Biblical Assurance 5 - Austin, Tx — Paul Washer

The Purpose of First John: Assurance of Eternal Life

Tonight we will be in 1 John again, and possibly finish up tonight. I want us to just open up our preaching in 1 John chapter 5, verse 13. If you'll stand, we'll read God's Word. 1 John chapter 5, verse 13.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, Father, I have a great longing in my heart this evening that your Word go forth clearly, that it be as seed, that it be as water, that it be as a hammer, that it be as a fire, that it be all the things that it says itself to be, that you would open up the hearts of people to receive the Word.

Even my own heart, Lord, that you would be glorified in our bearing of much fruit, that you would be glorified in the conversion of men. In Jesus' name, Amen. You may be seated. The purpose of the entire book of 1 John is that a man, a woman, even a child might read it, pray over it, and come to know whether they truly are of the faith.

Now, this is not an academic exercise in itself. I want you to understand, there are so many people in our churches that are lost. Some, of course, come on Sundays and they're wild throughout the week.

They know not God, they fear not God. But there are others who are very, very sincere in a sense, very religious in a sense, about doing the work of the kingdom and trying to please God, but they really do not know Him.

The evidence that you have come to know God is not simply religious activity or morality, but the realities of what we are finding in 1 John, if you are a Christian, will be realities in your own personal life.

When I said at the beginning that the true Christian walks in the light, they live a style of life that reflects the character of God and conforms to the will of God. Is that a reality in your life? When I say that a true Christian is sensitive to sin, are you sensitive to sin?

And does the Holy Spirit lead you to pronounce that sin before Him? And then keeping the commandments. A reality in the Christian life will be obedience to the commandments of God, a habitual lifestyle of obedience.

And yes, a Christian may step off the path, that is true, and he may run, but according to Hebrews chapter 12 and many other texts in the Bible, he will not run that far. God will bring him back in discipline.

And then there is, of course, walking as Christ walked. Is it your desire to be like Jesus, to walk like Jesus? Is that a reality in your life? Not just a byword, not just a cliché on the back of a Christian t-shirt, but is it a reality?

And then there is loving your brother. You cannot have the Spirit of God and be filled with hatred toward other believers, not only other believers, toward even your enemy. Because we are commanded to love our enemy.

Are these spiritual realities in your life? And now we go on. Another test is found in chapter 2, verse 19. Or I'm sorry, chapter 2, verse 15. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

The Christian’s Separation from the World

We have this sense in America that you can somehow be a true Christian and have an ardent, burning love for the world. If I were to redefine Jesus' statement in Matthew about the narrow and the broad way, if I were to redefine it based on what I see in people who call themselves Christians, it would be this, pass through the narrow gate and walk in the broad way.

But no, there's not only a narrow gate, there's a narrow way. And that narrow way is the way marked out by God's commands, God's precepts, God's wisdom. And the world is not found in that way. Now he says, do not love the world nor the things of the world.

What is the world? Everything that is a part of this fallen system. Fallen system of thought and action and politic. Everything on this earth that does not acknowledge God as Lord. Every thought that does not measure up to God's Word.

Everything promoted that is not of God. Everything that comes out of fallen man and the one who leads him, who is himself the devil. This world, what is it? Everything that contradicts what God has revealed about himself and his will.

Look around you, we swim in this world, we live in this world. But we're not supposed to be of it. And a true Christian will not be of it. In the same way that a true Christian will love the Lord, he will disdain the very things that God disdains.

I've said at times that this book is simply, it's given to us to guide our life in this respect. To teach us everything that God loves and to tell us to love it the same way. And to teach us everything that God hates and to teach us to hate those things the same way.

There are things in the Bible that we are commanded to love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And there are also things that we are commanded to turn our backs upon those things. To walk away from those things as unworthy of our calling.

As unworthy of a child of God. And yet I see so many so-called believers so wrapped up in the world. Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Do you long for the city whose builder and maker is God? Are you longing for that day when the kingdom is consummated? When all things, every promise is fulfilled and Christ reigns? Or are you happy and content in this present age?

And do you seek after the very things that the rest who don't even profess Christ seek after? Not enough is preached about separation. Not enough is preached against the world and the things of the world and its pleasures.

And its trinkets and everything else. And because of it, many, many even Christians are bound to the point that they are no longer useful to God. He says, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

How can you love the very things for which Christ was crucified? Can you love the nails? Can you bless the hammer? Would you kiss the hands that crushed his head with a crown of thorns? Because when you say you know Christ and you are a disciple of Christ and yet you love the world, you do that very thing.

Oh my friend, there is a great divide, a great separation. The Scripture warns us that those who are not separate now will be separated on that great day from the sheep and they will be labeled goats and they will find their place in hell.

It says, verse 16, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. Every desire that you have that is not conformed to the will of God is a lust of the flesh.

The Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life

Now, let's take this to a whole new level instead of just being theologically minded. Everything that you see, everything that you desire, the book should be opened up to determine whether it is a thing from God or a thing outside the will of God.

You are not your own. You were bought with a price if indeed you belong to Him. Everything in your life is to be guided by God's principle, by God's Word. Down to the clothes I buy, the way I take care of them, the house I own, the car I drive, everything we ask, is this your will, oh God?

Or is it simply something deviant, a lust of the flesh, a lust of a wicked fallen flesh? Or is it according to your will? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. We are so drawn today, especially men above women, by the lust of the eyes, the things that we see.

But most of what we see is a deception. It is held before our eyes like the old cartoon character who's riding a donkey and takes a cane and sticks it out, hangs a carrot off a string from the end of the cane and gets the donkey to chase after the carrot and thus make the donkey move.

So Satan rides on the back of many men and women and sits out in front of them, sits out in front of them trinkets that sparkle like gold, but they're nothing more than hay, wood and stubble. And they will burn.

They will burn. We are so attracted by the eyes. Young men, perfect example, when they're thinking about finding a mate, many of them are drawn away by their eyes and they look more to the physical than the virtue of the girl.

And vice versa. Look more to the outward than the internal. Look more to the things of the world that sparkle instead of the things of God that often come in the appearance of something quite dull. How are you?

What do your eyes chase? What does your heart long for you? What does your heart long for? Treasure in heaven? Does your heart look to heaven because that's where your treasure lie? Or have you gathered so many trinkets around you, you can't even get your head above them to see heaven?

Lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life. How can I find an example of this when it runs rampant all around us? I think the best thing is an athlete in the Olympics. He gets the gold and they interview him.

How did you do this? Well, I've trained hard. I've trained for years. I've disciplined myself. And he goes on and on and on. And the little tiny parasite doesn't even know that he can't breathe apart from the power of God.

It is to seek to accomplish things that are not inside the will of God. It is to seek to accomplish things that are not empowered by God. Things that men claim they have gained apart from God's grace and God's will.

Men build their bridges and their towers and their buildings and their businesses and everything else. Their bodies. But not in accordance with God's will and not in submission to His Lordship. We are to be brought in, every part of us, into subjection to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Even our thoughts. Even our thoughts. The world is passing away. And also its lusts. This word here can go two different ways with this idea of passing away. It may mean not just simply passing away, but being pushed out.

Being pushed out. It would indicate a judgment fallen upon this godless age. That God's kingdom is advancing. And that as time rolls on and we draw near to that final hour, all these things of the world are being pushed out by the judgment of God.

And on that day the only thing that will remain is that which is done and has been done in His name. And for His glory. Or it can be simply kind of indicating a parade of fools dressed up in clown suits with little tin horns and they march one by one off the cliff into eternal death.

The world is being pushed out. But the man, the woman, even the child who does the will of God will abide forever. You young people should understand. The world is a vapor. Life is a vapor. It's a morning dew on the hottest summer day in Texas.

It's gone like that. Yesterday I was 9, today I'm 43, tomorrow I will be 90. It flies. It's running from you. Death is coming and hell is moving. And it's drawing nigh unto you. If I stayed in this pulpit long enough, I'd bury many of you.

Many of you will meet your Maker before you think it's time. How then shall we live? We are mortal. Our lives are just that. A spider web over a flame. How then shall we live? I'm constantly pleading with people.

I'm constantly telling people this. We should live between two days. The day when Jesus Christ hung on that tree before men. And the day all men will stand before Jesus Christ and then bow. Those two days ought to be the great motivation of our life.

Everything else is fleeting. Everything else. You are fleeting. Your youth will be gone like that. You'll be left with nothing. Your strength will wither like an autumn leaf. Your mind, you may have the greatest of minds.

You may be a Stephen Hawking. You may be the most brilliant man on the face of the earth. But one day that thing will turn to powder. How then shall we live? Because the earth and all the things of it are passing away.

Go look for Rome. That mighty empire. And tell me when you find it. Because it's nothing but a bunch of rocks. And stone. And monuments and relics. Hunt down Babylon. And tell me about how glorious it is.

All you'll find is dust and a place where jackals howl. Will any of you be greater than George Washington? And yet do any of you mourn his death? Do you think anyone will mourn yours? The world is passing away.

How then shall we live? There are so many who claim to be Christians and yet live for the world. And they're deceived. When the foundations of this earth are shaken. They will be shaken out of it. Like ants out of a popcorn bag.

They will fall to the ground and be smashed by the judgment of God. It's passing away. It is. It really is. It really is. Now let's go to another test. Verse 19 of chapter 2. They went out from us, but they were not really of us.

Perseverance and the Evidence of True Conversion

For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they are not of us. What does this mean? A true Christian will persevere among other true Christians.

Now, that doesn't mean if someone comes to this church and they join the fellowship and such. And then three years later down the road they decide that they're going to go to another church. We don't quote this verse and say, well, they weren't Christians because they didn't stay with us.

No. What it's talking about is someone who makes a claim to be a Christian. And someone who makes a claim to be a part of the body of Christ. And then they depart from any sort of fellowship with any biblical body.

Now, let's just look at this for a moment because it is so prevalent in America. I go to conferences sometimes where the so-called experts are teaching. And they claim, they say this. They go, we have such a problem in the church today.

We're getting so many people saved, but they don't stay in the church. So many people are being born again, but just as many are going out the back door as coming in the front door. No, my friend, that's not true.

The problem is we've got a bunch of people out there preaching a gospel they don't understand. Because if they truly are saved, now they might not be led of God to stay in this church, but they will be in a biblical body.

They will go to a church where the Word of God is preached and they will grow on to sanctification. But if they so supposedly get saved and then depart from this fellowship and do not join up with any other biblical fellowship or any fellowship that can be identified with historical Christianity, my dear friend, they were never saved.

I'll never forget in Peru a dear pastor friend of mine, Ernesto Zacarias. Great, great evangelist. And when I say that, I don't talk about someone who goes to churches and preaches. I'm talking about a guy who knocks on doors.

Any coward can get in a pulpit and bellow out the gospel. It's the man who stands in front of HEB with tracts in his hand. It's the man who knocks on doors that's an evangelist. We need to do some of that.

Amen? Amen? But he came to me and he goes, I'm never having an evangelist in my church again. And I said, well, why? He said, we had a revival last week and a hundred people were saved. I said, well, that's wonderful.

And not one of them showed up for church Sunday. But you can bet that evangelist went right down the road and bragged to everybody how many people got saved. I want you to turn quickly with me to John chapter 10.

John chapter 10, verse 26. But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. You are not of my sheep. Now notice, he doesn't say, you're not my sheep because you don't believe. But he says rather something that is kind of a hard thing for some to accept.

He said the reason you do not believe is because you're not of my sheep. You're not of my sheep. You're not a part of the elect of God. You look religious, you look like all sorts of things, but you are not a part of the elect of God because you don't believe because the elect of God will believe.

Now, that's not my whole point. There's four or five sermons right there in that verse. But look at the next verse. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Do you see that? I hear people today saying, well, the reason why so many people are getting saved and not staying in the church is that we're not discipling one on one.

My dear friend, we need to disciple one on one, but that won't keep anybody in the church. What will keep them in the church? Being born again by the power of God. You won't be able to beat them out of this church.

You'll offend them. I won't shake their hand and all sorts of other terrible things, but they'll stay. Why? Because they're God's sheep. They're God's sheep. And even if they've had enough of us and head down the road, they'll link up with another body that's biblical.

It's true. Because they're not following men. They're following Christ and they're following of Christ because they were elect before the foundation of the world and they've been born again by the power of God.

And he who began a good work in them, even before the world was formed, will finish it when the world has been dissolved by flames. So are you a type of person that says, well, I was a part of that. Like the rich young ruler.

Can you imagine talking to him two years down the road? Someone comes up and witnesses to him. And he says, oh, I tried that. Didn't work for me. My dear friend, this has nothing to do with pragmatism.

It has to do with the power of God. You don't become a Christian because it works. You become a Christian because God changes your heart. And you become a new creature who desires the things of God. Now let's go to another test.

Confessing the Full Person and Lordship of Jesus Christ

Verse 22. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, and the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

That it is impossible to have a relationship with the Father apart from the Son. You say, well, what kind of test is this? The true Christian is going to acknowledge everything that the Scriptures teach about the Person of Jesus Christ.

They are going to accept fully that He is God. And they are going to accept fully that He is God who became man for the sake of His people to die on a tree. They are going to embrace the fullness of Christ's Person.

They're not going to be like some cult that springs up. Almost every cult that has sprung up in the past and springs up today has a problem with the Person of Jesus. They'll either deny His deity or they'll deny His humanity.

And then there's liberalism, which of course would not deny His humanity because they want Jesus to be a humanist. They deny His deity and they're wrong. The Christian accepts Christ as God and Christ as man.

But that's not really a problem in the evangelical movement today, is it? All those conservative evangelicals, none of them are standing up saying, well, I doubt His deity or I doubt His humanity. But let me throw something else at you.

To accept the fullness of the Person of Jesus Christ, we must also accept His Lordship. His Lordship. Isn't it amazing? Jesus is the only Lord who can't tell anybody what to do. My dear friend, He can not only tell you what to do, He can make you do it.

And He won't apologize for violating your so-called free will. He lays His hand on the table and no man will pry it up. He raises His hand to swear by His own name and His own glory and no man will pull it down.

He opens a door, no one will shut. He tells the sea, stop, and it obeys. You say, well, you know, I've taken Jesus as Savior, but it's going to be a while before I take Him as Lord. Oh, my dear friend, you take Him not as Lord, you take Him not as Savior.

I always hear these fellows using, you know, the Revelation 3, verse 20 passage. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. You hear my voice and you want, just open that door and I'll come in, but unless you open that door, I won't come in.

First of all, that verse has absolutely nothing to do with evangelism. It's talking to Christ. It's talking about Christ and His relationship with the church that had grown cold. It's not a verse for evangelism.

But one time I was preaching and I just, for the sake of it, I addressed that issue because there were a lot of men who were using that to evangelize and such. And I said, well, let me, if you're going to use that verse, let's just throw something in.

At least we can make it a little more biblical. And they said, what? I said, here's what you tell them. If they've decided that Jesus is on the other side of the door of their heart and they want to grab that doorknob and open it up, tell them that the moment they reach for that doorknob, they're going to hear somebody's throat clear.

And the throat that's going to clear will be the throat of Christ. And He will clear it. He says, hold it one moment. Before you touch that doorknob and open this door, let's get a few things straight.

When I walk into this room, it's mine. Everything in it is mine. Now, do you really want to open up that door? Because when I come in, I come in as Lord. Oh, now that you explained it that way, maybe I need to pray a little more.

Oh, maybe you do. Maybe you do. It's accepting the fullness of Christ's person. Now, let's go on to test number 9, verse 29 of chapter 2. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Practicing Righteousness and Pursuing Holiness

Now, look at that. I mean, this is not rocket science. Look what he's saying. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. Remember when my first boy was born, they said, not a doubt on the face of the earth who this boy belongs to.

Looks like his father and acts like his mother. He definitely belongs to you too. There wasn't a doubt. There wasn't a doubt at all. You know God is righteous? Do you act righteously? What does it mean to act righteously?

Righteousness is conformity to the law or will of God. Does your life conform to the will of God as a style of life? Is that a reality? Are you desiring to know God's will? And are you desiring to conform your life to that will?

Now, he goes on, look in chapter 3, verse 3. Oh, look at this. And everyone who has this hope fixed on him, purifies himself just as he is pure. One of the greatest evidences that you have become a Christian is that you are purifying yourself.

I want to tell you something. I believe in the sovereignty of God, the sovereign grace of God, a thing called Calvinism, I do believe in that. But I want to tell you something. Many people who embrace that doctrine become what I call antinomian.

They begin to think, well, God is sovereign. If He wants me holy, He'll make me holy. No, my friend. God commands those who are His to strive to be holy. To practice holiness, to seek after holiness. We are to pray.

We are to seek God that we might be holy. We are to read His Word that we might be pure. We are to do spiritual exercises, whatever is given to us in Scripture. We are to be seeking to be holy. Anybody tells you any other thing, they're selling you half a gospel.

God is at work to make His people holy, and He will do it. But God uses the means. God uses means also to do that. And you, my friend, if you truly are a Christian, you are going to desire to be pure.

Now let me ask you a question. Let's just lay out your life right here and right now. Let's just lay out a life of yours, a week in your life. Where will I find you seeking to be pure? Now be honest. I'm not angry, but I am passionate.

Be honest. If we were to open up a week in your life, or two weeks, or a month, where would we see you seeking to be holy? Where would we seek you separating from the things that God does not like and drawing unto the things that please God?

Where would we see you weeping over sin? Where would we see you in Scripture? Where would we see you memorizing? Would we see it at all? Do you desire to be pure? And is it reflected in your outward man?

Is it reflected in your outward person? Do I look at you, young man, or old man for that matter, do I look at you just the way you are, the way you handle yourself, the way you dress, and do I see a person who is seeking to be pure?

Dear sister, dear lady, dear girl, can anyone look at you and say, there is a person who is seeking to be pure, seeking to be holy? I have that question for you. Because I want to tell you something. You can judge a book by its cover, according to Jesus Christ.

And it is terrible. I have spent my life preaching around this country. And I want to tell you something. It is terrible when the guest preacher has to walk in with his head down because he is afraid that he will be caused to stumble by other believers.

I look at you. You say, judge not, lest ye be judged. And I say, twist not Scripture, lest ye be like Satan. And we look at your life. I am not talking about necessarily you have to dress up like a Puritan.

But my question is, is there modesty? Is there decency? Is there the beauty of the Lord? Or is there the sensuality of the world? Do you seek to be pure? He goes on and he says, everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness.

And sin is lawlessness. What is he trying to point out for us? That sin is not just some kind of little mistake. It is not just some little quirk in our personality. Sin is absolute, unflinching rebellion in the face of God.

It is breaking free and joining Antichrist. Never forget, he is called the man of what? Lawlessness. It is joining the ranks of hell. It is bowing down to Satan and saying, your kingdom come, your will be done.

Sin is a terrifying thing. And those who practice it as a style of life, habitually loving it, unflinching, their hearts are not broken, what does it say? It is lawlessness. Verse 5, you know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

What is He saying? The same thing He has been saying. He is light and there is no darkness at all in Him. So if you are walking in darkness, you are not a part of Him. He is righteous. Therefore, everyone who practices righteousness is of Him.

And those who practice unrighteousness, that live outside God's law and Word, they are not of Him. In Him there is no sin. Those who habitually practice sin as a style of life, do not know Him. He goes on and He said, verse 6, no one who abides in Him sins.

No one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Now what does that mean? Again, it is not speaking. It is not saying that the true Christian is sinless. But what it is saying, is the true Christian is not involved in the habitual practice of sin.

It will be a life of seeking God, that yes, there will be sin there that one can see. It is the difference between, I don't know, I think I used this illustration maybe the first night. It is the difference between following me around with a photo, just a camera that takes snapshots and a video camera.

If you were to follow me around with a camera that takes only snapshots, and you could catch me one day, when I am nailing old tin back on a barn of ours. And if any of you have ever lived on a farm, that tin is as hard as it can possibly be.

And I am up there nailing away, and all of a sudden I smash my thumb, I throw the hammer, I fall off the ladder, I kick the dog, and you take a picture. See, I told you Paul Washer was not saved. You could take that one instance in my life of sin, and you could use it to say, he is lost.

But, if you followed me around with a video camera, you would get a much clearer picture. Although you would see sin, you would see a style of life, that is different from one who habitually practices sin, or is given over to it.

And that is what he is talking about here. Now he says, verse 7, now this is so important. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. Now, just think for a moment. Brothers and sisters in Christ, think. What are we so caught up with today in America?

Well, he is not living like a Christian at all. But, you can't say he is not a Christian. I know he has been carnal for five years, but now, don't judge, you can't say he is not a Christian. I think John was so, just his mind made clear by the Holy Spirit.

Look at the way he addresses that. Now, little children, what are little children? So easily deceived. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. With what? With what I just said. He says, look, the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous, and the one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.

Do you see? Little children, don't be deceived. If your life is one of practicing unrighteousness, it is because you are not righteous. And you are not righteous because you are not of God. What do we see in your life?

Do we see your life marked by righteousness? Now, the Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. That is a somewhat terrifying statement. What he's saying is, now listen, those of you who claim to be Christians, but you live a style of life that's marked by unrighteousness and ungodliness, God came, Christ came, to destroy the works of the devil.

He has done it and will do it. Be careful you're not destroyed in the same wave of wrath that will fall upon this earth. You say, brother Paul, you can't grow a church preaching like that. It is not my responsibility to grow a church.

It's my responsibility to preach the truth. Now, I want to finish up with one more test and we're going to bring this series to a close in 1 John 5, verse 12. He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

Christ Alone as the Ground of Salvation

The one thing that will be most prevalent, I guess you could say, in the life of a true believer, is this, if you were to mention to them that their salvation somehow was a result of anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, they would become nauseous.

The true Christian is going to acknowledge that nothing in their hands do they bring. It is only Christ. Only Christ. Only Christ. So often I have so much trouble with men, so much trouble, because they'll say, I believe in Christ.

If you died, where would you go? I'd go to heaven. Why? Well, I'm trusting in Christ and... And what? And what? That and just killed any hope you ever had for salvation. Let me give you an example. You've heard people use that illustration about the chair.

What does it mean to trust, you know? And someone will say, well, that's a chair, and I believe it's a chair, but that doesn't mean I'm trusting in it. I'm not trusting in this chair until I sit down in the chair.

And they say, that's a definition of faith. No, it's not. Look at your feet. This chair falls. You spring back up. This is faith. As one old Scottish preacher said, I plan to swing out into eternity on that scarlet thread of the person and work of Jesus Christ.