Scripture reading: John 17:6-19.

Sermon text: 1 John 5:9-13.

“I saw it with my own eyes.” We remember momentous events more vividly when we experience them firsthand. History-making events, life-changing incidents…

Here in Tuscaloosa, national championships….

We remember these occurrences best when we experience them for ourselves.

In the case of St. John, witnessing a resurrection changed everything.

The Mosaic Law, under which St. John and all the Apostles lived, required at least 2 eyewitnesses in a capital case (Deuteronomy 17:6-7). On the night of Jesus’ trial, the priests managed to buy off 2 eyewitnesses to testify against Jesus; they couldn’t run to Pilate demanding His execution without the semblance of fulfilling the Law.

At Jesus’ resurrection, something strange happened. While not stated in the Mosaic Law, Jewish law refused to accept the testimony of women in court. Yet, 2 women saw Jesus first; women served as the first witnesses of the greatest event in humanity’s existence. You’ll notice that 2 Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, ran to the tomb to see for themselves if Jesus really had risen from the dead. St. Paul wrote that Jesus later appeared to more than 500 witnesses at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6).

More than 120 people witnessed the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15). Thousands testified to the arrival of the Holy Spirit as they witnessed the disciples’ message on the Day of Pentecost; by the end of Pentecost, 3,000 testified to the power of the Holy Spirit as they were born again by believing in Jesus.

In the sermon text today, St. John wrote about an even greater testimony: The testimony of God as He works in the world. The testimony of God outranks every other testimony in eternity.

As St. John wrote, we often “receive the testimony of men” in our lives. No one questions us when we tell them about events of the week; no one doubts us when we recount important incidents in our lives. We believe the records in the history books without question. However, “The testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.” The Gospels record God’s testimony regarding Jesus. Every Gospel account of Jesus’ baptism tells of God’s pronouncement, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22). St. Paul wrote to the Romans that Jesus “was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). The resurrection, according to St. Paul, demonstrates God’s testimony regarding Jesus, His Son.

St. John also made another tremendous claim: “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.” Our belief in Jesus testifies to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and His victory over sin and death. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives the Holy Spirit to guide him and direct him throughout life. What about those who do not believe in God, or who may believe in God but not in the resurrection of Jesus? According to St. John, “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.”

God’s ultimate testimony comes not only in the resurrection but also in the life He promises all who believe in Jesus. “This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” When we confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection, the Holy Spirit indwells us and gives us the assurance of our “adoption” into God’s family (Romans 8:14-17). “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” This life doesn’t begin at our deaths as most people seem to think; instead, it begins at our moment of belief and confession of Jesus as Lord of our lives. The Holy Spirit at that moment begins to prepare us for the eternal life God promises us: “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.”

Did you notice the last part of verse 13? “That you may know that you have eternal life.” Some people doubt they can know whether or not they’re actually born again until death; you’ll hear some teachers try to say that our salvation isn’t secure until our deaths. Yes, I know people who have fallen away from the faith. I have no idea how God will deal with them; I’m willing to leave them in His hands. However, I know with no shadow of a doubt that St. John wants us to believe in our eternal life, the eternal life purchased for us by Jesus’ blood, to which He testified in His resurrection, and insured by the presence of the Holy Spirit in everyone who will confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection.

To what does God testify? He testifies to Jesus’ work in our salvation. He testifies to our salvation when we confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection. He testifies to the spiritual life we possess by the power of the Holy Spirit as He works within us, molding us moment by moment into eternal beings who will live forever in the loving presence of our Father.

Meanwhile, we have a testimony to give as well. Scripture makes it clear that the gospel consists solely of Jesus’ work, death, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). The world sees God’s testimony when they see His power in our lives, both through our actions and especially through our unity. The Scripture reading today comes from Jesus’ longest prayer recorded in Scripture, a prayer in which He prays 3 times for the unity of the Church. Christians, we have a duty to unite in love and testify to Jesus’ presence in our lives.

Have you believed in Jesus? Testify to His presence in your life, both through your worship with other believers and your love of everyone God puts in your life. Testify to the power of God as you overcome sin and guide others to salvation through Jesus. Show to the world that you’ve witnessed the greatest testimony ever given: The testimony of God that His Son, Jesus, has conquered sin and death, giving us a sure and certain hope that we will rise one day to life everlasting.