“God’s Generous Gifts Concerning Jesus”

(1 John 5:5-13)

Series: A Word for the Church [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

October 31, 2021

The Passage

1 John 5:5-13

5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by 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, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement. 9 If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Introductory Comments:

A couple of years ago, my extended family went to the beach for vacation. My brother, my dad, and I decided to go on a fishing trip. We hired a guide to take us fishing for red drum, or redfish or reds, as we Floridians call them. That was one of the most successful fishing trips of my life. The reds were running in schools and you couldn’t help but catch them. In fact, the guide challenged me to throw the bait out and reel it back in without catching a fish. It was hard to do. We caught so many fish that I couldn’t even count how many we landed. Here’s a picture of one that I caught that day. [show picture on screen] The reds were too much to count that day!

So also, the blessings that God has given this world by sending Jesus to the earth are innumerable; they are too much to count! The world has been changed forever because of the work of Jesus. 

Also, there are great blessings given by God specifically to the follower of Jesus. 

John will speak about those blessings in today’s passage. I’ve entitled today’s sermon, “God’s Generous Gifts Concerning Jesus.” [on screen]

John got into these blessings a bit last week. This is how John completed last week’s passage: “ . . . because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.” [on screen]

John continues today’s passage by also speaking about how followers of Jesus conquer the world. Indeed, the victory that we have in this world is just one of several different gifts given to us by God. 

Today, we’re going to see three gifts that God gives to us through the work of Jesus. 

Before we dive into this passage, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us. 

(prayer)

As we journey through this passage, let us discover three generous gifts given to us by God. 

First, . . .

I. God gives victory through Jesus (verse 5)[on screen]

As we discussed last week, and as I read just a moment ago in verse 4, John is continuing this message of victory found in Jesus. 

Look at verse 5:

5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Notice that John equates conquering the world with believing that Jesus is the Son of God. There is power in Jesus! That is why we can sing, “O Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!”

Well, why is there victory in Jesus? Why do we conquer the world when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

We must remember that Jesus is the only escape from the troubles of this world. None of us are immune from the effect of sin on us and the effect of sin on the world. However, any of us can find hope in Jesus!

Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told yo