Peter Barnes | 1 John 3:19-24
SERMON NOTES
DEALING WITH DOUBT
Psalm 139; 1 John 3:19-24
– Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine (Fanny Crosby)
1. God’s grace is greater than our conscience.
– 3:19-20; conscience is vital but not our final authority (1 Cor.4:3-4; Prov.30:20; Luke 18:18-21)
– Augustine, Calvin, Martyn Lloyd-Jones say this is a warning, but Luther sees it as a comfort, like Rom.8:31-32
– ‘Rabbi’ Duncan: ‘There’s nobody perfect: That’s the believer’s bed of thorns: That’s the hypocrite’s couch of ease.’
2. A clean conscience will normally give us a sense of assurance.
– 3:21-22; Heb.9:13-14; 10:22
– John 16:33; 1 Peter 3:15-16; Acts 18:6; 20:26; 24:16; 2 Tim.1:3
3. The sign of the Spirit’s presence is that the three tests are fulfilled in us.
-3:22-24 (obedience to God’s commandments, a right view of Christ, and love of fellow Christians)