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SIX CERTAINTIES REGARDING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

INTRODUCTION:

In dealing with the certainty of Christ, John gives us six great certainties about the Gospel Message or “the Word of Life”.

Thus far we have looked at two of these great certainties of the Gospel message, and that is:

1.         THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS STABLE.

             A.        THE GOSPEL MESSAGE HAS NEVER CHANGED. (Vs 1)

            B.        THE GOSPEL MESSAGE DOESN’T NEED CHANGING.

                        1.         The Gospel Message Meets Man’s Greatest Need!

                        2.         The Gospel Message Is The Only Thing That Can Meet Man’s Need!

            C.        THE GOSPEL MESSAGE WILL NEVER CHANGE! 

2.         THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS SENSIBLE.

            It makes sense to believe the Gospel, because the Gospel is credible!

            John experienced the gospel with his senses.  

            A.       John said, “We Have Heard.”

            B.        John said, “We Have Seen With Our Eyes.”

            C.        John said, “We Have Looked Upon.”

            D.        John said, “Our Hands Have Handled.”

Today we want to look at the third great certainty of the Gospel message and that is this: THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS SPIRITUALLY ENLIGHTENING. (Look at 1 John 1:1-2)

John called Jesus, who is the Gospel message, “the Word of life” there in verse 1.

Then in verse 2, he says of that “Word of life,” “For the life was manifested. . .”

Well what does the word “manifested” mean? It means “to render apparent; or to make obvious.”

What “life” is he talking about? Verse 2 answers that question in the later part of that verse as he says, “. . .that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.”

There has only been one who was with the Father and manifested unto the apostles and to us– and that is JESUS CHRIST!

So that “eternal life” he is talking about is Jesus Christ! Christ died for our sin but was resurrected to die no more!

Romans 6:10–“For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”

So John wants us to understand that THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS SPIRITUALLY ENLIGHTENING:

I.         BEFORE A PERSON COMES TO CHRIST, THEY ARE DEAD IN THEIR TRESPASSES AND SINS! (Ephesians 2:1–6)

If you do not have Christ in your life this morning, you are right now dead in your trespasses and sins.So, what does it mean to be dead in trespasses and sins?

            A.        A Dead Person Has Been Separated From Life.

                        The basic meaning of death is separation.

Physical death is the separation of the spirit of a person from their physical life– that is, the life they had in their body. Our spirit is what gives this body life.

                        A person who is dead spiritually has been separated from the life that is in God.

Eternal death or the second death is the final, eternal separation of the unsaved from God and His life which is eternal life.

            B.        A Dead Person Cannot Respond To That Which Is Alive.

                        a.         Physical Death.

The body that is dead cannot respond with that which is physically alive.

                                    That is because the spirit has left the body. It is dead.

                        b.        Spiritual Death.

                                    In much the same way, those who are spiritually dead cannot respond

                                    on a spiritual plane with that which is spiritually alive.

1 Corinthians 2:13–“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

There is no discernment because he is spiritually dead and cannot respond to that which is spiritually alive.

                                    The Word of God is spirit and it is alive.

John 6:63–“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

Hebrews 4:12–“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

            C.        A Dead Person Begins Corrupting As Soon As They Die.

                        a.         Physical Death.

John 11:39–“Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.”

                                    That is why morticians embalm the bodies of those who die.

                                    That is also why funerals take place so quickly after a person dies.

                        b.        Spiritual Death.

                                    When we are born, we are born spiritually dead.

                                    That is why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, “Ye must be born again.”

Romans 5:12–“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

                                    Romans 3:10-18

So, BEFORE A PERSON COMES TO CHRIST, THEY ARE DEAD IN THEIR TRESPASSES AND SINS!

II.       FAITH IN THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST BRINGS THE ONE WHO BELIEVES THE SAME LIFE THAT CHRIST HAS–ETERNAL LIFE.

1 John 5:11-12–“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

The Gospel message is the only message that can bring eternal life into a life that is spiritually dead in trespasses and sin! !

You can take a corpse and try to do all manner of things to it to try to give it life, but you will fail miserably. Why, because the only one that can give life to it is God.

The same thing is true with our spiritual deadness! We or others can try to do all kinds of things to try to make it appear that we have spiritual life. But the only one who can give us life is God.

John 17:3–“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

A.Eternal Life Is Spiritual Life.

The life we receive at salvation, when Christ comes to dwell within us, is spiritual life, not physical life.

John 5:25 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."

He was saying, “The gospel is now being preached and spiritually dead men are coming alive.”

Ephesians 2:1 says that we who were dead in trespasses and sin have been made alive by Christ. We have been given spiritual life!

What is spiritual life? It is the ability to properly respond to God. We might call it sensitivity to God.

            A.        Eternal Life Is Spiritual Life.

            B.        Eternal Life Is Resurrection Life.

                        1.         What Does This Mean For Our Future?

If the Lord tarries His coming, we are all going to face physical death in this life. When we die these bodies that we have are planted in the ground, but our spirits go to be with Christ if we are saved. Then when the Lord returns to this earth (and He will return to this earth!), our bodies will be raised up, and glorified, and reunited with our spirits once again!

1 Corinthians 15:51-53–"Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

2 Corinthians 5:8–"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

                        2.         What Does This Mean For Our Present. (Romans 6:1-13)

Galatians 2:20–“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

            C.        Eternal Life Is Endless Life.

                        How long will we live? Forever!!!

The word “eternal” means perpetual; everlasting; never ending!

Over and over again in Scripture after Scripture we are told that the life we have in Christ Jesus is everlasting and eternal!

            D.        Eternal Life Is Abundant Life. 

                        John 10:10–"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I                         am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

                        What does “more abundantly” mean?

It means superabundant in both quantity and quality! It means the best that God has to offer for you!

Ephesians 3:20–“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”

Conclusion

The Gospel message is stable.

            It meets the need of every man.

The Gospel message is sensible.

            It makes sense to believe the Gospel message because it is credible.

The Gospel message is spiritually enlightening.

            It is the source of eternal life.

Do you have that eternal life in you today? Not if you don’t have the Son you don’t!

1 John 5:11-12–“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Christian, are you living in the fullness of the eternal life that you say you have?

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!