Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. In I John chapter 1, verse 5,
the Apostle John makes this statement. This then is the message that
God is light. 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. I've entitled the sermon for
this morning, This Then Is The Message. And that's the title John gave
to it, not me. This then is the message. The message that excludes all
other messages that are not just like it. This, then, is the message. And this word message is found
53 times in the New Testament. And 52 of those times, it's translated
the promise. The promise. This, then, is the
promise good. This, then, is the promise from
God. This is the message. If the inheritance
were of the law, Well, we couldn't be saved. If then the inheritance
were the law, but God gave it to Abraham by promise, not because
of his obedience to the law, but by promise. All the promises
of God in him are yay and amen to the glory of God. This, then,
is the message. And this message is authoritative. What do I mean by that? This,
then, is the message which we've heard of Him. It doesn't come
from us. This is not something man has
concocted. You know, Paul said regarding
the gospel, he said, The gospel which was preached of me was
not after man. It was not derived from any human
source, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is a divine
message that we have heard from Him. This is the Word of God. This, then, is the message. John speaks so dogmatically.
This, then, is the message which we've heard of Him, and it's
a message to be communicated. We declare it unto you. And here
it is. It's a message concerning God. This, then, is the message God
is. It's a message concerning the
isness of God, who God is. This, then, is the message God
is. Now, we can know God exists by
the light of nature. Creation says somebody made this,
and nobody made him. He is not caused by anything. He is eternal. Creation says
God exists. When someone professes atheism,
they've had to first take a leap into the dark to think that nobody
made all this, that it just happened. I have no doubt that everyone
that is an atheist always questions himself deep down, and it's more
of a religion of And atheism is a religion of some sort, but
it's more of a choice and preference and not true conviction. They
would rather there not be a God because they don't like the implications
of there is a God, so they have invented a way to believe that
there's not a God. But it's really not reasonable. It's not reasonable.
It's more of a choice and preference. God is. Now, like I said, by
nature, every man knows. Read Psalm 19. Every man knows
God exists. Creation says God is. Somebody
made this. But creation doesn't tell us
of the is-ness of God. We know that God exists, and
we know He's very powerful. We can see that from creation.
But we can't know that God is love. We can't know if God will
forgive sins. We don't know if God is just.
We don't know of God's holiness. There's things concerning God
which we would not know apart from revelation. And the Bible
is the revelation of the is-ness of God. Him revealing Himself
to us. What He is like. That's the Christian
message. This then is the message God
is. And there's so many things that
we can say from the Word of God that God is. God is sovereign. Where's your God, David? Our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and there's none that can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? God is sovereign. God is love. That's what John tells us. Not
here's love and God fits that definition. No, no, God is love. God is spirit. Christ said concerning his father,
God is spirit. God is spirit in this sense.
He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. He's not in
a physical body. He's a circle. whose center is everywhere and
his circumference is nowhere. God is spirit and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God is all powerful. You see, he's got the power to
make sure whatever he wills comes to pass. If God were not all
powerful, he couldn't be sovereign, but being all powerful, he's
sovereign. He can always make sure his will
comes to pass. God is immutable. He said, I
am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. God is independent. He said,
if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand
hills is mine. God does not worship with men's
hands as though he needed anything. God is independent. Now let me
tell you something that might shock you. God doesn't need you.
You need God. God is utterly, completely independent. He is eternal. He never had a
beginning. He'll never have an ending. From
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. For a thousand years
are in thy sight, as yesterday when it's past, and a watch in
the night. God is just. Judgment and justice
is the habitation of his throne. He's absolutely just. Shall not
the judge of the earth do right? And God and John could have said
any of those things when he's describing God, but that's not
the word he used to describe God. He said, God is light. God is light. Now that is an announcement of
the holiness of God. You see, light is the attribute
of all the attributes. His wrath is a holy wrath. His
love is a holy love. His sovereignty is a holy sovereignty. God is light means God is holy. Holy, holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was and is and is to come. Now the scripture points out
that no man can see God. Why? Because he's holy. A sight of God would kill a man
in his absolute purity and holiness. We can only see God through his
Son, Christ Jesus the Lord. He is holy. You can't see light. Did you
know that? You can't see light. But you
see all things by light. But light is so pure, you can't
see it. God's holiness is such that men
really don't see it. I think an example of that is
our Lord Jesus. When He walked upon the earth,
here's the only holy man to ever live, and nobody understood it.
Nobody got it. They didn't see it. He was and
is holy. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. What is light? Well, if you're
in a dark room and you turn on the light, all of a sudden you
see what was already there. That's what light does. You see
by light. And light comes into contact
with all things, but it's affected by none. Why, the sum being can
embrace the dunghill and yet not contract any of its filthiness. Light is pure. Light is holy. Light represents His holiness. In Him was light, and the life
was the light of men. When Christ was transfigured
on the Mount of Transfiguration, what happened? His face shined
like the sun. His raiment became white as light. His light was seen. His holiness
was seen. His deity. That's who He is. God is light. Holiness is God's purity. It's the perfection of His nature. Thou art of purer eyes to behold
iniquity. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord,
and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy. He only is independently, infinitely
holy. In Him is light. He's unsullied
by even the shadow of anything that's not pure. In Him is no
darkness at all. Holiness is the excellency of
His nature. Now let me tell you two places
where you're going to see God's holiness. First of all, you're
going to see God's holiness in His law. in the Ten Commandments,
or any commandment He gives in the Old Testament or the New
Testament, but specifically the Ten Commandments, He will not
tolerate sin in any form. That's how holy he is, and the
commandments say, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt
not, all the thou shalts and thou shalt not. God gives no
room for sin. He hates sin because he's holy.
He's a purer eyes than to behold iniquity. He hates sin. But you
know where that's most clearly seen? God's holiness. When Christ
cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because
sin was placed in Christ, the sins of his people, and God wouldn't
even spare his son when he saw sin in him. He killed him for
it. That's how holy God is. If there
was one place where he would have ever been lenient, you would
think it would be with the sins that were given to his son. originally
were not his. They were the sins of his people.
And when he bore those sins in his own body on the tree, he
experienced complete forsaking of God. Now, when he says, my
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He answers that in the third
verse, thou, but thou art holy. That's why God is holy. And don't think Your sin is going
to be judged in you or in Christ, one of the two places. And don't
think, if you don't trust Christ, God's not going to spare you.
He that spared not his own son. Oh my, my God, my God, why have
you forsaken me? That's a reference to the holiness
of God. Now, Christ is the light. I love
it when he said, Jesus spake 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. Now, Christ
is the light of how God, who is so holy as I've described
him, And I can't describe Him as I should, I realize that.
God is other. That means He's just not like
me and you, and we can't really grasp this thing of holiness
the way it ought to be grasped. God is holy, but Christ is the
light of how a holy, sin-hating God can accept and receive and
embrace and love and save a sinner. Christ is the light as to how
a holy God can make somebody like me perfect in his sight. Now when he said, I am the light
of the world, it was right after what took place in the woman
taken in adultery. I'm going to read from the scriptures
what took place. And early in the morning, John 8 verse 2,
he came into the temple and all the people came unto him. And
he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. She was caught red-handed. Now, one wonders why they didn't
bring the man, because he was just as guilty, and the law said
to stone him too, but they just brought this woman, taken in
adultery. And when they had set her in
the midst, how cruel this is, they said unto him, Master, this
woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. There's no question
about this woman's guilt. She committed adultery against
her husband. We caught her. You wonder if
they're peeping Toms or something. How'd they catch her? I don't
know, but they did. Now Moses, these Pharisees, these
religious people, these right-wing fundamental religionists, that's
what they were. Now Moses, in the law, commanded
us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they
said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. They
thought, we've got him in a predicament which he can't get out of. If
he says, stoner, we'll say, where's all your talk about mercy and
grace for sinners? If he says, don't stoner, set
her free, we're going to say, where's your respect to God's
holy law? God's holy law says to stoner. They thought they
had Christ in a place where he could not give the right answer. These religious, whatever you
want to call them, thought they could corner and trick omniscience
himself. They thought they had Christ
cornered. You know what the Lord did? But
Jesus, I love this, But Jesus stooped down with his finger
and wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. I love to try to picture in my
mind our Lord stooping and writing on the ground. Now, there's been
much speculation as to what he was writing, but there are two
times in the Old Testament where it was said that the finger of
God wrote something. And Jesus Christ is the finger
of God. And two times it is said the
finger of God wrote something. The first was the law, the Ten
Commandments. Thou shalt not commit adultery. And the second time that God's
hand wrote was in the book of Daniel. when the hand of God
wrote on the wall and said, thou art weighed in the balances and
found wanting. Now, I don't know whether that
is what Christ was writing, but I can see it. Someone once said,
names and dates. He stooped down and wrote in
the ground. So verse 7, when they continued
asking him, he lifted up himself and said, he that's without sin
among you, let him cast the first stone at her. And I don't have
any doubt that when he said that, he was talking about this particular
sin. He that's without this sin among
you, let him first cast a stone at her. Now, somebody may be
thinking, well, I've never committed adultery. I've been faithful
to my spouse. And I'm glad you have, but you
haven't been in your mind. You haven't been in your heart.
How many times have you committed adultery in your heart? And the
Lord said, whoso looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart. So everyone is guilty
of this sin. Let the one who's not guilty
of this particular sin throw the first stone. And I don't
care if you haven't done it physically, you've still done it in your
heart, and that's adultery before God. And what does the scripture
say about these men? And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. After he said that, whoever is
without sin, you throw the first stone. And then he stooped down
and wrote on the ground again. And verse nine says, and they
which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went
out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last.
And Jesus was left with the woman alone, standing in the midst. Now, you read of two stoops,
and that has great significance. Christ had two stoops. Christ
stooped when he became flesh. when he became a man. And he
stooped once again when he was made sin on Calvary's tree. Those are the two stoops of Christ. And now Christ is speaking to
this woman on resurrection ground. And look what he says to her.
Verse 10, when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the
woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?
Hath no man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. They're
all gone. And Jesus said unto her, neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Now, how is it that Christ could
say, I don't condemn you when she was guilty of that sin? because
that sin was put away, because she was justified, and she stands
before God without guilt. Now Christ is the light of how
this holy, sin-hating God can take a poor, vile, sinful man
or woman and embrace them and see them as without sin and without
spot, perfect in His sight, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. Christ is the light as to how
that can take place. God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all. Now, this is about fellowship. Remember, John says in the opening
verses, I'm writing things to you so you can have fellowship
with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ the Lord, and this is a fellowship of light.
Now, how can I know if I have this fellowship of light? God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all. Now, he says in verse 6, if we
say that we have fellowship with Him, A lot of people make that
claim. I talk with God. I pray. He hears
me. I walk with Him. I love Him.
I want to serve Him. I know God. I walk with Him.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
We're lying. We lie, and we do not the truth.
We're not practicing the truth. Now, when he says, if we say
we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, he's not really,
doesn't really mean if you say you have fellowship with him,
but when nobody's seeing in the dark, you sin against him. Well,
we ought not sin against him in the dark. There's no doubt
about it. But if that's what he's saying, nobody would be
saved because everybody's seeing. As we're gonna see in this next
verse, what he's talking about is walking in the darkness of
salvation by works. not walking in the light of what
we just talked about, how Christ is the light of how a holy God
can embrace a sinful man. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
The light of how God saves by Christ. The light of how God
saves by grace. The light of how God saves by
justifying a man through the work of Christ on the cross and
making it to where he has no sin. He's in a state of sinlessness,
having no guilt. If we walk in the light of Him
freely electing a people before the foundation of the world for
His own glory. If we walk in the light of Him
giving a new heart to believe the gospel, to believe and to
repent. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another. We have fellowship with God,
we have fellowship with each other. And the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanseth us. from all sin. Now if we walk
in the light, here's the blessing we have. The fellowship of God
and the blood of Christ cleansing us, always, continually, from
all sin. I sin every day, I sin every
minute, and the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses me
and makes me clean. That's the promise of the gospel.
Now it says in verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now if you have any light,
you will not say that you have no sin. And here the word sin
is a noun If we say we do not presently have a sinful nature,
is what he means. A sinful, evil nature. Paul said, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. Oh, wretched man that I am. Not
that I was before I was saved, but that I am right now. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? If we say we have
no sin, if we say we don't have a sinful, evil nature, here's
what we've done. We've deceived ourselves. And
the truth is not in us. We've lost all credibility. That
person who would claim to not have an evil nature, you can't
believe anything they say. They're lying when they say that,
and they'll be lying when they say everything else. You can't believe what
they say. Look what he says in verse 10. I'm going to get to
verse 9 in a minute, but in verse 10 he says, if we say we've not
sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. And there
the word is a verb. Regarding anything I do, It's
sin. Have you been sinning since you've
been preaching? Yes, I have. The only way God can accept me
is Christ. He doesn't accept me for my preaching
or for my life or anything about me. He accepts me for Christ's
sake. And anything I do is sin. And the only way you can see
that is by seeing the light. If you don't see that, it's because
you have no light. God is light. And if you have
the light of God, you're going to see your own sinfulness, and
your own inability, and your own need of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God is light. If we say we've not sinned, we
make Him a liar, because He says we have. And His Word is not
in us. His holy nature is not in us.
But He says in verse 9, if we confess our sins. And that's
what you're going to do if you have light. You're going to confess
your sins. You're going to be in agreement
with God regarding your sins. You're going to take God's side. against yourself concerning your
sins. If we confess our sins, that
means literally speak the same thing. We say the same thing
God does regarding our sins. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have any light, you're
going to confess your sins and listen to this. You're not forgiven
because you confess your sins, but in confessing your sins,
you're going to find forgiveness. Not without it, but taking sides
with God against yourself. He's faithful. You see, He determined
to do this before time began. When Christ stood as your surety,
one of the things He stood as your surety for was to make sure
you confessed your sins by giving you His Spirit and by giving
you light. He's faithful, and He's just to forgive us our sins. That means It's what we deserve
because Christ Jesus made us perfectly righteous and without
sin. If we confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive
us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now that's the fellowship of
light. If you have light, You'll walk in the light, not in darkness,
the light of the gospel. You'll confess your sin before
God, and you'll look to the Lord Jesus Christ only as everything
in your salvation. God is light. In Him is no darkness
at all. Now we have this message on DVD,
CD. If you call the church right
or e-mail, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Knight, we pray
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon you have just heard,
send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.