Sermon Series: “Blessed Assurance”
Sermon #3: “Birthmarks of a Believer (C)”
Text: I John 5:13
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to week 4 of a 5 week study on how to be assured of our salvation.
QUOTE: Remember that I have been stressing the point that faith alone saves – but faith that saves will never be alone…it will never be void of doing good works
Jesus gave us a great example of the relationship of both faith and works, along with a stern warning:
Matthew 7:21-23 “21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Here Jesus makes 3 points:
(1) Those who ‘say’ and ‘do not do’ shall not enter Heaven (v.21)
a. This is because if we say we believe and don’t do God’s will, it shows our lack of belief
b. This, of course, is an example of a ‘make believer’
i. Remember 3 types of people:
ii. “Believers”, “Unbelievers”, and Make believers”
(2) Those who do and don’t believe shall not enter Heaven (v.22)
a. Notice the spectacular works they claimed
b. Prophecy, demonic control, wonderful works
c. But they were trusting in their works to save them!
i. And good works void of saving faith left them clinging to their own self-righteousness
ii. Their hearts were set on what they had accomplished, not on what God accomplished through Jesus
(3) Those who believe and do God’s will shall enter Heaven (v.21)
a. As stated earlier, the faith which “says” and does not “do” is not real faith
b. Jesus is not teaching ‘works based’ salvation in this passage
i. If so, those who did the good works would have a claim to salvation
ii. But because they were called ‘workers of iniquity’, they showed their true heart
iii. A heart that lacked a sincere change through an authentic ‘new birth’
c. Jesus is teaching that “saving faith” is essential for Heaven, and the faith that saves will not neglect to seek and do the will of God
We learned in week #1 of this series that, according to Jesus, our ‘New Birth’ is require for entrance into Heaven
And we have learned over the past two weeks that this ‘New Birth’ will make a change in our hearts – One that will bear the ‘Birthmarks of a Believer’
The birthmarks we have learned about so far have been:
1. Fellowship with Jesus and the Father
2. Sensitivity to sin (Consciousness)
3. Obedience to God’s Word
4. Rejection of evil in the world
5. Desire to see Christ return
6. Decreasing sin pattern
This week we will study three more of these ‘birthmarks’ from John’s first Epistle
I. Show love for other Christians
a. For this, we have to go backward in our text a bit from last week to pick up some of John’s writing on this subject
b. I John 2:9-11 “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”
c. To say that you’re ‘in the light’ is to say that you are a Christian
i. And as we have seen in this series, a life lived ‘in the light’ has a certain pattern
ii. And “love” is at the center of that pattern
iii. Because ‘love’ is the most Christ-like characteristic anyone can possess
iv. If we claim to be Christians, but we don’t love other Christians, our claim is really a ‘sham’
d. Love for other believers comes naturally to a true Christian
i. I Thessalonians 4:9 “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;”
ii. How are we taught? By the new nature given us by the Holy Spirit
iii. We don’t need to be instructed in love, because its instinctive, inherent and implicit in our new nature
e. There is something about love I think we should all realize:
i. Love comes in two forms:
ii. (1) Natural Love
1. Most parents ‘love’ their children with natural love
2. This is usually a ‘family’ type of love that extends (to varying degrees) to extended family (Aunts, Uncles, cousins, etc.)
3. When a man meets the woman he is going to marry, and vice versa, their love grows naturally out of an initial fondness for one another
iii. (2) Love of Choice
1. This is not ‘natural’ love…in fact it is much more powerful
2. This is the love that God has for us
a. God ‘chooses’ to love us, in spite of the fact that we have sinned against Him
b. The Greek word is “Agape” which means ‘self sacrificial love’ or a ‘love that does not seek its own’
c. This type of love is summed up in 1st Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
d. Even though we possess nothing that would make Him loves us, God ‘CHOOSES’ to love us
3. And this is the type of love God says we will have for each other
a. A Christian will ‘choose’ to love other Christians, even if they disagree
b. A Christian will ‘choose’ to love other Christians, even if he/she does not receive love in return
c. A Christian will ‘choose’ to love other Christians, out of a deeper sense of love for God
f. QUESTION: Do you honestly care about other believers? Or are you cold, uncaring and indifferent towards them? Do you honestly see a Christ-like love in your actions towards fellow Christians?
i. This is one of the most profound tests of true faith
ii. And John makes ‘love’ a test of faith in his Epistle:
iii. 1st John 3:14-15 “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
iv. 1st John 4:20 “If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”
g. QUOTE: Love for fellow Christians is a birthmark of Christian faith, and solid grounds for assurance of salvation. A complete lack of love reveals an unconverted heart.
II. Experience answered prayer
a. 1st John 3:22 “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
i. Now, this verse is confusing to some who try to say God is like a divine ‘genie in a bottle’ willing to grant our every wish
ii. It must be interpreted in light of the rest of John’s epistle
iii. 1st John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
iv. God always answers according to His will…not our will
v. Quote: Obedient believers know His will, as stated in His Word, and tailor their prayers according to His will
b. How this relates to the Christian’s assurance is based in the understanding of how God deals with the prayers of people who do not know Him
i. Some people pray fervently to false gods and idols
ii. While others pray sporadically without knowing God or His will
iii. We learn how God deals with the prayers of these people in Isaiah
iv. Isaiah 1:15 “When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.”
1. Here God explains that, if a person continues in sin (which is what is meant by having ‘hands full of blood’, it means ‘sin stained hands’) He refuses to hear
2. This is understandable seeing as how men need a mediator (go between) to pray to God
3. And Christ is only the mediator to those who come to Him in sincere repentance and trust, and our sins are washed away
4. This is why we pray “In Jesus name” – Jesus is the ‘only’ Mediator between God and man – and those who pray apart from the only true Mediator pray in vain
c. Some true believers struggle with answered prayer as a sign of true conversion
i. This is often because they have little evidence of answered prayer
1. That is most likely the result of a skimpy prayer life
2. And it is a tragedy
ii. One of the greatest sources of assurance a Christian can have is going to God according to His Will and seeing His Will become a reality in your life
iii. If you are a Christian and you want to see more evidence of answered prayer in your life, begin to pray about everything (as the Scripture teaches)
d. And begin to see that God does answer your prayers
i. Think about it:
1. Have you prayed for an unbeliever and seen that person come to Christ?
2. Have you prayed for someone in distress and seen God change it into blessing?
3. Have you sought God about a void in your life and seen Him fill it?
4. Have you prayed for forgiveness and a clear conscience and received it?
5. The list goes on and on…But the truth is simple
e. Quote: Praying, according to God’s will, and seeing that prayer answered by God is an encouraging birthmark of true faith. It is an indication that you belong to God and He belongs to you.
III. Experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit
a. 1st John 4:13 “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
b. How can we know if we have the Spirit?
i. Some churches teach that He will manifest Himself in spectacular ‘signs’
ii. And an absence of those ‘signs’ shows that a person doesn’t have the Spirit
iii. But this is not true according to the Scripture
c. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to impart holiness to your life
i. Hence the name “Holy Spirit”
ii. He comes into our hearts at conversion and begins making us like Christ
iii. Experiencing His ministry means we see Him actively involved in our life, cleaning us up and making us new
d. So how can we be assured we have experienced this ministry?
i. (1) We have come to Christ in repentance and named Him as Lord
1. This act is not something our ‘natural’ self would desire
2. In fact, we are naturally at odds with God
3. I Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
4. The first ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of any believer was to convict us of righteousness and lead us to a saving knowledge of Christ
a. Without this ministry, we would never have come to know Jesus
b. And we certainly would not have desired to make Him our Lord
ii. (2) We experience chastisement when we go out of God’s will
1. Hebrews 12:7, 8 “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”
2. If we begin to go outside God’s will, the Spirit deals with us, like a parent deals with a wayward child
3. Sometimes through our conscience, and sometimes through external means
4. But always unmistakably to get our attention and bring us back into the will of God
iii. (3) We experience God’s Word making a difference in our lives
1. Unregenerate people laugh at God’s Word
a. Secular people scoff at it
b. But people who have experienced the ministry of the Holy Spirit THIRST for it
2. The Holy Spirit give us insight into God’s Word as His ministry
3. It is called illumination – and as we grow in Christ, our illumination to His Word grows
4. And a more clear, and more life applicable understanding of God’s Word comes only as the Author (the Holy Spirit) teaches it to us
e. QUOTE: You see, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not some ‘obscure feeling’ or ‘miraculous show of emotion’ – It is the work of Spirit in our lives that brings us to a closer walk with God, by making us more like Christ…And it is a ministry that all believers in Christ will experience…it is one of our blessed birthmarks
CONCLUSION: Many might argue that, by me listing these ‘birthmarks’, I am placing works along side of faith in the process of salvation
But I am not, in any way
I believe salvation is a once for all experience, where a person is ‘born again’ by God’s Spirit and brought back to life from being dead in trespasses and sins.
But I also fervently believe that this change is so radical, so awesome, so life-consuming, that the few things I am mentioning in this series are just some of the changes that a believer will be able to look at and say, “I can see evidence of God’s work in my life”.
And if you see these changes that John has laid out in his epistle marking your life, you can stand up and shout “hallelujah!” with an assured heart that God has truly come, and made a change in your life.
Do you see these changes? Do you see God making a difference in the way you “love”, the way you “pray”, the way you “live”?
These are the questions only you, yourself can answer
