Comfort for the Believer

1 John 3:19–24 NKJV

And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Prayer

Last week we looked at John’s plea for us love one another as Christ has loved us.

This is NOT love with just our words.

But to love with truth and deed.

There was a heavy dose of implication last week, because Christ laid down His life, we should lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 3:18 NKJV

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

John is saying that to love with word and tongue is to say that you love someone with no action.

And we saw last week that the Lord Jesus Himself is our perfect example of someone who loves in deed and truth.

John has been talking to us about the different tests of how we can know that we are Christians.

The test of righteousness vs. unrighteousness or love vs. hate…

Again, John will stop his train of thought and adds a parenthesis of thought.

Mary came to faith at a young age.

She has been a part of the church for as long as she can remember.

Mary began struggling with depression while her children were little.

It has been years since this started and now she explains that she can no longer read the Bible for comfort or encouragement.

Every time she opens the Scriptures she is confirmed with how much of a failure she is.

What is going on with Mary?

Or maybe Sally, who came to faith later in life.

She has grown so much in her faith but is also dealing with depression.

Her criteria for success was a home in perfect order and two perfectly behaving young children.

Her inability to meet these standards caused her to be hyper-critical of herself and her family.

This in turn alienated her from her husband and children.

Which created additional problems and reinforced her feelings of being an inadequate wife and mother.

What is going on with Sally?

Or maybe Steve, who came to faith at a young age.

He committed a sin as a teenager that he just can’t move past, and this has been happening for over 60 years.

From a theological standpoint he knew he was forgiven, because he had confessed the sin numerous times to God.

Despite his affirmations regarding God’s forgiveness, he still was not free from self-condemnation, even after 60 years.

Are these stories rare?

Are they uncommon?

I would argue, that they’re not uncommon.

But let’s take it a layer deeper…

What do you think these three individual’s prayer life would be like?

Do you think they would pray confidently?

The answer is no.

And thankfully God’s Word gives us adequate information for them.

Since God is greater than our hearts and knows all things, we should comfort our condemning consciences.

As we seek this comfort, we will have confidence before Him, and we will experience joy-filled prayer.

1 John 3:19 NKJV

And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

Or better, “by this we will know…”

And we “shall assure our hearts”

John is extending two things which are future oriented.

This first is that we will know we are of the truth.

He is setting up for us the fact that we will likely struggle with what we’re going to talk about today.

And second, that when this comes, we will be assured.

Comfort for the Condemned Conscience

The heart refers to the center of a person’s life.

It is the source of a person’s thoughts, choices, and behaviors.

Now in several translations, they substitute the word conscience for heart.

1 John 3:19 NET 2nd ed.

And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in his presence,

You could just as easily keep the word heart there.

What is a conscience?

The conscience can be best defined as the internal mechanism in us that orients us toward right and wrong.

This mechanism has been given to all people everywhere.

It is part of what makes us rational beings.

And everyone, believer and unbeliever have a conscience.

“First. It is a witness, testifying to what we have done in thought, or word, or action.

Secondly. It is a judge, passing sentence on what we have done, that it is good or evil.

And, thirdly, it, in some sort, executes the sentence, by producing a degree of pride in him that does well, and a degree of uneasiness in him that does evil.”

That’s a bulky definition, but I think it is helpful in considering three main aspects of conscience.

Testifying to what has been done.

Passing sentence on what has been done.

Finally, executing the sentence in uneasiness or calmness.

The human conscience judges, guides, and governs our inner sense of morality.

One author compared the conscience to a thermostat...

A thermostat is a mechanism that measures and regulates temperature.

In the same way a thermostat operates, the conscience measures and regulates us.

When a person becomes a believer, their conscience begins being trained by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Whereas an unbeliever’s conscience is described in other places as being seared or burnt with the red-hot iron of sin.

A conscience, which everyone has, is a GOOD thing.

But like a thermostat, it regulates and measures the room.

But what happens when the thermostat or the conscience malfunctions?

It is someone who’s conscience is malfunctioning that John has in mind here.

Their thermostat is telling them the room is on fire when it is actually quite comfortable.

This shouldn’t surprise us either, because of what we see from the rest of Scripture.

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Listen to the way that Jeremiah even describes the heart of man, deceitful, desperately sick.

Jeremiah even asks, “Who can understand the heart?”

The kind of person John is writing to here..

“Do I really love my brothers and sister? Do I love them sufficiently?”

This person may even remember the unloving acts he has had toward someone else.

Condemned Conscience

“Assaulted Heart”

What I DON’T mean by condemned conscience?

Sinning Against the Conscience

When we talk about a person’s conscience condemning them, we DON’T mean a person actually sinning against their conscience.

We DON’T mean a person who is willfully sinning.

We DON’T mean someone who has unconfessed sin or ongoing unbelief.

When a Christian sins, the Holy Spirit and their conscience is what alerts them to it.

It is GOOD that our conscience alerts us to areas of sin.

But THIS is NOT what John has in mind here.

What I DO mean by condemned conscience?

What John is setting up here is the concept of a conscience that is hyper-sensitive.

How do you know if you have a hyper-sensitive conscience?

The Journal of Biblical Counseling: Volume 19, Number 1, Fall 2000 The Curse of Condemnation

• You have to ask forgiveness over and over for a sin you no longer commit.

• You ruminate about past mistakes and failures in your life.

• You seldom feel acceptable to or accepted by God.

• You get down on yourself for small errors or normal human failures.

• You have vague feelings of guilt, but you are not really sure why.

1 John 3:19–20 (ESV)

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;

for whenever our heart condemns us,

John is speaking to someone who feels guilty before God and is unable to come to Him.

Their perceived guilt of a past actions are causing them to avoid the Lord.

Their sense of their weakness causes them to shy away from approaching the Lord.

A conscience that continues to condemn a person and tell them that they cannot draw near to God.

Because we live under the effects of the fall, our conscience may condemn us when we are not guilty of overt sin.

This may happen when a person does too much self-examination and are terrified by what they see.

It happens when he considers his life and his only conclusion is he falls short.

Do you remember Sally at the beginning?

She is struggling with depression.

But she has expectations for herself, for her family, and for her children which are extra-biblical.

What does she need to hear to liberate her from her depression?

Setting Our Hearts at Rest

“Reassuring Our Hearts”

1 John 3:19–20 ESV

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

You may wonder, how is it of comfort to know that God knows all things?

God knows all things and He sees and understand my own brokenness and weakness.

You may think that’s the reason for the distress.

God knows all of your failures.

God knows all that you have ever thought.

God knows all that you have ever done.

God knows it all.

1 John 3:19–20 ESV

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

From Inward to Upward

“Eyes off of Self”

Think about it like this, in a moment where our heart condemns us, all we see is ourselves.

Self-Examination

All we see is our failures and shortcomings.

“It is easy to become so tense about our failures, to be so hard on ourselves for not doing better, and so miserable about our state, that we lose the sunshine of God’s love.”

Think about Steve from the beginning.

He committed a sin as a teenager that he just can’t move past, and this has been happening for over 60 years.

He says things like, “What am I going to do with my guilty feelings? I can’t help them.”

But notice what John says in verse 20..

1 John 3:20 ESV

for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

It’s NOT that He knows that you’re trying hard enough.

It’s NOT that He sees all your effort and will reward you.

It’s NOT that He understands you’ll do better next time.

The focus here is NOT on your successes.

What is happening in Steve’s heart?

In his heart, he is treating something greater than God.

He is treating some event as more superior to God.

In real time it sounds like, “I know God forgives me, but I just can’t forgive myself”

In that moment, there is some other god that you’re serving and it can’t forgive you.

The Journal of Biblical Counseling: Volume 19, Number 1, Fall 2000 Observations

the hypersensitive conscience has made the standards of Christian righteousness higher or different than the standards that the Bible itself sets. It is as if rules, rituals, and requirements take greater precedence than a right relationship with God and with people.

Whether its the “god of self”

The god of moral uprightness.

The god of your career,

The god of your own self-image.

1 John 3:20 ESV

for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Focusing Upward

The focus is on GOD!

The focus is on the greatness of God as compared to you.

God’s love is greater than THE THINGS WE THINK ABOUT OURSELVES!

God’s love is greater than OUR FEELINGS ABOUT OURSELVES!

God’s love is greater than HUMAN FRAILTY

God’s love is greater than ANY (LOWER CASE ‘g’ god)

The comfort in these verse is that God knows us better than we actually know ourselves.

God knows us better than we could ever possibly try to know ourselves.

And yet He has redeemed us!

He sees all that we are, and yet has sent the Lord Jesus!

He see all that we are, and yet dies in our place!

He see all that we are, and chooses to dwell in His children!

Jeremiah 17:9–10 NKJV

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

It is this knowledge of God that should reassure our hearts.

It’s this knowledge that His judgment alone is trustworthy.

It’s the knowledge that our judgments are utterly faulty.

So Christian, I have no clue where you’re at today.

Maybe you’re in a good place today, and that’s great.

But maybe you’re here today and your heart is condemning you.

And if it is, know this: God is greater than your heart.

Romans 8:31–34 ESV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

When our confidence is no longer found in our experience, we can find our confidence in Christ.

Now John turns and considers the heart that has confidence toward God...

1 John 3:21 NKJV

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

Benefits for the Confident

John now lays out several benefits for the person who has confidence before God.

Confidence before God

“Access to God”

The confidence that a believer has before God is the fruit of their right standing before Him.

We don’t stand on our own merit, but we stand upon the rock of Christ.

The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary Access to God

“the boldness with which the son appears before the Father, and not that with which the accused appears before the Judge.”

When we say that a person has confidence before God, we are saying that they have a kind of freedom of speech before Him.

Now we’re American’s, and we are used to freedom of speech.

But the kind of freedom of speech here is a freedom of speech that is unhampered.

There is no doubt or reservation.

No fear or shame to speak our minds.

The writer to the Hebrews says it like this…

Hebrews 4:14 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

When our hearts no longer condemn us, we are holding fast to our confession.

Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The confidence that we bear before the courtroom of heaven is the basis of the sacrifice of Christ.

Our confidence in coming near is pleaded like we saw in chapter 2 from the blood of Jesus.

The Example of Peter

I can only imagine after Peter saw the risen Lord, he must have experience great joy.

But in the back of his mind, there must have been some level of shame.

Some level of guilt for the way he denied him.

He remembered saying three different times that he never even knew him.

John 21:15–16 NKJV

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

Jesus asks him not once, not twice, but three times the same question.

“Do you love me?”

As a way to restore him.

And listen to what Peter’s final reply to the Lord was…

John 21:17 ESV

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

But John goes on...

1 John 3:21–22 ESV

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

Renewed Prayer

“Whatever We Ask”

John’s point here is that if we are living in obedience and are doing what is pleasing Him, then our prayers will be a reflection of His will.

Our prayers will be an extension of His desires.

We will not pray for vain things, because we understand His desires.

So if we have bold assurance before God, then we will ask boldly.

The asking alone does not make it bold.

What happens to our prayer life if we are walking in disobedience?

Hampered Prayer

Now I want you to notice at least one instance in Scripture of what happens to our prayer lives if we are walking in disobedience.

1 Peter 3:7 ESV

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

The purpose that Peter gives for living with our wives in an understanding way and showing honor to our wives.

Is that our prayers may not be hindered.

Implication for Husbands

When we are unloving toward our wives, when we refuse to show honor to them, our prayer lives suffer.

Now I would argue that 1 John is picking up this same idea that Peter is directly applying to husbands, and he is applying to the church.

If we are living in a way that is displeasing to our Lord, our prayer life will be hindered.

1 John 3:22–23 ESV

and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

Expectant Prayer

We should never imagine that our little prayer requests are ever insignificant.

James 5:16 (ESV)

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

There are no prayer uttered in faith in the kingdom of God that is insignificant.

When we believe in the name of the Son of God and love one another, we can expect with great anticipation our prayers to be answered.

Since God is greater than our hearts and knows all things, we should comfort our condemning consciences.

As we seek this comfort, we will have confidence before Him, and we will experience joy-filled prayer.