1 John: HOW CAN I KNOW FOR SURE?
HOW CAN I KNOW FOR SURE?
Date July 07,2013
Scripture Reference 1 John 5:1-13
from The Series 1 John
Scripture Reading
Let us rise to our feet and read together 1 John 5:1-13
5 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?6 This is he that 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.7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.9 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.
This is the Word of the Lord... Thanks be to God. May the sweet Spirit add blessing to our text this morning... and You may be seated in God's presence...
Introduction
We live in a world
that is filled with doubt. Very few
people seem to have any real certainty about anything. These doubts arise concerning the
economy. How high will petrol/gas prices and
milk prices go? These doubts arise
concerning the war on terror. How long
will it last? How large will it
grow? How many lives will be spent in
pursuit of a victory? These doubts arise
concerning the future. What kind of life
will I have in the future? How long will
I love? Will I get some dread disease? These doubts arise in just about every area
of our lives.
Of
course, the worse place for doubt to arise is in the realm of the spiritual. We seem to be able to handle other forms of
doubt better than we handle those doubts that are spiritual in nature. But, doubt does arise there too, doesn’t it?
Now,
there is not much you can do about the future.
You are wasting your time worrying about, because you simply cannot know
it or change it, Pro. 27:1. There is
no use worrying about the war, because you have no control over it. Just know that it is part of God’s plan for
the end times and leave it in His hands!
There is no use in you worrying about the economy and how you will make
it week to week. After all, God promised
to meet your needs, Phil. 4:19. Your provision is His worry and there’s no
use in you both being worried about it!
But,
when it comes to the spiritual realm, you do not have to be plagued by doubts
and worries. The Bible teaches us that
we can know for sure that we are saved and secure in God’s salvation. In fact, in this little book, some 40 times,
we are told that salvation is one thing that we can know about for sure.
Sadly,
we are living in a day when many do not know for sure! They are constantly in spiritual turmoil
because they do not know. There may be
some of those people in our presence today.
You are filled with confusion and doubt regarding your salvation.
You vacillate day by day between being sure
and not knowing. You are tired of riding
that spiritual yo-yo and you want to know for sure. If so, then let me take the verses we have
read and show you how you can know for sure that you have been saved. Let’s look into what John has to say about
this vital matter as we think on the thought: How Can I Know For Sure? These verses speak about three areas of life
that give us what we need to know for sure that we have been saved.
Sermon
I. v. 1-5 WE KNOW THROUGH A CHANGED WALK
A.
v. 1 There Is A Personal Relationship
John begins our journey
to assurance with a foundational statement.
He tells us that “belief” in the identity of Jesus
Christ is essential to being saved. This
is the Bedrock of salvation!
This is where you faith stands or falls!
Everything begins and ends with whether or not your faith is in Jesus
and in Him alone for your soul’s salvation.
Listen to what the Bible says: Acts
16:31; John 6:47; John 14:6; John 8:24.
With that in mind, the first question to ask yourself is this: “Has
there been a moment in my life when I reached out by faith and embraced Jesus
as my only hope of salvation?”
Or, ask in another way, “What am I trusting to save my soul?”
The
bottom line is this: you must be born again, John 3:3, 7. And, the new birth comes about through faith in the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Rom. 10:9.
(Ill. How many of you
were born physically? Let me see your
hands. How do you know for sure? You know you were born physically because you
are alive. You have a body; you can
think and move; you can see, hear, taste, touch and smell; therefore, you know
you are alive! If someone came up to you
and said, “When were you born?” You
wouldn’t say, “Well, I think I was born. Oh, I
hope I was born. Maybe I was born, but
I’m not really sure.” No, you
know you were born and you know when it happened. You probably have a birth certificate that
proves you were born. You probably have
some baby pictures that were taken when you were small. You were probably very young when it
happened, but you have the evidence that it happened!
So
it is in the spiritual realm as well.
John tells us that we can know that we have been born again! Just as there is always evidence of a
physical birth, so too there is also evidence of a spiritual birth! The first and primary evidence is that of a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ.)
B. v. 2-5 There Is A Profound Rearrangement
If a personal faith
relationship with Jesus is the Bedrock of salvation, then what John
gives to us next are the Birthmarks of salvation. How often have you heard someone say about a
baby, “He looks just like his father.”, or “She sure has her mother’s eyes!”? Well, just as human babies exhibit the characteristics
of their parents, those who are born again children of God will have certain
birthmarks which distinguish them.
(Note: Thank God this is
true! You see, in a physical birth, you
get a birth certificate to prove you were born.
But, in a spiritual birth, you get no such tangible evidence. Wouldn’t it be a blessing if you did? If you did, however, it would cease to be
about faith in Jesus, and it would be about that piece of paper. You see, there are times when you and I will
not feel saved. For me, it is early in
the morning! However, I am not saved by
the way I feel. I am saved by grace
through faith! So, even when I do not
feel saved, there are some proofs in our lives that we can see that demonstrate
our salvation, even when we can’t feel it.
These things are the birthmarks of the believer!)
1.
v. 1b-2a We Will Love The Saints
In other words, you will love what God
loves! He loves His people and you will
love His people too. There will be a
supernatural love placed within you that fills you with love, compassion and
concern for your brothers and sisters in Christ! Note these verses: 1 John 2:9-11; 1 John 3:14-22; 1 John 4:20-21. This love among the brethren is the believer’s
calling card, John 13:35.
2.
v. 2b-3 We Will Live Out The Scriptures
We demonstrate our salvation when
we walk in humble obedience to the commandments of God. We do what He says for us to do. We love Him, so we do not sin against Him. We love our brethren, so we do not sin
against the brethren. Obedience to the
Word of God is proof positive of spiritual birth, 1 John 2:3-5; 1 John 4:6; John 14:15. A heart that desires to obey the word and
will of God is a converted heart! (Note: None will follow His word
or will perfectly, Ill. Rom. 7:18-25. However, there will be a desire to live for
God that did not exist before salvation!)
3.
v. 5-4 We Will Leave The Sinful
As a believer grows in the Lord, his or
her life will be marked by a steady move away from the world and its
allurements. The new believer is a “new
creation”, 2 Cor. 5:17. As such, there are new desires, new goals,
new wants, etc. Our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ gives us the power to walk in victory over this world and all of
its evil! John is telling us that the believer will love the saints, live out
the Scriptures and leave this sinful world behind, 1 John 3:4-10.
(Note: The best way you can know you are saved is by the fact
that you are different than you were before!
No one can meet Jesus and remain the same! A life that bears the Birthmarks of salvation
is a life that stands on the firm Bedrock of saving grace.)
II. v. 6-10 WE KNOW THROUGH A CLEAR WITNESS
A.
v. 6-8 The Spirit Witnesses About The Savior
These verses tell us
about the Holy Spirit’s witness concerning Jesus Christ. The Spirit tells us that Jesus came by “water
and blood.” What does this
mean? Well, John here is combating a
heresy that was rampant in that day called the Serinthian heresy. This heresy stated that Jesus was merely a
man and that at His baptism, the divine Christ came upon the human Jesus and
empowered Him for service, then the divine Christ left the human Jesus before
the cross and a mere man died on Calvary.
John
wants us to know that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the coming of Jesus. He did come by water. When Jesus was baptized in Matt. 3:16-17, the Spirit of God
descended upon Him and God the Father testified to His identity. No, the divine Christ did not come upon the
human Jesus in that stream. Jesus was
the Christ before He arrived there that day.
He was God in human flesh when He was born in Bethlehem!
This is important because when He went to the cross, Jesus was still the
Christ. When He died on that cross and
shed His blood, He was paying your sin debt in full! That was no mere man that died there that
Day. That was God in the flesh dying for
your sins and mine on that cross!
(Ill. Like the hymn
writer said:
“My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought.
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord O my soul!”
I
can sin it is well this morning because Jesus literally took my place on the
cross of Calvary. This is the witness of the Spirit to every
child of God!)
(Note: Now, don’t miss this! When Jesus shed His blood, He was paying the
judicial requirement for my sins. His
blood makes me clean before God. When He
died on that cross both blood and water poured from His side, John 19:33-34. The blood satisfied the judicial requirements
of God for sin for ever. If you are
trusting Jesus as your Savior today, you have been cleansed by this blood. The water, however, enables me to walk in
victory over sin.
Look
back to the Old Testament for just a moment.
In Leviticus 14:1-32, we have
the requirements for the cleansing of the leper. Part of that ritual involved the shedding of
blood and application of some of that blood upon the leper. That blood cleansed him before God. Another
part of that ritual required that the leper wash himself. The blood allowed him to stand before God,
the water allowed him to walk among men.
All
I am trying to say today is that there is power in the cross to save you and
to change you. There is power in the
blood and water that was shed to give you victory over this world.
The
Spirit’s witness about the Savior is that His death mattered! It made the way for you to be saved and it is
worthy of your confidence. If your faith
is in the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone for the cleansing of your sins, then
you are His and you are saved!)
B.
v. 9-10 The Spirit Witnesses Within The Saint
These verse tell us
that the believer has the witness of the Holy Spirit within himself that he
really is saved. The moment you were
saved, the Spirit of God came to dwell in your life, 1 Cor. 12:13. His presence
in a life is the proof of salvation, Rom. 8:9.
If the Spirit of God is there a person is saved, if the Spirit is
absent, then that person is lost! So
then, every saved person has within him or her the Spirit of God and the
indwelling Spirit witnesses concerning your faith in Jesus. How?
Glad
you asked! Verse 9 tells us that we accept the witness, or testimony, of men
all the time. Isn’t that true? You take
the word of your doctor, don’t you? You
have no idea whether he is right or wrong, but you trust him. You take the word of you pharmacist as
well. How do you know he is telling the
truth regarding your prescription? When
you take that pill, or swallow that liquid, you could be about to wind things
up down here. But, we believe those men
and there are dozens of others we believe as well. Well, God says, “If you can believe men, then you
should believe the witness of the Spirit, for it is greater!”
You
see the Holy Spirit witnesses to three great realities. He witnesses to Facts, Faith
and Feelings. Notice three verses of Scripture that teach
this truth.
1. Heb.
10:15 – The Spirit reveals the facts of the Gospel to our hearts. No one can be saved until they are first
confronted with the facts of the Gospel.
For, it is the facts that bring conviction of our sins and point us to
Jesus for salvation. The Spirit takes
the facts of the Gospel and makes them real to a sinner’s heart!
2. Romans
8:16 – This deals with the matter of faith. When we receive the facts of the Gospel, the
Spirit of God witnesses to our hearts that we the children of God. He validates our faith in the facts by
assuring us of our salvation.
3. 1
John 5:10 – This passage deals with the matter of feelings. Now, people want to get the cart before the
horse. They want the feeling, whether or
not they have the facts and the faith!
Everybody is worried about not “feeling saved.” You are not saved by how you feel, but you
are saved by faith in the facts of the Gospel!
Your feelings will change, but the facts will never be altered! If you faith is resting on the facts of the
Gospel, then you can have assurance whether you feel saved or not! Thank God for good feelings, but they are really
just window dressing!
(Note: While you have better not
base your hope of heaven on how you feel, John is saying that every now and
then, the Spirit of God will witness within you that you are God’s child! How?
He will create and hunger for the things of God. He will make you want to pray. Every now and then He might just cause a tear
to slip out of your eye. He may make you
hand slip up in praise to the Lord. He
may cause you to get up on your feet and shout.
He may prompt you to do any number of things, just to let you know He is
there and that you are His! There may be times when you hear a certain song,
and the Spirit of God wraps Himself around your heart and says, “You
are mine!” It may be when you
are praying or reading the Scriptures that He will come close to you and hug
you and say, “You are mine!” If you
are saved, you know what I am talking about!
That never happened before I was saved!
Do you have that witness of the Spirit within you?)
III. v. 11-12 WE KNOW THROUGH A CLARIFYING WORD
(Ill. These verses tell us that we have God’s
word concerning this matter of salvation!
We have the infallible, inerrant, inspired record!)
A. v. 11a A Word About The Provision Of Eternal Life
We are told
that salvation is the gift of God.
Friend, you don’t just “get saved!” God saves you because “Salvation is of the Lord,”
Jonah 2:9. It is His to give and He gives to whom He
pleases. When He gives you salvation, He
also gives you life everlasting! This is the record! What a blessing!
B.v. 11b-12 A Word About The Procurement Of Eternal Life
How does one
go about getting this eternal life?
These verses tell us very clearly that “this life is in His Son.” If you have the Lord Jesus, you have
everlasting life; if you do not have the Lord Jesus then you do not have
everlasting life! So, the question is, do you have Jesus?
(Ill. How do you know if
you have Him? Well, how many of you are
married? Please raise your hands! Now, how do you know you are married? Do you always feel married? You can’t go by your feelings, but you know
you are married because somewhere there is a document that says you are
married. In some dusty volume on a shelf
in some house, there is a record that you were married on such and such a
day. That is the proof! Not how you feel, but what the record says!
That
is how you can know that you have the Son of God and His salvation! Listen, feelings change! But, the death of Jesus, the witness of the
Spirit of God within and the written record of the Word of God never
change! I cannot trust how I feel, but I
trust what this book says! If I have
done all this book requires, then I am saved, whether I feel like it or not! All that we know about salvation, we know
because of what the Bible, the record, has told us. Thank God, we can trust the record, even when
we can trust nothing else. It is
settled, Psa. 119:89; it is eternal,
Matt. 24:35; and it is worthy of
your faith, 2 Tm. 3:16.
I
know I was born because the record says so.
I know I am married because the record says so. I know that I am saved because the record
says so, regardless of how I feel!)
Invitation And The Final Challenge
Bear Bryant who used to be the head
coach over at the University
of Alabama, was coaching a
game and it came down to the very end.
He said there was just about a minute left to play, they were down on
the other team's 5-yard line, just a few seconds left on the clock, time to run
two or three plays, and his quarterback got hurt. So he called his second-string quarterback up
who was the slowest guy on the team and he said, "Now, son, I want you to go in
there but all I want you to do is take the ball and I want you to just hand it
off to the running back. I just want you
to run the ball, run the clock out and whatever you do don't throw a pass."
So he said, "Yes, sir, coach." And the quarterback went in there and the
first play he handed the ball and the seconds were ticking away. The second play, he handed the ball off and
the seconds were ticking away. And on
the last play of the game the quarterback got the ball and in the end zone he
saw this big old tight end standing there all alone in the corner by
himself. He said, "This
is my time for glory right here."
So he drew back and threw that ball.
Well, what he didn't know was that over in the other end of the end zone
was their All-American safety who had seen exactly what was getting ready to
transpire. He was the fastest boy on the
field. So when the quarterback threw
that ball, that All-American safety came running over there and he just
snatched it right out of that tight end's hand, took off running down the field
for all he was worth, and that little old slow quarterback was running after
him.
They ran and they ran the full length of the field and finally they got down
to the 1-yard line and that quarterback caught him, tackled him, the game was
over, and Alabama
won the game by five points. (Roll Tide!) So Bear Bryant went out to the middle of the
field to meet the other coach and the other coach said, "Bear,
I don't understand it. Our scouting
reports told us that your second-string quarterback was the slowest boy on the
field and we know that our All-American safety is the fastest boy on
the field. I don't know how your slow
boy caught our fast boy on the 1-yard line and saved that game. Do you?"
And Bear Bryant said, "Well, coach, it's like this. Your boy was running for 6 points, my boy was
running for his life."
Some
of you are still running for your lives today when you could be resting in what
you have in Jesus! Listen, you can have
assurance of your salvation. You can
know that you are saved. If you can look
at the evidence and trust the Word of God, the Witness of the Spirit and the
new Walk of life God has given you, then you can have rest in this area as
well. Isn’t it time to put it to rest
forever? Why not get before the Lord
right now and ask Him to help you get hold of these truths once and for all!
--
The Rev. Lenin Kumar
The Potter's Home International Church
The Christian Living
Preparing the Bride...For Christ's Coming!
www.pottershomeinternational.
www.pottershomeinternational.
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