As we wrap up chapter 3, we learn specifically which commandment John has in view when it comes to our assurance.
Today our Lord's Supper devotional was delivered by Tim Tyler Senior.
Springfield Baptist Church
June 23rd 2024 - Pastor James Tyler - 1 John 3:21-24 - "What Commandment Are We Keeping?"
1 John 3 beginning at verse 21 says, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him. By this we know He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us." A little bit of this is retread. We covered verse 21 and 22 last week, and I chose to make a division rather than soldier on through the chapter. Not so much intentionally to let the effects of the idea linger, but just because I felt like there wasn't enough time to go much further. And so then the outcome is the effect that the idea lingers. And the idea was, we have confidence before God because we've been obedient. And I cited the example of Saul, the king, the first king in Israel, and I cited the example of David. Both men sinned in pretty profound ways, and both men had a response to that sin. One was right and one was wrong. There's a sorrow that leads to death, and there's a sorrow that leads to repentance, which leads to salvation without regret. The main reason I brought up examples was because I wanted to illuminate for us that, like in the case of Saul, Saul does not do what God has commanded, and then the outcome of that is he loses his position. From a human perspective, there are worse probably eternal consequences for Saul, I'm assuming, based on how he went on and conducted himself from 1 Samuel 15 until he died. But I don't think probably any of us make it to 30, age 30, in the workforce without making a mistake that might cost you your position. So it's not like what Saul did is so breathtakingly abhorrent none of us can identify with it, right? The consequences I'm talking about. And then if you look at David, the consequences, from a biblical perspective, these are consequences. From a human perspective, these things just happen. People make mistakes at work, and they lose their jobs. It happens. Honest mistakes even. From David's perspective, I don't want to rend any wounds open, but people's children die, and it's not because they had an affair and murdered somebody. It's because sin is in the world and things are broken because of sin, right? My point was, in both cases, both men made it worse for their own heart by sinning prior to whatever event occurred to them. Jesus was going to hang on the cross and die, whether Peter denied him or not. Peter made it worse for himself by denying Jesus when he had the opportunity to be identified with him. So then Peter has to endure however much time passes between the moment that Jesus looks at him after Peter denies him. The moment Jesus looks at him, and Peter goes out weeping from that moment until the moment that Jesus is resurrected on the seashore, and Peter's out fishing and sees him and jumps in the water and swims to shore. However much time that is, Peter has to wonder about himself, about God, whether or not God's heart has changed, and what do we find? God's heart has not changed. What do we find in the case of David? God's heart has not changed. David says, "I've sinned." And immediately, Nathan says, "Behold, the Lord has taken away your sin." Peter gets to the shore, they have a little fried fish breakfast, which sounds horrible, and maybe we should try it. Afterwards Jesus says, "Come on, let's take a walk." And Peter's like, "What about John?" And Jesus says, "Don't worry about John. Walk with me." And they walk, and Peter gets engaged by Jesus right where his heart needed to be engaged. Do you love me? Because what's Peter not sure of? I denied you three times, twice to a servant girl and wants to somebody else before the most horrifying thing that's ever happened on earth happened. I need to know that I love you. So Jesus does this work of ministry on Peter's heart to bring him to recognition that number one, the heart of Jesus hasn't changed towards Peter. And number two, Peter, you do love me. And here's how you're going to show it. Go feed my sheep. Fast forward a few months. Peter preaches and 3000 people get saved. God's heart doesn't change, but sin makes everything worse because it destroys our confidence before God. We doubt his love because we've changed when we sin. John doesn't say, "If our heart does not condemn us, we're saved." It's not what it says. It says, "If our heart doesn't condemn us, we have confidence." So verse 22. And whatever we ask, we receive from him because he keeps his commandments. I'm sorry. We keep his commandments and do what pleases him. Whatever we ask, we receive because we've been obedient and pleasing. Hey, that's what it says, right? Whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. So on the surface, what that means is if you obey God, he'll give you whatever you want. Do you see the danger in taking one verse of Scripture, isolating it and building your theology and doctrine on it? Certainly not true in the broadest sense that we get whatever we want because we've been obedient and pleasing. Look at James chapter 4. We'll just look at the first four verses here of James 4. What causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel. You don't have because you don't ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Well, I gave you the context because I feel like the low-hanging fruit would have been to say you ask and don't receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your own pleasure. See, 1 John 3 22 isn't always true. And then everybody goes, wow, he knows his Bible. I think praying for things which are incongruent with God's desires. Can be detected by the accompanying experiences. Let me say that again. Praying for things God doesn't want you to have, you can find out you're doing by looking at what else is going on in your life. So the framework in which James puts this little nugget you don't have because you asked with wrong motives. The framework is this. You're at war within yourself. Do you see it? Your passions are at war within you. What causes quarrels and fights among you, right? So because I'm at war with myself, I find myself at war with other people. My passions are at war within me. Now that's not necessarily an evil thing because Galatians makes it pretty clear that the Christian is somebody who has two desires. The spirit wages war against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit that you may not do what you please. And what Paul means is in either case, when you're doing the right thing, it's tainted with evil motives. I hope God notices or I hope the pastor does or I help somebody does. I hope mom and dad do, right? Now God chooses to honor that and bless that anyway. And then when you're doing something evil and you know it's evil, there's a part of you that's like, man, this is miserable. I hate doing evil things because I know the consequences are probably coming. So you can't really enjoy being evil and you're not really like perfect at being good. So either way, you're never really doing what you want. The Bible's really frank about that. In Romans 7, Paul says it this way, so then I'm conscious that evil is present with me, the one who wants to do good. My passions are at war within me. Now that's different when you're just at war within yourself in a more general sense. And it's not so much, I don't think James is talking about the war between the flesh and the spirit. I think kind of what he's talking about is the one who lays in bed at night planning the evil that he's going to do in the Psalms, like I can't decide what horrible thing I'm going to do tomorrow. You end up at war with other people, but it could be just the war between the spirit and the flesh. Covening leads to fighting and quarreling with others which leads to murder. At the very least, we're civilized society, right? So we'll just say reputation murder. How's that? Someone else's reputation gets murdered because you're envious or covetous, so you're fighting and quarreling with others, and then you talk about them behind their back. That's two. So one, you're at war with yourself, two, you're envious, you're coveting, and you're murdering people, three, you don't bother to ask God. That's a sign that you're going to ask with wrong motives. You do the math and you're like, let me not even ask him. And then forth, asking for and pursuing things which you will only use for your own pleasure. That's the most obvious one. Lord, I need a Ferris wheel in my backyard. Why? Because I love Ferris wheels. So to be clear, I don't think John is talking about praying and asking God for, I mean, he's certainly not talking, but pray if you trust the Lord for a Lamborghini or a mistress if you're married. You can't desire things that are incongruent with what God has commanded and desires. And the reason why I don't think John's talking about generally, everything that you pray for you'll get is precisely what we heard from Hebrews 12 this morning. In verse 8, what Roy read was, "If you're left without discipline and which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." One of the ways we discipline our children if we're worth anything as parents is we have to deprive them of some of the pleasures of life from time to time as a consequence for, you know, less than stellar behavior. Okay. If you don't do that, if you just work really hard at being your kid's buddy, you will end up with children who are this tall and not functional members of society. So you have to make life hurt for them when they misbehave. That's like a parenting requirement. And what do we say to make ourselves feel better parents as we're applying the rod of discipline? This hurts me more than it hurts you, which is, I've never said that because it doesn't. Most of the time I'm like, "This is making me feel better." Just kidding. But if you're left without discipline, which all have participated, then you're illegitimate children and not sons. So there's a reason why God might say no when you ask him for something that's morally neutral. Or even good. He might be like, "No, you need to be disciplined." Luke 11 verse 9 might be worth scratching next to verse 22 in your Bible. In first John 3, Luke 11, 9. Oh, let me fix my notes because it should be 9 through 13. "I tell you," this is Jesus talking, "I tell you ask and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be open to you, for everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, well, instead of a fish, give him a serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, love that, right? Can I get an amen? If you then, who are evil, dad, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask you? So God's a good father, and he's not going to give you something with which you will destroy yourself. He's not going to do it. So let's go back to David after Nathan confronts him. So after Nathan tells him the story of the rich man who stole his poor neighbor's lamb, and David is incensed, outraged even. Nathan said to David, you are the man, like you're that guy, you're the guy that you're incensed with. You're the one who should be destroyed, according to your own judgment that you just gave, right? Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel. I delivered you out of the hand of Saul, and I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah, and if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Some people read that and they think, "Oh, if David had just asked for best, she but God would have given it to him." Wrong. What God is saying is, I gave you exactly enough. If it hadn't been enough, I would have given you more. You didn't need more. But what happens is, David's appetite outruns God's provision. So in James 1 verse 16, "Do not be deceived my beloved brothers, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." So if you're pulling a needle out of your arm and you feel that high coming from those drugs that you just did, and you're like, "Oh, thank God. This is great." And you're looking around and you're in an alley with like cardboard and oil stains. That might not be from God. That might not be a good gift. When I had my last surgery, I wasn't in any pain because it was just a hernia that needed to be repaired. I was in pain afterwards. But beforehand, the charge nurse, the gal that takes care of or person, sorry, folks, sorry. The person who takes care of you before you go back comes in and I'm on an IV and she doses me with something and I'm like, "What was that?" She goes, "Just a little something to help with the anxiety." I'm like, "Well, I wasn't anxious." But boy was I not anxious about three minutes later at all. And I was like, "Thank you, God, for this good gift." It was nice. So I was like tapping my feet together as they push me down. Good gifts and perfect gifts come down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. The father's heart is ready to supply every good thing for you. He's also ready to deprive you of anything that might prevent you from walking with him day by day. All right? So let's talk about the things we think we need that we're not getting. The things you think you need that are good and everybody that you talk to would agree. Yeah, it would be good if you had that. If you're in a job that's awful and you can't stand it and so you're praying and you've tried to better yourself and get certifications and you're aiming for financial or maybe just mental health improvement in a different position. And it's not happening. And everybody around you's like, "We're praying for it." And you're like, "So am I and the job ain't coming. The question has to become, are we wrong? Would this not be good? Do I really trust God? When I'm afflicted with some kind of physical illness or injury and I want it to go away and I pray those imprecatory, like argumentative prayers to God, I'm like, couldn't you get more glory out of my life? If I could drag my fanny out of bed with tears, you know, please God take this away." And he doesn't. The question has to become, "Do I trust my Father in heaven?" Because every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. And he says in Luke 11, "I tell you, ask and it will be given to you." And he says, in 1 John 3, 22, what's it say? Whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. So the question is, do you trust him? I've got besetting anxiety. It's costing me money. I'm losing time at work because I wake up in the middle of the night and my heart's pounding and I'm going to pull the sweat and I can't calm down. And I've been praying for six months that this would go away. I'm fine. This is not me. I'm just hypothetically, right? I've been praying for six months that this would go away and it's not going away. Do you trust him? Verse 21 says, "We have confidence because we're obedient." 22 says, "Whatever we ask we get because we're obedient, maybe we ask for the right things when we're being obedient and tend to ask for the wrong things or not bother asking when we're not being obedient, which begs the question, obedient to what?" What are we talking about? What commandment? Well, would you look at that? Verse 23, "This is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he has commanded us." Obedient to what? Obedient to the commandment to trust Jesus. That's what? What do I have to do in order to have assurance? What do I have to do in order to have confidence? What do I have to do when my heart condemns me? You don't have a time machine. Look right at me, everybody. You can't undo whatever got you to this place. So in whatever nonsense you've come up with in your mind for why you're suffering right now. And maybe it's not nonsense. And if you did something stupid and you're suffering clear consequences of that decision, you still don't have a time machine. You cannot go back. There's no undoing it. You are where you are. So I would submit to you, there's one of two options here, one of two possibilities. Either God is not faithful to his word and he erased your name out of the book of life, which doesn't seem very possible. Or what you do in order to have assurance, what you do in order to have confidence, what you do when your heart condemns you is not look around for a time machine, but you do what you've been commanded to do. What's the commandment? That we believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. So Proverbs 3, 5, you don't even have to turn there because you know it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Let's go. What's your understanding? Mostly nonsense. Especially when my heart is not confident and I've lost my assurance in time. It's all nonsense going on up here. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding. Psalm 37 verse 4, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. So whatever I want, because guess what's going to happen if you're delighting yourself in the Lord? Your desires are going to change. He will give you desires for your heart. And then he'll grant them. Psalm 9 verse 10, those who know your name put their trust in you for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Write that one down because that's really important. Psalm 9, 10, those who know your name put their trust in you, O Lord, for you have not forsaken those who seek you. Seek is the verb. It does not say you've not forsaken those who perfectly execute your will. Thank God it doesn't say that. Nor is verse John 3 saying that, which commandment are we supposed to be following? And this is the commandment, verse 23, and this is the commandment that you believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. Psalm 28, 7, the Lord is my strength and my shield in him, my heart trusts and I'm helped. My heart exalts and with my song, I give thanks to him. Your heart doesn't buy it. It won't buy it. When you are down in the dumps, like real down deep in the dumps and this concept pops into your mind, you're like, I should really glorify God. Your heart will tell you that is the last thing that I need to do right now. What I need to do right now is jump off a bridge, swerve into oncoming traffic. That's what your heart will tell you because your heart's dumb. Don't please God, please don't follow your heart. That is the worst advice anybody could ever give you. Your heart, according to Jeremiah 17, 9, is deceitful above all else and desperately sick. Who could understand it? So you know what you need to do when you're down in the dumps, trust in the Lord and be helped. And then your heart will exalt. Romans 15, 13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Are you hopeless? Is life hard? Are you on the struggle bus? A little bit nervous about tomorrow? May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in what? Believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope not by the power of your good works." And then finally, proof that first John is a commentary on the gospel of John, right? John 6, 28. They said to Jesus, "What must we do to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent." That's the commandment. "From unbelief flows uncertainty and security, anxiety, preoccupation with others' blessings, envy, jealousy, anger, slander." Right? "From unbelief, what comes from unbelief? Uncertainty and security, anxiety, preoccupation with others' blessings, envy, jealousy, anger, slander, bitterness, selfish ambition, vain conceit, ruin, heartache, and shipwreck." That's what comes from unbelief. Everywhere you look in Scripture, at someone who has stopped trusting God, you will find someone who has also stopped loving people. So John gives you the diagnostic to tell you what's wrong. I don't love people. Guess what's wrong? Guess why you don't love people? And does this happen from time to time in everybody's heart? You know what's going on? Unbelief. You forgot something. "Behold the love of God. Understand the doctrine and theology of the gospel. Experience the disparity. Whoa, I'm called the child of God. I can see the train wreck behind me and all the dead bodies." And he calls me a child of God. Experience that disparity. Believe the gospel. All those who come to me, I will in no way cast them out and then practice. Practice what? From beholding, understanding, experiencing, and believing the gospel will flow love for other people. So when that ain't happening, you got to go back to the first thing. Behold the love of God that he would love me in spite of what I am is breathtaking. Now how can I not love other people who I don't know anything they've done as bad as what I've done in the light that I have? You see it in Saul who was more interested in being loved by other people. You see it in David who robbed another man of his wife and then his life. You see it in Judas who traded Christ for money. You see it in Peter who denies knowing Jesus when circumstances make it appear that Jesus is not the Messiah. We stop loving people when our hearts are full of unbelief. That's what we do. So when we struggle with assurance, with confidence in God's love, what should we do? Trust him afresh. Remind yourself of, I'll give you these. Remind yourself of his faithfulness in the past. Remind yourself of his promises in the future. Those are good disciplines absolutely. But what does John say in verse 22? Let's bring it home. Ready? Look at it. Whatever we ask we receive from him. Here's the question. Here's the question. Let me remind you the question. What do we do when we struggle with assurance, with confidence in God's love? What should we do? First John 3 22, whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. Or in Luke 11, I tell you ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks, receives, the one who seeks, finds, the one who knocks to him it will be open. Or James 1 17. Every good gift, every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow due to change. God promises not to withhold any good thing from you. Ask him to help your own unbelief. You think he's going to withhold that? No, I think it's better for you if you wallow an unbelief. That is completely inconsistent with everything that the Bible says. If you ask God for help believing, you will 100% of the time you will get it. 100% of the time you will get it and you'll find interestingly it comes from some strange places. But you'll get it. It's not found in rigorous religious activity. It is in believing God that we find the pleasure of God and then finally the outcome verse 24. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him and by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. So relationship, communion, fellowship, these things are diminished when we're running after things that don't satisfy. Relationship, communion, fellowship. Now that means this one and that means these ones are diminished. So I find myself at war with other people. Oh look, I'm at war within myself. Oh look, I'm not trusting God. Oh look, everything's turning into a disaster. What's the solution? The cure is to keep the commandment. We knew it James. We knew you'd come back to fundamentalism eventually. That's the cure. They really keep the commandment. What's the commandment? This is the commandment that you believe in Jesus Christ and love people in that order. Believe in Jesus, love people, then the promise is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The outcome is that your confidence will be increased and you will receive what you ask for. It is not rigorous, frenetic religious activity. So God bless whoever did all this, right? Everybody involved in this? Wow. If I was a kid walking into this building from the outside, I would be filled with fear and anxiety. And then once I came in and saw this, I'd be like, all right, it's going to be okay. Because you all did a great job and it did not move you one step closer to the heart of God, not one step. You're his if you believe and nothing's going to change that. This is the commandment. Believe in him. Love one another. I want to help us all to prepare for what we're about to do. The best way that I know to do is the words of God. So please listen. John chapter six, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to an eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him, sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats to this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. From Luke, and he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten saying, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Two more, first Corinthians. The cup of blessing that we bless is not, is it not, a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread that we break isn't not a participation in the body of Christ. Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Finally, let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for anyone who eats and drinks without understanding the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. Pray with me, please. Father, we have the privilege of obeying you right now, and it is a gift to do it. So help us now as you draw near to us, let us draw near to you as we remember the sacrifice that you made for the debt that we owed and that we could not pay. In Jesus' name, amen. - Good. [BLANK_AUDIO]