Auburn SDA Church
The Certainty of God’s Witness
  • I Know Whom I Have Believed

      • 1 John 5:6-7ESV

      • 1 John 5:8-9ESV

      • 1 John 5:10-11ESV

      • 1 John 5:12-13ESV

  • Picture the courtroom scene—one of the most intense in modern film. In A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise plays a Navy lawyer pressing a hardened colonel, played by Jack Nicholson, for the truth about a secret military order. The tension builds until Cruise shouts, “I want the truth!”
    And Nicholson barks back with that now-iconic line: “You can’t handle the truth!” That one sentence captured something deep about human nature. We say we want truth—but we often don’t want the discomfort that comes with it. Because truth demands accountability. Truth strips away excuses. Truth draws lines we can’t just erase.
    1 John 5:6 ESV
    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.
    Water and Blood
    Baptism
    Crucifixion
    Alternative interpretation:
    water and blood from Jesus side.
    Does not make sense because
    Jesus didn’t come by
    water flowing from side.
    Water and Blood
    Baptism
    Crucifixion
    Remember issues
    John was dealing with
    pro-gnosticism.
    They rejected
    bodily coming
    of Jesus.
    Anti-incarnation.
    You can be baptized
    but reject the incarnation.
    You have to have
    both
    water
    blood.
    You can’t be baptized
    not live our faith.
    The Analogy: Consider an airplane flying from Georgia to a specific international destination, like Nairobi. If the pilot accepts 95 percent of the flight plan but decides to alter just 5 percent of the compass heading to avoid a small storm or satisfy a passenger's whim, the plane will miss its destination by hundreds of miles.
    The Application:
    We often approach God's truth this way. We like the truths about grace, love, and provision, but we reject the truths about self-denial, repentance, or turning from specific sins. Accepting some truth while rejecting other truth inevitably causes us to drift completely off course from God's intended will.
    Spirit is truth
    what does that mean?
    The Holy Spirit
    is convicting us
    of truth step by step.
    1 John 5:7–8 ESV
    For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
    Missing verse
    Look at ESV.
    Here is NKJV
    1 John 5:7–8 NKJV
    For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
    Entire underlined section
    is missing in new versions
    NIV
    ESV
    NRSV
    etc.
    It is just gone.
    Why?
    Missing from manuscripts.
    The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 7 In Heaven

    The passage as given in the KJV is in no Greek MS earlier than the 15th and 16th centuries. The disputed words found their way into the KJV by way of the Greek text of Erasmus (see Vol. V, p. 141). It is said that Erasmus offered to include the disputed words in his Greek Testament if he were shown even one Greek MS that contained them. A library in Dublin produced such a MS (known as 34), and Erasmus included the passage in his text. It is now believed that the later editions of the Vulgate acquired the passage by the mistake of a scribe who included an exegetical marginal comment in the Bible text that he was copying.

    Does this shake our
    understanding of infallible word?
    understanding of the trinity?
    No
    Transmission
    Translation
    process.
    Theologically
    intact
    trustworthy
    meaningful
    KJV only debate.
    It is just wrong.
    There is no flawless version.
    There are other passages
    on the trinity.
    Moving on
    1 John 5:8 ESV
    the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
    These 3
    Spirit
    Water
    Blood
    witness
    their testimony agree.
    Holy Spirit first
    he is convicting all the time.
    Water = baptism.
    Blood =
    life
    death
    resurrection
    incarnation!
    These 3 witnesses
    Notice what is missing
    from the list...
    We, ourselves
    is missing form the list.
    The christian journey
    is about trusting God
    and denying self.
    DENY YOURSELF
    But for the players on the Super Bowl, they had to sacrifice much last week. The players had to give up being with their family for that week as they prepared for the big game. Some teams actually put all the players in a hotel separate from their families, so there are no distractions and the focus is just on preparing for the game.
    But the players were willing to deny themselves and the times they could have with their children, their girl friend, their wives, their friends, in order to attempt to gain something else. And then when the game is over, the players can return and be reunited with their loved ones.
    1 John 5:9 ESV
    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.
    If we believe
    testimony of a human
    is legally binding
    in court of law...
    Why not believe
    a greater testimony
    Testimony of God Himself!
    What is the testimony?
    The incarnation is true.
    Accepting that
    God’s word is true
    is foundational.
    One of the most telling examples is our view of truth. In the 1960s, 65 percent of Americans said they believed the Bible is true; today that figure has dropped to 32 percent. Even more dramatically, today 67 percent of all Americans deny that there's any such thing as truth. Seventy percent say there are no moral absolutes.
    This is the major challenge
    that we have.
    We must witness to people
    who have come to believe
    truth is...
    as they see it.
    What is right for you
    is what is right for you.
    What is right for me
    is what is right for me.
    God disagrees.
    There is absolute truth.
    We must accept His Witness.
    All other forms of truth
    will lead us astray
    damage our lives.
    1 John 5:10 ESV
    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.
    Verb tense
    Present.
    English: Present continuous.
    We must continually believe.
    The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 7 In Himself

    He who actively believes on Jesus will have an inner witness to the validity of that belief. He will know, by personal experience, that Jesus is all that the Scriptures claim Him to be. Such belief is not easily overthrown: it is capable of withstanding the worst attacks the enemy can bring.

    At the same time it should be remembered that it is dangerous to trust solely on inner feelings as to our relationship with God. While there will often be times when we feel confident of our fellowship with the Lord, there will also be days of doubt. It is in such times that the Lord has promised to be especially near to His children.

    Cannot believe
    then change our mind.
    (one saved always saved).
    If we let go
    of this belief in Jesus.
    we make God a liar.
    If we decide to embrace doubt
    If we reject entire Bible as a fairytale.
    Then we say, God is a scam.
    God is a liar.
    Psychologists talk about cognitive dissonance—that uncomfortable tension people feel when their actions don’t align with their beliefs. But here’s the twist: the more deeply someone believes something is absolutely true, the harder it is for them to live in contradiction to it.
    That’s why people who believe the Bible is mostly true often feel free to bend it, reinterpret it, or explain away parts they don’t like. But people who believe the Bible is completely true and without error? They wrestle when their life doesn’t line up. They don’t try to fix the Bible—they let the Bible fix them.
    That tension—when a believer sins, or drifts, or gets out of alignment with Scripture—is actually a good sign. It shows that the person still believes in the unchanging, inerrant authority of God’s Word. And that belief creates a spiritual version of cognitive dissonance that drives them back to repentance.
    In fact, that’s one of the reasons the inerrancy of Scripture matters so much: If we don’t believe God’s Word is always right, we’ll never feel truly wrong. But when we do believe it’s perfect, we know where to turn when we’re not.
    1 John 5:11 ESV
    And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
    What is the
    sum and
    substance
    of God’s testimony?
    God is offering us eternal life.
    This life we receive
    through the Son of God.
    1 John 5:12 ESV
    Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
    If you have the son
    you have life.
    What life?
    eternali life
    mentioned in v. 11.
    What is eternal life?
    Life that begins
    at the new birth
    continues throughout eternity.
    If we reject the Son
    we forfeit all
    privileges
    blessings
    inheritance
    mercy
    offered through the Son.
    Reject Jesus
    Reject truth
    Reject light
    nothing left
    eternal separation.
    Rejecting Jesus
    cannot get baptized
    call yourself Christian
    don’t believe in incarnation.
    You REJECT JESUS.
    We cannot
    pick and choose
    what truths of the church
    we want to ad to our life.
    It is a package deal.
    If you accept Jesus
    we accept everything
    that comes along with it...
    Being church member
    Serving in Body
    peculiar beliefs
    Sabbath
    unclean food
    alcohol
    jewelry.
    part of the package.
    This is not a buffet.
    Being baptized into Jesus
    The Parasitic Ant
    Scientists have discovered parasitic ants (such as Polyergus breviceps) that integrate themselves into a host colony. They look and smell enough like the host ants to be welcomed inside. However, once established, they bring only destruction.
    1. They Assassinate the True Authority
    A newly mated parasitic queen enters the host nest (Formica ants) and immediately targets the reigning host queen. She kills the host queen and absorbs her unique chemical scent. Because ants rely heavily on smell to identify family members, the host workers are completely fooled. They accept the imposter queen as their biological mother and begin tending to her and her eggs.
    2. They Enslave the Current Work Force
    The host workers unknowingly raise the parasite’s offspring. As the parasitic ants hatch, they do absolutely no chores. They lack the physical ability to forage for food, maintain the nest, or even feed themselves. They rely entirely on the host workers to feed them via regurgitation. The original colony members literally spend their lives working themselves to death to sustain their captors.
    3. They Launch Deceptive Raids for More Captives
    Because the host workers eventually die of natural causes, the parasitic ants must constantly replenish their workforce to survive. The parasites launch aggressive "slave raids" on neighboring, healthy ant colonies. During these raids, the parasites release a specialized "propaganda pheromone". This chemical scent completely confuses the defending ants, breaking down their ability to organize a defense. The parasites then steal the host's pupae and larvae (unhatched babies) and bring them back to their nest.
    4. They Brainwash the Next Generation
    When the stolen babies hatch inside the parasite’s nest, they are chemically imprinted with the parasite’s scent. They grow up believing they belong to this mixed colony. They work unconditionally for their masters, even viewing their own biological species from neighboring nests as mortal enemies.
    "The danger of welcoming a spiritual half-truth isn't just that it sits quietly in your life. Like a parasitic ant, it starts by killing the true authority (God's Word) in your heart. Then, it enslaves your energy, forcing you to spend your life serving something that cannot sustain you. Finally, it uses propaganda to confuse your defenses and brainwashes you into treating your true allies—holiness, truth, and conviction—as your enemies."

    Appeal

      • 1 John 5:6ESV

      • 1 John 5:7–8ESV

      • 1 John 5:7–8ESV

      • 1 John 5:8ESV

      • 1 John 5:9ESV

      • 1 John 5:10ESV

      • 1 John 5:11ESV

      • 1 John 5:12ESV

  • How Firm a Foundation

      • 1 Corinthians 1:18NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:17–31NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:18NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:30NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:24NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:19NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:20NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:21NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:17NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:23NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:18NIV2011

      • Colossians 1:20NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 2:24NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:21NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:21–24NIV2011

      • Deuteronomy 21:23NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:25NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:18NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:21NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 1:24NIV2011

  • Love at Home
  • Happy the Home
  • My Jesus, I Love Thee
  • I Know Whom I Have Believed

      • 1 John 5:6-7ESV

      • 1 John 5:8-9ESV

      • 1 John 5:10-11ESV

      • 1 John 5:12-13ESV

  • Picture the courtroom scene—one of the most intense in modern film. In A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise plays a Navy lawyer pressing a hardened colonel, played by Jack Nicholson, for the truth about a secret military order. The tension builds until Cruise shouts, “I want the truth!”
    And Nicholson barks back with that now-iconic line: “You can’t handle the truth!” That one sentence captured something deep about human nature. We say we want truth—but we often don’t want the discomfort that comes with it. Because truth demands accountability. Truth strips away excuses. Truth draws lines we can’t just erase.
    1 John 5:6 ESV
    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.
    Water and Blood
    Baptism
    Crucifixion
    Alternative interpretation:
    water and blood from Jesus side.
    Does not make sense because
    Jesus didn’t come by
    water flowing from side.
    Water and Blood
    Baptism
    Crucifixion
    Remember issues
    John was dealing with
    pro-gnosticism.
    They rejected
    bodily coming
    of Jesus.
    Anti-incarnation.
    You can be baptized
    but reject the incarnation.
    You have to have
    both
    water
    blood.
    You can’t be baptized
    not live our faith.
    The Analogy: Consider an airplane flying from Georgia to a specific international destination, like Nairobi. If the pilot accepts 95 percent of the flight plan but decides to alter just 5 percent of the compass heading to avoid a small storm or satisfy a passenger's whim, the plane will miss its destination by hundreds of miles.
    The Application:
    We often approach God's truth this way. We like the truths about grace, love, and provision, but we reject the truths about self-denial, repentance, or turning from specific sins. Accepting some truth while rejecting other truth inevitably causes us to drift completely off course from God's intended will.
    Spirit is truth
    what does that mean?
    The Holy Spirit
    is convicting us
    of truth step by step.
    1 John 5:7–8 ESV
    For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
    Missing verse
    Look at ESV.
    Here is NKJV
    1 John 5:7–8 NKJV
    For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
    Entire underlined section
    is missing in new versions
    NIV
    ESV
    NRSV
    etc.
    It is just gone.
    Why?
    Missing from manuscripts.
    The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 7 In Heaven

    The passage as given in the KJV is in no Greek MS earlier than the 15th and 16th centuries. The disputed words found their way into the KJV by way of the Greek text of Erasmus (see Vol. V, p. 141). It is said that Erasmus offered to include the disputed words in his Greek Testament if he were shown even one Greek MS that contained them. A library in Dublin produced such a MS (known as 34), and Erasmus included the passage in his text. It is now believed that the later editions of the Vulgate acquired the passage by the mistake of a scribe who included an exegetical marginal comment in the Bible text that he was copying.

    Does this shake our
    understanding of infallible word?
    understanding of the trinity?
    No
    Transmission
    Translation
    process.
    Theologically
    intact
    trustworthy
    meaningful
    KJV only debate.
    It is just wrong.
    There is no flawless version.
    There are other passages
    on the trinity.
    Moving on
    1 John 5:8 ESV
    the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
    These 3
    Spirit
    Water
    Blood
    witness
    their testimony agree.
    Holy Spirit first
    he is convicting all the time.
    Water = baptism.
    Blood =
    life
    death
    resurrection
    incarnation!
    These 3 witnesses
    Notice what is missing
    from the list...
    We, ourselves
    is missing form the list.
    The christian journey
    is about trusting God
    and denying self.
    DENY YOURSELF
    But for the players on the Super Bowl, they had to sacrifice much last week. The players had to give up being with their family for that week as they prepared for the big game. Some teams actually put all the players in a hotel separate from their families, so there are no distractions and the focus is just on preparing for the game.
    But the players were willing to deny themselves and the times they could have with their children, their girl friend, their wives, their friends, in order to attempt to gain something else. And then when the game is over, the players can return and be reunited with their loved ones.
    1 John 5:9 ESV
    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.
    If we believe
    testimony of a human
    is legally binding
    in court of law...
    Why not believe
    a greater testimony
    Testimony of God Himself!
    What is the testimony?
    The incarnation is true.
    Accepting that
    God’s word is true
    is foundational.
    One of the most telling examples is our view of truth. In the 1960s, 65 percent of Americans said they believed the Bible is true; today that figure has dropped to 32 percent. Even more dramatically, today 67 percent of all Americans deny that there's any such thing as truth. Seventy percent say there are no moral absolutes.
    This is the major challenge
    that we have.
    We must witness to people
    who have come to believe
    truth is...
    as they see it.
    What is right for you
    is what is right for you.
    What is right for me
    is what is right for me.
    God disagrees.
    There is absolute truth.
    We must accept His Witness.
    All other forms of truth
    will lead us astray
    damage our lives.
    1 John 5:10 ESV
    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.
    Verb tense
    Present.
    English: Present continuous.
    We must continually believe.
    The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 7 In Himself

    He who actively believes on Jesus will have an inner witness to the validity of that belief. He will know, by personal experience, that Jesus is all that the Scriptures claim Him to be. Such belief is not easily overthrown: it is capable of withstanding the worst attacks the enemy can bring.

    At the same time it should be remembered that it is dangerous to trust solely on inner feelings as to our relationship with God. While there will often be times when we feel confident of our fellowship with the Lord, there will also be days of doubt. It is in such times that the Lord has promised to be especially near to His children.

    Cannot believe
    then change our mind.
    (one saved always saved).
    If we let go
    of this belief in Jesus.
    we make God a liar.
    If we decide to embrace doubt
    If we reject entire Bible as a fairytale.
    Then we say, God is a scam.
    God is a liar.
    Psychologists talk about cognitive dissonance—that uncomfortable tension people feel when their actions don’t align with their beliefs. But here’s the twist: the more deeply someone believes something is absolutely true, the harder it is for them to live in contradiction to it.
    That’s why people who believe the Bible is mostly true often feel free to bend it, reinterpret it, or explain away parts they don’t like. But people who believe the Bible is completely true and without error? They wrestle when their life doesn’t line up. They don’t try to fix the Bible—they let the Bible fix them.
    That tension—when a believer sins, or drifts, or gets out of alignment with Scripture—is actually a good sign. It shows that the person still believes in the unchanging, inerrant authority of God’s Word. And that belief creates a spiritual version of cognitive dissonance that drives them back to repentance.
    In fact, that’s one of the reasons the inerrancy of Scripture matters so much: If we don’t believe God’s Word is always right, we’ll never feel truly wrong. But when we do believe it’s perfect, we know where to turn when we’re not.
    1 John 5:11 ESV
    And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
    What is the
    sum and
    substance
    of God’s testimony?
    God is offering us eternal life.
    This life we receive
    through the Son of God.
    1 John 5:12 ESV
    Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
    If you have the son
    you have life.
    What life?
    eternali life
    mentioned in v. 11.
    What is eternal life?
    Life that begins
    at the new birth
    continues throughout eternity.
    If we reject the Son
    we forfeit all
    privileges
    blessings
    inheritance
    mercy
    offered through the Son.
    Reject Jesus
    Reject truth
    Reject light
    nothing left
    eternal separation.
    Rejecting Jesus
    cannot get baptized
    call yourself Christian
    don’t believe in incarnation.
    You REJECT JESUS.
    We cannot
    pick and choose
    what truths of the church
    we want to ad to our life.
    It is a package deal.
    If you accept Jesus
    we accept everything
    that comes along with it...
    Being church member
    Serving in Body
    peculiar beliefs
    Sabbath
    unclean food
    alcohol
    jewelry.
    part of the package.
    This is not a buffet.
    Being baptized into Jesus
    The Parasitic Ant
    Scientists have discovered parasitic ants (such as Polyergus breviceps) that integrate themselves into a host colony. They look and smell enough like the host ants to be welcomed inside. However, once established, they bring only destruction.
    1. They Assassinate the True Authority
    A newly mated parasitic queen enters the host nest (Formica ants) and immediately targets the reigning host queen. She kills the host queen and absorbs her unique chemical scent. Because ants rely heavily on smell to identify family members, the host workers are completely fooled. They accept the imposter queen as their biological mother and begin tending to her and her eggs.
    2. They Enslave the Current Work Force
    The host workers unknowingly raise the parasite’s offspring. As the parasitic ants hatch, they do absolutely no chores. They lack the physical ability to forage for food, maintain the nest, or even feed themselves. They rely entirely on the host workers to feed them via regurgitation. The original colony members literally spend their lives working themselves to death to sustain their captors.
    3. They Launch Deceptive Raids for More Captives
    Because the host workers eventually die of natural causes, the parasitic ants must constantly replenish their workforce to survive. The parasites launch aggressive "slave raids" on neighboring, healthy ant colonies. During these raids, the parasites release a specialized "propaganda pheromone". This chemical scent completely confuses the defending ants, breaking down their ability to organize a defense. The parasites then steal the host's pupae and larvae (unhatched babies) and bring them back to their nest.
    4. They Brainwash the Next Generation
    When the stolen babies hatch inside the parasite’s nest, they are chemically imprinted with the parasite’s scent. They grow up believing they belong to this mixed colony. They work unconditionally for their masters, even viewing their own biological species from neighboring nests as mortal enemies.
    "The danger of welcoming a spiritual half-truth isn't just that it sits quietly in your life. Like a parasitic ant, it starts by killing the true authority (God's Word) in your heart. Then, it enslaves your energy, forcing you to spend your life serving something that cannot sustain you. Finally, it uses propaganda to confuse your defenses and brainwashes you into treating your true allies—holiness, truth, and conviction—as your enemies."

    Appeal

      • 1 John 5:6ESV

      • 1 John 5:7–8ESV

      • 1 John 5:7–8ESV

      • 1 John 5:8ESV

      • 1 John 5:9ESV

      • 1 John 5:10ESV

      • 1 John 5:11ESV

      • 1 John 5:12ESV

  • How Firm a Foundation
  • Risen For Me
  • He Lives Again
  • When I am Afraid
  • Risen For Me
  • He Lives Again
  • Shining Brightly
  • Building Zion
  • Anytime, Anywhere
  • To Be His Child
  • Just Pray
  • Grateful Anyway
  • How I Love to Take a Walk
  • Stop and Smell the Roses
  • A Child's Prayer
Auburn SDA Church
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