June 30, 2002

Service Theme – "Our God is Light"

1 John 1:5-10

How to Walk in the Light

1. Introduction

1. Illustration – From Homiletics Online: Theologian Robert Alden writes that "There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."
2. Context – The classic struggle of darkness against light is very familiar to us, isn’t it? Remember those old Westerns some of us grew up on? The bad guys always wore the black hats; the good guys, the white hats. In eternal terms, the light vs. darkness issue is much more important that it was in those spaghetti Westerns. In fact, the battle is so important that John wrote this about it in 1 John 1:5-10:

1. Scripture Passage

1. 1 John 1:5-10 – This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, purifies us from all sin. ⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

1. Confession Brings Light

1. That quote we started out with today is so true – the light of a single small candle is so bright that there is nothing darkness can do to overcome it. That’s what John is saying too. He’s telling us that God is light personified. If we walk with God, we’re walking in His light. No darkness can stand against the pure, holy brilliance of God’s light. The problem comes when we try to walk with God while still maintaining our connections with darkness. It’s interesting to note that in verse six John doesn’t write "darkness," he writes "the darkness." That may not seem important until we realize that, in Greek, putting "the" in front of a noun meant you were describing a person or a being. John wrote the same way in the first chapter of his gospel. So he sets up the classic battle. Darkness personified is Satan; light personified is God. We know who wins ultimately, because Revelation shows us that it’s God’s show in the end. But who wins in our lives can be another story!
2. We have to remember that John isn’t trying to spoil our fun by telling us that maintaining our ties with the darkness while claiming to walk with God means we’re living a lie. He’s trying to help us understand who we’re dealing with, and how dangerous he is. That brings us to a very important question – what does it mean to walk in darkness? If we’re walking in darkness, we’re serving Satan. We refuse to deal with sin in our lives. We harbor it, attempt to hide it, and try to ignore it, but ultimately it will destroy us because it destroys our relationship with God. God cannot and will not walk with us when we have sin we refuse to repent of and let Him deal with. He is too holy to allow that! That brings us to another very important question – how then do we walk in the light? We allow God to expose the sin in our hearts and lives to the light and then deal with it. What’s the benefit of having all that dark sin brought out into the open? Verse seven - 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. We can have the open, loving relationship with other believers that we crave, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all of our sin. Isn’t that awesome news? It is news we need to choose to act on!
3. John uses an interesting word that is translated in this passage "purifies." It’s the root for our word catharsis. My dictionary defines catharsis as a purging, a cleansing, or a purifying. I like that word "purge." When you purge something, it means there is nothing at all left of it. So when Jesus’ blood purifies us from sin, there is nothing left of it. That blows my mind! We have the opportunity to have all of our sin purged from us, and so often we choose not to. Obviously we need to make better choices! Especially when we read what John writes next. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. Lots of misinterpretation of this passage happens because it is taken out of context. Some folks claim that verses eight and ten mean that we can never be without sin. Jumping ahead a little bit, verse one of chapter two says, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. More on that next week, but it’s sufficient to say that John would not contradict himself in writing this letter. So what does he mean?
4. What John is saying is this: when we’re sinning and we deny we’re sinning, as the Greek puts it, "ourselves we cause to wander and the truth not is in us." We become our own greatest enemies, because we cause ourselves to wander away from the only One who can deal with our sin. But then John gives us that beautiful truth in verse nine. If we confess our sins, agree with God that we have been living with sin, He is faithful and righteous for the expressed purpose of forgiving us our sin, sending it away, and cleansing us for all unrighteousness, purging anything remaining trace of the darkness from us. God purges us so that we can walk with Him, walk in the light. But then John again emphasizes the danger of sinning and denying it. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. If God says we’ve sinned, we better not be calling Him a liar. Because if God’s word, the eternal living word, isn’t in us, we are spiritually dead. We are then walking in the darkness, subject to the punishment God has at the end of time for darkness personified, Satan. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be in those shoes when all heaven breaks loose!
5. I want to walk in the light with God. I want to be a light that shines God’s loves. As Edith Wharton wrote, "There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it" (from Homiletics Online). I know I can’t be the candle but I sure do want to reflect it’s light. How about you? Is there sin in your life that you haven’t exposed to the light by confessing it to God and allowing Him to purge you of it? As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, in Life Together (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1954, 115), In confession, the breakthrough to new life occurs. Where sin is hated, admitted and forgiven, there the break with the past is made. "Old things are passed away." But where there is a break with sin, there is conversion. Confession is conversion. "Behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ has made a new beginning with us (from Homiletics Online). Do you need a new beginning? Do you need to walk in the light instead of the darkness?
6. Break the pattern of living with sin in your life. Confess your sin to God. Allow Him to purge it from you. And then get involved with a group of believers who will keep you accountable to not become involved with that sin again. Confession to God with a sincere and repentant heart brings cleansing and puts you back into the light. Accountability puts teeth into your commitment to stay in the light. From Homiletics Online: There's a group of people on the road today that is always moving, town to town, city to city. No, they're not fugitives, running from the law. They're musicians - guys in the popular Christian singing group 4Him. But their nomadic life has had its share of problems. "Put a bunch of people together on a packed tour bus, and you've got a situation that's ripe for conflict," says group member Marty Magehee. To resolve those conflicts, 4Him meets regularly with an "accountability board" of friends and pastors, where they're free to vent their feelings. It's a place where confession can happen, and the truth can be told. Says the group's Mark Harris, "One of the most important things we're learning is to say, 'I'm wrong! I'm wrong!'" "That's hard for me," admits the group's Andy Chrisman. "But I'm learning to let go of my need to always be right." Each of us needs to find a kind of "accountability board" as well. A group where we can admit to friends and family when we've made mistakes. Where we can learn to say, "I'm wrong! I'm wrong!" Where we can discover how to let go of our need to always be right. Where we can get untangled from our self-spun web of lies. Where we can confess our sins to God and neighbor, and receive the gift of forgiveness. Accountability is key. Accountability to the community and to the Creator. Without such an accountability board - made up of friends or family or church members - you may find yourself in a life of fugitive foolishness, lying to God and to the people closest to you. Are you walking in the light?

1. Conclusion

1. If you’ve been struggling to leave the darkness and walk in the light, God is giving you the opportunity this morning to leave that darkness behind and walk with Him. And just because you’ve been struggling doesn’t mean you don’t love God. It doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian. There is no stigma attached to struggling to overcome sin in your life, because every single one of us in this room struggles with the same thing at many points in our lives. This is between you and God, and He wants to help you, not judge you.
2. If you’ve been struggling with sin in your life, come forward now and pray at the altars. Again, no stigma attached at all. Come forward and receive the forgiveness and cleansing you need. Then sometime within the next couple of days find a person or a group who will hold you accountable. But come forward now and receive the greatest gift on earth – freedom from sin!!! (Play Jesus Freak CD, track 10, In the Light).