Pastor Nate continues his study through the bible in the book of 1 John.
[00:00:04] Thank you for listening to the Calvary Monterey podcast.
[00:00:07] Please visit Calvary.com to learn more about our church,
[00:00:11] and visit NateHoldridge.com for additional Bible teaching from our senior pastor, Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:17] 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God the Son, was born of human flesh.
[00:00:32] Well, he walked the earth, so did others.
[00:00:36] And when Jesus was likely around his teenage years, a baby boy named John,
[00:00:44] not John the Baptist, but the future apostle was born.
[00:00:50] Years later, of course, he would become a disciple of Christ.
[00:00:54] And when Jesus was around 30, John might have been a late team.
[00:01:01] Living and working and doing life near the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
[00:01:07] His dad was a man named Zebedee.
[00:01:10] He was a fisherman.
[00:01:12] And having had sons, John one of them, and John's older brother, a man named James,
[00:01:17] Zebedee trained them in the ways of his trade.
[00:01:20] Daily, John learned a fish.
[00:01:23] And it was his proximity to the Sea of Galilee which exposed him to Jesus.
[00:01:30] You see, Jesus came along in that region preaching and teaching and miracle working.
[00:01:37] The people of Israel were waiting for the Messiah, a deliverer,
[00:01:41] one to overthrow the powers of that age and renew Israel's kingdom.
[00:01:47] And they'd been waiting for so long.
[00:01:49] And as the word of God flowed through Jesus' mouth
[00:01:52] and as the power of God flowed through Jesus' fingers,
[00:01:56] John and others began to wonder if Jesus was the Christ Messiah for whom they'd waited.
[00:02:04] Alone on the lakes waters, John would have thought about Jesus in his teachings.
[00:02:10] He and his friends would have discussed Jesus and their thoughts about him.
[00:02:14] In fact, some of John's friends had even had a private audience and interview with Jesus
[00:02:20] and had grown convinced that Jesus was truly special.
[00:02:25] One day, Jesus was on the seashore.
[00:02:29] And John was there mending his nets.
[00:02:32] It was an elaborate and delicate duty, but John had grown accustomed to this job.
[00:02:38] He could take broken, frayed, and tangled netting and restore it to full functionality.
[00:02:43] It was tedious and slow, but with time and patience,
[00:02:47] John learned how to give himself to that task.
[00:02:51] And as he mended those nets on this particular day, Jesus walked by.
[00:02:56] First, he spoke to business associates of John, Andrew and Peter,
[00:03:02] and said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
[00:03:05] But then Jesus approached John and his brother James.
[00:03:10] As they busily mended their nets, Jesus called them.
[00:03:14] Now, by that point, given everything John had learned about Jesus
[00:03:18] and I think also everything John had learned about fishing,
[00:03:22] he said, I'm all in.
[00:03:24] I'm down to leave this and follow after you.
[00:03:27] Nothing could turn him back. He would follow Christ.
[00:03:30] Now, fast forward from those teenage years of John's life into his older years.
[00:03:38] At the point of time that he wrote this letter,
[00:03:41] all of the other apostles had already died.
[00:03:44] John was the only one who remained.
[00:03:47] God had given him a full life, decades of fruitfulness and strength.
[00:03:52] He had written an entire account of Jesus' life.
[00:03:56] We know it as the Gospel of John.
[00:03:58] Not only had he worked as an apostle but also as a pastor.
[00:04:03] He was in special connection with the church in Ephesus in modern day Turkey
[00:04:08] and that put him in relationship with the churches around Ephesus,
[00:04:11] churches in Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Sardis and Laodicea.
[00:04:17] And he cared for these churches.
[00:04:19] He loved them deeply.
[00:04:22] And so it grieved him to see them in a state of disrepair
[00:04:26] due to some who had broken off from them,
[00:04:30] proclaiming that they knew things about Jesus
[00:04:33] which John knew contradicted the true Christ that he had known.
[00:04:38] He knew he had to write letters which would circulate amongst those churches.
[00:04:43] He had to bring this group of early believers back to the original truth.
[00:04:49] He had to mend their nets.
[00:04:52] Tediously, meticulously, he wanted to repair what was broken amongst them.
[00:04:59] The deserters, the departers, the secessionists from Jesus, the true vine,
[00:05:05] they made bold and attractive claims.
[00:05:09] Look, we're 2,000 years removed from this letter and the claims that they made
[00:05:13] so it's hard for us to know with hard specificity what their doctrines were precisely or exactly.
[00:05:20] But there are some things that we can glean from what John said
[00:05:23] that help us know what they were saying.
[00:05:26] For one, they claimed that they knew God in a special way
[00:05:31] that everyday Christians did not know him.
[00:05:34] Second, they claimed, get this, that they were without sin.
[00:05:39] Perhaps Adam's original sin or maybe sin in their daily experience.
[00:05:44] And third, they claimed they were helping Christians with this new message
[00:05:49] which contradicted the gospel the apostles preached.
[00:05:52] And with this letter, John would refute each one of those claims.
[00:05:57] But all those claims centered on one big claim.
[00:06:01] The big claim that they made was that Jesus Christ had not come in the flesh.
[00:06:06] We'll see that throughout this letter.
[00:06:08] It's hard for us to know why they said this.
[00:06:11] Maybe it was pre-nosticism, the belief that anything physical or material is evil.
[00:06:18] But John knew it to be categorically false.
[00:06:21] He knew it to be a denial of who Jesus really was.
[00:06:25] God who became human.
[00:06:27] John had been alive with Jesus.
[00:06:29] He'd spent years with the man before his ascension.
[00:06:33] And John knew as the last living apostle, he had to refute such bold lies.
[00:06:39] So he wrote.
[00:06:40] He didn't write to the people in error.
[00:06:43] He wrote to the church over and over again.
[00:06:46] He talks to them like a father to his kids.
[00:06:49] He called them beloved over and over again.
[00:06:53] He called them his little children time and time again.
[00:06:57] The elder it seems had to speak, and it was time for his younglings to hear his voice.
[00:07:03] Because of his urgency and the fact that he was a different kind of guy than Paul
[00:07:08] and the other New Testament writers,
[00:07:10] John went without the typical greeting of ancient letters.
[00:07:14] You know, Paul from such and such a place to such and such a people.
[00:07:19] And instead threw himself immediately into his goal for writing his first letter.
[00:07:24] It's the style that he used when he wrote the Gospel of John.
[00:07:27] It's the same style that he's going to use in 1 John.
[00:07:30] What he's going to do in the first four verses is declare his mission in this letter.
[00:07:35] We're going to see three purpose statements from John in these first four verses.
[00:07:41] Here's his first goal, number one.
[00:07:43] Some of you have been waiting to write something down.
[00:07:46] Here it is.
[00:07:48] Goal number one, proclaim the true Jesus.
[00:07:52] That's what John wanted to do.
[00:07:54] He wanted to proclaim the true Jesus.
[00:07:56] Let's read what he said in verse one and two.
[00:07:58] Look in your Bibles with me or you can look on the screen as well.
[00:08:01] It says that which was from the beginning,
[00:08:04] which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
[00:08:08] which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.
[00:08:12] The life was made manifest or it came.
[00:08:15] It was clear and we've seen it and testified to it
[00:08:18] and proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the Father
[00:08:21] and was made manifest to us.
[00:08:24] What this shows us is that John could not stand idly by
[00:08:28] and let these deceivers talk about Jesus like they knew him.
[00:08:33] John had to step up to the plate
[00:08:35] and defend the historical actual Jesus,
[00:08:38] but also just share about his master, his friend, his teacher, his savior.
[00:08:45] John had been with Jesus when he wept in the Garden of Gethsemane.
[00:08:50] He'd watched Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead.
[00:08:54] He stood at the foot of the cross with Mary, Jesus' mother while Jesus died.
[00:09:01] He had leaned on Jesus' chest during the Last Supper.
[00:09:05] He'd run to Jesus' empty tomb with Peter
[00:09:09] and he'd eaten with Jesus after his resurrection.
[00:09:13] Look, John knew about Jesus like no one else alive at that time.
[00:09:18] So he had to speak about him.
[00:09:20] And what I want you to see in these first two verses
[00:09:23] are seven things that John pointed out about Jesus
[00:09:26] or his experience with Jesus.
[00:09:28] First, look at that phrase in verse one.
[00:09:30] He says, that which was from the beginning.
[00:09:34] That which was from the beginning.
[00:09:37] Now that probably reminds some of you of different portions in God's word.
[00:09:42] It might remind some of you of the book of Genesis
[00:09:45] and others it might remind you of the Gospel of John
[00:09:48] which both begin with statements like these.
[00:09:51] In Genesis, the beginning referred to the beginning of time as we know it,
[00:09:56] the created order that we see and observe and that we're living in.
[00:10:00] In the book of John, the beginning spoke of Jesus' existence from eternity past,
[00:10:07] that beginning.
[00:10:09] But here in 1 John, John seems to be speaking of the beginning
[00:10:13] of his own experience with Jesus.
[00:10:16] The beginning of the Gospel,
[00:10:18] the beginning of Jesus' life and ministry on earth.
[00:10:22] John's aim in writing like this is to point out how he'd been there from the very start.
[00:10:27] These other false teachers could not say from the beginning, but John could.
[00:10:32] These secessionists were not part of Jesus' group of disciples.
[00:10:35] They'd not been there during the glorious days
[00:10:38] walking and talking with Jesus, but John had.
[00:10:41] He'd been there from the beginning.
[00:10:43] Notice also in verse one that he says that he had or we had heard Jesus.
[00:10:51] Wouldn't you have loved to hear Jesus?
[00:10:54] John had heard him.
[00:10:56] He'd listened to Jesus pour out his teachings to the masses.
[00:11:00] He was there when Jesus taught his sermon on the Mount,
[00:11:03] when he began,
[00:11:04] blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[00:11:09] He'd heard Jesus debate the religious leaders,
[00:11:13] saying things like you leave the commandment of God
[00:11:17] and hold to the tradition of men.
[00:11:19] He'd heard Jesus weeping.
[00:11:21] He'd heard Jesus mourn in prayer over groups of people.
[00:11:25] He'd heard Jesus say things like in the Garden of Gethsemane,
[00:11:29] Father if it's possible let this cup pass for me.
[00:11:32] Nevertheless not as I will but as you will.
[00:11:35] And he'd heard Jesus cry out to God and others while he was on his cross.
[00:11:41] He heard Jesus pray for forgiveness for the very people crucifying him.
[00:11:45] He heard Jesus promising paradise to a criminal who had converted and believed in him.
[00:11:51] He'd heard Jesus say my God, my God why have you forsaken me?
[00:11:56] Quoting Psalm 22 verse one.
[00:11:58] He'd heard Jesus after three hours of darkness on the cross
[00:12:02] say he was thirsty and after drinking proclaim it is finished.
[00:12:07] And he heard Jesus say Father into your hands I yield my spirit.
[00:12:13] And before he heard some of those words he heard Jesus look at Mary his mother and say
[00:12:20] behold your son in reference to John.
[00:12:23] And he heard Jesus look at himself John and say behold your mother.
[00:12:29] John had heard Jesus but notice also in verse one he says he'd seen Jesus.
[00:12:35] He'd seen Jesus but did you see how he said it?
[00:12:38] He didn't just say I've heard Jesus and I've seen Jesus or we've heard Jesus and we've seen Jesus.
[00:12:43] He said we've seen Jesus with our eyes.
[00:12:47] He didn't want there to be any confusion.
[00:12:50] Jesus was not a dream.
[00:12:52] Jesus was not a hallucination.
[00:12:54] Jesus was not just a spiritual being.
[00:12:57] No John had watched Jesus not in the metaphorical or imaginative sense you know I've seen Jesus.
[00:13:04] But he had seen Jesus with his physical eyes.
[00:13:08] He had seen the way Jesus looked at the beleaguered masses who were weighed down by religiosity and legalism.
[00:13:14] He saw the way Jesus touched the lepers and healed the sick of foreshadowing of his coming kingdom.
[00:13:21] He saw how Jesus overturned the tables of money changers and spent time with sinners.
[00:13:27] What a life John saw.
[00:13:30] In watching Jesus here's what John was watching.
[00:13:33] John was watching the perfect human being.
[00:13:38] He was seeing what Adam and Eve and all of us were intended to be.
[00:13:44] Jesus was flawless.
[00:13:46] He was bold.
[00:13:47] He was love and John had seen him.
[00:13:50] But did you notice also in verse one that John adds another statement he says,
[00:13:54] And we looked upon him.
[00:13:57] At first glance this seems like a redundant detail.
[00:14:00] He just said he'd seen Jesus.
[00:14:03] But this is a purposeful addition.
[00:14:06] For one the word might have had a slightly different use for John.
[00:14:09] A way of communicating that not only had he seen Jesus,
[00:14:13] but he'd inspected Jesus.
[00:14:16] He had gazed upon and thought about Jesus while he watched him.
[00:14:20] Additionally it seems clear that John really wanted his little children to know and remember how he
[00:14:25] and others, which is why he says we all throughout this, he's talking about the apostles.
[00:14:30] They were actual eyewitnesses.
[00:14:32] You see you got to know this Jesus and Christianity is not a mere philosophy or an invention.
[00:14:39] We're not built upon a dream someone received or a vision a prophet had.
[00:14:45] Instead Christianity is built upon a real life.
[00:14:49] One who came and lived and dwelt among us.
[00:14:53] John wanted to make it abundantly clear he had seen and looked upon this life.
[00:14:59] But notice that he also says in verse one that he had touched Jesus.
[00:15:04] Like I said earlier, he'd leaned on Jesus at the last supper.
[00:15:09] He'd touched Jesus after the resurrection.
[00:15:12] He'd broken bread with Christ.
[00:15:14] They would have hugged and kissed and high fived all throughout Jesus's time on earth.
[00:15:20] John would have shaken Jesus to wake him up when he fell asleep on the boat in the midst of the storm
[00:15:25] on the Sea of Galilee.
[00:15:27] He would have tapped Jesus' shoulder to get his attention.
[00:15:30] He had touched Jesus.
[00:15:32] Now why mention this detail?
[00:15:34] Well, because it was necessary considering the heresy circulating among the churches at that time.
[00:15:41] Some had begun to say that Jesus hadn't come in the flesh.
[00:15:46] John knew this was erroneous and a surefire way to miss the gospel.
[00:15:51] Jesus came to redeem this broken physical realm and usher in a brand new physical realm.
[00:15:59] Though not of this world, John knew that Jesus's forever kingdom would be inhabited by real people
[00:16:05] with real bodies.
[00:16:07] Jesus among them.
[00:16:09] John couldn't sit by and let the gospel come under attack by those who had no clue.
[00:16:15] But notice also in verse one and in verse two that John refers to Jesus with a title.
[00:16:21] He calls him the word of life and also he calls him eternal life.
[00:16:27] This title, the word of life, it might sound familiar to you on a couple levels.
[00:16:32] First, it might remind some of you of John's gospel.
[00:16:35] Did they do that to any of you?
[00:16:37] You've read the gospel of John and you know that in the first chapter,
[00:16:40] John referred to Jesus as the word or the logos of God.
[00:16:45] The Greek word for word, logos of God.
[00:16:48] And Jesus is indeed the eternal Son of God who through his incarnation as
[00:16:52] substitutionary death shows us the invisible God.
[00:16:55] But think about it like this.
[00:16:57] Jesus is also the word of life in that he's the message, the word about life
[00:17:04] showing us how to get life or how to get eternal life, showing us the way to the Father.
[00:17:11] Paul spoke of Jesus as the word of life in the same kind of way in Philippians 2.16
[00:17:16] and I think that John is doing the same here.
[00:17:19] You see Jesus came to show us the way to true life.
[00:17:23] You can say that you have God all day long.
[00:17:27] You can say you are spiritual all day long.
[00:17:31] And you can say that you feel close to God when fill in the blank.
[00:17:36] But if you've tried to find spirituality or holiness or deliverance or morality or joy
[00:17:44] without Jesus and his message, you don't have the real thing.
[00:17:50] During John's day, people walked around saying we have God.
[00:17:54] But since they'd rejected the Son that God sent, they were walking around deceived.
[00:18:00] Conversely, if you have believed in Jesus to be the Son of God who came in human flesh,
[00:18:06] substituted himself for the sin of the world and rose from the dead.
[00:18:10] If you've trusted him alone for the cleansing of sin as your pathway to God
[00:18:14] then you have received the word of life.
[00:18:18] Look, no one knows except for God who has made a true profession and who hasn't.
[00:18:25] But true believers have the life that Jesus claims he brought.
[00:18:30] It's through him we can enjoy God.
[00:18:32] We'll talk about that in a moment.
[00:18:34] Now look lastly here in these first two verses at the seventh thing that John pointed out.
[00:18:39] He said that Jesus verse 2 was with the Father.
[00:18:43] What's he doing when he says this?
[00:18:45] He's pointing to the pre-incarnational, the before Jesus came to earth location of Jesus.
[00:18:51] I want to say this very clearly.
[00:18:53] Jesus was not created ever.
[00:18:58] You should say amen to that.
[00:19:00] That's an important thing for us to confess.
[00:19:02] Jesus was not created ever.
[00:19:05] Look, God loves the world.
[00:19:07] And God loves every human being on the face of the earth
[00:19:11] no matter what religious system they've attached themselves to.
[00:19:15] But many of the belief systems of the world have gotten it wrong about Jesus.
[00:19:20] He's not merely a highly ranked prophet.
[00:19:23] He's not merely one of many manifestations of God to the world.
[00:19:27] He's not a stumbling block which brings people into error
[00:19:31] but actually brings them into the truth.
[00:19:33] He was not created by God, the spirit brother of Satan.
[00:19:38] He's not a created angelic being, a manifestation of Michael the Archangel
[00:19:42] who's inferior to God the Father.
[00:19:45] He's not an example of one who attained to Christhood like we all can.
[00:19:53] He's not merely a good teacher or prophet or miracle worker.
[00:19:58] He's not a pre-Gondi-Gondi.
[00:20:02] He's God.
[00:20:03] And that is why he's been in existence from eternity past.
[00:20:07] There's never been a moment when Jesus has not existed.
[00:20:11] Jesus himself attested to this.
[00:20:14] He said before Abraham was, I am.
[00:20:17] When he said that, he was using a title that was exclusively reserved for God
[00:20:22] in the Old Testament and the audience that he was speaking to knew it.
[00:20:26] He spoke of himself as being one with the Father
[00:20:30] which everyone at that time knew equated him with the Father.
[00:20:34] He claimed to be equal to God the Father, John 5.18.
[00:20:38] And he said, I and the Father are one in John 10 verse 30.
[00:20:42] John knew these things.
[00:20:44] He heard these things.
[00:20:45] That's why he wrote stuff like John chapter 1.
[00:20:48] He says in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God
[00:20:52] and the Word was God.
[00:20:55] All things were made through him
[00:20:57] and without him was not anything made that was made.
[00:21:00] That includes himself.
[00:21:02] He was not made.
[00:21:04] He did not make himself.
[00:21:05] He has always been.
[00:21:07] So John, like a loving dad, sat the church down
[00:21:12] and told them of the real Jesus.
[00:21:15] Jesus said, I'm the true vine in John 15 verse 1
[00:21:18] and John knew this true vine
[00:21:20] and this new group of thinkers, they did not.
[00:21:24] So for John it was simple.
[00:21:26] He wanted everyone to know the real Jesus.
[00:21:28] Even those who got Jesus wrong.
[00:21:30] He wanted to proclaim the true Christ.
[00:21:33] Look, don't allow yourself to be persuaded
[00:21:37] to abandon the real Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[00:21:41] Listen to me right now.
[00:21:43] In our age everything will come against such a confession.
[00:21:47] You'll be told you're unscientific
[00:21:50] but the Bible makes ample room for science
[00:21:52] if one is willing to think about it.
[00:21:54] You'll be told miracles aren't possible
[00:21:57] but this is merely a presupposition one makes
[00:22:00] when they do not believe in the existence of God.
[00:22:03] Once God is in the equation, miracles are abundantly possible.
[00:22:07] You will be told that to believe that God's Son came to earth
[00:22:11] let alone believe in God is nothing but fanciful superstition.
[00:22:16] But it's obvious that every single thing that we observe
[00:22:20] in nature had a cause.
[00:22:22] So it makes abundant sense
[00:22:24] that at some point there was a causer
[00:22:27] who was without cause
[00:22:29] a perfect and powerful and good being for he's always been.
[00:22:33] You'll be told that Jesus was merely a teacher
[00:22:36] or prophet or all around good guy
[00:22:39] who was so awesome that his followers
[00:22:42] made up a whole story about his resurrection
[00:22:45] so they could build a religion around him.
[00:22:48] But these followers, they suffered
[00:22:50] and died for their confession.
[00:22:53] Hardly a desirable outcome
[00:22:55] and not one you would hold on to a myth for.
[00:22:58] No, John saw the real Jesus,
[00:23:01] wanted his followers to know him
[00:23:03] and wants you to know him as well.
[00:23:05] He proclaimed the true Jesus.
[00:23:07] Okay, but John had another goal too.
[00:23:09] He didn't just want to stop with proclaiming the true Jesus.
[00:23:12] Here's our second goal for you note takers
[00:23:15] that are dying right now.
[00:23:17] Number two, he wanted to promote true fellowship.
[00:23:21] He wanted to promote true fellowship.
[00:23:24] Look at verse three with me in your Bibles.
[00:23:26] He says, that which we have seen and heard
[00:23:29] we proclaim to you.
[00:23:30] So we're going to tell you about Jesus
[00:23:32] that we've seen touched listen to
[00:23:34] so that you too may have fellowship with us.
[00:23:38] He says, and indeed our fellowship is with the father
[00:23:42] and with his son Jesus Christ.
[00:23:45] All right, let's think about this verse.
[00:23:47] First of all, you might have noticed in this verse
[00:23:50] how John continually says we, we heard,
[00:23:54] we have seen, we proclaim to you.
[00:23:58] What he's doing when he does this is he's speaking
[00:24:00] for the apostolic group.
[00:24:03] They'd all seen Jesus.
[00:24:05] They'd all heard of Jesus,
[00:24:06] but John was the last one of their band with breath
[00:24:09] in his lungs.
[00:24:10] He was the only one of them still alive.
[00:24:13] And so he's determined to represent them
[00:24:16] even though they're not there any longer.
[00:24:18] And these guys, these apostles, they'd worked so hard
[00:24:21] to proclaim the real Jesus to their world.
[00:24:24] They were very successful too.
[00:24:26] Christ's message spread like wildfire
[00:24:29] through the world at that time.
[00:24:31] And as they proclaimed people believed
[00:24:33] and as people believed deceivers came
[00:24:36] and when these deceivers came
[00:24:38] they invited people into fellowship with them.
[00:24:42] That's why John uses that word
[00:24:44] when he pleads with his readers.
[00:24:46] He says, I want you to have fellowship
[00:24:49] not with them but with us.
[00:24:51] He's saying John takes the false teachers
[00:24:54] and city as invitation to fellowship
[00:24:57] and turns it upside down
[00:24:59] and asks Christians to reject that invite
[00:25:02] and come into fellowship with the apostolic group.
[00:25:04] This is a major purpose of this letter
[00:25:07] and of the whole New Testament.
[00:25:11] These men they wrote
[00:25:13] and they spoke and they preached
[00:25:15] so that people would connect to what they said
[00:25:18] and wrote and build their whole belief system accordingly.
[00:25:24] And make no mistake, if you're here today
[00:25:27] and you think to yourself, well it's nice
[00:25:29] that they wanted the apostles
[00:25:31] for us to connect with their word
[00:25:33] but I don't think Jesus wanted that.
[00:25:36] You'd be wrong.
[00:25:37] Jesus wanted that as well.
[00:25:39] In fact right before the cross
[00:25:41] he prayed this in John 17 verse 20.
[00:25:44] He said, I don't pray for my disciples
[00:25:46] the apostles only
[00:25:48] but also for those who will believe in me
[00:25:51] through their word
[00:25:53] that they may all be one.
[00:25:56] In other words Jesus' prayer
[00:25:58] with his dying breath
[00:26:00] was that the future generations of the church
[00:26:02] would connect to the word
[00:26:05] of the apostolic group.
[00:26:07] He had told these disciples
[00:26:09] that the spirit would come
[00:26:11] and teach them all things
[00:26:13] and bring to their remembrance
[00:26:15] all that he had said to them.
[00:26:17] And so it would be odd
[00:26:19] for any other teacher
[00:26:21] to say what John said in verse three.
[00:26:24] If someone else, a teacher
[00:26:26] or a leader or a pastor stood up
[00:26:28] and said I've got some truth
[00:26:30] that I want to declare
[00:26:32] it originates with me
[00:26:34] and I want you to have fellowship with me
[00:26:37] it would be wrong for them to talk like that
[00:26:40] but John could say it
[00:26:42] because the goal is not to get people
[00:26:44] to connect to a new or different line of teaching
[00:26:46] but to Christ in his true message.
[00:26:48] But since the apostles were special messengers
[00:26:51] of the true Christ in his true message
[00:26:53] it's right for them to write
[00:26:55] with the desire for their readers
[00:26:57] to connect to them.
[00:26:59] And look all through the centuries
[00:27:01] this has been a major battle in the church.
[00:27:04] Will we connect to the apostolic word
[00:27:07] or the dictates and traditions of human beings?
[00:27:11] Will we believe in the word
[00:27:14] as revealed in the Old and New Testament
[00:27:16] or twist it to our own destruction?
[00:27:19] Will we believe in something like
[00:27:21] the Roman Catholic doctrine of Magisterium
[00:27:24] which states that the church
[00:27:26] has authority over the scripture
[00:27:28] which it doesn't.
[00:27:30] We're to come under the word of God
[00:27:32] or will we believe in good doctrines
[00:27:35] like scriptures' purpose-quity
[00:27:38] which means and states
[00:27:41] that the Bible is clear enough by itself
[00:27:44] that with a regular education
[00:27:46] anybody could read it and discover the main message
[00:27:49] that mankind has lost in sin
[00:27:51] and that God sent his son to die
[00:27:53] for the sins of the world.
[00:27:55] And look don't think for a second
[00:27:57] that this is just some battle
[00:27:59] that's being waged by scholars over doctrines.
[00:28:02] It's a battle being waged
[00:28:04] right in between your ears
[00:28:07] and it'll be waged this week.
[00:28:09] When you fly into a rage
[00:28:12] do you think the apostles and their message
[00:28:15] about Jesus have anything to say to you?
[00:28:18] Something which could set you free
[00:28:21] or do you think you've got to turn to Freud
[00:28:23] to get the real answers to your real problems?
[00:28:27] When you're building your view of what matters in life
[00:28:30] do you believe the apostles are on to something
[00:28:33] or must you come up with your value system
[00:28:35] of what really matters by being practical
[00:28:38] and building it yourself?
[00:28:40] And when you're constructing your view
[00:28:42] of humanity right and wrong, good and evil,
[00:28:44] heaven and hell or man and woman
[00:28:46] do you believe that the perfect man
[00:28:48] Jesus Christ in his word
[00:28:50] have anything to aid you
[00:28:52] in constructing your view?
[00:28:54] Everyone and everything is preaching these days.
[00:28:59] You can't watch Star Wars or Infinity War
[00:29:03] or Storage Wars without hearing some philosophy
[00:29:09] or some doctrine or some methodology
[00:29:12] but through all the noise
[00:29:16] the apostles still speak
[00:29:19] and teach and proclaim the real Jesus,
[00:29:22] the true vine in his word.
[00:29:24] They want to bring us into fellowship with them
[00:29:27] and why do they want that?
[00:29:29] Why do the apostles so badly want you
[00:29:32] to connect to and have fellowship with them?
[00:29:35] Why do they want you to be a Bible person
[00:29:38] to connect with the truth?
[00:29:40] Well notice verse three.
[00:29:42] He says, so that we might with them
[00:29:45] have fellowship with the Father
[00:29:47] and with his son Jesus Christ.
[00:29:49] John and the apostles want us to know God
[00:29:52] in his entirety, the fullness of God.
[00:29:55] He wants us, John does, to see him
[00:29:58] who declares God to us, Jesus the son
[00:30:00] so that we might be in relationship with him.
[00:30:03] Now look let me say it like this
[00:30:06] to announce to a group of people
[00:30:08] that they could have an intimate relationship
[00:30:11] with the living God is sometimes scary
[00:30:13] for the people who hear that message.
[00:30:15] For many people hearing that they could have
[00:30:18] access to God sounds like telling
[00:30:21] an eighth grader that they could have total access
[00:30:24] and a wonderful relationship with the vice principal
[00:30:27] of their middle school.
[00:30:29] What eighth grader wants that?
[00:30:32] Who's looking for that?
[00:30:34] Many think of God as this hard figure
[00:30:36] who says no all the time
[00:30:38] and whose favorite pastime is bursting
[00:30:40] the dreams of human beings.
[00:30:43] But that's not the God of Scripture.
[00:30:45] Yeah the creation in Scripture both teach us
[00:30:48] that God is all powerful and eternal
[00:30:51] but they also teach that he is good.
[00:30:54] He's the originator of beauty and love,
[00:30:57] relationship, kindness and all that is right.
[00:31:00] And as creator he is more beautiful
[00:31:03] and transcendent than anything that he made.
[00:31:06] He's more beautiful than the creation that he made.
[00:31:09] And he has presented in Scripture
[00:31:11] as full of grace, mercy and love for his people.
[00:31:15] He is seen as the only one who can fulfill
[00:31:18] and satisfy you.
[00:31:21] The Psalmist said it like this,
[00:31:23] thousands of years ago in Psalm 42 verse 1
[00:31:26] as the dear pants for flowing streams
[00:31:29] so pants my soul for you oh God.
[00:31:34] This Psalm and many like it declare time
[00:31:37] and again how needy we are to be satiated by God,
[00:31:41] God himself, his presence in touch.
[00:31:44] This infinite being, this transcendent God,
[00:31:47] this maker he beckons and calls and wills to be father.
[00:31:53] Not punisher, not law giver, not destroyer
[00:31:59] but father.
[00:32:01] And not the earthly kind of father
[00:32:03] that so many of us are familiar with.
[00:32:05] You know the kind.
[00:32:07] Not the dad who gets angry, battles selfishness
[00:32:11] and is a little intimidating to be around
[00:32:14] or the distant occupied don't bother me kind of dad
[00:32:19] or the absentee dad who never really tried
[00:32:22] or the best buddy dad
[00:32:24] who leaves all the hard work
[00:32:26] and hard conversations to mom.
[00:32:29] No God is none of those versions of fatherhood
[00:32:33] but he's a true father
[00:32:35] and he beckons us into relationship with himself.
[00:32:38] And how does he do it?
[00:32:39] How does he invite us into this relationship
[00:32:41] with a phone call, with an email, with a text message
[00:32:44] with an awkward hey, you wanna get coffee sometime
[00:32:47] you cool with that?
[00:32:48] Is that how he brings us into this relationship?
[00:32:50] No he invites us into it by the precious blood
[00:32:53] of his only begotten son.
[00:32:57] He risked it all to make the move toward you and me.
[00:33:02] That's what Christianity is all about.
[00:33:05] As the great pastor and scholar John Stott once said
[00:33:08] he said we cannot be content with an evangelism
[00:33:11] which does not lead to the drawing of converts
[00:33:14] into the church.
[00:33:15] But we also can't be content with an evangelism
[00:33:18] or a church life whose principle of cohesion
[00:33:22] is a superficial social comradery
[00:33:25] instead of a spiritual fellowship
[00:33:28] with the father and with his son Jesus Christ.
[00:33:32] In other words, we've gotta get past churchiness
[00:33:35] and the social clubness of it
[00:33:37] and into what the blood of Jesus makes possible.
[00:33:40] A real friendship together with God.
[00:33:45] So someone says okay I get it, I get it
[00:33:48] and God wants to have a relationship with me,
[00:33:51] with us badly but do I wanna have a relationship with him?
[00:33:56] All right for an answer to that
[00:33:57] let's look at John's next goal.
[00:34:00] Goal number three is to produce true joy.
[00:34:05] Look at verse four with me, he says
[00:34:06] and we are writing these things
[00:34:08] so that our joy may be complete.
[00:34:12] One thing I like about John's writing
[00:34:13] is that he's really clear about why he's writing.
[00:34:17] When Paul writes, he's got arguments that build
[00:34:21] and conclude with applications
[00:34:24] but John's writing is spiraling in nature.
[00:34:26] So sometimes when you're studying John
[00:34:28] it's difficult to ascertain the point that he's trying to make.
[00:34:32] You gotta dig real hard to understand John in his writings.
[00:34:36] So it's very nice when he pauses and says I write so that.
[00:34:41] It just helps you get where he's going
[00:34:43] and here he says that one of the reasons that he writes
[00:34:48] is so that we could have or they could have fullness of joy
[00:34:53] but he'll also have other reasons for writing.
[00:34:56] Later in the letter in first John two verse one
[00:34:58] you might have noticed this
[00:34:59] if you did your homework last week
[00:35:01] and read through the book of first John.
[00:35:03] He said first John two one I'm writing these things to you
[00:35:06] so that you may not sin.
[00:35:09] Then in chapter two verse 26 he said
[00:35:11] I will write these things to you
[00:35:13] about those who are trying to deceive you.
[00:35:17] And finally in chapter five he'll say
[00:35:19] I write these things to you
[00:35:21] who believe in the name of the Son of God
[00:35:23] that you may know you have eternal life.
[00:35:27] Now think about all these purpose statements that John gave.
[00:35:30] First he's writing so that we'll have
[00:35:32] the joy of fellowship with God
[00:35:34] so when he says that what's he dealing with?
[00:35:37] He's dealing with the human problem of loneliness,
[00:35:40] isolation and separation.
[00:35:43] Second when John says that he's writing
[00:35:45] so that we might not sin
[00:35:47] he's dealing with the really big problem
[00:35:49] of human guilt and shame
[00:35:52] and slavery to behaviors that we don't want to do.
[00:35:56] Third when he writes that we might not be deceived
[00:36:01] that's dealing with the question
[00:36:03] of where we can turn for answers about life.
[00:36:07] And fourth he wrote so that we could
[00:36:09] know that we have eternal life in Jesus
[00:36:12] which deals with the problem of fear
[00:36:14] and worry and insecurity about the future.
[00:36:17] These are really big deal subjects
[00:36:19] that John is gonna get into in this letter.
[00:36:22] All this to say that John is gonna get
[00:36:24] after your heart in this letter.
[00:36:27] He's gonna use the doctrines of Christ
[00:36:30] to attack your loneliness and isolation
[00:36:33] times you feel that no one understands you
[00:36:35] and no one is like you.
[00:36:37] He's gonna show you how the gospel
[00:36:39] sets you free from the penalty
[00:36:41] and even the pull of sin
[00:36:43] by this truth he'll set you free.
[00:36:45] He's gonna help you discover
[00:36:47] through the absolute claims of the gospel
[00:36:50] how the truth of Jesus Christ is real and true
[00:36:53] and in a world which likes to hedge on any truth claim
[00:36:57] is the truth.
[00:36:59] And he's gonna help you destroy your fears
[00:37:01] and worries about your standing with God
[00:37:03] as he shows you Jesus.
[00:37:05] I've been thinking about these truths myself
[00:37:07] and personally this is the conclusion I've come to
[00:37:10] if as we study this letter
[00:37:12] I can grow in the understanding of these things
[00:37:15] even 3% then I know I will be a far greater man
[00:37:19] than I am today.
[00:37:21] If I can just internalize these truths
[00:37:24] but let's get back to what he said in the fourth verse.
[00:37:27] He said we're writing these things
[00:37:30] so that our joy may be complete.
[00:37:33] Alright so think about this little cluster of verses
[00:37:36] he said I wanna proclaim to you Jesus
[00:37:40] and I wanna do that so you'll know
[00:37:42] and have fellowship with us apostles
[00:37:44] so that you can really know the real God
[00:37:46] and have a real relationship with him
[00:37:48] but the reason I want all that to happen
[00:37:50] is so that you could have
[00:37:53] so that we could have complete joy.
[00:37:55] Now what does he mean?
[00:37:57] Why does he say that our joy may be complete?
[00:37:59] Well first of all he wanted the apostles to have joy.
[00:38:02] He knew that as long as his children
[00:38:04] his spiritual children believed lies
[00:38:06] he couldn't have full satisfaction and joy.
[00:38:09] Listen to what he said when he wrote his third letter
[00:38:11] he said I have no greater joy than to hear
[00:38:14] that my children are walking in the truth.
[00:38:18] You see John had joy himself
[00:38:20] but he was like a parent to the church
[00:38:23] and they say that parents are only as happy
[00:38:25] as their saddest child.
[00:38:28] No matter how great life might be for a parent
[00:38:30] they're in pain if their children
[00:38:32] are suffering or floundering
[00:38:35] and John was no exception as a father
[00:38:38] to these churches he knew
[00:38:39] they would always be missing something
[00:38:41] if they had wandered from the truth.
[00:38:44] And he knew of course that not only would he receive joy
[00:38:47] but it would lead to our joy
[00:38:50] if we believed in the Lord.
[00:38:52] Our joy he said will be complete
[00:38:54] if we embrace the true Jesus.
[00:38:56] Hold the apostles doctrine
[00:38:57] and enjoy our new relationship with God.
[00:39:00] Now look I want to ask you this
[00:39:02] do you believe
[00:39:04] that God is the one through the gospel
[00:39:07] who can actually bring you into
[00:39:09] completion fullness of joy here on earth.
[00:39:13] Do you believe that?
[00:39:15] Jesus said in John 15 verse one
[00:39:18] he said I'm the true vine
[00:39:20] and my father is the vine dresser.
[00:39:22] He went on to explain that analogy
[00:39:25] by saying in the fifth verse
[00:39:27] I'm the vine and you're the branches
[00:39:29] so the father is the vine dresser
[00:39:31] Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.
[00:39:33] And he talked about knowing him
[00:39:35] and relating to him and abiding with him.
[00:39:37] And he concluded his teaching there
[00:39:39] in John chapter 15 in verse 11
[00:39:42] by saying these things I've spoken to you
[00:39:45] that my joy may be in you
[00:39:47] and that your joy may be full.
[00:39:50] The question though is do you believe
[00:39:52] that that's true?
[00:39:53] Do you believe that complete
[00:39:55] and full joy comes from an abiding relationship
[00:39:58] with Christ?
[00:39:59] Do you believe that your connection to God
[00:40:02] is the one which leads to your deepest satisfaction?
[00:40:07] Because as long as you think that real
[00:40:10] or true or complete joy is found someplace else
[00:40:14] you will not turn to the true source.
[00:40:18] And God's people sometimes make this mistake.
[00:40:21] In times past God said of Israel
[00:40:23] my people have committed two evils
[00:40:25] they've forsaken me the fountain of living waters
[00:40:28] and hewed out cisterns for themselves
[00:40:30] broken cisterns that can hold no water.
[00:40:33] They neglected the true source of joy.
[00:40:37] And the thing is Jesus Christ is held out
[00:40:40] as the ultimate fountain of the living water of joy
[00:40:43] all through the Bible.
[00:40:44] Joy is found in various forms
[00:40:46] but when Jesus arrived true joy arrived.
[00:40:51] The long way to deliverer is here
[00:40:53] and it's through our relationship with him
[00:40:55] that our truest joys are found.
[00:40:58] And first John is going to help us with this joy.
[00:41:01] Look it's common for modern believers
[00:41:03] to talk about a relationship with Jesus
[00:41:06] but John is going to show us precisely
[00:41:09] what such a relationship looks like.
[00:41:12] He'll teach us who God is
[00:41:14] and what conditions are required to walk with him.
[00:41:17] He'll teach us who the Son of God is
[00:41:19] and what doctrines we must believe to enjoy him.
[00:41:22] And he's going to teach us about our moral life
[00:41:25] which accords with Christ and how a life
[00:41:28] which refuses to submit to Jesus
[00:41:31] is likely not a life which belongs to Jesus.
[00:41:34] And he'll teach us about the most preeminent
[00:41:37] of Christian virtues.
[00:41:39] Love for God and love for each other.
[00:41:43] And again I ask you do you believe this?
[00:41:46] Can you allow the one who designed you
[00:41:48] to tell you how he designed you
[00:41:51] with capacity for himself
[00:41:54] and that only he can ultimately get you going?
[00:41:57] Do you believe that complete joy
[00:41:59] is found in fellowship with God
[00:42:01] who is written of in the apostolic word
[00:42:04] which flowed from an understanding
[00:42:06] of the true vine Jesus.
[00:42:09] All right I'm going to close by giving you
[00:42:11] some application points.
[00:42:13] And I do this understanding that any scripture
[00:42:16] there's one true interpretation
[00:42:18] of any scripture because you can't have
[00:42:20] varying competing interpretations
[00:42:22] that's nonsensical.
[00:42:23] So there's one interpretation
[00:42:25] of each passage of scripture
[00:42:27] but there are tons of applications
[00:42:29] of those interpretations.
[00:42:32] And I'm sure the spirit has already been working
[00:42:34] some applications for you
[00:42:35] but I want to briefly just real quickly
[00:42:37] as we close before we take communion
[00:42:39] I want to give you seven applications.
[00:42:41] Number one, read Jesus.
[00:42:44] Read Jesus.
[00:42:45] I mean if the error in John's day
[00:42:47] was that people decided to disagree
[00:42:50] with what the apostles said about Jesus
[00:42:52] then read what the apostles said about Jesus.
[00:42:56] It's a great way to protect yourself from error.
[00:42:58] Number two, read healthy
[00:43:01] and widely regarded systematic theologies.
[00:43:04] This might not be for some of you
[00:43:06] but some of you this could really help you
[00:43:08] in your life with the Lord.
[00:43:10] Especially in systematic theologies
[00:43:12] read the section about Jesus Christology.
[00:43:16] The scriptures have a lot to say
[00:43:18] about Jesus' deity and mission
[00:43:20] and humanity and return.
[00:43:22] And if you want some suggestions
[00:43:24] on where to start
[00:43:25] or to get some good systematic theologies
[00:43:27] that I would recommend
[00:43:29] at the bottom of my notes online
[00:43:31] I put three that I would suggest to you
[00:43:33] to get started with.
[00:43:34] It'll probably take you 10 years
[00:43:36] to work through all three of them
[00:43:39] so have at it.
[00:43:40] Number three, read good apologetics
[00:43:42] or defending of the faith material
[00:43:44] about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[00:43:47] It is so important for you
[00:43:49] to be thoroughly convinced in your heart
[00:43:51] that Christ physically bodily rose from the grave.
[00:43:55] And materials like these can bolster your faith.
[00:43:58] And I asked Pastor Matt
[00:43:59] to give me three recommendations
[00:44:01] and I put them in the same place online.
[00:44:03] Three shorter books
[00:44:04] than the ones I just recommended
[00:44:05] that will help you become bolstered
[00:44:07] in the truth of Christ's resurrection.
[00:44:10] Number four, reject a low view of the Bible.
[00:44:15] Too many people have decided
[00:44:16] the Bible is filled with some good advice,
[00:44:18] some spiritually true teachings
[00:44:20] and some motivating stories
[00:44:22] while also thinking of it as incompatible with science,
[00:44:25] filled with contradictions and errors
[00:44:27] and counsel which we shouldn't always adhere to.
[00:44:30] But it's this low view of the Bible
[00:44:33] which will keep you from true fellowship with God.
[00:44:36] And none of these assertions
[00:44:38] upon true and reasonable inspection
[00:44:40] are even true.
[00:44:41] Okay, number five, let feelings follow facts.
[00:44:46] What I mean by this in the case of this passage
[00:44:49] is that relationship with God
[00:44:51] is built upon the facts of the gospel,
[00:44:53] the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus.
[00:44:56] It doesn't matter if you feel close to God
[00:44:59] or don't feel close to God.
[00:45:01] If you've rejected the cross of Christ,
[00:45:03] you aren't close to God.
[00:45:05] And if you've received his atoning work positionally,
[00:45:09] whether you feel it or not, you are close to God.
[00:45:13] You need to begin to Romans 6, 11 it
[00:45:15] and reckon yourself to be dead indeed to sin
[00:45:18] and alive to God whether you feel that way or not.
[00:45:21] Number six, recalibrate how you feel
[00:45:24] about a relationship with God.
[00:45:26] We talked about this at length.
[00:45:27] Maybe you came here today thinking
[00:45:29] a personal relationship with God sounded scary
[00:45:32] but instead start seeing him as loving, awesome, beautiful,
[00:45:35] ready to heal and bless and love
[00:45:37] and serve all who turn to him.
[00:45:39] He's like we sing a lot of times, a good, good father.
[00:45:42] And my last application, number seven is
[00:45:45] reconsider where true joy is found.
[00:45:49] We're gonna discover in this letter how the world system,
[00:45:52] the thing that we're living in day to day,
[00:45:55] it's a liar.
[00:45:57] It tells us joy is found in places that it isn't.
[00:46:00] But we must make a conscious decision
[00:46:03] to agree with scripture regarding where true joy is found.
[00:46:06] All lesser joys are to be subservient to and flow
[00:46:09] from the enjoyment of God.
[00:46:11] Tell yourself, preach to yourself that this is true.
[00:46:15] Thank you for listening.
[00:46:17] If you'd like more teachings and information
[00:46:19] about Calvary Monterey please visit Calvary.com.
[00:46:22] You can also find books, teaching through the Bible
[00:46:25] and articles from our senior pastor at NateHoldridge.com.
[00:46:29] Thanks again for tuning in. See you next week.