to the epistle, the first epistle of John, is the last verse of chapter 5. I'm sorry. Next the last verse of chapter 5. And we know that the Son of God has come.
And have given us an understanding that we may know.
Him that is true, and we are in him.
That is true.
Even in his Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life.
It's wonderful to think of him in that sense, brethren, the true God and eternal life. We have that life in him.
A life that can't sin.
It was astounding to me to speak to a brother not long ago raised in the assembly pretty much.
And so we ask ourselves, well, why should we repeat these things so often? But he made the comment to me that he really didn't know if Jesus could sin or not.
Now that is common in the religious world. All around us we know a common thought that he possibly could have sinned.
In fact, one of the prominent preachers of the day made the comment he will have to wait till he gets to heaven to see if Jesus could have sinned or not.
Hebrews Chapter 4.
In all points he was tempted as we yet without sin he did not have the potential to sin, he said. I am my father are one.
And God's prime primary object, is it not. Brethren, is to bring us into full fellowship with themselves of Brother Henry mentioned, and the full knowledge of God is only known in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the manifestation of manifestation of who God is and what God is in his primary character is love. This is so born upon in this wonderful first epistle.
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Love and we love the brethren because we are in him. That is true.
When the boy was reading the scripture before I, my attention was riveted by the fact that.
The senses are involved in this.
And it's something that John just didn't read about or hear about.
It says that we have heard.
We've seen with our eyes.
Looked upon, or I believe another translation has it contemplated. Just thought about.
And that's really the secret and our hands have handled.
And the knowledge of the Lord Jesus that the apostles had, and particularly John.
He speaks of himself and together with the others, but if that knowledge is not an academic knowledge.
Now, I can't help but endorse 100% what Jim and our brother Dave have said about the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus. But that's not an simply an academic truth, is it? This was something that John really knew personally. He knew it.
And I believe that we need to know him personally in that same way. Well, we can't. He's not here.
But.
That's why.
He says in verse three what we've seen and heard.
We report to you that you may have fellowship with us. And the point was made about fellowship before as to what it really means. And and fellowship is a sharing of thoughts about something, isn't it? And so here our feelings even. But here John says I want you to know him the way I knew him, the way we have known him. And so I've written to you in this way. That's the whole purpose of this Abyssal, isn't it?
To share in the knowledge and he wrote that so that they might have full joy. So I just think it's important to understand that we're not talking about something academic here. There's a tendency, I think in Christian circles to treat things academically. I sometimes use the expression of theology is a science which has been created to obfuscate make.
Unclear.
The precious, simple things of God, so that only a certain craft can communicate them to us. That's not the thought here. There's to be an open and full sharing. And the apostles wanted us, particularly John here wanted us to. I've seen him, I've heard him.
I've contemplated him. My hands have handled him the word of life.
And.
What we've seen and heard, we report to you. We're communicating that to you.
So you might have an intellectual knowledge of it and have certain doctrines straight, and I believe we need to have them straight.
I say again what Jim and Dave said about the sinlessness of the Lord is is vital, absolutely vital. But the purpose of the writing of this abyssal is to convey to the believers, fellow believers, others that have the life of God, to convey the precious things that were enjoyed in a very real.
Way.
In the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is a man they knew.
A man they saw, they heard him.
They contemplated, they thought about it and their hands handled him. It is a doctrine. It's a person, isn't it?
Because you were saying.
This doesn't mean that those that never saw the Lord Jesus can't have fellowship with him. I believe that's why this is written, because here we are and we've never seen the Lord. And he could say to Philip, blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed in. So how precious that is, and that's everyone in this room. And so we can have just the same fellowship. It's true that this was the fellowship the apostles had. However, we can have the same, the same fellowship right here, right now, this morning.
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With the Blessed One, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Several. Brother Henry used it. Brother **** used it, the word report. And Isaiah asked who hath believed our report. And Romans tells us faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by report is really the thought. And so that's what we get in the word of God. These truths communicated to us and that's how we enter into that fellowship. We read the Bible and the reason that believers.
Fall into these errors That the Lord could have sinned is because they're unfamiliar with the word of God.
And I'm familiar with the truth of God. And so we get it. We've never seen the Lord, but we know these things. And I think as I sit in a meeting like this, and I think there's children in this meeting 5-6 years old, that are more intelligent to the future than the president of the country is, and they know those things. How is it that they know those things? Because they got it from the living word of God.
I think something else in connection with sin and we're jumping ahead into the epistle. But people use this word and we misunderstand this word in him as sin is not what is sin. Sin John is very abstract. He gives you a very clear definition of that sin is in the King James. It says sin is also the transgression of the law. That's true, but it's not really what is there. It's sin is lawlessness.
And so, John, as he leaned on the Lord's bosom, you use the word doctrine. But he reported, he taught us what he saw when the Lord is that here was a man who never did anything to please himself.
And that's helpful to us because often I did it to my parents. My kids have done it to me. They come to me, people come to the assembly and they say, well, what's wrong with this or what's wrong with that? And so on. The question is wrong.
The Lord never did anything to please himself. We should never take anything. You should never.
Go out with somebody unless you can say this is of the Lord. The Lord has directed me to go out with this young person. The Lord has directed me to go there. We shouldn't sit down and eat with somebody or eat something unless I can bow my head and say give thanks to the Lord saying the Lord, the Lord would have me to do this.
And if I can't do it, and that's why, John, we talk about love. Love has become like an empty paper bag. And you look in it and you say, well, what? What do people mean when they use that word? Well, it it means something. And so if I can't walk in accordance to the word of God with my brother, then it's not love.
And that's what he's saying. And so John leaned on the Lord's bosom, and he walked under impossible circumstances to the human flesh. The Lord walked through this earth under impossible circumstances, but he walked to the glory of his God. And so now we can walk through this world when everything is opposed to us, and we can walk and live in this world to the glory of God, because there was one that walked through this earth, and we're in possession of that same life.
So the next time you're tempted to ask your parents, well, what's wrong with this? Go back and get on your knees and ask the Lord. What is the Lord directing you to do that?
It's interesting in John's ministry too, that he uses so often, as he does in this chapter, the word manifest. And I was thinking of it in connection with what was said earlier, in connection with them having seen the Lord handled their hands, that handled of the word of life. I remember one time looking up the word manifest in Webster's dictionary, and it's interesting. Webster's dictionary declares that the word manifest means to clearly show.
And you know, brethren, we don't have to wonder at what the nature and character of God is. We don't have to wonder what the nature and character of the Lord Jesus is, because it's been clearly shown, it's been manifest in His pathway. Here the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth at the end of His pathway, the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, Have I been so long time with you?
And hast thou not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
And he could say in the 17th of John I have glorified thee on the earth. And really to be glorified is to have every attribute and quality that makes up a person's character brought into full display. And the Lord Jesus not only accomplished or finished the work that his Father gave him to do here in this world, but through it all he brought into display every attribute.
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Every quality of God has been fully displayed in the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I say we don't have to wonder at the nature and character of God. But I do think, brethren, we need to make it very, very clear. It has been already alluded to that the relationship, the fellowship that we have with the Father and with the Son is not the same as when John and the other apostles accompanied with the Lord Jesus here in this world.
Because as Paul later said, henceforth know we know man after the flesh, though we knew Christ after the flesh, henceforth know we him no more. And I believe, and we won't take time to turn back to it. But I believe that the whole upper room ministry, beginning from the 13th chapter and ending at the end of the 17th chapter of John, is really the Lord Jesus preparing the disciples and showing them that the fellowship that and blessing that they were the relationship.
That they were going to be brought into in Christianity was not what it was when the Lord Jesus walked here amongst men.
Because, brethren, we're associated with Christ in glory. And I believe that's why the upper room ministry in John 13 begins with the words that the hour was come, that he should depart out of the world under the Father. Having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And there are two things in that verse. There was the need and the motive. The motive was his unchanging, inalterable love for that company.
And the need was the fact that he was going to return to the Father. And I believe that's why he gives them First of all, that truth of feet washing. And if I can just say this without going into it, feet washing is given to maintain fellowship and communion in a practical way, with the Lord Jesus having returned to the glory, returned to the Father. The fellowship we have in First John One. It's not practical here. There's many practical things to learn.
But this is positional in First John and I believe brethren, if we don't see that, we muddy the waters, because it's not a question here. In First John we have fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and as a result, in verse seven we have fellowship one with another. We've been brought into this circle, this place of blessing and relationship with the Father, with the Son.
And with one another. If I could just put it this way, there are three great facts that you need to keep in mind. If when you take up the first epistle of John or the first chapter, that is that we are in the light, If we belong to the Lord Jesus, we are in the light. If God is our Father this morning, we are in the light. Nothing can change that. Then we find too, that as a result we have fellowship, one with another.
And thirdly, the basis of it all. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. That's the basis of it all. God has provided a way so that man can be brought in to fellowship with himself, with his Son and with one another. And it's nothing apart from the blood of Christ. I believe we need to keep these three great facts before our souls.
You referred to verse 7, brother Jim, and I think it's important to understand because.
There's a tremendous confusion sometimes about verse seven. It's not how we walk, but where we walk.
And every believer walks in the light. Isn't that so? Every believer walks in the light.
Somebody raised the question, well, what if I turn my back to the light and I think another teacher of the word answered and said, well, it'll shine on your back, but it's not a question of how we walk. How we walk is important. We don't want to give the impression that's not important. But in this first chapter of John, of First John, the question is not how we walk. It's a question of where and.
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Walking in that light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. I think we need to get ahold of that and understand it that it it's not how, but where.
I believe that's something that we should emphasize because there is much amongst the systems of men that would emphasize heavily what we do or I'm not negating what we do. That's important and that comes, but a Christian is a Christian and you cannot change it. And that's what we have in that seventh verse. And the reason is?
Jim has already mentioned this because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us more sins.
And that's very necessary. But how? It gives us something to go on. It gives us the privilege and the character to walk right. We may be walking in the light. That's true when it becomes practical. The seventh verse gives us the character and the privilege to walk practical.
Someone coming to the certain assembly, strangers came in and they sat down and at the end of the meeting one of the members of the family said, you know this is a clean place. How did they come to that conclusion?
Is it not because we value the precious blood of Christ?
Going to be a clean place, and the Lord is there, and to think of being in a place that.
How should I say it in a positional way? It cannot be defiled, is that right?
Lord is there, and to think that that testimony would be felt by a stranger coming in.
You have to live up to what we what we are not to become, Brother said. We Christianity has become a religion of do to get what we are we're holy brethren and so we that's the exhortations flow from that And coming back to brother Jim's reference to the upper root ministry is my son may be playing in the mud and I'm headed off to the hardware store and he says I'd like to go with you daddy. And I said you can't come with me unless you get cleaned up. He doesn't cease to be my son.
Positionally, that's where he is.
But we're to act in a way that's consistent with that. And so the assembly is a pillar in support of the truth, and people love this bumper sticker. I'm not perfect. God's not finished with me yet. And all of this is true, but positionally, where we are, holy brethren, and we are to maintain that truth. And so John is telling us what we are. But many children of God don't even know whether they're permanently children of God or not. This wicked doctrine. Brother Wim asked from the pianist of brother who taught that you could be saved and lost. He said, do you believe that? And he said no, but it's the only way I can keep my clock in line.
And so they're Saints of God. They're Saints of God that don't even know whether.
Their souls are eternally secure, but we are. We're holy brethren, and so the exhortations flow from that. And that is why the life and nature of a believer is we cannot be happy going on in sin.
Because of what we are, and man may try to say, well, you can be, you're not under law, you're under grace, and you can do all kinds of things and you're going to be happy.
They speak this way, but a believer cannot be happy other than walking as the Lord Jesus Christ walked.
Romans 6/1.
What shall we say to these things? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
The answer How shall he that is dead to sin continue any longer therein? That is our position. Is it not, beloved brethren? It is not some deep.
Doctrine that cannot be understand, understood. The simplest believer can just simply believe that by faith and we have to confess how little we do maybe apply it. The understanding is that my life in Adam is buried with Christ.
It is out of sight. That's the truth of baptism. It's the picture of what? What has happened to me since I have come to know Him as my Savior and Lord, after having believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Thus my old life is not seen by God. How wonderful it would be if I could look at my life as God looks at me, having been buried with Him by baptism, raised in newness of life, He sees me as a new creature. Do I see myself that way?
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It's a wonderful thing is, his life has been manifested here in this world and, as our brother has emphasized, our brother ****.
Is even though it's positional here in the first chapter. But is there in my heart a desire to have that fellowship with him? If I am truly born again and have the Spirit of God living in me, there will be that desire to have fellowship with Him. Our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He has been revealed beloved Saints.
To the lowest of criminals.
You take the woman at the well.
He revealed himself to her, but it was not until he had to call her. Sin to mine, he said. Go, call thy husband.
And she said I have no husband.
And he said, That is true what thou sayest, but thou hast have 5 husbands, and the one whom you now have is not thy husband. And she said, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
And she said, our fathers worship in this mountain. And you say Jerusalem is a place to worship?
And Jesus had to reveal to this dear sinful woman such a wonderful truth to one of the vilest of the lowest.
He said, The hour cometh, and now is when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
And she said, Someday Messiah cometh, and he will tell us all things. And he said to her, either speak unto the MPs, He revealed himself to this one, we might say, of the lowest sinful class. Beloved brethren, that's the church today.
We may not believe that we have been dug from such a pit.
But oh, we're 500 pence debtors. Someday, as a brother said, we'll know in the glory that we are. We were.
Just as that sinful woman. But he reveals the highest truth to her, and she left her water pot and ran into the city. She was in full fellowship in just a moment of time with this blessed one, and certainly she didn't know all the truth that we know today. But her heart was knit to him in fellowship and proclaimed him in the city. Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?
May we be simple as she, and continue in the simplicity of that blessed fellowship with Him. It is not some difficult thing that we attain to. Is it not brethren, normal Christianity?
When a soul is brought to Christ, that is normal to have fellowship. They're bright and their hearts are burning on fire in first love. But do we continue in that blessed sphere of fellowship with the one who loved us and gave himself for us?
Well, there are a number of things that hinder practical fellowship, but that doesn't change the fact that we have been brought into the light. But as John brings out here in his epistle, one of the things that hinders or spoils our fellowship, our communion, is sin. And another thing that hinders is not just sin. But there are those things, the cares of life, the thing, the necessities of life that chill the soul and dull the affections.
So that we don't enjoy in a practical way fellowship with the Father and the Son and with one another. And I believe that's why in John 13 the Lord Jesus stressed the need for the disciples to have their feet washed. Maybe we should take time and just go back for a verse or two there in this connection.
John, Chapter 13.
We find that when the Lord Jesus comes to Peter, poor impetuous Peter, he doesn't understand what's taking place, and he speaks two or three times here. And yet I'm glad Peter spoke up. Perhaps he ought to have sat in silence. But I believe that we learn much from the Lords. Gracious responses to Peter. The first thing Peter said, Lord, you'll never wash my feet. And the Lord said to him, and this is what I want to particularly notice.
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He says.
Peter says, end of verse 6. Lord, dost thou wash my feet? And then just notice verse 8? Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Now notice the Lord's answer. If I wash thee knot, thou hast no part. And I want you to notice this next word with me. It's not that thou hast no part in me. That's what we've been talking about in first John part. In him it's the place, the position that we've been brought into as the children of God and into this wonderful sphere of blessing. Nothing can change that, Brother **** said. If we turn our back on the light, the light is still shining. If a cloud comes between US and the sun, the sun is still shining on the other side of the cloud.
But here he says, thou hast no part with me. What is this? Well, what he's really telling Peter, if you don't allow me to remove the things that hinder fellowship and communion, you're not going to enjoy that fellowship and communion with me. Now what he was doing was giving them an illustration here, a literal illustration with a spiritual impact. Because, brethren, if we're going to enjoy.
That fellowship that we've been brought into in a practical way.
We must open this blessed book and let the Lord Jesus wash our feet. We don't need to be washed all over again. That again is positional. When the priest in the Old Testament was washed at his consecration, it was never to be repeated. But he had to come to the Laver again and again and to wash his hands and his feet. And we need to come to the word of God of which the labor speaks again and again, so that the Lord Jesus can remove those things that hinder part not in him.
But part with him and then we find that when the Lord Jesus had finished washing their feet and the order is important, he washes them first. Then he says to the disciples that they are to wash one another's feet and brethren. Why is it sometimes we get together as the people of God and maybe we enjoy a nice time, We have some activity, we enjoy conversation, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong.
With activity and general conversation. But we come away and we say we really didn't enjoy much of the person and work of Christ together. Why is it we didn't enjoy true fellowship? Because there's a difference between activity and fellowship don't label activity, fellowship. Fellowship is our enjoyment of the person and work of Christ together, our enjoyment of the Father and the Son. And why is it sometimes there isn't much enjoyment in that way?
Well, brethren, we can't wash one another's feet if he hasn't washed ours. If we're not walking in the good of what we have, if we're not walking in practical fellowship and communion with himself, how can we share Christ with another? How can we enjoy Christ one with another if we haven't enjoyed Christ as individuals? We can be no more collectively than what we are as individuals. Well, I say that not to detract from our chapter. It's positional here in our chapter.
We're in the light. Nothing can change that. But brethren, sin and the cares of life often come in or will come in, and they will hinder that fellowship and communion with the Father, with the Son, and with one another. The last three verses of the chapter really covers them, doesn't it?
If we say we have, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. But the next verse, if we confess our sins, very interesting. If we confess our sins, plural he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, we come into His presence.
And we don't have to ask for forgiveness. That's something that's already there.
All we have to do is confess and then we are forgiven. And that? That's unequivocal. It's positive, it's truthful. We come into his presence with confession and we're forgiven. How blessed that is. Then we do have fellowship, and that's of course.
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Further on in the in the book, but we want to remember that.
How needful it is. Washington Defeat, of course, is basically confessing our sins, isn't it? By the power of the word of God. I'd like to just make a further comment in that regard. Our time is slipping by and I don't want to jump ahead. But again, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin so we don't have to ask for forgiveness because those sins are gone. They're removed. They're gone. He's forgotten them. They're cleansed in the blood of Christ as far as the East is from the West so far.
As he removed our transgressions from us, but we come and confess those sins. And the first verse of the next chapter tells us that when we do, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Now I believe this is very important to see. First of all, brethren, it's an advocate with the Father. You ever have somebody tell you when you sin you lose your salvation. You know, it's interesting that when it's his high priestly office in Hebrews that has to do with God.
But when it's his advocacy in restoration, it's not an advocate with God, lest we might think that the family relationship is severed, but it's an advocate with the father. When one of my children's sins go against me, they disobey me. I don't bring them up to the judge at the court of law, but they do have to do with me as a father. It's not that the family relationship has been severed in any way.
No, it's because of the family relationship that they do have to deal with me as a father, and to me this is one of the clearest scriptures. As to eternal security, when you sin, the relationship is not severed. You have an advocate. I say not with God but with the Father, and then notice too. It's not only with the Father, but it's an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. I want you to notice this, the righteous.
Because God has found a righteous basis, there's no compromise.
Sometimes in my family I compromise. Sometimes when my children disobey me and they come to me, sometimes there's perhaps compromise. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but sometimes there is because we're human. But God has never compromised. And to me it's just as if the Lord Jesus, when I sin in the presence of the Father, he says I've paid for that sin. That's how he can be a righteous advocate. Let me illustrate it this way.
Suppose you go against society. Well, suppose I go against society and I'm brought up to the judge at the court of law. And the judge listens to my case and he says, now, Jim, I know you're guilty and the penalty is thus and so, but I'm going to pay the penalty so you can go free. Because if he lets me go free without paying the penalty, he's not a righteous judge. He might be a merciful or a compassionate judge, but he's not a righteous judge. But if he says now I'm going to pay the penalty, so you can go free.
Now he's a righteous judge because the claims of the law have been met in him paying that penalty for me, and I say the Lord Jesus, he's born the penalty. His blood has cleansed us from every stain of sin. Once we're a child of God, we're never lose that family relationship. But when sin comes in brethren, we need to come to him, confess those sins and we have a father who is.
Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I have a practical question. We only have a few minutes left. I want to ask brother Doug, you had suggested this. Are we on the right track?
Well, I want to know because I think with a brother as an exercise, if we're skirting here and there and I don't believe we have, but if we are and then we missed the point and we're not getting to what you had in on your heart, this is fine. I I would like to just suggest a little practical thought that has really impressed me the last few minutes.
Not to take away from anything that has been spoken in verse 3.
There is the desire that we might have fellowship with the apostles.
And our brother Dave in his prayer earlier today, before he prayed, he read that wonderful verse in Acts Two. They continued steadfastly in the apostles, doctrine and fellowship, and they cannot be separated.
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You you continue in the doctrine and in fellowship, and if I'm not walking in the in the apostles doctrine, you really can't have fellowship with me. But then he says, what is that fellowship? That fellowship is with the Father. So he's laid that down doctrinally. There it is. It's clear.
But I was really struck by verse six and seven, these two phrases.
If we say and if we walk.
To me, there's a practical side to that, Brethren. There is this beautiful, unchangeable, as Brother Neil has said, this abstract doctrine. But brethren, the beloved young people, are here, and they're looking for a happy time of fellowship. And we trust the Lord will give it to them, give it to us all. But we've had the foundation of our fellowship. But let's not forget what we say.
And what we do, just as a little practical reminder, that is vital if I'm going to be.
Experiencing it says knowing this, knowing the Lord, knowing God, knowing eternal life, that's experiential. That's not just knowledge. It's something that I'm experiencing in a very intimate way.
And the result of that is, it seems to me the Spirit of God adds this subtle, maybe not so subtle, but to lease my soul this warning or this exercise if we say we have fellowship if we walk in the light.
I just add that, brethren, that we might be exercised that these wonderful doctrines we're hearing need to, for all of us, children, young people and older. We need to be exercised about our saying in relation to that, our talking and our walking. Doug, maybe I could just add a little practical comment as an addendum to what you say, because in the end of verse 9, he's not only faithful and just to forgive us our sins, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And I'd like to just say this because in connection with what you say, because maybe there's someone here this morning and you say, well, I haven't been saying and doing the things that I ought. I haven't been walking in the enjoyment of the light. I've turned my back on it. I haven't been enjoying the fellowship with the Father and the Son that I ought to have been. I haven't been enjoying fellowship with fellow believers like I ought to have been. But if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And to keep us from going any further in that path, you don't have to keep on in that path. There's a way of restoration. You can come back, as it were, confess those things and again walk in the full enjoyment of the light that you are already in. And so I just say that because maybe you feel well, I've gone too far in that path. You don't know how far down that path I've gone. It's been an unrighteous path.
I haven't done there said the things that are right, but you don't have to continue in that in that path. David said he restoreth my soul for his namesake. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. He wants to bring us back to those right paths so that there will be the full enjoyment of the light that we're already in. And so I just say that to encourage someone, if you have allowed those things in your life, just bow your head where you are right now. Confess those things, don't dwell on them.
Confess them. Leave them with him. Rejoice that the blood of Jesus has taken care of it. Rejoice that you're a child of God. You have a Father whose ear is open, ready for your confession, and he's faithful and just to forgive and to keep you from going any further in that path of unrighteousness. I just want to say one other thing about fellowship in a practical way, because sometimes we may view this as some kind of a lofty thing of activities.
But as believers, as we walk in the light, we are light in the Lord. And so we're to walk as children of light. And you know, it may be when you hop in the pickup truck with somebody brother to go in to do something and you have a little question about how something should be done. And Scripture is brought into it. A principle of Scripture is brought into it. You sit down with a friend in the coffee shop and you say, well, I've got this situation in scripture at school and so on, and they maybe turn a little something while, you know, I was in that situation and this first was a help to me. That's fellowship.
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And we can be. And I can think of how many times in my life when the Lord has sent along a brother at a critical time and just maybe a few words we've been doing something practical together and a few little words from scripture. A principle of scripture Brother Gordon used to tell us you'll never find yourself in a situation in life to which there is not a story and principle and the word of God that answers to it and you give it and it may be steer a person, turn a person right around.
In the course of their life and save them from disaster, that's what fellowship is. But sin? We often encourage each other in a pathway of sin and self will, and often what is called encouragement is just feeding the human nature to go on in self will and doing our own thing. And what a gracious thing is, whether you're six years old or you're 96 years old and you're faced with a situation and somebody just turns to you.
It's it's in simple things. I remember when I was first married, the Lord sent along different laborers or perhaps just distant names to some of you who are younger. But.
Clarence Lundin and different ones would come through and they'd sit down at the table. I'd offer them the head of the table and he'd shake his head and he said that's not my place, that's yours. And I'd say, well, would you give thanks for the food, brother? And he said, no, you're ahead of this home. And Paul said you knew what manner of men you were. We were among you and it was just impractical things that there were fellowship and there was help in those things. And whether I say whether you're 6 years old and saved or 96 years old, we can be such a help to one another and it may be in the activities of.
How you deal with something. You go with a brother to the rental place and you've got to deal with a situation. And they help you in a spiritual way. Because sometimes we have, often we handle difficulties in an unspiritual way. We walk in the light. It's not just talking about high and lofty doctrines.
You might ask ourselves, brethren.
And I asked myself the same question.
Is there broken fellowship?
My life.
There was a time in my life I didn't even know what Fellowship meant.
Intimacy of communion with he who loved me and gave himself for me.
I was well along in life before I really knew anything about, and still I wonder if I really know that much about Fellowship.
These things I write unto you that your joy might be full. Do you get down, or do I get down on the Lord's presence and enjoy all alone?
Fellowship with him.
If I do, there is joy if it's unbroken. But the confession of a fault and failure that comes in sin that comes in, is a deep and painful work of the Spirit of God. When Peter wept bitterly, and it wasn't even finished then when he confessed to the Lord and the Lord's presence, the root had to be judged in John 21.
The Lord took him back to where he left off his fellowship with him, not just when he followed afar off, but Jesus said love us thou me more than these, Peter had boasted in his love self-confidence was the problem. So the Lord takes us back through that painful work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to that point of self judgment, so that it is not just a simple thing of of saying a phrase about confessing the sin.
But as her brother emphasized, the one who is the righteous one, Jesus Christ, the righteous, bore the awful penalty, beloved brethren on the cross, for that sin that has removed me from his blessed fellowship. And so he wants me to go back that far, not to where only where I left the path, but where he went to and what happened to him for me in bearing that awful judgment for that sin upon the cross.
22 in the appendix.
22 in the appendix.
The Holy One that drew.
Our artists and they come by and.
I discover.
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All I want.
You to bring.