Sermon Tone Analysis

Standing Out

Several presidential polls since World War II have ranked Abraham Lincoln (despite his known faults) the best chief executive in American history.

Why? “Because he had a moral vision of where his country must go to preserve and enlarge the rights of all her people”; because he had the “ability … to articulate the promise that held for the liberation of oppressed humanity the world over”; and because “he made momentous moral decisions that affected the course of humankind”—especially, of course, in the emancipation of the slaves.

Lincoln isn’t special amongst U.S. Presidents because he followed the crowd and did what was commonly accepted in his time.

He stands out because his vision, morals, and decisions were contrary to the world’s accepted values.

In fact, the basis for the split in the union, and the subsequent Civil War, was that the thought of freeing slaves as equals was offensive to the world.

Lincoln understood well that the choice between right and wrong was one of choosing to stand out and therefore being offensive to the world; or choosing to stand with the world and therefore being offended by what’s right.

Likewise, we find a message in 1 John 1:5-10 which calls us to stand out.

John begins with the message that God is light.

He then illustrates the meaning of that message as it relates to having fellowship with a holy God.

John sets this truth against the claims and consequences of the errors of the world,

and gives us God’s solution:

1 John 1:5–10 (ESV)

Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

7 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 cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Context: The main purpose of Christianity is to enter into fellowship “with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ”.

(1 John 1:3.)

Prior to this passage, John gives us context with a statement in verse 3 that the main purpose of Christianity is to enter into fellowship “with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ”.

Consequently, Christianity, at its core, is a life of walking in personal fellowship with the living God.

However, before we all jump on board; John makes it clear that fellowship with God isn’t about being friendly with the Big Guy who grants all your wishes.

He tells us that God is absolutely holy.

To have genuine fellowship with the holy God, we must walk in the light of God:

To have Fellowship with God, we must understand that He is absolutely holy.

(v. 5)

I want to point out two peculiar things about this verse:

To have Fellowship with God, we must start with God’s revelation of Himself.

First, John does not begin with our needs.

He doesn’t discuss where we maybe hurting,

or talk about how the Gospel will help us to have a happy and successful life.

Instead, John starts with God by emphasizing that his message only has authority because it is God’s message.

John is not giving us his personal opinions on what God is like.

He doesn’t present this as a suggestion we should meditate on and discuss.

John says: “We heard this straight from Jesus and here it is”.

He gives us an authoritative pronouncement directly from Jesus.

By the same token, Martyn Lloyd-Jones says in his book Fellowship with God: “The first answer of the gospel can always, in effect, be put this way: ‘Forget yourself and contemplate God’”

As John does, we must start with God’s revelation of who He is as revealed in the Bible, not with ourselves and our own opinions.

This brings us to the second peculiar thing about verse 5:

To have Fellowship with God, we must start with His holiness.

John states plainly “that God is light”.

The main idea here is that God is holy.

We understand this by the follow-up statement “and in him is no darkness at all”.

The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines “HOLY” as a biblical term having to do primarily with God’s separation from the world.

Hence, this idea is derived from God’s revelation to us that He is light, and the world is in darkness.

The moral of this idea is explained by Jesus in

John 3:19

OK, but why START with God’s holiness?

Why not start with God’s love?

That is a much easier and more inviting message.

Cant’ we talk about all that holiness, judgement, and wrath against sin later?

It’s important to realize that,

if you don’t begin with God’s holiness,

you will never understand God’s plan of salvation through the cross and Jesus Christ.

If God is only love, the cross is unnecessary and meaningless.

Why was Jesus necessary if God just loves us?

If you don’t start with God’s holiness,

the message of the Gospel is lost.

God is holy and rejects sin, therefore, as sinners, God cannot have a relationship with us.

However, because God loves us so much, He sent His Son to die for the penalty of our sins so that we can stand before Him blameless in fellowship with our Creator.

The true depth of God’s love is explained by His holiness.

That is the Gospel!

In the same fashion, John begins with God.

He says that to have fellowship with God, we must start with His holiness.

Furthermore, to understand the full meaning of our passage, we must realize that John is teaching against the false claims perpetuated by the world.

These claims are signified by the phrase “If we say....” in verses 6, 8, and 10.

To have Fellowship with God, we must not walk in darkness.

(v.

6, 8, 10)

The first claim is in Verse 6:

To walk in darkness is to live like the world.

(v. 6)

As a matter of fact, to walk in darkness is to recoil from the light of God’s holiness and to live by the world’s rules, making up our your own ideas about right and wrong apart from God’s truth as revealed in His Word.

It is to justify your behaviour by either

redefining sin,

by blaming it on others,

or entirely doing away with the concept of sin.

To walk in darkness is to attempt to hide from God, rather than to expose your life to His holiness.

Consequently, it is a lie to claim fellowship with God while living this way.

Notably, 2 Corinthians 6:14 emphasizes this point:

2 Corinthians 6:14

The next claim John addresses is in verse 8:

To walk in darkness is to act and live sinfully while claiming to be Christian.

(v.

8)

This claim can be paraphrased as “You’re just seeing my outward actions.

My spirit is without sin.”

This is an idea that the physical actions of the body does not effect our spirit or visa versa.

The claim insinuates that we can act and live sinfully and still be Christian.

Then again, Jeremiah 2:35 scoffs in the face of this stance:

Jeremiah 2:35

Indeed, this is why John says we are deceiving ourselves by taking this position about our sinful nature.

Lastly, John addresses, in verse 10, the worst of all claims:

To walk in darkness is to ultimately claim that sin doesn’t exist.

(v.

10)

This claim takes things to another level by saying that sin simply doesn’t exist; God is lying to us.

Hour of Power televangelist Robert Schuller writes in his book, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation: (p.67) “By nature, we are fearful, not bad.

Original sin is not a mean streak; it is a non-trusting inclination.”

(p.68) “To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image—from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to trust.”