1 JOHN 5:11-13 [LIFE, LIGHT & LOVE SERIES]
DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE SAVED?
[John 10:24-33]
In 1990’s Northwest Airlines offered some unusual round-trip passages aboard one of their planes. Fifty-nine dollars bought a "Mystery Fare" ticket that provided a one-day trip to an unknown American city. Buyers didn't find out where they were heading until they arrived at the airport the day of the flight. Still, the airline had plenty of takers. In Indianapolis fifteen hundred people crowded the airline counter to buy the Mystery Fare tickets that were sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
Not surprisingly, when buyers learned their destination, not all were thrilled. One buyer who was hoping for New Orleans but found he had a ticket for Minneapolis walked through the airport terminal yelling, "I've got one ticket to the Mall of America. I'll trade for anything."
Mystery Fare tickets may be a fun surprise for a weekend vacation, but normally the last thing you want is a ticket to a mystery destination. And one time you never want a Mystery ticket is on the day of your death. You don't want to face eternity uncertain about whether you will go to heaven or hell.
"Nothing is certain but death and taxes." Benjamin Franklin wrote these words in 1789. Of course, a wise man like Franklin knew there were many other things that were also certain. Christians know there are many spiritual truths that are certainties. Therefore we are able to say with certainty, "I know that I have eternal life & when I die I will go to heaven (CIM).”
I. THE SON IS LIFE, 11-12.
II. ASSURANCE OF LIFE, 13.
What is the witness of God by the water, the blood and the Spirit? Verse 11 reveals to us that God’s witness is that eternal life in His Son Jesus. “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.”
Eternal life is in Jesus Christ. The Witness of God is within those who receive the external witness of God. It has changed from external fact or proposition to internal experienced reality. Those that have received this witness of the water, the blood and the Spirit concerning Jesus Christ have eternal life. This life is connected to God’s Son.
The life (æùç) meant is spiritual life. This life doesn't begin when the believer dies, but it is what one receives when he or she truly believe in Jesus. This life is received the moment you believes in Jesus and it lasts for all eternity. We do not receive an opportunity for eternal life when we believe in Jesus, but we receive eternal life.
Notice that God gave us eternal life. It is not a result of what we have done or who we are, it is a gift. This gift, this life, is in a person, Jesus Christ. We receive eternal life not only from Jesus Christ initially but in Jesus Christ continually. In Jesus Christ we experience eternal life here and now (Jn. 10:10).
This gift is received by faith. God has gone on record in His Word, verified by the water, blood and Spirit, as offering eternal life to those who will believe on-into Jesus Christ. Millions of Christians have proved that God's record is true. To deny it or not believe it is to make God a liar. And if God was a liar, nothing is certain. God’s free gift of an right relationship with God is inseparable from knowing and trusting Jesus.
The question as to whether we have accepted God’s witness is not merely an academic one. Our response to God’s witness determines whether or not we have eternal life. Here in verse 12 is God’s witness to us, as clear and concise as it could possibly be. “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
The definite article appears before the word life. This is the real, the true, the everlasting life. Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him” (Jn 14:6). Those who place their faith for their salvation in Jesus alone and receive Him for who He is, the Resurrected Lord of Life, have Jesus abiding in their life. If you have Jesus, you have life, for Jesus is life. He is the life. Eternal life has its source in the Son who is the [prince or] Author of Life (Acts 3:15).
The reverse is also true. The one who does not have the Son does not have life. If you are without Jesus you have no spiritual life, no eternal life. A man may be a good husband, father and neighbor and still be dead in sin (Eph. 2:1). It is by God's grace through our faith in Jesus that His life flows into us (Eph 2:8f ) [and from us]. We do not receive the life because we are good or have keep the Ten Commandments or attend church or give money or have been baptized or have prayed or have a godly family or kept Christian traditions or rituals. [All these commitments should be the result of having life, but they will not grant or earn us life.] We have life only because we have the Son of God living in our being, in our present life. If you don’t have the Son of God in your life – it does not matter what else you have or don’t have, you do not have spiritual life.
Whoever believes in God's Son has eternal life. He is all you need. You don't need to wait for eternal life, because it begins the moment you believe. You don't need to work for it, because it is already yours. You don't need to worry about it, because you have been given eternal life by God Himself--and it is guaranteed by His Spirit who takes up residence within the believer.
A distinguished AMERICAN PROFESSOR visited Korea [many years ago] and expressed his desire to preach in a Korean church. A missionary took him to a church in a small village and prepared to translate for him. The professor began, "All thoughts can be categorized as either concrete or abstract."
The missionary looked at the humble, simple, uneducated people before him and the children seated on the bare dirt floor, and immediately translated these opening words, "I have come here all the way from America to tell you about the Lord Jesus Christ."
Three cheers for the missionary! The professor's task was difficult enough, since he knew neither the language nor the culture. But he compounded his troubles by missing the point of what preaching is all about! Wouldn't you like to have heard the rest of that sermon to see what the missionary did with it?
Isn't it strange how easy it becomes to put our attention somewhere other than Jesus? So many matters, perfectly legitimate in themselves, intrude into our faith and usurp the time, attention, and position that Jesus should have. Thinking is to be highly commended (either in the abstract or the concrete), but when it comes to matters of our faith, Christ should be at the center.
II. ASSURANCE OF LIFE, 13.
Assurance that we have eternal life comes from the Word. In verse 13 John tells us that he wrote these things so that his believing readers would know that they had eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”
An impacting story of the 1970's was the television program "Roots." It was the story of Alex Haley's search to know whence he came. As the story led us back through the dark era of slavery in America to discover Mr. Haley's origins in Africa, it caught the imagination of an entire nation, yes, of the whole world.
Today genealogy is all the craze. People want to learn where they came from, there roots. They spend many hours learning and enjoying find out the long lost past of where they came from. [You think that people would be more interested in where there going that where going.]
However, the most thrilling story of the ages is that through His Son Jesus Christ, God has provided redemption for all who believe in Him. Thus every believer knows, not simply whence he/she came, but where he/she is going eternally!
That is the reason First John was written, so that we would know with conviction, with settled intuitive knowledge that we have eternal life. Despite what the antichrists and demons say, believers do indeed possess eternal life. EVERYTHING SEEMS UNCERTAIN and tentative in this world. Economists cannot find a way to ensure financial stability for the nation or for an individual. National leaders negotiate with one another without much prospect of a permanent peace. Educators have not learned how to combat the deterioration in our educational process.
So many persons disappoint us that we are not sure that we can trust anyone. Politicians don’t fulfill their promises. Doctors fail to heal us. Scientist can’t provide us with certain answers in multitude of areas or disciplines. Social Scientists make claims we know are false. Religious leaders are less exemplary than we expect. Indeed, we ourselves are often forced to confront our own failures. We lose our enthusiasm. We fall short of our ideals. We love the wrong things. We question our convictions.
In a world of uncertainty, John wrote of something about which we can be sure: eternal life. This certainty, to which the Scripture testifies, gives order and stability in an otherwise chaotic world. [Because of God's self-revelation in Christ, we are freed of that instability that undermines all our best efforts.] Because we know He who is life, we can say yes to life and live with confidence in life. For by abiding in Christ and in His Word we know with certainty that we have eternal life.
Some people hope that they will receive eternal life at the end of this life. John says we can know we have it. Our certainty is based on God's promise that He has given us eternal life through his Son. This is true whether you feel close to God or far away from Him. Eternal life is NOT BASED ON FEELINGS, but on facts. You can know that you have eternal life if you believe God's truth. If you aren't sure that you are a Christian, ask yourself: Have I honestly committed my life to Him as my Savior and Lord? If so, you know by faith that you are indeed a child of God. You know by the fact that the Spirit of God bears witness with your born-again spirit that you are a child of God (Rom. 8:16).
By reading a bank's financial statement you may conclude that the bank is safe, but that is only believing facts about it. You believe in it when you deposit your life-savings in that bank. You may believe everything that the Bible says about Jesus. You believe in Him when you give yourself to Him in personal commitment and trust. [John assumes that his readers have trusted in Christ. For this reason they have full assurance of eternal life. And what he said to his initial readers he says to all readers through the centuries.]
QUEEN VICTORIA, after hearing a sermon at St. Paul's Cathedral, was troubled about her eternal destiny. After the service, she asked her chaplain if anyone could be absolutely sure of going to heaven. He gave her this discouraging reply: "I know of no way that anyone could be positive of that."
A minister who read about the incident in the Court News was afraid the answer given to the Queen might mislead and deprive her of the gift of eternal life. The minister, John Townsend, wrote this note to her: “With trembling hands, but a heart filled with love, and because I know that we can be absolutely sure even now of our eternal life ... may I ask your Most Gracious Majesty to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10? There is salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for those who believe in Him and accept His finished work." Those who do can know that they are eternally saved.
Do you have that assurance? Can you say with certainty that your sins are forgiven? Do you know for sure that heaven is your eternal home? If not, read those verses for yourself. Believe them. Place your trust in Christ. Ask Him to save you. He will. Then you can face the future with confidence and joy.
Our assurance of salvation should be based on FACTS, NOT FEELINGS. Emotions can be fickle and unreliable. The apostle John wrote, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." The Lord wants us to rely on the recorded facts of His Word for assurance of salvation rather than on our changing feelings.
When George B. McClellan was commissioned Major General of the Army, he wrote his wife, "I don't feel any different than I did yesterday. Indeed, I have not yet put on my new uniform. I am sure, however, that I am in command of the Union Army because President Lincoln's order to that effect now lies before me."
Accepting the authoritative word of his Commander in Chief, McClellan was confident of his position. Similarly, all who receive Jesus Christ as Savior can completely trust God's authoritative Word, the Bible, which says that we are "justified by faith" (Rom. 5:1) and have "passed from death to life" (1 John 3:14).
Friend, can you say, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" (2 Tim. 1:12)? It's a wonderful thing to have the full assurance that you are bound for heaven. You can have this confidence by relying on Christ, the Living Word, and the Bible, God’s written Word, rather than your vacillating feelings.
CONCLUSION
God wants His children to know that they eternally belong to Him. You can know absolutely without a shadow of a doubt that you are saved.
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 know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.’”
With every head bowed & every eye closed, I need you to concentrate on a question. Do you know that you are saved? If you died today do you know you would go to heaven? Lift hand if certain. Ok thank you. Now all those who don’t know for sure that if you died today you would go to heaven, raise you hand. Thank you. I would like to ask you who do not know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven, but would like to, to pray the following prayer with me.
[Sinner’s Prayer] Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
There is one further step God would like you to make if you prayed that prayer. God would like you to come down one of these aisles to make certain that we have this most important or issues and decision. If you come, we can get things resolved right here, right now. Come & receive eternal salvation & its abiding assurance through Jesus.
Maybe you already know Jesus & have assurance of your salvation. We invite you come & join with us as we share the certainty of our eternal life with a doubting & insecure world.
