Believe in Jesus (1 John 5:6-12)

Believe in Jesus

my aim is to encourage you or convince you

I have no power to do either, but the HS can through His Word

the Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to heaven

the OT points to the Messiah coming

the NT clarifies Jesus is the Christ/Messiah

incarnation

virgin birth

fully God, fully man

penal substitutionary atonement

resurrection

salvation by grace through faith

honest—not everyone in this room believes in Jesus

searching

here as guest

came with family

like the people at FCC

feel better after coming to worship

BUT don’t stake your eternity on Jesus

my prayer is that you come to believe in Jesus

and those that already do…are encouraged

Believing in Jesus is not a blind faith

real historical figure

not a fairytale

not a concoction of someone’s imagination

not some conspiracy

witnesses were just as good as YouTube in ANE

Paul attests to Jesus’ resurrection—GREATEST MIRACLE—final act (1 Cor 15)

Peter, then 12

500

James, Jesus’ brother, then to apostles

Paul

while you may not have seen Jesus

walk on water

feed 5,000, then 4,000

be transfigured

calm the sea

heal the sick

give sight to the blind

make the lame to walk

raise the dead

doesn’t mean it didn’t happen

because there were MANY witnesses who saw

and were willing to go to their death over what they saw (veracity to claims)

now John will highlight 3 non-human witnesses that testify to Jesus

3 witnesses testify to Jesus

5:6-8 pew Bible # 1213

testifies = witnesses

witnesses are important in OT

Deuteronomy 19:15

witnesses didn’t agree when accusing Jesus

prior slide

why the need for witnesses?

heretical problem (DEFINE)—Jesus became Christ or God on earth

not by the water only

but by the water and the blood

secessionist belief vs. true belief

hard text to understand (again next week)

systematic expository preaching

5:16 teaser for next week

agreement by the water

disagreement by the water and the blood

search for possibilities

ordinances (baptism & Lord’s Supper)—Luther and Calvin

spear thrust in Jesus’ side—Augustine

likely meaning

Jesus’ baptism

Jesus’ sacrificial death

secessionists

Jesus was united with the Christ at His baptism

conversation with TC

Jesus became God at baptism or transfiguration

yet Christ departed from Jesus before the cross

true belief

can’t believe anything you want and call it true belief

Jesus was the Christ from beginning to end

He never became God on earth and ceased to be God

He always has been and always will be God

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

affirm the hypostatic union

union of Jesus’ deity & humanity

fully God, fully man

no trivial error

Stott “If the Son of God did not take to himself our nature in his birth and our sins in his death, he cannot reconcile us to God.”

if Jesus was not God at His death,

then His penal substitutionary atonement does not apply to us

Holy Spirit

water and blood (objective witnesses)

Holy Spirit (subjective witness)

inward witness

only living and active witness of the 3

And the Spirit is the one that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

HS bears witness that Jesus came

just as Jesus was submissive to the Father,

HS does not steal the limelight

His purpose is to point to Jesus

the credibility of the gospel is not dependent on only human testimony

these 3 testify (water, blood, HS)

form a rock-solid testimony

because God Himself is behind this testimony…

God Himself testifies to Jesus

5:9

lesser to greater argument

if accept human testimony, then surely we should accept the testimony of God

as we consider the 3 witnesses

it has God as the subject (the One behind the witnesses)

and Jesus as the object (the One to whom the witnesses point)

at Jesus’ baptism

Matthew 3:17 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

at Jesus’ transfiguration

Matthew 17:5 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

practically speaking

God Himself testifies to Jesus

through His apostles

guided by the Holy Spirit

preserved in His Word

God is behind the witnesses

which emphatically explains why they all 3 agree

and this divine testimony is why we should believe Jesus

do you believe in Jesus?

fully God, fully man

always God

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

man through incarnation

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Believing in Jesus results in eternal life

John expands on the theme of testimony and witness to include purpose and result

purpose of witnesses — believe in Jesus

5:10

believe

testimony/witness is meant to evoke faith in Jesus

receiving the testimony leads to believing in the One whom the testimony verifies

not believe

the purpose of the witnesses is meant for you to believe in Jesus

unbelief is rejecting the witnesses God has provided for belief

John has the secessionists in mind

has made Him a liar

rejecting Jesus as your Savior

or being indifferent towards Jesus

is provoking God to His face (ESV Study Bible)

today this would apply to those who are connected with local church, but do not believe in Jesus

crazy when someone thinks can get to heaven

and never mention Jesus

that’s not what God says in His Word

result of believing in Jesus — eternal life

5:11-12

only by believing in Jesus can you have eternal life

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

eternal life is an undeserved gift

not a prize we earn

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

eternal life is not for the future only

but for the present

John 6:47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

not will receive eternal, but has eternal life…NOW

when you believe in Jesus

eternal life begins right now

believe in Jesus because it is good news (GOSPEL)

believing in Jesus means you have the Son

and whoever has the Son has life (eternal)

John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

don’t believe in Jesus only to escape hell

byproduct but not main reason

believe in Jesus because you can be reunited with God Almighty

but John states the negative which seems unnecessary

NEVER ASSUME all here believe in Jesus

eternal life only comes through belief in Jesus

not baptism

not living a good life

not being a church member

not anything you DO

do you believe in Jesus?

age to come

promise of Christ’s kingdom is a new heaven and new earth

state of perfection

which we have never known

faith will become sight

2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Matthew 5:8 ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.”

Revelation 22:4 “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

while eternal life begins at moment you believe in Jesus

we still have so much to look forward to

seeing Jesus face-to-face

strangely

I have talked to people who long for a heaven

with their loved ones

with great mansions

with lush golf courses

but without ever mentioning Jesus

“I Can Only Imagine”

Surrounded by Your glory What will my heart feel? Will I dance for You, Jesus Or in awe of You, be still? Will I stand in Your presence Or to my knees, will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine I can only imagine

Believe in Jesus

urgency in believing Jesus

once you die, there is no changing your eternity

and you don’t know your last day

respond while there is time