Assurance, Prayer, Mission
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READ THE TEXT.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him. 16 If anyone should see his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he should ask, and he will grant life to him, to those who sin not leading to death. (There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.)
Tell the story of discovering this text
Assurance gives us confidence to talk to God, which enables us to take part in His plan
How often have you struggled with the question of “Am I saved?” Asking yourself this question is a normal part of being a christian. Many of us spend our time wondering more if other people are saved, but oftentimes, usually in times of regret over sin, or in a time of loneliness, we find ourselves wondering, what is really going to happen when I die?
We’ve developed a culture here in America that has cocooned itself against the only thing more guaranteed than birth. Death. I think this avoidance is largely due to an unwillingness and overwhelming fear of what comes next.
Talk about Kobe Bryant and the responses ranging from shock to inability to move on.
It struck me that it is quite possible that many, even those in Christian circles, do not think about or talk about death very much. And the terror that some people experienced I think may stem from giving personal heroes a higher pedastal than Christ in their lives.
For many, the sudden death of someone who seemed untouchable forced them to think about mortality. This is when we have the oppurtunity to offer people hope.
How would you feel if the resurrected Christ came and stood right before you and let you put your fingers in his hands and side, and then he said, “I am God, I just wanted you to know that you are for sure saved.”
Would you feel better than you do right now?
The word know is used 15 times in 1 John and 7 of those times occur between vs 13 and the end of the chapter.
4 Stages of John’s Purposes through Gospel and Letter:
Hearing
Hearing may believe
Believing may live
Living may know
Skip to the gospel chart slide.
Is assurance presumptuous?
The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary b. Our Consequent Assurance (5:13–17)
certainty and humility do not exclude one another. If God’s revealed purpose is not only that we should hear, believe and live, but also that we should know, presumptuousness lies in doubting his word, not in trusting it.
When we see the result of God’s work in our own hearts, leading to sound doctrine and right action, then we grow in confidence and assurance that we are his and we have eternal life in Him.
When we see the result of God’s work in our own hearts, leading to sound doctrine and right action, then we grow in confidence and assurance that we are his and we have eternal life in Him.
Throughout this letter we find all 4 stages of John’s purposes present. Gospel, Gospel Truth, Gospel Conduct, and Assurance. John has spent the most amount of time teaching about the Believing may Live stage, or the Gospel Conduct stage. He has been reminding them that if they are not living in accordance with truth then they have not heard truth in the first place, OR they have heard truth yet are being led astray by false teachers.
Having built up all of this case that believing requires action, John lovingly intructs them that when they see the fruit of God in their lives they can KNOW that they have eternal life.
2 steps for assurance: Reminder of what is already done, and maintenance
I think that we see assurance being built up in our lives in two ways. The long view, and the short.
Our assurance is founded and sustained by surveying the course of our life and seeing the invasion of the son of God in our lives and how we are changed because of it. This is taking the long view, examining our inner man and finding Christ there instead of a wicked servant of sin. This type of introspection helps us realize that the only way that we could have possibly moved from “dead in the ditch” to “alive today” is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ working in our lives.
However we are also daily needing reminded and bolstered in our assurance.
Picture your assurance of eternal life being like a dam holding back an ocean of doubt.
The long view of assurance, your testimony, is the dam itself, giving you confidence and allowing you to joyfully walk in safety and obdeience behind this dam.
However, there are two people who want to tear down this dam and drown you in doubt. our accuser the devil, and the old man.
By the old man I mean you. Your flesh. Your flesh being an old servant of sin itself works in tandem with our accuser to cause you to doubt your unshakeable position in the hand of God.
Because of the work of your own wicked heart and the devil, tiny cracks present themselves in our dam of assurance threatening to tear down our life.
This is where we go to work.
Daily we must wake up and preach the Gospel to ourselves. And then at 10:30 AM when we blow it, preach it to yourself again. And again, and again. Through this sanctifying act of preaching, we enjoy assurance renewed.
John then teaches that it is because of this assurance we have confidence to speak to God.
Assurance grants us the confidence to ask.
Assurance grants us the confidence to ask.
We are most inclined to ask for the things we know the giver desires to give.
Example of asking a parent or ruler for something that goes against their wishes for you.
Cop story
Because we have confidence in our position as eternal sons and daughters of the King, we are given “freedom of speech” to ask.
11 according to the purpose of the ages which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him.
Eph 3:11
Our confidence in asking grows as we cling to Christ and submit our will to the will of the Father.
The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary b. Our Consequent Assurance (5:13–17)
Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God, or for bending his will to ours, but the prescribed way of subordinating our will to his.
When we approach God with this “freedom of speech”, knowing that when we ask in accordance to His will, he hears us.
Does it say that he always answers?
No. It says that He hears when we ask in accordance to His will. We also believe that God’s will is always carried out. God doesn’t need you to pray for something in order for Him to carry it out, but He WANTS you to. God has chosen to involve us in the unfolding of His plan.
I don’t know about you but that is really exciting.
God also doesn’t leave us in the dark as to what his will is and what he wants us doing.
He has been quite clear.
And he gave us some instruction in this text.
We ask God for life for our brethen
We ask God for life for our brethen
Talk about reading this text a few months ago...
What do you do when you encounter a portion of scripture that is not immediately clear?
In preparation for this sermon I picked the brains of several elders including Ryan, Dr. Wretlind who gave compelling evidence from the OT and the Greek for his view, and the great bachelor theologian of the 20th century, John Stott.
In an endeavor to do justice to a difficult text I am going to present to you the 3 interpretations of the sin that leads to death and leave the rest up to you and the Spirit. Ok?
Pray
3 views of “the sin that leads unto death.”
1: Sin that has consequences for the whole community
This view hones in on the far reaching consequnces of sin.
Some sins, as grievous as they may be, have very personal consequences.
Other sins, effect the whole body of faith. For example, Ananias and Saphira, whose sins were potentially very damaging to the universal church early in it’s life.
This view does not view these verses as addresing eternal life, and eternal death, but rather a “quality of life” and physical death and not spiritual death.
The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
This view holds that John is warning his readers of the possibility of certain sins that would lead them down a road that would result in God killing them for the good of the body, and that through prayer, we protect each other by asking God to give life, “quality of life” to our brothers.
This view is also reinforced by an exegetical position that throughout this letter John has used the same Greek word for “brother” clearly referring to other believers. The other views will need to account for this.
John’s instr
2. Apostasy
Apostasy. Turning against God, as evidenced by abandonment and repudiation of former beliefs. The term generally refers to a deliberate renouncing of the faith by a once sincere believer rather than a state of ignorance or mistaken knowledge.
Depending on your view of salvation, and how you define apostasy this view changes a lot.
If you believe that a Christian can commit apostasy, then you are saying that a Christian who has been crucified with Christ and given a new heart can fall away and reject the truth. For some this is a legitimate conclusion to be drawn from this passage and you need to do the work of fear and trembling yourself and decide what you believe.
There is another definition of apostasy that allows for a Christian who is truly saved, to commit the sin of apostasy, which is a grievous sin, yet not lose their salvation, however God will discipline them possibly unto physical death. In this case it would be similar to the first view.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
28 “Truly I say to you that all the sins and the blasphemies will be forgiven the sons of men, however much they blaspheme. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus talking about this “unforgivable sin.”
All who reject and turn away from God blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
We do not ask God to ignore or circumvent or work around His clear command. We do not ask God to go back on His will or word.
All who reject and turn away from God blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
All who reject and turn away from God blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
To turn away from the Holy Spirit
In our rejection of the revealed God we turn to idols vs 21.
These idols may take the form of ourselves, the world, or any kind of deity that is not the one true God.
In this view, the “brother” in question would be a man or woman who is not a Christian yet, who is being prayed for by other believers that God might give them eternal life.
We do not ask God to ignore or circumvent or work around His clear command. We do not ask God to go back on His will or word.
A brother not denying the deity of Christ should be prayed for.
A universal application
A universal application
No matter which of these 3 views we discern to be correct, the application remains the same.
18 And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
18 And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.”
MAtt 28:16
Matt 28:1
Matthew 28:29
We are to pray that all people, brothers and sisters would receive eternal life, and be strengthened to assurance.
“This, indeed, is evident beyond dispute from this passage; but as this very seldom happens, and as God sets before us the infinite riches of his grace, and bids us to be merciful according to his own example, we ought not rashly to conclude that any one has brought on himself the judgment of eternal death; on the contrary, love should dispose us to hope well. - John Calvin
God alone is the one who knows the hearts of men and women. We cannot and should not pray for ONLY those who we perceive to be “in”.
We are to pray that all people, brothers and sisters would receive eternal life, and strengthened to assurance.
4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
3 This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:4
We have a mission, we have assurance, we have freedom of speech. Let’s boldly ask God for the souls of men and women TODAY.
The Gospel gives us the ability to live in accordance to God’s will, which gives us assurance, which gives us the confidence to confidently live out God’s mission for His church, to make disciples.
I’d like to close with the story of David Brainerd, an 18th century
Missionary to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania. Born in Connecticut in 1718, he died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-nine in 1747. Jonathan Edwards preached the funeral sermon and published the diary which David had kept.
By almost every standard known to modern missionary boards, David Brainerd would have been rejected as a missionary candidate. He was tubercular — died of that disease at twenty-nine — and from his youth was frail and sickly. He never finished college, being expelled from Yale for criticizing a professor and for his interest and attendance in meetings of the "New Lights," a religious organization. He was prone to be melancholy and despondent.
Yet this young man, who would have been considered a real risk by any present-day mission board, became a missionary to the American Indians and, in the most real sense, "the pioneer of modern missionary work." Brainerd began his ministry with the Indians in April, 1743, at Kannameek, New York, then ministered in Crossweeksung and Cranberry (near Newark), New Jersey. These were the areas of his greatest successes.
Brainerd's first journey to the Forks of the Delaware to reach that ferocious tribe resulted in a miracle of God that preserved his life and revered him among the Indians as a "Prophet of God." Encamped at the outskirts of the Indian settlement, Brainerd planned to enter the Indian community the next morning to preach to them the Gospel of Christ. Unknown to him, his every move was being watched by warriors who had been sent out to kill him. F.W. Boreham recorded the incident:
But when the braves drew closer to Brainerd's tent, they saw the paleface on his knees. And as he prayed, suddenly a rattlesnake slipped to his side, lifted up its ugly head to strike, flicked its forked tongue almost in his face, and then without any apparent reason, glided swiftly away into the brushwood. "The Great Spirit is with the paleface!" the Indians said; and thus they accorded him a prophet's welcome.
That incident in Brainerd's ministry illustrates more than the many Divine interventions of God in his life — it also illustrates the importance and intensity of prayer in Brainerd's life. Believe it — Brainerd prayed! Read the Life and Diary of David Brainerd. On page after page one reads such sentences as:
Wednesday, April 21 ...and God again enabled me to wrestle for numbers of souls, and had much fervency in the sweet duty of intercession...
Lord's Day, April 25. This morning I spent about two hours in secret duties and was enabled more than ordinarily to agonize for immortal souls. Though it was early in the morning and the sun scarcely shined at all, yet my body was quite wet with sweat...
Saturday, December 15. Spent much time in prayer in the woods and seemed raised above the things of this world...
Monday, March 14 ...in the morning was almost continually engaged in excited prayer...
Thursday, August 4. Was enabled to pray much, through the whole day...
Thursday, November 3. Spent this day in secret fasting, and prayer, from morning till night...
Suffice it to say, it is not surprising to read then of the miraculous interventions of God on Brainerd's behalf, and of the mighty ministry and the unbelievable revivals he experienced among the iniquitous, idolatrous Indians in those short years. A volume such as this prohibits more than only mere mention of some of those supernal, supernatural scenes: "I have now baptized, in all, forty-seven persons of the Indians. Twenty-three adults and twenty-four children...Through rich grace, none of them as yet have been left to disgrace their profession of Christianity by any scandalous or unbelieving behavior" (Nov.. 20, 1743). What pastor or evangelist reading this can say the same?
Lord's Day, December 29 ...After public worship was over, I went to my house, proposing to preach again after a short season of intermission. But they soon came in one after another; with tears in their eyes, to know, "what they should do to be saved..." It was an amazing season of power among them, and seemed as if God had "bowed the heavens and come down..." and that God was about to convert the whole world.
Hpreachers, people of prayer and power with God.
Brainerd died in 1747 in the home of Jonathan Edwards. His ministry to the Indians was contemporary with Wesley, Whitefield and Edwards as they ministered to the English-speaking people during the period called in English and American history, the "Great Awakening." Brainerd's centuries-spanning influence for revival is positive proof God can and will use any vessel, no matter how fragile and frail, if it is only sold out to souls and the Saviour!
We are gripped with a desire to see others share in the gift of eternal life ONLY after we are gripped with the weight of Grace that has been offered to us.
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