Three Witnesses in Earth

 

  Three Witnesses in Earth

 

I John 5:8

 

 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood:  

 

The office of the Holy Ghost “in these last days” (Hebrews 1:2) is to testify of Christ through the preaching of the gospel. Not that it is the Holy Ghost who personally preaches but without His annointing no man is able bear witness to the truth as it is in Jesus. The preacher of the gospel must be “endued with power from on high” if he is to preach the gospel: “ And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The preacher must be given authority in the assembly and must be given that authority by the Holy Ghost in order that the gospel may be preached as it must be preached: “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Corinthians 2:4). The “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” is made manifest in the effect of the word preached. For the words of Christ “they are spirit and they are life”. Men may read the scriptures, they may quote the scriptures, and they may explain the scriptures as accurately as their personal knowledge allows. But to ingraft the word of life in the heart of spiritually dead sinners is beyond the capabilities of the preacher (James 1:21).

 

Christ Jesus must speak by the Spirit in and to the heart of the dead to bring forth life, “The words that I speak unto you they, are spirit and, they are life” (John 6:63). It is today as it was in the days of Ezekiel the Prophet: “And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live” (Ezekiel 16:6). For the Lord Jesus freely gives eternal life to whomsoever He will: “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will” (John 5:21). The will of the Son of God is one with the will of the Father and the Holy Ghost for “these three are one” (I john 5:7). It is because of the eternal counsel of the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead and according to the everlasting love and covenant of those Three Persons (John 17:23; Jeremiah 31:3; I John 4:10,19), that to whomsoever the Lord Jesus will give life those persons will receive it, for as it is said “the Son quickeneth (makes alive, writer) whom he will”.

 

It is true in the unregenerate in these last days that “no man knoweth the Son” as it is written: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). Eternal life is bound up in the knowledge of God, as it is written: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). And again it is written: “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life” (I John 5:20).

 

 

The knowledge of God is by revelation of the Spirit: “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-17). It is the office of the Holy Ghost to reveal the identity of Jesus of Nazareth to the hearts of God’s elect, and He reveals it by the preaching of the gospel. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26). The Holy Ghost is one of the witnesses in earth and He most often gives His testimony concerning the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ in the church by the preaching of the gospel. Therefore our Lord told His disciples before He returned to the Father by His cross death and resurrection from the dead: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:12-15).

 

Another witness that is efficacious in the earth, is the water. By the water is meant the written word for therein the Spirit reveals the ;incarnate Word: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27). In these words it may be observed. (1.) That Christ Jesus gave himself for the church: for it is written: “even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”. (2.) The water in this verse is the word; and this water cleanses our outward deportment in this world, as in: “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (Colossians 3:8, this applies to social media as well as what is said or quoted in person: writer). (3.) The church of Jesus Christ is a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, not in herself but in her glorious Head and Husband our Lord Jesus Christ. “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (I John 5:6). As it is written: “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). This is the fountain that was opened to the house of David for sin and uncleanness, as it is written: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1).

 

 

 

 

In our Lord’s discussion with Nicodemus: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Here again by the water is meant the word of God. By comparing the scriptures with themselves we arrive at this conclusion by considering the following: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:23). The word of God is the seed and that word produces offspring in the likeness of itself: “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Consider also: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). Again the word of God is the seed that brings forth new life in “the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10). Add to this the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). The Spirit of God gives new life in the image of God by the word of God which is the seed planted in the heart by the hearing of the gospel preached in the demonstration of the spirit and of power, as it is written: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever” (Isaiah 59:21).

 

The blood of Christ is also one of the witnesses mentioned in our subject verse, and as the birth of the Spirit cannot occur without the water and the Spirit of God, neither can a birth occur without the blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). The cross of Jesus Christ is the antitype of the alter of burnt offering. It was on the cross that our Lord Jesus put all the sins of His people away forever, it was at the cross that the blood was shed, therewith washing the church of God from her sins as it is written: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5). It is the Person of Jesus Christ that is the foundation stone, “the head stone of the corner” (Psalm 118:22; Ephesians 2:20) of the church of God. It is in His body that He carried the blood of the everlasting covenant all the days of His life. And at the appointed time He willingly poured out the blood of the New Testament justifying His people from their sins; as it is written: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). And as the new birth cannot occur without the efficacy of the blood, neither can the conscience of matured Christians be cleansed from defilement without the blood: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (I John 1:7-10).

 

The everlasting covenant wherein is contained the promises of God to Abraham and his spiritual seed is ratified by the blood of Christ (Genesis 17:7; Psalm 89:1-37; Galatians 3:16, 29; Hebrews 13:20). The blood of Christ is the blood of the New Testament shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28), the blood of Christ is a ransom for many, even the many sons whose names are written in heaven (Hebrews 12:23). It is the blood of Christ that made it necessary that the Old Testament “law of commandment contained in ordinances” must be abolished, as it is written: “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:15). And again it is written: “And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished” (II Corinthians 3:13), in this verse: (1.) Moses put a vail over his face to typify the judicial blindness inflicted on the body of the Jewish nation because of their national rejection of their Messiah, both in type in the days of the Old Testament, and manifestly in the days of the flesh of Jesus Christ. (2.) That which is abolished is the law of Moses, and end of the law of Moses is Christ, as it is written: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4). (3.) Therefore the judicial blindness of the Jews is blindness to knowledge of God in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 4:6): in rejecting Jesus Christ the Jews rejected eternal life, as it is written: “Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Acts 28:26-27). And by the Holy Ghost the Apostle John wrote: “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him” (John 12:37-41)

 

Our Lord Jesus said: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Reader, if God the Holy Ghost will give you an ear to hear, an eye to see, and a heart to understand the things of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith for every supply of grace (Hebrews 12:2). Hear the joyful sound of the gospel preached at every opportunity for “blessed is the people that know the joyful sound” (Psalm 89:15). And understand the gospel by the unction of the Holy Ghost, as it is written: “But ye have an unction (an anointing, writer ) from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (I John 2:21). And again: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (I John 2:27).

 

The Law of commandments contained in ordinances must have been taken out of the way because of the blood. For the Law of Moses required the blood of bulls and of goats, which was only typical of the blood of Christ, as it is written: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me” (Hebrews 10:1-5). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Testator of the New Testament, and therefore, “where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:16-24).

 

The priesthood of Aaron with the blood of the sacrifices that upheld it was not sufficient to make the comers thereunto “perfect, as pertaining to the conscience” (Hebrews 9:9, 22). But better sacrifices than these had been foreordained before the foundation of the world ( I Peter 1:20). Better sacrifices required a better priesthood and therefore a change of priesthood as it is written: “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar (under the law of Moses, writer). For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 7: 12-17). Since the covenant is based on its priesthood, and the priesthood’s efficacy is based on the value of its sacrifices, and since the sacrifices of the Old Testament were not efficacious in the putting away of sin, there must be a New Testament with a Sacrifice of sufficient merit, worth, and glory to satisfy God, and provide salvation for the people. This could be found only in God Himself, Therefore God the Son Voluntarily became Surety of the New Testament (Hebrews 7:22). And He said: “this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.