[0:00] portion we read together in the first epistle of John and the first chapter. And we shall read again of the eighth verse to the end. If we say that 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 and his word is not in us.
[0:53] Now the words in these three verses are a kind of similarity but they are different in meaning to each other. And I would like to draw your attention to the three verses and to the teaching contained in them. It is most important to our eternal salvation to understand the word of God. It is his word and every particle of it is his. And in order to understand this,
[1:58] I would like first to draw your attention to the last verse in the chapter, to verse 10.
[2:12] And then we shall consider the eighth verse. And lastly, we shall consider the ninth verse in that order. Now they are all dealing with sin. A sin is responsible for all the tragedies and suffering in the world. And there is not anything in the world so important has to be cleansed from all our sins. And therefore these verses are of great interest and of great importance to each one of us. Now if we read the tenth verse again, you will notice that it says, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him, that is God, we make him a liar.
[3:17] And his word is not in us. Now this verse deals with teaching which is not easily accepted by many. And there are many churchmen and there were right through the ages who were quite prepared to deny the teaching that we have here. It is, it deals or reveals to us teaching which appears here and there throughout the word of God, what we call original sin. And many of us do not understand what is meant by original sin. Now original sin is connected with the first man who was created by God, with Adam. He was the head of the human race according to natural generations.
[4:32] But he was the head of the human race in another particular way. He was the head of the race in a way of a covenant.
[4:44] God made with Adam, God made with Adam a covenant of life. Not only for himself but for his posterity. So we were in Adam as, not only as the natural head of the human race, but we were in Adam as the head of a covenant of life.
[5:08] Whatever Adam did in that capacity, he was doing it for you and for me. He was acting on our behalf as the head of a covenant. And he was like that until he sinned.
[5:26] And the moment he sinned, the covenant was broken and he ceased then to act on our behalf. But the gift of what he had done, because it was done on behalf of all his descendants, it is imputed to us.
[5:51] Now you might think that that is most unfair. And you might think that you cannot understand such a thing. And that it was wrong with God to do so.
[6:08] Now people, some writers are not afraid to write in that line and discredit this teaching which we find not only at the beginning of the Bible, but the apostle Paul teaches it again in Romans.
[6:24] And we find in several places in Romans. And we find in several places in the Bible that the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to all mankind.
[6:36] Not one single person is excused or out of this condition of being guilty according to the covenant of life made with Adam that it was imputed to us.
[6:57] And the sin, the sin of Adam came down generation after generation by natural generation. And every person born into the world thereby was under the corruption of his whole nature.
[7:17] Whatever people might say about a baby being born or a person having some part of goodness left in him and they look upon mankind generally that there is something good in all men.
[7:37] Now the Bible does not teach us not. But that we are holy, sinful. Every part of, every part of our soul has been corrupted and is sinful in its very nature.
[7:54] And nothing can come from it but sin. Now it's very difficult to appreciate this sinful condition of man.
[8:04] Now it says that if we do not believe in this, that we make God a liar. And it's a very serious matter to charge God with injustice.
[8:32] And that we make God a liar.
[9:02] It's not the first sin. When he sinned, he ceased to be the head of the covenant any longer. But it was imputed to all who would come from him of the human race.
[9:21] Now if those who reject this, if they reject it on the ground that is unfair and that they cannot understand it, how then can we understand the righteousness of Christ being imputed to sinners?
[9:45] And thereby they become righteous. If we do not accept the guilt and the great damage of the first Adam, how can we take the righteousness of the second Adam of the Lord Jesus Christ?
[10:03] What he achieved and what he obtained whereby we can be justified by believing and trusting in him entirely.
[10:14] Receiving him by faith alone and we can be justified. Now we find again the eighth verse, we find another kind of teaching concerning our relationship to God.
[10:31] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us.
[10:42] Now there are two ways by which we can come into this deception. By deceiving ourselves. Now this is part of the sinfulness of our human nature.
[10:57] That we are inclined to deceive ourselves. And especially to deceive ourselves in connection with our relationship to God.
[11:07] We can come into a state whereby we are unaware of our sinfulness. And we can come to this condition by persevering in sin.
[11:24] And sinning more and more. And the more we sin, the less conscious we become of it. I remember reading a story concerning a doctor.
[11:41] A doctor who, about 200 years ago, learned his profession, not in a college, but as an assistant to another doctor. And he said to this, a young doctor, said to this other doctor who was teaching him and showing him his way, he said, I would like to have a skeleton.
[12:04] And I don't know where to find it. And the older doctor said, that's easily done. Just, he said, just give a certain poison or something to a man that is of, not great, that is not well known.
[12:23] He said, I'll kill him. And you'll get his skeleton. So he did so. And after getting his skeleton, he said to the old doctor, he said, I'm very much concerned.
[12:37] He said, my conscience is bothering me. And he said, who? Because he said, I killed that man. Well, he said, you go and kill another.
[12:48] And if that doesn't put your conscience at last, kill another. And you know, he was teaching the truth. The truth which we find in the Bible as we go on in sin.
[13:02] And that sin to sin, our consciousness of sin, is getting less and less and less. Till at last, we are not aware that we are sinning at all.
[13:15] And we find thousands and thousands in our nation today going on to their eternal destiny, unaware that they are sinful.
[13:28] Or that they have to give an account of their stewardship in the world. And every one of us here, whether we are aware of sin or not, this is true, that we have all to give an account of our stewardship in the world.
[13:45] Now, the other way by which we can forget that we are sinful, and we find it by making a way of salvation for ourselves by trying to keep the law of God perfectly.
[14:08] That is how the Apostle Paul lived for many years. He thought and he was almost assured of the fact that he was an heir of heaven and that he was an heir of sin.
[14:28] Because according to the law, he was saying that he was perfect. If he slept in any way, there was a remedy for a vow, that could be Christ and he could start again on a new life.
[14:42] And he lived a life that he thought that was perfect and that God was very pleased with the kind of life he is living. Now, you might not have the law of God in that way, but you have your own way.
[15:00] You attend the means of grace. You might pray regularly. You might do this and that thing, and then go on indifferently to God and to your own relationship to him.
[15:15] And in that sense, you are unaware of your sins. And you are unaware that you have to give an account that you really are corrupted in your own, in your whole being.
[15:32] And that you are holy and ready to inherit the glory that Christ has prepared for those who believe in him.
[15:44] Now, there is no remedy in this among men. The church cannot convict you of sin.
[15:57] You might read about it. You might know about it. But yet, there is this deception in the human heart. If we are doing our duty, if we live honestly, and if we attend means of grace, if we read the Bible, we think that we are Christians.
[16:15] And therefore, we are hardened in this, and our conscience does not rebuke us, providing we continue to gain according to our own standards.
[16:33] And thereby, we live without sin. We just say, we say that we have no sin. So, we deceive ourselves.
[16:45] And the truth is not in us. The truth is the word of God. And that is what the Lord uses in discovering to ourselves that we are sinful.
[17:03] The commandment came, says the apostle. He was living a perfect life. But the commandment came. And sin revolved.
[17:14] And I died. He could never again try to get to heaven and to glory by his own efforts. He realized that he was under the curse and under the wrath of God and unable to do anything for himself.
[17:35] His hope perished. And he cried. And he said, we don't know, his prayers are not revealed to us when he was, when the apostle was in darkness without light for several days.
[17:52] praying to the Almighty to have mercy upon him. He saw his own life. He saw that he was worthy of eternal death to be banished from God forever and ever for having gave, for his, for his persecution of the church of Christ and of his sanctitude to the Lord of glory.
[18:16] These are cases of a dead conscience. And it's amazing how dead our conscience can be. But there are powers working about us that we are wholly aware of.
[18:33] There are thousands of, or we don't know how many, but there are thousands of evil angels who are doing the work of Satan and working about us even while we're in church.
[18:47] It can carry your mind. Satan can make you think of what you're going to do tomorrow or what you were doing yesterday or you can't be planning anything your own life and various other things while you sit so quietly and as if you were listening for your eternal salvation.
[19:06] Whereas, you're not here in the world. You're paying no attention whatsoever to it. This is the teaching of the Bible. That Satan can close our eyes and close our ears that we cannot hear the word of exhortation or the word of life.
[19:29] Now we read these two are put on either side you see of the ninth verse. If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and if we say that we have not sinned we make God a liar.
[19:51] But now if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all in righteousness.
[20:04] Now the first thing that draws our attention to this verse if you look at it is the construction of it. If the church was going to write such a verse we would easily change it we would say if we confess our sins he is faithful and just no not that but if we forgive our sins he is faithful and he is merciful and gracious to forgive us our sins.
[20:41] Now try to remember that it is not on the grounds of mercy and on the grounds of grace that sins are forgiven. Sins are forgiven on the basis of justice and unless justice received its own justice I must say what it demands he demands righteousness and he demands faithfulness and this is where we see the work of the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ undertook his great vision into the world and he came to raise the law and make it honourable.
[21:45] The law of God remember is precious it's it's the moral attitude of God to men and angels and when men are sinned he has transgressed the law of God and there is nothing that can be compared to a transgression of the law of God when the angels in heaven when they transgressed that law they were immediately are cast out the righteousness of God flashed against them and his holiness cast them away from his presence into the darkness in which they continue into the present and they are fighting against God hitherto now the same was true concerning Adam when Adam sinned he was cast from that place that he had with God and his descendants with him into a state of sin and under
[22:56] God's wrath and curse and that is the state of every sinner who has not been forgiven and who has not been justified by God and saved you know how can how can God be just in justifying an ungodly person if you would see a judge in her own court giving a murderer or a person who was too pleased to be guilty and telling him that he was that he was sorry for him that he knew that he had an unfortunate upbringing and because of certain other circumstances he was going to give him his liberty that judge would lose his position straight away he couldn't be a judge anymore the judge is not making the law the judge is only executing what has already been in the law and he administers it according to what it is and therefore if he doesn't so he could no longer be judged now the law of
[24:18] God is the same as God himself it cannot be moved it cannot be altered it is a change of its nature and the law has been transgressed by sinners now there are two ways by which we can become sinners it's not only by what we do sinning is non-conformity to the law or transgression of that law and non-conformity means that you're not doing what the law commands you to do you're disobeying the law when you're not doing what the law of God commands you to do and therefore we think if we don't do certain things that God is that God is reconciled to us whereas his law condemns us and we're under his wrath and his curse for not doing what we ought and what he commands and it is because no one was able to give sufficient ransom for what the conditions which we were in or to repair the damage which we have done that the
[25:44] Lord Jesus Christ came into this world God devised a means whereby we can be delivered from the state into which sin has brought us sin has brought mankind into a state of sin and of misery and lay up to eternal death where we can be cast away with the demons in hell forever and ever that is the reward that is the punishment of sin and there is only one way and only one way whereby we can be again reconciled to God delivered from the punishment of sin and escape the eternal condemnation that awaits every sinner who is not reconciled to God through the Lord
[26:51] Jesus Christ now how can the Lord Jesus Christ how can he reconcile God and his law and his and his and all that he is all the attributes of his being which condemns the sinner how can he again be reconciled and accept the sinner back again into a certain relationship with him whereby he can love that sinner he can show him every kindness and he can raise him up to enjoy his own presence and glory how can that be true well we have to go back again and where we find the meaning of this verse if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our sins he is fearful and jealous of our sins and to cleanse us from all in righteousness now if we confess our sins now that confession really is the result of repentance repentance and we find that repentance is a grace the grace of
[28:26] God enables a sinner to repent of his sins and repentance implies turning away from our sins unto God in Christ and confessing our sins before God acknowledging that what he says concerning us is true that we are sinful now it's not easily accepted but listen to this is not only a New Testament teaching at all it runs through the whole Old Testament of you prophet Isaiah says that we are all as an inclined thing like a rock that was to be thrown away and all of righteousness that is all the good things you do even the things where you are resisting the cause of Christ where you are suffering for him or doing something for him or helping the church in various ways all of good things all of righteousness is as a filthy rug and we all fade as a leaf and the wind carries us away and there is no one that calls upon him that is a picture drawn by the hand of God concerning every sinner in the world now it's from that state that we are delivered through the gospel of Jesus
[30:06] Christ whereby we can repent that we have sinned against God that we have rebelled against him that we preferred our own sinful life than to enjoy God and to enjoy God is the result of turning to him in Christ Jesus Christ now the Bible states clearly that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved but by the Lord Jesus Christ and when we repent connected with our repentance as it is a grace of God there is the grace of faith and these two are going hand in hand and taking hold of the Lord Jesus Christ as he is presented before us in the scriptures as the one and only saviour as the only way whereby we can be accepted by God and God has given us his word that he will not reject any who will come to him through the
[31:25] Lord Jesus Christ now the moment you accept the Lord Jesus Christ I mean by accepting receiving by faith or arresting upon him by faith and renouncing any other thing that you can do or have done and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ who has been provided for us by God himself sending him down to be a sinner and God being satisfied with the obedience he gave to the law that he exalted the law and made it honourable and that he died in the room and in the place of sinners he died by death and if his sins are placed to the charge of the
[32:27] Lord Jesus Christ and he has suffered for them God is so just that he will not demand punishment from Christ and from you if you are in Christ you have already paid the price of your redemption in Christ or Christ has paid them on your behalf now that is the gospel that we have in the scriptures it is not devised by men it is not it is not something that was cleverly drawn out it is a revelation from God Christ Jesus revealed in his life that he was the promised Messiah God manifested in the flesh and we have seen his life here that he revealed the goodness and the justice of God and through him there is the offer of salvation the offer of cleansing all our sins now how can this become how do we know that
[33:47] God has done this for us or can do this for us well God is just God stands to his word his word is truth and stands forever and he has declared his satisfaction with Christ and that he will reject more than who will come to him now if we if we confess our sins and the greater sin of all is to reject the means that God has provided for our salvation that he has sent a savior who is mounted to save to the uttermost and that we reject him there is no other way but by him but now when when Christ is is is raised up before us and we confess our sins or repent of what we are and exercise faith upon him we are by that faith by which we receive
[35:03] Christ and rest upon him we are immediately at that very moment we are immediately justified the very same as Adam the moment he sinned he sinned not only for himself but for his posterity he became wholly corrupted and wholly defined at that very moment and the very moment in which you receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith you are at that very moment justified and that justification is an imputed justification an imputed righteousness all that Christ has done is imputed to you as if you have done it yourself he did it in your room and in your place and you are immediately justified and the moment that person is justified young or old that person is immediately adopted into God's family and he becomes a child of
[36:13] God and a place in his family let him be young or old he is immediately adopted into his family and then he is equally following upon that he is sanctified and set apart into the family of God and could you by eminence think of a more honourable place than to be a child of God a prince of life even to roll with Christ forever and ever to be taken into the family of God and God the almighty being on your side and caring for you in health and in sickness in every condition in which you can be you have one who is attentive to you who loves you and cares for you and who has declared that he will take you where he is and that you will eventually be placed before his glory with great joy now what is the gospel that we have here and there is only one gospel and that gospel is the gospel of Jesus
[37:44] Christ that he died in the room and in the place of sinners that he died to make reconciliation between sinners and a just God that he has opened a door of salvation to whom to which every person who hears the gospel is invited to come and knock and knock at that door now can you honestly can you really call call upon the name of Christ and ask God to save you to have mercy upon you and that he might forgive all your sins that they shall be washed away through the death of Christ that is the blood of Christ the atoning sacrifice which he gave on Calvary it is often mentioned as the blood of Christ because he gave his life for our salvation to meet our divine justice and our opener way whereby
[38:58] God can be just in justifying the ungodly who believe in Jesus Christ now it is as simple as believing you don't need to go and try to climb up the Ten Commandments to go up to the top of Mount Sinai you are invited to come to Mount Sinai for the temple is Christ was the real temple and there is salvation today as it was on the very day in which he cried out on Calvary it is finished that work continues it is finished and nothing can be added to it and he is meant to say to the uttermost you might be feeling without that you have no sin you might be feeling as careless as can be or you can be feeling that you are too in worthy even to pray that you dare not lift your eyes to heaven such ones others they couldn't lift their eyes to heaven but cry out have mercy upon me the sinner as if they were the only sinner in the face of the world in the face of the earth
[40:25] God is unchangeable in his being he is mighty to save and you have an invitation to come unto him even as you are and to cry unto him and to tell him and you can tell him right now that you don't know how to pray or what to pray tell him that tell him how hard and indifferent you are and tell him that you cannot dare look at a Bible that you dare go on your knees well cry out and tell him that he knows it already but he wants you to do so to tell him your condition that you are lost seer and that you and if you are not delivered from your sins you will eternally lost and cry out accordingly that you're lost like we find the
[41:37] Christian in the city of destruction when he discovered he was in that city and remember here in that city unless you're in Christ Jesus you're in a city that is to be destroyed holy and yourself finished and Christian when he became aware of it when he realized he was a sinner before he had no idea that he was a sinner he had as I was saying he had no consciousness of sin at all but the commandment came and he realized that he was a sinner and he started running in a city of destruction this way and that way and all he was saved was life life eternal life at any cost because he found that he was in a city that was to be destroyed and we don't know we are rebuked again and again at the cost of others how suddenly are the hundreds are cast into eternity they have no opportunity to pray and we don't know what may happen what a day or an hour may come
[42:53] I was reading yesterday in the newspaper I got that they had noticed an an asteroid travelling quite close to the world only a few hundred thousand miles away and it said if it had come to the world if it had struck England it would have destroyed millions and destroyed that nation and nobody could resist it it was travelling at a terrific speed and it just passed the world close to us it could God could very easily have told it that it would start England or Scotland and that we will be all in eternity in a moment of time and that is happening and yet you can take it to heart that the same thing could happen to you this very moment we could all in a moment of time be cast into eternity and there is no invention or repentance there things are there unchangeable as death will find us so will the judgment so we shall be throughout the endless ages of eternity well why not resolve to seek him while he is to be found and to call upon him while he is near he is waiting to be gracious he is on the throne of mercy right now calling him before it's too late let us pray eternal
[44:35] God thou art the Lord God almighty thou art able to do more than we are able to ask or think we know not what to ask as we ought but thou knowest our needs and our condition and we beseech thee to speak to our hearts to enlighten our minds that we may know our need of salvation and that we may call upon thee while thou art near bless to us thy world which we were meditating upon and remain for each one of us bring us safely back to our destiny to our homes and pardon all our sins and shortcomings and thine shall be the glory now and forever more Amen