[0:00] I'm going to sing to God's praise from Psalm 27. Psalm 27 from the beginning.
[0:13] The Lord's my light and saving health, who shall make me dismayed? My life strength is the Lord, of whom then shall I be afraid? When us, mine enemies and foes, most wicked passions all, to eat my flesh against me rose, they stumbled and did fall.
[0:34] Against me, the one who's encamped, my heart yet fearless is. Though war against me rise, I will be confident in this. One thing I of the Lord desired and will seek to obtain, that all days of my life I may within God's house remain, that I the beauty of the Lord behold me and admire.
[0:58] And that I in his holy place may reverently inquire. For he in his pavilion shall me hide in evil days, in secret of his tent me hide, and on a rock me raise.
[1:13] And so on. These verses of Psalm 27 from the beginning. To God's praise. The Lord's my light and saving health. The Lord's my light and saving health, who shall make me dismayed?
[1:42] my light and saving health. The Lord dele Let ourselves all to eat my flesh.
[2:18] Against me rose, this dumb, but I did fall.
[2:30] Against me, though I boast, and come. My heart yet fearless is.
[2:46] Though one against me rise, I will be confident in this.
[3:02] One thing I of the Lord desired and will seek to obtain.
[3:17] That all days of my life I may within God's hands remain.
[3:33] Let us pray.
[4:05] And all our own be raised.
[4:41] Let us turn for a short time to the passage that we read. New Testament scriptures.
[4:54] And we can read from the first epistle of John chapter 1. And we can read from verse 5.
[5:33] From all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So on.
[5:44] The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
[5:55] We read here that the apostle John speaks to whoever it is that are recipients of this epistle.
[6:12] In verse 3 we read. In verse 3 we read that that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. In verse 4, these things write we unto you.
[6:27] The apostle has an audience in mind. And it's so easy for us to overlook that very obvious truth.
[6:44] When I preach, I preach to an audience. Every other preacher preaches to an audience. And if it makes any sense at all, you have some kind of idea of who your audience is.
[7:05] You have some kind of concept of what you are preaching into. It's not easy to know that at all times.
[7:17] And the fact that in the title it is a first epistle general. That may suggest to us that John is just randomly selecting passages or truths that may suit any congregation.
[7:42] Or may suit any hearer. But if you read carefully through the epistle, you will find that although there is a way in which he constructs the epistle so that there are several truths that are repeated.
[8:07] He goes from one truth to the next and moves on to another truth. And then he returns and restates it, albeit in a different form.
[8:22] But essentially, the concern that he has is that this people that he is writing to would have the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ before their mind's eye.
[8:39] Above and beyond anything else that they are aware of or any other passion that they might be interested in, he wants them to have an interest in the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[8:58] He wants him to have the center stage amongst them. And the reason for that, while it may be obvious that Christ should be at the forefront of the preaching of the gospel, he wants them to have the gospel, he wants them to have the gospel.
[9:52] He wants them to have the gospel.
[10:22] To proclaim some social gospel, for example. Christ may be on the periphery of what they have to say. And they may use the name Christ to represent their agenda as being a viable one and being a relevant one.
[10:43] But if you delve into what they are actually preaching or proclaiming, that gospel is no gospel at all.
[10:55] In John's experience, what he was finding there was that particular to his own situation was a misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise, about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[11:19] And that misunderstanding or misapplication, which is probably the more accurate word, had divided the church that were recipients of this letter.
[11:34] They are opponents to Christ and the doctrine of the church. And that had created a crisis.
[11:47] Now, that wasn't the only thing that was problematic in the eyes of the apostle. But that was very much something that John had to deal with and deal with within the church.
[12:01] On one side of the argument, I suppose, which wasn't unique to John's experience, were those who, on the basis of their own understanding of the gospel, Christ had come to deal with sin.
[12:21] And because he had dealt with sin, sin was no longer relevant. Sin was no longer something that they needed to think about.
[12:35] Their whole doctrine was antinomian. It was against the law of God. Christ, the way they understood him, had fulfilled the law.
[12:49] And as such, the law had no relevance to their lives. And their attitude to the world, which essentially is a word that speaks to us about Christ, meant that the world was no longer relevant.
[13:09] They could do what they liked. They could live as they pleased. The Lord meant nothing. And the polar opposite of that was those who were treating what Christ did as if it was inadequate.
[13:32] And that inadequacy drove them along the road of, instead of disregarding the law, making the law much more enforceable and much more necessary to their lives.
[13:49] In one of his writings, Prince of the Don MacLeod, who speaks about this factionalism that was prevalent in the early church in different locations.
[14:04] And on one side, you have the impression that there is no longer a need to recognize sin.
[14:17] It is something that is unrelevance. And because that is the case, then, as I said, you live as you choose.
[14:31] But what the apostle emphasizes here is that the believer is someone who lives in fellowship with God and in fellowship with his people.
[14:50] And if it is the case that they are to fellowship with God, then it is clear that anything that frustrates that fellowship cannot be tolerated, cannot be permitted.
[15:04] And sin is one such example. And many believe that what we have here is not just looking at the fellowship that would be paramount, that is, the fellowship of the believer with the Father.
[15:26] That if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. that that fellowship is all that it speaks about.
[15:39] That it speaks about, essentially, the relationship of the believer to the Father. But alongside that, and just as important in the eyes of the apostle, is the relationship that the believer has with other believers.
[16:01] Where fellowship within, as he goes on to develop, is equally important. But neither fellowship is possible if there is a misunderstanding or a failure to comprehend the part that sin has in frustrating that fellowship.
[16:25] It is impossible to have fellowship with God if they walk in darkness, as he says. not only can they not have fellowship with God, they cannot, if they are in that darkness, have fellowship with other believers.
[16:43] So, if I focus this evening is on this part of the text, particularly, we could take it all on and try and unravel it all as it appears, passage, but rather than do that, my focus with you is on this section of the passage, because it is a section of the whole.
[17:09] The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. And we can take that passage as it stands, and understand the implication of it only by understanding what the words themselves mean.
[17:34] what is alluded to is not just a something the blood of Jesus Christ saves us from.
[17:45] And it is clearly the case that there are passages that we can go to where salvation is the heart of what is being said when it treats the blood of Jesus Christ.
[17:59] Because usually when Paul uses that it is used as an abbreviation if you like of the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross and its saving efficacy and the need for it.
[18:18] But here because of the fact that it is to do with fellowship it has to do with a consequence of the saving work of Jesus Christ.
[18:35] Not actually the saving work itself but a consequence of it. I hope I'll make that clear as we go on.
[18:47] As I said usually when we read these words about the blood of Jesus Christ what we are directed to is the sacrifice for sin that the Lord Jesus Christ performed or carried out on the cross and we recently looked at such a passage but not only must we understand that when the passage speaks about the blood of Jesus Christ as atoning or propitiatory turning away the wrath of God it does so because it is the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son and it does so not just simply as something that we understand because of the teaching that we receive we understand and we believe with all our heart that the death of Jesus
[19:54] Christ is atoning we believe that's what the doctrine of the scripture teaches that it does it is redemptive that it is propitiatory as we said but that as long as we understand that truth then we are to understand that because of the nature of the sacrificial death of Christ and the faith that we have in that we are given access to God the Father and we are given access to a relationship with him and all who have a relationship with faith by faith with him and such a relationship is one that many people take for granted without actually understanding why or how that is possible we know that if we read the words of the apostle
[21:06] Paul if you remember he wrote his epistle to the Philippians and he lays emphasis upon the incarnation he he lays emphasis on the sacrificial death of Christ that is follows on from the incarnation without the incarnation that wouldn't be possible let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men being found in the fashion of as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross and so on now you understand that you have been taught that you believe that and that the son of
[22:09] God who was the son of God from all eternity embraced the fragility of our frame and it was necessary for him to do that in order to be a saviour to sinners but what does he do with your sin over and above the penal aspect of his death on the cross he deals with your sin once and for all he deals with your sin as one who suffers in the room and instead of his people the wrath of God falls upon him and the sin that he carries in his body to the tree is dealt with we understand that we believe that we have the warrant of scripture for believing that but we are told that he cleanses us from our sin and that it is the blood of
[23:21] Jesus Christ that does that sacrifice is is a redemptive sacrifice
[24:28] I am loosed from the consequences of the guilt of my sin and yet our sin is something that is a problem to us it is as if we carry it with us all the time now why is that the case what this verse is saying to us very clearly is the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin and every one of the commentators that you would want to read on this passage says that word cleanses is a word that is in the present tense in other words while you read these words and you think of the atoning sacrifice that Christ carried out on the cross this is talking about an ongoing reality that is part of your experience as a believer in
[25:38] Jesus Christ it is in the present tense and that is important to us because the present tense tells us it's not something that happened in the past with the possibility of something that is happening presently or may happen to me in the future that it will have consequences for me no the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ is a cleansing that has ongoing significance a minute ongoing significance and that ties in with the context here because the context of these words that we're focusing on has to do with the fellowship that we have with the Father and the fellowship that we have with his church which is often intruded into by the reality of our sin now we believe and
[26:53] I'm sure you believe that when you close in with Christ by faith that moment forgiveness is yours you are shown mercy your sins are dealt with and you believe that and you are encouraged to believe it and the apostle John wants us to read these words bearing in mind this contradiction that is prevalent that has divided his own church in his own day those whose emphasis on sin being such that it matters not and they go on as if Christ died and that's all right fair enough and that's the end of the matter or that Christ's death is insufficient in some way and they need to do something more than
[27:57] Christ has done both understandings are wrong and both understandings will cause a person to lose the the the peace that the death of Christ gives to the believer I read these words from Professor Candlish and they are written in light of what this passage is saying I wonder if you can follow what he is saying I, he says, am weary weary of the darkness in which I have been trying to hide or paint deformity and get up some specious semblance of decency and beauty weary of all impostures and all lies the poor and paltry lies especially of my self-deluding or scarcely even self-deluding self-righteousness weary of all the attempts to take advantage of the darkness for making evil seem a little less evil and some show of good look a little more like reality now what Candlish is saying there is he goes on to explain it probably in more detail but what essentially is what he is saying is this failure to comprehend the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ makes you treat your sin as if the sacrifice for sin that Christ concluded on the cross is in some way lacking so that you take your sin where it can't be seen you hide it in the darkness or you make out that it is not really as sinful as it really is now what he goes on to say is that that is proved as foolish when you come to the light that is God when you enter into the light that is God then your sin is seen for what it is and no matter how you endeavor by reason of your own foolishness to make your sin disappear from sight by hiding it away or pretending it is not something it is something that it is not
[30:54] God when he takes you into his light shows you how truly futile your endeavors are and the reason he mentions that and belabors that is because the only place your sin can be dealt with is in the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ the only cure for sin is the cross and the only way that you can understand the cross is by going to the light and experiencing the true meaning of the cross our fellowship he says is with the Father and with his Son and you know it is significant that I believe anyway that this is what he is laboring what he is emphasizing because he is saying the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin how do you read that all sin it doesn't say it doesn't stop but it cleanses us from sin because the word itself might invite you to suggest that there are some sins that that are unable to be cleansed he says all sin now the problem for you and me is what is it what do we understand by all sin what do we understand this passage to say to us about sin you fear my fear might be that we are in some way guilty of sin that Christ's death is not adequate to deal with no that is wrong that cannot be right
[33:03] Spurgeon says somewhere that even the hideous blasphemy of the Apostle Peter the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses it we may qualify it and say well surely there are sins that Christ did not cleanse and we know that is the case but no sin that was confessed no sin that the sinner took to Christ no sin that was acknowledged and Christ was laid hold of all of these sins are without exception dealt with the unwilling sinner will not take his sin to Christ unwilling in the sense of coming to
[34:06] Christ as the one alone able to cleanse from sin there is a fountain the hymn writer said filled with blood flowing from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains sinners without exception who go to Christ and who confess their sin in Christ they sins are cleansed all sin but somehow or other we convince ourselves that our sin in some way is something that will resurrect and deprive us of our salvation that is not what the apostle is talking about here he's talking about fellowship essentially he's talking about the relationship that the believer has with
[35:13] God he's talking about the relationship that a believer has with fellow believers and that relationship is affected by the way sin intrudes into it think about it for yourself if you are embroiled in sin that is unconfessed how is your relationship with God how is your relationship with your fellow believer no matter how thick the veil you draw over it that sin will intrude into that fellowship it will cause that fellowship to suffer there's only one remedy for our sin and that is Christ Jesus and there is only one remedy for our conscience being affected by sin and that is Christ
[36:21] Jesus you know the apostle writing the epistle to the Hebrews he tells us clearly what the sacrifice of Christ is capable of Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building either by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of unheffers sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh and does he stop there he doesn't stop there how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
[37:26] God when we read in the book of the Revelation there again you see the emphasis is upon the saints who wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the lamb and while as an integral part of what the apostle is saying here is the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ that goes without saying but it is when he comes to dealing with our sin intruding into a relationship with God that he is concerned 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 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and so on there are many things the believer has to deal with in his life or her life and sin is one thing among many sin probably is the most difficult thing
[39:03] I think it's Rabbi Duncan who is saying if he says you can't get to the lamb if you can't get to Christ go to where sin is and sin is close to the lamb because the lamb has come to take away the sin of the world and when you go to your sin and you find your sin and you find the lamb together you know what the lamb has done for your sin and very often we don't do that our sins are not just a burden to us they're a hindrance to us they shackle us they spoil our fellowship one with the other they spoil our fellowship with the father in heaven well may god bless to us these thoughts let us join in prayer heavenly father we pray that you would encourage us to understand how awesome the finished work of christ is that he came essentially to deal with our sins and he did so on the cross and yet our sins are still with us and we sin against thee and so often word and indeed and these sins intrude into our daily relationships one with the other and we know that only by applying to the blood seeking that that sprinkling of blood would purge our conscience from these works which we immediately engage in when we think that we are going to assuage guilt by our own endeavours satisfaction can only be found in the finished work of
[41:25] Jesus Christ we pray your blessing upon your own people with all their varying needs and ask that you direct us to the funeral of Christ cleansing us from him amen we're going to sing in some verses from psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 119 119 119 119 129 129 129 119 129 129 129 100 129 129 129 129 149
[43:05] Let's pray. Islam would be together as the Озrom the people of Knot Club Club.
[44:05] Bharat Thank you.
[44:44] Thank you.
[45:14] Thank you.
[45:44] Thank you. Thank you.
[46:44] Thank you. Amen.
[47:16] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[47:28] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.