I. Assurance of true fellowship is found in obedience to the Commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3-4

1 John 2:3-6 “Assurance of Fellowship”

When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school. That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it. “Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?” they offered. And later, “Fruit Stand, how about a snack?” He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?” He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word “Anthony.

There is an old adage for assuming which I will not speak of today, but I will say assuming is worthless! Friends, do you know that you know?

Do you have assurance of your salvation? I have met many Christians who struggle with this and one of the underlying factors behind this doubt is preaching… The preacher says, If you can’t recall the very date and time you were saved then you need to question your salvation!

John doesn't write this letter so that you may question your salvation. 1 John 5:13 JOHN WRITES SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

Now, eternal life is the onset of Christianity, but the test found in our text is do you know that you still know Him.... Are you in fellowship with the Lord?

The Gnostics boasted of their superior relationship with God through Superior Knowledge yet they lived like their true father the devil. They showed no interest in keeping the commandments of the Lord. and John shows that such knowledge is worthless.

CPS: Are you living in fellowship with the Lord or are you just assuming since you are a Christian you can enjoy intimate fellowship with Him at your own convenience.

I. Assurance of true fellowship is found in obedience to the Commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3-4

This is how we KNOW (4x) Him and still KNOW Him, if we KEEP (3x) His commandments. John challenges the Gnostics who boasted of their superior knowledge of Christ yet they made no attempt to obey the commands of Jesus Christ. You know the one who knows Jesus by their continuous keeping of Christ’s commandments, not by loud talking and loose living.

A. The one who knows Jesus keeps His commands

•To know and still knows (To know intimately “understand completely” (Absolute knowledge)

•To keep on keeping (Observe/Obey)

•Commands - What is written (Love God foremost and Others)

•Not faultless perfection

The great misunderstanding in life which is true for Christian fellowship, is not that we find freedom but that each soul finds his/her master. When the master is found one’s will is yielded then we find that obedience is not burdensome but is for our good. The commands of Jesus are to protect us and for provisions.

Ill: High school guy who wanted to go swimming with his girlfriend at midnight. The neighbors down the block had a pool, and he knew it. So they ran down there and scaled the fence even though there were No Trespassing and Do Not Enter signs. Just as he hit the diving board, the girl yelled, but it was too late. There was only a foot of water in the pool. He broke his neck

He didn't realize that signs on the fence - the precepts - were there to protect him.

B. The one who claims to Know Him and does not keep the commands does not know the Lord, that person is a liar like his father is the devil. (Gnostics)

•liar (one who tells lies, that is his nature)

•Truth (not living according to the Gospel)

II. Assurance of true fellowship is found in obedience to the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. 5

Fellowship is more than a brevity of knowledge or even superior knowledge, the proof of fellowship is that we love the Lord. Our love for Jesus is realized in obedience (John 14:15, 23) Keep on keeping the Word (logos) is the desire to not only obey the commands but to desire to do the things which pleases the Lord.

Suppose a fellow comes home from school and his mother says “Billy, I want you to be sure to take out the garbage for me and I want you to wash the car.” These are specific commands. If he wishes to obey his mother he will do what he is told.

But, suppose the next day Billy comes home from school and over hears his mother talking to a friend. His mother says, “well I’m not feeling so well today, I wish I had someone to clean up the house for me. I wish I had someone to wash the dishes for me.” so, Billy cleans up the house and washes the dishes for his mother-not because he was commanded to but because he loves her and wants to do not only her commands but her word! [Jerry Vines]

In this person the love of God and been perfected (completed), He walks in fellowship with the Lord by His love for the Lord. This person is in Him.

Perfected (Telos) used in John 19:30

III. Assurance of true fellowship is found in living a life patterned after the Lord Jesus Christ. 6

There is a progression seen here, Commands, Word, Walk and Know, In, Abide. The test of fellowship is seen in the form of living what you profess. If you say you abide “dwell, stay, reside” with Jesus then your action will reflect Jesus in your life. His life set forth in the Gospels are to be our pattern.

•pure

•loving

•faithful