If you will take your Bibles
and turn with me to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5, and our text
this morning will be found in verse 11 and 12. 1 John chapter 5, verse 11 and
12. The title of the message this
morning is, The Record of God. The record of God. John says, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. And he that hath the Son
hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Here in this chapter, John declares
the simple, plain, unmistakable record of God. He tells us in
verse 7 that there are three that bear record in heaven. The Word and the Spirit and these
three are one. This is the message of the triune
God. And God, in all three of His
sacred persons, has declared a record, has given us a record,
or His Word. His Word. The God and Maker, Creator, Sustainer,
Judge of all the world has a record. And He Himself has borne witness
of His own record. And all the witness of the earth
bear witness of this eternal, immutable, unchangeable record
of the living God. And the witness of God, His testimony,
His testimony alone is higher and of greater value than all
the testimonies of men. If you were to take all of the
books, all of the histories, all of the religions, and you
were to compile them together and make up a record, It does not matter what their
record is if it is in opposition to the record of God. John says,
if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. The witness of God is greater
than men. God's testified by His Son that He has a record. And the testimony of Jesus Christ,
this one man, the God-man, is of greater value than anybody
else has ever written anything. And He testified of anything.
His testimony is greater than all. And what was His testimony? His testimony was this, I am
the Son of the living God. That was His testimony. Before
Abraham was, I am. And his testimony is greater
than any testimony of men. It doesn't matter what we think.
It doesn't matter how men feel. It only matters that the witness
of God has borne record. And this is His record. I am
the God-man, mediator, the only hope for sinners. There is no
hope apart from me. This is my record. And friends, all men who deny
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, John says, you've declared God
to be a liar. The Jehovah's Witness, Mormons,
Muslims, Buddhists, all of them think of Jesus as a great man.
Even some so-called Christians think of Him as a man that they
should follow His example. But in doing so, friend, they've
denied His deity and they've called God a liar. And I'll tell you this, I don't
care about their witness. I don't care about their witness
at all. God's witness says, I am the Son of God. And I believe
that. I believe the record of God.
And we who believe in Christ have this testimony, not only
in the written Word, but we also have that testimony in our own
hearts by the Spirit of God. That witness of God has come
down unto us, and Christ has sent His Spirit, and His Spirit
testifies to us that we know that He is the Son of the living
God, our only Savior. We have this testimony in us,
in ourselves. And He bears witness, the Scripture
says, His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the
sons of God. When Jesus Christ took the form
of a servant, I want us to understand something about His condescension. When Jesus Christ took the form
of a servant, He became a man. I want us to understand that
His deity was in no way compromised. He lost absolutely none of His
deity as He walked as a man. He humbled Himself. He veiled
His deity. And you remember Him, the amount
of transfiguration. That deity shined forth that
they couldn't even stand it. The light was so bright. Oh,
He lost none of His deity. He lost none of His deity. He
is the only God-man. Let me ask each of us here, do
you believe that record? It doesn't matter what you say
to me, but I know this, if you don't believe that record, you've
made God a liar. You're calling God a liar. And
you have no life. Do you believe that God has given
His Son to be the only Savior for sinners? Do you have the
witness of the Spirit of God that has given you life and faith
in Christ inside of you? When this message is proclaimed,
does not your heart leap within you that the Son of God came
to save such a wretch as I am? That testifies to me that I know
the Son of God. I know I have the Son. I know
I believe on Him and I believe His record. And this record,
friends, this is the bedrock of our Christian faith, is the
Word of God. This is our foundation. The record of God is our foundation. And the record of God is our
comfort. If you seek any comfort anywhere else but the record
of God, you will find no comfort or sure footing for anything.
It is only in the record of God. And John says this is the record. Now, in the message this morning,
this is declared easily seen a threefold record. It's a record that we who believe
have the gift of eternal life. That's what God's record says.
God's record declares us that this eternal life is found in
His Son. and that this life is given only
to believers in Jesus Christ. That's the record of God. Now
then, I want to break this down very simply in asking some simple
questions. First of all, I want us to look
at the record of God and see that God has given us who believe
eternal life. What is eternal life? What is
that? Well, first of all, it's eternal. It's eternal. As very simply
stated. But I'll show you that it's not
simply understood. There's a lot in that. When I
say eternal life, there's a great, vast amount that is in this idea
of eternal life. It's eternal. In other words,
it had no beginning. This life that has been given
us who are in Christ, this life had no beginning. It was given
us in Christ when? Before the foundation of the
world. That's when this life was given
to us. Otherwise, it wouldn't be eternal.
Eternal life is just that, eternal. And if it starts at some point
in time, it ceases to be eternal. It's eternal. It was given to
us by the promise of God in eternity. Titus 1, 2 says, "...in the hope
of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised." When? Before
the world began. This life, friend, is ancient.
It's ancient. I know I hear some of you and
you say, oh, I feel ancient. No, you're not ancient. This life is ancient in that
it began before there was ever a human being that was ever created
on the face of the earth, before there was light, before there
was a world, before there was darkness, there was life. There was life. It's eternal. was before the foundation of
the world. Believer, our life was given
to the Son of God as the Lamb slain. When? Before the foundation
of the world. That sentence comes up a lot,
doesn't it? And you know what it has to do with? It has to
do with our life. It has to do with our election.
It has to do with our predestination in Christ. And it began before
there was ever time. Now, eternal life doesn't seem
so simple now, does it? Eternal. It's forever given to
us. Second of all, this eternal life
springs from eternal principles and purpose. This eternal life
is called eternal life because it springs from the eternal fountain
of God, which is the Spirit. When we believe in Christ, We
are born again, as Peter tells us, of incorruptible seed. The Word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. Do you realize that we were born
again according to the record of God from all eternity? The
Spirit of God had purpose from all eternity to save us and when
He came in time, He took the eternal Word of God and He applied
it into our hearts so that we might believe. and know that
God has given us eternal life. Thirdly, this life is called
eternal because it's everlasting. In other words, this life never
had a beginning, and guess what? This life will never have an
ending. It's eternal. It's eternal. I want you to pay close attention
to this statement because it's very important. Because it concerns
both lost and saved. You and I and every one of us
have an immortal soul. When we die, we will never cease
to exist because we are created with the breath of the eternal
God. He has breathed into us an immortal
soul that will live on forever. And I'll tell you, some of us
in this very room, some of us will have everlasting life. And some of you will have everlasting death. Jesus said, marvel not at this. For the hour is coming in which
all that are in the grave shall hear His voice, and shall come
forth, and they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil
under the resurrection of damnation. We who believe, our life will not cease when
this body stops breathing. Our life will then just have
begun for us. And those who believe not the
Son of God, their death has just begun when they stop breathing. I don't understand all the torments
of hell, but I'll tell you what, it is very real. But those who believe in Christ,
I know this, eternal bliss is very real. And I can't begin
to describe it to you. Our life is eternal in that it's
everlasting. It never had a beginning. It
was created in us by the incorruptible eternal Word of God and it will
never have an ending. This life of suffering will end,
but as the song says, when we've been there 10,000 years, bright
shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise
as when we first begun. Eternal life. This is the record
of God, that He's given us eternal life. Believer, that life is
yours. It's yours. Number two, this is a gift of
God. That's the record of God. God's
record says eternal life is a gift of God. This gift of God, this gift of
life that God gives us, is a life that we cannot have or maintain
or earn for ourselves. It is truly, absolutely, utterly
a free gift of God. Now, this life that we have,
this eternal life, I want us to enter into this gift a little
bit more. This life that we have is a life
of justification. This eternal life is not just
some eternal existence. How would you like to have an
eternal existence in this present state? How would you like to
have an eternal existence in this present body? That would
be horrible, wouldn't it? That would be utterly hell on
earth. As close as you can get to hell,
that would be it. But our life is much more than that. It is
a life of justification. In other words, it's a life that
has quickened us from sin. Colossians 2.13 says, "...you
being dead in your sins and uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses." We were born of Adam's fallen
race and yes, the gift of God gives us life in that He justified
us from sin. Freely from all sin. God has justified us. He's declared that all our sins
have been blotted out. and cast as far as the east is
from the west. So our eternal life is a sinless
existence. A sinless life. Because God justified
us. God has given us the gift of
a holy life. When God opened our hearts, He
created in us a new nature that is holy and righteous and loves
and serves God that wasn't there before. So that now we walk in life,
not as we walked before according to the course of this world,
according to our lusts and passions. We walked in that way, didn't
we? But when God came and showed us and gave us the gift of life
in our souls, He gave us a new nature that we walk by faith
and not by sight. We walk according to His fruits.
We love the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, meekness, temperance,
faith. All of these things are ours
and we love them. This is a holy life that God
has given us in the new nature. This life is a life of comfort
and consolation. Believer, I know in this life
we shall experience trouble. But that's okay because the comfort
is always proportional to the trouble. God has given us a life
of comfort, a life of peace, and it's always going to be more
than enough to comfort our souls in every trouble. If God gave us the trial, which
we know He did, will He not comfort us? Of course He will. Of course He will. When you go through troubles,
Does it not seem as though your soul is cold and indifferent? Do you not feel that? You feel
the distance from God. You feel the distance from His
Word. You read it and it doesn't make any sense to you. You study
it and it's just words on a page. And then all of a sudden, when
it comes in like a flood, it comforts our souls. And it rejuvenates
us and gives us life, doesn't it? Of course it does. This life
is a life of comfort. And friends, this life is a life
of glory. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But I know this, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. God has intended our life to
end in glory. Do you realize that Jesus Christ
Himself prayed that we share in His glory? and the glory which thou hast
given me," in John 17, 22, I have given them. Is that not something? How does one have this life?
How can one be justified, comforted? How can one be holy? How can
one have glory? in the next life? Well, there's
only two answers to that and only one of them is true. Either
you merit it or it's a gift. Only one of those things can
be true. You're either meriting this life or you're going to
be given this life. Let me ask you this. Who among
here merited to be a human being? Did you merit that? Did you do
something so that God would favor you, so that you would be a human
rather than a toad? No. That's silly. We were born. We
didn't have anything to do with that. We were born human beings, rational
beings. We were born beings of affection
and love, the highest form of God's creation. God hath made
us. and not we ourselves. Did we
merit that? No. Then how could anyone suggest
that you merit eternal life? Let me give you these things
because I think they're very good. I read these things this week.
And I've never heard this before, so I thought it was great, about
merit. There are four things, if you're going to merit something,
there are four things that are necessary to be true. If you're
going to merit eternal life, if you're going to merit God's
favor, then four things must be true. First of all, in order
to merit, you must be the first to give. To merit one's favor or to deserve
something from God, you must have first given to Him so that
He can recompense again to you. Think about it like this. Somebody
comes and gives you a gift out of the clear blue. There's no
reason. They just want to give you something. If you're any decent human being,
if you have any decency or emotion or somewhat conscience, you and
I feel an obligation then to give back, don't we? We feel
that. We feel an obligation. Why? Because
they deserve it. They gave to us freely so that
we should give back to them. So in order to merit, one must
first give to God. How is that possible when we
were not even in existence? How can we first give to God?
Romans 11.35 says, "...who hath first given to Him that He should
recompense again." So, we missed out on that one, didn't we? To
merit, you must first give. Second of all, to merit, you
must freely give. In order to merit something,
you must freely give. In other words, it's not out
of debt or obligation. Yet, who among the human race
is free to give God anything? What could you give Him that
He did not give to you? The only thing you can give is
your sin, and that's not accepted. If we were able to do everything
that God demands of us, are we not just then servants who have
done just what we were supposed to? Of course. So how then could we merit that
of God? How could we merit God's pardon,
God's mercy, or God's eternal life? We couldn't because we can't
freely give to Him. Only He can freely give to us.
Number three, to merit the gift of God, one's offering must be
pure and holy. Who shall ascend to the hill
of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. And yet all of our offerings,
the Scripture says, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. So how then
can we merit God's eternal life? We can't. And number four, to
merit the work must be worthy of the reward. It must be worthy
of the reward, and yet Paul tells us that all the suffering in
this world is not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall
be revealed in us. So there's nothing we can do
that's equal to eternal life. Is there anything we can give
that is of more value than eternal life? Nothing. We have nothing. Therefore, this life, this justified
life, this holy life, this life of comfort, this life of peace,
this life of glory, it must be given because we cannot merit
it. Cannot. In no way merit it. False religion tells us just
the opposite. False religion tells us that
there's something somewhat good in us that would appeal to God
so that He might give us eternal life. That's false religion.
False religion tells you that there's something that God wants
from you that He can't get unless you give it to Him, and when
you do, then He'll forgive you of your sins, then He'll give
you eternal life. That's false religion. That is
not the record of God. What is the record of God? That
God has given us eternal life. Not that we have merited eternal
life, but that God has given us. Do you desire this life? Do you desire such a life as
that? that's without end and perfection, a life of glory,
a life of peace, a life of comfort, a life free from sin. Do you
want that? Do you desire that? Then I tell
you, don't look at me, go to God. He's the only one that can
give it to you. I can't give it to you. Andrew
asked me the other day, he was scared. He heard what I said
about hell and he was scared. And he said, I don't want to
go. I said, don't come to me. I can't give you anything. Go
to God. He's the only one that can help
you. I can't help my own son. I can't help you. You must receive this of the
hand of God Himself. or you will not have life. That's the record of God. It's not my record. It's His. And He's already borne witness
of it. And today, again in your ears,
He has borne witness of it again. Number two, the record of God
says that this life, this gift, is found where? In His Son. Believer in Christ, though this
life is full of trouble and though we may suffer in this life, yet
we may be sure You may have confidence. You may rest. You may have hope. You may have strength in this,
that this life that God has given us is not to be found in our
own hands, but it is to be found and laid up for us in Christ. Colossians 3 says, for you are
dead and your life is where? It is hid with Christ in God. That's where your life is. If
you have this gift of eternal life, friends, your life is not
in a safe deposit box at some bank. Thank God for that. Somebody can break in and get
it. Your life is not in your own
hands so that you might either keep it or lose it. Praise God
for that. Your life is not in the preacher. I will fail you every time. Your
life is not in some man. Your life is in only the God-man,
Jesus Christ. He has your life in His hands. He has your life. It is laid up in Christ. How
is it laid up in Christ? It's laid up when God gave it
to Him. When was that? As I told you before, it was
in eternity. God gave us our life in eternity
and has given Christ the life, our life, our spiritual life,
our eternal life was in His hands from all eternity. 1 Thessalonians 5, 9 says, "...for
God hath not appointed us to wrath." Now that sounds good,
doesn't it? That sounds good. But He has appointed us to obtain
salvation by Jesus Christ. He appointed it by giving Christ
our life. Second of all, this life was
given to Christ in that He purchased it. This life didn't come without
a price. This life had a price. God could
not have mercy on us at the expense of His justice. God will not
have mercy on any man at the expense of His own justice. He
said, I will by no means clear the guilty. Yet how can He have
mercy? He purchased it. He purchased
it with His own blood. He sent His Son into this world
so that He might redeem us. He might pay our ransom price
so that we might have life. He purchased it. In Acts 20, 28 it says, God Himself
purchased it with His own blood. Our life in Christ is laid up
in Christ in that He prepared us for it. You see, when we were born in
this world, we were not ready for glory, were we? For a lost man to be in glory,
it's nothing more than hell. It's nothing more than hell.
I tell people that heaven is much like an everlasting church
service. I don't want to be part of that. He prepares us for it in that
He has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. He made us qualified. Bobbie made us qualified. We
weren't qualified. How did He do that? He imputed
His righteousness to us. And He charged His righteousness
to us. And He took our sins and He charged
it to Christ. And Christ paid it in full. So
that we might have the righteousness of God so that when we leave
this cruel, worthless body behind, we will be ushered into the presence
of Jesus Christ in the righteousness that Christ has given us. We're
ready. You're ready to go now. Now,
you may not feel like you're ready to go, but that's okay.
You are. Christ prepared you for it. You're
ready. We're ready to go at a moment's
notice when He calls us. This life is laid up in Christ
in that it's reserved. Friends, I've not experienced
the fullness of this life yet. Have you? I haven't. I will. You will. Why? Because it's laid
up in Christ. A rejoiced believer, for God's
record, tells us that our life is not in our own hands, but
in Christ's. An example of this is if a father doubts his son
regarding his estate. If he thinks his son is worthless,
he says, man, my son is worthless. If I give him my estate, he's
just going to squander it and he's going to waste it away.
What does a father do? Well, he puts it into the hands
of an executor, doesn't he? He gives it out to an executor
so that he might give to his son when he is ready. Friends,
God has given us this eternal life, but He's not given it directly
to us. He's given it to Christ who gives
it to us. You see, He's trustworthy. He's
trustworthy with this life. Hebrews 6.18, "...by two immutable
things in which it is impossible for God to lie, that we might
have a strong consolation who have fled to refuge, lay hold
upon the hope set before us. Which hope is an anchor for our
soul, both sure and steadfast, which is entered into the veil
where the forerunner has entered for us." You see, our life is
where the forerunner is. in the veil. He entered in for
us. And because of His entering in,
our life is sure. There's nothing or no one that
can take this away from us. Not even our own foolish self.
Praise God. that my life is not in me as
much as it is in Christ. He sustains it, He holds it,
and He keeps me until He brings me to Himself. And it's the same
way with every believer in Christ. Your life is sure. Why? Because the record of God declares
that your life is not in your own hands, it's in the hands
of Christ. And it's sure. It's sure. No one will take it
from you. No one. What does this teach
us? Well, this teaches us that God
did not give Christ for a pattern, but He gave Him to be our life. Believer, He chose us in Christ,
and God only loves us in Christ, and God gave all eternal life
to Christ, and He gives it to whomsoever He will. In Matthew 11, 27, the Lord says,
All things are delivered to me of my Father. And no man knoweth
the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son. And to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. What's that saying? Christ has
life and He gives it to any man He chooses. That's what it is. There is no other way life is
given. Clearly, this reveals that man
by nature is in need of life, doesn't it? Man by nature is in need of life.
He's dead. He that hath the Son of God hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Why
in the world would men try to comfort themselves by works religion? I like this. What one man said, he said, all
who try to comfort themselves by worse religion, all their
best efforts are as crackling thorns. You ever made a fire out of thorns? It don't last long. It burns
up really quick. And Isaiah is making the analogy
of that in Isaiah 50.11. He tells us that they may warm
themselves by the sparkles. In other words, it cracks, it
pops, it throws up a little heat, and it's gone. That's what worse
religion does. It throws up a little warmth
just for a moment, and it's gone. Why would men base their eternal
existence, their eternal life, Something so frivolous as their
own merit. Makes no sense, does it? It's
because he's dead. Because he can't see what we
see. Well, how then may one obtain spiritual life? Friends, no man will find works
by life, by works, affections or will. Not by doing their best
or being sincere. You won't find life. The life
is only found in Jesus Christ. Proverbs 8, 35 and 36 says, you
find me, wisdom, Christ. He that finds me finds life. And he that does not find me
hates life. Have you experienced this need? Have you seen yourself as God
sees you by nature? A dead dog. Have you looked to Christ for mercy? Has the Spirit of God testified
of the record that I have testified this morning in your heart. Has He given you to believe on
Christ? I tell you that all who look
for pardon and mercy must look to Christ, because outside of
Him there is no mercy. If you have found Christ, you
found life. If not, a sinner lay down your arms and
bow down before Christ. And this is God's record, he
that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
of God shall not see life. This is God's record. Believe God. I pray that God will bless this
to our hearts. Let's stand and be dismissed.