 1 John 1 John writes that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us that which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the father and his son Jesus Christ and these things we write to you that your joy may be full there are those who will say something like this we've all heard this at one point another God doesn't care what you believe as long as you're sincere there are those who will say all roads lead to the same place and it doesn't matter what road you take as long as you're sincere and follow your personal road faithfully now those who disagree with this are referred to very often myself included as being narrow-minded or self-righteous even hypocrites and it seems to me that tolerance instead of truth is the premier virtue of our day now those who believe this wouldn't apply such thinking to a pilot if I'm taking a flight I prefer that my pilot flies in the right direction and those who accept God's word as truth to those such thinking would be foolish you see we can be sincere and sincerely wrong Proverbs 14 12 says it like this there's a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death Jesus said in Matthew 7 13 that the gate is wide the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it so if we believe that the Bible is true then we can't say other religious faiths are equally true the Bible presents salvation through Jesus and the Bible presents salvation through Jesus and no other way in the book of Acts chapter 4 verse 12 the apostle Peter said it like this Peter said there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved so if what Peter wrote is true then every other religion is false and Romans 3 forces that like this let God be true and but every man a liar now this means what we believe about Jesus is important and sincerity isn't enough now during the early years of the church satan attacked the gospel one of the earliest attacks that came against the the gospel came in what is called Gnosticism it came in the form of Gnosticism and one of the earliest attacks being that is one of the reasons that that John writes this letter because John is writing this letter to warn the church concerning this heresy false teachers Gnostics were entering in and were infecting the church with false doctrine somebody said probably the most dangerous heresy threatening the church of the first three centuries was Gnosticism this deceptive teaching was built on the philosophical premise that all material substance is evil and that the non-material the spirit is good man was considered fallen and lost because of being imprisoned in a material body his only hope of salvation according to the Gnostic was through self-knowledge the word Gnostic comes from the Greek word Gnosis knowledge in Gnostic teaching man is saved not by faith in Jesus Christ God in the flesh dying as a substitutionary sacrifice on a cross but by coming to know so what were they to come to know while one they were to come to know their origin Gnostics believed that we are a divine spark from God they were to come to know their condition the condition is one of ignorance and imprisonment in evil matter and they were to come to know their destiny a return to the original spiritual state now since matter was seen as evil and Gnostic either became an ascetic who sought to conquer the sinful desires of the flesh or a libertine we don't use that word anymore a libertine is one who engaged in unbridled indulgence of the flesh so some libertines taught that the flesh could not affect the spirit this meant you could engage in whatever act you desired without negative effects upon your real self which is your spirit by the way this may sound familiar to you because Gnosticism never died it's still with us to this day now because the material body was thought to be sinful Gnostics believed that God could not dwell in a body this meant a Gnostic didn't believe in the incarnation some believe that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body they were known as dosodists the word dosodist comes from the Greek word decaying and decaying means to seem or to appear others said that the divine Christ came upon the human Jesus at his baptism and left him immediately before his death which is why he would say my god my god why hast thou forsaken me they took scripture out of context to present their beliefs in that way and so this letter is written really as what it would be called an apologetic against the Gnostic heresy that was entering the church the author of the letter is the apostle john the date of the letter is around 90 to 95 the readers are Christians and more than likely were those living in Ephesus in ancient turkey we know that John by reading our gospels and all was a fisherman and he was called by God rather by Jesus to be an apostle after his resurrection God inspired John to write five New Testament books he wrote his gospel which reveals the theme of salvation through Christ it dealt with our past and how Jesus gave us a new life in in him he gave us another book the revelation which deals primarily with our future revelation 119 says right there for what you've seen but is now and what will take place later and then he wrote three epistles which were intended to encourage us in the present you see what Jesus did in the past prepares us for the future John was an elder in Jerusalem he left before Jerusalem was destroyed in 80 70 settled in Ephesus more than likely pastured there and ministered to the seven churches of revelation and as is true with all letters in in the New Testament he had a purpose in writing the first purpose of first John is to encourage us to joy notice that in verse four where he said these things we write to you that your joy may be full Christianity is a relationship with God that is joyful Psalm 5 verse 11 let all who take refuge in you be glad let them ever sing for joy spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you the book of Galatians 5 verse 22 speaks of the fruit of the spirit and he says it love and it is joy the second reason that is written is to keep us from a life of sin you see that in chapter 2 verse 1 in chapter 2 verse 1 my little children these things I write to you so that you may not sin so the second purpose is to keep us from a life of sin Paul said it in this way Romans chapter 6 verse 1 and 2 what shall we say then shall we go on sinning so that grace being increased by no means we died to sin how can we live in it any longer so the second reason to keep us from a life of sin the third reason is found in chapter 2 verse 26 which is to protect us from false teachings he says in chapter 2 verse 26 these things I've written to you concerning those who tried to deceive you and then the fourth reason is to provide for us an assurance of salvation and you see that in chapter 5 at verse 11 this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life this life is in his son he who has the son has life he who does not have the son of God does not have life these things I've written to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the son of God those are four purposes I think that right now we as believers need to experience the joy we need to stay away from sin we need to be safe from deception and we need to have an assurance of God working in our lives and so that's what we're going to be looking at and that's what we're going to be starting now to to attempt to examine so let's begin in first John chapter 1 first one notice how it says that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes what you have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life John begins with a sentence instead of an introduction and second and third John as well as revelation he began with an introduction but here he begins with something that reminds us of other passages in the bible Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 how's it begin well how's it start in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and so Genesis 1 1 speaks of creation his gospel started out like this in John chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word the word was with God the word was God and so Genesis 1 1 speaks of creation John 1 1 speaks of Jesus predating creation and so in his introduction what he's doing is he's referring to the incarnation again remember the context the Gnostic did not believe that God would inhabit flesh and so he's speaking concerning Jesus's incarnation he's saying that Jesus is the living message he's the message in human flesh he's saying God has taken human form and has revealed himself to man in creation the Lord made man like himself but in redemption he made himself like man and that's what he's pointing out you see in Jesus the message was made alive the word became flesh in John 1 14 it says the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth and so John has given us that insight so he's saying in verse 1 that which we speaking of John and others have heard that which we have comprehended that which we have understood so it's saying that we heard this in the past we understood it in the past and it has lasting consequences it's affecting us now we understood that message the message of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ and we have seen this the word seen speaks of discerning but beyond discernment it speaks of discerning and experiencing we have this we have discerned we have experienced this we have gazed closely upon we have looked upon this in other words Jesus was not a phantom Jesus was not a ghost Jesus was a real person he speaks of handling when Jesus was resurrected he had an actual physical body remember how he spoke to Mary after his resurrection and he had said to Mary do not cling to me in John 20 verse 17 he said to her don't cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father but I go but I but go to my brother and say to them I'm ascending to my father to your father my god and your god when he was speaking to Thomas and he had appeared to him he said in John 20 verse 27 reach your finger here look at my hands reach your hand here put it into my side do not be unbelieving but believing there are those and I won't give you a whole lot of this right now because it comes to mind even as I'm teaching this but there are those who say that Jesus Christ only appeared the Jehovah's Witnesses teach this that Jesus Christ appeared in various bodies he appeared as a gardener for example and all and they'll point that out they say that they say that he was not resurrected in a physical body they but the Bible teaches that he was and that form of teaching that comes from Jehovah's Witnesses is a form of Gnosticism that's why Jesus said reach your finger here look at my hands reach your hand here put it into my side do not be unbelieving but believing you see in light of the Gnostic heresy is letters based on physical realities and I witness God became man and God gave man the gospel he says in verse two the life was manifested we have seen we bear witness the word was made visible and we've experienced this life that was given to us and that is worth testifying about he says it in verse three that which we have seen and heard we declare to you we are witnesses and our witness is true those who are preaching otherwise our liars and deceivers and we're telling you this in order that you may know God take a moment with that that's the purpose of evangelism I really believe it's very important for us as Christians to be involved in whatever way the Lord may lead us to be a physical and material help to people I believe that I see somebody who's in need and I have the resources or ability to help them and I sense that that's a proper thing to do at that moment it's a right thing to do I believe that we do that but when you give a cup of water Jesus said make sure you give a cup of water in my name and I think what happened in the church as a matter of fact I don't know what happened in the church units in its recent history is we became enamored with a social gospel with the the desire to to minister to people's material needs and we forgot their eternity um I know somebody who is a minister in in India and he was sharing on one occasion about what he referred to as rice Christians rice Christians could have been speaking about me rice Christians what was the rice Christian he was saying they are people who claim to know Jesus because you're feeding them but when you stop feeding them they really don't know him he said part of the problem that western missionaries have have brought to India is this idea that you can meet all their physical needs and they're gonna when their physical needs are met they're going to have an awareness of their spiritual needs he says we don't do that in India he says we give them the gospel because we know that eternity is more important than having some rice right now and uh he was there and has been there for many years and there's a lot of truth to that we have seen over the years how how even here in this fellowship I've experienced it many times when people have have come and and have asked for us to give them something and very often in the past we have helped them we we will help we do that that's we do that but only to be taken advantage of many years ago I a lady came and she had um we were on grove at that time and I had an officer and she came in my secretary called me and said somebody's here they want to talk to you you know pastor we don't have anything could you be of help it's Christmas and and I said well of course and so we we had a food pantry and we I said here take some we gave her some food and all the next year she came back again and I hadn't seen her in church but there she comes again this time she says we have a need can you help us and I said of course and so I said here's the food pantry take what you need I didn't go in there with her so I went in after she left and there was nothing left in the food pantry she took every single thing and the Christmas tree that we had in the in the sanctuary that we had there that was a remember as remembrance of the season that we're in so I learned kind of early in ministry that feeding somebody isn't saving somebody and we have to be aware of those kinds of things we have to be aware that there's a need for them to know Jesus Christ we need to tell people about him in John 17 verse 3 this is life eternal that they might know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent and so he goes on and now he gives to us the first purpose he says in verse 4 these things we write to you that your joy may be full I want to develop that with you for a few moments joy the bible in the new testament was written in what is called koine or common greek and the greek word at that time that was chosen to be used that we translate as the word joy is the word kara and kara is a word that can be used for a variety of things including a charismatic gifts and various things like that speak of grace and all but kara speaks of delight and cheerfulness it's something that reminds us of how good it is for us to be saved I mean I don't know how many people spend much time perhaps all of us in this room do I don't know perhaps not how many believers spend any time remembering not with the desire to go back but remembering where you came from remembering the life you used to live remembering your own testimony again remember I've shared with you that that we have testimonies usually there too we have the one that's appropriate to share with others and everybody knows it and then we have the real one then only God and I know and that real one isn't something I like to share with anybody as a matter of fact only God knows these things I've been with my wife for many many years now she doesn't know my full testimony because she wouldn't be my wife for many many years but God changes you right God God doesn't work in you God God forgives you God transforms you God makes you unrecognizable to those who knew you best he changes you and when you consider that when you think of what you were where you were going what you were doing how miserable your life was and then somebody loved you enough to come and speak to you and tell you about Jesus Christ when somebody told you you are most miserable and you need the Lord it's kind of like that's how Charles Spurgeon got saved Charles Spurgeon the great British preacher of another age Charles Spurgeon was 17 or so years old he was in a small church in England and the pastor couldn't make it because it was storming and so here comes this deacon in the church he didn't know how to preach very well but he pointed his finger at a young Charles Spurgeon and he said young man you're most miserable he said but you will be more miserable in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ and that's that's a different day that's a different form of preaching but that's what brought Charles Spurgeon to the faith of Christ is somebody who is willing to tell him you're miserable and you need joy joy is a spiritual reality it's not happiness happening the word happiness derives its origin from the word happenings so my happiness depends on my circumstances so if things are going well right now I'm happy if everything's going well my my life seems to be in order it's going well when I first got out of the military I had a guy who I worked for I was hired to work for him he wanted somebody from Biola to work for him he liked to have Christians so he himself was not a Christian but he liked to have Christians work for him and so I went to work for this guy and he was a most miserable man I have to tell you wasn't that old he's in his 30s he had two small young children two boys and he he I discovered as I work for him that part of the reason that he liked to bring in Biola is he wanted to debate he wanted to speak about what he believed was truth and he wanted to argue with Bible college students and so that's part of why he hired me and he would get kind of smart kind of flippant he'd make comments you know and and I was there to work a job not to argue with the boss but eventually I went into his office after work and I started visiting with him and I told him you need the Lord Jesus Christ and he says why he said I'm very happy right now I said you're happy because your business is doing well you're happy because your wife has been faithful to you and you're happy because your children are small and they're not causing you any problems but what's going to happen if your business goes down the tube what's going to happen if your wife is unfaithful to you what's going to happen if your children don't turn out the way you want them to what are you going to have then are you going to be happy and I said you you don't happiness isn't what I'm looking for what I have is the joy of the Lord and the joy of the Lord comes through salvation with the joy of the Lord even though today may not be a good thing there's something waiting for me that's a whole lot better and so my focus isn't on the right now my focus is on my future in the Lord Jesus Christ and I've been asked I've said this to you before but I've been asked what is the number one lesson you have learned over the 50 plus years you've walked with the Lord and it's this it all works out in the end what was bothering me then has a tendency of being solved over time and the things that I thought would never be solved they are solved and often they've been solved in a way that I that I end up being rejoicing rejoicing in the Lord because of what he has done so joy comes from salvation happiness comes from circumstances and so we write these things to you that you may have joy in Isaiah chapter 12 verse 3 it reads with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation Psalm 16 verse 11 you have made known to me the path of life you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand Jesus said in John 15 verse 11 I've told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full Romans chapter 4 verse 8 blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him blessed speaks of being joyful rejoicing why my sins will not be counted against me we write these things so your joy may be full we write these things so that you may know this message that we're giving to you came to life we saw him we handled him we know who he is he's the word of life and he has brought to us salvation and this salvation produces joy if you fall false teaching it always ends up in misery because you're miserable because you can't be what that master is telling you you ought to be but in Christ he makes us what he wants us to be verse 5 he says this is the message which we've heard from him and declared 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 in the blood of Jesus Christ 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 that we have not sinned we make him a liar his word is not in us this is the message verse 5 and we're declaring it to you we're speaking of God's nature and we're speaking of God's character and in him is light in him is light there is no darkness in him at all God's nature and character is revealed through Jesus and throughout the bible light is symbolic of good and darkness is symbolic of evil in Job 30 verse 26 when I hoped for good evil came when I looked for light then came darkness so without Jesus revealing God to us we wouldn't have discovered him on our own it had to be revealed again in Job so far the name of night said this in Job 11 7 through 9 can you fathom the mysteries of God can you probe the limits of the almighty they're higher than the heavens what can you do they're deeper than the depths of the grave what can you know their measure is longer than the earth wider than the sea Romans 11 33 oh the depth and the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments in his ways past finding out one of the problems with those who don't know the Lord is they have a tendency of making him into a man not in the incarnation but reducing him to be like a human being and they think that they can think outthink God or out argue God and they just have no concept of the magnitude of God how how could they they don't know them they're walking in darkness they have no light within them because God has a depth that no one can plumb God is much beyond our finding out we can't hunt for him and and find him through natural means as a matter of fact man isn't even naturally seeking after him Romans 3 11 says there's none who understands there's none who seeks after God so that's why Jesus came to reveal God the Father to us in Matthew 11 27 all things have been delivered to me by my father no one knows the son except the father nor does anyone know the father except the son and he to whom the son wills to reveal him so we all need the revelation through the power of the Holy Spirit the conviction through the word of God to know who Jesus Christ is and God is the one who draws us the Bible teaches us that God is holy and God is righteous that he is separate from sinners again in Job 37 23 the Almighty is beyond our reach he is exalted in power in his justice and great righteousness he does not oppress God is holy and God is righteous and because he is his children are to be also in 1 Peter 1 14 through 16 as obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but just as he who called you is holy so be holy in all you do for it is written be holy because I am holy you see this attitude that I can do whatever I want with my body that the Gnostics have you know and still go to heaven and all of that has bled into the church I can't tell you over the years conversations that I've had with people who who like to who like to defend a life that they know is not pleasing to God by using the words well I'm saved by grace and what we do is we take the grace of God and we kind of extend it like a blanket over us that gives us permission to continue in sin shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound God forbid all that sin and so the Gnostics were saying you can do what you want with your body it really doesn't matter but but john is making it very clear no it is it really does matter God is holy and God intends us to live holy lives also 1 Peter 1 14 through 16 again as obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but just as he who called you is holy so be holy in all you do it's written be holy because I am holy so with this in mind john gives three tests for Christians or professing Christians and notice this you're going to see it in verse six eight and 10 each test begins with the words if we say well verse six contrasts a profession of faith with our actions verse six if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth if we say that we know him but habitually live in a sinful lifestyle we're not telling the truth if we say we have fellowship with him that word fellowship speaks of an intimacy a knowledge of God so if we have an intimacy with God but are living habitually in sin we're not practicing the truth again Gnostics believe they could sin with impunity so the walk in darkness speaks of a way of life a habitual lifestyle an expression of a life he's saying if you continue in sin you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ I I I should say this very quickly you get saved does that mean that from that point on it's just a straight climb up and you know a month later you're almost Billy Graham you know in 10 years you're the most amazing no because of our flesh and no giving giving no excuse for it but taking into consideration the reality of it no we don't necessarily have a have a stupendous climb up to the top at all right I mean we go through what is called a process of sanctification where where we walk with the Lord we fail we confess our sin God forgives us we start our walk again and and many walks are are like that for some time until you finally get it going and it's not that you ever stop sinning because we never stop sinning until we're face-to-face with Christ and that's his life it's just a process of growing more like Jesus Christ being conformed into his image but then there are others and I've encountered and perhaps some of you have and maybe maybe some you know are doing this right now you may be doing this right now who who use who use grace as an excuse to continue in sin I've seen that more than once who use God's grace as an excuse many years ago young lady came into my office she said pastor david can I would you pray for me and I said well of course how can I pray for you and she said I would like you to pray she was in high school she said I would like you to pray for a boy that I've got a crush on in school I said really no I'm not a mystical matchmaker that's not my thing you know but you went to our fellowship at that time and and I'm I was I supposed her pastor so I said let me ask you a question I said of course I'll pray for you but let me ask you a question she says what is it I said this is young boy that you that you like she goes yeah I said is he a believer is he Christian oh no I said you want me to pray that God will give you an unbeliever as a boyfriend she goes yeah I said where did you get the idea of that I should do that she said well I was reading the Bible and Jesus said whatever you ask in my name I will do so we had a nice conversation about that I never saw her again I wonder why I said no girl I said no because um you don't have to be unequally yoked with unbelievers God forbids that and I shared with her what the scripture says about relationships and you're making a mistake and no God isn't going to answer that prayer that's out of his will but she had just no God will give me what I want there are quite a number of people who are that way and so if we say that we have fellowship with him but our life doesn't demonstrate that habitually we walk in darkness he says in verse 6 he says we lie and don't practice the truth you see obedience to the things of the Lord in your life is proof of your salvation remember John 14 15 if you love me keep my commandments in John 14 23 and 24 if anyone loves me he'll obey my teaching my father will love him we will come to him and make our home with him he who does not love me will not obey my teaching these words you hear are not my own they belong to the father who sent me evidence that I know the Lord is a desire to be obedient to him that's the first test if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth verse 7 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 and so true christian fellowship is built on lives that are obedient when we live in disobedience we have no true fellowship with others when we're practicing a life of sin fellowship is cut off and some of you understand what I just said because you may have a friend who professes to know the Lord but because they're living in a way that isn't glorifying to the Lording and you desire to it cuts the fellowship off Marie and I have a very dear friend and when we were dating he's a guy because I told him I told him I said I had been going out with Marie for like four or five months and I told him I said I've never I haven't kissed her and my friend looks at me and he says what you haven't what I said I haven't kissed her took three months for me to hold her hand I'm hard to get no I said I just I said no I haven't done it it was my friend who said you know David you really care about it maybe you ought to give her a kiss and this and that it was my friend and he's very dear to me very dear to me when I got married when marine I got married there were only two people in my wedding there was my brother and there was my friend I mean that's how close he was to me but my friend went through a period where he just he just wasn't walking with the Lord I didn't want to be his judge because I loved him and that's when I began to learn a concept that I've had for all of these years and it was this sometimes friendships turn into ministries sometimes friendships turn into ministries friends are people who who put shoulder to shoulder looking to the future together we have the same vision going in the same direction but sometimes that friend of yours may be looking in a direction you can't go to and when they begin to look in those directions that's when they cease being the friend you had they become the ministry you have and so when marine I would see my friend when we drive over to his place to see him we pull over and she may remember this has been a long time but I would pray and I'd say father I'm I love this brother I love him but help me to be a minister to him and encourage him to walk with Jesus he's walking with Lord now has for many years and came back and and all of that but you have to determine who's influencing who and you have to be aware of those kinds of things you see when we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another it's built fellowship is built on walking in the light and darkness is a is a life of living in disobedience verse 8 he goes on and yes I think I will finish this today if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so if we say we have no sin if we say that we have no sin nature if we deny personal sin if I deny personal guilt if I don't understand that I have a nature that is sinful I'm I'm I'm deceived the bible in Psalm 51 5 says it like this surely I was sinful at birth sinful from the time my mother conceived me in Romans 5 12 therefore just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin in this way death came to all men because all sinned we inherited what is called the Adamic nature we don't become sinners because we sin we sin because by nature we are sinners Mormons teach you that you become a sinner when you sin the bible teaches you that you sin because by nature you are already a sinner we saw this in Ephesians 2 verse 3 among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're by nature the children of wrath even as others and so if we say we have no sin verse 8 tells us we deceive ourselves the truth is not in us we're guilty of believing what we want to believe but verse 9 if we confess our sin God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness I like to say this the word all means that all unrighteousness when I and when you when you bowed your heart to the Lord and said God forgive me a sinner he didn't forgive me just for the sins I had committed up to that moment of prayer he can he forgave me of all the sins that I would commit even after I had given my heart to him his grace is is that is that enormous it's not permission to continue in sin we've already looked at that but it's the reality of the of the power of the the cleansing of the blood of Christ and the grace of God and what we need to do and I think this is very important as believers is I think we need to understand and already emphasize this in Ephesians that we need to know who we are in Jesus Christ you know I need to know what what God has said of me who I am in him I've been made the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ my name is written in the Lamb's book of life all of my sins have been forgiven I need to know these things and to live in those things so if I confess my sin God is faithful to his promises and God forgives us Proverbs 28 13 he who conceals his sins does not prosper whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy God is just his promise of mercy and forgiveness is in line with his justice and then finally verse 10 if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in this my mom was my mom was a really evangelist she just loved to talk to people about the word I've shared this with you some of you've heard this in the past but my mom was my mom was very very open with her faith and and she had physical conditions ultimately she she died because of them but she went to a doctor I'll always remember this she went to a doctor in Kaiser in Fontana and she the doctor took out her stethoscope and put the stethoscope on my mom's heart and she had just met my mom my mom didn't know this woman from Eve I mean she she didn't know her so the doctor puts the stethoscope on her heart and says to her my mom says to her do you hear him that's kind of a creepy thing and my mom told me about she says so I asked her to you hear him she looks my mom says she stepped back and looked at me she said do I hear who do you hear him who do you hear Jesus he lives in my heart and so the the doctor said oh how sweet she says and she looked at my mom's chart a doctor at Kaiser and she said Rosales do you have a son named David and my mama says yes I have my husband I can't it's been so many years it's been over 50 years since it was I knew this guy but my husband your son in the army led my husband to faith in Jesus Christ and she said to my mom tell your son that my husband is doing well and is walking with Jesus Christ and so am I you know but it's it's yeah amen amen and so that's what the Lord does and and if we claim that we have no sin we make God a liar because I'll have sin and fall short of the glory of God so to claim to be perfect is not part of our life today no one is sinlessly perfect and so he's saying it if these people say they have no sins and all of that God's word isn't in them because Christianity is built on man's sinfulness and need for a savior his word is not in us he says because God's word makes it clear we are sinners with the with without Christ Proverbs 20 verse 9 who can say I've made my heart clean I'm pure from my sin Ecclesiastes 7 20 there's not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins my mom tried to lead a woman to Christ and shares a gospel with her and and the woman says my mom would say do you want Jesus and the woman said I do and my mom says to her okay bow your head and pray with me and so the woman bows her head my mom says dear Jesus I'm a sinner and the woman says to my mom wait a minute she opened her eyes I'm not a sinner and that's the attitude I'm not a sinner and if somebody says they they have no sin they make him a liar no I'll have sin and fall short of the glory of God that's not something to boast in that's just a reality of life that's why I need a savior that's why I needed Jesus Christ I had somebody say one time oh you need a crutch you know I don't need a crutch what I need is someone to carry me completely a crutch means I can still walk I can't walk that's why Jesus gave to me something that he could carry me in it's called his grace yeah I you know I needed that because I'm not going to pretend that I'm better than I am I know I'm evil and I know that without Jesus Christ I would still be evil but because of Jesus he transformed my life so no I'm not perfect Marie thinks I am but I'm not I'm not perfect none of us are all of us still fail why because we're still here but one of these days and it's not that long we'll see him face to face and there is no sin in heaven we'll just have joy and so we begin first these things I've written unto you so that you may have joy and that joy that you have is because Christ has forgiven you of all your sin he's he's promised you eternity with him and that causes me that gives me strength to get up in the morning it's the knowledge that that Jesus Christ is in control of everything and I what I want to do is just be on the same page with him and so there there's your introduction to first job we'll continue next week