1 John 1:5-7
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
1 John 1:5-7
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
“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 sin.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.”
Please open your Bibles to 1 John 1
In the Book of 1 John, the apostle John never really states who his target readers are but it is generally assumed that he is confronting Gnosticism. Gnostics claim to be Christian but are not.
Gnostics should not be confused with agnostics. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means “to know”. Gnostics claim to have a higher level of spiritual knowledge.
While gnosis/gnostic means “to know”, agnostic means “to not know”, i.e. “I don’t know if God exists or not …”
So … what did/do the Gnostics actually believe?
- They have a higher level of spiritual knowledge reserved for a special few
- They believe that Jesus’ physical body was not real, but only “seemed” to be physical, and that His spirit descended upon Him at His baptism, but left Him just before His crucifixion
- They believe that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only. In other words, sin all you want, it will not affect your spirit as long as you have attained this “higher knowledge”.
While John does not directly state that he is refuting Gnosticism it will seem clear as we work through 1 John that these three issues are directly confronted.
Last week we took a look at 1 John 1:1-4
And we saw that the Apostle John was declaring
- Who Jesus is
- That they were actual eye witnesses of the Christ
- That fellowship may be had with other believers and even with God the Father and Jesus Himself
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read 1 John 1
1 John 1:5a
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you …”
John is about to declare the message we need to know!
This is the message we have heard from Him (Jesus!) …
This is not hearsay knowledge; the apostles were not told this by someone else, this comes directly from the teachings of Jesus which the disciples heard with their own ears.
John is not suggesting to you that this might be true; it IS the truth, the Gospel truth.
Are you ready for the truth?
1 John 1:5
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you; God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all.”
“God is light …”
But, John doesn’t stop there! God is light, yes, but to reconfirm this statement he goes on and says, “in Him there is no darkness at all!”
God is the Creator of light.
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
The Lord clothes Himself in light …
Psalm 104:2a
“The LORD wraps Himself in light as with a garment …”
1 Timothy 6:15b-16
“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and might forever. Amen.”
Every physical light has a light source from which the light emanates.
God alone is the source of spiritual light and He is also the light itself.
John wants to make sure that is absolutely clear, God is not only light but in Him THERE IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL!
The message is that God is completely, unreservedly, absolutely holy, with not even a trace of sin, no taint of iniquity, and no hint of injustice.
God’s light is righteousness – darkness is wickedness
God’s light is holiness – darkness is sinfulness
God’s light is purity – darkness is filthiness
God’s light is just – darkness is injustice
God’s light is love – darkness is self centeredness and hate
Light is revealing!
If I spill grape juice on the living room carpet it is no big deal as long as it is dark!
Turn on the light and it is a different story!
What happens when Jesus turns His light on our souls?
It reveals our true spiritual condition.
If we are living holy lives in the Light of God it is fine; there is fellowship.
But, if we are not living holy lives the Light of God will reveal something quite different.
1 John 1:6
“If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”
The NLT phrases 1 John 1:6 like this;
“So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.”
“If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness …”
There is an old song called The Great Pretender.
They are called love songs. They are really broken-relationship-songs but I guess that’s takes too long to say …
I’ve changed the words a little but here’s how it might sound if, “we claim to have fellowship with (Jesus) and yet walk in the darkness …”
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Oh yes I'm the great pretender
Pretending that I'm doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
Lost in sin but no one can tell
Oh yes I'm the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I play the game but to my real shame
I struggle with sin all alone
Too real is this feeling of make believe
Too real when I feel what my heart does conceal
Oh yes I’m the great pretender
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I wonder how many people come into church each week pretending to be in fellowship with the Lord while still walking in darkness.
I wonder how many people have quit coming to church, not because someone has been rude to them or ignored them but because the presence of the Lord has exposed a darkness in their life that they are unwilling to change.
Living a lie is a hard thing.
But the Lord doesn’t just leave us there! He has made a plan for us. A plan where we can walk with Him and have fellowship with Him and with other Christians and where we can be purified from all sin!
1 John 1:7
“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 sin.”
You, see, THAT is God’s plan for us; for all of us! If ….
That one little word is HUGE … IF ….
IF we claim to have fellowship with Him …
IF we walk in the light as He is in the light …
If we claim to have fellowship with Jesus and yet we are still walking in the darkness we are not purified from all sin.
Listen. Does anyone here LIKE walking in the dark?
Walking in total darkness there is a certainty that you will stumble, you will fall, you may be assaulted, you may die.
That is the frightful, spiritual reality of someone who is walking in darkness.
Illustration:
Imagine a town where there is always darkness but there is one street that is lit.
There is a voice that calls from the light to the darkness, “Come to Me. You don’t have to live in the darkness. You can live in the light. You don’t have to stumble and fall over garbage of self centeredness. You don’t have to fall into the ditch and wallow in the mud of sin. You don’t have to try to survive on the slop that the devil throws your way. You can have a life of forgiveness and purity and hope. Come to Me.”
Many will say, “If I come into the light everyone will see how dirty I am.”
Jesus says, “Everyone who is clean was filthy before they came to Me. I am the One who enabled them to be washed clean and pure. I can do the same for you.”
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Some people do come into the Light while others choose to remain in the darkness.
However, there is a curious group who claim to live in the light while their hearts belong to the darkness.
This is not talking about Christians who have a fervent desire to follow Jesus and yet commit an occasional sin, to their shame and regret.
This is talking about those who claim to be in full fellowship with Jesus and yet practice sin as a way of life.
This is also talking about the freedom that can be found in full fellowship with Christ BECAUSE of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin!
But it all comes down to the two words that are found in verses 6 and 7, “If we …”
Or more directly, “If you …”
What will you choose?
The Holy Spirit is calling you to come out of the darkness …
If you obey you will have eternal life …
If you resist and rebel against His invitation you will have eternal death …
What will you choose?
(Closing thoughts and prayer)
