The Light and the darkness

Introduction:

Outside of these doors on any given day of the week we see people living their lives. By their outward appearance we can see what kind of lives they live. Sometimes by peoples apparel we see what job they have. We also see what interests’ people have and what they believe in. Many times, it can be as simple as seeing the front of someone’s shirt or before you would go into the store the bumper stickers on people’s cars can tell you what they believe in or what interests them. The so called ‘coexist’ bumper sticker drives me nuts! Some of these shirts or stickers we would nod and concur with if it fits our personal interests, or if it is an organization we support. But some of them we would look at sorrowfully and maybe even have some righteous anger toward. Some of them we may shake our head at and make a comment. There are many ways that human life is expressed whether it is for the glory of God or not. This morning I want to build off of last week’s sermon. We started at the beginning. This week let’s see what the Almighty is telling us as He not only dictates the beginning, but life itself. I have titled this sermon The Light and the darkness which comes directly from the text. Turn in your Bibles, once again, to 1 John 1. We are going to read verses 5-7 and as we do I want us to consider three points 1. God, our example for living (v.5), 2. Hypocritical Living (v.6), and 3. Godly Living (v.7). Let’s read together. Read the verses.

1. God, our example for living (v.5)

The text begs us to begin with God, who is the example for living. This section begins as a conjunction to the prior 4 verses. What we are going to see ultimately in verses 5-10 is the message from the One who was in the beginning. Early on we see the authority of God. Because He was in the beginning and has made all things, He has every authoritative right to exact His will over all of creation. And, yes, that includes human beings!

So, what is this message from Christ? The message holds the premise for the verses that follow. That is that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. For the Christian who might ask, “How do I live like Christ”? and “What does God want me to do”? we get an answer here in the very essence of God being light. What do I mean? Well, think of it this way, God is the One who is light and because He is light and there is no darkness found in Him, we have the path set before us bright and shining. Does this mean that we are always able to walk down this path with utmost confidence knowing where we are going? We should, but we don’t. That old sinful nature gets in the way. However, with God there is no sin, no darkness, just pure, unfiltered light. This describes who God is. So, who is God? The simple answer that John gives us is that God is light.

Why is this so important for us to consider? It is important for us to consider because the God that we serve is in and of Himself pure light. He is the imprint of purity. God being light does not only mean that He is bright and radiant, but that He is perfectly pure without stain. Further, this means that He is absolutely true. He holds truth in His hand. He who is pure Light is He who is pure and complete truth.

Another reason we should consider this, is because God is light, we are expected to follow after Him in the light as we will see in a few verses. This stems off of what we looked at last week. We live our lives for a reason and, ultimately, it is to follow after God and live for His glory. We see this similarly in John 8:12 where Jesus says, in one of His I Am statements, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.” We will look into this further a little later.

The word for darkness in verse 5 refers to spiritual darkness. God is pure spiritual Light and there is no spiritual darkness in Him at all. This means that He cannot associate with the darkness. Therefore, the Mormons have it wrong when they say that “both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers” (Ensign- Mormon Publication). Our text in 1 John tells us the exact opposite. If God is light there is absolutely no darkness in Him at all, Jesus and Satan could not be brothers. It is impossible that Satan would have been birthed or even come from the Father in his sinful state. Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” This doesn’t sound like someone who is of the light, does it?

Be encouraged this morning, we serve the God who is light! The One who illumines our path in this Christian life.

2. Hypocritical Living (v.6)

Look with me at verse 6. I believe that this verse could be summed up by two words and they are Hypocritical living which is our second point. Taking this verse at face value it is clear to see that it is admonishing or warning anyone who says they believe in God to ensure that their lives are the outpouring of that belief. The word fellowship is a familiar word to us. It is used the same way it was in verse 3. There are many today who say they are Christians. But what about their lives? Remember what James 2 says? Turn there for a moment. Let’s read verses 14-18. Read the verses. If we were just to read verse 17, we would have enough evidence that works are the outpouring of our faith. So, do people who say they believe but live differently have the same fellowship with us and with the Father and the Son? No! They do not.

How about you? Do you know anyone who fits this mold? I can remember, on multiple occasions, talking with people about where they stood with the Lord. Most times, I would get a response like this “yeah, I am a Christian” or “yeah, I believe in Jesus”, but when I would ask the person a few questions, I could quickly see that they may have believed in Jesus but it was their own version of Jesus and not the One in the Bible. John is getting at this kind of person in verse 6. This person has a shallow, unbiblical “belief” in Christ, yet this person’s life is marred by unrighteous living. Listen to James Montgomery Boice explain this, “Here, to “walk in darkness” means to sin habitually. The present tense indicates a continual practice of that which is opposed to God.”

As we get to know people, must be on the alert for those who say they are of the sheepfold, but are instead ravenous wolves. Jude describes them in verses 12, 13, and 16 saying, “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit.”

To summarize this point, even though there are people who might say they are of the Light, the exact opposite is true. Our text that Chuck read for us today told us that. There is a hatred of the Light and yet in the same breath they say they are of the Light. You cannot get much more hypocritical than that.

Yet, I believe that this verse speaks not only to blatant unbelievers, but it also is a warning for believers. Even though John is not directly condemning a specific group of people, this as well as verse 5 and the verses following up until verse 10 speak as a warning for Christians. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” There is great consequence for hypocritical living. Look to the end of verse 6. Not only is this type of lifestyle hypocritical, but is full of deceit and untruth. The exact opposite of who God is, is on display here. As we noted earlier, God is absolute truth and in Him is nothing but the truth. This is a warning for you and for me! Our lives must not be marked this way, and if we see our lives headed in this deceitful manner of life, run to the Word, read it and be washed anew! Be in prayer both privately and corporately. Cling to the brethren who are here to bear with one another. This is how we as Christians can come alongside one another, lifting one another up, that we may continue to grow in Christlikeness.

3. Godly Living (v.7)

Let’s look at verse 7 and consider Godly living. This verse summarizes for us the Christian life. If you were to be asked what is the Christian life it could be summarized by saying “we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” We know that the word ‘walk’ is not a walk in the park, but the daily lives that we live as Christians. This includes both the exciting and the mundane. I remember being asked once, “How can I glorify God in the mundane aspects of life?” The answer is clear, by walking in the Light as He is in the Light. We are called to follow Christ and live as He did, pure and undefiled lives in the mundane, but rather in life as a whole.

We are blessed by living a life that would honor and glorify God. How so? We get to do life with others. Hear Psalm 89:15 and 16, “How blessed are the people who know the loud shout of joy! O Yahweh, they walk in the light of Your face. In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted.” Do you see it? Christian, you and I are those who are blessed and who sing triumphantly because of the work of the Lord. And if you notice, nowhere in 1 John does it give a qualifier or condition. This is all of life! In all of life we walk after the Lord, so you are blessed in the special times of life, but also in the mundane.

Lastly, and the absolute best part of verse 7 is that we are cleansed from all of our sin by the blood of Christ. Yes, this means every single sin, even the ones that you have forgotten to repent of. I am convinced that we truly do not know how easy it is to sin and therefore the amount of sin we commit each day. We are cleansed, which means that the evil that we do is washed away. All sin is evil. Today, the word sin is used lightly, as in a bad thing that is done, or I messed up. However, God looks at sin and is disgusted by it, He is abhorred by it. Therefore, as we look at the cleansing work of Christ, how wonderful and beautiful it is that our disgusting selves are cleansed and that He is willing to cleanse us! May we not think of evil, merely as an evil person like a Vladimir Putin or an Adolf Hitler. Because if we were honest, there is some rotten evil sin committed that could be said of us, but praise be to God that He sent Christ, His One and only Son, so that man could be forgiven and cleansed from every, single sin.

Conclusion:

God has told us who He is. He is the epitome of light and in Him resides no darkness. So, this morning, brothers, are you living more like the hypocrite described in verse 6? Or can it be said of you that you are enjoying sweet fellowship with God and Christ His Son as it is described in verse 7? We have a powerful God who cleanses us from all of our sins! Press on Christian! That you would follow in the light of God through the power of Christ’s shed blood, and by the leading of the Holy Spirit!

Benediction:

Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.