Don’t live with a Condemning Heart

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1 John 3:19-24

An Attitude of Love III. True LOVE leads to True Action 1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”

Don’t live with a Condemning Heart I. The way of Assurance A. The Condemned Heart 1. Continual SIN 2. SATAN 3. SELF B. The Confident Heart

II. The way of Answered Prayer A. We must ask in faith. Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it shall be given unto you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” B. We must ask unselfishly. James 4:3 “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

C. We must ask in Jesus’ name. C. We must ask in Jesus’ name. John 14:13-14 “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:13-14 “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” D. We must seek God’s heart. D. We must seek God’s heart. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord…” Jeremiah 29:11-14a “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord…” Jeremiah 29:11-14a

Don’t live with a Condemning Heart E. We must ask in obedience. E. We must ask in obedience. I John 3:22 “because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” I John 3:22 “because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” 1. “that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ” 1. “that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ” 2. Loving one another is also a prerequisite. 2. Loving one another is also a prerequisite.

Don’t live with a Condemning Heart III. The way of Abiding The secret of true obedience is the clear and close personal relationship to God. All our attempts after full obedience will be failures until we get access to his abiding fellowship. It is God’s holy presence consciously abiding with us that keeps us from disobeying Him. I must consciously include the Lord in every thought, activity, and conversation until the habit is established. -- Andrew Murray

Don’t live with a Condemning Heart A. The Gift of the Holy Spirit John 14:15-18 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, £ to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 1. The Spirit embodied in Jesus was then and there abiding with the disciples. 2. The same Spirit of Jesus would, in the future, be in the disciples

Don’t live with a Condemning Heart B. The Assurance of a Changed Life John 14:23, Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Galatians 5:16 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”