REAL CHRISTIANITY
1 John 1:5-7
LIGHT WORKS!
Real Christianity #3 (1 John series)
LIGHT WORKS!
Light is effective!
Light is a necessity!
It brings illumination so men can see. It brings
warmth so man can survive and crops can grow.
It exposes dirt so man can clean it up.
The theme of 1 John is being real or Real
Christianity.
You can’t have real Christianity without light. Light
works.
FACT
This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all.
John begins with a very important fact about the
nature of God. This fact he learned from
the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a fact that is essential for you to grasp if you
are going to have an accurate understanding of Christianity. God is light.
This is a truth that is found in the Old Testament.
Psalm 27:1, 36:9, 104:1-2, Isaiah 49:6
J. Vernon McGee pointed out, "When John says that God is
light, he is revealing many facets about the person of God."
He goes on to list a few which I want
to share with you.
J.
First, light speaks of the glory, the radiance, the beauty, and
the wonders of God. Psalm 19:1
Light also speaks of God seeing what's going on. Light reveals so you can see. God is light,
so God can see everything. Proverbs 15:3
Light further speaks of guidance. Psalm 119:105
Light also reminds us of the purity and holiness of God. Pure
light has no impurities. God's light tolerates no impurities, and He is holy,
that is set apart from sin. 1 Samuel 2:2
This then is the message which we have heard
of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all.
In this world the quality of light varies.
We say it's light out when it's foggy.
We say it's light out, even when there are some clouds blocking
the sun.
We look outside and say it's light out, even though it's raining
or snowing.
There might be a little darkness mixed in with the light.
In a couple of rooms of our home we have light fixtures that
take two or more bulbs. If one burns out, we still have light, but a limited
amount. There is a degree of darkness.
God's light contains no darkness. Of course the darkness that God does not have
is the darkness of sin. There is no sin
in God. There are no failures in God. There are no limitations in God.
This light is so brilliant, that talking about the future,
eternal state Revelation 21:23 says: And
the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.
FICTION
1 John 1:6 - If
we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do
not the truth:
If there is one thing most of us don’t like, it’s a
hypocrite.
A hypocrite talks one way and acts another.
A hypocrite is a phony. He’s inconsistent.
And I have news for you. God, being holy, hates hypocrisy more than we
do.
Job 27:8 - For what is the hope
of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh
away his soul?
To have fellowship with God is to have something in common. It is a sharing. It is a partnership. It is
bonding!
To have fellowship with God includes prayer and abiding in
Christ.
If we claim to have fellowship with God, and habitually walk in
a life pattern of sin, we are lying, and not practicing truth. We are not
talking occasional sin, but sin patterns here.
There are those who profess Christ, but who never really trusted
him. The pattern of their life is darkness. There are Christians who have
backslidden after having changed, who show too much of this pattern of
darkness.
FELLOWSHIP
1 John 1:7 - But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another,
I love this verse because it is a verse of hope.
God has a better plan for me and you than a life
pattern of sin and hypocrisy.
If you are truly a Christian,
If you have acknowledged your sin before God
If you have admitted that you have no righteousness to
save yourself
If you have trusted that Jesus Christ died for your
sins so that you can have eternal life
If you have put your total faith in Christ as Savior
If, as a result, God has changed your life, you have
already come to God’s light! John 8:12
If you have come into God’s light through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you are to walk in that light.
To walk implies a habit, a pattern, a way of life.
When a person walks in God’s light, he is walking with
God. As he walks in God’s light, he can
now see the areas of darkness in his life that need to be dealt with. He is open to God exposing his sin,
confessing it, and forsaking it.
I believe we walk in the light when we walk in the
power or control of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
Ephesians 5:9 - (For
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Goodness, righteousness and truth are all indications
that we are walking in light and not darkness when we under the control of the
Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 - This
I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil
the lust of the flesh.
Fulfilling the lust of the flesh is certainly walking
in darkness. Being controlled by the
Holy Spirit is certainly walking in light.
Galatians 5:22-24 - But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
[24] And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Walking in the Spirit means recognizing the fact that
we are crucified with Christ. We must accept the fact that when
Christ died on
So how do we walk in the Spirit? To walk in the Spirit is synonymous with
being filled with the Spirit.
We are filled with the Spirit when we confess all
known sin.
We are filled with the Spirit when we ask God to fill
us with His Spirit.
Luke 11:13 - If
ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask him?
We are filled with the Spirit as we believe that God
has answered our prayers.
Mark 11:24 - Therefore
I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them.
When we are filled with the Spirit, we are walking in
the Spirit, under his control.
When we are walking in the Spirit we are walking in
the light.
And, according to our text, when we are walking in the
light we have fellowship one with another. Who are we having fellowship with
here? We are having fellowship with God!
Verse 6 refers to having fellowship with God, it makes sense that verse 7 does also!
When we are basking in God’s light through God’s Holy
Spirit, we have communion, we are bonding with, we
have fellowship with God!
FORGIVENESS
Vs. 7 - and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin.
Light exposes sin.
As we walk in the light, the light will show us our
sin.
God will make them clear to us as we walk in the light
of His Spirit.
We will not be free from sin until we get to Heaven.
However, we will identify sin.
As we confess that sin to God, the blood of the Lord
Jesus will keep on cleansing us from all sin.
We have forgiveness when we walk in the light.
LIGHT WORKS!
FACT - This then
is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
FICTION - If we
say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not
the truth:
FELLOWSHIP - But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another,
FORGIVENESS - and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin.