Sermon 15

1 John 5:14-15. And if we know that he hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desire of him.

Now to come to a second note.

Doctrine 2. Such as believe on the name of Christ for salvation, may be confident and certain of the hearing and granting of their petitions.

There is a double act and a double object; the double act is confidence and knowledge. And the double object, is first, hearing of our petitions, and secondly, the granting of our petitions, and both expressly distinguished in the text.

And so the point will be evident: such as believe on the name of Jesus Christ for salvation (for of them he speaks in verse 13), they may come to a confident, and certain knowledge of the hearing and granting of their petitions, and the having of them all fulfilled.

To open this point to you. And because John does gather this from the end of his own writing, for he says he wrote these things only to them that believe in the name of the Son of God, for this end, that they might believe on his name.

Therefore, let me show you first, how these two great benefits, confidence and certainty of hearing and having our petitions, do both spring and arise from what is here taught us.

First, which is the foundation of all the rest, speaking of adoption in (1 John 3:1), he says, Behold what manner of love the Father has shown on us, that we should be called the sons of God; he does stand and wonder at the marvelous and incredible love of God, that he should vouchsafe to stoop so low, and honor us so much; debase himself, and lift us up; not only stoop so low as to behold how low things are on earth (Psalm 113), but so low as to take up such earthworms as we be from the dunghill, and set us among the princes of the people (verses 5-8). He not only beholds them with an eye of providence, but his people with an eye of fatherly compassion, and lifts us up to become sons and daughters to himself, and helps us to believe it that we are so.

This is the first ground of the certainty and confidence of the hearing of our petitions, if once we may come to be certain, that we are the sons of God, upon which occasion a great part of this epistle is spent — this is the first ground, and these the Apostle is accustomed to join together, as the ground of all comfort in this kind (Galatians 4:5-6; Romans 8:15), so that to be persuaded, or to grow confident that we are the children of God, will be a good foundation to the certainty of the hearing and granting of our petitions. To whom may a son come for any blessing but to a father? And what makes him more confident of speaking, and acceptance, than this principle, that he knows he is the child of such a father as is willing, and able to help him?

Secondly, another principle in this epistle tending to build up this certainty, and confidence, is not only our adoption, but likewise Christ's advocacy (1 John 2:1-2): If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

What is it to be an Advocate? To be an Advocate, is to plead on our behalf with the Father, for the granting and answering of our petitions, for the pardoning and healing of all our transgressions, and the performing to us, and giving of us all the good things we stand in need of, whether we ask them, or ask them not; but especially, there is no petition we put up, but Christ takes it at our hands, and puts it up in such form to his heavenly Father, as that by and through him it is accepted. As a man retains an Advocate in a court, he brings him his cause rudely drawn, so as it would be rejected in the court, but his Advocate puts it into such a form, as is agreeable to the law, and suitable to the order of the court, so as it finds free acceptance: so we put up our petitions rudely, and many times far short of that frame which God especially looks for from his servants' hands, but Christ takes them at our hands, and puts them into form, and so prefers them to his heavenly Father, and so as from there we have good occasion, and good ground of confidence and certainty, that whatever we put up in any measure according to God's will, being presented to our Advocate, to our heavenly Father, shall be accepted.

Thirdly, the atonement, or propitiation that our Savior makes to our blessed Father, spoken of in the same place (1 John 2:2). Atonement, or propitiation, the thing is this: that whereas many a servant of God might fear his petitions would never be granted, because he has been so sinful before God, and has so many ways dishonored God, that he knows not how God should hear such an unworthy creature as he is. Now the Apostle sets forth in this epistle the Lord Jesus Christ as our atonement, that if we come to our Advocate, and say, we have such suits, and petitions to put up to our heavenly Father, but we have so displeased him, that we think he will never regard us; why says the Apostle, if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, and therefore for our own hearts, though we have just cause of discouragement in regard of our sins, yet we have a propitiation, an atonement, he makes intercession for us as an Advocate; but you say, God will not hear him for such sinners as we be? Yes, he makes propitiation or atonement, that we perish not by our sins, nor that they should hinder God's acceptance of us, or granting our desires (verse 7 of the first chapter), and so here is a third groundwork of our confidence and certainty of our desires.

Fourthly, there is another, and that is the anointing that we have received from him, by which we know all things (1 John 2:20), implying that though we be dark in our own minds, and dead, and straight in our own spirits, and do not know what the Lord or Christ has done for us. Yet we have received an unction from the Lord Jesus, who will tell us what he has done for us. As a man's advocate will send his client word of all things how they go in the court about his business, that he may know how far he has proceeded, and where they stick: so the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the holy one there spoken of; you have received an unction from him, he sends down his holy Spirit into your hearts, and lets you see and know all the petitions and requests that God grants you. You shall no sooner have a petition granted, but you shall have it certified to you by this unction of the holy one, by which you know you have them granted, and for whose sake it is that they are granted by this unction; you know all things pertinent to life and godliness. And this is that which the Apostle Paul speaks (2 Corinthians 2:12): God sends forth his own Spirit into our hearts to let us know so much, and this is a marvelous point that the Holy Ghost gives us to know all things that are done in heaven for us, and how far God has accepted us.

Further, if you be inquisitive to know why the Spirit of God does certify the soul of this.

First, the Spirit certifies us of this, that surely our petitions are heard and granted, because he has given us a heart to pray, he has helped us to pray, we could never have prayed fervently, and feelingly, unless the Holy Ghost had helped us; we know we have straight hearts, and if we therefore come and pour out our souls to God in any spiritual affection, then we know we have this unction, the Holy Ghost came and opened our mouths, and healed our lips, and made us pray affectionately, and feelingly. And that is a great light to the hearing of our petitions, for a prayer well made, is never ill heard, and therefore you know what is said (Psalm 10:17): You prepare the heart to pray, and you have heard the desire of the poor. How shall a poor Christian know that his desire is heard? Why, you have prepared the heart to pray; if God prepare our hearts, then he will cause his ear to hear, these always accompany one another. That is something that this unction does, it works in all our hearts to pray according to God's will, and to pray in the name of Christ, and so satisfies us.

Secondly, this Spirit of God that we receive from the holy one, it is also a spirit of faith, that inwardly persuades us that God has indeed heard us, and that he will do for us whatever we desire, and will sometimes evidently bear witness of it to the heart of a man (Mark 11:24): Whatever you desire when you pray, believe that you shall receive them, and you will have them. We must believe that what we have said to God he will certainly do it, and the spirit of faith will come, and say to the heart, God in heaven says Amen to it, he gives out a fiat, let it be done (Psalm 6:8). David was in a grievous affliction, both in bodily affliction, and spiritual desertion, as in the beginning of the Psalm, he cried out day and night, God had forsaken him, and his soul was sore vexed; but you, O Lord, how long, etc. And now away from me all you my enemies, for the Lord has heard my petition, and he will accept me; so that even while he is in bitter complaints, and grievous mourning, while he is yet speaking, this unction comes, and reveals to him God's acceptance of him, and therefore now he encourages himself, and casts a defiance upon all the troubles of his soul. He looks at them all as vanishing away like snow before the sun, and now he comforts himself therein.

And this is often and usual, when the soul makes use of God's ordinances, and privileges which himself has granted, that surely God has heard our requests, he never refuses to grant that prayer which he stands to hear. For this purpose is that you read of the good woman Hannah (1 Samuel 1:15-18): Eli suspected she was in some distemper, but says she, I have poured out my soul before the Lord. She prayed feelingly, and fervently, and faithfully, not words, but her soul before the Lord; she had prayed with her whole heart, and her soul did raise up itself heavenward, the strength of her desire was set upon that. And he then said, The Lord give you favor in his eyes, and grant your request; which was, as if this answer had come from heaven, for God does reveal himself in his ordinances. She looked at him as the high priest, and so a type of the Messiah, and she took it as a voice from heaven, and the text says, She went home, and looked no more sad. God has set it on, and spoken comfort to her heart, so as that her faith was established, she saw the voice of God in it, and went home resolved upon it, and takes such encouragement to herself from there as to fear no more in that kind. When God's Spirit gives us to pray affectionately, and to believe confidently, then we know we have our petitions, we are persuaded of it.

But besides this confident persuasion this follows, there is another work of faith, and that is a constant wrestling against all discouragements that falls between our requests, and the accomplishment of our petitions. Famous is that story of the woman of Syrophenicia (Matthew 15:23-29); you know the manifold discouragements she met with: she prays, and at first God gives her no audience, answers her not a word; she prays again, and then he gives her a denial to grant her any such request, and tells her plainly, it is not suitable to his calling, and therefore he may not apply himself to her; yet she is not discouraged with this (which is very much) but she follows him still, and though yet reproached, and called a dog, yet she is not discouraged, but out of the word of reproach gathers some hope of comfort; if she be a dog, why then let her have that which belongs to dogs, let her have but the crumbs that fall from the children's table. She is not discouraged with all the difficulties that lay in her way, nothing shall cut her off from importunity, and when he could forbear no longer, he then tells her, O woman, great is your faith, be it to you even as you will. To show you, that if the Holy Ghost does but give a Christian soul so much resolution and confidence, as not to give over praying, till God be pleased to give over answering, it is a good sign, this spirit of faith will certainly prevail at length, all things are possible to them that believe, and not only possible but certain.

Thirdly, there is a third work of this Spirit, and that is this; it works as it is a spirit of hope, and that moves a man to wait upon God, that though God should tarry long, and he should pray heartily for such and such requests to be granted; in such a case as this our spirits would be sad and uncomfortable, and give over, and be ready to say, Why should I wait on the Lord any longer (as that profane Prince said, 1 Kings 6, last verse,) having been long pressed with famine, he in the end burst forth with this, This evil is of the Lord, why should we wait on him any longer? Our foolish hearts soon grow impatient, and we cannot dance after attendance upon God; and therefore in this case though flesh and blood be short winded, and soon weary, yet the truth is, this unction when it works in us a spirit of hope, it still waits upon God, it sets itself to wait upon him, and is very well contented to stay God's leisure, though he should tarry very long (Psalm 62:1; Psalm 130:4-5 and the last 2 verses); he sets both morning and evening watch for him, and he is well contented to wait for him. And (Psalm 123:1-3) our eyes wait upon the Lord our God; so that when God gives us a spirit of waiting, then does he certainly seal up to us the granting of our petitions, for when a man attends at the court for an answer upon his petition, if the King bid him attend, it is a good sign he means to grant him his request, else he would have rejected it; but a wise Prince, if he see a man come in good sort, and desire a reasonable request of him, that such a thing is according to his princely will, and he bids him to attend and stay there, a sign he means to take it into consideration, at least, and good hopes it will be accepted. Now God consults with no body, but if he give us a heart to wait and stay, assure yourselves he means not to send you empty away, but it is an undoubted argument he will give us an answer, because you can thus wait upon him.

Fourthly, there is a fourth work of this unction, and it tends marvelously to the speeding of our requests, and that is that which you read (Psalm 145:19): He will fulfill the desires of them that fear him. Do you find that the Lord has worked a spirit of fear in your heart, so as that you walk awfully before him, and in the fear of his name go about every duty, and in his fear depend upon him, and endeavor to approve yourself before him? Truly he will assuredly fulfill the desires of them that fear him, when we reverence him in his ordinances, pray with reverence, and in a holy fear (Psalm 2:11). Them that go about holy duties in a reverent and holy fear, do all things in the fear of the Lord, he has a spirit of power to prevail with God; this is such a fear as whereby a man keeps covenant with God, and consequently prevails with God to keep covenant with them (Jeremiah 32:40). This fear is it which makes us keep covenant with God, this fear of God always keeps possession for God, so as that we dare not do that which is unlawful, we dare not sin against God, nor perform good duties carelessly, and fearlessly, for the fear of God bows us to go about holy duties, in a holy and reverent manner, and blessed is that man that so fears always. If therefore God take from us a wanton and wild heart, a loose and irreverent heart, and work in us an awful reverent fear of his name, in every duty of his service, and our own callings, that keeps us from departing from God, and it keeps God from departing from us, that we always have him near at hand, to hear all the desires of them that fear him. It is that spirit of which you read, spoken of concerning our Savior, in which he shall prosper in all the works of his hands (Isaiah 11:2): The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, etc. A spirit of power, and of the fear of the Lord, and that shall make him quick of understanding, and so shall prosper, which is a blessing promised our Savior (Isaiah 53:10): It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief, but the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. This is the end of this blessing, when God puts us to grief and humiliation, and so works in us the fear of his great name (which ever accompanies those dispensations) then the work of the Lord prospers in our hands. If God give us a Spirit of his holy fear in any duty we go about, then it will assure us that God will hear our desires.

Fifthly, but yet further, there is a spirit of obedience, which does marvelously seal up to us the hearing and granting of all our prayers and petitions (1 John 3:22). Whatever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his Commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. It is of necessary use, that when God gives us hearts to listen to every word of his mouth, he will then listen to the desires of our souls (Proverbs 28:8). The prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the desires of the righteous are his delight, and he that turns away his care from hearing the law, his prayer shall be abominable. But if a man lend a listening ear to God's law, it makes his prayer acceptable; listen to the Lord, and the Lord will listen to you, else not. It is to this purpose what you read (Judges 9, latter end of verse 7): Listen to me, that God may listen to you. If God gave them hearts to listen to what he spoke to them in God's name, then God will listen to them. If we speak, and do as Eli taught Samuel to say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears (1 Samuel 3:10). If we come before God with such a resolution, that whatever God speaks to us we will hear it, and do it, we shall find this upon it, whatever we speak to God he will answer us, and work it for us; so that an obedient Christian is a powerful petitioner, he is powerful in prayer. And this we may attain to, by making use of this holy Epistle of John, that is written to all that believe on the name of Christ; this is a fourth direction that John gives us in this Epistle, whereby you see how mighty this same Epistle is to satisfy, and fill our hearts with fullness of joy.

The reason of this confidence springs from the promises, and the discerning of them clearly to belong to us, now all these things discover to us many promises, confidence springs partly from God's nature, and partly from God's promise, and partly also from our own experience, and these are the staff of our confidence; and from hence it is that we grow to see many promises belong to us, we see the nature of God become fatherly to us, and we from hence in time gather many experiences of God's acceptance of us, and this strengthens our confidence in his hearing of our petitions. Our adoption assures us of God's nature to be ours, whereby God takes us to be his children, and he is one that is full of grace and goodness, nothing is wanting on his part; he is a Father to us, and that is a great matter.

And in regard that Christ is our Advocate and Atonement, he brings all the promises to us, which in Christ are all, indeed and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). And this holy Spirit of God gives us experience of all that goodness that is in God, and the truth in his promises, indeed and it gives us experience in this also; [reconstructed: will he not give us all things else?] (Romans 8:32). He gives us election, redemption, fatherly adoption, and effectual vocation to the ways of his grace, and so he gives us experience of the greatest matters, and from hence we know, that he will not deny us smaller things, as victory against the remnant of our corruptions, the greatest part of them is scattered before, the staff and strength of them already broken, and we now conflict but with remnants of corruption.

But now when the Holy Ghost says, we know this, it goes far; for confidence and faith springs from the testimony of him that speaks, or from the nature of him upon whom we trust; but knowledge does not so much spring from the testimony of any, either God, or man, but is commonly gathered from sense and experience, and experience is both a ground of confidence, and knowledge; and from here comes the knowledge of all arts and sciences, from where is their knowledge, but from their observation of many experiences? Physicians know it, and they therefore set it down in their books, they know it is so. Things that we gather from sense and experience, we are said to have the knowledge of; now this experience does not only give us confidence but knowledge, for by the unction that we have received, we do know the love of God that passes knowledge, Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, we come to know the love of God towards us (Ephesians 3:17, 19). There is not anything that concerns the love of God towards us, but the Spirit of God dwelling in our hearts by faith, it comes to pass that we are able to comprehend the height, and depth, length, and breadth of the love of God towards us. This Spirit of God in our hearts gives us sensible experience and knowledge of God's love to us, of his atonement and grace to us, our consciences that had hells in them before, all such dark evils are now vanished and scattered, and we know that sensibly we had power given us to pray, and to believe that our prayers are granted; and can wait upon God, and fear God, and make conscience of obeying his will. Now this Spirit of prayer that discovers these things plainly to our inward man, the sense and experience of it makes a Christian able to know what God has done for him, and makes him able to believe what God has promised him; and thus now when we ask anything according to God's will, he does not only say, It is well said, but he takes a course to answer our requests, we have certain grounds to move us in what we ask, and the ends of our requests are right. Now God considers not always so much the letter of our prayers as the grounds, and ends of them, the scope we aim at, and God will so accordingly answer us.

Use 1. Let it be first a ground of encouragement to every Christian soul that believes in the name of Jesus Christ, trust not in your own good parts, and good gifts, if any such things increase, set not your hearts upon them; trust not in any worldly blessing, but believe on the name of Christ. And therefore that you may believe, humble your souls before him in regard of your sins, and pray heartily in the faith of Christ. And why so? The ground is in the text, you shall not only be confident and assured of your salvation, which is a great mercy of God to my soul, and a greater than all the whole Church of Rome would grant; they may go to Rome, and from there to Jerusalem, and from one place to another to have sought for pardon of sin, and yet not so much comfort promised them, that after all this they shall find it, but in the end to Purgatory they must go; and that is as ill as hellfire (say they) save only in durance;) and this is all the help they have, they might whip and scourge themselves, and give all their goods away to the poor, and themselves go in sackcloth and ashes all their days, and when all comes to all, they must not be sure of any mercy or favor from God; which to believe would be heretical presumption; but they must notwithstanding all this rest in hellfire till the day of judgment, unless they will be at cost to purchase freedom from it; and (which is strange) though they would not suffer them to believe a release by Christ's pardon, yet upon the Pope's pardon they might have hope, and so they take more pains for an uncertainty, than we for certainty and knowledge, but you shall not only attain certainty of salvation, but certainty of the granting of all your requests; no peace to the peace of a Believer, and therefore lay aside all your confidence in the world, but be confident in the name of the Lord Jesus, and be certain of God's favor and goodness to you in him, and then here is such blessings as will keep a man's heart warm in the worst hours.

Use 2. To teach such as believe on the name of the Lord Jesus, how you may come to be confident, and certain of the hearing and granting your petitions; How may we come to that? Have you good evidence to your soul of your adoption, that God is your Father, then meditate well upon this point, that Christ is your advocate, to make intercession and atonement for you, in case you have displeased your heavenly Father. These two things will much prevail, they be strong helps to a weak faith; and then consider what unction you have received, and look up to God that he would give you a spirit of prayer, to pray feelingly, and fervently, and humbly before him, and then labor for a spirit of faith, which if God give you so much faith as to persuade you, your requests are heard, and to wrestle against discouragements, and that the spirit of faith does work in you grace to hope and wait upon God, and as well an holy fear of his name, and obedience to walk obediently in doing his will, and patiently to suffer his will under his hand; and observe how the Spirit speaks evidently in this and that kind, and it will be a notable means to help you to grow confident, and certain that all your prayers are heard. Now many a Christian soul falls short of this, he considers not the atonement of Christ in his prayer; but many times thus stands the case with them, there is much dissoluteness in their lives, and looseness and fearlessness in their hearts before God, rejoice not with trembling, God sees his servants loose in their obedience, and when disobedient they seek not to Christ for atonement; from where it is that many times they are so full of doubts.

Use 3. Of much consolation to all those that believe on the name of the Lord Jesus, and make use of these blessed means; this is our confidence, that whatever petitions we ask he hears us, and we know it. See how comfortable a Christian's estate is, he grows certain not only of his own salvation, but he is certain of the hearing and granting of all his petitions, if he can but pray well, he makes account all is well, let his distresses be what they will be.