[0:00] We shall sing to God's praise from Psalm 147. Psalm 147 and we're singing from the beginning of the psalm.
[0:16] Praise ye the Lord for it is good. Praise to our God to sing. For it is pleasant and to praise it is a comely thing. God doth build up Jerusalem and he it is alone that the dispersed of Israel doth gather into one.
[0:36] Those that are broken in their heart and grieved in their minds he healeth and their painful wounds he tenderly abides. He counts the number of the stars. He names them every one.
[0:50] Great is our Lord and of great power is wisdom search can none. The Lord lifts up the meek and casts the wicked to the ground.
[1:03] Sing to the Lord and give him thanks and harp his place a sound. Who covereth the heaven with clouds. Who for the earth below prepareth rain.
[1:15] Who maketh grass upon the mountains grow. And so on these verses. Psalm 147 from the beginning. Praise ye the Lord for it is good.
[1:27] Praise to our God to sing. Praise ye the Lord for it is good.
[1:43] Praise to our God to sing. Praise to our God to sing. For it is blessed and done to praise it is a comely.
[2:05] God that is blessed and done to praise it is a comely. God that is blessed and done to praise it is a comely. And so on these verses.
[2:17] And so on these verses. And so on these verses.
[2:32] And so on these verses. Those are unbroken in their hearts, And graver than their minds.
[2:56] He is unbroken in their hearts, He tenderly a heart, He cuts the number of the star, He is and every one.
[3:29] Great is the Lord, A noble love, His wisdom saves the hand.
[3:47] The Lord lives of the meek and God, The wicked to the ground.
[4:04] Sing to the Lord, From giving time, On heart His gracious Son, Who covereth the heavenly blood, Who warm the air below.
[4:37] Great is the King, Who makeeth God, Upon the mountain's throne.
[4:54] I'd like us now to turn for a short while to, Excuse me, The passage that we were reading together, In the New Testament, The first epistle of John, Chapter 5.
[5:14] We can read again at verse 10, He that believeth on the Son of God, Hath a witness in himself. He that believeth not God, Hath made him a liar, Because he believeth not the record, That God gave of his Son.
[5:34] We understand the writer of this epistle, To be the same writer of the gospel, That bears the name John, In the same way, That he is also considered to be the author, Of the book of the Revelation.
[6:00] And while it is not possible for us, To state with any certainty, Although many do try and do this, To pin down the exact date, Of the writing of the gospel, Or the epistle, That we can, I suppose, Understand that, The epistle was written, A considerable number of years, After the crucifixion of Christ.
[6:41] Suggested dates can be, For example, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, In his comments on, On this epistle, He would, Take a median date of, AD 85, So, And he would, Probably suggest, AD 90, Or AD 80, As a possibility, So any, Any year between, These two dates, That John would have been, Writing these.
[7:12] Some other, Theologians suggest, A slightly later date, AD 92, But it is, Understood, That whatever, Without, Without, Insisting on, An accurate date, Or a, A very, Specific date, That, John was, Writing, Some 60 years, After, The death of Christ, On the cross, Some of the, Other, Theologians, Many of them, Compare John to, Say the apostle Paul, Or Peter, Who were for a time, Contemporaneous with them, But he, Was alive for a good number of years, After they, Had passed away, But the important thing, I suppose for us, Is not so much the exact date, Of writing,
[8:13] But to understand that, John was writing this, As a, An elderly, An old man, He was, Prior to, His writing this, He was, Exiled to, Patmos, But following on from that, He, Moved to, Ephesus, Where it is believed, This, Epistle, Or these three epistles, Were written, Now what is, Easily, Understood, Who read, Through this, Letter, Or these letters, We can see that, John is doing, His utmost, To encourage, The church, Of his own day, There is, An understanding, On his part, Of the fragility, Of the church, The church is made up, Of believers, And these believers, Are individuals, Are individuals, Who,
[9:14] Come together, Collectively, To form the church, But, In the world, In which the church, Exists, Then, As indeed, Now, The world, Is hostile, To the church, And that was the case, In John's day, There was a great deal, Of, Hostility, To the church, To those, Who were followers, Of Christ, And, We do have a habit, Of thinking, That there are, Eras, Or ages, Where the church, Is in some way, An entity, That is, That is, Favoured, Within society, That it has, Preferential treatment, Within society, That it is, Admired, Within society, Well, That's really, A figment, Of our imagination, I don't think, That there was, Any occasion, In the history,
[10:14] Of the world, Where the church, Was envied, Or, Where the desire, Of those, Who were not, Part of it, Was anything, Other than, To, To destroy it, If possible, Or to, Belittle it, At the very least, And, I think, We have to, Remember that, Because if we, If we distort, Our thinking, So that, Our thinking, Is governed, By, A belief, That there is, Some kind of, Utopia, That exists, Within the world, Where the church, Is something, That is coddled, And admired, And loved, And, The advance of it, Is, Is, At the heart, Of, Of society, Then, We're deluding ourselves, We have to have, A clear understanding, That, Wherever, The church,
[11:15] The church, The church, Whenever, Whenever, It exists, Just as truly, As the world, Determined, To crucify, The Christ, Who is, The king, Of the church, The same, Enmity, Exists, In the world, Now, As then, And at every stage, Within the world's, Development, And, If you think, For example, If you go to, The writings of the apostle Paul, Or the writings of the apostle Peter, You, You would say to yourself, Well, These men, Were very gifted men, Men of God, Who had, The ear of God, Who had the spirit of God, Who had the blessing of God, Upon, Upon their labor, In the world, And yet, What you find in writing is, Writing,
[12:16] To the church, So that they are aware, That, The world in which they are in, Is a world, Where they are under threat, Where they are in jeopardy, Where the vast many, Even those who formed part of that church, Are turning away from Christ, And embracing, Embracing, Other, Things, That are not, Of God, And in, In the case of Paul, Where, Paul was writing, He was writing to a church, That was, That he was seeing, In his own day, Turning away from the gospel, And a church, That was embracing, Syncretism, Other forms, Of, Religion, That were incorporated, Into,
[13:17] The body of beliefs, That, Were, Supposedly, Christian, But, Clearly, Were not, They were, Taking on board, The, Doctrines, And the theologies, If you like, Of pagans, And, However they dressed them up, That was what, What they were, They were, Pagan, Theologies, And doctrines, And yet, They were being absorbed, Into the church, With the effect, That the church, Was suffering, Decline, And, Suffering, From, From the effects, Of that, Now, What we see here, In, This epistle, Is that, That the apostle, Is seeking, Throughout, To encourage, The faith, Of those, Who are genuinely, Believers, In the Lord Jesus Christ, And, That's why, When we come to the end,
[14:18] Of this episode, Where we see, The apostle, Emphasizing, Throughout, The essence, Of faith, And the nature, Of faith, That he comes, Very near the end, Of the epistle, To remind, The believer, There, That, That he has, Written these things, I have written, Unto you, That believe, On the name, Of the son of God, That you may know, That you have, Eternal life, And that you may, Believe, On the name, Of the son of God, You would think that, You know, He's already said this, He's already, Emphasized this, He's already, Made this so plain, And yet, This is the essence, Of what he has to tell, The church, He is writing, What he writes, In order that they may, Be persuaded, Of this fact, That Jesus Christ, Is the saviour, That they may know, Themselves,
[15:19] That Christ, Is the one, And only, Saviour, Of sinners, That they may believe, And know, That what they believe, Is the very thing, That will ensure, That they are saved, It's a central, Tenet, Of the, Christian religion, I want us, Very briefly, To think, Of the verse, That we have here, But bearing in mind, Where it is, Within, That context, We want to, Ask, I suppose, Four questions, About, What the apostle, Is saying here, First of all, What is it, What do we understand, By the words, Believing, On, The son, Of God, What do we understand, By believing, On the son, Of God, Secondly, What is it, That we expect,
[16:21] If we, Believe, That we have the witness, In ourselves, What is it, That we are looking for, This is an evidence, Something, This is a chapter, That is chock full, Of evidences, Or proofs, That testify to, The real, Living relationship, That exists, Between Christ, And the believer, What is it, That we are looking for, As, An evidence, That this is true of us, Why is it, Why is it, That, That, That, That, That, That, That, That, That, That, The person, Who believes, Not God, Has, Made, God, A liar, Seems, Very strong, It's not just a matter of, Of refusing to believe, What God is saying, But by not, Believing, God is made out,
[17:22] To lie, Why does he, Insist on that, And I suppose, Alongside that, The fourth and final thing is, What record, Has God given to us, That, I suppose, Insists that, That is the case, Because God has given us, This record, Of his son, Which, Because, Of the source, If it is not believed, Then, Clearly, The apostle believes, That, The result of that, Is that we, Not just disbelieve God, But we, Make him a liar, I suppose, The questions are, Reasonably, Easily answered, We all know, What it is, To believe, On the Lord Jesus Christ, I would imagine, But sometimes, When we, Talk about it, We can, Lose the, Emphasis,
[18:24] That the apostle, Here, Means us to, Take on board, There are many things, That are written, And many things, That are said, That we may believe, But it is not the same, As to say, That we believe, On these things, Or in these things, We may, Believe the accuracy, Or the veracity, Of our truth, Without, Necessarily, Believing, In these things, Ourselves, Believing, And, Trusting, In the truth, That we know, Is contained, In such a statement, Or a writing, Now, What John, John, Is saying, Here, Concerning Christ, Is quite simple, He is saying, That the person, Or persons, Who believe, On the Lord, Jesus Christ, Or in, The Lord, Jesus Christ, They,
[19:25] Trust, In that person, Or the character, Of that person, They are fully, Persuaded, That that person, Is someone, In whom, That they can, Put their trust, There is a, Implicit, In that understanding, That this Christ, Is someone, That they can rely on, And the apostle, Is reminding, The believer, That this is the, Calibre of relationship, That exists, Between, The believer, And their savior, Now while our focus, Is on verse 10, It must be remembered, That the apostle, Is speaking, I suppose, About the nature, Of faith, And the faith, That can only be exercised, By the person, Who is, I suppose, Understood to be, Born again,
[20:26] By the spirit of God, And that wouldn't surprise us, Bearing in mind, Who the writer is, And if you remember, The key doctrine, I suppose, That you can recognize, John, As being, Responsible for, Is found in, John chapter 3, Where he insists, That it's recorded for us, That this truth, Is brought to our attention, Through him, That we, Must be born again, And this is, The truth, That is clearly, Declared by the apostle, And restated, By the apostle, Repeatedly, And in that same chapter, That we find, These words in, Where Nicodemus, Is being spoken to, The chapter, Concludes, With these words, At the end of the chapter, He that believeth, On the son,
[21:26] Has everlasting life, And he that believeth, Not the son, Shall not see life, But the wrath of God, Abideth on him, It's as, Clear cut as that, As far as John is concerned, And as far as, The Lord is concerned, Whose words, John is conveying to us, To believe, On the Lord Jesus Christ, Is a sign, That there is, Life without end, In their possession, It is a proof positive, Of that life, Being theirs, The marks, Are, Clear, If we are born again, Then, We believe, That Jesus, Is the one, Who is the source, Of everlasting life, Again, Reading through this, Epistle, We find, In this chapter even, That, We are told,
[22:28] The marks of the believer, We are told, That the believer, Is someone, Who is identifiable, Not just by, By the, The evidence, That accompanies, New birth, But that those, Who are born of God, Are also, Those who love, Those who are born of God, It is, Accompanied by that, Proof, Again, That encourages them, To understand, If, You are born again, If you have, New life, If you have, Life without end, Through the Lord, Jesus Christ, Whenever you come, Across, Or whenever you, Are presented, With someone, Who has that life, You cannot, But love them, Because of who they are, And whose they are, And that is, An evidence, That, That John presents, To us, And that he means us, To recognize, As being something,
[23:28] That the Lord himself, Endows us with, A third, Evidence, Is, Again, Found in this chapter, And repeatedly, Through this whole epistle, Is that, An evidence, Of this, Life in you, Is, That you, Love the Lord, The Lord, Love the, The God of heaven, And you show, Your love for God, By your obedience, To him, Your willingness, To do, Whatsoever it is, That he commands you to do, This is something, That comes, As a result of, Having this life in you, Now, That is emphasized, By the apostle, And he emphasizes it, In order that the believer, Will understand, Some of the things, That are true of him, That encourages, Their belief,
[24:29] That encourages, Their understanding, Their assurance, Even, Of faith, In the Lord Jesus Christ, Essentially, Believing, On the son, You believe, What the son, Means, To those, Who are born again, You know, Go back to the start, Of this epistle, And you find there, The apostle, Beginning, His letter, That which was, From the beginning, Which we have heard, Which we have seen, With our eyes, Which we have looked upon, And our hands have handled, Of the word of life, For the life was manifested, And we have seen it, And bear witness, And show unto you, That eternal life, Which was with the Father, And was manifested unto us, That which we have seen, And heard, Declare we unto you, That ye also may have, Fellowship with us, And truly, Our fellowship is with the Father, And with the Son,
[25:30] Jesus Christ, Beginning, Of the epistle, Recognizes, The place, That Christ has, In their life, The place, That the gospel, Of Jesus Christ, Has in their life, For it was through, The gospel, Of his grace, That they came, To a greater, And a deeper, And a clearer, Knowledge of who he is, Now that's important, Because, As I've said, When we've looked, At this epistle before, We find that the apostle John, And some people, Accused John, Of being, A lesser theologian, Than the apostle Paul, For example, And, In the sense, In which, That the apostle Paul, Because of his, Theological training, Is able to, Put his arguments, Forward, In a logical, And a progressive, Way, So that, His theology,
[26:30] Is easily, Understood, In the sense that, His arguments, Are, Are, Are, Following, A logical order, Whereas, Some who compare, John, To the writing, Of the apostle, So, They see someone, Who is less organized, And, Much more inclined, To be repetitive, And to, To be, Less structured, In the way, That he presents, In the gospel, Now, Whether you agree, With such, Such an approach, Or, Such a dissection, Of their writings, There is no question, But that, Both the apostle, John, And the apostle, Paul, Preached the same gospel, The modus operandi, Of the apostle, John, May differ, To the way, That Paul, Presents the gospel, But the truth is, That although, He, We find it clearly, In this epistle, Where, There is a circular,
[27:32] Repetitive, Nature, In the way, That the arguments, Are made by John, He'll state something, And then move on, And come back, To that same, Theme again, And we find that, Throughout, But that doesn't, Lessen the effect, Of it, That doesn't, Make it any less, Any less, Clear, An argument, If you like, If he's making, An argument, But what his purpose is, If we understand this, Is to encourage, To encourage, Those, Who are in the world, Who are, Meeting opposition, From the world, To what they believe, To remember, Not just, What they believe, But who they believe, And in this case, To remember, What they believe, About the one, If they believe it, So that, They are able,
[28:33] To go on, With them, Understanding that, What they, Have come to believe, Is not, Homegrown, Is not something, That they, Arrived at, On the basis, Of their own, Imagination, Their belief, In the Lord, Jesus Christ, Is something, Attributable, Entirely, To, God himself, Through the spirit, And, Through the word, That proclaims, Christ to them, The Christ, That we know, Can only be known, As he is made known, That's the crux, Of it as far as, John is concerned, And it is God, Who has made, Christ known to us, It doesn't matter, How, Schooled, We are, It doesn't matter, How, If we were, Given the opportunity, Of sitting through, College, Classes,
[29:34] Seminary, Classes, Where, The topic, Was always, Based upon, Scripture, Was always, Based upon, The word of God, Were it not, For the fact, That God, Was, Taking his own word, And bringing it, To bear upon, The intellects, Of those, Who were sitting, Through these classes, Those, Who were, Through, And through, Students, Would still, Remain, Ignorant, Of the, The, The doctrines, That were there, At an experiential level, Nobody, Could teach, Any one of us, The truths, That the Bible, Contain, In, A way, That they would be, Of benefit to us, Were it not, For, What, John is making, Known here, The work, Of the spirit, In our hearts, And minds, As directed,
[30:34] By God, If you, Like the next question, I suppose, Is, A, A, A, Help to our understanding, Of that, What is meant, By having to witness, In ourselves, Now as you can see, If you read back again, Through this chapter, The word, Testimony, Or witness, Is a word, That is repeated, And as we can see, From verse 6 onwards, These words, Have, Created a great deal, Of, Of, Perplexity, I suppose, On the part, Of the reader, Because, Of, The statement, That is made, This is he, That came, By water, And blood, Even Jesus Christ, Not by water only, But by water, And blood, And the spirit,
[31:35] That beareth witness, Because the spirit, Is truth, Then in verse 8, There are three, That bear witness, On earth, The spirit, And the water, And the blood, And these three, Agaritian 1, People read that, And it, I must say that, You wonder, Because there is no explanation, Given to us, As to the meaning, Of, These words, We know what water is, We know what blood is, We know what, Who the spirit is, But what is the connection, Between what John, Is declaring here, And the witness, Of these things, Because, Clearly if we understand, What a witness is, Or what a witness does, Then, These three things, Well we, The spirit, I suppose, If we took him, By himself, We can understand, That his testimony, Is something, That is relevant, To the believer, But in what sense, Is the blood, Or the water, Relevant,
[32:37] Or in what sense, Does he mean, To be relevant, And, There is discussion, I suppose, Amongst, Theologians, As to what exactly, Is meant by it, And, Just to give you, Two examples, You can understand, That there are those, Who look at these words, And they'll say, Well, The, The water, And the blood, Signify, The water, Signifies, The washing, Of regeneration, The washing, Of sanctification, And, The blood, Directs you to, The death, Of Christ, On the cross, So you've got, Water, And blood, And, The witness, To, Something that, Christ is doing, And, The spirit, As directed, By, Christ himself,
[33:37] And as he has revealed, Prior to his death, On the cross, That once, He would, Leave this world, That the spirit, Would come, And that he would, Testify, Of him, That he would, Speak of him, And, That he would, Reveal him, That is what, The mission, Of the spirit is, Now others, They take you, To the cross, And they say, Well, The spirit is, The one who's, Taking you directly, To the cross, And at the cross, We see the crucified, Christ, We see, The moment, At which the spear, Was piercing his side, And the water, And the blood, Flowed out, Confirming the death, Of Christ on the cross, And some, Interpret these words, Simply to mean that, Now the thing for us, To remember is that, It is the specific role, Of the Holy Spirit, To act as a witness, To the child of God, In John chapter 16,
[34:39] As we refer to already, Jesus, Says the following, Howbeit, When he, The spirit of truth, Is come, He will guide you, Into all truth, For he shall not, Speak of himself, But whatsoever, He shall hear, That shall he speak, And he will show you, Things to come, He shall glorify me, For he shall receive, Of mine, And he shall, Show it unto you, All that the Father hath, Are mine, Therefore said I, That he shall take, Of mine, And shall show it, Unto you, These are the words, That Christ himself, Spoke about, The ministry, Of the Holy Spirit, Having, He himself, Having left the world, And gone, Into glory, The spirit, Would come into his own, There would be, Pentecost, There would be, An outpouring of the spirit, There would be, The activity of the spirit, In the church, And, Whatever activity,
[35:40] He has, This is the primary ministry, That he has to fulfill, Directing, The sinner, To Christ, Directing the people, Of God, To Christ, Reminding the people, Of God, Of Christ's, Death, And, The efficacy of it, The atoning work, And so on, And so forth, The apostle Paul, Says in Romans, 8, The spirit himself, Beers witness, With our spirit, That we are the children, Of God, He reminds us, Of the role, That he has, And speaks deliberately, Of, The very thing, That the spirit, Is in the world, To do, Now, If we understand, That to be, Essential, Some people say, The three things, That we have here, Spirit, Blood, And water, And the three persons, Who are spoken of, As being witness in heaven, The, The, The father, And the word, And the spirit,
[36:41] The emphasis, On the trinity, There, On the three witnesses, Is just to, Make the, The witness, The account, That is there, Much more potent, And much more, Of efficacy, Of efficacy, Now, I think, I have to, Move on very quickly, I believe that, Not only does, His witness, To these things, That is the spirit's witness, But the believer, The believer himself, Is able, By reason, Of, The testimony, Of the spirit, To him, Through the word, And the accompanying, Witness, That there is, In the believer, Of the work, Of the spirit, In him, That enlivens, And quickens, That enables him, To understand, What the spirit, Shows, That the two, Walk alongside, That the two things,
[37:43] Go together, There is not, One without the other, The believer, Is the temple, Of the holy spirit, But a quotation, For you from, Ralph Eskin, And he refers to, Verse 20, We know, He says, That the son of God, Is come, And hath given us, An understanding, That we know him, That is true, And we are in him, That is true, Even in his son, Jesus Christ, This is the true God, And eternal life, And this is what Eskin says, How can I know, If I am in Christ, Or have an interest in him, You cannot know, Without this threefold witness, But any one of them, Will uncover it, If you have either, The spirit's immediate testimony, Or the witness of water, In sanctification, Or the witness of blood, In justification, You may conclude,
[38:46] As if you have heard it, From heaven itself, Surely, More clearly, Than any voice, From men or angels, That Christ is yours, And that you are Christ's, In regard, None of these witnesses, Can depone anything, But matter of fact, Therefore, When the witness speaks, The man can say, My beloved is mine, And I am his, I am my beloved's, And my beloved is mine, So he's interpreting for us, The role of the spirit, In the experience, Of the child of God, And it is not a single witness, But three witnesses, And each one confirming, What the other is saying, Confirming it to the believer, So that the believer, Can have this, Personal assurance, That, This is God's doing,
[39:48] Not mine, Not anybody else's, But the doing of the Lord, And the person, Who contradicts that, Is contradicting, What God is doing, Contradicting, What God himself, Has said, Go back again, To this verse, This, He says, He that believeth, And son hath a witness, In himself, He that believeth not, God hath made him a liar, Because he believeth not, The record, That God gave, Of his son, And this, He says, Is the record, That God has given to us, Eternal life, And this life, Is in his son, What God has given to us, His word, His activity, In the world, In the life of those, Who are his, Is a record, Of who he is, And what he has done, Through his, The person of his son, Jesus Christ, And when we see that, And hear that, And understand that, And fail, To,
[40:48] To believe it, Then, We are calling him, And what he has done, As if he was lying, As if he, Not as if it is, A lie, God has said it, God has done it, God has revealed it, And we're saying, What he has done, That he hasn't done it, That he has not acted, In this way, Salvation, According to, The well-known, Preacher, Robert Murray McJane, Is where, The believer, Comes to possess, Life, Through, God's son, Life, Without end, Which is, Nothing but, The gift of God, Living holiness, Jane says, Is a gift of God, And is all in Jesus,
[41:50] In him, As a fountain, Inexhaustible, The spirit dwells, In him, A fountain, Inexhaustible, And, God says, That, This testimony, Be a witness, To that, In the life, Of the believer, An inexhaustible, Overflowing, Effervescent, Fountain, Of life, That, Tells us, That God has done this, Not you, Not me, Not anyone else, It's his doing, So the final point, Is just to confirm that, The record, That God has given, Concerning his son, Is sufficient, To save, And those, Who question that, May God out, To be what he is not, May God in his grace, Encourage us, Through these words, The apostle, John, Perhaps, Well, We know that he was,
[42:51] Dealing with all kind, Of hostility, He wasn't imprisoned, In part, For, For any other reason, But that there was hatred, In the world, Against the Lord, And his people, He was, Spared, Until, Old age, But you remember, Very few of his, Of his brethren, The apostles, Reached that, Old age, He was spared, In the grace of God, For the good of the church, To speak, In his old age, To the church, And to encourage the church, As an old man, Who had seen it all, And we pray, That God would encourage us, To listen to him, And hear what he has to say to us, To encourage us, In a world that, Bears that hostility, To this day, Let us pray.
[43:42] Lord help us, To be persuaded, Of the, Veracity, Of the truth, That you bring, To bear upon our hearts, Upon our minds, Concerning our Lord, And Savior, And the interest that he has, In us as people, His willingness, To come to the cross, Should exhort us, In believing, That his willingness, To minister to us, Individually, As much as collectively, And remind us, Of his love for us, And his, Saving interest, That will take us, From where we, Where to where, He wants us to be, Be near to us, We pray, And all we entrust, To your care and keeping, Or to where is it, For us, And cleanse from sin, In Jesus name, Amen.
[44:38] We will conclude, Singing some words, In Gaelic, From Psalm 119, Psalm 119, And at verse 89, Bye.
[45:09] Bye. Bye. potem it should go to Google Play... Aaaa weekends X energy Thank you.
[46:12] Thank you.
[46:42] Thank you. Thank you.
[47:42] Thank you. Thank you.
[48:14] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.