Prove It-Do you know?

Main Idea: Christians can rest in the truths that we belong to the God who answers prayer, that we have spiritual victory, and that Christ is the true and only source of eternal life.

Introduction

Tonight is our LAST NIGHT in our PROVE IT series (REAL SAD). Before we journey tonight through the text I wanted to do a recap of a few of the things you can KNOW about your faith as a christian from 1 John.

Things we can know about our faith from 1 John:

1. We can know that we know God (2:3, 13, 14; 4:7).

2. We can know that we are in God (2:5).

3. We can know that it is the last hour (2:18).

4. We can know the truth (2:21; 3:19).

5. We can know that Jesus is righteous (2:29).

6. We can know that we will be like Jesus (3:2).

7. We can know that Jesus came to take away sins (3:5).

8. We can know that Jesus is sinless (3:5).

9. We can know that we have passed out of death into life (3:14).

10. We can know that no murderer has eternal life (3:15).

11. We can know love (3:16; 4:16).

12. We can know that God abides in us (3:24; 4:13).

13. We can know the Spirit of God (4:2).

14. We can know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception (4:6).

15. We can know that we love God’s children (5:2).

16. We can know that we have eternal life (5:13).

17. We can know that God answers prayer (5:15).

18. We can know that we will not practice sin (5:18).

19. We can know that we belong to God (5:19).

20. We can know that the Son of God has come (5:20).

21. We can know that the Son of God has given us understanding (5:20).

22. We can know Him who is true (5:20).

Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 139–140.

Main Idea: Christians can rest in these TRUTHS: we can KNOW we belong to the God who answers prayer, that gives us spiritual victory, and that allows us to rest in Christ who is the true and only source of eternal life.

Our faith isn’t an “I hope so” or “I think so” but an “I know so” type of faith.

Let’s read 1 John 5:13-21.

The confidence that faith furnishes (v. 13)

This is the theme verse of the whole letter! (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.)

The main themes in 1 John:

That our joy may be complete 1 John 1:4

1 John 1:4 ESV

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

That we would have fresh power to overcome sin 1 John 2:1

1 John 2:1 ESV

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

That they would be confirmed in their Christian faith walk 1 John 2:21

1 John 2:21 ESV

I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

That they would be protected from false teaching 1 John 2:26

1 John 2:26 ESV

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

Finally, That they may KNOW you have eternal life in Jesus 1 John 5:13

1 John 5:13 ESV

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.

we can have assurance. You don’t have to live in doubt.

You don’t have to doubt because you don’t know everything about God’s Word and His promises. Don’t doubt because of disobedience. Don’t doubt because of hate. Run to Jesus! He is the Word of life. He is eternal life.

Great saying “Feelings come and go, and feelings can be deceiving. My confidence is in the Son of God; no one else is worth believing.

Practical application question: Do you know that you KNOW Jesus? You can before you leave here tonight.

The prayer that faith enables (v. 14-17)

Good News for a Christian: God hears you!

You have assurance of eternal life and this too: answered prayer.

Quote from R.A. Torrey “Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is and all that God has is at the disposal of prayer. But we must use the key. Prayer can do anything that God can do and since God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent.”

George Mueller “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.”

The Key Phrase: “According to His will.”

God’s will may not be what you want, but it will always be better than what you want. Because of that I want God’s will for me. Not what I want.

Practical question for you today to gauge your prayer life and whether it’s focused on God’s will or your own will: Are you praying transactionally or relationally? Do you view Jesus as an ATM or as an Advocate in prayer? When we pray, we aren’t just speaking into a microphone hoping that God hears us from a distance and will get our orders right. We are speaking to a loving Father who is close to us, listening carefully to our prayers and desiring that we’ll connect with him personally through a conversation. Praying isn’t a business meeting but a conversation with your Father.

How can you align with God in prayer?

Pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:44)

Pray for God to send missionaries (Luke 10:2)

Pray that we don’t enter into temptation (Matthew 26:41)

Pray for ministers of the Word (Colossians 4:3)

Pray for government authorities (1 Tim. 2:1-3)

Pray for relief from affliction (James 5:13)

Pray for the healing of other believers (James 5:16)

Pray for the lost to come to faith in Jesus

Pray that you have the right motives in what you’re doing

Pray with thanksgiving towards God (Col. 4:2, Phil. 4:6-7)

Pray continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

This is aligning your will with God’s will in your prayer life!

The next couple of verses are some of the hardest verses to interpret in the New Testament in my opinion because what John says here is kind of vague and leaves some questions regarding what John meant when he says that there is sin leading to death and sins not leading to death.

The sin not leading to death is possible because 1. forgiveness is sought and 2. God is willing to grant it. (1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”).

Sin that leads to death is probably sin that john has warned about throughout the letter: resolved rejection of the true doctrine of Christ, habitual or continual disobedience to God’s commandments, continual lack of love for other believers.

Death and eternal life are present spiritual realities as well as ultimate actual destinies (hell, heaven).

The understanding that faith grants (v. 18-21)

Throughout the whole letter of 1 John he gives at least 13 statements that let us know that God has saved us and given us new life:

1. Those who are born of God keep His commands (2:3–4; 3:24).

2. Those who are born of God walk in the same way Christ walked (2:5–6).

3. Those who are born of God are lovers not haters (2:9; 3:14; 4:7–8, 20).

4. Those who are born of God love the Father not the world (2:15).

5. Those who are born of God confess the Son and have Him (2:23; 4:15; 5:12).

6. Those who are born of God do what is right (2:29).

7. Those who are born of God do not continually practice sin (3:6, 9–10; 5:18).

8. Those who are born of God have the Holy Spirit (3:24; 4:13).

9. Those who are born of God listen to the Word (4:6).

10. Those who are born of God believe Jesus is the Messiah (5:1).

11. Those who are born of God overcome the world (5:4).

12. Those who are born of God believe Jesus is the Son of God (5:4–5).

13. Those who are born of God know that Jesus protects them from the evil one (5:18)

Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 145.

In verse 18 John gives three more affirmations to assure us that we have victory over sin.

First, we know that the person born again because they don’t keep on sinning. Sin is no longer the pattern of your life. John is affirming the purity of our lives, not PERFECTION! Future glorification impacts present sanctification.

Second, those that are born of God are protected by God. Jesus, by His work on the cross, obtained my salvation. Now, by His work in heaven, He maintains my salvation.

Third is a promise: “The evil one does not touch” me. The word “touch” has the idea of grabbing hold of something with the intent to HARM. Satan may grab AT us and tempt us through doubt, friends who fall away, idols, etc. The Devil does not have a hold on me or you as a Christian. Satan can’t take away our salvation. Once we are Christ’s we are His forever. We are protected by Jesus Himself.

This sounds a bit crazy to think about because John says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We are safe, we know we are from God, we have inner assurance, spiritual death has no claim on me.

Here is something I want you to chew on. Satan has a plan to kill, steal, and destroy. Satan opposes and hates when we advance the gospel, create support and forward ministries that show mercy towards the marginalized (poor and needy). Since Satan is devising plans to wreck and derail our plans of fulfilling the great commission...how much more should we be planning and seeking the Lord’s wisdom to bring about love, mercy, grace, reconciliation, redemption to those in the community around us?

Practical question for you to think through: How are you praying and planning to reach your community for Jesus?

Are you:

How are you serving your friends at school?

Are you praying for those in your school to come to know Jesus?

Have you found ways to meet with other believers at school? (FCA, some sort of school club) If you don’t have one, figure out the steps to take to start one at your school leading into the next semester.

Do you know what your testimony is? Have you written it out? Do you share it at your school with your friends?

Are you getting refueled in community every week? Do you have a systematic way to read your Bible? Do you have someone that asks you (maybe daily) what you’re reading, what you learned about God, and what it challenges you to do or change?

Land the Plane

This letter was written so that we would KNOW that we have eternal life through faith in Jesus as our Lord AND Savior. First, this text speaks of no benefit or assurance for your life if you don’t KNOW Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If He isn’t your savior you don’t have eternal life, you don’t have confidence if/when you pray, your sin leads to death not grace, you don’t have hope to stop sinning, you don’t have protection from Satans harming grasp. This is the current situation and future situation for you if you don’t know Jesus as your PERSONAL SAVIOR. So maybe you desire to surrender your life to Him tonight, repent of your sins and be saved from sin and death tonight.

Or maybe you are a believer in the room and you need to go to Him tonight and ask the Lord for the desire to know Him more in prayer, the wisdom to reach our community with the good news of Jesus, or protection from the temptations of Satan.