In the sermon titled 'Witnesses' by David Green, the speaker delves into 1 John chapter 5, emphasizing the importance of understanding Jesus Christ correctly for salvation. He highlights that three witnesses - the Spirit, the water, and the blood - testify to Jesus's divine nature and mission. The water refers to Christ's baptism, marking the start of His ministry, while the blood signifies His sacrificial death. The Spirit continually affirms Jesus's identity. The sermon underscores the idea that belief in Jesus is central to eternal life, as affirmed by the internal witness of the Holy Spirit in believers. The speaker warns against false teachings and emphasizes testing spirits to ensure they align with God's word. The sermon ties the message of 1 John to the broader biblical narrative, asserting that all scripture points to Christ as the core of faith and salvation.

So if you've got your copy of God's Word, you can go to 1st John chapter 5. And I've got some extra Bibles down here too, if anybody needs one. There's extras floating around here as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we've got extras here, got extras up there.

For sure. Alright. So we're in 1 John chapter 5 this morning. And let's again go to the Lord in prayer. Our dear most precious heavenly Father, we are thankful that you hear us when we pray.

We're thankful to be able to assemble ourselves together here in this place and at this hour. Lord I pray that you'll bless us as we worship together. Lord we thank you for the song that we've sung, truly how great Thou art. Lord I pray that as we continue in worship through the preaching and teaching of your word, that you take your word and speak to us. That the things that we say, that your word will be presented in truth and received as such.

Lord, I pray that you'll bless our church here, and Lord, I pray that you'll be with our visitors as well. I pray that you'll be with those of our number that couldn't be here today. Lord, I ask that you bless them. Lord, bring them back safe the next appointed time if it's in your will. Lord, I pray that you'll be pleased to help us to grow, not only physically but also spiritually Lord.

May your spirit do a work in us and in the lives of those who are lost that only you can do. Lord, I pray that you will forgive us of our sins. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. 1 John chapter 5.

This morning we'll take our text from verses 6 through 12. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that bear witness, the spirit, the water, and the blood.

The three are in agreement. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for the witness of God is this, that he has borne witness about his son. The one who believes in the Son of God has this witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because He has not believed in the witness which God has born witness about his son. And this witness is this, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son.

He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son of God does not have that life. Last Lord's Day I promised that we would be in this text and sure enough here's where we are. So far as we've journeyed through 1st John I've preached I think 16 maybe 17 sermons from this epistle. And we've noticed that John has hammered this fact that a correct view of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential to salvation.

If you go with me for just a few moments, I have an overview here of some of the things that we've looked at. Remember how he started this letter. In 1 John chapter one, verses one through four, he wrote, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. Life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also so that you may have also have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we are writing so that our joy may be made complete." And so this is how he starts this letter. It's about Christ. It's about Christ. We turn over to chapter 2, verse 22. He asks this rhetorical question, who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ.

And as he asks that question, he gives the answer right away. He says this is the Antichrist, the one the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. In our modern day Christianity, we squabble, we Christians, we squabble over a lot of things. And it seems like social media has kind of magnified that. I mean, we squabble over Israel, we squabble over Bible translations, holidays, church history, music, dress, all sorts of things.

And while those things are important, and There's a time and a place to discuss those. A lot of times, those debates, they generate more heat than they do light. They stir strife and division and very rarely has anyone ever drawn closer to the Lord over those things. But John, as he wrote, he was laser focused on what really mattered. What I'm trying to say is, the first century Christians, we know that they also squabbled over a lot of things.

Meat sacrifice to idols, circumcision, uncircumcision, the keeping of the law, whether to eat meat or not. But Certainly there was a time and a place to discuss those things, and we see how Paul addressed some of those things with different churches. But John here, he's laser-focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. And indeed, even when Paul addressed those other things, we see he always brings it back to Christ. And why is that?

Why is that? Well, if you have Jesus wrong, nothing else matters. You see, you might go through life and have everything checked off perfectly. You might have what you believe to be honestly the right Bible translation, the right holidays figured out, and you might have the right understanding of church history so that everyone comes to you to get the answers about church history. You might have a dress code that makes everyone, wherever you go, walk up and say to you, what church do you go to?

Because they see something different in your outward appearance. And your music may be all scriptural so that everywhere you go and no matter what people know you must go to church somewhere. But if you have all that checked off without Jesus, it's still death and hell waiting for you when you die. You see? And this is why this is so important.

Remember, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 23. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as He gave a commandment to us. This is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as He gave a commandment to us. We're to believe in His son Jesus Christ, and we're to love one another even with our many differences. Because many times the things that we squabble over often are sometimes just preferences and traditions and that sort of thing.

But he says, and he brings it back to Christ. He brings it back to Christ all the way through this Epistle. But he also warned his readers against false teachers who denied the truth over in chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. As He says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come into flesh is from God. And so the key, the warning rather, the warning that's given here is to test the spirits. To test the spirits because there are many false prophets. Not that there would be many false prophets that would be coming, and certainly there are many that have come since the writing of John.

John was the last remaining of the Apostles. He was the last man standing as it were. Yeah, what he wrote there, Many have gone out into the world, was true in his day, and many have gone out into our world as well. The key to this entire book is in chapter five and verse 13. As he wrote, he said, These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.

You can know that you have eternal life and that knowledge is through Jesus Christ. And as we look at this epistle, what we see here is what we should be seeing not only in this book, 1 John, but we should be seeing this in all of scripture, that Jesus is the golden thread that holds, that binds all 66 books of the Bible together. As you read, I assume that as a child of God you read your Bible. It's very easy to do in a year's time. It's about three chapters a day and I would recommend that you do it.

If you didn't start this year, go ahead and start for next year. Get a head start. It's November now. But as you read through a book of the Bible, if you miss Jesus, you've missed the point. You say, what about the Old Testament?

Yes, even the Old Testament. Look with me in Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24. Let's read it. Beginner verse 25.

He said to them, O foolish ones, in slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. And see what was Jesus doing there? He was taking the Old Testament and preaching Jesus to them, beginning with Moses.

Moses having written the first five books of the Bible, beginning at Genesis, and going through the Old Testament into the prophets. Verses 44 through 47 here in Luke 24 says, now he said said to them these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets in the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures And he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ, or the Messiah, would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. What was Jesus doing? He was expounding to them. He was an expositor of the Scriptures, beginning with Moses, beginning with Genesis, going through the prophets, going into the Psalms.

He was preaching Jesus. He was pointing to his audience. He was pointing them to the only hope that they had, which is Jesus Christ. You and I, we can do the same. And we ought to do the same.

Regardless of the book, we can get to Christ. There was an old saying in the Roman Empire that all roads lead to Rome, so it is in the scriptures. All scriptures lead to Christ. Over in John chapter 5, this was his rebuke to the Jewish leaders who missed that. In John chapter 5 and verse 39, He says to them in verses 39 and 40, he says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.

It is these that bear witness about me. You are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. And so, what we see in 1 John, very clearly, Christ is the center of the book. But what we should see in all the scripture is that all of the 66 books, Christ is the center of the Bible. The Jewish audience there in those days, they missed that.

And sadly many miss that today. As I've said, the Bible is not a history book. It is true where it speaks about history. It's not a science book, but it is true when it speaks about science. But this book, this book, is about Christ.

And let us point others to Him as we as we dig into the richness of the scriptures. And that's what John was writing for specifically in 1 John. His hearers needed that, indeed. As we look at this text before us, 1 John chapter 5 and verses 6 through 8, He says there, this is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Jesus came by water and by blood.

There's differences of interpretation there, I realize that. But I believe by water is meant his baptism and by blood is meant his death. I know some commentators have different interpretations, but I feel like I'm in pretty good company as I've thought about this text for a long while and considered it. John Gill and John MacArthur both came to the same conclusion as I did on this, so I think I'm in fairly good company. Obviously, I've been wrong before, and they've been wrong before, But I believe, well, let me just quote from MacArthur here.

He says, it is best to see the water as a reference to Christ's baptism and blood as a reference to his death. Those two notable events bracketed the Lord's earthly ministry, and in both of them the Father testified concerning his Son. And I believe that's what John is talking about here when he mentions the water and the blood. John and those who he wrote to, the people of that generation, they were dealing with false teachers, early Gnostics who denied the death of Christ. There of course were variations of Gnosticism, but this is why John writes the way he does.

Indeed he goes on, he says, not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. There was a heresy that was going around. They believed that Jesus died as a mere man, and not the God-man whose sacrificial death atoned for the sins of his people. You see, the Bible makes it very, very clear that Jesus was fully gone and fully manned. In fact, over in John's Gospel, John chapter 1, Notice how he begins the Gospel of John there.

John 1 and verse John 1 and verse 1. Speaking of the deity of Christ, Speaking of Jesus as the Word, He says, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being.

In Him was life. Life was the light of men. Light shines in the darkness. The darkness did not overtake it. If you skip on down to verse 14 it says, In the Word became flesh, dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And so, that's why we say he's the God man, fully God, or truly God, truly human. He didn't lay down his humanity, he didn't lay down his deity when he was born of a virgin there in Bethlehem. And it's unusual perhaps to meet a Gnostic, but variations of it do exist in some circles. And indeed, Perhaps we've all heard of Islam, and Mohammed was actually influenced by Gnostics. And that's how within Islamic religion there is a teaching that says that Jesus didn't die on the cross.

They believe that it was actually Judas. So there's kind of some strange teaching in there when you talk to a Muslim about that sort of thing. This is not only incorrect, but heresy. And it's sad to hear the things that they believe about this sort of thing, and maybe you've heard about the Gnostic Gospels and that's what there's a reason why that those writings were never incorporated into the scriptures they're not of God they're not the inspired Word of God. God's Word is telling us the truth of the matter.

2nd Corinthians chapter 5. Verse 21, speaking of Christ, it says, He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Jesus died the substitutionary death. And at the cross there was this transaction that was made in which He took our sin. And we, we have His And we have His righteousness.

John speaks of three witnesses. I believe that's not a mistake here, not coincidental. In fact throughout the Bible you'll find examples of three witnesses being brought up. That goes all the way back to the Old Testament in Deuteronomy chapter 19. Verse 15 it says, a single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed.

The mouth of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be established. And so the law was plain under God's law that it was two or three witnesses. Now these were eyewitnesses There's there's a A Like that could be said about hearsay and that sort of thing, you know. In our day there's a lot of things that go on about hearsay and secondhand witnesses. These were primary witnesses.

It was for the protection of the people. Two or three witnesses. Well, here in this text, 1 John, he brings up three witnesses. There's the water, as I said, at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus was baptized by John.

And at the baptism of John, when Jesus was baptized, the Father and the Spirit testified to the Son. If you look at Matthew chapter 3, Matthew chapter 3 verses 16 and 17. Verses 16 and 17. Let's start with verse 13 so we get to full context here, because I think it's important. Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him.

But John tried to prevent him, saying, I have need to be baptized by you. Do you come to me? But Jesus answered and said to him, Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he permitted him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. Behold, the heavens were opened.

He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him, and behold, there was a voice out of the heavens saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. And So, at the baptism of Jesus, we see this testimony of the Father and the Spirit testifying to the Son there. The Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Jesus and a voice from out of the heavens, the voice of the Father, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Let's witness number one. That's witness number one.

Then as he goes on there in the text and he speaks of the three witnesses there. Of the three witnesses there. The second witness that we want to look at is the blood in in 1st John chapter 5. Verse 7, for there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three are in agreement.

So, looking at these, we got the water that we've looked at. Let's look at the blood, the death of Jesus. He mentioned the water and the blood earlier in chapter 6. So let's look at the death of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 27.

In Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27 and verse 54. Now the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus when they saw the earthquake, the things that were happening became very frightened and said truly this was God's son. What happened? Well if you back up just a little bit this is at the death of Christ and it says in verse 50 and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

Behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split and the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many." You see, the death of Jesus Christ witnessed to who He was. The fact that the veil of the temple, just that fact, that it was torn from the very top to the bottom, was an act of God. It wasn't torn from the bottom up. That would have been an act of man.

You see, that veil of the temple, that separated to the Holy of Holies where the high priest would go in and make sacrifices once a year. But now it was open for all because now through Jesus Christ we all have access. We see the death of Jesus Christ witnessed who He was. But not only that, the Holy Spirit testified throughout Jesus' life as to His identity. In Luke chapter one, Luke chapter 1, in verse 35, The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for that reason the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

As Gabriel came to marry the Virgin, and told her that she was with child, she said how in that? Or that she would be with child. How in the world can this be? The angel answered, said the Holy Spirit will come upon you in the power of the most high. You see.

Over in Acts chapter 10. Over in Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10 and verse 38. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. So these, the witnesses, these three that testify, the Spirit, the water and the blood, convincingly demonstrating that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.

John lays out to his readers and to us. In verse 9 he says, in our text, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For the witness of God is this, that he is born witness about his Son. There's a world full of people now, just like there were people then who rejected him for the ways of men. Jews as well as Gentiles rejected Christ.

There are people today who reject Jesus. How foolish it is to deny the truth. I hear people sometimes they'll say, well I don't, I can't trust the Bible because it was written by men, but what did they do? They follow other books that were written by men. The testimony of this book is that it is the word of God.

Yeah, men wrote it. In other words, they took the pen and they wrote the things down. Where else do you find a book composed of 66 books, transmitted over thousands of years in which there's no contradictions, prophecies that were made generations earlier than when they happened, and yet they came true time and time again. Lives that have been changed. Well, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.

He says in verse 10 of 1 John chapter 5, John is writing here about the internal subjective witness. The witness is the one who believes in the Son of God. The witness is the one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the witness which God has borne witness about his son. John is writing here about the internal subjective witness to the Son within the believer's heart. You and I who are believers, we have the Spirit within us.

In fact, Paul wrote about that in Romans chapter 8, As he wrote under the inspiration of spirit very similarly in Romans 8 verses 15 and 16. For you have not received the spirit of slavery and leading to fear again. You have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God." And verse 17, and if children also heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with him. And so we have this testimony from within, the Spirit of God, testifying with our spirit that we are the children of God.

But the one who denies this testimony, this testimony that is written regarding Jesus, this testimony that John has written, this testimony that we find in the Scriptures throughout the Bible, well it is a form of blasphemy on par with calling God a liar. Judgment day is coming. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But for those who are saved, well, verses 11 and 12 of our text there, 1 John chapter 5. The witness is this, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have that life. This is the purpose of the testimony of 1 John that we read about here. This testimony of the water, the blood, the spirit. This is the purpose of this writing, is that sinners may receive eternal life through Christ.

And that Those who are saved may know that you're saved. And have eternal life. What is eternal life anyway? Some people think of it as just chronological life that just goes on and on forever. Yeah, that's a simple definition.

But eternal life is much more than that. It's not just that, it's not less than that, but it's more than that. In fact, Over in the book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 17, in our Lord's high priestly prayer, John 17 and verse 3, he says, that they may know you, the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Eternal life just isn't what's to come for the child of God, it's now. And so I ask you, are you enjoying eternal life through Jesus Christ now? Life in Christ is great now.

And as I said, some think of it as chronological. It goes on and on. It doesn't end. And while life in Christ is great now, as they say, the best is yet to come. I ran into a young man yesterday at the grocery store and he was, He and I were talking.

I had a shirt on that was about Noah's Ark. And so the conversation was about that. He was interested in boats. So That's kind of where the conversation started. And he said that he's often thought about if he could go back in time and stop what happened in the Garden of Eden, to stop Adam and Eve from committing that first sin.

I told him, I said, well someone was there who could have stopped him. God, God was there. As God Yahweh was there in the garden, the Creator, He could have prevented it, but He didn't. But He provided hope. He provided an escape through Jesus Christ.

This young man's concern was about sin and death and disease and COVID and all of those things. I said that we still have all of those troubles here in this life, but in Christ, one of these days all that will be over with. You see, all that's going to be gone. And he'll restore everything the way it was. One of these days The battles will be over, the sickness, the pain, the disease, all of those.

Life is great now, but the best is yet to come. Jesus died on the cross for sinners. He was buried and rose again. Over in 1 John chapter 3, we can bring this to a close. 1 John chapter 3 verse 2, remember what he said here, Beloved, now we are the children of God.

No, we might be later. No, we hope to be someday when we die. Now. Now we are the children of God. If you're a believer in Christ, now.

Now. Now we are the children of God and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when he is manifested we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. We know we can be sure of our salvation. We can be sure that Jesus was real.

We can be sure that he had an earthly ministry, that he really was on the cross, bodily, that he did die there, that he did resurrect bodily and ascend up into heaven and one day he will return. We can be sure that one day we will see him. We can be sure of these things, but our hope is only through him. And I thank God for these witnesses. May God add the blessing to the preaching of his word.