God Is Light and in Him There Is No Darkness at All First B Jackson 2024-04-21 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Good morning, everybody. How are y'all? Doing alright? Yeah. Glad to see you. Why don't we stand together and we will sing Jesus is coming again. That's a glorious, glorious sound and I might have to get a hymnal. So I usually something music magically appears. So 07:53, I think it was. Alright. Here we go. Glorious carol we sing, wonderful word of the king. Jesus is coming again, Coming again. Coming again. Maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe evening, maybe soon. Coming again. Coming again. Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. Jesus is coming again. Amen. Forest and flower explain. Mountain and meadow the same. All earth and heaven proclaim. Jesus is coming again. Coming again. Coming again. Maybe morning, maybe standing before him at last. Trial and trouble all past. Crowns at his feet, we will cast. Jesus is coming again. Coming again. Coming again. Amen. That's so good. Do y'all miss Scott Humphrey when we sing songs like that? He he is constantly kind of in my mind that I'm missing that guy right over there. Take time to be holy. Hymn number six fifty six. Well, Scott, we miss you if you're watching at home in San Antonio. And yeah, well, I'll to that in announcements. Hymn number six fifty six, Take Time to Be Holy. Be Speak off with the Lord. Abide in him always and feed on his Make friends with God's children. Help those who are weak. Forgetting enough thing Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone by looking to Jesus like him thou shall be. Thy friends and thy conduct, his likeness shall see. Take time to be holy. Let him be thy guide. And run not before him, service above. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I got a little unintentional yodeling there at the end of that one from starting to cry. I have been somewhat weepy all week considering graduating senior in the household and all that kind of stuff and boy, the words to that song are amazing. I'm gonna have to take your copy of that with me when I leave. I need to spend a little time on taking time to be holy. The song, it's just beautiful and I don't I don't don't remember that one. My greatest hits collection and I think I'm putting it in there. So, okay. Super exciting. Happy happy good times budgeting workshop. It happened last Tuesday night. It will happen this Tuesday night and next here at First Be. It's free. It's super exciting. Happy happy good times budgeting workshop and you know I asked somebody how it went and they said it was super exciting and happy happy. It was a good time and we learned how to budget. This week, they'll be talking somewhat actually, I'll let Nick make this announcement. How about that? Yeah. You never thought that a budgeting workshop could be so much fun. This last week, we had we gave away $25 gift cards in a raffle. And this next week, we have a $50 gift card for people who stick around for the whole event. It's it's an opportunity to it's an opportunity to to really look at your finances to take some of the stress out of your relationship with your spouse and with money. And, all of our stuff is also online too. We're not we're not recording the sessions necessarily because we want people to feel free to be able to ask questions. But we are putting up there, the templates for being able to make your own budget at home. And if you'd like to schedule a time to do this outside of the super exciting happy happy good times budgeting workshop, you can also do that. Call the church office. It's a a passion of mine. Richard Ewell and Jeremy Lieber are gonna be here there this week. Richard was so kind and and and easy just answering questions for people. It's just an opportunity to do that thing you put off all the time. Yep. And then also possibly win $50. That's good. Alright. Thank you, Nick. I appreciate that. Awana. Oh my goodness. What in the world? But this is a volunteer recognition party. This So Awana is happening tomorrow night. I'll get to that in a minute. But we want to thank the volunteers, and volunteer recognition party is going to be May 5, Cinco de Mayo. We're gonna have a big Mexican feast for the Awana volunteers here. Felix and Guadalupe have said that they would do that. Bring your families if you're a volunteer and you help out with Awana, whatever you do for Awana, please feel free to join us May 5 after church on Sunday, sort of a dinner on the grounds for the volunteers for Awana recognition party and Connect Hour. This morning, we had a new Connect Hour person. Maria and Connor did it for the first time this morning. They gave it a thumbs up. They would do it again. 10 out of 10 would recommend. If the we need volunteers for the connect hour. If you would like to do it, there are sign up sheets down there. This month is filled, but next month is not. So if you have any questions, you can ask Addie Hare at that number. We also have a men's. We're calling it a lunch study. Although lunch is not provided, don't get that into your minds. We're just being here at lunch time. If you want to bring your lunch, please do. It's good. We're studying first Peter together and it's a really good way of understanding better, deeper the scriptures as we relate to one another and the passage. We're up to towards the end of the first chapter of first Peter. You can come and go as you need to but it'll be over at 01:00. We pray for one another. It's good. Good time. I love it. It's my favorite thing that's going on right now. Unintentional admission. Vacation Bible School is coming up. Amy Jordan is our children's director and she is here and she has this announcement. There you go. You're welcome. Thank you. Hi. So I'm used to Littles. That's my audience. So bear with me if I sound nervous or anything. First of all, I wanna thank everyone who volunteers in the children's ministry. It would not be possible without y'all. Even the the littlest things we have an amazing teachers, volunteers, people that hold babies, and Awana's. I mean, our pastors are leading I want us every Monday night. And I told the last service, I was like, if y'all I mean, I just see so many I want us teachers here today. And if y'all just come in and sit in this room, there's no chairs in here. That's why we have all the tape. Just come and watch. It is it is just amazing what happens during the iguanas. Our other big thing that we outreach to the community is VBS, and that is coming up. As you can see the dates and we're super excited. If you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbors that want to come or you think that would be interested, I'm eventually gonna have little flyers y'all can take out into the community. I think it's super important. We've connected with all the churches around to make sure that we're not interfering because we want it to be a community wide outreach. One thing we do need is volunteers. So if your kid if your thing is kids and you wanna be there during these dates, please have my phone number up there. We also have signs just to click in and you can fill out a volunteer form. If it's not your thing, that's okay. Kids, I mean, sometimes can be a little intimidating. Right? So we have things that need to be done prior to it. Just cutting out big posters, decorating, and outreach and trying if you'll have companies or businesses that you wanna put something up to a fly or something, I would love for that. The more we can get out there and the more kids we can get in here to tell them how much they are loved, they are this is a safe place for them. And most importantly, tell them about Jesus Amen. And that Jesus loves them. So I thank you all for your time. I appreciate it very much. So that decorating meeting is what it's calling on the slide. Sorry. Planning meeting is next Sunday between services. Between services. And I did that so that hopefully everyone could have a chance. Perfect. Thank you much. I appreciate it. Alright. And there is coming a potluck for Jean DeMarsh, May the seventeenth. We want to just honor her no gifts, please. But that is happening. May 17 in the fellowship hall in the evening. Another sort of a dinner on the grounds but it's a supper on the grounds. I have biblical proof if any of y'all arguing over dinner and supper, alright? Is it the last supper or is it the last dinner? And when it was evening, alright? Okay. Potluck for Jean DeMarsh. That's happening 05:30, May 17. It's May 17, so it's a little ways away. We are having a congregational meeting also on May fifth, Cinco de Mayo twenty twenty four between services to vote on a few constitutional changes that are recommended by the elders. There are copies available in the church office. If you want one beforehand, you can get it. Study up on it if you want to and then we'll vote on those changes on May 5 between services. And I think that's it. Anybody have anything else? Additions, suggestions, deletions, admissions, testimony? No. Would you stand? Worthy of worship. Fantastic. Hymn number one fifty three. Amen. I think I'm ready. Worthy of all the glad songs we can sing. Worthy of all of the offerings we bring. You are worthy. Father, creator, you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, you are worthy. Worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise. Worthy of reference, worthy of fear, worthy of love and devotion, worthy of bowing and bending of knees, Worthy of all this and added to these, you are worthy. Father, creator, you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, you are worthy. Worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise. Almighty father, master, and lord, king of all kings and redeemer, Wonderful counsel or comfort her friend, savior and source of our life without end. You are worthy. Father, creator, you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, you are worthy, worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise. Amen. Change my heart, oh God. Hymn number six fifty four. This one's got a syncopated little drop beat in it. If I remember correctly, arrest, I guess is the musical term that throws me every time. So if you know it, sing really loud. I'll try to do my best. Change my heart, oh God. Make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God. May I be like you. You are the potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me. This is what I pray. Change my heart, God. Make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God. May I be like you. May it ever true. Change my heart, oh God. May I be like Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward and would you pray with me? God, I thank you that you are in the business of changing hearts. Lord, the heart that beats in us. At the one time beats to do your will, oh Lord, but there is within us a human frailty, recognizing that individually is important. Recognizing that collectively, I think is important for the unity of the body of Christ. Lord, would you change our hearts to make them ever true? We want to be submitting to the spirit in the same way that our savior submitted to the spirit. His perfection, Lord is what allows us to walk in victory. Would you allow us the grace of walking in victory behind Jesus? Humble, thankful, obedient. Lord, we pray to be useful to you in the spreading of your good news that it would go forward like it went forward from Jerusalem for those original apostles, lord, that it would go forth from this place with these small a apostles. Ones who have been sent out into this community, into this world. Lord, would you accompany us in every endeavor? Would you allow us the grace of showing the light of life in Jesus Christ? May your will be done in your way here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory die. My richest gain, I count but loss and poor content on all my pride. Bidden Lord that I should boast, save him the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. See from his his hands, his feet. Sorrow and love flow mingle down. Float Did there such love and sorrow meet or thorns come forth so rich a crown were the whole realm of nature Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my own. Amen. Thank you. Amen. Thank you, Jeff. First 1522. Now. Think it's still the. Come on. There you go. Okey dokey. Could y'all hear the song? Yeah. Yeah. Coulda heard it downtown. Yeah. Amen. So, first 15222 is what I'm, that's where we're going today. That's where we're going to get to. I want to make a kind of an admission or confession or something up here. Last week, when we hit and y'all saw it happen, when we were in Luke last week, I went through and I and I realized in the first service that this is the end of twelve years of studying the New Testament for me, exposing expository preach expository preaching of the whole New Testament and it really overwhelmed me in the first service and then, it kind of did in the second and it has all week Like, thank God. He is so faithful and so good, you know, and so, I thought, where do we go next? For years, y'all have asked me, where are going next? I'm saying, I'm just going to finish the New Testament. That's all. It's just what's next? What's next chronologically? When we got through the end of chronologically, Revelation, you know, and then I said, well, we never covered Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So, we went back and did a harmony of the gospel study but Luke kinda closed it off, kinda. I've got one little passage that's left that I've mentioned briefly. I've had a few conversations since then. I want to cover that. The passage from Mark sixteen nine through 20. I want to cover that. I'm still formulating that but I've got a couple of things coming up And the admission confession is, I have blank canvas syndrome. I'm an art major with blank canvas syndrome. If you look at if I look at a blank white canvas and I could paint anything, it's really hard for me to decide what to paint. So, I need a scheme. My scheme for twelve years is just do what's next. Duh. And so now, I hit this passage last week and it was like taking that last step and God kind of showed me, okay, this is where we want to go next. I'm thankful for that leading. Last week in Luke, we hit this. It says, then, he opened their minds. That's original. Capital A, apostles. The ones that he was sending out. If you take Matthew's great commission, this is that same moment. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. That's the Old Testament for them. He opens their minds to understand. It says, he explained everything that was written about him in the law and the prophets and Psalms and so he did all of that to them and he opened their minds to understand it where they had been bumping their heads quite frequently up to that point and he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer. Do you get me now? I've been saying this since Matthew 16. Are you understanding thus it is written? It was written and it had to come to pass. It was necessary. Thus, it is written that Christ should suffer and on the third day, rise from the dead. Here you are looking at me and this is a sentence. This is forty days later. They've had some time to dwell on this, right? The third day rise from the dead and that what? Repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in Jesus name to all of the nations beginning from Jerusalem. So, repentance for the forgiveness of sins. If there is one criticism that modern day preaching gets a lot of, it's you don't hit repentance often enough because I can take that. For the past twelve years, I've been trying to hit as even handedly as I know how exactly what it says and in order that made sense to me, chronological makes sense to me. So I've been hitting that as often as it mentioned it. If I don't mention it a bunch, it's because it doesn't mention it a bunch. But every time that repentance comes up, I mention it. Now, I wanna do a series that really focuses our attention on repentance. So that's what's coming next. Today, my plan was to do a history lesson about the history of our Bible that we carry in our hands in English. Whether it's the King James, New King James, NIV, NLT, all of those, how can we know that this can be trusted? I didn't finish that sermon. It just wasn't there for me. I know it. I could share it conversationally but I was not ready to get up here and do it and so, this and that was with the idea that if we know that this can be trusted and the Bible calls sin sin, then we need to call it sin. Does that make sense? If the Bible calls something sin and we need to call it sin and we're guilty of it, we need to admit that and agree about the sin in our own life. So, that led me to this passage, okay? Now, the next passage, the passage we're covering today. Last week in Luke, it was that repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The burden of carrying your sin is a heavy, heavy burden. The wages of sin is death. You will carry it into death. And will be condemned by it. If you don't hand that over to the way that God has made. Forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in Jesus name to all the nations. Repentance and behold, I'm sending the promise of my father upon you. That's the Holy Spirit but stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high. Now, they have had their minds open to the scriptures. They are going to be given at this point, going to be given the Holy Spirit which will motivate them and move them along as Peter says, to write down the New Testament. It can be trusted. The Old Testament can, the New Testament can, and I want to cover that but I want you to know that it is rooted in what God has said. First John one. Now, for the past few weeks, I have said, all of the original disciples, apostles died martyrs death. John lived longer than anybody else. He served longer than anybody else. He was exiled to Patmos. He is as far as we know by tradition, good tradition because one of his students tells us that this is the case. He was buried in Ephesus. We think that we can be pretty certain of that. He did die an old man but he still died testifying to the fact that Christ was dead and buried and raised from the dead on the third day. That is a testimony, Marturion, that is martyr. That is a martyr's death. Okay? He continued to believe all the way up until he died at a ripe old age and this is the guy who wrote it. He is going to, Luke says in the beginning of his that he is going to make an orderly account. He's using eyewitness testimony. John is an eyewitness and so I'm going to cover this rather quickly and we get to verse five. I'm going slow down. What was from the beginning? Tell me, what was from the beginning? In the beginning, God. That's Genesis. What is in the beginning in John, the gospel of John was the word. He's saying in the big, what was from the beginning? Jesus. What we have heard? I heard Jesus with my own ears. What we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and we have touched with our hands, he leaned on Jesus's breath at the last supper. Concerning the word of life and the life that was manifested, it was made very evident. As Hebrews says, he is the very representation in flesh of what God is. Life was manifested. We've seen it and we not only have seen it, we are testifying it to you. We proclaim to you the eternal life. Now, what did Luke just say? Luke just said in our last section that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in Jesus name. Eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and what we've heard, we proclaim also to you so too that you may have fellowship with us. If we're looking at this, the introduction of this book, it's a short book by the way. You can read it in thirty minutes. It's one sentence in Greek. This whole thing is one sentence. It's it looks like a run on. We break it up into multiple sentences in English, but this is one kind of a meandering thought. What we've seen and what we proclaim also to you so that the eyewitness nature of this. That's the main clause of this sentence. All that came before it and all of that comes after it rests on this. I'm telling you this because I know it to be true. When he says in Matthew, now y'all be going and as you're going, you be making disciples. I'm, you are my disciple and I'm asking you to make other disciples. Teach him to obey all that I've commanded you. I'm going to be with you. I've seen it. I know it to be true. I'm proclaiming it to you. Why? So that you too may have fellowship with us. This takes me back to that high priestly prayer in John 17 where Jesus prays, father, I'm praying for the ones that you have given me. I'm praying for the ones that you have given me that they may be one and not just them but everybody who will ever believe because of their testimony. I'm praying that they would be one, unified. The church triumphant. All who have trusted in me throughout all the ages. I'm praying that they would have fellowship together and be one just like we are one. John is saying, I'm saying this so that you may have fellowship with us so that there's not anything that comes between and so that our joy may be made complete. Can you imagine how overjoyed John was at the resurrection of Christ? But the only thing lacking was not everybody knows it. Not everybody believes it. Not everybody trusts it, and not everybody has the peace of God available to them because they don't even know about this. So he's writing this in the hopes that you'll be brought into fellowship with the original apostles, with Jesus, with God, and that you would be making their joy complete because it's not just this little me, my 11, and no more. So, here we are up to first John five. I'm a just tell you what's in there. I try to stick close to what it says and that's the difficulty for me. When I said that this week was going to be a history lesson, it was really hard for me because history has to be interpreted. The Bible is the Bible. It says what it says. I can stand with it. If I stand with it, it's fine. I don't want to teach a history lesson that is that is questionable subject. So, I'm going to do the best I can to give us the history lesson of the Bible next week of in English. I think it's interesting. I think it's fun even but seeing how God has protected his word and kept it and actually is very very trustworthy in the way that he breathed it forth and he's had the power to maintain and hold on to it. First John one five through two two says, there are claims to know God. Our claims to know God are tested by our attitudes towards sin. That's first of all. There will be one outrageously true statement about God and then there's there are three conditional if then type statements. The if then type statements set up some practical truths that you can use, that you can know. Actually, that allow you to see where you are in the faith. Right? Then a very clear, that was just the carriage, was it not? Okay. A a baby car seat just tumbled into the aisle. Thought I hope she I hope she I hope they were strapped in. Sorry. And usually, there there's almost nothing that distracts me in the realm of babies and children, but that one was a little much. Okay. Alright. Sorry. Back to the back to the passage. A very clear purpose statement. He tells why he wrote it. I love it when they tell why they wrote it because I don't have to guess and you don't have to guess. And then another true statement about Jesus to close. So that's what we're going look at. This is the message. I love that. If you just stop right there, this is the message. He is carrying the message that Jesus gave him. He says over and over, I've seen it. I heard it. I have seen it. I have heard it. I know what it is and I'm sharing it with you. Why would I hold anything back? What we've seen and heard, we proclaim also to you. We've heard from him. We announce it to you. He says it again that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all. That's the statement about God. Outrageous as it is. God is light. He is good and in him, there's no darkness at all. There's not a hint of evil in him. Now, in our day and age, there are people that say, if God is all powerful, then he can't be all good because evil happens. His ways are above our ways and you don't understand it. Are we to all be automatons where we have to choose his will? No. He has given us graciously responsibility and choice. God is light. Let not any of you say that God tempted me, James says, because God is good and he is light. If he's leading us, he's not leading us into temptation. He is leading us away from temptation. God is light in him. There is no darkness at all. So, this is that one true statement about God and I love it in Greek. I think it's funny when you're translating in Greek. You you have to make it make sense in English. You don't want for it to be something that is full of grammatical mistakes but I still like to do a wooden translation because it says so much and so here this is. This is what it says in Greek. God light is and darkness in him not as none. Double negatives. There ain't no darkness in him at all. That's what it's saying. If you sit in judgement of God almighty, be careful. If you sit, God light is. He just is. Let there be light. He is bringing light out of darkness. He's bringing order out of chaos. He is bringing healing to the wounded and he's bringing peace to those who are in strife. God, light is and darkness in him not as none. That's that one true statement about God. And then here come the if then statements. The first one is, if we say, say, if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet, we walk in the darkness, we lie. And that by the way is sin. Okay? So if we say that we have fellowship with that, I'm a believer. In fact, I'm a super believer. I believe it so well that I walk it all the time. I don't struggle with that brother but I will pray for you. I'm just gonna keep on walking because I am indeed super Christian. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet we walk in darkness, we lie. We'll get to victory in Christ in a minute but let's face the fact first. If we say we have fellowship and yet we walk in darkness, our walk does not match our talk, then we are actually lying which is a sin in itself and we are not practicing the truth. Let's face the facts. That's what John is saying. Like a good old fatherly adviser. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet we walk in the darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth but this is the corresponding practical truth I was talking about. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, that is possible. One of the standing stones at the seminary where I went, one of the things, their major core beliefs, there were five of them and one of them is victory victorious Christian living, that it is possible to walk in victory. If you don't believe that it's possible to walk in victory, you're less likely to strive for it. Well, we all sin. Yeah, we all sin. That doesn't mean we have to, do we? Do we? We can walk in victory. We can walk in sobriety. We can walk in humility. Oh, that's the point. That's the point. Is how did Christ, though he was tempted in every way just as we're tempted, how did he walk it out in humility before the plan of his father empowered by the spirit, the Holy Spirit. He walked it out. If we walk in the light and we can because we have the plan of the father before us and we have the truth of scripture. We have the spirit guiding us. It is possible to walk in victory. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, then we have fellowship. That's the stated goal of John. Wasn't it fellowship with one another? The first practical truth is we can know that we are a part of the body of Christ if we are walking in the light as he himself is in the light and the only way to do that is humility before God. He'll get into in just a minute. He'll get into how to know and how to what to do with the sin that you do see in your life by the spirit's leading. This is the practical truth. We can know that we have fellowship with one another if we're walking in the light. Now, amplified, he goes on to say, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. We can know that it is sufficient because we can experientially walk it out. Though we may fall short at times, he brings us back. He restores us. In fact, the next slide should point to that. Now, if we say, this is the second of these if then statements. If we say again, if we say that we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves. Period. If you are bold enough to say out loud, what do I need to repent of? I have no sin in my life. You're deceiving yourself. There is something there. If we say that we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves and beyond that, the truth is not in us. We're not accepting the truth. The reason I want to make a case for scripture is because it can be trusted to be true and we cannot. Does that make sense to you? If we say we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our sins, this is the second practical truth that comes from that first one. If we say we don't have any sin, that's a proud statement. Is it not? I am the righteous standard. I have no sin. Lord, have mercy. If we confess our sins and I've said it a lot of times, this is another reason I came back to this. In our in our sermons, week by week by week by week, humility and pride come up almost every time because they come up in the text in some way almost every time. And I've said this about confessing our sins because it is the mechanism by which we can know that we are forgiven. If we homo, logao, if we are confessing, if we are homo is the same and is to speak or to say, if we are saying the same thing as God says about our own sin, then he's faithful and he's righteous to be forgiven our sins. That's the mechanism. Do you all know what it's like to have a conviction from God that that last step you made was a misstep? I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have said that. Shouldn't have thought that. I mentioned one in the this is a made up one, please. I do not wish any of you get hit by a bus. Alright? In the first service, I said to have a thought that goes through your mind and you just go, I can't stand that guy. I wish he'd get hit by a bus. That might surprise you that you even thought it but as you say, God forgive me. I agree with you. I don't wish that guy got hit by a bus. That's a terrible thing to even think. My goodness. Where did that pernicious evil thought even come from? Let that bird fly over your head. Don't let it build a nest in your hair. If we confess our sins, if we say, I agree with you. That was awful. He's already forgiving it. He's faithful. He's faithful and he's righteous to be forgiven it because how do we get rid of it otherwise? We have no mechanism. Our mechanism is to agree with him in humility about our shortfall and when we do that, other places in the Bible describe it this way. He throws it in the sea of forgetfulness and remembers it no more. He throws it as far as the east is from the west and remembers it no more. Though your sins may be as scarlet, he will make them as white as wool. He is able. In Isaiah, it says multiple times that the sin that is before God, our sin that is before God, when we humbly ask him or agree with him, he puts it behind him. How almighty God does that? I don't know. But he says that he does and his word can be trusted. If we are agreeing with him about our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and it this one's amplified it too. It's not just to forgive us of that sin that we mentioned, it is to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's a starting place for a progressing faith, a progressing sanctification where we are walking in greater and greater purity as we will turn over our shortfall. I mentioned last night something from J. I. Packer and his definition of repentance and I put it up there and I saw a couple of scant looks, I promise. From up here, you see everything. And one of the looks was like, I don't agree with that about repentance. Repentance has taken all that you know of your sin because you're not the best authority on your sins. All that I know about my sin and turning that over to all that I know about God. So, in our study coming up about repentance, I would like to and several of you have mentioned this to in the past. I I have now had twelve years of not just going through the New Testament but walking other people through getting set free from whatever And so, there have been a lot of folks who have found some light in the 12 step recovery process. Some people who are very dear to me, some dear members, dear friends, and so I wanna start looking at how this practically gets applied. You can be forgiven of your sin and you can walk in holiness and that is that looks like sobriety for somebody from alcohol or from drugs. It looks like somebody that is not gracious and not generous, becoming gracious and generous by allowing God to take the stinginess and ugliness away. If we confess our sins, if we agree with God about our sins, he's faithful and he's righteous to be forgiving our sins and to be cleansing us from all of our unrighteousness. The whole point of the Packer thing is you don't know how sinful you are but if you will admit to the stuff you do know, he will progressively allow you to see more and you'll walk in greater humility and greater holiness. So here's the Greek tenses and moods I hope to convey the R McD. This is Ray McDaniel version right here. If however, we should be confessing our sins. That's contingent. It's it's not saying you're going to do it automatically. It's a voluntary deal on your part. If we should be confessing our sins, faithful he is and just that he may forgive us our sins. He is allowed to by his justice. He is able to when we admit to it. He is freed up to forgive us and he might, that's the same, that's subjective, is contingent upon our humility and bringing it before him. Cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. Does that make sense? Does the might bother any of you? It's not that he might forgive us. It's that he might, it's dependent on what we do. Our humility is necessary for him to do what he has offered to do. He will not force it on us is what I'm saying. Now, if we say, oh, that looks like an if then being set up. This is the third of those three conditional if then statements. If we say that we have not sinned, boy, he's really beating this drum, ain't he? On this slide alone, if we say that we have no sin, it's how it starts off. We're deceiving ourselves, the truth not in us. So, in 10, if we say that we have not sinned, that's a past tense. If we say right now in the present that I I have I I don't need to be forgiven. I don't need to repent because I don't have any sin. What do I have to repent for? If we say that we have not sinned, then we make God out to be a liar because what he says is, no one is righteous, no not one, all have gone astray, all seek after their own self. We make God out to be a liar and let me just agree with the New Testament writer says, let God be true and every man a liar. Right? He is light and in him darkness, no is not none. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. What we're paying attention to at that point is not his word. It's our desire. It's our self. And we cannot survive that way. My little children. I love that. John now advanced in age when he's writing this. Little children. My little children. Grandfatherly. I'm writing these things to you. I love John because he gives us a purpose. Why is it that he's writing this? I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. That's the whole point of this letter. So that you will be able to walk in victory. That's his very clear purpose statement. So that you may be able to walk in victory and not be confounded by your own shortfall constantly. My little children, I'm writing these things to y'all again, the Ray McDaniel version. I'm writing these things to y'all so that y'all may or should, that's subjunctive. It's contingent upon your agreement, right? I'm writing these things. If if you don't want to sin, then trust me. Admit your shortfall. Allow God to cleanse you and allow him to move you through it so that you should not miss the mark. And if anyone sense, we've got a contingency plan because we are human and we do have frailty. Admitting that is a good thing. Why? Because we have an advocate. Capital A, advocate is Jesus. He's an advocate with the father, the way, the truth, the life, the only way, Jesus Christ, the righteous. John saw this with his own eyes. He heard it. He knew the life that Jesus was preaching and he says, if any of you fall, we have an advocate with the father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. This is the third pack practical truth. There it is. An amplified, it goes to this, and he himself is the propitiation. He is the payment of the penalty. He has done everything required to cover our sins, past, present, and future. We will live a harmonious life with him and have fellowship with one another if we will be humble and admit our sin. Agree with him about our sin. Get it under the blood of Jesus and behind us. He himself is the propitiation, the payment for our sins and not for ours only. It is sufficient for ours but it is sufficient for the rest of the whole world. We don't know who will accept it. We don't know but we are to be carrying the message, walking in victory, carrying the message of the good news of salvation is available in Christ and in Christ alone. Latin for the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Would you all stand with me? I'm going invite Jennifer back up to do this. The change my heart, oh God, that we just sang would be a really good one. We're going sing cleanse me because it's even better but the whole song today was really talking about the holiness and worthiness of God to be praised and then our need for sanctification, for cleansing, for purification. I would encourage you this week to consider anew because a lot of y'all been walking this path for a long time. As you're considering it, consider anew. Lord, is there anything that up to this point, I have been shielded from seeing? Is there something in my life that is not as you would have it to be? Would you remove my blind spots? Would you allow for me to see myself the way that I am, So that I may be more like him. Agreement with God about our own sin is the way to holiness. Amen. We'll sing all the verses of this. And know my heart today. Try me, oh savior. Know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be some wicked way in me. Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin. Fulfill thy word and make me pure within. Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame. Grant my desire to magnify my name. Lord, with thy great love divine. Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride. I now surrender, Lord, in me. Abide. On the last. Oh, holy ghost, revival comes from thee. Send our revival. Start the work in me. Thy word declares. Thou wilt supply our need. Four blessings now, oh Lord humbly I'm on use the benediction from second Peter one ten. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain. That's what this passage has been about. Certainty of knowing that you are walking in the light. Brothers and sisters, be all the more diligence to make certain about his calling and choosing you for as long as you practice these things. It's about walking it out. You will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. We just sang about God's provision of the holiness required to walk it out, of the holiness required to bring a revival. Start the work in me. Lord, would you do it? Would you allow us the the grace as we humble ourselves before you to be able to be plan A for the salvation of the world. In Jesus name, we pray that we'd be carrying forward the message. Amen. Amen. Amen.