The Call to Fellowship

Good morning. All right. If you guys want to go ahead and stand with me, we'll pray and we'll get started, but I want to let you know one thing this morning. Got some allergy problems going on, so I've got a little bit of a Barry White thing going, so we're going to be singing just a little bit lower this morning. All right, so let's pray and we'll get started.

Oh, Heavenly Father, God, I thank you, Lord, for this day that you provided for us, God. I just thank you for how good you are to us. I just thank you for your grace and your mercy, Lord. And I just pray that as we come here this morning, God, that your Holy Spirit go out and do its mighty work in our hearts this morning, Lord. God, just do something awesome in this place, God, and do something awesome in my heart this morning, God.

Lord, we love you, we praise you, and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you guys know the motions to this song, I would encourage you to go ahead and do it. It's a fun song, so. We're wrestling in the will. You are the peace. You are the peace in my troubles. Oh, you are the peace in my troubles. See the silence you want in my troubles.

Shining in the darkness, I will follow you.

Trust the promise, it's safe to show. Yes, you are, Lord, shining in the darkness. I will follow you, my lighthouse. I will trust the promise, you will carry me. It's safe to show. You guys can go ahead and have a CD if you like.

I love your dwelling place, oh, Lord almighty. Yes, it is, Lord. My soul longs and even faints for you. Satisfied within your presence. I sing. Redeemed. The shadow of your corresponds better is one day your thousands elsewhere better thousands elsewhere.

One thing And I would see to see

to see

hard tasted and I've seen come once again to me. Now we'll draw near

your courts the thousands else thousands elsewhere Oh, God, better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere, Lord. God, your presence is all we desire this morning, Lord God. We want to be in your presence. We want to be in your presence. The darkness into darkness, your mercy came. You called me out, lifted me up. How great is your love. Yes, Lord.

For my weakness, you took my shame. Buried my burdens in fields of grace. You called me out, lifted me up. How great is your love. From the heights of heaven, you stepped down to earth. Innocent perfection, you gave your life for us. We stand in awe, for we have been changed by the power of the cross. How great, how great, how great is your love. How great, how great, how great is your love.

Is your love.

From the heights of heaven, you stepped down to earth. Innocent perfection, you gave your life. We stand in awe, for we have been changed by the power of the cross. There has never been how great. Love is so great and is so wonderful, God. God, anybody that would send their son to die to pay the price for my sin, Lord. God, and I just thank you for that great love, Lord.

I confess, bowing without you, I fall. You're the one that guides my heart. My righteousness, oh God, this is mine.

It's Christ in me. It's my song to rise to temptation. Come as my hands stand, I'll fall on you. Jesus, you're my hope and stay.

You surround me.

I'm no longer. I've been born again. To your voice through my veins. This morning, God, I just want to come to you. Lord, and the work that you're doing. God, I just pray that as Pastor Rick comes this morning, God, that you speak mightily through him, God. Let your anointing be on him. Let your Holy Spirit flow through him, Lord. And just do something awesome and amazing in this place, God.

God, work in our hearts. Work in mine. And we praise you and we thank you, God. We pray all these things in your precious name. Would you guys go ahead and take some time and just greet one another.

All right. If you guys want to take your seats.

See you, Alan. All right. So just a few announcements for this week. This Wednesday night, we're not going to be meeting for service. We're going to have everyone prep for Thanksgiving, I guess. And then on tonight, we have marriage and family study tonight. So if you're ready to come out for that. And then on Thursday, we're having a citywide Thanksgiving service at 630 at Central Christian.

And I think it would be great. It would be really cool if we all showed up. So with that being said, that's the rest of our announcements.

How about now? All right. All right. Psalms 25. And if you'll stand for the reading with us, I'll read the odd numbers. If you'll follow with Lewis and reading the even numbers. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust. Do not let me be ashamed. Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed. Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.

Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation. For you I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, your compassion and your loving kindnesses. For they have been from old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your loving kindness, remember me. For your goodness sake, O Lord.

Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice and he teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are loving kindness and truth to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. For who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

His soul will abide in prosperity and his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he will make them know his covenant. My eyes are continually toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses.

Look upon my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sin. Look upon my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with violent hatred. Guard my soul and deliver me. Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in you. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. Lord, we just come before you this morning, and we just want to worship you and spend time listening to you and hearing what you have to say to us.

And we thank you that you're forgiving. We thank you that you're forgiving, God, and that you have poured out your grace upon us and just ask that you just move now. In Jesus' name, amen.

I'm not sure exactly what Ryan's doing, but he's out of town or something, I think. I'm not sure what's going on. But he asked me to fill in for him. He knew that I needed the practice, and plus, I think when I speak, then you appreciate him that much more.

So when he told me I was going to be doing the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I first thought was, all right, I'll just do a Thanksgiving message. And the Lord said, Rick, I don't want you to do a message about a holiday. I want you to do a message about me. And so we're going to be in 1 John chapter 1 is where we're going to be at. And those of you that are familiar with the way I teach, I hop all over the place.

I don't just stay. It's a short chapter, but I've probably got three pages of scripture references I'll be reading. And I don't expect you to follow along with me. I think they're going to. I'll just put up the verses up there so you can write them down if you want to. Because I've written them down myself so I don't have to flip so many times to try to get to them.

So what I'd like for you to do is to listen as much as possible and just kind of just soak it in. And there's a lot of things I'd really like to share this morning that are kind of on my heart. But to me, they're kind of deep things. And so I pray that I will come across slowly and smoothly. That you can understand what I have to share. Because I think there's some things God really wants to speak to us about.

So I'm going to start out in the first four verses. We're going to read, just read the verses. And then we'll go back through and explain it. So let's go ahead and pray and just ask God to do this.

Lord, this is your time in the word. And I just pray right now that by your Holy Spirit, you would just take your word and just speak to us, Lord. Each one of us in our hearts that we might draw closer to you. That you would convict us of sin. Anything that's keeping us from fellowshipping with you. That you would just help us to realize that all you want is for us to draw close to you.

And to be dependent upon you in every aspect of our lives. And I pray that as we leave this morning that we will understand that in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. In John chapter 1 it says, 1 John chapter 1 it says, What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word of life,

and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write so that our joy may be made complete.

I think in the Greek, if I'm correct, all four of those verses are actually just one sentence in the Greek. It's just one continual flow of thought. And there's this reference to the beginning. There's actually two beginnings that are kind of referred to here. And we're going to read it first with the understanding of one, and then we're going to take a look at the deeper references that's involved.

This reference to from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen, is talking about Jesus' earthly ministry. John was one of the apostles. In fact, John was one of the, I think he was especially picked to write this letter because of his background. John was close to Jesus. He was referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved and the one who leaned upon Jesus at the Last Supper.

In John chapter 20, verse 21, he was one of the first three listed in Mark chapter 3, verse 16 and 17, to be appointed by Jesus to be one of his disciples. And one of the same three, Peter, James, and John, in Matthew 17, 1, and out up to the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. It was to John Jesus entrusted his mother to take care of as he hung on the cross in John chapter 19, verse 25 and 27. And John was the first of the disciples to reach the tomb on the resurrection day and the first of the disciples recorded in Scripture to believe that Jesus rose from the dead in John chapter 20, verse 2 through 8.

It was fitting that of all the disciples because of this, that John was the one to write this Scripture. And when John starts, he starts out and he says, in the beginning, and he says, we have seen and we have heard him. He's talking about Christ's earthly ministry. And then he goes on and says, he's already said that we've seen him, but then he says, we beheld and our hands handled him.

He's talking about after Christ rose from the dead. In Luke chapter 24, excuse me, yeah, verse 38 through 43, it says, and Jesus said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I, I myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he said this,

he showed them his hands and his feet while he still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement. He said to them, have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it before them. So not only did they get to see Jesus in his earthly ministry, they got to see Jesus after he rose from the dead. And he said,

not only did we hear him, not only did we see him, we got to look upon him. We got to, uh, examine him and, and, and see him up close after his resurrection. We got to touch him after his resurrection. And it says, uh, he goes on to say, uh, uh, concerning the word of life. Now, this word of life, we know that it's talking about Jesus, but how do we know that it's talking about Jesus?

Well, in, uh, the gospel of John that John wrote first, he, he deals with this a little bit more in depth. He says, in, uh, John chapter one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Now, again, how do we know that this word is talking about Jesus? Well, the scriptures are their best own interpreter. Um, it's, that's why I like to compare scripture with scripture because the scriptures answer themselves a lot of time.

And in revelations chapter 19, verse 11 through 16, it says, and I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. And he who sat on it called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God.

Now we still don't, how do we know that this is Jesus is being talked about? We'll just keep reading. And the enemies which are in, and the armies which are in heaven and clothed in fine linen, white and clean were following him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

And he treads the winepress with a fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So we know that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So Jesus is the one who is the word. So we'll go back to John chapter one and look at what it says. But I'm going to replace the word, the word with Jesus this time.

And in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God. And the word was in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. And him was life and life was the light of men. This is why when he's talking about Jesus being the word,

he's the word of life. It's talking about Jesus. Jesus is the source of life, not only physical life, but eternal life, not only quantity of life. He's not just talking about we're going to live forever. He's talking about the quality of life that we're going to have in him. In first John chapter five, verse 11 and 13 and verse 20, it says, and the testimony is this,

that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son. He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. And we know that the son of God has come. It has given us understanding that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true in his son,

Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Jesus is being referred to as eternal life. He's not only the source of it. He is the eternal life. It's all wrapped up in him. And those people that don't accept Christ, their spirit still lives forever, but they're not. They're going to experience eternal life. They're going to experience eternal torment.

In Matthew 24, verse 25 to 21, it says, then he would also, then he would also say to those on his left, depart from me, accursed ones into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. These will go away into eternal punishment for the righteous into eternal life. Hell was not prepared for man. Hell is prepared for devil and the fallen angels.

But if a person doesn't accept Christ, they get to experience, the same torment that the devil and the angels are going to experience for all eternity. It's an eternal punishment. There's a lot of churches today that are teaching that there is no hell, but there really is one. And unfortunately, some people are going to find out the hard way. Now, I'm going to go back now to first John and we're going to reread what I just read,

but I want you to read it not from the beginning of Christ's ministry here on earth, but with the understanding that Christ is from the beginning before anything, everything was created. Christ was there and I want you to see the excitement. I can, I can sense the excitement in John as he's writing this, that while it was from the beginning, the very beginning for anything else, we have heard him. We have seen him.

This one who is eternal from beginning of anything being created. We've got to see him. We've got to hearing. We've got to examine him. We've got to touch him. We've got to touch, God in the flesh. And just the, can you imagine being John and actually being in the presence of Christ, knowing that he created everything? Uh, just the oddness has got to be overwhelming.

Uh, when they just in Luke, when they saw him raised, uh, after he rose from the dead and they couldn't hardly believe because they were so full of joy and amazement, uh, you know, uh, we're going to have that opportunity, but John's already had that opportunity to, you know, and he's trying to reveal that to us, that excitement, but he goes on to say in verse two and the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and proclaimed you the eternal life, which was with the father and was manifested to us. The reference to eternal life being where it says was with the father. It's meant to indicate a closeness and intimacy with the father yet distinct. Um, in John chapter one, verse 14 through 18, it says,

and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory. The glory is the only begotten, from the father full of grace and truth. John testified about him and cried out saying, this was he whom I said, he who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me for all his fullness. We have all received and grace upon grace for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth realized through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father. He is explained to him. Now, Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. But not only is Jesus God manifest in the flesh, the Holy Spirit is also God and acts chapter five verse one through four or talk. It talks about Ananias and Sapphira and it says a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and kept kept back some of the price for himself with his wife's full knowledge and bringing a portion of it.

He laid it at the apostle's feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why is Satan build your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the price of the land? While it remains unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you've conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.

He just said that he had why is Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? And then he confirms down below that you have not lied unto men but to God. So this is the Holy Spirit is also being referred to as God and John chapter 14 verse 16. It says I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth and the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him.

But you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. This reference to where it says the Holy Spirit is another helper that word another it means another of the exact same kind just like Jesus. There's no difference in it. So you have the father, the son and the Holy Spirit yet three distinct entities. But you only. Have one God. They are co-eternal coexistence and co-equal when one of them is working.

He always points to the other one. So in the Old Testament you had the father that's working and he's pointing us to the coming of Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ comes onto the scene. The first part of his ministry points us to the father toward the end of his ministry he points us to Jesus Christ points us to the Holy Spirit. Right now the Holy Spirit is working and the Holy Spirit is pointing us to Jesus whichever one of the Trinity is working.

He's always pointing to one of the other ones. Now God is a triune being and God created man in his image in Genesis chapter one twenty six to twenty seven it says then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness talking about the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky over the cattle and over the all the earth and over every creepy thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image the image of God.

He created him. Male and female. He created them. God created us a triune being just like himself. They have the Father Son and Holy Spirit each distinct but they're one God. I am one individual but I have a body. I have a soul and I have a spirit. My body allows me to function in this world. My soul allows me to comprehend this world around me and my spirit allows me to commune with God when Adam and Eve sinned in Chapter three.

God said that in Chapter two he said that there was a he set down one rule for him he said in verse fifteen and seventeen then the Lord God took the man and put into him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it the Lord God commanded the man saying from any tree of the garden you may eat freely but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for the day that you eat from it you will surely die now in Chapter three Adam and Eve sinned they ate of the forbidden fruit and something happened something changed. Something changed. All of a sudden they realized they were naked. They made fig leaves for themselves.

They hid themselves from God. They didn't die physically when they took the forbidden fruit. Their soul didn't die but their spirit died. Now their spirit didn't die in the sense that it ceased to exist. It died in the sense that it ceased to function as a way to commune with God. Sin had severed that communion with God. And that's what died. And so in John Chapter three when Jesus is talking.

In Nicodemus Jesus answered and said to him truly truly I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born can he? Jesus answered truly truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now he talks about being born of the water and spirit. He's not talking about baptism, water baptism and the spirit. When a person is born the woman's womb, the water breaks and then the baby comes forth. That's the water that's being referred to. He confirms this in verse six when he says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

So when you accept Christ in your life the Holy Spirit comes in and takes residence inside your spirit and your spirit is born again. And your spirit begins to function like it was supposed to be functioning. Where you can have communion with God. Now God didn't make salvation available to the fallen angels. Devil and the fallen angels don't have salvation offered to them.

God made that available to us as humans. And in John chapter 17 Jesus says a prayer and in this prayer he tells us what he wants for us as humans. He says the glory which you have given me I have given to them that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me that they may be perfected in unity that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you have loved me.

Father I desire they also whom you have given me be with me where I am so that they may see my glory which you have given me. For you loved me before the foundation of the world. Oh righteous father although the world has not known you yet I have known you. And these have known that you sent me and I have made you your name known to them and will make it known so that the love which you love me with may be in them and I in them.

And that may sound kind of confusing but what he's saying he's praying that the believers will be able to experience the same kind of relationship with God that the father the son and Holy Spirit experience with each other. The love that exists between the father the son and the Holy Spirit. God wants us to experience that kind of love with the father the son. The Holy Spirit and with each other the joy that exists between the father the son and Holy Spirit he wants us to experience that kind of joy.

Satan and the fallen angels they try they wanted to by force if you read Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28 it talks about how Satan wanted what to be worshipped like God he wanted what God had and he tried to rebel and take it by force. And Jesus is offering us as believers those of us who know that we don't deserve salvation. He's offering us the opportunity to know the love and the peace and the joy all the fruits of the spirits without limit for all eternity to be with God and experience. What the father son and Holy Spirit experience in their relationship with each other.

He wants us to know that he wants us to have that type of a relationship with him and we're going to spend all eternity. Just. in the presence of God, and it's just going to be so awesome. And in verse 3 says, What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son.

With His Son, Jesus Christ. It's not enough for us just to be satisfied with being saved. Salvation is more than just fire insurance. God has called us into fellowship with Himself and with each other. Now some Christians believe once saved, always saved. And some Christians believe that you can lose your salvation. But the real question is, what are you doing with Christ right now?

Are you fellowshipping with Christ as a believer? Are you spending time with Him? Because if you believe in once saved, always saved, what good is that doctrine if you're not spending time with Him? And if you believe you can lose your salvation, you really need to be asking, what are you doing with Christ? Are you fellowshipping with Him? Because if you're not, you're in trouble.

The goal of the Great Commission is not to see how many people we can get saved. The goal of the Great Commission is to see how many disciples, followers of Christ we can make. People that are actually going to follow Christ and spend time with Him and fellowship with Him. I believe it is important that what you do as far as your ministry is concerned is that you do it as a result of your fellowship with Him. Our ministry should grow out of

a fellowship with Him. It's more important that you spend time with Him than you just try to do stuff for Him. Because God can do stuff. He doesn't have to use you. He wants to use you. But He's more interested in you spending time with Him. There was a wealthy man down in Texas, and I can't remember the name of the Baptist church. I think it's in Dallas. And he went forward to get saved.

And the pastor was really excited because this businessman was very wealthy, very well known and had a lot of influence. And when he came forward to get saved, the pastor was telling the elder, you know, you make sure this man gets involved in some ministries around here and gets, you know, gets involved. And the businessman looked at him and said, Pastor, I don't need a job. I have a job. I need a Savior.

And he realized, his focus was right. He was focused on his relationship with Christ. Whatever you do ministry-wise, it just needs to grow out of the time you spend with Him. And not try to just be busy doing stuff for Him. Because He would much rather you just spend time with Him. And then let Him, out of that time you spend with Him, use you somehow. In verse 4 it says,

And these things we write so that our joy may be full. Now the joy He's talking about isn't just for the apostles. It's for us also. And instead of looking at the church as a gas station where we come to fill up our spiritual gas tank, what if the church on a daily basis would start spending time with God in fellowship at home and spending time in the Word and prayer, especially before we come together on Sunday mornings?

Can you imagine if in our personal lives we are spending time with God in fellowship with Him, all of us, and then we all come together for the church, as a church, and we're not coming to get filled up. Here, we've already been getting filled up at home. And we're coming here and then the place is over. When it comes time for worship, can you imagine the worship that would be taking place? We've already been worshiping

at home individually. And then bringing all that power together into a group together to worship together. And to hear God's Word and the joy of the Lord as we fellowship with one another. How powerful that can be if that's taking place in our personal life at home. In verse 5 and 6, he says, This reference to light is a reference to God's holiness. It says in verse 6,

John is dealing with the issue of fellowship here. He's not dealing with the issue of salvation. If you claim to be in fellowship with the Lord, but your walk doesn't give evidence that you're walking in the light, something is wrong. In John chapter 3, verse 9, 19-21, it says, This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil

hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear of his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. As a believer, we want to walk in the light. We want God to expose those things in our lives that are not right with Him. So that we can get those things right. Because we want to be in fellowship with Him.

We don't want to be separated from Him. I've shared this example my whole life as a Christian. A pastor shared it with me, but a couple out in California. They were living together in sin. They were doing drugs, and they were robbing liquor stores to support their habit. And this couple got saved. And the first thing that God convicted them of was using His name in vain. They were still living together in sin.

They were still robbing liquor stores to support their habit. They were still doing drugs. But the first thing God convicted them of was using His name in vain. And God began to change their life. When He's talking about walking in darkness, we all have things in our life that aren't right. But God is changing those things in our life, molding us into His image.

When I was 14, I smoked pot. I got drunk all the time. And when I turned 16, I got saved. And it took two and a half years for me to quit smoking pot after I got saved. And I would witness to my friends that smoked pot, and God was taking it out of my life. It went from being from morning to night to once a day to once a week. And then it got to where every three months or so, I would just get

really drunk. And I would get drunk. And I would get drunk. And I would get drunk. And I would get drunk. And I would get drunk. And I would get drunk. And I would get really wired. And I'd feel like I had to have something. And I didn't want to blow my witness with my friends that I'd been witnessing to. So I would mix up a concoction to smoke at home. I'm not going to tell you what it is, because some of you want to go home and try it.

And I'd take my little concoction and go out in the woods and take my Bible. And I'd read my Bible and smoke my concoction. And back then, I would always read by just opening up my Bible and wherever I would land, that's what I would read. And this one particular day, I flipped open. It was Luke chapter 13, I believe it was. And verse 3 just leaped off the pages

at me. Repent, lest you all likewise perish. I thought, whoa. Lord. And then I looked down again in verse 5. Same thing. Repent, lest you all likewise perish. And I said, all right, Lord, I get the message. I don't need this stuff anymore. I've got you. I don't need this stuff anymore. But it took two and a half years as a Christian before I finally got away from it.

It's only been in the last 20 years that I haven't had a drop of alcohol since I've been a believer. I've been a believer now for 45 years, something like that. But it's only been the last 20 years I haven't had any alcohol. And it's been only the last few years that I haven't had pornography in my life. God's finally taken all that away from me. But there's some things in our lives that God deals with that are

internal, that nobody knows about. And they have to do with our attitudes. And 1 John, excuse me, 2 John 2, verse 9, he says, The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there's no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he's going

because the darkness has blinded his eyes. When we as believers allow bitterness or hatred towards somebody else to be in our lives, it's like a cancer. It grows inside of you. And God doesn't want that hatred or that bitterness to be there. He wants to deal with it. And as long as you allow it to exist, your fellowship with the Lord's going to be hindered. And your fellowship with other people

are going to be hindered. And your own life's going to be miserable. And so if you have bitterness towards somebody, if you have hatred towards somebody, you need to give that over to the Lord. And God wants to deal with that type of thing. In verse 7 it says, But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

By walking in the light and allowing our sin to be exposed next to the holiness of God, allowing the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to work, we can be real with one another and enjoy genuine fellowship with each other as we allow the Lord to do a work in each of our lives. It is interesting that the longer we are believers, the more we are aware of just the fact that we have fellowship with one another. That's how sinful our sin is. Paul is a good example of this.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 9, Paul wrote, I am not meant to be called an apostle. He didn't feel worthy to be called an apostle. Several years later he wrote the letter to the Ephesians. And in Ephesians chapter 3 he says that he was considered himself the least of the saints. So he went to being, I'm not worthy to be called an apostle, to being, I'm the least of the saints.

And then in 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15, one of the last letters that he writes, he says, I am the chief of sinners. He went from being, I'm not worthy to be called an apostle, to being, I am the chief of sinners. The longer he was a Christian, the more he was aware of how undeserving of salvation he was. Because he spent time with God in fellowship. God is holy.

And when we who have sin are in fellowship with God, we begin to realize just how much God has done for us, how much He has saved us from. How much our sin costs. We've learned how sinful sin really is. And the more we walk with Him. It's kind of a paradox. You would think that as a Christian the more the Lord cleanses our life, the more righteous we would feel. But it's not.

It's just the opposite. It's a paradox. The more we grow in Christ, the more we realize, Lord, I don't deserve anything You've done for me. In Ezekiel chapter 36, I'm going to turn there. Israel's going to experience the same thing that we experience. They haven't experienced it yet. Israel doesn't believe. But I want you to see what God has already said that's going to happen with Israel. And they're in the process right now.

In Ezekiel 36, I'm going to start in verse 22. It says, Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for my holy name which ye have profiled. Profaned among the nations where you went. For I will vindicate the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God,

when I prove myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. That happened in 1948. Israel's been scattered among the nations for over 1,800 years. And God brought them back into their land in 1948. It then says in verse 24, Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you

from all your filthiness and from all your idols. This takes place during the tribulation period that's coming, the seven-year tribulation period. Two-thirds of the Jews are going to be killed, and one-thirds of the Jews will repent. It says in Zechariah chapter 12 that they will look upon him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn. And it says in verse 20,

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. And you will live in the land that I gave you to your forefathers, so you will be my people and I will be your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain

and multiply it. I will not bring a famine on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and produce of the field that you may not receive again. He says, I'm going to put my spirit within you. I'm going to cause you to walk in my ways. I'm going to bless you with all these blessings. And look how they respond when God's holiness and all this grace is poured out on them.

He says in verse 31, Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. I'm not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord. Let it be known to you, be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. He wanted them to understand that they didn't get those things because they deserved them.

They got them because God poured out his grace on them. And we as believers have already entered into that new covenant. We are experiencing that now. We've already. We already know his grace and his love in our lives. And we already know that we don't deserve any of the stuff that he's given us. And he reveals that to us. The more we fellowship him, the more we're close to him, the more we're dependent upon him,

the more we realize how much how sinful sin is and how much he has done for us. It says back in 1 John chapter 1, verse 9. Excuse me, verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. I have known some Christians who teach sinless perfection. And what they do is because Christ has forgiven us of all of our sins, and he doesn't remember Mamar the pit from the east to the west,

that therefore sin is no longer an issue. And therefore, since sin is no longer an issue, I don't no longer sin. Nothing I do is sin anymore because he's forgiven it all. He doesn't see it anymore. I just kind of do whatever I want to do. And that's wrong. That's taking our position in Christ to an extreme that God did not intend for us to do. It's important that you understand two things.

One, our position in Christ. In Colossians chapter 3, it says that we are hidden in Christ in God. In other words, we are covered with the blood of Christ. And when God sees us, he sees the blood. We are forgiven. In Romans chapter 5, verse 1, it says that we have been, we have been justified. That word justified means justified, never sinned. But it also means that we have been declared righteous.

We are not righteous in ourselves. We have just been declared righteous. Right now, sin is still very much an issue in our lives. When Christ died on the cross, the penalty for sin was taken care of. When Christ rose from the dead, the power of sin was broken. But the presence of sin, it's still very real in our lives. It's still, we haven't attained where we're with God.

When we see, when we see him, when we're with him, we'll be as he is. But we're not there yet. In Colossians chapter 5, verse 16 and 18, it says in verse 25, But I say, walk in the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. If the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, for the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.

For these are in our lives. We are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. If we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. Remember, the issue is our fellowship with the Lord, not our salvation. It's not dealing with denying, it's not dealing with salvation issues.

We're talking about denying ourselves, picking up our cross daily, and following Christ by faith. That's what we're dealing with. In verse 9, it says, If we confess our sin, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The word confess there is in the present active, in the Greek. That means it's something we're to continually be doing.

We're to continually be confessing before the Lord. And the word forgive there in that verse is in the aorist active, which means aorist is kind of like past tense. In other words, God is already ready to show us forgiveness before we even ask. But He wants us to ask. And you say, well, why should I ask for forgiveness if He's already continually asked for forgiveness for sins,

if He's already forgiven me? Why should I do that? Well, it's like in a marriage. In a marriage, there are times when you have disagreements. And when you have those disagreements, you usually quit communicating with each other until somebody says they're sorry. And then once somebody says they're sorry, you start communicating again. You never stop being married.

You just... You stop communicating. And it's the same way in our relationship with God. Except God is holy, and He's not going to mess up. If anybody's going to mess up in the relationship, it's going to be us. And so we're the ones that need to keep the communication open by confessing. God wants us to do that. And there's a cleansing that takes place when you do that.

You know, I can't express it in words, I can't express how important it is, and yet it's so simple. God wants us to, when we blow it, to confess it, and He forgives us, and we go on in our relationship with Him. And we just keep on fellowshipping with Him. Don't let sin to keep you from having that fellowship. Because that's what we've been called to. In verse 10 it says,

if we say that we have sinned, we make Him... If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. There's no way that you can be a believer without first acknowledging your sin. Because until you realize you're a sinner, you will never see your need for a Savior. And so if you're here this morning, and you are what I refer to as a cultural Christian,

someone who's maybe been raised in the church, you've been raised in the United States, where God bless America, everything's, you've been raised in a culture that's had so much Christian influence in it that you just take for granted that you're a Christian. But you've never actually acknowledged your sin, and you've never come to Christ. When I get done praying, I'm going to hang out around up here. And if that's you, just come up, and I'll be more than happy to pray with you.

And you can accept Christ into your life. And you can begin that fellowship with Him that He wants so much for you to have. I know this may not have been the clearest and smoothest message. I thank God so much for Ryan. But I pray that God uses this to speak to you this morning. So let's go ahead and pray.

Lord, you desire so much to fellowship with us. You desire so much for us to be in your presence. You have so much in store for us that you want to reveal to us. And we're not ready for everything that you have for us yet, Lord, I know. But just that anticipation of knowing that we are going to spend eternity with you in your presence. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And those fruit of the Spirit are just going to abound without limits. And it's just because you love us, not because we deserve it. And I just pray that you would help us just to, as we go our ways and we spend time with family this week, that you would help us to let that light shine.

And that we would not be ashamed of our relationship with you, but that we will let others see it because they're looking for something and they don't know what it is they're looking for. And we got the answer. So I pray, Lord, that you would just help us to be those lights and help us to stay in fellowship with you. In Jesus' name, amen. All right. Thank you, guys.

Come on down. In my sorrow and dead in my sin Lost without hope with no place to begin Your love made a way to let mercy come in When death was arrested, ash was redeemed Only beauty remained An orphan heart was given a name Morning grew quiet and my feet rose to day When death was arrested, my life began Washes, oh, it's your endless To my chains, I'm a prisoner no more My shame was arrested Faithfully poor Canceled my debt And he called me his friend That's when death was arrested And my life began Washes, oh, it's your endless Darkness rejoiced As though heaven had found Then Jesus arose with our freedom Death was arrested Oh, Lord God, I just thank you for your son, Jesus. I thank you for what he's done on the cross.

For the new life that is in him, Lord. For the new life that you bring us.

Lord, I just pray that if there's anybody here this morning, Lord, that doesn't know you as their Savior,

let us not be the same person. Let us be changed. Let us be different. Let us be a new person in you, God. We love you, Lord, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.