Overcoming The World

Well, good morning. Let me in just this here. It's good to be back. We have had an incredible time and an unbelievable journey. We had an interesting experience on our I guess it was our second day in Zambia. Who we were walking through. Uh uh A n a neighborhood there and had the opportunity to witness to some people and we got to stop and share with these three young men. The group that I was with got to stop and share with these three young men. And what was interesting about sharing with these three young men is that all three of these young men they were friends. They were from three different regions in Zambia. They were from three different people groups in Zambia. There are seventy three different people groups in Zambia, and these three, these three young men were from three different people groups. They were friends. They went to three different schools, and they spoke two different main languages. And so we're there and we're sharing with these young men. And as we're sharing with these young men, we find out that they're also from three different religious backgrounds, and one is from Charismatic Church, one is from Jehovah's Witnesses, and one is from another evangelical denomination. We talked to these young men further, and they had three different reasons as to why they considered themselves Christian. One was because he had been baptized, another was because he had grown up in church, and a third had some nebulous reason that I can't even think of right now. So as we sit. There sharing with these three young men from three different people groups, who went to three different schools, who spoke two different main languages, who had three different religious backgrounds, and three completely separate reasons why they believed that they were Christian, it just dawned on us all that it is incredibly important to be able to communicate the Gospel effectively. No matter where we are, nor to whom we find ourselves speaking, it is very important that we're able to communicate the Gospel effectively. And it's also very important in the midst of any cultural context where are there where there are varieties of truth claims, and I'm not talking about different religions, I mean varieties of truth claims among individuals who would identify themselves as Christian. It is very important for us to discern and for us to determine what authentic faith actually looks like because there is faith that is authentic and there is faith that is inauthentic or fraudulent. The question is how do we make that kind of a determination? And I realized that, as I say that, even in our cultural context, even that sounds somewhat offensive, that we would try to make a distinction between individuals who would claim to be Christian. Some would call that splitting theological hairs. Others would call it a legalism or some of unnecessary proselytizing. The bottom line is not everyone who claims faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has been born again, and there must be some way to determine whether or not an individual's faith is authentic. And I believe here in First John chapter five we have a picture of that. In fact, the entire epistle of First John really separates the week from the chaff in that regard what is authentic faith versus that which is inauthentic, that which is fraudulent? What is real versus that which is not? John goes through again and again and again and answers this question. Over and over and over, and here. In chapter five he comes to sort of a crescendo as he ends he's kind of wrapping things up here as he looks at authentic faith. And there are a couple of things that I want you to see here. First of all, I want you to see that when we're talking about authentic faith, the first thing we look at is fruit. We look at the fruit. Look at verse one, chapter five. In fact, look at these first four verses. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. So again, there's. Fruit here that John is pointing to, and it's fruit that he's alluded to before. If we've been here while he's been going through. First John, all of this sounds familiar because all of it we've heard before. Look at it. There are three major things here, he says, everyone who believes that Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. But then look at the next verse. By this, we know that we love the children of God. It would seem that the next phrase would be something like if we act this way toward the children of God. That's not what he says. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. So there are three pieces of fruit here. One is a love for God, two is a love for the children of God, and three is a keeping of the commandment. Now does John say that this is all the fruit, that there is no But in the context, the first job based upon the argument that he's making and based on what he's arguing against, and at least one of those things against what she is arguing is the gnostic heresy, based upon the argument that he's making as he's looking at the distinction between authentic faith and fraudulent faith. In their context, these three things are incredibly important, and they all follow They all flow from one another. That we love God, that we love the brethren, and that we keep his commandments. And those three things are inseparable. In other words, there's no contradiction between love and law. There's no contradiction between duty and doctrine. There are those who try to make those things enemies of one another, try to make those things at odds with one another. Either you are a loving Christian, or you're a Christian that's concerned with the commandments. Either you're a Christian that's concerned with devotion, or you're a Christian that's concerned with duty. But never those two shall meet. It's one or the other. But I want you to look again more closely at his wording here, everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. That goes back to chapter four and what we looked at on last week, that we love the brethren. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. In other words, here's John's argument. It is completely unthinkable that an individual would love God and obey the commandments of God and not love the children of God. It's so ridiculous in his thinking that he says, here's how you know somebody loves the children of God? Do they love God? Yes, keep God's commandments yes, that's a person who loves the children of God. Whoa well, wait a minute, Well what if I love God and I keep his commandments, but I don't love the children of God, Well, then you don't really love God. John would argue, Amen, you're not really keeping his commandments. John would argue. Jesus says, by this, all men will know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another. But he also says that we'll be known because we keep what his commandments? Are you his disciple? Well, yes, I'm a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, then what's the fruit going to look like? Number one, the fruit is going to look like you keeping his commandments, and number two, the fruit is going to look like you loving the brethren. It is inconceivable that we would not have all three of those things operating simultaneously in us if we are truly converted. And by the way, I want you to notice that he strikes a balance here. He strikes a balance between legalism and antonomianism, because on the one hand, there are those who would say, no, no, no, we love the brothers, and because we love the brothers, we don't have to worry about law. We don't have to worry about commandments. We just have to love. There's a Beatles song just running through my head right now. Love is all we need. And there are those who make that argument, No, no, no, no, no, all we need is love. Well, then there are those who are on the other side, and there's a ditch on the other side of the road. Forget that love stuff. We need law, we need doctrine, we need truth. As though there is a wall somehow between these two, John destroys both of those in two verses because, on the one hand, he says that authentic fruit is based upon us loving God and us keeping his law. But here's the other thing that he says, look with me, if you will. In verse four, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. Now, in chapter two we've heard about overcoming the world. When he talks to children, young men and fathers, he talks about overcoming the world. And so he says that we've overcome the world, and this is the victory. Notice also, he didn't say this is the victor. He said this is the victory. This is the victor. This is the victory. Well, what's the difference. Well, if I'm the victor. Then I have overcome the world. No, no, no, I haven't overcome the world. Look at what he says, this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith where he kills legalism right there. I know that I'm a child of God because I make myself love God. I make myself love the brethren, and I make myself keep the commandments. So there I'm a Christian. No not, according to verse four, here's the victory that has overcome the world. Your faith. And by the way, what do we know about you? If this is true of you? He says verse four. For everyone who has been born of God, not born of worse, but born of God. Everyone has been who has truly been regenerated, who has truly been born from above. By the way, look with me, if you will turn to the left and look in the Gospel of John. Look in the Gospel of John, the first chapter of the Gospel of John, and look at verse twelve. And thirteen. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood. In other words, you're not a child of God because of the family you were born into, nor of the will of the flesh. You're not a child of the God because of anything that you've done, nor the will of man, or anything to anybody else has done for you, any kind of ritual or rank that was performed on you by man before you could make any sort of a conscious decision yourself. He says, But of God, those are the ones who become the children of God, the ones who have been born of God, not of blood, not of the will of a man, not of their own flesh, but born of God. And here in his epistle he has the same doctrinal and theological stream running throughout. This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith, it's the fruit of our faith. So, in other words, John is not saying that here's how you know that a person is truly converted. They work very hard to tire string around their finger so that they remember to say nice things to the brethren. They work very hard to love God. They work very hard. But look at this, Look at first three. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments next phrase, and his commandments are not burdensome. Yeah, amen, does belong right there? His commandments are not burdensome. If Christianity is hard for you, that's not the fruit of the faith. If your response to whether or not you have authentic faith is how hard you have tried, how hard you have worked to overcome ABC or X, Y and Z, you're missing it. The victory that overcomes the world is our faith. By grace. You have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works, So that no one may bo Jesus says, come to me, all you who are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you another direction to struggle in. No, he says, I will give you rest. Does that mean that there are never any challenges? Lord help you if you believe that there are challenges. But here's what it means. There are things to which I am called as a follower of Christ that in and of myself I cannot accomplish, And they are accomplished through faith in ways that I cannot comprehend. More, can I take credit for the fruit of authentic faith. So when we're talking about whether or not somebody is genuinely converted, we talk about the fruit of their authentic faith. I want you to look at a couple of verses here with me seven times in first John. Phrase that occurs seven times. First time we see it is Chapter two, verse three. And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. By this we know Look at chapter three and verse sixteen. By this we know love that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Now look at verse twenty four of chapter three. Wherever keeps his commandments abides in him and he in them. And by this we know that He abides in us by the spirit whom he gives us. Look at chapter four and verse two. By this you know that the spirit. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God verse six of chapter four. For we are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Look at verse thirteen. By this we know that we abide in Him and he in us, because He has given us of his spirit and now the last time we see it here in chapter five. By this, we know that we love the children of God. Listen forty times forty times in Paul's epistles he uses some form of the verb to know forty times, one time in Third John, one time in Second John, and thirty eight times in First John. Thirty eight of the forty times in his epistles that he uses the word no in any of its forms. Thirty eight of the forty times are right here in First John. Anybody want to take a guess at what he's shooting at in First John. We see it in verse thirteen. It screams to us in verse three, I write these things to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. But before we get to verse thirteen, he clarifies that for us, how do we know? Also these seven times that he uses that phrase, by this we know there are only three things that he refers to, and ease are those three things found in this paragraph, these two paragraphs that we're looking at here, what is he referring to? He's referring to our love, He's referring to our keeping of the commandments, and he's referring to a proper understanding of who Jesus is the fruit of our faith. If our faith is authentic, it will bear fruit. It has to, it has to. And here's why this is difficult for us. It's difficult for us to put these two things together because we have a hard time putting grace and law together as two sides of the same coin, putting them together as friends, because whenever we look at law, we always want to think about ourselves and our ability or inability to keep the law. But I want you to notice something in that famous passage of Scripture, I quote it. Part of it like grace, you say, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is gift of God does result little works so that no one can boast. That's Visians two nine, Esians two ten. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God determined what beforehand. And it's Him who works enough us both to. Will and to do his good pleasure. Is there a contradiction between the two, No, there's not a contradiction between the two. It's sort of like you know the show that that Nanny nine to one one Nanny comes on and people's houses whose kids are just completely out of control. I can't watch the show. I just can't. I can't, I can't. I've tried several times to watch the Nanny nine one one show or the Super Nanny Show. I've tried several times and I did the show. You know, I've even had it. You know this show is gonna come on. I'm not watching TV, don't want to watch TV. Got other stuff to do. Hey, minute, Nanny nine one one thing is on. Let me just turn it on and see just if perhaps it's just somebody's got some common sense, you know what, I find They figured out there wouldn't be a show if people actually had some common sense. And so here's what would happen on the ninety nine to one one show. The typical experience is this huge bedtime problem, and all of a sudden that there's a bedtime and bedtime's not happening. And so because bedtime's not happening, Mom's frustrated, Dad's frustrated. Maybe the kids are having to sleep in their room because the kids don't want to sleep in their own room, and mom and dad's relationship is suffering as a result of it, kids are not getting good sleep because they're not going to bed. They won't do this, they won't do that. Everybody's cranky, YadA, YadA, YadA. So Supernanny comes over and says, you know what we're gonna do. We're gonna establish a bedtime routine. We're gonna put them down, they're gonna go to bed. And they established the routine and they put the kids down in the bed and the kids start crying and screaming, and then the camera goes to mom and mom needs to be sedated, and she says something. And it doesn't matter what episode you watch, it's always the same. It's just something I just can't tend. You don't cry like. That and did not do anything about it. Well, there's your problem. Let me see, kids are not getting enough sleep. Not healthy kids interrupting the whole household. Not healthy kid has to learn how to do this. We all agree, But for you, something says anything that makes my child cry like that means I'm a bad mother. That's how many of us are when it comes to grace and law. Yeah. But yeah, but Christianity is about about love and grace. So while this stuff about being held to standards. I mean, certainly that's not a very loving thing. I mean, certainly that's gotta be regalistic. It's got to be wrong, it's got to be judgmental, it's got to be something. It's got to be outside of the pale. John says, absolutely not. Paul puts it this way. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. And here John's just sort of enumerating some of these new things that have come. If we're born again, here's some of the stuff that's inevitably going to be there. You're going to love God, you're going to love God's people, and you're going to keep Godd's commandments. And if you're not doing that, your fruit says you are not a Christian. And again, I know this bothers us. I know this does because wait a minute, Wait a minute, wait a minute, you're saying that you're gonna sit in judgment on people and say that because they don't have what you say they ought to have. Well, two things. Number one, I don't write the mail, I just deliver it, amen. And number two, it's rather ironic that we have that mentality. And what's more ironic is where we get that mentality from. There is a new John three sixteen. The new John three sixteen is Matthew seven to one. John three sixteen is what everybody. Used to know. That's the verse that the most wicked pagan knew. You could go to the most wicked pagan in American culture and say John three sixteen, he could at least quote part of it from me. Now, not John three sixteen. No, no, No, Matthew seven to one. Turn to me to the left, if you will, and look at Matthew seven to one. Judge, not that you be not judged. So now, mister smarty Pan's fruit inspector, I'm gonna say that somebody is not a Christian because you looked at the fruit in their life. The Bible says, don't judge. Actually, it's not what the Bible says. W Yes, it does because I just read it right there. Or how about we just read some more. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Still sounds bad for my side. Why do you see the spec that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye. That's getting worse from my side Verse four. Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye. I probably should just quit right now. That would be tragic. Verse five. You hyplocrit. First take the log out of your own eye and then leave your brother alone because you don't want to judge him. That's not what the Bible says. Says, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. The Bible doesn't teach that we shouldn't judge. Bible teachers, we have to judge yourselves first, But we're actually commanded to judge. Jesus here even teaches us how to judge by the way you want to hear something judgmental. Look at what Jesus says in the next verse, do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you. Well, how would I know which were dogs and pigs if I didn't. Hmm, there's more. Look at verse fifteen of Chapter seven. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles. So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the disease tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a disease tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you were recognize them by your fruits. By their fruits. Huh, Why would I need to recognize fruits in another person so that I could determine whether they were true prophets or false prophets unless it was my responsibility to there's fruit when faith is authentic, and John's calling it out here, here's what it looks like. Again, he's being minimalistic here, but basically, this is what it looks like. You can't say on the one hand that you don't love God, or that you don't love the brethren, or that you don't keep the commandments of our Lord, and on the other hand say that you have been born again. No you haven't. You haven't overcome the world, you haven't ganged that victory because you don't have authentic faith and you've not been born of God. Again. We've got to understand John's perspective. John is not writing first John so that his audience can work toward what he's identifying. He's writing it so that they can set up a standard and see that those on the outside are corrupting the faith. That's what he's doing here. He's not saying, if you want to really be a Christian, start loving God, start loving the Brethren, start keeping God's commandments. No, it's not what he's saying here. If you want to know who's telling the truth, there are those on the outside who are saying one thing and I'm saying another. And here's what I'm saying. If you want to know whether your faith is authentic, these are the questions that you ask. Do you love God? Do you love the Brethren? Are you keeping His commandments? Not by working horror, but as evidence of the fact that you have been born again and that your faith is authentic and attested to by fruits. Secondly, not only the fruit of our faith must be authentic, but the content of our faith must be authentic. Look with me, if we were beginning at verse five, five through ten, who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? Well, you see this connection here. He he's making a bridge here. First he talks about these this fruit of our faith in these three directions, that we love God, that we love the brethren, and that we keep his commandments. But but but who's this individual? So first, this individual has has fruit, They borne fruit because they've been born again and their faith is authentic. But secondly, this individual believes correctly because look at this wause of the note, who comes to the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? Again a direct confrontation with those in opposition. Now look at verse six. This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and the blood. Stop right there, because if you're like me, first time you read through that, you just kind of shake your head. And go, okay, well, what is that? Huh? He came by water and the blood. And there have been a few attempts at this and there are basically three camps that people fall into on this issue. The one camp is that the reference to the water and the blood are references to the two observances or ordinances in the Church some refer to as sacraments. They would say the water refers to baptism and the blood refers to the Lord's supper. There's another camp that says, well, no, this is actually a reference to the blood and water that rushed out of Jesus' side when he was crucified. And I believe that both of these are problematic. Now let's know it. The first one first, the idea that this is reference to the ordinances not by the water only, but by water and the blood. First of all, while water would be the symbol by which we would understand baptism, the blood is not used throughout the New Testament as a symbol for the Lord's Supper. There's another problem with that line of argumentation in that there's another phrase here, and that is and the spirit is the one who testifies, because the spirit is truth. Well, if water symbolizes baptism and the blood symbolizes the Lord's supper, then the spirit referred to here would also have to be symbolic of something else, And so it's problematic here as to the second the idea that this is a reference to the water and the blood, that basically, the one who really believes that Jesus is the Son of God is the one who believes the testimony of what streamed forth from the side of Jesus at his crucifixion. Well, small problem. What is the significance of the water and blood that streamed forth from the side of Jesus at his crucifixion. Is he the only one who would ever have had something like that stream forth out of him after he's been crucified, pierced in the side, thrusting upwardly, puncturing the pericardium, having blood and water rush out. No, that was not a unique experience. And so the third alternative is this The idea here is that the water does refer to baptism, but it refers to baptism in the sense that the baptism was the inauguration of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, the blood the consummation of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, and the spirit testifies to everything in between. In other words, we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, based on what based on what he said and what he did in his earthly ministry from the Water to the Blood. By the way, here's another issue. Excuse me. This also flies right in the face of two sets of opposing arguments from the Syrenthian Gnostics and the Thessetic gnostics, from those who argued, on the one hand, that Jesus was just a man, but the spirit of God descended on him after he was baptized, and this spirit of God left him before the crucifixion, because that couldn't happen to the Christ, to the anointed one. Well, no, John says, no, no, no. From the water to the blood, the Son of God experienced both the Corinthians would argue that the spirit came and went, Dossetics would argue that that he really didn't have a physical body, so he really couldn't die. John says, uh uh. You're outside the camp. You're outside the camp unless you believe the totality of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. You believe that he is the Son of God and that he did what the Bible says that he did. That he says what the Bible says that he said, and that he is, that he is who the Bible says that he is. That's the reference here from the water to the blood and the Spirit also testifying. Turned with me again to John, and look at John fifteen, last verse there, last two verses the paragraph before he talks about the world hating him and that having to be fulfilled verse twenty six. 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, and also will bear witness because you and I'm serious, And you also will bear witness because you have seen, you have been with me from the beginning. In other words, Jesus before he ascends, says that the Helper is coming, refers to the helper as the Spirit of Truth, and says that the Helper is going to testify concerning him. So now we have the water inauguration of his earthly ministry, the blood consummation of his earthly ministry, and the Spirit. What do we see When do we see the Spirit? When does the Spirit descend upon the church After the ascension of Jesus testifying of what the earthly ministry of Jesus testifying of the deity of Christ. So, in other words, here's the big deal. First of all, our faith is only authentic if it bears biblical fruit. Secondly, our faith is only authentic if its contents are biblical. We don't get to redefine Jesus and call ourselves Christian. You can't do that. And so to my Mormon friends, my Mormon friends would say, we believe in Jesus, to which often, you know, Christians kind of respond whoa hit A minute time out. Rodney says, Jesus is his Lord and Savior, just like he's my Lord and savior. Wow, I didn't know Mormons believed in the same Jesus we do. They don't. They believe that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer. They believe that Jesus became divine, that he inherited this planet, that he became the God of this planet, just like you, if you were a good Mormon and had been sealed in the Temple and everything else, could become the God of your own planet that you could inhabit one day. I'm sorry, but that's not the Jesus of the Bible. Our Jehovah's witness friends. They use the name too. Yes, they will tell you they believe in Jesus. And I'll take you to John one. And the beginning was. The Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god little g Jesus is not co eternal with the Father. Jesus was the first thing that was created, and then he created everything else. It's an ancient heresy called arianism, condemned by the Church. This heresy. Our Muslim friends will tell you that they believe in Jesus Christ. Our Muslim friends will tell you that Kuran teaches the virgin birth. I don't know if you know that or not, but our Muslim friends believe more about Jesus than our liberal Christian friends. Do you got liberal Christians who don't believe in the virgin birth? Muslims believe in the virgin births. Muslims do because it's in Kuran. They believe that Jesus is the highest prophet of all, beside Muhammad himself. They hold him in the highest esteem. But if a Muslim converts to Christianity and comes to believe that Jesus is actually God in the flesh, he'll be beheaded for shirk or blasphemy. So do they believe in the Jesus in whom we believe. No, No, the content of our faith is crucial. Look of me, if you will turn to the left and look at First Corinthians chapter fifteen, First Corinthians chapter fifteen, nig of those first few verses, and listen to what Paul says about this. First Corinthians chapter fifteen. Now, I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved. If you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain, For I delivered to you as a first importance that what I also received, that Christ died for sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he rose on a third day according to the scriptures. In other words, if we don't believe the essence of the gospel, Paul says, we're not saved. And down in verse twelve you see why he's making this argument. Now, if Christ has proclaimed us raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead. In other words, First, correctly, this chapter fifteen is about Paul passing judgment on individuals, saying that they're not Christian because their doctrine is heretical. He says, you don't believe in the resurrection, you're outside the camp. Is he mean? Is he nasty? No, he's not mean. He's not nasty. But he's also not a coward. He does the same thing in Galatians. Look to the right of that just a little bit, if you will a look in Galatians. You know, usually Paul does his opening of his letter, and then there's a greeting and a prayer and things of that nature. Well, he has this greeting that he finishes up there in verse five. But then instead of a prayer of thanksgiving or some greeting or something like that, he says verse six, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you and the grace of Christ, and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there is. But there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we are an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you. Let him be accursed. As we have said before, now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. The content of our faith matters back here in verse seven. Let me see a word about this quickly, one John five, verse seven. For there are three that testify, the Spirit and the Water and the Blood, and the three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he is born concerning his soul. Now here's what I want you to seek. If you are holding on to one of three versions of the Bible American English versions of the Bible that are older versions of the Bible based on a certain approach to translation of the Bible, what you have in verse seven is something that makes individuals cling to older versions of the Bible. You have the only verse in the Bible that is a proof text for the Trinity, because it says there are three in heaven who agree, the Father and the Word and the Spirit. Unless you have King James or New King James, which I put in the same translation category, they're not really two separate translations. It's really just an update update of the King James version. Unless you have a King James version or Geneva Bible, you don't have that verse. It's not present unless you have one of those two. Now, there's a lot of discussion and debate about whether or not that verse is supposed to be there. Let me just make this as simple as I can. Okay, this is not textual criticism one on one, but let me make it as simple as I can. Here's the line of argumentation. Let me just give you some points. Here. Calvin, for example, argues four the inclusion of that phrase. I tend not to disagree with Calvin in a whole lot of areas, and I'm always real scared when I do. But here I'm afraid I do. I'm afraid I have to disagree with him. Now, mind you Calvin his period fifteen o nine to fifteen sixty four. Now Jameson Fosset and Brown their famous commentary written in the eighteen seventies, and they make an argument against the insertion. And it's a simple argument, but it's not as thorough as the one that I wanna outline for you from Albert Barnes. Now, Albert Barnes is another one. This time period is UH sixteen ninety eight or seventeen ninety eight to UH eighteen seventy. It's his time period. So in the mid to late eighteen seventies Barne wrote his whole commentaries on the New Testament, and he gives really six arguments against the insertion of that phrase. Here in verse seven, number one, he says, and this is what most people argue it is wanting. In all the. Earlier Greek manuscripts, there's not a manuscript prior to the fourteenth century that contains that phrase. There's not one prior to the fourteenth century that contains that phrase. Second, the Syriac, the Armenian, the Ethiopic, the Coptic, and the Arabic translations all omit the phrase. And again these are all early translations in the first few centuries translating the Greek text into Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Arabic, Ethiopic. None of these contain that phrase. There are three in heaven who agree, the Father of the Word and the Spirit. So that's the second argument against it. Number three, and this is very important. It is never quoted by the Greek fathers in their controversies on the doctrine of the Trinity. I remember I told you about the Aryan heresy. There's this huge heresy, and the Church comes together and the Council in order to debate the Trinity. And none of the early church fathers refer to that phrase in verse seven, which would be the only proof text in the entire Bible for the Trinity. Now, mind you, you don't needed to prove the Trinity, which, by the way, is another one of his arguments. He also says six, or let me do this next one. The arguments against the passage from the external proof is confirmed by internal evidence, which makes it morally certain that it cannot be genuine. In other words, it's not needed. Here's the argument that he makes. We can argue from the Trinity all over the New Testament. We don't have to have a proof text to argue for the Trinity, and any doctrine that's based on a single proof text shouldn't be a doctrine. Finally, he says, the passage is now omitted in the best additions of the Greek Testament and regarded as spurious by the ablest critics. Why was this important? Why? Why is this a big deal. Here's why it's a big deal, and I believe it's very important. You know, we stand up here and we preach, and usually Pastor Paul would preach from the New American Standard Bible, and you know, I've preached from the English Standard version of the Bible. And they're a great deal of turmoil, an argument circulating around whether or not it's proper to use contemporary translations of the Bible. And this is one of the lines of argumentation that people use, and they'll say things like, you know again, people who would argue for King James only would basically say this verse and the omission of this verse alone discredits every other contemporary version of the Bible because they would omit this verse and it is of crucial importance. Therefore, based upon that alone, we got to reject contemporary versions of the Bible. And in the circles that most of us run in, we hear this say a great deal, Amen. I heard all the time. Over the last few years, I've started doing homeschool conferences and I get this email. I'll get this email frequently. I'll get this email from people who are thinking about coming. You know, when you know you're gonna be at our homeschool conference, and you know, I know you're gonna be doing you know, this session, and you're gonna be doing a main session, and I would like to know what translation of the Bible you intend to use. I get that question from people, and I'll write back and I'll say, well, I you know, I'm gonna probably be using the English Standard version of the Bible. And then I get an email this long telling me why I'm in sin because I'm not using the King James Bible. And we can't just look at this passage of scripture and on the one hand say that the content of our faith is important and not address this issue. Let me say this just as simply as I can. I have the utmost respect for Bible translators who translated the Bible in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, doing the best they could with. What they had. I think King James New King James wonderful translations of the Bible. I prefer the Geneva Bible because it was the Protestants Bible, and those who despised the Protestants actually did the King James translation in order to undermine the Protestant Bible. So I much prefer the Geneva Bible, which was a full fifty years earlier than the King James Bible. Much preferred to the King James Bible. But again, whether it's the Geneva Bible or the King James Bible, they're good translations. They're not the. Best we have. I want to use the best we have. We're better now at translating the Bible than we were in sixteen eleven. Imagine that, not only that, we have more manuscript evidence available to us now than we did in sixteen eleven. You know, when I wrote The Everloving Truth. The Ever Loving Truth was published in two thousand and one. In my chapter on the Bible and the Authenticity of the Bible, I talk about manuscript evidence, and I use a figure five thousand, six hundred manuscripts or portions of manuscripts of the New Testament. You know now there are six thousand manuscripts or portions of manuscripts in the New Testament. So if that book was. Ever rewritten, I would have to update the number of manuscripts by over four hundred. So based on that, I have no problem using modern translations of the Bible. Secondly, I have no problem using modern translations of the Bible, because I would rather just translate once. Here's what I mean. If I'm preaching from the Geneva Bible or I'm using the King James Bible, the first thing that I have to do is I have to read the passage and then explain what it means. In modern English. I'd rather just skip that step. Again, nothing against that whatsoever, find translation, but I'd rather skip that step. Here's the third thing. And those of you who know me know that I am a proponent, especially among you know, home educators. People talk about the importance of you know, classical education and doing Latin and this and that and the other. Latin's wonderful, Amen Halleluly praise the Lord if you want to do Latin. But you know, at the end of Latin may be higher SAT scores. At the end of Greek is the New Testament. I don't want us all to teach our children Greek, so that they don't have to rely on anybody's translation of the Bible. They can go themselves, and whether it's the ESV or the NASV or the King James version, they can put the Greek text right down there and look at what the Greek text says and about to no man's translation, And there was a time when that was the norm among Christians. You learned how to read the Bible and its original languages so that you would be able to understand the nuances and the original languages. Well, if we're going to do that, then we can't be King James only, because whatever you do with the original languages won't be King James. It'll be a new, more modern translation of the Bible. Here's the other thing, Just a couple of little tidbits here, because again there are those who are really upset over this issue. It's just a couple of tidbits that I think people might find helpful. Those who argue from the King James only perspective, a lot of them argue for the authorized sixteen eleven King James version. I've never once met a person who argues for the authorized sixteen eleven King James version of the Bible who has seen one. They don't sell them, they don't even print them, and you wouldn't be able to read it if they did. Everyone who has a sixteen eleven King James Bible actually has a seventeen sixty nine updated version. Of the sixteen eleven King James Bible. It would cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars to get a sixteen eleven King James Bible, thousands upon thousands of dollars. So even when we're walking around, even my King James Bibles that I have in my house, guess what they are. They're modern translations of the sixteen eleven King James Bible. Here's the other little tidbit. Until eighteen eighty, every English Bible also included the apocryphal. So unless you have the sixteen eleven with the apocrypha, you don't have the authorized version. So again, I I don't believe that this insertion is necessary because there's no doctrine that's hurt by not having this insertion. I also believe that the best evidence that we have, as far as translation and manuscripts, points to not having this in insertion. And yes, I do believe that this is an important issue because it goes to the content of our faith. Because here's my problem. I don't want to argue for the ESV. I don't wanna argue for the NASB. I don't wanna argue for the KJV. I wanna argue for God and God's word, not anybody's translation of it. Cause I want the truth that he's talking about there. And whoever gets me closest to that, That's what I want all day, every day, and twice on Sunday. Amen, whoever gets me closest to that, even that moment, that means buckling down and working through a pascigen Greek. So we have the fruit of our faith, the content of our faith. And why is it important? Cause of the consequences of our faith? Doing the last couple of verses and our passage will be done Verse ten. 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 born concerning. His son Verse eleven. 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 does not have life. Why is it important cause the consequences you have the Son, you have life. You do not have the Son, you do not have life. It's that simple. Why is it. Important to examine the fruit of our faith because the consequences are, if the fruit's not there, eternal life is not there. Why is it important to examine the content of our faith? Because the consequences are if the content is erroneous, eternal life is not there. If I am believing in a Jesus who is not the Jesus of the Bible, I cannot count on eternal life. And if I am not seeing the fruit of a regenerated life, I cannot count on eternal life. You think this is important, It is absolutely important, and based on this is the most loving thing for us to do to look at a person who does not have fruit, or to look at a person who's wrong on the content of our faith and who Jesus is, and say, oh, well, that's okay. We don't want to be judgmental, or is the right thing to do to plead with them passionately that they might have of life not being judgmental. Being judgmental is about me being the standard. But we have to judge when I judge. Is God's word being the standard which one of us would see our children growing up in our homes being completely wrong, erroneous and heretical about the person and work of Jesus Christ and say, oh, that's okay. I'm their parent. I love them so much. I wouldn't want to make them feel bad about the doctrine that they've sort of camped out in themselves. Absolutely not, no, sweetheart, that's not correct. And here's why it's not correct. Which one of us are past parents would see horrendous fruit in the lives of our children and just say, oh, no, that's okay. We won't work toward rooting that out. It's kind of what they've found is their own little niche with Jesus. No, if faith is to be authentic, it will bear biblical fruit. If faith is to be authentic, it will be based on biblical content. Because only when faith is authentic does it bring about the biblical consequences, those biblical consequences that we have life, abundant life and eternal life. The consequences on the other end that we don't have life, neither abundant nor eternal. I think it's very important that we be authentic in our faith. Let's pray