As I said earlier, a series in the book of 1 John. 1 John, we're reading all of chapter 1 this evening, but our focus is on the first four verses. So here, God's holy word. that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The life was made manifest and we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and was made manifest to us. that which we have seen and heard. We proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word, may he add his blessing to it. Actually, I only read the words of our text, not the rest. So I'm actually going to continue on and read the rest of chapter one. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another in the blood of Jesus. His son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now, thus far, the reading of God's holy word. And let's pray for God's blessing. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word. We praise you that you speak to us, that you address us, that you talk to us, that you guide and direct our paths. And Lord, we do pray that your word would be a light unto our feet. Give us a greater knowledge of who you are, a greater knowledge of who Christ is, of what he has done and who he is. And so, Lord, bless us now with listening ears and bless you proclaims your word. We do pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ this evening. As I say, we begin a new series in First John. And although not spelled out in the introduction, First John was written by John. One of the original 12 disciples of Jesus, he was there to witness, to see, to hear and to even touch Jesus. Now, children, you know how many books of the Bible did John write? He wrote five, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, of course, the gospel of John, and what we just finished up, the book of Revelation. And although we cannot be sure of the precise time when John wrote this, it probably was later in his life, maybe around 90 AD. The central purpose of this epistle can be seen in the fifth chapter. 1 John 5, verse 13 says this, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. So do you catch his purpose there? He's writing, first of all, of course, primarily to Christians, those who believe in the name of the Son of God, that they might what? That they might know they have eternal life. That they might have assurance of salvation. He wrote to give Christians that assurance. Now, the Gospel of John was written that we might have eternal life. In John chapter 21, this is one of the things John's often pretty good about. He'll tell you why he's writing very clearly. John chapter 20, the Gospel of John, verse 31, he says, But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. And so we might say that John, the gospel of John, was written that we might have eternal life, and 1 John is written that we might know that we have eternal life in Christ. Now John begins his first epistle, 1 John here, epistle by the way is another word for a letter basically. John begins his first epistle much in the same way, but not exactly, that he begins his gospel. That is with an acknowledgement of the incarnation That is, that the eternal Son of God comes and He takes to Himself a human nature. That's why I wanted to start with 1 John today. I want to look with you at the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the coming of the eternal God to take on human flesh and a human soul, or to look at the word of life manifested among us. Let me briefly set the context of 1 John for you. John has been dealing with false teachers and prophets. You can catch some of that as you look at chapter four in particular, verse one and on from there. And one of the teachings that was prevalent in his day is a heresy known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism, influenced by Greek philosophy thought and taught that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. And so they thought the body is evil and the spirit is good. These false teachers that John confronted accepted some form of Christ deity but often denied his humanity, that is, his incarnation, his taking on of human flesh. You're that Gnosticism behind that, that said, matter, body, bad, spirit, good. How could, right? How could God take on a human body that's evil? Doesn't make sense, they would say. And so they deny the incarnation. Some known as the Dulcetists, from the Greek word doceo, meaning to seem, basically taught that Jesus only appeared, he seemed, to be human, but in reality he wasn't human at all. Others, like the heretic Cyrenthius, taught that Christ's spirit descended on the man Jesus at baptism, but left him before his crucifixion. forms, you see, of denying the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But John, in contrast to this, assures us that the eternal word of life was manifested among us and that he has heard, he has seen, and he has touched Jesus who has come in the flesh. In fact, he says in chapter four, verse two, very strongly, By this, you know, the Spirit of God every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God And today, you well know that one of the marks of a cult is how they view the person of Christ. They somehow deny the person of Christ. The Jehovah Witnesses deny the deity of Jesus, and they believe that Jesus is somewhere between God and man. The Mormons deny anything special or supernatural about the birth of Christ. They believe that he was conceived by an ordinary sexual act between the father and Mary, and really that all of us have in our substance, if you will, deity, and that there's nothing really special, if you will, therefore, about Jesus. So today we'll talk about the incarnation, we'll talk about the word of life, the eternal God manifested among us, looking at two things. First of all, the person of Christ and secondly, the proclamation of Christ. First thing we see here as we look at the person of Christ is that Christ is divine. It's clear that which, first one, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. Christ, the word of life that was manifested to us was there from the beginning, that which was from the beginning. Now, brothers and sisters, though John does not use identical phrasing, he is clearly echoing the opening words of his gospel. You remember the Gospel of John. John chapter 1 verses 1 to 4, familiar passage, says this, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was, sorry, the Word was God, Sorry, the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. And the word became flesh, it says down in verse 14, and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory. Glory as the only son from the father full of grace and truth. John's own word here in the gospel, right? I said first John echoes the gospel of John and the gospel of John is echoing what? The very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1, verse 1, which says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Gospel of John, therefore, saying, In the beginning, that is, when God created the heavens and the earth, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and that Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. He's saying, you see that there was nothing made apart from Christ. Anything that is made and everything that is made has been made by Jesus Christ. There is nothing in the world that's been made that wasn't made by Jesus Christ. The epistle here that we're looking at says that which was from the beginning, summarizing he was there with God. He is God. He was before the beginning, he was in the beginning, he was from the beginning, he is eternal, that is, he has no beginning and no end. And therefore, he's God, this is what John believed, and this is what John taught, and this is what John proclaimed. All things were made by Christ, and there is not one thing that was made that was made apart from Jesus Christ. Christ is, of course, not the Father, nor is the Father the Son, yet Christ is God as much as the Father is God. He's not similar to God. He is of the same substance as God. He is the second person of the Godhead, the second person of the Trinity. And Jesus Christ very, very clearly taught his deity in the Gospels. John chapter eight, verse 24, it says this, and I love this verse. He says, I told you that you would die in your sins. This is Jesus speaking for a less. Unless you believe that I am he, you will surely die in your sins. Now, one of the things that's really important for us to notice, of course, is that that word he when it says unless you believe that I am he that he's not there in the original. What Jesus is saying here, if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. he's saying when he's saying that? I keep talking about passages echoing back to something else. Well, this is echoing back. To that occasion where God appeared. At the burning bush. And said to them or said, tell them that I am. Sent you. And then later we read in John chapter eight. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was. I am. Jesus is very clearly claiming here. I am Jehovah that I am that name of God. I am. That's me. He's saying. He's claiming. And that's exactly what John is announcing to us when he says in the beginning. In John, Chapter five, the Gospel of John, Chapter five, verse 18. Interesting to read there, because we seek or we see there the Jews seeking to lay hands on Christ and to kill him. Why did they want to kill Jesus? You know, there are many cults today that will say. Jesus never, ever claimed to be God. We've already seen some passages where he did claim to be God. But why is it? Why is it that they wanted to kill Jesus? Because they were convinced. That Jesus did claim to be God. But they believed him to be a mere man. John, chapter five, verse 18 here. This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath. But he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. The Jews recognized exactly what Christ was proclaiming. They didn't believe it, but they knew what he was saying. He was saying he was divine, that he is the son, that he is the Messiah, that he was the one in the beginning. They know it. They just didn't believe it. Jesus claimed, I and the Father are one. And again, that was John 10, 30, John 14, 9. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long that you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Now, some will look at this. The cults will often look at this. No, no, they'll say, Jesus, you know, it's kind of like a father and a son. They're alike. Can any of you imagine Ivan perhaps saying to one of you that has never met me, I and my father are one. If you've seen me, you have seen the father. Or my father. There are certain similarities that Ivan and I have. Certain similarities that make me smile. Certain similarities that that I don't smile as much about. But the fact is, Ivan and I aren't one. But Jesus and the Father are one. Along with the Spirit. Three persons, yet one God. And there are so many passages of scripture that affirm the deity of Christ. John calls Jesus God, and he says, John, chapter one, verse 18. No one has ever seen God, the only God. Who is at the father's side? Who is John calling God, they're not merely the father. But the son at his side. Thomas cried out, having seen the resurrected Christ. John, Chapter 20, verse 28. My Lord and my God. This is one of the things I love to point to as well. OK, some will say, well. Thomas was wrong. Did not certain apostles even bow the knee to angels for the moment? You say yes, and what did the angel They said, no, no, no, I'm a mere servant, worship God. Jesus didn't do that here. Because Thomas was right. Jesus is his God. Titus 2, verse 13, waiting, it says, for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. not of our great God, the Father, and of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The point of this is that the Savior, Jesus Christ, is our great God. He's our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly teaches the deity of Jesus Christ. He is God. That is a clear teaching in the Bible. Now, at this point, I think it's also important for me to talk to you about a heresy called modalism. Anybody familiar with that word modalism? Basically, it's a teaching that in affirming that God is one, it denies the freeness of God or denies the persons of the Godhead. God is one, not three persons. And they say, basically, God manifests himself in different ways. Sometimes he may manifest himself as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Spirit. Or they might say that the Spirit, that's not a person, that's just talking about the force or the power of God. And so they deny the Trinity in affirming that God is one. And sometimes you'll find them using an analogy, something like this. The Trinity, they will explain, is kind of like this. You know, I might claim that I'm a pastor, that I'm a father, and that I'm a husband. And so the Trinity, they will say, is kind of like that. But do you see the problem with that? I'm not three. I may have different tasks, but I'm not three persons. I am one person with different tasks. I don't merely manifest or show myself at a particular time as pastor and then father and then husband. That's not what is going on with God. God is one being in three persons. And that is called modalism, and it's a heresy. Any analogy I'm convinced that you come up with to try to describe the Trinity is going to fall short in one way or another. Many of these analogies are going to fall into this heresy of modalism. Some will fall into partialism. Partialism, let me try to give one of those. Some will say, well, the Trinity is kind of like cake. You've got in a cake, you've got flour, and you've got eggs, and you've got milk. And so the Trinity is kind of like that. Well, that's not accurate either. Because if you only have the eggs, you don't have cake. You only have the milk, you don't have cake, and so forth. But if you have the Son, you have God. If you have the Father, you have God. That's the era of partialism. And so any analogy that you come up with to try to describe the Trinity is going to come short. And why is it going to come short? Simply, who is like our God? There is nothing we can ultimately compare Him to. Christ is the second person of the Godhead. Because there is none like God, you will never find an adequate illustration. By the way, modalism still exists today. It is in certain groups or certain, well, they call themselves churches, but if you deny, of course, that Christ is the eternal Son of God come in the flesh, you really can't be a Christian. One of the groups is the Oneness Pentecostals. And I want you to notice I said the Oneness Pentecostals. I didn't say Pentecostals in general. There's a group called the Oneness Pentecostals where they deny the Trinity and they say, Simply as I said, as I already said, they say that God manifests himself in different ways, but there's only one God. Not that there are three persons, they say God manifests himself in these ways. And if you're looking to try to say, well, where are these Oneness Pentecostals? Well, for example, if you think of the television, and you think of Bishop T.D. Jakes, he was ordained in the Oneness Pentecostal Church. You need to be aware of groups like this. Christ is God, and the Father is God, and the Spirit is God. But the Son is not the Father, nor is the Son the Spirit, and so forth. Our real focus for now is Jesus. Jesus is God. In the beginning. He didn't have a beginning, he was there in the beginning, in the beginning, God created in the beginning, Jesus created, there was nothing created that Jesus didn't create. He is God. Always God. Fully divine. Jesus was always God. But we could say this, he was not always. The miracle is that the eternal God, the second person of the Godhead, becomes a man through the incarnation approximately 2000 years ago. And so, again, our passage says that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life, the life. was made manifest. And we've seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and was made manifest to us. The eternal son of God. Becomes a man. And he is born of the Virgin Mary. He was eternal, was made manifest. Came. in the flesh. And this is what we celebrate this season, this is what we celebrate year round. Now, by this, I do not mean that he turned into a man. It is I am not saying that he gave up his deity to become man. No, Jesus did not give up any of his deity. He didn't give up any of his attributes in the in the incarnation. The miracle is that God takes on human flesh and spirit. Someone put it this way long ago, remaining what he was, he became what he was not. Remaining God, he became what he was not, that is man. The Bible is very clear on the humanity of Jesus. as it is on the deity of Jesus. John here talks about the eternal God being made manifest. We saw last week in Matthew's gospel that Jesus is born. Of the Virgin. Virgin Mary, Luke one thirty one, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. God made manifest, comes, humbles himself, is born, becomes man. Or Philippians 2 verses 7 and 8. But he emptied himself. Now, emptied here, we need to understand figuratively. He didn't empty himself of his deity. How did he empty himself? But he emptied himself, Philippians 2, 7, not by getting rid of his deity, but by taking. the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Or John 1.14, already referred to at least once, probably a couple times, and the word, that is the word that was with God in the beginning, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." In the introduction, I told you about the Docetists who believed that Jesus only seemed to have a human nature. But that is not the teaching of Scripture. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. And John here speaks of being a witness of this, along with the other apostles. And notice his emphasis on being a witness. He said, we heard it with our ears. That is, he heard the words of Jesus, powerful words of Jesus, things like, forth. And he comes forth. But not only did he hear things, because we say, wait a second, maybe if you only heard it and didn't see it, you might have got things mixed up. But he doesn't just say, I'm a witness, I heard. He also says that I've seen. Not only has he heard, he's seen Jesus with his own eyes, seen him raise the dead, seen him feed the 5,000. Seeing him do many things. Unless that not be enough, he says. Touched. Touched him with our hands. Just seemed to have flash, we have touched him. This was heard, this was seen, this was touched. We follow not a blind faith. The apostles were witnesses, ear, eye and touch witnesses. Christ, the eternal Son of God comes in the flesh. This is what we celebrate now and year round. And it's important for us to believe this, so important that John says in his epistle here, chapter four, verse two, by this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. In other words, if you deny Jesus Christ coming in the flesh, you're not from God. You cannot be a Christian and deny that the eternal God has come in the flesh. So how do we sum this up? We could sum it up like this. There is only one God. And this one God eternally exists in three persons. The second person of the Godhead, while remaining fully and completely God and not diminishing any of his attributes, takes to himself a human nature, a complete and full human nature. And so it would not be correct to say that Christ is part God and part man. He has two full and complete natures, God and man. Fully God and fully man. The second person of the Godhead to complete nature's divine and human. Now, why is it important for us as the church to believe this? And it is important. But why is it necessary to believe, first of all, that Christ was God? It's necessary. That he be God. So that he might sustain. And keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath. Of God and the power of death. Came to bear our sin if he's going to bear our sin. To be God. To bear the weight of our sin and the wrath that we deserve, the Redeemer must be God. But why did Christ need, therefore, to be man? Well, he needs to be man to advance our nature. It was man that fell. Adam did not keep the law perfectly, and Christ takes to himself a human nature and in that human nature, while, of course, remaining to be God, does what Adam failed to do. He keeps the law perfectly. And he makes intercession for us in our nature. He also dies. God, by nature of course, can't die. I remember one person thinking for a moment, he told me, at the time he was telling me, he said, this was in the past, but he said, you know, he says, I guess, he said, well, I thought, he said, that when Christ died on the cross, that for that moment, until he was raised, instead of having a trinity, we had a binity. Two instead of one. Of course, that's not the case. Christ, it's not a human nature to die in our place. God cannot die. But Christ dies in our place. Why did Jesus need to be both God and man in one nature? I'm sorry, in one person, two natures. As the God-man, what is he doing? Reconciling God and man. And so, brothers and sisters, we have much to celebrate as we think of the incarnation. There is no salvation without the incarnation. Christ, the eternal son of God in the beginning with God, takes on a human nature to redeem us. And isn't it amazing to think and you kind of wonder what what was going through Mary's mind as she realized that the child she was bearing. Was not merely human. But also divine. Are you resting in Christ as he's offered in the gospel, have you confessed your sins, are you looking to Christ for forgiveness, there is no forgiveness outside of Jesus Christ. This evening we recited the Nicene Creed together, and as I said, this was written in A.D. 325. And church leaders gathered in Nicaea, modern day Turkey. And the issue was, who is the son? And there was a man, a heretic by the name of Arius, who said that the father was not always the father. He said, because the son didn't know he's exist. So the father didn't wasn't the father until the son was created. The father became the father, according to Arius, when the son was created. Two men, Alexander and Athanasius, strongly opposed this view, believing, and rightly believing, that the very doctrine of salvation was on the line, and the belief of the Arians was defeated, and the Nicene Creed was adopted. And again, in that context, I want to read that creed to you, though we've already recited it together. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God. Begotten, not made. being of one substance with the Father. And by the way, I'll pause at this point, not being of a, let's see, this is part of the debate too, right? He's not saying, you know, there was a debate whether Christ is of a different substance than the Father. And some have said, okay, not different, but similar. Well, similar is still different. Not similar being of one substance. God is God being of one substance with the father by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the father. And he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead or the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the father and the son, who with the father and the son is together worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. And God of God, light of light, very God of very God. Begotten, eternally begotten, not made, eternally begotten. Now proclamation of this and belief in this leads to fellowship with God. Notice in verse three, that which has seen and heard was proclaimed that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you so that you may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. Why did the apostles proclaim this? Well, of course, because it's true. They proclaimed Christ was the word of life. They proclaimed him who was with the father in the beginning, who took on human flesh and a human soul. They proclaimed Christ and why that you may have fellowship. That you might be united to Christ and the father. Actually, not even just that. That you may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. They proclaimed Christ. In fact, let's focus on that for a moment. They proclaimed Christ. They proclaimed. The eternal God, the second person of the God had taken on human flesh, and we must continue to proclaim this today. And indeed, that is the task, isn't it, of the church to proclaim Christ. We worship the triune God and we proclaim Jesus Christ. Eternal God taking on human flesh. And you see, what is it that a pastor is to proclaim in every single sermon, whether he's proclaiming or preaching from the New Testament or the Old Testament, he must preach Christ. Christ must be the heart and the center of every single sermon. 1 Corinthians 1, verses 23 and 24 says this, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and a folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jews and Gentiles, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. A sermon is not to be centered around man's felt needs. It's centered on Christ. That doesn't mean that we don't apply the word in the context in which we live. We are to be doing that, but we preach Christ. And all of this, as the church, all of us, as the church, have a duty to share the good news of Jesus Christ, the good news that the eternal son of God. Takes on a human nature to redeem his people from their sin. He came to save us from our sin, and it's your job to share that good news. It's a task that doesn't merely does belong to the pastor, but it doesn't merely or doesn't belong to the pastor and the elders alone. We all are to be proclaiming Christ and sharing Christ. That'll be sure. Not everyone is called to be an evangelist, but we are all called to evangelize. To announce, to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and what he's done, so don't be afraid to strike up conversations with neighbors or the person at the coffee shop or wherever it is you go. Share the gospel with people. People who are like you. and people who are not like you. And what is the result of proclaiming this? What's the result of sharing the gospel and, of course, believing the gospel? So that you, too, may have fellowship, fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. You might say the first consequence of Christ preached and Christ believed is fellowship. And notice that it's not just fellowship with the Father and with Christ, it's fellowship with us. That is fellowship with the church. A relationship with Christ will also necessarily entail a relationship with his church. If the Father is our Father and Christ our elder brother, then we by nature are brothers and sisters of each other. That's why I find it strange that there are so many people today claiming to be Christians who say, I don't have to be part of any particular church. I don't have to be a member of the church. I know the Father. Pay attention to this here. The fellowship is with us and with the Father and the Son. If we are united to Christ and the Father, why wouldn't we unite with his church? If we claim to love Christ and not also his bride, that's a strange thing, isn't it? How can you claim to love Christ and not his church? How can you claim to have fellowship with the Father and the Son, but yet not with the church? John's going to later say in chapter 4, 20 and 21, if anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this is the commandment we have from him. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Let me stress that fellowship, that word has a deep and a rich meaning. Fellowship is more than simply enjoying oneself at a church picnic. Though, by the way, there's nothing wrong with enjoying yourself at a church picnic. But fellowship is more than that. Fellowship is this idea of a rich and a sweet connection where we care for each other and seek to be a blessing to one another. In fact, one of the things you could do is go through scripture as you think of fellowship and look at all the phrases one another. What were to be to one another? were to be an encouragement to one another were to encourage one another on in love and good works where we hurt. If others hurt. And we rejoice when our brothers and sisters rejoice. We enjoy fellowship around and in the God-man Jesus Christ. And only those who believe what John wrote, who believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God come in the flesh, can share in this rich and sweet fellowship, in this unity. Now, many churches have gone astray in this manner. Many think that we should be united no matter what we believe. Brothers and sisters, it's what we believe that is to unite. Let me give you an example of what I'm trying to say. One of the commentators, Peter Barnes, says this. He points out an example. He says, in Australia during the 1960s, the Presbyterian Church there was involved in negotiations with the Methodist and congregational churches regarding a possible union, a union which actually came about in 1977 with the formation of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Australia. In 1967, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church there proposed the union be achieved first, and then, after that, a commission would draw up a shared confession. You see what he's saying here? Do you see the problem with that? First, we're going to be united, and then later on, after we're united, we'll decide what we believe together. He got it backwards. And that's what happens so often today. Let's have unity. But unity in what? We need a unity in what we believe. And brothers and sisters, we have the greatest unity with those with which we have the greatest agreement in. And young people, let me speak to you as you think about and prepare for marriage one day. If you are a believer in Christ, there is no way that you can marry an unbeliever. Your whole thought process, your whole way of thinking, your whole worldview is totally different. You need to look for someone who is united to Christ and one who believes the same things you believe. You ought to talk about these things. Talk about what's central. Talk about what you believe, even about the sovereignty of God ahead of time. Let me stress as well what a joy it is that we have fellowship. Fellowship with one another and fellowship with Christ and the Father. And you see, that is the second result of believing this proclaimed message of the eternal Christ come in the flesh. That is great joy. First consequence, right? of that proclamation is fellowship. Second is joy. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. The Christian life is a life of joy. Now, that does not mean that there are no sorrows or pains or tears. There certainly are in the Christian life, nor does it mean that the Christian life is easy. We are in a spiritual battle and it is not easy. But this joy is a real joy. It's not a fake joy. It's not a joy that needs to be mustered up or created. And I tend to think of some of these churches today out there where some of those things seen, those of you that have been in the adult Sunday school class, and you see some of this, the Toronto blessing, the holy laughter as it's called, the entertainment style of worship. Why is it like that? Is it not because there's a missing of that true joy that we have to try to entertain ourselves? Ecclesiastes 7.6 says, for as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools. This also is vanity. And you've noticed, haven't you, that in some churches, the joy and worship has to be created by music or has to be created by forms of of entertainment. It's as if the people do not enjoy the worship itself, but are looking for the entertainment. Now, brothers and sisters, don't get me wrong. There ought to be a joy in worship. You ought to enjoy worship, but it ought not to be a tribe joy. It ought to be a joy at the very fact that you are fellowshipping with God, that you are fellowshipping with other believers, that you are coming into the presence of God. Even if the songs you sing are unfamiliar or if the pastor should go longer than usual, there ought to be a that you are gathered together in the presence of the eternal Christ who took on flesh to redeem you from your sin. John writes this epistle, one of the reasons, yes, that you may have assurance, but he writes this as well, that you might have joy. We are to enjoy God in everything. And actually, we could put it this way, too. We're to enjoy everything in God. When you know Jesus Christ come in the flesh, And therefore, your sins, as great as they are forgiven. You will know joy. If you don't know that. Then we're going to be striving to come up with ways to have fun in worship, and again, please don't get me wrong. I'm not telling you the worship is supposed to be boring. You want to be thrilled. Coming into the presence of your God. And worshiping him. Knowing Christ and what he's done for you will give you more joy. In fact, think about this, children, knowing Christ and knowing what he's done for you ought to give you more joy than any present that is placed under the Christmas tree.