Sermon for Pentecost 19, October 19, 2025
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
1 John 5:13-15 13I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him. (EHV)
Be confident in God who gives eternal life.
Dear redeemed in Christ Jesus,
It might be tempting to overlook this short letter tucked away in the back of your Bible, but some very profound thoughts are found in this little note. The Apostle, John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes to the young Christian Church, to the people God has made His own dear children through faith in Jesus Christ. In this short text, the apostle encourages believers to be bold in their faith and in their prayers, that they Be confident in God who gives eternal life.
John tells us point blank why he was appointed to write this letter: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Here, the Holy Spirit is addressing one of Satan’s most effective lies. The devil works very hard to convince people, sinners all, that our sins will keep us from eternal life in heaven. As with all the devil’s lies, he takes a sliver of truth and turns it against us. The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) That is the message of the law. Therefore, Satan loves to use that law against us whenever he has tempted us to defy it.
So, who here could argue against the logic? Who among us could claim to be without sin? However, John wrote this letter, and God gave us the whole Bible to remove the curse of sin from us and to open the gates of heaven for us. You see, the message of the Bible isn’t centered on mankind’s rebellion and sin against God. The Bible is centered exactly on the Son of God who came into this world to rescue us from the darkness of death and condemnation.
Again, hear the message God wants you to know: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Having been rescued from the devil’s control and granted faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament, you already have eternal life. This is perfectly in line with what Jesus declared to John in the Revelation, “Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11)
Because of sin afflicting mankind, most of us will experience physical death. Every person on earth will go through that portal except for those still physically alive the day Jesus returns to judge the world. However, those marked by the blood of the Lamb and bearing the seal of God’s grace will never have to face the eternal death which is everlasting separation from God in hell. That second death does not apply to God’s children. Hell is set apart solely for the devil and his followers. Even those who wickedly reject Jesus will be in hell only because they refused the salvation offered through faith in Jesus, because Jesus has already paid the price for all the sins of all mankind.
Thus, dear friends, Be confident in God who gives eternal life. Rest assured that the Father in heaven loves you. He so wants you to spend eternity in heaven that He gave His own beloved Son into suffering and death to rescue you and bring you eternal life through faith. Then, as St. Paul so eloquently pointed out in his letter to the Roman congregation, “If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:31-32) St. John is in full agreement for he wrote, “This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” God listens to His children, to their wants and needs, their hopes and dreams. Having delivered us from the clutches of the wicked one by the lifeblood of Jesus, God wants only the best for us.
Here is the rub, though, and the reason many of God’s people struggle with this promise that God hears our prayers; people all too often expect God to act like a vending machine in which we place our order and receive immediate satisfaction. Thus, if we pray for healing and healing doesn’t come right away, or ever, the devil is right there whispering in our ears that God must not have heard or doesn’t care. All over the world, Christians pray for peace and yet war, turmoil, bloodshed, and persecution continually torment us and many unbelievers as well. Sometimes, we pray for different weather than we have in that moment, and yet, we may or may not receive the answer we desire.
So, what is the problem, or who is to blame? The prosperity preacher will tell you that you didn’t pray hard enough, long enough, or properly in some way. The sinful nature will become exasperated with God’s response. The devil again delights to torment us with questions. Yet, there is never a plea that God doesn’t hear, so we must admit that like little children, our prayers and pleas are not always what is best for God’s kingdom which is His beloved children of faith.
To pray according to God’s will is to pray with complete confidence that God always answers with exactly what is needed for us and for our fellow members of the kingdom regardless of whether we are happy in the flesh with His answer. Just as a loving father will never give his child what he knows will bring him harm, God will never give you anything but what He knows is in your best interest for eternity, even if that makes you have to adjust your wishes in this life.
Sometimes, our desires have consequences that we cannot know. Sometimes, our requests must be put off until a later time, not because God is not able to fulfill, but because it is not in line with His plans for you or for someone around you. Often, the answer to our prayers is immediate, but we don’t immediately recognize God’s benevolent gift. This failure to recognize the blessing God gives is sin. Likewise, whenever we selfishly demand our personal preferences over what God knows is best, this is a childish temper tantrum that is also sin, and whenever we listen to the devil whispering in our ears that God is shortchanging us in any way, that is the same sin that led Adam and Eve into death in the first place.
Therefore, we confess to our God and Father that we cannot know what is best for us, and we confess that the desires of our sinful hearts often conflict with His unchanging love for us, and we confess that our lives would be infinitely better when we simply and completely trust His gracious good will for our everlasting welfare as we bring our needs and wants before the Lord.
With complete confidence in God’s loving care for us, St. John reminds us, “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him.” That dear friends is Being confident in God who gives eternal life. Remember, also, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, St. James wrote, “The prayer of a righteous person is able to do much because it is effective.” (James 5:16) Thus, as we pray to God seeking only those things in line with His perfect will, how could we possibly receive anything but what our God determines is best for us?
In our Gospel lesson last Sunday, we heard of ten lepers who begged Jesus for healing, and they each received that gift, but only one returned with thanksgiving for the healing we all need, that for his soul. This is the most important gift we could ask for and we dare never forget. God has already given us what we need to dwell with Him forever in Paradise. He gave His own dear Son into death, so that with our sins fully paid for on the cross, His resurrection declares to us everlasting life. Jesus lived His life in perfect trust in His Father’s will, so that you and I who believe in Jesus will be counted as having trusted God with that same perfect faith. Therefore, even if our prayer for physical life is answered with a martyr’s death, we can stand with the same confidence Paul displayed as he faced the emperor’s judgment saying, “So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this reason he died, rose, and lived, to be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:8-9)
In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus spoke of a wicked judge who couldn’t be bothered to do what is right for some poor woman. Yet, because of her persistence in seeking justice, that wicked judge eventually gave in to her plea. Jesus’ point is not that God withholds His favor until we earn it with persistent prayer—that would be sacrilege and a judgment against God’s perfect love—but rather, God earnestly encourages us to continue to present our needs to our Father in heaven, because in His perfect holiness and love, He is always ready and willing to both hear our prayers and answer them for our everlasting good. To expect anything less is a stain of sin on us.
However, even this sin was put on Jesus at the cross, so that all of our sins are removed and all our guilt has been carried by the love God showed to us in Jesus. His righteousness covers us with a robe of brilliant holiness that shines brighter than the sun. Furthermore, nothing in heaven or on earth, nor any created thing can ever take away what Jesus has already accomplished so that we will live with Him forever in heaven. Therefore, trust that whatever challenges, hardships, or losses we might ever face here on earth will only come our way because our loving Father in heaven has deemed these things to be for our eternal good.
St. Paul explained this difficult to understand reality when he wrote:
Therefore, to keep me from becoming arrogant due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me. And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
Dear friends, may we too always shelter in the power of Christ Jesus. May we always recognize that God answers our prayers exactly as He deems is best. May we every day of our lives go out in this world, with all its troubles, hardships, and pains, bringing our prayers to God above with full confidence in His love, and thus in every prayer, Be confident in God who gives eternal life. Amen.
God will fully supply your every need, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever! Amen.