Verse 5, let's read again these
same verses. I pray, I hope and pray we never
tire of hearing the same thing. But look at verses 7-12. There are three that bear record
in heaven. The Father, the Word, the Holy
Ghost. These three are one. There are
three that bear witness. a testimony in earth, spirit,
water, and blood. These three agree in one. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. This is the witness of God, which
he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. In another place, I think it's
Romans 8, he said, the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit.
that we are the sons of God, he that believeth. He that believeth
not, God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record, the truth concerning Christ that God gave of his Son.
And this is the record. This is the witness. This is
the testimony. This is the volume of the book
that God hath given to us, his people, eternal life. And this
life Eternal life. This life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. No matter what they may have,
they do not have this life. There are three kinds of life. Plant life, animal life, spiritual
life. All of these come from God. God is our Creator. God is the
Creator. I kill, I make a life. And the sustainer of life. Every living thing, even plants,
get their life from God. In Him we live and move and have
our being. All three types of life are mysterious,
amazing, glorious, Wondrous and glorified God, don't they? Plant
life. Wonderful. Beautiful. I was talking
to someone the other day about fruit. The Lord, and all trees
and flowers and things are just beyond words, aren't they? Glorious. Testifying that our
glory is created by fruit. Is there anything more beautiful?
Anything more variety of it? Anything more delectable? And
that's what the Lord used to describe what the Spirit does
in His people. Because there's nothing like
it. Fruit. Animal life. Oh my. Even more amazing than plant
life. Characterized by soul. What's different from a plant
and animal is an animal has a soul. Every living thing has a soul. Now listen to me. That is what
animates the body. It's what makes them think, see,
act, react, respond, even have feelings. And we're going to
see the difference between a soul and a spirit. The first man is
of the earth, earthy. The first man was made a living
soul. The second Adam, this is 1 Corinthians
15. The second Adam is a quickening
spirit. There's a difference, so much
difference between plant life and animal life, and a vast difference
between mere animal life and spiritual life. Spiritual life
is the life of God, Spirit. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath the Son. Can anyone describe it? No. It's the life of God and the
soul of man. It's far superior, as we said,
to animal life, as animal life is to plant life. Christ called
it life more abundant. Full of joy. Joy unspeakable
and full of glory. Glory? What glory? What glory? Christ said, I will, of concerning
his people who had the Son, who he had, who he came to die for,
reveal himself to. He said, I will, that they be
with me where I am, that they might behold my glory. God has given his people the
light, the knowledge of the glory of God, where is Jesus Christ. God's people have the Son. They're
wanting to go to heaven, not to be in heaven, but to be with
the Son. It's a marriage. And I'm already
at my last point in this message. And it's not something you can
explain. It's something God gives you. And you have it. It's life without limits. It's
life without end. It's not just the duration of
it, it's the quality of it. It's life in God, with God, union
with God. Life without sin. Our Lord said, A man's life does
not consist in the things which he possesses. A person who just
has things doesn't have life. If you just have things, everything
dies. Not this life. Not spiritual
life. Life of God in Christ. A man's
life consists not in things which he possesses, but the kingdom
of God is in righteousness. I'm looking for a reaction. Savor
of life to life. Righteousness. And that's not
so much a thing as a person. Everybody wants to have peace,
don't they? God's people have peace, and
they know who their peace is. Peace with God, peace within,
peace among themselves, because Christ is their peace. Right?
In a world of chaos and turmoil and trouble and darkness and
anguish of spirit and vexation, God's people have peace that
passes understanding. Why? They abide with, and He is then a
person. I'm trying to explain. I'm just
declaring it. Righteousness, peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost. That's what our Lord said. Joy
in the Holy Ghost. What does that mean? Christ said the Holy
Spirit will come and He'll take the things of mine and shove
them unto you, and you will rejoice. in Christ Jesus. Only those who
have the Son can hear Christ preach over and over and insist
upon it every time and keep rejoicing like a man and his wife. I'm
way ahead, I'm at the end, but that's all right. It's like a
union, a man and his wife, they really love each other. They
never get tired of talking to other people about it. They never
get tired of talking to them. They never get tired of being
with them. Not every now and then. When
she gives him too many projects, or he's not finishing them, but
if they love one another, they love to be with one another.
They love to commune with one another. When they're talking
to other people, they're going to bring them up. They're going to talk about their
husband. If a wife loves him, they're going to talk about him.
She's going to talk about him, and vice versa. That's a union. These two are one. And that he that hath the Son.
As I said, that's nearly my last point. Alright, he said here in verse
11, this is the record. God hath given to us, and we
saw who the us are. God's elect. Ephesians 1. Eternal life. And this life is
in His Son. I recommended to you, John 17
3, didn't I? Doesn't it sound just like this? Just like it. And this is life
eternal. That they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. This is
life eternal. This is what it means to have
life. And I gave you that because not only should you be able to
enter into that yourself. You know God, the true God. And
Christ, you know who He is. You know why he came. You have
a knowledge of him, you have faith in him, you have a love
for him and need for him. But you should be able to talk
to somebody, use that verse of scripture, memorize it, and use
that verse of scripture and bear witness of the God you believe
and the Christ who came. Right there, that one verse is
all you need to tell people who God is and who Christ is. Okay? And then the next one is like
unto it, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Maybe
this is our next, Psalm 89.7. God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints. This is the difference between
those that have God, have Christ, and those that don't. They fear
Him. They never quit fearing Him. The disciples. When they
saw Him still in that ocean and that wind, what happened? They
were afraid. Greatly. It says they were greatly
afraid. They said, what manner of man
is this? This is no mere man. This is
our Creator. This is the One who walks on
the raging ocean, who commands the wind and it obeys him. It's
just no mere man. It's just God. They knew him. How much did they know of him? Enough to fear him. So we can take these verses.
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and
to be had in reverence of all that are about him. As David
said, The transgression of the wicked, saith within my heart,
there is no fear of God before their eyes. And that is something
that religion does. The way they talk about God,
the way they approach Him, the way they come in and all that
they do in the name of God tells me there is no fear that they
would not be carrying on all this foolishness. God is greatly
to be feared and to be had in reverence among all them that
are about Him, or say they are. from the songs we sing to everything
we do, the way we dress. Alright, this life is in His
Son. Alright, John's gospel, John
chapter 1 began this way, and Genesis began, in the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. God, okay. Who is Jesus
Christ? He's God. All things. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
Who is He talking about? Jesus Christ. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. In Him was life. That's what it said. And then
in John's first epistle, he begins it this way. Go back to chapter
1. This is how it all began, and
this is how it ends. Why? Because Christ is the beginning
and the end. He's God who created all things
before there was anything. He was. I am. And in the end,
when it's all over, when He destroys everything and created a new
heaven and a new earth, you know who we're going to see? Jesus
Christ. see him as strong, as a lamb that had been slain. God's
people know what that means. We're always going to see him
as a lamb that had been slain. They all know why he came, and
they all know why they're with him. The lamb that was slain. And that's about my third point,
that I'm not too yet. 1 John 1, that which was from the
beginning. See, there's no words to describe
him, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, our hands have handled, of the word of
life. The life was manifested, and
we have seen, and the word it is in italics, because he's so
glorious. There's no adjective. There's
no word. that he that hath the Son, this
life, this life is in his Son. Christ himself said of his chosen
people, I am come that they might have life. Now what does that
say? It means they didn't have it
before it came. And he calls his people out of
death into life. Out of darkness into life. This is the record that God hath
given to us. John 17, 2. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given. Where does this life come from?
Do you choose it? Do you will it? Then you don't
know God. That's not error in doctrine.
You don't know God. Everyone that has this life knows
God has given it. And this life is in His Son. about how it begins. I know this, according to scripture,
we're born of God. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. And it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. This word of truth, this incorruptible
seed, what I'm doing right now, the word, the truth, the gospel,
preached, declared, is how God plants this life-giving seed,
which has life in itself. It doesn't ask the dead person
to help. It gives life. He gives life. It's planted. When does that
happen? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. God does. And in the fullness
of time, that Word, when the Spirit of God comes, Life opens blind eyes, deaf ears,
new heartbeats, hunger, thirst. Life has begun. It's all about
Christ, we're going to say. Springs four, and he that hath
the Son hath life. Now verse 12, he that hath the
Son hath life. What does it mean to have the
Son? I've already been saying it,
but do you want to know if you have the Son? Do you want to
know if you have life? Do you? Do you? I mean, really,
do you? On your head. But you greatly
desire to have this life. And you want to know you have
life. Throughout 1 John, he tells us, Hereby we may know. These things are written unto
you that believe that you may know. Do you want to know? Do
you really want to know? Let me go ahead and tell you.
You have it. There was a time I didn't care. And a man could ask me that question. Do you want to know? Do you really want to know? I want to know. Do you want to
know? He that hath a son, all right?
First of all, he that hath a son hath an ear to the voice of the
Son of God. Because God calls everyone that
he has chosen by the preaching of the gospel to life. We just
said that. He calls them. Paul said, Oh,
we're bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren. Beloved
of the Lord. God loved you because He called
you, sent His Son to die for you. Because God has from the
beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit. What does the Spirit do? He shows
you Christ. He shows you your need of Christ.
Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. What's
the truth? Christ. Whereunto He called you
by our Gospel. To the attaining of the glory.
To the attaining of the glory. What glory? To see His glory.
To see your shame. To see your need of His glory.
His covering. Oh, go on along with that. He
that hath the Son hath an ear. God is giving him an ear to hear
the voice of the Son of God. The time is coming, and now is,
the Lord says, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God, and they that hear His voice shall Live. As I told you, this is my story.
It was a time when I didn't care. The time when I was asked that
question. Nothing. No response. Asleep. But God. He should have left
it on. But God came one day, Brother
Steve, one day. Saul, Saul, wake up. He's talking to me. I heard. I'm still hearing. It's not a one-time thing. There
is voice. I was going to have you turn
to John 8, John 10. He said to some Pharisees, why
is it that you don't understand my speech? It's because you cannot
hear my word. It's clear. They said they didn't
understand it. That wasn't the problem. They
didn't believe it. They rejected it. He said, He
that is of God, heareth God's works. Heareth. He that hath
an ear to hear. God has given His people an ear.
They listen. They hear. I told you, and maybe
somebody hasn't heard this, but I had a dog that I dearly loved.
I chose him. I bought him. I brought him home. I taught him. I signed a covenant
about him. He's mine. He's just a dog. He's
worthless, but he's my dog and I loved him. Don't you say anything
about him. And to his dying day, he wasn't super intelligent like
you dog lovers think they are. No, he's just a dog. I killed
him. I decided the day he was to die,
I put him down. I had someone else do it, but
it was my choice, my decision. Isn't this a picture of God's
people? Loved, chosen, worthless? Yeah, but worth something to
Him. And I would never leave Him.
Never. Sell Him for nothing. But one
time, He was acting like a dog. He was with a pack of dogs, a
bunch of dogs, wild dogs. He was acting like a dog. And I went out there and I saw
Him. It's still running with those other dogs. He knew better.
He wasn't supposed to. If I left him alone, Darryl,
he might have died with those dogs. Perished. I'm not going
to leave him alone. That's my dog. You know how I
separated him? How I sanctified him? I called
him. I said one word. The pack of
dogs. Ten dogs. I said one word. Come! One dog came. My dog came to
my feet. He didn't have a tail, just a
little stub, but it was tucked as far under as it could get.
His ears were down, his head were down. He came to my feet,
poor, broken, contrite, trembling. But he knows I wouldn't hurt
him. Because I spoke peace to him. That's my dog. He came. All that the Father giveth me,
my sheep hear my voice. And when I call when it's time,
they're going to come. They're going to come. They have
an ear. Secondly, they have a knowledge
of the Son. This is life eternal. That they
might know thee. Now, this knowledge is not head
knowledge. Out of the heart are the issues
of life. Head knowledge will make you fall asleep. when the
sound of life is issuing forth, when the word of life is issuing
forth, when Christ is preached. You've got it in your head. Heart
knowledge makes you sit up and listen carefully. Give you an
ear, give you hearts. Make your heart burn within you.
Heart, heart, heart, not head. The knowledge of, that's not
talking about head knowledge. Life doesn't begin in the head.
It begins when this heart starts beating. Do you hear me? How do you know a little child
has life in the womb? Huh? You check for a heartbeat. Not what they know. What do they
know? They don't know nothing. This is life eternal if they
might know thee. God comes in the to the gospel
he knows, like Adam knew his wife Eve. Life is imparted into
her and that child of God, and life again, what happens first.
They don't know much, they don't know much at all, but they have
this, that's my next point, here's my next point, need. This is life eternal. They might
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ. They know him.
It's not just head knowledge. It's such a futile attempt trying
to tell you what life is. If you have it, you don't mean
to be told what it is. But Christ, all God's people know
who Christ is. There's no question about that.
Like the disciples. That's just Jesus. Oh, no, no,
no, no. Now, you just think he's just
a man. We know him. We don't. We just know about
that much about him. We know this. He's to be feared. He's to be bowed to. He's to
be worshipped. He's to be believed. He's to
be followed. We know him. All right. Need him. Need. People that don't come hear the
gospel, people sporadic in attendance, people up and down, in and out. It's not a problem of commitment.
It's a problem of need. Need. If you need food, you will
come to the table. If you need water, what's water? What's real water? Water of life. You can't live without it. Jesus
Christ. He that hath a Son, he that hath
a need for Christ. Do you need this? Do you need
what you're hearing right now? Do you need a mediator, a substitute,
a righteousness that you don't have, a covering, a robe? Ask
blind Bartimaeus. He was blind. He was in rags,
tattered rags. He couldn't see it. He was filthy. He could not see
himself. But when Christ did what? Called
him. Bring him to me. And he came. You know what he did? Threw that
rag away. And I quoted Isaiah 64, 6 to
you before, all our righteousnesses, all our religion, all our professions,
all our everything we ever thought that God was pleased with, filthy
rags, menstruous cloths. No, I don't need that. I don't
need any of that stuff that I thought could cover me. I need Christ
to cover me. That naked man in the tombs,
it said he was sitting clothed. Who clothed him? Where did he
get his clothes? Christ. That prodigal son. It all begins with clothes. The
prodigal son, when he came to the Father. Why did he come?
The will of the Father. The love of the Father. Power
of the Spirit. Preaching the gospel. He came.
What's the first thing the Father said? Bring the best robe. And do what? Put it on him. Don't
offer it to him. covering. Oh, that prodigal was
so glad. He immediately felt warmth when
he was covered by the robe that the Father put on him. Do you
understand that? You do, you're smiling, you have
life! Doctrine? Righteousness imputed? Person. Hide me, oh my Savior,
hide from the storms of life. till the storms of life have
passed. Cover me like Ruth at the feet of Boaz. Spread your
skirt over me. Please cover me up. I don't belong
here. I'm not worthy to be here. I
need you. I can't pay for my redemption.
Cover me. Would you do it all? He won't
rest until he does. I tell you, if you have life,
you know that story. When you need, blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after righteousness, and that's not
morality, it's a person. He that hath the Son hath faith
in Him. It's not faith in Him so much
as faith on Him. He casts all your care on Him.
All your soul. All your future. person, all
your life, fame, everything, everybody around you, you can't,
Lord, I can't, I can't care for myself, let alone anybody else.
Please, it's your sins. Put your sins on the
head of the scapegoat and confess them. So many scriptures to turn to.
He that hath the Son hath faith in, faith on the Son, believeth
on the Son of God. He that hath the Son rejoiceth
in the Son. John said, He that hath the bridegroom
rejoices in his voice. Rejoices. This is a true circumcision. They worship God in the Spirit.
They really do. They come to worship God. Why?
Because they believe Him. They fear Him. They worship Him.
They are thankful to Him. They come to worship God. Not
to be seen. Not to be heard, but to worship
God and rejoice in Christ Jesus. They really do. That's why they
never tire of hearing this gospel. Because Christ is their husband
and they want to hear Him. They need Him. They believe Him.
They rejoice in Him. Somebody that gets tired of hearing
the gospel, they never knew Him. To have the sons have a fear
of Him, have a reverence for Him. I was quoting Psalm 89-7,
an admiration for. Tell you what, if you admire
the Son, you won't much admire anybody else. You know that? Very lastly, let me close
this. It's to have a union with, your one with, the like with. Okay, we'll pick up next Sunday,
the next person. Thank you.