Walking with Jesus!

“Walking with Jesus!”

Sermon Series: Walk in Faith (3 of 10)

1 John 2:3 - 14 (NIV)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

First Baptist Church-New Castle, Indiana

January 31, 2010

We are in week 3 of our study on First John entitled, "Walk in Faith". Are you ready for a test? [pause]

What does it mean to Walk in Faith?

That is what the Apostle John has done for us; he has set up tests for us to know if we are really walking with faith in Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. He wants us to humbly and soberly look at our lives so that we can know that we know whether we have God in our lives.

Last week, we learned that if you are really walking with the Light then 1) you have to ask Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior; then 2) you must take sin seriously and confess it to Jesus Christ. Then 3) you stop doing the sin and live a new life...a life that truly reflects God's Light!

How are you doing so far on this test? [Good news-this is a take home open book test!]

Let's look at the next couple questions on the test. As you open your Bible to First John 2:3-14 (NIV) my friend Chloe is going to come up to read:

³We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. ⁴The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. ⁷Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. ⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. ¹⁰Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. ¹¹But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. ¹²I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. ¹³I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. ¹⁴I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

The Word of God. Thank you Chloe! Let us pray.

Do you claim John 17:3 as true? [pause]

In John 17:3 Jesus is praying to God, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

In 1 John, the Apostle John is directly writing to people from different house churches in Ephesus who who claimed they knew God, but they were struggling with major heretical views (Docetism and early Gnosticism) that were leading them astray in proper belief and proper lifestyle...not too uncommon these days either! The Apostle John was directly dealing with these early Christian heretics who said we can know God and live any way we want...they separated their heads from their hearts; their spirit from their body; their intellectual pursuit of spiritual knowledge from their morality and ethics.

In order for these early church Christians to truly know "that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" the aged Apostle John gives them a test so that they know. He is lovingly, but directly confronting their hypocrisy.

We now turn to God's Word to see if we really know that we are walking in a lifestyle of faith in Jesus Christ.

WE KNOW THAT WE ARE WALKING WITH JESUS CHRIST WHEN...WE ARE OBEDIENT TO HIS COMMANDS! [3-6]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, The Apostle John straight talks with the Bottom Line up Front: We know Jesus Christ to the extent of our moral obedience to God's Teachings, His commands, His Word (the Logos) Jesus Christ. Here is an axiom that John lays out, "Faith = Belief + Obedience".

Let's look at the first verse of our Scripture lesson, 1 John 2:3, "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands."

This verse is translated very literally, "We know that we know" ...when I make a statement like this I am talking about a gut level knowing. This is not an intellectual or an emotional knowing--this is a full sensory, experiential and dynamic knowing in all Caps., "I KNOW that I know!" This kind of knowing is a genuine personal relationship--to know God is not an intellectual exercise, but it mandates fellowship with Him. That fellowship with the God who is Light (perfect & holy) leads to a willing desire to continuously & habitually be obedient (the Greek verb translated "we obey" is in the ongoing, continuous present tense.) to His commands (or "orders").

What are the Commands of Jesus Christ? [pause]

In the Gospel of Matthew 22:37-29, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandments of God were, "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Do you live a habitual lifestyle of love as Jesus commanded? [First to God, then to your neighbor?]

The thesis is set from verse 3: "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands." and now we read in verse 4, "The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

This immediately brings my mind back to 1 John 1:8 from last week, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." What's the parallel?

I can only see the truth of your claim to know Christ if I see the truth of Christ in your life! If I do not, then I must assume that you are a liar and the message of God, His teachings/His commandments/His orders (and by extension the Gospel of Jesus Christ), is not in 'us'.

Tell story about driver arrested.

John is writing to churches who were all together missing the mark; this is written in a tribal culture where we are in this together--God's church is in this together so your wrong views and wrong lifestyle effect me as much as they affect you! We are in this together!

Let's look at the first half of verse 5, "But if anyone obeys his word [Yes, that is the Greek Word Logos (points to Jesus Christ and His Gospel) which is an intensification from the truth seen in verse 4, but also is what emphasized that the truth in the previous verse was pointing to the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ and is the message John is proclaiming to us], God's love is truly made complete in him."

The completion of love in us is pointing us to the perfect fellowship that God extends to us. God is the dynamic love affair who is community; who is in perfect relationship with Himself and offers to us this love that can only be completed through a personal relationship in Jesus Christ (we laid this out in lesson 1 of 1 John 1:1-4). When we come into this personal relationship with Jesus Christ through Faith alone then we come into perfect fellowship with the Triune God and He make His home in our lives by sending His Holy Spirit in our hearts. What great love God has shone us!

Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel of John 14:23, "Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'"

We can see that we are in God's perfect fellowship by the way we habitually live out God's commandment to love him with all of our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And this completion does not mean that we are perfect in this life; perfection for me and you does not happen on this side of Heaven. We strive to be perfect as God is perfect, but when we sin (trip, stumble, fall, relapse) we humbly confess and turn away from our sin. It is a dynamic rhythm of life that draws us closer and closer to God until we are completed in Him.

This dynamic process is empowered by God's Holy Spirit living in us and our good works are not because we are good, but they are an outflow of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Our walk is an outflow of God's love for us and ours for Him...That is why John looks for the fruit of the relationship...in obedience to who God is...

To complete this test, we read 1 John 5b-6, "This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

This can more literally be translated, "anyone who claims to abide [an allusion to John 15] in Jesus Christ (the Word of Life) binds himself (or is duty bound) to live a habitual lifestyle of Christ-likeness. " Jesus is the vine and we are the branch. We have fruit on our branch when we abide; we are bound to the vine! The vine is the Life Giver and Life Sustainer.

If the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit lives in our lives once we accept Jesus Christ then a perfectly valid test of His presence is to watch for His actions, His morals, His ethics, His lifestyle of Love flowing through our daily lives!

We further validate this test of the Apostle John's with the words of Jesus Christ, who commanded us to live Christ-like lives. We see this in the Gospel of John 13:15, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

Jesus Christ is our model and we learn how to walk like Him by reading about Him in the Gospels. Study them, soak Jesus into your life! His story is the center of history and the climax of God's redemptive plan to restore all of His creation back into a perfect fellowship with Himself!

The second test is an intensification of the first test and we will turn to the next 5 verses of 1 John 2:7-11 to unpack it.

WE KNOW THAT WE ARE WALKING WITH JESUS CHRIST WHEN...WE LOVE LIKE JESUS! [7-11]

⁷Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.

The phrase, "since the beginning" is understood in context to 1 John 1:1 and the Gospel of John 1:1 where we see John clearly stating that Jesus Christ, the Word of Life, was with God in the beginning and His message (The Gospel) has been with God from the beginning. The sending of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, to die on the Cross of Calvary as our perfect atoning sacrifice for your sin and mine was in the mind of God from the beginning!

God knew from the beginning that love was the only answer to the dilemma of sin that prevents humanity and God from being in perfect relationship. So, in Leviticus, which is the Priest's handbooks for making sin offerings--sacrifices of atonement--we read this in 19:18, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

When John writes this to the early church, composed of both Jewish and Gentile converts, he is proclaiming that the command of God that Jesus proclaimed has been with them from the beginning, just as Jesus has been with God from the beginning. From the beginning of the sacrificial system, we hear the message that would be proclaimed by the One who is our propitiation--our perfect atoning sacrifice!

John continues in 1 John 2:8, "Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining."

This is most certainly a reference to Jesus' words found in the Gospel ofJohn 13:34-35. Jesus' proclaimed, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

The summation of the moral law of God is to be found in the command of love; and this love is exemplified supremely in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, who we, as believers--who know that we know--are called to imitate and by imitating become a great witness for the world to see! As our text reads, "it is seen in him and you" when we love! We, filled with the Holy Spirit, shines into a darkened world.

To understand this we need to dig into the life of Jesus Christ who expanded the old command to make it a new one. Love became new in Jesus Christ in two directions.

First, in Jesus love became new in the extent to which it reached. In Jesus love no longer simply reached out to those who were like you or clean (the Law in Leviticus prevented followers of God from reaching out to unclean people because it would then make them unclean and unable to be in fellowship), but now love reached out to the sinner; those who are unclean; those who were not like you!

Jesus revolutionized love forever when He stated, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Jesus reaches beyond the preapproved religious boundaries of the Law and He forever widened the boundaries of love until not a single person was outside its embrace! I praise God for this because that love reached out far enough to reach me!

The length of God's love pulled me into God's fellowship and I stand here a product of this amazing grace to declare to you that no matter what you have done or where you have been God's love reaches out to you if only you will turn to Him and receive the free gift of acceptance.

The second way Jesus Christ made love new is the lengths to which it would go. No abuse of man can turn God's love in Jesus Christ to hate. God demonstrated the depth of His hesed --His covenant loving-kindness to us on the Cross of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was on the Cross experiencing the absolute torment of man's rejection while experiencing God's wrath by taking the punishment for humanity's sins (including yours and mine) on Himself, he still demonstrated the extent of this new commandment. These final words of our Lord are recorded in the Gospel of Luke 23:34, "Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'"

Paul prays for all believers in Jesus Christ to have the power to begin to understand this new love that Jesus proclaimed, lived, and demonstrated for us on the Cross of Calvary. He prays in Ephesians 3:17b-18, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Yes LORD! Show us your Glory!

This, my brothers and sisters, is the winning touchdown of life's Superbowl! This is the Good News; the climax of history; the Final Victory! This is the love that has become the standard for all who know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent!

Look at the end of verse 8, "because the darkness is passing", or more literally, "the darkness is caused to pass," or "it is changed, so that it is absorbed!" "and the true light [of this Victory] is already shining." The Victory is present; today!

This wonderful theology must now take root and show itself in our lives; hence, verses 9-11: "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. ¹⁰Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble [point of interest: the Greek word translated stumble is the word we get scandal from!]. ¹¹But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

John sees human relationships in black and white terms. It is either a case of love or hate; there is not neutrality in personal relationships...why? Because from John's viewpoint (What's that viewpoint: from the Cross where Jesus Christ has forgiven us and taught us about love!) you are either walking in the light of love or in the darkness of hatred!

The light shows you the way to God (It is revealing outward and inward!). The darkness blinds you; it obscures the path and we get lost. God does NOT cut Himself off from us (His grace perseveres our disobedience!), but by a lack of love we progressively isolate (sin isolates!) ourselves from the light of God's nature and presence! To put is simply: hatred prevents positive growth as a community and as individuals!

It is an appropriate interpretive jump to think of brother in this context as our neighbor in the context of Jesus' teachings. Jesus teaches us that our neighbor expands beyond our family, beyond our sex or sexuality, beyond our nationality or ethnicity, even beyond our religion (Jew or Gentile). It does not mean you love their lifestyle, their politics, or their views, but we are called to love them because Jesus died for that person as much as He died for you and me! "Hate the sin; LOVE the sinner!"

This all consuming love changes how we relate to people in our personal relationships! It changes how we view ourselves, our neighbor; our world! It is light!

But if you do have hatred in your life towards your neighbor then that is symptomatic to a bitterroot (spiritual stronghold!) of ungodly immoral behavior that will lead you away from the truth of God and into the lies of the Devil. He has deceived you and turned your face from the light and into the darkness! Don't give the Devil a foothold; turn away from the dark!

The Apostle Paul teaches us in Ephesians 4:30-32, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Are you struggling with hatred, bitterness, resentment in your life? [pause] You must confess that hatred and turn away from the sin that so easily ensnares and enslaves! Friends, we must love our neighbor as God first loved us! By this, we can know that we know Jesus Christ, by loving like Him!

**For this last point, we are going to approach the text a bit differently because of its poetic nature and because it is Family Day at FBC.

WE KNOW THAT WE ARE WALKING WITH JESUS CHRIST WHEN...WE ARE FAITHFUL ON LIFE'S JOURNEY! [12-14]

These poetic verses are written to all the believers (men and women; young and old) in the Church of Jesus Christ. Remember that John has used the term of endearment "dear children" throughout his letter. But, it is clear that with his word choices and the repetitious manner in which he has formed this section that he is writing to different generations in the church acknowledging the spiritual journey we share in common.

¹²I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. ¹³I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. ¹⁴I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

He starts by declaring the forgiveness of sins through the Name of Jesus Christ. That is the beginning of the journey and if we do not get this then there is no journey to Life! Family of God, we must model our behaviors and attitudes after that of Jesus Christ.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" - Matthew 19:14

**I want to invite all of the children and youth to come up and sit on the stairs and parents you are welcome to come up with your small children. If you are under 18 years old then I invite you to come and sit on the prayer stairs.**

Did you know that 75% of all people who come to know the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ and become followers of Jesus Christ will do so by the age or 18!?!

If we are going to impact the world for Jesus, then we need to prioritize our ministries to the young people of the next generation. That is why FBC Family Life Center is going to live up to its name and be a church that simply does not do excellent children and youth ministry programs, but we are going to try to figure out how churches and families should truly partner together so that we can raise up a godly generation in our midst who will carry on the ministry of the Church and reach the nations for Christ!

[pull out Prayer Card Insert] That's why there is a "Praying for the Next Generation" insert in your Sermon Notes. We want to pray for our children and youth. We want to pray for ourselves to be Spiritual Role Models--disciples of Jesus Christ who are intentionally making disciples! FBC, do you want this to be the Family Life Center in name only or do you truly want to partner with families and raise up a godly generation in Henry County? [pause] OK, I hope you mean it because in the future I will be asking you to support the commitment you made today.

[focus on children up front] My dear children, you have heard the adults commit to partnering together to be a family for you and to impact your generation together. Does that sound good to you?

I want to help you start your journey with God by sharing with you about Jesus. And this is not just for the kids up front as I know there are some adults who want to start this journey today as well.

Life is a journey towards God, but along the way there are troubles and difficulties and we don't always make good choices. We hurt ourselves and other people with our choices and that makes God sad; those choices are called sin and they separate us from God.

But God sent His Son into the World to die on the Cross so that we can be forgiven of those sins forever and ever (12), so that we can know our God who is our Heavenly Father (13), so that we can have a strong faith even when its hard and our friends or teachers don't agree with us (14), and so that we can say no to people who ask us to do bad things or when we feel tempted by the Devil in our everyday lives (13, 14).

Without knowing Jesus and asking Him into our hearts, we get lost in our lives and on our spiritual journeys. We need His power and His love to grow up and live godly lives for Him!

The Apostle John, who met Jesus personally, said this so that you would hear it this morning, "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:3-5).

Dear children, do you want to ask Jesus Christ into your hearts right now?

RESPONSE TIME: Pastor Ken and his team are now going to lead us in a time of response. As the piano plays, I am going to lead our children & youth in a prayer to ask Jesus Christ into their lives. This is the first step, but it is a huge leap forward! If you want to say this prayer with us then I invite you to come forward (regardless of your age; this is for all people!) and join us. This is a sacred moment!

[Lead Sinner's Prayer]

I praise God for your decision today to ask Jesus Christ into your life! We are family and we are in this together--all the generations together!

As the worship team leads us in some response songs, I invite us to worship Christ and dedicate ourselves to this great mission field who are the children and youth of Henry County.

Let's stand and worship together.

[Nate to do the Benediction]

Whose story is it anyways?

God has a plan! God is telling His story and when we become a Christian we are invited to become a part of His story. But, so often we do the opposite: we accept Jesus and think that He is now a part of our story and then we get bent out of shape and struggle with our faith because God's not "on board" with our plans and not doing what we want Him to do. In actuality, we treat Him like a cosmic vending machine thinking if we've done enough prayers or good works then we deserve (entitlement issues!!!) to get what we ask for!

Friends, we are a part of God's story! When we ask Jesus Christ into our hearts then we are born again; born out of sin and darkness and into the marvelous light of the Word of God, Jesus Christ! We are born out of our selfish ego-centric story into God's selfless Christ-centric story. We are transported from a world of "what about me?" to "what about God?" We are invited to become a part of His Epic Narrative!

It is my prayer that as we are transported into God's story that we will truly listen to the One who is the Author and Perfector of the Story! Daily humility and obedience is necessary for us to be completed in His Joy. I pray that we each will listen to the story that He is telling...Lord, give us ears to hear and eyes to see what you are doing in our midst in our generation! Show us your glory Lord...and may our daily prayer be, "teach me to seek first the Kingdom of God and to live a righteous life with God."

The Remedy!

"The Remedy!"

Sermon Series: Walk in Faith (2 of 10)

1 John 1:5 -- 2:2

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

First Baptist Church-New Castle, Indiana

January 24, 2010

Are you ready to continue to dive into 1 John? Last week we covered the first 4 verses and today we will walk through the next 8 verses.

Please open your Bible to 1 John 1:5 -- 2:2.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. ⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. ^2:1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

The Word of God; let us pray.

I am going to teach you these 8 verses by breaking the sermon into 3 points and unpacking each section. Then using my primary exegetical guideline of 'Scripture interpreting Scripture' I will utilize other Scriptures to teach the lesson. Essentially, we will be allowing God's Word to teach us God's Word.

Let's look at our first point so go ahead and pull out your sermon notes. You see the primary text is on the front cover with the verse numbers and on the inside (spilling over to the back page) are the 3 points with supporting Scriptures. Keep your Bible open, grab a pen, lean forward, and let's jump in...

JESUS CHRIST IS THE REMEDY FOR...DARKNESS! [Reference verses 5-7]

1 John 1:5 starts, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you [We see in the first 4 verses that the Apostle John is a personal witness to the ministry of Jesus Christ. He's now an old man by who is writing to 2nd and 3rd generation Christians. John is actively proclaiming this Gospel message that he heard in the past. He is making it clear that he is not making up the message, but that this is the message given to Him by Jesus Christ, Who is the Logos, the Word of Life. This mesage is the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ.] : God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."

John is drawing from his earlier work, the Gospel of John. He is doing that because this letter was written in the years after he sent the Gospel to these churches to clarify confusion and to teach the people a right view of who Jesus Christ is and how we should live in light of our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the World.

The Gospel of John 1:4-5 majestically proclaims, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood [or a more literal translation of the Greek word -- the darkness has not overcome] it." [The it being the message passed on to the Apostle John.]

Let's dive into this phrase: "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" Let's look at the Words of Jesus Christ and see if we can start to understand what John is teaching us when he declares that God is light:

Jesus proclaims in John 8:12, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

The Light is self-revealing! Jesus proclaimed, "I am the light of the world"...There is nothing secretive about the light. God wants to be seen and He desires to be known by all of His people. That is why God sent His son into the world to be the light exclaiming, "I am the light of the world."

We read in Paul's letter to the Colossians that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. In the same way that Jesus Christ is the light of the world, we--His people, the Church--are to be a light on a hill for all to see. That is why God's vision for the Church is for us to be His Lamp stand...because Jesus Christ is Light and where there is Light there can be no darkness!

Jesus stated, 'Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'

The Light points the way to go!

When I was an Infantry Officer we learned, practiced, and conducted a lot of land navigation...at night it is easy to get disoriented, lost, and in a heap of trouble quick! I learned quick to trust my map and my compass. [Share a story]

Jesus calls us to follow Him and His promise is that when we follow Him we will never walk in darkness...He is the light of life. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one goes to the Father except through Him (John 14). In a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit who lights your way by giving you guidance on this road...we know how to orient our maps and set our compass because we have the Light of Life--Jesus Christ who is our True North. When we study the map (the Bible) and allow the Light to be our compass then we don't have to find ourselves stuck in the thorns or bogged down in the swamps.

Jesus exclaimed in John 12:46, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."

Jesus is making it clear that the Light is the Great Revealer...where there is light there can be no darkness.

Flaws, imperfections, sin that is easily hidden in the dark is completely revealed in the Light. Let me explain a little deeper: The God who is Light is Perfect in all His ways; He is pure and all-holy; God is splendor; He is glory! To proclaim that God is light is to proclaim to the world of the sheer splendor and radiant glory of God!

That leads us into 1 John 1:6 very directly states, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth."

This is a good time to teach about darkness...we have unpacked the Light, now let's look at this darkness we are not supposed to be walking in.

Darkness represents the chaos of a Christless life; a life without God which is characterized by insecurity, selfishness, isolation, immorality, pettiness, greed, hatred and anger, unforgiveness and bitterness.

We saw earlier in the Gospel of John 1:5...the darkness may be opposed to the Light, but it cannot overcome it! The Darkness is an aggressor, but the Light will always pierce the Dark! Light prevails!

I don't want to take for granted that you know this, but in the Bible when you hear phrases like "walk in light, walk in the darkness, walk in love, walk in faith" they are each pointing "a habitual lifestyle of..."

This verse can be read: "If you claim to be in a right relationship with the God who is splendor and glory, who is holy and true and in whom there is no impurity or imperfection, but we choose to live a habitual lifestyle of immorality, selfishness, greed, bitterness and rage, and ignorance of the ways of God, then you are a liar and you are not living by the teaching of Jesus Christ which is life and the light is not in you."

The Beloved John is throwing our covers and calling us out. He is stating, 'You proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior, I will tell you if you are by the way you live your life....because if you really believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Savior of the World, then you will be obedient to His teachings.

Let's continue in our study, the first half of 1 John 1:7 promises, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...

When we are in God's perfect fellowship then our lives should be characterized by the character and quality and deeds of the light. The old has gone and the new has come...

And one of the primary ways that we can see the truth of conversion is in our fellowship with one another; I can't emphasize enough to you that our fellowship as a church is critical to our lives and to our mission as a church of God...listen to this verse from the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

It is the purpose of our existence as the set apart people of God to be God's chosen people, our identity is in the Light, not in our nationality or ethnicity. We belong to God now and our ethics, our values, our morals, our lifestyle choices...everything should be called into the wonderful light!

Let's finish verse 8..., and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The phrase "blood of Jesus, his Son" is pointing us to the victory of the crucifixion of the Christ and the background to understanding this salvific event is located in Israel's history (especially the Exodus and the Passover Lamb) and then the Jewish sacrificial system detailed out in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.

The verb "purifies" is a continuous present verb meaning that the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross of Calvary continues today to cleanse you; to purify you from the sin in your life.

The shed blood of Jesus Christ is the final atoning sacrifice that once and for all eliminated the need to sacrifice animals twice a day (morning and twilight) because God provided the perfect sacrifice, His Son--God Himself, the 2nd person of the dynamic love affair we call the Triune God--to tear down the barrier between God and man caused by sin, once and for all.

The blood of Jesus--the unblemished lamb of God, our Passover--covers a multitude of sins and because He was the perfect sacrifice we are continuously cleansed of our imperfection in the sight of God. God did this for us because we could not do it ourselves...

Listen to this teaching from the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:13-14, "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Jesus is the remedy for the Darkness and we have to make a choice on what that will mean for our lives in how we will live each day.

ACTION ITEM: I will intentionally walk in the Light. [I believe right now that the Light is illuminating your heart and minds. Do you need to step out of the darkness in a specific area of your life today?

Let's look at the next 3 verses of our passage and in this section we will learn that JESUS CHRIST IS THE REMEDY FOR...DECEPTION!

1 John 1:8 teaches, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

More accurately, this text is talking about Self-Deception and self-deception is a deliberate refusal to face the facts!

The Greek word for sin is harmartia which literally means "to miss the target" as in Archery. So whenever the Bible talks about sin it is talking about anything that misses the target on who we are supposed to be in the eyes of God. God created us to be His image bearers for the purpose of bringing glory and worship to His name and to draw other people towards Him; to bless the nations! That means that anything we do that falls short of that purpose is sin.

This is not isolated to Newspaper worthy incidents...in that case many might be able to say that they are without sin. But this is when we fall short of being the husband, father, wife, mother, daughter, son, friend, worker or employer, or when we simply struggle with our own selfishness and insecurity and don't make good choices that end up hurting ourselves and others.

This is deception that states either 1) I have no sin at all; or 2) I have no responsibility for my sin. This is the classic blame shifting tendency that started with Adam and Eve and will continue until Jesus comes back. This is the tendency to blame our family of origin and upbringing, our genetics, our temperament (well, I can't help it that I was made this way!), or how we love to blame our circumstances for our bad choices! The list is long and well used. It is a rut that many of us have fallen into from time to time.

How does the Truth of Jesus Christ serve as a Remedy for this level of deception? Jesus is the remedy for deception because He is the Light and the Light is to be the Great Revealer. Let me illuminate this with something Paul says.

In his pastoral letter to Timothy 1:15-16 Paul humbly proclaims for our benefit, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

Come on Paul, how are you, the great missionary and author of 13 letters in the New Testament, the Chief of sinners?

Here it is brothers and sisters: The closer you get to the Light, the more you see yourself as you really are. The closer in proximity you get to perfection, glory, splendor, radiance [the marvelous light!] the more you see your own blemishes.

I do not believe that Paul is wrapped up in a lifestyle of sin or is overstating his sinful nature, but rather this statement reflects his proximity to the Light! Friends, the closer we grow in personal relationship with Jesus Christ--the Light of Life--the more we will know that we are sinners saved by God's scandalous grace and extravagant love! We become enraptured in His light! We are humbled by His mercy! Spiritual pride has no place in the life of a Christian!

That leads us into 1 John 1:9-10, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just [the focus is on God's faithfulness to act upon His covenant promises, one of which includes forgiveness of sin when a sacrifice of atonement is made for the sinner!] and will forgive us our sins [something only God can do!] and purify us from all unrighteousness [this is possible through the blood of Jesus as we saw in verse 7 and the words "all unrighteousness" parallel "walk in the darkness"--a Godless immoral life!]. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word [This again is the Greek word Logos which implies the Word of Life who is Jesus Christ] has no place in our lives.

Friends, we know from personal experience that we make God out to be a liar if we say we do not sin or we do not take personal responsibility for our sin and its consequences. But, if you still deny this truth from your personal experience,The Word declares that we all have sinned (including you and me!) in Romans 3:3, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That means all need forgiveness!

The remedy to self deception is to have a sober assessment of ourselves and to know that we are sinners and then with a humble heart, do what King David did in Psalm 51...come to God in confession, just as John is commanding us to do in verse 9!

David prayed in Psalm 51:1-2,"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."

Once again, the emphasis is on God's unfailing love and His great compassion! Not your perfection; you don't have to be perfect! That is a key point John is making--sin is real and we are not perfect (we all sin and will continue to struggle with our sin nature!). Do not live in denial; rather confess your sin and receive forgiveness and life!

ACTION ITEM: I will daily approach God with a humble and sober heart. [I will confess my sins and receive His forgiveness...confession is necessary!]

Let's close with our final teaching point that is found from the first 2 verses of 1 John 2. JESUS CHRIST IS THE REMEDY FOR...DEATH!

In 1 John 1:1, the elderly Apostle John, compassionately writes, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. [That is the goal of the Christian life, to become more and more like Jesus Christ who was without sin! John is stating one of his chief purposes for writing...He is telling these confused followers of Jesus Christ that sin does matter! They not only have to have a right view of God in Jesus Christ, but also of their lifestyles.] But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

The word that is translated "one who speaks to the Father in our defense" is the word Parakletos which is a rich word in John's writings. This is a word that means "Advocate, Mediator, Helper, Intercessor" and the emphasis is on "Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" because the Intercessor has to be able to advocate or intercede on our behalf...as God is righteous, Jesus Christ is Righteous. He has the right! He is able! He is qualified! He has the ear of His Father for your benefit!

In Hebrews 7:25 we read about Jesus Christ, "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Thank you Jesus, my Advocate, My Defender, My Interceder, My Wonderful Counselor! Jesus did not come to earth 2000 years ago ONLY to die as the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins. He did that, but the good news friend is that Jesus Christ is ALIVE! He rose from the dead 3 days later and 40 days later ascended to the right hand of the Father to be our Interceder and then 10 days after that sent His Spirit, also called the Parakletos to be our Sustainer. This is amazing...we have a Paraklete both at the right hand of the Father interceding for us and in our hearts sustaining and empowering us! God has your back and mine, if you will come to Him!

Let's finish our last verse, 1 John 2:2, "He is [once again the grammar of the Greek teaches this is a continuing quality...now and always!] the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

Jesus is not only our Paraklete, He is our Propitiation!

God is the One who provides the offering that was acceptable to Himself. We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 where Paul teaches, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.") This was necessary to turn away His wrath and fulfill the requirements of His Covenant for all of humanity to be restored into a right relationship with Himself.

Paul teaches in Romans 5:8-10,

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

Life defeats death just as the Light defeats Darkness!

In His great love for you and me, for the entire world, God has provided the means for everyone to be restored into fellowship with God. There are no limits to the efficacy of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ--the final atoning sacrifice; our Passover Lamb!

Let me tell you some great news! Jesus came to free us from works-based religions and sacrificial systems to teach us about a personal relationship with God! This is the gift of God!

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You do not have to ever experience the sting of death in your life! When a Christian dies, they do not stop living, they pass on to their Father's House where they receive their rich inheritance of eternal life! From life to Life!

This earthly tent is folded up and we receive an imperishable glorified body! Jesus is the remedy for death because He has removed the stain of sin that kept you from being in God's perfect fellowship!

God is offering this gift to you today; what are you going to do?

ACTION ITEM: Today, I wholeheartedly accept the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

RESPONSE TIME: Ken and his team are now going to lead us in a time of response. Today is the day of Salvation and Transformation! This is a call for each of us to answer: are you ready to walk fully in the light? Are you ready to humble confess your sins to God? Are you ready to receive the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ with your whole heart?

Thank you Jesus!

Good evening friends...

Yes, another failed attempt at falling asleep and more great intimacy time with God. I think I'm seeing a pattern of when I think I am tired and I get into bed with my family, yet the next thing I know I am hearing the steady breathing of my sleeping bride next to me (and Beorn too...he's not yet upstairs in his bed...kinda working on that...) and that inward nudge to head to my Bible for some daily bread. It's kind of crazy, in a good way crazy, because today I actually spent many hours studying and working on my sermon, but I'm still hungry for God's Word...just can't get enough.

Well, to my devotion and through my four chapters tonight (Exodus 29-32) there was a lot of diversity in this reading. Some crazy stuff that just doesn't show up in the Hollywood retelling of the Exodus (read about it in Ex 32:19-35); some great leadership does and don't does (those don't does are from our good friend the High Priest Aaron who fails at leadership 101...he may be able to sacrifice animals, but he can't lead people to save their lives (actually he gets 3000 of them killed at the hands of the Levites by order of Moses, but that brings you back to Ex 32:19-35 and the part of the story that the cute cartoon movies leave out)); and some more of the always detailed directions from God to Moses on Mt. Sinai of how to build the Tabernacle, Altar, etc. All good stuff, not all easy to digest or understand or even begin to put into devotional thought. Some of it is absolutley horrifying and others of it is just too other worldly with the sacrificial system.

But that moves me to my devotion from Ex 29:36-37, "Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the alter when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it. For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy." We actually learn in the next few verses (38-42) that there are to be two sacrifices made on this altar every day (morning and twilight) continuously...a continual sacrifice of atonement.

This actually jumped out at me because I'm studying 1 John pretty deeply right now and this Sunday I am preaching 8 verses (1:5-2:2) and there is reference to the "blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7) and Jesus "Himself is the propitiation for our sins" (2:2). These are very theologically rich statements that we as Christians read through knowing what we know about the Cross of Calvary, atonement theory, NT Scripture references, etc. But ultimately, without a firm understanding of passages such as Ex. 29:36-37 we have don't get the full extent of how radically indebted to Jesus Christ we are for the freedom and the atonement that we have in Him and through Him. Just check out the absolute focus on holiness and ritualistic preparation that the priests of Israel had to go through in preparation of the altar to make the twice a day sacrifice that had to happen every day...not too mention the process of being ordained and properly dressed and the amazingly detailed and elaborate process for building the Tabernacle, altar, etc... This is the means God established for man to be able to deal with the sin that prevented them from having a relationship with God until by God's grace He sent His Son "Jesus Christ, the righteous" (2:1) to became the once and for all sin offering of atonement that dealt a final blow to the sin separation between man and God. Because of Jesus Christ, God's indescribable gift to us, all of humanity can now have a relationship with God...the most inclusive and extensive sacrifice of atonement possible and all we have to do is accept it and receive it and welcome Jesus Christ into our lives as Lord and Savior acknowledging He was the atoning sacrifice for my sins...Thank you Jesus!

It is my hope that as we dive into God's Word that we realize that we are truly just skimming the surface of God's infinite Truth. May we grow as students of the Old Testament to fully comprehend what Christ has done for us. And as we study, may our gratitude grow and may our obedience flow out of the deep understanding that we can never say "Thank you" enough or give of ourselves (Time, Treasures, and Talents) enough, or do anything to deserve the fullness of God's love and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the unblemished Passover Lamb (that's another OT allusion found in Exodus...read your Bible and don't rely on Sunday School stories from year's past or Hollywood movies to teach you the eternal truths God has given us in the Bible.

Love to you as you give God all the glory for the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ...THANK YOU Jesus!

In His Service,
Jerry