Please turn with me to the book of 1st John. Notice it is not the gospel of John that is found in the middle of the Bible. This is 1st John. It's near the end of the Bible just before the book of Revelation. So 1st John, today, and we are really looking at the subject of life. We began that last Sunday looking at the meaning of real life and we are going to continue the exploration of this theme and thought in John's episode. Life, what is it all about? Well, let me start with an illustration. This is totally fictitious. This is totally ramped up. This is not a real story, alright, so don't take it so seriously, but it does tell a point:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And on day 1, He created the dog. I told you it's not real, alright? On day 1, he created a dog. And he said to the dog, 'I will give you 20 years to live. And you will bark at people because you will sit at the door of the gate. And whenever people go by, your job is to bark at them.' The dog says, 'but God, I don't need 20 years to be barking at people. 10 is enough. I give you back 10.' God says, 'alright, so that's what you are going to do for the rest of your life.'

Then God, on day 2, created the monkey. And he said to the monkey, 'Monkey, all you'll do is to entertain people, do funny tricks and make people laugh. And for that, I will give you 20 years.' The monkey says, 'like the dog, I think 20 years is too long. Just give me 10. I'll return you the other 10 years.' So that's what happened to the monkey.

Then on day 3, God created the cow. And God said to the cow, 'what you'll do is, you will work hard under the sun. You labour, you toil, you will bear calves and you will give milk. And for that, I'll give you 60 years of life.' The cow says, 'that's too long. I have to live a hard life, I have to give milk, I have to bear calves. Lord, just 20 years will do. I give you back 40.'

On day 4, God created man. He said to Man, 'you will eat, drink, play and be merry. And for that, I will give you 20 years.' Man then complained. 'How can it only be 20 years? I want more if it is to eat, drink, play and be merry. God, you took back some of the years from the cow, the dog, and the monkey, right? Maybe you add those years to mine.' And that is why, henceforth, we live our lives like this: For the 1st 20 years of our lives, we eat, drink, play and be merry. For the next 40 years of our lives, we live like a cow. We work hard under the sun, we have to bear children and we give milk. And then for the next 10 years of your life, you have to act like a monkey, play tricks and entertain your grandchildren. And for the last 10 years of your life, you sit at the door and bark at your neighbours as they walk by. 03:00

Is this really what life is all about? Is life broken up into such stages where you have fun, you struggle, you entertain others, you make yourself like a fool and you become angry and bitter at the end of life? Well, real life should not be considered just in stages. Real life should be considered in dimensions. There are different levels, different dimensions of living, and we explored that last week. John gave us the understanding of the real life.

You see, the Greeks understood life in its different planes and dimensions. The Greeks have a word 'Bios', the Greek word that describes life. But this is a very specific kind of life. It's a physical life. It's a word that refers to livelihood. It's a word that refers to making a living. Many people today live Bios level kinds of life. That's all. They just want to make a living. But the Greeks knew this is not what life is all about. There's more to it. And therefore, there's another word called Psyche.

The word Psyche is a Greek word that we derive the word psychology or psychological from ~ Psyche. This is life on an intellectual level. This is about the mental life. This is about what you think, what you decide, how you choose. This involves your feelings and your emotions. Most people on earth, at any point of time, live bios, psyche kinds of life.

But the Greeks and the Bible tell us of a different level of life ~ the 3rd dimension ~ which is critical and crucial, and emphasized in the Bible. And that is the life of Zoe. Not Zoe Tay (a local TV personality), as I say, but Zoe is a word that means spiritual life. This is life WITH God. This is life FROM God. This is life IN God. And as I've mentioned, this is the quintessence of life. Many people have Bios and Psyche, but they are empty and hungry, and lonely and miserable on the inside because you need Zoe. This is life with God, and we are made for God. This is life eternal, Jesus says. This is Zoe, 'eternal' in the Greek, that you may know the Father and the Son. And until our hearts find our rest in God, we remain restless, we remain miserable, we remain empty. So, the book of John is really an explanation, description of this Zoe life. 05:38

But how do you know if you have Zoe life today? What does it look like? Okay, can I really see it in myself? Can I see it in others? I know a lot about Bios. I know a lot about Psyche. But I don't quite know what Zoe is all about. And that's why we continue our study in the book of 1st John. John is going to emphasize to us - teach us - what Zoe is all about. He says in verses 5 to 7 (We are continuing this episode):

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." ~ 1 John, 1: 5-7 ESV.

Let's have a short word of prayer and ask God to teach us His words.

Father, we thank you for your amazing word. We are in darkness. We are ignorant of this eternal life until you will reveal it to us through the Bible. And so, I pray you will give us, once again, a humble, teachable spirit to receive the teachings, so that we may benefit out of this so that we may be a people who live in obedience to your will. I pray for friends here who are struggling in life to find comfort in the word. For those who are living in sin to be turned back from their wicked ways. And for those who, today, are wondering what it means and how they could enter into this everlasting life. Would you also reveal it to them? So, Spirit of God, do what you have to do to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ through this time. And for that, we will be grateful. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. 07:33

Now let me say, first up, today's sermon is very short. You guys are probably used to 50 minutes worth of sermon. Today will be shorter so you can heave a sigh of relief. But what I'm going to do is very simple. I'm going to run through these 3 verses. And these 3 verses really tell you more about this Zoe life ~ the spiritual life. John is saying, 'let me teach you, let me tell you.' And he is going to teach you in a very simple way. He is going to use a metaphor. He is going to use an example. He's going to use an illustration. And, what's the illustration?

He says spiritual life is like living in the light. Why? Because he says this is what I would share with you: God is light and if you are having spiritual life from God, you will be walking in the light. This is obviously the theme in these 3 verses because not only does he talk about 'light' 3 times, he talks about the antithesis, the opposite of it, which is darkness. And then right in the middle of this text, we have these words: 'if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another'. The word 'fellowship' is sharing together. We have partnership with something in common. And so, how can we have this eternal life? It is from Jesus Christ. He gave it to us. That's what v 1-4 reveal to us. And, when you have this life from Jesus Christ, when you have this Zoe, when you have this participation in Him, you will find that you will be walking in the light. So, today's message is very simple. The real life today is described as someone living in the light. Life and light - very closely related.

Again I say to you, the premise why we think so is because John starts that way. He says, 'God is light.' Now think with me. What does it mean when we say 'God is light'? Throughout the Bible, you would realize, darkness is a picture of sin, and light is a picture of purity or holiness. And, in this text, it's also obviously the main thought in John because, right at the end at verse 7, he says 'the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

So, in case you're walking in the darkness, realize that there is a provision for you for your sins to be forgiven, to be cleansed. So, walking in the light is the opposite of walking in darkness, the opposite of walking in sin. It's being in purity, in righteousness, in holiness, and exactly, that's WHAT God is, that's WHO God is. He's pure. He's without blemish. He cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempt He any man. He is without compromise. He's absolutely perfect. He is light. He is bright. He is glorious. There is no hint of darkness in him at all, and because he is pure and holy, He is a God of amazing beauty and glory and splendor. 10:37

In Psalm 104: 1-2 ESV, we read 'You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment.' So, light, being a picture of holiness, of beauty, of righteousness, of being someone clean and pure, is one that is beautiful and glorious. And also, the imagery of light not only depicts purity and glory, I think it also depicts vitality or life and that's what he said in John 1:4 ESV: "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." Life and light are very much related.

In John 8:12 ESV, similarly, Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Now I don't think it's very difficult to think of life and light as very interrelated. Just think about this picture of photosynthesis. Throw back to secondary school, maybe this is primary school, I can't remember. Primary school, secondary school science. Basic life sciences where you have light energy. And, within the leaves, are things like the cytochrome and the stroma that converts light into food materials necessary for growth.

Where there is light, there is life. And when we therefore think of 'God is light', it means He's pure, He's holy, He's righteous, He's glorious, He's majestic and He brings life. He brings flourishing. He brings blessing. That's the total opposite of sin. Sin is ugly. Sin is dirty. Sin causes shame and guilt. Sin kills. Sin ruins. God is light, absolutely the opposite of sin. That's the point of John. God is light, no darkness at all. Absolutely none. No deceit. No hidden agenda. This is our God. And he says, 'because our God is light and if you have received this Zoe from him then it makes sense. The logic is that you who say you have fellowship with him and you are still walking in darkness, you are lying. You are not practicing the truth. 13:15

It doesn't matter who you call yourself. You can say to people, 'I'm a Christian. Look at my car. Got Christian sticker. Look at my necklace with such a big cross. Can't you see? And my name is Moses, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. (laughter). Surely, I'm a Christian.' You say, 'No. You are not a Christian. It doesn't matter what you call yourself if you're walking in darkness. So it's not just your talk. It's your walk.'

See, in those days, John has a group of false teachers that were trying to deceive the church. They were the Gnostics. Gnostics are people who think they have superior spiritual knowledge, and, they say, as long as I have this superior mystical spiritual knowledge with God, it doesn't matter how we live. John says, 'That's a lie. It matters if you are really someone born again. If you really have Zoe, you will not be walking in darkness. You will not be living in sin. You will not be doing shameful things. Your life will change.'

'Walk as children of light', Paul says. If you are a child of God, you are a child of light. Zoe is in you. Zoe shines. Zoe is light. Zoe is pure. Zoe is beautiful. Zoe brings life and vitality so he says, 'if you are a child of light, walk that way for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.' This will be your life. If you have received Jesus into your life, this will be what people will see. They may not hear your name, they may not see your cross, but they will see your life that it is full of goodness, righteousness, and truth, and you will take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness.' Ephesians 5: 8-11 ESV. This is what makes a Christian.

I say to you today: Don't say you are a Christian because 10 years ago, you said that prayer or someone said that prayer for you. Ask yourself if you are a Christian because there must be fruit of light. I mean, if you say, 'I have life', there must be signs of life. What is the sign of life? Fruit of light and an avoidance of the unfruitful works of darkness. It means today that you and I, we will not be living a life that is entrapped, that is dominated with things such as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality; means you are not someone who is cohabiting today, and you are not having an affair. You are not someone who is indulging in pornography. It means you are not someone who is covetous. You say, 'I don't worship idols.' But let me tell you, the Bible says covetousness is idolatry. You are not someone who worships money, sorcery, enmity. You don't want to harbour bad blood, bitterness, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries. These are things that should not characterize our lives. Doesn't matter what you call yourself. Look at your life. 16:32

And so John says, because God is light and if you say you have life, and then your life should be distinctly different from Galatians 5:19-21. You should be one that is marked by beauty and holiness, righteousness and flourishing, and warmth and love for others. Now, the question then is 'Wah, Pastor, your standard is very high. Then none of us can really be called a Christian. Are you saying that we all must be perfect? That there must be no sin at all? That there is perfection in all of us before I can think I'm a Christian?' No, I don't think so. Neither is it a point of Apostle John. John is not saying, a man who has spiritual life is a man who is always perfect because if that is so, he wouldn't say the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. The tense that is used is not cleansed us, it is cleansing us ~ every day.

There's a need for cleansing, so John is not arguing sinless perfection is the mark of a born-again man. It's not. Remember Jesus? He said to Peter, 'you don't have to be washed all over. You just need to wash your feet.' Now, if you have truly trusted in Jesus, you are washed all over. But daily in your life, in your journey on this earth, you pick up sand, you pick up dirt, you pick up sin and we need daily cleansing. So, obviously, being a disciple of Jesus is not sinless perfection and you say what is it? What does it mean to 'walk in the light' if it is not sinless perfection? Well, I think this statement is true: "Walking in the Light' is not Sinless Perfection, meaning you are Wow! Suddenly incapable of sinning. But it is a 'Sincere Progression'.

There was this lady whom Spurgeon knew. And she said to Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher, 'I'm sinless and I'm beyond sinning. I cannot sin anymore.' Wah, Spurgeon was very impressed until one day, someone stepped on her toes. And Spurgeon described it: that her sinless perfection left her like the morning dew. Shshsh....evaporated. She just blew up in anger and it's just gone.

There is no way we will be sinlessly perfect in this life until Jesus comes because there's the flesh in us. So, walking in the light is not saying, 'I'm perfect. I'm sinless, I'm Mr. Holy'. No. But it does mean that there will be a genuine progression in your life. There will be a sincere desire for holiness. Not just because you will get caught if you are caught sinning but because you really love God. You really love to be in the light. There will be a genuine desire for holiness. 19:32

There will be a genuine struggle. You see, before you are saved, you don't struggle with sin. You love sin unless you are caught. You love sin, but a born-again man, when he should fall into sin, he struggles, and he wrestles. He doesn't like it. There is sincerity to it and then I say there will truly be at least deliverance, a growth, a real progress. It is not just desire alone. But over time, there should be a real practical tangible change in him. He will not be sinless but he'll sin less. That's walking in the light. So, 'Sinless Perfection, Sincere Progression'.

It's a time for you to check yourself really this morning. I said that it is a short message, but check yourself. Are you a Christian? Do you really have Zoe? How do you know you have Zoe? Well, ask yourself, 'Am I walking in the light? Do I really have a desire for holiness? Do I really struggle with sin? Do I really see change after 10 years, 15 years, and 20 years of professing faith in Jesus Christ?' It's something for you to check.

See, someone who is walking in the light is not afraid of coming out into the light. Whoever does what is true comes to the light. He sees the work of grace; he sees that there is a divine life in him. And he says, 'I am willing to come to the light so that it is clearly seen that this is God's work in and through me.' Do you have that? And you are willing to come out into the light, not to show off, but to bring glory to God? On the other hand, those who do not have real change in their life, they don't want to come into the light.

The Bible actually says in John 3:20: "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light. If you are someone practising sin, you don't want to come out into the light, lest his works should be exposed."

I say to you, my understanding of 'walking in the light' as I study verses 5-7 is this: A man who has Zoe, a man who is walking in the light is someone who manifests sincere progression. There is transformation. There will be some change in his life; not complete, not total, not ultimate but there will be change. And, besides transformation, there will be transparency. He comes into the light. He doesn't hide, he doesn't conceal. He doesn't run away from his God but he is open and transparent, and honest and humble before God. He doesn't play games with God. He doesn't pretend with God. He doesn't try so hard so that he looks good before God. He really humbles himself, lays bear his heart and says, 'God, I need you. I need your grace to keep me from sinning.' That's an amazing transparency. 22:40

'Walk as children of light...' Ephesians 5:8. We looked at that verse earlier. You don't hide the unfruitful works of darkness but you expose them, you deal with them. Spurgeon says, 'WALKING IN THE LIGHT is the willingness to know and be known'. If you are really walking in the light, you will be willing to show God your heart. You will be willing to open up yourself. You will be willing to be transparent and honest before God.

Let me give you an example: Suppose you are going to ask your girlfriend to marry you, what you do? You bring her to the most romantic dinner possible, right? Where would you bring her for the most romantic dinner possible? No idea? Okay. Where do you bring her? What kind of meal? McDonald's? (Someone called out: 'hawker centre'). Wah, Matthew you've got a good deal, man. (Laughter).

Where you bring her is likely, in today's day and age, you bring her to a nice posh restaurant for a candlelight dinner. That's right, candlelight dinner. Can I ask you, why candlelight? Huh? Why candlelight? Very simple, right? Why candlelight? I always thought, why candlelight? Is it like it's so expensive to switch on the lights? No. They go for candlelight because they don't want to..? It's more romantic that way because you don't see one another's flaws, isn't it? When it's so ... like this light is shining on me. Ahhh... When it's candlelight, it's dark, it's dingy. You can't see very well. So you won't be able to see my pimple. You won't be able to see my blackhead. You won't be able to see all these flaws. And, somehow, we imagine the person to be so beautiful until you walk out and then.... 'I didn't know you look like that!' But you see, we like to hide in darkness because we don't want to be known, isn't it? Do you really want your spouse to see all your flaws? Not even your spouse right? But pai-seh, lah (Pai-seh is Hokkien for 'it's embarrassing'). I don't want to show, lah. And light shows it up very, very clearly.

Suppose today, you're not having a romantic dinner. But you are really sick. You have a bad sore throat. You go to the doctor and you say, 'doctor, please take a look.' And the doctor takes a candle and say 'very dark, can't see. It's ok, lah, you look fine.' How would you feel? You say, 'what a lousy doctor!' You go to the doctor and you expect him to use a big, strong torchlight to shine right in your throat even though your throat is actually very ugly. Have you seen your throat? 'Hen nankan', I tell you ('hen nankan' means 'very ugly' in Mandarin). It's red with all the blood vessels. It's actually not very pleasant but you want the doctor to take a good look with strong light because you want the light to expose the problem. 25:44

You see, when we do not have a desire to be healthy, we just want to look beautiful; when we just want to impress people and we do not want to please God; when we just want to focus on the outward and not deal with the inward. That's what we do. We hide in the darkness. We are not willing to be known but a man who is born again says, 'I want to be known.' 'I want to say, 'God, you are that great physician. I lay bare my ugliness. I lay bare my abscess of sin. Deal with it, please, because I want to walk in the light as you are in the light.' You don't work hard hiding your sin. You want to deal with it. So if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie. And we do not practise the truth.

Does your life manifest transformation? Not sinless perfection but sincere progression. And, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. Be open about your sin. You don't have to hide from your God. And, in order to bring us to that delightful willingness to be transparent and vulnerable before God, there's this beautiful last phrase that says ''and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin". So it's very scary.

Oh, it's not very pleasant to open your mouth to your physician. And he looks at it and says 'sorry, I can't do anything for you. It's no point.' Now when we open our hearts to God, He's not going to say, 'I can't do anything for you.' He's saying 'I'm going to wash you. I'm going to cleanse you. You can come. I'm not going to reject you.'

The word cleanse is a very interesting word. It's katharizo in the Greek and I think it's interesting, because, as a medical doctor, we've used that word before ~ catharsis. You say, 'what's catharsis?' Well catharsis is, you know people go for scopes, right, stomach scope and intestine scope? So, an intestine scope ~ wah, very grouse, lah ~ put through your backside, go up all the way, see all your 'dua dng' (large intestines) and you still want to eat 'kway chap' (a local dish consisting of braised pig innards), that's your problem. You check all your intestines, and, as a doctor, if I want to do a scope, I want to see whether there is any growth, any ulcer. And to see it clearly, it needs to be clean, right? Imagine you put a scope up and first thing is the faeces stuck there. No point going further. It's all stuck. It's all going to be black and dirty.

So what they do is they prepare your bowel. We call it bowel prep. And we let you drink something a day before so that you keep going to the toilet for the rest of the night so that it's purged, it's clean, it's washed out. This is what they call 'catharsis' - clean all the faeces, all the stool so that it is clean and nice. Amazingly, the word 'cleanses' is that word 'katharizo'. It's dirty. Our lives are dirty. You must understand God is absolutely holy and we pick up sins in our lives. How can we have fellowship with God when we are so filthy and He's so pure? The blood of Jesus Christ katharizos our sins, all sin. Not just a speck here and there, not just a bit here and there but He cleanses us thoroughly and it's because we know that God is so much for us there is cleansing available that we are willing to lay bare our lives and say 'Lord, I want to walk in the light'. I'm not afraid of showing you who I really am but I want to come to you. You are the great physician who can heal me. 29:34

One of the great perks of working in GLCC, on some days when we are off and on some days when we are off but we are still in the building, is sister Hau Chun who by and by cooks for us. Some of our staff here would testify to that. And there was a day, it was just Pastor Chee Keen, myself, Hau Chun, and, after a meeting, she said 'hey, come lah. I'm going to prepare some lunch for you. I am going to prepare ramen for you.' Wah, her ramen has standard, with real pork belly. We eat until shiok (a slang expression conveying a feeling of pleasure) and the egg was a bit gooey-gooey inside. So the good news is we happily stayed back again. And, after the meal, I went to wash the bowls. And I was standing at the sink and she was standing somewhere else.

Suddenly, I heard her shriek 'eeek...' I say, what's up, what's up? Almost in a split second, I felt something furry run over my feet. You know Gospel Light is famous for... for...? For the gospel, lah. What rats? What's up with you guys? Ok, ok, ok. I know what you mean. We used to have rats in our building because we are beside Adam Road Food Centre. It's so near. Yes, you are right. She said 'there's a rat!' The rat just scampered across my feet and it went to a corner there.

Now this is horror because Chee Keen, myself, Hau Chun ~ none of us are that brave to go and catch the rat. So we all stayed far away and 'zen mo pan' (in Mandarin meaning 'what's to be done?'). How, ah? What shall we do, huh? And we discussed very long. Strategized very long. And we tried our best. And I think we took a broom with a stick and knock, knock, knock, konk, konk, konk. 'Choot lai lay' ('come out' in Hokkien), half wishing he won't come out, lah. Then I kept asking Hau Chun, 'hey, are you sure? Maybe we wait, lah, huh? We wait lah, huh? Maybe we call the pest people.' 'No, no, no, I cannot. I cannot. Must get it out.' Wait, lah. Wait lah. She won, lah. We have to find a way to get the rat out. 31:37

So we knocked it harder and harder, louder and louder, but that rat at that corner refuses to come out. So I said 'no choice, lah. Let's have this strategy: We will remove the items because it's hiding behind those items ~ pots, pans, plates.' I think 'no choice'. We got to take the pots and pans out slowly, one by one. And I said 'Ok, Chee Keen, you go do it.' (laughter). So I went outside the room. I look beyond the window. Someone got to sacrifice to look at the situation, what. (Laughter). So I had to do that. So I stood outside and said 'Chee Keen, this is the one. Hau Chun, get ready.' Hau Chun was ready to whack the rat. So I was outside directing traffic and Chee Keen, one piece by one piece removed the items, the utensils.

And you know what? That rat right to the last moment won't come out. It won't come out until the very last basket was removed. It ran, but it ran to the other hole. And so it came here (pointing at a spot on the picture that was flashed on the screen). From the right side, it came to the left. Can you see where it is?

By the way, it was full of things initially and Chee Keen had to remove one by one until it's left with just these styrofoam plates. Can you see the rat? (As indicated by a red circle in the picture) You cannot? Okay, it's right here (pointing at the picture). The head is there, and, by the way, there was not one rat. There were 2 of them. They were having fellowship there (laughter) ~ fellowship in the dark.

Chee Keen didn't want to pull the last one. So what I did was, I took a hose, connect it to a tap and I stood on top of the table. I know they don't climb. So I stood on the table and started to squirt, squirt, and squirt. Somehow we still couldn't get it out. We didn't dare to remove this item (the packet of styrofoam plates) because you're really going to be face-to-face with it.

And so I said 'I got to run (laughter). My son is waiting for me to pick him up so all the best. I'll come back. I'll come back.' Well, 15 minutes later, they told me the rat is out. Somehow they got enough courage to remove the things and the rat just ran out.

As I thought about this, I thought, isn't it so appropriate for 1st John 1, v 5-7? Why did the rat hide there even though it's so difficult to live? It's very noisy here you know. You will go deaf. I think these two rats need hearing aids. Now why didn't they come out? Very simple. Because the rats instinctively knew that if they were to come out, Pastor Chee Keen won't embrace them. Pastor Chee Keen or sister Hau Chun will whack them to death. They don't want to come out because they know there's no love from the human beings there for them so they choose to hide in the dark. 34:53

But I say to you and I, all of us, you don't have to live like rats. You can come out from the dark, dirty shadowy corner of life and run into the open, run into the light and run to your Heavenly Father who embraces you. Why? Because the blood of Jesus Christ is shed for you. It cleanses you of all sin. You wouldn't want to hug a rat but God wants to embrace every single one of us. And the price that is paid or the price that is necessary is already paid on the cross of Jesus Christ. It is all laid on him, and by his stripes, you and I can be healed.

My friends, don't hide from God. You don't have to. In church, I have seen so many people. They come to this church, they worship. But when there is a problem in their life, when there is sin maybe between husband and wife, between one another, you know, the first thing they do is that they hide. They run from God. They are so frustrated, they are so shamed that they say, 'I will not come back to church. I will not read the Bible. I will not go to care group. I won't do these things because I want to hide in my sin.' But it is so unnecessary to live like rats when we've a Father who has paid the price to embrace you and I. If you are a child of God, if Zoe is in you, you can have fellowship with Him. You can be open and transparent before God because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

This morning's is a very very simple, straightforward message. Eternal life, spiritual life is walking in the light. If the light of God has shone in your life, there must be the life of light in you. There must be change in you. There must be a sincere progression in you. Do you have it? My friends, I say this not so that I'm cruel to say that you're not a Christian, and therefore you are damned. No. I'm saying this because God loves you and if you've been hiding behind hypocrisy, you have been hiding behind some false assurance, false pretense, I say to you 'Come. Come to Jesus'. He is still for you today, and the gospel invitation, the gospel that saves you truly is still for you today if you are willing to turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ, there is an amazing forgiveness that can come to your soul. 37:41

But if you, today, are running from God, like that rat, even though the noises around you are getting louder and louder and louder and trials are increasing, you still want to hide there. I want to say to you, you don't have to do that anymore because when you come out with confession, with humility, with honesty, we don't have a God who will club you to death. But you'll have a God who embraces you close to His heart. This is your God. Believe it. It's an amazing, astounding, stunning grace, but it is in the Bible, because while we were yet sinners, while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us and now that you are his child, He's not going to cast you aside. Nothing is going to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. So why won't you turn? Why won't you come back to God?

My friends, the church is to be a community of grace. You are not here to mutually condemn each other but we are here to mutually provoke one another to love and good works, to love, to embrace, to encourage, to support, to point. Don't forsake. Don't abandon ship. This is your Father's house. Maybe today you are living in sin, outright sin, and if you are a child of God, I know there's something in you that say this is absolutely not right. I know in your heart, you'd say, I wish I could get out of this. You can, because God is in the light. Why would you want to ruin your life in darkness, in filth, in death, in ruin – believe God, trust and obey Him so that you will come into that which is pure and holy, and glorious, and splendid and flourishing, and blessing. He is in the light so come, join us, and join Him in this light.

Father, we thank you today for your word. It's amazing grace as we consider these words that when we who have blown it all and win it all, so many a times, you never give up on us and that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Cause us to walk in such a light, in such a life, that the world may see the Zoe in your church, and bring glory to your name. And, as we live out such Christian gospel-centered lives, we ask that Jesus would be seen and known and believed upon, and many more may come into this blessed fellowship. So use us, dear God. We thank you. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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