Take your Bibles with me and turn to 1 John 3. Last week I skipped over some verses at the end of 1 John 3 and I want to cover them this evening. So I'm going a little out of order.
I was studying this morning for next week's Sunday School lesson and I was reading about the importance of context. The author I was reading said something I've never really thought much about before. He said:
It is of particular importance to know why an author wrote his particular book.
What he was saying is that every book of the Bible has a main purpose and when you know that main purpose, it really helps you to understand the book.
Well, the main purpose of 1 John is to give a bunch of believers assurance. The goal of the book is to help Christians have assurance. Assurance that they are God's people. Assurance that God has accepted them. Assurance that they are doing right in serving God.
And it just so happens that the verses we are going to look at tonight are all about assurance. Let's read verses 19-24 together:
[!bible] 1 John 3:19-24 - KJV 19. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
So the point of these verses is the point of the book - to give us assurance before God, so that we can have confidence before God.
And these verses are going to tell us two things about this assurance or about this confidence. First, the source of that assurance, and second the benefits of that assurance.
So let's start by talking about...
How do you get assurance? How do you get confidence in God? Verse 19 says and hereby we know - that points back at the verses before it.
What are the verses before it about? They are about the way that we love each other. Look again at verse 14:
[!bible] 1 John 3:14 - KJV 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
So one source of our assurance is our God-given love for the brethren.
But you can go back further and see another source of assurance. Look at verse 10:
[!bible] 1 John 3:10 - KJV 10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
If you are obeying God and you want to obey God - if you are doing righteousness - then that is a source of assurance.
We looked last week at the third source of assurance - in chapter 4 - the doctrinal source. Believing in Christ.
So there are three sources of our assurance:
And you actually see all three of these sources in verse 23:
[!bible] 1 John 3:23 - KJV 23. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
This is nothing new. I've told you this over and over again as we've been studying 1 John. They way to have assurance is obey God, love the brethren and believe what God says. When you do those three things, it gives you assurance. They are the birthmarks of the believer.
But there is a fourth element here that John gives that gives us even more assurance, and we see that in verses 20 and 21. Read those again with me:
[!bible] 1 John 3:20-21 - KJV 20. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
The way to have even more assurance is to have a heart that doesn't condemn us. Another way of saying that is to have a clear conscience.
Now, the conscience is not infallible. It is possible to a total wretch and have no pangs of conscience about it. We've seen that some in the book of Judges. People doing terrible things and having no problem with it. They even do it in the name of God.
But John introduces a second possible way your conscience can fail you. It is possible to have a heart that condemns you unjustly. In other words, it's possible to have too sensitive a conscience.
It's possible for your heart to condemn you falsely. Maybe you are the type that just beats yourself up over everything. If that is you John offers hope here - God knows better than our conscience. God knows better than our heart. Our hearts are not perfect. Our conscience is not perfect. But God's knowledge is.
But most of the time, when our conscience is bothering us, it's for good reason. Most of the time, when we are bothered about something, it's because we knowingly sinned and we need to make it right.
Most of the time, probably 99% of the time, if your conscience is bothering you - you need to make something right.
Remember what Paul said in Acts 24:16
[!bible] Acts 24:16 - KJV 16. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
That is what we should all do.
And when you have a clear conscience, when your heart doesn't condemn you, and you add to that a life of obedience and Christian love and believing right doctrine - that gives you assurance.
So that is the source of assurance. The three things we've talked about, plus having a clear conscience.
Now, let's talk about the second thing tonight:
There are two benefits we see in these verses:
The first benefit is...
Look at verses 21 and 22 again:
[!bible] 1 John 3:21-22 - KJV 21. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
When we have this assurance and our heart has confidence, then we ask God what we want and expect answered prayer. We can expect that God is going to answer our prayer and give us what we are asking.
Do you remember the movie The Wizard of Oz? Of course you do.
You know, at the end, when they finally get to the Wizard. And there is this smoke and the deep billowing voice and the wizard insults them and they are all shaking.
They are just asking to go home, or to have a brain or a heart - and the wizard blasts them insults them and terrifies them.
That's how a lot of Christians approach God. They don't have assurance. They don't have confidence toward God. So they do not pray.
You know, it's father's day - my kids don't have a problem asking me for things. Today, after lunch, little Darci just walked over to the freezer, got out a quart of rainbow sherbet plopped it down in front of me and just looked at me with this little grin on her face. She didn't even ask. (She didn't even have to.)
When we have a loving father, we aren't afraid to ask him for what we need or want. This is especially true when we know we are pleasing our father. When we know we have been good and we know that our request is not out of line with what our Father wants for us - why should we go into God like the tin man going to see the mean old wizard of Oz?
How did Jesus talk about prayer? Matthew 7:9-11
[!bible] Matthew 7:9-11 - KJV 9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
God wants us to ask. God wants us to ask, seek and knock (as the verse right before this says.) Often, we don't get God's best because we don't ask in prayer.
And we don't ask in prayer because we lack the assurance that God is our heavenly father and that we are right with Him. We don't ask in prayer because our conscience is bothered. Because we aren't right with our fellow man.
But God wants us to ask. And when we ask, and when we have a clear conscience, and when we are asking in line with God's desires - we can know He's going to answer that prayer. We will receive it.
That's the first benefit of assurance - it is confidence in our prayer life.
The second benefit is found at the end of this chapter in verse 24:
[!bible] 1 John 3:24 - KJV 24. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
The first benefit of assurance is answered prayer. The second benefit is...
Remember, at the beginning of this chapter, we learned that we are God's sons. Look at verse 1:
[!bible] 1 John 3:1 - KJV
- Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
We are the sons of God. And when we have assurance of that. When we know that God is our Father and we have a clear conscience - we can have confidence that we are in God and that God is in us. We can have confidence that we have the Holy Spirit in us.
This is something the rest of the New Testament talks about. For instance
[!bible] Romans 8:15 - KJV 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
or
[!bible] Galatians 4:6 - KJV 6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
This is the greatest gift God has given us. This is the greatest ongoing source of assurance. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and one of the things the Holy Spirit does is to confirm in our hearts that we are God's children.
Again, Luke 11:13
[!bible] Luke 11:13 - KJV 13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
As God's children, He gives us the Holy Spirit. He abides with us.
Now, as I close tonight, let's consider some of the practical implications of this:
First, God wants us to have assurance and confidence before Him. God doesn't want us to come to Him in trepidation, but with confidence. God doesn't want us to go through life wondering maybe I'm a Christian God wants us to know and have confidence.
Second, God wants us to pray. God wants us to ask Him for things. When we are right with God - prayer should be natural and we can expect God's answer.
The truth us many of us just don't ask God enough. We don't expect enough from God.
Third, a dirty conscience affects our fellowship and our prayer life.
If we aren't right with others. If we aren't living in love. That's going to affect our prayer life.
What did Jesus say about this? Remember Matthew 5:23-24
[!bible] Matthew 5:23-24 - KJV 23. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Peter said that if we aren't right with our wife, then our prayers might be hindered.
How we treat others affects our prayer life.
And How we live affects our prayer life.
If we aren't obeying God and we know it, that is going to affect our prayer life.
But let me remind you of one thing - our conscience doesn't have to stay dirty.
[!bible] 1 John 1:9 - KJV 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Are you living in assurance and confidence before God? That's what He wants for you.
Let's stand and pray.