Walking in Authority: The Light 4
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1 John 1:5-10
1 John 1:5-10
Pray
Before we get into the text for this morning, I want to briefly finish my thoughts on Matthew 5:13
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
In that verse Jesus is talking about salt.
We are the alt of the earth.
If salt loses it’s saltiness, what use is it?
Is it thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
We talked about this verses in context of the corporate church.
We talked last time about one aspect of being the salt of the earth in regard to our personal walk with Jesus.
Last time I focused on salt as a preservative.
We have a personal responsibility to preserve our faith with integrity.
To choose to walk with the Lord, as Paul puts it, “in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
We have been called to faith by a Holy God.
We have been Saved from sin by a Risen Savior.
We have been reconciled by the spotless Lamb.
We are being sanctified by the presence of God through His Holy Spirit.
Walk in a manner that recognizes the work that God is doing in your life.
Walk with integrity and reverence toward our Lord.
I am going to say it again, Be Salty.
Preserve out of your reverence for God your faith and trust.
This leads into the second thought regarding salt.
Don’t lose your flavor.
Salt seasons.
It adds flavor.
Don’t lose your flavor.
Jesus tells us in Matthew that we are the salt of the earth.
If this is the definition of the people of God given by Jesus, are we then living out this definition?
Are we seasoning our lives with His Word?
Are we allowing His Word to transform us?
To preserve us?
This should be a focus of your faith.
Are you investing time in the study of His Word? Are you investing time in walking out your faith?
Are you allowing faith to season your life.
Meaning, does your faith in Jesus direct your path?
Does your faith in Jesus guide your thinking?
It should.
Our faith should be central to all aspects of our lives.
Our love for Jesus should be the basis for all of the things we say, think and do.
Faith should season us like salt.
Remember, Jesus says if we are not these things, we have lost our saltiness and are not useful.
If we choose to reject the sanctification of the Lord, we choose to lose out saltiness.
Is your saltiness evident to others?
In our relationships, is our faith evident?
In our friendships or work relationships, do other people see our faith through our character?
through our speech and behaviors?
Faith should season us.
Last point I want to make about personal saltiness.
Salt causes us to thirst.
Jesus tells us in verse 6.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that we have come to recognize the only source to be made right with a Holy God.
Jesus is the only source of nourishment with the authority to Redeem us from sin.
To hunger and thirst is to seek out His authority.
To submit ourselves to His leading.
To pursue our Messiah with our whole being.
To walk in His footsteps as we strive to be like Him.
As we thirst for His righteousness, He promises that we will be filled.
Jesus promises us as we seek Him, we will be filled.
We will be equipped.
We will be build up on a firm foundation.
If we seek after His righteousness, we will remain salty.
We will remain covered under His authority.
I ask you?
Are you hungering and thirsting after the Word of God?
Are you seeking His council in your life?
Are you striving to apply the Word to your life?
Do you recognize that our faith is not only about what we do on Sunday morning?
Our faith is something that directs us everyday.
Our faith is central to who we are.
As we hunger and thirst for His Word, as we seek to live out our faith, Jesus promises that we will be filled.
Jesus promises to be there with us leading, guiding and protecting along the way.
These are all aspects of hungering and thirsting for His Word.
One other aspect of being salty.
Are we causing others to be thirst?
Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth.
As salt seeking after His righteousness, we should cause others to thirst as well.
During our interactions with others, do others know that we are Christians?
Does our faith inform the person we are?
This is something you must examine in yourself.
Does my life serve as a testimony of the love and mercy of Jesus?
Am I causing others to thirst after the Savior?
Am I leading others who also thirst to the source of Living Water?
This is who we should be.
We should be a people who hunger and thirst for the Word.
We should be a people following our Savior.
And we should be a people who are causing others to thist as well because we are salt.
If we honestly, with integrity choose to be salt.
To submit the the authority of Jesus in our lives.
To follow our Savior with reverence, we will never lose our saltiness.
What is the warning of Jesus if we loose saltiness?
We will be thrown out and trampled under foot be men.
This is something that I pray will never happen.
We are called to be bold in our day.
To stand upon the Word of truth and declare the hope of Jesus to this world.
Be salty.
Amen!
Look at Matthew 5:14
We are going to talk about verses 15 and 16 next time.
This morning I want to focus on verse 14
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
What is Jesus telling us in this verse?
We are the Light of this world.
First I want to clarify what type of Light Jesus is referring to in this statement.
Is Jesus saying that we, as humanity, are the source of light that illuminates this world?
No.
Jesus is saying that we are conduits of His Light.
In our Salvation we can allow His Light to shine through us.
Turn to 1 John 1
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
God is Light.
In Him there is no darkness.
If we walk in THE Light as He is The Light we will have fellowship with God and one another.
The blood of Jesus purifies us from sin.
Jesus reconciles us to a Holy God.
We are made right only because of Jesus.
It is essential for us then to recognize the need for a Savior.
To recognize that we need Jesus to Redeem us.
John warns us of this.
Verse 1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
If we claim we are without sin.
Meaning we do not need His Light.
We don’t need His correction.
We don’t need His direction.
We don’t need to recognize His authority.
We can do things on our own.
If we claim to be without sin, not needing a Savior to Redeem us.
We don’t need to submit to the authority of God.
We don’t need to come in line with His order.
We can do it our way.
If we claim to be without sin.
If we claim to not need the authority of Jesus in our lives:
Then we deceive ourselves.
And the truth is not in us.
Not only this but if we claim to be without sin we make Him out to be a liar and His Word is not in us.
Meaning His Word, the Word of truth is not in us.
But the promise here is if we confess our sin.
If we respond to the authority of God in our lives.
Then we are forgiven.
If we submit to His authority, He will purify us.
This is the promise to the one who recognizes the authority of God.
Pastor Chris talked about a plague falling upon the church.
He talked about hypocrisy.
Giving lip service to God, but living a lifestyle that is contradictory to the authority of Jesus.
The root of this plague is pride.
We build ourselves us suggesting that we do not need to submit to the authority of God in our lives.
We build ourselves us and make church all about me.
There are some especially in the western church
Go back to the instruction Jesus gives us in Matthew.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Jesus says you are the light of the world.
We rightly discerned the type of light Jesus is referring to just a moment ago.
Humanity is not the light that the world needs.
Jesus is the Light.
The world needs the Light of Jesus.
I am going to close with this thought:
We were at a conference, as few years ago.
A Pastor was talking about a similar topic.
He stated that we often say that we are to be a reflection of the Light of Jesus.
But in truth, we should not be a reflection because if we are a reflection, then we are holding on to part of ourselves.
We should not reflect, but allow the Light of Jesus to shine through us.
We should seek to be transparent.
Allowing the Light of hope in Jesus to
I am going to end there this morning.
Next time we are going to continue with Matthew 5.
Benediction: 1 John 2:1-2
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.