WE KNOW! (OVERCOMING UNCERTAINTY)
Scott R. Bayles, preacher
First Christian Church, Rosiclare, Illinois
The famous preacher and founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, once said, “When I was young I was sure of everything. But after a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before. And at present, I am hardly sure of anything except what God has revealed to me” (Newland).
I think most of us can sympathize with Mr. Wesley. We just live in a world of uncertainty filled with unclear messages. Of course, the undisputed champion of muddled messages is Hall of Fame-er and former manager of the New York Yankees, Yogi Berra. Just a few of his better known “yogi-isms” include statements such as:
• Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.
• Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.
• You gotta be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.
• You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.
• When you come to a fork in the road, take it!
Sometimes the things people say are rather confusing, aren’t they? On the other hand, our confusion doesn’t always stem from what others are saying; sometimes we become confused because we just don’t quite communicate clearly.
The story is told of a photographer for a national magazine who was assigned to get photos of a big forest fire. Wanting to take some aerial pictures, he asked his home office to hire a plane. They made the arrangements and told him to go to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting for him.
When he arrived at the airport, there was a plane warming up by the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they were soon in the air. “Fly over the north side of the fire,” yelled the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.”
“Why?” asked the pilot.
“Because I’m going to take pictures,” cried the photographer. “I’m a photographer and that’s what photographers do!”
After a pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the flight instructor?”
Like I said, we live in a confusing world. At a time when TV screens are filled with competing political advertisements, disagreements about foreign policy, and all kinds of news reports based on false information, we wonder: “Just what do we know for sure?” Well, in a world of confusion and uncertainty, the Apostle John writes to us about some things that we can know for sure. Let me read 1 John 5:13-21 for you and, as I do, try to count how many times John says “we know.”
I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for… We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. (1 John 5:13-21 NLT)
What a passage! In this world of confusion and false information—when scientists are constantly changing there theories and politicians change there stances—John assures us that there are some things that we can know for certain. There are some truths that cannot be denied and will never change; some things of which we can be sure. He mentions five certainties in these nine verses. First, we can be certain about our promise.
• OUR PROMISE
John begins by saying, “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 NLT).
As believer in Jesus Christ, we can know that we have the promise of eternal life. God has gone on record in His Word as offering eternal life to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. This is God’s promise, and we can count on God’s promises. Listen to just a few of the verses in the Bible that assure us of eternal life: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36); “Truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life” (John 5:24); “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40); “Truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47); and “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Eternal life is a gift; it’s not something that we earn. But this gift is a Person—Jesus Christ. We receive eternal life not only from Christ, but in Christ. “He who has the Son has the life” (1 John 5:12). Christians need never worry nor be confused on this issue. If you are in Christ—if you are a child of God—then you can say with confidence that you know you have eternal life.
When Sir James Simpson, the man who discovered chloroform, was on his deathbed, a friend asked him, “Sir, what are your speculations?”
Simpson replied: “Speculations!? I have no speculations! ‘For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.’”
In times of confusion, in times of loss, in times of desperation, the first truth of which we can be certain is God’s promise of eternal life. John goes on to tell us that we can also be certain about our prayers.
• OUR PRAYERS
In the next verse John says, “We know that [God] listens to our requests. So we know that we already have what we ask him for” (1 John 5:15 GWT).
It is one thing to know that we have eternal life in heaven through Jesus Christ; but what about the needs and problems of daily life? Well, that’s where prayer comes in. The second truth of which we can be sure is that God hears and answers our prayers.
Now, in my experience, I don’t always get what I ask for. Do you? As far as I can tell, there are four different answers that God will give concerning our prayers. First, sometimes God’s answer is direct. Sometimes I get exactly what I ask for. Earlier this month I asked God for a little encouragement, a little reminder that He was with me and I was on the right track. I asked that He would give us 50 people on Easter Sunday. I prayed about it three times. When Easter rolled around, he gave us 65. That was a direct answer—a resounding yes!
Sometimes, however, God’s answers are delayed. Sometimes you pray for something and it doesn’t happen right away; it’s delayed. Maybe you start to wonder if God was listening. But then, later on down the road, you get your answer.
At other times God’s answers are different; you ask God for one thing and He gives you something else. It may have to do with a career, or move, or a relationship. Sometimes we’re taken by surprise when we get something completely different.
Finally, on occasion, our requests are denied altogether. Sometimes you ask God for something and God’s answer is no. Paul asked three times to have his “thorn in the flesh” removed; God’s answer was no. Sometimes He tells us no as well.
So how can John say we know that God hears us and gives us our requests? What is John’s formula for prayer that moves the hands of God? John was very specific—only “if we ask anything according to His will... we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” Pray in line with His will and you can pray with confidence! Do you know why Jesus always got His prayers answered? He always desired the will of God. Prayer is not about getting my will done in heaven, it’s getting God’s will done on earth. God always says yes when our requests are in line with His desires. To pray effectively, then, we need to determine God’s will. And what is that? Consider this: most of God’s will is already found in the pages of Scripture! If God has commanded a certain attitude or action, we can be confident that is how God wants us to live. So turn the commands of God’s Word into requests. Make the prayers found in God’s Word your own. Pray God’s promises back to him. By using the Scripture as the basis for your prayer life, you’ll be sure to pray in a way that honors God and then you can know that His answer will be yes!
The third reality that we can know for sure is our protection.
• OUR PROTECTION
John goes on to say, “We know that those who have been born from God don’t go on sinning. Rather, the Son of God protects them, and the evil one can’t harm them” (1 John 5:18 GWT).
In order to understand this verse, it’s important to know what kind of sin John’s talking about here. In the previous verses John says, “If anyone sees a brother or sister sinning (sin that does not lead to eternal death), that person should pray, and God will give the sinner life. I am talking about people whose sin does not lead to eternal death… Doing wrong is always sin, but there is sin that does not lead to eternal death” (1 John 5:16-17 NCV).
You see, Christians still sin. We fall short just like everybody else. But we have something the rest of the world doesn’t. We have Jesus. Jesus protects us from Satan and from ourselves, keeping us from that dark path the leads to eternal death.
That does not mean, however, that Christians will never sin or be tempted to sin. Satan is constantly lurking around the corner “looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan has many devices for leading a believer into sin. He tells lies, as he did to Eve, and when people believe his lies they turn away from and disobey God’s truth. Or, Satan may inflict physical suffering, as he did with Job and Paul. In David’s case, Satan used pride as his weapon and urged David to take a census in defiance of God. Satan is like a serpent that deceives and a lion that devours. He’s a formidable enemy.
But Satan is still no match for Jesus. The Son of God has your back. He’s looking out for you—keeping you out of trouble and safe from Satan’s attacks. Something we learn from the examples of Job (Job 1) and Peter (Luke 22:31) is that Satan cannot touch you without God’s permission.
Whenever Satan attacks us, we can be sure that God gave him permission. And if God gave him permission, He will also give us power to overcome, because God will never permit us to be tested beyond our strength. The Bible says, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 NASB). The assurance of God’s protection is the guarantee of ultimate victory! Next, John tells us that we can be sure of our position.
• OUR POSITION
John says, “We know that we are children of God…” (1 John 5:19 NLT). Have you ever pondered the significance of being a child of God? You hold a precious position, a priceless place, in God’s eternal family. Isn’t that incredible? God wants a family, and He created you to be a part of it!
The entire Bible is the story of God building a family who will love Him, honor Him, and reign with Him forever. The Bible says, “Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him” (Ephesians 1:5 NCV).
When we place our faith in Jesus, God becomes our Father, we become His children, other believers become our brothers and sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family. Christians aren’t just called to believe, we’re also called to belong. Every human being was created by God, but not everyone is a child of God. That’s a special position held only by believers. The only way to get into God’s family is by being born again into it—which is signified in your baptism. You became a part of your human family by your first birth; you become a part of God’s family by your second birth.
In truth, your spiritual family is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever. Our families on earth are wonderful gifts from God, but they’re temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old, and inevitably, by death. On the other hand, our spiritual family—our relationships with other believers—will continue throughout eternity. The family of God includes all believers in the past, the present and the future.
Moreover, the moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some astounding birthday presents: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, intimate family love and acceptance, and the family inheritance! The Bible says, “And since you are his child, God has made you his heir” (Galatians 4:7 NLT). In other words, everything He has belongs to you!
“We know that we are children of God.” That’s a truth worth clinging to. Finally, John gives us the last truth of which we can be convinced—our Prince.
• OUR PRINCE
John closes his letter with these words: “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we know the real God. We are in the one who is real, his Son Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ is the real God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20 GWT).
What an awesome message! We know that Jesus is the one true God and through Him we can know the real God. In other words, Jesus is the real thing!
John was probably writing to a church in the city of Ephesus, a city given over to the worship of idols. The temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located in Ephesus, and the making and selling of idols was one of the chief occupations of the people there. Surrounded by idolatry, Christians there were under tremendous pressure to conform.
Of course, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God” (1 Corinthians 8:4 TEV). The tragedy of idolatry is that a lifeless image can do a worshipper no good, because it is not real—it’s not genuine. Hebrew writers in the Old Testament called idols “nothings, vain things, vapors, emptiness.” An idol itself is a lifeless, useless substitute for the real thing. Although few people in the world today bow to idols of wood and metal, there is no shortage of lesser gods clamoring for our affection and attention. Greed, for example, is no different from idolatry. A man can worship his bankbook or his stock portfolio just as fervently as an uncultured heathen worships his misshapen idol. Likewise, the gods of false religions are just as lifeless as the golden calf carved by Aaron so many millennia ago.
But we can be certain that our fellowship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ, is genuine. The word true or real means “the original as opposed to a copy” and “the authentic as opposed to an imitation.” (Wiersbe 531). Jesus is the true light, and true Bread, and true Vine, and Truth itself. He is the original; everything else is a copy. He is authentic; everything else is only an imitation. The Bible calls Him “the Prince of life” (Acts 3:15) and we can know for certain that He is the real thing,
Conclusion:
Like John Wesley, having been mistaken a thousand times, I’m not nearly as confident and sure of most things as I was before. But here are some truths that have stood the test of time and that we can know beyond any doubt: our promise, our prayers, our protection, our position, and our Prince.
Invitation:
Tony Campolo recalled a deeply moving incident that happened during Jr. High week at a Christian camp. Even though this was a Christian camp, many of the campers were not and many who were did not act like it. They treated another one of the campers, a boy with spastic paralysis, with heartless ridicule. Whenever he would ask a question, the boys would deliberately answer in a halting, mimicking way.
One night his cabin group chose him to lead the evening devotional before the entire camp. It was one more effort on their part to have some fun at his expense. Unabashedly, the boy stood up, and in his strained, slurred manner—each word coming with enormous effort—he said simply, “I know Jesus loves me, and I love Jesus!”
That was all he said, but no one laughed—there was absolute silence, broken only by the sound of some of the boys beginning to cry. Something wonderful happened in the hearts of the campers that week, and it was all because of his simple testimony, “I know Jesus loves me, and I love Jesus.”
Is Jesus your Savior today? Can you say with certainty, “I know that Jesus loves me, and I love Jesus”? If that’s not yet true for you this morning, then we extent the invitation of Jesus Himself. He stands ready to receive you, to welcome you, to enfold you in His arms as a shepherd would his sheep, to forgive you of all your sins.
If you are ready to come to Jesus, then please do so now as we stand and sing.
