The Testimony of God
Click here to listen to this sermon.
“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. 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. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God
does not have life.
“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. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if
we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears
us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him”
(1 John 5:9–15).
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
In this world there are
so many competing opinions and narratives, often directly at odds with one
another. How do you know what is true? Who to believe?
In its “Manual of Model
Criminal Jury Instructions,” the United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit
includes the following instructions for jurors: “In deciding the facts in this
case, you may have to decide which testimony to believe and which testimony not
to believe…”
Among factors to take
into account in considering the testimony of any witness, the manual suggests: the
opportunity and ability of the witness to see or hear or know the things
testified to; the witness’s memory, candor, fairness, and intelligence; the
witness’s manner while testifying; the witness’s bias or prejudice, if any; whether
other evidence contradicted the witness’s testimony; and the reasonableness of
the witness’s testimony in light of all the evidence.
It goes on to say: “The
weight of the evidence as to a fact does not necessarily depend on the number
of witnesses who testify. What is important is how believable the witnesses
were, and how much weight you think their testimony deserves.”[i]
People of all cultures
are used to hearing human testimony in court and assigning great weight to it.
How much more impact does the Christian message have since God is talking!
John says, “If we
receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater.” Why? Because God
is greater. Because God cannot lie. Because the Word is the Truth. So, if we willingly
operate by the testimony of men in earthly affairs, then how much more should
we readily embrace the testimony of God concerning the death, resurrection,
ascension, and rule of His Son? The witness of the “Spirit and the water and
the blood” truly is the most credible witness imaginable. For it is God witnessing
to Himself.
It is a clever
argument, be it never so obvious. We operate, even to this day in the court of
law, by the principles of witness and testimony in matters of jurisprudence.
Indeed, we allow life and death decisions to be made upon the testimony of
human beings. Now, take the strength of the system built upon frail,
impressionable, and limited people and intensify it to the perfections of God.
Surely the testimony of God is rock solid, life changing.
This divine
self-attestation has one subject. John writes: “This is the testimony of God
that He has testified concerning His Son.” When God the Spirit speaks,
He speaks all things in relation to the Son. When the waters of Holy Baptism “speak,”
they testify to the death and resurrection of Christ and, by extension, those
united to Christ. When the blood of God “speaks” it testifies to Christ’s
self-giving which is in and through the Cross and now manifest in Holy Communion.
Thus, 1 John 5:10
naturally follows: “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in
himself.” The one who believes has the Spirit and the water and the blood
literally within himself to bear witness that Jesus is the risen and ruling Savior
of the world.
It is important to note
how the self-attestation of God is not subjective but objective.
This is to say that the believer does not look within himself to discern the
divine witness, but externally to the means of grace—Baptism and Communion—but especially
it is the Spirit who illumines the truth about Christ, the Truth who is Christ,
through the Scriptures which themselves are the testimony of God of the great
work of redemption accomplished by the blessed Trinity in real human history.
These objective works
and words of God are the center. The second ring is the ring of faith, the subjective
testimony within us. Word and Sacrament build and nurture faith. We hear the
words of God and say, “I believe,” or in the words of verse 10, we have this
testimony in our hearts.
To be sure, whenever we
look inward, there is the danger of self-deception. Satan has warped this
witness in many people today so that inner feelings and intuition has become
their only touchstone of truth. Some people today evaluate truth and morality
by how they feel about it. Objective and universal standards fade away and
everything become relative: “what is true for me.” Some try to find truth about
Jesus or messages from Jesus through meditation or prayer. They will say things
such as “The Lord told me…” or “The Lord spoke to me last night…” or “I really
feel His presence now…” And often what comes out of their mouths next departs
from Scripture and thus becomes part of the lie.
But even though the
concept of listening to an inner, subjective witness can be abused, it can be
used rightly. A healthy faith is always grounded in the objective revelation of
God’s Word and is guided by the Holy Spirit Himself. As Paul says in Romans
8:16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of
God,” and in Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” The inner comfort we
experience as believers comes not from us but from the Spirit, with His words
and truths. It is good when we notice all the inward gifts of being God’s
children, such as peace, joy, contentment, and hope—they are no accident. God
gave them to us to bless us and to assure us that our faith is real.
Believers are never put
in a position of “taking a leap of faith” into the unknown, any more than a
human court of law expects a judge or jury to convict and sentence based on
feelings, mood, or personal prejudices instead of evidence and testimony. John
lays out the evidence in his Gospel and points to the testimony that corroborates
the evidence. We are called to trust the “testimony of God” (1 John 5:9), and
that trust means that the believer has the testimony of himself. This testimony
is the objective Word of God that bears witness to the truth of His Son’s death
and resurrection on our behalf. Therefore, “whoever does not believe God has
made Him a liar.” We make God a liar if we fail to trust that Jesus is the Son
of God, that He is the Christ, and that in Him our sins are truly forgiven.
Note the solemn
significance of the last half of verse 12. It is a simple phrase, just 13
little words in English. But those little words describe the grave and awesome
threat that hangs over many, many people. Read these words carefully: “Whoever
does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
John has written at
some length describing how good it is to be in Christ. Consider now what
happens if people reject God’s gift, reject the Gospel, and choose not to
believe in the Son. John says simply, “They do not have life.” The Father did
not sacrifice His Son “just for the fun of it.” He made that supreme sacrifice,
one that tore His fatherly heart out, in order to spare people the torment that
Satan is going to suffer.
Paul says that we are
by nature children of God’s wrath. Unless people are reborn in Christ, they stay
children of wrath forever. This is why John writes so earnestly. This is why we
need to listen to him. This is why the ministries of our congregation are so
important. This is why your family’s spiritual well-being is worth your
greatest energy. This is a life-or-death issue for everyone on the planet.
His warning concluded, John
goes back to one of his main themes—knowing—and gives us three wonderful statements
of encouragement: “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. And this is the
confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know
that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:13-15).
Christian teachers and
pastors want to make sure that God’s law is proclaimed forcefully. But
sometimes they overdo it, and even though they speak the Gospel too, they maybe
don’t do quite as vivid a job of communication with it as they did with their
thundering condemnations of sin. People can be left wondering if they are
really saved. Some Christians are so afraid of smugness that they overdo the humility
and contrition, and they fall back into uncertainty. Some teachers and pastors
are afraid that people will lose their motivation if they get too comfortable,
and so they sort of don’t mind if people live in a state of unresolved guilt.
For whatever reasons, if you ask people, even Christian people, what will
happen to them when they die, too many answers range from “I hope I go to
heaven” to “I don’t know.” You can know.” Listen.
Here are three wonderful,
faith-building promises from a true apostle of the Lord: First, you can know that
you have eternal life.
You may lack the things
that give status to people according to the world’s value system—university degrees,
stock options, four-car garage, hot tub, or your own publicist—but that’s okay.
As a Christian, you have what matters—you believe in the name of the Son of
God! That changes everything. You can be sure—sure that God loves you, approves
you, has your name written in his book of life, has sent angels to keep watch
over you, likes you, and has your name engraved on the palms of His hands.
Jesus loves me, this I think?… this I hope?… this I wish? Wrong! “Jesus loves
me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Second, you know the
Lord hears you when we pray.
Another fear that
haunts Christians comes upon us in the silence that follows our prayers. Is God
listening? Does He care? Did that prayer just fall to the ground, or did it
make it to the throne of grace and power? It is one of the features of life on
this earth that we don’t get immediate feedback from our prayer communications.
You might think of prayer as calling up God and leaving a message on His
answering machine.
Did He hear? Does He want
to listen? Of course! He is your Father, and He has invited you to pray,
commanded you to pray, promised rewards when you pray, instructed you how to
pray, even scolded you when you forgot to pray. He always listens to His
children.
Third, you know that you
have what you asked of Him.
And God responds. He
always answers every request that comes from His children. That answer may be yes,
it may be no, or it may be later. Every answer is weighed
according to His gracious plans to bless our lives and manage His world. He
will always give you what is the best. He gives you His Word on it. And the
testimony of God is always true.
Go in the peace of Lord
and serve your neighbor with joy. You are forgiven for all your sins.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture
quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Comments