INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Our faith should change our life. Our faith should change who we are, what we do, what we think, and how we think.
• Faith is no small issue. Biblical faith is LIFE changing!
• When we look at verse 5 we see how special faith becomes.
• SLIDE #2
• 1 John 5:5 (HCSB) And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
• Our faith in Jesus is what that allows us to overcome the world.
• Our faith helps us to overcome the sin that is so prevalent in the world. Our faith in Jesus changes everything about us.
• I know in my life before I gave my life to Jesus, I was not on the right track. I was driven by selfish motivation. I was all about me.
• I had no real direction in life; I had no real purpose in life. Well, other than me.
• All that changed when I gave my life to Jesus. Faith in Jesus is a wonderful thing to have. It gives hope it gives purpose and it leads to life.
• Robyn did not tell me about Jesus and then I just blindly followed it. I studied and I looked at some things that convinced me that Jesus was the way the truth and the life.
• When I was considering whether or not to give my life to Jesus, I did not just blindly jump off of a cliff, I needed to see something I could trust so that I could make an informed decision as to what to do with my life and where to place my faith.
• Today we are going to examine so reasons we can have faith in Jesus.
• SLIDE #3
• 1 John 5:6–8 (HCSB) — 6 Jesus Christ—He is the One who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood —and these three are in agreement.
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. The testimony triplets.
• When one tries to decide if they can believe something, the more witnesses the better, if the witnesses are reliable.
• When we are trying to decide if we want to follow Jesus as our Lord, we cannot go up and speak with Him. We cannot set an appointment to go and visit Him; we have to rely on the testimony of others.
• This is not an unusual thing for us to have to do. Every day we make decisions in faith based on the testimonies of others. I have never been to Hawaii. I believe it exists because I have seen pictures I have been told by others who have been there that it exists.
• I have been given testimonies by those who have been there.
• There are some other things in which I believe that I have not been able to speak to those who witnessed the person or event.
• Years ago we went to Washington D.C. When we were there I went to George Washington’s home Mount Vernon.
• I do believe that George Washington was the first president because I have read the testimonies of others who said he was.
• I trusted the people at Mount Vernon. I believe their testimonies concerning Mount Vernon. As far as I knew, those people could have been lying to all of us, but that kind of thinking would have been irrational.
• As we ponder Jesus, we have some reliable witnesses concerning His life.
• It is easy to say those testimonies from the Bible cannot be trusted.
• Why? What evidence can be provided that would suggest you cannot trust the Bible? What evidence do we have that would tell us we cannot trust the testimony of those who wrote it by the inspiration of God?
• In Gospel of Luke, Luke says he investigated and interacted with the eyewitnesses of Jesus ministry.
• SLIDE #5
• Luke 1:3 (HCSB) — 3 It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus,
• In John 21:24, John reminds us that he was an eyewitness if the events he shared in his writings.
• In 1 John, John shares some testimonies concerning the validity of Jesus life, identity and ministry.
• These testimonies These testimonies attest to the life of Jesus. They confirm His humanity and His deity. These items were attacked by some during John’s day.
• Some said that Jesus was not God and some said that before the crucifixion Jesus left the human body He inhabited so that He really did not suffer in the flesh for our sins. Let us look at the first testimony.
• The first testimony John speaks of is the water.
• He is the One who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood
• We are told that Jesus is the one who came by water and blood. What does this mean?
• There have been a lot of explanations as to what this means, but the most logical concerning the “water” is the fact that it refers to Jesus baptism.
• Jesus’ baptism marks the beginning of His ministry.
• Also, a literal reading of the passage would not violate the scriptures elsewhere.
• The word “came” denotes a one time past act with continuing results.
• The word IS in the beginning of verse 6 indicates He has been and will always be Messiah!
• Jesus baptism was something that happened in the past when John penned this letter.
• SLIDE #6
• Luke 3:22 (HCSB) and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are My beloved Son. I take delight in You!
• The second testimony is the blood!
• John not only tells us that Jesus came with the water, but he also states that He came by blood.
• The blood spoken of was the blood shed on the cross. This completed Jesus redemptive work. John 19:30. This gives the other bookend to Jesus’ Ministry on earth.
• The blood of Jesus is the mechanism by which we are saved. (Hebrews 9:11-14)
• John speaks of the water and the blood to stress that Jesus came to die for us.
• A third testimony John shares is that of the Spirit.
• Our passage on the screen tells us the Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism.
• Romans 8:11 reminds us the same Spirit will raise us up also.
• SLIDE #7
• Romans 8:11 (HCSB) And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.
• The Holy Spirit also empowered the Apostles in Acts 1:8 to carry out their mission from God.
• In verses 7-8 we are reminded that all these testimonies agree!
• They all agree that Jesus is the Son of God!
• But there is an even greater testimony concerning Jesus.
• Let’s look at verse 9
• SLIDE #8
• 1 John 5:9 (HCSB) If we accept the testimony of men, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that He has given about His Son.
• SLIDE #9
II. The testimony of God.
• In Luke 3:22 we find that God testified to how Jesus is His son.
• John employs a lesser to the greater argument. Since we believe the testimony of man, why would we not accept the testimony of God?
• God verbally testified as to who Jesus is, the works Jesus performed from God testified as to who He is, and God spoke through the Old Testament as to who Jesus is. John 5:39
• SLIDE #10
• John 5:36 (HCSB) “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
• Verse nine tells us that the testimony of God is greater than that of any man. If we are going to believe the testimony of man concerning matters of guilt or innocence, we MUST realize we can trust God as a faithful and true witness!
• Those who choose to reject God’s testimony will be in for a big surprise one day!
• Let’s look at verses 10-12
• SLIDE #11
• 1 John 5:10–12 (HCSB) — 10 (The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him. The one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about His Son.) 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life.
• SLIDE #12
III. The testimony you believe matters.
• You have heard it said, “It does not matter what you believe as long as you believe.” Maybe you have heard the one that says “We are all heading to the same place, we are just on different paths.
• What you believe matters. What you believe is very important. Verse five tells us that the one who overcomes the world is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
• There is nothing about any other person being what Jesus is. The water, blood, Spirit and the Father give no testimony concerning any other who claims to be a path, way or channel to God!
• Here are a few reasons why what you believe matters.
• God’s testimony resides in the believer. (10)
• The practical meaning of this is that the Christian experience corroborates the validity of Christianity in the lives of those who accept it and walk in the light of it.
• We are a living testimony of what Jesus can do.
• We are the sermon that everyone sees day in and day out.
• The Spirit also testifies concerning Jesus.
• The Christian has the Spirit abiding in them.
• SLIDE #13
• Romans 8:9 (HCSB) You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
• If we do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then God’s testimony or Spirit does not reside in us. The Romans 8:9 passage tells us that if we do not have the Spirit in us, we do not belong to God.
• Every Christian has the Holy Spirit residing in them.
• Next we see, when we reject God we make Him out to be a liar! (10)
• When we refuse to accept God’s testimony, we are calling God a liar. In our minds we are saying that God is not being truthful.
• If we think there are more than one path to Him, we are telling God we think He is lying to us.
• IF we think there is another way truth or life outside of Jesus we are saying that God has lied to us.
• When I reject Jesus, in my heart I am rejecting God and I think God is a liar.
• The gift of eternal life is God’s testimony in us!
• When we give our lives to Christ, when we are converted to Christ, we are giving the gift of eternal life!
• Eternal life is not just the duration of life, but it deals with the quality of that life.
• God has many blessings awaiting those who love Him.
• We not only receive eternal life from Christ but we get to live it in Christ!
• It all comes down to what you believe.
• Belief in Jesus equals eternal life!
• This is pretty simple. If you believe you will have eternal life. Remember belief is more than a verbal agreement; it will lead us to take action.
• Rejection of Jesus equals no eternal life!
• If you chose to reject Jesus, then you chose not to have eternal life. You chose not to go to heaven, you chose not to be with God for eternity, you chose to thumb your nose at the great blessings plans and future God has in store for you!
• Heaven and hell is a choice; which direction will you chose to go?
CONCLUSION
• When you give your life to Jesus, it is not a blind leap of faith; it is not a cutting off of the brain. God gives us His testimony, the testimony of the water, blood and Spirit.
• All agree that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the way, the truth and the life!
• If you want to be able to overcome the world, it must start with belief in Jesus!
