I Love Christ Church

The Haves and the Have Nots

1 John 5:9-13
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

To summarize this passage, it is about the testimony of the haves and have nots. A testimony is an account of truth from a witness.  Here we have testimonies both of God and believers.
But there is another testimony on the negative side… the testimony of the “Have-Nots,” or those who reject truth.
So let’s think about HOW we determine truth. This is always important, but it is especially important when we are dealing with our souls and our eternal destinies.

>>> A Rev. Bilynskyj starts each confirmation class with a jar full of beans. He asks his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a big pad of paper writes down their estimates. Then, next to those estimates, he helps them make another list: Their favorite songs. When the lists are complete, he reveals the actual number of beans in the jar. The whole class looks over their guesses, to see which estimate was closest to being right. He then turns to the list of favorite songs. “And which one of these is closest to being right?” he asks. The students protest that there is no right answer; a person’s favorite song is purely a matter of taste. Bilynskyj asks, “When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?” Always, he says, from old as well as young, he gets the same answer: Choosing one’s faith is more like choosing a favorite song. When Bilynskyj was asked, “After they say that, do you confirm them?”  “Well,” he smiled, “First I try to argue them out of it.” <<<

Sadly, we would see the same results today if we took a survey on the streets… or in the pews. People have been conditioned to think subjectively rather that objectively. Feelings outweigh facts and you cannot easily change this posture.  Of course, we must try.  An ENGINEER will try and stop a building with incorrect specifications from being built. A DOCTOR will counter and correct a wrong diagnosis.       A PILOT will adjust navigational instruments if they are not properly engaged. And a PREACHER must proclaim the truth of the Scriptures in a spiritually barren landscape.

The Greek word in the Bible for TESTIMONY is marturia or marturian which consists in certifiable, objective facts, as in the legal sense of testimony given in a court of law. Like Sgt. Friday would say, “Just the facts, Ma’am.”

Let’s examine the testimonies of this text:

1.) God Testified About His Son. (9) Testify to what about His Son?  WHO He is, and WHY He came to the world. Jesus is the promised One, the Messiah, the Son of the eternal God. This is the core of the Gospel message. It’s about Christ and the work He accomplished on Earth for our redemption. It is not about RELIGION as much as it is about RELATIONSHIP.

2.) Believers Testify Based on Their Hearts. (10) This one is personal, it is subjective, and it is very intimate. But that is not to say it should be discounted. When you consider countless thousands who give this testimony, it is very convincing. It is a RESPONSE to the testimony of God about His Son. Really, it is trinitarian because the witness comes from the Father, it is about the Son, and it is the Holy Spirit who applies it in our hearts and minds.

Believers’ faith is in the Lord, they have yielded their lives to Him as Savior and Lord, and they have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

3.) Unbelievers Testify Against God. (10)  But in this case even a negative counts because who will say that God is a liar? If they do not believe what God says about His Son, then they are clearly not to be listened to. Like they say, “If the devil is against me, it is a complement.” If people who make God out to be a liar are against the Gospel of Christ, it is all the more reason to believe it!  That’s why hypocrisy is so deadly: people turn off to the true Gospel because of the bad examples of believers.

4.) The Testimony is One That Delineates. (11-12)  Both believers and non-believers are included in this testimonial discourse about the Son of God.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

5.) The Testimony of the Word of God is Encouraging! (13)
The words in this holy Book were written so that we may KNOW that we have ETERNAL LIFE!

“Father in Heaven, thank you for giving us the Bible as the foundation of our faith, for the nurture of our souls, and as a guide book for salvation and spiritual growth. May we all seek to have pure testimonies of faith in your Son Jesus Christ, so that those outside the Body of Christ may see and believe. This we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

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