The Olympics are over. I really enjoyed watching them. Some of the churches in London used the games as an opportunity to spread the gospel.
One church, All Souls at Langham Place, had a great series of messages that had an Olympic theme. Sometime next week I'll try to put up a link to their website for those of you who are interested in listening. The rector of All Souls, Hugh Palmer, is one of my favorite speakers.
In last weeks' message, we looked at living a lifestyle of righteousness as a characteristic of a true follower of Jesus. I also discussed the importance of believers loving each other in Christ. As John said, we need to love in deed not just in word. As James would put it, "Faith without works is dead."
Today's message brings us to the concluding verses of chapter 3. I have to say straight out that these verses are extremely difficult for me to talk about notably verse 22 that I will discuss shortly.
First of all, verses 19-21 deal with the theme of assurance of salvation. If a person is living a life that John discussed in the previous verses, that person has the works pertaining to righteousness. These works do not bring a person to salvation. Works of righteousness and the life of righteousness are evidence that a person's life has been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is evidence that we are empowered by the the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, people doubt their salvation. But, God knows our heart. His Spirit will bear witness with our spirit that we are in the faith.
Now we come to what for me is a difficult verse. In verse 22 John says, " And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."
For me, this verse gets down to the issue of unanswered prayer and what John could be referring to here because no one that I know has all of their prayers answered even the most committed Christians. I'm sure there are many reasons for this. However, sometimes I wonder what is the cause of unanswered prayers.
In my life, I've had many occasions when I know the Lord has answered my prayers. I believe in the power and the importance of prayer. I've had four real major answers to prayer in my life.
When I was in my early twenties, God healed me of chronic asthma. Before this time, I'd get asthma almost every time I tried to play sports or go out when it was even slightly chilly. Now, the only time I get asthma is if I work in very cold weather, like shoveling snow. Some may say this isn't a "real" healing because it's not 100%. But if you knew what I was like before, you would have to recognize the hand of God.
I prayed twice for Toby and saw an answer to prayer. I prayed for 5 years that Toby's autoimmune skin problem would be healed. Thank the Lord, Toby was healed and spent the last years of his life free from this ailment.
Then, when Toby was diagnosed with cancer, the oncologist only gave him 6 to 8 weeks to live even with chemotherapy. I decided against chemo. I asked God to heal Toby, and Toby lived over 13 months with no trouble until the final week of his life.
Finally, when I turned 30, I was diagnosed with vitiligo. It was really bad. Praise the Lord, God has completely healed me of this.
I praise God for these wonderful answers to prayer.
However, there have been some things I've prayed about that haven't been answered. I prayed every day for six years that my Mom would recover from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and the effects of a stroke. She never improved a bit.
I prayed that my Dad would get well when he collapsed from a stroke at the veterinarian's office. He died two weeks later.
I prayed that God would give Toby just a little more time the night before he died. Toby is gone.
I know that my Mom, Dad and Toby are in Heaven safe, well and happy with Jesus. But, prayers for their recovery here on earth weren't answered.
I've often wondered about unanswered prayer when I read verses like our verse today. I'm sure I'm not alone. I know many instances of people who have lost loved ones or have suffered in spite of the prayers offered by many on their behalf.
All I can say about verse 22 is that these are the times when I have to leave these things to the mystery of faith. I have to say like the man who came to Jesus to heal his son, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief."
One day, when I see Jesus, I'll ask Him about these things. I'm sure I'll understand it then. It's not easy to understand now.
I think that part of being a Christian is continuing to believe in spite of the difficulties of unanswered prayer or the problem of evil. Sometimes it's hard, but I am confident that Jesus is who He claimed to be. I've put my trust in Him and will follow Him in spite of those things that are beyond my understanding.
John concludes chapter 3 by telling his readers about two commandments given by God.
The first commandment God has given is to believe in Jesus Christ His Son. There is no other way to have a relationship with the Father except by believing in Jesus.
We are also commanded to love one another.
If we have accepted Christ as Savior and have the evidence of love, we can have confidence that His Spirit dwells within us. Amen.
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