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Well, let us now turn to our scripture reading for the sermon this Lord’s Day, that we would
turn to 1 John chapter 1, that can be found on page 1210 in your Pew Bibles, 1 John chapter
1. And we will be reading verses 5 through 10. Verses 5 through 10 of 1 John chapter 1.
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. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and
do not practice the truth. 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. If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Thus far the reading of God’s holy,
inherent and inspired word, let us come before him in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you
for this your infallible word and we pray that you would be at work in our hearts enlightening
our minds in the knowledge of Christ. Help us to hide this word in our hearts that we might not
sin against you and Father we pray that you would shine the light of your spirit into our minds and
hearts that we may walk according to your ways. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You may be
seated. Well it’s been a number of months since last we considered 1st John and by my calculation
it’s been nine months and when we last considered it we considered those first four verses and it
might do us good to consider a little overview of those verses so that we can get situated in
the context of this book. In 1st John chapter 1 verses 1 through 4, the theme there, the broad
overview that is taught, is that God invites his people to fellowship in the eternal life of Jesus
Christ. At that time we heard how it is that we have come to have fellowship with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit who has been poured out upon
the church. We learned how the church is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and the
prophets witness to Christ. Christ being the cornerstone of the church. We learned how we
have fellowship together with the Apostles as we hear their Holy Spirit inspired witness to
Christ. It was kind of an odd Trinity. You have fellowship with the Father and with the Son and
with us says John. We learned how we have this fellowship with the Father and with the Son as
the Holy Spirit engrafts us into Christ and works faith in our hearts through the Apostles witness
to Jesus Christ in the scriptures. And we learned that we have this fellowship with one another as
those who are united in one body in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. John’s witness emphasizes
that Jesus, the Son of God, came bodily. And we might recall that there were false teachings
arising in the church at that time. We don’t know much about those false teachings other than what
we can surmise from the content of the letter. But these false teachings seemed to view the
physical world as inherently evil. They seem to distance themselves from physicality. And that
that there was a spiritual transcendence of the physical. In contradiction though to this false
view, John teaches us that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit does come to expression outwardly
and bodily as our lives are caused to bear the fruit of that eternal life purchased for us with
Christ’s own blood. The spiritual is manifest in the flesh even as surely as God who is spirit took
on flesh in the person of the Son in the incarnation that great work of God’s Spirit,
bringing together the fulfillment of God’s promises bodily. And we reflected on how our life and
fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ comes to us through the working of the
Spirit within the context of the church, which is the household of faith. And this household of
faith has their life from Christ. And he offers it to us freely by outward and ordinary means.
In contrast to false teachers who added all manner of requirements before one could attain a secret
and hidden knowledge of God and so begin to make progress to escape the evil physical world,
John points us ever to Jesus the Son of God who took on a true body and soul. John points us to
the eternal life and fellowship freely offered in Christ and obtained through faith in that gospel
entrusted to the Apostles, which is proclaimed in the church unto the end. As we keep in mind
this context and how it is that God invites us to fellowship in the eternal life of Jesus Christ,
we now come to consider the preeminence of this fellowship with God in the way that we live our
lives. As we continue in 1 John, we see an outworking of this fellowship as we draw near to
God in Christ. Our passage today teaches us that since we have fellowship with God, God calls us
to walk in the light as he is in the light. And this is the theme of today’s message. God calls
us to walk in the light as he is in the light. We read in verse 5, this is the message that we
have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
John has a penchant for speaking of God in terms of light contrasted with darkness. In Revelation
1 12 and 1 20, the Spirit of God is said to enlighten the seven golden lampstands of God.
Together these lampstands upon which the Spirit of God has come in flames of fire are an image
of the church. A little further on in Revelation 4 verses 2 through 5, John shows us seven torches
of fire before the throne of God and speaks of them as the sevenfold Holy Spirit of God. This
light and flame of God’s presence in Scripture coalesces into a picture of the holiness of God.
And our Holy God has drawn near to us in Christ so that we may draw near to him and learn to be
like him. In Hebrews 12 verses 28 and 29 we are reminded from Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 24 that
our God is a consuming fire and that this fact is in large part the basis for our worshiping of
him with reverence and awe. While I could spend time running along many fascinating instances of
the theme of light and darkness, we do well to remember the context of the opening of this letter.
John was talking about the truth that he and his fellow apostles were proclaiming concerning
Jesus and he says, that which was from the beginning. And though I have said that this
allusion refers primarily to the teachings and ministry of Jesus, yet in a deeply meaningful way,
John also in part makes a literary allusion back to the book of Genesis, to the creation of the
world. And in Genesis chapter 1, the Lord created lights, the sun with the moon reflecting its light
and the stars. And he placed them in the heavens to rule over the night, marking times and seasons.
This is one of the first things that was done at that beginning. A former pastor of mine once said
that these lights, the lights of this present created world, the sun, the moon, and the stars,
are only creaturely replicas of the life that God is, which enlightens the heavenly realm. Some of
you would know Pastor Simmel and that is a meaningful reality. The lights of this present
created world are only creaturely replicas of the life that God is, which enlightens the heavenly
realm. See the picture of these lights that are said in Genesis 1, 16 to rule the day and the night,
to govern times and seasons. These things point us back to God himself who rules and governs all
things. And for us who are in Christ, it is yet still more meaningful because we know that from
the invisible heavens, from the place where the light first shone forth, that from the invisible
heavens proceeds the government of God, which is now pictured, which is pictured in the creation
by the governing lights of our present visible creation. And even as the lights of this world
separate the darkness from the light, so too does the light of God separate the darkness from the
light and call us to walk in the light as he is in the light. Fellowship with God has been offered
and if we are to share in his life, then we must look at the world in light of him. In Revelation
21, 23, John writes of the church, the city of heavenly Mount Zion, saying that the glory of God
gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb. Those who would have fellowship with God amid his church
must be those who walk in the light of God’s glory. As our shorter catechism says, the chief end of man
is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And as well you know, this involves how we live our
lives before the face of God. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. John reminds us that the Lord is holy and that
he governs and rules in righteousness. He is light and the light of his fellowship shines in our
midst. Even now, we are new creation. Even now, Jesus, the light of the world, shines on us the
light of his countenance and the Spirit of God who proceeds from the Father and the Son now shines
the light of that fellowship of the heavenly kingdom into our hearts. God calls us to walk
in the light as he is in the light. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth. 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. You see, in the light,
we’re told that there is no darkness as God is the light. We have a picture of his holiness and
his righteousness and indeed that’s the blessed hope that sat before us is to finally walk in
that light without any vestige of darkness. That is the light of a new day that shines by the Spirit.
The death and resurrection of Christ along with his ascension and glorification is why we have
this light of the Spirit’s presence shining in our midst even now as we come before the heavenly
throne in worship. Jesus poured out his righteous blood to cleanse us. He laid down his life for us
so that we can have fellowship in the light of his face, so that we can walk in that blessing.
And that is why John repeats in verse 5 part of what he said back in verse 3. Namely, he is
declaring to us what he and his fellow Apostles have seen and heard. This is the message. They
heard Jesus testify that he was God. They heard him say that it was necessary for him to go to
the cross and die. They heard him say that he came to save sinners. He gave up his life for us so
that we could become the household of faith, the body of Christ with whom God has fellowship.
This is the joy that the Apostles proclaim to us. Christ gave his life because we are sinners and
because the justice of God demanded that sin be put to death. Your only hope of life is in Christ.
Your only hope of life is to count yourself to have died with him. And that faith in Christ
that is ours by the working of the Spirit, it brings about a fruitfulness in our lives.
And we do well to remember how our Lord came to us in weakness and humility and who for the joy
sat before him endured the cross and died that death that we deserved. And as he died,
we saw the light of the noonday sun become dark as night as he entered into that darkness that we
might enter into light. The wrath he suffered was the very darkness and death that we deserve for
But because of Christ, we no longer walk in such darkness. Christ is now risen and you have been
set free from sin. Death no longer has dominion over you and sin will have no dominion over you.
You show the world that the son of righteousness has risen with healing in its wings as you walk
in the light of that kingdom, in the light of the kingdom rule that shines in upon us. And that
involves our confession of our sins before God. To walk in darkness is to make a continual practice
of sinning. And that is not appropriate to the truth about who you are in Christ. When you come
to this assembly to hear God’s Word preached in the worship of him, you are entering the presence
of God in glorious light. There are lights in a lampstand shining in on you. Judgment has begun in
the household of God. As we enter the fellowship of the church, as we give vows to walk under
authority, the light is shining from the lampstand. You come by faith to that heavenly Mount Zion and
the Word speaks to you light and life calling for your separation out of that darkness, teaching
you the ways of the kingdom that is now come and that is yet to come. And so if you belong to God,
you must first look to Christ. You must hope in him who is the light of the world and you must be
governed by his Word which is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. And as you hope in him,
you are called to acknowledge that you are a sinner before him and to repent. And in that repentance,
we turn from our sin. We strive to put it to death even as Christ died for us. And as we consider
this necessity for holiness and for righteousness, we remember that the church holds up Christ first
and foremost as our righteousness and as the one who makes us holy. We cannot know this wondrous
grace unless we realize the reality of our predicament and the reality of our helplessness
before him. The reality that the judgment rightly leveled against us by a holy and just God would
be one that excludes us because in him there is no darkness at all but wonder of wonders. We are
united to him and that light that is at work in this fellowship is driving away the darkness.
And by faith we know that it will bring about the new day that is to come. The way of the wicked
is like the darkness. They do not know over what they stumble. The path of the righteous is like
the light. It grows brighter and brighter and brighter until the new day. So it says in the
Proverbs that is the Christian life. We ought to know our own sins. We ought to know those things
that make us stumble and we come to him in faith knowing that he is driving that darkness away and
that we are called to walk in the light. We should not be those who look down our noses at others.
We should not be those who judge others harshly if the light is really shining upon us because
we have seen what we are in light of Christ. And so as we come together in fellowship we love
one another. We bear with one another. That does not mean that we don’t have frank conversations
with our fellow believers. Indeed those frank conversations that might be necessary to confront
sin they are part of the light. They’re part of this fellowship that we have in the one body of
Christ. But we confront sin knowing that Christ’s blood was shed for us and like Paul we say that
we are the chief of sinners. And the fellowship that we have with one another is a fellowship
born of his cleansing blood poured out as Jesus suffered and died so that we could be made alive.
And so our goal should always be to walk in the light. Who is that governing light? Christ. In what
way did he confront us in our sins? Why he died for us. So far did he go to show us his love. And
so our goal is always to love as he loved, to lay down our lives, to lay down our pride, and to humble
ourselves as a servant serving one another. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in
darkness we lie and do not practice the truth. We cannot go on in our sins and we cannot puff
ourselves up thinking that we are better than others. That’s darkness. If we walk in the light
as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. You see how that kind of works out?
When we lie, when we walk in a way different than Christ, we don’t have fellowship with one
another either. It breaks down. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another. Jesus, his son, cleanses us together from all sin. God calls us to walk in
the light as he is in the light. This passage warns those who would look on sin lightly. But
it also encourages those who look to Christ in faith, perhaps afflicted with the thought of
the reality of our present moment in the Christian life. Chances are your lives are not so bright.
I know mine isn’t as I look at Christ and I look at me. Am I in the light? And yet we know that
this light shines brighter and brighter and brighter until the full day because what was
declared to us was a fellowship that is ours by faith. And it is declared to us. This should
not have us navel gazing. This should have us looking to the one who gives us life. This should
have us considering with awe and wonder and worship how it is that such a God of pure holiness and
light has drawn near to us. And with faith, we ought to strive the more to walk in that light.
And so we must walk humbly. We must not be focused upon ourselves. We must not look down
at others in pride. But we are called to walk in that governing light, looking to Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith. And we confess our sins and we can do so without fear.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say
we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. God calls us to walk in the
light as he is in the light. It is true that we cannot say peace, peace when there is no peace.
We cannot pretend that we are okay simply because we go to church. If we then live however we like
in the rest of our lives, we cannot pretend that we’re pretty good and decent people and that sin
is their problem out there. We must recognize that without Christ, we are just enemies of God. And
that all those out there that we might want to look at to justify ourselves,
really do us no good to justify ourselves. Outside of Christ, you are not decent people.
Outside of Christ, you are not mostly good. If it weren’t for Christ’s advocacy for you,
I hope that you can confess that you deserve to be cast into the eternal fires of hell.
We all should be able to confess that. That’s part of this light that shines. It’s not comfortable.
The Son of God died naked upon the cross displayed in shame before a watching world
because that’s really what we deserve. And yet this is the fellowship. This is the light that
is ours that that work was done so that we might have fellowship, so that we might be able to walk
in the light. And so it would be our own lives that we’re forfeit and that penalty, that good
and just penalty would fall on our heads. And yet see what happens when we walk in the light,
when we testify that truth and come to Jesus to confess our sins. It’s really an amazing thing.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. So strong is the covenant
purpose that he has to save us, that we who justly deserve death. If we come to him in this the day
of salvation, whatever our sin, he is faithful to his word and even it is said he is just. So is
our confidence when we confess our sins, that it would be unjust if God did not forgive us our sins.
And God is not unjust. He is good and holy. In him is no darkness at all.
This light demands that we confess our sins before God. This light of Christ demands that
we must walk in a new way of life that has been graciously given. And so we ought not shrink back
from the light, but be willing to walk in humility. And part of that in the context of the church that
is being built up on this testimony of the Apostles witness to Christ, it involves coming under
authority that sometimes might check you on your sins, that might even bring about discipline
in the church. And yet we’re told that in the light of such things, we can confess our sins.
We don’t need to hide. We should love discipline. We should seek to walk in the light. Proverbs 12,
loves discipline, loves knowledge. But he who hates reproof is stupid. If you’ve been given this
life so graciously and so freely, avail yourselves of the light that now shines of Christ and of his
myriad witnesses in the church, of those who are meant to model their lives according to God’s word.
The elders and the ministers in this church are called to walk in this same light. And you do well
to look and to consider their way of life. The Bible tells us to do that. It’s a very fearful thing
for those who are in office in the church because we also are always coming to the Lord confessing
our sins. And yet that’s part of the beauty of imitating their way of life. It’s not that they
have everything together, but that they don’t flee. They go to Christ. They stick in there,
always coming to Christ and humbling themselves, confessing their sins, confessing that they are
sinners too. And that they have that confidence that he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins. What wonderful love he shows us in this fellowship to which he calls us as he calls us
to walk in the light as he is in the light. The way that we respond is to confess the truth,
not to deny our sins, not to hide from that light, but to walk in it. And as we respond to his call
to fellowship, we walk with newness of life from his Spirit. We are those who have been given faith
in Christ. A new creation shines in our midst. We are new creation in him. And it is only fitting
that the light of that new creation would shine on this land, the land that we inhabit day to day.
We were buried with him by baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. And so people of God worship this
God. Come into the light of his fellowship. Submit yourselves to the light of his fellowship and love
one another with the love and the humility and the forgiveness and the mercy that you have
received from him. Amen. Let’s pray. Oh, Father in heaven, we thank you that you have called us
into this glorious light and that the light shines even now from your lampstand. We pray,
Lord, that as we come to you, that you would draw near to us, that we might grow more and more as
we walk in the light, that that light would shine brighter and brighter in our hearts until that
wonderful day when we go to be with you and our hearts are made perfectly holy in your presence
forevermore, no longer having any hint of the darkness that now tends to desire to resist.
Father, we pray that you would give us this grace to sanctify us by your Spirit,
that we might bear fruit that is in keeping with the reality and the identity that is ours in you,
that we are new creation. And so let your light shine upon us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
People of God, let us now respond to the word that has been preached this morning by turning
in your psalter hymnal to Psalm 84B. Psalm 84B. And as you find that, please stand to sing.