Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Walking in the Light”*

*1 John 1.5-10*

Last Sunday we began our study in the Book of 1 John.

John opens his letter by emphasizing that his message comes from an eyewitness to Jesus.

As one of the twelve apostles (and one of the inner circle of disciples), John testifies that he had heard, seen and touched the Word of Life – who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

He zealously wanted his readers to know that the Life was made manifest.

Jesus was revealed to the world.

And because of this, John was compelled to testify of Him and proclaim Jesus to the world.

His hope was that he would spur others on to do the same and to experience fellowship with one another as with the Father.

In this is great joy.

One of the reasons I believe that he found this to be critical is because his readers were likely being influenced by false teachings.

His letter speaks of “those who went out from us” in chapter 2 verse 19.

John refers to them as antichrists and false prophets in 4.1.

And I think that much of John’s content is an attempt to refute some of their claims and actions.

But it certainly is not without relevance for us.

We talked about this a bit in weeks past.

There are many people who claim to be Christian and yet whose lives do not reflect their claims.

There are many who continue to live a sinful lifestyle.

There are many who have no association with the gathering of God’s people as the church.

There is no depth to their understanding of their relationship to God, no responsibility to obey what Scripture calls us to, no zeal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And yet many still believe themselves to be a follower of Jesus.

As we mentioned last week, John sets out to clear up some of the confusion.

In fact, his purpose is to answer the question, “What is a real Christian?”

*THIS* is how we know… And this isn’t merely so that we can point fingers and accuse others.

Rather, it is to give confidence to those who do meet the criteria that John lays out, and also to lovingly restore or call to repentance those who do not.

We are in 1 John 1.5-10 this morning.

Please turn there with me in your Bibles.

*READ.

*The first point we will address is *God is Light.

*This one isn’t too difficult to find.

We see it right there in verse 5. John begins by saying, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you… God is light.”

So, this is a good place to start.

We know that Scripture elsewhere confirms this conclusion as well.

James 1:17 says that “17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the */Father of lights/* with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Psalm 27:1 “1 */The Lord is my light/* and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

The first significance that God is referred to as light is because of his moral purity – his righteousness.

Light is a natural symbol for attractive righteousness.

We will see the contrast momentarily – the /darkness/ is a fitting illustration for the blackness of sin.

I think, secondly, that to indicate that God is light also communicates that he is omniscient.

Nothing is hidden from the light.

And in this respect, we can admit with the Psalmist in 90:8 “8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”

It’s the same way that we tell our misbehaving children that “God is watching you when you do that – even when I’m not around.”

Right?

Everything happens in the full view of God because he is light.

Thirdly, the light also communicates the */truth /*of God.

We know this to be the case when we speak of God’s Word, the Bible.

Psalm 119:105 “105 Your word is a */lamp/* to my feet and a */light/* to my path.”

Psalm 119:130 “130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

And to see the consistency of the New Testament, Peter writes 2 Peter 1:19 “19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention */as to a lamp shining in a dark place/*, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

In the same way that the Bible reveals God, we know that his Son Jesus came to reveal God.

John 1:18 “18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

Hebrews 1 tells us that God has spoken to us in the last days by his Son.

And we visited this great truth during the Christmas season when we looked at some of the prophecies referring to Jesus.

Isaiah 9:2 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a */great light/*; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has */light/* shined.”

And in the New Testament, Luke 1:78–79 “78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give */light/* to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

We learned a bit about the trinity this morning in our Doctrine class.

We noted that the three members of the trinity are equal in their deity and attributes.

And so when Jesus comes on the scene, he too is attributed this nature of light and claims it as his own.

He refers to himself as “light of the world” in John 8.12.

And whoever follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

John also includes here the opposite.

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

In the Greek text, John uses a double negative that literally reads “darkness in him not is none.”

Contrary to English, where a double negative makes a positive, the Greek uses it for emphasis.

“There is no darkness in him AT ALL” is the way the ESV renders it.

Given this understanding, we would conclude that, in God, there is no falsehood, no unrighteousness, and nothing is hidden from him.

God is light.

This is important because God’s character is mimicked by those who know him.

And the opposite is true as well.

The second point is *Walking in Darkness.

*In the five verses that follow, John will use these conditional sentences that begin with “if”.

If we do this, then this.

Verse 6 introduces the first conditional sentence and an inconsistency.

John writes that “if we say we have fellowship with him (God) while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

The Bible often speaks of “walking” to refer to the manner in which one lives their life.

And so it is here.

If somebody claims to have fellowship with God, we would expect their lifestyle to reflect the character of God.

God is light.

So we would expect someone who claims relationship with him to live a “light-like” life.

John says that to demonstrate otherwise nullifies your claim.

Words alone do not bring fellowship with God.

Anyone can */say/* that they are in relationship with God.

But it is our transformation that confirms it.

This isn’t to say that our works establish the relationship – only confirm it.

It is only by faith in Jesus that a person can have fellowship with God.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:15–20 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

16 You will recognize them by their fruits.

Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

This is what’s going on here.

John is trying to protect his Christian readers by being influenced by false teaching by those who say they are Christians.

Notice that John adds this interesting phrase.

He says that such people that walk in darkness “do not practice the truth”.

We often think of truth being a cognitive thing.

We don’t naturally associate it as an action.

Yet John does here.