Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, Amen and Amen. So it is a awesome morning at peace, as you've already heard. And I'm just going to add one little personal special detail to the, to the morning that makes it extra sweet.

Just for me individually is, uh, today actually is my 10 year anniversary of being a pastor at Peace Church. It's been, thank you. It was 10 years ago this weekend that I started at Peace Church as the family pastor that over time grew into the executive pastor and then for the last two and a half years I've been blessed to be the lead pastor at Peace. It's been amazing to reflect on these last 10 years.

That first Sunday that I preached for Peace Church, that 4th of July weekend in 2013, I did some investigating on our numbers and our total attendance on that Sunday, 10 years ago, is how many children we have every Sunday morning now, which is just amazing.

And before I came to Peace, I was a youth pastor for seven years at another great church. And over my nearly 20 years being a pastor, what is very interesting to me is I reflected on my time, and there's been one question that I've been asked from Christians to their pastor. There's been one question that's risen above all the others that I've gotten the most.

And it's this question. I wonder if you could guess it. The question I get the most is this. How do I know that I'm saved? Here's what they're asking. How can I have assurance in my faith?

And I will be very transparent with you. That question breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that people who believe in the gospel could come to a point where they would question whether or not they are saved. I want people to know the promise and the guarantee that they have in their faith.

I'm here to tell you this morning, the reason that you can have assurance in your salvation and confidence in your faith is not because of your faithfulness, it's because of Jesus' faithfulness to us. That's how you can have confidence and assurance in your faith and in your salvation. So this morning, we're going to be talking

about those two things. We're going to be talking about Christ and confidence. Would you please turn in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5. If you're using the Bibles we've provided, please do so. That's on page 1304. And as you're turning there, just a little context about what's going on here at Peace Church. We are in the midst of a sermon series called Final Words. As we're looking at the last three letters that John wrote, and to clarify, not John

the Baptist, we're talking about John the Apostle, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, and in all likelihood, the youngest of all the disciples, of the original twelve disciples of Jesus. He's now the only one left. He's an old man now and he writes these three letters and we're looking at these three letters

for the sermon series. And today we're gonna close up looking at his first letter. So we're gonna jump to the very end of that first letter he wrote, 1 John. We're gonna start at verse, we're going to start at verse 13

and just read to the end of the chapter. So again, like think for a moment. Engage your brains for a second here. This man walked and talked with our Lord and Savior. John was the last one alive. John was the only one there at Jesus' crucifixion.

And this kid brother of the faith is now the father figure of the church. He's the only one left. He writes this seemingly open letter to the Christians back then, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it's written to us here and now. And listen to how this giant of the faith ends his first letter. We'll read 1 John chapter 5, start at verse 13 and just go to the end of the chapter.

With that, would you hear the word of the Lord? John writes and he says this. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that 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. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask God and God will give him life

to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is a sin that does not lead to death. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. This is God's Word. Let's pray and we'll get after it. Let's pray. Father God in heaven, Lord on this 4th of July weekend, we who are Americans, we celebrate our freedom and we are thankful for it, Lord. But for those of us who know your Son,

we know that our freedom is eternal. And so, Lord, I pray that for those who can hear my voice, I pray that they'll come to know the voice of the Lord, that they may know and trust in Jesus for not just temporal freedom, but eternal freedom and eternal life.

Holy Spirit, would you please open our hearts and minds today to receive your truth, that we would be transformed by it. And we pray these things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And everyone said very loudly.

Amen. Amen.

Amen. So Peace Church, if there was a message that I'd want to give you here on a morning that's special to me, I think this would actually be it. Talking about Jesus and confidence. So here's the main point I'd leave for you this morning.

If you just take away one thing, here it is. Of all the many things our faith gives us, it gives us confidence. That's our main point this morning. If you are in the faith, please hear and be reminded of this. And if you're not a Christian, number one, I'm so thankful you're here, but if you're not a Christian, would you listen this morning to hear what you are missing out on? In a world of confusion and corruption, Christians have Christ and we have confidence. So as we look at this passage today, I want to warn you, it's kind of a tricky passage,

but here's going to be a path through it this morning. Of all the many things our faith gives us, it gives us confidence. Confidence in our salvation given from God, confidence in our prayers to God, and confidence in our relationship with God. I don't know about you, but I like to listen to sermons throughout the week. Anyone else listen to podcasts, listen to sermons throughout the week?

So I do. And I can tell you, sometimes when I listen to other pastors, not the pastors of Peace Church, other pastors out there in the world, sometimes they tell stories, and I'll be honest with you, I kind of roll my eyes sometimes.

Because sometimes when pastors tell stories, it sounds like a story that only a pastor could tell. Like it sounds like a story only a pastor would live. Like normal people don't do those sort of things. And so I'm going to tell you a story this morning that unfortunately sounds like it would come from a pastor.

So here's how it starts. So I was debating this Muslim this one time on the streets of London. True story. True story. Actually it was on a trip that, it was a number of years ago, and actually we have a number of youth who are on that very same trip right now, over in London, if you are, if you know

what I'm talking about. They landed safely this morning after some delays, but they're on the ground. And what it is, it's an evangelism training and a worldview development trip. So you go to London, in many ways it's kind of like the capital of the world. So many religions and cultures are in London.

And they're studying how to evangelize, and they're studying other religions and other worldviews. It's great. So they study in the morning, then they go out and practice in the afternoon. And I was on this trip a number of years ago, and I found myself engaging in a robust, but a kind-hearted, a robust debate with a Muslim man. And the topic turned to the nature of salvation.

And I basically asked him, how do you know that you're saved? And he said, I know, I believe that I'm saved because I trust in the mercy of Allah. And he basically told me that when he dies, that Allah or Allah will look at the good life that he's lived and then Allah will be merciful to him and grant him everlasting paradise. So I said to him, well, so it sounds to me like that it's partly you're saying that it's your God's mercy but it sure seems like a lot hangs on you living a very good life I said do you think that you're that good of a person and he basically said well I try

to be and I said to him this is the difference this is the difference between your religion and mine this is the difference between your God and my God you ultimately put your hope and being rewarded by your good works But you won't really know until you stand before your God but I I Do I put no trust in myself?

My salvation does not come from from me being a good life or God being merciful to me because I've been a good person My salvation comes from God's grace because I will never be good enough to inherit heaven. And I think if you all here truly examine and look at the mirror of your soul, I think we all know in our heart of hearts, we do not deserve heaven. I said, you know, this whole notion of getting what we don't deserve, this is called grace. And I'm telling you, the grace of Yahweh is better than the mercy of Allah. That is what we have in Jesus. See, this is what makes Christianity

different from every other religion. We contribute nothing to what saves us. And oddly enough, that is the very thing that gives us confidence in our salvation. I am telling you, the second you add me to the equation of my salvation, that's when I start to lose hope. You take me out of the equation and you say, this is completely the work of God,

I have a lot of confidence in that. This is the great difference between Christianity and every other world religion. In its basic sum form, every other religion basically says live a good life and maybe you'll get to heaven.

Christianity says, we know you can't. That's why Jesus came and did it for you. This is the great difference between Christianity and every other religion.

Church, I've said it before, I'll say it again.

The second you add me to the necessity of my salvation, that's when I lose hope. But when you place it squarely at the foot of Jesus, that's when I have the utmost confidence in my salvation. Look what John writes. If you question your salvation like so many people have come to me and questioned theirs, I want you

to hold on to this verse. 1st John 5 13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. That you may know. Not so that you may question, not so that you may wonder, not so that you may doubt, not that you may worry or wonder if you're gonna pass the test when you stand before God,

that you may know that you have eternal life. But you may know that you have eternal life if you believe in the name of Jesus. Not acknowledge the name, not respect the name, not acknowledge its prominent place in history, but if you believe in the name of the Son of God, Jesus,

if you believe in the name of the Son of God, Jesus, may you know you have eternal life, because it's what Christ has done for you, not what you do for Him. I'm sure most of you would probably know the lyrics to this old song.

I'll read the first couple lines, see if you can finish the last line. It says this, air of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. Washed in his blood. Like if you grew up singing that song, you'd probably forget how, like, utterly grotesque that may sound to someone who has no idea what you're talking about. Washed in His blood.

Spiritually speaking, yes, the blood of Jesus washes us and makes us new. What's the name of that song? Anybody know? Blessed Assurance. Foreshadow the closing song. Blessed Assurance.

assurance. Because that's what we have in our Savior. That's what Christianity has that no other religion can offer you. Blessed assurance in your salvation. Welcome to Jesus. It's because of Him that we have confidence. It's because of Him that we have assurance. It's because of Him that we have salvation. No matter where or how the world actually goes, goes for Christians we know it ultimately turns out all right. Of the many things our faith gives us it gives us confidence in our prayers to God is

the second thing. Confidence in our prayers to God. Before we get into this I wonder for those of you who are married in the house for those of you who are online watching for those of you who are married here's the question I have for you. How often do you have real, rich, deep, faith-filled conversations with your spouse? How often do you have real, rich, deep, faith-filled conversations with your spouse.

And here's, I said it, I'll say it again, not here to shame anyone, I've got a young family, I get it, life is busy. But, but, here's what I'd say to you. The depth of our relationships is intimately tied to the depth of our communication.

Same goes for marriages, and the same goes for our faith. The depth of our faith is in so many ways intimately tied to the depth of our prayer life. And of the many things that our faith gives us, it gives us confidence in our prayers to God that by the blood of Jesus, we have access to God,

that through the name of Jesus, we know that our prayers are lifted to God's heavenly throne room. Look at verses 14 and 15. I'm gonna tell you these next couple verses they get kind of tricky So stay with me We'll have it on the screen

But it's best if you have an open in your Bible in front of you verse 14 Says and this is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him I get that's a little tricky here. So let's let's try to play it out for a second here again these two verses the next two Stay with me For verses 14 and 15 that we have here before us the point that John is trying to make is that through our faith as?

We become more Christlike as we grow more into the image of Jesus We'll be more and more Conforming to the image of God's will the more that our lives will conform and that we will seek to have our lives conform to God's image and to God's will and our prayers will reflect this. I love what John Stott says about this passage here. I'll have a put up on the screen. I love this quote. Says prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God, but bending his or bending his will to ours. But

prayer is but the prescribed way of subordinating our will to his. It is by prayer that we seek God's will, embrace it, and align ourselves with it. Every true prayer is a variation on the theme, thy will be done. Meaning, our faith, if we are growing in our faith,

it will lead us into a deeper prayer life, and if we enter a deeper prayer life, we'll see our faith grow. And prayer is communication with God, not a God who is distant, not a God who doesn't have time for you,

but a God who is present, who gave his very self for you.

And he hears us.

He hears us when we approach him in faith in the name of his son. John is calling us to a deeper prayer, a deeper prayer life where we walk with God and we learn to trust Him all the more. But then he takes this notion of prayer and he addresses something that is, he takes this notion of prayer and he addresses something that is, in all honesty, really confusing. And we don't have time to fully flesh it out

because, well that would take centuries, because for centuries theologians have been trying to discern exactly what john's getting at here so let's look at these next two verses here versus 16 and 17 among the most confusing verses in all scripture I think he says this if anyone sees his brother committing a sin

not leading to death he shall ask and God will give him life to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is a sin that does not lead to death.

Okay, again, like we don't have time to sort this all out because theologians have been trying to sort it out for centuries. So let me just point out a couple of things about this section here that I think is important for us. First thing, remember, this is a letter, while inspired by the Holy Spirit,

this is a letter that a man wrote to fellow believers. And it feels very real because of that. So, it's quite possible that John is using known phrasing for the time that he was living, maybe a sort of like insider language that we've maybe lost over time.

But again, this shows us that it's a real letter written by a real man to a real audience. And while we don't know exactly what he means, it's an all likelihood, maybe the original audience did. So here's what we can do. We can take some general implications from these two verses and apply it to our lives. If you want to talk about some of the specific debates about people's assumptions and guesses

and study about what John means, we can talk about that later. But for for right now, let's just take some general implications and apply it to our lives. First one is this, sin is serious business. While we don't contribute anything to our salvation, I think what the wrong thing people do is,

they think, well, then I guess it doesn't matter if I sin, because Jesus saves me anyway. And John's basically saying, real Christians don't talk like that. So number one, sin is serious business. But the other thing that we see is we see the power of prayer highlighted here. The power of prayer among Christians praying for

each other. And this ties into a larger idea about how faith gives us confidence in our prayers. The moral of the story I think here is this, that if you see a fellow Christian You do not gossip about it. If you see another Christian in sin, start with prayer. Why? Because of our faith in Christ,

we can have confidence in our prayers, which leads to the last notion here, confidence in our relationship with God. Please hear me on this. Confidence in our relationship with God.

Church, I want you to hear from me,

like this, this is what I missed out on for so long. I grew up in a sense going to church

and I went to Sunday school as a little guy

and I learned my Bible stories, but I can tell you this, I was never told or taught about a relationship with God. In fact, when I first heard that language as a teenager, that just, it didn't compute to me. Like, God, that being that's like way out in heaven

or somewhere, like have a relationship with him? What does that even mean? This is what I missed out on for so many years. Christ has come to reconcile us to God. So follow me on this. See, sin, sin, all the wrongdoing we do in our lives, sin has destroyed our relationship

with God. But one of the things that Jesus came to do is he came to restore what sin has destroyed. And so John, again, who walked with Jesus, who knew the texture of Jesus' hair, John who walked with Jesus, who stood by Him as Jesus was crucified. John says this amazing thing in verse 18. He says, we know that everyone who has been born of God, speaking about Christians, I

want to clarify some things on the screen here for you. We know that everyone who has been born of God, meaning Christians, we do not keep on sinning. But He who was born of God, meaning Christ, talking about the incarnation when Jesus was born on earth, but He who was born of God protects Him, meaning Christians. And the evil one, Satan, does not touch Him. Let's unpack that for a second here. But before we do, I think it was last week, last week I was interviewed by a woman from Nashville, Tennessee, who works for a Christian magazine called Outreach Magazine.

She called me to tell me something pretty cool. That among the 100 fastest growing churches. Isn't that crazy? And so she was writing some articles on these churches, and so she called me and she wanted to know, like, why? And, of course, it is all God. 100% God from top to bottom and she was very kind and she was like yes, yes, yes, but what are you doing?

and I just said, you know, I Can't tell you anything. I can't tell you anything fantastic. I can't tell you anything sexy I can't tell you anything that's gonna like make a newsworthy article. We just try to preach the Bible and be a good church We want to love our neighbor and we want to glorify God and we want to reach out, we want to know the truth, we want to proclaim the truth, and that's really who we are, and people keep coming.

And she was like, okay, but what are you doing? And I was like, okay, I thought really hard, and here's what I said. I said, okay, I think I can give you something that's maybe a distinctive, maybe. We'll see how, we'll see. I said, here's what I can tell you. This is one thing that constantly amazes me about Peace Church. I said, as the lead pastor of this church, I said, what's odd to me is that I cannot challenge this church enough. And not me, but, but scripture, like scripturally speaking,

like I cannot bring a hard enough challenge to this congregation that they just don't rise to the challenge of, but they go on to exceed it. I said, every time I laid down a hard challenge, a challenge that I think would actually like prune the church, like a challenge that I think would like

turn people off and make them like never wanna come back here, like every time I bring one of those messages, we grow by like 150 people the next week. I'm like, I don't get it, but I do get it. Because this is what I've come to understand. Our world is sick of the fluff.

Our world is looking for something true and eternal and something that transcends what's going on in our wacky world. I said, our church wants to know the truth and they want to apply it to their lives and they're doing it.

Like we just said, this is a side note here, like we just told you, we just did our year end, we just closed up our fiscal year 20% ahead of the budget and when we like approved this budget, it was enormous step of faith for us. And it's like church just continues to give

and give and give. And I'm telling you right now, it's not because it's funding me or Pastor John's man cave, okay? I don't have one. It's called the furnace room in my basement. True story. But this church loves the Lord and they love to see a church equipped. We were able to purchase that house without even dipping into our reserves. And we continue to give to our missionaries and we continue to great ministry and this

church just continues to do amazing, amazing things. And that's just financially speaking. I'm hearing constant testimonies of you reaching out with the faith and sharing the gospel with nonbelievers. And that pumps me up. I'm seeing I'm meeting new people every single time that you have been reaching out to and

sharing the gospel with. And it just seems like I cannot lay down a hard enough challenge that this church just doesn't, it's like you're thirsty for it. Because we're sick of the fluff and we want something real. So if you want a challenge, John lays down a really good one right here. He says, we know that everyone who has been born of God, speaking of Christians, we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning.

Do you feel challenged? That's a massive challenge. So let me clarify a few things. John is not saying that once we become a Christian we'll never again sin. What he's saying is that for those who become Christians, we will not willfully, continuously give ourselves to what we know is wrong in God's eyes. Because Christians don't live for the self, we don't live for the world, we don't look for the approval of man. Christians live for God.

And so Christians, if you found yourself trapped in a habitual sin, if you found yourself constantly doing that very thing that you know God doesn't want you to do, I think one reason could be you've kind of strayed from Jesus. Christ is no longer first in your heart. You're not walking with your Savior. You're not spending time daily at the foot of the cross

being reminded again of God's great love for you. It's because you've become distant from your Savior. It's like this. I think most people, most people are less likely to swear or tell dirty jokes the more that their kids are around. And it's not because kids are a buzzkill, it's because kids remind us of things that are more wholesome and holy, and let's just be honest, more truly joyous.

And I think that's what it's like the more that we stay with Jesus, right? He's not a buzzkill. Jesus reminds us of what is more holy and wholesome and joyous. I'm telling you right now, for the Christians in the house, the true Christians who are walking with their Savior, they're the most joyous people I know. No matter how dark or weird the world gets, we are people that do not lose our joy because we stay close to our Savior who's ever calling us to Himself. He says, but we know that everyone who's been born of God, Christians, we do not keep

on sinning, but he who was born of God, meaning Christ, he protects us from the evil one. Meaning, when we are closer to Jesus, we're not just saved from sin, but we're more protected from Satan and his influence in our lives. So let's talk about him for a second. Verse 19 says, we know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. I don't like talking about Satan, but let's spend a moment. I tell you what, the devil isn't even trying to hide anymore. He is on full display. Award shows

public TV and award shows are showing men and women dressed up as Satan and demons acting out all sorts of atrocious things. Do you know that there are actual satanic after-school clubs put on by the satanic temple? By the way, the satanic temple just announced that they reached 700,000 members. The devil's not even trying to hide anymore, but we welcome him like it's comical and childish and kiddish. There is a real evil purveying our culture that's not even trying to hide in the shadows anymore.

And Christians, you want to know the number one way to combat it? What's the number one way to combat the darkness? It's with the light. And that's what Christians are to bring to this world. We're to bring the light that casts out the darkness. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. But we know one who is more powerful than him. So let's talk about him for a moment.

And we know that the Son of God, Jesus, the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true, meaning God. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God in eternal life. He is the true God in eternal life. So there is some ambiguity in the original Greek.

We're not exactly sure, does He refer to the Son, Christ, or God the Father? We don't know. There's debate over that. Either way, John is saying to us, despite Satan's power in the world, we are protected because we are in God. And this gives us confidence, confidence in Christ. I'm not trying to speak anything into existence.

I'm just trying to acknowledge what's real and what's probably going to happen. Satan clubs for kids will continue to grow in our world. The demonic will become more and more normalized and accepted in our world. But church, but church, do not fret. When this happens, do not run around like a bunch of chickens with your head cut off.

Don't freak out on social media. We know one who is more powerful. We know how the story ends. So stand up, shine the light, and show people confidence. Not pride, we just got done with that month. Not worry, that's not who we are in Jesus.

We are people of confidence because of God, because of what he's done and what he's done for us. Church, this is a time to be diligent and vigilant. And I think that call is actually summed up in this last little line that John ends with. It seems like an odd line to end with,

but here's what John says. It says, little children, keep yourselves from idols. This is how John ends his letter. This enormous, beautiful, big, bold letter, John ends it with this weird little line that just says, it's just kind of abrupt,

he just says, little children, keep yourselves from idols. I don't think John is speaking to six-year-olds here. I think him being the father of the church,

he's speaking to all of us.

We are to keep idols from our lives. And idols, what are those things? Hear me on this church, idols are anything that keeps our heart away from God. Anything that we place in our life that takes the place of God,

or is more important than God. And I wonder, can you spot those in your own heart? I wonder, can you identify those in your own life? What is taking the place of God? What is becoming more important to you than Jesus? I wonder, can you name the idols in your life?

Is it money? Is it sports? Is it a boyfriend? Is it that wretched little device we call a cell phone? Let me ask you, do you have people in your life who love you and love the Lord who could point those out for you?

Because here's what I'm going to tell you, if you don't have those people in your life, I think it's going to be really hard in this world to grow in Christ. We are meant to have fellowship with one another. So back to the beginning. For those of you who have repented and believe in the name of Jesus, please do not wonder if you are saved or not. Don't add yourself to the equation. Don't let idols speak whispers into your ears. If you believe in the name of the Son of God, if you believe in the name of Jesus, He's taking care of your salvation for you. John says, I write

these things to you, that you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Of all the things our faith gives us, it gives us confidence. And what better way to close a morning like this is with that old hymn, Blessed Assurance. Amen. Amen.

Amen.

Transcribed with Cockatoo