1 John: light, love, life September 16 & 18 2016 Witnesses Introduction: Author Background Themes This week Prologue John said he was a witness to the things he wrote about that brings up a question; do we have good witnesses to Jesus? 1. What did the writers of the scripture claim? 1 John 1:1 4 (NIV) 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. 2 Peter 1:16 (NIV) 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 2. What did the secondary witnesses claim? Those who were able to investigate what was said. Luke 1:1 4 (NIV) 1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. 3. When we consider the witnesses there are three possible outcomes to their testimony. a. They are telling the truth. b. They are telling a lie. c. They are crazy. 4. What motivates a liar to lie? 1
a. Power but this is what the authors of the Bible wrote. Mark 9:35 (NLT) 35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else. Matthew 20:24 28 (NLT) 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. b. Money But Matthew 16:26 (NLT) 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 19:23 24 (NLT) 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I ll say it again it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God! c. Sex But 1 Corinthians 6:9 11 (NLT) 9 Don t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 5. What did these witnesses risk? Tacitus Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians. Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator of Pontius Pilate, and pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judea, the home of the disease, but in the capital itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and find vogue. First, then, the confessed members of the sect were arrested; next, on their disclosures, vast numbers were convicted, not so much on the count of arson as for hatred of the human race. And derision accompanied their end: they were covered with wild beasts skins and torn to death by dogs; or they were fastened on crosses, and, when daylight failed were burned to serve as lamps by night. Nero had offered his Gardens for the spectacle, and gave an 2
exhibition in his Circus, mixing with the crowd in the habit of a charioteer, or mounted on his car. Hence, in spite of a guilt, which had earned the most exemplary punishment, there arose a sentiment of pity, due to the impression that they were being sacrificed not for the welfare of the state but to ferocity of a single man. Pliny the Younger In the meantime, the method I have observed towards those who have been denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were in fact Christians; if they confessed it, I repeated the question twice, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them executed. Jews were killing Christians Stephen etc. Romans were killing Christians. 6. What did the writers of the Bible get in life? 1 Corinthians 4:9 13 (NLT) 9 Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world to people and angels alike. 10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. 11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 12 We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. 13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world s garbage, like everybody s trash right up to the present moment. 2 Corinthians 11:23 28 (NLT) 23 Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 3
What was the final cost to the original Disciples of Jesus? Luke hung on an olive tree by the priest of a pagan religion in Greece. James the Great sons of thunder, brother of John beheaded in 44 A.D. Philip scourged, thrown into prison, then crucified in 54 A.D. Matthew run through with a sword in 60 A.D. James the Less the brother of Jesus; he was beaten with a club, then stoned, then finished off by having his brains beat in with a fullers club. Mathias stoned and then beheaded. Andrew brother of Peter; crucified. Mark dragged to pieces by horse under the Alexandrian idol. Peter crucified upside down some history reports his wife was killed as well. Jude crucified in Edessa in 72 A.D. Bartholomew beaten, then crucified. Thomas run through with a spear. Simon crucified in 74 A.D. Barnabas killed in 73 A.D., hung John banished to the island of Patmos Why did they die? Pliny the Younger In the meantime, the method I have observed towards those who have been denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were in fact Christians; if they confessed it, I repeated the question twice, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their beliefs might be, I could at least feel no doubt that the contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others also possessed with the same infatuation, but being citizens of Rome, I directed them to be taken to Rome for trial These accusations spread (as is usually the case) from the mere fact of the matter being investigated, and several forms of the mischief came to light. A placard was put up, without any signature, accusing a large number of persons by name. Those who denied they were, or had ever been Christians, and who repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered formal worship and libation with frankincense, before your statue, which I ordered to be brought into Court for that purpose, together with those of the gods, and who finally cursed Christ none of which acts, it is said, those who are really Christians can be forced into performing these I thought it proper to discharge. 4
They affirmed, however, that the whole of their guilt, or their error, was that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to perform any wicked deed, never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny trust when they should be called upon to make it good; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food but food of an ordinary and innocent kind. Even this practice, however, they had abandoned after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I had forbidden political associations. I therefore judged it so much the more necessary to extract the real truth with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition. For further study: More than a Carpenter Josh McDowell The case for Christ Lee Strobel The case for a Creator Lee Strobel New Evidence that Demands a Verdict Josh McDowell Answers in Genesis answersingenesis.org 5