07 July 12, 2015, 1 John 5;1-12, Jesus Alone

1 John 5:1-13
Jesus Alone
July 12, 2015
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

What’s the number one thing?

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The Glory of God!

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1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.

July Memory Verse:
I John 1:7 NIV
But if we walk in the light, as He is
in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of
Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all
sin.

RememberTo Pray For
The Committee On Committees
Kendall Smith, Chairman
Beth Aldridge, David Gibbs,
Sherye Green, Mike Lowe,
Chris Maddux, Jim Merritt, Jr.,
Elizabeth Rich, EddyWaller

Men's Stories
EveryTuesday, 11:30 AM - 12:50 PM
All men are invited to a great lunch
and devotion
Hosted by HalWarren -
First Baptist Jackson's Missions and
Evangelism Pastor.

Fellowship Hall East
11:15 a.m. - Lunch Line Begins
12:15 p.m. - Program Begins
12:50 p.m. - Dismiss
Regular Line: $7.50
Senior Adult: $6.00
Lite Line: $5.50

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French Camp Academy

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We have three challenges that the
Education
Department has
placed before
us in 2015:

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1.) Memorize the monthly memory
verses and
know each
month we
are hiding
God’sWord
in our heart.

January verse: Romans 10:9
February verse: Ephesians 2:8-9
March verse: Romans 3:23
April verse: I Peter 1:3
May verse: 2 Corinthians 9:7
June verse: Philippians 1:6

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2.) Share your faith with one person
each month and build a relationship
with them, so they will not only
become a disciple – but
a disciple maker
themselves.
Luke 19:11-27

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3). Ask Sunday School class members
to share how they have seen God at
work during the week.

Next Sunday
July 19, 2015
Revelation 1:1-8
Jesus’ Revelation

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Today’s passage:
1 John 5:1-13 NKJV

1 John 5:1-13 NKJV
1Whoever believes that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God, and everyone
who loves HimWho begot also loves
HimWho is begotten of Him.

(Every person who believes that Jesus
is, in fact, the Messiah, is
God-begotten. If we love the One
Who conceives the Child, we’ll surely
love the ChildWho was conceived.)
MSG

2 By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God
and keep His commandments. 3 For
this is the love of God, that we keep
His commandments. And His
commandments are not burdensome.

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(The proof that we love God comes when
we keep His commandments and they are
not at all troublesome.)
MSG

4 For whatever is born of God
overcomes the world. And this is the
victory that has overcome the world—
our faith. 5Who is he who overcomes
the world, but he who believes that
Jesus is the Son of God?

(Every God-begotten person conquers
the world’s ways.The conquering
power that brings the world to its knees
is our faith.The person who wins out
over the world’s ways is simply the one
who believes Jesus is the Son of God.)
MSG

6This is HeWho came by water and
blood—Jesus Christ; not only by
water, but by water and blood. And it
is the SpiritWho bears witness,
because the Spirit is truth.

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(He experienced a life-giving birth and a
death-killing death. Not only birth from
the womb, but baptismal birth of His
ministry and sacrificial death.)
MSG

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7 For there are three that bear witness
in Heaven: the Father, theWord, and
the Holy Spirit; and these three are
One.

8 And there are three that bear witness on
earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood;
and these three agree as one.
(A triple testimony: the Spirit, the
Baptism, the Crucifixion - all the three in
perfect agreement.)
MSG

9 If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater (if we take
human testimony at face value, how
much more should we be reassured
when God gives testimony as He does
here); for this is the witness of God
which He has testified of His Son.

10 He who believes in the Son of God
has the witness in himself; he who
does not believe God (in effect calls
God a liar, he blasphemes God) has
made Him a liar, because he has not
believed the testimony that God has
given of His Son.

11 And this is the testimony: that God
has given us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have life (whoever
rejects the Son, rejects life).

13These things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God,
that you may know (not hope, but will
know beyond the shadow of a doubt) that
you have eternal life, and that you may
continue to believe in the name of the Son
of God.
1 John 5:1-13 NKJV

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John wrote this epistle so that we may
be sure that we are the children of
God (1 John 5:13).

It would be helpful at this point to
review the characteristics of God's
children:
•“Everyone also who practices
righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John
2:29, NASB)

•“No one who is born of God practices
sin.” (1 John 3:9, NASB)
•"We know that we have passed out of
death into life, because we love the
brethren.” (1 John 3:14, NASB)

•“Beloved, let us love one another, for love
is from God; and everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7,
NASB).
•“For whatever is born of God overcomes
the world; and this is the victory that has
overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John
5:4 NASB).

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If you bear these "birthmarks," you
can say with confidence that you are
a child of God.

When Sir James Simpson, the discoverer of
chloroform, was on his deathbed, a friend asked
him, "Sir, what are your speculations?"
Simpson replied: "Speculations! I have no
speculations! 'For I knowWhom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him against that
day.'" 2Tim 1:12

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The Bible states in several places
(Romans 6:23b, Ephesians 2:8-9) that
eternal life is a gift from God.

Romans 6:23 NKJV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
8 For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not
of works, lest anyone should boast.

God will not take something back that
He has promised to give you, that He
has already given you.
Your eternal life has already begun.

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It is a present possession, not merely a
future hope (John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47, 54;
10:28; 1 John 3:15), though it is not fully
manifested in this life.

You have been saved (past tense) from the
penalty of sin – Justification.
You are being saved (present tense) from
the power of sin – Sanctification.
You will be saved (future tense) from the
very presence of sin – Glorification.

There will come a day in the future
when the eternal life believers already
possess will no longer be incarcerated
in their sinful, fallen flesh.

On that glorious day, they will
experience their “adoption as sons,
the redemption of the body” (Romans
8:23; cf. Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:2).

Then the glory of eternal life—the
power of theTrinity that works within
them (Ephesians 3:16-19)—will shine
through them unclouded by their
mortal bodies. (glorification)

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The reason that you can know that you
have eternal life is because of the
character of the One
Who promised to give
it to you.

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Therefore, your eternal life is not dependent
on how well you live the last two months of
your life.

In its most basic sense, eternal life is
living forever with God in Heaven
(Matthew 25:46; Mark 10:30).
The term does not refer primarily to
duration of life, but to quality of life.

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Eternal life is to know Jesus Christ (John
17:3),Who Himself is eternal life (1 John
5:20), and to share in His life.

John 17:3 NKJV
3 And this is eternal life, that they may
knowYou, the only true God, and
Jesus ChristWhomYou have sent.

1 John 5:20 NKJV
20 And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us an
understanding, that we may know
HimWho is true; and we are in Him
Who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life.

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The apostle assured them that if they
passed the doctrinal and practical tests,
they could know for certain that they had
eternal life.

That ye may know (ina eidhte) - to
know with settled intuitive knowledge.
• John wishes them to have eternal
life in Christ (John 20:31) and to
know that they have it, but not with
flippant superficiality (1 John 2:3).

1 John 5:11-12 NKJV
11 And this is the testimony: that God
has given us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have life.

The Essence of Our Faith
With this passage (5:11-12), the letter
proper comes to an end.
• What follows is in the nature of a
postscript and the end is a statement
that the essence of the Christian life is
eternal life.

The word for eternal is aionios.
It means far more than simply lasting
forever.
• A life which lasted forever might well
be a curse and not a blessing, an
intolerable burden and not a shining
gift.

There is only one Person toWhom
aionios may properly be applied and
that is God.
In the real sense of the term it is God
aloneWho possesses and inhabits
eternity.

Eternal life is, therefore, nothing
other than the life of God Himself.
What we are promised is that here
and now there can be given us a
share in the very life of God.

It may be pointed out, in fact, that the
assurance of one's salvation always
rests fundamentally and sufficiently
on the direct promises that God
makes to that believer.
• In other words, one's assurance
rests on the testimony of God.

In God there is peace and, therefore,
eternal life means serenity.
It means a life liberated from the fears
which haunt the human situation.
• In God there is power and, therefore,
eternal life means the defeat of
frustration.

It means a life filled with the power of
God and, therefore, victorious over
circumstance.
In God there is holiness and,
therefore, eternal life means the
defeat of sin.

Eternal life means a life clad with the
purity of God and armed against the
soiling infections of the world.
In God there is love and, therefore,
eternal life means the end of
bitterness and hatred.

It means a life which has the love of
God in its heart and the undefeatable
love of man in all its feelings and in all
its action.
In God there is life and, therefore
eternal life means the defeat of death.

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It means a life which is indestructible
because it has in it the
indestructibility of God Himself.

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It is John's conviction that such a life
comes through Jesus Christ and in no
other way.

If eternal life is the life of God, it means
that we can possess that life only when we
know God and are enabled to approach
Him and rest in Him.
We can do these two things only in Jesus
Christ.

The Son alone fully knows the Father
and, therefore, only He can fully reveal
to us what God is like.
• As John had it in his Gospel: "No one
has ever seen God; the only Son,Who
is in the bosom of the Father, He has
made Him known" (John 1:18).

And Jesus Christ alone can bring us to
God.
It is in Him that there is open to us the
new and living way into the presence
of God (Heb 10:19-23).

Hebrews 10:19-23The Message
19-21 So, friends, we can now—without
hesitation—walk right up to God, into
“the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the
way by the blood of His sacrifice, acting
as our Priest before God.The “curtain”
into God’s presence is His body.

22-23 So let’s do it—full of belief,
confident that we’re presentable
inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip
on the promises that keep us going.
He always keeps His word.
Hebrews 10:19-23The Message

Look at this simple analogy: If we wish
to meet someone whom we do not
know and who moves in a completely
different circle from our own, we can
achieve that meeting only by finding
someone who knows him and is
willing to introduce us to him.

That is what Jesus does for us in
regard to God.
Eternal life is the life of God and we
can find that life only through Jesus
Christ.

Are you trusting Him in such a way
that no one on Earth or in Heaven can
shake your confidence in Him?
If you haven't come to that point, you
haven't come anywhere at all.

To be saved means you trust Christ, and it
means you have Christ as your Savior.
"He that hath the Son hath life."
He's our lifeboat, He's our lifeline.
He's our only hope & we are lost without Him,
but if we have Him, we have life.

The question is:
Whom do you believe?
Not what do you believe, butWhom do you
believe?
Do you believe God?
Do you believe the record that He gave?

He says that if you have the Son, you have
life.
Do you believe that?
John didn't say if you feel like it or if you
have joined something, but if you believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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It is not a matter of how much faith you
have or how you feel
about it, it is whether or
not you trust Christ.
That's all important.

Having this assurance of eternal life
will do something for our Christian life
here and now – and for later!
(See 1Timothy 4:8)

1Timothy 4:7b-8 NKJV
7b exercise yourself toward godliness.
8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but
godliness is profitable for all things,
having promise of the life that now is
and of that which is to come.

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THE RESPONSETO
GOD'STESTIMONY
1 John 5:10 NKJV

1 John 5:10 NKJV
10 He who believes in the Son of God has
the witness in himself; he who does not
believe God (in effect calls God a liar, he
blasphemes God) has made Him a liar,
because he has not believed the
testimony that God has given of His Son.

What people do with God's testimony
to Jesus Christ determines their
eternal destiny.
There are only two possible
responses: to believe God's testimony,
or to reject it.

There are two questions that God will
ask everyone:
1) What did you do with My Son?
2) What did you do with what I gave
you?

1) What did you do with My Son?
• Determines whether you get
into Heaven or not.
2) What did you do with what I gave
you?
• Determines your rewards once
you get into Heaven.

No one can remain neutral, for as
Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is
against Me.” (Matthew 12:30a)

The one who believes in the Son of
God has the testimony in himself.
He who has the Son (abiding in him),
has eternal life!

Since true faith perseveres, those who
turn away from the Gospel reveal that
they were never saved in the first
place.
On the other hand, the one who does
not believe God has made Him a liar.

To deny that Jesus Christ isWho God
said He is, to refuse to believe in the
testimony that God has given
concerning His Son, renders God a
liar—which is the severest of all
blasphemies since God is perfect truth
and cannot lie.

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God cannot lie: Numbers 23:19;
1 Samuel 15:29;Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18.

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Blasphemy is the act of insulting or
showing contempt or lack of reverence
for God.

Etymology -The word "blasphemy"
comes from Greek words that mean
"utterance, talk, speech" and "injure".
• From blasphemare also came Old
French blasmer, from which the
English word, "blame", came.

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It denotes also any kind of calumny, or
evil-speaking, or abuse (1 Kings
21:10; Acts 13:45; 18:6).

Christian theology condemns
blasphemy.
It is spoken of in Mark 3:29, where
blaspheming the Holy Spirit is spoken
of as unforgivable—the eternal sin.

Mark 3:29 NKJV
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be
forgiven the sons of men, and whatever
blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he
who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
never has forgiveness, but is subject to
eternal condemnation”—

The strong man (Matthew 12:22-30 ).
Jesus healed a demoniac who was both
blind and dumb (Matt. 12:22-24), and the
scribes and Pharisees used this miracle as
an opportunity to attack Him.
(Also in Mark 3:22-30)

Mark 3:22-30 NKJV
A House Divided Cannot Stand
22 And the scribes who came down
from Jerusalem said, “He has
Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the
demons He casts out demons.”

23 So He called them to Himself and
said to them in parables: “How can
Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom
is divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. 25 And if a house is
divided against itself, that house
cannot stand.

26 And if Satan has risen up against
himself, and is divided, he cannot
stand, but has an end. 27 No one can
enter a strong man’s house and
plunder his goods, unless he first
binds the strong man. And then he
will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will
be forgiven the sons of men, and
whatever blasphemies they may
utter;

29 but he who blasphemes against the
Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but
is subject to eternal condemnation”—
30 because they said, “He has an
unclean spirit.”
Mark 3:22-30 NKJV

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In this passage, Mark introduced a new
word -parables -(Mark 3:23; 4:2, 10-11, 13,
33-34).

Jesus explained the kingdom, not by
giving a lecture on theology, but by
painting pictures that captured the
attention of the people and forced
them to use their imaginations and
think.

Our English word parable comes from
two Greek words that mean "to cast
alongside" (para—alongside; ballo—to
throw or cast).
• A parable is a story or figure placed
alongside a teaching to help us
understand its meaning.

It is much more than "an earthly story
with a heavenly meaning," and it
certainly is not an "illustration" such
as a preacher would use in a sermon.

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A true parable gets the listener deeply
involved and compels that listener to
make a personal decision about God's
truth and his or her life.

So penetrating and personal are
parables that, after they heard several
of them, the religious leaders wanted
to kill the Lord Jesus! (see Matt. 21:45-
46)

A parable begins innocently as a
picture that arrests our attention and
arouses our interest.
But as we study the picture, it
becomes a mirror in which we
suddenly see ourselves.

If we continue to look by faith, the
mirror becomes a window through
which we see God and His truth.
How we respond to that truth will
determine what further truth God will
teach us. (see John 14:21)

John 14:21 NKJV
21 He who has My commandments
and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
And he who loves Me will be loved by
My Father, and I will love him and
manifest Myself to him.”

Why did Jesus teach in parables?
His disciples asked Him that very question
(Mark 4:10-12; and see Matthew 13:10-17).
• A careful study of His reply reveals that
Jesus used parables both to hide the
truth and to reveal it.

Matthew 13:10-13, 16-17 NKJV
The Purpose of Parables
10 And the disciples came and said to
Him, “Why doYou speak to them in
parables?”

11 He answered and said to them, “Because
it has been given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but
to them it has not been given. 12 For
whoever has, to him more will be given,
and he will have abundance; but whoever
does not have, even what he has will be
taken away from him.

13Therefore I speak to them in
parables, because seeing they do not
see, and hearing they do not hear, nor
do they understand.

16 But blessed are your eyes for they see,
and your ears for they hear; 17 for
assuredly, I say to you that many prophets
and righteous men desired to see what
you see, and did not see it, and to hear
what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew 13:10-13, 16-17 NKJV

The crowd did not judge the parables; the parables
judged the crowd.
• The careless listener, who thought he knew
everything, would hear only a story that he did not
really understand; and the result in his life would be
judgment (Matt. 11:25-30).
• The sincere listener, with a desire to know God's truth,
would ponder the parable, confess his ignorance,
submit to the Lord, and then begin to understand the
spiritual lesson Jesus wanted to teach.

Jesus placed a great deal of
importance on the hearing of theWord
of God.
In one form or another, the word hear
is used thirteen times in Mark 4:1-34.

Obviously, our Lord was speaking, not
about physical hearing, but about
hearing with spiritual discernment.
To "hear" theWord of God means to
understand it and obey it (see James
1:22-25).

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Our Lord gave several parables to help the
people (and that included His disciples)
understand the nature of His kingdom.

The answer lies in the nature of God
and in His patient dealings with the
nation of Israel.
God the Father sent John the Baptist
to prepare the nation for the coming
of their Messiah.

Many of the common people
responded to John's call and repented
(Matthew 21:32), but the religious
leaders permitted John to be arrested
and eventually killed.

God the Son came as promised and
called the nation to trust Him, but
those same religious leaders asked for
Jesus to be killed.
• On the cross, our Lord prayed,
"Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and
demonstrated God's power in many
convicting ways.
How did those same religious leaders
respond?

By arresting the Apostles, ordering
them to keep silent, and then killing
Stephen themselves!
Stephen told them what their sin was:
"Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost"
(Acts 7:51).

They had sinned against the Father
and the Son, but had been graciously
forgiven.
• When they sinned against the Holy
Spirit, they had reached "the end of
the line" and there could be no
more forgiveness.

When the Spirit of God convicts the
sinner and reveals the Saviour, the
sinner may resist the Spirit and reject
the witness of theWord of God, but
that does not mean he has forfeited
all his opportunities to be saved.

If he will repent and believe, God can
still forgive him.
Even if the sinner so hardens his heart
that he seems to be insensitive to the
pleadings of God, so long as there is
life, there is hope.

Only God knows if and when any
"deadline" has been crossed.
You and I must never despair of any
sinner (1Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV
9The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.

Jesus declared, All the sins and
blasphemies (derogatory words vs.
God) of men are open to God's
gracious forgiveness (1:4) with one
exception - blasphemies against the
Holy Spirit.

In light of the context this refers to an
attitude (not an isolated act or
utterance) of defiant hostility toward
God that rejects His saving power
toward man, expressed in the Spirit-
empowered person and work of Jesus.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/90/74/fc/9074fcbf75348c47b9363fa9550a29f8.jpg
It is one's preference for darkness even
though he has been exposed to light (John
3:19).

Such a persistent attitude of willful
unbelief can harden into a condition in
which repentance and forgiveness,
both mediated by God's Spirit,
become impossible.

This person is guilty (enochos, "liable
to, in the grasp") of an eternal sin (the
ultimate sin because it remains
forever unforgiven; Matthew 12:32).
Judas Iscariot (cf. Mark 3:29; 14:43-46)
proved the reality of these words.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DIWcbeeDVs/UgCHkc8a0vI/AAAAAAAAAqg/y6alMnlMMgs/s1600/Unforgivable+Sin.jpg
These scribes were close to calling the
Holy Spirit "Satan."

Rejecting God's witness concerning
His Son is not a misfortune to be
pitied, or overlooked in the name of
tolerance.
It is a heinous, damning sin and an
affront to God's holy nature.

Those guilty of it must not be
patronized, comforted, or reassured,
but confronted and called to
repentance.
This is no trivial issue; the integrity of
God is at stake.

John closed this section by setting out
the eternal results of the only two
possible responses to God's witness to
Jesus Christ:
He who has the Son has the life;
he who does not have the Son of
God does not have the life.

Here again the exclusivity of the
Gospel is evident, only those who
believe the Father's witness to the
Son and acknowledge Jesus as Lord
and Savior have eternal life; all who
refuse to do so do not have the Son,
and so do not have eternal life.

The glorious promise to those who
believe God's testimony is that “as
many as received Jesus, to them He
gave the right to become children of
God, even to those who believe in His
name” (John 1:12).

1 John 5:13 NKJV
13These things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God,
that you may know (not hope, but will
know beyond the shadow of a doubt) that
you have eternal life, and that you may
continue to believe in the name of the Son
of God.

But the sobering warning to those
who reject it is, “How will you escape
if you neglect so great a salvation?”
(Hebrews 2:3).

THE PURPOSE OF GOD'STESTIMONY
1 John 5:11 NASB
And the testimony is this, that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son.

The purpose of God's testimony
through the water, the blood, and the
Spirit is that sinners might receive
eternal life.
• Eternal life involves far more than
merely living forever in a
chronological sense.

The essence of eternal life is the
believer's participation in the blessed
everlasting life of Christ (John 1:4)
through his or her union with Him
(Rom 5:21; 6:4, 11, 23; 1 Cor 15:22;
2 Cor 5:17; Gal 2:20; Col 3:3-4;
2Tim 1:1,10; Jude 21).

Jesus defined it in His High Priestly
Prayer to the Father: “This is eternal
life, that they may knowYou, the only
true God, and Jesus ChristWhomYou
have sent” (John 17:3).

It is the life of the age to come
(Ephesians 2:6-7), which believers will
most fully experience in the perfect,
unending glory, holiness, and joy of
Heaven (Rom 8:19-23, 29; 1 Cor 5:49;
Phil 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2).

The eternal life promised by God in
the OldTestament (2 Sam 12:23; Ps
16:8-10; 133:3; Dan 12:2) and sought
by the Jews of Jesus' day (Luke 10:25;
John 5:39) comes only to those who
believe God's testimony and place
their faith in His Son.

The Gospel is exclusive; there are not
many ways to God, but only One.
In John 14:6 Jesus declared, “I am the
way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father but through
Me.”

“And there is salvation in no one else,”
Peter added, “for there is no other
name under Heaven that has been
given among men by which we must
be saved” (Acts 4:12; cf. John 6:68;
17:2; Rom 6:23; 1Tim 1:16; Jude 21).

1 John 5:12 NASB
He who has the Son has the life; he
who does not have the Son of God
does not have the life.

Christian Certainties (1 John 5:13-21)
Life in this fallen world is filled with
uncertainty, with few guarantees and
little that can be depended on.

“Man, who is born of woman,” Job
lamented, “is short-lived and full of
turmoil” (Job 14:1), being “born for
trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job
5:7).

Illness, an accident, violence, or old
age catches up with everyone in the
end, because all people “are just a
vapor that appears for a little while
and then vanishes away” (James 4:14;
cf. Ps 39:5; 90:10).

In the meantime, life's journey is
fraught with doubts, questions, and
uncertainties.
Jobs vanish as companies downsize
and outsource.

The volatility of the stock market, the
fluctuations of the economy, and
increasing taxes create further
uncertainty.

Relationships come and go, with
people's faithfulness often lasting
only as long as their felt needs are
being met—or until they find
someone more attractive.

The uncertainty of relationships has
made prenuptial agreements
commonplace, as people attempt to
protect themselves against being
exploited by their erstwhile partners.

On a larger scale, natural disasters,
such as earthquakes, hurricanes,
tornadoes, fires, and floods, can
sweep away in an instant the
accumulated treasures of a lifetime.

Uncertainty over what the future
holds drives people to spend a
significant percentage of their income
on insurance, as they attempt to
safeguard against all of the potential
negative contingencies.

Car insurance provides a measure of
security in the event of an accident.
Uncertainty about fire, theft, and
natural disasters leads people to buy
coverage to protect their homes.

Health insurance helps guard against
financial ruin in case of serious illness;
life insurance provides money should
the breadwinner in a family die.

But the most profound uncertainty
with the most disastrous results exists
not in the material realm, but in the
spiritual and eternal realm.

Because they reject the gospel and
are without God, people are also
without hope (Eph 2:12), or
protection from divine wrath and
eternal hell.

Most people put their hope in false
religions or personal ideologies to get
them into a happy eternal state.
And it is popularly believed that all
religions lead to heaven and most people
are good, thus they are headed there.

What is not popular is the reality that
only the Bible is the trueWord of God,
the gospel the only way to heaven,
and all who do not believe it go to hell
forever.

The Bible reveals the truth about how
the universe began, and how it will end;
about why people behave the way they
do; about what is right and what is
wrong; about heaven and hell, and how
people get to those places; about what
makes for good human relationships;

about God's promises; and, most
significant, about the Lord Jesus Christ,
including His virgin birth, sinless life,
unparalleled teaching, substitutionary
death, literal resurrection, bodily
ascension, and second coming.

Scripture is filled with absolute
certainties, including the reality that
sin has consequences (Num 32:23);
that the Bible is true (Ps 19:7; 111:7;
Luke 1:4; 2 Peter 1:19); that
righteousness brings a reward (Prov
11:18);

that God alone is God (Deut 4:39; Isa
43:10; 45:6), can do all things (Job
42:2), will not act wickedly (Job
34:12), judges according to truth (Rev
16:7; 19:2; cf. Ps 119:75), is faithful
(Deut 7:9), punishes sin (Rom 2:2),
created everything (Isa 48:13)—

including humans (Ps 100:3), and is
good and merciful (Ps 23:6); that
Jesus Christ bore our griefs and
sorrows (Isa 53:4), is the Messiah, the
Holy One of God (John 6:69; cf. Matt
14:33; Acts 2:36), knows all things
(John 16:30; 21:17),

was sent by the Father (John 17:8;25;
16:27, 30), has authority to forgive
sins (Matt 9:6), will not reject those
who come to Him (John 6:37), knows
those who are His (John 10:14; cf. 2
Tim 2:19), has entered into God's
presence on believers' behalf

(Heb 6:19-20), and will return (Rev
22:20); that God's promise of
salvation is guaranteed (Rom 4:16);
that there will be a resurrection (Job
19:25-27); that God causes all things
to work together for good for those
who love Him (Rom 8:28);

that sinners do not inherit the
kingdom of God (Eph 5:5); that the
Day of the Lord will come (1Thess
5:2); and that God will help and
support His people (Isa 41:10; 2Tim
1:12).

John wrote this epistle to provide his
readers with certainty about all that
God has revealed concerning
salvation.
• The formal argument of the letter
ended in 5:12, and verses 13-21 are
its postscript.

John's concluding remarks are not a
collection of random thoughts,
however, but form a powerful climax
to all he has written.
• Throughout the letter, John has
recycled tests to identify who is a
true Christian.

Those tests serve a polemic purpose;
they expose the phony believers and
the false teachers—the deceiving
antichrists.

But they also serve a pastoral
purpose, giving increasingly stronger
confidence and assurance to the
genuine believers.

As the epistle builds to a great, if familiar,
crescendo, John focuses on five things that
genuine Christians can be certain of:
1) eternal life,
2) answered prayer,
3) victory over sin,
4) that they belong to God, and
5) Christ's deity.

The final result, and the closing note
of the letter, is assurance.
You know things with a knowledge
that is unshakable, which nobody can
shatter, and no rational arguments
will disturb.

What a declaration this is, in an age when
everybody is telling us that you cannot know
anything for sure, that nobody knows anything for
certain.
John says that we do.
We know.
We have been given an understanding.

You have a continually growing certainty
that underlies your life.
As we read in John's closing note:
1 John 5:21
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Here is his final word and it is such an
important one.
One that I think ought to ring in our
ears every day:
Why?

Well, because the first and great
commandment is, Matthew 22:37:
"You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind."
That is the chief end of man.

And idolatry is loving something else
as God.
What is an idol?
It is a substitute god.

Your God is what you get excited about.
What you save your money for.
What you spend it on.
That is your God.
What is important to you, that is your God.

Little children---you who have found
the true God---keep yourselves from
these secondary idols, these
substitute gods that demand your
attention.

Give yourself, alone, to the OneWho can
fulfill in you all your heart's desires.
It is a great command, isn't it?
The command that will lead us safely
through all the difficulties along our path.

There are many idols that loom before us each
day---the god of pleasure, the god of
selfishness, the god - Narcissus - who makes us
love ourselves, admire ourselves, look to
ourselves; the god of love, -Venus - how we
follow her and exalt her when we should not;
the god, Bacchus, who makes us revel in
pleasure as if that were the chief end in life, as if
fun were the reason for living.

We should ask the Lord to deliver us
from these gods, these false gods that
will rob us of our faith, of our love for
humanity.

We should ask Him to make us fall more
truly in love with the Lord Jesus Who alone
is the only true God,Who has come to give
us an understanding of ourselves and the
world around us, and has come to teach us
righteousness and how to love with a
heart that is self-giving instead of self-
serving.

We are exposed to the same dangers
that they were in the first century and
so desperately need God’s power.

The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died
in this life to pay the penalty for our sins.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second
death explained in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.

Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
•Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus
as our Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved.”

If you have questions or would like to know more,
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at
601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

07 July 12, 2015, 1 John 5;1-12, Jesus Alone

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07 July 12, 2015, 1 John 5;1-12, Jesus Alone