1 John 5:13-21

We have reached the end of 1st John. Hopefully, by now, we’ve all got a good grasp on what John was trying to communicate to his readers, and have all gained some solid truth and encouragement along the way. I do want to spend a few minutes bringing everything together up to this point:

John begins his letter by talking about Jesus, and how He brought about eternal life. By the way, this is how he also ends the letter, and we’ll get to that in just a few minutes. 1 John 1:2, “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.”

He then begins making comparisons between true believers in Jesus, and those who claim to believe, but have no evidence by the way that they live. Not only that, but they are making false claims about who Jesus was, and is.

1. Light vs. Dark. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him. If someone claims to be in relationship with God, but continues to walk in darkness, they aren’t true believers. (1:5-10)

2. Those who obey His commandments vs. those who don’t. There is a direct call out towards those who claim to be in fellowship God, but don’t actually live like Him. (2:1-6)

3. Love of the brothers vs. Hate towards the brothers. John says, “whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” On the flip side, whoever loves his brother abides in the light. That person is drawing life from the light and loving out of that abiding. It’s a sacrificial, other’s-minded love. (2:7-11)

4. Love of the world vs. Abiding in God. Finding satisfaction, meaning and purpose in the standards and ideologies of the world, rather than finding satisfaction, meaning and purpose in God. (2:15-17)

5. ANTICHRIST: Those who deny that Jesus is the Son of God vs. those who know it convictionally to be true. This is where John talks about the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and that anointing is what convinces and convicts us of the truth about Jesus. (2:18-27)

6. Those who practice lawlessness vs. those who practice righteousness. Jesus died to take away the enslavement that our sin holds us in, therefore it cannot reign in our bodies. It cannot define our lives. Instead our life is defined by righteousness, a life in right standing with God. (3:1-10)

7. Repeat of loving the brothers vs. hating the brothers. This time with the example of real love personified in Jesus. (3:11-18)

8. Spirit of truth vs. spirit of error. The Spirit of truth confesses that Jesus is God in flesh. And this confession is not just one that comes out of the mouth, but one that makes Jesus the Lord of their life. (4:1-6)

9. Repeat of loving one another. This time with the example of real love being God the Father sending Jesus to redeem humanity to Himself. (4:7-12)

10. Repeat of:

* Confession of Jesus as the Son of God

* Loving one another

(4:13-21)

And then last week he rapid-fires all everything to begin chapter 5:

·      Believe that Jesus is the Christ

·      Love the brothers/sisters

·      Obey His commandments

And one final thought of overcoming the world, having victory over the world by our faith.

When looking at this letter as a whole it’s pretty clear what John is trying to communicate. There is a huge, noticeable difference between those who are true followers of Jesus, and those who claim to be, but don’t live the way the Jesus taught them to live.

Alright, let’s get into our passage for today, and finish 1st John together!

Read 1 John 5:13-21

Verse 13 serves as a transition statement between the passage from last week, and the one we find ourselves in this morning. If we take it back a verse to verse 12, this makes sense. Read 5:12-13. And John gives us yet another specific purpose for writing this letter, “so that you MAY KNOW that you have eternal life.” He wants them to be confident of this knowledge, not doubting their relationship with God. This is why he builds on this confidence in vs. 14-15. And really each subsequent verse in this passage builds beautifully on the one previous.

Look at verse 14-15. “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked of him.” Remember, context is key. So when John speaks here of asking of God, and God answering those requests, we have to read it through the lens of his listeners. We have to read it in light of the surrounding verses. We know this young church is facing intense pressure to change what they believe to be true about their relationship with God and the nature of Christ.

Remember, prior to this, John had just talked about how they had overcome the world. He also tells them a few verses down that the “whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” So the prayers that he is insisting that they pray are for strength, protection, perseverance, patience, conviction in truth. Surely this would be considered the “will of God,” that they remain steadfast in the face of opposition and potential persecution.

But, if we zoom out, like we have been doing, and look at this truth in light of all of Scripture, we see that this is a general principle of prayer for the Christian.

 · Jesus, when teaching his disciples how to pray, says to pray that “God’s will be done.” Not our will, but what God wants and knows to be best.

· Jesus then exemplified this prayer in the Garden before His arrest, in Luke 22: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

So we pray with the will of God as our main focus. But this can become very difficult. We can be left with questions, especially when it seems like God isn’t answering our prayers like we think he should. So how do we know if we are praying the will of God?! This is a sermon for another time, but I want to take a few minutes to give you some examples of how God has answered our prayers at Family Church. One of our Core Values here is Fervent Prayer. This means that we are intentional with approaching God constantly, believing that He hears us and desires to answer according to His will, especially in terms of His church being established and growing by reaching people that don’t yet know Jesus.

When the Lord started making it clear to our Core Team in December of last year that it was time to set a launch date and really start moving towards that, He started answering our prayers. And I share these things with you to hopefully build our confidence together that our God is a God who finds joy in answering our prayers, just like in verse 14-15. I’ve got a running document on my computer called “God’s Provision” that I’m constantly adding to. Listen to this:

Started pricing out sound board. Texted Charles to ask if we could be their old one used. A few days later, he texted and said they were giving it to us, along with 6 Aviom in-ear systems, and digital snake.

Asked NW if they had any Kids gear they weren’t using. They said they had play panels and rugs that we could use. We started researching pipe and drape, and pricing out what we thought we’d need. The next day, I went to NW to check out the panels/rugs, and Ronnie told me they had 2 carts of pipe and drape that they weren’t using. Gave that to us too!

Started researching road cases, and shopping around for what we thought we’d need. Douglas texted me, said he was praying for us, and asked what we needed. I told him the big thing was road cases, he said he had 6 that we could have!

Been wanting to get an IPad for sermon prep/preaching, but too expensive. Months later, at GCC conference, won a new IPad, Apple Pencil, and case from a raffle!

Texted Evan to ask which DI boxes we should get, he said not to worry about it, that he had some we could have. Then, in shopping for speakers with him at Guitar Center, mentioned that I needed a stage rack, he said he had one for us!

Researching trailers. Had one that was promising that we couldn’t get out to look at. Later that night, Brian H went and looked at a nice one, but the door opening was too small for the cases. The next day was at Panera working, and Chris Hankins was leaving, stopped by the table and asked how things were going, and what our biggest need was. I told him we were looking at trailers, and he said, “Oh, I think we have a trailer for you.” They gifted us a 20’ trailer.

Called a storage space for the trailer, said they were no spots and a long waiting list that we could get on. The next day, she called and said a space was coming available and that we would be the ones to get it, and get a discount because we’re a church. It’s right across the street from the school!

Talked with Jade in Fall of 2021 about how great it would be to have LOGOS software for sermon prep. Too expensive. March of 2022, email from GCC. They gifted each of the Planters the Gold Level Membership!

Wednesday, April 6th, 2022. Got a phone call from a member of Harvest Raleigh, wants to remain anonymous. He felt prompted to give a gift to Family Church to help with the Launch, and ministry moving forward.

Wanted to get LOGOS for sermon prep, but cost was very high. GCC emailed that they were gifting us LOGOS as new planters!

Began praying Palm Sunday (Launch) that God would bring us 1 new person/family each week. 9 weeks in a row He did it! We didn’t pray (for some reason) on week 10, and no one new came, but then began praying it again, and weeks 11 & 12 He brought new people!

Things that we were specifically asking God for so that His kingdom would expand all for His glory. Hopefully that encourages you, especially knowing that God is for Family Church!

Alright, let’s get back to our text. Pray with confidence, knowing that God hears us. This is the type of hearing that involves a desire to help. Not like when I’m typing something and Jade asks me to do something and I say yes, but I really didn’t hear her to the point of letting my mind process it. No, God hears in such a way that it stirs Him to action. Think about that! And with that in mind, look at verse 16-17. Read vs. 16-17.

Let’s be careful here. We know that anything that goes in opposition to God is considered sin. John says that in verse 17. But he also zeros in on this idea that there is sin that leads to death, as opposed to all other sin that the believer can overcome. So what is this “sin that leads to death?”

We can be sure that it isn’t a physical death, for every human being will one day die. So it must be a spiritual death, an eternity separated from God. One commentator has a succinct explanation:

“When the author speaks of ‘sin that leads to death’, it is very likely that he has the sin of the secessionists in mind. They are people who deny that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, and also deny the significance of his atoning death. This would mean that they place themselves outside of the sphere of forgiveness, and their sins become sins unto death.”

This is the specific context here. Again, this can get tricky because Jesus told us to “pray for those who persecute you.” So pray for those who don’t know Jesus, who mock you for your faith. It also would seem that John isn’t say NEVER to pray for these people, but that specifically he is imploring the church to pray for their brothers and sisters who have fallen into sin.

So quick recap. We have confidence that God listens and desires to answer prayers, so pray for the brothers and sisters who have fallen into sin, knowing that their restoration is absolutely in the will of God.

And we pray believing that verse 18 is true! Read vs. 18. Satan roams this earth like a prowling lion, looking for people to devour. But, those who find their security in their relationship with Jesus are untouchable. Think about that. We, as followers of Jesus, are untouchable. Does this mean we don’t sin? No, because while on this earth we still have our flesh to do battle against. But, John says that Jesus, He who was born of God, protects us.

And then John ends with this scary distinction in vs. 19. We who are true followers find our abiding in God, but the world “lies in the power of the evil one.” Satan has temporary, restricted control over this world. His power is great, his schemes are evil, he is crafty and deceitful. He breathes lies, promotes idolatry, and attacks the hearts of the vulnerable and the strong.

And then with one final push, John ties a nice bow on this letter. Read vs. 20. God is true. Jesus is true. When God promises eternal life through Jesus alone, this is true. Don’t listen to what anyone else says. Don’t let the feelings and emotions of the current cultural winds blow you off of your foundation. Be rooted in Christ. Abide in the Father. Rely on the Spirit.

And then a curious ending in vs. 21, “keep yourselves from idols.” Don’t be tempted to elevate anything above Jesus. Not knowledge, not cultural norms, not the things that society tells you to prioritize…Jesus, above all else, supreme, reigning your hearts and your lives.

And there it is, an incredible letter that challenges the young church to stand firm, and in turn challenges us to do the same.

We stand on truth, fight forward in faith, do battle every day with a world that opposes God, with Christians and churches who change the truth about Jesus. True followers of Jesus obey God’s commands, believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God in flesh, and they love one another sacrificially. Let us be a people, and a church, that is marked by these things.