STUDIES IN FIRST, SECOND & THIRD JOHN

Lesson 3 ~ Light, Darkness, God and Us.
John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
John 12:36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
John 12:44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
John 12:45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
John 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
1 John 1:5 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. A declaration of the nature of God as light.

A. Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
God commanded the light to shine four days before the sun was made!

B. John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Man can but dimly comprehend the greatness of this truth. Without light, either direct or indirect, there can be no life. When this truth is applied in the spiritual realm, we see that man is indeed dead in the darkness of sin unless he comes to THE light.

C. To be saved makes us the children of light.
Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
1 Th 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Because of this , our responsibility is changed. (Some creatures are nocturnal and are not fitted to move about in the day.) The lost cannot see to handle spiritual truths.

A. The lost are creatures of the spiritual night.

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

B. We are now the creatures of light.

Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

C. We cannot have fellowship with the light and the works of the darkness at the same time.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
2 Cor 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

D. It takes more than just claiming for one to have fellowship with God. A man who says he loves the sunlight and yet chooses to stay up all night and deadhead it through the day, is lying!

1 John 1:7 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 cleanseth us from all sin.
Notice three things about this verse. 1. a walk - which 2. brings about fellowship - which
3. results in a cleansing.

A. To walk (peripatetic - to walk about ) Same as

1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
The difference between stepping in the mud and wading in it.

B. We must choose a properly lighted path - in the light -

Psa 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

C. To try to have fellowship with God outside the truth is to make Him a party to evil! We must walk His way!

D. Perpetual cleansing through the blood - as we walk in the light. This requires repentance and confession as well as a daily walk!
1 John 1:7 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 cleanseth us from all sin.
1 Cor 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Prov 20:9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Eccl 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
To boast of reaching perfection is to commit the sin of pride and lying and it removes us from the need of God's grace!

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Confession MUST be a part of our daily walk if we would have a continual cleansing and an abiding fellowship with Him and with one another.
1 John 1:7 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 cleanseth us from all sin.
And it is not a matter of 'if ' I have sinned, but "Forgive me for this sin!
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.


Next Christ - Our Mercy-seat.