Wednesday-October 21-Psalms 28-Martyn Lloyd Jones

There are certain things that tend to militate against fellowship with God and to rob us of it; there are certain things that will stand between us and the fellowship that in turn leads to joy.

First of all, there is sin—unrighteousness. John has told us about the possibility of great joy (verse 4); then   comes a word that almost crushes us to the ground at once: “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”—and fellowship seems   hopeless. But then, thank God, he tells us how this can be dealt with. If we recognize and confess sin, then there is the blood that cleanses, and God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1:7, 9).

The second hindrance that John talks about in 1 John 2:3 is lack of love for the brethren. If there is anything wrong in my relationship to God, I lose the fellowship, and I lose the joy. Yes, but if there is anything wrong in my relationship with my Christian brothers and sisters, I also lose the joy, and John works this out in a very subtle way. You lose contact with the brethren, and you lose contact with God; you lose your love to God in the same way.

The third hindrance is a love of the world, a desire or hankering after its pleasures and its whole sinful   mentality. This again is an interruption to fellowship with God. You cannot mix light and darkness.

The last thing that interrupts fellowship with God, he tells us at the end of 1 John 2, is false teaching about the person of Jesus Christ. Obviously if the only way to God is through Christ, if I am in any way wrong about my teaching or doctrine concerning Him, then automatically I sever the communion, and again I lose my joy.

Certain things tend to militate against fellowship with God and to rob us of it.