This evening we are looking at
verses 6 through 12. 1 John chapter 5 verse 6. This
is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. not by water only, but by water
and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood,
and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which he hath testified of his son. He that believeth on the
son of God hath 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. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life in this life. is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I've entitled
the message tonight, The Record. The Record, taken from the words
in verse 12. This is the record. This is the record. And I have
three divisions to my message as we look at these seven verses.
First, the witnesses that Jesus is the Son of God. In verses
six, seven, and eight. The witnesses that Jesus is the
Son of God. You notice verse six, our text
begins, this is he. This is he. Who? This is he. Who? Who? This is he, the Son
of God. in the law of God, the law which
God gave to the nation of Israel, in matters of great importance,
especially if it meant the taking of a life. If a person was guilty
of homicide and he was to be put to death, that could only
be done in the mouth of two or three witnesses. in matters of
great importance or something to be established. That's the
word that is used there. Shall the matter be established,
it has to be, God said, in the mouth of two or the mouth of
three witnesses. What could be more important
than this? What could be more important
than this truth, that Jesus is the Son of God? As I said, in
the law, in matters of great importance, a matter was established
in the mouth of two or three witnesses. What could be more
important than this, that Jesus is the Son of God? In verse six, we're going to
look at verse six, verse seven, and verse eight separately, but
in verse six, we have three witnesses to the truth. that the Son of
God came. In verse six, we are, this is
He that came. Three witnesses to this truth,
that the Son of God came. First witness is water. Notice
that, water. What does this have reference
to? If you turn back with me, we're going to look at these
verses, but if you look back with me to Matthew chapter three,
the first witness that is mentioned that testifies to the truth that
Jesus is the son of God is water. And this takes us back to Matthew
chapter three and verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him,
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now,
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. This is just
kind of a And I had a thing here, but this is the first time righteousness
is mentioned in the New Testament. And our Lord Jesus Christ told
John, it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Well, he's
won. No, he and his church, those
who are in union with him by God's eternal election. That's
what the scripture says. We know that he is the head and
we, those who are believers, we make up his mystical body,
his church. And we were in Christ. We were in him when he died on
the cross. We were crucified with Christ.
We were buried with Christ. We were risen with Christ, we
have ascended, and are seated in the heavenlies tonight in
Christ. And that's what that pronoun
us means here. It behooves us, the Lord Jesus
Christ, or it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he, John, suffered him,
and Jesus went, and Jesus, when he was baptized, Went up straightway out of the
water. Now that's the first witness,
the water. And lo, the heavens were opened
unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved son. This is the first witness mentioned,
the water. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
baptized, God the Father's voice sounded from heaven witnessing,
this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased. The second
witness in our text is blood. Blood. Look with me if you will
now in Matthew 27. This has reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ shedding his precious blood. in Matthew chapter 27
and beginning with verse 50. Jesus, when he had cried again
with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The
earth did quake and the rocks rent and the graves were opened
and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out
of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and
appeared unto many now when the centurion and they that were
with him Watching Jesus saw the earthquake
and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, here's
a witness. Truly, this was the son of God. The blood. There are several
things we know that took place when the Lord Jesus Christ shed
his blood on the cross. We know there was three hours
of darkness. Isaac Watson is him at the cross. speaks about the sun refusing
to shine when Christ, the mighty maker, was made to be our sin
bearer. There was darkness upon the face
of the earth. The veil of the temple was rent
when the Lord Jesus Christ died. The earthquake, there was rending
of the rocks we read. Graves were opened. And the Roman
centurion gave his witness, truly, this was the son of God. And then the third witness in
our text is the spirit, that is the Holy Spirit. So we have
the water, testifies at his baptism, this is my beloved son, hear
ye him, or in whom I am well pleased rather. We have the blood,
when he shed his blood, Upon the cross we have several miracles
that took place, all witnessing to the truth that He is the Son
of God, and then the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is here
called the Spirit of Truth. He witnessed as well that Jesus
is the Son of God, and this we know He did in many ways. The
Lord Jesus Christ, the miracles which He wrought, The demons
that he cast out, he did so by the power of the Holy Spirit.
They accused our Lord, that is the religious leaders at one
point, they accused him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub,
the prince of the demons. And our Lord said this, but if
I cast out devils, now notice, by the Spirit of God, by the
Spirit of God. And He did cast out the devils,
the demons, and He did so by the Spirit of God. But I think
especially on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God testified that
He is the Son of God, that He is at the Father's right hand,
that He did pour out of His Spirit upon his church on the day that
he said that he would. So that's what I see in verse
six. We have the water, we have the blood, and we have the spirit. And all testifying, three witnesses
to the truth that the Son of God came, that he came into this
world. That hymn that we sang just a
few minutes ago about Emmanuel. I believe it is in Matthew chapter
1, where we read, thou shalt call his name Jesus, and that
is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Isaiah chapter 9. His name
is Emmanuel, which being interpreted means God with us. Verse 7, back here in 1 John
chapter 5 and verse 7. Here we have three witnesses
in heaven. Those first three witnesses we
saw here upon earth testifying that Jesus is the Son of God,
but now we read of three witnesses in heaven to this truth that
Jesus is the Son of God. First, the Father. The Father,
we read. For there are three that bear
record in heaven. The Father. We've already seen
that At his baptism, the father testified, but also we know that
on the Mount of Transfiguration, the father testified that this
was his beloved son. When you read that account of
the Transfiguration, Peter was always quick to say something,
wasn't he? He was always quick to do something
or say something, and usually got in trouble, or usually he
was maybe on the wrong road. But when he saw the Lord, and
he saw Moses, and he saw Elias there with the Lord, he said,
let's make three tabernacles. It's good. He was rejoicing,
wasn't he? He was happy in the Lord. He
said, let's make three tabernacles here, one for you, Lord Jesus,
one for Elias, and one for Moses. And just as he said that, that
voice from heaven, God spoke from heaven and said this. He
didn't say anything about Moses, didn't say anything about Elias,
even though they were prophets of God that he used greatly.
But this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Or hear
ye him, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. You know, I heard this preacher
make this statement the other day, and I thought it was so
good. He said, there are no great men of God. I thought about that
when I just mentioned Moses and Elijah. There are no great men
of God. There are men that our great
God has used greatly. But all men, men at their best,
we are still men. And that's the reason we need
the Savior, isn't it? We need a Savior, because we
are still men at our best. There are no great men. There
is, rather, a great God who has used some men in a very great
way. All right, the second witness
in heaven is the Word. The Word. The Word was with God.
The Word was God. We read in John chapter 1 and
verse 1. He is the second person in the
Trinity. The word, he declared himself
to be the Son of God when the high priest, when he was brought
before the high priest, the high priest said, I adjure thee, I
adjure thee by God Almighty, tell us if thou be the Christ,
the Son of God. Do you know how he answered?
I am. I am. There are three that bear witness
in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Spirit. He witnessed to Jesus being the
Son of God at his baptism when he descended upon him in the
form of a dove and remaining on him. And notice this text,
if you will, 1 John 5 and verse 7. There are three that bear
record in heaven. the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one." Now, these three agree
in one that Jesus is the Son of God, but this text is saying
more than that, isn't it? These three are one. Just like when the Lord Jesus
Christ in John 10 said, I and my Father are one. I and my Father
are one. These three, John tells us, agree
in one. That is, they are of one essence,
one divine being. There's one God, and yet he reveals
himself to us in a trinity of persons. I read one time that
every Israelite is taught, hear, O Israel, The Lord, our God,
is one Lord. They're taught to say that every
day. They teach their children to say that statements in Deuteronomy
chapter six, I believe. Here, O Israel, the Lord, that
is Jehovah, our God, Elohim, is one Lord. And many of the
older Jewish writers, they recognized that he is one, and yet he exists
in a trinity of persons. And I say that because sometimes
people will say, well, the trinity isn't revealed in the Old Testament. It is. It is revealed in the
Old Testament. It's revealed in the first chapter
of Genesis when God said, let us make man in our image. The Trinity is revealed. Of course,
it is a great, maybe greater revelation to us in the New Testament
of God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.
And these three are one, one God. Now notice in verse eight,
we have three witnesses on earth to the truth that Jesus is the
Son of God. The Spirit, verse eight. And
there are three that bear witness in earth. First, the Spirit. This, I'm convinced, has reference
to the man that God, the Holy Spirit, sets apart to preach
the gospel. When we preach the gospel, we
declare that Jesus is the Son of God. There is no gospel. There is no good news to preach
if Jesus is not the Son of God? What could be good news about
a man dying on a cross if he were only a man? But the good
news is, the gospel is, and this is what every gospel preacher
proclaims, this is where we begin, that Jesus is the Son of God. When we worship Him, As our Lord
and as our Savior, we worship God. If He's not God, then to
worship Him would be idolatry. The Spirit, those men that God
sets apart to preach the gospel. We preach in the power of God,
the Holy Spirit, and we declare, that's our testimony, that's
our witness, that's our gospel. Jesus is the Son of God. And then the water. Secondly,
the water. Those whom God saves, they obey
their Lord, being baptized in water. And this takes place on
earth. Every time there is a baptism,
Christ is witness to, Jesus is witness to as the Son of God,
because we baptize in the name, not the names, but the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy So we have the water
here. In baptism, we witness that Jesus
is the Son of God. And then third, the blood. This
has reference to the Lord's Supper. The blood. When we celebrate
the Lord's Supper here upon the earth, it's not going to be celebrated
in heaven. It's celebrated here on earth.
The gospel is not going to be preached in heaven. It's preached
here on the earth, the Spirit. Baptism is not going to take
place in heaven. People are baptized here upon
the earth, and the same is true of observing the Lord's table. Each time the wine is poured
out, it represents His blood. His blood which was shed for
what? For the remission of our sins. He said, for as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, now listen, you do show
forth the Lord's death So we witness in the Lord's table. You've got these three witnesses
on earth to this wonderful truth that Jesus is the Son of God,
the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Now, here's the second
division. The testimony of God must be
believed. It must be believed. If we receive
the witness of man, and we do, When a man or a woman goes into
a court of law and they put their hand on the Bible and they solemnly
swear to tell the truth and only the truth, we believe them. We
do not believe they're going to perjure themselves under oath. If we receive the witness of
men, and we do, the witness of God is greater. How much more
should we believe God? How much more should we believe
Him who cannot lie, who cannot change? If we believe the witness
in the mouth of two or three, we believe their witness, how
much more should we believe the witness of God? Not to believe
God is to make Him a liar. That's what we read here in verse
9. For this is a 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. Not to believe God is to make
him a liar. He who is the truth, who cannot
lie, yet if we fail to believe him, We do make him a liar. We do not receive his testimony. Unbelief is one of the worst
sins that any of us are ever guilty of. I know there's many
sins that we are guilty of, all sins bad. I'm not saying any
of it's good, not to a righteous God. But not to believe God,
what an awful, awful, evil sin that is. He who is the truth,
he who has demonstrated his love, his concern, and for us to read
his word and hear about his son that he sent into this world
to save sinners and not to believe him is an awful, awful sin. And those who believe in Christ,
we have the witness in ourselves. Now, a true believer, listen,
and you know this is so, a true believer, a true child of God,
may be deceived about a number of different things, a number
of things. I believe there's been many true
believers who were deceived about baptism, and they continued to
sprinkle. I just believe they were deceived.
I'm not saying that we're not saved because many of them God
did use in great ways. A believer, a true child of God,
can be deceived. We can be deceived. You can be
deceived, all of us, on certain points, certain matters. But
there's one thing that a true child of God will never be deceived
about, and that is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's revealed to a believer,
and that truth will never be taken away. Look with me in John
chapter six. You see this in the Apostle Peter's
words here. You know the history here, John
chapter 6, where the Lord had spoken in the synagogue in Capernaum,
and many of those would-be disciples, they turned away and went back.
Many left the Lord, and he was left alone with only the 12 disciples,
and he asked them, will you go away also? Well, look here in
verse 67, John chapter 6 and verse 67. Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, Will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Notice that word whom. To whom? Whom refers to a person, doesn't
it? He doesn't say to what shall
we go. Just like the apostle Paul said,
I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know what I
have believed, I know whom I have believed. And Peter asked this
question, Lord, to whom? What person could we go? Where
could we go? To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure. Now that's assurance, my friends.
A lot of times God's children are upset and anxious about,
they say, well, I just don't have any assurance. Let me ask
you, are you saying you're not sure that Jesus is the Son of
God? Oh, no, I believe that with all
my heart. That's assurance. That's assurance. That's what Peter said. We believe
and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Now, go back with me to our text.
And the last two verses here, verses 11 and 12, 1 John 5, the
record of God, and this is such a blessing to read this record,
the record of God. Number one, this is a record
of God. Eternal life is the gift of God. This is a record. that God has
given to us eternal life. We don't deserve it. We don't
merit eternal life. We could never earn it. Eternal
life, this is a record. This is God's record. Eternal
life is a gift of God. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. This seems to be one of the most difficult things, one
of the most difficult truths for men to really rest in and
to acknowledge and to know. We keep looking to what we've
done or what we haven't done or what we haven't experienced. No, eternal life is a gift. It's a free grace gift. That's the record. That's God's
record. You can't beat that. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the good shepherd. Or yes, he said, I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And then he said, I give unto
them eternal life. I give it unto them. We could
never deserve eternal life. Number two, eternal life is in
God's son. This is God's record here. This
life is in His Son. It's not in the church. It's
not in some formula that men have worked up. Eternal life
is in God's Son. This is life eternal, to know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Eternal life. That's the reason
the Apostle Paul said, yea, doubtless, And I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Because He knew, as you and I
know from God's record, eternal life is in His Son. And the last
thing, those who have the Son have eternal life. How does a
person have the Son? Well, we know it is in knowing
Him, receiving Him, believing Trusting in Him by faith that
men have the Son of God. Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is God's record. Isn't that
a wonderful record? That eternal life is a gift,
that eternal life is in His Son. And those of us who have His
Son, who know Him, we have eternal life. This body's going to die. We understand that. If the Lord
doesn't come, and if he comes, it's going to be changed. But
the eternal life we have, we already have it. And when this
body dies, we just move. We just change residences, right? We just move up to the mansion
that the Lord has prepared for them that love Him. I trust the
Lord will bless these words to us here this evening. We'll sing
of Him and be dismissed.