Walking In God's Presence

MARCH 3, 2021 STUDY NOTES I JOHN 3:21-22 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES WALKING IN GOD’S PRESENCE INTRODUCTION John continues to teach us great truths by using contrasts He now compares the heart that condemns with the heart that is free from condemnation In the previous verses John shared with us the assurance of salvation God’s love working in and through us to minister to others assures our hearts that we belong to God God’s grace is bestowed upon us and allows us to enter into the presence of God with assurance When we confess our sins, we can stand before God cleansed from all unrighteousness, 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Which allows us to approach God in confidence and make our requests known unto God What a joy it is to know that we are walking in God’s presence, walking in fellowship with God In the beginning of this letter John said that is one reason he writes, 1Jn 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. There is a song I want you to hear, it will set our hearts upon our subject, “Walking In God’s Presence” A CLEAR CONSCIENCE 1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. As a result of the previous verses, John begins verse 21 with “Beloved,” a title found 5 times in 1 John The word “Beloved” describes a unique relationship, referring to those who are united with God’s love Christians are united with God and one another, bonded together in God’s unique love We are the loved ones of God who are able to love others because of God’s love in us John just spoke to those who might have had doubts about their salvation, he has a message for them now Christians are “Divinely loved ones,” yet we still sin, and yes, God still loves us God’s love for the saved is another reason for the assurance of salvation God’s love is the answer for a doubting mind and a troubled heart, Christians are the “Beloved” The answer to a tormenting self-accusing heart is the truth that you are loved of God We are the loved ones of God who are to love one another, which is the answer for a troubled heart if our heart condemn us not, In the context the reason our conscience does not condemn us is because we have loved others Christians who have loved others in deed and in truth have a clear conscience and assurance of mind There is no reason for our heart to “condemn us,” which means to speak against us, which Satan will do Even though Satan will attempt to accuse us there is no reason to feel guilty before God Just be sure that there is no unconfessed sin, that there is nothing standing between you and God Be sure that you have been obedient to God, especially fulfilling the duties of God’s love within you And then accept the fact that we can have “confidence toward God” have we confidence toward God. The basic idea of the word “confidence” is a freedom to speak, a boldness in speech The reference is to the freedom to speak to God, freedom to come face to face with God In context the point is to put into practice loving others, and you will feel free to talk to God Page 1 of 5 A condemned heart is ashamed to face God and guilt hinders speaking to God An obedient heart has an unrestricted freedom to stand in God’s presence and make our requests Confident because there is nothing to hide, nothing that we are trying to hide, or wish that we could hide We have the freedom to go to God and just talk with Him, Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. When we sincerely seek God, we experience grace, receiving that which we do not deserve And we experience mercy, we do not receive that which we deserve Before the throne of grace, we find help in time of need, which is actually all of the time Anytime is the time to talk to God, but there are those critical times when we sorrow, hurt, or doubt We all have those times when we don’t understand, and we need God to assure our heart There are the times we do understand why we have a condemning heart, we know that we have sinned David is an example for us when that is true, regardless of our spiritual heart problem, God is the answer David tells us to trust in God at-all times, he knew that his “only” hope was in God, Psa 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation (hope) is from him. David explains why God is his only hope, Psa 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. God only is “my rock,” my source of safety, “my salvation,” God is my deliverance “He is my defense” means that He only is our safe haven, He is our security in all things And “I shall not be moved,” my mind will be sound, my heart strong, and my will secure Psa 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. As Christians we must trust in the truth, we must believe that we are “in God,” He is our salvation Think about it, “in God,” how meaningful that is, He is God, and what a God He is, the only True God David now tells us what to do, pour out your heart unto Him, He is ready to listen, Psa 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. We must “trust in Him, why must we trust in Him? Because He is God, and we are “in Him” When should we trust in God? “At all times,” especially in the times of doubt, confusion, and trouble Listen to David, don’t just talk to God, “pour out your heart before Him,” don’t hold back anything The reason we can, the reason we must, is because “God is a refuge for us,” our shelter in all things John agrees with all that David said, John says, “we have confidence toward God” John is now directing our attention to prayer, the time when we do all that David instructed us to do It is amazing how John moves from one truth into another and how he brings them together God’s love working through us gives us an assurance in prayer John has already said that if we are not practicing love, we will not have an assurance of salvation Now he says if we don’t feel like praying it may be because we are not practicing love Prayer is to be a freedom of speech, the freedom to share with God your cares, concerns, and desires ASSURANCE OF PRAYER 1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. This verse cannot be separated from its context and applied to every Christian at all times You cannot single this verse out or read this verse alone and understand what John is telling us You cannot take the beginning phrase, “whatsoever we ask,” and put a period behind it You cannot read this verse and promise every Christian everything they will ever ask of God The previous boldness toward God of verse 21 is an assurance of success in prayer Look at the promise, “whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him,” and then read the rest of the verse We must read and understand the rest of the verse because it tells us when the promise is fulfilled First of all, our request should not be a rare thing, that “we ask” should be a normal experience Page 2 of 5 God wants us to come to Him on a daily basis, literally it reads, “Whatever we keep on asking for” And we must continually pray with the desire and assurance of what John now says--we receive of him, How great is that need today? We need answered prayer for our life, our family, our church family Give attention to how often the prayer text is posted and how often the prayer chain is called upon today We need answered prayer for those we love, and we need our prayers for a sin-sick world to be answered As always, we must keep the promise of a verse in its context, the one receiving is the one who is asking The one who is asking is the one who feels free to speak to God He feels free to speak because of a clear conscience before God His conscience is clear because of the assurance of his heart He has the assurance of heart because he knows that he is truly saved He knows that he is truly saved because he has really loved others through the deeds that meet their needs He has loved others because the love of God dwells in him and motivates him, especially his prayer life So, love is an effective, powerful, force in prayer, we love, we ask, we receive To receive from God should not be a rare thing, actually we should keep on receiving, 1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: Why do we receive? because we keep his commandments, In our desire for scripture to say what we want it to say it is easy to overlook important words Such as “because” in this verse, leave it out and the truth of the verse changes in meaning The promise of receiving what we ask is “because,” which is a must for answered prayer “Because” we are living in obedience to God, “because” we are living a life that is pleasing to God “Because” our personal will for daily life and God’s will are one and the same “Because” our daily life is in harmony with God’s Word, we are obeying His Word We do not “will” to ask for something that He does not want us to have We do not “will” to do something that He does not want us to do We do not obey God in order to receive rewards, we do not obey God just because we fear judgment We do not obey God just because we are commanded to do so We are to obey God because we love Him, we must have a genuine love for God when we pray We do the will of God because we want to please Him, we want to please Him because we love Him Prayers can be selfish, “Dear Lord” if you will help me I will, then follows all kinds of promises Prayers can be, and too often are an attempt to make a deal with God, “Help me Lord and I will love you” There are those who teach us to make demands upon God, “God you said if I would ask, I would receive Which gives the attitude of, God I am asking, now God, what are you going to do? John is telling us that the one asking has an unselfish love for God He so loves God that he wants to obey God, his heart says, I love Him and I will obey Him John refers to those who are daily obeying God, and they are doing the things that please God and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. A selfish prayer says, “God please me,” a prayer of love for God says, “God, I want to please you” It is love that desires to please God, our obedience unto God is motivated by love Our motive for praying cannot be selfish desires, worldly wishes, or spiritual arrogance God is pleased with us and our prayer request because we keep his commandments God is so pleased with us that he delights in hearing our request He is so pleased that he desires to answer our requests Page 3 of 5 And the requests are from those who love him so much that they want to obey his commands They delight in pleasing God, Saul is a good example, consider his life when he first saw Jesus His first question was, “Who art thou Lord?” Jesus answered him, Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. “To kick against the pricks” means to fight the conviction of the Holy Spirit That answer was good enough for Saul, listen to his next question, Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? At that time Saul made a life-long commitment to do whatever God wanted him to do Saul later became known as Paul and you can study his commitment throughout Acts and 13 NT letters Do we have a testimony like Paul? Obeying Jesus because we love Him? Daily pleasing God? Have we ever sincerely made a commitment to do what God wants us to do? What does God want us to do? John is telling us, obey God and please God through deeds of love Do things for others because of the love that we have for God, love that will love others The Christian life is to be a habitual practice of love and loyalty to God, love that desires to please God Love that will bring us so near to God that we have no desire for things that He does not want us to have As we walk with God, we will not request things that are not in God’s will, His will becomes our will John has shared with us some important truths related to walking with God and answered prayer An uncondemning heart, the habitual keeping of God’s commandments, doing that which pleases God Let’s consider some truths related to answered prayer: Sin will prevent prayer from being answered, Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. We must be cleansed from sin, Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Read the context, God responded to prayer, why? Because he cried out unto the Lord, Psa 66:17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled (highly praised) with my tongue. And God heard his prayer, Psa 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. God heard his prayer because he did not cling to the sin in his life, Psa 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. (Thank God for His mercy) We must pray “in the name of Jesus,” Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. “In Jesus name” is not a mere formula to be attached at the end of our prayer “In Jesus name” means that we desire His will to be done, that we desire to live for His glory Which is according to, Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. The purpose of prayer must be that our life will be pleasing unto God, Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. The promise of answered prayer is based upon the condition, “delight yourself in the Lord” To “delight in the Lord” is to desire the righteousness of God in your life, to be pleasing unto God, Pro 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. Peter agrees, 1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. When we pray, we must be willing to accept God’s answer, He knows what we “need,” Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. When we pray, we must realize that we are entering into the presence of God To walk in the presence of God is of utmost importance to our prayer life There are many reasons to walk in the presence of God and to enter into His presence in prayer Page 4 of 5 I want you to listen to a song that gives us the most important reason to walk with God in prayer Page 5 of 5