Why Are We Here? (3)
Working On A Building • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture Reference:
Good morning, Church!
I want to welcome all of our visitors today, as well as those who are watching online. Welcome to Allons Baptist Church!
We have been walking through a series titled “Working On A Building”. Our base text that we are using comes from 1 Cor 3:9-17. Paul describes how the Church is “A Building” of God.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
He says that he has laid the foundation of this building, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are to continue building this building. It is an ever-growing, ever-expanding building.
We started this series by asking the question, “What is this place?” This building… right here. What is this place? We determined from Scripture that we, you and I, are the temple of the Lord, and the Lord lives in us. He does not dwell in this physical place, but in His people. But this building does have spiritual significance. It is sanctified, set apart, for the purpose of Godliness. Since the people of the Lord are the building of the Lord, and this building was built by the people of the Lord to serve their purpose in following Him, then this building takes on the purpose of the people who inhabit it. This physical building exists to bring glory to God!
We then moved to our next and current question, “Why Are We Here?” Why do we come to this place? What is the significance of being here… multiple times a week?
We looked first at how we are here to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, we encourage you to bring an unchurched person with you to this place. Each week, the Gospel will be presented in some form or fashion, and an opportunity for those people to respond will be given. So invite your family, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors. Invite anyone and everyone who will accept an invitation. We are here to lead the lost to Jesus Christ. We will also teach you how to do that yourself, so that when you leave this building to go be the building that God has called you to be, that you will be equipped to share with others the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Last week, we looked at how we also come here to praise and give worship to our heavenly Father. He is worthy of our praise and worship. We looked at how praise and worship both have the same purpose, which is to make much of God, but both have very different postures. Praise looks like this (hands up), while worship looks like this (bowing down). We provide opportunity for both in every service. We are expected to do both.
Context
Context
Today, we are moving on to the next reason for why we are here. And that is for the purpose of Christian Fellowship.
Often times when talking about this topic, people will say “Fellowship & Communion”. The word communion is only in the Bible 4 times, and when you look at the original Greek word that “Communion” is translated from, it is the exact same Greek word that “Fellowship” is translated from. That means when you read the word communion in the Scriptures, it is the exact meaning of the word fellowship.
For that reason, we are going to focus on the idea of Christian Fellowship.
So what is Christian Fellowship?
Fellowship - The act of sharing in the activities or privileges of an intimate association or group; especially in the sense of marriage and church congregations.
So when we say Christian Fellowship, we are not just speaking of having casual conversations. Those are great, but true fellowship goes beyond that. Notice that the word is defined as being on the level of marriage. This kind of closeness does not take place by meeting once a week, but when brothers and sisters devote themselves to one another.
I want to show you what this looked like in Jesus’s life, and I believe what this should look like in our lives as well.
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In order to unpack this idea of Christian Fellowship, we are going to look at 1 John 1:1-4
1 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, concerning the Word of life—
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
Let’s Pray!!
Content
Content
1 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, concerning the Word of life—
John starts his letter by pointing to the One and only Jesus Christ. He begins by explaining the unbelievable experience that he and eleven of his closest friends in the world had by getting to know Jesus. The stories that he could tell would be unbelievable to the non-believer, but he really doesn’t care. He was there… they were there.
He watched the man crippled from birth rise and walk; He watched the blind from birth gain their sight; He watched a fig tree wither in an unbelievably quick timeframe simply because Jesus commanded it.
He watched as Jesus walked on water, controlled the weather, multiplied bread and fish, and even cast out demons.
He was there when Jesus told Peter where to throw the nets and how many fish were caught; He was there when Jesus stayed the hand of the religious executioners towards a woman caught in adultery simply by writing something in the dirt.
He was privy to the “Behind the Scenes” information that many others were not. He saw the private conversations with religious leaders; He saw Jesus tell others what was on their mind before they ever even spoke a word; He watched as demon-possessed people would fall at His feet and call Him Lord; He noticed the amount of time that Jesus spent in prayer; He noticed the private devotion to God the Father that Jesus had; He noticed how Jesus always seemed to know the way, even though He had not been ahead or received messages from anyone about who would be there or what was taking place.
He was there the day Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and nailed to a cross; He stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus took His last breath, the sky turned dark, the earthquake split the temple, and graves burst open while dead people were raised once again to life.
He was there in the upper room when Jesus reappeared for the first time after being dead for three days; He saw the nail scars in Jesus’s hands and feet.
He was there when Jesus ascended into heaven and the angels gave them their final instructions.
He was there in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came down and filled Him up; He felt its power, witnessed its gifts, and knew full-well what it meant to be full of the presence of God.
John had as close of a relationship with Jesus as anyone in the flesh ever did. He says here, “I’ve heard Him. I’ve seen Him. I’ve looked upon Him. I’ve touched Him.” He witnessed enough to say with confidence that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Word of life.
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
This Jesus, whom we have seen and witnessed in action ourselves, is eternal life. Notice that this is the emphasis.
John could have went into detail explaining much of what He witnessed in Christ. They all could have. But they really didn’t. They shared some of the amazing things that Christ did, but none of them just sat down and said, “I’ve seen this… and this… and this… and this.”
That’s exactly what someone today would do. We would immediately start keeping tabs on all of the miraculous things that Jesus did.
But to them, it wasn’t about the miracles. They were important of course, because they helped prove who He was, but they were not the most important thing. The most important thing was that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
He came to set them free from the bondage of sin so that they could live a new life in the freedom of the Spirit. They had passed from death to life. They had been born again. They now had an assurance of salvation like never before. This was the most important thing.
That is why John words this verse this way. He says, that eternal life, which was with the Father, has now been made known to us.
And… (Verse 3)
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Now we see the purpose for why John is writing this. He is not just sharing his experience with us so that we might marvel and be in awe. He is sharing this experience with us so that we might join in that experience with him.
He is saying that we too can know Jesus, the same way that he knew Jesus. We can experience this eternal life, just as he has experienced this eternal life. He says, “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us.”
This is our greatest desire, to know Jesus on such a level that we can declare as John is right here, that without a doubt Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, the Light that shines into our darkness, the salvation that we all seek, the freedom to our oppression, the deliverance of our chains, and the peace to our storm. And John says, you can have it to.
This great truth is the foundation of Christian Fellowship. Christian Fellowship is built around Jesus. That is what makes it so great. When we as brothers and sisters in Christ come together and share our sufferings with one another, and then share our deliverances with one another, and then share what Christ is doing in our lives right now with one another, it takes this idea of fellowship to a whole new level.
The relationships formed are no longer based upon preferences, tendencies, hobbies, and things of the like, but on Jesus. It brings a level of unity to the brethren that otherwise could not exist, because the thing that unites us is outside of us. Though we are vastly different in personality, we come together in true fellowship because we are made one in Christ.
Now we can start to see how completely different people such as ourselves can enjoy such a closeness, one that is even compared to marriage, in Christ. As God takes a man and woman, who are vastly different in almost every sense of the word, and weaves there lives together in unity in the Holy bonds of matrimony, we too, as Children of God, are woven together through the Holy Spirit of God to operate as one.
We are one body with many members. Each has its own function, but each is equally important.
We are one building, all built on the name of Jesus Christ, serving as a hospital to the broken, a refuge to the oppressed, a school to those in training, a safe haven to those who need escape, a place of encouragement to those who are down, a place of accountability for those who lose their way, and a place that heralds the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who will listen.
Notice how John words the last part of this verse. “… and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
He is saying, “To have fellowship with us, is to have fellowship with Him, because our fellowship is totally and completely built on Him.” Without Him, we wouldn’t have the fellowship that we have.
Without Christ, I would have never even been brought together with these brothers of mine. It is only through Him, that we even know one another. And it is definitely because of Him, that we are united with one another.
So to be in fellowship with me, is to be in fellowship with Christ. And this fellowship will be the greatest source of joy that you have ever known:
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
You will never experience a greater bond, a greater love, a greater dependability, a greater source of encouragement, a greater peace, and yes a greater joy than to be in fellowship with the Father and His children.
So why do we come here? We come here to experience the Godly blessing of being united with fellow brothers and sisters in true Christian Fellowship.
Now, these next verses explain to us how this works:
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
When Jesus came, He shared with us the things of God. We learn of who God is by looking at Jesus. Jesus was God in the flesh. He showed and taught us everything we need to know of God in the flesh. And this is one of those amazing truths that He laid before us.
God is light!!
Now what does that mean?
When we look at this word, “light”, it speaks of not just light in general, but rather of something that is a source of light. So what John is telling us here is that God is the source of light.
I do not find any coincidence in the fact that the very first thing that God did in creation was commanding that light shine into the darkness. “Let there be light” are the very first words that are recorded of God in the Scriptures.
It’s amazing what affect that light has on things:
It’s honest
We say, “shine light on the situation”. We are talking about revealing the truth. Under the bed may look clean as you walk by, but when you get a light and shine under there, you see how dusty and dirty it really is. When you turn the light on in a room, you see the marks on the walls, the dust on the decorative items hanging from the wall. Light is honest. It reveals the true nature of a thing.
It’s captivating
Things are naturally drawn to the light.
Bugs naturally go to light.
Plants naturally bend and open up to the light.
It is pure
Light cannot be defiled. You can shade it, even cover it up, but you cannot defile light itself. Regardless of what you do it farther downstream, at its source, light will always be pure.
It is powerful
Compared to darkness, it is no contest. Light always wins! Now matter how dark a place is, light always prevails. What’s more, is that only a small amount of light is needed to overcome a vast expanse of darkness.
When placed against one another, darkness has to flee. Even now, if you look at the floor in front of you, you will see that darkness is hiding out under the pews. It is running and hiding because of the light that is being emanated from these lights here in the ceiling.
And in terms of the spiritual life, God is the source of light:
His light is honest and true. It reveals the things of darkness and brings to light those things kept in secret.
His light is captivating. We are just as naturally drawn to the light of God as a moth is to a flame. We crave the light of God as plants do. When it shines into our lives, we open up and stretch towards it as much as possible.
His light is pure. It is completely undefiled and will always remain that way. No matter what man does, nothing will ever change the fact that God is perfect in every way. “Holy, Holy, Holy” is the song of angels as they fly around the throne room in Heaven.
His light is powerful. Regardless of what forces come against Him, God will always come out on top. Satan tried it and failed. Many men have spent their entire lives solely bent on proving the nonexistence of God, yet He remains as powerful and true as ever. Many men have spent their entire lives trying to rid this world of the existence of God. They have burnt Bibles, churches, and even Christians at the stake, yet God still reigns supreme. No matter the darkness of this world, the light of God will always be more powerful.
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Those are words of consistency. Those are words of trustworthiness. Those are words that faith can be built on.
Just as God first spoke of light in this physical world, He does so in our souls when we surrender to Him. The very first thing that God does when we are saved is turn on the light. He sends the Holy Spirit to live in each of us, and as He does, being the presence of God Himself, the light gets turned on.
Now, we are not just receiving the light, we are the light.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are light bearers of God most high. Once we have received the light, we are given the most amazing privilege in all of Creation… which is to bear the light of God. We get to shine into the darkness of other’s peoples lives as God moves and works within us to do so. And remember this, regardless of how little of a light you think you are, the smallest amount of light can overcome a great amount of darkness.
Now here’s why Christian Fellowship is so important. From time to time, all of our lights have a tendency to grow dim. Regardless of the reason why, we will all from time to time drift in our relationship with God. I’m not saying its ok to do so, I’m simply stating a fact.
But when I regularly place myself in the vicinity of others who are shining brightly, their light shines upon me too. It encourages me to lean in close once again and bear the light of Almighty God with honor and dignity. It encourages me to shine brightly.
***Walk through these verses explaining each one and the significance of them
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Commitment
Commitment
As we come to a close today, remember that we are entering into a time of worship. This is the time we get to come and bow before our Heavenly Father to:
Repent of some sin that is in our lives.
Give Him thanks for all of His many blessings.
Ask for wisdom to handle the road ahead of us.
Ask for strength to be who He has called us to be.
or maybe just to praise Him for who He is and what He is doing in our lives.
Regardless of the reason, each and every one of us have something in our lives that we could spend some time talking to the Lord about. We need to get away from this idea that Invitation is only for those who need to be saved. It is for that, and we will speak to that in a second, but it is for everyone. It is an opportunity provided to us to bow before our Heavenly Father in a posture of submission and obedience and get things right with Him, whatever that may look like for you today.
Now for those who may not know the Lord personally, you are not a Christian, you have never truly surrendered to His will and publicly proclaimed Jesus as Lord of your life, this is the time for you to get that right. And please listen to me… it is not a time to be feared, but a time to be welcomed. The Almighty God of the universe loves you so much that He has provided every means for you to know Him and be saved from the power of sin in your life.
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
