TEXT:

‘ When He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee”’ (Matthew 21:10-11)

THOUGHT:

“This is”. This two word phrase appears repeatedly in John’s first epistle. I am so pleased the Bible deals in certainties. It is fact, not fiction. What a shame much of today’s preaching only serves to create doubt, fear and condemnation, instead of enlightening and encouraging the listeners. The challenge to any preacher is simple. Would you want to listen to your sermon?

Christians can have absolute confidence in the Bible, for it is God’s Word. We must read it; believe it; preach it; and then we will see it in action! “This is” is a declaration of truth. Pilate exclaimed, ‘What is truth?’(John 18:38). He lived in a world full of lies. God’s Word is the truth. Jesus is the Truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.

Today’s Teaching studies these “This Is” phrases found in 1 John.

• This Is Eternal Life – ‘And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life’ (I John 2:25)

‘And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son’ (I John 5:11.

‘And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life’ (1 John 5:20).

God’s starting point was the forgiveness of sin and abolishment of death. Before Adam and Eve were created and fell into temptation and sin, God had already prepared the escape route. The Bible says of Jesus, ‘He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world’ (1 Peter 1:20). God prepared the solution before the problem had arisen!

The reason so many fear dying and try to hang on to life for as long as possible, is because they have no hope of eternal life. This is why Christians sorrow differently because they know death is not the end.¹

“Some day you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! I shall be more alive than I am now. I will have just changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” Billy Graham adapted this quote that had been attributed to DL Moody.

Eternal life is the minimum God gives to those whose faith is in Jesus. Is yours?

• This Is Jesus – ‘This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ’ (1 John 5:6)

‘And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment’ (I John 3:23).

‘If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son’ (1 John 5:9).

Never lose the sense of wonder about the name of Jesus. Increasingly, it is used as a swear word, although strangely programme makers never use the name of Mohammed in this way. The name of Jesus is our access code concerning answered prayer and ministering to the sick and those who are demon-possessed. There is power in the name of Jesus.²

‘And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life’ (1 John 5:11-12).

If you have the Son, you have the life! The Bible warns, ‘Keep yourself from idols’ (1 John 5:21). An idol is anything you put more confidence in than Jesus, anything that moves Him off the number one spot.

Remember, there is only one name that every knee will bow to and every tongue acknowledge as Lord. It is the name of Jesus.³

• This Is The Message

It’s a tragedy that when the media give Christian clergy time and space to say what they like, they do not use the opportunity to talk about Jesus.

Every preacher ought to make the following declaration, “I promise to preach and teach the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth”. Churches and communities would be transformed if they did!

In his epistle, John highlighted two things we need to include in the message.

A Changed Lifestyle

‘This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5). God accused Israel of doing the wrong thing but because they were not repentant, they ended up thinking God was condoning their actions. ‘These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you’ (Psalm 50:21).  A changed life is required, ‘For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behaviour should show it!’ (Ephesians 5:8 TLB).

An All-Inclusive Love

‘For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another’ (I John 3:11). ‘He who loves his brother abides in the light’ (1 John 2:10). ‘By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:35).

The Bible challenges us with this statement, ‘If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both’ (1 John 4:20 MSG).

Finally, Paul wrote, ‘We preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified, [preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal and an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap], and to the Gentiles it is absurd and utterly unphilosophical nonsense’ (1 Corinthians 1:23 AMPC). Just because people were offended or did not understand, he did not change the message. He preached the same message and let the message change those who were willing to hear it!

Endnotes:

¹1Thessalonians 4:13-14         ² Mark 16:17-18          ³ Philippians 2:9-11