Growth Group: 1 John 5:6-12 (part 2)

The Verdict

REVIEW: 1 John 5:6-9 “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. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 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.”

The Witness: The Holy Spirit tells us who Jesus Christ is - the Son of God INCARNATE who suffered and died for our sins on the cross.

The Evidence: The Holy Spirit uses historical evidence of the Jesus’ Baptism and Crucifixion to back that perfect claim.

The Trial: the testimony of God is greater than that of man and therefore MUST BE RECEIVED.

The Application: We asked ourselves do I believe the testimony that Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross for me?

THE VERDICT

1 John 5:10 “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.”

QUESTION: What does this mean? “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.”

Example: Think about if you’ve heard a compelling argument, an undeniable testimony. What happens inside of you?

That testimony starts to mean something to you. You can make a decision whether you believe it or not.

The Holy Spirit does a work first, regenerating us, and belief occurs as a result.

Ultimately, the Holy Spirit’s testimony becomes the believer’s TESTIMONY. We agree with the Holy Spirit, the baptism and the crucifixion. It’s UNANIMOUS.

QUESTION: What is being agreed to again? What is the believer’s verdict about Jesus? This is the entire thesis of everything we’ve been talking about in 1 John 4 and 5.

If there’s one thing you remember it should be this: By the Holy Spirit, our verdict is that Jesus is God’s ETERNAL Son, incarnate, in the flesh, as a human man, who died on the cross to pay for the sins of mankind.

With that verdict in our heart/mind (agreeing with the Spirit), something special happens.

We become assured that we are children of God.

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”

QUESTION: Now what does the 2nd part mean: “Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar”?

Someone who doesn’t believe the expert, the Holy Spirit, is calling Him a liar.

But we know He’s not a liar. He’s truth.

What can happen if a jury is tricked?

Wrong man goes to jail.

Criminal gets set free.

QUESTION: What happens if someone doesn’t believe the Holy Spirit’s testimony?

That person is condemned.

We have to be clear that there is no middle ground. You either believe the Holy Spirit’s testimony, or you don’t.

When someone doesn’t believe, they aren’t just neutral. They are in essence saying God is lying.

There are consequences.

YOU MIGHT ASK…What if they haven’t yet been told the gospel?

Romans 1:18-19 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.”

Romans 1:20 “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse

No one has an excuse not to believe in Jesus Christ the savior of mankind, God’s Son.

1 John 5:11 “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

Again, The water and baptism, the blood and the crucifixion, the Holy Spirit, all agreeing and pointing to Jesus, God’s Son, as the only way to eternal life as a gift.

And we don’t deserve the gift. We don’t merit it. Only from his mercy.

1 John 5:12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Believers know the Son. “Of God” is not there showing we already have the relationship with Him (WUEST).

Unbelievers do not have the Son, and “of God” is added, which shows how grievous the situation is for them (WUEST).

They have rejected God.

John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

John 3:18 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

This is a dire situation for unbelievers.

And there’s no middle ground.

APPLICATION 1: UNBELIEVERS, BELIEVE!

Consider what hangs in the balance: eternity.

We are not garaunteed one more minute here.

If you die in unbelief, you go to hell - the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I was watching a live news report of the Twin Towers on Thursday night.

APPLICATION 2: BELIEVERS, ARE WE HOLDING BACK?

Explain that in order to give our all, we must see Jesus as he is - the authority over EVERY PART OF LIFE.

He’s God!

Why do we sometimes hold back from giving our all?

RELATIONSHIPS: Fear of rejection

How do we overcome that?

THE WORLD: Fear of discomfort and persecution

Concerned about what the world will think of us

How do we overcome that?

PERSONAL: Not wanting to give up certain things

AFRAID OF MISSING OUT - are you though?

wealth or a lifestyle

pride

a certain job

How do we overcome that?

TIMING - I have too much stuff going on

Shipwreck of our faith

My own experience of being a DPT, an Army Officer, a father, a homeowner.

7 years of school, almost 6 years of active duty moving around

If I wait until my mortgage is paid to give…

If I waited until my children finish college to give…

If I wait until I’m retired to serve in church…

If I wait until such and such time to give my all…I might be dead.

I’m not saying that going to college and getting a good job and working hard and being money suave is wrong. It’s not. It’s good.

But it CANNOT supercede God and our hearts have to be for Him and His people.

AS A BELIEVER, WHAT THINGS CAN YOU ENCOURAGE YOURSELF WITH TO OBEY GOD?:

Eternal life.

1 John 2:25 “And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.”

The greatest motivation to obey God should be because we are so thankful for him for his mercy.

Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Rewards in heaven.

1 Cor 3:13-15 “each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

These rewards are different than God’s gift of eternal life.

Treasures in heaven.

Luke 12:33 “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.”

Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

The Civil War Currency analogy.

The Stock Exchange downturn analogy.