"the Second Crisis Experience"

The Second Crisis

November 3, 2019

1 John Chapter One

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

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. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 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.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

I love this small book of 1st John. It has so much to say to us. I like how it begins. John dares you to call him a liar. He says what he is proclaiming to you he has heard with his own ears and seen with his own eyes and his hands have touched. He is an eyewitness. You have a choice immediately – believe him or not. Believe he is telling the truth or call him a liar. I choose to believe.

Then he states his purpose for sharing with you – so you may be a part of this. So you can be in fellowship and enjoy the joy. So you can come out of the darkness and into the light.

John tells us how to enter into to this fellowship and experience the joy of the Lord. We first must come to a place where we understand we are sinners. If we claim we are without sin; if we think we are okay and have not sinned – we deceive ourselves and make him out to be a liar. So the first step in entering into the Fellowship is to recognize we are sinners. The second step is to confess that fact. Who do we confess our sinfulness to? First, to ourselves. Secondly, to God. Thirdly, to the Fellowship of believers. James says,

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16a

This book of 1st John is a great book to lead someone to Christ. In the fifth chapter we are told we can KNOW we have eternal life. If we are in Christ – we have eternal life. But I don’t want to talk about salvation this morning – as important as it is. I want to go beyond this. Paul said,

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God” Hebrews 6:1

I want to do that this morning. I want to go beyond salvation and on to purity. John writes,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

I don’t know how many times I have used this verse to share the gospel with the lost. I encourage them to 1. Admit they are sinners, 2. Confess their sin to God. 3. Repent of any known sin in their life and 4. Believe.

But this verse does not stop at salvation. God does not stop at forgiveness

of sin. He wants to purify us from any unrighteousness. C.S. Lewis said God says,

“Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self---in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.” ? C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity