1 John, the letter of 1 John, chapter 5, and our title this morning is
based on the 20th verse of 1 John chapter 5, it is understanding
the way of life eternal, life everlasting. There is only one
way to life everlasting. Our Lord said this word concerning
himself, I am the way, and he is indeed. And not only is he
the way, he's the only way. Nobody else can even help you
get in that direction, let alone put you there. He is indeed the
life, life everlasting. Now, I want to read to you the fifth
chapter of 1 John, and I'll read it fairly slowly because I want
to make a few remarks as we go through. I want you to look for
the difference between whosoever and whatsoever. Verse 1. Now let's beg the Lord to meet
us in this passage of Scripture. Bless our time together this
morning. Lord, we gather in this house to praise, to worship, to sing
the glories of our precious and great Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is all our salvation and all
our desire. We can find no one else and nothing
else that can do our souls good except
the Lord Jesus. Lord, we are about to read this
chapter of Holy Scripture, and we beg for mercy from on high
that your blessing might be upon these words to our souls as we
read them. Only you can do so. This preacher
is helpless. No matter how poorly he speaks
or how well he speaks, his word alone is of no avail. But Lord, when you come and when
you speak, oh, what a difference there is indeed. We ask your blessing, for Christ's
sake, Amen. 1 John 5, verse 1. Whosoever believes
that Jesus is the Christ, something has happened to them to make
this so. What is it? They have been born
again. born again. Did you know without
being born again we cannot believe? That's what it says. Whosoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, is born of God. And there's no exception to this.
None whatsoever. And in addition to that, it says,
and everyone that loves him that begat, that is, that birthed
us in the new birth, loves him also that is begotten of him. That is to say, one born-again
person loves other born-again people. It's just a matter of
fact. It's not saying they should,
they ought to, it says they do. Everyone that loves Him that
loves Him also that is begotten of Him, by this we know that
we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. Now how many of the Ten Commandments
have you kept this morning? Well, how can this statement be in
our Bibles? Just hang on a minute. Verse 3, For this is
the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and more than
that, his commandments are not grievous. Now, it's grievous,
it's not grievous, there's no second I. How can that be? Listen very
carefully. Believers are born again, right? We've already been down that
road. Believers are born again. And when a person is born again
or regenerated, that person is given a new spiritual nature. It's called God's nature in 1
Peter 1, whichever one it's in, I can't remember. But it's a
divine nature. It's one that we didn't have
before. But now that we're born again and believers in Christ,
we have this new nature. And this new nature cannot sin. You think this is tough to understand?
Go back and read the third chapter. It's even tougher. But believers still have their
old nature. And from the moment of conversion
till we leave this world, There's a struggle and a battle going
on every single day. And if we don't know anything
about that struggle, we probably have missed Christ. And we ought
to take a hard look at that and see if that's the case. Now,
if you want some real help, you don't want mine, try Mr. Hawker's Morning and Evening
on page 834. And another verse will encounter
it. No, if I tell you that, you're going to go read the verse while
I'm reading to it. So I can't do that. All right, verse 4. Now verse 1 was what? Whosoever. Verse 4 is whatsoever. Now, a whosoever is a person. But a whatsoever is a thing.
I don't know if you call it that in the English book now, but
you understand that kind of language, don't you? Whatsoever is born of God. Well, hey, you mean God is the
author of born of God? Yes. That's the only new birth there
is for sinners like you and me. Whatsoever is born of God Verse
1 says, whoever has faith has to be born of God. Now verse
4 says, whoever has faith to be born of God overcomes the world. Boy, that's an odd statement. And this is the victory that
overcomes the world. Even our faith. Even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the
world? This is verse 5. But he that
believes that Jesus is the Son of God. If we know the Lord Jesus
Christ in saving faith, then it may be said of us that we
overcome the world. Now, the other verse that I was
referring to is verse 6. This is He that came, speaking
the last three words of verse 5 are the Son of God, And the
first statement in verse 6, this is He, that is the Son of God
is He, that came by water and blood. Water and blood. Not by water only, but by water
and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears
witness because the Spirit is truth. Now, what is this water
and blood? The best answer is to go back
to Mr. Hawker, the same book, and page
839, and you'll find some wonderful statements about this. But the
gist of it is this. This water and blood can be obtained
from only one organ in our body, and it is the heart. And it was
the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Roman soldier pierced
with some kind of instrument with a blade on the end of it.
It had to be fairly lengthy to reach. And out flowed in one
full stream blood and water. Blood and water. Verse 7, For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Spirit, or the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. It is
the holy three in one. Verse 8, And there are three
that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and
the water, and the blood. And these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God
which he has testified of his Son, and here it is, he that
believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that
believes not God has made God a liar. He that believes not God has
made God a liar because he believes not the record that God gave
of His Son. We stubbornly refuse to believe,
and we call it a lie, that which God has said to us in his word
concerning Christ his Son. Now, this record in verse 10
that God gave of his Son is defined for us in verses 11 and 12. And this is the record. that
God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Eternal life then is the free gift of God. It cannot be earned,
it cannot be merited in any way, shape, form, or fashion. You'll remember this statement
if you read one of those little tracks, the one by Brother Mahan. He that has the Son has life. If we have Christ, we have all
there is. Don't look for any more anyplace
else. Even in heaven, Christ is all. He that has the Son has life. Do we have the Christ that matches
the description of Him in our Bibles? The Jesus of modern day
religion ain't no Christ at all. He doesn't favor at all the one
in the Bible, because He's been reconstructed. They made Him
to look like they want Him to look, and they've given Him characteristics
that they want Him to have, and do not allow Him to have those
that are ascribed to Him in our Bibles. That's just damning to
the souls of men and women. And Harnett County is running
over with it. He that has the Son has life,
and he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that
you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God." Now twice in that one verse, in the
first sentence, it talks about unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God, and then in the final sentence it says,
and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Something about believing on
the names of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. is certainly
weighty indeed. All right, verse 14, and this
is the confidence that we have in Him, in Christ, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we
know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions that we desired of Him. If any man see his brother
sin a sin which is not unto death, He shall ask, and he shall give
him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto
death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness
is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever
is born of God, now see if you can handle this one, sins not. Sins not. And I'm telling you the only
way, you just go back and read the second half of Romans chapter
7, where Paul is talking about this inward conflict between
the natural man and the spiritual man. And he tells you that there
are things that he knows he wants to do, he should do, but he can't
do because the old nature will not permit it. And here we have
this wonderful statement, let me find my place again, in
verse 18, that says, Whosoever is born of God sins not. Now, I know one thing. My own
nature is still an active sinner. And if there is a spiritual part
of me, by virtue of the new birth and faith in Christ, then I have
that nature that Paul is writing about in Romans 7 that does not
sin. Most religious folks like to
pride themselves on keeping God's commandments. And they mean they
themselves doing that, not God doing it for us and in us. In the middle of verse 18, But
he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one,
the devil, touches him not. And we know that we are of God,
and the whole world lies in wickedness, or in the wicked one. And now for our text in verse
20, And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given
us an understanding. You remember the disciples in
Luke chapter 24, not only the Emmaus disciples, but the apostles.
says the Lord Jesus opened their understanding. That is simply
a miracle of grace and it belongs to all believers. We know that
the Son of God has come and has 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 is eternal life. Knowing, believing, and trusting
The true God in Jesus Christ is our life. Our life everlasting. This is the true God and eternal
life. Then he says, and I'll not comment
on this one. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Amen. Curtis, you can have that
one, buddy. Back up to verse 20 now and see
if we can take these things bit by bit. Understanding the way
of life everlasting. If after reading this chapter
and most any other chapter in the New Testament, by the way,
we must understand and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we cannot
work our way to heaven. We cannot do it. Everything we touch is contaminated
with sin. Everything. We're still sinners,
aren't we? Yeah, I think we've reached professional
status by now. The Bible says it is not by works
of righteousness which we have done, therefore we cannot merit
eternal life. We cannot buy our way to glory. Many people are confused on this
issue, and they're great contributors to various things in religion
because they think it's going to help them when they have to
leave this old world. They don't want to leave it.
But when they leave it, they want to send up some money. That's like bribing God. That
ought to work really well. My Lord, it will be one of the
greatest sins on the list for them. You can look this up, but in
Isaiah 55, it speaks of God's salvation in Christ like this,
without money and without price. It cannot be bought. It cannot
be bought. There is a way. to eternal life. And that way is Christ and Christ
alone. If we plan to hear from God,
He will not speak directly to you and me, but He speaks to
us through His Son, Christ the Messiah that is seated at God's
right hand. If we are to know God, or to
believe God, or to worship and honor God, we must do so in our
Lord Jesus Christ. These verses 11 and 12 that we
read in this chapter, if you don't have them marked, and if
you don't mark your Bible, that's fine, but if you do, you ought
to mark these too. He that believes on the Son of
God has the witness in himself. He that believes not God has
made God a liar because he believes not the record that God gave
of His Son. And in verse 11, this is the
record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He that has the Son, he may be
poor in this world's sense, but he has Christ. He that has not the Son of God
has not life. Everything God has for us is
to be found in one place and one person, the blessed Lord
Jesus Christ. He did it all. Everything that God required
of us our Savior has perfectly rendered for us. And in Him,
as we sung a while ago, we are accepted in the Beloved, in the
Beloved. God's mercy comes to us through
a living union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures
put it this way, in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily And that's not the end. And you are complete in Him. Complete in Christ. You can't be halfway in Christ.
It's all or nothing. We either have Him or we don't. This living union is ours by
faith. and by faith alone. This faith
comes to us by hearing the Word of God and believing it in our
hearts. Romans 10.17 puts it this way,
and faith comes by hearing. Now, I'm glad it doesn't stop
there. And hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God. It's not hearing
the birds sing. It's not hearing this person
get up, that person get up. It's hearing God in Christ. That's where this is. Faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. One of the best
examples in all the Bible is that Ethiopian eunuch in Acts
chapter 7, when Philip was sent to preach to him. He's already
been to Jerusalem and participated in all the Old Testament worship
of the Jews, which ain't worth a plug nickel now, because Christ
has come and died and satisfied God on behalf of His people.
And this man's riding in a chariot. I hope somebody else is driving,
because he's reading Isaiah 53. And the angel said to Philip,
go join yourself to this chariot. ran up beside the man's chariot
and simply asked him, do you understand what you're reading
and what the man said? How can I except some man tell
me? And Philip, at his invitation,
entered that chariot and turned to that very text, or perhaps
he had it memorized in his mind, I don't know, but that eunuch
was reading Isaiah 53. What better passage to explain
to a sinner what Christ has done? The description of it in Isaiah
53. And the man went a little further. They were
in the desert, mind you, and they found enough water that
the two of them could go down into. And he said to Philip,
he said, what hinders me to be baptized? And Philip said, nothing
if you believe with all your heart. And he said, I believe
with all my heart. And for God to put that in our
Bibles makes it even more powerful a statement. Some people might
argue with it. It would behoove us to take it
like we find it. So the Lord Jesus is not only
the prophet and the preacher, but He is God's beloved Son. We ought to hear Him. When God
spoke audibly from heaven concerning Christ on three different occasions,
He said, This is My beloved Son. We ought to hear Him, and hear
Him we shall. So what is this understanding
that is spoken of in verse 20? We know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding. Now, I'm going to ask you to
turn for a little bit, and I'm going to keep you in the gospel
of John. So if you'll mark this place
and turn to John's gospel, we'll start I won't promise you that
chapters will always be in order, but we'll start at chapter 10. John chapter 10. You'll look at the 30th verse
of the 10th chapter of John. Our Lord declared, And the King James says, I and
my Father are one. Now the word, my, is italicized,
as you know, and is not in the original, but was added by the
translators. So if you take that out, it says,
I and my Father, or the Father, are one. Now listen. There are three persons
in the Holy Trinity. But there ain't but one God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
There are three manifestations of Him, but there ain't but one
God. I and my Father are one. One. Co-equal. Co-eternal. Everything. What one does, the
others do. The triune God. Our Lord said on another occasion,
he that has seen me has seen the Father. Isaiah 9, 6 in that
famous little chorus, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.
Now, I don't know about you, but it doesn't look like Christ
is coming out on the shore end of the stick. He has equal honor to the Father
and the Holy Spirit. And they're not in contention
or contesting with each other either. Alright, the second place
in John's gospel is also in chapter 10, and it's in verse 10. John 10,
10. Sort of like 10-10 road, you
know. Verse 10, John chapter 10, the thief comes not but for to
steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come, on the other hand,
that they might have life. Now, the word might is not a
question mark. It is used far differently than
we use the word when we say, well, I might go somewhere. No,
God doesn't do anything by accident. He does it on purpose. Everything
He does is on purpose. I am come that they might have
life and have it more abundantly. In Luke 19.10, to which we will
not turn, it tells us the purpose of Christ coming into this world,
that Christ came into this world to seek and to save that which
is lost. Well, preacher, I thought we
were supposed to seek Him. Yeah, we should. We ought to
do a lot of things, but we don't. But if we ever do, You remember,
I sought the Lord and afterward I knew. He moved my soul to seek
Him seeking me. So who seeks first? God does. Or we won't ever seek Him. Never. Now some people like to take
statements like that about coming and put them in battle against
each other. See there, the Bible doesn't
even know what it's talking about. It contradicts itself. No, that's just because
we're so stupid we don't know what it's talking about. That's
all. Another statement describes our
Lord Christ, who is our life, shall appear. In John chapter 3, and I'm living
up to my bargain now, John chapter 3, And as Moses lifted up the serpent,
not the real one, but a serpent of brass on a pole, For all the
Israelites that were bitten by those serpents that God sent
as a curse among them, the only cure, the only cure, it wasn't
grandma's cure. It's what Moses said to the children
of Israel. It's what Isaiah said concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I'm God and there's none else.
So when they looked to that brass serpent on the end of that pole,
they were healed immediately. Do you know there were some people
who refused to look? This is pure idiocy, they might
say. Look at a replica of the same
thing that has bitten us? Never on your life. Well, have
it on your death. The Lord Jesus is lifted up to
die, to die. Sin must be punished, and it
is in our Lord Jesus. You sang a while ago, there is
a fountain filled with blood. drawn from Emmanuel's veins,
and sinners plunge beneath that flood and lose all their guilty
stains. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more." Alright, John chapter 2. About to miss it. John chapter
2. Now, it is extremely interesting that on two occasions, our Lord
Jesus ran some people out of the temple complex in Jerusalem. He took a cord, like a bullwhip
of some kind, Drove out the money changers. Drove out the people
that were selling animals for sacrifice. He said the house
of God is to be a house of prayer. You brought this rabble into
this place and he drove them out. Here's the first record
in John 2, verse 19. Now, the event to which I was
alluding has already been described, and the Lord Jesus is being asked
to justify himself for what he did. And here's what he said,
verse 19, "...destroy this temple," talking about the literal temple
in Jerusalem, "...destroy this temple," which took 46 years
to build, by the way, "...destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up." Then said the Jews, 46 years
was this temple in building and will you rear it up in three
days? But he spoke of the temple of
his body. Dear friends, when our Lord went
to the cross and went to the grave The religion of the Jews
is no longer valid. And yet, many groups of persons
and denominations in the world are professing Christianity,
are doing the same thing they were doing in the Old Testament.
They're worshiping God through this symbol and that symbol and
the other symbol. Every way under the sun, but
not through Christ. Well, when he died in that huge
veil, that thing back there on that baptistal window ain't even
nothing. No telling how thick that thing was, and it split
from top to bottom. They just patched it up and went
right back to being in business. You can't imagine how lucrative
religion is without Christ. People are making billions of
dollars. They're working on it right now,
this morning. On the television and wherever else. They're welcome
to it. I don't want any more of it.
Then down that road, you turn to John chapter 14. Verses 1 through 3. Our Lord is speaking to his disciples,
the apostles. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. Now look closely at what he says
next. If it were not so, I would have
told you. The Lord Jesus did not come into
this world to perpetuate religious myths. He came to preach the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He said if it were
not so, I would have told you. I told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
the last words of verse 2, and if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I
am, there you may be also." Thomas is the first to object,
and then on down, you can read it for yourself. These guys have been with our
Lord for three years or better at this point. There's a lot they still didn't
understand. And there's a lot that we don't understand. No matter how long we've been
believers. I want you to take your songbook, page number 223.