Voddie Baucham - Fellowship With Jesus Christ

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
You know, it's it's interesting, and I always love it
when we have a service that sort of seems as
choreographed as this one may seem, just because of all
of the themes that have come together. And it's interesting,
especially for those of us who are aware of what
we do as a church sort of reading systematically through

(00:23):
the scriptures. We're reading systematically through the Gospel of John,
and we just happened to be right there in John
three today as we're looking at first John one, five
through ten and this light and darkness theme. It's amazing
how God uses all of those aspects, even when we

(00:45):
just commit to doing things in a systematic way, and
even through our commitment to reading through Exodus and systematically
reading through Exodus, and here we see this picture of
the law, and they're the Sabbath law, and this punishment
of death for those who violate the Sabbath law. It
brings the reality of the law to bear. It crushes

(01:07):
any semblance of legalism. And that's why, you know, that's
why it's important, because so many times you can go
to church for ten fifteen years and never read through Exodus.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
But it's important for us to see the law, to see.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
How black and white the law is, to see how
serious God is about those who violate the law, because
it's only there that we understand appropriately and more fully
the grace of God that saves, and we understand how
foolish it is for us to try to attach any

(01:45):
legalistic tendencies.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
To the grace of God. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
For us to try to keep the law in a
way that would appease God when we understand the significance
of the law and the punishment required for those who
don't keep it. The other thing that is amazing as
we look at the law is, again, as we've talked
about it before, the active obedience of Christ. We talked

(02:20):
about this before, We'll talk about it again because it's
significant for the day, the active and passive obedience of
Christ and our redemption. We're so familiar with the passive
obedience of Christ, we're so familiar with the fact that
Christ died for our sins, he allowed himself to be killed.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
For our sins. But that active obedience of Christ.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
He as a man, the god man, where he kept
the whole law, and because of that, this principle of
imputed righteousness is made possible So we look at Exodus
chapter thirty one, and it says you should be put
to death because of your violations just of the Sabbath,

(03:06):
and in Christ, because of his active obedience. We can say, yes,
that's true. But in Christ, his righteousness is imputed to me,
and God looks at me as one who has kept
that perfectly. Amen, that's just good news, says It's also
horrible news for anyone expecting to stand before God and

(03:29):
be justified for having kept the law.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
It's horrible news because.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
One of the designs of the law, as we read
in Galatians, is to remind you time and time again
that you can't do what you're required to do. Somebody's
got to do it for you. And as we run
up against the law, that's what we run against. But
here's the other question. Do we then go toward antinomianism

(04:00):
lawlessness as a result of our understanding of this imputed
righteousness of Christ? Do we sin? As Paul would say,
so that grace may abound all the more? His response,
may it never be? Where do those two things come together?

(04:22):
I'm so glad you asked, look with me if you will.
First John chapter one, we finally reached this second paragraph here,
verses five through ten. And let's look here at first
John chapter one, verses five through ten. Let's look at
the marks of the Kingdom of Light. Verse five. This

(04:44):
is the message we have heard from him and proclaim
to you. And again you follow back, and this is
what we just read earlier about hearing this message and
proclaiming this message. And matter of fact, let's just go back
one that which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have

(05:04):
looked upon and have touched with our hands. Concerning the
word of life, the life was made manifest, and we
have seen it and testified to it, and proclaimed to
you the eternal life which was with the Father and
was made manifest to us. That which we have seen
and heard, we proclaim to you also so that you
too may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship
is with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ.

(05:28):
And we are writing these things so that our joy
may be complete. Now he picks up the same thing.
This is the message we have heard from him, and
proclaim to you that God is light, and in him
there is no darkness at all. If we say we
have fellowship with him. While we walk in darkness, we

(05:49):
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,
his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have

(06:13):
not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us. These marks of the Kingdom of Light.
There are a couple of things that are important to
keep in mind as we look at First John one
five through ten. There are a couple of things, a
couple of rails, if you will, some rails that will
keep us from going off the track as we look

(06:35):
at First John, and really as we look at all
of this epistle of First John, the first thing that
we need to understand is that John is speaking categorically here.
That he's speaking categorically here, he's talking about categories of individuals.
That's very important to remember that he's talking about categories
of individuals. Because if you don't remember that, then as

(06:57):
we go through first John, here's what will happen. You'll say,
if you're like this, you're in the kingdom. If you're
like that, you're not well. If you catch any one
of us on a bad day, guess what, Ooh, I'm out.
If you catch any one of us on the bad day.
Matter of fact, truth be told, you catch any one

(07:18):
of us on a good day, Amen, somebody, and we're going, oh,
I'm out. He's speaking categorically. He's talking about categories of individuals. Remember,
what he's doing is in part this polemic, if you will,
and apologetic for those within and without who've been influenced

(07:39):
by many different doctrinal heresies, perhaps the most prominent of
which is gnosticism. So what he's doing here is he's
drawing a line in the sand, and he's basically saying,
these individuals are teaching false doctrine, and here's why. Here's
their category, here's our category.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
So he's speaking categorically.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Okay, that's very important to keep in mind that he's
speaking categorically, and because of that, it's important to keep
in mind that he's talking about our character, our character.
Remember that he's talking about our character. That's the issue here.
One of the verbs that's used here in John, this

(08:23):
Greek verb peipateo to walk around the way that we walk,
is what he's talking about. So he's talking about our character.
He's talking about who we are as individuals, not what
can sometimes happen in our lives, but who we are

(08:43):
as individuals. And here's the way that I like to
sort of explain that for people. I mean, imagine, if
you will, if we're talking about a child and an
obedient child versus a disobedient child. All children disobey. There
should have been a whole bunch of little bitty voices
in the room going aymen, pastor body. All children disobey.

(09:07):
But the difference between what we would call an obedient
child and what we would call a disobedient child. Again,
we're characterizing that child. Are they characterized generally by obedience
or are they characterized by disobedience. So here's the difference.
When a child that's characterized by obedience disobeys, because all
children disobey, it's different than when a child who's characterized

(09:29):
by disobedience disobeys. For example, if there's a child who's
characterized by obedience, and that child disobeys.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
But let's just say, you know one of my children.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
You look at one of my children and you say,
this particular child is characterized by obedience. When that child,
that child of pastor votes characterized by obedience, and all
of a sudden one day you see that child fangs out,
veins in the neck, pointing the finger at me, just
going off.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Well, if that child's characterized by obedience.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Normally, if they're characterized by disobedience, your response would be
there they go again. But if they're characterized by obedience,
your response will probably be, Lord, whatever demon that is
that just possessed that child, would you deliver them from
it quickly because it would be terrible to see them die. Today,

(10:28):
it's important to understand that that's what we're talking about here,
talking about the way we walk, the way we walk,
who we are as individuals. And again, this will make
more sense as we go along, and you'll see why
it's important that we take time dealing with this. But
as we look at this with those rails to kind

(10:49):
of keep us on the track, look here at verse five.
This is the message we have heard from him and
proclaim to you that God is light and in him
is no darkness at all. So when we talk about
this kingdom of light, the first thing that we recognize
in this kingdom of light is that the King is light.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
In the Kingdom of Light is light.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
Here's the message that we proclaim to you that God
is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
First of all, God is.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
There's an apologetic here for God himself, for the existence
of God, and for the character of God. God is.
First of all, there is a God. Amen that there
is a God. So anyone who would come forth with
an idea of righteousness apart from God is already running
up against the argument here in first John, chapter one,
verse five. God is. So that's where we start. We

(11:50):
start with the existence of God. When we start talking
about character and what righteousness looks like, we start with God,
who is the very definition of character, definition of righteousness.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
God is.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
So we don't measure ourselves against the standard of other people.
We measure ourselves against the standard of the word. Amen,
we measure ourselves against the standard of God. Don't we
tell our children this all the time? Let pastor vote
do something that your mom and daddy do all the time. Kids,
your mom and daddy tell you this all the time,

(12:26):
and you think it's just them. But let me just
tell you so that you'll know it's not just them.
They didn't just make it up, and here it is.
Because you think you're a good kid. And oftentimes sometimes
those of you who get a little bit older, you
have a tendency to say, yeah, but I'm not like
so and so.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
You just mean.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Because I'm not like them, look at what they do. Newsflash,
we are neither governed nor judged by the standard of
those use people. If you can't say amen, you ought
to say ouch. We're governed by the standard of the

(13:07):
Word of God. That's where we measure ourselves. We're governed
by the standard of the Word of God. Not is
not is my attitude and are my actions better than
most people out there? But the question is do they
measure up to the standard that we find in the

(13:29):
Word of God.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
God is and God is light. He's light.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
This idea of purity, this idea of holiness. That's who
our God is. By the way we see this throughout Scripture.
I've written down several verses here that I just wanted
to read, listen to this and Psal I'm thirty six
y nine. For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light do we see light? Look at Psalm

(14:03):
eighty four eleven. For the Lord God is a sun
and shield Daniel two twenty two. He reveals deep and
hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and
the light dwells with him was in a John one four.
In him was life, and that life was the light
of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it. Look at John one six.

(14:27):
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to bear witness about the light,
that all might believe through him. He was not the light,
but came to bear witness about what the light. And
then down in verse nine, the true light, which enlightens
everyone has it was coming into the world John chapter
eight and verse twelve. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,

(14:47):
I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me
will not walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life. John ninety five. As long as I am
in the world, I am the light of the world.
On Timothy six fifteen, He who is the blessed and
only sovereign, the King of kings, the Lord of lords,

(15:08):
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom
no one has ever seen or can see.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
To him, be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
Every good gift and every perfect gift, James one seventeen says,
is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow of change.
God is light, God is holy, God is righteous. God

(15:43):
is the standard by which we judge. Now, this is
very important when you look at gnosticism, especially for example,
when you look at modern day gnosticism, and for those
of you who haven't been with us, we talked about
the gnostics, and that word comes from the Greek word
for knowledge, gnosis. These individuals believe that that there was
the spiritual immaterial world, and then there was the physical world,

(16:04):
and that spiritual immaterial world that's the world of the divine,
and that as individuals we have to get in touch
with that spiritual immaterial world. They believed this so much
that they believed that Jesus was not actually a physical being.
He did not have a corporeal body, he was a
spirit who sort of walked around among men, and he

(16:25):
looked like he had a physical being. But because the
physical world is evil and the spiritual world is good,
there's no way that God could possibly taken on this
physical body. Just a brief synopsis of their teachings. Now
you think, okay, we don't have modern day nacissism. Of
course we have modern daynosticism. Of course we have these ideas.

(16:47):
In fact, they take it even a step further, because
the Gnostics had this idea of the spark of the
divine that was within us as individuals, and as a
result of that spark of the divine, we were in
part Deity.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Want to read you a couple of excerpts from a
couple of books. This is etkart Tole.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
At cart Totley is a New York Times number one
best selling author. Let me read to your review from
his number one book. This is a review from Don Whitney.
Since I first heard of etcart Tole during a medical
examination after learning that I was a professor of biblical spirituality,
the doctor asked, have you read etkhart Tole's The Power
of Now? This is one of Oprah's big book club books.

(17:36):
So everybody, airbody, not everybody. Everybody is reading Tola. Okay,
that's beyond everybody, all right, everybody's reading it. I said, no,
I had not a brilliant, multi talented man with a
Catholic background. The physician began to commend the book to
me as insightful and profound. Toley's work is insightful and profound.

(18:00):
Owned Oprah on our television programming, on our radio programs,
got millions upon millions upon multiplied millions of people reading
the works of e.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Cartole.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
He became familiar with the book, and he leafed through
it and eventually had to read it and write a review.
Here's a couple of things that you find in Toley's
earlier book, The Divine Life Essence. Recognize it as one
with your own essence.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Listen to this.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
There is only one absolute truth, and all other truths
emanate from it. Yes, you are the truth. If you
look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time.
The very being that you are is truth. Jesus tried
to convey that when he said I am the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. Jesus speaks of the innermost.

(18:51):
I am these the essence, identity of every man and woman,
every life form. In fact, he speaks of the life
that you are. Jesus was making a statement that we
all need to learn how to make. I could read

(19:12):
you more from Totley's other bestseller, but I won't. Here's
the other best seller. By the way, this is the Secret.
As far as hardback books on the New York Times
bestseller list, this is number two. This is number two
the hardbye books. It's been on the New York Times
bestseller list for seventy six weeks. Seventy six weeks, and

(19:33):
it's still number two. For a while, this book was
number one. Number two was the final installment of the
Harry Potter series, and number three was the audio version
of this book. It's huge and again everybody's reading it,

(19:53):
so what are they reading? Pray tell well, it's the
Secret and it's ultimately the secret to life. Listen about Proctor,
a philosopher, author, personal coach. The Secret gives you anything
you want, happiness, health, wealth, LI isn't to this one,
Doctor Joe Vitali metaphysician, marketing specialist and author. You can have,

(20:15):
do or be anything you want. What kind of house
do you want to live in. Do you want to
be a millionaire? What kind of business do you want
to have? Do you want more success? What do you
really want? Here's the premise of this book. Everything out
there in the world operates on frequencies and vibrations. When
you think about those things, you tune yourself like a

(20:38):
radio to their frequencies. So if you want it, think
about it. That'll tune you to the frequency and you'll
attract it to yourself. It's called the law of attraction. Now,
why pray tell? Does this law of attraction work the
way it does? Here's why listen to her. You are
God in a physical body. You are Spirit in the flesh.

(21:00):
You are eternal life expressing itself as you. You are
a cosmic being. You are all power, You are al wisdom,
you are all intelligence. You are perfection, You are magnificence.
You are the Creator, and you are creating the creation
of you on this planet. Three of the most popular

(21:25):
books in the world today and its modern day gnosticism
directly and completely at odds with the Word of God,
directly at odds and completely at odds with the Word

(21:47):
of God. It's another category all in its own. What
does John say, to this kind of thinking, this is
the message that we have heard and proclaimed to you
that God is light and in him is no shadow
of darkness. There is no darkness in God at all.
God is light. There is a God.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
You know.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
There's one of my favorite lines from a movie, from
any movie. It is a line from the movie Rudy.
Those of you who love movies and love football, you
love the movie Rudy. And if you don't keep praying,
God will make you more spiritual and you'll get there.
But in the movie Rudy, there's this time when you know,

(22:33):
Rudy's trying to get into Notre Dame, and Rudy's just
working really hard to get in Notre Dame. He can't
get in Notre Dame. He goes and he talks to
the priest there, and he's trying to get some information
from this priest. And this priest looks at him and says,
you know, there are two things I know for sure.
One there is a God. Two I'm not him. That's
not what the modern da Gnostics say. The modern day

(22:56):
Gnostics say, your problem is you're God and you don't
know it. John says, here's where the message starts. God
is light in him. There is no darkness at all.
You are not God, You are not part of God.

(23:18):
God is God all by himself. And as we've said before,
God is not running for God. Amen. He was the
only one around when the votes were cast. There's never
going to be a recount or a reelection. God is God.
He needs no help being God. He's God, and there's

(23:39):
no darkness in him. Why is this important, Well, here's
where we get to the distinction between these two kingdoms.
First of all, we see that this first kingdom, that
the king is light. Secondly, his subjects are characterized by light.
Look at the next part of this. There are five

(24:00):
if then statements that follow this first statement, three negative,
two positive, and they alternate negative positive, negative, positive negative.
These five if then statements, and here they are. Listen
to the first pair. If we have fellowship with him
while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not

(24:23):
practice the truth.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
That's the first if then statement. The then is assumed.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
Look at this if we have If we say we
have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, then
we lie and do not practice the truth. If my
mouth says I have fellowship with God, but my life,
my PETIPATEEO, my walk, my lifestyle says that I walk

(24:49):
in darkness. Then ultimately, the fact of the matter is
there is no light in me.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
I am a liar.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
If that's the case, I'm in darkness and I can't,
on the one hand, with my lips confess that I
belong to the Kingdom of light and I belong to
the King of light. And on the other hand, with
my life, live in a way that reflects darkness, because
what's the truth?

Speaker 2 (25:14):
What's the reality?

Speaker 1 (25:15):
The reality is the way that I live, the way
that I'm characterized. Hey man, didn't he just say if
you ever have a dark moment, that you're not in
the kingdom. That's not what he said. Okay, But is
that the way you're characterized? Is that who you are?
Is that the way you live? That's the question, is

(25:36):
that your walk? Is that how your life is defined?
If your lips say one thing and your life says another,
you are a liar. It's that simple. How are you walking?
How are you living? That's the question. How are you walking?

(26:00):
Does your life look like light or does your life
look like darkness? That's the question. Here's the other side
of the coin. Here's the positive if then statement. But
if we walk in the light as he is in
the light, we have fellowship with one another first of all,
and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from

(26:21):
all sin. If we walk in the light as he
is in the light. First of all, we have fellowship
with one another. We talked about that last week, this
fellowship within this body of believers. And secondly, the blood
of Jesus washes us, cleanses us from all sin if
we walk in the light. Now, notice here's what's not
being said. We're not talking about works based salvation here.

(26:45):
Remember he's talking about in general, these two categories of
individual and he's talking about how we're characterized, the individuals
who are characterized by walking in the light. He's not
saying this, Well, if you're an individual who's characterized by
walking in the light, then the blood of Jesus will
cleanse you because you're walking in the light has earned
you cleansing.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
No, that's not the point at all.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
If you walk in the light, you walk in the
light because the blood of Jesus has cleansed you.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
By the way, look at the passage we just read earlier. Today.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
Look at the passage we just read earlier today, look
at John chapter three, and look at the beginning at verse nineteen.
Beginning verse nineteen of John chapter three, And this is

(27:41):
the judgment. The light has come into the world, and
people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and
does not come to the light lest his deeds should
be exposed. But whoever does us what is true, comes

(28:02):
to the light so that it may be clearly seen
that his deeds have been carried out in God. Notice
that he comes to the light so that we can
see that his deeds have been carried out in God.
In other words, John is not saying in John chapter three,
if you walk in the light, you have earned forgiveness

(28:26):
from your sins. Knows he's saying in first John chapter one,
if you walk in the light, you have earned salvation
from your sins. No, if you walk in the light,
you have evidenced salvation from your sins.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
That's the only way you can walk in the light.
We see that in John three.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
By the way, look at the look at the last
part of that chapter. Letb beginn verse thirty five. The
Father loves the son and has given all things into
his hands. Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life.
Whoever does not here stop, whoever believes in the sun
has eternal life. Now, the next phrase ought to be

(29:05):
whoever does not believe?

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Right when that.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Makes sense if there's a parallel here, if there's a contrast.
Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Whoever does
not believe does not. But look at what he says
verse thirty six. Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life.
Whoever does not obey the sun shall not see life,
but the wrath of God remains on him. How do

(29:34):
you know if somebody believes, they walk in the light,
That's how you know. How do you know somebody is cleansed,
is washed? They walk in the light. If any man
is in Christ, Paul says in Second Corinthians five, if
any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.
Old things have passed away the whole new things have

(29:56):
come by the way. This is from God, Amen, It's
from God. So again the legalist argument. Here's the legalist argument.
The legalist argument says, I must keep the law so
that I can be made right with God.

Speaker 2 (30:13):
That's the legalist argument. And if we read this and don't.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Understand that he's talking about categories of individuals and he's
talking about the character of these individuals, it's easy for
us to sort of fall into that. But that's not
what he's talking about. He's talking about what we're characterized by.
And those who walk in the light are characterized by
a couple of things. One, these individuals are characterized by
the unity that they have with one another. Folks, when

(30:38):
we're not walking in the light, we don't have unity
with people who are amen. As a matter of fact,
when you start inching over towards sin. Have you noticed this,
When you start inching over towards sin, you don't want
to be around godly people. Maybe that's just me. Maybe

(30:58):
you guys have never had that experience before in your life.
Maybe you've never been in a situation where all of
a sudden, a dark shadow is coming over you because
of some things that you've been about, or you've been
exposed to or whatever. And as this dark shadow comes
over you, last thing you want is those light people.
You can't say amen. You ought to say ouch. That's

(31:19):
the first thing that we're characterized by. Secondly, we're characterized
by the fact that we're washed in the blood of Jesus.
That's why, and that's how we walk in the light.
The blood of Jesus cleanses us. That's how we walk
in the light. That's why we walk in the light. Again,

(31:42):
the imputed righteousness of Christ, the blood of Jesus that
cleanses us from all sin. Christ died for sin, once
for all, the just, for the unjust, in order that
he might bring us back to God. This washing, this
cleansing that is ours, is what brings us to the light.
Listen to this Isaiah chapter nine, verse two. The people

(32:06):
who walked in darkness have seen a great light those
who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them
has light shined? Anybody claiming that in here as me? Amen,
listen to John twelve thirty five. So Jesus said to them,
the light is among you for a little while. Longer
walk while you have the light, let's darkness overtake you.

(32:27):
The one who walks in the darkness does not know
where he is going.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
While you have the light. Believe in the.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
Light that you may become sons of light. Believe in
the light that you may become sons of life, sons
of light. How by believing, placing your faith in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
We talk about it all the time.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
Repentance, faith, that's how you become these children of light.
You don't walk in light so that you can become
a child of light. You become a child of light
by being adopted into the family of the Father who
is light.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
And the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing you thereby allowing
you and propelling you into walking in light. Don't we
see this as well in Ephesians. Look with me if
you will turn Ephesians chapter two. For by grace you

(33:32):
have been saved through faith. And this is not of
your own doing. It is the gift of God, not
as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And then verse ten, For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them. Whatever good work I'm
walking in, God prepared beforehand that I should walk in it.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
It is He who works in me, both to will
and to do his good pleasure. I walk in the
light because of the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. I'm
characterized by walking in the light because and because I'm
characterized by that. When darkness comes, that darkness is not
who I am. That darkness comes, That's what I know.

(34:17):
I got a problem, Amen, when I sin. The reason
that that sin doesn't sit well with me is because
that's not who I am. And as we walk and
as we are sanctified, we have less and less of

(34:41):
an appetite for those things that we used to feast on.
And that's good news. That's good news because of the
blood of Jesus that washes us and cleanses us, that
propels us to walking in the light. Look at this
Revelation twenty one twenty three, and the city has no

(35:04):
need of sun or moon to shine on it, for
the Glory of God gives it light, and its lamp
is the lamb. And again revelation in twenty two and five,
night will be no more. They will need no light
of a lamp or sun, for the Lord God will
be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Amen, here's another thing we're characterized by. We confess in
we forsake darkness. Look at the next part of our
passage here in first John, look at verse eight, Verses
eight through ten kind of make a sandwich. Eight and
ten our almost direct repeats of one another. He just
says it were forcefully in verse ten. But look at

(35:50):
verse eight. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now
you may be asking yourself, okay, who would say that?

Speaker 2 (36:01):
Well?

Speaker 1 (36:02):
First of all, those modern day gnostics would say that
these books here, these books that I just read for
you from early earlier, these books would say that these
books would not acknowledge any sin in you. Your only
problem is you don't recognize your divinity. Your only problem
is you're not thinking on the right wavelength, and therefore

(36:25):
you're not attracting to yourself the right things. That's your problem.
Your problem's not sin. But you know, the Gnostics also
taught this. Listen to this, since salvation is not dependent
upon faith or works, but upon the knowledge of one's
true nature.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
Sound like king just out of here. These are the Gnostics.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
Some Gnostics indulged deliberately in licentious behavior. Carpocrates, for example,
urged his followers to sin, and his son Epiphanes taught
that promisedity was God's law. I look at what John says.

(37:08):
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. There are also
those who teach perfectionism. Now, perfectionism is the idea that
believers come to a place of sinlessness, that sanctification is
completed here on earth, and that believers come to a

(37:29):
place of sinlessness, to which John says as well, if
we say we have no sin, we've deceived ourselves and
the truth is not in us.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
We do have sin. Here's the other side of it.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us for
all unrighteousness. Two categories of people sin deniers and sin confessors.
One category of people is a category of people who
say that they're not sinful or not sinful enough to matter.
The other category of people is a group of people
who confess that that word, literally in the Greek means

(38:08):
to say the same thing as they say about their sin,
what God says about their sin. They acknowledge, they announce,
and they forsake their sin because it's displeasing to God.
And in verse ten, he comes back and closes the
door on it. If we say we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not
in us. I want to spend a couple of minutes
on this from a theological perspective, because here's how we

(38:30):
have a tendency to look at this. Listen to this
by Charles Rray in Ryley's Study Bible. His point about
first time one nine forgiveness and fellowship within the family
of God is restored when we confess. Conversely, if it's
restored when we confess, it's taken away when we sin.
Our forgiveness is taken away when we sin. Our fellowship

(38:53):
is taken away when we sin. I don't believe Rary
means this in the way he says it, because the
way he says it makes it sound almost like the
Catholic concept of forgiveness. For example, why do people have
such a problem with the idea of suicide? Again, I

(39:16):
have such a problem with it is probably not the
best way to phrase it, but why do people struggle
so much with the idea of what happens to a
believer who is a believer for real, who committed suicide?
Here's why they have a problem. Your last act was
a sin for which you could not confess, and if

(39:40):
you couldn't confess, you couldn't receive forgiveness. Just like that,
it's over because you got to confess it in order
to be forgiven of it, right I mean, I mean
it would seem like that's what we're reading here. If
it hadn't been confessed, you haven't be forgive given of it,

(40:02):
and forgiveness is removed and fellowship is removed because you
didn't confess.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
There's a couple of problems with that idea.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
And again I'm not saying that this is what Rary
is trying to communicate. But here's the first problem with
that idea. Look at the scripture again contextually. Look at
verse nine and what verse nine says, if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, all unrighteousness.

(40:38):
This is a reference to what Christ does in salvation.
This is a reference to that category of people who
are confessors of sins, who are born again because they
acknowledge their sin before God and they are cleansed and
they are forgiven for their sins.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
In toto. Here's the second problem.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
If we hold to this idea, if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and Justine give us our sins and cleanses
of all and righteousness. The other side of that, of course,
is if we commit a sin and that particular sin
is not confessed, then we don't have forgiveness for that
particular sin, and we don't have any cleansing from that
particular sin. What does that do to the context of

(41:21):
the rest of this paragraph? Look at what he says.
If we say we have fellowship with Him while we
walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
If I do an act of darkness, does that mean
that I'm no longer part of the Kingdom of light?
Are we losing and regaining our salvation over and over

(41:43):
and over again? Is that the case. No, that's not
the case. That's not the case here. That's not what's
being spoken of here. Let me give you three three
comments on this passage descripture to help us, and I
think it's very important, And normally I don't like to
sort of draw out a lot of different comments from
different common on these sort of subjects, but I think
it's very important that we understand the nuances here versus scripture,

(42:06):
so that we can be freed up.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
In this area.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
Listen to this one first from Daniel Aachin. The claim
to be without sin probably arose from John's opponents understanding
that fellowship with a holy God required one to be sinless.
Verses eight and ten are essentially parallel. The heretics argued
that the condition for fellowship with the Father is sinlessness.
Therefore they claimed to be sinless. Yet in this very

(42:36):
claim they rejected God's word, deceived themselves, and made God
out to be a liar. Sinlessness is theirs by virtue
of life in Christ alone. It cannot be located merely
within themselves. Fellowship with God requires sinlessness, Therefore we're sinless.
No fellowship with God requires sinlessness, and the only way

(42:59):
you get that is through the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Otherwise you know, I die, and I face God and
he goes, I'm gonna What's that is that? The list
of my sins that are under the blood. Now, these
are the ones that you forgot to confess. This is
why you can't come into my kingdom, because you forgot

(43:23):
to confess these right here and every last one of
us has millions upon millions upon multiplied millions of sins
that we forgot to confess. If that's the meaning of
this verse, we're in trouble. Well, here's how some people

(43:43):
deal with it. Lord, forgive me for my sins and
all those that I've forgotten. Listen to this one from Calvin.
He again promises to the faithful that God will be
propitious to them, provided they acknowledge themselves to be sinners.

(44:04):
I love that Calvin says, provided they acknowledge themselves to
be sinners. It is of great moment to be fully
persuaded that when we have sinned, there is reconciliation with
God ready and prepared for us. We shall otherwise carry
always a hell within us. Few indeed, consider how miserable
and wretched is a doubting conscience. But the truth is

(44:27):
that hell reigns where there is no peace with God.
There more than it becomes us to receive with the
whole heart this promise which offers free pardon to all
who confess their sins. Again, Calvin is talking about this
in the broader sense, you confess your sinfulness. In other words,
this is what salvation is. We come to a place

(44:51):
of repentance and faith. We become sin confessors. We acknowledge
who we are. Yes, all have sinned, falls short of
the glory of God, and I'm part of all.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
I agree with God that I am a sinner and
that the only answer for my sin problem is Jesus Christ,
the righteous one. He must wash me and I must
have his righteousness. He must take on him my sinfulness.
And one final one from John guill and this I
believe puts perhaps the finest press, the finest point on it,

(45:26):
and helps us grapple with this forgiveness of sin. Here
intends not the act of forgiveness as in God proceeding
upon the bloodshed and sacrifice of Christ, which is done
at once and includes all sin past, present and to come.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
That's very important.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
At salvation, we're forgiven at once for all sin, past,
present and future.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
That's what salvation is.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
We have eternal life as a present possession, and it's
not contingent upon anything that I do or have done.
So we got to read first John, chapter one and
verse nine in light of that overall theological reality. Okay,
but he says it's not that, but an application of

(46:17):
pardoning grace to a poor, sensible sinner humbled under a
sense of sin and confessing it before the Lord. And
confession of sin is not the cause or condition of pardon,
nor of the manifestation of it, but is descriptive of
the person and points him out to whom God will

(46:37):
and does make known his forgiveness and love. Please don't
miss that, Gil says, this active confession is not what
brings about the pardon. This active confession is evidence of
the party. He confesses his sin because of who he is.

(47:00):
Confesses his sin because he knows God, and it grieves him.
For to whomever he grants repentance, he gives the remission
of sin and doing of which he is faithful to
his word of promise.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (47:22):
So here's here's what first John one nine doesn't say.
First John one nine does not teach that, first of all,
a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, one who is
born again, one is truly regenerate, one who is truly saved,
who has come to repentance in faith. First John one
nine does not teach that there's another step that you

(47:43):
have to go through in order to make sure you
get to heaven. And the other step is you have
to make sure that you do the work of confession,
because if you don't do the work of confession, then
the work of Christ on the cross it's snell and
void because it was not powerful enough to do that
part for you. That's not what First John one nine teaches.
Nor does First John one nine teach the Catholic view

(48:05):
that somehow this removal is there until we perform this
act and then it's sort of restored. That's not what
First John one nine teaches. It doesn't, But it also
doesn't teach that we never again confess. Don't miss that

(48:26):
part of Gill's statement either. It doesn't teach that we
never again confess. Listen again, let me read again what
Gil says. But an application of pardoning grace to a poor,
sensible sinner humbled under a sense of sin and confessing
it before the Lord, and confession of sin is not
the cause or condition of pardon, nor of the manifestation

(48:49):
of it, but is descriptive of the person and points
him out. If you are truly converted, you you are
truly born again, and Jesus Christ has cleansed you and
made you whole. And he's washed away your sins, past,
president and future. You know, one of the things that
will characterize you when you sin and become aware of it,

(49:12):
you'll confess it. Amen, sin grieves you. You're washed in
the blood of Christ, and sin grieves you. And one
of the marks of those individuals is the confession of sin. God,

(49:32):
that was sin. I agree with you that that was sin.
I know that grieves you. It's one of the things
for which Christ had died. I plead his blood and
forgiveness right now, and thank you that He has provided
for that. We are perpetual confessors of sin. It is

(49:59):
a part part of what marks us. But we've got
to make sure that we're careful and that we don't
run off the reservation to this place that has us
shackled to what is, in essence a work added to salvation.
The confession of sin is not a work added to salvation.

(50:21):
Being a sin confessor is part of what characterizes us
as us and not them, And being a sin confessor
is part and parcel of who we are and the
way we live, just like walking in the light. So

(50:42):
we don't claim sinlessness. On the one hand, so we
don't look at our actions and say our actions weren't sinful.
And secondly, we aren't characterized by callousness. We sin, and
all of a sudden we j oh, yeah, is under
the blood? No, absolutely not. Jesus Christ purchased my pardon

(51:11):
with his blood. When I sin, that must grieve me.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
It must.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
So as we look here at this first test, ask
yourself the pertinent questions, which of these characterizes you? Are
you one who walks in light or are you one
who walks in darkness? Which one is your way of life?

(51:48):
Are you a light liver or a darkness dweller? Which
is you? Where are you at home and the light
are in the dark? And second, what's your attitude towards sin?
Are you a sin denier or a sin confessor? Which
is you?

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Does sin delight you or does it grieve you? Which
is you?

Speaker 1 (52:18):
Because the way we answer these questions is indicative of
whose we are. But notice in both instances. I want
you to see this in both instances. First of all,
look at verse seven. We walk to the light as
he is in the light. We have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus's son cleanses us from all sin,

(52:41):
how we cleansed the blood of Jesus and then verse
look at verse nine, we confess our sins. He is
faithful and Justine forgive us as our sins and cleanse
us of all unrighteousness. The only way to not be
a darkness dweller is through the cleansing work.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
Of the Son of God.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
The only way to be at seen confessor instead of
a sin denier is through the cleansing work of Jesus Christ,
the son of the Living God. That's our only answer.
So here's what one John one five through ten is
not teaching. You better work harder, try to walk like
those light people and not those darkness people. You better

(53:31):
count your sins more carefully. It's not what it's teaching.
It's just asking a real simple question, and a real
simple question. Is this, which one of these camps do
you belong to? And as you answer, answer from your
life and not your lips to which camp do you belong?

(53:52):
How is your life characterized? Who are you?

Speaker 2 (54:07):
Are you?

Speaker 1 (54:07):
His as is evidenced by the fruit born in your
life as a result of the cleansing blood of Jesus
Christ being applied to you through repentance and faith or
are you not, which is evidenced by darkness being the

(54:29):
place where you're at ease and sin being something that
you don't very much like to confess. There's always an excuse,
there's always an answer, there's always a reason. It's never
just flat out, bald face I sin. I agree with God.

(54:50):
It's not the product of the way I was raised.
It's not just a preference. It's not just something that
I'm inclined to. It's not a disease. It is sin,
pure and simple, and it is ugly, and I hate
it because God hates it, and I'm bringing it to
the throne. That's how we act towards sin and the

(55:15):
Kingdom of light. Let's bow, Father, as we come before you,
we confess and acknowledge the fact that we are far

(55:37):
too comfortable with sin. Grant us repentance. Grant that we
might be people who are marked by light, and who
are marked by repentance confession. I pray for those here

(56:04):
under the sound of my voice who struggle and wrestle
with salvation, who struggle and wrestle.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
To receive.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
What You've made available. And I pray that today your
word would first make it clear and secondly, be a
tool that you would use to draw lost sinners to
repentance and faith. I pray that darkness would be forsaken

(56:50):
even now. I pray that sin would be confessed even now.
And I pray for those under the sound of my
voice who are wrestling that they would not stop. Grant them,
by the power of your spirit, perseverance to endure until
salvation and assurance is theirs. Not to wait passively and

(57:14):
idly buy, but to pursue you with every fiber of
their being, and to say, like Jacob wrestling with the Angel,
I will not let go till you bless me work
your magnificent work of salvation. We pray in Jesus' name

(57:41):
and for his sake.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Amen,