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Voddie Baucham - We Have An Advocate · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: You know, it's it's interesting, and I always love it
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Speaker 1: when we have a service that sort of seems as
0:10
Speaker 1: choreographed as this one may seem, just because of all
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Speaker 1: of the themes that have come together. And it's interesting,
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Speaker 1: especially for those of us who are aware of what
0:20
Speaker 1: we do as a church sort of reading systematically through
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Speaker 1: the scriptures. We're reading systematically through the Gospel of John,
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Speaker 1: and we just happened to be right there in John
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Speaker 1: three today as we're looking at first John one, five
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Speaker 1: through ten and this light and darkness theme. It's amazing
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Speaker 1: how how God uses all of those aspects even when
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Speaker 1: we just commit to doing things in a systematic way,
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Speaker 1: and even through our commitment to reading through Exodus and
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Speaker 1: systematically reading through Exodus. And here we see this picture
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Speaker 1: of the law, and they're the Sabbath law, and this
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Speaker 1: punishment of death for those who violate the Sabbath law.
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Speaker 1: It brings the reality of the law to bear. It
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Speaker 1: crushes any semblance of legalism. And that's why, you know,
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Speaker 1: that's why it's important, because so many times you can
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Speaker 1: go to church for ten fifteen years and never read
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Speaker 1: through Exodus. But it's important for us to see the
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Speaker 1: law to see how black and white the law is,
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Speaker 1: to see how serious God is about those who violate
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Speaker 1: the law, because it's only there that we understand appropriately
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Speaker 1: and more fully the grace of God that saves, and
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Speaker 1: we understand how foolish it is for us to try
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Speaker 1: to attach any legalistic tendencies.
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Speaker 2: To the grace of God. It makes no sense whatsoever.
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Speaker 1: For us to try to keep the law in a
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Speaker 1: way that would appease God when we understand the significance
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Speaker 1: of the law and the punishment required.
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Speaker 2: For those who don't keep it.
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Speaker 1: The other thing that is amazing as we look at
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Speaker 1: the law is, again, as we've talked about it before,
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Speaker 1: the active obedience of Christ. We talked about this before,
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Speaker 1: We'll talk about it again because it's significant for the day,
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Speaker 1: the active and passive obedience of Christ and our redemption.
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Speaker 1: We're so familiar with the passive obedience of Christ, we're
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Speaker 1: so familiar with the fact that that Christ died for
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Speaker 1: our sins, he allowed himself to be killed.
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Speaker 2: For our sins.
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Speaker 1: But that active obedience of Christ, he as a man,
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Speaker 1: the god man, where he kept the whole law, and
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Speaker 1: because of that, this principle of imputed righteousness is made possible.
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Speaker 1: So we look at Exodus chapter thirty one, and it
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Speaker 1: says you should be put to death because of your
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Speaker 1: violations just of the Sabbath, and in Christ, because of
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Speaker 1: his active obedience.
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Speaker 2: We can say, yes, that's true.
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Speaker 1: But in Christ, his righteousness is imputed to me, and
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Speaker 1: God looks at me as one who has kept that perfectly. Amen,
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Speaker 1: that's just good news, says It's also horrible news for
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Speaker 1: anyone expecting to stand before God and be justified for
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Speaker 1: having it kept the law, it's horrible news because one
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Speaker 1: of the designs of the law, as we read in Galatians,
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Speaker 1: is to remind you time and time again that you
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Speaker 1: can't do what you're required to do. Somebody's got to
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Speaker 1: do it for you. And as we run up against
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Speaker 1: the law, that's what we run against. But here's the
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Speaker 1: other question. Do we then go toward Antinomianism lawlessness as
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Speaker 1: a result of our understanding of this imputed righteousness of Christ?
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Speaker 1: Do we sin? As Paul would say, so that grace
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Speaker 1: may abound all the more? His response, may it never be?
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Speaker 1: Where do those two things come together? I'm so glad
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Speaker 1: you asked, look with me if you will. First John
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Speaker 1: chapter one we finally reached this second paragraph here, verses
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Speaker 1: five through ten. And let's look here at first John
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Speaker 1: chapter one, verses five through ten. Let's look at the
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Speaker 1: marks of the Kingdom of Light.
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Speaker 2: Verse five.
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Speaker 1: This is the message we have heard from him and
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Speaker 1: proclaim to you. And again you follow back, and this
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Speaker 1: is what we just read earlier about hearing this message
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Speaker 1: and proclaiming this message.
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Speaker 2: And matter of fact, let's just go back one.
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Speaker 1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
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Speaker 1: which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
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Speaker 1: looked upon and have touched with our hands. Concerning the
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Speaker 1: Word of life, the life was made manifest, and we
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Speaker 1: have seen it and testified to it, and proclaimed to
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Speaker 1: you the eternal life which was with the Father and
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Speaker 1: was made manifest to us. That which we have seen
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Speaker 1: and heard, we proclaim to you also so that you
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Speaker 1: too may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship
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Speaker 1: is with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: And we are writing these things so that our joy
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Speaker 1: may be complete. Now he picks up the same thing.
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Speaker 1: This is the message we have heard from him, and
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Speaker 1: proclaim to you that God is light, and in him
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Speaker 1: there is no darkness at all. If we say we
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Speaker 1: have fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we
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Speaker 1: lie and do not practice the truth. But if we
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Speaker 1: walk in the light as he is in the light,
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Speaker 1: we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say
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Speaker 1: we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
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Speaker 1: is not in us. If we confess our sins, he
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Speaker 1: is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
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Speaker 1: cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have
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Speaker 1: not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
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Speaker 1: is not in us. These marks of the Kingdom of Light.
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Speaker 1: There are a couple of things that are important to
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Speaker 1: keep in mind as we look at First John one
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Speaker 1: five through ten. There are a couple of things, a
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Speaker 1: couple of rails, if you will, some rails that will
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Speaker 1: keep us from going off the track as we look
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Speaker 1: at First John, and really as we look at all
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Speaker 1: of this epistle of First John, the first thing that
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Speaker 1: we need to understand is that John is speaking categorically here.
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Speaker 1: That he's speaking categorically here, he's talking about categories of individuals.
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Speaker 1: That's very important to remember that he's talking about categories
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Speaker 1: of individuals. Because if you don't remember that, then as
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Speaker 1: we go through first John, here's what will happen. He'll say,
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Speaker 1: if you're like this, you're in the kingdom. If you're
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Speaker 1: like that, you're not well. If you catch any one
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Speaker 1: of us on a bad day, guess what. Ooh, I'm out.
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Speaker 1: If you catch any one of us on the bad day.
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Speaker 1: Matter of fact, truth be told, you catch any one
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Speaker 1: of us on a good day, Amen, somebody, and we're going, oh,
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Speaker 1: I'm out. He's speaking categorically. He's talking about categories of individuals. Remember,
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Speaker 1: what he's doing is in part this polemic, if you will,
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Speaker 1: and apologetic for those within and without who've been influenced
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Speaker 1: by many different doctrinal heresies, perhaps the most prominent of
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Speaker 1: which is gnosticism. So what he's doing here is he's
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Speaker 1: drawing a line in the sand, and he's basically saying,
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Speaker 1: these individuals are teaching false doctrine, and here's why. Here's
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Speaker 1: their category, here's our category.
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Speaker 2: So he's speaking categorically.
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Speaker 1: Okay, that's very important to keep in mind that he's
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Speaker 1: speaking categorically, and because of that, it's important to keep
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Speaker 1: in mind that he's talking about our character, our character.
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Speaker 1: Remember that he's talking about our character. That's the issue here.
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Speaker 1: One of the verbs that's used here in John, this
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Speaker 1: Greek verb petipateo to walk around the way that we walk,
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Speaker 1: is what he's talking about.
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Speaker 2: So he's talking about our character.
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Speaker 1: He's talking about who we are as individuals, not what
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Speaker 1: can sometimes happen in our lives, but who we are
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Speaker 1: as individuals. And here's the way that I like to
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Speaker 1: sort of explain that for people. I mean, imagine, if
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Speaker 1: you will, if we're talking about a child and an
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Speaker 1: obedient child versus a disobedient child.
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Speaker 2: All children disobey.
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Speaker 1: There should have been a whole bunch of little bitty
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Speaker 1: voices in the room going aymen.
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Speaker 2: Pastor body. All children disobey.
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Speaker 1: But the difference between what we would call an obedient
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Speaker 1: child and what we would call a disobedient child. Again,
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Speaker 1: we're characterizing that child. Are they characterized generally by obedience
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Speaker 1: or are they characterized by disobedience.
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Speaker 2: So here's the difference.
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Speaker 1: When a child that's characterized by obedience disobeys, because all
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Speaker 1: children disobey, it's different than when a child who's characterized
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Speaker 1: by disobedience disobeys. For example, if there's a child who's
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Speaker 1: characterized by obedience, and that child disobeys. But let's just say,
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Speaker 1: you know one of my children. You look at one
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Speaker 1: of my children and you say, this particular child is
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Speaker 1: characterized by obedience. When that child, that child of pastor
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Speaker 1: vodies characterized by obedience, and all of a sudden one
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Speaker 1: day you see that child fangs out, veins in the neck,
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Speaker 1: pointing the finger at me, just going off. Well, if
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Speaker 1: that child's characterized by obedience, normally, if they're characterized by disobedience,
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Speaker 1: your response would be there they go again. But if
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Speaker 1: they're characterized by obedience, your response will probably be, Lord,
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Speaker 1: whatever demon that is that just possessed that child, would
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Speaker 1: you deliver them from it quickly because it would be
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Speaker 1: terrible to see them die. Today, it's important to understand
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Speaker 1: that that's what we're talking about here, talking about the
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Speaker 1: way we walk, the way we walk, who we are
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Speaker 1: as individuals. And again, this will make more sense as
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Speaker 1: we go along, and you'll see why it's important that
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Speaker 1: we take time dealing with this. But as we look
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Speaker 1: at this with those rails to kind of keep us
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Speaker 1: on the track, look here at verse five. This is
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Speaker 1: the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to
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Speaker 1: you that God is light and in him is no
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Speaker 1: dark at all. So when we talk about this Kingdom
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Speaker 1: of light, the first thing that we recognize in this
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Speaker 1: kingdom of light is that the King is light.
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Speaker 2: In the Kingdom of Light is light.
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Speaker 1: Here's the message that we proclaim to you that God
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Speaker 1: is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
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Speaker 2: First of all, God is.
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Speaker 1: There's an apologetic here for God himself, for the existence
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Speaker 1: of God, and for the character of God. God is.
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Speaker 1: First of all, there is a God. Amen that there
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Speaker 1: is a God. So anyone who would come forth with
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Speaker 1: an idea of righteousness apart from God is already running
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Speaker 1: up against the argument here in first John, chapter one,
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Speaker 1: verse five.
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Speaker 2: God is.
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Speaker 1: So that's where we start. We start with the existence
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Speaker 1: of God. When we start talking about character and what
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Speaker 1: righteousness looks like, we start with God, who is the
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Speaker 1: very definition of character, definition of righteousness.
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Speaker 2: God is.
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Speaker 1: So we don't measure ourselves against the standard of other people.
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Speaker 1: We measure ourselves against the standard of the word. Amen,
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Speaker 1: we measure ourselves against the standard of God. Don't we
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Speaker 1: tell our children this all the time? Let pastor vote
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Speaker 1: do something that your mom and daddy do all the time. Kids,
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Speaker 1: your mom and daddy tell you all this all the time,
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Speaker 1: and you think it's just them. But let me just
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Speaker 1: tell you so that you'll know it's not just them.
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Speaker 1: They didn't just make it up, and here it is.
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Speaker 1: Because you think you're a good kid. And oftentimes sometimes
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Speaker 1: those of you who get a little bit older, you
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Speaker 1: have a tendency to say, yeah, but I'm not like
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Speaker 1: so and so.
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Speaker 2: You just mean because I'm not like them, look at
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Speaker 2: what they do. Newsflash.
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Speaker 1: We are neither governed nor judged by the standard of
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Speaker 1: those those people. If you can't say amen, you ought
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Speaker 1: to say ouch. We're governed by the standard of the
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Speaker 1: Word of God. That's where we measure ourselves. We're governed
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Speaker 1: by the standard of the Word of God. Not is
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Speaker 1: not is my attitude and are my actions better than
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Speaker 1: most people out there? But the question is do they
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Speaker 1: measure up to the standard that we find in the
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Speaker 1: Word of God.
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Speaker 2: God is and God is light. He's light.
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Speaker 1: This idea of purity, this idea of holiness. That's who
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Speaker 1: our God is. By the way we see this throughout scripture.
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Speaker 1: You know, I've written down several verses here that I
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Speaker 1: just wanted to read. Listen to this and Psal I'm
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Speaker 1: thirty six nine. For with you is the fountain of life.
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Speaker 1: In your light do we see light? Look at Psalm
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Speaker 1: eighty four eleven. For the Lord God is a sun
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Speaker 1: and shield Daniel two twenty two. He reveals deep and
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Speaker 1: hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and
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Speaker 1: the light dwells with him. Was in a John one four.
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Speaker 1: In him was life, and that life was the light
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Speaker 1: of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
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Speaker 1: darkness has not overcome it. Look at John one six.
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Speaker 1: There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
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Speaker 1: He came as a witness to bear witness about the Light,
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Speaker 1: that all might believe through him. He was not the light,
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Speaker 1: but came to bear witness about what the light. And
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Speaker 1: then down in verse nine, the true light, which enlightens
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Speaker 1: everyone has it was coming into the world John chapter
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Speaker 1: eight and verse twelve. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,
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Speaker 1: I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me
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Speaker 1: will not walk in darkness, but will have the light
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Speaker 1: of life. John ninety five. As long as I am
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Speaker 1: in the world, I am the light of the world.
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Speaker 1: On Timothy six fifteen. He who is the blessed and
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Speaker 1: only sovereign, the King of kings, the Lord of lords,
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Speaker 1: who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom
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Speaker 1: no one has ever seen or can see. To him,
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Speaker 1: be honor and eternal dominion.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Every good gift and every perfect gift, James one seventeen says,
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Speaker 1: is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights,
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Speaker 1: with whom there is no variation or shadow of change.
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Speaker 1: God is light, God is holy, God is righteous. God
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Speaker 1: is the standard by which we judge. Now, this is
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Speaker 1: very important when you look at gnosticism, especially for example,
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Speaker 1: when you look at modern day gnosticism, and for those
15:51
Speaker 1: of you who haven't been with us, we talked about
15:53
Speaker 1: the gnostics, and that word comes from the Greek word
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Speaker 1: for knowledge, gnosis. These individuals believed that that there was
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Speaker 1: the spiritual immaterial world, and then there was the physical world,
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Speaker 1: and that spiritual immaterial world that's the world of the divine,
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Speaker 1: and that as individuals we have to get in touch
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Speaker 1: with that spiritual immaterial world. They believed this so much
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Speaker 1: that they believed that Jesus was not actually a physical being.
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Speaker 2: He did not have a corporeal body.
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Speaker 1: He was a spirit who sort of walked around among men,
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Speaker 1: and he looked like he had a physical being. But
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Speaker 1: because the physical world is evil and the spiritual world
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Speaker 1: is good, there's no way that God could possibly taken
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Speaker 1: on this physical body. Just a brief synopsis of their teachings.
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Speaker 1: Now you think, okay, we don't have modern na nacissism.
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Speaker 1: Of course we have modern day gnosticism. Of course we
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Speaker 1: have these ideas. In fact, they take it even a
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Speaker 1: step further, because the Gnostics had this idea of the
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Speaker 1: spark of the divine that was within us as individuals,
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Speaker 1: and as a result of that spark of the divine,
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Speaker 1: we were in part Deity.
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Speaker 2: Want to read you a couple of excerpts from a
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Speaker 2: couple of books. This is.
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Speaker 1: Etkart Toley, etcart Totley is a New York Times number
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Speaker 1: one best selling author. Let me read to your review
17:18
Speaker 1: from his number one book. This is a review from
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Speaker 1: Don Whitney. Since I first heard of eckart Tole during
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Speaker 1: a medical examination after learning that I was a professor
17:29
Speaker 1: of Biblical spirituality, the doctor asked, have you read eckhart
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Speaker 1: Tole's The Power of Now? This is one of Oprah's
17:36
Speaker 1: Big Book Club books. So everybody, airbody, not everybody. Everybody
17:39
Speaker 1: is reading Tola. Okay, that's beyond everybody, all right, everybody's
17:43
Speaker 1: reading it. I said, no, I had not a brilliant,
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Speaker 1: multi talented man with a Catholic background. The physician began
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Speaker 1: to commend the book to me as insightful and profound.
17:57
Speaker 1: Toley's work is insightful and profound. Oprah on our television programming,
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Speaker 1: on our radio programs got millions upon millions upon multiplied
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Speaker 1: millions of people reading the works of et Cartole. He
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Speaker 1: became familiar with the book, and he leafed through it
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Speaker 1: and eventually had to read it and write a review.
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Speaker 1: Here's a couple of things that you find in Toley's
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Speaker 1: earlier book, The Divine Life Essence. Recognize it as one
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Speaker 1: with your own essence.
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Speaker 2: Listen to it.
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Speaker 1: Is there is only one absolute truth, and all other
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Speaker 1: truths emanate from it. Yes, you are the truth. If
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Speaker 1: you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time.
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Speaker 1: The very being that you are is truth. Jesus tried
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Speaker 1: to convey that when he said I am the Way,
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Speaker 1: the Truth, and the Life. Jesus speaks of the innermost.
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Speaker 1: I am the essence, identity of every man and woman,
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Speaker 1: every life form. In fact, he speaks of the life
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Speaker 1: that you are. Jesus was making a statement that we
19:07
Speaker 1: all need to learn how to make. I could read
19:12
Speaker 1: you more from Toty's other bestseller, but I won't. Here's
19:17
Speaker 1: the other best seller, by the way, this is the Secret.
19:19
Speaker 1: As far as hardback books on the New York Times
19:21
Speaker 1: bestseller list, this is number two. This is number two
19:25
Speaker 1: hard byte books. It's been on the New York Times
19:28
Speaker 1: bestseller list for seventy six weeks. Seventy six weeks and
19:33
Speaker 1: it's still number two. For a while, this book was
19:37
Speaker 1: number one. Number two was the final installment of the
19:41
Speaker 1: Harry Potter series, and number three was the audio version
19:45
Speaker 1: of this book. It's huge, and again everybody's reading it,
19:53
Speaker 1: so what are they reading? Pray tell well, it's the
19:56
Speaker 1: Secret and it's ultimately the secret to life. Listen about
20:00
Speaker 1: a proctor, a philosopher, author, personal coach. The Secret gives
20:04
Speaker 1: you anything you want, happiness, health, wealth. Listen to this
20:09
Speaker 1: one doctor Joe Vitali, metaphysician, marketing specialist and author. You
20:14
Speaker 1: can have, do or be anything you want. What kind
20:19
Speaker 1: of house do you want to live in? Do you
20:21
Speaker 1: want to be a millionaire? What kind of business do
20:24
Speaker 1: you want to have? Do you want more success? What
20:27
Speaker 1: do you really want? Here's the premise of this book.
20:30
Speaker 1: Everything out there in the world operates on frequencies and vibrations.
20:34
Speaker 1: When you think about those things, you tune yourself like
20:37
Speaker 1: a radio to their frequencies. So if you want it,
20:41
Speaker 1: think about it. That'll tune you to the frequency and
20:45
Speaker 1: you'll attract it to yourself. It's called the law of attraction. Now,
20:49
Speaker 1: why pray tell? Does this law of attraction work the
20:52
Speaker 1: way it does? Here's why listen to her. You are
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Speaker 1: God in a physical body. You are Spirit in the flesh.
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Speaker 1: You are eternal life expressing itself as you. You are
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Speaker 1: a cosmic being. You are all power, You are al wisdom,
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Speaker 1: you are all intelligence. You are perfection, You are magnificence.
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Speaker 1: You are the Creator, and you are creating the creation
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Speaker 1: of you on this planet. Three of the most popular
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Speaker 1: books in the world today and its modern day gnosticism
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Speaker 1: directly and completely at odds with the Word of God,
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Speaker 1: directly at odds and completely at odds with the Word
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Speaker 1: of God.
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Speaker 2: It's another category all in its own.
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Speaker 1: What does John say to this kind of thinking, This
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Speaker 1: is the message that we have heard and proclaim to
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Speaker 1: you that God is light and in him is no
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Speaker 1: shadow of darkness.
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Speaker 2: There is no darkness in God at all. God is light.
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Speaker 2: There is a God. You know.
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Speaker 1: There's one of my favorite lines from a movie, from
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Speaker 1: any movie. It is a line from the movie Rudy.
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Speaker 1: Those of you who love movies and love football, you
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Speaker 1: love the movie Rudy. And if you don't keep praying,
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Speaker 1: God will make you more spiritual and you'll get there.
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Speaker 1: But in the movie Rudy, there's this time when you know,
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Speaker 1: Rudy's trying to get into Notre Dame, and Rudy's just
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Speaker 1: working really hard to get in Notre Dame. He can't
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Speaker 1: get in Notre Dame. He goes and he talks to
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Speaker 1: the priest there, and he's trying to get some information
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Speaker 1: from this priest. And this priest looks at him and says,
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Speaker 1: you know, there are two things I know for sure.
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Speaker 1: One there is a God. Two I'm not him. That's
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Speaker 1: not what the modern day Gnostics say. The modern day
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Speaker 1: Gnostics say, your problem is you're God and you don't
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Speaker 1: know it. John says, here's where the message starts. God
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Speaker 1: is light in him. There is no darkness at all.
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Speaker 1: You are not God. You are not part of God.
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Speaker 1: God is God all by himself. And as we've said before,
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Speaker 1: God is not running for God. Amen. He was the
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Speaker 1: only one around when the votes were cast. There's never
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Speaker 1: going to be a recount or a reelection. God is God.
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Speaker 1: He needs no help being God. He's God, and there's
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Speaker 1: no darkness in him. Why is this important, Well, here's
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Speaker 1: where we get to the distinction between these two kingdoms.
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Speaker 1: First of all, we see that this first kingdom, that
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Speaker 1: the king is light. Secondly, his subjects are characterized by light.
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Speaker 1: Look at the next part of this. There are five
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Speaker 1: if then statements that follow this first statement, three negative,
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Speaker 1: two positive, and they alternate negative positive, negative, positive negative.
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Speaker 1: These five if then statements, and here they are. Listen
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Speaker 1: to the first pair. If we have fellowship with him
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Speaker 1: while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not
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Speaker 1: practice the truth. That's the first if then statement. The
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Speaker 1: then is assumed. Look at this if we have if
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Speaker 1: we say we have fellowship with him while we walk
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Speaker 1: in darkness, then we lie and do not practice the truth.
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Speaker 1: If my mouth says I have fellowship with God. But
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Speaker 1: my life, my petipateeo, my walk, my lifestyle says that
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Speaker 1: I walk in darkness.
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Speaker 2: Then ultimately the fact of the matter is there is
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Speaker 2: no light in me. I am a liar.
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Speaker 1: If that's the case, I'm in darkness and I can't,
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Speaker 1: on the one hand, with my lips confess that I
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Speaker 1: belong to the Kingdom of light and I belong to
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Speaker 1: the King of light. And on the other hand, with
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Speaker 1: my life, live in a way that reflects darkness, Because
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Speaker 1: what's the truth? What's the reality? The reality is the
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Speaker 1: way that I live, the way that I'm characterized. Heymen,
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Speaker 1: didn't you just say if you ever have a dark moment,
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Speaker 1: that you're not in the kingdom. That's not what he said, Okay,
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Speaker 1: But is that the way you're characterized?
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Speaker 2: Is that who you are? Is that the way you live?
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Speaker 2: That's the question? Is that your walk? Is that how
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Speaker 2: your life is defined?
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Speaker 1: If your lips say one thing and your life says another,
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Speaker 1: you are a liar. It's that simple. How are you walking?
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Speaker 1: How are you living? That's the question. How are you walking?
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Speaker 1: Does your life look like light or does your life
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Speaker 1: look like darkness? That's the question. Here's the other side
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Speaker 1: of the coin. Here's the positive if then statement. But
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Speaker 1: if we walk in the light as he is in
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Speaker 1: the light, we have fellowship with one another first of all,
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Speaker 1: and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from
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Speaker 1: all sin. If we walk in the light as he
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Speaker 1: is in the light. First of all, we have fellowship
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Speaker 1: with one another. We talked about that last week, this
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Speaker 1: fellowship within this body of believers. And secondly, the blood
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Speaker 1: of Jesus washes us, cleanses us from all sin if
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Speaker 1: we walk in the light. Now, notice here's what's not
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Speaker 1: being said. We're not talking about works based salvation here.
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Speaker 1: Remember he's talking about in general, these two categories of
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Speaker 1: individual and he's talking about how we're characterized, the individuals
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Speaker 1: who are characterized by walking in the light. He's not
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Speaker 1: saying this, Well, if you're an individual who's characterized by
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Speaker 1: walking into light, then the blood of gas will cleanse
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Speaker 1: you because you're walking in the light has earned you cleansing.
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Speaker 2: No, that's not the point at all.
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Speaker 1: If you walk in the light, you walk in the
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Speaker 1: light because the blood of Jesus has cleansed you. By
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Speaker 1: the way, look at the passage we just read earlier today.
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Speaker 1: Look at the passage we just read earlier today. Look
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Speaker 1: at John chapter three, and look at beginning at verse nineteen.
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Speaker 1: Beginning verse nineteen of John chapter three. And this is
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Speaker 1: the judgment. The light has come into the world, and
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Speaker 1: people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
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Speaker 1: For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and
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Speaker 1: does not come to the light lest his deeds should
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Speaker 1: be exposed. But whoever does does what is true, comes
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Speaker 1: to the light so that it may be clearly seen
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Speaker 1: that his.
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Speaker 2: Deeds have been carried out in God. Notice that.
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Speaker 1: He comes to the light so that we can see
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Speaker 1: that his deeds have been carried out in God. In
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Speaker 1: other words, John is not saying in John chapter three,
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Speaker 1: if you walk in the light, you have earned forgiveness
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Speaker 1: from your sins. Know is he's saying in first John
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Speaker 1: chapter one, if you walk in the light you have
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Speaker 1: earned salvation from your sins. No, if you walk in
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Speaker 1: the light, you have evidenced salvation from your sins. That's
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Speaker 1: the only way you can walk in the light. We
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Speaker 1: see that in John three. By the way, look at
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Speaker 1: the look at the last part of that chapter. Let
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Speaker 1: me beginning verse thirty five. The Father loves the son
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Speaker 1: and has given all things into his hands. Whoever believes
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Speaker 1: in the sun has eternal life. Whoever does not here stop,
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Speaker 1: whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Now, the
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Speaker 1: next phrase ought to be whoever does not believe? Right
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Speaker 1: when that makes sense if there's a parallel here, if
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Speaker 1: there's a contrast. Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life.
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Speaker 1: Whoever does not believe does not. But look at what
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Speaker 1: he says verse thirty six. Whoever believes in the sun
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Speaker 1: has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the sun shall
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Speaker 1: not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
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Speaker 2: How do you know if somebody believes, they walk in
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Speaker 2: the light. That's how you know. How do you know
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Speaker 2: somebody is cleansed, is washed? They walk in the light.
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Speaker 1: If any man is in Christ, Paul says in Second
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Speaker 1: Corinthians five, if any man is in Christ, his new creature,
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Speaker 1: old things have passed away, the whole new things have come.
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Speaker 2: By the way.
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Speaker 1: This is from God, Amen, It's from God. So again
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Speaker 1: the legalist argument. Here's the legalist argument. The legalist argument says,
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Speaker 1: I must keep the law so that I can be
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Speaker 1: made right with God.
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Speaker 2: That's the legalist argument.
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Speaker 1: And if we read this and don't understand that he's
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Speaker 1: talking about categories of individuals and he's talking about the
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Speaker 1: character of these individuals, it's easy for us to sort
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Speaker 1: of fall into that. But that's not what he's talking about.
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Speaker 1: He's talking about what we're characterized by. And those who
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Speaker 1: walk in the light are characterized by a couple of things. One,
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Speaker 1: these individuals are characterized by the unity that they have
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Speaker 1: with one another. Folks, when we're not walking in the light,
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Speaker 1: we don't have unity with people who are amen. As
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Speaker 1: a matter of fact, when you start inching over towards sin.
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Speaker 1: Have you noticed this, When you start inching over towards sin,
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Speaker 1: you don't want to be around godly people. Maybe that's
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Speaker 1: just me. Maybe you guys have never had that experience
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Speaker 1: before in your life. Maybe you've never been in a
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Speaker 1: situation where all of a sudden, a dark shadow is
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Speaker 1: coming over you because of some things that you've been about,
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Speaker 1: or you've been exposed to or whatever. And as this
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Speaker 1: dark shadow comes over you, last thing you want is
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Speaker 1: those light people. You can't say amen. You ought to
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Speaker 1: say ouch. That's the first thing that we're characterized by. Secondly,
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Speaker 1: we're characterized by the fact that we're washed in the
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Speaker 1: blood of Jesus. That's why, and that's how we walk
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Speaker 1: in the light. The blood of Jesus cleanses us. That's
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Speaker 1: how we walk in the light. That's why we walk
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Speaker 1: in the light. Again, the imputed righteousness of Christ, the
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Speaker 1: blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin. Christ
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Speaker 1: died for sin, once for all, the just, for the unjust,
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Speaker 1: in order that he might bring us back to God.
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Speaker 1: This washing, this cleansing that is ours, is what brings
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Speaker 1: us to the light. Listen to this Isaiah chapter nine,
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Speaker 1: verse two. The people who walked in darkness have seen
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Speaker 1: a great light those who dwelt in a land of
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Speaker 1: deep darkness on them has light shined? Anybody claiming that
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Speaker 1: in here as me? Amen, listen to John twelve thirty five.
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Speaker 1: So Jesus said to them, the light is among you
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Speaker 1: for a little while. Longer walk while you have the light,
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Speaker 1: let's darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the
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Speaker 1: darkness does not know where he is going.
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Speaker 2: While you have the light.
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Speaker 1: Believe in the light that you may become sons of light.
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Speaker 1: Believe in the light that you may become sons of life,
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Speaker 1: sons of light. How by believing, placing your faith in
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. We talk about it all the time. Repentance, faith,
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Speaker 1: that's how you become these children of light. You don't
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Speaker 1: walk in light so that you can become a child
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Speaker 1: of light. You become a child of light by being
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Speaker 1: adopted into the family of the Father who is light.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: And the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing you thereby allowing
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Speaker 1: you and propelling you into walking in light. Don't we
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Speaker 1: see this as well in Ephesians. Look with me if
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Speaker 1: you will turn to Ephesians chapter two. For by grace
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Speaker 1: you have been saved through faith. And this is not
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Speaker 1: of your own doing. It is the gift of God,
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Speaker 1: not as a result of works, so that no one
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Speaker 1: may boast. And then verse ten, For we are His workmanship,
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Speaker 1: created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
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Speaker 1: that we should walk in them. Whatever good work I'm
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Speaker 1: walking in, God prepared beforehand that I should walk in it.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: It is He who works in me both the will
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Speaker 1: and to do his good pleasure. I walk in the
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Speaker 1: light because of the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. I'm
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Speaker 1: characterized by walking in the light. And because I'm characterized
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Speaker 1: by that, when darkness comes, that darkness is not who
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Speaker 1: I am. That darkness comes, That's what I know.
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Speaker 2: I got a problem.
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Speaker 1: Amen, when I sin. The reason that that sin doesn't
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Speaker 1: sit well with me is because that's not who I am.
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Speaker 1: And as we walk and as we are sanctified, we
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Speaker 1: have less and less of an appetite for those things
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Speaker 1: that we used to feast on.
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Speaker 2: And that's good news.
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Speaker 1: That's good news because of the blood of Jesus that
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Speaker 1: washes us and cleanses us, that propels us to walking
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Speaker 1: in the light. Look at this Revelation twenty one twenty three,
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Speaker 1: and the city has no need of sun or moon
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Speaker 1: to shine on it, for the Glory of God gives
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Speaker 1: it light, and its lamp is the lamb. And again
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Speaker 1: Revelation twenty two and five. Night will be no more.
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Speaker 1: They will need no light of a lamp or sun,
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Speaker 1: for the Lord God will be their light, and they
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Speaker 1: will reign forever and ever.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Amen, here's another thing we're characterized by. We confess in
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Speaker 1: we forsake darkness. Look at the next part of our
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Speaker 1: passage here in first John, look.
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Speaker 2: At verse eight.
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Speaker 1: Verses eight through ten kind of make a sandwich. Eight
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Speaker 1: and ten our almost direct repeats of one another. He
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Speaker 1: just says it more forcefully in verse ten. But look
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Speaker 1: at verse eight. If we say we have no sin,
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Speaker 1: we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
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Speaker 1: Now you may be asking yourself, okay, who would say that?
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Speaker 2: Well?
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Speaker 1: First of all, those modern day gnostics would say that
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Speaker 1: these books here, these books that I just read for
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Speaker 1: you from early earlier, these books would say that these
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Speaker 1: books would not acknowledge any sin in you. Your only
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Speaker 1: problem is you don't recognize your divinity. Your only problem
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Speaker 1: is you're not thinking on the right wavelength, and therefore
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Speaker 1: you're not attracting to yourself the right things. That's your problem.
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Speaker 1: Your problem's not sin. But you know, the Gnostics also
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Speaker 1: taught this. Listen to this, since salvation is not dependent
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Speaker 1: upon faith or works, but upon the knowledge of one's
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Speaker 1: true nature. Sound like king just out of here. These
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Speaker 1: are the Gnostics. Some Gnostics indulged deliberately in licentious behavior. Carpocrates,
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Speaker 1: for example, urged his followers to sin, and his son
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Speaker 1: Epiphanes taught that promisedity was God's law. Look at what
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Speaker 1: John says. If we say we have no sin, we
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Speaker 1: deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. There
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Speaker 1: are also those who teach perfectionism. Now, perfectionism is the
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Speaker 1: idea that believers come to a place of sinlessness, that
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Speaker 1: sanctification is completed here on earth, and that believers come
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Speaker 1: to a place of sinlessness, to which John says as well,
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Speaker 1: if we say we have no sin, we've deceived ourselves
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Speaker 1: and the truth is not in us.
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Speaker 2: We do have sin. Here's the other side of it.
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Speaker 1: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
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Speaker 1: to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us for
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Speaker 1: all unrighteousness. Two categories of people sin deniers and sin confessors.
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Speaker 1: One category of people is a category of people who
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Speaker 1: say that they're not sinful or not sinful enough to matter.
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Speaker 1: The other category of people is a group of people
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Speaker 1: who confess that that word, literally in the Greek means
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Speaker 1: to say the same thing as they say about their sin,
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Speaker 1: what God says about their sin. They acknowledge, they announce,
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Speaker 1: and they forsake their sin because it's displeasing to God.
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Speaker 1: And in verse ten, he comes back and closes the
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Speaker 1: door on it. If we say we have not sinned,
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Speaker 1: we make him a liar and his word is not
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Speaker 1: in us. I want to spend a couple of minutes
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Speaker 1: on this from a theological perspective, because here's how we
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Speaker 1: have a tendency to look at this. Listen to this
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Speaker 1: by from Charles Rray in Ryley's Study Bible. His point
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Speaker 1: about first tiwn one nine forgiveness and fellowship within the
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Speaker 1: family of God is restored when we confess. Conversely, if
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Speaker 1: it's restored when we confess, it's taken away when we sin.
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Speaker 1: Our forgiveness is taken away when we sin. Our fellowship
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Speaker 1: is taken away when we sin. I don't believe Rary
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Speaker 1: means this in the way he says it, because the
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Speaker 1: way he says it makes it sound almost like the
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Speaker 1: Catholic concept of forgiveness. For example, why do people have
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Speaker 1: such a problem with the idea of suicide? Again, I
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Speaker 1: have such a problem with is probably not the best
39:18
Speaker 1: way to phrase it, but why do people struggle so
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Speaker 1: much with the idea of what happens to a believer
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Speaker 1: who is a believer for real, who committed suicide? Here's
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Speaker 1: why they have a problem. Your last act was a
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Speaker 1: sin for which you could not confess, and if you
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Speaker 1: couldn't confess, you couldn't receive forgiveness.
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Speaker 2: Just like that, it's over.
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Speaker 1: Because you got to confess it in order to be
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Speaker 1: forgiven of it, right I mean, I mean it would
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Speaker 1: seem like that's what we're reading here. If it hadn't
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Speaker 1: been confessed, you haven't forget given of it, and forgiveness
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Speaker 1: is removed and fellowship is removed because you didn't confess.
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Speaker 1: There's a couple of problems with that idea. And again
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Speaker 1: I'm not saying that this is what Rory is trying
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Speaker 1: to communicate, But here's the first problem with that idea.
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Speaker 1: Look at the scripture again contextually. Look at verse nine
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Speaker 1: and what verse nine says, if we confess our sins,
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Speaker 1: he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
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Speaker 1: and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, all unrighteousness. This is
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Speaker 1: a reference to what Christ does in salvation. This is
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Speaker 1: a reference to that category of people who are confessors
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Speaker 1: of sins, who are born again because they acknowledge their
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Speaker 1: sin before God and they are cleansed and they are
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Speaker 1: forgiven for their sins.
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Speaker 2: In Toto here's the second problem. If we hold to
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Speaker 2: this idea, if we confess.
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Speaker 1: Our sins, here, faithful and Justine give us our sins
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Speaker 1: and cleanses of all and righteousness. The other side of that,
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Speaker 1: of course, is if we commit a sin and that
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Speaker 1: particular sin is not confessed, then we don't have forgiveness
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Speaker 1: for that particular sin, and we don't have any cleansing
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Speaker 1: from that particular sin. What does that do to the
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Speaker 1: context of the rest of this paragraph? Look at what
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Speaker 1: he says. If we say we have fellowship with Him
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Speaker 1: while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not
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Speaker 1: practice the truth. If I do an act of darkness,
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Speaker 1: does that mean that I'm no longer part of the
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Speaker 1: Kingdom of light? Are we losing and regaining our salvation
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Speaker 1: over and over and over again?
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Speaker 2: Is that the case.
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Speaker 1: No, that's not the case. That's not the case here.
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Speaker 1: That's not what's being spoken of here. Let me give
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Speaker 1: you three three comments on this passage scripture to help us,
41:55
Speaker 1: and I.
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Speaker 2: Think it's very important.
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Speaker 1: Normally I don't like to sort of draw out a
41:58
Speaker 1: lot of different comments from different commons on these short
42:00
Speaker 1: of subjects. But I think it's very important that we
42:03
Speaker 1: understand the nuances here versus scripture, so that we can
42:07
Speaker 1: be freed up.
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Speaker 2: In this area. Listen to this one first from Daniel Aacan.
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Speaker 1: The claim to be without sin probably arose from John's
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Speaker 1: opponents understanding that fellowship with the Holy God required one
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Speaker 1: to be sinless. Verses eight and ten are essentially parallel.
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Speaker 1: The heretics argued that the condition for fellowship with the
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Speaker 1: Father is sinlessness. Therefore they claimed to be sinless. Yet
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Speaker 1: in this very claim they rejected God's word, deceived themselves,
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Speaker 1: and made God out to be a liar. Sinlessness is
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Speaker 1: theirs by virtue of life in Christ alone. It cannot
42:46
Speaker 1: be located merely within themselves. Fellowship with God requires sinlessness,
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Speaker 1: Therefore we're sinless. No fellowship with God requires sinlessness, and
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Speaker 1: the only way you get that is through the imputed
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Speaker 1: righteousness of Christ. Otherwise, you know, I die and I
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Speaker 1: face God and he goes, I'm gonna What's that is that?
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Speaker 1: The list of my sins that are under the blood. Now,
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Speaker 1: these are the ones that you forgot to confess. This
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Speaker 1: is why you can't come into my kingdom, because you
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Speaker 1: forgot to confess these right here and every last one
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Speaker 1: of us has millions upon millions, upon multiplied millions of
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Speaker 1: sins that we forgot to confess. If that's the meaning
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Speaker 1: of this verse, we're in trouble. Well, here's how some
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Speaker 1: people deal with it. Lord, forgive me for my sins
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Speaker 1: and all those that I've forgotten. Listen to this one
43:54
Speaker 1: from Calvin. He again promises to the faithful that God
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Speaker 1: will be propitious to them, provided they acknowledge themselves to
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Speaker 1: be sinners. I love that Calvin says, provided they acknowledge
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Speaker 1: themselves to be sinners. It is of great moment to
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Speaker 1: be fully persuaded that when we have sinned, there is
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Speaker 1: reconciliation with God ready and prepared for us. We shall
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Speaker 1: otherwise carry always a hell within us. Few indeed, consider
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Speaker 1: how miserable and wretched is a doubting conscience. But the
44:27
Speaker 1: truth is that hell reigns where there is no peace
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Speaker 1: with God. There more than it becomes us to receive
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Speaker 1: with the whole heart this promise, which offers free pardon
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Speaker 1: to all who confess their sins. Again, Calvin is talking
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Speaker 1: about this in the broader sense, you confess your sinfulness.
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Speaker 1: In other words, this is what salvation is. We come
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Speaker 1: to a place of repentance and faith. We become sin confessors.
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Speaker 1: We acknowledge who we are. Yes, all have sinned, falls
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Speaker 1: short of the glory of God, and I'm part of all. Amen, Hallelujah,
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Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. I agree with God that I am
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Speaker 1: a sinner and that the only answer for my sin
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Speaker 1: problem is Jesus Christ, the righteous One. He must wash
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Speaker 1: me and I must have his righteousness. He must take
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Speaker 1: on him my sinfulness. And one final one from John Gill,
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Speaker 1: and this I believe puts perhaps the finest, perhaps the
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Speaker 1: finest point on it, and helps us grapple with this
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Speaker 1: forgiveness of sin. Here intends not the act of forgiveness
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Speaker 1: as in God proceeding upon the bloodshed and sacrifice of Christ,
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Speaker 1: which is done at once and includes all sin past,
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Speaker 1: present and to come.
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Speaker 2: That's very important.
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Speaker 1: At salvation, we're forgiven at once for all sin, past,
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Speaker 1: present and future.
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Speaker 2: That's what salvation is.
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Speaker 1: We have eternal life as a present possession, and it's
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Speaker 1: not contingent.
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Speaker 2: Upon anything that I do or have done.
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Speaker 1: So we got to read first John, chapter one and
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Speaker 1: verse nine in light of that overall theological reality. Okay,
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Speaker 1: but he says it's not that but an application of
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Speaker 1: pardoning grace to a poor, sensible sinner humbled under a
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Speaker 1: sense of sin and confessing it before the Lord. And
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Speaker 1: confession of sin is not the cause or condition of pardon,
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Speaker 1: nor of the manifestation of it, but is descriptive of
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Speaker 1: the person and points him out to whom God will
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Speaker 1: and does make known his forgiveness and love. Please don't
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Speaker 1: miss that, Gil says, this active confession is not what
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Speaker 1: brings about the pardon. This active confession is evidence of
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Speaker 1: the pardon. He confesses his sin because of who he is,
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Speaker 1: confesses his sin because he knows God, and it grieves him.
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Speaker 1: For to whomever he grants repentance, he gives the remission
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Speaker 1: of sin and doing of which he is faithful to
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Speaker 1: his word of promise.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: So here's here's what First John one nine doesn't say.
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Speaker 1: First John one nine does not teach that, first of all,
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Speaker 1: a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, one who is
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Speaker 1: born again, one is truly regenerate, one who is truly saved,
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Speaker 1: who has come to repentance and faith. First John one
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Speaker 1: nine does not teach that there's another step that you
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Speaker 1: have to go through in order to make sure you
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Speaker 1: get to heaven. And the other step is you have
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Speaker 1: to make sure that you do the work of confession,
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Speaker 1: because if you don't do the work of confession, then
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Speaker 1: the work of Christ on the cross it's null and
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Speaker 1: void because it was not powerful enough to do that
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Speaker 1: part for you. That's not what First John one nine teaches.
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Speaker 1: Nor does First John one nine teach the Catholic view
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Speaker 1: that somehow this removal is there until we perform this
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Speaker 1: act and then it's sort of restored. That's not what
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Speaker 1: First John one nine teaches. It doesn't, But it also
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Speaker 1: doesn't teach that we never again confess. Don't miss that
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Speaker 1: part of Gil's statement either. It doesn't teach that we
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Speaker 1: never again confess. Listen again, let me read again what
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Speaker 1: Gil says. But an application of pardoning grace to a poor,
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Speaker 1: sensible sinner humbled under a sense of sin and confessing
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Speaker 1: it before the Lord, and confession of sin is not
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Speaker 1: the cause or condition of pardon, nor of the manifestation
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Speaker 1: of it, but is descriptive of the person and points
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Speaker 1: him out. If you are truly converted, you you are
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Speaker 1: truly born again, and Jesus Christ has cleansed you and
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Speaker 1: made you whole. And he's washed away your sins, past,
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Speaker 1: president and future. You know, one of the things that
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Speaker 1: will characterize you when you sin and become aware of it,
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Speaker 1: you'll confess it. Amen, sin grieves you. You're washed in
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Speaker 1: the blood of Christ, and sin grieves you. And one
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Speaker 1: of the marks of those individuals is the confession of sin.
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Speaker 2: God, that was sin.
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Speaker 1: I agree with you that that was sin. I know
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Speaker 1: that grieves you. It's one of the things for which
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Speaker 1: Christ had died. I plead his blood and forgiveness right now,
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Speaker 1: and thank you that He has provided for that. We
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Speaker 1: are perpetual confessors of sin. It is a part of
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Speaker 1: what marks us. But we've got to make sure that
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Speaker 1: we're careful and that we don't run off the reservation
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Speaker 1: to this place that has us shackled to what is,
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Speaker 1: in essence a work added to salvation. The confession of
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Speaker 1: sin is not a work added to salvation. Being a
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Speaker 1: sin confessor is part of what characterizes us as us
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Speaker 1: and not them, And being a sin confessor is part
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Speaker 1: and parcel of who we are and the way we live,
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Speaker 1: just like walking in the light. So we don't claim sinlessness.
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Speaker 1: On the one hand, so we don't look at our
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Speaker 1: actions and say our actions weren't sinful. And secondly, we
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Speaker 1: aren't characterized by callousness. We sin, and all of a
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Speaker 1: sudden we go, oh yeah, is under the blood? No,
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Speaker 1: absolutely not. Jesus Christ purchased my pardon with his blood.
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Speaker 1: When I sin, that must grieve me.
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Speaker 2: It must.
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Speaker 1: So as we look here at this first test, ask
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Speaker 1: yourself the pertinent questions, which of these characterizes you? Are
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Speaker 1: you one who walks in light or are you one
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Speaker 1: who walks in darkness? Which one is your way of life?
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Speaker 1: Are you a light liver or a darkness dweller?
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Speaker 2: Which is you?
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Speaker 1: Where are you at home and the light are in
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Speaker 1: the dark? And second, what's your attitude towards sin? Are
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Speaker 1: you a sin denier or a sin confessor?
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Speaker 2: Which is you? Does sin delight you or does it
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Speaker 2: grieve you? Which is you?
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Speaker 1: Because the way we answer these questions is indicative of
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Speaker 1: whose we are. But notice in both instances. I want
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Speaker 1: you to see this in both instances. First of all,
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Speaker 1: look at verse seven. We walk to the light as
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Speaker 1: he is in the light. We have fellowship with one another,
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Speaker 1: and the blood of Jesus's son cleanses us from all sin.
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Speaker 1: How we cleansed the blood of Jesus and then verse
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Speaker 1: look at verse nine, we confess our sins. He is
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Speaker 1: faithful and justin forgive us as our sins and cleanse
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Speaker 1: us of all unrighteousness. The only way to not be
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Speaker 1: a darkness dweller is through the cleansing work.
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Speaker 2: Of the Son of God.
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Speaker 1: The only way to be a seen confessor instead of
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Speaker 1: a sin denier is through the cleansing work of Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 1: the son of the Living God. That's our only answer.
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Speaker 1: So here's what one John one five through ten is
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Speaker 1: not teaching. You better work harder, try to walk like
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Speaker 1: those light people are not those darkness people.
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Speaker 2: You better count your sins more carefully.
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Speaker 1: It's not what it's teaching. It's just asking a real
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Speaker 1: simple question, and a real simple question. Is this, which
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Speaker 1: one of these camps do you belong to? And as
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Speaker 1: you answer, answer from your life and not your lips
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Speaker 1: to which camp do you belong? How is your life characterized?
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Speaker 2: Who are you? Are you?
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Speaker 1: His as is evidenced by the fruit born in your
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Speaker 1: life as a result of the cleansing blood of Jesus
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Speaker 1: Christ being applied to you through repentance and faith or
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Speaker 1: are you not, which is evidenced by darkness being the
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Speaker 1: place where you're at ease and sin being something that
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Speaker 1: you don't very much like to confess. There's always an excuse,
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Speaker 1: there's always an answer, there's always a reason. It's never
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Speaker 1: just flat out, bald face I sin. I agree with God.
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Speaker 1: It's not the product of the way I was raised.
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Speaker 1: It's not just a preference. It's not just something that
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Speaker 1: I'm inclined to. It's not a disease. It is sin,
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Speaker 1: pure and simple, and it is ugly, and I hate
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Speaker 1: it because God hates it, and I'm bringing it to
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Speaker 1: the throne.
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Speaker 2: That's how we act towards sin and the Kingdom of light.
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Speaker 2: Let's buy