For our Scripture reading tonight, turn with me to John 1, where we read together the first 14 verses. But then our text tonight comes from 1 John 1, the first four verses of that epistle as we tonight begin a series of sermons from 1 John. So John 1, the first 14 verses for our Scripture reading, then the text 1 John 1, the first four verses. And as I was trying to figure out a short way to give you a summary of the book of 1 John, I figured I couldn't say it any better than F.F. Bruce in his commentary who says, This epistle is justly called the epistle of eternal life. It shows how and in whom that life was uniquely and perfectly manifested. It shows how the presence of that life in men and women may be recognized. John chapter 1, 1-14. As we hear the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And turning over to 1 John chapter 1, the first four verses. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life. The life appeared, we have seen it and testified to it, And we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, before He left this earth and returned to His home in heaven, Jesus said, Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. The followers of Christ, especially His apostles, were given quite a task, and that was to proclaim the Gospel message. But they were also equipped with quite a Gospel message to proclaim. It was and still is a message, in fact, the one and only message by which God works salvation. Paul said, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Of course, we know, don't we, that that message, which is nothing but foolishness to the world, that message is of Jesus and His love. That message is that salvation unto eternal life is only in Christ Jesus. And for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, they have eternal life. And that eternal life then is manifested through their life here on earth. You see, that's the overall message of the Apostle John in this first epistle. That's the message our Lord Himself prepared His apostles, including John, to preach and to pass on to be preached to all the nations of all times and all places. And that's the same message that we, by the grace of God, continue to preach today. In Reformed teaching, we speak of the attributes of the true church. Now, these are not to be confused with the marks of the true church, which we know are the pure preaching of the Gospel, the faithful administration of the sacraments, as well as the faithful and diligent exercise of church discipline. But the attributes of the true church include Catholicity. We've considered the holy Catholic Church, the holy universal church. God has chosen from the beginning to the end of time, a church chosen from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, a church chosen to everlasting life. Another attribute is unity. The church is one. United in one faith, one hope, one Lord. Another attribute is holiness. The church is holy. That is, she is set apart from the world, set apart unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Some include in this list of attributes, indestructibility. The gates of hell shall not prevail against her. She shall not, she cannot, and shall not be destroyed. She is eternal. And then the one for our consideration, apostolicity boys and girls you hear the word apostle in that word apostolicity in other words the church is founded on the apostles witness of Jesus Christ Paul says the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone now you recall that apostles are sent ones those sent and commissioned with a particular message which they are to proclaim. And in the text before us tonight, John introduces this epistle with an apology of what he proclaims. Now, the main focus of this text is found in the beginning of verse 3 with the words, we proclaim to you. Now, that idea is introduced in verse 2, but this is the main phrase of the text. We proclaim to you. Now, boys and girls, when I said that John is giving an apology of what he proclaims, I'm not saying that he was saying, I'm sorry about what I have to say to you. I can't help it, but I have to say it, and I'm really sorry about it. That's not what John is saying. That's not the kind of apology we're talking about. The kind of apology we're talking about is a defense. When we speak of apologetics, we're talking about defending the faith. John is defending what he has to say to his readers without apology, without saying, I'm sorry about this. He wasn't sorry at all. Beloved, as we consider John's introduction together, I preach to you this Word of God. John explains the nature of apostolic proclamation. We notice, first of all, the content of apostolic proclamation. Secondly, the purpose of apostolic proclamation. And then finally, the focus of apostolic proclamation. Again, the focus of this introduction is on the apostles' proclamation. And John teaches what they proclaim and why they proclaim it. This is what we proclaim, this is why we proclaim it, without apology, saying I'm sorry. In verse 2, he talks about testifying and proclaiming. Now, we need to understand that testifying here includes personal experience. In order to give a testimony, one must be a first-hand witness to something. Hearsay is not allowed. A first-hand witness. And proclaiming includes being authorized or commissioned to tell others about something. So one must be a first-hand witness to testify, and then that one must be sent, authorized, and commissioned to tell about what they witnessed. Now when John says we, he's talking about the apostles, including himself, which is clear from the content of their testimony, from the content of apostolic proclamation. And beloved, that content is Jesus Christ. We know that others as well were first-hand witnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ, but the apostles had a special place. The apostles, in a particular way, were first-hand witnesses to the very Lord of life. Now, maybe you noticed that in these first few verses, John gives a defense for the two natures of Christ. Now, boys and girls, you know what the two natures of Christ are, right? We speak of Jesus being one person with two natures. We talk about His divine nature, and we talk about His human nature. In other words, He is true God, but He is also true and sinless man at the very same time. That's what we celebrate at Christmas time, right? Emmanuel, God with us. But there's an important reason John begins this epistle with this important teaching of Jesus Christ who is both eternal God and flesh and blood man. You see, there were false teachings, heresies creeping into the church which attacked that very truth of the Savior. Now broadly speaking, there was Gnosticism. Now, Gnosticism takes on many different shapes and sizes. In other words, there are different Gnostic strains or strains of Gnosticism with various teachings. Gnosticism is still around today. There are Gnostic groups. There are Gnostic individuals. But to summarize, this heresy comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge. Now, I must confess, I am absolutely no expert on Gnosticism. But some of the main characteristics and broad characteristics of Gnosticism as a whole include, first of all, a search for higher knowledge. Which once one had that knowledge, then that one also had salvation. And therefore, a Gnostic believes that he can make his own way to God through investigation and the achievement of this higher knowledge, whatever that knowledge may be. And secondly, a second broad characteristic is a separation of that which is spiritual and that which is physical, in which only the spiritual is good, but the physical, that which is matter, is evil. And since matter, that which is physical, is evil, then of course the incarnation. God becoming man is completely unacceptable to a Gnostic. Because that which is divine and perfect cannot have contact with that which is evil. There are many other things that we could say about Gnosticism, but those two things in particular I would like you to keep in mind. Now, one of the strains of Gnosticism is called Docetism. Docetism denies the humanity of Christ. It's said that Jesus didn't really have flesh and blood. It only seemed like He did. In other words, he was a phantom. And still another strain is the Serinthian Gnostics, which come from a man named Serinthus who lived in Ephesus about the time that John ministered in Ephesus, at the same time John wrote these epistles. Serinthus separated the man Jesus from the divine Christ. And therefore, when the man Jesus was baptized, The power of the divine Christ rested on the man Jesus, but that same power then left the man Jesus before his death. And therefore, it was the man Jesus who died, and not Jesus Christ, the God in the flesh. I trust you can already see the implications of this teaching. But this is just a nutshell sketch of the Gnosticism that John was fighting and writing against. But again, to summarize, the Gnostic heresies denied the truth of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who lived on earth and died to secure redemption and bring salvation for his people. And they taught that they could secure salvation on their own. John, writing and preaching against Gnosticism, explains here the content and foundation of what the apostles were to proclaim. The first two verses again. And that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life. The life appeared. We have seen it and testify to it. And we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. Now, beloved, these verses are a testimony of both Christ's deity and His humanity without either one of which there is absolutely no salvation. First, His deity. Verse 1 begins, that which was from the beginning. And verse 2 ends, the eternal life which was with the Father. And this echoes John 1, verse 1, which says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. I believe very simply that John is talking about the eternal existence of the Son of God. He already was in the beginning. He was with the Father. He already was a part of the Godhead. There was not a point in time when Jesus became the Son of God. He always was. John is saying that this Jesus who made His dwelling among us, that He is eternal. He is God. He is the Word of God. He is God spoken in the flesh as the Word of God. He reveals God and He reveals God's will. Jesus Himself said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. The term Word is a common name John uses throughout his writings for Jesus. And then pointing to Christ's humanity, John says, He has appeared to us. Now this is talking about God's revelation of Christ in the Incarnation. Now we know that already from the Garden of Eden, and particularly Genesis 3.15, that God began to reveal the Son. The whole of Old Testament Scripture, the history of Revelation, points to the promised Messiah. That was the foundation of the prophets which they spoke was to come. But John is saying here, He arrived in the flesh. How do I know? We heard His voice. We saw His physical body. We touched Him. You see, the Son of God made Himself known to their physical senses. There was no doubt that He was real. He was not a phantom. And over against the heretics who denied the humanity and the physical existence of the Savior, over against that is the certainty of the eyewitness, ear witness, and touch witness of the apostles. Again, John says, we have heard. Now, He's not saying, He's not saying, we have heard about this from someone else. No, He is saying, we have heard with our own ears. He is saying that He, along with the rest of the apostles, heard the very physical voice of Jesus. Jesus spoke to them. He preached to them. He prayed with them. And the tense of the Greek tells us that His voice and what He said continued to have an effect upon them. But then as if to say, If our hearing isn't enough to convince you, then there's more. We have seen with our eyes. And the Greek word literally means to see something, a real object, to look at it and to discern if it is real. And again, the tense tells us that what John and the apostles saw was forever etched in their mind and in their memory. They saw with their eyes. They saw Jesus. They watched Him. They saw Him live. A few, including John, saw Him transformed. They saw His miracles. They saw Him heal the sick and raise the dead and cast out demons. They saw Him walk on water. They saw Him suffer and die. They saw Him resurrected. They saw Him ascend into heaven. The apostles were eye and ear witnesses of Jesus Christ. Remember, that's what Judas Iscariot's replacement had to be. Acts 1 verse 21 says, Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. And as well, John seems to repeat here in the text basically what he and Peter had said to the Sanhedrin in Acts 4 verse 20. Remember the Sanhedrin being the Jewish supreme court of the day and John and Peter were under fire for what they were preaching about this Jesus. The one these Jews had gotten rid of. And they said, for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. But we must understand, beloved, that others, others other than the followers of Christ, heard and saw Jesus. But the effect was different. In Luke 11, verse 15, it says, But some of them said, By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. What was different about the apostles seeing and hearing over against those who said he was from the devil? What John says in John 1, verse 14, we have seen His glory. The glory of the one and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth. And then our text says, there John says, we have looked at. You see, this is a different Greek word than the word for seen in which it says seen with our eyes. This looking is looking intently, looking more deeply, looking with a deeper discernment. By God's grace, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were given to see the reality behind Christ's veil of flesh. They were given to see the reality behind His physical appearance. They recognized the inner beauty and truth of who He is. 2 Peter 1 verse 16 says, We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses to His majesty. To His majesty. But there's still more. John says, Our hands have touched. And no doubt the apostles touched Jesus before His crucifixion. They knew beyond a doubt that He had skin like they did, that He had a bone structure like they did. He had hair like they did. But this especially seems to be pointing to touching Him after His resurrection. The very same word for touch is used in Luke 24, verse 39, as Jesus appears to His disciples. And that verse there, it says, He said to them, Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see. A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. The idea here behind touch is to handle something and to investigate by handling, to investigate the nature of something. congregation john could say for those of you who have to see in order to believe we have seen and heard and understood and touched for you and what we have really experienced concerning this word of life who is himself eternal life we proclaim to you jesus christ is the word of life he is eternal life. He is from eternity, and life is only in Him, and He gives that life to His people abundantly and eternally. Beyond a doubt, the apostles received a blessing beyond compare, a blessing which they were to share to the nations. Jesus speaks of that blessing in Matthew 13, 16, and 17. Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you the truth, Many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, but did not see it. And to hear what you hear, but did not hear it. But along with enjoying the physical reality of Jesus Christ, they were given the eyes and the ears of faith to behold and to understand the eternal truth of this Jesus. And when the false teachers were denying the physical reality and humanity of the necessary Messiah. Necessary in that this is what our Messiah had to be. True God and true man when the false teachers were denying that the apostles boldly proclaimed that the Savior has indeed come. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has paid the debt of sin for all who believe on Him and in Him alone there is eternal life. You see, that's the content of apostolic proclamation. Beloved, the apostolic message was not a fancy, nice-sounding fable. Again, as Peter says, we did not follow cleverly invented stories. The Christian message is not some vague theory or speculation or suggestion or a great big maybe. It's not some sort of an aid to the Christian faith. But the Christian message is a confident affirmation of the truth of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it is the very sum and substance of Christianity and the Christian faith. But John also speaks of the purpose of apostolic proclamation. In verse 3, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. This is what we have seen. The truth of it. That same truth is what we proclaim to you. And this is why. You see, John was so confident that the Apostles' fellowship was with God the Father and God the Son, which he knew was only through God the Holy Spirit that he could say to his readers, we want you to have fellowship with us. We want you to have what we have. He could confidently say, if you have fellowship with us, then you also have fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He wasn't saying, if you have fellowship with us, then you will. But see, the message of the heretics, beloved, served to prevent or weaken the believer's relationship with God. But the message of the apostles, the gospel message, serves to begin that faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. And to strengthen that relationship. The apostles had confidence of owning eternal life through Jesus Christ. Owning it as their very own. And it was that message of eternal life which they preached. And again, John knew that fellowship with the apostles also meant fellowship with the Father and the Son because he also knew that the only way believers are able to be united with each other and enjoy fellowship with one another is by first being united with and having fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. Now, what is this fellowship? What is the character of this fellowship that John is talking about? Well, I'm afraid that we have distorted it in our conception of fellowship. We think of fellowship as involving food and fun, often in those orders. The majority being food. And then if there's time, we'll have fun. But true biblical fellowship is so much more than that and may not even include food and fun, especially the kind of fun we often think about. But the Greek word used is familiar to many. It's koinonia. The idea is community and what is shared in common. There's so much we could say about koinonia that we don't have time for tonight, but one commentator says the idea of koinonia is fellowship. Living communion, the knitting of mind to mind, will to will, heart to heart, that is based upon the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge of the eternal truth. Someone has said that koinonia fellowship involves the same nature. For example, an artist and a mechanic really cannot have that kind of fellowship because they don't share the same nature. An artist and an artist, or a mechanic and a mechanic can enjoy that, but not an artist and a mechanic. You see, this fellowship enjoys a common interest and a mutual active participation in that interest. The idea is putting aside private interests and joining together with others of like mind. Believers share a common faith in the only Savior. Again, one faith, one hope, one Lord. Jesus Christ is that living bond that unites Christians. Christians share a common life only in Jesus Christ. This is pointing to that unity we were talking about a little earlier. And our common goal is to be the advancement of the kingdom of God, the glory of His name, the worship of Him, and proclaiming the good news of His salvation. And we exhibit this koinonia indeed right now as we gather together for worship, as we pray together, as we study the Bible together, as we encourage one another in the faith, also when we get together with food and fun for fellowship. And we seek to do that in a way that the world sees that there is something different about us. We're set apart. We share the same nature. We have a common life in Jesus Christ. That's koinonia fellowship. The believer's fellowship with God is that the Holy Spirit of God takes up residency in the believer's heart and gives the believer a new nature. Being recreated in the image of God God has called the believer to be His child and given Him new birth through Jesus Christ complete with the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ. That fellowship with God the Father and the Son is expressed in that His Spirit is My Spirit. His salvation is My gracious gift. His glory is My goal. His law is My delight. True fellowship with God is to abide in Christ as the branch abides in the vine and draws life-giving nourishment from that vine. Beloved, that's the purpose of apostolic proclamation. Fellowship with God and His church. You see, we have not physically heard, seen, or touched Jesus. But as Jesus said to Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. God has given to His people true faith to believe the truth of what the apostles not only experienced personally and physically, but what they also understood by faith. And that's the truth of the historic Jesus Christ who came to save His people from their sins. We believe their testimony by the grace of God. The testimony given to them by Jesus Himself. the testimony they were commanded to spread to the nations. They died long ago, but their message still lives. And the message we preach today is the same message the apostles preached, the truth of Jesus Christ who is the Word of life and who alone gives eternal life. And then, of course, there is joy in proclaiming that message, isn't there? There ought to be. and seeing the Holy Spirit work through the message preached to save those who believe and bring them into fellowship with fellow believers and with their Lord. That's the goal of apostolic proclamation. Verse 4 says, We write this to make our joy complete. Now there's a discrepancy here. Some of the seminary students here might already know what it is. I'll hope to portray it properly. Some Greek manuscripts say, we write this to make our joy complete, which is how the NIV translates it. Other manuscripts say, we write this to make your joy complete instead of our joy. The debate is, is John talking about the Apostle's joy, including himself, or is he talking about the believer's joy, one or the other? Well, I don't believe that one necessarily cancels out the other. I believe they work together very intimately. First of all, there is joy for any true preacher of the Word of God or any believer who witnesses to another about Jesus Christ. There is joy when others respond to that Word of God and turn to Christ in repentance and faith. How can there not be increased joy? John himself says in 3 John 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. And then Peter says in 1 Thessalonians 2, I'm sorry, Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 19, For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory, our joy. But also, we are called, beloved, to proclaim the Word of God so that others may indeed enter into joy and fellowship, into that joy and fellowship of God. Jesus said in John 15, verse 11, after teaching about the vine and the branches, He said, I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. In Psalm 16, verse 11, the psalmist says, You have made known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. This fellowship and joy are the common possession between the Apostle and his readers, between those who proclaim the Word of God and those who receive it by the grace of God. And then ultimately, our joy will be complete when we are delivered from this life of sin. When all that is evil is forever put away and God is glorified above all. And when we shall enjoy salvation in all of its fullness with our Lord Jesus Christ and the church He purchased with His precious blood. John begins this epistle with a defense of the truth of Jesus Christ, of who He is, of what He has done, and what that means for us, for those who believe. And he sums it up beautifully as well in the 5th chapter, verse 13, where he says, 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. That's where it must begin, beloved. With Jesus Christ, the truth of who He is and what He has done. That message and that truth hasn't changed. There is still no other name under heaven given among men by which we might be saved. Jesus is still the way, the truth, and the life. There is still no other way to the Father except through Him. Many deny this today. We could list the heretical movements, the false churches who deny this. Unfortunately, there are some even in the Reformed camp today who deny this. They say that He was just a man. He was a good teacher and a good moral example of how we should live. But to nature's impossible. Necessary for salvation? Not at all. those who reject the apostolic witness and testimony of the gospel reject the word of life even Jesus Christ and they will be sadly surprised one day when this very same Jesus in his glorified body comes again to judge the living and the dead and when he says to them depart from me I never knew you without the real Christ There is no real forgiveness. But praise be to Him, beloved, who revealed Himself physically and spiritually to His apostles and through their testimony has drawn us into fellowship with Himself. And as we study this epistle, may it be that we are strengthened in the faith and encouraged and equipped to be more faithful Christians, to more faithful Christian living. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, again, at the close of this service, at the close of this, Your Word preached, what can we say but thanks be to God who has delivered us from our greatest evil and given to us life, abundant life, eternal life, in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Heavenly Father, may we never be ashamed to tell others about Jesus Christ. Even though to the world this message is foolishness and they will not receive it, they will do nothing but stomp on it and cast it underfoot. Father, we pray that we would without apology, instead with boldness, proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ and His saving love, apart from which there is no salvation. And indeed, O Lord, may it be that our desire is that all that we come in contact with, they too might share in the joy of this salvation, the joy which we can lay claim to by Your grace. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your Holy Word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.