WWUTT 391 This Is the Message We Have Heard?

At the beginning of 1 John, John shows his credibility as an apostle because he was witness to the things concerning Christ.

But it's not just that he was witness to them, he was given the very message that he was given.

This is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we 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 his

Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say 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 we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

So let's jump back to verse 5, last week we covered verses 1 -4, in verse 5

John says, This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Now contrast that statement with what it is that we read in verses 1 -4.

It's there at the beginning that John is making his case, his credibility for carrying the message of God because as an apostle he was witness to the things concerning Christ, his ministry and his testimony.

And as we mentioned last week, from the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River by John the

Baptist to his arrest, his crucifixion, his resurrection from the grave and his ascension into heaven.

The apostles were there and witnessed all of that. John was there during Jesus' earthly ministry, who heard the message that Christ proclaimed, who saw the miracles that he did, affirming that he was who he said he was, the

Son of God sent from heaven to take away the sin of the world. John was witness to all of this and he opens himself to that at the very beginning of the letter when he says,

We saw it, we heard it, with our own eyes we witnessed these things, we touched it with our hands, these things concerning the word of life.

John heard it himself, the testimony from heaven from God the Father who said, This is my beloved

Son with whom I am well pleased. The apostles were there, they saw all of that. And yet,

John doesn't let just his eyewitness account be the credibility for the message that he has to deliver.

Because then you get to verse 5 and he says, This is the message we have heard and proclaimed to you.

So it's not, this is what we witnessed so now we're going to tell you what it is that we witnessed. Another aspect of the credibility of John to be able to deliver the word of God to those whom he is writing to is the very fact that this message was given to him by God.

Being an eyewitness was not enough, but that they were specifically appointed by Christ to carry his message.

Let's go back to Luke. So still here in 1 John, keep your finger there. We're going to go to the last chapter of Luke, Luke chapter 24.

And we're going to be looking at the story of the disciples who are walking on the road to Emmaus.

This begins in verse 13. That very day, the same day of the resurrection of Christ, came out of the tomb, the tomb was witnessed as empty.

That very day, two of the disciples were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together,

Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?

And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopas answered him,

Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?

And he said to them, What things? And Cleopas said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes. And besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.

And Jesus said to them, Oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he was going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying,

Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent. So we went in to stay with them.

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were open and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures?

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying,

The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I'm going to keep going. Continue on from there. Verse 36. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,

Peace be to you. But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a ghost. And he said to them,

Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is

I myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

So remember, this is John having said, We saw it, we touched it with our own hands, just as Jesus invited them to do here in the gospel of Luke.

In verse 40. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them,

Have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate before them because a ghost wouldn't eat.

Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the

Psalms must be fulfilled. Verse 45. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them,

Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things and behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Then he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands, he blessed them while he blessed them.

He parted from them and was carried up into heaven and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing

God. And all of that was out of Luke chapter 24. So you notice here that they saw these things, they witnessed them and they still didn't understand them until Christ explained to them everything that was written in the scriptures about him and how he was to fulfill these things as written by Moses and in the law and what was written by the other prophets.

And while they were even there with him, still doubting, still marveling, still, still kind of wondering about what it is that they were seeing with their own eyes.

It says in verse 45 that he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

They didn't understand it when they were looking at it until Christ opened their minds to understand it.

In Matthew chapter 28, as they were going up on the mountain before we read what we call the great commission,

Jesus saying to his disciples, uh, that all power and authority has been given to me, therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. It says that when they were going up on the mountain, some doubted.

So even there in his presence, having seen him risen from the grave, there was still some among them who doubted what it was that they were seeing.

This is why John mentions here at the start of first John that it's not enough for him to have witnessed what it was that he witnessed.

There were many who witnessed and didn't believe, but John saw with his own eyes, touched with his own hands, heard with his own ears.

And then he says in verse five, and this is the message that we heard from him. So this isn't just me reporting to you what it is that I saw.

I was there. I was personally appointed by him. And here's the message that I was pointed to, uh, appointed to deliver.

So the word that comes from John is the very word of Christ. Apostle Apostolos was, it means sent one, and it was a person who carried the very word of the king.

So when an apostle spoke, what he said came from the very mouth of the emperor.

And so an apostle of Jesus Christ is regarded as the same. This is why the apostle Paul says in second

Thessalonians chapter three, that if there is anyone who does not pay attention to what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with them.

Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. So Paul is saying that these words that we have delivered to you as an apostle of Jesus Christ is as if Christ had said these things to you himself.

And so John also equally saying this word that I am delivering to you is the word that comes from Christ.

It doesn't come from me just because I was a witness to these things. Although that does give credibility to the things that John has to speak about.

He was there. He saw them. But moreover, the word that he has to deliver is the message from God himself.

And the message is this, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

Now it's this statement here in verse five that leads many scholars to believe that John was writing contrary to Gnostic teaching.

But as I mentioned in our introduction to the book of first John, that there really isn't a way to affirm or say that that isn't what

John was writing for. Again, it seems that he was very missional rather than polemic in that he wanted to proclaim the excellencies of God above, not right in response to a false teaching that was going about.

However, we see a few things in here that does seem to be in contrast to Gnostic teaching, even though Gnosticism really didn't come about until the second century.

And then it was in about the second through fifth centuries that it had a lot of prominence. So here when he says

God is light and in him is no darkness at all, if it was indeed that John was writing in response to Gnosticism or to warn about Gnosticism, the

Gnostics believe that we had this inner light. But the reality is that we don't have that light. God is the one who is light.

In us is just darkness. If we have the light that is within us, it is because Christ is within us for Christ is the light who came to men.

We read about that last week in the gospel of John chapter one. So this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

And so John makes this statement because where he's going to go from there is encouraging us to walk in that light as he is in the light.

If God is light and we have God dwelling within us, his Holy Spirit living within us, then we will be a reflection of that light.

We will show that light in our hearts as we go throughout the world, as we proclaim the testimony of Jesus Christ to others who need to hear it.

They will be able to look at our actions and be able to verify that this light that we speak of is the very light that is within our hearts.

And so as God is light in him, there is no darkness at all. So we should aspire to the same thing.

We should aspire to the light of God, of Jesus Christ that dwells within us.

I love the way that Paul talks about this light also with Timothy. This is in first Timothy chapter six, beginning in verse 11,

Paul says, as for you, oh man of God, and in calling Timothy man of God, he is actually equating him with the prophets of old as they carry the very word of God.

So Timothy, though Timothy is not an apostle, he still carries the apostolic gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so as he carries that gospel and preaches it to others, he is fulfilling the very thing that the prophets were doing when they carried the word of God.

And they were regarded as men of God, the way that they're talked about in the scriptures. Whenever a king wanted to hear the word of a prophet, he would say, send the man of God to me, or I will go and see the man of God.

So Timothy is being regarded in that same way. One who speaks the oracles of God, one who delivers the gospel of Jesus Christ is a man of God.

As for you, man of God, flee these things. And in regarding the things that he talked about in the verses before the worldliness, the temptations, the trappings of this world, flee these things.

Pursue instead righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things and of Jesus Christ who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our

Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.

To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

While there were going to be those who would no doubt oppose Timothy and the job that he was sent to do there in Ephesus, Paul was sending

Timothy to be a pastor that was there in Ephesus. Timothy was to labor as one who stood before God, who dwells in unapproachable light.

In other words, Timothy's opponents were small compared to the

God that Timothy served. And if he remained in that light of Jesus Christ, there was nothing that his opponents would be able to do to him.

Nobody would be able to stand against him. And certainly no one could take away from him the love of God and Jesus Christ our

Lord. And so just as Paul commissions Timothy in this, so we must also stand in the light of Jesus Christ, unapproachable light.

No one has ever seen God, but we know God through Jesus Christ, our

Lord. And so as we dwell in him, his light is in us. And so let us walk in the light as he is in the light.

In God, there is no darkness at all. So let us not fellowship with darkness, but have fellowship with the light.

Let us pray as we conclude. Our Lord God, we thank you for this word. And I pray that it is something that continues to minister to us and speak to us as we go throughout our day, desiring to have the light of God within us.

For it is Jesus Christ who himself said, let your light shine before men so that they may give glory to your

God and father in heaven. And so let us show forth that light, not hiding it under a basket, but setting it in the middle of the house.

So it gives light to the whole house. That way the world may see the light that is within us and they may know

God and glorify God on the day of visitation. Help us also to carry this message that we have heard from him through his apostles and prophets in his word, telling others to turn from sin and follow in the light of Jesus Christ.

And we pray and ask these things in the name of him, amen. This has been When We Understand the

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