← ArchiveAdvent 2017Sunday, December 3, 2017DateDecember 3, 2017Speaker—Text1 John 5Passages in this sermon1 John 53:31John 614:39TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testified to it, and proclaimed to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was made manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us.0:23And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things, so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from Him, and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, while we walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not practice the truth.0:52But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sin, He is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1:18If we confess our sin, He is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1:46Test, test, test, there we go, I'm on. Operator error, sorry. I failed to introduce myself today. My name is Josh Burnham, lead pastor here at Bethel. And so thank you for joining us. I'm amazed at how the Spirit of God works. Several months ago, we began as a church journey through the book of 1 John. And really, asking ourselves, Lord, shine a light on authentic faith. And through Thanksgiving, we've had one last message to end, and we just haven't fit it in yet.2:13And I said, Lord, why don't we just punt on 1 John? Why don't we just cancel 1 John, and we'll just go into Christmas? And I wasn't comfortable with that. And so today's sermon is entitled this, Can I Know For Sure? This has been a message that's a month and a half in the making. And do you know, I've had three or four questions today asking, can we know if we're going to heaven?2:39Can we know for sure? And this is where God's Word answers us. And it's amazing how the Holy Spirit works. Several months ago, this was planned out, and it just didn't come to fruition. And God said, I have destined it for today, because we need to know. We need to be sure. With that, join me in 1 John. If you were in my Sunday school class, I've been teaching a senior adult lady Sunday school class,3:07which is unique for me, because I'm not a senior or adult lady. And I was invited to their Christmas party today. I was like, yes. And then I found out they didn't want me there. They really want my kids. That's understandable. But we looked at this passage this morning, 1 John 5. I want to begin with a story of, it should be a picture behind us, called El Capitan.3:36El Capitan is in Yosemite National Park. It is a rock climber's dream. It's really a 3,000-foot-tall granite face. And if you have a Mac, you would notice the picture, because it is there on your MacBook Pro sometimes. It's one of your operating systems.4:06Now, what we know about this is, it takes several people working together to climb in El Capitan. With ropes and gear, it takes around Time's reports, it takes about two days to climb this. That's two days more than I want to spend. And it takes strength and agility and practice. But this year, on June 3rd of 2017, a man named Alex Honnold decides to climb El Capitan by himself.4:29So much so that he dropped out of school to climb the summits of the world. He said, I want to drop out of Cal Berkeley, which is a prestigious school. He's been climbing for 20 years. He's 31. And he trained for the climb for two years. Now, listen to this. Alex climbed El Capitan in four hours without assistance from another person.4:58Not only that, he climbed it without gear, no ropes, no net, no helmet, nothing. And he said, when you get to the 2300 foot mark, there are holes that are only big enough for your thumbs to fit in. And in four hours, he crested the summit of this rock.5:26Now, why do I start off a message on confidence with this crazy guy? One, because you either had to be a fool or you had to be the most confident person in the world to believe that you could climb this rock without any assistance. There's no making a mistake. You fall, you're dead. And Alex was sure and confident that he could climb this.5:53He believed that he could. Now, I say that to tell you this. God wants you and I to have the same confidence in eternal life. He wants you to know for sure that you will have confidence when you come before the throne of God. And you say, well, how can you prove that? No, I'm not going to climb a mountain. But what we will do is look at the truth of God and the rock of Jesus Christ.6:20We are called to be bold and sure. My hope for you today is that you will leave here confident, sure of your faith, knowing that it is kept in heaven secure by the heavenly father. Let's look at 1 John 5, beginning in verse 10. The one who believes in the son of God has this testimony within himself.6:45The one who does not believe has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his son. This is the testimony. God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son. Verse 12. The one who has the son has life. So the one who has the son has what? Life.7:16Life. The one who does not have the son does not have life. And then John beautifully says this. And I want you to circle or underline or highlight this on your screen. I have written you these things that to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you may know. The Greek word means sure, that you may know you have eternal life. And not only that, this is the confidence we have before him.7:44If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. God wants you to be sure and confident of your faith and lead a life that is sure and confident. Let's pray. Father, oh, how desperately we need to know today that we can know we have eternal life. Lord, help us be people who come with confidence to your throne, knowing that you forgive freely because you have finished the work through your son, the perfect son, Jesus Christ.8:09So, Lord, let us run with faithfulness. Let us climb with boldness. And may we believe that you are true and you are trustworthy. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We have four points this morning. And they're all going to begin this way. Can I know for sure?8:39And we're going to answer that question. The first is, can I know for sure? And John's answer, God's word to us this morning is this in verse 10. Can I know for sure? What is God's word? What is his answer to that question? Yes. Verse 10. The one who believes. Can I know for sure? And God's question is, do you believe? Do you believe? Within five verses, we see John using the word believe over and over again.9:04Why? Because belief is central to the Christian life. Belief is central. If I don't believe, and we're going to look at that word belief, but I don't believe the gospel. I have no hope. I have no security. And as I told my senior ladies this morning. See, if you're doubting your faith, I know two things. One, you're doubting your faith because you truly don't believe.9:33And that is good doubt because I want you to come to the belief that Jesus is who he says he is. And if you do believe in your doubting, it is not from God. It is from Satan. Because God wants us to know we can believe. He wants us to know that we can be sure of our salvation. So do you believe? The word pisteuo. You say, well, of course everyone believes in God. The word belief means several things. Do you believe it is true? Do you believe it is true?10:04When Jesus says that he is the son of God, do you believe him? When the Bible says that he died, do you believe him? When the Bible says that he died and rose again, do you truly believe? When the Bible says that he is now standing at the right hand of the father and he lived a perfect life and that he traded his life for us, that he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. Do you believe that's true? Because if you don't, you don't believe. Now before you say, well, I'm in.10:34Game over. I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Pastor, are you convinced me? Even Satan believes that. He believes it's true because he's seen Jesus face to face. There's a second aspect of belief in our life. Do you trust in Jesus? See, Satan believes it's true, but he doesn't trust in Jesus as his Savior, as his Lord. That he does not trust in Jesus in a way that he will follow him. So do you trust that God is faithful and true?11:04See, the word belief is an active word, meaning are you currently believing? Are you trusting in Christ? Do you trust in Jesus enough that when times get bad that you still say, God, I trust that you are good and you are gracious? I explained it in our baptism workshop with our 10-year-olds. I was sitting in a chair and I stood up and I said, do you believe that this chair will hold you up?11:27They said, of course. I said, how do you know that I believe this chair will hold me up? And they looked at me like I am half crazy. So they looked at me like I was fully crazy. I said, how do you know I believe this chair will hold me up? And then the 10-year-old mind, which I love childlike faith, Christ calls us to have childlike faith. They said, well, we know you believe when you sit.11:54And I said, that is trust. Why is baptism so important to our faith? That is God's way of saying, Josh, you say you believe. Now, do you trust? Do you trust? Do you truly believe? It is one thing to sit in a pew. It is another thing to submit to the Prince of Peace. Can you know for sure? Do you believe? But there's the opposite.12:24If belief is the key to unlocking the testimony of God in our life, then unbelief has equally tragic eternal consequence. It says, look at verse 10. The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe has made him to be a liar. Has made God out to be a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about his Son. You see, unbelief is used in the present tense.12:54It means you are currently unbelieving. So the Bible is asking, are you in unbelief right now? And I was reminded, I'm teaching through heaven. And I was reminded in God's word, we fool ourselves because we think the automatic destination for us as Westerners is heaven. That's not true. The default destination for each and every one of us is hell. It's accounted to a man once to die and then judgment.13:23We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Who has not sinned? Only Jesus. And the consequences of my sin is death. So we have sinned. We will die. So the natural default for us is what? Is hell. Is unbelief. And when we do not believe, what do we say to God? We say, you are a liar. Now some of you are thinking, well I can't believe you just said that. That's what God's word says about our unbelief.13:52Look at verse 10. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar. And before you point your fingers and you say, I told you, you need to believe, no, we were once in unbelief. I was once in unbelief. And it's so important that I say, God, I believe. It is all true. Can I know for sure? Yes, do you believe? What does unbelief look like?14:21It looks like this. We see in John and 1 John, it is contrasting postures, willful ignorance. It's just not knowing. It's apathy, just not caring. It is cowardice or disenchanted withdrawal. I'm just going to pull away in John 6, verse 66. It is lip service. It's unbelief. It is anger and bitterness and rage. It is secret contempt or it's just open hostility towards God.14:49And I'm reminded in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that we are to find Jesus true and trustworthy. I love the line that Susan finds out that Aslan is a lion. And she says, Aslan is a lion? I thought he was a man. Is he safe? She said, I shall rather feel nervous about meeting a lion. Mr. Beaver says this, safe?15:20Who said anything about safe? Of course he's not safe, but he is good. He's the king, I tell you. Some of you want Jesus to be safe. He's not safe, but he's good. And he's the king. He's holy. He's righteous. And he is true. Do you find Jesus true and worthy to be trusted? Do not hedge your bets.15:49Do not say, I'll play the religious game. If it's not true, I'll pull back. That is unbelief. Can I know for sure that I have eternal life? Yes. Do you believe? Secondly, can I know for sure? Look at verse 10 and 11. The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony. Has this testimony. So the question then is answered, can I know for sure? What testimony do you have? What testimony do you have? We see in God's word that the testimony of man is good, but the testimony of God is great.16:19Verse 9. So the question is not, what testimony do you have? The question is, whose testimony do you have? And this church is why we need to change our language. Because we like to say, have you shared your testimony? You know what my testimony says? That I am a sinner and unworthy of righteousness and grace and mercy.16:45And when we put our faith in the living God, you know what happens? Look at verse 10. The one who believes in the Son of God has what? Has a testimony. Whose testimony? This testimony. Right? And then verse 10 again. The one who does not believe God because he has not believed in the testimony. Verse 11. This is the testimony.17:15That what? That God has given us eternal life. We are not called to share our testimony. God gives us his testimony. The word testimony is the same word we get our English word martyr from. You know what a martyr is? A martyr is someone who has died for their faith. You know why they die? Because they are saying Jesus is true and trustworthy. And if you kill me, he is true and trustworthy.17:43That is the testimony we need. It is not share your testimony. My testimony is I am the chief of sinners. But his testimony is that he is gracious. And if we confess our sins, he is faithful and true to forgive us. His testimony is that we have died to ourselves and we are raised in new life. His testimony is you don't see the old Josh.18:12I crucify him daily and you see Jesus living within me. That is the testimony that we need. I will never forget. We have a Bible study on Thursdays at several men in the church that we go to at Jack's. And a car breaks down on a Thursday morning at 6 o'clock. That is never. Well, it is good to break down at Jack's because they have a great breakfast. So if I am going to break down at 6 o'clock in the morning, Jack's is a great location to break down.18:42But one of my friends is out there and he begins to strike up a conversation. And for the next 30 minutes as we are gathering together, he is sharing the testimony of grace with this man. And this man is very frank. He says, I don't believe. And he is using words that church people don't use. He is like, but I read a man named C.H. Spurgeon. And so we are having a conversation. I am trying to talk about God's word. And my other ear is listening in.19:11And he said, there is a man named A.W. Tozer. And he has a lot of great things to say. I am like, what in the world? Who is this guy? And he says, you know, and I even watched Paul Washer. I am like, my goodness. And I just begin to pray as my friend is sharing the testimony of God. I am thinking, you don't know it, dude. But the Holy Spirit is drawing you in. This is the testimony of God. It is not ours. And so I ask you, can you know for sure if you are saved?19:40Whose testimony do you have? The testimony you see here is not mine. Mine is not worth it. My testimony is I am in need and needy of grace. And he is faithful. That Jesus is not safe, but he is king. And I want to submit my life to the king of kings. And it is better to be unsafe with the king than safe, any safety that this world can offer us.20:05Can I know for sure? Do you believe, church? Do you believe? And do you have his testimony? Third, verse 12. Can I know for sure? What does God's word say to us? The one who has a son has life. So can I know for sure? God's word asks us, do you have life?20:33Do you have life? And now that's the easy concept for us to get. Because it's easy to look at someone and say, you are either dead or you are alive. Have you ever been to a funeral home and you struggle with figuring out who's dead and who's alive? That doesn't happen. Now, there might be people that are on their way. Or you look at them and you're like, man, what happened to you? But we know who's dead and who's alive.21:01And it's the same spiritually. It's the same spiritually. God's word asks us, do you have eternal life? And I know for some people there's a wrestle and a struggle because you say, well, I don't know the day or the time that I put my faith in Jesus. Well, that's not what God's word asks you. It's not your profession. It's not your decision anyway. It's who Jesus is. Do you have life? Are you dead or alive? That's an easy answer. Are you dead or are you alive?21:30Are we dead to sin and are we alive to Christ? This is the beautiful picture of baptism. See, it is not a mere religious act. It is not ceremony. It is a true external picture of the inward work of God's renewal in our life. That I was once dead, but now I am alive. A.W. Tozer says it this way. One hundred religious people knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church.21:58Any more than eleven dead men constitute a football team. The first requisite is life. Always. The first requisite is life. Do you have life? And you say, well, what does that look like? First John answers the question. And you might say, well, I sin and I feel horrible about it. Every time I sin, the Holy Spirit just nails me. That is a great problem.22:27Not the sin part. But when the Holy Spirit convicts you, you know what God's doing? He's speaking. He's speaking. And so if you come to me and say, I feel horrible. I'm being convicted. I'm going to say, yes, Lord. Touch our hearts. Because dead people aren't convicted. Only those who have life. And first John says, this is the evidence of new life. First John 5, 1. That you believe in the Christ. Do you believe?22:58First John also says that we avoid sin and we do what is right in chapter 2, verse 29. Do you try to avoid sin? Chapter 5, verse 4. That we overcome the world. How can we die for the testimony that God has given us? Because we know if you let me live, I'm going to live for Christ. If you kill me, it is gain. Satan, we have the trunk card. His name is Jesus. That is life.23:27We see that new life in verse 7 of chapter 4 has the love of fellow believers. Do you love each other? If you say, well, I hate the church, but I love Jesus. God's word says you don't. You make him to be a liar. And I know, I get it. I am hard to love. You don't have a choice. You're stuck with me. That is the beauty of God's grace, though. That we together are called to love one another. A deep love that only is wrought through life in the Spirit.23:57And life is not a promise. It is an inheritance enjoyed in the presence. How beautiful it is that we can have life. Can you know for sure? Do you believe? Can I know for sure? Are you living or dead? Can I know for sure? What testimony are you living out? And then finally we see this in chapter 5 of verse 13.24:23Can I know for sure that I have eternal life? I have written you these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know. And if you were to answer the question in verse 13, can I know for sure? What is God's answer to us? Yes. I have written you.24:54Church, God has written us. He has given us his word that we may know. Can we know for sure? Have you opened up his holy word? It is true. And he wants us to know that we will have confidence that we will continue in the faith in his presence. I love what St. Ignatius of Antioch said. I know many of you are reading him right now probably. He says it.25:24It's just a beautiful phrase. He said, My dear Jesus, my Savior is so deeply written in my heart. He said, If you were to kill me and chop up my heart to pieces, I would know that every piece would have the name of Jesus written on it. That is confidence in the word of God and knowing that we can know for sure of our salvation. So does God want you to constantly doubt your salvation? No.25:55No. You need to say that out loud because some of you are struggling right now. Does God want you to doubt your salvation? No. Why? Because it's not yours. It's his. I doubt any salvation that I can earn. But I doubt nothing that God freely gives through his son. Assurance is predicated on an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. Not on human beings. It is not on us.26:25We see that the person in the work of Christ, the Son of God, in his fullness, has completed and accomplished the work of salvation. Verse 13, I have written you these things that you may know. You who believe in who? The name of the Son of God. God wants us to be sure that salvation is found in Jesus Christ and no one else. So today our task is this.26:55Our task is to be sure and confident knowing that we can come before the throne of God. Look at verse 14. This is the confidence. That what? That we have before him. Before who? God. This is a confidence that we have before God. That we can come before him. And we know scripture teaches that it is accounted to a man once to die and then judgment.27:21But we can be confident knowing that we don't point to our testimony. We point to Jesus Christ. So church, what is our task? How do we respond to the gospel today? This is what Jesus wants for us very clearly. We need to be bold about the things that we know for certainty. We need to be bold. But what should we be bold about? We need to be bold telling the world we can know for sure that we have eternal life.27:50Bold. And they say, well, how do you know that? That's very presumptuous of you. We see your sin. We see your struggles. How dare you say eternal life? And we say, you know what? It's not me. But let me tell you, I believe in Jesus. I don't just think about him, but I believe everything that he says is true. And not only do I believe, but I place my trust in him.28:17That's how I know I have eternal life. And I believe in a way that I have this new testimony. And I believe in a way that I have died to myself. And I believe this life is right with the Holy Spirit. And that when I sin, the Holy Spirit whips me back into a place where I am walking in obedience. And as difficult as that chastisement is, I know my heavenly Father loves me.28:42This is confidence. This is confidence. And so why do we worry about the things we don't know? Let us be bold and confident in our faith. And we need to have in our lecterns and our pulpits and in our Sunday schools and our small groups, we need to stand up and we need people to say, be bold for the name of Jesus Christ. We need to look at the world and we say, see that rock?29:11We don't need ropes. We don't need gear. I believe that God is placing me upon the rock of Jesus Christ. And I will climb for the glory of the Lord. And if I fall, he will catch me. And he is not safe, but he is king and he is Lord. And I trust him. I find him worthy to be praised. That is hope.29:39And with that, we ask, Lord, how do we live this out? If you were to meet God face to face today, would you be confident? Would you be confident? I've had two calls this week. One by a friend that I know who passed away because of lung cancer on late Thursday evening. The second, one of Eli's soccer buddies and my son is five, whose mom has passed away.30:05And the reminder that it is accounted to each and every one of us wants to die. And you know what? We assume that today is not going to be that day. But that is an assumption that God has not given you. That is an assumption that Satan puts on the table and says, you can wait. You can wait. Get your life together tomorrow, not today.30:33So if you were to meet God face to face, what would you say? Where would your confidence be? You say, well, I don't like that. God is offering salvation today if you do not believe. And what is salvation? It requires repentance. What is repentance? I heard this week an illustration that says repentance is looking at an army. That people who are walking away from God and God speaking and saying, halt about face.31:04And repentance is saying, God, I will turn from walking away from you and I will turn towards you because of your son, Jesus Christ. And without that turning, there is no faith. Without repentance, you do not believe. Without saying, I am dying to myself, I will be raised in new life. There is no hope. And so have you placed your hope and trust in Jesus Christ?31:34You have heard Tammy share that she wants you to know. You have heard Jacqueline stand and say, if you do not believe, please believe today. You have heard Addie say, if you count yourself unworthy, that is okay. Trust in Jesus. And you have heard Sophia say, say it is worth it. Trust in Jesus Christ because he loves you. He has traded his life for you if you believe today.32:02And that belief begins through faith by prayer to a God who loves you. So are you willing to turn aside? Maybe you're here today and you say, well, I believe I'm struggling. You know what God's word says? Stop. Stop doubting. Because that doubt is not from God. If you believe, if you believe in Jesus, doubt is not from the Savior. Doubt is from the enemy.32:31And we are to have confidence in him, knowing that we have eternal life. And so I pray that you would spend a moment as we sing a song of response and say, Lord, give me the confidence that you have already offered. Confidence that when we stand before the throne and God says, Josh, I told you I'm going to judge you. And I'm going to replay everything you've done in your life that I can look at him and say, God, that's going to be a long highlight reel. There's a lot of sin.33:00And God, you're showing me my testimony, but I want you to know there's another testimony that I trust in. His name is Jesus. And there's not one sin on his highlight reel. He lived a sinless life. And God, you sent him to take my place. And Lord, I believe it's true. And I trusted on him. God, I trusted him to be my sacrifice, to take my place. And God, you promised me if I believe in your son, I will have confidence before your throne.33:25And God is going to say to those who believe, well done, good and faithful servant. Church, we should be confident and bold knowing that eternal life is not in the future. It is today. And it is for all those who believe. Let's pray. Lord Jesus.Next in Advent 2017 →Sunday, December 17, 2017More sermons on 1 John →
