This is my text for the morning
message. It's found in 1 John 1, verse
6. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
I'm speaking this morning on the subject, the web of hypocrisy. 1 John 1, verse 6. I'd like for you to take your
Bibles, if you will, and open them with me to the book of 1
John, I'll be reading several verses of scripture, and I'd
like very much for you to look at them while I read them to
you and while I speak from them. There are three outstanding characteristics
of the epistle of John. We're not talking about the book
of John. But we're talking about the first
general epistle of John, back in the back of the Bible, near
the book of Revelation. This is 1 John, the epistle of
John. And there are three outstanding characteristics of this epistle
written by the Apostle John. Number one, it is written in
the simplest words. Simple, easy-to-understand words. You'd never know that the writer
of this epistle wrote the book of Revelation. Because the words
are so simple and so easy to understand. They're written so
that you and I can understand them. And the second general
characteristic of the book of John is the epistle is written
in the spirit of love. Every line is seasoned with love. John tries every profession by
the rule of love. He measures every claim to the
test of love. Every claim is submitted to the
test of love. Do we love Christ? Do we love
one another? And the third characteristic
of the book of John, number one, it's written in the simplest
words. Any person can read this book. And secondly, it is seasoned
with love. Love is on every page. Love is
almost in every verse. And then thirdly, all through
the epistle of John, John seeks to unravel the web of hypocrisy. He will not suffer us to be deceived. John insists, and he's writing
this to church members, he's writing this to believers, He's
writing this to people who claim to know Jesus Christ, who claim
to be saved by his blood and by his grace. And he insists,
John insists, all the way through this book, and I'm going to give
you several examples. John insists that every professor
of religion, every professor of Christ, deal with the difference
in saying a thing and experiencing it. There is a difference. There's
a difference in saying something and really experiencing that
thing. And John insists that we deal with the difference between
a claim to grace and the reality of grace. claiming to have the
grace of God, and in reality experiencing the grace of God.
Now, let me give you several examples. Do you have your Bible
open? Turn to 1 John, chapter 1, and look first of all at verse
6. That's the text that I just read
a few moments ago. If we say, and notice each time
when he begins these sentences, he starts with, if we say, if
we say, if we say, or he that sayeth. Now, there's a difference
in saying a thing and experiencing it. There's a difference in professing
and possessing. There's a difference in a claim
and a reality. And that's what we're going to
see. And this is what John is talking about. He's unraveling
the web of hypocrisy. He insists that we deal with
this thing. He insists that we deal with
a claim or an experience. He insists that we put ourselves
in front of the Word of God and find out if our profession is
genuine. Now listen to it. If we say that we have fellowship
with Christ and walk, now notice the word walk, and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Now what is a walk? When we talk
about a man's walk, well a walk is the general trend of a person's
life. We're talking about the general
trend of his life. We're talking about the bent
of his will, his general direction. Now, I know believers who walk
in the light and they stumble, they may step in darkness, they
may fall, they may sin, but that's not the general trend of their
lives. That's not the bend of their
will. The general trend of their lives is holiness and righteousness
and honesty and love and godliness. Even the man who walks in darkness,
the man who's the general trend of his life, the bend of his
will, his darkness, hatred, bigotry, prejudice, lust, envy, jealousy. That may be his whole life. Occasionally, he'll do something
good. Occasionally, he'll step in the light. Occasionally, he'll
do something commendable. Occasionally, he'll do something
to brag about, you know, some good principle or some humanitarian
act. But the general trend of his
life is hatred and evil and sin and wickedness. That's the bend
of his wheel. That's the direction he's going. Now, here's what
John is saying. that you have fellowship with Christ and the
general bent of your will and the general trend of your life
is rebellion and dishonesty and lies and hatred and this sort
of behavior. You're lying and you do not do
the truth. You see what I'm saying? If we
say that we have fellowship with Christ and we walk in darkness,
the general trend of our lives is disobedience to God's word.
We're not telling the truth. Now, look at 1 John 1.8. He says,
If we say, and there's that term again, if we say, if we say we
have no sin, and notice that word sin is singular. If we say
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. No
man is free from the nature of sin. I hear people talking about
the old nature being eradicated. My friend, not on this earth.
In glory, yes. When we're made like Christ,
yes, but not on this earth. This old nature of sin, this
original sin, this evil nature, we receive from our Father, Adam.
And it's a nature and a root and a principle that is in every
son of Adam and every daughter of Adam. Even those who've been
born again know that they have a fleshly nature. Yes, they have
a new nature. They have a nature born of God.
They've got a righteous nature and a holy nature, a divine nature,
but they've also got A fleshly nature. And Paul said the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh,
so that you cannot do the things that you will. To deny original
sin, to deny the fall in Adam, To deny the nature of sin, John
says here, is to be deceived and is to be filled with lies.
I can't stand before this television camera and look out over this
audience and say that I have no sin, and you can't say that
either if you tell the truth. The thought of foolishness is
sin. We know that we have in our hearts, in our imaginations,
our attitudes, our motive, we have within us the principle
of sin. It doesn't reign, but it does remain. It doesn't rule,
but it is present. And we cope with it, we deal
with it every day, as John Wesley used to say, every morning when
I get up. I pray, Lord, keep me from sin. Before I retire
at night, I say, Lord, forgive me of my sins. Yes, we have a
nature. Paul the Apostle wrote this,
the things that I would do, I do them not. The things I would
not do, I do. He said there's a law, I find
a law within me, warring against the Spirit of God within me.
And it's true of every person. But if a man says he is not by
nature a sinner, that he does not have a fleshly nature, that
he does not cope with and wrestle with and is not confronted with
sin in his nature, he's a liar, John said. The truth is not in
him, he's deceived. Now look at verse 10, 1 John
1, 10. If we say, if we say, there's
that word again, if we say that we have not sinned S-I-N-N-E-D. We have not sinned. We make God
alive. And his word is not in us. Now,
here's what John is saying. Those who profess purity and
freedom from all sin blaspheme God. If we say we have not sinned,
I mean this day. If we say we have not sinned
this week, if we say we have not sinned this month, Well,
we're making God a liar, for throughout his word he pictures
all men as sinners. He says there's none good, no,
not one. There's none that understand
it. They're all gone out of the way. All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. All we like sheep have gone astray.
Listen to Isaiah when he saw the Lord. He said, Oh, woe is
me. I'm a man of unclean lips. Not I used to be. I was at one
time. I am now. I'm a man of unclean
lips. Listen to David, the man after
God's own heart. Psalm 51, his psalm of repentance. My sins, my sins are ever before
me. Listen to the Apostle Paul. I'm
the least of all the saints. Christ came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. Not I was, I am chief. And you'll find that the opinion
and the attitude of every man in God's Word. And John says
in 1 John 2.9, if we confess our sins, if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But
my friend, to say I have not sinned, I make God a liar. If I say I have no sin, no fleshly
nature, no evil nature to contend with, well, I deceive myself
and the truth is not in me. But if I say I have not sinned,
if I dare to boldly declare to the people of this world in a
dishonest fashion, I have not sinned, Why make God a liar? And his word does not dwell in
me. That's serious, isn't it? Now look at 1 John 2, verse 4.
He that saith, he that saith, there's that word again. He that
saith, it's not true necessarily, it may not be true, but this
is what he says. You can say a thing and not experience
it. He that saith, I know him, I
know Christ, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar,
and the truth not in him. My friend, a person who says,
I know the Lord, I'm acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ, and
has no love for his word, and has no love and regard for his
teachings, and for his commandments, the commandments of Christ, that
man's a liar. The truth of the gospel is not
in him at all. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. He loves Christ. He loves Christ's
word. He loves Christ's commandments.
He loves Christ's teachings. He loves Christ's law. He loves
Christ's church. He loves Christ's people. He's
a new creature. And the law of Christ is his
rule of behavior, the law of Christ. And our Lord said, that
law is summed up in two. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength, and thy neighbor
as thyself. Now look at 1 John 2.9. He that
saith, here we go again, he that saith, 1 John 2, 9. He that saith
he is in the light, he's in the light, that is, the light of
illumination, the light of understanding, the light of faith, the light
of the gospel, he that saith that he's in the light and hates
his brother, and hates his brother, he's in darkness still, even
until now. The man who says that he's been
illuminated by the Holy Ghost, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
he walks in the light of the gospel, understanding, and hates
anyone. and hates anyone. Now, watch
this. Hates his brother. We're all
brothers by creation. I'm not teaching the fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of man. I'm simply saying that we're
all brothers by creation. All brothers by creation, whether
we're Jew or Gentile, bond or free, we're brothers by creation.
We came from one daddy, Adam. And then they're brothers in
regeneration. They're brothers in the family
of God. And this is not just family love here. This is love
for all people. In other words, what John is
saying here is that love, the love of Christ, and the hatred
of the flesh cannot rule in the same heart. It is impossible.
It is impossible. I'm not saying that a man never
gets angry. I'm not saying that he never gets upset. I'm not
saying that he never disagrees with a person. But to hate, to
hate that person, to hate is impossible. where the love of
Christ dwells, where the love of Christ reigns. That's what
he's saying here. The man that says he's in the light and hates
his brother, wishes his brother evil, and wishes him misfortune. Why, he's in darkness. He always
has been in darkness. He never has been in the light
of Christ. He's in the light of religion or denominationalism
or sectarianism or some other kind of ism. But he's not in
the light of regeneration because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we love me, and we love the
family of God, and we love, we're supposed to love, according to
the Word of God, even our enemies. We wish them no unhappiness.
We wish them no misfortune. We wish them the blessings and
grace and mercy of God. And if you cannot wish a man
the blessings and mercy and happiness of God, there's something wrong
in your own heart. That's what John said. Now look
at 1 John 4, 20. If a man say, and you see, this
is what I told you to begin with. This gospel, you understand what
I'm saying, and I do too. This epistle is written in the
simplest terms, and it's seasoned with love, and it untangles the
web of hypocrisy. It sits in judgment on every
one of us. It makes us weigh our profession and examine our
claim and put our profession to the test of this word right
here. If any man say, if a man say, I love God, I love God,
and we hear a lot of that, don't we? I love God, I love Jesus.
If a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. Now, John doesn't mince words,
does he? He doesn't mince words. He comes out clearly and says
what he thinks and what God has revealed to him. He's a liar.
For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen. Now, watch
this carefully. Whom he hath seen. How can he
love God? whom he hath not seen. Nothing's
more contradictory. Nothing's more contradictory.
If a man say, I love God and hate his brother, nothing's more
contradictory, not hot and cold or white and black. Nothing's
more contradictory. What he's saying is this. For
a man to say, I love God, whom he's never seen, whom he's never
seen, and none of us have seen God. A lot of people claim to
have visions, you know, but They've never seen God. God's revealed
in his word. God's revealed in the book. But
if a man says that I love God, whom he's never seen, and hates
the image of God that's before his eyes, you see, man was created
in the image of God, and especially in regeneration. We have been
regenerated in the image of Christ, formed in the image of Christ.
We have the Spirit of Christ. And for a man to say, I love
God, whom he's never seen, and I hate the image of God that's
before my eyes, well, that man's deceived. The Spirit of God does
not dwell in him. Where Jesus Christ lives, love
lives. Where Jesus Christ dwells, the
Spirit of love dwells. Where Jesus Christ reigns, the
grace of love will reign. Let us not be deceived. I know
there's a lot of religion today, and there's a lot of preaching
going on. I hear a lot of it. And you're told to do certain
things, and you're guaranteed you'll be saved, guaranteed you'll
be going to heaven, guaranteed God will prosper you, and guaranteed
God will heal you. Men can't guarantee you anything.
God is the Savior. Christ is the Redeemer. Salvation
is not the work of the handshake or the baptismal pool or some
church or some denomination. Salvation is of the Lord. The
salvation of the righteous is of God, and it's a regenerating
work, and it's a miraculous work, and it's a mysterious work, and
it's a new birth, it's a life-giving process that God performs in
the heart of us. Let's not be deceived. Let's
not be deceived. Let's not hide from the reality
of Christ in the claims of religion, in the web of hypocrisy. A minister
may say, God sent me, when in reality Satan sent him. He's
a false prophet. Many false prophets, our Lord
said, shall arise. Many false prophets shall arise
and shall deceive many, if it were possible, the very elect
of God. And then a person in the church,
a church member, may say, I'm a Christian, I know that I'm
a Christian, and yet be a total stranger to the grace of God.
Our Lord said to the most religious people of his day, You neither
know me nor my Father. If you had known me, you should
have known my Father also, even to his disciples. He said, if
I've been so long time with you, and yet you have not known me.
My friend, eternal life is not to know there is a God. It's
not to know about God. Eternal life is to know God,
to know God in a living, vital experience of faith, to know
God. Eternal life is not just to call
him Lord with your lips. And then your hearts be far from
him. It's to know him in your heart,
to love him in your heart, to have a vital living union with
the Son of God in your heart. That's eternal life. Eternal
life is not he that saith, I believe on the Son of God, hath everlasting
life. Eternal life is this, he that
believeth on the Son of God. Not he that saith, I believe,
he that believeth. Eternal life is not to be involved
in the form, ceremony, and ritualism of religion. I have some dear
friends who are involved, terribly involved, just completely taken
up in the activities and the enthusiasm and the zeal of a
denomination, of a program, or of a church. But I'm telling
you, this is not eternal life. Eternal life is to be involved
in a living union with a person, with a person called Jesus Christ,
who is our living head, and we're his body, who is divine. and we're the branch, that's
to be redeemed, who's the Lord and we're the servants. Paul
said, I prevail till Christ be formed in you. That's eternal
life. Don't be deceived, John says,
he that saith, he that saith, he that saith, It's he that experiences
it in his heart, the love of Christ, the person of Christ,
the union with Christ. Let me give you four or five
things here now in 1 John 4. Will you turn to the fourth chapter
of John? Here John gives us some positive
words about those who really know Christ. Not just say they
know him, but those who really know him, those who are his people,
his sheep, his jewels, his body, his bride, his church. for whom
he suffered. Here are four or five characteristics.
1 John 4, verse 6. We are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. Here's what John says. He that
knoweth God, heareth us. Now, he's not talking about us
in the sense of you and me. I can't claim that kind of authority.
I'm not saying that any man that's of God will hear me. He may need
to hear another You may not hear me at all. You may hear another
preacher, two or three other preachers. But John is speaking
here as an apostle of Christ, as a writer of holy scriptures.
And he's saying the same thing that he said in John chapter
8. He that is of God, heareth God's word. That's what John's
saying. He that is of God, heareth God's
word. Now, I have set forth this morning
some pretty strong statements from the word of God. Now, if
you're out there listening to this program, And this word makes
you angry and you rebel against it. And you say, I don't care
what that says, that's not what I believe. You're not of God.
Because he that's of God, heareth God's word. He receives the word. He lets the word sit in judgment
on him. He doesn't sit in judgment on the word of God. He lets the
word of God sit in judgment on him. The word convicts him and
condemns him and converts him. But he says, I believe it, it's
God's word, it's infallible, it's inerrant, it's verbally
inspired, it's without error, and it's unbroken. And thy word,
let God be true and ever man alive. There were three characteristics
of the Reformation, three basic principles of the Reformation.
Christ alone, as opposed to any assistance or any help in the
conversion of a sinner. Grace alone, as opposed to works.
and the scriptures alone as opposed to the dogmas or books of men
or the writings of men, the Bible alone. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
The saved man hears God's word. That's what John is saying here.
We are of God He that knoweth God will hear us. He'll hear
the Word. All right, notice the next thing,
1 John 4, verse 7 and 8. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Isn't that clear? He that loveth
not. Now, all men love themselves.
And all men love that which pertains to them. They love themselves
and that which pertains to them. But to sincerely reach out in
a genuine heart love to God and to his people and to all men,
that's the gift of God. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. You can teach doctrine, but you
can't teach love. You can teach principles and
convictions. You can teach standards of righteousness,
but you can't teach love. You can teach tolerance. You
can make folks put up with one another, but you can't teach
them to love one another. This is the gift of God. This
is the work of God. You see, we have to be changed.
We, by nature, love ourselves and hate God. We've got to be
changed. We've got to be brought to love
God. And as Job said, I hate myself. I hate myself. I'm abased and humbled in God's
presence. And my love reaches out to him.
Now, if this love is missing, then God's not there. Whatever
else is there, God's not there. 1 Corinthians 13, 1 through 3,
listen to it. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as a sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though
I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not
love, I'm nothing. And though I bestow my goods
to feed the poor, and give my body to be burned as a martyr
for what I believe, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Now by this faith, hope, and
love, the greatest of these is love. And I know the emphasis
today, the greatest of these is faith, the greatest of these
is the power to heal, the greatest of these is love. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Watch I John 4, verse 13, "...hereby
know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath
given us his Spirit." Now, the Spirit of Christ, I know, is
the mind of Christ, the humility of Christ. Let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ. The Spirit of Christ is also
the love and compassion of Christ. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples, if you love one another." And the Spirit
of Christ is certainly the grace and forgiveness of Christ. He
said, if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses. And if you come
to pray, he said, and remember that you have all against your
brother or he against you, you leave your gift at the altar
and go make it right and then come pray, because God's not
going to hear you when you're holding grudges and hatred in
your heart. But in this text, It says, Hereby we know that
we dwell in him, and he in us because he has given us of his
Spirit. We are talking there about the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit regenerated us. The Holy Spirit revealed Christ
to us. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, teacher, comforter,
sealer. The Holy Spirit bears witness
with our spirits that we are the sons of God. And the Holy
Spirit glorifies Christ. Why are so many Church members
so hard to live with? Why are so many Church members
so hard to work with? Why are so many Church members
actually so hard to worship with? I'll tell you why. They have
not the Spirit of Christ. And if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of His. This is so clear. And I pray
that the Spirit of the Living God will be our teacher in this
hour and apply this message to my heart and to your heart and
untangle, for God's glory and for our eternal an awful, deceptive
web of hypocrisy.