Good afternoon, dear Church family!

Ice Breaker: Have you ever been called to serve on jury duty? What was your first thought that came to mind when you got your “invitation?”

This coming Sunday we will be looking at 1 John 5:6-21 “⁶ This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. ⁹ If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ 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 borne concerning his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. ¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. ¹⁸ We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. ¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. ²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

How many times do you find the word testify, testimony, know and have in 1 John 5:6-21?

As we come to the end of our series on 1 John, I want us to specifically look at the end of chapter 5. In these verses John gives us a specific list of six items that he discusses, three in verses 13-15 and three in verses 18-21: eternal life, confidence, answered prayer (vv. 13-15) and a right attitude toward the true God (vv. 18-21). What do all these items have in common? What if I were to say, “You have eternal life, God hears your prayers always and God answers your prayers even before you know the answer.” What category would fit that list? The answer is: “things every Christ-follower testifies about because he knows and possesses them.”

How many times did you find the word ‘have’ in our passage? Notice that the word ‘have’ occurs in each verse in verses 13-15. In each case it’s associated with one of three things: “you ‘have’ eternal life,” “this is the confidence that we ‘have’,” and “we know that we ‘have’ the requests …” Now notice again how in verses 13-15 the word ‘know’ is associated with each of these three things: “that you may ‘know’ that you have eternal life,” “if we ‘know’ that we have the request that we have asked of him.” Verses 13-15 speak of three things we ‘have’ and three things we ‘know.’

1. What are the things you ‘have’?
2. What are the things you can ‘know’?
3. What does having and knowing these things have to do you with your assurance of salvation?
4. How does God use these as a testimony to non believers?
5. Can a person be saved and still struggle with eternal security? Why?
6. How sure are you of your own salvation? Why?

As always, may the Lord use this mid-week devotional to prepare your heart to receive Sunday’s message.

God bless you. I look forward to worshiping with you on Sunday. Invite someone to join you.