Look with me again, if you would,
at 1 John 1, verse 5. John says, this then is the message. I've entitled this message, this
then is the message. And that title doesn't come from
me. It comes from John, doesn't it? This, then, is the message. And notice the definite article,
the. This, then, is the message. The only message. The message
that excludes all other messages. This is the message. Now you'll find this interesting.
This word message is translated. It's used 53 times in the New
Testament and 52 of those times it's translated promise. Promise. This is the promise. The promise of good. If the inheritance
were of the law, it would no more be by promise, but God gave
it to Abraham by promise. This is God's promise. Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God, same word, through unbelief,
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded
that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And this message is authoritative. Look what he says. This then
is the message which we've heard of him. This isn't something that comes
from us. This isn't something we made
up. This isn't our spin on things. This is the message we've heard
of him. Very much like Paul saying the
gospel which we're preached to be was not after man. It was not derived from any human
source. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. This then is the message which
we've heard of him. That's where the authority is.
It came from him. It's an authoritative message.
And it's a message to be communicated because he says this is a message
we've heard of him and declare unto you. And what is it? First, God I'm going to get to
the light part in a moment, but let's just think about this statement. God is. This is a declaration of the
isness of God. That's what the Bible, that's
what the gospel is all about. It's a declaration of who God
is. This is the message we've heard
from Him in declaring to you that God is. Not simply God exists. We know God exists by the light
of nature. The creation says clearly that
somebody made all of this and nobody made Him. Everybody knows
that. There are no atheists. And when
one espouses atheism, he has taken a blind leap in the dark
to believe something like that. And the atheist would prefer
that there be no God. It's not really from conviction,
it's from preference. He would prefer that there be
no God. because of the implications toward
him if there is a God and if he is like the Bible says. I
would rather there not be a God, therefore I'm going to choose
to not believe in God. Everybody knows deep down that
God exists, but we can't know what God's like apart from him
revealing to us who he is. The only way I'm going to know
Him is if He reveals to me who He is. And the Christian message
is a message concerning God is. God is sovereign. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. There's many of God's
attributes that we can say with accuracy concerning God is. God is love. Not here's love
and God fits that description. God is love. God is spirit. And they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God doesn't
have a material body in that sense. He's everywhere at once.
I heard somebody say this, God is a circle whose center point
is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. Yeah. God is all powerful. The Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. God is immutable. He can't change.
He said, I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. God is independent. He said,
if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. Cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. He's not worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. God is eternal from everlasting
to everlasting. Thou art God for a thousand years
in thy sight, or as yesterday when it's past, and a watch in
the night. God is just. Justice and judgment
are the habitation of thy throne. And John could have said any
of these things when he said God is, couldn't he? They're
all true. It's who God is. He's revealed
this concerning himself in his word. But he says God is light. This then is the message. This
is the gospel message. That God is light. And in him is no darkness at
all. Now what this is, is an announcement
of God's holiness. God is light. And in him is no
darkness and all. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty,
which was and is and is to come. Now I Googled this. I don't understand
how this is so, but I Googled this because I've always heard
light is invisible. And you know, I don't see light looking at
my hand. I just see what that light reflects. But then I think
I see the sun and I see the, I see these lights shining. And
so I don't know what that means, but I Googled it and it said
light is invisible. Well, God is invisible. Immortal,
invisible, the only wise God. In light, inaccessible, hid from
our eyes. He dwells in the light to which
no man can approach. Light. It's invisible. And you
can't see God. You know why? Because he's holy.
No man has seen God at any time. You can't see holiness. You can see the effects of it,
but you can't see holiness. Now, one of the reasons I thought
about this, what about when the Lord Jesus Christ walked on this
earth? There's the one time holiness walked on this earth. Nobody
recognized it. You know, that lets us know that
we don't much know much about holiness, does it? No man has seen God at any time. You cannot see light, but you
see all things by light. And when there is light, the
darkness flees, doesn't it? If you're in a pitch black room,
you can't see anything. If there's no light, you turn
on the light, you see everything. You see by light. Whatsoever
makes manifest is light. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of the 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 light, God is light. Think about this. Light comes
into contact with all things, but it's affected by nothing. When the sunlight lights upon
the dungheap, it doesn't make contact with
its defilement, does it? It contacts it, but the defilement
of the dungheap doesn't go to the light. God is light. This is what God the Holy Spirit
is used to describe who God is. God is light. Light represents His holiness.
In Him was life and the life was the light of men. You know, light or holiness is
the attribute of all the attributes of God. His sovereignty is a
holy sovereignty. His love is a holy love. His omnipotence, his power to
do whatever he is pleased to do, it's a holy power. His immutability is a holy immutability. As a matter of fact, holiness
by its very nature is immutable. That's why a believer cannot
fall away. He has a holy nature given to
him by God that can't corrupt, that can't fall away. Every attribute
of God is surrounded by holiness. He only is independently, infinitely
holy. I love the way the writer John
said in Revelation, thou only art holy. Who shall not fear
thee? Holiness is the excellency of
the divine nature. It's his otherness. The Lord
is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. Now, let me tell you two places
the holiness of God is manifested. First of all, the holiness of
God. And, you know, even while I'm
talking, even while I'm talking, I'm talking about something that
I'm very well aware of the fact that I don't understand. talking
about God's holiness, and I'm sitting there thinking, boy,
aren't you doing a great job of describing the holiness of
God? It's frustrating. So forgive me. I don't think
anybody in here can do any better, though. I mean, we're talking
about nobody can talk about this the way it ought to be talked
about. But God's holiness is, first of all, expressed in his
holy law. Do you know the law does not
permit sin in any way. All it does is condemn sin. It gives no excuse for sin. It
gives no hope for sin. All it does is condemn sin. That's all God's law does. Somebody
says, I'm going to try to keep the law. All you do by that is
show that you don't know what the law is saying. Because if
you knew what the law was saying, you wouldn't be saying anything
like that. All the law does is expose sin and it shows God's
intolerance for sin. God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. But do you know where His holiness
is most clearly manifested? I know you know the answer to
that question. Turn with me to Psalm 22. Psalm 22, verse one. My God, my God, and these are
the words of Jesus Christ. Why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the
daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night season, and
am not silent. Now here's the answer to that
question, but thou art holy. That's why God forsook his Son,
because God is holy. If there was ever a time when
God could have overlooked sin in some way, it would have been
right here. When sin was on his only begotten
and well-beloved son. And when sin was found in his
son, God forsook him. There we have the holiness of
God. Now when Christ said, I am the
light of the world. He is the light of how a holy,
sin-hating, unapproachable God can embrace somebody as sinful
and filthy and vile as me. Turn with me to John chapter
8. Verse 12, Then spake Jesus again
unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. Now he said this
directly after this encounter with this poor woman. Look in
verse 1 of John chapter 8. Jesus went into the Mount of
Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him. And he sat down and taught
them, and the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken
in adultery. And when they had set her in
the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken
in adultery. In the very act, there's no question
regarding the guilt of this woman. Now Moses, in the law, commanded
us that such should be stoned. And you know, that's what the
law says to do to the adulterer. Stone them to death. Now, I brought out this before,
but I think it's so curious how the man's not there. The man
was to be stoned too. They didn't bring the man. They
brought the woman for her to be stoned. Verse six, now Moses
and the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what
sayest thou? And they thought that they had
the Lord in a predicament. If he says stoner, I thought
you talked about the forgiveness of sins and mercy. If he says
let her go free, where's your respect for God's holy law? They
thought they had omniscience in a place he couldn't get out
of. That's amusing, isn't it? This, they said, tempting him
that they might have to accuse him. They thought we're going
to be able to accuse him with whatever answer he gives.
But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground
as though he heard them not. Aren't you listening to us? No.
No. He just wrote in the ground as
though he heard them not. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. And I don't have any doubt that
he's talking about this particular sin. If you're not guilty, throw the
first stone. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. There's been so much speculation
concerning what he wrote, and I know you've heard me say this
if you've ever heard me talk about this, but there's two other
places in the scripture where God is said to write with his
finger. Number one, the law. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. And the second time was when
he was writing there in Daniel chapter 5, thou art weighed in
the balances and found wanting. Now I don't know if he was writing
that, but I think it's a pretty good yes. Somebody else once said
names and dates. It could be. It could be. And they which heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone,
and the woman standing in the midst. Now, it's been pointed
out that there were two stoops. Christ made two stoops. The first stoop, when he became
flesh. the second stoop when he was made sin and died. And now he's speaking to this
woman on resurrection ground. And he can speak in a way that
would never be able to be done. Let's look what he said. 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? Hath
no man found you guilty? Is there no accusation to be
brought against you? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. How could that be? There's nothing to condemn her
for. It's what the Bible calls justification. Go and sin no
more. Now back to our text in 1 John
chapter 3. This then, verse 5, this then
is the message which we've heard of Him in declaring to you that
God is light. He's utterly holy. And in him is no darkness at
all. Now, you remember that, remember
from last week that he talked about, he's writing these things
that we might have fellowship with him. And he says, truly
our fellowship was with the father and with his son. Now, what I
want to talk about for the rest of this message is how can I
know if I have this fellowship with light, this fellowship with
God? How can I know if I know anything
about this? What do I know of fellowship,
communion, agreement with this light? Now you'll notice in the
next five verses, each verse has the word if. This is very
important. Each word has the word if. Now
he's made this powerful statement regarding God being light and
in him is no darkness at all. Now, if we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and we do not the truth. Verse seven, if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
fellowship with God and fellowship with his people. and the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say, verse
8, if we say that we have no sin, we've deceived ourselves
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is
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 by these verses,
I see that I can, I see if I have any fellowship with light by
what I understand regarding S-I-N sin and S-I-N-S sins. If we say, John says this a lot, If we say
we have fellowship with Him, I pray to God, I speak to Him,
He hears me. I have communion with Him, He
knows me. I serve Him, He's my Lord. If we say we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, We're liars. That's simple enough,
isn't it? We lie, and we do not the truth. And when he's talking about walking
in darkness, most people look at that, well
that means that in the dark when nobody's around, nobody can see,
you practice sin, and you commit sin, and you commit sin habitually,
and you do all these terrible things as long as you don't get
caught, you're a hypocrite if that's the way you are. Would
anybody say it's okay to sin in the dark? Of course not. Of
course not. But is that what he's saying?
No, he's talking about if you don't walk in the light as to
how God saves sinners by Christ. What I just talked about in Christ
being the light of the world. He's the light as to how God,
this holy God, can embrace, and have fellowship with, and love,
and accept, and have communion with somebody like me or you.
Christ is the only light of that. That's the only way a holy God
can have fellowship with me, and love me, and accept me. It's
through Christ. My sins are forgiven for Christ's
sake. No other reason. That's the only reason. And if someone walks contrary
to that, all their boasting of fellowship with God is a lie.
God doesn't hear them. God doesn't speak to them, and
He won't be spoken to by them. It's all a lie. It comes from
taking God and trying to bring Him down to my level, and me
thinking that there's things I can do to please Him. If you
believe in salvation by works, in any form, to any degree, under
any circumstances, for anything. You're walking in darkness. You're
a liar. You're lying to yourself. You're
telling lies about God. You're trying to bring him down
to your level. You're telling lies to everybody about the fellowship
you have with him. You don't have any fellowship with him.
He doesn't hear a thing you say. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Now, somebody that has some understanding
of the light, and in him is no darkness at all, they're going
to have some understanding of this thing called sin. And the
reason someone doesn't understand sin, doesn't see sin, is one
reason. They know nothing of the holiness
of God, and they don't have a holy nature. It takes a holy nature
to see sin for what it is. Now look in verse 8. If we say,
John uses this word a lot, if we say, if we say, if we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Self-deception. And the truth is not in us. Christ is not in us. His spirit
is not in us. His truth is not in us. We've
lost all credibility. Now what he's talking about,
sin here is a now. And what he's talking about is
an awareness of a sinful nature. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. I know it's there all the time. Paul said, I know that in me,
that is in my flesh. dwelleth no good thing. Oh, wretched man, he said later
on in Romans 7, that I am, not that I was, but that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Well, Paul must have had some
real problems. Yeah, he did. Same problems you have. He had
a sinful nature. He had a fallen nature that was
always there with him. Somebody says, well, why would
somebody, oh, aren't you saved? Yeah, he was saved. You're the
one that's not if you can't see that. Yeah, he was saved. He
had a holy nature. He had a new nature. And someone
that doesn't see themselves in that light, all they prove by
that is the truth's not in them. And they have lost all credibility. You can't believe anything they
say. I don't trust them. Somebody that doesn't see that
about themselves, they've lost all credibility. Look what he
says in verse 10. If we say we've not sinned. Now that is a verb. Sin is what we are. Sins are
what we do. Sin is what we are and sins are
what we do. That's a verb. Now, if I know
anything about God is light and in him is no darkness at all,
I won't have any problem with seeing that everything I do is
sin. Everything I do is sin. Now somebody says, I can't go
that far. Then you don't know who God is. It's seeing God in
His holiness that makes you see yourself that way. And if you
don't see God in His holiness, you don't see your righteousness
as filthy rags. But if you see God in His holiness,
you most certainly will see your righteousness as filthy rags. That's the truth. Someone that
sees that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, that
light shines on their darkness. And that's how they see their
sinfulness, through the light of who He is. Now, we don't become sinners
when we commit sin. We commit sin because we're already
sinners. It is only in the light of God's
holiness that we see this. Now look at verse 9. Here's what
someone in the light does if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now here's what one does who's
walking in the light. He confesses his sins. Now, does that mean he articulates
every sin he commits? You know better than that. For
several reasons. One, you don't, most of the sins
you've committed, you don't know anything about, you're ignorant
of them. Isn't that so? Most of the sins you've committed,
you don't know, you don't even know what they are. And for another
thing, If you confess all your sins, you'll never do anything
else. You won't be here preaching the gospel. You'll be at home
confessing your sins because there's not enough time in the day to
get them all out. Now you know that that's not what he's talking
about when he's talking about just articulating back to God
the sins you've committed. What confession means is agreement. Speaking the same thing. Complete agreement with what
God says about your sin. You take sides with God against
yourself. When you confess your sin, you're
on the Lord's side. And everything he says regarding
you and your sin, you say amen to it. That's the truth. It's
all your fault, amen. You're evil, amen. You can't
be any better. Amen. There's a complete agreement
with what God says concerning your sin. Now notice what it
says. I love this. It says if we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us of our sins. Now Christ, before time
began, stood as my surety and guaranteed my salvation. And
part of what He was going to do For my salvation, there's
a lot of things he did. He put away my sin, he worked
out a perfect righteousness for me, but part of what he's going
to do as my surety is make sure I confess my sin. You know the
reason I confess my sin is because it was determined that that's
what I'd do before time began. And all God is doing in me confessing
my sin is He's acting in faithfulness to do. I'm going to cause Todd
to confess his sin. There I go confessing my sin.
That's the faithfulness of God. Great is Thy faithfulness. And not only is He faithful,
He's just. He's just to forgive me of my
sins. Now if somebody murders your child, And the judge says,
you're forgiven. Is that just? There's nothing
just about that. Well, that's forgiveness. God's
forgiveness isn't just forgiveness. You see, he made it to where
I'm not guilty through the gospel. Justification. Christ put my
sin away, gave me his perfect righteousness, I'm perfectly
just, and now Christ says you're forgiven. You're forgiven. Not only are our sins forgiven,
he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Now what does that mean? Well,
it means exactly what the leper said when he said, Lord, if you
will, You can make me clean. The only way I'm gonna be clean,
and that means I'm not gonna have anything to feel, I don't
have any guilt. He's faithful and just not only
to forgive us of our sins, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
to where that sin is purged away. It's gone. Doesn't mean I don't
sin anymore. We're going to see that in verse seven. I'm looking
forward. Aren't you looking forward to the day you don't sin anymore?
Oh, what what great desire we have for that to never sin again. But in our experience right now,
we sin all the time. And the only reason we see that
is because we see that God is light and in him is no darkness
at all. Now, verse seven, but first John,
chapter one, verse seven. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, the light
of how He forgives sins, why He forgives sins, who He forgives,
how He saves. If we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have fellowship, one with another, fellowship
with God, and fellowship with each other. 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 A-double-L,
all sin. All sin. Walking in the light,
I'm cleansed from all sin. That means it's all gone. That
means I'm perfect in God's sight. Now this fellowship, remember
fellowship is what you have in common. It's communion. Fellowship with God. Do you know
I'm in complete agreement with God? I'm in complete agreement
with Him in that His Son is to have the preeminence in all things.
You know what I say? Amen. I'm in complete agreement. I'm in complete agreement with
His eternal purpose of salvation. I wouldn't change it if I could.
I'm in complete agreement with His way of saving sinners through
Christ and His precious blood. I'm in complete agreement with
all of God's attributes. I love Him the way He is. And
there's an agreement there. There's a fellowship. We have
a fellowship of nature. Scripture says we're partakers
of the divine nature. You know, when God says, if we
say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie
and do not the truth. Amen. I agree, don't you? If we walk
in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another in the blood of Jesus Christ. God's son cleanses us
from all sin. Amen. If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us, amen. Amen. Yes, sir. I believe that with
all my heart. I'm in agreement. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. I agree. If we say we've not
sinned, we make Him a liar, because He says we have. And His Word,
His Spirit, Christ in you, is not even in us at all. Amen. There's complete agreement. That's what fellowship is. It's
having things in common. You and I having common with
you mean you both have the same righteousness, don't we? Christ. We both believe that Christ is
all in salvation. We rejoice in that. We know that the faith and repentance
we have is the gift of God. We've been born of the same spirit.
That's what this fellowship is. It's fellowship in the gospel. And it's a fellowship of light. God is light. And in him is no darkness at
all. Let's pray together. Lord, we confess that we could
easily deceive ourselves and make claims that are not true.
And we ask that you would deliver us from that. Lord, allow us to have this fellowship
of light that will cause us to not walk
in the darkness. that will cause us to walk in
the light as He is in the light and have our sins cleansed by
His blood. Deliver us from saying we have
no sin. Cause us to confess our sin.
Deliver us from ever saying we have not sinned. Oh, that we
might have this blessed fellowship of light. Lord, we thank you
that your light and in you is no darkness at all. We give thanks. In Christ's blessed name we pray.
Amen.