Turn back in your Bibles to 1
John and that first chapter. I've entitled this message today, Walking with God. I often hear and read where men
write and preach concerning what they call the Christian walk. But it's sad to say that often
what I hear and often what I read of men is so different from what
I read in the Word of God. I know that walking is an evidence
of physical life, but the walk I read of in the Bible has to
do with spiritual life. It's a walking with God. And I know this, I know that
the Bible tells us, speaks so very plainly and clearly concerning
some who walked with God. Turn back in your Bibles to Genesis
chapter 5. And look with me in verse 22
where we read about a man by the name of Enoch. He was not some superman. He was not some super-Christian. He had a lot of problems. He
had a lot of trials. Somebody says, well, how do you
know that? I know because it says that he
begat sons and daughters. If he had children, he had problems. But it says of him in verse 22,
and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred
years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were
365 years, and Enoch walked with God. And he was not, for God
took him. Some believe he was caught up. But irregardless of how he departed
this life, The fact was that God took him. And not only do
we read this about this man Enoch, just look over one more chapter
in Genesis chapter 6, and look at what it says in verse
9. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in his generations. That means that Noah was a justified
man. He was made perfect in the sight
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know that because it says,
he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But then it says, and
Noah walked with God. We know that Noah, as famous
as he has become, if we read what it says about in the Bible,
that clearly paints him warts and all. Noah had his failings. Noah was a sinner. But it says
that Noah walked with God. But what is it to walk with God? Does that mean in some way that
either one of these men or that any who walk with God, does that
mean that they got nearer to God? I hear that statement sometimes. I want to get nearer to God. Well, all who are in Christ are
as near to God as you can get. Because all who are in Christ
are at the same time in God. To be in Christ is to be in God,
is to be one with Christ. And the walk that we read about
in this text of Scripture here in 1 John 1, this walk has to
do with fellowship with God. How can a sinner, have fellowship
with God? How can a sinner walk with God? I know that we find in Scripture
many statements and many evidences of the natural impossibility
of such a thing. We know what Amos was led by
the Spirit to ask, and rightly so. He said, can two walk together
except they be agreed? But the trouble is that many,
and maybe even most in our day, interpret these verses here in
1 John as having reference to our conduct in life, or maybe
our walk of obedience, our moral walk. That is the way most theologians,
I'm afraid, interpret these verses. But what I want you to think
about today is this. Could any sinner ever walk in
such a perfect way as to have fellowship with the thrice holy
God? We're not talking about the God
of your imagination or the God of all these false religions. We're talking about the Holy
God. And it says of Him that the angels,
the angels are not pure in His sight. So how could you and I,
who drink iniquity like water, how could we ever rise to the
standard so as to be able to walk with God, to walk with God
in His holiness. And so we have to ask ourselves
again and again, can my walk in this world make me closer
to God, or be the cause of Him having fellowship with me, if
He is holy and I am a sinner." And for sure, the Bible says
without any doubt so many times that He is holy. And so many times that you and
I are sinners. As a matter of fact, he says
it like this, man at his best state is altogether vanity. And his best state, if we see
what the Scripture says, his best state, is to be in Christ
Jesus. Is that not right? But even at
His best state, being in His best state, He Himself is still
altogether vanity. Would you like me to make that
clear? Man at his best state is zero
before God. In Himself, in His ability, in
His own righteousness, in all His doings, He is still in Himself. Zero. Altogether vanity. And there is no doubt that we
are to walk with regard to our conduct of life in a manner consistent
with our calling. There is no doubt that we are
to walk in love, that we are to walk in obedience, and I'm
not in any way diminishing that. But I'm telling you this, our
walk in that sense, can never be the basis for fellowship with
God. There are a lot of people in
this world who walk in morality, maybe better than me. There are
many people who walk in the ways of religion, and they do so very
zealously, very sincerely. But it can never in the light
of Scripture be said of them that they walk with God. Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. All the saints that we read about
in the Old Testament and all the saints we read about in the
New Testament, they all walked with God. And the agreement that
Amos speaks of has to do with God. How can you and how can
God agree when you're so different? You would think that we would
ask ourselves that question. But the reason why that we have
so much error in our day, So much blindness and so much of
a lack of understanding concerning the things of our salvation is
because men have such a high view of themselves and such a
low view of God. But if we find out who He is,
and if He brings us to see who we are, How can two such as we
are walk together? How can we ever, ever be in agreement? We are so opposite in nature. We are so opposite in essence. We are so opposite in actions. How in the world? Can we ever
walk with God? Well, in this passage here in
1 John, the word that we have as fellowship is close akin in
the original to a word that we have in 2 Peter, the first chapter. Let me read that to you. The Apostle Peter says this,
he says in verse 4, "...whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature." Now, there are many who I think violate
the interpretation of that verse because they take to themselves
the notion that they somehow in new birth are given this divine
nature. Well, if we had some, we would
on that basis then be able to walk with God. But the word partaker
there, as I said, is the same word that we find here in 1 John
1. In Peter, it is used and is defined
as associate, companion, fellowship. And it is basically the same
word, although some variation of it, as the word we have here
in 1 John that says it has to do with communion or social intercourse. So what Peter says here is that
it is by these exceeding great and precious promises It is through
something that God has done, that God has given us, that we
are able thereby to have fellowship with this divine person, the
living God. And he in these verses describes
it and shows the basis for this fellowship here in our text in
1 John. Did you see what it was? He says, if you walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another."
Now, some would ask of that statement and that verse, who is he talking
about? Is he talking about fellowship
one with another in the sense of the Lord's people, or is he
talking about fellowship with God? He's talking about both. He's talking about both. When He says, if you walk in
the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. Where could you and I ever have
fellowship with God? And not only that, how could
we, being so different as we are, ever have fellowship one
with another? I'm not talking about friendship
here. I'm talking about fellowship. I'm talking about walking with
God. And I'm talking about walking
with the true people of God. He says, if you walk in the light
as He is in the light, then we have fellowship one with another. What is it to walk in the light? Well, quite simply, as these
words there in 2 Peter 1, 4 clearly say, talking about those exceeding
great and precious promises, where are they found at? They're
found in the Word of God. As a matter of fact, that's what
the gospel is all about. It's about the exceeding great
and precious promises of God, all those promises, he says,
which are yes and amen in Christ being given to the people of
God. You see, to walk in the light
is to walk in the truth. And all throughout this epistle,
and all these epistles of John, that is a reoccurring thought
and theme. He says even in 3 John chapter
1, I have no greater joy to hear that my children walk in truth. In other words, walking in the
light or walking in the truth, both of which are walking with
God, was the joy that the Apostle beheld when he saw and gave a
witness to the fact that these to whom he wrote were true believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They had identified with the
truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says in this
fourth verse of verse 1, And these things write I unto you,
that your joy may be full. You mean to tell me not only
is it possible to walk with God, but it is also possible to have
full joy? Well, the truth of the matter
is that this walking with God is the basis for this true and
full joy. He says in verse 1, "...that
which was from the beginning." What was the beginning? This
is the same apostle who began his gospel account with these
words, "...in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God."
and the Word was with God." And then he goes on to say in the
14th verse, I think it is, "...and the Word was made flesh, and
we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth." Here is an
eyewitness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here was one who beheld
Him as He came into this world and took upon Himself a body,
a perfect sinless body. And now after He has died on
the cross and risen and ascended back unto glory, this same man
pins down the eyewitness account. He says, "...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." The Word of Life. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. They are one and the same being
described. And that Word was made flesh
and He is Himself the Word of life. There is no life outside
of Him. He says, "...for the life was
manifested." Now, He's going to tell us exactly what kind
of life this is. And the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that
eternal life. Now, wait a minute, John. Isn't
eternal life something we might say that is intangible? And yet, here you are describing
having seen eternal life, having heard eternal life, have even
touched eternal life. And this is the life which was
with the Father and was manifested unto us. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not a concept. is not something
mystical. The promise of life is in the
Promised One, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if it is in Christ
Jesus, mark this down, you'll never gain it by your doing,
by anything you do, because it's in Him. The only way we'll ever
have eternal life is if God has put us in this union with Him
who is life. That which we have seen and heard,
declare we unto you. Nothing more, nothing less. Paul said, we preach Christ crucified. He said, I determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In other words, eternal life
is in the person that is spoken of and the work that he accomplished. And that's Christ and Him crucified. that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that, or in order that, ye also may have
fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father,
and with His Son, Jesus Christ." We walk with God. And he's talking here about the
gospel of Christ. He's talking about declaring
what he has seen and heard, and what God has revealed to him
concerning eternal life. And the only way to have fellowship
with God, the only way to walk with God, and that's in Christ. It's not in a long list of rules
and regulations. We have in Scripture, in the
New Testament, we have a number of admonitions and instructions
and commands and various things that we are commanded to do,
but we are never commanded to do these things as a basis upon
which we can walk with God. He's talking about the gospel
of Christ who is the light and who is the truth. And walking
in the light is the same as walking by faith in Christ alone. That is, looking to Him alone,
agreeing with God concerning His Son. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? I'll tell you what I find out.
In this day where there are so many, quote, Christians, they are not almost in any way
in agreement with God. Now, it actually becomes made
manifest out in the heathen world. When men and women do not agree
with God, what He says about all these moral issues such as
abortion or homosexuality or a host of other things. But that's not where the real
disagreement is at. The real disagreement is this,
men and women do not, cannot and will not, apart from the
grace of God, agree with God concerning His Son." That's right. That is, they will
not and they cannot, apart from God's grace, agree with God concerning
Christ as being everything in salvation. God says He's everything. He
said Himself, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I am the Lord
your righteousness. I'm salvation. And salvation
has to do with what He did. It has to do with what He accomplished. And God, in saving His people,
He brings them into agreement with himself. Somebody said, well, if you'll
live more cleanly in life, or if you'll do this or that or
this, let me tell you, when you do all that you can do, when
you do your best, it's not enough to walk with God. And it doesn't
excuse you when you say things like this, well preacher, I'm
doing the best I can. That's exactly the problem. The best you can, and I can,
is not good enough for God. You see, we can only walk with
God in Christ. Because the disagreement between
God and us, the separating sins, the iniquity that broke that
fellowship is only restored in and through the reconciling work
of Christ. There is a sense in which you
can say that we all once walked with God. When we stood first in our head,
in our father Adam, there in that garden place, obviously,
when it says that God walked in the garden in the cool of
the day and spoke to Adam, that was a thing that had occurred
before. But now Adam doesn't walk with
God. Why? Because he sinned against
God. And when he sinned, we all sinned. When he was cast out of the garden,
when he was separated in this fellowship, when he could no
longer in himself walk with God and was cast out from the garden,
you and I went out with him. And the only way we can ever
walk with him is through the reconciling work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's the good news of the
gospel. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, he says this, God was in Christ
reconciling. God hadn't changed a bit. He's
the same God He was in the garden before Adam fell. But it is you
and I who fell in Him, who were born in sin and shaped in iniquity,
who sin every day, who have a sinful nature, We're the one that's
changed. And apart from Christ, we'd never
be reconciled. But you see, we have to agree
with God. His people do agree with Him.
What was that? That God was in Christ reconciling. In other words, we have to be
brought to agree that the basis of fellowship and restoration
and salvation from sin, it all begins and it all ends in that
which God does. Oh, there's a fruit of that.
It does many glorious things in the lives of those He saves.
But those things are not the basis. What Christ did is the
basis. He's the only way we can walk
with God. And we cannot find in ourselves,
looking to anything in us at any time, any ground upon which
God would fellowship or walk with us. And I know there are
a lot of people out there, so blind, so deceived, that they
imagine, they imagine, they sincerely imagine, That they, by their
doing, by their sincerity, by their activities, by their abstaining
from this, that, or the other, that somehow they're going to
be bringing themselves into a situation where God will walk with them.
He won't. I'll tell you how I know that. When His Son hung on the cross
and the sins of all His people were laid on Him, He said, My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me? That's what sin is. That's how
sin separates. And so, rather than imagining
that words and texts like this in any way indicate in some way
that we're going to make progress, that's the most deadly thing
I ever see in this day. That is to imagine that grace
is simply God enabling us to do better, to generally and progressively
get better so that He can accept us. And it's being preached everywhere.
Sadly, it's being preached where those gather and claim to believe
the sovereign grace of God. A notion that God is doing something
in us, that the regenerating work of the Spirit, that men
and women are actually getting holier. Can you say that you're
more holy now than you were a year ago or two years ago, however
long it's been. If you think that, you know nothing
about yourself, but moreover, you know nothing about God in
holiness. Holiness admits to no possible
error. You say, how do you know that?
Well, just imagine, here's God and He's holy. What would it
take? for him to cease from being holy. If one imperfection is found
by him, if one wrong deed, if one failed promise comes from
him, he ceases to be holy and therefore he ceases to be God. And that's what his law demonstrated. James said, If we offend in one
point, you hear all these folks being told that the law is their
rule of life, that their obedience to the law, they're keeping the
Ten Commandments, whatever it is, that this is a basis upon
which we at least can gain the favor of God, or increase the
favor of God. But what did James say about
that law? He said, offend in one point, he's guilty of the whole. Because
that's the holy law of God. It stands or it falls all together. You can't go to the law of God
like you go to the Sunday buffet at the local restaurant and pick
and choose what you want and leave the rest. It's inseparably
joined together as one, just like God is one, and if you offend
in one point. And as if that wasn't bad enough,
the Lord Jesus Christ came along and He tells us the reality of
that law. He said, if you have a feeling
of hate in your heart towards somebody, you're guilty of murder. If you have a lust for a moment
in your heart, you're guilty of adultery. If you're jealous
or have a covetous moment or thought, you're guilty of being
a thief. So how in the world can we walk
with God? Well, by all our relationship
and all our fellowship with God being in Christ. We walk by faith, and the walk
of faith is simply a total trusting and relying on Christ and His
work to have reconciled us to God and established a true, sound
basis for fellowship. You remember the Holy of Holies
in the tabernacle and in the temple? There was a veil there. And nobody was allowed to go
beyond that veil except that one high priest who went once
a year and sprinkled that blood on the mercy seat. Nobody could
go in. Once a king. tried to enter into
the temple and offer up his own sacrifice, and God smote him. There's just one way. And the
Scripture says that when Christ hung on the cross, now listen,
when Christ hung on the cross, at that time the temple still
stood. And when He hung on the cross,
In that hour that he yielded up the ghost, in that hour that
he laid down his life, that he died, it says, "...and the veil
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." What did
that mean? That meant that he had opened
the way of access, the way of fellowship, The way of walking
with God. And now the Apostle says, now
through a new and a living way, the Living One, we have boldness
to enter. We have liberty in Christ. Even though we are still sinners
in ourselves, we have boldness to walk. with God. Paul says, for we walk by faith,
not by sight. Now, I'll guarantee you every
person who by their striving and by their trying and all these
things to either get or increase fellowship with God on the basis
of their doing. You know what they're looking
at? Their doing. But let me ask you
this, when have you ever done enough? You know why you don't
have peace? Because you know you've never
done enough. You can't be satisfied. You can't
come to rest. Because you've never done enough. And what false religion does
best is to keep you doing. Keep you doing. Do something
to be saved. Do something to prove you're
saved. No. Christ has done it all. God said
He's done it all. He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. Are you pleased with Him? I'm
pleased with the same one that God's pleased with. I'm looking
to the same one that God looks to. Here's this holy God. Who does He look to? To show Himself as just in all
His dealings, and yet show mercy to a sinner. He looks to Christ. Who do you look to? Who do I
look to? Looking to God as He is. Knowing how He is. Knowing what I am. And yet I
have peace and am able to have fellowship with Him. I look to
Christ. You say, Preacher, that's just
too simple. It's so simple and yet so true. That salvation is by the free
grace of God. And it's all in Christ. And to
walk with God. The only way we can is to walk
in His Son. Paul describes also in Romans
8, this walk, he says, there is
therefore now no condemnation to them who walk after the Spirit. I'm telling you, this is all
the same thing. Walking by faith, walking with God, walking in
the truth, Walking in the Spirit, it's all the same thing. You see, we walk in the Spirit
when we look to Christ alone. Because this is what He said.
He said, "...when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeded
from the Father, He shall testify of me." I'll guarantee you this. The Holy Spirit has never led
any preacher or any writer to hold up anyone or anything up
before a sinful world as the way to walk with God except the
Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, why is there so
much preaching that's different than that? Because of the spirit
of Antichrist. Antichrist. If you think for
a minute, what do the Father, the Spirit, and the believer
have in common? Just one. The Lord Jesus Christ. And you and I may be friends,
or we may become friends. I hope you are my friend. I love
friendship, but don't ever mistake it for fellowship. You see, we're
all so different. Some of you are from the north,
I'm from the south. Some of you are women, I'm a
man. Some of you are very educated,
I'm not. Some of you like this, I may
like that. Some of you may root for this
team, I may root for another team. We're just all so different. What's the only ground upon which
we could actually have fellowship? I mean, sit down and from our
hearts just talk about one thing that we're totally in agreement
with. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. That He's everything. He's all
my righteousness. He's all my hope. He's all my
salvation. He's all my life. He is the truth
of God. He is the life of God. He is
God manifest in the flesh. This is not a mere social relationship. You see, the same basis upon
which we fellowship with God is the same basis upon which
we fellowship with the people of God. Walking in the light is all about
Christ the light, and the light of God's truth in the gospel
concerning his glorious person and successful work. And the
sunshine of God's favor shines upon us only in Christ. There is just one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. John says in verse 5, 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. He's the God of truth. And how
can God be light? and holy, and commune with us,
and have fellowship with us, and save us, and bless us, and
forgive us, and receive us. Only through Christ, and only
through what He did, He put away the separating sin. He made an end of the sins of
His people. He shed that just as satisfying
blood. And that's exactly what the prophet
said he would do. God spoke through the prophet
Zechariah. This is what he said. He said,
"'Awake, O sword, sword of justice! Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts,
smite the shepherd. and the sheep shall be scattered,
and I'll turn my hand upon the little ones." The shepherd is
the one who identifies with the sheep and the sheep with the
shepherd. But did you notice the language that God used? He
said, smite the shepherd, turn your hand against that one who
is my fellow. He's the God-man. suitable for
God. He's the God-man suitable for
men. In His person and in His doing,
He's suitable for both. He's God's fellow. He's the Spirit's
fellow. He's the sheep's fellow. He's
my fellow. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
our substitute and was spitting for us and bore our sins in His
own body. In Newton's old hymn, he wrote
down these words, I saw one hanging on a tree in
agony and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me as near the
cross, I stood. Sure never to my latest breath
can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his
dead death, though not a word I spoke. Then he has it filled
with wonder. He says, Oh, can it be? Upon
a tree, the Savior died for me. My soul is thrilled. My heart
is filled to think He died for me. He opened the way. He put me in the way. He opened
the veil through the shedding of His blood. The sin that separates
is no more. And only in Christ can we walk
with God and fellowship with Christ as He's declared to be
in the gospel. All He has given us, as He says
to Peter, exceeding great and precious promises, by which we
are found among those who have fellowship, partakers of the
divine nature. And to claim to have fellowship
with God at any time, on any other basis than Christ alone,
and through His truth, is just a lie. Verse 6 says, if we say
that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we
lie and do not the truth. Verse 8 he says, if we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. He says in verse 10, if we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not
in us. What does that mean? That means
that all who would claim either progress or perfection, they
lie. Look at what he says in verse
7. 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 cleanseth us from all sin. That's why we keep preaching
Christ crucified. Because the Spirit of God takes
that glorious message of His cross, of His sacrifice, of His
shed blood, and that message has a cleansing effect in our
conscience. It cleanses us in two ways. When we get full of any pride
about any imagined progress or increased holiness or whatever
it is, It reminds us that there's only one way that we ever have
or ever could be accepted by God and walk with God. And then on the other hand, in
those times when we are brought to despair by our remaining sinfulness
and our failures and our falls, it reminds us that the blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth us, is cleansing us from all sins. It will never let us get too
high and never let us get too low. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. You mean Noah was looking and
he finally found? What that means is that grace
found Noah. And through the grace in Christ,
of which that art pictured him in his work, he walked with God. Enoch. Long as he lived, as many
children as he had, you know he had troubles. But he still
walked with God. because none of those things
affected the basis of his fellowship with God. Father, this day we give you
thanks and praise your name for salvation free and full and eternal,
the gift of righteousness, the gift of faith, the gift of repentance,
all because of the doing and the dying of our Savior. We are thankful that those sinners
in ourselves, in Him, we walk with you. Help us in our experience
to realize more completely to enjoy more fully this blessed
privilege and glorious truth. We thank you and we pray in Christ's
name. Amen.