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[0:00] Good evening. Once more worship our living God. The same intimations this morning, just to remind ourselves that all being well, I'm heading away tomorrow for the week for the General Assembly, of course.

[0:15] All being well, next Lord's Day, the morning sermon taken by Hugh Ferrier and the evening sermon taken by Myrtle Campbell. I'm pleased to be in prayer for all of us as we spend time with the rest of the church, seeking the Lord's guidance and his help as various issues are discussed over the next few days.

[0:38] We're of course here to worship the Lord. Once more, sing to his praise and worship. We can sing, first of all, from the Scottish Psalter, Scottish Psalter and Psalm 27.

[0:50] The Scottish Psalter, Psalm 27. It's on page 236 of the Psalm books. Psalm 27 on page 236.

[1:03] We can sing verses 1 down to double marked verse 4. Psalm 27. The Lord's my light and saving health, who shall make me dismayed.

[1:13] My life strength is the Lord of whom, then shall I be afraid. When as my enemies and foes, most wicked persons all, to eat my flesh against me rose, they stumbled and did fall.

[1:26] Psalm 27, verses 1 to 4. To God's praise. The Lord's my light and saving health, who shall make me dismayed.

[1:46] My life strength is the Lord of whom, then shall I be afraid.

[2:00] When as my enemies and foes, most wicked persons all, to eat my flesh against me rose, they shall burn and shed fall.

[2:30] At this middle of whom, then shall I be afraid. At this middle of whom, then shall I be afraid. My heart yet fear exists.

[2:44] My heart yet fear exists. No one else is, He writes, I will be confident in this.

[3:01] One thing I know, the Lord is, I will save you, O dear.

[3:16] Thou measles on death. Thou airports, O dear. Thou Lives crowds, O dearlicht with Thi no清!

[3:31] That guide the beauty of the Lord Be bold, red and divine God, I'll die in this holy place May red and divine Let's join together in a word of prayer.

[4:08] Let's pray. Lord our God, we find ourselves once more gathered together this evening.

[4:21] Lord, help us, we ask, for this short time to grow together in the bonds of love and appreciation of one another as brothers and sisters. Now to seek to do so, help us, we ask, to grow together in our understanding and love of who you are.

[4:37] We come to this place, we come to this time of worship, to worship you, a living God. We say that so often, Lord, help us to understand truly that we do worship a God who is eternally living.

[4:51] Lord, you have been from all time and to all time. You're unchanging in your being, unchanging in your attributes. Lord, you are perfect in all that you are and all that you do.

[5:04] All your ways are glorious. Your whole person is worthy of worship, eternal worship. Lord, that this moment, as we sing and lift up our voices, singing your word to you, we join in with the hosts of heaven.

[5:21] We join in to that heavenly worship as we, together as your servants, sing your praises. We also are mindful as we worship together this evening, as we spend this short time around your word.

[5:33] We are doing so, joining in with brothers and sisters across this island, regardless of denomination, regardless of various differences in how we may do things.

[5:44] But to all who worship you in spirit and in truth, we worship you together. We worship you together, but not just across our island, across our nation, but also this evening across our world. We give you praise that there is, in every corner just now of creation, there is your people worshipping you.

[6:01] Even parts of this world where we are so clueless about, where there is such darkness and such moral and gospel darkness. We know that, and we hear often, that you have your people in these most unlikely of states, these most unlikely of nations, these most unlikely of places.

[6:20] You are building your church. We give you praise for that. Dear God, who builds your church, who encourages your people. A God who builds your church where there is places of great darkness and places of great misery.

[6:33] Lord, we confess our own island was once a place of great darkness. Our own island was once a place of great gospel ignorance. And you blessed this island with the gospel.

[6:44] Only a few, a short few hundred years ago. Lord, the gospel is still new to this place. And we pray, Lord, for places in this world where the gospel is brand new. Having only arrived a few years ago.

[6:58] Where there's vibrant young believers in the faith. Who only know a small fraction of what there is to know about you. But who know that and who love you through that.

[7:08] With all that they have and all that they're worth. We ask, Lord, you'd help us to have a mindset this evening that we are part of a global church. But more than that, we are part also of an eternal church.

[7:21] As we join together in praise, we also join together with the saints who have gone before us. Those who are now in your presence and glory, awaiting the day of resurrection.

[7:32] Those who are now in your presence and glory, worshiping you. At rest, at peace, in constant praise of who you are. We also join in with the glorious reality that if you preserve creation, if you preserve this world.

[7:50] Those who will come after us, that we join in with their praise also. We are a people who worship an eternal God. And we who are your people. We are people who have a never-dying soul.

[8:03] Who spend eternity with you. As we say that, we're also mindful just now of those here this evening who as of yet cannot say that they know Jesus nor love him.

[8:14] Who also possess a never-dying soul. Who also must one day spend an eternity. An eternity either with you or apart from you.

[8:28] We know that none of us deserve salvation. We'll give you praise that through the reality of our risen Savior, through all that he has done for his people. For all that he now is for his people.

[8:40] We can be certain that our salvation is secure and founded and placed only on him and his finished work. We come this evening and we come and we confess sin as we always do.

[8:51] But we confess sin especially this evening. Knowing that to our shame, sin can be so central to who we are at times. Even as your people, we can find ourselves falling into sin and falling even into patterns of sin.

[9:06] We can find ourselves becoming far too attached to certain sins. And we find ourselves so weak. So weak as we try and fight the reality. That we live in a fallen world.

[9:18] That we ourselves are fallen people. We come just now as we confess sin. We come to you, the God of light. That you alone are the source of uncreated light.

[9:32] That you and your very existence radiate holy, perfect light. Light that we cannot look at. Light that we cannot approach.

[9:42] Light that will blind us. That if we even return to face it in the slightest direction. Give you praise that through the finished work of our saviour this evening. We not only can approach that light.

[9:55] Not only can we face that light. But those of us who know and who love Jesus. Who can call him our own. That we spend our time in the light of your countenance.

[10:06] With your face looking towards us. Shining upon us. Lord help us not to lose sight of that glorious reality. That we who are redeemed and we who are forgiven.

[10:19] That we live in the light of your light. That your light guides us and your light leads us. You have a God who gives light to his people.

[10:33] We confess we often find ourselves in such dark situations. Our own lives. Our own minds at times. Our community. Our country.

[10:43] Our nation. Our world. We find often so many reasons to fear the darkness. But we know that as long as we have you as our God and King. We live in light.

[10:55] And your light leads us. Your light guides us. And you sustain us in that light. We come this evening and we confess that often even as your people.

[11:06] We find ourselves preferring darkness over light. Lord forgive us for these times. And restore us we ask. We pray just now especially for any here who are wondering. Any here who have wandered far away from you.

[11:17] Perhaps they show and perhaps we come to this place of worship. And perhaps they look good and they say the right things. But in their hearts they have grown so cold against their first love.

[11:30] Against the Saviour who died for them. We ask Lord you would restore them to yourself even this evening. Even this new week. You would bring them back to that place of joy. That place of peace with you.

[11:41] Knowing that the ones whom your son has died for. He has died for them eternally. To keep them forever. To never let them go. The page now wants more for those in our community.

[11:55] Those in our households. Those who we love and care for. Who are still walking in darkness. Who have not seen that gospel light. Who have not tasted the gospel reality.

[12:05] What it is to be known and kept and saved. And loved by an eternal God. We ask you to work in their lives this day and this week. Who would come to know you and come to love you.

[12:17] And come to serve you. And worship you as Lord. And as King over all creation. And Lord and King over their lives. We pray for ourselves as a congregation.

[12:30] Help us to serve you well in the duties you've given us. You have placed us here not to be maintainers of the olden ways. Not to be maintainers as it were of the status quo.

[12:41] But you've placed us here as missionaries. You've placed us here as ambassadors. You've placed us here as salt and light. To go out with the gospel day by day and week by week. To as it were till that hard ground.

[12:55] And plant the seed. And know that you alone will give the increase. Give us the sense Lord to work hard. To be faithful labourers in this place you have placed us.

[13:05] To serve you and help us to work hard at home. To work hard in places of work. To work hard in our community. That those around us when they see us. That we would not see anything else.

[13:17] And anything other than a risen saviour. We would see a people who know Jesus. And who love Jesus. That those around us would ask what is different about us. And we can point them to you. We ask Lord once more for days of gospel renewal.

[13:31] And gospel refreshing for this place. We would see days where your name is known from home to home. Where you're worshipped and praised from house to house. Where whole families come to bow down before you.

[13:44] And worship you and glorify you. Until these days of refreshing. These days of revival come to us. Help us to serve you faithfully in this day of small things.

[13:54] Help us to be faithful servants. To be willing servants. To do all what we do for the glory of our risen saviour. In his name and for his sake. We ask all these things.

[14:05] Amen. We have two readings this evening. First of all the gospel of John. The gospel of John chapter 3. Gospel of John chapter 3.

[14:22] Page 834. Gospel of John chapter 3 on page 834. Reading from the start of the chapter.

[14:38] Let's again hear the word of God. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. A ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him.

[14:51] Rabbi. We know that you're a teacher come from God. For no one can do the signs that you do. Unless God is with him. Jesus answered him.

[15:02] Truly, truly I say to you. Unless one is born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him. How can a man be born when he is old?

[15:15] Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered. Truly, truly I say to you. Unless one is born of water and the spirit.

[15:27] He cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh. And that which is born of spirit is spirit. Do not marvel what I said to you.

[15:39] You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes. And you hear its sound. But you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit.

[15:53] Nicodemus said to him. How can these things be? Jesus answered him. Are you the teacher of Israel? And yet you do not understand these things.

[16:05] Truly, truly I say to you. We speak of what we know. And bear witness to what we have seen. But you do not receive our testimony.

[16:17] If I have told you earthly things. And you do not believe. How can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven. Except he who descended from heaven.

[16:29] The son of man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. So must the son of man be lifted up. That whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world.

[16:41] That he gave his only son. That whoever believes in him. Should not perish. But have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world.

[16:51] To condemn the world. But in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe.

[17:02] Is condemned already. Because he has not believed in the name. Of the only son of God. And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world.

[17:14] And people loved the darkness. Rather than the light. Because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things. Hates the light.

[17:24] And does not come to the light. Lest his work should be exposed. But whoever does what is true. Comes to the light. So that it may be clearly seen.

[17:36] That his works have been carried out. In God. And so on. It's the end of the chapter there. We're carrying on. Our reading this time in 1st John. Carrying on our series.

[17:47] Looking at 1st John. The letter of 1st John. On page 959. The letter of 1st John. On page 959. 1st John chapter 1.

[18:01] 1st John chapter 1. We can read from verses 5. Down to verse 10 of the chapter. 1st John chapter 1.

[18:12] Verses 5 to 10. This is a message we have heard from him. And proclaim to you. That God is light. And in him is no darkness at all.

[18:24] If we say we have fellowship with him. While we walk in darkness. We lie. And do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light. As he is in the light.

[18:35] 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.

[18:48] 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.

[19:00] If we say we have not sinned. We make him a liar. And his word is not in us. Amen. We give praise to God for his holy. And his perfect word.

[19:13] Let's sing once more to God's praise. This time from Sing Psalms. Sing Psalms and Psalm 36. Sing Psalms and Psalm 36.

[19:27] Sing Psalms and Psalm 36. Sing from verse 7 down to verse 12. Sing Psalms, Psalm 36.

[19:39] How precious is your steadfast love. What confidence it brings. Both high and low find shelter in the shadow of your wings. They feast within your house and drink from streams of your delight.

[19:53] For with you is the source of life. In your light we see light. Psalm 36 verses 7 to 12. To God's praise. God's praise.

[20:08] The preciousest humanity of the wheel Call him free reign For I have loved my children, the shadow of your wings.

[20:41] It is within your eyes, the shadow of your wings.

[20:59] For when you are blessed, the stars of light, in you light, we see light.

[21:17] To know, to know you as the Lord, you take us love in heart.

[21:35] In your eyes, just let us do all of you and a bright heart.

[21:54] Let not the foolish truth of God, a rose not yet be.

[22:13] Nor let the hand of wickedness force me to turn and be.

[22:31] See, where is he? In the purest light, the light shall set his eyes.

[22:50] Throne down the way, and there is still, the name of your eyes.

[23:12] Let's turn back for a short time to the chapter we had in 1 John. 1 John chapter 1. Of course, carrying on our series we started last week.

[23:23] 1 John chapter 1. Take verse 5 as our text of this section. This is a message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you.

[23:35] That God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Just a quick reminder, we said that the account of 1 John, this letter that he wrote to a young church, he did so, of course, for two main reasons.

[23:54] To guard against the creeping. To guard against the creeping at times. It wasn't creeping. The steady progression of error he was seeing in the church.

[24:05] To guard against error, but also whilst guarding, whilst being harsh against error, to encourage and to comfort and to support this small gathering, this young gathering of Christians.

[24:20] And here we see the same theme being carried on for us this evening. This theme that he is here to support them, to encourage them, but at the same time, to guard them.

[24:33] Last week we saw he was guarding them against the heresy. It's not fully fleshed out yet. It will as we go on throughout the chapters. But the heresy is there.

[24:45] The heresy that Jesus wasn't truly real. He is real, of course. But in his human form, he wasn't real. The Gnostic heresy, and we'll see that more as time goes on, but we touched on it last week.

[24:59] Basically, he's trying to tell them and reassure them that Jesus is real. That Jesus, the one they love and believe in, the one they have based their whole life on, that he truly was God.

[25:14] Truly is God. He truly appeared as real man. And he now lives forever, man and God, and his perfection for all time.

[25:24] Well, here this evening we see the same theme, but now he's not guarding against external heresies. He's now guarding against internal problems, we could say.

[25:36] Internal to the church, but also internal to them as believers, and of course to ourselves also as believers. Personally, I quite enjoy a bit of photography.

[25:50] And it's almost embarrassing to say this, but the reality is there are countless times when I've been taking a photograph of an eagle or something. It's usually a crow or something in the end, but an eagle, but I think it's an eagle or a buzzard.

[26:04] And I swing the camera around. And as I swing the camera around, I catch the sun in my lens. It sounds silly, but you're blinded. I'm blinded. I can't see anything.

[26:15] I'm zoomed into this bird, and I get instead of zoomed into the sun and blind myself. The camera goes a bit funny for a second too, and we've all done it. Binoculars or cameras or even just by accident.

[26:28] Just caught a second of the sun's reflection in our eyes. We're blinded for a wee while. We see that shape in our eyes. The sun burns itself in the back of our eyes, just for a few minutes sometimes.

[26:41] That's the damage that a created light can do. That is the power and the source a created light has. The sun is just a ball of gas burning.

[26:56] If that's the power of a burning ball of gas, a good bit away from us. As we come to this text this evening, we see real light. Not created light, but uncreated light.

[27:09] We see God, the light of an eternal, holy God. This doesn't just burn our eyes for a second. This is light which none of us can even look towards.

[27:20] Never mind face. Never mind endure. At least not naturally, anyway. As we spend some time in this short section, just two very simple headings for us.

[27:31] Two very broad points. We see John teaching this church about the light and also about lies. So that's our two points. Light and lies.

[27:46] Again, as always, just speaking at the start to those here who as of yet don't know Jesus for yourselves. Who as of yet cannot say that Jesus is yours. And I'll keep repeating this for as long as you have me.

[27:58] I will keep saying as of yet. Because you being here is the evidence of the as of yet. You're not here on your own volition.

[28:09] You think, well yeah, no, I'm not. I'm here to keep so and so happy. I'm here to keep tradition. You're here this evening. Because God has placed you here this evening. Because in God's providence.

[28:21] In God's love. In God's care for you. He took you out here this evening to hear the word. Now he might use means to do that. A spouse. A friend. The social.

[28:35] The joy you have of meeting together on a Sunday night. But you're here because God has placed you here to hear his word. As we look at some of the lies that John looks at here.

[28:46] The question I have for you friends is. Do you find yourself at times perhaps believing these lies? Believing at least some of these lies?

[29:00] Same question for the Christians. Brothers and sisters. Do we find ourselves falling into the lies that John warns about here? Do we seek to guard ourselves from these lies?

[29:15] We'll see that more in a second. First of all, light. The light of God. See before John addresses the lies.

[29:25] Before he deals with the problems that this church is facing. Before John warns them away from the sins they find themselves falling into. He must begin with who God is.

[29:38] The beauty. The wonder. The light. Of who God is. This is the message we have heard from him. From Jesus.

[29:49] And proclaim to you. That God is light. And in him is no darkness at all. Again, there's no wasted words in scripture.

[30:01] And the English here is clear. The Greek is even more clear. It's not saying God is like light. God is somewhere to light. No. God is light. The same section we see God is love.

[30:15] It's not God is like love. God is somewhere to love. No. God is love. God is light. light. It's not just part of who he is. But no. The reality is God is light.

[30:28] Uncreated. Through light. There is not a single part of him which is not light. In other words, there's no darkness to be found in him.

[30:42] There is no darkness whatsoever. There's not even a shade of grey. Not even a slightly less light part somewhere. Not a bit of shadow. No. He is pure, eternal light.

[30:54] Fully holy light. Perfect light. God is light. John is summarizing the whole reality of God's perfection and God's holiness in this one phrase summary.

[31:15] God is light. And in him is no darkness at all. We see this. We see scripture. Old and New Testament.

[31:27] Referring to God as light again and again. It's what we're singing if you're perhaps, we test if we're awake. We've been singing the Psalms. Psalms which tell us of the light of God's countenance.

[31:40] The light of God himself. Of God giving light. Of God being light. And this example of God as light. It's a theme. Again, it might be a theme for us in the future.

[31:51] It's a theme we find throughout scripture. Like the gardens we've been looking at in our midweek meetings. It's a theme we see from the start right to the very end of Revelation.

[32:04] We see the theme that God is light. He is perfect. And his holiness in him is no darkness at all. But just for time this evening we can look at just two examples.

[32:17] Two glorious examples. One we just sung just now. A first example. Psalm 36. Psalm 36 and verse 9.

[32:29] For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. In your light do we see light.

[32:45] In God is life and light. Life and light. As we heard on Thursday evening. As we saw looking forward to Revelation.

[32:55] Looking forward to our final home. We were reminded that the vision that John had was we had the temple. And there's no temple is there. There's God and the Lamb and they are the temple.

[33:07] God is with his people. And from the throne of God and the Lamb flows a river of life. The same sense here is the same wording we have of light.

[33:20] For with you is the fountain of life. That sense that from God. God naturally because God is God. Flows from him pure life.

[33:32] Never ending life. And with that flows this radiating light. This perfect light. And John. Even though John of course is being inspired by the Holy Spirit here.

[33:45] Being led by the Spirit. The reality is John is still human. His vocabulary can only stretch so far. And we ourselves find the same problem.

[33:57] Again and again we find ourselves wanting to describe God more. Wanting perhaps to praise him more. But we run out of words to say. God is so much more glorious when we can begin to understand or put into words.

[34:14] We've seen this even last few weeks next door in the prayer meetings. Where John will often turn to use precious stones. To help describe what he is seeing in his visions. Because words don't quite do their job enough.

[34:28] God is like the images he sees are like gold and topaz and emerald. Crystal. But we know even that is just a glimpse into the greater reality.

[34:40] God is light. From you light we see light. For with you is the fountain of life. Of course naturally we are in darkness.

[34:52] We all know that. We all feel that. We all understand that. Physically speaking naturally we are born into darkness. That is not some new theology for us.

[35:05] But we often perhaps forget that. Even those of us who know the Lord. Who love the Lord. It is good for us to be reminded of who and where we once were. You and I were born into darkness.

[35:17] Conceived in guiltiness and sin. We are born sinners. We are born blinded from God's truth. Born blinded from his reality.

[35:28] We are born with no light. No natural light whatsoever. We are born having no ability to see or know God as he truly is.

[35:40] In fact as those of us here who have been perhaps in the world for many years before you were saved. You will know this very well. You aren't just born in darkness. But you are born wanting more darkness.

[35:53] You want to seek out and search out anything and everything that will take you further and further away from God. Why?

[36:06] As we read in John chapter 1. John chapter 3 sorry. Because naturally we hate the light. As John wrote in his gospel.

[36:17] We hate the light. Because the light shows us that we are sinners. The light shows us. The light of God shows us we need a saviour. And if that light tells us we need a saviour.

[36:29] It means we have to confess and admit that we ourselves cannot save ourselves. That we have no ability and no power. We confess that. We then see very quickly.

[36:43] We're not who we think we are. We're not what we think we are. We are hopeless, lost sinners in darkness and confusion. Without help, without hope.

[36:58] The light of God reminds us and shows us our darkness. But naturally we are born into it. Naturally we gravitate towards it.

[37:10] We seek it out. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. Those of us who know the Lord and who love the Lord.

[37:24] Our testimonies, our stories of how God saved us are also different. I know they are. But we can all I'm sure share several parts of our testimony.

[37:35] But one part. There's that moment, isn't there? Now for some of us it's a moment. For others of us, myself included, it's a gradual realisation. But things begin to make sense.

[37:48] Not saying that we understand everything. But things begin to make sense. We now see, after we know and love the Lord Jesus, we now see who we are.

[38:01] We're creatures made to praise and made to worship Him. We now see the world around us as those who are still lost in our sin. As those who are dying men and dying women.

[38:14] Dead in our sins and trespasses. Who need the hope that we have. We begin to see the world as it truly is. The second the light of God touches our lives and our reality.

[38:27] Our eyes, as it were, are opened. And His light penetrates our darkness and shows us the world, ourselves, Himself. As He truly is.

[38:39] God goes from being judge over us. Judge over us. Hovering and waiting to destroy us as He is.

[38:49] To then, when He saves us. And our eyes are opened to His glorious light. We then see Him still as God. But as loving Father. Who saves us.

[39:02] Who loves us. Who keeps us. Who promises to never let us go. Also, the chapter we read. The second example of light in the scripture describing God.

[39:16] The chapter we read. John chapter 1 verse 9. The true light, of course, Jesus. The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

[39:28] The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. The Son.

[39:39] The Lord Jesus Christ. Son of God. He is also described as the true light. Why? Because the light of the Father is the light of the Son.

[39:52] The light of the Son is the light of the Spirit. It's the same light. Father, Son and Spirit. Our triune God. Our triune God.

[40:06] Our God gives light. Father, Son and Spirit. But note the importance of John chapter 1 verse 9.

[40:18] The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. Was coming into the world.

[40:33] Light came to the darkness. God does not need us. God did not need to save us.

[40:45] God would have been justified in his actions. If in his divine understanding he chose to leave us to ourselves. To leave us in darkness.

[40:57] To never intervene. To send us to hell deservingly so. God would be glorified for it. But no. The light.

[41:07] The eternal light. Chose to manifest itself into our darkness. The Son became incarnate. The Son took on human flesh.

[41:19] The Son is born as Jesus. Made like us. Always apart from sin. The light entered into the darkness. And made us home.

[41:31] In the darkness. Walked around and interacted with the darkness. To bring light to us. To bring light to his people. In God we have perfect.

[41:45] Untouchable. Uncreated light. But that light. Shone into the lives of his people. In that light shining. God shows his goodness.

[41:56] His graciousness. His love towards us. His kindness. Towards us. As his people. As Shone leaves behind.

[42:07] The light of God. He says all this. To remind. These Christians. That they worship. And serve. A God. Who is glorious. Who is deserving of their worship.

[42:19] But the problem is. We'll see in a second. The problem is. These Christians. And we with them. For being very honest. Despite us knowing. And believing. All we just said about God.

[42:30] As light. And as perfect light. And us serving. In the warmth. And glow. Of that light. Of joy. And forgiveness. He gives us. We often find ourselves. Believing lies.

[42:43] This is a message. We have heard from him. And proclaim to you. That God is light. And in him. Is no darkness at all. But John then. Goes on to give. Three examples.

[42:55] Of lies. That we all fall into. At least we all have the potential. Of falling into. Three lies. In the shadow.

[43:08] Quite literally. In the shadow. Of the light. Of God. The light. Of the eternal. Perfection of God. We see these. Three common lies.

[43:20] Relating to darkness. First of all. The first lie we see. Is in verse six. If we say. We have fellowship with him.

[43:32] While we walk in darkness. We lie. And do not practice. The truth. So what's the lie? The lie here is.

[43:43] The lie that we. As Christians. Can live an unrepentant. It's a key word here. Unrepentant. Life of habitual.

[43:53] Of ongoing. Never ending. Sin. And still believe. We have true fellowship. With him. Unrepentant. Ongoing sin.

[44:06] If we say. We have fellowship. With him. While we walk in darkness. We lie. And do not practice. The truth. I love the Lord.

[44:20] I serve the Lord. Yes. I sin. We all sin. But you sin. And you sin.

[44:32] And you sin. And you sin. And you sin. And for all that sin. You never once. Repent of it. You never once. Feel the agony.

[44:44] Of your own sinliness. You never once. Feel. Even the slightest. Tinge. Of pain. Or grief. As towards your sin. If you live.

[44:55] A life. Of continual. Unrepentant. Habitual sin. But yet. Say. That. That. You walk in light.

[45:06] And John. Says to us. We lie. And do not practice. The truth. Just. I know I said this. But just be clear.

[45:17] I know some Christians. Those Christians. Here. Who are more liable. Perhaps. To. To doubting salvation. More liable. To doubting your assurance. I am with you on this.

[45:28] The. The. The. The. Key word here. Is unrepentant sin. We all sin. Brothers and sisters. We sin. Brothers and sisters. We will always sin. But to sin.

[45:40] Unrepentingly. To carry on sinning. Unrepentingly. But. Unrepentant. Habitual sin. So John is dealing with here. And we see that.

[45:51] Those who. Who walk. Walk. In darkness. That's a key word there. If we say. We fellowship with him. While we walk. In darkness. It's.

[46:03] The English is quite clear. The Greeks perhaps. Even more clear. We walk in darkness. This idea of. On. Going. Activity. It's not. We exist. For a time. In darkness.

[46:13] And there's Christians. Indeed. There's Christians. Here I am sure. You have spent. Many years. Perhaps. Backsliding. And in sin. But yet. You come back. You come back. This is not what's being said here.

[46:26] If you walk. In darkness. The idea is. Ongoing sin. Ongoing walking. You're heading off. Towards. Towards. The depths. Of sin. And you have no intention.

[46:36] Of coming back. You're walking towards sin. Walking towards darkness. And to be fair. You quite enjoy it. And you have no plan. Ever walking back.

[46:47] Towards. Where you once were. Even worse than that. You're walking towards darkness. And you have no desire. Really. No longing. Really.

[46:57] To see the light. Once more. If we say. We have fellowship. Of him. While we walk. In darkness. We lie.

[47:09] And do not practice. The truth. That is the lie. But John. Then gives. The truth. Behind the lie. He then gives a truth.

[47:21] That can. Counteract. The lie. So the lie is. That we can still. Serve the Lord. While sinning. In unrepentance. And sinning. Habitually.

[47:33] Well what is the truth. That can counteract. This lie. Verse 7. But. If we walk. In the light. As he is in the light. We have fellowship.

[47:44] One another. And the blood. Of Jesus. His son. Cleanses us. From. All. Sin. But. If we walk.

[47:54] In the light. As he. Is in. The light. There is a walking. In darkness. But also. There is a walking. In light. Dear.

[48:05] Dear brother. Dear sister. We all know this. Those of us. Who have been in the walk. For many years. Know it far more. Perhaps than others. But we all know it together. None of us. Have it sorted. None of us.

[48:16] Have it. Perfect. None of us. Are there yet. As brothers and sisters. We all have. Quite a way. To go yet. And we will never have it sorted. This side of glory.

[48:27] We will always be seeking. To walk closer and closer to him. In. The light. But here. Is the. The beauty of it.

[48:39] Just as the ongoing walk. Into darkness. Should concern us. As to the state of our souls. Our ongoing desire. To walk in light. Should assure us.

[48:50] And comfort us. That we are his. As. Now sometimes. That walk. Can be. Almost a run. A jog. As we find ourselves.

[49:00] Doing well. And growing well. And serving well. Other times. That walk in the light. Can be a slow. Foot dragging. Slog. Up a hill.

[49:10] It feels like. And through a bog. Sometimes it feels like. As we find. So many sins. And problems. In our lives. As we find ourselves. Serving. So. Terribly. And so painfully.

[49:21] But nonetheless. We are at least seeking. To still walk. In. The light. And it gives us hope. It gives us reassurance. If we walk in the light.

[49:32] As he is in the light. We have fellowship. With one another. Fellowship one another. There's some divide here. The ESV.

[49:43] Has fellowship. One another. The other translations. Have. We have fellowship. Together. Depends. How you read it. By the way.

[49:55] Is it ever saying. We have fellowship. With God. Or we have fellowship. With each other. As brothers and sisters. The truth is. As we walk in the light. We have both. Don't we? As we strive.

[50:07] Unfail. Yes. But as we keep striving. To serve the Lord. Well. We grow. In fellowship. One another. Unrepentant.

[50:19] Unrepentant sin. It damages relationships. Even unrepentant. Private sin. That we think. No one sees. And no one knows. It still changes.

[50:29] Who we are as people. Sin. Is unnatural. To us. As we engage. In ongoing. Unrepentant sin. It changes. Who we are. As people.

[50:40] Those of us. Who are Christians. We will know that. For ourselves. We know that. From those around us. Private sin. Doesn't stay private. For very long. Because private sin.

[50:52] Will destroy us. Eventually. Private sin. Destroys. Our relationship. Not of God. Not just with God. But also destroys. Our relationship. With one another.

[51:02] But the opposite. Is also true. For walking in light. As we walk in the light. We draw closer together. With brothers and sisters. And we feel. Closer in our relationship.

[51:13] In our walk. With. The Lord. There is no sinless Christian. There is no sinless Christian.

[51:24] From the oldest. To the youngest. From the highest. In the church courts. To. To the brand new member. There is no sinless Christian. That is not what John is saying here.

[51:36] He is not looking for sinless Christians. But there also cannot be. An unrepentant Christian. To be a Christian. Means we are. Repentant. There are times.

[51:46] Our hearts are hard. There are times. Our hearts are very hard. But ongoing. Lifelong. Unrepentance. That is a warning sign.

[51:58] That John tells us. Shows us. And reminds us. That perhaps. We are walking in darkness. Rather. Than walking in light. What is our great hope?

[52:09] What is our great hope? What is our great hope? What is the hope? For the Christian. Who is struggling? What is the hope? For someone. Who isn't ever really saved? What is the hope? For someone. Who doesn't know where we stand?

[52:23] It is the same answer. For all of us. And the blood. Of Jesus. His son. Cleanses us. From all sin. Are you struggling?

[52:37] This evening. Dear brother. Dear sister. Are you struggling with sin? You perhaps. Put on a brave face. And you come to church. And you. And we all know we can do it.

[52:48] We can look the part. We can dress the part. We can act the part. Behind the scenes. Perhaps even privately. At home. In our own minds even. We are living.

[52:59] A life. Of sin. Ongoing sin. Battling sin. Perhaps not battling sin. What is the answer? What is the solution? The blood.

[53:09] The blood. Of Jesus. His son. Cleanses us. From all sin. Are you. Pretty certain. That you don't know Jesus. That you have no. Understanding.

[53:21] No real care for him. You can't call him. Your Lord. And your saviour. You think. You sin too much in life. He won't have you. He won't take you. What is the answer? The blood.

[53:32] Of Jesus. His son. Cleanses us. From all sin. Are you. A brother. And sister. You love the Lord. But you feel. You have just fallen away. Too far this time. You have sinned.

[53:42] Too much this time. You have just. There is a mess. Of things this time. What is the answer? The blood. Of Jesus. His son. Cleanses us.

[53:53] From. All sin. The word there is. Panta. Panta sin. All sin. That same panta word. Again. Panta. It's the broadest word.

[54:04] Possible. They could use. In the Greek. It covers. All of it. All sin. The broadest word. Possible. All sin.

[54:15] Is cleansed. To those. Who come. And trust. In the risen saviour. First lie. Answered and destroyed. The second lie. Briefly. Is a lie we find.

[54:26] In verse 8. If we say. We have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the truth. Is not in us. If we say.

[54:38] We have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the truth. Is not. In us. This thing is simple. This is the simple sin. As John says. I don't sin.

[54:52] Who are you. To call me a sinner. A wee boy. From Graver. Stand there. And tell me. I'm a sinner. Week in and week out. Who are you. I don't sin. I'm not always good.

[55:02] I sometimes. Perhaps. Don't try my best. But. I'm no murderer. I'm no robber. I've not done awful things. I'm good to my family.

[55:13] I'm good to my parents. I'm good to my children. So on. So on. I don't sin. If we say.

[55:23] We have no sin. We deceive. Herself. And the truth. Is not. In us. To the Christian.

[55:35] Who's lacking assurance. To the Christian. Who lacks assurance. And you think to yourself. Do I know the Lord. Do I love the Lord. Can you confess. Your sin to him.

[55:45] Well if you do. Then you're in a good place already. It's a non-Christian. It's someone who doesn't know the Lord. Who can say.

[55:56] They have. No sin. The truth is. We find it in verse 9. The truth is. We do have sin. All of us.

[56:08] You're born into it. And me with you. As we said before. We're born into the darkness. We're born desiring. The darkness. To say you have not sinned.

[56:19] To say you have no sin. That is the words of a non-believer. The words. Of a non-believer. What's the truth of verse 9.

[56:31] What truth does John speak to the lie. Of saying we have no sin. If we confess our sins. He is faithful. And just.

[56:42] To forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us from. All unrighteousness. You will never be saved.

[56:54] I say this. To be honest with my broken heart. You will never be saved. If you don't confess your sin first. Jesus came.

[57:05] To save sinners. If you don't think you're a sinner. His salvation. Will mean nothing to you ever. It can never be applied to you.

[57:16] His grace. His goodness. His promise of glory. Can only be applied to those. Who know they're sinners. If you think that's not you. Then Jesus.

[57:27] His finished work. Will never be applied to you. If his finished work. Is never applied to you. Because of your own. Self-righteousness. You will find yourself. In a lost eternity. That is the gospel truth.

[57:41] The harsh gospel truth. We find fleshed out here. In this verse. If we say. We have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And we know. The thing is. Well I'm not as bad as so and so.

[57:54] You know. What about them? What about him? What about her? When it comes to the final day. The final judgment. Him and her won't be there. It is you. And your God. And your good life.

[58:05] Good it may be. Means nothing. When you say. I didn't sin. If we say. If we say. We have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us.

[58:20] But dear friends. This evening. This moment. You can. As verse 9. Tells us all. You can confess your sins. And by confessing your sin.

[58:32] You can be sure. And certain. That Jesus. Will cleanse you. From his blood. With his blood. He will cleanse you. From all unrighteousness.

[58:43] It is better to humble yourself. And to lose your self-righteousness. And to go to glory. Without it. Than to never humble yourself. And go to the grave.

[58:53] Proclaiming yourself. Not a sinner. But go to hell. That is the horrifying. But clear truth. Of these verses. If we confess our sins.

[59:10] He is faithful. Faithful. And just. To forgive us. Our sins. And to cleanse us. From all. Unrighteousness. I have sinned.

[59:24] And you have sinned. We all are born in sin. I have sinned. Plenty of times. Since our birth. There is not.

[59:34] One. Person. In glory. This evening. Not one. Saint. In glory. Who. Wasn't. A sinner. In their time on earth. Even the most.

[59:45] Holy. And. Beloved. Of those. Who have gone before us. All sinners. Sinners. Who trusted. In a saviour. Who confessed.

[59:55] That sin. Or cleansed. From it. The third lie. The first. Ten. If we say. We have not sinned. We make him a liar.

[60:07] And his word. Is not in us. On first reading. Perhaps verse 10. Is quite similar. To verse 8. But if we read again carefully. We see. It's two different issues. Verse 8.

[60:17] If we say. We have no sin. But verse 10. Is for those. Who are believers. If we say. We have not sinned. We make him a liar.

[60:28] His word. Is not in us. We'll see this more. It makes a bit more sense. As we go through the chapters. And God willing. In the next. Few weeks. But. Just to summarize. Verse 10. Is for Christians. Who say.

[60:40] Yes. I'm a sinner. Saved by grace. But as a Christian. I don't really sin anymore. As a Christian. I don't really sin anymore. And you might never say that.

[60:53] But you might well think that way. When do you think that way? You think that way. When you see Christians. Falling into sin. When you see other Christians. Messing things up.

[61:04] And a time. Is doing pretty awful sins. You think. Oh that won't be me. That would never be me. I would never sin. Like they sinned. What an embarrassment. To the gospel cause. What a shame.

[61:15] They're bringing to the church. If we say. We have not sinned. We make him a liar. This is the denial.

[61:25] As it were. Of post conversion sin. And there are Christians. And there are Christians. And we believe. There are Christians. And we hope. There are Christians. But who will say.

[61:36] And who will teach. And who will preach. But once you are saved. You will never sin again. Well that is not. What the gospel tells us. That's not what John is telling us here.

[61:46] If we claim. If we claim. If we claim. If we claim. If we claim. As Christians. That we don't really sin. We're in great. Grave danger. Why?

[61:57] Because if we say. As Christians. We no longer fall into sin. We are doing. A terrifying. Thing. A solemn thing. We are making God.

[62:08] Into a liar. It denies. It denies. It denies. It denies the need. For a mediator. It denies the need.

[62:19] For the work. Of our risen saviour. It's. It's a disastrous thing. To think. And to say. As Christians. That we no longer sin. Again.

[62:29] We might not say it that way. But our actions. And our thoughts. Betray us at times. If we catch ourselves. Thinking. What embarrassment.

[62:40] That's Christian. Who's fallen that way. That Christian. Who's sinned that way. That Christian. Who's done that thing. I would never do that. Let's catch ourselves. For a second. Catch ourselves.

[62:51] For a second. And think. That Christian. Once probably thought. The exact same thing. About someone else. If we say. We have not sinned. We make him a liar.

[63:08] The reality here is. That. Saying. We have not sinned. It is. Just as bad. As living. And engaging. In habitual sin. And ongoing. Unrepentant sin.

[63:19] And makes God. Into a liar. The Lord tells us. That we will fall. And fail. And fall. And fail. We say.

[63:30] We do not fall. We do not fail. Then we make God. Into a liar. time. Again. Interesting isn't it? That verse 10.

[63:42] Ends. almost on a cliffhanger with respect. There's no solution. See, it's quite an easy formula. If we say but.

[63:54] If we say but. But here at the end of verse 10, there's no solution given. Not really. There's a reason for that because the solution is given to us in the rest of John's writing.

[64:07] He is, of course, writing to Christians. Christians who are facing great danger dear friends, as we begin this new week and to browse our sisters as we begin this new week, we do so very, very liable to falling into these dangers.

[64:31] Very liable of falling in and giving in to these lies. Let's learn, as John taught this gathering of Christians, let's learn to be on the lookout for them and they guard on guard for them.

[64:44] For those of us who are brothers and sisters, those of us who know Jesus, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all our sin. But let's be wary that we never, ever think there is no more sin in us.

[64:56] Let's be wary that we never think that because we are saved, we can now sin freely. Let's watch that and check that. And to those who, as of yet, don't know Jesus for your saviour, if you might say this week and this night to yourself, I don't need Jesus because I am not a great sinner.

[65:17] You're in grave danger. At this point, at this moment, you're in grave danger. As we said already, the answer to the Christian's problem, the answer to your problem, is the same.

[65:31] The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Let's bow our heads now. A word of prayer.

[65:41] Lord God, we give you praise for the reminders we have in your word and especially this evening, the reminder, first of all, who you are, that you're a God of light.

[65:53] In and of yourself, you are eternal and created pure light. You've chosen to make that light known to us in the person and life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[66:07] All that he was and all that he does and all that he continues to do and all that he is at this moment, he is the reality that you and your love gave us a saviour.

[66:19] That saviour came out of obedience, out of love and he ransomed for himself with his own precious blood a people to call his own for all eternity. Lord, help us this week, we ask to keep us away from sin.

[66:33] Keep us away from falling into grievous sin. Keep away from falling into easy, habitual sin. Help us to look to Jesus to find in him our joy, our peace, our hope, to find in him the answer for all the questions we may have.

[66:49] And again, for any here who as of yet don't know him this evening, for any here who as of yet have not felt in their souls for forgiveness, the joy of forgiveness of sin, you'd work in their lives, in their hearts and bring them to a saving place even this evening.

[67:04] Ask all these things in and through and for Jesus for him's sake. Amen. Let's bring our time to a conclusion by singing to God's praise from a Scottish psalter, Scottish psalter on Psalm 80.

[67:21] Scottish psalter, Psalm 80. We can sing verses 15 down to verse 19 of the psalm.

[67:35] Psalm 80, verses 15 to the end. Psalm 80, verses 15. This vineyard which thine own right hand hath planted us among and that same branch which for thyself thou hast made to be strong, burnt up it is with flaming fire, it is also is cut down, and they utterly are perished whenas thy face the frown.

[67:59] Psalm 80, verses 15 to the end. Take all his praise. This vineyard which thine own right hand hath made the sand and that same branch which for thy son hath made to be strong, burnt up it is with flaming fire, it also is the town they are telling our salvation where the sight is the throne.

[69:05] O let thy hand be still upon the hand of thy right hand the sign of man who for thyself the way give us prés 나왔 huis as To the weak, careless, and we upon thy evil call, turn us back in, Lord God of hosts, and upon us first day.

[70:22] To make thy condemnation and so rich of peace.

[70:38]  In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the love of God the Father, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, both of you now and forevermore. Amen.