We're in 1 John chapter three. Let's begin reading there in verse 18. My little children,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in
truth. And hereby we know that we are
of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth
all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we
ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and
do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his
commandment. that we should believe on the
name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave
us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments
dwelleth in him and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the spirit which he hath given us. Now we are continually exhorted in the scripture
not to be a people that are, whose external religion, for
lack of a better term, but whose external confession is not backed up by that which
is internal. Because it doesn't make any difference
how much of an impression that we might make or seek to make
on the people around us. If there's no truth of that within
our heart, it doesn't make any difference. You know, it's not
important. For all of the external workings
of men don't count for anything. You know, all of the things that
men boast in and labor to perform amount to nothing. The only thing
that matters is that which the Spirit of God is performing in
us. That's what the Lord told the
woman there at the well when she was kind of taken aback by
the things the Lord had said. And she said, well, our father
said to worship in this mountain. And the Jews say to worship there.
The Lord said, woman, you don't even know what you're talking
about. And he went on to say, the father seeketh such as worship
him in spirit and in truth. It doesn't matter what a man's
outward profession is. What matters is the work of God
in the heart of a man to constrain him to truly worship the Lord. And it's not done, it may result
in an external worship, we hope that it would, but we do know
that we cannot mistake external things for those things that
are true and lasting. And we must never seek to equate
the two, but seek that the Lord might make of us a people that
love him in spirit and truth, and that when we go about to
do those things he's commanded us to do, that we don't do it
simply in an external way, but because we desire it. That's
what he means. My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth. To love
someone in deed is as he has said, how sayeth, how, whoso
hath this world's goods and seeth his brother hath need and shut
up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of
God in him? How can a man say that he loves
his brother if he's not willing to manifest the love to his brother. Now, having said that, again,
let me back up. But we must never mistake the
fact that we do external things for that which he's speaking
of here. Don't ever get the cart ahead of the horse, but don't
ever forget that the horse is pulling the cart. That's an important
thing, that it is the Lord who is leading and directing and
guiding his people. And so that what we're talking
about is reality, not imagination. Sadly, much of today's what men
call religion or faith or whatever they want to name, they want
to give to it, much of that is simply an external work. It's
simply a thing done because men are obligated to do it. You know,
how often do we hear men say, well, I guess we ought to go
to church. Well, I wouldn't argue with that. You know, I believe
God's people ought to go to the meeting. But if the reason that
you go to the meeting is because you ought to, then you've missed
it. Because it's got to be something that's more than just I ought
to do it. You know, I mean, whenever we
ask a blessing over our food, which is probably one of the
more common things that people who profess to be Christians
would do is they would give thanks before they eat. Oh, that we
might be giving thanks. You know, not just going through
the motions, well, we better say the blessing. You know, we
can't eat without saying the blessing. I heard somebody say,
well, this has been years ago, they said, oh, we can't eat yet
because if we don't ask the blessing, we might get indigestion. Well,
if the reason you're asking the blessing on the food is so you
don't get indigestion, then you might as well go on and eat.
You know, because that's not what the Lord's called us to
do. Let us not love in word, but in deed and truth. And hereby,
we know that we're of the truth and shall assure our hearts before
him. How shall we assure our hearts
before him? Persuade. We talked about that
last week. And then he goes on to say, for
if our heart condemn us, God's greater than our heart, and knoweth
all things. Now you know, that's one thing
that ought to strike fear into the heart of every man that's
ever read that. Some people like, they want to
take comfort in that. And we do take comfort in it
as we come to know who the Lord is for sure. But a lot of people
say, well, the Lord knows my heart. You ever heard that? And they boast, oh man, the Lord
knows my heart. He knows that I'm really a pretty
good guy inside. Well, if anything ought to ever
strike fear into a man would be to know that God does know
your heart. Because when a man comes to the
place where he recognizes that God knows his heart, he will
cast himself down at the feet of the Lord and say, Lord, cleanse
me, help me. I'm perishing. And so it is that
the Lord does know all things. But that does bring comfort to
the children of God. For if our heart condemns us,
God's greater than our heart. He knows all things. He knows.
What did he say to Jacob? Jacob whom he loved. Now he said
he loved him. He said, I hated Esau, but I
loved Jacob. But he said, thou worm, Jacob. But he knew what Jacob was. See,
he didn't love Jacob because he was a good man. He loved him
because he loved him. Now that's a glorious thing.
The Lord saves sinners. And who would be saved if the
Lord didn't save them? And he doesn't save them because
he did something, but he saves them because he is the Lord of
salvation. What a glorious God he is. For
if our heart condemn us, God's greater than our heart knoweth
all things. And even though we should be
cast away, Yet God is greater than our heart and the salvation
which is given to us is not bestowed in any wise upon what we know,
what we did, where we came from, or anything else, but it is in
God who knoweth all things. And the scripture says the Lord
what knows them that are his. Now that's a glorious thing,
is it not? The Lord knows every one of his
children. See, when he was, his disciples, they were passing
along, and the scripture says that the Lord must needs go through
Samaria. He had a need to go through Samaria.
Can you imagine that? That the God who made all things,
created all things by his hand in the scripture says that he
needed to do something. He needed to go through Samaria.
Now there was no outside force compelling him to go through
Samaria, but he needed to go through Samaria. Why? Because
there was a woman there who was coming to a well to draw water. She didn't know that he was gonna
be there, but he did. And he knew she was gonna be
there because he ordered her steps. See, what if she'd have
got up that morning and she'd have hadn't felt like going to
draw water that morning? What would have happened? Well,
it couldn't have happened because the Lord ordered the steps of
his people. He brings his people by way which
they knew not. She didn't know that morning
when she got up to go draw water that this was gonna be a day
when her life was completely transformed. And the glory of
God filled her soul. She had no idea. But the Lord
did. Because he determined before
she ever drew breath, before she was ever born, he determined
that he would meet with her by that well because he loved her
with an everlasting love. That's the Lord's thing. He knoweth
all things. There's none of his children
that can ever perish because he knows them. He knows what
they are, and he knows that they would perish if he left them. He knows that they'd never come
to him if he didn't come to them. Oh, what a glorious master he
is. He knoweth all things. Beloved,
if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God. Oh, you see, the work of God
is not to bring us to a place where we're satisfied with what
we are, but we're satisfied with Him. And the only way that a
sinner can ever be satisfied is to rest in Christ. to cast
himself at the mercy of Christ. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. This he gives you. This he gives
you. Tis the Spirit's rising beam. Oh, what a glorious thing that
is. That everything that his people need, he supplies. And if our heart condemns us,
God's greater than our heart. There's no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus. There's nothing that can bring
them into condemnation. And if God doesn't condemn us,
who will? Remember the woman taking in
adultery? Can you imagine the fear and
dread that was in her mind and heart as she lay there on that
ground, knowing that she was a sinner and that her sin had
been uncovered, and that she was brought before this one,
and expecting any minute for stones to rain down upon her
head, and knowing that she deserved whatever happened to her, but
yet, The Lord, who's rich in mercy, said to her, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. Oh, what
a glorious thing. You see, the Lord knew her when
she was committing acts of adultery. It's like he knew this woman
there at the well who had five husbands. He knew her. Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, then we have confidence toward God, because it is as
the Lord works in his people to trust him, that we have confidence,
otherwise we can't. That's what he said up here,
is it not? and shall assure our hearts before him. How do we
assure our hearts before him? We talked about this some last
week. Can you say, well, I remember when I came to know the Lord
and so I'm gonna be assured of my salvation because I look back
and I see something that I did. No, our assurance is in him. Knowing who he is, he knoweth
all things. And because he knoweth all things,
we have no ground to stand on. If you think you're hiding something
from God, you might think you can get by with something, but
if you know that you are naked and bare before him, there's
no place of refuge, dear brother. No place of refuge for a sinner,
and that's where the Lord would bring sinners, is down to his
feet, confessing what they are by nature. Then have we confidence toward
God, and listen to this. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight. Now some people have taken this
verse completely out of its context in which it's given here, and
say, well, you know, if you want a Cadillac, what you need to
do is really start praying. Because you know the Lord said
he'd give you whatever you asked. Whatever you need. I mean, the
Lord's like a heavenly vending machine. You just bring and put
in enough faith in the slot, and lo and behold, out will come
exactly what you want, whatever you ask for. Well, that's not
at all what it's saying. It said, beloved, if our heart
condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God, and whatsoever
we ask, we receive of him, because what do we ask? Lord, help me. Lord, I need you. Lord, you are
the one who fulfills my every desire. Can a sinner ever be
turned away from the Lord? Did the Lord say, come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I'm meek and lowly
of heart. Did he say those things to men
to fool them? Did he say those things to sinners
so that the man who's convinced of his unrighteousness before
God should ever come to him and find out, well, the Lord turned
him away? Is such a thing possible? Whatsoever
we ask. You see, the man, The man that
comes to the Lord will receive the things that he asked because
he asked, oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's not talking
about asking anything you asked for. God's not a genie in a bottle
that you can rub and he'll come out whenever you get ready for
him. He's not a little puppy dog that calls whenever you want
him to come so you can pet him. Our God is in the heavens, David
said. He hath done whatsoever he is
pleased. And what he is pleased to do
is to save sinners. That's a glorious message, dear
brethren. He will save those who are unrighteous. He'll save those that have no
coverings. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him. We'll receive from him exactly
what we desire. Because we keep his commandments.
Oh, you mean, so we get what he wants by, we go back to the
Ten Commandments. Now is that what he's talking
about here? He's gonna tell you here in the next verse what he's
talking about. He's not talking about the Ten
Commandments. Because we keep his commandments, what's he say? And this is his commandment.
Here it is. That we should believe on the
name of his son, Jesus Christ. and love one another, as he gave
his commandment. Oh, dear brethren, to keep the
commandments of God is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. For
whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life. Who are those that will believe?
Well, first of all, they are those whom the Lord calls. They're
those whom the Lord loves. They're the ones whom the Lord
brings out of darkness and into the light. They believe because
he gives them faith. See, faith's the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. And so when he gives a
commandment, when he said to the man who was sick of the palsy,
And he said, rise up and walk. Did the man have to make any
kind of a decision? Did he say, well, Lord, I gotta
think about this for a while. I don't know if I'm ready yet.
You ever heard anybody say, well, I don't know if I'm ready yet.
Well, you're not. Because you see, when a man gets
ready, he'll call out unto the Lord. and all those who believe shall
surely be received. That's what he says. And this
is how we assure our hearts before him. It's not a work that we perform,
but it's a work he performs in us. And we're assured, why? Because Christ died. Say, what's
my assurance? What's the assurance that we're
given? It's not what we did or where we've been or anything
else. What it is is that Christ died. That's our confession.
That's what we believe. That's where we take our stand
to live or to die. Just like we sang there a moment
ago. But if I die with mercy sought, when I the king have
tried, this were to die. Delightful thought, as sinner
never dies. Oh, what a glorious thing. See,
the Lord commands his children to believe. And when the Lord commands his
children to believe, they will. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. If a man's not willing to seek
the Lord, it's because the Lord hasn't called him. Because you
see, when the Lord calls a man, he'll be willing. He'll be ready. He'll say, oh God, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. Because you see, when a man comes
to a place of faith, he's not boasting in what he believes,
he don't even think he can believe. He don't even know how to believe.
You can't tell a man how to believe, he can't. Face the gift of God,
but when God, who is full of mercy and kindness to sinners,
when he visits a sinner and he says, come unto me. You can be
sure of this, that he will come unto him. Because you see, that
come unto me is not a request. When the Lord said, come unto
me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, that's not a request.
See, that's not what some people say, well, it's an open invitation.
It's not an open invitation. It's an absolute command that
the Lord has given to sinners. And he said, come unto me! Because
you see, he's the one that makes the sinner a sinner. He's the
one that causes a man to see himself lost and undone and without
help and without hope. But he never brings a man to
such a place as that that he does not visit him with mercy. Because a bruised reed will he
not break, and smoking flax will he not quench? But you see, he
calls sinners, and he tenderly calls sinners unto himself, and
he says, come, come unto me. This is his commandment, that
we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and
love one another, as he gave us commandment. We can't do anything else. See,
God's people are gonna love God's people. He goes on in this chapter
to tell us that very thing. Hereby we know that we're of
the truth because we what? We love the brethren. It's not
that we love the brethren and therefore that makes us of the
truth. It's because if we love the truth, Then we're gonna love
the brethren. Why? Because these are our brothers
in Christ. And if we love Christ, we have
to love those who are in Christ. It can't be any other way. And he that keepeth his commandments
does what? He dwells in him. See, that's
the place where we assure our hearts before him is that we
dwell in him. Not by our own power. But that's
a place we desire to be, and hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the spirit which he hath given us. Oh, that he might work in us. See, a lot of times, those who
know themselves to be sinners, they don't necessarily feel like
that They're of the Lord. They don't
always feel like everything's rosy and good and time's great. Sometimes they seek the Lord
and they can't find him. Sometimes they're like the prophet
who said he prayed but he said the heavens were his brass. It was like the Lord had gone
somewhere. But you see, we assure our hearts before him, dear brethren,
because it doesn't matter what our prayers are. What matters
is that he is the one who is our Lord and our Savior. And he abideth in us by the Spirit
which he hath given us. Paul said it. If any man be in
Christ, behold, he is a new creature. He's a new creation. It's what
the Lord told Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It's
the work of God. From first to last. No in between. There's no God's part and man's
part. You ever heard that? I'm going
to tell you about God's part of salvation and I'm going to
tell you about man's part. Well, I'm not going to tell you
about man's part because there ain't no part that man has in
it. The salvation from first to last
is of the Lord. It's like Jonah confessed. You
reckon you could have convinced Jonah that he could make a decision
when he was in the belly of that fish? Now, he'd already give up on
all that. He knew there was only one thing, only one way in which
he could be delivered out of this darkness that he was in.
Of course, see, he was in an irreparable situation. There wasn't another way out.
In fact, he didn't think there was any way out. You think he thought, well, here
I am in this fish, and man, any minute now, he's gonna vomit
me up out on the, on the land. You think that thought ever went
through his mind? No, he figured he was none for. He was a sinner! He was hapless! But he said salvation is of the
Lord. And the scripture says immediately. He was vomited out on the dry
land. Now you know he probably didn't
smell very good. when he was first come out of
that fish. And amazingly, probably one of
the first things he did, doesn't tell us this, I'm speculating,
he probably jumped back in the water so he could get cleaned
up. He said, man, I gotta get this stuff off of me. Just like
Lazarus when he came forth out of the tomb. See, he didn't come
walking out of there. because he was bound in grave
clothes. So he didn't stride out with
the air of invincibility. But he just came out. He was
a mummy. He came out of the tomb. He was alive, but he was still
wrapped in the grave clothes. And the Lord said to those that
stood by, said, Lucy, and let him go. Oh, dear brethren, what
a glorious message is the gospel of God's amazing and sovereign
grace that he says to sinners, I have loosed you from all that
which held you down. And I have determined to bring
you to where I am. What a glorious thing. He abides
in us. Even sometimes when it does not appear to us that we
abide in Him. He never forsakes those that
belong to Him.