This is second in a series of verse-by-verse expositions of the book of 1 John. This message was delivered at Hillcrest Baptist Church on the evening of January 12, 2014. This message deals with what it really means to be in fellowship with Christ and other believers, and the basis of that fellowship. This post contains an audio recording of my message, along with my sermon notes. Please note that the sermon notes are not a full transcript.
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SERMON NOTES:
1 John 1:5-7
v.5:
There is no darkness in God. Darkness is a representation of sin and an ignorance of God.
We see in Romans 1:21 the darkening of people’s hearts.
Romans 1:21
Obviously, since God cannot be ignorant of Himself, it must mean that there is no sin in God.
He is sinless perfection.
God is a holy and just God, who is perfect in every way, and darkness is evil.
God is, in all ways, the opposite of darkness. God is light.
John 1:4
John 3:19–21
Revelation 21:23
There is no bad, no evil, and no sin in God. He is light, and He provides light.
There is no darkness in Him, and because of Him, we can see.
He illuminates the truth, and pulls us out of darkness into His light.
He is incorruptible and perfect.
v.6:
We can sometimes fool others, and even ourselves, but we can never fool God.
We cannot be engulfed in sin AND be in fellowship with God at the same time.
How can darkness survive the light? Light always destroys the darkness.
As soon as the sun begins to shine, the darkness begins to fade. . . until it is completely gone.
Darkness cannot return as long as the sun is shinning.
Likewise, as soon as the Son begins to shine in your life, the darkness begins to fade away.
The Son will completely annihilate the darkness, and forever be your light.
Unlike the solar sun, the heavenly Son will never cease to shine. He IS light.
v.7:
As long as we are in agreement with Him, we are in fellowship with Him and other like minded people.
What exactly is this fellowship?
Now if you have been around church much in your life, you probably think that fellowship equals food.
We eat to have fellowship, and the more food there is the better the fellowship.
We measure the quality of fellowship by the size of the feast.
However, that is not the Biblical definition of fellowship.
Consider the following Scripture.
1 John 1:3
1 John 1:6–7
If you walk in the light, you have fellowship with Christ.
In other words, if you are a born again Christian, then your fellowship is with God.
And. . . only those who are born again can have fellowship with Him.
Our fellowship with each other, is dependent upon our fellowship with God.
Jesus Christ is the common bond which gives us fellowship with one another.
The only prerequisite to fellowship is a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Now this doesn’t mean that we are to isolate ourselves from the unsaved world.
Certainly we will have different types of relationships with the unsaved.
It simply means that deep fellowship is only possible among Christians.
We should be discerning about those who we seek to have fellowship with.
The New Testament writers spent much time correcting false doctrine, and warning against false teachers.
They warn us not the tolerate them in our midst.
They are not talking about genuine Christians, the people they are referring to are impostors, and they seek only to destroy God’s church.
Remember, the only prerequisite to fellowship is a relationship with Christ. Look at Jesus’ words.
John 13:8
If Peter were not going to allow Jesus to “clean” him, then he could have no part with Jesus.
Only those who are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ will have a relationship with Him.
In his letter to the Galatians Paul warns about those who would preach a false gospel. These people have not been cleansed by Christ.
Galatians 1:8–9
There are many differing opinions among God’s children that do not alter the Gospel message, they are simply opinions.
It is when one begins to preach a gospel other than what the Bible teaches, that we are to break fellowship.
For instance: Some do not believe that the Holy Spirit is God, or do not believe that Jesus is God.
In that case, they do not believe in the God of the Bible, and cannot be a true Christian.
There should be no fellowship with such people.
The Jehovah’s witnesses do not believe that Jesus or the Holy Spirit is God; therefore, they do not believe the God of the Bible.
The Mormons believe Jesus to be a created being, and one of MANY gods.
They believe that they can attain the same state of godhood.
The mormons (despite their outward appearance) are perhaps the most dangerous group to have ever borne the “christian” label.
They are very deceptive, but rest assured they do not believe the God of the Bible, and are not true Christians.
There can be no fellowship with them.
To be able to discern these things is why we need to diligently pray and study the Word of God.
2 Timothy 2:15
We need to know the Scripture well enough to be able to defend it when necessary, and to know when to keep silent.
When the time comes to defend Biblical doctrines, we should heed the words of Peter, and do it in “meekness and fear.”
1 Peter 3:15
We are not to be contentious and pick fights, instead we are to honor God in all that we say and do.
Colossians 3:17
It is the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin.
It is that same blood that unites us in fellowship.
It is that same blood which transcends all racial, economic and social barriers.
Galatians 3:26-29
It is that same blood that should be the power in our preaching, and our testimonies.
It is that same blood which should be the basis on which we build our deep relationships.
In Defense: The Blog 
Posted on January 18, 2014
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