Anytime I sing that hymn and
you sing it, I always think, can I really say that biblically? Is that what God's word tells
me? Or am I just fooling myself? And of course, if we know Christ,
and I'm going to talk about that this morning in this message,
1 John 1, if you'd like to turn in your Bibles. beginning at
verse five and the title of this message is this is the message. That's how that verse starts.
This then is the message. We have the message. We're like
the, you've heard of the bluegrass band? That's where I'm from,
the bluegrass. You heard the bluegrass band
and little kid was watching all the guitar and the banjo bass. He looked at the banjo player
and his left hand was going up and down the neck of that banjo. And he looked at the guitar player
and his hand was going all the way up and down that guitar.
And he looked at the bass player. I asked him after the music, he
said, how come they're all over the place and you're just right
there? And he said, well, they're looking
for the note. I found it. So that's the way
we are. People looking for the message,
well, we found it. And we have. That's no exaggeration. And John's talking about that.
You know, one of the main themes of 1 John has to do with a true
believer's assurance of salvation by the free, sovereign grace
of God, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. How can I have assurance? Should I have assurance? You
know, there are people who say you shouldn't have it because they say any
assurance is presumption. And I don't believe that. I heard
a message one time, a fellow who claimed to preach sovereign
grace, he said, he said, faith is not the same as assurance.
I disagree. You have faith, God-given faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That means you believe who he
is and what he did, and the results thereof. Because that's what
the Bible teaches. That's the message. Paul said,
we preach Christ crucified. That's his person and his work.
His person, who is he? He's God manifest in the flesh. That's the message. I know it's
true. A lot of people don't understand
that. They think maybe, well, He's God, but he's a lesser God.
No, he's co-equal with the Father and the Spirit and every attribute
of deity. And they say, well, he's man, but he's a little more
than man. Oh, my soul, he's a lot more than just a man. He's a
perfect man, an impeccable man. He's God-man. And so John deals
with that quite a bit. There was a sect of religionists
called Gnostics back then, who denied
the humanity of Christ. Because they thought that human
flesh, physical flesh, was inherently sinful. And that's not so. Christ
had a human body, created for him in the womb of the Virgin
Mary by the Holy Spirit. But his human body, his flesh,
was without sin. Adam was born that way. Now our flesh is sinful because
of the thoughts and the intents and the motives of the heart. That's where sin comes from.
It comes from the heart. Nothing's sinful about my hand.
Now I can use my hand for sinful purposes, but there's nothing
inherently sinful about this. Now you'll see the consequences
of sin in my hand because it's a whole lot more wrinkly than
it used to be. And that's the way our bodies
are. We are getting old and all that. That's the consequences
of sin. But thank God in Christ, it's not the condemnation of
sin. Because in Him, there is no condemnation. Think about it. When you look
at me, and when I look at you who are believers, we're looking
at righteousness. But you can't see it by looking
at the physical. You can only see it by believing
God, who says that in Christ, in Christ, I am washed clean
from all my sins. Blessed Redeemer. And in Christ,
I am perfectly righteous in God's sight. That's his righteousness
imputed. And that's the message. What
did he do? He died, was buried, and arose
again the third day. Why did he rise from the third
day? Because he accomplished what
he set out to do in his death. It's finished, he said. So John is reaching back to that
message, and he explained it somewhat in the first few verses.
And he says, these things are written for your joy. Look at
verse four. And these things write we unto
you that your joy may be full. Well, what joy is he talking
about? Does that mean that if I have Christ, I'm gonna be happy,
happy all the time? No. Your joy, what joy is he
talking about? He's talking about what greater
joy can we have but to know, to know. that we're saved and
secure in the grace and the power of God by Jesus Christ. Look
over at 1 John 5. This is a short book, this letter
rather. Look at verse 13. And this is
the reason John wrote this letter. He's writing to believers. You
know, if you read the Bible and you claim the blessings that
the Bible speaks of, You better know the message because the
message is that these blessings are all in Christ. They're not
given to everybody. And so he says in verse 13, look
at 1 John 5, 13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God. You see that?
Now who's it written to? You that believe on the name
of the Son of God. And the name here is not just
a title. It's not just looking up into
the sky and saying, Lord Jesus, or thank you, Jesus. His name
is that which identifies and distinguishes him from all others. Who is Jesus Christ? We've talked
about that. And he says, that you may know that you have eternal
life. That's joyous, if I know that
I have eternal life. And that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God, that you may continue to believe.
You believe, you know you have eternal life, you'll continue
to believe. And then look down at verse 19. He says, and we know that we
are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness or literally
lie in the wicked one. Look at verse 20, and we know
that the Son of God has come and had given us an understanding.
that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that
is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. Well, now all that starts back
here in chapter one. This then is the message. Look
at verse five again of chapter one. This then is the message,
which we have heard of Him. Now there's a hearing. Have you
heard this message? And literally, it's talking about
have you heard with the understanding because God gives both to his
people. He gives them a hearing and an
understanding. You know, there's a lot of people who have physical
ears to hear a lot of things. Well, now think about it this
way. True godly assurance has to do with a specific message.
This then is the message. And what is the message which
we've heard of or from him, from Christ? It's a message again
that concerns the person, the Lord Jesus Christ and his work
of redeeming his people from their sins. And the hearing here
is that spiritual hearing that God gives to his people. You
remember when Christ was preaching the parables of the kingdom in
Matthew 13. And the disciples asked him,
why do you speak to them talking about the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and all the religious people? The disciples asked him, why
do you preach in parables to them? And Christ said, let me
just read it to you, it's Matthew 13, 13. He says, therefore speak
I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not. Now what does he mean by that?
Is he just talking in conundrums or what? They have physical eyes,
and they see what I do, but they don't see it savingly, with spiritual
eyes. You see, that's man's problem
by nature. We're spiritually blind, and we don't see the things
that glorify God in reality. So he says, they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not. They could hear what he was saying,
just like the disciples, but they didn't hear with the eye
of faith, God-given faith, the understanding. And he says, neither
do they understand. In verse 14 of Matthew 13, he
says, 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 or grown gross, hard, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes they've 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." You know what they didn't want? They didn't
wanna be converted. What does that mean? When Christ spoke
to them the message of God's grace, of salvation, through
him, his blood, his righteousness. He made it clear to them, and
this is what preachers need to do if they're preaching, in preaching
the gospel. He made it clear to them that they would have
to forsake everything else. Every other way. Every other
message. Believe on Christ, repent of
dead works, and they didn't wanna give up. their old way of life. They didn't want to give up their
old beliefs of salvation by works, righteousness by their works
of the law. They didn't want to give that up. They didn't
want to be converted. Because conversion means that
God gives you life from the day, he gives you eyes to see and
ears to hear, and gives you faith to believe, and gives you the
gift of repentance to turn, not only to come to Christ, but to
turn away from everything else before that. False religion. I grew up in it. Most of you
did too. Turn loose. Call it what Paul
called it. You know what he called it, don't
you? In Philippians 3, he called it dumb, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. They didn't want to do that.
And the last verse that I've got recorded, a copy here, in
Matthew 13, he told them about, he told his disciples that, but
he said in verse 16, but blessed are your eyes for they see. Blessed are your ears for they
hear. Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. So John describes the message
as that which we declare unto you. Look back at verse five. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you, and listen to how he
puts it, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Now, God is light. That refers
to his glory. God dwells in the light, His glory. But mainly what John
is talking about in the context here is the light of the truth
that reveals by the power of the Spirit the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. This is the light of Christ and
the salvation of sinners which He has accomplished. David said
it, he wrote it. Psalm 27 one, the Lord is my
light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? That's assurance. Christ is light according to
the gospel light. Over in John chapter eight and
verse 12, It says, then spoke 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. He said in
John 9, 5, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the
world. John 12, 46, I am come a light unto the world, that
whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Light,
dark. You know what they are, don't
you? They're opposites. There's no gray area here. Light
is truth concerning God, concerning His works, who He is, and what
He has done in Christ. Revealed by the Spirit of light,
darkness is a lie, is a wrong way. And this light, this message,
is offensive to the natural man. But it is salvation and life
to those whom God has given eyes to see and ears to hear. I've
read this verse quite a bit in my ministry as teaching. In John 3, 19 it says, this is
the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love
darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. You see,
light reveals and it exposes. It reveals the right way, the
good way, the only way, the message, the righteous way, but it exposes
every wrong way as being evil, even if it's religious. Most of the New Testament is
aimed against religious people who are trying to do their best
to work their way into God's favor, earn their salvation,
earn their blessings, whatever. The light of the message here
of Christ crucified and risen from the dead exposes that to
be evil deeds. Listen, verse 20 says, for everyone
that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh the light, lest
his, now don't miss this, his deeds should be reproved. What are those deeds? Those are
men and women's religious works and efforts trying to work their
way into God's favor. But he goes on in verse 21, he
says, but he that doeth truth cometh to the light. Now what
is it to do truth? It's to believe the truth. And
who is the truth? It's Christ and what he accomplished. And so those who doeth truth
come to the light. that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God, or the work of God. This is the
work of God. If you look at a sinner saved
by grace, you know what you're looking at? A walking, talking
miracle of God's power and goodness and grace, God's work. Ephesians
2.10, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto,
not because of, but unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. Well, look at what he says here.
Look back at 1 John 1, verse six. He's speaking now, fellowship
with God is walking in the light. Do you claim to have fellowship
with God? How do you know you have fellowship with God? How
do you know you're not just on some kind of a religious opiate,
as Karl Marx said, some religious drug? Because a lot of people
are now. Well, look at what he says, verse
six. If we say that we have fellowship
with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
Verse seven, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
now that's key, we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Now what we
have here, going to the end of this chapter, is a series of
if statements. If we say this, if we walk, And these if statements, now
it must be determined by interpretation, scriptural interpretation, if
these if statements are conditional or evidential. In other words,
are they conditions that you must meet in order to attain
the blessing? Or are they evidences that the
blessing has been freely given to you? Well, you say, how can
I tell? What's the message? This then
is the message. You see, this is the difference
between darkness and light, salvation by works or salvation by grace.
The way to determine this is to see it in the light of the
covenant from which it's given. Now, there is a covenant of works,
which says, if you do this for God, he will give you this. Now that's a covenant of works.
If you do your part, he'll do his part. But then there's a
covenant of grace. And that covenant of grace is
the gospel covenant. And what it says is this, this
is what God freely gives. And if he's freely given it to
you, this'll be the result. You'll walk in the light and
not in darkness. It's an evidential. So understand
that now. The gospel is the preaching of
the terms of the covenant of grace, which says this. He that
spared not his own son, but how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? unconditionally, without a cause. This gospel covenant says that
if you're saved, it's by grace, not of works, lest any man should
boast, even faith. And it says this, that you're
blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. You're the recipient of a salvation
which was given unto you in Christ before the world began. And so
when you're born again and brought under the light of the gospel,
the message in the power of the spirit, which brings you to faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works, it's a revelation that
your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the
world began. So if the if is conditional,
it's a covenant of works, period. Now obviously John is speaking
of walking in the light of God's grace. That's the message. And he says to walk in darkness
reveals a person to be a liar. Look, verse six, if you claim,
if you say that we have fellowship with Christ, if you claim to
be a Christian, but you walk in darkness, a lie, that makes
you a liar. And you don't do the truth. Remember
back in John 3.21? He that doeth truth cometh to
the light. Well, if you claim to be a believer
and you walk in darkness, and that's false doctrine, false
religion, you're a liar. Now, you know you're lying to
yourself. I've heard people say, I'm as
sure for heaven as if I were already there. And I'll ask them
one question. They say, what is the ground?
of that confidence. And just about without an exception,
they say, well, I walked an aisle when I was 12 years old, gave
my heart to Jesus, and got baptized. Now, my friend, I'm sorry to
say, and I'm not trying to be mean and unkind, that's not the proper ground. Proper ground. It's who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect. It's God that justifieth
who can condemneth. Condemneth. It's Christ that
died, yea rather is risen from the dead, seated at the right
hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us.
It's by grace. It's not by what you've done. The thief on the cross, he didn't
walk an aisle. He didn't get baptized. He just
simply looked to the one on the middle cross. And that's where
assurance comes from. Running the race of grace, looking
unto my confession? My baptism? No, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. That's the message. That's the
light. In verse seven, he says, but
if we walk in the light as he is in the light, what does that
mean? That's walking in the light of
his truth, as he is in the light. If you wanna know who Christ
is, look to the truth of the scripture. It's according to
the scriptural light here. If you're a part of a denomination,
and there's a bunch of them, if you're a part of a denomination
that denies his deity, you're not walking in the light, you're
walking in the dark. If you deny His humanity, you're
not walking in the light, you're walking in the dark. You see
what I'm saying? If you deny the success of His
redeeming work, you're not walking in the light. Because the light
is right here. If the light's been turned on
for you by the Spirit, giving you eyes to see and ears to hear,
And an understanding. If we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. Now that's
what brings believers together. Walking in the light. It's not
our mutual love for a football team or a basketball team. It's
not our social interest. It's not our economic status. It's not the color of our skin. Do we walk in the light? And
if we walk in the light, we're together. Now we may be at odds
on some other things. And we need to put those behind
us and get on with our lives and be mature and believers,
grow up. We need to do that, I need to
do it. But what holds us together is the message by which we walk
in the light. We believe the same gospel. And if you have fellowship with
those who believe another gospel, you're walking in darkness and
you don't have fellowship with the Father and the Son. And what he says, if we walk
in light, this is evidence. of our fellowship with the Father
and the Son, our fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Isn't that something? I need
that because I'm a sinner. I pray for forgiveness. I know
I'm already forgiven because Christ died one time. By one
offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." The
blood of Jesus Christ. What is the blood of Jesus Christ?
That's His obedience unto death to satisfy the justice of God,
to bring forth a perfect righteousness by which God justifies His people,
His righteousness imputed, which, now listen to me, which in the
Bible, in the light, secures the salvation of every sinner
for whom he lived, died, was buried, and arose again. That's
the light. That's the message. And Paul
in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 5, he said, you are all the children
of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night
nor of darkness. And this is evidence of it. It's
evidence that you have fellowship one with another. And you know
now, God's the one who chooses us, not us. And the blood of
Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Look at verse
eight now. He says, if we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now,
there's several ways a person can claim to have no sin. If we have no sin, to deny the
indwelling presence of sin within us, or to in some way attain
sinless perfection in ourselves, is a denial of the message. It's
darkness, not light. And so he says, if we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now
mark this down. Now this is the message. The
only sinless perfection that we can rightly, in the confines
of the light, claim now is our standing before God in Christ.
I'm washed in His blood, forgiven of all my sins. And I'm clothed
in His righteousness, imputed to us by God. That's the only
sinless perfection we can claim if we're walking in the light.
Those who claim any other thing, any other way of getting rid
of sin, they're deceived. And the truth is not in them. You know, this idea of progressive
holiness and progressive sanctification, that I'm getting better and better
and better and better and better. That's not my holiness. That's
not my sanctification. I'm set apart by the grace of
God in Christ. And I hope I can improve my character
and conduct, but my friend, that's not my sanctification and my
holiness. That's growth in grace and knowledge
of Christ. And just the time I think I'm
making some great, great strides, somebody will make me mad and
I'll lose my temper and boom, I'm back down at the bottom again. On my knees saying, Lord, forgive
me. But in Christ, my righteousness
never changes. It's never sullied. It's never
torn. It's the righteousness of God.
And God charged it to me. Not because I've done anything
for Him. He charged it to me. Making Christ my surety, my substitute,
my redeemer. And so he says, verse 9, if we
confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. faithful because it's what He
promised to do for His people. He made a promise to save us
from our sins. Lamentations 3 22, it's of the
Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because His compassions
fail not. Verse 23, they are new every
morning great is thy faithfulness. It's all to the praise of the
glory of His grace who made us accepted in the beloved, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace. So he's faithful and he's
just because he does so on a righteous ground. Not what I do or you
do, but what Christ did. David spoke of this in Psalm
32. He said, blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit
there is no guile. And Paul interpret that in Romans
4, 6, describing the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth
righteousness without works. and so in verse ten he says if
we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word
is not in us. John Gill who's a commentator
I use quite often he says this is the same as a person say I
have never sinned as if to deny original sin and it's true if
we say that we make God a liar because in Romans 512 listen
to what God says the light the message Wherefore is by one man
sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed
upon all men for that all have sinned." Now that phrase for
all have sinned would be translated literally that when Adam sinned
all sinned. Adam brought us down in the fall
to a state of spiritual death and depravity and darkness. And that's why we have to be
saved by grace and we have to be given eyes to see and ears
to hear. We have to be brought into the
light by God. So we understand that. This then
is the message. This is the message and thank
God for it. Okay.