Mrs. Rick Jackson
Let’s begin with our memory verse from last month – Psalm 23:1 – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Let’s talk about how to live a victorious Christian life – free
from guilt!! The most ineffectual life of a Christian is one that is trapped in
Satan’s lie—that your life is not worthy of service to God because of sin. Guilt, my friends, comes to all of us at one
time or another in our Christian walk, but it doesn’t have to last more than a
moment. Look with me now at 1st John chapter One!
This epistle was written by none other than the dear apostle
John, the disciple who leaned upon Christ’s bosom at the Last Supper, the one
who was dearly loved by Jesus. He also
wrote the 2nd and 3rd epistles of John, the Gospel of
John and the book of Revelation.
Remember how his gospel begins, “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Now, see how he begins to write here:
RELATIONSHIP
1 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, of the Word of life;
John begins by offering evidence that Jesus was God
Incarnate, God manifested in the flesh.
He declares by sharing what was provable by the senses: “we have heard…seen with our eyes….our hands
have handled….” because John had been with the Saviour. John was an
eyewitness! He was affirming to his fellow believers [because this book was
written to Christians] that he had been with Jesus, with the Word
Incarnate. He had heard Him speak, he
had seen Him, and not just seen Him but gazed intently upon Him for long
periods of time, at length, and, more so, he had opportunity to touch Him! Oh,
what a glorious memory for John, now in his twilight years. To know that the God of Eternity, the Word of Life, he says, had once
walked with them!
2 (For the life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you
that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
Here John repeats what he had just said, that
Christ, Who was with the Father [remember Micah
5:2 – “whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting”] but
became Flesh, was made visible and he, John, was witness to that manifestation!
This is John’s personal testimony to the Incarnation! He knew Christ
face-to-face! Again, we’re reminded of what John wrote in the gospel of John – “1In the beginning was the Word and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was
in the beginning with God. 14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”[John 1:1,2,14]
Paul says in Philippians 2:7 – “But made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men.”
3 That which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us:
and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ.
The Greek word here for fellowship, koinōnia, means “a relationship between
individuals involving a common interest.”[1] John’s faith in Christ gives him a relationship with
God the Father of which he also wants his fellow believers to enjoy. Only a
shared fellowship with Christ can produce genuine fellowship among Christians.
God sent His Son from heaven to become a man, to have a shared relationship
with us, John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.” So that when we accept his sacrificial death on the
cross and become believers, then we, too, can have a shared relationship with the
Father and with His Son AND with other believers! This is the first purpose
John mentions for writing this letter.
Jesus said in John’s gospel – “20At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and
ye in me, and I in you.
21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. [John 14:20,21]
21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. [John 14:20,21]
Friendship
with Jesus!
Fellowship divine!
Oh, what blessed, sweet communion!
Jesus is a Friend of mine.
Fellowship divine!
Oh, what blessed, sweet communion!
Jesus is a Friend of mine.
4 And these things write
we unto you, that your joy may be full.
John’s second purpose in writing this epistle is
JOY!! You realize, when Satan cannot change
your relationship with the Lord, he seeks to mar your fellowship; to steal the
JOY of your salvation? That’s why it’s
so important that we learn how to defeat the devil!! The verse we memorize in
this chapter tonight is a VITAL weapon in our spiritual warfare!! Christians,
of all people, should be joyful! Joy is not something that we manufacture for
ourselves; joy is a wonderful by-product of our fellowship with God.[2] Perhaps
John was remembering what he heard Jesus say, “These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full.” [John
15:11]
FELLOWSHIP
5 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 God there is no shadow at all—He has ALWAYS been
LIGHT! He cannot be tempted with evil, He can do NO wrong. In other words,
there is NO sin in God! He is HOLY!! God cannot look with favor on any form of
sin. But Amos 3:3 tells us, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” When
light shines in on us, it reveals our true nature. J.G. Whittier put it this way:
Our
thoughts lie open to Thy sight,
And naked to Thy
glance;
Our secret sins are in the
Light
6 If we say that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
When we are walking in the light of God, it makes
plain our sinfulness! In order to be in fellowship with God, there can be no
hiding of sin! Once we begin to lie, we inevitably end up lying to
ourselves. Perhaps the greatest Bible
example is, once again, King David. He
committed the most grievous sins of adultery and murder, yet went on living his
life as though nothing was wrong, even to the point of having Bathsheba moved
into the royal palace. He was lying to
himself; all was fine – until Nathan was sent by God to him, to tell him the
story of the man with the treasured lamb. Then David condemned the other man,
yet felt no condemnation towards his own sin.
Not until Nathan confronted him.
Are we not the same way sometimes?
Titus 2:11-14 tells us, “11For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works.”
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.
To walk in the light is to
live in complete openness toward God. The psalmist said, “He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm
91:1). Every Israelite knew that “the
secret place of the place of the Most High” was the holy of holies in the
tabernacle and temple—the place where God manifested His presence to Israel.
That’s where Aaron the high priest represented Israel before Jehovah. God dwelt
there in the midst of His people. The shekinah, the light of glory, would flash
from between the cherubim which were located over the blood-sprinkled mercy
seat.
In the virtue of the applied
blood, Aaron could stand "in the
light.” A great veil hung between the holy place and the holy of holies,
keeping all except the high priest from entering. But every godly Israelite
knew that the Lord was abiding there with His people. Therefore, every area of
his life—labor and rest, waking and sleeping, thought and action—was tested by
the presence of God.
The high priest had
fellowship with God in the light by entering into His presence in the holy of
holies. Today, every believer in Christ has the same privilege of fellowship!
The veil has been rent from top to bottom. The glory of God is now seen in the
person of the Lord Jesus. Walking in the light, therefore,
means opening ourselves unreservedly to God and His Word—just as Aaron walked
in the light of shekinah.[4]
Therefore, to walk in the light
is to be honest with God, with ourselves, and with others. When we sin, we should IMMEDIATELY confess
and be cleansed. We should allow the Word of God to shine upon our sinful
hearts. Romans 7:18 & 25 reminds
us, “18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no
good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that
which is good I find not. 25I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the
flesh the law of sin.” Colossians
1:14 – “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins.”
OWNERSHIP
8 If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The old-time preacher, Oliver B. Greene, said, “As
long as we live we will be plagued with our own flesh; but thank God, the Holy
Spirit is victor over the flesh, and He is the Divine Agent who gives US
victory.”[5] Here John is telling us that if we deny our
sinful nature, we are being untruthful.
Just because we are saved, doesn’t mean we will never sin again. It means because Christ died for our sins, we
now have a second, a new, a divine nature with the power to live victoriously over indwelling sin! Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Galatians 5:17 – “For the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these
are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would.”
Now
we come to our memory verse for this month:
9 If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
We should have no fear in confession for this is a verse of promise because of
what Christ paid on the cross! In order
for us to walk in fellowship with God and with our fellow believers, we must
actively participate in this confession. Our English word, confess, comes from two
Greek words – hooms which means “the same” and lēgo
which means “to speak.” Therefore, confess means, “to speak the same”
or “to agree with” or “to say the same thing about.” In other words, to confess
is to agree with God about our sins. Many
times we might rationalize or justify our behavior {“I was tired, it
was someone else’s fault, it was a mistake, I was just teasing, it was just a
“white lie”}, but what does God say? Confess means to come
into agreement with God, Who hates sin! It follows that we, too, should hate
sin!! Then God does the rest. He
forgives and cleanses!
To acknowledge our sin includes the forsaking of
whatever is wrong but does not require us to “do penance” or beg and implore
God to forgive us – that forgiveness is already promised, isn’t it? God will
ALWAYS forgive! John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s
Progress, put it this way, “But one morning, when I was again at prayer, and trembling under the fear of
this, that no
word of God could help me,
that
piece of a sentence darted in upon me, ‘My grace is sufficient.’” Throughout John’s life he realized
how vulnerable he was, and how great God’s grace is.[6] Proverbs 28:13 – “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.” We can just be like the
prodigal son in Luke 15:18 who said,
“I
will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and before thee.”
Now, when we confess our sins, we must believe, on
the authority of God’s Word, that He forgives us. And if He forgives us, we
must forgive ourselves. That, dear friends, is how we have victory over Satan
and live without that guilt-trip!! Did we confess? Does God forgive? What does His Word
say? He is faithful and just to
forgive? Am I forgiven? Then it is done!! Let it go!
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us.
Here is how we take complete ownership of our sin
nature. If God calls a certain act
sinful, and yet we deny it is sin, perhaps even calling it a “mistake” or
“error in judgment,” we effectively call God a liar. Failure to acknowledge the
reality of a sin that is identified as such by God, amounts to our presuming to
contradict Him.[7]
To restore fellowship with God does not mean we must live sinless lives, but
that our sins should be openly admitted and forsaken. It is, once again, a matter of reading His
Word, being willing to accept the honest truth from His Word and not hiding
behind it. Romans 3:22,23
– “22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no
difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God.”
I recently read a marvelous book written by the hymn
writer, Frances Havergal, at the close of her life (she was only 42) and she
was talking about a believer’s relationship with Christ. She said,
So, dear friends, when once He has
wrought in us the desire to be altogether His own, and put into our hearts the
prayer, ‘Take my life,’ let us go on our way rejoicing, believing that He has
taken our lives, our hands, our feet, our voices, our intellects, our wills,
our whole selves, to be ever, only, all for Him. Let us consider that a
blessedly settled thing; not because of anything we have felt, or said, or
done, but because we know that He heareth us, and because we know that He is
true to His word. But suppose our hearts do not condemn us in this matter, our
disappointment may arise from another cause. What is to be done then? [First,]
I think, very humbly and utterly honestly to search and try our ways before our
God, or rather, as we shall soon realize our helplessness to make such a
search, ask Him to do it for us, praying for His promised Spirit to show us
unmistakably if there is any secret thing with us that is hindering both the
inflow and outflow of His grace to us and through us.[8]
This is a poem she wrote along those lines that we
often sing as a hymn at church --
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord,
to Thee.
Take my moments and
my days;
Let them flow in
ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of
Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and
‘beautiful’ for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for
my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with
messages from Thee.
Take my silver and
my gold;
Not a mite would I
withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou
shalt choose.
Take my will and make it Thine;
It shall be no
longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy
royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its
treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, ALL for Thee.
May that be our prayer tonight!
[1]
Paul R. Van Gorder, In the Family
(Grand Rapids: Radio Bible Class, 1978), 17.
[2]
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition
Commentary, New Testament, Vol. 2 (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications
Ministries, 2001), 477.
[3] J.
Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J.
Vernon McGee, Vol. 5 (Pasedena: Thru the Bible Radio, 1983), 760.
[4]
Paul R. Van Gorder, When A Christian Sins
(Grand Rapids: Radio Bible Class, 1978), 7-8.
[5]
Oliver B. Greene, The Epistles of John
(Greenville, S.C.: The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1968), 35.
[6]
John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief
of Sinners (public domain: Kindle, 2011), 204 .
[7]
James Dyet, Studies in I,II, & III
John, ed. Craig Bubeck (Colorado Springs: Scripture Press, 2000), 20.
[8]
Frances Ridley Havergal, Kept for the
Master’s Use (Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Co., 1895), Kindle ed.
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