35_First_John_5_6-8_The_Testimony_of_the_Spirit_pt_1

Well, good morning. This is lesson number 35 in our series through the First Epistle of John that we've covered here at Holly Hills Bible Church. This particular one covers 1 John 5, verses 6 through 8, and we've given it the title, The Testimony of the Spirit, Part 1. If you remember, we have an outline from Jesse McCauley that begins about the five chapters of 1 John, with a preface in verses 1 through 4, with God is light, so his children ought to walk in the light, from verse 5 through 2.29, and then God is love, so his children ought to walk in the love. Chapter 3 verse 1 through 5 12 the conclusion being chapter 5 13 through 21 and Just as a way of reminder We get that from Chester McCulley's website at word of truth KC org under categories and first John Today I would like to begin by reviewing a little bit the verses beginning at the verse 1 of chapter 5 all the way up through verse 8. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. Those commandments, if you remember, we specified as from the Gospel of John, as well as this epistle, are repeated by the Apostles under the breathing of the Holy Spirit, that we believe on God whom He has sent, and that we love one another just like He loves us. The next lesson we've had is verse four and five.

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Literally that means the faith of us. And then he goes on to explain what is what we believe. Who is that who makes up the faith of us? It's not neuter, it's personal. There is a person who is the center of our faith. And who is the one that overcomes the world? He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. It is Jesus, God's Son, who is the one we trust.

Now to reinforce that, he gives us three verses that describe the Son and how he has witnessed regarding him specifically. 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. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three were in agreement. I'd like to begin today by looking at the first part of verse 6 there in detail. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

We begin with that demonstrative pronoun, this one, and then the powerful verb, he is being. What we're doing here is a double emphasis on a specific one who is God's reality. The one who came, and that's in the aorist tense, it is a fact that this one, this very one, came, he arrived, he appeared. The focus is on Him who came, not our faith. God wants us to see Him and trust Him. He is our focus in the previous verses, and He is the expression of God's reality of truth. He is who we trust in. He is the faith of us.

The preposition through, as with the genitive here, means by way of. These that we look at today are the ways of God. That preposition is powerful. Many people know about God, but they do not know the ways of God. Here they are. He came in two ways. He was sealed and He was sacrificed. Those two ways are the emphasis of these three verses.

Water is first mentioned, no article. It has the idea that it is by water this way that he came. Water is used as a symbol of testimony, of witness in baptism. It's also used of cleansing, like giving life. And in type, he died and rose from death to heaven opened for man. I'd like to look at those two ways a little bit with you.

Look at Matthew 3.11 with me. John the Identifier or Baptizer said, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I'm not fit to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. There's another verse that deals with this from the aspect of cleansing water giving life.

Jesus answered and said to her, this is the Samaritan woman at the well, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who asks or says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. She said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? You're not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?

Jesus answered and said to her, everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water, springing up to eternal life. That's John 4 verses 10 through 14. The preposition and continues this with the second half of the ways of God, and that is blood and blood of Christ. It is his real divine lifeblood that was poured out to pay fully the penalty of sin. He took our place, giving His lifeblood to do so.

Look at Romans 3.25, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood, as a satisfaction in His blood through faith.

Colossians 1.20 says, And through him, to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven, he brought peace through his cross' blood. knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." Peter said that under the breathing of the Holy Spirit through him. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19.

Let me repeat that it is his divine lifeblood that was poured out to pay fully the penalty of sin, which is the second way of God of revealing something about the one who comes from the perspective of God's reality as qualified to be sacrificed, or sealed, and then to be sacrificed in reality.

His name? Jesus Christ. Notice Jesus Christ and this one are at the extremes of this particular part of the text. In the Greek way of thinking, that would be a bracket that says, look at everything within these two. I'm giving you a description of this one, the ways of God. I'll give you my literal translation here as we move on to the next verse. Now this one is, he is being the one who came through water and blood, is Jesus Christ.

The second part of this verse is not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. The little adverb not there is a negative in this case with the prepositions not of dia through, but within or in the sphere of. First the water, but not just the water only, not just the one, but with the blood as well. And the contrast that the Holy Spirit used is that conjunction but, a very strong one, with or within the sphere of the water as well. And will you notice that there are two definite articles here, specifically the water, specifically the water, and the blood. We'll get to that in a moment. I'd like to give something about the water first, however. This is the seal.

In type, when he died and rose from death, heaven was opened and it was heard that this man was approved by God, by God himself saying so. In him I'm well pleased. He is the perfect sin offering. Let's look in the Old Testament a little bit at this sin offering as to its importance. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, and this is more than a title. It carries a great amount of prophetic significance. Before a lamb could be sacrificed, it had to be examined. No imperfections were allowed. The lamb had to be perfect, spotless, to be qualified for a sacrifice for sins. And it took three days to examine them, to verify that this was the truth.

Here's the text from Exodus 12 verses 3 through 6. Tell all a congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household. Your lamb shall be without blemish a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. Notice the time span. When the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel then shall kill their lambs at twilight. Quite a picture, isn't it? Of one who would come that was perfect, qualified to bear the sins in a sacrifice. Matthew 3, verse 16 and 17 give us a little bit more information.

After being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him. Behold the voice out of heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Spirit of God gave that through Matthew, in Matthew 3, 16-17. Now, in addition to that, we have in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 29-36, these words, The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And John bore witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I didn't recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I have seen, I have borne witness that this is the Son of God. Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked upon Jesus as he walked, and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. He identified Jesus as God's Lamb, perfect to be sacrificed.

Again, that's John 1, verses 29, and continuing at 32 through 36. Now John and Andrew were the two disciples. They heard this and they left John the identifier to follow Jesus. There is a significant addition. The conjunction and is used to give that.

It is the blood. In reality, his divine blood had to be poured out. Not only was he identified as the one worthy to be sacrificed, but he had to be sacrificed, literally pouring out his blood to pay the debt we owe and to satisfy God's purity. Through his death, the penalty of sin is death. Let's look together at these verses.

First, Ephesians 1.7. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. How rich is his grace? Infinite. and so is his blood offering, and the forgivenesses of his sins." I didn't say that right, the forgivenesses of our sins.

This is continued in Hebrews 9. It wasn't by the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood that he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Through his own blood, notice that. Repetition, isn't it, of what we have here in 1 John. Hebrews 10 verses 11 and 12 continues that with every priest stands daily ministering and offering time and time again the same sacrifices which can never take away sins only cover them until he comes and he did come And he, offering the one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. The word picture is that he, in that offering, brought satisfaction, where he could sit down at the right hand of God. This is also continued in the last book in our Bible.

Revelation 1.5 says that this letter, that is, Revelation, from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood. The ways of God are learned here, aren't they? two ways first he was acknowledged out of heaven with a proclamation that I'm satisfied he is the perfect offering for sin and secondly that he became that offering for sin at the crucifixion where he paid fully the penalty of sin but there's more His death and his resurrection has torn into the veil between man and God. So man may now have intimate family relationship with God in his holiest of places. Let me read some verses regarding that.

Matthew 27 51 begins, and behold the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. Where's this veil in the temple? Between the most holy place and the holy place. God opened himself to man when Christ died on the cross. Mark repeats that exact phrase. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Notice in both cases, the direction of the tear was from heaven to earth. God did the tearing. He removed the barrier.

Luke, the Gentile writer who followed Paul, ministering to him as a doctor, but also being used to God to give us to books in the Bible, in Luke 23-45 Luke says, the veil of the temple was torn in two. We don't only have those three witnesses in words that this veil was torn, but we have an explanation of it in Hebrews 10 verses 19 through 22. Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. by a new and living way, which He inaugurated for us through the veil that is through His flesh. Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let's draw near with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

What a picture! What a reality! All has been removed between the holiest place of God's dwelling so that we can enjoy access with Him unhindered by any veil between us. Look in Colossians 1 verse 19 through 20 at these words. It was the Father's good pleasure, that's God our Father. For all the fullness to dwell in Him, that's God the Son. And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, made peace through the blood of His cross.

In Ephesians 2.12-13 we have these words, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, speaking about us as Gentiles, separated from Christ and excluded from the commonwealth or the very significant wealth that Israel had of access to God through the veil. You were strangers to the covenants of promise. You knew nothing of those things. You had no hope, and you were without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, who was formerly far off, has been brought near by the blood of Christ. How significant is His blood being offered and removing the barrier between God and men.

It's very personal, this removal and this access we have. Very personal. First Corinthians 6 19 through 20 say, don't you know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

We as believers in Christ have become His holy place now, and He is satisfied in doing that because of His ways being the perfect sacrifice for us, for all our sins. Oh boy, I tell ya, it's quite a bunch in this one verse, isn't there? My little rendering of the end of it is not in the water only, but in the water and the blood. Our God was not satisfied with giving us just one verse, however. There's more.

And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. This is verse 7. Also, same conjunction chi here, but the significance of it in this particular thing is that this is, in addition, the Spirit, the specific Spirit, in this case God Himself, is being again this is the reality from his perspective the one witnessing there the article is with the participle describing the spirit he is the one witnessing spirit because the one, again double noun use with strong emphasis, the articles used with it, only this one Spirit is the truth.

This is an overwhelming fact that He, God Himself, is absolute reality. Isn't that something? You won't find this described hardly anywhere, but here it's very clear. He is absolute reality and it's out of that that he speaks and witnesses. We have God telling us here that God the Spirit is total truth, reality. Two times God uses a definite article here to specify the one, the only divine spirit, the one, the only divine reality. God lives in a reality that is bigger than anything we have seen, touched, felt, experienced, except that we're within his reality, aren't we? It is out of that reality that he is witnessing And we are told that His ministry is to tell us about God the Son being who He the Son is. That's His ministry. My little rendering of this particular verse, also the Spirit is being one witnessing because the Spirit is the truth. He is reality.

Not satisfied with that, the Holy Spirit continues to breathe through verse 8 to us, that there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. Not only are they bearing witness, but they're bearing witness in agreement. For three are being, are existing in reality, The Ones Witnessing, again a participle telling us something about the Three, specified with a definite article, The Ones Witnessing. and they are the Spirit, specifically God, the water, the specific one that identified Him, and the blood, the specific one who fulfilled that identity by the act of love, being the offering, the payment for all sin. Indeed, these three, these specific ones. toward or literally the idea here is are focused toward the one thing again the article specifying one thing that God is united about which is that which we focus on it is that body of truth the faith about God the Son is real they are being and again three are being and they are being brackets the truth in between the mood of reality is expressed here to signify that God is now satisfied that he the son is perfectly expressing divine love here How significant these three verses are in the explanation that they give us of the preceding two verses describing the faith that we focus on, being witnessed by these three These three are being the ones witnessing the spirit and the water and the blood.

Indeed, these three towards the one thing they are being. And you could supply the word focus as real. I've given you both the New American Standard translation of these three, my own literal rendering, but I'd like to give one more rendering, Wiest's expanded translation.

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not in the sphere of water only, but in the sphere of the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who is constantly bearing witness, because the Spirit is the truth. Because three there are that are constantly bearing testimony, the Spirit and the water and the blood. And the three concur in this one thing. A bit of textual info here.

I hate to break off from the actual reading of God's Word, but we need to do so because out of the hundreds of texts that we have of Scripture, a few include some bad margin notes as being Scripture when they weren't really what God had breathed through these men. And why did the copyists of God's Word do this? Well, they did it to combat a heresy that questioned the validity of the Trinity of God. And what was included in error?

These words. Notice underlined and in bold are the words, in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one, and there are three that bear witness in earth. words that were in the margin that were added into the text for a reason. The actual text reads, for there are three that bear record, the spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree in one.

How has it been determined to be not in the original texts? Well, number one, I need to repeat, only a few have this bad note. And how many are there? Well, at the very most, four out of the hundreds and hundreds of texts that we have. I think that probably the best source I have regarding this is from Robertson's word pictures. The Latin Vulgate gives the words in the Textus Receptus found in no Greek manuscripts except two late cursives, number 162 in the Vatican Library of the 15th century and number 34 of the 16th century in Trinity College Dublin.

One of our church fathers, Jerome, who did not have it, but Cyprian with him, applies the language of the Trinity, and Priscillian, the other author, has it. Well, Erasmus, a little bit later, did not have it in his first edition, but rashly offered to insert it if a single Greek manuscript had it. And so the text 34 was produced with the insertion as if made to order. Robertson says the fact and the doctrine of the Trinity do not depend on this spurious edition. It is some Latin scribe caught up in Cyprian's exegesis who wrote it on the margin of his text. And so it got into the Vulgate, the Latin Vulgate, and finally into Textus Receptus used by the King James by the stupidity of Erasmus, his words not mine. Enough. Let's go back to the text.

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. Verse six here focuses on the body of truth about the unique Son of God, who is the one that we trust, and he is mentioned in the last phrases of the faith of us, beginning in verse four and then explained a little bit in verse five, but magnified in that explanation in these three verses.

This one unique man God announced as he came up out of the water to be sealed by himself, by God, as the perfect lifeblood offering of God for man's sin. This one unique man's baptism pictures that he offered and opened heaven for man so God's Spirit could reveal and empower his ministry to and through man. His offering opened heaven for man, so God's Spirit could reveal and empower him in his ministry to and through man. The one unique man's identity is Jesus, Savior, Christ, the Promised One. The one unique man is more than a picture. He has become the real life-broad offering of God, a real human Savior. Christ the promised one who would personally pay the penalty for man's sin. This one unique man has removed all barriers between God and man so man now can in new of kind creations by God forever united as one unit of like Christ beings, who now and forever, now and forever, express His perfectly harmonious life."

Wow, there's a lot in that verse, isn't there? But there's more in verse 7, and it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. Verse 7 also focuses on the body of truth about this unique Son of God who is the one we trust, mentioned in that part of verse 4 and 5 as the faith of us. In addition to this one unique man being announced, approved, and given as the perfect solution to man's hopeless condition, God the Holy Spirit is now revealing to man these things that are true and real, that are about this one unique man. And this verse reveals that this is the one specific spirit who is not just the revealer of truth and reality, but who is in his very being perfectly honest. Always reality. This perfectly honest one, God the Spirit, is continually now revealing true things, not false things, as the perfect, unique man is the faith that we focus on.

His God's reality. Notice even the order is parallel to the real events of God's program here. Baptism shows from the open heaven that he has been approved as God's perfect blood offering. the actual blood poured out at crucifixion that satisfies God's offense over sin, and then finally the Holy Spirit indwelling the new in kind believers who enjoy and show his life. Why?

And then verse 8, there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are in agreement. Verse 8 also focuses on the body of truth about this unique Son of God, who is the one that we trust, by the way. Mentioned in those phrases at the end of verse 4 and 5, the faith of us explained as being Jesus Christ. God's given three divine reality testifiers specified in this verse. God's current personal testimony is by His Holy Spirit about this unique man. God's personal testimony of opening heaven to reveal the Holy Spirit upon His Son and audibly sealing His Son as the perfect sacrifice at His baptism.

3. God personally in testimony, actually giving His unique Son's lifeblood, the perfect and complete payment for the offense of man's sin at His crucifixion. These three testimonies each focus on the reality of God's one unique man and this divine harmony is the basis for the following text which talks about how much greater in trustworthiness God's personal testimonies are when compared to the way we accept the true testimony of men about what is reality.

I'd like to give you some observations in an overview form from 1 John chapters 1-5. You've seen this, but I'll repeat a little bit of it. 1 John, all of it, is presenting God's children as his new family in harmony and joy. Chapter 2 presents God as light, Chapter 3 as God is love, Chapter 4 as the true spirit versus the error spirit, and Chapter 5 presents this truth that God is sharing his life by his man. I believe that God gave John a lot to reveal about the Word of God. And the foundation of that message of His love is the revealing light of His life.

Perhaps there'll be a bit of time later to review with you some aspects of His perfect life. And it's going to take an eternity of time to begin to see and understand, isn't it? As we live face to face with him in eternity, he's going to tell us the infinite aspects of his glorious life. But it is our pleasure now to have that life in us. I've given you these verses and I have some summary observations about them.

In conclusion, when the time of this text is about human history while God is forming his church, where? The place is on earth, this chaotic organization by man called the world. Who, Jesus Christ, God's Son, God's perfect human expression of Himself, is the faith of us in the verses before this? His unique Son, the focus of God's three testimonies here. And what? The focus, what is His divine life? He is the light that shows his love to and through each believing member of his called-out-of-the-world family. That's our family now, his church.

Now, by God's personal threefold witness testimony all focusing on his unique son and why so God could give his personal testimony about the reality of truth of his life now shared by his love and expressed by his unique son to and through his church family We've already learned in the previous verses that those who believe God and trust His unique Son's work for their own salvation have been reborn into God's family and now His life is being shown to us and through us. Remember from these verses, God's testimony is all focused and satisfied in this one object, the object we have now too, His unique Son. May we let God make our focus be, and our trust be, and our satisfaction be only in His unique Son. Well, I have to conclude here, but I wonder, could we pray together as we conclude?

Our Father, thank you for this privilege of seeing your testimony in your words about your unique Son, our Savior, who himself has chosen to dwell in us by your Spirit. to reveal to us, as well as through us, who you are and what you have done. Thank you, in Christ's name, Amen. Thanks for being here today. Have a good day.