Ask According to God's Will - 1 John 5:13-15
Notes
Transcript
13 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. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Introduction
John is bringing his letter to a close. As he does so he reiterates the truths he has presented so powerfully.
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1. Eternal Life v13
1. Eternal Life v13
13 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.
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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a. Believe
a. Believe
13 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.
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b. Knowledge
b. Knowledge
13 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.
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Here is one who has taken my very sins and died for them on the cross, and in Him God forgives me. That is the first essential of this sure knowledge that I have eternal life. Unless I am resting my faith solely in Jesus Christ and His perfect work, I have no life, because the only way to God is in Him. Lloyd-Jones, M.
When he writes, “so that you may know,” he does not mean “to come to know” but “to have assurance.” Believers have the assurance of eternal life and the right to be children of God (John 1:12). Kistemaker
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
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2. Answered Prayer v14-15
2. Answered Prayer v14-15
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14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
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a. Confidence v14
a. Confidence v14
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
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What he means is that because of the gift of eternal life (v. 13), the believer has the confidence, that is the freedom, to approach God in prayer anywhere and anytime. As a child of God he freely comes to God with his praise and petitions. Kistemaker, S
12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
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b. The Will of God v14
b. The Will of God v14
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
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Although God has promised to do whatever his people may ask, he does not allow them an unbridled liberty to ask whatever may come into their heads. John Calvin
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He teaches us by his Word what he wants us to ask, and he has also set his Spirit over us as our guide and ruler, to restrain our feelings so as not to allow them to wander beyond due bounds. John Calvin
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
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God grants us the freedom to ask whatever we wish, but he adds one condition: “if we ask … according to his will.” This is the biblical teaching on prayer. Even Jesus submits to the will of his Father. When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). - Kistemaker
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
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b. We Know He Hears v15
b. We Know He Hears v15
15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
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15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
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18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
The faithful do not give free rein to their desires or indulge in anything that pleases them, but always in their prayers consider what God commands. Calvin
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This ease and security should not, however, reduce the earnestness of their prayer, for whoever is certain of a happy event should not stop praying to God. The certainty of faith by no means generates indifference or sloth. John Calvin
Conclusion
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If we want to have real confidence in prayer, then we must know that we ourselves are accepted by God. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
