1 João 3
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 3:1
Spurgeon - Who calls the saints the sons of God? The Father himself does so. He speaks unto them as unto children. He deals with them as with sons. He is pleased in infinite love to bid them say, ‘Our Father’, and he answers to them by calling them children and heirs. He acknowledges their sonship and pities them ‘as a father pitieth his children’. He has called them sons, saying, ‘I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ Oh what a blessing it is to have God calling you his child, the great Almighty and Infinite One looking upon you with a Father’s love and saying, ‘Thou art my son’! He speaks the truth; we may believe it and be sure: he knows his own children and gives the name of sons to none whom he will in the end disown. He calls us his children ‘and we are’. Who has called us the sons of God? Jesus himself, ‘the firstborn among many brethren’, has called us so. Did he not speak of ‘my Father, and your Father’? What did he mean when he was ‘not ashamed to call’ us ‘brethren’? Everywhere our dear Lord and Master speaks of us as belonging to the one family of which he is the Head. By sweetly taking us into union with himself Jesus practically calls us Sons of God ‘and we are’. The Holy Spirit also dwells in all the heirs of heaven and thereby calls them sons of God. He bears ‘witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God’; and it is he who is given to us to be ‘the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.’ That ‘Abba, Father’ of ours is prompted by the Spirit of grace, who would never prompt a stranger and an alien to claim kinship with the Lord. Oh no! The witness of the Holy Spirit is the witness of truth. A filial spirit implanted by the Spirit of God cannot deceive us. Thus Father, Son and Holy Spirit call us the children of God ‘and we are’. (“And We Are”: A Jewel from the Revised Version) Steven Cole makes the point that it is sad but true of our human nature that "Some things grow commonplace over time. We’ve heard about them and known them for years. Maybe at first, when it was new, an idea or experience affected us. But over the years, the effect grows weaker and weaker, until finally it’s just a far-distant memory. But the Father’s great love for us is the kind of experience that should grow stronger and stronger over the years, until it totally dominates every aspect of our lives. It should consume our thoughts and control our behavior (cp 2Co 5:14). It should motivate us to serve God and to live holy lives. It should give us comfort in all our trials. It should fill us with the eager hope of being with Him in heaven. It should fill us with awe and worship, that He, the holy sovereign of the universe, would set His love on a sinful, self-willed rebel like me! “Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou, my God, should die for me!” Don’t let yourself ever hear of the Father’s great love and think, “Ho hum!” It ought always to amaze you. (The Father's Great Love) (Bolding and color added) Spurgeon in expositional notes (See 1 John 3 Exposition) comments on 1 John 3 that it.... is a chapter in every word and a sermon in every letter. How it opens with a "Behold!" because it is such a striking portion of sacred Scripture, that the Holy Ghost would have us pay particular attention to it. "Behold!" says He, "read other Scriptures if you like, with a glance, but stop here. I have put up a way-mark to tell you there is something eminently worthy of attention buried beneath these words." "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us." Consider who we were, and who we are now; ay, and what we feel ourselves to be even when divine grace is powerful in us. And yet, beloved, we are called "the sons (children) of God." It is said that when one of the learned heathens was translating this, he stopped and said, No; it cannot be; let it be written 'Subjects,' not 'Sons,' for it is impossible we should be called 'the sons of God.' What a high relationship is that of a son to his father! What privileges a son has from his father! What liberties a son may take with his father! and oh! what obedience the son owes to his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that, and more than that, we now have through Christ. "Behold!" ye angels! stop, ye seraphs! here is a thing more wonderful than heaven with its walls of jasper. Behold, universe! open thine eyes, O world. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." Well, we are content to go with Him in his humiliation, for we are to be exalted with him. "Beloved, now are we the sons (children) of God." That is easy to read; but it is not so easy to feel. "Now are we the sons (children) of God." How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow and suffering? "Now are you a son of God." Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? "Beloved, now are you a son of God." Does your faith almost fail you? and are your graces like a candle well nigh blown out by the wind! Fear not, beloved; it is not your graces, it is not your frames, it is not your feelings, on which you are to live: you must live simply by naked faith on Christ. Beloved, now are we the sons (children) of God." With all these things against us, with the foot of the devil on our neck, and the sword in his hand ready to slay us—beloved now in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be—now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, as much in the dungeon as in the palace, as much when broken on the wheel of suffering as when exalted on the wings of triumph—"beloved, now are we the sons of God." "Ah!" but you say, "see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory." But read the next: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him." We are not so much like him now, but we have some more refining process to undergo, and death itself, that best of all friends, is yet to wash us clean. "We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." AN ASTONISHING LOVE! See (eido - aorist imperative - plural "All of you behold") how great (potapos) a love (agape) the Father (pater) has bestowed (perfect tense - speaks of permanence of this love; NIV = "has lavished on us") on us, that (hina - term of purpose - purpose of this gift of His love) we would be called (kaleo) children (teknon - "born ones") of God; and such we are. For this reason (term of conclusion = therefore - because we are children of God) he world (kosmos) does (absolutely) not know (ginosko - intimately) us (as new creations in Christ), because (term of explanation - explains why world does not know us) it (absolutely) did not know (ginosko - intimate, personal relation with) Him - Daniel Akin on this great love says "The love of the Father is out of this world and it is a love that will never be taken away. It is an amazing love that awes and astonishes and it has given for us to enjoy forever and ever and ever." It is a Jeremiah 31:3+ everlasting kind of love, a Hebrews 13:5+ kind of love, one that will absolutely never desert us or forsake us! Behold, what wondrous grace The Father hath bestowed On sinners of a mortal race To call them sons of God. Nor doth it yet appear How great we must be made; But when we see our Saviour here, We shall be like our Head. Isaac Watts, 1674–1748 Daniel Akin goes on the explain that "This Father’s love is a forever love and its results are 2-fold: we are now called the children of God and this is who we are! Called His children → I bear His name. Are His children → I have His nature. Once I was a slave to sin but now I am a child of God. What an incredible truth to grasp and meditate on. What a beautiful balance this brings to my self awareness. There is no place for either an inferiority or superiority complex. I am who I am by gracious adoption and regeneration. That fosters humility. I am who I am as God’s child. That fosters security and certainty....In almost a passing comment John says this world doesn’t understand this incredible relationship. That should not really surprise us. "Behold, what foreign-kind of love" is literally what John writes. -- Warren Wiersbe How great (4217) (potapos possibly from pote = interrogative adverb [when?] + pou = where?) is firstly an interrogative adjective which means "of what sort or what kind?" (speaking of quality). When potapos is used (as in the present passage) in an exclamation, the context conveys the sense of admiration = "how great!"; "how wonderful!", "how glorious!" (cp Mk 13:1) John Stott says potapos always implies astonishment. Vine says it means "primarily, “from what country,” then, “of what sort”. Steven
1 João 3:2
Spurgeon comments "To behold God's face and to be changed by that vision into his image, so as to partake in his righteousness, this is my noble ambition; and in the prospect of this I cheerfully waive all my present enjoyments. My satisfaction is to come; I do not look for it as yet. I shall sleep awhile, but I shall wake at the sound of the trumpet; wake to everlasting joy, because I arise in thy likeness, O my God and King! Glimpses of glory good men have here below to stay their sacred hunger, but the full feast awaits them in the upper skies. Compared with this deep, ineffable, eternal fulness of delight, the joys of the worldlings are as a glowworm to the sun, or the drop of a bucket to the ocean." Why can believers be so confident? Because the Scripture clearly teaches that one day in the future, we will become like Christ and that this divine transformation/conformation (to the image of Christ, Ro 8:29+, "into conformity with the body of His glory" = Php 3:20, 21+) will take place in a moment, in an instant! Paul explained this great truth in 1Co 15+, the "Resurrection Chapter" writing that… Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (cp Kingdom of Heaven or God); nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, (idou = this word is inserted to add a peculiar vivacity to the text by bidding/commanding the reader to attend to what is said - "Behold! See! Lo!". The aorist imperative = a command to "Do it now! Listen up! Don't miss this next important point!") I tell you a mystery (musterion); we will not all sleep (at the Rapture), but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1Th 4:16+,1Th 4:17+). For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1Cor 15:49-53+) (See also Table comparing Rapture vs Second Coming) We know (1492) (eido/oida - eido is used primarily in the perfect tense = oida) literally means perception by sight (perceive, see) as in Mt 2:2 where the wise men saw His star. The meaning of eido is somewhat difficult to convey but in general this type of "knowing" is distinguished from ginosko (and epiginosko, epignosis), the other major NT word for knowing, because ginosko refers to knowledge obtained by experience or "experiential knowledge" whereas eido often refers to knowledge which is more intuitive, although the distinction is not always crystal clear. In spiritual terms, eido is the perception, the awareness, the understanding that only the Holy Spirit can give. And considering it's "genesis" eido is knowledge which is absolute and without a doubt. Oida further suggests fullness of knowledge, rather than progress in knowledge, which is expressed by ginosko, a distinction illustrated in John 8:55, (Jesus said "you have not come to know {ginosko} Him, but I know {oida} Him). Here Jesus says in essence "I know God perfectly (oida)". In John 13:7 Jesus addresses Peter (Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize {oida} now, but you shall understand {ginosko} hereafter.") Know (eido/oida) carries the idea of well assured knowledge and in context describes the divinely given intuitive knowledge which every one of John's readers received when they were born into the family as children of God and became partakers of His divine nature (2Pe 1:4+). Unsaved men cannot know divine truth intuitively unless they are born by the Spirit into God's family (1Co 2:14+). In short, the children of God know that this life is not all there is to eternal life, but that one day (soon) our Beloved Bridegroom, will appear in the sky, and call us home to be with Him forever. Hallelujah! In that day when He appears we will instantaneously transformed and conformed into His likeness (cp Php 3:20, 21+) It is notable that the apostle John uses eido/oida 13 times in this short epistle (1 John 2:11, 20, 21, 29; 3:2, 5, 14, 15; 5:13, 15, 18, 19, 20) (for comparison, Paul uses eido/oida 16 times in the 16 chapter letter of Romans). Clearly John wants his readers to know that they know! (And beloved of God, he wants us today to have this same confidence and assurance! cp the principle in Ro 10:17+) In regard to their knowledge which John alludes to here in 1Jn 3:2, notice what the apostle had just taught the saints about their intuitive, "beyond a shadow of a doubt" knowledge… But you (addressing the believers in Christ) have (present tense = continual possession of) an anointing (KJV = "unction" - chrisma - see below) from the Holy One (8x in the NT study to see "Who" the "Holy One" is = Mk 1:24, Lk 4:34, Jn 6:69, Ac 2:27, 13:35, 1Pe 1:15, 1Jn 2:20, Re 16:5), and you all know (eido/oida = not a studiously acquired knowledge, but an inner Spirit-imparted knowledge) (all = not just a few of the more "elite" saints but "you all without exception know beyond a shadow of a doubt"). (1John 2:20+) Comment: Keep the context in mind - John knows that his readers are face with peril created by the presence of the many heretical antichrists (1Jn 2:18) and so he now reminds the saints of the resources which God has already provided them that they might meet and resist this doctrinal/spiritual crisis with confidence. The word for anoint is chrisma, where the -ma suffix refers to the result of an action… thus in 1Jn 2:20 the chrisma is the result of the Holy Spirit's work in us (cp Jesus' anointing Lk 4:18, saints anointing in 2Co 1:21, 22 - an anointing every believer receives at conversion!), as our Guide, Revealer of things to come, Witness and Glorifier of Christ. Each and every believer has received this "anointing" from the Holy One (Christ Jesus - cp His promise in Jn 14:17, 15:26, 16:13) in the form of His Holy Spirit Who now continually abides in and supernaturally enables every believer (especially in the context of 1John to discern between God's truth and the error of the Gnostics, cp Heb 5:14+) John goes on to expand upon the significance of this anointing for the children of God writing… And as for you (placed first for emphasis to contrast his believing readers with the deluded deceivers, cp 2Ti 3:13+), the anointing (chrisma - the only other NT use) which you received from Him abides (present tense) in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing (His indwelling Holy Spirit) teaches you (plural = emphasizes all believers have this competency) about all things (all things they need to know to distinguish truth from error in any teaching to which they are exposed. Eg, note the Spirit's teaching in Ro 8:16+), and is true and is not a lie (this is stated to assure the readers they have the necessary "equipment" to resist the deceivers), and just as it has taught you, you abide (although there is not clear consensus "abide" is most probably a present imperative which calls for the readers to accept responsibility to live in the sphere of the divine teaching and truth God has provided) in Him. (1Jn 2:27+) Comment: Note that His anointing continually abides or dwells (present tense) in all believers, equipping them to stand firm against deceivers and assuring victory as they appropriate His power in the experiences of daily life. Note also that when John says "you have no need for anyone to teach you", he does not infer that they no longer need a teacher to instruct and edify them, for that in fact is the very purpose of his letter (i.e., John is in effect "teaching" them). Keeping in mind the context of many deceivers (those who play loose with the truth), John is saying that the believers have the Holy Spirit who will enable them to discern the heretical errors and as D Edmond Hiebert says they have "no need for some cult leader to initiate them into additional secret 'knowledge' or professed spiritual insight." Kistemaker adds that "Believers do not have to consult learned professors of theology before they can accept God's truth; in the sight of God, clergy and laity are the same; the Holy Spirit is the teacher of every believer, without distinction." (Amen!) Note that this "beyond a shadow of a doubt" knowing in 1Jn 3:2 is also part of the fulfillment of the New Covenant promise made to those in Israel (the remnant) who would receive (Jn 1:11, 12+) and believe in their Messiah (Jer 31:31, 32, 33) and by way of application to all Gentiles who would believe in Him… And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know (Lxx = ginosko = aorist imp = know Jehovah by experience) the LORD,' for they shall all know (Septuagint/LXX = eido/oida - they shall all know by the Spirit given intuitive "beyond a shadow of a doubt" knowledge) Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer 31:34+) Daniel Akin adds that "Although the exact nature of the “not yet” has not been disclosed to John, he can affirm with certainty (1) the reality of Christ’s appearance and (2) that when he appears we will be like him. The verb “know” (oidamen) carries an assurance, a certain knowledge concerning this particular aspect of the parousia. As in 1Jn 2:29 the conditional aspect of ean (“if” or “whenever”) does not cast doubt on the certainty of the event itself, but rather on the exact time of the event. John wants his readers to anticipate and be prepared for the event, even though they do not know the time of this occasion. (See 1,2,3 John: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition) THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST When He appears (phaneroo) - First, note that John does not vacillate or equivocate. He clearly "prophesies" that Jesus will appear. Our English versions rightly translate it "when" not "if" even though technically the Greek word is a conditional particle (ean) (cf ean with same meaning in 1Jn 2:28+ "WHEN he appears"), but in this context it does not indicate uncertainty that Christ will return, but rather uncertainty about the exact time the event will take place (See related discussion on imminency). John's point is that Jesus will return. On that sure word of prophecy (2Pe 1:19KJV+) we can stake our lives, beloved. John had heard this precious promise from our Lord's own lips and he believed His promise. And it was undoubtedly truth such as this with which he had girded his mind for action so that he might remain steadfast in the face of fierce opposition and strong temptation. The application for believers today is clear. In his gospel John records Jesus' promises that… In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you (PROMISE #1). And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again (PROMISE #2), and receive you to Myself (PROMISE #3); that where I am, there you may be also (PROMISE #4). (Jn 14:2, 3+) And so here in 1Jn 3:2, John is clearly a making reference to the Second Coming (the "first phase") of Christ for believers in this present age, often termed the "church age", which will culminate at the Rapture of Christ's bride (Rapture), the Church (see Table comparing Rapture - the First Phase versus Second Coming; see also Table Outlining The Jewish Wedding Analogy - courtesy of Tony Garland) A few verses earlier John clearly alluded to the Second Coming of Christ writing… And now, little children, abide (present imperative - keep on abiding in Jesus. He is speaking not of perfection [which no one but Jesus could ever achieve] but of the general pattern of our life - only possible because of the Spirit Who is in us, continually "energizing us!") in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming (parousia). (1John 2:28+) D Edmond Hiebert writes that "John has no doubt as to the certainty of Christ's return, but he was well aware that, from the standpoint of those cherishing this hope (Related study: The Blessed Hope), its occurrence during their lifetime was uncertain. The condition expresses an attitude of expectancy, however. God in His wisdom left the date of Christ's return undisclosed so that each successive generation of believers may know the stimulating power of that blessed hope (cp Titus 2:11+, Titus 2:12+, Titus 2:13+, 1Jn 3:3+). The glory of God In the face of His Son To us who behold Him Is heaven begun. —Hess WE WILL BE LIKE HIM We will be like Him - This is both a promise and an assurance of future glorification which all the children of God possess. No more will they have the limitations they now experience in their “lowly” bodies, which are humbled by disease and sin. Their resurrected bodies will be like Christ’s, and their sanctification will be completed. "Like Him" is not the same as being Him, and thus John is not saying believers will one day be "little gods" as some falsely teach. The nature of our likeness to Christ will be a likeness in respect to ethical purity. --Colin Kruse In a parallel passage Paul reminds the saints who were citizens of the Roman colony of Philippi that… our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait (apekdechomai in the present tense = eager expectation for our next life should continually be our mindset in this present life!) for a Savior (soter), the Lord Jesus Christ Who will transform (metaschematizo) the body of our humble state (tapeinosis) into conformity with (summorphos) the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power (dunamai) that He has even to subject (hupotasso) all things to Himself. (Phil 3:20, 21+) Like (homoios) means like or similar and denotes of the same nature or kind as. This adjective reminds John’s readers that our transformation will be to a resemblance of Christ but not into little "Christs" or "little gods". Our future glorification the consummation of the glorious process begun at the new birth. And if our fellowship below In Jesus be so sweet, What heights of rapture shall we know When round His throne we meet. -- Charles Wesley Daniel Akin points out that "Scholars also disagree concerning the antecedent to the words “like him” (homoioi autō). While some suggest that the pronoun refers to God the Father, others believe it refers to Christ. Again, context appears to suggest the reference is to becoming like Christ. While it is true that the New Testament teaches that the believer is to be like God (Eph 5:1+), more frequently it refers to our Christlikeness (Ro 8:29+; 2Cor 3:18; Phil 3:20, 21+). So when John states that “we shall be like him,” his reference is to the promise that the Christian will be made like Christ. (ILLUSTRATION) W. Alexander recorded that on the mission field, when native converts came to this phrase, the scribe laid down his pen and exclaimed: “No! It (sic) is too much; let us write, ‘We shall kiss His feet.’” .(See 1,2,3 John: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition) Donald Burdick puts it this way - Believers can never be equal to Christ, since He is infinite and they are finite; but they can and will be similar to Him in holiness and in resurrection bodies. (Borrow The letters of John the Apostle : an in-depth commentary page 234) We have a present dignity and duty, though there is greater glory to come -- A T Robertson Paul explained that Christ-likeness is God's purpose for all of His children… for those whom He (God) foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren (Ro 8:29+) David
1 João 3:2
Spurgeon - A present religion (Sermon A Present Religion) “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” 1 John 3:2 We need not talk of walking righteously, and soberly, in the world to come—“There all is pure, and all is clear, There all is joy and love.” There will be no duty to discharge between the tradesmen and the customers, between the debtor and the creditor, between the father and the child, between the husband and the wife, in heaven, for all these relationships will have passed away. Religion must be intended for this life; the duties of it cannot be practised, unless they are practised here. But besides these, there are other duties devolving upon the Christian. Though it is every man’s duty to be honest and sober, the Christian has another code of law. It is the Christian’s duty to love his enemies, to be at peace with all men, to forgive as he hopes to be forgiven; it is his duty not to resist evil, when smitten on the one cheek to turn the other also; it is his duty to give to him that asketh of him, and from him that would borrow of him not to turn away—he is to be a liberal soul, devising liberal things. It is the Christian’s duty to visit his Master’s children when they are sick, so that it may be said to him at last, “I was sick, and naked, and in prison, and ye visited me, and ministered to my necessities.” Now, if religion be not a thing for this world, I ask you how it is possible to perform its duties at all? There are no poor in heaven whom we can comfort and visit; there are no enemies in heaven whom we can graciously forgive; and there are not injuries inflicted, or wrongs endured, which we can bear with patience. Religion must have been intended in the very first place for this world, it must have been meant that now we should be the sons of God. Alexander
1 João 3:2
Spurgeon - The beatific vision (Sermon The Beatific Vision) “We shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2 Not think about him, and dream about him; but we shall positively “see him as he is.” How different that sight of him will be from that which we have here. For here we see him by reflection. Now, I have told you before, we see Christ “through a glass darkly;” then we shall see him face to face. Good Doctor John Owen, in one of his books, explains this passage, “Here we see through a glass darkly;” and he says that means, “Here we look through a telescope, and we see Christ only darkly through it.” But the good man had forgotten that telescopes were not invented till hundreds of years after Paul wrote; so that Paul could not have intended telescopes. Others have tried to give other meanings to the word. The fact is, glass was never used to see through at that time. They used glass to see by, but not to see through. The only glass they had for seeing was a glass mirror. They had some glass which was no brighter than our black common bottle-glass. “Here we see through a glass darkly.” That means, by means of a mirror. As I have told you, Jesus is represented in the Bible; there is his portrait; we look on the Bible, and we see it. We see him “through a glass darkly.” Just as sometimes, when you are looking in your looking glass, you see somebody going along in the street. You do not see the person; you only see him reflected. Now, we see Christ reflected; but then we shall not see him in the looking-glass; we shall positively see his person. Not the reflected Christ, not Christ in the sanctuary, not the mere Christ shining out of the Bible, not Christ reflected from the sacred pulpit; but “we shall see him as he is.” William Law on 1Jn 3:2 - WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM - Consider the body. Here Jesus changes death's whole aspect. He dissolves its power. He takes away all icy terror from its sure approach. Death is no more a dreaded foe. It comes as a welcome friend. It is a jewel in the believer's casket. "All things are yours, life and death." It brings tidings that the chariot is ready to convey to endless rest--that the weary pilgrimage is ended--that Jesus is waiting to receive--that the ready mansions are prepared to welcome. Death is no loss to those whose life is Christ. Paul felt the truth, "To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21. To depart and to be with Christ is far better. But who can tell what gain? who can measure the length and breadth of the far better! Death opens the cage-door, and the liberated spirit flies to the sight of Jesus. It dissolves the detaining clay, and instantly the spirit is in Paradise. It touches, and its touch is never-ending bliss. Thus Jesus is our Life. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits." Ps 103:1. But the triumph of triumphs is not yet told. The consummating scene comes on speedily. Then will believers raise victorious heads. Their earthly frames will spring forth from their graves. A voice--a mighty voice--the voice of Jesus shall call, and they shall stand again on earth, a living multitude in living bodies. But oh! how changed! All traces of sin, and sin's hideousness, and sin's deformity, and sin's infirmity are forever gone. Corruption--dishonor--weakness disappear. Incorruption--glory--power, reign. The natural body is now spiritual--"When He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2. Where is death? It is completely vanquished. It is utterly abolished. It is swallowed up in victory. "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." Rev 20:14. Thus believers in resurrection-robes inherit life--the life of immortality--the life of glory--the life of blessedness in the presence of God and of the Lamb. Who will not love, and bless, and serve this great Redeemer--this glorious Conqueror--our thrice-precious Jesus! How perfect is His work! Its pinnacle cannot be higher. What adorations can we adequately render! Let every breath be praise. Let our few days on earth be wholly a thank-offering. Let our one study be to magnify His name. How little is all life-long service when weighed against the debt! But by the Spirit's help, let all we can do be most gladly done. And while abounding in the work of the Lord, let us ascribe all strength--all pardon--all salvation to free grace! The happiest pilgrimage on earth is living out of self, in Christ, to God--in sight of heaven--in hope of glory--smiling at death, and realizing endless life. Hallelujah! Come Lord Jesus! Amen. (Reference) Kenneth Osbeck - Borrow Amazing Grace page 226 FACE TO FACE (PLAY THIS HYMN) Carrie E. Breck, 1855–1934 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2, 3) For some the concept of heaven is a place of peaceful resting. Others envision it as filled with golden streets and sounds of beautiful music. For most of us the thought of reuniting with loved ones is comforting. However, the most thrilling anticipation for every believer when he reflects about heaven is surely the moment of seeing our Savior “face to face.” The thoughts so well expressed in “Face to Face” were written by a busy wife and mother who by her own admission could not carry a tune. She had only a sense of rhythm. She said, “I penciled verses under all conditions; over a mending basket, with a baby on my arm, and sometimes even when sweeping or washing dishes, my mind moved in poetic meter.” Living with her husband and five daughters in Portland, Oregon, Carrie Breck was a deeply committed Christian and life-long member of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Breck occasionally sent some of her poems to a composer of gospel hymns, Grant Colfax Tullar, with the hope that he would set them to suitable music. Amazingly, when the verses of “Face to Face” arrived in the mail one day, Mr. Tullar had just completed the music for a song with words that did not fully please him. The lines of Mrs. Breck’s text, however, were a perfect fit for the music he had composed. Face to face with Christ, my Savior, face to face—what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me! Only faintly now I see Him, with the darkling veil between; but a blessed day is coming, when His glory shall be seen. What rejoicing in His presence, when are banished grief and pain, when the crooked ways are straightened and the dark things shall be plain. Face to face—O blissful moment! Face to face—to see and know; face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ who loves me so. Chorus: Face to face I shall behold Him, far beyond the starry sky; face to face, in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by! For Today: Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 Anticipate the joy it will be to greet our Savior and to fully “see and know”—when the “crooked ways are straightened” and the “dark things shall be plain.” Share this hope with someone. Rejoice with this musical truth as you go— John
1 João 3:2
Spurgeon - Sermon Notes 1 John 3:2 The present condition of the believer, notwithstanding its imperfection, is a state of much joy and honour. Looked at in the light of faith it is sublime, for “now are we the sons of God.” We are near to God’s heart as his children. We nestle under the wings of God for protection. We abide in his pavilion for communion. We are fed in his pasture for provision. For all this, our earthly existence is not a life which we would desire to be perpetual. It is as a traveller’s pilgrimage, a sailor’s voyage, a soldier’s warfare; and we look forward to its end with joyful expectation. We will let the text divide itself verbally. I. “IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE.” At present we are veiled, and travel through the world incognito. 1. Our Master was not made manifest here below. His glory was veiled in flesh. His Deity was concealed in infirmity. His power was hidden under sorrow and weakness. His riches were buried under poverty and shame. The world knew him not, for he was made flesh. 2. We are not fit to appear in full figure as yet. The son is treated as a servant while under age. The heir is kept a pensioner till his majority. The prince serves as a soldier before he reaches the throne. We must needs have an evening before our morning, a schooling before our college, a tuning before the music is ready. 3. This is not the world to appear in. There are none to appreciate us, and it would be as though kings showed their royalty at a wake, or wise men discoursed philosophy before fools. A warring and waiting condition like the present would not be a fit opportunity for unveiling. 4. This is not the time in which to appear in our glory. The winter prepares flowers, but does not call them forth. The ebb-tide reveals the secrets of the sea, but many of our rivers no gallant ship can then sail. To everything there is a season, and this is not the time of glory. II. “BUT WE KNOW THAT WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR.” 1. We speak of our Lord’s manifestation without doubt. “We know.” 2. Our faith is so assured that it becomes knowledge. He will be manifest upon this earth in person. He will be manifest in perfect happiness. He will be manifest in highest glory. He will appear surely, and so we speak of it as a date for our own manifesting—“when he shall appear.” Oh the hope, the glory, the bliss, the fulness of delight which cluster around this great appearing! III. “WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM.” We shall then be as manifested, and as clearly seen, as he will be. The time of our open presentation at court will have come. 1. Having a body like his body. Sinless, incorruptible, painless, spiritual, clothed with beauty and power, and yet most real and true. 2. Having a soul like his soul. Perfect, holy, instructed, developed, strengthened, active, delivered from temptation, conflict, and suffering. 3. Having such dignities and glories as he wears. Kings, priests, conquerors, judges, sons of God. We must be made in a measure like him now, or else we shall not be found so at his appearing. IV. “WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS.” 1. This glorious sight will perfect our likeness. 2. This will be the result of our being like him. 3. This will be evidence of our being like him, since none but the pure in heart can see God. The sight will be ravishing. The sight will be transforming and transfiguring. The sight will be abiding, and a source of bliss for ever. Behold what glories come out of our being the sons of God! Let us not rest till by faith in Jesus we receive power to become sons of God, and then let us go on to enjoy the privileges of sonship. LIGHTS God showed power in making us creatures, but love in making us sons. Plato gave God thanks that he had made him a man, and not a beast; but what cause have they to adore God’s love, who hath made them children! The apostle puts an ecce to it, Behold!—Thomas Watson. And here, reader, wonder not if I be at a loss; and if my apprehensions receive but little of that which is in my expressions. If to the beloved disciple that durst speak and enquire into Christ’s secrets, and was filled with his revelations, and saw the New Jerusalem in her glory, and had seen Christ, Moses, and Elias in part of theirs; if it did not appear to him what we shall be, but only in general, that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, no wonder if I know little.—Richard Baxter, in “The Saint’s Everlasting Rest.” Such divine, God-given glimpses into the future reveal to us more than all our thinking. What intense truth, what divine meaning there is in God’s creative word: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”! To show forth the likeness of the Invisible, to be partaker of the divine nature, to share with God his rule of the universe, is man’s destiny. His place is indeed one of unspeakable glory. Standing between two eternities, the eternal purpose in which we were predestinated to be conformed to the image of the first-born Son, and the eternal realization of that purpose when we shall be like him in his glory. We hear the voice from every side: O ye image-bearers of God! on the way to share the glory of God and of Christ, live a Godlike, live a Christlike life!—Andrew Murray. A converted blind man once said, “Jesus Christ will be the first person I shall ever see, for my eyes will be opened in heaven.” Then shall we see Thee as Thou art, For ever fix’d in no unfruitful gaze, But such as lifts the new-created heart, Age after age, in worthier love and praise. John Keble. “You are going to be with Jesus, and to see him as he is,” said a friend to Rowland Hill on his deathbed. “Yes,” replied Mr. Hill with emphasis, “and I shall be like him; that is the crowning point.” To see him as he is, and in himself, is reserved till we shall have better eyes: these eyes we have are carnal and corruptible, and cannot see God till they have put on incorruption.—Sir Richard Baker. One view of Jesus as he is Will strike all sin for ever dead. W. Cowper. Spurgeon - In my flesh I shall see God. Job 19:26 Consider the subject of Job’s devout anticipation: “I shall see God.” He does not say, “I shall see the saints”—though doubtless that will be untold happiness—but “I shall see God.” It is not “I shall see the pearly gates, I shall behold the walls of jasper, I shall gaze upon the crowns of gold,” but “I shall see God.” This is the sum and substance of heaven; this is the joyful hope of all believers. It is their delight to see Him now in the ordinances by faith. They love to behold Him in communion and in prayer; but there in heaven they shall have an open and unclouded vision, and thus seeing “him as he is,”1 shall be made completely like Him. Likeness to God—what more can we wish for? And a sight of God—what can we desire better? Some read the passage, “Yet I shall see God in my flesh” and find here an allusion to Christ as the Word made flesh, and that glorious beholding of Him that shall be the splendor of the latter days. Whether so or not, it is certain that Christ shall be the object of our eternal vision; nor shall we ever want any joy beyond that of seeing Him. Do not think that this will be a narrow sphere for the mind to dwell in. It is but one source of delight, but that source is infinite. All His attributes shall be subjects for contemplation, and as He is infinite under each aspect, there is no fear of exhaustion. His works, His gifts, His love to us, and His glory in all His purposes and in all His actions, these shall make a theme that will be ever new. The patriarch looked forward to this sight of God as a personal enjoyment. “Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”2Take realizing views of heaven’s bliss; think what it will be to you. “Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty.”3 All earthly brightness fades and darkens as we gaze upon it, but here is a brightness that can never dim, a glory that can never fade—”I shall see God.” Daily Light on the Daily Path - When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.—By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.—Christ . . . will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.—As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. 1 John 3:2; John 1:12; 2 Pet. 1:4; Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 13:12; Phil. 3:20–21; Ps. 17:15 A W Tozer - 1 JOHN 3:2 My Daily Pursuit: Devotions for Every Day - Page 224 I like a certain grotesque illustration that seems to get the idea across. It is simply having an angel and an ape sitting together in a room, staring at each other. There is absolutely no way of getting them together. How could you do it? If the great God Almighty could take from the angel that glorious and blessed celestial nature that is his, and deposit it in the ape, the ape would leap to his feet, shake hands with the angel and call him by name, because similarity would instantly be there. As long as the one has the nature of an ape and the other of an angel, there can be nothing but everlasting dissimilarity. Therefore, the world with all of its money and culture and education and science and philosophy is still a moral ape. The holy God cannot compromise Himself to fellowship, and neither can that man understand God, for the natural man cannot understand God, and there can be no fellowship. God moved in Christ, died on the cross, took the obstacles away and now by the new birth gives some of His own delightful divine nature to the sinner, and the sinner looks up and says, “Abba Father,” for the first time in his life. Standing on the promises I now can see Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me; Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free, Standing on the promises of God. R. KELSO CARTER (1849–1928) Abba Father is so sweet to my lips as I meditate on my relationship with Thee. I once was nothing more than a moral ape; but Jesus changed all that when He died on the cross for me. Hallelujah for the Lamb that was slain! Amen. Chris Tiegreen - 1 John 3:2 The One Year Experiencing God's Presence Devotional Before a worship service, I had been discouraged, burdened, and pessimistic. During the worship time, I began to sense Jesus’ Presence and feel hopeful and lighthearted. For that brief time, I felt that I could have faith for anything and do anything He called me to do, no matter how impossible. And then a few hours afterward, I began to feel discouraged, burdened, and pessimistic again. What was the difference? Before, during, and after, I was spiritually affected by the climate around me. John told us that when Jesus comes back, seeing Him will transform us. It’s a someday promise, but it has smaller, more immediate implications. Apparently, the more clearly we see Him, the more like Him we become. Surrounded by joy, hope, and the Presence, we get glimpses of who He really is as well as who we really are. But when we unplug from that environment, we can completely lose sight of any cause for hopefulness. When He is near, we are changed to be like Him. And when He isn’t—or at least when we aren’t experiencing His nearness—we are affected by the world around us or the fears within us. Which is the true you? Most people think a spiritual experience is a nice high but an exception to normal life. But actually, our new identity comes out when we’re with Him, and the rest is an aberration that’s passing away and one day will be gone forever. If the Presence will define who we are on the last day, as John says, then it already has the power to define us now. Hang on to those moments of faith and power. That’s His Presence drawing your true self out. Jesus, I know I’ll be like You when I see You as You are. But as I come into Your Presence now, let me see You more clearly and be transformed. You bring out the best in me, and I embrace as my true self the person I become when I am with You Daily Light on the Daily Path - The Lord Jesus Christ . . . will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.—And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.—Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore.”—And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Phil. 3:20–21; Ezek. 1:26–28; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 7:16; Rev. 15:3 Daily Light on the Daily Path - They will see his face. “Please show me your glory.” . . . “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”—No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.—“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.” “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”—I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.—We shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.—For the Lord himself will descend from heaven. . . . And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Rev. 22:4; Ex. 33:18, 20; John 1:18; Rev. 1:7; Num. 24:17; Job 19:25—26; Ps. 17:15; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thess. 4:16—17 Daily Light on the Daily Path - Our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.—Whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke.—When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed. The whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves . . . groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.—Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.—When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Titus 2:13; Heb. 6:19–20; Acts 3:21; 2 Thess. 1:10; Rom. 8:22–23; 1 John 3:2; Col. 3:4; Rev. 22:20 1 John 3:1-3 Unprepared A small boy, Paul Haley lived in Denver, suffering from terminal cancer. President Dwight Eisenhower often vacationed in Denver and learned of this boy’s illness. One day he drove up to the lad’s house in the presidential limousine. His father came to the door, unshaven, hair uncombed, blue jeans, dirty T-shirt. The President gave Paul a gift, picked him up, and took him out to see the limousine. Within 20 minutes the President was gone, and all the neighborhood was abuzz with the excitement of the visit. World Aflame, Billy Graham, 1966 Daily Light on the Daily Path - You are my refuge in the day of disaster. There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”—But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” You hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” “For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.—“Your sorrow will turn into joy.”—Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Jer. 17:17; Ps. 4:6; Ps. 59:16; Ps. 30:6–10; Isa. 54:7–8; John 16:20; Ps. 30:5 Phillip Brooks - 1 John 3:2, 3. Not merely, I shall grow so that I shall be able to understand vastly more of what God is and of what He is doing. God also will be ever doing new things. He is forever active. He has purposes concerning me which He has not yet unfolded. Therefore each year grows sacred with wondering expectation. Therefore I and the world may go forth from each old year into the new which follows it, certain that in that new year God will have for us some new treatment which will open for us some novel life. For lo! in hidden deep accord, The servant may be like his Lord. And Thy love, our love shining through, May tell the world that Thou art true, Till those who see us see Thee too. A. L. Waring. Jack Hayford -1 John 3:2 Celebrate!: Daily Devotions for the Spirit-filled Life There is a two–part miracle that happens to make us like Jesus. It begins when we open ourselves to His life as our Savior. We are born again in an instant, translated from death to life. And like any newborn, when we start growing, we look like our parents! Second Corinthians 3:18 declares we “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” As long as we live, this process of growth towards maturity takes place. The second stage of our transformation will occur at His return: “when He is revealed, we shall be like Him.” Instantly, “in the twinkling of an eye,” everything of our corruptible, mortal existence will give way to incorruptible immortality, just like our Lord (1 Cor. 15:52). The Lord will accomplish this final stage of the process. We partner with Him in growth, but He sovereignly transforms the rest at His coming. And, “we shall be like Him.” C H Spurgeon - LOOK AT DAVID'S LORD AND Master. See His beginning. "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). See the end. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Matthew 22:44). Like our Lord, you must bear the cross, or you will never wear the crown. You must wade through the mire, or you will never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, Christian, for the end of a thing is better than its beginning. See the creeping worm; its appearance is contemptible. It is the beginning of a thing. Mark the insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunlight, sipping at the flowers, full of happiness and life. The end of that thing was better than its beginning. You are that caterpillar. Until you are wrapped in the chrysalis of death, be content to follow your Master. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (I John 3:2). You will be satisfied when you wake in His likeness. The rough diamond is put on the wheel of the lapidary. It is cut on all sides; it loses much that seems costly. Yet a glittering ray flashes from the diamond that was so roughly cut. Compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people, and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work. In the day when the crown will be set on the head of the King - Eternal, Immortal, Invisible (I Timothy 1:17) - one ray of glory will stream from you. "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels'" (Malachi 3:17). "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." Billy Graham - GOD’S FOREVER KINGDOM 1 JOHN 3:2 Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional - Page 153 The government in God’s Kingdom is unique. It is not a democracy where the people govern, but a Christocracy where Christ is the supreme Authority. In a government of unredeemed men, democracy is the only fair and equitable system. But no democracy can ever be better than the people who make it up. When men are selfishly motivated, the government will be inequitable. When men are dishonest, the government will be the same. When everyone wants his own way, someone is going to get hurt. But in God’s Kingdom, Christ is King. He is compassionate, fair, merciful, and just. When He is sovereign in men’s hearts, anguish turns to peace, hatred is transformed into love, and misunderstanding into understanding. Not only this, but God’s Kingdom is lasting. The history of man has been a continuous series of half successes and total failures. Prosperity exists for a time, only to be followed by war and depression. Twenty-six major civilizations have come and gone, and man still battles with the same problems, over and over again. But the Kingdom of God will abide forever. The fluctuations of time, the swinging of the pendulum from war to peace, from starvation to plenty, from chaos to order, will end forever. The Bible says, “And of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33). Our Father and our God, I am a willing citizen of Your Kingdom. I will be loyal and faithful to You as sovereign King and Ruler of the Kingdom. Help me to live in this earthly domain as a child of the King and a citizen of a higher Kingdom. Let me work alongside You until that day when the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdoms of our Lord. In His victorious name I pray. Amen. Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Getting the Picture—1 John 3:2 The Quiet Place: Daily Devotional Readings - Page 19 I ENJOY WORKING JIGSAW PUZZLES. When I first open the box, however, it’s hard to believe there’s actually a picture contained in all those oddly shaped pieces. So I keep looking at the picture on the box, which shows me what the puzzle is supposed to look like when it’s finished. Without that picture, I’d be lost. As we look at the jumbled pieces of our lives, sometimes it’s hard to fathom that they could ever form anything attractive. But God has given us a picture that shows what we will look like when He has finished His sanctifying, transforming work in us. It’s a picture of Jesus—His relationship with His Father, His relationship with others, His values and priorities, His words and character. In Christ we see a perfect reflection of our holy God, for “he is the radiance and the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). Of course, no amount of striving or self-effort can make us holy. Only Christ can do that. But He is the pattern for our lives. Jesus is holiness with a face. That’s why we need to keep looking at His picture throughout the assembly process, turning our eyes upon Him, being constantly reminded what the finished product is supposed to look like. Only then will we desire Him more fully—His beauty, His righteousness—instead of the sparkling enticements this world has to offer. In time we will look like the picture on the box. We will be transformed into His likeness. What aspects of Christ do you see that you most desire to characterize your life? What might God be doing right now to shape you into His likeness? SOULS THAT BEAR HIS IMAGE BRIGHT 1 JOHN 3:2 NIV, Once-A-Day: Walk with Jesus: 365 Days in the New Testament Adopting a son is one way to ensure that the family name will be passed on. The family likeness, however, is not so easily transmitted! Adoption into the family of God is different. There you receive both a new name and a new nature—the nature of God’s Son. The nature of purity, holiness, godliness. Being loved by him would be reason enough to rejoice. But John adds that “we shall be like him” when we see him face to face. Isaac Watts offers praise for that fact in these majestic stanzas. WALK WITH ISAAC WATTS Behold, the amazing gift of love The Father hath bestowed On us, the sinful sons of men, To call us sons of God! Concealed as yet this honor lies By this dark world unknown, A world that knew not when He came, Even God’s eternal Son. Our souls, we know, when He appears Shall bear His image bright: For all His glory, full disclosed, Shall open to His sight. A hope so great, and so divine, May trials well endure; And purge the soul from carnal sin, As Christ Himself is pure. WALK CLOSER TO GOD When you’ve received so much from the Father—life eternal in the family of God and all its accompanying blessings—the challenge to “well endure” trials doesn’t sound so unreasonable. Not when you have a Father to whom you can cry “Abba,” one who cares for his own like a tender shepherd, one who knows each of his children by name. Now would be a good time to bow in gratitude for such an “amazing gift of love.” Robert Neighbour - 1 John 3:2 It doth not yet appear what we shall be, We cannot push the veil apart, and see The all that waits us in eternity, It doth not yet appear; Yet, this we know, that sons of God we are, That all our sins from us are put afar, And we shall enter through the gates ajar; This hope is ever clear. We do not know the glory we shall share, We do not know the crown that we shall wear In God’s eternal, blessed overthere, This doth not now appear: Yet, this we know, that in the realms on high We shall be like Him in the by and by, Where comes no sorrow, and no pain, nor sigh, And where there is no tear. There is much we do not know for God has not told it all. Perhaps, He knew we could not grasp it, had He told us; perhaps, the world could not have held the books, had He sought to tell it all; perhaps, He wanted us to walk by faith, and not by sight. It must be that He held back great surprises of the riches of His grace that He might see our faces light up with joy, and our lips well up with praise as, in the ages to come, He unfolds to us His blessings. One thing we know: He has not told us all. Thank God for what we do know. What God has seen fit to give us by way of revelation fills our hearts with joyous anticipation of the exceeding riches yet to be revealed. We revel in the joys of ages yet unborn; and our hearts are full of glory. Not when the shades of evening fall, Not when we hear our upward call, Not when we see our Savior’s face, We’ll know the riches of His grace; But, as the ages hasten by, We’ll see in Heav’n the rich supply, Exceeding riches up above, Displaying all His wealth of love. C H Spurgeon —1 John 3:1,2 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” Consider who we were, and what we feel ourselves to be even now when corruption is powerful in us, and you will wonder at our adoption. Yet we are called “the sons of God.” What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings! What care and tenderness the son expects from his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that, and more than that, we now have through Christ. As for the temporary drawback of suffering with the elder brother, this we accept as an honour: “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” We are content to be unknown with him in his humiliation, for we are to be exalted with him. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” That is easy to read, but it is not so easy to feel. How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now—in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be—now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” “Ah, but,” you say, “see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory.” But read the next: “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him.” The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power shall refine our bodies, then shall we see him as he is. A W Tozer - Faith and Holiness Linked to Christ’s Return 1 John 3:2 The Bible does not approve of modern curiosity that plays with the Scriptures and which seeks only to impress credulous and gullible audiences! I cannot think of even one lonely passage in the New Testament which speaks of Christ’s revelation, manifestation, appearing or coming that is not directly linked with moral conduct, faith and spiritual holiness. The appearing of the Lord Jesus on this earth once more is not an event upon which we may curiously speculate—and when we do only that we sin! The prophetic teacher who engages in speculation to excite the curiosity of his hearers without providing them with a moral application is sinning even as he speaks. There have been enough foolish formulas advanced about the return of Christ by those who were simply curious to cause many believers to give the matter no further thought or concern. But Peter said to expect “the appearing of Jesus Christ.” Paul said there is a crown of righteousness laid up in glory for all those who love His appearing. John spoke of his hope of seeing Jesus and bluntly wrote: “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Are you ready for the appearing of Jesus Christ? Or are you among those who are merely curious about His coming? More Than We Imagine By David C. McCasland Read: 1 John 2:28-3:3 We are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. —1 John 3:2 For decades, astronomical artists have painted scenes of the universe based on a combination of scientific information and their own imaginations. But photographs from robotic space probes and the Hubble Space Telescope have redefined these artists’ view of reality. In a Los Angeles Times article, space artist Don Dixon said the first pictures of Jupiter’s moons Io and Europa “turned out to be much more exotic than anybody imagined.” Dixon now considers 70 percent of his space paintings to be “dated concepts” because reality has become more awesome than imagination. While the Bible tells us what Jesus said and did, it doesn’t describe how He looked. Our mental picture of Him has likely been influenced by art and illustrations in Sunday school materials. But one day, our image of Christ will be forever changed when we meet Him face to face. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). That hope will produce in us a pursuit of purity (v.3). Not only will we see our Lord as He is, but we will also be like Him. What an astonishing reality that will be more than we ever imagined! When Christ returns, we’ll see His face And be transformed by His good grace; Hope will become reality— Much more than we could ever see. —Sper All that we long to become will find fulfillment in our first look at Jesus. Billy Graham - We Shall Be Changed 1 JOHN 3:2 NIV Hope for Each Day Morning and Evening Devotions - Page 696 It’s natural to wonder what Heaven must be like. Are the streets really paved with gold? Will we know each other? What will we do with our time? These and a hundred other questions crowd our minds—and to be honest, the Bible doesn’t answer all our questions about Heaven. Heaven is so glorious, and our hearts and minds are so limited, that we can only dimly perceive its grandeur. I often think of the apostle Paul’s statement: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV). But one truth about Heaven is absolutely clear: we will be safely in God’s presence forever. All the fears and insecurities and sorrows and disappointments that afflict us here on Earth will be banished. So, too, will all the weaknesses and sins and failures that mark our lives right now. We will be changed—for we will be like Christ! When life weighs you down, turn your heart to Christ—for someday you will see Him, and all life’s burdens will be lifted from your shoulders forever. Warren
1 João 3:3
Spurgeon - Oh, what a blessed hope this is, — that, though we fall asleep, we shall surely wake again; and when we awaken, it will be in the likeness of the great Head of the family, and we ourselves shall be heirs of an inheritance in which there will be no sin and no corruption. That inheritance is kept for us, and we are kept for it; so the double keeping makes it doubly sure. Happy are the people to whom these verses apply. (1Peter 1- Commentary) The hope John describes in this verse is not "a" hope, but is "the" (definite article is present in the Greek) hope. So what? The preceding definite article (like our English "the") defines this hope as specific and not general. Our hope is not in our government, not in mankind, not in angelic beings, not in anything this world or the invisible world has to offer, save one thing and that is the sure hope, the blessed hope of the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And coupled with that hope is the hope (the certainty) that we will be changed and we will be like Him when we see Him as He is! Steven
1 João 3:3
Spurgeon - My Sermon Notes 1 John 3:3—“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” The Christian is a man whose main possessions lie in reversion. Most men have a hope, but his is a peculiar one; and its effect is special, for it causes him to purify himself. I. THE BELIEVER’S HOPE. “Everyone that hath this hope in him.” 1. It is the hope of being like Jesus. Perfect, Glorious, Conqueror over sin, death and hell. 2. It is based upon divine love. See verse 1. 3. It arises out of sonship. “Called the sons of God.” 4. It rests upon our union to Jesus. “When he shall appear.” 5. It is distinctly hope in Him. “We shall be like him,” etc. 6. It is the hope of his second Advent. II. THE OPERATION OF THAT HOPE. “Purifieth.” It does not puff up, like the conceit of Pharisees. It does not lead to loose living, like the presumption of Antinomians. It shows us what course is grateful, is congruous to grace, is according to the new nature, and is preparatory to the perfect future. 1. The believer purifies himself from— His grosser sins. From evil company, etc. His secret sins, neglects, imaginings, desires, murmurings, etc. His besetting sins of heart, temper, body, relationship, etc. His relative sins in the family, the shop, the church, etc. His sins arising out of his nationality, education, profession, etc. His sins of word, thought, action, and omission. 2. He does this in a perfectly natural way. By getting a clear notion of what purity really is. By keeping a tender conscience, and bewailing his faults. By having an eye to God and his continual presence. By making others his beacons or examples. By hearing rebukes for himself, and laying them to heart. By asking the Lord to search him, and practising self-examination. By distinctly and vigorously fighting with every known sin. 3. He sets before him Jesus as his model. “He purifieth himself, even as HE is pure.” Hence he does not cultivate one grace only. Hence he is never afraid of being too precise. Hence he is simple, natural, and unconstrained. Hence he is evermore aspiring after more and more holiness. III. THE TEST OF THAT HOPE. “He purifieth himself.” Actively, personally, prayerfully, intensely, continually, he aims at the purification of himself, looking to God for aid. Some defile themselves wilfully. Some take things as they are. Some believe that they need do purifying. Some talk about purity, but never strive after it. Some glory in that which is a mere counterfeit of it. The genuine Hoper does not belong to any of these classes: he really and successfully purifies himself. What must it be to be without a good hope? How can there be hope where there is no faith? Grace adopts us; adoption gives us hope; hope purifies us, till we are like the Firstborn. ANIMATING WORDS 1. First, The Workman. “Every one that hath this hope in him,” every one that looks to be like the Lord Jesus in the Kingdom of Glory is the man that must set about this task. 2. Secondly, The work is a work to be wrought by himself. He is a part of the Lord’s husbandry, and he must take pains as it were to plough his own ground, to weed his own corn, he must purify himself; this is his present and personal work. 3. Thirdly, the pattern by which he must be directed is the Lord Jesus: his purity. Take him for a pattern and instance; look unto him that is the author and finisher of our faith; as you have seen him do, so do you; as he is pure, so labour you to express in your lives the virtue of him who hath redeemed you.—Richard Sibbes. Then thou comportest with thy hopes of salvation when thou labourest to be as holy in thy conversation as thou art high in thy expectation This the apostle urgeth from the evident fitness of the thing, 2 Pet. 3:11: “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God?” Certainly, it becomes such to be holy, even to admiration, who look for such a blessed day: we hope then to be like the angels in glory, and therefore should, if possible, live now like angels in holiness. Every believing soul is Christ’s spouse. The day of conversion is the day of espousals, wherein she is betrothed by faith to Christ, and, as such, lives in hopes for the marriage-day, when he shall come and fetch her home to his father’s house, as Isaac did Rebekah to his mother’s tent, there to dwell with him, and live in his sweet embraces of love, world without end. Now, would the bride have the bridegroom find her in sluttery and vile raiment? No, surely: “Can a bride forget her attire?” Jer. 2:32. Was it ever known that a bride forgot to have her wedding clothes made against the marriage-day, or to put them on when she looks for her bridegroom’s coming? Holiness is the raiment of needlework in which, Christian, thou art to be brought to thy King and husband: Ps. 45:14. Wherefore is the wedding-day put off so long, but because this garment is so long a-making? When this is once wrought, and thou art ready dressed, then that joyful day comes. Remember how the Holy Spirit wordeth it in the Book of Revelation, “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready:” Rev. 19:7.—William Gurnall. A good hope, through grace, animates and gives life to action, and purifies as it goes; like the Highland stream that dashes from the rock, and purifies itself as it pursues its course to the ocean.—H. G. Salter. The Christian needs Christ in his redemption as the object of Faith, for salvation; Christ himself the object of Love, for devotion and service; and Christ in his coming glory, the object of Hope, for separation from the world.—W. Haslam. The biographer of Hewitson says of him: “He not only believed in the speedy appearing, but loved it, waited for it, watched for it. So mighty a motive power did it become, that he ever used to speak of it afterwards as bringing with it a kind of second conversion.” A. J. Gordon, D.D HOLINESS Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones Martyn Lloyd-Jones also speaks to the subject of holiness based on 1Jn 3:1-3. He reasons that based on our position as children of God (1Jn 3:1) and our sure hope of being like Him in that future glorious day when we see Christ as He is now (glorified in splendor and majesty) (1Jn 3:2), His children will volitionally, actively, continually seek to purify their hearts from the contamination of the world, the flesh and the devil's fiery missiles (1Jn 3:3). With this background, the good doctor writes that... We cannot very well look at this verse (1Jn 3:3) without observing the way in which the New Testament always presents its teaching with regard to this whole question of holiness. HOLINESS... DEDUCTION FROM DOCTRINE Here, I think, is a great corrective to what has so often taken place, and still does take place, in connection with this matter. Holiness, according to the New Testament, is an inevitable deduction from doctrine; it must never be regarded as something in and of itself. In other words, we must never approach the holy life simply in terms of living the holy life. And that, I think, is where the whole idea of monasticism and asceticism went astray. But the monastic conception of holiness is not, of course, confined to Roman Catholicism by any means. There are large numbers of evangelical people who clearly have a false idea of holiness; it is regarded as something in and of itself, something one has to go in for because of its nature, because it is a particular kind of life. But that is never the teaching of the New Testament. Holiness is something that follows and is an inevitable deduction from doctrine, from an understanding of our position as Christian people. And especially, I think, we must admit that the New Testament presents its teaching and doctrine of holiness in terms of this great truth concerning the blessed hope (Ed: See relationship between living for Christ in Titus 2:12+ and looking for Christ in Titus 2:13+). It is after it has told us what we are and who we are and of the hope that lies before us that the New Testament brings in this doctrine of holiness and sanctification and Christian behaviour. I must therefore never talk about this idea of living the holy life because it is a good life in and of itself. Rather, my only reason for being holy is that I am a child of God (1Jn 3:1+) and that I am destined for glory (1Jn 3:2+), and if I do not practise holiness in those terms I will sooner or later inevitably go astray. That is, of course, what has happened with this other teaching of holiness. When you make holiness a thing of itself, you then produce your rules and regulations. You begin to pay too much attention to little details; you become legalistic without realising it; you become self–righteous because you have carried out your duties, and you forget the real objective for which you have originally set out. HOLINESS WE...DO BECAUSE...WE...ARE Secondly, holiness is not something we are called upon to do in order that we may become something; it is something we are to do because of what we already are. Take this whole question of Lent. There is a great deal of teaching on this subject which really amounts to this: that we are to be holy and live the holy life in order that we may become truly Christian. Every phase or aspect of the doctrine of justification by works really teaches that; so any suggestion we may have in ourselves that we are to deny ourselves certain things, that we are not to do certain things, and that we are to discipline ourselves in order that we may become Christian is a denial of the doctrine of justification by faith (Ed: Contrast "grace denial" in Titus 2:12+) . But I am not to live a good and holy life in order that I may become a Christian; I am to live the holy life because I am a Christian (Ed: This is the apostle John's "template" - Those who have become children of God in the past and have the sure hope of glory in the future will live holy lives in the present!). I am not to live this holy life in order that I may enter heaven; it is because I know I am going to enter heaven that I must live this holy life. That is the emphasis here— ‘Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.’ I am not to strive and sweat and pray in order that at the end I may enter into heaven. No; I start rather from the standpoint that I have been made a child of God by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. I am destined for heaven; I have an assurance that I have been called to go there and that God is going to take me there, and it is because I know this that I am preparing now. I must never regard that as contingent and uncertain in order that I may make it certain. It is exactly the other way round: it is because I know I am going to meet God that I must prepare to meet Him. HOLINESS... ALL...ARE CALLED Thirdly, I must never conceive of holiness or sanctification as a kind of higher or happier or holier life which we are meant to enjoy as Christians and into which I ought to be entering. I must regard it rather as a life to which all Christians are inevitably called and which every Christian ought therefore automatically to be living. Now far too often the subject of holiness is handled like this: We are told that there is a wonderful life which you can live—a life with a capital L—a life of happiness and joy and peace. ‘Why don’t you enter into this life?’ we are asked. Indeed, we are told that there are two types of Christians, the ordinary Christian and then the Christian who has had some kind of double blessing. You can be a Christian without that, but how foolish you are not to take this higher something which is there for you. I say there is no such definition in the New Testament at all. Holiness is something that is applicable to every Christian, not something which is some kind of extra. It is the norm of the Christian life, the life that everyone who has truly seen the doctrine is doing his or her utmost to live and to practise, with none of this division or dichotomy. All Christians, if they understand the doctrine truly, may be, and are, living this kind of life. It is not something in a separate category and department; it is something that flows out of the life that is in them; it is an inevitable expression of what they have received. HOLINESS... SOMETHING...WE WORK OUT Or, lastly, let me put it like this: The holiness of which the New Testament speaks and the holy life, the life of sanctification which John talks of, is not so much something which we receive as a gift—it is rather something which we work out. Now here again I think this correction is needed. How often is the holiness doctrine presented in that form. We are told that as you have received your justification by faith as a gift, so you must now receive this gift of sanctification and holiness as a gift. So people get the idea that this life of holiness is something which comes to you perhaps in a meeting or a convention. You suddenly get it; you went to the meeting without it and then suddenly you got it. But surely this is a denial of this very teaching which John is holding before us. No; the position is rather this—not that it suddenly comes to me and I receive some special or exceptional blessing; the position, rather, is that I am reminded of the doctrine, I am reminded that I am a child of God, I am told of the inheritance that awaits me. I have been given a glimpse of the vision of the glory that awaits me beyond death and the grave, and having seen it I am told, ‘Now then, in the light of that, proceed to work this out, purify yourselves even as he is pure.’ It is not a gift received but something which I must work out and put into practise. Consider how the Apostle Paul puts the same thing in Philippians 2:12 (+), Php 2:13 (+): ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do.…’ And because of that you work it out. It is not some mystical experience that suddenly comes to us, but the outworking of the doctrine and the truth which we claim to believe. Now all that is surely something of which we are reminded as we take a superficial glance at this third verse in its connection with the second verse, and we can put the teaching like this: IF I REALLY BELIEVE... If I really believe what that second verse has told me, if I really know that I am a child of God, with all that that means, if I believe and know that I am destined for eternal glory in the presence of God the Father, if I really believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return again (Jn 14:3), to be ‘manifested,’ as John puts it, in this world as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Re 19:16+, Re 1:7+), if I believe He is coming to judge the world and to destroy everything that is evil and vile out of the universe as a whole (2Ti 4:1+), if I believe that I am going to be with Him in that glory (2Cor 5:8, 1Th 4:16+, 1Th 4:17+), if furthermore I believe that I am going to see Him as he is (1Jn 3:2+), if I really believe that I am going to be like Him (1Cor 15:51, 52, 53, 54), that my very body shall be glorified (Ro 8:30, Php 3:20, 21+), and that I shall be faultless and blameless and spend my eternity in His holy presence (Col 1:22+, Jude 1:24, 25), if I really believe all that, says John, then of necessity this must follow. What is it, then, that follows? The first thing that John tells us is that anyone who really believes that and has ‘this hope in him purifieth (hagnizo) himself.’ Now it is very important that we should realise that ‘him’ does not refer to the man himself, but to Christ. John does not say, ‘Every man that hath this hope within himself,’ but ‘Every man that hath this hope in him,’ in the Christ of whom he has just been speaking in 1Jn 3:2, in the Second Coming and in the power of our Lord to change our vile body so that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. It is the hope that is in Christ (1Ti 1:1), in all that He is going to bring into the world and in all that He will do. So, then, men and women who have this hope purify (hagnizo) themselves, and this is a very interesting and a most important word. It is a very positive word; we must never think of it as negative. There is a difference between purifying (hagnizo) and cleansing (katharizo). We have considered 1Jn 1:9 ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse (katharizo) us from all unrighteousness,’ and the main difference between the two words is that between an external action and an internal action. To cleanse is to deliver, on the surface, from evil and pollution and all that is unworthy; purification is something that happens within, in the spirit and in the mind and in the essential nature. Therefore to purify means, in a sense, not only to get rid of the tarnishing effect of sin upon me, but also to avoid sin in my whole nature and in my whole being; so what I am told is that, as a Christian, I inevitably purify myself. This means not only that I try to separate myself from the sins which I have committed in the past; it includes that, but it goes well beyond it. It means that with the whole of my being I shun sin, I avoid it (cp 1Pe 2:11+). I have a desire within me to be like Christ; I am striving to be like the Lord Himself. It is not just that I do not sin, but that I am positively and actively pure even as He was pure (Ed: This is ever a progressive process in this life and only an "arrival" in the life to come!). That is the whole idea of this word (hagnizo); it is a deeper and more profound word than just the idea of cleansing and of getting rid of the effects of sin upon the surface. It is indeed perfectly expressed in just one phrase; people who are concerned about purifying themselves are those who want to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not any longer merely think of just being a little bit better than obvious sinners in the world, nor a little bit better than they once were. Their whole idea is intensely positive and active. They say, ‘I want my nature to be such that I shall love the light and hate the darkness instead of loving the darkness and hating the light. (cp Jn 3:19, 20, 21, Ep 5:8+, Ep 5:9+, Ep 5:11, 12+) I want my whole being to be a positive desire to be like Christ and to be well—pleasing in His sight.’ (2Co 5:9, cp Ep 5:10+, Col 1:9+, Col 1:10+, 1The 4:1+, Heb 13:20, 21+) That, according to John, is the feeling of the men and women who truly understand this promise of the glory that yet awaits them. HOW AM I TO PURIFY MYSELF? Secondly, how do I do this? And here again we have to put it in the form perhaps of a criticism of a particular teaching. How am I to purify myself? Well, according to John, it is an active process, not a passive one; ‘Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth (hagnizo = present tense = process; active voice = volitional choice) himself.’ He does not submit to purification; he purifies himself. The whole emphasis is upon the activity. In other words, the New Testament teaching about holiness is not one which tells me that all I have to do is to let myself go and to surrender myself, to give up effort and striving. It is not just telling me that all I have to do is to die and get rid of myself and forget myself and then life will come in. No! It is active, and I am told to purify myself ‘even as he is pure.’ Now that is a doctrine which is not confined to John; you will find it everywhere in the New Testament. Take, for instance, the Apostle Paul in 2Corinthians 7:1+ ‘Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ That is an identical statement with the verse that we are considering here. Let us ‘ cleanse ourselves,’ not submit passively to some process which will cleanse us. Take also Hebrews 6:11, 12 (+) where we are exhorted to show some diligence in this matter of ‘the full assurance of hope unto the end’; we are not to be slothful, but, like those who have gone before us, we must be diligent and press on and strive to perfect ourselves because of the hope that is set before us. There are many other terms in the New Testament which suggest the same thing. Take those words which are used by the Apostle Paul in various places: Mortify (aorist imperative = command to do this now! Don't hesitate or procrastinate!) therefore your members which are upon the earth (Colossians 3:5+). I have to do that; these members will not agree to be mortified; I have to take them, and I have to punish my body (1Cor 9:27, cp Ro 6:13+). I am enabled to do that by the Holy Spirit Who has been given to me (Ro 8:13+, Gal 5:16+, Gal 5:18+; Gal 5:25+); yes, and that is included in the fact that I am a child of God (See Jn 1:12; Jn 11:52; Ro 8:16+; Ro 8:21+; Ro 9:8+; Php 2:15+; 1 Jn 3:1+; 1Jn 3:2+; 3:10; 5:2). I have been born again, I have received a new nature (2Co 5:17), and the Holy Spirit is in me (Ro 8:9+). Therefore, because of that, I must do this, I must purify myself even as He is pure. HOW AM I TO DO THIS? LOOKING AT HIM... HIS PERFECT LIFE... THINGS ABOVE But, still more in detail, how am I to do this? Well, this is the way in which the New Testament indicates that the process must be followed up: I purify myself by considering Him, by looking at Him and His perfect life (Heb 12:2+; Heb 12:3+; cp Nu 21:7, 8, 9, Jn 3:14, 15; Isa 45:22KJV - saved the first time [justified] and then saved every day [progressive sanctification] - see Three Tenses of Salvation, cp "know God" = this counters lustful passion - see 1Th 4:5+); that is the pattern I am to follow (1Pe 2:21+). We are reminded of that by the Apostle Paul. God has called us that we may be ‘conformed to the image of his Son’ (Romans 8:29+). So if that is God’s plan and purpose for me, then the first thing I must do is to look at the Lord Jesus Christ, to look at the way He conducted Himself in this life and world (Mt 11:29, Jn 13:15, 16, 17, Jn 14:35, 2Co 11:1, Ep 5:2+, Php 2:5+, 1Jn 1:7, 2:6, 1Jn 3:16). I am to be like Him, so I consider Him. I realise that is what I am destined for, so I begin to put it into practise. The other way in which it is put is this: we are told to ‘set (present imperative = command to do this daily) your affection on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Colossians 3:2+, cp Col 3:1+). Again observe the activity—set your affections on things above. Read your Bible every day; meditate upon eternity and the glory that awaits you (1Pe 1:13+); think about these things (Php 4:8+, Php 4:9+); reflect upon the glory. Do not let your mind be set upon things that are on the earth; deliberately refuse to do so. Or consider again: for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal’ (2Corinthians 4:17, 18). We must look at the things that are not seen, so we meditate upon them; and having looked at Him and having followed Him, and while we are looking and setting our affection on the things which are above, we must do our utmost to see that vision of glory more and more clearly (1Jn 3:2). We must not love the world (cp 1Jn 2:15+). We must mortify our members that are upon the earth. We must crucify the flesh (Gal 5:24+). And as we do all these things we shall be purifying ourselves even as He is pure. That is how it is to be done. THE ENCOURAGEMENTS... THE MOTIVES... TO PURIFY Then, lastly, what are the encouragements and the motives for Christians to purify themselves in this way? I think they are quite self–evident. Is it not a matter of what we might call Christian common sense? If I believe that I am a child of God and that I am really going to heaven and to glory, if I believe that this uncertain life of mine may suddenly come to an end at any moment (Jas 4:14, Ps 39:5+, 1Pe 1:24+) and then I shall be with the Lord in all the glory and perfection, is it surely not common sense that I ought to be preparing myself for that? Is it not hopelessly illogical and unreasonable to go on living in antithesis to that to which I am called? It is not a matter to be argued; there is a sense in which we should never have to appeal to Christian people to live a holy life. What John does is what we all ought to do. If we believe this, if we claim this, then it is consistent, it is a matter of common sense, it is a matter of logic, it is a matter of being reasonable that we should do so. But there are further inducements given us in the Bible. Because of our frailty, another great reason for purifying ourselves is that we may not find ourselves feeling ashamed when we arrive in glory. John has told us that in the previous chapter and the twenty–eighth verse: And now, little children, abide in him; that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (1Jn 2:28) This means that if you are a child of God, you are going to see Him when He comes; you will see Him as He is, for the first time. You will really understand what your salvation meant to Him and what it cost Him when you look into His face and into His blessed eyes. ‘And if you do not want to feel ashamed,’ says John, ‘if you do not want to feel you are a cad and that you have been a fool because you have kept your gaze fixed upon the little things of earth with their foulness and their unworthiness, then prepare for the vision now; be ready for its coming, and avoid that sense of shame.’ But that is negative. An even stronger reason for purifying ourselves is that we all ought to have a positive desire to be like Him. We ought to be filled with a yearning and a longing to live this glorious, wondrous life that Christ has made possible for us by His death and resurrection. Should not we all be animated by a desire to please Him if we really believe He came from heaven to earth? If we really believe that He suffered the agony of the cross and shed His holy blood that we might be redeemed and rescued, if we really believe that and love Him, should not our greatest desire be to please Him? That is the reason for holy living, that is the New Testament appeal for holiness; it is an appeal to our sense of honour, to our sense of love and gratitude. But if you want a final appeal, let me appeal to you in terms of the time element. ‘He that hath this hope in him,’ those who believe they are going to see Him and be like Him and be with Him, purify themselves even as He is pure, and they feel there is not a moment to be lost. Oh, the unworthiness that is in me! Not only the sins I have committed and still commit, but the evil nature, the unworthiness in me, all these things which I have to mortify. There is so much to be done, and time is uncertain. We do not have a moment to spare or to waste. We may find ourselves with Him, facing Him, at any moment. That is the spirit of the New Testament—people pressing on towards the mark, straining at the leash, looking forward, going forward with all their might (cp Php 3:14+). And because they are looking at the vision of glory for which they are destined, they are pressing on towards it and towards Him, forgetting the things that are behind (Php 3:13+), redeeming the time (Eph 5:16+, Ro 13:11+), buying up the opportunity (Gal 6:10, Col 4:5+, Eccl 9:10), using every second because of the certainty that they will see Him as He is and that they will be like Him. God grant that this inevitable logic may be plain and clear to each and every one. (Children of God: 1 John 3)
1 João 3:4
Spurgeon - Sin is any want of conformity to the perfect mind of God; or, according to our text, “sin is the transgression of the law,” and every transgression of the law is sin. Therefore, we say that, first, every sin breaks God’s law. It does not matter what sin is committed, it breaks the law at some one point. There are ten great commandments of God; and it may be that you think you have never broken No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, but if you have broken No. 7, 8, 9, or 10, you have snapped the chain asunder as really as if you had broken all its links. It little matters to miners in a pit, if the chain be broken, at what particular link it came asunder. So, any offence against the law of God breaks the whole law, and spoils any hope of the sinner being saved by keeping it. Every sin is an offence against the law, as you will see if you look at the law in another aspect.....Every breach of the law is a sin. If thou dost not do what God commands thee, fully, heartily, always, without fail, thou hast sinned; and if thou dost at any moment that which God commands thee not to do, thou hast therein sinned against him. And let it never be forgotten that what I am now saying about actions applies also to words; our Lord told his disciples that for every idle word anyone utters he must give an account in the day of judgment. And remember, too, that this rule applies to thoughts and imaginations and desires, and to those secret motives which hide away within the soul, and never actually come into deeds. God shall bring these hidden (Sermon - The Sinful made Sinless) Hiebert adds that "In classical Greek the word “sin” denoted “to miss, to fail, to fall short,” but in the New Testament this negative meaning is largely lost sight of and sin is viewed as positive and active, a deliberate deviation from the standard of right. It is a willful rebellion, arising from the deliberate choice of the sinner." (1 John 2:29-3:12) [Sin] is a deliberate rejection of God's standards and a resort to one's own desires. -- Guthrie Sam Storms - Sin, writes Westcott, "is the assertion of the selfish will against a paramount authority" (102). Sin is not merely a negative failure but an active rebellion against the revealed will of God… John again appeals to the knowledge of his readers concerning the purpose of the Incarnation. If they will but reflect on the design of his death and resurrection they will abhor sin… A logical conclusion: If Christ was sinless and came to remove sin, how can one abide both in him and in it simultaneously? The one who abides in Christ does not sin as a prevailing habit. Conversely, an undisturbed persistence in sin exposes the individual as one who has neither seen (with the eye of faith) nor heard him. Robert Neighbour - The word "transgress" means to "go across." God has given us His will as a rule of life. Whenever we go against that will, we transgress the law, and we have sinned. Sin is my way as against God's way. Sin carries with it the spirit of rebellion. It is casting aside the will of God, it is tramping His purposes under one's feet. H A
1 João 3:4
Spurgeon - And there will never be a better definition of sin than this. However men may philosophically try to mar it, this simple statement will be better than any that they can give us: “Sin is the transgression of the law.” (Spurgeon Expositions and Sermons on 1 John) John
1 João 3:4
Spurgeon - Let me further say that sin is mainly sin because it is a transgression of the law. Many a person will say, “I did no harm to anyone.” That is not the point; if you break the law of God, you thereby sin. We must never judge sin merely by its consequences, or we may make great mistakes. A pointsman on the railway does not turn the switch aright, and one train dashes into another, and a hundred lives are lost. He may say to himself, “What a crime I committed by my carelessness,” and everybody denounces him for it. But suppose he forgot to turn the switch, and by a sort of miracle the two trains escaped coming into collision. If by some extraordinary coincidence the two mighty masses of matter rushing onward were stopped in their progress, and no hurt came of it, the pointsman would be just as guilty in that case as in the other. It is not the amount of damage that results from it that makes the sin; it is the thing itself. If you are doing wrong, even though you should feed a nation by your wrongdoing, I say that you would still be committing sin. (Recommended Sermon - The Sinful made Sinless) S Lewis
1 João 3:6
Spurgeon - The man who dwells in Christ is the holy man; but the man who lives in Sin is no child of God, for he proves by his evil conduct that he has no vital union with Christ. The fruit of Christianity is holiness; and if thy life be a sinful one, if that be the main run and tenor of thy life, thou art none of his… If this declaration related to any one act of sin, none of us could ever say that we have seen or known him, but it relates to the habit of sin, — if we love sin, and live in sin, if the main course of our life is sinful, then we have “not seen him, neither known him.” (See the exposition beneath the sermon The Sinful Made Sinless) David Allen - In verse 6 John affirms that no one who “abides in [Christ],” meaning no one who is genuinely a Christian, “keeps on sinning.” The key here is the present tense verb expressing an ongoing sinful lifestyle. John has already affirmed the possibility that a Christian can sin. That is not his point here. He does not refer to an occasional specific act of sin but rather a lifestyle of sin. Such a lifestyle indicates someone who has neither “seen” nor “known” Jesus. The use of the word “know” here suggests knowledge based on experience. Not to “know” Christ here describes someone who is not genuinely saved. (SEE 1–3 John: Fellowship in God's Family) Jesus desire for the chosen was expressed in John 17:3+... And this is eternal life, that they may know (intimately and personally = ginosko - present tense) Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. Knows (1097)(ginosko) generally speaks of knowledge obtained by experience. Knowledge possessed through the intellectual process of learning is one thing. Knowledge gained by experience, by an active relationship between the one who knows and the person known, is far superior to the former. Ginosko describes the latter quality of knowledge. Every true follower of Christ has come to experience a personal, permanent possession regarding the Person of Christ (e.g., see ginosko in Jn 8:32, Jn 17:3, Php 3:10+). As noted above, both seen and knows are in the perfect tense which speaks of a past completed action with ongoing results or relationship. In other words these individuals who were habitually practicing sin had absolutely never at any point in time come to spiritually perceive and personally know Jesus. Because they never knew Jesus, He will one day say to them "I never (oudepote - not ever!) knew (ginosko) you. Depart (present imperative) from Me (eternal separation and sorrow in solitary confinement and darkness), you who practice (ergazomai - present tense - as you lifestyle you engage with consider expenditure of effort in) lawlessness (= sin - 1Jn 3:4)" (Mt 7:23+)! GINOSKO IN FIRST JOHN -1 Jn. 2:3; 1 Jn. 2:4; 1 Jn. 2:5; 1 Jn. 2:13; 1 Jn. 2:14; 1 Jn. 2:18; 1 Jn. 2:29; 1 Jn. 3:1; 1 Jn. 3:6; 1 Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 3:19; 1 Jn. 3:20; 1 Jn. 3:24; 1 Jn. 4:2; 1 Jn. 4:6; 1 Jn. 4:7; 1 Jn. 4:8; 1 Jn. 4:13; 1 Jn. 4:16; 1 Jn. 5:2; 1 Jn. 5:20; 2 Jn. 1:1 Knowing you Jesus Knowing you, Jesus, knowing You. There is no greater thing! You're my all, You're the best You're my joy, My Righteousness And I love You, Lord. (Sing this song as prayer of praise to Him) Daniel Akin - To know (egnōken) him is to enter into that personal, dynamic relationship with him. It is not a mere intellectual assent or innate comprehension, but rather it is a knowledge based upon experience. It is the subjective appropriation of who Christ is and what he has done for sinful humanity. The verb is ingressive, which means that this knowledge is obtained rather than naturally possessed. It is coming to know him more and more in a personal way. The apostle asserts with absolute clarity that those who live in habitual sin have not seen Christ and do not know Christ. This is the same as saying they do not have a saving relationship with Christ. On the other hand, those who abide in him live a life marked by habitual righteousness and purity instead of lawlessness (rebellion) and disobedience. While the unbeliever lives in sin and has not seen or known Christ, the believer has terminated a life of sin for a life of abiding in him. The child of God has experienced a decisive break with sin. Sin no longer controls his life. (See 1,2,3 John: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition) Continual flagrant sinning reveals that one does not know Christ and has never known Christ -- Bob Utley John Calvin on no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him - According to John's usual manner he adds the opposite clause, so that we may know that it is in vain to claim faith in Christ and knowledge of him unless there is newness of life. For Christ is never dormant where he reigns, but the Spirit makes his power effective. It may rightly be said of him that he puts sin to flight, just as the sun drives darkness away by its own brightness. Again, this passage teaches us how strong and efficacious the knowledge of Christ is, for it transforms us into His image. So by seeing and knowing we are to understand nothing other than faith. "When does sin become habitual? How often does a person have to commit it for it to become characteristic behavior?" John does not answer this.
1 João 3:8
Spurgeon - “Well, labor under no mistake, sir. ‘He that committeth sin is of the devil.’ It is no use making excuses and apologies; if you are a lover of sin, you shall go where sinners go. If you, who live after this fashion, say that you have believed in the precious blood of Christ, I do not believe you, sir. If you had a true faith in that precious blood, you would hate sin. If you dare to say you are trusting in the atonement while you live in sin, you lie, sir; you do not trust in the atonement; for where there is a real faith in the atoning sacrifice, it purifies the man, and makes him hate the sin which shed the Redeemer’s blood.” Henry Mahan -A man who practices sin, dishonesty, drunkenness, malice, envy, lies and disobedience to the commandments of Christ is not of God, but takes his character from the evil one, for Satan has violated the way and laws of righteousness from the beginning. He imitates Satan, not Christ, and resembles his parent as children do their parents (John 8:41-42). Christ came not only to put away our sins in regard to the penalty of them and the curse of the law, but to deliver us from the power of Satan and the practice of ungodliness (Romans 6:12-18). (1 John 3 Commentary) H A
1 João 3:8
Spurgeon explains it - "This is not the course, and habit, and tenor of his life; there is sin in much that he does, but he hates it, loathes it, and flees from it." The one who practices (present tense) sin (hamartia) is (present tense) of the devil (diabolos) - If a commentary or sermon has been interpreting the phrase practice sin in the present tense (1Jn 3:4, 9 = practices sin and 1Jn 3:6 = sins -- all 3 in present tense) as simply a reflection of what every believer does (because we all sin and we do so everyday), THEN 1Jn 3:8 confronts this interpretation with a problem. In simple terms, John is saying in 1Jn 3:8 that whoever practices (present tense) sin (hamartia) is of the devil (diabolos). How could this possibly describe a believer? Perhaps one might say "Well, when a believer sins, he is acting like the devil and in that sense might be described as of the devil." While that sounds potentially plausible, again we must return to the context to let it guide our interpretation. And in the context of 1Jn 3:10 John clearly delineates two families, one of God and the other of the devil. With this revelation to guide us, the most natural interpretation of the phrase of the devil (diabolos) in 1Jn 3:8 is that these are individuals who are children of the devil (diabolos). And how can we discern they are children of the devil in 1Jn 3:8? By their actions, where their practice of sin in the present tense speaks of sinning as their lifestyle. Yes, believers commit sins, but that is not the natural leaning of our heart as new creatures in Christ (2Cor 5:17+). Dear reader, I beg you to be a Berean (Acts 17:11+) when reading any commentary or sermon on 1John (including the one you are reading)! Hiebert agrees that "The practice of sin reveals family identity. One who practices “the sin,” as marking the realm of the devil, thereby reveals his diabolical nature. John did not say such a one is “born of the devil” (contrast 1Jn 2:29), but “is of the devil.” The “of” (ek) denotes source, not of his existence, but of the evil that dominates his life and practice (John 8:41–44). Spurgeon is quite blunt in his comments on this passage - Well, labor under no mistake, sir. 'He that practices sin is of the devil.' It is no use making excuses and apologies; if you are a lover of sin, you shall go where sinners go. If you, who live after this fashion, say that you have believed in the precious blood of Christ, I do not believe you, sir. If you had a true faith in that precious blood, you would hate sin. If you dare to say you are trusting in the atonement while you live in sin, you lie, sir; you do not trust in the atonement; for where there is a real faith in the atoning sacrifice, it purifies the man, and makes him hate the sin which shed the Redeemer's blood. (Ed: And all God's people say "Amen!") (Exposition of 1 John 3)
1 João 3:8
Spurgeon - The works of the devil destroyed (Sermon The Works of the Devil Destroyed) ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.’ 1 John 3:8 Men have become wonderfully proficient in the science of excuse-making, frequently imputing their own guilt to the devil’s guile. Yet sin in a sadly true sense does come from the devil; he first introduced it into the world. How or when he himself first sinned and fell from being an angel of light to become the apostle of darkness we will not conjecture. Many have thought that the pride of his lofty station, or envy of the foreseen glories of the Son of man, may have overthrown him; but, at any rate, he kept not his first estate, but became a rebel against his Lord, and the active promoter of all evil. Being expelled from heaven for his wickedness, he desired to wreak his revenge upon God by alienating the human race from its obedience. He saw what an interest the Creator had taken in man, and therefore judged that he could grieve him greatly by seducing man from obedience. He perceived that the Maker, when he formed the earth, did not rest; when he had made birds and fishes, did not rest; when he had made sun, moon, and stars, did not rest; but when he had fashioned man, he was so well content that then he took a day of rest, and consecrated it for ever to be a Sabbath. Thus was God’s unresting care for man made manifest. ‘Surely,’ said the evil one, ‘if I can turn this favoured being into an enemy of God, then I shall bring dishonour upon the name of the Most High, and have my revenge.’ Therefore he alighted in the garden, and tempted our first parents, thus opening the gate by which sin entered into the world with all its train of woe. In that sense sin is truthfully described as being the work of the devil. He brought the flame, which has caused so great a burning. Since then he has been in some degree the author of sin by often tempting men. Norman Geisler - 1 JOHN 3:9—Doesn’t John contradict himself when he asserts that Christians are without sin? PROBLEM: John affirms here that “Whoever has been born of God does not sin.” But in the first chapter he insisted that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1:8). SOLUTION: John nowhere claims that believers are without sin or never commit a sin. First John 3:9 is in the present continuous tense and should be translated “Whoever is born of God does not continually practice sin.” Conversely, if a person habitually practices sin, he is not born of God. As James argued, true faith will produce good works (James 2:14ff). If a pig and a lamb fall into the mud, the pig wants to stay there, but the lamb wants to get out. Both a believer and an unbeliever can fall into the same sin, but a believer cannot stay in it and feel comfortable. Walter Kaiser - No One Born of God Will Continue to Sin? Most of us are quite conscious of sinning from time to time. Does this mean that we are not born of God? If we read three verses earlier, in 1 John 3:6 we find “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” This sounds even worse. Even stranger is the fact that in this very context the elder can write, “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence” (1 Jn 3:19). These passages are hardly likely to set our hearts at rest! Could they mean that if we sin after our conversion or baptism we are damned (as was thought by some in the period of the church fathers)? If not, what do these passages mean? How can we truly set our hearts at rest? This passage, which includes the whole of 1 John 3:2–10, is quite difficult, and there have been a number of solutions suggested: 1. One group of commentators notes that the verbs for “sinning” in these verses are in the present tense, which in Greek is a continuous tense. The NIV stresses this continuous aspect by translating “keeps on sinning” and “continues to sin” and “go on sinning.” The argument is that while true believers may sin on occasion (so 1 Jn 1:7–9), they will not habitually sin. The weakness of this position is that it depends on a grammatical subtlety which an interpreter cannot stress in other places in the New Testament where this tense is used. Furthermore, in 1 John 5:16 the same tense is used for a believer seen by a fellow believer “committing a sin.” Here is a true believer who is doing the same thing that is denied in 1 John 3:6, 9. Why doesn’t the NIV translate consistently and so translate this passage “continuing to sin”? 2. Another group of commentators, noticing 1 John 5:16–17, suggests that “the elder” is thinking of two types of sin, a “sin that leads to death” and a “sin that does not lead to death.” The true believer cannot sin a “sin that leads to death,” but may sin the other type of sin. What these sins are is debated, some thinking that they are deliberate versus involuntary sins and others opting for other distinctions among sins (such as the difference between mortal and venial sins in the Roman Catholic tradition). Yet if this is what the elder means, why does he wait until 1 John 5:16 to mention this difference? His terms here appear rather absolute. 3. Still others suggest that John is pointing to an ideal or expressing a tension in the Christian life between the ability not to sin, expressed here, and the reality of sin, expressed in 1 John 1:7–9. That interpretation is also possible, yet does it adequately express the strength of the language used here? 4. Finally, there are commentators who suggest that this passage must be taken in the context of the whole of 1 John, which shows that John is arguing on two fronts. On the one hand, one group the elder opposes is arguing that they are beyond sin. He addresses them in 1 John 1:7–9. Another group is arguing that their sins do not matter, since they are enlightened within. He is addressing them here. The weakness of this position is that the author does not make any clear distinction between groups. He does not say, “Now addressing the other group,” or make any similar transition. How can we evaluate these positions? Any conclusion which we draw must be both exegetically and pastorally sound. On this basis, I believe that while none of the four solutions is impossible, it is the last of them which is the most likely. The elder is addressing a church situation in which there are some people who hold that Jesus was not really incarnate, probably believing that he only seemed to be a human being. Such beliefs in their full-blown form (which happened in the second century) are the foundation of Gnosticism, a system of belief in which salvation is based in knowledge or enlightenment and in which the physical world is disparaged, while the spiritual world is held in honor. With respect to sin there are two directions that Gnosticism took. One direction was to deny sin. On the basis of ascetic practices and inner enlightenment the Gnostics believed that they were beyond sin. Naturally such beliefs were underpinned by a good dose of denial. The author addresses such people in 1 John 1:7–9. Rather than think that we are beyond sin and deny that what we do is sinful, Christians should confess their sin and get it removed. Another direction that Gnosticism took with respect to sin was to claim that sin was irrelevant. Sin was something done in the body, and the body, in their view, was (at best) simply the outside shell of a person. The real person was the spiritual being who through enlightenment was living in communion with God. So one’s body might be sleeping with a prostitute, but one’s spirit was not involved in the act. In this passage the elder is addressing such people in no uncertain terms. Starting in 1 John 3:6 the author makes a series of contrasts: (1 Jn 3:6a) no one who lives in God sins, (1 Jn 3:6b) no one who sins knows God, (1 Jn 3:7) those who know God live righteously, (1 Jn 3:8) the one who sins belongs to the devil, (1 Jn 3:9) the one born of God cannot sin. Thus we have an A B A B A pattern, shifting back and forth between those who sin and those who do not sin. The person who is saying that it is fine to sin, since sins are only part of the body and thus irrelevant, is condemned in no uncertain terms. So what is the elder saying? He is saying (1 Jn 3:6) that if believers remain in Christ (which the NIV translates “who lives in him”), which means to stay in intimate connection with Christ, they will not sin. Christ is not the one producing the carelessness about sin that could be seen in the semi-Gnostic opponents of the elder (we say semi-Gnostic or proto-Gnostic, because the full Gnostic systems did not develop until the second century). Far from it, the one who sins is showing that to that extent he or she does not know Christ. The next statement makes the point clear: it is the one who does right who is righteous, for that is what Christ is. If a person really knows Christ, they will live like him. On the other hand, sin shows a person’s inheritance in the devil, so acceptance of sinful living shows where such people are from. It is these very works of the devil that Christ came to destroy. Then the author makes it clear in the verse we started with that being born of God puts a new nature in a person and that new nature will not sin. John has already admitted that Christians do sin (1 Jn 1:7–9), but that sinning is not due to the new nature. The author draws from the Old Testament picture of God’s putting a new “heart” into believers (“I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees,” Ezek 36:27). This was later picked up in intertestamental literature such as 1 Enoch 5:8 (“And then there shall be bestowed upon the elect wisdom, and they shall live and never again sin”; compare Psalms of Solomon 17:32; the Rule of the Community from the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 4:20–23; Testament of Levi 18:9). The elder, with a background in John 3, expresses this using a picture from typical first-century ideas about human procreation: the male’s sperm (seed) determines what the child will be like. So God’s spiritual “sperm” determines what his children will be like. Those born of God have a nonsinning nature. This is a far cry from the indifference to sin asserted by the opponents. One way which a believer can see this difference practically is in the love of fellow Christians. The love of fellow Christians is what God has implanted in our heart, while neglect or hatred of fellow Christians shows that we are pseudo-Christians (not born of God, 1 Jn 3:10–18). So how do believers set their hearts at rest? By noting the nature of God within them, giving them love for fellow Christians and leading them into other righteous deeds. Will “our hearts condemn us”? Yes, they will, for all people will sin from time to time. Yet the God who put his very nature in the believer is greater than “our hearts.” Is 1 John saying that a true Christian will never sin? No, for he has already admitted that true Christians do sin and will be liars if they deny this truth (1 Jn 1:7–9). What he is saying is that a true Christian has within him or her by virtue of their new birth a power not to sin. God within them is causing righteous living. He is not causing sin. In fact, the secret to not sinning is intimate fellowship with Christ, or “remaining in Christ,” as John puts it. If a person does not experience this new life in them, if they can be indifferent to sin, then they are likely not born of God, as Paul also says (1 Cor 6:9–10; Gal 5:19–21). On the other hand, even if a person is struggling with temptation and at times falling prey to it—indeed because they are struggling and cannot be content with simply sinning—they can have the assurance that because they know the power of God within them impelling them away from sin and toward the love of their fellow believers, they are in fact one of his children and his new life in them will win out in the end. Here, then, is the tension. We have the picture of a life totally free from sin which will be ours in the future. We have the reality of that new life already being within us. And we have the realization that that new life is not yet totally victorious, so that we must admit our sins, confess them, and appropriate that new life again each day. See also comment on JOHN 5:28–29; ROMANS 6:2, 7; HEBREWS 10:14; 2 PETER 1:4. Gleason Archer - Does 1 John 3:9 teach sinless perfection? In KJV 1 John 3:9 is rendered: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot commit sin, because he is born of God.” In one respect this otherwise adequate translation fails to bring out one very important feature of the hamartanein (“to sin”) after ou dynatai (“not able”): a present infinitive in Greek implies continual or repeated action. (Single action would have been conveyed by the aorist infinitive, hamartein.) For this reason some of the more recent translations bring out the true emphasis by rendering it “he cannot go on sinning” (NIV). NASB draws the inference from the present infinitive hamartanein that the earlier poiei (present indicative) in “doth not commit sin” (KJV) implies “no one who is born of God practices sin,” since this stands in contrast to the hamaratanein of the later clause. This is probably justified, even though it would be wrong to say that the Greek present indicative necessarily implies continual action (for it often does not do so). However, it is necessary to study carefully the sense in which this verb is meant, for even the most mature Christian is susceptible to temptation and may fall into sins of various types (even if not the more heinous sins that are considered under human law as amounting to crime). John teaches very clearly in 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But what he is emphasizing here is the miracle of the new birth (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17), by which the life of Christ takes possession of the believer’s heart and draws him into a totally new relationship to God and to God’s holy will. Instead of being committed to the old principle of “myself first!” he now comes under the lordship of his Savior and makes it his conscious purpose to please God because he loves Him and completely belongs to Him. In his new capacity as “one who has been born of God” (gegennēmenos—perfect passive participle—ek tou theou), the believer has God’s holy seed (sperma) within him; and this sperma develops and enlarges within him like a seed within a flower pot, until it brings forth leaves, flowers, and fruit—all the while occupying more and more of the pot. The dirt in the soil may defile what touches it, but the function of the growing plant is not to soil but develop the new life and beauty that constantly proceeds from the seed. As the believer consciously abides in Christ (v.6, ho en autō menōn) and has his gaze fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:2), he does not fall into sin but runs his race well, to the glory of God. As for the special force of hamartia here, we should pay special attention to v.4: “Everyone who commits/practices [present participle] sin [hamartian] also practices lawlessness [anomian].” The Devil is then referred to as the archetype, model, and patron of lawlessness (v.8); and it is he (and of course those who are under his control) whose business it is to practice sin as lawlessness. In other words, Scripture is distinguishing between the two great families in the universe: the children of light (1:7) and the children of darkness and disobedience (1:6). What characterizes a true child of God is wholehearted commitment to the holy will and standard of God; what characterizes the child of this world (whose spiritual father is really Satan, according to John 8:44) is the commitment to self-seeking, self-deification, and transgression of every kind. This principle had to be stressed by the apostle in this letter, because already the antinomian heretics (who taught that a sinful life was quite permissible to the believer, because “grace would cover it all”) were confusing his church people; and they were losing their grasp of the holy life as the fruit of a true and living faith. John here reminds us all that the true believer is committed to a life patterned after Christ, and that as the bearer of the seed of Christ (that is, the Holy Spirit) he will constantly practice righteousness. Only the unconverted and the counterfeit will practice a self-seeking, self-asserting life of sin. In his Bible Questions Answered (pp. 68–72), W.L. Pettingill devotes a very careful and perceptive study to this passage in 1 John 3 and offers this helpful paraphrase of vv. 4–10: Whosoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifest to take away our sins, and in Him is no lawlessness. Whosoever abides in Him is never lawless: whosoever is lawless has not seen Him nor known Him.… He who is lawless is of the devil, for the devil was lawless from the beginning.… Whosoever is begotten of God is never lawless, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot be lawless because he is begotten of God. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil.” J. C. Philpot. Daily Portions - "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8 - There will be no thorough destruction of indwelling sin, until the body drops into the grave, and the soul mounts aloft to be with the Lord; nor a full destruction of its effects in the body until the resurrection morn, when the body shall be raised from the sleeping dust and changed into the glorious image of the body of the Son of God, a fit companion for the immortal soul. Then will the victory be complete; then will Christ appear, shining forth with the luster of a million suns; then will be the glorious manifestation of the Son of God; and the works of the devil will be thoroughly destroyed. The theme of heaven's anthem, the grand theme of eternal adoration, will be the manifestation of the Son of God to destroy the works of the devil. The redeemed will look down from the battlements of heaven and see what works have been executed by the devil; they will see millions of fellow-beings consigned to eternal misery, weltering in hell, while they view themselves safe in the arms of eternal love. They will see the Son of God, without a veil between, manifested to their eyes in such heart-ravishing glory as the three disciples had but a feeble, dim view of on the Mount of Transfiguration. It will be their joy to see him as he is. He will always wear his human nature; he will never lay that aside. That will always shine resplendent with all the glory of Godhead; that will be the object of eternal admiration and love; and to that glory of the God-man all the saints in bliss will be forever looking and forever adoring, for sin will no longer have a being in them, but they will be conformed to the glorified image of the Son of God, and be celebrating forever the grand triumph of the cross. - J. C. Philpot. Daily Portions John
1 João 3:10
Spurgeon - It were well if we always remembered that practical godliness is the sort of godliness; that it is not talking religion, but walking religion which proves a man to be sincere (Webster 1828 on sincere = pure, unmixed, Being in reality what it appears to be; not feigned; not simulated; not assumed or said for the sake of appearance; real; not hypocritical or pretended.); it is not having a religious tongue, but a religious heart; it is not a religious mouth, but a religious foot. The best evidence is the salvation of the soul. Avaunt! (begone, depart). Talkative; go thy way, thou mere professing formalist! Your ways lead down to hell, and your end shall be destruction; for “He that practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3 Exposition) Henry Mahan - By attitude, conduct and daily walk it is made perfectly clear who are those who take their nature from God and are His children, and who are those who take their nature from the devil and are his children. No one who does not practice and seek godliness and righteousness, who does not seek to be conformed to the will of God in purpose, thought and deeds, is of God. A man who does not love others is not of God either. A godly walk and a spirit of love and mercy are evidences of grace and faith. The absence of these is evidence of the absence of grace. (1 John 3 Commentary) George Findlay - “Children of the Devil” at last St John calls the antinomian religionists outright, who neither “do righteousness” nor “love their brethren” (1Jn 3:10). He had the warrant for this epithet in the words with which the Lord Jesus stigmatized the Jewish party who sought His life, who hated the light that shone in Him because their deeds were evil: “You are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a man-slayer from the beginning, and in the truth he standeth not… He is a liar, and the father thereof” (John 8:44+). Those who claimed Abraham, and even God, for their father, are referred to this dreadful paternity, since they have Satan’s disposition and work his will against the Son of God. Their moral affinity proved their spiritual descent; their features betrayed their family. On the same principle, Elymas the sorcerer was in the eyes of the Apostle Paul, a “son of the Devil,” being “full of all guile and all villany, an enemy of all righteousness, a perverter of the ways of the Lord” (Acts 13:9 f.). (1 John 3:4-9 Commentary - scroll down to page 252 ) Ray
1 João 3:12
Spurgeon writes "This always seems to me to be one of the most remarkable of our Lord’s utterances while he was here upon the earth. His whole life was one of condescension, which was never more clearly manifested than it was when he, the Lord and Master of all, took the position of servant of all, and washed his disciples’ feet; yet he here tells us that, if he finds us watching when he comes again, he will once more take his place as our servitor." Warren Wiersbe agrees that "the remarkable thing in this story is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride was treated like a queen and the groom like a king; so you would not expect the “king” to minister to his staff. Our King will minister to His faithful servants when He greets us at His return, and He will reward us for our faithfulness." (BEC) TDNT on the secular use of sphazo - Meat Offerings to the Olympian Gods. The word sphazo means “to slay,” “to slaughter,” “to kill,” “to murder.” Strictly it refers to the slaying of animals, especially in sacrifice. Ritual slaying takes place after prayer. Experts do it only when the animals are large or those making the offering are of high rank. Inclination of the head supposedly denotes consent. The ox is struck from behind, the neck is then bent back, the throat is slit, and the blood pours out. Boars may first be stupefied. In the case of smaller animals slaying is by cutting the throat with the neck bent back… Animals. Most slaughtering has ritual connections in antiquity. Domestic slaughtering includes simple ceremonies and the dedicating of parts to the gods. Yet a purely secular use of sphazo does occur. Indeed, the term is used for the wolf's slaying of its prey. Sphazo - 10x in 9v - NAS Usage: slain(7), slay(2), slew(1). 1 John 3:12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. Revelation 5:6+ And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain (perfect tense = past completed action = the Cross; with permanent effects or results), having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain (aorist = past completed action = the Cross), and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain (perfect tense) to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." Revelation 6:4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. 9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; Revelation 13:3+ I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain (perfect tense), and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain (perfect tense). Revelation 18:24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain (perfect tense) on the earth." Sphazo - 72v in the Septuagint - Ge 22:10; 37:31; 43:16; Ex 12:6; 22:1; 29:11, 16, 20; 34:25; Lev 1:5, 11; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:4, 15, 24, 29, 33; 6:25; 7:2; 8:15, 19, 23; 9:8, 12, 15, 18; 14:5f, 13, 19, 25, 50f; Lev 16:11, 15; 17:3-5; 22:28; Nu11:22; 19:3; Dt 28:31; 1Sa 1:24; 14:32, 34; 15:33; 1Ki 18:40; 2Ki 10:7, 14; 25:7; Ezra 6:20; Ps 37:14; Prov 9:2; Isa 14:21; 22:13; 57:5; Jer 19:7; 41:7; 52:10; Ezek 16:21; 21:10; 23:39; 34:3; 40:39, 41f; 44:11 Horatius Bonar - THE WAY OF CAIN “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.”—GEN. 4:16. “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.”—1 JOHN 3:12. “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”—JUDE 11. AS “the way of Cain” is spoken of by the apostle Jude, as specially the way of the last days, let us inquire what it was. It was evil, not good. He is an open and defiant sinner; and in him sin takes its full swing. He is the first child of the fall, and the offspring of the fallen, he is no common transgressor; he runs no ordinary career of wickedness; he rushes to the extremity of evil. He is given as a beacon, yet as a true specimen of man, of the human heart even in the most favourable circumstances. He came into the world, not like Adam, full-grown, but a child, and therefore with the least possible amount of evil. He is the child of believing parents; for Adam shewed his faith by calling his wife, and Eve shewed hers by the way in which she received her first-born. He had a most godly brother, and was one of a pious household; brought up within sight of Paradise, and from childhood taught the knowledge of the true God, and the woman’s seed. He was exposed to no outward temptation; he had no companion in sin; he walked the broad way alone. He was warned, no doubt, against the serpent and his seed. He was more than once spoken to directly by God. He had every possible advantage, in the absence of evil and the presence of good. Much might have been expected from him; yet he turns his back on God, on Paradise, on the altar, on the sacrifice, on all that is good and blessed. But let us see more specially what the apostle calls “the way of Cain.” It is the way, I. Of unbelief. Cain is the first specimen of an unbelieving man. His parents were sinners, but they believed. His brother was a sinner, but he believed. Cain is not an atheist, nor an altogether irreligious man. He owns a God, and brings his fruits to the altar. But he brings no lamb, no blood, nothing that speaks of death. He comes with no confession, no cry for mercy. He sees no need of the woman’s seed, no danger from the serpent; no preciousness, and perhaps no truth, in the promise of the serpent’s crushed head or Messiah’s bruised heel. He takes Satan’s side against God, not God’s against Satan; for all unbelief is a siding with Satan against God. God is not to him the God of grace, nor the woman’s seed the Saviour of the lost. He has a religion, but it is self-made, a human religion, something of his own; without Christ, or blood, or pardon. The love of God is to him mere indifference to sin. Rejection of God’s religion, and of His Messiah,—this is “the way of Cain.” II. It is the way of apostasy. He turns his back on God, and will have none of Him. He is not like one of our dark heathen, ignorant of the true God. He knows Jehovah, and has heard His voice; but he turns away. He is an apostate (the first apostate) from the religion of his father; a scorner of the Messiah; he wants a Messiah of his own,—“a Christ that is to be”; not God’s Christ, but man’s. From what small beginnings apostasy springs. III. It is the way of worldliness. Having forsaken his father’s God, he makes a god to himself; that god is the world. He goes far from Paradise, builds a city, becomes a thorough man of the world; becomes the father of the inventors of all curious instruments, leads the ever-swelling crowd in its race of worldliness and vanity,—with the cry, Onward, onward; progress, progress. They eat and drink, marry, and are given in marriage. All about Cain is of this present evil world. In our age what a spirit of worldliness is abroad; often not open wickedness, but simply worldliness, so absorbing the soul as to draw it quite down from the region of “the world to come.” IV. It is the way of hatred. He begins with envy of his brother; goes on to hatred; ends in murder. He is specially jealous of his brother’s having found favour with God. Yes, strange, though he would have none of God for himself, he cannot bear that his brother should have it. Not the love of man or woman, but of God is the cause of the first jealousy and the first murder. He hates God, and all the more for loving his brother. He hates Abel, and all the more for being loved of God. He cannot lay hands on God, as he fain would do, but he lays hands on His favourite, and so takes his revenge. Yes, the way of Cain is the way of envy, jealousy, hatred, murder! V. The way of God-defiance. He dissembles; he wipes his bloody weapon and his bloody hands, saying, What have I done? He lies; he pretends; he would hide his doings from God. He has beguiled his brother into a lonely field and slain him, thinking that none would rescue, and none see. He acts as the liar and the hypocrite in the very presence of God. The way of Cain is the way of hypocrisy, falsehood, and defiance of God. God asks him of his brother, his answer is not only a lie, but a brazenfaced piece of impiety: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Thus he mocks God; utters the language of irreverence and defiance:—“He is your favourite, why do you not keep him? I never pretended to keep him.” Here mingled fear, shame, audacity, defiance are manifested. He would fain deny the deed, but dares not. He trembles, and would fain conceal it. He puts on a defiant air and attitude, as if to brave it out before the all-seeing One! Such is the way of Cain! Mark his doom. 1. Despair. No cry for mercy, but merely, My punishment is greater than I can bear. So is it in other ages. The sinner’s despair of mercy, or complaint against God for making his punishment so heavy, is the repetition of Cain’s offence and his doom. Why should a sinner despair on this side of hell? There is forgiveness to the uttermost; grace reaching far beyond the extremity of human guilt. 2. Banishment from God. He goes out from the presence of God, as if he could no longer bear that. He must away from Paradise, the birthplace of the race, the old seat of worship. But what is this to the eternal banishment? Cain has no rest, moving to and fro without hope or aim, a fugitive and vagabond, seeking rest, finding none. Sad curse! yet nothing to the eternal wandering! 3. Disappointment. He himself was his mother’s disappointment, for she thought she had gotten the man-child. So is he a disappointment to himself. From first to last we see in him a disappointed man, trying everything, succeeding in nothing; building cities, roaming from place to place, to soothe his conscience, and fill up his heart’s void. But in vain! 4. Fruitless worldliness. He is the heir of a barren world; for the whole world is his. He is possessor of a soil made unfruitful by a brother’s blood; tilling and sowing, yet not reaping. A weary man, toiling for that which is not bread; trying to wring water out of the world’s dry sands and broken cisterns. Such is the career of thou sands. Fruitless worldliness. A life of vanity; a soul utterly void; a being wholly wasted.
1 João 3:14
Spurgeon comments on how a believer know they have come to a place where they can have genuine assurance of their salvation - I have, heard it said, by those who would be thought philosophers, that in religion we must believe, but cannot know. I am not very clear about the distinction they draw between knowledge and faith, nor do I care to enquire; because I assert that, in matters relating to religion, we know; in the things of God, we both believe and know. (1 John 3 Exposition) JOHN DESCRIBES THE NEW BIRTH Have passed (metabaino) out (ex or ek) of death (thanatos) into life (zoe) - What a beautiful description of our new birth! We "were dead in (our) trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1+), but God "even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace [we] have been saved)" (Eph 2:5+) and in saving us He "delivered (Rescued = rhuomai) us from the domain (exousia = the right and the might = cp "of the evil one") of darkness, and transferred (methistemi) us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Col 1:13-14+) So here we see instead of passing from life to death as every man born eventually does, we go in the opposite direction. Can you see why "a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them." Why can't the natural (unregenerate) man understand the truth that it is possible to pass out to death into life? "Because (these truths) are spiritually appraised (anakrino)." (1Cor 2:14+) We have passed (have migrated) (metabaino from meta = signifies change of position or state + baino = to go or come) means literally to pass or go from one place to another as when Jesus "departed from there to teach and preach in their cities." (Mt 11:1) In 1Jn 3:14 and in Jn 5:24 metabaino is used figuratively to describe passage from death into life, John's way of describing the new birth. I am thankful that John used the perfect tense (also used in Jn 5:24+) which speaks of a past completed action (our "birth" day - "We have already done it while here on earth." - Robertson) with continuing results or effect. In short, once again John emphasizes the permanence of our new position in Christ and sure possession of eternal life! God wants us to KNOW where we are headed. If you know your future is secure, it allows you to focus on His kingdom work, especially the proclamation of the Gospel, that others might experience that same assurance. Christians experience a permanent passage from death to life at the time of regeneration. Vine says the perfect tense of metabaino expresses "the permanent result of the past act, i.e., an abiding in the new state as those who have been delivered once and for all from the old." (Ed: Hallelujah!) (Collected Writings) Out (ex or ek) of death (thanatos) into life (zoe) - Literally out of the death and into the life - "The article marks it as one of the two spheres in which men must be; death or life. The death, the life, present one of those sharp oppositions which are characteristic of the Epistle; as love, hatred; darkness, light; truth, a lie." (Vincent)
1 João 3:14
Spurgeon - Do you love them for Christ's sake? Do you say to yourself, 'That is one of Christ's people; that is one who bears Christ's cross; that is one of the children of God; therefore I love him, and take delight in his company'? Then, that is an evidence that you are not of the world. (1 John 3 Exposition) The physical life and the spiritual life are not seen directly but are apparent only from their evidence, their activity. R C H
1 João 3:14
Spurgeon - My Sermon Notes - 1 John 3:14—“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” The spiritual things which we speak of are matters of knowledge. John, in almost every verse of this epistle, uses the words “we know.” The philosophical distinction between believing and knowing is mere theory. “We know and have believed.” I. WE KNOW THAT WE WERE DEAD. 1. We were without feeling when law and gospel were addressing us. 2. Without hunger and thirst after righteousness. 3. Without power of movement towards God in repentance. 4. Without the breath of prayer, or pulse of desire. 5. With signs of corruption; some of them most offensive. II. WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE UNDERGONE A SINGULAR CHANGE. 1. The reverse of the natural change from life to death. 2. No more easy to describe than the death change would be. 3. This change varies in each case as to its outward phenomena, but it is essentially the same in all. 4. As a general rule its course is as follows— It commences with painful sensations. It leads to a sad discovery of our natural weakness. It is made manifest by personal faith in Jesus. It operates on the man by repentance and purification. It is continued by perseverance in sanctification. It is completed in joy, infinite, eternal. 5. The period of this change is an era to be looked back upon in time and through eternity with grateful praise. III. WE KNOW THAT WE LIVE. 1. We know that we are not under condemnation. 2. We know that faith has given us new senses, grasping a new world, enjoying a realm of spiritual things. 3. We know that we have new hopes, fears, desires, delights, etc. 4. We know that we have been introduced into new surroundings and a new spiritual society: God, saints, angels, etc. 5. We know that we have new needs; such as heavenly breath, food, instruction, correction, etc. 6. We know that this life guarantees eternal bliss. IV. WE KNOW THAT WE LIVE, BECAUSE WE LOVE. “We love the brethren.” 1. We love them for Christ’s sake. 2. We love them for the truth’s sake. 3. We love them for their own sake. 4. We love them when the world hates them. 5. We love their company, their example, their exhortations. 6. We love them despite the drawbacks of infirmity, inferiority, etc. Let us prove our love by our generosity. Thus shall we supply ourselves with growing evidences of grace. LOVE-LINES Just as in his gospel he rescues the word logos from antichristian uses, so in this Epistle he rescues the word “know,” and aims at making his “little children” Gnostics in the divine sense. Knowledge is excellent, but the path to it is not through intellectual speculation, however keen and subtle, but through faith in Jesus Christ and subjection to him, according to those most Johannine words in the Gospel of Matthew: “Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”—Dr. Culross. The Christian apologist never further misses the mark than when he refuses the testimony of the Agnostic to himself. When the Agnostic tells me he is blind and deaf, dumb, torpid, and dead to the spiritual world, I must believe him. Jesus tells me that. Paul tells me that. Science tells me that. He knows nothing of this outermost circle; and we are compelled to trust his sincerity as readily when he deplores it as if, being a man without an ear, he professed to know nothing of a musical world, or being without taste, of a world of art. The nescience of the Agnostic philosophy is the proof from experience that to be carnally minded is death.—Professor Henry Drummond. The world always loves to believe that it is impossible to know that we are converted. If you ask them, they will say, “I am not sure; I cannot tell”; but the whole Bible declares we may receive, and know that we have received, the forgiveness of sins.—R. M. McCheyne. In the writings of Paul, “Faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints,” constitute a well-understood and oft-recurring sequence. It is a straitening about that upper spring of faith that makes the streams of love fail in their channels.—W. Arnot. No outward mark have we to know Who thine, O Christ, may be, Until a Christian love doth show Who appertains to thee: For knowledge may be reached unto, And formal justice gained, But till each other love we doe, Both faith and workes are feigned. George Wither, 1588–1667. Yes, brethren in Christ have all one common Father, one common likeness, one object of faith, love, and adoration; one blessed hope, one present employment; alike in trials, alike in prayer. They lean upon the same hand, appear daily before the same mercy-seat, feed at the same table. How much all these things link them together, not in profession only, but in heart! Hence this is a decisive test: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” D. Katterns. In the early days of Christianity, when it triumphed over the old heathenism of the Roman world, it founded a new society bound together by this holy mutual love. The catacombs of Rome bear remarkable testimony to this gracious brotherhood. There were laid the bodies of members of the highest Roman aristocracy, some even of the family of the Cæsars, side by side with the remains of obscure slaves and labourers. And in the case of the earliest graves the inscriptions are without a single allusion to the position in society of him who was buried there: they did not trouble themselves whether he had been a consul or a slave, a tribune of the legion or a common soldier, a patrician or an artisan. It sufficed that they knew him to have been a believer in Christ, a man who feared God. They cared not to perpetuate in death the vain distinctions of the world; they had mastered the glorious teaching of the Lord, “One is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.”—E. De Pressensé. GREEK WORD STUDIES Know (1492)(eido, oida - eido is used only in the perfect tense = oida) means in general to know by perception. Eido/oida is distinguished from ginosko (epiginosko, epignosis - the other major NT word group for knowing) because ginosko generally refers to knowledge obtained by experience or "experiential knowledge". On the other hand, eido/oida often refers more to an intuitive knowledge, although this distinction is not always clear cut. Eido/oida is not so much that which is known by experience as an intuitive insight that is drilled into one's heart. Eido/oida is a perception, a being aware of, an understanding, an intuitive knowledge which in the case of believers can only be given by the Holy Spirit. Literally eido/oida refers to perception by sight (perceive, see) as in Mt 2:2+ "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw (eido) His star in the east, and have come to worship Him." In sum, for believers eido/oida suggests Spirit given fullness of knowledge, absolute knowledge (that which is without a doubt), rather than a progress in knowledge (cp ginosko) Know (eido/oida) carries the idea of well assured knowledge and in context describes the divinely given intuitive knowledge which every one of John's readers received when they were born into the family as children of God and became partakers of His divine nature (2Pe 1:4+). Unsaved men cannot know divine truth intuitively unless they are born by the Spirit into God's family (1Co 2:14+). In short, the children of God know that this life is not all there is to eternal life, but that one day (soon) our Beloved Bridegroom, will appear in the sky, and call us home to be with Him forever. Hallelujah! In that day when He appears we will instantaneously transformed and conformed into His likeness (cp Php 3:20, 21+) It is notable that the apostle John uses eido/oida 13 times in this short epistle (1 John 2:11, 20, 21, 29; 3:2, 5, 14, 15; 5:13, 15, 18, 19, 20) (for comparison, Paul uses eido/oida 16 times in the 16 chapter letter of Romans). Clearly John wants his readers to know that they know! (And beloved of God, he wants us today to have this same confidence and assurance! cp the principle in Ro 10:17+) EIDO/OIDA IN FIRST JOHN - 1 Jn. 2:11; 1 Jn. 2:20; 1 Jn. 2:21; 1 Jn. 2:29; 1 Jn. 3:2; 1 Jn. 3:5; 1 Jn. 3:14; 1 Jn. 3:15; 1 Jn. 5:13; 1 Jn. 5:15; 1 Jn. 5:18; 1 Jn. 5:19; 1 Jn. 5:20 Death (2288)(thanatos) is a permanent cessation of all vital functions and thus is the end of life on earth (as we know it). Death speaks of separation. The separation of the soul from the body and the end of earthly life. Spiritual death is separation from the life of God forever by dying without being born again. The first use in the Septuagint is in a well known promise from God "you shall surely die (Lxx = thanatos apothnesko).” (Ge 2:17) followed by the second use in the deceptive lie by Satan “You surely shall not die (thanatos apothnesko)!" (Ge 3:4) In 1Jn 2:11 associates this spiritual death with darkness explaining that "the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes." Life (2222)(zoe) in context refers not to physical life but supernatural spiritual life which is in contrast to eternal death. This quality of life speaks of fullness of life which alone belongs to God the Giver of life and is available to His children now (Ro 6:4-+, Ep 4:18-+) as well as in eternity future (Mk 10:30, Titus 1:2-+ on Eternal Life).
1 João 3:15
Spurgeon - Every man who hates another has the venom of murder in his veins. He may never actually take the deadly weapons into his hand and destroy life; but if he wishes that his brother were out of the way, if he would be glad if no such person existed, that feeling amounts to murder in the judgment of God. (1 John 3 Exposition) Matthew
1 João 3:15
Spurgeon - What a warning this is against the evil spirit of hate, revenge, and all that kind of feeling! These things are not compatible with the possession of the life of God. Where hatred lives, there is no life of God in the soul. That evil must be shot to the very heart, by the arrows of almighty grace, or else we are not free from the dominion of the devil. Every man who hates another has the venom of murder in his veins. He may never actually take the deadly weapons into his hand and destroy life; but if he wishes that his brother were out of the way, if he would be glad if no such person existed, that feeling amounts to murder in the judgment of God. It is not the lifting of the dagger, nor the mixing of the poison, that is the essence of the grime of murder, it is the hate that prompts the commission of the deadly deed; so, if we never commit the crime, yet, if the hate be in our heart, we are guilty of murder in the sight of God, and eternal life cannot be abiding in us. (God's Love to the Saints) For completeness it should be noted not everyone interprets this verse as discussed above. Some consider this to be a regenerate person! One of the more prominent individuals that espouse this interpretation is Zane Hodges. If you are interested here is a link that discusses The Unusual Teachings of Zane Hodges. The reader is advised to Be a Berean when using any commentaries authored by Zane Hodges! For more discussion see first entry under 1 John 3 Resources. Eternal life in John's epistle - As a descriptive Name of Jesus (1Jn 1:2), a promise to believers (1Jn 2:25), a warning to haters (1Jn 3:15), a gift from God as a witness (1Jn 5:11), a promise we can know we possess (1Jn 5:13), and realization in Jesus Himself (1Jn 5:2) 1 John 1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us– 1 John 2:25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 5:11 And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (NIV = He is the true God and eternal life.) Eternal life - 41x in 41v - Mt 19:16, 29; 25:46; Mark 10:17, 30; Luke 10:25; 18:18, 30; John 3:15-16, 36; 4:14; 5:24, 39; 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68; 10:28; 12:50; 17:2-3; Acts 13:46, 48; Ro 2:7; 5:21; 6:22f; Gal 6:8; 1Ti 1:16; 6:12; Titus 1:2; 3:7; 1 John 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:11, 13, 20; Jude 1:21 Paul Apple outlines 1 Jn 3:14-15 - LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN PRODUCES SECURITY I. (1Jn 3:14-15) LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN PROVES OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD A. (1Jn 3:14a) Loving Indicates Life "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren." John
1 João 3:16
Spurgeon - The Death of Christ for His People (introductory comments) - Come, believer, and contemplate this sublime truth, thus proclaimed to thee in simple monosyllables: “He laid down his life for us.” There is not one long word in the sentence; it is all as simple as it can be; and it is simple because it is sublime. Sublimity in thought always needs simplicity in words to express itself. Little thoughts require great words to explain them; little preachers need Latin words to convey their feeble ideas, but great thoughts and great expressers of those thoughts are content with little words. “He laid down his life for us.” Here there is not much upon which any man can display his eloquence; here is little room for metaphysical discussion or for deep thought; the text sets before us a simple yet sublime doctrine. What, then, shall I do with it? If I would speak of it profitably to myself, since I need not employ my wit to dissect it, nor my oratory to proclaim it, let me exercise my adoration to worship it; let me prostrate all my powers before the throne, and, like an angel when his work is done, and he has nowhere else to fly at his Lord’s command, let me fold the wings of my contemplation, and stand before the throne of this great truth, and meekly bow myself, and worship him that was, and is, and is to come,—the great and glorious One who “laid down his life for us.” It will be well for me, in commencing my discourse, to remind you that there is no understanding the death of Christ unless we understand the person of Christ. If I were to tell you that God died for us, although I might be telling you a truth, and you might possibly not misunderstand what I meant, yet I should be at the same time uttering an error. God cannot die; it is, of course, impossible, from his very nature, that he could even for a moment cease to exist. God is incapable of suffering. It is true that we sometimes use words to express emotions on the part of God; but, then, we speak after the manner of men. He is impassive; he cannot suffer; it is not possible for him to endure aught; much less, then, is it possible for him to suffer death. Yet we are told, in the verse from which our text is taken, “Hereby perceive we the love of God.” You notice that the words “of God” are inserted by the translators. They are in italics because they are not in the original. A better translation would be, “Hereby perceive we love.” But when we read “of God,” it might lead the ignorant to fancy that God could die; whereas, God could not. We must always understand, and constantly remember, that our Lord Jesus Christ was “very God of very God,” and that, as God, he had all the attributes of the Most High, and could not, therefore, be capable either of suffering or death. But then he was also man, “man of the substance of his mother,” man, just like ourselves, sin alone excepted. And the Lord Jesus died not as God; it was as man that he gave up the ghost; as man, he was nailed to the cross. As God, he was in heaven, even when his body was in the tomb; as God, he was swaying the sceptre of all worlds even when the mock sceptre of reed was in his hand, and the imperial robe of universal monarchy was on the eternal shoulders of his Godhead when the soldier’s old purple cloak was wrapped about his manhood. He did not cease to be God, he did not lose his Omnipotence, and his eternal dominion, when he became man; nor did he, as God, die or suffer; it was as man that he “laid down his life for us.” Come, now, my soul, and worship this man, this God. Come, believer, and behold thy Saviour; come to the innermost circle of all sanctity, the circle that contains the cross of Christ, and here sit down; and, whilst thou dost worship, learn three lessons from the fact that “he laid down his life for us.” The first lesson should be,—Did he lay down his life for us? Ah! then, my brethren, how great must have been our sins that they could not have been atoned for at any other price! Secondly, did he lay down his life for us? Ah! then, beloved, how great must have been his love! He would not stop short anywhere, until life itself had been resigned. Thirdly, did he lay down his life for us? Ah! then, my soul, be of good cheer; how safe art thou! If such an atonement hath been offered, if such a sure satisfaction hath been given to Almighty God, how secure thou art! Who is he that can destroy him who hath been bought with the blood of such a Redeemer? Spurgeon - Learn three lessons from the fact that He “laid down his life on behalf of us.” The first lesson should be: Did Christ lay down his life for me? Then how great must have been my sins! I never saw sin till that hour when I saw it tear Christ’s glories from his head—when it seemed for a moment even to withdraw the lovingkindness of God from him—when I saw him covered with his own blood, and plunged into the uttermost depths of oceans of grief. Then I said, “Now I know what you are, O sin, as never before I knew it!” Though other sights might teach me something of the dire character of evil, yet never, till I saw the Savior on the tree, did I understand how base a traitor man’s guilt was to man’s God. Second, Did the Savior lay down His life for me? Then how greatly He must have loved me! I may look back, I may look forward, but whether I look back to the decrees of eternity, or look forward to the pearl-gated city, and all the splendors that God has prepared for his own beloved children, I can never see my Father’s love so beaming forth, in all its effulgence, as when I look at the cross of Christ and see him die on it. Christ laid down his life, his glorious life, for a poor worm; he stripped himself of all his splendors, then of all his happiness, then of his own righteousness, then of his own robes, till he was naked to his own shame; and then he laid down his life, that was all he had left, for our Savior had not kept anything back. Third, Did my Savior lay down his life for me? Then HOW SAFE I AM!2 The doctrine of Holy Scripture is this: that God is just, that Christ died in the stead of his people, and that, as God is just, he will never punish one solitary soul of Adam’s race for whom the Savior did thus shed his blood. The Savior did, indeed, in a certain sense, die for all; all men receive many a mercy through his blood, but that he was the Substitute and Surety for all men, is so inconsistent, both with reason and Scripture, that we are obliged to reject the doctrine with abhorrence.3 Believer, this is your security, that all your sin and guilt, all your transgressions and your iniquities, have been atoned for, and were atoned for before they were committed; so that you may come with boldness, though red with all crimes, and black with every lust, and lay your hand on that Scapegoat’s head, and when you have put your hand there, and seen that Scapegoat driven into the wilderness, you may clap your hands for joy, and say, “It is finished, sin is pardoned.” Spurgeon - When Queen Eleanor sucked the poison from her husband’s wounds, at the risk of her own life, I can see reasons why she should do it. I say not that she was bound to do it, but I do say that the relationship of a wife accounts for what she did. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had no relationship to us until he chose to assume the relationship which he did assume out of infinite compassion. There was no more relation between him and us than between the potter and the clay; and if the clay upon the wheel goes amiss, what does the potter do with it but take it, and throw it into a corner? And so might the great Creator have done with us; but, instead of doing so, he sheds his blood that he may make us into vessels of honour fit for his own use. Andrew
1 João 3:17
Spurgeon - Zealous words will not warm the cold; delicate words will not feed the hungry; the freest speech will not set free the captive, or visit him in prison; the most adorned words will not clothe the naked, and the words that are most full of unction will not pour oil and wine into the wounds of the sick. Words! Words! Words! Chaff! Chaff!! Chaff!!! If there is no act there is no sympathy. Spurgeon answers John's rhetorical question - Indeed, it cannot be there at all; he has the love of himself, and not the love of God, dwelling in him. W E Vine - “But” suggests that it would be a mistake to regard the manifestation of love as simply consisting of great and noble deeds such as laying down one’s life. The greater includes the less. The test of true love lies not so much in heroic actions as in matters of daily experience and in communicating to the needs of others. (Collected Writings) NET Note - Note the vivid contrast with Jesus’ example in the preceding verse: He was willing to lay down his very life, but the person in view in 1Jn 3:17 is not even willing to lay down part of his material possessions for the sake of his brother. True love is revealed not only in the supreme sacrifice; it is expressed in all lesser givings. -- John Stott John
1 João 3:18
Spurgeon - Truly we have some Christian children who have seen a truth, and some friend they meet with does not see it; therefore they have tried to knock his eyes out to make him see it. That is a faithful description of many Christian controversies. It is idle to attempt to compel another to think as I think by scolding him, and heaping wrath upon him. Let us never do that. Let us love. If you cannot expect anything else of a child you do expect love; and love never seems to be more suitably enshrined than in the heart and mind of a little child. Actions speak louder than words, and we shall always be anxious to tell our love in deeds as well as by our lips. The true disciple asks continually, “Lord, what will you have me do?” He esteems it his highest honor to serve the Lord. “I would rather be at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psa 84:10). David Jackman adds that "John exhorts himself and us not to be loving with the empty evidence of words, but with the genuine evidence of actions. Stretched as I am in a busy pastorate, I am only too conscious of how easy it is to love in words—to express sympathy, to promise to pray, to exhort and encourage—but it is actions that confirm or deny their truth. Without these, our words can be mere hypocrisy. In that case, they do stem not so much from love as from habit or duty." (Borrow - page 100) THOUGHT - Dear busy pastor (that's essentially the definition of a pastor!) how are you demonstrating love to your sheep, with words or with deeds? Of course the words John refers to is not the eternal, life giving word that feeds the sheep and by default that would certainly be one of the best ways you show your love for Jesus' sheep. Love of the brethren in the body of Christ is a test of the reality and authenticity of our faith -- Marks of a True Christian James 2:15-16+ is a perfect example of love "with word." Dead faith. Dead love. Neither one does any good to others. -- Daniel Akin If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go (present imperative) in peace, be warmed (present imperative) and be filled (present imperative),” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for [their] body, what use is that? See John Piper's exposition of 1Jn 3:17-18 - click here. Fine words will never take the place of fine deeds William
1 João 3:18
Spurgeon - A sermon to the Lord’s little children - 1 John 2:12 A Sermon to the Lord's Little Children Observe that our text is addressed to the ‘little children’. It is thought by many wise interpreters that under this term John includes the whole church of God, and that afterwards he divides that church into two companies, the fathers and the young men: those who under one aspect are all ‘little children’, are under another regarded as young men or fathers. There is very much to support this view in several instances in this epistle. John is evidently addressing all the saints when he speaks of them as ‘My little children,’ as, for instance, in 1 John 3:18 and also in the closing verse, ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols.’ Surely, all the saints are included in these exhortations. There is a sense in which every Christian is still a little child, a sense in which he ought to be so, ever dependent upon the great Father, ever ready to receive the word of the Father without questioning, ever teachable, ever restful in the Father’s care, and full of love to him who is his all in all. Of necessity we must ever be ‘children before God’ for our finite capacity is so limited that we are mere babes in knowledge in the presence of Infinite wisdom, and babes in understanding when contrasted with the great Father of spirits. We know enough to make us know that we know very little. The most advanced intellects in the church are infants compared with the Ancient of Days; ‘we are but of yesterday, and know nothing’: with all our experience, with all our study, with all our meditation, with all our illumination, we remain ‘little children’ when measured by the boundless knowledge of the Lord. Christlikeness A young seminary student was serving as a chaplain in the emergency room of a large charity hospital when a woman was brought in who had tried to take her own life. He did his best to comfort her and after a few minutes, in her agitated state, she looked up and asked, “Are you Jesus?” Without thinking about it, that young student had fulfilled his life’s purpose—to reveal to the world the compassion of Jesus Christ. The Bible says the world will know Christians by how they love others—if their love is like the love of Jesus. Act in selfless love today and “be Jesus” to someone. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 JOHN 3:18 Too Little Action A New England clergyman, impressing on his congregation the necessity of practical godliness, and contrasting the early Christians with those of the present generation, very properly remarked, "We have too many resolutions and too little action. The Acts of the Apostles is the title of one of the books of the New Testament; their resolutions have not reached us." See: 1 Timothy 6:18; Hebrews 10:24; James 4:17; 1 John 3:18 THE ROBBER AND THE PRIEST Topics: Conscience; Fasting; Foolishness; Hypocrisy; Integrity; Lent; Resisting Temptation; Vices References: Proverbs 20:11; Matthew 23:13–36; 1 Corinthians 8:8; Titus 1:16; 1 John 3:18 A priest was coming back to his rectory one evening in the dark when he was accosted by a robber who pulled a gun on him and demanded, "Your money or your life!" As the priest reached into his coat pocket, the robber saw his Roman collar and said, "I see you’re a priest. Never mind, you can go." The priest tried to reciprocate by offering the robber a candy bar that he remembered was in his pocket. The robber replied, "No thank you, Father. I don’t eat candy during Lent." —Harold A. Buetow,Embrace Your Renewal (Alba House, 2004) Three Groups Regarding salvation and assurance, there are three groups of people: 1. those who are secure but not sure; 2. those who are “sure” but not secure; and 3. those who are secure and sure. Category one are conscientious believers in Christ who are saved but lack assurance. In category two are professing Christians who say, “Even though I’m living in sin, I’ll make it. After all, ‘once saved, always saved!’“ The third group are born-again believers who enjoy a warm, secure relationship with Christ each day. The objective basis of our salvation is the finished work of God’s Son on the cross. The subjective basis for our assurance is our believing the truth about Christ (I John 2:2, 4; 2:15; 5:1), loving the brethren (I John 3:14, 18, 19, 4:7–8), and obeying Christ’s commandments (I John 2:3–5). SPIRITUAL DEATH, CONCEPT OF - Tony Evans A LUXURY car company had a powerful commercial some time ago. There were two dummies in the car. Engineers were going to crash the car into a wall in order to show how sturdy and solid the Lexus was. What caught my attention when I saw this commercial was what the dummies looked like. They were dressed in suits and ties. One dummy had a hat on. The other dummy had his hand on the wheel sporting an expensive watch. They were good-looking dummies headed toward a brick wall. When we go to our cars after church with our nice dresses and our nice suits and we sit in our nice vehicles, the question is, are you a dummy behind the wheel? Those dummies in the commercial were looking good, but they were headed toward disaster. So it is possible to be a good-looking dummy. Many people are walking around today spiritually dead but don’t know it.894 [Double-mindedness; Spiritual Life, Manifestation of] Isa. 29:13; 1 John 3:18 Faith And Works: James 2:18; 1 John 3:18 Elisabeth Gabriele Valé rie Marie, the Duchess in Bavaria, married Prince Albert I of Belgium in 1900. In 1909, upon Albert’s ascent to the throne, Elisabeth became Queen Elisabeth I. Though she was from German decent, she supported Belgium in both World War I and II. During the First World War, the Queen made herself beloved by visiting the frontlines and by sponsoring a nursing unit. During the German occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1944, she used her German connections and influence to assist in the rescue of hundreds of Jewish children from deportation by the Nazis. After the war she was awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations” by the Israeli government. One day while visiting Soviet-dominated Warsaw in 1956, Elisabeth was assigned a chief of protocal to accompany her to mass: “Are you a Catholic?” she asked the man. “Believing,” he replied, “but not practicing.” “Of course,” said Elisabeth, “then in that case you must be a Communist.” “Practicing, Your Majesty,” he replied, “but not believing.” There cannot be a schism between what we believe and what we practice. Tears of Love - Billy Graham 1 JOHN 3:18 NIV Hope for Each Day Morning and Evening Devotions - Page 168 One of our associate evangelists was preaching at a university. He yearned to win the students to Christ, but their reaction was hostile. One young woman was especially antagonistic. After the lecture she came to him and said, “I don’t believe anything you said.” He replied, “I’m sorry that you don’t agree, but do you mind if I pray for you?” She answered, “Nobody has ever prayed for me before. I guess it won’t do any harm.” He bowed his head and began to pray. She stood looking straight ahead. But suddenly she noticed that while he was praying, tears were coming down his cheeks. When he opened his eyes, she herself was in tears. She said, “No one in my entire life has ever shed a tear for me.” They sat on a bench, and that woman accepted Christ as her Savior. May the Lord use you today to help bring someone into His Kingdom by your love and your witness. Developing a Heart for Others By Pastor J. David Hoke SCRIPTURE: Various INTRODUCTION: We must have loving relationships in the church without neglecting those outside the church. 1. Your Love Must Reach In (1 John 3:11, 14, 16, 18; John 13:34–35). Healthy, loving relationships must be built within the church. This is the proving ground for us as Christians. Those outside the church are watching what happens inside the church to see if we really are who we claim to be—followers of Jesus. All too often we fail at this point. 2. Your Love Must Reach Out (Matt. 28:18–20; Rom. 10:13–14; 2 Cor. 5:17–20). We will not share the love of Christ if we don’t care about others’ salvation. We must become people who care. We need to see with God’s eyes and feel with His heart toward those who don’t know Him. CONCLUSION: A healthy spiritual life will be found in those who reach out with their words, time, and energy, in love both to one another and to those who are without Christ. Willing to Take the Risk LOVE 1 John 3:10–17 A good way to gauge how much you love God is to consider how much you are willing to give for the cause of Christ. A man named Andy proved his love in a very real way. Years ago, Andy, a graduate school student from the mid-west, was moved by the need of another brother. The new semester had come and one of his friends was $150.00 short of what he needed to stay in school. Andy didn’t have to think twice about what to do. He gave his friend the money. Andy made a tremendous sacrifice. Like most students, he did not have a large reserve of cash to share. In fact, a year later, Andy had to drop out of school for a year to earn more money to finish his own education. Did he ever regret giving that money to his friend? Not in any way. He later said, “To have done anything else would have been sin. My brother had a need and I had the privilege of helping meet that need. Don’t worry about me. God will take care of me too.” And God did. Andy finished his degree a year later—just in time … in God’s time … in God’s way … with God’s provision. The believer never loses when his motive for action is love. Love is always worth the risk. He Had Mastered the Principles of Caring Alan Loy McGinnis relates the following: In my hometown an obscure nurseryman died recently. His name was Hubert Bales, and he was the shyest man I ever met. When he talked, he squirmed, blinked his eyes rapidly, and smiled nervously. Hubert never ran in influential circles. He grew shrubs and trees, working with his hands the plot of land left by his father. He was anything but an extrovert. Yet when Hubert died, his funeral was the largest in the history of our little town. There were so many people that they filled even the balcony of the church. Why did such a shy man win the hearts of so many people? Simply because, for all his shyness, Hubert knew how to make friends. He had mastered the principles of caring, and for more than 60 years he had put people first. Perhaps because they recognized that his generosity of spirit was an extra effort for someone so retiring, people loved him back. By the hundreds. See: Romans 12:10; Philippians 2:3-4; 1 John 3:18 I'd Rather See a Sermon I'd rather see a sermon Than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me Than merely show the way; For the eye's a better pupil And more willing than the ear; Good counsel is confusing But examples always clear. And best of all the preachers Are the men who live their creeds; For to see good put into action Is what everybody needs. I can soon learn how to do it If you let me see it done; I can watch your hands in action, But your tongue too fast may run. And the lectures you deliver May be very fine and true, But I'd rather get my lesson By observing what you do; For I may misunderstand you And the high advice you give, But there's no misunderstanding How you act and how you live. See: 2 Corinthians 9:12-13; 1 John 3:18 They Shaved Their Heads! Oceanside, Calif: Mr. Alter's fifth-grade class at Lake Elementary School made headlines when the boys in the class decided by themselves to shave their heads. They did so, without embarrassment, because one of their own, Ian O'Gorman, developed cancer and had undergone chemotherapy. His hair began to fall out. To make their friend feel at home, to feel one with the crowd, all his classmates agreed to shave their heads, with their parent's permission, so that upon his return, Ian would not stand out from the class. No one would know who the "cancer kid" was. The teacher, Mr. Alter, was so moved by the spirit of his class that he too shaved his head. See: Romans 15:1-2; Galatians 6:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 John 3:18 Show Me! In the play, My Fair Lady, Eliza is being courted by Freddy, who writes to her daily of his love for her. Eliza's response to his notes is to cry out in frustration: Words! Words! I'm so sick of words!... Don't talk of stars Burning above, If you're in love, Show me! Don't talk of love lasting through time. Make me no undying vow Show me now! We need more than words to experience a loving relationship. We need to be shown. Let your love be seen! See: 1 John 3:18 Slave Trade William Wilberforce opposed the slave trade on explicitly religious grounds, to the great consternation and dismay of the vested interests of England. "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life," railed Lord Melbourne during a debate on abolishing slavery. Melbourne was, thankfully, proved wrong. See: Deuteronomy 6:5-9; James 1:27; 1 John 3:18 1 John 3:18, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 TODAY IN THE WORD Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. - 1 John 3:18 William Wilberforce, one of the more well-known members of the Clapham Sect, worked tirelessly in Parliament to abolish the British slave trade. But it was Hannah More, a lesser known member, who wrote this on the subject of notable Christian service: “We are apt to mistake our vocation by looking out of the way for occasions to exercise rare and great virtues, and by stepping over the ordinary ones that lie directly in the road before us.” This notion is at the heart of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 13. What matters most isn’t always our greatest achievements, spiritual or otherwise. When considered in the light of what will endure, all of the spiritual gifts, whether tongues or knowledge (which the Corinthians esteemed) or prophecy (which Paul valued), have secondary importance. What matters most is that we’ve acted for love and in love. Love will be the final criterion for our spiritual lives. And love is what will distinguish the Christian life and community. We must remember that Paul wasn’t waxing eloquent on the theme of love for the purposes of poetry. 1 Corinthians 13, before it became a common passage to be used in weddings, was included in a letter to a church whose sins of pride and arrogance, whose misuse and misunderstanding of spiritual gifts, and whose socioeconomic differences had become sources of division. Paul hasn’t pushed the pause button on his main themes of his letter, but in this chapter, he gives feet to the character of love. It is the force that he knows can unify the Corinthian community. When the Corinthians decide to love, the factional infighting and envious quarreling in the community will end (cf. 1:11, 3:3). When the Corinthians begin to love, the exercise of spiritual gifts will build up, rather than divide, the community. When the Corinthians consider controversial questions of Christian faith and practice, and when love governs that discussion, the unity of thought and mind to which Paul first called them will be realized (1:10). APPLY THE WORD Love can heal what pride has injured. It can bind up the places where we’ve been wounded and where trust has eroded. In a commentary on 1 Corinthians, one New Testament scholar says, “Love requires the formation of character.” He means to highlight that what Paul has described in this chapter isn’t necessarily how we feel love for others but how we show love. To love is to need a radical inner transformation. To love is to depend on Christ, whose example defines for us what love is (1 John 3:16). 1 John 3:18 – MULTI/RACISM - Jim Wilson In his book, An Unstoppable Force, Erwin McManus writes, “Jesus came and destroyed the dividing wall that not only separated man from God but also Jew from Gentile. God is about destroying walls that divide. The church will gain traction in the multicultural environment when she begins to dismantle the walls created not by the hands of God but by our own hands. Sometimes this will require nothing less than confession of the sin of racism and prejudice and the kind of repentance that leads to change. It isn’t enough to go to church with a diverse world; God calls us to embrace those who are different as brothers and sisters.” —An Unstoppable Force, p. 54 1 John 3:18 (NLT) “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.” For more information on An Unstoppable Force, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764423061/freshministry Poor Widow In his Treasury of Quotations, F. B. Proctor told the following story: A man was trying to get financial help for a widow who was in dire need, but his efforts were meeting with very little success. Even so, most of the people he contacted did express their regret over the sad situation of the poverty-stricken woman. The concerned man, refusing to give up, had high hopes as he approached a wealthy acquaintance, but he too refused to offer help. In declining the request, the rich man said, “I do want you to know, however, that I really feel sorry for that poor woman.” The one who was asking for the money responded, “I’m sure you do. But I’m afraid you don’t feel it in the right place.” “Oh, yes, I do,” the man replied, “I feel it very deeply in my heart.” The other responded, “That’s the problem. You feel it in the wrong place. I just wish those feelings were also in your pocket.” Protecting the Hurting - Other than the usual twice-a-day brushing times, we didn’t spend much time around our house worrying about my son Steven’s teeth. At least not until he knocked out one of his permanent front teeth in a little scrape with his favorite climbing tree. After having the tooth reinserted, splinted, x-rayed, drilled, and examined by an array of dentists, we are now very much aware of protecting Steven’s mouth. The whole family has rallied around Steven to make sure we save that tooth. We know that if he damages it again, he may lose it. For the time being, he’s had to put a halt to playing soccer, chasing girls at recess, and biting into apples. Our experience with Steven’s tooth reminds me of how we should protect the people in our churches who have been damaged by life. John told us to love one another (1 Jn. 3:14,17-18). In fact, this is an important way we demonstrate that we belong to the Lord (v.19). If we sense the presence of people who need our love and care, we can’t just ignore them and risk losing them. If we don’t protect them with Christian love, the next time they get hurt they may turn elsewhere for help. Putting It Into Practice Is there someone in my church who is hurting? What could I do? Would a kind word, a visit, or an encouraging card from me be helpful? What concerns one child of God concerns the whole family of God. More Than Words - The favorite words my wife likes to hear from my lips, next to “Let’s eat out tonight,” are the words “I love you.” But they are meaningless to her if I don’t show my love by the way I treat her. This is true in all relationships. We must do more than just say we care about people who are needy, lonely, or depressed. We must show it. Many years ago a couple told me about an elderly widow who had no family or close friends. She lived next door and they often invited her over for their evening meal. One snowy afternoon the wife saw the neighbor head for the city dump pulling a small wagon. When dusk arrived and she had not yet returned, the husband became concerned and set out to look for her. He eventually found her near a pile of debris, sitting on her cart, head down, oblivious to the snow—a picture of despondency. He touched her shoulder and called her by name. With a start, she looked up and said, “You are God’s answer to my prayer. I just told Him that I was here alone, that only He knew, and that nobody cared. He just showed me that you care.” The man gently led her home where she rested and shared a meal with him and his wife. That’s loving “in deed and in truth” (1 Jn. 3:18). Open my eyes, Lord, to people around me, Help me to see them as You do above; Give me the wisdom and strength to take action, So others may see the depth of Your love. —K. De Haan True compassion is love in action. Laundry Love —1 John 3:18 - When James Cates was a university student, he worked the night shift as a houseparent in a residential treatment center. One of his responsibilities was the sometimes overwhelming task of doing the laundry for 23 teenage boys. The laundering process was hard on the clothes, so when a troubled young resident named Jake was given a new shirt from his mother, James offered to wash it separately. Soon other boys began asking him to include a favorite article of clothing in his “special” load. It was a small act of kindness, but it meant a lot to the boys. Twenty years later, after establishing a successful practice as a therapist, teaching at a university, and being published in scholarly journals, Cates wrote: “With time to look back and reflect, no client I have ever known and no service I have ever performed means more to me than Jake and his shirt, and those special loads of clothes.” When your heart’s with compassion filled, And you God’s Word would heed, Why not in love give help to one Who has a special need? —Hess A little kindness can make a big difference. Love in Deed and Truth - Henry Mahan My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. The thing that troubles me most, when it comes to the validity of our profession of Christ, is that we talk, preach, and sing of love, mercy, and forgiveness but then, when the opportunity comes for us to love the unlovely, forgive the offender, and bind up the wounded heart, we join the circle of Pharisees, clutching our stones, ready to wound and maim. A profession that does not produce is a false profession. Slave Trade William Wilberforce opposed the slave trade on explicitly religious grounds, to the great consternation and dismay of the vested interests of England. “Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life,” railed Lord Melbourne during a debate on abolishing slavery. Melbourne was, thankfully, proved wrong.* See:Deuteronomy 6:5–9; James 1:27; 1 John 3:18 Truthfulness Can Hurt If truth-telling springs from love, it will not only pain those who hear it, it will pain those who speak it. If telling the truth is fun, it probably doesn’t come from love. Jeremiah told the truth and was called the “weeping prophet.”* See:Zechariah 8:16; Ephesians 4:15; 1 John 3:18 SIGNS OF LIFE - David Jeremiah Life Sign: Others will know I am a Christian by my love. Life Verse: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.—1 John 3:18 Life in Action: What characteristics of Jesus’ love do I fail to demonstrate? What can I do to incorporate those characteristics in my life? Deeds Not Words (1 John 3:18) A converted cowboy put it very well when he said, “Lots of folks that would really like to do right, think that serving the Lord means shouting themselves hoarse praising His name. Now I’ll tell you how I look at that. I am working for Jim here. Now if I would do nothing but sit around the house here telling what a good fellow Jim is and singing songs to him, I would not suit Jim. But when I buckle on my straps and hustle among the hills and see that Jim’s herd is all right, not suffering for water and feed, or being driven off the range and branded by cow thieves, then I am serving Jim as he wants to be served.” Let that be our philosophy, too, when the temptation is to talk too much, even for Christ (1 John 3:18). John Newton - My course of study, like that of a surgeon, has principally consisted in walking the hospital. Just Do It - Monroe Gaultney Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 In Other Words God’s children should do more than talk lovingly or speak the language of love; love and truth must also be revealed by their actions. Small Bites ✓ We are God’s children ✓ Our behavior should reveal His love ✓ Loving talk is not enough ✓ Talk of loving is not enough ✓ Love of talking is not enough ✓ What we do reveals who we are ✓ We are His. He is ours. All because of love ✓ The love in His truth comforts us ✓ The truth in His love directs us ✓ Love of His truth protects us ✓ The truth of His love encourages us ✓ The truth from His love guides us ✓ Love from His truth inspires us Questions and Thoughts to Aid Digestion Do you talk, or do you do? Do you talk about what you do, or do what you talk about? Do you walk it out after you talk it out? Have you ever talked yourself out of expressing or accepting love? Think about one of your habits or actions that express His love. Now one more. Was that hard? Can your actions be loving and yet not truthful? How does one express love by truthful actions? Are honesty and truth the synonyms for the same thing, or are they different? Prayer: Dear Lord, help me C. S. Lewis, through his clever and devilish Screwtape, has put the matter into focus for us in one of the Screwtape letters. The senior devil, Screwtape, gives the following advice to the junior temptor, Wormwood, in the matter of how Wormwood should attempt to undermine the faith and repentance of a young Christian. The great thing is to prevent his doing anything It remains to consider how we can retrieve this disaster. The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance. Let the little brute wallow in it. Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilizing the seeds which the Enemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel. The Preacher's Commentary - Vol. 35: 1, 2 and 3 John / ... - Page 50 (See page 72 of Screwtape Letters) Love In Action -- Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18 - A young man sent a love letter to his girlfriend. It read: “Darling, I’d climb the highest mountain, sail the widest ocean, cross the hottest desert just to see you. P.S.—I’ll be over Saturday night if it doesn’t rain.” We chuckle at his fickleness, but feel bad for the girl who, like all of us, longs for love in action, not empty promises. John said that Jesus Christ showed us what true love is when “He laid down His life for us.” But John continued, “We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 Jn. 3:16). The Greek word used for love in 1 John 3:16 is agape. This kind of love is characterized by sacrifice. It is a love based on the will, not on emotions. It’s not a feeling subject to the whims of our convenience. It is a decision to love another despite the cost. Laying down our lives for others usually doesn’t mean dying. Often it costs little more than stopping what we’re doing and entering someone’s world of need. I once felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop scrubbing my kitchen floor to visit a neighbor. She later accepted Christ, in part due to the friendship we had established during that visit. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE What does James 1:27 instruct us to do? According to James 2:14-18, how are we to give evidence of our faith in Christ? Love in deed is love indeed! Sandal Love - Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | A young woman backpacking in Colorado encountered another woman hobbling down a mountain trail. On one foot she wore an improvised shoe made of green twigs wrapped with a strip of cloth. “Lost one boot crossing a stream,” she explained. “Hope I can get down the mountain before dark.” The first hiker reached into her own pack and took out a sport sandal. “Wear this,” she said. “You can mail it to me when you get home.” The woman gratefully accepted the sandal and set off down the trail. A few days later the sandal arrived in the mail with a note saying: “I passed several people who noticed my predicament, but you’re the only one who offered any help. It made all the difference. Thanks for sharing your sandal with me.” The Bible says love can be seen and touched—it’s tangible. It may be as big as the Good Samaritan’s care for an injured man (Lk. 10:30-37) or as small as a cup of cold water given in Jesus’ name (Mt. 10:42). You may give without loving, but you can't love without giving. Get Practical - Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | The missionary noticed that the woman who was helping the family with household chores and with the local language was upset. So she asked some questions and learned that the helper was pregnant, and that she and her husband had decided to abort the baby because they felt they couldn’t afford a second child. The missionary immediately contacted her friends in the United States for financial assistance. She then sat down with her helper and told her that for the next 2 years at least, there would be enough money to take care of the child. The husband and wife were not Christians, and they didn’t have convictions against abortion. But when they heard the news, they were ecstatic. The economic aid gave them confidence that they could care for their child, so they chose not to abort. The missionaries felt they had done something to show Christ’s love to this family (1 Jn. 3:18). To reach people for Christ, get practical. So let our lips and lives express The holy gospel we profess; So let our works and virtues shine, To prove the doctrine all divine. —Watts People don't care how much you know unless they know how much you care. Arms Of Love - Read: 1 John 3:16-20 | Many college students go on summer missions trips. But rarely does one come back with plans to rescue a baby. Mallery Thurlow, a student at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, went to Haiti to help distribute food. One day a mother showed up at the distribution center with a very sick infant in her arms. The woman was out of options. The baby needed surgery, but no one would perform it. Without intervention, the baby would die. Mallery took baby Rose into her arms—and into her heart. After returning to the US, Mallery searched for someone to operate on baby Rose. Most doctors held out little hope. Finally, Rose was granted a visa to leave Haiti, and Mallery went back to get her. Detroit Children’s Hospital donated the $100,000 surgery, and it was successful. A little life was saved. It’s unlikely that we will have such a dramatic impact on others. Yet challenged by this student’s willingness, we can find ways to provide help. She didn’t let circumstances, youth, or inconvenience stop her from saving Rose’s life. When you see someone in need, Love demands a loving deed; Don’t just say you love him true, Prove it by the deeds you do. —Sper Compassion puts love into action. Actions Speak Louder - Read: Matthew 9:1-8 | Irritated with a young athlete who had accomplished little yet boasted about his ability, a TV commentator said, “Don’t tell me what you’re going to do—tell me what you’ve done!” Actions speak louder than words. This principle is seen in Jesus’ life. In Matthew 9, a paralytic was brought to Him. Jesus’ response? “Your sins are forgiven.” When the religious leaders objected, He raised the question of the hour: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?” (v.5). The answer is obvious. To say He had forgiven the man’s sins was simple, because it couldn’t be proven or disproven. But, to say “Arise and walk” was different. It was instantly verifiable. So, to prove His authority to forgive sins, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” (v.6). And he did! I’d rather see a Christian Than to hear one merely talk, I’d rather see his actions And behold his daily walk. —Herrell Our works and words should say the same thing. Active Compassion -- Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | Every so often when I walk into my office in the morning, I find a surprise on my desk. Not long ago the item was a sunflower coffee mug dropped off by a fellow employee. She had seen it in a shop and knew it would cheer up my wife—so she bought it and left it on my desk with an encouraging note. It was my pleasure to take that gift home to my wife Sue and to give it to her in the name of the woman who wanted to encourage her. This person could have simply thought about my wife. She could have talked to someone about her in a positive way. But those things don’t come close to providing the encouragement that comes from taking action. In 1 John 3:18, John talked about what we are to do when we see others in need. He told us to have active compassion: “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed.” When we see a need, it’s good to talk about it, but we must also do something about it. We are instructed: “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). Lord, when I learn that someone is hurting, Help me know what to do and to say; Speak to my heart and give me compassion, Let Your great love flow through me today. —K. De Haan Compassion is love in action. What Makes You Tick? - Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | In our zeal to introduce people to Christ, we must not forget that the Holy Spirit often uses adverse circumstances to increase their sense of spiritual need. He may also use those same circumstances to help us share the love of Christ with them. Author Jennifer Rees-Larcombe was burdened for a neighbor named Diana but couldn’t seem to get close to her. One evening she and several friends were praying for Diana when the doorbell rang. It was Diana’s husband. He was desperate. His wife had recently broken her leg and ankle and wouldn’t be able to walk for several months. “Do you know of anyone who could look in on her every day?” he asked. Saddened, yet grateful for this opportunity, Jennifer and her friends began cooking, cleaning, and shopping for Diana. Several months later, she noticed Diana reading a Bible. Diana explained, “I wanted to find out what makes you Christians tick, so I asked my husband to buy this Bible.” Soon they started attending Jennifer’s church, and eventually they both received Christ. For me 'twas not the truth you taught, To you so clear, to me so dim, But when you came to me, you brought A deeper sense of Him. —Clelland A helping hand can open the door of a person's heart to the gospel. Live Honestly - Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18 As children grow up, we who are parents or leaders pray that they will learn to discriminate more and more between right and wrong. But be prepared! Eventually these children will compare our actions with our words. If what we do and what we say don’t match up, they will be confused, not knowing which to follow—our actions or our words. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul could honestly say, “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did” (1:3). His actions and his words agreed. Paul then described Timothy’s faith as “genuine” and pointed to his spiritual heritage: the genuine faith of his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (v.5). Later in his letter, the apostle urged Timothy, “Continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures” (3:14-15). Christians whose actions and words are consistent can influence generations of people for Christ. Blest is the household where honesty reigns, Where dad and mom practice the truth; Blest are the children whom God leads and trains, And are taught His Word from their youth. —Fitzhugh Children are more likely to do what you do than to do what you say. Get Practical - Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | The missionary noticed that the woman who was helping the family with household chores and with the local language was upset. So she asked some questions and learned that the helper was pregnant, and that she and her husband had decided to abort the baby because they felt they couldn’t afford a second child. The missionary immediately contacted her friends in the United States for financial assistance. She then sat down with her helper and told her that for the next 2 years at least, there would be enough money to take care of the child. The husband and wife were not Christians, and they didn’t have convictions against abortion. But when they heard the news, they were ecstatic. The economic aid gave them confidence that they could care for their child, so they chose not to abort. The missionaries felt they had done something to show Christ’s love to this family (1 Jn. 3:18). To reach people for Christ, get practical. So let our lips and lives express The holy gospel we profess; So let our works and virtues shine, To prove the doctrine all divine. —Watts People don't care how much you know unless they know how much you care. Lamb-Chop Witness - Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18 Have you ever heard of witnessing with a lamb chop? W. H. Lax, a Methodist minister in London for 38 years, did just that. An old man was gravely ill, and Pastor Lax called on him. The man had no time for ministers, and as soon as he saw Lax’s clerical collar he turned away and refused to speak. Lax suspected that the man’s food supply had run low. So when he left the house, the minister stopped at a local butcher shop and had two lamb chops sent over. He called again in a few days and the old fellow was a bit friendlier. On his way home, Lax left another order with the butcher. By his third visit there was a noticeable change. The man was congenial and outgoing; he even allowed the minister to witness to him. While Lax was away on a preaching mission, the old man died. Apparently he had put his trust in Christ, for just before he died he said, “Tell the minister that it’s all right now. I’m going to God. But be sure to tell him it wasn’t his talking that changed me. It was those lamb chops!” Putting It Into Practice - Are there people in your neighborhood or workplace who are resisting the gospel? How can you show your love and concern by meeting their needs? Sometimes the best witness is kindness. Faith At Work - Read: James 2:14-26 | Christians sometimes sing the following words: This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through. Does that mean that we who are headed for heaven aren’t to have a concern for the present world? No. We can’t pray as Jesus instructed us, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10), and be indifferent to the needs and evils of our planet. On the contrary, we ought to be eager to carry out Paul’s counsel, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all” (Gal. 6:10). British historian Paul
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Spurgeon - Daily Help - Is my conscience at peace? For, if my heart condemns me, God is greater than my heart and does know all things (1 John 3:20). If my conscience bears witness with me that I am a partaker of the precious grace of salvation, then happy am I! I am one of those to whom God has given the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). Now, why is this called “the peace of God”? Because it comes from God, because it was planned by God, because God gave His Son to make the peace, because God gives His Spirit to give the peace in the conscience, and because, indeed, it is God Himself in the soul. Ever Feel Condemned? Read: 1 John 3:16-20 | God knows us better than we know ourselves. He’s aware of our weaknesses, the memories of sins that seem to predispose us to fail again and again. He knows our heredity and upbringing, the past and present influences that push us in the wrong direction. J. I. Packer calls these the “latent forces” of our existence as well as the “patent facts.” If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior and your heart condemns you at times, remember that He knows all about it and still loves you. No condemnation now I dread: Jesus, and all in Him, is mine! Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine. —Wesley Guilt is a burden God never intended His children to bear. The Telltale Heart - Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | Recently I read about a private investigator in the US who would knock on a door, show his badge to whoever answered, and say, “I guess we don’t have to tell you why we’re here.” Many times, the person would look stunned and say, “How did you find out?” then go on to describe an undiscovered criminal act committed long ago. Writing in Smithsonian magazine, Ron Rosenbaum described the reaction as “an opening for the primal force of conscience, the telltale heart’s internal monologue.” We all know things about ourselves that no one else knows—failures, faults, sins—that although confessed to God and forgiven by Him may come back to accuse us again and again. John, one of Jesus’ close followers, wrote about God’s love for us and the call to follow His commands, saying: “By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:19-20). No condemnation now I dread, I am my Lord’s and He is mine; Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine. —Wesley The one who receives Christ will never receive God’s condemnation. INSIGHT: Today’s reading establishes the benchmark for loving others by looking at what Jesus did for us on the cross (1 John 3:16). We know love because of the willingness of Jesus to die for us, and the necessary response to this love is that we be willing to give of ourselves for others. The context implies that this does not require a physical dying on another’s behalf. It does, however, challenge us to sacrifice our own interests for the welfare of others as evidence that we have received God’s love (1 John 3:17). Two Faces No man can for any considerable time wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one. —Nathaniel Hawthorne, Leadership, Vol. 7, no. 1. See: Mark 7:6; 1 John 3:20; 2 Corinthians 10:12 John Knox Pleads Guilty Fiery reformer John Knox was keenly aware of his own shortcomings: Although I never lack the presence and plain image of my own wretched infirmity, yet seeing sin so manifestly abounds in all estates, I am compelled to thunder out the threatenings of God against the obstinate rebels. In doing whereof (albeit, as God knoweth, I am no malicious nor obstinate sinner), I sometimes am wounded knowing myself to be criminal and guilty in many, yea, in all things that I reprehend in others. Judge not, mother, that I write these things, debasing myself otherwise than I am—no, I am worse than my pen can express. In body you think I am no adulterer. Let so be, but the heart is infected with foul lusts, and it will lust although I lament ever so much. Externally I commit no idolatry, but my wicked heart loveth itself and cannot be refrained from vain imaginations, yea, not from such as were the fountain of all idolatry. I am no man-killer with my hands, but I help not my needy brother so liberally as I may and ought. I steal not horse, money, or clothes from my neighbor, but that small portion of worldly substance I bestow not as rightly as his holy law requires. I bear no false witness against my neighbor in judgment or otherwise before men, but I speak not the truth of God so boldly as it becomes his true messenger to do. And thus in conclusion, there is no vice repugning to God's holy will expressed in his law, wherewith my heart is not infected. —Letter to his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Bowes, June 1553. "John Knox—The Thundering Scot," Christian History, no. 46. See: Psalm 38:3; Psalm 51:3; 1 John 3:20 Secret Prayer - Puritan Readings - For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 1 John 3:20 God sees that you pray in secret; that is, He observes your conduct, the posture and frame of your spirit, and the fervor and uprightness of heart which you manifest in prayer, is all known to Him. Mark that which is the hypocrite’s fear, and binds condemnation upon the heart of a wicked man, is here made to be the saints’ support and ground of comfort—that they pray to an all-seeing God. Your heavenly Father sees in secret; He can interpret your groans, and read the language of your sighs. Though they fail as to the outside of a duty, and there be much brokenness of speech, yet God sees brokenness of heart there, and it is that He looks after. God sees. What is that? He sees whether you pray or no, and how you pray. Mark that passage where the Lord said to Ananias, “Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus; for behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11). Go into such a city, such a street, such a house, such a part, in such a chamber, behold he prays. The Lord knew all these circumstances. It is known unto Him whether we toil or loiter away our time, or whether we pray in secret; He knows what house, in what corner of the house, what we are doing there. Second, He sees how you pray (Rom. 8:27). It is propounded as the comfort of the saints, “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” God knows you thoroughly and knows how you pray, whether is customary and formal or serious acts of love to God and communion with Him Wayne Grudem - Knowledge (Omniscience) - See full discussion inSystematic Theology page 151 God’s knowledge may be defined as follows: God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act. Elihu says that God is the one “who is perfect in knowledge” (Job 37:16), and John says that God “knows everything” (1 John 3:20). The quality of knowing everything is called omniscience, and because God knows everything, he is said to be omniscient (that is, “all-knowing”). Related Resource: Omniscient God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.1 JOHN 3:20 You and I are governed. The weather determines what we wear. The terrain tells us how to travel.… God—our Shepherd—doesn’t check the weather; He makes it. He doesn’t defy gravity; He created it. God is what He is. What He has always been. God is Yahweh—an unchanging God, an uncaused God, and an ungoverned God.
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Spurgeon - Other people may condemn us, but that does not matter; they may impute to us wrong motives, and misrepresent us, but that is no concern of ours so long as we have confidence toward God. Before (pros) God ("facing Godward") - This phrase speaks of the incredible privilege believers have to experience a "face-to-face" relationship with the invisible God. Beloved (27)(agapetos from agapao = to love, agape = unconditional love borne by Spirit - Gal 5:22) means dear, much loved and is John's tender way of addressing the readers, reminding them of his love for them, especially those who may have been struggling with an accusing conscience (see 1Jn 3:19, 20) Agapetos describes the love of another, this love being called out of the "giver's" heart by preciousness of the recipient of the love (the "beloved'). Agapetos is used only of Christians as united with God and with each other in love. Vincent reasons that given the fact that John refers to them as beloved would suggest that this is addressed directly to those who are of the truth (1Jn 3:19), who are loving in deed not word (1Jn 3:18) AGAPETOS IN JOHN'S WRITINGS - 1 Jn. 2:7; 1 Jn. 3:2; 1 Jn. 3:21; 1 Jn. 4:1; 1 Jn. 4:7; 1 Jn. 4:11; 3 Jn. 1:1; 3 Jn. 1:2; 3 Jn. 1:5; 3 Jn. 1:11 Condemn (2607)(kataginosko from katá = against + ginosko = know) literally means to know against (to know something against one) and then to find fault with, to blame, to condemn (to determine or judge to be utterly wrong or guilty). KATAGINOSKO - 3V - Gal. 2:11; 1 Jn. 3:20; 1 Jn. 3:21 Confidence (boldness) (3954)(parrhesia from pás = all + rhesis = speech, act of speaking) is literally all speech or speaking all things and thereby conveys the idea of freedom to say all. The basic idea in the word is freedom of speech, when the word flowed freely. It is that attitude of openness that stems from freedom and lack of fear ("shaking" fear - godly, reverential fear is always appropriate). Greeks used parrhesia of those with the right to speak openly in the assembly. Speaking with plainness, openness and confidence (Acts 2:29). "It describes the privilege of coming before someone of importance, power, and authority and feeling free to express whatever is on one’s mind." (MacArthur) Glenn Barker - "The word (parrhesia) rendered confidence stood in ancient Greece for the most valued right of a citizen of a free state, the right to 'speak his mind' … unhampered by fear or shame." (citing Dodd) Parrhesia - "This was a high privilege in the Greek world. It originally meant the right of a full citizen of a democracy to speak in the citizens' assembly. Later it came to mean freedom to speak with frankness and courage. Thus, in 1Jn 2:28+ and 1Jn 3:21, confidence is the right to speak frankly and boldly to Christ at His second coming and to God even now in prayer." (Hinckley) PARRHESIA - 31V - Mk. 8:32; Jn. 7:4; Jn. 7:13; Jn. 7:26; Jn. 10:24; Jn. 11:14; Jn. 11:54; Jn. 16:25; Jn. 16:29; Jn. 18:20; Acts 2:29; Acts 4:13; Acts 4:29; Acts 4:31; Acts 28:31; 2 Co. 3:12; 2 Co. 7:4; Eph. 3:12; Eph. 6:19; Phil. 1:20; Col. 2:15; 1 Tim. 3:13; Phlm. 1:8; Heb. 3:6; Heb. 4:16; Heb. 10:19; Heb. 10:35; 1 Jn. 2:28; 1 Jn. 3:21; 1 Jn. 4:17; 1 Jn. 5:14 ILLUSTRATION - There was a certain minister who meant a great deal to me when I was a young preacher. I always loved to hear him pray because he prayed with assurance. He did not pray to God willy-nilly, shilly-shally, mollycoddle -- he went to God with great assurance. I always wanted to be on that man's prayer list. I had a feeling that whenever he began to pray, whatever the Lord was doing, He would say, "Wait a minute. I'm going to listen to My child down there. He's praying, and he knows what he is talking about." I wanted to be on that man's prayer list. I even prayed that he would put me on his prayer list, but I didn't ask him to because I felt that it wouldn't be as effective as if he volunteered it. He knew I was pastor of a church and had a great opportunity, and one day he said to me, "Vernon, I'm praying for you." Oh boy, that was a great day! May I say to you, it is wonderful to have assurance when we pray. "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God." (SEE Thru the Bible Vol. 56: The Epistles 1 John) Timothy Peck - All of us go through times of doubt in the spiritual journey, seasons where it seems like we don’t really know God like we thought we did. It’s a normal part of the spiritual journey for us to struggle with doubts about our faith, doubts about whether we’re truly following Jesus Christ or not. If you’ve struggled with those kinds of doubts, that’s probably a pretty good indication that you are following Jesus, because people who don’t follow Jesus Christ really aren’t all that concerned about it. These seasons of doubt cause our hearts to condemn us, our feelings accuse us of not being Christians, of being failures, of not measuring up, especially when we hear sermons like today’s call to walk with each other in love. God’s invitation to love so radically impacts us and we realize how far short we fall, and often our hearts become anxious and even condemning, and we wonder if we truly know Christ the way we thought we did. So John wants us to put that struggle in proper perspective, that it’s not whether our feelings are at rest or whether our feelings condemn us that determines whether or not we’re on this spiritual journey, but it’s whether God has received us through our faith in Jesus Christ. You see, God is greater than our feelings, he is bigger than our emotions of doubt or assurance, and what God thinks carries more weight than what I’m feeling at the moment. So how do we set our hearts at ease? By remembering that our assurance doesn’t rely on our emotions but on God and then by pressing forward to obey God’s commands. John sums up God’s commands in the words 'believe' and 'love.' The order is vitally important, that we first trust our lives to Jesus Christ, we place our faith in him to forgive our sins and to bring us into a relationship with God built on grace. Then once we do that, we launch on a spiritual journey of loving other followers of Christ, to walk together on this journey we’re on. Believing comes first, then belonging. We first establish a personal relationship with God through belief in Jesus Christ, and then we find ourselves on this journey the bible calls church, of walking this journey together." (Walking With Others sermon, by Timothy Peck) George Mueller - The promise of today’s text (1 John 3:13–24) carries two important conditions—”if our heart condemn us not” (1Jn 3:21), and if “we keep His commandments” (1Jn 3:22). In other words, when we are in the center of God’s will and have a clear conscience, the resources of heaven are at our disposal. The following incident vividly illustrates this truth: The captain of an ocean steamer tells that on one occasion his ship was engulfed in a dense fog off the coast of Newfoundland. It was Wednesday evening and the captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when he was startled by someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned and saw one of his passengers—George Mueller. “Captain,” said Mueller, “I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.” “That’s impossible!” replied the captain. “I’m helpless!” Mueller suggested, “Let’s go down to the chart room and pray.” The captain thought he had a lunatic on board. “Do you know how dense the fog is?” he asked. “No,” came the reply, “my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.” Once in the chart room, Mueller got down on his knees and prayed, “O Lord, if it is consistent with Thy will, please remove this fog in 5 minutes. Thou knowest the engagement Thou didst make for me in Quebec for Saturday. I believe it is Thy will.” Within a matter of minutes the fog lifted. ASK AND IT WILL BE DONE - Andrew Murray Dear friends, if our conscience is clear, we can come to God with bold confidence. 1 JOHN 3:21 Think for a moment of the men of prayer in scripture and see in them lives that could pray in power. Abraham was an intercessor. What gave him such boldness? He knew that God had called him away from his home and people to walk with Him so that all nations might be blessed in him. He knew that he had obeyed and forsaken all for God. Implicit obedience, to the very sacrifice of his son, was the law of his life. He did what God asked, so he dared to trust God to do what he asked. Moses was an intercessor. He, too, had forsaken all for God and lived at God’s disposal. Often it is written of him that he did what the Lord commanded. No wonder he was very bold. His heart was right with God. He knew God would hear him. We only pray the way we live. God longs to prove Himself the faithful God and mighty helper of His people. He waits to answer praying hearts wholly turned from the world and to Himself. The branch that abides in Christ the heavenly Vine will bear fruit in the salvation of others. Such people may dare ask what they will—and it shall be done. THOU HAST PROVED MINE HEART “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God”, 1 John 3:21. THE LORD warned against the “leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”, Luke 12:1. The prayers of the Pharisees were a pretence; they loved to be seen by men. They honoured God with their lips only; their heart was far from Him. The Lord severely condemned these self-righteous hypocrites, Matt. 6:5; 15:8; 23:27–28; Luke 18:9. David’s prayer was both righteous and sincere. It came “not out of feigned lips”, Ps 17:1. In asserting the righteousness of his cause, Ps 17:2–4, he was not guilty of self-righteousness like the Pharisee in the parable, Luke 18:10. He was attesting his honesty of heart and stedfastness of purpose. The words, “thou hast tried me, and findest nothing”, Ps 17:3 R.V., were not a boastful claim to faultlessness. His appeal for help lest his feet should slip, Ps 17:5, and the requests that he makes in Ps 17:6–8, are proof of this. David’s confidence in prayer sprang from self-examination in the presence of God. In the stillness of the night when the conscience is not easily silenced, he exposed himself to Him who searched his heart, v. 3; cf. Psa. 139:1, 23, 24. He knew that if he regarded iniquity in his heart, the Lord would not hear his prayer, Psa. 66:18. Out of his own personal experience, David passed on this wise counsel to his son Solomon, 1 Chron. 28:9. We, no less than David, need to pray, “Search me, O God”; when we sing the following lines, do we really mean them? “Search all my thoughts, the secret springs, The motives that control; The chambers where polluted things Hold empire o’er the soul.” Our prayers will be more effective if we submit to the discipline of self-examination before Him who searches the heart, Jer. 17:10; 1 Cor. 11:28, 31. The two-edged sword of the Word of God is the means the Spirit uses to search us. It pierces, cuts, judges and exposes us before “him with whom we have to do”, Heb. 4:12–13. When we awake in Christ’s likeness, Psa. 17:15, heart-searching will no longer be needed. Bill Bright - Claiming Forgiveness Promises: A Daily Guide to Supernatural Living - Page 189 “But, dearly loved friends, if our consciences are clear, we can come to the Lord with perfect assurance and trust, and get whatever we ask for because we are obeying him and doing the things that please him.” 1 JOHN 3:21, 22 What a marvelous promise—unfortunately, a promise which few Christians are able to claim. Why? Because they do not have a clear conscience in regard to their sin and when they come to God, they cannot come with confidence that He will hear and answer them. As God’s Word reminds us in Psalm 66:15, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. How wonderful to know that whatever sins have been committed, the shedding of Christ’s blood and His death on the cross have paid the penalty for them all. If we confess our sin of pride, lust, jealousy, gossip, dishonesty, greed, whatever it may be, we can by faith claim His forgiveness. Remember that, if we agree with God concerning our sin, if we recognize that Christ’s death on the cross has indeed paid the penalty for that sin, and if we repent or change our attitude, which results in a change of our action, we can know that we are forgiven. However, if there is no change of attitude and action, obviously there has been no true confession and therefore no forgiveness and cleansing. If you have truly confessed your sins, you can come now into the presence of God with great joy and a clear conscience and have perfect assurance and trust that whatever you ask for, you will receive because you are praying according to the will and the Word of God. Bible Reading: 1 John 3:18–24 Action Point: I will keep my heart and motives pure through the practice of Spiritual Breathing. When I do, I can come into God’s presence with a clear conscience and expect to receive answers to my prayers Related Resources: How can I get a clear conscience? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean to have a good conscience 1 JOHN 3:21, KJV Rev 12:10-11 It is only when our heart condemns us not that we have boldness toward God. The adversary knows this, and so is the “accuser of our brothers” seeking to bring the believer into condemnation before God. Decision on the part of the believer is necessary here, and a knowledge of the power of the blood of the Lamb. Let the believer remember that the Lord Christ is a faithful witness, and will faithfully tell his possessed ones the moment they are out of accord with His will. He is always definite in His dealings with His children, and the soul in the fellowship with Him quickly knows when He speaks with the still small voice of conscience; then it must at once obey, and claim the cleansing of the precious blood. The condemnation of the evil one is usually vague, and should be met by the believer claiming the constant cleansing of the blood; whilst doubtful things must be dealt with by a committal to the Lord, and trust that He will remove what comes from the accuser, and deepen and renew all that comes from Himself. The breastplate of righteousness will then be kept upon the heart to protect it from the enemy. JESSIE PENN-LEWIS A W Tozer - CONFIDENCE IN GOD Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings - Page 36 If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 1 John 3:21 This is surely one of the great realizations that can come to us in the Christian life—we can put our complete confidence in the God who has revealed Himself to us! It was a gracious day in my early Christian experience when I realized that it was not in God’s character to pounce upon me in judgment. He knows that we are dust, and as our God He is loving and patient towards us. If it were true that the Lord would put the Christian on the shelf every time he failed or blundered or did something wrong, I would have been a piece of statuary by this time! It is surely true that God will bring judgment when judgment is necessary, but the Scriptures say that judgment is God’s strange work. Where there is a lifetime of rebellion, hardened unbelief and love of sin, judgment will come. But God watches over us for spiritual growth and maturity, trying to teach us the necessity for fully trusting Him and coming to the place of complete distrust of ourselves. We have met God and can now say with Paul, “That the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). How to Be Confident in God - Russell Spray Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God” (1 John 3:21). I. Through Forgiveness “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins …” (1 John 1:9). A. Unforgiven sin is accompanied by guilt. Those who lack God’s forgiveness cannot be confident in Him. B. Forgiveness is received by confession. When we repent and believe, we can be confident in God. Guilt disappears (Mark 11:25). II. Through Freedom “… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). A. Many believers do not possess the fullness of the Spirit. They are not totally committed, and are limited by doubts and resentments. B. The Holy Spirit brings freedom. His abiding Presence banishes bondage, frees us from Satanic entrapments, and increases confidence (Gal. 5:1). III. Through Fervor “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11). A. Those with selfish motives are slothful about God’s work. Their distorted purpose brings failure and defeat. B. Christians should find delight in serving the Lord. As they fervently work, witness, and win for Him, their confidence grows. IV. Through Faith “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith …” (Heb. 10:22). A. Many displease God and disappoint themselves because of their lack of faith (Heb. 11:6). B. Faith—confidence—is the means by which we open ourselves up to God. It is also the way to be victorious in Christ (1 John 5:4). Spurgeon - What is the verdict? (Sermon -What is the Verdict? ) ‘Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.’ 1 John 3:21 The question to be decided is a very weighty one. What is that question, do you think? I do not think it is the question, ‘Am I perfect?’ because we can solve that without holding a formal court. The question is not, ‘Am I absolutely free from sin?’ for, ‘if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’ The question is this: ‘Am I sincere in the truth? Is my religion true and am I true in my profession of it?’ Next, ‘Does love rule in my nature?’ All this chapter [1 John 3] deals with love and teaches us that the possession of love is the supreme test of our state. Note the fourteenth verse: ‘We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.’ The enquiry is, ‘Do I love God? Do I love my brother also? Is my spirit that of love? If not, I am not a child of God.’ Then the next question is, ‘Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?’ In the verses which succeed my text this is put as a great test, that we believe in Jesus Christ. Faith is the main question for conscience to decide, together with the following one, ‘Do I also keep his commandments? Do I obey God? Do I seek to be holy as Jesus is holy? Or am I living in known sin and tolerating that in myself which does not and cannot please God?’ The verse that follows my text puts it, ‘we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight’ and the question is, ‘Do we not only try to keep the commandments, but do we do so because it is pleasing to God? Is it my master-motive to please God? Do I want to be an Enoch, who “had this testimony, that he pleased God”? Do I keep his commandments and labour to please him?’ These are the questions to be tried in the court of conscience, and never was there a weightier issue. NOTHING BETWEEN - play this hymn (borrow Amazing Grace by Kenneth Osbeck - page 232) Words and music by Charles A. Tindley, 1851–1933 If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. (1 John 3:21, 22) Born to slave parents and separated from them when only five years of age, Charles Tindley was a most remarkable individual. He learned to read and write on his own at the age of 17, attended night school, completed seminary training through correspondence, and was ordained to the Methodist ministry. While attending evening school, young Tindley supported himself as the janitor of the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. In 1902, Charles Tindley was called to pastor this prestigious church where he had once been the janitor. The Calvary Methodist Church prospered greatly under his leadership. Eventually several larger sanctuaries had to be built to accommodate the crowds of all races that came to hear this humble preacher. In 1924, in spite of Tindley’s protests, the new church building was renamed the Tindley Temple Methodist Church. Charles Tindley expresses a concern in this hymn for many of the practices and attitudes that must be rejected if Christians are to be pleasing to their Lord. The hymn reminds us that we must watch out for those allurements and temptations that can easily disrupt our spiritual courses: “Delusive dreams, sinful-worldly pleasures, habits, pride, self or friends.” The Bible teaches that we are not to be conformed to this world but should know the transforming power of a spiritually renewed mind (Romans 12:1, 2). Nothing between my soul and the Savior, naught of this world’s delusive dream: I have renounced all sinful pleasure—Jesus is mine! There’s nothing between. Nothing between, like worldly pleasure! Habits of life, tho harmless they seem, must not my heart from Him ever sever—He is my all! There’s nothing between. Nothing between, like pride or station: Self or friends shall not intervene; tho it may cost me much tribulation, I am resolved! There’s nothing between. Nothing between, e’en many hard trials, tho the whole world against me convene; watching with prayer and much self denial—Triumph at last, with nothing between! Chorus: Nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His favor: Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. For Today: Psalm 51:10; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 13:6; 1 John 3:18–24 Reflect on this truth: “The price of spiritual power is a purity of heart.” Ask God to reveal anything that might hinder His flow of power in your life. Adrian Rogers - The Bible says, in 1 John 3, verse 21, “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” (1 John 3:21) Now, listen. The root of faith is the Word of God, but the requirement of faith is that you come out of that land of idolatry; you leave it. God brought us out, that he might bring us in. I mean, many people say, “Well, I just doubt my salvation. I’m not sure I’m saved. I have doubt about my salvation. I have doubt. I have doubt.” And you talk to them about their theology and so forth, and they’ll nod their head, but they still have their doubts. If you stay there long enough, you’ll find out that that person that has that doubt has sin in his or her life: idols that they’ve not forsaken, things that they’re doing. What right would you have to have absolute assurance if you’re living with sin in your heart and in your life? And if you’re having trouble with faith, try repentance—if you’re having trouble with faith. Excerpt from sermon How to Mend a Broken Faith - scroll down to page 484 Daily Light on the Daily Path - We know that we have passed out of death into life. “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”—Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.—By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. . . . Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.—We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. You were dead in the trespasses and sins. . . . [God] made us alive together with Christ.—He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. 1 John 3:14; John 5:24; 1 John 5:12; 2 Cor. 1:21–22; 1 John 3:19, 21; 1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 1:13 Confidence, Not Condemnation 1 John 3:21 - Spirit Filled Life Daily Devotional Carefully observe that this text … speaks to those who are called “beloved.”… It is a very sweet and endearing title, but it evidently in this case belongs only to those who are of the family of grace: these alone can remain uncondemned of their hearts, and live in confidence towards God.… As soon as we become children we are freed from the condemning power of the law; we are not under the principle and motive of the law of works, but yet we are not without law unto Christ. We come under the sacred regulations which rule the household of God. We are dealt with not as mere subjects are ruled by a king, but as children are governed by a father. We come from under the law which was promulgated with thunders and lightnings, and the sound of a trumpet waxing exceeding loud and long, and we listen to the gentle voice of the man Christ Jesus.… there is a rule and discipline devised by love, and carried out with infinite compassion. Upon our obedience to that discipline our peace and prosperity depend. If we so live that our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. (SOCS) Greg Laurie - HOW GOD USES GUILT Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. (1 John 3:21) Columnist Ann Landers once made this statement about guilt: “One of the most painful, self-mutilating, time and energy consuming exercises in the human experience is guilt. It can ruin your day or your week or your life if you let it.” Landers concluded, “Remember, guilt is a pollutant and we don’t need any more of it in the world.” But I have to disagree with Ann Landers on that point. I think guilt has an important part to play in our lives. I think God can use guilt. Guilt can remind us that we have crossed the line, that we have done something wrong. And God can work with guilt in the human conscience to bring us to our senses. The word “conscience” is a combination of Latin words that mean “to know” and “together.” In fact, the Greek word for conscience is found more than thirty times in the New Testament and means “co-knowledge,” “knowing together with you,” or “knowledge together with oneself.” That is, conscience knows our inner motives and our true thoughts. The Hebrew word for “conscience” is usually translated “heart” in the Old Testament. So when we read in the Old Testament about having a tender heart toward God, it is speaking of having a sensitive conscience. When read about being upright in heart, it is speaking of having a pure conscience. This is not to equate the conscience with the voice of God, because our conscience can, at times, be wrong. That is why you must saturate your heart and mind with the Word of God to essentially educate it. And when your conscience is educated by the Word of God, it can, in fact, serve an important purpose. A W Tozer - Does God Always Answer Prayer? The Best of A. W. Tozer Book Two Contrary to popular opinion, the cultivation of a psychology of uncritical belief is not an unqualified good, and if carried too far it may be a positive evil. The whole world has been booby-trapped by the devil, and the deadliest trap of all is the religious one. Error never looks so innocent as when it is found in the sanctuary. One field where harmless-looking but deadly traps appear in great profusion is the field of prayer. There are more sweet notions about prayer than could be contained in a large book, all of them wrong and all highly injurious to the souls of men. I think of one such false notion that is found often in pleasant places consorting smilingly with other notions of unquestionable orthodoxy. It is that God always answers prayer. This error appears among the saints as a kind of all-purpose philosophic therapy to prevent any disappointed Christian from suffering too great a shock when it becomes evident to him that his prayer expectations are not being fulfilled. It is explained that God always answers prayer, either by saying Yes or by saying No, or by substituting something else for the desired favor. Now, it would be hard to invent a neater trick than this to save face for the petitioner whose requests have been rejected for nonobedience. Thus when a prayer is not answered he has but to smile brightly and explain, “God said No.” It is all so very comfortable. His wobbly faith is saved from confusion and his conscience is permitted to lie undisturbed. But I wonder if it is honest. To receive an answer to prayer as the Bible uses the term and as Christians have understood it historically, two elements must be present: (1) A clear-cut request made to God for a specific favor. (2) A clear-cut granting of that favor by God in answer to the request. There must be no semantic twisting, no changing of labels, no altering of the map during the journey to help the embarrassed tourist to find himself. When we go to God with a request that He modify the existing situation for us, that is, that He answer prayer, there are two conditions that we must meet: (1) We must pray in the will of God and (2) we must be on what old-fashioned Christians often call “praying ground”; that is, we must be living lives pleasing to God. It is futile to beg God to act contrary to His revealed purposes. To pray with confidence the petitioner must be certain that his request falls within the broad will of God for His people. The second condition is also vitally important. God has not placed Himself under obligation to honor the requests of worldly, carnal or disobedient Christians. He hears and answers the prayers only of those who walk in His way. “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.… If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (1 John 3:21, 22; John 15:7). God wants us to pray and He wants to answer our prayers, but He makes our use of prayer as a privilege to commingle with His use of prayer as a discipline. To receive answers to prayer we must meet God’s terms. If we neglect His commandments our petitions will not be honored. He will alter situations only at the request of obedient and humble souls. The God-always-answers-prayer sophistry leaves the praying man without discipline. By the exercise of this bit of smooth casuistry he ignores the necessity to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, and actually takes God’s flat refusal to answer his prayer as the very answer itself. Of course such a man will not grow in holiness; he will never learn how to wrestle and wait; he will never know correction; he will not hear the voice of God calling him forward; he will never arrive at the place where he is morally and spiritually fit to have his prayers answered. His wrong philosophy has ruined him. That is why I turn aside to expose the bit of bad theology upon which his bad philosophy is founded. The man who accepts it never knows where he stands; he never knows whether or not he has true faith, for if his request is not granted he avoids the implication by the simple dodge of declaring that God switched the whole thing around and gave him something else. He will not allow himself to shoot at a target, so he cannot tell how good or how bad a marksman he is. Of certain persons James says plainly: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts,” From that brief sentence we may learn that God refuses some requests because they who make them are not morally worthy to receive the answer. But this means nothing to the one who has been seduced into the belief that God always answers prayer. When such a man asks and receives not he passes his hand over the hat and comes up with the answer in some other form. One thing he clings to with great tenacity: God never turns anyone away, but invariably grants every request. The truth is that God always answers the prayer that accords with His will as revealed in the Scriptures, provided the one who prays is obedient and trustful. Further than this we dare not go. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER 1 JOHN 3:21 Walking with God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotional Selections This matter of “confidence” is absolutely vital to true prevailing prayer. Let me remind you how the Scripture puts it. Have you noticed that the word boldness is used in connection with prayer in the Scriptures? You often find it in the epistle to the Hebrews: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16); or again, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19); or, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22). Or consider what Paul says in Ephesians 3: “. . . in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by . . . faith” (verse 12). That is the way to pray; if our petitions are to be of any value, we must have boldness and assurance and confidence in our access. How is this to be obtained? Well, it seems to me that we are here dealing with the answer, and it is a question of sonship. The consciousness of our sonship and the assurance of our sonship is to be determined by our love of the brethren. It works like this: If I am truly loving the brethren, then I remember that I am a child of God. Therefore, when I am before God in prayer I argue like this: “I must think of God now not as my Judge but as my Father.” John goes on to remind us of that in 1 John chapter 4. I do not come to God, therefore, in a spirit of fear, because “fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18). So, assured of my sonship, I know that God delights in me, that God indeed is much more ready to bless me than I am to ask to be blessed. I must think of God now not as my Judge but as my Father. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - ASSURANCE IN PRAYER 1 JOHN 3:21-22 Walking with God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotional Selections Over and above my confidence is my right of access; I must have assurance with regard to my petitions. James puts it like this: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . .” But notice this: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:5-7). If you are uncertain, doubtful, or hesitant and lacking assurance in your petition, you will not get your request, says James. Listen to the psalmist in Psalm 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” If I go to God with a double mind, holding on to my sin and knowing that I am living a wrong life, I will not have confidence in my prayer. “God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things” (1 John 3:20); if I am condemning myself and know I am wrong, how much more so must God. Now I think that our Lord Himself has answered this question in John’s Gospel. He put it like this: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Or again: “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). If I am keeping God’s commandments, then I can be certain that my life is being controlled by the Holy Spirit, and therefore I know that any petitions and desires I may have were created in me by the Holy Spirit. If I go to God holding on to my sin and knowing that I am living a wrong life, I will not have confidence in my prayer. Wayne Grudem - Pursuing Personal Holiness. If we want to truly draw near to God in worship, it is important to strive for personal holiness. The author of Hebrews reminds believers to strive for “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14), and Jesus says that it is the “pure in heart” who shall “see God” (Matt. 5:8)—a promise that is fulfilled partially in this life and completely in the age to come. Specifically in connection with prayer, John says, “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God” (1 John 3:21), but this principle certainly applies to worship as well, as we have boldness to come into God’s presence to offer him praise. James indicates a similar concern when, immediately after saying, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,” he adds, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). (See page 888 Systematic Theology) Oswald Chambers - Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.—1 John 3:21 Devotions for a Deeper Life: A Daily Devotional - Page 160 TOO MANY PEOPLE SUPPOSE THAT if they clean up their dealings with others, they will be right with God! But a reformed person is as much condemned as before. And it is not getting right with men, but with God, that leads to eternal life. Sin is more than moral irregularity. It is a disposition to follow one’s own way rather than God’s way. The Bible says that God condemns those whom the god of this age has blinded so that they do not realize the sinful disposition in their lives. If we deny our sinful disposition, we make God a liar and deceive ourselves. Prayer Thought: I fully realize the grim consequences of sin. Deliver me, Lord, from my sinfulness. Spurgeon - “Trying to Believe”? 1 John 3:21 Are you hearing the gospel earnestly? Are you searching the Scriptures for evidence concerning Christ? Or are you just doing nothing but saying, “I am trying to believe?” Suppose I read an article in the newspaper, and then say, “I am trying to believe it.” Well, if I am searching for evidence and questioning others as to whether it is true or not, I speak correctly. But if I merely put the paper away, and sit down, and say, “I will try to believe it,” that is absurd. The fact is, you do not believe in Jesus, or you would not say, “I am trying to believe in him.” (Sermon The Lower Courts) Many people cannot pray in faith because their hearts condemn them Adrian Rogers - First John 3, verse 21 says this: “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” (1 John 3:21) Now, faith and sin are mutually opposing elements. Many people cannot pray in faith because their hearts condemn them. Have you ever had an argument with your wife and then tried to pray without making it right? I have. I felt so stupid trying to pray without first of all going to Joyce and saying, “All right, Joyce, I’m wrong. It was me. Forgive me.” Then the ways open to God, you see? But, when our heart condemns us—when we know we’re wrong—we can’t pray with faith. Faith and sin just don’t exist in the same heart. Make a full surrender to God. Vance Havner - THE SECRET OF CONFIDENCE Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 1 John 3:21. The preceding verse in this passage says that God knows everything. He knows the heart and it is the heart that matters. God knows the inner intent, the real direction of our lives, what in our innermost selves we want to be and do. We may stumble and fall, make mistaken decisions, but He knows the truth about us. We often misjudge others because we do not know their hearts. What's done we partly may compute But know not what's resisted. So we come with confidence and are promised answers to our prayers for God knows when we really seek to know and do His will. James Smith - The Hindrances (IN PRAYER). We don't speak here of hindrances to praying, but of those things which hinder the answers. 1. INSINCERITY (1 John 3:21). It is quite possible to keep up the form of prayer and to be asking great things from God, while the heart is condemning it all. 2. WILLFULNESS (Psa. 66:18). Conscious of iniquity in the heart, but unwilling to confess it. First get reconciled to God about this matter, then bring your petition. 3. SELFISHNESS (Jas. 4:3). Oh, the pride and subtlety of self asking divine things to feed the fires of its lusts. We pray for success that we might be successful. He will not give His glory to another. 4. IMPATIENCE (Psa. 40:1). David says: "I waited patiently and He heard my cry." Don't be a run-away knocker. Have the patience of God. If God can afford to wait so well might we. 5. UNBELIEF (Mark 11:24). This closes the door of expectancy. All things are possible to them that believe. Have faith in God. Believe ye that I am able to do this? Adrian Rogers - A Great Confidence Here’s the second legacy of love—not only a good conscience, but a great confidence. Now, notice how one folds into another. Look in verse 19: “And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God” (1 John 3:19–21). Confidence—boldness. First of all, my heart doesn’t condemn me, and all of this is in the context of love. When my heart doesn’t condemn me, then I have confidence toward God—boldness in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Well,” you say, “What good is this confidence?” Well, this confidence, dear friend, that you have with God—this confident heart that comes out of a clean conscience—is what helps you to pray and get your prayers answered. Look again at this passage of scripture. Now, watch this: “If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God”—and it’s all linked together. Verse 22—“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things [which] are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:21–22). Now, what commandments is he talking about? Well, just go down to verse 23—the last part: “That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23). That’s what he’s talking about. How do you get your prayers answered? Have a good conscience. What does that do? It gives you a great confidence, and you can come to God and ask in His name and get your prayer answered. Answered prayer is not for rebels; answered prayer is not for those whose hearts are filled with hate. It is not. It is not. It is not. The Bible says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18). That’s a prayer promise that we don’t like to quote, but that’s one of the promises. That’s a prayer promise. Let me illustrate this. Have you ever read over there in 1 Peter chapter 3, where Peter is telling husbands and wives how to dwell together as heirs of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7)? I like that phrase—“the grace of life.” That’s kind of like the cherry on top—the grace of life, a happy marriage. “Husbands and wives, dwell together as heirs of the grace of life, that”—and he says—“that prayers to God be not hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). Now, let me give you a real example of this. You and your wife are having one of those little discussions that can be heard about three blocks away, and you get into it. And hey, look, sometimes Christians can do this—true, true? You look so holy. Christians can do this. I mean, they get their eyes off the Lord, and they get into one of these things. And, they’re at one another’s throats, and whatever else they’re doing. They are not dwelling together as heirs of the grace of life. And then, mother goes in to check the baby, and she comes out; and she’s got a frightened look on her face, and it’s obvious that the baby is very sick. And, you’re both believers, and you know that you need to pray. You feel so silly right now. You say, “We better pray. All right.” You can’t pray. You feel like fools praying in that atmosphere—that hostility, that venom. But, you know what you do? You say, “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I was wrong. I was a fool. Darling, forgive me.” She says, “Look, it was my fault, too.” And, you hug, kiss, make up. The conscience is clear. The assurance is back. And, you can pray. Isn’t that right? But, you cannot pray with a condemning heart. I mean, if you don’t have a good conscience, you cannot have a great confidence. And, if you don’t have a great confidence, you can’t get your prayers answered. It’s just that plain. That’s what John is talking about; it’s very practical. Love—love—gives a good conscience. And, when love gives a good conscience, love gets a great confidence. Click here to access Rogers' full message entitled "The Legacy of Love—1 John 3:11–24"
1 João 3:22
Spurgeon - The warrant of faith (Full sermon The Warrant of Faith) ‘And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.’ 1 John 3:23 If we heartily trust our soul with Christ, our sins, through his blood, are forgiven, and his righteousness is imputed to us. The mere knowledge of these facts will not, however, save us, unless we really and truly trust our souls in the Redeemer’s hands. Faith must act in this wise: ‘I believe that Jesus came to save sinners, and therefore, sinner though I be, I rest myself on him; I know that his righteousness justifies the ungodly; I, therefore, though ungodly, trust in him to be my righteousness; I know that his precious blood in heaven prevails with God on the behalf of them that come unto him; and since I come unto him, I know by faith that I have an interest in his perpetual intercession.’ Now, I have enlarged the one thought of believing on God’s Son Jesus Christ. ‘Believing’ is most clearly explained by that simple word ‘trust.’ Believing is partly the intellectual operation of receiving divine truths, but the essence of it lies in relying upon those truths. I believe that, although I cannot swim, yonder friendly plank will support me in the flood; I grasp it, and am saved: the grasp is faith. I am promised by a generous friend that if I draw upon his banker, he will supply all my needs; I joyously confide in him, and as often as I am in want I go to the bank, and am enriched: my going to the bank is faith. Thus faith is accepting God’s great promise, contained in the person of his Son. It is taking God at his word, and trusting in Jesus Christ as being my salvation, although I am utterly unworthy of his regard. Sinner, if you take Christ to be your Saviour this day, you are justified. SPURGEON'S INSIGHTFUL DESCRIPTION OF THE "DYNAMICS" OF PRAYER - We believe that the prayers of Christians are a part of the machinery of providence, cogs in the great wheel of destiny, and when God leads his children to pray, he has already set in motion a wheel that is to produce the result prayed for, and the prayers offered are moving as a part of the wheel. WAYS TO PLEASE GOD - Russell Spray Text: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:22). I. Be Dedicated to Him. “… present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God …” (Rom. 12:1). A. Surrender yourself to God. Yield all your hopes, plans, desires—past, present, and future—to Him (Ps. 37:5). B. Jesus prayed, “Not my will but thine be done” (Luke 22:42). We, too, must surrender our will to His will. II. Be Dependent on Him. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). A. To depend means to trust and rely on the Lord. People may fail and disappoint us, but Jesus never fails. B. As we depend on the Lord, we are enabled to accomplish things for Him. Faith enables us to believe He is working. III. Be Delighted in Him. “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Ps. 37:4). A. Rejoice in the Lord. God adds blessings when we do. He is displeased with drab, negative Christians. B. Delighting ourselves in the Lord enables us to win others to Him. Everyone seeks happiness. The joy of the Lord is attractive to these searchers (Phil. 4:4–5). IV. Be Directed by Him. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:6). A. Being directed by God means He is leading us to the right places, the right people, and accomplishing His purposes in our lives. B. God directs us according to our faith. Faith pleases Him. Miracles happen when we follow His guidance. V. Be Dynamic for Him. “… Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in …” (Luke 14:23). A. We are His witnesses. We are to go, to speak, and to bring the lost to a saving knowledge of Him. B. When we work for God, He works for us. We receive what we ask of Him because we do the things that please Him (1 John 3:22). A Surprise Answer - Read: 1 John 3:16-23 | Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. —1 John 3:22 When Josh McDowell’s mother died, he was not sure of her salvation. He became depressed. Was she a Christian or not? “Lord,” he prayed, “somehow give me the answer so I can get back to normal. I’ve just got to know.” It seemed like an impossible request. Two days later, Josh drove out to the ocean and walked to the end of a pier to be alone. There sat an elderly woman in a lawnchair, fishing. “Where’s your home originally?” she asked. “Michigan—Union City,” Josh replied. “Nobody’s heard of it. I tell people it’s a suburb of—” “Battle Creek,” interrupted the woman. “I had a cousin from there. Did you know the McDowell family?” Stunned, Josh responded, “Yes, I’m Josh McDowell.” “I can’t believe it,” said the woman. “I’m a cousin to your mother.” “Do you remember anything at all about my mother’s spiritual life?” asked Josh. “Why sure—your mom and I were just girls—teenagers—when a tent revival came to town. We both went forward to accept Christ.” “Praise God!” shouted Josh, startling the surrounding fishermen. God delights to give us what we ask when it is in His will. Never underestimate His desire to respond to our prayers. A surprise may be just around the corner. That long-sought wish, oh, how I prayed, I thought it not divinely willed, And then the joyous, tear-stained smile Of faith triumphant, hope fulfilled! —Brandt If you get definite with God, He’ll get definite with you. OBEY GOD AND RECEIVE WHAT YOU ASK. 77 Irrefutable Truths of Prayer - Page 65 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. —1 John 3:22 Jesus declares that when we love Him we obey Him (John 15). We live to please Him and what pleases Him is obedience, i.e. doing those things that are pleasing in His sight. Disobeying? Then don’t ask. When you live to please Him, you will never want to ask for anything that He doesn’t want to give you. Disobedience … • shuts the windows of heaven. • produces brazen heavens. • paralyzes prayer. • produces powerlessness At times you may cry out, “Why isn’t God answering my prayers and granting what I ask?” Now you know the possible answer—disobedience. Before you pray … • obey. • please God. • do what He commands. Lord, Before my every prayer, break my pride, convict my heart, show me any area of disobedience in my life. Amen. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight (I John 3:22). We live on a little mud ball called Earth. It’s just a little speck in the universe, and ours is just one universe among countless universes. The eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent God has a throne. Have you meditated on the fact that you can touch that throne? You can actually move the One who sits upon that exalted throne. To do so is not a matter of your earnestness. It is a matter of your obedience, the surrender of your will to the will of God as revealed in His Word. Whom does God hear? The man who keeps the Lord’s commandments is heard. This man comes with confidence before the throne of God because he not only has access but also is welcomed. You have access, but are you welcomed by the Father? If you listen to God’s commandments, He listens to your prayers. If you keep His commandments, doing those things that are pleasing in His sight, your prayers will be answered. This is the testimony of the Word of God. - Joseph Carroll George Mueller The promise of today’s text (1 John 3:13–24) carries two important conditions—”if our heart condemn us not” (v. 21), and if “we keep His commandments” (v. 22). In other words, when we are in the center of God’s will and have a clear conscience, the resources of heaven are at our disposal. The following incident vividly illustrates this truth: The captain of an ocean steamer tells that on one occasion his ship was engulfed in a dense fog off the coast of Newfoundland. It was Wednesday evening and the captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when he was startled by someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned and saw one of his passengers—George Mueller. “Captain,” said Mueller, “I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.” “That’s impossible!” replied the captain. “I’m helpless!” Mueller suggested, “Let’s go down to the chart room and pray.” The captain thought he had a lunatic on board. “Do you know how dense the fog is?” he asked. “No,” came the reply, “my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.” Once in the chart room, Mueller got down on his knees and prayed, “O Lord, if it is consistent with Thy will, please remove this fog in 5 minutes. Thou knowest the engagement Thou didst make for me in Quebec for Saturday. I believe it is Thy will.” Within a matter of minutes the fog lifted. Prevailing Prayer Adapted from an Outline by Rosalind Goforth SCRIPTURE: Various INTRODUCTION: In her 1921 book, How I Know God Answers Prayer, missionary/prayer warrior Rosalind Goforth suggested nine secrets to prevailing prayer. 1. Contrite Humility before God and Forsaking of Sin (2 Chr. 7:14). 2. Seeking God with the Whole Heart (Jer. 29:12–13). 3. Faith in God (Mark 11:23–24). 4. Obedience (1 John 3:22). 5. Dependence on the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26). 6. Importunity (Mark 7:24–30 and Luke 11:5–10). 7. Asking in Accordance with God’s Will (1 John 5:14). 8. In Christ’s Name (John 14:13–14). 9. Willing to Make Amends for Wrongs to Others (Matt. 5:23–24). CONCLUSION: “As the discerning soul can plainly see, all the conditions mentioned in this list may be included in the one word Abide.” —Rosalind Goforth ANSWERED PRAYER - John MacArthur Strength for Today: Daily Readings for a Deeper Faith - Page 17 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”1 JOHN 3:22 ✧✧✧ The answers to believers’ prayers bring assurance of salvation. Another reliable way to know if you are a Christian is if God answers your prayers. The apostle John gives us the infallible reasoning for this statement. First, you can know your prayers will be answered if you keep His commandments (1 John 3:22). And second, John says the only way you can obey God’s commandments is if you belong to Him (v. 24). Therefore, an obedient believer proves He is abiding in Christ and receives further assurance when his prayers are answered. However, the only prayers God answers are the ones prayed according to His will. If you are an obedient believer, you will fashion your prayers in line with what Scripture says about His will. The answered prayer that follows will bring you confidence and assurance (see 1 John 5:13–15). Some believers miss out on that assurance because of their skimpy prayer life, which obviously results in few answered prayers. How sad for them, and how disappointing for God, because He would do so much more for those Christians if they would only ask Him. What about you? Has it been a pattern of your life to experience answered prayer? Ask yourself questions like the following: Have you prayed for someone’s difficult situation and seen God turn it around to one of joy and blessing? Have you seen an unsaved person for whom you prayed come to Christ? Has God filled a void in your life after you prayed that He would? Have you ever prayed that God would help you in teaching His Word and then experienced much grace in presenting it with clarity? Have you prayed for boldness and power to proclaim the gospel and seen God work through you? Have you asked for contentment during a trial and received God’s peace? Have you known forgiveness and a clear conscience after you prayed to that end? If you can answer yes to those questions or ones like them, you have good reason to believe that you belong to the Lord and He belongs to you. ✧✧✧ Suggestions for Prayer: Thank the Lord for His power through prayer and for the answers He’s granted you. For Further Study: Read 1 Kings 17:1; 18:41–46. What does the second passage reveal about Elijah’s prayer life? ✧ How does that support James 5:16b–18? Prayer Malfunction - Read: 1 John 3:21-24 | This is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another. —1 John 3:23 In a box of my father’s old tools I found a hand drill that was at least 60 years old. I could barely get the wheel to turn. The gears were clogged with dirt, and the pieces that hold the drill bit in place were missing. But I wanted to see if I could get it to work. I began by wiping the accumulated dirt and sawdust off the gears. Then I oiled them. At first they turned hard and slow, but I kept working them. Soon the gears were turning smoothly. Then I saw a cap at the top of the handle. Unscrewing it, I discovered the missing parts that would hold the bit in place. I placed them in the drill, inserted a bit, and easily bored a neat hole in a piece of wood. Working with that old drill taught me something about prayer. Jesus said we will receive from God what we ask of Him (Matthew 7:7-8). But there are conditions. For example, John said we must obey God and do what pleases Him (1 John 3:22). This includes believing in His Son and loving one another (1Jn 3:23). If we don’t meet God’s conditions, our prayers will be ineffective—just like that old drill. Forgive us, Lord, our selfish asking, All that's petty in Your sight; Oh, help us pray with godly motives And to seek what's good and right! —D. De Haan Faith and love are vital to effective prayer. The Conditions of Power in Prayer C. H. Spurgeon. 1 John 3:22-24 And whatever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.… I. THE ESSENTIALS OF POWER IS PRAYER. We must make a few distinctions at the outset. I take it there is a great difference between the prayer of a soul that is seeking mercy and the prayer of a man who is saved. I would say to every person present, whatever his character, if you sincerely seek mercy of God through Jesus Christ you shall have it. Qualifications for the sinner's first prayer I know of none except sincerity; but we must speak in a different way to those of you who are saved. You have now become the people of God, and while you shall be heard just as the sinner would be heard, and shall daily find the needful grace which every seeker receives in answer to prayer, yet you are under a special discipline peculiar to the regenerated family. There is something for a believer to enjoy over and above bare salvation; there are mercies, and blessings, and comforts, which render his present life useful, happy, and honourable, and these he shall not have irrespective of character. To give a common illustration: If a hungry person were at your door, and asked for bread, you would give it him, whatever might be his character; you will also give your child food, whatever may be his behaviour; you will never proceed in any course of discipline against him, so as to deny him his needful food, or a garment to shield him from the cold; but there are many other things which your child may desire, which you will give him if he be obedient, but which you will not give if he be rebellious to you. I take it that this illustrates how far the paternal government of God will push this matter, and where it will not go. Understand also, that the text refers not so much to God's hearing a prayer of His servants now and then, for that He will do, even when His servants are out of course with Him; but the power in prayer here intended is continuous and absolute power with God; so that, to quote the words of the text, "whatsoever we ask of Him we receive." For this prayer there are certain prerequisites. 1. The first is child-like obedience: "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments." Any father will tell you that for him to grant the request of a disobedient child would be to encourage rebellion in the family, and render it impossible for him to rule in his own house. It is often incumbent upon the parent to say, “My child, you did not listen to my word just now, and, therefore, I cannot listen to yours.” Not that the father does not love, but that he does love the child, and because of his love, he feels bound to show his displeasure by refusing the request of his erring offspring. 2. Next to this is another essential to victorious prayer, viz., child-like reverence. We receive what we ask, "because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." We do not allow children when they have a command from their father to question its propriety or wisdom; obedience ends where questioning begins Suppose any of us should be self-willed, and say, "I shall not do what pleases God, I shall do what pleases myself." Then observe what would be the nature of our prayers? Our prayers might then be summed up in the request, "Let me have my own way." And can we expect God to consent to that? 3. In the third place, the text suggests the necessity of child-like trust: "And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ." Let us come back to our family similitudes again. Suppose a child in the house does not believe his father's word; suppose, indeed, that he tells his brothers and sisters that his faith in his father is very weak. He mentions that wretched fact, but is not at all shocked that he should say such a thing, but he rather feels that he ought to be pitied, as if it were an infirmity which he could not avoid. I think a father so basely distrusted would not be in a very great hurry to grant such a son's requests; indeed, it is very probable that the petitions of the mistrustful son would be such as could not be complied with, even if his father were willing to do so, since they would amount to a gratification of his own unbelief and a dishonour to his parent. Expect not, therefore, to be heard when your prayer is suggested by an unbelieving heart: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." 4. The next essential to continued success in prayer is child-like love: "That we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment." 5. Next to this, we must have child-like ways as well. "He that keepeth His commandments, dwelleth in Him, and He in him." It is one of a child's ways to love its home. Suppose one of you had a boy, who said, "Father, I do not like my home, I do not care for you; and I will not endure the restraints of family rule; I am going to live with strangers. But mark, father, I shall come to you every week, and I shall require many things of you; and I shall expect that you will give me whatever I ask from you." Why, if you are at all fit to be at the head of the house, you will say, "My son, how can you speak to me in such a manner? If you are so self-willed as to leave my house, can you expect that I will do your bidding? If you utterly disregard me, can you expect me to support you in your cruel unkindness and wicked insubordination. No, my son; if you will not remain with me and own me as a father, I cannot promise you anything." And so it is with God. 6. One thing more: it appears from the text that we must have a child-like spirit, for "hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." What is this but the Spirit of adoption — the Spirit which rules in all the children of God? The Holy Spirit if He rules in us, will subordinate our nature to His own sway, and then the prayers which spring out of our renewed hearts will be in keeping with the will of God, and such prayers will naturally be heard. II. THE PREVALENCE OF THESE ESSENTIAL THINGS. If they be in us and abound, our prayers cannot be barren or unprofitable. 1. First, if we have faith in God, there is no question about God's hearing our prayer. If we can plead in faith the name and blood of Jesus, we must obtain answers of peace. But a thousand cavils are suggested. Suppose these prayers concern the laws of nature, then the scientific men are against us, What of that? The Lord has ways of answering our prayers irrespective of the working of miracles or suspending laws. Perhaps there are other forces and laws which He has arranged to bring into action just at times when prayer also acts, laws just as fixed and forces just as natural as those which our learned theorisers have been able to discover. The wisest men know not all the laws which govern the universe, nay, nor a tithe of them. If there be but faith in God, God must either cease to be, or cease to be true, or else He must hear prayer. The verse before the text says, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God; and whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him." He who has a clear conscience comes to God with confidence, and that confidence of faith ensures to him the answer of his prayer. 2. But next, love must succeed too, since we have already seen that the man who loves in the Christian sense is in accord with God. God always hears the prayers of a loving man, because those prayers are the shadows of His own decrees. 3. Again, the man of obedience is the man whom God will hear, because his obedient heart leads him to pray humbly and with submission, for he feels it to be his highest desire that the Lord's will should be done. Hence it is that the man or obedient heart prays like an oracle; his prayers are prophecies. Is he not one with God? Doth he not desire and ask for exactly what God intends? How can a prayer shot from such a bow ever fail to reach its target? If thy soul get into accord with God’s soul, thou wilt wish God’s own wishes. The difficulty is that we do not keep, as the word is, en rapport with God; but if we did, then we should strike the same note as God strikes; and though his would sound like thunder, and ours as a whisper, yet there would be a perfect unison—the note struck by prayer on earth would coincide with that which sounds forth from the decrees in heaven. 4. Again, the man who lives in fellowship with God will assuredly speed in prayer, because if he dwells in God and God dwells in him, he will desire what God desires. 5. Lastly, does the Spirit of God actuate us, or is it another spirit? Do we wait upon God and say, “Lord, let thy Spirit tell me what to say in this case, and what to do; rule my judgment, subdue my passions, keep down my baser impulses, and let thy Spirit guide me. Lord, be thou to me better than myself; be soul and life to me, and in the triple kingdom of my spirit, soul, and body, good Lord, be thou supreme Master, that in every province of my nature thy law may be set up, and thy will may be regarded. We should have a mighty church if we were all of this mind; but the mixed multitude are with us, the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt, and these fall a-lusting; the mischief always begins with them. God save us as a church from losing his presence! The mixed multitude must be with us to try us, for the Lord hath said, “Let both grow together till the harvest,” and if we try to root up the tares we should root up the wheat also,—yet, at any rate, let us pray God to make the wheat be the stronger. One of two things always happens in a church. Either the wheat chokes the weeds or the weeds choke the wheat. God grant that the wheat may overtop the weeds in our case. God grant grace to his servants to be strong enough to overcome the evil which surrounds them, and, having done all, to stand to the praise of the glory of his grace, who also hath made us accepted in the Beloved. The Lord bless you, and be with you evermore. Amen and Amen. And here, again let us say, our text speaks of the Christian man as being filled with God's Spirit: "We know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." Who knows the mind of a man but the spirit of a man? So, who knows the things of God but the Spirit of God? And if the Spirit of God dwells in us, then He tells us what God's mind is; He makes intercession in the saints according to the will of God.Practical improvement: 1. The first is, we want to pray for a great blessing as a church. Very well. Have we the essentials for success? Are we believing in the name of Jesus Christ? Are we full of love to God and one another? 2. Next, are we doing that which is pleasing in God's sight? 3. The next question is, do we dwell in God? 4. Lastly, does the Spirit of God actuate us, or is it another spirit? (C. H. Spurgeon.) Accompaniments - Obedience - Joseph Carroll Reflections on Faith and Prayer: A 61-Day Devotional - Page 22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight (1 John 3:22). Prayer must be accompanied by obedience, which proves your love for the Lord. We often have a superficial attitude toward sin, not fearing or hating it; yet, our Lord loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Do those things that please God, keeping the keel of your ship of life far away from the sandbar of sin. Why do we tempt the Lord by sailing as close to the rocks as possible? We need to have a horror of sin. With a coiled rattlesnake, you would not reason, “How far can this rattlesnake strike? I judge his striking range to be four feet; so, I will stand four feet and one inch away so he will just miss me.” If you would never approach a rattlesnake in this manner, why do you approach sin in this way? Sin is far more deadly than the snake because it can take a man to hell or grieve the Holy Spirit. Stay clear of sin. Flee from that which you know is displeasing to the Lord. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66:18). This is a very solemn warning. If you continue in (or coddle) iniquity, the Lord will not hear. The area where you consistently fall is the area you have not fully surrendered to the Lord. The enemy will attack the weakest portion of your line of defense. Living to please God demands that you stop what you should not be doing and stop now. You can quit any sin at any time when you are desperate enough to accept the Lord’s deliverance. You must surrender your will to God resolutely and definitely in any area that displeases Him. As soon as sin raises its ugly head, hit it hard and it will go. Then you will walk in obedience and find God wonderfully answering your prayers. Daily Light on the Daily Path -You always hear me.” And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.”—“Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”—“Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.”—“Not my will, but yours, be done.” As he is so also are we in this world.—And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. Whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. He always lives to make intercession for them.—We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. John 11:42; John 11:41; John 12:28; Heb. 10:7; Luke 22:42; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 5:14; 1 John 3:22; Heb. 11:6; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1 Daily Light on the Daily Path - His commandments are not burdensome. “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.”—Whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. . . . Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. . . . Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.—Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.—I delight in the law of God, in my inner being. This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.—Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 1 John 5:3; John 6:40; 1 John 3:22; Matt. 11:30; John 14:15, 21; Prov. 3:13, 17; Ps. 119:165; Rom. 7:22; 1 John 3:23; Rom. 13:10 Private Praise - Joni Eareckson Tada Pearls of Great Price: 366 Daily Devotional Readings - Page 5 Do those things that are pleasing in his sight.— 1 JOHN 3:22 KJV My friend Careen has been blessed with a beautiful voice. When we travel together, whether riding in the van or walking down the hotel hallways, we always harmonize on a hymn. On long trips together, when she has a “night off,” she’ll usually go back to her hotel room, put on a worship CD, sit on the edge of her bed with hands lifted high, and sing private praises to God for an hour or two. It’s just her and her Lord. She absolutely loves delighting Jesus with her personal songs of worship offered behind closed doors. Although her musical gift is extraordinary, she’ll probably never land a recording contract or be spotlighted on a big stage. But that’s okay. Careen has the honor of singing command performances before the most prominent audience in the universe: Jesus Christ. Careen reminds me of an alpine flower that blooms high in the mountains, far from the eyes of most people. No one but God ever sees those stunning flowers in mountain meadows; he has created them for his sole delight and enjoyment. God delights in those who meet with him in personal worship. Before you turn the lights out tonight, find a quiet corner in your home and meet with God alone. Recite to him any Scriptures or inspirational poems you have memorized, or sing to him several of your favorite hymns or praise choruses. Enjoy the privilege that you have a private audience with the most important Person in heaven and on earth. Make it your ambition to be pleasing to him … far from the ears and eyes of others. Lord, I thank you for blessing me with the talents I have. I’m not looking for a spotlight or a stage; I simply want to come before you by myself and bless you with my song. What a privilege and honor it is to consecrate my worship and focus on you and you alone. James Scudder - Why We Have Rules 1 John 3:22 If you've heard me speak before, you've heard me talk about the driving in India. It's quite different from the way we operate here, even in crazy metropolitan cities like New York, Miami, and Chicago. Over in India, they really have no rules of the road. You can swerve into the other lane to pass a slow car. Pedestrians are free to cross the street whenever they wish. There are no posted speed limits. You can even drive in the wrong lane, if you'd like. The problem with no rules is that there is also no safety. In India, there are far more accidents than in the United States. Thankfully, God has spared my mission team every time we've been over there. But, I'll never forget the sight of a dead man, lying in the middle of the roadway. He was bicycling across the street when an impatient taxi cab struck him. The contrast between driving in America and driving in India illustrates the need for rules. Every believer needs guidelines by which to live his life. Just like the rules of the road, we may not enjoy the rules of life. We may think they infringe on our fun. Yet, God gave us rules, not to be cruel, but for our own safety. Consider those who live carelessly. Their lives are characterized by accidents. A person who lives within God's borders, however, is safer and more secure. Don't resist the rules. God gave them for a reason: our well being. What our Lord said about cross-bearing and obedience is not in the fine type. It is in bold print on the face of the contract. Vance Havner Vance Havner - Pleasing God I do always those things that please him. John 8:29. 1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. We live to please someone, ourselves, other people or God. Jesus "pleased not himself" (Rom. 15:3). We are not to live to please men. "Do I seek to please men?" (Gal. 1:10). "Not as pleasing men but God" (I Thess. 2:4). We are to please our neighbor for his good to edification (Rom. 15:2). Paul said he pleased all men, seeking, not his profit, but theirs, that they might be saved (I Cor. 10:33). We are to please God, as our Lord said in our text. God was pleased in His Son (Mt. 3:17). He was not pleased with the Israelites in the wilderness (I Cor. 10:5). We had better take warning from them, for "these things happened unto us for ensamples." Enoch pleased God (Heb. 11:5). We cannot please God in the flesh (Rom. 8:8). It is impossible without faith (Heb. 11:6). But as we submit to God He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). Then we are to live so as to please Him who hath chosen us to be soldiers (II Tim. 2:3, 4). And if we please Him we get answers to our prayers (I Jn. 3:22). Whom are you living to please? James Smith - PLEASING GOD. "Ye ought to please God" (1 Thess. 4:1). I. Those who are not pleasing God. 1. They that live ONLY FOR THEMSELVES are not pleasing God. "We ought not to please ourselves, for even Christ pleased not Himself" (Rom. 15:1-3). Self is all the god that many worship. 2. They that only seek to PLEASE MEN are not pleasing God. "Do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10). 3. They that are IN THE FLESH cannot please God. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit" (Rom. 8:8, 9). 4. They that have NO FAITH cannot please God. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb. 11:6). A man might have faith in the minister, in the Church, and Bible, and yet have no faith in God. II. Those who are pleasing God. 1. Those who ASK RIGHT THINGS from God. "David asked for an understanding heart to discern between good and bad, and the speech pleased the Lord" (1 Kings 3:9, 10). 2. Those who are SEPARATED FOR GOD. "No man that warreth entangleth himself, that he may please Him who hath chosen him" (2 Tim. 2:4). How numerous are the entanglements! 3. Those who are WHOLLY YIELDED TO GOD. Now God "working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight" (Heb. 13:20, 21). 4. Those who WALK WITH GOD. "Enoch walked with God" (Gen. 5:24), "and he pleased God" (Heb. 11:5). 5. Those who PRAISE GOD. "I will praise the Name of God. This also shall please the Lord" (Psa. 69:30, 31). All singing is not praising. God judgeth the heart. III. Promises to those who please God. 1. "Their ENEMIES shall be at peace with them" (Prov. 16:7). This is a different thing from being at peace with our enemies. They surrender. 2. Their PRAYERS shall be answered (1 John 3:22). If we are always doing what pleases Him we may always expect what we ask. 3. Their NAME shall be everlasting (Isa. 56:4, 5). "Choose the things that please Me, and I will give an everlasting name." "They shall be called by His Name, and His Name endureth for ever." A Deep Lesson A lady who had been a Christian worker told Dr. Torrey that she could no longer believe in God, because when her husband was ill she had prayed for his recovery, and God had failed her. Dr. Torrey pointed her to 1 John 3:22, and asked if she were obeying the conditions land down. "I am afraid I was not," she admitted. "Then God has not failed you, but you have failed God," said Dr. Torrey. So completely did the cloud over her life roll away that when the evangelist said, "Let us pray," she was ready to kneel with him and take the whole matter to the Lord. The great lesson of life is to be subdued before God. —Rev. John Macbeath Prepare for the Unexpected We all tend to prescribe the answers to our prayers. We think that God can come in only one way. But Scripture teaches us that God sometimes answers our prayers by allowing things to become much worse before they become better. He may sometimes do the opposite of what we anticipate... Yet it is a fundamental principle in the life and walk of faith that we must always be prepared for the unexpected when we are dealing with God. —D. Martyn Lloyd Jones in Faith: Tried and Triumphant. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 8. See: 1 John 3:22; James 4:3; Zechariah 7:13 The Cosmic Bellhop (1 John 3:22) Many of us have traveled and stayed at a hotel or inn. In many instances, the service is quite reputable as the customer is provided with exceptional amenities such as room service or bell-man service. The purpose is to make the individual as comfortable as possible without a care for anything. Just call and they will be at your service. In many ways, this is how some perceive God and their relationship to Him. They expect that when they call to God in their time of need, but forsake Him when there is no “need.” Just like the bellhop, to answer when we call. But truly, God desires a relationship beyond meeting our needs alone. The sign of a believer is found in the desire to please the Lord and fellowship with Him (1 John 3:22). Basis of Assurance Rests on the Word of God (John 1:12), the witness of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16), keeping God’s Word (I John 2:5), walking like Christ (I John 2:6), not loving the world (I John 2:15), purification (I John 3:3), love for the brethren (I John 3:14), true love (I John 3:18–19), answered prayer (I John 3:22), overcoming the world (I John 5:4). Source unknown The Called Man (The called man) sees himself as a steward...He’s obedient rather than ambitious, committed rather than competitive. For him, nothing is more important than pleasing the one who called him. We obey his commands and do what pleases him. I John 3:22 NIV God’s Little Instruction Book for Men, (Honor Books, Tulsa, OK; 1996), p. 43 A W Tozer - Does God Always Answer Prayer? The Best of A. W. Tozer Book Two Contrary to popular opinion, the cultivation of a psychology of uncritical belief is not an unqualified good, and if carried too far it may be a positive evil. The whole world has been booby-trapped by the devil, and the deadliest trap of all is the religious one. Error never looks so innocent as when it is found in the sanctuary. One field where harmless-looking but deadly traps appear in great profusion is the field of prayer. There are more sweet notions about prayer than could be contained in a large book, all of them wrong and all highly injurious to the souls of men. I think of one such false notion that is found often in pleasant places consorting smilingly with other notions of unquestionable orthodoxy. It is that God always answers prayer. This error appears among the saints as a kind of all-purpose philosophic therapy to prevent any disappointed Christian from suffering too great a shock when it becomes evident to him that his prayer expectations are not being fulfilled. It is explained that God always answers prayer, either by saying Yes or by saying No, or by substituting something else for the desired favor. Now, it would be hard to invent a neater trick than this to save face for the petitioner whose requests have been rejected for nonobedience. Thus when a prayer is not answered he has but to smile brightly and explain, “God said No.” It is all so very comfortable. His wobbly faith is saved from confusion and his conscience is permitted to lie undisturbed. But I wonder if it is honest. To receive an answer to prayer as the Bible uses the term and as Christians have understood it historically, two elements must be present: (1) A clear-cut request made to God for a specific favor. (2) A clear-cut granting of that favor by God in answer to the request. There must be no semantic twisting, no changing of labels, no altering of the map during the journey to help the embarrassed tourist to find himself. When we go to God with a request that He modify the existing situation for us, that is, that He answer prayer, there are two conditions that we must meet: (1) We must pray in the will of God and (2) we must be on what old-fashioned Christians often call “praying ground”; that is, we must be living lives pleasing to God. It is futile to beg God to act contrary to His revealed purposes. To pray with confidence the petitioner must be certain that his request falls within the broad will of God for His people. The second condition is also vitally important. God has not placed Himself under obligation to honor the requests of worldly, carnal or disobedient Christians. He hears and answers the prayers only of those who walk in His way. “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.… If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (1 John 3:21, 22; John 15:7). God wants us to pray and He wants to answer our prayers, but He makes our use of prayer as a privilege to commingle with His use of prayer as a discipline. To receive answers to prayer we must meet God’s terms. If we neglect His commandments our petitions will not be honored. He will alter situations only at the request of obedient and humble souls. The God-always-answers-prayer sophistry leaves the praying man without discipline. By the exercise of this bit of smooth casuistry he ignores the necessity to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, and actually takes God’s flat refusal to answer his prayer as the very answer itself. Of course such a man will not grow in holiness; he will never learn how to wrestle and wait; he will never know correction; he will not hear the voice of God calling him forward; he will never arrive at the place where he is morally and spiritually fit to have his prayers answered. His wrong philosophy has ruined him. That is why I turn aside to expose the bit of bad theology upon which his bad philosophy is founded. The man who accepts it never knows where he stands; he never knows whether or not he has true faith, for if his request is not granted he avoids the implication by the simple dodge of declaring that God switched the whole thing around and gave him something else. He will not allow himself to shoot at a target, so he cannot tell how good or how bad a marksman he is. Of certain persons James says plainly: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts,” From that brief sentence we may learn that God refuses some requests because they who make them are not morally worthy to receive the answer. But this means nothing to the one who has been seduced into the belief that God always answers prayer. When such a man asks and receives not he passes his hand over the hat and comes up with the answer in some other form. One thing he clings to with great tenacity: God never turns anyone away, but invariably grants every request. The truth is that God always answers the prayer that accords with His will as revealed in the Scriptures, provided the one who prays is obedient and trustful. Further than this we dare not go. Praying the Ten Commandments In "A Simple Way to Pray" (1535), Martin Luther writes: If I have had time and opportunity to go through the Lord's Prayer, I do the same with the Ten Commandments. I divide each commandment into four parts, thereby fashioning a garland of four strands. That is, I think of each commandment as, first, instruction, which is really what it is intended to be, and consider what the Lord God demands of me so earnestly. Second, I turn it into a thanksgiving; third, a confession; and fourth, a prayer. [Luther demonstrates his approach for the first commandment, "I am the Lord your God... You shall have no other gods before me."] Here I earnestly consider that God expects and teaches me to trust him sincerely in all things and that it is his most earnest purpose to be my God. I must think of him in this way at the risk of losing eternal salvation. My heart must not build upon anything else or trust in any other thing, be it wealth, prestige, wisdom, might, piety, or anything else. Second, I give thanks for his infinite compassion by which he has come to me in such a fatherly way and, unasked, unbidden, and unmerited, has offered to be my God, to care for me, and to be my comfort, guardian, help, and strength in every time of need. We poor mortals have sought so many gods and would have to seek them still if he did not enable us to hear him openly tell us in our own language that he intends to be our God. How could we ever-in all eternity-thank him enough! Third, I confess and acknowledge my great sin and ingratitude for having so shamefully despised such sublime teachings and such a precious gift throughout my whole life, and for having fearfully provoked his wrath by countless acts of idolatry. I repent of these and ask for his grace. Fourth, I pray and say, "O my God and Lord, help me by thy grace to learn and understand thy commandments more fully every day and to live by them in sincere confidence. Preserve my heart so that I shall never again become forgetful and ungrateful, that I may never seek after other gods or other consolation on earth or in any creature, but cling truly and solely to thee, my only God. Amen, dear Lord and Father. Amen." These are the Ten Commandments in their fourfold aspect, namely, as a school text, song book, penitential book, and prayer book. They are intended to help the heart come to itself and grow zealous in prayer. —"Martin Luther—Later Years and Legacy," Christian History, no. 39. See: 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 John 3:22; Joshua 8:32-35 Answering Our Own Prayers It is remarkable to think that God has given us a partnership with him in directing the course of human events. It is extraordinary to realize that our prayer can change events and circumstances in the world around us. But what is just as remarkable is that when we pray, we change. More often than not we become the answer to our own prayers as we open up ourselves to God in prayer. —John Guest in Only a Prayer Away. Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 15. See: 1 John 3:22; Hebrews 6:1; Psalms 84:7 NOTHING BETWEEN - play this hymn (borrow Amazing Grace by Kenneth Osbeck - page 232) Words and music by Charles A. Tindley, 1851–1933 If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. (1 John 3:21, 22) Born to slave parents and separated from them when only five years of age, Charles Tindley was a most remarkable individual. He learned to read and write on his own at the age of 17, attended night school, completed seminary training through correspondence, and was ordained to the Methodist ministry. While attending evening school, young Tindley supported himself as the janitor of the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. In 1902, Charles Tindley was called to pastor this prestigious church where he had once been the janitor. The Calvary Methodist Church prospered greatly under his leadership. Eventually several larger sanctuaries had to be built to accommodate the crowds of all races that came to hear this humble preacher. In 1924, in spite of Tindley’s protests, the new church building was renamed the Tindley Temple Methodist Church. Charles Tindley expresses a concern in this hymn for many of the practices and attitudes that must be rejected if Christians are to be pleasing to their Lord. The hymn reminds us that we must watch out for those allurements and temptations that can easily disrupt our spiritual courses: “Delusive dreams, sinful-worldly pleasures, habits, pride, self or friends.” The Bible teaches that we are not to be conformed to this world but should know the transforming power of a spiritually renewed mind (Romans 12:1, 2). Nothing between my soul and the Savior, naught of this world’s delusive dream: I have renounced all sinful pleasure—Jesus is mine! There’s nothing between. Nothing between, like worldly pleasure! Habits of life, tho harmless they seem, must not my heart from Him ever sever—He is my all! There’s nothing between. Nothing between, like pride or station: Self or friends shall not intervene; tho it may cost me much tribulation, I am resolved! There’s nothing between. Nothing between, e’en many hard trials, tho the whole world against me convene; watching with prayer and much self denial—Triumph at last, with nothing between! Chorus: Nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His favor: Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. For Today: Psalm 51:10; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 13:6; 1 John 3:18–24 Reflect on this truth: “The price of spiritual power is a purity of heart.” Ask God to reveal anything that might hinder His flow of power in your life. OBEYING AND PRAYING R A Torrey 1. One of the most significant verses in the Bible on prayer is 1 John 3:22. John says, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” What an astounding statement! John says, in so many words, that everything he asked for he got. How many of us can say this: “Whatsoever I ask I receive”? But John explains why this was so, “Because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight,” In other words, the one who expects God to do as he asks Him, must on his part do whatever God bids him. If we give a listening ear to all God’s commands to us, He will give a listening ear to all our petitions to Him. If, on the other hand, we turn a deaf ear to His precepts, He will be likely to turn a deaf ear to our prayers. Here we find the secret of much unanswered prayer. We are not listening to God’s Word, and therefore He is not listening to our petitions. I was once speaking to a woman who had been a professed Christian, but had given it all up. I asked her why she was not a Christian still. She replied, because she did not believe the Bible. I asked her why she did not believe the Bible. “Because I have tried its promises and found them untrue.” “Which promises?” “The promises about prayer.” “Which promises about prayer?” “Does it not say in the Bible, ‘Whatsoever ye ask believing ye shall receive’?” “It says something nearly like that.” “Well, I asked fully expecting to get and did not receive, so the promise failed.” “Was the promise made to you?” “Why, certainly, it is made to all Christians, is it not?” “No, God carefully defines who the ‘ye’s are, whose believing prayers He agrees to answer.” I then turned her to 1 John 3:22, and read the description of those whose prayers had power with God. “Now,” I said, “were you keeping His commandments and doing those things which are pleasing in His sight?” She frankly confessed that she was not, and soon came to see that the real difficulty was not with God’s promises, but with herself. That is the difficulty with many an unanswered prayer to-day: the one who offers it is not obedient. If we would have power in prayer, we must be earnest students of His Word to find out what His will regarding us is, and then having found it, do it. One unconfessed act of disobedience on our part will shut the ear of God against many petitions. 2. But this verse goes beyond the mere keeping of God’s commandments. John tells us that we must do those things that are pleasing in His sight. There are many things which it would be pleasing to God for us to do which He has not specifically commanded us. A true child is not content with merely doing those things which his father specifically commands him to do. He studies to know his father’s will, and if he thinks that there is any thing that he can do that would please his father, he does it gladly, though his father has never given him any specific order to do it. So it is with the true child of God. He does not ask merely whether certain things are commanded or certain things forbidden. He studies to know his Father’s will in all things. There are many Christians to-day who are doing things that are not pleasing to God, and leaving undone things which would be pleasing to God. When you speak to them about these things they will confront you at once with the question, “Is there any command in the Bible not to do this thing?” And if you cannot show them some verse in which the matter in question is plainly forbidden, they think they are under no obligation whatever to give it up; but a true child of God does not demand a specific command. If we make it our study to find out and to do the things which are pleasing to God, He will make it His study to do the things which are pleasing to us. Here again we find the explanation of much unanswered prayer: We are not making it the study of our lives to know what would please our Father, and so our prayers are not answered. Take as an illustration of questions that are constantly coming up, the matter of theater-going, dancing and the use of tobacco. Many who are indulging in these things will ask you triumphantly if you speak against them, “Does the Bible say, ‘Thou shalt not go to the theater’?” “Does the Bible say, ‘Thou shalt not dance’?” “Does the Bible say, ‘Thou shalt not smoke’?” That is not the question. The question is, Is our heavenly Father well pleased when He sees one of His children in the theater, at the dance, or smoking? That is a question for each to decide for himself, prayerfully, seeking light from the Holy Spirit. “Where is the harm in these things?” many ask. It is aside from our purpose to go into the general question, but beyond a doubt there is this great harm in many a case; they rob our prayers of power. 3. Psalm 145:18 throws a great deal of light on the question of how to pray: “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.” That little expression “in truth” is worthy of study. If you will take your concordance and go through the Bible, you will find that this expression means “in reality,” “in sincerity.” The prayer that God answers is the prayer that is real, the prayer that asks for something that is sincerely desired. Much prayer is insincere. People ask for things which they do not wish. Many a woman is praying for the conversion of her husband, who does not really wish her husband to be converted. She thinks that she does, but if she knew what would be involved in the conversion of her husband, how it would necessitate an entire revolution in his manner of doing business, and how consequently it would reduce their income and make necessary an entire change in their method of living, the real prayer of her heart would be, if she were to be sincere with God: “O God, do not convert my husband.” She does not wish his conversion at so great cost. Many a church is praying for a revival that does not really desire a revival. They think they do, for to their minds a revival means an increase of membership, an increase of income, an increase of reputation among the churches; but if they knew what a real revival meant, what a searching of hearts on the part of professed Christians would be involved, what a radical transformation of individual, domestic and social life would be brought about, and many other things that would come to pass if the Spirit of God was poured out in reality and power; if all this were known, the real cry of the church would be: “O God, keep us from having a revival.” Many a minister is praying for the baptism with the Holy Spirit who does not really desire it. He thinks he does, for the baptism with the Spirit means to him new joy, new power in preaching the Word, a wider reputation among men, a larger prominence in the church of Christ. But if he understood what a baptism with the Holy Spirit really involved, how for example it would necessarily bring him into antagonism with the world, and with unspiritual Christians, how it would cause his name to be “cast out as evil,” how it might necessitate his leaving a good comfortable living and going down to work in the slums, or even in some foreign land; if he understood all this, his prayer quite likely would be—if he were to express the real wish of his heart,— “O God, save me from being baptized with the Holy Ghost.” But when we do come to the place where we really desire the conversion of friends at any cost, really desire the outpouring of the Holy Spirit whatever it may involve, really desire the baptism with the Holy Ghost come what come may, where we desire anything “in truth” and then call upon God for it “in truth,” God is going to hear. This is Chapter 3 from his online book entitled simply HOW TO PRAY. Here is the link to read the entire 127 page book. Here is the Table of Contents to give you an idea of what you will be reading. But don't just read! Read and pray! Chapter 1. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER Chapter 2. PRAYING UNTO GOD Chapter 3. OBEYING AND PRAYING Chapter 4. PRAYING IN THE NAME OF CHRIST AND ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD Chapter 5. PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT Chapter 6. ALWAYS PRAYING AND NOT FAINTING Chapter 7. ABIDING IN CHRIST Chapter 8. PRAYING WITH THANKSGIVING Chapter 9. HINDRANCES TO PRAYER Chapter 10. WHEN TO PRAY Chapter 11. THE NEED OF A GENERAL REVIVAL Chapter 12. THE PLACE OF PRAYER BEFORE AND DURING REVIVALS
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Spurgeon on Jesus -We must accept this Son of God as “Jesus,” the Savior. We must believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God became man out of infinite love to man, that He might save his people from their sins, according to that worthy saying, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15). Spurgeon on Christ - We must look upon Jesus as “Christ,” the anointed of the Father, sent into this world on salvation’s errand, not that sinners might save themselves, but that He, being mighty to save, might bring many sons to glory. We must believe that Jesus Christ, coming into the world to save sinners, did really accomplish His mission; that the precious blood that is shed on Calvary is mighty to atone for sin, and therefore, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven, since the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, cleanses us from all sin. John
1 João 3:23
Spurgeon - The warrant of faith (Full sermon The Warrant of Faith) ‘And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.’ 1 John 3:23 If we heartily trust our soul with Christ, our sins, through his blood, are forgiven, and his righteousness is imputed to us. The mere knowledge of these facts will not, however, save us, unless we really and truly trust our souls in the Redeemer’s hands. Faith must act in this wise: ‘I believe that Jesus came to save sinners, and therefore, sinner though I be, I rest myself on him; I know that his righteousness justifies the ungodly; I, therefore, though ungodly, trust in him to be my righteousness; I know that his precious blood in heaven prevails with God on the behalf of them that come unto him; and since I come unto him, I know by faith that I have an interest in his perpetual intercession.’ Now, I have enlarged the one thought of believing on God’s Son Jesus Christ. ‘Believing’ is most clearly explained by that simple word ‘trust.’ Believing is partly the intellectual operation of receiving divine truths, but the essence of it lies in relying upon those truths. I believe that, although I cannot swim, yonder friendly plank will support me in the flood; I grasp it, and am saved: the grasp is faith. I am promised by a generous friend that if I draw upon his banker, he will supply all my needs; I joyously confide in him, and as often as I am in want I go to the bank, and am enriched: my going to the bank is faith. Thus faith is accepting God’s great promise, contained in the person of his Son. It is taking God at his word, and trusting in Jesus Christ as being my salvation, although I am utterly unworthy of his regard. Sinner, if you take Christ to be your Saviour this day, you are justified. Love follows Christ The Love Dare Day by Day: A Year of Devotions for Couples - Page 190 Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. 1 John 3:23 Once you are established in the love of God, you can now share this same love with your spouse. You can love them even when you’re not loved in return. You can see all their flaws and imperfections and still choose to love. And though you can’t meet their needs the way God can, you can become His instrument to keep them face-to-face with His care. As a result, he or she can walk in the fullness and blessing of your love. Now and till death. Commit yourself to loving your wife or husband in this new, unbreakable way. Promise them afresh that your love is not conditional; it is for anything that could possibly happen in life. They are as safe in your love as you are in God’s. True love is found in Christ. And nowhere else. And after you have received His gift of new life by accepting His death in your place and His forgiveness for your sins, you are finally ready to live the dare. Daily Light on the Daily Path - His commandments are not burdensome. “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.”—Whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. . . . Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. . . . Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.—Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.—I delight in the law of God, in my inner being. This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.—Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 1 John 5:3; John 6:40; 1 John 3:22; Matt. 11:30; John 14:15, 21; Prov. 3:13, 17; Ps. 119:165; Rom. 7:22; 1 John 3:23; Rom. 13:10 Two Things Dad Taught "Let me tell you the two most important things I learned from my dad," says Michael [Tait of the DC Talk music group]. "Number one, love people. That's what he taught, and that's what he did. He cried with people, he laughed with people. Everybody was his friend. He could care less about your race, your nationality, your socio-economic status, whatever. All he cared about was you, your soul. "Number two, live for God and don't get caught up in the things of this world, because they're just fleeting. The world will get the best of you if you let it, so we need to truly live for God. "My dad [a preacher] preached those two things his whole life. And those two things have shaped who I am today. I love people; I realize that life is short, God is real and that I need to live for Him." Michael was visiting his parents in Washington, D.C., during the Christmas holidays in '97 when his dad complained of stomach pains. Michael took him to the hospital, where doctors found the cancer. Michael was there, a few weeks later, when he breathed his last in February '98. "The man was my hero." See: 2 Timothy 1:13; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 1 John 3:23 Self-Protection Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible: With Devotions by Selwyn Hughes Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another.—1 JOHN 3:23 An advantage of being willing to feel disappointment is that it enables us to come in touch with another hidden sin of the heart—self-protection. Whenever we are disappointed, we naturally feel hurt and experience inner pain. Some people are so affected by this that a pool of pain builds up inside them, and they say to themselves: "People are a source of hurt. Stay away from them, and don't get too closely involved." They see noninvolvement as the best way to avoid the pain of possible disappointment. But this attitude is a violation of the law of love. Lawrence Crabb, a Christian psychologist, says: "Deficient love is always central to our problems." Behind most of our problems is a failure to love others as we love ourselves. If we refuse to move towards someone in the spirit of love for fear they may disappoint us, then we are more interested in protecting ourselves from pain than we are in loving—and that is sin. Did you ever think of self-protection as a sin? Well, it is, and in my estimation it is one of the most subtle of all. Many of our relationships are ruined by this—particularly marriage relationships. A man who shouts angrily at his wife early in his marriage is setting up a self-protective system that says: "Disappoint me, and you will have to suffer the consequences." What is he doing? He is protecting himself more than he is loving his wife. And that, no matter how one might attempt to rationalize it, is sin. Prayer Father, Your challenges are sometimes more than I can bear, yet I see the sense and wisdom that lies behind them. Reveal to me my own self-protective devices, and help me be willing to give them up in favor of loving as I have been loved. Amen. Charles Stanley - Blessed Assurance SCRIPTURE READING: 1 John 3:18–24 KEY VERSE: 1 John 3:23 This is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. It is easy to look across the church sanctuary and see someone whose salvation you would not question. Perhaps you also can identify someone you believe is struggling even more in his walk with Jesus than you are. One of the enemy’s traps is to get us to compare ourselves to others. It is a way that he deceives us into thinking we do not measure up. At other times he gets us to think we’re better than the next person so we become complacent in our faith. The only true measuring stick resting in a church pew is in the book rack. It is the Bible, the inerrant Word of God. Listen to what God says about assurance of salvation: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NASB); “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31 NASB); and “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23 NASB). The common thread in these Scriptures is that salvation comes only through belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. There is no other itinerary or requirement, no need for comparisons: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 NASB). Father, thank You for the blessed assurance You have given me. Let me continually use the measuring stick of Your Word to check my spiritual growth. Vance Havner - The meaning of the church is that Christians are God's called-out ones. The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to make, baptize, and teach disciples. The message of the church is the Gospel that Christ died for our sins and rose for our justification. The ministry of the church is to observe all things He commanded, and the commandments are summed up in believing on Jesus Christ and loving one another (see 1 John 3:23). Loving others covers all Christian social action. Faith Isn't Just an Attitude Faith is something that has to be applied. —Corrie ten Boom, Christian Reader, Vol. 31. See: John 6:28-29; James 2:17; 1 John 3:23. Astounding Faith Our faith is an astounding thing—astounding that I should believe him to be the Son of God who is suspended on the cross, whom I have never seen, with whom I have never become acquainted. —Martin Luther, "Martin Luther—The Early Years," Christian History, no. 34. See: Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1; 1 John 3:23. Commanded To Love - Read: 1 John 3:16-24 | As a result of adult children neglecting their responsibilities, some elderly parents in Singapore are forced to seek financial help from charities and other state agencies. Speaking about this escalating situation, a government official said, “We cannot legislate love.” In the Bible, however, love is commanded. That is what Moses told the nation of Israel: “I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways” (Deut. 30:16). And Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God” (Mark 12:30). How can God command love? His supreme display of love at Calvary gave Him that right. Jesus’ beloved disciple, John, wrote: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us… This is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:16,23). What opportunities do you have to obey God’s command to love? Honoring parents by caring and providing for them? Ministering to a sick friend? Offering a gracious and kind word to someone who is difficult to love? Love is an attitude, love is a prayer, For someone in sorrow, a heart in despair; Love is good will for the gain of another, Love suffers long with the fault of a brother. —Anon. We show our love for God when we love one another.