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John 3:19-21 ESV
People Love the Darkness
The next saddest thing about this is that the people who love the darkness aren’t just those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Many of them profess Jesus as their Savior, they believe they are saved, that their sins are forgiven, and that heaven awaits them when they die, but while they hate the light and love the darkness.
Many, in fact, are blatantly pronouncing that all they have to do is confess faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus does it all for them and that nothing is required of them, and so they can sin as much as they want, for they believe all their sins are covered and so they won’t be judged by their sins. And they teach that repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord is trying to earn your own salvation, and so feel they don’t have to do any of that.
Now, they aren’t all so bold as to say this outright. Many of them superficially still adhere to the true gospel but while they live as though they believe in the cheap grace gospel. So, they will put on a show of righteousness on the outside to make people think that they are living righteously while they secretly engage in all manner of evil.
The point is, with the cheap grace gospel permeating the modern church of today, at least here in America, and pastors of churches teaching their people that a mere profession of faith is all they need to secure them heaven when they die, many are either falling away from the true faith or they are not even coming to genuine faith in Jesus Christ to begin with.
And with the modern church becoming so worldly, and so patterning their church gatherings after the ways of the world in order to attract the world, many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living worldly and fleshly lives to where it is indistinguishable between the church and the world anymore.
And then with all this modern technology in the hands of pretty much all adults and teenagers and many young children, sexual immorality is running rampant in the gatherings of the church. For, children through adults can get to inappropriate contentographic images and sexually charged movies and videos and to a whole world of immorality and evil that I probably don’t even know about with a finger touch on an instrument that they can put in their pockets.
They Hate the Light
Even though some of them will profess outwardly to love the light, they don’t in practice. They may go to their church gatherings and sing their praise and worship songs, or their hymns, and then listen to the sermon (or not), and go through the motions of their religion, and they may even be pastors or on church staff and still be living in deliberate habitual sin.
It is epidemic today to have people who call themselves Christians live no differently from those who do not call themselves Christians. There is no fear of God in their lives, no honor, respect, submission nor obedience to Jesus as Lord (owner-master) of their lives. For they are of this mindset that since their salvation is a free gift that it requires nothing of them.
And “the light” has now become taboo, and it is being called “darkness,” while “darkness” is being called “light.” So, if you “believe” in Jesus but you continue in deliberate and habitual sin they will say that you are righteous because Jesus made you righteous. But if you surrender your lives to Jesus, forsake your sins, walk in obedience to his commands, they then say you are trying to earn your own salvation and that that is evil.
But the light consists of all that is good and righteous and pure and holy. The light is Jesus and it is the gospel and it is righteousness and truth. And so they create in their minds this false jesus and this false gospel to appease their consciences when they decide to continue walking in the darkness. And they don’t want to come into the light because it will expose their evil deeds.
They don’t want to let go of their sins, but they want to hold on to them, so they create a god in their minds who will conform to their image and who will not require that they conform to his likeness. They create a god in their minds who doesn’t even see when they sin but who only sees Jesus when he looks at them, and who will never judge them for their wickedness.
But ignoring the truth never changes the truth. Just because they want to live in a fantasy world and not in reality doesn’t mean that reality ceases to exist. God is going to judge us all by what we did in this life, by our deeds. So, if we sow to please the flesh, it will end in destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, that will end in eternal life with God.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
Whoever Does What is True
Now, thank the Lord, not everyone who professes his name is living a lie. There is a remnant who have not bowed the knee to the enemy and who are remaining faithful to the Lord. They are teaching and they are living the true gospel of our salvation which teaches that Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.
Yet, those who are serious about their walks of faith and who are spreading the truth of the gospel, and who are exposing the lies, are coming under fire. They are being attacked because they are following Jesus wholeheartedly with their lives and because they are teaching that we must die with Christ to sin and walk in obedience to his commands.
Footprints of Jesus
Lyrics by Mary B. Slade, pub. 1871
Music by Asa B. Everett
Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling,
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee.
Though they lead o’er the cold, dark mountains,
Seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam’s fountains,
Helping the weak.
If they lead through the temple holy,
Preaching the Word;
Or in homes of the poor and lowly,
Serving the Lord.
If Thy way and its sorrows bearing,
We go again,
Up the slope of the hillside, bearing
Our cross of pain.
Then, at last, when on high He sees us,
Our journey done,
We will rest where the steps of Jesus
End at His throne.
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where’er they go.
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“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
People Love the Darkness
The next saddest thing about this is that the people who love the darkness aren’t just those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Many of them profess Jesus as their Savior, they believe they are saved, that their sins are forgiven, and that heaven awaits them when they die, but while they hate the light and love the darkness.
Many, in fact, are blatantly pronouncing that all they have to do is confess faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus does it all for them and that nothing is required of them, and so they can sin as much as they want, for they believe all their sins are covered and so they won’t be judged by their sins. And they teach that repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord is trying to earn your own salvation, and so feel they don’t have to do any of that.
Now, they aren’t all so bold as to say this outright. Many of them superficially still adhere to the true gospel but while they live as though they believe in the cheap grace gospel. So, they will put on a show of righteousness on the outside to make people think that they are living righteously while they secretly engage in all manner of evil.
The point is, with the cheap grace gospel permeating the modern church of today, at least here in America, and pastors of churches teaching their people that a mere profession of faith is all they need to secure them heaven when they die, many are either falling away from the true faith or they are not even coming to genuine faith in Jesus Christ to begin with.
And with the modern church becoming so worldly, and so patterning their church gatherings after the ways of the world in order to attract the world, many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living worldly and fleshly lives to where it is indistinguishable between the church and the world anymore.
And then with all this modern technology in the hands of pretty much all adults and teenagers and many young children, sexual immorality is running rampant in the gatherings of the church. For, children through adults can get to inappropriate contentographic images and sexually charged movies and videos and to a whole world of immorality and evil that I probably don’t even know about with a finger touch on an instrument that they can put in their pockets.
They Hate the Light
Even though some of them will profess outwardly to love the light, they don’t in practice. They may go to their church gatherings and sing their praise and worship songs, or their hymns, and then listen to the sermon (or not), and go through the motions of their religion, and they may even be pastors or on church staff and still be living in deliberate habitual sin.
It is epidemic today to have people who call themselves Christians live no differently from those who do not call themselves Christians. There is no fear of God in their lives, no honor, respect, submission nor obedience to Jesus as Lord (owner-master) of their lives. For they are of this mindset that since their salvation is a free gift that it requires nothing of them.
And “the light” has now become taboo, and it is being called “darkness,” while “darkness” is being called “light.” So, if you “believe” in Jesus but you continue in deliberate and habitual sin they will say that you are righteous because Jesus made you righteous. But if you surrender your lives to Jesus, forsake your sins, walk in obedience to his commands, they then say you are trying to earn your own salvation and that that is evil.
But the light consists of all that is good and righteous and pure and holy. The light is Jesus and it is the gospel and it is righteousness and truth. And so they create in their minds this false jesus and this false gospel to appease their consciences when they decide to continue walking in the darkness. And they don’t want to come into the light because it will expose their evil deeds.
They don’t want to let go of their sins, but they want to hold on to them, so they create a god in their minds who will conform to their image and who will not require that they conform to his likeness. They create a god in their minds who doesn’t even see when they sin but who only sees Jesus when he looks at them, and who will never judge them for their wickedness.
But ignoring the truth never changes the truth. Just because they want to live in a fantasy world and not in reality doesn’t mean that reality ceases to exist. God is going to judge us all by what we did in this life, by our deeds. So, if we sow to please the flesh, it will end in destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, that will end in eternal life with God.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
Whoever Does What is True
Now, thank the Lord, not everyone who professes his name is living a lie. There is a remnant who have not bowed the knee to the enemy and who are remaining faithful to the Lord. They are teaching and they are living the true gospel of our salvation which teaches that Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.
Yet, those who are serious about their walks of faith and who are spreading the truth of the gospel, and who are exposing the lies, are coming under fire. They are being attacked because they are following Jesus wholeheartedly with their lives and because they are teaching that we must die with Christ to sin and walk in obedience to his commands.
Footprints of Jesus
Lyrics by Mary B. Slade, pub. 1871
Music by Asa B. Everett
Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling,
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee.
Though they lead o’er the cold, dark mountains,
Seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam’s fountains,
Helping the weak.
If they lead through the temple holy,
Preaching the Word;
Or in homes of the poor and lowly,
Serving the Lord.
If Thy way and its sorrows bearing,
We go again,
Up the slope of the hillside, bearing
Our cross of pain.
Then, at last, when on high He sees us,
Our journey done,
We will rest where the steps of Jesus
End at His throne.
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where’er they go.
