Our Fellowship in the Lord

(The directives of God’s missionary work)

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)

This morning we would like listen to the Mission Reports from Missionary Matthew Lim’s family. They are serving the Lord in Mongolia. But before we listen to them, we would like to think about the biblical model for God's missionary work based on 1 John 1:3. This passage gives out lots of points for us to consider. For our own purpose, using the limited time assigned to us, we would like to think about three points: 1) the contents of missionary work; 2) the contexts of the missionary work; and 3) the conclusion of the missionary work. 

First, the contents of God's missionary work.

When God sends a missionary to a mission-field, he does so with a specific mission. What then are the contents of God's missionary work?  In v. 3, the Apostle John describes the contents of the mission saying, "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard..."  Here, "what we have seen and heard," refers to what people such as the Apostle John witnessed about Jesus Christ. In God's wisdom, in the person and work fulfilled by a person called Jesus Christ, God put all we need for salvation. Referring to this transaction, the Apostle John says in 1 John 1-2, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us." 

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard..." The Bible has another name for the mission, that is, “witnessing,” as Acts 1:8 states, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

In the day of the Apostle John, it was not easy for a man to live as Jesus' witness. In those days, particularly during the latter part of the first century, witnessing about Jesus meant martyrdom. As we already studied in the book of Acts, to live as Jesus' witnesses, a lot of people suffered martyrdom. Stephen did. James did. The Apostle Paul was stoned to near death. According to Tertulian (160 - 220 A.D.), an early Christian writer, because the Apostle John refused to stop preaching that Jesus is the Son of God, the Roman Emperor Domitian ordered that John be executed by throwing him into a cauldron of boiling oil. When John did not die but continued to preach from the cauldron the emperor had him exiled to Patmos, a prison colony off the coast of Turkey where he could not talk to anyone. 

The greater challenge to the life of witnessing comes not through physical persecution such as throwing you into a prison, but temptations such as the temptation to sin. In John’s case, he could overcome physical persecutions such as being thrown into a prison. But he had really hard times to overcome the Satan's temptations to sin such as the temptation to 'hate' his enemies. He saw Roman soldiers mistreating Christians. These Christians had done nothing wrong. Their only crime was to testify that Jesus is the Lord and Savior. What bothered him more was to see the joy registered on the face of the Christian martyrs. As he saw them suffering martyrdom joyfully, he could not see any hint of hatred. He witnessed that these Christians truly practiced Jesus' command that says, "Love your enemy." But he could not love his enemies in the true sense of the word "love"; there was always a lingering tinge of hatred in his heart. So while he was at Patmos, on one of the Lord's days, he knelt down and prayed to the Lord asking him, "Lord, why can't I love my enemies as you commanded me to?" Then, the Risen Lord appeared to him and said, "It was because you did not deny yourself." The voice struck him like thunder. And that was enough. Hatred was gone; God's love filled his heart. Along with this change came the revelations from the Lord. And this is how we came to have the Book of Revelations. 

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard..." Along with this mission statement comes with the call to live a life that is worthy of the Lord. So the Apostle John challenges us saying, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world." (1Jo 2:15-16), "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him." (1Jo 3:6), "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." (1Jo 3:10). These words tell us that on our own it is impossible to be Jesus' good witnesses. So just as Shepherd William said in his message, we must remember and go by what Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Then we can live as Jesus' good witnesses. 

 

Second, the context of God's missionary work 

We know electricity runs through a wire such as copper. We also know that it is in the soil that plants take root and grow up. Likewise, "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us..." Here "you" refers to the recipients of the epistle. Most likely they were believers scattered in the seven churches of the Asia Minor (the present day Turkey). In his epistle John calls them "friends", but still they were spiritually young. They were yet to know Jesus better. So John wrote an epistle to have a fellowship with them, so that through the fellowship the young ones could come to know Jesus better and grow strong in the Lord. 

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us..." In this passage as we can see it was the Apostle John who took the initiative. He did not wait for his flock to come to the fellowship with him. Most likely after writing the epistle, he let the letter circulate among the saints scattered among the seven churches. Then after they had chance to read the letter, he must have visited each church one by one. 

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us..." One of the lessons we can learn from John's example here is the grace of taking the initiative by positively inviting people to the fellowship in the Lord. One of the first things to do to develop and nurture a Christian fellowship is humbling oneself and practically going to the place where he can meet people. 

In this regard, Jesus set a perfect example. In order to have fellowship with us, he gave up his position as God. Then like all of us he became flesh. And he made dwelling among us. In his grace he invited John to have a fellowship with him. Thanks to this grace, John was able to live with him, walk with him, touch him, eat with him, and listen to him, even leaning on his bosom. 

This is how he came to have life and the light of God. Following Jesus' example, after Jesus' departure, he sacrificed his desire for marriage. And he invited many to the fellowship with Him, so they would come to have life and have it to the full. And this is how the Lord blessed him to bear good fruit such as Polycarp. 

Mother Barry is another example. She is the only daughter of a very well to do family. During her young adulthood in a huge ranch in Mississippi she grew up like a princess. But by God's divine appointment during her college days, she met Jesus as her personal Savior. Then at the age of 25, in 1955, she left the U.S. and went to war-torn Korea. She then started to proclaim what she has seen and heard to Korean college students. Thus the "University Bible Fellowship" was born. 

The blessed work the Lord began through her continues. Thanks to her good influence many Korean students accepted Jesus and went out to foreign lands as missionaries. Missionary Matthew Lim is one of them. Following Jesus' example he went to Mongolia. Nowadays, then, more than 120 Mongolian students come to the Mongolian UBF, and young descendants of Genghis Khan are growing up as members of our Lord Jesus' army. 

Third, the conclusion of God's missionary work.

What then should be the conclusion of God's missionary work? Where should it end? Look at v. 3b, "And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." The answer is "the fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” According to this passage we need to invite people to the fellowship with God the Father and Jesus the Son!   

In the Garden of Eden, before the Fall, Adam had a perfect relationship with God the Father. But since the Fall his relationship with God was broken. Yet in his mercy God sent Jesus who in turn opened the way for sinners to come to the Father and have life and have it to the full. 

The key point for us to consider here then is the meaning of the word Father. The primary meaning of this title is “origination”, for God is the originator of everything and every life. God is the originator of life – your life and my life. He is the source of life. He sustains our life. Without being in the life-giving relationship with the Father, no one can have life in the true sense of the word life. 

In conclusion, let us read the key verse once again. Thanks and praise be to God the Father who sent Jesus, the Son. Thanks to His grace he opened the way for us to come to the Father through the Son. As he opened this life-giving fellowship, may the Lord bless all of us to come to know Jesus in person, and through His grace may the Lord bless us to invite students to the fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son. One word: our fellowship in the Lord