"Who is Jesus?" - 1 John 5:6-12 - Thomas Slager

[Music] in a world of disagreements large and small I believe that you exist will fit with everyone go ahead how can a good eval for God allow innocent people suffer unspeakable tragedies then there's all these questions you know about ethics is rural issues as well and I would say well they're crazy for not testing what they think just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real it's just real it's what you see and then I begin with the assumption that God is love historic Christian condition is this vast diverse conversation that's been going on for thousands of years [Music] I hope you had a wonderful week I had a wonderful week I was able to get out on Friday and play some golf there's a reason I say that good we were down in Chandler at a course called whirlwind I'd never been down there before and to get there had to take the i-10 past the airport and right as the i-10 bent around the airport I look up to the left and I saw this sign that said Jesus in Islam and then it had a few bullet points under it and a website like uh for more information kind of click here and go check it out I've never seen that sign before and I was very intrigued because the last two weeks in studying this passage I've been asking the question who is Jesus so to see that right up on a billboard up there of Jesus in Islam was fascinating to me and this is what it said it said Jesus in Islam born to Virgin Mary supported by Holy Spirit and then something else I couldn't read because I'm trying to be a smart driver and drove right past it and then there was a website underneath this so I started looking up in this question of who is Jesus and I'd been doing this the last couple weeks and just seeing who Jesus is in different cultures and who people in different religions think that Jesus is or even who Christians claim Jesus is and you think we all settle on that but there's some pretty wacky theology out there pertaining to who Jesus really is so I'm asking that question who is Jesus of our text this morning because this morning in John chapter 5 verses 6 through 12 that's the topic who is Jesus the first thing we're going to see John's going to confront some false testimony testimony meaning a declaration or confession he's going to confront some false teaching that was happening in the church secondly he's going to confirm right and true testimony through three witnesses he provides and then third and finally he's going to offer a personal testimony and we can ask the question of who not who is Jesus but who do I believe that Jesus is so that's where we're heading this morning I'd invite you to turn to first John chapter 5 verses 6 through 12 I'm gonna read it and then I'll pray for us and we'll dive in to see what the Lord has for us today this is he who came by water and blood Jesus Christ not by the water only but by the water and the blood and the Spirit is the one who testifies because the spirit is the truth for there are three that testify the spirit and the water and the blood and these three agree if we receive the testimony of men the testimony of God is greater for the testimony of God that he is born concerning his son whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself whoever does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God is born concerning his son and this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son whoever has the son has life whoever does not have the son does not have life would you pray with me God though it's my voice that's been heard we recognized this morning it's your word that's been spoken God I asked that by your grace you'd allow us to submit to your word this morning God that we wouldn't trust in the testimonies of the world that we've heard concerning your son Jesus but God we'd place our trust in who you say and who your word says Jesus is God would you open our minds this morning so we can understand the things in the scriptures I ask that you'd soften hearts of those who are here in attendance today whose heart has been hardened towards you God whether that's through just being jaded by knowing some bad Christians or whether that's just they're not fully understanding what's happening in the scriptures God I ask that you would help them understand just how great your son is for them this morning God thank you for this time we ask you that it would glorify your name and your name alone and we pray all these things in Christ's name and all gas people said Amen 1st John chapter 5 verses 6 through 12 if you don't have a Bible there should be a Bible around you somewhere or you could download a Bible app on your phone real quick and type it all in and it'll help you find where at that way let's start in verse 6 the first thing we're gonna see John's going to confront some false testimony false testimonies concerning who Jesus was again testimony is a big word for declaration or confession and he really confronts a big false testimony false teaching or we might call it a heresy is a big word for that in the church world concerning who Jesus is let's start in verse 6 this is he who came by water and blood Jesus Christ not by the water only but by the water and the blood and the Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth it says Jesus Christ now maybe you know this maybe you don't but that's not like a first name last name type thing well like John Smith that's first name last name Thomas Slager that's first name last name Jesus is his name Christ is a title it's who he is it's an identity Christ means Messiah it means that he's the one who has promised in the Old Testament who had come deliver people from their sins and into right relationship with God that's who Jesus is is not just this man named Jesus last name Christ he's Jesus to the Christ he's Jesus the Messiah and as we see in the text this morning the false teaching that John's confronting primarily has to do with Jesus being the Christ notice what he says this is he who came by water and blood not by the water only but by the water and the blood now that is kind of obscure and confusing up until this point John's been pretty straightforward hasn't he I mean it's pretty simple if you believe in Jesus your life should look like you believe in Jesus I mean that's kind of the big theme we've seen in first John the things we say we know should show in our life and now he drops this on us that this is he who came by water and blood not by the water only but also by the water and the blood what in the world is he talking about now you'd have to do some study and look at some things but what I found from looking at this in different commentaries and scholars and whatnot what John is doing here is refuting a specific false teaching by a guy named Sir in 'thus you can forget that name if you want to it's not really relevant to the conversation but what we need to know is that Sir entus was going around and teaching things that were contrary to what the Bible says about Jesus specifically in to Jesus being the Christ real quick let's look at Matthew chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 was talking about the baptism of Jesus Matthew chapter 13 verses 16 and 17 says this and when Jesus was baptized immediately he went up from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold the voice from heaven said this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased now why am I looking at this Caesar enthis taught that the moment the Spirit of God came and arrested on Jesus Jesus took on the Christ or Jesus became the Christ that up into that moment he was just a normal man Caesar enthis taught that Jesus wasn't born of a Virgin Mary he was just born the traditional way so you can have that conversation with your kids later I'm going to do it he's born the traditional way that kids are born now what we see in the scriptures is not that we see that Jesus is born to a virgin mary we also see that Jesus was the Christ the entire time think back to our study in the Gospel of John and John chapter 1 verses 1 & 2 verse 14 let me read this to you real quick it says this in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God now think back and try to remember who is the word in John chapter 1 first name that comes to mind Jesus it's always the right answer in church that's perfect Jesus right verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth we see that is Jesus Jesus is the word in fact you could go back and read it in sight in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God he was in the beginning with God now that sounds very different from the teaching of Sorrento Sorrento stott that Jesus was just a normal natural man that God sent the Christ to rest upon and then took him away shortly before the crucifixion when that happened were not really sure according to Sorrento Circe at some point in their but it's a common false teaching of the time because what we see in Scripture is that Jesus always was the Christ you this will always be the Christ he always has been always will be and it was the whole time and when you think about false teaching this false teaching of surin 'this might be a very specific one but false teachings about Jesus have been around since Jesus these are nothing new in fact if you google the question who is Jesus you're gonna find a lot of different ideas about who people think Jesus is I did that this week and found all these different video testimonies things of these man on the street interviews maybe you've seen something like this on like The Late Show of type of stuff where they're walking around on the street and just asking random people the question this is the question who is Jesus now some people just black and they walk away they don't even want to engage don't even want to talk about it other people gladly offer their opinion other people stand like their opinion is Faxon and I want to read to you just kind of a synopsis of all of the different things I learned this week of who people think that Jesus is when they're asked the question who is Jesus some people say he's just a historical figure some say he was a wise teacher others believe he was one who practiced magic and lead people astray some say he's a devout religious leader a very inspiring individual and he certainly is some say he's a myth created by man to control society others say he's a prophet of God like Muhammad or a man who had been enlightened like Buddha a moral teacher like Gandhi someone who did good works like Mother Teresa some say he's one of the many many paths to God others say he's a made up person to help us feel better about ourselves and give us a glimmer of hope now they're certainly all over the place in there you have everything from just a myth to a good teacher a good example moral guy enlightened kind of like Buddha what we see in the scriptures when we study the words of Jesus Jesus doesn't give us those options for himself Jesus doesn't allow us to just think he's a good teacher Jesus does allow us to just think he was a moral guy Jesus doesn't allow us to think he just good did good deeds he doesn't allow us to just think he was a historical figure who led a group of people there's a quote from CS Lewis we're gonna have it up on the screen for you talking about who Jesus was and who Jesus said he is and how we need to respond to that here's what he says a man who was merely a man and said the things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher okay so if Jesus was just a man and went around saying things like I'm God I'm the son of God unless you drink my blood and eat of my flesh you have no place in my kingdom I'm the only way to God so if Jesus was just a merely man merely a man and said these things he couldn't be a great moral teacher because that would make him a total liar he would either be a lunatic on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the devil of hell you must make your choice either this man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse you can shut him up for a fool you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can follow his feet and call him Lord and God but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher he has not left that open to us he did not intend to what's that saying jesus said I am either everything or I'm nothing what you cannot make me is just as something that's the question we have to wrestle with this morning who is Jesus to you to you is Jesus everything or is he nothing he can't just be something he can't just be something we add to our life as if it's this buffet of things and I'll have me some church they'll have me some kids I'll have me some nice car I'll have me some nice vacation I'll have some conflict in there too and I'll have me some Jesus because I got a do that that's not the way this works he's everything or he's nothing he can't just be a something now maybe you're here this morning and maybe you kind of buy into one of those things maybe you buy into Lee's historical figure I'll acknowledge that because any major secular historian would acknowledge in the least that Jesus did in fact exist so you got me there I believe that he existed maybe you believe slightly more than that maybe you believe he was a prophet like Mohammad maybe you believe he was a good example to be followed who did good deeds like Mother Teresa or he was a good moral teacher like Gandhi or he seemed like an enlightened dude kind of like Buddha wherever you're at this morning I would love to show you what the scriptures say about who Jesus is about how he's not just some man about how he didn't leave us that option how Jesus claimed that he was the Christ how John the Apostle said that he was a Christ and how other witnesses in our text this morning also showed that he was the Christ so first we saw fell false testimony confronted the second thing we're gonna see this morning is true testimony confirm that's the second thing we're gonna look at his true testimonies concerning Jesus as the Christ verse 7 says this for there are three that testified the spirit the water in the blood and these three agree three that testify spirit water blood and he says there's three and these three agree now why would he mention three because culturally they needed two or three witnesses to validate something you couldn't just offer one witness and then accept something as a fact you needed someone to corroborate and back up your story we see it in the Old Testament we see it in the news Testament let me give you a couple of citations real quick Deuteronomy 19 verse 15 says this a single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed only on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses shall a charge be established that's why when I walk into him one of my kids bedrooms after I've heard a loud crash and a bunch of kids screaming and I walk in and I get the he-said he-said thing and they're both got sock marks on their face from getting beat up and I'm like who did it well guess what this one says he did that's what this one says he did it and the fact of the matter is because there's no more than one witness in this situation I'm never going to know who did it but what he's saying is when you have backup when you have confirmation when you have corroboration to a story he needs two or three of those things Matthew chapter 18 verse 16 says this but if he does not listen take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses again we see the same thing confirmation of not just one but two or three so John's gonna provide three witnesses that testify that Jesus is the Christ the first one he gives us is the spirit John 16 verses 8 through 11 and when he comes this is talking about the Holy Spirit he will convict the world concerning three things concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment concerning sin because they do not believe me in other words concerning sin that Jesus is the only is the only sufficient thing for our sin a problem he's the only one who can clean that up is the only one who can take that away concerning sin because they do not believe in me but concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer concerning righteousness because if you want to go to the Father it's not going to take your righteousness it's going to take the righteousness of Christ to get us there concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged in other words Jesus wins in the end because he's the king because he's the Messiah because he is the Christ we see the spirit testified that Jesus is the Christ that's the first witness the second witness he provides you says it's the water it's the waters of baptism we see Jesus as baptism again and we looked at it briefly a few minutes ago let's look at it again Matthew chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 because it's not just the witness of the water in the Baptism there's actually more people involved in this than you the water and when Jesus was baptized this is passive so Jesus didn't baptize himself right you never been to a self baptism those don't happen all right i baptize me the name of the Father the Son that right like that doesn't work like that um someone baptized is you so someone's clearly here baptizing Jesus and who was the one who baptized Jesus it was John the Baptizer and let's call him John the Baptist technically he was not a Baptist so thank Baptists for hijacking that guy's name for every that's fine John the Baptizer just so it's more clear John the Baptizer baptized Jesus immediately he went up from the water so this is the witness John is gonna provide this whole situation of his water baptism and behold the heavens were opened up to him and he saw the Spirit of God this is the second witness in this story we have the baptism which is John the Baptist doing it we also have the Spirit of God testifying that Jesus is the Christ descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold a voice from heaven this is the voice of God the Father saying this is my beloved son with whom I am well-pleased there's three different testimonies in here three different witnesses we have John the Baptist we have the Spirit of God which we already covered and also God the Father all testifying to the same thing that Jesus is the Christ let's talk about John the Baptizer first and Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3 700 years before John the Baptizer was born 700 years before Jesus was born you know those guys were cousins by the way John the Baptizer in Jesus there's this prophecy in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3 that John claims for himself it says this a voice cries in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God something greater is coming be looking forward something in the future is coming for us make way prepare a way for the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God and then John the Baptizer comes on the scene in John chapter 1 verse 23 he says this I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said John says that thing Isaiah said 700 years ago about a prophet is coming he's going to make make the way make way for the Lord that's that's me Jesus in Matthew 11 actually confirms that John the Baptist was the last prophet to show up just before Jesus's birth John 1:32 in 34 this is John the Baptizer talking about the baptism of jesus and john bore witness i saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and it remained on him I myself did not know him but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me he on whom you see the spirit descend and remain this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God he's another witness Jesus is the Christ he's not just some guy he's not just this son who was born naturally to Mary and Joseph he truly was the son of God that's the second witness he provides he provided the Spirit then he provided the water the third witness he provides he says is the blood it's the crucifixion the sacrifice of Jesus again John the Baptist's in John chapter 1 verse 29 he says this the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world I love this word behold because we don't use it a whole lot right when my kids want to show me something if Jude builds some Legos he doesn't come into my room at 5:30 in the morning and say dad behold know what he says is he pokes me and he pulls on my shirt and says dad check it out check it out check it out see behold is like a stop what you're doing drop everything pay attention focus so john's walking with his followers he's done all this work to gain people to follow him to make way for the lord and there with him and they're walking and he sees jesus off in the distance and what does he say stop what you're doing drop everything fix your eyes focus hold there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world there is the one who will spill his blood for us there is the one who will be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and he will take away the sins of the world in Hebrews chapter 10 the author of Hebrews that invites you turn there go left real quick Hebrews chapter 10 if you're trying to find it go left pretty slow and you'll hit it pretty quick Hebrews chapter 10 verses 1 through 18 I'm not gonna cover all of them I just want to skim through and talk about this witness of the blood and the sacrifice and how Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world Hebrews chapter 10 starting in verse 1 says this for since the law that's the Old Testament all the commandments everything since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities it can never it being the law the law can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near now there's a lot of commas in that statement now we can take some of the things out remove the deals and here's what this little verse says the law can never make perfect those who live it up and abide by it it wasn't meant for that you cannot do everything the Old Testament says it says and somehow just be be made righteous it doesn't work like that it's not just about doing all of the right things it's about believing the right things about the Son of God verse 2 otherwise they would not have ceased to be offered would they not have ceased to be offered since the worshipers having once been cleanse would no longer have any consciousness of sins verse 3 but in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every single year what does that mean it means when people went to the temple to make the sacrifices for their sins what they were basically doing is killing something to remind them of how wretched they are the very next verse says for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins people didn't go to Temple in the Old Testament and sacrifice things to take away their sins they went to the temple and sacrifice things to remind themselves that every time they've sinned there's a consequence for their actions then every time they sinned something has to die that every time they sin something has to pay the consequences for those sins think back to the Garden of Eden the first sin God says enjoy yourself live it up says they were naked and unashamed they had all the rules everything was fine and I said here's the one thing you can't do don't eat don't touch that tree don't eat it don't do nothing with it they broke the rules that ate from the tree what happened shortly after that you know something died immediately it says they were covered with leaves and animal skins the first sin something died all throughout the Old Testament you sin you saying you send you sinned something has to pay the consequence for those sin there has to be a sacrifice so that whole law that entire Old Testament that entire sacrificial system John's walking with his followers and says behold this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world behold this is the Messiah behold this is the Christ this is not just some guy this is not just some prophet this is not just some teacher this is not just a moral example this is the Christ the Messiah the one who will take away the sins of the world that's the third witness that he gives us in this passage is the witness of the blood go back to first John chapter five continue in verse nine he says if we receive the testimony of men the testimony of God is greater if you're gonna believe what other people say about Jesus and in regard to what the Bible says that's great but he says the testimony of God is even greater than that for this is the testimony of God that he is born concerning his son that his son is in fact the Christ whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself whoever does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God is born concerning his son if you don't believe who God says about his son then you're calling God a liar think about it like this if I were to tell you my son Elijah for whatever reason hates cheese don't know why hates cheese unless it's mac and cheese or grilled cheese so unless it's like the main ingredient he wants nothing to do with it not sure why if you were to come to me and you said no you're wrong about that he he'll eat cheese on everything like are you calling me a liar who do you think knows his son better me or you I do he's my kid my son Jude if you were to come to me and say Thomas did you know your son Jude's favorite football team is the Steelers that's good two of you amen preach it best sermon ever I would tell you you're a liar no one likes the Steelers just kidding just that's joke that was a joke no it's good I'd say no actually I know my son and my son's favorite football team is the Cardinals I know that about my kid if you were to come to me and say Thomas's you know what your daughter Audrey's favorite color is camouflage I would say I'm praying that that becomes her favorite color however I know for a fact her favorite color is pink I know my kid it's the same thing happening with the father here the father says Jesus is the Christ he's my son he's my kid I know who he is he is the Messiah and if you say no he was just a good teacher then you're calling God out you're saying God's a liar you're saying that you know God's kid better than God knows his kid that's the second thing that we see in this passage we see true testimony the third thing that we see is personal testimony God John is going to wrap it up for us nice and tight and simplify everything we've been talking about we've seen false testimony confronted and then we've seen true testimony confirmed now we'll see personal testimony confessed verse 11 says this and this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son now here's how simple he makes it whoever has the son has life whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life see now this is where it gets personal and simplified we're not just asking the question who is Jesus we're asking the question who is Jesus to you who do you say that Jesus says not who does your neighbor say that Jesus is not none what did all the different cultures say that Jesus says who do you believe that Jesus is that's the big question it's a question that Jesus asked his disciples in Matthew chapter 13 we're gonna put it up on the screen for you or Matthew 16 I believe I'm sorry he says this no when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say the Son of Man is okay what who's Jesus I mean this is Jesus asking the question what do people say about me some say John the Baptist that'd be a false teaching Jesus has not John the Baptist others say Elijah no the dude was awesome super awesome guy in the Old Testament prophet call down fire from heaven like super legit and be cool to be Elijah but also false teaching us not who Jesus is others say Jeremiah another amazing prophet or one of the prophets so for different false teaching options who do people say that I am and Jesus responds with this but who do you say that I am this is what it comes down to folks who do you say Jesus says verse 16 Simon Peter replied you are who you're the Christ you are the Messiah you are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world you are the one who was promised who would come you are the Christ you're not just some man who existed you're not just some prophet you're not just some example you're not some enlightened dude you're not some figment of my imagination you're not some magician who led people astray you are the Christ the Son of the Living God who do you say that Jesus is you know after you are studying in 1st John we've kind of been thinking in the terms of knowing and showing the things we know should show through our life if we claim to know Jesus our action should show that we know Jesus another way of asking this question if who do you say that I am you could ask the question who does your life show that Jesus is does your life show that he's your Lord and Savior does your life show that the grace you've been given you now give to others does your life show the patience God has shown you through your patience towards the people in your life does who you claim Jesus to be show up in your marriage does who you claim Jesus to be show up in your parenting does who you claim Jesus to be show up in your workplace just who you claim Jesus to be show up in your home we could we could go like this for days does he show up does who you say you know he is show in your life who do you say Jesus is and who do you show him to be especially this time of year it's Christmas after all isn't it what does your life say about Jesus during this time of the year kind of going along with the trend of culture of you celebrating celebration for no reason who do you tell your kids Jesus says this time if you're who do you remind your spouse Jesus is this time of year maybe you tell your kids it's all about Jesus but your actions show the complete opposite next week we're gonna try to fill this room five times over that's the goal five services completely packed out and not for our sake but for the sake of a lost world hearing the name of Jesus for the sake of a lost world hearing from us who Jesus really is see we're not going to stand up and preach that he was just some prophet we're not going to stand up and say that he was just another man we're not going to stand up and say that he's another way to God we're not going to stand up and say he's a moral teacher a guy who did good deeds like Mother Teresa we're not gonna say he's like Gandhi Buddha Buddha or Mohammed who were going to say we're going to say Jesus is who Jesus said he was Jesus says who the father said he was Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and there's people in our world who need to hear that they need it and we're asking for your help see we're all in this together we are Highlands Church in Highlands churches all about Jesus and we are going to be all about Jesus next weekend and we want you to join us would you invite a friend would you invite a family member would you invite someone save them a seat say come come with me I know you're not into religion I know you're not into church but you like Christmas don't you you like music don't you do whatever you have to do get them here and I promise you we will tell them who Jesus is can you do that let me pray for us and then we're going to go back to worship God thank you for revealing to us who your son really is God thanks for not sending us an example to follow just an example to follow because we know we'd fail thank you for not just sending us a moral teacher because we know we can't live up to his morals God thank you for not just sending a magician with great tricks because we know we would be led astray but God you sent to the Christ you sent to the Messiah you sent a way for us to be in a right relationship with you and for God for that we worship you this morning and we say thank you we recognize we don't deserve it God would you be with us now as we close and worship will be fiqqar fix our eyes and our focus on you would you help us behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and we ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ and all God's people said [Music]

Channel: Highlands Church

Views: 479

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: sermon, church, highlands church, bible, scottsdale, arizona, jesus, god, religion, christian, non-denominational, evangelical, christianity, theology, christ, pastor, Knowing Truth: The Letters of John, Thomas Slager, Who is Jesus?, 1 John 5:6-12, 1 John

Id: q0FiNAD8Frg

Length: 35min 51sec (2151 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 18 2018