1 John 5:16 [16] “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” Three people in the Bible come to mind whenever I think about sinning a sin unto death. Moses was the meekest man in all the earth, but his patience ran thin, and he allowed the bad behavior of others to affect him. His disobedience to God cost him the promise …
“The Answer Is On The Way”
1 John 5:15 [15] “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” I thought about a certain prayer request that was on my heart. It was not something that I desired for myself, but for the church that I pastor. I’ll be honest, the petition looked impossible. In fact, my flesh told me repeatedly that there was no way it would be granted. In spite of my flesh, my Father said to me, pray. I sought God about it, earnestly asking him to answer the …
“Assurance Brings Confidence”
1 John 5:14 [14] “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” Learning to pray is a blessing, but learning to pray with confidence is an even greater blessing. Every believer faces battles in prayer. If we are not careful, we will get discouraged in our praying, and lose confidence. This causes us either to abandon the prayer closet altogether, or pray defeated prayers that never amount to anything. God not only wants us to pray, but he wants us to pray with confidence. He …
“The Value of A Check”
1 John 5:13 [13] “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” John is going to bring this epistle to a close very soon. He emphasizes in our verse that he has written to believers, “these things”, so that they will know that they have eternal life. His purpose is clear, and the content of his epistle has been just as convincing. The things he has given, will help …