October 2, 2024 • 31 mins
Is believing Jesus is the Son of God the cornerstone of eternal life? Join me, B.R.Maul, on "Living God's Way in an Ungodly World," as we explore this profound question through our study of 1 John, specifically chapter 5, verses 6-13. This episode highlights the significance of recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, and how this truth sets Christianity apart from other religions. We'll discuss the importance of the Holy Spirit's testimony in affirming this truth and delve into the triune nature of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—providing you with clarity about our faith in Jesus as the sole path to eternal life.
In our discussion, we emphasize that accepting Jesus goes beyond an intellectual agreement; it requires heartfelt faith that brings eternal life. We address common misconceptions, pointing out that neither lineage nor a general belief in God is sufficient for salvation—true faith must be rooted in Jesus Christ. This message extends especially to our Jewish listeners, underscoring the New Testament's assertion that faith in Jesus is necessary for eternal life. Tune in as we unpack these essential Christian beliefs, providing guidance on how to strengthen your walk with Christ amidst a challenging, often rejecting world.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
B.R.Maul (00:29):
Hello and good day.
This is BR Maul and you arelistening to Living God's Way in
an Ungodly World, and I'm soglad that you have joined me
here.
We are talking about howChristians are to function, are
to live in a world that rejectsour Savior and rejects us
(00:54):
because we follow our Savior andwe obey our Savior.
So this is a good place to cometo.
We learn what God has to say,and so we follow what God tells
us to do and not what the worldtells us to do.
We are getting close tofinishing the book of 1 John.
Today we are in chapter 5, andwe'll be going through verses 6
(01:17):
through 13.
And John is going to be talkingabout the certainty of God's
witness, and in the readingtoday, you'll notice that the
Son is mentioned many times, theSon being, of course, jesus
Christ, the second member of thetriune, god, the Father, the
(01:37):
Son and the Holy Spirit.
In today's world, most peopledon't have a problem talking
about God.
The Muslims, they talk aboutGod, hindus, they talk about
many gods and, of course, manyother religions that talk about
God.
But following Jesus is not areligion.
(01:59):
It is the truth.
Jesus is the only way to heaven.
There is no other way to heaven.
There is no other way to heaven.
Jesus makes it very clear thatno one gets through the Father
except through him, the Fatherbeing the Fatherhead of the
Triune God.
But all religions out therejust see Jesus.
If they even recognize Jesus,they will see him or label him
(02:22):
as a prophet or a good man or awise person, whatever it might
be, but they reject him as theSon of God.
But today in the reading,you'll notice that the label Son
S-O-N is used eight times injust these few verses and the
reference to Jesus ten times Oneas Jesus Christ, another as the
(02:51):
Word and eight times as the Son.
So that tells us the importance, because the Holy Spirit, the
true author of the Bible, theHoly Spirit, wanted it to be
very clear to us that it is theSon whom we have certainty in,
who our faith is in and who isthe Savior and none other.
(03:13):
So with that we'll get on withthe reading.
I will read straight throughthe scriptures and then, when
I'm done, we'll back up andwe'll unpack it verse by verse.
1, john, chapter 5, verse 6.
This is he who came by waterand blood, jesus Christ, not
(03:37):
only by water, but by water andblood.
And it is the Spirit who bearswitness, because the Spirit is
truth.
For there are three that bearwitness in heaven the Father,
the Word and the Holy Spirit.
And these three are one.
And there are three that bearwitness on earth the Spirit, the
(04:02):
water and the blood.
And these three agree as one.
Verse 9,.
And this is the testimony thatGod has given us eternal life
(04:44):
and this life is in his Son.
He who has the Son has life.
He who does not have the Son ofGod does not have life.
These things I have written toyou who believe in the name of
the Son of God, that you mayknow that you have eternal life
and that you may continue tobelieve in the name of the Son
(05:09):
of God.
Here ends the reading.
Heavenly Father, I ask you tobless this Bible lesson.
Open the hearts of all who arelistening, lord.
Help them to feel theconviction of the Holy Spirit,
feel the guidance of the HolySpirit, feel the guidance of the
Holy Spirit.
May those who do not know Jesusas their Savior respond to the
(05:32):
Holy Spirit.
And for those who are brothersand sisters in the faith, may we
all learn from this lesson,lord, and I pray through the
power of the name of JesusChrist, amen.
All right, so I'll go ahead andback up.
Let's take a look then, goingright to verse 6.
(05:53):
This is he who came by water andblood, jesus Christ.
Rather interesting.
So Jesus Christ came by waterand blood.
What does that mean?
Well, let's read a little more.
Not only by water, but by waterand blood.
And it is the Spirit who bearswitness, because the Spirit is
(06:16):
truth.
Verse 7, for there are threethat bear witness in heaven the
Father, the Word and it's reallyinteresting that John is
referring to Jesus as the Wordhere and the Holy Spirit.
So there's our triune God rightthere the Father, the Son, or,
in this case, the Word, one ofthe same, and the Holy Spirit.
(06:39):
And, as he says, these threeare one, and they are.
They are three separate, yetone God.
Now, it's interesting herebecause, if we read the next
verse, and there are three thatbear witness on earth the Spirit
, that's capital S, so that'sthe Holy Spirit, the water and
(07:00):
the blood, and these three agreeas one.
Now, the Spirit, the HolySpirit, is witness to Jesus
Christ.
We can look at John, the Gospelof John, chapter 15, and verse
26,.
Jesus is speaking, but when theHelper comes, whom I shall send
(07:22):
to you from the Father, theSpirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, he will testifyof me.
It is the Holy Spirit, then,that has testified of Jesus
Christ.
It is not the mere witness ofmen, those who have written the
Holy Scriptures.
(07:42):
These are inspired andtestified by the Holy Spirit, so
we can take the Scripture andknow that it's directly from God
, that there is no errorwhatsoever in it, that it is
flawless and that every wordmatters, because the Holy Spirit
is the one who is testifying ofJesus Christ.
(08:05):
That should bring great comfortto those who are reading God's
word and who question well, howtrue is this?
How accurate is thisinformation?
Well, it is directly from God.
It doesn't get any moreaccurate than that.
Now I don't want to go down arabbit hole that I could forever
get lost in, but there is somuch evidence that the world has
(08:29):
collected, so not evenborn-again believers, not even
just those of us who arefollowing Jesus Christ.
But over the centuries, muchhistorical findings have proven
the Bible right over and overagain.
There hasn't been one documentthat has been presented that
(08:51):
proves Scripture wrong.
And why is that?
Because it was written by Godhimself.
The Holy Spirit testified.
Heaven, the Father, the Wordand the Holy Spirit.
And I find it reallyinteresting because this witness
(09:24):
is of Jesus Christ, and noticethat Jesus Christ, referred to
here as the Word, is stillwitness to himself.
It's remarkable, truly isremarkable.
But talking about the witnesseson earth, the Spirit connects us
to the Holy Father and to Jesus, and so the Spirit descended to
(09:48):
earth, and that's why theSpirit is named as both a
witness in heaven and a witnesson earth, because to this day
the Spirit possesses the body ofthose of us who are born again,
and so the Spirit bears witness.
But the other two it says thewater and the blood, these are
the other two witnesses thatJohn talks about.
(10:10):
That is witness on earth.
The water refers to the baptismof Jesus, when John the Baptist
baptized Jesus, and God, theFather, speaks and is witness to
who Jesus Christ is.
So, if you're following along,you could turn to Matthew,
(10:31):
chapter 3, the book of Matthew,chapter 3, starting in verse 13.
Then Jesus came from Galilee toJohn at the Jordan, the Jordan
River, to John at the Jordan,the Jordan River, to be baptized
by him, and John tried toprevent him, saying I need to be
baptized by you and you arecoming to me.
(10:53):
But Jesus answered and said tohim Permit it to be so now, for
thus it is fitting for us tofulfill all righteousness.
Then he allowed him.
Verse 16.
When he, jesus, had beenbaptized, jesus came up
(11:17):
immediately from the water andbehold, the heavens were opened
to him and he saw the Spirit ofGod descending like a dove and
alighting upon him.
And suddenly a voice came fromheaven saying this is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Okay, so that is the baptism ofJesus.
And at that time, that iswitness to who Jesus is, the Son
(11:41):
of God.
And then there's the blood.
Well, the blood is the blood ofJesus.
That represents the gospel, thelife, the death, the burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And there were many who borewitness to that At one point,
over 500 witnesses in just oneaccount.
(12:04):
Those are the three witnesseson earth.
But ultimately and it's greatthat we have all of that, but
ultimately, even just having Godhimself say it would be enough
let's take a look at verse 9.
John writes If we receive thewitness of men, the witness of
(12:24):
God is greater, for this is thewitness of God, which he has
testified of his Son.
So God has testified of his Sonand we have the Father, son and
Holy Spirit.
So there's three witnessesright there and we really
wouldn't need anything elseBecause, as John said, okay, we
(12:45):
receive the witness of men.
We'll believe somebody who comesup to us and tells us some news
.
I'm generalizing.
So if somebody comes to yourhouse and knocks on the door,
gets your attention and says Ihave information.
There's people coming down thesidewalk, they're walking down
your street and they're lookingfor you and they seem really
(13:08):
mean, you may want to hide.
Well, that person or people arewitnessing the fact that here's
what they saw and here's whatthey heard.
People who are looking for youand they look or sound or both
very mean and because of the waythey are behaving, this person
or people are suggesting thatyou hide.
(13:30):
There's a good chance thatyou'll take their witness for
that.
I know that's not the greatestexample.
There are many examples ofpeople who come to your home or
call you on the phone, email you, text you, whatever it might be
news, articles, events that aregoing on their own opinions and
(13:53):
we listen to them constantly.
Of course we need to filterthem out and we want to look and
find out what the truth is.
Hopefully you're doing that.
But the point being is, as Johnpoints out, we are quick to
receive the witness of men, sohow much greater is the witness
of God?
We don't need to question ourGod.
(14:14):
He is righteousness, so he istruthful.
Before going on to verse 10, Iwant to point out that in these
verses 9 through 13, this iswhere we have eight times that
Jesus is referenced to the Sonof God, and this is very
significant.
We'll talk about this just alittle bit more.
(14:35):
But in verse 9, for this is thewitness of God, which he has
testified of his son.
So that's one right there.
Verse 10, he who believes inthe son of God has the witness
in himself.
He who does not believe God hasmade him a liar because he has
(14:56):
not believed the testimony thatGod has given of his son.
There's two more references toGod's son.
So those of us who believe inthe son of God has that witness
in him.
We have that testimony of whohe is, without a doubt.
We know.
We know Jesus is real.
(15:17):
We know the son of God is real.
He is flesh and blood and hehas holes in his hand from the
spikes when they nailed him tothe cross, and on his feet.
But we don't question that, wejust know it because we believe
it, and the Holy Spirittestifies that to us.
So he who does not believe Godhas made him God a liar because
(15:41):
he has not believed thetestimony that God has given of
his Son.
This is why someone cannot be aChristian and claim that Jesus
is anything other than the Sonof God.
Impossible.
That is one of the requirementsof being a Christian is knowing
in the person's heart believingin the heart, not the head that
(16:04):
Jesus Christ is the Son of God,verse 11,.
And this is the testimony thatGod has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son.
It is through Jesus Christ thatwe receive the salvation, we
receive eternal life.
We avoid being thrown into hell, that being born again.
(16:30):
There's that second time beingborn.
So that is spiritually.
That is our life eternal.
Spiritually, that is our lifeeternal.
And it is brought to us, as onebelieves in the name of Jesus
Christ, that he did indeed dieon the cross, he was crucified,
was bodily resurrected and, tothis very day the sound of my
(16:50):
voice.
As you are listening to thismessage.
Jesus Christ is at the righthand of God, the Father in the
third heaven.
It's powerful, very powerful.
And obviously another referenceto his son, verse 12, he who has
the son has life.
That's that eternal life, notour physical life.
(17:12):
If you're listening to this,yes, you have physical life, but
you do not have eternal life,and this is the life that
scripture is talking about here.
So he who has the son has life.
In other words, you're bornagain.
He who does not have the son ofGod that just two more
references right there to theson and the son of God.
(17:36):
He who does not have the Son ofGod does not have life.
It can't get any simpler thanthat.
There's no trick to it.
Beloved, you are either bornagain or you're not born again.
There is no in-between, there'sno being a Christian, but you
are not born again.
There's nothing like that.
There's not a neutral place,there's not a third position
(17:58):
that a person can take thatyou're not against Christ but
you're not for Christ.
You're just playing neutral andthere's no such thing.
You're either born again oryou're not.
You either have the Son of Godand have life, or you do not
have the Son of God and you donot have life.
You have physical life, but forthose who have physical life
(18:23):
but do not have eternal life,literally are the walking dead.
And I say literally because,yes, there's a bunch of
fictitious movies out there,people who die and then their
bodies are resurrected, and youknow we call that the walking
dead.
But that is fiction.
I'm talking about the realwalking dead, those who their
(18:44):
heart is pumping blood that theLord has given them, their lungs
are breathing in air andexhaling, they are eating, they
are talking, they are thinking,they are walking, they are
sleeping, working, playing, butthey do not have eternal life
because they do not have JesusChrist.
And if they die as they are,they don't have eternal life, so
(19:12):
they are considered dead.
I do hope that if this is youand you are listening to this
message and you have not beenborn again, that you take this
very moment, don't hesitate,don't take another second.
You don't need to learneverything in God's Word.
You don't need to learnanything at all in God's Word.
(19:33):
You just have to believe thatyou do need a Savior.
And this goes, then, as wellfor Jewish people, those Jews.
If you are Jewish, or if youknow somebody who is a Jew, get
them this message, because forall of the Jews out there, you
need to know that you are notheaven-bound because you are the
(19:57):
seed of Abraham.
Jesus has made it very clearplease read the New Testament.
I understand that in Judaismthat you are not allowed to read
the New Testament, you're noteven allowed to read much of the
Old Testament, but it is allthere.
If you read the entire Bible,you will see firsthand that it
(20:18):
is not the bloodline thatdetermines somebody's place in
eternity.
Their salvation it is who theyhave faith in, and on this side
of the cross it is only havingfaith in the Son of God.
That's why, in this passage, itis so important that the sun is
(20:39):
mentioned eight different times.
Believing in God isn't enough.
If believing in God was enough,well then there are other
religions that would be okay.
But that's not the case, and Iam weary of saying that because
I don't mean that it's the sameGod.
I guess I better have a littledisclaimer here that just
(21:03):
worshiping God doesn't mean youare worshiping the true God,
Yahweh, the God of the Bible.
The Bible is God's word.
It's not man's word.
All other writings are of man.
So all these other falseprophets out there that have
started all these otherreligions?
They're false because that istheir own information.
(21:26):
They're adding to God's word.
The scriptures is God's word.
God himself makes it very clearthese are words that I have
written.
Do not take from them, do notadd to them, because the penalty
is great.
So I encourage my Jewish friends, anybody who hears this message
(21:48):
and if you are not a Jew oryou're a Jew, let me say this
that it is Jesus, and Jesus onlythat you need to believe in.
Decided to do.
(22:10):
He decided to send his onlybegotten son that whosoever
shall believe in him shall notperish but have everlasting life
.
Because we are all sinful, itsays.
We all fall short.
None of us are able to work ourway into heaven.
God's commands, the law of Godin the Old Testament, was never
designed to save you.
It was only designed to showhow broken you are.
(22:33):
We can see that and know on ourown accord.
We can't live up to it.
We cannot meet that.
It is impossible, because Jesuseven made it clear and that's
why, for all my Jewish friends,you need to read all the Bible.
Jesus, he is a Jew.
It is your Jewish rabbi that Ibelieve in.
(22:56):
That Christians, born-againbelievers, believe in Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, and historyproves that he was here.
Secular history, the Romans,and even the Jews, the Pharisees
and Sadducees of that time theinformation that they themselves
(23:17):
left us to read and to discoverfor ourselves.
So he's not made up.
You can't ignore the name ofJesus Christ.
So he's not made up.
You can't ignore the name ofJesus Christ.
He is either who he says he isthe Son of God, or he's a maniac
, or he's a blasphemous liar.
And there's a lot of falsedoctrine out there that point to
(23:38):
one or the other of thoselatter.
But, as John points out inScripture, here there's witness
of the Father, the Word and theHoly Spirit in heaven, and the
Spirit, the water and the bloodright here on earth.
There's physical evidence thatJesus walked to earth, that his
(23:59):
flesh and blood was here andthat he was killed on the cross
and that days later he rose fromthe dead.
There are witnesses uponwitnesses that he was dead and
three days later was seen, andit's not like he stuck around
for a day or two.
If I remember correctly, Ibelieve it was either 30 or 40
days that he was here upon hisresurrection.
(24:22):
It was after he left.
The Holy Spirit then came andtestified to Jesus.
So, my Jewish friends, it is soimportant that it's the Son of
God.
It is believing in the Son ofGod himself that will give you
everlasting life.
Your Jewish rabbi, jesus Christ.
He's magnificent and thatJewish rabbi has changed my life
(24:47):
tremendously and he has changedmany lives around me that I see
.
He has changed the lives ofmillions and millions of people
and I encourage you that, if youdon't know Jesus Christ as your
Savior and if you know in yourheart beloved, if you know that
(25:07):
you're broken, you know that youhave been trying so hard to
make life work.
You have been trying to doeverything that the world has
told you to do.
You have tried success.
You have tried relationships,you have tried doing everything
else to make you happy.
Maybe you have poured yourhappiness into a marriage.
(25:29):
Well, that can be veryunhealthy, because anything else
outside of Jesus that we putour faith in, that we put our
trust in, will always fail us.
No matter how wonderful ourspouse is, no matter how great
our family is, no matter how bigour wealth is.
It doesn't matter, no matterhow healthy you are, without
Jesus you have nothing.
(25:50):
Because your time here isrunning short.
Our lives here are but a vapor.
You have little time and if youare listening to this right now
, you are given yet anotheropportunity.
So take it and pray this with me.
There's no magic in the prayer,so don't worry about the words.
(26:13):
It is what's in your heart,because God weighs the heart.
He does not weigh our words, hedoes not weigh our actions.
He weighs our heart.
So pray this.
Beloved Heavenly Father, I knowthat I am broken.
I know that I am sinful and Iknow that I am hell-bound
(26:39):
because I need a Savior.
And I know in my heart that yougave your son for me.
He hung on that cross afterliving a sinless life, and you
sacrificed him so his bloodwould pay for my sin debt.
(27:01):
He paid the price for me that Icould never pay, and I believe
in him that Jesus is now mySavior.
And, lord God, my life is yours.
Please help me to understandyour word, because I will start
(27:25):
reading it today.
Grant me wisdom andunderstanding and tell me, lord,
what you will have me to do tohelp others know who Jesus is,
and I pray in the name of JesusChrist, amen, amen.
If you prayed that and in yourheart you believe it, welcome to
(27:48):
God's family.
Welcome, beloved.
You are now a brother or sisterin the faith.
The last part of this is verse13.
John says these things I havewritten to you who believe in
his name of the Son of God, whobelieve in his name of the Son
(28:09):
of God, that you may know thatyou have eternal life and that
you may continue to believe inthe name of the Son of God.
He ends that with the Son ofGod yet again.
John wrote this because back inthat day, much like modern
times, even today, there werethose, and today there are those
who question if people areindeed children of God.
(28:31):
But we can read thesescriptures, beloved, we can know
John says that we have eternallife.
It's not a question For anybodywho has prayed with me just
moments ago.
For all of us who have at onepoint in our past prayed,
repented of our sins, knowingthat we are sinners, and turning
(28:53):
to the Holy Father, god,accepting his Son, recognizing
that blood that has washed oursins away, are born again, and
so it is through his blood thatwe are guaranteed heaven.
It's got nothing to do with ouractions and I am so thankful
for that, because if it was todo with anything that I needed
(29:15):
to do, I would fail over andover again, and so would you.
Well, I am out of time fortoday.
With all that is going on overin the promised land, around the
world and for those of you Iknow there's a lot of my
listeners in Syria, in India andother places You're a lot
(29:38):
closer to that action.
The Holy Spirit is stirring upnations over there.
People are coming to know JesusChrist by the groves and I pray
you are one of them.
Open that Bible.
You keep in touch, beloved,with God every day, because the
world wants to take you from him.
(29:59):
You can never be taken yoursalvation, no, but they can take
you away.
So you are not focused on theLord, whether it's through
success or whether it's throughfamine, but either way, the
world will do everything it canto take your sight off of God.
Open his word, Read God's wordevery single day, as much as you
(30:20):
possibly can.
Pray to him, speak to him everyday, morning, noon and night.
Come together with brothers andsisters.
Read God's word together, growand learn God's word together,
pray for one another so you maybe healed as you continue this
Christian journey together, soyou're not alone, and worship
(30:42):
him.
Love God, sing to him, pray tohim and just enjoy the creation
that he has given you until youare either called home or that
he raptures his church, and thattime beloved is getting closer
and closer.
And until next time, god bless,thank you.
Hello and good day.
This is BR Maul and you arelistening to Living God's Way in
an Ungodly World, and I'm soglad that you have joined me
here.
We are talking about howChristians are to function, are
to live in a world that rejectsour Savior and rejects us
(00:54):
because we follow our Savior andwe obey our Savior.
So this is a good place to cometo.
We learn what God has to say,and so we follow what God tells
us to do and not what the worldtells us to do.
We are getting close tofinishing the book of 1 John.
Today we are in chapter 5, andwe'll be going through verses 6
(01:17):
through 13.
And John is going to be talkingabout the certainty of God's
witness, and in the readingtoday, you'll notice that the
Son is mentioned many times, theSon being, of course, jesus
Christ, the second member of thetriune, god, the Father, the
(01:37):
Son and the Holy Spirit.
In today's world, most peopledon't have a problem talking
about God.
The Muslims, they talk aboutGod, hindus, they talk about
many gods and, of course, manyother religions that talk about
God.
But following Jesus is not areligion.
(01:59):
It is the truth.
Jesus is the only way to heaven.
There is no other way to heaven.
There is no other way to heaven.
Jesus makes it very clear thatno one gets through the Father
except through him, the Fatherbeing the Fatherhead of the
Triune God.
But all religions out therejust see Jesus.
If they even recognize Jesus,they will see him or label him
(02:22):
as a prophet or a good man or awise person, whatever it might
be, but they reject him as theSon of God.
But today in the reading,you'll notice that the label Son
S-O-N is used eight times injust these few verses and the
reference to Jesus ten times Oneas Jesus Christ, another as the
(02:51):
Word and eight times as the Son.
So that tells us the importance, because the Holy Spirit, the
true author of the Bible, theHoly Spirit, wanted it to be
very clear to us that it is theSon whom we have certainty in,
who our faith is in and who isthe Savior and none other.
(03:13):
So with that we'll get on withthe reading.
I will read straight throughthe scriptures and then, when
I'm done, we'll back up andwe'll unpack it verse by verse.
1, john, chapter 5, verse 6.
This is he who came by waterand blood, jesus Christ, not
(03:37):
only by water, but by water andblood.
And it is the Spirit who bearswitness, because the Spirit is
truth.
For there are three that bearwitness in heaven the Father,
the Word and the Holy Spirit.
And these three are one.
And there are three that bearwitness on earth the Spirit, the
(04:02):
water and the blood.
And these three agree as one.
Verse 9,.
And this is the testimony thatGod has given us eternal life
(04:44):
and this life is in his Son.
He who has the Son has life.
He who does not have the Son ofGod does not have life.
These things I have written toyou who believe in the name of
the Son of God, that you mayknow that you have eternal life
and that you may continue tobelieve in the name of the Son
(05:09):
of God.
Here ends the reading.
Heavenly Father, I ask you tobless this Bible lesson.
Open the hearts of all who arelistening, lord.
Help them to feel theconviction of the Holy Spirit,
feel the guidance of the HolySpirit, feel the guidance of the
Holy Spirit.
May those who do not know Jesusas their Savior respond to the
(05:32):
Holy Spirit.
And for those who are brothersand sisters in the faith, may we
all learn from this lesson,lord, and I pray through the
power of the name of JesusChrist, amen.
All right, so I'll go ahead andback up.
Let's take a look then, goingright to verse 6.
(05:53):
This is he who came by water andblood, jesus Christ.
Rather interesting.
So Jesus Christ came by waterand blood.
What does that mean?
Well, let's read a little more.
Not only by water, but by waterand blood.
And it is the Spirit who bearswitness, because the Spirit is
(06:16):
truth.
Verse 7, for there are threethat bear witness in heaven the
Father, the Word and it's reallyinteresting that John is
referring to Jesus as the Wordhere and the Holy Spirit.
So there's our triune God rightthere the Father, the Son, or,
in this case, the Word, one ofthe same, and the Holy Spirit.
(06:39):
And, as he says, these threeare one, and they are.
They are three separate, yetone God.
Now, it's interesting herebecause, if we read the next
verse, and there are three thatbear witness on earth the Spirit
, that's capital S, so that'sthe Holy Spirit, the water and
(07:00):
the blood, and these three agreeas one.
Now, the Spirit, the HolySpirit, is witness to Jesus
Christ.
We can look at John, the Gospelof John, chapter 15, and verse
26,.
Jesus is speaking, but when theHelper comes, whom I shall send
(07:22):
to you from the Father, theSpirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, he will testifyof me.
It is the Holy Spirit, then,that has testified of Jesus
Christ.
It is not the mere witness ofmen, those who have written the
Holy Scriptures.
(07:42):
These are inspired andtestified by the Holy Spirit, so
we can take the Scripture andknow that it's directly from God
, that there is no errorwhatsoever in it, that it is
flawless and that every wordmatters, because the Holy Spirit
is the one who is testifying ofJesus Christ.
(08:05):
That should bring great comfortto those who are reading God's
word and who question well, howtrue is this?
How accurate is thisinformation?
Well, it is directly from God.
It doesn't get any moreaccurate than that.
Now I don't want to go down arabbit hole that I could forever
get lost in, but there is somuch evidence that the world has
(08:29):
collected, so not evenborn-again believers, not even
just those of us who arefollowing Jesus Christ.
But over the centuries, muchhistorical findings have proven
the Bible right over and overagain.
There hasn't been one documentthat has been presented that
(08:51):
proves Scripture wrong.
And why is that?
Because it was written by Godhimself.
The Holy Spirit testified.
Heaven, the Father, the Wordand the Holy Spirit.
And I find it reallyinteresting because this witness
(09:24):
is of Jesus Christ, and noticethat Jesus Christ, referred to
here as the Word, is stillwitness to himself.
It's remarkable, truly isremarkable.
But talking about the witnesseson earth, the Spirit connects us
to the Holy Father and to Jesus, and so the Spirit descended to
(09:48):
earth, and that's why theSpirit is named as both a
witness in heaven and a witnesson earth, because to this day
the Spirit possesses the body ofthose of us who are born again,
and so the Spirit bears witness.
But the other two it says thewater and the blood, these are
the other two witnesses thatJohn talks about.
(10:10):
That is witness on earth.
The water refers to the baptismof Jesus, when John the Baptist
baptized Jesus, and God, theFather, speaks and is witness to
who Jesus Christ is.
So, if you're following along,you could turn to Matthew,
(10:31):
chapter 3, the book of Matthew,chapter 3, starting in verse 13.
Then Jesus came from Galilee toJohn at the Jordan, the Jordan
River, to John at the Jordan,the Jordan River, to be baptized
by him, and John tried toprevent him, saying I need to be
baptized by you and you arecoming to me.
(10:53):
But Jesus answered and said tohim Permit it to be so now, for
thus it is fitting for us tofulfill all righteousness.
Then he allowed him.
Verse 16.
When he, jesus, had beenbaptized, jesus came up
(11:17):
immediately from the water andbehold, the heavens were opened
to him and he saw the Spirit ofGod descending like a dove and
alighting upon him.
And suddenly a voice came fromheaven saying this is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Okay, so that is the baptism ofJesus.
And at that time, that iswitness to who Jesus is, the Son
(11:41):
of God.
And then there's the blood.
Well, the blood is the blood ofJesus.
That represents the gospel, thelife, the death, the burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And there were many who borewitness to that At one point,
over 500 witnesses in just oneaccount.
(12:04):
Those are the three witnesseson earth.
But ultimately and it's greatthat we have all of that, but
ultimately, even just having Godhimself say it would be enough
let's take a look at verse 9.
John writes If we receive thewitness of men, the witness of
(12:24):
God is greater, for this is thewitness of God, which he has
testified of his Son.
So God has testified of his Sonand we have the Father, son and
Holy Spirit.
So there's three witnessesright there and we really
wouldn't need anything elseBecause, as John said, okay, we
(12:45):
receive the witness of men.
We'll believe somebody who comesup to us and tells us some news
.
I'm generalizing.
So if somebody comes to yourhouse and knocks on the door,
gets your attention and says Ihave information.
There's people coming down thesidewalk, they're walking down
your street and they're lookingfor you and they seem really
(13:08):
mean, you may want to hide.
Well, that person or people arewitnessing the fact that here's
what they saw and here's whatthey heard.
People who are looking for youand they look or sound or both
very mean and because of the waythey are behaving, this person
or people are suggesting thatyou hide.
(13:30):
There's a good chance thatyou'll take their witness for
that.
I know that's not the greatestexample.
There are many examples ofpeople who come to your home or
call you on the phone, email you, text you, whatever it might be
news, articles, events that aregoing on their own opinions and
(13:53):
we listen to them constantly.
Of course we need to filterthem out and we want to look and
find out what the truth is.
Hopefully you're doing that.
But the point being is, as Johnpoints out, we are quick to
receive the witness of men, sohow much greater is the witness
of God?
We don't need to question ourGod.
(14:14):
He is righteousness, so he istruthful.
Before going on to verse 10, Iwant to point out that in these
verses 9 through 13, this iswhere we have eight times that
Jesus is referenced to the Sonof God, and this is very
significant.
We'll talk about this just alittle bit more.
(14:35):
But in verse 9, for this is thewitness of God, which he has
testified of his son.
So that's one right there.
Verse 10, he who believes inthe son of God has the witness
in himself.
He who does not believe God hasmade him a liar because he has
(14:56):
not believed the testimony thatGod has given of his son.
There's two more references toGod's son.
So those of us who believe inthe son of God has that witness
in him.
We have that testimony of whohe is, without a doubt.
We know.
We know Jesus is real.
(15:17):
We know the son of God is real.
He is flesh and blood and hehas holes in his hand from the
spikes when they nailed him tothe cross, and on his feet.
But we don't question that, wejust know it because we believe
it, and the Holy Spirittestifies that to us.
So he who does not believe Godhas made him God a liar because
(15:41):
he has not believed thetestimony that God has given of
his Son.
This is why someone cannot be aChristian and claim that Jesus
is anything other than the Sonof God.
Impossible.
That is one of the requirementsof being a Christian is knowing
in the person's heart believingin the heart, not the head that
(16:04):
Jesus Christ is the Son of God,verse 11,.
And this is the testimony thatGod has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son.
It is through Jesus Christ thatwe receive the salvation, we
receive eternal life.
We avoid being thrown into hell, that being born again.
(16:30):
There's that second time beingborn.
So that is spiritually.
That is our life eternal.
Spiritually, that is our lifeeternal.
And it is brought to us, as onebelieves in the name of Jesus
Christ, that he did indeed dieon the cross, he was crucified,
was bodily resurrected and, tothis very day the sound of my
(16:50):
voice.
As you are listening to thismessage.
Jesus Christ is at the righthand of God, the Father in the
third heaven.
It's powerful, very powerful.
And obviously another referenceto his son, verse 12, he who has
the son has life.
That's that eternal life, notour physical life.
(17:12):
If you're listening to this,yes, you have physical life, but
you do not have eternal life,and this is the life that
scripture is talking about here.
So he who has the son has life.
In other words, you're bornagain.
He who does not have the son ofGod that just two more
references right there to theson and the son of God.
(17:36):
He who does not have the Son ofGod does not have life.
It can't get any simpler thanthat.
There's no trick to it.
Beloved, you are either bornagain or you're not born again.
There is no in-between, there'sno being a Christian, but you
are not born again.
There's nothing like that.
There's not a neutral place,there's not a third position
(17:58):
that a person can take thatyou're not against Christ but
you're not for Christ.
You're just playing neutral andthere's no such thing.
You're either born again oryou're not.
You either have the Son of Godand have life, or you do not
have the Son of God and you donot have life.
You have physical life, but forthose who have physical life
(18:23):
but do not have eternal life,literally are the walking dead.
And I say literally because,yes, there's a bunch of
fictitious movies out there,people who die and then their
bodies are resurrected, and youknow we call that the walking
dead.
But that is fiction.
I'm talking about the realwalking dead, those who their
(18:44):
heart is pumping blood that theLord has given them, their lungs
are breathing in air andexhaling, they are eating, they
are talking, they are thinking,they are walking, they are
sleeping, working, playing, butthey do not have eternal life
because they do not have JesusChrist.
And if they die as they are,they don't have eternal life, so
(19:12):
they are considered dead.
I do hope that if this is youand you are listening to this
message and you have not beenborn again, that you take this
very moment, don't hesitate,don't take another second.
You don't need to learneverything in God's Word.
You don't need to learnanything at all in God's Word.
(19:33):
You just have to believe thatyou do need a Savior.
And this goes, then, as wellfor Jewish people, those Jews.
If you are Jewish, or if youknow somebody who is a Jew, get
them this message, because forall of the Jews out there, you
need to know that you are notheaven-bound because you are the
(19:57):
seed of Abraham.
Jesus has made it very clearplease read the New Testament.
I understand that in Judaismthat you are not allowed to read
the New Testament, you're noteven allowed to read much of the
Old Testament, but it is allthere.
If you read the entire Bible,you will see firsthand that it
(20:18):
is not the bloodline thatdetermines somebody's place in
eternity.
Their salvation it is who theyhave faith in, and on this side
of the cross it is only havingfaith in the Son of God.
That's why, in this passage, itis so important that the sun is
(20:39):
mentioned eight different times.
Believing in God isn't enough.
If believing in God was enough,well then there are other
religions that would be okay.
But that's not the case, and Iam weary of saying that because
I don't mean that it's the sameGod.
I guess I better have a littledisclaimer here that just
(21:03):
worshiping God doesn't mean youare worshiping the true God,
Yahweh, the God of the Bible.
The Bible is God's word.
It's not man's word.
All other writings are of man.
So all these other falseprophets out there that have
started all these otherreligions?
They're false because that istheir own information.
(21:26):
They're adding to God's word.
The scriptures is God's word.
God himself makes it very clearthese are words that I have
written.
Do not take from them, do notadd to them, because the penalty
is great.
So I encourage my Jewish friends, anybody who hears this message
(21:48):
and if you are not a Jew oryou're a Jew, let me say this
that it is Jesus, and Jesus onlythat you need to believe in.
Decided to do.
(22:10):
He decided to send his onlybegotten son that whosoever
shall believe in him shall notperish but have everlasting life
.
Because we are all sinful, itsays.
We all fall short.
None of us are able to work ourway into heaven.
God's commands, the law of Godin the Old Testament, was never
designed to save you.
It was only designed to showhow broken you are.
(22:33):
We can see that and know on ourown accord.
We can't live up to it.
We cannot meet that.
It is impossible, because Jesuseven made it clear and that's
why, for all my Jewish friends,you need to read all the Bible.
Jesus, he is a Jew.
It is your Jewish rabbi that Ibelieve in.
(22:56):
That Christians, born-againbelievers, believe in Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, and historyproves that he was here.
Secular history, the Romans,and even the Jews, the Pharisees
and Sadducees of that time theinformation that they themselves
(23:17):
left us to read and to discoverfor ourselves.
So he's not made up.
You can't ignore the name ofJesus Christ.
So he's not made up.
You can't ignore the name ofJesus Christ.
He is either who he says he isthe Son of God, or he's a maniac
, or he's a blasphemous liar.
And there's a lot of falsedoctrine out there that point to
(23:38):
one or the other of thoselatter.
But, as John points out inScripture, here there's witness
of the Father, the Word and theHoly Spirit in heaven, and the
Spirit, the water and the bloodright here on earth.
There's physical evidence thatJesus walked to earth, that his
(23:59):
flesh and blood was here andthat he was killed on the cross
and that days later he rose fromthe dead.
There are witnesses uponwitnesses that he was dead and
three days later was seen, andit's not like he stuck around
for a day or two.
If I remember correctly, Ibelieve it was either 30 or 40
days that he was here upon hisresurrection.
(24:22):
It was after he left.
The Holy Spirit then came andtestified to Jesus.
So, my Jewish friends, it is soimportant that it's the Son of
God.
It is believing in the Son ofGod himself that will give you
everlasting life.
Your Jewish rabbi, jesus Christ.
He's magnificent and thatJewish rabbi has changed my life
(24:47):
tremendously and he has changedmany lives around me that I see
.
He has changed the lives ofmillions and millions of people
and I encourage you that, if youdon't know Jesus Christ as your
Savior and if you know in yourheart beloved, if you know that
(25:07):
you're broken, you know that youhave been trying so hard to
make life work.
You have been trying to doeverything that the world has
told you to do.
You have tried success.
You have tried relationships,you have tried doing everything
else to make you happy.
Maybe you have poured yourhappiness into a marriage.
(25:29):
Well, that can be veryunhealthy, because anything else
outside of Jesus that we putour faith in, that we put our
trust in, will always fail us.
No matter how wonderful ourspouse is, no matter how great
our family is, no matter how bigour wealth is.
It doesn't matter, no matterhow healthy you are, without
Jesus you have nothing.
(25:50):
Because your time here isrunning short.
Our lives here are but a vapor.
You have little time and if youare listening to this right now
, you are given yet anotheropportunity.
So take it and pray this with me.
There's no magic in the prayer,so don't worry about the words.
(26:13):
It is what's in your heart,because God weighs the heart.
He does not weigh our words, hedoes not weigh our actions.
He weighs our heart.
So pray this.
Beloved Heavenly Father, I knowthat I am broken.
I know that I am sinful and Iknow that I am hell-bound
(26:39):
because I need a Savior.
And I know in my heart that yougave your son for me.
He hung on that cross afterliving a sinless life, and you
sacrificed him so his bloodwould pay for my sin debt.
(27:01):
He paid the price for me that Icould never pay, and I believe
in him that Jesus is now mySavior.
And, lord God, my life is yours.
Please help me to understandyour word, because I will start
(27:25):
reading it today.
Grant me wisdom andunderstanding and tell me, lord,
what you will have me to do tohelp others know who Jesus is,
and I pray in the name of JesusChrist, amen, amen.
If you prayed that and in yourheart you believe it, welcome to
(27:48):
God's family.
Welcome, beloved.
You are now a brother or sisterin the faith.
The last part of this is verse13.
John says these things I havewritten to you who believe in
his name of the Son of God, whobelieve in his name of the Son
(28:09):
of God, that you may know thatyou have eternal life and that
you may continue to believe inthe name of the Son of God.
He ends that with the Son ofGod yet again.
John wrote this because back inthat day, much like modern
times, even today, there werethose, and today there are those
who question if people areindeed children of God.
(28:31):
But we can read thesescriptures, beloved, we can know
John says that we have eternallife.
It's not a question For anybodywho has prayed with me just
moments ago.
For all of us who have at onepoint in our past prayed,
repented of our sins, knowingthat we are sinners, and turning
(28:53):
to the Holy Father, god,accepting his Son, recognizing
that blood that has washed oursins away, are born again, and
so it is through his blood thatwe are guaranteed heaven.
It's got nothing to do with ouractions and I am so thankful
for that, because if it was todo with anything that I needed
(29:15):
to do, I would fail over andover again, and so would you.
Well, I am out of time fortoday.
With all that is going on overin the promised land, around the
world and for those of you Iknow there's a lot of my
listeners in Syria, in India andother places You're a lot
(29:38):
closer to that action.
The Holy Spirit is stirring upnations over there.
People are coming to know JesusChrist by the groves and I pray
you are one of them.
Open that Bible.
You keep in touch, beloved,with God every day, because the
world wants to take you from him.
(29:59):
You can never be taken yoursalvation, no, but they can take
you away.
So you are not focused on theLord, whether it's through
success or whether it's throughfamine, but either way, the
world will do everything it canto take your sight off of God.
Open his word, Read God's wordevery single day, as much as you
(30:20):
possibly can.
Pray to him, speak to him everyday, morning, noon and night.
Come together with brothers andsisters.
Read God's word together, growand learn God's word together,
pray for one another so you maybe healed as you continue this
Christian journey together, soyou're not alone, and worship
(30:42):
him.
Love God, sing to him, pray tohim and just enjoy the creation
that he has given you until youare either called home or that
he raptures his church, and thattime beloved is getting closer
and closer.
And until next time, god bless,thank you.
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