TEXT: 1st John 1:5-2:2
TITLE: In the Light!
SERIES: Letters from John
TOPIC: Walking in truth.
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, January 2, 2010
PROP.: John refutes 3 false teachings that endanger our relationship with God
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! We are back studying the letters from John. Our text today is 1st John 1:5-10
Things change! From one decade to the next things change!
TELEPHONE -à CELL PHONE
VHS TAPE -à Blu Ray player
Letters à text message.
Cassette tape à MP3 player
And what John was striving to do was to keep the foundation of Christianity the same - JESUS. Christianity is so simple. It’s easy enough that a child can understand it and accept it. Jesus came to earth fully human - fully God. He lived a sinless life. He died on the cross to take the punishment for MY sin. He was buried. And three days later, came back to life. And if we will believe in Him and accept him as our savior, then we too can have eternal life. It’s really basic. It’s really simple!
But what happened was as these simple churches began to move and grow into these new generations, new ideas began to be popular. And many people began to believe that Christianity is too simplistic. It’s not intellectually challenging. (It’s not sophisticated enough. (which simply is not true. I am guessing that all of us who have studied the Bible would agree that it’s deep! And as hard as it may be to comprehend…it’s even more difficult to put into practice!) but this new generation of Christians wanted something more sophisticated - they wanted something deeper.
And so what they were doing is adding to it! They were making it more appealing to the masses! Because if you know the people who were really influenced by the Greek thinking - then you know they took great pride in their philosophers and logic and deep thinking.
And one of the philosophies that was starting to creep into the church was this idea of GNOSTICISM. It comes from the Greek word that means knowledge.
And people thought that in order to be a good religious person, you had to emphasize the mind. And that was the whole basis of gnosticism…the mind. And anything that was material, or physical was evil! And the only thing that was pure was the mind! And this led to secret meanings in teachings - people thought that those who were of higher intellect were able to understand the ’real meaning’ of the teaching.
And one of the greatest sources of conflict in the church is if you are trying to create a religion that says the body is evil, that flesh is bad, then it’s kind of hard to believe that there is a Savior who is God who comes to earth and takes on a body! There becomes this huge conflict of interest because the body is evil! AND so that is why there became a lot of questions about “Is Jesus really God?” And about sin and about how to get rid of sin.
And so what John is doing is he is attacking; he is refuting gnosticism. That’s why John keeps emphasizing these three key words…do you remember them?
JESUS. TRUTH. LOVE. John is convinced that if these readers understand who Jesus is, they will know the truth and they will fully understand His love!
So that brings up to our text this morning. We have all ready studied 3rd John. And we studied 2nd John. And now we are in 1st John. Now 1st John is different than the other two letters that John wrote. If you read 1st John, maybe you’re like, “Hmmmm. This doesn’t really feel like a letter.” And you’re right. It reads more like a sermon. And that’s probably a better description of 1st John. 2nd and 3rd john were letters written to a specific person or a specific church. But first John, was meant to be shared among all the churches.
T.S.: So what John is going to do in our text this morning, is go after the gnostics and really hammer three false teachings that these people are trying to bring into the church. Because remember, John is the elder…he is the overseer and protector of these churches. And he is going to hit this problem head on. Because that’s John’s style! He doesn’t beat around the bush. He makes it clear exactly what is right on this issue. And that’s an important lesson for you and me to learn. Speak up for what’s right…even if you get hammered…even if it makes the situation uncomfortable. Do the right thing.
So let’s start in with our text today - beginning with verse 5.
1st John 1:5-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Ok, let’s stop right there. John starts off this sermon with a foundational truth. That truth is this:
GOD IS LIGHT! (vs. 5)
WOW! Let me start off by asking a question: Does this describe God’s physical being? I mean, is John describing to us what God looks like? God is light.
There is something to be said about God’s appearance. God appears as LIGHT. BLINDING LIGHT!
Remember Moses’ encounter with God on top of the Mt. Zion? His face glowed after being in the presence of God. So much so, that the Israelites couldn’t gaze upon Moses’ face very long. Or how about Paul? Remember his description of what happened when he met Jesus as he was traveling to the city of Damascus? (Acts 22:6) Paul said that a BRIGHT LIGHT FROM HEAVEN FLASHED ALL AROUND HIM.
So certainly, God’s appearance is like light. But John is talking about something more than God’s physical appearance.
In just a little bit, John is going to make a contrast between light and darkness. And what’s interesting here is that throughout history, anything that is good is referred to as light. And anything that is evil is referred to as that which is dark. Different cultures, different religions - all of them refer to GOOD as LIGHT. And EVIL as DARKNESS. It’s never the other way around.
And so John teaches us this amazing fact about God. GOD. IS. LIGHT.
And so what John is saying in that statement is: God is pure. God is holy. God is good. Not just mostly light. Not just good most of the time. God isn’t just more often good than He is bad.
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! There is no sin in God. Not in His thinking. Not in His words. Not in his actions. Not in His motives. There is no sin in God.
ILLUSTRATION: My dad likes jokes. In fact, this joke I‘m about to tell you, I first heard from my dad when I was like in the 6th grade. Maybe you‘ve heard this one before: “The Lord is gonna get ya!”
Burglar enters into this really fancy house home at night with a flash light and a pillow case…as he is busy looking for valuables to steal, he hears a voice in the corner of the room: “Raaaaa…the Lord’s gonna get ya.” Startled, he quickly turns around and shines his flashlight in the direction of the voice only to discover there is a parrot in a cage. “Raaaaaa….the Lord’s gonna get ya.” Shrugging it off, the burglar continues rummaging through desk drawers. He makes his way over to the entertainment center. He picked up the blue ray player and put into his sack. “Raaaaaa…the Lord’s gonna get ya.” Ignoring the voice, the burglar moves to the dining room table where there is pure silver dinnerware. He picks it all up and puts it into his sack. “Raaaaaa….the Lord’s gonna get ya.” This continued on until he cleared out all of the valuables in the dining room and living room. Now it was time to go into the kitchen. “Raaaaa…the Lord’s gonna get ya.”
The burglar swung open the door that divided that the kitchen from the dining room and there staring him in the face was this growling, large, ferocious Doberman. The parrot says, “Sick-him Lord!”
Don’t some of us have this idea about God that he is like that Doberman Pincher? We think that if we anger God - that He is going to get revenge on us? That God will strike you down and make life painful? Well listen up! Because God is not out to ‘get you’. He doesn’t seek revenge. He doesn’t delight in sending people to hell. That’s not God. And some of you have grown up with this mentality that God is out to ‘ZAP’ you if you do anything wrong whatsoever! That’s not God.
God is LIGHT! In Him, there is no darkness at all! Hold on to this truth. Because at some point, we will need to lean on this truth. As we live through 2011, some of us will face difficult circumstances. Perhaps maybe even this week! And when we face difficult circumstances, we may feel attacked by God. And we are convinced that God has it out for us! That God may be possibly bad. Have you ever felt that way?
Maybe you lost a loved one? Or maybe you faced a situation financially? Or maybe you lost your job or your house or your spouse left you. Have you ever thought that God was to blame for that?
If so, you need to remember, what John teaches us about God: GOD IS LIGHT! God is good! Absolutely good! And so if 2011 brings pain and despair…don’t blame God. Go to Him. Allow God to be your peace, comfort. Allow God to restore your joy.
Let’s continue reading our text today…because here is where John starts to really hammer the false teaching of the Gnostics. The first one is in verse 6.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
False teaching #1:
I. I have fellowship with Jesus even though I have sin (vs. 6-7)
You see, what the Gnostic false teaching was communicating and the teaching that was creeping into the church was: They were claiming that they were in the light. That they had relationship with God. That they were pure. That they were holy.
But what John says is: “hold on a second. These people are claiming to be in relationship with God, but what did I tell you about God? In God there is NO darkness at all!.” And these people are claiming to be in relationship with God, but what do you see? Darkness. Sin. So what John is doing is saying that they claim to be in the light -- but their actions speak otherwise.”
Now listen up, there is not one of us who is without sin! But we’ll get to that in just a sec. What John is referring to, are Christians, who think they are right with God, who know the right thing to do…but instead are choosing to live a sinful lifestyle…and thinking it is ok!
Now before you write this false teaching off thinking that it doesn’t apply you. Think about this. We are pretty good at doing a little thing called: JUSTIFICATION.
You see, every once in a while, we have a particular sin come up in our life and we’re pretty good at convincing ourselves that it’s ok! That’s called justification. We are very good and very quick to justify ourselves.
Revenge: “That person was mean to me. I had to say it. I had to do what I did. I had to protect myself. I had to retaliate.”
Stealing: “My company is so big they won’t miss that. Besides, if they took better care of its employees, this wouldn’t be necessary. They owe me!”
Adultery: “I was lonely. What else was I supposed to do? If you had to live with my spouse, then you’d understand.”
Alcohol & drugs: “But I’m so depressed. You don’t know what my life is like! I want the pain to stop! This is the only way!”
We are good at justification aren’t we? We are good at giving reasons and excuses why we rebel against God. And that’s similar to what was happening in the churches John was overseeing! People didn’t believe their sin was THAT big of a deal.
But if that’s your plan when you get to heaven, to just stand before God and explain why you were right to do what God has said is wrong, that is a horrible idea! There will be no explaining your side of things to God. There will be no reasoning with God. God’s judgment will be final and fair. And your excuses will mean NOTHING to God.
But listen to what John says. Because for those who have Jesus - there is no need for self justification. Read verse 7:
7 But 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[b] sin.
So what John is doing is introducing this idea of walking in light! God is light. I get it. But what does it mean to WALK in the light? You have two choices…to live your life in darkness or live your life in light. And for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…are walking in light. Does that mean that Christians get it right 100% of the time? Does it mean that I can do whatever I want and still go to heaven? No. It means that you stop imitating darkness, you repent from darkness and now imitate light!
And when you are walking in light…notice two things that happen:
1. We have fellowship with one another. You may not be aware of it, but when you choose to sin, it affects the relationships of those around you who are living in light! Did you know that? That is why sin must be dealt with. And when we are walking in the light, we have a close, tight-knit family of brothers and sisters.
And notice the second thing that happens when we become a Christian.
2. The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin! No longer do you have to make excuses for the sin that creeps up in your life…Because of Jesus Christ’s blood that now covers your sins over, you are justified, you are made perfect in God’s eyes!
Sin is a big deal to God…so much so, that He sent his son Jesus to die as the perfect sacrifice for our sin!
Let’s keep reading our text this morning to discover the false teaching of the Gnostics:
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
II. I am without sin (my present is good) (vs. 8)
Here is another idea the Gnostics were trying to plant in the church. The Gnostics believed that since the mind was holy…that thinking -- really DEEP thinking was where it was at. And so the Gnostics believed that your body could do whatever it wanted because mind and body were separate. Just as long as your mind was growing in knowledge, your body could do whatever makes it feel good. So that was the teaching that was coming into the church.
Now I think if I went around the room and asked you personally if you have sin in your life, you would admit that yes, you do have sin. So do I. But here’s what we are really good at doing: we are good at deceiving ourselves into feeling better about MY sin..
It’s a little phrase called:
A. But at least I…
“I may have had a lustful thought…but at least I didn’t cheat on my spouse.” “I may use course language from time to time, but at least I don’t beat my wife.”
We are good at comparing our sins with others! Now, it’s true not all sin is equal. Punching someone is not the same as shooting and killing someone as far as the punishment is concerned. I mean, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a sin in it’s own category according to scripture. And according to 1st Corinthians 7 Paul places special emphasis on sexual sin! So not all sin is the same in regards to how it will be punished. But all sin IS the same in how God is repulsed by it. And all sin IS the same in how it is forgiven. But its time we stop comparing our sin with the sins of those around us because we do that only to make ourselves feel better, don’t we? We shrug it off. We think we are holy because we’re better than our neighbor down the road.
B. John’s response to the false teaching.
But notice what John says will happen if we will stop deceiving ourselves in regards to our sins. Verse 9.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness
You see, if we believe the lie that we are more holy than our neighbor…or the rapist…or the drug dealer…then we deceive ourselves. But this is how John says to counteract that deception. This is how you attack it! When sin pops up in your life…instead of saying, “well my sin isn’t THAT bad…” you confess your sin. You take ownership of it. You admit to God that in fact you ARE a sinner.
Now for a lot of us, we kind of do this blanket prayer in regards to our sins, don’t we? “Dear God, please forgive me for my sins. My life is a mess. Please forgive me.” And then we just go on to the rest of our prayer. But what I would suggest to you is to specifically RECALL your sin. Name it by name. “God forgive me for looking at that woman with impure eyes and thoughts.” “God forgive me for speaking badly about my friend.” Own it! “God, I am so sorry for lying to my friend. I am so sorry for gossiping behind my friend’s back.” Own it. Be specific.
Now this is the part that makes everyone uncomfortable. But there are some cases where you need to bring your sin to your Christian brother or sister. You need to speak it verbally to your accountability partner. Because what you’re doing is you’re not deceiving yourself anymore, you’re bringing it out in the open so it can be dealt with. Because any sin that is kept in darkness is going to keep YOU in darkness. But any sin that is brought into the light is going to move you OUT of darkness into the light! But as long as you hide your sin, there is no opportunity for reconciliation. There is no opportunity for healing.
Now, listen to me on this: CHOOSE YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER CAREFULLY! Someone who will help you; not hurt you. Someone who is trustworthy. And if you’re an accountability partner of someone else - make sure you are helpful and trustworthy! Ok?
One more false teaching that John addresses. Verse 10.
Well lets finish up our text this morning.
Because we are going to learn the 3rd false teaching that John addresses. It’s similar to false teaching to #2.
III. I have not sinned (vs. 10) My past is the past!
. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Again, I think most of would admit that we have sinned in our past! And for many, your past continues to haunt you!
And one of the things that some of you try to do is over compensate for your past. Your past was so awful and sinful, that you try to show the world that you’ve truly changed! And so you become this super-Christian! You do good things for people. You say nice things. And all of this is NOT bad! It’s a good thing to be a nice person. But pay attention to your motives! Because if you are being a nice person merely to make yourself feel better about your past…if this is a way of combating sin on your own terms…be very careful! “Well I’ll just try harder to be a better person!” That’s dangerous and doesn’t work!
Here it is the 2nd day of January. How many new year’s resolutions have failed and fallen apart? Combating sin on your own power is futile. But we still try, don’t we? We say, “this is the year where I will no longer be defined by my sin…” But the problem is that is a lie! We can’t fix the sin in our own lives. We have to admit it! We have to invite Jesus to come into our lives and do His work!
So listen to John’s response: I love how he talks to these readers. John is an old man. He knows truth, he has seen Jesus. And he sees this church and he’s afraid it will divide. But his reaction is gentle. He doesn’t point his finger in their face. He doesn’t tell them that they are evil and they are sinners and that they are going to hell. He instead, looks at them with compassion and says:
1st John 2:1-3
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.
John is stating that God doesn’t want us to sin. He wants us to live holy lives. Live sold out for Jesus Christ. But notice what John writes
“But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
CONCLUSION: Jesus sacrifice on the cross is not some distant, abstract thought, or cute illustration. Jesus Christ accepted the punishment that was yours for the sin that you would commit during your lifetime. And if you accept him as your Lord and Savior you will never be the same. Your life will forever be different!
So the invitation is two fold today. If you are not a Christian, if you are walking in darkness and desire to walk in the light - come forward! We can turn the light switch on in your life this very moment!
But the second invitation is for those of you who are Christians, who have said that I believe that Jesus is the Christ and I am living in the light, but you are drifting between the light and the dark. You have a big toe in the shadows…let me tell you something, that’s not where you need to be. You need to be in the light. And the only way you are going to get in the light is if you confess your sin and repent of your sin and say, “I’m messing up. I’m doing wrong. I need to do what’s right.” And only when you do that, will you get the freedom from sin and guilt. So if you want to start off 2011 the right way, this time of decision is for you!
Come and be free!
