The Word of Life — The Deep Study (1 John 1:1-4)

Dardanelle Missionary Baptist Church — Dardanelle, Arkansas

Pastor Chuck Trusty — Wednesday evening service, October 7, 2026 I, II & III John · Unit 1 Deep Study · 1 John 1:1-4

► Watch this lesson on video (40:06)

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This is the lesson the way it was preached on Wednesday night - near word for word. The "uh"s and the starts-over are taken out; the sentences are left the way they were said. Bible verses are printed exactly as they read in the King James. Anything marked GOING DEEPER was NOT preached on Wednesday night - it is extra study for anyone who wants to dig further.

THE WHOLE LAST LESSON IN ONE SENTENCE

Our scriptures this evening will be 1 John chapter 1, Luke chapter 24, Jude chapter 1, John chapter 15, and then Second Peter chapter 1.

Tonight we're going to go over 1 John 1-4 a little bit slower, a little bit more in depth than we covered these verses last time we talked about them.

If you missed our last lesson on First John, don't worry about it. And you may not have missed it. You may have been here and you may be thinking, "Man, I don't remember a thing in the world that preacher taught in that lesson." No problem. I'm going to give you the whole thing in one sentence. And I know Andy's thinking, well, if you can condense it into one sentence tonight, why couldn't you condense it into one sentence when you preached it?

Well, John had his hands, his physical hands, on Jesus Christ, and he wrote this in a letter so that you and I could have the same type of relationship with Jesus that he had.

Now, it was significant that he put his hands on Jesus, because - and we'll touch on this a little bit later - there was an error circulating in the churches of Ephesus that Jesus really didn't come in the flesh. And that's as far as I'll take that. But that's why it's significant. John's saying, "I saw Him. I heard Him. I studied His features. And I actually touched Him." That was to oppose the false doctrine that was prevalent at the time, leading some people astray.

EPHESUS AND THE LAST EYEWITNESS

Now Ephesus, where the letter of First John was written - at the time that it was written, Ephesus was one of the biggest; it was very crowded, and - well, this just popped into my mind - it was soaked with religion.

If you can kind of picture that: the temple of Diana, that was one of the seven wonders of the world. And every idea that you can imagine was for sale on the streets of this particular city. That was the setting when this letter of First John was written. That's what life was like.

And the apostle John was literally the last human being - remember, he was the last of the twelve apostles - he was the last human being that was an eyewitness to the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Again, I mentioned this a second ago. You remember that there were teachers going out, leaving the churches there in Ephesus, and they were teaching that Jesus only seemed to have a real body. There was some reasoning behind that philosophy, but we'll touch on that later. And we watched in our last lesson on these scriptures how John answered that error: "I touched Jesus." He said, "I saw Him, I heard Him, and I studied His life." And that was to oppose this false doctrine.

Well, tonight we're going to do basically the same thing, except we're going to go a little bit deeper, because we're going to look at the grammar that the Apostle John used - the words that he chose. We're going to see how these words did exactly the same thing - give exactly the same testimony - that I saw Him, I heard Him, I studied His life, and I touched Him. The grammar that he used, the words that he chose to write, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is going to do the same thing that his testimony of what he saw and touched did.

1 John 1:1–4 — “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 shew 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.”

Now He's given us the purpose of the letter. These things we write unto you so that your joy might be full.

Remember, there's the purpose - the point to the lesson. We've kind of got in the habit of repeating it three times. The purpose of this evening's lesson is to show that John is not decorating some philosophy. He's building a relationship. He's showing you and me how to build a relationship with God. And every word that he uses in these first four verses is doing a particular job in this construction.

Now we know that the Bible is God's word, and I just want to point out: nothing in God's word is by chance or random. The words that the Apostle John used, the words that Paul used, the words that Matthew used, were not just given to chance. They were used on purpose. The Holy Spirit specifically laid on their heart: use this word, use that word, use this other word. And He did this a number of different ways - their experiences in life. They came from different backgrounds, had different levels of education, different kinds of experiences, and God rolled all of that up together and made sure that they wrote exactly what He wanted them to write.

THE SHAPE OF THE SENTENCE

Now, before we look at the words I'm talking about here - the words that are building this relationship that John had with God, and the relationship that he hopes that you and I have with God - let's look back at verses one and two and ask ourselves: do we recognize what the Apostle John is doing in these first two verses?

If we're looking for words that are going to be beneficial in helping us build our relationship with God, there should be a main action word. You remember from - well, I don't know if it's grade school anymore - but you remember what a verb is in English? It's a word that shows action. What is the main verb in verses one and two? Let's read them right quick and see if you can recognize it.

Hint: it ain't there.

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 shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.

Now, I put this together like John is a witness in a courtroom. So the terminology that I'm going to use in the remainder of the lesson is kind of directed toward that example. John is an eyewitness, like in a courtroom. He's an eyewitness of the physical body of Jesus Christ. That's why I emphasized the fact that he was the last eyewitness. If you're going to court and you want a reliable eyewitness, John is the one that you want - and he's the last eyewitness that's remained alive.

So John spends verses one and two gathering up everything that he heard, saw, looked upon, and touched. But you see, he's building the moment. He's building anticipation. He still hasn't told us what he's doing with all this evidence. Why are you telling us what you saw, heard, touched? Well, he doesn't tell us that until verse three. He says, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you."

Now John delays this explanation on purpose, because again, he's building anticipation. He wants us to understand the importance and the significance of the testimony he's given before we ever find out the direction that this evidence is pointing. If you were in the courtroom listening to his testimony, and he goes through, "Well, this is what we've seen, heard, touched," and everything - by the time he gets down to verse three and says, "This is what we're going to declare unto you," you're starting to get anxious. You're saying, "Okay, I understand what you saw, what you heard, what you touched - but now get to the point." That's the attitude that he's building here. The evidence comes first. And what the evidence points to - what all this means - he purposefully waited a little bit later to explain that.

GOING DEEPER · ETERNITY COMES FIRST
Not preached on Wednesday night — extra study.

Notice what John puts first. This letter does not start out "John the apostle, to the churches" - there's no greeting and no title. The first words put down by his pen are "that which was from the BEGINNING." Whatever a man puts first in his sentence, he puts there on purpose. So John puts eternity in front of everything else - exactly the same way he opened his Gospel: John 1:1 — "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The One John touched did not begin being God when John touched Him. He existed before all things - and then He came within arm's length. Watch the distance close in John's four verbs: heard - seen - looked upon - handled. That is the Incarnation (God come in the flesh) in one sentence. And we close that same distance today: Romans 10:17 — "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." We hear the Word from a distance; sitting under the preaching of it brings us closer; believing what we hear brings us closer still; and repenting - putting that belief into practice - brings us as close to God as we can get.

THE MAP: EVIDENCE, FELLOWSHIP, JOY

Now I'm going to read these verses again. I'm going to paraphrase them just a little bit. My attempt here is to make it be heard closer to the way the words come across in the Greek. So listen, and see if you can determine the direction that this passage is going. (This is Pastor Chuck's paraphrase - not the King James.)

"That which was from the beginning, which we heard, which we saw with our own eyes, which we gazed upon and which our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life - what we have seen and heard, we're reporting to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father, with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write, so that your joy might stand filled full."

And the word full - we'll get to that in just a minute. It doesn't just mean it's full today and empty tomorrow.

There's four verbs that he uses in his testimony: heard, saw, gazed, handled. And then there's a statement of fellowship, followed by a statement of his purpose. Now, the evidence comes first. The fellowship which this evidence is intended to produce is what comes next. And joy is the final destination. Now, this is like a map of the opening of the letter of First John.

And the whole point: if we have faith in the testimony of the apostle John, then we can experience the same attitude in our heart that he experienced, having actually heard, seen, and touched. If our faith is weak, then the testimony of the Apostle John kind of doesn't mean much - because we really don't believe it. It's not real to us.

That's the whole point of the testimony of an eyewitness and relying on it. To rely on the testimony of an eyewitness means that we have confidence in that eyewitness, and that what that eyewitness says is real. It sort of almost puts us in the circumstance that the witness is describing - and that's the idea here. John is doing this so that the relationship that he has with the God that he actually touched and saw and heard - so that we might have that same type of relationship.

DECLARE WE UNTO YOU - THE CHAIN OF FELLOWSHIP

1 John 1:3 — “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.”

Now this phrase here, "declare we unto you" - that's the kind of talk that we would expect to hear in a courtroom. You've watched enough Perry Mason to realize: when a witness takes the stand, he doesn't get up there and say, "Well, this is what I think." It's not speculation. It's: what did you see? No opinion - just the facts.

And then John traces the fellowship that he has with God. See how exactly he phrases that: "that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Now this fellowship is with God, with His Son Jesus, with John, and with one another - and that kind of makes up a chain. I'm going to refer to that as the chain of fellowship.

You see, this chain of fellowship is where the eyewitness testimony is supposed to lead. That's what the eyewitness testimony is intended to produce: "that ye also may have fellowship with us" - with the apostles, the remaining eyewitnesses, even though there's only one left, John. "And our fellowship is with the Father" - referring to God. And our fellowship is also with God's Son, Jesus Christ. So you have an unbroken chain of fellowship.

If we believe in our heart that this eyewitness is telling the truth, then the effect of hearing that eyewitness will be that the relationship that we have with Jesus and with God will be the same type of relationship that John - who actually touched Jesus - had with Jesus and with God.

And the last word of the whole passage that we just read is the purpose of everything that he wrote: so that your joy may be full.

THREE WORDS: HANDLED

Now we're going to look at three specific words this evening. And with every one of these words, we're going to ask: I wonder why the Apostle John picked that particular word?

The first word we're going to look at is "handled." Why did John use this particular word? In our language there's like a dozen different words that pretty much mean the same thing. We can just pick any one of them and it's no big deal - the context of a conversation will allow the listener to understand what we're talking about. Well, the Bible didn't leave anything to chance.

The word here is pronounced psay-lah-FAH-oh, and it's not the ordinary word that's typically used for touching. It's the feeling-after kind of touch. Now, what I mean by that: it's like if the lights were all out and we were feeling around on the wall to find the light switch. It's that kind of feeling.

And it's not used here by accident, because it's the exact same word that Jesus used on Easter when He showed Himself to His disciples. That takes us to Luke 24:39. Notice the word "handle" when we get here. It's not just touch. It's touch - making sure that what is there is what you think it is.

Luke 24:39 — “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

Now Jesus is saying, "Make sure that it's really Me." And John was actually in the room here when Jesus said it. In fact - now, we don't know - but John's hands may have actually been those hands that reached out and handled Him, touched Him, to make sure that He was who He claimed to be. And sixty years later, the same hand that reached out and made sure that it really was Jesus wrote down the exact same word that Jesus had used.

So think about what that does to the claim that Jesus had no real physical body. John doesn't write a lengthy paper trying to argue his point. He uses one verb against this whole philosophy.

And once again, if you'll notice where that word is used: I've got here in my notes that the word he used pretty much has Easter right in the middle of it. For there to be a resurrection, there had to be a physical body. And after Jesus was resurrected, He said, "Touch Me and make sure that I'm who I claim to be." So again, this is John's method to oppose the false doctrine that Jesus really didn't have a physical body - that He only seemed like He had a physical body.

THREE WORDS: FELLOWSHIP

Now, the second word we're going to look at is fellowship. And this is pretty interesting. There's quite a bit that I learned from this word fellowship.

In the original, it's pronounced koy-no-NEE-ah, and we used it in a previous lesson to describe partners who own something together. Well, tonight we're going to go just a little bit further in the definition. The root word from which this word fellowship comes is pronounced KOY-noss, and it means common. It's talking about something that is held in common - jointly owned, jointly lived in. It's like an apartment that is shared by two different people: each one responsible for half the rent, both names on the title, kind of thing.

Now Jude uses the root of this word fellowship.

Jude 1:3 — “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

"The common salvation" - that's the root word, and it means something shared. The common salvation - the one salvation that all of us hold together. That's what Jude's talking about.

So when John says "our fellowship is with the Father," he's talking about something that belongs to God - the life that is in God. And he's talking about how the life that is found in God is now held in common with everyone who is in that chain of fellowship - with everyone who is a believer in Christ.

So "fellowship" as it is used here in this passage is not talking about the coffee time that we have after Sunday school. It's actually referring to co-ownership - co-ownership in the one thing that matters the most.

Now obviously, the one thing that matters the most, first of all, is the salvation of our soul - because if we're not saved, nothing else matters. After we have been saved, what is the one thing that matters the most? Our fellowship with the God that saved our soul. Not to keep us saved, not to keep us from becoming lost - but the relationship that we will have in God forever and forever and forever. Will we be a close friend with God in heaven, or will our friendship be a little more distant? Will we live in the city with direct access to God in heaven, or will we be on the other side of the walls, outside the city, kind of thing?

GOING DEEPER · INSIDE THE CITY - AND OUTSIDE IT
Not preached on Wednesday night — extra study.

Some readers have been taught that everyone outside the heavenly city is lost. Look closely at the language. Revelation 21:24 — "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it." Saved people, walking in the city's light. Revelation 22:14 — "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." The right to enter is tied to doing His commandments. The Bride is inside because she made herself ready: Revelation 19:7-8 — "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." And a child of God who lived careless - like Demas, who "loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10) - is still saved: 1 Corinthians 3:15 — "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." That does not mean that we stop being saved - but it means we stop minding our heavenly Father, and we lose the closeness that could have been ours.

GOING DEEPER · THE FAMILY WORD OF THE EARLY CHURCH
Not preached on Wednesday night — extra study.

KOY-noss - "common" - was the family word of the early church. Jude's "common salvation" is the koinos salvation: the one salvation that we all hold together. When the early believers used this word, they were not describing a meal after service; they were describing what they jointly owned - the very life of God - and a family that holds that title together.

THREE WORDS: FULL

Well, the third word we're going to talk about is the word "full." It's pronounced pep-lay-ro-MEN-ay. And this is the finished-and-still-standing form of the word for "fill." Now, by finished and still standing, I mean something that got filled - a cup, a bucket, a vessel - that got filled up at some time in the past, and it's still full right now in the present.

I thought about a post hole that's been filled with concrete. That post hole gets filled with concrete how many times? Just once. When it gets filled up with concrete, that concrete doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't disappear. It never drains out. Well, that's the idea here. He's saying your joy is not going to run out later: "I'm telling you this so that your joy may stay completely full."

John 15:11 — “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

This is a quote from the Gospel of John. And it's the exact same word that the Apostle John used in his letter, First John. And once again, he heard this word that Jesus used at the last supper, the night before His crucifixion. And about sixty years after the crucifixion, John remembers, and he uses this same word. He's pretty much quoting Jesus. Jesus is saying, "I've told you these things, and the purpose for which I've told you is so that your joy might be full, and so that My joy might remain in you."

And what the apostle John is saying over here in the letter of First John - he's giving us this eyewitness testimony that Jesus was in fact here in a physical body. And everything in the letter has been written for the purpose that we can experience and keep the same level of joy that the Apostle John had.

But again, it's all kind of pointless if we don't really believe the eyewitness testimony. Then we're wasting our time if we think we're ever going to receive this type of joy.

GOING DEEPER · A CUP GOD TOPS OFF
Not preached on Wednesday night — extra study.

The same kind of promise shows up in other places - a cup God intends to fill and keep full. Psalm 23:5 — "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." And on the mountain: Matthew 5:6 — "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." The idea being that we will be filled as long as we remain hungry. A caution for careful readers: these are different words in the original - it is the same kind of promise, not the same word as "full" in 1 John 1:4.

THE HARD VERSES - AND WHY THEY ARE THERE

The word "full" is pretty much going to determine how we read verses in First John that we look at and think, "Hmm, that's a little harsh."

I'm not going to go into detail - we'll single out these verses in later lessons. I just want to kind of skim the top right now. There are some difficult sayings in the book of First John. He says, "Now I've written this so that your joy may be full." Well, so why did you tell us in First John 3:6 -

1 John 3:6 — “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.”

Well, my goodness, I sin every day. What's that saying? And we'll talk about this later.

1 John 3:15 — “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Now wait a minute - I really don't like so-and-so very much. And if we're not careful, we'll read verses like this and we'll walk away a little bit unsure. We'll walk away filled with doubt instead of walking away being confident.

John tells us exactly why he wrote the whole letter, and these difficult verses are in that same letter, and they fall under the same reasoning. Notice First John 5:13:

1 John 5:13 — “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

He didn't put these difficult verses in here to cause us to doubt. He put these things in here so that we may know without a doubt that we have eternal life. So there is something more to these difficult scriptures than what we see right on the surface. But the thing that we should be aware of for every verse - even those verses that we don't understand yet, but we will understand them - is that the purpose of the book is so that our joy will be full, so it'll remain full, and so that we will no longer have any doubts about our salvation. So that's the promise that is hidden in the book of First John.

UNDER PRESSURE: WHO IS LORD?

Now, they were under a little bit of pressure back during the day of the Caesars. You know how political correctness is kind of the thing today, and if we are not politically correct, then we stand to suffer the consequences, as it were. Well, one of the social pressures that people were under in the days of John, when he wrote this book, was that everybody was being pressured for Caesar's official title to be "Lord and God."

There's a phrase in Latin, Dominus et Deus - that was the title of Caesar in that day, and it was becoming more and more popular to put this title on Caesar. Well now John is kind of caught between a rock and a hard place, because his Lord and God is not Caesar, but Jesus Christ. To say that Caesar was Lord and God was to pretty much be in agreement with these naysayers that had said Jesus really didn't come in the flesh.

It's kind of like being tested. Now, has anybody here ever been - you go to work and the boss says, "You're going to have to be here every Sunday to work, or I'll find somebody else that'll fill your position." Or for the younger people, a coach: "We're going to have practice on Sunday mornings and Wednesday night, and if you're not here for practice, I'm going to fill your position with somebody else." And a very common example: "If everybody else is doing it, and you don't do it too, I'm not going to let you play with us. I'm not going to let you sit at our table." This popularity thing is really on steroids for younger people.

Well, what I'm getting at: this is an example of someone else wanting to be the Lord of our life. Now Caesar had the title God and Lord, and he wanted to use that title to be a dictator, with nobody questioning - that was back in the government. Well, the people we live with on a day-to-day basis - our friends, our bosses at work - they're not claiming to be Caesar. But if they make these kinds of demands on us, then what they are demanding is that we replace Jesus as our Lord and God, and let them be our Lord and God, because they are attempting to control the direction of our lives.

Well, do we like the idea of being a star player on the team more than we like the idea of pleasing God? Well, if we do, we'll suffer the consequences.

GOING DEEPER · WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS GONE - AND THE FOUR ERRORS
Not preached on Wednesday night — extra study.

Two things from the study that did not get preached. FIRST - the letter was written somewhere between AD 85 and 95, and by then the Temple in Jerusalem had been in rubble for fifteen to twenty-five years. For over a thousand years the Temple was where a man went to meet God. So where does a man go now? John answers in verse one: to the One John put his hands on. John 2:19 — "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:21 — "But he spake of the temple of his body." The building is gone, but the meeting place is a Person. SECOND - the teachers who went out made four claims: that Christ never came in the flesh; that they knew God without keeping His commandments; that they had no sin; and that they loved God while they hated their brother. That is not four random mistakes - that is a pattern, and John answers each one as the letter goes along.

FAITH THAT DOES NOT RIDE ON CIRCUMSTANCES

As we're about ready to finish: I've noticed a lot of people in my life - if everything is going good, oh, they're on cloud nine. They're just happy to be associated with Jesus, and they claim to have faith, and everything's fine and dandy. But when the train jumps the track - when they have a flat, when they don't get that raise, whatever - they don't really feel that way anymore. In other words, their faith is dependent upon circumstances. No, no, no. If our faith is dependent upon circumstances, we will never grow in the faith.

Now you see, God literally put Himself in the flesh of a human man. Now that's the incarnate Christ - you've heard that expression. Well, why did God literally take on the form of a human man? He took on the form of a human so that He could suffer death for all men. If He had not been a man Himself, He could not have suffered for us.

2 Peter 1:16 — “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

There's that courtroom word again - eyewitnesses. So if we believe the testimony of the witness, we can have the exact same fellowship with God as the Apostle John did. If - "Well, I'm not quite so sure about that" - then we're not going to have the same type of fellowship.

FELLOWSHIP IS THE POINT

Well, I'll just leave you with this. You remember the song "God on the Mountain"? Well, the God on the mountain is also the God in the valley.

And the idea is that fellowship is the point. Fellowship is the point of the whole thing. "Well, preacher, I thought you said it was so our joy would be full." Well, duh. We cannot have joy if we do not have fellowship. You go home to Mama, and if Mama's out of sorts, there ain't no joy going to be experienced there.

Marital ups and downs, I suppose, are kind of a common thing. But I learned a long time ago - first of all, I'm not perfect. I realize that my wife is not perfect. I think she is really, really close. But the point is: I don't care if I don't get my way about a particular thing. Now, we're not talking about anything in the Ten Commandments. We're just talking about the things of life. I have learned it is not worth upsetting the apple cart just to get my way. It's just not worth it. So I don't care what it is - if I really would rather have the red one, and she's going to get upset if we get the red one, whatever she says goes. Because I value peace in my house. I value fellowship in my house more than I value anything else.

The other side of that coin - this is the way it is with my spiritual life, with God. I'm just as normal as anybody else. I've got my will - what I want, and the way that I wish it would go. But nothing - and I've learned this - nothing is worth more than joy and sweet fellowship with God. Yeah, I can get my way. I can do what I want - but at a cost. It's just not worth it.

So the most important thing: one, the salvation of our soul. Secondly, after we're saved, what's the most important thing? The fellowship that we have with the God that saved us.

Are you in fellowship with God? Do you want to be in fellowship with God? Do you want that fellowship to be stronger and better? Please consider that as we stand and sing.

GOING DEEPER · FOR THE TABLE AT HOME
Not preached on Wednesday night — extra study.

Three questions for a family or a class: 1) FULL JOY IS THE DESTINATION. Knowing that is where the letter is headed, how does it change the way we read the hard verses that are coming? Have we been reading First John as a threatening letter or a joy-filling one? 2) COMMON - JOINTLY OWNED. Shared life, not just social time. How is that different from what most folks mean by "fellowship"? 3) DECLARE WE UNTO YOU. That is witness language. What is the difference between an eyewitness report and a man's opinion about God - and why does it matter on the days believing is hard?

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The Word of Life • The Deep Study — 1 John 1:1–4 © Chuck Trusty Bible Study Series

The Word of Life — 1 John 1:1-4

Dardanelle Missionary Baptist Church — Dardanelle, Arkansas

Pastor Chuck Trusty — Sunday evening service, September 27, 2026 1, 2 & 3 John · Unit 1 · 1 John 1:1-4 · Luke 24:39 · 1 Corinthians 2:9 · John 15:11

► Watch this lesson on video (51:15)

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You might want to put your fingers in a few places tonight - 1 John 1, Luke 24, 1 Corinthians 2, and the gospel of John chapter 15 . . . so John, Luke, Paul, and then John again.

Two weeks ago we started looking at First John - who wrote it, who it was written to, and why it got written . . . and tonight we are going to open it and start to CLIMB. We have been talking about staircases here lately, so to go right along with that, tonight we start climbing the staircase that we find inside the letter of First John.

Now I want us to use our imagination for just a minute. Let us put ourselves somewhere around the year AD 90 - almost sixty years after the resurrection . . . and one by one, all the men who had actually walked the dusty roads with Jesus Christ in the flesh are GONE - according to history, they are all dead. Peter has been crucified. James - who was John’s own brother - died by Herod’s sword. Thomas went all the way to India, and died there being thrust through with a spear.

And there is ONE man left alive who was there with Jesus - and now he is up in his eighties, maybe his nineties, living in Ephesus, a big crowded Roman city over on the coast . . . and he is the last human being on this earth who had literally walked beside Jesus Christ before the cross. John stood near the cross when most of the others ran. John ran to the empty tomb. John watched the risen Lord cook fish for breakfast down on the shore . . . and at the last supper, John leaned his head over against Jesus and heard His heart beat.

That is the man who is sitting down to write a letter - and he is not writing it to a king, not to a council, not to a missionary board . . . but to ordinary believers in house churches - to people a whole lot like the people sitting in this room tonight - people who had been fed some dangerous ideas by some very persuasive men.

Now what does the last eyewitness want them to know FIRST - before he brings up anything else? If it had been me, I would probably have started with a list of rules . . . you really need to do this, and this, and this. But John does not start with a rule. Not a ritual. Not a list of do’s and don’ts. He starts with this - it was REAL. I heard Him with my ears. I saw Him with my eyes. My hands touched Him . . . and the reason I am telling you all of this is so that you can have the very same thing that I have.

So let us hear these first four verses the way John’s readers heard them the very first time they ever read them.

“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 (shown - brought out where it could be seen), and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew 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.” - 1 John 1:1-4 (KJV)

The last eyewitness wrote it down for one reason - so that our joy might be full.

The Evidence - Four Words That Close the Distance

Now John opens this letter the way a witness opens his testimony up on the stand in a court of law . . . not with a theory, not with an argument, not with a “well, judge, this is what I THINK happened.” I have watched just about every Perry Mason there ever was, and I do not recall a witness one time starting off with what he thought - they start off with EVIDENCE. And this is the touch-it, see-it, hear-it kind of evidence - the kind that leaves no wiggle room, no way to just brush it aside.

Look at what he does in that first verse. He piles up FOUR words - four action words, four verbs - and they tell us the four ways the apostles came to know what they knew. And they are not thrown at us in random order. Remember, God is the One who authored this Book . . . He just used a man as the pen . . . so these four words were laid down in a particular order, on purpose - and every one of them gets CLOSER than the one before it.

“Which we have HEARD.” That one is the farthest away - because sound travels . . . we can hear a man talking clear across a field and never be anywhere close to him. Hearing is the easiest thing we do - it takes no effort at all. As young as little Eliza is, she can already hear . . . it does not take much.

“Which we have SEEN with our eyes.” Now with this one we have to be in the same room. We have to be PRESENT to see a thing . . . that is closer than just hearing - and it takes at least a little effort . . . we have to open our eyes and turn our head.

“Which we have LOOKED UPON.” That third one is a gazing word - a staring word, a STUDYING word . . . not a quick glance, but time actually spent taking it all in - the way we look at something that truly matters to us . . . the way we look at the one person on this earth we love the most.

“And our hands have HANDLED.” That fourth one is the closest of them all - it means within arm’s reach. We cannot handle what is not right there in front of us . . . it is physical CONTACT. The eternal Word of life - in the man Christ Jesus - came close enough to TOUCH. Do you see what John is doing here? He is describing the incarnation - that is God putting His own divine nature down inside of human flesh, in the form of the man we know as Jesus Christ . . . God existing in a flesh-and-blood body, a man with five senses just like the ones we have. And every one of these four words closes the distance one more step - until there is no distance left at all, and an old man’s hand closes around the actual body of Jesus.

And notice how he starts it - “that which was from the BEGINNING.” John opened his gospel the very same way - “In the beginning was the Word” . . . he is telling us that what he touched did not START when he touched it. The Word was before all things . . . the eternal God stepped down into time and became touchable.

Now here is something else for us to notice. That word “handled” - the very word John reached for - just happens to be the same word Jesus Himself used on the first Easter. Three days after the cross, the Lord stands in a locked room full of scared disciples, and He says -

“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” - Luke 24:39 (KJV)

HANDLE me. The resurrected Jesus said that same word - and John was IN that room, and heard Him say it. So sixty years later, when this old man writes “our hands have HANDLED,” he is not just reaching for any old word . . . he is using Jesus’ own word. That first Easter is hiding down inside the very first verse of First John.

Two weeks ago we met the men who had walked out of that church teaching that Jesus only SEEMED to have a body. And John does not answer their philosophy with a better philosophy . . . he takes the witness stand, and he gives four action words as evidence - I heard Him, I saw Him, I studied Him, and these hands of mine literally TOUCHED Him.

Now somebody might say, well preacher, that is just a good story that got bigger over the years. I was at work one day and a fellow was telling about a fish he caught - said it weighed four pounds and thirteen ounces . . . but it got away before he ever got it up to the boat. Well now - if it got away, how did he know exactly what it weighed? A story grows like that when there is nobody left to correct it. But this is not that. This is an old man saying, MY hands were there . . . and what my hands touched changed everything for me - in life, and in death - and I am telling you now, so that it can change everything for you too.

Now here is a HOOK to hang your hat on. On the day that our believing feels a little thin - a day of trouble, a day of weakness - what does our faith actually rest on? Does it rest on a MOOD - strong faith when we feel good, weak faith when we do not - or does it rest on an old man’s hands, on the record?

The Fellowship - a Seat at the Table

Now WHY did John write any of this down? He tells us right up front in verse three - he declared it, he made it public, he put it in writing . . . so “that ye also may have FELLOWSHIP with us.” And watch how he traces the connection - “truly our fellowship is with the FATHER, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” This connection does not just run sideways, believer to believer to believer . . . it runs UP - to the Father, to the Son, to the men who saw Him, and then on down to US who take it all by faith.

Now that word “fellowship” - it is a Greek word, and we are going to take a run at saying it one time . . . koinonia. And we have let that word go soft on us over the years. We use it for the coffee after service, for the meal down in the fellowship hall . . . but in John’s day, “fellowship” was a BUSINESS word - it meant partners who OWNED something together. Not folks who simply got along. If Bro. Ken and I were partners in his accounting firm, there would be a connection between us that ran a whole lot deeper than “well, Kenneth is a good buddy and we drink coffee together.” It would be shared life. It would be partners who owned something together.

So John is saying - what I have with the Father, and with the Son - this inside access, this shared life - this FELLOWSHIP can be YOURS too . . . so that we will not be somebody standing out in the yard watching the family through the window - but somebody who belongs at the table, on the inside of the house.

Think about the difference. There is a hungry man out in the yard, and the family is sitting down to supper. One way to feed him is to crack the door, hand him a plate, and let him eat out there on the sidewalk. He gets FED . . . but he is not inside. The other way is to open the door all the way and say, pull up a chair . . . sit down here with the family. Now he gets fed EITHER way - but one of those is a whole lot better than the other. Being handed a plate through the crack in the door - that is being connected to God through service . . . but sitting down at the table - THAT is fellowship with the God we serve. And John wrote this letter so that we could pull up a chair, pass the cornbread, get SECONDS . . . and get plumb bloated on peach cobbler at the end of the meal - instead of standing out on the sidewalk, satisfied with crumbs on a styrofoam plate handed through a crack in the door.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” - 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the FEAST God has laid out for the ones who will pull up a chair at His table. That is the whole difference between a plate through the crack and a seat at the table.

And that is exactly why the evidence back in verses one and two matters so much. A fellowship built on a made-up story - built on a philosophy, built on religion - is a house built on the SAND . . . and before the weather turns, there is not a nickel’s worth of difference between the house on the sand and the house on the rock . . . they both look fine. It is only when the rain comes down and the wind begins to blow that we find out which is which. And when that house on the sand goes, the Book says great was the fall of it - not a partial loss . . . a TOTAL loss, nothing left to salvage. It is first cousin to what Paul says over in First Corinthians three about the wood, the hay, and the stubble -

“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” - 1 Corinthians 3:15 (KJV)

Saved - yes . . . but everything he had built his confidence on, burned clean up. A fellowship built on the seen, the heard, the HANDLED testimony of the last apostle is a house built on the ROCK - the storm comes, and it makes no difference at all, because the house is still standing when the sun comes back out.

The last eyewitness wrote it down for one reason - so that our joy might be full.

The Joy - a Cup Kept Full

Now here is the direction this whole letter has been headed all along - and John comes right out and tells us, before one single hard verse ever shows up.

“And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” - 1 John 1:4 (KJV)

Let that one soak in a minute . . . because some of what is coming in this letter sounds HARD. Do we really know Him? Do we really love our brother? Are we really walking in the light? Questions like that can give a person cause to worry . . . but this verse right here is the KEY that unlocks every hard passage we are going to run into in this letter. Find an empty spot in your Bible at the top of every chapter in First John - there are five of them - and write these words up there in that white space: “that your joy may be FULL.” Because when we come to a verse that does not make us feel warm and fuzzy at first glance, the reason it is even there is so that our joy may be full.

And the word John uses for “full” carries the idea of being filled - and being KEPT filled. Filled, and standing filled . . . continuing to stay filled. This is not being filled with joy on one good Sunday - not after one exceptional service where everybody drives home glad. This is a cup that God means to top off, and to keep topped off . . . my cup runneth over, and it just keeps running over. Our faith may go up and down. Our mood may go from the mountaintop to the valley and back. But for our joy to be FULL - that part does not have to rise and fall with it.

And if that sounds a little familiar, it is because we have heard it before - from Jesus Himself, in the upper room, the night before the cross.

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” - John 15:11 (KJV)

Jesus said it at the table . . . John HEARD Him say it at that table . . . and sixty years later he writes it down again - because it is STILL the goal.

Now think about this from a daddy’s side of the supper table. When a good father asks his children some hard questions - Wyatt, were you being kind to your little brother today? are you treating your cousins right? - is he trying to trap them . . . is he building a CASE against them? Of course he is not. A good father asks the hard question because he wants his children to be WELL - and to be enjoying the full run of everything he has already provided for them under his roof. That is exactly what God is doing in every hard verse of First John. God is not prosecuting His children . . . God is a Father, checking to see that His children are enjoying the home He has already PAID for - and He paid for it with His own blood.

So say it plainly for the tender heart that is listening tonight - these tests are not scales that we weigh our salvation on. John is writing so that rattled, worn-out, ordinary believers can quit doubting - and so the counterfeits will quit pretending. A question from a FATHER is not a summons from a judge. I am an engineer - I can work about any math problem you put in front of me, or used to could . . . but I could not begin to tell you how many math problems I got WRONG getting there. We have to miss a few, as we learn.

Now think again about that HOOK - have we been reading First John as a threatening letter . . . or as a joy-filling letter? Which way does our Christianity RUN - on a low-grade dread, or on a cup that is kept full?

His Hands on the Record

Let me bring it back around to that old man in Ephesus - at a rough table, in a city that had no idea it was making history that afternoon . . . the hands that had touched the risen Jesus, now wrapped around a pen.

Our Christian faith is not a philosophy. It is not a mood that passes off when life gets hard. It is not a tradition that everybody just keeps repeating because it is a familiar way of life. Our Christian faith is eyewitness TESTIMONY - the kind of evidence that stands up in a courtroom, because the witness was actually THERE. And that testimony is filed, it is sealed, it is given under oath . . . I heard Him. My eyes saw Him. I gazed at Him across a table, on a hillside, and out on a boat in the middle of a storm. My hands touched Him. Four words. One old man . . . and his hands are on the official record.

He wrote all of it down so that WE - on a Sunday night in Dardanelle, Arkansas - could have exactly what he had . . . that whole chain of real FELLOWSHIP that runs from the Father, through the Son, through the witnesses, all the way down to our church pew this evening - so that we can pull up a chair and sit as FAMILY at the table, instead of being handed a plate at the door.

And here is one more reason we can be at peace when nothing around us is - the Bible calls it the peace that passes all understanding. Somebody looks at a child of God and cannot figure it out . . . the house is leaking, the car is breaking down, the dog is sick, the shoes do not fit and there is no money to buy any more - what in the world is wrong with you, how can you have any peace at all? I will tell you how. This world is not my home . . . I am just passing through. And are we not glad we KNOW that.

John wrote all of this for one reason - not to make us nervous about where we stand . . . but so that OUR joy - not somebody else’s joy, but ours - could be full, and could keep standing full. Every hard verse that is coming in this letter is aimed at that same target. God is after our CUP - and He means to keep it full.

The last eyewitness wrote it down for one reason - so that our joy might be full.

The deep study on these four verses - where we open up the Greek and say some of these words out loud - is Wednesday, October 7. Bring a pencil.

Please consider what you heard this evening.

Scripture Used

1 John 1:1-4 · Luke 24:39 · 1 Corinthians 2:9 · 1 Corinthians 3:15 · John 15:11 (all KJV)

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Every lesson is kept on the Lessons page. The whole series is on the I, II & III John page.

Are your eyes upon Jesus?

Audio

Mt 14:22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24 But the ship (containing the disciples) was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night (between 3am – 6am) Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 BUT when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Now as we begin our lesson today – I want to point out that there are ‘many questions’ that we could ask - about different things that are

revealed to us throughout God’s Word . . . In the Genesis account of creation – God does not explain the specifics of HOW – but He does tell us WHO did it . . . in the beginning GOD

The story of Jonah and the whale – God does not tell us the specifics of HOW a whale was able to swallow a man – and HOW someone could

survive for three days inside of a whales belly . . . but again it is not necessary for us to be told how it was done – because we are told WHO

did it . . . the story of Daniel in the lion’s den is another story that lacks details explaining HOW it is possible to avoid being eaten by

these wild animals . . . but again we need no scientific explanation when we are told the WHO behind the story  . . .

Many of ‘the specifics’ of various things that are found in The Bible – are things that we just have no way of knowing – Now I totally

understand that it is scientifically impossible for any man to walk on water . . . according to the laws of physics it is simply not possible – but

God tells us here in His Word that it actually happened . . . and we either believe it – or we doubt it . . . If we believe it – we do so in spite of never having seen something like this

happen ourselves . . . and if we do believe it – then we do so in spite of every scientific principle that we know and understand – telling

us that it is simply not possible . . . However if on the other hand we doubt this scripture – then we doubt it because we can say that we have

never seen anything like this happen ourselves – OR we can doubt it because we have more confidence in science – than we have in God’s Word . . .

You will notice in this opening passage – that as long as Peter kept his eyes upon Jesus – everything was OK . . . but when Peter took his

eyes off of Jesus – and based upon his own knowledge of the sea and of storms – began to look at the waves – he became afraid and

started to sink . . . Everyone here today – does exactly what Peter did  – When we read The Bible through eyes of faith – everything is OK  

BUT when we approach God’s Word with the eye of a skeptic – with our eyes upon science – with our eyes upon what WE understand in our

flesh – it is then that like Peter we sense fear – and we begin to sink into doubt and our lives become afraid . . . For example if we look at Gen 3: 1 we read the following . . .

Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he (the serpent) said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

We read here about how ‘a serpent’ was able to “talk” to Eve – The Bible says that the serpent communicated with Eve – through speech and

that he even quoted scripture . . . God offers no explanation – He just tells us what happened . . . God could have explained this further – but

He didn’t – so all we know about this particular incident is that God tells us that the serpent talked to Eve . . . so when we read “things like

this” that according to science can’t be explained – we just have to be content with what God has told us about it . . . Another thing that we have

no way of knowing - is whether or not “the serpent” was actually Satan himself in disguise – or whether the serpent simply gave Satan permission to control him . . . once again – God

just tells us what happened without any detailed explanation . . . God didn’t  elaborate about it – He just said that the serpent was more “subtle”

than ANY beast of the field and then He tells us what the serpent did to ‘trick Eve’ into disobeying God’s commandment

Remember – that all of this took place long before the flood – and things as they physically exist today – were totally different than they existed

back before flood . . . so we can’t apply “the way” things are today – to “the way” things were so early in our history . . . For instance - the earth

existed for 2000 years before it finally rained in the days of Noah and ark . . . we can use our knowledge of science and speculate on how

everything was able to survive without rain by way of underground springs – or by way of heavy dew in the mornings . . . but even so – it is not possible to know for sure

The lifespan of humans was 8 to 9 hundred years but – we have no idea how long a tomato plant lived – or how long a dog or cat lived . . . or where dinosaurs came from . . . we only know

for sure ‘what God determined’ that we should know . . . so as we study the scriptures – it is important that we make sure that we are

satisfied with the type of things that God ‘in His wisdom’ has chosen to reveal to us and to avoid using too much of our time trying to

figure out things that are “just not intended” for us to know with any type of certainty – our faith in God should NEVER be dependent upon the

level or upon the degree of own personal understanding . . . And we commit a sin when we say in our heart – well I don’t believe Gen 3:1 because I can’t understand how serpents

could possibly talk or be smart enough to quote scripture . . . OR we sin when we say that - I ‘would’ believe it if I had ever seen ‘another  

serpent’ who could ‘think and reason’ in order to solve problems - like how best to deceive Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.

Faith is not based upon sight – but faith is based upon something that we CANNOT see . . .

Statement: Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Illustrate: The phrase “now faith is the substance of things hoped for . . .” refers to how faith is the reality – or how that faith is the foundation of  “the things” that we all hope for in our lives

Faith ‘or hope in Jesus’ is the central anchor of our lives – which means that faith is the only ‘certainty’ that any of us has in our lives . . .

Think about what it means for the very foundation of our lives – for the only sure thing in our lives – to be something that no man can see

“the evidence of things not seen” refers to how that faith is the PROOF of  “things” that cannot

be seen with the eyes or understood with the educated intellect of the human mind . . .

If we go back to Gen 3: 1 . . . faith in God’s Word is the only proof that we have regarding how the serpent spoke with Eve and actually quoted

Scripture . . . our faith in God’s Word regarding this – is the only evidence that exists – that it is in fact the real truth and actually happened . . .

Applicate: So the lesson for us here is this . . . science may be able to explain many things to us – but there are some things like serpents

intelligent enough to quote scripture that science cannot explain . . . So the point is – we should never use our own understanding of science to

prove The Bible – but we should instead use The Bible to prove science . . . and if it can’t be proven in accordance to our understanding –

then just accept what it says . . . we all believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead – so why doubt God about something that is much more

simple ‘like a serpent that is really – really smart’- lions who aren’t hungry . . . or whales that can actually swallow a man . . .

Statement: John 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Illustrate: I will not believe Gen 3: 1 until I see a serpent talk with my own two eyes . . . I will not believe in the ‘worldwide flood’ of Noah –

unless I can figure out to my own understanding how the whole world could literally be submerged under water . . . when science tells

us that enough water to do this does not even exist on our planet . . . either God is wrong – or the science that we are depending  on to strengthen our faith is wrong . . .

I will not believe in the resurrection of the dead – unless I see with my own eyes a body that I know is dead – come back to life . . .

Applicate: What goes through our mind when we read John 3:16 . . . which tells us of Jesus’ resurrection – do we doubt – or do we believe?

Statement: John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Illustrate: To believe – is defined for us here as the eternal salvation of our soul . . . while to doubt is defined for us as eternal damnation in hell

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not (the man who doubts concerning the resurrection of Jesus – that man) is condemned already, BECAUSE he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

I will remind you – that God is under no obligation to EXPLAIN anything that He says . . . He begins The Bible with no explanation at all about The Beginning . . . He simply says

In The Beginning GOD . . . and He then leaves it up to the individual person – to base their belief upon ‘the substance’ of what they can

understand about the creation using their own reasoning . . . OR whether or not they base their belief upon ‘the substance’ of what

CANNOT be seen and whether or not they base their belief upon ‘the substance’ of what CANNOT be understood by their mind . . .

Applicate: So the lesson for us here is this . . . In John 3: 16 – God does not try to explain the resurrection of Jesus . . . He merely says that

God so loved the world – that He gave . . . this of course referring to the giving of Jesus as a sacrifice on the cross . . .  God then simply

leaves it up to you and I on an individual basis – to just take Him at His word regarding the resurrection . . . or to doubt what He has told us

to doubt because of how the same science which tells us that serpents can’t talk - also tells us that it is impossible for anyone to be raised from the dead . . .

I have no explanation for how Jesus was raised from the dead – except that The Bible says that He was raised by the POWER of God.

I have no scientific explanation about Jonah and the whale – all I have is the WHO in God’s Word . . .

I have no scientific explanation about Daniel and the lion’s den . . . all I have is the WHO in God’s Word . . .

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We have learned from John 3: 18 that without faith it is impossible to be saved . . .

And here in Heb 11: 6 we learn that without faith – it is impossible for those of us who have already been saved – to please the God that has saved us . . .

Jesus invited Peter to step out onto the water . . . the water that Peter walked on represents all of the bad things that are out in the world . . . and

To walk on top of the water – represents how FAITH is able to keep us from sinking down into the depths of sin . . .

Jesus also invites you and I to step where Peter once walked . . . Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink . . .

Have we made the same mistake that Peter made?

Click for audio

show us a sign

Matt 16: 1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Now the Pharisees and the Sadducees – were the ruling class of Jesus’ day . . . they were not really interested in finding out what was “right or

wrong” . . . but they were interested in the power which their current positions provided to them as the religious leaders of the children of Abraham . .

The motive behind their request “shew us a sign” was not a desire to know the Truth . . . but rather it was a desire to discredit Jesus in an attempt to

remove a threat to the power which they enjoyed “over the people” as the religious leaders of The Jewish nation . . .

Notice what we read of such men in II Peter 2: 1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

A false teacher is one who pretends . . . a false teacher is a fake or a person that is playing a part . . . these actors were doing things in secret . . .

While they pretended to be ministering to the people . . . they were in fact in the process of betraying the people in plain sight . . . they carried

out this pretense of being a Christian minister by secretly introducing heresy (which refer to teachings that are simply not true) . . . a heresy in

the church refers to teachings which are not healthy . . . or to teachings that are of a destructive nature to the love and the unity of God’s people . . .

The phrase “even denying the Lord that bought them . . .” refers to how these actors repeatedly deny their savior . . . Now obviously – the false

teacher is not going to stand up before the congregation and say something to the effect . . . I deny the God that saved my soul . . . but we

should understand that The WORD IS God . . . and the WORD was God . . . the same was in the beginning with GOD . . .

Our attitude toward the WORD is in all respects our attitude toward God HIMSELF . . . if we respect the WORD then we also respect GOD . . .

If we deny the WORD – then we also deny the God of that WORD . . .

Titus 1: 16 They profess that they know God; BUT IN WORKS they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.  

The works which denied “the Lord that bought them . . .” was the repeated introduction of “heresy” into the church for the purpose of making

themselves more appealing (more attractive) to the people . . .

II Peter 2: 2 And many shall follow their pernicious (malicious or harmful) ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of . . . to speak evil of the Truth is to DENY the God of that truth . . .

3 And through covetousness (greed) shall they with feigned (artificial) words make merchandise of you (they will take advantage of you) whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Shew me a sign and I will believe . . . shew me a sign

and I will change my way of teaching – I will go back to the OLD way and start following you . . .

I have a hold over the people . . . I have deceived them – they like me - they have made my life easy and do not intend to take my mask off . . .

Jesus could see into the hearts of these false prophets and His reply to them is . . .

Matt 16: 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

Now what “signs of the times” do you suppose Jesus was referring to . . .

2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

II Tim 4: 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (referring to the heresy that the false prophet repeatedly introduces).   

Now we cannot lay the blame for such a condition solely at the feet of the pretenders . . . an actor has to have

an audience . . . you see birds of a feather flock together . . . if our love for the truth has begun to wax cold – and if in its place we have fallen in love

with religion . . . we will turn aside from those who teach the TRUTH  – and we will seek in their place a pretender . . . 2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

The idea of “suffering” so that we might also reign with Him refers to how “we suffer” when we deny what we are by nature . . .

The man who denies the natural tendency which we all have to “overlook” the truth when it is to our advantage to do so . . . the man who denies the

greed in his heart that leads him to take advantage of the trust that others have placed in him – the man who denies the desire to be in charge – the

man who denies the desire to teach only what others want to hear . . . this is the man who will reign with God in the heavenly kingdom of Jesus

Christ . . . but the man who refuses this type of self-denial as he “denies” the truth in order to gain

popularity . . . he may be popular in church – he may be popular in the community . . . but he will NOT be popular in heaven . . . he may be saved –

but to deny our saviour in this manner – is to guarantee that when we go to heaven – we will go there in shame - with empty hands – having forsaken the reward of the righteous . . .

II Cor 3: 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Matt 16: 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Jesus left these whose only interest in their religion was how to make themselves popular with the people . . . we did not say that these pretenders

were sent to hell . . . but having denied Jesus by their works – Jesus will deny them rewards in the day of judgment . . . has Jesus left you to find 

your own reward in success and popularity . . . or is Jesus standing beside you – and giving you comfort as you deny the world in order to follow His Truth?

Adding to our faith #13

James 1: 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers (many – or a large quantity of) temptations;

 3 Knowing this, that the trying (testing) of your faith worketh (brings about or finishes) patience.

 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

How secure are we in “our belief” concerning Jesus – concerning the cross and concerning His resurrection . . . It is only natural for us to doubt

these type of things – but as we mature spiritually – or in the words of James – as we become “perfect and entire” or (completely whole) these 

periods of doubt should slowly “fade away” as God’s Spirit continually testifies of His Truth to our spirit.

Ro 8:16 The Spirit itself (The Holy Spirit of God) beareth witness with our spirit (testifies to our heart) that we are the children of God:

The idea in our text verses – is that when our faith is put to the test by trials – or when we are able to prove how committed we really are to God . . .

then this is something that puts the finishing touches on our lives regarding what it means to actually be a “Christian.”

If we have ever painted a wall – we understand that it is necessary to trim around the edges of a window casing . . . the main part of the room is

painted first – and then afterward – a smaller brush is used to “trim out” around the edges of the door facings or the windows.

Before adding the “finishing touches” the room is completely covered with paint – but there are just a few details that we cannot finish with a 12”

roller . . . so we have to go back with a smaller brush to reach a few spots where the roller couldn’t reach . . .

This is exactly what James 1: 1-4 is teaching us about our lives after we have been saved.  To be saved is to have our lives painted with a big wide

roller that covers our soul with the blood of Jesus – like a painting roller covers the wall with paint.

However – for the detailed work of our lives – having completely covered our soul with His blood – God now needs to do a little “finish work” on

our lives . . . now our salvation is not dependent upon this “detailed work” any more so than the color of the walls are dependent upon trimming

around the face boards of a door . . . but just like “trimming in a door” makes the room look better – when Jesus puts the finishing touches on 

our lives with manifold “temptations” in order to prove to us that our faith is real and genuine . . . then having gained such confidence through these

trials we have “a better life” while we remain upon the Earth waiting on God to take us to heaven . . . just like we have a prettier room after painting it – IF we “trim in” around all of the edges.

One of the “trials or the temptations” that we will undergo for the purpose of “testing” our faith to prove “not to God” but to ourselves that our faith is real . . . is the trial of DOUBT.

If we have been saved – then to later “doubt our salvation” is not a sin that condemns us to hell . . . but rather it is only one trial in a long series of

trials that we will suffer through as a child of God . . . the end result being that we grow stronger in spirit as we read verses like John 5: 24 which tells us . . .

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and SHALL NOT come into (or enter into) condemnation; but (because of their belief) is passed (has already passed) from death unto life.

Satan “tempts us” with the idea or with the concept that Salvation is not really a gift . . . but that it has to be earned or maintained by some sort of 

effort on our part . . . but as we look into the scriptures to put these doubts to rest – what we find there causes us to grow stronger than we were before.

John 3: 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

He that believeth on Him IS NOT CONDEMNED . . . Such is the case regarding any type of doubt that we encounter in our lives regarding the kindness of God and His promised care for us . . . we face adversity – and then because of that adversity we are tempted to doubt God.

But after a period of “soul searching” and a "thorough study" of the scriptures (which we would not be searching in this manner if we were 

never faced with the adversity which Satan uses as a temptation for us to doubt God) . . . After this time of soul searching - after the clouds have finally gone away – the sun shines brighter for us than it ever did before.

The trial of our faith – is not for God’s benefit to see whether or not we are faithful . . . the trial of our faith is for OUR BENEFIT . . . and it’s 

purpose is not to harm us in any way at all – but it’s purpose is to make us stronger.

Let’s consider something as simple as teaching a class . . . if you are shy and have no confidence – then the first time you stand in front of a class is not a pleasant experience at all . . .

But after it is over – after you realize that you did not "die" in the process of speaking in fronto of others – you gain the confidence you need to teach 

other lessons . . . which you would not have had the ability to do – if you had not undergone the “trial” of having to stumble through those first few lessons.

The athlete who sacrifices to achieve a particular goal as he practices every day . . . when it is game day - he has the knowledge and the skills to perform because of how he suffered through the daily exercises in practice . . .

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

This is telling us to put up with all of the trials – and with all of the adversities of life just like an athlete puts up with all of the daily practices . . . so that in the end – we will complete and mature Christians.