The Light and The Darkness cannot abide together

Introduction

Good morning, Lafayette Baptist Family. It is once again good to see you all this beautiful Lord’s day morning. If you will all, please go ahead and turn in your bible’s to 1st John. Specially 1 John 1:5-10, 1 John 1:5-10. While you are doing that I want to paint a few pictures for you. The first one, imagine you are about to enter a room that you have never entered before by yourself. Think about it, ask you self, what is the first thing you would do when you when you are in this scenario? Someone, please answer me… Hopeful we opened the door first (yes you can laugh at that). Seriously though, The first thing you would do is look for the light switch. You would probably take your hand and run it along the wall on your right-hand side, because that is generally where light switches are in rooms. Why? Because we want the darkness to go away, we want the truth of what is we are about to encounter in the room to be revealed to us, we want the truth we want the light and not the hidden badness (perhaps the potential to trip or get hit by something) of the darkness to come upon us.

Also, consider the children’s game, one that I’m sure most of us in here has played either with our children, or our cousins, our friends, or our siblings, called flashlight tag. In this game, you have one person who is “it.” The person that is “it” is to run around the dark yard or room and try to shine the light on the other children to in turn make them, “it.” What are you doing as the person who is “it,” you are trying to shine the light on a person and reveal (in the light) who’s face is now the “it” one. In fact, you probably then excitedly scream out, “George (or whoever it is) is it! To tell all the others who are playing. Once the light comes out of the flashlight, it reveals and shows information to us. In this instant, a new truth exists, that I’m no longer it and George is it. Both George and I cannot be “it” at the same time. In the same way that there cannot be “it” people abiding (or being together) at the same time, The Light and the darkness cannot abide together and this is today’s big idea, the Light and the darkness cannot abide together.

The Scripture

If you will all, please rise for the reading of God’s word. While I’m reading if you will all please read along in your own bibles and after I am finished saying “This is the Word of the Lord” please respond with “Thanks be to God”. First, let’s pray. Father God, thank you for who you are. You are an awesome and great God. One that exists in the Light and not the darkness, one that sheds the light on all things. Father, I pray that during your word today that you will open our hearts, ears, eyes, and hands to receive what you are going to show us today. Help us to put away any thing that will distract us from this gift that you are giving us today. Help us to keep our every thought and intent squarely on you Lord. Help us in these things, and to put us to work with what you teach us. It’s in these things I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious name that I pray. Amen. 1 John 1:5-10, 1 John 1:5-10.5 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. This is the Word of the Lord (Thanks be to God), Thank you, you may be seated.

The Context

So here we are, picking up where we left off from last week. Once again, w e are working together through the epistles of John and Lord willing we will get to finish them together. Last week we learned that this epistle was of sort of correcting commentary on the Gospel of John, whereas a false gospel, known as the Gnostic Gospel, had infiltrated and was gaining steam in the Church at Ephesus and surrounding areas as well. So, the Apostle John wrote this particular letter, 1st John, to put away confusion and false words and clarify his points in his gospel with the hopes of redeeming and restoring the brothers and sisters that were straying on the wrong path. Last week we particularly looked at the idea that John was making it clear that Jesus was the Word that he was referring to. Also, we touched on the ideas of the word being observed (it had came and we saw it),The Word being sent, it being proclaimed and that this word (Jesus) brings us Joy.

This week, when looking and breaking up our text, I noticed an interesting pattern and I will challenge you to look at this passage in the same way own your own this week. That is, it seemed that John had a sort of rhythm or pattern to the arraignment of these verses. I looked and saw again and again that the pattern went something like this, “Positive Statement, Negative Statement, then another positive statement followed by a negative statement, concluding then with yet another positive statement and negative statement. As looked at this deeper, I realized this had a lot to do with the comparison of the character of God vs. Man. Whereas, God’s character is right and good and man’s character is flawed. This is a true statement, and one that you can take to the bank. Good is always good all the time (in fact his name is the definition and perfection of good) and humans are flawed at best. This is of course because of the sin nature that we all have, every one of us. So, with that in mind, lets dive deep into the text for this week.

The Exposition

Here is your first point, so if you are taking notes. The first point is, God is 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.

Here we see that John is proclaiming a message to the readers, that God is light and has no darkness. So, what is this light and darkness? Intellectually, light is truth and darkness ignorance or error. Morally, light is purity and darkness evil.[1]So, we can say here that God is not capable of lying, in Him is only the truth. Morally God is pure, and Satan and sin is evil.

Additionally, God makes himself known and this fact known to believers. The Theologian Stott says, “It is his nature to reveal himself, as it is the property of light to shine; and the revelation is of perfect purity and unutterable majesty. We are to think of God as a personal being, infinite in all his perfections, transcendent, ‘the high and lofty One … he who lives for ever, whose name is holy’[2].”

John then goes on to say that if we walk in the darkness/sin/Satan while we claim on our own to have fellowship with God (without His actions) we are a wrong. We deceive ourselves and others. We need to turn away from this. This was true for them and it is true for us. You know, this passage reminds me of a portion from the Hymn “A Might Fortress is our God” by the reformer Martin Luther. The hymn portion says, 3 And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim(Satan), we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.” This little word, is THE WORD. Jesus, the word of truth, the word of life, the Word of Light. Satan tries to deceive us with rebellion to God, but we don’t have to fear him or the evils that he does, because Jesus will shine the light on his (and our) darkness. Like I said the other week, we don’t need to be running away from God in fear because of sin, we need to run TO HIM because we fear sin. Let’s move on.

The next point is, God is 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.

I think it’s safe say that we all agree that it is good to, “walk in the light” by now. We really don’t need to beat that idea to hard over the head. We have heard it and can probably articulate it pretty well. What we need to do though, is talk about what it looks like to walk in the light. John tells us directly what it means to walk in the light here. He says, that first we must let the blood of Jesus cleans us from all sin. This means, that Jesus’s death on the cross pays the penalty for the great sin debt that we have with God.

Why the blood specifically? This is partially one of the great mysteries of God. It’s clear to us throughout history God has required blood to pay for sin; the greatest of which is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and is what we as Baptists say the juice represents when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper; others include animal sacrifice, which we see the Jewish priesthood had the purpose of doing, sacrificing animals to atone (for a time) for the sins that people had done. We see this all the way back even to beginning after mankind’s first sin, God sacrificing animals for mankind, when God had animal skins made into clothes, probably more like loincloths to cover Adam and Eve’s shame. So, this blood atonement is an old institution and one that because of Jesus we do no longer need to observe today; because the perfect and final sacrifice has been made.

Once we accept the sacrifice of Jesus. Then, we become among the fellowship of other believers. In other words, we become a follower of Christ, a Christian and are then in our own joy are compelled to follow and share the truth that can be only found in Jesus. That He is the Way and the Truth and Life and that no one gets to Father outside of Him. If we say though, that we have no sin, the thing that separates us from God then, it is clear, the truth is not us. John makes this point clear here. You will never meet a Christian who is not a repentent sinner.

Not convinced? Maybe your thinking, ok ok, Jacob I hear you, but my sin is so small and it’s not really that big of a deal. I can quit it any time. It doesn’t control me, I control it. To you, I say, you are wrong, you are deceived, and the truth that you are trying to live is impossible. Hear the words of the Lord Jesus. John 8:34 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[a] to sin. Make no mistake, if you have a sin that you are not willing to put aside, you are a slave to that sin. But it is in us as believers in Christ to put away all sin through the empowerment of God’s Holy Spirit. YOU. CAN DO IT. YOU SHOULD DO IT. YOU MUST DO IT. That doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. We as a church, as a body of believers are charged with helping one another overcome our sin. I urge you, you probably will not be able to overcome any secret sin alone, that is one reason why God has appointed you here, to this church. To help one another, to love another, just as Jesus did. Jesus loved us enough to get rid of our sin, we are supposed to love one another in the same way. Help one another overcome sin where you can and where it is right and in the Love of Christ. To God Be The Glory.

Another point is, God is Faithful and Just.

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.

So, we have talked about sin quite a bit at this point. You may be wondering to yourself, so what exactly is sin? Is it just doing bad things? Is it just breaking the 10 commandments? Well, these things are sins of themselves, but sin goes so much further and deeper than that. Jesus said about sin in Mark 7:20-23 that, 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Is what Jesus saying here that these things are new sins to add to the list? No, He is not saying that. Rather, sin comes from a much deeper place than just things we do, that people can do, on the outside. What Christ is saying here is that Sin comes from your inner most places, from deeper in your mind and your heart. Sin is anything, any feeling, any thought that puts you against what God wants for you. It is any tiny little sliver of rebellion that you have, that is what sin is.

So, John is saying in this passage, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from the unrighteousness of sin. So, what it mean to be faithful? It means that HE WILL DO IT, HE CANNOT FAIL. What does it mean that he is just? It means that it is right, it is proper. It meets the need of justice being fulfilled. Psalm 89 says about God that, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.” Justice and righteousness are among the qualities of our Great God. But they are not among the common qualities of a fallen and sinful human.

So, as Romans 3 Tells us, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Everyone, everywhere, much of the time sins in some way. John is making it clear here, if you think you do not sin, you are deceiving yourself. No, he says it even stronger. He calls you liar. He says this so strongly that he asserts, that if you claim this, there is no way you can be right, your “small” lie has huge consequences. If what you are saying is true, then what Jesus says about Himself, and The Father, and the Holy Spirit cannot be true. And since it’s not in God’s nature to lie, but rather to be truthful then it stands to reason that you must be wrong. In fact, it is easy to believe, and I (John) assert that you are not a believer of Christ, you are not a Christian because the Word of Truth (Jesus and His Gospel) does not exist in you.

We must as followers of Christ put away and no longer desire to sin. I’ve heard it said before, that, “for a saint to desire sin as ridiculous as a rodeo where cowboys ride calves to rope horses. Not only is the experience unnatural, it is also extremely unproductive.”[3] So, what does this mean? It means that we all have a need to repent from sin and believe in the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, we are wrong; worse yet we could lead other less mature brothers and sisters to go astray. This cannot be church. Hear the Words of Your Lord! Put away anything that keeps you from leaning into Him all the more in your life, confess them to Him. He can and will forgive you and cleanse you, He is Faithful and Just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Conclusion

A faithful and just God deserves and demands your attention and admiration. A God that does not have these qualities does not deserve anything from us. How odd is then, that we as mankind all to often get this order reversed. We are notorious for giving the false God’s in our lives all the attention we can muster while the true God of the Universe gets the scraps we have to offer at best. Why is then that things like, “Money, our health, our homes, our family, our good deeds, our boat, our hunting rifle, our grandchildren (which are all in of themselves not bad things) often get so much more of our mind’s attention each day than God does. You probably know where I’m going with this, it’s our sin nature, our natural state of staying in rebellion to God that needs to be overcome with the help of one that is much greater than ourselves.

Up to this point, we have talked a lot about the need to put away sin. But, I want to give more definition of what sin itself is. The Theologian and Pastor John Piper says that sin is, “The glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The power of God not praised. The truth of God not sought. The wisdom of God not esteemed. The beauty of God not treasured. The goodness of God not savored. The faithfulness of God not trusted. The promises of God not relied upon. The commandments of God not obeyed. The justice of God not respected. The wrath of God not feared. The grace of God not cherished. The presence of God not prized. The person of God is not loved. That is Sin.”[4]

This is a very good definition of sin; it can be so much more than the boxes we want to put it in. It is hiding everywhere, and Satan seeks to make it creep into every area of your life that he can to tempt you to turn away from God. My brothers and sisters, be prepared for this. Seek to remove sin from your life. The apostle Paul gives us some pointers in Ephesians 6 to do this. He says here, “10 be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. What great words, put on the Armor of God to help your journey in the truth.

To conclude things for today, here were the 3 points of the message today. That God is light, God is the truth, and God is faithful and just. Finally, the big point, That The light and the darkness cannot abide together.

If you are hearing my words today. I urge you, do not try to make the light and the dark abide together. You cannot win here. The light always overcomes the darkness. In fact, darkness only has control where the light is not present, turn the light switch on and light fills the room. At no time will a sliver of darkness come in the middle of the room. When it’s lite, it’s lite. However, if the light switch was never on, the darkness rules the room. When it’s dark, it’s dark until something is done.

This is the same with our mortal souls. When the light of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is heard and accepted, the light comes into the heart, into the being of us. When we take on the goodness of the light, it changes us, all for the better. If you have not yet taken on the light of Jesus Christ and the Truth in His Gospel, do this. Do this today if you are ready, who knows when your days will end, but we do know this, they will. If you are hearing these words you are accountable to God now, you have heard the Gospel message and their will be no hiding from him because He is the light that sines in all places at all times. Accept that Christ Crucified will pay for your sin to God and rejoice in this. This makes you right with God and brings the comforting light into your life forever.

If you are already a believer and have accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then there is still more for you to do yet. Pray earnestly to Him, to Help you remove any darkness out of your life that your fellowship with Him will be all the sweeter and the more deep. Then, as you grow in the Love of Him and in Him who is the truth, go and share this little light of yours to the world.

Let’s pray. Father, we are incapable of overcoming the darkness without you. Let your light shine on us, in us, and through us. Help us father to put aside the things that are displeasing to you. Motivate us to want to know you more. Motivate us to make you known more to other. Teach us, train us, equip us Father to do a decern your will in our lives, in the lives of this church, for our communities, and all of the things you have ordained in our lives. We love you father, to you we commit our treasures and take You on as one that is greater. Thank you most Generous Lord. It’s in these things we ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy name that I Pray. Amen.

Thank you brothers and sisters, I love you all and I will be here during the last song and after service if you would like to talk more.

[1]Stott, John R. W. The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity Press, 1988, p. 75. [2]Stott, John R. W. The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity Press, 1988, p. 75. [3] Preaching Illustration book by Green, # 1283 [4]John Piper Poem, “What is sin?”