Sermon: Law and Testimony

All right, let's take a moment. Let's pray before we read First John chapter five, verses one through 12. Let's pray.

Father, we do confess this morning that we are an ignorant people, that we are dumb, that we are slow to understand. And the truth is that in our fallen state that we would know nothing apart from the fact that you are a God who chooses to reveal yourself and to extend grace to sinners such as us. We pray this morning that your truth would be proclaimed even as we have just sung, that you would thunder in our minds and that it wouldn't just enter our ears,

but it would work its way down to our hearts that where there's complete and utter ignorance, there would be knowledge for the first time where there is waning knowledge that it would be enlivened where it has become cold knowledge, that it would be inflamed, that you might receive the glory and the praise that is your due. We pray all of this in the strong name of Jesus, the Christ, amen. This morning, first John chapter five,

verses one through 12. This is the holy er, sufficient word of God.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments as commandments are not burdensome for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world.

Our faith, who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God. This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but by the water. And the blood and the Spirit is the one who testifies because the spirit is the truth. But there are three that testify the spirit and the water and the blood. And these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony

of God is greater for this. It's the testimony of God that he has born concerning his son. Whoever believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has born concerning his son. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in His son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God, does not

have life. Though the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

There are three parts to our passage this morning, uh, verses one through three. John focuses on those who believe are born of God verses four through five, those born of God overcome the world. And then verses six through 12, the testimonies that those born of God overcome the world. So the first is those who believe are born of God. Second, those born of God overcome the world. And third, the testimonies that those born

of God overcome the world. So first verses one through three this morning, those who believe are born of God. John continues his thought that we were in last week where he is saying that the great evidence of the fact the fa, the the fact that you believe in God and love God, the great evidence of that is that you love the brethren, that you love the children of God. And he repeats it again in these opening verses. So let's try and understand the flow of thought here.

He says, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, his focus at the beginning here is on belief. Now he is not just speaking about bare knowledge, just an apprehension of a thing, but rather when he speaks a belief here, he's speaking of personal belief that there is a knowledge of this thing that a scent to that knowledge. And then there is a trusting of the subject of that knowledge. And he is saying you, you must have this personal faith,

true knowledge, true personal trust in the subject of that knowledge, the person of Jesus the person, the only persons he says born of God are those who entrust themselves in faith to Jesus. Now, you'll notice that what he does is he appends a title to Jesus here. It's not just Jesus. He says they entrust themselves believe that Jesus is the Christ. That is that the historical flesh and blood, Jesus who walked the earth

in the first century, that he was indeed the Christ, that he was the Messiah, that he was the anointed one, the promised one that would come and be the salvation of God's people faith in Jesus. And he's saying faith in this Jesus, that he's the Christ that equals being born of God to be born again is conditioned upon faith. Faith in this Jesus. And John says that even as the love for the brethren is a sign of new birth.

So faith in Jesus is a sign of new birth. He continues with that thought. In the second half of verse one, he says, everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. All right? You say that you love God. You say that you have faith in God. Well, you know what? If you love your father, let's say it's your earthly father, but you hate all of his other children, then in reality you don't love the Father. And John is communicating the same if that is true than

how much more true spiritually. If you say that you love the Father, well then it is to be manifest in your love for all of the children of the Father, the people of God. I think he's tying that back to what he just spoke about or love for God, love for the people of God. But it also seems possible to me at least that what John is doing here because of what he goes on to speak about, is he's speaking specifically about our love for the Son of God.

Did do you have love for the Son, the child of God? As John will say in as gospel, that God sent his only begotten son, whosoever believes in Jesus Christ, the begotten of God. And it could be translated that way in our verse, who whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God and whosoever loves him, that begat loves him also that is begotten of him. As ff Bruce said along these lines, picking up this idea from chapter four, verse 20, he said,

to love the Father whom we have not seen involves loving his child, whom we can see.

You can't see God the Father,

but God has become flesh and the person of his son, Jesus the Christ, and you've seen him, John is saying, and if if you love God, you, you must love his son or you don't love

If you love Christ, you have faith in Christ, then you're born of God. But John's not done much like James. He says, all right, you say you have faith. I'll show you my faith by my works. He says, we're to love God and we're to love his children. Well, what's the evidence? How do we test whether we actually love God? How do we test whether we actually love his children? Over verse two, we love God and we obey his commandments.

For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. We love God, so we love his children and in keeping his commandments, we love his children, which is love for God.

Again, it's easy to say, well, well, I love God. That's easy to say or even to say that I love Christ. But here's the fruit. John is saying, do you love his people? Do you keep his commandments left for God in this kind of way, it's supposed to manifest itself. It's difficult to feign for any extended period of time before others because eventually the fruit is going to be born. You will know them by their fruit. Jesus says, we, we can shroud things,

we can cover it for a time. We can hide our sin and darkness, but eventually it comes to light and our hearts will manifest in our lives what we actually are and what we actually believe. If we love God, we seek to live a life of loving his people and seeking to obey his commandments.

Now being grace people, and we preach grace here every week while Mackley alarm bell start going off in your head, you start going, oh, this make me nervous and we want to qualify it. Ah, but you, you can't do this perfectly. No, you can't. You will often fail. Yes you will, but don't you qualify this over and over. That's not John's thrust in this passage. He's not qualifying this over and over. That's not his emphasis here.

There is to be visible evidence of your love for God, of your love for the son, in your love for the brothers and your obedience to the commandments. When the scribe came to Jesus and said, what is the greatest law? And Jesus said, well, it is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. He quickly followed it up with, and you are to love your neighbor as yourself. He didn't stop. That's one theologian said,

if love to men proves the truth of our love to God, love to God proves the worth of our love to men, they go hand in hand. You can't separate them. So you just think about the summary of the moral law, the 10 Commandments. It summarizes all of the moral law. And you say, well, I, I break one of those commandments. Well, all of the 10 commandments are saturated with loving God and loving others. That's why Jesus breaks it down that way.

You and I cannot violate the 10 commandments without being unloving to God and unloving to others. It's impossible. We can't just chalk it up as a personal thing. You might rationalize by this little lie. No one gets hurt wrong. It's always unloving towards others, and it's always unloving towards God. You might rationalize, but, but this is a lie. No one gets hurt wrong or this little, look at the, the internet, no one knows it doesn't hurt anybody but me

and I'm willing to suffer the consequences. No, it's unloving towards God, but it's unloving towards that woman. It's unloving towards society. It's unloving towards your wife or your girlfriend or your future wife or your neighbor's wife.

A little piece of gossip hurt the person you told, the person you told it about the community you're part of it offended God who treats you with such utter kindness.

That's he's John to say in verse two, we obey the commandments. In fact, he says verse three, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome to us. Do we keep them perfectly? No, but don't constantly be qualifying it. We're born again. We love what God loves and we are to hate what God hates. There's a radical change. What was offensive and what was a burden? His 10 commandments, his laws,

what was a burden no longer is it's a delight. Something we desire

becomes a joy.

Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We love God. And so it's just now radically different.

15 or more years ago, I went down to a retreat. And on that retreat they take all of the men and they put them in different small cabins and there are bunk beds in those cabins, and they jam six or eight men in one of those cabins. And I took a man from the congregation I served at that time. He was a, a single father. He had a ton of health issues. He lacked friends. He was very discouraged in life, but he loved the Lord and I loved him.

And uh, I just, my hope was just to take him down for a week of refreshment and to be around other brothers and just enjoy the fellowship and go home refreshed. And my, my great worry all the way down there was I was obsessing with, oh, I, I hope this is going to work. My, my great concern was whether he was going to get to sleep again. He, he had major health problems. Well, that first night in the bunkhouse, he fell asleep quickly.

Uh, I knew it. Everyone else in the bunkhouse knew it. Uh, his snoring was so loud, it sounded like a chainsaw caught in a thunderstorm. Uh, one point I was thinking, uh, as he was snoring, uh, I, he might be wrestling a bear in this dream and actually winning. Uh, there was a seminary professor who was also assigned to that bunkhouse and he became quite agitated and eventually he erupted and he leapt out of bed and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

This is absolutely ridiculous. And he grabbed all of his stuff and he stormed outta the cabin and he slammed the door for effect on his way out.

I was, I am a light sleeper. And so I laid there all night, uh, but I laid there with a smile on my face and I remember thinking, what's the difference between me and the seminary professor? And now I knew without a shadow of a doubt, there was not a doubt in my mind that he was holier than I was. He had walked longer with Christ than I had, and I knew that he had a deeper relationship with Christ than I did. That that was not on the table. That was not in my mind.

I remember laying there during the night and I had this thought that went across my mind. The difference was that I knew this snoring brother and I had a particular love for him.

And because of that, what would've been my agitation became my delight.

The commandments of God are an agitation before, but they become a delight when they ring in the born again person's ears. Why? 'cause we love him.

He's so good.

It's no longer a burden. As John says, everything changes by love. It's the born again Christian that says with the psalm, so how I love your law, it's my meditation all the day. How sweet are your words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth? Those who believe are born of God.

Second, those born of God overcome the world, overcome it has the idea of of prevails or conquers and, and conflict is, is clearly in view here. That's implied. You remember Jesus' last words to the disciples in the gospel of John before he is headed to the cross, he says to them, in the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome same word, overcome the world. John 1633, overcome those born

of God overcome the world, the the world to come has broken in, in the person of the Messiah, the Christ who has come into the world, and it is broken into our persons as we are born again. You're born again to that world to come. You belong to the world to come. And so you overcome this world. You have a new life. And that means that the the passing temptations of this world and the passing follies of this world and the the passing sins of this world,

they have no dominion over the child of God. We don't belong to it.

The devil's not our Lord. The world's not our master. Sin is not our king. We're children of the heavenly Father.

We've already overcome the world. John is implying, see, the inference is this, you and I can obey his commandments. We can have love for one another. We can bear resemblance to our heavenly Father because we have overcome.

How can you obey his commandments? Well, he says verse four, that we have victory by faith. And that ties back to verse one, by faith or united to Jesus Christ, the sin of God. He has victory. Jesus has conquered, and you are born again by faith in Christ according to his grace. And so Jesus' victory is your victory. His triumph is your triumph.

Listen to just a sampling of where the scriptures take this. We have victory over sin. Romans six, six through seven. Our old self was crucified with him so that we no, we no longer be enslaved to sin. We have victory over death. One Corinthians 1557, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have victory over the world. As we quoted from John 16, be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. We have victory over the devil.

Colossians two 15, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. This is why Paul will erupt in, in Philippians four saying, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. That's not a verse just for Saturday football games, that's for life all things or why he will say in Romans eight and all these things, we are more than conquers through him who loved us. Sin is not your master.

If you have been born of God, hate is not your calling card. Indifference to the commands of God is not your mood. The idea that Jesus conquers is to dominate the Christian, the born again person's life. He's conquered

say, that seems to me at least that as you grow older, just in life and in the Christian life, that that that idea Christus Victor has been called theologically, Christ, the victor, Christ, the king Christ, the conquer, that it just becomes sweeter and sweeter mind often and goes to Psalm 23, then, oh, it's because he's the victor that as the good shepherd that he leads me besides Stillwaters, because he is the conqueror that he makes me

to lie down in green pastures because he is victorious, that he prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

Temptation, sin within pride, lust, anxiety, sin without slander, gossip, lies, hatred, opposition, disease, death, the devil, they don't rule.

He's overcome

and you're born of him. So you've overcome

or more than conquers in him. But here's my question for you. Do you live like that?

Do you think like that?

Because I think most Christians struggled to believe that

you've been set free. It's real. So recently reading, uh, on January 30th, uh, 19 45, 1 of the most amazing military special

combats ever occurred where the US rangers and Filipino gorilla fighters went 30 miles behind Japanese lines and they crawled on their bellies through rice fields all through the night. And then in the early morning hours, they did a lightning fast 30 minute attack on this prisoner of war camp, and they killed all the guards and they freed 512 POWs. And these men were literally skeletons with flesh on them. They had all three years prior to that,

survived the Batan death march. And then for three years they had been systematically worked and beaten and starved to death in this Japanese POW camp

when they were freed, some prisoners didn't believe it was real. And it's reported that one whispered to one of the US rangers, is this a dream? Are you really American? And that ranger replied to him, yes, we're here to take you home. You're free. It's real, it's done.

John closes his entire passage with, with that on his mind, with that at the forefront. He says in verses 1112, God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son, whoever the son has life. You have it now.

And whoever does not have the son of God, does not have life.

He conquered to give us life, to set us free to take us home.

That means that now you are free. You can resist temptation, you can fight sin. You can increasingly delight in his commandments and his person and his kingdom and his people because you've been set free to do so. You belong to the world. To come

to that pornography is to be abandoned. That slothfulness is to be put to death.

You say, well, drinking a little too much too often is just what I do. No, you've been set free.

We obey his commandments. We're seeking to grow and love for our brothers in Christ. That's a goal. It's a possibility. It's a reality. You've overcome the world in Christ, those born of God overcome the world.

Third, the testimony that those born of God overcome the world. Well, how do you know this for sure? How? How can we be reassured that this is true? We're still in a fallen world. I still find myself giving in to sin and temptation. Yes, and you will, I, I I. How do I know that this is actually true? That those born of God and that those born of God are, are truly set free and truly have life and have life abundant. How do I know? Well, John says, well,

let me give you a threefold testimony. There's the water. There's the blood and there's the spirit. Jesus Christ, John says, is the one who came by water and blood and then he doubles down not by water only verse six, but by the water and the blood. If you'll remember the scene of the crucifixion, Jesus is nailed to the cross. And as he is nailed to the cross, as we will often sing, blood flowed from his hands and his head and his feet

and it flowed and it mingled down. And even as that blood flowed, as the gospels tell us, there was a Roman soldier at the foot of the cross that took a spear and he reached up with that spear and with it, he jammed it into the side of Jesus and out came water. And it could be that it's what John is referencing here, water and blood. Some have said it's a reference to the sacraments, the water's, a baptism and the Lord's table.

But that would make a mess. It seems to me of verse six and change the idea and the rest of this passage, it seems more likely, I think due to the word order. Notice that he puts water first and then he puts the blood. And the fact that we know that John was seeking to combat, as we spoke about last week, a false teaching where there was the belief that Jesus, the man all of a sudden had a Christ spirit come upon him,

and that empowered him for that life of ministry. And there was a separation between Jesus and Christ. And so the one that died upon the cross was actually just Jesus, the man and the Christ somehow was not there. And it seems that what John is seeking to address is no, that's not the case. Jesus, the Christ was truly man, what we saw in flesh and blood, what we saw at his baptism and crucifixion, this is the same Jesus, the Christ,

the man who was baptized Jesus, the Christ is also the man, Jesus the Christ who died upon the cross, the water and the blood. They testify that Jesus is the Christ. They're witnesses again. Notice the word order. He mentions water first and he speaks about the testimony of the spirit, the spirit of truth. If you remember in the synoptic gospels in Matthew, mark and Luke, those three gospels that share so much in common

that in the waters of baptism, when the waters of baptism are applied by John the Baptist of Jesus head, it is then that we're told in all three synoptic gospels that there was the spirit that descended on him like a dove. And it empowered him for the work of the ministry that he was about to set his life to the spirit. The spirit of truth testifies, John says,

and you remember, it's not only the spirit, but it was the voice. There was a voice that echoed from the clouds, the voice of God, the Father that said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

He wasn't a mere man at his baptism because he was never a mere man. He was God become flesh, the God man who crawled on the earth, who then walked on the earth and then was baptized on earth and who died. That propitiatory death that we spoke about last week upon the cross on earth, the God man and the Spirit and the Father both testified as baptism. And so they do it as crucifixion. The spirit is the spirit of truth and

and the word God's truth, that goes out. And as it goes out, it accomplishes its purposes. That word, this word is spirit inspired and as the spirit attends to its word, so it testifies and we see that Jesus crucifixion scripture after scriptures fulfilled, this is the testimony of the spirit. Psalm 22, his hands and feet were pierced as garments divided in lots. Cast Psalm 22, he was mocked and taunted by onlookers. Psalm 69, they gave him vinegar, sour wine to drink.

Isaiah 53, he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, he was crucified with transgressors. Psalm 34, none of his bones were broken though this was the intention and this was the practice of the Roman soldiers. Psalm 22, you would cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And we could go on and on. We have scripture after scripture after scripture, prophecy inspired by the Spirit after prophecy, inspired by the Spirit

that testifies at the crucifixion that indeed this is the very son of God. This is the Christ the Messiah.

And I think this could be argued to be the testimony of the Father too, but maybe John is also referencing the fact that the sky became dark, that the curtain was torn in the temple in two from top to bottom, that the dead were raised regardless. His point is this, is that we have the Spirit and God the Father testifying God is saying he is the Christ, he is the son of God. How do you know that those born of God overcome the world?

How do you know that Jesus is the Christ son of God? Well, you have the water. You have the blood, and you have the very testimony of God himself

that John asked provocatively verse nine, if we receive the testimony of men, and then he goes on and we all receive the testimony of men,

you believe some people about something, even those of you that are conspiracy theorists in the room, some of you are walking around and going, I, I know that Elvis is still alive, and JFK was shot by at least two people and that moon landing was all Hollywood, but you're believing the conspiracy theorists theories. You're believing somebody about something. Was uh, think about on looking on Twitter this week and how often now AI has made this so confusing.

You get people that are posting pictures and and you will have people underneath pictures almost all the time now going, is this a real picture asking the AI and then they trust the ai? Yeah, it is, or no, it's not. You're trusting someone or something and and here's John's argument from the lesser to the greater. He says, look, if you trust, receive the testimony of men and we do about something or something, then John Reilly says,

if you will believe men when they testify and you know that men are frail, you know that they're weak, you know that they're fallen. You know that they lie, and yet you will trust them at times. If that is true, then how much more readily must you believe the greater God testifies?

And God cannot lie. He's always true. And he said, this is my son with him. I am well pleased. He said it and the Spirit testifies to it, and the spirit takes up residence in us and then testifies to our spirits. John is saying and confirms that truth to us.

So here's a question for you. At the person sitting next to you,

do you believe the testimony of God?

Do you believe he literally stands as a witness and says that, that's my son, and I send him to live and I send him to die for sinners. That's my son. And if you believe in him, you have eternal life.

Do you believe his testimony?

No one in this room can answer that for you. Do you believe his testimony?

He testifies this morning.

He's testifying to you right now.

And when Jesus is preparing the disciples for the fact that he will go to the cross and that he will die in John 15, he says to them, when the helper comes, meaning the Spirit, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me, and he does. So this morning, as he's promised, as the word is read and as it's preached,

he testifies to you this morning,

and here's what John says. If you don't believe that testimony, then you're calling him a liar.

No inbetweens,

and the word goes out as it's preached. It resonates with those who have been born again. You often hear well-meaning Christians who will say, ah, give me something practical doctrine, muddies the waters. Theology is so very unhelpful. But you see, John doesn't have that opinion.

He begins this whole thing. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Do you believe that God sent God and God came in the flesh, that he is the God man, that Jesus truly is the Christ? That's doctrine and it's very practical. It's practical for today, and it's practical for eternity. It doesn't get more practical. You don't believe that you don't have life.

You Don't have it right now. You do believe that it's all different. You have life and you have life forever.

Pray that each of you know that this morning. Let's pray.

Our Father, we are thankful that you are a God who has overcome the world and the person of your son That you bring life where there is death, that you bring love, where there was only hate,

that you grant the things of eternity to those who were dead and perishing. We pray that every single soul in this room would believe that Jesus is the Christ, and believing that Jesus is the Christ would overcome the world and have life, life eternal.

Pour out your grace. Pour out your love. Pour out your mercy upon us, we pray, and may we live in light of it, loving you, obeying your commandments, and loving one another. We pray all of this in the strong name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.