Scripture 1 John 1. If you would look at this please, 1 John 1. I'd like to read this whole chapter, 10 verses, beginning here at verse number one. The Bible says, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life. Think about John writing this. the one who was able to spend so much time with the Lord. He says in verse two, for the life was manifested and we have seen it, bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. These things write we unto you that your joy may be full. 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 and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses 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. This morning, by God's grace, I'd like to preach on this particular subject here this morning, an honest evaluation. Shall we pray together? Thank you, Father, for the blessing of being here, And may you still our hearts and our minds at this moment. We would not have any other activities, events, thoughts that come through that would detract us from what you have for us in these next moments. I pray that you would speak to our heart that we would indeed be open this morning to receiving thy word. May we receive it with meekness, with fear, And Lord, may we just be obedient then to that which we do here and follow through. We pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. This is truly a, for me, it's a kind of a different time of year because I'm always excited for the new year and the events and the things that are going to transpire in my own life as well as in the life of the church here. But I also take time to reflect upon the previous year that we've just been through, namely 2018. This morning I titled this message, An Honest Evaluation, because I think it is imperative for you and I as a church and for us as individuals to make truly an honest evaluation of our lives. I think the greatest cry of our day and the greatest need that we have in churches across America is for an old fashioned revival to take place. A revival to take place in our church, But revival's not gonna take place in a church unless we all as individuals say, I'm going to let it take place in my life. I'm going to allow God to change me and to use me. And I believe as we look back at a previous year, we have allowed ourselves to get stuck in a rut. We've allowed ourselves to kind of just kind of meander along and we think to ourselves that we're okay. But truly, if we compare ourselves with God who is light, we find that we have strayed often so far. And truly revival is what we need. Somebody once put it about revival that they said it is a new entry of the Lord Jesus into the church. Someone else put it this way, revival is the inrush of God's spirit into a body that is threatening to become a corpse. And as I think about those statements about revival, I am brought to this chapter that we read of 1 John 1, and thinking about this opportunity this morning that we have to evaluate our lives. So this morning, as we walk through this passage, what I'd like you to do is not think about your spouse that you're sitting next to. Don't think about that person across the way in the church and say, boy, this message is really good for them. I hope they're listening today. No, what I want you to do is take your finger, place it on your heart and say, this message is for me. It's an honest evaluation of your life. As I read this passage this morning, I'm reminded of something by way of introduction, and that is John, the writer of this particular epistle, gives a couple of reasons why he writes this letter. He's writing about the fellowship that we have with God, or in other words, the relationship that we have. And that relationship is so well described in the first few verses. First of all, the relationship is personal. Can I remind you this morning that the relationship that you and I have, if you're a born again believer, the relationship you have with Jesus Christ is all about a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is real. He is God. He has shown us eternal life. And I'm so glad that I'm not part of some religious system that I fulfill this little duty and then walk away. But truly the day that I was born again, I entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So what I'm sharing with you today has everything to do with a relationship that is first of all personal, but this relationship is also practical. because not only can we have relationship with Jesus Christ, but because of that bond, then I can have relationship with you who are in that same relationship with Jesus Christ. But then thirdly, that relationship is a possibility because of who God is. God reveals something in this passage about himself. that helps me understand that relationship that I have with him and the relationship that I can have with you. And please note verse number five, these three words that are given to us. The Bible says, God is light. God is light. But then let me add these words in the remaining verse. It says, and in him is no darkness at all. Now in those two statements, we have one is a positive statement, one is a negative statement. The positive statement is God is light. The negative statement is in him is no darkness. Now let's just kind of get our minds wrapped around this idea of God is light. We all know, and when we read the book of Genesis, the first chapter, that God created light, but this verse says that God is light. You realize the very nature of God is the fact that he's light. When Jesus lived on this earth, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. So that one who created the light, the sun and the stars and all that that provides light, it is he who is light. Now you say, well, what difference does that make for my relationship with God? Why does God reveal himself as light? Well, I believe that it sums up the very nature of God in a way that you and I can understand. John takes this aspect of God being light, and he brings it into connection with the fellowship that we have with God. Literally, the connection that we have with God, who is light, provides us a couple of things. Number one, the fact that God is light, it illuminates who we really are. And secondly, it illuminates or shines for us who God really is. And if there's anything that we need, if we're gonna have an honest evaluation this morning is, we need a proper, true, right, biblical perspective of who God is, and we need a proper perspective of who we are. That's why God says he's light. So as we evaluate our lives this morning and do so in the context of God is love or light, understand this, God is light, therefore he's pure. God is light, therefore he's open and transparent. God is light, therefore he's true. God is light, therefore he's free from sin. God is light, therefore he's holy. And it is God's nature his nature that he's light, that determines the condition of our fellowship with him and ultimately the fellowship we have with one another. Yet here's our problem today. Our problem stems from the fact that you and I view our fellowship with God on conditions and standards that we have set. We have said, well, you know what? Have you ever heard this statement? You know, God and I are pretty tight. God and I, we're buddies. I mean, I talk to God once in a while and look, I slip up here and there, but God understands. And God is just, can I say that it's not what you determine about your fellowship with God. It's not who you think God is, it is taking the very word of God and opening it up and being able to say, this is what God is, this is the standard that he set, and this is how he expects me to live. And so this morning as we open up this passage, I wanna just show to you what John is sharing with us about our relationship with God in light of the fact that God is light, But I want you to notice that there are three hindrances that you and I have concerning our relationship with God. And these hindrances are given to us as three wrong views. Notice if you would, the beginning of verse six, the beginning of verse eight, and the beginning of verse 10, these words, if we say, So ultimately, you know, we talk about this relationship and maybe in theory, we know what it should be, but we say, well, no, wait a minute, this is where I am. This is what I hold to. This is what I do. And this morning, Lord willing, we'll see that they are three wrong views of our relationship. And we need to come back to the fact that God is light and what he illumines in our life is really true. Let's take the first perspective here, the first wrong view, and that is, number one, a wrong action, a wrong action. Look at verse number six, the Bible says, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, notice these words, we lie. I mean, John doesn't mince any words here. We lie and do not the truth. Now this wrong view has to do with the inconsistency between one's profession and one's practice. Our profession and our practice, in other words, this is a person who is not living out what they say they possess. Now let's take verse number six and just look at it very briefly. To me, there are two crucial words that's important for us to understand. First of all, the word fellowship. Secondly, the word walk. Now what is fellowship? I know it's not two fellows in a ship, okay? I mean, that's kind of our simple definition, but that's not what it is. Fellowship is literally a partnership. It is a bond of common interest. And so therefore, he's talking about fellowship that we have here with God, but then the word walk here talks about our moral conduct, that is our course of life in living. And what John is saying here is this, you can say that you have a partnership with God. In other words, that you're born again. But if your daily life and your habits do not match what you say that you have, what are the words in 1 John 1,6? You are lying. Now the Bible says that, all right? That's what the Bible says. But how many times have we met people who say, oh yes, I'm a Christian. I know God. I got born again on this day. And boy, they know all the lingo, don't they? And then you see their life Monday through Saturday and their life doesn't show anything like they just said. This is a wrong view, a wrong action here. And John tackles this. And I wanna ask you a question this morning. How is your life seen by other people? I'm not asking what you put in their ears and what you tell them about yourself. You know, sometimes we tell our grandkids, now, grampy is a good, good grampy, isn't it? You know, I'm a good dad, I'm a good mom, I'm a good spouse. And we like to go ahead and put our stamp of who we are on other people. But if we could get your relatives and your neighbors and your close acquaintances, if we could get them aside from you and ask them about you, what would they say? Would they say, oh yeah, he says he's born again. His life matches what he says. Or would they say about you, boy, he tells me he's saved. She tells me she knows Christ. but there just doesn't seem to be any life there. What John deals with here is this wrong action. It's a wrong view. And I wanna just tell you this morning that your profession and your practice need to match. You ever heard this statement before? Your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks. How many of you are confused already? I'm surprised I got it out right. But in essence, what he's saying is your talk and your walk ought to be the same. So that's wrong view number one is our wrong action. That is a false profession here. Number two, I want to take you to verse number eight and look at a wrong attitude. Look at verse number eight. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now this view has to do with who we think we are as opposed to what God knows us to be. Do you realize this morning God knows you better than anybody else in this world? You may be able to hide things from other people, but God knows you through and through. And this particular view has to do with who we think we are, as opposed to what God knows us to be. In other words, we think we're okay, when in reality, we're deceiving ourselves. Now there's a very interesting word or phrase that's used in verse number eight. It is these three words, have no sin, have no sin. Now, what he's referring to here in this particular phrase is not necessarily a particular act of sin. That is, I've not committed the sin of lying, or I've not committed this, but he's talking about that inner human nature of sin. That is, we're free from it, totally free. You see, in the day that John lived when he wrote this, there was this mindset and this teaching that went around that said that once you got saved, that you would come to a certain place where you would be completely free of sin and therefore you would be holy before God. and there'd be nothing in your life. And so a group of people around John's day were grabbing this and they're saying, look, I'm okay. There's nothing wrong here. I'm doing just fine. And they were having here a wrong attitude about things. And I want you to know something, that the heart is very deceitful. Jeremiah chapter 17, verse nine, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. Proverbs 28, verse six, he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool, but who so walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. And can we be clear about something this morning as we look at the word of God? It is important that we define things on God's terms, not our terms. That is, God has determined what sin is. Let us not call that which is evil, good. Let us not take that which is unholy and try to make it good. My friend, I wanna tell you something. You need to evaluate your life and you need to evaluate what's wrong and what's right according to the word of God, not your standards. Too many today are sitting in churches good churches like this who believe the Bible, who hold to the very things of the word of God. And there's too many that are sitting in their pews and they're constantly hearing messages and they tell themselves, I'm okay, I'm okay. And my friend, I wanna just tell you, every time you sit under the preaching of the word of God, you ought to take the word of God and evaluate your life and find out truly where you are. Because there have been so many times when I've heard the preaching of the word of God and I thought to myself, that's something I need to get right on. That's something I need to change. But now number three, I want you to notice in verse number 10, not only a wrong action, not only a wrong activity, but a wrong assertion, wrong attitude, but a wrong assertion. Look at verse number 10. The Bible says, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So this view has to do with how we live in relation to what God says about our life. In other words, when we commit what God says is a sin, do we justify our actions? Do we kind of sweep it under a rug? Do we just kind of push it aside? And I'll tell you what, if we say that we've not sinned, notice here, it's not us who's, we're calling God a liar. And the Bible says His word is not in us. You know what, if I need to know what sin is all about, I can just take a look at the 10 commandments. I can look back at the 10 commandments and realize that as I walk through that list, that I have erred on a lot of places. Bible tells us there in the 10 commandments, I shall have no other gods before me. Notice how it's a negative, but also a positive proclamation. God is saying, when you look back at those 10 commandments, God is saying, I'm the only God. I'm the only one that you're to worship. But if you go out and start worshiping other gods, then you're breaking the commandment and you're sinning. You say, preacher, come on, I'm not worshiping other gods. That's people in Africa. That's people in those far out lands where the missionaries go to and those people have those idols set up and they worship the moon and the stars. Oh yeah, in America, I've known a lot of people whose God is their home, whose God is their job, whose God is their hobby, whose God is their vehicles, whose God is their money. Bible says, thou shalt have no other gods before me. A God is something that I put in my heart as a number one thing. And I say, I'm gonna do everything for this. I'm gonna worship this. And it becomes a God to us. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. How about another commandment? Thou shalt not commit adultery. You know our problem today in our society is we live in a loose society, don't we? I was thinking back as I was reviewing this this morning, even in my lifetime of ministry, I thought to myself here in 25 years or so, how even things are worse today than when I first started in ministry. I think to myself of young people that are just sleeping together, and we're not just talking about young people, we're talking about older people. I know that doesn't describe any of you, but older people, you know, those that are really up in years. But truthfully, we have people of every generation that have become loose in their standards and their morals. And my friend, the Bible says, thou shalt not commit adultery. And you say, oh, I'm good on that. I've never slept around. I've never been with anybody else. Oh my, Jesus made it very clear that if you look on a woman to lust after her in your heart, you've committed adultery already. My friend, I've been guilty many times over because of that statement Jesus has made. Shame on me, but it's the truth. But you know, as we look at the list, and we could go on and on if we had time this morning to look at those 10 commandments, but we'd all have to realize we've fallen short. And yet how many of us sit in churches and go, I'm okay, there's nothing wrong with me. Oh, my friend, we make God a liar. We make God a liar when we say this. We have here listed a view of a wrong action, a view of a wrong attitude, a view of a wrong assertion, but praise God, he gives us the right adjustment. Look at verse number nine. I love this verse. If we confess our sins, would you say the next phrase with me? He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You know, I'm glad to know that there can be a right response to all the shams, all the deceitfulness, and all the hypocrisy that we create. Doesn't matter who you say you are, but it really matters what you do and how you live. Doesn't matter what your perspective of sin is, sin is sin and God hates it. Doesn't matter how you justify your actions, But if you at least know that God calls sin and it really truly is sin. And amidst all of these views that John addresses that maybe you have this morning, maybe you've got this wrong attitude or these wrong actions or whatever it may be, but this morning, God has given a remedy to get right. And I love this that is used in verse number nine, the word confess. Now, I would not pretend to be anything of a scholar of the original language that the New Testament was written in, but I've done a little bit of study in school and since then, but one of the greatest words that I love is the original word behind our English word confess. It comes from two Greek words. One word is the word homo, and the other word is the word lageo. The word homo means the same, and the word lageo means to speak or to say. So God says, if we confess our sins, and that is, if we say the same thing about our sin that God says about it. You catch that? You see, not what we say, not how we justify it, not how we sweep it under the rug, but true confession is when we say the same thing that God says about it. God says lying is a sin. God, I agree with you, lying is a sin. God says coveting is a sin. God, I agree with you, coveting is a sin. And whatever it is that God pinpoints in your heart, you stand back and confess before God and say, God, I agree with you that that truly is sin. You see, too many today are in the essence of covering up their sins. Oh, I don't want people to know. I don't want anybody. I want people to think I'm perfect. I want people to think, let me just tell you, I quit that stuff a long time ago. Because I can tell you, you're looking at a preacher that is by far from perfect. You're looking at a preacher that has messed up numbers of times, but today I stand here by the grace of God because I have confessed my sin before God and God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. Isn't that beautiful this morning? Can I remind you of Proverbs 28, 13? The Bible says, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper. But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. What you and I need today is to confess it to God. Tell it like it is. Don't sugarcoat it. Don't whitewash it. Don't justify it. But confess it before God. And what is God's remedy if we confess our sins? I love this. He's going to forgive, but I love the last phrase. All of us understand this. He's going to cleanse us. We understand with a dirty garment that we put in and it's gotten stained or it just has dirt marks and we put it in the washing machine and then we take and put in the dryer and it comes out and it's clean. We understand when our hands get dirty from doing some particular job and we walk over to the sink and we turn on that water and get some soap and we begin washing and scrubbing our hands and our hands once again become clean. Do you realize this morning that there is no person, you included, that cannot cleanse your heart? People are trying to see psychologists. People are trying to do extra good deeds. People are trying to do all sorts of things to remove whatever guilt and problems they have in their life. But I'm here to remind you this morning, only God can cleanse your heart. Only God can get in there with the soap and the water of his word and wash your heart. But it only happens when you confess before God. And when you confess, God is faithful. He won't forget one time. He won't miss a time. And he's just, he's holding himself to the standard that he'll come in and he'll cleanse your heart. And today, whatever sham you're throwing out there, whatever deceitfulness, whatever justification of your sins, can I say today, come clean before God. Get right before him. Name the sin and God will cleanse you and forgive you and you can be made whole again. I close with this this morning. The great preacher that was used as an evangelist many, many years ago, Gypsy Smith, he was asked the secret of revival. Gypsy Smith said this to the person that asked him, he said, Take a piece of chalk, draw a circle around yourself, and then pray this, oh Lord, revive everything in this circle. Now would you do me a favor this morning as we get ready to close our service and pray? Would you take an imaginary piece of chalk, and just in your mind, just draw a circle right around you. and say, Lord, I'm not concerned about anybody else, but I'm concerned about the person in this circle. What's God pinpointed today? Is there something in your life that's not right? I have no idea what it could be. It really is not of my business. It's between you and God. But if God's touched your heart this morning, why don't you get right with him? Now's the time. Today's the day. We talk about New Year's resolutions. Could I say this would be the best resolution you could ever make is to get right with God. It's the best. The best. Shall we pray together?