Week of Meetings 08 1 John 5: — Svend Christensen

It's a great joy to welcome so many friends here tonight. If you're here for the first time, let me say we're very, very happy to see you. And we would like you to write your name and address in the guest book out in the foyer there.

Just don't put down your name and just the city you come from, but just put down the address and the zip code so that we can send you a brochure and let you know when we've got some special meetings here and keep in touch with you.

It's a great joy to have you with us. Tonight we have Mr. Zane Christensen as our speaker. He has been our guest speaker for the conference, speaking to us on Thursday and Friday and Saturday, and now finally tonight we've had some very wonderful ministry on John's first epistle, small epistle with five chapters.

And whilst Mr. Christensen has only got into the first, second, and third chapters, he's going to jump right into the last chapter tonight, and I'm sure we're going to get some assurance from God's Word that he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

And in that connection now, if there should be anyone here tonight, and you have any doubt in your mind about the way of salvation, there are a few tracts out there in that middle table. There's a wonderful little booklet called God's Way of Salvation.

I know of no better for those who are kind of on-again, off-again people. You know, they think they're saved today, and tomorrow they just wonder, they don't feel saved. This is the best thing you can read, the best tract I know of to read.

There's another one out there called God's Way of Salvation by Alexander Marshall. It's been greatly used by God. There's another one out there called The Reason Why, written by Robert Laidlow in New Zealand.

Greatly used of God for the conversion of many precious souls. I saw one or two out there of the gift. I didn't put them there, but that's a wonderful tract. God is greatly used. So, if there's any doubts in your mind about the way of salvation, or the assurance of salvation, pick up one or two of these on the way out and read them.

And if you want to pick them up to give to some anxious soul, just do so. That's what they're there for. Now, we get up in the mountains, you know, and then we have to come down again. That's always the case.

Returning to Jerusalem With Great Joy

But I like what the disciples did in the last verse but one of Luke's Gospel. The Lord led them out as far as Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them and went up to glory. And you know what it says?

They returned to Jerusalem with great joy. I think that's wonderful because trouble and persecution and problems awaited them at Jerusalem. And the Lord told them to start witnessing at Jerusalem. But they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

And tomorrow we get back to our Jerusalem. The normal everyday things of life. Let's go back with great joy. Now, the regular everyday things of life here this week, the meetings will be the women's prayer meeting at 10 .30 on Tuesday morning.

Now, the lounge is being rearranged down there. And we don't want to re-rearrange it. But we'll fix it up so the ladies can have their prayer meeting down there Thursday morning. We're very shortly going to fix up a room down there.

A work room for the women's sewing meeting on Tuesday morning. It's not a sewing meeting this week. It's a prayer meeting at 10 .30. And Mrs. Fluge is going to give the ladies a talk about the missionary work in Peru and the Panama Canal Zone.

Thursday night is our weekly prayer meeting. 7 .30. Ministry and prayer. You're heartily invited. Next Sunday our speaker will be Mr. William Brown from West Palm Beach. And I would say to those who are here tonight, visitors, that we have services here every Sunday morning at 11 .00 and every Sunday evening at 7 .30.

And you are very, very welcome. Come and bring your friends. Now we're going to hear from our choir. We have a choir at the Park of the Promised. And they're doing very well. They're going to sing to us now.

Thank you. Thank you, God. For the message, if we might stand and sing that chorus. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. The one that the Billy Graham crusaders made so popular.

I'm sure you all know the words. Thank you so much. It's been a real joy to be with you this past four days. If you have met many good friends, you invite us to come by to see. We got to see some of you, some we didn't get to see.

We certainly would have loved to. It's just lovely to meet each one of you dear Christians and have fellowship together. What will it not be when we get the glory? If it's weak here, what will it not be up there?

The Witnesses in First John 5

Now let's turn please tonight to the last chapter of the first epistle of John. Chapter five. We'll break into the chapter, verse eight. There are three that bear witness in earth. The Spirit, and the water, and the blood.

And these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is great. For this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.

He that believeth not, God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you, that believeth on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions, that we desire of him.

May the Lord bless to us this reading from the Holy Word. If I'm not mistaken, it was from this chapter that John Townshend, a humble servant of the Lord in England, based most of his verses of assurance that he sent to Queen Victoria, came before him to the Queen and asked, Can we be sure in this life that we have eternal life right here now?

Can we be sure that all sins are forgiven? And apparently from the sermon that her own lecturer had preached, and her remarks on it, it left her in great doubt. So John Townshend sat down and he wrote a letter to her, and in that letter was quoted verses from this chapter.

He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life. These things have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life. This chapter has some wonderful witnesses in it.

We're going to touch on some of these witnesses tonight that bear witness to the fact that we know, right here and now, without a shadow of a doubt that we have right now, eternal life. That's a wonderful thing to know, isn't it?

Faith as the Anchor of Assurance

Now before going into that, I just want to mention in chapter five, here the first part of it, we believe the first five verses, especially deals with faith. I just want to mention this in passing, as I was reading these verses some time ago, going over these first verses, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, there is the anchor of faith.

That's the anchor. We sing that hymn sometimes, we have an anchor. Well, here's the anchor of faith. Your faith isn't as important as the object of your faith, and this is the anchor we fasten our faith to.

The unmovable anchor, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. Then you see the assurance of faith in verse two, and this we know. This we know. Oh, how John emphasizes and re-emphasizes the word know.

We know. This is not the language of a religionist. A religionist I've met for years. I was a religionist, and I used to speak in the terms of, I hope so, I'm trying to be. People say to me, are you a Christian?

I'm trying to be. I hope I am. All the people you talk like that to, you see, if you just use the word Christian, that's why I use it. When I ask somebody, I don't ask them, are you a Christian? Because in this country, they figure everybody is Christian.

And they'll look at you, sort of, strange, and wonder, do you think I'm a heathen? And then this is the point altogether. But we know we have the assurance of faith in verse two. Then you have the action of faith in verse two, B, in the first part of verse three, we keep his commandments.

For this is the love of God that we keep, his commandments. Action of faith, when a person really saves, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. He loves to do the things that God wants him to do.

And then the last part of verse three, his commandments are not grievous. And so I just outlined that as the agreeableness of faith. Not grievous. God, when he saves you, then these things are not grievous to you.

Before you're saved, or to do something, God asks you to do what is grievous to you. But after you're saved, you're like the Lord Jesus, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

It's not grievous to live for the Lord. It's a wonderful privilege, and a wonderful opportunity. And then in verse four, A, you have the ability of faith. The overcomer of the world. It's a grand thing to be an overcomer.

And that's what you have in verse four. And then, of course, you have the accomplishment of faith, victory. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. The accomplishment of faith.

The Witness of Christ's Blood

Now we'll go into the witnesses here. And there's a lot of them. We can't mention them to you. You can go over them a little more yourself. You have them in verse six, and also in verse eight. You have the blood, witness of the blood.

The water, the Holy Spirit. In verse nine, you have the witness of man. In verse nine, B, you have the witness of God. In verse eleven, through to thirteen, you have the witness of the Word of God. The written Word of God.

Then you have the witness of answered prayer, from verse fourteen down to fifteen. And then you have the witness of a new life, down to verse eighteen. And a lot of witnesses in the last three verses, nineteen to twenty-one, you're the witness after you've saved.

You have spiritual perception. You understand the things of God that you never could understand before. Now I'm not going to speak on all of these, but I am going to mention the blood as the first one.

We have the blood that bears witness. Could help to think of a verse in Hebrews nine, if you'd like to turn to it. Verse, Hebrews chapter nine, verse eleven and twelve. I think it is. Verse twelve. We have the witness of the blood, speaking of the dead of Christ.

In the book of Revelation, John saw the lamb, and though he had been preciously slain, the marks of Calvary that we heard about this morning will always be precious to the believer. When the blood bears witness of our acceptance in Christ.

When I see the blood as the Word, I will pass over you. It's the blood that maketh the atonement. I remember when I first started preaching as a young man, I went back to the home area after I'd been saved, and a dear old lady came to the meetings.

And she went out the door, and she said, Van, make much of the blood. And without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. It's the blood that cleansed us from all sin. God's Word says that. And he says the blood completely takes away the sin.

It completely removes sin. It doesn't cover it like the old testament. He puts away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Then you have, in this chapter two, the witness of man. If we receive the witness of man, says John, and we do all the time, we pick up the newspaper, we read different articles by different men on different subjects, and we receive their Word.

If you receive the Word of man, why, all the time we do. Because it depends sometimes who they are. If it's a village gossiper that's always telling tales and fooling people, and he comes and he tells you something that neighbor John's house is on fire, well, you're not apt to just run up the door and down to neighbor John's house.

You're going to go out and look to see if there's any smoke. Because he fooled you too many times with some of his tales. But if you have an honest man that tells you a certain thing that neighbor John's house is on fire, you'll believe that man and you'll rush down to the fire.

Now he says, if you take the Word of man, then God is far more dependable than man. He says, if we receive the witness of man, the witness of God is greater. And God has not left himself without a witness.

Creation and Revelation as God's Witness

In Psalm 19, I believe it is, you have first the heavens declare the glory of God, and the first part of that psalm deals with God witnessing to man in creation. Now man has been created with a God-given conscience, and he's conscious of God.

And the heavens, they declare, they preach all the time. But God has not only given us the creation to witness for him, but thank God he's also given us the revelation, which we'll go into a little more.

By the witnesses God has given us, so we can know that we have eternal life. And tonight, as a man, I can tell you this, and many other men here tonight can stand up and they can witness to you that they have eternal life.

They have met the Lord Jesus, they've experienced him, they know him. And you know these people are honored people, so why not take them at their word? If I was to call on witnesses here tonight, we could get all kinds of people to stand up on their feet and testify to the fact that they know the Son of God, they know the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Witness of the Holy Spirit

So we certainly have the witness of man, and we have the witness of God. First we have the witness of God the Spirit. Notice that in these verses, verse six, the Spirit is truth. The Holy Spirit never speaks a lie, it is the Spirit that they have witnessed, verse six, the last part of it, because the Spirit is truth.

Again in verse eight, the Spirit is mentioned as a witness. And again in verse ten, he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. Paul in Romans says his Spirit, God's Spirit, bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God.

Not we're going to be, but we are the sons of God right now. God's Spirit bears witness with the human spirit in the believer that right now we are the sons of God. Now I had an unusual experience on this, and I caution in a bit about this, but this is my own experience.

We have to be careful we do not go by feelings. But I remember when I was first saved, I was brought up in a home that did not know anything about the Bible. It was a good, moral church going home, but we never had really come to know anything about the Bible or being saved, anything like that.

And while I was in the Air Force, I came in contact with real saved fellows that lived the life and witnessed to me and took me to hear the gospel. And through this combined effort of prayer and so on, I accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior.

Now, I had had no teaching on assurance, whatever, from the Word of God. I was as ignorant about the Bible as a Hottentot. And I used to go along with these fellows to walk, I guess, a mile to go to the services, and then a missionary would come, and then I'd go and I'd listen to him.

I showed such interest, but I never expressed myself. You see, I was raised to believe that you never knew till you get up there whether you were saved or not, because the good deeds had to outweigh your bad ones, you see.

There was something you had to wait for till you got there. This was the background I had. It takes a little while to get these things out. And I didn't have the Word of God. So these fellows, I guess, they were wondering where I was standing.

They didn't really know. I'd had a real experience with the Lord. I really accepted Him, but I had always been taught that if you said you were saved, that was presumption. So one night at a young people's meeting, that fellow, he cornered me.

He said, Sven, are you saved? Well, he put me on the spot. If I say I'm saved, I may be presuming. I may be telling a lie. If I say I'm not saved, I may be telling a lie. That was quite spot to be in, wasn't it?

I didn't know these scriptures at that time. What does it say here? He that believeth on the Son of God hath a witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar. I was afraid of making God a liar even then.

But I don't, I think if there's wheels in there, you know, there's not, but there's just wheels there. The wheels in my little mind may just turn around quicker than in the few split seconds it's ever done before.

But anyway, as he phased through the question, the answer came out, yes. And the moment I said yes, his spirit truly bore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God. Oh, the peace and the joy that just flooded my soul.

What gave me that assurance? I believe the Spirit of God. He gave me that confidence. Now, I have the Word of God. The Spirit of God wrote this Word of God. And I know these things, didn't I? But I didn't know that at that time.

But he truly bore witness with my spirit that I was born again. And you know what, friend? I've never had a doubt since. Because now I have it written here in the Word of God. So you have the witness of the Holy Spirit.

The Witness of the Son of God

Then in a sense, too, right here, you have the witness of the Son of God Himself. Look what it says here. This is the record of the, it's the same word, this is the witness that God has given to us eternal life.

And this light is in His Son. Now, I know this is the written Word, but it also backs up what the Lord Jesus said. He said that I give unto mine sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands.

My Father which giveth me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of his hands. The witness of the Son of God is he that believeth on me shall have everlasting life. I am the bread of life.

And He came down to give us eternal life. Verse after verse through the Gospel of John and other scriptures assures us from the lips of the Lord Jesus that He witnesses to the fact that if we believe on Him, the moment we do, we have eternal life.

And He is too wonderful a person to lie. So we have the witness of God the Father, God the Spirit, God the Son. And then we have the witness of holy scriptures. They're right here. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

These things have I written unto you. I like that. It's so personal. These things have I written unto you. Who are the you that believe? Believe what? That Jesus is the Son of God. Now tonight, Francis, can you take a minute's word?

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe in Him as the Son of God? Have you personally done what the Lord's word says in John 1, 12, to as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the sons or the children of God?

Now you'll say to me, suppose this Bible represents the Lord Jesus. Now God says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's holding out the Lord Jesus to you. Then He says now to as many as received Him, to them He gives the right to become the children of God.

And the Lord Jesus and Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I'll under no condition refuse Him. Now here's God offering you His Son. Have you personally with the empty hand of faith taken Him and said thank you?

There's two classes, he that hath and he that hath not. Now what class are you in? There's a man came to the high water hills chapel for a few years, very proud little gentleman. His wife accepted the Lord to Bible classes I had there and they used to come every Sunday.

Then while we were up north just a year ago, suddenly he became so weak he could hardly drive himself to the hospital. They diagnosed his case and he was full of cancer. When I came back they put him up in this hospital outside Jacksonville for the vets when he was an officer in the Navy.

And I went in to visit Sam Boyd, a man about 62 or something like that. And I went in to see Sam Boyd. He didn't know how serious he was. He wasn't just dealing with this because now he thought he was going to die any day.

He thought that he had been operated on and he thought everything had been removed and it was just a matter of time now he'd be up and home again. Everything would be fine. I said, Sam, tell me this. Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?

Are you saved yet? He says, I want to be. And then I asked him, have you accepted Christ as your Savior? He said, I do that every day. I said, now look, if I was giving you a gift and I said, now Sam, here is a gift for you.

Do you have to keep asking me for that gift every day? He says, no. You just take it once. To as many as we see them. He says to me, there was a fellow that was a real friend of his along there. He says, tell Jim I got it.

So thankful he got it saved a month before the Lord took him home. He really got it. He was a different man than they tell me the last month he lived. But you see, God is offering you something. Eternal life in His Son.

But you must receive Him. And God's Word is written to those that believe in Him. By believing in Him we mean those that have really and truly received Him. That's what it means. It doesn't just mean ascent that you believe in a historic character that lived 2 ,000 years ago.

And you believe that He came into the world. He died upon the cross. And you believe in resurrection because you come to Easter service and so on. It's just not like that. Believing means that you completely trust Him.

That's what He's dealing with. Let me illustrate again. When Blondin crossed the Niagara Falls, across the cable with a wheelbarrow, and as he got to the other side all the crowd was there, you know, to greet him.

He says, oh man, he believes in Blondin. And they all cheered. And he said to a man, do you believe in Blondin? Yes sir, he did. So he said, get in the wheelbarrow and I'll take your cross. He wouldn't do it.

He said to the little boy, do you believe in Blondin? He said, yes. Get in the wheelbarrow. He got in. That's the difference. To as many as receive Him. You put your trust in Him. You put your faith in the Lord Jesus.

God's word says, He that hath the Son hath life. These things have I written unto you, that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know. K-N-O-W. Not hope so. Not guess you are. Not hoping for the best for the future.

But right here and now, God has written this wonderful portion that we can know right now. That's a good word to go to sleep on, isn't it? To rest your soul on. So you have the assurance or the witness of the word of God.

Answered Prayer as a Witness

And then also the practical aspect after that, that you have going on into the verse 14 and 15. And this is the confidence that we have in Him. That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us, what shall we ask? We know that we have the petition that we decide of Him. Thank God when you get saved, you can ask for things. And one of the witnesses to us, to assure us that we are saved, that God gives us answers to all prayers.

It's a real thing to know God is your Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior. He answers prayer. Do you know something about that? Then you also have the witness of the new life, verse 18. We know that whosoever is born of God, sin and knowledge, he doesn't practice a life of sin.

His life is different. Like Paul says in Corinthians, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things pass away, all things become new. When you really and truly receive the Lord Jesus and He comes into your life, what happens?

The Witness of a New Life and Spiritual Perception

He changes you. And this is the witness that you have. You have new desires. Before I was saved, I had no interest in this wonderful book. It was as dry as dust. After I got saved, I couldn't get enough of it.

What happened? God, the Holy Spirit, came within. I received the divine nature. I was born of God. And now that new nature, like a newborn baby, had a desire for the sincere milk of the Word of God. Another witness is that when you're saved, you have a new life, a new desire, a new outlook, a new future, new hope, new friends.

Everything is new. While the birthday sings so much more sweetly, the flowers look so much more beautiful, everything is new and different. It's just a new life. Isn't that wonderful? And then there's something else.

John says, verse 19, We know that we are of God, the whole world lied in the lap of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God is come and has given us an understanding. You get an understanding that we know Him that is true and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life. You get a spiritual perception, you get a spiritual understanding that you never had before. You read the Bible and it just opens up to you. It's so new to you, so fresh to you.

It has such food for you. See, the Bible says, The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, their food is sent to him. But after you're born again, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.

And the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, and then you begin to appreciate the Scriptures He wrote, and you love them. You find them more than your necessary need. You find them something to desire more than gold, something that's sweeter than honey to the taste.

They're precious in the Word of God. These are some of the witnesses that show us that we have eternal life. The witness of the blood. The witness of the Holy Spirit. The witness of men, especially those that are saved.

The witness of God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all witness to the fact we have eternal life when we have Christ. The witness of the Word of God. These things that are written unto you that believe that you may know that you have eternal life.

The witness of prayer. The witness of that new life. The witness of new spiritual perception, so you understand the things concerning God and the Lord Jesus and your future, and all these things related to God's plan for you, for the world, for the whole universe.

My, what a, what a tremendous thing we're taken into when we're born again. Do you know tonight? Whatever shadow of a doubt that you have, eternal life. God wants you to know. He wants you to know. He's given us all these witnesses and others in this chapter to bear witness to the fact we can know right now we have eternal life.

The Gospel Invitation to Receive Eternal Life

Now there's only two classes of people. This audience here tonight is not divided by that aisle down the middle. This audience is divided. You're either in Christ or you're out of Christ. He that hath the Son hath life.

He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now it's one or the other. I call it first class. Well, you can't call that the second class, can you? Now this person out there, what class are you in? Are you in the first class or are you in the other class?

Are you in he that hath or he that hath not? What class are you in tonight? He that hath the Son hath life, present tension, present possession. Yours right here and now. Do you have it? Well, then thank the Lord for it.

Tell others about it. Share what you have with others. And if you do not have it, you can have it tonight. Because the Lord Jesus is knocking on your heart's door, saying, if any man will hear my voice and will open the door, I will.

Not I may, but I will. The door is on the, or the handle, the latch is on the inside. You must will to let him in. If any man will open the door, I will come in. Will you open your heart door tonight and say, Lord Jesus, come into my heart.

I will let thee in. I have room for thee, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and save me. Will you do that tonight? You're never too young for this. If you can understand a little word, come. And you'll never be too old for this.

The Urgency of Responding Today

But this may be your last opportunity. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Woe is not thyself of tomorrow. Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart.

Come today. Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. God grant you'll come right now and accept him as your Ghost of Savior. Could you sing just the first and last stanzas of 226 in closing, please?

Just as I am. That's the only way to come. Please. You know, the devil said that's right. You should come, but not now. Just wait a little longer. Think it over a little longer. What is it to think over?

You have everything to gain by coming. You have everything to lose by not coming. You need to say with that second verse, just as I am, and waiting not. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting is most dangerous. Having the intention that someday you're going to accept Christ is most dangerous.

Many, many a person has awakened in hell and intended to be saved. The only thing is to come now. Let's sing the last stanza thoughtfully and prayerfully. And if you're not saved this year, I'll be back at the door.

Don't leave tonight till you're definitely sure that you have eternal life. God wants you to know it and know for sure that you are saved. The last stanza. Don't leave tonight till you're definitely sure that you have eternal life.