1 John chapter 5. We'll begin reading
at verse 13. John is concluding his epistle,
his letter, and he does so on the same note
as he began it. directing our hearts and our
minds to our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember again, in chapter 1, he said, I'm writing
these things to you, and he's speaking to believers, Christians. I'm writing these things to you
that believe that your joy may be full. With that thought in
mind, he concludes his epistle at verse 13. 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 ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence
that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to
his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear 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 sinneth not. But he that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we
know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God
is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know
him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in
his son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Amen. As we pointed out earlier
in the reading in chapter 1, How often throughout this epistle,
John uses the words, we know, writing to God's people, believers,
those who have been saved, those who have experienced the grace
of God. Over and over again, John says,
we know. Just in these nine verses that
we just read together, the closing of John's epistle, He uses that
expression six times in those nine verses alone. He does the
same thing throughout this epistle. Speaking of a believer's relationship
to God, John says, we know. We know. We know that we know
God. We know him, that is true. We
know that we have eternal life. Our relationship with God, John
says, is something we know. You remember this same man, the
apostle John, the beloved disciple? In Revelation chapter 7, he's caught up to the third heaven. or rather, caught up to heaven,
to glory. And as the elder escorts John through heaven, one glorious sight after another
opens up before his amazing eyes. And he sees a multitude, a multitude
of redeemed sinners. Isn't that a blessed, blessed
vision? Isn't that a blessed thought?
The elder said, John, come up hither. Or rather, our Lord did. And I'll show you things that
shall be hereafter. This is not a matter of speculation. There's no uncertainty about
this. Let me show you what will be.
And John says he saw a multitude, a multitude of people. a multitude of people. He said
there were so many that he couldn't even begin to count them. He
said that no man could number. Of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues, Christ shall have a glorious crown. Remember what the prophet said?
He that is Christ, in Isaiah 53, he shall see it through the
veil of his soul and be satisfied. He did not die for nothing. He
did not die for a poor chance. No, this is the result of his
sufferings. A multitude shall be brought
before the throne of God And Paul tells us in Ephesians 5,
without a spot, without a blemish, without any such thing, the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin, every trace
of sin, any evidence of sin in that day. And the elder asked
John, who are these? John is just standing in wonder
at the scene before him. before the throne of God. This
multitude, they're all dressed in white robes. I thought there
would be degrees of reward in heaven. You thought wrong. No. They're all enjoying the same
position before the throne of God. They're all dressed alike
in the righteousness of Christ. They all wave the palm leaf of
victory and they all sing the same song, glory to the Lamb. that setteth upon the throne."
John, who are these? Where did they come from? And
I suspect that John is so caught up, so enraptured with the vision
before him that he says, I don't know. I don't know. You tell me, John said. You tell me. And the elder says,
these are they which came out of great tribulation and have
washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, therefore
are they before the throne of God and worship him and worship
him and God himself shall dwell among them and be their God. But here in the epistle of John,
he doesn't say, I don't know, does he? over and over again
concerning the relationship of a believer, concerning the state
of a believer, concerning the security of a believer, concerning
his being in the hands of his glorious redeemer and having
eternal life, John says, we know these things. We know these things. One of our hymns, the first verse
of it says, I'm not skilled to understand. I appreciate the
hymn writer making that confession. Most people don't. We know everything. I heard a preacher back in West
Virginia one time said that he had all the spiritual gifts that
Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians and he had a couple there that
Paul didn't mention. Well, how do you do? No, no. The hymn writer said, I'm not
skilled to understand what God hath willed, what God hath planned.
I only know, I only know at His right hand, at God's right hand
is one who is my Savior. My Savior. Oh, my soul. Can you say that? Can you sing
that? Can you say there's much I don't
understand? There's much I don't know. Oh,
but this I do know. At God's right hand, right now,
at this very moment, there is one who is my Savior. I am his and he is mine, my soul. No wonder John said, that being
the case, your joy, your joy may be full. I know him. Look again at verse 13 of chapter
5. John says, These things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God. That believe. Now, there's a
distinction, is there not? John is not writing to everybody. These things he describes as
belonging to God's people, they're not for everybody, but for the
believer. He writes to those that believe
on the name of the Son of God, and that's not everyone. He doesn't
say, I write to you who have made a profession. That would
pretty much be everyone. But to those who really believe
on the Son of God, those who have been granted the gift of
faith, the gift of faith, Those whom God has done a miracle of
grace in their hearts and revealed to them who Jesus Christ is. That takes a miracle. That takes
a miracle. People everywhere, and I heard
it all my life. Well, it's simple to be a Christian.
Well, it's so simple and they made me feel like an idiot if
I didn't recognize how simple it was. It's as simple as ABC. Accept, believe, confess. It's
just as simple as falling off a log. Well, you can believe
that or you can believe what the Lord Jesus Christ said, who
is the truth. He said it's impossible. With
man, it's impossible. It requires a miracle. Nothing
less will do. Nothing less will accomplish
this. It requires God Almighty coming
to me and doing something that I can't do for myself. And John
says, to you that have experienced that, to you who really believe,
I'm writing these things to you that you may know, that you may
know, that you have, present tense, that you have right now,
eternal life. You thought you didn't have anything
to be happy about, didn't you, child of God? Nothing to rejoice
in. It's been such a hard week, but
you know what? Nothing that happened to you
yesterday, today, or tomorrow, nothing that ever happened to
you in this life can ever pluck you out of the hand of the great
shepherd of the sheep. It's impossible. Your joy may
be full. John says that ye may know that
you have eternal life. John's writing, as he says, to
comfort and to encourage God's people. Look at verse 19, and
we know that we are of God. Again, that distinction. Remember
whose you are. Remember who you belong to. Remember the price that was paid
to purchase you? Christ's own precious blood. How dear and near you must be
to him. We know that we are of God. But
John also says, and the whole world, the whole world lieth
in wickedness. A more literal translation would
be what he used in verse 18. The whole world lieth in the
wicked one. In the wicked one. And John speaks
of all those that are without Christ. The whole world. All unbelievers. All those that
haven't believed. And that would include the best
moral man you know. The best moral man you know,
he lies in the arms of the wicked one. The distinction that grace makes
is a distinction of light and darkness, of life and death,
of knowing God and not knowing God, of lying in the arms of
my glorious Redeemer or lying in the arms of the wicked one.
There's no in-between. This is what John tells us. and
the whole world lieth in wickedness." We sang a moment ago. See our mothers and our fathers
and our children, our own children, sinking down. Oh, pray, pray
that God would be merciful to them. They lie in the arms of
the wicked one. They lie so quietly, don't they?
Unaware, undisturbed, lying on the very brink of eternity. There's just a breath between
them and eternity and they lie quietly in the arms of the wicked
one. Do not disturb me, they say. I'm content. They're without
God. They're without Christ. They're
without hope. Asleep in the arms of the wicked
one. But, John says, you're of God. You are of God. Grace has made
a difference. We know that we are of God, John
says. And we have been from eternity. We've been in Christ from eternity. In his heart of love, in his
arms of mercy, in his hands of omnipotence, in his body, which
is his church, we exist together. I in him and he in me. Christ exists with His church
and His church exists in Him. Look what John says in verse
10 of chapter 4. Verse 10 of chapter 4. Hearing
His love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us. And He
proved that love. He sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins, the mercy seat, the atonement for our sins. Isn't that good news? Child of
God, isn't that good news? You don't get tired of hearing
good news, do you? My, my. You don't hear it anywhere
else, do you? I mean, look at the evening news. It's all bad news. It's all bad
news. Oh, but here's the good news.
Here's the good news. Once we're His, once I'm His,
I'm His forever. Forever. Nothing from His love
can sever. John says, I write these things
unto you, that you may know that ye have eternal life. Look at
verse 20. That we may know, that we may
know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding,
that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that
is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ, This is true God and
eternal life. First, consider Him. Paul said,
in all things, it pleased God that Christ should have the preeminence. And before we can rejoice in
what we are, we got to view Him as He is. We're in Him. Look at the foundation. If you
rest upon it, be joyful. Look to him that loved us and
gave himself for us. Look at his value without limit. Look at his merit. Look at his
worth. Look at his glorious intercession. Look at his atonement. Look at
Jesus Christ himself. And if God is pleased to ravish
your vision with the view of Him, you'll rest easy. You'll
rest easy. I am His and He is mine. Consider Him. John says He's
the Son of God. He's that one that is true, truth
itself. Jesus Christ. Jesus. The salvation of the Lord. Christ,
the Messiah, the anointed one. John says He's the true God and
eternal life. He's all that. He's all that. We know that the Son of God is
come. Yes, He came. Turn back if you
would to Hebrews chapter 4. Or Hebrews chapter... Yes, chapter 4 verse... Or chapter
10, I'm sorry. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 4. Hebrews
10 and 4. The Son of God actually came
into this world. He that was the eternal Word,
the very expression of the unseen God. He came into this world. What
a marvel. But he came for a purpose. He came on a mission. And remember
who we're talking about. We're talking about very God
of very God. We're talking about that one
that Simeon took up in his arms, even as a baby, and looking at
him he said, I see thy salvation. That's what he said when he came
into the temple, when Mary and Joseph brought the young child.
And he wasn't looking at the altar. or the holy place, or
the most holy place, or the animal sacrifices. When He said, I've
seen your salvation, He was looking at the person of the Lord Jesus. And we cannot experience God's
salvation until we look at the person of Jesus Christ. Salvation
is not in this building. It's in Jesus Christ himself. This is the one that John wrote
about, that we may know him. And knowing him, we have eternal
life. Look at verse 4 of Hebrews 10.
John said, he came into the world. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Of course not. That's impossible. That's impossible. God ordained those things, but
they were never intended to take away sins. And if that which
God himself ordained could never take away sin, they were a picture
of his Son, surely nothing you do can take away sin. No, it'll
never happen. Wherefore, when he cometh, look
at verse 5. Oh, here's good news. Here's
the gospel in person. When he cometh into the world,
he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body
hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings, this is Christ
speaking to his Father. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, I come. Bless his name, he came. In the
volume of the book it is written of me, To do thy will, O God. He came on a mission. He came
to accomplish His purpose. He came to do His Father's will. Above, when He said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither had pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second by the which we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Once got the job done. Once was enough. He entered in
one time into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. It'll never be repeated. It's
not necessary. He took away our sins the first
time. And to you that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. We know that the Son of God is
come. And my salvation is in his hands. It's in his
hands. Because it's impossible to me. I can't save myself. It's dependent
upon him doing God's will, as we just read in Hebrews 10. The
success or failure rests entirely on his shoulders. The salvation of the sinner is
not a work they do. It's not a work that they contribute
to or add to. It's completely done by someone
outside of themselves. Their salvation is not determined
by themselves. Salvation is of the Lord. It's not, will you do this or
will you do that? No. It's of the Lord. Its success rests with him. Was
he up to the task? Was he who said, I come to do
thy will, O God, was he up to the work? Joe read it earlier, didn't he? The angel answered that question,
Joseph. Call his name Jesus. Don't you
just love it? Say, well, that's a Christmas
verse. Man, that's a verse for every day of the year. Call his
name Jesus. He shall, highlight shall, underline
shall, circle shall, bow down to shall, and rejoice him that
shall save his people from their sins. Oh, glorious Redeemer. John said when he came into the
world, he was that light, the Son of God. was in the world
and the world made by him. And the world knew him not. The
law was given by Moses. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Do you hear that? Grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. Joe, it didn't come by as you
were taught from your youth up till God taught you different.
Grace doesn't come through the priest. or the pope, or the preacher,
or the soul winner, or the church, or anything else. It comes through
Jesus Christ. Not just that He possesses grace,
but that He bestows grace. That's what John said in his
gospel, didn't he? Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. John said, we beheld Him, the
only begotten of the Father. full of grace and truth. Oh,
but bless His name, He didn't keep it to Himself. Grace came
by Him and through Him to helpless, guilty sinners. Oh, how often
when He walked this earth, when someone came to Him, how often?
As often as they came to Him. Which is to say, every single
time. Every single time a sinner came to him crying, have mercy on me. Every time, he said, I will. I will. I will. Would he say, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will not? No, he said,
I will. I will have mercy. I will be gracious. We're not
on the outside, that is, believers, to whom John writes. God's people
are not on the outside looking in. But we've been brought now. We've been brought nigh by the
blood of Jesus Christ. We've been brought into the very
presence of God. Christ has taken us and brought
us into the very presence of God as accepted as he himself
is, as close as he himself is, as loved as he himself is. Oh, no wonder. Again, I repeat
it. John says, these things I write
to you that your joy may be full. He had given us an understanding
again, verse 20, that we may know him. He's given us an understanding. Remember what our Lord said to
Nicodemus? You can't see the kingdom of God. You can't understand,
you can't perceive, you can't comprehend unless you're born
from above, unless you're born again. Nicodemus, you don't have
the equipment. You lack that one thing needful. And until you're born from above,
you'll never perceive, you'll never understand these things.
And that's exactly what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2. The
natural man, the unregenerated man, the lost man, what we all
are by nature, understandeth not the things of the Spirit
of God because they're foolishness unto him, neither can he know
them. because they're spiritually discerned. That's why Paul went on to write,
but he had given it to us, his spirit, that we may know the
things freely given to us by God. Look what John writes in
verse 10 of chapter 5. He that believeth on the Son
of God has 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. And this is the record that God
had given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Again, verse 20, he has given
us the understanding that we may know him that is true. The basis of our assurance is
in the one whom we know. It's not in my faith, but in
the object of faith, the glorious object of faith. Would you have
more peace? Would you have more assurance?
Would you have more joy? Then look to the object of faith.
Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn him. Study him. Know him. And the more you do,
the more assurance that you'll have. And that's not presumption. John says that you may know,
you that believe, that you may know this. Christ, the whole
Christ, as He is and all He is and all that He's done is yours. John says, I want you to know
that. Is it presumption to believe God? Is it? Is it presumption? I know that
it's almost, it seems, an accepted practice to speak in a doubting
way. Well, we just don't know. We
can't be sure. I've been told by people, well,
we really won't know we're saved. We won't know we enter glory
until we stand before God and he either says, enter in or depart
from me. Really? Really? Man, if I believed
that, I couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't rest. I would have
anything but joy. That's not what John says, does
it? He says, I write these things that you may know. You that really
believe, you have eternal life. You have Christ. All he is and
all he has is yours. Now, I'm not speaking about a
decision. I'm speaking of those who really
believe the Son of God. A decision based on a religious
spasm, The sooner, if that's what you're trusting, if that's
what you're resting on, the sooner you get rid of it, the better.
The sooner God, by His Spirit, kicks those false prompts out
from under you, the better. Until He brings you down, you'll
never look out of yourself. You'll never look up to the true
God and Savior, all but to those To those that believe, John says,
you have eternal life. And just keep on believing. Is
this not what the Lord himself said in his high priestly prayer? Father, he said, you've given
me power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given me. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent." And that's exactly what John says. Paul says, oh,
that I might know him, to know him more and more. Timothy, I know whom. Was that presumption? No. I know whom I have believed. I know him. He's not a figment
of my imagination. He's not an aberration. I know
whom I have believed and I've committed everything. Everything
I've put into His hands. Everything for time and to eternity
I've put into His hands and I'm convinced. I rest easy, Timothy,
that He's able to keep it. Keep it. until that day. And that's what John tells us
as well. I believe it's not a stretch
to say that when Lazarus was raised from the dead that he
was aware of it and he knew that he had life and knew that one
who brought him out of the tomb. This assurance is based upon
Christ's work and not mine. His grace and not my merits. His precious promises give me
hope as I make my journey through this world. And I don't know
what tomorrow holds. I just don't know. Thursday morning,
my mother called me to let me know that my cousin had suddenly
died. Went to the hospital, sitting
in bed talking to the nurse and fell back. Dead. I said, well,
Ma, did she die like she lived? Without Christ? Without God? Without hope? Did she enter eternity? Listen to me. Will you listen
to me? Some of you here don't know God.
You don't know God. When you're called before Him,
will you stand there alone? Oh, alone? Louis, stand before God alone? By myself? I'm standing before
the just and holy God? All alone? God forbid. Oh no, in that day, I want to be found in Him. In
Him. In the beloved Son in whom God
said, I am well pleased. One hymn writer expressed it
this way. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain
could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain. And that's true, isn't it? It
just can't do it. It cannot do it. But Christ,
the heavenly Lamb, takes all our sins away, a sacrifice of
nobler name and richer blood than they, believing we rejoice
to see the curse removed. We bless the Lamb with cheerful
voice and sing redeeming love. Another part is mentioned in
our text. John says, we. We, that we may
know Him. And just briefly, we need not
take long with this party, with this group, we. What can you
say? Bring them all together. A multitude
that none can number. And what can you say? What can
you say about them? There's no big I's and little
u's in the kingdom of God. When John says, we, all believers,
all the elect, all the redeemed, all the called, all brought to
glory, what can you say about the whole multitude? Sinners
redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. What can you
say about them that you can agree with them when they bow before
Him and cast their crowns at His feet and say, worthy is the
Lamb. He's the reason we're here. He's
why we're before the throne of God without a spot or a blemish. He's the one that's kept us from
falling. It's all His doing. Worthy is the Lamb. Not unto
us. Not unto us. I tell you, people
sing that here. They sing about man's merit and
man's desert and what man's earned and what man's merited by what
he's done for God, but in glory, you'll never hear that kind of
nonsense. It'll be not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name. Give glory for thy mercy and
for thy true sake. And last of all, look what John
says. We are in him. We are in Him. You can take that with you. You
can leave out of here just wrapped up in that, can't you? I'm in
Him. I'm in Him. John says, we know. We that believe, we know Him
and we are in Him. That is true. My soul. Read it that way, child
of God. Read it that way. Isn't that
glorious? I'm like David. When Nathan came
in and said, God's going to allow your son, not you, but your son
after you, will build the temple to the glory of God. And of course,
that has reference to that one who was greater than Solomon.
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David. But once Nathan delivered
that message to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7, it said, David went
in and sat down before the Lord. And he was overwhelmed. He couldn't
get over it. Lord, who am I? Who am I? Not only have you done all these
things, you've taken me from being a shepherd boy to being
king over Israel. And if that wasn't enough, you've
promised me your mercy for eternity. Who am I, O Lord, that you should
give such mercy and grace to? And John says, who are we? that
we might know that the Son of God is come and have given us
an understanding that we may know Him. Him. Him. I remember as a boy lying out
sometimes in a field at night and looking up at those stars
and thinking, What am I here for? What's life about? What's the
purpose? I mean, am I just going to live,
try to gather up a few possessions, and then I'm going to die? Is
that all? Is that all there is to it? No,
no. This is life eternal. Are you
looking at the verse? That Larry Criss, who is he? He's a nobody. That Larry Criss might know Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. Who am I? Who am I, O Lord? that you should give such mercy
and grace to. Do you want to be found in him?
Do you want to know him? Christ says, look unto me and
be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else. Well, Augustus'
top lady wrote, and what he wrote is true of each and every one
of us, perhaps before we see each other again, perhaps we
won't see each other again in this life. But he wrote, while
I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyes shall close in death,
when I rise to worlds unknown and behold thee on thy throne,
rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee, in thee,
the true God and Savior. Amen.