We are going to start a new book there in 1 John.
I was considering going straight into Lamentations,
which is Jeremiah part two, basically.
But I just felt like Jeremiah was such a challenging,
negative book, and there's a lot of bad news
in the book of Jeremiah.
And before we get into Lamentations,
I will get into Lamentations eventually with this church,
but before we get into that,
I thought let's change up the pace a little bit.
Let's take a bit of a break before we get to Lamentations.
And I thought a good and fitting book
would be the 1 John.
So 1 John chapter one, look at verse number three.
1 John chapter one, verse number three.
It says, that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us
and truly our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
The title for the sermon this morning is
Fellowship with God, Fellowship with God.
You know, 1 John chapter one teaches much
about how we can ensure we are in constant
fellowship with God.
Let us not assume that just because we're saved,
we're in fellowship with God.
That's not true.
When you're saved, you are made a son of God.
Your position with God is that you are righteous.
Your position is that you are covered
with the righteousness of Christ.
When God looks down upon you,
he sees you in Jesus Christ, okay?
You are saved and no matter what happens,
if you were to die, you'd go to heaven, okay?
But there's another important aspect of our Christian life
and that's our walk.
That's our fellowship.
That's how we live out our Christian life.
And even though we are saved,
you may be very far from the Lord.
You can be walking in a total different direction
than our Lord God and so it's so important
that not only are we saved but we need to make sure
that in our Christian life,
we maintain a fellowship with our Lord God.
So let's start there in verse number one.
And actually what I'll get you to do
before I actually start reading verse number one,
can you please keep your finger there in 1 John
and also turn to the book of John?
Just keep a bookmark in the book of John.
A lot of what I'm going to take from 1 John,
I'm also going to apply to the book of John.
So we know that the author of 1 John
was of course the Apostle John, okay?
This is why we're turning to John as well, okay?
So John the Apostle, he wrote several books in the Bible.
Of course he wrote the Gospel of John,
which we'll turn to right now.
He wrote 1 John, 2 John, 3 John
and also the book of Revelation, okay?
So he's written many books.
In fact, many times if you're trying to understand
John's writings, I would really recommend
read his other books.
He, there's a lot, it's almost like
it's just a constant continuation, okay?
Many aspects in the book of Revelation
you can find throughout his teaching in 1 John
and 1 and 2 John, for example, okay?
And so it's really good to compare
the writings of the same author,
even though of course it's the Holy Ghost
that moved all men to write the scriptures.
But now that you're there in John,
we will turn there eventually.
But look at 1 John chapter one, verse number one.
1 John chapter one, verse number one.
It says, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon
and our hands have handled the word of life.
Shouldn't that sound,
doesn't that sound very similar
to John chapter one, verse one, okay?
So John now is referring again to the beginning.
What is it, what's so important at the beginning?
He's heard, he's seen something with his eyes,
he's looked upon it,
his own hands have handled, has handled what?
The word of life.
So what is this word of life?
Well, go to John chapter one now,
go to John chapter one, verse number one,
John chapter one and verse number one,
and it begins almost the same way.
It says, in the beginning was the word,
what's this word, the word of life, okay?
Was the word, and the word was with God.
So this word isn't the same God
that's been referred to right here,
but then it says, and the word was God.
Say, well, hold on, how can you be with God,
and yet you was God, you are God as it were?
It's because Jesus Christ is the Son,
and the God that's referred to here,
was with God is the Father or the Holy Ghost.
We believe in a triune God, okay?
We have a God the Father, we have God the Son,
and from the very beginning, this is the situation.
This is the scenario, okay?
It's not that sometime later, the Father created the Son.
No, you know, God's nature is free in one.
God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
and yet all three are not the same as the other, okay?
Yet it all makes up the one God that we worship.
Look at verse number two.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him, wow.
All things were made by who?
The word, okay?
And without him was not anything made that was made.
And look at this, verse number four.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Hey, what did he call Jesus Christ there in 1 John 1?
The word of life.
Why?
Because there's life in the word,
and the life was the light of men.
This is important that we understand
as we go to look at the fellowship with God,
we need to be in the light.
We need to be walking in the light,
and it's Jesus Christ, the word of life,
that has lightened our pathway.
Not only did he save us, but he gives us the light
in which we are able to walk with God
and be in fellowship with God.
Please go back to 1 John 1, verse number two.
1 John 1, verse number two.
It says, for the life was manifested.
So it was revealed, right?
And we have seen it, and bear witness,
and show unto you that eternal life,
which was with the Father.
Remember the word was with God?
The eternal life, he says here,
which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.
All right?
So that should remind us,
if you could turn back to John now,
John chapter one, and verse number 14,
go back to John chapter one, and verse number 14.
How was this word manifest?
Well, it says in John 1 14,
and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth, okay?
So how was the word of life manifested?
The word became flesh, okay?
This is, of course, referencing the birth of Jesus Christ.
You know, being born of Mary,
being born in Bethlehem's manger,
that was the word of life being manifested to us.
And also 1 Timothy 3 16, I'll just read it to you.
1 Timothy 3 16 says, and without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Who was manifest in the flesh?
We saw it was the word, the word of life.
Who is the word of life?
It's Jesus Christ.
Is Jesus Christ some lesser God than the Father?
No, because it says God was manifest in the flesh.
We can't say Jesus is not God.
Jesus Christ is God.
This is the mystery of the triune nature of God, okay?
His Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
and yet all, the Holy Ghost, the Son, the Father,
they're all God, okay?
God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles.
We're still preaching,
the God manifest in the flesh of the Gentiles.
Believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Yes, the same Jesus Christ that resurrected from the dead
and ascended up into glory with the Father
is the word of life that was manifested,
which was God manifest in the flesh.
Jesus Christ is most definitely the Lord God,
but Jesus Christ is not the Father, okay?
Now, can you please go back to 1 John 1?
1 John 1, verse number three.
So you can see how there are so many parallels, right?
With the book of John and 1 John, it shouldn't make sense.
It's the same author, the same Holy Ghost
working for this man and writing several books for us.
Verse number three says,
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.
By the way, brethren, if you have seen Jesus Christ,
he said, I've never seen him.
You know what?
If you're saved, you have seen him in faith, okay?
You have been able to believe on him.
You know what?
When I think of Christ, born in Bethlehem,
doing his works, raising the dead,
going to the cross and paying for my sins,
being crucified, dying and being risen again from the dead,
to me, it's as realistic, it's true
as anything I've ever seen, okay?
And if you have seen Christ in faith,
you need to be like John, which says,
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
we ought to be declaring Jesus Christ.
We ought to be soul winners.
We should be telling this lost and dying world
of Jesus Christ, how he's manifested in the flesh,
how he died on the cross for our sins,
and that he's given us eternal life.
What's the name of Christ there in verse number two?
And show unto you that eternal life,
Jesus Christ is our eternal life.
There is no other way to receive eternal life,
but to believe on Jesus Christ.
Let's keep going, verse number three.
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
that ye also may have fellowship with us.
Notice that.
So fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
So we ought to be, as Christians,
we should be seeking, yes, to fellowship with the Father,
yes, to fellowship with the Son,
but also to have fellowship with us.
This is why it's so sad
that we've not been able to have church together,
because we've not been able to fellowship together.
Now, I thank God we found a loophole.
We've got the live stream dream team, amen.
There is some element of fellowship here,
we're able to fellowship,
but for many of you that have been in lockdown
and without your church, without your church family,
you've not been in fellowship, physically at least.
We got WhatsApp, but that helps a little bit,
but things like that, at the end of the day,
being physically together is where the real fellowship is.
I can't wait to get back in church.
When we're back to church,
please do everything you can to be in the house of God.
And don't forget, this pastor's hoping and planning
to get back to Queensland as soon as the borders open.
And so my time we fellowship with you is limited.
It's really limited right now, okay?
And I want to make sure that we spend time together,
we rub on each other a little bit, right?
We get to enjoy each other's company,
we edify one another, we can love and serve one another.
Please make it your priority, you know,
once we're allowed to get back into the house of God.
But if you can keep your finger there,
and I'll get you to turn to another reference,
please go to 2 Corinthians 6.
2 Corinthians 6 and verse number 14.
As I said, the title for the sermon this morning
was Fellowship with God.
We ought to be willing to walk with God,
being in fellowship with our Father.
But there are things that will hinder our walk with God,
our fellowship with God.
And if you look at 2 Corinthians 6.14,
2 Corinthians 6.14, it says,
be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
For we are not unfulfilled in the world,
be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
For what fellowship have righteousness
with unrighteousness?
And what communion have light with darkness?
Now we saw that Jesus Christ is the light of men, okay?
If we are saved and we're children of the light,
what possible fellowship can we have with darkness?
You know, the ungodly world that are doing wicked things
and sinning against the Lord and enemies of God
and haters of God,
what possible fellowship can we have with his people?
Now, at the end of the day,
we have to, again, function in society.
We have to have jobs.
We have to live and operate in the real world.
We are going to interact with the ungodly to some extent.
But when it comes to true fellowship and true friendship,
we ought to be looking for that in God's people, okay?
Not with the ungodly world.
Because that's going to affect your walk.
It's going to affect whether you are an influence of light
or whether the darkness is an influence upon you.
Look at verse number 15.
And what concord have Christ with Belial?
Or what part have he that believeth with an infidel?
An infidel is an unbeliever.
And what agreements have the temple of God with idols?
For ye are the temple of the living God,
as God have said, I will dwell in them, look at this,
and walk in them and I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
You know, now that you're saved, God dwells in you,
in this body, by his Holy Spirit.
He says that he will be our God and we'll be our people
and he wants to walk with us.
God wants to be in fellowship with us.
But do you notice that if we fellowship
with the works of darkness, with the ungodly,
with the unbelievers, we make that our primary,
you know, place of fellowship and friendship,
we will not be walking with our Lord God.
Look at verse number 17.
Wherefore, come out from among them
and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.
This is not about salvation.
This has been written to a church
made up already of saints, of believers, okay?
By God receiving us, this is not saying
I'm going to receive you to be saved,
he's saying I'm receiving you for our fellowship,
for our walk together, okay?
Verse number 18, and I will be a father unto you
and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty.
Say, aren't we already sons and daughters of God
the moment we got saved?
Yes, don't forget we have our position before God.
Believing in Jesus Christ, we're made children of God.
But as far as a relationship,
a fellowship between father and son,
between father and daughter,
we must be able to develop that
through our walk and our fellowship with God.
By separating ourselves from the works of darkness,
from a sinful lifestyle,
from things that are affecting us
and turning our hearts away from God,
we need to move away from that
and develop a relationship, a fellowship,
a walk with our Heavenly Father.
And he'll receive us then as that son and that daughter, okay?
So this is not about salvation.
This is about making sure that in our life as a Christian,
that we are serving our Lord,
that we're walking in his light,
that we're walking in the direction
that our father wants to lead us
so we can remain together in our close walk together.
Back to 1 John chapter one, verse number four.
1 John chapter one, verse number four.
Now, another thing that I want to bring up
is that, I think I already mentioned it,
but 1 John is not written to the unsaved, okay?
Again, it's written to believers.
A lot of people believe false doctrine
because they think 1 John is teaching us how to be saved, okay?
But verse number four proves
this is not teaching us how to be saved,
but verse number four says,
And these things write we unto you,
that your joy may be full.
You say, why is 1 John written?
So we can know how to be saved?
No, it's written so we can be happy,
so our joy can be full.
So how do we make sure that we have fullness of joy?
We need to be walking with God.
We need to be in fellowship with the Father, with the Son,
and with believers, okay?
This is how we ensure that as Christians,
we live our happy life.
How happy are you, brethren?
How happy are you in your life?
You know, I've met a lot of Christians
that are just not happy,
that are frustrated, are upset, are angry,
they're just always cast down.
And I'm not saying there's never a time
for these emotions and feelings,
but you know, a large part,
a significant part of our life ought to be one of joy.
And this is why 1 John is written for us,
so we can move away from that sadness and loneliness
and find the great joy in fellowship with our Lord God.
So 1 John is written to believers,
those who are already saved.
Now, please go to John chapter 20,
the book of John.
Go to John chapter 20 and verse number 30.
John chapter 20 and verse number 30.
I like John because John always tells us
why he's writing what he's writing, okay?
The other authors don't necessarily do that,
though the context of the book
should tell us why they write things,
but John chapter 20 and verse number 30,
John chapter 20 and verse number 30 reads,
and many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book.
But these are written,
so why is the book of John written?
These are written that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Say, why is the book of John written?
So people can get saved.
This is why when we go to a door to a soul,
we quote things like John 3.16, okay?
The book of John teaches us that we need to place our faith,
our belief on Jesus Christ.
It says here, to believe that he's the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing
ye might have life through his name.
You see, the book of John,
the purpose of it is to help us be saved, okay?
It's for the unbeliever to learn about Jesus,
to make sure that they understand
they need to place their faith on Jesus Christ,
and of course, this teaching
is through the help of a soul winner, okay?
I'm not saying that the book alone does it,
but through the soul winner, guiding that person,
this is why it's so important
if you've got a plan of salvation
when you go to a door to a soul winner
that you include verses about John.
That's why the book is written, okay?
To help that person place their faith on Jesus Christ.
And so, you can see how 1 John
is not saying this is about believing on Jesus,
because you should already believe on Jesus,
you should already be saved,
but it's about making sure that our joy is full.
So this tells me that as Christians,
we can live a life where our joy is not full,
where we don't really enjoy the abundant life
that God has for us,
and in order for us to have that joy,
we must be in fellowship with God.
Please go to John 15 now.
Go to John 15, verse number nine.
John 15, verse number nine.
Why does John, why is John giving one solid book
to this idea of our joy being full?
Well, believe it or not,
well, of course you're gonna believe it.
You know, he learned this from Jesus Christ.
In fact, he even captured this information
in John chapter 15, verse number nine.
John chapter 15, verse number nine.
These are the words of Jesus.
He says, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.
Continue ye in my love.
Now, verse number 10, this is so important.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.
You know what abiding is?
Is being together, okay?
We can abide in Christ.
We can be together in fellowship with Christ,
or we cannot abide in Christ, okay?
But in order for us to abide in Christ's love,
we must keep his commandments.
It says, even as I have kept my Father's commandments
and abide in his love.
Verse number 11, these things have I spoken unto you,
that my joy might remain in you, look at this,
and that your joy might be full.
Now you know why John's right about this,
because Jesus already taught him, okay?
How can we make sure that our joy is full?
Verse number 12, this is my commandment,
that ye love one another as I have loved you, okay?
So those are two main things that we can take out of this.
In order for our joy to be full, number one,
well, verse number 12, we can look at verse number 12,
we must love one another, we must love the brethren.
This is why he says in 1 John
that the fellowship is not just with the Father and Son,
but with us.
Believers together,
we ought to be enjoying each other's company,
and the best way to do that is to be part of a local church.
But not only that, in order to have our joy fulfilled,
we must keep the commandments.
We must keep and do the commandments of God.
You say, why?
Because by keeping God's commandments,
we are walking in his light.
We are in fellowship with our Lord God.
When we break his commandments,
when we trespass against his will,
we are committing sin,
and that means we're in darkness,
and it means we've broken the fellowship
that we ought to have with our Lord God.
And so you can see how Christ taught in these things,
and how John is expanding upon this
in the book of 1 John.
Please go back to 1 John,
1 John chapter one, verse number five now,
1 John chapter one.
Actually, sorry, I missed one reference.
Please go to John 16, go to John 16.
There are too many Johns in my notes here, okay?
Go to John 16, please.
There's another thing that Christ speaks about,
about our joy being full.
In John 16, verse number 23,
John 16, verse number 23,
it says, and in that day,
ye shall ask me nothing.
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name,
he will give it you.
Here the two have ye asked nothing in my name.
Ask and ye shall receive,
that your joy may be full.
Okay, so notice again,
by asking God, by speaking to God,
by going to Him in prayer,
that will make sure that our joy will be full.
You know, if you skip praying,
if prayer life is not important to you,
again, you're not going to have the joy
that Christ wants from us.
What is prayer?
Again, it's talking to God, isn't it?
It's asking, telling Him the things that we need,
and saying, God, can you come through
and help me with this, and help me with that,
and help my church, and help my brethren,
and whatever it is that our brethren need,
why is that important part of our joy being full
because by speaking to God is another way
that we keep in fellowship with our Lord God.
If we don't pray, we're breaking the fellowship,
and we can no longer claim that our joy is full.
But back in 1 John, please,
1 John chapter one, verse number five.
This then is the message which we have heard of Him,
and declare unto you that God is light,
and in Him is no darkness at all.
Remember, we were looking earlier at 1 Corinthians,
how, you know, we're of the light,
and we should not be in fellowship with the darkness.
What fellowship is there?
You know, light with darkness.
Well, you know, this is the idea that God is light.
And you know what?
When you consider darkness,
that is a stationary position, darkness.
When you introduce light to a room,
the darkness disappears, okay?
The other interesting thing about light
is that it travels, it travels in waves, it's moving, okay?
You know, we serve a moving God.
He's interested in our lives.
He gets involved in our life, okay?
Our God is light.
And if you feel that you're in a place of darkness,
or we're living in a dark world,
you know what's gonna light our path?
Is fellowship with our Lord God.
He turns on the lights.
He makes sure that we're aware of the dangers
and the problems in the situation,
and He'll guide us in steps of righteousness.
But our God is light, and Him is no darkness at all.
This also teaches us that God cannot sin, okay?
Because it is sin that puts us in a dark place, okay?
Our God is sinless.
Our God can never sin, all right?
Now, please, if you can,
you know what, I'll just read it to you.
I'll just read it to you.
You know, the other interesting parallel here
is Genesis chapter one, verse number one,
when God created lights.
You say, but God already is light, yes.
But then He created a separate source of light, okay?
In Genesis one and one, it says,
in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,
and the earth was without form and void,
and darkness was upon the face of the deep,
and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,
and God said, let there be light, and there was light.
Now, I want you to notice, when God creates lights,
you know, in the face of darkness,
darkness was already there.
You see, it's a state of being, okay?
But light, when introduced, is moving,
and it casts away the darkness.
God then says, in verse number four,
and God saw the lights that it was good,
and God divided the lights from the darkness.
Why is it that we can't have darkness and light
right in the same place?
Because God created a division.
He created a law where light is, darkness cannot be, okay?
God divided the light from the darkness,
and God called the lights day,
and the darkness He called night,
and the evening and the morning were the first day.
So what do we see?
A clear distinction, a clear division
between what is light and dark.
You know, we don't serve a God of the in-between, okay?
God's laws are straightforward.
He wants us to walk in His paths.
Sin is clear, it is the transgression of the Lord,
it's the transgression of His commandments.
We serve a God that makes things black and white.
You know, when it comes to something like abortion,
I've already covered that, all right?
That's clearly darkness, that's clearly sinful.
You know, mankind, we try to complicate things.
We try to create those gray areas.
You say, well, what if that woman got raped?
Men, you know?
You know, yeah, I agree that people
shouldn't just be killing their babies,
but if someone got raped, all right?
Or there was some incest or something, right?
Something horrible, surely then
that woman should be allowed to, you know?
No, you know what, it's not like that.
When it comes to God, it's light, it's darkness,
He creates a clear distinction,
and God says this is good, this is good, all right?
There ought to be a clear distinction
between God's people and the ungodly, okay?
We should not live a life that just represents
the same sinfulness and weakness in this world.
There ought to be a clear distinction.
You know what, when you're walking with the Lord,
you're not walking in wickedness.
When you're walking in wickedness,
you are not walking with the Lord.
There's a clear distinction.
You can't have one foot serving God
and one foot serving the devil,
serving flesh, serving sin.
It's not possible, okay?
There is no gray area, it's black and white.
Please go to John chapter three.
Go to John chapter three, verse number 18.
John chapter three and verse number 18.
John chapter three, verse number 18 says,
"'He that believeth upon him is not condemned.'"
Praise God.
The moment you believe on Jesus,
you accept his death, burial, and resurrection,
you're no longer condemned.
What does condemned mean, to be damned?
You're no longer damned to hell, okay?
The moment you believe.
That's all that's required to be saved.
I mean, God makes it so easy to become a child of God.
"'He that believeth upon him is not condemned,
"'but he that believeth not is condemned already,
"'because he hath not believed in the name
"'of the only begotten Son of God.'"
Look at this.
"'And this is the condemnation,
"'that light is come into the world,
"'and men loved darkness rather than light,
"'because their deeds were evil.'"
It's amazing.
We have Lord God, you know,
Jesus Christ manifest in the flesh.
He turns on the lights.
He shows his righteousness, okay?
Our Jesus Christ who could not sin,
and yet we read about in the Bible
how so many people hated Christ.
The Pharisees despised him.
They rejected him, okay?
And they ultimately, the Jews crucified him, okay?
Say, why?
How is it when God can be walking this earth,
the light, the truth, okay?
Purity, you know, perfection is on this earth,
and they reject him.
The Bible tells us that men prefer darkness than light.
You know, we can go and preach the gospel to people.
We can show them eternal life.
We can say, it's just believing.
It's free.
It's a gift.
It's a one-time thing.
Once saved, always saved.
You know, Christ has done all the hard work.
I mean, for us, it's so like obvious,
of course I want that.
Like, who wouldn't want this free gift of salvation?
And yet they reject it because they prefer the darkness.
They don't want the lights, okay?
Now, some people incorrectly teach from John chapter three,
that what Christ is trying to teach
is that people have to give up the darkness, okay?
To come into the light.
No, no, no, that's not how it works.
It's the light that moves, okay?
They're in a place of darkness,
and it's about allowing the light to come into their life.
That's what it is, okay?
It's about Christ giving his life for us,
not you giving up your darkness to walk into the light.
That's not how it works.
The light comes in and takes away the darkness.
It's allowing Jesus Christ to do the finished work, okay?
Let's keep going there in verse number 20.
For everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.
So people, the reason they don't wanna get saved,
they don't want their deeds to be reproved.
This is not teaching that they don't want
to give up their sins,
because nobody can truly give up their sins.
We're gonna sin till the day we die, you know?
That's why Christ had to take our sins on his body
and be the curse for us,
take all the blame that we would have taken from God,
the anger that we would have taken from God,
and his place on Jesus Christ and his body.
But being reproved is to be blamed or charged with a fault.
You know, when we go dulso soh,
don't we have to say, like, explain to people
that they're sinners?
That they've broken God's laws, that they're not perfect?
And here's the amazing thing.
Most people are kind of willing to say,
yeah, I'm not perfect.
I am a sinner.
I have done wrong.
But they don't want to go before God and say,
God, I'm a sinner.
I have done wrong.
They don't want to be reproved by God,
because if you allow yourself to be reproved
and to be corrected by God and to be shown
and to admit, hey, God, I'm a sinner,
then the next step would be,
well, then I need to be saved from my sin.
I need a savior.
But people are so proud and they think,
well, I don't need God to give me that salvation.
Maybe I can do good enough works
to overshadow the sins that I have.
No, we need to be willing to be reproved by God.
Say, God says, hey, you're a sinner.
You deserve to go to hell.
This is the right punishment for you,
but I love you so much that I sent Jesus Christ
to die and take your place.
So this is what John 3 is teaching us,
is that we need to be willing, in order to be saved,
you have to first be willing to admit that you're a sinner,
that you've done wicked acts, okay?
Verse number 21 says,
but he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
You see, when you're saved,
your deeds, the good things that you do,
the things that you do now, okay,
it's not like, you know, when you're in a place of,
when you're unsaved, your deeds, your good works
are like filthy rags to God, okay?
But when you are saved, the good that you do are righteous
and you don't mind those righteousness,
those acts of righteousness being manifest.
You know, one day we're gonna stand before God
to save people and he's going to judge us
on the works that we've done in our body, okay?
And his fire's gonna pass through
and he's gonna reward us for the great things
that we've done for the Lord.
Back to 1 John chapter one, verse number six.
1 John chapter one, verse number six.
And this is probably the most challenging part
of this chapter here,
because I feel that we can all relate to verse number six.
Remember, the Bible is a mirror.
I can relate to verse number six.
I'm sure you can relate to verse number six.
It says if we say that we have fellowship with him,
hey, if we go to each other and say,
I'm walking with God, yeah, I'm doing well with God,
you know, I'm having a good Christian life right now, okay?
If we say we have fellowship with him
and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
It's not a gray area, it's black and white, okay?
If you're walking in darkness,
if you're living a sinful life,
you have unconfessed sin in your life, right?
You're rebelling against God, you're not living for him,
you can't turn around and say,
hey, I'm in fellowship with God the Father.
The Bible says you're lying, you do not the truth, okay?
You are lying.
You can't think I can live a wicked sinful life
and yet God's happy with me and I'm walking with God
and he's my Father and we're just having a great time.
That's not true, okay?
It's one or the other.
You say, but Pastor Kevin, we always sin, I always sin.
Yeah, we always sin.
So the truth of the matter is we cannot be in,
like we cannot live 100% of our time
in walk and fellowship with God, okay?
It's not possible, but we should strive.
We should strive to walk with God as much as we can, okay?
And we need the help of the Holy Ghost to clean our lives,
to help us be more holy, to be more separated,
to not give into the temptations that we used to give in
so we can spend more time in holiness with God.
Now, this chapter gives us the answer of how,
if we are in darkness, walk in darkness,
maybe we're in darkness right now.
The Bible tells us the answer
of how to get back into the light,
how to get back into fellowship with God.
Verse number seven,
but if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another
and the blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son cleanses us from all sin.
So hold on, Pastor Kevin,
aren't we already cleansed from all sin
the moment we've been saved?
Absolutely, you've been cleansed from all your sin.
Don't forget, that's your position.
That's your position before God.
He sees you in the righteousness of Christ.
All our sins have been nailed on the cross,
but in our daily walk, in our fellowship with God,
we still commit sin.
I'm sure you'd be willing to admit that.
I'm willing to admit that, okay?
And in order for us to get back into the light,
once again, we need that cleansing of sin,
not for salvation,
but to maintain our walk and fellowship with God, okay?
Verse number eight,
If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
You can't turn around and say to me,
I never sin anymore, okay?
I'm just in constant fellowship with God.
I'm just constantly in the light.
If you say you have no sin, you deceive yourselves
and the truth is not in us.
You know, I've met people.
I've not really met these people in Australia.
I'm trying to think, have I met someone in Australia?
Maybe I have, but in America,
I've gone to America only a handful of times,
gone soul winning,
but I've come across people that truly believe
they no longer sin,
that they've been saved
and now they just never sin anymore, okay?
And that's basically proof that they are saved
because they no longer sin.
Well, the Bible says that if we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Now, you can deceive yourself.
You can trick yourself into thinking,
hey, yeah, maybe I no longer sin,
and we're talking about a saved person here,
but someone that truly believes,
like they never sin anymore
and that's actually how they got saved,
that person's not even saved.
They've not even received the truth
of Jesus Christ in their life.
They think salvation is about sinless perfection,
but they know they still sin
and so they have to lower the standard of perfection, okay?
No, we need to keep the standard of perfection
all the way up there, okay?
Never sin.
That's why we need the imputed righteousness of Christ
in our life, okay?
It's not our own righteousness that gets us saved,
but the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
So anyone that teaches sinless perfection,
and I just showed them verse number eight,
it's very clear,
we cannot ever get to a point where we just stop sinning.
That point will come when we pass on.
That point will come
when we receive our new resurrected bodies,
which cannot sin.
Say, but, okay, so if we sin,
we're in darkness and we break the fellowship with God, okay?
And you're saying that we need to be cleansed
by the blood of Christ again
in order for us to continue in our walk
and fellowship with God.
Yeah, you need to be cleansed for the current sins
that you have in your life,
not for salvation, again,
but to maintain your fellowship with God,
because then it says in verse number nine,
if we confess our sins, there's the answer, okay?
When you mess up, when you walk in darkness,
now that you are saved and you sin,
you know what you need to do?
You need to go and confess it to God.
Say, God, I messed up again.
God, I committed a sin again.
God, I'm walking in darkness again.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us.
How are we cleansed by the blood of Christ?
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So you know what?
The moment you confess your sins to God,
say, God, I'm sorry.
You're back in fellowship with God.
You're back walking with God.
You're back in the light with the Lord.
Now, I don't know how long that might last,
hopefully in five minutes,
10 minutes before you do another sin
or something like that, okay?
But you got a time where you're pure, you're clean.
God can be in fellowship with you.
You're in the light of the Lord.
And again, I encourage you,
please keep a short account with God, okay?
Don't wait till the end of the week.
Rack up all your sins
and the whole week you're not in fellowship with God.
How can God do a great work in you
if you're not walking with the Lord,
if you're not walking in the light?
How can you have success in your soul winning
when you haven't confessed your sins to the Lord?
You know, we need the Lord's help to guide us
and to give us wisdom and strength to do His work.
You know, I say, keep a short account with God.
You know, there shouldn't be a single day
that goes by where you've not confessed your sins to God.
You know?
And I would say, if you can, do it straight away.
As soon as you just have the stupid thought,
God, I'm sorry, please forgive me, okay?
Keep walking with God.
Stay in fellowship with our Lord God.
Once again, this is not salvation, okay?
This is how to make sure that our joy may be full, okay?
To have our walk and fellowship with God.
Please go to John chapter 13 now.
Go to John chapter 13.
John chapter 13 and verse number one.
John 13, we're going to the point
where Christ had His last supper
with His disciples before He was crucified.
And there's a really interesting story
that I believe gets overlooked.
I believe people have missed the point
many times in John chapter 13.
And this is the story where Christ comes
and washes the feet of His disciples.
And you know what?
There are some churches,
I think it's the Church of Christ,
that believe you actually have to wash each other's feet.
Okay?
Now, look, I'm not going to let you wash my feet.
And if you want me to wash your feet,
I'm just not going to do it, brethren, okay?
Jesus is sending us an example, okay?
Jesus is showing us servitude.
Yes, He's teaching us how to serve one another, okay?
And in that time, that place, of course,
one of the servants' job was to wash each other's feet.
But this is not something we need to practice
in the church or something like that, okay?
That's not what it's teaching.
In fact, Jesus Christ is teaching us
a much deeper understanding,
something much deeper than just servitude.
Is He teaching us how to serve?
Yes, but it's much deeper than that, okay?
John 13, verse number one.
Now, before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that His hour was come,
that He should depart out of this world unto the Father,
having loved...
Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the Son of God, the Son of God,