"19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." Good Morning my beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's day! We're so pleased to have you here with us today. We continue to lift all of you up in our prayers. We respectfully ask that you would pray for this ministry to continue to reach the lost, the broken and the hopeless. And for us. We are so grateful for those of you who have been sharing the ministry website with all of your family and friends. Your faithfulness to share God's Word with others has brought about tremendous results. Where will God's Word be heard today? With your help, and God's blessing, it will reach those that need it most. May God richly bless you for helping spread His Word.
There is less of an interest in the assurance of salvation today, then I have ever seen before in my lifetime. I must confess that I believe that the reason assurance is not an issue is because the preaching is so shallow, so superficial and trivial. The local church has gone from being a house of worship to a religious experience/entertainment center. All you do is pray a little prayer, say you believe in Jesus, and they flock to
surround you and give you psychological assurance that that’s all there is to it! With such shallow exposure to the gospel, it is at best inadequate in bringing them to a true understanding of what is necessary to be saved. They have no comprehension as to the lordship of Christ. They do not understand the pursuit of holiness, the issue of obedience or understand the real depth of repentance. There's no preaching that produces the kind of conviction. There's no truth that produce obedience to God’s commands.
Assurance of love is an essential element in all relationships. Just as it is important for parents to affirm their love for their children, the same is true spiritually. God, wants us, as His children, to be assured of His great love for us. Even though He disciplines us for our good, that we might share His holiness, He does so out of love.
As we compare ourselves with the holy standards of God’s Word, our conscious condemns us. Though in our hearts, we often struggle with anger or bitterness or hatred toward those who have wronged us, we know that we should love others, because God commands it. We know that we are to pray for and bless our enemies, even though most often, we'd rather see them punished. If anyone is condemned by his own conscience, how much more then will he be condemned by God, who knows all things.
Father, as always, we thank You for Your Word for us today. We are so blessed to be reminded of the wonderful truths in Your revelation to us. Help us to understand the breadth and height and length and depths, that we may live with confidence and assurance of our eternal salvation, that we can love You and serve You, honor You and praise You and worship You, that we might fully enjoy the grace of our salvation. May we live boldly and confidently in much assurance that it becomes evident to the watching world, that it may strengthen our testimony to others. So that they too might experience the wonder of salvation. We pray that You would use this message today, mightily, powerfully. May it all be for Your glory and for Christ's sake. In His name we ask and pray
Today's Message: By This We Know
When you come before God you can receive assurance that your love has integrity because it is confirmed by the deeds of a true heart. A Christian who practices love grows in His confidence before God. By loving in deed and in truth we shall attain to the knowledge that we are children of the truth. I believe that is why Satan moves us to quench the Holy Spirit, if he can keep us out of God’s presence , then we will not experience the realization that we are out of God’s will. Because only when we are in God's presence is the fullness of truth of our spiritual condition realized. As we begin our study of God's Word, open with me your Bibles to I John chapter three. Today, as we conclude this wonderful chapter in this very practical epistle, we come to the final six verses, verses 19 through 24. John tells us, that those who are saved have every right to enjoy the reality of assurance. That they have every right to enjoy the confidence that indeed they are saved and are headed for heaven.
Wherever you strong preaching, whenever you raise the standard of holiness, wherever you call the people of God to
obedience to Christ, wherever you call people to a true gospel of
submission to the lordship of Christ, to true repentance from sin, the issue
of assurance always becomes important.
A I was contemplating our text for today, I found myself being drawn, over and over, to the nineteenth verse. Throughout this entire epistle, John has been directing us toward this wonderful truth of assurance. John is writing so that those of us who have fellowship with the Lord may enjoy that fellowship to the fullest.
In fact, in chapter 5, verse 13 he writes "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God in order that you may know that you have eternal life." True salvation is eternal, it's forever. It is irrevocable. John is writing so that we can rise above doubts and fears and the lack of assurance. This is not really a new issue, throughout the history of the church, when preaching was much stronger, this was a very important theme.
In fact, people were actually frightened about the fact that they might not be true Christians. Unlike people today, who do not question the validity of their salvation, because it's validity is attached to a prayer.
If you were to go back to the era of strong preaching of George Whitefield, who was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century. Whitefield refused to soft-pedal his preaching, often
offended people with his bluntness, as well as many established ministers of his time, who refused to allow him to speak in their pulpits. Angry listeners occasionally pelted him with everything from rotten fruit to dead cats, while many other people loved to hear him preach. Crowds by the tens of thousands gathered to hear him preach.
Jonathan Edwards, who was widely regarded as one of America's most important and original philosophical theologians, a key figure during The Great Awakening, preaching was very, very different. Preaching was very strong, preaching was very powerful. It called for obedience, for the abandoning of sin, and for purest and truest kind of repentance. It was a time when people fell under conviction, they repented, and they embraced the gospel.
Edwards, delivering his most famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," in which he literally dangles the sinner over the gaping fires of hell, on July 8, 1741, in Enfield, Connecticut, created quite a commotion, people began wailing, crying, and screeching loudly. Edwards frequently asked the congregation to control themselves so he might finish his sermon. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the result was, entire towns were completely transformed.
In 1746, Edwards wrote his classic, A Treatise on Religious Affections, on the matter of evidence for true conversion, because people were so overwhelmed by the demands of the gospel to repent, to believe, to obey, to submit, to follow Christ, to pursue holiness, they questioned their salvation.
Where there is strong, powerful preaching, sinners will respond. Edwards didn't invent the idea, he simply drew that idea out of all the prior teaching that was faithful to the Word of God. This in contrast to today's teaching, where you can be a believing unbeliever, you can deny the faith, reject
Christ, live in absolute outright sin, have no desire for holiness and
still be considered a Christian.
This is very different than what the Bible teaches, which says if you are saved, you’re going to manifest that you’ve also become involved in a process the Bible calls being sanctified. The pursuit of holiness is the proof of salvation. I believe the issue today is that people don’t know the gospel well enough to be frightened that they might not be really saved.
I now invite you to follow along with me as I again read to you the entire passage to set the text in our minds, while we prepare our hearts for what the Spirit of God has is saying to each of us. Listen for the voice of our Lord. I John 3:19-24.
"We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 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 the things that are pleasing in His sight.
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."
John's purpose of these verses is that a person who is troubled with doubts and self-condemnation must take himself in hand and confront himself with what he knows to be true about God’s work in his life and what is true of God’s greater knowledge of his heart. John's teaching is not shallow. It is not superficial. This is the mark of true salvation. This is a powerful message, one that I believe is much needed in the church today. Verse 19 picks up on verse 18, and flows into verse 20.
Verses 19-20, "We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things."
When we are true Christians, when our salvation is real, we have love for the brothers. We have in our heart, an affection toward them, and a desire to meet their needs, to the point that we are willing to make sacrifices, even to the most extreme levels, on their behalf. And, yet, we fall short, we have sin in our lives. And so, our conscience is activated, to condemn us. This is the result of sound teaching.
Every human being is born with a conscience. It means a self-knowledge, an ability to recognize yourself, it bears witness to what we do and convicts us when our conduct is outside of God's will. And, if you persist in your sin, it indicts you. That is the critical function of the conscience, in every human being. A conscience is God's built in warning system. In other words, what pain is to your physical body, the conscience is to your spiritual soul.
In order to send men to hell, Satan wants to neutralize the conscience. If you give people a low standard of morality, their conscience will react to that lower standard. That is why it is critical that people have a true understanding of morality. The standard that God implants in the heart. A standard that has not been covered up the laws and standards by men and demons to lower the stimulus of the conscience and therefore plunging people into perdition without hesitation.
Our society tells you that you shouldn’t feel guilty, it's not your fault. You are merely a product of what someone else has done. You're the victim. They are literally trying to silence the conscience, and are encouraging people to tell themselves how great they are. Therefore, what we have today is a desensitized conscience, that feels nothing. A moral system that misinforms the conscience.
When you become a true Christian, your conscience was awakened, your conscience was made alive! At some point in your sinful life and mine, God by His mercy and grace awakened us to the His true standard. It was at that point, we cried out to the Lord, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and save me." In our desperation, we were willing to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. It was your conscience that brought you to true repentance. That is the way the conscience was intended to function.
In John 16 Jesus says "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me."
The Holy Spirit was stirring up your conscience, it was accusing you, it was overwhelming you, and you were feeling the weight of sin. God will give you mercy; He will forgive you, your conscience won’t. That's why many people have a problem accepting God forgiveness. The scars of the past remain.
In the phrase "by this," John is identifying the means by which we know that we are of the truth and our hearts are assured. In Christ, we have the confidence to enter into the presence of God. In Christ, we have been given that right. That assurance is a spiritual realty that we should enjoy.
Colossians 2:2 says "that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself."
In Philippians 1:6, Paul says "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
And in II Timothy 4:18, he tells us "The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
We can be confident we can come boldly to the throne of mercy for help in time of need. God does not expect you to go through your life, wondering and worrying whether or not you belong to Him. God intended to give salvation to sinners, whom He chose before the foundation of the world, and that is exactly what He is doing. The completed work of Christ is sufficient to hold you. The Holy Spirit is your guarantee of eternal life. He is the "arrabōn," the down payment.
Wherever demanding preaching and teaching forces people to acknowledge a high and holy standard, it can lead to a lack of assurance in disobedient and sinning Christians. That's why II Corinthians 13:5, says, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?"
Preaching today is neither strong or convicting! It does not call us to a higher holy standard. Preaching today lacks clear definition of faith, obedience and repentance. It lacks submitting to the lordship of Christ. Preachers today want to make it as easy and comfortable for anyone and everyone to become a Christian, without the mention of sin, repentance or eternal damnation. Jesus is Savior, with no true confession of Jesus as Lord to the degree of self-denial and self-sacrifice and self-submission.
The Law of God knows nothing of forgiveness. The Law is a standard which holds you to it, and sentences you to death for every violation. Your conscience knows nothing of forgiveness. Not only does conscience relentlessly hammer without forgiveness, one can often feel too evil to be saved. The heart of the gospel that when your conscience has damned you and the Law of God has damned you, Jesus Christ graciously redeems you!
Verse 20, "in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things." If we let the conscience do it's job, it will drive us to Jesus Christ! The saving work of Jesus Christ. Because your sins are paid for in Christ, God will remove them as far as the east is from the west. Once you have confessed your sin, turned from it and left it behind, it is forgiven. No Christian should treat sin lightly. Once our heart has been honestly adjusted by the Holy Spirit and the Word, we will have confidence toward God. When our hearts are confident, we will enjoy the blessings of assurance.
Verses 21-22, "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 the things that are pleasing in His sight."
God knows the absolute worst about me, and He does not condemn me. Therefore, no one can condemn us because God has justified us. Encompassed in that knowledge is the knowledge that down beneath the sin
are the holy affections that manifest the changed nature. That's why Romans 8:1-2, says "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
However, I want to stress it again, that doesn't mean that we should take sin lightly. Sin is a very serious issue with God. In fact, He hates it. If our heart is no longer condemning us, we’ve confessed those sins. Once when we get past that condemnation, we are to walk in obedience. Obedience is the evidence of a changed heart, a transformed life. And, you know that you are a true Christian, because you have a holy affection for God Himself and you have a holy affection for other believers. It is an affection that s driven by God's grace.
There is also the desire for holy obedience. I won't belabor this, because you already know it. In John 14:15, Jesus said "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Its about obedience. True believers are known by their obedience. Jesus makes that very clear. You, being motivated to please Him, you obey His Word. You’re consumed with doing what He wants you to do. This is how true Christians are, they desire to please God. To say someone is a Christian, who is disobedient, is to contradict everything that’s in God's Word.
Verse 23, "This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us." This is another guarantee that I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ. You cannot be a Christian because you once believed in Jesus Christ. That makes salvation a human act, which it is not. If you are a true Christian, you have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.You never cease to believe in Christ. You are a Christian when you believe in Jesus Christ in all that He is, Who He was, why He came, and what He did.
In verse 24, we have another affirmation that we are a Christian. "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." John is saying the same phrase as he used in verse 19, "We know by this," God abides in us. He abides in us and we abide in Him. If you have been a Christian for very long, you have seen the power of the Spirit of God expressed in your life. No man calls Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit has become your Teacher, the Word of God has come alive to you. If you have prayed and the Spirit has energized those prayers and prayers have been answered. When we abide in Christ we grow into His likeness.
When you have love for other Christians, gratitude toward God, boldness in prayer,
obedience and a desire to please Him, faith in Jesus Christ, and the
internal ministry of the Holy Spirit, by this we know we are of the truth. If your trust is in Christ, God has promised you eternal life and He
has promised never to allow you to be snatched out of His hand.
In Closing..
As we close, you need to understand, that if there is no obedience to God, there is no true knowledge of Him. There is no genuine union with Him. Assurance is the blessed reward of faith that has been tested and verified.
If you have not yet truly come into His presence and allow God’s presence to permeate your being, you soul, your consciousness. Won't you let His love cause you to receive the help you need to put your personal life in order. While you are in His presence let Him minister to you and speak truth to you.
You'll be glad you did.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2021 All Rights Reserved
