Quieting the Condemning Heart: 1 John #09
An exposition of 1 John 3:19-24. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, December 6, 2015.
Intro:
I don’t care for uncertainty. I’m the type of person who wants to know what’s going on. I want to know where things stand. I don’t like unanswered questions. And I tend to be pessimistic. So when I’m told where things stand – I tend to think, “You’re just trying to make me feel better.” “Things must be bad if you’re telling me that.” I have another tendency – that is to be very self-critical. I tend to think the worst of me. All of this combines to mean that I often fight spiritual battles. I struggle with where I am spiritually and my lack of godliness. If you’ve read much by the Puritans then you know the Puritan mindset was very introspective. They constantly questioned and examined their spiritual lives. That’s why I have to read the Puritans in small bits here and there – if not – I’d go into a deep depression! Do you ever struggle with your spiritual life? Do you struggle with issues of assurance? Do you sometimes find yourself saying, “If I was really a Christian I would not think that or say that?” Do you ever “beat yourself up” over your lack of spiritual progress or godliness?
The issue of assurance is a major cause of anxiety in the lives of believers. We have this false notion that true believers never struggle. Genuine saints never waver. But that simply is not true. Do you remember John the Baptist? Jesus said there was no one, born of woman, who was any greater than John – yet he struggled. John who boldly announced the kingdom of God was at hand. John who upon seeing Jesus at the Jordan River declare, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” John at one point instructed his disciples to go to Jesus and ask, “Are you the one or are we to look for another?”
The theme of 1 John is assurance. John, with a pastor’s heart, was writing to a dearly loved congregation seeking to encourage and strengthen them in the face of doubt and confusion. Some false teachers had come with a new teaching. They spoke of a special knowledge, a higher insight gained through spiritual means – the result was doubt and confusion on the part of genuine believers. Thus John said, “I writing that you may know that you have eternal life (5:13).” John’s purpose was to buttress their sagging faith. “I want you to know that you know. I want your joy to be complete. I want you to press on in the faith assured that you are ‘of the truth.’”
John understood that in spite of all he had said about assurance up to this point – there will still be some who feel condemned in their own eyes and who are therefore depressed by their lack assurance. And lack of assurance can cripple the spiritual life. There are a number of folks who feel assured when they have no right, biblically, to feel assured! There are times when lack of assurance is the gracious working of God. Some lack assurance for good reason. But the emphasis in our text this morning is self-condemnation.
Text: 1 John 3:19-24
How is the believer to deal with doubt? How do we overcome this spiritual depression? John’s answer seems clear in our text. Regardless of the cause there is only one answer. The believer must take himself in hand and confront himself with what he knows to be true concerning God and God’s work in his life. The answer is knowledge. But not the mystical, superstitious knowledge of the false teachers, rather the knowledge of God’s Word and work.
As we work our way through this brief paragraph we learn that:
Thesis: The doubting heart finds peace in the knowledge of God’s gracious working in the life of the believer.
James Boice points out an interesting fact in his commentary on this section. Boice says John didn’t tell them to “pray about it” he said, “take yourself in hand and think!” Assurance is not a matter of feeling. It is not about a warm glow or a sense of the spiritual – it is a matter of what has been done and what has God declared?
There are three things I want us to note in this passage.
- A condemning heart is no match for the grace of God. (3:19-20)
- A settled heart knows abundant blessing. (3:21-23)
- A secure heart knows the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. (3:24)
Conclusion:
If we are to assure our hearts when they accuse and condemn us, we must look for evidence of the Spirit’s working, and particularly whether he is enabling us to believe Christ, to obey God’s commandments and to love the brethren.
The doubting heart finds peace in the knowledge of God’s gracious working.