Now as a church as well, we go through the Bible and we are right now in the book of 1John. The book of 1John is one of the last books of the entire Bible, it's just before Revelation, so turn with me to 1John chapter 5 and we will be looking at verses 6 to 12 together this morning. I know it's Sunday, I know your minds may not be so clued in and tuned in to preaching as yet, so let me start with a simple test, a simple trivia, a fun quiz for all of us. Alright, five simple questions for you to consider true or false.

You must have heard about the three second rule. Food that has dropped onto the ground, if you pick it up within three seconds, it is safe for consumption. Three second rule true or false? Don't tell me yet, think for yourself first. Hey, don't say yet, don't say, don't influence the decisions of others, alright.

Question number two, when you crack your knuckles it causes arthritis true or false? There are some doctors here, later I ask you, okay,

Question number three, lightning never strikes the same place twice true or false ?

Number four, running after a full meal gives you appendicitis true or false?

Number five. The bull is enraged or agitated by the color red true or false?

Alright, I think you have heard the five questions, it is time for you to decide alright.

Question number 1, 3 second rule, food that has dropped on the floor can be picked up and consumed safely, True or false? Can I see how many of you believe it's true. (Laughter in the congregation) I know because I've seen you do it. (Laughter in the congregation) okay, how many of you say it is true, alright, a few of you, very good, alright. How many of you is false? Waaah, well, the answer is false, there is no such thing as three seconds rule, alright. At least that's what I'm told, there is no such thing as the three seconds rule.

Number two, cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis. How many of you say it's true, can I see by a show of hands? One, that's all, one? How many of you say, it's false, can I see by a show of hands, alright, the answer is false, alright, it's false, it doesn't give you arthritis.

Question number three, lightning never strikes the same place twice, how many of you say it's true, can I see by a show of hands? 1, 2, 3,4,5,6 alright, how many of you say it's false ? Okay, the answer is false. Wah, so far all false.

Number four, running after a full meal gives you appendicitis, how many of you say it's true? That's what all your mothers have said to you right? (Laughter in the congregation) Mai Zhau......( pastor uses a colloquial phrase to say) don't run, it would give you appendicitis. How many of you say it's false? Okay to the medical doctors is false, alright, it doesn't. So kids, you can run whatever, you can run where ever you want to run after you have your full meal, just don't vomit that's all.

Number five, the bull is agitated by the red color. How many of you say it's true? Finally, more hands for true, no? How many of you say it's false, okay? The answer is false. The bull is color-blind, (Laughter in the congregation), it's actually agitated ,by the movement, not so much the color, alright.

It's interesting, there are many things we all believe in, or many people believe in, but they may not be necessarily true. There are things that you even believe that changes your life. For example, I'm told that after a full meal, I should never run and so I've always grown up with that thinking, I should never run, it changes my life, but it's predicated on something that is not true.

Maybe some of you, don't crack your knuckles, because you have been told it will give you arthritis. So there are things that we believe in, things that we even adjust around, but they are not necessarily true. Can this also be the case for Christianity, that as a church we gather today and we say we believe in Jesus Christ, but who is Jesus Christ really? The church says He is God, that He is Savior, but what if, like that three second rule, like the cracking of the knuckles, like running after a full meal, they are commonly believed, but this is not necessarily true, that He may not be the Son of God, that He may not be the Savior, that He may not be the Messiah. Doesn't matter how much you believe isn't it? If it is not true, no amount of believe will make it true.

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This is a very critical question, particularly if you are living in the times of Jesus, when people around say,

“Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’

(Matthew 27:63 ESV)

Jesus is an imposter, He is a fake, He is a liar, He is a deceiver, He is here to hoodwink you, He is not the real thing, He is not the messiah, He is a liar. That's what they're saying, they say that Jesus cannot be the Messiah, because He breaks God's laws, He breaks the Sabbath. How can you believe in Jesus Christ ?

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

(John 5:18 ESV)

Some people say, but, but, but look at Jesus. He performed great miracles, He does signs and wonders, He must be the real deal. Then they say, no, He does it because, He is empowered by the devil. He has a demon, He is a mad man.

Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”

(John 10:20 ESV)

At best the people in Jesus time, say that Jesus was a good teacher. That's what they say, but they do not say He's the Son of God. They do not say He is the Messiah, they refuse, right up till today, the Jews by and large, refuse to believe, Jesus is the Christ, they refuse to believe, Jesus is the Son of God. So what do we say to these things? I mean, how do we really know if Jesus is the real deal? It is in such a context that we are given the verses here in 1John chapter 5.

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ;
not by the water only but by the water and the blood. (Added by Pastor: What a strange way to write, but, I'll explain to you later on)
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 this is the testimony of God that he has borne
concerning his Son.
(1 John 5:6-9 ESV)

At first, the reading of this text would tell you this is not an easy passage to look at. For example, Alfred Plummer a commentator and preacher of old, he says

"This is the most perplexing passage in the Epistle,
and one of the most perplexing in the New Testament."

Alfred Plummer

This is the most perplexing passage in the epistle in the whole of 1John and one of the most perplexing in the New Testament. You say, I do not know who Alfred Plummer is, then maybe whatever of Martin Lloyd Jones, who said,

Now there can be no question at all but that these three verses are not only the most difficult verses in this epistle, but I think … that they are the three most difficult verses, in a sense, in the entire Bible!"

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Now, Martin Lloyd Jones is a giant of a preacher, for him to say something like that, is significant, but it is important for us to consider 1John 5: 6-9, because I believe in this text, it is, in a sense apologetics, apologetic means a defense of the faith, kind of passage, that presents for us, The case for Christ.

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What makes you so sure that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the Christ, that He is the Messiah, what makes you so sure, what's your foundation, what's your basis, and here, John robustly gives us a defense for the case of Christ.

This is clearly his thinking, because, as you look at 1John five you realize that the word testify and testimony is a commonly repeated word, they are the same root word in the Greek. It is a word that means to sompah (a Malay colloquial term for witness), to witness, to affirm, to confirm who Jesus really is.

So John, in these six verses, he is trying to confirm for us, he is trying to witness to us, yes, Jesus is indeed the Christ. There are people who says, He is a liar, there are people who says, He is a demoniac but we say, I say and really, God says, God bears witness, He's the Son of God, the Christ.

This is John's objective right from the beginning. Remember, in verse one of chapter 1, right in the beginning, he says

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us

(1 John 1:1-2 ESV)

That which was from the beginning, this is Jesus, which we have heard, which we have seen, we can look upon, who have touched concerning the word of life, the life was made manifest, we have seen it and testified it and proclaim to you. John is saying, I know who Jesus is, He is not a subjective figment of my imagination, He is someone who we have touched, looked at, stared, listened to, for three years, He is real, we know who He is and we want to testify to you, that's John's objective from the beginning, not only in 1John, mind you, but also in the Gospel of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and John has twenty chapters, it is a long story. Many miracles, many messages, Jesus Christ preached are recorded in John, you say why? What's the purpose of writing so much, John tells you, this is the reason why I write it.

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

(John 20:31 ESV)

These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, there are people who says He is not, but this is why I tell you He is the Christ, all these evidences, all these circumstances, all these miracles, all these messages, that he has given, they proof Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, that you may have life in His Name.

So, the apostle John is regularly fixated on this desire to prove and to testify that Jesus indeed is the real deal. And so when we come to 1John 5, we are not surprised that he's back to this original intention, I want to testify, I want to witness, that He indeed is the Son of God. And he now expertly crystallizes all the evidences if I may say, and summarizes it into three, he says here, for there are three that testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood and these three agree, they concur, they the point you to the same result.

So we have three, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and we need to know what they are. So let's begin right from the top, he says, water and the blood. What is this all about, what is this water and the blood? Now, one of the reasons why this text can be perplexing, is the various conjectures and guesses as to what water represents and what blood represents. I give you some which people believe, some people believe, but I don't think they are what John intended. So let me give you the first three, which I think is not the real answer and then finally, the fourth which is the real one. So, there are some people who believe that the water here, refers to baptism and the blood refers to the Lord's supper. So they think, it refers to the ordinances that the Christian church, is given today.

1. Baptism and Lord’s Supper

This does not work, because this is more retrospective in a sense, this is not proving Jesus is the Messiah. This is to remember who Jesus, what Jesus did for us, so it is not historical, it's more representative, it's more symbolical or symbolic, so it's really not fitting to the logic of what John is saying. There are some who say, this refers to John 19:34 remember, a soldier pierced the side of Jesus and, what does the Bible record us for us? Water and blood came forth. Aaah, so that proves that He's the Son of God. Not really, how does piercing someone, and blood and water come out proves that He's the Son of God. So again, this is a very weak representation or understanding of what it means by water and blood, proving the deity, the Messiahship of Jesus Christ.

2. John 19:34

The third option, held by some like Spurgeon and so on, is that the water here symbolizes the Old Testament purification, the blood symbolizes the blood sacrifices, but again, they are not historical, they are more symbolic.

3. OT purification and Blood sacrifices

The most commonly believed view and I think, the accurate view and the correct view, not just because of the suitability of its symbols, but also the verse that will follow on later, as you will see, is this, that the water here, refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ, not the baptism of the believer and the blood here refers to the death of Jesus Christ.

4. The Baptism and the Death of Jesus

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So what John is saying here is in short. How do you know Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah ? He says look at His baptism and then look number two, at His death because they are unique, obvious demonstrations of God testifying He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Let's look at the baptism of Jesus Christ. Remember that He was baptized in Matthew 3, John 1 and there is this verse that says and when Jesus was baptized immediately, He went up from the water, behold the heavens were opened to Him, He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming to rest on Him, and behold a voice from heaven God speaking, that said "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well please."

Herein is the declaration directly from God that says, "This is My Son." How do you know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? Well, water, baptism, voice, "This is my beloved son in whom, I am well pleased." It's obvious and therefore the water here symbolizes the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ. And so, we have something in the beginning of His ministry, but there is also something at the end of His ministry, and that is represented by the blood.

When Jesus went to the cross to lay down His life, to shed His blood for our sins. Now, at this point of time, the declaration and the testimony and the witness from God is different. At baptism is a voice, on the cross, there is no voice that says this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It cannot be, because Jesus was dying on the cross as our sin bearer. But God demonstrates clearly to all that He is God's Son by amazing miracles.

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For example, from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land, unto the ninth hour.

Matthew 27:45 (ESV)

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

What is six-hour, what time is it, it's about now, we're nearing the sixth hour, 12 PM ninth hour is 3 PM. Now in Singapore and I think worldwide, generally, from 12 to 3, it will usually be the brightest, that is where the sun is blazing hot, but that's where darkness was all over the land. It was a supernaturally cast darkness, God is speaking.

Not only that, the Bible tells us the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Matthew 27:51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

This is interesting in the temple of God, there is this curtain that separates people, the priest from the most holy place. You can't get there. Only the high priest can get them once a year, you have a thick veil, acts as a kind of a hindrance, there is a barrier from coming to the presence of God. But when Jesus died, the Bible tells us, this thick veil, not a tissue paper, it's a thick veil, it is torn from top to bottom, it's high. It's not our height, it is really high, higher than this ballroom I think and it is torn from top.

What does this symbolize? It symbolizes number one, that with the death of Jesus man can now approach God. Symbolizes number two, that this new and living way open to the entrance of God, is a supernatural work of God, because when we tear curtains, it is from the bottom up. God is saying this is My Son.

And then we read of an earthquake and the rocks were split and then there was tombs opening up, the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, the dead were raised to life from the tombs, coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many, I think, it must be a scary day for the relatives. Waaa, what happened?

Matthew 27:52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son[a] of God!”

Didn't you know, Jesus died and there was an earthquake and there was darkness and the temple veil is torn and we are raised to life. Wow, and the centurion, a Roman. By the way he is not a Jew, he has no idea about these things, but when the centurion and those with him, saw this, they saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, with fear and said. "Wow, truly this was the Son of God." A centurion, who had no background knowledge, could say this is the Son of God. But the Jews as a nation refused to believe the Son of God.

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But anyone objectively looking at this circumstance would say, indeed, He is the Christ, the Son of the living God and John says to us, this is how you know if He is who He is. He is who He claims to be by the water and the blood, by His baptism in the beginning of His ministry, and by His death at the end of His ministry. And then he adds on, something really interesting, not by water only but by the water and the blood, a bit "cheong hei" (colloquial for long-winded). John, why are you so lor sor (another colloquial for long-winded) water and blood "kao liao" (colloquial for enough), why do you say, water, not by water only, but water and the blood, why do you need to emphasize, that blood aspect so much.

It would not make sense to us until we understand the context and the circumstance by which John is writing this. During John's time, there was a false teaching, it's a heresy. It's what we called a Gnostic heresy. Basically, there is a set of people, there is a group of religious people who say, God cannot be both God and man, because the flesh, the physical things are sinful and filthy. So let me tell you, who this Jesus is, this Jesus is actually just a normal man, but that the Christ came upon him at baptism, that one, we can't argue, that Christ came upon him, and so he became God-Man. But before he dies on the cross, he dies as man, because the Christ left him. So, the Gnostics have this believe that Jesus is God-Man at baptism, but by the time he went to the cross, he is just a man, he is just a man dying for men.

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John says no, no, no, no, no, no that's not the Christ of the Bible, the Jesus of the Bible is testified by water at the baptism and also by His death fully God fully man. And that's why, he adds this phrase for clarification, particular for his time. Then John says, alright, this is my first witness. It's almost like a court of law, right, your honor, I testify that Jesus is the Christ. I bring forth the first witness, water. Remember how the Father says, He is my beloved Son. My second witness is that of blood. Remember the miraculous happenings on the day he died. The earthquake, the tearing of the veil, the rising of the dead. And your honor, I am not done, I have a third witness, and the witness of the Spirit is what I am going to say, now, the Spirit, of course, symbolized by the dove, given to us as you read it just know.

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But what do you mean that Jesus is testified by the Spirit? Well, there's a wonderful verse that that captures all that. The testimony of the Spirit in Jesus life is not just one event or one time or one occasion, it's throughout. I know that, because in John 1:33, he says,

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.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

"He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." The Spirit descended on Jesus on the day of baptism right, remember that time, He was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and the Father proclaims this is My Son. In the beginning, he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, when did this take place. This one a little bit more chim (colloquial word for profound ), when did this take place, that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. Go back and read Acts 1 verses 4,5,8 and and then look Acts 2 and you will clearly know, that the reference of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit is referring to the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down in mighty power upon the church and the church became different that very day. Who did that, who enabled the church? Jesus, Jesus poured out the Spirit upon the church, that's the reward. He got for dying on the cross.

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He got the power of the Spirit He poured upon it to the church and and that's why John says, this is what the Spirit's work is in Jesus' life. From the day of baptism all the way to the day of Pentecost, the Spirit is signaling, is testifying, " This is the Son of God, the Christ. It involves of course the ministry, Jesus did, the messages He preached, the miracles He performed and even the resurrection from the dead. It's all, it's all a testimony by the Spirit, for Jesus Christ.

So, these three testify, the Spirit, the water and the blood, the entire life and ministry of Jesus, the baptism of Jesus, the death of Jesus, they all tell you clearly, without controversy, this is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is important because for a Jew, they make a case based on two or three witnesses. You can see that in Deuteronomy 17:6

On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
(Deuteronomy 17:6 ESV)

You don't sentence a man to death on hearing, one witness, the same in Deuteronomy 19 only on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, shall a charge be established.

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 of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
(Deuteronomy 19:15 ESV)

That's an Old Testament, what about a new? Same no difference, if you have an argument with a brother, let's say, in church, you, you say, you sin, I say, I didn't sin, no, you sin, no, I didn't sin. You know, after arguing for a while, you approach him and he refuses to admit, what do you do next ? Get two or three to be with you.

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.
(Matthew 18:16 ESV)

That's the principle to establish the case and not only this, if you want to accuse your elder, you want to accuse your pastor, you don't do that, or you should not admit, that accusation based on one. It must be at least two or three witnesses.

Do not admit a charge against an elder
except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
(1 Timothy 5:19 ESV)

Now, this is the principle from Old Testament to New Testament. And God Himself does not violate that principle. He says, let me give you these three witnesses and mind you this is powerful, this is convincing, not just because it's three, the Spirit, the water and the blood, but also because this is the testimony not of men but of God. When I say something you may not want to believe, because, maybe I, I may not have the right intentions. Maybe I may be out to hurt you or harm you or maybe I just don't know enough to give you the truth. But John is saying, hey, you, you, if you can believe men, who may have questionable motives, who may have questionable information, how can you not believe God, the testimony of God is greater. There is no excuse why you should say, Jesus is not Christ, when God Himself is the One who said that He is the Christ.

This is obvious, this is the testimony of God. God is saying Jesus is the one who has been prophesied of old, right from Genesis, He is the seed who will crush the head of the serpent, He is the Seed from whom all nations will be blessed,He is the Seed, Who Is called Shiloh, He is the One Who will sit on David's throne, He is the One Who will rule the world with righteousness, He is the promised Messiah, He will be born in Bethlehem, by His stripes we will all be healed, He is the coming King.

So all that is spoken of in the Old Testament, God is saying Jesus. Jesus by His death and by His ministry, by the testimony of the Spirit, Jesus Himself said everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
(Luke 24:44 ESV)

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That's a very bold statement. He is saying that all the specific prophecies about the Messiah are literally and specifically fulfilled in Me. You say, how many prophecies are there ? I've never counted, it will be quite a challenge to count them personally, but I based on some scholarly works by other men, such as William Hendrickson, who says they are three hundred and thirty-two distinct prophecies in the Old Testament that are literally fulfilled in Christ. That's a lot. Prophecies are things that have not taken place, but are predicted and they all are fulfilled, three hundred and thirty-two.

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What is the mathematical probability? This one takes a genius, alright, I wonder if there is any genius here, the mathematical probability of all these prophecies coming to pass in one man, what do you think is the probability, probability one in ?? The probability is so astronomical, it is impossible. I mean, I would say is nigh impossible, it is impossible. But you see we're not basing our foundation on probability, much as this is very convincing, I believe. Our foundation is simply this, God said, God testified, that Jesus is the Christ.

What I'm saying is here, at the baptism, water, at the death, blood and by the Spirit, these three agree in one, what do they agree, they agree and they testify to us, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, signed God.

That's what it is, that's what John is saying, this is the testimony of God. This is the witness of God. This is why we have our faith built upon Jesus Christ, because God says He is the Messiah. Yes, the Jews may not believe Him. Yes, there are people would say, He is a liar, He is a demoniac, but today we chose to believe what God has said and that's why we know it is right, God's Word.

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 has borne concerning his Son.

(1 John 5:10 ESV)

Whoever believes in the Son has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar. It's a very scary verse, it tells you that whoever believes in the Son you have received this testimony. These three witness from God into your life, you have in your heart. That's what it means to believe folks, to believe in God is to believe the testimony God gave, with regards to His Son and He said yes I hold it in my life, I believe Him.

Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar. Whoever says Jesus is not God in the flesh, whoever says Jesus is not the Son, whoever says Jesus is not the Messiah, what He is saying, is I don't care what You say, God, I just don't believe You, You lie.

You know, there is a religion today in Singapore and worldwide called Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm sure you have heard of that. They might have even knocked on your door. They are called Jehovah's Witnesses, the name, that's God's Name, by the way, Jehovah. And they are saying, we are the witnesses for Jehovah, and we want to tell you about Jehovah. I tell you something about them, they are not Jehovah's Witnesses they don't live up to their name, because Jehovah's Witnesses denied the deity of Christ, they do not say that He's the Son of God. They do not believe that He is part of the Trinity, they don't believe that at all. And so what they do, is that they, they make God a liar.

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It doesn't matter what you call yourself, it matters, whether you conform to Scripture. My friends, this is a scary verse,

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 has borne concerning his Son.

(1 John 5:10 ESV)

because it tells you and I today that there is no middle ground. You can't say to yourself, let me sit on this, I mean, I mean, and we assume that I, I just don't have enough to believe in Jesus, you can't. There are people who say, I want to be an agnostic, you know , what's an agnostic, atheists, let me just clarify,an atheist is someone who believes there is no God, an agnostic is someone who believe there is God, but I cannot know Him. So there are people who says today I want to remain an agnostic, I believe there is a God somewhere out there, but I don't think I can really know Him, He cannot really be known, I cannot know for sure, for certain, I want to remain an agnostic.

This verse tells you, you cannot be an agnostic, this passage is saying to you, look at the evidence, look at it, you can't just brush it aside and say I cannot know what God is saying, look at it, it's a clear. You see, Christianity is not some assassination of the mind where it says, you know you can't really know God, you just got to believe it, he just got to have a blind leap into the dark. No, the Christian faith is robust, the Christian faith has a solid basis and foundation, look at the evidence God has given, the water, the blood and the Spirit, Jesus is the Christ, and if you refuse to believe, you have made God a liar.

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John Stott says

“Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied;
it is a sin to be deplored.
Its sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts
the word of the one true God
and thus attributes falsehood to Him.”

Unbelief is not a myth's fortune to be pitied. You know, sometimes, we say, wah, so sad, he can't believe, just that God couldn't help him. Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied, it is a sin to be deplored, it's sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts the Word of the One true God and thus attributes falsehood to Him.

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When we say, we will not believe or we can't believe, we are actually saying, I won't believe. This is the testimony from God, I plead with you, dear friends, there is a solid foundation of your faith, can be yours, look into the evidence. The Bible is not afraid of your scrutiny, it scrutinizes you, it reviews you and if you look at the Jesus in the Bible, you will then be faced with this challenge, with this decision, is He the Christ, the Son of the living God, is He the One sent of God, to die on the cross to pay for your sins. And if you believe Him

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 of God does not have life.

(1 John 5:11-12 ESV)

This is the testimony that God gave us eternal. Why does this matter, because it's about your life, why do you have to pay attention to, this, because it's about your life and this life is nowhere else but in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. This life is not the physical or the psychological life, not the Bios, not the Psyche as we have been speaking about in 1John. This is about the Zoe, the spiritual life, the eternal life with God and this is given in His Son, who is His Son, He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. How do you know, the water, the blood and the Spirit. The choices is yours today.

There was a day, when the disciples came to Jesus and asked Master, you know that there are many people who talk about You, they want to know, who You really are? Well, what to man say that I am? Jesus asked. Some say that you are John the Baptist, some say you are Elijah. Well, guys, who do you think, I am. Peter, he opened his mouth and said Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Is that what you will say from your heart today, it matters because it concerns your life. Let's bow, for a word of prayer together.

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter has this testimony in Him. I wonder if you have this testimony in you. My friends, if you're here today for the first time, this is a beautiful message from God on high that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever has not the Son of God has not life. The path of life and death lies before you, it is a choice you can make, is He the Savior, or is He a liar. It is as vast as that, and your destination is as far as heaven versus hell, salvation versus damnation. My friends, it comes to this, would you receive and believe the testimony of God regarding His Son. I pray today, it will be a day of salvation for many. It is a scary thing to hear God's Word every time, because when you hear God's Word and you do not respond to it, it makes us increasingly guilty and culpable. I mean, what excuse do we have in the light of the clear declaration of God's Word. But my friends, you can all turnaround if you were to humble yourself and say, yes I will now choose to believe God and His Son Jesus Christ that I'm a sinner and I can't save myself, but I will repent of my sin and believe on Jesus who died for me. My friends, today, it might be the day of your salvation, would you want to turn from sin and believe in Jesus today, I beg you will, I pray you will. My dear brothers and sisters, some of you, you struggle with your assurance, you have doubts, I've spoken to some of you here today and I know that you might have grown up always being told by your dad and your mom, your Sunday school teacher, even your pastor that Jesus is the Savior. Jesus is, but you never really understood why. Maybe you trusted God, in a time of crisis, in a time of great emotional upheaval, that and when the things and events have passed, you have always wondered is it really true? Our faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and the Word of God today testifies He is the Christ, Son of the living God. I encourage you, who are struggling with doubts and assurances, come to the Scripture and look at 1John, believe Jesus, believe God for what He has declared. And may that joy of assurance, flood your heart, change your life, that you may march forward for Jesus. My friends, this is all about Christianity, this is our faith. It's all in Christ, He is the central figure of it all, He who has the Son has life.

If you have received this life, would you live now your life for Him. May we all with Peter cry out in our hearts, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Father we thank You this morning, we gather to worship you hear Your Word, we gather to know You. Thank You that John, Your servant has laid down these powerful words, and we pray that they will be deeply entrenched in all our hearts, that it will be the solid foundation on which our faith stands, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. We pray today for those who have yet to know You that You will work in their hearts, turn them from their sins and draw them to Yourself that they will look unto You and be saved. I pray for all my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, struggling along with doubts and assurance problems, Lord, may they turn their eyes also upon Jesus. So, we thank You for this hour, we thank You for Your precious Word, bless Your church, Your people, accomplish Your purposes through us, we pray all this now in Jesus Name, Amen.

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