**** 1 john 1:5-7

There’s a word from the lord and it’s coming from the book of 1 John Chapter 1 verses 5-7

and you should find these words as printed

1 John 1:5–7 (NRSV)

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if 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.

12-139

Clean on the Inside

FORGIVENESS

1 John 1:6–7

(POSB, Note 2, point 2)

Little children have a unique way of capturing the truth of God’s Word in ways that often escape adults. This is one little girl’s interpretation of John 3:16.

[Dr. Walter Wilson] was visiting in a home and the members of the family were asked to quote Bible verses.

One little girl quoted John 3:16 as follows: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have INTERNAL LIFE.”28

The point is well stated: if you walk in the light of Christ, His blood will cleanse you from the inside out. Thank God for INTERNAL LIFE!

In this text John declares some truths about the family of God.

And here, Jon starts off talking about the message of our father

I. The Message of our Father (v. 5)

(A.) A Message about our Lord (v. 5a)

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,”

John tells the church, that the message that they heard is that God loved us so much, that Jesus came to the earth to die for our sins.

this was the message, this was the an announcement

Simon Kistemaker said, “He discloses not only the importance of the message but also its timeless significance. This message, therefore, has not been subject to change and modification, because it did not originate with John or with any other apostle or writer.”

The message of our Lord, is that He is the Incarnate, virgin born, Son of God, that came into this world that we may be joined to God and that we may have joy in God. God has centered all things past, present, and future around His Son Jesus Christ.

In essence, You cannot please God, you cannot pray to God apart from Jesus Christ.

From Genesis to Revelation, is the unveiling of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. A person cannot come into the Family of God, without first hearing about our Lord. *That is why it is imperative that the church takes the gospel of Jesus Christ into the whole world.*

Just as John declared the message, we too have a responsibility to declare what we know. We have a responsibility to present Jesus as Lord, as God, as Holy, as a Lamb without blemish to a lost and pagan world.

We have a responsibility

John had heard the message from Jesus and now declares the message about Jesus.

And you know beloved, As the church, we have the message of life and we are to declare that message to the world.

We are not to hoard the message or hide the message!

We are to declare that message to the world.

The message of our Father about our Lord is that Jesus, is the only way.

John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And you know, there are so many who don’t believe that, in fact if you nail some down and ask them is Jesus the only way to heaven, they might say well I’m not sure about that.

But, listen church, Jesus is the only way to heaven. You must be born again by the Spirit of God through faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. Paul testifying and exhorting the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:20–21, “how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, ‘testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

◦ He who is the Bread of Life began His ministry hungering.

◦ He who is the Water of Life ended His ministry thirsting.

◦ Christ hungered as a man, yet fed the hungry as God.

◦ He was weary, yet He is our rest.

◦ He paid tribute, yet He is the King.

◦ He was called a devil, but He cast out demons.

◦ He prayed, yet He hears prayer.

◦ He wept, and He dries our tears.

◦ He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeems sinners.

◦ He was led as a lamb to His slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.

◦ He gave His life, and by dying He destroyed death.

We must resolve to believe, to teach, and to live and never compromise with false doctrine, that teaches that there are other ways to heaven. John testified that he had seen Jesus and ministered with Jesus before He went to the cross, and he testified that he had been with Jesus after the resurrection.

Believing that Jesus died on the cross is not enough for a person to be born into the family of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is what we must proclaim. If you preach the cross, but fail to mention the resurrection of Jesus; you have not preached the gospel, you have not brought the message of our Lord. Romans 10:9–10, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” We must believe the message about our Lord, we must declare the message about our Lord.

DO I have a witness?

And so here, In verse 5 John reveals to us The message about our Lord

but the continues on, to teach us:

(B.) A Message about His Light (v. 5b)

Look what it says here

It says, “that God is light and in Him, is no darkness at all.”

John reveals to us a clear message, about our Lord and about His Light. There is not even a shadow of darkness with our Lord. Jesus is the Light of our salvation:

God is light

For the bible says 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?

Jesus is the Light of the World: 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.”

Jesus is the Light of our salvation:

But what does it means when he says light

Well when you look at light

Light is a symbol of purity and holiness. Light means the absence of darkness and blindness.

When you look at Darkness:

Darkness means which describes both the state and works of a person. It symbolizes evil and sin, everything that the life should not be and everything that a person should not do.

And so what does this say

When God is in His church, there is light, there is direction, there is peace and joy in the midst of the congregation.

When Jesus is the Lord of a congregation, then that particular congregation is making a difference in the community, the city, the state, the nation and the world.

George Matheson once said, Christ has illuminated the world, not by what He did, but by what He was; His life is the Light of Men.

It is not resurrection that has made Christ; it is Christ that has made resurrection. To those who have seen His beauty, even Olivet can add no certainty; the light of immortality is as bright on His Cross as on His Crown. ‘I am the resurrection’ are His own words about Himself—not ‘I teach,’ not ‘I cause,’ not ‘I predict,’ but ‘I am.’

There are many today who claim to be the family of God, but they deny the message about the Lord, and they reject the Light of the world. We must understand that Jesus Christ alone saves and we must understand that just because a group has a cross on their building, does not mean they understand and accept what went on, at the cross. God is holy and He is separate from sin. He will not abide in the presence of sin. He will not even look on sin. Habakkuk 1:13, says “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”

God is light and the Bible says that there is no darkness at all in Him.

That is what John teaches us in verse 5 as we’ve seen The Message of our Father; next we see in verses 6–7:

II. The Marks of Our Fellowship (v. 6–7)

(A.) A Clear Reflection (v. 6)

Look what it says

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

John says that if we say that we are in the family of God and live contrary to His word to His light, then we are not in the family of God, but that we are liars and that we belong to the family of darkness.

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

And you know church, People actually say they know God, that they love Jesus and have eternal life and yet live contrary to Scripture. I know that’s hard for some of you to believe. Jerry Vines says, “Just because you say you are going to heaven does not mean you are.

See, Professing Christ as your Savior, does not mean that you possess Jesus Christ in your heart.

In fact, many people profess more than they practice. Some are long on lip, but short on life. Some can quote the Bible by the yard, yet they live it by the inch.” In fact Jesus addressed that in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” When people confess one thing and yet live another they are hypocrites. When people do this they live a lie.

John says that we are liars, if we say that we have fellowship with the Father, and that we are in the family, when we live in the dark.

Lehman Strauss said, “Like Judas, we are in great danger of being in the constant presence of the Light, yet all the while walking in darkness. And be certain, that our pretending will one day be exposed.” You may fool some of the people some of the time, but you can never fool God any of the time.

Sam Gordon said, “It doesn’t matter how agile or athletic we are, we cannot run with the foxes and hunt with the hounds at the same time.”

When people live a lie they do 2 Things:

A. They Misrepresent the Lord

Those who misrepresent the Lord, bring reproach on the Name of Jesus. You see it on television shows, those who claim to be Christians and yet they make a mockery out of our Lord. Because they do not live right they hinder others from coming to the Lord and being saved.

See , Your actions speak louder than your words. May God help us to grasp this concept and principle!

When people claim to know Jesus and yet live contrary to His word they cause division in the body of Christ. They bring shame and slander on the people of God. They have irreverence for the word of God. A person that walks in darkness, does not know where he is going and does not know what he’s doing.

People who claim to be Christians and live in the darkness do two things.

1st they Misrepresent the Lord; 2nd they:

B. They Misdirect the Lost

We are not fooling anyone when our lifestyle doesn’t match our words. When our walk doesn’t match our talk , we hinder the cause of Christ. Each one of us can say that we’ve heard someone say that they don’t go to church because they know someone from church. They use that as an excuse, but many times it is a true statement.

People that claim to have fellowship with God and yet live like the devil have no power in their witness, they have no respect from their friends or family, and they misdirect a lost and dying world.

John tells us plainly that people who make this profession and yet walk in darkness, is a liar and they do not practice the truth. Matthew 15:14, “They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Phony Christians misrepresent the Lord and they misdirect the lost. There is a clear reflection in this world today. If the church is ever going to win the lost friends, family members, and co-workers we must be genuine.

In verse 6, the Bible teaches us that those who claim to know Jesus and have fellowship with God, must live according to the word of God. We must practice the truth. David Jeremiah said, “One of the first things people do when they choose to sin is to avoid the Word. They stop going to church because they don’t want the light of the Word shining on them. They stop reading the Bible themselves, or drop out of their Bible study. More often than not, the portion of the Word being preached, taught, or read is exactly what you don’t want to hear. God seems to arrange it that way when we’re walking in darkness. We avoid the Word, and we avoid other Christians who are walking in the light of the Word. It’s too convicting to be around people who are living the way we know we should be, so we avoid them.”

And so here, In verse 6 we see A Clear Reflection; in verse 7 we see:

(B.) A Complete Redemption (v. 7)

watch what it says

“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.”

The Bible teaches us that, if we walk in the light that’s a reflection of our redemption.

Can I tell ya church , It’s not impossible for a child of God to walk in the light, it is expected of a child of God.

For the bible says in

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

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

There is a purpose given in verse 7.

The purpose is that, we may have fellowship with one another. True fellowship comes only when a person is born into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

When we are born of God and we belong to the family of God we have fellowship with the Lord and His people. John tells us that when we walk in the light we will have fellowship with the family of God.

It doesn’t matter what color they are, what they look like, where they are located, what their social standing is, what their financial standing is, the Bible tells us that we will have fellowship with them.

There is a reason for our complete redemption, 1st we see in verse 7 that there is a purpose given, but then there is a promise given. “and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

We have a complete Redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ. He purchased us lock, stock and barrel. He purchased us body, soul, and spirit. He owns us, we are paid in full.

But The only way that a person can go to heaven, is to belong to the family of God, the only way a person can belong to the family of God, is to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.

◦ And I want to tell you that

If you want to be free from your burden of sin

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

If you want to be free from your passion and pride

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

He is able to wash you, whiter than snow?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

There’s wonderful power in the blood.

◦ For There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb; there is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.

Hebrew 9:22, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” We are able to live all out for Jesus Christ with a clear conscious because we have a complete redemption.

‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ There was nothing the devil could answer to that.

The word cleanses us is not in the past tense, but in the present tense meaning that the Lord Jesus ever intercedes on our behalf That His blood cleanses us from past, present, and future sins.

Cleanses: is in the present tense; denoting a continuous action.

If you walk in darkness and claim to know God, the Bible says that you are a liar. God’s call is for His people to live godly, holy, and righteously in this present day.

close:cleanse us, restore us, and empower us to walk in the Light! In Jesus name I pray! Amen! Amen!