Born of God: "Walking In The Light"

Holy God, there's no one like you.

There's none besides you.

Open our eyes to see your wonder.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh upon us.

Melt us.

Hold us.

Fill us.

Use us.

God, give us a hunger for holiness.

For you are holy.

Spirit of God, would you do your loving, convicting work this morning.

And I pray that every sinner in the room would not fear your convicting work.

For perfect love casts out fear.

Pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

If you would open up your Bibles to 1 John chapter 1.

1 John 1 · chapter mention

We're going to be looking at 1 John 1, 5 through 2, 2.

And I have left...

Nope.

Nope.

I have left my introduction on my pew.

Have you ever felt like you've been taken for granted?

Maybe there's something that you uniquely contribute to your family.

Maybe you uniquely contribute something to your workplace or your school, your friend group, or maybe it's your church.

But that unique contribution goes unnoticed.

It goes underappreciated, undervalued.

You ever feel that way?

Do you think it's possible to take God for granted?

God's holiness.

God's holiness is his moral purity.

It's his moral brilliance.

It's his squeaky clean character.

That if you're in his presence, you will start to feel a little dirty.

God's like the sun.

And his moral brilliance shines bright.

And it exposes the darkness of sin.

Which is moral impurity.

Which is defilement.

Have you been taking God's holiness for granted?

Here's how you can know.

When was the last time you realized that some thought of yours that originated in you,

some feeling that came out of you,

that some word that shot out,

that some action or inaction

was actually a personal affront to your holy God?

When was the last time you realized that?

Or when was the last time you personally admitted to God himself

that some thing that came out of you,

that you are responsible for,

was sin against him?

Are you taking God's holiness for granted?

Jesus, who is fully God and fully man,

we learned that last week,

he is the incarnate eternal word of life.

Well, this Jesus shed his blood

so that sinners like us

can enter into a personal relationship

with a holy, brilliant God like him.

And that fellowship with God

is marked by joy,

and marked by hope,

and marked by clarity,

and marked by confidence.

There's peace,

and there's peace.

But sometimes it gets uncomfortable.

Because of the fact of the matter is,

we are still sinful,

brothers and sisters in Christ,

and we have come into a real relationship

with the holy God.

Here's what I'm going to argue this morning.

God's holy brilliance

will continually expose

our sinful darkness

and show us our need for Jesus.

God's holy brilliance

will continually expose

our sinful darkness

resident in us,

and it's uncomfortable,

and it shows us

our ongoing need for Jesus.

I want you to see that

from 1 John 1-5

through chapter 2, verse 2.

And we're going to make

this known,

I want to help you to see it

by two moves in the sermon.

The first move

is point number one,

one holy message,

and then the second move,

I'll tell you when we get there.

We're going to spend

the bulk of our time

in the second move.

God's holiness

will continually expose

our sinfulness

and show us our need for Jesus.

So, point number one,

one holy message.

Look at chapter 1, verse 5.

This is the message

that we have heard from Him

and proclaim to you

that God is light,

and in Him

is no darkness at all.

In verse 5,

you see the word we,

that's John the Apostle

speaking on behalf

of all the other apostles.

But he says,

I've got a message

I've been telling you.

This is a message

from all the apostles.

And I want you to see

who this message

is actually from.

This is the message

we have heard from Him.

Who is that?

Well, you go back up

in your Bible

to 1 John 1, 1-4,

and you realize

that the Him

is no other than

the incarnate,

eternal word of life,

the second person

of the Trinity,

the Son of God,

Jesus the Christ,

who this John writing

knew personally,

who this John writing,

He heard Him.

This John writing,

saw Him with His own eyes,

and this John

touched Him

with His own hands.

He, the guy writing this,

touched the resurrected body

of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever gotten

a letter in the mail?

And you're like,

how serious should I take this?

And so you look up

at the return address

and you're like,

ah, whatever.

You toss it.

If you're a child here

and you see that letter,

that note is from your grandma

or grandpa,

you're like thinking,

oh, this is going to be good.

You're like,

because it shows us

who the sender is.

The sender of the message

that John is about to tell us

is the incarnate,

eternal word of life,

Jesus Christ.

Which means the message

is really important.

What is this message about?

In 1 John 1.5,

we read what this message is.

That God is light

and in Him,

there is no darkness

at all.

In the Greek,

it's really interesting.

It's like saying,

there is absolutely

none,

none whatsoever

darkness in God at all.

God is light

and in Him,

there is no darkness

whatsoever

is describing

the truth

of God's character.

It's talking about

something that's true

of our God.

It's His holiness,

His moral purity

and it's being described

as a moral brilliance,

a light

in which there is

no darkness.

He's like the sun,

shining in holy brilliance.

If you come into

its presence,

you're going to become

aware of yourself,

your sinfulness.

If you flip back

in your Bibles

to Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

if you're not too

familiar with it,

go right into the middle

of your Bible,

you're probably in the Psalms,

and then go right.

You start going right,

you come to Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

and Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Isaiah is given

this vision

of God

high and lifted up

in the throne

of the temple.

and around

this God

are these angels.

They're called

seraphim.

They're flaming ones.

And with two wings,

they cover their eyes

and with two wings,

they cover their feet

and with two wings,

they fly

and these seraphim

are calling out

to one another,

holy,

holy,

holy

is the Lord

of hosts.

The whole earth

is full of His glory.

holy.

God

is right now

in heaven

being

exalted

for His

moral brilliance.

Three times.

There's no other

characteristic of God

spoken to God

repeated three times.

Just His holiness.

Unless you think

this is only an

Old Testament phenomenon,

if you roll

to Revelation

Revelation 4:8

chapter 4

verse 8,

all of these

living creatures

are around the throne

in heaven

and they are calling

out to the one

upon the throne,

holy,

holy,

holy

is the Lord

God Almighty,

He who was

and is

and is to come.

So let me just

take a little sidebar.

God is not

bored

with His

own holiness.

When God

thinks about

His holiness,

He's not

kind of like,

not great,

my holiness.

He's not

disappointed,

His shoulders

don't drop

when He thinks

about His own holiness.

holiness.

He delights

in His own holiness.

He's like,

oh yeah,

holy,

holy,

holy is me.

So let's make sure

we know this.

God is happy

in His holiness.

It brings Him

great joy.

In fact,

He wants to bring

as many people

into this

shared joy

of His

moral

brilliance

as Christ's

blood can gather.

Sidebar two.

There is no

living creature

in the presence

of God

right now

who is

bored

or upset

with the holiness

of God.

Right now

in

heavenly glory,

all of the

occupants

of heaven

are focused

on the one

on the throne

and they are saying

holy,

holy,

holy are you.

God's holiness

is of

incredible value

to God

and to

all of the

angelic hosts

who

glory.

Nobody

in heaven

has taken

His holiness

for granted.

Look what

happens in

verse 5

in Isaiah 6

if you're still

there.

Woe is me

for I am

lost

for I am a

man of

unclean lips

and I dwell

in the midst

of a people

of unclean

lips.

Here we

have

this prophet

who is given

this vision

of God

in His

moral brilliance

and His

reaction

is

woe is

me.

He becomes

acutely aware

of His own

darkness,

His own

sinfulness,

His own

uncleanness,

His own

moral dirtiness,

His own

sinfulness

and His

response

should be

our response

to a holy

God.

This message

that we're

reading about

that John

is saying

is I

heard this

from Jesus,

God is

holy,

there's no

darkness in

Adam Hall.

This is

shining brilliance

that exposes

darkness

and what we

read in 1

Peter 1

16 is

this same

holy God

who says

I am holy

says to

all of us

you shall

be holy.

You shall

be holy

for I am

holy.

And what

we're reading

here is that

there's no

darkness in

God's character

whatsoever.

And then we

think about

ourselves,

right?

There is

resident

darkness in

me and

in you.

Each of us

has this

sinful nature

producing

sinful thoughts,

sinful feelings,

sinful speech

and actions

and sinful

inactions that

if we're being

completely honest,

we know they

grieve God

and we know

we should care

more about it.

If you're

taking God's

holiness for

granted,

you will be

taking your

own sin for

granted too.

But if you're

taking God's

holiness

seriously as

God himself

takes his

own holiness

seriously,

you will

begin to

take your

own sin

seriously.

And God

does too.

You see,

being in a

relationship with

a holy God

will expose

your sinful

darkness.

So let me

ask you this

question.

Is there a

particular area

of your life

that you know

is sinful

but you've

been rationalizing

it?

You've been

trying to

ignore God's

holiness in

light of it.

You've been

downplaying it.

You're like,

I'm like

everybody else.

It's kind of

like this.

You walk into

your bathroom

and there's

a couple

lights that

are out

around your

bathroom

mirror and

you look

yourself in

the mirror

and you're

like,

man,

you're a

good looking

guy.

And then

you replace

the bulbs

and it gets

really bright.

And then

you start

looking at

yourself and

you're like,

you're not

the beauty

I thought

you were.

Look at

that ugliness.

God's

holiness is

his brilliance

that will

expose our

ugliness just

like a

well-lit

bathroom

mirror.

How do

you respond

to that?

How do

you respond

to sin

in yourself?

What do

you do?

Well, that

brings us to

the second

point of the

sermon.

Two ways

to respond.

John is

very clear

in 1 John

1, 6

through 2, 22

there are

two ways

to respond

to your

sin when

exposed by

the holiness

of God.

In fact,

there are

two batches.

In

chapter 1,

6 through

2, 2,

there are

six if

statements.

But you

can group

them like

John does

into two

groups of

if statements,

two batches.

And the

first set

of if

statements

that we're

going to

look at

are the

response

that you

don't want

to do

in light

of God's

holiness.

It's when

you deny

your sin

and you

live a

lie.

Let me

show you.

Look at

verse 6

of 1 John

1 John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Verse 6

says this.

If we say

we have

fellowship

with him

while we

walk in

darkness,

we lie

and do

not practice

the truth.

What this

batch has

in common

is that

they're all

different forms

of denying

one's

sinfulness.

And the

first one

we just

read is

a kind

of hypocrisy.

Being

two-faced.

Saying one

thing but

doing another.

You see it

right there

in the text.

If we

say we

have

fellowship

with him,

the God

of light

in whom

there's no

darkness

whatsoever,

if we

say we're

in a

relationship

with him,

a deep,

meaningful,

abiding

relationship

with him

and yet

we walk

in darkness.

We keep

on practicing

and giving

ourselves to

sin like

it doesn't

matter.

We don't

care.

That's

called lip

service

Christianity.

It's

hypocrisy.

And what

John calls it

at the end

of verse 6

is it's

a lie.

You're

not practicing

the truth

of God's

holiness.

You're

living a

lie.

And it's

confusing to

others who

are watching.

Back in the

90s,

DC Talk

released the

album

Jesus

Freak.

And one

of the

tracks is

called

What If I

Stumble?

And it

begins with

Brendan

Manning

saying this.

The single

greatest cause

of atheism

today is

Christians

who

acknowledge

Jesus with

their lips

but walk

out the

door and

deny him

with their

lifestyle.

This is

what an

unbelieving

world simply

finds

unbelievable.

Our

hypocrisy,

this living

a lie,

is not

only unhealthy

for us,

it's confusing

to everybody

else.

The second

if statement

in this

batch is

in verse

8.

Self-deception.

If we

say we

have no

sin, we

deceive

ourselves and

the truth

is not

in us.

So remember

where we

started, God

is light, he

is holy, in

him there's

no darkness

at all.

But if

you're saying,

I got no

sin in me,

no stick,

it's not

showing anything

out.

John says

you're deceiving

yourself.

You're

rationalizing

sin away.

And here

is the way

we do it.

You know

what, you're

right, I see

that too, but

you know

what, it's a

result of my

upbringing.

It's how I

was raised.

Or, you

know what,

that is, you're

seeing something

there, that's

true, but

you know

what, it's

because of my

genetic disposition

that I'm

inclined to do

that.

It's my

genes fault.

I'm going to

blame my DNA

on that one.

Or maybe it's

something like

this.

You know

what, I just

have kind of a

brash personality,

so I yell at

people and

demean them.

That's just

my personality.

me.

All of these

ways are

self-deceptive

ways to

not acknowledge

your sin.

There could be

an element of

truth to each

one, by the

way.

But certainly,

the way that

you were

raised is not

responsible for

your sinful

choices before

God.

certainly, your

genetic disposition

isn't responsible

for disobeying

God.

Your personality,

no matter how

shiny and

wonderful it is,

it is not

responsible for

you rejecting

God's glory and

His holiness.

You see, one of

the things about

sin you need to

understand is this.

Sin is by

nature deceptive.

your own sin is

going to try to

deceive you by

blaming anything

but you for

your wrongdoing in

God's sight.

Self-deception.

And that's not

even the doozy.

Look at verse 10.

I mean, this is

like doozy.

If we say we

have not sinned,

God is light in

Him and there's no

darkness at all.

If we say we

have not sinned,

we make Him a

liar.

And His word is

not in us.

You know, why

that doesn't sound

too bad?

Do you understand

what He's saying?

If I'm saying

I'm not responsible

for my sin, like

there's no sin in

me or I haven't

sinned, not only

am I deceiving

myself, I am

calling Jesus a

liar because it's

Jesus who first

spoke this message

that God is light

and in Him there's

no darkness at

all.

It's John heard

that from Jesus and

speaks to us today.

But even more

so, John also

heard Jesus say

this.

Check this out.

This is in Mark

Mark 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

What defiles a

person, according

to Jesus, this is

Jesus speaking, what

defiles a person

comes from within.

Out of the heart

of man come evil

thoughts, sexual

immorality, theft,

murder, adultery,

coveting, wickedness,

deceit, sensuality,

envy, slander, pride,

foolishness.

All these evil

things, says Jesus,

come from within

and they defile a

person.

They make you morally

dirty in God's

sight.

According to Jesus,

we have a sin

problem and if you're

denying it, you're

calling Him a liar.

when you deny your

own sin, you're

accusing Jesus of

promoting falsehoods.

Jesus is wrong.

Certainly I'm not.

And when you do

that, when you deny

your sin, you're also

denying what Jesus

offers.

forgiveness,

forgiveness,

cleansing,

life.

That's why John

says His word is not

in us.

If you deny it,

obviously His word

isn't functioning in

your life.

These three denials

show us how not to

respond to God's

holy brilliance.

don't do that.

But let's just say

you have a growing

awareness of your

own hypocrisy.

Let's just say

you're starting to

see your own

self-deception.

Or maybe perhaps

you have this lump

in your throat

saying, I think I

have called Jesus

a liar.

What do you do?

Well, you don't

deny it.

You acknowledge it.

You acknowledge it

to Him.

Thomas Watson,

the Puritan,

said,

till sin be

bitter,

Christ will

not be

sweet.

Let's look at

the sweetness.

The second

batch of

if statements.

And what they

all have in

common is not

denying your

sin and

living a lie.

They all

acknowledge your

sin and live

in gospel

truth.

When we are in

a relationship

with a holy

God, His

brilliance will

expose our

sinfulness

again and

again.

So we go to

Jesus again

and again.

So let me

show you this

batch of

three.

honesty.

The first

of these

three

acknowledgements

is in

verse 7.

It's a

humble

honesty.

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,

cleanses us

from all

sin.

This is a

picture of

walking with

God.

It's in

contrast to

being a

hypocrite.

Verse 6.

Don't be a

hypocrite.

No.

Walk in the

light.

Acknowledge your

sin.

Humbly,

honestly,

recognize your

sinfulness in

light of God's

holy brilliance.

Be honest with

God.

Be honest with

each other.

Don't deny your

sinfulness.

Honestly,

acknowledge it.

What we see

here is that

is actually

what fellowship

with God is

for 21st

century disciples.

ourselves.

It's not a

hiding of

our sin.

It's an

acknowledging of

our sin to

our great,

holy,

loving Father.

True fellowship

with God,

if we are

walking with

Him as He is

in the light,

extends to

being in

rich,

meaningful,

deep,

aimed

relationships with

others who

have been born

of God too.

true fellowship

with God and

others means

we're not

hiding our

sin from one

another.

Remember Genesis

3,

Adam and Eve

blew it,

God comes

walking in the

garden,

and they're

hiding from

God.

God finally

calls them

out,

and then they

blame each

other.

That's not

walking in the

light.

Walking in the

light means

being humbly

honest with

God,

open to Him,

yes,

yes,

that's sin too,

and not

blaming each

other,

helping one

another,

confessing our

sins to one

another,

helping each

other follow

this holy

God.

So maybe the

question becomes,

when was the

last time you

confessed your

sin,

not just to

God,

but to some

other believer?

Which is a

scary thought.

To be honest

about your sin

with someone

else,

it means taking

a risk,

but that's

exactly what

fellowship is.

Of risking

honesty about

ourselves in

light of God's

holiness.

Till sin be

bitter,

Christ will not

be sweet in

our fellowship

together.

This brings me

to the first

gospel reality,

the gospel

truth.

When we are

living this

way,

humbly honest

with God

and each

other,

we have

this assurance.

Look at the

end of verse

seven,

that the

blood of

Jesus,

his son,

cleanses us

from all

sin.

By living

that way,

it demonstrates

that you've

been truly

born of

God.

You belong

to him.

You're walking

in the light

with others

who are walking

in the light

too.

This

acknowledgement

ends,

results in

this gospel

assurance.

It's covered

by the

blood.

The next

acknowledgement

is in

verse nine.

It's

confession.

And it's

in contrast

to the

self-deception

of verse

eight.

If we

confess our

sins,

he's faithful

and just

to forgive

us our

sins and

cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness.

Instead of

rationalizing our

sin away,

we honestly

admit our

sins to

God.

That word

confession in

the original

language means

same word.

And what that

means is you

are calling

something in

your life what

God calls it.

You use the

same word for

it.

So some people

will say there's

a guy looking at

a girl and he'll

say something like,

well, you can

look but you

can't touch.

You know what

God calls that?

Lust.

And it's

sinful.

So in order to

confess our

sins, we need

to call these

sinful desires in

our hearts just

what God calls

them.

That's walking in

the light.

And there's a

great promise in

this.

If we confess our

sins, if we are

honest with God and

we're calling what

we're seeing as he

sees it, there's

this great promise.

He is faithful and

just to forgive us

our sins and cleanse

us from all

unrighteousness.

How is he

faithful?

He's being faithful

to his word.

Well, what do you

mean?

If we ask him to

forgive us, he will

faithfully forgive us.

Exodus 34, 7.

He's a forgiver of

sin and iniquity.

Jesus taught us to

pray in Matthew,

the Lord's prayer,

to tell our Father

in heaven, forgive us

our trespasses.

And so when we

confess our sins, he

is faithful to his

word to forgive those

sins.

You can bank on it,

but the question is,

on what basis?

How can he forgive my

sins?

He's just.

His justice, that is

outworking of his

holiness, comes into

play.

The reason why he can

forgive your sins is

because Jesus died on

the cross for your

sins.

It's been paid in full.

And he is perfectly

faithful and just,

based upon the finished

work of Jesus on your

behalf, to forgive you

and cleanse you again

and again and again.

sin, the grace pouring

from the cross, never

ends.

It's good news.

But we don't experience

this grace by hiding and

denying our sin.

It's by confessing it.

So instead of denying sin

in us, we confess our sins.

And we don't live a lie.

We actually are living in

gospel truth.

Experiencing ongoing

forgiveness and cleansing

that comes from the cross.

So do you need to confess

your sins to your Holy

Father?

Do you need to experience

once again his forgiving

mercy and grace and be

cleansed?

Go to him.

Tell him.

You don't need to fear

him.

He's inviting you.

The third acknowledgement

is at the beginning of

chapter 2.

It's 1 through 2.

And if verse 10 is the

doozy of the if statements

in that bad batch,

this is the doozy of the

gospel batch.

Look at verse 1 of

chapter 2.

My little children, I'm

writing these things to

you so that you may not

sin.

Make no mistake.

Be holy for I am holy,

says the Lord.

The goal is not to sin.

And he's got grace for us

to say no to temptation

when it shows its face.

But then look where John

goes.

And this is the sixth if

statement.

But if anyone does sin,

anybody interested?

If anyone does sin,

oh, I want to hear what

he's about to say.

We have an advocate with

the Father.

Jesus Christ, the righteous

one, the one who never

sinned.

He is your advocate.

What's an advocate?

Well, the Greek word is a

paraclete.

And it's used of the Holy

Spirit in the gospel of

John.

And it's only here that it's

used of Jesus Christ.

And what a paraclete is in

this context here, he's like

your ace defense attorney.

Every time you sin,

your advocate, the risen

Jesus, the incarnate,

eternal word of life,

fully God, fully man, is

taking up his advocacy for

you.

And he's interceding for you.

And he's saying, no, no.

No, no.

No wrath on that guy.

I've paid for him.

My blood has bore your wrath

for that sin.

That's what he's advocating.

And that's why that word

propitiation is very important.

If you look at verse 2, he is

the propitiation for our sins

and not for ours only, but also

for the sins of the whole world.

That word propitiation means

a forgiveness that comes

as a result of God's wrath

being satisfied by a payment.

And so, brother and sister

in Christ, one who's in

fellowship with a holy God,

who's regularly having your

sinfulness exposed,

Jesus is regularly making

his case for you.

He's advocating for you.

No, no.

I have paid your wrath.

I've borne your wrath

for that sin

at the cross

again

and again

and again.

We do not

deny our sinfulness.

We acknowledge it.

And we experience

the covering of his blood.

We experience

his forgiveness

and his cleansing.

And we experience

his advocacy

because he is our

propitiation

over and over

and over again.

You see,

by acknowledging your sin,

you live

in gospel

truth.

It's beautiful.

It's uncomfortable.

But that's how we live

for our Lord now.

We don't deny him.

We don't deny our sin.

We acknowledge it.

God's holy brilliance

will continually

expose our sinful darkness

and show us

our need for Jesus

over and over

and over again.

This is one

holy message.

God is light.

And in him,

there's no darkness

of all.

He's holy.

And there's only

two ways to respond.

Either deny your sin

and live a lie

or acknowledge your sin

and live in the gospel

truth through the blood

of Jesus.

Let me close

just by saying this.

In chapter 2,

verse 2,

we learn that

Jesus bore God's

holy wrath

not just for your sin

and my sin

but for the sins

of the whole world.

And what he means

by that is

he's offering

forgiveness and cleansing

from all the defilement

of sin

to anyone

who would call upon

the name of Jesus.

Anyone.

It's offers to all.

Anyone who would

confess your sins

to this holy,

loving God,

he offers you

forgiveness

and cleansing.

But he offers you

most of all

a relationship

with himself.

Think about it.

The holy God

seeking a relationship

with you

and he's made

a way

to deal with your sin

through the cross

of Jesus.

What would keep you

from becoming

part of his family?

So maybe today

is the day

for the first time

in your life

you admit

your sin

to God

and acknowledge

your sin

before him

and experience

life

in Jesus.

and now

not only do you

get to share

in his holiness

but in his happiness.

Let's pray.

God in heaven

would you

use these words

to find their mark

in our hearts

and to bring about

the intended effect

that only you

would have.

Father you are holy

and we are sons

and daughters

we want to be holy too.

Help us

Lord Jesus.

It's in your name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.