1 John 1 - Receive the Light, Proclaim the Light, Walk in the Light - Pastor Jarred Cain - 7.26.2026

Jared King, born October 24th, 1992. May 24th,

that was Nick's October 25th. You got me, brother.

I can mess up on that because I got 25th and

the 24th. You're right. May 24th, 1992. I got

saved October 24th of 1992. So anyway. Jared

graduated from Caring University with a bachelor's

degree, a master's in Christian counseling, and

a master's of divinity. To see how God has raised

this young man in his ways and through his word

is quite remarkable. I've had the privilege to

be at his ordination and also to be able to speak

at his ordination. So without further ado, my

son, Pastor Jared Cain. Good morning, church.

Can you hear me? Am I on? Yeah, there we go.

When my dad asked me to come and open up 1 John

1 John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, as I understand it, you guys are going

to be in there. I'm excited about it. I was like,

of course. But let's read it together so you'd

open your Bibles up to John. 1 John chapter 1.

1 John 1 · chapter mention

My dad said the whole chapter. It's only 10 verses.

Try to be a person of brevity. I will try this

morning. But we'll read it and we'll pray together.

1 John 1. That which was from the beginning,

which we have heard, which we have seen with

our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched

with our hands concerning the word of life, the

life was made manifest, and we have seen it.

and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal

life, which was with the Father and was made

manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard,

we proclaim also to you, so that you may have

fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship

is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we are writing these things so that our joy

may be complete. 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 that we have fellowship with Him while we

walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice

the truth. But if we walk 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. If we say we have no sin, we deceive

ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess

our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive

us our sins and 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,

we thank you. We thank you for this morning.

I pray that you would show up. We are helpless.

We need you. And if you don't show up, none of

this happens. And so we pray that you would do

a work in us through your word, that you would

show us yourself, that you would show us our

Savior, you would show us ourselves, that you

would make this book live to us. Amen. It really

is my pleasure to be with all of you, brothers

and sisters, today. And I echo the words from

John. from this chapter, that we may have fellowship

with each other. And I come with this message

so that our joy, that is our joy, may be complete.

So like when I said my dad asked me to come preach,

I was more than happy to do so, especially from

John's epistle. And what we heard and see and

touch before us in this text is relevant for

us today. First, consider John's day. His letter

was written around A .D. 70, maybe A .D. 80,

the year where the Romans destroyed the temple.

Around that time, he is writing to a church that

is both scattered and riddled with false teaching,

a culture steeped in syncretism, meaning a melding

of different religions together, a culture steeped

in Gnosticism, meaning there were people in the

church claiming the way to get to God was through

a secret knowledge. Like it was this mystic kind

of thing. There was confusion in the church and

the culture at large about who Jesus was and

if he really mattered, that Jesus was actually

who he said he was, that he actually rose from

the dead, that he didn't rise from the dead.

The opponents of the church were teaching that

Jesus was just, he was a good teacher, but maybe

he wasn't really God. That God was just spiritual.

And he didn't send his son Jesus to redeem sinful

man. That even it was possible to transcend sin

itself, right? On their own merit and their own

accord and can potentially live without sin.

You see where I'm going? They were undermining

our Lord. You might say, this doesn't happen

today. It does. I go to the gym five times a

week, and I talk to the same guys, and my, like,

scope of just, like, evangelism has just opened

up. The Lord's just been opening doors. There's

this old man, his name is Henry, and he's this

conservative guy you can get, you know, on the

right side of the aisle. But he's an atheist.

He hates Jesus because Jesus didn't heal his

mom before she passed. And so his thing is like,

Jesus was a good teacher, and I can get down

with Jesus' teachings, but he can't be that good.

Right? He can't be God of the universe. There's

this other gentleman, his name is Corey. Grew

up in the church. He's divorced from his wife.

He has an estranged relationship with his daughter.

He's a younger guy, a little older than me. I'm

34. And he's kind of the same way. Jesus is a

good teacher. And all we need is Jesus' teachings

in the Gospels, the rest of the Bible. That's

not God's teaching. Right, kind of this syncretism,

this kind of like confusion on who God says that

he is. You know, and you know, not only, maybe

you have a Henry or a Corey. Or consider yourself.

We don't think our sin is categorically as bad

as the next person sitting next to us. You see,

church. Christianity stands or falls on the person

and work of Jesus Christ, period. It succeeds

or fails on whether or not Jesus actually says

who he says he is in his word, or he's a liar.

And if he is a liar, then we're doomed, right?

C .S. Lewis says it this way in his book, Mere

Christianity. A man who was merely a man and

said the sorts of things Jesus said would not

be a great moral teacher. He would either be

a lunatic on a level with the man who says that

he is a poached egg, or else he would be the

devil of hell. You must make the choice. Either

this man was and is the Son of God, or else a

madman or something worse. You can't shut up

for him as a fool, and you cannot spit at him

and kill him as a demon. Or you can fall at his

feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not

come with any patronizing nonsense about him

being a good teacher. He has not left himself

open to any such thing or intends to do so. Friends,

if Jesus is Lord, this changes everything. It

changes everything. It changes everyone. And

he makes people. He can make Henry a believer.

He can convert Corey into a Jesus follower, and

he can help us see the depths of our sinful,

sinful, sinful hearts so that we would fall on

our faces and praise God, singing amazing grace,

how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like

me. And I mean that. You could sing that with

every fiber of your being. This is what I believe

we have here in 1 John, right? the true Jesus

of the Bible, as he says that he is, written

by the beloved disciple. And so you might be

asking, okay, if this is true, and Jesus is real,

what does this look like? What does fellowship

with God look like? Well, I'm glad you asked.

The question is based in this section of verses

in 1 John 1. Really in verses 3 to 4. And I believe

John answers that question in all 10 verses.

And it would be this. True Christians receive

the light, proclaim the light, and walk in the

light. True Christians receive the light, proclaim

the light, and walk in the light. And he does

this through three movements. So quickly, if

I can get through these 10 verses. Verses 1 and

2. So what does fellowship with God look like?

Well, true Christians receive the light. That's

what it looks like. We receive it. This is one

of the greatest openings in all of Scripture.

That which was from the beginning, which we have

heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which

we have looked upon and touched with our hands

concerning the word of life. The first thing

to know about fellowship with God is that it

starts... with the initiation of God, right?

The first thing to know about this light is that

he initiates it. This is what he means when he

says they saw and heard and touched the word

of life. It was the incarnate Jesus. Friends,

Jesus is not merely the message of the gospel,

but he is the object of the gospel. He is the

gospel. That is where the power of salvation

comes from, in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

John echoes this in the beginning of his gospel

in John chapter 1. In the beginning was the Word,

John 1 · chapter mention

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,

and He was in the beginning with God, and all

things were made through Him, and without Him

was not anything made that was made, and in Him

was the life, and the life was what? The light

of men. The light shines in the darkness and

the darkness has not overcome it. And the word

became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen

his glory. That is his light. Glory as the only

son from the father full of grace and truth.

Jesus. This is why I say true Christians receive

the light. God the son. has come so that all

who did receive him and believed in his name

would become children of God, not born of blood,

nor of the will of flesh, nor even the will of

man, but of God. Church, this is the message

for us, that Jesus is light. He's the incarnate

word of God that saves. And John says that we

have seen this God -man. We heard him. We touched

him. He was real. He came to live the life we

could not live, die the death we deserve, and

raise again to give newness of life. And he continues

in verse 2, the life that was made manifest,

and we have seen it and testified to it, and

proclaimed to you eternal life, which was with

the Father and was made manifest to us. It's

just like he's re -saying John chapter 1 from

John 1 · chapter mention

his gospel. That is invisible eternal life. became

visible in the sun. And if Jesus is eternal life,

as he says he is, like if he really is, he is

your life today. Today, he sustains you today.

All the things we just prayed about, he gives

life to you today, right now. He is no ghost.

He is no illusion. He was real. He is real. And

that's what John is arguing against his opponents.

That he's not just a nice teacher. That there

is a resurrection. That God did take on flesh.

And John says, Jesus is who he says he is. And

he is foundational to your life. The doctrine

of Christ's manifestation is of paramount importance

to us because the message, That's where the power

comes from. His life. The power of Christ. And

now, you might be asking, why does that matter

to me? Well, I'm glad you asked. This matters

to us in two particular ways. One, without Jesus

coming in the flesh and living and dying and

raising again, we have no gospel. We have no

hope. We have nothing. We have nothing to wake

us up. We have nothing that motivates us, that

gives us purpose. We have no salvation. But if

he did do those things, we have everything. We

have everything for life. We have joy in difficulty.

We have hope in uncertainty. And we have power

in our weakness. And two, I'll start off by saying,

I don't think people... have difficulty squaring

the idea that Jesus is both God and man. That's

difficult, but I don't think at the end of the

day people deny Jesus because He's fully God

and man. I think it comes down to this. If Jesus

is real, if He really came and did all the things

that Scripture says that He did and that He claims

to have done, then Jesus confronts our human

desire to save ourselves. Meaning that if Jesus

is Lord as he claims that he is, there is no

other recourse than to submit everything to him.

Submit your life, and I mean all of it. That

means your house, your car, your health, your

marriage, your children, your money, your job,

every bit of it. your comfort. This is no small

task, but it's the only thing we could do. And

it's of the utmost importance for He is Lord.

And you might say, Jared, that's a lot to ask

for. What has He given me? We're saying it. What

has He given you? What has He given you, me,

everything? He gave His life. This is the gospel.

That before Jesus, you were dead and you needed

life and you were guilty and you needed forgiveness

and he meets those two requirements with his

life, death, and resurrection. Living the life

perfectly that we could not live so that salvation

would actually be attainable, that he would fulfill

all the requirements of the law to give life.

And then he would die the death that we deserve,

fulfilling the satisfaction and punishment of

God's wrath itself, and to raise again to give,

not just fulfilling the law, but to give newness

of life. That is the gospel. And if you trust

it, your two problems are taken care of. And

it changes everything. This truth is something

that we receive, though. This truth is something

that we receive before we work. You can only

receive the gospel. You cannot work for it. It

is freely given. True Christians receive the

light. They receive it. They receive Jesus. And

then secondly, true Christians proclaim the light.

Right? When we come to faith and we receive the

light of life, the light of men, we receive it

to proclaim it. Look at verses 3 to 4 with me.

That which we have seen we proclaim to you. Why?

So that you may have fellowship with us and have

fellowship with God and our joy may be complete.

The impact of Jesus on his disciples cannot be

put into adequate words. They were radically

and undeniably changed forever. That is what

John is getting at for us here. In verse 3, it

begins with what we have seen and heard and has

been that repeated phrase for the first three

verses. But notice the main verb of the entire

section so far is this, proclaim. For John, he

could not remain silent in the face of his opponents.

who were teaching falsehoods. He could not remain

silent in the face of those who did not believe

in Jesus, and he could not stay silent to his

brothers and sisters who needed reminding of

the gospel of God, the light of God, Jesus Christ.

This light was the life of men, and the life

was made manifest to him, and it compelled him

to proclaim the light. There was no alternative.

And he longed for everyone to experience the

same fellowship and joy that he had. You know,

John talks about this fellowship four times in

the letter, and it encompasses the joy and communion

of the followers of Jesus that have a common

belief, they have common values, they have common

goals. Meaning they love the same things, and

they have the same purpose and a common agenda

to make Christ known. And so John wants all to

come to this believing community of faith in

Jesus because he loves the church and he loves

the lost. He wants to invite all people and no

one is to be excluded from this invitation. No

one who comes by the way of Jesus, the light,

the word, the one who gives life will ever be

denied entrance. Meaning if you have fellowship

with God the Father and His Son, you have fellowship

with one another. That is the unity that we have

with one another. True unity built upon the person

and work of Jesus Christ. And we often take this

unity and fellowship for granted. Biblical unity

is deeper than conformity. Our unity is not built

on identical opinions, but on the blood of Jesus.

Consider the gospel that binds each of you at

this gathering, at your local gathering here.

Consider your Lord who has tied you together

so intimately that you can come together no matter

what corner of the earth you may be on by one

unifying element, the blood of Jesus. that the

gospel here is clearly proclaimed among you,

that your elders care for you, and you are of

one accord together. Today, think about that.

That is no small thing. That is much to praise

God about. You see, biblical fellowship is more

than just coffee after church or enjoying another's

company, and it is never conformity to particulars

that are up for debate. Fellowship is sharing

a common life in Christ. Because we belong to

the same Savior, we belong to one another. Then,

when that is done, and that settles and you sit

in that, That eternal life in Jesus that transformed

you, let it flow from you to others that you

would proclaim the light for all those who walk

in deep darkness and make it your goal, Christian,

to add more to your numbers. From your neighbors

and your family and your friends and even your

grocery store attendant, add more to this gathering.

Add them to this family because they need Christ.

And John continues, though, for us as another

reason why he proclaims the light. In verse 4,

to complete his joy. God is most glorified in

us when we find our joy in him. That is a rewording

of John Piper's banner -waving phrase. And I

believe it's true. To find our joy in Christ

means that we will not rest until the non -believing

world comes to know the same joy that we love.

Think of verse 4 as a motivation for John's proclaiming

the light. And it should be ours as well. Joy

in God. You see, John's joy was not complete

until the world around him shared, the Christ

that he loved. He needed those around him to

know the joy giver. There was too much darkness.

There was too much blind men. There were too

many people stuck, and he had the cure, the light

of life, Jesus. And this is not a partial joy.

This is a complete joy, an all -encompassing

joy, a full joy. All we could ever want or need

is wrapped in the single life of Jesus Christ,

and it is He who provides life and light to all

peoples. We have fullness of joy in our shared

life with Him, the Father and the Son. The fullness

of our joy is ours through our friendship with

one another, with God, with Jesus, the Father.

And this is only possible through the gospel

of Jesus Christ, the light of God, God's Son.

So you may ask, okay, well, what's that about?

How do I, what does that mean for me? I'm glad

you asked. But I'm going to ask you a question,

and you can think about it. Very basic application

of question from those two verses. Is your joy

not complete until the world around you knows

the Jesus you love? Proclaim the light and watch

Him do wonders. But that's not all. Verse 5,

10. Walk in the light. True Christians receive

the light. True Christians proclaim the light.

True Christians walk in the light, right? John

continues his argument, dialing in for us what

the message is and what it does, that true Christians

walk in the light. Verse 5 tells us in one succinct

sentence what the message of this is at its core.

God is a light, and in Him there is no darkness

at all. This is a character description of God

Himself. that John even proclaims that Jesus

made himself. He says this in John 8 .12. If

you're familiar with the Gospel of John, he says,

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows

me will not walk in darkness, but will have the

light of life. The light we receive, the light

that we proclaim, and now the light that we walk

in is not simply a message. It is a person. It's

Jesus. This is significant for John because light

provides illumination in dark places and shows

us where we need to go when it's hard to see.

Jesus, who is light, provides us an example of

how to live, on how to walk. Light is also a

means of purification, and for Jesus, to be light

means he's holy, he's glorious, he's a purifier.

That this light of men shines so brightly, it

means to purify every sin -stained fiber of our

being so that we would be in perfect fellowship

with God. Light here for John is not just a nice

allegory, it's not just an illusion to think

of our Savior, but to teach us what is truly

ethical and moral in God's economy. Simply put,

God is light, so walk in the light. This is clear

in verse 6, which begins this kind of three -part

correction of the false teachers and people who

claimed weird things, right? John says, if we

say we have fellowship with God, that is with

Him, but walk in darkness, we're a liar. The

claim that some were making, was that they had

fellowship with God, like true relationship.

This was their claim. They had true relationship

with Him, and yet were walking in darkness, meaning

they were living sinful lives continually. John's

indictment does not mince words. Those who claim

such things are liars, and they don't practice

the truth. Right? You're like, well, how does

that play out today? Just get your flavor of

politician. All of them are Christians. Are they?

It's crazy. Or just your favorite celebrity.

Everyone uses Jesus as a bumper sticker, but

it doesn't change them. Jesus changes people.

So it's not compatible. You can't practice the

truth when you lie about it. That is... They

don't practice it. They don't do the truth. Such

a person deceives themselves as they claim to

have fellowship with God, but because of the

incompatibility between the character of God

as light and their own character as sinful men

living in darkness, they are liars. And you see

they were deceived in thinking that they could

have fellowship with God and still make a practice

of sin. Our sin is so egregious, it's so unholy,

it's so filled with darkness, that it is in complete

contrary nature to who even God is as light.

Friends, if you want to know who God is, just

look around. You don't have to look at a particular

politician. Look at us, this room. It's amazing

that God has kept the roof above our heads when

he could have collapsed it upon us because of

our sin. That's how bad sin really is. It's a

cosmic rebellion against God. But we have this

promise. God is light, and in Him there is no

darkness. There is no fine print with God. Bring

your nothing, and you receive everything. This

is grace, and this is verse 7, the gospel for

us this morning. But if we walk in the light

as he is in the light, we have fellowship with

God and with one another, and the blood of Jesus,

his Son, cleanses us from all sin. John's logic.

Follow me for a second. Follow me. God is light.

That is the message that they proclaim and we

proclaim. And if he is light, then if we are

in him, we are in the light. This is the opposite

of living in darkness. True Christians walk in

the light. And when we walk in the light, there

are particular benefits to walking in the light.

Namely, we have fellowship with one another,

right? The whole company of God's people. But

how does this happen? By what power, by what

power do we walk in the light? The blood of Christ.

That is what I meant. when I say verse 7, is

the gospel for us. When we are in the light,

we are immediately aware of the stains on our

clothes, and we can see the devastating effects

of sin on our lives, and the light illuminates

the darkness and begins to do something powerful.

It cleanses. The sinful man comes, sin and all,

into the light, and to his amazement, that Each

dark blemish begins to disappear. The blood of

Jesus, God's Son, cleanses from all sin. And

John is speaking of the death of our Lord. This

was always the pattern, even in the Old Testament.

Someone would give a sacrifice for sin, blood

would be shed, that sacrifice would cover them,

and it would purify them, and their life was

found in that sacrifice. The same... It's for

us, friends. The same is for us. For our Lord

does the same thing. Christ's death was to purify

us from sin, to remove our sin, to forgive our

sin and its defiling effects that we would no

longer be condemned in the sight of God. That

God's judgment would be removed from us and placed

on another. Jesus. That he would be a satisfying

sacrifice. That his life, death, and resurrection

would be an aroma to God that was just not pleasing,

but sufficient. That is the gospel. And although

we fight sin daily, our victory is found in the

power of Jesus, who has defeated both the penalty

of sin and the power of sin for us. Praise God.

So awaken from your sinful slumber. Walk in the

light. John doesn't allow us to sit comfortably,

though. He continues to call us to war with our

sin as he continues by saying, if we say we have

no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is

not in us. He's reiterating his earlier point,

except the lie gets deeper. There were those

who not only said they had fellowship with God

and lived like hell, but also there were those

who said that they had no sin. That is, that

they believed they had transcended sin, that

they were not actively sinning when they actually

were. Right? They didn't need to be cleansed

from sin because they had none. This is blasphemy.

For if you remove sin, you remove the necessity

of the Savior. So to say that you have sin or

to say that you have no sin means that you are

a liar. But the converse is that if we say that

we are sinners, the truth is in us. The takeaway?

Admit your sin, church. Admit your need. Admit

your helplessness. Is your walk in the light

characterized by confession and repentance and

perseverance? John seems to think so because

he says in the next verse, if we confess our

sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our

sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we confess, God is faithful. I need you to

catch this with me. Our cleansing is not conditional

on our confession. Right? Not in and of itself.

But by trusting in the faithfulness of Christ,

that's where our cleansing comes from. It is

not the confession itself that cleanses, but

God's faithfulness through the blood of His Son,

Jesus, that cleanses us. To confess our sins

is not merely to admit that we are sinners, but

to lay it before God and to seek His forgiveness.

And if we do so, we can be sure of this thing,

that He will forgive you, that He will purify

you. Based on what grounds? I'm glad you asked.

His own character. not the strength of your confession.

He is faithful, and not just faithful, but just

to forgive sin that is confessed. The faithfulness

lies in God's adherence to His promise that He

will save His people. Is that not the same of

the writer of Hebrews when... The writer says

in chapter 9, Therefore, brothers, since we have

a confidence to enter the holy places by the

blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that

he opened for us through the curtain that is

his flesh, and since we have a great high priest

over the house of God, let us draw near, near

with a true heart of full assurance of faith,

with our hearts sprinkled clean from every evil

conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

It is John that reminds us of this point in verse

7. But God, being rich in mercy, has removed

the guilt and power of sin in the human heart

to walk in the light. For darkness has no power

over you. And yet again, the detractors, if you

see the last verse for us, if we say we have

not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is

not in us. It is one thing to deny. Present sinfulness.

It is another to deny past acts of sin, and that's

what the claim is here. This truly is the final

nail in the coffin for them, and John's indictment

is a heavy one. Their claim is that they had

no sin even in the past. And John says, it's

not that you're just a liar. You make God a liar.

And his word is not in you. Yes, that word, the

living word, Jesus. Jesus has not made his home

in you if you say such things. The claim that

one has never sinned once again claims man as

his own savior, disregarding his need for Christ

and the Lord of all. who is the only way to the

Father and the only way to life, who is the light

of life, the only one who purifies from all sin

by his life, death, and resurrection. To claim

this would be a rejection of the entirety of

the scriptures, and the narrative is one of universal

sin and man's natural bent to be enemies of God.

But God sends his Son to save sinful man because

men could not save themselves. So that all who

would come to be justified by faith in Christ

alone, by grace alone, would receive the light,

becoming children of God, proclaiming the light

to make others children of God and to walk in

the light as children of God. So church, this

morning, I asked one central question. What does

fellowship with God look like? John's answer

is not secret knowledge. It's not performance.

It's not pretending to have no sin. It's not

merely claiming to know God and living like a

person who does not. The answer here is true

Christians receive the light, proclaim the light,

and walk in the light. So some of you here, you've

heard and you've never received the light. You've

admired Jesus as a good teacher, but never Lord.

You never submitted to who he actually is. I

invite you, as John does, to submit to the real

Jesus, to come to the light, receive Christ as

he receives sinners, and his blood cleanses from

all sin. Some of you here, you've received the

light, but never proclaimed the light. You've

hidden it under a bushel. John reminds us that

Christ is the one we receive. He is the light.

And this Christ is the one we proclaim to the

dark world who will illuminate the dark. So even

if they stone you like they did Stephen, well

done. God wins. So do you. You get Jesus. They

spit at you. They get angry at you. Go unafraid

to share the light of the world. Christ and Him

crucified. And some of you here, you're just

tired. You're tired because you're sin. And you're

tired because of the effects of sin. They seem

unbearable. They seem insurmountable. Friends,

confess your sins because He is faithful and

just to forgive sins and cleanse from all unrighteousness.

Never run from the light because of your sin.

Instead, run into the light because that is where

cleansing and rest is found. The light Jesus

Christ has come into the world. And I urge all

of us, especially myself, receive Him, proclaim

Him, and walk in Him. Let's pray. Father, we

come before You and we thank You for Your Word.

We pray that You would apply it to us. that you

would help us see you, see our true Savior, and

see ourselves. Make this book live to us. Amen.