In John's first epistle, he writes
to the Church of God as the family of God, a family in fellowship
with one another, a family in fellowship with our Father. When he wrote this epistle John
was already an old man, an old man who had faithfully served
the cause of Christ and the people of God for many, many years. And he writes the epistle as
a father writing to his children. It's one of the most intimate
family letters written in all the Word of God. The only thing
more intimate, perhaps, is the Song of Solomon. John writes
to these believers. He doesn't specify which congregation
the letter is sent to, because the Spirit of God didn't so direct
it. But he's obviously writing to
a congregation that he loved dearly, a congregation that loved
him dearly and respected him as a child would respect and
love and honor a good and faithful father. Throughout these five
chapters, John speaks to God's children as his children. And the intent of the Holy Spirit
clearly is that each local church, that means you and I here right
now, tonight, are to read and hear God our Father speak to
us in this epistle as to his dear children in this world. that which runs continually through
the epistle is the love of God our Father, the grace of God
in his dear Son our Savior, and the blessed fellowship that is
ours by the Spirit of God through faith in Christ. All of the apostles had to deal
with the same things that God's servants to this day continually
have to deal with, things that cause disturbance and difficulty.
John, like Peter and Paul, had to deal with heresies, heresies
that came into the Church early. Shortly after the death and resurrection
of our Redeemer, the Church of God was just swept with heresies
of one kind and then another. In these heresies, there are
many things clearly that John was dealing with here, though
he doesn't call them by name specifically. First was the matter
of Gnosticism, that is, the notion that somehow salvation comes
to men and women who arrive at a special degree of knowledge
and understanding. That we get a certain measure
of light and knowledge, then we have obtained God's salvation
by our great learning. It's a horribly proudful thing,
but it's very common. It was in John's day, and it
is in our day. The fact is, salvation does not
come by learning. Salvation does not come by the
acquiring of human wisdom and knowledge to any degree. Salvation
comes by revelation. Christ must be revealed in you. If he's revealed in you, you
will know him. If he's not revealed in you,
everything you know is useless knowledge as far as this matter
of salvation is concerned. Salvation is not what you know,
it's who. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. Now John deals with this decisively
in the opening verses of chapter 1. He tells us in 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,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested, revealed
unto us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with
us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son, Jesus Christ." Another horrible evil, common in John's
day and common in our day, was the notion that that which is
physical is evil. That leads many to deny that
the Lord Jesus Christ is actually God come in human flesh. They deny that God could actually
become a man, that he could actually take on himself human nature,
that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was actually incarnate.
And so they teach various things concerning that, but it's a denial
that Christ actually came in the flesh. But this notion that
all things physical are evil leads to another error. Another
era that's prominent throughout the religious world, particularly
prominent throughout conservative, fundamentalist religion in our
day. And that is the idea that we
can make ourselves more spiritual. We can make ourselves holy. We
can cause ourselves to be brought into nearer fellowship and communion
and union with God if we will just not give ourselves any kind
of physical pleasure, if we will deprive ourselves of things that
we delight in. So that men and women are taught
that they can be more spiritual if they don't marry, if they
live in celibacy like nuns and priests, or at least claim to.
Or we can make ourselves close to God if we'll give up eating
broccoli for lunch, or we'll make ourselves close to God if
we don't use this thing or don't use that, or if we dress a certain
way or talk a certain way. All of those things are nothing
but a horrible form of works religion. Touch not, taste not,
handle not, and by these things you'll draw near to God. That
horrible evil is nowhere implied in the word of God. Our relationship
with God is internal and it is spiritual. It is a union of life
and faith with Christ. Godliness is not in doing and
not doing this thing or that. Godliness is not in what you
eat or what you drink or what you choose not to eat or drink.
Godliness is not in what you wear or whether you have a television
in your house. Godliness is righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. It is altogether a matter of
faith. Again, in John's day as in ours, there were many who
taught what's commonly called perfectionism, and that is that
men and women can and must so grow in holiness that they ultimately
can and ought to grow to be all together without sin before God. Now, nobody would say just out
and out, this is a work that we do on our own to make ourselves
perfect before God. But rather, this is a work we
do by the aid and assistance and grace of God the Holy Spirit,
who planted a principle of holiness within us. But now it is our
responsibility to nurture that principle so that we grow more
and more holy until at last we have no sin in us. And yet at
the same time, within the same group of people, there were those
who taught that a man's character and conduct are of no significance
at all, so long as he believes the right doctrine, confesses
the right faith, then it doesn't matter how he lives. And so they
promote licentiousness. All of these things John deals
with and deals with plainly in this book. He declares that all
who live in licentiousness are the children of the devil and
not the children of God. Now, as he writes, John writes
with a pastor's heart. He's not writing as an academic.
If you read this book, because I've read it several times since
yesterday afternoon, and you try to come up with some kind
of an outline, as you would outline a history book or outline a textbook
of any kind, you look at John's epistle and try to outline it,
you're going to beat your head against the wall, because John
speaks to dear children. And over and over again, he refers
to these, his dear children, who are the children of God.
Men and women dear to him as children are to a father. And
he says something to them, and then he goes to something else,
and he comes back to this, and he goes, and he comes back to this,
and he goes, and he comes back to this, continually coming back
to the basis of all that is vital concerning life and godliness
in this world for God's people. Now let's look at it, beginning
in chapter 1. I'll give you some headings of each chapter, but
that's certainly not an outline. Here John declares to us that
Christ is the word of God. He assures us that the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Savior, that one in whom we trust, that one upon
whom we live, is God the eternal word, the word of life and the
word of God by whom life is given to us. We'll read it again, verse
1. That which was from the beginning,
that's Christ, which we have heard, that's Christ, which we
have seen with our eyes. He was one of those who saw the
Savior in the mouth of transfiguration. Peter, James, and John, they
said, I saw him transfigured before my eyes. And we have looked
upon, the word is gazed with amazement upon him. and our hands
have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested,
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." In these verses John gives us a mammoth volume of sacred
theology. He tells us here that Jesus Christ,
the That man who was crucified at Calvary, who now sits on the
throne of glory, who lived and died as our substitute, that
man is eternal. He is that which was from the
beginning. Now, there is only one who is
from the beginning. And that one who is from the
beginning is the eternal God who began all things. He tells
us that Jesus Christ, this man who is our Savior, is eternal
life. That eternal life which was with
the Father. He's the word of life. The one
by whom and in whom God, who is life, resides. In whom and
by whom God, who is life, is revealed to us. That one who
is life and the one who gives life. That one in whom and by
whom we have life eternal. And he tells us that this one
who is the word of life is God incarnate. He said the life was
manifested. God is life. He alone is life. We have life. Jesus Christ is the word, the
revelation, the communication of life. And this life is manifested
in the person who came into this world 2,000 years ago, the God-man,
our Savior. We've seen it. We've gazed upon
it. We stand in awe of it. Now look
carefully at verse 3. John's purpose in writing this
epistle is that we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ might
live together in the sweet, blessed fellowship of Christ. And then
he tells us that which is the basis of life and all true fellowship
with God's people in this world and with God himself. He says,
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you
also may have fellowship with us. The word is a word from which
we would get our word community, a communion, that we would have
things in common, as the apostles spoke of that being the case
in the early church in Acts chapter 2. It is the common bond of God's
people. People talk about fellowship. Believers have fellowship with
God and with one another. There's no possibility of fellowship
with unbelievers. No possibility. Doesn't matter
if you're married to them, doesn't matter if you're sons and daughters,
brothers and sisters, doesn't matter. No possibility of fellowship,
because the unbeliever is darkness, the believer is light. And light
and darkness have no agreement. The unbeliever lives totally
for self and the world. The believer seeks to fear God's
name and lives for him. The unbeliever is motivated by
principles of nature, the believer motivated by principles of grace.
So those who are brought together in unity around Christ have fellowship
one with another. They love each other, and they
walk together in peace because their hearts are set on one person,
and that's Christ our Redeemer. And loving him, they are bound
together in peace. John says, That which we have
seen and heard, declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship
with us, and truly, truly our fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Now this fellowship arises from
the knowledge of God in Christ, and the blessed life that's ours
in Jesus Christ, by his sin-atoning substitute as our Savior. John
says in verse 7, if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin. It is the fellowship of
light and knowledge. Look at chapter 1 verse 5. This
then is the message that we've heard of him in declaring to
you, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we
say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we
lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, then we have fellowship one with another.
This is a fellowship of faith in Christ Jesus. It is a unity
of faith. It is a union of faith. It is
a communion of faith. This blessed fellowship is the
fellowship of life and righteousness, hope, and love in Christ our
Savior. Look at chapter 2, verse 29.
Let me look at two or three passages here. If you know that he is righteous,
you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Chapter 3, verse 9. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God. Now here's the difference between
God's people and those who are not born of God. In this, the
children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.
Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother. Chapter 5, verse 1. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And every one
that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of
him. It is a fellowship of mutual
hope. a fellowship of righteousness, a fellowship of faith and life,
a fellowship of love in Christ our Redeemer. Now, walking together
with Christ, by faith in Christ, walking together with God who
is light. Now, please understand this.
When we talk about walking with God, we're not talking about
some kind of a mystical, super-pious experience. We're talking about
believers walking in this world with God. Walking with God. I go for a walk with my wife. I don't know why on earth anybody
would need me to explain to them what I'm doing. You call me up
and say, what did you do? Well, I went for a walk with Shelby.
Everybody here would understand that. And yet when we talk about
walking with God, nobody seems to understand what it is to walk
with him. is to walk hand in hand with
him, leaning on him. To walk with him, trusting him. To walk with him by faith in
Christ Jesus the Lord. Walking with him, continually
acknowledging our dependence upon him and the necessity of
his grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. Walking together in life
with God, by faith in Christ, John tells us that all who are
born of God All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are the
possessors of God's boundless, free grace in Christ. He tells
us, let's see here, four times, we're forgiven of all sin. He
tells us that we are the possessors of eternal life and can never
perish. It tells us that all who walk with God by faith in
Christ are men and women who are taught of God, and understand
all things because they're taught of God. Those who come to Christ
are people who have been taught of God, and being taught of God,
they come to Him. They are adopted as the children
of God, loved of God, and made to be lovers of God, and they
are forever accepted of God. Now look at chapter 2. John Here gives us a clear, assuring
declaration of the grace of God that is ours in Christ Jesus.
He begins this chapter by dealing with that which is most troublesome
to God's people in this world. That which is most perplexing. And that is our sin. Our sin. He's been talking about fellowship
with the Father, fellowship of life, fellowship of faith, fellowship
of righteousness, fellowship of light. And he says, Now these
things I've written unto you, that you sin not. Children of
God, don't sin. Don't sin. There's no excuse
for it. No justifying it. Don't sin. Don't sin. And then he says, and. I love that word. And. He's continuing the same
thought. And. If any man sin, the word if here is not an if
of supposition, but an if of argument. John's saying, and
when any man we have an advocate with the
Father. Jesus Christ the righteous, and
he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world, that is for the
sins of God's people scattered through all the world. These
two verses are two of the most precious,
most comforting, most assuring verses in all this book. And
yet, they remind us of the sad, sad fact that we must never forget,
and that is that God's people in this world are sinners. Sin is what we are by nature. Sin is mixed with everything
we do. so much so that we declare our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God, we are all as
an unclean thing. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The fact
is, God's people, all of God's people, learn and continually
learn to cry out with the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am! I know that in me that is in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing." We do sin. There is no such thing as a believer
who imagines he doesn't sin. Not a child of God. I'm talking
about in anything. the noblest thoughts of our hearts
are corrupted by our corrupt nature, much less the deeds. And yet John assures us that
our sins will never deprive us of our interest in Christ. He
says, And if any man sin, not we have lost our but we have
an advocate with the Father. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, sinners though we are. I recognize that people will,
some folks will get a hold of this on tape or in print and
they'll make all kinds of accusations, but I'm not concerned for them,
I'm concerned for you. And I want you to hear me. all of our sins, all that we
have ever committed or ever will commit, cannot in any way destroy
our union with Christ, or even our fellowship with God in Christ,
our oneness with God in Christ. Our knowledge of it, our experience
of it, the sweetness of it, yes, sin hinders that horribly. But it shall not in any way alter
our relationship with God Almighty. Can you get hold of this? Bob
Pontzer, our acceptance with God is in a substitute, not in
ourselves. Aren't you glad? It's in a substitute. What we
do or don't do has nothing to do with it. What we experience
in our day-by-day lives, be it good or bad, has nothing to do
with it. Our relationship with God, our
acceptance with God, our union with God, our fellowship with
God, the sweet smile of God upon us is altogether in a substitute. What I'm saying is this. When
we sin, these horrible, treasonous, inexcusable deeds and thoughts
and emotions will never tear us from our Savior's heart. God
hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquity. He never has. And he's not going
to start tomorrow. He never has. The Lord Jesus will never forsake
his wandering sheep. He will never leave his erring
child. Yes, I say with John, do not
sin. May God the Holy Spirit Strengthen
us with grace against that evil, corrupt nature that we are by
nature. And yet when you do say it, child
of God, don't despair. Your heavenly Father still says,
I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. For years I read our Lord's statements
to Peter in John 13. the end of the chapter, he said,
before the sun rises, before the cock crows, you're going
to deny me three times. Oh, not me, not me. Hang on, Peter, you're going
to find out. And he knew what Peter's response would be, utter
devastation, utter despair. When Peter cussed and denied
the Savior, And the cop crew, Peter went out and wept bitterly.
And he told his brethren, it's all been fake. I never knew God
or I couldn't have behaved like this. I'm going back where I
was. I'm going back fishing. He didn't
hear what the master said. Right after he made that statement,
you're going to deny me. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. Oh, what grace! If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Now John also gives us a reason
for this blessed assurance. He tells us that this one who
is our advocate, who bears our names before the Father, pleading
the merits of his own blood and righteousness for our eternal
salvation is Jesus Christ the righteous. And he's the propitiation
for our sins. This one whom we trust, this
one who is the word of life, this one who is life, this one
who is God come in the flesh, this is Jesus who saves his people
from their sins. He is the Christ spoken of throughout
all the Old Testament. This is the righteous man. And
this righteous man, by the sacrifice of himself, is the propitiation,
the justice-satisfying, mercy-seeking sacrifice for our sins. And not just for ours, but for
God's people everywhere. Then in chapter 3, John sets
before us the great, glorious privilege that's ours in Christ
as the sons of God. Now here's a cause for great
wonder. God Almighty so loved us that he made us his own dear
children. Look at verse 1. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should
be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. He called us his sons from eternity
in everlasting election when he adopted us, and now he has
made us his sons, making us partakers of the divine nature by the regenerating
work of his Spirit. Now are we the sons of God. We
are right now God's own children, God's own sons and daughters.
And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. I have not seen, neither have
e'er heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things
which God has prepared for them that love him. God has revealed
them to us by his Spirit, but still it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. But this is it, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself
even as he is pure. Now here's a cause for grave
concern. Our every sin is the transgression of God's holy law,
and calls for judgment and wrath and condemnation forever. John
says in verse 4, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law,
for sin is the transgression of the law. But here's a cause for unceasing
joy and praise to God. Christ has taken away our sins. All our sins. Past, present,
and future. Look at verse 5. You know that
he was manifesting to take away our sins. He's going right back
to what it said back in chapter 1. That life was manifesting. It was manifested. He who is
life, he who is God, came down here in human flesh and he took
on himself our nature to take away our sins. Now watch this. And in him is
no sin. This is what he's saying, Bobby.
He came here to take away your sin, and he did it. In him is
no sin. In yourself, Lindsay Campbell,
is nothing but sin. That's all. In him is no sin. In him we have no sin. We are as free from sin before
God as our Savior who was made to be sin for us, now in glory,
is freed from sin. The hymn writer put it this way,
for transgressions past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And, O my soul, with wonder view,
for sins to come there's pardon too. In Him is no sin." Now,
here's a cause for constant thanksgiving and prayer. Look at verse 16. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great
God and Savior, so loved us that he laid down his life for us.
to save us. That's just the way I ought to
love you. Just the way we ought to love
each other. Hereby proceed we, the love of
God. Because he laid down his life
for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Somebody said, he loved his wife so much he could
die for her, a woman, loved my husband so much I could die for
him, loved my children I'd die for them. Loving them is not
being willing to die for them. Loving them is dying for them. Our Lord Jesus wasn't willing
to die, he laid down his life for us. God teach me day by day to lay down my life
for my brethren, for my elder brother and for all my brothers
and sisters in him, continually dying to self. living for Christ
and his people. Then when we get to chapter 4,
John speaks about the servants of God. He tells us that many
Antichrists have gone out into the world, and he says, Now try
the spirits. He's not talking about trying
spirit beings. He's talking about trying the
spirit of a man. Try the spirits. And he's speaking
specifically about preachers. Try the spirits, whether they
are of God. Verse 2. Every spirit, he says,
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. Now here's the test. Here's the
acid test. Every true servant of God confesses,
in public as well as in private. that the Lord Jesus Christ, that
man who came into this world and died at Calvary, is himself,
God incarnate, and that he has accomplished everything the prophet
said he would accomplish, accomplished everything for which he came
into the world. Did he come in here to bring in righteousness?
He didn't. Did he come in here to save his people from their
sins? He did it. Did he come here to make an end
of transgression and iniquity and sin? He did it. Did he come
here to magnify the law and make it honorable? He did it. Did
he come here to fulfill all the prophets? He did it. Did he come
here to glorify God in the saving of his people? He did it. And
every spirit, every preacher who claims to be a servant of
God and Seems, oh, how I love Jesus, and nails clean as a hound's
tooth, and just as admired by everybody who does not confess
in public and in private that Jesus Christ did everything he
came here to do as Antichrist alone. Hereby know we the Spirit
of God, even the confessor that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh, is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God.
And this is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof you have heard that he
should come, and even now already is in the world. John's not talking
here about somebody getting up and saying, well, Jesus didn't
really come in the flesh. He certainly includes that. He's
talking about somebody who denies that Jesus came down here God
Almighty and in the flesh did everything the Christ of God
was to come here and do. He's talking about a denial of
the person and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then John assures us both of God's great love for us and of
every believer's love for him. Telling us that our love for
him is the response of our hearts
to his love for us, not the other way around. Look in verse 9.
And this was manifested, the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world, that we should live through him,
herein his love. Not that we loved God. We didn't. And we wouldn't. but that he
loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Verse 19. We love him. We didn't, but we do. We wouldn't,
but we do. We couldn't, but we do. Not like
we want to. Certainly not like we ought to.
not like we shall but love him oh yes I love the Lord because
he heard my voice and redeemed me out of the hand of my enemies
I love him yes every believer acknowledges such we love him
everything about him His word, His will, His character, everything
about Him. And here's the reason. Because
He first loved us. Our love for Him doesn't put
Him in the notion of loving us. He loved us with an everlasting
love. His love for us when it is known
and revealed in the blessed experience of his grace, causes the believer
to love him. Now look at chapter 5. Here John
speaks to us about the witness of God. The witness by which our hearts
ought to be assured of salvation in Christ, assured of our acceptance
with the Father. In the opening verses of this
chapter, he declares plainly that all who trust Christ are
born of God and love God. You see that in verses 1, 2,
and 3. And then he assures us that all who trust Christ overcome
the world, in verses 4 and 5. And beginning in verse 6, he
gives us assuring witnesses of God's great, great work of grace
for us, and the salvation that is ours in Christ his Son. He speaks here of God's own witnesses
of the efficacy of Christ's finished work, and his acceptance as our
substitute. First, look at verse 6. And 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 beareth
witness, because the Spirit is verse 8. And there are three
that bear witness in the earth, the Spirit, and the water, and
the blood, and these three agree in one. Now, there are lots of
interpretations, lots of folks have notions concerning what
is meant by the word water here. But looking at the passage in
its context, it seems clear to me that only one thing can be
meant. The witness of the water is our Savior's baptism, by which
he symbolically fulfilled all righteousness when the Father
spoke from heaven and said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. Hear ye him. The witness of the
blood is the testimony of the finished work of Christ Jesus,
shedding his blood as our sin-atoning sacrifice, by which he accomplished
and obtained eternal redemption for us at Calvary. And the witness
of the is the witness of God the Holy Spirit to the finished
work of Christ, when he comes by the word of God, by the gospel,
and convinces chosen sinners of sin, of righteousness, and
of judgment, causing us to look to Christ, who has taken away
our sin, who has endured the judgment of God and finished
condemnation for us, who is the Lord our righteousness. And then
he speaks of the witnesses in heaven. There are three that
bear witness in heaven, verse 7, bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. This is so clear a declaration
of the Holy Trinity that those who oppose the gospel of God's
grace have endeavored throughout the history of the Church to
eradicate this verse from Holy Scripture. Every modern translation
that you'll find, every one of them, every one of them written
in the last 200 years, either eliminates this verse from the
text or says it ought to be. Because this verse clearly states
the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and declares that the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit are one. and they bear record continually
of that which the Son has accomplished. God the Father bears record to
the Son as our substitute, for he received him back into heaven.
God the Son bears record as our accepted substitute, pleading
the merits of his obedience unto death as our advocate in heaven.
And God the Spirit bears record as well, convincing us of his
finished work by the gospel. And then in verses 9 through
15, John speaks of God's witness
within. He concludes that if we receive
anything at the mouth of two or three witnesses in the earth,
surely we ought to receive the testimony of God. The law says,
in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be
established. Look what it says, verse 9. If we receive the witness
of men, two or three eyewitnesses tell us something? That's good
enough for any jury. 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 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. For what is that record? That God hath given to
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the
had life. One thing I've got, I have the
sword. I have life. How can you be sure? Read on. These things I have
written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life. and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. I know the Son of God is mine
because I trust Him. How about you? That's all. I trust Him. Sometimes I feel
like I trust Him. Most of the time I don't. Sometimes
I feel real close to Him. Most of the time I don't. Sometimes
I feel like a living soul. Most of the time I don't. But
I trust Him. And I'd rather believe God than
believe my feelings and my experiences. How about you? He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting Oh, God give you grace now to believe.