The Sweetest Fellowship This Side of Heaven | Part 1

of the word, fellowship.

Listen to Adrian Rogers. featuring profound truth simply stated by Adrian Rogers. The book of 1 John speaks of our fellowship as Christians, which comes through the life that we have in Jesus Christ. In order to experience and enjoy fellowship with God right here, right now, the apostle John identifies three things we must know beyond any doubt. If you have your Bible, turn now to 1 John, chapter 1, where Adrian Rogers tells us more about the sweetest fellowship, this side of heaven. Be finding 1 John, and that's right back near the back of the Bible, almost to the book of the Revelation, 1 John, and find the first chapter. And we're going to be studying the book of 1 John.

It's not a very long book, only five chapters, and we're going to enjoy it. The title of our study, The Sweetest Fellowship, This Side of Heaven, 1 John is fellowship. You know, John wrote five books of the Bible. He wrote the Gospel of John, and the purpose of the Gospel of John was to convince sinners, that is, to lead us to faith in Christ. And then he wrote the book of the Revelation, and the purpose of the book of the Revelation was to comfort saints, to help us to understand the days in which we're living in and to give us a hope for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And then he wrote these epistles, these wonderful epistles, and they are written to confirm saints. And so we thank God for this epistle that has for its theme the word, no, K-N-O-W, and the word, fellowship, and the word, life.

Look, if you will, now as we read and we're going to share together the first four verses. The apostle John says, That which was from the beginning, and which we have heard, and which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life. Underscore the phrase, the word of life, for the life was manifested. Underscore the word, life, 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.

That which we have seen we declare we unto you. That ye also may have fellowship with us. Underscore the word, fellowship, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. These things write we unto you that your joy may be full.

Underscore the word, joy. Now, what is this fellowship, this wonderful fellowship? Well, it is a fellowship that comes through the life that we have the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, not everybody here has life. You say, If I don't have life, how could I be listening? Because you can be existing and not have life. Jesus spoke of an unsaved woman of the Bible says this, She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she lives.

The walking dead, dead while they live. That's the reason Jesus said in John chapter 10 and verse 10, I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly. Now, he was talking to people whose hearts were already beating, blood flowing through their veins, but Jesus said, You don't have life, you have an existence.

And oyster has existence, but it certainly doesn't have life as we consider life today. The life that is full and free in the Lord Jesus Christ. I was in Moscow shortly after communism imploded and was invited to go into the mayor's office. That was a great honor and a great responsibility. I took some Christian literature with me and sat around that big table in the mayor's office in Moscow, Russia. I wondered what I would say to those people because they were turning from communism hopefully to capitalism.

And I told those leaders there, I said, Gentlemen, I want you to know something. While I believe that capitalism is far superior to communism, I want you to understand this, that they're both only two forms of materialism. Only two forms of materialism.

And if that's all you have, if that's all you have, just a better form of materialism, you've still missed it. And I was able to explain to them that man is a spirit, that we need spiritual life, not just existence. We need life through the Spirit in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what I want to say to you today. Friend, it's not just simply existence.

It's life. And what the Apostle John here is speaking about is the word of life. If you take the word live and spell it backward, it spells evil. And there are so many people who are just living backward.

And their life rather than glorious is really evil because they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Now in order to experience this life, the Apostle John tells us three things in these few verses that we've looked at. And first of all, he tells us that there is a fact that is established. Write it down, a fact established. You will here in verse 1.

Look at it. Now the devil always wants to muddy things. The devil always wants to distort and deny things.

And of course the greatest truth is the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the devil since the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth and even before he came has been trying to confuse people as to who the Lord Jesus is, was, and always will be. Now in this day, in John's day, there was a cult, a false cult.

We don't have it today, at least by the name it had back then. They were called the Gnostics. You would spell that G-N-O-S-T-I-C-S. The Gnostics. And it comes from the Greek word ginosos, which means to know. And these were people who felt that they had superior knowledge.

Maybe we could just give them a name, the know-it-alls. They were the know-it-alls. And they were too sophisticated, they were too intellectual to believe that God could have come to earth in human flesh. Because they really believed everything material was evil.

That anything that was physical or material was evil. That's what the Gnostics believed. And so they believed that Jesus Christ could not have had, the true Messiah could not have had a material physical body. They believed that the Jesus that was here on earth was sort of a ghost, sort of a phantom, but not real. Now what John is doing right now, he's just going to knock Gnosticism right in the head.

He's going to show that Jesus Christ literally, physically, bodily walked here on this earth. And he says, I am an eyewitness of that. Now let me say that there were false cults in John's day, there are false cults in our day. And almost every false cult is wrong primarily about Jesus Christ.

Did you know that? You can check them about Jesus. Friend, if they're wrong about Jesus, it doesn't matter what they're right about.

I was in a house with some friends and two young boys who call themselves elders knocked on the door. They wanted to talk about Joseph Smith, whether Joseph Smith was a prophet. And I said, well boys, before we talk about Joe, let's talk about Jesus. Because I said, if you're wrong about Jesus, it doesn't matter what you think about Joe, isn't that right? And you see, they did not believe that Jesus is God in human flesh. They do not believe that Jesus is co-equal and co-eternal with Almighty God. Every false cult is off on the person of Jesus, almost every false cult anyway. And so here, John is dealing with a false cult. And you know the Bible says, if any come to your house and bring not the doctrine of Christ, don't receive him into your house.

Neither bid him God speed. And let me give you another verse. 2 John chapter 1 and verse 9, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.

Now that's just as plain as it can be. If a person is wrong about Jesus, he doesn't know God because Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes unto the Father but by me. So John starts out to establish who Jesus is. And remember now, we're talking about that this life is a fact, a fact, an F-A-C-T, a fact established. And he's saying here that Jesus is an eternal fact. Jesus is an eternal fact. Look, if you will, that which was from the beginning.

He is the Christ of the eternities. And John had already written in his gospel in John 1 1, in the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was the Word.

Before anything began to begin, Jesus was there. And that is God's name for Jesus, the Word. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. Jesus is called the Word of God in Revelation chapter 19 verse 13. It speaks of Jesus coming in glory and it says, And he was clothed with a vesture, dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God.

Now that's interesting, isn't it? Well, what is a Word? A Word is the expression of an invisible thought and idea. Jesus is the visible expression of the invisible God. Jesus articulates God. He is God's first Word.

He was there in the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. He is God's full Word. He says over in the book of Revelation that He is the alpha and the omega, the Word of God. The alpha and the omega.

You know what that means? The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega. If He were speaking to us today, He'd say He's the A and the Z. I have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books in my library.

All of them are made up with just 26 letters. Every thought, every thought in my library is just 26 letters. And what Jesus is saying, I'm God's prophet. Anything that God's going to say, He's going to say through me and by me. Jesus is God's first Word. He's God's full Word. And He's God's final Word. The book of Hebrews says, God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Now friend, when you've said Jesus, you've said it all.

You can't say anymore and you don't need to say anymore. All of the revelation of God is wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ and He is a fact. He is an eternal fact. He's the Word that existed before anything else was created. He is the expression of the invisible, spiritual God. But not only is Jesus Christ an eternal fact, but write this down, Jesus is a physical fact.

That's very important that you understand this. Now notice what John is saying, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of life. Now John says he wasn't a phantom.

He wasn't a ghost. He said we had the audible evidence. We heard Him. Had they had tape players back in that day, you could have taped the voice of the Lord Jesus.

And then not only was there audible evidence, there was physical evidence. John says we saw Him, that which we've looked upon. And John uses the word theomai.

It's the word we get our word theater from. It means to look carefully. John said, look, I was with Him for three years. I watched Him. I saw Him. And not only was there the audible evidence, not only was there the visible evidence, there was the physical evidence. He said we handled Him.

We touched Him. He was as much a man as if He were not God at all. Now let me tell you this, it's as much a heresy to deny the humanity of Jesus as it is the deity of Jesus.

Now you have to understand that. He was God, very God, He wasn't half God and half man. He wasn't all God and no man. He wasn't all man and no God. He was the God-man, never another like the Lord Jesus Christ. But remember the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you deny the humanity of Jesus, you're denying Christianity. That's what John is saying. Look, listen, we saw Him. We heard Him.

We touched Him. The word of life. He is an eternal fact. But He is a physical fact. Thank God for His humanity. You see, apart from His humanity, I couldn't be saved. He became a man to die on the cross.

And apart from the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. Apart from His humanity, I have no example. I can't follow as an example the God in the glory, because I'm a human. He's not a human. But I can walk as Jesus walked.

And I want to tell you something, friend. When Jesus Christ was upon this earth, He did not pull rank on me. Every miracle He did, He did not as God would do a miracle. He did the miracle as man filled the Holy Spirit would do the miracle. All of the life that He lived, He lived as a man, and He depended upon the same power that Adrian can depend upon day by day and moment by moment. So He is my Redeemer, because He's a man. He's my example, because He's a man. And I want to tell you, He's my comforter and friend, because He's a man.

I don't have a high priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of my infirmities. He was tempted in all points like as I am, and thank God He knows, and He cares, and He understands. So what is John talking about when he's talking about this life? He is talking about an established fact. But I want to tell you something else. Not only is He an eternal fact, and not only is He a physical fact, but I want to say something else about Him. He is a spiritual fact.

Now what do you mean by that? We'll look and see what John is saying. That which was from the beginning, the eternal fact, which we have heard and which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon with our hands, our hands have handled of the word of life, a physical fact, for the life was manifested, we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life. Now wait a minute, these other people haven't seen.

No, that's right. John says, I am going to tell you what I have seen so that you can believe. I have never seen Jesus.

I've never heard Jesus. I've never touched Jesus, not with my hands, but I believe in Him, because Jesus Christ is also a spiritual fact. He is not here now in a physical body, but the Holy Spirit of God reveals Him, and as John heard Him, faith now becomes the ear of the soul. As John has seen Him, faith now becomes the eye of the soul. As John had felt Him, faith now becomes the hands of the soul. We can know Him through the Spirit. Let me give you a verse. John says over here in 1 John 5, beginning in verse 9, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son. You see, God sends the Holy Spirit now to testify through the words of the apostles, and we have the words of the apostles.

There was a college professor who was an atheist, and he loved to ridicule his students. And so he asked his students, have any of you ever heard God? Nobody answered. Have any of you ever seen God? Nobody answered.

Have any of you ever touched God? Nobody answered. He said, so? There is no God. And the class sat there, all of them cowed and so forth, until one student lifted his hand and said, Professor, may I ask a question to the class?

He said, all right. He said, have any of you heard the professor's brain? Nobody answered. Have any of you touched the professor's brain? Nobody answered. Have any of you seen the professor's brain?

Nobody answered. He said, then we can conclude the professor has no brain, according to his logic. You see, John said, that which we've seen and that which we've heard, we declare unto you. And then the Bible says, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, and today I am not dependent upon oratory or illustration or logic to convince you, thank God, the Holy Spirit of God is here to say what He's saying is true. That is the witness of God. Jesus is an eternal fact. Jesus is a physical fact. Jesus is a spiritual fact, and the Holy Spirit of God testifies unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, what is this life? The first point, it is a fact established. Second point, it is a fellowship experienced.

Not only a fact, but a fellowship. Now look, if you will, in verse 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, and that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye may have fellowship with us. Now, John wants to share it. John said, I saw it, and now I want to share it. And anybody who sees it, hears it, knows it, wants to share it. Amen? That's the reason why we're called witnesses and not lawyers.

A lawyer argues a case. A witness tells what he's seen and heard, and the only person who can't witness is the person who hasn't seen or heard anything. Now, he says, I do this, that you might have fellowship. What is fellowship? Fellowship is not coffee and donuts. Fellowship is not, as some people acutely say, two fellas in the same ship.

What is fellowship? This is a very technical word, that you may have fellowship with us. It is the Greek word koinonia. Now, get that word in your heart and in your mind.

That needs to be in your vocabulary. It is the Greek word koinonia, and it means to hold things in common. That is, this Jesus, because of this established fact, there is a fellowship that is experience that we can have fellowship one with another. It literally means to have something in common. Now, notice who we have fellowship with.

Notice he says in verse 3, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Well, that brings up a real question. What do I have in common with the Father? Nothing.

Nothing. He's holy. I'm unholy. He is almighty.

I am a worm. And how can Adrian have fellowship with God? But yet the apostle John says, our fellowship is with the Father.

I have nothing in common with the Father. Notice in verses 5 and 6, this then is the message which we have heard of him, declaring to you that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. We say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.

We're in the dark, He's in the light. There's a great chasm between us and Almighty God. So how can I have fellowship with Almighty God?

Here's how. This God, who knows there's a chasm between Adrian and himself, and between you and himself, sent the Lord Jesus Christ to take something that is common between us, human flesh. Jesus becomes a man. And now He never discards His deity, but now He takes humanity, and now we begin to have lightness.

We come together. He takes on the nature of man that I might take on, the nature of God, and He says in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4, you're going to love this, we are now have become partakers of the divine nature. And the word partaker that is translated there is exactly the same word that is translated fellowship over here in 1 John. We have the fellowship of the divine nature. You see, Jesus took humanity and therefore He became like I am that I might become like He is. He took the very nature of man that we might take the nature of God. And so I have fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean a worm like I am can walk and talk in fellowship with Him and can sing, I come to the garden alone when the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. That's the fellowship, the koinonia that we have with Him because of the incarnation. And that's the reason old John is saying, look, He's a man!

He's a man! We saw Him, we touched Him, we heard Him! He took the nature of man that we might take the nature of God. And we have become partakers of the divine nature. Not only then do we have fellowship with God, but it follows as night follows day, then we must have fellowship with one another. Because when I am born of God and you are born of God, the same nature that's in Adrian is in you, and the Jesus in me is going to love the Jesus in you.

We have the same nature. We're born from the same womb, from the womb of grace, and that's so important. That's the reason why the Bible calls that in Philippians 1-5 the koinonia of the Gospel, or the fellowship of the Gospel. That's the reason in Philippians 2 verse 1 it's called the koinonia, or the fellowship of the Spirit.

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