Alba 5-26-2024
STAY IN THE LIGHT
I John 1:5-7
Charles Salmon, a Christian Church minister, told how his grandmother had a canary. And she loved to hear it sing. She would talk to it, and care for it very carefully, and then would sit by the window and listen to it sing.
However, the bird didn’t know when to shut up. It would stay awake and sing all night. She said it was because she kept a night light on. In order to get the canary to sleep, she would cover its cage with a heavy cloth and block out the light.
She never really knew if it was asleep, but at least it was quiet as long as it was in the dark. Of course, the light was always there, but the canary didn't know it, because it was covered.
I think it must be that way with a lot of people. The light of God’s wonder and glory is there, but they have covered themselves with darkness and never really know the glory and joy of God’s salvation. But is even worse if the person is a Christian and still lives in darkness.
That's what the apostle John says in his letter, I John 1:5-7. Here's what he says: “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. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
This tells us that the best place to be is to stay in the light.
1. Because That's Where God Is
In fact, it is WHAT God is. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (vs. 5) Do you know what light is? One dictionary definition says that light is, “an electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range including infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and x-rays and traveling in a vacuum with a speed of about 186,281 miles per second.”
Another dictionary definition states it more simply saying it is: “something that makes vision possible.” So what is the purpose of light? The answer is not complicated. Light dispels darkness. Jesus declared Himself “the Light of the world”. He said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Everywhere He went He brought light: He penetrated hearts, exposed sin, and revealed truth. He made seeing possible.
There is a contrast between light and darkness. God is the light. Not only that, but He is a light that is so bright, no darkness can be present in Him. In other words, God is all perfect, God is all good, and all of God’s decisions are just. Darkness is the opposite, it is absence of all of these things, and it represents sin. Sin is the opposite of being perfect, and good, and just. God’s plan for us is to live our lives in His light and not in the darkness of sin. And how do we find that light? Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
Have you ever been in a cave when they shut the lights out? You can't see you hands in front of your face. If my hands were dirty, I would not know it except for the light that helps me to see them. God’s Word shows me the filth in my life and warns me of it’s dangers. In the darkness both evil and good look alike, but in the light they can be distinguished.
In the dark an ugly lady looks just as good as a beautiful one. And a handsome man looks no better than an ugly one. By the way, looks can be deceiving. But some light does make a difference. Light provides safety, reveals beauty, exposes flaws, impurity and uncleanness. It even produces growth in crops, and helps people feel better.
There is something called Seasonal Affective Disorder (appropriately shortened to its initials and called S.A.D.). It is caused by a lack of exposure to sunlight, which in turn alters a person’s brain chemistry and symptoms of depression may occur. The standard treatment for this disorder is “light” therapy. The principal behind light therapy is that by increasing a person’s exposure to bright light, the chemicals in a person’s brain can be brought back to normal levels and lessen or remove the symptoms of S.A.D.
In the same way we can have a Spiritual Affective Disorder. This happens when we leave God’s light—His love, and truth, and merciful presence. But there is a sure cure. When we return to God’s light, the symptoms of spiritual darkness are dispersed. We need to stay in the light of God's Word. Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” I think we all need that.
We need to stay in the light because that's where God is and also:
2. Because That's Where We Have Fellowship With God and With Each Other.
One of the false views John deals with in this letter is that there were those who thought that there is no connection between a person’s behavior and the condition of one’s relationship with God. It was as if you could sin all you wanted and it simply didn’t matter. In fact, some seemed to pursue perversion and excuse it as God wanting them to know the deep things, even the deep things of Satan. Revelation 2:24 mentions this.
If we are continuing in the deeds of darkness, there is no way we can have fellowship with God. John says that if we try to have it both ways, living in sin and still professing to be a Christian, we are liars, living a lie. To live in the light is to live by the revealed will of God. It is to live according to the righteous standard set forth by Christ Jesus Himself. It is living openly, honestly, and sincerely before God and man. Darkness cannot exists where there is light. It is one or the other. We can claim to be a Christian. We can claim to love God and we even have membership in a church. But if the life we live doesn’t go along with the claims we make, what is the truth? Does someone who claims to love God and the Lord Jesus continue to use their names inappropriately? Will those who claim to walk in fellowship with the Giver of life show disrespect for the gift of life and support abortion?
How can those who claim to be clothed with Christ soil themselves with greed, hatred, lust, gossip, or slander? John gives a clear answer to all those questions. No! We can’t claim fellowship with the Light and continue to walk in the darkness. If we are doing that, we desperately need God’s light to shine on and in us.
Jesus said in Matthew in 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” It is not what we claim, but what we really are that is important. Does this mean that we must be perfect? No, it is not possible. Because we will never outgrow our need for Jesus. But we must purpose to walk in the light and not in darkness.
Anything else will interfere with our fellowship with God and also our fellowship with one another. It is our union in Christ that brings the variety of people that we are into a relationship that rivals any family connections. We have fellowship with each other because we are united in Christ.
So we must stay in the light, for this is where God is and it is where we fellowship with our Lord and each other. But also we must stay in the light:
3. Because That's Where the Blessings Are.
One of the blessings of light is that it is more safe. If you are walking around in the dark, you are more likely stub your toe, stumble or fall down. The same is true with spiritual things. We live better lives when we live in the light.
Certainly the greatest blessing we have is the blessing of forgiveness of our sins when we walk in the Light of Christ. Verse seven says that when we walk in the light, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The truth is that as Christians, we are all sinners who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. That is something that we must never forget.
Speaking of never forgetting, I know that you are aware that tomorrow is Memorial Day. It was originally known as “Decoration Day”. It was time set aside to remember and honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves.
But after World War I the day was set aside to honor all Americans who died in wars. Eventually the custom was extended to pay tribute to deceased relatives and friends, both military and civilian. And in 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday.
Every American ought to recognize this day, remembering those who gave their lives to make America what it is, a nation worth fighting for. Some may not think so but because there are those who have died for this country, we still have the right to pursue peace, prosperity and happiness. And we still have the right to preach God’s word freely.
So this week as we celebrate Memorial Day, let us stop and thank God for those who died to make and keep us free. Many paid the price for our freedom with their lives.
And as we remember those who died for our country, let us also remember to thank God for Jesus, who shed His blood to set us free from the penalty of our sins, because He also was one who was willing to pay the price. Jesus fought the armies of hell so that we might have liberty in His name. Each Sunday, as we partake in communion, the Lord's Supper, we are remembering what it took to cleanse us and make us free from the penalty of our sins. Every week as we come together it is a celebration of the memorial of Christ. Every Sunday is a Memorial Day for a Christian.
The apostle Paul reminds us why our communion time is so important. He writes in I Corinthians 11:23-26, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'
“In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
So do not make light of this Memorial Feast. We do this “in remembrance of Him” In the Old Testament believers would symbolically transfer their sins to an animal and then the animal would be sacrificed for their sins.
It was a symbol upon which they could invest their faith in God who would one day send His own Son upon which our sins would be placed, and Who would then be sacrificed for our sins. That was God's plan, and if we think there is any other way, we are walking in the dark.
Since the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin, and only the blood of Jesus, then how can we be cleansed from our sin without the blood? This is why Jesus can say He is the only way to God, the only way to get to heaven.
Think about what God has done for us. It says the blood of Jesus cleanses us from (How much??) ALL sin! Boy, don't we need that! Anyone who is honest with themselves knows that there are things that should never have been done, and never should have happened. There are things that have made our lives dirty and we need a cleansing.
No matter how good we may be, we have still been stained with sin. It takes the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from that sin! The only reason we can have fellowship with God and each other is because of the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for you and for me.
God's shines His light on the cross so that we can see what our sins demand for a cleansing: the painful death of Jesus Christ offering Himself as a sacrifice to make possible our forgiveness before God.
There is only one safe place for us to be. We need to stay in God's light. The first thing that God did when He created this world was to shine His light. And it will continue on into eternity. Because Revelation 21:23-27 says in heaven:
“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
So prepare for that time. Walk in the light, so that you can stay in the light.
CLOSE:
James Dobson shared this story in his book, The New Strong-Willed Child, p. 11. “Consider the experience of a friend of mine, who was a recreational pilot when he was younger. On one occasion, he flew his single-engine plane toward his home base at a small country airport.
“Unfortunately, he waited too long to start back and arrived in the vicinity of the field as the sun dropped behind a mountain. By the time he maneuvered his plane into position to land, he could not see the hazy runway below.
“There were no lights to guide him and no one on duty at the airport. He circled the field for another attempt to land, but by then the darkness had become even more impenetrable. For two desperate hours, he flew his plane around and around in the blackness of the night, knowing that probably death awaited him when he ran out of fuel.
“Then as greater panic gripped him, a miracle occurred. Someone on the ground heard the continuing drone of his engine and realized his predicament. That merciful man drove his car back and forth on the runway to show my friend the location of the airstrip. Then he let his lights cast their beam from the far end while the plane landed.”
We need the light of God and His Word to be able to land safely when this life is over. Stay in the light!
