A True Christians Love.

Introduction: The love that Christ has shown to us and continues to show us, is a love that constrains my heart to say, ‘Lord, I give my life to you, I want to serve you and demonstrate your love to those around me.’

       The truest of love is not in “word or in tongue” but in “deed and in truth.”  True Christian love doesn’t just talk about it, but does something.  James says it well:

Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone.  Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?  So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless (James 2:14-17)

People with dead faith substitute words for deeds. They know the correct vocabulary for prayer and testimony, and can even quote the right verses from the Bible; but their walk does not measure up to their talk. They think that their words are as good as works, and they are wrong.

       Even in the early church there were those who claimed they had saving faith, yet did not possess salvation. Wherever there is the true, you will find the counterfeit. Jesus warned,

Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)

Food and clothing are basic needs of every human being, whether he is saved or unsaved.  As believers, we have an obligation to help meet the needs of people, no matter who they may be.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10 NKJV)

And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me.' (Matthew 25:40 NKJV)

In theses last verses of chapter 3, John brings up a hindrance to our enjoyment of the love of God, and accusing heart.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 NKJV)

Why is it that many Christians do not enjoy the peace of God, and therefore do not enjoy the love of God?  I believe it is that they have a “condemning heart”.

Assurance (v.19-21).   

Knowing That We Are Of The Truth (v.19)

a)        Our Relationship With Other Affects Our Relationship With God.

1)        We Know Love Because Jesus Laid Down His Life For Us (v.16)

Laying Down Our Lives For The Brethren Is To Be Our Response (v.16).  A Christian who practices love grows in his understanding of God’s truth and enjoys a heart filled with confidence before God.  And we practice this love by:

1.         Meeting the needs of others (v.17)

2.         Loving in deed and in truth (v.18)

3.         Doing these things will give us assurance that “we are of the truth (v.19)

2)        Assure means to persuade, soothe, and tranquilize.  This is the condition of heart that God wants every believer to have.  It is not good for Christians to go through life never sure of where they stand with God. 

A Condemning Heart (v.20)

a)        A “Condemning Heart” Is One That Robs A Believer Of Peace.    

1)        An “Accusing Conscience” Is Another Way To Describe It.

We may feel condemned because we may not have adequately responded to the need of a brother (v.17).

1.         Our hearts can sometimes accuse us wrongly (Jer.17:9).

2.         Satan wants to steal our peace when we fail God (John 10:10).

3.         Many Christians have accused themselves falsely or been harder on them than necessary.

Condemnation can well up inside us that has nothing to do with our standing before God. It may be the work of:

q         the enemy of our souls (who, according to Revelation 12:10 accuses the brethren), or

q         the work of an over-active conscience. At those times, we trust in what God’s Word says about our standing, not how we feel about it.

The Apostle Peter wept bitterly after he had denied his Lord, and no doubt he was filled with remorse and repentance for his sin. But Jesus knew that Peter had repented, and after His resurrection the Lord sent a special message (Mark 16:7) to Peter that must have assured that he was forgiven. Peter’s heart may have condemned him, for he knew he had denied the Lord three times, but God was greater than his heart. Jesus, knowing all things, gave Peter just the assurance he needed.  Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” Series NT

Note: This Does Not Mean That We Should Ever Treat Sin Lightly (Romans 6:1), or Ignore Our Conscience.

       But We Also Should Never Be Harder On Ourselves Than God Is.   Because once we have confessed our sin & have put it under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are then to:

q        Turn our attention from the greatness of our sin and failure to the greatness of the mercy and love of God. 

q        God is merciful toward us in spite of our sins. 

q        God saved me, not because I was some good person, but because I am a sinner & He is a God of mercy and Grace.

q        Remember, the first cure for and accusing heart is the Mercy of God (Psalm 103:10-12)

A Confident Heart (v.21)

a)        Doing God’s Will Can Keep Our Heart Blameless God.

In demonstrating God’s love by meeting the needs of other people, then we have confidence toward God because we know we have been doing God’s will.

If someone is in true fellowship with God - not deceiving themselves, as mentioned in 1 John 1:6 - then the assurance that comes to their heart while fellowshipping with God is a precious thing. It is what Paul spoke about in Romans 8:16 - The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

11 Answered Prayer (v.22)

The Blessing of Answered Prayer (v.22a)

               Love for the brethren produces confidence toward God, and confidence toward God gives you boldness in asking for what you need.  This does not mean that you earn answers to prayer by loving the brethren. Rather, it means that your love for the brethren proves that you are living in the will of God where God can answer your prayer.

a)        Whatever we ask we receive from Him!

This is like God giving you a blank check and telling you to fill out the amount you need.  But remember the resources to fulfill that blank check comes from God’s account, & in His account is a endless amount of His will.

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV)

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22)

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:24 NKJV)

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.   For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.   "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?   "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?   "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:9-13 NKJV)

The Basis of Our Asking (v.22b)

a)        Keeping His Commandments.

1)        This Indicates A Lifestyle of Obedience (1 John 2:3-5; 3:24; 5:3)

These verses do not, of course, give us all the conditions for answered prayer, but they emphasize the importance of obedience.

(a)      One Great Secret Of Answered Prayer Is Obedience, And The Secret Of Obedience Is Love.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15 NKJV)

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:7 NKJV)

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:10 NKJV)

(b)      Love is the fulfilling of God’s Law (Rom. 13:8-10); therefore, when you love the brethren, you are obeying His commandments and He is able to answer your requests (1Jn.5:14-15)

1.         It is possible, of course, to keep God’s commandments in a spirit of fear or servitude rather than in a spirit of love.

2.         A believer should keep His Father’s commandments because this pleases Him.

3.         Psalm 37:4 – A Christian who lives to please God will discover that God finds ways to please His child. When our delight is in the love of God, our desires will be in the will of God.

If we make the Lord God, His Word & Kingdom the object of our affection (Colossians 3:2), our meditation (Psalm 1:2) and our actions (Colossians 1:10), then we will find ourselves delighting in the Lord.

Living Close To God Enables Us To Do What Pleases Him (v.22)

a)        Jesus Had A Close Relationship With The Father.

1)        He Knew What Would Please The Father.    

The closer we are to God, the more likely we are to ask of Him what He wants accomplished instead of any selfish or pleasurable desires.  In John 8:29 the Lord Jesus says this:

And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." (John 8:29 NKJV)

Not only do we request of God what He is ready to give us when we are close to Him, but we also habitually do & practice those things which are dear or well-pleasing to Him. 

1.         In this passage it implies that we are so close to the Lord that we habitually practice what pleases Him, not as a result of His claims upon our lives but as a result of His love in our hearts.

If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." (Exodus 15:26 NKJV)

And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers, (Deuteronomy 6:18 NKJV)

Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (Isaiah 38:3 NKJV)

Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. (Acts 6:2 NKJV)

Daniel’s Prayer (Daniel 9:1-21)

               (v.1-2) – In Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah was prophesying the captivity and they are being taken into Babylon. Verses 11 and 12 read,  `And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.   `Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the LORD; `and I will make it a perpetual desolation. (Jeremiah 25:11-12 NKJV)

               In Jeremiah 29:10 we read, For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.   For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.   Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.   And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.   I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. (Jeremiah 29:10-14 NKJV)

               So, here in the prophecies of Daniel, the Lord declares that the time of captivity in Babylon would be seventy years. Now, Daniel was carried away captive in the year 607 B.C. And, he knew that the seventy years that the Lord had prophesied was just about over. So, he is seeking the Lord just as the prophet Jeremiah said, “Then you shall seek me and you shall find me when you seek for me with all your heart.” So, Daniel is seeking the Lord. And I believe that it is really sort of a presenting himself to God knowing that God had placed him in a very strategic position.

       1.    God has placed us in a very strategic position today (Matthew 16:1-3 discern the signs of the times)

       2.    We have warnings from the Lord to be ready for His coming (Luke 21:34-36)

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.   "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.   "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:34-36 NKJV)

       3.   Daniel 9:1-21 cf. Luke 12:13-21