Being insecure is a terrible thing, and there is a lot of insecurity around today. People are insecure in their relationships: this relationship that I'm in, how long will it last? Does the person I love and I'm invested in love me, and will they continue to do so, or are things somehow a little fragile?
People are insecure in their jobs. Earlier this year, England, for just a few months, went into what they called a technical recession—which means the numbers mean we are in a recession, but things aren't that bad. But all the same, everyone is slightly just worried. As costs of things rise, will my job be safe?
People are insecure in their training. Maybe you're doing an apprenticeship, or a degree, or training for a profession, and unless you are a dentist or a plumber, there is something at the back of your mind that says, will there definitely be a job for me when I come out the other end?
Insecure with our home—people increasingly cannot have the luxury to buy their own home, so they rent off someone else. But what happens if the landlord wants their home back or chooses to charge such exorbitant rents that you have no choice but to leave?
Or insecure with your visa. Maybe you are in the UK with a 3-year visa to live and to work, and you know that the renewal will come round—but will the criteria have changed? Will you be able to continue to make this country your home?
If you're insecure, you don't know where you stand. And if you are secure, it gives you freedom to act in ways that you might not do without the same security. For example, if you know that the home you're in can be yours for the next 20 years, you might think, actually, I would love some new carpet through the ground floor. We can pay for it, but just check we got permission from the landlord. But why not? But if you could be out in 6 months, you'd never consider doing that.
The new job that you've just taken—if you know that you will enjoy that job for many years, well, you could move house and be closer and build a home and a community near that job. But not if it's not necessarily going to last.
How about with God? Many people are insecure with God—they don't know where they stand with Him. But if you know where you stand with God, well, that means that you can live differently.
The passage we're looking at this morning addresses all of these issues. The editors of the NIV, the English translation of the Bible that we use, completely ran out of inspiration when they got to this passage because they decided that the best heading for this is "Concluding Affirmations", which means "we haven't a clue what it's about", and it also doesn't exactly inspire you to look at it.
Let me show you a little repeated phrase that occurs all the way through these verses, and that is the phrase we know that. So:
- Verse 13: so that you may know that you have eternal life
- Verse 15: if we know that He hears us... we know that we have what we asked
- Verse 18: we know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin
- Verse 19: we know that we are children of God
- Verse 20: we know also that the Son of God has come
The message of this passage is: it's great to be sure. And I wish the editors of our Bible had not put "Concluding Affirmations" but had put "It's great to be sure"—'cause that would get me and you excited and reading.
So here, then, are some of the things that you can know and be sure of.
1. Know that you have eternal life
We're talking about knowing our standing with God. Can you be sure? Well, here's verse 13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Now, some people think it is presumptuous to be sure where you stand with God. And it would be—if it depended on you—because you would be saying that you are confident, that you're able, gifted, you can make the grade. But it doesn't depend on you.
Verse 13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Now, Jesus's name means who He is and what He's achieved. So to believe in His name is to trust in Jesus—the God-man who died for your sins. That's what that shorthand phrase believe in His name means. And so you have eternal life, not because you've achieved it, but because you have trusted Him.
Imagine telling all your friends that you are going to get a brand new car next week. Now, if you were saving up the pennies and you haven't yet got enough money to buy a brand new car, then yes, that would be presumptuous. But imagine if instead you have an uncle who, 15 years ago, promised that on your 21st birthday he would buy you a brand new car. Your uncle still has the wealth to do so and is still alive. That's not presumptuous—that is simply trusting that your uncle will keep his word.
Now John says that this is why he wrote his letter. Verse 13: I write these things so that... And through this letter, as we've looked, John's given us three pieces of evidence that a person really does trust in Jesus: we will increasingly obey what He commands, we will love His people, and we will believe key truths about Him. Those things are evidence that your trust in Jesus is real. And John is saying: if your trust is real, then you can be sure that the eternal life is yours.
Now, if you know where you stand, then this means you can live accordingly. And the rest of this passage gives the benefits that flow from being sure that eternal life really is yours. It's great to be sure.
2. Know that God hears your prayer
Know that God hears your prayer.
Verse 14: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of Him.
Now, note that this is specifically prayers according to God's will. Now, this could feel like a bad thing—it could feel like this is God's little let-out clause, that if He doesn't feel like giving you something you ask for, here's His excuse not to: "Aha, wasn't according to my will!" It's actually a good thing that God only gives us prayers according to His will—if we remember what God's will is all about.
So let me remind us of three things about God's will.
(i) God's will protects us
I wonder if you've heard of the ancient Greek legend of King Midas. King Midas had various Greek legends told about him, but one of them is where he desired the gift that everything he touched would turn to gold. Now, at the beginning it was tremendous fun, because he could go out into the garden and see some beautiful red roses, and with just a tap they would turn into the most amazing pure gold roses. Wonderful. "Oh, that fruit bowl—I love a golden apple!" Apparently, that's a thing in Minecraft—I don't know. You could just make a golden apple just by touching it. It's all good fun until you want to eat some food and you realise not only the fork turns to gold, but so does the food as soon as it enters your mouth. And in some versions of the legend, the tragedy comes at the end as his own daughter comes home from her day out and he gives her a massive hug—and turns her to gold as well.
See, if God gave you everything you asked in the way you asked it, if you had an ounce of sense, you would never ask God for anything. Knowing that God only gives you things that are according to His will frees you up to ask boldly. This shows us that prayer isn't about helping God to see the world from our point of view—prayer is about us learning to see the world from God's point of view.
(ii) God's will is revealed
So we don't have to guess and hope that the things we're asking are according to God's will. As we get to know our Bibles, we get to know what pleases God, and so increasingly we will be equipped to ask for things that we know He delights to give. That's what that prayer we prayed earlier in the service said.
(iii) God's will is loving
Remember we said earlier in 1 John we met the wonderful truth that God is love. So therefore every quality of God is loving and is exercised in love. And that means God's will is loving as well—which means anytime God's will overrides ours, it is because He loves us, it is for our good, and it is because God has something for us that was even better than we asked.
So God only answers prayers according to our will—and what a wonderful truth that is.
But notice that God doesn't just hear our prayers—He answers. This is verse 15: If we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. And notice that the answer is immediate: we already have the thing we have asked for. We might experience the answer after quite some delay, but in God's mind, the minute you ask, if it's something He wants to give, He says yes—and He starts that answer, in practical terms, winging its way towards you in His good timing.
See, here's one of the great benefits of being sure where you stand with God. 1 John was written so that people would get that precious truth—that God hears and answers His people's prayers. And 1 John was written so that we would become a people who pray.
So, if we've let 1 John get under our skin for a few months and we've grown in certainty that we really are Christians and we really have eternal life—well, that should transform us into people who just love to pray. Pray.
Prayer that does not lead to death
Then we get a specific example of prayer. This is verse 16: If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I'm not saying you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
People read those words and they go, "What?" It's quite simple, actually. Let me just show you.
Here's the question though: what do you do if you become aware that one of your fellow Christians is sinning in some way? Often the reaction is to gossip or to reject them or to feel superior to them. "I wouldn't do that!" There is a whole industry of—in the old days what would have been tabloid newspapers and now is celebrity clickbait websites—that thrives on the fact we are curious what other people are up to, and never more so if they're up to no good. And we get to read of other people's misdemeanours and feel quietly smug and superior.
If you carry that attitude into church, it is disastrous. And the better response is to pray. Don't talk to other people—talk to God.
Now the question is, why does their sin not lead to death?
Let's just be clear: there's no such thing as a harmless sin. This is verse 17: All wrongdoing is sin. All sins deserve death. But their sin does not lead to death—eternal death—because they have life. This is verse 13 again: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.
John has already said that for Christians, the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. So Christians still sin, but we are those who have crossed from death to life. Our sin, every time we do it, is forgiven. And so that sin does not take a Christian to a place called eternal death. That's why sin does not lead to death—because you're a Christian, and it's forgiven.
But then here's the next question, isn't it? If you're not dead because of your sin, how do you need God to give you life? You already have it.
Well, here's the answer. Eternal life in the Bible is to know God and to know his Son, Jesus. That's John 17:3, if you want to look later. Eternal life is not just about quantity of life — life that lasts forever — it's also about quality: a life lived in relationship to God. To walk with God, to have fellowship with God — and yes, that lasts for eternity. That relationship is disrupted every time we sin.
So Christians still sin, but we're not spiritually dead as a result. We're still in the realm of life, but the life we have, which is knowing God, is disrupted and disturbed by our sin.
So how does God give us life if we're not spiritually dead? Well, he, in answer to our prayers — verse 16 is pretty clear — that's what happens. And God will give that Christian who has sinned life in two stages. First of all, he will bring them to a place of repentance, and then he will restore their joy and their fellowship.
Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine who is a minister in a church with a larger staff and leadership team than we've got. Their leadership team went on a week-long time away as a staff team to plan and pray and prepare. They found someone connected with the church who had a huge house somewhere in Scotland — I don't know where — but it was big enough to house their sizable staff team.
The person who owned such a large house was therefore fairly wealthy and belonged to a fairly exclusive, fairly wealthy private club somewhere. Framed in the downstairs toilet of this house were two letters addressed from the club to this individual.
The first letter said that this particular individual had removed their jacket during dinner and therefore was going to be suspended from membership of the club for six months. Framed next to this was a second letter, sent a week later, that said it was considered that the punishment was slightly harsh and they would now only be suspended for three months.
You see, that individual, for their deep and serious crime of removing their jacket during dinner, remained a member of the club, but for a season of three months was not able to enjoy the benefits of that membership. They couldn't go and eat — they would have to eat at home, where they could wear whatever they liked and eat however they liked. Probably they discovered that was quite preferable.
They remained a member, but without enjoying the benefits.
Our sin does not expel us into the darkness, into the realm of death, but it stops us enjoying the benefits. And so we need God to give us life. And so we need to pray for each other.
Now, there is such a thing as sin that leads to death. This is not John's main point — he just kind of puts it in brackets in verse 16 — so we won't focus on it too much. But what is the sin that leads to eternal death? Well, it's quite simple. If you believe in the name of the Son of God, you have eternal life. And therefore, eternal death comes from not doing that.
John has told us that if you don't believe in Jesus and trust in him, that will be seen — that you won't believe certain key truths about him, you won't love his people, and you won't obey him. And so the sin that leads to death is not just a Christian sinning, as we all do, but is when a person completely walks away from the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there's a big warning here. If you're here this morning and you're not yet a Christian — you're still looking in from the outside — there's a big warning here for you. You may think that your life is basically fine and there are a few little hiccups along the way. John says, no — without Jesus, your life is actually heading to a place called eternal death. So do not think that rejecting Jesus doesn't matter.
And for Christians, there's a warning for us too. There is a sin that leads to death. Now, true believers will never do this. But the way we see we are genuine is that we keep going with Jesus. And tragically — tragically, tragically — some people we think are true Christian believers eventually show that they are not because they choose to walk away from the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've focused quite heavily on the prayer thing. Let me take us fairly quickly through the next three verses that give us some more things we can know — if we know where we are, sure where we stand with God.
3. Know that you’re freed from sin
Verse 18 — know that you're freed from sin:
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
So we still sin, but that sin does not lead us to death, which means that we don't, what John says, continue in sin. We are not trapped in the habit.
Now, as we've read through 1 John, so many things could knock us off course. The devil would love to trip up Christians. So remember, as we think about that — yes, of course, we still commit sin — but in all of that, the devil cannot touch you. Why not? Because you're born of God. And then John says the one who is born of God will keep you safe.
So yes, the devil may induce you to sin, but he cannot rob you of your salvation. He cannot trip you up completely. It's a little bit like when a little kid starts at a new school and that kid has a brother who is three years further up the school. Nobody picks on that little kid, because to get to the little one, they have to get through the big one. And no one in Reception wants to pick a fight with a Year 3, and no one in Year 7 wants to pick a fight with a Year 10.
See, if you are a Christian, Jesus is your big brother. And if the devil wants to get to you, he has to get through Jesus. And Jesus has your back. So the devil cannot touch you.
Know that you're freed from sin.
4. Know that you’re a child of God
Next, know that you're a child of God — verse 19:
We know that we are children of God, and the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
So as the world rebels against God, behind the scenes the devil is pulling the strings. As you read the news and you read about Southport, you read about riots on the streets, you read about fragility with Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and the rest of that area — as you read these things and your heart weeps — realise that human society is not rebelling against God without help from below.
Now, we are children of God. But as children of God, you don't look any different from anybody else. So you couldn’t walk through a crowd on South Bay seafront and go, “Not a child of God — not — oh, that one's a child of God,” because everyone looks the same. So how good to know that we truly are God's children. And as we learned in 3:1–3, one day you will look the part, and you will be utterly distinct and visible as a child of God. That is the future, and that is the reality.
Oh, in case you are wondering, by the way — where’s the next picture? Ah, there he is — right, good. Didn’t want to leave you puzzling all day. I think you need it in higher resolution to see that.
5. Know that you know God truly
Right, next one — know that you know God truly. So here’s verse 20:
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
There are many, many religions in the world today — it has always been thus — and you could feel like everyone is guessing and that nobody really knows what God is like. You may have heard the story told by a number of ancient ethnic groups and religions of the blind men who have never before met an elephant, exploring it solely with touch.
An elephant is huge, so no one of them can have a picture of the whole animal. They can just feel the part that they've got. So the one who's got the tail thinks they've got a rope. The one who's got the tusk thinks they have a spear. The one that's got the leg thinks they've got a tree. And no one has the whole picture.
Now, this is a story that is often told to tell you how to see the different world religions. It's saying each of the different world religions has a little bit of the truth — it's all valid — but actually there's no contradiction here. Nobody can see the whole picture. Actually, we're all just kind of looking after the little bit that we've managed to figure out.
Let me just tell you a couple of things about that story, because you meet it quite frequently.
First of all, just note the outstanding arrogance of the person telling you the story. Let's just realise what's going on here — they are telling you that they can see the whole picture. They are the only person that can actually see the entire elephant. That is a pretty arrogant claim. Every other worldview can only feel one part of the animal, but me, the storyteller, can see that that's what's going on. “Trust me to have the whole picture on life.” No thank you.
But more to the point — it's not like that at all. Because Jesus has come, and John says that because Jesus has come, we have understanding, and we know the God who is true. We don't just know truth about God — we know the God who is the truth itself.
Now, we don't know God exhaustively — we don't know everything about him — but we know God through Jesus, which means our knowledge of him is in response to his initiative. And so we can be sure that the God we know is the real one.
So it's good to be sure.
Conclusion
Let me just briefly address again those of us here who are not yet Christians, still investigating the claims of Jesus, and say this to you: God can be known. And you can know that you know God. And it is absolutely wonderful that that is possible — because if you know God and know that you know God, you can know that God hears your prayers. You can know that your sins don't lead to death. You can know that Jesus will keep you safe. You can know that you're a child of God. And you can know that you know God — truly and reliably.
If you believe and trust in Jesus, the Son of God, all of that certainty is yours.
Most of us here are Christians. Let's just see how this letter ends — verse 21:
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Many people hear the word idol and they think statues in temples. Now, there were plenty of those in the first century, but those were not troubling these Christians. John hasn't mentioned the word idol or anything like that at all in this letter.
Here's the thing — there are also mental images, mental idols, distortions of the one true God in your head, in your mind's eye. And they probably look more like a preacher holding a Bible. They're not just telling you about a different Jesus — they're telling you about a fake Jesus.
Maybe a Jesus who was not fully God, or is not fully human, or is not both at once. Maybe telling you about a Jesus who did not die to pay the penalty for your sins. Maybe telling you about a Jesus who would not ask people to change and become like him. Maybe telling you about a Jesus who does not put Christians into a spiritual family for us to love like brothers and sisters.
And so John ends with verse 21:
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Stick, he says, with this Jesus. Know God, and know that you know.