Knowing, Being, Doing

Text: 1 John 5:13-21                                                                                        

Proposition: Knowing Jesus and knowing who you are in Jesus is where the confident life of prayer in God’s will is developed.                                            

Introduction: I heard a story about a young Mom who had a seven old son who wore a cape everywhere they went. She said one day they went into a Home Depot store and he wore his cape, yellow rubber kitchen sink gloves and a pair of swim goggles. Despite the looks and the obvious comments this little guy never once doubted that this was what he should wear as his version of being a super hero. How important is it to be confident in not only what you do but in who you are? Research seems to indicate that about 55% of women and 35% of men struggle with feelings of inadequacy or a lack of self-confidence. I think those figures are probably on the low side but what seems to be evident is that to be confident is founded upon an understanding of who you are and what you can therefore do. Knowing then being then doing… that seems to be the order and nowhere is that more necessary than in our relationship with God. Neil Andersen once put it like this, “It’s not what you do that determines who you are, it’s who you are that determines what you do.” In the passage this morning John uses the perfect tense verb (an action viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated)‘know’, seven times in nine verses to direct what we believe which in turn directs what we do. So what is it that we know that generates such a confident approach to our relationship with God and with each other? Have a look at 1 John 5: 13-21.                                                                                            

I. Know That You Have Eternal Life, It’s the Starting Point.                                         

In verse 13 John says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” So for John knowing that you have eternal life isn’t just a belief that there’s life after death or that there is a heaven and I will enter into it. He says that everything stated so far was so that their assurance of faith in Jesus name would enable them to continue to persevere in the trials to come. To overcome the world, to keep His commandments, to defeat fear, to love others as Jesus loves, to be able to recognize sin and have the courage and obedience to agree with God about it, to be able to do all this and more because you know Jesus and you believe in Who He says He is, that’s what he has written so far. It seems that in these qualifiers eternal life is more about the here and now than the future to come. It’s about something that you now have that has changed who you are. Eternal life would be like the credentials of an ambassador, they authenticate his real citizenship, they confirm that he belongs to another place, that he is on assignment, they are the credentials of authority. Know that you have those credentials because of your belief in His name, He has given you His authority in heaven and on earth and He has sent you to this place. Know that you have eternal life. So if the maxim, ‘Knowing then being then doing’, holds true what does John say I should therefor do?                                                                                            

II. Know That He Hears Us and Know That We Have What We Asked For. Check out verses 14 and 15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” The second sentence is conditional upon the first, but both are governed by the verb ‘know’. In the preceding verse John had urged them to have an assurance or confidence of faith in Christ and that they would persevere and this is what that confidence would look like… they pray, they speak to Jesus, they speak to the Father and they ask for what is needed. If there is a Bible verse in Scripture that is least obeyed because it is least believed, I’d say it’s this one. It’s least believed because we have asked and nothing seemed to happen. Think of it like this, if you went into the grocery store with your list of things you needed for the coming month and the first thing on your list is brown eggs. You get to the place where they should be and there’s none there. Do you just turn around and leave the store? No, there’s more than one thing that you need, you continue on to the other things you need. So let the word ‘anything’ nudge you forward, keep asking for the other things. Then there is that awkward phrase, “if we ask anything according to His will”. How can I know if what I’m asking is in in His will? The key comes from something Jesus once taught the disciples in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” To rest in or walk with Jesus in such a way that His desires are my desires, that’s what abide means. And I also have to let His words abide in me. Know that He hears you, know that you can and should ask anything according to His will and lastly know that you have the petitions you have asked of Him. He has answered so look for and expect the answer whether it be a Yes, No or Not now. Knowing, being, doing.                                                                                                     

III. Know That Whoever Is Born of God Does Not Sin.                                                 

In verse 18 he says, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” The word ‘sin’ is present tense which implies habit, continuity, unbroken sequence. So we know that habitual sin can be overcome because of Christ in us. The admonition is same for all, if we are born again we need to keep ourselves, discipline, guard, deny, manage ourselves and this is now doable because the wicked one, meaning the devil, cannot touch us. So know that the power of Christ in you is absolute in terms of sins corrosive effects. Know that the enemy of your soul is subject to Christ and since Christ is now in you he is subject to you in Christ. He cannot touch you without going past Christ first. So know there is freedom in Christ from sin and know that the love of Christ for you is your guard against the fear of failing or temptation which are the schemes of the evil one.                                                                

IV. Know That You Won’t Fit Into the Worlds Ways.                                                      

In verse 19 John says, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” The idea here is that the world lies not just under the influence of spiritual forces of evil but that it is under the authority or control of those forces too. So when you see the world careening down a path that makes no sense and you know it may be in part the actions of sinful men, it may even be in part the manipulations of conspiring forces but ultimately it is the world lying under the sway of the wicked one. Why is that a good thing to know? Well it tells us that there are things that I won’t fit into and that’s okay. It also tells me that the world is not my enemy, the wicked one is. They do what they don’t even know why they do. It’s like that phrase in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” You know that and you believe that you are of God, born of Him, in Him and so do the work of being salt and light in a world under the sway of the evil one. Knowing, being, doing.                                                                                       

V. Know That The Son of God Has Come That We Would Understand Truth.        

So in verse 20 John writes, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may 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.” The word ‘true’ literally means ‘that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true, genuine.’ This is the real deal, this is truth. There is only one Jesus, there is only one God in whom we are by faith. There is only one eternal life and the only one way to get there is through the door of Jesus Christ and His blood shed for us on the cross. You know that, so you invest in it with a belief that holds it alone as true and then you do something. That something is how John closes this book in verse 21. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” Don’t get sucked in, don’t let yourself be overwhelmed, don’t give up, keep yourself from idols. Know, believe, do.