First John chapter 5, I want to read beginning in verse
9 and verse 13. So, Larry, this evening I've
been praying, and I've prayed to this end, and I hope and I'd
like for you to pray with me that the Lord would maybe grant
to me some understanding of directions to go in regards to studying
some of his epistles or books in the Old Testament. It seems
like for the last couple of years, I think we went through the book
of Jonah. It's the only book we've got into. And I love to
do that, and I think that's probably the best way to preach. Start
through a book like we do in our Sunday school class and go
right through it. But I just haven't been able to do that.
It seems like I've been lightening on these Five or six verses right
in the middle of a chapter. And, boy, you can't have it. You can't have it. So you pray
to that end for me, if you would, that the Lord would be gracious
and allow us and lead us in that direction. 1 John chapter 5,
and let's begin here reading in 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. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath a 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 hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have
I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God." If we receive the witness
of men, and we do. If you and I cease to believe
the witness of men, this world would cease to run as it does. If you and I go anywhere, the
first thing we do is get a map, and we believe what we see on
that map. We believe the people who wrote
the map. Someone has gone out and put up a road sign, and we
receive their witness. that those road signs are proper.
If you go to your doctor for examination, you receive his
testimony, don't you? We have courts of justice where
people take the stand and give their witness to what's happened,
and we receive men's testimony. Unless we find out otherwise,
it's in our mind to naturally receive what people tell us.
unless we find out otherwise. And as I said, this world would
cease to act as it does and transact business if we cease to receive
one another's testimony. And you and I have received people's
testimony that we don't know. that we've never seen before,
but we've received their testimony, their witness. Let me show you
a couple of places. Look over here to your left in
2 Peter 2. Look at this. If we receive the
witness of men, and we most certainly do, look in 2 Peter 2 or chapter
1, look in 2 Peter 1 and verse 16, look at this. Here's what Peter said, and when
he tells us this, we give credit to what he said. We weren't there,
we don't even know this man, but we give credit to what he
tells us. Look in verse 16, 2 Peter 1. We have not followed cunningly
devised fables. when we made known unto you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty." And he's going to tell us something now that
he witnessed himself. And you and I are going to receive
his testimony. And here's what he said. For he received from
God the Father honor and glory, When there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, and whom
I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mountain."
That's what Peter told you and I. And you and I weren't there
to see that. But he was, and he told us about
it. He said, I saw His skin glowing, and even His clothes He had on
was whiter than the driven snow. And I heard this voice come from
heaven concerning the Lord Jesus. And it said, This is My beloved
Son. Peter said, I heard that. And you know something? I believe
He did. I give credit to what He's told me. Look over here
back to your right in the book that we're in, 1 John 1. Look at this. I mean, some great
things people have told us and testified to us about, and we're
willing to receive their testimony. Look here in 1 John 1, look in
verse 1. 1 John 1, verse 1. That which was from the beginning.
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word
of life. For the life was manifested,
that's what we looked at this morning, manifested in flesh.
Christ made flesh. And we have seen it And bear
witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the
Father, and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and
heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ, and these things
right with to you, that your joy may be full." I believe what
he said. I receive His testimony. If we
receive the testimony of men, the witness of men, and we do,
and we do. There are things that you folks
have told me. I wasn't there when it happened. Pretty amazing
thing. But I believe it. I received
what you said. And here's man that tells us
of these amazing things. John said, I'm telling you, I
handled the Son of God. I leaned upon the breast of this
living Word. I saw Him. I looked in His eyes. I smelled Him. I ate with Him. I sucked with Him. John, I believe. I believe. And I've got fellowship
with them, don't you? We do. I'll tell you another
good one. We won't turn over there, but one I thought of,
over in Acts 10, verse 43, where Peter was preaching to Cardinal Enosis. And he said to the Lord
Jesus Christ, gave all the prophets witness, they all witnessed of
him concerning him, that whosoever believeth in him, shall have
remission of sin." Oh, that's a good witness. I believe that,
too, don't you? Whosoever believes in them. That's
what they tell me, and I receive their testimony. Look back over
here in our text. Look what he says. If we receive
the witness of men, look at this, the witness of God is great. I mean, if you and I are willing
to receive the witness of men, how much more so should we be
willing to receive the witness of God Himself? It's possible
for man to err, but we receive His witness. It's not possible
for God to err. He's all-wise. Man may sincerely
be mistaken, but God knows everything. Man may deliberately lie, but
God cannot lie. Man may deceive us, God will
not deceive us. Man may change his testimony,
God is the faithful and true witness. If we receive the witness
of men, the witness of God is greater. Man's witness reach
our ears, the witness of God reaches our conscience. Let an earthly king do what he
will, his testimony may be resisted. But I tell you, when God speaks,
when God testifies, if He wills it to be, it cannot be resisted. Where the words of the King is,
I mean the King of glory, there's power. I may tell somebody something,
and they won't believe me, but I tell you God is greater than
I am. And when he speaks, he can break through the prejudice,
he can break through the darkness, he can break through the unbelief,
and he can reach the conscience and heart of a man. The witness
of God is greater. You want me to show you that?
Look over here with me in Psalms 18. I'll put you a little marker
right there in 1 John. And look in Psalms 18, in verse
43 and verse 44. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. Look what he said in verse 43.
Look at this. Thou hast delivered me, there's
the Lord Jesus speaking, from the strivings of the people.
Thou hast made me the head of the heathen. Ask of me, I'll
give you the heathen, for you're inherited. A people whom I have
not known shall serve me." Not known, I mean regeneration. Look
at verse 44. As soon as they hear of me, they
shall obey me. The strangers shall submit themselves
unto me." When? As soon as they hear from me.
As soon as they hear from me. That's a powerful witnessing.
You take a man just like you and I, living in this world like
there was no tomorrow, without God, without hope, walking according
to the course of this world. Without God, without His Son,
without hope. We were strangers to the covenant
of promise. And he spoke to our hearts. And
what did we do? Well, we got down, didn't we?
I mean, we went down at his feet. Lord, what would you have me
to do? There have been some pretty mighty men, pretty big rebels,
and I tell you, the Lord broke them. And you know how he done
it? By bearing witness to them. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. The witness of God is greater. Look over here in our text again. 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. What is this Here that he's
saying, the witness of God. This is the witness of God which
he hath testified of his Son. Well, if you stay in the context,
you'll find two or three things. The water is a witness. And if
you'll read ten commentaries, you'll find ten different explanations
of what the water is. The blood is a witness. The Spirit,
of course, he says there, is a witness. But in a broad sense
of the word, What is the testimony of God concerning His Son? It's
the whole Bible. It's the Old Testament and the
New Testament. This is a book concerning the
record that God gave of His Son. That's what it's about. All the
prophecies in the Old Testament, who were they about? All the
prophecies of someone who's coming, who was that about? All the pictures
that we've seen, and all the types of the shabbos, who do
those shabbos, who do they prefigure? Whose picture are they? The Lord
Jesus Christ. To Him gave all the prophets'
testimony, from Moses through Malachi. It's all the testimony
of God concerning His Son. And when those apostles and prophets
would preach in the New Testament and write, Their preaching and
their writing didn't originate with them. They didn't tell what
originated in their hearts and minds. They preached as the Spirit
of God moved upon them and opened their hearts, and that's why
they preached Christ. It was the record God gave of
His Son. You remember when the Apostle
Paul was writing Corinthian church, and he said, he said, when I
came to you, I did come with excellency of speech or wisdom,
declaring unto you what? The testimony of God. I was with
you in weakness and fear and in much trembling, and my speech
and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and power. The testimony of God
is concerning Christ. Christ and Him crucified. That's
what He said, I preached. That's the testimony of God.
And when we see here in verse 9 that the witness of God which
has testified of His Son, that's the entire Bible. Brother Mayham
used to say it was a hymn book. Remember that? It's a hymn book. H-I-M book. It's about Him. It's the witness of God concerning
his Son. That's why, I guess, Revelation
22 tells us we'd better not take anything out of it. You'd better
be careful about removing something from this book. This is the glory
of God's Son. You'd better be careful about
adding something to it. This is God's testimony concerning
his Son. And look what he says now in
verse 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself. Look up here in verse 6. This is he that came by water
and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water
and blood, and it is the Spirit that bareth witness. It's the Spirit that bears witness.
And he says in verse 10, He that believeth on the Son of God hath
the witness in himself. He has the Spirit. Every believer
has the Spirit in himself. The Spirit bears witness with
our spirit that we're children of God. The Lord Jesus said when
He comes, He's going to guide you in all truth. He's going
to bear witness of me. He's going to glorify me. But
you know, there's another witness too. That's the witness of the
Word. The witness of the Word. And
that's what the Spirit bears witness to. You remember when
Paul was writing to Thessalonians, he said, our gospel came not
to you in word only. But when he says that, he means
it came in word. It came in word, but not word
only. Well, how did it come? It came
in power, and in much assurance, and in the Holy Ghost. And what
he's saying there is the Holy Ghost takes the word, and he
bears witness to our spirits. Ain't it a wonderful thing, brothers
and sisters? when the Spirit takes this old,
old book. Most of these things were written
thousands of years ago. The youngest one was written
1,900 years ago or so. And the Spirit takes these things
that are so old, and He brings them to our hearts, to our spirits,
and they suddenly become alive. And they're so fresh, and he
uses this Bible, the Word of God, to bear witness to our spirit. David said, this is my comfort
in my afflictions. Thy Word hath quickened me. This is my comfort when I'm full
of doubt. This is my comfort when I'm in
trouble. This is my comfort when I'm under
his heavy rod of chastening. This is my comfort in my affliction.
Thy word hath quickened me. That's what the Spirit uses,
and that's what you and I have in our hearts. Believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have this witness in ourselves. What a comfort to have this witness.
And look what else he says here in verse 10. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath no witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar." Man, I tell you, there's nothing
that bothers me any worse than somebody telling me I'm a liar.
If I've lied to somebody and they confront me with it, it
breaks my heart that I've lied. And if somebody tells me I've
lied and I haven't, it makes me mad. I don't want to be called
a liar. Reckon what God's going to think
of a man. Reckon what God's going to say to a man. Reckon what
God's going to do to a man that calls him a liar. I doubt if he's going to like
that. Do you? He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar. The scripture says men can do
things that they can't do. God is not a liar. It's impossible
to make him a liar. But John says those who believe
not God hath in this sense made him a liar. Why? Because he believes
not the record that God gave of his son. I tell you, I can't answer for
these heathen nations, these people that's in darkness. Ain't
no sense in me trying to answer for those people. They'll have
to answer for themselves. But there's a lot of people around
here, there's a lot of people in this country that's going
to have their hands full when they stand before God. Because
they've heard the truth, they've read it in his word, and they
will not believe. They will not believe. You will
not come to me that you might have life. Ain't that what he
said? And they made God a liar. And I wouldn't want to stand
before the everlasting God, having not believed Him. Would you? They believe not the record that
God gave of His Son. Look in verse 11. And this is
the record. This is the record. Here it is. Here's the record.
If men don't believe what verse 11 says, they've made God a liar.
Now here's three things that we can see in it. Here's the
record. First of all is this. Life is
a gift of God. This is the record, number one,
that God has given to us eternal life. Life is a gift of God. God gives life. You can't marry
it. There's nothing you can do to
earn it. You don't deserve it. It's a gift of God. That's the
first thing about that. If a man don't believe that,
he's made God a liar, isn't he? If a man has life, it's because
God gave it to him. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, and now we're alive. Why? God's given us life. And number two, This life that
God gives is eternal. This is the record that God has
given to us, eternal life. God has never given anybody life,
eternal. And tuck it back. He's never
given temporary life. If a man perishes in hell, he's
never had life. Because the only life that God
gives, Larry, is eternal life, everlasting life. And I tell
you one thing, when He gives it, He'll never take it back.
The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. And you'll
never want Him to take it back, will you? It's a gift of God,
it's eternal, and look at this, where it's found, who it's in. And this life is in His Son. Life, Brother Larry said this
morning, is not in the church. It's not in ceremonies. It's
not in denominations. It's in a person. It's in the
Lord Jesus Christ. As the Father hath life in himself,
so has he given to the Son to have life in himself. And this
eternal life that God gives is the very life of His Son. That's His life it is. Don't
you feel sorry for those Muslims over there in the East blowing
themselves up. And blowing a lot of people up
with them. And thinking they're going to heaven and have life
eternal. Don't you feel sorry for these Baptists that think
they've got life because they're walking the aisle. Don't you
feel sorry for these Catholics, trusting in their masses and
delighting in candles and their superstitions? Life is in one
place. This is the record. Life is in
the Son. It's in the Son. And therefore, it stands to reason,
he says here in verse 12, that he that hath the Son hath life."
That stands to reason, doesn't it? If this life is in His Son,
then therefore John just simply reached this conclusion, if you
have the Son abiding in your heart, if the Son by His Spirit has
come into your heart and abides there, and He's there, then you
have life eternal. And he that hath not the Son
of God, if the Son of God is not in your heart, if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He does not
have life. And here in verse 12 and 13,
John gives these two things as proof of our having eternal life. You and I can't relate to life
eternally. We can't get a hold of that.
Life eternal? We sure can't live in the assurance
of it without some proof. We have to have proof of our
eternal life. And John offers two proofs here,
two evidences Then if you and I can lay hold of these things,
we can live in the assurance that we have eternal life. The
first one is found here in verse 12. Look at this. I'll just read
it to you. He that hath the Son, that is in his heart, abiding
there, he hath life. The question then this evening,
do we have the Son of God? Does he abide in our hearts by
faith? Does he dwell in us? That's what you and I need to
prove. If we can prove that, we don't have to doubt that we
have eternal life. Do you think highly of the Lord
Jesus Christ in your heart? Those who have Christ in their
hearts think highly of Christ. Do you admire the Son? Do you love Him? Do you love
to speak highly of Him? Do you have high thoughts of
Him? Does it break your heart to offend Him? Do you want to
know Him? Do you want to know Him better?
Do you see in Him such merit and worth that it makes you count
your own merit but done? Is your greatest need and desire
to worship Him and obey Him and exalt Him in this life? Is it your goal by His grace
to be not only with Him, but to be like Him? It's sort of examining yourself
to see if Christ is in you. Because He that hath the Son
in Him has life eternal. You say, Bruce, I can't apprehend
if I have life or not. That's not the question. The
proof is this. Do you have Christ? Is the Son
of God yours? If He's yours, that's the proof. Then you don't have to doubt
you have life. Do you pray with a church of
old, Lord draw me and I'll run after you? Do you yet pray, I
am thine Lord, save me? Do you count it your greatest,
greatest thrill to believe that you could be with Him someday,
and you'd count that your greatest gain? Is Christ in you? Do you have the Son? Then you
have life. The truth of having life is having
the Son. You can't prove you have life
until you prove you have the Son. And proving you have the
Son in you, you don't have to doubt that you have life. That's
John's reasoning in it. And he offers another proof here
in verse 13. Look at this. These things have
I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know. that ye have eternal life, and
that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." How do we
know that we have eternal life? We believe on His name. Ain't
that what he said? Believing is the proof that life
is ours. Believing is not the cause. God
is the cause. Believe it is not the lie. Christ
is the lie. Believe it is the channel by
which Christ comes and abides in our hearts. Christ dwells
in our hearts by faith. What John did not say is very
important. Those things have I written unto
you that you might believe that you have eternal life. That's
not what he said, is it? He didn't say, I'm not writing
these things unto you that believe you have eternal life. That would
be a difficult thing to believe, that you have eternal life. That's
a big blessing, ain't it? The bigger blessing, the more
difficult it is to believe. So John didn't say, I'm not writing
to you that believe you have eternal life. You've seen these
fellows drag these guys up off the mourner's bench and say,
do you believe you have eternal life? That's not the question,
is it? That's not the proof that you
have eternal life, because you believe you have. Here's the
proof that John said, the proof is, these things are writing
to you that believe in the Son of God. And believing in Him,
then He says that you may know that you have eternal life. That's
the proof. That's the evidence. And that's
the assurance. You live in Christ. You believe
in Christ. You can live in the assurance
that you have everlasting life. I'm the resurrection. I'm the
life. He that believeth on me, Lord,
were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever believeth and liveth
in me shall never die." But the assurance doesn't come, brothers
and sisters, by believing you have eternal life. The assurance
comes by believing you have the Son. Believing in the name of
the only begotten. Look in chapter 2 of John's writings. Look here in chapter 2, look
in verse 25, look at this. This is the promise. 1 John, 1 John, chapter 2, verse
25. This is the promise. That He,
that God, God in Christ, hath promised us eternal life. There it is. Well, God's given
us a lot of precious promises. Great promises. Exceeding great
promises. But it's not the greatness of
the promise that demands our faith, but the greatness of Him
who promised. The greater the promises are,
the greater would be the difficulty of believing those promises.
You and me believing that we have eternal life. Brothers and
sisters, I don't know about what you think of yourself, but there's
a time when I feel like I'm more deserving of hell than heaven.
I'm more worthy to die today than live forever. Me and you
possessing everlasting life. That's a great promise, ain't
it? That's a great promise. But our faith is not so much
in the blessing promised. Listen to this now. Our faith
is not so much in the blessing promised, but in the One who
promised the blessing. That's where it's at, ain't it?
Not in a great promise, but in a great promiser who can never
out-promise himself. You may look at the promise and
say, oh, that's a great promise, and despair to think that you've
got any hope of ever obtaining such a promise. So it's not the
promise you've got to look at and the greatness of it, but
the greatness of the one who makes the promise. Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, believing what God had promised he was able
to provide. His faith wasn't so much in the
promise. His faith was in the promise. And don't you imagine
sometime when Abraham looked at the greatness of what was
promised, that he wondered how in the world is this going to
come to pass? And here I am, a hundred years old, and Sarah
is ninety, and her womb is shut up, and she's barren. How in
the world can we have a child? But that was the promise. But
Abraham did not look at the greatness of the promise or the difficulty
of it, but he looked at the greatness of Him who had promised. And
that's the foundation of faith, ain't it? Sarah received strength to conceive
seed, because she judged him faithful who had promised." The
promise stands upon sure ground. He'll be fulfilled. Not one single
word that God has promised will ever fall to the ground, brothers
and sisters, and it's because of the faithfulness of Him who
promised. Oh, Bruce, I have my doubts and
I have my fears. Of what? Of what? Whether or not I have eternal
life. Is that what you feared? Well, you get in the cart before
the horse. You wonder if you have eternal life? You doubt
if you have eternal life? You're looking at the greatness
of what God promised instead of to Him who promised. Look to Him who promised. Believe
in Him who promised. Depend upon Him who promised.
And when you begin to apprehend something of His faithfulness
and His greatness, then you won't have to doubt the promise. See
that? That's what John said. These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God. First and foremost, he said,
you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, you believed
upon Him. You're dependent upon Him. You're
cleaving to Him. You're relying wholly upon the
dear and blessed Son of God. Well, I want you to know, he
said, in the light of that, that you have eternal life. And just
keep on believing. And as you live and believe in
Him, you can live and be sure that possessing Him, the One
who promised, you possess that life eternal. God has so fixed it. that you
and I cannot have the gift, but as we possess the gift. We do
not glory in the promise, but we first and foremost and always
glory in Him who promised. We have assurance of the promise
because we plead to Him who promised. The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but
upon my King of grace. Not at the crown he giveth, but
on his pierced hand. The Lamb has all the glory in
a man's land. And God has fixed it that way.
You can't have anything You can't have anything. You can't have
assurance of anything good from God apart from faith in His dear
and blessed Son. That's one of the things that
I see wrong today with these preachers trying to convince
the world that God loves them. That's what I see wrong with
this. A lost man that's living in rebellion
against the Son of God cannot believe God loves him. For he
does not. That's beside the point. He can't
believe he can't. You know why? The love of God
is in Christ Jesus the Lord. Life is in Christ Jesus the Lord. And the assurance of it all is
in Christ Jesus the Lord. So in the light of this passage
here, what should you and I do? Plead to Christ. Find yourself
in Him. Find your all and all in Him. And then you can live in the
assurance of all He's promised you. May God bless His Word.