Source of Assurance (1 John 3:19-24)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. It's good to see you guys again. It's good for the church to be back together. We planned last week to be together and I was going to take a break from 1st John and try to do some just encouraging wisdom from the first missionary journey of Paul in the book of Acts and then COVID swept through our church and that ship has sailed because we got a schedule to keep to get to Easter. So we're back in 1st John which I know has been a rather intense book for many of us and it will continue.
So we're going to be in 1st John chapter 3 verses 19 through 24. We're going to finish out this chapter. Sometimes when you study the Bible and you're looking at it, you're reading it, you're trying to understand it, that things jump out right off the surface, that it's easy to understand, it's easy to digest. There's things that, you know, application comes very quickly from it and then other times that's not the case. Other times you've got to dig a little deeper. You've got to be like the Goonies and just got to go deeper into the cave, deeper into the cave.
If you want to get to the treasure, you've got to go farther. And when we do that, it takes a lot of work, but oftentimes the work is rewarded. Like there's gems beneath the surface and that's what's happening today in this passage. As we've seen a few times in 1st John, we've got to dig a little deeper to see what's going on here. Today, this passage is probably one of the more difficult passages in the New Testament to actually interpret. So it's going to feel a little Bible study-ish for a little bit because we've got to spend some time understanding what's happening here.
When we look at, I mean specifically 19 through 21, we'll spend a lot of time in this one. It says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. That's hard to understand. When you get a text like this, you've got to study it.
You've got to understand that it's written in a context, right? That it's not, we don't just look at that and isolate it from the rest of the text. That's what we call isodoting. We want to look at it next to the rest of the text. What came before it? What has the book of 1 John been teaching us?
All that is kind of built into understanding this well. You've got to ask questions. I would encourage you as you study the Bible this year to write in the margins of the Bible and ask questions of the Word. Ask questions like, What does by this mean? What is this referring to? What does He mean when He says reassure?
All these kind of help us understand what's happening. And this text in particular, there's really only one of two directions as you're looking at it and trying to interpret it. It's either going to further this conviction that we felt a lot in 1 John, but definitely felt during our gift series. In our gift series, we walked through 1 John 3, verses 11 through 18. And it was heavy. It was convicting, right?
To love our brothers and sisters in Christ by laying down our life. It's either going to further that conviction with a little intensity or it's going to feel like a little breath of encouragement. Like the tone is shifting. But there's not really a middle ground here. It's either one way or the other. So we're going to look at this.
We're going to study it. And then hopefully by the end of it, I will convince you where I have landed and where I think that the text is actually going tone-wise and why it's good for us to hear. So let me read it all together. We'll pray and then we'll jump in. So verse 19 says, 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 what pleases Him. And this is His commandment. That we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Let me pray and then we'll jump in this together. God, I pray you would open our hearts to receive your word. God, I'm thankful that we have the word of God to pierce our hearts, to be exposed before you. And I pray that you go to work and you help us respond. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Okay, so. Let's look at this. 19, it says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. Now there's a few phrases right there that are really important to understand. They're going to either point us towards further being convicted. Or it's going to send us in the direction of encouragement.
So we've got to look at this. We've got to, I've already referenced a little bit. We've got to look at the phrase, by this. And we've got to look at the word reassure. There's going to be huge in understanding what He is saying here. So first, what is by this?
By this. What is He referring to when He says this? Is He referring to what He just said in verses 17 and 18? In 17 and 18, this is where we are in the gift series. It says, But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.
We sat in that for a month. And it was convicting to see, do we love the church? Do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ that we might lay down our lives for them? Is He saying, by this, by this truth right here that I just said, that you will know you are in the truth. Right? That's another way of saying that you are a Christian.
Is it by this that you will know the truth and be reassured? Or is He pointing forward to what He is about to say in verse 20 and 21? Is He about to say, by this, relating to for, verse 20, for whenever our heart condemns us. God is greater than our heart. And He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
Is that what He is referring to when He says, by this? Either way you go, it is going to take you in some different directions. Okay? Then you've got to ask yourself, what does He mean when He says reassure? That's the second thing I want us to look at. What does He mean when He says reassure?
All right. So, the Greek word for reassure, the translation that we use, the ESV, they chose to translate it reassure. So, just to let you know how translations come to be, I think it's just helpful to know, because we're really blessed in the English language to have lots of very good translations. translations, the way the overwhelming majority of translations come together is that a bunch of Greek and Hebrew scholars, godly people, come together, and over a long period of time, they translate the Bible together. They have debates over different parts of it, because the Bible is an ancient text, and it's hard to translate at times.
And they were so blessed to have so many good translations. The people that argue and fight and pull out their swords to fight one another over what translation is better. It's like, chill out. They're really good. And we're really blessed to have what we have. But they chose reassure.
Now, when you look at a Greek-English lexicon, just think of it as a dictionary of sorts that helps us understand the translation of words. When you look at the word for reassure, there's two main meanings that pop up. The first is convince. Okay? Convince. Alright?
Now, oftentimes, that's how that word is translated in the New Testament, this idea of convince. The second is to put at rest, to set at ease. And those are a little bit different, right? Put those side by side. Look at it. It says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and convince our heart before Him.
That's one way to look at it. The second is, by this we shall know that we are of the truth, and put at rest our heart before Him. Now, the ESV, they chose reassure, which I think is split in the middle. They kind of chose this word, because that word can kind of go either way. Like reassure, you can use that word as like, like Shane Beamer, coach of the Gamecocks, had to reassure the fan base. After Clemson destroyed us, the program, who's that?
No. Enough of that. Now, he had to reassure the fan base that the program was going in the right direction. He had to convince us that it was going in the right direction, because the offense was so bad to watch. And then the bowl game happened. And it's like, okay, maybe.
There's hope. There's always hope as a Gamecocks fan. Whether it's a valid hope or not is up for debate. But he had to convince us. That's how reassure can be used, is to convince you. But it also can be to put at ease, right?
Like if I told you, listen, I want to reassure you of something. Chet Phillips is not mad at you. That is just his face. His resting face looks angry. He's not mad at you at all. Be reassured.
Put your concerns at ease. He actually does like you. He's not mad. Like that, those are two different ways of using the word reassure. And here, it kind of can go either way. So, that's some of the info you needed.
As you're digging deeper in this, you've got to ask some questions. Now, I'm going to give you two different versions of how this can read. I'm going to give you the convicting version first. I'm going to read the text. I'm going to give you some commentary for how many godly interpretives of the Bible have taken this right here. All right?
Here's the convicting version. By this. Meaning by what John just said in verses 17 and 18. By this. By you loving and laying down your life for your brothers and sisters in Christ. By this evidence right here.
That's how you know you're in the truth. And reassure your hearts before him. Convince your hearts. The way that you love your brothers and sisters in Christ is what helps you know that you're in the truth. And what convinces you that you're in the truth. Verse 20.
For whenever our heart. Now heart here is your conscience. That's how heart is being used here in this passage. He's talking about your conscience. He says, for whenever our heart, whenever our conscience condemns us. God is greater than our heart.
He's greater than our conscience. And he knows everything. And the convicting version of this is. If your heart. If your heart is condemning you. Boy do I have news for you.
That God's judgment is stricter. His judgment is stricter. Because he knows everything. He knows all the times that you have. There's been a lack of love. You've not loved your brothers and sisters.
He knows this. Boy oh boy. The courtroom of God is much stricter. Verse 21. Beloved. If our heart does not condemn us.
We have confidence before God. Meaning. Alright. This should call you to repentance. So that.
You can stand before God. Confident. Because if your heart doesn't condemn you. Your heart being influenced by. The power of the Holy Spirit. If that doesn't convict you.
Then you can stand confidently before the Lord. Meaning. This is a deep. Furthering. Like. They're saying that John didn't change his tone in chapter 3.
He's continuing this. To hammer home conviction. And this. Listen. There are a lot of. I mean.
Augustine. Church father. John Calvin. Theologian for the Reformation that we love. Matthew Henry. Puritan.
I mean. Looked at this and said. No. John is not changing his tone. He's been doing this all. Hammering home.
That you need to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Matthew Henry. The old Puritan says. If our heart. God. Condemn us.
God is greater than our heart. Superior to our heart. And conscience. And power. And in judgment. If conscience.
Condemn us. God. Does. So. Too. And listen.
It's a biblical argument. It absolutely is. I mean. There is this idea. That absolutely. Like.
We've sat in chapter 3. For over a month. And seen that. One of the chief identifying markers. Of what it means to be a Christian. Is that you might.
Lay down your life. And love your brothers. In Christ. If you don't. Love the church. You don't know.
Christ. He's made that abundantly clear. And a lot of godly people have looked at this and they've come to that conclusion. And I have gone back and forth. Like at the beginning of the week I'm just like, oh man, I read this commentary and it would say this. I'm like, oh, that's convincing.
Look at this commentary. I'm like, oh boy, that seems good too. And I went back and forth. I talked to Chet and I looked at this. I had other people in our church read this and study this. After spending some time in this, I don't think that's where he lands.
I think that he's actually taking a moment and the tone is changing and he's actually providing a brief moment of encouragement to us. So, let me give you the version that I think is most biblically accurate that is actually meant to be read as an encouragement for us. Verse 19, by this. Now, by this, I think it's certainly, I mean, it's certainly connected to what he just said in 18. Right? It's certainly connected to let us not love in word and talk, but in deed and truth.
Okay? I think by this is actually pointing forward. I think it's pointing forward to what he's about to say. We're going to walk through that in a moment. And I think that's the case for a few different reasons, but one of them is, is that not all the time, but a lot of the time, the majority of the time that John says by this in 1 John, he's actually pointing forward, not backward. Saying by this, and then he gets to what he's going to say.
Doesn't mean that's how he's always, it doesn't mean it's a flat rule, that's always how it has to happen, but it looks like here, that's what he's doing. He's continuing this pattern of pointing forward. By this, by this, we shall know that we are in the truth. That's what he's about to say. And, reassure our heart before him. I think that reassure here is actually not convinced, but to put our hearts at rest.
To put our consciences at ease. So, by this, you know that you're in the truth. Point forward. This is to put your heart at ease. Verse 24, whenever. And actually, looking at this this week, I looked at the versions like the NASB and the NIV, and they say, by this.
And after looking at this, I think that's actually probably more accurate. So, by this. Or, sorry, but if. Sorry, that's what I meant to say. But if.
But if our heart condemns us. That God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. And what He's arguing for here is that if our conscience condemns us. If it condemns us for a lack of love, for not loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, like we are called to do. If our conscience condemns us, God is greater than our hearts. He's greater than our conscience.
And what He's not saying is, is that greater is actually more judgment. I don't think that's what He's arguing for here. I think what He's saying is He is greater, and that He knows all things. And because He knows all things, He has chosen to be merciful. Chosen to be gracious righteous towards us. Because condemnation, as you look in the New Testament and how that word is used, it literally means judgment against.
The majority of the time it's used in the New Testament, it's actually, it's referring to unbelievers. The condemnation is for those who are outside of Christ, those who don't know Christ. And He's talking about our, John's talking about himself, and He's talking about these Christians. It says, our hearts condemns us, that God is greater than our heart. He knows all things. And then He goes on to say, following the logic, beloved, verse 21, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
The logic is not if your love is so pure towards your brothers and sisters in Christ, if your actions are so pure, that is the basis for your confidence? No. That doesn't fit with the rest of the New Testament at all. It doesn't follow the logic of what He's saying here. He's saying, if your conscience condemns you, no, God, no, no, no, if your conscience condemns you, it's wrong. It doesn't have the final say here.
And if your heart cannot condemn you, God doesn't. And by His power, you stand confidently before God. Now, I've spent a lot of time in this and it's like, oh, goodness, can we just move on? I won't get into all the details of this, into the nerdy, kind of biblical Greek details of this. There's one more thing that happens in this that I think actually points to the encouraging side of this. There is a tense change in the Greek that's happened twice already.
And after looking at it, the two times that it happens in 1 John before this, He's actually doing encouragement. So it's a tense change called direct address. He's directly addressing us. It happens here in verse 21. And both times He does it in the beginning of 1 John, He is encouraging. I think the tone is the same.
It's kind of like if you watch a movie and it's a tense movie and then all of a sudden the music, the score just kind of changes a little bit, it lightens the mood. And you're like, oh, I'm not supposed to feel tense now. Like this is a moment, that's what's happening here. The tense is changing. He's being encouraging the people. Alright, so that's the evidence.
I think that John is absolutely being encouraging here. So the question is, is why? What is he doing here? I would argue and I think that John is taking a moment for the sensitive here. Alright, for those who have a sensitive conscience, alright, for the sensitive heart that hears this, that's been hearing this, convicting truth over and over and over again. He's taking a moment to just pause and to remind you of the bigger picture here.
To remind you of the goodness of the gospel. To remind you of how good our God is towards us. That he is greater than our hearts. Greater than our sensitive consciences. I love what the theologian John Stott says about this. John Stott says, our conscience is by no means infallible.
It's not inerrant. It's not infallible. Our conscience absolutely can be wrong. He says, our conscience is by no means infallible. Its condemnation may often be unjust. We can, therefore, appeal from our conscience to God who is greater and more knowledgeable indeed.
He knows all things including our secret motives in deepest resolves. He knows it all. He knows all the secret motives, all the things that are happening beneath the surface and it is implied will be more merciful towards us than our own heart. His omniscience should believe not terrify us. His all-knowingness, the fact that he's omniscient, he knows all things, that's not meant to terrify us. The fact that God knows all things is actually a comfort to us.
I think that John has been hammering at us, he's been hammering at us, he's been saying this is what it means to be a Christian, this is what it means to be a Christian, this is what it means to be a Christian, and it takes a moment just to provide some encouragement, which is so good because the sensitive conscience that hears this, I mean, goodness gracious, if you have a sensitive conscience and you've been journeying with us through 1 John, it's like every week it's like, oh man, am I even a Christian? Right? Who's felt that? We sit in this and it's like, this is what it means to be a Christian, it's like, oh goodness, it's like this existential crisis, like am I even a Christian?
Do I even believe this? Like I'm the worst. And I think John would say, listen, we do stink, and so our sin, our sin is the worst, 100%, but that's not the final say on us because that's not the record that stands for us. The record that stands for us is the beautiful, perfect, spotless, record of Christ, it was paid for by His blood, that it was Jesus that went to the cross and took condemnation on our behalf, that it's not you that absorbs the condemnation. I think He's trying to help us see for the sensitive conscience, to help us realize and remember the bigger picture of the gospel. And listen, that's 1 John in a nutshell.
It's what he does. It's like body blow, body blow, conviction, conviction, conviction. It's what it means to be a Christian. Encouragement. I mean, like 1 John 2, 1, when we sat in that, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. That's one of the big goals of this is that we might grow to know more of Christ, we might not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Remember, in your sin, you have an advocate. You have someone who advocates for you, who's on your team, whose perfect record stands for you before the Father. So, gives this encouragement, this confidence that comes from God, and then it goes into verse 22 and following. He says, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him.
And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. John, throughout this entire letter to these churches, has been calling us to have this proper alignment, that the church needs to align with the will of God, the character of God. He's been calling us to this alignment with God. And we see that here, throughout the rest of 1 John. We've got one more landmine that you've got to work through to understand this truth that He's saying here. Because He says, whatever we ask, we receive from Him.
And there are a lot of prosperity gospel preachers, that prosperity gospel is, that if you believe in God, if you have faith in God, if you do this, then you get material blessings in this life. A lot of them have taken this passage and said, see, this is what it means. That if you believe in God, if you have faith, if you obey His commandments, if you do what's right, then you get blessings. Then your prayers get answered. Have enough faith, blessings will follow. Numbers at the bottom of the screen, come and give.
That's what they do with this. Now, just be very blunt, that is a dumb take. It's just a dumb take. Like, I don't know how you could look at that and go back to verse 17 that He said just a few seconds ago, when He's talking about giving up the world's goods for your brothers and sisters, and then come a few verses later and say, oh, this is about praying and receiving worldly goods. No, that, not even close. That's a dumb take.
No. So let's examine this with a bit of thoughtfulness. He says in verse 22, whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. Okay. So let's take that.
All right? What have we asked to receive? Do His commandments. What are His commandments? Funny you should ask. He defines His terms in the very next verse, in verse 23.
This is what He means by commandments. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. That's how He's using it right there. He defines it. And the first thing He says is, believe in Jesus. The first thing He references is, the gift of faith that God gives us through the finished work of Christ, that we don't earn on our behalf, but He graciously lavishes upon us.
It's the gift of faith and belief and the fruit that comes out of that, this chief identifying marker that we've seen over and over and over again, is that you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. That if we're in alignment with God through faith, that He gives us the outflow, that working of faith, which is loving one another, that He's working in our heart in a way that we understand our needs and our everything in light of eternity, yes, whatever you ask, you will receive. Now, we don't have a lot of time to look at this, but we will spend more time on this in chapter 5, because in chapter 5, verses 14 and 15, He's going to reference this again. He's going to say, and this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
And it's like, boom! That's what He's talking about. In accordance with His will. We'll spend more time on that. There's no way that you take this and take it in the direction of prosperity preachers. It's a bad take.
It's not good. No. So, this type of alignment gives us a confidence in prayer that's in alignment with His will. And then He finishes this in verse 24. And He says, Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us.
This abiding where we are living in community the way we're supposed to. We're obeying the commands. Faith in Jesus. Loving one another. You can ask yourself, okay, but what is the force behind all that? Like, what is the force and the engine that is driving all of that?
And He's like, it is the Holy Spirit. That's it. The Holy Spirit for the church of Jesus Christ. Chet referenced this morning that we're the new temple of Christ. The Holy Spirit resides in the temple, this new temple of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the power that works in us.
That adds to the argument that it's not by the way that we love one another that reassures us. The ultimate reassurement closes here in verse 24. By the Holy Spirit who is in you. That is the force. That is the one who binds us together in harmony. That's the one who causes us to love one another with a deep love of laying down our life, of laying down the world's goods.
That is what we point to. That is whom we point to for our assurance. So, there are two types of consciences that are going to hear this. Two types of consciences that are going to hear 1 John as we walk through it. There is a sensitive conscience and there is a seared conscience. Sensitive, seared.
Okay? Let's go to the latter one. The seared conscience. Seared meaning burnt. This idea that your heart, your conscience is burnt. Like when you get a deep burn, alright, and it's a real serious third degree monster of a burn, you can't feel in that area like you used to.
It's not sensitive anymore. For the seared conscience that's been burnt, what's been happening as we walk through 1 John is that it's been one thing after the other. These teachings have just been thrown out and it just bounces off your heart. It doesn't take root because you're not sensitive to the teachings, to the commands, to the gospel. It's just bouncing off and it's easy for you to just close your heart and say, no, I'm good. And for the person who has a seared conscience, that is more likely to just say no to the teachings of the scriptures, my hope is that you would pray and ask God to soften your heart.
You pray and ask God to soften your heart to the teachings of scripture, the parts that you don't like, the parts you don't want to agree with, that you would pray that God would soften your heart so that you can walk this out in faith and repentance. But I think that this text is going after the sensitive conscience. And there are those who have a sensitive conscience that every time you hear a teaching like this, you just spiral. Every time you hear a teaching that's really difficult, it just causes you to freak out. It's like, oh man, you go through this cycle of doubt and self-loathing and frustration and just panic.
And I think God's just trying to help us see for a moment that who's actually in control here? Like who actually has the power here? Like when I put my children on my shoulders and we run around and be silly, every now and then they like lose their minds, they freak out, their arms start flailing. My youngest just like death grips my face. She like grabs my, she covers my eyes and my nose. I'm like, that's not a good strategy.
And I have to tell my kids sometimes when they freak out about that, this is fun, but every now and then they just freak out. I'm like, listen, I have a, I don't say this, but I have a social compact with my children that when you go on my shoulders, I'm not going to drop you. Like I'm not, I'm not, you're not going to fall off. It's like, listen, you're not strong or coordinated enough to be able to stay up there. It's me. I've got you.
You're not going anywhere. We can run around, we can be silly. You're not going to fall because you're not the one that's holding you in place. And I think that God has just taken a moment to help us see that, that he's the one who's in control. He's the one that has us and he holds us and he promises that he's never going to let us go but he promises that he's going to carry us home to completion. The power comes from him.
It doesn't come from ourselves. And for the sensitive here that forgets that, he's just saying, look, you abide in God and God and you and the Holy Spirit is in you. Be assured of that. Be assured in that knowledge. Don't forget where the power comes from. The power is and it says that we believe in the name of Jesus Christ. whose name are you trusting in?
Whose name are you trusting in? Are you trusting in the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the author and perfecter of our faith? That means the one who authored it, who began it and the one who perfects it, who finishes it and completes it. Are you trusting in the finished work of Christ and the name and the power of Christ or are you trusting in your own name, your own abilities? Like we sing what a beautiful name it is. It's a song we sing every now and then.
If we sing that song, what a beautiful name it is. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Spencer. Like if Matt was up here, Kelly would say the name of Matt or Kelly. Like you have permission to come up here and just wreck the stage. Like just no.
Absolutely not. It's foolishness. No. We trust in the name of Christ and that is where the power comes from. God is bigger than our sensitive self in doubting hearts. His sacrifice is bigger than ours.
His love is greater than us. He loves us because He loves us because He loves us because of His great love and not our own. If you have a sensitive conscience, you need to absorb that. The conscience that hears teachings and just spirals. Maybe you're an anxious person and you just hear it and you freak out. Like I don't know if I trust this.
I'm not believing in God enough. I'm not trusting God enough. I've got to muster up enough strength. I've got to figure this out. If that's your heart, maybe the kind of person that is stuck in this sin cycle that's just self-destructive where you're tempted by sin and then it lures you in and then you sin and you fall for it and then you decide, you resolve after being sad about it that I'm not going to do this again. I'm going to change and then you get tempted again and it's this cycle that happens over and over and over again and you're just so deeply discouraged.
For the person who just feels gross, I think God looks at them and sees them as gross or dirty or unwanted. For the person who feels like a failure, feels like a failure to God, a failure to others. For the person who thinks that their work is never going to be enough and you work and you strive and you hustle and you do to try to prove because you think it's never going to be enough. I want you to hear the words of the 19th century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon and when he talks about this, he says, sometimes our heart condemns us, but in doing so it gives a wrong verdict. And then we have the satisfaction of being able to take the case into a higher court.
For God is greater than our heart and knows all things. For the person this morning that's just been struggling, December was a kick in the face and you've been beating yourself up and beating yourself up and beating yourself up. Your heart does not have the final sin. Your heart is not perfect. Your heart is infallible. Your conscience is not perfect.
And it is not the final courtroom. The final courtroom is what happened at the cross and the empty tomb. And when belief in Jesus, when your faith stands before God the Father, that's the perfect courtroom. That is the perfect God. That's the merciful judge. You take your case there.
And then you walk this out in peace.