Walking In The Light- Part 1 (5 part mini series on 1 John)

We open 1 John and talk plainly about light, truth, sin, and repentance. A personal story of collapse and return shows how confession heals and why fear loses power when we step into the light.

• eyewitness foundation of faith in 1 John 1:1–4
• God is light with no darkness
• honesty as the test of real fellowship
• confession and cleansing by Jesus’ blood
• denial as self-deception that harms the soul
• light exposing to heal rather than shame
• fear, humility, and the courage to return
• testimony of loss, repentance, and renewal
• practical call to walk in truth daily

Transcript

Welcome, Prayer, And Series Setup

Why 1 John And “Walking In The Light”

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey guys, it's B Rob, and it is the Food for Thought Faith Cast. It is Thursday, January 22nd. And today we are going to be looking at 1 John. So if you got your Bibles handy, get them out and uh turn to 1 John. We're going to be reading out of that today. But before we do, let's uh go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, Lord. Thank you for waking us up, allowing us to breathe. Thank you for the opportunity we have to be with you today to praise you, Lord, to worship you. Thank you for everything that you are going to do today. Thank you for any blessings. Thank you for any hardships. Thank you for any lessons. Lord, we pray that you hold us. Lord, we pray for our nation. We pray for our country that we would come back and seek the face of you, Lord. We pray all these things in Jesus' heavenly, holy name. Amen and hallelujah. Well, guys, um, it's been a uh, I had a boring birthday, but uh I don't celebrate birthdays, and I don't celebrate a lot of holidays because Jesus, the King of Kings, is the only one that matters. Um we're going to be looking, we're gonna be doing a five-part series, and we're going to be looking at first John chapter one today. Um the five-part series is how to know your faith is real. That's what it's gonna be called. It's uh we're gonna study first John. Today we're looking at first John chapter one, and we're gonna call this walking in the light today. Um, because real faith only walks in honesty, in truth, and repentance. If we look at uh 1 John chapter 1, verse 1, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, at our hand our looked at, and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life.

Eyewitness Of Life: 1 John 1:1–4

SPEAKER_00 2:45

That um that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

I mean, it's basically saying, you see with your own eyes, you feel with your own hands, and now we proclaim concerning the word of life. Read on the verse 2: the life appeared, we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you that we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. Basically saying they've seen the they've seen the Father in the flesh, which is the Son, die, raised from the raised from the dead. Sorry, guys. It's early.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Um and he sent the Holy Spirit so that we could be saved and have fellowship with the Father. That's an amazing thing.

God Is Light: Sin, Confession, Forgiveness

SPEAKER_01 4:22

That is an amazing thing. Let's move on. Let's move on to verses five and nine. Light and darkness, sin and forgiveness. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you. So basically, they're saying, we this is the message we have heard from Jesus and we declare it to you. God is light. In him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. God is light, he's pure, holy, and truthful. There's no deception in him. But if we walk in the light as we as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and he will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Repentance. Repentance.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

You cannot walk with God of light while living in the hidden darkness. Does that make sense? God does not live in the darkness. God doesn't care about your feelings, He cares about the truth, and the truth does not care about your feelings. If we look at verse seven, but if we walk in the light and he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

We have cleansing by Jesus' blood. The blood of Christ. Do you have the blood of Christ over your family's house in the front door? Are you a good shepherd? Do you fellowship?

SPEAKER_01 7:05

That's what this is all about. It's a call to believers. The light doesn't expose you. The light does not expose you to shame. It doesn't expose you to shame you. It exposes you to heal you so that you repent, ask for forgiveness, and God will sanctify you, cleanse you with the blood of Jesus, give you a new life.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

That old life can die.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

So in verse 8 it says, if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. That's the problem with the world today. We've become comfortable with sin. We have scientific names for excuses of sin.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

It's crazy. Denying sin is self-deception. There's no way around it. You have to confess your sin, and God will forgive you and cleanse you.

Light Heals, Not Shames

SPEAKER_01 8:31

And trust me, guys, confession is not weakness. It's a sign of spiritual maturity. It's a sign of being wise. Apologizing is not a sign of weakness. More people need to learn how to do that instead of walking away and never coming back. Because when you do that, you have that on your conscience the rest of your life. What comes around goes around. All right, let's look at verse we okay. We've done that. We've done that. Okay. Guys, if we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar. And his word is not in us. That is verse 10. And that is mocking God. And he does not take lightly to mocking God.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

No way. No way. And I know.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

It's tough. It's no different than when you were a child and you were scared to ask your father for something. I used to get my little brothers to go ask him. It wasn't my real dad, so it's a little bit different. But still, I I I feared. And I understand that. But there is nothing to fear. He wants you back home. He wants the son that went astray or the daughter that went astray to come back home. He will leave the ninety-nine to go looking for the one. And that one might be you. So he is calling you to come back home. I'm watching the series House of David, and I'm on season one, I'm on episode six now.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

And the thing about David is he had so much faith in God that God would take care of him. That he did not fear.

Denying Sin And Self‑Deception

SPEAKER_01 11:25

And like I said, that is a phrase in the Bible that's used many, many times. Do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you. But do not be afraid is the most used Bible verse. For a reason. So let's look back at what we've learned today. We've learned that God is light, he's pure, he's holy, he's truthful. There is no deception in him. He does not hide in the darkness. You may not understand what he is doing at that time, but there will come a time when you do understand why he did what he did. Because sometimes he does things we can't even think about or fathom, if that makes sense. We learn that light reveals, it does not destroy. Walking in the light brings cleansing by the blood of Jesus. It brings fellowship and brothers and sisters in Christ. The light does not expose you to shame, it exposes to heal you. So it's not to shame you, it's not to make fun of you, it's to heal you. And I promise you, when you get saved, there will be clapping and joy going on. And the chorus of the angels of heaven will be singing. I promise you. We've learned that confession brings freedom, repentance. Denying sin is self-deception, self-destruction. Headed for a downfall. He said, Oh no, I just got this. I just have a problem. I just have a problem with promiscuous sex. I just have a problem with alcohol. I just have a problem with drugs. I just have a problem with sitting still.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

No, man. No. That's an excuse. You're sinning against God.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

A lot of these people go sit in the church pew every Sunday. A lot of these people work in the church.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Serve in the church.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

And they think by serving they're going to heaven. It don't work that way. We've talked about this. Confession and repentance is not weakness. Like I said before, it's spiritual maturity. It's being wise.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

So ask yourself. What are you hiding that God may be calling you into the light for? Is there something that kind of irks you? There's a reason for it because God's itching it.

Fear, Faith, And Returning Home

Personal Testimony: Fall And Renewal

SPEAKER_01 14:58

I remember after being away from God since high school. I remember going through my late teens and early twenties. And being the life of the party. Because I had that personality. And I wasn't a bad-looking dude. Doing everything but pleasing God. Doing everything to please this world. Everything. Even when I met my wife and got married, I could care less about God. I knew about God. I loved God, and I uh just could care less. It wasn't until I was humbled after about three, four years in the car business, making good money. I lost everything, had to file bankruptcy, moved back home to Augusta from Columbia. My kids were three, six, and nine at the time. Moved back home, visited a church called Parkway Baptist Church where my mama went because I always trusted my mama. She's an angel. She kept me in church as a child. And she was just a good influence all around. She could cook. She was a good Christian woman. Angel. I visited Parkway Baptist Church. There was a preacher there by the name of Russell Davis, and that he was on fire. The church wasn't really on fire, but he was on fire. And I could feel it. And the conviction was there. I needed to come back home to the flock. And when you're hearing a preacher and God is using that man to convict you, you will know it in your heart. Real men don't cry, I understand, but you will want to cry. I promise you. And you probably will cry. And that is okay because it's okay to cry and let it out. I do it, I'm a crier. That's what it is. I mean, and it is what it is. You know, my dad called my stepdad, well, my adopted dad called me a crybaby growing up a lot, but it is what it is, man. I mean, shows I had a heart, right? Jesus had his hand on me, God had his hand on me. But guys, that's that's the type of uh that's what I'm talking about when I say commitment. And I joined that church, I joined that choir, I grew helped grow that praise team, and we had small revival at Parkway Baptist Church, I promise you. And my kids grew up in an amazing atmosphere with, they met some amazing friends, and I'm so glad that God humbled me in the car business after about four years because I had a God complex because I could get anybody approved on a car. That's how good I was in finance. It didn't matter if you had a 450 beacon score, you was riding because B-Rob had you. And I had that was the reputation I had down in the ghetto in Columbia, South Carolina. I mean, it is what it is. I spent a lot of time in that business. I did a lot of things I probably shouldn't have done in that business. There's a lot of gray areas that people don't want to talk about, not even dealers. They just want you to do it and make the money, if that makes sense. But we're not going to get into that because that's a podcast in itself. But all I'm saying is all you have to do is be obedient when God calls you and repent. And God will change your world, and God will make things happen that you never imagined for you and your family. You have to trust God, you have to thank God, you have to praise God, and you have to repent. And I'm telling you, the reward is worth the risk. And the risk you're feeling is just like everything else in life. Before you go and do something, 99% of the people fear of what's gonna happen, whether it be an interview, whether it be just going to Walmart, whether it be work, whether it be anything. I'm telling you, 90% of the stuff that you fear in your head does not come true. It never comes true because fear is false evidence appearing real. And if you do not live in the truth, you do not live in the light. And trust me, when Jesus comes, you do not want to be hiding in the dark. And guys, God loves you. And if you do not have a relationship with Jesus, you better get right. I asked the question.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Who touched me?

SPEAKER_02 20:52

It was me. Just the fringe of your garment, only the edge. I promise. You are not unclean.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

Why my garment?

SPEAKER_02 21:03

I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have asked. I was sick. I bled and no one could stop it. But but I believed if I could just touch a piece of your garment. I was right.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

My daughter.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

I'm no one's daughter anymore.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Daughter. It wasn't my piece of clothing that healed you.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

But it was instant. I felt it right away.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

I know. But it wasn't this. It was your faith.