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We are now looking at 1 John chapter 1. We have gone through the whole book of John, alright. Then we had our three Psalms that we normally go through between books. Now we're here in 1 John. And look, there's going to be a lot of repetition, especially in chapter number 1 with what we've looked at in the book of John, okay. So get ready, you might want to keep putting one finger in the book of John because we are going to bounce back and, you know, the book of John is very much the foundation as to what we're going to be learning about here in the book of 1 John. Now one thing I do want to make very clear. In fact, let's have a look at this in verse number 3, 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 tonight is, Fellowship with God. Fellowship with God. You can see that in verse number 3, it's speaking about fellowship with the brethren, fellowship with us, and then speaking about fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And so the difference between the book of John, and we'll look at this shortly, is that the book of John is a book written to teach us how to be saved, that we are to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we get to 1 John, and 1 John is clearly written to believers already, those that are already saved, and now that we are saved, we are guided, we are instructed to have a good fellowship with our Lord God, a good fellowship amongst other Christians, good fellowship with the Father, and fellowship with the Son. You see, a lot of churches make the mistake of saying, in order for you to be saved, they'll say you've got to have a relationship with God. But where is that found in your Bible? Where does it say, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well, you must have a relationship with God. That is not found in your Bible. The Bible makes it very clear, in order for us to be saved, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. See, salvation is your full faith and trust on the finished work of Jesus Christ, His death, His burial, His resurrection. There's nothing that you can bring to the table, okay? No amount of works, no amount of good deeds, no amount of church attendance, or Bible readings going to get you saved. It's holy by grace on the finished work of Christ. Well, the moment that you believe in Christ, the Bible says in John 1-12, For as many as received Him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. And so the moment that you've believed on Jesus Christ, God gives you the power to become a child of God. Now that you've been born into God's family, and you're a child of God, now you already have the relationship. You're already related as a son of God with our Heavenly Father. But as any parent knows, okay, you can bring a child into the world, but then what are we to do? We're to train them, we're to guide them, right? I mean, I want nothing more than great fellowship with my children. I want nothing more than for us to have a good time, you know, for my children to obey my instructions, to have fun with my children, but is that the reality of life every single day? No, parents, sometimes your children disobey. Sometimes your children rebel, okay? Sometimes the relationship can be damaged. But even if the relationship is damaged, or if the relationship is going well, nothing changes the fact that they are already a child of yours. They've been born into the family, they cannot be unborn out of the family. Once you're born again in the family of God, there's nothing that you can do to make yourself unborn out of the family. It's everlasting life, it's eternal life, it can never be lost because you can't be bad enough to lose it because you were never good enough to get it in the first place. I just want to make that very clear, that's what the book of John was about. Making sure that we put our faith and trust on the finished work of Christ. It's a free gift. But now that you are a child of God, what does God want from you? He wants your fellowship, okay? And that's why the title for the sermon tonight is Fellowship with God. God wants to have a good fellowship with us, okay? I mean, look, are there going to be times that we're not walking with the Lord? Are there going to be times that we're far from God? You'll soon see, yes, that's going to develop in our life, okay? But you must understand the difference between our position, which is saved children of God based on the finished work of Christ, and then our walk with the Lord or our fellowship with the Lord, that is completely different. That is the part of growth and discipleship and maturing in Christ. And so the book of 1 John is all about our fellowship. Let's start there in verse number 1. It says, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard. This is amazing. You know, John's saying, look, that which is from the beginning. Who's from the beginning? This sounds a lot like John chapter 1 verse 1, actually, okay? But it says, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard. It says, that which was from the beginning, we've heard talk, which we have seen with our eyes. Of course, he's an eyewitness of Jesus Christ. Then it says, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life. This is how he introduced Jesus Christ in the beginning of 1 John. He says, he's the word of life. And if you'd like to flip back to the book of John, just very quickly in the introduction there, in John chapter 1 verse 1, you'll notice that it's very similar to the introduction there in 1 John 1. But in 1 John 1, it says, In the beginning was the word. Remember the word of life that we saw in 1 John? In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And so he's with God, and he is God, of course, because our Lord God is a Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is not the Father, but Jesus Christ is not some lesser God. We worship and serve one God. With God, was God, verse number 2, the same was in the beginning with God, verse number 3, All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1 John introduced him as the word of life, and notice John describes him in the book of John as the life which is the light of men, the light of men. I want you to remember that. We're talking about not just life, and if you've been saved, you've been given the life, okay? And you've been brought out of darkness. But you see, God wants us to continue in that light, okay? And that's what 1 John is really about. You'll soon see how that is all about be in the light of our Lord God. Come back with me to 1 John, chapter 1, and look at verse number 2. 1 John, chapter 1, verse number 2, For the life was manifested, and we have seen it. And bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. Who is the eternal life mentioned right there? Jesus Christ, right? The one that was manifest. All right, the one that became flesh. In John 1.14, it says, 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. You see, the Word became flesh. And the one that was manifested and show unto you that eternal life. Brethren, again, what is eternal life here? It's Jesus. It's the Word made flesh. Eternal life. Isn't it amazing that God has given us everlasting life, eternal life, the moment you trust in Christ? That's why you can't lose it. Because the very definition of eternal means it never ends. You cannot lose it. And again, who is the eternal life? It's Christ. Eternal life is not dependent on you. You are not the product of eternal life. The product of eternal life, the one that is eternal life, is Christ Jesus. And so you cannot keep yourself saved because it's not about you. It's Christ that keeps us saved because he's the eternal life. He's the everlasting life who gave his life for us. Let's keep going there. Verse number 3. 1 John chapter 1, verse number 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. This is why he does it. That ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Now, I am focusing tonight on the fellowship with our Lord God, with our Father and with Jesus Christ. But I don't want you to miss the point that the reason this is also written that we may have fellowship with us. You know, it's important to be part of a church. It's important to have other friends who are believers, people that we can get in touch with. You know, we live in such an ungodly world, such an ungodly society. And look, you can't hide from this world. We have to operate in this world. You know, you're going to develop neighbors and friends and work colleagues that are ungodly people that do not like the Bible. They might even hate the Lord potentially. You know, that's the reality of life. But it's so important that we find ourselves in a good church amongst other believers. It's so important for our fellowship and our growth and to ensure that the light remains in our hearts. You know, we can encourage and provoke one another unto love and good works. But of course, the goal, the end goal, is that we continue having a fellowship with the Father and with His Son. Now again, whether you have a good fellowship with the Father does not change the fact that you're already saved. Okay, salvation is not have a good fellowship with the Father and thou shalt be saved. Salvation is Christ gave His life for us, paid for our sins on the cross, rose again from the dead, victorious over death, victorious over our sins. Okay, and it's by Christ who's the eternal life that we receive salvation. I want to be clear about that. I want to be clear about that because a lot of churches confuse 1 John chapter 1. You know, and they think this is salvation. It is not salvation. It is fellowship. It's our walk. Alright, it's being in the light of our Lord God that this chapter is all about. If you can keep your finger there and come with me to 2 Corinthians. Come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 14. And you all know this passage, but I'd like to read it again. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 14. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 14. The Bible reads, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship remember we're talking about fellowship here, fellowship with God. What about with believers or unbelievers? For what fellowship have righteousness with unrighteousness? See brethren, we are righteous in the sight of God. Okay, thank God it's not our righteousness. It's the imputed righteousness of Christ that we have. So what fellowship could we possibly have with the unsaved? Okay. It says, look at this. And what communion have light with darkness? The Bible is saying here that we are children of light. We are the light of this world the Lord God describes us as. So what communion, you know, what fellowship can we have with darkness, with those that are not saved? Verse 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 agreement have the temple of God revivals? Say, what temple of God? Well, for ye are the temple of the living God. As God have said, I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Do you notice that God wants to walk in us? He wants us to be that temple. And of course the moment you got saved you receive the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit within you and you are a temple. I mean, I've used this analogy. Look, this building is not the temple. But how would you feel if I started to put up an idol of Buddha here on the walls or some Hindu gods around the place? You'll be saying, Pastor, even though this is not a temple, this is just a building. You'll be saying, Pastor, I don't feel comfortable with you putting... Why are you doing that? You know, we come to church to serve the Lord. Why are you defiling us? But you know, the Lord is more interested in the temple of your body. Why are you defiling your body? Why are you having fellowship with the works of darkness? Isn't God more concerned about our bodies and what we do, you know, as we serve the Lord than He is about this physical building? And so we're being told, hey, what communion have light with darkness? And then verse number 17 is the challenge. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Again, this is not salvation. This is our fellowship, our walk. The Lord is saying He wants to walk in us. We're already the temple of the living God because we're already saved, you see. And then it says in verse number 18, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, sayeth the Lord Almighty. You see, the Lord wants sweet fellowship as father with His sons, as a father with His daughters. And so He's saying, look, what are you doing? You know, walking in the ways of darkness. You see, when we walk in darkness, we break our fellowship with the Lord. When we decide to have fellowship with this world, the Lord says you cannot have fellowship with me. It's one or the other. It's light and darkness. You know, a lot of Christians think I can have one foot in the light and one foot in the darkness, and God will receive me. Look, you might as well just go all darkness because you can't have one foot in light and one foot in darkness, okay? There's no such thing. You know, God has created clear division between what is light and what is dark. Come back with me to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. You say, Pastor, I don't know, it's so hard to be separate from the world because we've got to operate in this world. And I know I share the same difficulties as you, believe it or not, okay? That's why I love church because I know it's a place with believers. It's a place where we love the Lord, we want to praise Him and worship Him. I love church because it makes it easy for a period of time. It makes it easy for an hour and a half to be in a place where it's just about fellowship with our Lord God. And look at verse number 4. This is the advantage. If you're able to just have sweet fellowship with God and not with this world, in verse number 4 it says, And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. What's the purpose of 1 John? That your joy might be full. Quickly, come with me to John chapter 20, the book of John, not 1 John, the book of John. John chapter 20, just as a reminder, John chapter 20 in verse number 30, or actually verse number 31, John chapter 20 verse number 31. Again, what is the purpose of the book of John? It says in John 20 31, But 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. Again, why is the book of John written? That you would believe in Christ, that you would have everlasting life the moment you believe in him. Okay, what is the purpose of 1 John? That your joy would be full. You see, it's possible to be saved and be miserable. It's possible. It's possible to, you know, if I could describe my Christian life and my fellowship with the Lord God, I wish I could say it's like this. I got saved and then it's gotten better every day, gotten better, better, better. It's not really like that. And I'm sure your Christian life's not really like that. You got saved, it's probably a little bit like this. Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. Good days, bad days, good days, bad days. Fellowship in the Lord, sometimes fellowship in the world. Far from the Lord, sometimes praising the Lord. You know, I'm sure if you've been saved long enough, you've been a Christian long enough, I'm sure you can relate to this. Where everything around you is falling apart, the world is on fire, okay? Like every problem is coming up and you're like, I'm having the time of my life. My joy is full. I don't care about what's falling apart in the world because I know I'm saved, I'm walking with the Lord and the Lord's gonna take care of me. He's gonna get me through these tough times. I'm sure you've had moments like that. And then there are other times in your Christian life when everything's going seemingly pretty good, right? I mean, there might be some problems but they're just little things, right? But mostly things are going so well, you know, you're doing well, people might look at you and go, wow, you're a really blessed brother. And then one tiny insignificant problem comes up in your life and you're miserable, why did I have to come up? This one little insignificant problem. And it's the same person where everything can be falling apart and I'm just excited for the Lord and then things are going so well but the moment something small comes up, I'm like, ah, life sucks. Why do you think that happens? I'll tell you why it happens. Because it's dependent on how your fellowship with the Lord is going. If your fellowship with the Lord is close and precious and beautiful, the Bible promises here that your joy will be full. It doesn't matter what's happening. It doesn't matter how the world is falling apart. It doesn't matter how your rights are being stripped away and the corruption of the governments and the laws that have been passed. You'll be like, I don't care, the world can go down the toilet, you know, I'm with the Lord and he's getting me through. And your joy is full because you're close with the Lord. And when everything is going seemingly well and something falls apart and you're like, oh man, not again, life is miserable. I tell you now, it's because you're not walking with the Lord. Your joy is not full. It's not fulfilled, okay? You've been walking too far away from him and you've lost the love and the excitement for the Lord. You know, sometimes when I just pause and remember that I'm a saved child of God on my way to heaven no matter what happens. We forget, right, but it should fill us with joy. You know, that we don't have this burden that we used to have wondering where are we going to go. You know, am I going to go to heaven? Am I, you know, what do I have to do? You've got that confidence. You know that the Lord God is by your side. You know Christ has paid for your sins. That excitement, that joy. And I tell you, you know, when you're walking in fellowship with God, when you open his word every day, when you spend time in prayer with him, you know, when you ask the Lord to move in your heart and to do great work in you, I'm telling you the times of, truly your joy will be full, okay? And I'm not just telling you as your pastor, this is the promise that we find here in 1 John. And I want you to be happy. I want you to be happy people. Like, I really want you to be joyful people. And not just joyful, but you're like, man, my joy is full. Like, I can't get any happier than I am right now. So how do I do that, pastor? You need to have fellowship with the Lord God. You need to be walking with him. And this is a part of the Christian life that nobody else knows. Like, I can see you in church. I can see you singing praises. I can see you participating potentially in different ministries. But I don't know how your personal walk with the Lord is going. That's between you and the Lord. And we can put on the show. We can all be at church and we can be soul winning and we can be, you know, ever present. But sometimes your heart can be far from the Lord. This is a reality. And you'll find when that happens, your joy won't be full. You'll find yourself cast down, depressed, you know, whining, complaining. You know, as soon as something happens in your life, you'll be like, Lord, why? This is misery. This wasn't part of the plan. But I really want your joy to be full. So, 1 John is written to believers, those that are already saved. And now John wants you to be happy. He wants your joy to be so full. There's nothing more that can fill your joy. You see, when your joy is full in the Lord, you're not going to be looking for joy in the world. You're not going to be looking for joy in darkness. When your joy is full in the Lord, you'll be fully satisfied. Can you come with me quickly to the book of John? John 15 verse 1. John 15 verse number 1. John 15 verse number 1. So, where does John get this teaching about your joy being full? Well, the teaching, of course, comes from Christ. Okay? And you find this in John 15 verse number 1. Just very quickly, I know I've covered these stories, but it's important to go over it again. John 15 verse 1. Christ says, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges of it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now, this parable is not about salvation. Because look at verse number 3. It says, now ye are clean. I want that to be clear to you. Okay, ye are clean. He's talking to his disciples that are saved. Their sins have been cleansed. They're clean already. Alright? Then he says, through the word ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. I just want to make it very clear. As a branch, you can be fruitful or not fruitful, but you're already clean. Okay? You're already saved. Drop down to verse number 9 in the same chapter. Then he says these words. As the father have loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. Verse number 10. If ye keep my commandments. Let's stop there for a moment. Is salvation keeping the commandments? No. Okay, this is not, again, this is not about salvation, because we're already clean. It's not about your commandments. No one can keep the commandments of the Lord, right? Nobody can do all the works required to be saved. None of us are perfect. So, he says this. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love. So, what's the advantage of keeping the commandments? We abide and continue in the love of Christ. Okay? We keep a close fellowship, a love one toward another. And then verse number 11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. There it is. Christ already taught on this issue. So, how do we maintain this fullness of joy? According to John chapter 15, we need to keep the commandments. We need to continue abiding in his love. And Brevin, you're going to soon see in the book of 1 John, this is really the emphasis of it, right? If you're walking in his ways, you're walking in his commandments, you maintain a close fellowship with the Lord. But the moment that you break his commandments, sin is the transgression of the law. The moment that you break the commandments of the Lord, and you commit sin, now you're in darkness. Okay? And you're not maintaining that close fellowship and love with our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the next chapter, John 16, quickly. John 16 verse number 23. John 16, 23. What else do we learn about our joy being full? What else do we learn about our close fellowship with the Lord? In John 16, 23 it says, And in that day ye shall ask me nothing, verily, verily, as saying to you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. What a promise. Christ says, whatever you ask in my name to the Father, he will give it to you. You know what, you say, Pastor, that's not really happening in my life. Well, let's continue, continue in investment 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name, ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Does Christ want our joy to be full? Does he want us to be walking in fullness of joy? Yes. So what do we need to do? We need to keep his commandments. To be saved? No. We can't keep him well enough to be saved. You've broken all of them, pretty much. Okay? No, not to be saved, but to maintain a fellowship, a close walk with the Lord. And when you're close with the Lord, and you're in his will, guess what's going to happen when you start praying? You're going to be praying in his will. You're going to be praying in the Spirit of the Lord. And you'll find answer to prayer when you're in that close fellowship and walk with the Lord. If you say to me, Pastor, I pray, and I pray, and I pray, and I never get any answers, let me ask you, I'll challenge you. How is your walk with the Lord? I know you come to church. You know, I know that. But what about your own personal walk in fellowship with the Lord? Do you spend time with the Lord? Do you love him? Are you looking forward to hearing from him? Do you open his word faithfully? With an open heart and say, Lord, guide me and teach me. Lord, I want to be in close fellowship with you. Back to 1 John, please. 1 John chapter 1, verse number 5. 1 John chapter 1, verse number 5. All right, so, I know I'm spending a lot of time in these verses. It's not a very long chapter anyway. But let's make it very clear. If we walk in the commandments, we walk in the ways of the Lord, we walk in his light. We're abiding in his love. We're maintaining a close fellowship. Again, when you walk in darkness, when you commit sin, and we all commit sin, you know. Who's brave enough to say, pastor, I've never committed any sin since the moment I got saved. Yeah, right. The moment you commit sin, the thought of foolishness is sin, the Bible says. You're in darkness. You're in darkness. And I think we all sin every day of our lives. That means every day of your life, you're going to be in darkness at some point in your life. You're going to not be in that sweet, close fellowship with the Lord. It says here in 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. No darkness at all. So if you're in darkness and God is light with no darkness, we already saw in 1 Corinthians that there's no communion between light and darkness. If we're walking in darkness, how can we be in fellowship with our Lord God who's in the light, who has no darkness in him at all? If you can quickly come with me to John chapter three. John chapter three. I did tell you to keep a finger in the book of John, so I'm not going to apologize. But John chapter three, verse number 18. John chapter three, verse number 18. There is an element of understanding the darkness and the light, of course, when it comes to salvation. We're talking about fellowship and I really don't want to mess these up, but I want to show you just what we see in John chapter three because this whole world is in darkness, okay? And Christ came as a light of men. And not only was Christ the light of the world, but when Christ ascended to heaven, he told us, he told his believers that we are the light of the world. We're the light, okay? So we are ambassadors for God, showing people the light of Jesus Christ. And it says in John 3.18, he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already because he have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The reason I read verse 18, again, I just want to confirm, not that I need to, but maybe I do need to. Confirm once again. What is it that takes the condemnation away? It's believing on him. He that believeth on him is not condemned. Con with damned, damned. The moment you believe on Christ, you're not damned. You're not on your way to hell. Okay, it's believing. I want to make that very clear. But in order for someone to believe on Christ, okay, remember, someone's not saved. They're in darkness. There's a light of Christ, and they're in darkness, right? These things can't be united as it were. It says in verse 19, and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Now, this is where some people get confused. They'll be like, see, you need to stop doing the evil deeds. You need to stop living in darkness in order to be saved. That's not actually the truth. Darkness is a stationary state. Light, if you don't understand light, it's, you know, there are light waves. Light actually moves. Like when this auditorium is in darkness, if we have no lights on, and you turn the lights on, what happens is the light moves, and the darkness disappears, okay? Where light is, darkness cannot reside. In order for someone to be saved, the light has to do the moving to take you out of that darkness, okay? But if you're like me, when you're sleeping at night, I like it dark, and the kids sometimes ask me, oh, can we leave the corridor light on? Like, ugh, you know, because if I wake up and I see that light, it just frustrates me, but that's what it is like for the unsaved, okay? When they understand the light of Christ, it's kind of like, oh, do I really want to be in that light? You know, what does it require for me to be in that light? We saw earlier, it's just believing in Christ. It's very simple. It's a free gift of salvation, but notice what it says in verse number 20. It says, For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. What does the word reprove mean? The word reprove means to be blamed or charged with a fault. Now, what this is saying is this. We're not saying that people need to give up their sins in order to be saved because that's impossible in our flesh, but what we are doing, we are showing them the light of Christ and showing them that they're in darkness and they are blamed, okay? They are charged with a fault. You are a sinner. You've sinned against the Lord. You're on your way to hell, but the Lord does not want you to go to hell, which is why he sent you the light. So you can be a child of that light. And the moment someone says, You know what? I am to be blamed. I am a sinner. I do deserve death and hell. The moment someone comes to realize and accept that truth of the light that they're in darkness, the immediate reaction ought to be, Therefore, I need a savior. Therefore, I need the light in my life. Okay? But that's what he means. The light reproves the darkness. And when we go door to door soul winning, it's important that the person at the door, and it's the very first thing that we teach them, is that they're a sinner, right? We quote things like John 3, 23, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, and say something like that. And a lot of people think, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a sinner. I'm willing to admit that I'm a sinner. But they still don't want the light. But I think I can be good enough to make it on my own. Wrong. I know you don't want the light of Christ because it's embarrassing. It shows you how short of the glory of God you come, but the only way to be saved is to pick yourself up and go, You know what, Lord? I want that light in my life. I want that light of Jesus Christ. Remember, it's the light of Christ. It's not our own light that saves us. It's the light of Christ. His imputed righteousness. His imputed light on our life that saves us. But we have to admit, Yes, Lord, I'm at fault. Yes, Lord, I'm a sinner. Yes, Lord, I need the light because I can't produce that light on my own. And then verse number 21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light. Say, Lord, I want the truth. I want to be saved. So I'm going to come to your light. Yeah? That his deeds may be made manifest. Yeah, Lord, I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. I need you, Lord. That they are wrought in God. So I want to show you there that, you know, this is all about light and darkness, this fellowship with the Lord. In order for someone to get saved, they first must acknowledge their need of a Savior, that they are in darkness, and then accept the light of Christ in their life. That is your position. You are now a child of the light. Okay, in the light of Jesus Christ. But again, 1 John is about our fellowship. It's about our walk. And even positionally, we will never change as a child of God. But you know as much as I do because it's all happened to all of us. We can get far from the Lord. We can walk in darkness. You know, we can be living weeks and months and maybe even years without going to church, without reading our Bibles, without spending time with the Lord. And you just have to realize, man, even though I can't lose my salvation, my fellowship with God has been so broken. So broken, I need to fix that. And it can be embarrassing to come to the Lord. But look, I know this about my children. Let's say my children grow up one day and they say, Dad, I don't know, Dad, I hate you. I hate the life, you know, you've raised me in and I'm out of the house, see you later and I never see my kids for a long time. My heart will break. Is that child any less my child though? Still my child, okay? And you know what I'd be desiring more than anything? For that child to come back. For that child to come back in fellowship. Like the story of the prodigal son, coming back to the father, you know, after they've messed up his life for a while. You know what, if you've been walking far from the Lord and you're maybe embarrassed to face the Lord God, let me encourage you, don't be embarrassed. Because the Lord wants you back in fellowship. He wants you back walking with him. He wants sweet fellowship and to guide you and to lead you and to love you in his ways. So how do I fix that? Maybe you are far from the Lord tonight. Maybe you've not been walking the Lord the way that you ought to. Maybe you've not been fellowshipping with him the way you ought to. We'll come back with me to 1 John chapter 1, look at verse number 6. 1 John chapter 1 verse number 6. Let's keep going. It says if we say that we have fellowship with him, we can say that. We can come to church, I'm walking with the Lord, praise God, hallelujah. We can put it on the show, we can say it. And walk in darkness. See, is it possible to say that we're close to the Lord but actually be in darkness? See, it is very possible. It says we lie if we say that. We lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. You say hold on pastor, my sins have already been cleansed. They've already been forgiven. Yes, in your position as a child of God. We're now talking about your walk, your fellowship. You've got back into darkness, you got back into sin. You're far from the Lord once again. To say that you're right with the Lord, you're lying. You can't have one foot in the light. I'm at church today pastor, I must be doing well. And then you know full well you're far from the Lord. You haven't spoken to him in weeks. You haven't picked up his Bible in weeks. He's not cared about lost souls in weeks. You're lying. You're lying. And we can lie to ourselves. It's possible to deceive ourselves. Okay, in fact we'll keep going here. It says in verse number eight, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. Man, verse number eight is a great verse for the sinless perfection people. I've never come across any sinless perfection people in Australia, but I have in the US. You know where I've gone preaching the gospel. You know are you 100% sure that you're going to heaven? Yes, I'm sure, which I like that answer normally. So what gives you that assurance? Well ever since I received Jesus, I no longer sin. What? I mean what level, like it must be a very low level for you to say that you don't sin anymore. You lie. It's a lie. The truth is not in you. See the sinless perfection people, they believe in order to be saved, they themselves must be sinless. They must do the efforts to keep the commandments and turn from all their sins. The true sinless perfection is in the righteousness of Christ who is sinless. That's the true sinless perfection. It's in Christ Jesus who is sinless. But we know ourselves in our walk, in our daily life, we sin. We know we're not always perfect. And I don't want to be in a church where people think I'm just the most righteous person all the time, holier than thou attitude, nose up. I don't like that kind of church. I don't like those kinds of people. Because the reality is we have good days and we have bad days. The reality is we're walking with the Lord and sometimes we're walking in darkness. And that's the reality of the Christian life. You say, well what do we do Pastor? What do I do? I've been far from the Lord for a long time. I've not loved him. I've not abided in his love. I've not been in fellowship with the Lord God. You say, maybe you're right Pastor. I have been lying to myself. Yeah, I've turned up to church tonight but I'm really not with the Lord. I'm not walking with him. What do I do? You know, do I need to confess my sins to a priest or something? Like the Roman Catholic. Do I need to confess my sins to you Pastor? It's so, you know, it's so, what I love about our Lord, he makes it so simple for us. Like salvation is simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That simple. But even in our spiritual walk, when we get in darkness, it's very simple. Verse number nine has the answer. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So who is faithful and just to forgive your sins? The Lord. So who do you confess your sins to? The Lord. Reverend, I don't want to hear your sins. I want to think the best of you. I don't want to hear your dirty secrets. I don't need to know. And I'm not going to confess all my sins to you. You might not want me as your pastor if I'm starting to confess all these sins, right? We confess our sins to the Lord. Say, Lord, I've been in darkness. Lord, I've done wrong. Lord, I've, and you know, list your sins. And I don't know why, I don't, I've never heard a lot of preaching on this topic, which I don't really understand why because it is such a staple part of our scriptures. Like, we understand we are saved by Christ Jesus. Our sins have been forgiven. They've been nailed to the cross. We understand that positionally. But so many Christians fail to understand the walk and understand that we can walk in darkness. We can be far from the Lord. And when that happens, you say, Lord, I've been walking in sin. I've been walking in darkness. Lord, please forgive me. Lord, I've committed this sin today. I've committed that sin. And what I do, I just say, whatever sins come to mind that I remember, clearly I just say to the Lord, even before I get up to preach, I say, Lord, cleanse me from any sins that I've not confessed to you. I want to be a clean vessel. Please use me to preach a word. Lord, I want to be clean so your Holy Spirit can speak to your people at church. I don't want to be a hindrance to your word going out there and feeding the people of God. And all we need to do is confess our sins. Sometimes I do get embarrassed because it's the same sins. Yeah, Lord, the sins that I committed yesterday, I did it again today. The sins I committed last week, the sins I've been fighting with the last 10, 20 years of my life, I'm still doing them. It can be embarrassing. But don't forget the mercies of the Lord are new every morning. New every morning. Great is His faithfulness. I love, these are His words. Say, Lord, I know you promise if I come to you and confess my sins to you that you're going to forgive me. You're going to cleanse me from all those sins. And look at verse number 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. So don't be the kind of person that says, ah, man, I never sinned past that. Not only are you deceiving yourselves, you're making God a liar because God knows your nature. God knows you're going to struggle even after you get saved. You're still going to struggle. You say, why do we struggle? Because you still have the old flesh. You still have the old man. You still have that selfish nature about you. But the key to this chapter is that God is instructing us, guiding us to continue in His fellowship. And I promise you this, if you make fellowship with God a priority in your life, you say, Lord, I want to spend time with you. And let me encourage you, I reckon first thing in the morning is the best time. Just the moment you wake up, say, Lord, you've given me a new day because a lot of people did not wake up today. You've given me life today. Lord, I'm just going to open your word. Lord, I'm going to just say a prayer. Lord, maybe I'm going to sing you a hymn, sing you a psalm. Lord, I just want to praise you just for five minutes, 10 minutes, whatever time I've got before I start the rest of my day because Lord, I want to put you first. I want to be in fellowship. Lord, I want today to be a successful day of walking in your light. I promise you, you are going to find victory over sin. You're going to spend more time in light than you have in the past. You're going to spend less time in darkness. This is God's promise. And you say, pastor, this happens. I start well and I get up at 6 a.m. I'm praising the Lord and by 7 a.m. I've committed my first sin. What do I do? You confess your sin right there and then. Say, Lord, I'm sorry. I want you back in your light. Help me to 8 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Help me through the rest of my day that I can be in fellowship with you and your joy will be full. Do you want your joy to be full? I do. I want to be a happy person and I know when I'm not walking with the Lord the way I ought to, I know that's when I get depressed. I know that's when I get sad. I know that's when I start to get stressed about finances. I know that's when I start getting stressed about the collapsing world. But when I'm walking with the Lord, I'm like, whatever, who cares? It can all go down the toilet as long as I'm walking with my Lord Jesus Christ. That's the advantage of being in fellowship with our Lord God. Alright, brethren, in conclusion. In order to live a joyful Christian life you must be in fellowship with the Father, yes, with His Son and don't forget what we saw earlier, the brethren. Please make that a priority in your life, church. You know, I'm glad you come to church. Make it a priority to be in fellowship with the brethren. I know we don't always get along. I know that. I know sometimes we find some of the family weird at church. Just put up with each other. It's your brother and sister in the Lord. Love them. Pray for them. You know, do good unto them. Because whatever you do to the brethren, you do it unto the Lord, don't you? Serve one another. God's given us new life at this church. So we can be in fellowship with the brethren. To encourage us to be in fellowship with the Father. To be in fellowship with Jesus Christ. And this is the recipe of having fullness of joy. And secondly, this is achieved by keeping a short account with God. A short account with God. I encourage you. I don't know how often you confess your sins to the Lord. But I encourage you, just do it. Like, do it as soon as you've sinned. How long is it going to take, honestly? Like, do you have to come to the church of Beaudin, alright, and get, you know, right here behind the pulpit, where God can really hear you and forgive you? You can be driving to work and say, Lord, man, there it goes again. My foolish mind, I messed up once again. You know, please forgive me. It doesn't take much. Cleanse me, Lord. I want to be in your lights. I'm in darkness once again. I encourage you, as soon as you know you've broken that fellowship, just spend the few seconds you need to get right back with the Lord. That's my advice to you. Like, I don't think it's wise to leave it to the end of the day, or wise to leave it at the end of the week. Because you're going all day, you're going all week, walking in darkness. Let me encourage you to keep a short account with the Lord. Alright, brethren, let's pray.