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[0:00] Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass All right, faith family, if you got your Bible, go to 1 John chapter 5.

[0:46] 1 John chapter 5, it's our goal tonight to wrap up the book of 1 John. We've been in this book all the entire fall and trust that it's been an encouragement to you.

[0:57] And so we're going to finish the book up tonight and then two weeks from this weekend, I'll do the Christmas message actually in the book of 1 John as well.

[1:08] That's the plan. And so you're not done with John just yet, okay? But I wanted to wrap up the book tonight to get us through the end. And so we're going to look at verse 6 of chapter 5 down through the end of the chapter.

[1:21] So if you are nice and comfortable, I want to ruin that in Jesus' name and ask you to, if you're able, stand right back up. This is our way of honoring the reading of God's Word. I don't ever want to do this out of just tradition or anything like that.

[1:35] I want this to be a reminder that what has authority in this place is the Word of God. Faith family believes that the Word of God is breathed out by God.

[1:45] And so it comes with His authority. So John is writing this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he says this, This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

[1:59] Not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood.

[2:16] 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.

[2:29] 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.

[2:44] And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. And whoever has the Son has life.

[2:57] Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Will you pray with me? God, speak to us tonight as we look to Your Word.

[3:11] In these final words in 1 John, I pray God that we would be confident, assured, and convinced of what we believe concerning Jesus.

[3:26] That's the most important thing about us. What have we done with Jesus? What do we believe about Jesus? So, Spirit, come and do what only You can do, which is guide us to Jesus.

[3:41] And I pray it would be all to His glory. And I ask it in His name. And God's people said, Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Will, for someone who spent her life on television and speaking to large audiences everywhere, she was not used to being at a loss for words.

[4:01] But several years ago, that's exactly the situation that Oprah Winfrey found herself in. Oprah was actually getting ready for an upcoming movie, and she agreed to be interviewed by the late Chicago Sun-Times film critic, Gene Siskel.

[4:20] You may remember him from Siskel and Ebert. And the interview between he and Oprah was going really, really well until the end. That's when Siskel turned to Oprah and asked her a question that left her speechless.

[4:39] She didn't know what to say. She had no answer at all. That question that Siskel asked her was this. Tell me, Oprah, what do you know for sure?

[4:57] What do you know for sure? And this is what Oprah later admitted to about being asked that question from Siskel.

[5:10] She said, and I quote, It was not my first rodeo. I'd been asked an awful lot of questions over the years, and it's not often I find myself at a complete loss for words.

[5:22] But I have to say that question managed to stop me in my tracks. Uh, about the movie? I stammered. Knowing full well he was talking about something bigger, deeper, and more complex, but I was trying to stall until I could come up with a semi-coherent response.

[5:43] No, Siskel replied. You know what I mean. What do you know for sure? About you. About life. About anything.

[5:54] Uh, uh, I know for sure. Uh, I know for sure. Honestly, Gene, I need time to think about that some more.

[6:12] Here is a woman known for her ideas, her speeches, her interviews, her advice to the entire world, and yet the one question she didn't have an answer for was this.

[6:26] What do you know for sure? So paralyzed by that question, so impacted by that moment, that Oprah, after Siskel died, she actually wrote a series of books on that very question.

[6:46] So, Faith Family, let me ask you, what do you know for sure? What do you know for sure?

[6:58] How would you answer that question if it was posed to you? And maybe you'd say something like this, well, I know for sure my grandbaby is the most precious child ever. Or maybe you'd say, well, I just know for sure that my team is going to win.

[7:13] Or you might say, I know for sure that she is the one for me. If you asked me, I'd say, I know for sure that bread pudding is the best dessert on the planet.

[7:24] God said so. You might say this, I know that whatever goes up is eventually going to come down. Right? I mean, we know gravity is a reality.

[7:37] You might give some kind of cliche answer like, well, the only thing you really know for sure in life is death. And taxes. Oh, okay, okay, okay. You would give those kinds of answers if somebody were to ask you that.

[7:51] But like Siskel was trying to get Oprah to do, at some point you've got to go deeper than that. You've got to get down to the core of it all.

[8:03] What do you really believe? What do you really know? When the dust settles on life and you get down to the foundation of everything you live for, what do you know for sure?

[8:19] And if you're a Christian, the answer to that question is easy. That's softball question.

[8:30] Because our immediate, unapologetic, and without any hesitation answer to that question is this. I am sure that Jesus is the Son of God.

[8:44] That's our answer. Without any hesitation at all, without any stumbling over our words, our immediate response when somebody asks you, what do you know for sure?

[8:55] It's this. I know that Jesus is the Son of God. That is what we are convinced of. It's what we know. It's what we're persuaded of, convicted about, that Jesus is the Son of God.

[9:09] As I was preparing this, I couldn't get, you know, when you're raised on certain songs, those songs kind of come back to you. And I was raised on hymns. And one of the great hymns I remember singing as a kid was this.

[9:21] In times like these, I have a Savior. In times like these, I have an anchor. I'm very sure, I'm very sure my anchor holds and grips the solid rock.

[9:36] This rock is Jesus. Yes, he's the one. This rock is Jesus, the only one. How many of you remember that great old hymn? I'm very sure.

[9:48] I'm very sure. Well, faith family, that's the entire reason John wrote this letter. The entire reason the book of 1 John is written is so that you would know with certainty what you believe about Jesus Christ.

[10:08] In fact, let me compare why John wrote the Gospel of John with why he wrote this epistle, 1 John. Look at the Gospel of John, chapter 20.

[10:20] This is how John ends his Gospel in verse 30. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book. Now, just stop right there.

[10:31] In other words, we have so many things about Jesus in the Gospels. Amen? But there's so many things we don't know. But we will know. In other words, there are so many things that Jesus did.

[10:43] But the things that I included in this book, John says, these were written so that, here's the purpose, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

[11:02] Right here, faith family and those of you online, listen. John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote the Gospel of John so that unbelievers would believe in Jesus.

[11:16] It's why the Gospel of John is often a great place for you to point somebody if they don't know anything about Christianity. John wrote the book inspired by the Holy Spirit so that unbelievers would read it and say, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

[11:32] Now, why did he write the book of 1 John? 1 John, chapter 5, verse 13. I write these things to you who believe. Do you see the difference?

[11:45] These are people that already believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

[11:55] In other words, John wrote the book of 1 John so that believers would be sure. So that if a Siskel-type person ever asked you, what do you know? For sure.

[12:06] There wouldn't be any hesitation at all. If you're a Christian, you would say, this is what I know. This is what I've based my whole life on, namely that Jesus is the Son of God.

[12:18] Here's the summary. Notice it on the screen. The Gospel of John is meant to bring us to faith, while 1 John is meant to strengthen our faith.

[12:29] It's why if you had a dollar for every time John said, we know, you'd be rich. Because it's everywhere throughout the book. Has this book done this in your life?

[12:40] Has it strengthened your faith? Has it given you a confidence in your faith in Jesus Christ? Well, that's what it's meant to do. Now, as we get to chapter 5, John returns to the main idea of the letter.

[12:54] There's a lot of things that we can know about, lots of things we can be certain of, but none of those things matter if you don't get Jesus right. Amen? There's a lot of things you can know, but none more important than knowing that you know about the identity of Jesus.

[13:10] And so he returns to that idea here in chapter 5. Let's look at it again in verse 6. This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

[13:23] Not by water only, but by water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify, and there are three that testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.

[13:36] If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has born concerning his Son. Now, you've heard me say this many times, okay?

[13:48] First of all, the main point, main idea here is that we are confident that Jesus is the Son of God. That's the idea John is returning to here in chapter 5. Now, what I have said repeatedly in this series is this.

[14:03] You can't be a Christian and get Jesus wrong. Amen? You can't be a Christian and get Jesus wrong. I don't know, because Christianity is based on Christ.

[14:14] I went to seminary to figure that out, right? Christianity is based on Christ. And so if you don't get Christ right, you don't have Christianity. If you say that Jesus was a good man, but not the God man, if you say he is a prophet of God, but not the Son of God, if you say he's a religious figure, but not the eternal Redeemer, if you say he's a historical person, rather than the person who defines all of history, if you say that he is a way to God instead of the way to God, you do not have Christianity.

[14:51] Because you've got to get Jesus right. If you want to be a Christian, you must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And this has been John's burden throughout the book.

[15:02] For Pete's sake, it's how he started the letter. Like right out of the gate. He didn't even give some, hey, how you doing? You know, how are the kids? Like nothing. Right out of the gate, he goes right into the apostolic testimony of who Jesus is.

[15:17] Look at it. I'm fired up tonight. Here we go. Verse one, that which is from the beginning, which is Jesus, because we know John one says, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God.

[15:28] You got that. So that which was from the beginning, that is Jesus, we have heard, and we've seen with our eyes, and we've looked upon, and we've touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The life that was manifest, and we've seen it, testified to it, proclaimed to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.

[15:45] That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

[15:57] Right out of the gate, he's starting with, here's what we know, and here's the most important thing that we know, that Jesus is the Son of God. There's not anything more important about anything we're sure of in life than that.

[16:11] And he continues this throughout the book when you get to chapter 2, verse 22. Who is the liar? Now come strong or don't come at all, John. Who is the liar?

[16:21] But he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father.

[16:33] Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. And then in chapter 4, it comes up again. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God.

[16:45] And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. Do you get the point? I mean, John is burdened. And why is he so burdened by this?

[16:55] Why is he so like, I've got to keep coming back to this over and over and over again? Well, you remember the historical context where many of these Christians were being influenced by the Gnostics. And Gnosticism taught that God would never take on a bod.

[17:10] That God, what is divine, would never come in something evil like flesh. And so Jesus was a human, but not the God-man. He was a good man, but not the God-man.

[17:22] And so they denied that Jesus was the very Son of God. And so John again returns to this idea in chapter 5, but he saves his best argument for last.

[17:36] As if all the other shots he's taken weren't enough to strengthen you in your faith, oh, he's got one more. And he's about to lay it down. And it's the best argument you could give to make a final definitive point about Jesus.

[17:55] You ready? Here it is. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, not just based on apostolic testimony.

[18:10] Chapter 1, the we. We, the apostles, saw him, touched him, testified to him. No, no, no, no. We know his identity, not just based on apostolic testimony.

[18:22] We know who he is based on divine testimony. Notice it on the screen. We know Jesus is the Son of God, not because we say so, but because God said so.

[18:38] That's a powerful argument. That's a testimony that will hold in court. Amen? And so how does he make this argument? He gives you three examples, water, blood, spirit.

[18:51] And I know when I read that passage twice already by now, you're like, what does that mean? And these are really hard verses to interpret. These are verses that have been heavenly and heavily, both debated.

[19:07] What are they? Well, the blood, the water, and the spirit have been interpreted in different ways. One of those ways is, some have said this is referring to the sacraments.

[19:18] Water being baptism, blood being the Lord's Supper, and the spirit being in both of the sacraments. Okay, that's a very Catholic way of defining the sacraments.

[19:31] And of course, the context here in 1 John 5 is the sacraments are nowhere to be found. That's parachuting in, plucking that verse to make it say what you want it to say.

[19:41] Okay? That is no context here at all. So I don't think that's right. Some have said the water, blood, and spirit refer to the birth of Jesus. The water and blood refer to human birth.

[19:54] I'll get no more graphic than that, and there'll be no pictures on the screen. But you are born by water and blood, so to speak. And the spirit is the one that conceived that Mary would give birth to the child.

[20:08] So in some ways, you can make a good argument from that, that Jesus was human, which is the very thing that the Gnostics were saying, that God would never become a man.

[20:19] And so you could say, well, this is the physical birth and the spirit conception in Mary so that Jesus is born from a virgin. But I don't think that's it either.

[20:29] It might be, but I don't think that's it. Some have argued that the water, blood, and spirit refer to the death of Jesus, right? When Jesus died, they took a spear and they stabbed him in the side.

[20:42] And what ran out? Water and blood. The problem is, it's hard to know how the spirit fits in that. You can see water and blood, but not really the spirit.

[20:54] And so some have said it's referring to the death of Jesus. I don't think either one of those are right. They could be, because I can be wrong. But here's what I think fits the text the best and fits the context of John's argument.

[21:07] And I actually think there's something in the text that's like, no-brainer, this is what it means. Here it is. I think these are three specific testimonies from God concerning Jesus.

[21:22] And you see the testimony of what God is saying about his son in the baptism of Jesus, water, in the death of Jesus, the crucifixion, including the resurrection, and what the spirit says about Jesus.

[21:38] And in those three things, God is testifying about who his son is. Do you see? Now let me prove that. Okay, we're doing a little teaching tonight. Are we all right with that?

[21:49] So let me now step back and give you the text of which that I would say supports this. Matthew chapter 3, verse 16. This is the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

[22:11] And behold, a voice from heaven said, this, I'll just say this with me, this is my beloved son. So God bore testimony to who Jesus is at the baptism, the water.

[22:29] Notice how the apostles speak of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Acts chapter 2, verse 22, and following. Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know.

[22:48] This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified, you killed by the hands of lawless men, and God raised him up, loosing the pains of death because it's not possible for him to be held by it.

[23:03] Now verse 32, this Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit.

[23:18] In other words, come here, come here, come here. One of the things that validates who Jesus is is that he died and rose again. The death and resurrection of Jesus verifies and solidifies that he is God's Son seated at the right hand of the Father.

[23:41] God testified about his Son at the water. God testified about his Son in the blood, through the blood.

[23:53] And then the third one is the Spirit. Listen to what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit in John 15, 26. But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

[24:12] And so the role of the Holy Spirit is just to glorify Jesus and bring you to Jesus and lift up Jesus and convince you that Jesus is the Son of God.

[24:22] The witness of the Spirit is about the Son. So what is John saying here? I think it's powerful. I think it's profound. And it's this.

[24:33] It's to all of those, like, okay, the Gnostics are influencing us and are we sure about this Jesus guy and would God really take on a body? I don't know. I don't know. John, John, help.

[24:44] John, help me. Okay. We know that Jesus is the Son of God not just based on the testimony of the apostles, but the testimony of God himself.

[24:57] You don't need any more proof of who Jesus is than what the Father has said of the Son. Now talk about saving your best argument to the end.

[25:09] Like, how could you possibly have a better testimony than God? Imagine that you're a lawyer in a courtroom. Okay. Heaven forbid. Okay. You're a lawyer. Hope I don't offend any lawyers in the house.

[25:19] Okay. And you're about to call your first witness and the first witness that you call is God. Like, it's over.

[25:31] You don't need anything else. Amen? Like, there's nothing else you need or no one else you need to testify because you have God that said so. Now, are you ready?

[25:44] Because now we're about to get really serious. The implication that John gives is this. Look at verse 9. If we receive the testimony of men, that is, we take men's, mankind's word for things all the time, well, the testimony of God is greater for this is the testimony of God that he has born concerning his son.

[26:10] Now, keep that up there for just a moment. Let me just note here that that's why I think this verse solidifies the water, blood, and spirit is referring to the events of which God testifies about the son because this is the point John's making.

[26:26] Amen? Sacraments don't fit. The birth of Jesus doesn't quite fit. Just the death of Jesus. But these events where God testifies, this who is my son is, that's why I think that's what those mean.

[26:38] Now, notice the implication verse 10. Whoever believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever, and my fear is there might be some in this room, does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his son.

[27:02] Now it's serious. If you are here tonight, you're watching online, and you have said whether with your lips or with your life, I do not believe that Jesus is the son of God.

[27:23] You have looked into the face of God and said, you are one big liar. And I would not want to be in your situation because that's real.

[27:41] And there are millions of people people all over the world who have called God a liar because they have rejected the son.

[28:00] It's not hypothetical. These people are your neighbors and they live in the south metro and the ends of the earth.

[28:11] They're people that worship Allah or don't believe there is a God. God, there are people everywhere who when it comes to Jesus they have said, I do not believe in him and that is serious because there is nothing greater in life than what you think and believe about Jesus Christ.

[28:34] For as John will say, if you have the son, you have life and if you do not have the son, you don't have life, meaning the most important thing in life is the son. So I hope this breaks our hearts tonight to think about the millions of people who have refused to bow the knee and say Jesus is Lord.

[28:56] And that you'll rest in the grace of God tonight that that used to be you. You used to live a life that said God was one big liar. And it was only by his grace that his love broke through.

[29:11] Amen? And you're able to be in this place in your life and testify, I believe that Jesus is the son of God.

[29:26] Two quick implications. Some of you are like, he's got a lot of verses left. He said he was going to finish the book. Hush. Two applications very quickly that I want to make.

[29:38] One is, our faith has a firm foundation. Our faith has such a firm foundation. We have personal experience. We have apostolic witness.

[29:49] We have eyewitness testimony that went far beyond the apostles. We have the reliability of scripture. We have the testimony of creation. And more than all of those things, we have the testimony of God.

[30:00] That's why when Siskel asks you, metaphorically speaking, what do you know for sure? your unapologetic and without any hesitation answer is this, I know for sure that Jesus is the son of God.

[30:17] And that ain't based because mama said so, that's based on the very testimony of the word of God, the very testimony of God, my experience with God, and on and on and on the facts flow.

[30:30] We have a firm foundation, Christian. You ought to be sure. Amen? You ought to be sure. You ought to be sure. And the second application is this, have you put your faith in Jesus?

[30:46] What a tragedy to preach for three months in a book that's all about you knowing and yet you not know. And I assure you of this, God knows more than your family knows, your college professor knows, or anybody else in this world knows.

[31:04] So who are you going to believe? God or someone else? Are you going to believe the testimony of man or are you going to believe the testimony of God?

[31:14] Which one will it be? And if you're here and you've never confessed Jesus as Christ, would you do that tonight?

[31:27] Would you turn from your sin, would you say, I believe for the first time, I believe. Not because that num-num on the stage in a black shirt said so? Because God said so, and I believe God.

[31:40] I believe God. And the Bible says if you would do that, you would be saved. Now, what happens from here, that's verses 6 through 12, is like a shotgun blast.

[31:58] Okay? John's like, it's almost, I'm making this up, this isn't true, but it's almost like the time's running out, you know, like this is a timed letter, and he's only got a few, and it's just like, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know.

[32:11] He just rapid fires several we knows from verse 13 through verse 21, all inspired of God, all according to what God wanted to be written, so don't misunderstand.

[32:23] I'm just saying, he deals with like five topics in just a few verses, and these are all topics we've already looked at previously, so what I've decided to do tonight is I'm not going to spend a lot of time unpacking them, I'm just going to tell you what I think the main point is, and then I'm going to rapid fire go through them, are you with me?

[32:46] So here's what I think the main important takeaway, main important point would be is this, all of the we knows that are about to come, all the things we're confident of that we're about to look at, listen, listen, listen, flow out of your confidence in Christ, meaning you're confident in these things when you're confident about Jesus, and to the degree that you're not confident about Jesus, you won't be confident in these other areas, do you see?

[33:21] That's what I think the big point and the main point is, so let's unpack them quickly. Here's the first one, coming out of our certainty of Jesus, verse 13, 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.

[33:39] So here it is, if we're confident about Jesus, we're confident about life in God, and it makes sense. When I'm certain about Jesus, when I'm sure about Jesus, I'm sure about life.

[33:52] Preach, preacher. Most of the uncertainty of life that I deal with is because I've struggled in my certainty of Jesus. Whether it's Jesus' love for me or my relationship with God, it's like that's where all the issues flow from.

[34:11] But when you're certain about Jesus, confident about Jesus, you're confident about life. Because if you have the Son, you have eternal life. No, no, no, no, listen, we misunderstand that word, that phrase, eternal life.

[34:26] I say eternal life, almost immediately you start thinking heaven. Oh, yeah, that's that life I get after I die. No, don't think of eternal life that way.

[34:38] You receive eternal life the moment you receive Jesus. Because eternal life is not a place. Eternal life is a person.

[34:49] look at what Jesus says in John chapter 17, verse 3. This is eternal life. Golden streets when you die.

[35:01] No, that's not what Jesus says. This is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

[35:13] That is eternal life is knowing Jesus. When you are certain about Jesus and you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life. And when you're sure about Jesus, your entire outlook on life is forever changed.

[35:29] Amen? I mean, I could give you so many examples. We don't have time. I've already preached sermons on this earlier in the book, but it's like I remember one example I gave earlier in the book was the Kirk Cousins thing when he basically said if I die, I die.

[35:43] And he wasn't trying to be arrogant. He's just basically saying listen, after this is just more of Jesus. I mean, it's Jesus. Is this not what Paul said in Philippians 1?

[35:54] For me to live is Christ, to die is gain? If I live, it's about Jesus. And if I die, it's about Jesus. So if I die, I die. I'm not being arrogant. I'm just being real.

[36:05] Because when you're sure about Jesus, you're sure about life. When you're sure about Jesus, you're sure about life. Here's the next one because I said I wouldn't take long.

[36:17] I can't believe you believed that. Verse 14. Verse 14. Here's the next one. And this is the confidence that we have towards him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

[36:28] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked of him. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will give him life.

[36:40] To those who commit sins that do not lead to death, there is a sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray so this situation is still connected with prayer. I do not say that one should pray for that.

[36:54] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. What is that about? You're like, can you not finish the book tonight and just come back next week and finish that?

[37:06] But it really isn't complicated at all. Here's the main idea. Here's the big point. When you're confident about Jesus, you're confident to come before God. Okay? When you're confident about who Jesus is, not only are you confident about life, you're confident about prayer.

[37:23] In fact, John has repeatedly throughout the book made this point. I don't want you to shrink back at the coming of Jesus, chapter 2. I want you to be able to stand confidently in judgment, chapter 4.

[37:34] I want you to be able to come and pray, chapter 5. He's repeatedly saying, when you're confident in Jesus, you'll never flinch when it comes time to come before God.

[37:46] There will be no reason that you would not pray, that you would not come to God when you're sure about Jesus because you know that you are loved and you know that Jesus is your sacrifice.

[37:58] And so, come on, you want to talk about practical? This is practical. Here's how I know that you're sure about Jesus. You're bold in prayer. prayer. Because when you're confident in the person of Christ, you're confident in prayer before God.

[38:18] And John gives us here what prayer looks like. Notice it on the screen. Here's the summary. Our posture is one of confidence. Do you pray with confidence? Are you confident when you come into prayer?

[38:30] You are if you're sure about Jesus. Notice I didn't say you're sure about yourself. Oh, somebody say, preach, preacher. How much time we got? I don't care. Right? It's not like, hey, here's Wes.

[38:41] I know you missed me. Okay? You know, it's like, you know, really important that I come to you because of all the, no, no, no. My confidence is not in me. My confidence is in Jesus.

[38:52] He's my sacrifice. He's my book of Hebrews. He's the high priest of where I can come before God. I'm not nervous. I'm not shy. There's no hesitation because of Jesus.

[39:07] My petition is this. Anything. Anything. Ask anything you want. Any of y'all got children?

[39:18] You know your children have no problems doing this. They will ask anything. Right? Just look at the Christmas list. Are you serious? Right?

[39:29] Like, you're five. You don't need a F-150. Like, right? What's the deal? You just ask anything. Okay? And our purpose with whatever it is that we do ask is the will of God.

[39:43] So I'm confident, so confident, not in me, but in Jesus, that I will ask anything of my Father under the submission of your will, not mine.

[39:57] so that if he decides that F-150 I ain't giving you, you're good. You ask anything, but you're submissive like Jesus was in the garden, not my will, but yours.

[40:12] And not only are you bold in your prayers for yourself or your life, you're bold and you're praying for others. John is always bringing the vertical back to the horizontal. He says, if someone is in sin, you should pray for them.

[40:26] And God hears your prayers. How many of you show hands actually believe that prayer accomplishes much? How many of you believe that prayer does powerful things?

[40:36] Amen. And so, John's saying, you should pray for others in your life, but what is this whole sin that leads to death? And it isn't complicated at all.

[40:47] Here's what he's saying. The only situation in which prayer is not effective is when someone has gone so, someone is so far gone that God has already determined to bring them home.

[41:00] You can ask anything you want and not just about you underneath the will of God, but about your brother, your sister. You see somebody in sin, you see a different situation, you pray for them believing that God will do a great work and he will do a great work.

[41:16] The only thing he's not going to do is for somebody that is so far gone that he's already determined to bring them home. You ain't changing that. That has already been determined and you say, well, how do I know?

[41:27] You don't. So as long as they breathing, you praying, all right? Amen? Amen? You just keep praying for them.

[41:38] Just keep praying for them. And there's so many different views on what this means. There are biblical examples of which God simply desires to bring some of his children home.

[41:49] Moses died in the wilderness because he rebelled against God. Sometimes God just says, okay, time's up. I'm bringing you home. So pray and pray confidently.

[42:06] When you're confident about Jesus, you'll be confident in prayer. I hope you hear that tonight. Here's the next one. I've got to hurry. 18.

[42:17] I don't have to hurry. I just will. Verse 18. Here's the next one. We know, we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

[42:31] We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Here it is. I just gave an entire message on this last week, so I don't have to say much here.

[42:42] We are confident when we're confident in Jesus. We're confident in our victory in God. We are confident God will protect us. We're going to get to the end.

[42:52] You're not going to fall short. The evil one is not going to pluck you out of his hands. Amen? You are victorious. You are more than conquerors, Paul says.

[43:04] You are protected in Christ. You may be down tonight, but you are not defeated. You may be down. You will not be defeated.

[43:14] Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 8, We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed.

[43:25] Why? Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

[43:37] The evil one will not have the final say in your life. Jesus already has. And when you're confident in him, you'll be confident in the victory that's yours in Christ.

[43:49] And one final one, verse 20, says, And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true.

[44:00] In his Son, Jesus Christ, he is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

[44:12] Now, this might seem like an odd way to end the book, and it wouldn't be the first time a book of the Bible ended in an odd way. I usually point that out when I finish a book, and it ends like, that's odd.

[44:24] So it might seem odd that just, you know, the last thing he says is, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Like, why? Why end that way? But if you think about it, it's actually the perfect way to end the book.

[44:36] Are you ready for this? Okay? It all flows out of knowing Jesus. Here it is, here it is, here it is. If you're sure about Jesus, why do you need anything else?

[44:52] If you're sure about Jesus, why do you need anything else? if you have his love, why do you need, I'm not saying want, I mean like need the love of others?

[45:06] If you have his righteousness, why do you need the approval of others? If you have his truth, why do you drift into false teaching?

[45:17] Notice it on the screen. When you are sure about the Savior, you have no desire for substitutes. Preach, preacher. Amen? That's the perfect ending.

[45:28] Because if you really are saying Jesus is the Son of God, why would you go after false gods? Why let your heart run after to Savior-like substitutes when you've already said, I agree with the testimony of God concerning his Son?

[45:48] So we're confident to worship the true God and the true God alone. when we know and are sure of Jesus.

[45:59] Are you with me, faith family? It all comes down to Jesus. It all comes down to Jesus. Do you know him? Are you sure about who he is?

[46:10] Because if you know, then you know. If you know, then you know. I close with this. There's a story that some of you have probably even heard of before.

[46:21] It's about a wealthy man who had a very, very close relationship with his son. And the two of them loved art. They loved pieces of art.

[46:31] They would travel and buy famous pieces of art like Picasso and others. And this was just a core of their bond. When the Vietnam War broke out, the son went off to fight and he was killed in battle.

[46:46] The father, as you can imagine, was deeply grieved for his son. But about a month after the son died, a person showed up at the wealthy man's house with a large package and he said, Sir, your son gave his life for me in the war.

[47:02] And he often talked about your love for art and how much the two of you had that in common. He said, I know this isn't much and I'm certainly not a great artist, but I think your son would want you to have this.

[47:15] The father opened up the package and it was a portrait, a painting of his son. The father just immediately broke down in tears. He took the portrait and he put it up on the mantle.

[47:29] He was so in love with his son and wanted to honor his son. Several months later the father dies. There's a great auction that's going to be had on all of these famous, valuable paintings that he's collected over his life.

[47:46] Influential people gathered from all over the place, excited about the opportunity to purchase these famous art pieces and on the platform the very first painting was the one of his son.

[47:59] The auctioneer pounded the gavel, the bidding began, and there was silence. Someone even shouted from the back of the room, we want to see some of the famous paintings.

[48:14] We want some of the valuable paintings. Finally, a voice shouted out, I'll give you $10 for it. It was the gardener that had worked for the man for so many years.

[48:29] Going once, going twice, sold for $10. And the auctioneer laid down the gavel. The auction's over.

[48:41] Auction's over? The auction can't be over. There are more paintings to sell. The auctioneer began to explain, the father, when he passed, had one stipulation in the will.

[48:56] Only the painting of the son would be auctioned off, and whoever bought the painting would inherit the entire estate. You see, whoever got the son got it all.

[49:12] all. And faith family, I don't know of a better way to summarize the book of 1 John than to say this. He who has the son has it all.

[49:27] will. You have confidence of victory. You have confidence of eternal life.

[49:40] You have confidence to stand in judgment. You have confidence that your sins are forgiven. You have confidence that you are a loved child of God. How? Because you know you have the son.

[49:55] the son who when placed before the world's auction block didn't seem to be valuable at all. But it is in him that you inherit eternal life.

[50:11] If you have him you have it all. So faith family if anybody ever asks you what are you sure of? What do you know for sure?

[50:25] don't be at a loss for words. Don't hesitate for a moment. You tell them you know this. Jesus is the son of God.

[50:37] And all God's people said amen. Let's pray together. God thank you for this passage and the confidence it gives us.

[50:49] Not a confidence in our self or our abilities or our righteousness but confidence that we have only by faith in the person of Jesus Christ.

[51:00] And I really do pray it has been my prayer that all of us because of what we have seen in the book of 1 John in times of uncertainty would have certainty.

[51:13] There are a lot of things in this world right now we're not sure of but we are sure of Jesus and if we are sure of Jesus he is the anchor the rock of our life.

[51:27]  If there's somebody here tonight watching online and they've never trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior I pray that tonight they would believe God your testimony concerning the Son not what anybody else says what you have said about Jesus and that they would believe in Jesus name we pray these things Amen If