And I want you to think about
what comes to your mind when you read these two verses. First John chapter five, verse
14 and 15. And this is the confidence that
we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will,
he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
desired of him. Now, whenever I read that verse,
this is what comes to my mind. If my faith is strong enough,
my prayers will be answered. That's what I think. If my faith
is strong enough, my prayers will be answered and I'll know
they're answered. Let me read the New International
version of this verse. This is the confidence that we
have in approaching God. that if we ask anything according
to his will, he heareth us. Now, what was left out? Did you
notice? What was left out? This is the
confidence we have in him. That's the key. This is the confidence that we
have in him. Our confidence is not in our
confidence. Our confidence is not in our faith. Our confidence
is in him. Now, I'd like to begin this message
by considering the according to his will part. Verse 14, this
is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything
according to his will. according to His will, He heareth
us. Now listen to this statement
real carefully. The will of God is who He is. You know, most religious folks,
when they think of the will of God, they think, well, what's God's
will for my life? What's God's will for me to do? What's God's
will for me? Where would he have me work?
Or who would he have me marry? Or what should I do this day?
Or what should I give? And think about all these things.
What is God's will for me? Well, let's, anything that happens
is God's will. Somebody says, I want to know
God's will. You're up to your neck in it. You really are. But God's will is who he is. He's God. And whatever he wills,
that's who he is. That's what he's like. His will,
what he wills. He's God infinitely above the
level of finite comprehension. solitary in his excellency and
in his glory. I love that hymn we just sang,
O ye servants of God, your master proclaim. I thought it was so
glorious to him. There's none like him. He has said to work all things.
after the counsel of his own will. And we read of the eternal
purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord, all that
happens in time. Everything that happened to you
today, everything that will happen tomorrow, all events, everything
on the other side of the world from mundane, seemingly unimportant
things, to catastrophic events, to great events. They all happen
according to His will. It's God's will being done. God decrees in eternity all things
that happen in time. Do you like it that way? I do. I wouldn't want it to be any
other way. Now, what he has decreed is eternal. It's nothing new. It's always
been. All wise, free, uninfluenced by any external thing. It's only found, the reason is
only found in himself. I love this scripture, Job 23,
13, that he is one mind and who can turn him. and what his soul
desireth, even that he doeth. Our God is in the heavens, he
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Now, that's who he is
when we talk about his will. At his pleasure, the Red Sea
divided. At his pleasure, The earth was
opened up and the sons of Korah were consumed as we saw last
Sunday night. At his pleasure, the sun stands
still. At his pleasure, the sun moves
back 10 degrees. At his pleasure, the mouths of
the hungry lions are stopped when Daniel is thrown into the
den. At his pleasure, the flames of
fire are unable to even singe a hair of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, as the Son of God is there with them. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he in earth and in heaven. in heaven
and earth and the sea and in all deep places. Now that's what
we're talking about when we're talking about the will of God.
Everything that happens is according to his will. His will was demonstrated
in creation when he spake the world into existence simply as
an act of his will. Now you think of your will. How
much ability do you have to make sure your will comes to pass? Zero. You know how much control we mean
you have? None. None. I always think it's interesting
to be around control freaks. What a waste of time, because
you have no control. His will is seen in salvation. If you're saved, it's because
he willed your salvation. That's why you're saved. He willed
it and caused it to come to pass. He has the power, he has the
right to make his will always come to pass, and he does always
make his will come to pass. Now, in his sovereign decree,
according to his will, He has willed that his will come to
pass through the prayers of his people. And that's how we understand
the sovereignty of his will and prayer. He has willed everything
that happens to come to pass through the prayers of his people. Now turn with me to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36. Beginning in verse 22. Therefore, say unto the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for my own holy name's sake, which you
have profaned among the heathen, whether you went." Now he's getting
ready to tell us what he's going to do. He first tells us, I'm
not doing it for your sake, because this is not some kind of response
to your obedience. I'm doing this for my holy name's
sake. Now look what he says. I will
sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen,
which you have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen
shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall
be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from
among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and
will bring you back into your own land." Talking about taking
them out of the captivity. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness, from
all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I'll give
you a heart of flesh, and I'll put my spirit within you and
cause you to walk in my statutes. And you shall keep my judgments
and do them. Because I will, and you shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be
my people. I will be your God. I will also
save you from all your uncleanness. And I will call for the corn
and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will
multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field
that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the
heathen. Don't you love the I wills and you shalls of scripture?
I will, you shall. I will, you shall. And this is part of this verse
31. Then should you remember your own evil ways and your doings
that were not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own
sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Now, this
is part of the blessing of the new heart. This is the normative
way of a believer seeing themselves. You know, you read Romans chapter
seven. That's the statement of a healthy believer. That's the
regular experience of the believer. Romans chapter 7. Verse 32, he
reminds, not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord, be it
known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for
your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God, in the
day that I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will
also cleanse you to dwell in the city, cause you to dwell
in the cities. The waste shall be builded, and the desolate
shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all
that pass by it. Then they shall say, this land that was desolate
has become like the Garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate
ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the heathen
that are left around about you shall know that I, the Lord,
build the ruined places. and plant that which was desolate.
I, the Lord, have spoken it, I will do it." Now, do you see
that? He's talking about what he's gonna do. Verse 37, thus
saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the
house of Israel to do it for them. I'm gonna do this and you're
gonna ask me to do it. Now, If the Lord has shown mercy on
you, it was God's eternal purpose to do so. Amen. You know that's so. And you're
going to ask for mercy. You're going to say, God, be
merciful to me, the sinner. You know, if God has saved you,
he moved somebody to pray for you. He acts through the prayers of
his people. Somebody said, if God is absolutely
sovereign and everything is already determined, why pray? That's
really stupid to think something like that. Just really dumb.
If I think that way, shame on me. This is the way the Lord
accomplishes his purposes. I will yet be inquired of, of
the house of Israel to do this for them. Now, prayer is not
our attempt to get God to do what we want him to do and to
give us what we want him to give us. That's not prayer. Let me
repeat, that's not prayer. It has nothing to do with prayer.
Prayer is God's way of bringing our will in line with his will. He purposes something, He moves
us to pray for it, we pray for it, He gives it. That is prayer. And you know, our attitude with
regard to the will of God. God willing, we'll do this. God
willing, We'll do that. We don't just think of anything
apart from God's will. It's up to God's will as to whether
or not we're going to do this or do that. And when we ask for
something, we say, Lord, give us this if it's according to
your will. And if it's not according to your will, we do not want
it. We only want his will. And we say, take my will and
make it thine. It shall be no longer mine, not
my will. but thine be done. Back to our text. Verse 14, and this is the confidence
that we have in him. The we is every believer. This
is not some special group of believers who have more faith
than others, and therefore their prayers are answered more effectively.
It's not believers who have more confidence that their prayers
are heard and have more of the ear of God. This is the same
we that Peter used when he said, we believe that to the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. Same way. This we represents all of God's
elect. Same way that John when he said,
we love him because he first loved us. The same way that Paul
used when he said, we know. That all things work together
for good, to them that love God, to them that are called according
to his purpose. Every believer knows that. The we is every believer. And this is the confidence we
have in him. This is not confidence in our
faith. This is not confidence in our
having the ear of God and we know He'll hear us. This is confidence
that we have in Him. That's the key. That's the most
important statement. This is the confidence that we
have in Him. Now, it's interesting that in all these other versions
I've looked at, most of them left out in Him. They just left
it out. Left it out. Why? Because they have no understanding. That's when people are trying
to make an interpretation rather than a translation, because in
him is in the original. This is the confidence that we
have in him. This is not self-confidence.
This is not confidence in the flesh. We have no confidence
in the flesh. This is not confidence in our faith. This is not confidence
in the reality of our experience of grace. This is not confidence
in the fruit of God the Holy Spirit that He's given us, for
the grace He's given us, this is simply confidence in Him. In Him. Now what is meant by
in Him? Would you turn with me to 1 John
chapter 3? You know, I do have confidence in
Him. I don't have any confidence in myself. I don't have any confidence
in you. But I have confidence in Him.
And if you're in Him, everything's gonna be fine. Look in verse
4 of 1 John chapter 3. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law. For sin is the transgression
of the law. And you know that he was manifested
to take away our sins. That's why he came, to take away
our sins. Question, did he do it? Did he do it? Yeah, and that's why in him is
no sin. That's the confidence we have
in him. In him, is no sin. If I'm in him, I have no sin. Verse six, whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not. Most people say, well, that means
you don't sin habitually or make a practice of sin. That's not
the bent and tenor of your life. You have victory in your life.
And that is not meaning you don't sin, but that's what it says.
In Him. What does it mean to abide in
Him? I know exactly what it means to abide in Him. You abide in
Him when you don't want to be found anywhere but in Him, and
you won't go outside of Him. You know it's only because He
keeps you in Him, but you're just like in the house with the
blood over the door. Would you have stuck your head
out the window? I wouldn't. Good grief, I just want to be
in that house. I don't want to be anywhere else. I want to be
in the Lord Jesus Christ where all God sees is Jesus Christ. And he that abideth in Him Sineth
not. I don't understand that. Well,
I don't much understand it either, but I believe it. I believe it. He that abideth in him sinneth
not. And that's the confidence we
have in him. And I think it's interesting.
This word confidence is the word usually translated boldness. This is the boldness we have
in him. I love that passage of scripture
in Acts chapter four, verse 13, after Peter had preached the
gospel. The scripture says, when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John. I mean, when these fellows were
preaching the gospel, and we're gonna back down, They believed
what they were saying. They spoke without ambiguity.
They spoke not in shadows. Everybody knew exactly what they
were saying. And they were struck with the
boldness of these men, the courage in the face of people who were
adversaries to them. They couldn't help but see this
when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. They took knowledge
of them, that they had been with Jesus. Let me show you a few
scriptures regarding this then. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3. Verse 12. In whom? I love those in hymns, don't
you? In whom? We have, not we ought to have,
we have in him. In whom we have boldness and
access, freedom of entrance. I'm always welcome. I'm always
welcome. There's not a time when I'm not
welcome. What about when you sin? I'm welcome. When do I not
sin? I'm welcome. Access. We have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of Him. Don't you love that? Not by faith
in Him, but by the faith of Him. Turn to Hebrews chapter four. Now I'm going to be saying things
that I believe, from the word of God that I think are glorious, that I wish I had more of a intellectual
grasp of them, but I don't. I don't. That's all right. That's
all right. Verse 16, let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Now, it doesn't say, let us come boldly. It says, let us therefore
come boldly. There's something that he said
that is the reason we can come boldly. Well, what did he say? Look in verse 14. Seeing that
we have a great high priesthood, that has passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. Now there's a man in glory right
now, the Son of God, passed into the heavens, representing His
people. And what a high priest He is.
He's a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Wherefore
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Oh,
what a high priest we have. Look in Hebrews chapter nine, verse 11. The Christ, being come
in high priest, of good things to come. Remember, this is why
we can come boldly to the throne of grace, because of our great
high priest. But Christ, being coming high priest of good things
to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by
the blood of ghosts and calves, but by his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Look in verse 24. For Christ
has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God. What are those next two words?
For us. For us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with the blood of others. For then must he have often suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and he bore them in his own body
on the tree, and unto them that looked for him shall he appear
the second time without sin. It's been put away. It's gone. Unto salvation. Now go back to
Hebrews chapter 4. Seeing then that we have this
great high priest that's passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
son of God, let us hold fast our profession, our confession. What is our confession? Our confession
to Christ is all we have. It's that he is all. Our confession
is our only hope, is his priesthood, him representing me. Let us hold
fast our confession for, verse 15, for we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Now I used to scratch my head
at that verse. How can he be sympathetic toward
me and be touched with the feelings of my infirmities if he's never
sinned? Now how can he be touched by
my feelings of helplessness and weakness, weakness before temptation,
guilt, shame. How could he be touched if he's
never sinned? Now here's something I don't
understand. He never sinned. But when he
was made sin, everything there is about sin, with the exception
of the commission of it, he experienced. He experienced weakness, shame,
guilt, humiliation. He owned the sins of his elect
as his own sins. And when I When I am so ashamed of my own
weakness in sinfulness and my fall, he's touched and moved
to sympathy because he's felt that much more acutely and keenly
than I ever have because of who he is. Now he's touched by the
feeling of our weaknesses. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore, there's the
reason. Let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace. It's a throne. We don't come
irreverently. We come in fear, he's a mighty
God with a mighty throne, but it's a throne of grace. Why do
we come boldly? To obtain mercy and find grace
to help. When do we do this? In time of
need. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 19, having therefore brethren
boldness, confidence to enter into the holiest, the
very presence of God, the presence of His holiness. Having therefore
brethren boldness to enter the holiness. How? One way, by the
blood of Jesus. by that new, freshly slaughtered
and living way. That's where our boldness is.
It's not in anything but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 John 2. Verse 28. And now, little children,
abide in him I don't want to be anywhere else to you. And
now little children abide in him that when he shall appear,
and this is talking about his second coming, that when he shall
appear, we may have confidence. That word is the same word, boldness,
that we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at
his coming. Now, the only way I can have
boldness in his coming is if I'm in Him. That's the only way. Somebody says, well, I've got
my life regulated to where I'm ready for Him to come back. I've
had so many people ask me before, are you ready for Him to come
back? Well, yeah. I'm more ready than you are.
You're going to be in for a surprise. My boldness is in Christ. Look
in 1 John chapter 4. Verse 17, herein is our love
made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
confidence, boldness, not worried about a thing. I mean, peace,
cheerful, peace, standing before God in judgment. Now, how can
that be? How can you have boldness on
the day of judgment? Because as he is. How is he? Perfectly righteous. absolutely holy, beautiful to
the Father, perfect as He is. So are we in this world right
now. Now this is the result of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm one with Him as He is. So am I right now. in this world. And then in our text in verse
1 John chapter 5 verse 14, this is the confidence that we have
in Him. That if we ask anything according
to His will, we know it's going to have to be according to His
will. And if it's according to His will, we don't, if it's not
according to His will, we really don't want to do it. We don't. We don't. Lord, make it to where
the only will I want is your will. John Bunyan was speaking to a
dying lady and he said, do you want to live or do you want to
die? And she said, well, whatever the Lord's will is. And he said,
well, I know that, but if you had your choice, what would it
be? She said, whatever the will of the Lord is. And that is to
be by God's grace, our attitude. Now we understand something about
the sovereignty and the supremacy of his will. And this is the
confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything, as long
as it's in accordance with his will, he hears us. And if it's
not according to his will, we don't want it to take place.
But think of these scriptures, and I'm so thankful for these
scriptures. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall
find. Knock, and it shall be opened
to you. Which of you, if you have a son
and he asks for bread, do you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, you
give him a serpent, a snake. Or if he asks for an egg, you
give him a scorpion. You don't do that. And I love
what the Lord said. He was saying, he was speaking
to his people at this time. He wasn't talking to unbelievers,
he was talking to people. He said, if you then, what next? Being evil. If the Lord said that to me,
well, he does. If you then being evil know how
to give your children good gifts, how much more shall your heavenly
father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Be careful for nothing. Now,
do you hear that? Be careful, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known. unto God and the peace of God
which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. I love that hymn by John Newton,
Come my soul, thy soup prepare, for Jesus loves to answer prayer. He himself has bid thee pray,
and therefore will not say thee name. Thou art coming to a king,
large petitions with thee bring for his grace and power such
that none can ever ask too much. Now look at verse 15. And if we know that he hears,
and this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask
anything according to his will, he hears us. I'm just sure of
that. And it doesn't have anything
to do with me. It's the confidence that we have in him. Now, and
if we know that He hears whatsoever we ask that was according to
His will, of course, we know that we have the petitions we
desired of Him. We know that we have the requests
we made. Now, this is not a verse of scripture
about how to get God to answer prayer. I looked for sermons
on this. I didn't listen to any of them
because all of them are about this. How to get your prayers
answered. How to get your prayers answered. And that's not what
this is about. This is about the supremacy of
his will. And we have about the same understanding
the leper did of the supremacy of his will. Lord, if you will. You can make me whole. Now, this confidence we have
in him is all of our confidence in him. He is no sin. Now, is there any
reason for me and you to not have this confidence in him?
No, there's not. Lord, you said in your word,
as it was you that said this, sin shall not have dominion over
you. For you're not under law, but under grace. Lord, you said
that. Let not sin have dominion over me. Lord, you said in your
word, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I'm
one of them. Save me. You said this, not me. You said,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Lord, I'm calling. Save me by who you are. Save
me. Lord, you said him to come to
me out and no wise cast out. Lord, by your grace, I'm coming.
And you said, be careful for nothing but in everything, my
prayer and supplication. Oh, that's too trite to pray
about. No, it's not. I don't care what it is. Aren't
you interested in anything that your kids are interested in?
Anything that's important to them is important to you. And
you know, that's the way the Heavenly Father is with his children.
This is the confidence we have in him, that if we ask anything
according to his will, we have the petitions that we require
of him. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your will, the good and acceptable
and perfect will of God Lord, how we thank you that all things
happen according to your will. And Lord, we do have confidence
in your son. Oh, Lord, we know you're pleased
with him and we know you're pleased with everybody in him. And Lord,
our only confidence is in him. We have no confidence in anything
but in him. Lord, we ask that you would direct
our prayers. Lord, we don't know what to pray
for. We ask that you would direct our prayers, that they would
be inspired by thy spirit for your glorious will to be done. And Lord, cause us to be a praying
people that deliver us from fatalism and indifference and Oh, Lord,
make us be to be a people that calls upon my name and that praise. Oh, Lord, let us be men and women
of prayer. Lord, how we thank you for the
salvation that's in him. In his name we pray. Amen. Matt
Cunliffe.