Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.41 – November 2002

 

How To Be Certain That God Lives In You

 

Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on 1John4:13-16a

Scripture Readings: Romans 8:1-17, 1John 4:1-16.

Suggested Hymns: BoW: 46; 372; 426; 121a

 

Introd:

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The message of our text is that the grounds for Christian Assurance lie in the Spirit’s work in us and the objective reality of the gospel. [Sermon Theme].

But it’s a sad fact that many sincere children of God do not have certainty about their faith.

In a worship service they heartily join in singing: “It is well, it is well with my soul…!”
But really only because it’s a wonderfully rousing old hymn.
Not because they are absolutely confident that all is indeed well with their soul.
Ask these folk the question:
If you should die tonight would you be certain that God would welcome you into heaven?
And the best answer they can give is: I hope so!

What is especially sad is that I am not just talking about our youth… or about new Christians.
I am talking about people who have been churchgoers for fifty years or more.
            They have read their Bibles through many, many times.
            They have attended literally thousands of worship services.
            And listened to more sermons than they care to remember.
            And the best they can come up with is, “I hope so!”  That is sad.

Of course it is also possible to have false assurance.
I’ve met people… and you’ve met them too… who are sure God accepts them.
            Because after all it’s God’s business to forgive us… isn’t it…?
            And we human beings are not all that bad… are we…?
            So as long as we do the right thing by everybody and try to do our best…?
            Why then shouldn’t we sing: “It is well, it is well with my soul…!”?

If this was your last day on earth are you sure God would welcome you into heaven?

And if you are sure about that… then on what do you base that assurance?

 

A]        A RELIGION OF ASSURANCE BECAUSE OF THE SPIRIT’S WORK.

1.         When it comes to assurance the language of the Bible is very, very positive.

So much so that if you are not sure about your faith you are out of tune with Scripture.

Read Romans 8 right through some time in one go.  It is brim full of assurance.
From its opening words:
            There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…!
Through to its closing lines:
            Nothing… in all creation… will be able to separate us from the love of God.
What confidence!

And if you want a specific book that overflows with certainty it is this letter of John.
There is nothing ‘iffy’ about the faith that is pictured here.
In this short letter the apostle John 12 times says: “We know..!”.
It just breathes an atmosphere of conviction and assurance.

In fact John gives us a number of tests to help us find certainty.
So that we don’t have to go through life saying, “I hope so…!  I hope so…!”
For example in chapter 2 verse 3, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey his commands.”

Here in our text John begins by saying: “By this we know…!” 
(The words ‘by this’ are not in our NIV Bible – though most other English read that way).
So by what do we know?  By this…!  John wants to give us evidence for certainty.
Maybe those words “by this” point us back to the preceding verses,
            There John had been talking about our love for one another.
            That too is evidence of genuine faith: “If we love one another God lives in us…!”

2.         Our text is really the heart of this epistle as John brings together some previous themes.

Here as nowhere else are we taken to the heart of Christian assurance and certainty.

It’s a snippet of John’s letter that begins and ends with those confident words:  We know…!

But now he spells out the most important reasons of all for certainty.
You can have assurance about your relationship with God.
You can know with certainty that God lives in you and that you live in God.
And the reason you can be sure is because we have been given God’s Holy Spirit.
     By this we know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of His Spirit.
John is simply repeating in different words what he said earlier in 3:24.
     “This is how we know he lives in us.  We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Here then is a wonderful basis for Christian certainty.  And we need that.

Because our problem is that we so often look for assurance in the wrong places.

We expect certainty to come to us through an emotional high.
            We see a new Christian bubbles over with the joy of knowing Jesus.  And we?
            We had the faith fed into us with the porridge spoon as kids.  And we envy them.
            We’ve become a little more settled… a little more ‘ho hum’ about our faith.
            If only we had that joyful exuberance… then we might be really certain.

Or we expect certainty only when we are able to do and achieve certain things.
            We see someone openly share their faith at work or with a neighbour.
            And we…?  We struggle to put our faith into words…!
            If only we could talk openly about the Lord… then we might have assurance.

John is showing us that certainty is first of all the result of the Holy Spirit’s work.
It is not us cranking ourselves up into some kind of spiritual fervour.
God’s spirit produces assurance in us… and certainty is impossible apart from the Spirit.
Paul confirms that in Rom.8:16 – it is the work of the Holy Spirit to give us assurance.
            “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirits that we are God’s children.”

3.         But if that’s the case then why isn’t there much more assurance among believers?

Why is there still so much doubt?  And why do you still answer that question with an “I hope so!”

It might even leave you wondering whether you really have the Holy Spirit.

Let me say three things in response.

First, there is definitely a subjective element to this – God’s Spirit works within us.
God’s spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
But we too often don’t allow ourselves to hear that witness of the Spirit within.
            Because we allow so much to drown out the Spirit’s inner witness.
            We’re too busy… too preoccupied with daily affairs… so we miss assurance.

Secondly, some interpret this as the Holy Spirit giving assurance by a special secret formula.
This assurance does not come through what some people call a “second blessing”.
Nor by some mystical knowledge for people especially initiated into deep secrets.
            That was the problem with the very people John was writing to.
            The cult of Gnosticism promised assurance through secret knowledge.

Thirdly, we need instead to link this instead to Pentecost… to the outpouring of God’s Spirit.
He has come to be present in the church and in the life of the believer.
In fact… it is through the Holy Spirit that we relate to God and God to us.
            He personalises the presence of Jesus on our lives.
            It is through the Holy Spirit that we live in God and God in us.

 

B]        BUT GROUNDED IN THE OBJECTIVE REALITIES OF THE GOSPEL.

1.         One of our problems is that we are tempted to find assurance apart from the gospel.

Big mistake..!  That’s not the way to find the certainty and the assurance of our faith.

At this point people have often separated the work of the Spirit from the gospel.

But John will not let us do that.
He gives us two reasons why we can be sure that we live in God and God in us.
The first reason is in vs.13:  “Because he has given us of His Spirit…!”

But that is immediately followed by an “and”… by a second reason for assurance.
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.”
So please don’t separate these two things – they belong together.
We have assurance because of the Holy Spirit… and because of the gospel.

The point is that the Holy Spirit never works alone.
That’s why you may not look for certainty in some mystical Holy Spirit experience.
You are totally on the wrong track if you look for assurance and certainty
            apart from the doing and the dying and the victory of Jesus Christ.

So let’s do justice to both of these things.
Don’t play down the importance of the Holy Spirit in giving you certainty.
There is this subjective element… this internal thing… the Spirit working within us.
And yet the Spirit only gives you assurance by focusing your eyes on Jesus.
By showing you what Jesus has done for you and the new life He has given you.

So my assurance is not grounded in my subjective feelings… or some mystical second blessing.
It is grounded in the objective reality of the gospel.
John gives it to us in a nutshell: “The Father sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.”

2.         It disturbs me that today this very simple and basic gospel message is being lost.

Today we turn the gospel into something that centres on me and not on Jesus.

I see this again and again in publicity blurbs for conferences and seminars and retreats.
All the focus, repeatedly, is on the fact that you can be a better person.
Or that you can learn how to be a more effective Christian.
And all too often Jesus and the gospel don’t even rate a mention in the advertising.

If our focus is wrong then we will also look for our assurance in the wrong place.
We will look for it in our own effectiveness, or measure it by our self-improvement.

The gospel is not about us… it about the Father sending the Son.

The gospel is not about self-improvement… it is about deliverance… about salvation.

The gospel is not about my effectiveness… it is God’s rescue mission of a lost world.

And it is on the grounds of that gospel that we know that we live in God and God in us.

John is very strong on this centrality of the gospel… focusing on Jesus and His saving work.
He tell us that this gospel is based on objective facts… on the testimony of witnesses.
John says: “We have seen and testify…!”
IOW the gospel is based on evidence that can stand up in a court of law.
And John’s readers, who were tempted by false gospels, needed to understand that.

Getting the gospel wrong robs us of our assurance… or leads to false assurance.
So John highlights those things which he had seen and heard.
            He, as an apostle, was an eye-witness of the saving work of Jesus.
            And we know that this was confirmed by as many as 500 witnesses.
            And what’s more… these people backed up their witness with their lives.
            So we have an authentic and credible gospel on which to base our faith.

3.         It’s amazing how much John squeezes into these simple but profound words.

Verse 13 contains a great deal of teaching.
There’s enough there to keep a theology class busy for a number of lessons.
Which goes to shows that theology doesn’t have to be complicated.

For example: The doctrine of the Trinity is set out before us.
            The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all mentioned.
            Each person of the Trinity is given His special place and role.
God the Father’s initiative in our salvation is spelled out.
            Jesus didn’t take it on Himself to rescue a lost humanity.
            No, the Father planned it all… He sent the Son and commissioned Him.
The Son’s commission is laid out for us as being a rescue mission.
            It was not just to come and be an example for us…. but to be our Saviour.
            It wasn’t to make us better people than we already are… but to rescue us.
And even the extent of that saving work is included.
            It wasn’t just to snatch a few souls out of the fires of hell.
            The scope of God’s saving work was the world… this whole cosmos.

But wonderful as all that is – it is not primarily John’s purpose to give us theology lessons.
You will miss the point if you don’t see all this in context of Christian assurance.
John mentions this to tell us how we know that we live in God and God in us.
How do you know for sure that you have that sort of intimate relationship with God?

Because the gospel that John witnessed to is real.
God has taken the initiative and saved us from eternal death through His Son.
Jesus did come into the world and die to give us new life.
            And because of that God now lives in us and we in God.
            How do we know that?  Because the gospel is true.
            And that’s why I can sing, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

 

C]        BUT THESE REALITIES NEED TO BE APPROPRIATED BY FAITH.

1.         But that still leaves us with one other question… because obviously not everyone is saved.

So how come we can be so confident and certain.
Okay… the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
But Jesus also taught us about five foolish maidens that were locked out.
And there were the goats at Jesus’ left hand who were thrown into outer darkness.

So who knows… maybe I might still end up with those foolish young ladies.
Or maybe I’m destined to belong with the goats.
What gives me the right to say that if I die tonight I will go to heaven?

The answer is of course that this gospel has been personalised in our lives.
It is not only an objective – out there – event.
It is not just something that took place in a remote past that John saw and testified to.

That gospel has impacted us… we have owned it… we appropriated it.
We did that as we confessed or (or NIV) acknowledged that Jesus is the Son of God.
We too added our witness… we agreed with John.
We confessed that the human Jesus is the divine Messiah… the Son of God.

Three times in this chapter John talks about confessing who Jesus is.
That is important because it is by confessing that we own the gospel.
Paul says that if we believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths we will be saved.

2.         Faith and confession of Jesus are vital.

They are the way the gospel is applied to our lives.

And yet… that’s just where our doubts so often begin.
My faith isn’t all that strong… what if my faith isn’t good enough?
And my confession of Jesus leaves a lot to be desired… where does that leave me?

Please notice that John does not mention these things merely as conditions.
Although – of course – there is a sense in which they are conditions.
Elsewhere in this letter John doesn’t beat around the bush about that.
            Anyone who does not confess that Jesus is the Christ is not of God (4:3).
            Anyone who does not believe makes God out to be a liar (5:10).
            So you do need to belief, and you must confess Jesus in order to be saved.

But the point is that John offers these very things as evidence… as proof for our assurance.
Our text does not say:
            By this do we live in Him and He in us….!
No!      “By this we know that we live in Him and He in us….!”
So having the Spirit and believing and confessing the gospel
            prove to us… reassure us that we live in Him and He in us.

Let me put it to you another way:
I can look at my faith and my confession of Jesus as conditions that I have to meet.
And the Bible certainly says that only by faith and confession will I be saved.
But if I focus on those as conditions I’ll always wonder whether I’ve done it well enough.

John rather sees these things of evidence… proof that God lives in us.
These are the tests – the fruit of a life that is lived in relationship to God.
The Gospel and the Holy Spirit have produced in me faith and obedience.
And whatever faith and confession I now see in my life
            that is evidence that I now live in Him and He in me.  Wonderful certainty!

3.         In some ways the heart of all this certainty is found in the promise of vs.15.

There John spells out loud and clear a “five star” promise of God.

And if you have any doubt about your standing with God keep reading that verse till it sinks in:
“Anyone who confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God.”

Do you confess that Jesus is the Son of God…?
Then don’t doubt your eternal salvation.
Here is the promise.  God has said it, why then should you doubt it?

That promise reinforces everything else that John has said.
So that once more John can say with confidence and conviction: We know…!
And so “we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

Here John goes back to a major theme he was dealing with before our text: God is love!
John argued that the Gospel demonstrates the immensity of God’s love.
God’s great love is seen in the sending of Jesus to be a sin offering for us.
And this chapter is full of that wonderful love of God demonstrated in the gospel.

Isn’t it sad then that we still so often doubt whether this love of God is really also for us?
You don’t need to doubt that.
Because if you confess Jesus as Lord you know you have the Holy Spirit.
And you know that the Father has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.
And so if you confess Jesus you too can say with absolute conviction:
            It is well… it is well with my soul!

Amen