A Confident Faith
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Passage- 1 John 3:19-21
Attention- "Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time." Oswald Chambers
Introduction-
John has been dealing with our faith in the person and work of Jesus
He has been reminding us that there will be false teachers that try to convince us to trust in Jesus plus something else
He has reminded us that faith in Christ expresses itself in love for others
He has reminded us who we are in Christ Jesus
This morning he changes it up and throws us a curveball
He switches from exhortation to encouragement
He wants encourage us to stand firm in the face of doubts and condemnation from our hearts
He is honest that they will come but is writing to encourage that in spite of these things the believe can stand confident in Jesus Christ
Main truth- We can have assurance that we are a child of God!
Let’s once again take a look first of all at what John wrote to his readers
Transition #1-
What is being taught? (Explain the passage and draw out the 1st century truth)
“And hereby we know”
These are some of the most encouraging words in Scripture
We can KNOW…
We have looked at this idea previously…it means that “our lives can be observable evidence” to support the claim that we are in Christ.
And what can we know
We can know with absolute certainty that we are a child of God
And by implication this also means:
We can know peace…forgiveness…freedom
These can all be certainties
And the grammar tells us also that these are present tense certainties that can encourage us even today
Why am I so confident in referring to these as certainties?
Because John tells us that we can know that we are of the truth…or we could put it this way, we belong to the truth…we come forth from the truth
Here is an age old question that even goes back to a conversation between Jesus and Pilot
What is truth?
I appreciate a definition given by John MacArthur “Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God.” John MacArthur
I believe the truths John is referring to is the truths of the person and work of Jesus Christ that are evident in our lives
These show up by way of our love for one another
How we talk to one another…how we care for one another…and so on
And there is another purpose to our good works
Yes they display the faith that is in our hearts, and they glorify God, and they may draw others to salvation
But another purpose is for the confidence of our steadfast salvation
There are many words and phrases used to describe this idea…everything from preservation to eternal security, once saved always saved
I want us to use a a word that fits with the theme John is working with here
CONFIDENCE
We can have confidence in the salvation that Jesus gives us
Why is this confidence important?
John is implying by the future tense of the next phrase that our hearts will need assuring
John is implying that at some point in the future our hearts will need to be reassured of the confidence we have received.
So if we were to rephrase verse 19 it would go something like this… “This is how we have observable evidences that we are in Christ and will have a future persuasion when the opportunity arises in our hearts…our thoughts, volition, emotions, and conscience…in the presence of God.”
Verse 20
We will be reassured based on these two truths
1- God is greater than our hearts
This is reassuring because of the reality of our hearts
Our hearts are not to be trusted Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
There will be times that our hearts will condemn us
And when those times come, as we saw in verse 19, we can have confidence
HOW?
The worst that is in us is already known by God
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:
But the Lord pondereth the hearts.
Shall not God search this out?
For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Those thoughts, desire, sins that arise in your heart that take you by surprise and bring doubts into your mind are already known by God
You are not taking Him by surprise…and He still chose you and He continues to love you.
To us our failures seem to be on the surface but the Lord sees them long before we do
This reminds me of how David could be known as a man after God’s own heart
Is it because of all that he did for God? His perfection? His power?
No, only because the general tenor of his life was habitually Godward.
The Kings and Chronicles give us the behavior of David
The Psalms give a glimpse into the heart of David
2- God knows everything already
The condemnation that our hearts brings comes in two forms
a- Sometimes the condemnation is accurate…sometimes we are guilty
But it is in those times that we need to remember that God is greater than our hearts
God is greater than everything John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
We also need to remember that He already knows Isaiah 65:24
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
The second for of condemnation comes in the form of unwarranted accusations.
These times can be discouraging the same truth remains…God is greater and He knows!
Transition #2-
How do we understand this in our context? (Bridge 1st century truth to today)
Satan and his tactics have not changed since John penned these words
The root issues of the human heart have not changed since John penned these words
God was greater then and He is greater now and He will remain greater for all of eternity
He knew the situation John readers found themselves in and He knows the circumstances we deal with
He is not taken by surprise…it’s not like mankind has gotten smarter or sneakier
God still knows all things
Transition #3-
How do we live this out in our context? (Application of the biblical truth to us personally)
How should this change my thinking. (Mental understanding and/or reasoning?)
So when out thoughts and feelings drift to condemnation we need to revert back to truth
I have said this before and will continue to say it…we need to stop making decisions based on feelings and start making choices based on truth
In the same way that John’s readers could anticipate times of doubt or times that their hearts didn’t “feel “ saved; we at some point will face the same doubts and condemnations from our hearts
Conclusion
Review-
We need to remember truth not react on feelings
What are the truths we need to remember?
The person and work of Jesus
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
That God is greater than our hearts condemnation
That God already knew the sinfulness of who we are before He chose us to be His children
Call to action-
Remember…we don’t live in a Disney fairy tale
Don’t listen to your heart, it is deceitful
We need to listen to the truths of the Bible about the person and work of Jesus
Closing song-
511- Only a Sinner