Knowing God: The Aim of All Knowledge

0:33I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. If anyone sees His brother committing a sin not leading to death, He shall ask, and God will give Him life. To those who commit sins that do not lead to death, there is sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but He who was born of God protects Him, and the evil one does not touch Him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is not. Is true, and we are in Him who is true. In His Son, Jesus Christ, He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourself from idols. This is God's Word.

1:45J.I. Packer was born in England in 1926 and came to faith in Christ at Oxford University in 1944. From that time, he devoted himself to study in preparation for the ministry and eventually a career in teaching and writing that continues to this day. One of his greatest contributions is a book he wrote in 1973 that has sold more than 1.5 million copies and influenced Christians around the world. That book is called Knowing God. And in the first chapter, he writes this, Our aim in studying the Godhead must be to know God Himself better. Our concern must be to enlarge our acquaintance, not simply with the doctrine of God's attributes, but with the living God whose attributes they are.

2:45Packer reminds us the whole point of theology, we may even say the whole point of Christianity, is to know and commune with God. Well, friends, today we're going to conclude. Our study of 1 John. And in this passage, John is going to use the word know seven different times. Over and over, John is going to remind us of what we know to be true and of why that knowledge is important, because it allows us to know God Himself.

3:21And what we're going to learn today is that knowing God through Jesus Christ is the aim of all knowledge. So let's turn our attention to the text now. Over the first five chapters of this book, John has given us a series of tests returning to the same questions again and again. And those questions are: do we believe the truth? Do we obey God? Do we love fellow believers? And now, here in verse 13, we come to the purpose statement of the letter. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

4:11Well, one of the great things about John is that he always expresses his purpose for writing. And at the end of his gospel, he says this: Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written. Written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. See, John wrote his gospel so that his readers would believe that Jesus is the Christ, and so that through faith they would have life in his name.

4:51And then John wrote his letter to those who believed so that they would know they have eternal life. Now, why was this important? Well, I want you to remember: the false teachers had brought a great deal of confusion to the church. They were preaching a different gospel, indeed, a different Jesus, which led the believers to doubt that what they had heard and believed was actually true. So, John wrote to reassure them that the gospel they heard from him about Jesus is the true gospel, and that they would be saved by grace and through faith.

5:31Now, this is critical to understand because some of you have been listening to this series through 1 John all summer long, and you've given these tests a lot of thought. You've asked yourself, do I believe the truth? Am I obedient to God? Do I love other believers? And unfortunately, after you have asked yourself those questions, some of you who are genuine believers in Jesus feel less confident. Less certain about your profession of faith. And I want you to understand that's not John's purpose at all. John isn't trying to sow the seeds of doubt in the mind of a genuine believer in Jesus. His purpose is to give you assurance of salvation, not to cause you to doubt.

6:22And so I want you to understand that. I want you to be encouraged. But we must also understand the purpose of this letter because some are going to say, Look, it's pure arrogance to claim to know that you have eternal life. Well, friends, it would be arrogant if John was saying, or if we were saying, I know I have eternal life because I've worked hard to make myself acceptable to God. But we're not saying that. We're saying, I know I have eternal life because I'm trusting in Jesus alone for my salvation. And God promises that anyone who hopes in Him won't be put to shame.

7:09Friends, it's not arrogant to believe the promises of God. John Stott wrote this: If God's revealed purpose is not only that we should hear, believe, and live, but also that we should know, presumptuous lies in doubt. His word, not entrusting it. It's not arrogant to believe the promises of God. So John wants us to know, because when we know something, we have confidence. And that's exactly what he says in verses 14 and 15. Look there, he says, and this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

8:08Now that is confidence. How can John be so sure that God will hear us and answer us when we pray? Well, listen to John chapter 1, verse 12. He says, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Friends, when we believe in Jesus, it's not just that we are forgiven and declared righteous, we're also adopted into God's family. And because we're God's children, we have complete confidence that he will hear us when we come to him with a request. And of course, that's true of good earthly fathers as well. But here's the thing: good earthly fathers don't. Don't say yes to every single request their kids make. Why not?

9:06Well, because sometimes kids ask for things that actually aren't good for them. My kids are always asking to drive the car. No! This is not good for them. It's not good for anyone else on the road either. That will be good for them when they get older, but not now. Or because the Father actually has something better in mind altogether. Sometimes that's why he doesn't say yes. So these things are true of good earthly fathers, but remember, our heavenly Father has perfect wisdom. And that perfect wisdom is revealed in his perfect will.

9:45His will is best for us at all times, and that's why there's this caveat here. And the caveat is: God hears and answers prayers prayed in accordance with his will. If you're familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, you know that Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So he teaches us to pray, your will be done.

10:19And the good news is that God has revealed his will to us in Scripture. We don't have to wonder about his will for us, friends. Look on the screen at 1 Thessalonians 1. 4, Paul says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. You don't have to wonder if God wants you to be a holier person. He does. What about 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, also on the screen? Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

10:56Should I complain once in a while? No. Should I complain all the time? No. We are to give thanks in all circumstances. That's God's will for us. What about 1 Peter 2, verse 15? Look here. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. See, that's why praying through the scriptures is such a wonderful discipline to cultivate. And that's why we do it every week in our prayer meeting, because what we do in our prayer meeting is we open up God's Word and we read it and then we ask ourselves these questions. What in this passage can I praise God for?

11:39What in this passage would lead me to confess my sin? And what in this passage would lead me to petition God for things that I need? You see, when we're praying through the scriptures, we know we are praying in accordance with God's will. Now remember, John's purpose in writing Is to give his readers assurance of salvation. He wants them to know whether they have eternal life. And so some of his readers, no doubt, at this point, are thinking, as well as some of us are thinking, okay, I've applied all these tests to my own life. I have confidence that I have eternal life. But what about others in my life who claim to be Christians? Well, verses 16 and 17 are going to answer that question. Let's look there together.

12:32Here in verse 16, John describes this situation where you see your brother committing a sin not leading to death. Well, there's several terms that we need to define here, aren't there? When John says see, I don't think he means you actually had to witness the sin. It would certainly include that, but I don't think that John is trying to limit it to the sins that we see. I think that he's also including any sin that we may learn about. We may hear about it, we may just know about it. All of that's included.

13:07And when John says brother, the context seems to indicate that the person he has in mind is one who professes to be a Christian, not one who is actually a genuine believer. Now, ordinarily, the term brother is reserved for genuine believers, but the key to understanding his meaning here comes from the verse. Itself. Look at what he says again. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and listen to this, and God will give him life.

13:45Well, think about what John has already taught in his gospel and in this letter. Those who believe in Jesus have eternal life, and they can know that they have eternal life. So it would be completely contradictory for John to teach that and then to say that Christians need prayer so that God will give them life when they sin. It's not as though we have eternal life until we sin, then we sin, we lose our eternal life, and we have to receive prayer to get that eternal life back. That's not how it works at all, according to Jesus, according to the apostles.

14:23And so it seems best to interpret his use of the word brother to mean one who professes to be a believer, because one who professes to be a believer might think that he's a Christian or that she's a Christian when she's actually not or when he's actually not. And that's why they need prayer, so that God will grant them life. And that brings us to the most challenging part of these verses. What is John talking about when he differentiates between sins that don't lead to death and sin that does? I mean, doesn't the Bible say all sin leads to death? Really? Romans 6, 23, right? The wages of sin is death.

15:05Well, yes, it certainly does teach that. All sin leads to death, both spiritual and physical. But what John is doing here is he's contrasting sins, you notice that word is plural, that don't lead to permanent death, with a particular sin, singular, that does lead to permanent death. In Mark 3, you've got this situation where scribes come down from Jerusalem, and these scribes have heard Jesus' teaching. They've seen his miracles. And they say, he is possessed by Beelzebubel, that is, the prince of demons.

15:51And they say, by the prince of demons, he casts out the demons. And Jesus is like, really, guys? Satan is going to cast out Satan? A house divided against itself can't stand. And then he says this: look on the screen. Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal death. Sin, for they were saying, he has an unclean spirit.

16:37See, this is known as the unforgivable sin. And what is the unforgivable sin? Well, according to Scripture, it's attributing the work of the Son of God done in the Spirit of God, done in the power of the Spirit of God, to Satan. And because you attribute the work of the Son of God done in the power of the Spirit of God to Satan, you never turn to Jesus in repentance and faith. I mean, remember the context of 1 John. You have these antichrists, these men who oppose Jesus, coming in and saying that Jesus didn't really come in the flesh, that he's not really the Son of God.

17:23Well, that has the very same effect, doesn't it? It means these false teachers and anyone who believes them is going to reject Jesus because they don't believe that he's really the Son of God. That's the sin that leads to death. Rejecting Jesus, and specifically rejecting Jesus and attributing his work to Satan. Because, friends, salvation is found in no other name. You reject the Jesus of Scripture, the Jesus that the apostles preached, and there is no hope for you. That's it. All of our hope is centered in and found in Jesus.

18:06So, what John is saying is: if you see a professing Christian committing sin, but he's not denying the person and work of Jesus, pray for him. Pray for him. You're a child of God, so you can approach God with confidence. We know that God desires all men to be saved, so we know we're praying in accordance with his will. And one thing you'll notice in this passage is: John does not say directly, do not pray for anyone you think has committed the unforgivable sin.

18:43He says, I do not say that one should pray for that. In other words, if there was some way to know for sure that someone had committed the unforgivable sin, obviously you wouldn't pray for that. Why would you? Jesus says, it's not forgivable. But friends, from our perspective, there's no way to know for sure if someone has committed the unforgivable sin. And therefore, if we see our brother committing a sin, what should we do? We should pray for him. Because he hears us when we ask according to his will, and God will give him life.

19:18Isn't that amazing? I mean, I can think of no promise in Scripture that should bring us more encouragement about our lost friends, family members, and co-workers than this one. I mean, personally, I've gotten so discouraged at times thinking about family members or friends who profess to be Christians but don't pass a single test from 1 John. And then I read this verse and think about the people who prayed for me in high school and in college when I professed to be a Christian but failed every single test in this letter. See, I didn't believe the truth about Jesus. I didn't believe and obey God's commands. And I didn't love other Christians.

20:03I failed the tests. But people prayed for me and God heard and answered their prayers and God gave me life. And if He can do that for me, He can do that for anyone. Amen. So don't lose heart. Instead, let's choose to believe what God says in these verses. Let's come before Him confidently in prayer and ask Him to grant life to people who are just like we once were, believing that God can and will save them.

20:39Now, let's wrap up our study of 1 John with verses 18 through 21. And John is going to drive home now what we know to be true and what it means for our lives. Look at verse 18. The first thing we know, according to John, is that everyone who has been born Born of God does not keep on sinning. Now, notice John doesn't say does not sin. Not only would that be an inaccurate translation of the Greek verb here, but it would contradict the rest of the New Testament.

21:16No, John teaches that if you've been born again, you don't persist in sin, you don't keep on sinning, you don't continually sin in the same way over and over with no repentance. Instead, if you've been born of God, then he who was born of God, that is Jesus, protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. Of course, that's not to say Satan can't tempt believers to sin or afflict them in various ways. He certainly can, as we see throughout Jesus' life and ministry, as well as in Job's experience. But what it does mean is that God always provides a way out of every temptation, as he says in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

22:02And it means that Satan can do no permanent, eternal harm to Christians. That's the first thing we know. The second thing we know is found in verse 19. Look what he says. We know we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Now, one thing I want you to notice is that John has now moved from the general everyone of verse 18. To the specific we, we know that we are from God.

22:38John has the confidence that he wants his readers to have. And as one of Jesus' disciples, he knew Jesus' commands to believe, to obey, and to love. He's applied these same tests to himself that he now wants his readers to apply to themselves. And the result was assurance: we know we are from God. The alternative is to lie in the power or the sway of the evil one. And of course, that's where all of us began. Look on the screen at Ephesians 2.

23:16And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just like the rest of mankind. John says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

23:51But the good news, as we saw in John in 1 John chapter 2, is that Jesus is the propitiation for Our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So, yes, the whole world lies under the power of the evil one, but Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, he is their only hope. But there is hope. We know this. And the third and final thing we know is found in verse 20. We know, look at this, the Son of God has come and has given us understanding.

24:34What do we know? Well, first, we know that Jesus has come, specifically that He has come in the flesh, contrary to what the false teachers were saying. And we know that Jesus came to give us understanding, specifically understanding about who God the Father is, understanding about how to be saved, and understanding about how we can know that we are saved. And here's the big climax. Here's what it's building up to. Look at this wonderful phrase: The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true.

25:17And we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Friends, the whole purpose of Jesus coming. In the flesh, and giving us understanding of all this knowledge is so that we may know Him. So we may know Him. Look at John 17, verse 3 on the screen. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

25:57Friends, this is eternal life. It's knowing God through Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not merely knowing information, it's not being an expert in theology, it's not having certain religious experiences or practicing certain spiritual gifts. Eternal life is nothing less and nothing else than knowing God through Jesus Christ. And I think some of us have lost sight of that. I think we all lose sight of that at times. Christianity becomes about knowing the right information or doing the right things or having the right experiences instead of about knowing God through Jesus Christ. And don't misunderstand me. John has said over and over, we must believe the truth.

26:57He said that we either obey his commands or we don't. Liars and that we must love other Christians. All of those things are critically important and they prove whether or not we are Christians. But let's not miss the point. Eternal life is all about knowing God through Jesus Christ, who has made Him known. We can forget that Christianity at its core is all about communion with God, knowing Him and being known by Him. And when we forget that, Christianity can become just another intellectual pursuit, just another set of rules to follow, just another social club.

27:48Friends, through faith in Christ, we know God and we are in Him. Anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ has eternal life now. But that life is only found in God, and God is only accessible through Jesus Christ, who lived and died and rose again for us. And that's why John concludes with the command: little children, keep yourselves or guard yourselves from idols. See, we must keep ourselves or guard ourselves from every other version of Jesus than the one presented to us by. God through his apostles, the actual witnesses of Jesus' life and teaching, his death and resurrection.

28:39And we must keep ourselves or guard ourselves from every false Savior this world presents to us. Possessions, politics, power, money, success, relationships, all of these things promise to save us, and yet every one of them is incapable of doing that. We must keep ourselves, guard ourselves from idols, and we must cling to the Jesus of the scriptures, who is alone the way, the truth, and the life. Contrary to what many believe, we can know the way to eternal life, and we can know whether we have eternal life.

29:40But ultimately, eternal life is all about knowing God through Jesus Christ. That's the aim of all knowledge. Let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning that you have revealed yourself again to us through your word. And we thank you that we aren't left to wonder about what your will is for us, but that you have clearly revealed your will in Scripture. We're so thankful not only that you have promised us eternal life in Christ Jesus, but that you have made very clear that we can know whether we have eternal life or not.

30:36And I pray for every person here, that every person here would know whether he or she has eternal life. I pray for a sober assessment of whether they believe the truth, of whether they're obeying you, and of whether they really love other Christians. And if so, I pray that you would encourage them. I pray that you would give them confidence and assurance. And if not, I pray that you would make that clear and that they would turn to Jesus in repentance and faith today.

31:15God, we are so glad that we have a Savior in Jesus and that through him who took on flesh to reveal you, the Father, and to be our mediator and to bring us to. To reconcile us to the Father, we are so thankful for that. And I pray that our lives would reflect the gratitude that we should have for you, Jesus, because of all that you have done. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.