Walking In The Light Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Having a clear conscience, it lifts a great weight off your back. Dread gives way to joy, and you can know you're in fellowship with God Himself.

Today, how to keep yourself in that place of joy each and every day. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, some who listen may feel they're too far gone to ever feel free again. Is there hope for these people? Well, Dave, as you know, indeed there is hope for these people. And you know, in your intro you referred 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 of fact, you have an advantage that some self-righteous people don't have because you know your need. And that's the starting point. We're 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 RTWOffer.com.

RTWOffer.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. And 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 of having a clear conscience, I hope that by now all of you have memorized the verse, which is really the key verse for us in 1 Timothy 1, verse 5. Maybe in the next message I'll actually ask by a hand raised as to who has actually memorized the verse. 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. I want you to take your Bibles today and turn to 1 John. 1 John, and 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 1 John. 1 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 I 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 1 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 denied that Jesus actually became a man. Separate story, but John says that because we touched him and we experienced the word of life, you can experience him too 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 3, so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with the 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 a barrier, there's 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 4, 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's 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've 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.

Well, we're going to 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 and the other when I would use it day by day. And there was a reason for that because the one that I traveled with had certain things in it and 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 it called saran wrap.

Do I have that correct? And I didn't feel hungry, but I couldn't just throw it away. You know, you think of all those poor people who'd 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 was this musty smell and I couldn't detect where it was coming from. And then I traveled again and there it was. Do you know what a sandwich looks like after it's been in a place at room temperature for a month?

It is green, soggy, and very smelly. And you 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 have hidden it and they've said, nobody is going to find it, but there's always an odor, always something wrong. You want to come to Moody Church to worship Jesus like we've been worshiping him, but they're in your mind. Look at what you've done.

Look at your past. And we're 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 we'll 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 that'll 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 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 at all. You know, 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. There's 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 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 by nature the 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 walk in darkness and we justify our darkness and we hide our darkness or try to hide it. And as a result, we actually lie. The Bible says if we don't have sin, there may be somebody listening here.

It says in verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar. First of all, we lie to ourselves. We tell ourselves that what we're doing is justified. 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. We change the nature of God to accommodate our experience and our sin.

Many years ago, I saw an interview with the pornography Hefner who said, oh, my God approves of my lifestyle. Notice what 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 there are 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. Well, 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. He's not going to say, well, I can accept a little bit of darkness over here. No, there has to be someone coming in between us and God who can mediate it 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. We're going to be going to a third step in a moment and that is, of course, the famous verse in 1 John 1 9 about confession. But really, I'm 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.

You can't remember them all. And furthermore, next time there are more sins and you don't know where you are at with God. 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 confession 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 confess 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 you and I need to see the seriousness of it. And so God says, you have to agree that you have sinned. In a primitive culture, there's a story that comes to us about a woman who took all of her clothes, her dirty clothes, 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, that all that she did is she took the bundle and she dipped it into the river several times, and then she took it back home.

Well, you can imagine what those clothes looked like. And that's the way some Christians confess their sins. Okay, God, I've messed up. By the way, anybody who speaks like that is not confessing his sins, 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 sinned, 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 yieldedness to God. God, whatever you say, I'm agreeing with you. 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.

Well, that's fine. But 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 do I get out of this web of lies? How do I do this, Lord, because I am admitting that I not only am lying, but I'm admitting that you have a 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've rationalized it all.

I've tried to justify it a hundred different ways, but there, I want to worship God. There it is. There it is.

There it is. God, I'm agreeing with you. It's sin, but I'm also agreeing with you that you have the right to take this out of my life.

Show me how to do that. You say, oh, Pastor, 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 as 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.

All right. If 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. A woman said to me, Pastor Lutzer, I had an abortion and the little girl would be about three years old now if I hadn't aborted her. When I walk into a mall and I see a little girl who's about three years old, I'm just absolutely overwhelmed with guilt. I said, well, did you confess your sin? She said, I've confessed it a thousand times.

Do you know this dear lady? And I'm sure I understand the pain. But what she is saying is God is not faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And you see what happens is she is in this cycle of confession, 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 we're talking about the 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 just 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 offenders who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. And 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 Free 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 RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.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. We're 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 ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. In Revelation 3, verse 5, 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 WPFR. 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.

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 the 12th chapter of the book of Revelation that says that all who dwell upon the face of the earth will worship 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.

Well, I hope that that helps and I hope that you continue to study these matters. Good Christians sometimes disagree about these issues, but at the same time, we can have confidence that if we know God and follow him, we'll make it all the way to the finish line. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for those words of counsel. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer, or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Next time on 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 Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.