Lord's Day: May 25, 2025 Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Topic: Faith Scripture: 1 John 3:22–24; Mark 1:14; Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20; John 6:29, 63; 5:46–47; Hebrews 11:8–10, 17–19; 1 Corinthians 2:16; John 8:51

23And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us. 24And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us. 1 John 3:23–24

• Our prayers must be informed and guided by Scripture, just as our faith must be informed and guided by Scripture
• We are commanded to first and foremost understand and believe the truth (Mark 1:14)
• Faith always comes first, then good works follow, then we do works “in keeping” with this saving repentance and faith (Mt 3:8, Acts 26:20)
• Obedience does not follow faith, because believing is the first act of obedience, even though our belief is not our good work—it is the work of God (John 6:29)

I. There is no difference between believing “in the name of His Son Jesus Christ,” or believing in Christ, or believing Christ, or believing the words of Christ

II. Do not be misled when people say that true faith is not believing things about Christ, but believing Christ Himself

III. Take Abraham as a prime example of faith, true faith

IV. Union with Christ

• 1 John 3:24 teaches us a universal union with Christ, but also a particular union with Him—a personal one, through faith—by His Spirit, His anointing
• "The New Testament does indeed teach a mutual indwelling of Christ and the believer. There is a very real sense in which minds interpenetrate. In I Corinthians 2:16 Paul asserts that 'we have the mind of Christ.' Christ dwells in us and we in him by our thinking and believing his doctrines. As John says in his Gospel 8:51, 'He who maintains my doctrine shall not see death, ever.'”[1]

We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:

• ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church
  4712 Montana Ave
  El Paso, Texas 79903

Contact us at:

• web: ThornCrownCovenant.Church
  call/text: (915) 843-8088
  email: ThornCrownCovenantBChurch@gmail.com

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com

[1] Gordon H. Clark, First John: A Commentary, Trinity Paper, No. 2, 2nd ed. (The Trinity Foundation, 1992), p. 120

Lord's Day: May 18, 2025 Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Topic: Law & Gospel Distinction Scripture: 1 John 3:22–23; Matthew 23:23; Psalm 37:1–9; Romans 8:32; Mark 1:14–15; Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20; Hebrews 11:6

22and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 23And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us. 1 John 3:22–23

I. If God gives us whatever we ask for according to 1 John 3:22, then why do we not always get what we ask for?

• It is not pious to obey one command (e.g., prayer) at the expense/neglect of another (e.g., study)—it is immature and sinful to neglect the whole counsel of God, or to have lopsided/imbalanced priorities and applications

II. What does Jesus say about balance?

• He rebuked the false, imbalanced piety of the scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
• Just as you cannot love aright without sound doctrine (the “weightier provision of the Law”—because we are commanded to first and foremost understand and believe the truth), so likewise, you cannot pray aright without the truth of sound doctrine
• Prayer is an outworking (orthopraxy) of our doctrine (orthodoxy)

III. We must not pray for sinful things, nor with selfish/perverse motives

• James 4:1-12
• Prayer is relational, how we relate with God

IV. To pray rightly, in a manner that pleases God, you need knowledge, faith, humility, persistence, patience.

• We worship and bow before God in prayer, to petition Him for help, grace, mercy, forgiveness, strength, support, provision, deliverance, blessings, good things
• Psalm 37:1–9
• God has given us everything already through our heavenly inheritance and union with Christ (Romans 8:32)

V. What does it mean to “keep His commandments”?

We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:

• ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church
  4712 Montana Ave
  El Paso, Texas 79903

Contact us at:

• web: ThornCrownCovenant.Church
  call/text: (915) 843-8088
  email: ThornCrownCovenantBChurch@gmail.com

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com

Lord's Day: May 11, 2025 Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Topic: Prayer Scripture: 1 John 3:21–22; Ephesians 3:20–21; Romans 8:26–27; Matthew 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18; Matthew 7:7–12; 1 John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 2:15; 2 Peter 1:2–3; Romans 8:32

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 1 John 3:21–22

I. This passage also distills for us the essence of prayer

• Baptist Larger Catechism, Q175: “Prayer is offering our desires to God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ with the help of His Spirit, praising Him, confessing our sins, and thankfully recognising His mercies.”
• God works in us to pray, stirs us to pray, and, in our weakness, guides our prayer and intercedes with and for us in our prayers

II. If God gives us whatever we ask for, according to 1 John 3:22, then why do we not always get what we ask for?

• Prayer is relational, a reflection of how we relate with God—not the other way around
• God does not pray to us—we pray to Him—He takes our prayers into consideration and answers them according to His sovereign decree (will) “in the works of creation and providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of His own will,” which includes “His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing of all His creatures and all their actions to His own glory” (Baptist Larger Catechism, Q16, Q20).
• Prayer is a means of God’s grace, God answers our prayers and gives us what we ask for through various means, especially through God’s people and church, which administers the means of grace that God has given all of us, “particularly the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer” (BLC Q143)
• Our theology of prayer and our prayer life—how we prioritize prayer in light of our other duties, our prayer habits, how we pray, what we pray, not just how often or how long we pray—are a reflection of our relationship with God, and of own spiritual condition/maturity
• Just as you cannot love aright without sound doctrine, so likewise you cannot pray aright without the truth of sound doctrine
• Prayer is an outworking (orthopraxy) of our doctrine (orthodoxy)

III. Our Lord Jesus instructs us on what a healthy prayer relationship looks like with our Heavenly Father, as well as some of the things we are called to do “that are pleasing in His sight”

• We must recognize our own reality through God’s eyes, how He sees us—that we are needy children who should regularly ask our loving Father for good and needful things
• God has given us everything already—“He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:

• ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church
  4712 Montana Ave
  El Paso, Texas 79903

Contact us at:

• web: ThornCrownCovenant.Church
  call/text: (915) 843-8088
  email: ThornCrownCovenantBChurch@gmail.com

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com