Everyone Who Believes
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Call To Worship Scripture
Call To Worship Scripture
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,
in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.
Sermon Scripture:
Sermon Scripture:
1 John 5:1-4
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. 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. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Two weeks ago when we began looking at 1John back in chapter one we saw that our basis for walking together as believers is founded upon our walking by the light of the Father, abiding in Him and having fellowship with Him.
Thus, all Christian fellowship begins with fellowship with the Father through the Son, who is Jesus Christ our Lord.
The absence of Christian fellowship displays an absence of divine fellowship, or at the very least one that is lacking in truth or sincerity.
In the light is the fullness of fellowship…when darkness is presented then fullness is lost.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say 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 we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John1
Last week we saw that this divine fellowship is in light of a hope which is birthed within us by faith and love.
The hope is the reappearing of Christ.
The love is that which was displayed by Christ
The faith is that which is in the work of Christ alone.
These three things: faith, hope and love made alive in us by faith, has an effectual work within us whereby we as the bretheren live amoungst each other not by word alone but by truth and action.
In this righteousness thrives and the sin which attempts to rule over us and divide us (as it did with Cain) looses it’s power.
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Again, this loving in deed and truth, in labor of sincerity, points us directly to Christ Jesus who is the first born of the brothers.
Again, Jesus is the faith, hope, and love that births within us the salvation from the nature of depravity to the nature of the divine, which is that of Him who is the first fruit: faith, hope, love.
And thus, chapter 5 begins:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
1 John 5:
Notice the order of the text:
Everyone who believes
there is no discrimination upon belief.
Everyone is reference every type…meaning from all walks of life, the unifying or identifying factor is belief.
This must be noted in two ways:
While it is all inclusive, it is not all inclusive. The everyone is referencing those who believe. This means if one does not believe then they are not part of the everyone followed up upon in the text.
Thus the everyone here is saying simply: all believers. The language is unifying a particular group together or identifying and thus separating a group out from every other which does not hold this one mark in common: belief.
b. believe: I would describe belief in three steps:
to be persuaded of as a truth…to suffer oneself to be persuaded.
to place confidence/trust upon the truth of which you have been persuaded
To rely upon that confidence.
Thus, the belief that we are talking about is beyond mere credence.
Belief upon Christ that is in usage with being born of the Father is more than:
head knowledge
emotional state
It is actually a revolutionary persuasion in ones life.
Believes that Jesus is the Christ
c. Believes that Jesus is the Christ
i. Jesus is the Christ
The persuasion that takes place that the Christian brother places his confidence and reliance upon is that Jesus is the Christ.
Jesus is the anointed one. The Messiah, the great High Priest of God. The one of whom has provided a way unto the Father.
ii. this is contrasted to the antichrist and the spirit thereof those who deny that Jesus has come and deny His saving work.
Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
b. believe: I would describe belief in three steps:
to be persuaded of as a truth…to suffer oneself to be persuaded.
to place confidence/trust upon the truth of which you have been persuaded
To rely upon that confidence.
Thus, the belief that we are talking about is beyond mere credence.
Belief upon Christ that is in usage with being born of the Father is more than:
head knowledge
emotional state
It is actually a revolutionary persuasion in ones life.
Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
b. believe: I would describe belief in three steps:
to be persuaded of as a truth…to suffer oneself to be persuaded.
to place confidence/trust upon the truth of which you have been persuaded
To rely upon that confidence.
Thus, the belief that we are talking about is beyond mere credence.
Belief upon Christ that is in usage with being born of the Father is more than:
head knowledge
emotional state
It is actually a revolutionary persuasion in ones life.
2. Has been fathered by God
The persuasion that takes place that the Christian brother places his confidence and reliance upon is that Jesus is the Christ.
i. To be fathered by is to be begotten/born of God. The literal here is, “the one who fathers”
Jesus is the anointed one. The Messiah, the great High Priest of God. The one of whom has provided a way unto the Father.
ii. We do not birth ourselves, we do not father ourselves. The one who believes upon Christ has been brought to the newness of life by the work of the Father and the plan that he has put in place.
3. Who loves the father:
i. loves the child fathered by him
a. how do we know that we love the children of God?
i. love God -
a. this is speaking of God’s love and thus when it says, “loves God” it is implying that the love of God…that which caused you to be born of the Father by the work of Christ, abides in you. To love God is to have His love in you. The effectual work of this, is just as we see demonstrated in the life of Christ: keep His commandments.
ii. keep His commandments
a. The word for commandment here stresses the concrete character of the commandment. As God’s love abides in us, so does His character which is thus displayed by our living, or fleshing out the character of God: righteous living, abiding by the commands/will of God.
i. The commandments of God are not burdensome to the believe who is living by the divine nature and not that of the world. It is not a drag, a heavy weight for the believer to live by the decree of God. It is a good thing to have such a prompting of the Holy Spirit because it is the pathway to overcoming the world. For the child of God the reverse is true. Worldliness is a great weight, while righteousness is the new found freedom.
4. Conquers the world:
i. The conquering, victory, or prevailing of/over the world is for the believer found in the keeping of God’s commands. This is the building of confidence, the holy rebellion, the sanctified revolution by which the powers of the antichrist world are shown to have no power over you and your life, neither present nor future.
ii. With your eyes on victory, you love God and keep His commandments.
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
As those who believe (convinced, trust) that Jesus is the Christ, who have been born of God, who have the love of God abiding within, who have love for the fellow begotten of God and live joyfully by the character and commands of God as victorious over the world, we joyfully know the victory:
Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
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.
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
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.
And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:
1 John 5:
We are now circling back to the beginning of our teaching. Faith, hope, and love. In this we have been born of God, and we are made victorious over the world.
But what is it that is our victory?
How has the world been overcome?
Is it because of our great commandment keeping?
Is it because we have loved the brethren so well?
No, it is our faith.
To know how we overcome the world you must note first that we cannot. We have simply been shown victory.
If our victory is faith, then the mechanism by which that victory is gained must be that which the faith is in.
Who is it then that overcomes the world?
The one who having been persuaded to place their trust, confidence and reliance upon Jesus as the Christ (the pathway to the Father who gives life).
Who is Christ:
The one who came by water and blood
The popular belief amongst (conservative) christians is that water is the baptism of Christ and blood is his death on the cross.
I don’t believe that this is correct as far as what is being said here. It places to much upon the act of baptism and seems to go a different direction than where the Holy Spirit has been leading John in the context of this letter.
I believe that water is the prophetic word of God. It is the Word which has been spoken whereby Christ has come in accordance with. Christ is the chosen one of God who has come in full accordance to the word spoken by God (Isaiah 53:3-7).
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The blood is the incarnation, the humanity, the lineage of Christ. In this John also combats the Gnostics of his time which were prevelant. Jesus became incarnate man just as the Word had spoken Him to.
In addition to this…it is in the perfection of his humanity that His blood cries out for us, just as Ables did for Him and thus bears witness as to who He is.
The Spirit is then brought in as testifying to this as truth, which then gives us three who testify to Jesus being the Christ.
The Spirit
The Water - the Word
The Blood - The Incarnation (life of Christ)
So here is what we have:
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.
The reading then is:
:
Note: these three testify
This is the one who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ, not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. And there are three that bear witness.
It is not a past event without ongoing work. All three are to this day testifying to whom Christ is.
The incarnation - the blood
The water - the word
The Spirit
This is a unified three witness testimony building a persuading case of an irrefutable truth, that Jesus is the Christ. It identifies who Jesus is and that He is the Christ in a way that no other can claim His position.
This is the testimony that we are to recieve which has been provided to us by John an eye witness. It is the testimony of:
The incarnated perfect life of Christ.
The Word of God fufilled in Christ.
The Spirit of God given by Christ who testifies to Christ.
1 John 5:9
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. 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. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
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. 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. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
By God giving us testimony of the truth of our salvation through the incarnated Christ, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, God has given us a testimony that is greater than any man.
We have all recieved the word of a man as true, yet God’s word is infallible and given to us as a triple layered witness.
All of those who now believe this, have they themselves become evidence of the truth of who Jesus is, because they have been begotten of God, demonstrating even further His ongoing work which is built upon the truth of who Christ is.
All of those who do not believe, make God a liar and the burden of proof is on them because God cannot lie. Because God has testified to who Christ is, in every-way, to not believe is to say that God has lied.
When you don’t believe the Word of God, you make him out to be a liar. A high percentage of church’s make God out to be a liar, simply by their theology.
if God says you will live for 5 days and you live for 4 then God lied.
If God gives eternal life and then you don’t have it....
This is why you cannot “loose salvation” and why we believe in eternal security or the preservation (not perseverance) of the saints. The moment that we don’t believe that the believer in Christ is secure in Christ for eternal life, then we make God out to be a liar.
If you haven’t been given eternal life then you cannot believe, you cannot repent…you cannot do what so many churches say that you need to do. They are but evidences of what God has given, and if you do not have them, if you go from us then you did not loose salvation, you just prove that you were never of us.
God has given us the testimony, the word of eternal life that is in his Son. The location of life is in the Son…not you. You either have the Son and have life, or you don’t have the Son and thus, you don’t have life. There is no in-between.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Intellectually (not emotionally driven) because of these records you can know that you have eternal life. This is written so as to give you absolute knowing. A knowing beyond experience, beyond circumstance, a knowing that is founded in the very word and threefold testimony of God himself. This is written not that you have or get eternal life but that you may “know” that you have eternal life. It is in the word of God, that our confidence of eternal life comes.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
1John 5:14
We pray not to get what our flesh craves but to settle our minds upon the will of God. If we would but know the will of God and begin to ask Him for it, knowing that strong testimony of God then we would no longer be praying in a mystic hope, but in a settled assurance. These things have been written so that you may know that you have eternal life and thus be settled in it. Now do the same with prayer. Be settled in the will of God.
Friends we have not the time to go further in this, but if anything here is to be emphasized it is the legnths that the Spirit of God goes through in the Word of God to make absolutley certain to us the Soverignty of God. That 100% of our lives are in His hands and to be of Him is to be in His Son and that is a great place to be. It is a place which draws the entirety of who we are, as in the giving of ourselves and the proving out of the perfect will of God.
Life in God is a place of certainty to abide in.
It is a place of settledness.
It is a place of victory.
It is a place of confidence, truth an joy.
It is a place that overcomes the world and all that denies Christ and rather than denying, ....we as beloved children of God become His vessels joining in the victorious testifying of who Jesus Christ truly is.
This is our life...
This is the truth of which we are persuaded, convinced of and trusting in for all of life. - Amen.