unasked the question, he says,
who is he? Who is he that overcometh the
world? Who is he that hath the victory? Who is he who hath been delivered
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear
Who is he who hath eternal life and deliverance from all condemnation? Who is he who can say, God is
with me? Who can condemn me? Who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that shall ascend
unto the hill of the Lord? Who is he that shall stand in
the holy place? He gives the answer. Verse 5. Who is he that overcometh the
world? He that believeth that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. That's who he is. You see, faith
is the victory. This is what Peter said when
he summed it up over in the 6th chapter of John. Turn over there.
When our Lord preached to that great multitude, the same multitude
which he fed, and of whom it is said in verse
66, they went back and walked no more with him. John 6, verse
66, from that time Many of his followers went back and walked
no more with him. And then said Jesus unto the
twelve, Would you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Listen, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe. And we're sure that thou art
the Christ, that Christ, of whom every prophet wrote, for whom
every believer looked. Thou art that Christ, the Son
of the living God. That's it. Who is he that overcometh
the world? He that believeth that Jesus
Christ is verily God Almighty in human flesh. You see, faith
is the victory. This is the victory, even our
faith. Seeing the Son robed in human
flesh, seeing the Son bearing our sins in His body on the tree,
seeing the Son risen triumphant over sin, over hell and over
the grave, seeing the Son, exalted at the right hand of
the Father, seated in victory, the forerunner, having entered
in within the veil, taken possession, the Lord of hosts, believing
the Son, his person, his every promise of God in him, yes and
amen, receiving the son, bowing to his lordship, trusting his
blood, resting in his righteousness, and waiting his return. Turn to John 3 and listen to
John speak to us. In John chapter 3, beginning
with verse 30. This is John the Baptist, the
forerunner, the last of the Old Testament prophets, the one who
came bearing witness to the Christ. He said in verse 30 of John 3,
he must increase, I must decrease. He that cometh from above is
above all. He that is of the earth is earthly.
That's me, that's you. And speaketh of the earth, but
he that cometh from heaven, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is above all. And what he hath seen and heard,
that he testify. And no man, unfortunately, no
man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received the testimony
hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath
sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit
by measure to the Christ. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand. And he, who is he that
overcometh the world? Who is he that hath the victory? Who is he that shall ascend and
stand in that holy place? He that believeth, he that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son, he's the issue. What think ye of Christ? whose
son is he. He's the issue. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. But the wrath
of God abideth on him. Our Lord said to the disciples,
before he went to the cross, to suffer and die. And they were
so troubled and depressed. They didn't understand all of
this. And he said to them, let not your heart be troubled. You
believe in God. They believed in God. They were
men who believed in God. He said, you believe in God.
Now believe in me. Believe in me. God sent me. I'm the son of God. I'm the exact
image of God. I'm a revelation of God in human
flesh. Believe me. You see, in my Father's
house are many dwelling places. Now, if that were not so, I would
have told you. And I've come and I go. I've come into this world. I
came from the Father into the world. I'm going back to the
Father. And I've come to prepare a place for you, and I go to
prepare a place. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again and receive you to myself, that where
I am there you may be also. And Thomas said, Lord, we don't
know where you're going. How can we know the way? He said,
Thomas, I'm the way. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life. Adam lost three things in that
garden. When he fell, when he sinned, he lost three things. He lost life. God said when you
eat of the fruit, you die. He died. Spiritually he died. He lost his life, spiritual life. He lost the truth. He believed
Satan's lies and rejected God's truth. He lost the truth and he lost the way to God. God
put him out. Put him out of the garden and
put the flaming sword before the garden lest he come back
to the tree of life. He lost the way to God. He lost the truth. He lost his
life. Christ came and he said, I'm
the way, back to God. You'll come back to God? I'm
the way. I didn't come just to make a
way, I am the way. I'm the way. And I'm the truth. Pilate said, what is truth? He
said, I'm truth. He's the wisdom of God. I'm the
truth. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, he to whom the Son reveals him. If the Son will make you
free, you'll be free. The truth will make you free,
you're free indeed. I'm the truth and I'm the life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath life, everlasting life. And that's what spiritual
life is, you see. Eternal life is not how long
it's going to last. That's not what it is. Eternal
life is the quality of it. Spirituality of it. It's the
life which Adam lost. The life of God. Adam retained
physical life, human life, natural life, but he lost spiritual life. That's the reason Christ said
you must be born again. And he that believeth on the
Son hath life. Well, that's the answer to that
question. Who is He that overcometh the world? Who is He that hath
the victory? Who is He that hath the way back
to God, the truth, the life? It's He that believeth that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. That's who He is. Who is this
Jesus Christ? Verse 6, well, this is He. that
came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. Not by water only. That's the way the priest came
in the Old Testament. They came with water and the
blood of an animal, not with their blood. He came with water
and blood. Water and blood. Watch that over here in John
19. Would you turn over there a minute? See if I can make good
on this. John 19. John 19, verse 34. Verse 33, when they came to Jesus
and saw that he was dead, our Lord died. He gave up the ghost.
No man takes my life from me. He said, I lay it down. He said,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. It's finished. He
died. He died. They break not his legs,
but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and
forthwith came thereout blood and water. Why is this reference
here? This is he that came by water
and blood, not water only, but by water and blood. Well, in
the Old Testament with your figures and pictures and patterns of
Christ's redemption. Patterns of things which are
in the heavens. You had the Old Testament priesthood.
You had the tabernacle, the sacrifices. You had the mercy seat. You had
the holy days. And all these are pictures of
Christ. And in the Old Testament, in
all of these ceremonies, mosaic economy under the Levitical law.
Two prominent things. You know what they were? Two
prominent things. Water and blood. Everywhere there was water. Pure
water. You see out here in the courtyard
was the altar. That's where the lambs were slain.
But when that priest came across that courtyard, there was a labor
pure water. And that's where he washed before
he went into the presence of God. He went into the presence
of God with the blood, but he always washed and washed and
washed and washed, you see, by pure water. The filth is washed
away. So that men can come before God
pure and clean. Pure and clean. That's a picture.
And he would take the blood, by the blood, satisfaction is
made, and men would come before God, reconciled, justified. This was all in picture in the
Old Testament. The Old Testament priest representing
the people. He'd come, but he'd wash his
clothes, he'd wash his flesh, he'd wash his hands, he'd wash
his feet, always before he went into the presence of God. There
were baptisms and washings that he might come sanctified. clean. And when he'd go into the presence
of God, he'd never go without blood. The death of the animal and the
blood to justify him, sanctify him, justify him. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came by water and blood, and he goes into the presence
of God as our high priest and takes us And by His obedience
and righteousness, we are sanctified. And by His blood, we are justified. Turn to 1 Corinthians. And let
me show you that. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. By pure water, we come before
God clean and sanctified. By blood, we come before God
justified. And the whole perfection of sanctification,
and the whole accomplishment of justification is fulfilled
in this person who came by water and blood. 1 Corinthians 1, verse
30. But of God, of Him, of God, are
you believers in Christ Jesus? God put you there. God put you
there. And who? God made Christ. Who? Of God. Of God are you in
Christ? And of God, Christ is made unto
us. Wisdom, truth. Righteousness,
holiness. Sanctification, perfection. Redemption. Accepted. Justified. It's in Him. Go back to Matthew
1 John. Who is He that overcometh? has the victory, it's he that
hath Christ, believes on Christ, believes he's the Son of God.
Who's the Son of God? He that came by water and blood.
Not by water only, not by righteousness only. Christ not only had to
obey the law, he had to die. It must be blood, it's the blood
that maketh atonement for the soul. The soul that sinneth must
die. Sin, when it's finished, bringeth forth death. And so
Christ, in order to sanctify us, perfectly obeyed the law. In order to justify us, he shed
his blood. And it's the Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. The Holy
Spirit is who's writing this and bearing witness. that this
is true. Turn over, if you will, to Colossians
chapter 1. This is what the Spirit of God
says about our Lord, Colossians chapter 1. In Colossians 1 verse 12, listen,
Colossians 1 verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father who hath
made us meet, that word is sufficient, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in life, who have delivered us from the power of
darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son, the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin. That's where it is. And the Holy Spirit bears witness
to that fact. In Him we have redemption. the forgiveness of all sin, past,
present, and future. All right, back to the text.
In verse 7, for there are three that bear record in heaven, bear
record to this fact, who Christ is, what Christ did, why He did
it, where He is now. There are three in heaven that
bear witness to this record. It's the Father, the Word, That's
the Son. Why is the Son called the Word?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And all things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Why is Jesus Christ called the Word? because he's
the communication, the revelation, the manifestation of the heart
of God. What are words? Words communicate
thoughts, feelings, ideas. I stand before you tonight and
you don't know what's going on in me, what I'm thinking, what
I believe, That's what I've been taught. Unless I tell you. How do I tell you? Words. Words. God. What is God's purpose? What is God's will? What is God's
plan? What does God have for us? How
does God convey it to us? How does God make known Himself
to us? Words. The Word. The Word of God is
Christ. And He said, I'm come that you
might know Him. He speaks. God spoke to us by
His Son. That's why He's called the Word.
So there are three that bear record in heaven. The Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. I can't
explain the Trinity. I know the Scripture teaches
the Trinity. Back yonder in the beginning
when the before the morning stars sang together before the sons
of God existed, God said, let us make man. Who's us? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He
said often to his prophets, whom shall I send? Who will go for
us? The Father is not the Son. The
Son, not the Father. But we call God the Eternal Father,
don't we? I remember that old Navy hymn.
When I was in the Navy, we'd sing this every Lord's Day. The
Navy, Eternal Father, strong to save, who guides and keeps
those upon the waves. God can't be an Eternal Father
unless He's got an Eternal Son. Isn't that right? He's the eternal
Father. The Son is eternal. Eternal Father,
eternal Son. That's right. The three that
bear record in heaven. Turn to Matthew chapter 3, and
I'll show you the presence here of the Trinity. Yet they're one. He that hath the Father hath
the Son. And it says here in verse 16 of Matthew 3, And Jesus,
when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.
And, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove, lighting upon Him. Here is the
Lord Jesus Christ, wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Son, from heaven in the form of a
dove. As God told John the Baptist, upon whom you see the Spirit
descending like a dove, the Spirit of God came. I read you that
he hath the Spirit without measure. And then the voice from heaven
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. I can't understand the Trinity.
I can't explain the Trinity, but I'd be a fool to deny the
Trinity. Because I can't explain. When the Word teaches it all
the way through. Our Lord said to the disciples, go and make
disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And our Lord said to
His disciples, I'm going away, but if I go away, I'll send you
another comforter. Listen. He said, I will pray
the Father, and He will send you the Spirit. So let's wait till we get the
glory and find out the answers, all right? But let's just receive
it like it's written. You see, faith doesn't ask God
to explain everything because we don't have the capacity to
comprehend everything. Martin Luther said one time,
one thing I don't need is a God I can understand, because he'd
have to be like me. And I don't want a God like me. So there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
And these three agree in one. They are one. They are one. Now look at verse 8. And there
are three that bear witness. Bear witness of what? Of who Christ is. That's what
we're bearing witness of, the heavens. Who is he that overcometh? He that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God. And there are three that bear
record in heaven to this fact, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. And there are three on earth that bear witness to
this fact, and that is the Holy Spirit. Turn to John 16. The Holy Spirit. What is the
office and mission of the Holy Spirit? Well, let's see here.
John 16, verse 7. I quoted this a minute
ago. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, Christ said, John 16, 7, it's expedient, absolutely
necessary for you that I go away. Have to go to the cross, have
to die, have to ascend as your high priest, have to intercede.
If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you. And if
I depart, I'll send him to you. And when he's come, he will reprove,
convict, convince the world of sin, 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. Now, I have yet many things to
say to you. You cannot bear them now. Howbeit,
when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into
all truth. He shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. He shall
show you things to come. He shall glorify me. He shall
receive of mine and show it unto you." The Holy Spirit, His divine office and work is
to glorify Christ, bear witness to the person and work of Christ
Jesus. The three that by record on earth, the Spirit, Lord, who's
the second? And the water, in this case,
that's the Word of God. The Word of God. The written
Word. And the blood. And that blood
is the blood of His cross. The Holy Spirit takes the Word
and preaches to us. the efficacy of the cross, the
sufficiency of the cross. And these three agree in one,
same message, Christ and Him crucified. Now then, verse 9,
if we receive the witness of men, if we receive the witness
of men, and we do, we do, But the witness of God
is greater, the word of God is greater, and this is the witness
of God, this is the testimony of God, which he hath testified of his
Son, listen, he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself. Now, my friends, we've talked
about the witnesses in heaven. Father, the Word, and the Holy
Spirit, all bear witness who Christ is, why Christ came, what
Christ did, and where Christ is now. Our substitute, our surety,
our justifier. We talked about the witnesses
on earth, the Holy Spirit of God, Spirit of Truth, taking
the Word of God, bears witness of Christ, and the blood. the cross. That's a witness. And I tell you this, we've just
finished a year. The whole world knows about the
cross. It's no fable. It's no myth. It's a fact. We've
just closed out a year. 1996. What's those two letters that
follow there at that date? A.D. A.D.? Yeah. What is the other years? Well, there's the year 2 B.C. 10 B.C. 1000 B.C. What's that? B.C. and
A.D. B.C. is before Christ. Isn't
that what it is? The whole measure of time by
that cross. The whole world and has measured
time by that event took place outside Jerusalem, 1997 years
ago, B.C., before Christ. 1997, A.D., Anno Domini, in the
year of our Lord. Whether men like it or not, they're
in the year of our Lord. Believe it or not, it doesn't
matter. But we're in the year of our Lord. And that's the witness, the Spirit,
the Word, and the cross. And then there's the witness
of men and the witness of God. But listen to verse 10. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. In himself. What can you do with
that, pastor? All right. I'll see what I can
do with that. Remember the story of the prodigal
son? Down there in the far country, he took what the father had for
him and left home. Went down into the foreign country.
I don't know how long he was there. Long time, I'm sure. Wasted it. Righteous living. Filthy living. He'd lost all he had. He was
living in a hog pen, eating what the
hogs left, the husk, whatever he could find, broke and hungry
and homesick and weary. Suppose someone had come to him
and said to him while he was down there in that hog pen, your
father doesn't love you anymore. your father is angry with you
and your father's disowned you and disinherited you and there's
nothing for you anymore in this world. He probably would have
said, you're right, you're right. But suppose after he came home
and the father standing there in the window looking out and
saw that ragged weary, dirty figure coming over the hill and
realized it was his son. And the father ran to meet him
and threw his arms around him and kissed that old dirty cheek
and said, bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put
the ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. kill the fatted
calf. My son, whom I love, is home."
And he cleans up and sits down at that big table, and the father's
so happy, and he's still sitting there with his arm around him.
Everybody's rejoicing. The father's whispering in his
ear his love and grace and mercy. Suppose someone came up and said
to him, then your father doesn't love you anymore. Your father's disowned you. Your
father's disinherited you. There's nothing for you in this
world. Are you a fool? Are you a total fool? Can you
deny the evidence here? Here's the evidence of my father's
love. Here's the proof of my father's
love. I've got it! And no one can convince me otherwise. And that's what this is saying.
with all the witnesses in heaven and earth and the word and the
spirit and the blood and all these things, I believe and I
receive. But the chief witness too is
in my heart. He's manifested His grace to
me and His love to me and I have that undeniable witness that
He loves me. I have the witness in myself.
Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. That's the hope of
glory. All right. He that believeth
not hath made God a liar, because he believes not the record that
God gave of his Son. That man or that woman who does
not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and does not
trust Him, and does not rest in Him. He's made God a liar
because he won't believe the Word, the record that God gave
of His Son. Verse 11, this is the record,
this is the witness, this is the message that God has given
to us. He's given it to us. He's not
sold it to us or loaned it to us. He's given to us each life. This life's in His Son. This life's in His Son. And he
that hath the Son of God hath life. He that believes on the
Son of God hath life. He that trusts and rests in the
Son of God hath life. Now, not going to have life,
he has life. He's passed from death unto life.
He now has life. Now are we the sons of God. not
yet appear what we shall be, but this we know when he shall
appear, we'll see him like he is and we'll be like him. But
we have the witness in ourselves. The Spirit of God dwells within
us. He that hath not the Son, whatever he has, doesn't have
life. A young lady one time became interested in spiritual matters,
and she began to ask different people. how a person is saved,
how a person is redeemed. And one person said, well, you
go home and pray. And she tried that. And then
she went to another and asked them how she could come to know
God. And they said, well, go talk
to the preacher. She tried that. And she asked another one the
same question. And they replied, well, join
the church and be baptized. Well, my friend, this is not
what Paul told the jailer, is it? You know, when the Philippian
jailer asked Paul, he said, sir, what must I do? What must I do
to be saved, to know God? And Paul replied, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. Believe that Jesus Christ is
our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Believe that
he loved us and gave himself for us. Believe that of God are
you in Christ who's made unto us all that we need. Believe!
Believe! He must save. He can save. He
will save. I never direct a convicted sinner
to anybody but to Christ. The Bible doesn't say, he that
prayeth shall be saved. It says, he that hath the Son
hath life. The Bible doesn't say, he that
is baptized shall have life. It says, he that hath the Son
hath life. The Bible doesn't say, he that
joins the church shall be saved. It says, he that believes on
the Son of Verse 13, well, John said, these
things then have I written to you, to you that believe on the name
of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, that you may know that
you have eternal life and that you may keep on believing on
Christ. Don't try anyone else or anything
else. Believe. Believe who he is. Believe what he did. Believe
that it's effectual. It's sufficient. His grace is
sufficient. His blood is sufficient. His
righteousness is sufficient. Believe where he is now. at the
right hand of God. He's our advocate. If any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father. That's where he has
to be, with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. Trust
Him. Rest in Him. He that hath the
Son hath life. That thief on the cross, who
was he? He was a thief. Nothing to recommend him. He was an outcast. That the outcast
cast out. He was a nobody, a nothing. Only
fit to die. But God revealed something to
that man. The other thief cursed and he
said, now if you be the Christ, what is it that we believe? Who
is he that overcometh the world? He that believeth in Jesus. Christ
is the Son of God. If you be the Christ, why don't
you save yourself and us? But the other thief said, don't
you fear God? Don't you fear God, seeing we're
in the same condemnation? What's he saying? He's saying
this man is God. This is no ordinary man. This
man's God. We're in the same condemnation
as God. And we justly, we indeed justly,
we're getting just exactly what we deserve. You're getting what
you deserve, and I'm getting what I deserve. But this man,
this God-man, he's done nothing amiss. He's never sinned. He's never offended God. Perfect man. This man had done
nothing amiss. He's innocent. There's just one
innocent man, that's Christ. He said, Lord. He called him
Lord. He called him Lord, God. You're not going to stay dead.
You're coming into a kingdom. That's what this man said. Who
taught him that? God did. You're coming into a
kingdom. Would you remember me? Would you have mercy on me? Would
you think on me? And our Lord turned and said,
this day, this day, you'll be with me in glory. Now, come on. That's all in the
world I want. I want this fella. to be in glory,
don't you? Huh? Isn't that why we're here?
Isn't that why we're looking in here? I'm not trying to impress anybody,
get along with anybody. I just want to be in glory. And this is the way. Was this
Steve saved? Well, Christ said he was. Well,
he didn't work. He didn't give any money. He
wasn't baptized. He didn't do any of those things.
He believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And I'll tell you this, everybody in glory is going to
be there the same way. Christ said, I'm the way. We're
going to believe. Go to Him. He says, I'll go to
Jesus. Though my sin hath like a mountain
rose, I know His courts I'll enter
in, whatever may oppose. Because prostrate I'll lie before
His throne, and there my guilt confess. I'll tell Him I'm a
thief undone. without His sovereign grace. I can but perish if I go. I'm perishing anyway. I can but
perish if I go. I'm resolved to try. But if I
stay away from Christ, I must forever die. But listen to this verse, but
if I die, having mercy, mercy, salt. When I, the king, have tried
that were to die, what a thought, as a sinner, never die. Isn't that right? You can't, you can't perish looking
to Christ. You can perish looking to the
water, you can perish look into your faith, you can perish looking
to your friends, you can perish looking to the preacher, you
can perish looking to all these, but you can't perish looking
to Him.