WWUTT 428 God Is Greater Than Our Heart?

1 John 3:19-24 and Assurance Before God

By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything, including who are His when we understand the text.

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Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of 1 John chapter 3, and today I'm going to begin where we left off yesterday, starting in verse 19 and going to the end of the chapter. The apostle writes,. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our heart before him.

For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him.

And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in him, and by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us.

We go back to verse 19. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our heart before Him. By what? Well, what we've read in the verses previous. Back to verse 14. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.

Verse 16. By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Little children let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. If indeed we say we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, then our life will evidence that belief by doing the things that Jesus did.

And just as He laid down His life for us, so we should lay down our lives for others. In John chapter 13, at the start of Jesus' time with His disciples in the upper room, the Last Supper, before being arrested and taken to the cross, Jesus, after finishing the meal, got up and He washed His disciples' feet, and He said to them, What I am doing for you now you will not understand, but later you will understand it.

And as I have done this for you, so you should do this also for one another. And then later on, a verse that we had talked about on Monday, Jesus saying to His disciples, A new command I give to you, that you love one another.

It's not that it was never stated in the scriptures before. We have it in the book of Leviticus. Love your neighbor as yourself. You will love the sojourner among you as you love yourself. So the command to love had been given to the people of God.

But it was a command to follow by our own power, by our own ability to do it. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is according to our ability to love.

With all that we are, everything that we can pour into that. But Jesus, by giving us a new commandment, is saying that it is His love that is being given to His disciples. And so it is by the power of God, by the very love of Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, are we able to love one another.

So now the love that we share with each other is the evidence of the Christ whom we follow, of the Spirit that lives within us. So if we are in Christ, if Christ is in us, then we will love as Jesus loves.

And when we talk about the context of the brotherhood, verse 14, verses 16 through 18, again, as we mentioned yesterday, we're talking specifically about a context of the people of God, not any and every person, although we should show charity to every person.

As the Apostle Paul said to the Galatians, Galatians 6, verse 10, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith. So we should show love and charity to every person.

But our priority is the people of God, our brothers and sisters in Christ. And this should make sense to us, especially those of you who have families. When you make a paycheck and you're providing for others, who do you take care of first?

You take care of your own family. When you wake up in the morning, you're not immediately trying to find ways to help other people unless you wake up before the rest of your own household. And then that's when you do good things for other people.

Maybe maybe you're that rare bird. I don't know. But but you're taking care of the people within your own home first. The money that you make, you take care of your own family and then you're providing for others.

So just as that principle applies to the home, so it also applies to the church. We take care of those who are within our own household first before we are using what we have to care for those who are out in the world.

And this is a testament of the love of Christ that is shared among the people of Christ. We have this given also in the book of Acts and Acts chapter four, verse 32. It says the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

They were sharing everything that they had with one another. And now people will use that verse to say that this is exactly how the church should be. But but acts is not painting a picture of the church being perfected or being perfect.

Rather, they were being perfected. They were being sanctified, but had not yet received that perfection. And as long as we are here on this earth, we won't be perfect until we die. And our lowly body is made to be like his glorious body.

And then we are with the Lord forever. So we need to be careful about passages like that. It wasn't showing a perfect church, but they were being perfected. In fact, we see one of the ways that the church was imperfect.

When you get to Acts chapter six, what ends up happening is that in this daily distribution of goods, of money, of property, of possessions, the widows were being neglected and the Hellenists spoke up.

So the Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews from the dispersed Jews that were living outside of Palestine. The Hebrews were the Palestinian Jews. So the Hellenists, those who were outside of the Palestinian region, spoke up and said that their widows were being neglected in this daily distribution of goods and this caring for one another in the church.

And so the twelve apostles summoned the full number of the disciples, and they said, it's not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. So there you had the distinction between elders and deacons, and the men who were appointed became deacons. They were the ones who were serving the physical needs of the church, and the elders were serving the spiritual needs of the church.

So one of the qualities of an elder that we read about in First Timothy chapter three is that he must have an ability to teach so that the elders could devote themselves to prayer and to teaching the word of God and training up the people of God in matters of righteousness and understanding of the scriptures.

They appointed the deacons to be able to serve the hands and feet of the body of Christ. So there you have that particular distinction, and it was making sure that every member of the body was cared for.

And Paul talks about this also in First Timothy chapter five. He says, honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return for their parents.

For this is pleasing in the sight of God. So if there's a widow in your church and there's children that are in your church of that widow, it should be their responsibility first to care for their mother.

And then if there is no children of theirs in the church, then it would become the responsibility of the church. So this is Paul even given the instruction to provide for your own household and not have to use resources that can therefore be invested in other places to care for the needs of people who truly do not have anybody to care for them.

So in going on in verse five, he says, she who is truly a widow left all alone is set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she who is self indulgent is dead even while she lives command these things as well so that they may be without reproach.

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for members of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So you understand the charge to care for people of our own household.

And we have the instruction kind of comes up again in chapter six, where the apostle Paul says that we need to realize that godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world.

But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich, I state that again. Verse nine, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierce themselves with many pangs. So Paul gives this instruction that for the rich, this is later on now in verse 17, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share the storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

And the treasure that Paul is talking about them storing up is not something that is here on earth, but something that is in heaven. That is what Christ talked about in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter six, where he said, store up your treasure in heaven for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Do not store up your treasure where moths and rust destroy or thieves break in and steal, but store it up in a place where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal it. That nothing can take from us the treasure that we have in Jesus Christ.

And so this is, we show that we love God and that we are the people of God. When we have the world's goods, we see our brothers and sisters in Christ in need and we provide for them. If someone closes their heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. And I come back again to first John three 19 by this. We know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. We know that we have the love of God in our heart when we are loving the people of God.

For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. So the assurance that we have is not based on anything that we have done, but a reminder that we have received forgiveness and grace and the love of God through Jesus Christ.

That is our assurance, not because of any of our works, but by the work of God. We are reminded of the work of God and therefore our heart does not condemn us. We have this also stated in second Timothy chapter two verses 11, 12 and 13.

If we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. But verse 13, if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.

So our assurance is in the work of Christ, not in our work. So therefore our heart does not condemn us. Even when we sin, we are reminded that we are forgiven in Christ because of the love that he has for us.

And even when we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. He knows those who are his. That's in first Corinthians chapter eight, verse 21.

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. James says you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives.

But if we ask with the right motive, keeping the commands of Christ and doing what pleases God, then God will give us our heart's desire because our heart's desire is for the will of God, not our own will, not selfishly desiring things to spend on our own passions, but so that we might do the work of the Lord, that his will would be done, not ours.

Verse 23, and this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he has commanded us. This is all the law and the prophets right here. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Here's the new commandment, verse 23, that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us to do. That's all the law and the prophets right there.

Earlier this week, there was a vintage video that was shared on Twitter, and I cannot remember who it was that shared this. I apologize. You can follow me on Twitter, by the way, Pastor underscore Gabe.

That's my name on Twitter. So anyway, this gentleman had shared this vintage John MacArthur video. It was about 20 minutes long. This was from back in the 70s. So MacArthur's looking crazy young in this particular video.

But he talked about Christianity in this video and what it truly meant to be a Christian. So I grabbed that short little snippet. I think this is about two minutes here or something like that. This is John MacArthur from back in the 70s saying what it truly means to be a Christian.

A Christian is somebody who has placed his personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who believes that Jesus is God, who entered into the world, who lived, who died on a cross as an atonement for sin, who rose on the third day.

Somebody who believes that. Paul says, if we believe in our heart that God is raising from the dead, if we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, we are saved. So that a Christian, not someone who goes to church necessarily, not someone who does good things, although I hope Christians go to church and do good things, but a Christian is one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation.

Amen. Thank you, Brother John.

So that wasn't even two minutes. That was just a 40 second clip. But anyway, so these are the evidences that we have that we've been saved by Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, period.

There is no other way that a person is saved. But we show evidence of this salvation that we have received. When we continue to proclaim this salvation, we believe that Jesus is the son of God, who was sent to earth to die on the cross for our sins, rise again from the grave.

When we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and we love one another, we love those who are of the household of faith. These are evidences that the work of God is being done in us because we are not of this world.

We are of the kingdom of God. We do what he has commanded us. This is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he has commanded us. And these are assurances that we have that we are saved.

Thank you so much to the Apostle John for giving us these assurances, helping us to understand our salvation according to the word of God that he wrote to the churches. Verse 24, whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him.

Jesus said to his disciples, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is who produces much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. So if we abide in God, God abides in us.

And by this, we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. The testimony of the Holy Spirit that lives within us is another assurance that we have. Now, understand me plainly. It's not the only assurance.

Lest anybody fall into the trap of believing that I feel saved. So therefore, I must be saved. That's not the only criteria that we use to understand the salvation that we have just because we feel it.

Because there are plenty of times I don't feel it. Trying to get up in the morning is one time that I don't feel like I'm saved. But the Holy Spirit does testify to us in our hearts, the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.

We heard the word of God proclaimed and we believed it because of the Holy Spirit that has been poured into our hearts. John is going to come back to this again in chapter five, where he says in verse six, the spirit is the one who testifies because the spirit is the truth.

He goes on, if we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater for this is the testimony of God that he has born concerning his son. We understand this and we have belief because of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

The Holy Spirit's Witness and the Assurance of Salvation

Do you know the the hymn, I serve a risen savior? I honestly feel like this hymn has gotten a bad rap because there's a line right at the very end of the chorus. Let me go ahead and read you the first verse and chorus of this song.

I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living. Whatever men may say, I see his hand of mercy. I hear his voice of cheer. And just the time I need him, he's always near chorus.

He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives. He lives salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart.

I'm going to be honest with you. I love that him and I'm going to keep singing that him until I die. Now, this is this is how that him has gotten a bad rap. It's because at the end of the chorus, it says, you ask me how I know he lives.

He lives within my heart. And there are some that try to say, well, no, the song should say, you ask me how I know he lives. The Bible tells me so. That's true. You came to the faith because the Bible told you of Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again from the grave.

That is the only way a person comes to faith by the word of God that has been proclaimed. But the Holy Spirit also testifies in our hearts that we have heard this word and believe it because we have the spirit.

So you ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart. There is nothing wrong with that answer. And in giving that answer, you're not saying I don't believe the Bible. I believe it because I feel it.

That's not what the song is saying. It is totally compatible with believing what the scriptures say and also knowing in our hearts that Jesus Christ has risen from the grave. Peter said, first, Peter, chapter three, verse 15, in your hearts, set apart Christ as holy, always ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you and do this with gentleness and respect.

It is within our heart that we know the truth of God because the Holy Spirit has been poured into our heart to hear the word of God proclaimed and believe it. You ask me how I know he lives because I know he lives within my heart because the Bible tells me so.

Yes, but also because the spirit testifies to the truth and God's spirit lives in me. Let us pray. Our Lord God, we praise you. We praise you for an ability to read the word of God and understand it. I'm personally, I'm reminded of conversations that I've had recently with those who don't believe it.

And no matter how much I try to show to them the truth of what is proclaimed in the scripture, they will go on believing the lie because their sinfulness prevents them from hearing the truth. Yet it is by your mercy and your grace that you broke through that heart of stone and you have cleansed and washed us by the Holy Spirit to be able to understand what we have heard proclaimed by the word of God, that we were broken in our sin, that we cried out for forgiveness and we have received it because your word is promised that it would be given to us in Jesus Christ.

Seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you. Knock and the door will be opened unto you. And so we have asked and it has been given and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, by the promises that are given in your word.

And so it is by that spirit, God, I pray that you would continue to reassure our hearts today by what we have read in this word and motivate us all the more to show love and charity first to the household of faith and also to those who are in this world who need to hear about the love of Christ and the gospel that saves from sin and death, delivering into the wonderful kingdom of God.

You are a good God who gives us many good things through Jesus Christ our Lord and we praise you in his name.

Amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.