09-12-2021 | Do You Have a Clear Conscience? | Dr. Mark Livingston

[Music] and that's jesus who would have known who would have known he would talk to me [Music] my eyes now i can see that's [Music] of the jesus afraid of the darkness [Music] and that's i'm not jesus of the dark fruit of the darkness [Music] is [Music] gonna be all right [Music] is [Music] [Music] i'm not afraid of the dark afraid of the darkness [Music] and that's jesus [Music] he came from glory took on flesh to save the lost grace and mercy displayed upon the cross our redemption [Music] one name over everything [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] everything [Music] [Applause] here [Music] [Applause] christ [Music] [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Music] [Music] and disease [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] christ [Music] jesus [Music] so [Music] [Music] the presence of [Music] closer to my father's heart i trust [Music] here in this place [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh jesus [Music] continue to fellowship with one another as we sing happy day the greatest day in history death is speeding you have rescued me [Music] the empty cross the empty grave life eternal you have won the day set it up jesus is alive he's alive and oh happy day [Applause] [Music] forever neither say forever i am changed when i stand in thy place free at last meeting face to face i am yours jesus you are in this joy perfect peace earthly pain finally we'll cease celebrate jesus is a lie is he's alive hello happy day happy day you wash my sin [Music] happy day happy day i'll never be the same forever i am changed [Music] and though what a glorious day what a glorious way that you have saved me day what a glorious name [Music] hello happy day happy day you watch my sin away hello happy day happy day i'll never be the same forever i am changed [Music] amen what a happy day it is to be in the house of the lord let's stand together in worship for he is worthy of our worship before we begin let me read this in hebrews 1. it says long ago at many times and in many ways god spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world get this he is the radiance of the glory of god and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power after making purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs get this the lord jesus right now is seated right beside the majesty on high he made purification for your sins and for my sins how by the shedding of his blood on the cross at calvary for without the shedding of blood what church there is no remission of sins so we can celebrate this morning the fact that jesus shed his blood for you and for me and we are free let's sing together down at the cross [Music] let's sing together down at the cross where my savior died down where for cleansing for sin i cried there to my heart was the blood sing a church glory to his name glory to his name glory to his name glory to his name there to my heart was the blood of my glory to him i am so wondrously saved i am so wondrously saved from sins jesus so sweetly abides within there at the cross where he took me glory to his glory to his name glory to his name there to my heart was a blood apply glory to come to this fountain so rich let's sing come to this fountain so rich and sweet cast i put soul at the savior's feet plunging today and be made see your church glory glory to glorify his name this morning glory to his name glory to his name there to my heart was the blood of pride glory to his name and the church said amen you may be seated for just a minute first of all i want to say welcome to broadway baptist church my name is brandon hughes and i'm the pastor of worship and media here it is so so good to be in the house of the lord this morning to sing his praises to hear from his word because we know as the church that his word is living and active god breathed it and so for us it is such a pleasure and a privilege to sit under the word and to hear what god is speaking to us this morning through our pastor so as we prepare for that i do want to welcome you if there are any guests we are so glad that you're with us if you're watching online thank you for watching and for being here with us today if you are a guest there is a connection card in the pew back in front of you please fill that out and put that in the offering boxes on the back of the sanctuary wall that just helps us to have a record of your visit so that we can minister to you if you're more tech savvy there is a qr code on the back of the bulletin you can take out your camera app on your phone and point it like right there on the qr code and it'll pull up a website you can click that fill out the same thing and give that to us and that will help as well also on the front of the bulletin if you would like to register for our meals you can see how to do that on the front of the bulletin at the very bottom you can scan and get registered for our wednesday night meals which have been awesome today pastor mark will be continuing in his sermon series certain uh certain truth for uncertain times and that is found in the book of first john and this sermon series will be first john chapter 1 verses 5 through chapter 2 verse 2 and that's found on page 13 98 and the pew back in front of you if you don't have a bible we would encourage you to take that one home with you and let that be our gift to you well are we excited to be in the house of the lord this morning worshiping him amen let's stand together and let's sing he is worthy of his name [Music] a scene together rumors of the son of man stories of the savior holiness holiness with human hands treasure for the traitor no ear is hurt no ear has heard no eye has seen the image of the father the image of the father until heaven came until heaven came to live with us who's a rescue a rescue like sing a church you are worthy you are worthy yes he is you are way the of your name you are worthy lord we declare it to you this morning you are worthy of your name jesus yes he did not speak you did not speak you made no sound he died for us you died for your accusers [Music] and as your plight fell to the ground you redefined our future you redefined my future but he didn't stay dead and on that day that you arose the darkness ran away the darkness ran for cover he is the king of kings for the king of kings has claimed his throne seeking church and now until forever you are worthy [Applause] [Music] [Music] worthy yes you are you are worthy of your names jesus i love this let's sing it together you're my author my maker my ransom my savior my refuge my hiding place yes he is he's our helper you're my helper am i a redeemer he's the answer my answer my savings he's our hope you're my hope in the shadows my strength in the battle my anchor for all my days he stands by our side and you stand by [Music] it's only jesus holy jesus no other names [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Applause] yes he is you are worthy of your name you are worthy you are worthy of your name jesus [Music] he is worthy of his name church do you believe that i love that it said he is our strength in the battle let me tell you there is a battle satan wants nothing more than to destroy the church of god and we will not let that happen by the power of god's grace working through us do you believe that because there is power in the name of jesus and he is worthy of that name so we can say he is the strength in our battle let's sing together just this beautiful hymn about the blood of jesus christ there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath [Music] the lose stains the dying thief rejoiced the dying thief rejoiced to see that [Music] was all my sins away wash my sins away wash all my sins away cry out to the lord i saw my sins up and there [Music] [Music] dear dying lamb it is the lamb of god dear dying lamb thy precious blood shall never lose one sacrifice for all time till all the ransom church of god be safe to sin do you believe that church be saved [Music] safe to sin no more be saved to sin till all the rants [Music] amen amen another beautiful song about the blood of jesus flowing i want us to picture it this scene in our minds sometimes i think we just we go through life and we forget we forget what our lord took for us on the cross at calvary but there is hope in the cross there is victory in the cross and there is life for us and the cross and freedom let's listen this together as we think about that moment i see my savior with love in his eyes his body broken no sin with no sin too high i see my jesus i see my jesus his eyes blind with blood eyes blind with blood his face crimson his face is crimson this cry is love his cries it's no wonder we call him savior church no wonder we call you a savior no wonder we sing your praise [Music] you made away our jesus is the way the truth and the life amen let's sing together i see redemption ravage the grave i see redemption [Music] ravaged the grave the triumph of heaven the triumph of heaven [Music] [Applause] no wonder we sing your praise jesus forever [Music] you made [Music] no wonder no wonder we sing your praise jesus our home forever [Music] you made away you made the way for us as the church we have freedom in his name because of what he's done on the cross at calvary for us and we church can declare that the light is tearing through the darkness satan has no hold here at broadway baptist church we will stand and let the roar of the rugged cross be our victory cry and when the rest of the world hears it they will know us by our love and they will see us love and stir up to good works so that their hearts will go from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and that they would turn to him that he would heal them and save them do you believe that church let's sing together see the light tearing through the darkness [Music] jesus christ you alone have saved us we worship you now see the light see the light tearing through the darkness [Music] no wonder no wonder we call you savior no wonder we sing your praise jesus our home forever you made it away one last time no wonder no wonder we [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] amen you may be seated the choir is going to lead us in a song the lord is our strength he is the glory and he is the lifter of our head and he has a shield for us [Music] [Music] so [Music] uh [Music] [Music] me [Music] me [Music] is [Music] for me [Music] [Applause] for me [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] me my [Music] [Applause] [Music] my glory is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] my gloria [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning would you stand with me as we read god's word together as pastor brandon said if you're using one of the bibles in the pew back we'll be on page 1398 beginning in 1st john chapter 1 verse 5. in verse 5. this is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that god is light and in him is no darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all sin if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just 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 my little children these things i write to you so that you may not sin and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous and he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the whole world let's pray heavenly father we come in all of you this morning god you are perfect in power and in wisdom and in righteousness and lord you know that we are sinful people you know that we ultimately have rejected you and failed you and come up with an innumerable number of ways to be separated from you but god you have pursued us and are pursuing us still through your perfect love which you have demonstrated and displayed to us in jesus christ your son coming and dying on the cross for our sins to take our punishment so that we might know you we might be known by you we might have fellowship with you god and lord we come as your church and lift our praises today to you because you love us and lord you don't stop there you continue pursuing us and continue cleansing us and making us new every single day through the forgiveness you offer continuously through your son lord i pray that you would be with pastor mark this morning as he brings your word that your spirit would fill this place and allow our hearts to receive the word you have for us this morning god that we would understand it and that through conviction we would praise you through the change that comes and live in a way that brings glory to you as we leave this place we pray these things in jesus name amen amen and you may be seated it's always a joy to get to preach the word of god so what a blessing for me good to see you let's take our bibles let's keep them there in first john and let's just continue our series certain truths in uncertain times so donald whitney who is currently a professor at southern baptist theological seminary wrote a book about confidence and salvation and in that book he told a story about an 1858 steam liner named the austria now not 1848 that was a good year that was when ole miss started 1858 the austria steamliner was traveling in icy waters it caught fire and according to whitney there were three men who were all believers all friends with the fire behind them and the icy waters of death in front of them they made a decision i can't help but think about 9 11 when i think about these three men on this austria boat making the decision do we let the fire consume us or do we jump and let the ice take us and here they are they grasp hands together and they say brothers moments from now after we jump we will see each other again in eternity is that not an incredible story and they jumped and they died and we assume they saw each other again moments later in eternity if that were us and we were on the 101st floor or we were on the austria steamboat and it was on fire and we knew this is it there is no way out moments from now i will enter eternity do we have confidence in our relationship with god do we know that we have fellowship with the one living true god the text that we're looking at today is all about fellowship fellowship with god but i want you to notice something about this fellowship verse 6 says this if we say we have fellowship with god then then is essentially the idea there over and over again in this text the word if we say in other words what we mouth needs to be true in reality there's a lot of people that say they have a fellowship with god but they don't have a real fellowship with god you know the men who smashed the airplanes into the towers claimed that they had a direction from their god if you had asked them do you know your god in a sense they would have said yes i meet people all the time who say oh yes i i have a relationship with god and yet that relationship that they claim that they have looks nothing like the god they're claiming if we say then there's certain things that ought to be reality so how do we know that we have real true fellowship with god such kind of fellowship that if we were on the austria and we jumped our confidence would be in that relationship with the lord how well do we have that confidence and that fellowship the text today is going to help us answer that question do we have a lasting abiding true relationship with god now in order to know the answer to that there's two truths that we need to examine about our own heart they're the two points of the sermon number one we need to have a right view of god now when i say right i mean proper i mean correct we need to have a right view of god but secondly we need to have a right relationship and we need to understand what that relationship involves and what it looks like so two points we're going to delve into today a right view of god and a right relationship with god so let's look at those together number one if we truly have fellowship with god if we say that we have fellowship with god it all begins with a right view of god notice how verse 6 starts it says this is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you that god is do you see that god is now he is about to define for you god he is about to tell you who god is god is not your own making you and i cannot define god in any way we want we cannot decide this is what my god looks like and this is the kind of relationship i have friends that is just making things up you have to have a right view of god if you really are going to have fellowship with god this is the message we've heard from him this is what we declare to you god is and he's about to just lay out what god is now let me just quickly say this as a side note before we get into what god is the most beautiful truth of the bible is that you and i can have fellowship with almighty god do you realize that is so unique you know islam they believe in a god they call allah but they do not believe in a personal relationship with allah allah is too great he is too high they do not know him personally fellowship with him intimately but here you and i are we are reading in this text that it is possible to have a real personal fellowship relationship with the creator of the universe it is possible to know him intimately and he too know us he didn't just create us but he knows the number of hairs on our head he knows the thoughts that are coming to our tongue before we ever speak them he knows us and yet he offers us fellowship fellowship intimacy personal relationship do you have fellowship with god do you have that personal relationship with god or is he just a distant being that you talk about generally and that you tip your hat to and that you pray to well he starts off by saying god is and then he says there in verse 5 god is light if we're going to define god if we're going to have fellowship with god we have to first know the god we're talking about have a right view of god god is light and in him is no darkness at all now it's interesting to me john could have used any number of ways right here in verse 5 to describe god there are other places in scripture where god is said to be spirit that's john chapter 4 and those who worship him worship him in spirit and truth god is said to be love that is true he is described as love he is said to be righteous he is said to be truth he is said to be holy he is said to be a defender there's a lot of names that can describe god but when john is talking about salvation when he's talking about fellowship and intimacy with god he says you've got to understand who god is first and foremost god is light and in him is no darkness at all now if your understanding of god if your relationship with god is not with the god who is light then you had better do some evaluation now what does it mean god is light and in him is no darkness at all why does john begin here and not with god is love well think about light for a moment when you look through the bible and you look at all the places where light is mentioned there's several truths that just stand out biblically about light i mean first of all light reveals does it not when you take your furniture out into the sunlight you thought you had good furniture and you see all the scratches and all the mars that are all over it and you think man we need to go shop for new furniture right the worst thing that happens is after you wash your car the sun comes out and then you see every little scratch light reveals and so the first thing about god is light is he is a revealing god he reveals himself to us he shows us who he is so that we don't say my god we say the god of scripture the god of light god is not only is he a revealing god but what else about light he's righteous god is light and in him is no darkness at all light is also pure it not only reveals and shows you things but there's a purity about it in the bible over and over again darkness is associated with evil and sin men love darkness john chapter 3 said and they remained in darkness but truth is light it is revealing but it is also righteous in other words there's no evil in our god there is no duplicity there is no lying there is no corruption you're going to find corruption and lying in every leader of every government all in the world because they're human beings but in the god that we worship there is no corruption there is only righteousness there's light now the third thing about god when you see the word light god is light is light in the bible is also redirecting for example in the psalms and the proverbs light is used as a pathway so for example psalm 119 thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light into my path the light of the word of god guides you how can a young man keep his way pure the psalmist ask by living it according to your word so the word of god redirects us and guides us in truth so that we walk the right way so when you read god is light you're instantly thinking this is a revealing god this is a righteous god this is a redirecting god in him is no darkness at all that is the god that i'm supposed to be having a relationship with and let me go further to say this if you claim to have fellowship with him and you don't care about what he has revealed concerning himself then if i were you i would think about what i'm saying if you claim to have fellowship with this god who is light and yet you care nothing about holiness you care nothing about righteousness you say well i can live how i want and god loves me the way that i am then if i were you i would really evaluate that if you claim to have fellowship with god and you care nothing about holiness righteousness you care nothing about what he has revealed concerning himself and finally you do not want to be under the submission of the word of god that is constantly redirecting us well if that's you and you could care less about being under the governance of the word of god and being under the direction of the word of god then i would question do i have fellowship with god the god of the bible i may think i have fellowship with somebody but is it the god of the bible we have to have a right understanding of god if we say that we have fellowship with him and i'll tell you this that i've met a lot of people that have claimed the name of god and they could care less about being in obedience to the word of god they'll say well i have my bible and i read it but are you obeying it are you doing what it says these things are written not as suggestions for us you know and it says to be a peacemaker that's not a suggestion i don't care what relationship you claim to have if you're not a peacemaker if you're not loving the brethren as john will go on to say if you're not confessing sin if you're not seeking to submit your life daily to the governance of the word of god then you can say all day long that you follow god but it is not the god of light who in him is no darkness at all and every one of us need to evaluate what am i saying what am i living what am i doing who do i believe in well there is a right view of god but look at number two not only is there a right view of god that enables us to have this clear confident conscience so that we can say in any circumstance i'm ready for heaven another way that our fellowship with god is sincere and true is that we have a right relationship with god so we have the right view of god but we have a right relationship with god and i want to camp here a little longer than the first point the first point we've got to get god is correct but then the second point is we've got to look at our relationship to him if we're claiming that we're walking with him hand in hand with the god of scripture then we need to start looking at who we are and how we view him and our relationship with him now i want you to just notice the conditions that john puts on our relationship with god here in this text i want you to see the conditions all right so he's going to basically put three conditions here he's going to talk about first of all our pattern our pattern of life should be a certain way i'll i'll break that down help you to discuss that secondly he's going to talk about our position that as christians once we are living a certain pattern we also have a certain position that we should constantly be in and thirdly he's going to talk about our prognosis now see i'm a baptist preacher so i alliterate everything right he's going to talk about our prognosis of who we really are and who we understand ourselves to be so if we're going to have a right relationship with god there needs to be a pattern there needs to be a position there needs to be a prognosis and it all needs to be laid out there this is the way he puts it in the rest of our text i mean you just notice in verse six he puts an if if we say we have fellowship with him right so if we say we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness we lie and we do not practice the truth now this is pattern right here the pattern of our life should be so that we are consistently attempting to live according to the scripture for the glory of god we're consistently with a pattern trying to fight sin that's what he points out there in verse six if we say we have fellowship with him but our walk is in darkness we lie and do not practice now i want you to notice two words in verse six that are absolutely important the first word is the word walk the second word is the word practice they are a key to understanding this verse they are a key to understanding the rest of first john because there are many people that read this verse and they think that we can obtain christian perfection in this life and that is impossible i knew a dear brother and i think he was a brother in christ who believed that he could be perfect his name oh what a sweet man he was in my life was talmage lane he was the pastor at south haven first church of the nazarene and god called him to start a radio station and so he started a radio station 95.3 wvim victory in mississippi now it's a country station that talks about all kinds of stuff but back in the day this brother who was a schoolteacher in hernando god led him to erect a tower in hernando and start a radio station so that there would be victory in mississippi and i would work at that radio station with him on sunday mornings particularly and he would preach and i would put him on the air and be his producer and i remember one day he was on the air and he was preaching a sermon and he said in the sermon we can be perfect in this life well i couldn't believe it so when we got off the air i looked across the desk and i said brother elaine do you really believe that i mean you believe that we can be perfect in this life and he said absolutely i am i've come to the place where i no longer sin i've shed the shell of my carnality i was blown away i said man i'm never going to get there i was blown away i said now brother elaine no honestly you believe that you never are going to sin again and you know he'll he would take verses like this well you know if we walk in the light and see is in the light we we we don't sin so we discussed it but i completely disagreed with him friends that is not what the scripture says at all now here in this verse i want you to look at it if we say we have fellowship there's a pattern not a perfection and that's the key the word walk means a continuous state of action the word practice means exactly what you think it means practice practice may make perfect but it is not perfect so if you think that john is saying that a true believer never sins you're mistaken the pattern in the life of a true believer is that they are continuing to walk they're trying to practice holiness and truth there's a big difference there are some though who you know and i know they have no concern about walking in the truth they have no concern about practicing the truth but they're very proud to tell you they have fellowship with god so let me address both sides of that coin if you're a believer and you are attempting to walk and there is the pattern of your life let me give you encouragement that's a good thing you can have assurance because you're trying but you will never be perfect this side of eternity but let me address the other side of that coin if you're sitting out here and you do not practice at all you do not care about walking in that direction at all but yet you say but i prayed a prayer your prayer is false it doesn't matter what prayer you prayed if you are not walking if you are not practicing if there is not a hint of some little edge of fruit in your heart and in your life then what i would do is really evaluate i would really evaluate because if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet we walk in the darkness we practice darkness then what does the scripture say if that is the case we are lying that's what it says verse six we lie and we do not we do not practice the truth but for the believer the pattern of their life is there in verse 7 the pattern of their life is we walk in the light we practice in the light as he is in the light and the result of that is fruit and fellowship we walk in the light as he is in the light and we have fellowship with one another and one of the hallmarks of someone attempting to walk in the light attempting to be one who practices the pattern of godliness is that as they're walking they have fellowship with other believers you show me somebody who withdraws themselves from believers and from the church and i would question i don't know anyone's heart but i would question their salvation you say why because we don't withdraw we realize we're all walking together we need encouragement as we walk we need fellowship as we walk we hold one another accountable proverbs 18 1 says the one who withdraws themself is really and i'm paraphrasing is really doing that so that they can sin so when we withdraw ourselves and we isolate ourselves we're doing that not because we want to be held accountable but because we want to do the opposite and so a true believer has this pattern that we're walking in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus his son is cleansing us from all sin that's litmus test number one if you're a believer the pattern ought to be in your life walking with the lord that is your relationship with god pattern should be evident number two litmus test it also ought to be not only the pattern but the position that you take as a believer now remember we've talked about if we are truly fellowshipping with god we have a right understanding of god we have a right relationship with god our relationship should have the pattern of walking with the lord but also the right position now notice the position verse 8 the position of every believer is that we know that we have sin again this text never tells you to live holy completely perfect it tells you to strive it tells you to walk it tells you to practice it says verse 8 if we say that we have no sin then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us look a christian is not perfect a christian knows i have sin in me if you're bold enough to say that you have no sin currently then friend i mean you are deceiving yourself the christian knows i have been saved by grace listen there is no one in this church perfect there is no one including me in this church that does not have skeletons in the closet none of us now some of you don't let your skeletons out that's between you and jesus but all of us have them and i assure you that the foot of the cross is equal footing for every man woman boy and girl in this room don't you let anybody fool you and i'm going to tell you this and this is something i've learned in 47 week years of life the people that look like they have it all together and look the most normal are the craziest behind closed doors you better believe joan cleaver was probably popping pills and doing all kinds of things that you had no idea about when you watched her family look like they were perfect and i'm going to tell you that there are no perfect families there's no perfect parents there's no perfect christians there are christians that are attempting in their position in their position to walk with god so we don't just throw off everything and say you're right there's nobody perfect now we can live like hell no because what does verse 9 tell you the position the position is if we confess our sin now to confess means there to agree you are agreeing with god you are saying the same thing as god about your daily struggles your daily sin and your position so it says if we confess our sin if we agree with god if we say the same thing that god is saying then he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness you see that there so look the christian is not perfect the christian is constantly in a position of confessing and agreeing with god and saying lord help me to live for your honor and glory even though i'm not perfect it's my pattern it's my position if we say that we have fellowship with him this is how it should be our relationship with god but this brings up another wonderful point i mean i love some of my favorite verses in all of the scripture is first john 2 1 and 2 in our text today and it says my little children i am writing these things what's the purpose of this i'm writing these things so that you may not sin the goal of hearing this news is not that we would go out and joyfully live like devils the joy of this news is that we would hear it and it would release a burden off of our shoulder and we would not sin i'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin but but man this is the one time i love butts right but but if we do sin we have an advocate with the father the advocate the word advocate we have a lawyer we have a defense attorney we have a lawyer who stands before a holy righteous god arguing our case telling him not to execute his wrath and judgment on us amen so we have an advocate with the father with the father jesus christ the righteous and he can be our attorney because he's righteous he has not sinned and so when he argues the point to the father the father listens to him because he is worthy he is holy he can make the argument we cannot you think you're going to stand before god and argue why you should be led into heaven you cannot be your own advocate you are guilty but look if we do sin we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous he is the propitiation for our sins do you see there in verse 2 chapter 2 the word propitiation it simply means he is the satisfaction for our sins jesus is what god requires when god looks down on sinners and he says how are they going to pay for that when god looks down on injustice and says how is this going to be made right the answer for the believer is our prognosis we know that we're sinners we see our position but thank god we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous he is the satisfaction for our sins and not for hours only john says but for the whole world now don't think that's teaching universalism that's not what that means he's saying it's not just for the jews it's not just for one group of people it's for every nation it's for every ethnicity it's for every tribe and tongue and we read in revelation 4 that there at the throne of god is every tribe tongue and nation worshiping before god because this verse is true amen it's not just for jews and it's not just for americans and it's not just for you and the people sitting here this good news that we have an advocate with the father this good news that his his sacrifice is enough is good news for everyone who will believe on the name of the lord jesus christ and be saved my friends that's the gospel that's the good news you need an advocate do you have an advocate look do you have jesus christ the righteous arguing in your place to a holy god that's our position see our position is we know that we're sinners and we know we have to confess and we know who god is and we praise him for jesus but lastly we know our prog prognosis let me get that out we know our prognosis right so so we know we know our practice we know our position we know our prognosis this is all a right relationship with god the christian who truly has fellowship with god they they know the situation and what is the situation well they know right here look at verse 10 if we say that we have not sinned now you notice verse 10 and verse 8 seem to be saying the fir the same thing but they're they're not one is continual if we say that we have no sin currently the other is past tense verse 10. if we say that we have not sinned then we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us now if if we're going to have the boldness to look at our prognosis and say yeah i've not i'm not a sinner i've not sinned i was not born in sin i'm a good person i've done good things if we think that that's who we are we have no need for a savior you want to know why i think john does not begin with god as love here but instead god is light because if he had begun with god as love you would have no need for the cross you would have no need for the savior friends before you and i can understand the love of god we have got to understand the holiness the righteousness the purity the light of god otherwise the love makes no sense it's so general and so bland and so weak and so silly if i may say that word now do you understand what i'm saying i'm not saying that god is love is silly i'm saying if we don't understand first that god is light if we don't see the proper prognosis of who we are that we have sinned we're not making god out to be a liar his word is in us we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous that's who we are but if we're bold enough to say oh no no i've not sinned and god is love you have made that love so generic and so bland it's meaningless you know i've seen people mock our faith and the love of god i saw one bumper sticker it said jesus loves you then again he loves everybody you know that's a that's a sad commentary because the person who wrote that has misunderstood how god is love now he is love but remember you would never say things like that if you fully understood god is light and in him is no darkness at all and therefore because he is light it required him to send his son to die in our place so that the love of god could be given to us otherwise had christ never come and been our advocate you would not get the love of god my friend you would get the wrath of god and the wrath of god that was poured out upon pharaoh in the plagues is what you and i would receive in eternity and worse and the wrath of god that closed up the red sea is what we would experience and worse in eternity without our advocate jesus christ the righteous and the bowls and the plagues and the trumpets that are spoken of in revelation that are horrendous the writers whose words are death and destruction would be on us in eternity if it were not for the light of christ coming and saving us and giving us the love of god you see we would only get the wrath of god and i tell you today that those of you that are outside of christ the wrath of god is on you do you hear me romans chapter 1 19-21 for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth through unrighteousness let me tell you something if you are outside of christ today the love of god is not on you the wrath of god is on you and today what that should lead you to do is to come to christ to come to the fountain and to say save me jesus so that i can have fellowship with you not hostility with you but fellowship with you i can have communion with you almighty god not hostility but communion i can have a relationship with you almighty god not fear but rejoicing for who jesus is and what he's done you see if we claim to have fellowship with him then we have a right view of god god is we have a right relationship with that god we have our pattern our position our prognosis is that true of us i pray it is i want to tell you that will give you a clear conscience no matter what is happening in our world if tomorrow we all must jump then we'll jump with confidence because we are fellowshipping with almighty god amen let's pray father we thank you for the word of god which is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword it pierces us in the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and joints and marrow it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart and so as you have opened us up today with the scalpel and the sword may we respond to that may we bear fruit as your children may anyone who is lost under the wrath of god come today to the love of god may they come today to see what that love involves how deep it is how rich it is how true it is may they come in jesus name and we pray it in christ's name we all said amen let's stand together we're going to have a hymn of invitation and if you would like to come we would love to pray with you and meet with you share the gospel that we've been preaching more with you if you'd like to come and pray you're welcome to do that if not we'll just sing so brother brandon will you lead us jesus paid it all sing this as a hymn to him the ready thy strength indeed is small child of weakness watch and pray find in me thine [Music] [Music] left a crimson stain he washed it wide let's sing one more verse to the lord together [Music] and jesus made it all [Music] to him i am had left a crimson stain he washed would you bow your heads where you are take just a moment say lord what did you teach me today in the word of god ask the lord to bear fruit in your life to walk with him to be obedient to him [Music] [Music] so lord receive glory and honor and praise from your people in jesus name we pray and we all said amen a few quick things we just want to tell you about number one uh this afternoon from two to four is a come and go for ann and wayne tap now wayne's funeral was about a month ago but miss anne wants to celebrate his life today in the foyer and in the hub and in the fellowship hall and so if you'll just join us today two to four i know that would be a blessing to her so please come and be a part of that and we look forward to it there's also a trunk or treat meeting tonight at 4 30 in the conference room i believe so we just want to make you aware of that if you're in leadership to come and be a part of that and then i want to introduce you to this sweet couple i was waiting on you lindsay i knew you were coming now this is lindsay and a.b calhoun and that's abc right there right alton visiting with us for uh oh goodness a couple of months maybe and uh they are from pensacola florida the lord moved them up here yes ab is an air traffic controller at memphis international airport and so he stands up in the tower i said man you must be stressed he said no not really i'm used to it so you know we have the gordon's and he's a pilot with fedex so the neat thing is this brother is probably waving him off and he's taken off and here it's two of god's people that belong to the same body and they're uh they're just working together in life didn't even know it right so you don't need to get to know each other so we want to introduce you to the calhouns this is a b which is alton britain but you just call him a b and this is lindsay and they're two beautiful children we are so thankful to have you guys they've been through yes they've been through our our membership class and they've met with a pastor and so they're coming by um their statement of faith but also letter from lighthouse was it lighthouse or yes lighthouse baptist church in gulf breeze florida so when we're finished we want you to come up and say hello to them and man it's just good because we've seen people join every week and we're just thankful for how god is blessing our church and we had the uh the family joined the reynolds last week we've got the calhouns this week and god is so good bringing a lot of new young families so y'all pray for carlene all right and a lot of new young families with babies and volunteer for the nursery if you get a chance but praise the lord for that well uh let's uh let's do this greet one another in the lord as you leave come down if you feel comfortable and say hello to the calhoun family may the lord bless you and keep you may you have a good lord's day you're dismissed thank you for being here [Music] you

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Length: 85min 23sec (5123 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021