Now turn with me in your Bibles
to 1 John chapter 1. This morning I want to talk to
you about the subject of true confession. True confession. The passage that our brother
just read in Romans chapter 10 spoke of the issue of confession. Confessing Christ. when he read
there in verse 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And we'll be
looking at that in just a moment again. But here in 1 John chapter
1, the Apostle John is talking about the fellowship of faith,
the fellowship of the church, the fellowship of the saved.
the fellowship of the redeemed. And this is the fellowship into
which God's people are brought into by his sovereign electing
grace, by his redeeming grace, and by his regenerating grace. And when I speak of this fellowship,
my goal in preaching this message and in going through this great,
great epistle that John was inspired to write by the Holy Spirit is
that if you are a believer this morning, that as John wrote here,
that your joy may be full and that you will go away with a
comforted, assured, and peaceful heart, knowing that you are in
the fellowship of God's people. For our fellowship, truly John
writes, is with the Father and with the Son. And that is our
connection with each other. We have the same Father. God,
our Father, the God of all grace, who saves sinners by His grace,
who justifies the ungodly. And we have the same Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that one unique God-man, the person who
was sent into this world to be the Savior and the Redeemer of
His people by His death on the cross. And when we speak of confessing
His resurrection, that's what we're confessing, that the work
was completed and finished. that Christ redeemed his people
in full, and that we're justified and stand whole before a holy
God in him. And then if you're not a believer
this morning, then it is my prayer, and I know the prayer of every
one of God's sheep here this morning, that you will be brought
into this fellowship this morning by experience. That you'll walk
away here confessing Christ as your only Savior and Lord. And that's what all the scriptures
aim at. These things are written that
you might believe. And John wrote that over in chapter
5 when he penned those words that these things are written
not to drive people away, but to bring people into the fold.
Now, we can't do that. It takes the power of God to
bring his sheep into the fold. Christ comes and seeks his sheep
for whom he died. Now, one of the things that John
says about the fellowship that is the gift of God, that is by
the power of God, is that it is a fellowship of light. And
we spoke of that. Light is the light of the glory
of God in Christ. Light is the light of truth.
It's the light of the gospel. John writes in verse 5, look
at it with me, he says, this then is the message that we've
heard of him and declare unto you. that God is light, and in
Him is no darkness at all. So it has to do, this fellowship
of light has to do with the very nature and character of God.
God is light. Not God is a light. You know,
President Bush, the elder, President Bush used to talk about the thousand
points of light. Well, we really have one light,
and that is God Himself through His Son, the light of the world.
And we can We can see so many facets of that light, things
that we haven't even touched, things that we haven't even seen
yet of the glory of Christ. But He is the light. God is light. So this fellowship has its basis
in the fact that God Himself is light and in Him is no darkness
at all. And then this light is revealed
by the power of the Holy Spirit in the message, the message of
grace. In the book of Romans, chapter
10, the Apostle Paul spoke of the Jews. who had the scriptures,
who had the law of Moses, and yet that light of the glory of
God in Christ they refused to see. They did not see. They walked
in the darkness of legalism, the darkness of self-righteous
religion, and they would not come to Christ for salvation. In Romans chapter 9 it said that
they were going about diligently trying to establish a righteousness
of their own so much that when the gospel of God's grace was
preached to them, they stumbled over it and would not receive
it. It was like a snare to them. They didn't see it as a message
that a sinner needs to find mercy in a holy God through Christ.
They looked at it as a stumbling block. They looked at it as an
evil thing. They called it evil. They called
it heresy. And yet they would not come to
Him. And the only reason that any sinner will come to God into
this fellowship through the light of the gospel is by the power
of the grace of God. What separates us from the darkness
of this world? What separates us from the world
at large? It's only by the grace of God
that we are what we are. Nothing else. We don't have anything
to boast in. I can't tell you that the reason
I'm saved... Now listen to me very carefully
here. I cannot really tell you that the reason that I'm saved
is because I believed and someone else didn't. And I'll tell you
why I can't say that. Because there was a big part
of my life that I didn't believe. And I didn't all of a sudden
just change out of my own goodness. Because I didn't have any. But
God made the difference. Yes, I believe. But my friends,
faith is the gift of God. The Bible says there in Romans
10, 17, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
It's God that gives us the hearing. Because spiritually, we're deaf
by nature, aren't we? And cannot hear. So this fellowship
is a fellowship of light, and it's a message. Now, what is
it to walk in the light? Now, there are several things
that John brings forth, but in this chapter here, chapter 1,
He mainly deals with two issues of walking in the light. And
it carries over into chapter 2. But I can't get to all of
it in one message. But what is it to walk in the
light? Well, he gives us a series of if statements. Look here in
verse 6, if we say. And then verse 7, but if we walk. And then verse 8, if we say. And verse 9, if we walk. And
verse 10, if we say. You see there's a series of if
statements all the way through. And what he does in these if
statements, he gives us a negative and a positive. There's a negative
statement and then there's a positive statement. And it sets the tone
for John's whole message here, the Spirit's whole message through
John to show that what we're talking about in the book of
1 John has to do with the difference and the separation of those who
walk in the fellowship of God and those who do not walk in
the fellowship of God. It's the difference between a
believer saved by the grace of God and an unbeliever still yet
in his sins. It's the difference between a
regenerate born-again sinner and an unregenerate who's not
been born again yet. And so, one's walking in the
light and one's walking in the darkness. Now, there are two
things that he brings forth in these few verses here in chapter
1 that characterizes those who walk in the light, and that has
to do with confession. True Confession. I don't know
if you remember or not, but I think there used to be a magazine called
True Confessions. And it was about crime and all
kinds of awful things that people would write stories. But that's
not the kind of confession that he's talking about, even though
it is very true. Those true confessions in that
magazine may or may not have been true. I'm sure they were
enhanced to get the money from the magazine. But here's true
confession, and it cannot be mistaken. You see, this is not
something, and I want you to see this, this is not something
that's just up to me or up to you. You know, somebody says,
well, have I confessed or have I not? Well, I don't know. I
believe I have. It's not subjective. It's not
something you can just walk away putting your own ideas and definitions.
God gives us the plain of it right here, the short of it right
here. And he gives it to us in two things. Number one, now listen
to this. To confess in the light of truth, the light of God in
Christ, is to first confess in an honest and open confession
of my sin, who I am. To the point that I have, as
Paul wrote in Philippians 3 and verse 3, no confidence in the
flesh. No confidence in the best of
the flesh. The best deeds that I can offer
unto God, the best attempts to keep the law, the best moments
of my life, the greatest achievements, the most religious, the most
dedicated times of my life, I can have no confidence in them as
attaining or maintaining my salvation or fellowship with God, as making
me righteous or bringing me forgiveness. No confidence in the flesh. And then secondly, is, in this
confession, is a bold and an honest confession of Christ and
Him crucified. Now that's the second part of
it. In other words, knowing that my whole confidence, as Paul
wrote again in Philippians 3.3, he said, Rejoice in Christ. That
means to have confidence in Christ and Him alone. For my whole salvation. Now those who walk in the light
honestly, and openly confess their sins. And I'll be honest
with you, as far as preaching our sinfulness now, as far as
preaching it, I'm not talking about individuals getting at
each other, but I'm talking about as far as preaching our sinfulness
and our depravity and what we are by nature and what we are
in the flesh, you really can't offend one who's walking in the
light. You really can't. Because that
one who's walking in the light honestly, he knows that the best
preacher can't go low enough when he's talking about my sin.
Now that's right. I want you to think about that.
To see me as God sees me without Christ? Somebody said it would
make us sick to see that sight. But you see, that just doesn't
fit with the dignity of man. Well, the dignity of man in this
area is darkness. That just doesn't fit with the
religious preferences of man who wants to exalt himself and
exalt the flesh and promote himself and get their eyes on him. Look
at me. Who am I? Look who just walked into the
room. Every eye turns. That's man by nature, isn't it?
drawing attention. He's somebody. He's somebody. Well, in the flesh we're all
nobodies. That's what the Bible teaches.
And you're not going to offend one who's walking in the light
by that statement. And then, in the same token,
you're not going to drive them away by preaching the glory of
Christ and His finished work. That's their comfort, that's
their hope. He's their hope, their comfort, their assurance,
their peace, their salvation. And just, that's the warmth of
the light. You know, the light not only
shows things to be so, it also warms. And it's the light of
the warmth, like the warmth of the sun. Well, our light and
our warmth comes from the S-O-N, the Son of God incarnate, who
died for our sins. Now look at what John says. Here's
the first negative. Look at verse 6. He says, if
we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Dealt with that a little bit
last week. What John is talking about here is a profession without
practicing the truth is a lie. Men can say things and not mean
them, not live them, not believe them. Truth, this light of truth
in Christ is revealed by God. It is known as God teaches us. It's believed as the Spirit gives
us faith. And it's lived because it is
our life. When the Lord turned to His disciples
after the multitudes left Him, He turned to His disciples and
He asked, Will you go away also? And Peter answered Him. He said,
To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of life.
These aren't just words to those who are walking in the light.
The Gospel message, the Scriptures, the Word of God, going verse
by verse through the Scripture, that's not just dead cold doctrine
to those who are walking in the light. It is their life because
it tells us of Christ. It identifies Him. It distinguishes
Him. It lifts Him up. It praises Him. It glorifies Him and honors Him.
The more we can tell the truth of our Savior, the more our hearts
are warmed. The more we see the light, the
more we're encouraged and comforted to walk in the light. John is
speaking here about practicing the truth. He says, if you say
one thing, but you say you believe the truth, you say you love Christ,
but you walk in darkness, you do not the truth, you're just
lying to yourself. Somebody said, well, they're
lying to God. Well, they can't really lie to God. He knows the truth.
You can try to, but He knows the heart. We can't know each
other's hearts, but God knows our hearts. And so He says, you're
lying. You're lying to yourself. And
He's speaking of practicing the truth by living it out in a lifestyle
of faith in Christ and obedience to Him. Over in the book of James,
turn with me there. This is the same thing that James
is speaking of in this short epistle. He starts out in chapter
1 and verse 22. Listen to this. He says, but be ye doers of the
Word. In other words, he says, and
not hearers only, deceiving your own self. That's the same thing
John is saying. Be ye doers of the Word. In other words, the
Word of God is not just something to be listened to. We should
listen to it, but it doesn't stop there. It's not just something
to be admired or even agreed with. It's something to be done.
It's to be lived. And he says in verse 23, If any
be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a
man beholding his natural face in a glass." Now, that word glass
there is what we would call a mirror, like looking in a mirror. "'For
he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway,' or
immediately, forgetteth what manner of man he was." He forgets
what he saw in the mirror. In other words, here is this
mirror of the word of God, and it tells me what I am. I'm either
going to believe that and act upon it or I'm not. And those
who read it and see what they are and walk away from it unaffected,
without faith, without running to Christ, this book is not just
a book just to show us our faults. It does that. But it's a book
to lead us to Christ. And that person who just walks
away unaffected, unmoved, without heeding, the Scripture says,
Hearing the Word of God under faith, under obedience, is like
the person who looks in a mirror, seeing all the flaws and all
the negatives, and walks away thinking other things. He's just
unaffected. But he says in verse 25, now
listen to this, But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty.
Now you know what the law of liberty is? It's not the law
of God from Sinai. I've heard people say it's the
Ten Commandments. No. Now let me tell you something.
The perfect law of liberty is the gospel. It's the gospel,
the good news of freedom to sinners who are in bondage. It's the
gospel of God's grace in Christ who sets sinners free. The law
won't set you free. The law will put you in bondage.
People say they will see there. That means we're supposed to
keep the law perfectly. Well, we should, but we can't,
and we won't. And if that's what it means,
there's none of us at liberty. That's the gospel. Whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, continueth therein. He be not
a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This man shall be
blessed. Now, I want you to notice this.
This is a good way to translate this from the original language.
It says, this man shall be blessed in his deed, in his doing. Not
by his doing. but in it. Because those who
believe the gospel of God's grace aren't working to be blessed,
they're working because they are blessed by God, by God's
grace. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. You see, the
one who hears the Word of God, and believes it and acts upon
it is the one who's been blessed before he even takes the first
step in obedience. Blessed by God. Blessed not by
his doing, not blessed because he's good, but blessed because
of the work of Christ. And then James goes on in chapter
2 and he speaks of faith without works being dead. And what he's
talking about there is a profession of Christ without the evidence
and the fruit of that obedience and love that comes with faith,
it's dead faith. And those who have that are just
fooling themselves. Now, those who merely claim fellowship
with God and with the people of God, whose lives are marked
by a continued walk in darkness, are lying. Now, I know this. I know even true believers can
get caught up in darkness for a little while. But they'll be
always brought back to repentance to walk in the light. Always. In other words, they can't ever
forsake that fellowship with God that He's brought them in.
And John is showing that fellowship with God and His Son, the fellowship
of the Spirit, is not one of hypocrisy. It's not one of saying
one thing and doing another. Now look at verse 7. He says,
but if we walk in the light, this is 1 John 1 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, cleanses us from all sin. Now, here is the counterclaim
of faith. Those who have been redeemed
by the blood of Christ, those who have been justified by his
righteousness on the cross, who are born again by the Holy Spirit,
been born again, regenerated and converted, here's what they'll
do. They'll walk in the light. They'll do truth, as the Scripture
says. Now, without the Spirit of God,
we will refuse to walk in the light. We won't do it. We saw
that last week in John chapter 3. Man by nature hates the light
and loves the darkness. He loves the darkness of religion
and legalism and deeds and the world. He loves that. that which
exposes him for what he is, the light, that which exposes his
refuge of lies, the light he hates. But those who are born
again by the Spirit, who have been convinced of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment, who have seen their sinfulness
and who have seen the glory of Christ and His blood, they walk
in the light. As if here, in verse 7, is not
a condition that sinners must meet in order to be saved. And
it's not saying that our walking in the light is what cleanses
us from all sin. And that's very important. Look
at it again, verse 7. But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
Now, what cleanses us from all sin, it says? The blood of Jesus
Christ. Walking in the light is an evidence
of our salvation. It's an evidence of having been
brought into fellowship with God. For it is the blood of Jesus
Christ alone shed on Calvary's cross that cleanses us from all
sin. All sins past, including the
sin of Adam of which we fell, all sins present, and all sins
future. It cleanses us from the nature
of sin in which we are born in Adam. It speaks of our redemption
and our justification before God. We sing it, what can wash
away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. A godly walk in life is not walking
in order to be cleansed from sin by our walking. But it's
walking in the reality of sins already having been forgiven
and cleansed by the blood of Christ. So it is the blood of
Christ that cleanses us. It's not the baptismal waters
that cleanses us. It's not the water of our tears
of sorrow and confession that cleanses us. It's not anything
that we do or don't do that cleanses us. It's the blood of Jesus Christ
alone that cleanses us from sin. His work for us is the only ground
and cause of our salvation. Look at verse 8. Now, here's
another negative. He says in verse 8, if we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. Now, the word sin there is in
the singular. And some people say, well, that's
referring to the sin nature, human nature, fallen in Adam.
And that may be so. But I believe also it would include
the whole realm of sin and darkness in which believers exist without
Christ. And this is like saying, if we
would claim not to have sin, the presence of sin within, the
power of sin that contaminates us, that is a self-deception,
he says, and there's no truth in it. We deceive ourselves.
So in one case, we lie. That's hypocrisy. In another
case, we're deceived, deceiving ourselves. You can't walk in
the light and be deceived. I'm going to show you that in
a moment. But look at what he says here in verse 8. He says
we deceive ourselves, and listen to this, the truth is not in
us. The truth is not in us. Now that's
a major theme in this epistle. In other words, he's saying the
truth that brings us, that light of truth that brings us to confess
who we are by nature and by practice, our sinfulness. And that same
light of truth that brings us to confess Christ, it's more
than just an intellectual thing. It's more than just learning
some things in the head. But it is truth sown in the heart
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth. Christ spoke of this in
the parable of the seed and the sower. He said that the sower
went forth to sow seed. The seed was the Word of God.
And the seed fell upon different kinds of ground. It fell upon
the wayside. It fell upon stony ground. It
fell upon thorny ground. And it was choked out. It was
taken away by the birds. It didn't take root. In other
words, they heard what was said, but they didn't believe it. And
then the last type of here is the good ground here. That's
the ground that's been furrowed up by the Spirit of God. who
takes that Word and applies it to the heart, to the mind, to
the affections and the will. Look over at John chapter 8 with
me. Christ spoke of this to His disciples.
He'd been preaching to them. And not just to the twelve now.
There are others there listening. And He says over here in John
chapter 8, look at verse 32. John chapter 8, look at verse
31. He says, Then said Jesus to those
Jews which believed on him. Now the context here shows us
that these were those who claimed to believe on Christ. They made
a claim. And he looked at those Jews which believed on him and
he says, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed. In other words, it's continuing.
Now, if the Word is in you by the power of the Spirit, if it's
part of you, if it's sown in your heart, you will continue
in the Word. And then he says in verse 32,
"...and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free." Look over at verse 36. Now, the Jews, when answering
this way, they would say, well, now wait a minute. Freedom? What
are you talking about? We were born free. We're children
of Abraham, and we're never in bondage to any man. Now, what
are they saying there? They're saying this. They're
saying, it's my connection with Abraham that makes me a child
of God. It's kind of like today. Most
of you were born and raised in a church somewhere, or what we
call a church. You're born and raised in the
Baptist faith. Your mom and your daddy, they were Baptist or they
were some other. It may be in a sovereign grace
church. And if you have any notion in
your mind that your connection with mom and dad or your connection
with that denomination or that particular group establishes
or brings you into fellowship with God, you are sadly mistaken. Now, that's right, isn't it?
Am I telling you the truth? You say, well, wait a minute,
I was born and raised at 13th Street Baptist Church. Well,
you were very privileged to be born and raised in a place where
the gospel light was preached. But what does that mean for you?
Yes, they were connected with Abraham. Yes, they had the law
of Moses. But look at what Christ said
in verse 37 of chapter 8. He says, I know that you are
Abraham's seed. That's physically. But you seek
to kill me because my word hath no place in you." The word wasn't
in their heart. They didn't believe it. Proven.
They were seeking to kill him. They hated him. They hated his
message of grace. He says in verse 38, he said,
I speak that which I have seen with my father and you do that
which you have seen with your father. And then later on he
tells them who their father is. Verse 44, you are of your father
the devil. Look back over at 1 John chapter
2. 1 John chapter 2. Now you see,
this is important to understand this fellowship of life. You
say, well, I like the way he speaks, I like what he says.
Well, that's alright. But does it mean anything to
you? Is it the words of life? Do you
love that word? The Bible speaks of those who
are deceived because they receive not the love of the truth. Look
over here in 1 John 2, verse 18. He says, little children, it
is the last time. And as you have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know
that it is the last time. And then he says, they went out
from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us
in the fellowship of light, the fellowship of the Father and
the Son, the fellowship of brethren, they would no doubt have continued
with us. But they went out that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of us." They heard it,
but they didn't believe it. The truth was not in them. But
look at verse 20. But you have an unction. Now,
that word unction is a power. It's a revelation of power. And
it's an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.
He says in verse 21, I have not written unto you, because you
know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie
is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. He goes on, whosoever denieth
the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father. Now look at verse 24. Let that
therefore abide in you. which you have heard from the
beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning
shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son and
in the Father." Down in chapter 3, he mentions a seed in verse
9. The seed that remaineth in those
who are born of God. That seed that remaineth is the
Word of God sown there by the power of the Holy Spirit that
brings a sinner to faith in Christ and repentance. That brings a
sinner to confess in true confession what God's Word says, that I'm
a sinner and Christ is the only Savior. Somebody said, well,
what did you do for your salvation? Somebody said, I did all the
sinning, He did all the saving. And that's about it, isn't it?
Look back at 1 John 1. Look at verse 9. Here's the next positive. He
says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Again,
we have an evidence here of salvation. This confession is the confession
of our sins, and here it's plural. Some say this emphasizes the
acts that proceed from a sinner, from the sin nature, and that
may be so. But again, he's referring to
the whole realm of sin and darkness that we exist in without Christ.
And if we confess what we are and who we are and our depravity
and our inadequacy, we know that God is faithful. He's both faithful
and just to forgive us our sins. Now, God must be just. He's holy. He must punish sin. And He cannot
save a sinner without His law and justice being satisfied.
That's why Christ had to come and die on the cross. That's
why He had to be made sin. Christ who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Over in chapter
2, He speaks of Christ as the propitiation of our sins. He's
the sin-bearing sacrifice who gave His life and shed blood
as payment for the sins of His sheep. Payment had to be made. God's holiness must be honored.
God's righteousness must be magnified. And yet, God must be faithful.
Now, what is He faithful to? Well, that means He does what
He says He'll do. That's simple. God made a promise. He promised to save a people
by His Son. And He's faithful to do so. God
must be just, and God must Beloved, God must be righteous and God
must be merciful. God must be holy and God must
be gracious. And in Christ, we see both his
faithfulness and his justice honored and magnified in our
salvation. And if those who confess him
see that he's just to forgive our sins, faithful and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Unrighteousness, there's just
another word for sin. But it emphasizes this, that
sin is transgression of the law. The Bible says the sting of death
is sin and the strength of sin is the law. You see, it's God's
law that condemns sin because God is God. And these statements
reflect the real concern of the apostle that some to whom he's
writing are being influenced by false preachers who are trying
to bring them under the law. Great examples of this. You see,
think about it. This confession, look at verse
10, he says, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar and his word is not in us. This is another statement
that shows the implications of those who refuse to come to Christ.
In other words, if we say we have not sinned, we blaspheme
God. So if we do not confess who we
are in the light of the gospel of Christ, Not only are we liars,
not only are we deceived, but we also blaspheme God. Now, this
is serious business, isn't it? This is nothing to be taken lightly.
Those who claim not to have sinned blaspheme God, and He says, and
His Word is not in us. There's that phrase again. His
Word is not in us. Think about that. I want you
to turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 17. This true confession of one who's
walking in the light is truly one who is looking for comfort
and peace and assurance in Christ and Him alone, and what He accomplished
at Calvary. And it's not just dwelling on
the negative. I've often said that sometimes you'll get back
and read some of the old writers, and it's almost like they're
having a contest of how low they can go in their description of
themselves. And though that is not offensive
to a believer, it is not where we live. It is not the only part
of our confession. Now, let me show you this. Verse
9 of Jeremiah 17. Now, Brother David Hall read
this in the study back a few weeks ago, and I've been thinking
about it ever since. And it fits so well with this
message. Now, we quote Jeremiah 17 9 quite often. Listen to it. The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? Now, we quote that quite often.
And I've even heard some quote it this way and say, well, that
means that I myself could be deceived. Could I go through
my life sitting here listening to the gospel and come to the
judgment and be like those preachers in Matthew 7? I heard a preacher
preach a message on this one time and that's where he went.
Find out like those in Matthew chapter 7 that I was deceived. But you've got to look at the
whole context. of this chapter. I want you to go back up in verse
5. I want you to look at Jeremiah 17.5. It says, Thus saith the Lord,
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Now, who are you trusting
in? I want you to consider this.
Who are you confessing? Who do you trust in man? In any
man. He says, "...and maketh flesh
his arm." That word means his power. Power and salvation. Flesh. "...and whose heart departeth
from the Lord." Trusting in man, looking to his own power, not
in the Lord. Verse 6, "...for he shall be
like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a
salt land, and not inhabit it." But look at verse 7. Blessed
is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord
is." Now, who's your hope? In whom do you trust? Who are
you looking to for your salvation? It says here in verse 8, "'For
he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots by the river, and shall not see when he cometh,
but her leaves shall be green, and shall not be anxious in the
year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.'"
It reminds you of Psalm 1, doesn't it? Like a tree planted by the
water. Now it says in verse 9, "'The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Who can know it?' We'll read verse 10. I, the Lord, search
the heart. I try the reins. You know what
the reins are? That determines which direction
the horse goes. And that's what he's talking
about. God puts your direction, which way you're going to the
test. Are you in the broad way that leads to destruction or
the narrow way that leads unto eternal life? Are you walking
the way of the godly or the way of the ungodly? Are you walking
in the light or walking in darkness? Well, God is the one who tests
these things. Now, you can go to some man and
you say, well, now tell me about my salvation, and he may be able
to make you feel real good. He says, well, I've watched you
quite a while, and you look pretty good to me. Now, if you're walking
in the light, you're going to turn around and say, well, you
really don't know me. But some man can make you feel
good about that. But God says, I try the reins
even to give every man according to his ways and according to
the fruit of his doings. Then he uses an analogy, "...as
the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not, so he
that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in
the midst of his days, and at the end his end shall be a fool.
A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary." What's he saying there? Our hope is not in man,
in his riches, in his power. Our hope is in the glorious high
throne from the beginning as the place of our sanctuary. That's
turning people to the Lord. Now what's he saying here? The
heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? The Lord searched
the hearts. The Lord tries the rain. You
see, go to the Word of God, the light, and see what it says. See what God says about you.
See where God points you. You cannot be deceived by the
Lord. He's not in the deceiving business. I know what 2 Thessalonians 2
says. He sends strong delusion. That's
his judgment against those who won't walk in the light. God's not in the deceiving business.
Now, men are. Satan is. But if your hope is
in the Word of God, where he leads, you cannot be deceived.
If you're trusting in the flesh, you're deceived. If you make
flesh the arm of your power, you're deceived. But if you're
trusting in the Lord, the blessed is the man that trusteth in the
Lord. That's what John's saying over here. There's no way that I can be
deceived or you can be deceived walking in the light of God's
Word. And that's so. And that's not presumption. I'll
tell you why it's not presumption. Because God doesn't deceive you.
He's not here to deceive you. God will lead you to Christ.
The Holy Spirit leads you to Christ and Him crucified. Put your trust in Him. Look unto
Him. Follow Him. And then He says,
come boldly to the throne of grace that you may find help
and comfort and mercy and peace in time of need.