Now, we ended our lesson last
week in verse 5, talking about He who overcomes the world is
He that believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Now, our faith
in Christ, our belief in Christ, all of our faith, all of our
trust is in Him because He is the complete Savior. He saves
His people from their sin, from all of our sin, both the guilt
of it and the filth of it. So begin in verse 6, this week,
he says, John writes, this is he that came by water and blood,
this who our faith is in. He came by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it
is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit's truth. Now,
in the Levitical law, there are all kinds of washings given to
the people in the law. And they were given as pictures
to show us that if we're going to come to God, we've got to
be washed. We've got to be clean. There
was washings for purifications of lepers. There's washings for
purification of a woman. There's washings for purification
if you touched an unclean animal or if you touched a dead thing.
Priests were constantly washing very prominently in the courtyard
of the tabernacle was that brazen labor. They're constantly washing.
And if a sinner All those were given to show us that if a sinner
is going to come before God and be accepted, we've got to be
washed. We've got to be clean. Look over
Psalm 24. I want to look at some scripture
here. Psalm 24. Psalm 24, verse 3. Who shall ascend into the holy
hill, into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not
lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." You've
got to have clean hands and a pure heart. You've got to be washed.
Look over Psalm 51. In verse 2, David says, throughly
from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. In verse
5, he says, Behold, I was shaken in iniquity, and in sin did my
mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. And one more, Zechariah chapter
13. Next to the last book in the Old Testament, Zechariah
13. Verse 1, In that day there shall
be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. God's going to provide
a fountain that we can be washed from our sin and our uncleanness
in. All these washes, these references to being washed, show us, they
tell me, we've got to be washed both outside and inside. Clean hands and a pure heart.
We've got to be washed. Well, how are sinners going to
be washed? Then how are we going to be made spiritually clean? What is it that Zechariah is
talking about here, a fountain being opened? Well, you know,
he's not talking about a what, he's talking about a who. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the fountain that's open for sin. He came
by water and blood. He came by blood to atone for
sin, to pay for sin, blood to justify. He came by water to
cleanse, to sanctify. And he is the complete Savior. He didn't leave anything left
for us to do. He accomplished it all. He's
our justification and he's our sanctification by water and blood. Now look over at John 19. I'll
show you what John's referring to here. In John 19, verse 31, the Jews therefore, because it
was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the
cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day,
they sought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that
they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and broke
the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified
with him. And when they came to Jesus and saw that he was
dead already, they broke not his legs, but one of the soldiers
with a spear. pierced his side, and forthwith
came thereout blood and water. And he that saw it, John saw
it, bear record, and his record is true. And he knoweth that
he saith true, that ye might believe. That soldier pierced
his side, and out came blood and water. And that's what Toplady
was writing about, the double cure. Let the water and the blood
from my wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure, save
from wrath, and make me pure. blood and water to justify and
sanctify. And that is exactly what the
Lord Jesus Christ has done for His people. He washed us. He
showed us a picture of it in John 13, if you want to look
over there, when He washed His disciples' feet. He washed His
people throughly as David prayed. In verse 3 of John 13, Jesus
knowing that the Father had given all things into His hand and
that He was come from God and went to God, He riseth from supper,
and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and girded
himself. After that he poureth water into
a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he
to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash
my feet? Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered
him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. So Simon
Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands
and my head. And Jesus saith unto him, He
that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. But he is clean
every whit, and ye are clean, but not all, for he knew who
should be trained. Therefore he said, You are not
all clean. He did not mean, Peter, you are not entirely clean. He
meant not all of this twelve is clean. But Peter, you are
clean. You are washed. Because you've
been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Look over 1 Corinthians
6. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9. Now know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves, of mankind, nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you."
Such were all of us. But you're washed. You've been
washed. You're sanctified. You're justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of our God. You're
washed. Verse 5, we're not washed by works of
righteousness which we've done, but according to His mercy He
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost which He's shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. And you who believe are washed. You're washed in the blood of
the Lamb. Your sins have been washed away. You've been cleansed
from all of your sin. You've been washed in that blood.
that flowed from His pure side. He came by water and blood. Thank God He came by blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. The only payment for sin there
can be is blood. And it's got to be pure blood.
It's got to be perfect blood. It's got to be the perfect blood
of the spotless Lamb of God. And He shed His blood as payment
before God for the sins of His people. And God the Holy Spirit
comes and applies the blood. I'm telling you, the blood's
got to be shed, but the blood's got to be applied. And when the
Spirit applies that blood, you're washed. He washed you in the
blood of the Lamb. And God the Holy Spirit bears
witness to this truth in God's Word. You cannot argue with the
Spirit of truth. Can't be done. None believer
might try, but the believer unquestioningly believes the Spirit of truth.
Because He's the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit convinces every
child of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my all. He's everything. He's everything
I'll ever need. He's everything that God requires
of me. Everything God requires of me,
I have in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my all. And that faith
in Christ is salvation. That's the faith. that gives
believers the victory over the world. That kind of faith gives
us boldness to enter into the holiest of all. We come humbly
like Jason Price, but we come boldly because we're accepted
in the beloved. And that kind of faith does not
waver. Our faith will waver if it's
based on anything. but the Lord Jesus Christ. If
it's based on the creature, if it's based on the church, if
it's based on our friends, if it's based on the best of men,
it'll waver. Not only will it waver, it'll
fall. But if our faith is based on the Lord Jesus Christ, it'll
never waver because He's the eternal solid rock. We have a
sure foundation, a sure redemption because He came by water and
blood. Now, verse 7, back in our text, 1 John 5, For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Now, without question,
John's talking about the Trinity here, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Spirit. The Word, you know, is the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He's talking about the Holy Trinity.
But you know the word Trinity is never used in the Bible. It's
not anywhere. Yet, the Scripture plainly teaches
the truth of the Trinity. We have one God. Three distinct
persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In the creation, what did God say? He said, let us make man
in our image, after our likeness. Well, who is He talking to? Well,
He's not talking to a man because He hasn't created man yet. And
He wouldn't be talking to a man like that anyway. He wasn't talking
to angels who have created beings. He wasn't talking to animals.
He's talking to Himself. The Father, speaking to the Son
and the Spirit, said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness. Matthew 28, verse 19, And when
our Lord ascended back to glory, he commissioned the disciples,
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy
Trinity. Now, there's not three gods.
One God. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4 says,
The Lord our God is one Lord. There's one God. But they're
three distinct persons. And they are one. They're one
in nature. They're one in purpose. I heard
Henry say this one time when he talks about being one God. He's not talking about units.
He's talking about unity. Pretty smart. They're one in
nature. They're one in purpose. They're
one in deity. All are complete deity. And all
three bear witness to the same truth. That Jesus Christ is God's
Son. He's the Savior of God's people.
He's the Savior that God sent into the world. And they all
three have this unifying message. Our Lord was baptized. John baptized
the Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
were all present. There's the Son being baptized,
identifying Himself with the sinners He came to save. The
Father spoke from heaven. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." The Spirit came in the form of a dove and
descended and stayed, abode on him, showing us the Spirit is
one with the Son. They're one. Now verse 8, there's
three. These three, Father, Son, Holy
Spirit, bear witness in heaven. And verse 7, or verse 8, there
are three that bear witness in earth. The Spirit, the water,
and the blood. And these three agree in one.
Now, I've spent a lot of time with this verse this week, because
honestly, I just didn't understand it, and I don't know that I do
much better now, but I'm going to tell you what I read. Some
believe that these three witnesses are the Spirit. That question,
that's true, the Spirit, witnessing to us through the Word. The water,
they say, is the water of believers' baptism, where believers identify
with Christ. His death is buried as resurrection.
And the third is the blood represented by the wine in the Lord's table.
And that very well could be true. All three give witness, give
testimony that our salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
don't they? Some believe that these three witnesses are the
blood and the water that flowed from the side of our Lord and
the Spirit bearing witness that salvation is found in Him, that
all of our salvation is found in Him, the water and the blood.
Nobody seems to know definitively. Pretty much everybody says, well,
it could be this or it could be this. Maybe it's both. I don't
know. But here's what I do know. These heavenly witnesses and
these earthly witnesses all agree in one. They all say the same
thing. There's no variation. There's
one gospel. There's one Savior. And it's
no accident that there are three that bear witness in heaven and
three that bear witness on earth. Look in Deuteronomy 19, I believe
I'll show you why this is. Deuteronomy 19, verse 15. Now one shall not rise up against
a man for any iniquity or for any sin and any sin that he sinneth. At the mouth of two witnesses
or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established.
Paul told the church at Corinth in the mouth of two or three
witnesses, let every word be established. Now, Chip Holbrook
tells me something. I believe it. I don't question
it. I believe it. I know Chip. Chip's
known to be a man of integrity. He tells me something. I believe
it. But now suppose Chip and Dan and Wayne all tell me the
same thing. They said, we're all present.
We all saw it. We all heard it. And they all
tell exactly the same story. I believe that just as much as
if I were an eyewitness of it. I do. I mean, I know all three
of these men. These men are known to be someone
that would tell the truth. And I believe it. And that's
just smart. It's just dumb if you don't believe
the witness of those three men. But that's scriptural, too, isn't
it? By the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be
established. If you were defended in court and those three men
were all testifying against you, you'd cut a plea because you
don't got a hope. I mean, they're going to believe their testimony.
Well, now look at verse 9. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which He hath testified of His Son. If we believe the witness
of Chip and Dan and Wayne, how much more should we believe God?
These men are just men. They're sinful men. God's God. God's holy. He cannot lie. He cannot make a mistake. He's
God. How much more should we believe
the witness of the living God? That Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. That our salvation is found in
Him. This is the witness that God
has given to us. And thank God, He has not just
given that witness to our ears. Not to His people He hasn't.
He's given it to your heart. He's witnessed that to you so
that you believe it. The Spirit comes and applies
that blood and that water to our hearts and we believe. I could not be more sure that
salvation is found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. I could not
be more sure of that no matter how many more witnesses I ever
hear. I have unshakable faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I mean to tell you, I don't need
any more evidence than the Word of God. Do you? You don't if
you're a believer. You don't if you have faith.
Because look here at verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son. Now he says, he that believeth
on the name of the Son of God. He's not talking about believing
in God. He's talking about believing God. Look at James 2. Not just believing in God. In
James 2, verse 19. Thou believest that there is
one God? Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble.
The devils believe in God. He's not talking about do you
believe in God or do you believe is there a God? Do you believe
God? Now, everybody believes there's
a God. I don't care. Somebody can say
all day long they're an atheist. I'm telling you, there ain't
no such thing. Everybody believes there is a God. The heathen,
who've never heard of the Bible, pray that somebody make it rain.
They pray somebody make it sunshine. They pray that somebody make
the crops grow. When they have a harvest, they
give thanks because they know somebody did that. I didn't do
that. Somebody did that. They pray that the volcano won't
erupt. They might go throw somebody in there and offer sacrifice,
but they pray somebody won't make that volcano erupt because
they know somebody's in control of that. They just know that
innately. That's what nobody's an atheist. You know, they might
really hope they can live their life saying, there's not a God,
there's not a God, there's not a God, and hope to get the end of their
life that maybe they're right, but they know they're not. Everybody
knows I've got to answer somebody. At the end of this life, I'm
going to face judgment. I'm answerable to God. Everybody
knows there's a God. And if they don't know Him, they'll
make one up. If they don't know the true living God, they'll
make one up because everybody knows there's a God. So I'm not
asking you. Do you believe there is a God?
Because I already know the answer to that. I know you do. The question
is, do we believe God? Do we believe him? Do we believe
what he says? Noah believed God. You know how I know Noah believed
God? Besides the fact that scripture tells me that. I know Noah believed
God because Noah built an ark. God said it's going to rain.
Now I'm going to flood the earth and destroy everything, every
living thing in it. Noah never seen rain. He probably
never seen a body of water, but he built an ark. He didn't understand
why. He didn't understand how, but
he built an ark because he believed God. The only reason Noah would
build an ark is because he believed God. Abraham believed God. And scripture says it was counted
to him for righteousness because he believed God. God said, Abraham,
you're going to have a son. You're going to have descendants
as many as the stars in the sky. Count them if you can. Your seed's
going to be more. All nations are going to be blessed
in your seed. Abraham was 100 years old. Still
didn't have a son. Sarah was 90. Never had a son. It's impossible for a man to
have a son with a woman who's 90. Impossible. But Abraham believed
God. Because with God, all things
are possible. He had a son. God told Abraham, you take that
son that you love, your only son, that you love, and you take
him to a place I'll tell you of, and you offer him there for
a burnt offering." Abraham rose early in the morning and started
walking. He got to that mountain and he told the men, he said,
you stay here, the lad and I are going to go yonder and worship,
and we will return again to you. Abraham went up there to kill
a son. He went up there, slit his throat, drained the blood
out of his body, quartered that body, laid the body on the wood,
and lighted on fire as a burnt offering to the Lord. Abraham
believed God. He believed if he killed him,
God would raise him from the dead. Abraham didn't say, I can't
do that. That's what I'd say. Abraham
didn't say that. He didn't say, I can't do that. He didn't say,
that's not fair. You made me wait a hundred years
to have a child and now you want me to kill him? He didn't say
that. He didn't say, now wait a minute. Let's talk about this. I thought you said the Messiah
was going to come through this boy. He didn't say that. He believed
God. He didn't know how it happened,
but he believed God would do exactly what he said. Do you
believe God? And he raised that knife to split the throat of
his son. And God said, stop. There's a
ram behind you, cut in the thicket. Offer him for sacrifice instead
of your son. He believed God. The children
of Israel on the night of the first Passover, the whole nation
took the lamb and killed it. roasted his body with fire, put
the blood on the doorpost, went inside and shut the door and
ate the lamb. And they ate it with their shoes on their feet
and their loins girt and their staff in their hands because
they were leaving that place that night. They'd been in bondage
for 430 years, but that was last night. Why'd they do that? They
believed God. God told them, tonight you're
leaving. Our bags are packed and we're
ready to go. The Egyptians didn't believe God. And the firstborn
died in every house. Because they didn't believe God.
That's where not believing God leads you, to death. Rahab the
harlot believed God. She hung that scarlet line in
the window, and she got her family to come in with her, and she
shut the door. And when Israel came to take
the city, the walls of Jericho fell, and Scripture tells us
Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive. She believed God. She identified with the blood,
that symbol of the blood of Christ. These all believe God and Hebrews
11 said they died in faith. Here's why I'm asking me and
you, do I believe God? Do I? I hope so. God says we're
sinners. You and me have no hope in ourselves
because everything we do is wretched. Do I believe that? Is that offensive
to me or do I believe it? God says our only hope of righteousness
is in the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do
I believe that? Or do I want to try to help God
out and establish some of my own righteousness? God says the
only way our sins can be put away is in the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He came by water and blood. That's
the only hope of my sins being put away. Now, do we believe
God? God's people do. God's people
believe that. This is not just doctrine to
me. This is not just something I believe because the pastor
gets up and says it week after week after week. Yeah, I believe
that. I believe God. And you know why
believers believe? Every one of them, without exception,
believe that. You know why? Because you have
the witness. See what he says? In himself. You've got the witness in yourself.
God the Holy Spirit dwells in you. And he witnesses of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ says, go take the things
of mine and show them to you. And he's doing it from in you.
He's taking up a bow in you and witnessing, showing you Christ. And the witness is in you. Salvation is an internal work
of grace. It's not cleaning up the outside
of the cup. It's making a new one. Giving you a new heart and
a new nature. The nature of God. God, the Holy
Spirit, dwells in His people. And anyone who does not believe
God has made God a liar. Now, that's what that says, isn't
it? He that believeth not, God hath made him a liar. If Chip
and Dana Wayne all tell me something, I'll say, I don't believe it.
I don't care what you boys say, I don't believe it. I have to
see that for myself, and I don't believe it. What am I doing?
I'm saying they're lying. I mean, isn't that plain? The Egyptians didn't kill a lamb.
They didn't put the blood on the doorpost. They didn't go
inside and eat it. Why not? They thought God was
a liar. They didn't think God did what
He said He'd do. And that brought them death. Now, God says salvation
is found in His Son. And if we go about trying to
establish our own righteousness and not submit ourselves to the
righteousness of Christ, we're saying God's a liar. I can find
a better way. I can find a way that's just
as good. And I promise you, it'll bring death to our souls. Scripture
says there is mercy. There's forgiveness with thee. If I don't come to Christ and
beg for mercy, I'll die in my sins. And I'll die in my sins
because I said God's a liar. He said come unto me that you
might have life. Well, I won't come, but I won't have life.
I won't come because I think God's a liar. If we don't believe
these simple truths that are plainly taught in Scripture,
we've made God a liar. Most of what's in here, a lot
of what's in here, I don't understand. Honestly, I don't. Here's this
first and this last. I don't really understand it.
But I believe God. I believe Him. We can't hide behind the fact
that I don't understand all this. You understand a lot of what
you read. You can say, well, I don't understand
most of it. But you can understand when God says we're sinners.
We can believe that, can't we? We can believe. We can understand
what He says when He says, come unto Me and you have life. If
you're thirsty, come to Me. If you're weary, come to Me.
We understand that. But we don't do it because by
nature we think God's a liar. I believe God. I believe God. And you do too. Give thanks. I am so thankful
I believe God because everybody does. All men have not faith. And if you have faith, it's because
God gave it. Now give thanks. All right. Well,
I hope God bless you.