Sermon Tone Analysis
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My dad’s stories about walking in the dark
Stepping on the rake 2 times
Mom turning off the light and hitting the door.
Walking in the dark is a dangerous thing.
John uses the imagery “light and dark” throughout his Gospel and the letters.
It is a symbol of sin and righteousness, truth and lie, good and evil.
In this letter he is battling the against a misunderstanding of sin and salvation.
How do we keep from sinning?
How do we keep from sinning?
This is John’s purpose for writing.
Living in the Light
1) Conquer the Darkness
It is important to understand that darkness is simply the absence of light, it doesn’t exist where there is light.
Realize the Holiness of God ()
1 jn 1:
God is light and there is no darkness in Him.
He is the source of all that is right, all that is true, and all that is good.
There is no flaw, imperfection, or evil in Him
He cannot be in the presence of anything that is dark.
The sun is the source of light and life for all the earth, without it we do not exist
But if you get to close to the sun you will be destroyed.
Moses and the burning bush
God is light and we are not; God is Holy and we are not
Unless you are holy, blameless, faultless, void of sin then you cannot have be in God’s presence.
You cannot have fellowship with God while living in sin.
Moses is walking along and God appears to him in a burning bush.
God introduces is holiness to Moses then
Walking in the light requires you to Realize that God is Holy and you are not.
ex
Do not come near because you are a sinful man in the presence of a Holy God.
Recognize our Sinfulness ()
Realizing the Holiness God shines the light on our sinfulness.
God is light and we are not; God is Holy and we are not
Unless you are holy, blameless, faultless, void of sin then you cannot be in God’s presence.
You cannot have fellowship with God while living in the dark.
John Piper give a helpful illustration about walking in the dark.
Remember the picture of the man in a dark room.
He feels a warm, soft fur with one hand and a cold sharp edge with the other, and draws in close to the warmth and softness of the fur.
But when the light goes on, he sees that the warm, soft fur is the under belly of a horrid, man-eating monster; and the hard, cold edge is the sword of Christ ready to save.
The reason he was controlled by his desire for the man-eating monster is that he was in the dark.
Everyone who loves the world more than God is in the dark.
Only it’s a darkness that you want, because, as John said in , “The light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”
When you walk in darkness, you are controlled by the desires for the soft, warm underbellies of prestige and power and two-second pleasures.
This is the very opposite of what it means to have fellowship with God.
Ways we live in darkness:
1) Deny our sin
Blatantly denying God
Denying that God has standards (making God into who we are comfortable with Him being)
“Surely God doesn’t expect me to be perfect!”
1 peter 15-16
1 pet
Quoting from Leviticus, Peter says that the holiness of God is the grounds for the requirement that we also must be holy.
You might be sitting here today hoping that your good deeds, your kind heart, your work ethic, or whatever you point to should be good enough
But God requires perfection and you do not have it!
Change the Word of God to fit our lives
Adjusting or denying the Word of God the power to direct our lives.
“The bible was written 2000 years ago, things change, culture emerges, and we have to read it differently now.”
Changing Christmas songs to political agendas
Culture changes all the time (skinny jeans are still outside of my ability to fathom)
But God never changes
BUT God is ($5 word) immutable.
James
Immutability means God never changes.
He is who He is, His plans and purposes never change
God’s expectation, God’s will and purposes, as well as His promises are the same and will never change.
Regardless of culture, regardless of time, God is who He is.
We cannot shape God or His Word into what we want it to be, we must be shaped into what He wants us to be through His revealed Word.
2) Disguise our sin
By being “good” and doing the right things
Some of us in this room have made a pact with God, a binding agreement (probably unspoken)
“I’ll do the whole church thing, follow the rules and such and you will bless my life and let me into Heaven.”
So everyone around you would assume you have a thriving relationship with the Lord.
But the reality is your “good life” is disguising the sin-filled heart that is pursuing comfort, success, and a good reputation more than any pursuit of knowing and follow Jesus.
Jesus said “Give me the sick” because at least they will know they need me.
You don’t need Jesus, you are just using Him for the benefits.
Self-righteousness is a disease that destroys our ability to receive the grace of God
Charles Spurgeon said “How can you repent if you have never sinned?
How can you mourn your failure to obey while you conceive that you have kept the law?”
If your hope is built on nothing less than your good deeds and church attendance then your salvation is truly in question.
By judging others in order to make our own sin seem minimal
3) Defend our sin
My Livie always has a good excuse for why she needs a sweet.
“Well Daddy, it is because...”
She is the master of justification when it comes to a treat.
We live in darkness when we defend and justify our sinfulness.
Develop justification for our sin
I gossip so that others can be aware of how they can pray
I lust because my wife doesn’t take care of my physical needs
I am angry and lash out because people don’t do what I want them to do
I am bitter because they do not deserve to be forgiven for what they did to me.
Walking in darkness means we are living in rebellion against God in unrepentant sin.
Walking in darkness means we are living in rebellion against God in unrepentant sin.
So how do we deal with our sin?
2) Come to the Light
Confess our sins ()
Look at the progression in -8-10
This is a theological sandwich.
BREAD - “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not IN US.”
MEAT - “If we confess or sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us...”
BREAD - “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and HIS WORD is not IN US.”
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