The Place of Assurance
Notes
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Reading: Congregation join on 5 & 6
English Standard Version Psalm 13
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Pastoral Prayer:
Sermon:
The place of assurance...
1. Where should my assurance be held? In whom should it rest?
2. What role should a sense of assurance play in my daily life?
Assurance? Eternal Security?
Two perspectives....
From God’s perspective...
Jesus: No one will snatch them from my hand....Jesus pursues the last sheep while the 99 are safe
God will be faithful to his promise, he promises salvation to those who acknowledge that Jesus is Mesiah, and come under his lordship
From this text...”God is greater than our hearts”
From our perspective....
We hear the Apostle Paul’s urging us to “Believe on the Lord”
We hear Jesus say “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me”
From this text “Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth
Textual comments
vs 22 “whatever we ask, we receive from him”....ch 5 more thorough treatment
We tend to try to answer these questions in the extreme, rather than the mundane.....
The Christian should live in community with God, bringing about obedience to God’s commandments and resulting a confidence in Jesus that overcomes our hearts condemnation.
This text give us 4 c’s Condemnation, confidence, commandment and community
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts” refers to the earlier part of the chapter
What does 1 John 3 state is the basis for knowing and being reassured
We are becoming like God - we are bearing his image...
We are putting to death sin in our lives...
And we are living in love for our fellow humans...
These 3 are the evidences that Jesus is within us. It’s not a feeling, it’s not a decision, and it’s not a socially reinforced idea.
I these are absent, you should question if Jesus is truly your Messiah
And, right on clue, John says, but I think there will be some of you who take that too far, and your hearts will demand perfection in these areas, and when found lacking will heap condemnation upon you. And so, he gives us a basis to have a deeply founded assurance.
1st C - Condemnation - 20-21
If our hearts condemn us...
We generally know ourselves clearly
We know our weaknesses
We know the places our desires have lead us astray
There are areas in our lives where our hearts rightly condemn us....this is not talking about that
This is specifically talking about the question of if we are in Christ, and of His truth...
Think small c condemn, and big C condemn
If our trust is in ourselves to get this right to attain God’s blessing, our hearts will always be correct.
2nd C - Confidence 19,21
God is greater than our hearts
He knows everything
He makes away where we cannot see
He comes and deals with our sin by placing it on Jesus on the cross
“If our heart does not condemn us”
How do we get to there?
read it
God is light and cannot have darkness
We walk openly, and wholly before God
We confess our sins, and Jesus is faithful to forgive and cleanse
We don not declare ourselves righteous
3rd C Commandments 23
Believe in the name of Jesus - believe that Jesus is the messiah -
Love each other
Familiar - two great commandments - Love God, love man
Love God - Love his image - seek his image in the word - obey him
Prefer each other over ourselves.
Community 23-24
We obey and God grants us community with himself - he gives us the Holy Spirit to be his presence among us.
Adam and Eve in the Garden - community with God
Everyday life - seek community with God
The C’s in reverse
The Christian should live in community with God, bringing about obedience to God’s commandments and resulting a confidence in Jesus that overcomes our hearts condemnation.
The place of assurance...
1. Where should my assurance be held? In whom should it rest? - In Christ alone, in God we trust
2. What role should a sense of assurance play in my daily life? - A massive part, God is not willing that we walk around each day in fear of his wrath. 1st he placed it on Christ, second, he calls us into community.