[Maximum Joy Series] Standing on God’s PromisesSample

Enemies of Christ and their Work–attack against God’s Word

There is one piece of advice, given to us by the apostle Peter in one of his letters to the church that we should never overlook. He tells us to be sober-minded, to be watchful. "But why?" you may ask. Primarily because our adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 

The Devil is astute; he will try to steal our peace and joy, or he will try to make us doubt God’s Work, such as doubting if Jesus’ Work on the cross would have been enough to save us, or to make us doubt regarding Jesus’s divinity. 

If the first lie from the Devil does not work, he will attack us using different men and women to speak against God’s Word (5:10–13). Let us see what John has to say about it,

“He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 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. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (5:10-13). 

John warns us about these people that the Devil uses against us. If a person does not believe the testimony that God has marshaled on behalf of the Person and work of Jesus Christ, he is calling God a liar. In other words, he is saying God’s Word is not reliable. It’s a direct attack against the Word of God. If the “Wicked One” (5:18) cannot get us to doubt God’s work (sending His Son to die in our place), then he tries to get us to doubt God’s Word (or both, since the two are connected in this passage). 

What John is arguing for in this passage is the credibility of God’s testimony (witness). It is higher than that of men. And this witness or testimony is that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. We can either accept or reject this testimony. 

We most surely know the consequence of one and the other. Believing in God’s Son and in His work and Word leads to fellowship with God and to eternal life. My beloved brothers and sisters, let us be sober-minded and watchful; do not allow the Devil to stop you from experiencing Maximum Joy. Satan has tried and will always try to bull-doze God’s promises, but they won’t go away. These promises are the sure foundation of our faith, for the Word of God abides forever.