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SIX CERTAINTIES REGARDING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
PART 2--THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS SENSIBLE
1 JOHN 1
Introduction
Last week we said that this epistle of 1 John is a confident and absolute letter.
1)The word “know” or a form of it appears some 39 times in this book.
2)The characteristic noun of 1 John is the Greek word that is translated as both “confidence” and “boldness.”
3)Therefore, this book is about being bold or confident on the basis of what we know.
There Are Three Purposes Stated For The Epistle.
1) So that our joy may be full. (1:4)
2) So that we might be obedient. (2:1)
3) So that we might be confident of our salvation. (5:13)
These three purposes are only fulfilled when what we believe is based on what we know–that is, it is based on certainties!
The basic certainty of Christianity is that Jesus Christ is God who was manifested in human flesh and that He is the Saviour of the world through His death, burial and resurrection.
In dealing with the certainty of Christ, John gives us six great certainties about the Gospel Message or “the Word of Life”. Last week we looked at the first of these certainties:
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS STABLE:
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE HAS NEVER CHANGED. (Vs 1)
The Gospel Was Conceived Before Creation.
False Teaching Does Not Change The Truth Of The Gospel.
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE DOESN’T NEED CHANGING! (1 John 2:2)
The Gospel Message Meets Man’s Greatest Need! It is the answer to the sin problem!
The Gospel Message Is The Only Thing That Can Meet Man’s Need!
The Law Could Not Meet Man’s Need!
Baptism Could Not Meet Man’s Need!
Church Membership Could Not Meet Man’s Need!
Religion Cannot Meet Man’s Need!
No Other One Could Meet Man’s Need!
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE WILL NEVER CHANGE!
God Will Never Change His Requirements!
God Will Never Change His Righteousness!
If we are going to get to heaven, it is going to be because we have heard the Gospel message, believed the Gospel message, and received the Gospel message!
Today we want to look at another aspect regarding the certainties of the Gospel of Christ and that is this: THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS SENSIBLE! Look at 1 John 1:1
These verses emphasize the personal experiences of the apostles with the one who is the Emmanuel, God with us, The Incarnate Word, that is, Jesus Christ.
John experienced the person of the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, with his senses.
He rejected the heresy that was going around about Christ not only because he knew that the Gospel was unchanging, but because he had personally experienced the Word of life first hand.
The memory of Jesus Christ burned in the mind of John as he reflected on the three and a half years that he and the other disciples were with the Lord. Now he wanted to be sure that the Churches under his care enjoyed fellowship with the resurrected Lord and with other disciples.
I. JOHN SAID, “WE HAVE HEARD!”
The verb in this phrase is in the perfect tense, which indicates an action completed in the past that has present results.
After he heard Christ, the words he heard were still producing results. (Some 60 yrs later)
John 5:24–“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
Praise God when we heard Jesus’ word regarding the Gospel and were obedient to Him something miraculous transpired!
We had our blinded eyes opened so that we could see!
We were turned from darkness unto light!
We were turned from the power of Satan unto God!
We were turned from the guilt of our sins unto the forgiveness of our sins!
We who were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins were born again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead by the abundant mercy of God!
We were turned from being bankrupt beggars to becoming heirs and joint heirs with Christ Jesus and having an eternal inheritance, incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us!
(Cf. Acts 26:18 and 1 Peter 1:3-4)
That miraculous thing that transpired when we got saved was only the beginning of life for us and it should still be producing results if we are truly born again!
Remember when Peter and John were before the council and were threatened not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus? What did they say?
Acts 4:20– “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
When Jesus has done something so wonderful for you, you just can’t keep it to yourself!
II. JOHN SAID, “WE HAVE SEEN WITH OUR EYES!”
This is not talking about spiritual sight but about physical sight!
Jesus was not a phantom; He was not a ghost or an apparition!
The perfect tense is used here too.
John was still confident that what he saw was true.
All that he recorded in the Gospel of John, which included many of the divine miracles of Christ, was John’s testimony of what he had seen with his eyes.
John put it this way in his Gospel account in the Gospel of John 1:14–“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
John 19:32-37–“Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
John 20:30-31–“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
John 21:25–“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
Luke 1:1-4–“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.”
III. JOHN SAID, “WE HAVE LOOKED UPON!”
Now why did John say this when he just got through saying, “. . .that which we have seen with our eyes”?
The Greek that is translated “looked upon” here means “to gaze long.”
In other words, this was not just a passing glance, but a steadfast, searching gaze.
The apostles had an opportunity to penetrate the very life of Christ.
They were with Him day in and day out and had the opportunity to observe Him closely.
The longer they watched Him, the more convinced they were about who He was.
Listen to what Peter said about this:
2 Peter 1:15-16–"Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty."
IV. JOHN SAID, “OUR HANDS HAVE HANDLED!”
Look at Luke 24:13ff
Luke 24:39–"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
John 20:27–"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."
Conclusion
Some may say, why should we believe someone else’s account of Jesus Christ?
Some of these may even say, well I’ve got to see to believe.
However, consider the fact that we believe eyewitness accounts all the time.
Most of the history that we learn is nothing more than eyewitness accounts handed down from generation to generation.
Also, even current events are most of the time accepted on the eyewitness of others.
Newspaper, radio, and even television accounts are eyewitness reports that are most of the time accepted on face value.
How do we know that these particular eyewitness accounts are true?
Granted, there are some eyewitness accounts are suspect and are even tainted by the biases of the witnesses many times.
Nevertheless, the veracity or truthfulness of these eyewitnesses is proved by what it did to their lives!
On the day of Christ’s crucifixion they were all filled with sadness; on the day of His resurrection they were all filled with gladness!
At the crucifixion they were hopeless; on the day of His resurrection their hearts glowed with certainty and hope.
When the message of Christ’s resurrection first came, they were hard to be convinced. But once they became assured, they never doubted again.
On the day of his arrest, they all forsook him and fled. After His resurrection and ascension, they stood their ground and gave their very lives because of what they were witnesses of.
What could account for the astonishing change in these men in so short a time?
The mere removal of the body from the grave could never have transformed their spirits, and characters. Three days are not enough for a legend to spring up which would affect them in such a way as we see them affected.
The marvelous transformation of the disciples of Jesus Christ is perhaps the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection.
It was impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they proclaimed and endured the persecution and suffering they endured had not Jesus actually risen from the dead.
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS STABLE.
It has never changed!
It doesn’t need changing!
It never will change!
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS SENSIBLE.
Jesus really was a historical person!
Jesus really was God in the flesh!
Jesus really did live a sinless life!
Jesus really did die for the sins of all mankind!
Jesus really was buried!
Jesus really arose from that grave on His own on the third day!
Jesus really did show himself alive on this earth for 40 days after His resurrection!
Jesus really did ascend back into heaven!
Jesus really is coming back one day to receive those who have trusted Him!
If you have never trusted Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, then the question to you is this:
Will you believe the Gospel and allow Jesus to transform your life by His resurrected life or will you continue on here in the bondage of your sin in this life and then die in your sin to be forever separated from God in the eternal lake of fire?
If you have trusted Christ as your personal Saviour and Saviour, then the question to you is this:
What kind of witness are you of the resurrected Christ?
Do folks look at your life and see anything different that Jesus has done for you?
Is your life any different than that of those who do not profess Christ? If you have met the resurrected Saviour, it should be!
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!