The Bible Top 40

“Can I Be Sure of Anything Anymore?”

I John 5:13

[Show images that are “optical illusions.”]

Sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us. What we think we see, we don’t always see, and what we think is there isn’t always there.

What is true of our eyes is even more certain in life. The last few months we as Americans have had our confidence shaken again and again. The terrorist attacks of September and the lingering threat of chemical, biological or physical attack has quickly become a part of our lives. When in Washington DC, last week with my sons, I was keenly aware that every time a jet flew overhead toward Reagan National Airport, every eye looked up as if to make sure it was headed away from them.

With our personal safety already thus shaken, we have been hit again this week by deception in the world of economics. Enron showed us the tip of the iceberg of fraud on a corporate scale, but nothing prepared us for the Worldcom scandal of this week. When you think that the second largest communications company in the world told such bold-faced lies about their performance, showing profits of 3 billion dollars while actually losing almost a billion. With more than $100 billion in assets reported at the end of March, a WorldCom bankruptcy would be twice as large as Enron's. 17,000 people were expected to lose their jobs starting last Thursday. People who had stock in Worldcom, which owns MCI, have watched their money evaporate, from $68 per share to 8 cents on Wednesday. It seems that no investment is safe anymore. Even wise investors who do their homework to check on the safety of a company before investing have no idea if the information they are being given is the truth of not. Even Martha Stewart is under investigation for insider trading! Can anybody be trusted???

Then there is the ongoing and tragic scandal in the church. And while the Catholic Church is at the center of the storm, the shock waves are being felt in every church, in every faith. Those we thought we could trust are now looked at with skepticism, and another pillar of our security is cracked and weakened.

Is it any doubt that we are in the midst of a generation of people who no longer believe that anything is certain? We no longer trust our own security, we can’t trust the safety of our economy, our spiritual leaders are suspect. It is little wonder that more and more people believe that there are no absolutes, that there is not “right” or “wrong,” just opinion. More and more we are becoming a global society that does not find anything to be certain.

In the midst of this crumbling of security, we sing,

Blesssed assurance, Jesus is mine!

O, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

born of His Spirit, washed in His blood…”

Are we fools? Are we blind? Are we blind fools? How can we sing of assurance, and God’s faithfulness in the midst of a culture that has none of the above? How can we know for sure that of which we sing?

Turn with me in your Bibles to I John, chapter 5, and verse 13. If you don’t have a Bible, pick one of the ones up under the chair in front of you and turn to page 821. And take that Bible with you when you go, if you’d like.

The letter that we call “I John” was written by John the disciple of Jesus in about 90 AD, perhaps 60 or more years after the death and resurrection of Christ. It was written by the same disciple who wrote the biography of Jesus that is the fourth book of the New Testament. That biography was written with the intent of introducing Jesus to people, and urging them to believe on Him. John 20:31 says, “These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in His name.” This letter, and the two short letters that follow, were written to the first Century church, believers who were facing all sorts of challenges to their faith, and to truth itself.

There was a group of people gaining popularity in the early church called the Gnostics. Gnosticism blended Easter mysticism and Greek dualism with Christianity. Basically they believed that everything that is physical – things that can be seen, touched, sensed, consumed or handled – is evil, and everything spiritual – unseen, intangible – is good. They believed that God, who is spirit, could not have created physical things, which are bad, so there had to be a lesser god who did. That, they claimed, was the god of the Old Testament, who was not the same god as the New Testament. They further believed that Jesus did not have a physical body, but only appeared to, since a physical body is evil, and therefore, never really suffered and died a cruel death on the cross – it was just an optical illusion.

So John writes these letters to those young believers who feel like they don’t know what to believe. They feel like the truth they had been told is being questioned, and they don’t feel like they can be sure of anything anymore.

To them John writes these words; words that I think are part of the Bible’s Top 40; words every Christian ought to know:

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Did you know that you can know?

In some churches it is taught to be a sin to say that you “know” that you are going to heaven. I don’t know which Bible they are reading, but my Bible says that I can KNOW that I have eternal life!

This is a paramount truth for us to have as we go through life. One of the most common tricks of Satan is to try to make us doubt our salvation. In our society, rocked as it is from every side, it is not surprising that some doubt the claims of Christ.

“I can’t trust anyone!”

“Who says the Muslims are wrong, and we’re right?”

“How can I be saved and my sins forgiven just by receiving Christ? That can’t be all there is to it!”

But according to this verse we can, indeed, KNOW.

We can have absolute assurance of our salvation – no doubt, no “I hope so,” no crossed fingers. And that assurance comes only to “you who believe.” Let’s take a look at that assurance.

1 The Source of Assurance.

Where does this assurance come from? John tells us, “These things have been written…that you may know.” The knowing comes from the things that have been written. In a large sense, this refers to the entire Word of God. The Bible is the written promise of our eternal destiny. It is the iron-clad, never-fail Word of God.

But in a more narrow sense, John is referring to those things he had just written. Remember, he is writing to people who were just not sure – they were feeling insecure and challenged, so John lays out a case for belief in verses 6-12. If you look at those verses just preceding verse 13, you will see that John points out that there is actually physical and spiritual evidence of the validity of Christ’s claims.

The physical evidence is that Jesus Christ was born of water and blood – he was not somehow an illusion - he was real. John states in the first few words of this letter that he had been an eye-witness to Jesus’ life and his death. Remember, John was the one disciple who stood at the food of Jesus’ cross, close enough for Jesus to whisper in His dieing gasps, “behold your mother.” John was giving eye-witness testimony to the reality of Jesus Christ – He was fully human, and He was fully Christ.

In addition to the physical evidence is the spiritual evidence – the Spirit of God indwells believers and confirms within each one the validity of Christ’s work. No one comes to the Father without being draw by the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit lives within each and every believer, and that presence confirms the work of Christ in our life. John points out that if we would accept the testimony of a man, like himself, then how much more should we accept the testimony of God Himself working in our lives! If you are a believer, then that testimony is within you – and if you chose not to believe, then you are calling God, not me, not John, you are calling GOD a liar, and you can certainly choose to do that if you wish. But when you do, you are rejecting the source of assurance and security – the Spirit of God, the Word of God and the physical evidence.

2 The Subject of Assurance.

The subject of our assurance is Jesus Christ – “These things I have written unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God.” Belief in the name of Jesus. His life, His message, His death and resurrection. John does not say that this assurance of eternal life is available to “you who believe sincerely in your choice of god.” He says specifically that the focus is on Jesus Christ alone. These words are written by the same man who sat next to Christ at the last supper, and heard Him say, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me.” In the verse just preceding, (vs.12) he wrote, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” There is nothing Politically Correct about that statement. There is nothing Universal about that statement. Faith alone does not gain us eternal life – only faith in the right place – faith in Jesus Christ, and Him alone. Faith in some saint will not do. St. Jude did not die for you sins. Mary did not shed her blood for you. Followers of Mohammed “hope” they can “earn” eternal life by doing some extreme act of sacrifice. Other religions believe you go back and try again until you get it right. (Yuk!) Even a generic “faith in God,” is not enough. I have heard an increasing number of people say, “I believe in God, but I’m not so sure that Jesus is the only way to get to Him.” Sorry – but that does not cut it. The assurance that John is writing about here – that assurance that we can know we have eternal life comes ONLY through Jesus Christ.

3 The Substance of Assurance.

The substance of our assurance is belief – it is the beginning and the end of our confidence. John writes to those who “believe…that you may continue to believe…” Faith is what it is all about. Those who have believed on Jesus have this eternal life – John wants them to know it, and to be sure of it and to experience it. He wants us to grasp hold of that belief, to grow in that faith, and to experience all that God has for us now and in the future. The gospel of John was written as a biography of Jesus to introduce people to Him, and to present the testimony of His life to unbelievers, this letter is now written to those who have received that testimony, to let them (and us) know what we have received – eternal life in Christ.

The phrase, “that you may know,” is written in specific words and tense in the original language of John to mean not gradual increase in our assurance, but a certainty of that eternal life here and now. In the midst of a society in the first century that was causing Christians to doubt their eternal destiny, John writes to guarantee that the words of Christ are true – “God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

20 centuries later, that same message is directed to us. In a world that is full of deception and illusion. When we don’t know who to trust or what to believe, the words of John call us to confident faith in the Son of God – Jesus Christ.

Do you “know?” Are you certain, without any doubt, of your eternal destiny? If this were your last church service, if this were your last day on this planet, if today you were to stand before God, would you be looking into the face of your judge, or would you be looking into the face of your loving Father?

If you don’t know – you can. You can know based on the testimony of the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. You can know by placing your faith not in the good deeds you do, but in the work He did, you can know by trusting in Jesus Christ, and Him alone. And if you have believed, walk in that confidence – allow that knowledge to sweep over you, and share it with a world that doesn’t know what to believe anymore.

[Heads bowed]

Do you know Jesus? Do you have that certainty of eternal life? In these few moments, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord. It all starts with realizing that on our own we can’t make it. None of us can meet God’s standards. He is holy, we are not. So we come humbly to Him, asking Him to forgive us for our sins, our failures, our pride. We ask Him to be our Savior, and our Lord. If you’re not sure, but would like to be, would you, in the silence of your heart, repeat this prayer with me?

Lord Jesus, I realize today that I cannot make it to heaven on my own. I know that you alone are the only way to the Father. I am a sinner, and far from God. Please forgive me for my sins, cleanse me from all my impurities, and make me a child of God. Place your Holy Spirit within me, and give me the assurance of eternal life that your Word promises. Thank you for loving me, thank you for dieing for me, thank you for saving me. Amen.