All right, let's turn back to
that text in 1 John 5, 1 John chapter 5. Now, my message this
morning is the assurance of faith, the assurance of faith. I want to show you from the scriptures
that there are certain infallible witnesses by which believing
sinners may be assured of a saving interest in Christ. There are
certain infallible witnesses by which believing sinners may
be assured of a saving interest in Christ. In this fifth chapter
of 1 John, the apostle shows us who are the children of God
in this world how God's children are identified. He gives us by
divine inspiration certain indisputable, infallible witnesses by which
believing sinners may know that they have eternal life. In fact,
he tells us plainly that the purpose of this epistle is that
we might have this very assurance which we seek. Look in verse
13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God, for this purpose, that ye may know that
ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of
the Son of God. Now, in this passage, John is
telling us plainly that his purpose is to convey to God's elect the
assurance of faith. Look in verse one. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone
that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of
him. Now, John's statement is emphatic.
Anyone in the world, any man or woman, anyone old or young,
Anyone here, anyone anywhere who believes that Jesus, the
Jesus revealed in the scriptures, is the Christ, that person is
born of God. Hear me now. If you now believe
you are now born of God, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ,
you're born of God. That's the blanket statement
which John makes. John tells us very plainly that
that person who believes shows plain, clear evidence that he
is born of God, born again by the Spirit of God. Now, your
faith does not cause you to be born of God, but your faith is
the evidence that you're born of God. Faith is the evidence
of things not seen, the substance of things not seen, and the evidence
of things that are hoped for. Faith is the fruit of the new
birth, and the fruit of faith is love. He says here, and everyone
that loveth him that begat, that is, everyone who loves God, loves
him also that is begotten of him. So that God's children,
those who are born again by the Spirit of God, love one another. There's not any question about
that. We do not say God's children ought to love one another. God's
children do love one another. But our love for God and our
love for one another is so shallow, so fickle, so selfish, and so
sinful that we dare not make our love for God and our love
for one another the basis of our assurance. It is an identifying
characteristic of God's people. They love each other. But it's
not the basis of our assurance. When we look to our love, we
recognize that our love lacks so much that we can find no assurance
there. In verse 2, by this we know that
we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. Now John is telling us that love
is manifest by works. My wife knows my love for her
by the deeds which I perform toward her. But my deeds of love
Revealing my love to her do not reveal my love to myself. You
see? My daughter knows that I love
her by the way I treat her, by the things that I do for her.
But I know that I love her based on other grounds altogether.
And our love for God and his children is revealed by our works. It is not revealed and known
to us by our works, but rather it is revealed and known to our
brethren by our works. So that I know Bobby Estes loves
me by what he does. Now, that's the basis by which
we judge one another in this world. We know that we love God
when we keep His commandments. We know that we love one another
when we keep God's commandments. This is the basis upon which
our fellowship is built, the profession of faith and the evidence
of love. But we dare not suggest that
men make their love for us or their works to be a basis of
personal assurance. John is not telling us here that
our works of love and our deeds toward God and toward one another
prove that we are the children of God. He is simply telling
us that God's people identify one another by their love to
one another. The Apostle Paul, for example,
told the Thessalonians, we know your election of God because
of your work of faith and your labor of love. And I know you
to be God's children because of your work of faith and your
labor of love. But if you start looking to your
faith and your love as evidence that you're one of God's children,
buddy, you'll live and die in despair. You'll live and die
in despair because your work's not good enough. Your love is
not good enough. Your faith is not strong enough.
Then verse 3. The Apostle says, For this is
the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments
are not grievous, they're not irksome. Love obeys God in all
things with a willing heart. In order for me to find personal
assurance in my love for God, my obedience to God must be both
a willing obedience and a perfect entire obedience. If my obedience
is not perfect, my love is not perfect. And I cannot have assurance
if my assurance is based upon a personal love and obedience
that is not perfect. My works cannot give me assurance
and my love cannot give me assurance. But hear me now, there is a solid
foundation upon which true assurance may be built by those who believe. Look at verse four. For whosoever
is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. I'm certain of this. That which is born of God cannot
die. Those who are born of God shall
be triumphant. If you and I are born of God,
we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. We shall
overcome Satan. We shall overcome the prince
of this world. We shall overcome the lust of
our flesh, which are in the world. We shall overcome the religion
of this world and the teachings of this world and the cares of
this world and the trials of this world. If we're born of
God, we shall overcome the world. That's what John says here. This
is an absolute certainty. Those who are born of God shall
overcome the world. Look at the next line. And this
is the victory. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Faith. drawing its strength from
Christ, its object. Faith, drawing life from Christ,
its object, performs works of wonders in the earth. Read Hebrews
chapter 11. Faith, not the men themselves,
but faith, the object of their faith, performs wonders in the
world. It did in those days of old and
it still does today. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Faith drawing strength from Christ
persistently, ultimately, and completely overcomes the world. In other words, John is telling
us that faith alone is victorious. Faith alone prevails. Faith alone
conquers. And this victorious faith, look
at how John describes it. It is our faith. This is the
victory that overcometh the world. Our faith. Our faith. But Pastor,
You don't mean to say it's our faith. Yes, I do. But isn't faith
the gift of God? Of course it's the gift of God.
I know that. I know that, but it's my faith.
Look at this, look at this. That breath in my lungs, that's
the gift of God. But it's my breath. God gave
it to me. And the faith of my heart is
my faith. God gave it to me. It lives by
His grace. It's sustained by His power,
but it's my faith. As much a part of me, Jay, as
that hand is part of me. It's my faith. God has given
it to me. Now, in verse 1, John has told us, whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And he assures us that
faith produces both love and good works. Those things are
not to be denied. We do not dispute for a moment,
but rather plainly declare that true faith does produce love
toward God, love toward one another, and good works in this world.
Is that clear enough? Those things are proofs that
men and women to one another, proofs to one another that we
are born of God. They are evidences not to ourselves,
but to others that we are born of God. However, our confidence
is not in the victory of our love or in the success of our
works, but rather in the triumph of our faith. Because Christ,
the object of our faith, is triumphant, our faith shall be victorious
too. John is here laying a foundation for confidence and assurance.
But in order to do so, he must show us that neither our love
nor our works will support our souls and give us a confident,
assured hope. If you try to build assurance,
if you try to find assurance upon the foundation of what you
do, what you experience, what you feel, your assurance, if
you're an honest man, will be no assurance at all, but only
despair. Only despair. If we would have
assurance of a saving interest in Christ, our assurance must
be built on Christ alone. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. You ever wonder why the hymn
writer used that language? We have good frames and we have
bad frames. We have a good frame of mind
and a good frame of heart. And then the next day we have
a bad frame of mind and a bad frame of heart. And the hymn
writer says, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, not my highest
elevation of prayer and praise, not my deepest devotion, not
my most sincere feeling. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. His oath, His covenant,
and His blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around
my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ
the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. That's
our hope. Jesus Christ alone. Look at verse
5 now. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth? that Jesus is the Son of God. Do you see how John returns to
it? He makes the statement, if you believe you're born of God.
Now, that being born of God will cause you to love men, and that
being born of God will cause you to perform good works. It'll
cause you to obey God. But your assurance is not in
your love or your good works or your obedience, but rather
your assurance is this, Who is he that overcometh the world?
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. It is not
faith in myself or faith in my love or faith in my works that
overcomes the world, but faith in Christ, the Son of God. So
the singular basis of assurance is faith in Christ, the Son of
God. The singular basis of assurance
is faith in Christ, the Son of God. Now, if we rest our immortal
souls upon the merits of this man, Jesus Christ, if we rest
our immortal souls upon the merits of this man, trusting that he
is indeed the son of the living God, we must have some undeniable,
irrefutable proof that he is the Christ, that he is indeed
the son of God. We've got to have some proof.
I'm trusting my soul. I'm trusting my immortal soul
into the hands of this man, whom I believe to be the Christ, the
Son of God. But where's if I trust him? I've
got to have a reason to trust him. I've got to have a reason
to trust him. I've got to have some basis for
my faith. And that, to trust that this great God-man has accomplished
eternal redemption for us, I've got to have some reason for believing
that. Now, where is such proof to be found? John gives it to
us in verses 6, 7, and 8. Under the Mosaic law, every claim
presented in a legal matter had to be established in the mouth
of two or three witnesses. If a man were accused of theft,
he had to have two or three eyewitnesses. If a man were accused of murder,
he must have two or three eyewitnesses to convict him and have him executed
because of his crimes. In our day, if there is any legal
suit to be pursued in court, that legal suit must be established
in court by two or three witnesses, credible and irrefutable witnesses. Now here the Apostle John produces
three irrefutable witnesses by which every believer may justly
lay claim in his own heart to eternal life in Jesus Christ
with full assurance. Now then, if you can get the
issue settled in your heart, if you can get it settled in
your heart, in your own conscience, it won't really matter whether
Brother Fortner believes it or not, will it? If you can get
the issue settled in your own heart, it won't really matter
whether my dear wife believes it or not. If I can get this
issue settled in my own heart, it will not really matter who
believes or does not believe that I'm born of God. But here
is the basis of our assurance. Settle it in your own heart.
1 John chapter 5 and verse 6. Everything vital to my soul is
here established by three infallible, irrefutable witnesses. Here they
are. First, there are three witnesses
to the deity of Christ. And then there are three witnesses
to the accomplishment of redemption by Christ. And finally, there
are three witnesses to the believers' saving interest in Christ. Look
at verse 6. Here are three witnesses to the
deity of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God. Why? What is the basis of our
faith? John tells us. 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 with us, beareth witness because the Spirit is truth.
Now, here is the witness of the water, the witness of the blood,
and the witness of the Spirit. We know that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God because he came by water. I can just imagine
some of you younger people as well as older people wondering,
well, how on earth does water prove that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God? Let me show you from the Scriptures
what this water means. Some say the water refers to
our Lord's pure and holy life. Others say the water refers to
his public baptism. And without question, he did
live a pure and holy life, and without question, he did give
witness to and fulfill righteousness by his baptism. But in the Scriptures,
water is used as an emblem for the written Word of God. Turn
to John chapter 15. John chapter 15. Let me show
you. John 15 in verse 3. Water is used as an emblem for
the written Word of God. Our Lord Jesus is speaking and
he says, now ye are clean, how? Through the word which I have
spoken unto you. In other words, the word cleanses
like water. In Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians
5 and verse 26, The Apostle Paul tells us of our Lord's love for
his church, how that he loved the church and gave himself for
it. In verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word. So in this passage, when John
says, this is he which came by water, his meaning is we know
that Jesus is the son of God because he came according to
the types, pictures, promises, and prophecies of the Old Testament
scriptures. He came to us by the word of
God. our faith in the deity of Christ
then, is founded upon the testimony of the scriptures, particularly
upon the testimony of the Old Testament scriptures. In the
Old Testament, virtually everything about our Lord Jesus Christ was
clearly described by the prophets. Virtually everything. When you
read the Old Testament, as you read through the book, and you
read it in its connection, you read it chapter after chapter,
book after book, and you search out the meanings of things in
the Old Testament, you cannot help understanding that that
book, those books of the Law and of the Prophets, those books
of the Psalms, were designed and written by men as they were
moved by the Spirit of God to describe one person. They were
tailoring a garment that would fit one man, and when Jesus Christ
comes on the scene, this is Him. This is it. The scripture in
the Old Testament told a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
That's him. The Scripture said his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. The Scripture said this one who
comes, he is a child born and a son given. That is, he's a
child of human flesh, but he's the Son of the Living God. The
Scripture describes him as coming into this world and being one
who would submit willingly to obey his Father's will in all
things for the establishment of righteousness, that he must
bring in an everlasting righteousness. The scriptures describe his betrayal,
how that one who is his own familiar friend betrays him for a piece
of money. Describes his crucifixion. You
read Psalm 22 and Psalm 68, and you can almost picture yourself
sitting in the crowd watching as the Son of God was crucified.
In Isaiah or in Zechariah chapter 10, we're told how that he must
be pierced. He must be pierced as one crucified,
not stoned, but crucified. And the scripture plainly describes
his substitutionary atonement, how that he, the son of God,
would make sacrifice for sin and by his sacrifice would put
away sin to the full satisfaction of justice and for the salvation
of his people. The scripture describes his resurrection
and exaltation, the chariots of God of ten thousand. The Lord
has raised him up and he sits on the right hand of the majesty
on high. and all the Old Testament types and pictures vividly portrayed
our Savior's person and work. I can't describe them all, but
when you read the scriptures, when you read the scriptures
and you go back in the Old Testament, Shelby and I were discussing
this the other day. When we were kids, you know, going to Sunday
school, people, we had teachers and little tots, right on up
through teen years, they'd tell Bible stories, boy, fantastic
Bible stories. They were better than Jack London
tales. Fantastic stories. So we shouldn't talk about it
that way. The way they told it, it sounded like a fairy tale.
The way they told it had a good moral fable, a good moral principle,
but nothing more than that. Those stories of the deliverances
of God's elect in the Old Testament are stories of redemption. They're
pictures of Jesus Christ. Let me give you just one, just
one. The Lord God commanded Noah to build an ark. Because he's
going to send the rain of his wrath upon the earth. It never
rained before. And God's wrath has never fallen
on men before. But the Lord told Noah, I'm going
to send judgment. You built an ark because Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God chose him. God chose
him. And Noah built an ark. Now the Lord said, get in the
ark. And God comes to God's elect and he says by his spirit through
the gospel, get in the ark. That's what I'm calling for you
to do today. Get in the ark. Get in the ark. The ark is Jesus
Christ the Lord. Noah and his family went into
the ark by the command of God and God shut the door. God sealed them in the ark, and
then he poured out his wrath. And the wrath of God fell on
Noah. The wrath, I mean God's unmitigated
wrath, God's undiluted wrath fell in its fullness on Noah. So Noah, preacher, fell on the
ark. That's what I mean. Noah was in the ark. Noah was
in the ark, and God's wrath beat on the ark, and the ark absorbed
God's wrath, so that Noah passed through the judgment and wrath
of God without one thing happening to him. He was in the ark. And
I'm telling you, the wrath of God has fallen on Christ Jesus,
our substitute, and we're in Him, and the wrath of God has
fallen on us, never to touch us again. All the Old Testament
scriptures then, Tell us that Jesus Christ comes as the substitute
of sinners. And this one who has come, whom
we call Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter's son, he's the son
of God. This is he. We know that Jesus
is the son of God because he came by blood, too. Look at the
next word. Not by water only, but by water
and blood. Christ Jesus. Had he met every
other stipulation of the Old Testament? Had he been a perfect
man of the seed of Abraham, of the seed of David? Had he performed
great miracles and even raised the dead? We could not believe
that he is the Christ, the son of the living God, unless he
had voluntarily poured out his life's blood upon the cross for
our atonement, to put away our sins by the satisfaction of justice. For the prophets declared plainly
that he must be made an offering for sin, that God would make
his soul to be an offering for sin. Our Lord claimed to be the
Son of God. He demonstrated his miraculous
power. We saw it this morning in John 5. He came to the impotent
man. He chose one man among a multitude
and he saw him and he said to the impotent man, rise, take
up your bed, walk. And he demonstrated his power
as God. But he proved himself to be the
God-man of whom the prophet spoke when he laid down his life for
his sheep. Read John chapter 10. This is
he that comes by the door of the sheep. Man comes any other
way, climbs up any other way, he's a thief and a robber. I've
come by the door, through the door of the Old Testament prophets. I've come and the Old Testament
prophets declare of me that I am the Christ of God and I lay down
my life for my sheep. We know that he is the Son of
God by the death which he died. One of those who beheld him when
he was crucified. When it was all over, he looked
up to that man whose limp body hang upon the cross and he said,
that man is the son of God. That man is the son, truly, yes,
was the son of God. How do we know that he is the
son of God? Because his death was a voluntary
act. No man takes his life from him. No man had any power over
him. He willingly laid down his life.
He said, I have received commandment from my father to lay down my
life. I have the power to lay it down and I have the power
to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. And his death was a vicarious
atonement. Don't you know Caiaphas or Caiaphas,
however you pronounce his name, he said to the folks in his day,
he said, you fellows are so ignorant. You're so ignorant. Don't you
know that one man should die for the nation and the nation
must go free? Ignorant. Don't you know that
one man should die for the nation and the nation must go free?
And I say to this cotton-picking religious world of our day, you're
so ignorant. Don't you know that one man dies
as a substitute for an elect holy nation and that nation must
go free? must go free. Our Lord took somebody's
place on that tree and whoever it was for whom he hung there,
they got to go free. You know who that cross was built
for? That cross was built and the hole in which it was set
was dug for a man by the name of Barabbas. And when our Lord
Jesus took the cross and went out to Mount Calvary and laid
down his life, Barabbas went free. It's called substitution. He died as a vicarious sin atonement
for sinners. And his death was a victorious
accomplishment. When our Savior died, he cried,
it is finished. And the work of redemption was
done. We know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God because he
came by water and came by blood, and thirdly, because the Spirit
bears witness to his deity. It is the Spirit that beareth
witness because the Spirit is truth. How does the Spirit bear
witness to Christ? When John the Baptist saw the
Lord Jesus coming, he thought he knew who he was. He thought
he knew who he was. And then the Lord Jesus came,
stood before John to be baptized. John said, I had me to be baptized
with you. He thought he knew who he was. But then when he
went down in the water, came up out of the water, the Spirit
of God descended from heaven in the form of a dove and lit
on his shoulders and stayed right there. John said, now that tells
me who he is. God told me, upon whom you see
the Spirit descend and abide, this is the Christ. And he knew
Christ by the revelation of the Spirit. In the same way, the
Spirit of God descended upon the day of Pentecost, upon God's
elect, gathered in that upper room, and the Spirit of God,
as with a rushing and mighty wind, filled the place where
they sat. And by that, He testified that Jesus, the King of whom
Joel spoke, has now been enthroned and inaugurated in His kingdom.
And here's the proof the Spirit of God bears witness. He bore
witness through the days of the Acts by the Acts of the Apostles
as they went about preaching the Kingdom of God and performing
wondrous miracles in the name of Christ to prove indeed that
they are the infallible Apostles of Jesus Christ and there ain't
any more. They came to write the Word of
God and the evidence that they were the inspired authors of
Holy Writ was the fact that they had signs and wonders from the
Spirit of God. And today I stand before you
and preach the Gospel And if you're born of God, the Spirit
of God bears witness to what I'm saying. I see in your face,
I see on your countenance, you who hear my voice, that you bear
witness, the Spirit of God bears witness with what I'm saying.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Son of God. We know that Jesus is God by
the witness of the Word, the witness of the blood, and the
witness of the Spirit. That's the meaning of verse 6.
Now look at verse 7. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. Now here are three witnesses
to the accomplishment of redemption. There are three that bear record
in heaven. Bear record of what? Bear record
that Jesus is God? No, there's no need for that
record. Christ himself is seated there. These folks, these three witnesses
bear record in heaven that God has given us eternal life by
the merits of Christ's obedience and his death as the sinner's
substitute. The three persons of the Holy Trinity bear record
in heaven that Christ has accomplished eternal redemption for God's
elect by his blood atonement. That's what verse 7 is all about.
First, God the Father bears record that redemption is accomplished
by his acceptance of Christ as our representative in surety.
There are three that bear record in heaven. The Father. The Father. What did he say? He saw the Lord's
obedience, and he saw his sacrifice, and he heard him cry, It is finished.
And he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Listen
to the Father speak to his Son. He says, thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee. Set thou at my right hand until
I make thy foes thy footstool. That's the father's record. He
accepted the sacrifice. He accepted the payment. He accepted
the righteousness. He accepted the surety. He accepted
the substitute. Well, how do you know he did?
When our Lord Jesus cried and said, it's finished. And he said,
Into thy hands I commend my spirit, and breathed out the ghost. There
was a place in Jerusalem that bore evidence that he is indeed
the Christ of God, and redemption has been accomplished for now
that holy place. With the thick veil between the
holy of holies and the holy place, the veil has been ripped in two,
telling us that access is now made between sinners and a holy
God, by which sinful men can draw near to a holy God and God
not consume them. The Son, God the Son, the living
Word of God, the second person of the blessed Trinity, bears
record also of his people's right to eternal life by his perpetual
advocacy and intercession at the Father's right hand. There
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father and the Word,
the Son. The word of God, the living word,
the essential word, the eternal word. This is the written word.
We cherish it. We we adore it. We delight in
it. We're thankful for it. We reverence
it. But we don't worship this. No,
we're not Bible worshipers. We're Bible believers. We're
Bible obeyers. We worship the living word. Jesus Christ, the son of God.
He bears record. And the record which he bears,
that record which secures the eternal salvation of God's elect
by which heaven's glory and eternal life is proven to be ours by
lawful claim is a twofold record. He bears record of his righteousness.
He bears record of his satisfaction. There in heaven my surety stands. My name is written on his hand. And with his spotless garments
on, I'm as holy as God's own son. That's right. That's my claim
to glory. What about you? Well, preacher,
I got to have something more than that. If you got to have
more, you can't have that. I'm washed in his blood. That
means what the law required for satisfaction, I have paid. I have paid the debt of infinite
sin against an infinite God, the debt of infinite justice. I paid it in the person of my
representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And he's entered into heaven as a forerunner for me. I mean,
as a forerunner, Glenn, he's laid claim in my name. That's
what it means. He's seated there not for himself. He was always there. He's seated
there in the body of human flesh for me, for his elect, for those
people for whom he lived and died. There are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. God, the Holy Spirit, the third
person of the triune Godhead, bears record of the accomplishment
of redemption by Christ by effectually applying the blood of Christ
to the hearts of God's elect in effectual calling. I won't
turn there, but you can jot it down and read it for yourself.
John 16, 14, when he, the spirit of truth has come, he'll guide
you into all truth. For He will glorify me. He will
take of mine and show it unto you. He'll show it to you. When
the Spirit of truth comes, He takes the blood of Christ by
which He entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us, and He sprinkles it on your conscience. That means
He applies it to your conscience and purges your conscience from
dead works. He sprinkles it on your conscience,
and now you see the blood of Christ is sufficient, and your
conscience says, not guilty. Not guilty. Not guilty. How on
earth can you say that? The Spirit bears witness. The
Spirit bears witness. The Spirit bears record. And
we know that these three are one. That is, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three divine persons
in one blessed Godhead. One in essence, one in purpose,
one in word, one in work, and one in the record they give.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit bear record
in heaven, redemption is done. That's the record they bear.
But how can I know that I'm one of God's elect? How can I know
that redemption is done for me? How can I know and have assurance
of my own saving interest in Christ? Read verse 8. And there
are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water,
and the blood, and these three agree in one. Here are three
witnesses to the believers' saving interest in Christ. Now, notice
the order. First, he says, in the earth
there is the witness of the spirit and then the witness of the word
and then the witness of the blood. First, a saving knowledge of
Christ begins with the revelation of the Spirit of God. Turn to
1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Now listen carefully. Listen
carefully. No man on earth can know and
be firmly persuaded that he is one of God's elect that he is
one of those for whom Jesus Christ died, one of those whose iniquities
were laid upon Christ, but by the special revelation of God
the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9, as it
is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. But God hath, look at the word,
Revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searcheth
all things yea the deep things of God Look in 2nd Corinthians 5 2nd Corinthians chapter, I'm
sorry chapter 4 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 How's a man
saved? How does a man come to know that
Christ is his and that he is Christ? For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus the Christ. That's how you know you're born
of God. The revelation of God's Spirit. It's not possible for me to convince
anyone of his saving interest in Christ. Every now and then,
I travel a lot of places and people say to me, well, Preacher,
you act like you think I'm not saved. My soul, don't worry about
that. Don't worry about that. Somebody
else come along and say, well, Preacher, I want you to help
me get some assurance. I can't give it. I can't give
it. No way on this earth. I wouldn't
tell one of you people here that you're saved for any amount of
money in the world. Not for anything. I wouldn't
tell any of you. Any of you. I wouldn't tell any man anywhere
I thought he was saved. Nowhere. That's not an issue
to be settled by me, that's an issue to be settled in your own
heart by the Spirit of God. I'm not a convincer, I'm a preacher. And preachers don't convince,
they just proclaim. How on earth can you be convinced?
The Spirit of God is the convincer. Read John chapter 16. Read it. Turn over there and just read
it. When he, the spirit of truth, is come, what does our Lord say?
John 16 in verse... Oh, let's see verse 8. John 16
verse 8. When he, the spirit of truth,
is come, he will reprove... Have you got a marginal reference? Read it. If you don't have one,
write it down. The word reprove means convince. He will convince
the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because
they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. Oh, now, if the Spirit of truth
convinces you that Christ is yours, you will be convinced. And how does He convince? Well,
first He convinces you of sin, yours. Yours. He convinces you
that you're guilty, that you're depraved, that you're helpless,
that you deserve eternal wrath and judgment from God so that
you take sides with God against yourself and say, Oh God, I abhor
myself. I repent in sackcloth and ashes.
And then he convinces you of righteousness. Not of yours. Oh, I keep hammering away. You don't
have any. You don't have any. You don't have any. He convinces
you of God's requirement of perfect righteousness. He convinces you
of your destitution of righteousness. And he convinces you of the accomplishment
of righteousness through Jesus Christ's obedience unto God.
I kept trying, Bob. I kept trying to do something
to please God. I knew my sin. I knew something
about my sin. But I didn't really know my sin
because I kept thinking maybe I could do something to help
out and make God happy, something to turn away God's wrath if I
just quit my meanness and quit this and quit that and start
the other thing. I kept trying to please God, but my conscience
kept saying, that won't do. The Spirit of truth came by the
Word of truth and made me to see Him who is the Lord and my
righteousness. That's enough. That'll do. That'll
do. And my conscience says peace. Peace. And of judgment. Judgment. The prince of this
world is judged. And I belonged to him by choice.
I belonged to him because I'd sold myself into bondage. I belonged
to him because I was taken captive by him at his will. But I didn't
really belong to him because God owned me. And the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world and he judged the prince of this
world. And by judging my sin, by judging my sin, he cast out
and broke the arms of Satan's power. And now judgment is passed. My heart's convinced. God, my
heart's convinced. I am sin. I'm sin, nothing else. I am nothing but putrefying corruption
and sin. God convinced you of that. My
heart's convinced. Christ is righteousness. And
my heart is convinced. He has put away my sin. He's done it. He's done it, and
I'm convinced. There ain't much I'm convinced
about. I'm convinced about that. He's
put away my sin. so that I lay down at night in
the teeth of all my personal corruption and depravity, I lay
my head on my pillow at night and my soul cries, O blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity." I'm convinced. I'm convinced. And this saving knowledge of
Christ given by the Spirit of God is based upon the record
of the Word. There are three that bear record
and bear witness in the earth, the Spirit and the water. Now,
remember, the water I showed you refers to the Word, the Word
of God. The Spirit bears witness on earth,
but His witness is given through the Word. By the revelation of
God's Spirit and the record of God's Word, we see that we are
born of God. He comes and makes Christ manifest
to us. I'm not going to preach on it.
wrote down a lot of things I wanted to say about this, but let me
just, let me give it to you. It'll do your heart good. The record, as far as God's concerned,
that was set up before the world began, James Lee. He's the lamb
slain for the foundation of the world. Our name's written in
the book of life before the world began. Heaven was built for us
before the world was made. You understand that? It was done
before the world was made. Christ died at Calvary in time
and accomplished justification for God's elect in time. And he is manifest to us by the
Spirit. through the preaching of the
gospel. Let me show you one text in this regard, 2 Timothy 1,
verse 9. God has saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was, you see it, which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's covenant
language. That's what happened in the covenant
of grace before the world began. But preacher, I wasn't around
then. How do I know it's for me? Look at this. but is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who
hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."
How? What does the next line say?
Through the gospel. That's how it's made manifest.
The Spirit, which is truth, comes to the heart of a dead sinner
by the word of truth and makes manifest the salvation which
God purposed in eternity in our hearts by the gospel. He comes
and makes known the record of the word. He takes the record
of God and his word and makes it the voice of God in your heart
so that you believed. After that you heard what does
the Apostle say the word of truth? Listen to the next the gospel
of your salvation I Heard about it and I heard
about it and I heard about it Vicki Raleigh you've raised all
your life hearing about it. Oh, I heard about it And I thought
it's good. Oh, I'd be good. I'd be good
I'd like to get in on that. And one day God the Spirit said,
it's yours. It's yours. And my heart said,
it's mine. That's faith. That's all there
is to it. My heart. Faith is the echo of
my heart to the voice of God's Spirit in His Word. He said,
thy sins are forgiven thee. And my heart says, thy sins are
forgiven thee. He said, you belong to God. My
heart says, I belong to God. Do you see what I'm talking about? I know you can't, unless he speaks. Oh, but if he speaks, you'll
hear and you'll see. And then this saving knowledge
of Christ is neither more nor less than faith in his blood. There are three that bear witness
in earth. the spirit, the word, and the
blood. This is my assurance, all my
assurance, my only assurance. God the Holy Spirit has revealed
Christ in me by the word of his grace, effectually causing me
to trust his blood. And trusting Christ, I have assurance
of a saving interest in him. A preacher, that's presumption.
No, no, it's not presumption. It'd be presumption for me to
look at my works, or to look at my love, or to look at my
joy, or to look at my deeds, or to look at your opinion of
me and say because of these things I have assurance. Now that's
the height of presumption. As a matter of fact, if you look
somewhere other than to, the person and work of Jesus Christ
for assurance. You make God a liar. You make
God a liar. You see, our assurance is the
record God's given concerning His Son. And these three agree
in one. You read the Word of God one
more time. Read it one more time. Take your concordance and look
up the word assurance. and look up the word confidence,
and look up the word steadfastness, and find me a place where assurance
is connected with your feeling, or with your works, or with your
love. Find me a place. Where does the
Word of God say the assurance of your love? Where does the
Word of God say, the assurance of your happiness? Where does
the Word of God say, the assurance of your works? The Word of God
talks about the assurance of faith. The assurance of faith. The assurance of faith. Put it in the words of Tobias
Crisp, faith. fetches full assurance to the
spirits of believers, not from within themselves, but from without,
even from the blood of Christ, which sprinkles the heart from
an evil conscience. Faith takes God's bare word without
any other testimony, without any other evidence, without any
other sign, without any other mark, and takes full assurance
from the finished work of Christ alone revealed in the Word. Will you or will you not receive
the witness of God? Will you or will you not believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? It's just that simple. It's just
that simple. We receive the witness of men,
verse 9. You believe men? Say, well, we
know that sheriff over there was found guilty just last week
because of the witness of men. Twelve jurors sat in a box and
they said, we believe the witness. Do you believe 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 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. Well, what's the record? 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 the Son hath life. He that hath the Son hath life. It's just that simple, just that
clear, just that profound. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. These things I've spoken to you
that believe on the name of the Son of God Quit searching for
evidence in your works. Quit searching for assurance
in your sanctity. Quit searching for hope in your
love or in your feeling or in your experience. These things
have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God
that you may know by believing that you have eternal life. and
that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Amen.