I'd like to ask you if you would
turn in your Bibles to the book of 1 John. It's right after Peter,
Peter's 2nd epistle, 1 John, and we'll be looking at chapter
1. It was my hope and desire this
morning to bring a message, a message of conviction. Conviction to those who know
not Christ, the Christ of Scripture. And a message of comfort to those
who do. I pray the Lord will give me
utterance, the ability to speak well, plainly,
simply. It's the same message that we
preach every Sunday. I was telling our brothers and
sisters in the Bible study this morning, we've been looking at this path
of Peter for a long, long time. And now we've come to the book
of Peter. Paul, I just love you smiling. We come to the book
of Peter, and we think, OK, it's almost over. We just about got
through this. We can finish this up and wrap
it up, and we can go on to something else. But I said, it's never really
something else. It doesn't matter whether we're
looking at Peter. It doesn't matter whether we're
looking at David. It doesn't matter where you go
in the Scriptures of God, it's always about our Savior. I want to bring a message that
would bring conviction of what we are before a thrice holy God. You see, in order to see the
Lord's mercy, you have to first see your need of mercy. If you're like all the rest of
us were at one time, going about through the world thinking you
have some righteousness of your own, you don't need the mercy
of God, do you? We must be convicted of what
we are before a thrice holy God. A warning as Noah preached in
his day. I bring a warning this morning
that the wrath of God is coming, some sooner than others. There is a day when the Lord
is going to return to this earth when the trump shall sound and
every eye shall see Him. But until that day, They'll be
those of us who pass from this life onto the life eternal. And
we're either going to spend eternity in the sufferings of our damnation,
or we're going to spend eternity in the grace and the love of
Jesus Christ, who suffered our damnation for us. The message, it would bring conviction
of what we are before a thrice holy God. A message that would
bring peace to the hearts of those whose judgment and condemnation
has been satisfied by our substitute. Will you read with me? Verses
8 through 10 of 1 John chapter 1. If we say, that we have no sin,
we deceive. We lie. We deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. You know how many people are
worshiping what they think is a god of today and say, I don't
sin anymore? All over the world. I was a sinner
at one time, but I'm not anymore. I made a choice now. I follow
God. I decided not to do that anymore. I'm better than I was
before. If we say that we have no sin right now, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. Verse 9, if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Folks, I would never ask any
of you to confess your sins to me. There's a religion out there
who wants you to go into a little box and convince your sins, confess
your sins to a man, and he'll tell you, pray so many prayers,
so many Hail Marys, whatever, and you'll be absolved of that
sin. That's just an outright lie. Confessing your sins to
a man or a woman does nothing but give people a false sense
of relief. I will not confess mine to you. But I want to share with you
this, because I think there's some of you sitting here today
who could say the same thing about yourselves. Every sin that is listed in these
holy scriptures, every sin that is listed in this
entire book, I am as guilty of as anybody could be. I share this with you because
maybe some of you are in that same boat. Maybe there's one who hears The sound of this poor, whispering
man before you. Maybe there's somebody who cries out like I do. Lord, have
mercy on me. One who cries out with a broken
and contrite heart. Lord, I have sinned against thee.
My flesh is full of filth. It's full of vulgar thoughts. I cannot turn my thoughts away
from the wickedness of this world. My strength indeed is small. I know I'm not alone. in saying
these things. My God has given me a man in
his word, in his book, that relates exactly to the way I feel, relates
exactly to what I see in my own flesh. His name is Isaiah. In the book of Isaiah, chapter
6, verse 5, that prophet says these words, then said I, woe
is me. I can imagine the tears that
must have been going down through this man's eyes as he cried out,
woe. Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips."
And then he closes that statement with these words. You see, when we're brought to
know the depth of our depravity, When we are
brought by God's grace to see what we truly deserve
and what He took upon Himself for our sakes because of His
love for us, we say, I am undone. I see the truth of what I am before
God. For mine eyes, writes Isaiah,
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." He's seen the grace of God. Am
I sad? Am I distraught over what I am? Yes. But oh, what wonder and
beauty. It shines the grace of God on
me. Does it shine on you? You know, the psalmist puts it
this way. Mark your spot here in 1 John.
We'll come back. And turn over to the third psalm. David, a man after God's own
heart, a man chosen from before the foundation of the world,
a man that was loved of God, a man that was made to be a vessel
of mercy, was just a man. He was no different than any
other mortal man to walk this earth. He was troubled with weaknesses
of the flesh, just as you and I are. As you read these words with
me, keep this thing in mind, if you would. Our most formidable
aggressor, our most burdensome enemy, is
self. Listen to the words of Ephesians
6.12 before we read the third psalm. For we wrestle not against
flesh. We don't wrestle with flesh.
We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities. against powers. That's the principalities
of our soul, our spirit. The powers against rulers of
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. We think more of ourselves than
we should. That's what that means, high places. We raise up ourselves
to a place that we have no right to be. Listen to the words of David
in Psalms number 3. Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Did David have people chasing
after him? Absolutely. He was fleeing from
Absalom, his son. His own son had raised up against
him. But if you look at this in a
spiritual sense, David's talking about his own sins. Lord, how
are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up
against me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him. And God say, But thou, O Lord,
art a shield for me. my glory and the lifter up of
mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my
voice and He heard me out of His holy hill, Selah. I laid me down and slept. I awaited for the Lord to sustain
me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have
set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me,
O my God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. Did not the demoniac man of Gadar
have legions of demons within him, dwelling in him? I got to wondering about that,
legions. How many people are in a legions?
So I looked it up and it says somewhere between 4,000 to 6,000
for one legion. If he had legions, then he had
more than 4,000 to 6,000, didn't he? David says, I will not be afraid of 10,000s
of people. Thousands of demons that dwell
in John Reeves. Back in our text, in the book
of 1 John, it says, If you say you have no sin, you deceive
yourself and the truth is not in you. But 9 gives us hope. If you say
you have no sin, You deceive yourself and the
truth is not in you. If we confess our sins, in verse
9, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Do you see what I'm talking about
being brought to understand? Having the revelation from God of what we truly are. Our Lord may be speaking about
each individual's sin, going to Him in the privacy of your
closet and praying, Lord, I have a sin that's besetting me. Lord,
I just can't seem to get my mind away from those thoughts. Lord,
I just can't seem to bring myself away from whatever it is that's
bothering you. But it also means Lord, I'm a
sinner. I don't deserve you to look upon
me. What is man? What am I? What am I that you would consider
me? That's confessing all of your
sins at once, isn't it? Lord, how? How can I be cleansed
from all this wickedness that I see before me when I look in
a mirror? How can I be cleansed from the
sin that I experience in this flesh? Look over at verses 4
and 5 of our text in 1 John chapter 1. And these things write we
unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message
which we have heard of Him and declared to you that God is light
and in Him is no darkness at all. In Him is no darkness. This is
the title for this morning's message. In God is no darkness. Again, keep your place marked.
We'll come back to that again. Turn over to the third chapter
of John, if you would, please. John chapter 3. In God is the key to our being
cleansed from all of our sins. You're not going to cleanse yourself.
You're not going to make yourself better by stop doing whatever
you think is wrong. Whatever you interpret in God's
Word that you're supposed to be against, you're not going
to make yourself any better with that. Unlike the religions of
this world, God's people know that we will be sinners until
the Lord takes us out of this world. We will fight the battle between
the flesh and the spirit until God takes us in the spirit out
of this flesh. And He puts on immortality and
the mortal body is put away. In God is the key to our being
cleansed from all of our sins. Those who are in God will have
the light of God dwelling in them. Those who are not in God
will spend eternity never able, always coming up short of the
glory of God. They'll spend their eternity
in darkness. Look with me, if you would, at
verses 14 through 19 of John chapter 3. And as Moses lifted
up the servant in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever..." I paused because I said a moment
ago, the key to our being cleansed from our sin is in God. believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son." And
this is condemnation. that light has come into the
world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil. Light has come into the world,
and the world rejects the light of truth. It is our nature. When Adam fell, all mankind fell
in him, and we love the lie of I. I am the decider of my destiny. I have a will to do the right
or the wrong thing. I know good from evil, and I
will choose to do as I please. It is our nature to put ourselves
in a place as gods, so much so that we put ourselves above the
most high. by declaring my decision, by
declaring my will, is above His. John the Baptist was sent as
the forerunner to declare the coming of this light. Look at
verses 6-17. John chapter 1. Sorry, turn back to John chapter
1. And look with me at verse 6.
John chapter 1 verse 6, There was a man sent of God, whose
name was John. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of what? Of the light. Now listen, that
all men through him might believe. He, John the Baptist, 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. But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and he beheld
his glory. The glory is the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bare witness
of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I speak. He that
cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before
me. And of His fullness have we all received, and grace for
grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. Over in the 8th chapter, you
don't need to turn there, verse 12, we read this, Then spake
Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world.
He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life. What we've established here,
and what I've just laid down for you in these scriptures,
is that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, God
in the flesh, is the very one spoken of in our text. God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. Bill nailed it. He goes, what's
the title of your message? I showed him the title and he
goes, wait a minute. The title of the message is,
In Him is No Darkness. If we're in Christ, there's no
more darkness in us. That's the cleansing of our sins. As the God-man, Christ Jesus
was perfect in all that He did. Every move He made, every thought
He had was pleasing unto the Father. His will was to do the
will of the Father. And the will of the Father was
that Christ the Lord should lose none of whom the Father hath
given Him. This is what We were in Christ before the
worlds were made. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit made a covenant before a star was
ever created. Three, but one. It's a mystery
I can't explain and no man can. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, there's only one God, yet three persons. This is what it is to be in Him.
We were in Christ before the worlds were made. As the great
three in one made an everlasting covenant and agreement, God the
Father shall give a people to the Son. Their names shall be
written in the book of life before anything else is created. Our Lord chose to love Jacob, yet hated Esau before they were
ever even born. It still amazes me, and I've
shared this with you before, but it just amazes me. almost wants to pop at times
when I try to think of how big a circumference this is, but
everything that we know of as time was created so that you
and I would be here this very moment, worshiping our Lord this
very moment. All the stuff that we read in
history about how people crossed the ocean and came to this side
of the world, the Americas, all the stuff that we read about
that happened throughout the history that we even look about
and see in this book of God, all happened according to God's
purpose so that we would be here this day. We were in Christ before
the world began. In Him is light. We were in Christ before the
worlds were made. As the great three in one made
the everlasting covenant, God the Son shall redeem His people
to the Father. That's why He's known as the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world as we read in Revelations. You're going to give this people
to me? Okay. In order for them to spend eternity
with us, they need to be made holy. Do you realize the word
holy means to be made whole? That's whole, I mean complete.
In full. Okay. The covenant is this, I'll
become flesh, says the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll establish a
perfect righteousness because I am perfect in all that I do.
I'm God, I can be nothing less than perfect. And I'll establish
a righteousness and I'll go to the cross and lay my life down
for all those that you have given me before the world began. We
were in Christ as He walked this earth. We were in Christ when the Spirit
of God says, I shall give life to all that you have given the
Son. I shall call each one in the day of our love for that
person and reveal the Son of God, the light of the world,
to the new heart of His sheep. We were in Christ Jesus when
He walked this earth, perfectly fulfilling the law of God. We
were in Christ Jesus when He died and went to the grave, taking
all of our sins as His own, though He had never sinned. By His stripes,
we were healed. We were reconciled. We were redeemed. We were justified. We were sanctified. We were made holy in the sight
of God. You really can sum the whole
thing up like this. Quit looking in the mirror and
look to the Lord Jesus. By His stripes we are healed,
washing all of our sins away, never to be seen again. We were in Christ Jesus when
He arose from death. When He arose, the victor over
death to be in Christ is to live. We are in Christ right now as
He sits upon His throne. His throne of glory making intercession
for us. You cannot lay anything to the
charge of this one. I've already taken. I've already taken that darkness
upon myself, he says. When the judge says, what about
that one? I've already paid the price.
Well, what about this one over here, this thought over here?
I've already paid the price. There is no darkness. It is Christ who shined the light
in our hearts. I read this in Bible study, but
I want to read it again here. Listen to these words. You know,
this is one of those few times where my Bible study and my message
didn't cross each other, and I read this during Bible study,
and I was thinking, oh man, this is going to be great for the
message too. Listen to these words over in Colossians chapter
1. Paul, writing to the Colossians
in verse 10, he says, "...that ye might walk worthy of the Lord,
and pleasing, being fruitful in all good work, and increasing
in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to
His glorious power, under the patience and longsuffering with
joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us
worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light." In Him there is no darkness.
We have been made worthy, meet, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints and light, speaking of our Lord who has delivered
us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son. The key word is in Christ. We are in Christ right now as
He sits upon His throne, the throne of glory, making intercession
for us, preserving us unto Himself to be revealed in the last day.
Oh, what a blessed hope it is to be in Christ, to be in the
light where there is no darkness. Folks, God looks upon us as we
are as holy as His Son. When Lord God Almighty looks
down upon each and every one of His people, He sees the blood
of His Son on the doorpost. And the angel of death passes
by. Because Christ Jesus has already
taken our death upon Himself. Our darkness has been washed
away. It is the Lord God Almighty who
comes into the heart of His people and shines His light in their
heart. And we cry out, praise the Lord. Once I was blind, but now I see
the truth. My Lord has loved me and has
provided everything for me. Do you know what God demands
of? He provides. That's a good thing, because
I can't provide anything. Our Lord looks upon us as holy
as His Son. I confess, dear Lord, that I
am a sinner deserving nothing but the wrath to come. Yet my
lawyer stands at the court, and he says, my people are mine. I paid the price. They'll be
mine forever. He pleads my cause. He says, I have paid this price.
I have received his condemnation. I have redeemed him. He is mine. Look over at Romans chapter 8
with me real quick. Romans chapter 8. Verse 1, there is therefore now
no condemnation, no charge. You cannot condemn this one,
for the condemnation has already been laid upon our Savior. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Now turn over to verse 31. How shall we be cleansed from
the darkness that we were in? The darkness was laid upon our
Savior, and the light of our Savior shines in our hearts.
What shall we say then, verse 31, to these things? If God be
for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Are not all things placed under
the feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you know we're
co-heirs with Him? We'll receive everything. It's
not going to be split up where you're going to get a little
bit of this and you're going to get a little bit of this. No, we all have it all. It's all ours to enjoy and to
praise our Lord for for eternity. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now go back to your text,
if you would, please. And I want to read these verses
once again, and this time consider what we've just looked at as
far as the light and the darkness. We came into this world in darkness,
dead, in trespasses and sin. There was no life in us. Yet in the day of His love for
us, let me make that very clear, in the day of His love for us,
He comes to us and by the power of God gives us life. He shines
the light of life in our hearts. A new heart. And when light shines, darkness
disappears. Look at these words again. This
time we'll read 8 and 10 together. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. I do not
say that I have no sin. What I do say is my Lord and God has
been merciful to me despite my sin. My Lord and God has loved
me from before the world was and has taken care of every sin. The darkness has been washed
away. If we say that we have not sinned,
verse 10, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. But
then we read these words in verse 9, If we confess our sins, if
we confess of what we are, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now
look again at verses 4 and 5. And these things write I unto
you, that your joy may be fulfilled, may be full. This then is the
message which we have heard of Him and declaring to you that
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. There's not even a shadow. There's
no darkness. Our Lord and Savior, He shines
so bright there won't be any need of day or night in heaven. It's always going to be in the
light of our Savior. And when He comes into the heart
of one of His people, He shines that light bright and drives
the darkness out. I ask you this morning, Are you in Christ? To be in Christ
is to believe, and to believe is to receive
the gift of God, not of works, lest we should boast. Amen to
that?