Walking In The Light Part 1

One reason for us. Jesus phone number for having a clear conscience is a great weight off your back is way to enjoy. You can know you're in fellowship with God himself today to keep yourself and then placed. Enjoy each and every day stay with church in Chicago. This is Sir teaching helps us make this line. Estimates are listed may feel they are too far gone.

Ever feel free again.

Is there hope for these people all day. As you know, there is hope these people and you know in your intro to the fact that joy is to be our possession.

This morning in my devotions. I was actually reading in the book of acts, and I was struck by the fact that over and over again it talks about the fact that the disciples were filled with joy, but more to your point, Dave. I want to speak to that person who feels very hopeless. There is hope in Christ. As a matter fact you have an advantage that some self-righteous people don't have because you know your need and that's the starting point for making available to you a resource a book I've written, entitled the power of a clear conscience letting God put your past behind you for a gift of any amount.

It can be yours. Go to RTW offer.com RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

This resource is intended to help you navigate the issues of conscience that you might experience joy. Now we go to the pulpit of Moody church where we once again open God's word faithfully exposing our lives to the light as we continue our study having a clear conscience. I hope that by now all of you have memorized the first, which is really the key verse Austin first Timothy chapter 15 maybe in the next message all actually asked by a hand raised as to who has actually memorized for the goal of our instruction is love, which flows from a pure heart a good conscience and a sincere faith without a good conscience, you cannot really believe God. You cannot have a sincere faith and there's always something nagging there's always a shadow on your soul want you to take your Bibles today and turn to first John first John and that you know that it is near the end of the New Testament. So if you have your cell phone you have to go not to John but to first John first John and we're going to look at the text of Scripture today and I believe that many of you who are listening today are going to be facing issues that are very difficult to face but also believe that there will be deliverance that will happen in the lives of many who listen in fact, I'd like to begin by pointing out how you can know whether or not you have a clear conscience in first John chapter 1, the apostle John talks about the fact that there was one generation of apostles who actually knew Christ.

They touched him and he emphasizes that because in his day. There were some people who deny that Jesus actually became a man separate story but John says that because we touched them, and we experience the word of life, you can experience into if you listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you. And then he says the life was manifest that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you. I'm already in verse three so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ. I need to ask you today very pointedly. Do you have fellowship with God and with his son Jesus Christ or can it be that you really don't because there's always Harrier there is always an obstruction, something comes between you and fellowship with God.

That's one way you can tell whether or not you have a good conscience, but there's a second way you'll notice that he wrote these words, he says I'm writing these things verse four so that your joy may be complete. Joy is an indispensable mark of the power of the Holy Spirit and joy, of course, to be distinguished from happiness, joy is something that we experience when the conscience is clear when there is a relationship between us and God and there is no cloud in between. Tell you what I want to do in this message. Let me give you two illustrations to help some of you.

God bless you. You fallen into a pit you're going along the road of life and suddenly you are in the ditch or a pit and you can't get beyond either something you have done or something that someone has done to you over can investigate that today and I trust by God's grace to help you on your journey, or let me give you this illustration years ago when I traveled and I still travel. Of course, but I used to have two briefcases one when I traveled in the other. When I would use that day by day and there was a reason for that because the one that I traveled with had certain things in it so forth. So anyway the plane is landing at O'Hare and they come through and they gave me a sandwich.

I remember it was a ham sandwich wrapped in what is called Saran wrap.

Do I have that correct and I didn't feel hungry, but I couldn't just throw it away and I think of all those poor people who give anything for this sandwich. So I decided to put it into my briefcase to eat it later weeks afterwards whenever I walked into my office you know where this is going.

There is this musty smell and I couldn't detect word and then I traveled again and there it was. Do you know what sandwich looks like after it's been in a place at room temperature for a month. It is green soggy and very smelly. I know that's the way some people's lives are they've taken their sin.

They've taken the darkness and they have wrapped it. They had hidden it and they've said nobody is going to find it, but there's always an older always something wrong. You want to come to Moody church to worship Jesus like we been worshiping him, but there in your mind. Look at what you've done. Look at your past and were going to deal with that in the next few moments. Here are three steps that you need to take all of them growing out of the text and then will get very specific so that we understand how this journey happens. Number one, we need to know something about God and there's some notes there little help you along the way. We need to know something about God. You'll notice he says in verse five. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is the light and in him there is no darkness at all. God is light, pure light pure reality.

Pure brilliance, pure holiness and his light is such that he is intolerant of sin, and he actually hates impurity and sin because there is no darkness in him. None of this distinguishes the God of the Bible from pantheism. As you know pantheism teaches that God is all and all is God and if you read the literature, you discover that God has a good side. He is good and he is evil. The Bible stands against that.

Like the pantheist said at a hamburger stand. Make me one with everything he said that apparently floated past some of you, but you need to understand that in pantheism there is only one the big one and that is God in Christianity. What you have is God is light and in him is no darkness at all. We could even equate this with holiness. When men such as Isaiah fell on their faces when they saw the holiness of God as you and I would do if we saw the holiness of God because he is a light purity and no darkness at all. Now the question is, what about us, what about us what kind of an obstacle. Does this create for us as individuals. There's something else you and I must know and that is we are darkness, we are darkness, you'll notice that the Bible says by the way that we are born in sin we are buying Nate children of wrath, even as the rest, and the Scripture talks about the fact that there are works of darkness. We don't have time to list all the references but the apostle Paul says you do not walk in darkness because you are light in the Lord don't walk in darkness because we are born into darkness and then we walked in darkness and we justify our dark this and we hide our darkness or try to hide it, and as a result we actually lie.

Bible says if we don't have sin. There may be somebody listening here says in verse 10 if we say that we have not sent we make God a liar. First of all, we lie to ourselves, we tell ourselves that what were doing is justified. It is, it is true.

Other people are doing it. If the light ever approaches we tweak all the facts to make ourselves look good. And so we hide in this cave and we hide in darkness, we lie to ourselves, we lie to God and think that we can get by with it when we change the nature of God to accommodate our experience and our sin many years ago I saw an interview with the pornographer Hefner who said oh my God approves of my lifestyle notice with the text of Scripture says if we say we have fellowship with him. This is in verse six. While we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth and enter people like that who claim to walk in light, and they have massive self-deception. The deceptions of our hearts. You and I can scarcely understand the kind of things of which we are capable because we manage the darkness and we justify the darkness will now the question is how do we bridge the gap between us and God. Because God is not going to compromise his holiness and the fact that he is light is not going to say well I can accept a little bit of darkness over here know there has to be someone coming in between us and God who can mediated and who can dissipate the darkness so that we can have fellowship with him and that of course is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I need to explain something were going to be going to 1/3 step in a moment, and that is of course the famous person. John 19 about confession, but really I am preaching this message primarily to those of you who know Jesus Christ as Savior. John is writing to believers if we confess our sins, he includes himself. If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as Savior. Your answer is not confession in the next message in this series I will tell you the story of a man who confessed his sins for up to six hours at a time and was not converted can't remember them all. And furthermore, next time they're more sins and you don't know where you're at with what he needed and what you and I need first of all is to trust Christ as Savior so that we belong to God and we are his children and then we begin the business of walking with God and can – and becomes a part of it, but the radical transformation that Jesus brings through conversion comes first with those words.

Now let's look at this famous text. If we can pass our sins. The word confess means to agree with God literally in Greek. It is to say the same thing as God and when we confess our sins and as I mentioned, we don't know them all, but the ones that God brings to our consciousness. The ones that we remember the ones that we need to deal with the ones that are the obstacle between us and God.

We have to confess them individually, and God requires this of us so that it is a discipline. It's a recognition of the fact that that you and I need to see the seriousness of it and so God says you had to agree that you have sin in a primitive culture.

There's a story that comes to us about a woman who took all of her clothes are dirty close wrapped them in a bundle and then took them to the river to be cleaned, but she was so embarrassed because the clothes were so tattered and so dirty and there were other women who were washing their clothes but all that she did as she took the bundle and she dipped it into the river several times and then she took it back home. You can imagine what those clothes looked like and that's the way some Christians confess their sins. Okay God I messed up. By the way, anybody who speaks like that is not confessing. If that's the attitude because there's a second part to confession and that is not just merely that we admit that we have sin but we also agree with God that he has the right to take this out of our lives forever and that we invite him to get rid of this sin that we are confessing. It is like repentance.

It is a yielded nested God.

God what ever you say I'm agreeing with and I confess my sins individually, one by one as you bring them to my attention. And also I agree that this sin has to go out of my life so it's not just God, I come to Moody church to worship and in my mind. The thing that I'm reminded of is that I am cheating my company. Forgive me Lord, let's find the rest of confession says and God help me to know how to make this right because it cannot continue. I agree with you about everything or I'm lying to my husband, Lord, but I have to know exactly how how do I how do I get out of this web of lies. How do I do this, Lord, because I think that I not only online but I'm admitting the right to deal with that and to take that out of my life.

This is a prayer of submission.

I agree with you, Lord, or I agree. Lord, that I'm involved sexually in a way that is displeasing you and dishonoring you and I I've rationalized it all. I've tried to justified 100 different ways but there I want to worship God. This theory is there is God I'm agreeing with you and send. I'm also agreeing with you that you have the right to take this out of my life shown me how to do that is ill pastor this or how do we know when we have to confess our sins to other people and not just to God.

Listen, if that's the question you are asking.

You have come to the right place.

I just can't believe that you're thinking that because you know I have a message that I'm going to preach on that is a part of the series and will give you some principles that you can use in terms of reconciliation, but confession means complete total agreement with God are at it we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins we claim our forgiveness and he is faithful and just he's to be depended upon what God says is true. It's in the word. I believe it I receive it. Woman said to me, Pastor Luther, I had an abortion and the little girl would be about three years old now. If I hadn't boarded her when I walk into a mall and I see a little girl about three years old and just absolutely overwhelmed with guilt. I said well did you confess your sin.

She said I confess that thousand time. You know this dear lady, I'm sure I understand the pain of what she is saying is, God is not faithful and just to forgive us our sin and you see what happens is she is in this cycle of passion of confession of confession. That's why the next verse in the text is so important.

Your Bibles are open aren't they. We confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

Here we go now. Now were talking about a level of conscience and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So the next time you see a three-year-old and all the guilt comes back you don't go and confess again and wallow in the past as if God is not righteous and doesn't and can't be trusted.

What you do is say Lord I'm not going to fear those thoughts anymore and the moment they come to me. I'm going to turn away and I'm going to give you praise for the fact that that issue no longer stands between me and you, because you have forgiven me and I stand on the basis of my cleansing, my friend, this is Pastor Luther.

Do you understand now why it is that I so much appreciate the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ has a message for the vilest stove fan who truly believes that moment from Jesus. A pardon receives no matter where you find yourself God is able to cleanse you from your sin.

What a wonderful encouraging message.

I've written a book that explains all this. It's entitled the power of a clear conscience letting God for you from your past. We make this resource available to you to help you in your Christian walk. And for you to help others for a gift of any amount. It can be yours. Here's what you do for the contact info go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 I'm going to be giving you that phone number again but let me thank you in advance for standing with us were so grateful for all who take our hands so to speak, becoming a part of the running to win family to help us make resources available to God's people and those who are interested, here's what you do, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 time now for another chance for you to bask.

Pastor Luther a question about the Bible for the Christian life. In Revelation 3 verse five Jesus says the one who conquers will be clothed in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. Dawn listens to running to win in Terre Haute, Indiana on W PFR. She asks what do you think about being blotted out, of the book of life. As I've heard you say once saved always saved will thank you so much for that question. It's a question that we are often asked and if you take the point of view that it is possible to lose your salvation. This would be one of the verses that I'm sure would come up in the discussion. I just want us to back off a little bit and get some perspective, it is very interesting to see that the verse does not say that you will be blotted out, but rather that he will not blot out your name. Now we could give the implication that it is possible for him to blot out our name from the book of life, but I think it is very important to understand that sometimes an idea is conveyed by strongly suggesting the positive and not necessarily saying that the negative is going to take place. You know there's a verse in that the 12 chapter of the book of Revelation that says that all who dwell upon the face of the earth will worship the Antichrist except those whose names were written in the book of life from before the foundation of the world. It really does seem to me that those who are written in the book of life from before the foundation of the world will indeed be saved in context the verse that you quoted is Jesus is saying I'm going to confess your name before my father and the idea is I'm giving you assurance. Not that you should doubt your salvation, but I'm giving you the assurance that standing before my father your name will be honored. It will not be blotted out from the book of life. What I hope that that helps and I hope that you continue to study these matters. Good Christian sometimes disagree about these issues, but at the same time we can have confidence that if we know God and follow him will make it all the way to the finish line. Thank you Dr. Luther for those words of counsel if you'd like to hear your question answered.

Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor Luther or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago 960614. Next time I'm running to win more on the process of daily confession of sin and how it keeps the way clear between us and God. Thanks for listening for Dr. Erwin looked certain this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church