The Fellowship of the Gospel!

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. κοινωνία

κοινωνία

DID YOU EVERY HAVE A ONE SIDED CONVERSATION - most individuals follow a conversation to look for an opportunity to share their thoughts.

Fellowship is the Greek Koinonia (Participation in)

an exchange of communication/ideas with both parties participating in agreement

Fellowship of the Incarnation (God with Us) (Vs. 1-2)

Verses 1-2

In the Beginning; The Word of Life

John 1:1–5 NASB95

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Heard x3; Seen x3; Looked x1; Touched x1; Life Manifested

John 1:14 NASB95

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The world's longest night took place in A.D. 1752. This was the time of the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. People went to bed on September 2 and when they woke up it was September 14. That was truly a long night, but far longer was the night of sin in which we all lived until Jesus Christ "brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel."

Fellowship of the Apostles (Apostles with the Father and Son) Vs. 3-4

Testify; Proclaim x2; Write (for the purpose of Fellowship)

Verse 3

Romans 10:14 NASB95

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

Verse 4

Our Joy vs. Your Joy

Romans 9:1–3 NASB95

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,

The Fellowship through Revelation Vs. 5-6

Message; Heard; Announce; God is Light!

Light Reveals False Fellowship

Verse 5-6

James 1:22–25 NASB95

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

1688 It is not sufficient for a Christian to walk in the light of his conscience; he must walk in a sterner light, in the light of the Lord.

Oswald Chambers

The Fellowship Through Relationship (Vs. 7)

Converse Fellowship (Fellowship with God, walk in the Light; means fellowship with the Apostles)

Brothers and Sisters in Christ – Can I get a witness?

Romans 6:23 NASB95

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Luke 8:21 NASB95

But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

The Fellowship of Forgiveness Vs. 8-10

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr.; Tony Evans

Heresy of Licentious Principles and Practices (Maybe the Nicolotians)

John 8:44 NASB95

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

the church in Ephesus

Revelation 2:6 NASB95

‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

church in Pergamum

Revelation 2:14–15 NASB95

‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Hebrew Balaam from Bala (he Swallows) am (people)

Greek Nicolas Nike (he conquers) laos (people)

Balaam Covets and Consumes

Nicolas Compromises and Controls

Today’s equivalent

They now possess spiritual life, which can never be taken from them; and, because of the unchangeable nature of the life that they presently possess, they reason that they can conduct their lives in any manner which they choose, and it will make no difference.

Blood of Jesus Christ makes us the same

Sinners Saved by Grace and a Child of the King

Believers are to confess their sins in order to obtain a day-to-day cleansing (1Jn 1:9). This sort of forgiveness is a simple washing from the worldly defilements of sin, not a repeat of the wholesale cleansing from sin’s corruption that comes with justification.

John F. MacArthur

Romans 7:24–8:1 NASB95

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:18–20 NASB95

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

Practical Illustrations: 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude 12-166: Jesus Is the Light of the World (Light)

Jesus Is the Light of the World

LIGHT

1 John 1:1–5

(POSB, Note 5)

The world has become accustomed to the darkness of sin and shame, but God’s light is totally pure. There is no darkness in Him. Therefore, His light reveals our imperfections.

When the new technology of high-definition television came on the scene, it had an immediate effect on how things were done in the studio. Low-tech television had such poor picture resolution that the visual details of a studio did not show up on the screen. Actors and newscasters wore thick pancake makeup to hide wrinkles, moles, and blemishes, but the makeup was invisible to the relatively crude camera. Fake books rested on shelves, and cardboard backdrops with painted wood grain stood as walls. Still, with low-tech television, the viewer was none the wiser. Says Jim Fenhagen, a set designer who works for the major networks, “With old TV, you can get away with murder.”

But high-definition television, using high-resolution digital technology, changed all that. The studio camera picks up everything from scratches on the desk to blemishes on the skin. That has forced a change in how things are done.

When we come to God, we come to the one who sees us as we really are. We must be completely truthful with Him.48

Has God’s light filled the dark rooms of your heart?