Turn back with me to 1 John 1. 1 John 1. As we meet together on
Sunday morning and Sunday night, Wednesday night, we're going
through these particular books of the Bible. We just finished
one this morning, but we go through these particular books at different
times. But that does not always mean
that we can just pick up where we left off. It is nice to know
we're looking at this and we see what's coming up next and
we can dwell on it and study it and go through every verse,
but it does not always mean that we can just pick up at the next
set of verses. The text each time has to speak
to us. It has to speak to us and there
are times whenever It's not speaking to me, and then the next week,
there it is, you know. But we are not looking for sermons. We're just not looking for sermons.
We're looking for messages. We're looking for a word from
God. I want my living God to speak
to me today. As I was looking for the message
for tonight, asking our Lord, what would you
have me to say? That's what probably the majority
of study is. Lord, what would you have me
to say? Turn to this page. What would you have me to say?
Turn to this page. What is the message? What is your message,
Lord? What is tonight's message? And as I was looking and studying
and asking, what is the message? I ran across 1 John 1 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. This is the message. This is the message of scripture. This is the message from God
to his people. This is the message that speaks
to the heart of his people. I have an outline here tonight,
and you know, it's a standard outline. In a minute, we're going
to look at five things. But I pray this would be a message.
I want this to be a message to my heart. I want God to bless
me tonight. I want to hear from the Lord. 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. That is such
a reassuring and comforting verse. It's just so comforting. Here is the message from God
to His very own people. This is what God has to say to
His people. God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. Now as people that live in a
dark world, this is a very dark world. Very, very dark. Is that not
the most wonderful thing to hear and be reminded of? God is light
and in him is no darkness at all. I am a fan of light. I told you I was looking forward
to losing my hour of sleep. I want more light. I want it
to be daylight longer in the day. I'm just not a fan of darkness. And I love the fact that one
day there'll be no more darkness. It's going to be one day. It's
just going to be sunny. And in this dark world, I love hearing
God is light. And in Him is no darkness at
all. To this world, that is not good news. It's a savor of death
unto death. It does not mean anything. It
is not good news. And the reason is because they
love darkness rather than light. They really do. But the believer
The child of God, he literally runs to the light. He runs to
the light and he longs for the light. And he wants to live forever
in that place where there is no darkness at all. Well, if that is a savor of life
to you, if that sounds good, then listen to this. God is light. And in Him is no darkness at
all. None. Now I have two questions
in my outline. Two questions. The first one
is, who is God? And the second one is, what is
light? Who is God and what is light? If we can answer those two questions,
then we'll find out, number one, who God is. All right, we'll find out who
God is. And also we will find out who God is. We'll find out who God is. And
we'll find out who God is. One of these days, you know,
we see in part, we see through a glass darkly. But one of these
days it's going to be face to face. We're going to see our
God. We're going to hear our God.
We're going to know our God. We're going to watch our God.
We're going to spend eternity watching God. That's all we're
going to be doing is watching God, watching everything he does. everywhere he goes, every countenance
on his face, everything. And I want to know who God is.
I want to know who God is, and I want to know who God is. This
is insight to our God. That's what this is. It's insight
to know who He is. God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. All right, number one, who is
God? Well, God is the light, and we
all know who that is, but we're going to prove it anyway. I thought
about the fact that how many times have I asked the question,
who is God? Who is God? One of these days,
the light might be turned on for one of our children. And
I almost thought, well we don't need to do that. Yes we do. That's
what I'm called to do. That's why we're gathered here.
We're gathered here to look into this book and find out who God
is. And we're gathered here to look into this book and find
out who God is. And I hope our kids one of these
days realize, I know who God is. Alright, so let's look at
who is God. Go with me over to John 8. John 8 verse 12 says, Then spake Jesus
again unto them, saying, I am the light. I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life. Jesus Christ is that light. John said, I'm not the light. Jesus Christ is. In glory there is no need of
the sun. The Lamb is the light thereof. There is no sun in heaven. Jesus
Christ lights heaven. He is that light. Look at John
chapter 9. Verse 5 says, our Lord said,
as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. I'm the light. Look at John 12. John 12 verse 35 says, Then Jesus said unto them, Yet
a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the
light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth. While you have light, believe
in the light, that you may be the children of light. This then
is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto
you. that God is light. Whoever is that light is God. Who is God? David said in Psalm
27, the Lord is my light. The Lord. That's who God is. Thought about Saul of Tarsus.
When God revealed himself to Saul, you know what knocked him
off of that horse he was riding? That light. The Lord Jesus Christ
appeared and it knocked him down. That light. Alright, well that's
who God is. Here's the message I have for
his children. God is light. That's who God is. Who is God? It's Jesus Christ, the light. Now who is God? God is light. That's how he describes himself. God is light and in him is no
darkness at all. If we can find out what light
is, then we can find out more of who God is. All right, I found
five scriptures. We'll go down through them. Five
scriptures that describe the Lord, our light to us. This is
who our Lord is. The first one is in Genesis chapter
1. 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 light,
and there was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good. This is the message that I have
for believers who are looking to and trusting in Christ. He is good. Who is he? He's good. That's who he is. When we finally see Him, we're
going to say for all eternity, Oh, He is so good. He is just
good. Surely the Lord is good. And in Him, what that means is,
in Him is no evil at all. None at all. He will never bring
any bad on you. I remember the first time I got
a hold of that. I was so relieved. For some reason I had it in my
mind when I was a kid that I was a sinner and I deserved whatever
was coming to me. And God would just send trials
and send affliction for no reason. No good reason. He just did it
just because we deserved it. And as soon as I realized, nothing
that He does is bad for me. Nothing. He will never bring
any bad on you. I think that's relieving. That's
who our God is. He won't do it. Even though we
do deserve it, He will not do it. He just will not do it. Well, it seems pretty bad to
me. I'm going through this life and I've got some things going
on and it seems pretty bad to me. Well, it might seem that
way, but it's not. It's not. All of his purposes,
everything that he's doing to you and around you is all working
together for good. Every single thing is for good. Here's the message I have from
His Word. If you belong to Him, He will
never bring evil on you. Never. In Him is no darkness
at all. Only good. If you belong to Him,
you can count on it for the rest of your life and the rest of
eternity. Good is coming to you. Nothing
but good. Here's number two. Go with me
to Psalm 43. Psalm 43, look at verse 3. Oh, send out thy light and thy
truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring
me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. Our Lord said,
I am the truth. I am the truth. Let God be true. Let him be true. Here is the
message I have for the Lord's people. Our God is truth. He is truth. And in Him are no
lies at all. Not one. Not one. He is the God who cannot lie. He cannot lie. Every good promise
in His Word will come to pass. Every one. If He said this is
going to happen, if He said it shall, it shall. And if He said
it shall not, it shall not. And if He said don't fear, don't
fear. He cannot lie. Every single thing
that you're hoping in will come to pass. Every one of them. Not
one word he said will fail. Not one word. This book right
here, this book is full of promises to us. And the promises say that
he is going to provide for us and that he is going to take
care of us. And it says everything is going to be okay. It says
everything is going to be fine all the way to glory. Perseverance
of the saints, right? Irresistible grace. He said,
you're in my hand. I'm in my father's hand and nobody
can plug anything out of my father's hand. And he's saying, you're
going to be cared for. You're going to be provided for
everything you need will be provided and you're going to be safe.
all the way to glory. And if I have purposed for a
car on purpose to happen to you, to bring you to glory, so be
it. That's your safety, your safe entrance into glory. It's
all going to be fine all the way to the end. This is the message
I have for us tonight. Our God cannot lie. He cannot lie. God is truth and
in Him are no lies at all. None. Here's number three. Go
with me to Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs 6, look at verse 23. For the commandment is a lamp,
and the law is light. The law is light. This is wonderful news. This
is wonderful news. I thought about the fact that,
you know, we talk about certain doctrinal things, and we make
sure that when we deliver God's message, we have those certain
doctrinal things in there because it's God's truth. It is the message
of His word, and we know those things. But we don't enter into
them sometimes as much as these sweet things that touch our heart.
Something very sweet is going to touch our heart one day when
we stand before the judgment throne and we see this judge
judging sinners. They go before the bar. And there's no need to say, do
you promise or do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, so help you God. All the truth is going to be,
the books are going to be opened. All right, it's all going to
be out there. And one of these days, we're going to get a hold
of the fact, who is our God? Wait a minute, that's our God?
Our God is the law. Now God is light. The law is
light. Our God is the law and in Him
is no transgression at all. Now do you know where I want
to be found? I want to be found in Him. We
are looking for our Lord to fulfill all the law for us. When we get
to this judgment throne, these requirements are going to come
forth. Do you fulfill all this law? Have you fulfilled every
jot and every tittle? And we're looking to our Lord
to fulfill all that law for us. And we all know we've sinned,
so there's a penalty to pay. And we're looking for our Lord
to satisfy that law for us. We're looking to Him to do what
we cannot do. When I get there, I just want
to start looking to Christ. If I have a question asked to
me, I just want to look to Him, my advocate. We're looking for him to do something
that we cannot do and pay something that we cannot pay. The question
is, will he fulfill it all? You know, the law is deep. It's
deep. There are laws in the state of
Tennessee we don't even know about. But they're there. Will everything that is required
of me be taken care of? Will it really be said it's all
taken care of? All taken care of. Will everything
be taken care of? I have sinned against this law.
Will every single transgression that I have committed be paid
for? Every single one. Well, here's
the message I have for those who are clinging to Christ. Our
Lord, the one who lived for us, the one who died for us, is the
law. He is the law. He can only do
the law. Everything he does and thinks
and feels is according to the law. He is the law. Our standard for the law, when
God sent that to Moses, what he was saying was, this is who
God is. This is who Christ is. And if
you don't live up to Christ, then you've broken the law. He
is the law. And if he is satisfied, the law
is satisfied. If he's satisfied, the law is
satisfied because he is the law. And if we're in him, there is
no transgression. Here's number four. Go with me
to Ecclesiastes 11. Ecclesiastes 11 and look at verse 7. It says, truly the light is sweet. The light is sweet and a pleasant
thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. This then is the message. Our
Lord is sweet and in Him is no bitterness at all. He's not bitter. He is not bitter. There's no bitterness in Him
at all. David said, ìHow sweet are thy
words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.î He said,
ìOh, taste and see, taste for yourself and see.î Back in 1 Samuel chapter
1 it says that Hannah was in bitterness of soul and prayed
unto the Lord and wept sore. She was in bitterness of soul
and she cried. And in the book of Ruth, Naomi
said, don't call me Naomi anymore, call me Mara. That means bitter. Bitter, I'm just bitter. But
as soon as they saw Boaz, all that was over, wasn't it? As
soon as they, Ruth, your hap has been to light in the field
of the only man who can redeem us. As soon as they saw Boaz,
it was all over. No bitterness. Everything changed. Here is the
message. Our Lord is sweet. He is sweet and in Him is no
bitterness, no sorrow, no crying at all. Can the children of the
bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The answer is no. The answer is no. If he came
back right now, if the trumpets resounded and the heavens opened,
we would all be caught up with the Lord. But if he walked through
that door and entered into this room, can you imagine the joy
that would erupt from these people right here? It is impossible
to have bitterness of soul if He is here. It is absolutely
impossible. Why is that? Why is that? The reason is because He has
taken all of the bitterness. That's the reason why. I want you to just quickly turn
over to Lamentation 3. Lamentations chapter 3, it's
after Jeremiah. Lamentations 3 verse 1, this
is the Lord speaking. He said, I am the man that hath
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and
brought me into darkness." Now, I don't want to be in darkness.
I want to be in light. How come I can be in the light?
Because the Lord said, He led me into darkness, but not into
light. Surely against me as he turned,
he turneth his hand against me all the day. Verse 6 says, He
hath set me in dark places as they that be dead of old. Verse
15 says, He hath filled me with bitterness. He filled me with
bitterness. He hath made me drunken with
wormwood. He drank the entire cup of bitterness. for all of his people. He drank
the whole cup. Every drop of bitterness for
his people. And when he did that, whenever
he did that, God smelled a sweet smelling savor. He said, that
is sweet. That is so sweet. Our Lord is
good, our Lord is truth, our Lord is the law, our Lord is
sweet. And there's one more, John chapter
1, the gospel of John chapter 1. John 1 verse 4 says, In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. Here is our message. Our God
is life, and in Him is no death at all. No death at all. He said, He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Everything we do in this life
has a fear of death attached to it. Every single thing we
do. We get in our car, first thing
we do is put the seatbelt on. Every single thing we do. has a fear of death attached
to it. The fear is unnecessary because until the Lord, on purpose,
takes His own, we will not die. But one of these days, there
will be no more fear of death. There will be, in Him, there's
going to be no death at all. No fear of it. It's not going
to exist at all. It's impossible. Nothing but
light and life. Nothing but life. And that's something to rejoice
in. It really is. We will all know
that every soul in there has already died. I don't have to
worry about death. I already died in him. Death is over. He has conquered death, victorious
over death. And that makes my heart glad,
it really does. I'll just quote this last verse
and close with this. Isaiah 2 verse 5 says, O house
of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Let's walk in the light. Our
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. All right, let's
stand together.