If you would turn with me to
1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. I want to start out reading you
verse 12, but we will go back and read some previous verses. But in 1 John 5, verse 12, it
makes this profound statement, a direct statement, a short statement,
but most importantly, a true statement. It says, He that hath
the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
hath not life." That's pretty simple, pretty direct, isn't
it? Doesn't beat around the bush. Says it like it is. And friends,
this is a matter of utmost urgency. With all that's going on in this
world today, nothing is more important than this. Do you have the Son? Do you? If you do, you have life. If not, then you'll perish in
everlasting torment. The Scriptures teach us plainly
that we must have the Son of God in order to have life. And this speaks of life everlasting. This life that we now live in
the flesh, it's like a vapor. It's here for just a moment and
it's gone. But this talks about everlasting life. Life eternal. He that hath the Son has that
life. He that doesn't have the Son,
he doesn't have that life. Look up at verse 1 with me. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And every one
that loveth Him that begat, or that word means delivered, loveth
Him also that is begotten or delivered of and by Him. And
by this we know that we love the children of God, when we
love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not
grievous. Now, are you talking about the
Ten Commandments there, Brother David? No, I'm talking about
the two commandments, which the whole law hangs upon. Love God
with all your strength, soul, heart, mind, spirit. And love
your neighbor as yourself. And you know what? I've said
this many times, we can't do that without God's mercy and
grace and help. We can't love God like we ought,
like we want to, and we definitely can't love each other as we do
ourselves, but by the grace of God. Verse 2, but this we know,
that we love the children of God wherein children of God,
when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the
love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments
are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God,
over whosoever, whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world.
And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith. And our faith is in a person,
and that person is Christ. Verse 5, who is he that overcometh
the world? Here's the answer, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Well, we have a lot of
things to overcome, don't we? Well, we have sin, we have self,
darkness, works. I say works because we find ourselves
trusting in our works instead of trusting in the Son of God. And these things can only be
overcome one way, by believing on the Son of God. And I've said
many times, and I want to say it again, believing is not just
believing that He was, that He existed, that there was a man
named Jesus. It's believing what the Scriptures
say about Him. What God says about him. Who
he is. What he's done. Who you are.
That's believing in him. That's trusting in him. That he alone took away your
sin. That's what it is to believe.
Now look 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. Made God a liar. Because he believeth
not the record that God gave of His Son. In verse 11, this
is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. Where is that eternal life? This
life is in His Son. The record that God gives sinners
is that He has given us everlasting life, but that life is in His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that what your Bible says?
You're looking at it, look at it. That's what mine says. And it reads to me as plain as
a newspaper. He that hath the Son hath life. He that doesn't have the Son
hath not life. How do we receive everlasting
life? Well, I believe this epistle
is very clear on that. By believing on Christ. Trusting Him to be your all in
all. Now, believing on Christ is not
the record that most preachers will tell you in this day and
time. They'll say, pray this prayer, walk this aisle, let
Jesus have His way, They say, make a decision to
believe Him. And friends, I'm telling you,
that's no more believing than I'm a toad frog. Now, I may look
like a toad frog, but I'm not. That's not the record of God.
And do you know where you find the record of God? You find it
in His Word. This is a hymn book, isn't it? H-I-M. It's all about him. You find it in his word, that's
right. It's in this book that you hold
this morning. But some will say, well, wasn't
this book just written by men? No, it was penned by men, but
it was written by God. Well, Mr. Preacher, how can you
prove that? I believe it by faith. I believe
it by faith, and I can't convince you or anyone this is God's Word,
but God can. He did me. I used to be one of
those that said, well, that's just a book written by men. God
showed me different. God showed me different. Some will say, well, I thought God's not willing that
any should perish, that all should come to repentance. Well, God's
not willing that any of His elect, any of His chosen, any of His
called sheep will perish. I'll tell you that. And if God
wills something, it's going to be done. That's the God whom
we serve. He's not a trying God. He's not
a wishing He could God. If God wills something, it will
be done. God has never willed. that it
did not happen. Never, ever. He would cease to
be God if that was so. That phrase that men so often
quote, well, God's not willing that any should perish. That's
saying that God's not willing for men to perish anyway. But
God is not willing that any should perish is in 2 Peter. Now, as
I've told you before, and I know you know this, These epistles
were letters written to a specific person, or a letter is written
to a specific person or a group of people. Is that not right?
Let me ask you this, and I'm not trying to be funny or silly.
Have you ever written a letter to everyone in the world? One
letter, just wrote a letter. Well, how would you send it?
Who would you send it to? How would you begin? A letter is written with the
purpose of saying something to someone or to a group of someone. Would you agree with me on that? Here, Peter, and this is not
our text, but I had someone say that to me not long ago. Well,
God's not willing that anybody should perish. You preach a gospel
of despair. That's just not right. God's
not willing that anybody should perish. You know who Peter wrote
this letter to? He wrote it to them that have
obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness
of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He wrote it to believers. And
God is not willing that any of His children should perish. And
you know what? None of His children are going
to perish. It goes right back to God's will. to them that have
obtained, like precious faith, obtained, received. We didn't
muster it up ourselves. We didn't go in a back room or
a closet somewhere and pray ourselves into salvation. We obtained it. It was a gift. It was received.
to them that have obtained, to them that will obtain. This is
who this was written to. If God is willing to do something,
then it will be done. I can guarantee you that. God's
not willing that any of His sheep perish. In John 6.39, our Savior
said, This is the Father's will which hath sent me. that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, no one, but should
raise it up again at the last day." Now God gave Christ to
people before the foundation of the world, before the world
was ever made, and it was God's will and Christ's will not to
lose a woman. And let me tell you, if God or
Christ loses a one, then they cease to be God, and they cease
to be Christ, and they're both God. So none of His people will
be lost. I tell you, you're in better
hands here than in all states. You are in the hand of a sovereign
God who works all things after the counsel of what His own will. There's His will again. Does
His will fail? Can it be thwarted? Can it be
changed? Not God's. If you say yes, then
your opinion of God is way too low. And you make God a liar. Now, God a liar. I hear many
people say foolish things like, well, when you take your last
breath in this life, that's it. I can assure you that's not the
case. I can assure you that's not the case. I want to ask you,
are you interested in life everlasting? Well, I don't believe there is
such a thing. Well, I'll tell you what. Christ said to those
who believed, what did he tell his people? He said, I'm going
to go and prepare a place for you. And he said, I'm going to come
again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may
be also. I don't believe that when we
take our last breath in this body that it's over. No. Christ
said he's gone to prepare a place for those who love him and trust
him. And to those who believe not, he said, there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. And when you shall see Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God,
and you yourselves thrust out." Hell's a real place. Oh, I wish that we could talk
to that old rich man that passed by old beggar at his gate every
day. He said, Father Abraham, just
let him dip his finger in water and touch my tongue with it.
Hell's a real place, friends. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
hath not life. So how do we obtain this eternal
life? Well, we just read it. He that hath the Son hath life.
And he that hath not the Son hath not life. That's pretty
direct. And in order to have the Son, we must believe on the
Son. And we must believe on Him in
truth, according to the Scriptures. Not according to what some man
has made up. Not some doctrine that man has
concocted. Isaiah, a long time ago, asked
this question. He said, who hath believed our
report? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Let's answer that question by
God's Word. Who believes this report? To
whom is this revealed? Well, our Lord tells us in Mark
chapter 2, He said, When the scribes and the Pharisees saw
Him eating with publicans and sinners, they said unto His disciples,
How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? He claims to be God in the flesh,
the Son of God, and yet he's eating with these no-good, wretched
people. What's the deal? And Jesus heard
it. And He said unto them, They that
are whole have no need. They have no need of the physician,
but they that are sick, they need a physician. I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Who believes,
dear friends? Who believes this report? To
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? I'll tell you. Needy, sick sinners. That's who. Are you a needy,
sick sinner? Those that have no need need
no Savior. That's right. That's right. They that are whole have no need
of a physician, but sick people need a physician. They need a
doctor, don't they? Now let me ask you, do you go
to the doctor when you're well and you feel great? Now I know
there's certain times, like maybe a physical for a job or something
like that, you may not be sick, but I'm going to tell you something.
I don't like to go to the doctor, nor the dentist. Nor much of
anybody that wears white coats. It usually means a bad thing.
But we go to the doctor when we're sick. Our Lord didn't come to call
those that are well in their own sight. Those that are saying, I'm doing
pretty good on my own, thank you very much. But he did come
to call needy, sick, wretched sinners. And everyone born of woman is
a needy, sick sinner, but they don't all know it. God's got to reveal it to you.
God's got to show you. And those are the ones who believe
this report. These are the ones to whom it's
revealed. You can count on it. Are you
a needy, sick sinner? If God has shown you that you
are, let me tell you something. Now listen. I'm not being presumptuous
in saying this. If God has shown you that you're
a needy, sick sinner, there's good, good reason to believe
He will reveal His Son to you. Oh, I remember the first time
I saw, I was a needy sick sinner. I knew I needed a physician,
and not just any physician, I needed the great physician. You see, I had heart trouble,
bad heart trouble. My heart was deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked and there's only one that could
know it, the great physician. And you know what he did? He
took out that old stony heart and he put in one that beats
after his will, that beats after his son. God did heart surgery
on me. If God showed you what you are,
there's a good reason to believe that He's going to reveal His
Son to you. Now this morning I want to quickly
give you six things to consider. Six things. He that hath the
Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. First is why must I believe on
Christ? I believe I've almost already
answered that. He's life. And I'm dead. If I'm dead, I need life. I must believe on Christ because
not only am I a needy, sick sinner, but I'm a condemned needy, sick
sinner. Condemned. Deserved to die. deserve to die spiritually. If
God truly shows you your sin, your evil, your need, you will,
believe me, cry for redemption. If God shows you. No one will
have to beg you. No one will have to entice you
to believe. You'll believe. Because with
the message of what you are and who you are, there's a message
of hope and redemption that God gives in the same breath. And John 3 says, He that believeth
on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
what? Condemned already. Born condemned. Because he hath
not believed. Why must I believe? Condemned. You're condemned. You deserve
nothing but the judgment and wrath of God. Because he hath
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And
this is the condemnation. Well, why am I condemned? Because men, lights come into
the world, and men love darkness rather than light because their
deeds were evil. Born evil, born condemned, love
darkness rather than light. We're justly condemned and hell-deserving
sinners, and we must believe that before we can have the Son
and have life. The wrath of God is upon us because
the Scriptures plainly teach that God is angry with the wicked
every day. And what are we but totally wicked? Yeah, totally. Well, I may be wicked, but I'm
not totally. Yes, you are. God says you are. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Let me tell
you something. Man's wickedness is not only
great in the earth, but it's great in the man. You think about that. Not only
is there wickedness everywhere, but in me. enough evil and wickedness to
send me to hell a hundred thousand times over. You see, we fell
a great fall in our father Adam, and every person, man, woman,
child born since that fall have been born condemned. As I said, our hearts are deceitful
above all things, desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17.9. Did you
read that this morning? You believe it too, don't you? David said in Psalm 14, the Lord
looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if
there were any that didn't understand and seek God. God knew the answer
before he looked. This is for our benefit. And
he said, they're all gone aside. They're all together become filthy,
wicked, wretched, stinking. There's none that doeth good,
not a one. This is why, this is why I must
believe on Christ. He that hath the Son has life. Second thing, God loves every
sinner that believes on Christ. In John 16, 27, Christ said,
For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came
out from God. Now listen, this is something
that's been preached for years and it's wrong. There is no,
I heard all my life, God is love. God is love. Jesus loves the
little children and all the children of the world, red, yellow, black.
My wife taught me that before I could barely talk. I've often said, I wonder if
folks that were drowning in the days of Noah, wonder what they
thought about the love of God. I wonder. There is no, listen to me now,
there is no love of God for us or anyone outside of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's no salvation for any
of us outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no grace, no
mercy, no forgiveness outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. None. You won't find it. Only in Him. He that hath the Son hath life. If we truly love Christ, Paul
said, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of
God. Which is where? In Christ Jesus
our Lord. Is that what your Bible says?
Romans 8, 39. You look at it when you get home. The Scriptures teach us in 1
Corinthians that, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all, all God's people, be made alive. 2 Corinthians 5.19, to
wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world, God's
people in the world, unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto you and I the word of reconciliation. Ephesians 1.19, and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe? According
to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ
There's no love outside of Christ From God to us when he raised
him from the dead and he set him at his own right hand in
heavenly places and dear friends I know those of you that come
regular, you know this but God does not love everybody in the
world But He loves everybody that loves
His Son. He loves everybody that believes
and trusts and kisses His Son. Every one of them. If you love
Christ, if He's your everything, Paul says, Thou art no more a
servant, but a Son. And if a son, then an heir, an
heir of God through Christ. Third thing, if you believe in
Christ, God caused it. God did it. In the book of Acts chapter 13,
it says, when the Gentiles, one day as the Gospel was preached,
it says, when the Gentiles heard this, the Gospel, the message
of Christ, and how He came to save the Gentiles, just like
the Jews, it says, they were glad. Oh, I would be too. And they glorified the Word of
the Lord. Were any of them saved? It says,
and as many. as were ordained to eternal life. Believed. If you believe in Christ, God
did it. God did it. As many who were
ordained by God Almighty before the foundation of the world, Second Timothy, who hath saved
us, God, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The only hope that I have been
reconciled to God is that the Lord Jesus Christ died for me. We believe because God purposed
for us to believe. Do you understand that? We believe
according to Ephesians 3.11, to the eternal purpose which
He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. It was purposed in Christ. We believe, because according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blame without before Him in love. That's why we believe. Christ stood one day and He said,
Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life. Oh, you pick out the parts here
and you think you're something special because you keep God's
law and you walk through the marketplace with your prayers
all stuffed in your robes so everybody can see how holy and
how wonderful you are and how much of a man of God you are.
He said, you search the Scriptures and you think in them, you have
eternal life. But I'm telling you, they are
those which testify of Me. This book is about Him. You think you have eternal life,
and they which testify, they are they which testify Me. And
you will not come to Me that you might have life. And yet God's people say, Thy
people shall be willing in the day of His power. Listen, our will is not to come,
but God Almighty changes our will. I would not come to Christ that
I might have life, and God changed my will. Thy people shall be
willing. Oh, He makes us willing. in the
day of His power. Only, only, only by the power
of God and in the beauty of holiness can this be accomplished. When it says, our people shall
be, that means they once weren't. They shall be though. Everyone. Fourth thing. Those who believe
are persuaded and certain that Christ is all. Paul wrote to Timothy in the
second letter in chapter one, he said, But now is made manifest
the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles. And for which cause I do suffer
these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed." Why aren't you
ashamed, Paul? For I know whom. I know whom
I have believed. And I am persuaded that He is
able What are you persuaded about? I'm persuaded that he is able. That's how believers talk. He's
able. Nothing too hard for him. He's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. Paul said in another place in
being fully persuaded that what he has promised, he was able
also to perform. I'm persuaded that He's able
to perform all that He's promised. All God's people are. We're persuaded
and we know that God is able. He's able to do what? That first
word, oh man, we pass over it so quick. He's able to keep. He's able to keep. What? What's He say? All that
I've committed unto Him. I trust Him to save my soul and
He'll keep it. Salvations of the Lord, dear
friends, He's able to keep us. Paul said in Romans 8, I'm persuaded
that neither death nor life nor angels, principalities, powers
or things present or things to come, no matter how high, doesn't
matter how deep, no other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. That's where the love of God
is. Speaking of all the fathers of
faith, all those in Hebrews 11, the writer says, these all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them. and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on this earth. You know what? I'm just
a stranger and a pilgrim on this. I'm just passing through, aren't
you? You go down to where Brother
Jack is right now and you ask him. He'll tell you, I'm just
passing through. I'm just a pilgrim. I'm just a stranger. And I'm
going to leave this earth. And I'm going home. Number five, this is the most sobering. Not
everyone here this day believes on Christ. I wish, I wish they did. Even those that were with Christ
walked with Him daily. He said, He told them one day,
He said, It's the spirit that quickeneth the flesh, don't profit
you anything. The words that I speak unto you,
they're spirit and they're life. And then He said these sobering
words to those that were with Him. But there are some of you
that believe not. I'm not going to be so foolish
to presume that everyone here this morning believes and trusts
in Christ. There are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and He knew who should also betray
Him. And then He said, Therefore have
I said unto you, that no man can come unto Me. Are you ready for one of the
most precious words you've ever heard? Except. Except it were given unto him of my Father. How can men read these words
and think they have anything to do with their salvation? No
man can come, and if you could, you will not come, that you might
have life. except the God. It's contrary to what many preach
today. I'll tell you about the authority
of the Scriptures. Christ didn't die for everybody
in the world. If Christ died for everyone in
the world, you know what? Everyone would be saved. To say
that Christ died for one who's not saved is to say that he failed.
that he's a failure. Is there any in hell for whom
Christ died? I beg to differ. No, there's
not. You know why men are in hell?
Because they did not kiss the Son of God. That's why. Kiss the Son lest He be angry
and you perish from the way. When His wrath is kindled Now
there are many that call Him Savior, and I'm about done. But
they call Him Savior because they choose Him. They decided,
they say, to let Him save them. Isn't that what they say? Seriously. I have decided to follow Jesus. No, God decided that you follow
Him. That's the truth of Scripture,
dear friends. I'm not lying to you. Look it up in your Bible.
You might tell someone, do you know what that preacher told
me? Listen, I can't take the glory
for it. That's what Christ said. I believe
it by God-given faith the same way you must. No man can come except if we're
given. It's a gift. It's a free gift. You know when it ceases to become
a gift? I just thought about this. When
you won't receive it. When you won't take it. When
you won't bow to it. Here, I got you a gift. No thank
you. Then it ceases to be a gift, doesn't it? But all those that
God chose, they're going to take that gift now. And they're going
to be glad to have it. They ain't going to have to be
begged to take it. They're going to take it. Give it to me. I
want it right now. I would have never, ever, ever
believed, dear friends, except it were given to me by God. Sixth thing, and I'm done. All who believe on Christ will
come to Him. Everyone. John 7, in the last day, that
day of the feast, Jesus stood and He cried. Oh, He didn't cry
like a baby. He cried out in urgency. If any man thirsts, any man thirsts,
Let him come unto me and drink. Matthew writes, he stood and
said, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and
I'll give you rest. And here's something I know to
be true now. I know it. How do you know it?
I just know it. By faith, I know it. If God has made you thirsty,
If God has made you thirsty. Not that a preacher has threatened
you to be thirsty because you're going to hell. That's not what
I'm talking about. Has God made you thirsty? If so, you're going
to come and drink. You're going to come. And you're
going to drink. And you're going to be glad about
it. If God's made you labor over your sin, and you're heavy laden
because of it, I guarantee you, you'll come and you'll have rest. I can't guarantee much in this
life, but I can guarantee you that. It's not me that's doing it.
That's the reason I can guarantee it. It's my God, my sovereign
Lord who works all things after the counsel of His own will. In closing, let's look at our
text one more time. Verses 11 and 12. And this is
the record. This is God's record. That God
hath given to us eternal life. That to us, again I remind you,
is a letter written to believers. God has given to us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
hath not life. Now I've just given you six things.
Why must I believe on Christ? He's life. Are you interested
in life? He's life. God loves every sinner
who believes because Christ is life. It's God that gives life. If you believe on Christ, God
caused it. He is life, and life comes from
Him and Him alone. Those who believe and are certain
that Christ is all in all, you know why? Because He's alive. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep all that I've committed to Him. Fifthly, not everyone here today
believes on Christ. He hath not life. He hath not life. And all who believe on Christ
will come to Him. He is life. He's life. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not alive." Come to Christ. And I say that knowing
full and assuredly that only Christ can bid you to come. But
are you thirsty? He'll give you drink.