1 JOHN 1:8-2:2
IS YOUR LIGHT ON OR OFF?
Real Christianity #4
If you are like me, you have left lights “on” when you should have turned them off and have turned lights “off” when you should have left them on.
As Christians we are to walk “in the light”, as we saw last week.
1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
As Christians, we are the “light of the world”.
Matthew 5:14-16 - Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. [15] Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. [16] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
So, Christian, you are the light of the world. Let me ask you, “Is your light “on” or is it “off”? Are you shining or hiding the light?
One morning when He got to work, a Christian man found that by mistake he had taken two newspapers instead of one. He first thought of paying the man the extra price the next morning, but then after a moment’s consideration he said, “I had better go back with this paper. I don’t want the man at the store to think I’m dishonest.” He got in his car, drove back to the store, and returned the paper.
About a week later, someone stole money from the grocery store. When police pinpointed the time it occurred, the grocer remembered only two people being in the store at the time—and one was the Christian man.
The grocer immediately dismissed him as a suspect, saying, “That man is really honest. He came all the way back here just to return a newspaper he took by mistake.” The police then focused their investigation on the other man, who soon made a full confession. The Christian’s honesty made a big impression on that non-Christian storeowner. Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1998, p. for April 15, http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1549
This Christian man’s light was “on”!
I have watched Christians lose their temper and use bad language. Their light was “off”.
I have seen Christians be dishonest. Their light was “off”.
Christians have been caught stealing. Their light was “off”.
I as a Christian have allowed worry to immobilize me. My light was “off”.
I know of Christians who have been convicted of child abuse, sexual and otherwise. Their light was “off”.
I know of Christians who have been unfaithful to their wives or husbands. Their light was “off”.
This morning we return to 1 John, the Book of the Bible that talks about being real, or real Christianity. As we look at
1 John 1:8-2:2, I want you to ask the question, “Is my light as a Christian “on” or “off”? You can’t do much about anybody else, but you can make sure that your light shines for the Lord Jesus.
This morning we will see:
THE PROBLEM OF DISHONESTY – 1:8, 10
THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS – 1:9
THE PREDISPOSITION TO HOLINESS – 2:1a
THE PROVISION OF AN ADVOCATE – 2:1-2
THE PROBLEM OF DISHONESTY – 1:8, 10
1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
There were people in John’s day who claimed to have reached a point of “sinless perfection”. They claimed that they just didn’t sin anymore.
There are also people in our day that make the same claim.
My concern is with us Christians who have been truly born again. We have trusted Christ as Savior. We know we are forgiven and are going to Heaven.
We would never claim to be sinless.
However, we don’t view our specific faults as sin.
We might call them “weaknesses” or being “human” or a result of being “tired”, but we don’t call them what they are, sin!
We think it no problem if we act just like everyone else.
We can lie or share a half truth in order to get ourselves out of trouble.
We can take something that doesn’t belong to us and justify why we have taken it.
We can look at another woman with lustful thoughts, and say “It’s okay to look as long as we don’t touch.”
Oh Yeah?
Matthew 5:27-28 - Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: [28] But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
We lose our tempers and ream out someone else, often a family member, and consider ourselves right to have done so.
We get lazy in our work or church attendance and find reasons to justify it.
We allow pride to keep us from admitting when we are wrong or for asking forgiveness.
And we don’t think of these things as sin!
When we are like this we are not only being dishonest, but we are deceiving ourselves!
Can others see your sins?
Yes, they can see many of them, and they know how wrong you are no matter how much you justify or excuse yourself from responsibility. And the ones which others can not see, God can see.
Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
When a Christian is wrong and won’t admit it, the light of his testimony is “off”.
Many a parent has failed to apologize to his or her child for things they have done wrong, and it has driven a wedge between the child and the parent.
Many a Christian has not admitted to wrongs committed on the job and this has hindered him or her from being a good testimony. The light is “off”.
And notice when we deceive ourselves with our sin, the truth is not in us. We are living a lie by doing wrong and not owning up to it!
1 John 1:10 - If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
This probably refers to a man who claims to have never sinned, ever!
When a person does this he is calling God a liar.
God says we have all sinned!
Romans 3:10-18 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: [11] There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. [12] They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. [13] Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: [14] Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: [15] Their feet are swift to shed blood: [16] Destruction and misery are in their ways: [17] And the way of peace have they not known: [18] There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
If a person claims to have never sinned, he is not only calling God a liar, but God’s Word is certainly not impacting his life. God’s Word is not “in Him”.
How do we apply this verse for the Christian?
God tells us in His Word what activities are wrong and calls them sin.
If I do not call sin in my life “sin”, I am calling God a liar, and His Word is certainly not impacting my life.
So, if we are not honest about sin in our lives, we are deceiving ourselves and we are calling Almighty God a liar.
And the light of our testimony is “off”. We can not impact others effectively for Him.
THE PROBLEM OF DISHONESTY – 1:8, 10
THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS – 1:9
When Jesus died for you sins, He died for all of them, past, present, and future.
When a Christian sins the “light” of his testimony goes out.
When a Christian sins, God does not answer prayers.
Psalm 66:18 - If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
1 Peter 3:7 - Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
1 Peter 3:12 - For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
When a Christian sins God is grieved.
Ephesians 4:25-32 - Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. [26] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: [27] Neither give place to the devil. [28] Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. [29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. [30] And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: [32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Now think about this – GOD IS GRIEVED WHEN I SIN!
As a Christian, one who, has trusted Jesus as Savior, I bring sorrow to God’s heart. That’s the last thing I should want to do!
When someone has hurt you or offended you, it is difficult for you to have good fellowship with that person. You want to avoid them, not talk to them, or to do them favors.
So it is with our righteous, holy, God.
Sin grieves God and therefore God is not disposed to having fellowship with his sinning child or to answering his or her prayers!
But there is good news!
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
To confess our sins is to acknowledge them before God.
God knows what our sins are. When we know what our sins are we to admit them to God.
We are to be specific!
God is looking for us to name the sin.
We are not to pray, “Father if I have done something wrong, forgive me.”
We are to pray, “Father this is my sin (and name It) please forgive me. I am wrong.”
And notice when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
God is faithful to forgive because He said he would.
Isaiah 1:18 - Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
God is just or righteous to forgive because His Son has already paid for that Sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And God goes even a step further in His forgiveness.
It appears that when we honestly examine ourselves and confess all known sin that we can think of, he deals with the things we are unaware of.
We are cleansed from “all unrighteousness”.
What a wonderful and encouraging promise!
And when we are dealing with our sins on a regular basis, we will be walking in the light, and hence our light will be “on”.
THE PROBLEM OF DISHONESTY – 1:8, 10
THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS – 1:9
THE PREDISPOSITION TO HOLINESS – 2:1a
1 John 2:1 - My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
John is telling them why he has just talked about the reality of sin, and the fact that we are to confess our sins.
John’s purpose for talking about sin was so that they wouldn’t sin.
We as Christians should be predisposed to holiness.
Holiness is means being set apart for God.
If we are set apart for God, we are also set apart from sin.
Leviticus 20:26 - And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives a little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it.
Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn’t enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life. – HGB, Our Daily Bread, April 21, 1997, http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=731
Like the ermine we should rather die than defile ourselves with the dirt and grime of sin.
We should be predisposed to holiness, and not to sin.
When we do, our light will be “on”.
“A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine.”- D. L. Moody, http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=731
THE PROBLEM OF DISHONESTY – 1:8, 10
THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS – 1:9
THE PREDISPOSITION TO HOLINESS – 2:1a
THE PROVISION OF AN ADVOCATE – 2:1-2
I have a new friend. His name is Dave Bursik
I have met him and have talked with him on the phone several times.
Our family needs to settle my mother’s estate. That means we have to deal with the law and with authorities.
It is Dave, the lawyer, who is telling us what to do, seeing we sign the right papers, go to the right places and do what we have to do, helping us in a time of need.
Lord willing, Dave is taking us to probate court on Tuesday morning. He is going to do the talking and speaking in our behalf. We called him for help, so he could come by us in a time of need. Dave is serving as our advocate.
1 John 2:1-2 - My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: [2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
John tells us not to sin. But John knew and stated that we would sin.
We should try not to sin, but when we do we have an advocate, a lawyer, one called alongside of us to help us.
We have a representative before our righteous and holy God.
And here is an ironic twist.
The family will pay Dave Bursik the lawyer for his services.
But the Lord Jesus paid for the privilege of being our advocate by dying for our sins. He paid with His blood so He could represent us.
The Lord Jesus is the propitiation or the satisfaction for our sins.
Picture the old devil, Satan, accusing you before the throne of God when you sin.
Then picture Jesus coming before God and saying, “Father, she is mine. I died for her, and she trusted me as Savior”.
And let me tell you. The more predisposed you are to holiness the more sensitive you will be to sin. And the more you will identify sin in your life, and you might become discouraged.
We are to confess our sins as we already saw.
But be assured that you have an advocate at the right hand of God, actually the great high priest, who is there to be your lawyer, to intercede in your behalf.
Hebrews 7:24-25 - But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. [25] Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
You, Christian, are to let your light shine.
Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Will the light of your testimony be “on” or “off”?
THE PROBLEM OF DISHONESTY – 1:8, 10
THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS – 1:9
THE PREDISPOSITION TO HOLINESS – 2:1a
THE PROVISION OF AN ADVOCATE – 2:1-2