Turn with me to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1, and I want to look this evening or begin to look at verse 5. John writes, this then is the message which we have heard of him. This, then, is the message which reveals and manifests Christ to us, that he is the salvation of God, that our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world bearing the flesh of his people, like unto the seed of Adam, made like unto us, but without sin. He came to this world for the very purpose to redeem his people, to put away our offenses, to deliver us from the guilt and the offenses which we have committed against our God, and to justify us before holy God. Our Lord said, I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." Our Lord came that we should have life and have it abundantly, and that life is in Him. He is the light and life of men. He's our life. And this, then, is the message which puts man in the dust before God. This is the message that shuts our mouth and stops us from boasting and being confident in our works and in our ways and the things that we do and think that we do for God. This shuts the mouth. This causes us to stop boasting. This makes us to cry out to the true and living God for mercy and forgiveness. This message, this message which we have heard of Christ, causes us to see what we are before holy God, that we ourselves are sinners, offenders, vile, wretched worms before God, and that He is the salvation that we need. He alone is the salvation of his people. And the Lord does this for us. Even that first time when we see our need and we see Christ's sufficiency, he does this work for us. This then is the message which Christ has given unto us by his voice, by his word. And this then is the message which we declare unto you. This is the message which God's preachers, God's messengers, are sent to proclaim to the sheep of God, to the people of God, to feed the sheep of God. This is the message. This is the message for salvation, the message that you must know, that if you are to know the true and living God, that if you are to walk in fellowship with God and walk before him in light and not in darkness, not in deceit, not in wicked works, not in the things that we do and bring to God in the flesh, but if we are to walk in fellowship with God in the light and in the truth then we must hear this word. We must know this Savior who gave us this word. This word speaks of Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the message that John says, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If you are dead in trespasses and sins, if God shows you that by nature we have no works of righteousness, if God shows you tonight that you're a sinner, and he's revealing to you that your works are not righteous works, they're not good works, and if you would have eternal life, if you would know the true and living God, but see, I'm a sinner, then hear this, that Christ is the way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father but by Jesus Christ, whom the Father himself has sent to save his people from their sins, to give them light and life and a knowledge of who the true and living God is, to give them his spirit so that we, for the first time, worship God in spirit and in truth. And so if we're going to stand before God, we must be righteous. We must be perfect. And that is exactly what Christ does for his people in his redemption. He's accomplished that work. He's made his people righteous. He's settled the debt. He's obtained eternal righteousness for his people. He's redeemed us by his grace, and it pleases him because he has accomplished our redemption to give us these blessings, to make us to know what he's done, to not only do the work, but to accomplish it in our hearts and to put away the enmity. and the lies and the darkness that we hold on to and trust in. God tells us, or I'm sorry, John tells us. The word of God, he tells us, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. This light, it speaks to the very righteousness and perfection of holy God. It describes all the attributes of God. God is light. It's speaking of who he is, of all his attributes. of his perfection, of his righteousness, of his holiness, of his love, of his faithfulness, of his provision and care, of all the gifts that he gives to his people, of of his justice, of his mercy, of his long suffering, of his patience, everything that we have words to try and describe God, it's all light. It's all light. It all reveals that God is light. He's omnipotent, meaning he's all powerful. He's omniscient, meaning he knows all things. And he's omnipresent, meaning he's everywhere. There's no place where God is not. He is able to see and to be with all his people, all his creation at all times. And every attribute of God is only light, perfect light in whom is no darkness, no darkness. Now, can you or I comprehend that? I have in my notes fully comprehend that. We can't even comprehend it. We can't even come close to fully comprehending the light of God and what that means. I'm just scratching the surface and doing a poor job of it, but we can't even comprehend what that means, that God is light. Paul himself said it this way, for now we see through a glass darkly. I can't even quite make it out fully. And yet what I do see is glorious, and yet we're seeing through a glass darkly. But then, there's coming a day when we shall stand face to face with God. That's why the way is narrow. It's as narrow as Christ. Nothing else, but Jesus Christ. That's the narrow way, because it's gonna be you and I, or it's gonna be you standing before your, the face of your Savior, looking him right in the face. Me too. Face to face. Now, I know in part, I know in part, I don't see God, I don't understand the fullness of the light of God. Now I see in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. We're scratching the surface here, and that's all we'll really do in this life. And the longer we live in the truth, we're blessed to see more and more of Christ. But you know, and I know you know this, the more I learn, the more I see I don't know anything. And the more I learn, the more I study, the more I see I need to study, because I don't know anything as I ought to know it. And the farther and farther I feel like I fall behind in the knowledge of God. And the more that I see, because he's that glorious, that wonderful, that amazing. Like our Lord said to his disciples, we saw it on Sunday, ye give them something to eat. And how that that shuts my mouth, because what do I have? That puts everything in perspective for me of how insufficient I am to feed the sheep of God. And yet, he's the one who who it pleases to abundantly provide for you and to give you exactly what you do need because He is Light. He is Light and in Him is no darkness, no sin, no evil, no wickedness. Now the first and most easily understood meaning of this word darkness It refers to sin, sin in all its forms of iniquity and transgression and trespasses. And that's what we are by nature. That's why we don't know the true and living God. That's why when we look at him or think we're looking at him, we're looking into darkness and we don't see him or understand him or know him according to the truth. Isaiah the prophet said, your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. By nature, we're blind. By nature, we are in darkness so that we cannot understand God. We don't know how to worship him. We're just like that woman at the well, and we think we know something, but we're just like that woman at the well who thought she knew a little something, and all she did know was that when Christ comes, he'll teach us all things. He'll show us all things. Amen to that. Amen to that. Because that's exactly what we need. Because he's light, and we're darkness. But we don't know how to worship God in spirit and in truth. That's what Christ does for us. That's what our Lord does for his people. He has redeemed us. He gives the spirit who fills us and gives us the new man born of Christ's seed, wherein we worship God in spirit and in truth. Not this old man of flesh. This old man of flesh is ever confused and ever in darkness. But that new man born of his grace, that's where we worship God. That's where we cannot sin against God. When John later says, we sinneth not, it's in the new man. The new man sinneth not. All this flesh is is sin, but the new man, all he can do is believe. All he can do is believe and trust God. So by nature, we're blind and in darkness. And we read the scriptures of men, and it tells us that there's a veil over our heart, a veil that keeps us from seeing and knowing the true and living God. Paul, after the Lord had knocked him off his horse, and he's in some house, and the Lord sends a man named Ananias, a brother. a man who worshipped God in spirit and in truth, by the Lord Jesus Christ. He entered into the house, and putting his hands on Saul, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately There fell from his eyes, as it had been, scales, scales. And he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." And that describes, those scales describe every one of us by nature. That's what we all have on our eyes by nature, scales. And in Job, when Leviathan's being described, it speaks of his scales being his pride. It's his very pride, because they're so tight together, nothing can get in there. It's his protection. And those very scales, that pride is what blinds our eyes and keeps us from seeing and knowing the true and living God. But when Christ comes, those scales are removed. When Christ comes, the veil is lifted so that we see the light of God. And we see his perfections and holiness. And we see that he is light and in him is no darkness at all. And that's when he begins to empty our hands of all the things, all the works, all the righteousnesses, all the good deeds, all the things that we boast in and speak of. That's when we let go of those things, seeing they're nothing but dung. They're fit for the trash heap. They're garbage. Just like Paul threw them out, so the Lord's people start throwing those things away and those trusts and confidences that they have. Even the confidence or the good thing we think we've done for throwing them away, he teaches us, even that's not your work. There's nothing for you to boast in in that. That's the work of Christ, the good works of Christ being wrought in you. Now, the scriptures speak of sins, iniquities, trespasses, and transgressions. So let me just give you a sense of what those things mean, because there are some differences in those words. And yet, just understand that every one of them describes darkness. It describes what we are by nature. Now, in Psalm 32, verse 5, David said, I acknowledge my sin unto thee. And mine iniquity have I not hid? I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. So sins, what are sins? They are an offense. An offense has been committed. We've broken a law or commandment of God. We've sinned against the light and the law of God. And sin carries a penalty. There's a punishment that is necessary, that must be given for that offense. Then iniquities. Well, that word, if you think about it, implies a balance, something that's not imbalanced. There's an inequity. There's an inequity. And we're weighed, and we are found wanting. And what iniquity speaks of is guilty. We're guilty. There's guilt. We have sinned, and we are guilty. That's why David said, thou forgavest the iniquity, the guilt of my sin, of my offense. You forgave the guilt. and put away the perversion and the depravity of my sin. You've put it away, Lord. You've done that. Now trespasses, we're familiar with that in the sense that we could trespass on a neighbor's property. We might not even know that we've crossed the line. But that's what a trespass is. It's to cross a line and to be in a place you have no business being in. You're not supposed to be there. You're trespassing. Get out of there. Transgression takes that another step in that it's a willful, rebellious trespass. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. The Lord says don't do it, I'm doing it. That's transgression. That's this willful rebellion in trespassing where we ought not to be. Don't go there. We're crossing a line. And so all these are works of darkness, whereas God is light. And we, brethren, by nature, are nothing but darkness. We're familiar. Even if we don't understand all those words, we're guilty of every one of them by nature in Adam. when we didn't know what we were doing, and when we do know what we're doing. We're guilty of all those things. We're darkness, and God is light. And we have a sense of sin, right? Even if you never grew up in a Christian home, and you grew up somewhere in the world where Christ is not preached, we have a sense of what sin is, even society. The society you grow up in gives you some sense of what that there's a right and a wrong. As a little kid, you might be spanked for going into that living room. Some people don't want you going in the living room, and they'll swat you right on out of there. You've trespassed into a room you're not supposed to be. Or you reach out to some little trinket, and you get your hand smacked. And you realize, whoa, don't touch that, that's not yours. And then you grow up and you start getting caught in lies and you start getting in trouble with your friends or your siblings or whatever it is, you start getting a sense that there's some boundaries, there's some laws, there's things that we're not supposed to do, and when I do it, I get in trouble. Some people grow up with a sense of the Ten Commandments given by Moses, right, and we hear The punishment of crimes in the news, somebody has done something and now they're being punished for their crime, either in jail or being put to death, and we're starting to get a sense that there's some wicked things that we do. And Paul said it this way in Romans 2.14, for when the Gentiles, this is what he means by it, when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, like putting a man to death, who's murdering another man, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves." And Paul is showing that everybody has a sense of what's right and wrong, so that they're all sinners, that we become sinners just from society and whatnot. But what that does is it enabled Paul to go to even the Greeks and the Gentiles and preach the gospel because all are sinners. And when Paul went out there, he didn't backtrack and say, well, wait a minute now. I've got to teach you the law of Moses first. Let me show you about sacrifices, and let me tell you the Ten Commandments. He didn't have to do that, because he knows all men are sinners, and all men are guilty. They've committed iniquity, so that they're all guilty and worthy of death. And they understand that. They get that. And so there were people that were made to tremble, because they were worshiping an idol god, they were sacrificing, and they were doing various works to try and obtain some sense of forgiveness with holy God, not even knowing who he was. And so there were some that the Lord had in those cities, like in Corinth and such, and Ephesus, that heard the gospel and rejoiced in it. That's why we go and preach the gospel, because all men are sinners in need of this glorious salvation. To know that God is light, and we are darkness, and the works that we were doing to try and fix ourselves were nothing but wicked works. Wicked works. And our Lord shows us, we preach Christ because He's the Savior of sinners. We declare Christ, for by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. So that even without that law of Moses, a person whom the Lord has made to see their sin, that they're a sinner, that they are an offender of God, that they've been sacrificing to God in complete ignorance and darkness their whole lives. They rejoice when the Lord opens the ear and removes their blindness. They rejoice that Christ is the light of God, that He is their salvation, that He put away all their sin. It makes them turn from their dark, sinful, polluted, ignorant ways. It makes them have no confidence in the flesh, not even in their turning, but every confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Christ gives life to dead sinners. We do declare all men are sinners, they're all guilty, I'm guilty, we're all guilty, Christ is life. Christ is the salvation of God. And he reveals that through the indwelling of his spirit which he gives to all who he redeemed. And he goes on in Hebrews 10, for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins, and iniquities, their offenses, and their guilt, and what they've done that's worthy of death, I will remember no more. And when the Lord does that, He gives us that hope in Christ, and we see the light of Christ. Our Lord, He promises, when He says that, the reason why I read that is because He teaches His people more and more what He would have them to know. It's not about going back to Moses, the Ten Commandments of Moses, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make an image and bow down to that image to worship me." That's not God, that's just an idol. He said, Thou shalt not take the Lord thy God's name in vain. He said, Thou shalt remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You shall honor your father and your mother that it may be well with you and you have long life in the earth. And then he said, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor, thou shalt not covet anything that is your neighbor's. All those commandments. But the Lord is going to show you by his spirit indwelling in your heart what he would have you to know. Now we know that those things that I just recount it for you. We know that to have any confidence in false gods and in trusting those things, anything outside of Christ, that that's wicked. And we know that we're not to murder and commit adultery and to steal and all those things. We know that those are bad. People get caught up in looking at all kinds of things, and they start seeing darkness everywhere, and how wicked this world is. But the Lord doesn't remove everything all at once. And some things he doesn't remove at all from his people. He might remove it from one, but not from another. But it's according to what he would do. Even in Matthew, you think about this. In Matthew 19, where our Lord was talking about eunuchs, He said, some were born eunuchs from their womb. Some were made eunuchs by men, by other men, to stand in their castles. And they didn't have to worry about them. And he said, and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that's able to receive it, let him receive it. Are all eunuchs? No. No, all are not eunuchs. And the Lord doesn't remove from everyone's hand the same works of darkness. He doesn't show that to everyone. He doesn't reveal that necessarily to everyone. To some people, cigarettes are a wicked thing. And to others, it means nothing to them. One person can pick up a glass of wine and drink it. Another person won't do it. One person can go to the false temple and buy some meat that was sacrificed to an idol. It means nothing to them. They're just getting some dinner. And another person says, I won't do that. I wouldn't do that. And some people can listen to music. Some people can dance. Some people can play cards. Some people can go to the movie theater. And other people can and won't do it. But the Lord is the one who reveals that for various purposes in each one of his people. And we don't make it our business because the Lord has removed something from me to make you see what I see. We just trust the Lord. Paul said it this way, let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not. And let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up, for God is able to make him stand. And so when and if God is pleased to remove a work of darkness? Because by nature, this whole world is darkness. This flesh is full of darkness. Tons of things. Everything we do is polluted with some darkness. in it to some degree. And the Lord is the one who teaches each of his people as it pleases him for various purposes. Some of which is just to teach the sheep how to love one another and how to get along with one another. And so there are differences like that in the way that we see things, because we're learning to love, and to forbear, and to be long-suffering, and to be patient, and to be kind, and gentle, and understanding with one another. So the Lord does that. The Lord does that. But if God will remove something from his servant, you know how he's going to do it every time? It ain't going to be because you told them not to do it, or you convinced them that it's sin. Because I've done things by the law, and they just come back. Or I've done things in constraint like that. It doesn't work that way. You know how the Lord teaches each one what he would have them to know? It's through the preaching of Christ. It's through the holding up of the light. Because sometimes the Lord has shown me a thing about myself and it takes sometimes 10 years before something goes and it's just been on my heart for a long time and then one day you wake up and you just don't have a desire for that anymore and it's all his grace he doesn't remove everything like that, and he doesn't remove it by the constraint or the whipping or the threat of the law. He does it through the preaching of Christ, the light. And that's how he teaches each one of his people. And I'm fine with that, because I'm thankful for how he teaches me graciously and is patient with me. And so I trust that he does that with you through the preaching of Christ, not the preaching of the law, not by constraint. And then that brings us to one other sense. There's two other senses, but we're not going to get to it all. But one other sense of this darkness that men do is, because we leave one form of sin and we step right in another pile of sin. And that's the delusion that men have that, because now they've picked up a form of religion, or changed religions. I'm not a Catholic no more, now I'm a Christian. Or I'm not a Jew anymore, now I'm a Christian. Or I'm not Muslim anymore, now I'm a Jew. Or whatever it is. Whatever it is, people trust in their form of religion and they boast in that. And they boast of, some people boast that they don't do certain sins anymore. And that's their hope, but they're dead and they have no life in Christ, just ignorance and darkness. All they've done is trade one thing for another. Like they were swapping out cars or something like that at the dealership. And that's it. And so a lot of people go through the motions of a Christian, and they remove outward sins. They wash the outside of the cup. They get it all pretty looking. They change their speech. Because when you're around certain people, if they're very strong and say, this is how you live now, people are going to conform to that. They're going to do what the pastor is saying. If you say, someone's going to believe you, if I'm saying it, someone's going to believe me, whether it's right or wrong. So beg God that it's right, that it's truth, that we're declaring Christ and not dead works. And so people are going to change their speech, and yet they can still remain in absolute ignorance and darkness, unchanged by Christ, not having a spirit, not walking in the spirit or in truth. And we see this described in Revelation 3, the church of the Laodiceans. Verse 14, it says, unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the Amen. the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. This is Christ, our Lord, Jehovah God, Almighty God, speaking to us. He said, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. And listen to this, because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. This is a church, a professing church, claiming to be part of the body of Christ. They thought they had arrived. They were doing ordinances and practices. And they thought, you know, they made a profession that this was their righteousness now. They were good, holy people before the Lord. And everyone could see they're dead. They're dead. Everyone could see it but them. And they had no knowledge of their sin. They had no understanding of the plague of their own heart. And they were ignorant of their darkness and blindness. And our Lord says in verse 18, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich. What is that gold tried in the fire? It is the Lord Jesus Christ who went to the cross bearing the fiery indignation of God and was found faithful, perfect so that he consumed the wrath of God which was against us and put away our sin forever. He's that gold, that precious gold tried in the fire. And he says, imbibe me white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. That's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that covers our nakedness, not our good works, not what we do. Christ's righteousness is our apparel. He's our robe. It's his righteousness that makes us fit to stand before holy God. And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see, so that by his grace and power, the scales fall off and we see the light of God. and you that see Christ, that He is your righteousness, that He's our hope to stand before the true and living God, that's salvation, brethren. That's light. You see the light of God. You hear that message. You've heard that message declared. That's your hope. And you that hope in Christ and not yourselves, stay right there in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, as many as I love, I rebuke and chase and be zealous, therefore, and repent. And so many make a profession, and they participate in the ordinances, doing the outward forms of religion, and are always hoping. When they don't see Christ, they're always hoping, Lord, will this be enough? Today, will this be enough? Will this be the work that finally you give me some peace, that finally you let me see the light, that finally I feel like I've done enough? for you, Lord? Will this be the day? No, it'll never be enough. Nothing we can ever do will ever be enough to please God and to satisfy Him and to put away our sins. Never. It'll never be enough. But if God have mercy on you, then He ain't gonna let you settle in that and be pleased with your works. He'll deliver you from it. He'll show you Christ because Christ is salvation. I received a phone call today from a woman that's been listening to us online for a long time. I received a phone call from her and she was so overwhelmed that she was crying and broken. She said, She said, I've been so ignorant. She was using the word stupid, and then she kept correcting herself. She said, I was so ignorant for so long. She said, the earliest memory I have is when I was two years old. And she said, I'm 77 now. And she said, from two to 77, so for 75 years that I can remember, I had a hope in my goodness. Every time I did some deed, I'd pat myself on the back. and thought, that's a good work. That'll bring me closer to God. And she kept thinking, will that be enough today, Lord? Was this enough? Did this do it, so that the scales are tipped to my favor now, so that I could have some peace? And she said, all that time, I was afraid to die. No matter what good thing I did, I was afraid to die, because I didn't think it was enough. And she's right. It wasn't enough. It was never enough. And she called and said, and I'm so ashamed. I'm so ashamed because I was ignorant that whole time. But now I see Jesus, that he's my righteousness. She said, I've been reading the Bible for years and years and years, and it doesn't make any sense to me. And I've been listening and coming to churches. She knew clay and stuff. And she said, I didn't know anything. And she said, tell Johnny that for the Thank you for the book that you gave me of Charles Spurgeon. She said, that's the second best book that I have, The Bible and Mr. Spurgeon. And she's been reading that a lot. And she said, lately, I hear the messages, and they make sense. And I'm hearing it. And it's making more sense, and more sense, and more sense. And she said, Sunday, she said, all I did was cry through both messages. I couldn't stop crying, because all I could see is, I see Christ as my righteousness. not my works, not what I've done. Jesus Christ is all my righteousness. And she gave God the glory today. And so that's what I'm saying, brethren. We have this delusion. All right, because we put away a few works here and there that this is our righteousness, and it's not. That's just a delusion. And I'm going to basically stop there. But I'll just say very quickly as a teaser, the third one is just men then, if they're not in that kind of dead religion, they turn to the law because they don't believe Christ is sufficient to save them, that his righteousness is enough. And so they turn to the law for their righteousness. And they try to bring in all these other works by their works. And they try to circumcise themselves and cut things out with a form of circumcision to make themselves feel like they've attained a righteousness. Brethren, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And that means He's gonna make us, we're gonna know sin, we're gonna know that we're sinners, that we are darkness by nature, that we're full of sin, that we cannot save ourselves. He's gonna show us, then He's gonna show us Christ, who is the righteousness of His people, the comfort and peace and joy of His people, so that We're not afraid to die because Christ has put away that second death. It hath no more power over you. you that for whom Christ is all your hope that's the hope he he gives us that he's our light I'm darkness and he's light and so through this man Jesus Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things which could not be put away by your dead religion by Moses by doing the best you could, what your mommy and daddy told you was the right and wrong, that doesn't save you. Christ and Christ alone is the salvation of his people. And I pray he bless that word to your hearts to hear it, to see Jesus Christ. Amen.