What Sneakers Do You Wear When You Walk in Darkness?

We are going to open this morning to the book of First John, which is near the very end of your Bibles. If you open to the very last book, which is Revelation, turn to the left, and you will find First, Second, and Third John. We are in First John, chapter 1, where we have been for the last few weeks, and we might actually get out of the first four verses, so we are moving a little slowly through here.

First John, chapter 1, verse 1: The Apostle writes, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the word of life. The life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you may also have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you: that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and 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 Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Father, as we look at this passage of Scripture this morning, I pray that You would give us wisdom and insight—Lord, wisdom and insight into Your nature, insight and understanding into who we truly are. When we see those two things together—who we are in light of Your true nature—it would bring us to a place of confession. It would bring us to a place of calling upon You in faith and trust, so that You would work in us that magnificent work that You do by Your grace, by Your forgiveness, and by the blood that we read about here.

This passage of Jesus we celebrated just a little over a week ago, your death on the cross, and your blood was for our sin so that we would be justified. God, would you speak that to us in a very clear way from your Scripture and cause it to go deep into our hearts by your Spirit? We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

As I have been reading through and thinking about this section of Scripture for the last few weeks, particularly the book of First John, I have focused on this passage, especially verses 5 through 7. I thought that if I were to lecture on this at a liberal arts university, I would probably have to give what they call a trigger warning at the beginning. However, the Bible doesn't really observe safe spaces, so this is one of those challenging passages of Scripture. Just as a heads up, as we go into this passage, we are moving rather slowly through First John. We spent three weeks on the opening verses, and I believe that part of the reason for that is that God has something He wants to speak to us through His word very clearly in this passage.

As we move into the book of First John, it's important for us to understand the context. I have been speaking about it every single week as we come to the book. This was written late in the first century AD, which means that early Christian theology and doctrine were pretty well developed by the time John wrote this letter. John may have written this around the year 92 to 95 AD, which is a full 60 to 65 years after Jesus was crucified, after He was buried, after He rose from the dead, and after the establishment of the church that we read about in the book of Acts, which is the history book of the New Testament.

So, many decades after all of those great events, during that six to six and a half decade period, the doctrine of the church had begun to be pretty developed at this point. The way in which John opens this letter, which we've read over and over again, is significant.

The last three weeks, and then again today as you read verses 1 through 5, John opens in somewhat of a peculiar fashion. It's almost as if John keeps going back, redundantly stuttering. It’s like John is stuttering over what he wants to say. You get the sense that if John were writing this in our day and typing it on a computer, he might have gone back and edited how he put things together. But because he was writing with a pen on parchment, he just kept going with it.

He has something he wants to say, and it’s almost as if there’s so much in his mind and in his heart that it’s not quite coming out the way he wanted it to. So, he keeps circling back, saying things again and then emphasizing them. Now, that might bother some of you, and I’m not making any statement about the inspiration of Scripture; I’m just making a point about the way this passage reads.

Though it reads somewhat stuttered as you go through the opening verses, I think it does so for a very clear reason. When the Apostle wrote this in 92 to 95 AD, he was writing to combat one of the earliest false teachings, a heresy that began to develop in the church. This false teaching really only took root after the death of John in the second century. It started in the place where John was speaking.

When John writes this letter, it is believed by most historians and Bible scholars that he is writing from the city of Ephesus. If you have ever read through the New Testament, you know that Ephesus is an important city in the early church. The church started in Jerusalem, where Christ was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead. The church begins there in accordance with the words of Jesus.

The church then spreads, moving from Jerusalem to the county of Judea, then into the region called Samaria, and finally into the uttermost parts. The book of Acts describes how the gospel begins to move into Europe and throughout the world to our day. Ephesus takes a central piece in that story of the progression of the church, especially through the ministry of a man named Paul. Paul planted a church in Ephesus, and after he planted that church, he wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus, known as the book of Ephesians. After that, he left one of his close associates, a co-laborer.

Named Timothy in the city of Ephesus, Paul wrote two letters to him, which we studied through last year and at the beginning of this year. Ephesus takes on a central focus, and when Paul left Timothy there, he did so to combat a false teaching that was starting to grow in that city. Now, John is dealing with that same issue, but it is about 20 to 25 years after Timothy was there, so a lot of time has passed.

Ephesus becomes a breeding ground for this false teaching, which historians now refer to as Gnosticism. At the time Timothy was there, it was only just a seed that had started to sprout, and it was barely beginning to bubble up and grow. Bible scholars often refer to this as incipient Gnosticism, indicating that the birthing or growth of Gnosticism was just starting in that city when John was there, around 92 to 95 AD. He is seeking to speak against all of this.

At this point, it would not be far off for you to wonder what this has to do with what we are looking at in 1 John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 7. One Bible dictionary on Gnosticism states that Gnosticism holds that God cannot be observed with our senses nor easily grasped with our understanding. The basic premise of Gnostic thought, which was starting at the time of John and really took hold in the church in the second century AD, is that we live in a dualistic world. There are two different realms: the spiritual realm and the physical realm.

The spiritual realm is holy and perfect, and it never touches the physical realm, which is evil, dark, and wicked. Therefore, the two never come together. Early Gnostic teaching suggested that Christians believe and teach that Jesus is God and that He came to this world. However, they argued that we cannot have the Holy of the spiritual realm mixed with the earthy, fallen realm. Thus, they concluded that He did not really come in bodily form; He was just an apparition, a ghostly figure.

There is a problem with this view: the church did not believe or teach that. Just before he writes this letter, John had written the Gospel of John. If you have ever read through the Gospel of John, you know that the opening words present a powerful declaration about the incarnation of God becoming a man. The term "incarnation" means putting on flesh.

John began the Gospel of John by speaking about the bodily, physical incarnation of God coming to the world. He writes in this way: John chapter 1, verse 1, "In the beginning was the Word." Among the Greeks, this was a common concept—the idea of the Logos. The word "Word" is translated from the Greek term "Logos." In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God. In this spiritual realm, the Logos was God. It is not a thing; it is a person. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, the Logos. Without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

A few verses later, in John chapter 1, verse 14, John says, "And the Word became flesh." This spiritual realm, which Gnostics believed to be holy, separate, and perfect, had the Word present, but it became flesh. It came to this earthly realm, which is fallen and sinful. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

In the Gospel that John wrote, he begins with this great statement about the Incarnation: God became a man. At the end of the Gospel of John, and really at the end of each of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—we have not just the incarnation of God becoming a man, but we also have the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus. The Gnostics claimed that He was just an apparition; He wasn't real, physical, or tangible.

The security that John is driving home in 1 John chapter 1 is to make a strong statement about the reality of Jesus coming to the world. The fullness of deity came in flesh. Point number one on your outline: Jesus is God in the flesh, come to enlighten a world in darkness. This is the core teaching of the New Testament. Jesus was not just a man; He is not a myth. All secular historians and Christian historians alike will tell you He was an actual individual. However, He is not just a man; He is not just a good teacher. He was not just a good worker or a miracle worker; He was much more.

Not just a prophet, the teaching of the Church from the very beginning is that Jesus is God in the flesh. He came to enlighten a world in darkness. John wrote that in the Gospel of John: "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men."

John's statement in First John emphasizes the reality of the physical incarnation of God becoming a man. He writes, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled." He is driving home the point that God actually came to the world. This is what John is aiming at here.

Now, how do we know if something is real? We perceive it with our senses. First, we see something, so we know that it exists because we can see it. However, how many of you recognize that sometimes you see things or can see things that aren't actually there? This can be a little disconcerting when you are absolutely convinced you saw something, but you don't know what you saw. We realize that our eyes can play tricks on us.

So, how do we know something is real? Well, first we see it, and then we can deduce that it's actually real because we not only see but also hear it. Of course, even your ears can play tricks on you. I come down to the office every Friday when the front office is closed, so it's quiet. This makes a great opportunity for me to finish up my message. I am in my office by myself, and I can't tell you how many times I have been absolutely convinced that I heard someone say, "Miles!" I think, "Yes, Lord, your servant listens."

So, sometimes our ears play tricks on us. But if we see something and we hear it, we are driving home the reality that it is real. John also mentions that which we have looked upon. The word "looked upon" means to gaze with intent to discover; the idea is to examine something. John is saying here, "Listen, I saw Jesus. I heard Him teach. I examined His teaching. I was there with Him. I saw Him on the Sea of Galilee. I saw Him in Jerusalem. I saw Him feed the multitude. I saw this; I examined it." But not only did I examine, he says, "that which we handled."

The early disciples, followers of Jesus, were there with Him. They could touch Him and tell that He was not an apparition, as the Gnostic teaching suggested. John states clearly that this is not the case. He says, "I saw Him, I heard Him, I examined Him, I handled the Word of life." Eternal life was with the Father God in another spiritual realm, and He was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you.

John emphasizes at every level that he examined, heard, saw, and touched Jesus. He was not an apparition. John even saw Him after His resurrection. He is trying to combat the false teaching of his day that claimed Jesus did not actually come in the flesh. This is why we are in First John, chapter 1.

If you turn a couple of pages to the right, you will find First John, chapter 4, verse 1. Beloved, this is written to Christians: "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone into the world." By this, you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.

What is John combating? This false teaching that claimed God did not actually come in the flesh. Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world.

John has a way of starting that may seem like he is stuttering, but he is trying to drive home a clear point: Jesus actually came, God in the flesh. He lived, worked, died, and rose again bodily. Why does he write all of this? First John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4 tell us: "I write these things so that you may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."

So, I have this message that I received from Him: I saw Him, I heard Him, I touched Him. I received it from Him, and I am sharing this message with you so that...

You can enjoy communion with the body of Christ, with God, and with Christ, and that your joy would be full. But that's all well and good. Fine, John, what then is the message? What is the message you're trying to drive home?

Well, we finally get out of the first four verses. Look at verse five of First John. First John 1:5 states, "This is the message." You can underline that in your neighbor's Bible if you like. This is the message which we collectively, the disciples, have heard from Him and declare to you: that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Now, it's worth noting that this is not the whole of the message, but this is part of the message that John wants to drive home at this point. This is the message that we heard, saw, and received, and declare to you: God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. It is a message, John says, of light and darkness, but not physical light and darkness. We know it's dark at night; the sun comes up in the morning, and we see light. So, we have dark and light.

But what is he talking about when he talks about light and darkness? Well, he's using it as a metaphor. A metaphor for what? The answer to that question comes from Jesus Himself in the Gospel of John, chapter 3. A man came to Jesus under the cover of night; his name was Nicodemus, and he had a conversation with Jesus. At a certain point in that conversation, Jesus said these words, which even many non-Christians know really well: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Then He says this, and these are the words of Jesus from John 3:19: "And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed."

So, as Jesus explains, this metaphor of light and darkness indicates that darkness is the cover for wickedness. Darkness equals sin; it equals evil deeds, while light equals righteousness, purity, and holiness. In the Gnostic teaching, which John...

A false teaching began to emerge within the church, which second-century Christians rejected as heresy. This teaching posited that God is perfect and that light emanates from Him into the world, but that we cannot fully interact with it. However, John states otherwise. He asserts that God came into the world; light came into the world tangibly and physically to expose darkness and bring life. This is the message we have heard from Him.

A simple question arises: when did Jesus, or when did John, hear this message from Jesus about Jesus being the light? In the Gospel of John, he recounts a couple of instances in which Jesus revealed this truth. The first is found in a particularly interesting passage of Scripture, which I encourage you to read later. Some historians, commentators, and Bible scholars have contested whether this passage is present in the earliest manuscripts of John, but I believe there is good evidence to support its inclusion. It is found in John chapter 8, verses 1 through 12.

In this story, Jesus is in the city of Jerusalem at the temple, as He often was when He was in Jerusalem. It is early in the morning, and He has already gathered a crowd to speak and teach. Suddenly, the scribes and the Pharisees, two groups of religious leaders in Israel, interrupt the scene, causing a commotion. They throw down in front of Jesus a woman who has been taken in adultery; the Scripture states she was caught in the very act. They rip her from the bed of adultery and cast her down before Jesus.

The obvious question arises: where is the man? It takes two to commit adultery. Nevertheless, they present her to Jesus and say, "Master, Rabbi, the law of Moses says she should be put to death for the crime of adultery." Of course, they neglect to mention the man involved. They ask Jesus, "What do you say, Rabbi?" They are trying to trap Him, attempting to catch Him teaching against the law of Moses. Jesus, I believe, enjoyed frustrating people, and perhaps I have inherited that tendency from Him.

He doesn't respond verbally. John chapter 8 says He stoops down and begins to write in the dust of the ground. The scribes and Pharisees get a little impatient and follow up, asking, "Okay, come on, Master, what do you think?" He stands up and says, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone," and then goes back to writing in the dust.

John chapter 8 says that one by one, beginning from the oldest to the youngest, they left, being convicted. After they left, when Jesus raised Himself up, He saw no one but the woman. There were probably still His disciples in the crowd He was teaching, but all the scribes and Pharisees had gone. He saw no one but the woman and said to her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, Lord." Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

There is a lot to explore in that section, but I don't have the time to go into it in depth. He is not breaking the law by saying, "Go and sin no more," because the law required that there be at least two witnesses to the crime, and there was no one to condemn her. So, under the law, He has no reason to condemn her either. He tells her to go and sin no more, and it would seem she probably leaves.

Jesus then turns to address His disciples in the very next verse, John chapter 8, verse 12. He spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life."

When did John hear this message? "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." At the very least, this probably happened on that day when he witnessed that almost incredible display of grace. Jesus reiterated this message one chapter later in John chapter 9, where the story is told of Him healing a man who was born blind. This man had lived his entire life in darkness, and just before Jesus heals him, He says to His disciples, "I am the light of the world."

This brings us to point number two on your outline: Jesus.

Is the light of God that has come into the world, and in Him is no darkness, is what John declares. There is no imperfection; He is perfect light. Now, what does that mean for us? If Jesus is perfect light, "I am the light of the world," and "He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life." What does that mean for us?

In 1 John, chapter 1, verse 6, it states, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." This is where the reality of the light of God in Christ becomes challenging for you and for me. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, if we say that we are followers of Him—He said, "I am the light of the world; He who follows me shall not walk in darkness." So, if we say that we are followers of Him, we have fellowship, relationship, communion, and unity with the light, Jesus. However, if we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

If you're a follower of Jesus, perhaps we would call you what the Scriptures would call you: a disciple. A disciple is a student, a pupil, a follower, and an obedient follower of another. If you're a disciple of Jesus, you shall not walk in darkness.

Now, when Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; He who follows me shall not walk in darkness," we might feel that He is saying this as a command, like "Thou shalt not walk in darkness." But that's not exactly the way that Jesus spoke it. This is not in the imperative, a command; this is in another mood. In the Greek, this is written in John chapter 8, and it's in the subjunctive. So, what He is saying is, "If you follow me, you should not walk in darkness."

The message of John declared to his hearers, and to us, so that we could have fellowship with God and fellowship with one another, was that if we say we have fellowship with Him and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. The old saying is...

True actions speak louder than words. If we say with our words that we are connected to God through Christ, if we call ourselves followers of Jesus, Christians, or followers of the way, we must ensure that our actions align with those declarations. We are united to Him through the communion of His body and blood, represented by the bread and the cup. However, if we walk in darkness and practice sin, we lie to ourselves and to others. We are not practitioners of truth.

John emphasizes in this passage that our words and actions must align; otherwise, we are living a lie.

Point number three: you cannot walk with Jesus and walk in darkness. It is not possible to remain in fellowship with God and His church while simultaneously walking in darkness. Yet, we can certainly be guilty of trying. You may wonder how we could be walking in darkness. There are many ways to interpret this.

For instance, if you are hiding your spending habits from your spouse, you may be walking in darkness. If you are concealing your online history from your wife, that too could indicate you are in darkness. If you are hiding problems in your marriage from those closest to you who might be able to pray for you and offer counsel, you are walking in darkness.

Additionally, if you are keeping explicit text messages secret between you and your girlfriend or boyfriend, or if you are hiding that you have relapsed into substance use, received a DUI, defrauded your business partner, or concealed your true intentions from someone you are dating, these actions reflect a life in darkness.

You're hiding these things; it could be an indication that you're not walking in alignment with the one you say you follow. I don't know exactly what that thing could be, but here's the amazing thing about the light of God: it is a penetrating light. God shines His light into the person that says, "I want to follow You." It's okay, but My light is penetrating, and it exposes; it brings light to those things.

Now, it does so for a purpose, which we're going to see as we go on in the verses, and it's a very good thing that God does after He exposes these things in us. If today the penetrating light of God exposes that there's something you're hiding and you're walking in darkness, there are three things that you need to know if you're seeking to follow Jesus and walk in darkness.

Number one: your way is not hidden from God. Two thousand seven hundred years ago, there was a prophet in Israel named Isaiah. He lived among a group of people who would go to the temple regularly, weekly, constantly bringing offerings. I mean, listen, we come to church weekly, but we don't go with a lamb that we're taking to have it slaughtered for us and for our family. That's pretty powerful. You take a lamb from your own flock, or if you don't have a flock, you go buy a lamb that's been inspected by the priest. You take it to the temple, and they slaughter it right there in front of you as a display of the reality that our sin is so terrible it needs life to deal with that.

They would go regularly, weekly, to do that, and throughout the rest of the week, they had idols in their homes, and they were bowing down to false gods. They thought they were getting away with it. Isaiah says to them in Isaiah 29:15, "Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are done in darkness." They say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" He says, "Woe to you! Watch out! You're going to hit a wall here in a big way—a wall of God's judgment. If you think you're hiding this and in your heart you say, 'Well, who sees us? Who knows us? This doesn't harm anybody else. Nobody has to know.'"

He says, "Surely you have things turned around." That's Isaiah's comment. No one knows about your hidden sin, but God knows.

The first thing to understand is that your way is not hidden from God. Second, your sin will find you out. This is straight from the Scriptures; it comes from the Old Testament book of Numbers. Moses was speaking to the children of Israel, calling them to walk in obedience and faith before God. He says, "But if you do not do so"—Numbers 32:23—"take note, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out." Those are sobering words, challenging words, but words we need to hear.

Jesus said it like this in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verse 17: "For nothing that is done in secret will not be revealed." Paul said in Galatians, chapter 6, verse 7: "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap."

So, first, your way is not hidden from God. Second, your sin will find you out. Third, your secret sins are destroying you, those you love, and the church. Paul, in First Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 6, says, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?"

What does that mean? Well, we don't really use the word "leaven" so much anymore; we use the modern word "yeast." If you're a baker, you know exactly what that means. A little bit of yeast, even if it's just a small amount, continues to grow, permeate, and multiply. It will cause the whole thing to rise. A little bit of leaven, a little bit of yeast, leavens the whole lump—the whole of the church.

There's a story in the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapter 7, about the children of Israel coming into the promised land that God was going to give to them. God said, "Listen, when you come into this land, the first city you're going to encounter is a city called Jericho. Nothing of that city are you to take to yourselves; no spoils of war. All of it is to be taken as a dedicated offering to the Lord. You're not to touch any of it."

But there was this man, Achan, who saw some of those things. He saw some silver, some gold, and a nice coat of clothing—maybe some orange pants—and he said, "I have to have those." So he took them and hid them. As a result, the nation of Israel...

Israel experienced judgment. A little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump. We have to confront the fact that there may be some among us who are trying to walk with Jesus, which is good, but at the same time, we may be walking in darkness. We cannot do that; it will not work.

So, what do we do? That is the heavy word. Let's look at 1 John 1:7. It says, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and here's the good news: the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." As we walk in the light and have fellowship with one another, His blood cleanses us from all sin.

Point number four: choose this day to walk in the light. It isn't really that easy. The great lawgiver, Moses, just before the children of Israel were to come into the Promised Land, gave his last message to them. The entire book of Deuteronomy is one long message. You might think my messages are long, but Deuteronomy is more than 30 chapters.

As you get to the end of it, Moses' final words to the children of Israel are this: "I have set before you this day life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose life that you and your children might live." He said, "Here's the law of God. Walk in that, and you will experience the blessings of God. But disregard it and walk against it, and you will experience curses."

It's what we call a conditional prediction: if you do this, then this will happen; if you don't do this, then that will happen. So, he says, "Choose this day to walk in truth." That was basically his last word. Joshua becomes the leader and leads them into the Promised Land. What happens? The children of Israel follow God perfectly for a time, but very quickly, they return to idolatry.

Worship that their fathers had done. Fast forward a number of years; Joshua is now near the end of his life. He gathers the people all together again and says this: "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether it will be the gods of your fathers that they served when they were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Choose to walk in the light. Yes, walking in the light may mean that you are exposed for who you are, but here's the great truth: we are all sinners. God's exposing light reveals so that He can cleanse us, not to condemn us. This is why the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 2:5, spoke to the people: "Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."

How do we walk in the light of the Lord? We choose to follow the Lord into the light, where the blood of Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. How does that take place? Well, in 1 John 1:7, and skipping down to verses, this is where we're going in a future study: 1 John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us." That's to pardon us of our sins, and not only that, but to cleanse us.

In 1 John 1:7 and 1 John 1:9, we read that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness— all of it.

So how do we walk in the light and experience His cleansing? Point number five: by repentance, confession, and faith.

He cleanses us by His forgiving grace. This is why we call this message the Gospel; it is good news. The bad news is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Our sin nature, and might I even add the enemy—the adversary, the one who is called the devil, the accuser of the brethren, the liar, the father of lies—that's what the Scripture calls this spirit of disobedience.

Our flesh and the enemy constantly tell us, "Don't come to the light. Don't be exposed. Hide it. Keep it hidden in the tent, lest you be exposed." But God says, "Come into the light. Repent. Confess."

In 1 John 1:9, it says, "If we confess our sins." That word "confess" is very interesting. In the original language, it's a Greek compound word, homologeo. "Logeo" means to say or to speak, and "homo" means the same thing. So, to confess is to say the same thing; the best way to interpret it would be to agree. It is to bring it out in the open and agree with God, saying, "This is sin before You. It is unrighteousness."

Yes, it's fine. Our culture can say it's just fine. Our culture can say, "Sure, you can smoke marijuana. You can drink all the booze you want. You can watch pornography. You can defraud people. You can do all those things." Our culture says there are all kinds of immoral things that are perfectly legal. You can do it all.

But God says, "I want you to walk in the light and experience My grace and forgiveness and fellowship with one another in God." You can't do that while you are holding on to all of these things; it is not possible. So, you have to bring down the others and say, "Yes, my sin nature, my culture might say this is fine. It's okay. It's done. Secrets aren't harming anybody; nobody knows."

But I'm going to say the same thing as You, God: this before You is wrong, and it's the very thing that's destroying my life. So, I confess it. What does God do? He is faithful to pardon, forgive, and cleanse you. You do not have to walk in darkness. You do not have to continue to live a life disconnected from true fellowship with God and with this church.

You do not have to continue to walk in a lie. Walking in a lie is a terribly difficult thing; there is no joy in that. You can have the joy of Christ's righteousness as a part of your life. You can enjoy the fullness of His forgiving grace. How? By turning to God. That’s repentance—confessing, "God, this is an offense to You; it's a stumbling block to me. Will You forgive me and will You cleanse me?"

What did He say? He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse. The word "cleanse" there, the root word of it, is the same as the word that Jesus uses in John chapter 15 when He says, "I am the vine, and you are the branches. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away." The vine dresser, God, takes away. But every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes. That word "prune" is the same word as "cleanse." He prunes it so that it may bear much fruit.

God wants my life and your life to bear much fruit. He wants this church to bear much fruit. That’s not possible if we’re holding on to dead, unfruitful branches. So He comes in and says, "Let Me shine the light on that and prune it. As you confess it to Me, I’ll take it away. I’ll forgive you and I’ll cleanse you so that you would bear much fruit."

What’s fruit? Love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control—these are all things that are wonderfully glorifying to God and satisfying to us. God wants us to be a fruitful church, but it cannot happen if we are walking in darkness.

So what’s the first step? The first step is to step into the light and say, "God, will You forgive me?" And you know what He says? Yes, on the basis of what? The death of Jesus on the cross. He is the propitiation for our sins. That’s a big word that means the payment for our sins so that God can pardon you and cleanse us.

I’m going to ask you to stand, and we’re going to close in prayer. Today might be the time for us to come before the Lord in repentance. "God, would You forgive me?" Because there’s something that you’ve been holding on to that’s in darkness, and God says, "I want that to be purged from your life." Come, let us walk in the light.

Light of the Lord, Father, here in this place right now, I pray that your light from your Word would shine into our hearts and our minds and expose those areas. God, you have an amazing ability by your Spirit to put your finger right on that thing in our lives that is offending you and holding us back from enjoying the fellowship that we have with you.

These things that we're holding on to in the darkness of our hearts destroy and hinder our walk. They keep us from worshipping you and being a witness of you in this world. It destroys our walk, our worship, and our witness. God, I pray that you would shine into our lives and expose those things so that we could right now come before you and bring them to you, saying, "God, will you please forgive me?"

God, we thank you for your forgiving grace. When we confess and say, "Will you please forgive me?" you say yes. So, God, we come before you right now and say, "God, forgive us. Help us to be a fruitful people, shining your light to this world because we are those who walk in the light with you, in the light, in fellowship with one another." We praise you, Jesus. It's in your name we pray.