1 John 5:6-12 The testimony of three that is essential for eternal Life

Christopher Manfreda

1 John • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Good Morning .. Pause

I welcome you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Out Scripture meditation is from Psalm 150:1-2

Praise the Lord!Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

THE LORD CALLS US TO WORSHIP HIM

*God’s Word of Greeting

*Call to Worship……………Psalm 150:3-6

Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!Praise the Lord!

PLEASE RISE FOR THE SINGING OF GODS WORD

Hymn of Praise Trinity Hymnal # 486 God, Be Merciful to Me

Invocation

INVOCATION:

Father we now call upon you to be with us and be in our presence.

And illuminate our minds by your Spirit and Word.

We thank you Father in all things in Christ name Amen.

PLEASE BE SEATED

OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S CALL

Responsive Reading Psalm 150 p.841

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness!

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet; praise him with the harp and lyre!

4 Praise him with tambourine and dancing; praise him with the strings and flute!

5 Praise him with clash of cymbals; praise him with the resounding cymbals!

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

LET US PRAY

Prayer of Confession and Repentance

O most great, most just and gracious God,

you are of purer eyes than to behold our iniquity,

you condemn the ungodly, impenitent, and unbelievers;

but you have promised mercy through Jesus Christ to all who repent and believe in him.

We confess that we were conceived in sin, and are by nature children of wrath;

and have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

In our baptism you took us into the bond of the holy covenant, but we did not remember our Creator in the days of our youth, with the fear, and love, and obedience which we owed you.

We did not please and glorify you in all things, nor walk with you by faith in a heavenly conversation,

We didn’t serve you fervently with all our might; instead we fulfilled the desires of the flesh and of the carnal mind.

We have neglected and abused your holy worship, your holy name, and your holy day.

We have dishonoured our superiors, and neglected our inferiors. We have dealt unjustly and uncharitably with our neighbours, not loving them as ourselves,

nor doing to others as we would have them do to us;

we have not sought first your kingdom and righteousness and been content with our daily bread,

but have been careful and troubled about many things, neglecting the one thing necessary.

You have revealed your wonderful love to us in Christ, and offered us pardon and salvation in him.

But we made light of it, and neglected so great a salvation, and resisted your Spirit, Word and ministers, and have not turned at your reproof.

We have run into temptations, and the sin which we should have hated, we have committed in your sight, both secretly and openly, ignorantly and carelessly, rashly and presumptuously,

against your precepts, your promises, and threats, your mercies and your judgments.

Our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; if you deal with us as we deserve,

you will cast us away from your presence into hell, where the worm never dies, and the fire is not quenched.

But in your mercy, your Son, and your promises is our hope.

Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father.

Be reconciled to us, and let the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse us from all our sins.

Take us for your children, and give us the Spirit of your Son.

Sanctify us wholly, give us your love in our hearts and cause us to love you with all our hearts.

Make your face to shine upon your servants; save us from our sins,

and from the wrath to come.

Make us a peculiar people to you,

zealous of good works,

so that we may please you,

and show forth your praise.

Help us to redeem the time, and give all diligence to make our calling and election sure.

Give us the things necessary for your service, and keep us from sinful discontentment and cares.

Help us to watch against temptations, and resist and overcome the flesh, the devil, and the world.

And being delivered out of the hand of all our enemies, let us serve you without fear,

in holiness and righteousness before you all the days of our life.

Guide us by your counsel, and afterward receive us into your glory,

through Jesus Christ our only Saviour.

Amen.

Assurance of Pardon Hebrews 9:11-14

English Standard Version (Chapter 9)

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Let us rise for the singing of Gods Word

Hymn of Thanksgiving ...................TH #99 My Song Forever Shall Record

Congregational Prayer

O Eternal, almighty, and most gracious God, heaven is your throne, and earth is your footstool,

holy and revered is your name; you are praised by the heavenly hosts and in the congregation of your saints here on earth,

We are sinful and unworthy dust,

but being invited by you, are bold, through our blessed Mediator to present ourselves and our supplications before you

Receive us graciously, help us by your Spirit; let your fear be upon us: let your Word come unto us in power,

and be received in love, with attentive, reverent, and obedient minds. Make it to us the savour of life unto life.

Cause us to be fervent in prayer, and joyful in your praises, and to serve you this day without distraction,

that we may find that a day in your courts is better than a thousand,

and that it is good for us to draw near to God; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Father we Pray for _____________

and we ask for all these things in the powerful, glorious, majestic, and wonderful name of Jesus Christ Amen.

YOU MAY BE SEATED

THE LORD FEEDS US FROM HIS WORD

Hear Now the Very Word of God

OUR Scripture Reading is from. Deuteronomy 19:1-21

English Standard Version Chapter 19

19 “When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.

4 “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5 as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6 lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7 Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8 And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9 provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, 10 lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

Property Boundaries

14 “You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16 If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

LET THE LORD ADD HIS BLESSING TO THIS READING OF HIS WORD

I chose this text specifically because it speaks to the need for multiple witnesses to hear a matter out.

One is not sufficient when judging a crime.

You must have two to Three witnesses as verses 15-21 has shown us in Gods Word here in Deuteronomy.

Let us now turn to our text for the Sermon

Our New Testament Reading is from 1 John 5:6-12

Repeat - 1 John 5:6-12

1 John 5:6-12 The testimony of three that is Essentials for Eternal Life.

A little recap on what John has been speaking about since the beginning of first John

This apostolic letter speaks authoritatively about the truth of the incarnation—

a message John’s doubting readers needed after hearing false teachers deny the full divinity and humanity of Christ.

Johns letter reaffirms the core of Christianity, saying that either we exhibit the sound doctrine, obedience, and love that characterize all Christians, or else we are not true Christians.

Repeat - 1 John 5:6-12

Hear now the very Word of God

English Standard Version (Chapter 5)

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.

LET THE LORD ADD HIS BLESSING TO THIS READING OF HIS WORD

1 John 5:6-12 The testimony of three that is Essentials for Eternal Life.

So let us turn to our text this morning of verses 6-8

Verses 6-8 The Water and Blood and the Spirit testify and agree about who Jesus Christ is.

-What must I believe to be true about Christ

What must I believe concerning the Water, Blood and spirit?

In John 3 Nicodemus and Jesus talked about being born out of water and the spirit.

In early Judaism the word for water was used as a euphemism to point to a mans semen.

Breaking of the water when a baby has come into the world.

Also the rabbis and the proverbs would speak of the water being a man’s semen and it should only be used in your own cistren your own wife.

We find it in the proverbs in

Proverbs 5:15-18

Proverbs 5:15–18 (ESV): Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. 16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets? 17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

So water is a sign for physical life

Physical birth.

And spiritual birth

The water and Blood in are chapter are witnesses speaking of the Messiah Jesus Christ.

Specifically I believe the

Birth and Death of Jesus

or possibly the Baptism and Death of Jesus

But I think it is the Birth and Death of Jesus.

The Birth being the Incarnation of Jesus.

Christ came into the world through his mothers womb being born.

His humiliation consisted in him being born.

Thats what the WSC question 27 states

It was a low condition

He was made under the law

Christ came from all eternity to be born like you and me.

Why?

Why was this?

Becasue unless Christ came through the water

Unless Christ was born

Unless we was made in this low condition

Me and you would have no hope

We would be hell bound.

We deserved Hell.

because we are law breakers through the sin of our first parents which infected the human race.

So Christ had to be born under the law of God that judges me and you justly.

And so the water testifies of this John says. This Water is a witness to the birth of the incarnate Son of God.

Children - Pause - the word incarnate simply means God in flesh.

He had skin and bone like me and you.

When Christ cut himself he bled like be and you remember Jesus was a carpenter and I’m sure his hads were rough and sometimes he cut himself on the wood he was working on.

All this to say The water is a witness to the Jesus being born.

His incarnation.

The Second essential witness is the blood.

The death of Jesus on the Cross.

Jesus had to be crucified on the cross.

His blood had to be spilt.

The Romans and the Jews had to crucify him.

All the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to there needing to be a blood atonement.

Remember it was by water that all filth is washed away, = that is what your baptism represents.

a blood sacrifice in the Old Testament always pointed towards the sacrifice that would be made by Christ.

reconciliation with God has always been witnessed with the sprinkling of blood of the sacrifices.

but the law only was a shadow only external symbols of what was to be really and fully performed by the Messiah.

Lets look at Hebrews 9:12-14

Remember Hebrews 9:12-14

English Standard Version Chapter 9

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

So Christ had to die the cursed death of the cross

And his blood is a witness to this.

John is pointing this out to us.

So we've seen that Water = his birth or baptism

His blood = his death on the cross.

And now the Sprit = the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is the third witness.

And the spirit is so very necessary.

This is why

The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ,

The Spirit works faith in us, (Eph. 1:13–14,

The Spirit unites us to Christ

The Spirit convinces us of our sin and need for Christ.

The Spirit witness to us and renews our wills

And He persuades us while enabling us

To embrace our Lord Jesus Christ

who is freely offered to us in the Gospels

and the gospel is preached by the spirit out of 1 John.

The Spirit lets you know that you really do need a savior who was born of the water and who’s blood was spilt.

Another interesting passage that speaks about the water and the blood is John 19:34

English Standard Version Chapter 19

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

So three testifiers here are the water the blood and the Spirit.

I will point out that if you are using a King James Bible or a New King James Bible that verse 7 is longer and mentions the Father and the Word in which the ESV omits.

This is simply because the translators of the ESV recognized that this longer reading is found only in eight late manuscripts, four of which have the words in a marginal note. none of which can be dated before 1400.

They call it the Johannine Comma)

The oldest textual witnesses of this text occur in Latin manuscripts of the seventh century. With its eventual acceptance in the Latin Vulgate (Clementine edition, 1592),

If the text is authentic, then its disappearance in the early manuscripts is an absolute mystery. Why would the church be so careless as to let such a valuable text be forgotten?

So most textual scholars don’t believe verse 7 is any longer than you find in your ESV. But of course there are those that do. I have not seen enough evidence to convince me that it wasn't added from a marginal note.

And it not being there does not detract from the whole of Scripture which teaches the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons and one God forever.

And it also to me seems to not flow with the text of our three witnesses the Water and the Blood and the Spirit in 1 John which would

more accurately be a witness to the Gnostic Heresy that John was speaking against.

Verses 9-10 False teachers testimonies are inferior to the testimony of God about the Son.

Verses 9-10 read

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.

Who were these men that were giving a testimony contrary or different than God.

They were the Gnostics we spoke about back in chapter 4 when we were looking at these false prophets.

and according to John the church was already infested with these false prophets spreading their lies.

a multitude were already straying from the teaching of the church and her apostles.

And do you remember what the big controversy was?

Whether Jesus was the Messiah?

and whether the Messiah had come or not?

and with the Gnostics, Whether he had really come in the flesh, in true human nature? or not.

And so you can see the the Water being a witness and proof to him being born of a women.

And the Blood gushing from his side when he was killed on the cross.

Would have destroyed the arguments of these Gnostics who were subverting the teaching of who are Messiah was.

So this testimony of God is greater.

Why?

Because its a testimony of three

Remember are Old Testament passage in Deuteronomy 19:15-21

English Standard Version Chapter 19

John has produced three witness.

the water the blood and the spirit.

And they testify that Jesus is the Messiah.

And the Gnostics should repent of there sin.

As any who distort the Gospel of Christ should repent of there sin today.

Whether they are the Jehovah’s witness of our Day.

The Mormons of our Day.

Those who who distort who the Messiah is

and what his accomplished work has done.

They should repent and turn to Christ.

because they deserve death.

As we once deserved death.

Becasue they are trying to distort the one man the God man Jesus Christ and who he was and what he did to draw a crowds to themselves.

Deuteronomy says they deserve death because they are spreading a message of death to there followers.

And we as the church should purge false teachers from our midst if they are not professing the true Messiah.

They should be silenced with the truth like John is teaching us.

And the testimony of the Water, Blood, and spirit do this.

These false teachers should be disciplined as a means of Mercy to them and to the church.

Remember if we don’t tell them they are in error according to John we hate our brothers and we hate our neighbors.

So show love to those who would come knocking at your door and tell them who the true Messiah is

Tell them of the testimony of three that is essential for eternal Life.

Becasue without it they are dead.

To live you must believe what verse 10 says

English Standard Version Chapter 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.

Our testimony is important

verse 10 literally says this testimony is inside you because you believe in the Son of God

And who has enlightened your dead selves?

And who will enlighten these false prophets if he chooses to

The Spirit of God

The Spirit of God can awaken them and the Spirit of God gives us a testimony from within ourselves

And the Spirit of God is one of the three essential witness along with the water and the blood

That Jesus Christ is the Son of God

And what is the testimony

What is it that the water the Blood and the Spirit and now the Son of God testify to.

Let’s look at verses 11-12

Verses 11-12 Eternal life is given by God through the Son and no other.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

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.

If you say in your mind and heart I’m not sure if I believe all of this.

God being born of a human women.

Jesus dying on a cross over two thousand years ago.

That you are liable for the sins of Adam when he ate of the forbidden fruit.

If this all sounds made up.

Then John clearly states you do not have eternal life.

And the Bible states that you are dead in you trespasses and sins.

But to those of you that believe this testimony

And to those who believe those three witnesses

You say I believe that happened.

I believe Christ was born of a women.

I believe Christ died on a cross.

I believe the Holy Spirit has truly shown me this and I know it to be true.

I believe that the Romans and the Jews really did kill him in History.

And you believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah promised to Adam and Eve in the garden

That Jesus is the fulfilment of Genesis 3:15

Then you have life

And not Just any life you have eternal life.

And you see that the testimony of three is essential for eternal life.

Essential for all believers

Essential because God is true and not a liar.

Essential because Jesus Christ really was born

really died

and really rose again

and will one day

return to judge both the living and the dead.

Let us Pray

CLOSING PRAYER

Father I pray that today your people have heard you speaking to them this morning.

Help us to apply this in our walk with you and with our brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Help us to show the Love of Christ to others in sharing your Word and Gospel Call to Salvation with this lost and this dying world.

Help us to warn them of the final judgement.

And help us to show love to them not just in word but in deed also.

And we pray in Jesus Christ name.

Amen

LET US RISE

*Hymn of Response…..…TPH Psalm 150C Sing Hallelujah!Praise the Lord

WE ARE DISMISSED WITH GOD’S BLESSING

Let us Pray

Father in heaven be with and keep this your people throughout the week.

Father in heaven encourage these your people to discuss with their families the sermon and how they can apply this to the people who they run into through the week.

And father help them through your spirit to have a stronger walk with you and to make this word preached effectual in their lives.

In Christ name

Amen

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