GOD IS LIGHT | 1 John 1:1-5

If you would, please turn to 1 John. And like Aaron said, we have taken a break to talk about eschatology.

As my wife likes to say, eschatology. And I just have to kind of laugh and be like, I'm married to all that.

So very thankful. But yeah, we spent some time talking about the study of last things.

And as we're gonna see in 1 John, he reminds us that we are going to be made like Christ one day at his coming.

So we'll definitely see features of that within 1 John. But I wanted today to primarily be a review.

So if you would follow along with me, I'll read the first 10 verses, which is chapter one, and then we'll review and we'll test what y 'all remember.

Because I know y 'all love that. So follow along with me in 1 John chapter one that says, that which is from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

The life was made manifest and we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the

Father and was made manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you so that you too may have fellowship with us.

And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and his son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

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.

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.

In 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 raise your hands. Does anything jog your memory that we've talked about many moons ago?

Don't be shy. Anything, anything jog your memory? Remember, we covered the first six verses, so maybe those verses jog your memory a little bit.

Fair point. Who wrote 1 John? Avery. Dang, nice.

So how many books did John write? How about that, Avery? Kennedy, would you like to chime in there?

How many? Close. Yes. Five books. So what books did

John write? Aaron? And then what did we talk about for about two months?

Yes, yep. And so John wrote the Apocalypse, right? The revealing of Jesus.

And so does anybody remember any details about the disciple of John? Some things that happened in his life while he was walking in Christ's ministry?

Avery? Yeah, do y 'all remember that?

Remember one of his nicknames that Jesus gave him was Sons of Thunder, James and John.

They were fishermen, but they were very thunderous and their dealings with people, very rash.

And so I believe it's in Luke's account in chapter nine where Jesus and the disciples are traveling through a

Samaritan village and the Samaritans would not let them stay in the town. No one would open up their home to them,

I believe. And what was James and John's response to that? What was that?

Basically, they said, hey, do you want us to pray that God would send fire down from heaven and smite these people?

And then the text says that Jesus rebuked them. Why did he rebuke them? Because that's not loving, right?

Who cares if people reject you, right, for who you stand for, who you are in Christ? Shake the dust off your feet, keep going.

So Jesus rebuked them because they were not showing Christ's likeness. They were not loving God and loving neighbor.

But that's a really good reason why they were known as the Sons of Thunder. Makes me think of Thor, right?

So we see a transformation happen to the Apostle John. He goes from the

Apostle of Thunder, son of Boenerges, to what? The Apostle of what?

Because that's the right answer. Go ahead. Good point, good point.

It's not John the Baptist, which was confusing to me when I was reading John chapter one. It mentions

John, but we know it's John the Baptist, but it's confusing because you're reading the Gospel of John and it's not talking about that John.

So yeah, we have to always look at context to make that distinction. So we see a transformation in John's life.

He goes from this thunderous apostle and then Christ transforms him into the

Apostle of love. And we see this in many ways. The Gospel of John that he wrote himself, he refers to himself as the one whom

Jesus loved. That's all that he could care about when he reflects back on the ministry of Christ, that man,

I'm loved by Christ, right? And I think this is a really good picture of Philippians one, verse six.

Does anybody know that verse off the top of their head? I quote it like all the time. He who began a good work in you brings it to completion all the way to the day of Christ Jesus.

And so what that tells us is that when God transforms someone's heart, he's not gonna say, all right, good luck with all that.

No, he gives us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit grows us in sanctification, right?

And so we see that in the Apostle John, right? We see him very thunderous, very rash, and he's transformed into the

Apostle of love. And then what we see brought out in this epistle, 1 John, is that that love is also grounded in truth, okay?

So that kind of helps us understand who's writing this letter. John wrote his

Gospel to everyone so that they may look upon Jesus Christ and have everlasting life, to believe in his name.

That's like the thesis of John's Gospel. Does anybody know kind of the thesis verse, the main verse of 1

John, like the purpose of it? Testing those memory banks,

Avery. That's a huge point, to love one another.

That's actually a sign in which we can know that we're of God, right? And so look with me at 1

John 5, 13. He says, I write these things to you, this whole letter, to those who believe in the name of Jesus, or in the name of the

Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And so this is not just a letter to unbelievers.

This is a letter specifically for those who are in Christ, that they may have assurance of their salvation, that they may know they have eternal life.

So thank Gospel, written to all people, especially unbelievers, so they may become saved.

But this letter is specifically written to who? Christians, right?

Those who are in Christ. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the

Son of God. So when you're reading this, think, man, this is specifically written for me so that I may know,

I can rest in the assurance that I have in Christ that I'll be in heaven one day. I'll be with Christ.

I will come back to this restored world when Christ returns, right? So that's awesome. With that in mind, let's look back at the first four verses.

So John is writing this, and John walked with Jesus all through his earthly ministry.

And so that's gonna be very important in these opening verses. John says, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

So let me ask you a question. Who is John referring to here when he says concerning the word of life?

Any takers? Who is this referring to? Crickets.

I need one of those buttons to hit the crickets on the recording. So who did

John observe during their earthly ministry? Jesus. Right?

So remember in John chapter one, in the beginning was the word, the word was with, and the word was

God. And so who's the word referring to in John chapter one? The word became flesh and dwelt among us, which is

Jesus. And so in John one, yes, thank you. I saw that,

I heard that back there. But in John chapter one, he's referring to how Jesus existed all the way from the beginning.

Not that he was created, he existed before the beginning because he's the creator, right? Now John, same writer, he's talking about the beginning of Jesus's earthly ministry.

He preached the gospel and he showed what the gospel ultimately pointed to himself.

So think back, let me reread verse one, but that's what he's getting at. That which was from the beginning, whose beginning?

Jesus's earthly ministry. That which we have heard and we have seen with our eyes and looked upon and have touched with our hands.

So the disciples, they witnessed Jesus's entire earthly ministry beginning at his baptism, how he healed people, did many miracles, how he taught.

Remember the Sermon on the Mount that we spent like what, two years talking about? I mean, John was there listening to Jesus and when

Jesus resurrected, the disciples got to see the wounds in his hand and on his side, right?

And so they got to see with their eyes and touch with their hands. These are eyewitness testimonies.

And remember we spent some time talking about the qualifications of what you had to be to even be an apostle.

Does anybody remember any of those qualifications? Aaron? First, you had to see Jesus to be able to perform miracles.

Good boy, son. He's trying to phone a friend right now. So real quick, you said they had to see

Jesus's earthly ministry, right? And then you said what? Okay, yeah, yeah, there are certain signs that accompanied the apostles and those called out and sent out by Christ.

That's a good point. What else? What else?

Yes, no, that's a great point. You had to see the earthly ministry of Jesus beginning with his baptism.

You had to, and ultimately, be an eyewitness of his resurrection. And then it goes back to what

Aaron said. You had to be called out by God and sent out and the apostles could perform signs and wonders to confirm that they are truly sent out by God, right?

So once again, this is telling us more about the author, the human author here, which is who?

Don't whisper it. Who is it? Right, it's talking about the word,

Jesus and his earthly ministry, and John the Apostle is telling us about these things. So look with me at verse two.

So he's talking about concerning the word of life, like Liberty said, which is talking about Jesus. The life was made manifest and we have seen it and we testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the

Father and was made manifest to us. So I use this term all the time, but we're seeing aspects of the

Trinity here, right? Can someone raise your hand and tell me what the Trinity means? Justin?

Okay. Who and what is three in one? J .D.?

Mm, nailed it. So God is one being, there's one God, but that one

God has revealed himself in Father, Son, and Spirit. And you may say, that does not compute in my brain.

Just know, God is not one in three in the same way. We're not talking about one God and then three gods. We're talking about one being who is three persons, right?

Clear as mud, right? All you need to know is that the three persons of the

Godhead have always been in perfect communion, relationship with one another before the foundation of the world.

These three persons have co -eternally existed in perfect loving relationship with self -sustaining, right?

And when I say loving relationship, that's super important because love is transcendent, meaning love has existed before human beings did.

How? Within God. God is love, as we're gonna see in 1 John. So it always goes back to the persons of the

Trinity. And so you see a little bit of this in verse two, that which was with the Father was made manifest to us.

Remember John chapter one? In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and then the Word was God.

So how can the Word be with God in this context of being before the foundation of the world?

Well, Jesus is the Word, and they were in relationship before time began.

So all that means is the Word, Jesus, has eternally existed. He didn't just begin to exist through the virgin birth.

Okay, that's when he took on flesh, but he's God, he's eternal, right? And so it says that he was made manifest to us.

Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, took on flesh and dwelt among us and has told us about the truth of the

Father, the Son, and the Spirit, right? So verse three says, that which we have seen and heard and proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us.

So raise your hand, what do you think John is trying to communicate to Christians here? That which we have seen and heard we proclaim.

What is he proclaiming to us? The gospel?

Absolutely, right? That's what he's talking about. The Word of life, the eternal life, all these things that Jesus himself embodied, they witnessed it, and so he's writing it down.

For us who know God, to rest in it, to know that we have eternal life. Right, Avery? You're giving me that smirk, and I'm just like, what, is there something in my beard?

And so there's another key phrase. I never wanna skip over this. So that you too may have fellowship with us.

What's fellowship mean? Togetherness.

Togetherness, I like that. Let me tell you what I used to think fellowship was. Now I grew up in a traditional

Baptist environment, and so I thought fellowship was kind of the Sunday school classroom that was really cold and we had steel crackers.

I was just like, oh, this is fellowship, you know? And so fellowship is, like Aaron said, it's togetherness, but in a very specific way that's different than the world, because can't the world get together and have community and a fun time, right?

But Christianity is something different. So what type of togetherness do

Christians do when they get together? This would be a question.

I'm just gonna sit here until it gets really awkward. J .D.? Is that first time or something that you discuss with other people to get them to communicate?

Communicate about spiritual truths. What do we call our mealtime after the service on Sundays?

We say it every Sunday. Koinonia feast, what's that Greek word, koinonia? Fellowship.

Okay, and so when you do look at that Greek word, koinonia, it means, I like togetherness, but it means joint participation, which is togetherness, right?

But what that means is when we come together as the body of Christ, as saints, we are participating with one another, and it's not one -sided.

Pastor Nathan may get up and preach, but as Christians, we have such a togetherness where it's not just we're consuming information.

Afterwards, we're going to build one another up in God's truth and love.

We're gonna talk about spiritual things, and we all have different gifts gifted to us by the

Holy Spirit. And so that's one of the essential features of a healthy church is everyone's involved.

I love how everybody gets involved with our greeting ministry, right? Because that's a way that we can participate in the body.

We have liberty that makes the bread for communion. You know what I mean? And that's awesome.

And so we all have our different types of giftings, and we participate in that way.

And so the way that John is using fellowship is he's using it in a salvation context.

He is proclaiming these things to you that you may have fellowship with the Father, the Son, the 12 apostles, and all saints of all time.

We have a togetherness that is distinct from the world. So it's not just stale crackers in a cold room.

Christian fellowship is so much deeper. We have a spiritual bond. We have a spiritual connection.

We talk about spiritual realities, right? That's what we're doing this evening. And so, and he says, and indeed, our fellowship is with the

Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, and we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

So we already know that John is writing this letter for Christians so we can know that we have eternal life to rest assured in our salvation.

But what's another reason he's writing these things to us, according to verse four? It's okay, you can cheat and look at your

Bibles, but only cheat in this context, Aaron. So why is he writing this to us?

So that what can happen? Delaney? Yes, so let me ask you this.

Let's say you're going through a time of depression. Things are really getting you down, maybe at school, maybe friendships have kind of split, who knows what else.

How can you have joy in your life? What's one way, according to John here?

I like it. Kennedy, would you like to add to that? She goes, well, bam, spend time in the

Word. Be with other Christians, right? And so I think that is super practical.

If you're going through a hard time, invest in your church family. I'm a little bit offended, by the way.

I hear y 'all go bowling and y 'all hang out all the time and no one invites me. This needs to change, people.

But I also want to say this. I'm also really proud of y 'all, that y 'all don't need a quote -unquote youth pastor planning events.

I think y 'all understand how important these friendships are. All right, lay it on me.

Suck it up, boy. All right, that's some tough love right there. But hey, does that make sense?

How can we get joy? What do we need to do? What's practical? I like what you said, it all ties back to him.

Spend time in prayer, that fellowship with the Father and the Son. And what'd you say, Liberty? Fellowship with the saints, right?

So that our joy may be complete, right? So let's continue on our review quest here.

Look with me at verse five. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you.

So what type of message is John proclaiming to us? Hmm. What's the message that he's been proclaiming to us here?

You know, dang. So y 'all see that? He tells us right in the next phrase that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

So think about it, the first four verses, this message that Jesus, they have seen, they have touched with their hands, his ministry, how eternal life was manifested in their midst and they're telling us about the fellowship with the

Father and the Son and all Christians. But like Lauren said, that can all be summed up in God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

Question, I try to think of these on the spot. What does that mean? What does it mean,

God is light and in him there is no darkness at all? Does that mean he's just like a really bright, shining sun that you can't even look at?

God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. What does that mean?

So you're asking me to answer it. Avery?

Well, yeah, because I was actually gonna try to tie some strong unity with the sun,

S -U -N, with the S -O -N, sun, that there is, and I loved what you said. He's good and what

I'm getting at is he is holy. Holy, holy, holy. And meaning there is no imperfections in God whatsoever.

Perfection, holiness, there's no darkness at all. James tells us that it's impossible for God even to be tempted by sin.

It tells us a lot about Jesus when he was manifested in the flesh and had an earthly ministry. He was tempted in every way.

Sin and temptation came at him but it never found any foothold within him because he's

God, right, isn't that encouraging? I read an illustration one time where someone was like, well, since Jesus couldn't sin, can he really empathize with us?

Absolutely, if you see sin and temptation coming at you like you're walking in a storm, it's coming at you, all of us, we get knocked off our feet, right, because we eventually do sin, right, with enough temptation because of our flesh.

But Jesus never fell. He was able to endure the entire storm. He understands the sin of temptation better than we do because he never fell.

So not only can he empathize with us because he's truly God, truly man, but he understands sin and temptation way better than we ever could, right?

And yet we're reading that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

Question, do y 'all remember when the prophet Isaiah had a vision and was in the throne room of God, what happened?

It's in Isaiah chapter six. Does anybody remember, Lauren? Yeah, it's interesting that that's the detail that you remember.

I usually remember other things, but it took me a number of times to fixate on that.

Let's actually turn there, we got time. Turn with me in your Old Testament to Isaiah chapter six.

Yeah, Jeremiah's pretty much the best book in the Bible. Isaiah chapter six.

All right, raise your hand when you're there. Oh, that's true.

Definitely missed them tonight. All right, look with me, let's just read this passage because remember, the thing

I'm wanting you to remember from John chapter one verse five is God in him, or God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

Question, what does that mean, that God is light? He's good and holy, he's perfect in all of his ways.

So think about that term that she just said, holy, okay? So Isaiah chapter six begins by saying, in the year that King Uzziah died, he saw the

Lord sitting upon his throne. Let me pause. Anybody wanna take a guess who that is? What's the classic

Sunday school answer that I can't say no to? Jesus. And what's amazing about this is we know, and there's many reasons why we know, but this is

Jesus sitting on the throne and Isaiah is seeing Jesus. And you think about it, this is hundreds, probably around 700 years or so before Jesus was born of a virgin and had his earthly ministry.

This just shows that Jesus preexisted his incarnation when he took on flesh. Do I know that?

I think it's John chapter 12 actually quotes a passage from Isaiah six here and applies it to Jesus himself.

Pretty incredible. So in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah said,

I saw the Lord, which is Jesus, sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him stood seraphim, each had six wings. With two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.

And one called to another and said, here's the key word here, holy, holy, holy is the

Lord of hosts and the whole world is full of his glory.

And the foundations of the threshold shook and at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke.

And so Isaiah said, now I want you to think about this. He just saw Jesus on the throne and understands how holy, holy, holy he is and Isaiah's a prophet.

He's a pretty good guy, right? And yet in light of God's holiness, look how

Isaiah sees himself. And this should be every one of us. He says, woe is me, meaning

I ought to be judged for the sinfulness that I possess in light of how holy, holy, holy

God is. He says, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips.

Now pause, now he's a prophet. He usually says wonderful things, but he recognizes that what he says is wicked and corrupt and it stems from where?

Man's heart, right? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks is what

Jesus says. And a holy man, a prophet, recognizes how utterly sinful he is in light of how

God, how holy, holy, holy God is. And he says, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the

King, the Lord of hosts. And then one of the seraphim flew to me and having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

That's the detail that Lauren remembered, right? Because it's kind of vivid, like, oh my goodness. I think all that's meant to be communicated is

God atones for sin, God provides for us, right? And so turn back with me to 1

John. No, but God is communicating that he atones for sin.

Remember Isaiah said in the throne room there, woe is me, he pronounced a judgment on himself.

I'm a man of unclean lips, I have wickedness that spews out of my mouth that comes from within, and I also come from a people that's in the same boat.

And then I think it's a fact of comfort. God says, I will atone for your sin, I will accomplish these things, right?

With the imagery of the angel and the burning coal. So the point is, God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

So question, how should we respond in light of God's holiness? Not everyone all at once.

How should we respond in light of who God is in his holiness and perfection and goodness?

Should we say, oh, that's pretty cool, I'm pretty awesome myself? Yeah. Okay, humble,

JD. Fear him, there must be a reverence and respect for the eternal creator who is holy and good,

Delaney. Ooh, mm, that is awesome.

Because God is perfect, God is holy, and we are not. We need him to save us, and like Aaron said, our response needs to be one of humility.

And it is humility to recognize that we are sinful people, we're not good.

A lot of people are like, oh, I try my best, I'm overall a pretty good person. No, you're a vile creature of the dust that has sinned against the eternal creator and committed treason, and you deserve just punishment for your sin against him.

He is holy, he is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. Okay, so I think number one, it should cause us to be broken over our sin.

And then, what should we do? Come on, we got 15 more minutes to kill here,

JD. Ooh, repentance, that's good, I'm trying to remember.

The first, be attitude, does anybody recall what it is? I'm not a boy.

Yes, well, that's good. I put myself on the spot, so I couldn't quote it offhand.

Tell me if this rings a bell. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Why should we be blessed and happy at mourning?

What are we to mourn about, JD? Our sin, right?

But doesn't that quickly, how does it then move us to being comforted?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Delaney? Right, and when we do sin, as we're gonna look at, we continue to repent, we continue to look back to the

Savior in our loving fellowship with Him. So I love it, we're broken over sin, we repent, we look to the

Savior in faith, and then we desire to be like Him.

We desire to grow in holiness, remember? God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

And so since we are a child of God, we desire holiness. So if you would, just turn a couple pages, turn with me to 1

Peter chapter one. I'm wanting us to keep this train of thought.

Our response to God's holiness is to see how broken and sinful we are, but when we look to the

Savior in faith, we then desire to be holy like God is holy.

And we don't do it out of legalism. We don't say, oh man, I'm gonna try to obey all of your commandments so that you continue to love me.

No, He loves us eternally. And so when we're a son or daughter of God, He adopts us, and He's not gonna say, oh, this is only contingent with how you act, right?

Imagine if your parents said, if you disobey me, I'm kicking you out of my house. You know what a sad reality?

That's some people's relationships with their parents. That's not how it was designed to be. Now fortunately, we've experienced the grace and mercy of our parents, right?

When we are disobedient, we may get wore out, but hopefully it's done out of love, right?

I got spanked a lot as a kid. I probably deserved it more, so just remember that.

So God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. So we're broken over our sin, we rest in the

Savior, and then how should we then desire to live the rest of our lives?

Out of joy, right? Glorifying Him by also being holy.

Becoming more and more like Christ. Look with me at first, Peter, starting in verse 13. He says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober -minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, okay?

There's a few key phrases here. Prepare your minds for action, right?

When we're saved, when we've first been broken over our sin and now we're comforted in the salvation of the gospel, right?

We prepare our minds for action. We don't just sit on our tail ends and say, all right, God is sovereign, He's just gonna do as He pleases.

He's called us to act. He's called us to evangelize the world. He's called us to love one another like we've been talking about, right?

And so we're to think sober -mindedly. We renew our hearts and mind with what? The Word, God's truth.

And then I love this part. It says, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Does anybody have any idea what that's talking about? We talked about it for about five weeks straight in the building.

What's gonna happen at the end of time? Who's gonna return? Christ, right?

And so we find hope in that, this revealing, this revelation of Jesus Christ at His second coming. Look with me at verse 14.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy.

Does that remind anybody of anything? God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. He is, but He who called you is holy,

God. You also be holy in all of your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

So yes, Isaiah was broken over his sinfulness before holy, holy, holy

God, but that's for a moment. We're broken over the reality of who we are.

We rest in Christ, we rest in His provision for us, but then what do we desire to live the rest of our lives like in order to give glory to God?

We desire to live holy lives, to be holy like He is holy. I almost had to scroll down with me to verse 22.

You can tell I'm on my phone way too much. So Peter says, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory, like the flowers of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the

Lord remains forever, and this word is good news that was preached to you. Y 'all see the reason why you desire to be holy if you're in Christ?

Because God is holy. God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. So look with me at the next few verses in chapter two, because this is practical.

We desire to war against sin, right? Remember before you were saved, you loved your sin.

You didn't think twice about it. But now that you're saved, you're sensitive to sin. You're sensitive to the things that do not glorify

God. So he says, so put away all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander, all these types of sin, put it away.

Make war against it. Verse two, I love this. Like newborn babes, or infants, long for, desire the pure spiritual milk of the word, that by it you may grow up into salvation.

So let me ask you a quick question. How do we grow in our salvation? I thought that was past tense. Yes, sanctification.

That's what it means to grow in holiness, right? Remember 1 John says, walk in the light as he is in the light.

What is it talking about? Sanctification. We do that by spending time in the word.

We do that by spending time with the saints. We do that by communing with God in fellowship, in prayer.

So if we have tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious, if we've experienced salvation, we are like babes that desire the pure milk of the word of God.

I have a newborn baby. He likes to cry a whole lot. Guess what he usually wants? Not for me to hold him. He wants that milk.

So if you're a new babe in Christ, if you're a new creation in Christ, what should you long for, according to verse two?

Kennedy says, well, bam, that word. So let me ask you the flip side. What if someone says, ah, man,

I just don't really desire the word. I like Christian fellowship. I like to sing songs.

But man, the preaching and my own personal devotion to it, I just don't really like spending time in the word.

What is that telling us about that person? They're not saved.

You know what I mean? Look at it again. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk of the word that by it you may grow up into salvation.

And look at verse three. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. If you've experienced salvation, if you know who

Christ is, you wanna know your Savior. You wanna know more about God. And so if you're someone that says, oh no, there's a lot of times where I don't like being in the word.

Well, this is a good time to search your heart, right? Is this something that's kind of once in a blue moon of other circumstances that happen?

Or is this an ongoing pattern in your life of not really caring about the word of God? Because if the pattern's there, we're gonna see that whoever makes a practice of sinning in first John, whoever doesn't continually show love for the brethren, this is showing deeper rooted issues of the heart, right?

So I love this because he's calling us to holiness. Look with me at verse four. As you come to him as living stones rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

For the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, think about those who do not cherish the word of God in their heart and the gospel promise, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to. And make note of this, verse nine, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy, remember that word, holy nation, a people of his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So I love this because this kind of ties back to 1 John. Remember the gospel writer or the writer of 1

John, the disciple, he's writing these things to us that we may have fellowship with the

Father and the Son that our joy may be full. God, he is light, in him there is no darkness, and so if we are in Christ, then we should desire to be holy as he is holy.