Will You Believe
God?
1 John
5:9-13
Many of you have been
following the JUCO baseball games this week. And even though Shawn Argo’s
favorite team, San Jac lost the final to Iowa Western last night I thought I
would start today’s message with a baseball story.
In 1994, the Texas
Rangers baseball team called up a young infielder by the name of Benji Gil. The
Rangers needed a shortstop and they promoted Gil from their AA team directly to
the major league—something rarely done. But Gil had a hard time—especially at
bat. So he was sent back down. The next year Gil was invited back to the major
league for spring training camp where he performed superbly. The manager of the
Rangers—Johnny Oates—didn’t want Gil to worry about being sent back down to the
minors so he assured him that the shortstop position was his for the rest of the
season. Well, Gil had an excellent year. But the next season—in 1996—Kevin
Elster had a fantastic spring training and a tremendous year. So Elster replaced
Gil in the starting lineup.
Getting and keeping a
spot on a MLB team is not always a sure thing. Many people view their
relationship to God like Benji Gil’s baseball career. They think that if they
play well, then God will keep them on the team and they’ll go to heaven. But if
they experience a slump, then God will kick them off the team and they’ll go to
hell. But what does the Word of God say about the matter? How does a person get
called up to God’s team? And once you’re on God’s team, can you get kicked off?
Can you know for certain that you have eternal life? The answer to those
questions is found in 1 John chapter 5. This morning we want to look at 1 John
5:9-13. There John tells us how a person receives and keeps eternal
life.
In the Old Testament, the
Mosaic Law required 2 or 3 witnesses to establish the truth of a testimony. Two
weeks ago we saw from verses 6-8 that there are 3 that testify that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God. And those three witnesses are the water—the baptism of
Jesus, the blood—the death of Jesus, and the Spirit—the Holy Spirit of God at
work in the life of the believer.
Today we are going to see
two more witnesses that will confirm not only that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, but will also confirm that we have eternal life with Him.
I. The Testimony of
the Father (vv.9-12).
A. God’s witness is
greater than the testimony of men (1 John
5:9).
John says, "If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater." We all rely on the word or testimony of other
people, even total strangers. How many of you trust a pharmacist that you don’t
know from Adam to give you the right prescription? How many trust an unknown
mechanic to make your car safe?
We all accept reports of
the evening news and the newspaper every day. If we accept them, how much more
should we accept the witness of God? Men spin the facts; they sometimes
exaggerate and twist the facts. We are never completely free of personal opinion
and bias. And some men even lie and deceive us. But not God. God never
exaggerates or twists the facts; He never lies or deceives. The real “No-spin
zone” is not on Fox News or with Bill O’Reilly. It is with God, the Father. What
God says is always true. God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a
tongue that never slips, and acts with a hand that never fails. Therefore, God’s
record about His Son should be believed.
B. God’s witness
lives within the believer (1 John
5:10).
John says in verse 10,
“He who believes in the Son of God has
the witness in himself.” When you believe in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him
as your Savior and Lord, God implants His witness in you. What is that witness?
He is the Holy Spirit of God Himself. God’s Holy Spirit seals the believer and
guarantees our eternal life.
Paul speaks about the
witness of the Spirit within us in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of
His glory.”
And John has already said
back in 1 John 4:13, “By this we know
that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His
Spirit.”
C. God’s witness is
rejected by unbelievers (1 John
5:10b).
How would you feel if I
said to you, "I’m trying to believe
you" or "I wish I could trust
you?" You’d probably be upset with me because in effect to question your
honesty means I believe you may be a liar.
In v.10, John says "He who does not believe God has made Him a
liar." God has given "the
testimony" of His Son and if we do not believe, we insult God and call Him
"a liar."
How could this be? Look
at the rest of the verse: “because he
has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.” God has given
witness after witness that Jesus Christ is His Son:
·
the witness of the life
of Christ, His works and words.
·
the witness of the
baptism of Christ.
·
the witness of the blood,
the cross and death, of Jesus Christ.
·
the witness of the
resurrection.
·
the witness of the
Scriptures.
·
the witness of the Holy
Spirit that convicts the human heart.
·
the witness of believers
who have experienced the power of Christ in their lives.
If a person does not
believe the witness of God—all the testimony that God has given—if a person does
not believe that God has sent His Son into the world to save man, then that
person is in effect saying that the testimony of God is a
lie.
John the Baptist said
this about God’s testimony, "He who
believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John
3:36).
D. God’s witness is
clearly stated. (1 John
5:11-12)
What is the Father’s "testimony?" V.11 says, "And this is the testimony: that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
If I asked you, "What is
eternal life?" many would say, "I will go to heaven when I die." That’s only
part of it.
Jesus said in Jn.17:3,
"And this is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Eternal
life is knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not just
believing a fact, but knowing a person! Eternal life is not something you will
get then, it is something you have now.
Look at v.12, "He who has the Son HAS [not
‘will have someday’] life." If you
are saved, you ALREADY have eternal life.
This is the testimony.
God has given us something, and it is wrapped up in a person, the Son of God. If
you have received the Son, you have his life -- manifested, of course, by the
things John has been talking about in this letter: righteousness, truth, and
love.
If you have not received
the Son of God, no matter how earnest you are, no matter how devoted you have
been, no matter how religiously intent you have been, seeking to do everything
you could think of to please God, if you do not have the Son, you do not have
life. That is the issue, is it not? Either you have him, or you do not have him;
either you know Jesus Christ, or you do not know him. There is no middle ground,
it is one or the other.
I love the dairy
producers’ commercial of the guy in the body cast whose hospital roommate gives
him a hot chocolate chip cookie. He sees the glass of ice cold milk but is in
terrible torment because he can’t get to it. Talk about torture! The slogan
simply says, "Got milk?" V.12 can be
summed up with the question, "Got
Jesus?"
Kathy and I were married
over 25 years ago in
Somewhere in our records
we have a copy of that Marriage certificate, although I have not able to find it
for the last few years (is there a trend here?). But we have more proof than a
piece of paper that we are married, that proof is found in our relationship.
Many Christians doubt their salvation because all they have is a record. “I was
baptized on this day;” or “I joined the church on this day.” But they don’t have
a close personal relationship with Jesus that they live out every day. So they
have no assurance.
I know for sure that I am
married because I have a record at the
II. The Testimony of the
Word (v.13).
John says that he has "written to you who believe" that is he has
written to Christians so that "you may
know that you have eternal life.".
If you have believed on
Jesus and are applying eternal life in your fellowship with Him, you will "know that you have eternal life" and
you will "continue to believe."
Years ago Harry Ironside
was pastor of
Ironside replied,
“Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven.
Would that be enough to rest on?”
The man replied, “Yes, I
think it would. An angel should be right.”
Ironside continued, “But
suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, ‘I was that angel, transformed to
deceive you.’ What would you say?” The man was speechless. Ironside then told
him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel.
He has given us own Word that if we trust in Christ all our sins are gone.
Ironside read 1 John 5:13
to the man: “These things I have written
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you
have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son
of God.” Then Ironside asked the man, “Is that not enough to rest on? It is
a letter from heaven expressly to you.”
We have the assurance of
eternal life because of God’s testimony through His word in the Bible. We know
that we have eternal life because of the testimony of God.
Charles Fuller was a
radio Bible teacher years ago. He once announced that he would be speaking the
following Sunday on the topic of “Heaven.” During that week, he received a
letter from an elderly gentleman who was very ill—on his deathbed.
The man wrote: “Next
Sunday you are to talk about Heaven. I am interested in that land, because I
have held a clear title to a bit of property there for over fifty-five years. I
did not buy it. It was given to me without money and without price. But the
donor purchased it for me at a tremendous sacrifice. I am not holding it for
speculation since the title is not transferable. It is not a vacant lot. For
more than half a century I have been sending materials out of which the greatest
architect and builder of the universe has been building a home for me which will
never need to be remodeled or repaired because it will suit me perfectly,
individually, and will never grow old. Termites can never undermine its
foundations for they rest on the rock of ages. Fire cannot destroy it. Floods
cannot wash it away. No locks or bolts will ever be placed upon its doors, for
no vicious person can ever enter that land where my dwelling stands. It is now
almost completed and ready for me to enter in and abide in peace eternally,
without fear of ever being rejected. I hope to hear your sermon on heaven next
Sunday from my home in
Do you have that kind of
assurance? Is that God’s testimony in your heart?
Is God calling you to His
team today? It doesn’t matter how well you play. It doesn’t matter how many
strike outs, errors and bad pitches you’ve had. God wants you on His team. He
wants you because He loves you. He proved His love for you in sending His only
Son, Jesus Christ to take the punishment for your sin. Jesus has already won the
game. He has secured the victory over sin, death and hell. And if you have
Jesus, you have life—eternal life, victorious life, abundant
life.