1 John 3:19-24 : Called to Love - Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
When you approach God in prayer - what kind of approach do you take? Is it one of confidence? Or is it one of cowardice? I pray it isn’t one of indifference as that is a whole different sermon!
But - Do you ever seem to hear your conscience scream at you about how unworthy you are when you approach God in prayer?
Voices like - who are you to approach a holy God with how dirty your thoughts and actions have been? Remember a few year ago when you....? Remember this morning when you raised your voice with your wife, husband, kids, boss, employee, etc? Remember that time when you felt the Holy Spirit convict you to give to someone or help someone and you said no?
With all of that sinfulness - who are you to approach God? What right do you have to ask for anything?
I think we can all relate to that feeling at some point. Some may even relate to that on a daily basis.
You may feel beat down and struggle to pray because of your sinfulness and unworthiness.
Today we are going to get into some detail about our call to love. Last week we discussed the difficulties in our call to love others. Today we are going to discuss how to overcome the difficulties in our lives that keep us from loving God and relating to God in the way in which we were designed to.
Please turn to 1 John 3:19-24 as we read today:
Read Full Scripture:
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;
20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Prayer
Again - to revisit last week - we talked about the the following two points:
I. If You Love God…The World Will Hate You (11-15)
II. If You Love God…The World Will Not Understand You (16-18)
Today we see that...
I. If You Love God…The World Will Not Overcome You (19-24)
I. If You Love God…The World Will Not Overcome You (19-24)
a) Because of a Conquering Confidence (19-21)
a) Because of a Conquering Confidence (19-21)
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
In verse 19 we get to a wonderful word here. Reassure. This Greek word (peithō) (pea-tho) can also mean to be convinced, persuaded, or to be set at ease. In other words, John is telling us we can be reassured, convinced, persuaded, or set at ease in our heart before him because of what we just covered last week.
If we remember from last week in 1 John 3:16-18, John just finished up telling us that we know love because of the sacrificial gift of Jesus Christ. And if we truly know love and are of the Giver of Love - namely of Christ - then we will walk in love and loving actions will follow. We will not just love in word or talk - but we will love in deed and in truth.
With that in mind we see that a true believer can be reassured that they are a true believer with how they persevere and continue in love.
Yet we get to the next verse and we see that sometimes, even when we should be reassured by our present walk with Christ, we may experience condemnation from our hearts - namely our consciences. This word condemn here is basically a legal term - which means ‘to declare guilty’ or to ‘name for punishment.’
Note that John nails this home hard. He is very realistic and says when - not if. He knows that we are all going to face the condemning accusations of Satan like Job did. Satan is going to speak into our minds all kinds of lies. And sadly, even our own sinful flesh will speak lies. We will begin to doubt the love of God and we will begin to believe that our relationship with God is based on our works and not Christ’s. These problems will cause a believer to begin to feel condemnation.
Don’t you love the end of verse 20 though! God is greater than our hearts. He knows everything! He can’t be deceived. He already knew every sin that you would commit before He died for you and saved your soul. Your failures aren’t a surprise to Him! You are no longer under condemnation as we have discussed many times in Romans 8:1! You are freed from the eternal punishment that sin brings. By the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, your sins have been atoned for. Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you no longer have to experience condemnation or punishment. Any thoughts or accusations of condemnation of a believer are nothing more than smoke and mirrors. They are not truth but instead false.
Before finishing with verse 21, I think this is an important moment to bring up the doubting of salvation and the doubting that one may have in believing that God hears their prayers.
What are we to say about these doubts? They certainly happen in the lives of believers. Sometimes believers just stuff these feelings away and live like they aren’t there. This is a dangerous road and it is a road that leads to a lack of fruit and growth.
Spurgeon once said:
When I go to bed at night and say to myself, “Did I lock the door?” I am not content to lie there and say, “I hope and trust that I did.” There may be a thief in the garden, so it will not be safe for me to “hope and trust” that all doors and windows are properly fastened.
We like to be sure about these less important matters; how much more ought we to be sure about the salvation of our souls!
So how, as believers, may we move into verse 21?
I am sad to say many pastors and church leaders and well-meaning believers have preached a bad answer to this question. They have meant well, yet they have preached a false gospel of experientialism.
They look at the doubting believer and say:
Just look back at that fateful day that you walked down the aisle and gave your life to Christ. Remember how you felt. Remember the emotions that you had. Remember how real God seemed that day.
Although remembering our experiences with God and the answers of prayers, and the worship experiences we have with God, and other wonderful blessings like these are very helpful in strengthening our faith - they are not a solid foundation on which to stand on when we face doubts. Why? Because those same feelings and emotions are now telling you that you are alone. You may have begun to question whether God even exists. You may feel empty and distant from God. Friends, we cannot rely on our experiences and emotions in order to fight doubts. We must rely on the Word of God.
God teaches very clearly here that you can fight doubt by two important steps:
1. The Word of God
This confidence rests on the God the Bible. We can rest in the understanding of his mercy and love. We can be confident in the completeness of Christ’s work on the cross. We can rest in Romans 8:1 because of that great work. There is no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus.
2. The Evidence of Salvation in Your Life Today
Are you being sanctified - made more like Christ? Are you wanting the will of God to be done? Are you loving others sacrificially? Are you bearing fruit that is consistent with someone who is repentant? Are you loving in deed and truth and not just word and talk only?
Please don’t misunderstand me here. Our confidence in our salvation rests solely on the completed work of Christ - both on the cross and in our regeneration. However, the signs of the work of Christ must be evident in our lives as confirmation of a true saving faith.
The answer to this first condition is easy. The Word of God clearly teaches that we are saved by grace through faith by a wonderful Savior - Jesus Christ.
It is after this that we need to fully lean on God as we evaluate our lives. Only then can we overcome by a fear-conquering confidence that comes through the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is by this that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence:
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
My friends, draw near to God through a conquering confidence through Christ’s completed work on the cross and his working in your own life.
We can overcome by a conquering confidence and we can overcome:
Scripture References: 1 John 3:16-18, Romans 8:1, Hebrews 4:16
b) Because of Conciliatory Communication (22)
b) Because of Conciliatory Communication (22)
22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
This is a big word. Conciliatory. It means to pacify. As believers, we have the ability to communicate with God because of the righteousness “Whom lives within us.”
Yes, that was intentionally a confusing sentence. I did that in order for us to understand the actual teaching that is in this verse. We do not have access to God because of our own righteousness or our own works. We are only able to keep the commandments and do what pleases Him through the working power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
It is with this standing before God - knowing that our sins are covered by the blood of Christ and knowing that any righteousness that is in us is from God Himself - that we can ask and receive from Him whatever we ask for.
We see this same teaching in verses such as:
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
(back to our verse)
22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
Does this mean we can have whatever we want as believers?
Absolutely not - it means we can have whatever he wants for us. The will of God will happen.
Many churches, especially of the charismatic movement, take verses like this out of context and teach a false gospel. The two most common being the prosperity gospel and the faith-healing gospel. These false gospels are dangerous in many ways.
Prosperity and healing gospels are nothing more than works based righteousness and salvation.
They falsely teach that if you have enough faith or if you are good enough and obey God’s commands well enough, then God will bless you with healing or financial wealth. Note where all of the focus is? Humanism. It is all about you. When, instead, the focus should actually be on Christ and His work and His glory and not ours.
Our job as Christians has one major qualification or commandment - obedience.
We are told here in this verse that whatever we ask and receive as believers - if we are obediently walking in the power of the Holy Spirit - we will get.
We see Paul teach a good parallel concept that helps clarify this further:
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Does that mean that all things are going to go well? That everything will be easy? Absolutely not. If we are to follow in our master’s shoes - we see that things often seemingly went poorly for Jesus! Yet, it all worked out for the good of mankind on the cross because salvation came through Jesus.
Our lives may not always seem good. We may struggle with poverty or sickness or persecution, or fill-in-the-blank. Yet God promises it will be for our good in the end. It is for the good of our soul. It will make us more like Christ through sanctification and better yet - it will bring God glory.
We must also realize that when we are in the will of God, we will ask what is in His will. When we keep his commandments and desire what is going to bring God the most glory - we can be assured that what we ask we will get.
One of my favorite verses is:
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I see in this verse that the Psalmist clearly teaches that God will not only give you what your heart desires when it is aligned with God’s - but He will also mold and shape your heart to desire what is His will.
The things of this world that seem so alluring and tempting seem to fade away when you are truly walking and delighting in the Lord.
My friends, walk with Jesus daily. Ask Him to reveal His will on your life to you. Be willing to do whatever, whenever He asks you. And see what amazing joy and fulfillment your life will have when you have a clear and conciliatory communication with the God of this universe.
The answers of your prayers may not always be in the form that you might hope for or expect - but God promises that, eternally speaking, it will be better.
So far we have seen that we can overcome because of a conquering confidence and a conciliatory communication - we can also overcome:
Scripture References: Mark 11:24, John 16:23, Rom 8:28, Psalm 37:4
c) Because of a Complete Commandment (23)
c) Because of a Complete Commandment (23)
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
John reiterates the First and Second Greatest Commandments yet again (Matt 22:37-39). Love God and love others. He loves to use the phrase Jesus Christ. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah. This combination commands that one put their faith in the wholeness of Christ. The Divine Son, the Incarnate Deity, the perfect God-man, the one in whom all things were created, the sacrificial lamb, the roaring lion of Judah, the Messianic Savior of the world, and an endless array of other attributes and names of such a wonderful and holy Savior.
Compare the thought process of John in presenting the overwhelming Deity of Christ in his Gospel, his letters, and the book of Revelation - to what I will refer to as modern, liberal Christianity. We have a great deal of people who believe certain things about Jesus but refuse to accept the fullness of what the Bible teaches about Jesus. They take what they want to take and they refuse to believe the things they find offensive or culturally aversive. This is nothing short of paganism my friends. These persons worship a false god that is no more of a god than a statue. Beware of false teachers who try to spin Jesus in a way in which the Bible does not portray Him. Beware of false teachers who refuse to teach that Jesus will return as a judge and that He will send people to the Lake of Fire if they do not repent and turn to Him. Beware of those who attack the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Scriptures as they effort to undermine the teachings of Christ.
Brothers and sisters - we are given a complete commandment by John here to follow.
As D. Akin states, “Right belief and right actions reveal the authenticity of one’s faith.”
We must follow the complete commandment. Love God and love others. We cannot pick and choose what parts of God we want to keep and what parts we don’t want to keep. We also can’t choose which people we will love and which we will not love.
We can overcome by a complete commandment, a conciliatory communication, a conquering confidence, and finally - we can overcome:
Scripture References: Matt 22:37-39
d) Because of a (more than) Competent Companion (24)
d) Because of a (more than) Competent Companion (24)
24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
I struggled to find a terminology that went along with this alteration for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is more than competent! He is perfect and He is God. It is difficult to even think of the Holy Spirit as a companion but the Scripture clearly teaches that He was sent by God through Jesus Christ as a Helper for us.
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
We are told that if we are His that we abide in Him. But then we see a second phrase after that comma - and God in him. John says that God, Himself, indwells believers. How does God do this? Read on - by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Throughout this section, John has spent some time trying to instill confidence into the believer’s heart. The final point he makes here is that the Holy Spirit is the source from which one may be certain that He is saved. See Paul make this same point in the book of Ephesians:
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
This seal is a mark that one is saved. One can be sure of salvation by the Word of God and the Evidence of Salvation in your life today. This evidence of salvation is through the working of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Scripture References: John 14:26, Ephesians 1:13-14
Conclusion
As we come to a close in this mini series on Called to Love, let’s revisit the main take home points.
During the first message we discussed our state in today’s evil world system. We are hated by the world and we are not understood by the world because of our love for God and our obedience to His commands.
To summarize, today we have discussed how we can be overcomers despite living in an evil world.
1. We overcome through a conquering confidence given to us by God through assurance of our salvation.
2. We overcome because of conciliatory communication that we have with the God who created the universe. We have unbridled access to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
3. We overcome because of a complete commandment. We love God and we love others through the power God gives us to do so. We follow through and obey Christ’s commands.
4. We overcome because of a more than competent companion. We are able to complete and obey the commandments of God - albeit imperfectly this side of eternity - through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit.
Stand firm brothers and sisters. We can overcome in the face of persecution because we stand with Almighty God - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let’s end with this last Scripture:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Prayer
If you have been struggling with doubts or fears - feel free to reach out to me after the service or at any time. If you would like to learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ or baptism - I would love to discuss that as well!
God bless and have a blessed week!