All right, go with me if you
would, back to 1 John 1. 1 John 1, verse 5 says, This
then is the message. I love lines like that. I love the clarity of lines like
that. What am I supposed to preach?
What are we all supposed to hear and believe? This then is the
message. This is not my message. I don't have my message for you.
Let's all pray to our Lord that I don't have my message for you.
This is not my message. What I have to say is not coming
from me. This is not a message. This is the message. This is
the message, the only message of truth from God that there
is. Verse 5, it 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. Those three
verses perfectly set forth what an old preacher of the gospel
said to a young preacher of the gospel one time. And that young
preacher was not me, but it applies to me. He said, in every portion
of scripture that you preach from, this is the message. Make sure that you set forth
these three things. God's holiness. God's absolute holiness, His
absolute justice, His absolute sovereignty over all things,
His perfection, His holiness. Man's sinfulness, man's wickedness,
which is something you don't hear much of anymore. And the third thing is how those
two, how God and man, can have fellowship together within the two of them. God's
holiness, man's sinfulness, and how those two can be brought
together into fellowship. That's exactly what those three
verses say. Verse five, it 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, God's holiness. Verse six says,
if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth, man's sinfulness. But verse seven says, 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. I want that fellowship. I truly,
desperately want that fellowship. How is it possible for us to
have that fellowship with him? How is that possible? Well, the
message says, verse 5, this is the message, 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. The contrast
here is light and darkness. And clearly light represents
good and darkness represents evil. Light represents holiness
and righteousness and perfection. And darkness represents sin and
wickedness. And if we think about what each
one of those things does, we can enter into the spiritual
application of it. Light makes manifest. I don't want anybody to go do
it, but if somebody went over there and flipped the light switch
on and off, we would see a clear difference in light and darkness. Light reveals. Light causes us to see the reality
of things. It causes us to see the reality
of the truth of a matter. Darkness hides. Darkness conceals. It makes us blind. to the reality
of the truth. Our Lord said concerning false
preachers of religion, they are blind leaders of the blind. They're in darkness. And He said
they are going to fall into the ditch. They're going to fall
into that great eternal ditch. If a man does not preach this
message, He is a blind leader of the blind. If a man makes
his own take on this message, if he alters this message in
any way, shape or form, he is a blind leader of the blind.
If we are going to be spared that eternal fall, we need the
light of Christ. That's what we need, the light
of Christ. If we're gonna be spared that
eternal fall into outer darkness, isn't that what our Lord called
it? Outer darkness. If we're gonna be spared that,
we need the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I asked Hannah
if she minded if I told you this, and she said it was okay. So
you'll know I won't be in the doghouse after this. But the
other night I was really tired, And I went to bed and went to
sleep and Hannah was finishing up doing a few things and we
had something at the foot of our bed on the floor that is
not normally there. It was just sitting there for
a time and Hannah's doing her stuff and she comes into the
bedroom trying not to disturb me and she leaves the door cracked.
And she's tiptoeing across the floor and she runs right into
that thing. It was loud. I sat up. You know, what in the world was
that? I lay my head back down and she goes on about her business.
And then she's done. OK, done. Time to go to bed. So she comes into the room and
closes the door and she's tiptoeing across the floor and she runs
into it again. Had the light been on, that's funny, but had the light
been on, I don't believe that would have happened either time.
She was walking in darkness. She was walking in the blindness
to the reality that was in front of her. Walking in darkness. Verse six
says, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk
in darkness, we lie and do not the truth because God is light.
Walking in fellowship with God is walking in fellowship with
light. But the sad state for man is
darkness. That's. That's the only place
that he is. He's in darkness. God is light,
and light entered the world, but men loved darkness rather
than light, because man is darkness, and man loves what he is. And
that is the truth. Man loves what he is, and he's
darkness, and he loves darkness. But here's the reality that's
in front of man. Man is walking in darkness. But here's the reality that's
in front of him. Darkness cannot dwell with light. It cannot. Man thinks he's okay. People
are walking through this world every now and then they get curious
about eternity so they'll open their Bible and read some things
and it sounds like I'm okay. Man thinks he's okay. But here's
the reality. Man is in darkness. Left in my own flesh, the preacher
is in darkness. If God leaves me alone, I will
walk through the rest of this life in darkness. And I am going
to face light, and darkness cannot stand in the presence of light,
physically or spiritually. If we were all physically right
now in darkness, and light entered this room, one would put away
the other one. Darkness cannot dwell with light. That's the case physically, that's
the case spiritually. Alright, turn with me to 1 Timothy
chapter 6. 1 Timothy 6 verse 13, 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, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, who only hath immortality, 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. God is the light that no
man or woman who was conceived in darkness will ever be able
to approach unto. His light will consume the darkness. And unfortunately for us, darkness
is what we are. We are dealing with a holy and
just God who dwells in and is light. And we are nothing but a sinful
people who dwell in and if we remain there, if God leaves us
there, we will be consumed in our darkness. But this is the
message. All right, but this is the message
which we have heard of him and declare unto you. I love this
message. I love this message. When you
tell men and women the truth of the word of God, it sounds
like the most horrible news you could ever, ever tell. This is the worst news ever.
And then you get to the message. You get to the message of the
gospel, and this is the greatest news that could ever be told
to us. Turn with me to Genesis chapter one. This is how the book starts.
God started His book with the Gospel. Genesis 1 verse 1 it says, In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the
earth was without form and void. The earth represents us. 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 light. And there was light. God created light in a dark place. 2 Samuel 22, 29 says, For thou
art my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord will lighten my darkness. That's the gospel. That is the
gospel. God lightened our darkness. John said, In him was life, and
the life was the light of men. Turn with me over to 2 Corinthians
4. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 1 says, Therefore,
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. The hidden things of dishonesty. Not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the
truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the
sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. Verse six says, for 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,
in the person, in the work. of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is our good news. God commanded the light to shine
in darkness. And people love to sing that
song, I saw the light, I saw the light. And that's great.
That's great. But more importantly, don't turn,
but back in Genesis 1, it says, God saw the light. God shined
it. And God saw it. God saw the glory
of what His own Son accomplished in us, for us. The day star. What did Christ do for us? He created light in a very dark
place. How did He do that? How did He
create light in a dark place? Look with me at Lamentations
chapter 3. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations. Lamentations 3. Now Jeremiah
is the one who penned this, but this is Christ speaking. Verse
1, he said, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod
of his wrath. I saw the affliction that my
people deserved, the affliction that came from the rod of God's
wrath. Verse 2, he hath led me and brought
me into darkness, but not into light. He brought me into their
darkness. Verse 6, it says, He hath set
me in dark places as they that be dead of old. When was He brought
into darkness for us? Where did this take place? Verse
19, He said, Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the
wormwood and the gall. at the cross, at the cross. It was there that I first saw
the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. As he hung
there to prove that he was hanging in the sinful darkness of his
people, he was hanging in our darkness. To prove that, God
sent literal darkness. From the sixth hour, there was
darkness over all the land, unto the ninth hour. And about the
ninth hour, the Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? It's because darkness cannot
dwell with light. It cannot. Light must consume
it every time. He took our darkness to Himself
and the light consumed Him. All of God's people were consumed
in Him. This is our only hope. Our only
hope has nothing to do with us being better people. I want every
person in this room to be a better person. But us having any hope
of glory has nothing to do with our good deeds or bad deeds.
There's nothing we could do to undo our darkness before God.
The only hope we have is that Christ took that darkness into
Himself. and gave us His light. Put His
light in us and our darkness in Him. All of God's people were
consumed in that darkness. And now in Him, as He is, so
are we. How is He? God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. No condemning sin. No condemning,
there is no, do we still commit sin? Yes, we're carrying it out.
There is no condemning sin in us. It's Christ that died. Who
is he that condemned it? There's no condemnation in him.
There is no rebellion against God in that new creation of light. There is no rebellion against
His Word in that new creation of light. That new creation sees
what God has to say in this Word and bows to it. There is no unbelief
in that new creation of light. By God's grace, all of His people
cry, I believe, help my unbelief. Now to all those who have been
given the light of the glory of God in the person of Christ,
this is the commandment He's given to us. Go back to our text,
1 John chapter 1. 1 John 1 verse 6. It says, 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. This is the
commandment that He's given to all the children of light. Don't
have fellowship with darkness. Do not strengthen and encourage
and nourish the blindness of sin. That's not saying don't sin anymore. All this flesh is is sin. What that's saying is, do not
entertain anything other than salvation through the blood of
Jesus Christ alone. Man's works is man's blindness. It is his blindness. Do not have
fellowship with darkness. Let's not walk in the fellowship
of darkness to God's holiness. Darkness to man's sinfulness,
darkness to the only way those two can be brought together,
the blood, His death on that cross, Him taking that darkness,
giving His life. There's a difference in having
dealings with people who are in darkness to God and darkness
to His Word. There's a difference in that
and having fellowship. with them. Fellowship is fellows
in the same ship. Let's not enter into that ship. Let's speak the word of light
to them. I speak to myself. I need to
speak the word of light to them. Men are in darkness, but for
the grace of God, there go all of us. Those who have seen light,
do they think they're better? God was gracious, God was merciful,
God chose to give light. We needed the Word of Light,
and all men and women need the Word of the Light of Christ.
Let's speak the Word of Christ to them. One of two things will
happen. Either we won't walk with them
anymore, that fellowship will be broken, or we will walk in
the fellowship of light. One of those two things will
happen, the fellowship of Christ, who He is, and what He's done
for us. The prophet Amos said, how can
two walk together except they be agreed? The apostle Paul wrote
the exact same thing. Turn with me over to 2 Corinthians
6. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness? Again, do God's people believe
they're better? Oh, no. You know what they actually
believe? They're worse. They're worse. But God is holy and His Word
is holy and just and we cannot diminish His light. Not for anything
or anyone. Verse 15, What concord hath Christ
with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? That means unbeliever. And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the
temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you. And will be a father unto you
and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Some people say. And you may
have met some who say. Baptism is my life. That is the
thing that will get me out of darkness. Speaking in tongues. Some will say speaking in tongues
is my light. That's the thing that'll get
me out of darkness. Some say being a good person
is my light. I've run into many, many, many
people who will openly say, well, you know, now, as long as you're
a good person, as long as you try to do the right thing, well,
that's what they believe. That'll be the thing that gets
me out of darkness. David said, the Lord is my light. Psalm 27, the Lord is my light. He is my only hope of escaping
darkness. What he did for me, that's the
only light I have. He said, thy word is my light. It is a lamp unto my feet and
a light unto my path. I must have fellowship with you
and your word. And I must have fellowship with
those whose only light is you and your word. I must. That's what it is to walk in
the light. It's to see God is holy. And
man is sinful, and the only thing that can join those two together
in fellowship is the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses
us from all sin. In Christ, that's the fellowship
that we have one with another. That's the agreement. that we
have one with another. Now I knew that I was going to
be out of time. I knew how long this message
was going to take roughly and I knew I was going to be out
of time. So I didn't even plan on having you turn to these places.
But I really wanted to show you John 8 verse 12. John 12, verse
35, 36, and 46. Ephesians 5, verse 8. Colossians
1, verse 12. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 5. 1 Peter 2, verse 9. Revelation 21, 23. These are
glorious verses. Revelation says, in glory, we
don't need the sun, the Lamb is the light thereof. These are
glorious verses. I'll give them to you and you
can read them if you want to. But let's close with this word
from our Lord. Turn with me to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Our Lord just preached a parable
to the multitude. And in verse 10, The disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And
he answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given. I'm telling you, salvation and
this thing of being a child of God, this is all by grace. Where is boasting? He said, it's
given unto you and it's not given to them. That makes me cry. Who
am I? Who makes me to differ? Why me? It's given unto you, but it's
not given unto them. Verse 12, for whosoever hath,
to him shall be given. Hath what? Christ, the light
that God gave. Whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them
is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing
you shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing you shall
see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have
they closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. And verse
16, but blessed are your eyes, for they see. and your ears,
for they hear." How blessed we are. How blessed we are. How blessed. If God has given
us eyes to see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ, in the person of Jesus Christ, in the work of Jesus
Christ, in the blood of Jesus Christ, only Jesus Christ. It takes God to give eyes to
see only Jesus Christ. It takes God to give those blinders,
because without God's doing it, they go away, and everything
else gets added to it. But He said, blessed are your
eyes, because you only see Christ. You only see the light of Christ. And if God has given us those
eyes, oh, let's thank Him for them, and bless Him for them.
We're so blessed. And if He's given them to us,
may He Let us walk in that light, walk in the fellowship of light,
the fellowship with Him. All right, let's all stand together.