Today's, that Michael will be preaching on, is
1 John 2, verse 12 to 14. Desiree is going to
read that for us. Enough of that, invite Michael
to come up. 1 John 2, verse 12 to 14, and it's
page 959 on the Pew Bibles. I'm writing to you,
little children, because your sins are forgiven
for His name's sake. I'm writing to you, fathers,
because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I'm writing to you, young men, because you have
overcome the evil one. I'm writing to you, children,
because you know the Father. I write to you,
fathers, because you know Him who is from the
beginning. I write to you young men because you
are strong and the word of God abides in you
and you have overcome the evil one. Good morning
again everyone. It's great to be together. Before
we get into this interesting part of scripture
this morning, why don't we come to our Father
and ask for his help in understanding what's
going on. Would you please pray with me? Father
God, we thank you that we are here together this
morning to sit under your word. We ask that your
Holy Spirit would teach us that we would see
the light. And Father, that you would use me
to speak truth to your children. That these words
would not be something to tickle the mind, but
by your Spirit, penetrate our hearts and change
us for the sake of Christ. We pray these things
in his name, amen. Have you ever noticed how
family traits tend to show up in the next generation?
Maybe it's the shape of the nose, a certain way
of laughing, or a sense of humor that's passed
from a parent to a child. I mean sometimes, even
without knowing the parents, you can meet someone
and say, you must belong to the Bosvelts. There's
just marks, there's just indicators we might
say that reveal what family we come from. Well
believe it or not, being part of the Christian
family is somewhat similar. And I mentioned that
to you this morning because if you've been with
us over the past few weeks you'll know that we're
in a series exploring the first letter of the
Apostle John where we've seen John reveal what
we might call the family traits of the Christian.
The defining marks, if you will, that show us
that we've been truly adopted by God and placed
into His family by His grace alone. One of the
marks that we've seen is that we will walk in
the truth. In other words, we will believe right
things about God, about Christ about the gospel
when from that belief we'll have a proper understanding
of our sin and salvation. Remember John addressed
this by challenging the false teaching that claims
that Christians no longer have a sin nature.
And he corrected this by reminding his hearers
that sin remains a reality in the believer's
life. And thus, true Christian living involves
recognizing sin, confessing it to God, and continually
depending on Christ in the power of the Spirit.
A second identifying mark concerns our moral
life, how we act as Christians in this world.
As we've seen, the true children of God love
to obey God's word, his will as revealed in his
word. Why? Because the light of the Gospel has
pierced the darkness and we now see the truth
of who Jesus is and as a result of this supernatural
work done in us we strive with all of our hearts
to keep the commandments of our Lord who we know,
who we know is the way, the truth and the life.
A third mark, which we had a look at last week,
concerns our relationships with one another.
Those who live in the light and the truth will
love one another and will do everything we can
to avoid making each other stumble. As God's
people, we are called to be forgiving, we're
called to be loving, gracious, and servant -hearted,
working out our salvation in the context of Christian
community. Which brings us to this interesting
part of scripture that we find ourselves in this
morning. where our apostle gives us this highly
structured bit of rhetoric to essentially sum
up for us what he's been speaking to us about
so far. And I think he does this because the
Christian life can feel like something of a balancing
act, we might say. Knowing that we're not saved
by our works, yet recognizing that good works
demonstrate real spiritual. It's a balance. But
with that balance, there is a danger. Some may
doubt their salvation because they don't see
the family traits clearly just yet, while others
may rely too much on their works for their assurance.
And so to avoid either ditch in the so -called
road, our apostle reminds us to continually return
to the true foundation of our confidence by giving
us this little saying. Now before we get into
the text, I just want to say a couple of things.
by way of preface. First, I'm going to do something
a little bit different for you this morning,
in that I usually like to follow the text line
by line. But here, our apostle, he gives us these
three categories, or themes you'll notice, of
little children, young men, and then fathers.
And so instead of following the text line by
line, I want to take you through each category
individually. And I'm gonna do this because second,
while John uses little children in chapter two
verse one to refer to all believers, remember
he called us my little children, I don't think
that's what's happening here in these verses.
Now he seems to be describing different stages
of spiritual maturity. That's what I think our
Apostle's doing here. He's forming an idea for
us on the Christian life and how we're to grow
and mature in the faith. And so he gives us this
picture of little children, then young men, then
fathers, which is meant to give us a specific
picture of Christians at various points in our
journey. And so with that in mind, if you have
your Bibles with you this morning, Look with
me first at what he has to say about little children.
We see that there in verse 12 and the end of
verse 13. John says, I'm writing to you little
children because your sins are forgiven for His
name's sake. I write to you children because
you know the Father. As I just said, I'm not
taking this as John specifically addressing grace
kids here this morning, but Christians who are
very new to the faith. I mean scripture does
address children specifically in places like
Exodus 20 and Ephesians 6 to name a few, but
here he's talking to those who may be very new
in the faith, who may have just been born again.
And notice it, he reminds these spiritual children
among us of three things. He says, your sins
are forgiven. He says they're forgiven for the
sake of Christ and you now know God as your father.
Why does John remind us of these three things?
Well, Church, I want to put it to you this morning
that he reminds us of these things because that
is the foundation of our assurance. Let me put
that another way. John points us to these three
foundational truths because if we look to our
lives and to our works alone, then we're gonna
be all over the place. And we're really going
to struggle to have any real assurance at all.
We're going to struggle because our feelings,
our emotions and our love for God and his commandments
and one another fluctuates all the time. I remember
catching up with a young man who lived a very
promiscuous life but then heard the gospel, he
put his trust in the truth and everything seemed
to change. He ended his sexual relationship with
his girlfriend, he told all of his friends and
family about Jesus and he wanted so desperately
to be an evangelist. He was what we might call
on fire for the Lord. But then over time, things
started to change. He didn't talk about Jesus
as much. I noticed that he didn't come to church
as often and a little while down the way I eventually
caught up with him and he admitted that he wasn't
really following Jesus at all anymore. And I
asked him what happened? What changed? And he
said that he didn't feel like God loved him anymore.
Like, he didn't feel like he was really a Christian
because he still struggled with some vices and
temptations. And I share that with you this morning,
Church, because if we lean on our feelings for
assurance, if we look to things like our loyalty
to Christ's commands and just how bad we're really
making a go of things, like my friend, we won't
really have any assurance at all and then we'll
feel like it's just all too difficult. And so
to those that are new in the faith, if your assurance
of salvation is based on how you feel, on how
well you're loving others or how good you are
at keeping God's commandments, then, My friend,
you are going to be all over the shop. And so
John reminds the spiritual children among us,
don't look to those things alone. They will fluctuate,
but remind yourself over and over and over again,
your sins are forgiven. They're forgiven for
his name's sake. And you now know God as your
father. Now what's the first thing that our apostle
points to here? It's forgiveness, right? It's
forgiveness. Now John points to that because
that is your status for all eternity. You are
a forgiven person. Now that isn't something that
you've bought about by yourself, right? That's
not something that you've in your own strength.
No, forgiveness is something that God has bestowed
on you as a free gift by holding his son out
to you. Your sins have been forgiven and you
will spend all eternity in the presence of God
because of something that God has done for you.
Something external to you, something done on
your behalf. has saved you. You're forgiven.
That is your identity. You're a forgiven person.
A second thing that John points out to new Christians
is that you are forgiven for his name's sake.
What does he mean by this? Well, essentially
as we've seen, no one deserves any of this. We
don't deserve any of this. No, we're not forgiven
because we're better than anyone else. No, we're
forgiven because of Christ's perfect obedience
on our behalf and our faith, which even that
was a gift, which was put in him. A few weeks
ago, we looked at that fancy theological word.
propitiation, which is essentially a term that
was taken from the Old Testament sacrificial
system. It's a word that's associated with something
standing in your place to receive the penalty
of your sin. That's Jesus, dear one. That's Jesus.
You stand before the God of the universe and
are deemed perfect. beloved and pure all because
of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf.
When he placed his body as an atoning sacrifice
before the Father it was fully accepted on behalf
of his people and so we're forgiven because of
something that Christ has done, not what we have
earned, but because of what Christ has earned
by His perfect life and death on our behalf.
You're forgiven, as John says, for His name's
sake. And because of faith in what Jesus has
done, because of faith in His perfect life and
substitutionary death, that picture of substitution,
You now know God as your Father. That is the
result of what Jesus has done by his life, his
death, and his resurrection. He brings us into
the closest intimacy with our Creator, to the
point that our Lord's Father becomes our Heavenly
Father. That's how we become part of the family.
It's by what Jesus has done and our trusting
in his work. Church, this is so incredibly important
for all of us, not just the spiritual children,
but all of us to be reminded of here this morning.
Because no matter how long you have been a Christian,
we are always tempted to justify ourselves before
God by how good we're going. Or fret because
we're relying so much on our feelings. Well John
says to the church this morning, the beginning
of the Christian life is forgiveness. You're
forgiven because of the work of Jesus and because
of the work of Jesus. God Almighty is our Father.
Don't look to your work alone or rely just on
your feelings, but be reminded here yet again
about the assurance of your salvation. You're
not part of God's family because you've earned
a place in it. You're in God's family because
of what God has done on your behalf. That's the
first thing John has to say to the new Christians,
to the children among us. And in fact, it's a
good reminder for all of us this morning. Understand
the foundation. Keep going back to that foundation
because if you're relying on anything else for
your assurance of being saved, you'll not really
have any assurance at all. Yes, you'll have a
love for God's Word. Yes, you will love His people,
but those things haven't made you a Christian
any more than walking into Maccas makes you a
hamburger. You're a Christian because of what
Christ has done. And because of faith in the
gospel, because of the supernatural work of the
Spirit in your life, because of His work, the
family traits will flow into all of your life.
Remember that little children. Next John writes
to the young men saying in verses 13 and 14,
I'm writing to you young men because you've overcome
the evil one. I write to you young men because
you're strong and the word of God abides in you
and you have overcome the evil one. Now, as I
pointed out before, we're not taking this as
John specifically talking to young males among
us this morning, but to young believers in general
who are still growing in their faith and their
trust of the truth. And here's what he has to
say about them. First, he writes, they have overcome
the evil one. He says that twice, right? Now
this is really interesting because if taken out
of context it sounds like these people have totally
got rid of their battles and temptations. But
this is why context matters. John has been very
careful to show us in this letter thus far that
we are actually still in a battle and have temptations.
And so to paraphrase the apostle Paul here in
his address to the Romans, once you were in bondage
to sin, but now you are no longer under its dominion.
Which is essentially what our apostle is saying
here. The one who is maturing in their walk is
the one who has had the power of sin broken in
their lives. Yes, sin still lingers, it still
threatens and tempts, but it's had its back broken,
we might say. Which is to say, the one who is
maturing in their walk is no longer giving into
temptation every time it comes knocking on the
door. Its power in their lives has been broken
in that sense. Now you might be here this morning
and thinking to yourself, but I am still wrestling
with the same things over and over and over again.
Sometimes there's great seasons and sometimes
there's terrible seasons. Well brother, sister,
John is saying the very fact that you're not
following and indulging in that thing, that that
vice blindly anymore and that you hate it, that
you're fighting with it, should encourage you
that you have indeed been enlightened to the
fact that there is sin and that you still need
to do battle with it, that you need to put that
thing to death. But take heart. Take heart because
that sin's hold on you is a pale comparison of
its former self. It doesn't control you anymore.
Jesus has come into your life and given you the
Holy Spirit to follow him. You're not doing the
Christian walk on your own. You're not maturing
on your own. And that's why second John calls
maturing Christians strong. How do Christians
battle sin and mature in their walk? Well, it's
because they've been made strong and they've
been made strong because third, the word of God
abides in them. It's really interesting phrase
that our apostle uses for Christians here. Let
me draw your attention to something though. Remember
when Jesus was in the wilderness and being tempted
with sin? Remember what he said in the face of
great temptation. He said, man doesn't live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God. And I remind you of that
because our Lord trusted what God had planned
for the Messiah as revealed in his word. And
with that, he was able to resist temptation.
Well, very much in the same way, those that are
growing and looking more and more and more like
their big brother Jesus, well, they're people
who are not just hearing, but believing and applying
the word of God in the face of temptation and
trials and taunts from the evil one and the flesh.
which is making them stronger and stronger in
their pursuit of God and a life of holiness.
Hence why John can say to the one who is maturing,
you are strong, but they're overcomers. You know,
I don't know how many of you started out in your
Christian walk thinking that once you became
a Christian, it was going to be the easiest life,
that sin wasn't going to hinder you and you'd
just kind of dawdle into the great pearly gates.
That's actually a very immature view of the Christian
life, Church. In fact, according to our apostle
here, it's a very wrong view of the Christian
life. No, the maturing Christians among us are
not the ones that are ignoring sin and pretending
that they don't have problems and issues, but
are the ones who have come to terms with just
how deceitful our own flesh really is. And instead
of relying on themselves to overcome their deeply
embedded self -centered desires, they're battling...
sin in the strength of the Spirit by believing
and applying the Word. Church, brothers, sisters,
dead people don't fight sin. Dead people don't
fight sin because they don't know they're actually
in a battle. Only people who are alive in Christ
can see it for what it is and fight it. That
life comes through Jesus Christ who has given
it to his people. He is the one who has totally
overcome the evil one in its fullest sense. So
be encouraged here this morning to lean on him.
Maturing in your walk isn't being someone who
doesn't fight and battle and sometimes get some
scars and get punched up and not have such great
seasons. Maturing is someone who is trusting
and obeying and relying on Christ more and more
in the midst of their battles. One last group
is addressed there in the beginning of both verse
13 and 14. And it's who John calls fathers and
he says the same thing about them twice you'll
notice. And that's that you know him who is from
the beginning. You know him who is from the beginning.
Now that word beginning has actually come up
in 1 John before in chapter 1 where our apostle
told us that that which was from the beginning
they had heard, they had seen and they had handled.
And that was Jesus Christ himself, the eternal
word of God who was in the beginning with the
Father. And so John's saying those in the church
that are mature Christians, they're the ones
that have really come to know and trust Jesus
Christ. Now that's not to say that John's talking
about people who just know a lot about Jesus.
like they have great theological insights or
a theological giants or some scholar in an ivory
tower. Now John's talking about a person that
by living a life of faith in the gospel that
trusts God's word, that applies it, has come
to have those family traits of God on full display
for the world to see. Those fathers, those mature
people, are those that walk their Christian life
out in this world so people can see them and
they go, wow, you must belong to the living God.
I don't know if you have people in your life
that you would say that when you're with them,
you feel like you're with someone who really
knows Jesus. My Nan was like that. My own Nana.
She never threatened me. She never terrorized
me in my younger, prodigal days with hell, fire
and brimstone. No, but she would always speak
about Jesus like she knew him. She knew him like
her best friend. She would always speak to me
about Jesus like she knew him personally and
in real time. In other words, church, she held
Christ out to me. and the transforming power
of the gospel and the things that she said, but
also in the decisions that she made throughout
her life. The Christian life wasn't a theory
for her. It wasn't something that she just did
on a Sunday or when other people were watching
her. The Christian life was something that she
believed in. Christ was who saved her and she
applied what scripture said and lived it out.
She wasn't a flawless person. In fact, she'd
be the first to tell you that. But she took the
word of God to be true. She believed it. She
applied it and she lived it out. I would say
that John had something like that in mind when
he was talking about those that know him from
the beginning. And that's what God wants for
all of us church. He wants us maturing to the
point that we hold out Christ to this world in
all that we say and all that we do, because we
have so been transformed by the truth and the
power of the gospel. He wants the world to know
that we are part of his family. So as we finish
up this morning, I want you to notice what we've
seen again from our apostle. He hasn't pointed
us to ourselves, to our works, to our feelings,
but he has pointed us to something outside of
ourselves, and that's God's gracious forgiveness
through his son, Jesus Christ. Our apostle, he
holds out the gospel to us yet again. We're forgiven
for the sake of Christ, and because of Christ,
We are part of God's family. God Almighty is
our Father, and as a result, we will have the
family traits becoming more and more evident
as we grow in the light and the truth of our
faith. We'll have the marks of grace becoming
more obvious as we mature. We will battle against
sin, absolutely. but we'll grow in a real knowledge
of how Jesus is right there with us through it
all. We'll have hard seasons, we'll have rough
seasons, but we will be desiring to be more like
our Lord. And because of God's work for us, because
of His Word abiding in us, take heart. We are
strong. We are strong. So I just want you to
think, about a couple of things here this morning.
First, if you do not know Jesus Christ, if you
have never heard that there is forgiveness of
sin, that there is eternal life that is held
out to anyone who would just put their trust
and their faith in Jesus. then please do not
walk out of this place without speaking to someone
about the hope that we have. You are here by
no mistake this morning. You are no mistake.
You're in this place to hear that you've been
created with a plan. That sin may have ravished
and killed But in Jesus there is new life. And
he calls you to himself because he wants you.
Second, if you're here this morning and doubting
your salvation, then might I suggest remember
the foundation of your assurance once again.
It's not your works. It's not your feelings that
have saved you. No, it's Christ. who has died
in the place of his people for our sin. And more
than that, he has been raised victorious. His
life, his eternal life is given to all those
who would simply call upon his name. If you have
heard, if you have believed, if you have trusted,
then everything that was his, is his, has become
yours. his life, his covenantal blessing, his
father. They have been freely given and faith
freely receives. Why don't we pray about these
things now? Would you pray with me? Lord, we
thank you that nothing happens by mistake. Lord,
that you've brought us together here this morning
to hear your word. Lord, these words are Yours
and they are of eternal thought. And so Lord,
we just ask that as we think on what we've heard
this morning in Your Word, Lord, like I asked,
that it wouldn't just stay in our heads but by
Your Spirit be plunged into our hearts. We ask,
Lord, that You would show us more of Yourself,
more of Your beauty. more of your grace so that
we would be transformed and from the overflow
hold Christ out to the world in all that we do.
We ask for this for the sake of Christ in his
name. Amen.