Letters: That You May Know

1 John 5:13–21 ESV

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. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 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. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And 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. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Sometimes as we approach the Bible we come to 1 verse at a time. We can dive in deep trying to mine the depths of a single word. And it’s easy to forget that this is not how the Bible was written, and perhaps not how it was intended to be digested.

We’ve spent the last 3 months looking a 1 John when the reality is that it was likely read in it’s entirety.

It’s easy to forget that these are real people with real struggles.

These are people are scared for their lives because their government is actively trying to kill them. These are people who have lost family and friends to intense persecution.

These are people with real trust issues because there are those who are trying to actively deceive them and preach a different Jesus in order to water down the truth to make it more palatable to a hostile world.

These are people who are desperate for Jesus, but struggle to know confidently that they are following him in the right way.

These are 2nd generation Christians who don’t even have a whole Bible yet, probably just a few of the collected writings of the apostles.

And here we have John, the last living disciple of Jesus. One of the last 1st generation Christians who hasn’t been taken by old age or martyrdom. Writing to encourage them....that they may know the truth of Jesus. And through knowing they may stand firm for Him regardless of what comes their way.

Big Idea: If you don’t know Christ, you’ll believe anything.

1 John 5:13–16 ESV

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. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

1 John 5:13–15 ESV

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.

1 john 5:13-

1 John 5:13–15 ESV

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.

John wants his readers to know a few things.

He wants them to know that they are saved (if they believe in the name of Jesus)

He wants them to have confidence in their prayers that God hears them when they ask according to His will.

He wants them to have confidence that God will answer their prayers when they ask according to His will.

1. Confident Faith leads to confident Living.

Confidence in the ending always makes the in between so much easier to deal with.

Take movies for example. We know that the good guy/girl wins. The girl gets the guy. Everything works out. Even the movie titanic where you know the ship is going to sink…you know Rose survives because she’s an old lady at the beginning of the movie. We just get to see how it plays out.

Now…if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the affliction that you experience in this life....no matter how difficult it is....is momentary in light of eternity, do you think that will change the way you approach it?

παρρησία 3. a state of boldness and confidence, courage, confidence, boldness, fearlessness, esp. in the presence of persons of high rank…even God.

Romans 8:18 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Those who believe in Jesus will spend eternity with Jesus and if Scripture is any indication it seems that the more suffering you experience here (in terms of persecution suffering for the sake of the gospel) the better heaven will be for you.

Now prayer is a tough one. If I asked, how many of you struggle with prayer, half of you would raise your hand, and the other half just struggle with being completely honest.

Here’s why I think we struggle with prayer. We have a hard time believing that God will answer. But the key is to ask according to His will. And how do you know what His will is? Key into the Holy Spirit. Read your Bible and actually pray. When we pray for things according to God’s will and he answers us…it builds confidence.

John writes that we might have confidence.

Let’s keep reading....

1 John 5:16–18a ESV

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 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.

1 John 5:17–18a ESV

17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 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.

John also writes that we might know...

2. Sin is a big deal in you and in others.

I think that many of us have an innate sense of justice in that we have a hard time accepting it when people get away with things that should bring punishment. We want people to be punished and get what they deserve. Ironically, we don’t feel the same about ourselves when we sin. We want others to quickly forgive us and “let it go.” Like Frozen.

Now, the Bible teaches us that we are to forgive and not hold grudges. What the Bible does not teach is to have a light view of sin. What the Bible actually teaches is that sin is a big deal and the ONLY way to deal with it in ourselves and others is to look to the cross.

They whole movie i

One of the biggest lies that exists in the world is that “I’m good, you’re good, we’re all good.” No, we have sin in our lives that offends a Holy God. Sin is not making a mistake or slipping up. Sin is a destructive force that starts as a sparks and the next thing we know our house is on fire and so is our neighbors’.

Sin is more than actions. It’s a state of being in rebellion against God.

For the Believer we find grace, mercy and forgiveness at the cross. We experience the love of God not in spite of our sin, but because our sin is paid for.

Too many of us have been lied to and believe God loves us as we are but that couldn’t be further from the truth. God loves us as Jesus is; perfect and holy dying on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 cor 5:22

So what is our response to sin in ourselves and others? Prayer.

Don’t jump to judgment or guilt. Pray. Encourage others to pray. Point people to Jesus.

What is the sin leading to death?

Many people aren’t sure, but here’s what I think. After you’re dead apart from Jesus, there is no hope for you. There is no point in praying for the dead. The sin that leads to death means that they are already dead. So what’s our encouragement? Take the time to pray for people and share the Gospel with people, while they are still alive.

So long as someone is alive, there is hope. Point people to Jesus. POint people to the cross.

Let’s finish 1 John.

1 John 5:18b–21 ESV

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. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And 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. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

John wants us to know that...

3. Evil is real and subtle, so watch out.

I enjoy a good horror movie every once in a while. But I cannot watch movies that involve demon possession or demonic actively.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.

Reflection: How will you respond to God’s Word?