1 John 1:5-10....A Light For A Dark World...

Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

INTRODUCTION...

Murders, human traffiking, wars over seas..

child abuse, political scandals,

people more worried about this so called pride month then they are about homeless, the hungry

there are truly some dark days happening in this world today...

If the times are indeed as bad as we say they are… if the darkness in our world is growing heavier by the moment… if we are facing spiritual battles right in our own homes and churches… then we are foolish not to turn to the One who supplies unlimited grace and power. He is our only source. We are crazy to ignore him.”

who is this Him? who is this light?

well lets start at the beginning...

Genesis 1:4 “And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.”

the creator of light and darkness

what did David say over in Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”

the light can save you from the darkness

then I hear Jesus saying over in John 8:12 “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

identifying who the light is..

we must stay away from the darkness because darkness leads to destruction....to hell

Proverbs 4:19 “The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.”

without the light in our life we will live a life of darkness, sin…apart from God and end up hell...

and we need to remember that we were not always in church, we all have lived in the darkness....

but something happened

Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”

we gave ourselves to Christ and he drove out the darkness…that we might be saved....

my eyes have been opened, I was blind but now I see…TALK, PREACH.....

however, there are those still out living in darkness and trying to serve God...

scripture tells us we cant serve 2 masters....TALK, PREACH.....

and as we are about to see that the apostle John makes it plain and clear in the text today about this wonderful light, God....

and how thru His son Jesus this light is here for us...

let’s walk...

HISTORY...

1 John...

author....The apostle John, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, who also wrote the Gospel of John

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 John 1: God Requires Repentance for Fellowship

Sent to Christians in Ephesus, in Asia (western Turkey), possibly circulated to churches throughout Asia

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 John 1: God Requires Repentance for Fellowship

Written to encourage and strengthen believers and churches in their Christian life

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 John 1: God Requires Repentance for Fellowship

A highly personal letter in which John refers to his “little children” and his deep concern for their welfare

1 John in a nutshell....

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 John 1: God Requires Repentance for Fellowship

We proclaim truth to you about the word of life … truth that we have heard, seen, and touched. God is light, without any darkness, and his children should walk in light, not darkness. However, when we do sin and then confess our sin, God will forgive us and restore us to his fellowship.

i love the way he sums it up in 1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

TALK, PREACH.......

Let’s go deeper into the text..

Body/Points..

John starts his letter of talking about our relationship with Christ...

v 1-4..

v 1-2, John begins with the center of relationship: Jesus Christ.

v3. An invitation to relationship...

v4, The result of relationship...

then He rolls over into our text for today

The apostle, having declared the truth and dignity of the author of the gospel,(JESUS) brings a message or report from him, from which a just conclusion is to be drawn for the consideration and conviction of the professors of religion, or professed entertainers of this glorious gospel.

this message, there is darkness in this world but there is a marvelous light that darkness cannot comprehend.. a light that will lead us to salvation....TALK,PREACH...

let’s look at the text..

1 John 1:5–10 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

1, we see that God has no sin at all

2, if we truly follow Christ, we can deal with the darkness, sin

3, the light will open your eyes so that you will know that you are a sinner that you need Christ...

1 John 1:5 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

This is a claim to authority. John isn’t making this up; these are not his own personal opinions or ideas about God. This is God’s message about Himself (which we have heard from Him), which John now reveals to us (and declare to you).

What does this message mean?

God is light by nature and character(nothing dull or dark about God) TALK, PREACH....

God is light in that He reveals the light of all things, the truth of all things(the light shows everything, good and bad)..TALK, PREACH...

2, if we truly follow Christ, we can deal with the darkness, sin

1 John 1:6–7 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Many Christians are not aware of their true condition. They know they are saved, and have experienced conversion and have repented at some time in their life. Yet they do not live in true fellowship with God.

John speaks of a walk in darkness, indicating a pattern of living. This does not speak of an occasional lapse, but of a lifestyle of darkness.

Therefore, if one claims to be in fellowship with God (a relationship of common relation, interest, and sharing), yet does walk in darkness, it is not a truthful claim

Since God is light (1 John 1:5), when we walk in the light we walk where He is. We are naturally together with Him in fellowship.

this shows us that a true walk, leads to true fellowship, which leads to being cleansed by the blood.....TALK, PREACH.....

3, the light will open your eyes so that you will know that you are a sinner that you need Christ.

1 John 1:8–10 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

To think this of ourselves is to deceive ourselves, and to say this of ourselves is to lie — the truth is not in us.

Walls commentary states, There are two kinds of sin—doing those things we ought not to do and not doing those things we should do

the light will open our eyes and let us see the true us…sinners

but if we confess and get cleansed

we can say that we are sinners saved by grace...

Conclusion...

Church in this dark world, in our darkest hour of our lives....we need this light...

to guide us, to shows, to protect

Scripture says God is light, and if anyone knows anything about the trinity, you can see why Jesus said He is the light of the world…TALK,PREACH.....

i follow him because there is no darkness in Him,

i follow him because, He opened my eyes

i follow him because He has made a way for me....

TALK, PREACH, CLOSE

David Walls and Max Anders, I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude, vol. 11, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 157.