Series: God’s Terms And Conditions [#4]
HAVE COMPLETE VICTORY EVERYDAY
1 John 1:5-2:6
Introduction:
Labor Day is the only US Holiday that is not a religious holiday or a patriotic holiday. In 1894, Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a federal holiday after a failed attempt to break up a railroad strike. While this weekend is supposed to be a break from labor, I want to conclude our series by talking about Christian labor.
I can only speak for myself; but I want to have victory every day. It seems like the little daily battles are much more difficult to overcome than the big battles. There is something that happens every day that just seems to take away my victory. As we look at several conditional statements this morning; I want us to see how we can have complete victory every day.
1 John 1:5-7 (NIV)
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
If…
1. You walk in the light.
Walking in the light means that everything you do is like Jesus. When you walk in the light, any sins that are there are exposed; and need to be dealt with. If you don’t deal with the sin; then you are living a lie because you are walking in darkness.
Then…
2. You will have fellowship with one another.
The benefit of walking in the light is a little surprising to me. You would expect the verse to say that if you walk in the light, then you will have fellowship with God; but instead it says that you will have fellowship with one another. This is where you need to put 1 and 1 together to get 2. If you have fellowship with other believers you will always have fellowship with God. Your relationship with others is a picture of your relationship with God.
Let’s not forget here that it is through the blood of Jesus that we are purified from all sin. We all sin and that sin affects our fellowship with God; but we have a way to continue to walk in the light.
1 John 1:8-10 (NIV)
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
If…
3. You confess your sins.
Before you can confess your sins to God, you have to actually admit the sin. Until I had children, I didn’t really grasp the concept of confessing sins to God that He already knew about; but once I had children, it made sense. I would catch my children doing something wrong and then I would ask them why they were doing that. The purpose for that is that I wanted them to understand that what they were doing was wrong and that they needed to change their behavior.
Then…
4. God will forgive your sins and clean you of all unrighteousness.
This is one of my most quoted verses of Scripture and it is because God says that if I will confess my sins to Him that He will forgive me of those sins and start fresh. God forgets about that sin and I get to start over. Now, I’ve had people ask me, “What if I confess the sin; but then turn around and commit the same sin”? Once you confess it to God, it’s gone and the next time you confess it to God, it’s new to Him.
1 John 2:3-6 (NIV)
“We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
If…
5. You obey God’s Word.
This is easy to say and almost impossible to achieve. Notice that it says the Word, and not just parts that you are good at following.
Then…
6. God’s love will be made complete in you.
Now, I’m sure that you thought that I miss stated this; but as a Christian, the love of God is in you. How the love of God flows through you and controls you is up to you.
Conclusion:
You may be wondering if I changed my mind on the sermon title; but it is quite the opposite. In order to have victory over all that challenges you have each day, to have victory over sins that you can’t defeat, and to love others; you must walk in the light, and that only happens if you deal with the sin in your life.
