Bro Gary Sunday AM 5/8/11
1Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
1Jn 1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
1Jn 1:3 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.
1Jn 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
This was written by John the Beloved and He wrote the Gospel of St John and the Revelations.
John and Andrew were disciples of John the Baptist. They were with John when he said, “Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” After they became introduced to Jesus Christ, they became followers of Him. It was ordained of God that they be with Him all through the ministry of Jesus and to the cross and the upper room and the ascension.
John wrote, “I was with Jesus from the beginning.” He wanted us to know some things about Jesus. He was there and recorded about Jesus turning the water into wine. This was the first miracle that Jesus did.
John records about Nicademas and how Jesus told him a man is born again, not natural experience but a spiritual. “Except a man be born again, he cannot be a son of God.”
Many are confused about the Kingdom of God. They think that Jesus will come back and set up a kingdom here on earth. The kingdom of God is not a literal kingdom but a spiritual. It is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
He recorded the words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have eternal life.” He wanted us to know that he was there with Jesus from the beginning.
He records in the fourth chapter that as Jesus journeyed he went through Samaria. Jesus did what he did so that not only a lesson could be learned, but so that those that were in the picture could experience help.
A Samaritan lady was there drawing water and asked for a drink. He said, “If you knew who I was you’d ask for living water.” God wants us to be thirsty literally and spiritually.
Any water you drink naturally will leave you thirsty again. If you will drink of the water Jesus gives, you will have your spiritual thirst satisfied for life. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Aren’t you glad that you are not worshipping an idol that does not have eyes and ears or hands to reach forth? God reaches forth His hand. I think of the many times, a heart was broken and an unseen hand passed by. There are times when you know God protected you. There have been times when the hunters have been protected. There’ve been many times in Montana when we’ve been driving on black ice and our family could have been snatched into eternity. I remember feeling our car going out of control and God brought it into control. I remember the times when we could have made a certain decision and our life could have gone out of control. God reaches forth His hand and protects us.
We serve a God that is a spirit. He is alive; He is not an idol.
In chapter seven, Jesus said, “If any thirst, let him come unto me and drink of the water of life freely.” This is not something that someone told someone else and may be true. John said, “I was right there.”
John records Jesus saying, “I am the Good Shepherd.” The shepherd has an identity of taking care of the sheep.
I want to jump in St John now to chapter 19.
Joh 19:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
This is a scene that is hard for us to even think of. There were a few there with Mary the mother of Jesus. When Jesus saw his mother…
Mothers, Jesus sees you this morning. When He saw His mother and the disciple that was there…, (John seems to have gone out of his way to not say his own name. John wanted us to know that Jesus loved him but he didn’t want us to know who he was.)
Joh 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Joh 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
This is a beautiful story. Jesus couldn’t stay to take care of His mother, but He knew that He could trust John.
We know that Jesus was crucified, died, and was taken from the cross and buried in the tomb. There were those, the following Sunday morning, that wanted to anoint Jesus and wondered who would roll the stone away. They didn’t have it figured out that he was going to rise from the dead. When they got there the stone was already rolled away.
God has a way of moving things around. God made the mountains to move, he made the water to open up and allowed the children of Israel to go through on dry ground; He has a way of making the sun stand still.
We have challenges in this audience some of them are big. There is nothing too big for God. He still moves mountains and makes a way where there is no way.
Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
One thing that I know about God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is that they will show up. Be expecting them to show up. When it looked like things had taken a wrong course to the disciples; it didn’t look like that to God.
They’d seen Christ and Thomas didn’t believe. Jesus in His greatness came back a week later when Thomas was with them. He again said, “Peace be unto you.” Then as Jesus always does, he addressed the one that had a need.
When Jesus comes to me, He doesn’t talk about your needs; He talks to me about my needs.
Jesus told Thomas to go ahead and touch his palms… then He told Thomas, “You’re going to believe now because you’ve touched and felt, but blessed are they that haven’t seen and still believe.”
John was there and I believe he heard Jesus ask Peter a solemn question. “Peter lovest thou me more than these?” Peter first answered him lightly, “I like you alright.” Jesus drove the point again. He asked, “Do you love me more than anything else in the world?”
I believe that you’d say with me this morning as we look back that journey that we have made since getting saved until this present hour that the question has been asked us many times, “Do you love me more?”
Every opportunity to walk away from Christ that I could have taken would have led me on a road that I’m glad that I didn’t go down. Many of us may be asked this question again. “Do you love me more than anything else?” May God help us to realize. “Where would we go if we leave, for Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
1Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
1Jn 1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
1Jn 1:3 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.
Indeed they saw Jesus the giver of life. I don’t know if the thought of fellowship can be described. Fellowshipping God is something that you know by experience. Until you experience it, I don’t think you can know it. It is a wonderful thing that God desired fellowship with man.
I’m not going to try to preach about the things that would break our fellowship with God. We all know about unbelief and the many things that it will bring into a life.
God desired for you to fellowship Him. This means for His spirit to be infused into your spiritual life. There are definite requirements that we must meet to have God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit in our life. This requirement is that we confess our sin and be born again. It is not just to say, “God forgive me of my many sins.” It is confessing from the heart, believing that God hears you, and being born again, becoming a new creature.
Few in the world would say, “I don’t really want to be loved.” Most of us want to be loved. We appreciate being loved by some person. There is a spiritual part of our man this is our soul and it desires God.
God and his son love us and want to fellowship us. They want to be part of our daily life. I wish you’d really pray for me and pray for Paradise. It isn’t enough to just come to church, and have our morning and evening prayers. We need to have God a part of our daily life. May we live so that His spirit comes to us. “The preparation of our heart is of the Lord.”
A just weight and balance is of the Lord. Most of us in the audience have an appreciation of Justice. We appreciate justice where ever it is. Sometimes I’ve been found going too fast in a speeding zone. We cannot tell them, “Please let me go and get the next guy.”
God is just. If we have injustices in our life, He is going to deal with us. We want Him to be just with us, we need to be just with him.
We may be misunderstood. Be just with God and say, “Even though I’m misunderstood, the road goes two ways and I’m probably misunderstanding someone else. God help me to be just.”
I like to read about people that lived a long time and are still serving God. John may have been 90 years old when he wrote 1 John. John had an understanding on Jesus. He said, “Oh that you could have fellowship with us, our fellowship is with God and with His son.”
This morning you may be at a crossroad. He has designed the best for you and He knows the results of right decisions and of wrong decisions. He will be just if you make a wrong decision. He will help you to make a right decision.
The scripture always shows us men being unbalanced. They take the balances out of God’s hands and into their own. A just balance is us being on one side of the balance and the open Bible on the other side.
I was reading a book recently about secret societies. It is hard to know anything about a secret society because of the fear of any that belong to them if they would divulge anything. One thing that is known is that they always promise light.
Jesus taught about secret societies and said that He was not in them. He says, “I am the true light.” He says, “Marvel not if Satan turn into a angel of light” Never want any source for knowledge and light other than the Word of God.
God loves fellowship.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Do we know this morning that God is thinking good thoughts toward us? The Word goes further in Jeremiah, “I know the thoughts I think toward you thoughts of good and not evil.” May God help us to have a balance in our thinking about God. Bumper stickers tell us that God is out to get you; that is a lie. God wants to help you with whatever you are going to face tomorrow.
We are all very blessed. We’re blessed to not be living on life support. We’re blessed to be able to meet together like this without fear of breaking a law.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “God is faithful by whom ye were called into this fellowship.”
The entire person is called. We might think that God is interested in my soul, but not my emotions. God is interested in the whole person. He’s not only interested in the soul, but the flesh.
There is something about fellowshipping God that does something for us physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The entire person is called.
Often the soul is so hungry. It is left unsatisfied, but it hungers for God. The reason that you are called into His fellowship is that your soul might be filled. How is your fellowship this morning? If your joy is not full, God calls to you, “I want your joy full.”
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