In 1 John chapter 1 and verse
6, the apostle speaks of multitudes
who profess to walk with God. If we say we have fellowship
with him, if we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth." Almost everybody you know says
he has fellowship with God. Almost everybody I know professes
to have fellowship with God, but they walk in darkness. They walk in darkness. They have
no understanding of God's ways, of God's word, of God's providence. No understanding of God's grace.
No understanding of God's salvation. No understanding of Christ's
accomplishments. No understanding of true righteousness,
the righteousness of God in Christ. No understanding of sin's forgiveness. They say we have fellowship with
God, but they don't have a clue who God is. They lie and do not
the truth. Then in verse seven, John turns
this thing around. But if we walk in the light as
he, the triune God, in the light. We have fellowship one with another
and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all
sin. Here is the walk of every believer. We walk in the light as he is
in the light. Here is the witness of of our
heavenly birth. We have fellowship one with another. Here is the washing of our souls.
The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Walking in the light and washed
in the blood. Those words set forth both the
character of God's elect and our confidence before God in
Christ Jesus. John is talking about communion,
fellowship between God and his people. He has described God's
holy character. He says God is light. And in him is no darkness at
all. Light represents purity. holiness,
clarity. Darkness represents that which
is concealed, hidden, and evil. Where light shines, darkness
flees away. God is light. No duplicity about God. Nothing
about God that he seeks to hide from men. Nothing about God that
is deceitful or cunning. Nothing about God that's unclear. God is light. Everything in the
world that is described as good is an emanation of that light,
which is God. In fact, the very word God is
but an abbreviation of the word good. God is good, for God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all. As you read through this
short epistle, you cannot fail to see that John was a man who
had experienced the things he was talking about. He didn't
trade in secondhand knowledge. I've observed over the years
that Preachers generally trade in
second-hand knowledge. They go to Bible college and
they learn to parrot what preachers before them have said, and they
stand in the pulpit like a parrot in a cage and repeat the things
they've heard without thought or consideration from their own
experience. John was not such a preacher.
That which he preached, he preached from the depths of his soul's
experience and knowledge. The fact is you can never understand
anything in this book. You can never understand anything
with regard to the gospel of God's grace. You can never understand
anything spiritual except by experience. You can only know
God by the experience of knowing God. You can only know Christ
by the experience of knowing Christ. You can only know God's
truth by the experience of knowing God's truth. You know the power
of God when the power of God is felt in your soul. You know
the power of Christ's blood when your soul is cleansed by the
blood of Jesus Christ. You know something about forgiveness
when you've experienced forgiveness, but not until then. The fact
is you can't know sin until God makes you to know your own sin.
You can talk about total depravity and I suppose you can write books
about total depravity and you preach sermons about total depravity
and know nothing about sin until God shows you what you are. You
can know nothing at all about the efficacy of Christ's precious
blood in the forgiveness of sin until the blood of Christ sprinkled
on your conscience purges your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God gives you a clean conscience before God.
You can know nothing at all about salvation by God's grace until
you have been delivered from the pit of corruption where there
is no water by the grace of God Almighty in Christ Jesus the
Lord. John believed what he wrote.
He spoke as one having authority because he spoke from deeply
felt experience. God make me that kind of preacher. Oh, God, make me that kind of
preacher. I hope never to stand where I
stand tonight. in front of this congregation
or any other, no matter how few or how many, and not speak with
the authority of God's Word experienced in my soul, the very message
I'm trying to deliver to you. Here's my message tonight. The
light, the witness, and the washing. I want to talk to you about what
I know concerning the light and the witness of God in my soul
and the washing of precious blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. I read
somewhere recently, preachers today are licensed and ordained
by the church. Prophets of old were ordained
in sin of God. Preachers today go forth armed
with degrees and credentials. Preachers of old went forth in
the power of God, the Holy Ghost. Preachers today are questioned
by committees and councils, and they're hired to preach what
churches believe. God's servants came preaching,
thus saith the word of the Lord. What a difference. Preachers
today give themselves to programs and to visitation and to church
business. That's what preachers are expected
to do. God's servants of old gave themselves to prayer and
study and preaching. Oh, God raise up some men today
who will give themselves to prayer and study and preaching. and
we will see God's church blessed as the result. Preachers today
preach, and men are persuaded to move their membership from
one church to another. Prophets of old preached, and
sinners were pricked in their hearts and cried, men and brethren,
what must we do? Preachers today pray, and the
organ plays softly in the background. Elijah prayed, and fire of God
fell from heaven. What a difference. What a difference.
Preachers today are afraid they might offend somebody. God's
servants in days gone by were afraid they might not. Paul said, if the offense of
the cross is ceased, then why do I yet suffer persecution?
The cross of Jesus Christ is always offensive. And if the
message I preach to you is received by folks who do not believe God. It's the message I preach. Men
hear it and refuse to believe God and are comfortable listening
to me. I haven't done any preaching.
The gospel is always offensive to proud, self-righteous, lost
religious people. May God, the Holy Spirit, give
me grace to preach the gospel with such authority The authority
of God, the authority of God's word, the authority of experience
felt in my soul. And there are two great lessons we're taught when we learn the
gospel. We're taught something about the enormity and the heinousness
of our own inbred natural corruption and sin. We're made to know something
about our sin. There's no such thing as a man
or a woman being saved by God's grace without being made to know
something about his or her sin. Your inner depth of depravity
and the learning of the gospel causes us to know the power of
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, to cleanse us from all sin. to cleanse us from sin before
God. The believer. You come into the church house
a few minutes ago and you sit down and you sing the songs with
us and you have a screaming guilty conscience. And then as the word
is opened, God opens your heart. gives you life and faith in Christ
and looking away to Christ the Lord. Suddenly, your conscience,
rather than screaming, rejoices. Rather than damning you, gives
you the blessed assurance of acceptance with God and favor
with God through the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that
cleanseth us from all sin. If you and I are true believers,
these things we have experienced and we continually experience.
We're made to know more and more as we learn and grow in the things
of God, our own depravity. And we're made to know more and
more as we learn and grow in the things of God, the merit,
the efficacy, and the value of Christ's sin atoning blood. If
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all sin. And let's look at the three
statements given in this passage of scripture. Here are the three
things I want you to see. First, the walk. All who are
united to God by faith in Christ walk in the light. Second, the
witness. Those who walk in the light,
trusting the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, have fellowship with
God. And third, the worship. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. First, we learn
that all who are united to God by faith in Christ walk in the
light. We walk in the light. What's he talking about? Isaiah describes all mankind
as being blind men who grope about in darkness. Man by nature
lives in darkness, spiritual darkness. Now he may be brilliant,
he may be academically brilliant, he may be scientifically brilliant,
he may be philosophically brilliant, but he walks in darkness. with
regard to all things spiritual, the carnal mind is darkness. Darkness. So that the natural
man, the natural woman, from their youth up, live in darkness. And there's no possibility of
you removing the darkness from them. They're blind. And blind
men just can't see. They just can't see. Doesn't
matter how much light you shine in their faces, they can't see.
Doesn't matter how reasonably you present your arguments, they
can't see. Now you can persuade a blind
man that something is reasonable. You can persuade him that something
must be true. You can persuade him with argument
and logic and scientific proof that certain things just must
be. But you can't show him light.
You can't make him see. You can't do it. We have this
Creation Science Museum up here in Northern Kentucky. One of
these days, I want to go see it. I think it'd be a good thing
to go see. I'm interested in it. I'm interested
in creation science research. I'm interested in the scientific
arguments and things of that nature. They're helpful to my
understanding of things. But if I knew If I knew I could
go over to the University of Kentucky tomorrow and convince
everybody in the science department and medical school that creation
is so and evolution is a joke, if I knew I could convince them,
Bobby, I wouldn't waste my time. I wouldn't waste my time. Convincing
men that God created the world is not going to do them any good.
It's not going to do them any good. It won't give them any
light. It won't give them any understanding.
Men by nature live in darkness. Our Lord told Nicodemus, except
a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. He cannot perceive. He cannot
understand the things of God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. so that the natural man cannot
receive the things of God for their foolishness to him. They're
spiritually discerned. And a man who has no spiritual
life has no spiritual light and cannot understand anything with
regard to the light. Men walk in darkness. When God
comes in saving mercy, God commands the light to shine out of darkness. to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to the opening verse of
Genesis. Genesis chapter 1. I can't think
of a better way to illustrate what I'm trying to show you than
what you have here in Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. Now, I know that in this day
the whole world around us laughs at us for even imagining that
God created the heaven and the earth. Let them laugh. Let them
laugh. It is beyond absurd. It is beyond
absurd for a rational Thinking human being I'm talking about
one outside of a nut house. I'm talking about one that's
not wrapped up in a straitjacket It is beyond absurd For a rational
human being to imagine that this just kind of popped into existence If you call that brilliance,
I don't want any of it that's beyond absurd In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth and You don't really believe
that. Of course I do. I believe God.
And if you believe God, you'd believe that. In the beginning,
God created heaven and the earth. And the earth was. Now that word
was. Means and would better be translated
and is commonly translated became. The earth became without form
and void. God didn't create it that way.
You can read it in Isaiah chapter 45, verse 18. God didn't create
the earth vain. He didn't create it without form
and void. Something happened. Something happened. A great judgment
fell upon the earth and the earth became without form and void. And darkness was upon the face
of the deep. That's what happened in the natural
creation. And Adam, that's what happened in spiritual, in the
physical creation of man. God created Adam. created him
upright in his own image, made Adam in the image of God, breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul. And Adam walked with God. He
walked with God and, Merle, he was brilliant. He was brilliant. Oh, I can't begin to imagine
What intellectual powers Adam must have had. He walked with
God. And he was naked. And he wasn't
ashamed. Had nothing to be ashamed of.
And then he became without form and void. Darkness engulfed him. Adam took of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, rebelling against God. Satan promised,
said, you eat this and your eyes will be opened. And boy, his
eyes were open. Now watch Adam. Now watch him. This man, Ron, who was created
in the brilliance of perfect manhood, thinks he can hide from
God behind a fig leaf. Suddenly, Adam and Eve, who had
been who have been walking with God. Forgive me, I don't want
to make myself cough and laugh. I can't stand the pain, but they've
been walking with God. And now, since they've gotten
brilliant, darkness has covered their minds, they think they
can hide from God in a bush. They think they can hide from
God in a bush. Darkness was upon the face of
the deep. Now watch this, and the spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters. God brooded over
his creation. God brooded over his creation. like a hen sitting on eggs, bringing
them to maturity and life. The Spirit of God sat upon his
creation and God said, let there be light. And suddenly the light
began to shine. That's exactly what happens in
the new birth. God, the Holy Spirit comes and
he gives life to men. And he says, let there be light.
And the light shines. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And when he does, we begin to
walk in the light. We walk in the light desiring
that our deeds be reproved. Desiring that the light expose
what's in us. Desiring that the light make
us known to ourselves. That we might make ourselves
known to God, confessing our sin. We come to the light, delighting
in the light and walk in the light. We walk in the light of
God's word. In the light of divine revelation. In the light of God's character. We walk in the light as God directs
us in the light, ordering our steps. Celeste saying this morning,
the steps of a good man ordered of the Lord. And so we walk in
the light as God orders our steps and directs our way and gives
us light in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We don't draw back
from the light. No, those who love darkness draw
back from the light. lest their deeds be reproved.
The believer opens his heart and says, Oh
God, shine in the deep recesses of this dark heart of mine and
make me to know the loathsome things hidden in this deep cesspool
of iniquity that I may confess what I am and walk in the light. The believer walks in the light. uprightly, honestly, sincerely,
confessing his sin, confessing himself before God Almighty,
trusting the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, alone to cleanse us
from all sin. We walk in the light. And yet, at present, we can't stand in the dazzling
brilliance of God's ineffably glorious character. We'd be consumed like a snowball
in a blast furnace. We can't walk right into the
sun. It'd burn us up. We'd just walk
in the light of the sun. But soon, oh soon, All the duplicity that
remains in us, all the corruption that remains in us, all the darkness
that yet resides in us shall be taken away. And in heaven's
clearer light, there will be no need of the sun or of the
moon or of the stars, but Christ himself shall be the light of
the city. And we shall walk in the light
in perfect freedom as he is the light. If we walk in the light
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
That's my second point. Walking in the light, that's
the character of God's saints. We live by faith, walking in
the light that God's given us. And we have fellowship. one with
another. Now, obviously you and I who
are born of God have fellowship with each other. All true believers
live in the sweet fellowship of the gospel. Believers have
fellowship with each other. Let us cultivate the fellowship.
Let us cherish the fellowship. Let us embrace one another as
brethren walking in fellowship with God. God forgive me for every ill
thought I have with regard to any of his own and teach me better. If Lindsey Campbell belongs to
God, God almighty loves him with an everlasting love, redeemed
him, made him perfectly righteous. And I ought to embrace him as
God does in Christ, redeemed and perfectly righteous. And
if he happens to look at me the wrong way, that's all right.
It doesn't really matter. Believers have fellowship one
with another. We have one heavenly father,
one elder brother, all redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus
Christ, all born of God the Holy Spirit, all walking together
in the same blessed family to the same everlasting end, heirs
of the same glorious inheritance. But that's not what John's talking
about here. He talked about that back in verse three. Here, John
is talking about not a horizontal fellowship between men and men,
but a vertical fellowship of men with God. If we walk in the
light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. You and I who are God. have fellowship with God. Fellowship with God. Rex, we
had been translated into the kingdom of God's dear son. We who were sometimes darkness
are now light. Children of the light. The light
of the world. And we have fellowship with God
who is light. Three passages. Turn back to
Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. No, go back
to Galatians first. Galatians chapter 4. Galatians
4. Now try to imagine what I'm telling
you. We have fellowship with God and
God has fellowship with us. We live in the same realm as
the triune Jehovah. We live in the Spirit. We live
in God. No longer just in this world.
No longer in the flesh, but in God. Galatians chapter 4, verse
4. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. Now watch this. And because you
are sons, Because you are sons chosen and adopted of God from
everlasting. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, cried Abba
Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a
servant, but a son. What? No more a servant, but
a son. There was a place in Madisonville,
Kentucky many years ago. First time I went there, I went
and visited it. If I remember correctly, it had,
it was made out of cinder block and painted green on the outside.
It's called Brown's Nursing Home. And there was a fella in there.
He and his brother worked there. And they, they took care of things
around there. They were sons in the family. The mom and dad started it from
nothing. Have I got that about right? And you had lots of folks
working for you. Lots of folks working for. And
those other folks were servants. They didn't own anything. They
didn't have rights over anything. They weren't allowed to say anything.
They weren't permitted to say they were servants. They were
hired to do a job, taken care of accordingly, paid accordingly,
and dealt with accordingly. Is that right? They never were
put in your mom and dad's will, were they? I'm just guessing.
They just weren't. But these boys were the sons.
That means everything there belongs to them. Everything belonged
to them. They're sons in the house. Now,
you and I, who are gods, are no longer servants in a stranger's
kingdom. We're sons in the father's house. Can you get hold of this? We
now live in the realm of the spirit. And if a son, then an
heir of God through Jesus Christ. Look at how Paul describes this
in Romans five, Romans chapter five. Therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
By whom that is by Christ we have access by faith into this
grace What's this where in we stand? We have access into this
grace, this grace of sonship, wherein we stand and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience
and patience experience and experience hope. For hope maketh not ashamed
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us. We live here in hope, hope that
shall never be put to shame because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts. God Almighty poured out his spirit
upon us in his grace, giving us life and faith in Christ,
his son, causing us to lift our hearts to heaven and cry Abba
Father. And now we walk in God's world. in the midst of tribulation and
pain and trouble and heartache and trial with hope that shall
never be put to shame because the Spirit of God lives in us
and we live in the Spirit. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. Now, I keep saying this because
I know you're, like myself, you have the influence of religious
nonsense. People have the idea that this
is talking about you can have real assurance if you live real
good. If you just, if you really are
good, then you have assurance. But if you mess up, you don't
have any. That's not what it is to walk
in the spirit. To walk in the spirit, Bob, is to trust the
blood of Jesus Christ. God's Son to cleanse you from
all sin. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, to them that walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit, who live by faith in Christ.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. The law of the Spirit
of life in Christ, that's the gospel. The law of sin and death,
that's the law of Moses, the ministration of death. For what
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. We fulfill the law, believe in
Christ. For they that after the flesh do mind the things of the
flesh. But they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. To live by the law is death.
That's what it is to be carnally minded. To be spiritually minded,
to live by faith in Christ, that's life and peace. Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law
of God. Neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now Mark, listen to this. But
you are not in the flesh. What? I'm looking at a whole
bunch of folks sitting out here in bodies of flesh. What do you
mean you're not in the flesh? You no longer live in the flesh after
the flesh carnalized. but rather in the spirit. But
in the spirit, what do you mean? If so be that the spirit of God
dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he's none of his. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we're
debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live
after the flesh, you shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you've not received again
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you've received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Now watch this. The Spirit itself
bears witness with our spirit. that we are the children of God. One more passage. Look at Colossians
chapter one, or chapter three. If we walk in the light as God
is in the light, we have fellowship with God. Our life is hid with
Christ in God. Colossians three. If ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead, and
your life is hid with Christ in God. If we walk with God,
as God is light, The secret of God is with us, and our secret
is with God. If we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. Now, here's
the third thing, the washing. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all sin. That is the whole of our
acceptance with God is the precious sin-atoning blood of Jesus Christ. He who is God the Son came into
this world in our flesh He lived in our room instead as our representative,
took our sins to be his own, and hung upon the cursed tree,
bearing our sins in his body on the tree until he had fully
satisfied the wrath and justice of the holy Lord God to put away
sin. And now his precious blood pardons
all our sin. There's no other way sin could
be pardoned. For without the shedding of blood is no remission.
But there's no way that our sin cannot be pardoned if Christ,
God's darling son, was made sin for us and satisfied the wrath
of God in our stead. With his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Lord willing, I'll come back
to this another time. But everything here is full of greatness. Oh, how great my sin. It took the blood of Christ to
put it away. And he surrendered all. Oh, how great my sin. Oh, how great the love of God
for my soul must be. That he loved me and gave his
son to redeem me. Oh, how great Christ's sacrifice
must be. His one sacrifice put away all the sins of all
his people at once forever. And yet his great sacrifice continually
cleanseth us from all sin. His blood alone. How can I be cleansed of my sin?
I'm talking about clean before God so that I have no reason
to dread God, no reason to be terrified of God, no reason to
fear divine wrath and punishment. How can that be? There's not
a word here about religious rites and ceremonies, not a word about
baptism or the Lord's Supper. Not a word about sacraments and
indulgences. Not a word here concerning obedience. Not a word here even concerning
repentance. Not even a word here concerning
our continuing in the way of godliness. Nothing is said here
about experience, emotion or feeling. Mother Donna, it looks like everything
here is Christ and his blood. Everything. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. So that looking away to Christ,
trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, every sinner who believes on
the Son of God, walking in the light as God is in the light. We have fellowship with God and
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, completely cleanses us from
all sin forever so that sin can never be imputed to me. This is the believer's walk.
We walk in the light. Walk in the light. God, here I am. You know all
things. Behold me. Behold me. Search me. Try me. Know my heart. Know my thoughts. I'm in the light. I would hide
nothing from my God. Nothing. There's a lot of things
I'll hide from you, not from God. You don't need to know everything.
Nothing from God. I have fellowship with God. That's pretty blind there. We're
a lot different from each other. Most of y'all didn't know that,
did you? She's sweet and pretty and easy to get along with, and
I'm grumpy and hard-nosed and hard to get along with. And we've
been living together for 43 years almost. Almost 43 years. And we have wonderful fellowship
with each other. Wonderful fellowship. We're very
comfortable with each other. Very comfortable. Comfortable
with one another's company. A fellowship with each other. We, walking in the light with
God, are comfortable with God. I'm comfortable with God, Merle,
aren't you? More comfortable with God than I am with you. Comfortable. We have fellowship
with each other. Because the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses me from all sin. I have no reason not to
be comfortable with God. And God has no reason not to
be comfortable with me. I'm in His Son. Oh, may he be
pleased now to give you life and faith in his son. Amen.