1 John Vol 1: Fellowship With God by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Author:D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones [Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

8. Mysticism

And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3

We have been seeing together that this is really the great offer which is held out to us by the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the one thing, the supreme thing that is held before us as that which can enable us to live in a world which, as we have seen so abundantly in the Scriptures, is essentially opposed to God and opposed, therefore, to all who belong to Him. ‘If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you,’ said our Lord in John 15:18, and that is something which as Christian people we should never lose sight of — that the world in its outlook and mentality is opposed to God, and until it becomes converted, until it receives a new life, that will remain its condition.

So the problem confronting us is, how are we to live this Christian, this godly life in a world that is so antagonistic to us in every respect? And the answer of this epistle, as it is the answer of the whole of the New Testament, is that there is only one way in which this can be done, and that is to have this fellowship with God; and that, according to John, is the astounding thing which our Lord came to do; not only to reveal it to us, but to make it possible for us. That is the great emphasis. It is not only a teaching, it is more than a teaching; it is something which He actually does for us.

Now we have been considering this great statement from certain angles; we have been considering certain things that had to take place before it could be possible — the work of Christ — and then we have tried to look at it directly in order to remind ourselves of what exactly it means. But in doing that I have constantly had to utter a word of warning. There is no subject, I think we will all agree, which has led to more misunderstanding perhaps than just this particular question. The whole idea is so exalted and wonderful that once we realise that it is a possibility at all, we must immediately be concerned about having and experiencing it; and in some senses the history of the Church can be described as the history of the various ways in which men and women have tried to arrive at and maintain this communion, this fellowship with God. Some of the greatest adorations in Christian experience have been the result of this particular interest and particular endeavour, so that it is a subject which we must examine rather carefully. There are false ways in which we could seek this fellowship with God as well as true ones.

Now it is impossible to deal with them all, so it seems to me that the most convenient thing to do

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