Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20050130.htm

1 JOHN: DEFEATING MISLEADING SPIRITUAL ERROR TRULY TO COMMUNE WITH GOD
Part VI: Blessings The Mature "Father" Has In His Walk With God
K. The Blessing Of Confidence In HOLY BOLDNESS In Prayer
(1 John 5:14-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. True fellowship with God produces a tremendous, multifaceted, spiritually fulfilling lifestyle even on this earth, something John briefly stated in 1 John 1:3-4.
    2. So, having revealed the basic levels of growth, John gave insight into the blessings mature "fathers" enjoy for overcoming a reliance on others (along with the world's lusts) as a "little child" and of overcoming reliance on the world system and its lusts as a "young man". The eleventh blessing noted is that of confidence one has to have holy boldness in prayer as follows:
  2. The Blessing Of Confidence In HOLY BOLDNESS In Prayer, 1 John 5:14-17.
    1. After addressing the three levels of maturity in 1 John 2:12-27, John began an extensive treatment of the blessings spiritual "fathers" experience as motivation for his readers to mature into spiritual fatherhood.
    2. The eleventh blessing is confidence one has that he can have holy boldness in prayer, 1 John 5:14-17:
      1. By way of review, we learned the fifth blessing "fathers" enjoy is that of gaining answers to prayer when they pray particularly for the care of other people, 1 John 3:22-24a with 3:16-18 and 5:14-15.
      2. However, John goes further in 1 John 5:14-17 to show God gives spiritual "fathers" liberty for holy boldness in praying on life-and-death matters of fellow believers due to pure motives in their maturity:
        1. The word ti that is translated "any thing" in 1 John 5:14 KJV or "anything" NIV is placed in the emphatic position before its verb, aitometha that is rendered "we ask" to teach God hears ANY prayer given by the party involved that is in His will, 5:14-15 (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 825).
        2. Then, to illustrate this truth very powerfully, John launched out into the SERIOUS matter of a spiritual "father's" prayer life as it relates to intercession for other believers who sin so that they, from the spiritual "father's" perspective, MAY be worthy of the awesome punishment of premature physical death at God's hand, cf. 1 John 5:16-17!
        3. We view this teaching and its huge ramifications as follows: (a) A believer can sin in such a way that God responds by prematurely taking his physical life in death, cf. Acts 5:1-10; 1 John 5:16b. (b) This event is naturally frightening for others to witness, Acts 5:11. (c) Yet, John reported that if a spiritual "father" sees a Christian brother sin in a way that HE believes may NOT be severe enough to WARRANT God's discipline of PREMATURE death, he can intercede for him and God will save this brother's life if it is in God's will, 1 John 5:16a. (d) However, if that "father" sees the brother sin so that HE as a "father" believes the brother MAY WARRANT the discipline of PHYSICAL DEATH, God will NOT hold that "father" responsible for sin if he does NOT intercede to save that brother's life, 1 John 5:16b! God grants this enormous boldness to the mature "father" since he prays from motives that are FREE from Satanic influence (he is no longer a "little child," 1 John 2:14b) and also FREE from the lusts of the world (he is no longer a "young man," 1 John 2:15-17), all providing he as a "father" is in fellowship with God at the time, 1 John 1:8-10!
      3. Thus, a mature "father" who fellowships with the Lord is at liberty to be bold in prayer, confident his motives are acceptable even if the prayer itself due to human limitations may not be fully in God's will!
Lesson: Spiritual "fathers" who fellowship with God and have DEFEATED Satan's wiles through use of God's Word and the Holy Spirit's power and who have DEFEATED the world's lusts through rejecting the world in favor of doing God's will have LIBERTY from God to PRAY so BOLDLY for ANYTHING they BELIEVE is in God's will that EVEN IF they see a brother in Christ sin to the POINT they BELIEVE may be guilty of God's punishment of premature death, GOD will NOT hold the "father" GUILTY of MURDEROUS LOVELESSNESS for NOT interceding; his walk with God is so PURE in MOTIVE that God gives them this massive LIBERTY to be thus BOLD in prayer!

Application: (1) May we MATURE in Christ to enjoy such LIBERATING BOLDNESS before GOD in PRAYER! (2) If we HAVE come to this point in our walk, may we be grateful for God's GRACE to us!