Can I Get A Witness?
Text: 1 Jn. 5:6-12
Introduction
1. Illustration: I love to listen to African American preachers because they preach with such passion. I particularly like it when they really get into and starting singing while they are preaching. Then they say "Can I get a witness?"
2. According to Webster, a witness is "something or someone who serves as evidence or proof," and the Biblical idea of witness would agree with that definition.
3. The world needs a witness of the Lordship of Christ today. It needs:
a. The physical witness
b. The Spiritual witness
c. The ultimate witness
d. Our witness
4. Read 1 Jn. 5:6-12
Proposition: Together with the Scripture and the heavenly witness, we need to be a witness to the truth of the Gospel.
Transition: The world needs to see...
I. The Physical Witness (6a-b)
A. Water and the Blood
1. John begins with a verse that should be in the "hard sayings of the Bible Hall of Fame."
2. He says "This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood."
a. What does John mean when he says that Jesus came by water and the blood?
b. Some, like Calvin and Luther, believe he was talking about the sacraments, or what we would call the ordinances, of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
c. Others believe that he was talking about the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side when he was pierced with the spear in his side at the crucifixion.
d. However, what John was most likely referring to was the water baptism and death of Jesus.
e. These two events encompass Jesus entire ministry on earth and give us physical proof that Jesus became flesh.
3. Let us keep in mind that John is dealing with some false teachers at this time.
a. These teachers said that Jesus was just a man, but that the divine Son of God came upon him at his baptism and left him before the crucifixion.
b. In teaching this, they would have people believe that the divine Son of God did not die on the cross.
4. John is wrestling with a heresy that demoted the cross.
a. John insists that the testimony of the "water and the blood" upholds a full incarnation (that Jesus was fully God and fully man).
b. Life and truth can only be found when a complete incarnation embraces a genuine death on the cross (Burge, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: The Letters of John, 202).
5. Unless the Jesus that died on the cross was both fully God and fully man then our salvation is still in doubt.
a. If Jesus was not fully man, he could not stand in our place.
b. If Jesus was not fully God, he could not be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
c. Heb. 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
d. If Jesus wasn’t both fully God and fully man he was just another religious fanatic that got killed, but since he was both he became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
B. The Real Historic Jesus
1. Illustration: Pastor D. James Kennedy said in a sermon, “I remember years ago talking to a man in his home about Christ and asking him who he thought Jesus was. He said, ‘Oh, He’s a wonderful man. He was the greatest man who ever lived, the most loving and gracious person who ever walked upon this earth.’
“I said, ‘Let me tell you something I believe will startle you. According to the Scriptures, and the historic Christian faith, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter of Galilee was and is the eternal Creator of the universe, the omnipotent, omniscient, and Almighty God.’
“Instantly his eyes filled with tears and this man of about fifty-five or sixty said, ‘I have been in church all my life and I never heard that before. But I have always thought that is the way it ought to be – that God ought to be like Jesus’” (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes, p. 486-487).
2. Just as in John’s time, there are deceivers today who would have us believe that Jesus is not who the Bible says he is.
a. They would have us believe that he was just a man.
b. They would have us believe that he wasn’t the Son of God.
c. They would have us believe that he did not rise from the dead.
d. They would have us believe that he is not coming again to judge the living and the dead.
3. However, the physical evidence is overwhelming that Jesus is who he said he was.
4. His baptism in water was verified by eyewitness accounts.
a. People saw him baptized by John in the Jordan.
b. People saw the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove.
c. People heard a voice from heaven say, "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.
5. Eyewitness accounts saw him die on the cross.
a. They witnessed the cruel beating that he took at the hands of the Romans.
b. They witnessed him nailed to the cross.
c. They witnessed him say "it is finished."
6. Eyewitness accounts witnessed his burial and resurrection.
a. They saw him placed in the tomb.
b. They saw the stone rolled over the entrance.
c. They saw the Roman soldiers.
d. Then they saw the stone rolled away.
e. They saw the empty tomb.
f. They saw Jesus alive again.
7. The physical proof verifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the savior of the world!
Transition: The next witness is...
II. The Spiritual Witness (6c-8)
A. The Spirit Bear Witness
1. John also says that "it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth."
2. What does John mean that the "Spirit bears witness?"
a. He implies that this testimony is an inner witness of the Spirit that is ongoing ( Burge, 203).
b. Jn. 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."
c. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that Jesus is the Christ.
3. John says that this is a witness that we can trust "because the Spirit is truth."
a. We can trust the witness of the Spirit because he is the truth of God (Marshall, 234).
b. He cannot lie because that is contrary to the character of God.
c. Jn. 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
4. Not only does John tell us that the Spirit testifies of Jesus, but that the Spiritual witness and the physical witness are in complete agreement: "the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one."
a. There is not contradiction between the physical and the Spirit’s witness.
b. There are no discrepancies.
c. You cannot separate the one from the other; they are in total unity.
B. Spiritual Proof
1. Illustration: Some people do not have birth certificates. One such person was Will Rogers. Once, Will Rogers was applying for a passport and the clerk asked him for his birth certificate. He said that he didn’t have one. She said that she needed one in order to issue a passport. He asked why. She replied, “So I can have proof of your birth.” Rogers answered, “Well, I’m here, ain’t I?”
2. The Holy Spirit is a witness that Jesus is:
a. Fully God
b. Fully Man
c. Died for our sin
d. Rose again on the third day
e. Coming again to judge the living and the dead
3. We can trust his witness because:
a. He is the Spirit of truth
b. He speaks only what the Father tells him
c. He will not lie because he cannot lie
4. The world is full of lies and deception.
a. News media lies to us
b. The television media lies to us
c. So called experts lie to us
5. But the Holy Spirit will never lie to us, and he says that Jesus is Lord!
Transition: The third witness is...
III. The Ultimate Witness (9-10)
A. The Witness of God is Greater
1. In verse 9, John talks about the testimony of men. We believe the testimony of men, we accept what they say as true.
a. Spouses believe the word of one another.
b. Children believe the word of parents and teachers.
c. Businessmen believe the word of employers.
d. Juries believe the testimony of witnesses.
e. Matt. 18:16 that ’by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established
2. Therefore, John tells us "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son."
a. If we believe the testimony of men, how much more should we believe the testimony of God.
b. It is God’s divine authority that rests behind the testimony of the water and the blood.
c. It is God’s Spirit that is affirming truths about the gospel of Jesus Christ ( Burge, 204).
3. Sometimes we believe the testimony of men and shouldn’t.
a. Jer. 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
b. We all have dealt with people who have lied to us. Yet we believe what people tells us.
c. How much more should we believe the testimony of God who cannot lie?
4. John takes it a step further when he says, "He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son."
a. God’s witness lives within the heart of the believer.
b. When a person believes on the Son of God, God implants the witness of God within him.
c. What is that witness? It is the Spirit of God Himself.
d. The Holy Spirit seals and guarantees the believer, gives him assurance that Jesus Christ has saved him from sin, death, and condemnation and has made him acceptable to God.
e. Rm. 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
5. Unbelievers reject God’s witness.
a. This is strong language, but the person who does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God makes God a liar.
b. How could this be? Note the verse: because he does not believe the record that God gave of His Son.
6. God has given witness after witness that Jesus Christ is His Son:
a. The witness of the life of Christ, His works and words.
b. The witness of the baptism of Christ.
c. The witness of the blood, the cross and death, of Jesus Christ.
d. The witness of the resurrection.
B. Beyond Doubt
1. Illustration: "Market research can establish beyond the shadow of a doubt that the egg is a sad and sorry product and that it will not continue to sell. Because, after all, eggs wont stand up by themselves, they roll too easily, are too easily broken, require special packaging, look alike, are difficult to open, wont stack on the shelf." To this I say, bologna! Just like the commercial says, "The incredible, edible, egg."
2. However, it can be established without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
3. It can be established by:
a. The physical witness
b. The Spiritual witness
c. The ultimate witness
4. The ultimate witness is that of God the Father. His testimony cannot be:
a. Refuted
b. Disputed
c. Discredited
5. It is the testimony of the one and only God of the universe.
Transition: The fourth witness is...
IV. Our Witness (11-12)
A. God Has Given Us Eternal Life
1. The final testimony that is given is ours. John says " And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
a. How can you argue with a changed life.
b. Eph. 2:1-2,4-6 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
c. You cannot argue with personal transformation.
2. Our witness is that:
a. Once we were dead, but now we are alive
b. Once we were blind, but now we can see
c. Once we were lost, but now we are found
3. John says, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
a. Human beings do not have life in themselves; they receive life from God.
b. Through faith, believers have Christ within, so whoever has God’s Son has life—eternal life—now.
c. They possess a new nature and enjoy fellowship with God.—Life Application Concise New Testament Commentary
d. You cannot argue with personal testimony.
B. Our Testimony
1. Illustration: Norman Cates tells the story of a Christian who prayed this prayer every morning: "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a nearly empty bus when a big, burly man sat next to him.
The timid believer anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he could get off, the big burly guy next to him burst into tears and began to weep. This big but contrite man then cried out with a loud voice, "I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to this Christian gentlemen and pleaded, "Can you show me how to find the Lord?"
The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"
2. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
3. We are to testify to what God has done in our lives.
a. How he has changed us
b. How he has transformed us
c. How his grace was showered upon us
Transition: We must never shy away from what God has done in our lives.
Conclusion
1. The world needs a witness of the Lordship of Christ today. It needs:
a. The physical witness
b. The spiritual witness
c. The ultimate witness
d. Our witness
2. The question that we must ask is will we be that witness?
