Blessed Assurance (1 John 5:13-21)
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· 4 viewsAssurance of God's truth and salvation bringing perfect fellowship between Him and the Church.
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1 My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 6 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
13 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
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Blessed Assurance
Blessed Assurance
10,000 Sermon Illustrations Nagging Doubts
Nagging Doubts
Many Christians are buffeted by nagging doubts about their salvation. They long for some reassuring word—some evidence that they are truly saved.
An elderly man said to H. A. Ironside, “I will not go on unless I know I’m saved, or else know it’s hopeless to seek to be sure of it. I want a definite witness, something I can’t be mistaken about!” Ironside replied, “Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough to rest on?” “Yes, I think it would. An angel should be right.” Ironside continued, “But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, ‘I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.’ What would you say?” The man was speechless. Ironside then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given His Son, who died for our sins, and He has testified in His own Word that if we trust Him, all our sins are gone. Ironside read 1 John 5:13, “You may know that you have eternal life.” Then he said, “Is that not enough to rest on? It is a letter from heaven expressly to you.” God’s Spirit used that to bring assurance to the man’s heart.
D.J.D., Our Daily Bread, October 8
We have now come to the end of this series from 1 John. We began this series immediately following Easter. I had two purposes in choosing this series at this time even though I had preached a series on this book previously. First, John focuses a lot on Jesus and provides evidence of just who and what He is. This seemed like a good topic to follow up Easter where we had just looked at Jesus death and resurrection.
Second, John’s purpose was to build confidence in the life of a believer that they may have peace of mind. We live in uncertain times. Many believers are wondering about the Bible prophecies of the end time. They are wondering if we are there and this creates anxiety for many. The assurance that John is speaking of, should help us to relax on this topic of the end times. If we have an assurance of our salvation, it should not matter if we are there or not. Either way, we are covered.
With that in mind, let us look at these last final verses of 1 John.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also 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 by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
Father, please bless this Word which you have provided and which we now receive. Amen!
I. Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt
I. Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt
Believe it or not, I can still remember some things I learned in my junior high English class. When writing a paper, you create an opening paragraph that states what your topic is and what you hope to prove about your topic. You then write the meat of your paper, which goes into much greater detail about the topic. At the end, you write a summation paragraph. Well I think John must have had the same teacher I had or one who taught the same things. You have to remember that John is a seasoned writer by this time. It is believed that this was the last of the books of the Bible to have been written. John is an old man and he has already written his gospel and Revelation. Maybe he has figured out this practice of introduction, body of subject, and summation all by himself. However it came to be, we now come to his summation and John provides us with...
A. What You Can Know for Sure 1 John 5:13-21
A. What You Can Know for Sure 1 John 5:13-21
God is a mystery in many ways and there are many things in the Bible that can feel like a continued mystery to us. However, God gives us everything that we NEED to know. God provides us with the essentials that we need to have peace of mind and John lays out the fundamental details here.
To find the first, we need to step back for a quick review of last week’s sermon. There we find that...
1. Jesus is God vv 6-10
1. Jesus is God vv 6-10
9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
This passage makes clear that Jesus came in the flesh to live and die here among humankind. However, He is still God’s Son. As part of the Trinity, Jesus is still God. We can bank on that.
The next thing we can know beyond any doubt is...
2. Believers have eternal life vv 11-13
2. Believers have eternal life vv 11-13
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
We need to keep in mind that John is writing to the church believers. We know that because Jesus is God, Jesus was able to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin and to overcome death providing us the means to do the same. That means that we can be assured, that when we believe in Jesus and choose to be obedient to His call to follow Him, we are assured of eternal life.
This means that we need not fear death. Death has no hold on us. When we have this assurance, there is nothing that can control us. We know that no matter how difficult things get, all we need to do is hang in there because eventually, we will come out on top. No matter the hardship, it can only be temporary. Eventually, unless we are raptured, we will face death, but then we move onto a life that will never see hardship again.
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
When we have this assurance, we have strength to stay the course no matter what may come up in our life.
The third confidence is that...
3. God answers your prayers vv 14-15
3. God answers your prayers vv 14-15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
There are people who sulk that God has not answered their prayers, but they forget to read this whole verse. “We ask anything according to His will.” We must trust God. There are some things we can pray in confidence as we know beyond any doubt that it is God’s will. For one, prayers for someone’s salvation. I really believe that when we pray for our loved ones, we can have assurance that God is working to fulfill that prayer. It is true that God will not violate their free-will, but I also believe God will continue to work on them until the bitter end. I believe there are many in heaven who others thought would never get there, but they are there because someone loved them enough to continue in prayer for them.
Sometimes God gives us a peace that something we are praying for is His will. In such times we can continue to pray knowing that when the time is right, that prayer will be answered.
However, even prayers that are not answered in the manner we perhaps desired, are still answered prayers. They are answered from the Father in the way that He knows is best. If we are willing to accept God’s answer, we can pray with confidence and boldness. We can know beyond a doubt that God will answer for the very best.
The next thing we can know beyond any doubt is...
4. Christians do not practice sin vv 16-18
4. Christians do not practice sin vv 16-18
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
This passage causes some people difficulty so allow me to elaborate more on this one. Here are the things you need to keep in mind.
a. Continue is the operative word in these verses v 18
a. Continue is the operative word in these verses v 18
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
This does not mean that when we become Christians we always do things right. We are still human and as such, we will never be perfect. However, the word continue here means to “practice” sin. We do not just continue sinning as we always had before trusting that Jesus will cover our sin.
Paul addresses this at great length in Romans 6.
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Keeping in mind that John is saying that Christians do not practice sin, let us look at the rest of what he is saying here.
b. The sin that does not lead to death. vv 16-18
b. The sin that does not lead to death. vv 16-18
Lets look at those verses again.
1 John 5:16–18 (NIV)
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
Keep in mind that brother and sister is referring to our fellow brother and sisters “in Christ.” In other words, this passage is talking about Christians. So, what is the sin that does not lead to death? We as Christians are not perfect. We do sin from time to time. We may have a bad day and say something rude to our spouses, or perhaps we get curt with our Christian friends or co-workers. Sometimes we have habits that are sinful but God has not yet convicted us because we are not yet mature enough to deal with the situation. These are all incidentals. We are not knowingly continuing in sin. These situations are covered by the blood of Jesus. Jesus righteousness is credited to our account. Satan has no control of us. We belong to God even in our imperfect state.
Now, lets take a look at the flip side.
c. The sin that leads to death. vv 16
c. The sin that leads to death. vv 16
Lets look again at verse 16
1 John 5:16 (NIV)
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
This leads into some discussion that varies from denomination to denomination. We had a brief discussion recently in Sunday school about this. However, I believe if you read this verse and take in account all of it, it is very clear what it is talking about.
It is still addressing Christians. No where is there a disclaimer that it has switched to non-believers. There is a sin that leads to death. That is sin that is practiced. That is when a Christian is convicted about something and they continue to ignore God’s warning. In time, this will erode their relationship with God. They may in time harden their heart against God and leave the fold of God.
When we willfully continue in sin, we have literally trounced on the sacrifice that Jesus has made on our behalf. God will not allow us to treat His Son with such disrespect. If you think differently, I recommend you re-read 1 John. I am sad to say that I have seen people who have been wonderful servants of God that have later turned their backs on God. Their lives have ended in ruin. There are devastating consequences to doing so. If you believe the punishment for those who have not believed is bad, you have no desire to even begin to think of what it will be like for those who believed and then abandoned the faith.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Some denominations preach that once someone is saved, they can never lose their salvation. However, I believe there are many passages, including the one above, that demonstrate that we can walk away. Look at what Paul wrote Timothy.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
In such cases, John is not saying, “do not pray for them.” What he is saying is, “do not pray that they receive life despite their behavior.” We do need to pray for God to help them to see the truth and to repent and return to God.
Our next confidence is that…
5. God has adopted us to be His children v 19
5. God has adopted us to be His children v 19
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
We can count on the fact that as God’s children He will protect us in this world that is under Satan’s control. I have shared a story before about a wildfire that burned through some land in which a farm lay. A fireman was walking over the land and he saw a black lump. Upon closer inspection, he noticed it was a hen that had burned in the fire. He kicked it over and to his amazement, underneath was a brood of chicks that were still alive. The mother had covered them and gave her life to protect them.
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
And finally...
6. The Christian life is the real life vv 20-21
6. The Christian life is the real life vv 20-21
20 We know also 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 by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
There are many in this world worshiping all the wrong things. Those things range from other believed gods, to various philosophies, to items like fame, sports, money, sex, etc…However, all of those are an illusion. They will never stand the test of time, nor will they save you from death. They can never love you, protect you, provide for you, or see you into eternity hope. They only doom those who refuse to believe in the one true God.
Conclusion
I would encourage you to take this list of assurances and place them in your Bible. When the things occurring in this world get you down, or someone says something that makes you have doubts, look back at this list and thank God for all He has provided you and know beyond any doubt that you are safe in His arms.
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