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[0:00] very warm welcome to you all to our evening service especially if you're visiting though I think not for the first time my name is Robert Dale I'm a member of the congregation here we don't have a regular minister sadly though we're praying that one day that will change the notices this coming Wednesday 7 o'clock we have our prayer meeting and Bible study and Jonathan Kenyon will be leading that next Lord's Day 11 o'clock and 6 o'clock our services will be led by the Reverend Phil Stogner he comes from South Carolina the USA and he's an associate minister at Glasgow City Free Church and he's spending five years here in Scotland helping with the church plant at Helensboro monthly magazine of the Free Church the record is now being distributed again after lockdown if you'd like to subscribe to that please let Norman know and the cost is two pounds a month which is invoiced annually and finally concerning congregational singing following the easing of restrictions we have recommended congregational singing still wearing masks singing along with the pre-recorded singing we hope to resume our pre-lockdown practice of pre-center led singing as from the 11th of July when we will also have notice sheets again so that you have the words of the hymn so let's begin our service this evening by hearing hearing and singing along with Psalm 27 and we're going to sing verses 4 to 6 it's on page 32 of your Psalm book the Sing Psalms version Psalm 27 verse 4

[2:37] Let's stand to sing One thing I need you for the Lord and this I seek the grace that I may come within the house of heart and dwell there on my days that are the beauty of the Lord and this I and this I seek the grace that I see Him as my heart and follow by going through and the way I believe in this this I seek the grace that I need you for the love and this I uncertainty

[3:43] Thank you.

[4:13] He will be, he saved his mother's face.

[4:24] Within his end he'll shelter me, and on our own he raised.

[4:41] My head will then be lifted high, above my enemies.

[4:58] And in his name God sanctifies, with charms of joy and grace.

[5:17] Amen. Let's join together in prayer.

[5:28] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[6:05] Amen.

[6:37] Amen. And we pray that he may be at the centre of all that we do. Forgive our many sins.

[6:50] Grant us a sense of the Spirit's presence amongst us. For we ask it in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Our first reading this evening is a very familiar one from John chapter 3.

[7:15] Over many months now, as and when I've been preaching here, we've been going through the first epistle of John. And we'll be continuing with that later.

[7:26] But by way of background, I want to read John 3 and verses 1 to 21. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

[7:51] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

[8:08] Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

[8:50] Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, And you hear its sound, But you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

[9:04] So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel, And yet you do not understand these things?

[9:22] Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak of what we know, And bear witness to what we have seen, But you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things, And you do not believe, How can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

[9:44] No one has ascended into heaven, Except he who descended from heaven, The Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, So must the Son of Man be lifted up, That whoever believes in him, May have eternal life.

[10:06] For God so loved the world, That he gave his only Son, That whoever believes in him, Should not perish, But have eternal life.

[10:18] For God did not send his Son into the world, To condemn the world, But in order that the world, Might be saved through him.

[10:29] Whoever believes in him, Is not condemned, But whoever does not believe, Is condemned already, Because he has not believed, In the name of the only Son of God.

[10:44] And this is the judgment, The light has come into the world, And people loved the darkness, Rather than the light, Because their works were evil.

[10:57] For everyone who does wicked things, Hates the light, And does not come to the light, Lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true, Comes to the light, So that it may be clearly seen, That his works have been carried out, In God.

[11:21] Now we turn over to 1 John, And the verses that we're going to look at later on, 1 John chapter 5, And it's verses 6 to 12.

[11:34] 1 John 5 verse 6, 1 John 5 verse 6, This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, Not by the water only, But by the water and the blood, And the Spirit is the one who testifies, Because the Spirit is the truth.

[12:04] 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.

[12:22] For this is the testimony of God, That he has borne concerning his Son, Whoever believes in the Son of God, Has the testimony in himself.

[12:34] 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. And this is the testimony, That God gave us eternal life, And this life is in his Son.

[12:57] Whoever has the Son has life, Whoever does not have the Son of God, Does not have life. Our second praise this evening, Is from Psalm 36, In the Sing Psalms version, For page 44, And verses 5 through to 10.

[13:22] Psalm 36, Verse 5, Your steadfast love is great, O Lord, It reaches heaven high, Your faithfulness is wonderful, Extending to the sky.

[13:41] And so, Your steadfast love is great, O Lord, It reaches heaven high, Your faithfulness is wonderful, And so, And so, And so, And so, And so, And so, Your faithfulness is very great, Your righteousness is very great, Thy mountains high and sea, Your mountains high and sea, Your trust is this, Thy ocean's net,

[14:41] O land that leads to me, How precious is your steadfast love, For confidence it brings, For hope and hope and shelter in the shadow of your grace, Make peace within your hearts, And with the streams of your delight, For bear in you For bear in you,

[15:43] For bear in you, This is a source of art Ande and sea, With earth and sea, In your like we is divine, To those who knows you, Thank you.

[16:29] Let's pray. Our Father, we give thanks to you for these familiar but very precious words of scripture that we have read.

[16:52] We thank you for that magnificent summary of the gospel. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[17:12] Lord how magnificent that is. And how glad we are that the Spirit of God has borne witness to it and has spoken in so many of our hearts confirming its truth.

[17:29] And has brought us to faith in Christ. And we have known what it is to have life. Eternal life.

[17:41] Ourselves. We acknowledge as we have just sung that with you is the source of life. And in your light we see light.

[17:54] Lord both indeed pointing us to our Lord Jesus Christ who is our life and who is the light of the world. We pray that you would lead us each one of us forward in that spiritual life.

[18:10] Help us to grow in the new life that we have. Grant us Lord that we may live our lives full of gratitude.

[18:21] With a desire to follow the Lord Jesus every step of the way. Until we shall at last come into his wonderful presence.

[18:32] We pray Lord for blessings tonight upon the Church of Jesus Christ in every place. We ask for your blessing upon our Church here.

[18:46] Speak to us through your Word. Unite our hearts in love to one another and towards our God. We pray for the Churches of God throughout this town and other towns throughout the UK and throughout the world.

[19:03] Wherever your people are meeting. May the Word of Truth bear fruit. Direct those who preach that they may speak the Word of Truth.

[19:17] And open the hearts of people as you open the heart of Lydia. To listen to the things that were spoken by Paul. Open people's hearts worldwide even tonight.

[19:29] That some may be saved. We pray for this land of ours. In a time of much darkness.

[19:41] At many different levels. Lord the world is very much taken up with the problem of COVID. And indeed we bring this before you.

[19:55] We desire the mercy of God upon our land. That we may be delivered from this plague. We thank you for the vaccines that are making such a difference.

[20:09] And we pray that the time will soon come. When restrictions can be safely removed. But Lord there are so many other things.

[20:21] So many other problems in our land. And at the root of them all. Spiritual darkness. We live in a land where people truly love darkness rather than light.

[20:34] And we pray for their deliverance. We pray Lord for the people of Scotland. And for the people of the whole of the UK. That their eyes may be opened.

[20:47] To see their desperate need of salvation. And to see the sufficiency of Christ. As the only saviour. We pray that you will encourage the hearts of all who have gone forth in missionary work around the world.

[21:05] And that you would draw close to those who are suffering for their faith at this time. And truly there are many in all kinds of countries.

[21:15] That Lord we thank you for them who stand firm in situations where we fear some of us might falter. We pray for those who are tempted to turn away and compromise.

[21:30] That you would strengthen their hearts in the difficulties of their situation. We pray for the nations of the world.

[21:41] For the leaders of the nations. And for those troubled parts of the world. That your will may be done. And that you will bring peace and righteousness in the earth.

[21:56] Lord we think of situations. The political situations. In places like Israel. We see the danger of further strife arising there.

[22:13] We pray that you will calm the anger of those who are in conflict. We hear Lord of a hardline ruler being elected in Iran.

[22:25] And again we fear for what this could mean. But Lord you are able to intervene in all these situations. You raise up rulers.

[22:35] And you bring rulers down. You are the one who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of your own will. And we pray for the nations of the world in the light of that.

[22:49] That you would glorify your name. We pray for our own nation politically too. Realising that there are many stresses and strains.

[23:01] With the appointment of a new leader of the DUP in Northern Ireland. With the underlying pressure for Scottish independence. Lord whatever view we take upon that individually.

[23:14] We must bring it to you. Lord grant that your will may be done in our own hearts and minds.

[23:28] Grant that your will may be furthered by what we study in the scriptures. Grant that tonight as we look into the word of God it may come to us afresh. Grant that your spirit would help each one.

[23:41] In our own individual and private struggles. Whether there's poor health perhaps amongst some. Whether there are anxieties. Whether there are spiritual questions in our minds.

[23:56] Lord draw near to us tonight. Remember Stanley absent from us tonight. Unwell. We think of Mary's grandson with Covid.

[24:08] We remember our interim moderator. Kenny MacLeod. And the illness that has come into his family.

[24:20] Lord we pray that in all these situations. You would help us all. To rest upon the Lord. To find strength in Christ. We ask all.

[24:31] In the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Well let us sing once again now.

[24:43] The Psalm 21. On page 24. And we're singing verses 1 to 5.

[24:56] Beginning. O Lord in your strength. How the King is exultant. How great is his joy. In the triumphs you bring.

[25:06] Scottish Salter. Oh okay. Sorry. Right. We're singing from the Scottish Salter version instead. With a rather easier meter to sing to.

[25:28] Page 225. The King in thy great strength. O Lord. Shall very joyful be. In thy salvation rejoice.

[25:38] How vehemently shall he. The King in thy great strength.

[25:53] O Lord. O Lord. Shall very joyful be. In thy salvation rejoice.

[26:09] Thou vehemently shall be. Thou evermore hitties.

[26:35] From him is not with hold Whate'er his lips it great For thou with blessings in repentance Of goodness manifold And thou hast set upon his head A crown of purest gold When he desired life of thee Thou life to him didst give

[27:36] In such a length of days That he forevermore should live In that salvation wrought by thee His glory is made great Honour and kindly majesty Thou hast upon him set Well let's turn now to that passage that we read in 1 John chapter 5

[28:41] Verses 6 to 12 And continuing our studies in 1 John I want us to look at the whole of this passage tonight But I'll read again verse 12 By way of a text Whoever has the Son has life Whoever does not have the Son of God Does not have life One of the most famous lines in Shakespeare Is from Hamlet Act 3 To be Or not to be That is the question To most of us it isn't really a question at all Because the answer is so obvious We would prefer to be

[29:41] Though Hamlet does go on to give a long soliloquy on the subject Our text tonight poses a similar question To live Or not to live Only John is not talking about physical life But about spiritual life They are different And it is possible to have the one without the other There are in fact millions today Who are alive And yet dead They have life Physical life And yet they don't really have life They don't have spiritual life Spiritual life belongs only

[30:45] To the Christian Because that life is In Christ Hence this black and white contrast Between those who are spiritually alive And those who aren't Whoever has the Son has life Whoever does not have the Son of God Does not have life There is no middle ground You either have life Or you don't Now John's main aim here Is to reassure us If we are Christians That we do have life Eternal life But he also wants to challenge Anyone who doesn't believe That they don't have life And they need it I want us to look tonight

[31:51] At this life That we have in Christ And we'll look first At the one in whom we have life Verses 6 to 10 And then at the life That we have in him Verses 11 to 12 First though let me remind you Of the context John is summing up In this chapter All that he's written Earlier in the letter His overall theme remember Has been real Christianity And this has led him To make a number Of black and white contrasts Between the Christian And the world Between the saved And the unsaved In chapter 1 It was the contrast Between walking in light And walking in darkness In chapter 2

[32:53] Between keeping his commandments And not keeping them In chapter 3 Between loving the brethren And hating them In chapter 4 Between knowing God And not knowing him Already in chapter 5 He has said how We Christians are born again Implying that others Are not Now he presents us With the sharpest contrast Of all Life And death Now let me just say That this is not An easy passage The final conclusion Is simple enough But the reasoning Isn't So you will need To focus your minds This evening As we follow These verses through

[33:53] Let's look then first At the one In whom We have life In verses 6 To 10 And John Sets before us here A threefold witness Concerning Christ He wants to Convince us That our faith Is well founded We could think of it As a courtroom scene I don't know If you've ever been In court Or maybe you've seen A courtroom drama On TV But you'll know I'm sure That the prosecution And the defence Each bring forth Their witnesses And they will Obviously choose The very best witnesses That they can find And good witnesses Can win a case The kind of witnesses You want Are eyewitnesses

[34:54] Who actually Saw what happened Reliable witnesses Who can be Believed And expert witnesses If necessary With professional Qualifications To explain What has happened Good witnesses Can win a case Whereas bad witnesses Or a lack of witnesses Can lose a case The opposing Legal team Meanwhile Will seek to Discredit The witnesses They will argue Perhaps That they Couldn't have seen They were in the wrong place Perhaps Or it was dark Or they will argue That they're not Reliable witnesses Perhaps Perhaps They've lived An immoral life Or perhaps They have a Criminal record Or maybe They've lied Before Or they will Question An expert's Academic Qualifications

[35:54] Well John Brings before us Here The most Powerful Witnesses Imaginable Witnesses Things that Cannot Be discredited He begins With that Mysterious Statement About Christ In verse 6 This is he Who came By water And blood Jesus Christ Not by the Water only But by The water And the blood The context Here The immediate Context Is the Triumph Of faith In verse 5 Who is it That overcomes The world Except the one Who believes That Jesus Is the son Of God Echoing Jesus' Words In John 16 In the world You will have Tribulation

[36:55] But take heart I have overcome The world But who is this One In whom we can Overcome the World John explains It is the one Who came By water And blood Now what does That mean Various Explanations Have been Given For it The simplest It seems To me Is that it Refers to His baptism And his Death The beginning And the end Of his public Ministry Two great Historic Events One of the Aims of this Letter You may remember Was to Counter the False teachings Of the sect Called the Gnostics

[37:55] Who claimed To have A secret Knowledge Of God Now they Made a Distinction Between Jesus And The Christ Saw them As different Jesus They said Was merely A man Anointed By God The Christ Spirit They said Came upon Him At his Baptism And left Him At his Death And they Saw him Primarily As a Teacher And they Made very Little Of the Cross John Rejects That Completely When he Says that He came That implies His divinity This Is the One who Was Not merely A man Who was Born

[38:56] In the Ordinary Way This was The son Of God Who came Down From heaven When he Says he Came by Water And blood He implies His Humanity This Is the One who Was Baptized In the Jordan And who Actually Died On the Cross It wasn't Just an Appearance Of death He really Suffered The horrors Of the Cross He was a Real man And these Were real Events Which John Himself Had witnessed Christ When he Calls him Jesus Christ He shows That there's No separation The Gnostic Idea is Being totally Rejected Here Jesus Is The Christ The Promised Messiah

[39:56] The Saviour Of the World And when He Emphasizes The Blood Not by The Water Only But by The Blood He's Showing The Importance Of the Cross This is Why he Came To die For our Sins This is How he Saves Us By the Shedding Of his Blood Our faith Rests On these Historic Events Of Christ's Life And death But there Is Almost Certainly A deeper Meaning Here The Water Water And the Blood Represent Together The Saving Ministry Of Christ The Water Symbolizing Cleansing And the Blood Redemption That Symbolism Would Have Been Familiar To John's Readers From

[40:57] The Old Testament Would Have Been Familiar From The Temple There Were Ritual Washings In the Temple Indeed There Was A Vast Bowl Called The Sea For That Very Purpose And the Blood Of Animals Was Offered Up Every Day In the Temple Sacrifices The Symbolism Would Have Been Familiar To Them From The New Covenant Which Promised Cleansing And Forgiveness God Said In Ezekiel 36 I Will Sprinkle Clean Water On You And You Shall Be Clean And Jesus Spoke Later Of The Blood Of The New Covenant Jesus Himself Had Used The Same Symbolism In John 3 The Passage That We Read When He Says To Nicodemus Unless One Is Born Of Water And The Spirit He Cannot Enter The

[41:58] Kingdom Of Heaven He Straight Away Says After That About The Cross The Son Of Man Must Be Lifted Up That Whoever Believes In Him May Have Eternal Life The Water And The Blood It's Interesting To Note That After Christ Died When The Centurion Thrust In His Spear To Make Sure He Was Dead There Came Out Water And Blood John Makes Special Mention Of That In John 19 34 And He Adds He Who Saw It Has Born Witness His Testimony Is True Implying That He Saw That As A Significant Event A Symbol Of Christ's Work Of Cleansing And Forgiveness These Two Aspects Of His Work

[42:58] Are Of Course Highlighted In The Sacraments Of Baptism And The Lord's Supper This Is How Christ Gives Us Life By The Water And The Blood By Cleansing And Redemption But How Can We Be Sure Of All This John Now Calls His First Witness The Holy Spirit And The Spirit Is The One Who Testifies Or Bears Witness Because The Spirit Is The Truth Imagine That In A Courtroom Scene I Call As My First Witness The Holy Spirit How How Dramatic Is That What A Witness What Is He

[43:58] Saying He Is Saying That The Same Spirit Who Descended Upon Jesus At His Baptism Also Came Upon The Disciples At Pentecost Causing Them To Preach That Jesus Is The Christ The Savior Of The World That This Teaching Is Not Just An Invention Of The Apostles It Was Inspired By The Spirit Of God Himself And That Same Spirit Of Course Has Come Upon Us Causing Us To Believe It As Jesus Promised In John 14 He Will Lead You Into All Truth John Has Mentioned The Spirit Before Hasn't He 1 John 2 20 You Have Been Anointed By The Holy One 1 John 3 24 He Has Given Us His Spirit The Spirit Is Our Witness That Jesus Is The Christ Who Saves Us Now

[44:59] That Should Be Enough What Greater Witness Do We Need Than The Holy Spirit Himself But Nonetheless John Now Adds Two More Witnesses The Water And The Blood Themselves In Verses 7 And 8 For There Are Three That Testify The Spirit And The Water And The Blood And These Three Agree Why Does He Feel The Need To Add More Witnesses Well The Scripture Says By The mouth Of Two Or Three Witnesses Every Word Shall Be Established So Here Are Three Witnesses The Spirit The Water And The Blood Now If Anyone Here Is Following In The Authorized Version Or In The New King James Version Don't Know If Anyone Is But If You Are You'll See That There Are Some Words

[45:59] Missing In The ESV Compared With Your Version The New King James Version Reads For There Are Three That Bear Witness In Heaven The Father The Word And The Holy Spirit And These Three Are One And There Are Three That Bear Witness On Earth The Spirit The Water And The Blood And These Three Agree In One Now Those Words About The Father The Word And The Holy Spirit They're Known As The Johannine Comma I Did Warn You That This Was A Difficult Passage The Johannine Comma And It's The Subject Of Much Scholarly Debate If It Is Genuine Then It Is The Clearest Possible Proof Of The Trinity The Father The

[47:00] Word Who Is Christ And The Holy Spirit Why Is It Missing From Most Modern Versions Well The Reason Is That None Of The Ancient Greek Manuscripts Contain It Only The Later Latin Translations Most Modern Scholars Therefore Believe That It Was Added Later It Is However Quoted By Several Earlier Writers Some Of Them As Early As The Fourth Century Which Raises In My Mind The Possibility That It Is Genuine That Certainly Is Why It's In The Authorized Version And It's Been Retained In The New King James If You're Interested In The Subject The Trinitarian Bible Society Have An Excellent Booklet On The

[48:00] Subject It's Certainly True Isn't It The Whole Trinity Bears Witness To Christ The Father Said At His Baptism This Is My Beloved Son Christ Himself Claimed To Be The Son Of God And The Spirit Teaches Us Both In The Bible And In Our Hearts That He Is The Son Of God God God You You Could Hardly Ask For Three More Powerful Witnesses Than That And They Are All Agreed They're Not Merely One In Nature But They're One In Their Testimony As Well You Also Have If You Include Those Words An Agreement Between Heaven And Earth Three In Heaven And Three On Earth All Declaring Jesus Is Lord But That's By

[49:00] Way Of Parenthesis The ESV Which We Use In This Church Only Admits The Earthly Testimony The Spirit The Water And The Blood So What Does That Mean Sounds Strange Doesn't It To Call The Water And The Blood Witnesses As If They Could Speak What John Is Saying Though I Think Is That The Saving Work Of Christ Speaks For Itself Perhaps To Maintain Our Courtroom Analogy We Could Think Of The Water And The Blood As Exhibiting A And Exhibit B With The Spirit As The Expert Witness Confirming The Evidence These Three Also Agree Notice They Remember The Witnesses At Christ's Trial Did Not Agree But These Three Do All Pointing Us

[50:00] To Christ As The Saviour Of The World The Point The Point of All this Is That we Should believe the testimony.

[50:14] How frustrating it would be for a lawyer if he brought before the court the very best witnesses in the world and the jury ignored them.

[50:25] Well we are the jury here. Are we listening? John argues first the reasonableness of believing and then the folly of not believing.

[50:41] Regarding the reasonableness of believing he says in verse 9 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.

[50:56] We do routinely accept the testimony of men don't we? How much more should we accept the testimony of God himself? Christians especially ought to be sure of their faith because we have the spirit within us.

[51:16] In verse 10 whoever believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. Not just in the witness box but in our own hearts. Regarding the folly of not believing he says again in verse 10 whoever does not believe God has made him a liar.

[51:34] Because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his son. How serious is that? To call God a liar.

[51:46] And yet that's what millions of people are doing. In effect every day. No doubt they wouldn't see it that way. No doubt most of them would say they don't believe in God anyway.

[52:00] The fact is they've closed their ears to the testimony of the Lord. God has spoken from heaven and they're not listening. By rejecting God's word.

[52:12] They have made him a liar. So here then is a powerful threefold testimony concerning Christ. The united testimony.

[52:25] Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Spirit, water and blood. God. God. But what exactly are they all saying? Let's come now to our second point.

[52:37] The life that we have in him. In verses 11 to 12. John sums up the testimony in verse 11. This is the testimony.

[52:50] That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. Now the passage gets a little bit easier, doesn't it?

[53:06] What we have here is a wonderful summary of the Gospel. It is of course exactly what Jesus says in John 3.16.

[53:18] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now eternal life is both quantitative and qualitative.

[53:35] Quantitatively it is literally life forever. Qualitatively it is a different kind of life.

[53:49] Spiritual life. This new spiritual life has already begun for the Christian. Whoever has the Son has life.

[54:03] Now. If we are Christians. We have already been born again of the Spirit. We already have that spiritual life.

[54:14] And that life will go on forever. Even after death. In heaven. This life is the gift of God.

[54:25] Notice. God gave us eternal life. It wasn't earned. It couldn't be earned. But God has given it to us. As a free gift. To be received by faith.

[54:38] And it is ours. In the Son. And only in the Son. By receiving the Son of God.

[54:48] By receiving Christ. We receive life. Because this life is in his Son. As John says in his Gospel. In him was life.

[54:59] As Jesus said in John 11. I am the resurrection. And the life. Or in John 14. I am the way. The truth. And the life.

[55:11] If you want life. The only place to find it is in Christ. Because that is where spiritual life is. Paul says the same.

[55:21] In Romans 6. 23. The free gift of God. Is eternal life. In Christ Jesus our Lord. Again Colossians 3. Verse 3.

[55:32] Your life is hidden. With Christ in God. When Christ. Who is. Your life. Appears. Then you also will appear with him in glory. This life is ours.

[55:44] Because Christ died on the cross. He died. That we might live. But this is only true for the Christian.

[55:56] Which brings us back to that life and death contrast in verse 12. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of life. The Son of God does not have life.

[56:10] We Christians have spiritual life. The rest of the world is spiritually dead. People nowadays don't like black and white contrasts like that.

[56:25] But John does. The Apostle is constantly bringing this thought before us. That there is this radical difference. Between us and the world.

[56:36] That the saved and the unsaved. Are almost like two separate races. They are so different from each other. We have life. The world.

[56:48] Is dead. Now the main aim of this as I have said. Is to reassure us. That we have life. John's main aim throughout this letter is assurance.

[57:03] Says in the next verse. I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the Son of God. That you may know. That you have eternal life. What a wonderful thought that is.

[57:14] That we have life. And that that life will remain in us forever. I heard a testimony recently of a man who had once been a drunkard.

[57:28] He had come to Christ. And since then he had been following Christ for over 50 years. He is now an elder in his church.

[57:40] And he is still amazed at what happened to him. And he said in his testimony that. Before his conversion. The life that he had was really no life at all.

[57:54] It was a miserable existence. But what he had now. Was real life. And he said it several times over.

[58:05] I won't give his name. Let's call him John Smith. He said how amazing is that. John Smith the drunkard. Now has life. How wonderful. I am alive.

[58:20] Isn't that the testimony. Of every true Christian. We were once dead. In trespasses and sins. But God by his grace.

[58:32] Has made us alive. In Christ. But what about those who are not yet saved. Our text implies an invitation.

[58:47] To come to Christ. And live. It implies a choice. To live or not to live. Back in the Old Testament.

[58:58] Moses. Set a similar choice before Israel. In Deuteronomy 30. I call heaven and earth. To witness against you this day. That I have set before you.

[59:09] Life and death. Blessing and cursing. Therefore. Choose life. I could say the same to you.

[59:20] Tonight. The way of life is so simple. Whoever has the son. Has life. And whoever believes. Has the son.

[59:32] And it is completely free. God has given us. Life. Christ himself. Has paid the price. He has died on the cross.

[59:42] That we might live. It is ours. Simply by faith. It should be a simple choice. And yet millions of people say no.

[59:58] People hesitate for all kinds of reasons. Some simply refuse to believe that it's true. Some are weary of the commitment that it brings.

[60:11] Some are unwilling to give up their sins. As Jesus says later in John 3. Men loved darkness. Darkness. Rather than light.

[60:22] They loved death. Rather than life. How irrational is that? And yet every Christian will testify.

[60:34] That the life that God gives us in Christ. Is a life of blessing. And happiness. And fulfillment. And better than anything. That the world can offer.

[60:47] It is. Real life. May everyone here. Have and enjoy. That life in Christ. Amen.

[60:58] Amen. Our closing praise is. The hymn. How deep the Father's love for us.

[61:11] How vast beyond all measure. That he should give his only son. To make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss.

[61:21] The Father turns his face away. As wounds which mar the chosen one. Bring many sons. Bring many sons. To glory. We remain seated.

[61:33] As this is played for us. Do join in behind your mask. If you do know the words. How deep the Father's love for us. How deep the Father's love for us.

[61:52] How vast beyond all measure. That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His rest room The great of pain, the searing loss The Father turns His face away That's loose, which are the frozen one

[62:52] Bring many sons to glory I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom But I will host in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection What strength I gave from His reward

[63:54]  I cannot give an answer But this I know with all my heart His wounds have made my rest Son Now may grace, mercy and peace From God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Be with us all evermore Amen