Introduction
There’s
a church leader in Bournemouth called Tim Matthews whose grandfather Albert served
his country in D-Day. He got a finger shot off but he survived the war.
His
job was to drive a truck as part of a convoy to resupply the front line with
munitions, food, fuel and so on.
He
would often tell stories from that conflict, including one about arriving in a village,
shortly after the Normandy landings.
They
had received intelligence that the village had most probably been booby trapped
by the enemy in retreat and the mines had not yet been cleared. There was no
viable alternative route and the front line had to be resupplied urgently, so
the convoy just had to risk driving through the village.
The
Commanding Officer approached Albert in the cab of his truck and said, “Albert,
you’re a Christian, aren’t you?” He replied that he was.
So,
the CO said, “Well, since you know where you’re going when you die, you can
drive an empty truck through the village, and the rest of the convoy will
follow your tyre tracks. If you get blown up, well, we’ll know to take a
different route!”
There
are times when you might actually wish you weren’t a Christian after
all! And that might be one of them. But Albert gave a salute, said “Yes, sir,” bowed
his head in prayer, then started the engine, got into gear - and set off. He drove
straight through the middle of the village without incident.
That
is what you call a testimony. It’s an interesting story that encourages
faith and inspires confidence. Albert’s faith was not merely academic or theoretical.
The man was ready for sudden death, because he was convinced from his prior experience
of God that Jesus is Lord, heaven is real, and this life is not all there is.
Born
of God to Overcome the World
Our
reading from 1 John 5 today has quite a lot to say about testimony in v6-12 and
we’ll come to that a bit later.
But
that story from June or July 1944 serves also to shed some light on what John writes
in v1-5. Let’s
read it again:
“Everyone
who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves
the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the
children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is
love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for
everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome
the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
That
man Albert Matthews knew beyond any doubt he was a child of God. And his faith
certainly overcame the world!
But
how did Albert know he was a child of God? How would you know? Some
people talk about God being the Father of us all. It’s a very old-fashioned way
of saying it, but when I was growing up people talked about ‘the brotherhood of
man’, meaning the whole human race as children of one God.
But
the Bible never says that at all, and this letter, 1 John, is where God tells
us most clearly that humanity is not made up of one family, but of two. As
we’ve seen, John is very black and white. Ultimately, the truth is that there
are children of God and children of the world - and there is nothing in between.
Which family are you in?
Furthermore, the Bible says not just that there are two families; it tells us that they don’t tend to get on that well. They never have done, and they never will do.
Furthermore, the Bible says not just that there are two families; it tells us that they don’t tend to get on that well. They never have done, and they never will do.
If
you think I’m being melodramatic, just go on any secular forum online and begin
your comments with the words, “As a Christian who believes the Bible, I think…”
and get ready for a deluge of abuse. Children of the world are often
antagonistic towards children of God.
Well, what makes all the difference between
being a child of God and a child of the world? The answer in a word is “faith.”
By
faith, you instantly become a loved, deeply-loved, child of God. Any parent will
tell you about the overpowering emotion that fills the heart the moment one of
their children is born, or even when a mother discovers she’s expecting.
But
God’s love for you as your heavenly Father far exceeds that of human parents for
their own offspring. Romans 5.5 says, “God’s love has been poured out
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” God… so loves you.
The
moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, v1 says you were born of God and v12
says you received eternal life.
John’s not talking about a vague kind of faith
or woolly spirituality. John doesn’t say, “everyone who believes that there is some
kind of god or inner light, however you like to define it.” It’s not about
belief in UFOs, or ghosts, or horoscopes or mindfulness. Who can say they are a
child of God? Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (v1).
It’s about Jesus, but it’s more than thinking
that Jesus was a nice man, who did good to all and was a great moral teacher. Thinking
that doesn’t make you a child of God.
It’s
believing that Jesus is the Christ. Notice the tense of the verb. We say Shakespeare
was, Queen Victoria was. But Christians don’t say “Jesus was Lord.”
Faith says, Jesus is Lord, he is the Christ because he is
alive.
“The Christ” says John: not
a christ. Not one of several paths up the same mountain. Not one of many
roads to God. Jesus is the Christ. It means “the anointed one”, the
chosen one, the special one.
It
means the only one who can save me from the eternal spiritual ruin my sin is
leading me to. Nobody else can do this for me.
The
moment you become a Christian, you get a new heavenly Father. He’s better than
any dad on earth will ever be. But, more than that, you find you’ve been
adopted into a big family.
You’ve
got a whole bunch of brothers and sisters you hadn’t thought about as well. Lots
of them. Take a look around you. Big ones, little ones, young ones, old ones,
ones you like, ones you like a bit less - but they are family.
And
as dear Donna Levin loved to say, every time she stood here, family can get
messy but we still love each other because that’s what families do.
Sometimes
people say to me, “Why can’t I be a Christian without going to church? I don’t
really like church.” The Apostle John would say, (v1), “Everyone who loves the father
loves his child as well.”
When Holly Falcus was born just before
Christmas, I loved her the moment I saw her. Much more than I would love some
baby I saw on the bus – because I know and love her mum and dad, Lucy and Matt.
They’re friends.
What
we really think about God deep down is exposed by what we think about his
family, the church.
Someone might say, “Well, I love my brothers
and sisters in Christ. I get a lovely warm glow whenever I walk into church and
see them.”
And that’s great. To be honest, that’s how I
feel when I’m with you. Well, most of the time… No, I’ll miss you when I go. But
John says, “It’s got to be a bit more than feelings and nice words. It involves
action - obedience to God’s commands.”
According to the Cinnamon Trust, local churches
and ministries delivered 220,000 social action projects serving up to 48
million people in the UK last year. Real love is practical, not sentimental.
“This is love for God: to obey his commands”
(v2-3).
The Lord’s Prayer begins with obedience – “your
will be done.” Not my will, not Auntie Mabel’s or Uncle Tom Cobbley’s but, as I
live my life today, may your will be done, Father.
The
Ten Commandments are quite easy to understand; five are about loving God, and
five are about loving others. In
fact, Jesus whittled ten down to just two. Just two simple instructions,
really. Love God with all your heart, mind soul and strength, and love your
neighbour as yourself. That’s it.
But
there’s another sense in which God’s commands are not onerous or heavy.
If
you’ve ever been madly in love with someone, you think about them all the time,
you spend ages combing your hair and putting on your make up, you can’t wait to
see them, they make you laugh, you just love being with them…
Well,
imagine the Ten Commandments being given to you by someone you are deeply in
love with. You will have no other girlfriend/boyfriend but me. Not a problem. You
will not turn my name into a swear word. Why would I? I keep writing your name
on paper with little hearts all around it! You will spend one day in seven with
me. Only one in seven! Can’t I spend more?
That’s
why John says here that obeying God’s commands is not a drag if you love him.
“This
is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” says John in v4.
Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor likes to say, “Don't tell God how big the
problem is; tell the problem how big God is.” Everyone
born of God overcomes the world.
At New Wine two years ago, there was an amazing testimony from a
North Korean Christian who escaped to the West. In their secret church, they had
to sing worship songs in a whisper so as not to be overheard. Her husband was discovered
and killed for being a follower of Jesus. Before she fled the country, she
shared her faith at immense personal risk.
She wrote out by hand the whole Bible as an encouragement. She
wept as she recited Psalm 23 from memory. It's a capital offence to own a Bible
in North Korea, so they bury their Bibles in the garden and dig them up in the
middle of the night to read them.
She said, "In that horrible place the Lord was in my heart,
and my heart was at peace. I saw the worst of humanity but the best of Jesus
Christ. While I was tortured, I heard God’s voice and remembered the suffering
of Christ.”
There’s what John means when he says “everyone born of God
overcomes the world.”
Three Witnesses
I said earlier that I’d get to the bit about testimonies.
In v6-12, John speaks about three witnesses, each with a testimony about Jesus.
This is another of those bits in 1 John where you have to work hard. It’s one of the most
obscure bits in the New Testament, and I’m not going to give you all the
various opinions. I’m just going to tell you what I think.
If
you were not present at an event, you are dependent on those who were and what
they tell you. None of us were around when Jesus walked on Earth so we rely on
witnesses and testimony.
If you’ve ever been to a law court, or
watched courtroom dramas like Perry Mason and Judge Judy, you know that a case
will often turn on the testimony supplied by witnesses questioned under oath. Their
evidence; what they saw, what they heard, often determines the outcome of the case.
These
verses are a bit like a case before a judge and jury. And the counsel for the
prosecution is arguing that our faith is little more than fantasy. It’s just a
feeling based on nothing.
What
is the basis of our faith? John was Jesus’ best friend and closest companion; he
ate with him, he saw him sweat, he leaned against him and heard his beating
heart. He says here that our faith in Jesus is based on valid and verifiable facts.
It
is based on a real life – Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary. We sing in The Creed
song “I believe in Christ the Son, in the virgin birth, suffered and crucified,
descended into darkness, but rose in glorious life.
How can you be sure that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God? There are three witnesses.
Firstly, water. There is a place just north
of the Dead Sea, east of Jericho, on the River Jordan, called Qasr el Yahud, where
John the Baptist did his baptizing. You can go there and see where it took
place. It really happened.
And at Jesus’ baptism, the heavens opened and
God said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Crowds saw
it. That’s the first testimony, near the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Secondly, blood. The second testimony is near
the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. “Jesus ‘came by water and blood... he did
not come by water only, but by water and blood” says John in v6. In other
words, he didn’t just come to live like us as the Son of Man, he came to die
for us as the Son of God.
He sweated blood under the exceptional
anxiety and distress of just thinking about it. John was there, and saw it. He
endured a flogging, a crown of thorns, nails in his hands and feet, a spear in
his side; he was marred, Isaiah says, beyond human likeness. He was like
butchered meat. John actually watched blood trickle down Jesus’ body and
drip on the ground.
John’s testimony would have been impressive
in itself but he says in v9 it is a testimony of God which is greater. And there
was a heavenly testimony, five days before the cross. John 12.28 says
that a voice came from heaven where God said, “I have glorified my name and I will
glorify it again.”
The crowd that was there heard it, some said
it thundered, and Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.” In
other words, it was a testimony.
Thirdly, the Spirit. The Holy Spirit
witnesses to our inner self. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and he
always speaks the truth.
When someone becomes a child of God, they
often say, “I just know in my heart, I just know I have eternal life.” We may
doubt it at times afterwards, but when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, he
gives you an inner assurance that you are loved and belong to him; Jesus is
real.
At All Saints’ we think it’s important to make
room for people to be prayed for, every week. We encourage everyone to be
filled with the Holy Spirit. Have you ever asked God to fill you to overflowing
with the Spirit? You really should.
For many people this is a key experience in
their spiritual journey where God strengthens their faith and confirms it as
real.
Most
of us would tend to accept the testimony of three witnesses saying the same
thing in court. Why would we not accept these three testimonies about Jesus?
If
we rejected it, we’d be calling God a false witness – in fact, John says
exactly that in v10. Whoever does not believe God [who spoke from heaven twice
about his Son] is basically calling him a liar.
Ending
I want to end with my testimony. I grew up in
a quite formal, traditional church. I was baptized as a baby, went to a primary
school run by nuns, took my first communion at 7, got confirmed at 10, went to
confession once a month and went to secondary school run by monks … the whole
kit and kaboodle.
I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn’t
know Jesus, not personally. About the age of 11 or 12, I drifted from
church and I didn’t miss it. I didn’t love God’s family because I didn’t really
love God. Exactly what 1 John says.
But something supernatural happened to me when
I was 17. It was life-changing. There was emotion. There were tears. There was
joy.
I started to like being around Christians. I
was passionate to know more. I bought a Bible and read it. I became uncomfortable
about some things in my life – my dishonesty, my bad language, my attitude towards
the opposite sex…
I don’t know what I would have become if
hadn’t become a Christian. I dread to think. But something happened and it
changed the course of my life forever. That’s my testimony.
To close; v12; “Whoever has the Son has
life.” It’s not just when you die. Heaven starts here.
If you don’t call Jesus the Christ, you are
not yet a child of God and you don’t have eternal life. But you can put that
right today. You can do it now. Why put it off?
If that’s you, ask someone to pray with you before
you leave to be born of God. And I think you will look back at 23 February 2020
as the most beautiful day of your life.
Let’s stand …
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