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Dr. Tony Evans

Tony Evans - The Message of Fellowship

February 1, 2026 | 27:29

Tony Evans - The Message of Fellowship
Dr. Tony Evans is known as a relevant expositor and is a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.
#WordofGod #Fellowship #Disciples #EternalLife #Foundation #Truth #Hatred #Righteousness #Character #TonyEvans

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Dr. Tony Evans | Tony Evans - The Message of Fellowship | February 1, 2026
  • Tony evans: our sin we could never repay
  • 00:00:01.784 --> 00:00:04.753
  • Before a perfect holy god.
  • 00:00:04.887 --> 00:00:06.688
  • But somebody came up who could pay it,
  • 00:00:06.822 --> 00:00:07.523
  • Who paid the bill for us that propitiated
  • 00:00:10.325 --> 00:00:14.863
  • And satisfied god.
  • 00:00:14.863 --> 00:00:16.665
  • The good news of the gospel
  • 00:00:16.665 --> 00:00:18.000
  • Is you don't have to pay for your sins
  • 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.602
  • Because jesus has already picked up the tab
  • 00:00:20.602 --> 00:00:23.372
  • And that is the good news of the gospel.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Tony: all of us to one degree or another,
  • 00:00:34.917 --> 00:00:37.786
  • Are concerned about our length of life.
  • 00:00:37.786 --> 00:00:40.956
  • We want to live as long as we can.
  • 00:00:40.956 --> 00:00:45.360
  • We want to have our lifespan expanded,
  • 00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:49.631
  • Not retracted, because we are concerned
  • 00:00:49.631 --> 00:00:54.203
  • About the length of life.
  • 00:00:54.203 --> 00:00:57.206
  • It would not be normal to prefer not to live out
  • 00:00:57.206 --> 00:01:02.077
  • Your fully ordained days.
  • 00:01:02.077 --> 00:01:05.614
  • But while we are all concerned about the length of life,
  • 00:01:05.614 --> 00:01:10.619
  • We're also concerned about the quality of life.
  • 00:01:10.619 --> 00:01:15.591
  • We want to live out our fully ordained days,
  • 00:01:15.591 --> 00:01:17.860
  • But we would like to be healthy.
  • 00:01:17.860 --> 00:01:20.696
  • We would like to have some vim, and vigor,
  • 00:01:20.696 --> 00:01:22.965
  • And vitality to our days.
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  • We don't want to retire in illness and dependency.
  • 00:01:26.735 --> 00:01:32.941
  • We would like to be as strong and as vibrant
  • 00:01:32.941 --> 00:01:35.344
  • As life will allow so that we want life's length
  • 00:01:35.344 --> 00:01:39.948
  • But we also want life's quality
  • 00:01:39.948 --> 00:01:43.785
  • Because they go hand in hand to having
  • 00:01:43.785 --> 00:01:48.190
  • A well-meaning ordered existence.
  • 00:01:48.190 --> 00:01:54.229
  • While spiritually speaking, john, the apostle,
  • 00:01:54.229 --> 00:01:59.067
  • Wrote about both.
  • 00:01:59.067 --> 00:02:02.538
  • In the book of john, st. john,
  • 00:02:02.538 --> 00:02:05.407
  • He writes about our length of life
  • 00:02:05.407 --> 00:02:08.877
  • Because in st. john, he's telling us
  • 00:02:08.877 --> 00:02:11.246
  • How to have eternal life, how to possess it.
  • 00:02:11.246 --> 00:02:15.184
  • He's talking about how to be regenerated,
  • 00:02:15.184 --> 00:02:17.052
  • Converted to become a christian
  • 00:02:17.052 --> 00:02:19.488
  • So that you are imparted eternal life.
  • 00:02:19.488 --> 00:02:22.858
  • So that you now have the hope of living forever with god
  • 00:02:22.858 --> 00:02:27.429
  • Throughout all eternity.
  • 00:02:27.429 --> 00:02:29.531
  • That's what 1 st. john is all about.
  • 00:02:29.531 --> 00:02:33.669
  • But the apostle john, the most intimate
  • 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:35.938
  • Of all the disciples,
  • 00:02:35.938 --> 00:02:38.540
  • Also wrote 1 john and 2 john and 3 john.
  • 00:02:38.540 --> 00:02:44.046
  • And in 1 john, his concern is not length of life
  • 00:02:44.046 --> 00:02:48.450
  • Because he's writing to people
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  • Who already possess eternal life.
  • 00:02:50.252 --> 00:02:53.388
  • His concern in 1 john is quality of life.
  • 00:02:53.388 --> 00:02:58.460
  • While we are living forever, he wants us to grow
  • 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:02.864
  • In the quality of that existence.
  • 00:03:02.864 --> 00:03:06.201
  • Not merely that we have it, but that we are maximizing it
  • 00:03:06.201 --> 00:03:11.206
  • And experiencing it.
  • 00:03:11.206 --> 00:03:14.610
  • He begins in verse 5 by saying, "this is the message.
  • 00:03:14.610 --> 00:03:18.647
  • This is what you need to catch.
  • 00:03:18.647 --> 00:03:21.149
  • This is what i don't want you to miss.
  • 00:03:21.149 --> 00:03:23.218
  • This is the message.
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  • God is light and in him is no darkness at all."
  • 00:03:25.220 --> 00:03:30.525
  • He says, "the first thing you need to know if you're going
  • 00:03:30.525 --> 00:03:33.795
  • To increase your intimacy with god is his character."
  • 00:03:33.795 --> 00:03:38.500
  • And his character is 12 o'clock noon only, never midnight.
  • 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:47.009
  • God is light.
  • 00:03:47.009 --> 00:03:48.343
  • He's not only in light, he is light.
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  • And it is so much light that there is no darkness at all.
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  • There is not the smallest element of dark when it comes
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  • To god, and he only operates in what he calls light.
  • 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:11.233
  • You will not find him in dark.
  • 00:04:11.233 --> 00:04:14.303
  • You will only find him in light.
  • 00:04:14.303 --> 00:04:17.572
  • And he says that this understanding
  • 00:04:17.572 --> 00:04:19.875
  • Of god's character,
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  • Light not dark, as you'll see in a moment,
  • 00:04:21.977 --> 00:04:25.347
  • Is fundamental to your increase or lack thereof
  • 00:04:25.347 --> 00:04:30.886
  • Of spiritual intimacy.
  • 00:04:30.886 --> 00:04:33.422
  • He says, "god is light."
  • 00:04:33.422 --> 00:04:34.856
  • So, let's discuss light.
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  • The first thing you need to know about light is that, in light,
  • 00:04:37.659 --> 00:04:42.264
  • There are no impurities.
  • 00:04:42.264 --> 00:04:44.733
  • Light has no impurities.
  • 00:04:44.733 --> 00:04:48.437
  • So, god is perfect in his nature.
  • 00:04:48.437 --> 00:04:52.240
  • There is nothing about him that is impure,
  • 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:56.545
  • Because light possesses no impurity.
  • 00:04:56.545 --> 00:04:59.781
  • The second thing you need to know about light
  • 00:04:59.781 --> 00:05:02.451
  • Is that while it possesses no impurity,
  • 00:05:02.451 --> 00:05:05.420
  • It does expose impurity.
  • 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:08.290
  • Because when you turn the light on,
  • 00:05:08.290 --> 00:05:10.525
  • You see things that shouldn't be there.
  • 00:05:10.525 --> 00:05:13.428
  • You see things that are out of sorts.
  • 00:05:13.428 --> 00:05:16.498
  • Not because it's in the light, but because it's revealed
  • 00:05:16.498 --> 00:05:19.634
  • By the light.
  • 00:05:19.634 --> 00:05:21.103
  • So, while there is no impurity in light,
  • 00:05:21.103 --> 00:05:24.272
  • There is exposure from light.
  • 00:05:24.272 --> 00:05:28.143
  • And when exposure comes from light, you see reality.
  • 00:05:28.143 --> 00:05:34.216
  • Darkness does not allow you to see reality
  • 00:05:34.216 --> 00:05:38.620
  • Because things are dark.
  • 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:40.322
  • You don't see things as they really are.
  • 00:05:40.322 --> 00:05:44.159
  • In the light, which is pure, you get the exposure
  • 00:05:44.159 --> 00:05:49.364
  • Of that which is legit, that which is not legit,
  • 00:05:49.364 --> 00:05:52.901
  • Because light exposes things.
  • 00:05:52.901 --> 00:05:56.238
  • So, he wants you to know you will never find god
  • 00:05:56.238 --> 00:06:00.008
  • Over here in the dark.
  • 00:06:00.008 --> 00:06:03.011
  • You will only find god over here in the light.
  • 00:06:03.011 --> 00:06:07.783
  • So, if you're not relating to the light,
  • 00:06:07.783 --> 00:06:09.851
  • You're not relating to god,
  • 00:06:09.851 --> 00:06:11.520
  • And if you're not relating to god,
  • 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:12.988
  • You're not growing in intimacy because
  • 00:06:12.988 --> 00:06:15.056
  • You're in a place where he is not.
  • 00:06:15.056 --> 00:06:17.459
  • Okay?
  • 00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:18.794
  • So, that is the theological construct,
  • 00:06:18.794 --> 00:06:20.929
  • That is the theological framing that he wants to give
  • 00:06:20.929 --> 00:06:25.167
  • That that is going to be foundational
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  • To understanding god.
  • 00:06:27.903 --> 00:06:30.539
  • He is only operating in the light.
  • 00:06:30.539 --> 00:06:33.742
  • "therefore," he says, "if we say," verse 6,
  • 00:06:33.742 --> 00:06:37.012
  • "we have koinonia," fellowship, "with him,
  • 00:06:37.012 --> 00:06:41.383
  • And yet walk in darkness,
  • 00:06:41.383 --> 00:06:43.251
  • We lie and do not practice the truth."
  • 00:06:43.251 --> 00:06:47.923
  • If you say, "me and god are cool.
  • 00:06:47.923 --> 00:06:52.360
  • Me and god are running buddies.
  • 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:56.298
  • Me and god are close," but you're operating
  • 00:06:56.298 --> 00:07:00.168
  • Over here in the dark,
  • 00:07:00.168 --> 00:07:03.305
  • He says you are a liar because you are hanging out
  • 00:07:03.305 --> 00:07:07.742
  • In a location where he is not, because in him
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  • There is no darkness.
  • 00:07:11.446 --> 00:07:13.181
  • So, if you're hanging out in the dark
  • 00:07:13.181 --> 00:07:15.283
  • And yet claiming koinonia,
  • 00:07:15.283 --> 00:07:17.652
  • He says those two cannot operate simultaneously
  • 00:07:17.652 --> 00:07:22.390
  • Because you're operating in a realm
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  • Where he does not exist.
  • 00:07:24.426 --> 00:07:26.561
  • He will not show up over here because, in him,
  • 00:07:26.561 --> 00:07:30.632
  • There is no darkness at all.
  • 00:07:30.632 --> 00:07:32.634
  • All right?
  • 00:07:32.634 --> 00:07:34.002
  • So then, light, no impurity, but it does expose
  • 00:07:34.002 --> 00:07:39.608
  • So that you see reality.
  • 00:07:39.608 --> 00:07:41.409
  • Okay?
  • 00:07:41.409 --> 00:07:42.744
  • Dark allows impurity and you don't see reality
  • 00:07:42.744 --> 00:07:47.549
  • Because you don't see.
  • 00:07:47.549 --> 00:07:48.884
  • It's dark.
  • 00:07:48.884 --> 00:07:50.218
  • So he says, "if you say i'm growing in my faith,
  • 00:07:50.218 --> 00:07:53.822
  • I'm getting strong as a christian,"
  • 00:07:53.822 --> 00:07:55.857
  • But you're hanging out there, you lied.
  • 00:07:55.857 --> 00:07:59.895
  • Okay?
  • 00:07:59.895 --> 00:08:01.229
  • Let's continue.
  • 00:08:01.229 --> 00:08:03.698
  • "but if we walk in the light, as he himself," verse 7 says,
  • 00:08:03.698 --> 00:08:09.271
  • "is in the light."
  • 00:08:09.271 --> 00:08:13.441
  • We have fellowship with one another,
  • 00:08:13.441 --> 00:08:16.645
  • And the blood of jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
  • 00:08:16.645 --> 00:08:23.485
  • If we walk over here in the light
  • 00:08:23.485 --> 00:08:28.490
  • As he is in the light,
  • 00:08:28.490 --> 00:08:31.726
  • Then you get koinonia, fellowship.
  • 00:08:31.726 --> 00:08:34.763
  • You get to share something in common because
  • 00:08:34.763 --> 00:08:38.433
  • You're hanging out where he hangs out, which is only
  • 00:08:38.433 --> 00:08:41.636
  • In the light of his reality.
  • 00:08:41.636 --> 00:08:44.973
  • And here it is: if we walk in the light
  • 00:08:44.973 --> 00:08:48.677
  • As he is in the light,
  • 00:08:48.677 --> 00:08:51.546
  • The blood of jesus cleanses us from all sin.
  • 00:08:51.546 --> 00:08:58.186
  • Now, i know we love to sing,
  • 00:08:58.186 --> 00:09:00.288
  • There's power in the blood.
  • 00:09:00.288 --> 00:09:03.158
  • Wonder working power in the blood.
  • 00:09:03.158 --> 00:09:06.828
  • The blood will never lose its power.
  • 00:09:06.828 --> 00:09:11.099
  • That is more than a song.
  • 00:09:11.099 --> 00:09:14.069
  • He says in verse 7, "if we walk in the light
  • 00:09:14.069 --> 00:09:18.740
  • As he is in the light,
  • 00:09:18.740 --> 00:09:21.810
  • We will have koinonia," fellowship,
  • 00:09:21.810 --> 00:09:25.046
  • "shared in common with him,
  • 00:09:25.046 --> 00:09:27.482
  • And the blood of jesus christ will cleanse us from all sin."
  • 00:09:27.482 --> 00:09:30.719
  • But wait a minute, if there is no impurity with god,
  • 00:09:30.719 --> 00:09:35.590
  • Why is the blood of jesus christ cleansing us from all sin?
  • 00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:40.795
  • Because if you're walking in the light,
  • 00:09:40.795 --> 00:09:43.465
  • It's the light that's showing you the sin
  • 00:09:43.465 --> 00:09:45.500
  • That you need to be cleansed of.
  • 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:48.069
  • The light is exposing you.
  • 00:09:48.069 --> 00:09:51.006
  • One of the beauties of fellowship with god
  • 00:09:51.006 --> 00:09:53.775
  • Is having god expose your impurity by his light.
  • 00:09:53.775 --> 00:09:59.280
  • His light is not his impurity, but it is showing you
  • 00:09:59.280 --> 00:10:03.051
  • Your impurity so that he can keep
  • 00:10:03.051 --> 00:10:05.487
  • Having fellowship with you, so that the blood keeps
  • 00:10:05.487 --> 00:10:08.790
  • Doing what the blood is designed to do,
  • 00:10:08.790 --> 00:10:11.059
  • To make you zestfully clean.
  • 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:13.361
  • So, the blood of jesus christ is a cleansing process,
  • 00:10:13.361 --> 00:10:18.099
  • But only if you're operating in the light.
  • 00:10:18.099 --> 00:10:21.403
  • Once you come over here, the blood is still working,
  • 00:10:21.403 --> 00:10:25.140
  • But it's not working over here,
  • 00:10:25.140 --> 00:10:26.908
  • It's only working over there because god
  • 00:10:26.908 --> 00:10:29.511
  • Is only light, he's not in dark.
  • 00:10:29.511 --> 00:10:31.813
  • So, if you are operating out of exposure by god,
  • 00:10:31.813 --> 00:10:37.252
  • Who is the light, you're operating
  • 00:10:37.252 --> 00:10:39.721
  • Without the benefit of the blood.
  • 00:10:39.721 --> 00:10:42.023
  • And if you're operating without the benefit
  • 00:10:42.023 --> 00:10:44.259
  • Of the blood, you don't have the work of god,
  • 00:10:44.259 --> 00:10:47.462
  • Fellowship with god, the work of the cross,
  • 00:10:47.462 --> 00:10:50.532
  • The cleansing of the blood operating
  • 00:10:50.532 --> 00:10:53.101
  • In your life because you're operating
  • 00:10:53.101 --> 00:10:55.036
  • In a realm where god will not visit,
  • 00:10:55.036 --> 00:10:56.805
  • Hang out, or even affirm.
  • 00:10:56.805 --> 00:11:00.208
  • So, you have to be in the light.
  • 00:11:00.208 --> 00:11:02.043
  • You say, "but i'm in the light and i'm seeing all this stuff
  • 00:11:02.043 --> 00:11:05.680
  • Is wrong with me."
  • 00:11:05.680 --> 00:11:07.015
  • That's because you in the light.
  • 00:11:07.015 --> 00:11:10.618
  • You're supposed to see it.
  • 00:11:10.618 --> 00:11:13.521
  • In the light you're gonna say, "boy i'm tore up
  • 00:11:13.521 --> 00:11:15.790
  • From the floor up."
  • 00:11:15.790 --> 00:11:17.258
  • In the light i'm saying, "i'm not as good as i thought i was."
  • 00:11:17.258 --> 00:11:20.562
  • Wonderful!
  • 00:11:20.562 --> 00:11:21.930
  • The light has revealed it.
  • 00:11:21.930 --> 00:11:25.033
  • That's what the light is designed to do.
  • 00:11:25.033 --> 00:11:28.336
  • The light is designed to expose.
  • 00:11:28.336 --> 00:11:33.074
  • Now, he says, he says, "if we say we have no sin,
  • 00:11:33.074 --> 00:11:41.549
  • We are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."
  • 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:44.586
  • We are more messed up than we know.
  • 00:11:44.586 --> 00:11:47.889
  • Okay?
  • 00:11:47.889 --> 00:11:49.224
  • Remember, in god, there's no darkness at all.
  • 00:11:49.224 --> 00:11:52.127
  • So, anything unlike him is sin because what god
  • 00:11:52.127 --> 00:11:56.798
  • Wants you to see is he is light.
  • 00:11:56.798 --> 00:11:58.466
  • So, he wants now to have the freedom
  • 00:11:58.466 --> 00:12:01.269
  • With his purity to show us
  • 00:12:01.269 --> 00:12:03.872
  • Where we're not like him so we can be
  • 00:12:03.872 --> 00:12:06.207
  • Cleaned up because we're in fellowship with him,
  • 00:12:06.207 --> 00:12:08.843
  • And when he cleans us up, he's free to have
  • 00:12:08.843 --> 00:12:11.179
  • More fellowship with us because he now has
  • 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:13.481
  • The kind of relationship where we are
  • 00:12:13.481 --> 00:12:15.850
  • Holding in common what he holds in common.
  • 00:12:15.850 --> 00:12:19.254
  • We're thinking like he thinks, and seeing what he sees,
  • 00:12:19.254 --> 00:12:22.323
  • And reacting like he reacts.
  • 00:12:22.323 --> 00:12:24.125
  • So, walking in the light, you don't deny what god shows,
  • 00:12:24.125 --> 00:12:29.531
  • You affirm it.
  • 00:12:29.531 --> 00:12:32.400
  • When you're walking in the light,
  • 00:12:32.400 --> 00:12:34.369
  • God's gonna see things you don't see.
  • 00:12:34.369 --> 00:12:37.639
  • He's gonna see pride you didn't know you had.
  • 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:40.842
  • He's gonna see racism you didn't know you had.
  • 00:12:40.842 --> 00:12:43.745
  • He's gonna see jealousy you didn't know you had,
  • 00:12:43.745 --> 00:12:47.048
  • And he's going to expose it.
  • 00:12:47.048 --> 00:12:48.683
  • Now the question is, do you let him cut it?
  • 00:12:48.683 --> 00:12:50.718
  • So, now the question is, can he address it
  • 00:12:50.718 --> 00:12:53.621
  • So that he's free now to take you
  • 00:12:53.621 --> 00:12:55.323
  • To the next spiritual level?
  • 00:12:55.323 --> 00:12:57.025
  • Because once you deny it, reject it,
  • 00:12:57.025 --> 00:12:59.194
  • Or won't let him cut it, you've just moved to darkness,
  • 00:12:59.194 --> 00:13:01.629
  • And he's not over there.
  • 00:13:01.629 --> 00:13:03.398
  • So, what happens with many of us as christians,
  • 00:13:03.398 --> 00:13:05.600
  • We live our lives in darkness because
  • 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.803
  • We don't give god the freedom to show us
  • 00:13:08.803 --> 00:13:11.105
  • What he sees.
  • 00:13:11.105 --> 00:13:14.275
  • So, he says in verse 8, he says, "if we say we have no sin,
  • 00:13:14.275 --> 00:13:19.581
  • We are only deceiving ourselves."
  • 00:13:19.581 --> 00:13:22.150
  • We wind up like adam and eve, we wind up hiding from god.
  • 00:13:22.150 --> 00:13:25.620
  • So, let me warn you right now, if you go to the light
  • 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:28.556
  • And you give god the freedom to say,
  • 00:13:28.556 --> 00:13:30.458
  • "okay, god, here i am, see if there be
  • 00:13:30.458 --> 00:13:33.595
  • Any wicked way in me."
  • 00:13:33.595 --> 00:13:34.963
  • He gonna answer that prayer.
  • 00:13:34.963 --> 00:13:38.733
  • But he's only gonna answer that prayer
  • 00:13:38.733 --> 00:13:40.668
  • To give you more fellowship.
  • 00:13:40.668 --> 00:13:42.337
  • He's not answering that prayer to be mean,
  • 00:13:42.337 --> 00:13:43.872
  • He's answering that prayer
  • 00:13:43.872 --> 00:13:45.206
  • To let you have another level of him
  • 00:13:45.206 --> 00:13:47.709
  • Operating in your life because now you'll see things
  • 00:13:47.709 --> 00:13:50.311
  • As they really are, okay?
  • 00:13:50.311 --> 00:13:52.947
  • So, what do you do?
  • 00:13:52.947 --> 00:13:54.682
  • You're walking in the light, you're giving god
  • 00:13:54.682 --> 00:13:56.918
  • Freedom of exposure,
  • 00:13:56.918 --> 00:13:58.253
  • Lord, show me me as you see me.
  • 00:13:58.253 --> 00:14:00.421
  • Show me the evil heart, show me the prideful ways,
  • 00:14:00.421 --> 00:14:04.692
  • Show me the hatred that i have, show--expose me.
  • 00:14:04.692 --> 00:14:09.264
  • I'm giving you freedom, lord, to let me see me
  • 00:14:09.264 --> 00:14:11.866
  • As you see me, okay?
  • 00:14:11.866 --> 00:14:15.570
  • He's gonna tell you, you ain't all that in a bag of chips.
  • 00:14:15.570 --> 00:14:17.405
  • I'm gonna let you know that now.
  • 00:14:17.405 --> 00:14:19.240
  • That exposure will come, but that's good news.
  • 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:22.543
  • Because now he says in verse 9, "if we confess our sins,
  • 00:14:22.543 --> 00:14:26.481
  • He is faithful and righteous
  • 00:14:26.481 --> 00:14:27.882
  • To forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
  • 00:14:27.882 --> 00:14:31.920
  • From all unrighteousness."
  • 00:14:31.920 --> 00:14:39.994
  • The greek word for confess means to say the same thing,
  • 00:14:39.994 --> 00:14:43.031
  • Admit or acknowledge.
  • 00:14:43.031 --> 00:14:46.768
  • When you are in the light, giving god freedom
  • 00:14:46.768 --> 00:14:49.270
  • To reveal you to you as he sees you,
  • 00:14:49.270 --> 00:14:53.875
  • And he shows you something about you that is not godly
  • 00:14:53.875 --> 00:15:01.416
  • In your character, in your person,
  • 00:15:01.416 --> 00:15:03.484
  • He reveals you to you.
  • 00:15:03.484 --> 00:15:06.187
  • He says, "if you will agree with me, confess."
  • 00:15:06.187 --> 00:15:09.857
  • Confess means to say the same thing.
  • 00:15:09.857 --> 00:15:11.859
  • "if you will agree that i know
  • 00:15:11.859 --> 00:15:13.728
  • What i'm talking about and what i showed you is real,
  • 00:15:13.728 --> 00:15:17.999
  • If you will confess your sins--"
  • 00:15:17.999 --> 00:15:20.034
  • Please notice the word sin is plural.
  • 00:15:20.034 --> 00:15:24.505
  • If we will agree with god on what he reveals,
  • 00:15:24.505 --> 00:15:27.008
  • Because he's going to reveal something specific.
  • 00:15:27.008 --> 00:15:28.943
  • He's going to reveal the attitude or the action
  • 00:15:28.943 --> 00:15:31.512
  • That is outside of his will
  • 00:15:31.512 --> 00:15:32.847
  • Because you're operating in the light.
  • 00:15:32.847 --> 00:15:34.849
  • If you will agree with me, let me give you
  • 00:15:34.849 --> 00:15:38.820
  • A little distinction between confession and repentance.
  • 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:43.224
  • Confession is to agree with god because he shows you something.
  • 00:15:43.224 --> 00:15:46.761
  • Repentance is that you've developed a pattern
  • 00:15:46.761 --> 00:15:49.731
  • That needs to be reversed.
  • 00:15:49.731 --> 00:15:51.799
  • Confession is not tied to a pattern,
  • 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.068
  • It's tied to an act that is revealed,
  • 00:15:54.068 --> 00:15:57.005
  • And you are responding to that.
  • 00:15:57.005 --> 00:15:59.240
  • Repentance is a pattern that needs to be reversed.
  • 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.643
  • You need confession to get to repentance,
  • 00:16:02.643 --> 00:16:04.979
  • But your name may not need repentance
  • 00:16:04.979 --> 00:16:06.581
  • If you handle confession right,
  • 00:16:06.581 --> 00:16:08.116
  • Because you never allow confession
  • 00:16:08.116 --> 00:16:09.784
  • To become a pattern that needs to
  • 00:16:09.784 --> 00:16:12.286
  • Turn in to repentance, okay?
  • 00:16:12.286 --> 00:16:14.122
  • So, he says, "if we confess our sins,
  • 00:16:14.122 --> 00:16:17.658
  • He is faithful and just to forgive our sins
  • 00:16:17.658 --> 00:16:21.329
  • And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
  • 00:16:21.329 --> 00:16:23.731
  • So, you're in the light.
  • 00:16:23.731 --> 00:16:25.299
  • You've given god the right in his purity to expose you
  • 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:29.137
  • To himself and reveal you to you as he sees you.
  • 00:16:29.137 --> 00:16:33.775
  • And he reveals something to you, and you say,
  • 00:16:33.775 --> 00:16:35.877
  • "lord, you just showed me
  • 00:16:35.877 --> 00:16:37.712
  • That that's--what i just said and how i just acted
  • 00:16:37.712 --> 00:16:41.049
  • Was not consistent with you.
  • 00:16:41.049 --> 00:16:42.483
  • I agree with you that that is sin."
  • 00:16:42.483 --> 00:16:44.752
  • Bam!
  • 00:16:44.752 --> 00:16:46.087
  • Verse 7 is now activated and the blood of jesus christ,
  • 00:16:46.087 --> 00:16:49.424
  • The washing machine has been turned on
  • 00:16:49.424 --> 00:16:52.293
  • To cleanse whatever you confess.
  • 00:16:52.293 --> 00:16:54.896
  • But verse 9 says, "if you confess your sins,
  • 00:16:54.896 --> 00:16:58.232
  • He's faithful and just to forgive your sins,"
  • 00:16:58.232 --> 00:17:00.168
  • And then he throws in a bonus.
  • 00:17:00.168 --> 00:17:01.903
  • "and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness."
  • 00:17:01.903 --> 00:17:05.073
  • Translation, confess the sins you do know
  • 00:17:05.073 --> 00:17:07.875
  • And it'll take care of the ones you don't know.
  • 00:17:07.875 --> 00:17:12.146
  • Because we don't know all of our sins,
  • 00:17:12.146 --> 00:17:14.682
  • We don't know all of our mistakes,
  • 00:17:14.682 --> 00:17:16.751
  • We've forgotten.
  • 00:17:16.751 --> 00:17:18.086
  • Do you know how many times we sin a day?
  • 00:17:18.086 --> 00:17:21.689
  • Our day is peppered with sins.
  • 00:17:21.689 --> 00:17:24.459
  • But he says, "but i got you.
  • 00:17:24.459 --> 00:17:26.527
  • If--when i show you something, you respond to it,
  • 00:17:26.527 --> 00:17:30.198
  • I'll take care of the other things
  • 00:17:30.198 --> 00:17:31.532
  • You don't see."
  • 00:17:31.532 --> 00:17:33.367
  • Why?
  • 00:17:33.367 --> 00:17:34.702
  • "because i want to have fellowship with you
  • 00:17:34.702 --> 00:17:36.037
  • And i want to grow our intimacy and our koinonia,
  • 00:17:36.037 --> 00:17:39.540
  • And i will cover you if you're willing to operate with me
  • 00:17:39.540 --> 00:17:43.811
  • In the light."
  • 00:17:43.811 --> 00:17:46.814
  • Well, what has happened with god is when you ignore it
  • 00:17:46.814 --> 00:17:51.552
  • And he put the light on, fellowship is lost.
  • 00:17:51.552 --> 00:17:56.224
  • Fellowship is lost because you're not saying
  • 00:17:56.224 --> 00:17:57.892
  • The same thing.
  • 00:17:57.892 --> 00:17:59.227
  • You're saying the light's on but it doesn't mean anything.
  • 00:17:59.227 --> 00:18:01.028
  • It doesn't matter.
  • 00:18:01.028 --> 00:18:02.363
  • It's not showing me anything.
  • 00:18:02.363 --> 00:18:03.698
  • So, once you ignore it, you're in dark,
  • 00:18:03.698 --> 00:18:05.733
  • And he won't go there.
  • 00:18:05.733 --> 00:18:07.535
  • God won't go to the dark place.
  • 00:18:07.535 --> 00:18:10.004
  • He won't go to the dark place.
  • 00:18:10.004 --> 00:18:11.339
  • He will only operate in his reality.
  • 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:13.774
  • He will not operate with fake news
  • 00:18:13.774 --> 00:18:15.877
  • Because you're operating in the dark.
  • 00:18:15.877 --> 00:18:18.312
  • And once you're there, you can pray all day,
  • 00:18:18.312 --> 00:18:23.084
  • But he's not going to respond because it is outside
  • 00:18:23.084 --> 00:18:26.220
  • Of who he is.
  • 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:27.755
  • That's why psalm 66 verse 18 says:
  • 00:18:27.755 --> 00:18:31.592
  • "if i regard iniquity in my heart,
  • 00:18:31.592 --> 00:18:33.528
  • The lord will not hear me."
  • 00:18:33.528 --> 00:18:35.263
  • If you're over here, he's not listening
  • 00:18:35.263 --> 00:18:37.331
  • To your prayer.
  • 00:18:37.331 --> 00:18:38.866
  • He says in proverbs 28:13: "he who covers his sins
  • 00:18:38.866 --> 00:18:42.370
  • Shall not prosper."
  • 00:18:42.370 --> 00:18:43.738
  • If you're over here, his favor is not gonna be with you because
  • 00:18:43.738 --> 00:18:47.808
  • He doesn't operate in the dark.
  • 00:18:47.808 --> 00:18:49.410
  • He only works in the light, where he does reveal
  • 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:53.181
  • What is not like him.
  • 00:18:53.181 --> 00:18:54.882
  • And that's good news, because now he begins
  • 00:18:54.882 --> 00:18:58.019
  • A cleansing process to bring us in harmony with him.
  • 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:02.723
  • Many christians run from the light
  • 00:19:02.723 --> 00:19:04.625
  • Because they don't want to hear how god feels
  • 00:19:04.625 --> 00:19:06.894
  • About a certain subject.
  • 00:19:06.894 --> 00:19:08.829
  • They don't want to hear that.
  • 00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:10.164
  • As long as it's comfortable, sweet preaching, nice,
  • 00:19:10.164 --> 00:19:12.500
  • Make me feel good, you know, never anything wrong,
  • 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:17.505
  • Just build me up and lift me up.
  • 00:19:17.505 --> 00:19:19.540
  • See that's darkness sermons.
  • 00:19:19.540 --> 00:19:23.044
  • If those are the only sermons you hear about god is love,
  • 00:19:23.044 --> 00:19:26.781
  • God is nice, god forgives, god--okay, okay,
  • 00:19:26.781 --> 00:19:32.286
  • That's milk toast, okay?
  • 00:19:32.286 --> 00:19:35.756
  • That's cotton candy, all right?
  • 00:19:35.756 --> 00:19:38.993
  • You need to know, i need to know,
  • 00:19:38.993 --> 00:19:40.528
  • We know to know god is light,
  • 00:19:40.528 --> 00:19:42.763
  • And in him is no darkness at all.
  • 00:19:42.763 --> 00:19:44.599
  • So, the question is: do you want to have fellowship with him
  • 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.702
  • And give him permission to show you
  • 00:19:47.702 --> 00:19:50.004
  • What's wrong so he can forgive it
  • 00:19:50.004 --> 00:19:52.106
  • And have fellowship with you as you make it right?
  • 00:19:52.106 --> 00:19:55.643
  • When god shows you you and it don't look good,
  • 00:19:55.643 --> 00:19:59.247
  • God is showing you what needs to be
  • 00:19:59.247 --> 00:20:01.115
  • Straightened up, fixed up, cleaned up.
  • 00:20:01.115 --> 00:20:02.850
  • He's showing you what's wrong in order to have
  • 00:20:02.850 --> 00:20:05.586
  • Fellowship with you as you walk with him
  • 00:20:05.586 --> 00:20:07.321
  • To make it right.
  • 00:20:07.321 --> 00:20:08.656
  • Many say, "well, god won't help me."
  • 00:20:08.656 --> 00:20:10.291
  • He's not gonna help you unless you over here.
  • 00:20:10.291 --> 00:20:12.994
  • He's not gonna help you over here.
  • 00:20:12.994 --> 00:20:15.963
  • So, if you're walking in darkness,
  • 00:20:15.963 --> 00:20:19.166
  • You cannot ask him to help you get over
  • 00:20:19.166 --> 00:20:21.302
  • Whatever you need to get over, because he doesn't
  • 00:20:21.302 --> 00:20:23.804
  • Hang out there, because in him is no darkness at all.
  • 00:20:23.804 --> 00:20:27.241
  • He must be free to give you his standard.
  • 00:20:27.241 --> 00:20:30.678
  • He must be free to expose
  • 00:20:30.678 --> 00:20:32.647
  • How unlike that standard we are,
  • 00:20:32.647 --> 00:20:34.782
  • Calling us to confession so he can bring about cleansing.
  • 00:20:34.782 --> 00:20:38.452
  • And verse 10 says: "if we say we have not sinned,
  • 00:20:38.452 --> 00:20:41.455
  • We make him a liar and his word is not in us."
  • 00:20:41.455 --> 00:20:44.859
  • You call god a liar, you're over here,
  • 00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:48.195
  • And everybody wants god to fix stuff
  • 00:20:48.195 --> 00:20:50.364
  • While they walk in the dark.
  • 00:20:50.364 --> 00:20:52.900
  • Not gonna do it.
  • 00:20:52.900 --> 00:20:54.735
  • So, how does it work?
  • 00:20:54.735 --> 00:20:56.070
  • That's where the first two verses
  • 00:20:56.070 --> 00:20:57.738
  • Of chapter 2 come in.
  • 00:20:57.738 --> 00:21:00.174
  • My little children, talking to fellow christians,
  • 00:21:00.174 --> 00:21:04.645
  • I'm writing these things to you that you may not sin.
  • 00:21:04.645 --> 00:21:07.315
  • I'm not encouraging you to sin, but if anyone sins,
  • 00:21:07.315 --> 00:21:11.352
  • We have an advocate with the father,
  • 00:21:11.352 --> 00:21:13.821
  • Jesus christ the righteous.
  • 00:21:13.821 --> 00:21:17.325
  • The greek word advocate is parakletos.
  • 00:21:17.325 --> 00:21:20.094
  • John uses this word five times.
  • 00:21:20.094 --> 00:21:22.930
  • Four times in st. john in chapter 14, 15, and 16.
  • 00:21:22.930 --> 00:21:26.901
  • It's called the helper and he refers to the holy spirit
  • 00:21:26.901 --> 00:21:29.804
  • As the parakletos, the helper.
  • 00:21:29.804 --> 00:21:32.973
  • But in 1 john, he calls parakletos, jesus christ,
  • 00:21:32.973 --> 00:21:38.512
  • Not the holy spirit, and he calls him the advocate.
  • 00:21:38.512 --> 00:21:45.920
  • Now, you have to understand how this works.
  • 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.890
  • Satan is a prosecuting attorney.
  • 00:21:49.890 --> 00:21:54.428
  • He presents our sins before god in order to deny us fellowship
  • 00:21:54.428 --> 00:22:00.167
  • Because he knows god is pure.
  • 00:22:00.167 --> 00:22:02.169
  • So, he brings our sins.
  • 00:22:02.169 --> 00:22:03.637
  • So, you have all these times in the bible,
  • 00:22:03.637 --> 00:22:05.106
  • Zechariah 3, job 1,
  • 00:22:05.106 --> 00:22:07.775
  • Revelation 12, 10, all these verses
  • 00:22:07.775 --> 00:22:10.211
  • Where satan is called the accuser of the brethren.
  • 00:22:10.211 --> 00:22:13.647
  • He can't take away your salvation
  • 00:22:13.647 --> 00:22:15.349
  • Once you've come to christ,
  • 00:22:15.349 --> 00:22:16.917
  • But he can break your fellowship.
  • 00:22:16.917 --> 00:22:20.321
  • You ever have people in your life
  • 00:22:20.321 --> 00:22:22.156
  • Who try to break your fellowship with another person
  • 00:22:22.156 --> 00:22:24.792
  • Or with your kids, with your mate,
  • 00:22:24.792 --> 00:22:26.861
  • They're just trying to influence,
  • 00:22:26.861 --> 00:22:28.362
  • They're trying to start mess?
  • 00:22:28.362 --> 00:22:29.764
  • Well, he's a mess starter and what he does
  • 00:22:29.764 --> 00:22:32.733
  • Is he takes our sin and he uses
  • 00:22:32.733 --> 00:22:35.469
  • That in order to try to break fellowship with god, okay?
  • 00:22:35.469 --> 00:22:39.106
  • Because he knows god is light.
  • 00:22:39.106 --> 00:22:41.175
  • So, he says, "but we have a defense attorney,
  • 00:22:41.175 --> 00:22:46.313
  • An advocate.
  • 00:22:46.313 --> 00:22:48.315
  • The defense attorney defends us against the prosecuting attorney
  • 00:22:48.315 --> 00:22:54.188
  • Who's presenting a legitimate case against us
  • 00:22:54.188 --> 00:22:57.925
  • Because he only presents legitimate stuff,
  • 00:22:57.925 --> 00:23:00.027
  • He presents our sin, our sin is real.
  • 00:23:00.027 --> 00:23:03.631
  • God is light, so we can't keep our sin,
  • 00:23:03.631 --> 00:23:06.634
  • But we have an attorney."
  • 00:23:06.634 --> 00:23:09.036
  • He calls him an advocate.
  • 00:23:09.036 --> 00:23:10.838
  • A parakletos, one called alongside to help.
  • 00:23:10.838 --> 00:23:14.041
  • It says, "we have an advocate with the father,
  • 00:23:14.041 --> 00:23:18.379
  • Jesus christ the righteous."
  • 00:23:18.379 --> 00:23:20.548
  • The son of the judge is your defense attorney,
  • 00:23:20.548 --> 00:23:25.252
  • And the son of the judge is righteous.
  • 00:23:25.252 --> 00:23:28.489
  • In other words, he has no sin, and how it works is verse 2.
  • 00:23:28.489 --> 00:23:35.996
  • And we could be in tall cotton here,
  • 00:23:35.996 --> 00:23:37.731
  • But i want to give you the simplest way i can give it,
  • 00:23:37.731 --> 00:23:40.568
  • "and he himself," jesus, "is the propitiation
  • 00:23:40.568 --> 00:23:45.873
  • For our sins and not for ours only,
  • 00:23:45.873 --> 00:23:49.009
  • But also for those of the whole world."
  • 00:23:49.009 --> 00:23:56.884
  • Let me give you the synonym for propitiation.
  • 00:23:56.884 --> 00:24:00.321
  • It's one of those big, theological words.
  • 00:24:00.321 --> 00:24:03.324
  • A synonym for propitiation means satisfaction.
  • 00:24:03.324 --> 00:24:09.296
  • What do i mean?
  • 00:24:09.296 --> 00:24:12.299
  • With the death of christ on the cross,
  • 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:16.604
  • The wrath of god against sin was satisfied.
  • 00:24:16.604 --> 00:24:21.876
  • The demands of a holy god was propitiated or satisfied
  • 00:24:21.876 --> 00:24:28.015
  • By the death of christ.
  • 00:24:28.015 --> 00:24:30.551
  • When jesus died, his last words were, "it is finished,"
  • 00:24:30.551 --> 00:24:34.955
  • "tetelestai," which means paid in full.
  • 00:24:34.955 --> 00:24:39.159
  • The full payment for all the sins
  • 00:24:39.159 --> 00:24:42.229
  • Of all mankind for all time was nailed to the cross
  • 00:24:42.229 --> 00:24:46.500
  • Of jesus christ, and it propitiated god.
  • 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:51.605
  • Now, there's a whole theology of atonement
  • 00:24:51.605 --> 00:24:53.941
  • Of how propitiation,
  • 00:24:53.941 --> 00:24:55.543
  • Justification, redemption, and all--
  • 00:24:55.543 --> 00:24:57.678
  • How all that fits together,
  • 00:24:57.678 --> 00:24:59.313
  • But to be satisfied right now, here is what this means.
  • 00:24:59.313 --> 00:25:02.983
  • Let's say you owe a bill and you don't have the money
  • 00:25:02.983 --> 00:25:06.554
  • To pay, you don't have the money to pay the bill.
  • 00:25:06.554 --> 00:25:10.858
  • I come up and i pay the bill
  • 00:25:10.858 --> 00:25:15.229
  • That i don't owe, you owe.
  • 00:25:15.229 --> 00:25:18.432
  • Once i paid a bill, the person that you owe the money to
  • 00:25:18.432 --> 00:25:23.604
  • Is now satisfied.
  • 00:25:23.604 --> 00:25:26.407
  • They're not satisfied because you paid it.
  • 00:25:26.407 --> 00:25:29.310
  • They're propitiated or satisfied because i paid it even though
  • 00:25:29.310 --> 00:25:34.214
  • It was your bill.
  • 00:25:34.214 --> 00:25:35.683
  • So, it was your bill, you couldn't pay it,
  • 00:25:35.683 --> 00:25:38.852
  • But i became
  • 00:25:38.852 --> 00:25:40.554
  • The propitiation for your debt by paying the bill for you.
  • 00:25:40.554 --> 00:25:47.027
  • Our sin, we could never repay before a perfect holy god,
  • 00:25:47.027 --> 00:25:52.833
  • But somebody came up who could pay it,
  • 00:25:52.833 --> 00:25:57.237
  • Who paid the bill for us,
  • 00:25:57.237 --> 00:26:00.107
  • That propitiated and satisfied god.
  • 00:26:00.107 --> 00:26:04.244
  • The propitiation was so stout that it covers
  • 00:26:04.244 --> 00:26:07.881
  • The sins of the whole world,
  • 00:26:07.881 --> 00:26:09.883
  • Making every human being savable because of the work
  • 00:26:09.883 --> 00:26:14.588
  • Of jesus christ on the cross, and that is the good news
  • 00:26:14.588 --> 00:26:18.325
  • Of the gospel.
  • 00:26:18.325 --> 00:26:19.727
  • The good news of the gospel is you don't have to pay
  • 00:26:19.727 --> 00:26:22.463
  • For your sins because jesus has already picked up the tab
  • 00:26:22.463 --> 00:26:26.634
  • And propitiated the wrath of a holy god.
  • 00:26:26.634 --> 00:26:31.171
  • And so, what he is saying to us today is that
  • 00:26:31.171 --> 00:26:34.608
  • This work of christ, which is his contemporary job
  • 00:26:34.608 --> 00:26:38.445
  • Fu--he has a full-time job now,
  • 00:26:38.445 --> 00:26:40.147
  • 24/7 on the right hand of the father,
  • 00:26:40.147 --> 00:26:42.349
  • And that is being an intercessor,
  • 00:26:42.349 --> 00:26:44.151
  • A mediator to act on our behalf
  • 00:26:44.151 --> 00:26:47.254
  • As we confess sins to keep us in fellowship with god,
  • 00:26:47.254 --> 00:26:51.258
  • So that we can grow our intimacy because our sins
  • 00:26:51.258 --> 00:26:53.994
  • Are continually propitiated.
  • 00:26:53.994 --> 00:26:56.363
  • He is always prepared to cleanse us with his blood
  • 00:26:56.363 --> 00:27:00.934
  • So that we don't have breaks in our fellowship,
  • 00:27:00.934 --> 00:27:03.737
  • So that we're going north in our intimacy with god.
  • 00:27:03.737 --> 00:27:08.208
  • And so today, the challenge i wanna leave you with
  • 00:27:08.208 --> 00:27:13.213
  • Is that there is power in the blood,
  • 00:27:13.213 --> 00:27:16.316
  • Not only to convert you and take you to heaven,
  • 00:27:16.316 --> 00:27:18.552
  • But to change your quality of life
  • 00:27:18.552 --> 00:27:21.088
  • On your way there
  • 00:27:21.088 --> 00:27:22.723
  • By increasing our fellowship with god.
  • 00:27:22.723 --> 00:27:25.793
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:26.560 --> 00:27:26.560