A man can read his Bible, pray regularly, and show up every Sunday and still lie awake wondering whether he actually belongs to God. John wrote his letter to men in exactly that condition: shaken, stagnating, unsure the faith they profess is real.

John opens with three plain things. Two of them most Christian men are already doing reasonably well. The third is the one almost nobody practices without deliberate effort, and its absence is one of the reasons men stall out, grow disenchanted with the church, or walk away from it entirely. John's argument begins not with you but with God, and where that argument lands is not where a man bracing for bad news expects it to land.

00:00 Introduction

05:51 Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:5-10

15:14 Preserve the Biblical Standard of Righteousness

27:30 Evaluate the Integrity of Your Obedience

41:28 Readily Confess Your Sins

54:37 Closing Prayer

2018, KFC ran outta chicken.

2

Seriously, I, I don't know how a chicken

company runs outta chicken, but they did.

3

And so they closed down within two days.

4

They closed down, uh,

nearly 300 of their stores.

5

Out of the 900 that they had open.

6

They still had everything they needed.

7

They had all the staff, they had all

the stores, but they didn't have the

8

one ingredient they needed to make the

thing profitable to make it fruitful.

9

You might say they didn't have the

chicken and they took out an ad

10

and they wrote a chicken restaurant

without any chicken is not ideal

11

to, that's true.

12

Uh, slightly understated,

which is what made it funny.

13

Uh, but a Christian without fruit

is not ideal to say the least.

14

And this morning what we're gonna look

at is one of the reasons that we may

15

not have assurance, but we're gonna

look at three ingredients, if you will,

16

that are critical to your walk with God.

17

Three things that we need to look at

together that are often overlooked.

18

Now, they may not be as obvious to you

as a chicken at a chicken restaurant,

19

but these are three obvious things.

20

They're so obvious that John.

21

The apostle starts off with these things.

22

In fact, what he's gonna say is

going to really help us to think

23

through the rest of the letter.

24

You'll remember the, the, the Apostle

John is the one who writes this letter.

25

It's likely and encyclical, but primarily

focused to the church at Ephesus.

26

His pastoral love and care for this

community is what warrants the letter.

27

He's concerned because a group of

people have recently left the church,

28

a large contingency of secessionists.

29

Have departed from this church

and now left them vulnerable.

30

They're shaken, they're concerned.

31

What's next?

32

What is this faith thing about?

33

These guys are, are stagnating

and they're reeling.

34

And so John, because he loves

these people, writes this letter

35

to give them anchor and assurance

and hope about their faith.

36

These three simple ingredients

that we're gonna look at, uh, two

37

of them I'm willing to bet you're

probably doing pretty good on.

38

But there's one that I read and

I thought, I don't know that

39

a lot of us do this very well.

40

I can't think of very many men who are

putting this ingredient into regular

41

practice into their lives without a

great deal of intentionality and effort.

42

We'll get to that one very soon.

43

But these same three ingredients

that we're gonna look at, uh,

44

some of these, because they're not

put into practice, are the very

45

reasons that men leave the church.

46

In fact, they read a post recently of

a man who left the church because of

47

the reasons that we're going to read.

48

It's the reasons that often people

become disenchanted with the church.

49

Uh, people leave the church because, oh,

they're just a bunch of hypocrites and

50

no one's real, and everyone's putting

on a show and they glad hand each

51

other on Sunday and maybe on Wednesday

'cause of their midweek service.

52

But during the rest of the week,

these guys are just disconnected.

53

They don't, they don't share, honestly,

they're not truly loving one another.

54

And some of those charges can land.

55

Some of them may have

the ring of authenticity.

56

These three ingredients

speak to those needs.

57

These three ingredients also speak to

the needs of a lot of men's stagnancy.

58

For some men, it's because of the lack of

these things that we find ourselves either

59

slowing or not growing in our faith.

60

And for some even reversing course where

it's no longer, I'm making progress.

61

I feel like I'm regressing in my faith.

62

And finally, this is one of the reasons.

63

Among the many that John will

offer for why men don't have

64

assurance of their salvation.

65

And when I say assurance, as I

mentioned in one of my prior emails

66

this week, what I'm talking about is

that sense that you know that you know,

67

if God were to take your life today,

that you are confident I will stand

68

before Jesus and be fully accepted.

69

The Lord will receive me not on

the basis of my works, but on his.

70

And that kind of assurance and

confidence is something that the

71

Apostle John wants you to have.

72

Lemme remind you of one

John, chapter five, verse 13.

73

He says, I write these things

to you who believe in the name

74

of the son of God, that you may

know that you have eternal life.

75

John's letter has caused many Christian

men to shake in their boots with

76

fear that they're not believers.

77

Because he offers three tests

for your faith and he repeats

78

them over and over again.

79

The letter is cyclical in nature,

and yet John's intention is not to

80

scare you and to discourage you from

your faith, but rather to to embolden

81

it, to edify it, to strengthen it.

82

But the reality is he has to walk you

through some of these tests in order

83

for you to get that sense of assurance.

84

And so these three ingredients

that we're gonna look at from First

85

John chapter five, verses five

through 10 are, are basic and yet

86

critical to our sense of assurance.

87

The blessing of assurance

that God wants to give us.

88

First John chapter one

verses five through 10.

89

Lemme just briefly remind you verses one

through five rather one through four.

90

John opens a letter to

testify to all of us.

91

This is John, the son of Zedi, to tell us.

92

To establish his credibility

as an eyewitness of Jesus.

93

He tells him that he's writing

so that we can have fellowship

94

and that we can have joy.

95

And the Jesus that he talks about is

the one that he saw, the one he heard,

96

the one he felt, the one he touched,

the one that he was able to testify to.

97

And so we talked about this last month.

98

The foundation of our assurance is.

99

Jesus, the Biblical Christ, not the

one who's the, uh, the brother of the

100

Archangel Michael, not the one who

was merely a man and died in our place

101

as an example and not a substitute.

102

We're talking about the biblical Christ.

103

John starts us all there.

104

This is the level ground for

all who are Christians, and

105

that's verses one through four.

106

And now he begins to

establish his argument.

107

Take a look at chapter one verse five.

108

In fact, I'll read, I'll read five

through 10 just so you get the feel of it.

109

We're gonna camp on verse

five for our first point, but

110

let's read through this here.

111

John says, this is the message we

have heard from him and proclaimed

112

to you that God is light and

in him is no darkness at all.

113

Now, if we say we have fellowship

with him while we walk in darkness,

114

we lie and do not practice the truth.

115

But if we walk in the light as he is

in the light, we have fellowship with

116

one another and the blood of Jesus,

his son, cleanses us from all sin.

117

If we say we have no sin, we deceive

ourselves and the truth is not in us.

118

If we confess our sins, he is faithful

and just to forgive us our sins and to

119

cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

120

Praise God for that.

121

If we say, we have not sinned, we make

him a liar, and his word is not in us.

122

This section, John establishes one

argument and then five conditionals.

123

He says, here's my argument, verse five.

124

In fact, we'll look at that together.

125

Here's my argument in verse five.

126

And then beneath that singular arguments,

he does, he does five conditionals.

127

If this, if this, if

this, if this, if this.

128

Those five if then statements are

meant to follow from the main argument.

129

We'll get to that in a second, but

let's just start with this argument

130

so we know where he's going here.

131

This, I think, governs the rest of

the letter, and so it's critical that

132

we understand what he's saying here.

133

He says this is the message.

134

Remember he was leading up to this

in the last four verses, but he

135

says, this is the message that we

heard from him and proclaimed to you.

136

Now what is the message?

137

John God is light.

138

He asserts it positively and then.

139

He says in him, there is no darkness.

140

And then there's a double negation.

141

No darkness at all.

142

No darkness, not even a little bit.

143

God is light.

144

He's perfectly light.

145

And that's not to say that God is photons.

146

You understand he's making a

theological case here about the, uh,

147

about the nature of God's character.

148

This makes perfect sense.

149

If we just spend a few

moments thinking about it.

150

If you are going to assure a Christian.

151

About his standing with God.

152

You first have to be sure he

understands who that God is.

153

In fact, as we talk about sharing the

gospel with other men, uh, sometimes

154

people jump right into the, the data

Jesus lived in your place, died for your

155

sin, he rose again, and if you put your

trust in him, you'll be right with God.

156

And that's not necessarily wrong.

157

It's a, that's a, that's a great

encapsulation of the gospel.

158

However, when you say God sends his son.

159

And you fill in the word

God with all the meaning.

160

People think about what are

they bringing to the table?

161

Just think about all your different

kinds of neighbors, the people you

162

work with, the students that you

teach, your kids, what do they think

163

about when they think about God?

164

Well, all sorts of things.

165

Everybody has kind of a cafeteria

mentality about who God is, and

166

if you were to ask somebody,

well, what do you think?

167

What do you think about God?

168

They're gonna say, well, I think

God is, and I believe that God be.

169

God would also, and I think that my

God would also do this, this and this.

170

John starts here with God as he's

preparing to assure his congregation

171

of believing men and women.

172

He says, think about God.

173

God is light.

174

God is light.

175

And in him there's no darkness.

176

Not even a little bit.

177

It now, what does the light re

represent then, if we're trying to

178

def, define and describe God lights

represents, especially in the gospel

179

that John, but also in his letter, John

thinks about life in dualistic ways,

180

light and darkness, life and death.

181

Here light is meant to reflect

God's perfectly good, holy,

182

and life-giving nature.

183

He is perfectly good.

184

Which means there's nothing evil in God.

185

There's not a spot in which you

might say, oh God, you're wrong

186

here, or God, you're mistaken there.

187

Everything about God is

righteous, true and holy.

188

He is the truth.

189

John says, and and John 14, right?

190

He's the way, the truth and the life.

191

No one comes to the

Father, except through him.

192

And so when we talk about God being

light, we're saying that God is

193

the preeminent, he is the perfect.

194

He is established and his, his

righteousness establishes everyone else's.

195

Who he is tells us who we are.

196

And in fact, if we understand who

God is, that will honestly put most

197

of us in our place pretty quickly.

198

It's the same reason why in Isaiah

chapter six, when God reveals His glory,

199

you remember what happens here, right?

200

God reveals his glory to Isaiah,

and Isaiah says, super cool.

201

I love that, right?

202

Comical, because that's exactly

the opposite of what happened.

203

He pronounces a curse on himself.

204

Woe is me.

205

I am undone.

206

I'm a man of unclean lips.

207

My eyes have seen the king of glory.

208

When Isaiah encounters God, he

pronounce his cursings on himself.

209

Now, John's not trying to

get you to curse yourself.

210

He is trying to get you to understand

though that God that you serve is light.

211

He is perfectly good, holy life giving

his glory, his nce of glory has no end.

212

And the glory that emanates from his

being is bright, shining, perfect.

213

It also means that he, again,

possesses no trace of evil.

214

Uh, when John says God is light and in

him is no darkness at all, he's trying

215

to do two negatives on top of each other.

216

There's no darkness, none at all.

217

It's like saying, uh, it is like

if you take a, take a number and

218

multiply it by an exponent, uh, you're

multiplying it over and over again.

219

You're trying to say

super, not any darkness.

220

If John is reaching for language to

say the God that you love and serve

221

is perfectly good, no evil whatsoever.

222

He's righteous in all his ways.

223

As James will say in James chapter one,

there's no shadow due to turning or change

224

because God is perfect and complete.

225

There's nothing for God to gain.

226

There's not a time where he, he needs

to grow up and become more like us.

227

As somebody once said long ago,

has it ever occurred to you that

228

nothing has ever occurred to God?

229

His knowledge is perfect and complete,

and that knowledge is perfectly good.

230

He possesses no evil, darkness or sin.

231

No one can ever accuse God of wrongdoing.

232

He is good.

233

He's holy, and he is perfectly holy,

which all of this then is going somewhere.

234

John is now just trying to

give us a theology lesson.

235

He's actually trying to make the

point here that we all need to

236

start with God is the standard.

237

He himself is our standard.

238

Now that's critical because that

means who God is in His character.

239

His character, and in his

perfection defines the moral

240

standard of every human life.

241

Everything God says and does is

by definition, good and holy.

242

And I'm not saying the opposite.

243

I'm not saying God does what is good.

244

What God does is good.

245

You see the difference?

246

When I say God does what is good, I'm

saying God fits under the category of

247

some idea of goodness that we agree to.

248

I'm not saying that what I am

saying is whatever God does is

249

good by his nature and being.

250

So for instance, in Luke 15

where the tower fell on all those

251

people, the tower side alone fell.

252

What God did was good.

253

What God did is good.

254

Now, I don't know the

inscrutable purposes of God.

255

There is such a thing as a dual nature.

256

There's dual intents.

257

Man intends one thing,

God intends another.

258

That's Genesis chapter 50.

259

What God, what you meant for evil.

260

God meant for good, but God always intends

what is good and God does what is good.

261

Therefore, what God is and and

says and does is by definition the

262

standard of goodness, his character,

his word, he defines goodness.

263

This is critical.

264

This is the starting place, and I trust

that when you track with what John is

265

doing here, you'll understand why this

is so essential to our assurance, our

266

knowledge of being right with God.

267

It starts with saying, this is who God is.

268

He's perfect, he's righteous,

he's good, and that matters.

269

Why?

270

Because Ephesians chapter five, verse

one says, we're to be imitators of God,

271

which means we are to match his goodness.

272

This is why Tozer once said.

273

If you've read his famous book, the

Knowledge of the Holy, he says, what

274

comes into our minds when we think about

God is the most important thing about us.

275

I would say heartily.

276

Amen.

277

I think John would say that too,

which is why again, he begins here.

278

He says, this is the message we

have heard from him and proclaim

279

to you that God is light, and in

him there's no darkness at all.

280

I think in part because John is

concerned that one of our temptations,

281

when we seek assurance from God.

282

We fall into one of two ditches,

and the one ditch I'm gonna help

283

you avoid this morning is the ditch

of bringing God down to our level.

284

One of the ways that we can

seek assurance for our salvation

285

is by making God human size.

286

Now I'm talking about

Jesus in the incarnation.

287

I'm saying taking his righteousness and

putting it down at manageable levels,

288

making it more accommodating, making it

more malleable to my life and my needs.

289

And I don't think John wants us to have

any of anything to do with that, and

290

neither should we point number one.

291

Then let's establish this ground,

this foundation we're to preserve the

292

biblical standard of righteousness.

293

Preserve it.

294

I chose that word in other, in

other words, to indicate protection.

295

I want you to guard this truth.

296

I don't want you to give ground on

making God something less than perfect,

297

righteous holy, where no darkness exists.

298

Even though initially what this is

going to do is make you feel bad.

299

If you're a tender conscience and you

love the Lord and you're trying to

300

walk as a Godly man, knowing that he is

perfectly good and in him, there's no

301

flaw is going to make you by comparison,

feel unworthy and we'll get to that.

302

But the challenge for us

is not to bring God down.

303

If you're ever part of an orchestra

or a worship team, one of the

304

things that you do first before

you start playing is you tune up.

305

Everybody's supposed to do.

306

Anyone who has an instrument

has to tune their instrument

307

to make sure that everybody's

playing with the same standard.

308

Now, it's possible that if I am playing

with David, uh, PO and I'm playing

309

with, uh, with Craig, I say, Hey guys,

let's, let's just all tune to each

310

other and we all tune our E and our A.

311

We're all, we're all

playing the same thing.

312

We play together.

313

We might sound okay because we're all

tuning to one another, but the second

314

you bring out the external standard.

315

And you start playing according

to something that's already

316

pret tuned, like a keyboard.

317

If I have someone play a keyboard

with us, and we're, the three of

318

us are tuned together, but the

keyboard's playing according to,

319

uh, bit, uh, a, uh, above middle C.

320

Now we sound discordance.

321

We're outta tune with one another

because one of us is playing

322

according to this standard.

323

And three of us are pla are

playing according to our standard.

324

And that's the same temptation

of what happens in a church.

325

We can start looking at each other

and say, well, according to how

326

I'm doing with this guy or that

guy, I'm actually not doing so bad.

327

But God doesn't want us to compare

ourselves to the standard that others set.

328

He wants us to have our

standard compared to his.

329

But how often do we need to retune then?

330

Well, I mean, as often as you play,

I guess your Christian life is being

331

played out every day, and the standard

that you have to tune to is God.

332

God is light, and in

him there's no darkness.

333

God is light, has has to be the

standard that we build our lives upon.

334

It has to be the way that we view God.

335

Uh, it has to be the way that we

view ourselves in light of who God

336

is, which again, if you're doing

it right, will cause you to say, oh

337

man, I don't, I don't measure up.

338

Exactly, precisely.

339

Don't lower the standard of

righteousness that God sets.

340

Even though it'll make you

feel bad, I need you to retune

341

yourselves to his standard.

342

If we do this, this guards us against

two major errors as we pursue assurance.

343

And the first error that you

might pursue is legalism.

344

You might think if you lower

the standard of God to fit your,

345

your reality, you might think to

yourself, I'm fulfilling the law.

346

I'm doing it.

347

I'm walking in holiness.

348

I read my Bible every day.

349

I pray pretty regularly.

350

I go to church every Sunday.

351

I'm, I'm doing it.

352

I, I, I made it.

353

And those other schmucks who aren't doing

it, you guys just need to be more like me.

354

I don't know why you can't

get your act together.

355

You see what happened there?

356

He started judging himself

against a different standard.

357

He started giving himself measurements

of, well, I can do that, I can do that,

358

I can do that, and if I check the box

and surely I'm fulfilling the law of

359

God, that kind of legalistic arrogance

can sprout up in any man's heart.

360

If we take God and remove

him from God is light in him?

361

Those no, no darkness to well

God's okay with a little bit of,

362

you know, I'm progressive in my

holiness, I'm making progress.

363

No, I gotta keep the standard up here.

364

And if I keep the standard up

here where God is, God is light

365

him, there's no darkness, well

then I'm not gonna excuse myself.

366

Well, I'm sitting even a little bit.

367

I'm not gonna look down at Brother

Jim or Brother Bob because they

368

don't do it the way I do it.

369

They send different ways than I do.

370

Legalism is one thing I

want to guard you against.

371

And of course, pride is the other.

372

Measured against God.

373

You'll never think you've arrived.

374

You'll never, you'll never be

tempted to think of yourself

375

more highly than you ought.

376

If God is your standard, if Pastor Bob

is your standard, or you know, brother

377

Jim is your standard, you might be

tempted to think I'm doing pretty good.

378

I, I'm nailing it.

379

I am fulfilling all the Lord's

commands, all of us like skunks or

380

among skunks, and we still stink.

381

Some of us stink less than others.

382

I'll grant that, but we all

still stink, especially.

383

As we compare ourselves to the standard

of God himself, JC Ri in his book on

384

Holiness, which I would commend to you

says, the more light we have, the more we

385

see our own sinfulness, the more light we

have, the more we see our own sinfulness.

386

If you're growing in holiness, you will

not think of yourself as crushing it.

387

You'll see yourself in light of the

holiness of God and always be able to

388

say, I have, I'm nowhere yet arrived.

389

Lord, be merciful to me as

sinner pounding your chest.

390

How does this help us gain assurance?

391

While it doesn't initially, it just

ensures that the standard that we have

392

is the standard and it stays there.

393

This is the message we

have heard from him.

394

Proclaimed to you, God is light, and

in him there's no darkness at all.

395

The next two points that we're

gonna look at really do help

396

us get in the right direction.

397

So ingredient number one in our

chicken recipe has got to be who

398

is God and the, the, the standard

of God being light in him.

399

There's no darkness is going to qualify.

400

Everything else we think

about, he's the standard.

401

Okay, that's ingredient number one.

402

Let's continue reading

in verses six and seven.

403

If we say we have fellowship with him.

404

While we walk in darkness, we lie

and we do not practice the truth.

405

Notice there he says the word practice for

John theology is not a knowledge quest.

406

It's a practice quest.

407

It's Ortho John's conception of

truth is not that you have a good

408

systematic theology at your fingertips

that you know a lot of theology.

409

And for a lot of us, we will

sometimes confuse and conflate

410

maturity with knowledge.

411

John's word here is,

is not the same thing.

412

You might have an MDiv behind your name.

413

You might have some seminary

education, but John is saying, look,

414

if you say you have fellowship with

him while you walk in darkness, you

415

lie, and you'll practice the truth.

416

Verse seven.

417

But if we walk in the light, remember,

because God is light, as he is

418

in the light, we have fellowship.

419

Notice this, it's not with God.

420

We have fellowship with one another.

421

And the blood of Jesus, his

son cleanses us from all sin.

422

Oh, what a rich section here.

423

Well, let me show you what John is doing.

424

I told you that there's one argument

John has, God is light in him.

425

There's no darkness followed up

by five conditional statements.

426

The first two pairs of conditional

statements work as contrasting pairs.

427

So if we do this, but if we do that, if

we do this, but if we do that, so the

428

first two are verses six and seven, the

contrast should be pretty clear to see.

429

But let me start with verse six.

430

If we say we have fellowship with him.

431

So this is the claim probably

of that secessionist group.

432

The, the, the group of

people that left this church.

433

If we say that we have fellowship

with God, that is my, my lips

434

testified to a relationship with

him, but I walk in darkness.

435

The word walk is a common one in the, in

the New Testament as the word peripateo.

436

That's usually the word underneath it.

437

And what it means is travel

to, to move in a certain place.

438

It actually does refer to walking.

439

It's a, it's a way of life.

440

A pattern, a path that you follow.

441

So if we say one thing, but we do and

we live another, John says, well, we

442

lie and we do not practice the truth.

443

The word practice and walking give you a

sense of what John's trying to do here.

444

He's marrying the idea of the

common pattern of your life.

445

If we say we are this, but we live

and do that, we're not practicing

446

what we preach as some would say.

447

Verse seven, I slightly rearranged

for you just so that you can

448

see how it works together.

449

Verse seven.

450

But if we walk, if we walk in the light,

we have fellowship with one another.

451

Now remember here on verse

six, it's fellowship with him.

452

Verse seven is fellowship with

one another, which tells us

453

something about the way John

understands our Christian life.

454

We talked about this last month.

455

I would encourage you to listen

to that sermon if you weren't here

456

for that, but fellowship with God.

457

Is intimately and inextricably connected

to fellowship with the body of Christ

458

and John's mind, I could say fellowship

with him, means fellowship with them.

459

To have fellowship with God is to have

fellowship with the people of God.

460

To not have fellowship with the

people of God is not to have

461

fellowship with God, no matter how

much you might say the opposite.

462

This is one reason why Christians are

meant to be in a local body together.

463

If we try to do church by ourselves in

our home with just our computer screen

464

or just a, you know, just my, me, myself,

and my wife, and my kids, the tendency

465

for most of us is just to get weird.

466

Like we just go off the rails.

467

We need the body of Christ, and we need

as many of the body of Christ in our

468

lives and in our business as possible.

469

This is how God sharpens and sharpens us.

470

If you want to grow in maturity, you

need to put yourself around other

471

godly men who are not like you.

472

Who will challenge you, who

will love you enough to say, you

473

know, I don't think that's the

way that that should be working.

474

If we have Fellowship with God,

fellowship with one another, those two

475

things are inextricably con, connected.

476

And I just, I wanna point it to you.

477

I, I see that in verses six and seven.

478

And of course, uh, if we walk in the

light, that is the, the contrast,

479

uh, light and darkness part,

pardon this very silly thought.

480

But light and darkness

are mutually exclusive.

481

Right.

482

In absolute terms, you could say, well,

there's shadows, and if there's multiple

483

lights in the room, you got shadows here.

484

You could see that's not exactly true,

but light and darkness are mutually

485

exclusive, uh, for God's light to exist

in your life that will eradicate darkness.

486

But if there's darkness in your

life, the darkness consumes a light.

487

The darkness can put out

the light, if you will.

488

We know that's not true.

489

Biblically speaking theologically, John

says, if there's light in your life,

490

the light will overcome the darkness.

491

But there is a kind of person who

walks in the dark that John is saying,

492

oh, that's the way that you live.

493

Then you're, you're not

walking in consistency.

494

And then he says, look, if you're

walking in this way, you have

495

fellowship with one another.

496

The consequence of your light

walking is you have fellowship

497

and I know you're forgiven.

498

There's fellowship and forgiveness for

those who are walking in the light.

499

Now, John's not saying one.

500

Is the other.

501

That is, if you're walking in the

light, well then you're forgiven.

502

If you're walking in the light,

well then you have fellowship.

503

He's not trying to say that if you walk

in the light that you somehow earn the

504

fellowship or you earn forgiveness.

505

He's just saying, if this is

happening, that these are, these are,

506

I know coming along for the ride.

507

If the engine of your Christian life

is faith in Jesus Christ walking in

508

the light, then I can be confident.

509

The sidecar caboose are going to

be fellowship and forgiveness.

510

I know that's coming into, if

you're walking in the light.

511

Christians live consistently.

512

At least that's the idea here.

513

You walk in the light

as he's in the light,

514

and I know what you're thinking.

515

At least I think I know

what you're thinking.

516

You, you're gonna start

wondering about, okay, how much

517

light walking, how consistent.

518

We'll get to that.

519

We'll get to that.

520

But, but let me just make this point here.

521

Uh, walking in the light results in,

or, or, uh, reveals our fellowship and

522

affirms the status of our salvation.

523

We're cleansed from all sin.

524

And so what I want you to see here, I

think what John is doing for you, he's

525

setting you up for the first test.

526

Remember, there's three

tests in the, in the epistle.

527

The first John.

528

The three tests that John's gonna

hit are gonna be hit th several

529

times over throughout the letter.

530

The first test he's going to look

at is the test of your obedience.

531

And that's the first test.

532

And as you read first, John, if you did,

if you read it before you came here,

533

like I suggested you do, you'll find that

John hits that test multiple times over.

534

So we're gonna, for the first

time, look at this point.

535

Number two, I want you to evaluate

the integrity of your obedience.

536

And I think that's where John's going.

537

His pastoral heart is concerned that

your obedience, that your walk with

538

the Lord is consistent, not perfect.

539

Save those, save those responses for,

for, for the next section here for 0.3.

540

Se several weeks ago, maybe months

at this point, I, I started noticing

541

because of our hot summer that the,

my foundation and my grass were,

542

were pulling apart from each other.

543

How?

544

And so I started saying,

oh, what do I do with this?

545

This looks like a bad thing.

546

I, I realized you're supposed to

water your foundation in Texas.

547

I don't know about this in

California, I never even had a

548

lawn to own, so I just didn't care.

549

Now I walk around my house and I

look at my foundation, and now I'm

550

also that guy who in the evening,

I'm watering my foundation.

551

I'm doing that.

552

I have the, I have the, the sprinkler

system, I guess does some of it.

553

So I, I do most of it.

554

I water my foundation.

555

And my goal, of course is to keep the,

the clay soil, uh, moist enough so that

556

it doesn't shift, because that shifting is

what's gonna break your foundation, right?

557

You don't want your foundation to crumble.

558

So I've been doing that, but what

hap what had to happen first is that

559

I had to go and observe the house.

560

I walked around, I started looking

at things, and I see weeds and I

561

say, oh, look at my foundation.

562

I see things pulling away.

563

That evaluation is what gave

me the ability to say, I need

564

to have an action plan, unless.

565

I'm okay with my foundation being

uneven and consequently having

566

to pay some, some major cost.

567

I need you to look at the foundation

of your life to walk around it.

568

I need you to observe and take a look.

569

Take careful stock of

how things are going.

570

There is such a thing as

being too introspective and

571

I, I'll warn you against that.

572

If, if you're looking at yourself too

much, you're gonna get discouraged

573

and you're gonna quit the faith.

574

It.

575

I'm not trying to say they should

do that, but I am saying there

576

should be at least some measure of

your life where you're saying, I

577

wanna take a look at how I'm doing.

578

I wanna evaluate the

integrity of my obedience.

579

I wanna see if my, my foundation

is intact, or if there's any

580

threats to my foundation.

581

Are there any things in my life that

are, that are threatening to undo me?

582

I think this is part of

what John's doing here.

583

So lemme give you just two

diagnostic questions from John's.

584

Polarizing idea here, darkness and light.

585

Just two simple questions that I

just want you to write down for

586

you to take to the Lord later on.

587

Question number one really is,

am I too tolerant of my sin?

588

And this comes from John's

idea of walking and practicing.

589

It's a characteristic lifestyle.

590

Remember, he says here, if, if we say we

have fellowship while we walk in darkness,

591

we lie and do not practice the truth.

592

I need you to look at your

life and, and just observe.

593

What is the normal walk

in practice of my life?

594

What's the characteristic

lifestyle of how I'm doing?

595

Am I consistent in my obedience to God?

596

One of the dangers is that we know

if you've been in faith for any

597

degree of time, you know, first John,

one night we're gonna get to it.

598

And so in your mind you say, okay, if I

repent of my sin, I confess it, great.

599

But there is such a thing as

repentance that never changes

600

direction in someone's life.

601

And that would be my concern.

602

A a lot of people can say, I,

I Lord, I, I'm, I'm sinning.

603

Will you please forgive me for

losing my temper with my family?

604

Or whatever it is.

605

But if that's all that it is, stands

to reason, whether it's actual

606

confession, is that real repentance

or am I just providing coverage for

607

my soul so that I don't feel guilty?

608

I am not saying you have to be perfect

and neither is John, but I am saying

609

what is the tenor and tone of your life?

610

Is it consistent with the profession

of faith that you've made,

611

which underscores the need for

men in your life who know you?

612

I mean, John, we made the point

last month, but let me just quickly

613

remind you how critical it is to have

someone hold the mirror to you and

614

say, here's how you're doing, brother.

615

You need people in your life who

can see you truly and clearly.

616

You can't do it by yourself.

617

You'll look in the mirror and you'll

only see one part of your body.

618

You don't see the back of your

head, you don't see, you know,

619

the piece of toilet paper hanging

outta the back of your trousers.

620

You need men who have your six.

621

You need people who know you enough to

be able to say, look, you're, you're,

622

you're blowing it here, and I love

you enough to tell you that you've

623

been really harsh with your wife.

624

You've been showing up late

to church, what's going on?

625

Or, you know, we don't see

you at small groups anymore.

626

What?

627

Where have you been?

628

What are you doing?

629

And not because they're trying to harass

you or shame you or make you feel bad,

630

but you need people who love you enough

to come into your life to help you

631

see, am I being too tallant of my sin?

632

Am I just giving myself over to it?

633

John says, if we say we have

fellowship, but walk in darkness,

634

we lie to not practice the truth.

635

I mean, you gotta have people in your

life, your closest family members.

636

They, they see it.

637

They know if you're bold enough.

638

Ask your kids, does

daddy live what he says?

639

Do you think, dad?

640

I mean, you can't ask

little kids, but you could.

641

I mean, ask your wife, sweetheart.

642

How am I doing?

643

Does my profession match my life?

644

Where do you see inconsistencies?

645

'cause they're, they're there.

646

They see it.

647

Do you see it?

648

Am I being too tolerant of my sin?

649

That's a question we all need

to ask ourselves regularly.

650

God hates our sin because God is light and

in him there's no darkness at all, fellas,

651

which means any bit of sin in our lives.

652

We need to feel as saying, okay,

wait, I didn't gotta get rid of that.

653

Have you ever noticed, as you get

older in your faith, you're never

654

aware of all your sin, but you're

aware of a few critical categories.

655

Isn't that so kind of God?

656

He doesn't flood you with,

here's all of your sin.

657

You're such a loser sinner.

658

What's wrong with you?

659

Get your act together.

660

He gives you a few areas where he

puts, he puts something on your

661

chest to say, this is an area I

need you to pay close attention to.

662

Like a father talking to his son.

663

He says, son, I need you to, I

need you to give attention to this.

664

This is important.

665

Please give attention to

this area of your life.

666

You need to pay attention to that voice.

667

That's the father working three,

that's that's the Lord telling you.

668

That's the area to give attention to.

669

Am I too tolerant of my sin?

670

Number two, am I growing in grace?

671

This is the opposite of that.

672

Am I too tolerant to sin and am I

making progress in my love and faith and

673

obedience in the Lord, growing in grace?

674

Peter says this in second Peter, chapter

three, but grow in the grace and knowledge

675

of our Lord Jesus Christ grow in that.

676

That doesn't happen by magic.

677

It doesn't happen by osmosis.

678

It doesn't happen if you

attend really great sermons.

679

It happens by a willing obedience

done in faith in Christ.

680

Obedience is not not a

prerequisite for salvation.

681

Good works are not a

prerequisite for salvation.

682

Hear me closely though

They are a post requisite.

683

In Christ, fruit is expected in Christ.

684

After sins are forgiven, good

works are planned for you.

685

Ephesians two 12 In Christ, the Lord

expects a return on his investment in you.

686

The spirit of God gifted to you,

the son of God dying for you.

687

He expects a return on his investment.

688

You see Christians gain assurance

by walking in the lights.

689

John clarifies for us what that means.

690

Part of it is walking in the

light by obey God's commands.

691

But this next part, this is the third

ingredient, and this is the one that

692

I'm like, oh the, the guys need this.

693

We need this.

694

The Lord, thank you for

putting this on our plate.

695

'cause the Lord knows we need this.

696

We're walking in the

lights from the darkness.

697

We need to have people who know

us enough to help us with this.

698

How consistent do I have to be?

699

How obedience, how much disobedience

should I tolerate before I

700

say I'm, I'm not a Christian.

701

Clearly I'm not.

702

Otherwise, I would be doing more.

703

This next section is what clarifies

and consoles every anxious heart.

704

Take a look with the at

verses seven through 10,

705

I saved the last part of verse

seven for this section, so

706

bear with me in verse seven.

707

Let's finish it off.

708

But if we walk in the light

as he is in the lights.

709

We have fellowship with one

another and the blood of Jesus,

710

his son, cleanses us from all sin.

711

Does that make your

heart palpitate at all?

712

That is, that is exciting.

713

The blood of Jesus, his son,

cleanses us from all sin.

714

Verse eight.

715

If we say we have no sin, we deceive

ourselves and the truth is not in us.

716

If we confess our sins, he is faithful.

717

He's just to forgive us

our sins and to cleanse us.

718

There's the word cleanse again.

719

Cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

720

If we say we have not sinned, we make

him a liar, at least by implication.

721

Right?

722

The Lord sent his son

Jesus to die for our sins.

723

And so if we say we have

no sin, oh Lord, thank you.

724

I, I don't need it though.

725

I'm doing quite all right.

726

If we say we've not sinned, we make

him a liar and his word is not in us.

727

Another way to say his truth is not in us.

728

And again, I have another chart for you.

729

What we have here is a next

pair of contrasting conditions.

730

So verse eight, if we say

verses uh, verse nine.

731

If we confess verse eight, if we

say we have no sin, we deceive

732

ourselves, the truth is not in us.

733

Alright, so this is again, our,

the, the, our mouth profession.

734

We have no sin, we, we deceive ourselves.

735

Verse nine.

736

Then if we confess our

sins, there we go again.

737

We're owning it.

738

We're acknowledging it.

739

We're saying, yes, I agree

with the Lord on these things.

740

God is faithful.

741

And just those two words are so

precious, guys faithful and just

742

he's faithful to his covenant.

743

He made a promise to forgive your

sins through Christ, but he's

744

also just in letting go your sins.

745

Not to just look the other

way, like an unjust judge,

746

but as the just judge to say.

747

Your sin has been fully

dealt with in Christ.

748

The the judgment has been paid, your

debt has been, has been resolved.

749

Jesus has fulfilled it all.

750

So when you go to Jesus, your

confession and the quality of what

751

you say to God is not the point.

752

It is Jesus on the cross.

753

It is his death on the cross

that secures your salvation and

754

your your perpetual forgiveness.

755

And when we do that.

756

He forgives us and cleanses us.

757

You'll notice the word cleanse is in

both verse seven, the blood of Jesus.

758

His son cleanses us.

759

We have it here as well in verse nine.

760

He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

761

We now see the vehicle or the medium by

which the Lord applies, that cleansing.

762

Um, you, you, you're probably

saying the song as a young one.

763

Uh, how precious is the flow?

764

Um, how precious is the,

that makes me white ass.

765

No, no other.

766

Yeah, that song,

767

it's the cleansing blood of Christ.

768

There's nothing magical

about the actual fluid.

769

It's the atonement of Jesus on the

cross that's being referred to here.

770

He forgives us.

771

He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

772

Just think about that word there, all

How much of your unrighteousness, fellas?

773

All, all of it.

774

Thank you, all of it.

775

If we confess, if we confess,

verse nine is critical.

776

One of the most important

pieces of walking in the light

777

is confessing our darkness.

778

I think this is the linchpin to

understanding this section, right?

779

'cause the temptation is that you

think walking in the light means

780

I just gotta get my act together.

781

I gotta do better.

782

I should sin less.

783

And I should do righteousness more.

784

And that's, that's, that's true.

785

But John acknowledges and even

agrees with us, look, what about

786

the Christians who perpetually sin?

787

What about Christians that

fall and stumble in a sin?

788

He's saying, great.

789

I have a solution for you

confess if you confess your sins.

790

He's faithful and he's just

to forgive us of our sins.

791

Which means here that by definition

a Christian is one who lives

792

by the truth, that Jesus died

to cleanse us from all sin.

793

I still have sin.

794

You still have sin.

795

You're not gonna do this

the way that you should.

796

You're not gonna make it.

797

So the first test of obedience is not

only am I walking in the light to the

798

extent that I have the ability, but am I

confessing the darkness that is clutch.

799

Anyone here can say, I, I,

I put my faith in Jesus.

800

A lot of us do that pretty regularly

and pretty, I think, I think ingredients

801

one and two, you're probably okay.

802

God is light in him.

803

There's no darkness and

we walk in the light.

804

That means that we're not

walking with duplicity.

805

I'm trying to walk with integrity.

806

But the third one, confession.

807

This is the one I want to

spend some time on here.

808

'cause what John is explaining

for us is, is really helpful,

809

uh, is really helpful to us.

810

And in fact, when you go to the mall,

when I first came to Stonebriar.

811

Mall was so large, I

didn't know where I was.

812

Uh, so I went to the

thing that everyone does.

813

You go to that big old display, you

see, you look for the, you are here.

814

Um, and then I looked at where

I was and where I wanted to be.

815

See his candies over there, first

floor, next to the builder bear.

816

Perfect.

817

I know how to get there.

818

Dark pecan buds.

819

So delicious.

820

Confession is your way of saying you.

821

I, I am here.

822

In fact, the word confess means to, to

say the same thing, the the word hamma,

823

leg hamma or ho homo, the word homo, you

know, because of it's pop culture usage.

824

Homo, same leg to say the

same, to say the same.

825

To say the same thing.

826

Who am I saying the same thing with?

827

Well, I'm saying the same thing as God.

828

God knows where you are.

829

God knows what your condition is.

830

Your job is to say, I am here, Lord.

831

I recognize I can't get to where I

wanna go until I recognize where I am.

832

And where you are is your present

state of progressive sanctification.

833

You have to confess and

agree with God where you are.

834

And so when I, when we look at

confession, we're gonna look at it.

835

In fact, lemme give you

point number three here.

836

I need you to readily confess your sins.

837

And we're gonna do this

in three dimensions.

838

Three overlapping, but

different dimensions where

839

confession has to take place.

840

This is the way that we say we are here.

841

Recognize where you are.

842

My grandma never said

this, but maybe yours did.

843

Clean behind your ears between

your toes and, and up your nose.

844

She didn't tell me up my

nose, uh, belly button.

845

Um, those three areas.

846

Are some of the most neglected

parts of your body apparently.

847

Uh, I don't know what your showering,

showering situation is, but these

848

researchers watched, not watched

849

me that back.

850

These researchers measured the

skin microbiome on 130 college

851

age students, and they looked at.

852

Control parts of the body where they

took a swab and tried to look at the skin

853

bacteria, and then they looked at the,

the bacteria behind the ears in the navel.

854

And what was the other one I said?

855

Uh, between the toes, you're not gonna be

surprised that the, the skin behind the,

856

the ears and the navel and between the

toes, uh, was not as healthy as the other

857

parts that received regular cleansing.

858

The regular, the regularly washed

parts of the body, uh, had more

859

diverse and healthier skin bacteria.

860

Okay?

861

No one's surprised by that, right?

862

The skin that's clean is healthier.

863

The soul that is regularly

confessing sins is healthier too.

864

This is crazy because this is such a, this

is such a big part of, of our, our bio.

865

It's actually comparatively small, but

it's such a big part of what John is

866

saying here that I'm surprised that we

don't talk about this more so level one.

867

Three dimensions, confessing sin

first and foremost to yourself,

868

being honest with God where you are.

869

In fact, I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk about

God second, but let's talk about you.

870

John says, if we confess our sins,

then all these conditional realities

871

that are related to our, our, our

faith that comes to those people.

872

Here's what ends up happening though,

for a lot of us, when we encounter some

873

kind of sin category in our lives, one

of the things we might do is, excuse it.

874

I didn't mean to say that.

875

Um, she made me angry or

I've heard this one before.

876

This is how I am.

877

That's how I'm wired.

878

That's how God made me.

879

God made me a hothead and I'm Italian,

and you know, Italians, and we just do.

880

Were upset and passionate people.

881

One of the things that we might

do with our sin is, excuse

882

it, and remember God is light.

883

When the light giving God looks at our

life, does he say, you know what, son?

884

That, that, that makes perfect sense.

885

You're right.

886

I did make you Italian.

887

No problem.

888

I'm gonna look the other way.

889

Yeah, it's no big deal.

890

No, we can't excuse it.

891

We might compare it.

892

We grate on the curve.

893

I look at myself and say,

well, you know, based on how

894

Pete's doing, I'm doing great.

895

You know, if I'm looking at,

you know, I'm Pete Older and I'm

896

doing a lot better for my age.

897

Can't do that.

898

God doesn't, not that I

have anything in mind.

899

Pete, sorry, I just saw you there.

900

I'm doing better than most of them.

901

You wouldn't say that,

but you might think it.

902

You should hear how other

dads talk to their kids.

903

Might make you feel better

when you think that you should

904

see how lazy my coworkers are.

905

Well, I mean, these other kids, man,

they're, they're cussing up a storm

906

and, you know, they're cheating with ai.

907

And I, I, I go to class and

I, I don't do half of that.

908

Don't excuse it.

909

Don't compare it, don't justify it.

910

And I was just so tired.

911

I had such a bad week.

912

I mean, I, you gotta understand.

913

I was, I, I was frustrated

with this situation.

914

So when you came at me with this

information, I was just so mad.

915

You understand why I said what?

916

I said.

917

He had it coming.

918

He was provoking me.

919

What was I supposed to do?

920

Don't excuse it.

921

Don't compare it.

922

Don't justify it.

923

Don't minimize it.

924

It was only one time.

925

Never happen again.

926

I raise my.

927

Voice,

928

but I didn't yell is there's a difference.

929

I was just loud.

930

I wasn't yelling at you.

931

I was just, I was just

passionate about it.

932

Nobody got hurt.

933

It's not like anyone.

934

I mean, I sure I threw the, I threw

the thing, but man, it hit the wall.

935

It was just some, it's

some drywall damage.

936

It's not that bad.

937

Don't excuse it.

938

Don't compare it.

939

Don't justify it.

940

Don't minimize its, here's a sneaky one.

941

Don't rename it as a virtue.

942

It's not rage.

943

It's, it's just passion.

944

It's not greed.

945

It's providing for my family,

we, we need six bedrooms.

946

It's not cowardice.

947

I'm just keeping the peace.

948

Right.

949

Doesn't the scripture say blessed

are the peacemakers for they

950

shall be called sons of God?

951

Huh?

952

Huh?

953

This is like, this is a godly behavior.

954

I'm just, I'm, I'm letting things be.

955

I need we, God wants you to

tell yourself the truth, to

956

not pull punches on yourself.

957

If, if you're not gonna be honest

with yourself, it's gonna be

958

much harder for you to be honest

with anyone else around you.

959

And that includes the second

dimension, the second D.

960

So the first one's you.

961

Second one is the Lord.

962

The Lord.

963

The Lord knows where you are.

964

You're lost in them all.

965

But he knows exactly where you are

agreeing with God is to say, Lord, I

966

know what, I know where my heart is.

967

I'm angry.

968

I'm impatience.

969

I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm full of lust.

970

Which Jesus says is adultery in the heart.

971

I know it's just a few steps.

972

Before I get to the end game

of that, Lord, guard me.

973

And in fact, one verse I have for you,

uh, one passage, Psalm 1 39 verses

974

23 and 24, I have this down for you.

975

I, I would love for you to go

to the Lord of this with this.

976

Search me oh God, and know my heart.

977

Try me and know my thoughts and see

if there'd be any grievous way in me

978

and lead me in the way everlasting.

979

I need you to go to the

Lord with these things.

980

This is probably the easiest part for you.

981

I, I trust that for many of you,

you know this, this is the easy one.

982

You go to the Lord, you talk

to the Lord about the things.

983

But this third one, the third

D, in fact, let me just,

984

the third D

985

is where I need you to confess

to those you sin against.

986

I don't know why.

987

I have several guesses, and I'm

gonna let you figure this out in

988

your small groups, it is so much

harder to confess this into people.

989

Especially people that you love,

people that you trust, people whose

990

relationship you value so much, you

would hate to lose them in your life.

991

And yet they were some of the

hardest people to confess to.

992

But scripture says, Jesus says in Matthew

chapter five, if you're offering your

993

gift at the altar, you're, you're at,

you're at Sunday morning worship and

994

you're ready to sing praises to the Lord.

995

And, uh, you're, you're gonna

crown him the Lord of love as

996

scripture, uh, as the song says.

997

And Jesus says, but if you remember

that your brother has something

998

against you 'cause you sinned against

them in some way, you said something,

999

you did something, you hurt their

feelings, you sinned against them.

00:48:34,019 --> 00:48:36,450

Jesus says, leave your gifts at the altar.

00:48:37,109 --> 00:48:39,390

You pull out of the Compass

Bible Church parking lot and

00:48:39,390 --> 00:48:40,740

you go drive to that friend.

00:48:40,740 --> 00:48:41,790

And he said, man, I'm so sorry.

00:48:41,970 --> 00:48:46,170

Can we rectify this first go and be

reconciled to your brother and then

00:48:46,170 --> 00:48:48,840

come and offer your gift to the Lord?

00:48:49,620 --> 00:48:52,019

That's how critical this is to Jesus.

00:48:52,740 --> 00:48:56,460

Which I think you could assume this means,

this suggests that you're confessing.

00:48:56,615 --> 00:48:57,779

I, I sinned against you.

00:48:58,439 --> 00:49:03,330

I agree with God that what I said

to you was ungodly unhelpful.

00:49:04,649 --> 00:49:05,760

Will you please forgive me?

00:49:07,859 --> 00:49:13,950

I need you to confess your sins to those

you sinned against, man, woman, or child.

00:49:15,750 --> 00:49:19,560

One of the best things you can do for

your kids is to own when you sin against

00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:20,970

your kids, no matter how young they are.

00:49:22,274 --> 00:49:23,955

What a beautiful display of the gospel.

00:49:24,014 --> 00:49:26,444

It says, mom and dad need

Jesus as much as you do.

00:49:27,135 --> 00:49:30,554

You need to see from me that I, I

mean this, and I'm gonna ask for your

00:49:30,554 --> 00:49:31,724

forgiveness because it's sin against you.

00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:37,425

I need you to confess your sins also

to those who can help you sin less.

00:49:39,165 --> 00:49:43,064

The word for confession only appears

a few times in the New Testament,

00:49:43,215 --> 00:49:48,644

believe it or not, but where it

does appear, most of those contexts.

00:49:49,125 --> 00:49:51,524

At least point to public confession.

00:49:53,115 --> 00:49:57,375

Now, it doesn't mean you're airing your

dirty laundry, but it does mean that,

00:49:58,394 --> 00:50:03,314

that the tone of your life is one of

open, transparent honesty that I, I am,

00:50:03,314 --> 00:50:08,085

I don't have it all together, and it's

more than that, James says in five 16.

00:50:08,265 --> 00:50:11,234

Therefore, confess your sins

to one another and pray for one

00:50:11,234 --> 00:50:13,425

another that you may be healed.

00:50:14,055 --> 00:50:15,345

Confess your sins to one another.

00:50:15,345 --> 00:50:17,745

Means I'm choosing some

godly men in my life.

00:50:19,019 --> 00:50:22,889

Who I can say this is, this is

really where I'm at, and I'm not

00:50:22,889 --> 00:50:24,240

going to give you platitudes.

00:50:24,240 --> 00:50:26,609

I'm not gonna say, well, look,

I'm not gonna minimize it.

00:50:26,670 --> 00:50:27,960

I'm not going to justify it.

00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:29,910

I'm not going to validate

it or make it virtuous.

00:50:29,910 --> 00:50:33,149

I'm just gonna say, man, I am,

I'm struggling with with sin,

00:50:33,179 --> 00:50:34,410

or I'm struggling with greed.

00:50:35,639 --> 00:50:38,819

I, I'm not giving anything to the church

because I, I feel like I need more money.

00:50:41,790 --> 00:50:42,210

Sorry.

00:50:42,444 --> 00:50:43,740

I, I feel, I feel for that.

00:50:45,225 --> 00:50:48,165

It's not, I just, you know, I was, I

was maybe a bit harsh with my wife.

00:50:48,165 --> 00:50:50,654

It's man, I, I said things

to her that I regret.

00:50:50,715 --> 00:50:52,005

Here's, here's what I said.

00:50:52,215 --> 00:50:53,475

Let me tell you what I did.

00:50:56,685 --> 00:50:59,085

Confess your sins to one another

and pray for one another.

00:50:59,654 --> 00:51:03,795

Purpose is not just to give you the

gossip, obviously purpose is to enlist

00:51:03,795 --> 00:51:07,154

one another's help in prayer and also

in practice to walk in the light.

00:51:07,484 --> 00:51:09,465

But James five points us to prayer.

00:51:10,005 --> 00:51:10,575

Pray for one another.

00:51:12,285 --> 00:51:15,224

Confession might be one of the things,

one of the ingredients that's often

00:51:15,224 --> 00:51:19,514

missing in a godly man's life because

we think about confessing to God.

00:51:20,115 --> 00:51:23,205

We might think about confessing to other,

you know, people that we sin against, and

00:51:23,205 --> 00:51:24,434

we, maybe we get there, maybe we don't.

00:51:25,394 --> 00:51:28,694

But I wonder how many of your

relationships contain genuine, honest

00:51:28,694 --> 00:51:32,354

confession about where you're at, the

things that you're really wrestling with.

00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:38,085

The, the reality is, man and I, I alluded

this beginning of, of my sermon here.

00:51:39,285 --> 00:51:45,795

People are frustrated with churches, in

part because they're happy factories.

00:51:46,455 --> 00:51:49,304

You know, there, there's production

and the songs are all upbeat

00:51:49,304 --> 00:51:52,245

and uplifting, and everything's

amazing and life's wonderful.

00:51:53,384 --> 00:51:55,125

And maybe for some

people that is the case.

00:51:55,184 --> 00:51:57,790

But for many of us, we know what

it's like to live in a fallen world.

00:51:58,979 --> 00:52:01,590

We know what it's like to have family

members diagnosed with cancer, and

00:52:01,590 --> 00:52:04,319

maybe in front of people you're

smiling and happy about that.

00:52:04,319 --> 00:52:05,729

You, I trust the Lord, God bless.

00:52:05,729 --> 00:52:06,540

You know, God bless us.

00:52:06,540 --> 00:52:09,149

He's been so kind, but maybe behind closed

doors, maybe you're on the verge of tears.

00:52:09,149 --> 00:52:10,170

Maybe you are crying to the Lord.

00:52:11,099 --> 00:52:12,569

Is anyone carrying that burden with you?

00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:15,540

Is there anyone that you can confess

to and say, I'm weak right now.

00:52:16,380 --> 00:52:20,250

Will you please, uh, I'm like, Moses,

I, I can't even hold my hands up.

00:52:20,250 --> 00:52:21,509

I just, I'm losing hope.

00:52:21,509 --> 00:52:23,009

I'm losing trust.

00:52:23,189 --> 00:52:25,710

I'm wrestling with the sin

and I'm losing in that area.

00:52:26,099 --> 00:52:26,729

I just need help.

00:52:26,729 --> 00:52:27,719

Will you please pray for me.

00:52:27,719 --> 00:52:28,319

Will you please?

00:52:28,590 --> 00:52:30,719

Will you help me go to the Lord with this?

00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:36,599

The beautiful thing about confession

is that it taps into Jesus cleansing.

00:52:37,559 --> 00:52:40,889

It reminds you that your sins have in

fact been forgiven, and that's one of

00:52:40,889 --> 00:52:42,120

the roles that we play with each other.

00:52:42,314 --> 00:52:44,849

We, we remind each other, you

have been forgiven of sin.

00:52:45,719 --> 00:52:53,370

Your sins have been washed by Jesus,

and you don't have to fear pride.

00:52:54,870 --> 00:52:56,085

You don't have to fear shame.

00:52:57,434 --> 00:52:58,455

Your sins have been dealt with,

00:53:00,495 --> 00:53:04,455

and the kind of assurance that man

derives is not an assurance from

00:53:04,455 --> 00:53:08,984

hiding, but from sharing and being

honest about his heart and his mind.

00:53:10,514 --> 00:53:13,514

This is one of the areas that often

doesn't get talked about with regard

00:53:13,514 --> 00:53:17,625

to our assurance, is that transparent,

vulnerable, honest relationship

00:53:17,625 --> 00:53:19,724

with other godly men that we could

say, oh, this is where I'm at.

00:53:19,724 --> 00:53:20,444

This is where I'm at.

00:53:20,745 --> 00:53:21,345

Please help me.

00:53:23,910 --> 00:53:26,880

KFC's recipe might be a heavily

guarded secret, but the recipe

00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:28,319

for assurance is wide open.

00:53:29,370 --> 00:53:33,720

John wants us to, to realize that the

recipe for assurance is preserving a

00:53:33,720 --> 00:53:35,340

biblical standard of righteousness.

00:53:35,700 --> 00:53:36,720

God is light in him.

00:53:36,720 --> 00:53:37,560

There's no darkness at all.

00:53:37,590 --> 00:53:38,730

Let's not lower that standard.

00:53:38,730 --> 00:53:40,470

Let's keep the, let's

keep that standard high.

00:53:41,850 --> 00:53:44,190

One of our distinctives is we

maintain a high view of God.

00:53:44,190 --> 00:53:47,310

The word maintenance is important because

the tendency for most of us is to bring

00:53:47,310 --> 00:53:49,140

God down, to make him more comfortable.

00:53:50,085 --> 00:53:52,785

Secondly, we want to evaluate

the integrity of our obedience.

00:53:53,205 --> 00:53:58,514

We have to be men who understand that good

works and fruit is not a prerequisite of

00:53:58,514 --> 00:54:00,974

salvation, but it is a post requisite.

00:54:01,604 --> 00:54:03,075

This is what God expects of us.

00:54:03,524 --> 00:54:06,404

But knowing that we will never

fully walk or rights, we'll never

00:54:06,465 --> 00:54:10,424

fully walk perfectly, we can number

three readily confess our sins.

00:54:10,484 --> 00:54:11,894

Because our sins have been forgiven.

00:54:12,465 --> 00:54:15,615

We've been freed, the

chains have been broken.

00:54:15,915 --> 00:54:18,674

Your sin has been nailed to the cross,

and now you can walk in the lights.

00:54:18,944 --> 00:54:22,995

And walking in light, as we just learned

critically, is not just perfection.

00:54:23,745 --> 00:54:25,875

Walking in the light means

confessing our darkness.

00:54:27,375 --> 00:54:31,844

And when we do that, assurance

grows your love for the Lord.

00:54:31,844 --> 00:54:35,354

Your knowledge of him, your even your

intimacy with the body of Christ grows

00:54:35,415 --> 00:54:37,304

and assurance grows where that happens.

00:54:37,335 --> 00:54:37,934

Let's pray together.

00:54:37,934 --> 00:54:38,774

God help us.

00:54:39,915 --> 00:54:40,484

Please

00:54:42,615 --> 00:54:45,884

help us to apply this Lord.

00:54:45,884 --> 00:54:47,354

No one in this room ever says.

00:54:48,224 --> 00:54:49,665

We never say that we're without sin.

00:54:50,894 --> 00:54:54,465

No one, no one among this room would've

would've ever verbalize it out loud.

00:54:55,365 --> 00:54:59,205

It's how we live that often

communicates that when we justify our

00:54:59,205 --> 00:55:01,545

sin or downplay it, we minimize it.

00:55:03,224 --> 00:55:04,064

We make it a virtue.

00:55:04,064 --> 00:55:08,175

We, we, we explain away our sin in order

to, to say to others, I have no sin.

00:55:09,075 --> 00:55:10,604

And Lord, your word exposes us.

00:55:11,474 --> 00:55:14,444

Let it be true of this

church Lord, that our men.

00:55:15,225 --> 00:55:19,995

Are acutely aware that we are

sinners who desperately need regular

00:55:20,055 --> 00:55:22,125

forgiveness and cleansing from Christ.

00:55:23,325 --> 00:55:25,635

We trust that all of us here have

put our faith in Christ once and for

00:55:25,635 --> 00:55:30,944

all, and that has given us security

and assurance that will never expire.

00:55:32,355 --> 00:55:35,295

That doesn't change the fact that we

still sin while we're in the flesh.

00:55:35,475 --> 00:55:39,555

Help us Lord to walk in humble

contract, confession, even as

00:55:39,555 --> 00:55:41,024

we seek to grow in obedience.

00:55:41,595 --> 00:55:43,845

We pray for great small groups,

Lord, where we can be honest.

00:55:45,420 --> 00:55:48,810

Prudently, honest and authentic

and helpful to one another's faith.

00:55:49,830 --> 00:55:50,850

We ask this in Jesus' name.

00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:51,810

Amen.