That Which Was from the Beginning | 1 John 1:1

Church Announcements, Baptisms, and Giving

All right, so you may have noticed our bulletins are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. It looks more like a real Established church, so we're excited about that. I don't think we Brought attention to this, but if you take a look at the back of it There's a helpful section here that I gleaned from an article that talks about some of our Some of the distinctives that we hold as a church, and I think it's really helpful If you read through that and go through it It gives a good perspective on Why we we hold to the reformed standards the reformed Baptist confessions and catechisms and things of that like that, so It's some some good gives a good perspective on that and We're also having Baptisms today after church so you can join us at Tim's house After church, and you and feel free you know it's a potluck so if you want to bring something feel free to do so.

And.

If you want to get baptized if you're a believer, and you haven't been baptized yet By all means ask the elders and we'll be happy to follow up with you on that. Also, we're gonna have the Lord's Supper next Sunday the third Sunday of the month so we can prepare ourselves for that and I Additionally wanted to share some some more Exciting news, and we're gonna get ready to start accepting tithes offerings and donations.

So it's gonna. It's a really a big step for us. It's an important step for us. And maybe sometime in the future it might be good to to do some sermons on on tithing and giving because giving is actually a very important part of our worship and It's a it's an expression of trust in our sovereign and providential God, so that's that's Really exciting for and look forward to us being able to do that and of course in Acts 20 35 Paul says all things have I shown you that by working hard in this way We must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive so Just something to look forward to and And In light of this I also wanted to share some important updates Regarding what we've been doing that the elders have been doing so the elders are working to constitute our church with official bylaws and membership applications and.

And.

Requirements and general in particular doctrinal standards for us, and so we're in the process of working through that and The elders we also discussed and are have come to the agreement and conclusion that we are not going to pursue a 501c3 nonprofit tax status as a church and this is I think really important for everyone to understand because Some of us have also been taking biblical citizens citizenship classes.

And we want to faithfully apply the word To both politics and the public sphere in this area and one of the main reasons why is because under the Internal Revenue Service Code it says all section 501c3 organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in or intervening in Any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for elective public office.

Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position verbal or written made on behalf of the organization in this case the church In favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity.

Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes and Really what this means is that it's basically government hush money to keep the church Silent and from speaking the truth to power in the public sphere.

So and this is not to mention that the IRS itself is a very corrupt Organization and it violates all of the constitutional checks and balances that we have in our country. Especially the separation of powers the executive judicial and legislative branches.

It's it's not it's not good. And so The 501c3 status is a brazen violation also of the First Amendment and of the church's obligation to be salt and light to an unbelieving world. The First Amendment of the Constitution reads Congress shall make no law no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech Or of the press or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble, etc.

There you See very clearly the Bill of Rights prevents in fact the government from interfering with religion. Not the other way around it does not prevent the church. And in fact, it protects the the ability for the church and for individuals to speak against government in freedom of speech.

The Church’s Duty to Speak on Politics and Corruption

So God's ministers are obligated to call out immoral politicians and to warn the church about their ungodly agendas in Mark 8 15 Jesus cautioned the disciples saying watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod so Herod was the political ruler of the time and What Jesus was saying was to beware of their hypocrisy.

Beware of their hypocrisy beware of their false teaching and beware of their ungodly and Antichrist agendas. This is something that as a church we are called to do. Jesus furthermore called Herod a fox he named names he called names and he called him a fox because he continually sought to kill him from his birth and Christ pronounced judgment on Jerusalem and its rulers including Herod and the religious leaders in Luke 13.

So there is no neutrality with God. You cannot there's no such thing as Sitting on the fence or neutrality with God. Matthew 12 30 says whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters and this also applies to politicians and to politics as well.

So we cannot afford to be silent or to be neutral on issues that are clearly moral and clearly affect us as individuals our society and the church and. Or nor should we stay quiet about political corruption just for some hush money, right?

So in Luke 3 9. Luke 3 19 also It says but Herod the Tetrarch who had been reproved by John the Baptist for Herodias His brother's wife and for all the evil things that Herod had done. Added this to them all that he locked John up in prison.

So John the Baptist also Called out the evil things all of them all the evil things the immorality that Herod had done and but but but John so both John the Baptist and Jesus rebuked the immorality of the politicians and we must do the same Democrats or otherwise both John and Jesus obviously disapproved of Herod and we should likewise disapprove of immoral or corrupt politicians and their policies or actions and.

This is something that we've already done as the church like I've already called out president Biden's immoral policies on abortion illegal immigration and LGBT. And I also believe that we would have an obligation a biblical obligation to admonish you Not to vote for a single one of the elected County Commissioners or the county judge.

Because they are hypocrites violating their oaths to God who pray in vain to him during public meetings for guidance. While continuing to promote Antichrist agendas of abortion LGBT and enslaving residents with exorbitant and still rising property taxes.

So.

That concludes our public service announcements. Just wanted to get that off my chest. Alright, so now now for the for the subject matter. Here in the bulletin. It says that we're going to. I'm going to start preaching through first John and.

Why First John Is a Difficult Book to Preach

To be honest, actually I struggled for a while what what What should be my very first book to preach through and I I kind of wrestled with it. And I figured I would try to start with something that's simple and familiar with something light and easy.

Right, so.

So I ordered materials for the the first John the letter of first John and the first one I read was a W Pinks commentary and This is what he says in the introduction the closing books of the New Testament as their position indicates Require their expositor to possess a fuller knowledge of God's Word and a more mature spiritual experience.

Then do the earlier ones. The style of John's epistle is quite different from that of the other Apostles being more abstract and for that reason more difficult of apprehension and elucidation. Wonderful, so We still feel very unfit for the task upon which we are now entering.

But if we wait until we deem ourselves spiritually qualified, it will never be a say. Not only is John's epistle much more difficult than his gospel Which is manifestly designed for babes in Christ though, even the fathers never outgrow it and the other apostolic writings.

But it does not lend itself to it does not lend itself so readily to exposition of expositions of equal length so and he Concludes here it is perhaps these for these reasons that comparatively little has been written upon this epistle.

Scarcely anything during the past 50 years during that time. So far as we know none of the Puritans attempted a systematic exposition of the same for N Hardy's from 1665 scarcely comes under that category yet this portion of God's Word is equally necessary Important and valuable for his children as are all the others though what they are likely to get out of it will largely depend Upon their acquaintance with all preceding books and with their constancy and intimacy of their communion with the trium God.

So man when I read that it's like Lord. What on earth did I get myself into? So please bear with me and pray for me as we plow through this and I do want to thank God of course in his word and a spirit and for the meaning the means of faithful men Such as pink and other faithful men who have labored to explain God's Word to his church Which is the pillar and bastion of the truth.

So we are going to take advantage of every resource We can get our hands on to really make sure that we are Preaching faithfully and understanding the word as God intended it to so Lord willing we'll get through this.

Theology, Exegesis, and the Need for the Whole Counsel of God

Now.

The most important issue when preaching through the Bible is basically twofold is to preach is to explain the text and It's theology or doctrine. We have to we have to really do both. Gordon Clark and his commentary on first John says the third type of difficulty.

The most frequent the most important and basically the only one that really matters is the theological. The Apostle John is telling us various things about God. In the very beginning he announces his subject as the logos the same logos with which with whom he opens his gospel and We want to understand what he says.

This is theology. This is the study of which God is the object. John wants to tell us about God. And I hope we all want to know what he meant. So that is our goal. And as for authorship of Who wrote the letter.

Now it's no author is explicitly mentioned similar to Hebrews and that makes things a little bit more difficult to Determine who wrote it, but most.

Most.

Christian scholars conservative scholars and in the testimony of the early church. Attests to the fact that it was indeed John the son of Zebedee. The same author of the fourth gospel and of second and third John.

So that is what we are going to Assume here. And It also follows the gospel of John very closely in style and diction and content and also shares common themes with the other letters of John.

And.

It was likely written after the gospel Because first John seems to assume familiarity with it and alludes to teachings in it that are more fully expanded in the gospel and We will need to refer back often to the gospel of John Which I think was very neat and it's very good in edifying because Tim is also plowing through That gospel and preaching through it.

So it'll give us a nice synergistic effect as we both work through this together and Tag team through it and so. And it was also likely written before second and third John as well because of the content and some of the events that were going on and based on the letters of Ignatius and Polycarp.

Ignatius of Antioch was an early church father and Polycarp was a As well, he was a polycarp of Smyrna and their criticisms of similar false teaching that John alludes to was more developed which suggests that the date the dating of first John was likely in somewhere in the 90s AD and More than likely prior to the year 110, which is when Polycarp and Ignatius Wrote their material their letters.

So as for style and content First John is not like a typical letter of this time Because it lacks a salutation or an address to a particular church or individual it lacks an introductory greeting or even a final greeting and It was therefore possibly considered to be a circular letter to be read by several churches and not just one but I think and I think Clark makes a good point about this that John very likely grasped some of the significance of what was going on when the New Testament was being written by them and I think John Had some grasp of the reach and influence that his ministry and writings would have Knowing that future generations of believers from all over the world would also read and believe it.

Especially because he consistently uses phrases to include Gentiles like Cosmos Right Cosmos the world. God so loved the world for he loved his only begotten Son that kind of thing. He very often employs that kind of language suggesting the universality of God's God's desire to for for everyone to to hear and to believe his word.

The letter also has no linear progression which makes it a little bit difficult to outline and.

Preach.

So and another difficulty is that first John summarizes his teaching With categorical statements that sometimes assume or presuppose a broader understanding of the word. Also known as the analogy of fide or the analogy of faith.

Without giving explanation or specific examples So it makes sometimes a lot of assumptions that we are have the responsibility to understand ahead of time. It does however repeat and emphasize several key themes several things are emphasized.

And.

These these themes tend to be presented in this letter in contrast. The first would be and there's no particular order in which this is presented. But one of them is truth and error truth and error. Another is the gospel and false teaching.

The gospel false teaching love and hate. Love and hate life and death Light and darkness.

And.

Another major theme is assurance and Assurance our assurance of salvation. Knowing that we're saved is also presented by way of contrast such as those who walk in darkness and those who walk in light things like that and first John 5 13 and we can turn there first John 5 13.

It's gonna Touch on.

Assurance there, so.

First John 5 13 says I Write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. This is one of the express purposes for why? John wrote his letter and that's an important theme that we're going to come back to throughout the letter.

Another Major theme is discernment. John is teaching us discernment discernment of both doctrine true doctrine false doctrine and of lifestyle. Christian lifestyle saved lifestyle biblical lifestyle and sinful lifestyle.

Holy lifestyle sinful lifestyle and Another major theme the final one here is God theology like Clark says theology proper God and Antichrist that's another major thing that John touches on and John is also going to refute and warn about false teaching and Antichrist the spirit of Antichrist and Another type of one major issue that John is dealing with is a false teaching known as docet ISM.

Docet ISM was an early church heresy That had several variations concerning the nature of Christ specifically his humanity. Generally, it taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body That he was not really incarnate and that's where the Greek word docale which means to seem or to appear.

That's where the word comes from docetic docet ISM. This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil. That God could not be associated with matter and that God being perfect and infinite could not suffer.

So The basic principle of docet ISM was refuted by the Apostle John in 1st, John 4 2 through 3 Which says by this, you know the Spirit of God every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God and This is the spirit of the Antichrist of which you have heard that is coming and is now already in the world.

So.

Yeah, and and docet ISM was also condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 415 one which is where we get the Chalcedonian Creed from as well that deals with Nestorianism among other things and so. This early ancient history we still find today very prominent in Some in some religions and cults one of them being Islam.

In Islam the Quran teaches a form of docet ISM as well as Christian science in the Quran surah 4 157 through 58 it says. And the Jews were also condemned for boasting. We killed the Messiah Jesus Son of Mary the messenger of Allah.

But they neither killed nor crucified him it was only made to appear to do so. Even those who argue for this crucifixion are in doubt. They have no knowledge whatsoever only making assumptions. They certainly did not kill him rather Allah raised him up to himself.

In other words Allah raptured him before he died and Allah is mighty all-wise. So the popular belief among Muslims is that a conspiracy was made to kill Jesus. But Allah made the main culprit who betrayed Jesus look exactly like him and then he was crucified in his place and so Jesus was raised safe and sound to the heavens.

And Muslims believe in the second coming of Jesus as well, but it's obviously it's a very different Heretical view that the scripture does not teach similarly in Christian science. Which is a basically like a Christian cult in Science and health with key to the scriptures.

That's the book that Mary Baker Eddy wrote who was the founder of the movement. Says this his disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was hidden in the sepulcher sepulcher. Whereas he was actually alive.

Demonstrating within the narrow tomb the power of the spirit to overrule mortal material sense. Jesus students not sufficiently advanced to fully understand their master's triumph did not perform any wonderful works.

Until they saw him after his crucifixion and learned that he had not died. This convinced him of the truthfulness of all that he had taught. Jesus unchanged physical condition after what seemed to be death was followed by exaltation his exaltation above all material conditions and his exaltation explained his ascension and so on.

So this is a major major heresy as ancient as it is continues to manifest itself in other movements and religions. If Jesus was not actually crucified then we are still in our sins and he is not our Savior and there is no forgiveness for sin and The gospel is false and we are people most of all to be pitied like Paul says.

So this is why it's damnable heresy and fundamentally denies the gospel the power of God unto salvation through the vicarious and death of Christ Jesus. This is why John adamantly defended the true gospel against the stoicitic and Antichrist heresy in his letters.

Now there are also some doctrinal controversies difficulties in 1st John. But most of them are Resolved can be resolved by properly interpreting the passages in light of the entire letter and in light of a sound Systematic theology that encompasses the whole counsel of God.

That's something that we've stressed greatly. The elders of the church we stress greatly that we need the whole counsel of God. We need to interpret and understand the Bible in light of the whole not just the immediate context, which is important but also in light of the rest of the scripture and This is also why we've adopted as a church The the Reformed Baptist standards so the Baptist confession and the Baptist catechism For our church and read them and we read them each Sunday and we also consult the wisdom of godly pastors and teachers of the church both past and present who are sound and have Done a good job of explaining God's Word accurately.

The Opening of First John and the Meaning of “That Which Was from the Beginning”

So now we're going to turn to the main text here in 1st John chapter 1 verses 1 through 4 and To be honest, we're probably not going to get past the first verse because this is it's this is a little intense.

But we're gonna we're gonna try to work through it plow through it. So if we turn to 1st John chapter 1 starting in verse 1 That which was from the beginning Which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands.

Concerning the Word of Life the life was made manifest and we have seen it and Testified to it and proclaimed to you the eternal life Which was with the Father and was made manifest to us that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you.

So that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ and we are writing these things to you so that our joy may be complete. So this letter immediately opens with an interpretive challenge.

What is John referring to in the beginning where he says that which. What does he mean by that which was from the beginning? That's the question for us to answer right now. That which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon also Would be better rendered contemplated which we have contemplated and have touched with our hands.

Concerning or namely the Word of Life. So the question before us again is what does that which was from the beginning. Refer to the logos. What was what is this referring to? Is this referring to Christ?

But Christ in what sense is it referring to Christ pre incarnate. Before he was incarnated or is it referring to Christ in the flesh? After the incarnation or is it referring to something else? Is it referring to a message?

Because he's talking about proclaiming something. Is it talking about a message the message of salvation or is it? Maybe all of them so verse verse 1. Some some have been led to believe that first one alludes to the beginning of the gospel of John.

So if we turn to the gospel of John here John chapter 1 verse 1 We see that John is using similar language to explain what he is saying about God. He uses very similar language in John chapter 1 verse 1.

It says in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the big he was in the beginning with God. So Here John is describing Christ prior to his incarnation prior to him becoming a man as the eternal son of the eternal Son of God in that state.

So this leads some to conclude that first John is referring to Christ prior to the on the incarnation. However, there's a problem. Because the disciples what John is saying is also saying that they heard.

They heard and they saw and they touched that which was from the beginning. So this kind of rules out that it was referring to the pre-incarnate Christ. Because they can't how can you how can you see in here that which was from the beginning you can't you weren't they weren't there at the beginning Christ then Christ had no beginning.

So there was. That that that passage there was talking about seeing and holding and touching. That seems to rule out the pre-incarnate Christ and More strongly Seems to favor Christ in the flesh right because Christ became a man and.

A.

Man that people can see can touch and can hear and so on. So this is further bolstered by John's opposition to docetism that we just talked about. Right, he's talking about he's refuting the heresy of People who denied that Jesus actually appeared in the flesh and so John is affirming that Christ was truly human whom the disciples had a personal relationship that they could see they could touch they could hear.

And. Now this brings us to another dilemma another interpretive challenge. The challenge here now is what does from the beginning mean? What does from the beginning mean. We have a few options that we can consider.

Does the does from the beginning mean creation. Like kind of like it does in in The gospel of John right in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. So is it referring to creation is a referring to?

Sometime in eternity past with the son and the father. We already kind of talked about that's may not may not be the case because of the fact that it's referring to the incarnation. But uh, if it's not creation, then what does it refer to?

There another possibility is that maybe it's referring to God's first announcement of the good news in Genesis 3 to Adam that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent. That's the first announcement of the gospel called the proto evangelium in Latin.

It's a theological term that the gospel was first announced by God when the seed of the woman Would crush the serpent the devil.

So.

But that doesn't seem likely once again because the Disciple is referring to something that they they experienced in their lifetime.

So.

From the beginning therefore in this case would point to something referring to the time of the New Testament when the Apostles were there they live with Jesus they fellowship with him and something going on during that time during Jesus life on earth.

Incidentally if we go to mark one. So the beginning of the Gospels can help us out a lot here if we turn to mark chapter 1 verse 14 through 15 mark chapter 1 and verses 14 through 15. This I think gives us a little bit of helpful way of understanding this passage.

It says now after John was arrested John the Baptist Jesus came into Galilee Proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

So here you see that the Apostle John is. Seems to be referring to something more in this era in this age or at least in the age of the New Testament when the New Testament was written and when Jesus was alive and the Gospels.

That what the Gospels attest to. The issue here though is that many many have interpreted this passage in a more strictly literal literal sense. That's referring primarily if not exclusively to Christ incarnate only to Christ incarnate.

But that doesn't we have to examine that carefully because John is saying a lot there. That we might miss if we're not careful, is there more to the text than initially meets the eye. Pun intended. The question that I want to leave you with today is.

Is.

John using sense perception seeing touching hearing as Metaphorical language to refer to the logos or the word of life To something other than Christ in the flesh other than something tangible. That is the question that I want us to think about this week and.

Are there some other follow-up questions to consider? Are there other passages that shed light on what John means in this passage? What is John? Emphasizing what is John's point? What is the point that John is making in these passages?

And.

This some some Some theological Method here will help us to Engage in this journey. So the first one is We need to take advantage of something called the analogia scripturae the analogia scripturae or The analogy of scripture which Muller's dictionary defines as the interpretation of unclear difficult or ambiguous passages of scripture By comparing them with a collation or gathering of clear and unambiguous passages or places That refer to the same teaching or event.

So this is one method that we can use to see if the Bible uses sense perception Language as a metaphor and other places in scripture, which will help us to see what John is getting at. Another Theological method that is important to rightly understand the Word of God is called the analogia fide.

The analogia fide is the analogy of faith or the use of a general sense of the meaning of scripture Resting on Romans 12 6 and constructed from the clear or unambiguous places in scripture as the basis for interpreting unclear or ambiguous text as Distinct from the more basic analogia scripturae the analogia fide presupposes a sense of the theological meaning of scripture.

So.

The analogy of scripture is talking about what scripture says more and. The the analogy of faith is referring to what is the theology? What is the theology? T what is it saying? What theology is it teaching and.

In.

Fact 1st John. The letter of 1st John actually makes use of the analogia fide. It makes use of this theological principle or method because it affirms or assumes other teachings in the Bible Such as the Gospel of John and his other writings to be true without explaining them or going into detail in the letter.

It's a much shorter letter than the Gospels are in his other and so it's it's a shorter letter. And he makes a lot of assumptions about other areas of scripture other doctrines. So next week We're going to go ahead and deep dive into the scriptures the whole counsel of God and see what we come up with see what God says in other areas.

And with that, um, let's go ahead and I'll end it here. And we can close with a word of prayer our Precious Heavenly Father. We thank you Lord for the again the opportunity to gather today and to worship as the family of faith.

We ask that you help us Lord to Continue to be sensitive to the truth of your word and to be sensitive to the sin in our life to repent and to mortify of it and to reconcile with others Lord and to really seek to understand as we partake on this journey in 1st John to Make sense of our assurance and our standing before you Lord as Christians and as believers who have been fully forgiven and pardoned by Christ's life and death Lord help us to grapple with these truths and to make sense of them as.

We.

Seek together as a church to understand and to apply your word and to sharpen each other. Lord we thank you father and we've asked that you would bless those who were not able to attend with us today and That you were strengthen us and you sanctify us also in the trials that many of us are enduring.

We thank you Lord and we ask this in Jesus mighty name. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of thorn crown covenant Baptist Church where the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety Has applied to all of faith and life.

We strive to be biblical reformed historic confessional loving discerning Christians who evangelize stand firm in and earnestly contend for the Christian faith. If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area or for more information about our church Sermons and ministries such as Semper Ephraim on the radio and thorn crown network podcast Please contact us at thorn crown ministries .com.

And may the mercy peace and love of our triune God be multiplied to you.