WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.380 In order to understand 1 John, particularly the passage that we have, I think we need to understand 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:18.820 ! But in order to understand the context, what I think we need to do is imagine a dangerous 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:27.120 ! You need to close your eyes if you have to, but imagine a dangerous city, a place where 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:33.740 you never choose to walk down. It's a place where houses are boarded up, windows are broken. 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:41.620 It's a really scary place. And in the middle of all this chaos, in the middle of this really 00:00:41.620 --> 00:00:49.520 scary city, there's a child. You can imagine the child, but this child is lost and scared 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:55.240 as they wander down the street. It can be scary for adults being in those kind of places, 00:00:55.240 --> 00:01:03.320 but imagine how scary it would be being a child. This child just wants to go home. I just want 00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:10.520 to be home. And people come out of the shadows and they start offering assistance. They say, 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:19.000 come with me and I'll get you home. Listen to me, I can tell you the way to get there. Now 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:24.239 should we listen to them? And should we listen to those people? But how do we know who we 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:31.560 can trust to make sure that we'll definitely make it home safe? Who's trustworthy? That's 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:37.620 a really important question in that situation. This little child asking, who can I trust? Where 00:01:37.620 --> 00:01:43.359 should I go? Will I ever make it home? You know, imagine how frightened you'd be if you 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:50.420 were the parent of that child. Well, that is exactly how John feels about the church that 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:57.659 he's writing to. He has a fatherly affection for them, concerning them. I mean, just look 00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:04.719 at verse 1 of chapter 2. My little children, he says. He looks at this church and he sees 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:09.599 that they're in a dangerous place. They're being tempted by false teachers, people who have 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:19.079 left the church and are questioning the faithfulness of the gospel they once heard. And John, his 00:02:19.079 --> 00:02:25.479 heart is moved for them. He just yearns and desires so desperately that they'd be safe. 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:32.900 Not wanting them to continue down that dark and dangerous street, listening to dangerous messengers. 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:41.460 So he writes them a letter. He writes them a letter. You see, what that small child needed was a faithful 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:49.659 guide. A faithful guide, someone he could really trust to take them home. He needed a familiar face that 00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:56.719 could go out and come to him and give him faithful, safe instruction to take him away from evil, to take him 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:04.419 away from the darkness, off that dangerous street and on the right path. And what we have here, what we have 00:03:04.419 --> 00:03:11.699 in our hands this morning, is the message of that faithful guide. How to stay safe as a Christian. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:18.759 How to stay safe. To make sure that you're not led astray by the world, by false teachers. 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:26.479 And instead, that you're able to confidently walk home. Confidently to make it there with full assurance. 00:03:26.799 --> 00:03:32.120 John, that is a great theme for a letter, isn't it? How to stay safe and make sure you'll definitely get 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:37.780 home. So what we're going to do in our time together, is we're going to start briefly looking at the 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:43.419 faithful guide. What makes John such a faithful messenger? Now, what means that we can trust him? 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:48.899 And then secondly, this is something we really need to be clear about, is we don't just need a faithful 00:03:48.899 --> 00:03:54.699 messenger, but we need to know what his message is. So we need to be clear about the faithful message 00:03:54.699 --> 00:04:01.639 that this faithful messenger brings. So firstly, a faithful guide. Okay, looking at verses 1 to 4, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:08.359 we're looking at a faithful guide. John emphasises straight away, straight from the beginning of his 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:14.600 letter, that he and a group of others were there with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry. Just look at 00:04:14.600 --> 00:04:21.180 verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:26.379 looked upon, which we have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. He was there with this group of others 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:34.580 from the beginning. In each of the four gospels, Jesus calls his 12 disciples, his 12 followers, immediately 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:44.779 after he's baptised, and they follow him. If you're familiar, you'll know they're with him at every turn. It's incredible. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:52.819 They see him praying. They see him eating. They walk down dirt roads in the hot sunshine with him. They watch him do the 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:59.779 miraculous, and they see him do the very, very ordinary things. You know, if they had toothbrushes, they'd have probably even seen 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:09.339 him brush his teeth. They were there every step of the way, seeing with their eyes, hearing with their ears, and touching 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:20.339 with their hands. They were there. This isn't second-hand information. They were there. But more than that, they didn't 00:05:20.339 --> 00:05:28.279 just hear, see, and touch, though. But this group that were there from the beginning, later called the apostles, were also 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:37.779 called to preach. Jesus appointed them to take what they had seen, heard, and touched, to take it to the nations, to 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:46.379 people all over the world. Speaking to the apostles, Jesus says in John's Gospels, but when the helper comes, when the 00:05:46.379 --> 00:05:54.779 spirit comes, well, he's going to bear witness about me. And you, my disciples, my apostles, well, you're going to bear 00:05:54.779 --> 00:06:01.619 witness to the ends of the earth. They're to take to the nations what they've witnessed, the life, the death, the 00:06:01.619 --> 00:06:08.879 resurrection of Jesus, and proclaim it to the world, all by the spirit's power. They were there, and are empowered 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:18.119 by the spirit. And that's what John's trying to get across in 1 to 4. But not only does he repeat the idea of the 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:27.319 disciples being eyewitnesses, but three times he says we were proclaimers. We were people who spoke. You know, 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:34.259 like lost children in a dangerous city, where there are false teachers trying to lead us astray, John wants to 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:41.040 make it really, really clear that he, along with the other apostles, that they are the eyewitnesses that you 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:48.600 can trust, that they have the authoritative testimony of Jesus Christ, that they alone are the ones that 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:59.780 can give the instruction that we so badly need. But the thing is, they're dead. They died. What are we to do? 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:07.020 The faithful guides disappeared. Well, they didn't merely preach, as it says in 2 and 3, but verse 4, 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:17.659 they also wrote their message down. 1 John, what you have today, what you are hearing this morning, 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:27.919 is the message that will get you home. When we receive John's letter, when we receive the teaching 00:07:27.919 --> 00:07:36.500 of Jesus Christ himself, the apostles' teaching is what we must cling to. So we must walk through that 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:44.160 dangerous city with people trying to lead us astray. What must you cling to? You must cling to this. 00:07:45.899 --> 00:07:53.199 Because they alone have the message that what can it do? It's one of the things I think we skip over 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:01.699 all the time. But there in verse 3, it's this message alone that can give you fellowship with God. 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:08.339 Fellowship with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And it also gives you fellowship with the church. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:16.579 They alone have the words that gives you fellowship. Life himself will come to know you. 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:26.159 They alone have the ability to give you this message. Because they were there in spirit-empowered 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:32.320 teaching. We have now the message in our hands that can mean that you can be welcomed into the divine 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:42.600 family. That you will make it home on that final day. So have confidence. I don't know if you're ever 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:46.500 like me, but when you sit and it's mid-week and you think, probably should open my Bible, 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:55.059 is it really worth it? The answer is emphatically yes. Because anything else, whether it's the news 00:08:55.059 --> 00:09:01.139 at 10, or your favourite TV show, what you read in the newspaper, the conversations you have at work, 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:06.759 none of those things can get you home safe. But the Word of God. 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:13.659 Do you know what? There's loads of people trying to vie for your attention, trying to lead you astray, 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:19.259 telling you this is the way. Every day you're bombarded by messages, saying, come and listen 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:26.939 to me. Come and follow me. You know what? People write holy books, don't they? Like the 00:09:26.939 --> 00:09:34.559 Quran or the Book of Mormon. Jehovah's Witnesses even have their own version of the Bible. Do not 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:42.279 listen to it, because it is dangerous and will not take you home. It even comes in more subtle forms, 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:50.379 with just the whimsical good advice of a friend about what it means to be really spiritual. Do 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:59.679 not listen to them. They are dangerous truths that aren't real truths at all. Only this message 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:06.179 can get you home safe. So think and be aware of what the world's telling you. 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:14.279 So the content then. What is this message that John's given? What is the content of your message? 00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:22.219 Well here we have 1 John 1 verse 5 to 2-2. It's John's faithful message. This is the beginning. 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:27.060 Straight from the get go. What do you want us to know then? What do you want the church 00:10:27.060 --> 00:10:32.840 to hold on to, John? What is it that John thinks is essential that we hear to stay on the right 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:39.200 track? Well if I was to ask you to summarise the gospel, because that's secretly what we're 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:48.279 all waiting for, how would you summarise it? Maybe if I gave you 11 words. 11 words to summarise 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:54.240 the gospel. What would you say? The message to keep you safe. I don't know, maybe we'd have 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:58.319 something about the cross. Maybe we'd have something about resurrection and forgiveness. 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:06.159 But instead, John very peculiarly says this in verse 5. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:15.120 This is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you. That. And I've checked 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:22.600 it in the Greek and in the NIV and in the ESV, it's always the same amount of words. God 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:31.259 is light and in him is no darkness at all. Good news. Brilliant. We can all go home because 00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:35.700 we're all really clear. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. That's the 00:11:35.700 --> 00:11:42.240 message that will keep you safe. I'm not that convinced yet. John, I need you to explain it. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.680 I need you to unpack. Why is it good news that God is light and in him there's no darkness 00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:52.600 at all? Well, what we're going to do then is we're going to split it into two in this 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:57.539 faithful message. We're going to have the message about our sinfulness and the message about our 00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:04.200 salvation. The message about our sinfulness and the message about our salvation. Let's 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:09.600 just think about light for a moment. What happens when you turn a light on in a room? Well, the 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:14.560 darkness disappears, doesn't it? The darkness disappears. Light and darkness, they just don't 00:12:14.560 --> 00:12:23.120 go together. As the sun rises, the night time disappears. On that cold, wintry morning when 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:28.440 we all long for the sun and then it comes and then we all go, ah, I kind of miss winter now, 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:35.240 it's too hot. But the light comes and the darkness disappears. They're opposites. Let's think a little 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:40.060 bit more. What is John trying to get across with this idea of light? Well, I think the 00:12:40.060 --> 00:12:46.500 first idea is this idea of revelation. The idea of making things clear, making things known. 00:12:47.659 --> 00:12:54.440 He is the light. God is light in the sense that he reveals truth. Actually, even more than 00:12:54.440 --> 00:13:03.000 that, he is truth revealed. God has revealed things as they really are. And he has revealed 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:15.820 himself. Not in an obscure way. Not in an abstract philosophy. But in a person that was touched, 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:24.200 that was seen and was heard. The God who is light, who reveals, has been seen. He has been 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:30.540 made himself known. Dispelling all mystery about what God is like. Because in history he revealed 00:13:30.540 --> 00:13:38.140 himself. God is light. And that light has been made known to us in the person of Jesus. 00:13:39.820 --> 00:13:44.580 But more than that, and I think probably more the connotation that you're thinking, is the 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:54.040 idea of God's moral perfection. He is light. And in him there is no darkness at all. 00:13:54.200 --> 00:14:01.879 Delving into the eternal depths of God, you will never find any moral imperfection. He is 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:09.700 perfectly good, perfectly holy, perfectly righteous. He never does anything wrong, nor can he tolerate 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:18.740 anything that's wrong. So when we put those two things together, what we have is a God who 00:14:18.740 --> 00:14:25.060 is light that reveals and exposes in contrast with his moral perfection. 00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:33.439 Genevieve and I, I told you, we have a son called Judah. And ten months ago, we were frantically 00:14:33.439 --> 00:14:40.459 decorating his new room. All the mums are thinking about nesting and what it was like when they had a 00:14:40.459 --> 00:14:47.899 baby and all the redecorating they did. Well, I expertly thought, right, I'll do it in a day. The day kind of 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:53.459 ended up and I started about one o'clock in the afternoon. I was determined to get it done. And as I 00:14:53.459 --> 00:14:59.299 started, sun's up looking wonderful. Starting decorating. And it gets further and further. We've 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:03.620 done, stripped all the old wallpaper. We've done all the priming. And it gets ready and we start 00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:08.759 wallpapering. But the sun starts to go down and we're now relying on energy-saving bulbs, which never 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:16.360 really seem to get that bright. But I finished it. It was two o'clock in the morning and I'd finished it. 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:21.700 I felt so good. I went to bed. I woke up in the morning, woke Genevieve up and said, let's go look 00:15:21.700 --> 00:15:27.759 at the new baby's room. Sun had come up. We flung open the curtains. And boy, did it look miserable. 00:15:28.779 --> 00:15:35.019 Boy, did it look miserable. We're talking crooked wallpaper, smudges and smears. We're talking 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:43.100 wrong alignment. We're even talking that I put wallpaper on the wrong wall. I was tired. 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:55.720 But the thing is, God's light is far more exposing than sun on wallpaper. Instead, when it comes 00:15:55.720 --> 00:16:06.200 to me, if there is any smudges, if there is anything crooked, if there is anything wrong, 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:16.740 it will be exposed in his light. It's a sobering truth, isn't it? It's sobering to think that 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:23.360 God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. And the reason that that is sobering 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:35.320 is that because standing in that light, my darkness is exposed. But John calls us straight 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:42.260 from the start. And he says, in this letter, in his instruction to the church, that is wandering 00:16:42.260 --> 00:16:48.640 like a child down a dangerous street, he says, please stick with this. I know it's uncomfortable, 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:58.280 but stick with it. Because if you compromise this, everything's gone. If you compromise this, 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:06.359 you'll end up in a very dangerous place. Don't water down who God is. That is not the way 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:11.879 that you can have true fellowship with him, that he's described and put on offer. That's 00:17:11.879 --> 00:17:18.339 not the way to make it home. And we know that there are false teachers who are saying that. 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:25.279 We're trying to deny what John says. Because he goes on to say, three times he repeats this 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:35.599 phrase. Look down, he says, if we claim, if we say. So verse 6, verse 8 and verse 10. 00:17:35.939 --> 00:17:40.399 These are the words of the false teachers. He says, if we say that we have fellowship with 00:17:40.399 --> 00:17:45.359 him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Verse 8, if we say we have 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:54.299 no sinned, we have no sinned, we have no sinned. We make him a liar and his word is not in us. 00:17:56.339 --> 00:18:02.479 So I think all three statements are basically the same. Just saying the same thing. Just 00:18:02.479 --> 00:18:09.919 slightly nuanced. He's basically saying, sin doesn't matter. Sin doesn't matter. That's 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:17.120 what the false teachers are saying. Sin doesn't matter. And John is just rejecting that denial 00:18:17.120 --> 00:18:24.200 of the false teachers that God is light by saying very simply, do not trivialise your sin. 00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:33.180 If God is light and he is, then don't listen to the false teachers who, and certainly don't 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:43.140 say yourself, that your sin doesn't matter. If God is light and we walk in darkness, we 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:50.880 can't say we have fellowship with God. Don't kid yourself. One of the other things, maybe 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:55.820 it is because my wife's American. She has a great affinity for the sun. She loves walking 00:18:55.820 --> 00:18:59.900 the sunshine, sunbathing, beaches, all that kind of stuff. And I think it's a disposition of 00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:06.040 British people, or maybe I'm a bit unique, but I love the shade. I love it to be cooler 00:19:06.040 --> 00:19:13.960 and not too sunny. But the thing is, when summer comes, this happens on many occasions, we'll 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:18.340 be walking down the street and General will go, I'm going to cross over and I'm going to 00:19:18.340 --> 00:19:23.740 walk in the sun. Can't think of anything worse. So she walks down one side of the street and 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:29.840 I walk down the other in the shade. Yeah. The thing is, we can't kid ourselves. We 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:35.599 can't hold hands anymore. Like, we can't have fellowship. If she's in the light and I'm 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:39.619 in darkness, we just can't kid ourselves, can we? If she's on the sunny side of the street 00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:49.099 and I'm in the darkness, we don't have fellowship. We can't be united. And if God cannot bear 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:56.899 darkness and sin, there is no way, no way in which those who are walking in darkness and 00:19:56.899 --> 00:20:05.219 disobedience can ever have fellowship with God. It is a lie, according to John, to claim otherwise. 00:20:07.179 --> 00:20:12.240 If we live in sin, we have no fellowship with God. Verse 8 and verse 10 say the same thing, but just 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:18.900 ramp it up even further by saying, you're not only deceiving yourself, but you're calling 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:28.519 God a liar. So I deceive myself and call God a liar because I say, if I say I'm sinless, 00:20:29.660 --> 00:20:37.599 why is that true? Well, because as we said, light has come into the world. Truth has been revealed 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:46.299 in the face of Jesus Christ. When you look at Jesus and you see who he is and what he's done 00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:53.659 and the light that he brings, if you say that you are without sin, basically you deny everything 00:20:53.659 --> 00:21:02.219 that Jesus is, everything that he's done. We basically end up saying, well, we don't need 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:08.400 it. We pretend we're without sin and we basically say that God isn't bothered about sin, that God 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:14.200 isn't pure and that in the face of Jesus Christ, light reveals that there isn't really a God 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:19.779 who hates sin and is so committed to it, to ridding the world of it, that he would die 00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:26.860 to deal with it. We essentially say, God, you're not good. You're not really that holy. 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:31.440 You don't really mind the dark patches in my life. You don't really mind the sin. We call 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:40.580 God a liar. But I'm going to give you a bit of credit. I'm going to give myself a little 00:21:40.580 --> 00:21:46.559 bit of a slack because we know why we do it. We know why we compromise that truth and it's 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:53.279 precisely because we know that God is light. If God is really light, I basically have to 00:21:53.279 --> 00:22:00.299 pretend, don't I? Knowing that I'm dark, I have to pretend that I'm not really what I'm 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:08.119 like because if I confront what I'm really like, then God will just crush me. So I have 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:12.019 to compromise the truth about who I am and what God is like just to make my life livable. 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:18.639 We do it all the time. We project an image to one another, don't we, of what we're really 00:22:18.639 --> 00:22:23.099 like, our best face. Because if you knew what I was really like, you wouldn't want to be 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:32.219 friends with me. Think about that with us and God. And this is the teaching of the false 00:22:32.219 --> 00:22:37.599 teachers that's leading people astray. They're pandering to this in people and you can understand 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:44.980 why it's working. Imagine you go into the counselling room of one of these false teachers 00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:50.680 teachers. And you sit down and you say, I don't know if you'd call them false teacher, 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:57.900 like, hello teacher, but think false teacher. I'm really struggling today. I feel really 00:22:57.900 --> 00:23:04.819 burdened with my sin. I've done loads of stuff wrong. And the false teacher just goes, don't 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:12.099 worry about it. It's alright. And you say, look, I really don't think you understand. You 00:23:12.099 --> 00:23:15.240 don't know the things that I've thought, the things that I've said, the things that I've 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:21.119 done. And the false teacher goes, look, just don't worry about it. You know, God loves to 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:24.879 forgive, like, you know, you'll be fine. Like, just, you know, you're not that bad. Just 00:23:24.879 --> 00:23:33.919 go on. And I say, well, thanks. That's great. I walk out of the counselling room and I think 00:23:33.919 --> 00:23:39.859 a little bit better about myself. And the problem is, it's just shallow. It's nonsense. 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:48.199 It's nonsense. Because it denies that God is light. It's a fake relationship. It's all 00:23:48.199 --> 00:23:56.000 pretend. It's a pretend fellowship. A pretend fake friendship. When you deny what God is 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:04.159 like and what we're really like. But the question is, what's the alternative? What's the alternative? 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:11.759 What am I meant to do as someone who is sinful, who is messed up, who walks into that counselling 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:19.259 room and I really do feel burdened by all the things that I've done? Well, that brings 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:26.060 us to our second and final bit. And that's the truth about our salvation. The message about 00:24:26.060 --> 00:24:33.400 the truth of our salvation. John gives us his answer in the kind of verses in between the 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:37.640 things we looked at. So we have 6, 8 and 10, the things that the false teachers are saying. 00:24:38.019 --> 00:24:44.060 And then we have the message that John is bringing. The gospel message that John is bringing in 00:24:44.060 --> 00:24:50.259 verses 7 and 9. Listen to what he says. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:55.660 we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all 00:24:55.660 --> 00:25:03.840 sin. And then verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 00:25:03.840 --> 00:25:13.400 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Can I take your gospel hat off and the formulaic 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:21.779 gospel you know? Because what he says seems absolutely crazy. Because strangely, verse 7, 00:25:21.779 --> 00:25:30.500 he says, walk in the light. He basically says, well, Adam, stop walking in the shade and 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:38.139 come over to the sunny side of the street. It seems like an odd thing to say because it 00:25:38.139 --> 00:25:47.079 basically means being exposed. He says, bring it all out into the light. Come and let's see 00:25:47.079 --> 00:25:58.599 how bad it really is. Come and stand next to my pure, holy, blameless, pure light. And 00:25:58.599 --> 00:26:06.859 let's see how bad it is. He says, come and walk in my way and be exposed. Which seems crazy, 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:11.179 but then he ramps it up even further. And he says something strange to it. He says, don't 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:18.279 come and step into the light. And once you've done that, confess. Confess. Verse 9, confess 00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:24.299 our sins. You're thinking, John, this is a crazy thing to do. This can't be good advice. 00:26:25.560 --> 00:26:30.220 Not only am I to step into the light and have my darkness revealed and exposed, but then I'm 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:38.740 to stand before the God who is light, who cannot tolerate darkness. And say, do you know what? 00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:51.339 Compared to you, I am dark here and here and here and here. Seems crazy talk. This can't be a good 00:26:51.339 --> 00:26:57.000 idea, surely. So you can understand the appeal of the false teachers. You go, just sweep it under the 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:08.720 carpet. But read on to what John says. He goes on to say that if we do, if we do that, if we come in 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:19.220 to the light and be exposed, if we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins. 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:28.299 Hang on, John. I hear you all cry. Are you not denying the exact thing that the false teachers were doing? 00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:34.600 God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Are you just not denying that by saying, 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:44.659 well, this God will just forgive you? No, he says. There is a way. Amazingly, there is a way. 00:27:46.819 --> 00:27:55.099 For dark people like you and me to come to the God who is light and without deceiving ourselves or God 00:27:55.099 --> 00:28:05.039 being compromised. And that is verse 6. Through the blood of Jesus, the Son who cleanses. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:09.119 And verse 9 and chapter 2, verse 1. 00:28:10.919 --> 00:28:12.259 Here is the way. 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:16.119 It's by this bloody sacrifice. 00:28:17.159 --> 00:28:18.480 The word propitiation. 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:20.439 This atonement. 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:23.240 God taking the penalty for sin. 00:28:23.660 --> 00:28:25.420 His wrath against it. 00:28:25.700 --> 00:28:28.900 The light being switched on and it consuming the darkness. 00:28:30.460 --> 00:28:31.980 Jesus taking that. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:35.519 But Jesus doesn't pretend that there isn't any darkness. 00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:38.640 No, instead he confronts it head on 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.580 in his death. 00:28:41.579 --> 00:28:45.779 Jesus takes our sin. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:47.500 Our darkness. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.299 And he clothes us in his righteousness. 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:52.740 In his light. 00:28:55.740 --> 00:28:58.919 Let me just for a moment take you into the counselling room of Jesus. 00:29:01.179 --> 00:29:04.199 What is the counselling room according to John? 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:06.159 John, you walk in. 00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:08.839 You sit down and you say, 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:10.939 John, I've really messed up. 00:29:12.419 --> 00:29:14.279 The things that I have thought, 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:16.519 I've said and done. 00:29:18.339 --> 00:29:19.480 And Jesus says, 00:29:19.819 --> 00:29:20.639 I know. 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:24.039 And you say, 00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:25.519 Jesus, no, I really don't think you understand. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:28.500 I've done so much. 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:30.539 It's so big. 00:29:30.679 --> 00:29:31.859 It's so dark. 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:33.980 And he says, 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:37.399 It is far worse than you could ever imagine. 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:42.040 What am I to do then, Jesus? 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:44.280 What should I do? 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:47.180 How can this be dealt with? 00:29:47.620 --> 00:29:50.480 What am I to do about the sin in my heart 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:51.780 if I want to come to you? 00:29:52.280 --> 00:29:55.120 If I want to walk in your way on the sunny side of the street, 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:56.080 how can I come? 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:58.399 And Jesus just turns and he says, 00:29:58.460 --> 00:29:59.579 How about I cleanse you? 00:30:01.339 --> 00:30:02.899 How about I forgive you? 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.619 I'm not going to pretend that you're not dark. 00:30:07.619 --> 00:30:12.119 And I'm not going to pretend that I'm not light. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:15.000 But how about in history, 00:30:15.419 --> 00:30:17.579 in a way that you can touch, 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:19.579 that you can see, 00:30:19.959 --> 00:30:21.279 that you can hear, 00:30:22.619 --> 00:30:24.119 how about I come 00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:25.959 and I die 00:30:25.959 --> 00:30:28.059 in your place? 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:32.099 But how about I die 00:30:32.099 --> 00:30:33.240 for all the sin 00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:34.220 and darkness 00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:36.859 so that people like you 00:30:36.859 --> 00:30:38.200 can be welcomed into the light? 00:30:39.700 --> 00:30:40.859 Jesus propitiates, 00:30:41.159 --> 00:30:41.899 bears the wrath, 00:30:42.099 --> 00:30:42.419 anger 00:30:42.419 --> 00:30:44.279 of a holy God against sin 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:46.480 so that his favour may rest 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:47.440 with me, 00:30:47.919 --> 00:30:48.579 with you. 00:30:49.679 --> 00:30:51.359 His blood is spilt 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:52.179 at the cross 00:30:52.179 --> 00:30:53.519 in a way that people 00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:54.179 touched, 00:30:54.700 --> 00:30:56.019 saw and heard 00:30:56.019 --> 00:30:57.819 bearing the penalty 00:30:57.819 --> 00:30:58.819 that sin deserves. 00:31:00.099 --> 00:31:01.139 Jesus the righteous 00:31:01.139 --> 00:31:02.920 dies a dark death 00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:04.200 that you might become 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:05.079 the light of God. 00:31:08.779 --> 00:31:09.680 So imagine now, 00:31:10.119 --> 00:31:11.379 imagine now 00:31:11.379 --> 00:31:12.079 the confidence 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:13.119 that you can have 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:14.440 drawing near to God. 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:17.160 No longer pretending, 00:31:17.579 --> 00:31:19.019 you don't have to pretend 00:31:19.019 --> 00:31:19.619 with God. 00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:22.059 No longer pretending, 00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:23.200 but knowing 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:24.000 that the basis 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:25.019 of your relationship 00:31:25.019 --> 00:31:26.379 with God 00:31:26.379 --> 00:31:27.619 is that if I confess 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:28.279 my sin, 00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:29.879 I know that God 00:31:29.879 --> 00:31:31.339 has acted in history 00:31:31.339 --> 00:31:32.420 in a way that 00:31:32.420 --> 00:31:33.200 is touched, 00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:34.379 heard, 00:31:34.819 --> 00:31:35.579 and seen 00:31:35.579 --> 00:31:37.660 so that I might 00:31:37.660 --> 00:31:38.160 have fellowship 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:38.960 with God himself 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:39.700 and make it heard. 00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:42.859 But no wonder 00:31:42.859 --> 00:31:43.740 John says 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:44.619 that passing on 00:31:44.619 --> 00:31:45.319 this message 00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:46.579 makes his joy complete. 00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:47.680 Verse 4. 00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:49.720 This makes his joy 00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:50.379 complete 00:31:50.379 --> 00:31:51.799 because where is 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:52.339 his confidence? 00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:53.500 Not in pretend, 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:55.339 but in reality. 00:31:57.819 --> 00:31:58.579 And it's worth 00:31:58.579 --> 00:31:59.380 defending against 00:31:59.380 --> 00:32:00.259 the false teachers. 00:32:01.140 --> 00:32:01.759 It's worth 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:02.519 defending against 00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:03.519 the lies of Satan 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:04.119 and the people 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:04.779 of the world. 00:32:05.460 --> 00:32:06.000 It's worth 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:06.480 defending. 00:32:08.980 --> 00:32:09.740 One last thing 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:10.279 as I close. 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:11.019 There's probably 00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:11.599 loads of people 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:12.099 in here 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:14.240 that are thinking, 00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:16.859 that's great, 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:17.839 that's really good news. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:20.819 But the problem is, 00:32:20.980 --> 00:32:21.740 this is the pattern 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:22.679 of every day. 00:32:24.199 --> 00:32:25.079 Every day, 00:32:25.619 --> 00:32:26.319 remembering 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:28.599 that we are darkness 00:32:28.599 --> 00:32:30.119 and we need 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:31.220 Christ the light 00:32:31.220 --> 00:32:33.119 to die in our place 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:33.679 that we might 00:32:33.679 --> 00:32:34.059 have fellowship 00:32:34.059 --> 00:32:34.619 with God. 00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:36.220 I've never met 00:32:36.220 --> 00:32:37.159 a brother or sister, 00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:39.299 no matter how old 00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:39.699 they are, 00:32:39.779 --> 00:32:40.119 that have been 00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:41.139 trusting the Lord 00:32:41.139 --> 00:32:42.099 for years and years 00:32:42.099 --> 00:32:42.599 who go, 00:32:42.699 --> 00:32:43.139 do you know what, 00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:43.859 good news, 00:32:44.579 --> 00:32:45.240 good news, 00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:46.299 over coffee, 00:32:46.419 --> 00:32:47.000 I've just got something 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:47.400 to tell you, 00:32:47.460 --> 00:32:48.359 I'm done with sin. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:49.779 It's brilliant. 00:32:50.059 --> 00:32:50.759 It's taken a while 00:32:50.759 --> 00:32:51.460 but I'm now done 00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:51.940 with sin. 00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:54.839 That never happens, 00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:55.220 does it? 00:32:55.740 --> 00:32:56.079 Actually, 00:32:56.180 --> 00:32:56.559 in fact, 00:32:56.660 --> 00:32:57.680 younger Christians, 00:32:57.839 --> 00:32:58.180 children, 00:32:58.339 --> 00:32:58.859 go and speak 00:32:58.859 --> 00:32:59.980 to the older believers 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:01.339 and say, 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:02.059 do you know what, 00:33:02.339 --> 00:33:02.980 what's it like 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:03.599 being a Christian? 00:33:05.299 --> 00:33:06.180 And the normative 00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:07.140 Christian experience 00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:08.720 is that as we walk 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:10.200 more in the light, 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:12.099 our sin is exposed 00:33:12.099 --> 00:33:13.039 more and more 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:13.559 and we go, 00:33:13.660 --> 00:33:14.000 do you know what, 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:15.380 I feel more sinful 00:33:15.380 --> 00:33:15.920 than ever. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:18.539 But I glory in 00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:19.259 his light 00:33:19.259 --> 00:33:19.960 all the more. 00:33:21.220 --> 00:33:21.660 Yes, 00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:22.440 by God's grace, 00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:23.059 by the spirit 00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:23.680 of work in us, 00:33:23.740 --> 00:33:24.460 we are transformed 00:33:24.460 --> 00:33:25.220 more and more 00:33:25.220 --> 00:33:26.240 into his likeness. 00:33:26.819 --> 00:33:27.680 But our experiences 00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:28.400 of one, 00:33:28.980 --> 00:33:29.720 where we come 00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:30.359 daily, 00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:32.059 remembering that 00:33:32.059 --> 00:33:32.700 in history, 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:34.740 he did something 00:33:34.740 --> 00:33:35.480 for us. 00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:37.579 You know, 00:33:37.579 --> 00:33:38.539 John is telling us 00:33:38.539 --> 00:33:40.440 that he and the 00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:41.119 apostles have the 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:41.700 true message 00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:42.299 that we must cling 00:33:42.299 --> 00:33:42.539 to. 00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:44.220 the question 00:33:44.220 --> 00:33:45.139 is this morning, 00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:46.779 will you walk 00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:47.379 in the light 00:33:47.379 --> 00:33:48.220 and confess 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:48.879 your sin 00:33:48.879 --> 00:33:50.039 that you might 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:50.940 have a real 00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:51.579 relationship 00:33:51.579 --> 00:33:52.180 with the living 00:33:52.180 --> 00:33:52.579 God, 00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:54.019 the God who is 00:33:54.019 --> 00:33:54.460 light, 00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:55.879 rather than the 00:33:55.879 --> 00:33:56.460 pretend one? 00:33:58.960 --> 00:33:59.759 Shall we pray? 00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:01.599 Do you think 00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:01.879 any of those 00:34:01.879 --> 00:34:01.879 00:34:01.879 --> 00:34:01.879 00:34:01.879 --> 00:34:03.000 any of those 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:03.519 experiences 00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:04.059 of those 00:34:04.059 --> 00:34:04.680 experiences 00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:04.680 00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:05.220 experiences 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:05.420 of those 00:34:05.420 --> 00:34:05.839 experiences 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:06.379 of those 00:34:06.379 --> 00:34:06.379