Tonight is 1 John 1, verses 5
through 10. 1 John 1, verses 5 through 10. In this passage, the Apostle
John writes by divine inspiration and shows us the character of
God and the character of those who are God's people. He shows
us that the only possible ground upon which sinful men and women
like us can be accepted of God is through the sacrificial death
of his darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he shows us
the glorious efficacy of Christ's sin-atoning sacrifice as our
mediator and substitute. 1 John 1, verse 5. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you, that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him, if we say that we have fellowship with God who is light,
in whom is no darkness at all, and we walk in darkness, we lie
and do not the truth. 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, cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he's 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. Now here the apostle,
having declared plainly that God's character is light, that
his children walk in the light, that we have acceptance with
God through Jesus Christ alone, raises a solemn word of warning
against pretense before God. A hypocritical profession of
religion is a delusion. John here draws a clear distinction. between an empty profession and
the gracious reality of godliness. He warns us of the danger of
saying more than we've experienced, of pretending that which is not
so. To have fellowship with God is
a great privilege, the privilege of all who are united to Christ
by faith. But to say that we have fellowship
with God while walking in darkness is presumption beyond imagination. Every profession will be tried
and tried by fire. Your refuge will be tried, tried
by God Almighty. So will mine. Let us make certain
then that what we profess to be so is really so. Make certain
that our profession is a declaration of that which we actually possess
in our souls of the grace of God. Make certain that as we
walk before God, we walk before God in honesty, professing faith
which God has wrought in us, professing grace which God has
bestowed upon us. As in our day, there were many
in John's day who came to profess faith in Christ. who profess
to be followers of Christ, who profess to be Christians, who
profess to believe God, who never experienced God's grace, who
never knew the gospel of the grace of God. The vast multitude
in our day, the vast multitude in our day, at least in our society,
professes faith of some kind in Christ Jesus the Lord. I dare
say you know very few people in your families or among your
neighbors and acquaintances who do not profess faith in Christ. And few have any idea who he
is. Few walk in the light of divine
revelation. They come to profess him. perhaps
by some family tradition, perhaps by pressure from friends and
relatives, perhaps by some philosophical apprehension, perhaps by some
pressure of reason they couldn't resist, perhaps by some emotion,
perhaps by some fear, some tragedy that came into their lives, and
they make a profession. They say we are children of the
light, but they walk in darkness. In John's day in particular,
many professed to believe Christ who denied the reality of his
virgin birth, who denied the reality that God came into the
world in human flesh, who denied that Jesus Christ really is God,
and others who denied that he really was a man or really is
a man. All of that which we recognize
in scripture to be declarations of historic facts concerning
our Lord's life and His death and His resurrection, they made
to be nothing but philosophical concepts. And so there were many
who professed faith. who professed to be children
of the light and walked in darkness. And John's epistle in this opening
chapter is intended by God the Holy Spirit to show us the horrible
evil and the great danger of a false profession of faith.
I can't stress this sufficiently. In this place, we do not try
to con people into making a profession of faith. Folks get in trouble
and people call, say, Brother Don, would you come talk to my
son, talk to my daughter, talk to my husband, talk to my wife?
I believe they're ready to make a profession of faith. I believe
they're ready to decide for the Lord. Call somebody else. I ain't
going. I ain't going. They got arrested.
That's a good time to go see them. No, let them sit in jail
a while. Then I'll go see them. They're
sick. They've had an accident, got
trouble. They're willing now. No, no. We don't try to con people
into religion. You see, if I get you, if I get
your children, if I get your neighbors, your friends to make
a profession of faith, baptize them, they join the church, and
they go through the motions of religion and cling to a false
refuge, every act of their religious service is eating and drinking
damnation to themselves. A false profession is a horrible
delusion and we will not participate in those activities that produce
such. In these verses, John draws the
line very tightly. He makes it very distinct and
clear. People read what John says and
will hear this message, you know, so that's harsh, that's judgmental,
that's not right, you can't do things like that. You ought to
be more loving and more gracious and more kind. Genuine love protects
the objects of his love. If you love somebody and you
see them running to danger, you rescue them from the danger if
possible. If you love someone and you see
them walking in a path that you know will lead to destruction,
you seek to stop them from walking in that path. And John here expresses
great concern for the souls of men. Let us have the same concern
and not hesitate to declare to men and women the truth of God. For apart from the light of the
revelation of God in Christ Jesus by the gospel, all you know shall
perish under the wrath of God. No, do not attempt to make judgments
concerning whether a person who professes faith knows God or
not, but tell folks the truth. Tell them the truth. The gospel
itself draws a clear distinction. That which John shows us here
is clear and distinct. If men and women profess to be
believers and refuse to receive the revelation of God in his
word, they walk in darkness and they deceive themselves. Now
you can mark that down. If anyone professes to believe
God, and refuses to walk in the light of the revelation of God
in his word, they walk in darkness. Walking in the light implies
several things. True Christianity, true saving
faith, brings fallen sinners into fellowship with God. And this fellowship is described
as walking in the light. God is light. In him is no darkness
at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. Walking. Walking implies confidence. Peace. When you're fearful, you're
in a hurry. When you're fearful, you make
haste. When you're fearful, you're in confusion. When you walk,
you walk with confidence and peace. You're not confused. You're not hesitant. You're not
in a hurry. You're just walking. Walking
with confidence and peace. Brother Don, as we walk through
this world, believing God, we confidently trust his promises. trust his providence, trust his
word, trust his purpose. We walk with God and we walk
with God in peace no matter what comes, no matter no matter what
befalls us, no matter what obstacles we face, no matter what difficulties
we have. Walking also implies action. I realize that there are a lot
of folks who profess faith in Christ who walk like those North
Korean soldiers in goose step. They'd march around in a parade
and all of them in perfect, precise order doing exactly the same
thing. And that's what most religion is. It is people taught to copy
other people enacting religion or religious. But God's people
walk. They walk with him, serving him. Seeking his glory seeking the
interest of his kingdom to walk in the light is to walk before
God Not sitting still but walking walking through this world in
the service of our Redeemer for the glory of his name Walking
implies progress We who walk with God Grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I We grow in the grace and knowledge
of Christ and thereby grow in the knowledge of ourselves. And
so we walk before Him continually as we came to Him. Just like
we came to Him, we walk with Him, repenting of our sin, confessing
our sin, trusting Christ. We walk with Him, growing continually
in our dependence on Him. You see, the believer, as he
grows in grace, does not grow independent of the Savior. Oh,
no. No, we grow more and more dependent.
We don't grow separate from Him. We grow more and more relying
upon Him. The believer walks continually,
persevering in the faith. You see, true faith is not having
believed on Christ. True faith is not having repented. True faith is not having confessed
our sins. Most of the people I know, my
whole family, my whole family, everybody in my family, outside
my household, professing faith in Christ, rest their souls on
experience they had when they were children. Do you? Experience you had 20
years ago 40 years ago or this morning If you do you've got
no refuge your hopes of vain delusion Faith is not I believed
in Christ. I believe Christ. There's a difference
James It's not I repented. I repent it's not I confess I
confess him faith perseveres looking to Christ alone so that
the righteous shall hold on his way. And he that hath clean hands
and a pure heart shall wax stronger and stronger. And my question
to you is this, are we walking with God in the simplicity and
sincerity of faith or are we walking in darkness? Which is
it? Everybody here is either walking
in the light with God who is light are walking in darkness
without the light of God. The title of my message tonight
is God is light. God is light. In these six verses of scripture,
God the Holy Spirit shows us three things very distinctly. First, he describes the character
of God in his holiness. And then he warns us against
all pretentious religion. And then he assures us of the
glorious efficacy of Christ's sin atoning sacrifice. Here's
the first thing. John delivers a solid message
concerning the character of God. This then is the message which
we've heard of him and declare unto you. that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. Now with those three words, John
gives us a summary of all that the prophets of the Old Testament
and the New tell us about God. God is light and there's no darkness
in him. God is light and there's no darkness
in him. That's another way of declaring
the holiness of God. He is a purer eyes than to behold
iniquity. He's holy, holy in everything. Holiness is the character of
our God. When Isaiah saw the Lord high
lifted up, he heard the angels crying, holy, holy, holy is Lord
God of Sabbath. He is holy, the thrice holy one. in all his being, holy in all
his attributes, holy in all his works. God's justice is holy
justice. His wrath is holy wrath. His anger is holy anger. His grace is holy grace. His love is holy love. Well, what's the point, Pastor?
Here's the twofold message of evangelism. You can read it for
yourselves in Isaiah chapter 40. All flesh is grass. Dark, withering grass. That's all. The prophet said,
what shall I cry? Tell everybody you're grass.
Withering grass. The grass withers. The flower
fadeth. The wind blows it away. Grass. Worthless, worthless grass. Now that's all there is to human
flesh. Yours and mine. All flesh is
grass and God is light. Behold your God. Set in contrast
to what we are. Behold your God who is light
in all the purity of his holy being. This God who is light
is he who consumes all darkness. This is the message sent from
the king of kings to sinful men. God is like turn back to John
chapter one, John, the first chapter. This is the message
the son of God revealed as he came into this world. The message
Christ in both his eternal deity and his perfect humanity declares
John chapter one, verse four in him was life and the life. This one who is life was the
light of men and the light shines in darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not. Verse nine, 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. This is the message. that John
and the other apostles heard of Christ and declared to us. God is pure and holy. God is light. God, the spirit
is the spirit of truth. And those who worship him worship
him in spirit and in truth. Our blessed savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, declared that he is himself the true light, the
true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
All light comes from Him, the light of the gospel, the light
of divine revelation, light that's given to us, revealed in us and
made known in us by the new birth when God commands the light to
shine out of darkness into our hearts, giving the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This is the message we declare to men. God is light. And there is no declaration of
the gospel. without the declaration of God's
essential character in His holy being. Because God is light,
and there's no darkness at all in Him. Because God is light,
and He cannot tolerate evil. Because God is holy, and He cannot
look upon that which is not holy. If you would be accepted of God,
somehow you must be made holy. and you cannot make yourself
holy. That's God's work. He comes who
is light by the sacrifice of his darling son and takes the
unholy and makes us holy. The Lord Jesus, he made sin for
us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
You remember what he said when he gave the law back in the book
of Leviticus? He said to Abraham, walk before
me And be ye perfect And then he gave the law of leviticus
three times in the book of leviticus. He says you shall be holy That's
not a command. That's a promise That's a declaration
God declares if you're mine I'll make you holy and he does it
by the sacrifice of his son and by the mighty operation of his
grace God gives light. He alone gives light. The light
of reason. So that God gives men and women
the ability to reason and understand. But that light will never give
you the light of life. The light of creation. You look
at the heavens. And the heavens declare the glory
of God. There's no such thing as a man
or a woman who's an atheist. Well, I work with folks who are
atheists. No, you don't. You work with folks who are liars
and fiction show you that everybody is. I don't believe there's a God.
You can't look in the heavens and deny God's being more than
that. God's giving you the light of
your own conscience. So they stamped in your very
consciousness, his being, but the light of creation and the
light of conscience would never give you the light of life. have
the light of divine providence, God's operations, God's works,
so that men are constantly made to see that God is, and yet that's
not the light of the revelation of the glory of God. The light
of divine revelation by which sinners are brought into union
with God Is the light of life put in you in the new birth?
It's the light that comes by the word of the gospel It's the
light that comes from within so that the apostle when he writes
about god's providence. He says We know We know How can
you say that everybody who's born of god knows something?
How do you say that because they do? We know by the revelation
of the word and we know by the testimony of the spirit within.
So that we have within us an intrinsic knowledge that comes
from our relationship with God given to us in this word. We
know. We know. We know truth from error. We know light from darkness.
And thus we walk with God in the light. The unbeliever despises
God's revelation. Our Lord Jesus put it this way.
This is the condemnation that light is come into the world
and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
are evil. For everyone that doeth evil,
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. This will shock you, I know,
but do you know there are people who get upset when they listen
to your pastor preach? Because I'm not going to have
anybody talk to me that way. If you come sit here, I want
to talk to you that way. If you give me five minutes,
I want to talk to you that way. I want to make you understand
that there's nothing in you but sin. Nothing else. You are sin, you do sin, you
cannot and will not do otherwise. I'm not going to go listen to
that. I'm going to go up here to town and I'm going to listen
to that fellow who tells me how good I am. I'm going to listen
to that fellow who tells me how much God needs me. He's making
me feel better. I'm here for the purpose of making
you feel bad about what you are. That's my intention. It's my
intention to destroy every possible refuge you build for yourself,
that God may turn you to Christ Jesus as the only refuge for
your soul. To his own people, the Lord Jesus
Christ reveals the light of God's glory and grace. And as he shines
his light into our hearts, He sweetly constrains us to turn
to the light that our deeds may be made manifest to us, that
we may confess to God what we are and trust Christ alone as
our Redeemer. In God, who is light, there is
no possibility of darkness, no darkness of evil. no darkness of ignorance, no
darkness of error, and the holy, pure, spotless light of God will
never admit of darkness in his presence. You will either be
made children of light and walk in the light or you'll perish
in your sins. We should learn then to reverence
and worship God, learn to fear him. It's a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God. And we should learn to look
at sin in the light of God's holy character. And we would learn the foolishness
of trying to deceive him. That brings me to my second point. And be sure you get this. Be
sure you get this. Pretense before God is folly. Pretense before God is folly. Bobby Estes, hypocrisy with God
is insane. It's insane. Nothing's hidden
from him. Now you can pretend with me and
get by with it. That's not hard. I'm not real
slick. You can pretend with other folks and get by with it because
they pretend too. But pretense with God is insane. John warns us here against all
pretense and hypocrisy in religion. Look at verse 8, verse 6. If
we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Verse 8, if we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we say that we have not sin, verse 10, we make him a liar
and his word is not in us. Now, Frank, if I understand what
those three verses of Scripture say, a man who says, I have no
sin is a lost man. The person who says, I have done
no sin is a lost person. The person who says, I have fellowship
with God and walks in darkness is lost. These folks are all
pretenders, hypocrites before God, trying to put on a front
in the presence of God who is light, whose light strips away
the veneer and exposes what you are. In these verses, he categorically
denounces as unregenerate all such pretenders. First, there
are those who are religious liars, multitudes of religious liars,
carnal professors of religion. hypocrites who profess godliness
but live according to the principles of evil and in the way of evil. We say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness. We lie and do not the truth. God's people don't walk in darkness. Oh, true. Isaiah speaks of those
who are the righteous ones who walk in darkness. We recognize
that we have no light of our own, no light in ourselves, no
light that we produce. That light we have is light that
God's given us. But here he's talking about folks
who walk in darkness. He's talking about the darkness
of that which is revealed truth. God's people know all things.
You have an unction from the Holy One. And you know all things. You know all things. All that's
needful for your soul. All that God teaches his children,
bringing them to Christ. You know. I don't pretend that
everyone here, or all believers, have clear, precise theological
understanding of things. And most people who pretend to
have it have less than they imagine. But God's people know the truth
so that you hear salvation by grace. And that's that's it. That's it. You hear that Christ
alone is our acceptance with God. You've got no claim before
God. No righteousness. But he is no
atonement. But he is. That's it. That's
it. And then you hear somebody slip in little works. slip in
a little sacramentalism. But that didn't sound right to
me. What was he saying? You know why it didn't sound
right? Because it wasn't right. And
you know it. You hear it. That smells like
works. That's because it is. Because
it is. God's people don't walk in the
darkness doctrinally. They just don't. They just don't.
And God's people don't walk in the darkness in their lives,
in their character, in their behavior. Those who are taught
the grace of God. If we have experienced the grace
of God. If you know the grace of God,
if I know the grace of God, this is what God says in his word.
The grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all
men, the gospels preached to everybody, but it teaches you. Bill Raleigh, if you're his,
it teaches you to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and to live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Teaches you. The grace of God,
you see, changes sinners. He gives us a new heart, a new
nature, a new will. The grace of God sanctifies us,
devotes us to Christ. Yes, we devote ourselves to him
in consecration continually because he continually works in us his
sanctification. The grace of God that brings
salvation. graciously, effectually teaches
us to say no to ungodliness. To say no to worldly lust. To live soberly. Soberly. That doesn't mean not to live
as drunk, so surely that goes without saying. To live soberly
is to live like folks who can live beyond the end of their
noses. Live like folks who think beyond the end of their noses,
to live like folks who have a sense of reality soberly, not living
for a transitory fix of happiness, not living for a transitory feeling
of goodness, but soberly in this world, walking with God for his
glory and righteously, righteously. What does that mean? Living right. Right. Folks, I'm not a real good counselor. Well, I am pretty good, because
I'll tell you the truth. That means I don't do much of it. Folks don't come asking for counsel
from me, because I tell you, you do what's right. Well, you
know, I don't know what I ought to do. I just, I've got these choices
here. You know what you ought to do.
You know right from wrong. You know right from wrong. You
don't need me to tell you. God's word tells you, your conscience
tells you, Christ in you tells you. You know right from wrong.
What should I do? It's not a matter of what you
should do, let's see what you're going to do. You're going to do what
you want to. What do you want to do? What
do you want to do? Right or wrong? God's people
live righteously. That means Merle Hart, when you
do business with a man, he can trust you. You may have signed
a contract to satisfy him, but he could trust you just as well
without it. That's what it means. That means your wife can trust
you. That means your sons and daughters
can trust you. You live righteously and godly. God's people live for God. Mark Henson, if you belong to
him, you live for God. But Brother Don, what about our
sin, our corruption, our depravity? I've said nothing to deny any
of those things. I'm talking about a warfare,
a conflict between flesh and spirit that goes on all the time.
But God's people live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world. Doesn't matter what laws are
passed against it or for it. They live soberly, righteously,
and godly. All believers do. All of them. True believers do not walk in
darkness. Their lives are not evil, but
sanctified by grace. The great majority of people
in this world are self-deceiving liars. If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and Christ is not in us. Do you
know? Most people really do think they're
innocent. I really do. Most people really
do think they're good. They really, they really think
now. I'm not perfect, but man, I'm
a pretty good fella. I'm pretty good. Me too. That's my nature. And that's
horribly evil. But men say, I have no sin. They're
liars. Men say, I'm good. You're a liar. Men say, I haven't done evil.
You're a liar. Read the next word. They go on
beyond deceiving themselves and blaspheming God. Verse 10, if
we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar. And Christ
is not in us. His word is not in us. Folks excuse their faults and
deny their guilt. Actually claim never to have
transgressed God's law. Multitudes imagine that they're
good and godly and righteous and that the works are acceptable
to God after all Nobody's perfect. But if you put us into balances
and over here is goodness over here is evil The goods gonna
outweigh the band. It'll be alright It'll be alright
You blaspheme God? His word not in you but then
in the third place John tenderly assures us We who are born of
God and taught of God and have seen the light He assures us
of the merits of Christ our Redeemer We see the light of God's holiness
and God's glory. We know ourselves sinners And
we know God must punish sin Therefore in verses 7 and 9 John gives
us a word of comfort Several months ago, Brother Todd
called me up one day, struggling with statements in 1 John 3 and
Romans 7. He said, Brother Don, when Scripture talks about sin
and the evil that I do, I would not. Then Paul talks about sin
and says, no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
And talks about the That which is born of the devil does wickedness. And that which is born of God
cannot sin. What's that talking about? How
can you say at one time all I do is sin and another time I don't
ever sin and cannot sin? I said, Todd, if I understand
it correctly, both are absolutely true. What you are by nature can do
nothing but sin. Christ in you cannot sin. And the two never cease to be
at war one with another. Well, how then can we find acceptance
with God? How can sinners In the darkness of our depravity,
walk with God who is light. 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. What's he talking about? who are born of God walk in the
light. We acknowledge that God's true
in everything he says and everything he does. Ron Wood, we bow to
God's revelation concerning ourselves and him, his son and his salvation. We walk in the light. God says,
I can do no evil. I know it's so. I can do nothing
but evil. I know it's so. Christ in you,
that new man born of God cannot see. Adam, that old man you are,
can't do anything else. We walk in the light. We acknowledge
it. All that's evil is what I am
by nature. All that's right and holy is
what Christ is in me. God is light. We walk in the
light of his word. We walk in the light of his gospel.
We walk in the light of his grace. And if we do, We have fellowship
one with another. That means we get along. Well, it means that, yeah. But
it means a lot more than that. It means that God, who is light,
and we who walk in the light of the grace he's given us, have
fellowship with each other. There is no conflict between
God and me. There's no barrier between God
and my soul. There's no wall of separation
between us and God. Not a walk in the light. We have
fellowship with God. And we, having fellowship with
God, have it because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, Cleanseth
us Cleanseth us from all sin For the wrecks and some of the
men were asking me back in the study about various translations
modern translations the New King James is Good translation just
one problem one problem that a real problem You miss that
ETH. Oh, that ETH is so good. I'm
so glad we have it here. It doesn't say the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's son, cleansed us from all sin. Lindsay Campbell,
it constantly cleanses us. Constantly. As oft as I feel
the serpents bite, I look to Christ crucified, and the blood
of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Here I stand, holy before
God, who is light, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. How is this? made ours. How is it that we have fellowship
with God? Through the cleansing of Christ's
blood, being made partakers of the divine
nature, Christ created in us. You see, God's people are made
holy as God himself is holy, with holiness imputed to us and
holiness imparted to us. imputed to us in free justification
and imparted to us in free sanctification so that God declares us holy
on the basis of what Christ has done. And God comes and puts
his son in you, a new man created in righteousness and true holiness
and makes you holy before him so that we are holiness to the
Lord. This light in which we walk is
demonstrated day by day as we walk before God in simplicity,
honesty, and sincerity. In submission, obedience, and
devotion. In the abhorrence of sin, in
the love of holiness, in repentance and faith. We have fellowship
with God who is light. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Brother Don, how can
I have this sweet cleansing of conscience all the time? How is it possible? How is it
possible to walk before God whose light Can't hide anything from
Him? How can I walk before God who's
light in the peace of conscience with the blood of Christ cleansing
me from sin all the time if we confess our sin? He's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You walk before God in the light
of God's holiness, just as you came to him. As you therefore
have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. God, here I am, a mass of sin. My best thoughts, my highest
imaginations, my noblest deeds, my greatest works, just filthy
rags. I have no claim on your grace,
no hope for your mercy, no basis for you to receive me except
your son. Through his precious blood, oh
God, Be gracious to this sinner. You're clean. You're clean. You're clean. Oh, sweet peace
of constant cleansing by the blood from God who is light and
never deceives. Amen.