Walking in the Light 1 John 1:5-2:11|Pastor Daniel Reese

If you have your Bibles, First John is where

we're going to be. Good morning. We're going

to knock out a pretty big chunk of scripture

this morning and learn as to what it means to

walk in the light that John is writing about

to his readers. That's the goal this morning.

The apostle John, if you weren't here last week,

is writing to a group of early believers and

addresses a world that's filled with confusion

and sin and false teachings. So this is the audience

that he is addressing. His message is clear in

this text that God is light, and to live in fellowship

with him, we must also walk in that light. We

have to walk in that light honestly. We have

to walk in that light humbly and lovingly, right?

This isn't just a theology lesson. This is a

blueprint for how we should live as authentic

Christians. And so I hope that that is our goal

in coming to church each and every week, that

our hope, our goal is to be authentic followers

of Jesus and not fake. because it does not do

your soul any good to learn how to do a religion,

to learn how to fit into a system of rules or

order and ignore the realities of sin and how

it separates you from a holy God. So if we want

to be authentic, in our faith we need to understand

who Jesus is what it means to walk in the light

and then we need to trust that he is leading

us to abundant life and so that's my goal this

morning out of this text all right and so we're

going to read the rest of chapter 1 this morning

like we started last week and then we're going

to I'm just going to kind of address and and

point out the first 11 verses of chapter 2 on

how we should live in light of what John describes

here in chapter one. And so we're going to start

in verse five of first John chapter one. If you're

willing and able we'd love for you to stand as

we honor the Lord's word together. John writes

this is the message we have heard from him and

proclaim to you that God is light and in him

is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship

with him while we walk in darkness we lie and

do not practice the truth. But if we walk in

the light, as he is the light, we have fellowship

with one another, and the blood of Jesus his

son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have

no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is

not in us. we confess our sins he is faithful

and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness if we say we have

not sinned we make him a liar and his word is

not in us let's pray father thank you for your

word again I pray that it resonates in our hearts

I pray that you will speak to us through your

word may your voice be heard louder than anything

else we hear today we ask all these things in

Jesus name amen Amen. And so right here in chapter

one, verse five, John begins with a pretty bold

declaration that that this is the message that

we have heard. And now we're declaring it right

to you. So we have to remember, John walked with

Jesus. touched him he heard him he he experienced

the miracles and so he's saying because we experience

this we are declaring it now to you and he's

saying I've seen it he's saying God is light

in him there's there's no darkness at all Now,

light represents God's holiness, His truth, His

purity. There's no shadow. There's no deceit.

There's no compromise in who Jesus is. Now, this

isn't just a poetic image. It's the foundation

of who God is. He's the source. of all that is

good, all that is just, and true. Now, the original

word that John uses to explain light that he

uses for light, he's not referring to actual

visual light. He's not referring to the lights

that we see here. He's actually referring to

God as the source of spiritual understanding.

He's referring to God as the source of truth.

And so when it says God is light, he's saying

God is the source of truth. God is the source

of spiritual understanding. But I want you to

think about light in your life. When you flip

on a switch, in a dark room, everything that's

hidden or cannot be seen now becomes clear when

you flip on that switch. God's light, His truth

exposes what is true about Him, about us, about

the world around us. But it also illuminates

our path forward. We know this from Psalm 119.

It says, your word is a lamp for my feet, a light

on my path. And so John's point Is that to know

God is to step into his radiant truth? Leaving

no room for darkness to linger that's what it

means This is the reason why Paul refers to Satan

as the ruler of darkness and here John Refers

to God as light that those are opposing realities

the definition of darkness is the absence of

light. And so God and Satan are on complete opposite

ends of the spectrum. And so when we are not

walking in the ways of the Lord, we are walking

in darkness and we are not walking in truth.

And so when we're going our own way, and we're

trusting our own instincts, we are walking away

from the truth. Now, I want to be careful with

this text because I don't want any of you to

leave thinking that if you ever walk in sin,

or if you ever walk in darkness, that somehow

that means your salvation is in jeopardy. That's

not what this text is. For instance, my bedroom,

I keep messing that up, the bedroom I share with

my wife, our bedroom, is in the basement. of

our house. Now for some reason when we were,

we had all these reasons as to why we wanted

our bedroom in the basement, but for some reason

when we were finishing our basement, I failed

to put a light switch by my bedroom door. I only

put one on the other end of the room. And so

any time we have, you know, at nighttime we have

to navigate through the basement in the dark

just to get to the light switch. That was a dumb

move on my part. Now, I know our basement pretty

well. I know where we have placed the furniture.

I know where to walk. You know the drill when

you walk through the dark. I know these things.

I know which direction I'm headed. I know where

the light switch is. We know all these things.

Most of the time, I can make it through just

fine. No issues whatsoever. However, on occasion,

we have a child who does a poor job of putting

their toys away. And because those toys aren't

usually on the ground, The possibility of being

impaled by something on the ground whether it

is a race car or Legos or whatever it is now

after some tears and after a few choice words

in my head I can get to the light switch to see

exactly what happened and once I turn the light

switch on I can then have him clean it up or

at least at minimum Okay, now I know where to

avoid next time when I come back through here

right like we know all those things so When we

think of God as light, God as light exposes the

things that are in our path that are potentially

destructive to us. I would hate to see what our

basement would look like if we didn't have any

lights on down there. If the light never touched

it. The light that we have in our dark basement

exposes the dirtiness that exists in a house

filled with people, especially children. Right.

So when the lights are on, we're like, oh, we

need to vacuum. Oh, we need to dust. We know

when to pick things up. We know when the carpet

needs a little bit of extra attention because

somebody brought a drink down to the basement

that shouldn't have been there. Right. We know

how to arrange our furniture the way we like

it when the lights are on. Be almost impossible

in the dark. Walking with the Lord. Exposes the

dirtiness that is in our life as we have fellowship

with him. It's like the lights get turned on

and we can pick up or clean these different aspects

of our lives that have been neglected while the

lights were off. But so many people go through

their entire life without ever turning on the

light. They just learn to live in the obstacle

course of life and avoid certain dangers because

they've been hurt by those different things.

Now religion will teach you how to navigate life

where you are in control of the outcome. I can

figure out where the obstacles are in my basement

when the lights are off. I can figure that out

and I can avoid those places. But a relationship

with Jesus in our life exposes the things in

our path that are detrimental to us walking in

freedom, to us walking in confidence as we navigate

life. Because we are all sinners. And the fact

of the matter is, before we came to a saving

knowledge of who God is, we were walking in the

dark with no hope of ever finding the light switch.

We were perpetually in the dark. We could learn

lessons on what to avoid because we stubbed our

toe or we've hurt ourselves, but we never really

understood why we were avoiding it, why those

obstacles were there. We just know that they

caused us pain. And so we avoid those situations.

With Jesus, the light gets turned on so we can

actually do something about it. The light exposes

the sin that is in all of us. And the more we

spend time with the Lord by reading his word,

by walking in relationship with him, it's like

the longer the light stays on. And the longer

the light stays on, we can begin to deal with

the obstacles that are in our way. We have to

always walk in the light. That should be our

goal. To make sure that we are continuously walking

in the light, there are a few things that we

need to be mindful of. We need to be aware of.

The first thing that John says is being aware

of our sin. once it gets exposed and then actually

confessing it. But here's the good news, walking

in the light does not mean that we have to be

perfect. It doesn't mean we are perfect. It's

just about being honest. John writes, if we confess

our sins, if we confess our sins, then He is

faithful and just and will forgive us our sins

and He's going to purify us from all unrighteousness.

We have to confess our sins. Confession is not

groveling. It's agreeing with God about our sin

and then trusting in His grace. So Jesus, our

advocate, According to 1 John chapter 2, He stands

1 John 2 · chapter mention

before the Father and His sacrifice covers our

failures, covers our mess ups. John adds, He

is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not

only ours, but also the sins of the entire world.

He is the atoning sacrifice according to verse

2. This is the gospel. This is what we have to

get into our heads. This is what we have to understand

that Christ's death bridges the gap between our

darkness and God's light. He's the one that connects

the two. When we understand that Jesus is our

advocate, it changes the dynamic. Here's kind

of what it looks like. I want you to imagine

a young woman just kind of standing nervously

in a courtroom. Now, she's been accused of a

crime that she didn't commit. She embezzled.

She was accused of embezzling money from her

workplace. The evidence looks bad for her. Her

name is on some paperwork. Another coworker pointed

the finger at her and said, she's the one that

did it. She has no lawyer. She can't afford a

lawyer. And so she's kind of on her own in this

thing. Now, imagine that situation. You'd be

terrified. She's kind of stammering through her

defense. She's kind of stumbling all over her

words. She's feeling the weight of the reality.

She's feeling the weight of the judge's gaze.

She knows she's innocent, but the case against

her seems airtight, and she's out of her depth.

Now, if she's found guilty, it could ruin her

life, whether it be fines or jail time or a permanent

record or whatever it is. But just as the gavel's

about to fall, someone comes to her defense.

He's a renowned lawyer, and he has taken on her

case for free. He knows her story. He knows the

truth. He knows her character. And so with calm

confidence, he presents evidence the court hadn't

yet seen. Security footage proving her innocence,

a signed affidavit from a fellow coworker, and

a detailed explanation of how the actual culprit

framed her. He speaks with authority, not because

of her perfection, but because of his expertise

and the commitment to her cause. The judge listens

to the case and he dismisses it. She walks free,

tears of relief streaming down her face. As she

thanks her lawyer, he smiles and says, I was

just doing my job. You were never alone in this.

That is a picture of Jesus. our advocate as described

in verse 1 of chapter 2 if anybody does sin we

have an advocate with the father Jesus Jesus

Christ the righteous one because the reality

is we all stand accused before God's perfect

justice guilty of sin with no defense of our

own but Jesus steps in not because we are perfect

not because we're innocent but because he is

his sacrifice on the cross. His righteousness

pays our penalty and pleads our case. He knows

us. He loves us. And He intercedes before the

Father ensuring that we're never alone. Because

of Him we are able to walk free. Because of Him

we are forgiven. Because of Jesus we are restored.

That's the power of having an advocate in Jesus

Christ. When we are walking in the light, hopefully

we recognize our need for Jesus. And when we

fail to confess all the times that we have sinned

against Him, it kind of numbs us to the reality

of what He did for us and what He's doing for

us before the Father. Because the longer you

look at something in the light, the more you

notice the flaws and imperfections. If you were

to head over to my house right after this service,

you're not invited, but if you were, if you were,

and you sat in my house long enough, you would

notice some things that aren't perfect, all right?

You will see scuff marks on the walls where my

boys have been throwing balls. You will see crumbs

on the couch, even though they're not supposed

to eat on the furniture. You will see coffee

stains going down the stairs. You will see all

these imperfections in my house Because the lights

are on the longer you look at something in the

light The more things get exposed now once once

all those things are exposed They can be dealt

with you can you can get a can of paint and fix

the scuff marks you can Remind your children

again. Hey, let's not eat on the couch, right?

But at least you can clean it up or at least

they could clean it up But without the light

We're just kind of guessing as to what needs

work Confession is us standing before the Lord

Acknowledging that there's just some things in

my life that are off There's some things in my

life that are just not right. It's a moment of

honesty. It's a moment of vulnerability. Because

when you think about the holiness of God, and

the longer you stare at it, the longer you stare

at the holiness of God, you realize that you

have a massive need for an advocate. You have

a massive need for a savior. This is why Paul

calls himself the chief of all sinners. because

he lived his life so much in the light that he

was constantly being exposed to his sinfulness

compared to the holiness of God and because the

light was in him so much he could see his path

illuminated he could see where God was taking

him so that he could be used in powerful ways

maybe the Lord isn't using you the way you want

to because you're still walking in the darkness

and you don't know where to go So how do we know

we're truly walking in God's light? John gives

us a test. He says love. In verse three he writes,

we know that we have come to know him if we keep

his commands. And what's the command? Whoever

claims to live in him must live as Christ did.

So Jesus' life is marked by love. Sacrificial

love. selfless love, boundary breaking love.

That's how he lived his life. John drives this

home in verse 10, whoever loves their brother

and sister lives in the light and there is nothing

in them to make them stumble. Now we need to

stop right there because we need to understand

as believers who our brother is. Because I think

sometimes we think of our brother or sister as

anybody that's in our circle, anybody that we

do life with, maybe a coworker or something like

that. But the original word literally means from

the same womb, like an actual sibling. But in

the context, however, it means a fellow believer

because we are all a part of the same family

in Jesus. Whether you're at this church or another

church, if you are a believer in Christ, if you

claim him as the savior of the world, you are

part of the same family in Christ. And so John

is not referring in this text to how we should

be treating people, but specifically how we treat

other believers. One of the main reasons that

people do not come to church is because they

see nothing different in Christians. They might

come looking for the difference that the gospel

makes, but what they find is that those in the

church act no differently than those that don't

come to church. We look just like the world and

how we treat one another. And some will say,

well, I don't hate anyone. I don't hate anyone,

so therefore I'm not breaking that command. I've

heard that, well, I don't hate anybody, right?

But the original word actually means to detest.

Now I did some research this week on what are

some signs that you detest someone. So I did

some body language research, and here's what

I found out. If you detest someone, we tend to

avoid eye contact. We ignore them. We turn our

bodies away from them. Now that should be a good

litmus test for how we feel about others. I mean,

we all know, right? We all know what it feels

like to detest someone. We know what happens

with that. We know what it feels like when somebody

detests us. This is how church splits happen,

because it's not the spiritually mature way to

handle things. We have to view the church as

a family. So in my family, Many of you know this.

In my family, we have six different personalities

and six different preferences. We have to sacrifice

something in order for us to maintain unity in

our family. Now sometimes I get my way, but most

times I don't. And the same could be said for

anybody else in my family. Sometimes we'll get

our way, but most of the time we don't because

there's five other people that we're trying to

compete with. But when I don't get my way, because

of the love that I have for my family, I don't

just leave my family. We talk about it. We come

to a consensus about it. We pray through it.

If we gave my kids the option to leave our family,

every time they didn't get their way, there have

been times in their lives where they would have

taken us up on that option. They especially when

they were young and they're about yeah, I can

find something better somewhere else At the same

time if every time one of them sinned against

me or I sinned against them and we kicked them

out of the family We would all end up alone.

We wouldn't have anybody else around us It's

one thing to be angry over sin and we should

be angry over sin When we see people walking

in sin, when we see people unrepentant of sin,

we should be angry about it. Sin should anger

us. But Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that even

in our anger, we are not to sin. So in this context,

when a brother or sister sins against you, if

you begin to test them, Because of whatever sin

they have, John tells us that we begin to walk

in sin. Now in my family, no one has the freedom

to just take their ball and go home. It's not

an option. We fight through it. We work through

it. We have hard conversations that eventually

will lead to reconciliation. This is why... This

is my encouragement to you. This is why when

you join a church family, it should not be taken

lightly. You are entering into a relationship.

I didn't just bump into Sena on the street one

day and be like, hey, we should get married.

No, it was a process, right? I asked her on a

date. She said yes, thankfully. We got to know

each other. We spent time together. She learned

what I was like. I learned what she was like

I learned her flaws She learned my flaws and

then we made a commitment to each other now when

we made that commitment We took separation off

the table Even in hard times it is not an option

Even when we're not seeming to get along. It's

not an option. We have that peace. I believe

the same commitment should be made when it comes

to joining a church family. You are accepting

all the good that we have here, but you're also

accepting all the flaws and you're committed

to helping us continue to make those better.

I mean, thank goodness. I thank the Lord often

that Sina hasn't come up to me and said, you

know what, Daniel? This guy has treated me better

this week than you have. So I'm gonna go live

with him now. Thank goodness she hasn't done

that. Or thank goodness my kids haven't come

up to me and said, hey Daniel, you know what,

my friends, their parents, they bought them a

nicer car than I have, and so I'm gonna go live

with them now. That's not how family should work.

That's not how brothers or sisters that are part

of a family should work. And that is why joining

a church is like a family. But but John warns

anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the

darkness and walks in the darkness Hate here

isn't just rage. It's indifference It's bitterness.

It's it's a it's refusing to forgive It's choosing

to stay in the dark stumbling around blindly

Love on the other hand is evidence of transformation

when we love others especially those hard to

love people. You know who I'm talking about.

We reflect God's light. How are you doing at

reflecting the light that God has instilled in

you? I think there are a few tests that we can

do that we can ask ourselves to see if we are

truly reflecting the light or if we are stumbling

around in the dark a little bit. Here's some

things you can ask yourself. Is there anyone

in your life that is a believer that you are

avoiding? Is there anyone in your life that is

a believer that you can't look in the eye? Is

there anybody in your life that's a believer

that you dread showing up to church today? You

dread seeing them at the store. You dread seeing

them wherever you are. If the answer is yes to

any of those questions, then we have some work

to do, don't we? We have some soul searching

to do. We need to begin praying for them. We

need to begin praying for our hearts that God

would give us wisdom on how to handle the situation

in a way that truly honors Him. If we truly want

to obey His commands and we truly want to be

authentic in our faith, then we cannot detest

our brother. We cannot continue living that way.

Now I go back to this story all the time. In

my head, I don't know if, I couldn't remember

if I shared this with you, but I go back to it

all the time because it was the first time I

really prayed about this type of situation and

God answered me. It was like, blew my mind that

God, oh wow, God answers prayers. I was in college

and a big group of us were going to a leadership

retreat with a bunch of other people. Now there

was this one guy that was signed up on this trip

that I just could not stand. Couldn't stand being

around him. He annoyed me. He offended me I didn't

like his voice you name it. I did not like it

about him I didn't like how he did his hair anything

and I thought long and hard about not going on

the retreat Because Martin was going We get to

the retreat I decide to go they divide us into

vans randomly And when I get in the van I realize

Not only is Martin in my van, of all the vans

I could have picked, he's in my van. And not

only is he in my van, he's actually sitting right

behind me. I mean, you could feel the tension

coming off of me. I wanted to be anywhere else

except in that seat in that van on this trip.

I didn't want to be there. And I began praying

right then that God would do something about

that situation. No, I didn't want him dead. I

didn't pray for his death, but I would for sure

have been okay if he got sick in that moment

and couldn't go. Like I would've been just fine

with that. So I'm praying, and it was the first

time I felt God answered my prayer right then,

and Martin just started puking. I'm just kidding,

he didn't. Just kidding. Martin didn't get sick,

but... In that instant, my heart completely changed

towards him. It was that quick. It blew my mind.

And we had a great trip. We had a great time

together. We became good friends. And I think

about that all the time because he hasn't been

the last person that I've ever struggled with.

And what I learned about that situation many

years ago was not that Martin needed a change.

What I learned about it was I needed to change.

The heart of this text is that Jesus, who is

our advocate, took our brokenness, which is all

of our sin, it's all of our failures, and he

made us whole through his perfect sacrifice.

And because of that, he calls us to walk in the

light, not as perfect people, but as a restored

people who shine his light to a broken world.

How are your relationships with broken people

reflecting the light to the world? How is your

relationship with Jesus reflected to those around

you? My encouragement to you this morning would

be to turn on the light and quit walking in the

darkness. Whatever that looks like for you. And

when the light does get turned on, what does

it reveal to you? What do you need to confess?

What do you need to clean up? Where do you need

to get some help? Now I don't know about your

children, but my children, my children mess up

occasionally. And what I've learned as their

dad is that when my children mess up, my heart

is completely different when they come to me

and they confess it themselves before they actually

get caught in whatever they did. My attitude

towards them is completely different if they

if they come and say hey dad I messed up I did

this I did that I did this as opposed to Me finding

out from the grapevine or finding out that something's

broken or finding out that they lied or whatever

it is There's this softness in my heart That's

there maybe because I remember I remember what

it was like as a kid growing up to disappoint

my parents, to try to hide, to try and lie, to

try and cover things up because I wanted to portray

some sort of perfection. When they confess to

me that they've messed up, they are acknowledging

to themselves and to me that they aren't perfect.

And I don't expect them to be perfect. But when

they hide or when they lie, that disappoints

me more than the actual action or whatever they

did. And when that happens, those consequences

are usually greater in my house. If I find out

you lied to me, the consequences are usually

greater than if you just came out and told me,

right? And so I'm thinking about that, my relationship

with my kids, and I'm thinking about my role

as a father, and I truly believe that's how God

views us. When we come to him acknowledging that

we have fallen short compared to his holiness,

his heart is towards reconciliation. It's like

he scoops us up in his arms like I do my children.

And I'm just so grateful that they trusted me

and recognized the fact that they are not perfect.

But sometimes when we fail to acknowledge our

sinfulness, the consequences are far greater.

I tell you all this all the time, but we specifically

pray that our children get busted in their sin.

Every day I'm praying, God, bust them in their

sin. Because I know in the long run that's going

to be better for them. Bust them in their sin

while they're still under my protection. And

I'm sure my wife prays that for me, bust him

in his sin. Because it's better for us in the

long run. And so we have to confess these things

before him, right? We have to confess these things

before him and I truly believe It's that time

he just wraps us up. He goes, I know, I know

you're not perfect. I know you need an advocate.

That's why I sent Jesus for you. And so I'm gonna

pray for us and we'll sing one more song and

have time to respond. But I think it's important

that we just kind of stop and really think about

what are we, with the light on, what is being

exposed in our hearts? Where do we have doubts?

Where do we have fears? What's that secret sin

that we don't think anybody else knows? Need

to confess that attitude. You need to confess

this lie. And do you trust the Lord enough with

that? So I don't know what that looks like to

you. I don't know how you need to respond today.

But I think all of us need to recognize the dirtiness

that's in our lives and give God praise that

he sent an advocate on our behalf. So I'm gonna

pray for us. You respond how you feel led. I'll

be up here at the front. If I can pray with you,

Tim's here. He can be happy to pray with you.

But let's turn the lights on. Let's lay those

things before him. Let's pray. Father, I pray

right now that as we... As we close out this

service, I pray that you will flip the switch

on every single one of our souls. That we will

see the obstacles that are keeping us from walking

in abundant life. That we will see the things

that are dirty and need to be cleaned up. And

Father, give us the courage and the obedience

to do it. So God, I pray that you move powerfully

in this room. I pray that you will change lives.

I pray for salvation to come. Help us not walk

in the darkness. Help us believe that your light

is truth. Help us believe and understand that

your light is spiritual enlightenment. I pray,

Father, that you will enlighten us today. Have

your way It's in Jesus name. I pray Thank you

for listening today to five six three church

a production of cornerstone church Eldridge,

Iowa for more information about our church or

just getting right with God Please visit us at

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