FELLOWSHIP IN THE LIGHT

I JOHN 1:7

A. "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. Think of the breadth of fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son:
    1. It ties us to the believers in Jesus Christ
    2. It brings to us the cleansing from sin through the blood of Jesus
  2. Such a relationship is marked:
    1. By our closeness to God
    2. And to one another
  3. It is rooted in love and the fellowship of the saints:
    1. So we must test our relationship to the Godhead - 2 Cor. 13:14; I John 1:3
    2. Also, our attitude toward our brethren - I John 4:20: John 13:34-36 B. OUR OPENING TEXT BRINGS TO LIGHT THREE RELATED AND GREAT TRUTHS, WORTH OUR PRAYERFUL CONSIDERATION
  4. Walking in the light:
    1. There is no greater blessing than light; it is the indispensable condition of our existence. Bereft of light, all life would languish; every living creature would lose its brightness and all activity would stop; every plant would wither; all the material would lose its charm
    2. Walking in the light simply means that all activities are in the open, exposed to be beheld by God, men, and angels - Ps. 139:1-16. "Thou God seest me" - Gen. 16:13; "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven" - Matt. 5:16
    3. Walking in the light, as He is in the light; what does that mean? Let us never forget that John does not ask the impossible of us; what he means is that our life is to be patterned after the life of our Saviour - Heb. 12:1-2
  5. Fellowship:
    1. Walking in the light as He is in the light produces a genuine fellowship; the light in which God dwells becomes the very element in which His true children breath and move
    2. Walking in the light will create an interdependence - that is an inexorable principle of the natural law and what is true of the natural law is true also of the spiritual law
    3. Paul illustrates and emphasizes this great truth in a number of his messages - compare I Cor. 12:1-31 with Eph. 4:11-16
    4. Love and affection for the brethren is proof that we have passed from darkness into light; if the love to each other is missing, we are as yet in darkness - I John 1:5-10; 3:23; 4:7-10 C. WHAT IS SO VITAL FOR US TO KNOW IS THE THIRD POINT IN OUR SUBJECT - CLEANSING
  6. "And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin":
    1. One of the very first effects light has in our life is that it exposes sin in its reality; Examples: Peter never realized the nature of sin more fully than when Jesus looked at him - Mark 14:72; Matt. 26:75. Think of his fishing success and what he said to Jesus - Luke 5:8
    2. It is, also, a universal law that only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from sin revealed by the light - compare Heb. 9:22 with Lev. 17:11; I Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5; John 6:53
  7. The power of the blood of Jesus:
    1. His blood does not merely cloak, it cleanses; makes our life white as snow - Is. 1:18-19
    2. He washed us from our sins in His own blood Rev. 1:5; 7:14. What amazing grace the blood of Jesus is so effective; that it will cleanse us from sin so completely that no unfallen being in the universe will see either a spot or mark of it
  8. Note, please, the cleansing by the blood of Jesus:
    1. Is not mere remission of sin; it is not mere averting of punishment; it is not mere pronouncing man just when he is in fact unjust; it is all that and more
    2. It is, actually, the transformation of our life; this is an important truth to keep in mind.


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