Walking In The Light Series

Walking In The Light - 1 John 1:5-2:2 - May 19, 2013

Series: That We May Know – Life With Jesus - #2

We are going to continue with our series from 1 John this morning, but before we get into those verses I’m going to invite you to turn with me to another of John’s writings; the Gospel of John. John, chapter 3, beginning in verse 19. And as you’re turning there let me say this: One of the great pictures that is painted for us in the pages of the Bible is this contrast that we find between light and dark. Jesus stood in the temple and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, NIV84)

Light and dark: It’s a theme that runs throughout God’s word. We see it again and again and again. And when that happens, you just know that God has got a purpose in it. There’s a reason He keeps going back to that imagery. There is something there that He wants us to understand, a concept He wants us to grasp. That which is light is good, and it’s true, and it’s pleasing to God. That which is darkness is evil, and it is apart from, and it has no part of, nor any fellowship with, God.

And in John 3:19 John has written these words: He says, “This is the verdict:” Underline that word, “verdict.” Now what is a verdict? It’s a judgment that is given after all the evidence has been examined. John takes a look at the world around him, the world in which he lives, the world in which we live, and He looks at all the evidence, everything that has been revealed to him, and guided by the Holy Spirit he comes to a conclusion. He says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, (that light is Jesus) but men loved darkness instead of light (why?) because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (People oppose Jesus, people turn away from the light of the world, because light exposes, it illuminates, it reveals, the things of darkness. And when the spotlight is shone on the darkness of my soul I have only two choices: 1 – to run from the light in fear and shame and to continue as I always have, or, 2 – to deal with the things that the light has exposed, and that’s going to mean humbling myself, and repenting, and running after the things of light rather than the deeds of darkness. It’s going to mean change and people don’t like to change.) Yet John goes on to say this, “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19–21, NIV84) If you want to live by the truth you can no longer continue in the darkness; those two things aren’t compatible. You need to come into the light.

And some of you here this morning – you’re trying to live in both worlds. On the one hand you like the idea of living in the light, but on the other hand you really don’t want to give up the things of darkness. You are sitting on the fence. And you are not going to like this message – why? - because those living in darkness don’t want to come into the light. When the deeds of darkness are exposed by the light, it demands a response. I’m going to be speaking in generalities because I don’t know the specifics of the darkness that might be flowing in your life. What you’re going to need to do, is to take these generalities that I’m speaking in, and you’re going to need to apply them to specifics in your own life.

And that’s what we want to see happen because we want to see people coming out of the darkness, into the light. We want to see them confessing and repenting of sin, and embracing God’s grace in Jesus. We want to see people delivered from bondage to sin, from slavery to addictions, and we want to see them, we want to see you, experience freedom, life and forgiveness and hope through Jesus. That’s part of why we’re here this morning. That we can be confronted with the truth of God’s word, that it might act as a mirror in our own lives, that we might see the darkness for what it is, and turn to the light.

So turn with me to 1 John, chapter 1, and we’ll begin reading in verse 5. And we’re going to take it verse by verse this morning because we need to get a handle on what John’s saying here. John is writing this towards the end of his life. He’s walked with Jesus; he’s experienced first-hand the things that he’s going to write about. He’s taken Jesus’ teaching to heart, and knows it to be true, and now he wants to share it with us. 1 John 1:5 …