I. To be in fellowship with God you must Live in the Light with God Vs. 5-7

Test of Fellowship

1 John 1:5-10

When Balen was a young boy He gave me quite a scare, he hid from me and I could not find him, I thought he had disappeared and was about to call the police when he stood up from behind a chair in his room. I was angry and him and could have beaten his little butt. His actions broke our fellowship (he was out of favor) but not our relationship.

Among all the heresy being taught in Ephesus (early gnosticism) was the belief that you could be in sin and fellowship with God at the same time.

›CPS: As Christians when we sin we break fellowship with God but if we confess our sin He is faithful and right to restore the our fellowship.

Are you living in fellowship with God or is there sin in your life that is hindering your walking hand in hand with the Lord?

I. To be in fellowship with God you must Live in the Light with God Vs. 5-7

God is light, He is absolutely perfect Righteousness, He is holy holy holy. In Him is not a single speck of darkness (blemish), to have fellowship with holy God you must walk in obedience to Him, walk in the light as He is in the Light, because God cannot and will not tolerate sin. As impossible as it may be, God made appropriations for the sin problem, Judicial forgiveness through the blood of God (which must first take place). In this forgiveness there is the great exchange, your filth for His righteousness. Parental forgiveness, is the forgiveness of a father which restores fellowship between the Christian and God. It is important to understand that the emphasis of this passage is the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all present sin (that sin which breaks fellowship, disobedence!).

A. The light - Absolute Moral Purity… HOLINESS (Obedience) GOD!

- Absolutely perfect Psalm 92:15

B. The Dark - Immoral Filth (Disobedience)We do not the truth but live a lie

- Fellowship (koinonia) (4x in 1 John) Joined intimately as one. The Hebrew Idea Exodus 26:6

God cant look upon sin. Hab. 1:13a

- Sins of Commission and Sins Omission

C.. Parental Forgiveness vs. Judicial Forgiveness

- ALL sin! There is no sin too large for God to forgive

Charles Finney was preaching a great revival in Detroit. After service one night a man approached him and asked him to come home with him. A man who new the man warned Finney not to go with him because he was no good. But, Finney still went. When they came to the man’s house they entered and then the door was locked and a revolver was pulled. “Don’t be afraid Mr. Finney, I’m not going to shoot you. I heard you preach tonight about the Lord Jesus Christ. This revolver has killed four men. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Finney replied, “the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanseth us from all sin.”

The man answered. “but you do not understand, down below this apartment where you are sitting is a saloon. I have helped send men down the road to hell; I have helped men rob their own little babies of food and milk. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Finney replied, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin!”

The man continued, “but, you don't understand. I have been a gambler all of my life. I have spent my life taking money from people illegally. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Finney said “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

The man persisted, “Across the street from this establishment there is a little home where there is a wife I have abused; a little girl who is disfigured. One night in a drunken stupor, I came home from drinking and gambling and she ran to pt her arms around me and in my drunkenness I pushed her away, she hit the heater and is hopelessly disfigured. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Finney said, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Mr. Finney soon left. Te next morning the man stumbled across the street, he had been awake all night praying. He went inside his home and stumbled upstairs to his room. In a little while his wife said to the little girl, “tell your daddy it’s time for breakfast.”

She went upstairs and said, “Mama says its time for breakfast.”

The man said, “Maggie, darling, I do not want breakfast today.”

She ran back down stairs and said “Mama, daddy said he doesn't want breakfast and he called me darling!”

Her mother said, “you made a mistake, go tell him again.”

In a moment the man stumbled downstairs, took his wife in his arms and his daughter on his knee. “Oh wife” he wept, “I have sinned against you like few man has ever sinned against anyone, but last night I heard the preacher preach. I heard about Jesus and the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all my sin. “You have a new husband, and daughter you have a new daddy.”

The emphasis is on Parental!

II. To be in fellowship with God you must Live in Agreement with God. Vs. 8-10

If we say that we do not have sin in our lives we are lying and covering it up with pretense. However, if you agree with God about the filth your sin He will certainly give us Parental Forgiveness and cleanse us from our filthiness. But if we disagree with what God says about sin then we make Him a liar and His Word untruthful and therefore you are in spiritual darkness and not a Son of God.

A. The Human Nature (Sin) (Singular)

- What we are is a lot worse that what we have done!

B. The Human Agreement (sins) what we have done

- Confess is more than a shallow reciting of our misdeeds. It means agreeing with God about the filth of our wrong doing and brigingour lives into line with God's goodness and commands.

C. The Human diffrence

- to claim to be without sin is to claim to be on par with God. But God says there is no one like Him! (Is. 45:18)