that if we live our lives and point others to Christ, and the next generation forgets us but remembers our Savior, we've been a success. That's my goal. I don't care if you remember me, remember my name, remember my daddy, remember anything about me. I just wanna point you to the Savior. So let's do that. I hope that I have pointed you to the Spirit, pointed you to the Son, and pointed you to the Father, that's what I want to do again today first John chapter number one it has been a privilege to be with you all this week I have enjoyed the hospitality that you all have shown your pastor and Mrs. Ellis, our dear friends of ours. We've known them for quite some time. We love them. We love their family. We love you all. We have enjoyed being here. 1 John chapter 1. Again, I would like to just point you to the Savior. If I do nothing else but point you to Jesus, that's what my life needs to do. And so in our text, As we have noticed in Hebrews, as we have noticed in Matthew, we're just going to take a different author and preach the same sermon. So, you know, I hope it's not boring to you. I hope it's refreshing. Yet once again, in our text, John is now claiming to be the spokesman for God. And he's yet another ambassador delivering the same message of a king. And the words here that he carries are, again, the words of God. And here it is the thoughts, the words of God concerning sin and the remedy for sin. So if you're able, as has been our custom, if you would stand in reverence to God's word, we'll read our text. If you're not able to, that's fine. First John chapter number one, starting in verse number five, the first four verses is just John's introduction of Christ and his purpose for writing. And then in verse number five, he says this, this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light. And in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. In the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Father, we bow again before you in your presence and we thank you for this opportunity that you've given us, this place that we have to worship you in freedom, in truth, Lord, according to the dictates of our hearts. Lord, we do pray that you would meet with us today. We thank you for what we've already heard in song and what we've been able to raise our voices in praise to you, Lord, for what we've heard in devotion and in a a lesson this morning that points us to your glory and Lord we pray today everything that is done here would glorify you that we would be truly servants that are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. But Lord, that the beat of our heart would be to glorify you in all things. Lord, we pray that your son would be lifted up here today. Lord, we ask that you would send the spirit. If the spirit doesn't descend on this place, everything we do is but vain. And Lord, we pray that as you know, each heart, each family, each person that is here. Lord, we pray that you would meet us where we are. Lord, that you would heal, that you would comfort, you would convict, you would cleanse each heart, each mind, each sin. Lord, we thank you for forgiveness of sins that we have. Lord, I thank you that you have comforted, you have cleansed myself. Lord, I pray that you would meet with your people today, that you would encourage us. Lord, that you would uplift us, that you would edify us. Lord, I pray that you would do what only you can do as we look into your word, that your spirit would speak to hearts, that we would be refreshed and renewed as your people in Jesus' name. Thank you for standing. You can be seated. I'm thoughtful of the man named John Bradford who was a man that lived in the 16th century in the mid 1500s he lived in a back alley where in England all of the sentenced criminals would be housed and where he lived was just around the out just down the alley from where all of the condemned criminals would be marched by his door on the way to the gallows to be executed. And he saw most of them under the reign of what we know as Bloody Mary. And when he would arise in the morning and do his devotions he would see these condemned criminals on their final march to the execution And the Oxford Dictionary confirms for us that it was his words from his devotions, as he would see these condemned criminals that walked by, that he would frequently go to the door and say, there, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford. And indeed, it was just a few years later that, as a Baptist preacher, he was arrested and convicted. been sentenced to that same execution. And so often we see that as our own problem, we see that we so frequently compare ourselves with others, we compare ourselves with our siblings and We compare ourselves with our coworkers and sometimes we look at politicians and we compare ourselves with politicians and maybe some historical figures like Hitler or Mussolini or some of those types of fellows and we think, I'm not that bad. I've not done anything that's that terrible. You know, we grade sins, don't we? I've not done any of these big sins. I might have, you know, I might have hit my little sister, or I might have stole a pencil, but I've not done anything real heinous, real terrible, right? Well, the Bible's pretty clear that we're that bad, every one of us. struggles with sin, and since Jesus said that just the thought of lust makes us guilty of adultery, just the thought of anger, unrighteous anger against a brother makes us guilty of murder. It's pretty clear that the seed of every conceivable sin lies within every one of us. And so in this particular text, as we read from this ancient and aged apostle, he brings to light our thoughts concerning sin and what you think about yourself and what you think about your sin. Do we acknowledge it? Do we deal with it? And John brings to light our method for revealing our own thoughts. And he does it in this particular order. He reports to us, first of all, the very thoughts of God. All of these are the thoughts of God. He tells us as God's eyewitness, as God's apostle, as God's ambassador. He brings to us what God says, first of all, about himself. Then he tells us what God says about our sin. And then he tells us what God says about his own son. And that's my three observations for you this morning. First of all, what God declares of himself. Notice in verse number five, this then is the message we've heard of him. That message is simply this. We declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So John begins with this phrase, this declaration, God's declaration of himself. He says God is a self-revealing God. Much like we heard in Sunday school this morning when Moses went to the mountain and asked God, show me your glory. God is more than happy to reveal himself. God is a speaking God, as we said earlier this week. God reveals himself. John here begins with the phrase, we have heard this message of him. God is speaking of him. phrase that expresses the source. John is saying the message which we have received is directly from God Himself. God is talking. God is speaking. He has, as we heard from Hebrews chapter number 1, God spoke sundry times in diverse manners in times past to the fathers by the prophets is in these last days speaking to us by His Son. God is a speaking God. I won't re-preach Hebrews chapter 1. If you were here the other night, you heard that. God is speaking. He is not silent. John records the same thing in his Gospel, does he not? He begins his Gospel message, the Gospel of John, chapter 1. Those which believe on his name, he says, were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You were subject to the Word. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And the purpose was that you were born of God. God has been reaching. He has been revealing. He has, in His Word, been recording His purposes for you. John's gospel preaching revealed the appropriate place to begin, as we said the other night, is not with the sinner. It's not with his sin. And even here in this particular instance, the epistle of John begins just like the epistle to the Hebrews. It begins with God and God's declaration of himself. It doesn't begin with man. It doesn't begin with man's sin. It begins with God. Consider God. Consider His holiness. Consider His highness. Consider His glory. That's where we begin. That's where everything begins, with the glory and the grandeur of God. Yes, God is speaking. Notice also here, John says that God is shining. He's not just a speaking God, He's a glorious, shining God. He is light, the very substance of light. It's the announcement that we receive of Him, which He has made to us, John says here, this we declare to you that God is light. I want to tell you that in the scriptures this metaphor of light, this saying that God is light, this light in the scripture is an emblem of purity. It's an emblem of truth and knowledge or sometimes prosperity, sometimes happiness. It's what is always the opposite of darkness. John declares that God is light. Notice here that there's no article present. It doesn't say that God is a light. as if you could choose from amongst many. It doesn't say God is the light. Not that He gives light, not that He brings light, but He declares God is light itself. It is His very essence. It is a description of His being. Perfectly pure, no mixture of sin. He has all light, all knowledge, infinitely happy, nothing would make him miserable. He's infinite truth. He never contains any error. He's blessed in all of his ways. He knows nothing of darkness. He knows nothing of disappointment. He knows nothing of derision, no adversity. I want you to remember that it was this light, according to John chapter one in verse number five, when he started his gospel, it was this light that shined into the darkness. Also from John, in chapter 8, in verse number 12, when Jesus spoke, he said, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me will not walk in darkness. Jesus said, I am come, a light into the world. Whosoever believes on me will not walk in darkness. This is the very light. that encountered the Apostle Paul when he was still named Saul in Acts chapter number nine. This is the light that was brighter than the sun at noonday. Yes, God is speaking and God is shining. But notice in our text, he is also steadfast. He's not just speaking sometimes. He's not just shining sometimes. But notice John says, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Literally, that would be translated, in Him, darkness, no, none, never. I know those piling up negatives aren't good in English, but in the Greek, in the original, that's just a compounding of the phrases that just emphasizes. It's adding more emphasis. Then what John is saying that God isn't just light sometimes, and that He's indifferent at other times. No, He is steadfast in this essence. He is light all the time. He is constantly good. He is consistently good. He is completely good. He doesn't change His mind. God isn't fickle like you and me. He's not subject to emotions that change. He is always good. He is always great. He is always grand. He's always glorious. James expressed it this way. Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights. In whom is no variable mess and neither a shadow of turning, he's just consistent, never going to change. You can't make him change. Like we said the other night, if you were here, change? God, change? It's not only that he will not change, he cannot change. It's impossible. He's immutable. It's inconceivable that God would change. He can't get worse. He can't get better. Change is impossible. God can only be light. There's no darkness because the light drives away the darkness. They're not complementary. God has one purpose. It's a definite purpose. There's never any deception. There's never any duplicity in God. He knows no form of dishonesty. He knows no deceit. There is no error in God. There is no darkness in God. None of those things can ever originate with God. And this is God's message about himself, written by the last apostle. John is the last one. All the others have been killed. They've all been martyred. At this point in time, John is probably in his mid-90s. He's the only one left. That's why he calls everybody in this letter little children. And if you're in your mid-90s, all the other believers are little children. Y'all just follow me, okay? I've been doing this a while. Y'all just follow me. Get in line, I'll show you how it's done, right? Everybody's little children to the aged apostle, but it's in his 90s. And what he says, God's light. No darkness. He is speaking. He is shining. He is steadfast. And that is God's self-declaration. That's what God has to say about Himself. What a verse! But then He says some things about our sin. God's declaration about our sin. I want to give you a pattern here because there's actually three things in just this short little section. and I want you to see John's pattern. So look there. You'll see each of these three in this pattern. It starts out with a claim statement, and then it has a consequence statement, and then there is a correction statement. A claim, a consequence, and a correction. you'll see the claim statements always begin. You'll see in verse six, it says, if we say, that's the claim. If you say this, if we say this, there's the claim, right? You see it at the beginning of verse six, you see it at the beginning of verse eight, if we say, you see it at the beginning of verse 10, if we say. See the three claim statements right there? So you have the three claim statements, followed by the three consequent statements, and then the three corrections. So there's how to observe the three things that John's gonna say about our sin, God's declaration of sin. And just as an aside, he writes this letter primarily to a group of false teachers called the Gnostics. Without getting into too much depth, their primary error was saying that Jesus was divine and not human. We have totally turned that on its head today, haven't we? What do you hear around you today? Just the opposite, right? Jesus was human. Jesus was just a man. He wasn't really divine. He wasn't real deity. But you defeat those arguments the same way with these same verses. So let's look at them. God's declaration of sin. The first one here, the error, is that we're cut off because of our sin. Sin disconnects us from God, so we are cut off. Notice the claim, verse number six. If we say we have fellowship with Him, there's the claim, right? But John's saying that's a false claim. Why? You claim to have fellowship. If we say we have fellowship with Him, but we continue to walk in darkness, Right? If you claim you have fellowship, but you continue to walk in darkness. Now we've just explained that darkness is the opposite of light. Right? In other words, you claim to be in fellowship with God, but you continue to act like everybody else. Do you know if you're a Christian your behavior is supposed to change? You claim to have fellowship with Him, but you act just like the world. In other words, Your walk and your talk don't match. You don't know anybody like that, do you? No. No, you're not that way, are you? Don't point. Don't look around. I got my eyes down now. Nobody's looking around. Nobody's pointing at anybody. Your speech says one thing, your actions say something else. You claim to be a Christian, but you act like the world. John takes a great exception to this. He says that attitude don't fly. That's not right. I want you to notice that was the claim. You claim to have fellowship, but you don't act like it. You walk in darkness. Notice the consequence. I want everybody to look at their Bible because this ain't Brother Steve saying this. This is John the Apostle. Nobody upset with me, okay? Notice the consequence in the middle of verse number six. You liars. Don't take offense with Brother Steve. Take offense with the Apostle John, okay? It was there, right? I'm just reading. You're lying and you're not doing the truth. That's the consequences. You're lying and you're not saying the truth. Notice that this is deliberate. It's knowledgeable. You know you're claiming one thing and you know you're acting a different way. Do you know who's really good at picking that out? Try to pull something over on a teenager. Oh my goodness, they're good at picking out a hypocrite, aren't they? Just try to act one way and say something. Well, why do you tell me I have to do this, but you don't do it? And how many parents have ever said, well, you do what I tell you, not what I do? Now, we don't act that way, do we? Certainly not in church. We don't act that way around the church house. I know, I'm getting close. Look what John says here. How do you know if you're in the light and claim to have fellowship, but you're not acting that way? Verse number six, we say we have fellowship with Him. We walk in darkness, we lie, we don't do the truth. But if we're walking in the light, verse seven, as He is in the light, here's the evidence. We have fellowship one with another. Hmm, you wanna know how you're doing with walking in the light and seeing if your walk is matching your talk? How's your fellowship one with another? This is, by the way, one of those one another commands in the New Testament. which pretty much tell us you have to be in church. You can't want another at home. You can't want another in your pajamas on the internet. I'm just saying, and since y'all are all here, that doesn't apply to you, does it? You can't claim to have fellowship with God and continue in sin. And if you want to know how you're doing, just temperature check your relations with your brothers and sisters at the church house. That's John's recipe, right? Everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. That's Jesus as recorded in John chapter 3 verse number 20. The sinner hates God. He hates the gospel because it condemns him. It condemns his conduct. It condemns his conscience. Here's the correction. What does John say? Walk in the light. And then you will have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. So walk in the light. And the evidence is not merely fellowship with God, but fellowship with one another. You have cleansing. Forgiveness is available. We talked about Jesus, our great high priest, last night, right? Forgiveness is available. So you don't have to keep on doing that. You can ask for forgiveness. You can ask for forgiveness from God, and you can ask for forgiveness from one another if we confess our faults, right? Confess your faults one to another. Not just, if you wronged your brother, go tell him, tell him you're sorry. He has to forgive you. I mean, 70 times 7, right? Y'all know this. Brother Ellis has you well taught. Cut off. That's the first one. I gotta move on or I'll never finish. The second way that God exposes our sin is He tells us we're corrupt. See, we're not just cut off, but we're corrupt. Look at verse number 8. If we say that we have no sin, see, verse 6, we say we have fellowship, Verse 8, if we say we have no sin, well I'm not sinning. My fellowship with everybody is just fine. I'm doing just good. I'm great. I ain't got that problem. Right? We're not cut off. If we say that we have no sin, I want you to notice here that sin is in the singular and so it refers to a generic sin or what we are by nature, sin by nature. we have the imputed guilt of Adam and the imparted nature of Adam. In other words, we sin because we're sinners and we're sinners because we sin. They both apply. That's Romans chapter number 5. We don't have time to go there and look at all those verses this morning, but if you actually claim that you don't have any sin, Notice the consequences in verse number eight. It's very similar. He says we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. In other words, this is worse than verse six, isn't it? Verse number six, that being cut off, John says we're not telling the truth and we're not doing the truth. Verse number eight, he says if we actually claim to not have sin or not be sinning, then we're still telling lies, but look who we're telling lies to. You're telling lies to yourself. Now what's worse, telling a lie to somebody else or telling a lie to yourself? You don't even admit the truth. In verse 7, 6 and 7, you know the truth, you just won't say it. Verse number 8, you won't even admit what's true. You're corrupt. You don't even have the truth. You claim to have no sin in your nature. He says you're self-deceived. In other words, you're lying to yourself. You don't have the truth. You don't even tell yourself the truth. So what's the correction there? We confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I want to point out a small detail here. Look in verse number eight and nine. You see there in verse number eight, he says, if we say that we have no sin, that's singular. He's talking about sin by nature. In verse number nine, the correction for that is confess your sins, plural. Yo, you got plenty of them. So confess them. Just start confessing your sins. You'll find out that you have sin by nature. Start confessing sins. You need help? Talk to your spouse. Talk to your children. Children, talk to your parents. Talk to some of the folks around you. They'll be more than capable of telling you where your errors and sins are. If you can't see them for yourself, trust me, the folks around you will be able to help open your eyes and point them out to you. Now, those around you, if they're not asking, don't offer to help because you're just gonna make them mad, okay? A little practical advice there. But the correction here is confess your sins. John just says get very specific. Because if you confess, God is not only faithful and just, remember he's light, he will forgive. Everything that is forsaken will be forgiven. Everything that is confessed will be cleansed. What a savior, what a high priest. Let me move to number three, verse number 10. Sin cuts us off, sin corrupts us, sin makes us counterfeit in verse number 10. Notice here, if we say, the claim here is we actually say we actually believe we have not sinned. I have never committed a sin. I'm perfect. I have not sinned. I have never sinned. What a claim to make, right? and we know that because it's past tense. The claim is, I have never committed a sin. Wow, what a statement. Somebody actually claimed to be perfect? Never sinned? If you really think you've never sinned, then John says here, that's not just telling a lie, and that's not just lying to yourself, you're calling God a liar. Why are you calling God a liar? Because it's God's Word that says everyone is a sinner, right? And so the correction here, you see the claim, you see the consequence, notice the correction. If it's printed in your Bible, let me know because We don't have any correction for that attitude, do we? See, John doesn't give a correction. And there's nothing there because, frankly, you don't believe God. God has said that everyone has sinned. God has said through David that we are born in sin. We have an imparted sin nature. We have an imputed sin guilt. And you're going to stand before God and say, I have never sinned? Really? We can't correct that. You just call God a liar. And if you call God a liar, you don't believe the Bible. You don't believe John. You don't believe Jesus. You don't believe what the Spirit has said. And you're not going to believe me either. I mean, turn me off and stop listening. It's okay. I won't get offended. But that's a pretty dangerous situation to be in. I mean, if you look at chapter 2, it starts with an assumption of sin. And so unless you are convinced that you're a sinner, John doesn't have anything for you. God's declaration of sin in these verses, you're disconnected, you're defiled, and it is displayed in your attitude. And if you reject that, your problem's not with me. Your problem's not with John. Your problem's with God. You're not mad at the messenger, you're mad at God. If you have no sin, you have no salvation. But the good news is that Jesus came to save sinners. If you're not a sinner, I can tell you for sure that Jesus hasn't saved you. If you're not a sinner, you're on the broad path that leads to destruction. After 25 years, 30 years in the ministry, Paul told Timothy, this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation, Jesus Christ died to save sinners of whom I am chief. Paul said, I'm still a sinner. Every single one of the Gospels records the statement of Jesus. He said, I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. If you claim to not be a sinner, you don't know Jesus. But if you are a sinner, We have a Savior available. I just want to say this. You notice that I read right through the chapter break. The chapters are not inspired. Where we number our chapters and we number our verses are not inspired. Back in 1551 when the guys were putting these chapter breaks in. I don't know why they did this. I don't know why they broke that chapter there. Because when you have a declaration of God, and you have a declaration of sin, why would you not put the rescue at the end of the declaration of sin? Why do you not put the remedy for the disease at the end of the disease? Why do you break the chapter there and disconnect the son? from God's declaration of himself and God's declaration of sin, you gotta put the declaration of the son with that message, which is why I read right through that chapter break. I think that's an unfortunate chapter break because the third section here is God's declaration of his son. It's the remedy for sin. And if you're a sinner, there's a remedy available. We start with an admonition. Notice that John says, my little children, these things write I to you that you sin not. In other words, if you're one of these little children, if you're one of these believers that's following this aged apostle, he says, stop sinning. These these three attitudes about sin, you're not exempt. Once you were saved, you didn't stop sinning. You still have the sanctification process to complete. So he's not light on sin, but he's not too heavy on sin either. So he gives you this admonition right off the front. He says, stop sinning. But with the admonition comes an advocate. If any man sin, because we sin, he says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Last night we talked about our great high priest. That's Jesus. That's who this advocate is. Here, this word is the paracletos. It's the same word that is often translated comforter. And I want to put this together for you because it's very comforting. In John 14, verse 16, Jesus said this, I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. It's the same word. And there in John's gospel, it's used to describe the Holy Spirit. But Jesus says, I'll give you another comforter. And that word another there is the word that means a different person of the same kind. It's the word allos. It's another one of the same kind, as opposed to a different word that means another of a different kind. Jesus is saying, I'll give you the Holy Spirit. He's another one of the same kind. And here, John's saying, Jesus is the advocate. He's a comforter. He's an advocate. And Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a comforter of the same kind that he was, which means we have the Holy Spirit. the helper that's in our heart. And we have the same kind, Jesus, our helper, that's in heaven. We have an advocate in heaven. We have a helper on earth. We have one at the right hand of the believer and we have one at the right hand of God. What a high priest! All of these things we talked about last night. One that's called alongside to help in our time of need. Notice that he's in heaven before the Father, this high priest in the holy place that we said last night. In chapter one, in verse number seven, it applies to all of our sins. In chapter one, in verse number seven, he is the cleanser of sin's pollution. In chapter one, in verse number nine, this advocate is the clearer of sin's penalty. In chapter two, in verse number one, he is the counselor for the sinner's plea. We have a counselor in heaven, his name is Jesus. We have a comforter in our heart. It's the Holy Spirit. So we have an admonition, we have an advocate, and we have an atonement. The word here is propitiation. He is the propitiation for our sins. Now, this propitiation, it's a two-part act. It involves two things, the appeasing of wrath of the person that was offended and the reconciliation of the offender. And both parts have to be completed. The offended person is appeased, and the offending person is reconciled. Now, in pagan religions, it's always man that attempts to appease a pagan god. The New Testament never speaks of propitiation or expiation like that. In the New Testament, it is always God that provides the means for fellowship to be restored to himself. Remember, it is God that is speaking. It is God that is shining. It is God that is steadfast. And so here, we see that it is God that sent a son. And what God required, God provided. He initiates everything. Man is totally incapable of satisfying God's justice, so God provided what God required. He initiates every aspect of our salvation. I want you to notice two things. In Isaiah chapter 53, you don't have to turn there, you know these verses. Isaiah chapter 53, surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased the Lord to bruise him so he didn't bruise you. He hath put him to grief, not you. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, not yours. God sent his son. And so many times we think that Jesus came and He offered Himself to quench the anger of a vindictive God. That's the pagan attitude. God sent His Son because of His love. In Romans, chapter 5, God commended his love towards us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all, for all have sinned. As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. In verse number six, we read this. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It was God that sent His Son. And God sacrificed His Son. Jesus Christ came into the world in human flesh to be the perfect sacrifice for sin and to make an atonement, or a propitiation is the word that John uses here, for the sins of the people. We read that last night. I won't re-preach Hebrews chapter 4. It behooved him to be made like to his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make a reconciliation for the sins of the people. God saved his people. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And we have this last phrase in our text. Not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. I can't explain all of this to you. I'm not going to try. I'm going to leave that for Brother Ellis. I'll just say for the sins of the whole world is worldwide ethnic inclusion. There's atonement available for everyone. As Revelation tells us, the glory of God is going to be widely and holy, loudly proclaimed by all nations and all peoples and all families and all persons and all tongues. And nobody is excluded because God is steadfast. God is shining. God is speaking. He's bringing light to you. And if you're a sinner, salvation is available. There is a Savior that is available because God sent and God sacrificed and God has saved His people. He's initiated everything. He's spoken. If we claim that We're not affected by sin. I'll just remind you that sin has disconnected us from fellowship with God and his people. It's deceived us. It's defiled our nature. We're on dangerous ground. But John doesn't leave us hopeless. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. He says, confess and repent. If we have sin, we have an advocate. Jesus Christ the righteous, he's our propitiation. And so he gives us two admonitions. To the saved, verse number one. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We have an atonement. Confess. We have another. We have a comforter. We have the advocate. If you're a sinner here, we have one that is available. The message which God sent the father of lights, that he speaks concerning his son, is that he sent, he sacrificed, and he has saved. Have you repented? Have you believed? Have you confessed your sins? He's faithful, he's just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. His son cleanses us from all sin. We have an advocate. He's the propitiation for our sins. Do you know Him? You have a payment, you have a pardon, you have a propitiation. God says of Himself, that's the light. Jesus said He is the light that shines into a dark place. There's our sin problem. But God sent His Son, and He is a Savior that is available. repent, believe, confess, and you'll have that fellowship that John speaks about. Brother, if you'll come.