Warm welcome to all of you who chose to be here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
Good morning, everyone.
If you have a copy of God's Word, go ahead and turn with me to 1 John 1.
We'll be looking at the first few verses this morning.
1 John 1.
Let's pray.
Lord, we are thankful for your word.
We are thankful for what it does,
how it goes around the world with ministries like Gideon's.
Father, for what it does in our own hearts,
may we cherish it, may we love it,
and may we worship you because of it.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Is that me?
Sound like I'm in a wind tunnel.
I don't know.
All right.
So there's a skill that most of us don't acknowledge that we all have.
Some of us are better at it than others.
In fact, it is so prevalent that economists think
that this one skill makes up a quarter of our nation's economy.
That's a lot of money.
That's more than a million dollars.
In fact, this is so important that great leaders,
businessmen, government officials, high school teachers,
moms and dads, kids on the playground,
all either do this or encourage us to grow in this one skill.
Harvard Business Review wrote this about that one skill.
It said,
Ideas are the currency of the 21st century.
The ability to persuade, and that is that one skill.
To change hearts and minds is perhaps the single greatest skill of all time.
The author of that piece went on to say that when words and ideas are exchanged,
we have the power to change the world.
Persuasion is then the most important skill that any of us can have,
that any of us can possess.
Now, you might be thinking,
Well, I'm not sure I'm very persuasive.
I'm not sure I even all do that.
But think with me for a moment.
We know that politicians do it.
They try to convince us to vote for them.
We know that salesmen try to speak to us in a way that make us buy whatever it is they're selling.
But we all do it.
It's not just those people.
In fact, if we think for a second about our own lives, we do it.
You convince that guy to hire you in your job interview.
You convince your son or daughter that, in fact, they should put on that jacket.
Or that they should obey.
Or that they should eat their vegetables.
Or you convince that toddler this morning to get in that car seat.
Maybe it wasn't persuasion.
You think it's actually more coercion.
But the reality is that we're trying to convince people to do something.
We're trying to convince people to think something.
And the difference between maybe persuading that toddler
or convincing someone to see something your way,
and maybe you think those are all the same thing.
That manipulation, coercion, persuasion, it's all the same thing.
But persuasion is trying to convince someone to do something or think something
for their own benefit.
And it also benefits you on some level.
That's the difference.
Kids, you do this too.
Think about when you're on the playground
and you try to convince someone to trade that Pokemon card with you.
And you know the one that you have is actually terrible.
Or you try to convince your brother or sister to stop coloring and ride bikes instead.
We do this from the earliest age.
And this morning, John is trying to do the same thing as a rider.
But he's not trying to convince people of something new.
He's not trying to persuade them with something they've never heard before.
But in fact, he's reminding them,
I've already told you these things.
Just like eating your vegetables or putting on a jacket or getting in your car seat.
It's probably not the first time you said those things if you're a parent.
John is saying,
I've told you this before,
but I'm reminding you again of how important it is.
He writes this later on in the book.
He says,
I'm writing because I've written about these things before.
To you who believe in the name of the Son of God,
in order that you might know that you have eternal life.
This isn't news to them.
But in the opening lines of this letter,
he's pointing back to something.
He's pointing back to this claim that we're going to examine this morning.
The word of life is real.
And we're going to do that in two parts.
We're going to first look at its substance.
Or what is it?
We're going to define it and examine it.
And then we're going to look at the effects.
The so what.
So the word of life,
even that is ambiguous.
We're going to see in a moment.
The word of life and why it matters.
First,
now,
when we're talking about persuasion,
the thing that I didn't mention in this conversation is,
no matter if in the 21st century or ancient history,
everyone acknowledges that the seminal work,
the most important thing ever written on this,
is by a guy named Aristotle.
Now,
I say that with some amount of fear and trepidation,
because Matthew,
he's much more apt at the philosophy stuff.
And I barely can speak English sometimes.
So I say that with hesitation.
I'm glad he's not here.
I hope he's enjoying vacation.
Now,
Aristotle,
from what I've read,
okay,
he wrote this book called Rhetoric.
And I've read it.
He talks about certain elements of communication,
certain elements that we can use to persuade others.
And one of them is establishing credibility.
You know,
why you should listen to me,
why you should believe what I'm saying.
And John does this same thing,
but he does it in a very interesting way.
Let's look at it.
Read with me verse one.
That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life.
He's establishing credibility by pointing back,
saying,
this is not anything that's new.
In fact,
it's old,
old history.
He says this topic,
this subject is important because of its age.
And it's not recent,
but it's really,
really old.
And it's not just old.
It's there from before time,
from the beginning.
That's what he does to establish credibility.
Now,
if you're thinking to yourself,
wait,
this kind of sounds familiar.
Let me jog your memory.
Listen to this.
In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God,
and the word was God.
He was in the beginning,
was God.
And all things were made through him.
And without him was anything,
was not anything made that was made.
And in him was life,
and the life was the light of men.
Or what about what we read earlier?
In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth.
It sounds really similar.
And when John is writing this,
he's making a point to all of us,
especially the people that would receive this letter,
or this sermon.
He's saying,
what I'm about to say
relates to not just my gospel that I wrote to you,
but it relates back all the way to the beginning,
to Genesis.
And when we read this,
it should get our juices flowing to say,
oh yeah, I've heard this before.
I know this story.
And that is how credibility is established.
He also does something else
that is very common in our modern day.
He appeals to the senses.
We like to think, though,
that we're much smarter
than the first readers of this letter,
and that we have to know,
and see, and touch,
and understand everything.
But John's readers were the same way.
And he says this,
that you have seen it.
You have touched it.
You have even tasted it.
You have felt with all of your senses
and seen all of these things.
You've heard the words.
And then he circles back again
in what's called a parenthesis, right?
That he says the same thing again,
but in different ways.
He says, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon,
which we have touched with our hands.
He's saying this thing over and over again,
kind of like what pastors do.
We say the same thing over and over again,
but maybe with different words.
And why do we use different words?
Because we don't want to be like robots
and just repeat everything.
But we're circling around something
that's really important.
So we're saying the same thing
over and over again.
And what is it that he's saying?
He's saying that this is really important.
I want to remind you
that this is credible,
not because it's old,
but also that you,
that we have experienced it.
This is something that's not new to you.
You are personally acquainted with the subject.
You see, John's writing this letter
because he's concerned that Christians,
that he's told the gospel to,
that he's pastored and loved
and watched them grow up,
watched them grow up in their faith
and children into adulthood.
He's concerned that they're walking away
from the truth
and that they're walking away
from the message that he gave to them.
You see, some of the people
from this congregation
that John is writing to
had strayed away.
They thought there was new things
to find out.
That in fact,
unless you went to this Bible study
or heard this certain speaker speak
or actually read this book,
that you really wouldn't know
what eternal life was.
And John's concerned about that
and he points us back,
he points his readers back
to what they've heard before.
And he says,
you don't need anything new.
You don't need any new gadget
or gizmo or word.
Go back to the beginning.
Go back to what I've told you
because this is important.
But what's he talking about?
He's talking about the word of life.
That's the subject.
That's the that in the beginning.
The word of life
could be the message of Jesus.
If you start reading
through this section
up until the point
where he talks about
that it's touched by hands.
So it's the message of Jesus
but also the person of Jesus
because in the person of Jesus,
he accomplishes what he preaches.
The sacrifice,
the once for all sacrifice for sin
is Jesus himself
but he communicates that message
by his own lips.
So it's the message of Jesus
but also the person of Jesus.
And John says
that Jesus embodies this message
and you have seen it,
you have touched it,
you've even known it.
You've known the person of Jesus.
And Jesus is the word
and the word is life.
He reminds us of that
in the gospel of John.
He tracks that all the way through for us.
He's pointing in these very first verses
back to Jesus
as the answer for
not these newfound issues
that can be answered by new ideas,
new problems that can't be answered
by an old message.
No, he says,
go back to Jesus.
And then he continues that
again in verse two.
He says,
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.
He's circling the drain.
First he starts wider
and then he gets closer.
He says the same thing again
but in a different way.
At the same time,
the drain is still in the middle.
He's going around and around
saying the same thing,
restating it.
Again, this is not new.
This is an old message
both in age and familiarity.
He's not telling them anything new.
He's not trying to persuade them
like at the end of the Gospel of John
where he's telling people
who've never heard the good news of Jesus.
He's reminding them again
that this is important.
He's reminding us
of the centrality
of the person and message of Jesus
for all of life.
He's reminding us
again and again
that eternal life
is found in Christ.
Now John,
he's terrible at grammar
which is kind of funny
because if you start grading this thing,
that first couple verses
is all one sentence
and you're thinking,
John, you're saying the same thing
over and over again
and you don't even give us a break
like we can't even breathe
with the period.
But John
is actually
a really good writer
and a really good speaker.
When you think
of good speakers
in the modern day,
you might think
of something called
a TED Talk.
It's where an expert,
air quote,
gets up
and convinces you
that whatever they say
is important
and they're in authority
on that.
And I say,
most of the time it is
but sometimes it's a kid.
And sometimes
they're experts on things
where you're like,
hey, I don't really think
you know what you're talking about.
Plus, where's your mom?
But,
you know,
those influential videos
where we hear about experts
but John does the same thing
that a lot of these TED Talks do.
He repeats things
over and over
to reinforce a point.
He builds credibility
just like Aristotle
told him to do
or Aristotle explains later
that credibility
is based on age
and then experience.
But TED Talks do something
that John does here.
where he tells a story
invites us in.
And if you look
at the most popular TED Talks
that are on the internet,
all of them
have an element of story
where they invite us in
and we get captured
in what's going on.
If you think about a good book,
reading a good book
does the same thing.
We kind of lose
where we're at in life
and we get immersed
in the story.
And then you add
on top of that,
you add emotion.
Now you might be thinking,
hey, I'm a math science guy.
I don't really do feelings.
Even the best of us
have feelings
and emotions.
And when a story
compels us
and we get captured in it
and then our emotions
are involved,
we're all in.
The same is true with John.
The same is true
with a TED Talk.
Now TED Talks
all end
in this certain way.
They say,
and you might even
use this phrase,
thank you for coming
to my TED Talk.
Now John,
if you look at
how he's written this,
he doesn't have
the focus on himself
like many of these
so-called experts.
Like,
if I want to tell you
about Pokemon cards
or I want to tell you
about college football,
I'm going to list
my credentials
and then you're going
to believe me
based on my credentials.
Now John,
he does something
very different.
And just like
a TED Talk,
he doesn't,
he actually doesn't
do anything
like a TED Talk.
He says,
hey,
listen,
my TED Talk
is not about me.
It's about Jesus.
And he structures
how he opens this letter
in the same way.
He doesn't say,
I'm John,
I knew Jesus,
or I'm John,
I'm really important,
I know what I'm talking about.
He says,
the subject
is way more important
than me,
than what I'm delivering
to you.
That Jesus is more important
than anything else.
And he structures
his letter
in the same way.
He draws us
into the story.
He builds credibility.
But it's all pointing
to Jesus,
not to John.
How John structures
this letter,
how he repeats things,
how he builds credibility,
he's all explaining
what the word of life is.
He's reassuring
his readers.
Remember,
that's the point
of this letter,
to reassure people
that the central point
of life
is Christ
and him crucified.
He's reassuring
these people
of the power
of the gospel
that rests
not in John
or his professionalism
or his credibility
and not how he talks,
but in what Jesus
has done
and who Jesus is.
That's the point
of why John's writing.
Now,
why does that matter?
It matters for Christians.
It matters for Christians
then and now
because if we get
in a tough spot,
if we're doubting
our faith,
oftentimes,
we look to ourselves
and think,
well,
you know,
I know myself
the best
or my spouse
says this
or my friends
say that.
John says no.
look to Jesus.
That's the thing
that is certain
because in our own lives,
if we look to ourselves
as to other people,
the reality is
that they're all
marked by sin.
We all struggle
with sin.
We all struggle
with doubts.
So why would we
look to ourselves
for any amount
of surety
or certainty?
No,
instead,
look to Christ.
And John knows this
and he reminds
his readers of this.
Even how he sets
everything up.
He says,
don't look to yourself.
Look to the word of life
because in him
is found eternal life.
Look to Christ
and what he's accomplished
on the cross.
Don't look to yourselves.
Don't even look
to others around you.
The certainty
is found
in the message
of the gospel.
Not into these people
who are trying
to persuade you
of new ideas
or new things.
The message
is where certainty
is found
because of
what Jesus
has done.
So when we're
discouraged
and we think
life isn't even
going right,
that
we're struggling
when we think
I surely cannot
be a Christian.
Look to Christ
because that
is more certain
than ourselves.
when we hear
questions in our day,
when we say,
did Jesus really
say that?
Or how could you
even believe
in this fairy tale,
this fantasy?
Look to Christ
because that
is certain.
When there's war
and there's rumors
of war
and our society
seems to be
going crazy,
look to Christ.
Look to Christ.
That's where
John is pointing
to us
because our
assurance
comes in
what he's done
on the cross
on our behalf.
Our forgiveness
of sin
is because
of Christ.
Our certainty
of hope
is because
of Christ,
not because
of any of us.
Now,
that's the substance
of this word
of life.
What about
its effects?
How does it
affect our lives?
If that's true
and that's true
of us,
how do we
live that out?
What do we do
now?
Look with me
at verses
3 and following.
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 His
Son,
Jesus Christ.
He begins
with this
repetition
again.
He's saying
the same thing
but he's
amplifying it.
He's making
it more
intense.
He's saying
what we heard
in verse 1
and verse 2
but we look
at the effects
of it.
It changes
individuals
and it binds
us together
but why?
Because the
word that was
proclaimed,
the good news
that was
proclaimed to
each of us,
to all these
readers,
changes us
and makes us
in fellowship
together because
we have fellowship
with the Father
through the Son,
Jesus Christ.
That we have
fellowship with
the Father
and because we
have fellowship
with the Father
and you have
fellowship with
the Father
and He has
fellowship with
the Father
and she does
then we have
fellowship together.
But that's born
out of the
proclamation of
the Word
that the gospel
was proclaimed
to you
and you've
changed,
you've become
a saint,
changed from
sinner and because
of that now
you have
fellowship.
fellowship is
kind of a
funny word.
A guy I knew
once always
talked about
fellowship in
terms of kids
and he would
talk about kids
going down to
the basement
and having
coke and I
think hot dogs,
I can't remember
the food.
But is that
fellowship?
Or is fellowship
something different?
Is fellowship
what we do
after church?
Maybe.
Or is fellowship
as John uses it,
it's a common
bond.
The New Testament
uses it as
fellowship,
as having
something in
common,
doing something
together.
In the gospels
it talks about
the disciples
having fellowship
in fishing.
Is that fellowship?
Is that what he
means here?
John will go on
later in some
of his other
letters to talk
about fellowship
with evil,
that when we
don't follow
Christ we're
actually in
fellowship with
evil.
Is that fellowship?
Fellowship is
just having
something in
common and
uniting us
together.
So if you're
a Clemson
football fan,
we have
fellowship
together.
If you really
like coffee,
you might have
fellowship with
Matthew.
If you like
the Rockies,
you probably
have fellowship
with my son.
If you love
Pokemon,
you might have
fellowship with
another kid.
It can go on
and on.
Fellowship is
having something
that you both
like that unites
you together.
So what is
John talking
about here?
He's talking
about fellowship
that is found
in the gospel.
That's most
of the time
when we use
that term.
We use that
as shorthand.
Fellowship that
we have in
the gospel.
But participation
in fellowship
is also
participation
in a mission.
It's just,
it's not
stagnant.
And John
reminds us
of that here.
He says
that we
have seen
it,
testified to
it,
and proclaimed
to you
eternal life,
which was with
the Father.
That's in
verse 2.
He's building
this case
that we
are participatory.
That which
we have seen
and heard
we proclaim
to you also
so that you
too may have
fellowship with
us.
Proclaiming
and then
fellowship.
Sinner
to saint
then fellowship.
That's how we
have fellowship
with the Father
because we
have put
our faith
in Christ.
If you
don't have
fellowship
with the Father,
you haven't
put your faith
in Christ.
I encourage
you,
based on
the words
of John,
to love
Jesus
because of
what he
has done
on your
behalf.
Is your
heart
steward
towards
Christ
because of
what he
has done?
Jesus,
both the
person and
the message
is that
Jesus has
come and
died and
paid for
sin as a
ransom for
those that
are sinners.
And that's
us.
And if we
put our
faith in
Christ,
we have
fellowship
with God
the Father
because of
the Son.
That's the
message of
the gospel.
That's what
John's inviting
us to
participate in
as we
tell others
about what
has happened
to us.
That is how
we have
fellowship.
When I was
a kid,
you might
have a
granddad like
this or
a grandfather
that's like
this.
I don't
think I've
had some
near-death
experiences in
my life,
but most
of them
have been
at his
hands,
which is
saying a
lot,
right?
He's a
great man,
he's with
the Lord
now,
but he
had some
not-so-great
ideas most
of the time.
He's a smart
guy, too.
And one of
my favorite
slash scariest
was when
we went to
our lake
place.
We had a
little house
on the lake
and there
was a
hurricane
coming,
so for
those that
aren't
acquainted,
think
tornado,
lots of
big winds,
lots of
water,
rain,
you know,
you stay
at home,
you don't
drive an
hour away
to go out
to this
little,
not shack,
but cottage,
lake house,
cabin deal,
and you
definitely
don't want
to be
outside.
So he
got the
idea that
he needed
to go up
there and
make sure
everything
was,
you know,
put together
and was
in order,
and so he
said,
hey,
you're above
the age of
five,
you're going
to come
with me.
So we
went up
there to
make sure
that our
boat hadn't
blown across
the lake,
that the
house hadn't
imploded because
we built
it,
and his
idea,
he knew it
was dangerous,
and so he
said,
boy,
he sometimes
called me
boy when
he's very
serious,
or before
a near-death
experience,
I'm going to
tie you to
this tree.
Now the
reason he
was going to
tie me to
the tree is
one so I
didn't blow
away,
and the
other was
so I
didn't drown,
okay,
because the
water had
risen above
our dock,
it was a
fixed dock,
and so when
we made our
way down,
after I was
tied to this
tree,
and the
tree is still
there today,
it was about
three feet of
water above
the dock,
so when you're
about nine,
that's pretty
high,
and it's
windy,
you should be
inside,
you shouldn't
be outside
when there's a
hurricane,
and he was
concerned that
I would die.
More importantly,
he wasn't
concerned that I
would die,
but then he
wouldn't be able
to get me
back,
okay,
at least that's
what my
grandmother
accused him
of,
that I
would be
carried away
in the water
and the wind,
okay,
and as we
made our
way down,
it was pretty
scary,
and I
remember seeing
him slip and
go under the
water and
thinking,
I'm tied to
this tree,
I can't help
you,
but no matter
what happened,
the wind or
the waves,
even if I
died,
I am still
anchored to
this tree,
I am bound
to this tree
by this rope,
and that
rope is
not going
to let
me go
under the
water and
float away,
it might go
under the
water for a
time,
I might be
blown over,
but I'm not
going to be
blown across
the lake,
I might fall,
no matter what
happens,
I have this
anchor,
I am bound
to this tree,
I am bound
by this rope,
John is
reminding us
that Christians,
that we are
bound together
with God,
not because of
our ability to
hold on to
that rope,
but because we
are tied to
him,
we are tied
to him because
of what Christ
has done on
our behalf,
because of our
faith in
Christ,
even when it's
weak,
is secured not
because of
ourselves,
but because of
what Christ
has done,
he moves on
from this and
he says,
I'm writing
these things
so that our
joy might be
complete.
Union with
God,
union with
Christ,
is the source
of our joy,
and if we read
this at its
face,
we think our
joy is somehow
lacking.
John's not
saying that,
he's saying
because I've
cared for you,
because I've
told you the
gospel,
because I've
pastored you,
because I've
shepherded you
through all
those storms
of life,
I feel a
sense of joy
in knowing
that you're
walking in
the truth.
He'll say
that later.
That I love
you,
and that when
I hear of
the ministry
of Gideons,
or I hear of
the ministry
that's going
on in other
parts of the
world,
that we are
together in
this,
in this
mission,
the proclamation
of the word,
and I rejoice
to know that
the word is
going forth.
That's what
he's saying.
That we're
doing these
things for
joy.
So do we
rejoice when
we have
fellowship with
one another?
Do we
rejoice when
we go out
after the
service and
eat those
wonderful treats
and drink
coffee?
Is that
fellowship that
we can rejoice
in?
It is because
it's not really
about the
coffee or the
treats.
It's about
the conversations
that we have
with one
another,
stirring our
hearts,
prompting
each other
on,
to know
that,
yes,
I might
be struggling,
but I am
bound with
Christ.
That even
when I don't
feel like I
have the
strength to
hold on,
that Christ
holds me
fast.
That's what
John is
reminding us.
And the joy
to know as
we walk
through life
together,
as Christians,
as followers
of God,
that we are
united together
in all of
that.
And that
brings joy
because we
are participating
together in a
mission,
in seeing
sinners
transformed
into saints,
in seeing
people raised
from death
unto life.
That gives
us joy.
That's something
that we can
rejoice in
and hope in.
that's
fellowship.
The effects
of the
message of
Jesus are
that we
fundamentally
transformed
our priorities,
that we
see things
differently.
We see
the effects
of his
person and
his message
because of
the actual
message,
because it
is that
good,
because it
is that
powerful.
And when
we encounter
the storms
of life,
we are
assured,
not because
of my
own strength
to hold
on,
but because
of who
Jesus is.
Let's rest
in that
assurance.
Let's rest
in knowing
that Christ
and him
crucified
is the
only thing
that matters.
Let's
pray.
Lord,
we are
mindful this
morning of
the change
that you
have wrought
in those
that follow
Christ.
We pray
that you
might work
in our
hearts to
hold us
fast because
of what
you have
done
through
Christ.
May we
know that,
may we
love it,
and may we
rejoice in
the hope
that's found
in knowing
Jesus.
Amen.