That Your Joy May Be Full | 1 John 1 | Pastor Matt Nettesheim

All right, take your Bibles, if you will, and

turn with me to the book of 1 John chapter number

one. 1 John chapter number one, and oh, I wrestled

a little bit. I'd planned and prepared to start

a sermon series in the book of Revelation, and

I think I got about 90%, 95 % of the way there

on that first message, and wow. conviction for

me, amazing start to the book of Revelation.

But through prayer, I believe the Lord would

have us go through the book of 1 John. And there's

some truths here in the 1 John. I think it'll

be probably a six week series. And then as soon

as we complete the six week series on 1 John,

we'll jump into the book of Revelation. By the

way, just start reading the book of Revelation.

and start preparing your hearts for the book

of Revelation, a tremendous, tremendous book

of the Bible that gives you a glimpse of the

present and gives you a glimpse of the past and

gives you a glimpse of the glorious future we

as Christians have and man alive. We serve a

great God who's given us a wonderful book called

the Bible. Now, we get into 1 John, 1 John chapter

number one, 10 verses. And as you begin to study

this and you read this, you begin to notice that

God, God wants us to have joy. And not only joy,

but as you read this, you begin to realize that

God wants not just joy, but he wants you to have

joy that is full, that you may have joy that

is full. Now we're getting through here a little

bit. First John. written not by John the Baptist.

You remember, John the Baptist was a voice crying

in the wilderness, but there's another John,

John the beloved, one of the 12 disciples. And

John the beloved was used of God to write the

book of John, the gospel of John, used by God

to write first John, second John, third John,

and the book of Revelation. And we're gonna look

a little bit into first John right here, that

your joy may... Now, before we read this, look

at this. I remember having a family member and

oh, not a Christian, but he was always grumpy.

I mean, it didn't matter what was going on in

life. He always had that look and grumpy, grumpy.

It didn't matter if things were going good, grumpy.

At least he was consistent. When things were

going bad, he was grumpy. Now, that's the way

it is for many non -Christians. But Christians,

God desires you and God desires me to live a

life of joy, fullness of joy, joy unspeakable

and full of glory. And God desires you, God desires

me. to have joy. Now, I have no doubt in the

room this morning, many of you, most of you probably

live a life with fullness of joy. Now keep it

up, the Bible's right here is gonna give you

some instructions how to have that joy and how

to keep that joy. But for some of you, you're

Christians and maybe you smile on the outside,

but inside of you, oh boy, there's anxiety, there's

fear, there's anything but joy. What if God,

now this is a question, What if God gave us an

entire chapter to explain how fullness of joy

or joy unspeakable and full of glory is possible

or can be restored? Can I just tell you, he did

give us a chapter in the Bible that explains

with great detail how you not only can have joy,

but fullness of joy. We're gonna study it, we're

gonna look at it. And I believe without a doubt

for some of you this morning, all of a sudden

the light switch is gonna switch and you're gonna

go from a life where there's fear, there's anxiety,

all of a sudden you're gonna go to life that

has fullness of joy. It's gonna be exciting,

let's do this. Let's stand for the reading of

God's word. What we're gonna do is we're gonna

read the first four verses. What I'll do is I'll

read the first three verses to you if you'll

follow along. And then when we get to verse number

four, I want you to read along with me. And here

we go, verse number one. 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, 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. 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 the Son,

Jesus Christ. Ready, verse four? And these things

write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Read it again. And these things write we unto

you, that your joy may be full. This is exciting,

this is very exciting. We're getting things written,

inspired by God, through John the beloved, writing

to Christians, you and me, that we might have

fullness of joy. And I just wanna shout it from

the mountain. Joy is not only possible, it's

what God desires in your life. Fullness of...

And that's the title message, that your joy may

be full. Before we go any further, let's go to

the Lord in prayer. Dear Father in heaven, we

love you. And I needed this message. I believe

the Christians here this morning need it desperately

also. I believe some marriages need this. I believe

some teenagers desperately need this. And I pray

that you help us to see that joy, fullness of

joy is possible. And I pray that you help us

all to decrease, help us to learn something this

morning, guide us and direct us, help us to have

ears to hear. We sure do love you. We need you,

Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated.

Wow. As you begin to look at 1 John, 1 John's

an absolute amazing book in the Bible. And if

you begin to think with me, John the beloved,

used of God in a mighty way, one of the 12 disciples,

And originally God used him to pen the gospel

according to John. And this is interesting, gospel

according to John. Now I would like you to turn

over, if you will, to John chapter 20, the gospel

John 20 · chapter mention

of John chapter number 20. And John the beloved.

John, that disciple who walked with Jesus, talked

with Jesus, followed Jesus in a way, handled

Jesus, got to witness the death of Jesus, the

resurrection of Jesus, John the beloved. And

in John chapter number 20, John chapter 20, look

John 20 · chapter mention

with me at verse number 30, if you will. Look

at this in verse 30. And many other signs truly

did who? Jesus, okay, that's half of you. And

many other signs truly did who? Jesus, in the

presence of his disciples, which are not written

in this book, but these are written, these are

written, that ye might what? Believe that Jesus

is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing.

ye might have life through his name. When we

begin to first of all look at the gospel according

to John, the gospel of John was written that

you might believe. Boy, you begin to study the

book of John. It begins in John chapter number

one. In the beginning was the word, the word

was with God, the word was God. It begins to

tell us that Jesus is God in the flesh. In the

first couple of chapters, you begin to realize

that Jesus is the lamb of God, which, take it

away, the sin of the world. As you study the

book of John, it says in John chapter one, verse

12, but as many as received him, Jesus, to them

gave you power to become the sons of God, even

to them that believe on. his name, believe on

his name. And as you read the gospel of John,

it's a book written trying to lead people to

trust Christ as their savior. It's trying to

lead you and trying to lead me to receive him.

It's trying to lead us, John chapter three, to

be born again. John chapter three, verse 16,

for God so loved the world that he gave his only

begotten son that whosoever believeth in him,

believeth in him, should not perish but have

everlasting life. We study the book of John.

We look at the book of John. It's leading people

to salvation. It's leading people to trust Christ,

accept Christ, to receive the gift of eternal

life, to be born of the spirit, to be born again

and become a child of God. Now really before

we get into the next part of this, it begs the

question, have you been born again? Has there

been a time in your life when you received him?

Has there been a time when you look at John chapter

John 6 · chapter mention

6, he that cometh to me, I will of no wise cast

out? Has there been a time when you accepted

him, you received him, you believed in him, you

trusted Jesus as your only hope for heaven? By

the way, Jesus is the way, John chapter number

14. And there's no way to go to heaven. The only

way to heaven is accepting Jesus Christ, accepting

the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ

our Lord. Okay, we say amen to that. Amen to

that. Amen to that. Okay, you're doing good.

Actually, this is perfect. It's more like this

morning, amen. Amen. Okay, we'll try it over

here. You know, have you received Christ as your

Savior? Not you, them, okay? Them over there.

You got ahead of yourself, okay? Have you received

Christ as your Savior? Amen. Okay, over here,

have you received Christ as your Savior? Amen,

amen, amen, amen. Okay, good, good, good. Have

you received Christ as your Savior? Amen, amen

in this case, okay? Don't be a smarty -pants.

Over here, have you received Christ as your Savior?

Amen. Now it's important, there is a time. Now

is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day

of salvation. If you're here this morning, you're

not sure that you're going to heaven. The only

way to go to heaven, it's not of works, not of

your baptism. The only way is to receive the

gift of life. on him, praise God for the book

of John. Now, the reason I spent time with that

is as you go over to First John chapter one,

go back to First John chapter number one, the

book of First John is given to us for a different

purpose, a different reason. And as you begin

to think about First John, First John is explaining

to you and explaining to me how the children

of God are to live. Now that you've trusted Christ

as your savior, here's the way that you should

live your life. Look at verse number one again.

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. There's so much there, that

which was from the beginning. Jesus was in the

beginning with God. He's looking to God and John's

sort of giving a picture of his years with Christ.

Verse two, 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 so we get to verse

John. John begins to explain to us how the children

of God are to live out their life. Now, live

out their life. I've been born again. I'm a child

of the king. I have been born again. I'm a child

of the king. I received him. I'm on my way to

heaven because of what Jesus did on the cross.

I believed on his name. Now, I need some instructions

this side of eternity how to live my life, how

to live my life for the Lord. Now, sort of, When

we get through this, you're thinking about, we

started with the fullness of joy or joy. Joy,

look at verse four again. Look at verse four

again, the way it's worded. And these things

write we unto you that your what? Joy may be

full. So 1 John begins to explain how the Christian,

the person who already believes can live a life

filled with joy. Now I want you to notice something.

Go to verse number three with me. Go to verse

number three. You gotta see this. That which

we have seen and heard declare we unto you that

ye also may have fellowship. Now fellowship,

say that word with me again. Fellowship with

us, and truly our what? Fellowship is with the

Father and with his son, Christ Jesus. Look with

me at verse six, look at this. If we say that

we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,

we lie. And do not the truth, verse number seven.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the

light, we have fellowship. Now, all of a sudden,

you see a common denominator in chapter one.

You see this word fellowship, fellowship, fellowship,

fellowship, four times. It begins to talk about

fellowship. And I wanna just park there on that

word fellowship for just a moment. What exactly

is fellowship? We have over there a fellowship

hall. Well, many people will define fellowship.

They'll say, well, fellowship is eating together

or socializing together or enjoying one another's

company. Now, those are not necessarily bad,

but this is more important as we begin to look

at 1 John, 1 John, and this is key to the rest

of the sermon this morning. It's not just talking

about socializing together. In 1 John, it's teaching

believers how to live out their Christianity.

And it's talking about not just fellowship, but

it's leading us to biblical fellowship. Okay,

biblical fellowship. Biblical fellowship. Biblical

fellowship is fellowship of sharing life together

in Christ. You and I, we participate. We partnership.

We come together today with fellowship. We have

something in common. You and I, we fellowship

around the Savior, the one who saved us. We fellowship

around the common denominator that were saved

by the blood of the crucified one. We fellowship

around the truth found in God's word. We fellowship

because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside

of us. We fellowship because we have eternal

life. We fellowship because we're a part of the

family of God. We fellowship. the thought that

we are children of God because of Jesus Christ.

And so when you all of a sudden begin to see

this word fellowship, he's leading us somewhere.

He's telling us something. He's saying, hey listen,

you what? Well, I'm not trying to get there.

I almost gave it away right there. But fellowship,

he's saying we come together in fellowship. The

main reason we come to church here is not to

socialize around the football game last night.

or we socialize around some hobby that we have.

There's nothing wrong with a hobby or a football

game, but the main fellowship that we're talking

about is fellowship because we have the same

savior, the same salvation, the same spirit.

And it's a common thing in Acts chapter number

two, there were 3 ,000 people that got gloriously

saved and baptized. In Acts chapter two, number

42, it says, and they continued steadfastly in

the apostles' doctrine and in... Fellowship.

Fellowship. Say that word with me again. Fellowship.

Okay. Now, the fellowship, the fellowship of

the believer, the fellowship of the same person

is connected in our shared life with Christ.

The early church did not simply enjoy just getting

around to be with other. They didn't just come

together because we like each other. That wasn't

it. They came together because they fellowshiped

around the Savior, around the Word of God. around

the same purpose, around the Holy Spirit, about

them being believers. The early church did not

enjoy fellowship just around, they shared Christ

together. Now I want to say it again, many people

come to church, they'll come to Chesapeake Baptist

Church looking for fellowship, and they begin

to look out, if they're not careful, that our

fellowship is around sports, or hobbies, or common

interests, or social activities. There's nothing

wrong with those things, but a biblical fellowship.

Biblical fellowship is rooted in Christ. We have

fellowship that's shared together in Christ.

We're walking together with Christ. Go back to

verse number three. I want to show you something

very important, and I think this will help you

just grow in this thought process right here.

Verse three, that which we have seen and heard

declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship.

Have fellowship with who? Okay, stop right there.

Fellowship with us. So all of a sudden he's saying

we have fellowship believer with believer. Fellowship

believers with believers, okay? And that's part

of it, and I'll get back to that in a minute.

The second part, look at the second part. And

truly our fellowship is with the what? Father

with his son. The first fellowship, you can see

it matters, is our fellowship with God. with

the Father and Lord Jesus. And I'm gonna sort

of try to help you illustrate this. If you think

of fellowship in a vertical manner, our fellowship,

vertical is God fellowship. Each and every one

of us in here this morning needs to have a vertical

relationship with the Almighty God. That includes

salvation, yes. But it includes a walk with God.

Walking in sun, light, all of my journey. God's

saying that for you to have this fullness of

joy is where we're getting at, or this joy to

the full right there, there has to be some fellowship

with the Heavenly Father. You have to, as an

individual believer, have fellowship with the

King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, there is

vertical fellowship, but there's also horizontal

fellowship. That is fellowship with the believers.

But let me say, sometimes people come to church.

And they come back, and by the way, it's a hospital,

come to church, and I want you to come to church,

but when you come to church, and you come to

church, and you've neglected that vertical relationship

with God, and you're living in darkness and sin,

you may come to church, but you're not gonna

make much of a difference horizontally with the

believers around you. You understand that? So

the fellowship that he's talking about, he's

leading us to, is a vertical fellowship where

we daily walk with God. We daily read the Bible.

We daily go to God in prayer. We daily go to

God and say, God, my life is yours to control.

God, I give you my life. Today I want to do your

will. And we have a relationship. Then you get

to church. And all of a sudden your fellowship

is you bear one another's burdens. You exhort

one another. You encourage one another. And there's

fellowship around the centrality. around the

truth found in the word of God about us being

saved by the blood of the crucified one. We experience

fellowship because we share Christ together.

Yesterday was a great day. Deacons, trustees,

we load up in my van, we drive down to the region

around Ohoskie, and we get out there, Brother

Barry, you met us with coffee, which was a blessing.

We went into that church and we dreamed, we dreamed.

about a church being planted, people being gloriously

saved by the power of the gospel, people getting

baptized, people under the preaching of God's

word. And there's something about that fellowship

that we had yesterday. Brother Gray says to us,

let's go tell some people about Jesus. And we

went out to the community. I met this man named

Timothy. I gave him the gospel. It was an absolute

amazing time. First of all, because the deacons

and the trustees, we had a fellowship, a vertical

fellowship with God. We prayed, we studied our

Bible, we were trying to live for Him. Then all

of a sudden it works out in our fellowship together

horizontally with the believers right there.

And I'm saying, not to get ahead of myself, but

it's hard to look back at yesterday and see anything

but a fullness of joy. A fullness of joy. So

we go in this, this is where sometimes people

don't understand. Fellowship, fellowship is more

than just a relationship. When a person trusts

Christ, he is born into the family of God. I've

quoted it several times, but John chapter one,

verse 12, but as many as received him, Jesus,

to them gave him power to become the sons of

God, even to them that believe on his name right

there. And so when you trust Christ as your Savior,

you become a child of God. That relationship

is established by God. Now, listen to the statement.

A child does not become a child every morning.

He wakes up a child because he's a child. Likewise,

believers do not become God's children every

day. They're God's children because of the new

birth. So a relationship gives you a place in

the family. Relationship gives you a place. When

you're born again, you're in the family of God.

When you're born again, the Holy Spirit dwells

within you and you're a child of the King. You're

sealed, Ephesians chapter one, until the day

of redemption. So listen to this, but fellowship

is something different than a relationship. Fellowship

is the enjoyment of that relationship. For example,

a father and son may still be family while not

enjoying closeness. The relationship may remain,

but when a father and son are butting heads,

they have a relationship, father, son, but when

the fellowship is not right or the close is not

there, the fellowship suffers. The son is still

the son, but there's something wrong in the fellowship.

Now for you and I as believers, we believe, we're

in that family of God, but the closest to God

depends upon fellowship. A relationship with

God is established by grace, but fellowship with

God must be maintained by walking in the Spirit.

Extremely important as life change you when you

begin to look at that. If you're saved by the

blood of the crucified one, praise God, you have

a relationship with God. But fellowship. with

God brings joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Fellowship, a closeness to God, walking in sunlight,

all of my journey, thinking about the great God

that created me, that guided me, and you have

that vertical relationship where you talk to

God. Then, or you don't have a relationship with

God, distance then replaces your closeness. You

begin to hide from God rather than be open with

God. Fear is replaced, or your fear, your joy

is replaced by fear. So here's a statement. A

relationship gives you a place in God's family,

a relationship. Fellowship is the daily enjoyment,

enjoyment of that relationship. That word joy.

Fellowship is the daily. enjoyment of that relationship.

Okay, another way, a relationship is being God's

child, but fellowship is walking closely with

your father, your heavenly father. Wait a minute,

a relationship is established by the new birth.

You must be born again. But fellowship needs

to be maintained by walking in the light. That's

why fellowship, is such an important truth. John

in First John is not merely discussing salvation,

he's discussing you being close with God. He's

discussing you in a daily walk with God, enjoying

that relationship with God. And if fellowship

is important, think about it, fellowship is important.

And I've already gotten there, I didn't mean

to do it like this, but without fellowship, you're

not gonna have any joy. Without a fellowship

with the Almighty God and by the way your fellowship

with believers If you're not first and foremost

that vertical closeness with God fellowship with

God You're not gonna make a big difference in

the people around you that that's why I often

well a husband is supposed to lead his family

for the Lord, but he doesn't have an individual

personal relationship with God and the family

suffers because of it if we have a church filled

with people we have thousands of people, but

nobody in the church is close with God. What

are we doing? What are we doing? The idea is

we as individuals, we have fellowship with God.

You get up and you read the Bible. You talk to

God. You say, God, I want to give you my life.

And I'm repeating that because it's important.

Then when you come to church, next thing you

know, woo, fellowship with the believers. It's

glorious and wonderful. So let me ask you this.

If fellowship is so important, and it is, What

helps our fellowship and what hinders our fellowship?

The answer's already there. It's in the Word

of God in this chapter. But think with me, what

help, if fellowship is important, and it is,

you wanna have joy, you need a fellowship with

God. You want joy, you need a fellowship with

other believers. But if it's so important, what

helps your fellowship? and what hinders your

fellowship. This is important right here. And

okay, look with me at verse number four. Look

at verse four. And these things write we unto

you that your what? Joy may be full. This then

is the message which we have heard of him and

declare to you that God is light and in him is

no. darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship

with him and walk in darkness, 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, the son

cleanses us from all sin. What helps our fellowship

is walking in the light. Walking in the light.

Boy, this book is a powerful book. I'm just saying,

this is an absolutely an amazing book. It's true

from beginning to end. It is a life -changing

book. It's a glorious book. It's a lamp into

my feet and a light into my path. And we ought

to have a hunger and thirst after righteousness,

which is found in the word of God. It's sort

of like bread. Bread, you think about, I like

fresh -baked bread. How many of you like fresh

-baked bread? But this is the bread of life.

And you get to devour this bread of life, and

you don't even get fat. I like bread, but it

makes me fat. But this is the bread of life,

and we can chew on it, we can study it, we can

read it, we can come to church and hear the preaching,

or we can go to Sunday school and hear the teaching

of it. This is a life -changing book. And the

Bible says to walk in the light of God's word,

walking in sunshine all of my journey. And listen,

here's a point, here's a point. What helps you

to have that fellowship with God? What helps

you with that fellowship with other people? Make

sure that you daily walk in the light of God's

word. Boy, there's a lot of things this side

of eternity that keeps you away from the light

of God's word, the light of God's word. I talked

to a man yesterday as we're witnessing a guy

named Timothy and asked him if he was to die

today if he'd go to heaven. He said, I don't

even know. He said, I don't even know what I

believe. He said, I used to go to church when

I was a kid, a Baptist church. And he said, one

time me and my brothers, we snuck out of the

church and we hid from the pastor over there

in the car right there during the sermon right

there. But somehow he stopped the church, came

out and he knew where we were, drug us back in

there. Those pastors, they know where you're

at. They're gonna go get you. They're gonna get

you. But then he said, you know, in today's world,

he said, and he began to list some of the things

that he was listening to. and some of the things

he was listening to on both television and the

internet, YouTube videos, and over and over again,

everything he mentioned was something that was

adamantly against the word of God, leading him

away from the word of God. And he said, I just

don't know. What he's doing is he's walking in

darkness. Boy, there's no joy, there's no hope,

there's no fulfillment, but we as Christians,

We need to walk in the light of God's word, read

God's word, study God's word, listen to the preaching

God, walk daily in the light. To walk in darkness

is dangerous. To walk in sin is dangerous. Next

thing you know, we walk in darkness, we skip

our Bible reading. we watch something we shouldn't

watch, we listen to something we shouldn't listen

to, listen, we skip going to church, we do this,

next thing you know, boy we're no longer walking

in the light and we're hiding from God over here

and we wonder why inside of us, by the way, be

not drunk with wine wearing his exes, but be

filled with the spirit and when all of a sudden

we do sinful things, we give in to press down

the spirit that lives and dwells inside of us

and we wonder why we're miserable. We wonder

why we're miserable. Well, the fullness of joy

is possible with a walk in light. But number

two, I want you to notice this. I want you to

notice this is extremely amazing the way God

put this in here. I want you to see this. Look

at verse number eight. If we say that we have

no what? We deceive ourselves and the truth is

not in us. Okay, if we say that we have no sin.

Okay, look at verse number nine. If we confess

our what? Okay, we confess our sins. Now, this

is interesting. The issue that John has with

believers, it's not an issue whether we ever

sin or not. The issue is what believers do after

they've sinned. If you just hear me out on this,

believers sometimes struggle with sin. Sometimes

you don't think right. Sometimes you don't say

things that are right. Some things you don't

walk in a way that pleases God, and that's called

sin. Okay, in the book of Romans chapter seven,

the apostle Paul said it like this. He said,

that which I would, I do not, I do not. And then

he said, there's no more I that do it, but sin

that dwelleth in me. And he begins to talk about

the battle of the flesh and the spirit. Then

the apostle Paul says this, O wretched man, not

that I was, but a wretched man that I am. For

example, I have no doubt this section right over

here. I have no doubt this section. I have no

doubt this section. And I have no doubt this

section. There's somebody in that section. You

thought some things you shouldn't have thought

this week. You said some things you shouldn't

have said. You did some things you shouldn't

have done. That's called sin. It's not if you

sin, but here's the thing. When you sin. Now,

this is important. When we think about that,

the issue is not perfection. Fellowship, when

we talk about fellowship, is not perfection.

This is where many Christians struggle. They

think, if I sin, fellowship is forever gone.

But John says the opposite. He's assuming that

we do sin. So if we confess our sins, and he's

telling us what to do, and what he's telling

us to do. Well, first of all, when you sin, look

at verse number eight, if you say it. If we say

that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Okay,

when we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

The first thing right there is don't lie to yourself.

Don't deceive yourself. Many Christians saved

by the blood of the crucified one live a life

of sin and they get in the habit of deceit. Well,

it's okay. It's just the way the world is today.

And they lie to themselves. They lie to themselves

about all sorts of issues. We won't go into the

issues. It was not really that big of a deal.

Well, sin is a big deal. So rather than confessing

their sins, they deceive themselves. They make

an excuse for sin. They begin to live lives of

sin. They begin to justify their sin. But no,

no, no, no, don't deceive yourself. Sin is exceedingly

sinful. Sin is destructive. When you live a life

of sin, you lose fellowship with God. When you

live a life of sin, you lose that fellowship

with others. Okay, we got that, right? Amen.

The second part, it says in verse number nine,

and you ought to memorize this. This ought to

be in the forefront of your mind. You ought to

hide it in your heart. It says if we confess

our sins, if we confess our sins, he is faithful

and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse

us from sin. all unrighteousness. Here's what

he's saying. Fellowship's important. Brings fullness

of joy. But as soon as you sin, as soon as you

have that sinful thought, don't wait a week to

confess it. Don't wait a month. Don't wait a

year. Immediately say, God, I'm sorry. I should

not have had that thought. It was displeasing

to you. I wanna honor you with my life. God,

forgive me. All of a sudden, there's a fellowship,

that vertical fellowship, and God says, I forgive

you, restored fellowship. There's joy unspeakable

and full of glory. Boy, you do that action where

all of a sudden, somebody angers you, and man,

life, they shouldn't have done it. I don't know

if you'd ever do that, but you might do that,

okay? And you shouldn't have acted that way.

Okay, some of you actually did that this week.

I can see it in your eyes this week. But as soon

as you sin, stop. And boy, hang your head in

some ways and say, God, I shouldn't have done

that. That was sin against you, God. I knew I

went against your will. Father, up in heaven,

forgive me. But one of the reasons it's written

that way, and I wanna say this from a mountain,

I'm gonna say it from a mountaintop right here,

is sometimes you sin and you don't confess that

sin. And that one sin leads to you, well, I already

sinned, I might as well go farther. So you take

a deeper step into sin, and a deeper step into

sin, and a deeper step into sin, and a deeper

sin. And this getting deeper into sin leads you

far away from the great God that loves you. Your

fellowship is gone, and the joy unspeakable is

gone inside of you. So immediately it's saying,

confess your sin. He is faithful and just to

forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness. Glory, glory, glory. Back to

verse number four, if you will. Verse number

four. And these things right we unto you, what?

That is absolutely Amazing. It is. You can have

joy. Joy, how? Fellowship with God. Fellowship

with, somehow have fellowship with God. You're

saved, have fellowship with God. Somehow listen

to him, talk to him, say Lord my life is yours

and give over your thoughts to him. And then

all of a sudden. that leads to, and by the way,

it's not a side note, but it's a side, it's what

the really Christian's life is all about, is

making a difference. One of the greatest things

we ever do as Christians is fellowship with other

Christians. That's verse three, it is. And I

want to, it's hard not to say this, it's not

really the sermon, but it is a sermon. Going

to church, fellowship among believers, it's not

a have to go, but wow, it's one of the highlights.

for a Christian. It's one of the joys. I look

forward to Sunday. Matter of fact, Sunday morning

wasn't enough for me, Brother Jerome. I had to

get Sunday morning twice, early bird service

11 so I could have some more. Not you guys, but

I did. I love church, the fellowship. And the

fellowship with the believers is to exhort one

another. And so much the more as you see the

day approaching. And boy, you know, one of the

things in the church today, And this is not a

gripe, it's just reality. So many churches today

believe in less church. So they no longer have

their midweek Bible studies. They no longer have

their Sunday night services, because nobody will

come anyways. And why don't they come? They don't

have fellowship with the Father. But when you

have fellowship with the Father, this is one

of the highlights of your life, is the creation

that God gave us, the church. The church where

we get to encourage one another, help one another.

By the way, it's part of the church. You come

in here, you're right with God. You all of a

sudden see your brother or sister in here that,

boy, has had a hurting week. You can encourage

them, strengthen them, help them, and really

be a blessing to them, bearing one another's

burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ.

What does it lead to? Leads to that joy unspeakable

and full of glory. What does it lead to that?

Joy may be full right there. This is why, this

is why. Don't think that church, church, church,

okay, your hobby, great, great, great, good.

I like your hobby. Nothing wrong with a hobby.

But it's not the main thing here, church. Jesus

is. And sports, woo, glory. Have fun with your

sports. Nothing wrong with that. But that's not

what brings us together. Christ brings us together.

In this side of eternity, make sure your fellowship

is right with God, fellowship's right with God,

then fellowship with believers and give it a

test. I believe out of shadow of doubt, you follow

that simple plan, that simple plan, fellowship

with God, fellowship with believers, you're gonna

have joy, fullness of joy. Let's pray. Dear Father

in heaven, we love you. I could have gone farther.

We don't think we need it at all. I think everybody

understands. I do pray for certain situations.

the person here who's never accepted you as their

savior. This message does not help them unless

they have been born again, helping to realize

their need to receive you and receive that gift

of eternal life. I pray for the many Christians

that are here that have fellowship with you every

day, that have fellowship at church, and I pray

that you help them to remember this sermon, remember

this truth found in 1 John as the days go by.

and when they maybe get sidetracked. But no doubt,

God, there's quite a few people here who are

here, but they don't have joy. Help them to just

follow the guidelines of this chapter. Work on

their fellowship with you. Work on their fellowship

with other believers. And I pray decisions are

made this morning. We need you, in Jesus' name,

amen. Stand with me if you will. moment the piano

and the organ are gonna play, and I've already

said it, but decision, I do believe, and can

I just just say I'm thankful for Sunday morning

people, Sunday morning only people, you're wanted

here, you're needed here, but I've actually praying

that some of the people that just normally come

on Sunday morning will start making a decision,

say I'm gonna try Sunday night, I'm gonna give

it a whirl. because I'm gonna have fellowship

with God and I can come make a difference in

something. The Midweek Pick Me Up service, Wednesday

night, is one of the greatest services in the

history of a church. It's amazing. I pray some

decisions are made saying, Pastor, I'm gonna

give it a whirl, but make decisions this morning

as the piano and the organ play. If you're here

and you've never