The Work of God within us

Introduction

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John 3. We are going to read verses 19-22. My hope is that we will finish chapter 3 next Lord’s day, Lord willing, and then we will take 6 weeks off for advent with my hope to end those 6 weeks with a charge for us as a church from the Word of God for 2024.

Sticking with the theme of experiential knowledge that John continues with, this morning my desire is for us to see what I have titled this sermon as “The Work of God within us.” How do you know that God is working within you? Do you see the difference that Christ makes in your life? Do you notice living for Christ is pulling you further away from the world system?

Some of the greatest joy we have as Christians is seeing when God is working in our lives. It brings us comfort, it helps us to persevere, and we are encouraged. I want us to see three ways that God works within us from this text. First, I want us to see ‘The Work of Reassurance’ (vv.19-20), 2. The Work of Boldness before him (vv.21-22a), and 3. The Work of Pleasing him (v.22b). Read verses 19-22.

1. The Work of Reassurance (vv.19-20)

The first place that we see God’s work within us is by being reassured. If you would look at verse 19 with me, notice that John says that we know that we are in the truth and that our hearts are reassured before the Lord. This should bring you and me great joy. Why? Because this absolute. Did you hear what John said? He didn’t say that we might know, or that it could be known, or that one day we will know. But, he says, “by this you know.” In the same way that we saw last week that love is known, and it is known in the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

The first matter for any Christian believer is truth and that is why John brings it up. Truth is central to the entire Bible. Hence, why John puts it first before reassurance. How can you be reassured of a truth that you do not believe in? Reassurance occurs all the time, but it is ALWAYS submissive to a truth of some kind. This tells us something else. Truth is both head knowledge as in you or I know something to be true and experiential as in we have seen it worked out in our lives. Therefore, as truth in Christ is proclaimed, it is based on the authority of the Bible, and it is seen in the lives of Christ’s people which we looked at last week.

Being of the truth singles out those who are according to and included in the family of Christ by the belief and trust in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this we have seen in John’s entitling of those whom he loves as “beloved.” The truth that John alludes to is the full truth and nothing but the truth. There is no half-truth. Like someone who says they are a Christian, but live as the world lives. We will see throughout these verses that the fellow who “says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness” (1 John 2:9). This is applicable to verses 19-21 specifically.

Let us move on to the reassurance of the heart. An observation we see is that the heart is reassured before him, that is Christ. We are given the context in an age where so many things are true and yet they are not. In Christ, we find and have truth. So, what does it mean to be reassured? It depends on the context of the question. Have you ever been expecting a refund for an item, and you have not received it yet by the date promised? If this is you, then what do you do? You call the company and ask where is my refund? After the individual takes some time to look through your information, they locate your account and reassure you that your refund is on the way. Now, if you are like me, I take it a step further and ask, how will I know?

The reassurance that God offers in our times of uncertainty and trouble should not cause us to ask the question, how will I know? in the same way that we do when we await a refund!

See, to be reassured is “to rely (by inward certainty)—agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be confident” are all synonyms of being reassured (Strong’s). Another word for reassurance is to “have faith in” (Vines). Another way of reading verse 16 is to say, “By this we know that we are of the truth because our faith is in Jesus Christ.” The reassurance of hearts before Christ is centered on the having faith in Christ. Yes, there are degrees of faith, some have a small child-like faith and others more. But the truth is that we can completely trust in every word that Christ has said. Therefore, if we ask how do I know that I am saved? Christ gives a clear answer to us. “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice” (John 10:16).

So, love, truth, and reassurance or all known entities that are grounded in Christ. What are we told about the reassurance that is done within us? Well, we know that reassurance does not come from any internal entity. Although the work is cultivated within us, it is not brought together by you and me. Therefore, it must come from outside of ourselves. How does that happen?

Look with me at verse 20 and let’s see how our hearts are reassured. John begins with the negative. He says, “whenever our hearts condemn us.” This may seem negative, but this is of great blessing to you and me. Why? Because each one of us, who are a part of the sheepfold of Christ experience the condemnation of the heart. The condemnation of the heart is another way of saying that we sin! Now, this is not to kick you down or to leave you discouraged. Praise the Lord that he did not have John end here. What a terrible place to be if this verse ended with the condemnation of the heart!

The reality of sin in our lives leads us to a call to action. And that is where the condemnation of the heart gets very interesting. Why? Because it leads us, once more, to examine where you and I are with the Lord at this very moment of our lives. The condemnation of the heart can also mean ‘self-condemnation’ or the condemning of oneself due to some internal conviction or “an exercise of heart” (Vines). Galatians 2:11 is an example of this occurring “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I (Paul) opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” Now, in this moment, God used the apostle Paul to expose Peter’s sin. Who does that for us most often today? The answer would be the Holy Spirit, whom we will see more of, Lord willing, next week.

Brothers, consider it a good thing when you feel convicted of your sin. Because if there is no conviction of sin, two things are the possible result, either you are in a season of blindness or you are not saved.

Yet there is something else we must touch on and that is what comes after conviction? Now that you and I are convicted of sin, do we stay in that conviction as wallowing and sorrowful people? Of course not! After conviction comes confession and repentance of sin and forgiveness! Remember David’s words in Psalm 51:1-4? “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against, you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

It should bring us comfort that God is greater than our hearts for, God uses the condemnation of our hearts as a means to ultimately bring us to repentance of any sin in our lives. Look with me at the middle of verse 20, “God is greater than our heart.”

This follows the condemnation of the heart in verse 20 and it should bring you and I great joy! This tells us that we do not have to stay in 1. Sin, 2. Conviction, or 3. Despair. What does this look like in real life? It looks like not dwelling on offenses that are committed against God for “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). It means that we move from conviction to forgiveness. We do not stay feeling guilty of our sin with no remediation. Christ has taken care of that. And we have no need to despair. We do not worry that our sins will not be forgiven. We do not fall into the accuser’s trap. For, Satan cannot condemn us, as much he desires to. There is no charge that can be brought upon us. Turn with me to Romans 8 and let us read verses 31-34. Behold, the promises of God on our behalf! Read the verses. Brothers, we no longer have to live in condemnation, for God is greater than our hearts. Turn back with me to 1 John 3.

Look with me at the end of verse 20. If there is one reason that I could think of universally as to why every believer should daily confess his/her sin before God it would be because God knows it all anyway. Remember what God said to Jeremiah? “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). God knew EXACTLY who Jeremiah was going to be and what he was called to do. If God knew who Jeremiah was going to be before he was born, what makes you think that God does not know every single thing about you? Praise be to God that he knows everything. Might I turn your attention for a brief moment to Malachi 3:16-18? As you turn there, I want us to see how important it is that God knows everything. Read the verses. Aren’t you glad that God knows who is going to dwell with him in heaven? Doesn’t this reassure where you stand with the Lord? It is said of us whom God knows the heart of, that we will be with him forever. Let us return to 1 John 3.

2. The Work of Boldness before him (vv.21-22a)

We move, now, to the Work of Boldness before Christ. Look with me at verse 21. Verse 21 tells us two things, 1. God forgives our sins and 2. We can pray rightly upon being forgiven. We will see these in order. Because God is greater than our heart, he has the power to overcome the deficiencies that are within it. That being said, God can take the sins of our heart and do away with them. In other words, God forgives us. Now John says that our heart does not condemn us. He is telling us that we are forgiven of our sin. Do you see how this cycles back to reassurance? When God forgives us of our sin he forgives us. We are assured that he has done it. And we see that carried out in our prayer lives.

As has been said before, a holy and righteous God cannot stand sin. He cannot stand to be in the presence of sin. It should be no surprise for us then, to need to be forgiven of sin before we can boldly come before the throne. Think about it this way, could you come to someone that you love dearly and ask them of something, and yet have a gripe against them, without your heart being stirred up in the seat of conviction? The same is true with God. If you are convicted of sin and God knows all things, then we must seek his forgiveness that he freely gives.

The second thing that John touches on is the ability to pray boldly before God. The word confidence in verse 21 means to have boldness. It is used similarly in Hebrews 10:19-25. This word is specifically used in the context of prayer. Warren Wiersbe says, “Verse 21 promises that the Christian can pray with boldness (confidence).” Bringing verse 20 and 21 together you could say, because my heart does not condemn me, I can go before the Lord in prayer boldly and confidently. Spurgeon adds, “His heart is right with God, and therefore he has confidence toward God.” So, we see how sanctification and prayer come together. As we are daily sanctified, growing in grace, and crucifying the flesh, the more near we get to God, especially in prayer.

John wants his readers and us to come daily to Christ in prayer and seek him. As students of the Bible, it is your desire and mine to see Christ in all of Scripture. In verse 21, we see him as the one whom we can go to with every petition and the one who forgives us for our sins.

There is such a great confidence in prayer that verse 22 tells us that “whatever we ask we receive from him.” The misconception that leaps out in front of us is that we can literally ask for whatever we want, and we will receive it. My hope in laying out the ground work for being in God’s will was to make it clear that if you are asking for anything outside of God’s will you are not guaranteed to get it. This verse in context with verse 21 is because our heart does not condemn us. We saw that that means that sin has been confessed and forgiven. Therefore, any prayer that we offer is according to the will of God and not according to our sinfulness. The word ask is used in a way that inclines our petitions to God. And in so doing further points us to petitioning for others to the Lord on their behalf. Ask yourself this, is this what your prayer life looks like?

What we see here, looking at the big picture is selfless prayer. It is prayer that is not about self. It is not about you, and it is not about me. Our prayers go vertical and stay vertical. The only time that they are horizontal is if there is a real need in our lives or on behalf of another. This verse should cause you and me to consider the state of our prayer life. Can you honestly say that your prayers are to God and regarding God, for the glory of God? If so, the Lord will hear your prayer and you will receive great blessing!

Hear the promise of our Lord from Psalm 34:15-17. “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed spirit.” Christian, this is the God that you and I pray to!

3. The Work of Pleasing him (v.22b)

Let us look at the third work of God within us and that is doing work that pleases him. Look with me at the end of verse 22. You will notice that John tells us two other reasons why the Lord will fulfill our prayers. The keeping of his commandments and the doing of that which pleases him.

The first reason is because we keep the commandments of God. Now the keeping of the commandments of God is something that is throughout the entire epistle. We will see this, Lord willing, in next week’s text and we will come back to it once more in chapter 5 verse 3. What does it mean to keep God’s commandments? It means that we conform to God. It means that we live our lives according to God’s will. God’s will has within it his commands. It means that we keep them realizing what is at stake. Turn back a page and look at chapter 2:4. “Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Do you see what is at stake here? The very reality that you and I are believers is attached to the keeping of God’s commandments. Let Psalm 119:47-48 be that which comes off our tongues. “For I find delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on your statutes.” The Psalmist found great joy in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Jesus was much more stern in his words found in Matthew 7:21 which is the famous “Lord, Lord” passage. Jesus was direct in attributing words with action. “The one who does the will of my Father” will get into heaven.

The second of two things that bring forth answered prayers is doing what pleases the Lord. This is wonderful for our hearing. Listen, we are not robots that are controlled by the joystick of God. He has given each one of us gifts and talents, things of interest, areas where we very much desire to serve. In all of those differences we PLEASE GOD. Aren’t you glad that we are not all the same as worshipers of God? I mean, we all believe the same thing regarding Christ’s death and resurrection, but we don’t look the same, we don’t act the same, we don’t serve in the exact same way. Yet, each one of us does what is pleasing to the Lord!

My hope for each one of us here is the same as Paul’s encouraging words found in Colossians 1:10-11. “To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” We do works that please God and he strengthens us to continue on in those works.

Conclusion

In conclusion, have you ever wavered in assurance of salvation? Have there been moments in your life where you asked the question “Am I really saved?” If so, this text is for you. If you have not experienced this yet, this text is for you. John assures us that we know we are of God even when we sin. For “God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything.”

How about your prayer life? Do you feel close to God? Do you sense his presence amongst yourself? Are you a “regular” when it comes to praying to your heavenly Father?

Do you desire to please God in every aspect of your life? Do those around you know that you are one who desires to please God?

As we think on these things and maybe answer a few of these questions in our hearts, I want us to take a few things home with us.

1. The assurance that you and I have in Christ is ABSOLUTE. There is no wavering in this truth. Christ has come to save sinners once and for all. As an outpouring of our trust in him and seeing the sin we do as offensive to God, we confess it and God who knows our sin, does not hold it against us! Isn’t he a great God?! There is NO sin that you and I can commit as believers in Christ that would separate us from God.

2. Prayer is essential for your personal growth in the Lord. Prayer is powerful, our prayers are powerful! We come boldly before the throne of grace offering petitions to God. And we do so as expectant people knowing that our God who is in heaven hears every single one of our prayers. Prayer also helps us to refocus our hearts and minds back on track and aligned with the will of God. See how powerful prayer is!

3. Pleasing God as his people brings forth abundant blessing. In so doing, the prayers we offer go alongside the life well pleasing before the Lord. Living this way is not monotonous or boring, it does not get old or tiresome (we do get tired at times). But living pleasing lives before the Lord is one of the ways, along with the gospel proclamation, that the world sees our allegiance to God. Our hope is that the lives we live before God would be captivating to a world that desperately needs HIM!

Benediction

Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom glory be forever and ever. Amen.”