What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. And the life was manifested and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also. so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. These things we write so that our joy may be made complete. This is the message we have heard from Him and announced to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous 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. Chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. There are so many things You see, in this sweet, sweet chapter, such assurance, such a testimony, such comfort, all coming and swelling up and coming out of the heart of a pastor, the heart of a man who is deeply concerned and deeply committed to his church. I say this a lot of times, but there are so many comforting scriptures, but I seem to live every day in 1 John chapter 1. I don't know where you live. You may have a favorite scripture verse, and probably you do. But I seem to spend a lot of my time in 1 John 1 because it says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us our sins. And I think that's somewhere where I seem to spend a lot of time. Let me ask you a question. Now, the preacher asks questions that he doesn't want answered. Okay, what do you call him? Rhetorical question. That's right. College man back there. Engineer. Do you agree with God about what He says about you? Answer yourself in your heart. Do you agree with what God says about you? I'm not talking about when he says, don't worry little flock, your father has gladly given you the kingdom. I'm not talking about when he calls us children. I'm talking about what he says about us. What does God say that we are? Well, one word. Death. Dead in trespasses and sin. Now don't go getting a long face on me now. You shouldn't. As believers, you should be smiling when you think that. Because He's taken you away from that. He's redeemed you out of those things. He gives us a continual, constant, open invitation to do what? Come before the throne of grace that you may find help in time of need. Hebrews, right? For we don't have a high priest who can't sympathize with us, but one who understands us completely. yet without sin. And as you and I live and go about our daily lives, one thing that we try not to think much about, but one thing that is really true in our lives, is that we are redeemed sinners, but we remain sinners. I had a lady, and I may have told you this before, I've told you so many things, You may get tired of hearing them over again, but that's okay. I'll say them again. I had a lady, I was a young preacher. I was a young preacher. I think I probably preached two sermons. You know, I thought I was CH Spurgeon too. And I've told you before, the first sermon I ever preached, I still have it on tape. I ought to play it for y'all sometime, but I don't believe 75% of what I preached then, you know. But I had a lady, you know, preacher always goes to the back door and shakes hands with everybody as they leave, and I did that. She came up to me and she said, I don't believe after you become a Christian that you can sin. And I said, really? And she said, no, I don't think you can. Well, I wasn't real sure. I hadn't been a Christian that long. I knew I wasn't getting along too well. But that's what she said. I'd like for you to check into that and let me know what you find out. Well, after I got to checking into it, I just no more experience than I had. And as young as I was, I never went back and told her what I found. Because once I got to reading, I found out that she was completely wrong. Once I got to looking into it, I began to think that I was a worse sinner now than I ever was before I was ever saved. Why is that? God just told you. God is light. And in Him there is no darkness at all. And when the light comes on, the light of the gospel shines in a heart. It reveals. Now, you ladies, many times I've told you, you don't clean house at midnight with the lights off. What do you do, Miss Cora? You wait till the day, open all the blinds and turn the lights on so you can see the dirt. When the light comes on, the dirt is evident. When the light of the gospel comes on in a person's heart, they realize what they are, they confess and repent of sin, and then they begin the pilgrim's travels. And with that light on, they see dirt. They see sin. And sometimes it's hard for us to deal with that. If you had a choice, if you had the power, you as a Christian, if you could wake up tomorrow morning and never ever sin again against your Lord, would that be your heart's desire? The deepest desire of your heart? See, that's the sign of a believer. Because you want to live for Christ. You want to follow Him. You want to do away with sin in your life. Yet, the longer you live as a Christian, the more you're going to realize and understand that it doesn't make sense. It seems like the longer you live, the better you feel about yourself. But the closer that you get to the light, the more things you see. I sell medical equipment, and there's a thing called a colonoscope. I won't tell you what they do with it, but when I first started in the business, it was about 8 o'clock in the morning, I was at the office, and the guy was showing me about it and all that, and he said, did you shave this morning? I said, yes. He said, well, put this up to your face. It was clean, by the way. It had been sterilized. He did, and the screen was on, and it looked like I hadn't shaved in a week. And the closer you get, the more things show up. The longer we live as Christians, the more we're going to feel like we're not worthy of Christ. The more we're going to see sin in ourselves. If Christ gets brighter, if we live closer, if we mature and as we grow and we leave milk and we go to food, and we become closer and live closer to Christ, that's what's going to happen. Because the Christian life is all about Him. It's not about me and it's not about you. And I've mentioned this in this little silly song. He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. No. If you're going to ever be anything, you're going to be what you are in Him. I am what I am in Christ. I'm not going to get any better. Dead don't get any better. Brother Clint, I don't care what kind of suit you put on, but Christ It's who we are. And as we live, though, and as we go and as we every day and we constantly are fighting the battles that we fight and we constantly are seeing ourselves as who we really are. God has given us. Little oasis in the scriptures. Might be a silly way to put that. But reassurances. He's given us peace and great blessings and great comfort to be able to rest ourselves in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian is a person who understands, believes what God says about them. And you can get a good summary of that in Romans chapter 3. Nobody seeks after God. They've all gone, let me say a few of them out of the book before I say them wrong. Don't turn there, just listen. There's none righteous, not one. There's none who understand. None who seek after God. Everybody's turned aside. And together they become useless. There's no one who does good, not even one. Their mouth is an open grave. Their mouth is full of bitterness and cursing. Destruction and misery are in their path. There's a sermon right there, Brother Jim. The path of the unbeliever. There's no fear of God before their eyes. Now, do you still believe what God says about you? Christians do. Because to the Christian, it's not about Who they are, it's about who Christ is. And as we begin to realize and understand those things, sometimes they can really drag us down. Sometimes we can go to despair when we realize what we really are. But Paul says, but you were once like that. We live like this and as we understand these things, we have the reassurances of God that give us the hope and the comfort that we need in order to be at peace. There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. We now have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Before you became a Christian, you didn't see your sin because you didn't look for it. I didn't. I was older. Some of you may have been Christians since you were children. That's good because you don't remember all the sins that you did as an adult that don't go away out of your memory. You young people, you remember that. Once you establish now as a young person, when you're 50 years old, you'll still remember it. And it'll just add to the battle. It'll just add to it. And as we go along, we find the comfort and the peace of God's Word. What does John say here? If we confess our sin, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, does that mean you have to confess your sin to be forgiven as a Christian? I think Brother Jim Gable dealt with that better than I could right now. But what he's saying here, and I'm going I'll tell you something I learned from my mentors and from John MacArthur. Confess is a word, a Greek word, called homo-log-eo. I learned this, remember, somebody told me this, I didn't figure this out. The word homo in English is translated homo, which means the same. You can understand how that word is used in our society. Loggeo is the word for logic, which means to speak. So what do you have? The same speech, or speak the same. In other words, a Christian is someone who is saying the same thing that God is saying about sin. You didn't know that, did you? When I learned that, it was just like the light came on. A Christian is someone who is agreeing with God. And according to John MacArthur, it's what's called a present tense continual thing. It's something that we're doing constantly. And it comes natural to the Christian. It comes natural to the Christian to say, Lord, I sinned today. Forgive my sin. Or maybe just now. But it's a constant attitude. And it's something that we're doing all the time. And it's bred in us as Christians. You can't not do it. Now, you can sin and not confess, but you hang on to that for a little while. I can tell you, It's not a fun way to live. Go to sleep. Wake up. Walk around during the day. And that constant... You know, MacArthur said it best. He said, I can't get halfway into a good sin until a Bible verse pops into my head. The Word of God corrects us. And as it's stored in our minds and our hearts, it corrects us and it drives us. And the Holy Spirit drives us and convicts us. And we say the same thing about ourselves and about sin that God does. And that's the way of life. Don't shake your head or nod your head. Is that your way of life? If it is, thank God. If you're convicted when you sin, if you're conscious of sin, if you think maybe now you're a worse sinner than you were ten years ago, that's natural. Because Christ is being glorified. Christ is becoming more and more a part of you, not that He Has it become more and more a part of you? But as you mature, and as you grow, and as you learn, and as you digest the Word of God, these things come to light in us. And all of a sudden, we see, He didn't just save me and say, OK, you're OK now, but watch it. Watch your step. He doesn't have to be appeased. And how can God continually forgive sin in us after we're saved? Because Christ satisfied the penalty of sin when He died on the cross 2,000 years before you were ever born. Is there a sin in your life that Christ didn't die for? Or didn't pay for? If there is, you've got a problem. His blood is sufficient to cleanse from all sin. And just as naturally as the puppy goes to the water bowl, just as naturally as you do everything in your life as a Christian, naturally you're going to confess sin. You cannot help but do it. It's part of you. And it's something that goes on all the time and will brother bob until you close your eyes then you're going to be without sin i don't say that you'll have to do that then but that's not the point the point is christ what a savior Confession of sin is a constant going on thing with me and you, but guess what else is? If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father. The righteous. Good Master, tell me what I must do to inherit eternal life. The young man said. Jesus turned and said, Why do you call me good? There's only one good. Righteous. That's God. Who intervenes for you every day? God intervenes for you. God became a man. You see, because our sin is so bad, only God could pay the penalty for it. Because there are none righteous but Him. Jesus Christ the righteous, the God-man, the man with the scars in His hands and His feet, stands in for you. Robin, Cora, Bob, every moment. He's your advocate. He argues your case. He's a lawyer. That's what that word means. Getting some kind of legal problem, go hire a lawyer. Why? Because I don't know anything about law. I know you can't have a tinted windshield in Mountain Brook. I don't know anything about the law, so I've got to hire somebody who does. I don't know how to get out of sin, so I have to have somebody that stands in my place. And not only does He stand in my place in glory today, this minute, He stood in my place on a cross. That's what qualifies. I should have been on the cross. I should have suffered God's wrath. When Jesus sweat great drops of blood in the garden had nothing to do with being nailed to a tree. He said, don't fear what men can do to you. And after that, nothing else. But I'll tell you who you fear, who after he has taken life. and cast both soul and body in hell. That's who you should fear. The wrath of God and the anger of sin was pressing down so much on Christ and He was looking into the white wrath of God for sin that it would have killed Him if He had let it. He said, My soul is unto death. And the great drops of blood just come out all over Him. Because He was looking in. to the holy wrath of God for sin. And what does the Scripture say about God? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We've all heard people irreverently say, well, I'm going to tell God so-and-so. You won't even see Him. But Christ looked into that wrath of God for sin. And you and I can imagine Him being hung on a cross. I've never seen anybody crucified, but we can imagine the horrors of it. We can imagine that sort of, but we'll never be able to even begin to understand the degree of the wrath and anger of God for sin. Because of Christ, you've been relieved of it and you'll never know it in yourself. He stands as an advocate because he can say, I have saved this person. And he's active, and he's not just sitting on a throne somewhere counting stars and listening to angels sing. He's a busy Savior even now, standing in for you and me. That's the hope of the gospel, and that is the hope of our lives as Christians. Because I've got somebody that stands in place for me. I've got somebody who speaks for me. And it's Jesus Christ. The righteous God speaks for me. If that does not give you comfort and peace, Something is wrong with you. You need to set up a conference with Brother Jim. You've been redeemed. And you've been freed. And the penalty of sin will never... And you have a constant ability to speak to your loving Father and the privilege of confessing sin to him. Oh, the sweetness of the gospel. A sinner like me can stand here and tell you what I have been telling you. Unbelievable. I ought to be in hell. And you probably think you should be, too. That's all right, too. That's a good attitude to have. John, through the Holy Spirit's inspiration, has given us... You know, this is one of the first chapters I ever read when I became a Christian, Brother David, when I was 27 years old. It didn't take me long to realize I needed to be right here. Imagine John, you know, the Holy Spirit inspires all the writers. And. They're all writing through the Spirit's inspiration, but their personalities and their experiences continually come out in that. God doesn't change. I mean, every writer's personality and writing style isn't the same. They're all different. You can read a book and tell who wrote it, pretty much. I mean, Paul never stopped mentioning the fact that he persecuted the Church of God. He never, he mentions that over and over again. That's what I'm saying about sin early in your life. He was forgiven of it, but he never forgot it and it never ceased to break his heart. But John writes from experience too. And when he started out this chapter, so I'm kind of going backwards tonight. He says, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands. This man walked with Christ. Can you imagine? Peter says some really silly, stupid stuff sometimes. Kind of like me. But they all did. James and John wanted to call down fire out of heaven and burn all these folks up. Can you imagine? living every day with Jesus right there in your company? I know we live with Christ every day, but we've never seen him. And how many times do you imagine Jesus would look at them with that look? Pardon him, folks. He doesn't really know what he's talking about. He's running his mouth again. How many times did Jesus have to correct them? Well, the scriptures give us several, but there's probably a whole lot more that we don't know about. This man walked in the presence of Christ. If anybody understands what it's like to sin and face God with it, it had to be him. And through his own personality and through his writing, the Holy Spirit inspired him to write this wonderful section of scripture. Why? Because he understood what it was like to stand in the presence of God. Can you imagine sitting by the lake? Talking to God? I wish I could have been there. I would have loved to have been there. But then I wouldn't be here. Same grace it takes to save you now though it took to save you then because a lot of people saw him and didn't hear him. But here's a man who has experience because he ate with him, he slept with him, he saw him die. The only disciple to be at the cross. Very loved by Jesus because he took care of his mother until the day she died. He knew about Christ and he lived in his presence every day for three years or so. Who better? I mean, the Holy Spirit picked the right guy to write this chapter. Because He can tell you what it's like being in His presence. He said we saw Him. He had eternal life and He was with the Father and He was with us. And He said we write these things so that our joy may be made complete. Do you want your joy complete? God has forgiven your sins for Christ's sake. There is no more condemnation. There is no more war or anger against you, nor will they ever be. And you have this beautiful, wonderful promise. It should be like a spring of clear water in a hot desert. If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. Now, beloved, we haven't explored the depths of this chapter. He even goes on to say, by the way, if you say you hadn't sinned, you're a liar. You know what that word liar means? It means liar. I looked it up. John uses that several times. You say you love God and hate your brother. You're a liar. He says that over in chapter four. It means to speak deliberate lies on purpose. It's the same word for lie used in Acts to describe Ananias and Sapphira. Same word. They lied on purpose, Brother Clint. I guess all of us do. Not only can you confess your sin, but if you say you haven't sinned, you're nothing but a liar. So you really kind of... You see what he says here? God understands that. God didn't save you because you wasn't a sinner. God saved you because you were. Because He chose to. He just wasn't going to let you go to hell. That's where we're all headed. And He said, so you confess your sin. He is faithful and righteous. And it's really ironic to me, not ironic, wrong word when talking about scripture, that this verse is squeezed in between two verses. The first is, if you say you have no sin, you're deceiving yourself. And then, if you say we have no sin, we're a liar. And squeezed in between it is the constant lifestyle of a Christian. Confessing and receiving forgiveness. Now, when you confess your sin, do you believe that God forgives your sin? He's faithful. He's righteous. I can't forgive you sin. I can forgive something you did to me, but I can't forgive you sin. Only God can do that. Why? Because He's the only one that isn't a sinner. He's faithful. He's righteous to forgive us, to cleanse us from some unrighteousness. That's what it says. From all unrighteousness. Beloved, we've got somebody standing in the gap for us. He never sleeps. He doesn't take holiday. He doesn't go on vacation. And he doesn't get tired of doing it. He stands in for us. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks for you. Your name. I'm talking about you. You're not talking about, well, just all those Christians on earth. No. Walter. Jim. Billy. Can you go home tonight with joy in your heart? You have someone standing at the throne of God in your defense. He knows where you are. You've just been learning about it all this time. He knew it before he saved you. He knew it when he went to the cross. He knew it when he said, Why, my God, have you forsaken me? He might have been forsaken, but we never will be. Because we have an advocate. And I'm glad we do. Because if there's anybody in this building or this world that needs him, it's me. And I know that you're all thinking the same thing. John says, I write all these things that your joy may be full. And that's why I've said them tonight.