So John chapter 3, starting at verse 19 to 21.
This is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light, because their deeds are evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
And if you turn to 1 John chapter 1, starting at verse 5.
Oh yeah, that's page 1225.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you.
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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 purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his word has no place in our lives.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Thanks very much, Dan.
Please keep your Bibles open at 1 John.
There is a sheet being passed around with pens, which you can follow along to take notes if you want one.
Just indicate to Ethan.
We started a new series just last week.
You can follow them all online if you miss any.
So 1 John, chapter 1, verse 5, and to chapter 2, verse 2.
It's a very, very practical letter, helping us to know how to live the Christian life.
Well, let's ask God for his help as we look at his word together.
Our Father God, we thank you for your love.
And we thank you for your word to us, which is an expression of your love to us.
We pray that as we read it together, as we study together,
that you would speak into our lives in such a way that we see what it is to live in right relationship with you.
Help us to identify the things that hinder our relationship with you.
And help us to put into practice the things that will restore our relationship with you.
Be gracious to us, Father, we pray.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
So we start with a very heart-searching question.
How is your fellowship with God?
Would you say it's in the red hot zone?
Or is it in the blue cold zone?
Where would you place yourself on that scale?
Or over the last week or month, would you say you've been taking steps towards the red zone?
Or have you been moving towards the cold zone?
Perhaps, like me, you find that it fluctuates.
It's bouncing from one end to the other.
Hot one week, cold the next.
Well, remember, we have all been invited into fellowship with God.
Look at verse 3 of chapter 1.
This is John writing on behalf of the apostles.
He says,
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard.
So they saw Jesus and they heard his message.
So we proclaim to you what we've seen and heard.
So that you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
So here John is inviting people like you and me to share in the deep, intimate relationship and partnership with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
So what the Father shares with the Son and what the Son shares with the Father, we too can participate in that love.
He says to us in verse 4, we write all of this.
We write this invitation into this fellowship to make our or your joy complete.
Living in fellowship with God is where we are fully satisfied.
This is where we find our joy.
Now this morning we're going to see how we can enjoy this fellowship every day.
How we can enjoy it the way God intends us to.
So there's two big ideas we're going to look at this morning.
The first is what hinders and damages our fellowship with God.
And the second is this, what restores and renews our fellowship with God.
So the first one is going to be quite hard.
Not hard to understand, but hard because it takes a look at our hearts.
So what is it that hinders and damages our fellowship?
And then secondly, what restores and renews our fellowship?
So let's look at these two big ideas together.
First, sin hinders and damages our fellowship with God.
Look at verse 5.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you.
God is light.
In him there is no darkness at all.
Followers of Lord of the Rings, and I'm sure most of you have seen them,
will know that light and darkness are really important themes.
You've got those who represent light, like Gandalf, and he's good and he's pure.
And then there are those who are evil and wicked, like Sauron, and they're described as being on the dark side.
So we've got this light and darkness theme.
And it's the same idea in biblical language.
So in verse 5 we're told that God is light.
That means he's full of goodness.
He's full of justice and purity.
There's no darkness in God.
There's no evil.
There's no hate.
There's no impurity.
In other words, light and darkness are incompatible.
You can't mix light and darkness together.
Psalm 5 tells us that you are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.
With you, the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence.
You see, you can't have light and darkness together.
Now, just as light and darkness are incompatible,
so a life of sin and a life of fellowship is incompatible.
In other words, he's building us towards a big theme, which is this.
We can't mess about with sin and at the same time enjoy fellowship with God.
Just as you can't mix light and darkness,
so you can't mix a life of sin and a life of fellowship.
They just don't go together.
Sin is serious.
It hinders and damages our fellowship with God.
That's the big theme of the rest of this chapter and into chapter 2.
We tend to minimise it.
We don't think it really matters.
So we hide it and we excuse it and we ignore it.
But sin drags us out of the red hot zone
and it pulls us into the blue cold zone.
So let's see how this is true.
Two things.
First, claiming to have fellowship.
Look at verse 6.
He says this,
If we claim to have fellowship with him,
yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth.
So if we say that we have fellowship with God,
but yet we mess about with sin,
then we're just living a lie.
He's saying we don't live by the truth.
Now remember,
he's writing here to people who are Christians.
Have a look at chapter 2, verse 21.
Chapter 2, verse 21.
He says there,
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth,
but because you do know it
and because no lie comes from the truth.
So he's writing to the people,
he's writing to us,
he's saying you know what the truth is.
You know who the truth is.
You know what it is to love Christ.
You know what it is to love people.
But here's the big problem.
You're claiming to be in fellowship with God
when in reality you're walking about in darkness.
It's the complete opposite of true fellowship.
Look at chapter 1, verse 7.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another
and the blood of Jesus, his son,
purifies us from all sin.
You see here in verse 7,
we have the picture of one who doesn't hide from the truth.
They're not pretending.
They're not living a lie.
They walk in the light.
In other words,
their desire is to let God shine his spotlight,
to shine his light by the Holy Spirit
into their lives,
to show them where their sin is
so that they can deal with it
and put things right
so that fellowship with God is restored.
Here's the people who walk in the light.
They crave openness and honesty before God.
But he's saying,
what you're doing is walking in the darkness.
You're hiding.
You see, our fellowship with God works on two levels.
I want us to get this clear in our minds.
There's a legal aspect and a personal aspect.
So when we trust in Christ,
we enter into a legal relationship or fellowship with God.
That means it can't be broken by our sin.
So if I mess up, if I fail,
my relationship with God is intact.
It's legally binding.
There's a contract on that relationship
that can't be broken because God is committed to it.
However, when I sin or when we sin,
the personal aspect of the relationship is damaged.
So let me try and illustrate this for us
to get it into our minds.
When Kirsty and I got married,
we entered into a legal relationship.
So no matter what we say,
no matter what we do,
we remain legally married.
We can fall out,
we can have an argument,
but we've got a contract that says,
we're married.
We're still in that relationship.
But here's the point.
If I'm unkind,
if I say something that upsets her,
it deeply affects the personal relationship.
And the relationship is damaged.
The joy and the intimacy of that relationship is removed.
It's broken.
And so it is in the same way.
God still legally loves us.
He is committed to us.
He is bound to us even when we sin.
But here's the problem.
The personal joy of that relationship is damaged.
Every time I fail and fall,
every time I walk in darkness,
the relationship with God,
that personal, deep, intimate relationship,
is damaged.
You see, messing about with sin
damages our fellowship with God.
It is serious.
Of course, it's not just claiming to have fellowship.
There's another problem.
There's claiming to be without sin.
Look at verse 8.
If we claim to be without sin,
we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
Messing about with sin
ultimately leads to self-deception.
Do you see what it says in verse 8?
It says we deceive ourselves.
The tragedy is
we can get to the point in our life
where we can't even see the damage
sin is causing to our own lives.
We're so much in the darkness
that we cannot see
what it is doing
to our relationship with God.
We used to joke when we were younger
about our granny
that she had asbestos hands.
Basically, she could just take anything
that was roasting hot out of the oven
with her bare hands.
She never used a cloth.
She could handle hot plates.
Not a problem.
But there was a problem.
Because her hands were very marked and scarred.
There were burns all over them.
And over time,
her hands had become insensitive
to the heat.
And it caused terrible damage.
And in the same way,
we can mess about with sin so much
that it gets to the point
where we become insensitive to it.
We're not even aware
of the effects that it has.
But over time,
it's causing untold damage
to our lives
in our relationship with God.
One of the ways it can affect us
is our relationship
with other people.
Look back at verse 7.
Do you see what it says there
at the beginning?
It says,
if we walk in the light
as he is in the light,
we have fellowship
with one another.
You see,
fellowship with God
can't be separated
from fellowship
with other people.
If our fellowship
with God is damaged,
then our fellowship
with other people
is damaged.
So,
let me ask us all
another question.
What is our relationship
with each other
actually like?
If you're married here
this morning,
how is your relationship
to your wife
or your husband?
Is it cold?
Is it broken?
How are you relating
to one another?
Or how are your relationships
with people in the church?
Are they on healthy terms?
Are you getting on
with people?
Because broken
and damaged relationships
can be a clear sign
of claiming to be
without sin.
We've got to the point
where we've deceived ourselves,
where we become
completely insensitive
to what's going on.
We're not even aware
of damaged relationships.
Look at verse 10.
If we claim
we have not sinned,
we make him,
that is God,
out to be a liar
and his word
has no place
in our lives.
Instead of owning up
to our sin,
we excuse it,
we ignore it
and we hide it.
We brush it
underneath the carpet.
We push back
against God's
gentle conviction
through his word
and we refuse
the diagnosis
of our hearts.
Claiming to be
in fellowship
with God
and at the same time
messing about
with sin
ultimately damages
and hinders
our fellowship
with God.
It robs us
of our joy.
That is the danger.
That is the seriousness
of what it can do
to us.
So how can
our joy
be made complete?
What we've just
looked at
is hard and difficult
but it does
because it requires
an inward looking
at our own hearts.
So how can it
be restored?
How can we know
deep,
intimate joy
with the Father?
Well second,
Christ restores
and renews
our fellowship
with God.
We often think
of repentance
and faith
as something
we do
before we
become a Christian.
So I repent
of my sins
and I put
my faith
in Jesus.
That's true.
We all need
to do that.
But just as we
start the Christian
life with repentance
and faith,
we must continue
with repentance
and faith.
We don't just do it
once and then
leave it there
and tick that box.
We continue
with repentance
and faith
every single day.
So let's look
at each of those
aspects
in these remaining
verses.
First,
repentance,
which is ongoing
dealing with sin.
Look at verse 9.
If we confess
our sins,
he is faithful
and just
and will forgive
us our sins
and purify
us from
all unrighteousness.
You see,
confession
or repentance
is vital
if we are to
enjoy
fellowship
with God.
But we've got
to be clear
what true
repentance
is.
Sometimes
we can be
remorseful,
but that's
not repentance.
Remorseful
means we regret
that we've done
something wrong
because of the
consequences it
has to my life.
So the thief
will be remorseful
because he's
been caught.
He's got money
in his pocket
that he shouldn't
do and he ends
up in prison
and he's saying
I wish I hadn't
done that.
He's only sorry
because he's been
caught and he's
being punished.
That's remorseful.
Being repentant
is completely
different.
Repentant means
we seek a
genuine heart
change
regardless
of the
consequences
to my life.
So the thief
who is repentant
will face up
to the seriousness
of his crime.
He will accept
the consequences.
He will accept
what's going to
happen because
he wants to
change his life
and change the
ways.
He confesses
because he doesn't
want to do the
same thing again.
Now there's two
people who are
very helpful
examples for this
and you know
them very well.
Judas and Peter.
Both Judas
and Peter
acted in
denial and
betrayal.
Both of them
had sinned.
Judas though
was remorseful.
He was remorseful
because he was
found out
and he ran away
and what did he do?
He hung himself
because remorse
leads to despair.
There's no way
out.
Peter on the
other hand
was repentant
because he knew
he had done
something wrong.
He knew he had
to go back to
Jesus and that
relationship was
restored and it
led to a joyful
relationship again.
So we've got to
be right about
being remorseful
or being repentant.
And look what
happens when we
are genuinely
repentant.
Again look at
verse 9.
He will forgive
us our sins
and purify us
from all
unrighteousness.
Here's the
result.
We are forgiven.
That means God
will no longer
hold that sin
against us.
It's not going
to be thrown
back in our
face.
It's cancelled.
It's paid for.
It's dealt
with.
But not only
is there
forgiveness,
he also
purifies us.
That means God
will make us
clean.
He will make us
pure.
What defiled us
in the first
place has been
removed.
It's washed
away.
It's wiped
clean.
It's all
gone.
And it all
leads to
restored
fellowship.
Genuine
repentance
means
restored
fellowship.
Because I
own my
sin.
Because I
seek genuine
heart change.
Because I'm
willing to
deal with my
sinful behaviour.
Because I want
to walk in the
light and let
God show me
up for what I
am and what I
need to get
right.
I can now
enjoy
fellowship with
God.
We come to
a Father
who longs
to forgive
us.
Who longs
to purify
us so that
we can
enjoy him.
So there
must be
repentance.
And there
must also
be faith.
Faith which
is ongoing
trust in
Jesus Christ.
Look at
chapter 2
verse 1.
My dear
children,
this is the
heartache
of a writer
who longs
for his
people to
be in
right
relationship
with God.
My dear
children,
I write
this to
you so
that you
will not
sin.
I want
you to
experience a
life that
is not
damaged or
hindered by
your sinful
behaviour.
I want
you to
enjoy this
deep,
intimate
relationship
with God.
I want
you to
experience it
in its
fullness.
So he
says I
write this
to you so
that you
will not
sin.
But if
anybody
does
sin,
because he
knows we
all do
and we
all mess
up and
fail.
So he's
saying to
us,
look,
as you
go along
your life,
your
relationship
with God,
when you
sin,
here's what
I want you
to see.
This is
where I
want you
to look.
I want
you to
look at
two
things.
First,
Jesus
is our
defence.
I
write this
to you
so that
you will
not
sin.
But if
anybody
does
sin,
we have
one who
speaks to
the Father
in our
defence,
Jesus
Christ,
the
righteous
one.
Have
you got
the picture
that we
have there?
It's an
amazing
picture.
Because when
we sin
and our
fellowship is
damaged,
Jesus
immediately
steps in
to speak
up on
our
behalf.
Jesus
as our
defender,
and we've
got to get
this picture
right again,
he's not
pleading
with a
reluctant
father who
is unwilling
to forgive.
He does
not have to
try and
convince
God or
cajole
God to
be merciful
or try
and trick
God to
be nice
towards
us.
No,
Jesus
simply
reminds
the
father of
what they
have
achieved
together,
that the
sin has
been paid
for,
that they
are forgiven,
that they
are clean,
that they
belong to
the father
and the
son and
they share
in fellowship
and Jesus
brings all
of that
before the
father and
says,
we can
forgive.
I am the
one who
stands in
defence of
you.
Jesus
guarantees
and assures
us of
our acceptance
so in
faith,
when we
fall,
we look
to Jesus
as our
defender.
But not
only that,
we look
to Jesus
as our
sacrifice.
Verse 2,
he is the
atoning
sacrifice
for our
sins and
not only
for ours
but also
for the
sins of
the whole
world.
God.
You see,
God doesn't
just ignore
our sin.
He doesn't
go, oh,
we'll just
forgive that
and it
doesn't
matter
anymore.
He can
forgive it
because he
has taken
it seriously.
He has
dealt with
our sin
through his
son,
Jesus Christ.
When Jesus
died on the
cross, as we
were singing
about earlier,
atonement
took place.
That's the
word that we
have here in
verse 2, a
sacrifice of
atonement.
And that
simply means
two things.
First, Jesus
takes our
guilt on
himself.
He becomes
our sin
for us.
So all of
my guilt,
all of my
shame, all
of my sin
is removed
from me
and placed
upon Jesus.
That's the
first step.
And the
second step
is this,
Jesus now
absorbs God's
wrath on
himself for
me.
He bears
the punishment
for me.
So he
removes my
guilt and
he removes
or deflects
the wrath of
God from
me onto
his own
son.
And that's
what we
mean when
we say
Jesus is
our atoning
sacrifice.
So each
day, every
time we
fail and
fall, we
look in
trust to
Jesus Christ.
We depend
not on our
own performance,
but on the
perfect performance
of Jesus
Christ, our
defence and
our sacrifice.
And all of
that leads
to renewed
fellowship.
The results
of genuine
faith is
renewed
fellowship
with God.
Because I
look to
Jesus,
because I
dare not
trust in
myself,
because I
turn to
Christ when I
see my
sin.
Fellowship
with God
is renewed.
Faith is
the means
by which I
can enjoy
God.
I can
enjoy his
presence.
I can
enjoy
fellowship
without any
fear of
judgment or
punishment
whatsoever.
So where
are you
in your
fellowship with
God?
Are you in
the red
hot zone?
or are you
in the
cold blue
zone?
Which
direction are
you travelling?
Are you
walking in
darkness and
avoiding sin?
Or are you
walking in the
light and
letting God
deal with it
as it should
be?
As we
finish, let
me just
close with an
illustration.
fellowship with
God is
like horse
riding.
Have any
of you ever
gone horse
riding?
I remember
my very first
experience.
The horse
went that
way, turned
a corner and
I kept
going.
The question
is, it's
not if you
fall off, but
when you
fall off.
And when
we fall
off the
horse, we
don't just
stay down, we
get up again and
we get back on and
we keep on
going.
Now when we
fall and fail in
our fellowship with
God, when it's
hindered and
broken and we
sense that lack
of joy, we
don't just stay
down, we get
back up again.
And here's how
we get back up
again.
We do it by
repenting of
our sin.
forgive me
Father, for I
have fallen
again, but I
do not want to
fall again.
Forgive me, I
do not want to
fall again.
We do it by
repenting and
we do it by
faith in Jesus
Christ.
We look to
him and say, I
cannot do this
alone.
I dare not
trust in my
own self, but
I trust in
you, my
defender, my
sacrifice,
to hold me
and keep me.
So let me
say this to
us all.
Get up,
fallen
Christian.
Ride again
and enjoy
your fellowship
with God.
Let's pray.
Father, it is
our desire
always
to be in
that place
where
we enjoy
fellowship with
you,
unhindered,
undamaged,
to delight in
you,
to have no
fear.
And yet,
Father, we
confess
there are
things we
do and
say.
There are
actions that
we get
involved in
that hinder
and break
and damage
that relationship.
so, Father,
we repent
of them.
We come to
you afresh
and we
say,
I've done
it again,
but help me
not to do
it again.
Lord Jesus,
we thank you
that you
are our
defender,
speaking to
the Father
in our
defence.
Thank you
that you
are our
perfect,
sufficient,
and complete
sacrifice,
taking the
blame for
all that we
have done
wrong,
so that
we can
enjoy you
and know
you.
So,
Father,
wherever we
are today,
help us to
get back
up again.
Help us
to keep
on going
as we
look only
to you.
Bless us
and fill us
with your
joy, we
pray, in
Jesus' name.
Amen.