Knowing Him by Walking in Fellowship

Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.

Sermon Manuscript: From Fleeting Thrills to Lasting Joy

Text: 1 John 1:1–4
Theme: Fellowship with God through the Word of Life, leading to full joy

 

Opening and Welcome

Good evening everyone. It’s such a joy to see you all this evening. What a wonderful time of music we’ve had. You know, the song we ended the singing session with—“The Love of God”—was introduced to our assembly, Hillview Bible Chapel, about four or five months ago, and it has been one of my favorite songs. It’s a song we all look forward to every time it’s offered or sung.

How many of you are really, really glad that you’re here this week? Really, really, really, really glad you are. Good.

How many of you are feeling fresh right now?

Okay. A lot of you are being honest, and I really appreciate that. Because when I was preparing for my session earlier this evening, I saw a lot of joyful laughter and roars of excitement here in the building—which means you all had some really great fun. Now what that means is, I don’t know how many of you will be fresh right now, being tired both from the travel and also from all the excitement.

But I’ll tell you what: I would like for you to be fresh and awake in the last one hour. Would you do that? Yes. Okay.

I don’t want to see anyone taking a siesta. I think it’s there on the agenda sometime down the week—but not right now. And I’ll tell you this: if I see someone taking a short nap or something, what I’m going to do is I’m not even going to look at you—I’m going to say, someone in that part of the room today, maybe on the third row and the second person from the right, I think is somewhat dozing off. No, I’m not saying—I’m just giving an example of what I might be saying.

So if you are excited and want to be fresh this evening—and if you don’t want me to say anything like that—next one hour. All right. Next one hour. Is it one hour? Maybe we are running out of time right now. I’ll see what we can do to end as early as possible.

Certainly very delighted to be with you all. This is the day that I’ve been praying for and waiting for for so many months, ever since I was asked to consider being a speaker for this retreat. And I brought with me Daniel. I’m sure a lot of you have met Daniel already. He’s really a fun guy. He’s pretty excited as well for a different reason—you can ask him why he’s excited. I don’t think he’s going to sleep tonight.

 

Why I Love This Age Group

You know, I love this age group. And the reason is: I got saved when I was 15 years old. That was many, many moons ago.

I was in a camp like this—not necessarily for the young people, but the session I was attending was for young people. At the end of the conference, end of the session, there was the gospel that was shared, and a call that was given for people to consider taking the Lord Jesus Christ as they are, or accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I certainly was living a rebellious life before the Lord, and somewhat of a rebellious life towards my parents. But that day, I yielded my life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I have never regretted that decision that I made on that day.

And I’m praying for your time in Malaysia this week that you will all have a meaningful time—primarily in the Word of God, primarily knowing the Lord Jesus Christ more—but also knowing each other more, and having a deeper fellowship because of this conference.

And I pray, if there is anyone who has not come to that saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, my prayer is that you would come to that relationship and that fellowship which we’ll be talking about throughout this week.

 

Prayer

So I want to invite you to turn your Bibles to 1 John chapter 1. And as we do that, I want to commit this time to the Lord and seek the Lord’s blessing in a quick word of prayer.

Our Father, we come before you, before the Word of the truth, and before your Word, Lord, that you have given to us—that you inspired—and you gave it into our hands in a language that we can understand and appreciate. So Lord, we ask that you would open our eyes, open our hearts, that we’ll be able to appreciate the Word of God. We pray that the Spirit of the Lord will help us understand the depths of God’s Word this evening, as we commit ourselves to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

The Uniqueness of 1 John

How many of you have read through the First Epistle of John this week, having come prepared for this week? It’s an amazingly wonderful book.

You know, every book of the Bible is critical. One way to discover how important each book of the Bible is, is to ask a question like this: What would we miss if that book weren’t in the Scriptures? Or put it in very short words: what is the uniqueness of this book? What would we miss if First John was not there in our hands this evening—or in the Scriptures?

Hopefully, by the end of the week, you’ll be able to appreciate the value of First John—the epistle that John wrote for us. And I’m really thankful for the committee for choosing First John as the book for this week.

I’ve been feasting on First John for the last three, four months, as I’ve been spending a lot of time in it.

 

A Guiding Question for This Week

As we begin our series this evening, I want you to think of this question:

What turns a fleeting thrill into a lasting joy?

You know, there are many thrills in our lives, isn’t it? Many excitements in our life that are not necessarily very long-lasting.

A long-awaited vacation. A big win of our favorite soccer team or football team or famous basketball team. Excitement when you get a new gadget—something you’ve been waiting for for a long time—and you get it as a Christmas present. The birth of a child in a family. Visiting a dream location.

But many of these thrills, as you can imagine, does not necessarily last for a very long time. Some of them do, I understand, but some of them not necessarily.

So what turns a fleeting thrill into a lasting joy?

What I would say is: the impact of that thing, or the impact of the place you went to, or the person you met—the impact that they leave in your life—is what is going to take the fleeting part of it into the lasting joy part of it.

Illustrations: Thrills That Fade

When I think about thrills, three places come to my mind that I saw for the first time.

Niagara Falls

The first place is Niagara Falls. I remember going there for the first time. I had heard about it for a long time—the sound of Niagara Falls, you can hear it miles away; the amount of water that gets poured from these lakes; and you can see it from both the Canadian side and the American side.

When I went there, it was certainly very, very thrilling. You really have to go if you have not—you can plan for one of your vacation trips.

Grand Canyon

The second place that I went to that was so exciting is the Grand Canyon—one of the largest canyons in the world. It’s super amazing. It’s breathtaking when you park your car and you walk and walk and walk, and all of a sudden you see this open space with this deep gorge and this deep canyon, and you’re like, “Wow, I can pitch my tent here for the rest of my life and really adore the beauty of this place.”

Yosemite National Park

And then the third place that comes to my mind is Yosemite National Park—about a four hour, four and a half hour drive from our place. One of the prettiest places, the most beautiful places in this entire world. The first time I saw the valley there—the place on the top is called Half Dome, people can climb—I don’t know Daniel, have you been on Half Dome? Not yet. Okay, maybe you’ll go one day.

When you see this beautiful granite rock called El Capitan, and you see this beautiful valley, and the rocks—the humongous rocks—it’s like there is no place on earth like this.

These are thrills. These are excitement. These are joys, isn’t it?

But I remember telling my family after maybe an hour or two, “Is it time for us to go home?” Not that I don’t like the place, not that I don’t want to go back again, but that excitement seemed to have come down after looking at it for some time.

But there are certain things in our lives—based on the impact that these things have brought to our lives—the joy can be for a very lasting time.

 

Reading the Text: 1 John 1:1–4

So when we come to 1 John chapter 1, we see John as a very, very, very excited guy.

Let’s read the first four verses.

1 John 1:1–4
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard and what we have seen with our eyes and what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made full.”

Now you cannot imagine John writing or saying these words in a very boring way. John was excited.

What was from the beginning!
What we have heard!
What we have seen!
This is what we are trying to proclaim to you.

 

Who Wrote 1 John?

Now by the way, we know this is John’s epistle. But how do we know John wrote it? John does not introduce himself like Paul does.

There are two ways you can find out.

1) External Evidence

External evidence meaning outside of the Bible: the book was accepted by what are called the church fathers—people like Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyril of Jerusalem. These people knew and wrote that this epistle was written by John the apostle.

2) Internal Evidence

Even though John does not say his name, he says things like:
“What we have seen… what we have heard… what we have touched with our hands.”
That gives away that this was someone who was so close to the Lord Jesus.

And there are similarities to John’s Gospel—“In the beginning was the Word…” and 1 John starts with very similar language. Revelation has similar language as well. And throughout this epistle, you will see apostolic authority.

 

What We Know About John

So what do we know about John the apostle?

John was the younger brother of the sons of Zebedee—James was the older brother, John was the younger. John’s mother’s name was Salome, a wonderful disciple of the Lord, present at the crucifixion, and one of the women who offered spices to anoint the body of the Lord Jesus in Mark chapter 16.

John and James were likely the Lord Jesus’ cousins. And the Lord gave them another name—Boanerges, meaning sons of thunder.

What does that mean? These guys were very active, very zealous, very explosive—pretty volatile. On one occasion in Luke chapter 9, the pair wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans to avenge an insult.

They didn’t want to take a chance.

But then the Lord changed John. He went on to become the beloved disciple—the apostle of love—someone who was leaning on the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ. A brash, self-assertive man became a very confident follower of the Lord Jesus, fully convinced beyond any questions that Jesus is the Son of God.

John is a great example of what the love of God can do to an individual.

John became part of the closer circle—Peter, James, and John. In Gethsemane, on the mount of transfiguration—John was there.

And John also was a trusted disciple. Remember Jesus on the cross—He entrusted His mother to John: “Behold your son… behold your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

God gave John an important prophetic ministry—the book of Revelation. Imagine what the Scriptures would be like if there was no book of Revelation. It would be incomplete, wouldn’t it be?

John later became a pillar of the church in Jerusalem, and then moved to Ephesus. He was about 80 or 90 years old there, and the Lord used the last part of his life to write the Gospel of John, the epistles of John, and Revelation. He was exiled to Patmos, where he wrote Revelation, and history says he returned to Ephesus. John was the only apostle to die a natural death among all the apostles.

 

Overview of 1 John: Big God, Warm Shepherd, Clear Contrasts

Today we’re doing an overview of the book and getting into the first four verses.

One highlight: apostolic authority—phrases like “we proclaim,” “we have seen,” “we testify,” “I am writing.”

Also we see a shepherd’s heart. He uses “little children” about seven times.

John portrays a grand view of God. He calls Him the Word of Life. He calls Him Light. He calls Him an Advocate. He calls Him the propitiation for our sins. God is love. God is faithful. God is righteous.

John was a man who had an intimate life with the Lord—one clue is his love for the word abide. There are five chapters in 1 John, and he uses “abide” 24 times. Combine the Gospel of John and the epistle of John, and “abide” appears 67 times.

Abide means to remain or to stay.

And in this epistle you’ll see sharp contrasts: light and darkness, truth and lie, love and hatred, obedience and disobedience, children of God versus children of the devil, life versus death, the Spirit of truth versus the spirit of error.

John also talks in absolutes. For example, 1 John 3:9—“No one who is born of God practices sin…” and we’ll see why he speaks that way.

 

Where and Why John Wrote This Letter

Where is John writing this letter from?

Option A: Jerusalem.
Option B: Ephesus.
Option C: Malaysia.

Option B. That’s right—Ephesus.

Ephesus was the capital city of the Roman province in Asia, located near a harbor at the mouth of a river in western Asia Minor. Ephesus was known for its big amphitheater—about 50,000 people could be seated there. It was also the location of the great temple of Artemis (or Diana), built in 550 BC.

Why are these details important? Because they tell you what kind of spiritual influence was there in that city. There was a lot of false religious influence, and false teachings were creeping into the church.

The Threat of False Teaching: Gnosticism

One major heresy creeping into the church in the first century—even during John’s time—was Gnosticism.

Gnosticism was built on the false premise that all material is evil and non-material is good. They said you don’t just need Jesus. You need salvation, yes, but you also need intimacy with God through some sort of spiritual enlightenment.

And how do you get that enlightenment? Maybe through visions, angelic visitations, trips to heaven, spiritual experiences. So what they were doing is: you can have salvation, but you need extra revelation to truly be spiritual.

Imagine someone in your church says, “Let’s go grab a cup of coffee… are you intimate with God? Man, you just can’t read Bible only. If you want to know God more, you need to have some vision kind of an experience. And I can teach you that.”

That’s gnostic influence.

Among the gnostics there were two specific groups.

1) Docetists (Denying the Humanity of Jesus)

They denied the humanity of Christ. They rejected blood atonement. And John refutes this kind of doctrine:
“Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God…”

2) Cerinthianism (Denying the Union of the Two Natures)

They said Christ came upon Jesus at baptism and departed before death—so only the man Jesus died. John refutes that in 1 John 5:6:
“This is the one who came by water and blood… not with the water only but with the water and with the blood.”

Water is the emblem of Jesus’ baptism, and blood is the symbol of His atoning death—the two terminals of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.

And here’s the practical danger of Gnosticism: if matter is evil and spirit is good, then people begin to say, “Any practice of sin in the body does not affect the spirit.” Then you can justify immorality—abusing the body, living in sin. That’s why John says sin is lawlessness.

 

An Illustration: “You Can Believe Anything You Want”

When false teachings make their way into the church, you can end up believing anything you want.

There was a man interviewed for a youth pastor position. The committee asked him, “What do you believe about the Bible, and what parts do you like best?” He said, “I like the New Testament the best.” They asked, “What book is your favorite?” He said, “The book of the parables, sir.” They asked him to relate one parable, and he began mixing everything together—Jerusalem to Jericho, thorns choking, queen of Sheba, chariots, hair caught in a tree, ravens, Delilah, forty days and nights, Jezebel thrown down seventy times seven, twelve baskets full—and then he asked, “Now whose wife will she be on the day of judgment?”

Well, imagine a church like this. You can believe anything you want—Old Testament, New Testament, the world, another religion. It doesn’t really matter.

It does not work that way.

 

Modern Echoes of Gnostic Thinking

You might ask: there was Gnosticism in the first century—do we have gnostic beliefs today?

There are people who say you need superior knowledge, visions, angelic communication in order to grow in God.

And today, you see manifestations of gnostic thinking in the world. One example I mentioned is yoga. In the U.S., pretty much every fitness center offers yoga. People don’t realize yoga and spirituality are connected. It comes in under the pretext of stretching and breathing, but the spiritual side is part of the whole meditation technique.

So what do you do when false teachings creep into the church?

 

The Answer: Go Back to the Basics

This is very important: what do you do when false teachings threaten to creep into the church?

Go back to the basics of Christian faith.

That’s what John was fighting for.

The Person of the Lord Jesus

He is the Word of Life. We heard Him. We touched Him. We saw Him. He is God.

The Work of the Lord Jesus

He died on the cross. He is the propitiation for our sins. He is the Advocate in the presence of the Father.

The Nature of God

God is light. God is love. Love is defined by God.

Salvation and Assurance

Confession of sins. Abiding in Him. Evidence of new birth.

You don’t need extra-biblical revelation. Go back to the Scriptures.

Why John Wrote: Reason and Purpose

Any book of the Bible will have a reason and a purpose.

• The reason: why did John write? Because false teachings were present.
• The purpose: what did John want the believers to take away?

Three major purposes:

 

Purpose 1: Fellowship

1 John 1:3:
“We proclaim to you also so that you too may have fellowship with us… and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

John introduces this beautiful word: koinōnia—fellowship, being together, sharing of lives. It is used 19 times in the New Testament and four times in this epistle.

Acts 2:42 says they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers.

This fellowship is with God, yes—but John says, because we have fellowship with the Father and the Son, we can have fellowship with each other.

 

Purpose 2: Christlikeness

1 John 2:1:
“My little children, I’m writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

1 John 3:3:
“Everyone who has this hope fixed in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

John wants us to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Purpose 3: Assurance

1 John 5:13:
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Assurance is a major theme.

And that word know is important.

 

Knowing God: Two “Know” Words

John uses two Greek words translated as “know.”

1) Ginoskō (Experiential/Relational Knowing)

This is growing, personal knowing—like “I know my wife.” Not just facts, but relationship.

Head knowledge: “I know ice cream is cold.”
Experiential knowledge: “I know ice cream is cold because I ate it.”

2) Oida (Observed/Perceived Knowing)

Knowledge that comes from observation—fact-based, data-like knowing.

John wants us to know Jesus—not by magic or “enlightenment,” but because we have true fellowship with Him through the truth.

 

John’s Key Emphases: Life, Light, Love

John speaks about three major areas:

1. Life — He is the Word of Life
2. Light — God is light
3. Love — God is love

It’s also interesting the order: life, then light, then love—both in the epistle and in the gospel.

 

Returning to 1 John 1:1–4: Three Closing Truths

As we come back to the first four verses, three things stand out.

1) The Eternality of Jesus

“What was from the beginning…”

John is not merely talking about the incarnation. He is going back further. Jesus is eternal.

And the eternality of Jesus is denied even today. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am.” That mattered because He is God of eternity. He was from the beginning.

2) The Eyewitness Account

“What we have heard… what we have seen with our eyes…”

Why does John say “with our eyes”? Isn’t it obvious? He’s emphasizing this wasn’t casual. The idea is deep perception—close, careful seeing. And: “touched with our hands.”

Eyewitness account is critical.

3) Eternal Life from Jesus

He proclaims “the eternal life… manifested to us.”

What is eternal life? John 17:3:
“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

To know Him. To know the God of the universe. To be part of the family of God.

 

Final Appeal

So as I wrap up this evening, I want you to answer this question, and do yourself a favor:

Have you known God? Have you known the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you accepted Him? Have you come into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?

We’ll talk about these concepts in detail in the next four days, Lord willing. And may the Lord continue to help us and bless us as we get into this wonderful, wonderful book.

 

Closing Prayer

Our Father, this evening we want to come before you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who is blessed forever. He is the Word of Life. He is the eternal life, and He has given us eternal life. And Father, we are so grateful to you for the Word of God. We are so grateful to you for the epistle of John.

And we want to pray, Father, that you will bless the studies—bless us as we get into this book in the next four days and get into the details of some of the truth that we see in this good book. We pray that you will guide us and help us. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.