Turn with me, if you would, to
1 John 1. 1 John 1, and let's read verses 5 to 7. 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 cleanseth us from all sin. We just looked at verses
1 to 4 for our Bible study. And because these are continuing
verses, this is a continuation of what we just looked at. I
am excited to bring this message to you. I really am. The reason is because we're about
to look at some things and some places in the scripture that
I believe truly open up what we just read. I believe they
sincerely open up what we just read and I want you to see this.
This is just such a blessing. Verse 5 says, this then is the
message. This then is the message. That does not say, this then
is a message. It doesn't say a message. It
says the message. What that means is, there's only
one. There is only one. Well, Gabe, don't you think that's
kind of narrow minded? No, that's God's word. That's God's word. There's only
one. Paul told the Galatians, there
is not another gospel. There's not another gospel. There
is only one. There's only one. There's only
one message to preach. I wished, I wish every man on
this earth preached this one message. I do. There's only one message to preach. And the reason is because there's
only one message from God. Think about that. Just think
about that. There's only one message from
God. In the world that we live in
today, it appears that there are thousands of different messages
out there. Thousands of different men with
different views and different doctrines preaching thousands
of different messages. This is this man's message and
that is that man's message. His view on things, her view
on things. It appears that there are thousands
of different messages out there, but here's the truth. There are
not. There are not. Men may be delivering what they
refer to as sermons. preparing outlines, giving speeches,
but they're not declaring God's message. That's the problem.
They're not declaring God's message. And anything contrary to the
message that God has given is not the message. If it is contrary
to the message, it's not the message. There's one message from God,
therefore there's only one message to preach. And John said, the
apostle John said, the one whom the Lord loved, he said, this
is it. This right here is it. Verse
five. This then is the message. which we have heard of him. He said, we did not make this
up on our own. This is not from any man's private
interpretation. This is not our opinion. This
is not our opinion. Every man who stands in a pulpit
to speak on God's behalf needs to get rid of his opinion. If we want to know the difference
in true preachers of the message and false preachers who have
no message at all, it's this. True preachers declare God's
message. False preachers declare their
own. They declare their opinion on
God's message. I know God said this, but I think
what he really meant was. Man's opinion is always wrong.
It's always wrong. His ways are not our ways. His
ways are higher than the heavens. Our ways are lower than hell.
And the moment we start interjecting our ways and our opinions on
the matter, we're wrong. We're wrong. If I start doing
that, I'm wrong. And we're declaring the exact
opposite of his message. If we declare our message We
will be declaring the exact opposite of God's message. If we are going
to declare the message, we're going to have to declare the
word of God alone. Only what God has said. Verse
five, this then is the message which we have heard of him and
declare unto you. We are just repeating it unto
you. We're just saying, this is what he said. And here it
is, this is the message. That God is light and in him
is no darkness at all. God is light. That's the message from God.
God is light. Now what does that mean? God
is light. What does that mean? Really,
what does that mean? Well, where does light come from? It comes from the sun. S-U-N. And if we'll go ahead and put
our heavenly imagination on here, we'll understand the point of
this whole message. It comes from the sun. It comes from the
sun. But to continue the outline,
to bring it down in terms that We live in here, in this world
here. I know with the invention of electricity came light bulbs
and things like that, but originally, where did light come from? It
came from fire. All right? The sun is a big ball
of fire. The candle that people used to
see with by night was a little flame of fire. is a consuming substance. Another way to say that is light
is a consuming fire. God is light. This is the message. God is light and light is a consuming
fire. This is the message that every
soul on this earth needs to hear. I'm being very serious. This
is the message. We're all about to go meet light. We are all about to go meet and
stand before a consuming fire. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Turn with me, if you would, to
first Timothy six. 1 Timothy 6 verse 13. It says, I give thee charge in
the sight of God who quickeneth all things, and before Christ
Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession,
that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he
shall show who is the blessed and only potentate. That means
ruler, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Verse 16 says,
who only hath immortality. Watch this. dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to
whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. He said, the King of kings
and Lord of lords only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto. No man can. Our Lord said, no
man can come to me. Right here, he said, no man hath
seen nor even can see. The Lord told Moses in Exodus
33, and this is what he said. Think about that. He said, no
man can see me and live. No man can see me and live. Why? It's because he's holy. It's
because he's holy. I thought it was very appropriate
that we open with holy, holy, holy. God is holy. People don't know what that means.
They say, oh, that sounds good. Oh, holy night. Stars are brightly
shining. God is holy. God is holy. What that means
is God is just. He is the just judge of the earth. And therefore He must punish
sin. And people, you know, naturally
think, well I better do the best I can because I don't want to
be punished. We're going to be. One of two ways. Inside of Christ
or outside of Christ. No man's going unpunished. No
woman's going unpunished. Why? Because God is holy. God is holy. He is the judge
of the earth that must punish sin. And that's all that man
is. Here I am standing before you
from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot in the eyes
of God Almighty and in the eyes of myself. I'm nothing but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sore. Sin. Sin. What do you think of yourself?
Sin. What do you think of God? Holy. What do you think that
means? God must punish me. That's what
it means. Revelation 22 says, He is the
bright star. That means the high noon sun
that beats down on the earth and scorches and burns and exposes. That's what light does. It exposes. That's what light does. What's
hidden in darkness, as soon as the light comes on, it's exposed. And that's what man is before
God. Exposed in all of his sins. He sees it all. He sees it all. Exposed in all of his sin before
the just and holy judge of the earth who must serve judgment
righteously. Must. Must. He must serve to
every man and woman the punishment that is rightly owed for his
sin. He must. This is the message. Let the
message go out. He must. He must. Why? Because God is light. That's why. Somebody says, I've
never heard, never heard anything like this. I never heard a message
like this before. Welcome to the message. This
is the message. This is the message. God said,
God said, this is the message. We've heard this from Him. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. That's what Hebrews 10 31
says. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. Why? Because God is light. God is light. God is pure. God
is holy. God is just. God is right. John
said, and in him is no darkness at all. There is no sin in him. No wavering from His holiness
or His justice. There's no compromise in Him. That's what people think they're
going to do with God. Well, let's make a compromise. There's no
compromise with Him. There's no other way of life
in existence with him other than the way of holy justice. It has to be according to holy
justice. If we are going to dwell with
God, then we're going to have to dwell in holy justice. And here's the message for us
today. If we're going to dwell in holy justice, we're going
to have to dwell in the light. We're going to have to dwell
in the light. Verse 5, go with me back to 1 John 1. Verse 5 says, 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 cleanseth
us from all sin. Now, what does that mean? How
can we do that? Let's let the light of the word
expose the truth and the gospel to us, all right? Turn with me
to a few places. First one is John chapter three. This is the truth of God, the
truth of man, and the truth of salvation. John 3 verse 19, it says, And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved, discovered. But he that doeth
truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God." Light came into the world and
men and women did not love light. did not naturally love light. They loved darkness and it's
because their deeds were evil. And had their deeds been good,
had they been good and their deeds been good, they would have
come to the light. But the Lord said in John 5, you will not
come. You will not come. And the reason
that you and I both will not naturally come cannot come, will
not come, is because mankind in his flesh, or her flesh, is
nothing but darkness. This is what we are by nature.
Darkness. The darkness of sin. That's all
that man is. It's all that man loves. It's
all that man wants. Of man's own will. Man talks about his free will.
of the darkness of man's own will, he rejected the light of
life. That's what man did. And he chose
the darkness of eternal death and damnation. Look with me at
John chapter 1. John 1 verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. Verse 4 says,
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the
light shined in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it
not. Verse 8 says, John was not that light, but was sent to bear
witness of that light. That was the true light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. He came unto his own. And his
own received him not, would not receive him. The darkness of
man rejected the light of God. That's the truth about man. Here's the truth about God, but
God, but God, this is the moment where frowns go to smiles, but
God. Thank God, and just think about
this, okay? Just think about your own experience
with this. You can test this out today if
you want to. Thank God, light always overrules darkness. Always. Always. If you're in darkness, go into
a room in your house that has no windows, and it's dark. and turn on the light. See which
one reigns. Light always overrules darkness. It will overrule darkness every
time. And that's what God did for His
people in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did Christ
come? If man could save himself, if
man could come to the light, then why would Christ come? If
salvation comes by the works of man, then Christ died in vain.
Why did Christ come? It's because man was in darkness
and couldn't come out of that darkness. But thank God light
came and overruled. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ
said in John 8 verse 12. He said, I am the light of this
world. And he that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That means no matter what our
dark rebellious will is, we're going to be overruled by that
light. We're going to be conquered by that light. Luke chapter 1
says, The day spring from on high hath visited us. to give light to them which sit
in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in
the way of peace. That means God came into this
world, God was manifest in the flesh, to overrule the darkness
of His people, and He did that by giving His own light to them. What a message this is. This
is the message. What a glorious message. God
came into this world to overrule the darkness of His people by
giving His own light to them. How did He do that? If He's holy
and just and man is dark and wicked, how did God give His
light to them and justify them in His eyes? This is amazing. This is amazing. If you don't
know the answer to this, you'll be amazed. And if you do know
the answer to this, you'll be amazed. This is amazing. I just adore this. This is the
glory of the gospel. You don't see the beauty and
the glory of the gospel until you see the darkness and the
blackness of sin. But this is it right here. Turn
with me if you would to Lamentations chapter 3. Jeremiah penned this, but these
are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are the very words
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 19, Lamentations 3 verse
19 says, remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and
the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrances
and is humbled in me. These are the words of our savior
from the cross of Calvary. All right. This is his cry from
the cross of Calvary. These are the words of the light
of the world himself. Who came to accomplish a deliverance
from darkness for his people. This right here is how he did
it. Look at verse one. Christ said, I am the man that
hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He's saying the
Father drew his rod on me. How? Why? How? Look at verse
2. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness and not into light. Surely against me is he turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath
builded against me, encompassed me with gall and travail. He
hath set me in dark places as they that be dead of old. He
put me there. He hath hedged me about that
I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy.
And when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. He hath
enclosed my ways with hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying
in wait and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside
my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He
hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath
caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I was
a derision to all my people, a mockery, and their song all
the day. He hath filled me with bitterness. He hath made me drunken with
wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth
with gravel stones. He hath covered me with ashes. And thou hast removed my soul
afar off from peace, I forgot prosperity. And I said my strength
and my hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering mine affliction
and my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still
in remembrance and is humbled in me. Our Savior Jesus Christ entered
into our darkness so that we might enter into his light. That's
how he did it. Light himself was made to be
darkness. Who knew no darkness? That we
might be made to be the very light of God in him. That's how salvation came to
God's people. And that's the message. The light
of God's justice and wrath judged the darkness of us in Christ. and demanded the payment of blood
and death from us in Christ. And with that just payment being
satisfied in Him, God is satisfied with us in Him. For all of God's redeemed from
darkness people, Christ is the Son of Righteousness with healing
in His wings. Christ is the light that lightens
the Gentiles and he's the glory of all of God's people. That's
what Simeon said. I've seen salvation. I've seen the light. David said,
the Lord is my light and my salvation. Peter said, you're a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that you should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. And that light is Christ. In
glory, there's not going to be any sun there. You know why?
The Lamb is the light thereof. That light is Christ. That light's
Christ. Okay, I'm done. Two scriptures. Let me show you two scriptures
and I'll be done. Turn with me to Genesis 1. Realizing that Christ is the
light, the light of God, the light that came into the world.
Realizing that He is the light. Let's just read Genesis 1 this
way, okay? Genesis 1 verse 1 says, In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth
was without form and void and darkness. was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God
said, Let there be Christ. And there was Christ. A body was prepared for the redemption
of God's people from all of their darkness. Verse 3, God said,
Let there be Christ. And there was Christ. And God
saw Christ that He was good. And God divided Christ from that
darkness. He divided Christ from that sin. He was holy, harmless, separate
from sinners. But we were joined together with
Him from our darkness, according to the will of God. Verse 5 says,
God called the light day, Christ's day, and He called the darkness
night. And joined together, the evening
and the morning, were the first day. Joined together, everything's
just called day. That day overrules the night. And in Him, everything is day,
first day. Christ is God's light. He always
has been and He always will be. So, all right. Go back to the
text. We'll read this in close. Let's read this one more time
and see if we can enter into this. First, John one, verse five says,
this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare
unto you that God is Christ. And in Christ is no darkness
at all. Whoever is in Him is sinless.
Whoever is born into Him sinneth not. No darkness at all. Verse 6 says, If we say that
we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and
do not the truth. What is walking in darkness?
It's walking anywhere outside of Christ. In Christ is light,
out of Christ is darkness. Verse 6, if we say that we have
fellowship with God and we walk through this world outside of
Christ, in ourselves, in our own works, not His, we lie and
do not the truth. Verse 7, but if we walk in Christ
as God is in Christ, we have fellowship one with another,
And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all
sins. The substitution, the separation,
the darkness he entered into for us to deliver us, that cleanses
us from all sin. Thank God for Christ the light. Thank God. God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Thank God. Can we say with David,
the Lord is my light and my salvation? I pray so.