5.14. 53 11.27.2022 1 John 5.13-21 Confidence

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Entice: You might be surprised that we end our time in 1 John with a text that does not mention the love command. Perhaps he thinks that he has made that point more than enough. The central affirmation of the Epistle, to Love one another, was written to us along with John's persistent reminders regarding accurate doctrine.

Engage: The last sermon of a long series is a good time for some personal reflection. Have you spent some time planning to be a better learner? Have you committed yourself to a deeper love of your brothers and sisters in Christ? These are the sorts of goals we should set for ourselves because we have drunk so deeply from John’s fountain of wisdom.

Expand: The epistle ends by remind of some final responsibilities

1 John 5:13–21 (ESV)

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward 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 of him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Excite: Like every command or responsibility John has taught us we know that God equips us to do what He commands or expects. John winds matters up by focusing on giving us confidence.

Explore:

Life in Jesus gives us confidence to know and to do.

Explain: Two results of being in Jesus.

Body of Sermon: First, John reminds us that in Jesus we have

Assurance.

Believing and knowing.

1 John 5:13 ESV

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

Faith is both internal and external. Because we have faith we are expected to act faithfully.

Prayer has always been a central discipline for believers. John reminds us that in Jesus because we know and understand the truth that we can consistently be

Praying confidently.

1 John 5:14–15 (ESV)

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward 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 of him.

According to His will.

By understanding His will we are able to pray in alignment with His will for His people.

Asking of Him

Finally, John reminds us that we share

Accountability

We are individual parts of the body, but we are a part of the aggregate of the faithful that make up the universal and local church.

We are Specific sheep, but we are part of this flock.

We are personally gifted to be of benefit to the Church

I am accountable to you, and you to me…each of us to the whole body. That means we have responsibilities to each other, our Savior, and the Church.

First John mentions

Correcting our brother.

1 John 5:16–18 ESV

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

This is a hard but necessary responsibility.

John is not talking about carping,

criticizing,

or

complaining.

He is not talking about being a busy-body

or a

know-it all.

He is talking about people we know,

love,

and serve with, who stumble & sin.

It is our responsibility to correct them and to help them to regain the focus of their Christian walk.

We are also responsible for

Living Faithfully

1 John 5:19–20 ESV

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

It is not always easy to summarize a large body of information. John has written a fairly long message to us. This is a little summary of some of the doctrinal high points. We are from God, the world is dominated by the evil one. We can know and understand God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ and begin our eternal life now. This is the basis upon which we can live faithfully, always remembering that we are accountable to God and one another for how we live the Christian life.

And as a final reminder John tells us to be vigilant in

Worshipping Purely.

1 John 5:21 ESV

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

This seems an odd little postscript. Idolatry has not been a topic for him to this point. Assuming that Ephesus was the audience, idolatry was of, course an ongoing risk. So here at the end, John reminds us that he knows the environment. Even as we learn more and more about Jesus; learning accurate doctrine and how to live righteously, the temptation to simple culture-driven idolatry is right around the corner. We are responsible, we are accountable to one another and God to maintain pure worship in a fallen, failing world.

Shut Down:

And that’s pretty much it. Faith is not supposed to be crushingly hard. It becomes hard when we are distracted. When we forget that our confident assurance is in Jesus and that our faith in Him makes us accountable to Him and to one another.

He invites us all to this "life in the Son". The greatest adventure of all and God's good word for us today.