Confidence!

Intro

Fear drives the hearts and minds of many in our culture today. Anxiety, as it is rightfully termed, strikes many with doubts, fears, and at times it becomes crippling.

Has fear always been prevalent? Even in the hearts of believers? I believe the Scriptures testify a resounding “YES!” Adam and Eve feared, Moses feared, Joshua feared, David feared, Paul, John, Peter, and the other apostles feared.

Yes, of course, even Daniel feared as he was cast into the lions den. But, just like in the stories of many members of Canon listed above, Daniel, even in fear, had confidence.

He didn’t have confidence that he could defeat the lions. He didn’t have confidence that someone would come get him soon. Rather, he had confidence only in the salvation of God.

This is what brought him through the lions den, this is what brought him through the rest of his life. Confidence, not in ourselves, but in the One True God is what will defeat fear in our lives, what will overthrow the anxieties we face. Confidence that, God has my back, and even if things don’t work out my way, they are working out the way God intends for them to. This sort of confidence carries us, it holds us, it keeps us.

As we round out 1 John today, we will see, yet again, the theme of confidence in the Savior and His work on the cross. Confidence that carries us, confidence that hold us, confidence that ultimately keeps us.

1 John 5:13-20

Confidence in Eternal Life

Confidence for a Christian is invaluable. How can we rightfully live for Christ or preach Christ without confidence in Him?

We are reminded early in this passage that John is writing to Christians, not unbelievers. And, in writing to Christians he pushes the themes of his letter again. He says “Children of God, I am writing to you to give you confidence in our Savior!”

Some pretty significant things stick out in reading that, first of which is this: even Christians doubt…

I know that may sound like news to some of you, but to many of you I know this brings you comfort and peace! It is natural and normal for even Christians to doubt, even something as significant as eternal life in heaven.

But, what are you doing with that doubt? This is what we must ask and search. As we look to 1 John, we know that our doubts can all be answered in Scripture, and we must trust.

John isn’t condemning the readers of this letter by saying “how dare you doubt the truths of Scripture! How dare you even begin to think that none of this is real!” Rather, with a true gentle spirit, John reaches into the lives of his readers, under the inspiration of the HS and says “Oh, child, I know you have doubts, I know you have fears, let’s work those things out and rediscover the truths of God’s Word together!”

The lack of condemnation indicates that your doubts aren’t sinful in and of themselves, but your choice in how you handle those doubts can lead to sin.

Are you letting your doubts flourish into unbelief? Or are you seeking God’s word and God Himself through prayer to find the solutions to your doubts? Are you seeking godly counsel in understanding the truths of God’s word? You are not in danger of judgement because you doubt, you are not in danger of judgement because you seek the wisdom of someone wiser, but you will be in danger if you let the doubts that the enemy places in your heart lead to unbelief.

The entire letter of 1 John exists to give us confidence in the truth of God’s Word and one of the greatest confidences we have is that of eternal life.

When we face hardships in life, we often look at them in light of our limited time on earth and those hardships seem even more difficult, but when we look at our life, our hardships, our relationships in the light of eternity, oh how small and insignificant they seem.

Added in this concept though, is a message for unbelievers as well! When you look at your life, your choices, you lack of faith in the light of eternity, how largely significant they need to appear. How important those choices are going to prove to be. Although this letter was written to believers, the HS is using it to speak to you as well this morning.

Confidence in Prayer

Have you ever begged God for something? I mean you really begged Him day in and day out for healing, salvation of a loved one, restoration of a family, anything? Why did you beg? Was it out of unbelief or obedience?

In Luke 18 we hear the parable of the unjust judge and the persistent widow. The judge who was corrupt and wicked would not hear the case of the widow but the widow showed up daily with persistence until the unjust judge gave in and heard her case.

So, is Jesus like that unjust judge? Absolutely no! Because, in our determination, in our persistence, we have confidence that the Judge has already got a plan. He is already answering our prayers. We are asking according to His will and in doing so are aligning our prayers with His goodness. We know He is going to be good. We aren’t begging God to answer out of unbelief, no we are persistently pleading our case, our needs, our desires to the Father in obedience with full confidence that He is already answering those prayers not with an unbelieving spirit. He doesn’t answer our prayers just to get us off His back because He is annoyed. He answers them because He is good and He if faithful. (paraphrased excerpt from Persistent Prayer by Chad Roberts on Awakened App mixed with some of my thoughts)

When we are born again follower of Jesus Christ, we can have confidence that when we ask according to His will, it shall be done! That does’t mean we lose our persistence, that doesn’t mean we lose our faith if things don’t work out the way we think they ought. It means, we trust God to answer our prayers and we trust that answer, no matter what it is. When we stop prayeingwe are saying “I don’t believe God is going to answer my prayer.”

When we go to God in prayer, we need to trust, we I quoted a few weeks ago, that God already plans on being good to us in the answer, because He is a good God and His intentions are to be good to us.

But, we should still confidently approach the throne of grace over and over and over again, not out of doubt, but out of persistent obedience. Trusting that, when we ask according to His will, he answers!

We go to God out of faith that he will answer, we go to God in desperation for we need Him to answer, we go to God out of devotion and obedience because he tell us to come.

Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John We Can Know that God Answers Prayer (1 John 5:14–17)

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. (The Power of Prayer, 17)

As we pray, we ought to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter how long you have been a Christian, you are going to struggle with sin and its effects. You are going to sin. And, although sin is covered by the grace of God, sin is a slippery slope that can lead to trouble with God.

When we see a brother or sister in Christ sinning, we ought to go to our church friends and talk about it! Right?! No! Of course not. We go to God. We pray for out brothers and sisters. We intercede for them. We go to them and offer help and accountability.

We pray for the brothers and sisters who slip into sin “not leading to death.”

Woah, hold on a minute, what is John talking about? All sin leads to hell, death is a consequence of sin. So, what distinction is John making right here?

John, remember, is speaking to Christians who live in the freedom of Christ. He is saying “I know you are going to sin and so does God, therefore God has built grace upon grace into the plan of salvation, not as an excuse to sin, but as constant atonement for your wrong doings and slip ups. However, there is sin that, even a Christian can become part of, that leads to eternal hell.”

John is saying “Beware of apostasy!” Now, let me remind you, God’s grace is big and even when you sin, God will forgive you and He will forgive you much. But, when we choose over and over again to separate ourselves from God and forfeit the goodness of His salvation, then we are living in the sin that leads to death. John, very bluntly says “don’t bother praying for them, it is too late…”

Harsh words it seems. But, know with me this morning that you are not too far gone, apostasy is not when you wake up and are mad at God. Apostasy is not when you sin over and over again while trying to overcome. Apostasy is when you completely and totally reject God for the long haul and no longer feel conviction of sin.

Apostasy is not something an unbeliever can experience either, because remember, John is talking to Christians and is referring to Christians who have tasted and seen the goodness of God’s salvation and over time, rejected God and chose sin and hell instead.

I don’t want any of you worrying about apostasy today, for as we have said, it is harder to commit apostasy than it is to remain in God’s grace. Jesus loves you still.

But, check on your brothers and sisters in Christ. Remove the sin from your life and then help them overcome sin in theirs all while constantly seeking God for help and restoration.

Have confidence this morning that God still answers prayers. Have confidence that heaven is real. Have confidence that God will never reject you.

Confidence in Victory over Sin

And have confidence this morning that you too, yes even you, can have victory over than sin in your life.

1 John 5:18 “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

Another way to put that is 1 John 5:18 “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.”

We know this morning that when we accept Christ as our savior our desires change and we begin to choose for the very first time to live a sinless life for Him.

This is what John means. Remember, 1 John 1 reminds us that if we say we have no sin then we are liars. So, what is John saying?

He is saying that we know that everyone who is now a follower of Jesus has the desire to not sin.

He is saying that, God protects us from that sin as the Holy Spirit convicts us when we are about to sin.

And when we do end up choosing sin in that moment that we cannot blame God, or even the devil, but we blame ourselves for choosing sin.

We have free will to choose whether or not to listen to God or the devil at any moment when temptation enters into our hearts and minds. So, we must take the blame when we choose to sin rather than follow the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Is God there? Yes. Is the devil present? Often yes. But, we choose. We choose God or we choose the devil.

verse 19 says that we know that we are of God and the world lies inn evil. So, we must understand this morning, that being a people of God means we must have confidence that when the Holy Spirit convicts us, even if our flesh really wants to sin, that the Holy Spirit is helping us choose what is best.

We must have confidence that we can overcome sin, through faith in Christ. We must have confidence that the devil cannot snatch us from the grip of Jesus. For, as Jesus obtained our salvation, he maintains it. (Akin, Daniel L. 2014). He is the giver of life and salvation but also the sustainer.

Anything that happens in regard to our eternal state after salvation is because of decisions we make.

But, this morning, you can have confidence that the battle you are fighting right now, has been won. The victory is here. The victory is in Jesus Christ. Reach out a little in faith and grab hold of it. Choose Christ. Overcome sin by faith and confidence in the Sustainer Jesus Christ and the right convictions of the Holy Spirit.

Rounding Out

John rounds out his letter beautifully and gives us somewhat of a synopsis of the last five chapters we just studied. He beautifully affirms the divinity of Jesus again. He reminds us that it is Jesus who gives us understanding of life, grace, and the Word of God.

Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John We Can Know What Is True (1 John 5:20–21)

Because of our union with Christ, we understand the truth of the gospel, we are safe from the claws of the evil one, we know the Father, and we abide “in the true One—that is, in His Son Jesus Christ.” Of Christ it can be said, “He is the true God and eternal life.” Here is truth. Here is life. Here is knowledge and understanding. All of this is ours by virtue of our union with Christ, because “we are in the true One.”

In Christ we find beauty. In Christ we find peace. In Christ we find eternal life. In Christ we find salvation. And in Christ we find confidence.

And, as we obtain confidence in the One True God, we must avoid the many false gods around us.

Culture, ideology, social media, relationships, church itself can become an idol. We must be cautious and aware of the evils around us. We must be alert to the things in our lives that may be turning into idols. You are responsible for this, but the HS will help you to keep alert. Listen to Him. Have confidence in what He says.

SONG

Conclusion

Church, have confidence this morning. Have confidence in your salvation. Keep the commandments. Avoid idols in your life. Persistently seek the Father in faith knowing that He is good.

You can have victory this morning. You have eternal life. So, live like it.

Some here though may not have eternal life.

*salvation plea*