5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 1:5 – 2:2

The Bible tells us “that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:19-21).

Many who heard the teaching of Jesus sought to discredit Him and silence Him because His words, His teaching, revealed their sinfulness and failures to live up to all that God requires of us in His Word. Today, too, when the light of God’s Word shines upon us, it reveals to us our sinfulness and our failures to live in accord with God’s Word. But it also reveals to us Christ Jesus and all He has done for us to atone for our sins and redeem us from sin and death and give to us forgiveness for all our sins and eternal life.

The Apostle John, in his first epistle, speaking about what it is to walk in the light, says, “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” (1 John 1:8-9).

To walk in the light is not to deceive ourselves and imagine we are without sin. Rather, it is to let the light of God’s Word shine upon our lives and reveal our sins and then to agree with God’s verdict about our sins – to confess our sins – and to trust in Christ Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness.

And how can God be both just and yet forgive our sins? It is because God’s Son, “Jesus Christ the righteous … is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Jesus, by His holy life in our stead and by his innocent sufferings and death upon the cross for the sins of the world, propitiated and satisfied the just demands of God’s Law against our sins, making full atonement for the sins of all.

Therefore, when we confess our sins and look in faith to Christ Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness, God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

And so, I ask you, do you let the light of God’s Word shine upon your life? Do you permit God to reveal to you your sins and sinfulness?

Do you agree with God and say the same thing with God in regard to your own sins? Do you confess to God your sins and sinfulness?

And, do you look in faith to Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world for pardon, forgiveness and life everlasting?

As the Scripture says, “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 anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

For the sake of Christ and His atoning sacrifice, I announce the grace of God unto you and forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Luke 8:5-8 (read v. 4-15)

From Jesus’ parable of the sower, we learn that not all who hear the Word of God with their ears rightly receive it in faith. In fact, some who initially hear it and come to faith in Jesus fall away again; but, by the grace of God, some of the seed of God’s Word falls on good ground – prepared by the Lord – and grows and produces faith and its fruits.

As we read the parable of the sower and its explanation, we are quick to identify people we know with the poor kinds of soil and ourselves with the good ground. But, when we do this, we miss the warning and comfort of this parable for ourselves.

This parable certainly warns against being like one of the three poor kinds of soil. We may think of ourselves as the good soil, but how often do we not also fit the descriptions of the poor ground?

Many times we are like the hard ground. The Word of God is sown upon us, but it doesn’t sink in and produce fruit in our lives because we have either been uninterested or inattentive. Then the Word is snatched away by the devil.

Often we are also like the rocky soil. In times of trouble, affliction or persecution, we shrink back from a bold and faithful confession of the truths of God’s Word because we have not let that Word sink its roots deep into our lives.

When trouble comes, or persecution, we turn away in doubt and unbelief.

And how often, like the thorny ground, we let the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things in this life keep us from faithfully hearing and learning God’s Word! These things choke out the Word and keep us from living our lives by faith in Christ Jesus.

When we are good soil, we can take no credit. We must say with Jesus that it is a blessing of the Lord when the Word sinks in, grows and produces fruit in our lives (Matt. 13:16).

It is the Lord who cultivates the soil of our hearts, breaking up the hard ground, removing the rocks and pulling out the weeds, that the Gospel of forgiveness of sins and life eternal for the sake of Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross might be heard and believed by us and produce fruit in our lives.

Almighty God, Thy Word is cast like seed into the ground; now let the dew of heaven descend and righteous fruits abound. Amen. The Lutheran Hymnal, Hymn #49, Verse 1

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’” 13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house. 2 Samuel 12:1-15a

It is, many times, so much easier to see the sin in others than to see our own. We recognize the wickedness of sin in those around us in this world but fail to see the wickedness of our own sins.

After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged the death of her husband Uriah in battle to cover up his sin (2 Samuel 11), the Lord God sent Nathan the prophet to David with the story of the rich man with many flocks and herds who took his poor neighbor’s one little ewe lamb to feed his guest.

And David was furious! He recognized the wickedness of this rich man and said, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Yet, David did not get the point of the story until Nathan said to him, “You are the man!”

And how often we are the same way! We read a Bible text or hear a sermon preached, and we say, “So and so sure needed to hear that message. He is guilty of sin and deserves to die!”

But God’s Word says to us, “You are the man!” While it may be true that our neighbor is guilty of sin, God’s Law reveals to us our own sin and wickedness.

Even if we haven’t sinned like David by committing adultery with a neighbor’s spouse and then covering up our sin with murder, who is innocent of sinful thoughts and desires? What man is there who has not committed adultery in his heart as Jesus defines it in Matthew 5:28: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”? And who has not been “angry with his brother without a cause” or called his neighbor a fool or emptyheaded (Matthew 5:21-22)? God says we are “in danger of hellfire”!

When we read and hear God’s holy commandments, it is not just so that we can pass judgment upon others; it’s so that we can examine ourselves and see our own sin and guilt before God. Cf. Matthew 7:3-5.

The Bible says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). God’s Law says to us: “You are the man!” We are guilty and deserve only God’s eternal wrath and punishment!

When David confessed his sin to Nathan, saying, “I have sinned against the Lord,” Nathan told him, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Though there remained consequences for his sin in this world, God pardoned and forgave David of his sins for the sake of the coming Messiah and Savior who would “redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:8). David would not suffer eternal death and condemnation for his sin because, when He confessed his sin unto the Lord, the Lord forgave the iniquity of his sin (cf. Psalm 32:1-6; Psalm 51).

As God sent Nathan the prophet to David, so God sends pastors today to preach and proclaim God’s Law and say, “You are the man!” But God’s purpose and desire in sending men to preach the Law of God is that we see our sin and confess our guilt before God that the Gospel of God might be proclaimed to us and we receive in faith God’s mercy and forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. For, when we acknowledge our sinfulness before the Lord, when we acknowledge that we “have sinned against the Lord,” God’s ministers proclaim to us, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

God’s ministers proclaim to us the Gospel – that Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). They proclaim to us that through faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross, we are “accepted in the Beloved,” that “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:6.7). They proclaim to us that we shall not die eternally but have everlasting life (cf. John 5:24).

And, in the Supper of our Lord, Christ gives to us, through His ministers, to partake of His very body and blood which were given and shed for us on the cross for the remission of all our sins. He gives us to eat of His body which was broken for us and to drink of His blood of the new covenant which was shed for us that we might be assured our sins are forgiven for the sake of His sacrifice and that, instead of death and damnation, we have life eternal in heaven for Christ’s sake.

So I ask you before God: Do you acknowledge that you are a sinner and have sinned in thought, word and deed? Do you confess and agree with God that you are guilty and deserving of his wrath and punishment? Do you trust that Christ Jesus has truly redeemed you and made atonement for all your sins? Do you also believe that Jesus, in His Supper, gives you to partake of His body and blood which were given and shed that your sins might be forgiven you? And, as a fruit of your faith, do you truly desire and seek God’s help to amend your life and live it in accord with God’s Word?

If you are truly sorry for your sins and look to Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for pardon and forgiveness, I announce unto you the grace of God and, in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Amen.

O LORD God, by the gracious working of Your Holy Spirit through the Word, grant that we see our own sin and wickedness and not just that of others, and grant that we truly repent of our sins and look to You in faith for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” Psalm 95:7b-11

Will you enter God’s eternal rest, or are you hardening your heart against Him? God’s Word comes to you. You have it in your Bible, and it is still preached by faithful ministers; but will you hear it and believe it?

The Children of Israel heard God’s words through Moses and even directly from God Himself on Mt. Sinai. They saw God’s mighty works in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness. But did they believe? Did they trust in the LORD God to lead and guide them, provide for them in their journeys and bring them safely into the Promised Land?

The answer is, No! Again and again, they grumbled and complained. Again and again, they disobeyed the commandments of the LORD. And, when it was time to go up and take possession of the land the LORD was giving them, they doubted God’s Word to them and wanted to return to Egypt. Therefore, because of their unbelief, they did not enter into the promised rest.

Now the Word of the LORD comes to you. It calls you to repent of your sinful ways and rebellion against the LORD and receive forgiveness and life through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son. Will you hear God’s Word? Will you acknowledge your utter sinfulness and rebelliousness before the LORD? Will you come to God and trust in Him to receive you and forgive you of all your sins because Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God in human flesh, fulfilled the righteous demands of God’s law for you and then bore your punishment upon the cross and rose again?

If you refuse to repent and turn to the Lord Jesus for mercy, you go astray in your heart. You do not know the way of the LORD, and you will not enter into His eternal rest! But if you humble yourself before the LORD, hear His Word and believe, you will receive His mercy and be blessed with the eternal joys of heaven for Jesus’ sake!

LORD God, have mercy upon us and grant that we not harden our hearts against You and the truth of Your Word. By Your Holy Spirit, grant us true repentance and faith In Jesus Christ our Savior. In His name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]