Would you turn back to 1 John
chapter 3? I'd like to read these verses
again. And let me give you the title of this message. God is
greater than our heart. And I think you'll see why I
entitled it as we read this passage of scripture again, verse 19,
1 John chapter 3. 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 know with all things, beloved,
if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God. Now, there are three things necessary
for us to understand the scriptures. Number one. Number one, the Holy
Spirit. There is no understanding of
any scriptures just by natural intellect. I have to have God,
the Holy Spirit, open my understanding that I might understand the scriptures. And number two, when we look
at a passage of scripture, we need to look at it in the light
of all other scriptures. If it doesn't line up with all
other scriptures, we haven't got the proper meaning. We have
to be able to throw the whole book at every scripture. And
number three, we have to look at the scriptures with an honest
heart, not a deceitful heart, but an honest heart. Now, let me show you what I'm
talking about. For instance, verse 21. Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, then have we confidence before God. Now, when our lives
are such that there's no allowed sin, we may fall every now and
then, We can't help it, we don't claim perfection, but there is
no known sin in our lives, and our lives are such that there's
nothing to condemn us for. That's when we can have confidence
before God. And that's the way a lot of people
look at this passage of scripture. If your heart condemns you, you're
in bad shape. God's greater than your heart,
and he really condemns you. If you condemn yourself, think
how much he condemns you. But if you have confidence, if
you have confidence in your life and your conduct and so on, then
have we confidence toward God. Now, let me say a couple of things.
Nobody taught by the Spirit of God would talk like that. No,
sir. And if that's your experience,
is it? Well, if it is, you're not honest. You've lied to God, you've lied
to yourself, and you're lying to me. If you say, that's my
experience. I feel like my life is such that
I can have confidence. My victory over sin is to the
point that I feel like I can have confidence toward God. That
kind of thinking is just dishonest. And if you continue in that,
Or if I continue in that kind of thinking, all I'll prove is
I've never really been saved. That's what that means. Isaiah
63 verse 8 says that God's children are children that will not lie. Now, there's not a time, there's
not a day that goes by, I'm sure, when I don't lie. As a matter
of fact, anything I say, if I say it, it's a lie. Even if I tell
the truth, even if there's no inaccuracy in anything I'm saying,
I'm saying it in such a way as to build me up and probably tear
somebody else down. Now, that's just the way it is. But one thing God's people will
not do is lie before God. They will not pretend to be what
they really are not. They're honest before God. This
is what is spoken of in Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2. Blessed is
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not imbue sin, and in whose spirit
That's the new man, the new spirit, in whose spirit there is no guile,
no deceit. They're honest before God. Do
you remember the parable of the sower? What soil received the
word? The soil that's described by
the Lord Jesus as an honest and good heart. Now, may we have,
as we look at this passage of Scripture, the Spirit of God,
may we be enabled to look at this passage of Scripture in
light of other Scriptures to know what the meaning is, and
may we deal with this passage of Scripture honestly. Now, wouldn't
that be a blessing if the Lord gives us the grace to do those
three things? Now, in verse 19, he says, And
hereby, in this, is what that means, in this, we know that
we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him.
Now, look at the confidence John speaks up with. Hereby know we
that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before
God. Now, what's it mean to be of
the truth? Turn to John 18. John 18. Verse 37. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am king. To this end was I born. He was born the king of the Jews.
And for this cause came I into the world that I should bear
witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. For this end came I into this
world that I should bear witness. And that word bear witness is
where we get the word martyr from. Someone who bears witness
by his death. Now understand this, the Lord
wasn't a martyr. Let me repeat that. The Lord
was not a martyr. He was a propitiation. He was
a sin-removing sacrifice. He wasn't a martyr, but what
did he bear witness by his death? He bore witness by his death
of what me and you really are. You'll never know anything about
your own personal sinfulness apart from the cross. Now, let me repeat that. Believe
this. Believe this. You will never
know anything about your own personal sinfulness apart from
seeing that one hanging on that tree. Let me tell you what that
means. That means that I am so evil that if left to myself I
would kill God and put myself in his place. Now that's the
truth. Our Lord bore witness by his
death of the true character of man, my true character, your
true character. That's how evil you and I really
are. You believe that? Well, it's
so, whether we believe it or not, it's so. The Lord bore witness
to the truth about me from the cross, and the Lord bore witness
to the true character of God. God is not known apart from the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no knowledge of God,
there's no understanding of God, there's no salvation apart from
a knowledge of God in the cross. You know the cross, the Lord
hanging there on that cross displays every attribute of God. His holiness,
His justice, His sovereignty, His immutability, His grace,
every attribute that He has been pleased to make known is displayed
in the cross. Do you see that kind of glory
in the cross? And the true character of salvation is displayed. The Lord bore witness to the
truth on the cross. Here's the true character of
salvation. He is salvation. He accomplished salvation on
Calvary's tree when he said, it is finished. The salvation
of all of the elect was finished. Isn't that great? That's good. My salvation was accomplished
by what he did. He bore witness to the truth.
And notice he says, everyone that is of the truth. Remember
John said, we know we're of the truth and our hearts will assure
us before God. Everyone that is of the truth,
heareth my voice. Turn to John chapter eight, verse 45. And because I tell you the truth,
John 8, 45. Because I tell you the truth.
You know everything the Lord said is the truth, isn't it?
Because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of
you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth God's
words, You therefore hear them not because you are not of God."
Now, you're of the truth when you believe the truth and when
you love the truth. You're of the truth when you
believe the truth. You really believe that Christ
bore witness to absolute truth on Calvary. You believe that.
And not only do you believe it, you love it. You love the way
God is, as is revealed in the gospel. And when we know we're
of the truth, our hearts are assured before God, we hear his
voice, the voice of truth. Now look in verse 20 of our text
in 1 John chapter three. Four, if our heart condemn us. Now a couple of things I want
to say at first. Notice John says, if our heart condemns us. He doesn't speak as an apostle
and bend down to the ignorant multitudes and say, if your heart
condemns you. Mine's like, if your heart condemns
you, he says, if our heart condemns us. And this if is the same if
as if any man sins. It's not supposing that there's
some possibility that you won't sin. As a matter of fact, in
1 John 3, verse 2, this same Greek particle is translated,
when, when. And you can just as easily translate
this, when our hearts condemn us. Now, I've got to say this,
my heart condemns me all the time. Do you know anything about a
condemning heart? How can I be saved? How can I really know the Lord
when I'm such a hypocrite, such an actor, such a pretender, such
a fraud? How can I be saved with such
sin in my life? That's called a condemning heart. How can I be saved if I commit
the same sins over and over? And even when I confess them,
I know deep down I'll commit them again. How can I be saved
if I'm like that? How can I really love Christ
when my heart is so hard? How can I have the grace of God
in my heart when there's so little self-denial, so much unbelief,
such weak desires for holiness, such strong desires for sin? How can I be converted when I
can hear the Gospel and still be unmoved? How can I be saved? Now that's the questions of a
condemning heart. You know, John Newton wrote this.
And I've heard people criticize this. Maybe I have before. But
he wrote this song that starts with these words. "'Tis a point
I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? If I am, why am I thus? Why this
dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure could they be worse
who have never known His name. Now that is a condemning heart. Now I've heard people say, if
your wife says, honey, do you love me? You better not say,
tis a point I long to know. I can understand that. Stay away
from that. But I can also understand of what John Newton is saying. He's talking about a condemning
heart. I could go on and on with this,
if our hearts condemn us. Now look what it says, verse
20, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart
and knoweth all things. Now I read a lot of commentaries
on this. read a lot of commentaries on it. And you want the majority
of the commentary say, and I would have never thought this. I would
never even come in my mind reading this if I hadn't read it in these
commentaries. But the majority of the commentaries
say with regard to this verse of scripture, if your heart condemns
you, God's a whole lot greater than your heart. He knows all
things. He really condemns you. Well, if that is what it means,
I'm in a world of trouble. But let me remind you of Scripture.
And this Scripture is always true, just like all Scripture
is always true. Romans chapter 5, verse 20 says,
where sin abounded. Watch the rest of the verse.
Grace did much more abound. May you find me a place where
sin abounds. I don't care if you've been a
believer 50 years or one day. You show me a place where sin
abounds and I'll show you a place where grace does much more abound. Now that's the teaching of scripture.
Like I said, we've got to look at this scripture in the light
of other scriptures. Now, Somebody says, well, I'm my life
is such that that I don't have anything to condemn me for. Well,
I. I can't relate. I can't relate. I love the way John says God
is greater, he's bigger, he's larger than our heart, and he
knows all things. Now, let's talk about the things
God knows. He's greater than our heart, and he knows. Let's
talk about God's knowledge. He knows all things. David said
in Psalm 103, he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. He said in Jeremiah 29, verse
11, I know the thoughts that I think of you, sayeth the Lord.
Thoughts of peace, not of evil, to bring you to an expected end. That's God's thoughts toward
his people all the time. We may write off hard thoughts
about ourselves, and well, we should. But God says, I know
the thoughts I have for you. Thoughts of peace, acceptance. Grace is bigger. Grace is greater than our sin.
Listen to this scripture. By his knowledge, remember we're
talking about God's knowledge, the knowledge of Christ. By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall
bear their iniquities. He who knew no sin was made to
know sin. that I might be delivered from
sin. Listen to this scripture, 2 Timothy 2, 19. The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. I love what Paul said to the
Galatians in Galatians 4, verse 9. Now that you've known God,
or rather, forget that, are known of God. Here's my hope. His knowledge of me. All of my hope is in His knowledge
of me. O Lord, said David, thou hast
searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting
and up rising and acquainted with all my ways. There's not
a word in my tongue but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13,
then shall I know, I don't now, but then shall I know, even as
also I am known. And this is exactly what Peter
meant when the Lord said, Peter, do you love me? Remember he asked
him three times, Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me?
Peter, do you love me? And finally he said, Lord, you
know all things. I can't hide from you. You know
how sinful I am. You know how inconsistent I am.
You know how contradictory I am. Can you imagine how Peter felt
at this time? This is right after he had denied the Lord. Lord,
you know all things. But he appealed to the omniscience
of Christ. You know that I love your person. I don't love you like I ought
to. I'm ashamed of my love, but how I love who you are. How I
love every one of your attributes. Is there anything about Christ
not to love? Oh, He's altogether lovely, isn't He? And we love
His person. Now, our hearts may condemn us
and cause us to conclude bitter things about ourselves, but the
Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. What is the way of righteous?
The way of the righteous Christ. He's the way of the righteous.
But the way of the ungodly, the way of salvation by works, shall
perish. He said, Before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
2. Verse 13, if we believe not. Now, the only way I can understand
that is the new nature, there's never a time when we don't believe
in the sense that the new nature always believes. And the old
nature doesn't believe. And I think that what this is
a reference to more than anything else is it's not not believing
the gospel. It's coming to the conclusion.
I must not be saved. I must not be saved. How could
I be if we believe not. What does it say. Yet he abided
faithful. He cannot. He lacks the ability. He cannot deny himself. Now,
what that's a reference to is union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
If he would deny me, you know who he'd be denying? Himself. Because I am united to him. And that is every believer's
hope. That's why if our hearts condemn
us, God is greater than our hearts. And He knows all things, and
that's what we're depending on, His knowledge of us. Do you depend
on your knowledge of Him? Huh, I don't. We depend completely
on His knowledge of us. Now back to our text in 1 John
3. Verse 21, beloved, Beloved, if our hearts condemn
us not, then have we confidence toward God. Now, my heart, as I've already said,
condemns me a lot. Is yours? There's never a day
that goes by when I'm not experiencing something of this condemning
heart. Now, Let me say this. The things you condemn yourself
for are true. Aren't they? The things you condemn
yourself for are true. But secondly, you have absolutely
no business looking within for assurance in the first place,
do you? I want you to think about how stupid it is to look within
yourself for assurance. You don't deserve, I don't deserve
any assurance if I'm trying to look for assurance in here by
my conduct, by my actions. And thirdly, God is greater than
our hearts. His grace is greater than our
sin. And His righteousness is greater
than our unrighteousness. And the very foundation of salvation
is always this. 1 Timothy 1.15, for Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. of whom I am the chief. We're not to look anywhere else
at any time. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am the chief, present tense. And
I'll tell you what, I don't know what else I can say about myself,
but I can say this. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. And thank God,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I'm thankful
that the Lord is greater than my heart. And then he says in
verse 21, beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we
confidence toward God. Now, when is it that my heart
doesn't condemn me? When is it? Is it when I have
such victory in my life and I triumph over sin so much that I just
don't have anything to feel guilty about? I mean, what is there
to condemn me for? I put away that sin and I started
living right. What is there to condemn me for?
I wouldn't claim sinlessness, but I'm walking in the spirit. I'm obedient. I heard a preacher
say with regard to this passage of scripture, he said every problem
you have can be solved by this obedience and walking in the
spirit. Well, I'm all for obedience and
I'm all for walking in the spirit, but I feel quite sure this man
had no idea what it means to walk in the spirit. What? How
is it that I can have this heart that doesn't condemn me? Is it
because my walk is giving me this confidence that gives me
this boldness before God? Now, if I think that, if you
think it, you're blinded by self-righteousness. and you're making an idol out
of your own righteousness. You don't know what it is to
trust Christ as your righteousness before God, and you're being
dishonest. If this is me, if this is you,
if that's the way we feel about ourselves, I guarantee you, we're
going to be of that number our Lord spoke of, who would say,
Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name? Have we not been
highly evangelical? In Your name, that's our doctrinal
soundness. We've cast out devils. Oh, the
spiritual power we've demonstrated. And in Your name, we've done
many wonderful works. Notice the quantity, many. And the quality, wonderful. And
what would the Lord say to them? Depart from Me, ye that work
iniquity. I never knew you. Now, the only
way my heart can not condemn me is if I have nothing to be
condemned for. I want you to chew on that for
just a moment. The only way our hearts can not
condemn us at any time, like I said, because my heart condemns
me all the time, the only way our hearts cannot condemn us
is if there's nothing to condemn us for. Somebody says, well,
I have a clear conscience. No, you have a seared conscience. Not clear, seared. Your conscience
just didn't work. That's what the problem is. Somebody
says, well, I have a guilty conscience. Well, that's not good either.
I feel guilty. Well, no doubt you have reason
to feel guilty as far as the way you are, but there's nothing
intrinsically good about just having a guilty conscience. I
can say a lot of things about that. I know guilt. I know guilt
operate on it. It makes me do what I do. I've
told people before, guilt serves me well. Hard telling what I
wouldn't do if I didn't have guilt. But there's nothing good
about a guilty conscience. But look what Paul said in 1
Timothy 1. Verse five, now the end, the
goal of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart
and of a good conscience and a faith unfeigned. Now, a good conscience is a conscience
that doesn't have anything to feel guilty about. Now, where
in the world am I going to get a conscience like that? It's
the realization of justification. That's all it is. It's the realization
of justification. The only way my heart cannot
condemn me is if I have nothing to be condemned for. It's when
by God's grace, I'm given the grace to realize justification. That I really have no sin. That I have nothing to feel guilty
about. It's all being put away, and
I stand before God holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is He that condemns? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God. Now
that is our hope. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. We may have boldness on the day
of judgment because as He is, how is He? A lot of things I
could say, but He's sinless, isn't He? Does Jesus Christ,
the Lord, have anything to feel guilty about? Not a thing. As He is, so are we in this world. Now, the only way my heart will
not condemn me is by looking to Christ. That's that good conscience,
not a guilty conscience, not a seared conscience. A good conscience
is one that has nothing to feel guilty about. Now, turn to 1
Peter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 21. The like figure, 1 Peter 3, 21,
the like figure where into even baptism doth also now save us.
not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, not the act of
going under the water and coming back up and having filth washed
away, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. You know the only thing that
satisfies my conscience? The resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. completely satisfied with Him and everybody He represented,
and He showed that when He raised Him from the dead, and that's
the only thing that satisfies my conscience. That's the answer
of a good conscience toward God, the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Now, because of justification,
my heart does not condemn me. Now, here is my experience. My heart condemns me all the
time. Thank God he's greater than my
heart. And he knows all things. When I am able to trust Jesus
Christ the Lord as my righteousness before God, and I know I have
nothing to be condemned for, I have confidence. Boldness. I think this has something to
do with the flesh and the spirit, don't you? You know, in the very context,
he's talking about the two natures. We've seen that in 1 John 3,
and this has something to do with the flesh and the spirit. The contradictory heart, the
condemning heart, The conflict of the heart, I tell you one
thing it does for me, it continually drives me to Christ as my only
righteousness before God. And I like it that way too, don't
you? I'm plumb satisfied with that. Now if our hearts condemn
us, and they will, thank God he's greater than our hearts.
And when our hearts condemn us not, It's because there's nothing
to be condemned for. I have perfect righteousness
before God. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that you would give us the grace to look to thy son only as everything
in our salvation. Lord, enable us to do that. For
Christ's sake, we thank You for Him. In His name we pray, amen.