BE ASSURED!
Series: ILLUMINATE — Message #5
Featuring: Lori Hill- Speaker
1 John 5:13-15; 18-21
Well, have you enjoyed this series in I John? I know that I have! I hope that you have been studying and meditating on the truths of this book at home each week, and that it causes you to grow and mature in your faith.
The themes of I John – the love of God, being a child of God, and living in the light of God — these themes can be deeply transformative if we allow the truth of God’s word to take root in our lives. Because, we can know what’s true, and what’s true can give us the assurance we need to live for God even when it’s hard.
And, today we’re going to look at four assurances that we’ve been given — but only for those who trust in Christ!
These are four assurances that only believers in Jesus can celebrate and proclaim. Six times John will say in this chapter we know. I went through my Bible and highlighted each time it says we know in this passage and I encourage you to go back and do the same because it is worth remembering. We know– in other words John is saying you can be CERTAIN of this… you can take it to the bank! And in those moments where John says we know, he will declare four key things that we can be certain of today.
These include the assurance of eternal life, answered prayer, a glorious future, and divine victory.
MESSAGE:
Listen, this is a broad chapter. There’s a lot here. John not only recaps other themes from the earlier chapters — but he also hits on things he didn’t take time to address. As John closes this letter he offers us several important points of assurance.
And, if you’ll allow me — I’d like to take a few minutes to hit on four of them…four things that God wants you to know for sure!
And the first is this:
- YOU CAN BE CERTAIN YOU HAVE THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE.
You know on mornings like this when we are dealing with the pain of some very precious ladies of our church passing from this life to the next, the importance of knowing you have eternal life through Jesus Christ becomes very real to us! They both knew they had the promise of eternal life living inside of them and this morning they are healthy and whole- celebrating in the presence of God! Yes , these ladies were given the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and if you are a believer this morning you too can be certain you have the promise of eternal life!
In 1 John 5:13, John writes:
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13 (NIV)
Here John writes to assure us that our salvation is real. He writes to settle our doubts and help us to continue to trust in Christ — despite the challenges and struggles we might face.
Because doubt will rear its ugly head from time to time in various forms…
Sometimes it comes when life gets hard and trials come our way. We wonder why such things could happen if we are trying to serve the Lord. Surely, if we are children of God then we would not go through suffering.
Or, we struggle with temptation and think if we were truly a child of God then the temptation would not be so inviting to us.
Another kind of doubt can come when we compare ourselves to others. We look at other believers and put expectations on ourselves that we should be living just like them. And while having mature believers in our lives and the benefit of their experience and example is beneficial and a blessing, we can begin to doubt our faith when we fall short. It becomes a burden and creates an opening for doubt to occur.
Let me suggest to you today that doubt can happen any time we shift our focus to anything other than Jesus. The book of Hebrews tells us that we should look to Jesus because He is the author and the finisher of our faith.
While doubt may come from many sources, John tells us that our assurance comes from one single person — and that’s Jesus. The cross of Christ and its effects on our lives has saved us from sin and set us free.
So, the lesson for us today is to reject the tendency to look to anything or anyone in this life for our salvation, and always look to Jesus. We can know that God’s promise of eternal life is certain. It comes through Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the LIFE. The more we look to Him, the more we will find confidence and assurance of our salvation.
So, you can be certain that you have eternal life. Secondly,
2. YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT GOD HEARS YOUR PRAYERS.
In verse 14-15, John writes:
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)
Have you ever had one of those cell phone conversations, where you’re talking to someone…you have been talking for awhile and you think, wow…they are really good listeners.
And so, you keep talking…but after a few minutes — you realize they haven’t responded at all (to anything you’ve said). And so, you question them — and ask, “Are you there.” And they don’t respond at all. And then you realize, you’ve lost signal and dropped the call.
Isn’t that frustrating?
That happens quite often to me when my husband is hunting. When he’s in the woods — I can rarely get a hold of him. Or maybe, he’s just ignoring my calls so I don’t disturb his focus. Hum…
Well, there’s really nothing worse than talking and talking and not knowing if what you’re saying is even getting through to the other side.
And if I’m honest, there are times when I have felt like that with God. Times when I have been talking to Him, but not sure if He’s been listening to me — or maybe worse, I wonder if He cares about what I have to say.
Well, that’s what John is getting at here. And in verse 14 he says we can know- we can be sure — God is listening!
More than that, he says — if you have a request- make it…because God will supply your need. And John is not the only one who says this. Paul mentions this in
Philippians 4:19 it says And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
God is so for you. That’s the point my husband was making last week. Because of God’s great love (which has been extended to you) — you can be sure that God is for you.
Now, I don’t know why all of our prayers aren’t answered the way that we think they should be answered. That is a subject of an entire series of messages all in itself right there! There is, however, a key phrase in his passage that cannot be ignored. We should pray and ask- HOW?
According to His will.
This phrase reminds me of my precious mother in law! She is an amazing woman of God who I love and respect dearly! And believe me when I say that she is a prayer warrior! She knows how to intercede about a person or need! When the Hill family is serious about needing an answer from God, we go to Mama and ask her to pray! She always so graciously agrees to lift up our need in prayer, but she is very quick to remind us that it will be done IF IT IS THE LORD’S WILL! Which is often met with a series of moans from us!!!
Clearly, there are times that my will needs to be aligned with His will! It is in those moments that my prayer needs to include the words that Jesus spoke to the Father on the night He was betrayed- yet not my will, but your will be done.
No, I cannot explain why things are not always answered the ways that we want, but I can assure you that God hears us and knows exactly what is best for us. He can be trusted. We can come boldly and confidently in prayer!
Next…
3. YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT YOUR FUTURE WON’T LOOK LIKE YOUR PAST.
The more we look upon Him, the more we’ll see our lives changed in His likeness.
Again, John wants to bring a sense of peace in the midst of turmoil to us. He wants to remove any fear that God doesn’t love you, or that His love is contingent upon your performance. And so, he says in verse 18,
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
1 John 5:18 (NIV)
What does this mean?
It’s fairly simple — but we often make it complicated.
If you are like me, and have a tendency to be a perfectionist, this passage is trippy! Because if we had a mass confession of believers in Christ today, how many would be able to say that they have not sinned since coming to faith? NONE!
Folks, I am a rule follower! And I strive to do the right thing! I am a perfectionist, but I am FAR from perfect! I fall way short! When I was a young person, I often struggled with the fact that I still made mistakes! I still would sin! And I was afraid- often terrified that I would sin, and then suddenly die and go to hell! It wasn’t until I understood what passages like this one really meant that I began to have peace and confidence.
So let’s dive in deeper today so that all of us who are believers can have that same peace and confidence!
Stick with me here- the Greek word used for sin in this passage is hamartanei. It is important to note that hamartanei is the present tense for sin. Why is this important you ask? I’m so glad that you asked! It is important because this implies that the one who is born of God will not make a practice to keep on sinning. They are not going to habitually commit sins without any concern for their consequences or the fact that it goes against the heart of the God who loves us and gave His life for us. The one who is born of God, the one who is in Christ has been changed.
2 Corinthian 5:17 says
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
No, the one who is born of God is a new creation and it is no longer our nature to make a practice of sinning! The Spirit of God that now resides in us teaches us how to live our lives to please God. The old is gone and the new has come!
It’s not that you won’t ever sin. And it most certainly is not that you will never be tempted to sin! But while sin and selfishness may have been your past — it will not be your future.
You see, confidence in your salvation in Christ will always lead to conviction in how you live for him.
John is saying that God’s love will prevail within in you — and as it does, your life will begin to reflect His.
Moreover, God will watch over you and protect you from the deceiver.
So, it’s not what Satan says about you that matters — it’s what God says about you that matters.
If you are born of God, then Jesus himself keeps you safe and the evil one cannot harm you. He cannot defeat you. He will not destroy you.
Oh he will try — but he’s a defeated foe.
To this point, John adds:
4. YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT VICTORY IS YOURS IN CHRIST!
You can be certain that victory is yours — even now, while the battle rages on.
What I’m saying is — while life can be challenging and our enemy real, even so — in Christ we are victors!
Here’s how John put it in verse 19. He said,
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:19-20 (NIV)
Earlier this month we celebrated Veterans Day. And as we celebrated our nations heroes — there is one group of soldiers that stand out in my mind for their great bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. And that is the soldiers who fought in WWII.
While their battles took place long before my day — I am grateful for their efforts.
WWII is often referred to as “Hitler’s war.” As you might recall, Hitler was a ruthless man. And his war was demeaning and dirty.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy and began the liberation of the western front of Europe from Nazi control. Some 1,000 ships — the largest armada ever to set sail — carried some 200,000 soldiers across the English Channel to France where they stormed the beaches of Normandy.
That day was a significant day for the Allies — because it was the beginning of a massive (joint) military stand against the Germany’s totalitarian dictatorship. In time, the Allies would defeat their enemy.
It wasn’t until 11 months later on May 8, 1945, on what would come to be known as VE day – that Hitler and Germany unconditionally surrendered.
The difference between D-Day and VE-Day was just a matter of time. And for this reason many have concluded that the war was really decided 11 months earlier, on June 6, 1944.
But that wasn’t the perspective of our soldiers on the ground, fighting in the trenches.
From their perspective — things were tough. They were still dodging bullets and avoiding bombs. They were still experiencing the painful assault of their enemy and bandaging real wounds. In fact, there were still challenging setbacks — and difficult moments to face. Because, the soldiers were living in what we might call the “IN-BETWEEN”.
Yet, from the perspective of those calling the shots, they knew victory was in sight. There were still battles that needed to be fought — but VICTORY was within reach!
And, I share that with you — because, in much the same way — we live in the in-between. Victory is ours. We are from God. But we’re still very much in the battle. John reminds us that we can know — even as we struggle — that victory is ours. Don’t let the bullets and bombs fool you. This world is under the power of the evil one, but just for a little while longer.
If you are a child of God, it’s just a matter of time before complete victory in Jesus Christ is yours.
CONCLUSION:
We can know what’s true, and what’s true can give us the assurance we need to live for God even when it’s hard.
You don’t just have an IOU from God; or some questionable unbacked or bad check. In Christ, you have been given a Certified Check. It’s good. It’s backed. And it’s dependable.
In Christ, you have been given all the assurance you will ever need — both in this life and for the one to come.
So believer, stand in faith today. And, be assured!