“Fellowship With One Another” 1-8-23

Overview

Fellowship With One Another

The opening verses of 1 John 1:1-3 declare a startling reality: the eternal Word—the One who was "from the beginning," echoing John 1:1—has been heard, seen, beheld, and even touched. John names four ways the apostles encountered Jesus: they listened to His teaching, saw Him with their eyes, gazed long upon Him as disciples, and laid their hands on Him, the second person of the Trinity made flesh. And John tells us why he proclaims what he witnessed: "so that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." This is the heartbeat of the church—a fellowship grounded first in the Triune God before it is ever a fellowship among ourselves.

That grounding matters because we live in an age of isolation. Three out of five Americans report loneliness, and the conveniences of modern life—from central heat to personal screens—quietly pull us apart from one another. But Scripture warns of a deeper danger than social isolation: spiritual isolation. Proverbs 18:1 cautions, "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment." When we withdraw, we push away the biblical counsel of brothers and sisters who would love us, encourage us, and even reveal our sin to us. Worse, we can build an echo chamber of our own preferences, becoming the source of our own truth—deciding for ourselves what God is like, what sin is, even whether we need Him at all.

God will have none of that. In Luke 15:3-7, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one who has wandered, then calls friends and neighbors together to rejoice. The searching God draws the lost back into the fold of fellowship with Himself—a fellowship secured by the blood of Christ, sealed in the waters of baptism, and opening into life abundant and life eternal. From that vertical fellowship flows the horizontal beauty of community. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from prison, Christians are "a physical sign of the gracious presence of the Triune God," and inexhaustible riches open up for those privileged to share daily life together.

This vision shapes how we live as a congregation. Against a culture that drifts toward isolation, we are called into the "one another" pattern of Scripture—serving, instructing, praying for, submitting to, encouraging, stirring up, and forgiving one another. Resist the pull of the echo chamber. Prioritize gathered worship, honest relationships, and the means of grace where Christ meets His people. The fellowship John describes is not merely good for our health; it is the joy he writes about so that our joy "may be complete" 1 John 1:4. It is the picture God paints of His church—and by His grace, the picture into which He continues to draw us.

Transcript

Put your open your Bibles, please, with me, to the book of 1 John in the New Testament. 3s

That is on page 211, if you're using a Pew edition this morning of Holy Scripture. 8s

1 John, the very first chapter for our study today. 15s

We begin a new sermon series that's going to extend several weeks. 20s

And this new sermon series is placed at this particular time of year with intent. 25s

As we move into the new year, it is really a time of reflection, isn't it? 33s

We reflect on that which has been. 39s

We reflect on that which might be. 43s

We reflect on our own lives, perhaps changes, or that which is new. 46s

It is naturally a time of reflection. 52s

And so we think that this is a perfect time to put this sermon series in. 60s

This time of reflection, because we hope that as a congregation we can reflect with one another 66s

through the lens of Scripture. 75s

On the beauty of the church, the beauty of the church amidst the world that we live in. 79s

God gives us some pictures, pictures for our life together, pictures of the church. 93s

One of the pictures that he gives is the mark of discipleship. 101s

We've studied that quite a bit in the past. 106s

That's an important part of the planning process here. 109s

For we see, what is it that God calls us to do? 114s

Who is it that He wants us to be and how by His grace can we manifest that? 117s

And so those six marks, pray daily, worship weekly, study the Bible, witness to others, 123s

be in relationship to encourage spiritual growth, be a faithful steward of time, talent, and treasure. 129s

We see from Scripture those six marks, and that becomes defining then for us. 136s

Defining for our life together as a church. 145s

Francis Schaefer said that the early church did two things simultaneously. 152s

One was the orthodoxy of doctrine, in other words, correct teaching, right teaching. 161s

And the other was the orthodoxy of visible community, 170s

and so for the next several weeks we're going to turn to some of what are cold and scripture, 182s

the one another passages, the one another passages. 190s

And by God's grace, just as with the marks of discipleship, he pulls us into that picture that He gives us. 198s

By God's grace, we'll see how God is pulling us continually into the picture that He gives 208s

for His church. So the new series, one another, God's vision for community. 223s

We begin today with this topic, fellowship with one another, fellowship with one another. 236s

To look at that topic, I've chosen first John, the very first chapter, beginning with verse 1. 249s

We declare to you what was from the beginning, 258s

coming up pause there. Without going ahead, what in who is John talking about? 262s

Can you figure it out? It's quite evident as you move on into the verse and the verses that 274s

follow here, but we should be able to determine right off the bat right with that first part of that 281s

we should be able to determine who John's talking about. Reflect with me, the gospel, 288s

that John wrote, how did John begin? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the 298s

word was God. You'll notice in all of the scriptures there, whatever translation word is 311s

paralyzed. We're just capitalized there. It's the Greek word logo, simply another designation 316s

for the Lord Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the word of God and John starts out his gospel by saying, 323s

in the beginning was the word. He starts out, first John, and what does he say? 332s

We declare to you what was from the beginning, here we go again, right? Here we go again, 344s

who is he talking about? He's talking about Jesus, isn't he? For who is from the beginning? 354s

But God, he goes on them to say, we declared you what was from the beginning, what we've heard, 363s

what we've seen with our eyes, what we've looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. 371s

And also there's four ways that John highlights, four ways that they encountered the Lord Jesus Christ. 382s

The first, what we have heard, they listen to him, teach, they listen to him, and how he spoke with others. 390s

They learned from that. Simply by what he said, what we've heard, what we have seen with our eyes, 399s

they could see the second member of the Trinity and fleshed incarnate. That's what we celebrated 409s

a Christmas, isn't it? The inflectionment of the second member of the Trinity. They say, we've heard him. 417s

We've seen him, then he says, what we have looked at, glorious word here. 426s

He's not getting at, we see him with our eyes here. Looked at is the word that 435s

best English word, I think, to put on it is behold, that's an elongated gaze upon Jesus. 441s

So in other words, as they went with him, as they were disipalled by him, they watched him, 452s

watched him who he was, what he said, what he did, how he reacted, they watched him with this 463s

long gated gaze. They beheld him. John says, we've heard, we've seen, we've looked at, 476s

we've touched him. The second member of the Trinity, God enflashed, and we have touched him. 489s

Very next verse, simply an echo, really, a reinforcement of verse 1. This life was revealed, 502s

and we have seen it and testified to it and declared to you the eternal life that was with the 510s

mother and was revealed to us. We, we testify to him. And the reason? 516s

Verse 3, we declare to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship 530s

with us. So you also may have fellowship with us. Three out of five Americans say that they're lonely. 543s

We live in a world in which we are increasingly becoming isolated from one another. 577s

Isolated. In a story enough technology, who knew there was such a person. But in a story 588s

of technology wrote, consider the fireplace and consider heat in homes. He went on to say, 595s

in years earlier, the only source of heat in the home was the fireplace, unless you were particularly 604s

wealthy. The only source of heat was the fireplace. So when it got cold, everybody gathered around 609s

the fireplace. He said, when central heat came about, everybody scattered. 618s

Now that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with central heat, right? But it just shows 626s

an implication of what happened. He writes consider the television. It's not a matter with the TV. 632s

Obviously, what's on the TV can be problematic, right? He said, consider the TV. 643s

Like the radio before, the TV initially was the gathering point. 651s

As there was the gathering around the radio, then there was the gathering together around the TV. 658s

But now, now we retreat. Don't we? We retreat with our phones and tablets and laptops. 666s

We retreat into various parts of the house. We retreat. So we can watch what we want to watch. 681s

We can listen to what we want to listen to. Not that central heat's bad. No, not that the 692s

TV is bad. In and of itself, no. But there's implications, right? A isolation. 702s

We can be tempted to confuse online community and communication with relationships. 716s

Have you noticed how with all of the ways to communicate with one another these days, 735s

how it's actually harder to communicate with one another these days? 742s

Harkin back. Harkin back to the landline. Would you? When the landline was the only thing that we had. 749s

When the phone rang, there was a mystery to it, wasn't it? We didn't have color ID, we didn't have 759s

places where you can leave the voicemail. We had none of that. There was a mystery to that, 767s

because behind the ring, it might be the coveted long distance. 773s

And so what did we do? We actually answered the phone! 780s

But today, today, if the number isn't recognized or we just don't want to talk right now, 789s

it's harder to communicate these days, isn't it? With all of the ways we have to communicate with each other? 803s

And we isolate. We isolate. We can be tempted just to not prioritize it in our lives, right? 818s

Just retired. Retired. So we isolate. We pull 833s

back into our world. We know all this, right? We know all this. We know of the importance of social 846s

interaction. We get that. We hear it from the medical professionals that tell us 856s

that it's healthy to have social interaction and communication and to be in relationships with other 864s

people that that is really healthy to be about that. They tell us that and we know that 871s

and we know all of the temptations to isolate. We get that. 878s

So what I want to focus on is a different type of isolation, 887s

spiritual isolation, spiritual isolation. 894s

Proverbs 18th chapter. It starts to get at this. Proverbs 18th chapter. It says this, 899s

whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. He breaks out against all sound judgment. 908s

We read that to you again. Proverbs 18, whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. 918s

He breaks out against all sound judgment. Isolation then equated with 927s

one's own desires and the pushing away of sound judgment. 942s

When we isolate, we isolate from one another. We push away the biblical council of one another. 951s

When we isolate from one another into our own desires, we can push away from the very relationships 967s

that we need where there is that communication, scripturally, of love and concern, of encouragement, 976s

of even revealing our sin. I mean, ponder for a moment. We can create a whole world of our preferences. 990s

We can create a whole world of our preferences. What it is we want to listen to, 1001s

it kind of music, who it is, we want to listen to. We can create our whole perfect world of preferences 1009s

and discard from our world whatever doesn't meet our whims or our fancy. 1016s

The end result of that is we can live in our own echo chamber. We're the only voice that we hear 1024s

is our own or the only voice that we hear are the voices that we allow in 1038s

that echo what it is we've already said. We can create our own world of preference 1053s

and live in our own echo chamber. That also extends to God. It also extends to God. 1071s

Where what it is that we say to ourselves with regard to God must be true. Why? Because we've said it. 1089s

We then can be tempted to become the source of our own truth. 1104s

Well, truth outside of our self or no truth outside of the voices that we let in that simply echo, 1111s

the truth that we've already determined to be truth. You see? And so then we can say, 1117s

well, I believe this about God. You've heard the phrase, right? We all just need to speak our own 1121s

truth. You're the danger that where we become the source of truth. And so then we can in our own echo 1131s

chamber of isolation we can become quite comfortable in whatever we've determined. God is like 1149s

and what we've determined God thinks and what we determine God does. We can be quite comfortable 1160s

because it's our own soothing voice. We can become quite comfortable with what we think about 1168s

sin and what we think about what is okay to say or to do. We can be quite comfortable with that. 1177s

In fact, we can be so comfortable in our isolation, in our own world that we have created. We can 1187s

become so comfortable in our own isolation where we can even say, you know, to be honest, I don't 1197s

even need him because I'm just fine with myself. I don't even need him. But God will have 1205s

none of this nonsense. None of it. I think of Luke, 15th chapter. Luke relates one of the parables 1231s

of our Lord, remember a parable, earthly story heavily meaning. He tells about the shepherd who has 1247s

100 sheep, one wanders off. She ever leaves the 99 to find the one that has wandered off. Finds 1254s

the one that has wandered off. And then calls his friends and neighbors, interesting little aside 1265s

of community, right? Calls his friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice with me because 1271s

I found what was lost. I found what was lost. And of course, the point of the parable there 1276s

is the searching nature of God, how God searches for us to bring us into the relationship of 1283s

his fold, to bring us into the relationship of fellowship with him. That's the fellowship that John 1295s

is talking about in these verses from first John. That's the fellowship he's talking about. 1306s

You see, that's the fellowship that's even more important than social interaction. As important 1315s

as that is, the fellowship that John is talking about is the fellowship in the faith. 1321s

See how we can see that. Verse 3, we declare to you what we have seen in herred so that you also 1330s

may have fellowship with us and notice not how we defines it. And truly, our fellowship is with the 1339s

first. She's talking about more than the health of being in relationships with other people. 1352s

He's talking about the fellowship of faith in the very one that has redeemed us, the fellowship 1362s

of faith in the one who shed his blood for us and has died in our place for all of our sin. 1371s

The fellowship of faith in the one who rose from the tomb overcoming death, fellowship in the 1380s

one faith in the one who claims us in the waters of baptism and has opened up for us, life abundant 1390s

and life eternal. The fellowship of faith, that's the fellowship that he talks about because 1399s

in the fellowship with the Triune God. We experience relationship with God for giving us an 1409s

eternity and we experience the beauty of community, the beauty of community. 1422s

Dietrich Bonhoeffer transferred from one Nazi prison to another for two years before he was executed. 1441s

He wrote a book called Life Together, Life Together. And this is what Bonhoeffer wrote in terms of 1452s

Christians. He said Christians are, quote, a physical sign of the gracious presence of the 1462s

Triune God. How inexhaustible are the riches that open up for those who by God's will are privileged 1480s

to live in the daily fellowship of life with other Christians. You see, that's what he missed 1490s

when he was in prison. He missed that. Listen to John again. We declared to you what we've 1501s

seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the 1515s

Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 1526s

And so into the series we go. This series in which we're going to examine the expressions 1539s

of this reality, of the fellowship, the expressions of the reality of the community into which 1548s

we have been brought. We're going to study in the weeks ahead. The one and other passages of 1559s

serve one another, instruct one another and pray for one another, submit to one another, encourage one 1568s

another, stir up one another, forgive one another. How blessed we are to have been brought by the 1576s

gracious action of God into this reality, into this reality. It's the vision of God for community, 1586s

the vision that we can hold out to a world that continues to pull into isolation. It's the beauty 1603s

of the church and into that picture. We go. 1619s