Be Encouraged; Live For God Series

Be encouraged; Live for God

1 John Bible Study, Part 13

1 John 5:13-21

Introduction

- If you accept God’s testimony and believe on it for yourself (v9)

-- You have internal assurance of what God has done and consider it true

-- You cannot believe something without knowing and accepting it as fact

-- Therefore, your belief gives you comfort and assurance of God’s word (v10)

- APP: If you reject what someone is telling you, you would say they lied

-- Therefore, if you reject God’s testimony; you are calling God a liar (v10)

-- John is straight to the point in this … and we must be as well

- The testimony of God is simple:

• God has given us eternal life

• This life is in his Son.

- Whoever has the Son has life;

- Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

- John does a great job at re-affirming for us some basic covenants of the faith

-- It is what we finish with tonight, and finishes this letter with … two great points

- Read 1 John 5:13-21 / Pray

∆ Point 1 – Believers have eternal life

- John’s writes this letter for the same reason that he wrote his Gospel

-- So that those who read it, and believe, may know what He knows

-- APP: That if we believe on Christ, we shall eternal life with Him

- Re: the Gospel was written for one purpose: to evangelize

-- To show lost people how to not be and how to have eternal life with Christ

-- The Gospel reveals who the Messiah is, and what we need to do to know Him

- This epistle is to encourage them that they may know they have eternal life

-- It is the “part 2” of John … it’s the “what’s next?” being addressed for us

- In v14 we are reminded (ref Ch. 3) that prayer allows us to come before God

-- Our confidence in prayer is because we are confident in Who our faith is in

-- Re: Prayer has always been, and will always be, God’s thing …

- Warning: Praying for people is a gift, a pleasure, a good thing to do

-- But we cannot treat it flippantly or think that we can misuse it

-- Ex: Someone asks for prayer, you say you will, and then do not

-- In saying you will, what God hears is: “My child will spend time with me”

-- When we don’t, we break the appointment with God (and we lie about praying)

- Therefore, when we come boldly to God in prayer; it’s because we know Him

-- We know that He will provide wisdom and answer; so we go to His will

- When we ask in prayer, we ask in God’s will, and not our own

-- Natural question that gets asked: How do we know the will of God?

• Sometimes scripture makes it really clear for us (ex: don’t sin)

• Sometimes spiritual maturity and discernment guide our prayers

• It requires asking ourselves what would God do in this area

• The will of God will ALWAYS line up and honor scripture

- IMP: Prayer must not be viewed as an attempt to get God to get on our boat

-- This is why v15 is so driving: “we know that we have what we asked of him”

-- We are given what we’ve asked for, as long as it lines up with His will for us

- Most don’t like this – most will argue that God’s “wait” really means “no”

-- But … consider this: looking back on your life, all the prayers you’ve said:

-- Are there unanswered prayers that you are grateful for? Why?

-- Because it is not what you really needed; and He knew it better than you!

- God’s will for us is not our greed or our success … but our wanting of Him

-- It is what should drive us to want more of Him (ref John 3:30)

-- APP: It’s why we can boldly come to Him … b/c He knows

- TRANS: Therefore, if He knows us, then He ought to direct how we should live

∆ Point 2 – God’s Children do not continue to Sin

1) We should pray for a brother who commits sin that does not lead to death;

2) But, not pray for a brother who commits sin that does lead to death?

- Anyone else confused here?

- Let’s see if we can’t unpack this together …

- First question is: What sin will lead to death?

-- There are several possibilities given by scholars and wise-men alike

1) A particularly bad sin that God will not pardon