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Welcome to Alpine Bible Church. To those of you who are regular, you’re always welcome to new faces. Welcome as well. Um, here at Alpine Bible Church, we’re about to begin a new series together. And it’s in a way, piggy piggybacking off of the last message that we heard together on the New Year. And this year, what we want to make it all about is Jesus. What we’re interested in and seeking after as a church family is to use 2012 to seek after the face of God in our lives. Because here at Alpine Bible Church, what we are about is Jesus. We’re not about God in general, but Jesus as God. We adore Jesus. We follow Jesus. We want to be with Jesus. We believe he is the solution to everything. What we love to do as a church family as well, is in wanting and desiring to know God and grow closer to him. One of the greatest privileges I have is to teach the Bible on Sunday morning to you as a church family, and one of the things I love to do in as a church family gather together on Sunday morning is to go through books of the Bible. And so if you brought a Bible with you this morning, go ahead and bring or open up to first John. It’s towards the end of your Bible. It’s five books before you get to the end. If you find revelation, flip back for more books that you’re going to find.
At what we’re going to discover in the book of First John, is that what John was after as he wrote this book? His name wasn’t first John, his name was John, just. John was interested in Jesus as well. John, in fact, loved Jesus. John thought to know Jesus was so important that he wrote to us. This letter was a letter, in fact, written to a new generation of young people. John represented an early generation of Jesus followers and himself. He began his journey with Christ as a young man. He was one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus. In fact, it’s believed that all the disciples that Jesus had out of the 12, John was the youngest. And when he began to follow Jesus, he was somewhere in his early 20s. And for 30 or 3 years, excuse me. John lived life with Jesus, and Jesus was John’s closest friend. In fact, I would go so far as to say, no one loved Jesus more than John loved Jesus. When you read the book of John or the Gospel of John, also written by John himself, you’ll see that John never refers to himself by name in the book, but he always refers to himself as depending on what translation is the beloved or loved of the Lord. When you read in first John chapter, chapter one. Hey, will you check to see if I’m plugged in in the back and go ahead and give me a click? It says in John 19 and verse 26, when Jesus therefore saw his mother, this is Jesus hanging on the cross.
When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. No one loved Jesus more than John. And and so much so that when you see at the end of Jesus’s life as he’s hanging on the cross, John the disciple is the only disciple that is found at the feet of Jesus while Jesus is being crucified. How much love do you have to have for an individual that when you when you’re looking at another person, you say, okay, now you’re taking care of my mom. You think about what type of relationship that would require in your own life for you to say to another person, if I die, please take care of my mom. Tradition says if you go to the city of Ephesus, you’ll find a tomb enshrined there that says, that’s engraved to John and Mary, saying that John did in fact take care of Mary for the rest of her life in the city of Ephesus. And when we get to the book of first John, we get to at the end of John’s life. He’s in his 90s now, and John knows that he’s drawing near to seeing his Savior once again, face to face. And he’s writing to us in this book to a new generation as a pastor with a a shepherd’s heart, a desire to to love and and for us to understand what a life with Jesus is all about.
In fact, he’s writing to a third generation of people, people who are now walking the earth who would have never seen Jesus in the flesh. In fact, tradition says that John got so old that even when he couldn’t walk, the church in Ephesus would run to go find John, and they would carry them into the church, and they would prop him up, and they would just say, John, share with us what it was like to be with Jesus. Mark, will you tell them to turn that down? I love it when our kids have fun, but tell them they’re having too much fun today. John is writing to a third generation of Jesus followers. John, in a way, is much like a grandpa sharing with his kids. In fact, it tells you in the book of John, when you read along, oftentimes you’ll see a phrase give me a clicker and I’m malfunctioning. Today, John often refers to those who read this passage of Scripture and to the church he’s writing to as his little children. Grandpa John is sharing with this new generation of kids what it means to follow after and pursue Jesus with their lives. And what’s happened in early church history is that some false teaching began to creep in. And the identity of who Jesus was begins to be falsified among these false teachers.
And and John wants to set the record straight of what it means for us as a church to pursue Jesus with our lives and to seek after him. John is a credible source, and sharing with us John and his love for Jesus has proven to us that he has walked with Christ, and he knew Christ, and he was a first hand witness of everything that that Jesus did on this earth. And so if you want to listen to someone talk about Jesus, it’s going to be John the disciple, the follower of Christ. Go ahead and give me another click. Tells us in John chapter one and verse one 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. John echoes in the very beginning to the to the start of creation. When you read the beginning of the Gospels in John chapter one, in the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis chapter one, it starts with this Annunciation in the beginning God. And John begins in the same position. In the beginning there was God, and and this God we have seen with our eyes, and we have heard and we’ve we’ve touched and we’ve looked at and we’ve done ministry with and and he is the word of life. John is a credible eyewitness to the ministry of Jesus.
In fact, when you read about the lives of the disciples, what you find is that the apostle John was the only one who was present at the death of Christ, and the only one who was present at the resurrection of Christ to to see both miracles. John was the first there to the empty tomb, as Peter ran along with him. All the 12 apostles or disciples at this point was dead. And John is looking at this new generation of believers, and he’s building his credibility for us to understand and accept what he’s saying as we seek the face of God in our own lives as well. And he says in verse two, and the life was manifested, and we have seen him. And testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the father, and was manifested to us. John points to the significance of Jesus out in verse two. He says that Jesus is the one that brings to us eternal life. All other beliefs in the world are built upon speculation, Meaning they’ll tell you a list or a series of things in which you seek to achieve in a religious system, hoping that in the end you might receive a better life. But when John talks about Jesus, he says, in reference to Jesus, that Jesus is the eternal, eternal life. Our belief in guarantee is founded upon him. And so John begins to share with us his credibility. John identifies for us the eternal life that’s found in Jesus.
And then John begins to write for us in verse three, what’s the purpose of all this and what she’s proclaiming to us? And he says, 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. John’s purpose, he begins to elaborate for us in verse three, is centered upon one word it’s fellowship. What God desires and what John desires to see within this church is unity among the body of believers as they center upon the face of Jesus together, but not only among the body of believers, but unity in their relationship with God as well. That as we walk hand in hand with one another seeking the face of Jesus, we also know that we have a relationship with Christ because we are fellowshipping with one another, and we’re seeking the face of God in our own lives. He goes on and says in verse four, give me a there we go. Great. These things we write to you so that our joy may be made complete. God’s desire is for you to make much of him because he makes much of you. God has intended to be the satisfaction of life. John Piper writes, God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him. God brings us joy when we embrace Jesus. He goes on to say in verse five, this is the message we have heard from him, and announce to you that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
And what John is saying to us as a group of followers pursuing Jesus, is that a life apart from Christ is like living in darkness. You ever wake up for that midnight run to the bathroom and wounded your toe along the way and thought, not positive thoughts at that moment, right? John is comparing a relationship to Jesus, much like that walk in the darkness. In those moments when you realize you’re in darkness, all you want to do is just find the light and flip it on. You need direction. You need to see where you’re going. You know that whatever you’ve been living for in your life hasn’t brought you joy. And you know that the fellowship that God intends for you to experience with him and with other people you’re not finding in John says, if you want that light switch turned on in your life, it’s to seek after the face of Jesus. Jesus is that light. John’s desire for us is to walk in that light, to experience our purpose and fulfillment in Christ. And what we’re going to begin to to find out this morning as we break apart this passage of Scripture, John’s now going to begin to share with us how we experience that fellowship and how we find that joy in Jesus.
And he’s going to do it on the most popular topic ever sin. John’s going to talk about the biggest problem that we face in our lives and pursuing after Jesus, which is sin. Do you realize sin is the root of every problem in life? We have government programs for the purpose of defeating sin. We have police force, military. We lock our doors at nights. We have counselors, therapists, hospitals, doctors, antibiotics, security systems, identity theft protectors, surveillance cameras, all because of sin. John’s going to share with us in this passage of Scripture that the solution to destroying sin is not to do good if we walk away from the message this morning and you hear don’t sin and do good, we’ve heard the wrong message. What John is saying the solution for our lives to sin is Jesus. This week I was in Atlanta and there was this big conference with lots of people and everyone was happy and they raised money for slavery in the world. All the slavery that’s taken place in the world, apparently news to me when I went to this conference, there are 27 million slaves in the world today, more than any slave, more than any time in history, a larger number than at any point in history. We have more slaves walking the earth today than ever before. And so this this organization got together, and one of the things they wanted to achieve was to raise lots and lots of money to help these slaves get out of slavery.
And they raised, I don’t know, it was ridiculous, like $3.7 million. And what was interesting during this whole conference, about halfway through, one person stopped and said, do you know, um, helping out slavery is wonderful. And we need to, you know, help fellow man and love one another like God has called us to do. But if we just did one thing we could wipe not only slavery off this earth, but all the sin that’s brought against one another and harmed by one man against another. And if we did this one thing, we if we learn to do this one thing, all sin could be eradicated in our own conduct in this world. And he said, and that answer simply make disciples. You know, in this world, if we all sought the face of Jesus, we would eradicate the sin that’s conducted against one another. We wouldn’t have to raise funds to stop 27 million slaves from around the world, because we would be interested in loving and caring for one another. And I think, John, when he thought about all the injustice that’s existing in Rome at this current time in Rome, had a ton of slaves. And John saying, what one message could I share with the church today in order for them to continue to seek the face of God in their lives? And that is to recognize for them that sin is destroying their relationship, and that doing good isn’t the answer.
Jesus is the answer. If we would all just pursue Christ with our lives, we could live in harmony and fellowship and joy. And so John begins to write in verse six, go ahead and give me a click. John begins to share a problem with us that we face in the area of sin of our lives. It says in verse six, if we say that we have fellowship with him, and yet walk in the 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 sins. John says the problem, the first problem that we have in a life of sin is that we say that we have fellowship with God, and we’re saying that we’re walking with God, but we’re living a life of sin. And if you’re doing that, you’re lying. What John is pointing out for us in verse four is that he desires for us to have joy. What Jesus created for you is to enjoy a relationship and to find joy in that relationship with him and what he’s saying to us in verse six is, the reason that you’re not experiencing that joy in your life is that you’re acknowledging that you know Jesus, but you’re living for something totally different. Can I tell you, if you’re here today and you’re acknowledging Jesus with your lips and denying him by your lifestyle, um, you’re going to find better happiness just living for the world.
I think that’s what John’s saying. When you read the Bible, it tells you there’s two places in this world that you find happiness or joy. First is sin. The Bible says sin is fun for a season. Go out into this world and live for sin. It’s fun for a season. In the end, it’ll catch you, but for a little while it’s fun. The other is this. Jesus. John just said to us that the joy in which we were created to really for eternity is found in Jesus. Can I tell you, some of the most miserable people in the world are Christians who claim to know Christ, but live for something totally different? God is not going to reward a life like that. It’s like giving your kid a treat for doing something bad. Who does that? Well, don’t raise your hand. They’re called parents that need a lesson. But it’s the same thing with your relationship with Christ. God rewards you as you pursue him in life. God brings you joy as you set your heart and affection towards him. As you look at everything else in this world and all the sin that may bring you happiness for a while. And you say, you know what, forget it. In Jesus is joy. And John is saying in verse six, if you’re living this life and then you’re walking in darkness, you don’t know this joy.
It’s not a testing with Jesus. It’s not a trial with Christ. He’s saying, either give your heart to this world or give your heart to me. And in so doing, find joy. And he shares in verse seven why that’s so. He says, walk in the light, as he himself is in the light. And the joy is that of that is that not only do we get fellowship with Christ, but we find unity with one another. Do you know that the power of a church is found really in its weakest links? But as a church lays aside its sin and pursues Jesus, what we find is unity and fellowship and love with one another. And we’re reminded that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from every sin in our lives. Sin equals loneliness, but Jesus brings us joy. Problem number two that John shares with us. Go ahead. And click to our next slide. Some of us are finding happiness in things that are killing our joy in this world. But he goes on and says in verse, in verse eight he says, if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. This is written for people who think that they are now above sin. He’s saying to us, okay, if you’re living for the world, you’re walking in darkness. So don’t, don’t say that you have joy.
But but the next, next thing to that is if you say that you know Jesus is still impossible to live a perfect life. Followers can can no longer say that they still don’t walk in sin. That doesn’t make sense. We don’t walk. We can’t live a perfect life in Jesus. He’s sharing with us in the passage of Scripture that we all struggle as believers. In fact, if you want to know if you’ve come to church and you’ve ever heard a message and you thought, man, that really is like he was speaking to my heart that day, it’s because I’m a sinner too. Relation can be made in a message because I’ve got the same struggles. Just because I might open a Bible and share a passage of scripture with you doesn’t mean that I’m protected from any sin or deception in this world. The same temptation that you face is the same temptation I face, and the same world that you struggle through. We all struggle together. In fact, verse eight is telling us as a body of believers, as a Christian comes up to you and says, hey, I want to pray for you. What area are you struggling in? Matter of fact, that’s not a good way to start a relationship. You probably want to get a little bond before you start saying that to somebody. But. But if you go before them and you say, what are you struggling with as a as a follower of Jesus, you should be able to name something because your desire is to pursue Christ with your life.
And the understanding is, is that the one thing that hinders you from knowing Jesus? The one thing that keeps you from drawing close to him is sin. And so, as a body of believers, when we gather together, it’s not about now. I’m I’m perfect. I’ve heard someone say this before. They walk into a church and say, I’ve been walking with Jesus for so long, I don’t sin anymore. And then I read first John. But we should be able to share with one another where we’re struggling with our lives and to find commonality and and love for each other and appreciation, to encourage one another in those struggles to to lift each other up. Because we still sin. It says in verse nine, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God’s standard is always perfect. It’s much like when you play a musical instrument and you come up and you have all these notes and these words, you got to sing. And every Sunday I mess one up. But my standard every Sunday is still to be perfect, right? Don’t listen for it on Sunday, okay? If you don’t catch it, just know that I play perfect. God’s standard for us is always perfect because God knows in his best for us we receive the best from him.
But the promise he gives us, and knowing that we’re not going to live to that standard of perfect, and knowing that we’re going to struggle, that he’s distilled desires and our struggles to find fellowship with us as people. And so he says in verse nine, if you confess your sins, God will forgive it. Why confess? Do you know that confession isn’t for you? But or excuse me, isn’t for God, but for you? God already knows your sins. In fact, it’s impossible to shock God with the sin that you’ve conducted in this world. It’s not like you’re hiding something from him. Confession is the heart of what repentance is all about. And can I tell you this morning, according to this verse, repentance isn’t a process. Confession isn’t a process. It says to us, if we confess, he forgives. Confession carries this attitude. God, I was walking in darkness. And I know that you’re sitting in a light. And and this is what I was doing, and now this is where I want to be. It’s a changing of your will. It’s saying to God, God, I’m leaving all of this behind. And now, God, I’m looking to you. It tells us, no matter how many times that you’ve said it, even Peter was reminded by Jesus, God, how many times do I have to forgive him? And Jesus says, 70 times seven. And what Jesus was saying every time they asked for forgiveness, forgive them.
What Jesus is saying to us is, listen, don’t walk in darkness because joy is not in you. And don’t think that you’re beyond the ability to sin because all of us have the opportunity, given the right circumstances, to fall into a temptation. And we know that those things destroy our relationship with Christ. But what he says to us in verse nine is, if that we seek his face, if we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God’s goal in your life is confession. Not so that you feel bad, but so that you’re reconciled. God forgives you in this world. Not so you can walk around feeling guilty about all the things that you’ve done, but so that you can begin to experience joy with him. I want to be careful when we talk about confession, not to equate that with guilt. Guilt can be connected to confession. Meaning, when we do bad things and you feel bad for it, that’s a healthy sign. God desires to use those feelings and emotions just to get you to turn to him, not for the purpose that when you join him, you can always walk around feeling guilty for what you’ve done. But so when you join him, you can feel the joy of knowing him. God doesn’t desire for you to walk around this world feeling bad all the time for the bad things that you’ve done.
God desires for you just to leave all of it behind and to pursue him in this world. He goes on to share with us in verse three. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and His word is not in us. Perhaps this is the most dangerous position that John shares with us and what destroys our relationship with God. Someone who doesn’t even realize they’re lost. Someone who doesn’t even realize they need Jesus. And think about this for just a moment. Whether or not we need to confess before God, or repent of sin and turn and look to Christ. Jesus died on the cross, correct? The Bible tells us that he was crushed. It tells us in verse, in verse two that he is. He himself is the propitiation for our sins. Meaning God had this anger that he wanted to pour out on sin. He saw Jesus on the cross, and he crushed Jesus upon the cross for the sin, and was satisfied with the wrath that he wanted to bring against sin. Jesus payment suffices. What it’s telling us in verse two. If God would pour out his perfect wrath on perfect Jesus, what do you think he’s going to do to you? I know that makes me not popular, but you think about the perfection of Jesus walking the face of this earth and what Jesus got. And ask yourself in your sin, what do you think God’s going to do to you? Bible tells you in verse one, my little children, I’m writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
And if anyone sins, they have an advocate, the father. Can I stop? And just that part for a moment, and I don’t even want to look at my notes. I just want to say to us as a church, do you realize the effects that sin not only wreaks in your life, but on those around you? Do you recognize how important it is in your own relationship with Jesus, that you just pursue him and abandon all other things in this world, not only for yourself, but this world. And this world is crying out. I love how John is sharing with us his testimony in the beginning, because there are so many opinions today on Jesus that are worth whatever’s in the commode right now. But how important it is to look at the testimony of a guy who walked and talked and saw Jesus and he sang to us, guys, there is nothing more important that you abandoned sin and seek the joy that there is in Christ. You know, what I love about John is that John, the tradition says, history says that he began to receive the nickname camel knees. John received the nickname camel knees because John was always seen in prayer, talking to Jesus, maybe even reciting that verse in verse nine that he wrote, if I confess my sins, he is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins.
More than anyone. I think that walked the earth during the time John sought the face of Christ in this world, and he understood that sin was just wreaking havoc on everything around him. Sin was bringing slavery into this world. Sin was bringing injustice in the world. People were being robbed because of sin. If we just pursued the face of Jesus and sought to be a disciple of Jesus and make disciples of Jesus, this world would become a better place. He’s saying the most dangerous place anyone could be is to not realize in their lives how deadly their sin is. Sin not only kills your joy, but it kills an eternal relationship with Christ. And so he says to these, I’m writing these things to you so that you stop sinning and and start pursuing Jesus. And he says, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. Jesus paid for it all. Not for ours only, but also for those of the world. John, in this passage of Scripture is looking at a new generation, generation of people that never saw Christ walk the earth, never saw Jesus resurrected, that just want to prop him up and say, John, please share with us what it’s like to know and grow with Christ. The goal of this is not so that you stop sinning.
Is that so? You begin to trust in Jesus and experience his joy. And in so doing, we find that we have fellowship with the father and with the son and with one another. The question I ask this morning to us is, when’s the last time you have wept over your sin? When’s the last time that you’ve looked at the holiness and the joy and the love of Christ and the life that you’re leading in the darkness, and you came before God and in humble repentance confessed before him. When was the last time in your life you sought the face of Jesus because you knew sin was destroying you? And more than anything, what you desired was to know him the way that we defeat sin in this world is not to sit and say, I got to stop doing that. I got to stop doing that. I got to stop doing that. It’s to seek Jesus. Listen, little souls see little sins as big deals, but big souls that are swelling with the love of God. Look at those little sins that hinder our lives. And we say, big deal. Nothing is worth separating me from my relationship of knowing Christ. And some of us in our lives are so far from God right now that the very things that we’re involved in are doing damage to our souls and our relationship with him. What God desires for us is just to confess it and to enjoy him. Let’s close in a word of prayer.