The Place of Assurance

Reading: Congregation join on 5 & 6

English Standard Version Psalm 13

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Pastoral Prayer:

Sermon:

The place of assurance...

1. Where should my assurance be held? In whom should it rest?

2. What role should a sense of assurance play in my daily life?

Assurance? Eternal Security?

Two perspectives....

From God’s perspective...

Jesus: No one will snatch them from my hand....Jesus pursues the last sheep while the 99 are safe

God will be faithful to his promise, he promises salvation to those who acknowledge that Jesus is Mesiah, and come under his lordship

From this text...”God is greater than our hearts”

From our perspective....

We hear the Apostle Paul’s urging us to “Believe on the Lord”

We hear Jesus say “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me”

From this text “Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth

Textual comments

vs 22 “whatever we ask, we receive from him”....ch 5 more thorough treatment

We tend to try to answer these questions in the extreme, rather than the mundane.....

The Christian should live in community with God, bringing about obedience to God’s commandments and resulting a confidence in Jesus that overcomes our hearts condemnation.

This text give us 4 c’s Condemnation, confidence, commandment and community

“By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts” refers to the earlier part of the chapter

What does 1 John 3 state is the basis for knowing and being reassured

We are becoming like God - we are bearing his image...

We are putting to death sin in our lives...

And we are living in love for our fellow humans...

These 3 are the evidences that Jesus is within us. It’s not a feeling, it’s not a decision, and it’s not a socially reinforced idea.

I these are absent, you should question if Jesus is truly your Messiah

And, right on clue, John says, but I think there will be some of you who take that too far, and your hearts will demand perfection in these areas, and when found lacking will heap condemnation upon you. And so, he gives us a basis to have a deeply founded assurance.

1st C - Condemnation - 20-21

If our hearts condemn us...

We generally know ourselves clearly

We know our weaknesses

We know the places our desires have lead us astray

There are areas in our lives where our hearts rightly condemn us....this is not talking about that

This is specifically talking about the question of if we are in Christ, and of His truth...

Think small c condemn, and big C condemn

If our trust is in ourselves to get this right to attain God’s blessing, our hearts will always be correct.

2nd C - Confidence 19,21

God is greater than our hearts

He knows everything

He makes away where we cannot see

He comes and deals with our sin by placing it on Jesus on the cross

“If our heart does not condemn us”

How do we get to there?

read it

God is light and cannot have darkness

We walk openly, and wholly before God

We confess our sins, and Jesus is faithful to forgive and cleanse

We don not declare ourselves righteous

3rd C Commandments 23

Believe in the name of Jesus - believe that Jesus is the messiah -

Love each other

Familiar - two great commandments - Love God, love man

Love God - Love his image - seek his image in the word - obey him

Prefer each other over ourselves.

Community 23-24

We obey and God grants us community with himself - he gives us the Holy Spirit to be his presence among us.

Adam and Eve in the Garden - community with God

Everyday life - seek community with God

The C’s in reverse

The Christian should live in community with God, bringing about obedience to God’s commandments and resulting a confidence in Jesus that overcomes our hearts condemnation.

The place of assurance...

1. Where should my assurance be held? In whom should it rest? - In Christ alone, in God we trust

2. What role should a sense of assurance play in my daily life? - A massive part, God is not willing that we walk around each day in fear of his wrath. 1st he placed it on Christ, second, he calls us into community.