Good evening. Turn with me once
again to Philippians. And we'll continue here in chapter
one. So look there where we've been
considering the word of God as Paul writes to this church that
the Lord has established in this city of Philippi in Macedonia. And let's just read a few of
these verses and then we'll come back and continue. So in verse
one, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints
in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for
you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first
day until now, being confident of this very thing that he who
has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day
of Christ. Now jump down to verse nine.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more
in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things
that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense
till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness
which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Well, if you remember, We were
considering the statement right in the very beginning of this
letter where Paul says and addresses these people as saints in Christ
Jesus. And you know that that's a common
address of Paul when he's writing to the churches now or some form
of it. And tonight I would like to consider
one more truth that's found in this great statement. The saint
in Christ Jesus is one who's been brought into fellowship
with the Son. Now, I was gonna go on from last
week into the passage, but as I opened the word and began to
think about it, I realized that This is just too important because
it's comprised in that statement, saints in Christ Jesus were set
apart in Christ. Well, we were seeing some of
what that meant, but if anything, this is the most important aspect
that's implied in this, that in that we are brought into fellowship
with the son of God's love. And so I'd like to just think
of that tonight and look at some of the scriptures that we have
here. Now, again, let's remind ourselves. Paul's writing to these saints
in Philippi, and these saints there, like every one of us,
who have been made partakers of grace, were once darkness, drowning
in darkness. Our state was like the state
of those Gentile Ephesians that Paul writes to saying, who walk
in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them. because of the blindness of their
hearts. And Nicodemus, or Jesus said
to Nicodemus, this is the condemnation, that light has come into the
world, but men love darkness rather than light because their
deeds are evil. For everyone practicing evil
hates the light. hates the light, and will not
come to the light. And you see, that expresses the
utter and complete alienation of God to man, doesn't it? We, naturally speaking, are under
the dominion of darkness, and the darkness has filled our hearts.
And of course, the great concern that every man should have is
how can I be rescued from this state. How can I be redeemed
from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of
this son? It can only be by an act of God. An act of God who is the light
shining into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In the first
chapter of Colossians, we read there last week the remarkable
nature of this spiritual work of the Lord, where we read, giving
thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered
us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom
of the son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins. Now, once again, just in that,
we think of the definitive nature of the action of God in setting
us apart in Christ. The father isn't in the process
of qualifying us, where we're progressively becoming more and
more holy in such a way that we're made fit for heaven, no,
no. He has qualified us to be partakers
of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the
power of darkness, and he has translated us into the kingdom
of the son of his love. You see, this is completed action,
and we need to pay attention when we're considering things
of this importance. What is the word of God saying
to us? Well, who can do all this? I ask again. Only God. Only God is sufficient for a
work like this. Isn't that true? Just as we consider
the truths of the word laid out before us, those tell us in and
of themselves, don't they, that man is totally unable to do a
work, the work that's necessary to bring us into the fellowship
of his son. Now, if you were to die the day
you believed, you would be no more qualified than if you lived
a lifetime a lifetime, as Paul prays for the saints in Colossae,
lived a lifetime being filled with the knowledge of his will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, walking worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing him, being fruitful and increasing in the knowledge
of God. You wouldn't be any more qualified
than the day you believed. Why? Because you're qualified
not by the life that you live, but by the life that another
lived. Even our Lord Jesus Christ. Do
you realize he's, he's the only man who has ever lived a life that's qualified him to enter
into the light of God. The only one. And he'll only
ever be the only one. And if we're not in him, in his
life, we'll never enter. It's that simple. This is why
there's such great importance in these statements of scripture,
which tell us that as here, the saints in Christ, because that's
what matters. whether we're in Christ or whether
we're not. That's the only thing that will
ever qualify us to enter into glory. Well, we should ask then,
what kind of life did he live? That's a good question, isn't
it? We'll turn over to 1 John chapter one. 1 John chapter one. And what I'd, like to do is draw
on some thoughts that I preached to you, I think it's been many
years ago now, but I brought out some things from this passage,
but I think they're helpful as we consider this. What kind of
life did the Lord Jesus Christ live? What was revealed of him
in this life? Well, as you know, The light
is symbolic of the infinite perfection of the nature of God. And above
all, his holiness, his separateness, he dwells, the word tells us,
in unapproachable light. And to John, whether it's in
the Gospels or it's in these epistles, we read to him, Jesus
is a glorious and a magnificent person, a divine being of surpassing
excellence. Everything having to do with
life and light is bound up in this man. Everything which Jesus
did and every word which Jesus uttered are of incomparable worth. Now John heard a message from
Jesus, he tells us. He heard a message from Jesus,
and it's a great message. It's a glorious message. And
John knows that all who come to know and receive this message
will have fullness of joy. He wants us to know this message.
He wants everyone to know this message. Well, what is this message? Look there in verse five, verse
five. the first epistle of John, chapter
one, verse five, we read, this is the message which we have
heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in
him is no darkness at all. This is the essence of the divine
nature. He is essentially, invariably,
eternally, and incomprehensibly light, purity, and holiness. God is light. God is light. And in him is no darkness at
all. How did John come to know this
truth? Well, he tells us himself. Look
there in verse 1. He says, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which our eyes which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled concerning the word of life." Who's he speaking
about? Who is from the beginning? Who's
the word of life? Well, he's speaking about the
Son of God, the eternal Son of God, the word made flesh dwelling
among us. And he says, and he came and
we looked upon him. We saw him. We heard him speak. He taught us. Our hands touched him, this man,
this person that dwelled among us. And the life was manifest. And we have seen and bear witness
and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the father
and was manifested to us. And you know, in the gospel,
in that first chapter of John's gospel, he says, we beheld his
glory. The glory as of the only begotten
Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. This glory radiated from the
Lord Jesus Christ. He was full of grace in all of
his life, full of truth in everything he said, overflowing and abounding
in grace and truth. Every word he spoke and everything
he did was pure and right and true. Every thought of his heart was
only righteous continually. Every desire and every affection
was holy and good. Think about that. Every affection,
every desire, holy and good. Every movement of his will was
full of grace, full of truth, full of kindness, full of goodness,
full of mercy, full of love. God is light and in him is no
darkness at all. That was the experience of John
and the disciples. This was a life lived And this
was a life given, too, as an offering for sin. We don't have to look at these
texts. You know them so well. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep before her shears is done, he opened not his mouth. No murmur. No complaint. No bitterness, no anger. He went in willing obedience
to the command of the Father. No murmur, no complaint. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
And we read that it pleased the Father to bruise him. This was
his purpose. He put him to grief when his
soul was made an offering for sin. We know that the Lord laid
upon him the iniquity of us all. He was made sin for us. Christ
was made to be sin for us. Yet in him, there was no darkness
at all. In his soul, there was not one
flicker of evil, not one shadow of sin, not one stain of unrighteousness,
nothing, only the purity and perfection of his holiness. God is light. and in him is no darkness at
all. This is what John is testifying
of Jesus, isn't he? This was what was manifest to
them in the life that he lived. In Hebrews, in Hebrews 9, you
know, we read there, for if the blood of bulls and goats and
the ashes of the heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the
purifying of the flesh, speaking about those rights of the law
given to the nation of Israel. If all of those sacrifices, those
blood sacrifices, sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the
purifying of the flesh, how much more, how much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God? Cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God. The disciples, they heard him. They listened
to his words. They saw him with their eyes.
They looked upon him. Their hands touched him. And in their experience of Jesus,
This is what they came to know. That which was from the beginning,
the word of life was manifested and we've seen and bear witness
and declare to you this eternal life, this eternal life, which
was with the father and was manifested to us. And again, and beholding
his glory, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is what John
emphasizes, this is what was manifested to us. That God is light and in him
is no darkness at all. That is the life that was lived
to qualify you and I. And every sinner given to Christ
by his father. That's the life that qualifies,
isn't it? Well, John wants us to know these
things. Things that, as I prepared this,
I realized were almost too wonderful to believe. Isn't that true? Things which will fill the soul
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. We're not only called
out of darkness into the spiritual realm of light and glory. We're
not only qualified by God to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. We're not only translated into
the kingdom of the son of his love, but we're also called into
the fellowship of this one we've been speaking of. Into the fellowship
of God. we could say, isn't that true?
And to the one in whom is light and no darkness at all. Look there in verse three, what
does John say? That which we have seen and heard,
we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us.
And listen, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. These things we write to you
that your joy may be full. And it's true, isn't it? It's
true. Turn over to First Corinthians
chapter one. Keep your place here in First
John. I just want to show you how scriptures, it's not just
here, but the scriptures show us that those who are called
called by the Father, saints in Christ Jesus, are ones who've
also been called into the fellowship of his Son. Look there in the
first chapter of 1 Corinthians, and in the second verse, what
do we read? Here he's writing to these saints
at Corinth, and he says, to the church of God, which is at Corinth,
to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. There it is again,
isn't it? This is completed action performed
by God. Those who are sanctified in Christ
Jesus called to be saints. Now jump down to verse nine,
what does he say? God is faithful by whom you were
called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The saints in Jesus Christ are
delivered from the power of darkness, translated into the kingdom of
the son of his love. That's what we've been looking
at. Now, when we're translated into the kingdom of the son of
his love, called into that kingdom, well, who's there? Well, that's
where Christ is, isn't that right? That's where Christ is, and we're
called into the fellowship of his son. We've been called into the fellowship
of him who is the light. There isn't anything more wonderful
than that, is there? That we have this privilege of
not only all the rich blessings of the salvation that we have
in Christ through his work, justification and sanctification and adoption
into the kingdom, redemption through his blood, forgiveness
of sins, and all of these things, but that we're called into this
relationship, this close relationship which is described as fellowship
with the Son, fellowship with the light. We'll turn back to
chapter one of 1 John, Let's continue to look at just a few
things more there. As we've seen, the life and death
of Christ proclaimed what John is saying here. They proclaimed
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. This was
the life that was manifested, and this was the life that was
given. This was an offering like no other offering, and this was
blood like no other blood. As we read there in Hebrews,
it says, how much more shall the blood of Christ? It's comparing,
isn't it? All of these offerings and sacrifices that could never take away sin. But how different this, how different
the spiritual reality of all of those copies. How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered
himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? John declares Christ, and
his emphasis is on the beauty of his holiness, if I could put
it that way, that he is light. the beauty of his holiness, because
John isn't focusing so much on justifying righteousness, the
justifying righteousness of the blood of Christ, he's focusing
rather upon the cleansing holiness of the blood of Christ. Look in verse seven. And let's see how he, focuses on that in these next
two verses, verse seven. But if we walk in the light,
he's talking about the life of those who've been brought into
fellowship with his son. If we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Verse eight, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. You see,
we can say, well, we walk in the light. If we walk in the light, and
the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, then we don't
have sin, do we? And that's been an error. That's
been an error down through history. But what does, The word of God
immediately saying, if we say we have, yes, we're walking in
the light. As I said last week, every believer walks in the light
and never walks in darkness. This is true. But if we say we
have no sin, what? We deceive ourselves. And the
truth is not in us. See how careful the word of God
is to hedge in these important truths. If we say 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. You see, our conscience is cleansed,
not because we don't sin, but because the Holy Spirit has revealed
to us that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. The Holy Spirit applies this
sanctifying blood of Christ to the conscience of every believer. You see, if the blood of bulls
and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify
for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ sanctify your conscience and my conscience? Sanctify your
conscience and my conscience to do what? To serve the living
God. How often people overlook that,
don't they? To serve the living God. Turn back to Philippians chapter
one and we'll just finish there. It's for these reasons that we've
been discussing that the Apostle Paul can write then to these
saints at Philippi something very similar to what he wrote
to those saints at Colossae that we looked at last week. Look
in verse nine. And this I pray. that your love
may abound still more and more in all knowledge and all discernment,
that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you
may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being
filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to
the glory and praise of God. That's serving, that's serving
with a conscience cleansed by the blood of Christ, isn't it?
To serve God. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And the reality is, is it is
wonderful that God works in every one of his children. And we bring
forth fruit to the glory of God. We don't know how, honestly. Isn't that true? I don't know
there's a Christian that can see how that can be. But it's
true. And God does this work. How could this not be? We've been brought. And this
is the whole point of what I've been speaking about. How could
this not be? Because we've been brought into
spiritual union with the one who offered himself without spot
to God. Purged our sins, cleansed us
from all unrighteousness, cleansing our conscience from dead works
to serve the living God. We've been called into the fellowship
of the light. In the word of God, everything
about light is good and is contrasted with the things of darkness.
In contrast to the darkness of death, we have the light of life.
In contrast to the darkness of error, we have the light of truth. In contrast to the darkness and
pollution of sin, we have the light of holiness. In contrast
with the darkness of eternal condemnation, we have the light
of salvation. Light is all that is pure and
true, holy and full of joy. This is the realm in which God
lives. This is the realm in which the
believer lives. That's what we're being taught
here. We walk in the light as he is in the light. We wouldn't
dare say any of these things unless the scriptures told it
to it. Isn't that true? They're too wonderful. They're
just too wonderful. We're brought into this realm
of righteousness, holiness, knowledge, truth, joy, were called into
the fellowship of the son of his love. He's our portion. He is the inheritance of the
saints in the light, isn't he? Amen.