1 John Series: Confident Prayer. Sinning Brothers. Guarding from Idols.

1 John 5:13-21

We are coming to a close in 1 John.

We know why John wrote this: “I have written to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

We can examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith and we can have confidence that we are children of God, based on the assurance that comes from God’s Word and the evidence that we see in our lives.

Godly and Biblical confidence is good. We need this confidence or we will be overcome by the struggles of this world. We need confidence as Christians… to stand firm, to persevere, and endure.

But who do we need confidence in?

We need confidence in Jesus. We need confidence in His promises. We need confidence to take that next step and believe that He will catch us… that He will lead us, guide us and direct us.

We need confidence in our Great Shepherd, that He will lead us beside the still waters, lay us down in green pastures, lead us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death… and get us all the way Home.

We need this confidence in Him... to deliver us from fear… to lead us to this position: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The Lord is my helper… what can man do to me. The Lord is with me; He is for me. He will not lead me or forsake me. The Lord loves me, and there is nothing that can separate me from His love...

We need confidence today and forever… We need confidence. And as Christians… we have it in Jesus Name!

Looking at Verses 14-15:

Our faith in the Lord is holding us up and holding us together. And our confidence in Christ draws us to God in and through prayer.

As Christians, we have confidence that we can go into the Holy of Holy’s boldly and pray, request, ask, seek, and knock, and make our petitions known… And the Lord Almighty will hear us and answer our prayers.

Take 1 John 5:14 and remember Hebrews 4:16 - Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Slide 2)

Dear Christian… be confident in this: As a Child of God… God hears your prayers and God answers your prayers as they align with His will. This is a Christian promise and certainty.

As a Christian… you do not need to doubt that God hears you.

As a Christian, we desire to know and to pray according to His will… and as we do so, we can rest assure that God will be responding to prayer in some way, in His way.

So, we are to pray and believe this. Jude 20 - Pray in the Spirit, in the power of the Spirit, in the will of the Spirit… Not grieving the Spirit by sinning, but confessing sin and removing all hindrances, so that you may pray freely.

Dear Christian… He sees you. He knows you, He hears you.

You do not have to question this, be concerned about this.

He is your Father. You have peace and communion with God.

You can talk to Him any time, anyplace, and anywhere.

Now, through faith in Christ, you can stand and pray with boldness, with faith and zeal… Knowing that the Father is drawing near to you, and He will answer your prayers and take away every fear.

There may be someone, a Christian, who is struggling with this right now. “Does God really know? Does God really care? Does God hear me when I call? Does He even desire for a person like me to talk to Him?”

The answer: Yes! He knows. He cares. He hears you. And He desires for your to take everything to Him in prayer.

Live in Christian confidence. Pray with Christian confidence.

(Slide 3)

Verses 16-17 - Pray for the brothers… when they sin...

Instead of talking about our brothers and sisters to others… we should pray for them. Yes, we should talk with them, reason with them, rebuke, exhort, and attempt to bring correction… as other Scripture commands. And we are to pray for them as we do so.

May we remember this: When we see a Christian sinning… Go and speak with the brothers/sisters who are seen sinning, and go and speak with God about them. This is what we do before we get into church discipline.

Notice… it was speaking to them and speaking to God. Not speaking to others first.

Now, Verse 16-17 challenges us: There is sin that leads to death and there is sin that does not lead to death. All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not leading to death.

All sin is sin… All sin is disobedience… All sin separates us from God… But not all sin has the same consequences. Not all sins are equal in their severity.

John 19:10-11 - Jesus says to Pilate that there was one who was guilty of a “greater sin.” Matthew 7:3 - There are those who have planks in there eyes and there are those who have specks in their eyes. In various passages we will see God call certain sins “more detestable” that others.

In the O.T. Law, all sins did not lead to the death penalty. There were various punishments for sins or crimes committed. But, not all sins or crimes had the same penalty. There were different degrees of punishment.

Jesus taught greater degrees of punishment in hell (Luke 12). James 3 teaches us that preachers/teachers will be judged more strictly.

But what is this sin that leads to death?

I believe that the only unpardonable sin of our modern day is the sin of unbelief. But, I am not sure or convinced that this is what John is talking about.

There has been this discussion about people falling away and leaving the church, proving that they did not belong to the household of faith to begin with… In this case, the sin of apostasy is in view here.

But it may be possible that we are looking at a real Christian who will be disciplined, and if they do not repent, God will take them out of this world.

Here are some examples:

Acts 5 - A married couple in the church, Ananias and his wife Sapphira lied to the people and ultimately lied to God, and God took them out of this world.

1 Corinthians 11 - We see the church folks coming together and they are acting the fool, being divisive, disorderly, coming to take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner… and it says that this is the reason that many among them were weak, sick, and were dying… Because of sin.

God’s discipline will come to all of God’s Children… but this death may come to those who will continue in their rebellion, continue sinning, and God will remove them and purify the church in this way.

But shouldn’t we pray for everyone?

In Jeremiah 7; 11; and 14, he was told not to pray for Judah. It was as if their sins were too many, and God was going to bring judgement. They were not repenting and God was going to break them. God was not going to respond to Jeremiah’s prayers because of this, so God told him not to grow weary in interceding on their behalf.

We may find something equivalent in 1 Corinthians 5 when there was sexual immorality in the church and Paul says that he has decided to hand such a one over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh… so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

As Christians… should we pray for everyone? I would say “yes.”

Yes, we should and we must pray, pray, pray for our brothers and sisters. Your prayers matter. God uses prayers to bring people around and to deliver them… to draw them to repentance and faith. This is the aim and this is the goal...

Believer… Since you are a Christian, you must confess your sins, repent, and return to the Lord over and over again. Your brothers and sisters are praying for you. Your sins are most likely seen by your family at home, your church family at work, and in the church house.

Your church family is praying for you… and when your conviction and misery arises from God as the Spirit uses the prayers of the church family…

What should you do? Confess and Repent as soon as possible.

Or… or else. Or… or else more discipline is coming. If it continues on, God is not going to put up with it.

You are representing Him and you are harming the Church and the Name of Jesus. He will not put up with it.

If you are a believer who is praying for a fellow Christian… I cannot tell you to stop. The text does not tell us to stop. All it says is that “I do not say that you should make request for this...”

But dear Christian, remember the will and the ways of the Lord. Remember that God is sanctifying this person. Pray, but also realize that this person is called to respond in faith and repentance… And God may have to bring in more pain to break this person down… and in the end… God just may have to remove them.

What are we going to do as their Church family? We are just going to pray, and trust that God is going to do whatever that is necessary.

(Read James 5:14-20) May this be our church practice.

Be Confident in the Lord. Pray. Pray with Confidence. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

And Lastly… (slide 4)

Verse 21 - Continue to guard yourselves, or keep yourselves from idols...

What a strange way to end the book/letter. He is signing off with this. But what do we know about writing: The conclusions come at the end. The highlights and emphasis comes towards the end. John wants to leave his audience with this last word, as if this is of high importance...

“Little Children… guard or keep yourselves from idols...”

We know… that we are of God. We know that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. 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.

This is the true God and eternal life. This is! This God is! This Lord is!

And everything else is not. And everything else is a counterfeit. Everything else can be an idol.

There is the One Creator… and all else is Creation, which can also be worshipped.

John 17 - Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

This is eternal life. This is our eternal salvation, joy, peace, love, and satisfaction.

He is the Vine and we are the branches… and there is only One Source of life: God Alone.

Nothing and no one else will do.

We know Israel’s history, but it is a history that may reflect our present day reality. God tells us in Jeremiah 2:13 - “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Exodus 20 - You shall have no other gods before Me...

God’s people of yesterday and today have been commanded by God to remove or to put to death all idolatry in our lives.

Why? “Nothing is more dangerous than a religious confidence in a fake god of our own imagination.”

And the bad news is… that our hearts continuously makes idols.

We look to ourselves. We look to our works and our performance. We look to others. We look to creation and all the materials found within… to give us life, to give us answers, and joy, and peace… and in the end… they all fail us.

Why? We are made by God and for God… And only the Real God can satisfy the soul.

Little Children, Children of God… You know the real God. You know the Real Savior. Abide in Him. And guard yourselves from all the fakes and phonies that can never deliver what you need.

Guard your hearts. Guard your minds. Guard your lives.

This is what we know. This is what you know. This is what we have. It is enough. He is enough.

Seek this God. Pray to this God. Live for this God. And He will never disappoint you.

Go with this confidence in the Lord.

(last slide)

John 14 - Do not let your heart be troubled… John 16:33 - Take courage; I have overcome the world.

Take courage. You will overcome with Him.

Stand in confidence. Walk with confidence. Pray with confidence. And guard your relationship with the Lord, so that you do not fall into idolatry.

These things have been written so that you may know these truths, that you may know that you have eternal life… so that your joy may be full.

The joy of the Lord… is our strength.

Close and pray.