Our scripture is 1 John 5, 13. These things have I 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 or continue
to believe on the name of the Son of God. Do you know that
you have eternal life? Do you know that you have passed
from death unto life? You know that you are a church
member. You know that you attend church
on Sunday. You know that you believe certain
doctrines, that you are a Baptist or a Methodist or a Presbyterian.
You know that you believe in morality and decency. You know that you believe in
the law. But do you know that you have eternal life? I realize that human nature received
a terrible twist in the Garden of Eden. I realize that we have
fallen by Adam's sin into a foggy region. I realize there are a
thousand forces tugging at us, and our weakest area, our weakest
realm, is the spiritual. We are strong materially, we
are strong physically, most of us are fairly strong mentally,
but the weakest area is the spiritual area. We are given to doubts. Doubts come a lot easier than
faith, don't Sin comes a lot easier than righteousness, doesn't
it? Despair comes a lot easier than
hope, isn't that true? Which is easiest for you? Faith,
strong faith, dependable faith, or doubts? Which comes easiest?
Which comes easiest for you to think holy, to think pure, or
to think evil? Which comes easiest for you?
To hope that things will be fine, or to believe that things will
be terrible. We walk by faith. We know that. We walk by faith. We can do no
other. Like the Apostle said, well,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Where do we go, Lord? You talk about, will you go away?
To whom? Where shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life. How much we believe them is another
matter. How much we're willing to rest
in them is another matter. We walk by faith, but we're still
in the flesh. I am and you are. We walk by
faith, but we're a whole lot of flesh. There's a lot of it.
And it comes a lot easier than the spiritual things do. But
my friends, it's possible to know, in spite of all this, that
you have eternal life. Why do I believe that? Well,
first of all, Christ commanded it. Christ commanded it. He commanded that I know that
I have eternal life. Turn to 2 Corinthians 13. In
2 Corinthians 13, verse 5. 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Somebody said, well, those are
the words of Paul, not Christ. These are the words of Christ.
Holy men of God wrote the Scriptures as they were motivated or moved
by the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians is just as much
the words of Christ as John 17. It's kind of a standing joke
down at the Good News bookstore in Ashland about my dislike for
the red-letter Bibles. Doris went down and bought a
Bible for our grandson for Christmas, and the lady behind the counter
said, Be sure and tell your husband it's not a red-letter Bible.
We know how he feels about red-letter Bible. Well, I asked them down
there one day, I said, what is a red-letter Bible? Well, the
lady said, that's the words of Christ in red. I said, isn't
this whole Bible the word of Christ? That's what people are
doing, they're picking out verses and saying, well, Christ said
this, it's so. Paul said this is a question
about it. Christ said this, it's in red,
therefore it's so. But over here in the book of
Revelation, chapter 19, verse 14, John said that, so it just
might not be as so as this that's in red. The whole Bible is the
Word of God. And Paul wrote this, but Christ
said this. Now get it. Examine yourselves,
whether you be in the faith. Prove your own self. Know you
not your own self, how that Christ Jesus is in you, except you be
reprobates? We're commanded to examine ourselves. We're commanded to determine
our position. We're commanded to determine
whether or not we're in Christ. Don't you know whether or not
you're in Christ? Peter wrote this, Give diligence
to make your calling and election sure, for if you do this, you
cannot fail. The Old Testament saints had
assurance. They knew that they were children
of God. David said, the Lord is my shepherd.
Amid all my conflicts and trials and fears, the Lord is my shepherd. And though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. He restoreth
my soul. Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth, and though He slay me, I'll trust And though worms destroy
this body, in my flesh I'll see the Lord, not another, myself." Paul knew that he was a child
of God. He said, I know whom I have believed.
I'm not worthy to be called an apostle. I'm less than the least
of all the saints. I'm the chief of sinners. But
I know whom I have believed. And John said, we know that we've
passed from death unto life. I say that this knowledge is
necessary for a man to leave all and follow Christ. We're
not going to follow one whom we do not know. Turn to Matthew
10, verse 32. This knowledge, this assurance
is necessary for you to be the kind of disciple you ought to
be. Maybe that's the reason many people are not the kind of disciples
they ought to be, because they don't have this knowledge of
Christ. In Matthew 10, verse 32, Christ said, Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth. I came not
to send peace but a sword. I have come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of
his own household. But he that loveth father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh
not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me." So my
friends, it's not only possible to know that we have eternal
life because Christ commanded it and because other men before
us have known that they had eternal life, but I say this knowledge
is necessary in order for a man to sell all he has and purchase
the pearl of great price and to follow Christ as he ought
to. And I believe that the subject we're on today, that you may
know you have eternal life, is the very object of John's first
epistle. I believe the object of John's
first epistle, all five chapters, is to bring men not only to faith
in Christ, but to assurance of that faith. Now, first of all,
the first of three questions, to whom is this book written? Look at our text again, 1 John
5.13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God." Now, there's no problem here. These
words are written to you who believe on the name of the Son
of God. Now, what do we believe about
the name of the Son of God? We'll turn back to 1 John 1.
Let's start at the beginning of this book, 1 John chapter
1. It's not enough just to believe
in a name. Nearly everybody believes a person
called Jesus Christ was born and lived on the earth and died
some way. Most believe he died on a cross
and that he was buried. Some believe he rose again. It's
not enough just to believe that such a person lived. We're going
to have to believe in him as he revealed by the word of God
and by the record that God had given. We're going to have to
believe certain things about him. The first thing that John
says about him is this, in 1 John 1, verse 1, that which was from
the beginning. We believe that Jesus Christ
is God. and that he was from the beginning.
And verse 2 says, For the life, he is the life, in him was life. For the life was manifested,
and we've seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that life,
that eternal life, which was with the Father. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Under us a child is given, under us a son is born, and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father." We believe that Jesus Christ is from the beginning. He is God. By Him all things
were created that have been created. That's what we believe about
Him. These things are written unto you who believe that Jesus
Christ is from the beginning. All right, look at verse 7. We
believe that his blood cleanses from all sin. That men are not
cleansed from sin by works, by their human merit and righteousness,
by church ordinances, by water. We believe they are cleansed
from their sin by the blood of Christ. Verse 7, 1 John 1, "...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." And then he said in verse 2 of chapter 2,
he's the propitiation for our sins. He is the mercy seeker. He is the atonement. We believe
that his blood and his blood alone can put away sin. that
sin cannot be put away, that sin cannot be cleansed, that
sin cannot be forgiven, that sin cannot be atoned for any
other way except by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what
we believe. These things are written unto
you that believe. Believe what? Believe in Jesus. Believe what about Jesus? That
he was from the beginning, that his blood cleanseth us from all
sin. that he is the propitiation for
our sin. These things are written unto
you that believe that. Do you believe that?" And then 1 John 2, verse 1, we
believe that he's the advocate with the Father. 1 John 2, verse
1, My little children, these things write unto you that you
sin not. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't
that be wonderful, that you sin not? But if any man That's more
reality, isn't it? And if any man sin, we have an
advocate. What is an advocate? An advocate
is a lawyer. An advocate is a mediator. An
advocate is one who pleads your cause. We have an advocate with
the Father. Who is he? He's Jesus Christ. Not Mary. It's Jesus Christ. It's not our good deeds, it's
Jesus Christ. It's not an angel, it's Jesus
Christ. The Jews said, we have Abraham
as our father. No, our advocate is not Abraham,
it's Jesus Christ. That's what we believe. These
things are written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God. John, what do you believe on
the name of the Son of God, about the name? He was from the beginning. He is the atonement. He is the
advocate with the Father. Now, brethren, I can surround
myself with religious relics. We tried to make this auditorium
as comfortable as possible. We surround ourselves with candles
and stained-glass windows and soft carpet. We surround ourselves
with the quietness of religious atmosphere, and then when somebody
starts to pray, The thing to do is start playing softly on
an organ, have some background music while the fellow prays,
you know, in a real sanctimonious, pious voice, and that makes everybody
feel real religious and real holy and real good. But amid
all that surrounding, the holy God of heaven looks down, and
he doesn't see the candles, and he doesn't see the religious
relics. And he doesn't hear the soft organ music. He looks down
there apart from Christ and he sees the fallen, corruption,
depravity, the vileness, the decay of human nature and human
thought and human sin and human flesh. That's what he sees. And
you can't camouflage that flesh and that sin and that evil with
all this religious environment. We need a mediator. We need someone
to stand between us and God and plead our case. The advocate
is more important than the environment. Can you put away your sin, your
awful sins against God in thought, in motive, in attitude, in word,
in deed? Can you put them away? Christ
can. Christ can. He can put away.
His blood cleanseth us from all sin. Can you satisfy God's justice? Can you, with your prayers or
deeds or alms or charitable works, can you satisfy God's justice? Can you make it possible for
God to forgive you and be a just, righteous God? No, sir. Well, Christ can. Christ can. Can you in the flesh please God? Can you in the flesh please God?
Paul said he couldn't. He said, in the flesh no man
can please God. Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Can you in the flesh please God? No. Well, Christ can and did. Can you get into the holy place?
I tried to lead in prayer this morning in the study. Brother
Thompson led in prayer. In here in the auditorium, Brother
Simpson led in prayer. Somebody else will before we
leave. Let me ask you a question. Ask myself and all who prayed
this morning, can you get into the presence of God? Back in
Old Testament days, if anybody dared to enter into the Holy
of Holies, he was stricken dead. One king tried to go in and came
out a leper. Can you? A son of Adam, can you? A fallen creature, can you? A
sinful woman or man, can you? a human being, can you get into
the presence of Almighty God, into the Holy of Holies, can
you? You're a fool if you think you
can. There's no way for you by nature, but there's one way that
God has provided through Christ. Christ can get into the presence
of God for you, and He can bring you into the presence of God
with Him. He hath opened for us into the presence of God a
new and living way by his blood." So I need an advocate, and I
believe he's my advocate. Look at 1 John 2, 1 John 2, 21. These things are written to you
that believe that he is from the beginning, that his blood
cleanses from all sin, that he is the propitiation for our sin. that he is the advocate with
the Father that gets us into the presence of God. Do you believe
that? All right. Fifthly, we believe he's the
Messiah. 1 John 2, verse 21. Look at it. I have written unto
you because you know. I have not written unto you because
you know not the truth. I have written unto you because
you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar?
but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ." Now, since the
Garden of Eden, man, especially the Jewish nation, has looked
for the Messiah, for the Messiah who is the Christ, who is the
Redeemer. Abraham saw my day, Christ said,
the day of the Messiah, and he rejoiced. Moses wrote of me,
wrote of the Messiah. The law given to Moses, the whole
ceremonial law, was to typify the coming of the Messiah who
would fulfill all these things. The Messiah was to come from
God to redeem the people from their sin, just like Moses went
down into Egypt and brought Israel out of Egypt across the wilderness
into the Promised Land. The Messiah would come and be
our Redeemer, our Savior, our Deliverer. And we believe that
Jesus Christ is that Messiah. And who is a liar? He's the man,
Jew or Gentile, who does not believe that Jesus Christ is
the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. All right,
look at 1 John 5, verse 1. Behold, 1 John 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary's son, Jesus who was crucified, Jesus
who was buried, Whosoever believeth that he is the Christ, he is
the Messiah. Do you believe that? We don't
look for another. He is the Messiah. He is the Christ. Well, that
man's born of God. That man's born of God. All right,
we believe something else about him. We believe he's come in
the flesh. We believe the Messiah, who is God. who is the eternal
King of kings and Lord of lords, we believe that he has come to
this earth in human flesh. I John 4, verses 2 and 3, look
at it. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Redeemer,
is come in the flesh. right down here on this earth.
He was born from the womb of a woman. He was born without
a human father, but he was born as a little baby, and nursed
from a mother's breast, and grew up in a daddy's cart and a shop,
and walked down here on this earth in human flesh. Very God
of very God, yet man. Perfect God, perfect man. Not
God diminished into a man, no man deified into a God, but the
God-man. Jesus Christ actually came in
the flesh. And verse 3 says, Every spirit
that doesn't believe that, that doesn't confess that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh, is not of God. Now you get any theory
you want to about Jesus Christ. He was a good man, he was a good
prophet, he was a great healer, he was a great preacher and all
that. But if you don't confess that he's God Almighty, he is
the Messiah, he is the Christ, he is from the beginning, he
came down here from heaven and for a while he tabernacled in
human form, in the body, in the flesh. You're an Antichrist. That's what it says here. Anybody
that doesn't confess that is not of God. This is the spirit
of the Antichrist. The spirit of Antichrist. Now,
if you're sitting here this morning, I want to be perfectly plain
with you. If you don't believe Jesus of Nazareth is God, if
you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth is from the beginning,
if you don't believe the man called Jesus, I'm reading this
out of God's Word now, If you don't believe, the man called
Jesus is God Almighty, the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, who came to this earth and for a while
limited himself and robed himself in human flesh, in the likeness
of human flesh, who was tempted in all points as we are, who
thirsted and sorrowed and wept, and all of these things, that
he was for a while in human form down here on this earth. walk
this earth, that God was in the flesh, that Jesus Christ, the
Messiah, has come in the flesh, you're an Antichrist. You've
got the spirit of Antichrist. Now then, 1 John 5.11. What else
do we believe about him? 1 John 5.10. It says, That if we don't believe these
things, we don't believe on the Son of God. If we do, we have
the witness in ourselves. If we don't, we make God a liar.
If you don't believe these things, you're making God a liar because
you haven't believed the record that God gave of His Son. Verse
11, And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. It's not in the Holy Spirit. It's in Christ. It's not in the
Bible. Eternal life's not in the Bible.
Christ said to the Pharisees, you search the Scriptures, for
in them you think you have eternal life. Eternal life's not in the
Bible. It's in Christ. He said, you
search the Scriptures in them. In the law you think you have
life. In the ceremony you think you have life. In the deeds of
the law you think you have life. These Scriptures testify of me,
and you will not come to me. that you may have life, that's
where you find life. That's John 5, 39 and 40. You
will not come to me that you might have life. That's what
he told those men. They sat around and studied their doctrine and
searched the scriptures and found all of these hard to understand
things. and they tried to conform to
all of them. And he said, You're busy searching
the scriptures, for in them you think you're going to find life.
You're not going to find life in the scriptures. The scriptures
testify of me. Life is in me, and you won't
come to me that you might have life. We believe that eternal
life is in a person, in Christ, in Christ. Now, last of all,
verse 20, verse John 5, we believe And we know that the Son of God
is come. He has come. Do you believe that? These things are written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God. To whom is
this written? To you who believe. Believe what? That He's God Almighty, that
He was from the beginning, that He came down here to this earth,
and His blood cleanseth us from all sin. Only His blood, nothing
else. That He is the mercy seed. He is the propitiation for our
sin. Twenty-some-odd years ago, I
came to know Christ as my Lord and Savior. Thirty-some-odd years
ago. And then I rested in the blood
and trusted in the blood of Christ, in the work of Christ, in the
person of Christ, and that's what I'm trusting right now.
And twenty-some-odd or thirty years from now, I hope by God's
grace, that's what I'm trusting then. that he's the only advocate
with the Father, that he is the Messiah, that he is God come
in the flesh, that he is eternal life. Not the teacher of it,
the source of it, the root of it, the author and finisher of
it, the Alpha and Omega of it. He is eternal life. Christ is. To have him is to have life.
But we believe, verse 20, that he's come and given us an understanding. Now, we live in a foggy region.
I said that introduction. But I tell you, there's a lot
of things I don't understand, but this I do. Christ is the
Savior, given us an understanding. We may know him that is true,
and we're in him, even in his Son. Now, let me ask you, do
you believe that? Do you believe those things?
John said, these things are written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God. And I went right back over John's
writings and told you what John believed, what John taught in
this book. He taught he is from the beginning,
his blood cleanses from all sin, he is the propitiation, he is
the mercy seeker, he is the advocate, he is God, he is the Messiah,
he is God who came in the flesh, he is our Redeemer, Do you believe it? Well, if you
do, now watch this, verse 13, if you believe, these things
are written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know you have eternal life. Now, Charles Spurgeon spoke
on this very text one time years ago, and this is what he said.
I want you to listen real close. And I can't tell whether or not
you believe what I just read from the book of John. That's
between you and God. That's what I believe. And therefore,
you say, how do you know you have eternal life? I believe
on the name of the Son of God. I believe what John said about
Christ. That's how I know I have eternal life. He just said, if
you believe these things are written unto you, that believe
that you may know you have eternal life. Well, you say, I don't
believe you have eternal life. I'd rather believe God and not
believe you. Because God knows. And Spurgeon said this, when
John said, These things are written to you that believe on the name
of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
His first meaning is that everybody who truly believes in Jesus Christ
as the Advocate, as the Redeemer, as the Messiah, as God Almighty,
as the Savior, he has eternal life. That's what John means.
We may not doubt this. It's not a matter for doubt.
It's not a matter for argument. It's a matter of revelation from
God Almighty. You're not to form an opinion
on it. You're not even to discuss it. You are to believe it. It
came from God, who said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. God said that. God said, He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Thus saith the Lord, and
so shall it be. I don't need any further evidence,"
he continued. If I receive the witness of men,
the witness of God is greater. And this is the record that God
has given us eternal life, and that life is in his Son. This
is the testimony of the whole Bible. Never doubt God's word, never
doubt God's promises. This is a great sin. And listen to this statement.
Your doubts and your questions about his grace and his mercy
are much greater sins than your so-called fleshly infirmities. The fellow went out and got drunk.
He ought not, I know that. He thought he was lost because
he got drunk. My friends, I'll tell you this,
when you put a question mark on God's grace and on God's word,
that's a much greater sin than any fleshly infirmity or infraction
that you might run into. Do I believe salvation is holy
of the Lord? I do. Do I believe salvation
is designed for the guilty? I do. Do I believe salvation
is only in the person of Christ? I do. Do I believe that Christ's
work is sufficient? Bless God, I do. Then whence
come these questions? Whence cometh these doubts? If
Christ be the Savior, trust Him. If He's not, go find you another
one. Be done with it. Turn to John 6. If Christ is
the Savior, the only Savior, Rest in him. If you have a doubt
about it, go find you another Savior." That's what Christ said
to the disciples. Would you also go away? You go
find you another Messiah. You're welcome to. They said,
Lord, you have the words of life. I'm satisfied. I'm not satisfied
with myself under God. I'm not. I never will be till
I wake with his likeness, but I'm satisfied with him. And I'm
satisfied to let him plead my case. If I've committed a crime
and I hire a lawyer, I'm not going to tell him how to plead
my case. I'm going to let him plead himself. I'll stay home
and let him figure it out. And Jesus Christ is my advocate,
and I'll let him take care of the business with the Father.
I'll keep my hands off of it. That's his business. John 6,
47. I say unto you, Verily, verily, verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Isn't that
enough? All right, now let me point out
one more thing, and I'm not going to take but a minute. 1 John
5 again, verse 13. 1 John 5, verse 13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God. Do you? I can't answer for you. That
you may know you have eternal life, and that you may continue,
and that you may continue believing on the name of the Son of God.
This faith will suffice for a child, for a middle-aged person, and
it will suffice for the old man and old woman. Just keep on believing. Now how do we continue to believe?
I must show you this before you go, because I feel like God led
me to say it. How do we continue to believe? All right? 1 John 1, verse 6. We continue to believe in Christ
by truthfully dealing with God in faith and in a confession
of sin. Now, you don't continue to believe
on Christ and walk with Christ by making a hypocrite and a liar
out of yourself and pretending to be what you're not. You continue
to believe in Christ by truthfully dealing with God in faith and
in the confession of sin. Now, listen to this. Verse John
1, 6. If we say we have fellowship
with God and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth
us from all sin. Now, if we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, don't be put on. professing
to be what you're not. Deal honestly with God in this
matter of sin, because God sees the heart. God looketh not on
the outward countenance reserved for man's eyes. God looks on
the heart. And we are all open, naked creatures
before God who knows our thoughts. So let's walk with God in honesty
and in truth and in faith and in a daily confession of our
shortcomings and our sin. He knows them anyway. In 1 John 2, 3, we continue to
believe in Christ by walking in his commandments. In 1 John
2, 3, and hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. What are his commandments? Turn
to John 15, 12. John 15, 12. This is a summary
of his commandments. John 15, 12. This is my commandment. that you love one another as
I have loved you." We continue to believe in Christ as we walk
in love. Somebody said, which is the greatest
commandment to the Lord? He said they are all summed up
in these two, to love God with all your heart and your neighbors
yourself. And the whole book of 1 John
deals with this thing of keeping his commandment of love. Look
down at 1 John 2, verse 10, "...he that loveth his brother abideth
in the light. Verse 11, he that hateth his
brother is in darkness. 1 John 3.23, this is his commandment,
1 John 3.23, that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus
Christ, and love one another. This is his commandment. We continue, watch this, and
I don't have time to deal with this much because our time is
gone. 1 John 2, verses 15 and 16. We continue to believe in
Christ by separating ourselves from this world system, from
world opinion, from world tempers. This world system is not the
friend of grace nor the friend of God. In 1 John 2.15, love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in this world, this world system, the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not
of the Father, it's of the world. We are not of this world. We
are of the kingdom of God. And then we continue to believe
in Christ. Turn to 1 John 2, verse 19, by
perseverance in the faith. By persevering in the faith. Somebody came to Brother Barnard
one day and said, Brother Barnard, do you think I'm saved? He said,
I don't know. See me in about thirty years.
John said the same thing, 1 John 2, verse 19. They went out from
us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, they
left the gospel, they left the word of God, they left the fellowship
of the saints, that it might be made manifest, they were not
all of us. We continue to believe in Christ
by persevering in the faith. And last of all, this is the
closing remark, 1 John 4, verse 15. We continue to believe in
Christ by witnessing a good confession. Not only here in the congregation,
but in our homes. Not only in our homes, but on
the streets. Not only on the streets, but
in our business dealings. Not only in our business dealings,
but where we work, we witness a good confession. In 1 John
4, verse 15, it says, "...whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the
Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God." Did I handle my text well? These
things have I 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 continue to believe on the name of the Son of God.
If I did, then I am giving this commandment. I am saying at the
close of this message, everybody who believes, who believes this
and has not followed the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism. You
say you believe this, you say you have eternal life. You have
never witnessed publicly a good confession. I'm calling on you
right now, at the close of this message, if it's been clear,
if I've been honest with you, if I've been honest with the
Spirit of God, if I've handled my text well, if God's spoken
to you, you come right down here. and confess Christ as your Lord
and Savior publicly. Do you believe this? You say
you have eternal life. Have you confessed Christ? I
call on you. I command you to witness a good
confession, to go on record. If you say you believe. If you
don't, if you say you do and you don't, you're a liar. So
don't say you do. But if you do, if you say you
believe it and you do believe it, I call on you to confess
Christ publicly and to follow him in baptism. and from this
day forth to lean on Christ, to look to Christ alone, to cast
out the clouds of doubt and fear and rest on the word of God.
Do you? Okay, let's sing, Don. You come
in