God’s Testimonies are true

Introduction

Good morning brothers and sisters, Lafayette Baptist Family. As always it is a joy to see you all and worship with you all today. Our text today will be from 1st John, 1st John 5:6-12, if you will all please go ahead and turn there in your bibles.

While you are doing that, I want you to imagine a fisherman in a boat. It’s an average sized boat, nothing too grand about it. The fisherman, as fishermen often are, was not alone in the boat and had other people with him. Imagine after a long day and a long night, and the fisherman sees something odd in the distance. He looks out, at first it seemed very far away but it was coming straight towards him. Still looking, still in shock, the fisherman quickly goes from confused to frightened. Whatever it was, it was coming straight at Him. This fisherman supposed it be a ghost, but soon saw what he thought would be impossible. He saw someone he knew well, the Lord Jesus walking towards him. “What is this!?” He must have thought, how can He do this impossible thing, walking on water. Peter cries out to Jesus, tell me to come out to You! Peter wanted to see His Lord and walk on the water as well. He did, he walked on the water, His faith moved Him to a great and impossible act. He then was scared by something else and sank but Jesus grabbed Him and saved Him; oh Peter, you get so much right and so much wrong. This seems impossible, doesn’t it? Not just to walk on the water, but the fact that Jesus would save someone who did something wrong, in this case losing faith (as all of us do sometimes). None the less, we serve a God who is in the business of making the impossible possible. We see this repeatedly in the testimonies of The Bible and the testimonies of our lives, this brings us to today’s sermon title and main idea that, God’s testimonies are true.

Scripture

If you will all please rise, for the reading of God’s word together today. The scripture will be on the screen, please read along out loud with me. Then when I am done, I will say, “this is the word of The Lord,” if you will all please respond with, “thanks be to God.” Before we do that though, let’s pray. Father God, you are true. You are truth, God everything in You and about You is true. Help us understand You and your truth better, help us to put anything aside in our lives that isn’t true about You. Father, we are helpless if not for you. We live in a world that You have said is against us because they are against You. Fortify us, in You word. Help us and refine us to be all that You want us to be, help us to seek your will in all things that we do. As You do this, which we know you will, we ask that we are motivated and mobilized to Go out and do your will, to love You and Love people. Strengthen our love and make us understand yours. Take this, and make it make us move into our cities, our communities, our world so that more would come to know you, your kingdom would be furthered, and You would be glorified. It's in these things that we ask and In Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray. Amen. 1st John 5, starting in verse 6. 6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. This is the Word of The Lord (thanks be to God), thank you, please be seated.

Context

This week we are picking back up where we left off in our journey through 1st John together. Now, I know it’s been a little while, so let’s revisit some of the ideas we looked at in the beginning of this chapter. In the beginning, John spoke a lot about God’s presence with us. First, we looked at the idea that being God born means that you believe. That is, you must believe that Christ himself is God, there is no other way than this. If you have everything (but) this crucial point, then unfortunately you are not among the redeemed and are not living in God’s love. Secondly, we understood that as children of God, we have certain things that we must obey. The chief of these are to love God and love people, as the great commandments say. Thirdly, we talked about victory. That is, if you are a believer/worshiper/child of God, then you will have victory. Victory over what? Victory over the powers of the world, the evils that lie in it. Everyone who has been born of God overcomes this through the intervention of Jesus Christ on The Cross and our faith in Him and the assurances that He gives us. I charge all of us to remember these things and know that God’s presence in our lives makes us overcome the world. Hold onto that truth, no matter how hard it is, hold on. It will see you faithfully through.

Crucially in this week’s text I want to remind you of something important that we have covered several times. That is, that the believers that John was writing to, were enduring false and blasphemous teachings among and from other supposed “believers.” It was everywhere and was confusing them, so John is lovingly and fatherly spelling out the truth for them to ease their confusion and help them understand who to follow. We experience this much today; false teaching is everywhere. I would warn each of us here, that if you want to know if a teacher is false or not, look to who they are pointing. Are they pointing to Christ or are they pointing to themselves (or someone else who isn’t a part of the Holy Trinity). Anyone who points to anyone other than God and says “Me or I or my” a lot, is most likely a false teacher and needs to be avoided. Instead, follow teachers and teaching that say LOOK AT CHRIST. So, with all of that in mind, let’s dive deep into this week’s text.

Message

Our first point is, Jesus Came to us

6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

I’m not going to lie to you brothers and sisters, this week’s passage was a difficult one for me to understand. A real stumper. In fact, these verses were particularly hard. So, what was stumping me? It was the water and the blood that John mentioned here. The question I honestly had was, “what on earth is John talking about?” When doing study on this, I quickly found out that I wasn’t the only one in history with this same question about this text. In fact, through history there have been 3 ways of thinking that have been largely accepted at one time or another. Today, it is largely held (as we have easier access to more ancient documents and original manuscripts than we have in the past through both technology and modern archeology, to put it simply, to take the term “water” as a reference to the baptism of Jesus by which His public ministry was initiated (Matt. 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22). “Blood” would then refer to His death, by which His earthly work was terminated.[1]” So, water refers to Jesus Baptism and the Blood was His death on the Cross to fulfill The Father’s Will and save us from sin.

This is another one of those teachable moments for me, where study is very important when sharing the Word of God with others and understanding the context of the text is key. In fact, in one of my classes they gave us a little saying, “Text without context is like having no text.” So what was the important context, well remember that this book was written as a sort of commentary on misconceptions and misinformation regarding John’s gospel. John then goes on to say The Holy Spirit testifies of Christ as well. In fact, John wrote of this in his gospel. In John 1:32, “32 And John (this John was John the Baptist) bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son[i] of God.” As the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, we can trust Him. He is pointing at Christ and saying believe in Him. In Him is where your Faith belongs. Christ came to us as a precious gift from God Himself, God Himself sent Himself so that we could be redeemed and washed clean.

The second point is, Jesus is testified about.

7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

In much the same way as before, John summarizes his previous point. That is, that Jesus was sent to us, and we have these three testimonies. The testimony of the water, seen at His Baptism, the testimony of the Blood, seen at the cross, and most notably, the testimony of The Holy Spirit. All three of these agree. There is no question. Though, to the people at the time there was a question at this. In fact, John’s insistence that He did not come by water only, but by water and blood, suggests that he was refuting a false notion of the type held by Cerinthus (a false teacher of the time). Cerinthus taught that the divine Christ descended on the man Jesus at His baptism and left Him before His crucifixion. [2]Cerinthus was doubtless not alone in such views, which John regarded as utterly false and contrary to the true testimony of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”[3]

These testimonies are a beautiful thing. Our testimonies about God and His goodness in our lives are beautiful things too. You know, one thing that Charles shared with me last week is that it was common for our family in times past to share testimonies at the end of service. Family, I want to keep that tradition, it’s beautiful it’s wonderful. Anything that points to God rightly, I want to as your pastor encourage and do. So, let’s keep doing that. It helps me, it helps you, it helps all of us to know and hear stories of what God has done particularly in our lives recently. We serve a great mighty God who works in so many ways that we can’t understand it. Let’s show one another here in this church building what He has done with and through us. Let’s show our communities and world what He has done with and through us to Him be the glory.

Another point is, Jesus’s testimony is trustworthy.

9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

Let me say that again, 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. How often do we receive the testimonies of man and hold them to be true? All the time right. If you are anything like me, one of the first things I do when I’m going to purchase anything that is large is do what, I look for other people’s testimonies; I look for their ratings. I do a quick google search and see how many stars it has, if it’s below 4 I’m probably not getting it. If it’s high and has lots of comments that are positive, the odds are HUGE that I’m going to get it. So, what am I doing here, I’m putting faith in the words or attestation of humans. I’ve heard this said before on this topic and I wanted to share this illustration with you today, “People often say, “I wish I could have faith!” But everybody livesby faith! All day long, people trust one another. They trust the doctor and the pharmacist; they trust the cook in the restaurant; they even trust the fellow driving in the other lane on the highway. If we can trust men, why can we not trust God? And not to trust Him is to make Him a liar![4]

Wow John! Way to make this raw. Brothers and sisters, we must put our trust and faith in God! If God the Holy Spirit says something, we know it is true. If we believe in truths of Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior from sin, then we believe these testimonies. It goes further, if you do not but say you do then you are liar. John says this by going the negative route, saying that we make God a liar. Well, we know God cannot be liar, because in Him is only light and no darkness, as we went over some time ago in 1stJohn 1:5.

So, what does this mean to us? It means that the testimony of Jesus, that He is God/The Son of God/Redeemer is true and can be trusted whole heartedly. All too often though, we don’t believe this. Sure, we say we do. Sure, we may have an intellectual knowledge that affirms this. We may have a faith knowledge of this that moves us in many ways. But honestly, ask yourself does it touch everywhere? Where am I holding back on God? Is it in my finances? This is an area where accepting the Lordship is hard. Is it in my heart, that I won’t give up some kind of hatred or hard feeling that I have against someone? Is it in my unwillingness to step out, maybe you know that this person who has wronged you will never seek or want forgiveness, that’s ok but God calls us to love and forgive, not to hold onto the bad feelings. Are we unwilling to step out in our witness? Does going into the world seem scary, are we unwilling to even step out to those nearest us both physically and emotionally and tell them the truth, that Jesus saves and nothing else matters. Beloved, the application is the same here as all too often it is. Find that sin, that thing we are holding back from God, seek and pray for God’s forgiveness (which He will give to you) repent and turn away from it and believe in The Lord Jesus with all your might, He will make all things possible.

The next point is, Jesus gives eternal life.

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Here it is, another beautiful testimony that The Lord has given us. Another trustworthy statement. Another truth that we can build our entire lives around. God gave us eternal life; this is through the life that is lived in the Son. Meaning, that when you take on faith, the belief that Jesus Christ redeems us from sin and restores us to fellowship with God (which makes us children of God) then we will have eternal life through Christ Jesus. Everyone in this room, the whole world for that fact, (unless the Lord comes super soon, and yes, we are to live in such a way that He is) could die two deaths, and let me tell you the second is much worse. Although, all who are in Christ, all who are redeemed, the children of God will only go through one. On the other side of death, lies infinite joy. Joy eternal. No pain, no hurt, no sadness, no pains from ageing, no loss. Only PERFECT JOY. Joy that happens when we get to do fully what we were put on the Earth to do, to worship God and bring glory to Him. This is what true Joy is. This is when the best life is lived, when we get to see our God face to face and worship Him fully and rightly without any blemish and nothing to fear.

This is life, this is the true life. Everything you see around you right now is short lived. It’s temporary. It’s 0.1 stars at best compared to the 5 stars of what we will get to experience when we are with God in the heavenly places. True life begins at the end of our flesh lives.

For others though, those that haven’t accepted Christ the picture is much different. Here is the thing, our God is a just God, meaning he loves Justice. Remember what we said the other week, that Justice is love evenly distributed. This being the case, hell is a real place that is awaiting every person without the Son of God, without Jesus Christ. It’s not just that there is fire and torment there that makes hell so terrible, it’s not just that God’s vengeance or anger is there, it’s also that God’s perfect justice is there. Make no mistake, we all stand condemned to God and are perfect candidates for this Justice at some point in our lives. Only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross are we saved from this. Only faith in Christ makes this possible, there is no other way. Trust in the testimonies we learned about today, trust in the truth of Jesus and take Him as your savior today and you will be made whole again.

Conclusion

Beloved, take these words and apply them everywhere in your faith lives. We know this, but do we really know it, do we really love it, do we really rejoice in it? Jesus came to us, the perfect gift from God. The payment that we needed but could never afford. Jesus is testified about, we see this from His life, from His death, from The Holy Spirit testimony that works inside all believers. Know that these testimonies are trustworthy, they are true they are worth building your life around. Know this most of all, Jesus gives us eternal life, He is the Only way, he is the truth and life. He calls us and commands to do two important things, to love God and love people. Brethren, God’s testimonies about Himself are true. Take on the Lord Jesus in all places in Your life, learn from Him, rejoice in Him, worship Him. Make your life all about Him. Put anything aside in your life that keeps you from doing this.

For others in this room, perhaps you are not believer or follower of the Lord Jesus just yet. To you, I want you to know that you are accountable, you have heard the truth. Ignorance is no longer a valid reason to deny God. Let me break down the truth for you and invite you to respond. God created the earth; he created it pure and good. However, through the deceit of Satan and man’s free will we chose to separate ourselves from God through our sin, which everyone in all of history does. God though, being rich in love and mercy and desiring to be restored to His beloved creation (mankind) provided the payment for sin that would restore us to Him. This is the blood shed by Jesus Christ at the cross. Accepting this sacrifice takes the penalty, makes the payment in full. Know this to, everything we see is temporary, but God for eternity. He will make all things new, removing sin from the world, and you can be a part of that by accepting Jesus’s death on the cross.

Let’s conclude. Brothers and sisters, I love you all. During our last song together If you need to talk or have something you would like to pray about, or want to confess Jesus, or join our body of believers I invite you to come forward. I would love to talk to you. Then before we conclude and enter our business meeting for members, we will share testimonies with one another. Let’s pray. Father God, thank you for who are and the truths that you share with us. Help us to put all things aside, all sin aside that keeps us from rejoicing in it fully and loving you fully. Father, I ask for each of this week that you embolden our faith and put opportunities in front of us to share you with others. It’s in these things that I ask and In Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

[1]Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Victor Books, 1985, p. 901. [2]Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Victor Books, 1985, p. 901. [3]Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Victor Books, 1985, p. 901. [4]Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1996, p. 528.