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Bro. Otis Fisher
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."
Well what beginning is John talking about? There's three in the Bible, two of them are rather obvious.
The first is found in Genesis 1 .1, in the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth. Now that's an undated beginning.
We do not know when he created the heavens and the earth. Some scientists are moving away from the older dealing, older dating of the earth and are settling for a more recent date.
Well Genesis 1 .1 will fit either theory. A new earth or an old earth, since it's not dated.
Until you're ready to accept that fact, you're not prepared to read very much further, because the remainder of the
Bible rests upon that first verse. Did God create this, or is it a happenstance?
It is ridiculous to think that the universe just happened. The probability of life originating by an accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary originating from an explosion in a
French shop. There is intelligence behind this universe in which you and I live.
As to the date of the beginning, we do not know. But if you need a few billion years to fit into your scheme of things, it's here because we are dealing with God of eternity.
Although I don't know what he was doing before he created the heaven and the earth,
I know he was doing something. I've often thought about what was God doing before he made this earth.
I don't know. Then God created the heavens and the earth, and he did it for a purpose.
He is working out a plan in his little universe today, which is bigger than both you and me.
God recorded his act of creation. He wasn't trying to give us a study in geology.
However, he put a lot of rocks around if you want to date them. There's a second beginning, which we find in the word of God.
It was the first verse in John's gospel. Who knows what that is? Quote it for me,
Clarence. John. All right.
That's close enough. There's a second beginning, which we find in the word of God.
It is the first verse in John's gospel. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was
God. He alludes to this. The same was in the beginning with God.
Then he comes to the act of creation. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
Go back as far as you can think, Verge. Go back beyond creation.
Go a billion years beyond that. A trillion years. Out of eternity comes the
Lord Jesus Christ. Way back there he is already past tense.
He is the ancient of days. Notice that John has written in the beginning was, not is, the word.
In other words, this is a beginning that doesn't even have a beginning. He had no beginning.
In beginning was the word means that you can go back in the past as far as you want to, put down your peg anywhere, and Christ comes out of eternity to meet you.
That's big stuff. More than my mind can comprehend. I'm unable to grasp the immensity of it till I come to John 1 .14.
He begins with a description of the person of Christ, which is
Jesus, whom he makes one and not two, and both are
God, from everlasting. For he was with the Father from the beginning, and is that eternal life.
And also made true, whom John himself and his companions both heard, beheld, and handled.
I heard him speak. I saw him myself with my own eyes. I have handled with my hands him that is true
God. Being made true God and not I alone, but others also that were with me.
That same everlasting word by whom all things are made, and in whom only is their life.
And the word was made flesh. That takes me back to Bethlehem where he was born, and begins to catch on a little bit now.
The third beginning is the one we begin with in 1 John 1 .1, that which was from the beginning.
This refers to the time Christ came into this world at Bethlehem.
Jesus is God's Christ, and our
Jesus. 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. Now Bill, you are either in Christ or out of Christ.
You're either in eternity or out of eternity. You cannot be both.
Your fixed boat is in or out. Three.
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. I've got to stop here and ask, what does he mean?
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you may have fellowship with us.
Bill, what does he mean, so you can have fellowship with us? All right.
To have fellowship with Jesus Christ, you've got to be in him. You're in him by receiving him.
The church of today, for the most part, lost the true meaning of fellowship. You hear an announcement from a pulpit announcing the church banquet.
That's fine. You'll be urged to come for food and fellowship. They mean fellowship like meeting around the table and talking about everything under the sun, except the one thing that would give them true fellowship, the person of Jesus Christ.
Fellowship, cornia, means having in common or sharing things in common.
And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full. That's why
John wrote the book. You have already tasted that the Lord is good, but I'm now going to show you the height of your
Christian calling, that your happiness may be complete, thoroughly cleansed from all sin and filled with the fullness of God.
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.
Virg, if you have no darkness at all, well, let me ask you this. How many have been in a cave deep inside and they turned the lights off?
Well, that was daylight to what darkness is gonna be. No darkness at all in Christ.
Phos, F -O -C -E is the word for light of truth and its knowledge, neither with the spiritual purity associated with it.
Rays, light revealing, light reveals dirt, flaws and impurity.
If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and the truth is and we know not the truth.
We lie and do not the truth. He does not say and speak not the truth.
He says we do not the truth. There's a twofold lie, the lie of the lips and the lie of the life and the latter is the louder.
They lie because they do not the truth. The sum is that a profession of piety and religion accompanied with sin and unsuitable and unsuitable walking is odious hypocrisy abhorred by God and man.
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.
If we walk according to the light that God has given us, is that statement true or false,
Virg? No, you need to listen to it.
If we walk according to the light that God has given us, is that true or false?
He does not say, let me back up, but if we walk in the light not according to it.
We walk in the light that's shining all around you. He does not say according to the light, it is in the light.
The important thing is where we walk not how we walk. If you're in the light you'll do right.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourself and the truth is not in us.
Did you ever make a mistake? If you did not have, if you did you have not reached the plane of perfection yet because all mistakes are sins.
I'm talking about the mistake, the purity of the word.
A mistake is not doing your best. Now, Russell, how did you know that you did not do your best?
Alright, it is not doing your best.
It may be a mistake to all others, but if we did our best, it's not a mistake as far as I'm concerned.
This does not mean you're simply a liar. It means you do not even have a grain of truth and we deceive ourselves if we lie.
If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
You're in his family. You have lost your fellowship with him, but you can have your fellowship restored if you confess your sin.
He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins. After we confess our sins, what does
God do? I can't you confess.
No. What do we do after we confess our sins? What does
God do? Alright, could you say he cleanses us?
That's right, and he supplies the Holy Spirit. In the parable of the prodigal son, when he came home from a far country, the son was smelling like a pig pen.
You don't think the father would have put a new robe on him and him all dirty and ragged, do you?
Smelling like a pig pen? No, he gave him a good bath.
The next week, the boy didn't say, Dad, I think I will be going to a far country and end up in a pig pen again.
No, not that boy. When you have confessed your sins, it means that you have looked at your sin from God's viewpoint.
It means that you have said the same thing. That's what confession means. Sin is a terrible thing.
God hates it, and now you hate it, but confession restores you to your father.
10th verse. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and the word is not in us.
Now, I beg of you, don't make God a liar. Why don't you go to the
Lord and just open your heart and talk to him as you would anybody or no one but him.
Tell him your problems. Tell him your sin. Tell him your weakness. Confess it all to him and say to your father that you want to have fellowship with him again, and he will serve you.
He has made a marvelous, wonderful way back to him. Are there any questions?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Well, wrong. You really should have just put it away and said it to your dad. Then let's stand and we'll go home.