Series: 1 John
Week: 23
Passage: 1 John 5:10-12
Title: The Three Testimonies of Biblical Assurance
Focus: Assurance
INTRODUCTION: “Sometime when you're in an airport, observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and smoke, smoke and pace. The difference is caused by the confidence factor. If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you smoke and pace? Would you say to yourself, "I don't know what God's going to say--will it be 'Welcome home, child,' or will it be 'Depart from me; I never knew you'?” Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray (113)
We’re coming toward the close on 1 John. As we finish, one closing message from John 14–17 is assurance. How do we know that we are children of God? How can we be sure we belong to Jesus?
People struggle with these questions and are often ashamed to ask them. We need to understand that we, after trusting Christ, are saved in faith. However, the sad reality is that we may never take off spiritually until we have grasped the assurance of God’s love. For some of us, the reason we are so weak in our ability to say no to sin is because we are so unsure of the presence and love of God. It’s time we assure you of what we know.
SCRIPTURE: “Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given 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.” 1 John 5:10-12
TITLE: The Three Testimonies of Biblical Assurance
Assurance #1: The Testimony Within Ourselves (1 John 15:10)
o Explanation: John uses the term “testimony” as a foundation for our study at hand. When using that word we can identify two things about testimonies from his exhortation.
1. Testimonies are first hand knowledge along with the content that a witness tells (John’s usage).
i. First hand knowledge: “He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” John 1:7
ii. Content from witnesses: “Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.” Mark 14:55
2. Testimonies are in the Bible which is a revelation of God’s will.
i. Psalms 19:7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
ii. Psalm 119:88 “that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.”
iii. Isaiah 8:16 “Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples…”
1. John has already given his own testimony of first hand knowledge about Jesus being the Son of God and the impact it made on his life. He writes to declare that we also know the testimony of God because it is within ourselves (we have experienced the Son through the Holy Spirit).
4. Illustration: Q: How do we “feel/experience” God? A: General and special revelation: Truth is like light. General revelation is like our ability to feel warmth. Special revelation is like our ability to use sight. In a limited sense we can feel the effect of the light and if we are sensitive can say a lot about light by just feeling and not seeing. When our eyes are opened we have a much more dramatic sense of the light. 2 Quotes.
1. General Revelation: “Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me.” C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves.
2. Special Revelation: Paul states in Romans 1:19-20 that everyone knows about God because nature proclaims God’s existence and power. But while nature points to His existence, the Bible tells us about salvation. God needs us to explain His love, mercy and grace.
• Application: God himself has given testimony that Jesus is the Messiah and allowed us to know that testimony in ourselves is true because the testimony is “in him”. Each believer has God’s truth in his heart and can be assured that God is constantly revealing himself (giving testimony) to us through not only His general and special revelation but also through our deeds. This is everyday assurance within us.
o NOTE: Anyone who disbelieves God’s revelation has made Him out to be a liar meaning that there is no middle ground, or other opinion in John’s eyes. Either we believe God and place our assurance in His revelation to us or we point the finger at God’s genuineness and call him a liar.
Assurance #2: The Testimony of God (1 John 5:11)
• Explanation: John continues his assurance for the believer by stating, “this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11).
o Q: What is the testimony God has given us?
o A: The testimony that Jesus was given as a sin offering so that those who would believe might have eternal life.
• “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13
• Illustration:
• Application: Eternal life is yours simply by believing the testimony God has given about His Son. It is an acknowledgement that God told the truth.
o NOTE: This assurance is and the next assurance are linked together because God and Jesus are linked together, i.e. they are the same. Receiving the testimony of God is to receive Jesus. We no longer need to go through ceremonies. God has revealed His will to us through Jesus in perfect sacrifice.
• We no longer have to think, “Did I do enough good deeds?” “Did I repent of enough sins?”
• REMEMBER: You did not get saved in the back of some church or in some lonely place, you got saved on a hill about a 20 minutes from downtown Jerusalem nearly 2000 years ago. That is where your faith needs to rest because that is the testimony (revelation) of God brought to us in human form as a propitiation for our sins.
Assurance #3: The Testimony of the Son (1 John 5:12)
• Explanation: Must of this we spoke on last week but we must revisit it again. God wants His children to know that they belong to Him and that comes through the testimony (revelation from God) in Jesus Christ.
o “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12
• Jesus Christ is a gift. We receive eternal life not only from Christ, but in Christ. “He who has the Son has the life” and not just “life” but “the life which is life indeed”
o “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 1 Tim. 6:18-19.
• Illustration:
• Application:
o Pastor, what if I doubt?
• To believe Jesus work on earth, His death and His resurrection is to rest in the finished work of Jesus, if you doubt you are taking your eyes of Him and the assurance He has given you in yourself, God the Father and the work of the Son. Keep your eyes on Christ!
o Pastor, what if don’t feel saved.
• Don’t base your assurance on your feelings, base your assurance on Christ finished work.
• Rest in the testimony God has given about His Son.
CONCLUSION: Sometime when you're in a church, observe the difference between people who are at peace and worshipping the Lord without reservation. Calm and collected because they know their Savior lives within them and is constantly revealing Himself to them in all areas. Then notice the people who pace, get nervous, and are biting their nails or being critical. The difference is caused by the confidence factor of understanding assurance.
If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you be nervous? You need not be if you have the testimony in yourself, understand the revelations of God through the blood of Jesus Christ.
