An Honest Community.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] First John there towards the back of the New Testament. [0:03] We’ll be in chapter one again this week. [0:06] We’re gonna be starting in verse five though. [0:08] And we’re in week seven of our series [0:11] on the gospel centered community. [0:13] So what the premise of this entire series has been

[0:16] is that if community is not built upon faith [0:20] in the gospel of Jesus, [0:22] then it will not be about what Jesus is about. [0:26] Now we might think, well, that’s how it goes. [0:29] I mean, obviously. [0:31] But even though we would kind of agree

[0:33] with a statement like that, [0:34] we still struggle to keep the relationships in our lives [0:39] to be centered upon what our faith is supposed to be in. [0:44] And so this is seen in the brokenness of our relationships. [0:49] Now, if you spend time in the scripture, [0:51] you’re going to see something that’s very clear.

[0:53] And that is that relationships are broken because of sin. [0:57] So in every relationship in your life, [1:00] you experience some kind of conflict. [1:02] You experience throughout your life relationships that end. [1:06] You experience times in your life [1:08] where you will hurt people, people will hurt you.

[1:11] That there’s brokenness in you. [1:13] There’s brokenness going out of you, [1:15] into the lives of others. [1:15] And there’s brokenness from the lives [1:17] of others going into your life. [1:20] And what heals that ultimately is the gospel of Jesus.

[1:25] Is that he reconciles our relationship with God [1:29] by taking the penalty for my sin on the cross. [1:33] And he died the death that I deserve. [1:37] Therefore, if I trust in that, [1:39] then everything about my life [1:42] is based on faith in that reality.

[1:46] And if you trust the gospel, [1:48] you believe that there’s no other reconciliation [1:52] ultimately to be found in this life. [1:54] That every other way that you seek to cure [1:57] the brokenness that’s going on in your life, [2:00] the conflict that remains unresolved in your life,

[2:04] when you try to seek something [2:06] to fix that other than the gospel, [2:08] you’re just going to find more brokenness. [2:12] But because of the fact that Jesus [2:14] actually rose from the dead, [2:17] I can have a new relationship with God.

[2:20] And what that does is that it makes his love my love. [2:24] And now I have something to offer [2:27] into relationships in this world [2:30] that can actually be for the power [2:32] of reconciling others through the gospel of Jesus [2:36] for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[2:40] But when I do that, there are certain traits [2:44] of the type of community that I’m going to be building [2:46] that you can find. [2:47] And we talked about the first one two weeks ago. [2:49] And that was when you’re living for the gospel, [2:52] when you’re building community around the gospel of Jesus,

[2:55] you’re going to have a joyful community. [2:58] You are going to know an enduring joy [3:02] that is completely eternal, [3:03] that nothing in this world can take away from you. [3:07] That is why as a Christian, no matter what the diagnosis, [3:10] no matter what the tragedy, we can say,

[3:13] but I still have joy. [3:15] Why? [3:16] Because I still have God. [3:19] That is why. [3:20] Last week, we took a look and we said the type [3:22] of community that gospel will produce

[3:24] is a humble community where I am free [3:27] from the need to use others and be used by others [3:31] to further some type of personal agenda. [3:34] The pride that people insert into relationships [3:36] that has nothing to do with selflessness, [3:39] but rather it’s filled with selfishness.

[3:41] The gospel frees us from those motivations. [3:45] Now this week, we’re going to talk about the third trait [3:48] of a gospel centered community [3:50] and that is that it’s going to build an honest community. [3:53] Now honesty is a tough subject, [3:57] mostly because this is a room full of liars.

[4:01] That’s why this is a tough subject. [4:03] And it can also be a very uncomfortable subject. [4:07] But the fact is that real authentic community [4:10] means being known as we really are. [4:15] Think about every important or healthy relationship [4:19] that you have ever had in your life.

[4:20] It’s been built on honesty and authenticity. [4:24] I mean those closest to you are those [4:26] that you probably say I can be myself around them. [4:31] That’s the type of relationships that you long for. [4:34] You just want honesty. [4:35] You want to be able to just, you know,

[4:36] all the airs that you put up around other people, [4:39] you just want to let those down [4:40] and you want people in your life. [4:41] It’s like I can be real around you, man. [4:44] And the subtext of that though [4:45] is that you are really lying to everyone else.

[4:48] So it’s not really showing a lot of personal health [4:50] when you deal with people like that. [4:53] But what the gospel of Jesus actually does for us [4:56] is it frees us from having to lie. [5:01] It frees us from not being ourselves around other people. [5:07] Because of Jesus, do you understand

[5:10] that when you apply the truth of it to your life, [5:12] you can be who you really are. [5:15] You can be yourself. [5:17] And so to build a gospel-centered community [5:19] brings with it a necessity that we have the trait [5:23] of real honesty with one another

[5:25] about who we really are and also about who God really is. [5:32] Now this ultimately is not the type of honesty [5:36] where you can say cruel things [5:40] under the manipulative guise of what? [5:43] I was just being honest. [5:45] Because I want to call it,

[5:46] that’s not what we’re talking about this morning. [5:48] That’s to be repented of. [5:50] You’re just kind of being a jerk in that situation. [5:53] That’s not a gospel-centered way to be. [5:57] And so nor is this about the dreaded moment [6:00] where someone overshares with no discretion.

[6:04] All right, that’s not what an honest community is about. [6:08] And nor is it about the type of honesty [6:10] that gets really inappropriate in mixed company. [6:14] And so my hope this morning, since I’m looking around [6:18] and most of you look like adults, [6:20] some of you are just pretending,

[6:21] but most of you are adults, [6:24] but I’m hoping that you can use common sense [6:26] in those arenas without me having [6:29] to over-qualify everything today. [6:32] And so what I want to do now [6:34] is I want to jump right into the book of 1 John.

[6:36] I want to go from verse five all the way down [6:39] through the end of the chapter. [6:41] Here’s what the apostle says. [6:43] He says, this is the message we have heard from him, Jesus, [6:47] and proclaimed to you, that God is light [6:50] and in him is no darkness at all.

[6:53] If we say we have fellowship with him [6:55] while we walk in darkness, we lie [6:57] and do not practice the truth. [6:59] But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, [7:04] we have fellowship with one another [7:05] and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

[7:10] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves [7:13] and the truth is not in us. [7:16] If we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just [7:18] to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us [7:21] from all unrighteousness. [7:23] And then in verse 10, he says, if we say we have not sinned,

[7:26] we make him a liar and his word is not in us. [7:30] Pray with me.

[7:34] Father, you are so good. [7:38] Lord, you are sovereign over every area of life. [7:42] Your power manifests itself in every aspect of who we are. [7:47] My prayer this morning is that you would open our hearts, [7:49] that you would open our minds, [7:50] and that you would open our eyes so that we can see

[7:53] your work, so that we can experience your work, [7:58] so that we can trust your work. [8:01] Lord, this morning may we anchor our hopes [8:04] and may we anchor our truth in the gospel of Jesus [8:08] through your holy word. [8:11] Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.

[8:13] In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen. [8:16] I’m jumping right into it. [8:17] Number one this morning, relationships cannot exist [8:20] without honesty. [8:21] Relationships cannot exist without honesty. [8:24] And you might retort and say,

[8:25] oh, I’ve got all kinds of relationships built on lies. [8:28] That’s not a good thing, friend. [8:31] All right, and so the pretext here is we’re talking [8:33] about healthy relationships. [8:35] If all of the relationships in your life [8:38] are somehow built upon some type of hiding,

[8:42] upon some type of lie, upon deception, [8:46] upon you kind of keeping reality obscured from people [8:50] so that they don’t know the truth, that is not good. [8:54] Those are not healthy relationships. [8:57] And ultimately, the problem is, [8:59] is that those relationships will be ultimately

[9:03] a source of great pain to all of the parties involved. [9:08] When you’re doing any type of marriage counseling [9:11] or premarital counseling, and you know, as a pastor, [9:14] I get kind of a front row seat to a lot of that, [9:17] you don’t really ever look at anyone [9:19] and be like, look, if you want your marriage to work,

[9:24] lie, a lot, all right? [9:27] And so, you know, you look at this couple [9:29] that’s just looking forward to getting married, [9:31] and you know, just everything is, you know, [9:34] butterflies and rainbows, you know, [9:35] they haven’t seen the truth about one another yet.

[9:38] But so they’re just looking forward [9:39] and they’re seeing nothing but blue skies ahead. [9:42] I’ve never looked at a couple and said, [9:44] hey, look, you know how I’ve made my marriage work? [9:47] I hide a lot from my wife, I mean, a lot. [9:51] And so if you want it to work,

[9:53] that’s what you build your relationship on. [9:55] You never look at a couple that comes in and says, [9:58] this isn’t working, you know, we’ve been trying marriage [10:01] and it’s just not working out for us. [10:02] And you never look at them and say, [10:04] well, how much do you lie to one another?

[10:06] Increase that number exponentially, all right? [10:09] Just never tell the truth. [10:11] No, there is kind of just an understanding, [10:14] I believe this is an understanding [10:15] that God has put inside of us. [10:17] That’s part of what it means to be a bearer

[10:19] of the image of God, that honesty is a bedrock [10:24] of a healthy relationship. [10:27] And why is that? [10:28] And I think when we look in the word of God, [10:30] we can see it very clearly, that hiding is never healthy. [10:35] Do you know that what lies are,

[10:37] it is our attempt at hiding. [10:39] And sure, we would say, yeah, I’m trying to hide the truth, [10:42] but no, it’s also something far deeper than that. [10:44] You are trying to hide who you really are from other people. [10:49] If you look at the Genesis account of creation, [10:51] you look at the first two people,

[10:53] you look at Adam and Eve, [10:55] they are created originally in complete truth. [11:00] There’s nothing but honesty between them. [11:03] The honesty between Adam and Eve was so deep [11:07] that their innocence was marked, [11:09] the word tells us, that they were naked

[11:11] and they were not ashamed. [11:12] They didn’t need to hide anything from one another [11:16] because they had nothing to hide from one another. [11:21] But if you note in the record, [11:22] what happens as soon as sin enters the picture [11:27] is that they immediately begin to look for fig leaves

[11:30] to hide themselves, to cover themselves. [11:35] They were ashamed. [11:37] They withheld things from each other [11:40] and even sought to hide from God. [11:44] And you can look at this and say, [11:46] there’s a picture there for us to see

[11:48] of what we’re trying to do in our lives [11:50] when we lie to other people, [11:52] when we’re not completely open and honest. [11:55] Oh, and by the way, when you say, [11:57] oh, it’s not really lying, [11:58] I’m just not sharing everything.

[12:01] I’m just keeping something back. [12:03] That’s called lying, okay? [12:06] There’s no difference here. [12:09] And what it is is that it is sin [12:11] that causes us to try to hide from one another. [12:15] Now you can use this both figuratively

[12:16] as well as literally. [12:19] It is our relationship with God [12:21] that will ultimately reveal how our relationships [12:25] with others will be. [12:27] Because in the case of Adam and Eve, [12:30] they were attempting to hide their shame from God

[12:34] and then that led to them covering themselves [12:37] from one another. [12:39] Now this has led to a lot of hiding over the years. [12:43] I mean, be honest in this moment, [12:45] rhetorically, have you ever hidden something [12:47] from someone that you had an important relationship with?

[12:52] Have you ever done that? [12:53] Do you ever ask yourself why? [12:55] Why, why did I do that? [12:56] Why do I still tend to do that? [12:58] The reason is, is fear and shame. [13:02] That is what leads us to do this type of deception,

[13:06] to hide who we really are. [13:08] And it never ever ultimately makes the relationships [13:12] any better. [13:15] It always hurts the relationships. [13:18] But the reason that we hide, I don’t know. [13:21] I truly think that it is in order to try

[13:24] to save the relationship. [13:28] But that never works. [13:30] That never ever works. [13:31] That action of hiding, that action of deception, [13:35] that action of lying shows that the relationship [13:40] is broken and in need of great repair.

[13:45] Friend, if it’s one thing you have to understand [13:47] about this is as relationships need honesty. [13:52] But what I want you to know about yourself [13:54] is that it is ultimately an honesty [13:57] that you are incapable of. [14:01] You need reconciliation in light of your shame.

[14:08] Because all of us have something to be ashamed of. [14:12] All of us deal with shame in our lives. [14:16] And unless we deal with that, we will never be free [14:23] from the sin of hiding the truth of who we really are. [14:29] And to get that right you need to understand [14:31] one key truth and that is that honesty before God

[14:35] leads to honesty with others. [14:38] Honesty before God leads to honesty with others. [14:42] Here’s the issue from 1 John chapter one [14:44] starting in verse five. [14:46] Look at how it describes God. [14:47] It begins with him.

[14:49] It says that God is fully light with no darkness. [14:54] There is nothing to hide with God. [14:57] With God there is only 100% honesty. [15:01] No lies, only truth. [15:04] And so when we hide we are not walking in light [15:09] as God is in the light.

[15:12] Therefore we cannot have fellowship with God. [15:17] But note that John takes it one step further. [15:21] He doesn’t just go to the broken relationship with God. [15:25] He brings that in as a pretext [15:28] to what he’s talking about here. [15:30] Note what he says breaks fellowship.

[15:33] He notes that we cannot have fellowship with one another. [15:38] Why? [15:39] Because the primary relationship is broken. [15:42] If you do not have fellowship with God [15:44] you can guarantee every single time [15:48] that it will break your fellowship with other people.

[15:51] That’s what John is getting at. [15:54] We will perpetually have areas of darkness [15:58] that will break our relationships time and time again. [16:04] That’s pretty bad news. [16:06] So what do we do? [16:07] Well John doesn’t leave us hanging.

[16:09] Enter the gospel of Jesus. [16:12] He notes, he says the answer is honesty. [16:17] If we say we have no sin, [16:20] we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [16:25] Because what John knows that we will do, [16:27] what the Holy Spirit is knowing about us in this moment.

[16:30] He says that if I say, you know what? [16:32] You wanna be in the light where you gotta be where God is. [16:36] God is where the light is. [16:37] And if you’re walking in darkness [16:38] you know you don’t have relationship with God [16:40] so then you’re going to struggle

[16:42] in your relationships with other people. [16:43] So if you want true fellowship, [16:46] that term fellowship is about that connected partnership [16:49] that we all want in our relationships. [16:52] If you want that you’ve got to walk in the light. [16:55] And so many of us are gonna say,

[16:56] alright, got it, I’m doing it. [17:00] I walk in the light everyday bro. [17:02] I don’t know what everybody else’s problem is [17:03] but I got real good fellowship all around me. [17:06] So John’s response to you, [17:08] if you say you have no sin, you’re a liar.

[17:13] See John doesn’t let you off the hook. [17:16] John says you cannot walk through life [17:19] not dealing with your sin [17:22] because when you say you don’t have problems here [17:26] you make yourself a liar. [17:29] We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

[17:34] We need to stop covering. [17:37] We need to stop hiding. [17:38] We need to be exposed honestly before God. [17:44] He says admit your sin and God will forgive you. [17:50] Why? [17:52] Because Jesus has exchanged his light

[17:56] for our darkness on the cross. [18:00] And so the more we truly believe the gospel, [18:03] the more we are freed from fearing people [18:07] knowing who we really are. [18:11] And the gospel assures us that God fully approves of [18:16] and accepts us in Christ.

[18:19] And so because of that, [18:21] we are free to live in the truth of who we are in Jesus. [18:26] We don’t have to be fake anymore.

[18:32] So what does that mean? [18:34] Number two this morning, [18:35] the gospel frees you from managing your image. [18:38] The gospel frees you from managing your image. [18:42] If you want to know what that looks like [18:44] to manage your image, go on Instagram or Facebook.

[18:48] The best, the right angle, the duck lips. [18:52] All right, we’re giving people the best image of ourselves [18:58] so no flaws are seen. [19:00] So everything’s happy. [19:02] The time is always wonderful. [19:05] Everything’s right.

[19:06] I’m good enough and I hope people like me. [19:09] All right, that is what you’re seeing. [19:11] You’re getting a front row seat [19:12] to that which is probably inauthentic. [19:16] But you gotta understand something [19:18] that when you spend your time managing your image

[19:21] from other people, you have to understand that’s dishonesty. [19:25] And dishonesty is rooted in unbelief. [19:29] It is not a fruit of believing in the gospel, [19:32] but rather it is ultimately the signal [19:34] that in that moment we are not believing the gospel. [19:38] And most of us do this.

[19:40] We spend most of our time managing [19:42] what people think about us. [19:45] I mean, the cultural adage tells us image is everything. [19:50] And so the difficulty is that it is hard [19:52] to walk in light and manage your image. [19:57] Most of us are desperately seeking the approval of others.

[20:00] We walk in the light of Jesus, [20:03] and then what that’s gonna do is it’s directly confronting [20:06] our thirst for approval and unwarranted self-righteousness. [20:11] You cannot have it both ways. [20:14] Because image takes work. [20:17] And it’s usually built on a house of cards

[20:20] of low self-esteem. [20:22] It’s usually built on a house of cards [20:25] of hopes that you aren’t thought of as some type of fraud. [20:30] And that contradicts the life of faith. [20:35] Contradicts it. [20:37] I mean, bring that idea of managing your image

[20:40] into the life of the church. [20:42] Think about the thing that most people [20:44] in the life of the church are afraid of. [20:47] You’re afraid of people thinking [20:50] that you are spiritually immature [20:52] or that you have some type of sin problem.

[20:55] Most of us spend a lot of our time even together [20:57] worrying about that. [20:59] So what do you do? [21:00] You work very hard to act like you’ve got it all together. [21:03] And you deflect when the thought [21:05] of actual problems comes up.

[21:08] Why? [21:10] Usually it’s because you’re spiritually immature [21:12] and you probably have a sin problem. [21:15] It’s not complicated. [21:18] Those are usually the signifiers of what’s going on there. [21:21] So what do you do?

[21:24] What is the answer? [21:26] Well, the answer is that you need to deal [21:28] with the root of the problem rather than the surface. [21:32] And this managing your image, [21:33] what it is is it’s just surface work. [21:37] It’s putting a glossy sheen on rot.

[21:42] Last year sometime I was having some work done on my house [21:44] and I was having some paint done to the exterior [21:47] and the foreman came to me and he said, [21:51] you know, we’ve got some issues back here on your house. [21:54] Some moisture has gotten into some of your siding [21:56] and there’s some rot issues that really needs to be repaired.

[22:01] And so of course, you know, I don’t wanna spend any money. [22:05] And so I’m like, well, can you just paint over it? [22:09] And his response was, well, you can, [22:13] but that’s not the fix. [22:15] And what that’s going to cause is down the road, [22:18] the rot is just going to get deeper

[22:20] and it’s going to cost you more than it would to fix it [22:24] right now in the long run. [22:27] Most of the problems with our lives aren’t surface problems. [22:32] But what do we try to do usually? [22:33] We just try to paint over them. [22:35] Say, well, nobody will see the rot

[22:37] if I just put another layer of paint on the rot. [22:41] And what’s going on beneath the surface [22:43] is that the rot’s just getting deeper, [22:45] it’s permeating further and it’s getting worse and worse. [22:49] And what John is telling us to do here in the first John [22:52] is he’s telling us to deal with the rot.

[22:57] See, most of the time, you are more worried [22:59] what other people think than what God already knows. [23:04] And when you do that, when you live like that, [23:07] you aren’t getting the help that you need. [23:10] You are walking in darkness because the light [23:13] will expose you.

[23:15] But note what John says. [23:16] Go back to verse six of first John one. [23:19] He says, if we say we have fellowship with him [23:22] while we walk in darkness, [23:25] we lie and do not practice the truth. [23:28] And he says, but if we walk in the light

[23:31] as he is in the light. [23:35] Note the conviction and the promise in that statement. [23:41] He’s saying, walk in the light. [23:43] See, most of us, we try to shade the problem areas. [23:47] We try to gloss over the problem areas. [23:51] We seek to hide the problem areas.

[23:54] And what John is saying there is you can’t do that [23:57] without walking in darkness. [24:00] He says, you need to shine a spotlight on the problem areas. [24:05] And what’s the promise then? [24:06] The problem is that when you shine a light [24:09] on the problem area, that’s where you find God.

[24:15] He says, because God is in the light, [24:17] God is not in the shade. [24:19] God is in the light, he is not in the hiding place. [24:23] God is in the light, [24:25] and if you want to have fellowship in the light, [24:28] you will shine a light on the problem

[24:32] because God already knows the problem. [24:35] He’s already there. [24:38] But then note, there’s a second promise. [24:41] He says, first, God is where the light is. [24:44] Then he says, we will also have fellowship [24:47] with one another.

[24:50] So there’s an interesting thing that happens [24:52] when you get into the presence of God, [24:54] when you get into the light of God. [24:57] You then have real, honest, true fellowship or koinonia, [25:04] this partnership with others for the sake of God. [25:08] You have real, authentic community with other people.

[25:14] But so long as you gloss it over, so long as you hide, [25:18] you will never have the relationships [25:21] that God intends for you to have. [25:24] You are hiding even under the guise [25:28] because you think that your hiding will continue. [25:33] What you think is fellowship.

[25:36] Because you might think, well, if they only knew [25:38] the real me, they wouldn’t want to be around me. [25:41] If they only knew what was really going on in my life, [25:44] oh, they wouldn’t want any part of me, [25:45] so I gotta hide that. [25:48] See, but the truth is, is that that’s no fellowship at all.

[25:51] Because no one knows you, and you don’t know anyone else. [25:56] That is a lie. [25:58] So what do you do? [25:59] Well, when you are serving or when you’re in group life, [26:02] you hide by painting the exterior. [26:05] Now, sure, you might talk about moral issues

[26:08] of do’s and don’ts, but the true issues of your life [26:12] are never typically dealt with. [26:16] And so you put up this veneer of righteousness,

[26:20] but beneath it, you’re never really dealing [26:23] with the real issues of your life. [26:26] And if real issues of your life do come up, [26:29] it’s not dealt with in a way to repent or look for hope, [26:32] but it is either just for attention or to try to fit in. [26:38] You are dealing with the surface

[26:40] rather than dealing with the root issue. [26:44] You retreat to darkness rather than staying in the light [26:47] and really dealing with the root [26:49] of what’s going on in your life. [26:51] And a lot of times, you think that you are protecting [26:54] fellowship, but in all actuality, you are destroying it.

[27:00] Understand also, it’s just an aside, [27:03] that honesty needs to also be for the right reasons. [27:09] See, honesty should never be about getting attention. [27:12] Honesty should never be a ploy to get pity from people. [27:18] See, because that’s painting on a veneer too. [27:20] If you think, well, if I just talk about

[27:22] all of the problems of my life, [27:23] people will at least look at me. [27:26] People will at least pay attention to me. [27:28] And so that’s the moment where somebody just vomits [27:30] every problem that they have in your life, [27:32] and you sit there and you’re like,

[27:35] uh-huh, okay, all right, [27:39] we’re gonna take a five minute break, reconvene. [27:42] Wow, that’s a lot to deal with. [27:45] But sometimes, we will do that, [27:49] but really have no intention of growing, [27:53] really have no intention of really dealing with the issue.

[27:57] Sometimes, we can even be honest [27:59] in order to push people away. [28:02] Sometimes, we can be honest under this guise of, [28:04] you know what, I just want transparency [28:07] in all of my relationships. [28:09] And so long as everyone is transparent,

[28:12] everything’s going to be okay. [28:13] But transparency without a hope is not gospel centered. [28:19] There’s a way to be transparent [28:21] and a way that you just pour every bad thing [28:24] that you can think of about yourself and then say, [28:26] isn’t it a wonderful thing that I’m transparent?

[28:28] Now, I have no intention of repenting of any of that, [28:32] and I’m going to continue every bit of it [28:34] for as long as I possibly can, but at least I’m honest.

[28:39] No, no, friend, that’s not real community. [28:44] It’s not gospel centered community. [28:48] You have to understand that the way in which honesty works [28:51] is that we are honest with the hope of the gospel. [28:54] Now, this next phrase, so many people have said this, [28:57] I don’t even know who to attribute this quote to,

[29:01] but in gospel centered community, [29:03] it’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way. [29:10] It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way. [29:18] No one wants to be thought of as weak. [29:22] No one wants to seem like they need change, [29:27] but that is antithetical to the work that God wants to do

[29:30] in your life through the gospel. [29:32] Stop deceiving yourself. [29:35] You have sin, and God knows it. [29:41] You need to deal with it. [29:43] Now, the best way to know [29:45] if someone has actually experienced forgiveness

[29:48] is whether or not they can actually talk about it. [29:51] Honesty must be built on a hope of growing, [29:57] or it is counterfeit. [30:00] Friend, it’s okay to struggle. [30:03] The gospel is marked by struggling. [30:07] If you ever want to discover sin,

[30:10] and more and more sin about yourself, [30:12] more and more bad motivations about yourself, [30:15] more and more of how much you need Jesus to save you, [30:19] start following Jesus.

[30:21] It will act as a spotlight on every part of your life. [30:25] You will begin to learn things about yourself [30:28] that you never knew about. [30:30] You will find sin that you need to repent of [30:32] that you never would have assumed was a bad thing, [30:35] or never would have assumed

[30:37] that it was going to be a struggle in your life. [30:39] But understand that that struggle is part of faith. [30:44] That struggle is part of following Jesus. [30:47] That struggle is what growing is all about, [30:53] and you need to admit it. [30:55] And you need to admit it with hope.

[30:59] Why and how? [31:02] You need to understand what the next chapter says [31:05] about our relationship with God. [31:07] Look in 1 John chapter two, verse one. [31:09] He says, my little children, [31:10] I’m writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

[31:14] All right, you see the hope there? [31:16] He’s saying, when you follow Jesus, [31:19] this is about victory, this is about growth, [31:22] this is about obedience. [31:24] Okay, so no struggle. [31:26] Read the next sentence.

[31:28] But, see, he’s saying, you’re gonna struggle. [31:33] If anyone does sin, by the way, you’re going to, [31:37] we have an advocate with the Father, [31:40] Jesus Christ the righteous. [31:42] See, 1 John 2, one reveals [31:44] that when we realize our sin in moments of life,

[31:47] we have an advocate in Jesus. [31:49] We struggle, but we struggle with hope. [31:52] Why? [31:53] Because look at the name he uses for our advocate. [31:57] He calls him Jesus the righteous.

[32:02] See, he does that purposefully, [32:04] because he wants us to understand that in Jesus, [32:08] we do not find a place where we just stand still. [32:12] We do not find a place where Jesus sees us struggling [32:15] and he looks back at us and he says, [32:17] what is your problem?

[32:20] Now, Jesus never said that. [32:23] We don’t find a Jesus that turns back [32:25] and he sees us struggling as we follow him [32:27] and he stops and he says, [32:28] okay, I won’t walk for a while so that you’ll catch up. [32:32] That’s not what Jesus does.

[32:34] This is Jesus the righteous. [32:36] He comes and he advocates for us with the Father. [32:40] That’s where the forgiveness comes from. [32:42] That’s why when we confess our sins, [32:44] he will always cleanse us of our sins [32:46] because he is our advocate,

[32:48] but that’s because he’s Jesus the righteous. [32:51] There’s no sin in him. [32:53] The direction that he is going towards [32:54] is a direction of obedience under his strength and power. [32:59] So what Jesus does as our advocate is, [33:02] he secures our forgiveness,

[33:03] but then he also grabs us, brings us towards him [33:07] and says, let us walk. [33:09] And he walks with us in the direction of his righteousness. [33:16] Then in the gospel according to John 3, verse 21, [33:20] Jesus himself tells us that when we step into the light, [33:24] when we step into honesty,

[33:26] we begin to see clearly the works [33:30] that have been carried out by God in us and for us. [33:35] You see, because of Jesus, we can start to live. [33:37] Because of Jesus, we can start to work. [33:40] And because of Jesus, we can start to grow in him. [33:46] See, that’s what the life of faith does for us.

[33:50] Number three this morning, [33:51] friend, you’ve gotta find your identity in Christ [33:53] rather than the approval of others.

[33:56] You’ve got to find your identity in Christ [33:58] rather than the approval of others. [34:01] You cannot grow so long as you are more afraid [34:04] of other people than you are God. [34:08] You cannot grow so long as what some other person [34:13] thinks about you is more important

[34:15] than what God himself thinks about you. [34:20] The pathway to growth is about realizing [34:23] who you are in Jesus and that that is the most important [34:28] thing in this life. [34:30] Look at what the prophet says about us [34:33] in Isaiah chapter 61, verse 10.

[34:36] Speaking of our identity in the Lord, [34:38] he says, I will rejoice in the Lord. [34:41] My soul shall exult in my God, [34:44] for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. [34:48] He has covered me with the robe of righteousness [34:51] as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest

[34:54] with a beautiful headdress and as a bride adorns herself [34:58] with her jewels. [35:00] This is who you are in faith. [35:04] This is what it means to live in the light of Christ. [35:09] It means to be adorned with the righteousness [35:12] that is not your own and it’s the greatest news

[35:15] that we could ever receive. [35:20] And that’s why you can say, [35:22] I have been reconciled through Christ. [35:28] But friend, when you live in the light [35:30] of being reconciled in Christ, [35:32] you will then begin to look and say,

[35:35] I need to look at how I can reconcile [35:37] all of these different areas to the vision [35:40] that God has for my life. [35:42] You will move from a state of reconciled [35:46] to a state where you are reconciling [35:48] because of who you are in Jesus.

[35:52] And you will look in this text, [35:54] and you need to step back in your life oftentimes [35:56] and look at terms like this and say, wow.

[36:01] Look at how God views me. [36:04] Look at what God has done for me. [36:09] See, to live honestly means that you’ve got to do that, [36:13] that this is where you find your hope. [36:16] This is where you find your meaning. [36:19] This is where you find your identity.

[36:21] And when you do that, you can step back and say, [36:27] what do I care what you think about me? [36:31] Look at what God says about me. [36:34] The creator of the universe,

[36:38] the one who holds this world’s very existence in his hands, [36:44] the one with the power to both make life and destroy life. [36:52] He says that he has adorned me [36:55] as a bridegroom of righteousness.

[37:01] And so when I begin to think about that [37:04] and I begin to think about managing my image,

[37:11] I say how foolish that I care more [37:14] about what you think about me [37:16] than what God says he knows about me. [37:22] It’s because I haven’t done any of this. [37:24] I haven’t earned any of it. [37:26] I haven’t worked for any of it.

[37:28] God has done it. [37:32] See, we have been reconciled with God [37:34] so that we can live a life of reconciling [37:37] every area of our lives to his design [37:42] and then go about offering others [37:44] that type of reconciliation to build the church of Jesus.

[37:48] You simply cannot do that [37:51] and attempt to manage your image at the same time. [37:56] You cannot live to keep up appearances [37:58] and live honesty in light of who you are in Jesus [38:02] at the same time. [38:03] That doesn’t build thankfulness for Jesus’ righteousness.

[38:08] All that that will build [38:09] is a destructive self-righteousness in you. [38:13] Friend, you need to find your identity in Jesus [38:16] and then live your identity in Jesus. [38:22] Ezekiel 36, 26, another prophet says this. [38:27] The Lord speaking through him says,

[38:29] I will give you a new heart and a new spirit [38:32] I will put within you. [38:33] I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh [38:36] and I will give you a heart of flesh.

[38:41] You see, it’s no longer me. [38:43] It’s about him. [38:45] Every moment of dishonesty denies that. [38:50] You see, friend, a community with the traits of joy [38:53] and humility will exude honesty. [38:57] But when we are honest, we find grace.

[39:04] When we are honest, we find help. [39:08] When we are honest, we find care. [39:12] When we are honest, we find community.

[39:18] But when we are dishonest, when we hide, [39:24] when we fake it, when we manage it, [39:28] all we will find is fakeness.

[39:33] All that we will find is counterfeit. [39:37] It certainly won’t be God’s vision if we do that. [39:44] Friend, because we are dishonest, [39:46] because of who I am in Jesus, [39:47] I do not need the approval of others.

[39:51] I need the approval of God. [39:55] And in Jesus, I have it. [39:58] It’s mine. [40:00] Therefore, his mission of reconciliation drives my life [40:04] and I am free to live it. [40:08] So if we come into community through Jesus, friend, no.

[40:11] We will find that we need to build the church of Jesus [40:15] to be the most honest place. [40:18] The church of Jesus needs to be the most helpful place. [40:22] When I confess, I should expect honest help. [40:27] Now, understand that that help will many times be painful. [40:33] That help will not allow me to be complacent.

[40:36] It will urge me to get closer to Jesus. [40:41] But when my identity is in Jesus, [40:45] that is exactly the direction I will want to go.

[40:52] And as the band comes up, honesty’s hard. [40:57] Dealing with life and dealing with who you really are [41:01] can be very uncomfortable because we are typically [41:04] kind of conditioned to deny problems [41:09] or to cover problems or to hide problems. [41:12] So for many of us, when we fear

[41:15] that we are about to be exposed, [41:17] when we fear that the truth of us is coming out, [41:21] what we typically do is we retreat into covering. [41:24] We retreat into hiding. [41:26] We retreat from the presence of God [41:29] and that is the opposite of what we need.

[41:32] Why? [41:32] Because we are afraid of what God will say to us. [41:36] I think we’re afraid of how God’s [41:38] actually going to deal with us.

[41:42] But friend, I can tell you as someone who has struggled [41:46] with all of these things, [41:49] that those fears are also based on lies. [41:53] Those fears are based on misconceptions, falsehoods. [41:57] It’s not the truth of who Jesus is. [41:59] The truth is is that when I am honest to God,

[42:03] when I come to God and I say, God, this is who I am. [42:07] This is where I’m disobedient. [42:09] This is where I am lying. [42:11] This is where I am sinning. [42:13] God, I need you. [42:15] I find a Lord that looks to me and he says, trust me.

[42:24] I forgive you.

[42:28] I reconcile you to myself.

[42:32] Come closer to me. [42:33] Don’t retreat, come near. [42:35] And then that is a savior in Jesus [42:38] who when he grabs ahold of us in the light, [42:42] he never rejects us, he never puts us away. [42:45] He brings us close and he says,

[42:47] I will give my life into your life. [42:50] I will give my truth into your life. [42:53] I will give my forgiveness into you, [42:56] past, present, future, forever.

[43:00] That’s what reconciliation with God looks like. [43:03] That’s what real forgiveness feels like. [43:06] And when you have that,

[43:11] you are free to live honestly. [43:15] No more lies are needed [43:17] because if God knows the truth of me, [43:19] what do I care what anybody else thinks?

[43:23] Friend, if you believe that,

[43:28] upon these tables in the front and the back [43:29] is bread and a cup. [43:32] The bread represents the broken body of Jesus. [43:34] The cup represents his shed blood. [43:37] And as Christians, we eat and drink [43:40] in the presence of others,

[43:42] what’s called the Lord’s Supper, the communion meal, [43:44] because it is our way of expressing, [43:47] I believe that Jesus is my savior. [43:50] I believe that he is Lord. [43:53] And honestly, I am a sinner and I need his life in me. [43:57] I believe.

[44:01] See, that’s not where darkness is, [44:02] that’s where light is. [44:05] This meal represents the light of the cross [44:08] of Jesus Christ that exposes us for who we really are, [44:14] but then forgives us of all sin. [44:17] Friend, if you believe the gospel this morning,

[44:19] if you’ve trusted in Jesus [44:21] and you wanna follow him in light, [44:24] I invite you to one of these tables. [44:27] Come, celebrate the death of our king.