In this sermon, the speaker discusses the way of perfect cleansing and the discovery that no change takes place in a person after they are converted. The speaker uses a story of two boys fighting to illustrate the need for forgiveness and the importance of not harboring anger in one's heart. The speaker then goes on to explain how the sewage system in London symbolizes the corruption of the human heart and how it is ultimately cleansed. The sermon concludes with the reminder that everyone is a sinner by nature, practice, and design, and that victory can only be found by relying on the indwelling life of Christ.

I love it when we come to Tuesday morning. But today and all day we shall be speaking of cleansing and of victory. And therefore there's a joy in my own heart as I invite you to turn with me to 1 John chapter 1, the epistle of John, first epistle of John and chapter 1. I'm going to ask you to read with me in unison from verse 5. 1 John 1 and verse 5. Altogether then, this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our Redeemer, for thy dear name's sake, Amen. My theme this morning is the way of cleansing, the way of perfect cleansing. Before we come to the exposition of the verses that we have just read together, I want to start off by just observing with you one of the great discoveries a Christian makes along the way of faith. It's a discovery that astounded me, almost staggered me, one I found very difficult to accept, but one which determines whether or not I walk in victory. And here's the discovery, that basically no change ever takes place in me after I'm converted. You say, what do you mean by that? Well, I'm just as much a sinner now as I was when I was saved. What has taken place is this, that the very life of Christ has come in to replace what I am. But what I am is just the same. Paul says in that word in Romans, in me that is in my flesh, and he speaks as a Christian, in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And the discovery I have made is just this, that God expects nothing more or less of Stephen Olford than utter failure. He has written me off completely. And if I persist in counting upon that same Stephen Olford, now that I'm saved, I'll find that I fail just as if I were never saved. And I want to press this home this morning, because so many people, so many people come to a conference like this, and as it were, they see the truth and they say, why there's victory in Christ. And having begun in the spirit, they go on in the flesh, and return from a convention to fail worse than they ever did before. Because having seen the standard, having seen the glory of that life, it shows up their weakness and their sin and their failure to an even greater degree. And very often after a convention like this, people are left in utter despair, because they've seen what quality of life they could be living, but how to perform that which is good they find not. And so this morning, having made that statement, I want to come to the message of cleansing and victory as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, Brother Rahman, this is simple, John goes on to say, Whatsoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed abideth or dwelleth in him, and it cannot sin. But I want you to notice very carefully, that what does not sin is not the Christian, but the seed that dwelleth in him. And that seed is the Lord Jesus Christ. That seed is the divine nature. That seed is this unsinning, holy life of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Well now, having said that, I want us to come right to the text. And this morning I want to expound in its context, verse nine of our reading. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And by laws of interpretation, we can't understand a text without its context. In fact, the text out of context is a pretext. Amen, preachers? That's it. So let's get down to it, and let's begin to understand what the Apostle John is saying here. He introduces his subject, as we noticed, in a blaze of light. In a blaze of light. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. In other words, in the unsullied and unshadowed light of Almighty God, everything that does not share the absolute purity, the infinite holiness, the perfect righteousness of God, is revealed and discovered to us as naked sin. What is true of me now was true before I was converted. That I'm a sinner by nature, I'm a sinner by practice, I'm a sinner by design. And I've got to recognize that, because if I truly recognize that now that I am born again, I'm going to throw myself entirely on the indwelling life of Christ to bring me into victory. Because I'm still a sinner by nature, and I'm still a sinner by practice, and I'm still a sinner by design. You say, is that taught right here? Yes, it is. We're sinners by nature. If we say that we have no sin, verse 8, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. That all Adamic nature is still there, and I'm a sinner by nature. And not to accept that is to deceive myself. But by the way, I don't deceive anybody else. I don't deceive my enemies, I don't deceive my friends, and I certainly don't deceive my God. As a matter of fact, I remember a dear evangelist friend of mine who was confronted by a man who said, now I never sin, I just never sin, there's no sin in me whatsoever. And he looked at him as much as saying, my, what a rare specimen. And then paused a moment, he said, by the way, where's your wife? I want to meet your wife. We don't deceive ourselves, we don't deceive our friends, rather, we don't deceive our enemies, we don't deceive our God, even though we may deceive ourselves. We're sinners by nature, but we're also sinners by practice. Verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, solemn words these, we make him, what? A liar. And his word is not in us. To say that in and of ourselves we cannot sin, or that we have not sinned, is to make God a liar. That's a solemn statement. It's a devastating statement. As a matter of fact, as we were hearing yesterday morning from our brother, Stuart Briscoe, all have sinned. All have sinned. And are coming short, present continuous tense, of the glorious likeness of God as seen in Jesus Christ. In and of ourselves, we go on sinning. We go on sinning. As we shall see presently, that mighty law of counteraction by the indwelling of the Savior makes it possible to live in victory. For sin is held in its place, and sin no more has dominion over us. Why? Because sin is kept in its place, and instead the mighty life of Jesus comes breaking through. But in and of ourselves, we're sinners by nature, we're sinners by practice. Yes, and in verse 6, we're sinners by design. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. And alas, alas, alas, that's so true of so many Christians. They talk about walking in fellowship, enjoying church, enjoying the Word, enjoying prayer, and all the time, hidden beneath the facade, is that walking in darkness, walking in darkness. Our church, and I talk about our church, I talk about the church of Jesus Christ within this wonderful country, is littered with Christians who say that they're walking in fellowship with God, whereas down deep in their hearts they know they're walking in darkness. Well, that's the picture, that's the background against which the Apostle sets this glorious jewel with its flashing facets of truth. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Which verse is intrinsically and inseparably bound up with verse 7? If we walk in the light, as he's in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. Well now, let's state a principle and move right on into our message. God expects nothing more or less than Stephen Olford, than utter Savior. And until the day of my redemption, when the Savior comes to take me home, or I pass through the article of death into his immediate presence to await that resurrection day, I am possessed, I am possessed of the very nature of sin within me. A nature of sin which has not changed one iota since I was born again. It's capable of a practice of sin and of a design of sin right through to the end of my day. It's against that background that God reveals to us the way of cleansing and the way of victory. It's possible even though sin is dormant, not to be dominant. It's possible that even though sin is present, not to be president. It's possible that even though sin is inherent in me, not to be master over me. Because of the way of cleansing and the way of victory. Well now, let's look at it together. I want to speak first of all on what I'm going to call the certainty of cleansing for the Christian life. The certainty of cleansing for the Christian life. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My dear friends, pick up those two words now. Pick up those two words and let's look at them. He is faithful, He is just. Those two words spell out the certainty of the cleansing for the Christian life. Faithful and just. Now as I understand this, we could put it this way. The certainty of Christian cleansing is based first of all on the faithfulness of God's promise or promises. The faithfulness of God's promises. Now even though faithfulness is an attribute of His very presence, I believe that in this particular context it's a reference to the faithfulness of His word and His promise concerning cleansing. God in and of Himself is faithful, but He's faithful in what He says about it. I love that word of Solomon who says, There has not failed of one good word of the promise which He promised. Isn't that lovely? And Paul adds, All the promises of God are yea and amen in Him to the glory of God by us. And we could list this morning a whole host of promises that assure us of cleansing. This very verse here, If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Or we could flash back into the Old Testament and say, Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his faults and let him return unto our God for He will have mercy upon him and will abundantly pardon. Hallelujah! That's it. The promises of God. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Do you know that's one of the greatest words in Romans 6 and one of the greatest words in my heart so far as victory is concerned? I can pace it out along Texas roads. Sin shall not have dominion over me. Sin shall not have dominion over me. God has said it. It must stand. Pass it on. It's simply done. Sin shall not have dominion over me. The faithfulness of His promise. We needn't wait on that with a well-taught congregation like this. We move on to what I'm calling the righteousness of His provision. The faithfulness of His promise, He is faithful. The righteousness of His provision, He is just. All righteous. Just. Now, my dear friends, we come here to something which is very wonderful. The purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ in dying at Calvary's cross was not just to manifest the love of God. He did that indeed. It was not just to reveal the spirit of true sacrifice. He did that indeed. But when He hung on Calvary's cross, He fulfilled all the demands and commands of a holy God in order that He might be just and the justifier of all who believe in Jesus. When He hung on Calvary's cross, He answered to the broken law of God. He met every demand of a thrice holy God. And because He died, because He took my penalty, because He bore my sins in His body on the tree, thank God, I can be forgiven. I can be cleansed from all unrighteousness. In the Old Testament, the lovely picture that illustrates this is the picture of the mercy seat that was set, you remember, on the Ark of the Covenant. That mercy seat of solid gold contained two cherubim that faced each other with the wings spread. And as those cherubim looked down upon that mercy seat, a message was told out. You see those cherubim right throughout Old Testament theology stand for righteousness and judgment, and that's what I deserve. That's what you deserve, righteousness and judgment. But look at their faces. They gaze down upon that golden mercy seat sprinkled with blood. And from that sprinkled blood there bursts forth the very light of God. As if to say, because of that blood I have mercy on you. There is forgiveness. There is cleansing. The certainty of the way of cleansing for the believer on the basis of the faithfulness of his promises, the righteousness of his justice. I say it very reverently, but I say it on the basis of the word of God. If there was no certain way of cleansing, if there was no certain way of victory for me this morning, then God would be unjust to the death of his son. But God is just, and therefore the justifier of all who believe in Jesus. Now let's move on to something even more wonderful. Not only have we here the certainty of the cleansing for the believer, but we have here what I'm calling the completeness of the cleansing for the believer. And I want to lift out two other words from our text. Look again at the text. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lift out these two words. Forgiveness and cleansing. Forgiveness and cleansing. Now let's look at them for a moment. I want us to notice first of all the completeness of forgiveness that God provides for you and me. The completeness of forgiveness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Now that word forgive means to remit or very simply to send away. To send away. And it has again one of the most wonderful and dramatic and vivid illustrative mentions in the Old Testament. On that great holy day of atonement, you remember there were two outstanding ceremonies that were ever performed in the presence of the people. One was the entrance of the high priest on that one day alone into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on and before the mercy seat. That was not seen by the people, but it was sensed by the people and then heard by the people. We remember that with expectancy they waited to hear the bells ring at the hem of his garment. If there hadn't been bells, if there wasn't a song that God had accepted that sacrifice, all Israel would have perished. But there was another ceremony within that ritual. It was the ceremony of the two male goats. Do you remember how one of those goats was taken and how the high priest confessed over the head of that goat all the sins of the people? And having confessed on that goat all the sins of the people, the goat was taken away by the hand of a sick man into a land uninhabited. A glorious picture of the sending away of our sins. God in Christ sending away our sins by the hand of a sick man through the eternal Spirit. Hallelujah! My sins have been sent right away! And that's put to my account the moment I exercise faith in my wonderful Lord. And I want to say right away, yes, our sins are sent into the land of no remembrance, the place of no remembrance. Yes, their sins and iniquities will I remember no more against them. You know when God forgives, He forgets. And when God sends away our sins, there's no more remembrance of them. Isn't that wonderful? When you forgive, you don't forget. But when God forgives, He forgets. I love the story of a Christian mother who was putting her two boys to bed and they'd had an awful scrap. You know what a scrap is? A fight. And they were mad with each other. Terribly mad. They eyed each other belligerently across the bedroom. And the mother in a gracious way, she believed in the Lord's return, came to the boys and said, look here boys, you know you've got to forgive one another. Supposing the Lord Jesus came back tonight. You wouldn't like to find Him. You wouldn't like to find Him with anger in your hearts. You wouldn't like to look into His face mad with each other, would you? Young Tommy over here accepted the truth. He said, that's right. Now I want to forgive my brother. Old Johnny over here was not quite sure about it. Mother pressed and eventually he relinquished his his intentions and he said, well, he said, yes, I'll forgive him. But if Jesus doesn't come back tonight, tomorrow morning I'll punch him in the nose. When God forgives, He forgets. When God forgives, He forgets. He puts our sins in the place of no remembrance. That's forgiveness. He puts our sins in the place of no return. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Says dear old Charles Spurgeon, he says, let your fancy or your whim fly as a bird eastward and as far as that bird flies with every flap of the wing, you're farther away from the east and from the west than you ever were before. You see, the world is round and the east and the west can never meet. The train will never meet. A beautiful concept. One of those pictorial concepts of the Old Testament to illustrate that God puts our sins so far away, they'll never return again. Not only the place of no remembrance, the place of no recovery, the place of no return, but the place of no recovery into the very depths of the sea. Yes, their sins will I put into the depths of the sea. Do you know there are places in the sea that are so deep that they're unfathomable? There is something that happens in London City and off the immediate London coast which illustrates this truth tremendously. The entire sewerage system of the great city of London has been so organized that all the filth and all the dirt of that great city that illustrates the corruption of the human heart is finally concentrated into a most poisonous liquid which is pumped into a boat and six days a week that boat goes out to a place known just outside the mouth of the Thames there where the water is so deep that at a given moment the very bows of that ship open up and under pressure, under pressure, that poison that represents the corruption of the city of London is shot into the depths of the sea and two seconds after that happens you could dip a bowl into the water or a glass into the water and drink that salt water without any hurt whatsoever whereas the actual poison would kill you instantly. God takes this lovely picture and says that's what I do with your sin. I put it into the depths of the sea a place of no remembrance a place of no return a place of no recovery. Are you happy about that? So much then for the guilt the completeness of forgiveness so much for the acts of sin that we have committed before and now but I am particularly concerned about this next aspect. Not only does He provide in this completeness completeness of forgiveness but completeness of cleansing completeness of cleansing if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins our acts of sins but also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He deals not only with our acts of sins but He deals with the pollution He deals not only with the guilt but with the very power of sin in our lives and this is what concerns me the power of sin in our lives. You see this is the double cure my beloved friend this is the double cure Rock of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in thee let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed be of sin the what? the double cure save me from its guilt and power. Now to interpret this meaning of cleansing we go back to verse 7 just for a moment if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood the blood of Jesus Christ His Son goes on cleansing from all sin goes on cleansing from all sin. Now I want you to follow me here very closely. Thank God my sins can be remitted forgiven, sent away forever to the place of no remembrance no return no recovery that being true what happens now in terms of my own personal life to keep me clean to keep me pure to keep me sweet to keep me noble to keep me living in victory Ah here is the ministry of cleansing the completeness of His cleansing the blood of Jesus Christ His Son goes on cleansing from all sin now judicially judicially that blood ever speaks upon the mercy seat in heaven remember that the Lord Jesus had to enter heaven by virtue of His own blood yes by virtue of His own blood having died upon the cross He went into the heavens there to appear before God on behalf of us and He took with Him those five wounds that ever speak before the throne of the majesty on high for all of us who are redeemed by His sacrifice and forever and ever He will be the Lamb newly slain before the throne of heaven judicially He ever speaks for us there so that the blood ever speaks for us but I want to point out here that in terms of my own practical experience there is something very wonderful that happens when I by faith appropriate that cleansing when Jesus Christ died at Calvary He shed His precious blood now the Bible tells us that the life is in the blood and without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin when Jesus died at Calvary He released He released that life by that strange and hard death which He died by the shedding of His blood He released that life yes He did and in resurrection He took it up again and that life, that cleansing life of Jesus now made available through His death taken up in resurrection becomes, listen carefully becomes the cleansing power in our lives day by day and when we think of the blood when we think of the blood we don't think, may I say it reverently just as an available liquid we don't think of it in Romish terms as something which is sort of mystical we think of it as the resurrection life of Jesus by the shedding of His blood He released that life by the resurrection from the dead He took up that life and by His indwelling through the Holy Spirit He ministers that life to us and when we read here the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin it's a concept, it's a word that gathers up for us what He did at Calvary to make available a resurrection life in us that keeps us clean moment by moment and so I can go out of this church this morning and I needn't come back to another convention for the rest of my life if necessary except for the fellowship and teaching which such a convention supplies and wherever I go in a murky dirty defiled corrupt world hallelujah His life in me keeps on cleansing me His life in me keeps on cleansing me as I trust so He cleanses as I trust so He cleanses as I walk in the light so He cleanses as we shall see in a moment isn't that wonderful I met a Jamaican taxi cab driver in a most unusual way some weeks ago I held a taxi I had to go on a hospital visit and like I always do with taxi cab drivers I think they're I think they're sitting targets they just got to take you just got to take you where you want and for the length of the journey you have a prerogative to say anything you like so I just started off as I usually do I said listen here I said your accent is very much like a Jamaican he said yes I do come from Jamaica oh I said I love Jamaica I said I've been there several times and I've been there in connection I said with the meetings known as the Keswick in Kingston he looked right around from his wheel I thought we were going to hit a car he said Keswick in Kingston I said yes he said you aren't Stephen Oldford I said yes he said I was at that very first Keswick meeting that was the one we were at and here he is a taxi cab driver well I said let's have some fellowship together and we began to talk about the Lord and especially about the Keswick message and he looked at me as we drew up outside of a hospital and there was a big big longing look in his eye very fine beautiful chap well spoken he said Reverend Oldford he said I thought life was bad in Jamaica you know the statistics on immorality you know the corruption you know the witchcraft and superstition up in the hills but he said all that's child's play compared with the city of New York I've never been in such a sinful place I don't know how long I can stay here he said breathing the air seems to defile me there's so much sin and corruption and then he looked at me and he said tell me in a place like that is it possible to live a holy life is it possible to live a holy life and you know I looked at him and I said my dear friend yes it is yes it is amidst all the defilement amidst all the corruption amidst the sordidness and debauchery amidst the intrigue amidst the hypodermic needles amidst the pills amidst everything it's possible to know the cleansing life of the Lord Jesus constantly making me clean and I don't give excuse to any Christian any Christian at all who lives in or who lives under the uncontrolled passions we were talking about last night or the unholy alliances we were talking about last night or the unbroken pride we were talking about last night there is no excuse at all why 1 John 1.9 is here in the book why? because our sins can be remitted and our life can be kept pure by the resurrection life of Jesus released in us by the Holy Spirit moment by moment well so far so good now we go just to the last point before we turn off the tap here it is if we confess our sins we thought first of all of the certainty of cleansing for the believer we have thought of the completeness of cleansing for the believer but now we come perhaps to what I might say is the most important practical aspect of it the condition of cleansing for the believer the condition of cleansing for the believer and here I want to marry 7 and 9 together in this order first of all 9 and then 7 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and then 7 if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another I want us to take these two statements and examine them just for a few moments as we close this morning and listen here very carefully please listen very carefully because all I've had to say means absolutely nothing if you don't act upon what is the condition thank God thank God the certainty is absolutely indisputable we have the faithfulness of his promises we have the righteousness of his provision thank God the completeness is unquestioned the completeness of his forgiveness and the completeness of his cleansing released through the shedding of his blood made available in his resurrection light through the Holy Spirit to keep me clean and sweet and noble moment by moment but what is the condition what is the condition I'm going to put it in two ways first of all there must be a life of openness before God a life of openness before God that's the whole meaning of that word if we confess if we confess our sins a life a life of openness before God put in monosyllable words and to make it as simple as possible the condition is simply this my friend it's a daily attitude not only an initial act when you first trusted the Savior or when you first came to a knowledge of this truth in a Catholic convention but it's a daily attitude it's a crisis followed by a process which is just this an openness before God and the monosyllable words are just these the moment sin the moment sin in any form whatsoever strikes the thought life the speech life or the action life in that moment tell God about it tell God about it I cannot if you're walking down a street I cannot if you're in the middle of an examination I cannot if you're dressing the baby I cannot if you happen to be lecturing I cannot if you happen to be preaching do you know that sin can invade the most holy spots where did sin originate anyway it originated in heaven not even on earth when Satan lifted up his heart in order to usurp the throne of God and in the holiest moment as I kneel in prayer with the glory of God often breaking upon me sometimes I've known it in my own life how sin seems to intercept at that moment tell God about it tell God about it beloved you and I are to be as sensitive to sin as the eye is to a foreign body we walk down the streets of Dallas on one of your sandy windy days and a speck of dust hits your eye instantly you're in discomfort you can't move any further unless you've gone into a drug store and asked the chemist there to remove the foreign body to flush the eye in order that you might move on a man living in the ungrieved unquenched presence of the indwelling spirit is as sensitive to sin I repeat as an eye to a foreign body the moment it comes the moment it comes the middle of a conversation the openness to God Lord I sinned Lord I sinned I'm sorry I have to take issue with preachers I've heard who say get down on your knees at the end of the day and total up all the sins that you've committed and have them rolled away why waste a day why live one moment in unbroken fellowship with Jesus and if the Lord Jesus can keep me clean for one moment he can keep me clean for two and if he can keep me clean for two he can keep me clean for an hour if he can keep me clean for an hour he can keep me clean for a day and if a day a week and if a week a month why why live in unbroken fellowship when I can know the joy and wonder of walking with my savior all the time tell him about it confess it at once then trust him about it yes trust him about it an openness before God involves that openness of faith the very idea of confession is not only agreeing with God concerning the thing upon which he has pronounced the sentence of judgment but trusting him to deal with it trusting him to deal with it and in faith saying I do believe I will believe that Jesus died for me that at the cross he shed his blood from sin to set me free trust him and then don't forget thank him about it thank him about it and I don't believe anybody has entered into cleansing and victory moment by moment unless we're living the kind of thankfulness our brother was talking about yesterday morning thank you lord thank you lord I take cleansing thank you lord I love that story of the Samaritan who returned to give the savior thanks ten lepers came begging help they looked with wistful eyes into the master's face and in graciousness he told to go and show themselves to the priest they were clean as they looked at their flesh come again as the flesh of little children they walked away rejoicing but those one who suddenly stopped he looked in his body he reflected on what had been done he said I can't go a step further I can't go a step further I must go back I must go back and the Samaritan went back and we read listen carefully we read that with a loud voice he glorified god I like that he wanted everybody to hear they fell down before him and worshipped him giving him thanks he wanted everybody to see and Jesus was so moved by this he said where are the nine oh his heart was so glad that one out of ten at least had come to give him thanks thank him thank him are you a thankful christian you can always tell a christian living in victory you can always tell a christian living in cleansing he's so thankful it isn't funny he's just thanking the lord all the time praising the lord all the time now then lastly and it must be brief because the time is right up listen carefully an openness before god a daily openness before god and secondly a daily obedience before god if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin now I am particularly burdened about this last point and I want you to follow it extremely carefully do you know that there are christians there are christians and I say it with care and I don't want to be misunderstood if some of our good roman catholic friends are here I don't want you to misunderstand my statement it's just something that I am pointing out from the scriptures there are many christians who sin in order that grace may abound they come back again and again asking forgiveness in order that they might have an excuse to go back and sin I don't believe that 1 john 1.7 and 1.9 are ever in the bible in order to encourage us to sin the queen elizabeth goes out into the great ocean with life boats so does the US America why are those life boats attached to the big ship they are attached to that big ship not so that it might sink but in case it does sink the provision that god has made for us for cleansing is not in order that we might sin but in case we do by that momentary glance away from the saviour in which we splash down into the mud again and we say lord I shouldn't have done that my enjoyment and my holy experience is that of walking with thee lord and I confess it at once this is no excuse to sin and I want to add very very quickly that that walking in the light is inseparably bound to the constant cleansing of the life of the lord jesus in us it as we walk in the light as he is in the light that the blood goes on cleansing and cleansing and cleansing only as we walk in the light as he is in the light that the life of jesus goes on cleansing and cleansing and cleansing and I want to point out here that very devastating little word there walk in the light as he is in the light now weigh on that early this morning early this morning that came to me with new force I'm to walk in the light as he is in the light my life of daily obedience has to be in conformity with his self disclosure in truth as a matter of fact the verse just before it makes that so clear you notice what it says if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth do not the truth but if we walk as walk in the light as he is in the light the blood goes on cleansing goes on cleansing and I just want to point out very simply that the only measure in which we know god listen carefully the only measure in which we know god is the measure in which he has revealed himself through his word and the only measure in which we walk in the light is the measure in which we bring ourselves into the blaze and the glory and the application of that truth which god has revealed and only as we walk in obedience to reveal truth will the life of Jesus operate in us in a cleansing efficacious stream of power and victory and purpose and I want to say this I proved it in my own life life light light obeyed bringeth light light rejected bringeth night and if you are not moving in the stream of the light of god's truth by daily quiet time discipline devotion opening the word letting it speak to you applying its truth and then walking in its unsullied light rather you can pray and pray and pray for forgiveness but the life of Jesus will not fulfill its function in cleansing you unless you walk in the light as he is in the light so if you ask me what the two conditions are for victory and cleansing day by day I would say an openness before god every day yes a life of openness to god every moment I'm affected in thought word or deed by the interception of sin I'm open straight away with confession tell him about it talk to him about it thank him about it and then a daily openness before god with a daily obedience before god walking in the light as he is in the light having fellowship one with another and knowing that cleansing life of Jesus just keeping me sweet keeping me clean keeping me victorious moment by moment the message of perfect cleansing the certainty of it is faithful and just the completeness of it forgiveness and cleansing the condition of it openness and obedience all the way to glory hallelujah