TEXT: 1st John 5:1-15
TITLE: I write these things…THAT YOU MAY KNOW!
SERIES: Letters from John
TOPIC: Assurance
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, March 6, 2011
PROP.: #12 in the series of Letters from John, John writes to us THAT WE MAY KNOW and be certain of three things: 1. That we are overcomers….2. That our prayers are hears….3. That we have salvation!
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! Our text this morning is 1st John 5. This is the LAST message in our series - Letters from John. This makes #12!
(REVIEW OF JOHN’S LETTERS)
So now we come to John’s conclusion. Let’s read our text this morning…
1 John 5
Faith in the Son of God
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Concluding Remarks
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. 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.
ILLUSTRATION: yogi berra. We live in a world filled with unclear messages. And the undisputed champion of muddled messages if Yogi Berra. Hall of Famer and former manager of the NY Yankees. Here are a few of his better known yogi-isms:
““Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”
"Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded."
“You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"
"You should always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t come to yours."
And there’s the time that a lady said to him, “Good afternoon, Mr. Berra. My, you look mighty cool today.” “Thank you, ma’am,” Yogi replied. “You don’t look so hot yourself.” (Bits & Pieces, February 4, 1993, p. 14)
Sometimes things are rather confusing, aren’t they? But our confusion doesn’t always stem from what others are saying. Sometimes we become confused simply because of our busy schedules & inadequate communication.
ILLUSTRATION: The story is told of a photographer for a national magazine who was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Wanting to take some aerial pictures, he asked his home office to hire a plane. They made the arrangements & told him to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting for him.
When he arrived at the airport, there was a plane warming up by the runway. He jumped in with his equipment & yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind & they were soon in the air.
“Fly over the north side of the fire,” yelled the photographer, “& make 3 or 4 low level passes.” “Why?” asked the pilot. “Because I’m going to take pictures,” cried the photographer. “I’m a photographer & that’s what photographers do!”
After a pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the flight instructor?”
WHAT DO WE KNOW FOR SURE? In a world filled with compromise and changing values - it can be confusing and difficult to know what is certain. But surely, there are some things that you and I can know what is true and certain. Do you remember 12 weeks ago when we started this sermon series, that I told you that John is a fairly direct guy?
He speaks plainly. He speaks boldly. He is like a father to his readers. And he wants his readers to remember three important key words. In fact, John uses these key words over and over through out all of his letters. Do you remember those key themes / words?
1. Jesus. John, more than anything wants his readers to know the Jesus that John committed his life to. John is the last eye witness of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He was one of the 12 apostles. He was one of Jesus’ closest friends along with Peter and James.
The second word that John wants his readers to know about is…
2. Love. You see, once you know Jesus, once you TRULY know Jesus…then you understand what LOVE is. Real love! Pure, undefiled, sacrificial love. And John wants his readers to know about love because it’s love that will keep them committed and faithful to one another and to their Lord.
And thirdly, John uses the word…
3. TRUTH. The father of lies (Satan) has been doing his best to distort THE TRUTH for tens of decades. And John uses this word TRUTH…over and over to make sure that his readers separate FACT from FICTION. And in our text today, John wants his readers to know the truth…to be certain.
T.S.: So what do we know for sure? FIVE times in chapter 5, John uses the phrase: WE KNOW! There are things that John wants YOU and me to KNOW for sure. And the first thing John is passionate about us knowing is…
First, John wants you to KNOW
I. You are an OVER COMER! (vs. 4 & 5)
Our world doesn’t understand the word OVER COME. It’s a word that isn’t used much in our world. The word that our world is familiar with is: SURVIVOR! And I’m not talking about the game show.
“What does it mean to be a Survivor?” In our world today we talk about all kinds of survivors: cancer survivors, abuse survivors, tornado survivors, earthquake survivors and the list goes on and on! “I survived today’s sermon!”
And what that means is that you were faced with some sort of challenge…and you endured. That’s it. You weren’t necessarily successful. You just didn’t let it get the best of you.
Now it is okay to be a survivor but I want to do more than just survive. The Bible does not use the word “survivor” but it does use the word “overcomer.” The root word for overcome has a very interesting meaning in the original language (Greek) it means to gain the victory. In fact, it’s used 20 times in the New Testament. I don’t want to settle for just surviving, I want to get the victory, I want to be an overcomer!
A. Over comer of what? The world!
If you are a committed follower of Jesus Christ…then John wants you to know you are going to overcome the world.
And notice what John says you and I are to over come…look at our text in chapter 5 vs. 4 & 5:
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Question: Are you born of God? Good! Then you are an over comer…
B. Description of the world
Remember back in 1st John chapter 2 John’s describes for us the world:
1st John 2:15,16
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
John describes the love of the world in three areas. He speaks of:
The Lust of the flesh; this speaks of passion,
Lust of the eyes, this speaks of possession,
the Pride of Life, this speaks of position. This is the unbridled ambition, the desire to put oneself first. The world still attacks us through these three areas of temptation.
And there are some days you come home and you know, you don’t feel very victorious…well listen there will be days when you lose the battle…but have assurance…you WILL win the war!
Jesus taught his disciples to be confident in John 16:33. Jesus said, “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
And THAT is the reason we can overcome the world…because Jesus was an over comer.
What else does John want us to know??
II. God hears your prayers (vs. 14 & 15)
Verses 14 & 15 of our text says:
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.
There has been so much that has been said concerning PRAYER. 1000’s of books have been written. So many lessons and sermons have been written concerning prayer. To be honest, I feel very inadequate to speak about prayer. It’s something I do daily. It’s something I believe in. It’s something that I can improve in. Maybe you feel the same way.
But John wants you to KNOW for certain that your prayers are HEARD.
I want to give you three facts about prayer. These facts are nothing new. You’ve probably heard them before. But do you believe it? It’s head knowledge…but is it heart knowledge?
Fact #1:
A. Prayer is a privilege
When you pray, you have the attention of the God of the universe. The one who created everything in 6 literal days.
Fact #2:
B. Prayer is powerful
It works! And the reason it works is because the God you are praying to is powerful! And because God is powerful, it’s just as Ephesians tells us (eph 3:20) God is able to do more than we can possibly imagine! Because of his power!
C. You’re prayers are answered:
God will answer your prayer. In fact God will answer every prayer you ask. There’s several answers that God will give to your prayers.
Direct. — You ask God for it and, boom, you get it right on the spot. That happened to Elijah. Elijah knew that the people of God needed revival and that they had an evil king and queen, Ahab and Jezebel, so Elijah said, “God, shut up the heavens so there will be no rain,” and God answered. It was direct.
Delayed. — Sometimes you pray and the answer doesn’t come right then, it is delayed. That happened in the life of Abraham when he prayed for a son. Sometimes God delays the answer to prayer because He knows we’re not ready for the answer.
Different. — You ask God for one thing and God gives you something else. Has that ever happened to you? You ask God for something, but He ends up giving you something totally different than what YOU had in mind? Every time God gives you something different than what you have asked Him it will always be better.
Denial. — Sometimes you ask God for something and God’s answer is no. Paul asked three times to have his thorn in flesh removed. God’s answer to Paul was no. But do you know what God told Paul? He said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And do you know what Paul said? He said I found out God’s grace is better than the answer that I’d requested. So you see, sometimes the answer to prayer is direct. Sometimes the answer to prayer is delayed. Other times the answer is different. Sometimes the answer is denial. But when you pray you can know that you’ll get your prayers answered.
John wants you and I to KNOW that our prayers are heard!
What else can you KNOW for sure?
Salvation is what you can KNOW for sure.
III. Salvation (vs. 13)
Have you ever wondered or asked yourself the question: Am I really saved? Did it take the first time?
You are not alone. I believe every person who has been saved will at some point question their salvation. It was certainly true in John’s day. And John wants to make sure they are SURE they are saved…
Look at it again in verse 13:
“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.”
You see, God wants you to know the truth. And one area that you need to know the truth with is: SALVATION. It’s not a guessing game. It’s not a “Gee, I hope I got it right.” God’s gift to you is to KNOW that you are saved. And in fact, that is the reason John says he is writing chapter 5 of 1st John.
To give confidence. To give assurance. To make sure these readers KNOW they are saved!
And notice what it takes to have assurance of salvation:
A. Believing in Jesus
Go back and look at John’s exact words: “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.”
Do you BELIEVE IN Jesus? If not, then problem solved…you don’t have salvation! But if you do…then you are saved!
Now do you understand what it means to BELIEVE IN Jesus?
Because, BELEIVING IN is much more than believing “about.” You could believe that Jesus is God’s Son and do nothing about it. But when you BELIEVE IN Jesus…well, that faith is going to require some action! You’ve heard a poll reporting said that 84% of Americans believe that Jesus is God’s Son, but no where near that number believes “in” him.
B. What does BELIEVING IN JESUS mean?
Believing IN Jesus means that you TRUST Him. That you take him at his word! It means that you are obedient to God’s commands because you believe that Jesus is who He says He is! Jesus has told me its important to be baptized…I’m going to do it! Jesus told me to Love God and love others…I’m going to do those things! Because I believe in Him.
It means that you claim the promises in the Bible as your own because you believe in Him!
ILLUSTRATION: How many of you have a debit card? Yeah…me too. In fact, if you were to look in my wallet, you wouldn’t find any cash…I rarely carry cash. But I do have this debit card. And this debit card allows me the opportunity to access my vast amounts of wealth. But you know what? That debit card is useless unless I have what? That’s right…my PIN number!
AND FAITH is the pin number to access the promises that are yours!
Believing in Jesus means that you have accepted His sacrifice for your sins!
And that brings us to the end of our LETTERS from JOHN series. And leads me to ask the question:
DO YOU HAVE THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION?
