Gooding, David: 11 – The Believer’s Assurance

So now we come to our final passage in the first epistle of John. We have to try and cover, if we can, in this session, chapter five, verses nine to twenty one. I suggest, therefore, that we look at once at a brief table of contents for these last verses. And here they are. I have simply broken them down into four elements. Chapter five, verses nine to thirteen, how we can be sure that we have eternal life. And secondly, verses fourteen to seventeen, how we can have confidence in prayer. And then verses eighteen to twenty, a summary of God's revealed truth, which we can know with absolute certainty. You will have remarked in your reading the tremendous effect of the repetition in verses eighteen, nineteen, and twenty. We know that whosoever is begotten of God sineth not. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one. And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his son Jesus Christ. The summary of divine truth revealed so that we can know it with absolute certainty. So that as we come to the end of this delightful epistle, here is the elderly apostle coming to buttress our faith and to shore up our hearts and to give us to understand the tremendous confidence that we can have as believers in the Lord Jesus. We can be utterly certain that we have eternal life. These things are written that you may know that you have eternal life. It is God's declared intention that we should know it. And then how we can have confidence in prayer. And then the great statement of his truth that we can know with absolute certainty. For the statement of the truth of God adds up in the end to God himself. This is the true God and eternal life. There need be no doubt about it whatsoever. In fact, it is as we have this divinely implanted confidence in our hearts that we shall be able to give serious attention to the final exhortation, little children, keep yourselves from idols. So now let's go over those things briefly together. And from verse nine to verse thirteen, how the believer can be sure that he has eternal life. And we shall not forget to put this in the context. It is good in any context, of course, that a believer be absolutely sure he has eternal life. But the context, as you may remember, is the question of overcoming the world, and overcoming the world in order that we may, may be able to keep God's commandments and thus to demonstrate that we really love God and love his people. Overcoming the world, then, has for its secret and its absolute key that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If Jesus is the Son of God, then whatever I may be called upon to sacrifice in order to keep his commandments, in the end doesn't really matter much at all. For if he is the Son of God, in him I have everything. But if he is not the Son of God, then I should be foolish to sacrifice anything for his sake. And when the world puts its pressure on me to conform to its ways, to disobey God's commandments, when it makes it very difficult to keep the commandments of God, and if I s- insist on keeping them, then I'm out of step with the world and must be prepared for the sacrifice that will inevitably be involved in those moments when the world puts on its pressure. The key to overcoming the world is this vigorous, vital faith. Ah, but Jesus is the Son of God. Therefore, I am prepared to stand loyal to him. I suggested to you, I don't know whether you agreed or not, but we shall find that out in the question times, that not only John, does John tell us that the key to overcoming the world is this faith that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. I suggested to you in verses six, seven, eight of chapter five, John is giving us some of the evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. Of course, some of the heretics against whom John was writing held the view that Jesus was not himself the Son of God. At his baptism, the Holy Spirit came on him, guided him and used him throughout his life, and just before he was crucified, the Holy Spirit abandoned him. In other words, they taught that Jesus was not himself the Christ, but the Christ came upon him from the time of his baptism until just before his crucifixion, and then the Christ left him. Of course, in these words, John is refuting any such notion. He says, this is he that came by water and by blood. The baptism was the declaration of the Father that this Jesus, yes, who came to John's baptism, was already the Christ of God. And you'll see the Holy Spirit coming down on the day of Pentecost has given evidence for all time that this Jesus whom you crucified, as Peter put it, this Jesus whom you crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ. But in those facts that he came by water and by blood, through the baptism of John's official introduction, declaring him to be the Son of God and the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. Through that blood, John's announcement that he had come to die as the great sacrifice for sin, the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. In these things themselves, we see evidence that he is indeed the Son of God. But now it comes to the practical question. I might be sure that Jesus is the Son of God. Ah, but how can I be sure that I have eternal life? Because here I am struggling with the world, and the world is is making it very difficult for me to keep the commandments of God. Yes, I believe Jesus is the Son of God, but what's the good of my sacrificing? What's the sense of my sacrificing anything for his sake if I myself am not sure that, after all, I have eternal life anyway? You see, if I haven't got eternal life, huh, well, then I might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, as they say in my part of the world. If I haven't got eternal life when all is said and done, well, I might as well take the best I can get out of the world then. If the knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is merely a theological tenet, but I myself don't have eternal life, what good is that going to be to me in the battle of life? This matter of being absolutely sure that I have eternal life is not some self-gratifying idle deluxe edition of Christianity. No, no. If I am going to face the rigors of life in serving the Lord, if I'm going to face the responsibilities of being a servant of God, who one day will be called to account for his service, the first thing I shall need myself is an absolute certainty in my heart that I have eternal life. There are some dear people of God who, upon their own confession, are busily engaged in the service of the Lord, hoping to lead other folks to Christ. And one of the reasons why they're doing it is they feel that if they could lead somebody to Christ, that would prove to them that they are themselves believers and saved. And when folks have that in their hearts, of course, not only are they making their salvation depend on some of their own works and efforts, but when things begin to go wrong and the Lord w- Lord's work in our ha- hands doesn't go successfully as we hoped it would, and then when we find we make mistakes, then the burden begins to get too heavy, doesn't it? And anyway, how shall I lead anybody into the knowledge of eternal life if I don't really have it myself? So this is an exceedingly important matter in the battle of life and in the overcoming of the world, that I have absolute certainty in my heart that I do have eternal life. These things are written, says John, written by the inspiration of God, so that we shall know. We shall be familiar with the argument by which we are to be convinced of the Holy Spirit. Verse nine, this is a logical argument. Let's take it step by step. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. You'll see, if I'm going to have, uh, if I'm going to know that I have eternal life, I shall know it eventually on the witness of God himself. So mark the lead up. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Well, do we receive the witness of men? Well, I think we all do, don't we? I do. I want to go to London, so I get the phone and ring up British Airways, or whoever they are nowadays. And when the bell is answered the other end eventually, some charming voice says, good morning, and what can I do for you? I've never met the dear lady in all my life, and not a ghost of a notion you'll see whether she is a charming lady, as most of them are, or whether she's given to telling a few lies now and again when it suits her. I don't know. I've never met the dear woman. I say, when is the plane to London? And she says, ten thirty, sir. I take it as God's absolute truth. And you know, I do it in spite of the fact that I have on times been misled by such charming voices at the end of the telephone. You won't believe that either, but I have been. And yet when I ask, I say, is that certain? Yes, yes, yes, and I believe them. Life would be difficult if you didn't, wouldn't it? And if we receive the witness of men like that, and we do, then, says John, the witness of God is greater, isn't it? So much so that if God ever tells you anything, then obviously, if you had any sense, you ought to believe it the moment that God says it, without even turning around to God and saying, excuse me, God, are you sure? So So the the witness of God is greater. Add that, add to that fact this, that, uh, this is the witness of God is this, that he has borne witness concerning his son. Well, who should know about God's son if God doesn't? You will come to me and ask me some question on electronics, I say, sorry, I haven't a clue. Come to me and ask me a question about the Greek language, you'll probably floor me, but I should know about it because I paid to know about it at one stage in my life. Yes. And if I come to you, madam, and ask you, uh, about computers, you may not know. If I come to you and ask you about cooking, well, of course you are the expert, aren't you? And if you tell me how long to cook, uh, the buns in the, in the oven, I shall take your word for it. And if you go and ask about God's son, who would know about God's son? If God doesn't. Two reasons, therefore, why I ought to accept the testimony of God about his son, absolutely implicitly, the moment he speaks. Well, says verse ten, he who believes on the son of God has the witness in himself. I take that to mean that when a bel- when a person trusts the Savior, then of course the Holy Spirit enters, and the Holy Spirit will witness with that person's spirit that he is indeed a child of God. He will have an internal witness within his own heart, the witness of the Holy Spirit. But now, consider what the middle of verse ten says. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning his Son. And at this point, we shall have to take this seriously. For God is about to give us a witness. But before he does so, he reminds us that if we hear what he has to say and we decline or fail to believe it, this is an exceedingly serious thing. We are implying that God is not telling the truth. You see, madam, if you are going out of the room today at some time, and as I stand there, uh, we shake hands together in a civilized fashion, and I say, excuse me, madam, I'm sorry, I have never had the pleasure of meeting you before. What is your name? And you say, my name is Eliza Shufflebotham. I said, how very interesting. And then my dear friend comes up and says, who's that dear lady, Josie? And I say, ah, she said her name was Elijah, Elisha, uh, Eliza Shufflebottom. And you say, is it? Well, I don't know. I better make my remarks in under my breath, hadn't I? Because if you hear me talking... And what will you say? You say, pardon? I told you my name was Eliza Shufflebottom. Don't you believe me? Well, I say, madam, you must admit it sounded just a little bit odd as a name. I mean to say, would anybody ever have a name like that? You say, young man, don't be so impertinent, don't. My name is that, and if I say it's that, it is that. What do you mean, telling your friend you're not sure? And you'd never turn up in Apsley again, would you? You say that fellow there, he cast doubt upon my, on my veracity. It's curious, isn't it, that what we would never think of doing to El- Eliza Shufflebottom, we not only do to Almighty God, but we think it's a mark of humility and and godliness on our part to do it to Almighty God. God says the believer can be sure of eternal life, and there are multitudes of folks that say, oh, but I don't think you can be sure. I mean, I think it's more humble not to be sure. The question resolves itself, therefore, into what you think of God. What do you think of God's veracity? Does God tell the truth? And my dear friend, excuse my warmth of expression, but we have an eternity to spend somewhere. None of us will exist in a heaven. None of us will exist in God's heaven if we can't believe what God says implicitly. To live in a heaven with a God that you couldn't trust, what kind of a heaven would it be? Ultimately, this matter of faith rests not on some sentiment, it rests on some deep-seated conviction about the very character of God. And if I don't believe him the moment he speaks, I'm implying that he is a liar. Who say, but I don't feel. Oh, but my good friend, now you have a choice to make. Are you going to trust your feelings, rather than the character of God. You see, feelings can be terrible liars, can't they? We have an eternity to settle. What are we going to trust? Our feelings, what people say, or are we going to trust the character of Almighty? So we determine that we shall not make him a liar. The very first moment he speaks, we shall accept what he says. Yes? Well, what did he say then? Well, the witness is this, says verse eleven, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Notice it doesn't say that God gives us eternal life. The tense of the verb is in the past. God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Here I have a Bible, quite a reasonable Bible, cost me all of three pounds seventy five or something, and I say to you, would you like that Bible? You say, yes, very much. I say, there you are then, there it is. I have given you the Bible. Ain't yours yet, is it? It won't be yours unless you should believe what I said and come and take it. But as far as I'm concerned, I've given it. And this is the witness of God that he has given us eternal life, all the wonder of the thing, and that that life is in his son, so that it follows logically that he that has the son has the life. You want this envelope and what's inside it? I know, I give you that as well. Want the envelope? I've given it to you, and the envelope's in the book. And he that has the book has the envelope. Or wouldn't I be interested if some brave soul came up and took me at his word, my word, and took the book, and you didn't have time to open it, and you were going out of the door with the book in your hand, and somebody came up to you and said to you, with me standing by, here, have you, have you got that envelope? And you said, well, I got the book, but I don't know whether I got the envelope or not. I should be very interested. That would be my turn, not Eliza Shufflebottom's turn. That would be my turn to get indignant. And I should say, what do you mean you don't know whether you've got the envelope or not? You say you've got the book? I say that if you have the book, you've got the envelope because the envelope's in the book. You may not be able to see it or feel it or touch it. But I say if you've got the book, you've got the envelope. And to stand there and tell your friend you're not sure whether you've got the envelope or not, is to make out once more that you can't believe my word. So this, friend, is the situation. God says he has given us eternal life, and the life is in his son. He who has the son, God, says he, has the life. There's only one question to be asked, isn't there? Or two. Have you the son of God? Oh friend, if I hadn't, I should stop all my lecturing right now, and all else. I should get down on my knees before God and receive Jesus Christ as my savior. I do it now. Well, this is life's supreme question. Have you or have you not the Son of God? And you reply, yes, by God's grace. I have no other hope of salvation. Yes, by God's grace, I have the Son of God. Then let God tell you, he who has the Son has the life. God waits to hear our response. And if he should ask you, you say you have my son, have you got eternal life? What would you say to God? These things have I written unto you that believe, that you may know that you have eternal life. But they're not only confidence there, but in our daily living, we may have confidence in our prayers. Verse fourteen: this is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. I take it for granted that when John speaks like this, he is meaning us to take him seriously. I could, I suppose, go home tonight and before I go to sleep, ask God, please give me a silver-plated Rolls-Royce. But I wouldn't, I shouldn't be surprised tomorrow morning if he hadn't done it, would you? Because this is asking according to his will. Not just asking for anything. How should I know what is according to his will? And what kind of things are they that I can be absolutely certain are according to his will. Lots of things, aren't there, about which I shall have to say to God, now Lord, if it is your will, but I don't know whether it is or not. And surely we are encouraged to come as children to a father, making such requests and being prepared to leave them with our father who knows better than we do. There are some things that we can ask boldly because they are according to his will. How do we know it? Because he's told us they are according to his will. And perhaps we should pray for that type of thing more than we do. I think of the great examples of prayer that are given to us in the epistles of the Apostle Paul, that you should pray for this, that I pray for this and this and this, says he. These things explicitly according to the will of God. The ongoing work of God's Holy Spirit, enlightening our eyes and strengthening our hearts. This is the will of God, there need be no doubt about it. And we may come and come constantly and ceaselessly, knowing that we are heard, and be confident that we shall be given what we ask. John gives one example. He says, if any man see his brother sinning a sin that is not unto death, he shall ask God, and God will give him life for him that sins not unto death. People have been divided, haven't they, as to what this matter is, the sin unto death. I shall give you what I think. You may well hold a different viewpoint, and the leader of your discussion group might even hold a third. As far as the language goes, it is important that we decide the question, isn't it? What it means when it says God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. Who's the him to whom the life is given? I take it that what the verse is saying is that when the intercessor comes before God and asks life for this sinning brother, that God listens to the intercessor and grants him the gift he's asking. He gives to the intercessor the life for him that sins not unto death. An example would the Old Testament would be Abram interceding for Lot, his nephew who had got mixed up with the ungodliness of the s- uh, of the cities of the plain. And Abraham pleaded with God to spare the city for Lot's sake. There were so few righteous in the city that the city couldn't be spared. But when at last God visited that place with judgment, and Lot was delivered out of it, the Bible records how it was that Lot was delivered. It says that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the city, giving to Abraham life for Lot. If I understand it so, then that encourages me to take it to mean a believer whose sin has led at the moment to physical chastisement from the Lord, or the danger of such physical chastisement from the Lord. In which case, a believer, his friend is allowed to pray for him, and God is prepared to listen to the intercessor and give the erring brother the opportunity to repent and to save his life here on earth. Other views I know are perhaps possible. For time's sake, I shall not deal with them now. The whole thing will come up in question time anyway. Let's come finally to the great statements of Christian truth, that we may know of a certainty. For these are God's truths revealed to us. We know, says verse eighteen, that whosoever is begotten of God does not go on continuing in sin. We know the great reality of practical holiness. This is not moonshine. God's salvation makes a difference. It does work. We know it works. A genuine believer does not go on continuing in sin. Yes, from time to time he may fall, as we have seen, but he will not continue as the practice of his life therein. But he that was begotten of God keepeth him. And in your discussion groups, you will probably want to discuss whether that phrase, he that was begotten of God, refers to the believer, so that it means that the believer keeps himself. And we are so exhorted, aren't we, in other parts of scripture, keep yourselves in the power of the love of God. But John uses an unusual tense in that second expression. Not he that has been begotten of God keeps him, but he that was begotten of God. And following now an alternative reading, he that was begotten of God keeps him. So now it's not a question of the believer keeping himself, but the only begotten Son of God keeping him. And if one is allowed preference in these things, I hope the second one is right, don't you? Good. Because you'll see what match would we be in the end if we stood by ourselves against the wiles of the devil. He that was begotten of God keeps him. It is an example I often cite, and surely we often, all of us, remember on that fearful occasion when Satan made his great attack on Peter. Yes, Peter fell, but Satan didn't keep him in his grip, did he? Why not? Because he that was begotten of God kept the dear man by his intercessions and brought him through and out from the failure under Satan's attack, and Satan didn't keep his hold on him. Oh, thank God, for he that was begotten of God, our blessed Lord, he keeps us. We may know it, my brethren. This is not moonshine either. This is the real red raw stuff of life. It is true. Practical holiness with the new birth within, the new life within, and the Savior without. We know then we are of God, the reality of regeneration and our personal relationship with God. We know we are of God. Ask a little child whether it knows its parents. Of course it does. This is not imagination. They may not be able to give you some philosophic justification on the lines of epistemology. The four-year-old, how it knows its mum is its mum. It knows by better means than epistemology. That's mum, and that's dad. And we know we are of God. In contrast with the world that lies, as one man has put it, rocked to sleep in the very arms of the evil one. And alas, very often they don't know it. But this great world, its thought patterns engineered ultimately by the prince of this world and the god of this world, and he has men, very nice men and women, many of them, in his arms, and they're lost. Oh, how real the matter of salvation and our personal relation to the Lord should be. We know it. And finally, the rea- uh, the reality, a whole cluster of things, the reality of the historical coming of the Son of God. We know that the Son of God has come. We have the evidence. There is not humility to say that we're not sure. We know he has come. And what's more, he has given us an understanding. Like the man that was once blind, we will say to all our Pharisees who question us, I have but one thing I know, gentlemen, whereas I was blind, now I see. We know the Son of Ma- uh, God has come and has given us an understanding that we might know him that is true. And what is more, that we are in him that is true, even in his son Jesus Christ. The reality of his historical coming, the reality of the faculty that he has given us to know God, and the reality of our being in God and in his son. And it all adds up to what? Oh, not merely to a set of beliefs. It adds up to God himself. This is the true God and eternal life. With that we come to our warning. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Now, for the last time, our little chart of divisions. We come once more to those final warnings. In the first week we were looking, and the second, to the warning in the first division, warning us not to be deceived by false Christs. And then last week again, as we came to the end of the second session, warning us not to be deceived by false spirits. And now finally, the warning not to be deceived by false gods. An idol, of course, is something that you love more than you love God. But it's more than that, isn't it? For very few in the ancient world loved their idols, but they trusted them, and they feared them. And the question is, ultimately, whom or what do I trust? This is the true God. Trusting him, you have eternal life now, and you have it forever. Put your trust in anything else, and it is a false God, and it will let you down disastrously. This is the true God. Keep yourselves from idols. And now to our studies.