Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury . . .

CONSECRATE Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you.  Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.  HEAR 1 John 5:6–8 (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. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.  CONSIDER Before I was a pastor, I had a brief career as an attorney. Nothing was more thrilling than to bring closing arguments at a trial and ask for a verdict. That’s exactly what John is up to here in the fifth and final chapter of his case. John has brought forth witness after witness in his masterful case against the false teachers and in support of the truth of the gospel. Today’s text pulls it all together. He’s rehearsing the case by reminding the jury (i.e., the young church) of the testimony from his star witnesses: the water and the blood and the Spirit. False teachers attract a lot of followers, but each teacher tends to be his or her own best witness. John is bringing not one or two but three authoritative witnesses to refute the witness of the false teachers. He is bringing the Spirit and the water and the blood; and of course he is bringing the star witness—Jesus. So why does this matter to us now? Thanks for asking. It matters because every age has its own variety of false teachers. First John sounds the siren to steer clear of them. They sound plausible. They garner popularity. Rarely do they blatantly disregard the truth as much as they slightly shade it. It’s these subtle shades of the truth that steer entire communities toward shipwreck. False teachers can sound so reasonable, even impressive. They can sell thousands upon thousands of books. Paul once wrote a letter to Timothy that sounded the same alarm. We will do well to rehearse it here: The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3–4) Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the time has come. People aren’t putting up with sound doctrine. False teaching abounds. We live in an age of itching ears. I join the apostle John in asking you for a verdict. Stand with the truth. Stand on the Word of God. Stand in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Never depart from the faith once handed down to the saints. No matter what. Church, we cannot abide a miscarriage of justice. We cannot afford a hung jury. Will you receive the testimony of these faithful witnesses? What say you? PRAY Lord Jesus, you are the bona fide, authentic, genuine article. Help us to become so familiar with you and your truth that we instantly recognize false teaching. Give us the discernment to recognize the first faint whisper of any teaching that departs from your truth, your ways, or your will. I follow you alone. I pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.