The Blessed Assurance of An Authentic Christian Message 12 in Authentic Christianity Sermon Series Scripture Text: I John 5:1-15

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, October 2, 2011 Homecoming Sunday Message 12 in Authentic Christianity Sermon Series ( A Study of I John) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister The Blessed Assurance of An Authentic Christian Message 12 in Authentic Christianity Sermon Series Scripture Text: I John 5:1-15 Please turn with me in your BIBLES to the Book of I John, chapter 5. For now let s just read the thirteenth verse. READ-----I John 5:13 P R A Y E R ******************************* I N T R O D U C T I O N If I were to ask you this morning ARE YOU SAVED? how would you answer? -Perhaps some of you might say, I think so. -Perhaps some of you might say, I hope so. Do you know the BIBLE doesn t teach a THINK SO or HOPE SO salvation? The Bible teaches a KNOW SO salvation. God doesn t want you and me to spend our whole lives wondering, doubting, and questioning whether or not we are truly saved! God wants us to live with confidence and assurance that we are saved! John says in this 13 TH Verse: I write these things to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God so that you may know.not thin think NOT hope hope but so that YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. In VERSES John now identifies THREE WAYS we can have THE BLESSED ASSURANCE we are truly saved. First of all.

2 I. Blessed Assurance Comes By Believing Jesus Is The Christ (vs. 1, 5 ) v. 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. v. 5 Who is that overcomes the world? ONLY HE WHO BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD. 1. This is where the certainty of one s salvation begins! It begins with BELIEVING by FAITH that Jesus is the CHRIST, the Son of the living God. -Believing in GOD is very, very important. But believing in the existence of God will not save you. James 2:19 says, You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that---and shudder. -Believing that Jesus was a great man won t save you. -Believing that Jesus was a great prophet or a great teacher won t save you. 2. SAVING faith begins when we BELIEVE that Jesus is the CHRIST the Son of the living God. Now what does it mean to Believe Jesus is the Christ? To believe that JESUS IS THE CHRIST means I believe JESUS is the One Whom God anointed to be the Savior of the world. And that salvation can be found in no one else but Jesus! For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) To believe that JESUS IS THE CHRIST means I entrust my eternal life upon what JESUS CHRIST did for me on the cross, not upon anything I have done on earth. To believe that JESUS IS THE CHRIST is to acknowledge that going to Church won t save me being a good person won t save me..giving money to the Church or charitable organizations won t save me being a decent, moral person won t save me.but THAT CHRIST AND CHRIST ALONE CAN SAVE MY SOUL!

3 514 times in the New Testament Jesus is called the Christ, the Anointed One, the Savior, the Messiah. 3. My friend do you BELIEVE? Do you BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God? This is where that BLESSED ASSURANCE we are truly saved begins! II. Blessed Assurance Comes By Obeying God s Commands (vs. 2-3) v. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. v. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.. 1. In verse 1 John told us that KNOWING WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE BEGINS with believing that Jesus is the Christ. Unfortunately, for many this is also where it ends. It is called easy believism. Many cite Acts 2:21, where it says, And everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. They say, That s all you have to do to be saved, just call on his Name, its that SIMPLE! If all one has to do to be saved is simply call on the Name of the Lord how does one explain what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, BUT ONLY HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. 2. You see just saying the words, I believe that Jesus is the Christ is not sufficient in and of itself. My belief that Jesus truly is the Christ must be demonstrated by my OBEDIENCE to God s COMMANDS. -My obedience to God s commands demonstrates I really do believe that JESUS is the CHRIST.

4 -My obedience to God s commands demonstrates I really do love GOD. v. 3 This is love for God: to obey His commands. -My obedience to God s commands demonstrates I really do love God s CHILDREN. v.2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. 3. Loving God is all about OBEDIENCE! Its not about warm, fuzzy feelings. Its not about goose bumps! Its about OBEDIENCE to GOD S COMMANDS. 4. And you notice in verse 3, John says, And His commands are NOT burdensome. What does that mean? It means when we truly come to know God as our heavenly Father and His Son as our Lord and Savior, His commands don t seem harsh, unfair or unreasonable. ILLUSTRATION: Let s all think back to when we were children. If your father was anything like mine, we had certain rules or commands we had to obey. At a young age I didn t understand why some of my friends got to stay up until 10:00 or 11:00 o clock on school nights while I had to be in bed by 9:00. When I became a teenager, I didn t understand why some of my friends didn t have a curfew, but I did. In fact, at a young age, it seemed like some of my dad s rules and commands were unfair or burdensome because he wouldn t allow me to do certain things or go certain places or hang out with certain kinds of kids. But as I got older and my love for my dad grew more mature and stronger, his rules, his commands didn t seem nearly so burdensome because I understood he had given them to me out his love. He wasn t trying to prevent me from enjoying life, He was lovingly trying to protect me so I could enjoy the very best life. 5. After sacrificing the life of His Only Begotten Son to save my soul, is it too much for God to ask in return that I obey His commands, knowing He gave me those commands because He loves me and wants the very best life for me?

5 If God commands me to REPENT OF MY SINS AND BE BAPTIZED or to CONFESS HIS SON BEFORE MEN or to LOVE MY NEIGHBOR or to FORGIVE ONE WHO HAS SINNED AGAINST ME..or to BE IN CHURCH ON THE FIRST DAY OF EACH WEEK.or to BE HOLY AS HE IS HOLY is that really too much for God to ask? Is that really too burdensome? No its not is it? 6. Think of it this way: Every time I obey God s commands I am saying, I love You God, I really, really love You. Blessed Assurance Comes From Believing That Jesus Is The Christ. Blessed Assurance Comes From Obeying God s Commands. Thirdly.. (Notes on next page ) III. Blessed Assurance Comes By Bearing Testimony About Christ (vs. 9-12) v. 6 This is the One who came by water and blood---jesus CHRIST, He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. v. 7 For there are three that testify: v. 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. v.9 We accept man s testimony, but God s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. v.10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

6 v.11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. v.12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1. In the Old Testament the testimony of no less than two or three witnesses was required to establish the truth of a particular matter. (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15) 2. There are three witnesses that establish the truth that Jesus truly is the Christ the Son of the living God. (A) First, there is the witness of the HOLY SPIRIT. Do you know the primary responsibility of the Holy Spirit is to EXALT Jesus Christ? John 16:13,14 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will tell you what is yet to come. He will BRING GLORY TO ME by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you. The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus Christ. He does not draw attention to Himself. When you hear people exalting the Holy Spirit they are doing what the Holy Spirit Himself doesn t even do. The Holy Spirit exalts Christ, not Himself. (B) Secondly, there is the witness of the WATER. The water is referring to Jesus BAPTISM at the very beginning of His earthly MINISTRY. Remember at His baptism a voice from heaven spoke and said, This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased. (Matthew 3:17) (C) And the third witness to Christ is the BLOOD. The blood of course refers to Jesus death upon the cross at the end of His earthly ministry. 3. Now why is this important? John tells us in verses 9, 10

7 v. 9 We accept man s testimony, but God s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which He has given about His Son. v. 10 Anybody who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. 4. What John is saying in that 9 th verse is Man will believe what man says far easier than he ll believe what God says. If a HISTORIAN tells us ABRAHAM LINCOLN was assassinated we believe him. If the WEATHERMAN tells us its going to rain, we believe him. If the ECONOMIST says we are going into a recession, we believe him. If the NEWS MAN says eating certain foods increases the risk for cancer, we believe him. And this is true when it comes to SALVATION! Why is it that so many people will believe the testimony of a man who says, All roads lead to heaven and it doesn t matter which one you take, but they refuse to believe the testimony of Almighty God who says Eternal life can only be found in His Son Jesus Christ? 5. You see, when you and I accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God gave us the precious gift of His Holy Spirit to seal the truth, seal His testimony in us. 6. Why does that matter? John tells us in verses V. 11 And this is the testimony: GOD has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. V. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does NOT have life. V. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW.. SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE! 7. Christians listen to me! If you are struggling with doubts and uncertainty over whether or not you are really saved could that possibly be because you are basing your hope on your own spiritual performance instead of upon the PROMISE OF GOD? If I go to Church every Sunday and I put money in the offering plate and I do a lot of good deeds for other people and I

8 read my Bible and pray and I don t smoke or chew or go with girls who do..and I do this and this and this and I don t do that or that or that.then I feel pretty good about my chances of making it to heaven! Brothers and sisters that s like walking to heaven on a tightrope! As long as you believe your SALVATION is based upon your own spiritual performance your confidence is going to sway back and forth as though you are just one sin, one mistake, one failure from disaster. 9. But when our CONFIDENCE lies in the PROMISE OF GOD instead of OUR PERFORMANCE, we can KNOW WE ARE SAVED! These three verses are filled with God s promises: PROMISE 1 (verse 11) And this is the testimony: GOD HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE AND THIS LIFE IS IN HIS SON. PROMISE 2 (verse 12) HE WHO HAS THE SON HAS LIFE. PROMISE 3 (verse 13) I WRITE THESE THINGS TO YOU WHO BELIEVE IN THE NAME OF THE SON OF GOD SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW YOU ARE SAVED. 10. Did you notice all three of these promises are based upon what CHRIST DID FOR ME, not on what I do for Christ. When I put all my hope, all my faith, all my confidence in God s promise to SAVE MY SOUL because of what Christ did for me on the cross of Calvary, then I CAN KNOW I I CAN KNOW I HAVE ETERNAL LIFE! 8. What difference does KNOWING WE ARE SAVED make? It makes all the difference in the world! It means we no longer have to live in fear or worry or anxiety, but that we can live life with confidence! READ: I JOHN 5:14-15 C O N C L U S I O N On April 12, 1912, the R.M.S. TITANIC left Southampton, England bound for New York city with 1,312 passengers and 914 crew members aboard. She stretched three football fields in length, reached eleven stories

9 high and weighed a whopping 46,000 tons. The engineers who built her were so confident of her sea-worthiness they billed her as UNSINKABLE UNSINKABLE. Yet the history tells us that on her maiden voyage the TITANIC did indeed sink after striking an iceberg in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Sadly, only 753 of the 2,226 people aboard were SAVED. What was the difference between being SAVED and being LOST? It came down to one thing one simple choice. Those who were saved CHOSE TO GET IN THE LIFE BOAT. You see, shortly after the TITANIC struck the ice berg, most of the passengers clung to the false hope that the ship could never sink. Most of the LIFE BOATS sailed away from the TITANIC half-filled with passengers. By the time the remaining passengers came to realization that the TITANIC was indeed going to sink, it was too late. You see, the LIFE BOATS had already sailed away. 753 were SAVED 1,473 were LOST because of a CHOICE. (T R A N S I T I O N.. ) This tragedy that occurred almost a century ago serves as a grim reminder of a far greater truth. Like the passengers aboard the TITANIC, most people are clinging to the false hope that this world is unsinkable. But the truth is THIS WORLD IS SINKING AND SHE S S SINKING FAST! That s the BAD NEWS! THE GOOD NEWS is: God has provided us a LIFE BOAT and that LIFE BOAT is His Son, Jesus Christ. Many of you here today have already made the CHOICE to get in the life boat by surrendering your life to the LORD JESUS CHRIST. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOU? God is offering you the

10 opportunity to get in the LIFE BOAT OF SALVATION before its too late. Will you choose to GET IN THE LIFEBOAT or to GO DOWN WITH THE SHIP?