Cedar Grove Baptist Church
Walking in the Light
1 John 1:5–10 · Preached by Pastor Mark Hollis · June 8, 2025
At a Glance
Scripture
1 John 1:5–10
Speaker
Pastor Mark Hollis
Theme
Don't just attend. Walk in the light.
The Character of God: He Is Light, Zero Darkness
- 1 John 1:5: "God is light and in him there is no darkness at all." Not some light. All light. The sun has sunspots; God doesn't.
- R.C. Sproul: "The holiness of God is the most important word in the Bible we will ever see. Everything begins with who God is."
- James 1:17: with God there is "no variation or shadow due to change." He doesn't drift and He doesn't dim. He is the fixed point.
Ask Yourself
Life gets heavy when you're the one holding everything together. What would change this week if you handed the wheel to the One who has no bad days, no off seasons, and no shadows?
False Fellowship: Claiming God While Living Comfortable in Darkness
- John Calvin: "It is too common for men to claim fellowship with God while wholly alienating him from the rest of their life."
- The old Gnostics claimed that as long as they had spiritual knowledge, what they did with their bodies didn't matter. John calls that a lie.
- "If your theology doesn't produce holiness, your theology is false." Christianity isn't proven by what you claim to know; it's proven by how you live.
- Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom." A profession without transformation is a false profession.
Ask Yourself
Most of us have known somebody who talked a big game about God on Sunday and lived like He didn't exist the rest of the week. Be honest: what does your own Monday through Saturday say about what you believe?
Evidence, Self-Deception, Confession: What Real Fellowship Looks Like
- Walking in the light doesn't mean sinless. It means living as an open book before God; no mask, no hidden double life, no charade.
- Evidence of salvation: true fellowship with others (not just attendance, but getting in the trenches with people), and the blood of Christ that "cleanses" in the present tense, ongoing. Spurgeon: "The same fountain that washes you first continues to cleanse forever."
- Self-deception is the most dangerous wound in the faith. "The greatest proof of spiritual blindness is the absence of conviction of your sin." The closer you get to God, the more aware of your sin you become, not less.
- Confession isn't pleading not guilty. It's agreeing with God that you're guilty. John Gill: "Confession is not the cause of being pardoned; it's the descriptive state of a person whose life God is working in."
Ask Yourself
What if the thing that's missing isn't more effort? Maybe it's the willingness to drop the mask and tell God plainly: I'm a mess, I need You, and I can't earn this one. That's not weakness; that's exactly what He's waiting for.
Key Quotes
R.C. Sproul · quoted by Pastor Hollis
"The holiness of God is the most important word in the Bible that we will ever see, because everything begins with who God is."
John Calvin · quoted by Pastor Hollis
"It is too common for men to claim fellowship with God while they are wholly alienating themselves from him."
Pastor Hollis · on self-deception
"The greatest proof of spiritual blindness is the absence of conviction of your sin."
Charles Spurgeon · quoted by Pastor Hollis
"The same fountain that washes you first away from all your sin continues to cleanse the believer forevermore."
Last week: the lighthouse needs to shine, not hide in a hole (John 8:12)
Cedar Grove Baptist Church · 1 John 1:5–10 · June 8, 2025