Sermon #1476[1] Miscellaneous
Notes
Title: Faith Based Assurance
Text: 1 John 5:1-13
Subject: Three Infallible Witnesses
Date: Sunday Evening –
Tape # W-60a
Introduction:
In Christ’s atoning blood
Is justified from all things
and
Saved by the grace of God.
Yet, sin within remains!
When vile corruptions rise,
Then Satan tempts us to
despair
And God’s free grace despise.
Our flesh with him agrees,
And says we cannot be
Partakers of God’s saving
grace
And yet such sinners be.
But faith looks out of self
And trusts in Christ alone.
Our hope is not in what we
do,
But what our Lord has done!
His blood and righteousness,
The anchor of our souls,
Assures us in the teeth of
sin
Free grace has made us
whole!
The title
of my message this morning is Faith Based Assurance.
·
We know that there is an elect people
in the world, a multitude which no man can number, loved by God from eternity,
chosen as the objects of his grace, and predestinated to eternal life, who must
be saved.
·
We also know, from the testimony of Holy Scripture, that the Lord Jesus
Christ established righteousness for that elect multitude by his
obedience to God as their Representative, bore their sins in his own
body on the tree, and died in their place under the curse of the law,
satisfying Divine justice, putting away sin, and effectually accomplishing
eternal redemption as the Substitute for God’s elect.
·
My question is this: How can I know that I am one of God’s elect?
How can I know that Christ died for me, as my sin-atoning Substitute? How can I
be assured of my own, personal saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Proposition:
Today I want to show you from the Word of God that there are certain,
infallible witnesses by which believing sinners may be assured of a saving
interest in Christ.
Turn to 1
John 5. In this chapter the apostle John shows us who the
children of God in this world are. He gives, by Divine inspiration, certain,
indisputable, infallible witnesses by which believing sinners may know that
they have eternal life. In fact, he tells us plainly that the purpose
of this Epistle is to give assurance to God’s elect. “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” (v. 13).
Verse 1 – “Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him
that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.”
John’s statement is emphatic. Anyone in the world,
any man or woman, anyone old or young, anyone here who believes that Jesus, that Jesus revealed in the Scriptures, is the Christ,
is born of God.
Do you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ as your Prophet, Priest, and King? Do you trust him as the Lord your
Righteousness? Do you trust Christ as your sin-atoning Substitute? If you do,
you are born of God.
Your faith in Christ is not
the cause of your being born of God, but it is the evidence (Heb. 11:1). And
the fruit of faith is love. All who are born of God love God, and love one
another.
NOTE: Our
love for God and for one another is so shallow, fickle, and sinful that we dare
not make it a basis of personal assurance. But it is an identifying characteristic
of God’s people.
Verse 2 – “By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his
commandments.”
Love is made manifest by works. My love for my wife
is not revealed to me by my deeds. But my deeds of love reveal my love to my
wife and to others who see those deeds. And our love for God and his children
is revealed by our works. It is not revealed and known to us by our works. But
it is revealed and made known to our brethren.
John is not making our works
a basis of personal assurance. He is telling us that God’s people identify one
another by their works of faith and love (1 Thess. 1:2-3; Heb. 6:9-10).
(1 Thessalonians 1:2-3) "We
give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
{3} Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our
Father;"
(Hebrews 6:9-10) "But,
beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak. {10} For God is not unrighteous
to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name,
in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."
Verse 3 – “For
this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments
are not grievous.’
Love obeys God in all things with a willing heart.
In order for me to find personal assurance in my love for God my obedience to
God must be both willing obedience and perfect obedience. If my obedience is
not perfect, my love is not perfect. I cannot have any assurance if my
assurance is based upon personal love and obedience. My works cannot give me
assurance. And my love cannot give me assurance. But there is a solid
foundation upon which true assurance may be built.
Verse 4 – “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.”
I am certain of this: That which is born of God
cannot die. Those who are born of God shall be triumphant. If you and I are
born of God, we are more than conquerors in Christ. We shall overcome Satan,
the god of this world. We shall overcome the lusts, which are in the world, the
religion of the world, the cares of the world, and the trials of the world.
Verse 4 – “And
this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
Faith, drawing strength from Christ, works wonders
in the earth (Heb.
(Hebrews 11:33-34) "Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, {34} Quenched the violence of fire, escaped
the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
And faith, drawing strength from Christ,
persistently and ultimately overcomes the world. In other words, John is
telling us that faith alone is victorious. Faith alone conquers. And this
victorious faith is “our faith.” It is the gift of God, as truly as the
breath in our lungs is the gift of God. But it is our faith, as truly as the
breath in our lungs is our breath.
In verse 1
John said, “Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” And he assures us
that faith produces both love and good works. But he draws us away from love
and good works as the grounds of assurance. Our confidence is not in
the victory of our love, or in the success of our works, but in the triumph of
our faith. Because Christ, the Object of our faith, is triumphant, our
faith shall be victorious too.
John is laying a foundation
for confidence and assurance. But in order to do so, he must show us that
neither our love, nor our works will support our souls and give us a confident,
assured hope. If we would have assurance of a saving interest in Christ, our
assurance must be built upon Christ alone.
My hope is built on nothing
less
Than Jesus’ blood and
righteousness:
I dare not trust the
sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’
name.
His oath, His covenant, His
blood
Support me in the ‘whelming
flood:
When all around my soul give
way,
He then is all my hope and
stay.
Verse 5 – “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God?”
It is not faith
in myself, or faith in my love, or faith in my works,
or faith in my faith that overcomes the world, but faith in Christ, the Son of
God. The singular basis of assurance then is faith in Christ, the Son of
God. Faith is not a leap in the dark, but the reasonable response
of the heart to God’s Revelation.
Now,
if we rest our immortal souls on the merits of the man, Jesus Christ, trusting
that he is indeed the Son of the living God, we must have undeniable,
irrefutable proof that he is the Christ, and that he is the Son of God, and
that this great God-man has accomplished eternal redemption for us.
Where is such proof to be found? John gives it to us right here in verses 6-8.
Under
the Mosaic law, every claim presented in legal matters
had to be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. And every claim
presented in a legal suit today must be established in court by two or three
irrefutable witnesses. Here, the Apostle John produces three irrefutable
witnesses by which every believer may justly lay claim, in his own heart, to
eternal life in Jesus Christ, with full assurance.
Divisions: Everything vital to my soul is here established by three
infallible, irrefutable witnesses. Here are three witnesses to…
1.
The Deity Of Christ (v. 6).
2.
The Accomplishment Of Redemption
By Christ (v. 7).
3.
The Believer’s Saving Interest In
Christ (v. 8).
I.
First, here
are THREE WITNESSES TO THE DEITY OF
CHRIST – (1
John 5:6).
We believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Why? What is the basis of our faith? John
tells us: -- “This is he which came by water and
blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is
the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” Here is the
witness of the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
A.
We know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God BECAUSE
HE CAME BY WATER.
What does that
mean? Water is an emblem for the written Word of God (John 15:3;
Eph.
(Luke 24:27) "And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself."
(Luke 24:44-47) "And he
said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was
yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
(45) Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures, (46) And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (47) And
that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
Our faith regarding the Deity of
Christ is founded upon the testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures. The
Scriptures of the Old Testament plainly foretold virtually everything about
Christ.
·
His Incarnation and Virgin Birth (Isa.
·
His Submission and Obedience (Isa. 50:5-7)
·
His Betrayal (Ps. 41:9)
·
His Crucifixion (Ps. 22:69)
·
His Substitutionary Atonement (Isa. 53)
·
His Resurrection and Exaltation (Isa. 45:20-25; 53:9-12;
Ps. 68:18-20)
All the types
and pictures of the Old Testament vividly portrayed our Savior’s Person and
Work.
·
Noah’s
·
The Sacrifice of Isaac
·
The Passover
·
The Tabernacle and Priesthood
·
The Mercy-seat
·
Daniel in the Lion’s Den
We know that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, because he came by Water, by the witness
of the Word of God in the Old Testament.
B. We know that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God BECAUSE HE CAME BY BLOOD.
“This is he which came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by
water only, but by water and blood.” Had the Lord Jesus met every other
stipulation of the Old Testament, had he been a perfect man, of the seed of Abraham,
and of the seed of David, had he performed great miracles and even raised the
dead, we could not believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, unless he had
voluntarily poured out his life’s blood unto death upon the cross for the
atonement of our sins by the satisfaction of divine justice.
He claimed to be the Son of God. He
demonstrated his power as God. Then he proved it by his sacrifice. The
sinlessness of his life, his obedience to God, and his miraculous powers are
not sufficient to prove Christ's Deity. We see his Deity when we see the death
which he accomplished as the sinner's Substitute upon the cross (Matt. 27:54). His
death was…
·
a voluntary act (John
·
a vicarious atonement (John
·
and a victorious accomplishment
(John
We know that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God because he came by Water and by blood.
C. And we know that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, BECAUSE
THE SPIRIT BEARS WITNESS TO HIS DEITY.
“It is the
Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.”
·
John the Baptist recognized Christ as the Messiah, the Son
of God, by the descent of the Spirit upon him at his baptism, in the form of a
dove.
·
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit bore witness to
Christ's exaltation and enthronement as King, by his descent upon the assembled
church.
·
And the Spirit bears witness to Christ's Deity and dominion
through the preaching of the gospel, convincing sinners, chosen and redeemed by
him, that he has the power as the God-Man Mediator to give them repentance and
the forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:30-32).
Every believer
knows, with absolute assurance, that Jesus Christ is God the Son, the Son of
God, our sovereign Lord, and our almighty Savior by the witness of the Word,
the witness of the Blood, and the witness of the Holy Spirit. That is the
meaning of verse 6.
II.
Look at verse 7. Here
are THREE WITNESSES TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF REDEMPTION BY
CHRIST – (1 John 5:7)
"There
are three that bear record in heaven." Bear record of what?
That Jesus is the Son of God? No. Heaven needs no evidence of that! These
three bear record in heaven that God has given us eternal life, in strict
accordance with his just and righteous law, by the merits of Christ's obedience
and death as our Substitute.
The three
Persons of the Holy Trinity bear record in heaven that Christ has accomplished
redemption for God's elect by his blood atonement. -- "There are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one."
A. GOD THE FATHER
BEARS RECORD THAT REDEMPTION IS ACCOMPLISHED BY HIS ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST AS OUR
REPRESENTATIVE AND SURETY (Heb. 1:1-9;
When the Father
raised Christ from the dead and received him back into heaven as our Mediator,
he accepted all his elect in Christ and bare record that redemption's work was
done (Eph. 1:6; John 17:1-5). – “Of righteousness
because I go to my Father!”
(John 17:1-5) "These words
spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is
come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: (2) As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. (3) And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
(4) I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do. (5) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."
B. GOD THE SON, THE
LIVING, ETERNAL WORD OF GOD, THE SECOND PERSON OF THE BLESSED TRINITY, BEARS
RECORD OF HIS PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO ETERNAL LIFE BY HIS PERPETUAL ADVOCACY AND
INTERCESSION AT THE FATHER'S RIGHT HAND (Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2; Heb.
7:24-25; Heb. 6:20).
The record he
bears, which secures the eternal salvation of God's elect, by which we merit
heaven and eternal life, is twofold: his righteousness as our
Representative and his satisfaction as our Substitute.
Illustration: The Rent Veil
(Romans 8:33-39) "Who shall
lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
(34) Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (35) Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
(36) As it is written, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (37) Nay,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
(38) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
C. GOD THE HOLY
SPIRIT, THE THIRD PERSON OF THE HOLY TRINITY, BEARS RECORD OF THE
ACCOMPLISHMENT OF REDEMPTION, BY EFFECTUALLY APPLYING THE BLOOD OF CHRIST TO
THE HEARTS OF GOD'S ELECT IN EFFECTUAL CALLING (John 16:14;
Heb. 9:13-14).
(John 16:14) "He shall
glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you."
(Hebrews 9:13-14) "For if
the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
(14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?"
The Spirit of
God takes the merit of Christ's blood and righteousness and reveals to God's
elect their acceptance with God by the gospel.
In effectual
calling chosen, redeemed sinners hear the gospel. But they hear more than the
bare word of the gospel. They hear the Spirit of God speak in their hearts!
Each one hears God speak pardon to his own soul by the gospel of his salvation
(Eph. 1:13; 2 Cor. 5:16).
This is the record of heaven. The Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit point to the blood and righteousness of Christ and
say, “It is finished! Redemption is accomplished!”
D. "AND
THESE THREE ARE ONE."
The three Divine
Persons are one God. But more, the record of the Father, the record of the Son,
and the record of the Spirit are one. What is that record? REDEMPTION IS
ACCOMPLISHED BY CHRIST ALONE! Every chosen sinner has the right to
enter into heaven by the blood gate, by the merits of Christ. “God hath
given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
But how can I know that I am one of God’s
elect? How can I know that God has given me eternal life? How can I be assured
of my own saving interest in Christ?
III. Read verse 8. Here are THREE
WITNESSES TO THE BELIEVER'S SAVING INTEREST IN CHRIST – (1 John 5:8).
"And
there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, the Water (the Word),
and the blood: and these three agree in one."
Notice how the
order is given. The witnesses to Christ's Deity are, first, the Word, then the
blood, and then the Spirit. The witnesses to redemption's accomplishment are,
first, the Father, then the Son, and then the Spirit. The witnesses to our
saving interest in Christ are, first, the Spirit, then the Word, and then the
blood.
A. A SAVING
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST BEGINS WITH THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT (I Cor.
2:9-10).
Conviction
No one on earth
can know and be firmly persuaded that he is one of God's elect, one of those
for whom Christ died, but by the special revelation of God the Holy Spirit. No
man can, or should, convince another of his salvation in Christ. Only the
Spirit of God can convince a sinner of grace and salvation in Christ (John
16:8-14). And if he convinces, you are convinced.
(John 16:8-14) "And when he
is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: {9} Of sin, because they believe not
on me; {10} Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me
no more; {11} Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
{12} I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
{13} Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you
things to come. {14} He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine,
and shall show it unto you."
Comfort
He is called the
Comforter because he conveys to our hearts the comfort of our election,
redemption, salvation, and eternal acceptance with God (Rom.
(Romans 8:14-17) "For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. {15} For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. {16} The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God: {17} And if children,
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together."
At the time
appointed, he manifests the glory of Christ's Person and the merits of his
work, creating faith in the hearts of elect sinners (2 Cor. 4:6; Gal. 1:15; 2
Tim. 1:9-10; Tit. 1:2-3; 2 Pet. 1:18-20).
B. THIS SAVING
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IS BASED UPON THE RECORD OF THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD,
SYMBOLIZED BY WATER (Tit. 3:5).
I remind you
that when John uses the word “water,” he is almost always talking about the
Word of God. The Spirit bears witness on earth, and the witness is given
through the Word. The revelation of God’s Spirit and the record of God’s Word
always agree.
The Spirit never
operates independently of his written Word. He reveals Christ supernaturally in
the hearts of men. But he reveals Christ only through the instrumentality of
gospel preaching. He takes the record of God in his Word and makes it the voice
of God in a man's heart! He declares in our hearts that our redemption is
accomplished by Christ's obedience and death as our Substitute (Heb.
What is the record of God’s Word?
1. Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God.
2. Christ has
accomplished redemption for sinners.
3. Every sinner who
believes on the Son of God has eternal life!
C. THIS SAVING
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IS NEITHER MORE NOR LESS THAN FAITH IN HIS BLOOD.
This is my
assurance, all my assurance, my only assurance. God the Holy Spirit has
revealed Christ in me by the Word of his grace, effectually causing me to trust
him, his blood and his righteousness, for the whole of my acceptance with God.
Trusting Christ, I have assurance of my saving interest in him.
Faith is the
echo of my heart to the voice of God's Spirit speaking to me by the gospel. The warrant of
my faith is the Word of God alone. And the warrant of my assurance is faith
alone (1 John 5:9-13). Faith fetches full assurance to the believer's heart,
not from within, but from without, from the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the naked Word of God.
“Feelings come
and feelings go,
And feelings are
deceiving.
I trust the
written Word of God.
Naught else is
worth believing!”
Read the Word of God one more time.
Assurance is never connected with love, or works, or joy, or repentance, or
even perseverance. In the Word of God assurance is always the fruit of faith
alone.
(John 1:11-12) "He came
unto his own, and his own received him not. {12} But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name:"
(Acts 13:38-39) "Be it
known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: {39} And
by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not
be justified by the law of Moses."
(Romans 15:13) "Now the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in
hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."
(Colossians 2:2-6) "That
their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; {3} In whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. {4} And
this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. {5} For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in
the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith
in Christ. {6} As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:"
(Hebrews 10:22) "Let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Faith takes God’s bare Word, without any
other testimony or evidence, and finds the comfort of full assurance in the
finished work of Christ alone. If we seek assurance upon any other grounds, by
signs, feelings, evidences, good works, or anything else but faith in Christ
alone, we make God a liar!
Will you, or will you not receive the witness
of God? Will you, or will you not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
(1 John 5:9-13) "If we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the
witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. {10} He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not
God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of
his Son. {11} And this is the record, that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. {12} He that
hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life. {13} 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."
AMEN.