Shabbat Shalom everyone. Let's open our Bibles, please. We are going to turn to the Epistle of Yohanan, John. This interesting letter that the Apostle wrote to the family of God, to believers everywhere, in which John is seeking to emphasize the importance of having fellowship. In Hebrew, we call it Hitchabrut, with the Lord, and it is such an important book, a letter that he wrote, and we have began in our previous meeting. We gave some introduction to this letter, and today we are going to seek to deal with the first chapter of 1 John, chapter 1. And so let's read these 10 verses together. And I'm reading verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life.

For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have not 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 that we have not sin, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. I am going to stop here at the end of this first chapter. 1 John, chapter 1, verses 1 to 10, is the subject for us, for this ministry meeting.

And beloved brothers and sisters, this is a very important chapter, because here, Yohanan, that is John, the apostle, is the one that now is writing to the family of God, the mishpachat. And he is concerned that the believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, will understand the importance, the link that they have with the living God, with God the Father, who sent his Son, Yeshua the Messiah, and by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, enable us to understand the place in which we have been brought into. So, as I gave you, in the previous meeting, together, the introduction to this book, to this letter, John is now very old.

This is next to the last writings that I'm ever going to write. The epistles of John, he wrote between 90 to 95 AD. John was now very old. He hasn't been yet taken to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation. He's writing now because he had sensed and seen that already, in first century, false teachers have crept in. The Gnostics, who did not believe in the Word of God as it is given to us, prided themselves in exceeding knowledge that they may have, and therefore they have really denied the truth of the Word of God. They denied the deity of the Messiah. They denied the fact that God exists and consists in three persons.

They denied many of the fundamental truths of the Word of God. So, Yohanan is writing to them this letter. Now, I want you to notice that in the first four verses, he gives the brothers and sisters of the family of God the truth about the Incarnation. The Incarnation, meaning simply that God became a man, is something that is very important for every person to grasp. Those of us who are coming from Israel, a Jewish family, we understand very well that we have a hard time to grasp the truth of the Incarnation. Often times our families do ask, do you mean that God became a man?

And do you mean that this Jesus, this Yeshua, that was hanging on a Roman cross, there outside of the city of Jerusalem, do you mean that he is truly the Mashiach, the Messiah, God and man in one? Well, John, a Jewish man, teaching us the truth and the importance of the Incarnation. And so, notice what he does. And I want to go in the first four verses. I want you to understand what he does. Notice the first verse, which we have elaborated about it already in our previous meeting together, but I still want to just elaborate a little bit more on verse one. It says that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have handled of the word of life.

Now, I mentioned previously that in the scripture we have three beginnings. Genesis 1:1, John 1:1, 1 John 1:1. Every one of these beginnings take us to a different period in history. In fact, as I mentioned, John chapter 1 begin with, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." It takes us as far as you can ever imagine. It takes us into eternity past. Whatever number of years you want to place in John chapter 1 and verse 1, "In the beginning, the word was there already." In other words, he never had a beginning. He is the eternal Son of God. In Genesis chapter 1, "Bereshit bara Elohim," "Take us into the time of creation." And we have also mentioned that most people take it to about 6,000 years ago when God had created the heavens and the earth, but some believe that between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis chapter 1, there was the fall of Satan.

And then in verse 2, "God had to put in order the creation that He had made many years before because of the fact that Satan fell, sin came, and all the chaos had happened." That's why it says in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2, "And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water." Something happened between verse 1 and verse 2 to cause the fact that the earth was without form and void. In Hebrew, we call it tohu vavohu. It's where there is so many problems and chaos happen, and that without form and void speaks about something occur between verse 1 and verse 2.

In other words, it is very possible, and most Bible teachers believe that the creation had happened long before these 6,000 years ago, something had happened between verse 1 and 2, and God had to put together in order the very creation which was chaotic after the fall of Satan. And so Genesis chapter 1 takes us to creation, and here we have the incarnation. That which was in the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled. And then notice what he says in verse 1 at the end, the word of life. Now this is now the title of the Messiah Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

That expression, the word of life in Hebrew, it's dvar hachayim, it comes from the Greek word for logos. If you read the Greek text, you will notice for the word word here, it's the Greek logos, it's the Hebrew mimra or davar. In other words, whenever God has spoken, he always spoken in the person of his logos. The explanation of the Greek word logos is the saying of God. Whenever God spoke, he always spoke in the person of his son, the Messiah himself. As it says here, that which was in the beginning, we have heard, we have seen him, and our eyes have looked upon him, and our hands have handled him, but who is this person?

He is the word, the logos, the mimra of life. So what we really learn here from verse one, that the Messiah himself, is the expression of the purposes, and the mind of God. He is the one through whom God spoke to men. Turn to Hebrews chapter one. A very famous verse, that everyone who is reading the book of Hebrews, and see what God is saying concerning the person of his son. And remember that the letters to the Hebrews, was written to Hebrew believers, somewhere in about 64 AD, to Jewish believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And the writer wanted them to grasp the truth of the sonship of Yeshua, and the fact that God spoke in the person of his son.

He said to them, verse one of Hebrews one. God who at sundry times, and in diverse manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days, spoken unto us by his son, whom he has appointed heirs of all things, and by whom he made the world. So what the writer to the Hebrew believers is saying here in Hebrews chapter one, that in the past time of history, God has given to us the people of Israel, the prophets, the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Yechezkel, Ezekiel, and those prophets have given us the written word of God. But in the last days, God has spoken to us in the person of his son.

In other words, Galatians four and verse four, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them which were under the law. In other words, God sent his son to become not only written word, not only through the creation, but the living son of God, now enter into humanity. And now he came to this world for the express purpose, to bring us into fellowship with God, to give his life. And that's why he's called here, the word, the logos of life. That's what he's saying here, in first John chapter one, in verse one, very important verse to get a hold of.

No wonder when Yeshua was asked in John chapter 14, you remember, he was asked by, Philip said unto him, "Show us the Father, and it will be sufficient enough for us." And notice what Yeshua said in verse nine, "Have I been so long time with you, and ye have not known me, Philip? He that have seen me, have seen the Father. And how sayest thou, show us the Father?" In other words, brothers and sisters, the only way to know God the Father, is knowing God the Son. That is essential to understand. He that have seen me, have seen the Father. If a person, do not know Yeshua the Messiah, as his Lord and Savior, he doesn't know the Father.

And the reason for the incarnation, it is in order to enable the human race, Jewish people and non-Jewish people, to enter into a relationship, into a fellowship with God. That's why Yeshua the Messiah had to become a man. I want to have one more verse to read with you. Look what it says in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, secondly, and the Word was with God, his distinct person in the Godhead, and the Word was God." What we really have, the divine person of the Son, distinct from the Father, and yet divine. And then go down to verse 14, and it says, "And the Word became flesh, and it dwelt among us.

And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." So Yohanan is teaching the divine nature of Yeshua the Messiah, of the Son of God, and he became a man. He entered humanity when he was born to the Virgin Miriam. And so we read here, and I'm back in 1 John 1, the Epistle, the fact of the Incarnation, that he is the Word of life. He is the one that came down to this world in order to give us life, to bring us into a relationship, into a fellowship with the Father and the Son, to become part of the family of God, Mishpachat Elohim.

And so now, if you will just go down for a moment into verse 2 of 1 John, notice what he is now adding. And John is building up here the truth of the Incarnation, that God became a man. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it. And we bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifest unto us. You notice that he used the word, we, our, and us. This is the first century Apostle, the Shlichim, the Hebrew Apostle, that were chosen by Yeshua, the Messiah, who have lived every day with him, and followed him from the time that he called him to the ministry.

As we have already read in our previous meeting, when he said to Matthew, and to the others, he said to John, and to James, he says, follow me, come unto me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they have observed him. They watched him. They saw, this word of life, this is the life, it was manifested, we have seen it. We bear witness, and we show to you, and now he's adding here something, he's not only calling him life, but he's calling him eternal life. in Hebrew, we say, chaye olamin, chaye olam, eternal life. In other words, he said, he was manifested, we have seen it, we bear witness, we show it unto you, this eternal life, which was with the Father, and now he had been manifested unto us.

Now notice these brothers and sisters, this expression, eternal life. This expression, chaye olam, or chaye olamin, we say this in Hebrew. What does it mean, eternal life? Oftentimes, we make the mistake. We think about time, and the span of time. And it's not wrong, but it is much more than merely length of time. You know, the Bible say, for example, in the book of Psalm, from eternity to eternity, thou art God. You never had an existing, from eternity to eternity, you are God. In other words, there is no measurement of time, because God is everlasting, always existed. The Son, the Messiah, always was distinct from the Father, and yet God, the Son, ever have been there.

But now, he is telling us, that we bear witness, we show this unto you, to whom he was writing, this eternal life. What we really learn here, that this eternal life, is not only a length of time, or a period of time, or even the word eternity, the word eternal life, has to do with a person. It is a person, that is eternal life. In other words, if we don't know that person, we do not have eternal life. How do I know that it is a person? There are more than one verse, that we want to read, in connection with this, go back to the Gospel, of John again.

John chapter 17:1, Yeshua himself, speaking to the Father, in prayer, and look what he is saying. These words, spake Yeshua, and he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and he said, "Father, the hour has come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life, to as many as thou hast given unto him." And then verse 3, he is giving us the meaning of eternal life, eternal life, and he says, and this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Yeshua, the Messiah, whom thou had sent. You know, brothers and sisters, to know eternal life, and to possess eternal life, is to have a relationship with Yeshua, the Messiah.

If someone doesn't have a relationship with Yeshua, the Messiah, someone doesn't have eternal life whatsoever. Well, we live forever, but where are we going to live forever? One who is not a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, it is eternal separation, from the living God. So, to have eternal life, is to know him. To know Yeshua, the Messiah. So, Yohanan is writing to the Mishpacha, to the family, he says, "Listen, there is a reason why God had to become a man, the person of the Son had to enter humanity. There is a reason why, the prophet Isaiah of Israel said in chapter 7, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and she shall call his name, Imanu, with us, El, God." He had to come to this world, to do something that no one else could do.

To pay the penalty for sin, and to become a redeemer, a Mosheah, a savior. That's why, his name was called Yeshua, and you shall call his name Yeshua, for he shall save Yoshea, his people, from their sins. The incarnation is essential to understand why God had to become a man. And Yohanan says, "Listen, he is the Logos of life, but he is also eternal life. He is the spokesman for God, the one through whom God spoke, but he is eternal. There is no beginning, no end, and linking yourself with him, give you the ground upon which you can stand and possess eternal life." It's amazing.

Look at another verse, 1 John, chapter 5, and verse 20. John's saying, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus the Messiah." And notice what he is saying, "This is the true God and eternal life." Being part, acknowledging Yeshua the Messiah, this is eternal life. Having our sins forgiven because of our relationship to the person of the Son of God, Yeshua the Messiah, this is eternal life. And if you note in 1 John, chapter 5, and verse 12, it says, "He that has not the Son of God hath no life." Beloved brothers and sisters, our eternal life is linked with the person of Yeshua the Messiah who came from heaven.

The Son of God entered humanity through the virgin Miriam, went all the way to the altar where he laid down his life, shed his precious blood, and make it possible for you and I to become part of the mishpacha, of the family of God. So, in verses 1 and 2, the word of life was manifested. You know, today, nobody has any excuse to reject Yeshua the Messiah because this word of life has been revealed. people in the world heard about Yeshua. They heard a gospel message far and wide. It began in our own city, Yerushalayim, some 2,000 years ago, and the message had been proclaimed all the way to the nations of the world.

There is not a place in this world that the message of the word of life that came into this world have not been heard somehow. Maybe there are some places, but God had been gracious enough to share the message of the gospel to every person in this world. We hear it in the television. We can hear it on the radio. We can hear it in the news. We have Bibles provided in many languages. The word of life, namely Yeshua the Messiah, has been proclaimed all over the world. and no one has an excuse in rejecting the Messiah that will have to answer God at the day when they will have to appear before Him.

So this eternal life had been manifested. Notice again, the word manifest is mentioned twice here in verse 2. For the life was manifested and we have seen it. We bear witness to it. We show it to you. This eternal life, which was with the Father, and notice at the end again, and was manifested unto us. Twice using the word manifest here in that verse. In other words, he was revealed. He was presented before us and we are presenting it before anyone today as Yohanan said when he wrote this letter. So let's move on and notice how John belaboring here the fact of the incarnation. And the reason for the incarnation is that we will have fellowship fellowship with the living God.

You see brothers and sisters, man does not realize that when people born into this world, we are born in sin. And sin separate us from a holy and a righteous God. And God wanted to do something about it. And he sent his son. The Messiah paid the price. So now sin has been dealt with and now man can be reconciled and brought back to God and have positional fellowship with God. And notice now what he is saying in verse 3. God seeking fellowship with the human race, with mankind. That which we have seen and heard. We declare unto you. And now notice what he said. The reason for that.

That you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son Yeshua HaMashiach. Now sometimes people use this expression to say two fellows in a ship. It's fellow ship. But you can be in a ship with two fellows, three fellows. You can be on an airplane, in a car with two fellows or three fellows. That doesn't make fellowship that God has intended for mankind to have. In other words, people might sit in a church pew, in a congregational pew, in a synagogue's pew, and have no fellowship with God. It doesn't mean if we sit in a building where the Bible is being read, whether it is the Tanakh or the Brit HaChadasha, it doesn't give us fellowship with God.

What makes fellowship? The word for fellowship comes from the Greek word koinonia. It's to have something in common. Now how did we become part of this Mishpacha, family of God? We have nothing in common by nature. In fact, what we have in common is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God by nature. That's the only thing that we have in common. But in order to bring us into this family, something had to happen. And so, John Yohanan is saying right now in verse 3, he says, listen, what we have seen, meaning we have seen the Messiah, Yeshua, when he was on earth here, we have heard everything that he has said.

He spoke the word of God. He lived the life of the man of God, the son of God. And now we declare this unto you. Why? Because we want you to have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the father and with the son. Now let's talk about this for a moment. How do we become part of the family of God? Now, most of us who are Jewish here can say, well, listen, I'm a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I'm a descendant of the chosen people. Now, while it's a privilege to be part of the nation of Israel and with such a heritage, with such a history, and with such a future that is awaiting the people of Israel, but you cannot become part of the mishpacha, spiritually speaking, without to be what is known to be in scripture, born again.

To be born from above. And so John is now saying, listen, we have seen Yeshua the Messiah, this one who is eternal life, the word of life. We have heard what he had said and he had spoken. And now we want you to have fellowship together with us, to have koinonia, to have something in common. And truly our something in common is with the father and the son. Now, brothers and sisters, when you think about it, this is mind boggling. How can a sinner have something in common with the holy and righteous God? How is it possible? You know, that is the problem that the human race have today.

They think God is love and God is great and God is good. And he will accept me because after all, I'm his creature. He created me. But we have to understand, because God is holy, when sin enters into this world, sin has separated us from God. And you see, if God will allow a sinner to enter into his presence, something is wrong. He is not holy anymore. He is not kadosh. He will allow a sinner to come into his presence. So in order to bring a sinner into his presence, because he loved mankind so much, that holy and righteous God did something about it. He sent a Messiah who came to this world, who was penalized for every sin, every chet that we have committed.

He was judged for our sins. And now he opened the door for those who will simply believe on him his work that they now can become part of the spiritual family, spiritual mishpacha, and will have fellowship, koinonia, something in common with the living God. This is so important for us to understand. Now, I want you to read with me a verse or two in connection with these thoughts that I just shared with you right now. Turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 1. It was writing to the first century Hebrew Christian, Messianic Jewish people in verse 4, whereby given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.

He's writing now to believers and he's saying to them, you see, God had to send the son, the Messiah. He gave us these promises and then the reason that he came, in order that you will be partakers of the divine nature. In other words, that you will be born from above. As Yeshua said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must have a new life. And so, what Peter was writing that the believers now have divine nature, that does not mean that we become gods. Not at all. But what it means that when we have accepted the Messiah, the Holy Spirit of God have residing now in us, and he's given us a new nature.

Not only the old nature that we received when we were born, that sinful nature, but he had given us a divine nature. The Holy Spirit of God is dwelling in every believer, and now we have the possibility to enjoy fellowship with God. That's why when Yeshua said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is the Spirit. You must be born again. You must be born from above. It's not your heritage, not your background, not even your forefathers that bring you into this relationship, but it's that new birth. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 says, They that are in the Messiah, Yeshua, are new creation.

All things have passed away, and all things become new. We are new creation. Now, when I look at myself, when you look at us, we look the same like we have looked many years ago. But the change is an internal change. The Holy Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh, indwelling the believer, and now we have a divine nature. We have a nature that is suitable for the presence of God. And this is so important for the believers to understand that now we have a nature that is suitable for the relationship with God. And that's why he's saying, Look, if you're going to have fellowship with God, how can a sinner have fellowship with God?

Well, a sinner can have fellowship with God if his sins or her sins are forgiven. And he has a divine nature, the Holy Spirit of God indwelling in us. And now we have a divine nature that is suitable for the presence of God, that we can have fellowship with God the Father and with his Son, Yeshua the Messiah, as verse 3 is pointing for us in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 3. Now, fellowship, again, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand, it's not merely going to a meeting, it's not only having a dinner together. I know many times we have fellowship dinners. That is not fellowship, or that is not biblical fellowship.

Biblical fellowship has to do with that which we have in common common with the Messiah, with God, with Yeshua, and with each other. That is what is known the koinonia of 1 John chapter 1 verse 3. Koinonia with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Yeshua the Messiah. What happened when we became believers? We became part of the family of God, the Mishpacha. We have link with the living God. We have link with the Messiah, Yeshua. And we have this eternal relationship now with him. We are link with him. A sinner that is forgiven can have a relationship with the living God.

But of course, if a person is not forgiven, have not accepted Yeshua the Messiah, really, the Bible says that he cannot have positional fellowship with God. Not whatsoever. And that is why I challenge all of us here today to make sure one thing that we know in our own hearts, to know I belong to God because I have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. He died for me. He is that eternal life that gave Himself for me. in order to bring me into a fellowship with the Father and the Son. Now, one time, somebody explained this to me like this, and I thought it was very good.

The Japanese have a custom that when someone is traveling to a far journey, take a ship far away from his own family, there is a custom. And a custom is that there will be a ribbon connected with the one that is on the ship and the ones who remain on the shore. And so the custom is that the person who is going on a journey, he is leaving, but there is a link between him and the people that are on shore. So what do they do as he go up on the ship, on the boat? He will take a ribbon and he will give to the person that remain on the shore.

and he himself will take that ribbon with him on the ship and as the ship leaving the dock, they will have for a while link with each other until it breaks because the ribbon can be only so long. You know, with our relationship with the Father and the Son, this link never broken. It is an eternal relationship with the Father and the Son as it is mentioned here in verse 3. And truly, our fellowship, our koinonia is with the Father, Ha'abba, and with his Son, Haben, and he is Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua our Mashiach. He is the one that we are linked with. Nothing will separate us from him positionally.

Nothing will separate from our relationship with Yeshua the Messiah we are eternally linked with him and that's the reason why John is writing to this family. Nothing will separate us from the relationship that we have with the Father and the Son because the price was paid. The Messiah died. He paid. He was buried and he rose again and he is now in the presence of God on our behalf. Our link with Yeshua the Messiah is eternal. So John continues. Now verse 4 to elaborate of the necessity of the incarnation and he says not only that God seeks fellowship with his people verse 3 but God desires that his people will have joy.

Joy is something that comes to the life of a person that belongs to God. God wants his own people to have joy not only as I mentioned in a previous meeting not only happiness that depends upon what is happening but joy. Many verses we can quote from the scripture for example in Psalm 16 David the king of Israel wrote in that Psalm and he says in thy presence there is fullness of joy. David wrote in verse 11 of Psalm 16 you will show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy. People don't realize that if they really want to have joy they have to be linked with God.

Man is trying to find pleasure trying to find satisfaction here in this world and we all try even as believers often times we are running around trying to find happiness somewhere and joy someplace and we don't find it elsewhere because the only way to have joy is in the presence of God. We were made we were created to enjoy God forever and for people to try to find joy without God is like going around and around in a circle and they will never find joy if it is outside of God in God's ways. That's the way it is and that's why Yochanan says look I'm writing this to you now you are believers of course that you will grasp it that you will have joy and your joy that it will be full it will be overflowing.

We mentioned Nehemiah in chapter 8 in verse 10 him and Ezra said to the people of Israel the joy of the Lord is your strength when Israel returned from Babel Israel away from God a joyless nation Israel near God are joyful people that's the important thing and for us to realize that because we belong to the Lord not only that we have life eternal but we also are called to enjoy what God has done for us and God wants us that our joy may be full not a partial joy but that our joy Simcha will be full and therefore the incarnation was important if God is going to bring people to himself sin has to

be dealt with God the son as men had to be punished on the tree on our behalf in order to bring people to himself so they can have koinonia fellowship something in common with God and therefore John is writing this epistle to the believers to the mishpacha and so verses 1 to 4 beloved brothers and sisters the effect of the incarnation this is fundamental Emmanuel God became man for the purpose of bringing us into a positional fellowship with himself so in verses 5 6 and 7 here he is now not talking so much about positional koinonia fellowship now he is talking about practical fellowship something to have in common with the Lord as we live

our lives here and you know very well that every one of us who is a believer here can say one thing for sure from the day that I became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah until today there is constant challenges that I am experiencing in my life I have enemies one of the greatest enemies is my old nature is the old man the world is my enemy Satan is my enemy I have the three enemies and I am struggling every day in my life to live a life that is holy for the Lord we are all struggling with it Shaul himself Paul in Romans chapter 7 said the things that I want to do that

I don't do and the things that I don't want to do this I do and then he said all wretched men that I am he confessed that by nature he is struggling and the only way to be able to live a godly life a holy life a pure life is not with the power of the old nature but with the help that he received from the Holy Spirit of God and so now they are conditioned brothers and sisters for practical koinonia practical fellowship now remember we have to realize we are linked with God in two fold links there is a link of union and there is a link of communion what is the difference the

link of union is once and for all when we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah we have this positional koinonia fellowship no one will ever separate us from God positionally because we have accepted Yeshua the Messiah he paid for our sins we are part of the family of God and it is all of him what he has done but there is also practical or conditional link and here in verses 5, 6 and 7 Yohanan John is giving us conditions for practical fellowship with God the Father and with his Son by the way when a child is born into a husband and wife can he or she ever be unchild after he or she was born

you can't you can't make a baby that was born and bring it back to the womb and make him no longer a child of the parents once he becomes a child he is forever a child whether he is good obedient child or whether he or she are disobedient they are always our children and that's the way it is with us when we became sons and daughters of the Father positionally we are always the sons and the daughters of the Abba of the Father but how do we behave here is the conditions for practical fellowship with God and so he is telling them in verse 5 we must know that God is light and you notice

he says in verse 1 this then is the message that we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all he gives them the fact and the fact is that God is light can you imagine if we just turn off the light from here it's going to be darkness the opposite of light of or in Hebrew it's darkness and what he is really saying to them listen this is the message we have heard from Yeshua the Messiah we declare this unto you that God is light and in God in him there is no darkness at all the word for light is another word for

holiness God is holy kadosh in Hebrew we are sinners but God is holy and because God is holy God is light there is no darkness whatsoever with God he's pure he's holy he's undefiled that's the way God is the God of Israel the God of the Bible the God of the scripture the God of the universe in the book of Leviticus he said to our forefathers in Leviticus 19 Leviticus 20 he says you ought to be Israel holy why because I'm holy that's what he said to our forefathers in Leviticus 19 be holy I am holy and because God is holy he cannot look upon anything that is darkness that is sinful and so John

is saying this to the mishpacha and he said listen he says God is light and in him there is no darkness at all you know light speaks of purity light speaks of holiness light speaks of perfection that's the way God is and that's why he made it so necessary for him to send the messiah his son to die for sin because God is pure he cannot look upon sin and so now after he set this fact before the mishpacha before the family of God he is now saying a few times the word if we say notice that in verse 6 he used the expression if we say in verse 8 he used the same expression

if we say notice that in verse 10 he used again the expression if we say and then in verse 4 of chapter 2 he said he that saith four times he used the word if we say if nomar him nagid if we say and so what he's emphasizing if we say that we have fellowship with God we have in common practical now that word for have fellowship with God and now he's leading to the practical koinonia practical fellowship and so he says in verse 6 if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth now notice he's not talking about positional truth because we already

have established this that our fellowship is with the father and with the son one thing that we have in common is that we have this new nature we have been forgiven we have a divine nature we are part of the family of God we are saved and forgiven on the basis of massiah but now he's talking about practical fellowship practical koinonia on a day by day as we live our life and you know we are struggling all of us every day of our life we are being challenged by the world Satan is attacking us shooting at us all sort of darts to cause us to not have fellowship with God every day of our life

this sin nature tells us you don't need to pray you don't need to read your Bible the word of God you need to go to the fellowship meeting you know who need to go to church meeting you know once in a while once a year is sufficient why do we go to a Bible study or to a meeting together we don't have to you know after all there's so many things that I can do in my life and it's true we have a lot of things to do in our life there's time for pleasure there's time for business we take a lot of time we take a time of other things in our life but

so little time for fellowship with the Lord and spending time with him I don't point the finger at you I'm poking the finger at me I'm struggling with it and all of us are struggling with this every day there's time for everything else there's time for the newspaper for the computer for everything else but we don't take the time to read God's word or prayer or to simply just spend time with the people of God we are all struggling with it and you see this is a family that Yohanan is writing to the mishpacha isn't it true how often time we have more time for friends outside than for our mothers and fathers we have

more time for other things that we have to do but very little time for our children and our brothers and sisters that's the way Satan the world and the flesh do to us influence us this time for everything else but don't spend the time in fellowship with the Lord and with the Lord's people and so here we say if we say oh yes oh I have fellowship with him but then look what it says he continues in the second half of verse 6 he said when we walk in darkness we really lie and the truth is not in us how can I walk in darkness and just verbally say that I have fellowship with God

how can it be possible if I walk in darkness how is it possible this is practical fellowship with God you and I know this very well that when things creep into our lives and oh yes I'm a child of God I go to heaven my sins are forgiven but often time the enemies are attacking us drawing us away into a life of darkness of sin and how quickly sin coming into our life I want you to turn back to Hebrews chapter 12 for a moment this applies to all of us because we are all part of the mishpacha we are all failing people we need this encouragement from the Lord and look what he's saying

in Hebrews 12 verse 1 again the writer who wrote to the Hebrew believer says well for seen we also encompassed about with so great cloud of witnesses listen to this let us lay aside every weight and their sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us you know the writer who wrote this wrote it to these Hebrew believers and he said to them the sin which so easily beset us you know it doesn't take so long for us to fall into sin we are all not match for the world for Satan not for all nature we are not matched for that often time we

are struggling with it but you see if we say that we have fellowship with him and then walk in darkness this is really we are really lying and do not the truth because really what happened the loss is ours and if we say it and don't practice this it's far better not to say it really to seek with the help of the Spirit of God to have day by day fellowship with the Lord but the truth is it's better not to say but if we say and really walk in darkness with the one that we just read about him in verse 5 God is light and in him there is no darkness at all really

we don't say the truth we lie Romans says let God be true and every man a liar so this is what John is emphasizing you see you know why he's writing this because everyone who love his Mishpacha have love for them and he want them to enjoy the family relationship he want them to enjoy to have koinonia things in common and so it is a joy to see the people of God walking you're going to see how he's going to write later on about what a joy it gives him when the believers walking in the truth but here he's saying listen if we say that we have fellowship with him he says and we walk

in darkness it's not possible that you have fellowship if you walk in darkness every time when we sin and we do we realize it's kind of dawn on us I really not in the will of the Lord I am not in the mind I don't have the will of the Lord in my life we cannot bring God into this situation you ask yourself the question can you bring God into this situation he the one that is light have no darkness at all in him can you bring him into the situation that we find ourselves often time the answer us that men love darkness rather than light men love rather than all by nature that what

we are and so fellowship it means that we have the same thing in common we are walking in the same path we have fellowship with each other and we enjoy the relationship with God and you see John does not write this in order to put people down but he's writing to the family he draw us all closer to God so we will have fellowship and enjoy the things of God together with the father and with the son then notice in first John chapter one verse seven he says if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah his son cleanses

us from all sin this verse teaches us that light to have his people walking in the light and I want you to notice it is where we walk not how we walk you notice that here it doesn't say if we walk according to the light but but it says if we walk in the light somebody might say oh listen I didn't steal I didn't lie I didn't do this and I didn't do this and I'm going there and I'm doing this therefore God should accept me I have fellowship with God many of those who are self righteous are the ones that have rejected God and rejected his son the Messiah that's why it important to

see it doesn't say if we walk according to the light but he says if we walk in the light what is the difference and I want you to see that because walking in the light and walking according to the light is two different things walking in the light meaning that we are drawing closer and closer to the light to the Lord rather than trying hard to please to him now what happens when we are walking nearer to him do you think God doesn't know that we have seen nature do you think God doesn't know what we think or what we say or what we do he knows everything he knows everything about every one of

us but walking in the light means that I am drawing nearer to him and as I draw nearer to him by his help he is enabling the believer to live a life that is pleasing to him so that means that we are drawing nearer to him and that's why it is so important to understand that it is not how we walk but in the light rather than walking according to the light meaning that we are going to where God is let me remind you for example when the priest of Israel when Aaron entered into the holy of holies he entered into where God dwelt there upon the mercy seat in between the cherubim and he

walked into the presence of God where God dwelt do you think God did not know that Aaron was a sinner but Aaron could come into the presence of God and as he entered into the presence of God he would take the blood you remember of the bullock for himself and for his family and he would sprinkle it above the mercy seat the kaporet as we call it in Hebrew in between the cherubim and the blood was there to atone to make kapara kaporet for Aaron for his family and then he would bring you remember the blood of the two goats one of the goats he would kill it he would bring sprinkled there on behalf

of the whole nation of Israel to make an atonement kapara for the nation of Israel he was entering into the immediate presence of God now God knows Aaron God knows Israel God knows Aaron's family he knows that he is a sinner he knows that the nation of Israel have sinned but Aaron had gone to the presence of God so God can reveal his sin but on the basis of the blood that was placed there upon the mercy God can show mercy and make an atonement for Aaron his family and for our own nation the nation of Israel it is the same thing for us beloved brothers and sisters we don't catch God by surprise when

we fail and sin he knows that but he doesn't want us to try walk in the light to come nearer to him to enjoy fellowship with him and he will deal with the issue of sin and you will see how things will change in the walk of the believer because as we walk in the light and we draw closer to him then God revealed to us that which is darkness in us and he forgives us of course because the blood have been shed and then we can walk and have fellowship and enjoy a fellowship with the Lord have something in common with the Lord go to Hebrews chapter 10 verse having therefore brethren boldness to

enter into the holiest by the blood of Yeshua by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for his faithful the promise and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and unto good works not a three time use the word let us but the first one is let us draw near with a true heart

and full assurance of faith you know what that tells us that we are now called not only to walk according to the light but to walk in the light in other words to somebody said that and I read this the other day he said every day at least read your Bible for 15 minutes pray for 15 minutes and share with others the things of the Lord for 15 minutes I don't know why he used 15 minutes but Jesus gave us something he said listen you gotta have the Lord in your mind in your heart you have to have him you to about God about the living God you see that's what makes the difference between

us who are believers and those who don't believe those who don't believe say don't give me this I don't want to read the Bible I don't want to talk about Yeshua I don't want to talk to anybody I don't want to have to pray I'm the captain of my ship I can do it on my own but the believer says wait a minute God saved me he paid the price through his son on the tree for me and I live here in this world the world is full of darkness and the world is full of that which is drawing us away from God well the only way for me to have koinonia with the father

and the son is to spend time to go into the light to walk in the light into his presence and have fellowship with him and he enables me as Hebrew says in other passages then when I go out to be able to seek to please him a little bit more than what I have done before because I have been in the presence of the Lord and so you notice it says in verse 7b and the blood of now it is very important to understand this does not say only the blood of Yeshua cleanses us from all sin the blood of Yeshua cleanses us from every sin not only all yes but from every distinct individual

sin that we have ever committed it is the same blood that was shed 2000 years ago that washed away our sins positionally is the same blood and the value of this blood that cleanses every sin that we have ever committed past present and that which we will commit tomorrow even at the end of the meeting you see the blood well the life of the flesh is in the blood without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness of sins Deviticus 17 11 Hebrews chapter 9 there is no shedding of blood there is no forgiveness because the Messiah's blood had to be shed when he was on the tree and he said Eli Eli lama

shvaktani my my my my my god my god why has thou forsaken me you see god had to forsake the Mashiach of Israel so you and I everyone that believe on him will never need to be judged anymore because his blood was shed god had to forsake him so you and I will never be forsaken and so here how important it is to have fellowship with him the blood of Yeshua the Messiah and you know again to emphasize brothers and sisters when Aaron sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat and he left this blood remained there and it reminded God that the work was done God was satisfied you see Yeshua in John 17 said

verse 4 I have finished the work which you have given me to do the work is done the blood was shed and every sin past present future had been already dealt with once and for all the price had to be paid Yeshua paid it all the blood of Yeshua the Messiah keep on cleansing us from every sin as believers now sin that we commit every day when we walk here in this world now let's conclude here verses 8 9 and 10 in those last verses we have the fact of the indwelling sin that we have in us and the necessity for confession and the cleansing look at these three verses John is very practical Yohanan

is speaking straightforward and he said in verse 8 if we say again use the word if we say if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us you know some people I don't know how they have the audacity to say oh I've arrived to such a stage I don't have any sin anymore in my life I don't know our hearts we know very well our thoughts are often times so deceitful our desires are often so dishonoring to the Lord in another word Yohanan is saying notice by the way when he used the word we he is applying it to himself he is talking as the apostle

if we see earlier he says we have seen him we have heard him if we say that we have no sin we only deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us you know we cannot deceive God we only deceive ourselves because God know very well the heart of everyone even those that he had redeemed and saved that's why he sent his son so if we say that we have no sin we really deceive ourselves and the truth is really not in us that's why it is important never to say oh I have not sin well if you are honest not only before other people but just before you and God before fact he said

it all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Romans 3 23 in Psalm 14 God looked from heaven to see if there is anyone that is righteous anyone that do with good and he found none all have sinned all have gone astray this is what David said when he wrote Psalm 14 all have gone astray so it is important to realize that we with this life because that is not honoring to the Lord we cannot have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness so he says listen we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us and then he move on to verse 9

there is a need of confession before God when sin enter into our lives now I want you to notice brothers and sisters we often time teach this when we are in Bible classes it doesn't say here if we ask for forgiveness then he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness it doesn't say if we ask for forgiveness it says if we confess our sins why what's the difference the difference is simply this because every sin that the believer has sinned have already have been forgiven the blood of Yeshua the Messiah cleanses us from all sin every sin past present and future but what happened is when

sin come into our life practically this sin had been forgiven by the Lord but something happened in a fellowship in a practical fellowship with the Lord all of a sudden there is like a cloud and you feel that there is a barrier I don't enjoy the Lord I don't enjoy to read his word I don't feel happy at his presence you know like a little child when he disobey his mother all day long and then his father come from work he knows what's coming his way and so he knows very well when the father comes he says hi abba shalom shalom he doesn't say so right because he knows ah ah ah but if he

is obeying his mom the whole day long he was playing nice when his father came said hey abba shalom here take the newspaper take the shoes abba you know I want to sit on your knee I want to have some time with you well you know what happened with us when we dishonor the Lord and brothers and sisters we know how often time we do so we cannot have fellowship with him practical fellowship we sense I'm not right with God I can't enjoy his presence anymore when I read the Bible all the words become so empty for me when I pray it seems like there is a barrier there seems like I'm talking to the

ceiling and I don't enjoy coming to a Bible study oh it's the same old story I've heard this before and it seems to be that there is like a blockage there's something that hinders us from enjoying the things of God and that's why it's important to confess it before the Lord and that's why he said if we confess it doesn't mean I gotta go to everyone and tell you my problem you come you remember the son who came back in Luke 15 father I have sinned against him and the son came back and you remember chapter Luke 15 when the father was waiting for the time that his son will come back he was looking

far away to see when will he come back and when the son made all the plan I will tell him I'm not worthy to be your son and just make me one of your servants but when the son came home the father ran to him the father embraced him the father had kissed him the father put upon him a ring the father put upon him the shoes it is the love of God but he don't want to become your son make me just one servant but he came back and confessed his sin and you see that's what gives delight to God if we confess our sins that mean that we need to come to him

and say I have blown it I failed you I have sinned against you and then notice that he is faithful and he is just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness you know we have to read this correctly because he does say that he is faithful and just but to whom he is faithful and just to the Messiah himself because Yeshua said I have paid for these sins and in other words if God will not forgive the sins of a confessing believer he is not going to be faithful to his son who paid the Messiah who paid for all our sins and that's why it is important to tell God

I have failed you and God is faithful and God is just to forgive our sins in order to cleanse us from all unrighteousness you see beloved brothers and sisters God is faithful to his son to the Messiah whom on the cross he says it is finished when he died on that tree for our sins and God is faithful to his beloved son and so you see the important in this is verse nine we need to confess our sins to the Lord our sins have already been forgiven but it is the faithfulness of God towards his son confession will restore the practical fellowship the koinonia with the father and finally brothers and sisters he concluded here

this chapter verse 10 notice again he says if we say that we have not sinned now notice he doesn't say we are deceiving ourselves but this time he is saying look what you are really saying to God if you say that you haven't sinned you are really making him a liar and his word is not in us in other word Yohanan is saying listen you deceive yourself and the truth is not in you secondly you really calling God a liar and Roman tells us let God be true and every man a liar and therefore we are to recognize that God is holy and he desires to have his people walking in the light and so

with this Yohanan concluding in this verse 9 and 10 the importance of confessing before God our sins to restore our practical fellowship with the Lord which will enable us to have joy in our life to be used by the Lord and to be a blessing to the family of God we need so much encouragement from each other so we can carry on until the day when Yeshua the Messiah is going to come and take us to be with him in glory to you you