I direct your prayer for attention
to the passage we read 1 John chapter 5 and verse 20. Seeking the Lord's help, verse
20, and we know that the Son of God is come and hath given
us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we
are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. 1 John chapter 5 verse 20 John
does not leave us in any doubt as to why he has sent this epistle
to a general way to believers, to the churches. It's not addressed
to any in particular, there's no salutations in that way, but
it is to the people of God, and it is for the specific reasons
that he gives. In the first reason, gives in
the first chapter and verse 4. And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full, writing to them, to believers,
that their joy might be a full joy. The second reason is that
they might be guarded against sin in The first verse of the
second chapter, My little children, these things write I unto you,
that ye sin not. This is the message, this is
the reason why he writes. The Word of God is to be for
the people of God a guard against sin. By the knowledge of the
truth, the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a deliverance
from the deceitfulness of sin. The truth of God discovers the
darkness of evil and sin. We had in the first chapter that
in him is light and no darkness at all. But then we have also
a warning against false teachers, again in the second chapter,
And in verse 26, these things have I written unto you concerning
them that seduce you. Very often we have in the epistles,
the apostle, Paul especially, writing to churches because there
has been some false teachers that have come and seduced the
people of God. The Galatians especially had
begun well Then they had those that taught them that they had
returned to the law, they had to be circumcised, and they were
taught a gospel which the apostle says was no gospel at all. And so John addresses those as
well. May we always remember that just
because we have grace and faith that we are not free from the
possibility of being seduced by those who bring in a contrary
word, a contrary gospel, and would turn away the people of
God from the truth. And we might say, well, those
that are doing the turning away very often, they themselves are
ignorant of the things of God. They are not saved. They are
lost themselves, and yet they amazingly prevail against the
people of God and these things should make us cleave to the
word of God. They should make us tremble lest
we also be of those that take hold on something and be an ambassador
for evil and a stumbling block for the people of God. So this
is the third reason that John writes to the churches that they
Be not seduced, drawn away from the truth. The fourth reason
is to strengthen their faith in Christ. And this comes to
the chapter that we have read and where our text is. In verse 13, chapter five, these
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God. that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son
of God. I always like this verse because
it implies this, that those that do believe, they are really and
truly believers, but they do not know the full blessing of
what they really have. And so John, he says, he writes
to those that believe, that they may know that they have eternal
life. Could it be that there are those that believe and they
don't know that they have eternal life? They don't know the blessings
that being a believer really makes one to be in possession
of. And then he says that you may
believe on the name of the Son of God. Is it in the same way
as what John records in his 14th chapter of the Gospel? Ye believe
in me, believe also in God. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. Is that what he's referring to
here? Or is it to really strengthen
their faith so that instead of being a weak believer, instead
of being a believer that is easily shaken and seduced, they are
strengthened in their belief and really confirmed in their
belief and in what they believe. So we are not left in any doubt
as to why John is writing these epistles later on. In the second
epistle, he said very, very clearly, again, his concern is for those
that are not abiding in the doctrine of Christ. And if they come unto
any that bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house,
Neither bid him God's speed. And so this is his desire for
the people of God. They don't lose the blessings,
but they have them strengthened. And those things that they know
now, that they are confirmed in them and know them more strongly
than what they once did. Now text, it forms the third
word that speaks in this way that we know. In verse 18, we
have we know. that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not. In the case of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the only begotten Son of God, he is spotless, he is
sinless, and Satan, he could not destroy him, though much
tried in the temptations in the wilderness and throughout his
life on here below. but he could not be touched in
that way, but it applies also to the new birth, that which
is not built upon the old nature, but is perfect and new from above. Not just a changing over, a new
leaf, it is a new creation, it is eternal life, it is imparted
from above, and the flesh, it lusts against the spirit, the
spirit against the flesh, those things are contrary the one to
another, and that which comes from God is pure and holy. And yet, because we are still
in a body of death, there is the conflict, and as the Apostle
said, the good that I would, I do not, and the evil that I
would not, that I do. But we must be very clear that
where the Lord gives the new birth, and where that birth is
from above, that is pure. That is truly God's work. This is the work of God. And then we have in verse 19,
and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in
wickedness. Many would say, well, this is
a very arrogant statement, and I fancy saying, that we are of
God, and the rest of the world, well, they lie in wickedness. But it is a true statement. It
is a true statement that here in the inspired Word of God,
those here, the apostles here, and another time he says of those
that went out from us, why did they go out? Because they were
not of us. If they had been of us, they
no doubt would have continued with us. When we come to the
words of our text, you're coming to the statements that are the
truth. There's truth and error. There's
darkness and light. There are those that are of God
and there are those that are not of God. There's not a middle
way. He cannot, says our Lord, serve
God and mammon. There is only one saviour. There
is only one truth. There's only one gospel. There
is only one true word of God. And so the statement here, we
know that we are of God. What a solemn thing. If a person
is a professed believer, but they're unable to say we are
of God. uncertain whether they really
are of God or not, whether they really are a believer, whether
they really have that work of God in their heart begun by the
Holy Spirit, or whether it perhaps is something, a man's work, and
then they're not sure. The world likes this idea. We can have many different faiths.
You can get to heaven one way. I'll go to heaven another way.
We'll all do what is right in our own eyes. No, says John. We know that we are of God. and
the whole world lieth in wickedness." Those that have rejected Christ,
those that are in darkness, there is no other name given among
men whereby we must be saved. Our Lord Jesus Christ so clearly
stated, if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall perish in your
sins. Whosoever will be a friend of
the world is an enemy of God. An enemy. Very strong, strong
words. And by nature, we are all in
wickedness. We are all of the world. But
the Lord has come to redeem and to save and to give light and
to give life. And so that's the second we know. Do we truly know that? And the third one then is in
our text. And we know that the Son of God
has come and hath given us an understanding that we may know
him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in
his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. This evening, with the Lord's
help, I wish to look at three main points. Firstly, the statement
that the Son of God is come. John, he says, we know that the
Son of God is come. The second thing is the true
divinity of Christ. We have this in the well-known
words at the end of this text, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
this is the true God and eternal life. It's one of the most clear
verses in scripture that point to us, the true divinity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The third point is what believers
have been given, and that is set forth here throughout this
verse. So firstly, the statement, the
knowledge that the Son of God is We know that the Son of God is
come. How do we know this? How do we
know that the Son of God is come? You might say, well, we just
have this season of the year. We've read of the accounts in
the gospel according to Matthew and Luke. We have the testimony
of our Lord's ministry on earth. in all of the Gospels and in
all of the epistles testifying to this truth. And so, of course,
the one reason why we know is because of the witnesses. How
many that we have spoken of in these last few days that actually
witnessed the coming of the Lord, those chosen witnesses of the
shepherds, the wise men, Anna, Simeon, we have the witnesses
that witness to the events that happened around that time. So
momentous events, sad events, as we mentioned this morning
with the Herod slaying all of the young children. Things that
accompanied the birth of the Lord that had profound effect
upon all of those roundabouts. So there's the first-hand witnesses. We have also scripture that is
fulfilled. Many of those first-hand witnesses,
the records in the New Testament, they actually highlight where
those scriptures are fulfilled. We have this on the day of Pentecost
as well, and right through the time of our Lord's sufferings
and death at Calvary, but we have it with his birth as well. In the coming of Jesus of Nazareth,
there is a fulfilling of the Old Testament Scriptures. And it is through that that we
know that this Son of God is come, because Jesus of Nazareth
fits the Scriptures and fulfills those Scriptures. Another way
that we know that he has come is that the second temple was
destroyed. Now, it's uncertain when this
epistle was written. Some think that it's towards
the end of the first century. So John would have been very
old. He's possibly written before
the Revelation. But whether that is the case,
if that was the case, then certainly we would say, well, The temple
has been destroyed, the second one, but reference is not made
to that in the scriptures. But today, as preaching this
word today, we know the Son of God is come. That second temple
is destroyed, was destroyed at 70 AD, and yet in Haggai, There is a beautiful prophecies
that this latter house, the glory of this latter house, shall be
greater than the former. The son of God was to walk in
that latter house. And the Lord prophesied himself
that, see all these stones, the day shall come, they shall be
all cast down. But they were, they were cast
down. If Hegeia is to be fulfilled,
It already has been fulfilled and it was fulfilled when our
Lord himself, Jesus of Nazareth, walked in that second temple. It's a good thing if we have
Jewish friends to point them to that fact. Where is the temple? What about the prophecy of Haggai? And how can that now be fulfilled
with that temple destroyed? Is it not fulfilled in Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, who is the true Son of God? We have also the witness that
is spoken of in this chapter that is in earth. Remember, we have witnesses that
are in heaven, verse 7. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
that is the Trinity. The Trinity, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, that is the Word. These three are one. One God in three distinct persons. Then we have in verse 8 that
there is a threefold witness on earth, and there are three
that bear, not have borne, have borne witness, but that bear
witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood.
And these three agree in one. Those three are the gospel. Remember when the Lord commanded
the disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature, he said, tarry at Jerusalem, until he be endued
with power from on high." The preaching of the Word, the preaching
of the Gospel, is by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said
to the Thessalonians that they receive the Word not as the Word
of man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. And this witness
is to be a witness unto the end of the world. We are, says Paul,
ambassadors for Christ, as God did beseech you by us, be ye
reconciled therefore unto God. We are those that proclaim the
word of God, the will of God, and the good news of salvation,
and it is through the Spirit of God bearing witness to the
word. We preach the word which is the
inspired word of God, and this is the first witness that is
on earth. And the other two are the ordinances
that Christ gave himself to the Church of God. He gave them the
water baptism. Whosoever believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. And baptism buried with Christ
and risen again in newness of life is a witness. It is those that believe they
put on Christ in open profession and it is a witness to the world.
Sadly, in a way, those of us that have got baptismal pools
in our chapel buildings, when we have the services, they're
out of the eye of the general population. The first members
of the church here at Cranbrook were baptised in the grounds
of Great Shepherds, which now, I believe, the same pool, or
perhaps one similar to it, is certainly a pool now, in the
Joyce Close in Cranbrook and that was part of the Grounds
of Shepherds in 1780 when this church was formed. But many baptisings
were taking place in rivers or even in the sea and in public
places and they were public witness to a believer. But then the second
one is the Ordinance of the Lord's Supper, this, do ye in remembrance
of me, as oft as ye do eat this bread and drink this cup, ye
do show forth the Lord's death till he come. It is a service
of witness and testifies of the coming of the Lord the first
time and his coming in the second time. It is a witness. We know
that the Son of God is come because we have this threefold witness
of the preaching of the gospel, the ordinance of baptism, the
ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which did not exist before Christ. It was given by Christ and it
is established in the churches of believers. How beautifully
set forth the doctrines of the cross. You know, when our Lord
came, there were those things that really witnessed His first
coming. When He comes again, there shall
be those things that certainly accompany that. The end of the
world for one, the rising of the dead from their graves, the
ascension into heaven, the rolling up, all of the things here below
to be a new heavens and a new earth. wherein dwelleth righteousness. There shall be no doubt, you
might say, about the evidence of the Lord's second coming.
Every eye shall see him. But for those that will see the
evidence, that will read and believe the word of God and the
witness to the coming, the first coming of the Lord, the evidence
is very, clearly there too that we know that the Son of God is
come. Another evidence could be the
calling of the Gentiles that of course was prophesied through
Isaiah and many of the prophets that the Gentiles shall come
to his light and that certainly, and we are witnesses of that,
has come to pass. Here we have this first precious
truth set before us in this verse, and we know that the Son of God
is come. Our second point is the true
divinity of Christ. This is again testified throughout
the scriptures, especially in the prophecies, We think of the
prophecy of Isaiah and those that so clearly point to Christ,
Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth forever, the Seal of the Lord
of Hosts will perform this." And clearly this points to Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, as being the mighty God, the everlasting
Father. And the divinity of Christ is
therefore established there. Our text is very clear. This
is the true God and eternal life. That is Jesus Christ. We have
then in the 54th chapter of Isaiah, in verse five, for thy maker
is thine husband, The Lord of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall he
be called. And then we have the beginning
of the Gospel according to John, that well-known first verse,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that eternal Word. The Word of God very clearly
sets forth the divinity of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. You have in Romans chapter 9,
the word in verse 5, whose are the fathers, this is the Israelites,
and of whom As concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over
all. God blessed forever. Amen. The true God, Emmanuel,
God with us. Solomon, he said, when dedicating
the temple, heaven and heavens cannot contain thee, how much
less this house that I have built. But will God in very deed dwell
upon the earth. The Jews in John 10, they accused
the Lord that he being a man made himself equal with God. He did not contradict them in
any way. They understood very clearly
his claim that he was God. They got it round the wrong way.
It was God making himself man, not a man making himself God. And so our text is very clear. Our Lord was to be worshipped,
he was worshipped, and he's worshipped by the wise men, he's worshipped
by Anna, by Simeon, by all that saw his true Godhead and divinity,
they worshipped him. And may we be of those that truly
worship Him. Remember the reasons why John
is writing, writing to us why this is part of the inspired
Word of God, that we have our faith strengthened. Do we need
it strengthened? It may be in this next week there's
something to come up to undermine it or to shake our faith or to
make us troubled or to be taken away from these precious truths. If the Lord Jesus Christ is not
God, where is the foundation? Where is the hope for our salvation? It must is absolutely vital. Only God could lay down his life
and take it again. Only God could offer such a sacrifice
as our Lord did offer. And so vital that we hold fast
to this. We mentioned in the second epistle
how The doctrine of Christ was so vital. Whoso transgresses
and abides not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. And the
vital doctrine is that the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth,
is the true God. This is a doctrine that especially
is undermined and fought against and hated by the Jehovah's Witnesses. A most solemn, solemn error. that they hold and defend very
strongly. But may you be very, very clear
on the most blessed truth that Jesus Christ is truly God. He is truly divine. To be in
error in this point is to be a fatal error, is to be a total
cast away. The scriptures and our Lord Jesus
Christ himself very clearly claimed to his divinity that He truly
is God. I want to look then thirdly at
what believers have been given. Our text says, and we know that
the Son of God is come and hath given us. Now there are four
things that are given to a believer and may we be able to say that
these things have been given to us and may it be a source
of strengthening an encouragement to those of you listening this
evening that you may be able to say, well, that, I have had
that given to me, in measure, that I know something of these
gifts that have been given to a believer. And so the first
one is this, that is an understanding has been given, and hath given
us an understanding. When our Lord spoke of the parable
of the sower, you remember that there is four different types
of hearers, and only one of them was fruitful. That was the last
one where the word, the seed, was sown into good ground and
brought forth fruit. It was said of that hearer that
it is one that heareth the word and understandeth it. Vital that
it be understood. In the first one, where it was
taken away straight away by Satan, was that the word was not understood. When our Lord rose from the dead
and he appeared to his disciples, we read this, that then opened
to their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. When the eunuch had been to the
worship of Jerusalem and was returning in his chariot, And
he was reading the prophet Isaiah. This is the very thing that Philip
asked him as he came up to the chariot, understandest thou what
thou readest? And he said, how can I except
some man guide me? And the portion that he's reading
of Christ's sufferings foretold, as a lamb before her shearers
is done, so openeth he not his mouth, led as a lamb to the slaughter,
"'Of whom speaketh the prophet this?' he said, "'Of himself
or some other man.'" And Philip, he began at the same scripture
and he preached unto him Jesus. At the end of that sermon, he
believed, he wanted to be baptised. We read that Philip asked for
a testimony and his testimony was, I believe that Jesus is
the Son of God. That was his testimony that he
was baptised on. The word here, the gift, the
blessing that God gives his dear people is an understanding. Now, right at the beginning is
not a full understanding. And as we go on, well, I think
by the time we get to our journey's end, we still only understand
just a little bit. But what a blessing to understand
one thing and say, the Lord's taught me that. He's opened that
truth up to me. Like with the eunuch, just one
point, or like with the man that was born blind, one thing I know,
whereas I was blind, now I see. That's the thing, for the Lord
to open our understanding. Before we were ignorant, before
we were blind, before we couldn't understand, but now to understand. But there's a specific point,
and this is the second point, as to what this understanding
is given for. That we may know Him that is
true. That we may know Him that is
true. You know, everything else is
just false and empty, but the Lord Jesus is true. I am the
way, the truth, and the life. That is what the Lord says of
him. Pilate, he says, what is truth?
The Lord Jesus Christ is the truth. There is truth and there
is error. There is either that which is
true or that which is false. And here the understanding is
given that we may know him that is true. Let God be true and
every man a liar. Let Christ's testimony be true. Let the word of God be true.
Let the testimony of the word of God be true. That is our standard. That's the plumb line. That's
where we go to. And this is the secret, this
is a blessing. It is to know Him that is true,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows us. He loves His dear
people and because He loves them, they love Him. We love Him because
He first loved us. And we know Him that is true
because He has caused us to know the truth. And we know that which
was said of John the Baptist. The Jews, they said, John did
no miracle, but all things that John said of this man, that is
of Christ, was true. And they bore that witness, that
John's testimony, behold, the Lamb of God, the taker of the
way, the sin of the world, was they true. Testimony, a right
witness and testimony. What a solemn thing the Lord
spoke of those at the last day that would say, open, open to
us. Thou'st taught in our streets,
we've been called by thy name. And the Lord will say, depart
from me, I never knew you or ye workers, of iniquity. What a solemn thing. It's only
on one side that we as sinners say we know God, but God says,
I don't know you. But throughout these epistles,
the apostle gives those witnesses that if we know God, then we'll
seek to be like him and live like him. be governed by his
word, and serve him, and hate sin, struggle with sin, and love
righteousness, and seek those things which are above. There'll
be an answer in our life, our conduct, and our belief, if we
truly know him. The apostle says if we say that
we know him or love him, and yet walk in darkness, we lie,
and do not the truth. But this is the second thing
then that is given to a believer to know Him that is true. The third thing is to be in Him
that is true. The word that is in Romans 8
is a most solemn word. It says this, verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. How vital to be in Him that is
true, in Christ Jesus. What is it to be in Christ Jesus? To walk not after the flesh but
after the Spirit. There's some beautiful types
in the Word about being in. You think of Noah's ark. Noah was shut in and those with
him in the ark. And you think of what is said
here. We are of God, the whole world,
life, and wickedness. What a division there with Noah.
There they were in the ark, all safe, and everything outside
of the ark destroyed. That's really verse 19 illustrated. and it also illustrates what
it means to be in Christ. The Lord shut him in. We have the types there within
the wilderness journey with the cities of refuge. Those that
slain a man unawares, they fled to those cities of refuge. They
were found in the cities of refuge. They were safe. The manslayer
could not come and could not get them there in those cities
of refuge. Those being in, Christ Jesus
to be outside of the city was to be slain, to be in it was
safety. We think of the cleft in the
rock, to be hidden in that cleft in the rock. Oh my glory shall
pass thee by, but I shall hide thee in the cleft of the rock. Now when the end of the world
comes to be in Christ, shut in beautifully like it is and was
with Noah, to be found in Christ Jesus. The beautiful chapter,
he writes to the Corinthians, the first chapter, or first book,
first letter to them, and he comes to chapter 15, and he speaks
so much there about being in Christ. Of course, there was
the doctrine there that was being assailed. There were those that
did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. But the apostle
uses this phrase in Christ so much. He says in verse 18, then,
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. That
is, if there's no resurrection from the dead. And there it is
put, in Christ, as being a believer, being in Christ. Then we have
in verse 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ,
our hope is in Christ, our life is to be in him. As in Adam all
die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. These things are
set before us as being in Christ. I protest, he says in verse 31,
by your rejoicings which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die
daily. And he's putting this beautiful
picture of being found in Christ, not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is of the faith of the
Son of God, that when viewed with the perfect eye of God,
The Lord says of his people, there is no spot in thee. Thou
art all pure, my love. Well, the fourth thing that is
set before us as what believers have been given is eternal life. Is eternal life. This is the true God and eternal
life. The Lord says in John, I give
unto them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of mine hand. And when John writes his
gospel, he calls the words of our Lord in John 3, a very well-known
portion. In verse 15, that whosoever believeth
in him, should not perish but have eternal life. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son that whoever so ever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world but that the world through him
might be saved. And so this is the gift that
God gives to his children and what believers have been given.
We mentioned that also in the verse that went before, verse
13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God. So dear friends, may this be
the blessing that we have, that we have been given an understanding,
and to know Him that is true, and actually to be in Him, to
be resting in Him, fleeing to Him, sheltering in Him, trusting
in Him, and to know this, that the Lord has given us eternal
life. When does that start? When does eternal life start?
It starts here below. It starts in believing. He doesn't
say, well, I'll give you eternal life and it's beyond the grave.
That life begins when a believer is quickened by the Spirit and
brought to be spiritually alive. I pass by thee when thou wast
in thy blood, and when thou wast in thy blood, I bid thee live. That gift is given. At conversion,
it is given and it is evidenced by a hearing ear, by an understanding,
by a receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ and a trusting in Him
and sheltering in Him. Dear soul, do you know it? Do
I know it? Are we found in Him? A blessed
position, a blessing so great, a blessing that is an eternal
blessing. May we be able to come with the
words then of the apostle designed to strengthen the faith and to
help the people of God who maybe is a smoking flax, maybe is a
bruised reed, maybe unsure whether they truly are a believer and
are saved or not, but that they might know that they are believers. And we know that the Son of God
is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know
Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in
His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life, the Lord at His blessing. Amen.