FIRST JOHN
Conclusion (Part 2)
1 John 5:14-17
INTRODUCTION
I started this study on 1 John as a kind of introduction to the study of the second coming of Christ. When the pastor asked me to teach this to a coed group, he asked me what I would entitle it. My first and immediate response was: "Living in Light of the Second Coming." The title sounded as good as any other title I could come up with.
As we conclude this study, I have come to realize that that title is probably a whole lot more fitting than I originally thought. The specific references to the second coming are pretty obvious in 1 John (2:18, 22; 3:1-3, etc.). Yet as you look more closely, you will see that John IS relating the second coming to life.
1 John 5 was not the first passage to link prayer with the second coming. One of the key concepts Jesus gives us in the Garden of Gethsemane regards prayer. What did Jesus command Peter to do in Matt. 26:40?
Jesus explains what He means by that in 24:41. What does He mean by keeping watch?
In 2 major passages on the second coming, both Paul and John command us to pray. What does John say will happen if Christians don't "wake up," that is, stay alert spiritually by praying (Rev. 3:3)?
Paul says basically the same thing to the Thessalonians. The fact that Jesus is about to return demands that we stay alert spiritually--wake up!--by remaining in prayer (1 Thess. 5:6).
At this point our English translations are a little misleading. In the NASB Jesus says "Watch!" and Paul and John say, "Wake up!" In the Greek though it is much clearer. Jesus AND Paul and John use the same word here: gregoreo (pron. greh-GORE-ree-oh). All 3 are telling us to be watchful, to be watchful by praying. With regards to the second coming, one of the reasons I am to pray is that I may be spiritually watchful and be ready for Him when He returns. There is though another reason which 1 John 5 brings out.
CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER (5:14-15)
According to 1 John 5:14 how can we have confidence that God is going to hear us when we pray?
That is a HUGE condition. Many times God does not hear us when we pray because we are not praying according to God's will. According to James 4:3 why don't we receive many times the things we pray for?
According to 1 John 5:15 if God hears our prayers, what else can we know?
Here John says that we are to pray "according to God's will." If so, we can be sure God will hear us. In another of John's writings Jesus says that if we pray or ask in what, we can be sure that God will grant us our prayer request (Gospel of John 16:24, 26)?
The language here is that of the ambasssador appearing before a sovereign. The ambassador does not share his opinion to the king. Rather he speaks in the name of the sovereign he is representing (he's an ambassador and not a king). In fact the king he is speaking to doesn't care one iota about the ambassador's opinions. He cares only for the opinion of the king the ambassador is representing. In prayer then we are to present to God the request that Jesus wants us to present. We are speaking to God on Jesus' behalf. Since the Father will refuse the Son nothing, when we pray like this, we can be 100% sure that God is going to grant us our prayer request unconditionally.
A SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUEST (5:16-17)
Verses 16 and 17 are showing us what kind of prayer requests that are according to God's will, that is, the same kind of request that Jesus Himself would make. What is that request according to verse 16?
God gives us our request because we are asking according to His will. 1 John 5:16 adds though another reason why He will grant that request. What is that reason?
I don't believe in just going to the Bible and start claiming every promise in it. Maybe that works for some; it just doesn't work for me. I feel like God will lay upon my heart the particular promises He wants to apply to my life. Moreover, I don't believe that if He applies a particular promise to my life at one time, then I can apply it all the time.
Yet this is one verse God did apply to my heart one time in my ministry. I was praying for a certain person, that that person really get right with Jesus. The more I prayed, the fewer results I saw. One Sunday morning I was praying intently for this person. That person hadn't been in church in a long, long time. I threw up my hands and just gave up. I had done all I could do. It was at that moment that God laid this verse upon my heart. I asked God to give this person life for MY sake. That morning was the turning point in that person's life. That person showed up for Sunday morning Bible study. From then on that person steadily grew in their relationship with the Lord.
What kind of request does John NOT say we are to make?
Now John is NOT saying we can't make a request for the person committing that particular kind of sin; however, he is NOT saying that we should make this request. It's just a statement, not a command.
What kind of sin would be a sin NOT leading to death?
What kind of sin WOULD lead to death?
Probably the only explanation for this second kind of sin is found in Matt. 12:32. What sin is Jesus referring to here?
So what is the link between prayer and the second coming? We need to be praying for people because of the fact that the end is approaching and the life we have lived here on earth in some way or other is going to impact us when Christ returns. Jesus makes it very clear in the parable of the 10 virgins that once He returns, it is all over. There is a true finality to life. We shall ALL stand before God in judgment. According to Paul when is the acceptable time? When is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2)?