. No wonder, when he saw Jesus walking on the shore one day, he said, (John 1:29,34-36), “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world....And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!”
John, the Baptist, was overwhelmed by the evidence. Once it was established that Jesus Christ was the Savior of the world, he then said, “And this is the record...”
WHAT IS THE RECORD? The word “record” is translated from the Greek, “marturia,” which means: “Evidence given, testimony.” In other words this is what WE CAN KNOW FOR SURE! We no longer have to wonder about it; “...this is the RECORD...”
In verses 11-21, the word “know” is used five times. It is used in verses 13, 15, 18, 19 and 20. Each time it has been translated from the Greek word, “eido,” which means: “Be sure.” That is, since Christ is Who He says He is, we can BE SURE about certain things. We can be sure about...
I. OUR SALVATION
Look at verses 11-13. We read, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” John, in these verses, wants us to know that the record is clear on THREE things. It is clear about...
A. WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US
The first thing John wants to establish for the record is, verse 11, “...God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Notice the words, “...God hath GIVEN...” A thing that is “given” is a gift.
WHAT IS A GIFT? What a ridiculous question! Everyone knows what a gift is, right? Wrong! It is absolutely amazing how many people, especially people who claim the name of Christ, do not know what a gift is.
Illus: Suppose someone came to you at Christmas and gave you an expensive gift. You said, “Oh, I am sorry. I can not take that because I can not afford it. I am sure this cost thousands of dollars.” But the person said, “But I am giving it to you. It is a GIFT!” So you ask, “Why are you giving me such an expensive gift?” Then the person said, “Because I care a great deal for you, that is why.” So you said, “I want to thank you for caring for me that much, and I graciously accept the gift.”
However, in a couple of days that same person that gave the gift is visiting you, and notices you have a nice shot gun that probably cost a couple hundred dollars and he says, “How about giving me that shot gun?” But you say, “I couldn’t do that. My wife bought me that gun for my birthday and she would be hurt.” The person becomes angry and says, “Listen, I gave you a gift that was worth thousands and you won’t even give me a shot gun that only costs a couple hundred dollars!”
You say, “Yes, but when you gave me that gift, it was a GIFT.”
You see, a gift is something given without expecting anything in return. To give something and expect something in return is not giving, it is trading.
John said that the record is clear! God has GIVEN us eternal life...IT IS A GIFT! Now God would hope that once you came to know Him and you discover what He did for you, that you would want to serve Him out of a heart of love. And He expects, once one has accepted His gift, that we obey His commandments.
But, if you did anything to work for eternal life, however small or menial it might be, it is not a gift. You worked for it. John wanted to make it clear that salvation from God is A GIFT! It does not cost ANYTHING to get it, but it cost Him EVERYTHING to provide it! He lets us know that the RECORD is clear, GOD HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE. Also, he wants us to know the RECORD states...
B. HOW WE GET IT
John established that the RECORD states that the only way a person can acquire eternal life is through Jesus Christ.
In our age, when men do not have any absolutes, one of the fastest ways to get into trouble is to state that the RECORD states the only way you can go to heaven is through Christ Jesus. But, the RECORD is clear! Look at Acts 4:12. We read, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
The Bible makes it clear that the only way a person can have eternal life in heaven is to have Jesus Christ as his Savior. Luke states it clearly in the book of Acts. And, if that is not clear enough, John makes it crystal clear. Look at 1 John 5, verse 12. We read, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
Some might say, “John, let’s discuss this!” John said there was nothing to discuss, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
The RECORD IS CLEAR! We can KNOW WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US! We can KNOW HOW TO GET IT. Also, we can know...
C. WE HAVE IT
Look at verse 13. We read, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
You can ask some folks if they are saved and they will say, “I hope so,” or “I think so!” Most of the time what these folks mean is, “We really can not know we have eternal life until the judgment day and we stand before the Lord and He weighs our good works against our bad works. If our good works outweigh our bad works, then we believe we can know we are saved, if not then we believe we are lost.” That describes a “HOPE SO” salvation.
The only kind of salvation the Bible teaches is a “KNOW SO” salvation! Those WHO THINK they CAN NOT KNOW NOW do not know the first thing about what the Bible teaches about salvation. The Bible teaches we ARE NOT SAVED BY OUR WORKS. We ARE SAVED BY HIS WORK!
Since our salvation does not depend on what we have done, or upon what I will do, or not do, John said WE CAN KNOW NOW! “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” We have looked at SALVATION. Now let us look at...
II. OUR SERVICE
Once we come to KNOW the Lord, we are to SERVE HIM. Not because we are trying to BE SAVED, but because we ARE SAVED!
Our works have nothing to do with ACQUIRING SALVATION. Works have everything to do with REWARDS! Notice how we are to serve Him. Look at verses 14-15. We read, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, IF WE ASK ANY THING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE HEARETH US: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
Look especially at the last phrase in verse 14. We read, “...if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.” There is something here we need to consider.
Illus: A lot of folks envision prayer as a blank check. That is, they think they can “fill in the amount” for what they want, and God will sign it and give it to them.
• If they want a new car, they think they can just pray for it and God will give it to them.
• If they want a new home, they think they can just pray for it and God will give it to them.
• Anything they want, they think all they have to do is pray for it and God will give it to them.
But listen, the fact is, we all have prayed many prayers like this and God has answered with a big, “No!” WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Often these are people who profess to know the Lord, but SERVE HIM FOR SELFISH REASONS AND THEY PRAY SELFISH PRAYERS. They are constantly praying selfish prayers and God is constantly answering, “No!”
Illus: Legend has it that there were two angels standing beside the throne of the Lord Jesus. They stood on each side of Him with buckets tied to ropes that went to the earth.
Someone asked, “What are those two angels doing?” St. Peter said, “They have been assigned to bring up the prayer requests of God’s people to the Lord.” The man said, “Why is it that one is straining because his bucket is so full, and then consistently dumps the contents of his bucket into a large waste basket while the other is not straining at all because his bucket is almost empty, but he gives the contents of his bucket to the Lord?” St. Peter said, “The one angel is straining, then dumping the contents of his bucket because his bucket is filled with selfish prayer requests. The other’s bucket is light because there are not very many prayers that are prayed in the will of God.”
WHY IS IT THAT GOD ANSWERS “NO,” TO SELFISH PRAYERS? Because God does not promise to answer any prayers that are not prayed according to His will! Look again at verse 14. We read, “...if we ask any thing ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he heareth us.”
A lot of folks think they are gods, and the whole world revolves around them. Listen, this may be a shock to you, but God is God, and the whole world “revolves around Him” so to speak. He HEARS and ANSWERS prayers that are prayed “ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.”
People pray so many selfish prayers and then they are always wondering why God does not answer them. Well, the answer is obvious. God never promised to hear and answer selfish prayers. Again, He has only promised to HEAR and ANSWER prayers that are prayed “ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.”
However, notice that the prayers He HEARS, that are PRAYED IN HIS WILL, are guaranteed to be answered. Look at verse 15. We read, “And if we know (“eido,” - Be sure) that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
We who are saved by the grace of God need to recognize that as we SERVE the Lord, we are to do everything we do IN THE WILL OF GOD--WHICH INCLUDES PRAYING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL! We have looked at OUR SALVATION and OUR SERVICE. Now let us look at something else the RECORD is clear about.
III. OUR SINS
Some people think it is a dangerous thing when a preacher preaches we are saved by grace alone. They have the mistaken idea that somehow this gives license to sin.
If any of you think that today, I am glad you are concerned about it. Let us look at what God has to tell us about this. We who are saved by the grace of God CAN NOT SERVE GOD IN SIN.
The RECORD is clear on this. Look at verse 16. We read, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
There are two kinds of sin that John says concerns Christians. There is sin:
(1) Not unto death
(2) Unto death
The sin “not unto death” is that sin which is committed when a Christian drops his guard and “falls into a temptation to sin.” Remember, Peter had this happen to him.
Notice that here John is still talking to Christians. He says, “If any man see his BROTHER sin a sin which is not unto death...” The word “death” here refers to the physical death. John is saying that if we see a brother commit a sin, ask God to forgive him, and God will give him life. This brother does not continue in sin. But, if a brother has committed a sin “unto death,” you can pray all you want to but God will not heal him, he is going to die physically.
Listen, children of God, God is patient with us for a long time, but if a child of God insists on living a sinful life, bringing a reproach on the name of God, God will kill him and take him on to his eternal home. A good example of this is found in the life of Moses. You remember that Moses got angry when the children of Israel kept begging for water. God instructed Moses to speak to the rock, but Moses struck the rock twice.
Listen, Moses should never have struck the rock. He was supposed to just speak to it. The rock had already been “smitten” once and that was supposed to be a type of the Lord Jesus, Who was to come and be smitten ONCE for the sins of mankind.
1 Cor. 10:4 lets us see that rock was to represent Christ, but when Moses got angry and smote it twice, it spoiled God’s illustration. In Numbers 20:12, God told Moses and Aaron they would not be allowed to enter the promised land. Now we know these men lived to please God, but they disobeyed Him. Moses pleaded with God, and even though God restored him to leadership, God would not allow Him to enter the promised land. God told Moses, Deut. 3:26, “...speak no more unto me of this matter,” and they died not entering the promised land! I wonder how many of God’s blessings we have missed?
Annanias and Sapphira committed the sin unto death. We read of this in Acts 5:1-11. WHAT IS THIS SIN? The sin unto death is different to different people. But, we Christians have to always keep in mind that though we have been saved by God’s marvelous grace, it is possible to commit the sin unto death. If we do, it does not matter who prays for us, we will die!
John says, verse 17, “All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” That is, God does not kill a Christian every time he sins. But it is possible to rebel and “cross a line” when God will say, “That is enough,” and God will take that disobedient one out of the world.
Now look at verse 18. We read, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” WHAT DOES THIS VERSE MEAN?
It means a Christian has two natures. He has a SPIRITUAL NATURE and a PHYSICAL NATURE. What that means is this: THE NEW, SPIRITUAL NATURE that we get when we get saved WILL NOT SIN! This SPIRITUAL nature causes us to desire only to please the Lord. However, we must always be on guard because the old nature, physical, has no desire whatsoever to please God.
Look at the last part of verse 19. We read, “...but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”
This is precious. God’s Word says that if we are BEGOTTEN OF GOD...SATAN CAN NOT TOUCH US.
This is one way we know we are children of God. We have that SPIRITUAL NATURE that wants to live right, talk right, and think right. We know what has happened. We know we have been BORN AGAIN.
And listen, we also know what has happened to the lost world. Look at verse 19. We read, “And we know that we are of God, and THE WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN WICKEDNESS.” Sinners lie “in wickedness.” It does not matter how evil it may be, sinners just lie down in the midst of it. They are the blind leading the blind out there!
Conclusion: Aren’t you glad God has saved us? We are not in darkness. We know what is going on. Our eyes have been opened to sin.
Look at verse 20. We read, “And we KNOW that the Son of God is come, and hath GIVEN US AN UNDERSTANDING, THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM THAT IS TRUE, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”
Because we know these things, John says, in verse 21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
I. OUR SALVATION
II. OUR SERVICE
III. OUR SINS
