KNOWING I AM A CHRISTIAN

#591                                                         KNOWING I AM A CHRISTIAN                                                                                

Scripture I John 5:1-15 NIV                                                                                                                             Orig. 10-29-72

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 11-4-86 

Passage:  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.  This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.  This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God has overcome the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 

This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ.  He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.  And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three are in agreement.  We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.  Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.  Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who 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 so that you may know that you have eternal life.  We have the assurance in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Purpose: To help my people examine their relationship with God to the point of having assurance of faith.

Keywords:          Doubt                   Revival                 Faith                     Word of God    

Introduction

                Having a guest in our home last week was a happy privilege.  I have had occasion to think of such times when I was guest in pastor/family homes.  One always stands out from all the rest.  I arrived at my appointment at the prescribed time.  The pastor took me to his home to settle in before the service that night.  Entering the house, my friend explained that the teenage daughter had consented to relinquish her room for the week.  She would be elsewhere in the house.  I don’t know what negotiations went on before my arrival, but there I was, settling into a room that was decidedly not my style.  It was sufficiently comfortable, but the decorations were nauseating.  I spent the week under the watchful gaze of Bobby Sherman and Mickey Something-or-Other.  And having to enter the room through a curtain made from aluminum can pop-tops left me a little fractious.  There were two people praying for that revival that week.  Both praying that it would pass quickly: her and me.

                I am not the pin-up type.  I wouldn’t even make room for Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus. Sam Sneed maybe!  Jan Stevenson certainly!

                I do hold on to certain pictures occasionally.  A brochure came in the mail awhile back.  From an evangelist.  It was so different I tucked it away for possible future consideration.  The front contained a double picture of said evangelist.  On the left side under a seedy looking individual was the following: Police Department, Houston, TX 71770. “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.”

                Opposite was a current picture of the same individual, shaven, hair combed, neatly dressed.  Beneath this picture, Evangelist—“The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen could ever tell.”

                A question emerges, Does Christ make a difference in a person’s life?  If so, how can I know that I am a Christian?

I.             First, We Must Certify How One Becomes a Christian.  V13 “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.”  One becomes a Christian by casting doubt aside, and believing.  V11 “This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 

So there must be some analysis of doubt.  Is it the doubt of ignorance? How often do we hear someone respond to questions of faith?  John says in V13 “These things (are) written, that you may know fully.”  Paul expressed his belief clearly that he knew which he had believed.  He likewise instructed Timothy to “study to show himself approved unto God.”  If doubt exists, and it is the doubt of ignorance, heed God’s word.  Take seriously the witness of Christian friends who certify faith.

Perhaps your doubt is only the doubt of inexperience.  Akin to that causing Abraham distress when he was directed from Ur to some unnamed land afar off.  Dealing with doubt was in the going.  Or that bothering the spies. Two exceptions were Joshua and Caleb.  The spies saw the land and the enemy.  They saw a land worth keeping, and men worthy of such keeping, and they were afraid.  Victory, and disposal of doubt awaited going forth in battle.  Jesus stood one day at the door of your life and knocked, waiting to be invited in.  He has been there before, as He is now, and faith awaits disposal of doubt and asking.

It may also be that the doubt is the doubt of strangeness.  Let the story of Balaam alone be a sufficient warning.  In Numbers 22 Balaam, who had a kind of faith in God, was tempted to curse Israel.  His stubbornness before God brought him to the brink of death.  An angel of God blocked his path, and his donkey sensed the danger before he did.  Faith in the face of stubborn doubt may not be easy, but surrender to God is required.

II.            One Has Assurance that He is a Christian by Taking Hold of the Word of God.  V10b “He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given.”  There are parallel verses from the pen of John. 1 John 5:13 “These things were written to those who believe that you may know that you have eternal life.”  John 20:31 “…Written that you might come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that believing you might have life.”

So the Word is there, available to us all. We must grasp the rightness of its message for us.  Listen in as Elizabeth speaks to Mary. Luke 1:45 “…You believed that God would do what He said.  That is why He has given you this wonderful blessing.” (LB)  Hear what God said in the parable of the seed, Luke 8:15.  “The good soil represents honest good-hearted people.  They listen to God’s words, and cling to them and steadily spread them to others who also believe.”  Do not be so quick to ignore a text of the early church, comparing Berea to Thessalonica.  Acts 17:11 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, or they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Jews as well as Gentiles.)

We are able to hold onto the Word of God because we trust the character of God.  Luke 12:32 “Fear not little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  What kind of father uses gifts to control his children?  Not a good one.  Not for long.  The Heavenly Father does not give to get or to goad or to gauge.  He gives because he is genuine and generous and good.  He invites us to be of one stock, with Him.

III.           Before We Conclude, a Brief Word of Counsel.  Don’t let the circumstance of your daily life nurture doubt.  Psalm 63:1 “My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.”  In poetry and song we equate sunshine with good fortune.

                “O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies,

                O they tell me of a home far away.

                O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,

                O they tell me of an unclouded day.”

But we have seen those places marked by unending sunshine, where no clouds ever appear.  It is a land through which course no streams, where no springs gurgle, and without tree or flower. 

Assurance of faith is not determined by trouble-free life.  It is determined by our desire to know and do the will of God.  John 7:17 (Phillips) “If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know whether my teaching is from God, or whether I merely speak on my own authority.”

Conclusion

We mentioned pin-ups earlier.  What do you see in the picture gallery of your own life? Can you visualize a before and an after in relationship to God?  Can you identify a time when the picture changes?  What do you see that is different now?  How was it before Christ came?  If He has not, why do you detain Him? Why do you leave the door closed on such a One? 

V12 “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”