2 the message we declare 1 john 1:5-10
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The Message We Declare 1 John 1:5-10 Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-message-we-declare-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-christian-witness-144615.asp?page=2TRANSCRIPT
The Message We Declare 1 John 1:5-10
Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-message-we-declare-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-christian-witness-144615.asp?page=2
1 John 1:5 NET Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and
announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we
have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all
sin.
8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make
him a liar and his word is not in us.
The 23rd ChannelThe TV is my shepherd,
I shall not want.It maketh me to lie down on the sofa;
It leadeth me away from faith;It destroys my soul;
It leadeth me into the paths of sex and violence for the
sponsors sake.
Yea, though I walk through the shadow of my Christian
responsibilities,there is no interruption, for the TV is with me;
Its cables and remote control, they comfort me.
It prepareth a commercial for me in the presence of my worldliness.
It annointeth my head with humanism and consumerism;
My coveting runneth over.Surely, laziness and ignorance shall follow
me all the days of my life,and I shall dwell in the house, just watching TV all the time.
DOES THIS SOUND ACCURATE? It is or could be for some people.
Ephesians 5:15 NET Therefore be very careful how you live — not as unwise but as
wise, 16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 For this reason do not be foolish, but be
wise by understanding what the Lord's will is.
Instead of contributing to the world's evil, we should be doing whatever we can for the Lord! Far too many Christian people like to run with the world and contribute little to the
kingdom of God.
This is one reason we need to do some work for the Lord every day. Otherwise, it’s as if we’re stealing from God and giving to
the world. How would your boss react when your
work isn’t done because you’ve been busy doing things for yourself instead of your
job? He has purchased your time & efforts with a paycheck. So if you’re using time &
effort he has paid for, to do your own things, are you not stealing from him?
Jesus shows us just what will happen.Matthew 24:46 NET Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he
comes. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave should say to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' 49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and
to eat and drink with drunkards,
50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51 and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
In another parable in the next chapter of Matthew He shows what will happen when we have been at work using what He gave
us.Matthew 25:21 NET His master answered, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You
have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the
joy of your master.'
When the Lord returns what will He think of what you’ve been doing? Will you be
blessed & invited to “Enter into the joy of your master?” Or will you end up “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?” The message that the world is
declaring is many things. It is: enjoy life, take it easy, indulge in all the entertainment you want, etc. It is eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we die. Meaning enjoy yourself to the hilt, because when we die,
that's all she wrote!
The world's messages are all these things but we must not be taken in by the world!
Ephesians 5:8 NET for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light — 9 for the fruit
of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth — 10 trying to
learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Several years ago there was a terrible accident in which several youth were killed when their car was struck by a train. At the trial the watchman was questioned: “Were
you at the crossing the night of the accident?”
“Yes, your Honor.”“Were you waving your lantern to warn of
the danger.”“Yes, your Honor.”
But after the trial had ended, the watchman walked away mumbling to himself, “I’m glad
they didn’t ask me about the light in the lantern, because the light had gone out.”
Has your light gone out? We all have our days when our light is not shining at all. And
God sees when our light has gone out.
We must not be taken in by the world. Instead we need to declare the message of
God about Jesus and as contained in scripture: Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God! (Matthew 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20)
Let's take note of the message that John declared.
The message is:
1- There is no darkness in God 2- Claiming to know God doesn't
mean you do 3- Confession and walking in the
light go hand-in-hand
THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN GOD
5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at
all.
One soldier said: In basic training, our first sergeant made things very clear. He told us, “Don’t question anything I say or tell you to
do.
Don’t worry, I’m never wrong. Matter of fact, I once thought I was wrong but was
mistaken.”
Is that the way it is? Well, there might be some people who actually think that way
about themselves but more than likely, we may feel a whole lot less than perfect.
THIS IS MORE LIKE IT:A ladies grocery cart was making a horrible scraping sound as she rolled it through the
supermarket. Nevertheless, when she finished her shopping and saw a woman
without a cart, she offered it to her, explaining, "It makes an awful noise, but it
works."
"That's okay," she said, "I have a husband at home just like that."
Guess what? WE ALL ARE LIKE THAT! We work but we often make an awful noise
because of sin in our lives! BUT NOT GOD! THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN HIM!
2 Corinthians 5:21 NET God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so
that in him we would become the righteousness of God.
There was no sin in Jesus. If there's no sin in Jesus then there is no sin in God the
Father!
1 Peter 2:21 NET For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving
an example for you to follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin nor was deceit
found in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9) 23 When he was maligned, he did not answer back;
when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God
who judges justly.
These scriptures declare that Jesus never once sinned. Our message is this:
There is no darkness in God or Jesus! We have a perfect God and Savior!
However, one of our problems is understanding how anyone could be
completely perfect. We've never seen it or heard of it. The only way we can ever
understand it is through the life of Christ.
Examine His life and ministry on earth. Can you find any darkness, any sin in Him? I don't think so. This is why when people
outside of Christ accuse us of wrongdoing, we must always point to Christ.
HE IS OUR MESSAGE, OUR HOPE, OUR SAVIOR.
People can slam us all they want, but they cannot accuse our Savior of being sinful.
CLAIMING TO KNOW GOD DOESN'T MEAN YOU DO
6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are
lying and not practicing the truth.
Let’s compare this verse to some we studied last year in James’ letter.
James 2:15 NET If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 16 and
one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and eat well," but you do not
give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 So also faith, if it does not have
works, is dead being by itself. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I
have works." Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my
works.
Isn’t this the same concept? You say you’re living in the light, a Christian, but you’re living in the darkness of sin that nullifies
your claim to Christianity. Likewise, if you claim to have faith in Christ,
but you are not doing the things Jesus commanded, that nullifies your claim of
Christian faith.
I'm not suggesting that there isn't darkness in our lives, because there will always be
SOME darkness in our lives. Why? Because we live in a world of sin and
because we all have a sin nature as long as we live in the flesh.
Does this mean we will always be tempted to sin? Probably, but it doesn't mean that
we have to give in.6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are
lying and not practicing the truth.THE WORD OF GOD STANDS TRUE. Claiming to know God doesn’t mean a
person does.
CONFESSION AND WALKING IN THE LIGHT GO
HAND-IN-HAND7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves
and the truth is not in us.
9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and
cleansing us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a
liar and his word is not in us.
A lady stuck in rush-hour traffic said:, I couldn't help but stare when a burly biker wearing a black leather jacket and chaps pulled up next to me on a shocking pink
Harley-Davidson. My first thoughts were, “Is that really a pink Harley? I wonder if
he's...”Just then the traffic cleared and he pulled in front of me. On the back of his
helmet were stenciled the words “Yes, it is. No, I'm not.”
A man said: I got stuck in a traffic jam while commuting into Los Angeles one day. The woman in the SUV in front of me took full advantage of the slowdown. She whipped
out her eyebrow pencil, lip gloss and a mirror, applying the finishing touches on her face in the ten minutes it took us to creep
through the traffic jam.
Finally, the traffic broke up and as she zoomed away, I caught a glimpse of her
vehicle's license plate: NTRL BTY. (natural beauty)
I would say that was not NATURAL BEAUTY. But there is something far worse than having a hypocritical license plate and
that's being a hypocrite!
The preacher decides to use one rich church member to set an example. "John," he says, "you're a successful businessman;
surely you could contribute more to the building fund." John replies, "But my mother is in a nursing home, my daughter just lost
her job, and my son is starting college … If I can say no to them, I can say no to you
too." Whenever you say "no" to a needy family member and have the means, you are not
walking in the light.
1 Timothy 5:8 NET But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own
family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
A son’s mother is 55 years old and is dying of cancer. One week, on three different
days, he drove two hours one way to his mother’s home to take her to the doctor.
She hasn’t been the best of mothers, but he is being a good son.
There are many other things that may indicate that a person is not walking in the light as they may claim to be doing. Jim Bakker of the PTL Club failed in the lust department and greed department and
ended up in jail. After he got out of prison (1994) he wrote a book (1996) entitled, "I
Was Wrong." And he was. Jimmy Swaggart, famed evangelist from
Louisiana was caught with a prostitute more than once.
I am not happy about these incidents, because, obviously, they damage the
message of the gospel of Christ. They hurt the witness of Christ in this world. BUT...we all do things that hurt Christ and our witness
for Him.But the good of all this is: We can repent, confess our sins and return to a walk with
Him! 9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
Just to say you haven’t sinned suggest you understand what sin is & know the
difference between right & wrong. I think John might be using the Hebrew parallelism type of writing when we compare this verse to 8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is
not in us.
In the 8th verse he says, “we are deceiving ourselves.” That’s not such a big deal to fool ourselves, or is it? Then two verses later he says, “we make him a liar.” Now we’re really getting in hot water! Calling God the Father,
and Jesus, liars! Then also by extension calling the Holy Spirit a liar because it was He who inspired Paul to write; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23 NET
I fear by doing this we’re getting in a very serious, damned forever, situation.
Matthew 12:32 NET Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the
age to come.I looked at the definitions for the words, “speaks against” & could not come to a
definitive answer as to what exactly had to be said to board this express train to eternal
damnation.
Guzik’s commentary reads;The Holy Spirit's main ministry is to testify
of Jesus. John 15:26 NET When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from
the Father — the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father — he will testify about
me,When that testimony of Jesus is fully and finally rejected, one has truly blasphemed
the Holy Spirit, essentially calling Him a liar in respect to His testimony about Jesus.
I don’t think this was the Holy Spirit’s intent when He inspired John to write “saying we do not bear the guilt of sin,” & “saying we
have not sinned” results in; “the truth is not in us,” & “his word is not in us.” There are two ways of looking at these statements,
but I think they are one in the same.1. The “truth” & “word” are the Good News, the Gospel, about Jesus.2. The “truth” & “word” are Jesus, God the Son, in the flesh.
John records in his gospel;John 1:1 NET In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.
John 1:14 NET Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the
Father.John 14:6 NET Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.
We must own up to the fact we’re sinners by confessing them so God will forgive us. It is an essential part of His plan. Remember God created us to have freewill so we could
make our own decisions. We can decide not to sin when temptation knocks at our
door. We can’t say no to Satan by our own resources, it takes strength & power
provided by God.
In fact God the Spirit is providing some of what we need to stand against temptation through God’s servant John in this letter. In
the very next verse, chapter 2 verse 1, (remember, it was written without chapters
& verses) he tells us why he’s writing all this. We’ll examine that next Sunday.
We all need to walk in the light as best we can and that means walking with Him.
Walking daily with Him is the only way to walk in the light and let our light shine!
We get our goodness from Him, not us! We become better by rubbing shoulders with
Him!
ALL PRAISE & GLORY TO HIS NAME!
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
I'd rather one would walk with me than merely tell the way.
The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear.
Fine counseling is confusing but example's always clear.
You may not remember any of the sermons that I preach but you will remember who I am
and what I am. True for you as well.
We have a message to declare and speak, we must. And live it, we must.
And then some in this world may come to believe and be saved in Jesus.