Turn with me please to the first epistle of John chapter one verse one. One John chapter one verse one. That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and 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 rightly 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 Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sins. the next three days in the will of God we'd like to consider together how to prepare for service I was intrigued recently when we heard about a jungle camp where prospective missionaries go and for six weeks they put into this little piece of jungle up in Canada they're not allowed to come out and they've got to learn how to Get along with nothing, just in the jungle. That's in preparation for going out to the field someplace. We heard last week, I guess it was, of a dear sister being used of the Lord and the assembly where she is. And she feels led of God to go to serve him for a couple of years in a foreign land. and she's been asked to go for a year's special training in order to serve him in that land. Well, I find that very interesting, but you know, the older I grow, the more I realize that all the training in the world won't fit me for service for God. And I realize that it's spiritual preparation of heart, above all else, that fits one to serve God, learning how to walk with God. And so for these next three days, perhaps what I'll be speaking on will be a little different to the main theme, but it's not really different. It's how to walk in fellowship with God. You see, as helpful as those courses may be, they'll never make up for the lack of a quiet walk in close fellowship with the living God. If I'm walking in fellowship with my Lord, day by day, his work will get done. If I'm walking and living fellowship with him, his work will get done in the way that he wants it done. It won't be difficult for him to guide me. Sometimes we struggle away looking for the guidance of God. But if I am walking in that close fellowship with him, he won't find it difficult to guide me and direct me in my life. to correct me when I go wrong, to show me how to work with others. I guess it will come up in this conference. How do you get along with fellow workers? Well, perhaps here is where we need to start. Spiritual preparation of heart. And if I am walking in a close fellowship with my Lord, it will be easy for him to burden my heart with the need of a new area. or perhaps a new way in which to get out and reach people for Christ. And so it may seem a little academic perhaps as we go through this, but I trust it won't be. I trust that it will give us encouragement and help to walk in a real close fellowship with the one who saved us, who indwells us by his spirit, And through his spirit wants to use us to bring the lost world back to himself to know him. This particular book answers a couple of important questions. First of all, to prepare for service, I need to know without any doubt that I am saved. And this is a great book to answer that question. In fact, that's really the main purpose of it. When you get towards the end, we read this. These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life. We need to know it. And these things, the things of this little book are written that we may have that assurance that we do have eternal life. To prepare for service, I need to be in fellowship with God. And of course, the section we've just read is all about fellowship. And to prepare for service or to continue in service, I need to have the joy of the Lord deep down in my soul. Verse four of chapter one, these things rightly unto you. Why? That your joy may be full. The joy of the Lord is your strength. That's come home to me in a very real way in the last few years. It's so easy to get discouraged, so many things to discourage. Even when you're out serving the Lord, the joy of the Lord is your strength. And if we're going to not only serve the Lord, but keep going on and serving Him and getting the gospel out, it's the joy of the Lord that will keep us going. And these things, this book is written for that purpose. So that's just introductory. The first thing that John talks about here is life. The life of God. Because that's what we must have. If we're going to tell others about him. The life of God. And John says we are witnesses of this life. He doesn't bring out a theological argument. After all, he's only a fisherman. He hasn't been to the seminaries of the day. He can't start arguing on all the theological points of those Sadducees and Pharisees. No. What does he do? He says we've heard it. Verse one. We've seen it with our eyes, we've looked upon it. Our hands have handled what? The word of life, the one who was in the beginning. The Gnostics of the day said, God can't be known, God can't be seen, he can't come down on a human body. Well, that may be. However, contrary to all that whatever they might think, John, speaking on behalf of the apostles, no doubt, he says, we have heard that which was from the beginning, God himself. Not only that, but we have seen with our eyes, not secondhand. We're not telling you sort of secondhand information. We're telling you something we know about. We've seen. He says, we have looked upon. That's more than just seeing. looked upon, gazed upon. We've got to know him so well we can tell you from first-hand experience about this living God. That's what he's saying. And our hands have actually handled him. We've walked with him. We've talked with him. And we can tell you about him. And you see, if we're going to witness to the world, we've got to be able to walk with him and talk with him. And then we can tell the world about him. And so I say again, it's this spiritual preparation, more than anything else that will fit you and me to serve the Lord, whether it's in this country or across the ocean. He talks about the life. The one who was in the beginning, he says, is the word of life. If we want somebody to know, What's in our hearts? We use words. God wants the world to know about his life. So he used the word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of life. God reveals his life then in Jesus Christ. He's the living word from God. And that's the one that these men were witnesses of and that we have to be witnesses of if we're going to tell the world about him. The living word. The life of God. What is the gospel? What kind of a message must I take to the people outside? Listen to this, chapter five. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. He that hath the Son And I believe we've got to get back to an understanding, a fresh understanding of what the gospel is all about. You see, it's not that if you believe certain doctrines, he'll give you life. That's not the gospel. It's not even if you come to make a decision, he'll give you life. People have believed the doctrine, but they're dead and their trespasses and sins. Many people have made decisions, but there's no sign of life. He that hath the Son, we have to bring to the men and women of this world the Lord Jesus Christ as someone who died for them, rose again, who is alive from the dead. a living reality and they have to come to know the living Lord Jesus Christ or they'll die in their sins now this is this is basic but my so important I think of a small city in Zambia and some dear believers spent two weeks of very active evangelism But the problem was they weren't bringing the message from the Word of God, at least not the true gospel. When they got finished after two weeks of this evangelism, twelve thousand people had made decisions for Christ. It was in the magazines, it was even in an assembly magazine. And they said to the rest of the believers there, now you've got to do a follow-up. There was nothing to follow up. There was nothing to follow up. There was no life. They had gone to the people in the streets and said, do you believe this? Sure. Most of those Zambian kids have heard the word of God sometime in the schools. Tremendous opportunity we have to bring them the word. Do you believe this? We believe it. Do you believe this? Yes. And this? Yes. And this? Sure. Then pray this prayer. That's not evangelism. Twelve thousand decisions in two weeks. Tremendous. And the Christians are told, now do the follow-up work. Go to the churches, not just the assemblies, but the evangelical churches. Anyone in that town... There's not one person come into the fellowship of those believers through that twelve thousand decisions. And so John in this epistle is reminding us, it's not just a matter of people making a decision. It's the life of God, revealed in Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, having died and risen, people have to come to know Him who's alive from the dead, he is eternal life. Verse, where are we in chapter one, verse two, the life was manifested. And we show unto you that eternal life. He is life. I am the life. That's what he said. I am the way. I'm not, not that he's just going to show us the way. I am the way. I am the truth. Not just that he's going to teach us the truth and we put his teachings into practice and we're going to be saved. Not at all. I am the truth. And if I don't have Christ, I don't have the truth. And I am the life. Not just that he's going to show us how to live the life. Not at all. He is the life. And you see, that's what the official is all about. And so having said everything that is to be said in these five chapters, Not that we're going to do all that in three days. Then we are told at the end here, He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. And these are the things that I have written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, that you may believe in the name of the Son of God. That life is in Christ. You know, if it wasn't for the fact that this was a, the missionary emphasis, a go out or die out, I would love to have spent time going through those first eight chapters of Romans in this conference. And I believe that in our assemblies we've got to get back to what is the true gospel. What is the gospel? Go through the Book of Romans. Chapter one, sin. Chapter two, sin. Chapter three, sin. There's no good news there. Exactly. And until a person knows, by the time you get to the end of chapter three, that there is no difference, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, you can't start telling him that Jesus Christ died and wants to save him from that sin. And our brother pointed out, The Lord sat on the well with a woman. What does he tell her? Sin. You're living in adultery. You've had five men and you've got a sixth one. He goes to the temple with a whip. What's he telling them? Sin. You're a bunch of hypocrites. Face your sins before you can hear the good news. He speaks to Nicodemus. You're a hypocrite. You're a teacher in Israel. You don't know the way to heaven? You've got to face your sin, Nicodemus. And you see, we've got to get back to what the basic gospel is. And I would urge all of us, especially the younger men and women, get into the book of Romans. Let's get a grasp of the real gospel. You see, when we bring the word of God to bear on the hearts and minds of the people we are talking to, whether preaching are in our homes or in the streets, then they'll know. convicted by the Spirit of God that they are sinners. And when someone's under deep conviction of sin by God, he'll cry out, What must I do to be saved? And then we can tell him, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. But we put things in reverse. We forget about the sin. After all, People don't like to hear that word. Well, that's just too bad. If God says it, we've got to tell them. So, that was a bit of a diversion, but sorry about that. To prepare for service, I must know that I am saved. Well, isn't that a bit of an odd thing to talk to someone, say to someone who's asking about going out on missionary service? Not really. You see, if someone's never heard the true gospel, even in an assembly, maybe he needs to be. This subject needs to be brought up to him. John Wesley, a missionary for years, went back to England, frustrated and defeated, and then God saved. My brother-in-law, Dave Logan, was just reminding us the other day of a missionary in Zaire who had the joy of leading a fellow missionary to the Lord. Oh, he wasn't from an assembly. Neither of them were. That's true. But let me say this. Three times on this furlough, at the end of the family Bible hour on Sunday mornings, we've been approached by people who have had no assurance at all of salvation. And yet they were sitting at the Lord's Supper, part of the assembly. And everybody said, well, they saved. And yet in their hearts there's no assurance of salvation. And so we come back to the message here. What is the message of the gospel? It's the fact. It's this. Jesus Christ is the life. And if I have him, I have life. And if I've made a profession or believed certain doctrines and made a decision, but I don't have Christ, then I just don't have that life. Now if I have the life of Jesus Christ, then I've started on my walk of fellowship with him, working in fellowship with God. But to walk in fellowship with God, I've got to know something about God. And so we go on to verse five. This 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. I've come into fellowship with God through Christ. Now I want to walk in fellowship with God. And the first thing I'm reminded of here is God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. Fellowship contrary to what everyone seems to be saying these days is not based on love. You know, that's a common saying, at least in Zambia it was. God is love and fellowship is based on love and not doctrine. Well, that's not what we read here. Here we read fellowship is based on light. Light, morally speaking, is Holiness. God is light. Or God is holy. Intellectually speaking, light is what? Truth. So fellowship is based on truth. Well, that's what we read in the Word of God. Whether we like it or not, that's what we are told. Fellowship is based on the fact that God is holy. In him there is no darkness at all. And you know it's very interesting, but in one John we don't read that God is love until four chapters later. Chapter four and verse eight. Yes, God is love. That's true. And of course you've got to read the whole book as we indicated last night to really get the message. And if we just pick a verse out here and there, we're not really going to get the message that God is giving us. And so we will get to that place, Lord willing, where we'll read that God is love. And love and light must always go together. And you see, if I preach the love of God to the exclusion of light, people may end up with a false sense of security. They may not even be saved. Now, the Jews were just like that. That's a great example. Why? They said, God loves us. He's chosen us. He chose Abraham. We're the children of Abraham. God's on our side. Great to have a God of love. The Gentiles, he doesn't love them at all. And they have false sense of security. And the Lord Jesus says, standing on that little hill overlooking the city of Jerusalem. He weeps over Jerusalem and he says, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? But you would not. The love of God. Yes, God did love the Jews. Then he goes on to say, If only you knew what was going to happen to you. But it's hidden from your eyes. And he talks about not one stone being left upon another. The judgment of God is going to come down upon you. You see, God is love, but God is light. And that's the message that John is pointing out here. And if I'm going to walk in fellowship with God, I've got to keep that before me all the time. And remind myself, I'm walking with a holy God. and in him is no darkness at all. And you see, when we get to chapter four, Lord willing, we'll see that it's love that's going to motivate me to serve him. But, if I'm serving him and I'm living in sin, my service is of no worth whatsoever. And so the two must go together. In the councils of God, we are brought first of all face to face with the fact that God is holy. And that's what we need to bear in mind. In him is no darkness at all. The hymn writer Wesley puts it this way, eternal light, eternal light, how pure the soul must be, which shrinks not, but with calm delight can live. and look on thee, that fellowship, live and look on the Holy One, that fellowship, and how pure the soul must be. He's eternal light. And so, if I'm going to be preparing for service for my Lord, I've got to be willing to face the fact that God is holy. And I've got to keep that thought in my heart as I seek to walk in fellowship with him. Listen to what he says in Hebrews four. You know the words. The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, to the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Verse thirteen. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. God is light. I'm going to walk with him. He's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of my heart. My very deepest thoughts. He knows it all. He's light. Psalm one thirty nine. Let me read you these verses. O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought to far off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word in my tongue, but though, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. God is light. And these verses, of course, in Psalm are there to greatly encourage the saint of God. You see, if I'm walking in the light, if God is in the light, my, that's thrilling to know that he knows all about me. But if I'm not walking in the light, my. Then those verses bring fear and trembling to my heart. He knows all about me. I can't deceive him. I might deceive others, but not him. In James chapter one, verse seventeen, God is called the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. No favoritism with God. You know, as believers, we often think there is some favoritism, and we often feel, we get a bit like the Jews, in fact, we think, well, after all, I'm a believer, so I know I've done a few wrong things and so on, but, you know, I'm in the family of God, and that doesn't really matter much. It doesn't. He's the father of lights, with whom is no variableness. Neither shadow of turning and believers. We've got to be aware. We've got to be very careful. And sometimes we feel, well, you know, I've got such an important job in the assembly. I'm in a position of leadership in one way or another. I'm leading the Sunday school or teaching a class or running a women's class or an elder or whatever. No favoritism with God. No variableness. God is light. In him is no darkness at all. But I look and see, well, God seems to be blessing what I'm doing. That doesn't mean much at all, actually. Because if you look in the word of God, you'll find he often used the most surprising people to do his work. In the days of Balaam, he gets a donkey. And he talks through an ass. In the days of Jeremiah, he gets an ungodly, heathen, idol-worshipping king Nebuchadnezzar. And he says, My servant, Nebuchadnezzar. And the fact that God may be using me in some way must never put me to sleep and make me feel, well, I'm okay. I'm walking in fellowship with God. And the sin that I know is in my life. I sort of forget about it, push it under the carpet, say, well, that doesn't really matter. No. God is light. In him is no darkness at all. This fellowship with God is based on walking in the light. Verse six, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie. and do not the truth. I say I'm having fellowship with God. But I'm walking in darkness. Are they those dark things in my life? The hidden things? The things I would be ashamed for the people around me to ever know that I'm involved in? perhaps part of the word of God that I'm refusing to obey. Nobody knows it. God knows it. And so, verse six, if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. That's strong language. But we need to think about it if we're really going to walk with God like Enoch did. One thing we need to notice in the epistle of John is this continuous tense. I believe in the Greek they call it the eras tense. Otherwise we might get a little confused. Now if you're reading the King James Version, for example, in chapter three, whosoever, verse nine, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. And he cannot sin because he is born of God. When I was a young believer, that really threw me off. Am I born of God? The tenses are very helpful. It's not that a believer never sins. Not at all. But my way of life is a continuous tense, that air is tense. If you don't know Greek, the best thing you can do is to learn Levali. And through our dear brother, Mr. Albert Horton, we have the most wonderful translation of the Bible into the Lovale language, because the tenses in Lovale are almost identical with Greek. And preparing for this message, I took David Logan's Lovale Bible off the shelf, because I didn't want to look it up in a Greek lexicon, and just to make sure where the continuous tense was and where it wasn't. However, if you don't know the Greek or the Vali, the next best thing is to get one of the more modern versions of the Bible and just check some of these tenses because they do make it clear. And I believe you'll find in the NIV, for example, whosoever is born of God doth not continue in sin. And so it's made quite clear there. And so we do need to get these things clear in our minds. We don't find a falling away doctrine in the word of God, not at all. And it's not if I sin that I don't know God, but if I'm continuing in a life of sin, well, what does verse six say? We say we have fellowship with him, and we walk a continual walk in darkness, then the truth is not in us. We do not have the truth. We lie. And so this brings us back to assurance of salvation, you see. The book here, if we go right through the book, which you won't have time to do, gives us a number of tests. And we can test ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. The Corinthians were told to do that. And you look at the church at Corinth, my, the sin was atrocious. And so they are told by the Spirit of God, examine yourselves to see whether you'd be in the faith. And this little book of one John helps us to do just that, to examine ourselves, to see whether we'd be in the faith. Because we may be serving God and not even be in the faith, as we've already mentioned. Matthew chapter seven. Remember what the Lord said? I'll read it just so I don't give you the wrong words. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name we've cast our devils. In thy name we've done many wonderful works. We've been serving thee. And then will I profess unto them, listen to this, I never knew you. Departs from me ye workers of iniquity. Now he doesn't say I once knew you and you fell. And you got away, never. Can't happen. He says, I never knew you. Never. And so if we're going to walk in fellowship with God, there must, we must know the living Lord Jesus Christ in our life. Secondly, we must know something of what it is to be walking in the light. And if my life is continually walking in the darkness, I need to check my salvation. But that's not what we're here to do this morning. Verse seven. But if we walk in the light, and this is the verse we want to concentrate on, you know, however much time we got left. I don't see any clocks around, but anyway. I don't know why they put the clock this end. I think it'd be better at that end. However, it gives the preacher a good excuse if you can't see a clock. Oh, he's got one. I see. Oh, well. Verse seven, if we walk in the light. So we're not concentrating on those who are not saved. That's something that has to be examined individually, obviously. But the buts in the Word of God are great. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Walking in the light, as He is in the light. That's what we need to be doing. If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, What's the next phrase? We have fellowship one with another. If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we, God and us, have fellowship one with the other. Walking in fellowship with him. That's the only preparation for real service. walking in fellowship with God, everything else will fall into place. And then the blood of Christ cleanses us from all things. Now that's an interesting phrase and perhaps we won't understand it too well unless we go back to the first phrase, if we walk in the light. He doesn't say if we walk according to the light, if I was going to walk according to the light, I would have to know all about God, everything about Him, everything about the Word of God, in order to order my life according to God's eternal light. But I don't know all that. After all, say for example, I'm just being saved. Perhaps I was saved yesterday. Does that mean I've got to wait until I know all about God to be able to order my life according to the light, and then I can go out and serve him? Not at all. If I was saved this morning, I can go out this afternoon and start serving him if I walk in the light. Now, what does it mean to walk in the light? It doesn't mean that I've got to know all about God. No. Out in Africa, we use the flashlights a lot. You don't have to know all about the terrain if you're walking along at night. But you do have to walk in the light. You shine that flashlight and you follow it along and you keep in the light. And you won't tread on a snake or a scorpion or a poisonous spider or fall into a hole. Provided you walk in the light. And it's not a matter of learning the geography of the country and parting your A levels and all that or whatever exams you do over here. in the geography of Zambia, and then you can go out to be a missionary, not at all. You take a flashlight, and you shine it, and you follow the light. And you see, that's what God wants us to do. So it comes down to something very simple. As God shines with the light of his word into my heart, I must walk in that path. In other words, a simple life of obedience. That's all it is. God lights up something in my life. Through his word, I must obey. And I'm walking in the light. Now there are many other things in my life which is not yet revealed to me. I'm just a young believer. But the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all that sin, provided I am walking in the light that He's given me. I had only been saved a month. I started on my career as an accountant. Sitting at my office desk one day, the girls from the typing pool. We had a bunch of about ten girls who did all the typing. One of them, two of them came in and they had tickets for an office sweepstake. Do you use that word in the States? An office sweepstake. They were going to have a horse race over in England and the people in the office there, the Treasury, where I worked, were going to put their bets on this and see who won the race and see who got the, and one of us would get the money. They came to me and I'd only been saved a month. I didn't know much about these things. I said, sure. And I put some money on the table and they gave me a little ticket. And they went to the guy who sat next to me. And they turned to go, but my boss was in an office at the end of the room. And just before they went, one of them said to the other, well, it was no point in going in there. He's a Christian. He won't take part in this thing. God had shone his flashlight in my pathway. And immediately the Holy Spirit made me stop, put my pen down, and began to think, well, what am I doing? And I began to realize, yeah, this is gambling. And here I am, a child of God. I've got no business in the gambling world. Taking all the courage I had, which wasn't very much, I went back to this room full of girls. And boy, I was just a young guy trembling in my boots. I said, look, I'm also a Christian. I don't want this ticket. You can have it and I'll have my money back. Oh, no, they said, that's too late now. Well, I spent that weekend fretting away and sure enough, the horse that I had put my money on won, which made it worse because then on Monday morning everybody knew and they took the money. We used the money that the guy won and you bought cakes and they were given around all the office staff. So I guess the dear brother in the office at the end knew that I had been gambling. God had shone his flashlight on my pathway, and I had to obey. He couldn't undo what I'd done, but at least I had to obey for every future occasion, and thankfully they were able to say of me later on, yeah, no good game to him, he's a Christian. You see, that's what it means, to walk in the light. That's having fellowship with God. So simple, but so important. In the Midwest, a couple trusted Christ as their Savior. Young believers, they were driving down to the assembly Sunday morning. This dear lady took out something from her bag and stuck it on her head, a big hat about this size. Her husband says, What have you put on your head? She's a hat. Well, she says, What do you do that for? Well, she says, I was just reading one Corinthians this week and in chapter eleven I discovered that if I'm a sister my head's supposed to be covered if I come into the presence of the Lord. Walking in the light. Simple obedience to the word of God. And you know we're getting away from it. We don't like something in the word of God. So we'd be that it fits into the culture around me, it makes no difference. I better obey it. And if I walk in the light, then I'll have fellowship with him, and there's no better preparation for service for God. Psalm one thirty-nine, I read the first few verses. Let me read the last few. Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. That needs to be the prayer of my heart day by day if I'm going to keep walking in the light. A famous missionary, not from the Assemblies, but very famous, a man that God used was a man called CT Stud. God used him in China. He learned that language as a young man who was greatly used. He was in India just a short while, then back in England, invalidated off the field. And as a man of about fifty-odd, I don't remember exactly how, but in his fifties, came to Africa. Central Africa is a missionary. And he was there for something like fifteen or twenty years, without ever taking a fellow. And God used that man in a tremendous way in his service. Why? He'd learnt as a young student in college to walk in the light. Somebody went to his room when he was a student, about five in the morning, found the light some. So he thought, I'll just go in, I'm up early and I'll go and have a chat. And he said to CT stud, he said, you must have gotten up pretty early this morning. Well, no, actually I didn't. I haven't been to bed yet. He said yesterday and as I was reading the word of God, I came across this little phrase, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I love him. And so I spent the night reading the Gospels. I want to know all his commandments. He wanted to walk in the light. And as he walked in the light, that dear brother, long gone to be with the Lord, had fellowship. with his God, and he carried the gospel to three continents of this world. May God help you and I to know what it is to simply walk in the light as he is in the light, have fellowship with him, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son will cleanse us from those sins of omission that we haven't yet learnt about. Shall we pray? Father, when we think of the fact of how holy thou art, eternal light, eternal light, we're amazed that we, in all our sins, could be brought into thy presence, and yet we thank thee that it was possible, because thou art us, give thy son by well beloved, to die for us, to take the curse and separation that our sin should have brought to us in himself on his own body, on that tree. Father, we thank thee for bringing us back into fellowship with thee through thy son, for the life of thy son we enjoy. And Father, the desire of each one of us is to walk in the light Thou art in the light. There are many things, Father, perhaps we don't even know that we are doing which grieve thee. Things that we haven't been doing which grieve thee. Shine into our hearts day by day. Give us a thirst to get into thy word so that thou canst speak to us and lead us in a closer walk with thee. so that walking with thee, we may be led of thee to go out into this world, into the highways and byways, to bring them back, the ones who are in darkness just like we were. We commit ourselves to thee for this purpose, in the name and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.