-
"I am writing to you, little children,
-
because your sins are forgiven
-
for His name's sake.
-
I am writing to you, fathers,
-
because you know Him who
is from the beginning.
-
I am writing to you, young men,
-
because you have overcome the evil one.
-
I write to you, children,
-
because you know the Father.
-
I write to you, fathers,
-
because you know Him who
is from the beginning."
-
Him who is from the beginning.
-
The "He" and the "Him"
-
throughout this section is Christ.
-
The Father is called out distinctly
-
by "Father" or by the
term "God," the title.
-
The name.
-
Him who is from the beginning
-
throughout 1 John is
-
the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
"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."
-
Now, I'm just going to tell you right off,
-
this might be a little
bit strong to say this,
-
but John perplexes me.
-
And I don't know how else to say it.
-
His mind does not work
-
the same way mine does.
-
He has an inspired mind,
-
so if there's any fault here,
-
it's undoubtedly with me.
-
To me, Paul is systematic.
-
I like Paul's way of thinking.
-
I love Paul's letters.
-
I can follow his logic.
-
He somewhat goes on a straight line.
-
John is just so different.
-
I'm not saying he's not logical,
-
but he's just different.
-
John Piper I think hits it on the head.
-
He likens John's mind to a bee
-
that's coming up to a flower.
-
Here you've got the flower
-
and the bee just kind of
buzzing around like this.
-
(buzzing)
-
That's kind of how his mind works.
-
He likes to circle.
-
In other words, he likes to come around
-
to the same things over and over again,
-
but he doesn't take exactly the same
-
trajectory each time.
-
He's kind of buzzing around the flower.
-
When you get the feeling Paul -
-
he's out here and he
just goes right in there.
-
And I think that's a good way.
-
And that's what we see right here.
-
I mean, we're going to see this
-
all the way through 1 John.
-
John is going to repeatedly
-
come back around to the same ideas
-
over and over.
-
He uses a little bit
different terminology,
-
it's true but you're going to see,
-
it's clearly the same thing
-
all over again, and all
the way through the book,
-
he just continuously does this
-
same kind of thing.
-
Yes, as he buzzes around that flower
-
he tends to introduce
some new information.
-
He takes us deeper.
-
He takes us further.
-
But he just keeps buzzing
around in these circles.
-
He's doing it right here.
-
I mean think about it.
-
"I'm writing to you, little children..."
-
"I'm writing to you, fathers..."
-
"I'm writing to you, young men..."
-
You get the feeling if that was Paul -
-
I get this feeling:
-
if it was Paul, he would have given me
-
an order that was like,
-
little children,
-
young men,
-
fathers.
-
I mean, there's descending
-
or ascending order.
-
There's order there.
-
And he would have said it once.
-
But that's not good for John.
-
He has to come back around and say it
-
all over again.
-
"I write to you, children..."
-
"I write to you, fathers..."
-
"I write to you, young men..."
-
And you know if you look at it,
-
he says some of the things
-
exactly the same,
-
but he changes some things.
-
And he adds different details.
-
And that's just John's style.
-
You can see this.
-
And I'm not saying that
there's anything wrong.
-
John is not illogical.
-
And repitition can be good, right?
-
Wise teachers repeat themselves.
-
It's like, you know, John is buzzing
-
around this thing,
-
and if he goes around it
once and you didn't get it,
-
well, he's going to buzz around it again
-
and he's going to say it
a little bit differently.
-
So probably, if you
don't get it the first time
-
you can get it the second
or the third or the fourth time.
-
And each time, he's going to develop it
-
a little bit more for us.
-
And like I say, we're going to see
-
in the months ahead throughout 1 John,
-
you're going to feel like,
-
weren't we already here?
-
Yep, just look back a chapter.
-
John already had us right here.
-
So, anyway, we see that circling style
-
in these three verses before us.
-
Now, what I want to do here
-
is give you an observation
-
and ask a question or two,
-
and then seek to answer those questions
-
before we move on.
-
Here's an observation.
-
Throughout 1 John -
-
I just want you to think about this.
-
I can tell you,
-
since I've been reading my Bible
-
as a brand new convert 25 years ago,
-
every time I'd read this,
-
I guess I would wonder,
-
why is it even here?
-
Why does John have to say it twice?
-
Why aren't these folks
apparently in order?
-
Doesn't he deal with all the Christians
-
that he's writing to as though
-
they're little children?
-
I see that title repeatedly
-
throughout this letter
-
when he's addressing everybody.
-
Why in this one place does he call out
-
fathers and young men as well?
-
I just want you to see this.
-
Throughout 1 John,
-
notice 1 John 2:1.
-
"My little children..."
-
Who's he writing to?
-
He's writing to everybody.
-
Everybody that he's
writing to who's saved.
-
Let's just say that.
-
He is making a distinction
throughout this letter.
-
He definitely has Christians in mind.
-
But he calls all the Christians
-
in 1 John 2:1 "my little children."
-
"I'm writing these things so that
-
you may not sin."
-
Well, he certainly isn't excluding
-
the older, more mature whatever
-
and saying I don't care about you guys.
-
Obviously, he's talking to everybody here.
-
"If anyone does sin..."
-
If anyone. He's talking
to all of them there.
-
1 John 2:18
-
"Children, it is the last hour
-
and as you've heard that
antichrist is coming."
-
Again, he uses two different Greek terms
-
throughout 1 John for "little children,"
-
but nevertheless, he uses both of them,
-
by the way.
-
The first time in v. 12 he uses one,
-
and then when he refers to the children
-
again at the end of
v. 13, he uses the other.
-
But he's using both of these titles
-
throughout the book
-
to speak to everybody.
-
1 John 2:28
-
"Now little children, abide in Him."
-
That's everybody.
-
Everybody needs to abide in Him.
-
1 John 3:7, "Little children,
-
let no one deceive you.
-
Whoever practices righteousness
is righteous as He is righteous."
-
That's everybody.
-
1 John 3:18 "Little children,
-
let us not love in word or talk,
-
but in deed and truth."
-
1 John 4:4 "Little children,
-
you are from God."
-
1 John 5:21 "Little children,
-
keep yourselves from idols."
-
That's the observation.
-
The observation is that
-
all the way through 1 John,
-
he deals with all of the Christians
-
as being little children.
-
So, here in 1 John 2:12-13 -
-
(incomplete thought)
-
actually all three of these verses -
-
John does something that he does
-
nowhere else in his writings.
-
Not just anywhere else in this epistle,
-
nowhere else in any of his writings
-
does he ever call out
-
distinct categories of Christians.
-
That's my observation.
-
And the question is: why?
-
And before we try to answer,
-
perhaps a second question
should be asked as well.
-
Why does he throw these categories at us
-
in such a seemingly random order?
-
Little children, then fathers,
-
then young men.
-
And you know, who knows, right?
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Here's a possible solution.
-
Why does John address three groups here
-
and in the order that he does?
-
I mean here's a possible scenario.
-
The use of "little children,"
-
"fathers," "young men,"
-
and the order that they're in
-
may have originated something like this.
-
It's very possible that
what John's doing here
-
in v. 12 "I'm writing to
you, little children..."
-
is he does what he does everywhere else
-
in the book.
-
He is talking to everybody.
-
But then, what he does,
-
just this one time
-
and perhaps for no other reason
-
than respect,
-
just to show honor,
-
he feels led to address
-
these two specific groups directly
-
just this one time.
-
And the reason I say that
-
is with some biblical validity.
-
Think with me here.
-
You don't need to turn to it,
-
but let me just tell you
-
how Philippians starts.
-
Philippians - Paul is addressing
-
the Philippian believers.
-
He says, "Paul and Timothy,
-
servants of Christ Jesus..."
-
Listen to how he addresses them:
-
"to all the saints who are at Philippi
-
with the overseers and deacons."
-
Now you think about the
three categories there.
-
The first one is all-encompassing.
-
And then the second and third,
-
he calls out distinct people
-
in the church.
-
And he calls out those that are to have
-
the highest honor first
-
and then those that are honorable,
-
but not quite with that
venerability second.
-
That seems to be perhaps why we get this.
-
"Little children" is very endearing.
-
He calls them all by that.
-
But John knows he's got these
-
venerable, grey-haired
-
warriors of the cross out there
-
and these vibrant, spiritually strong
-
young men as well.
-
And I don't think it necessarily needs
-
to be gender specific.
-
He might be encompassing the grey-haired
-
and those that are young,
-
but he calls them out.
-
Like I say, maybe for no other reason
-
than just to identify them
-
and show his regard for them
-
and to show respect.
-
Anyway, Philippians 1 gives me
-
kind of a pattern for this same thing.
-
And so I think it is a
worthy cross reference.
-
It is worthy to look at.
-
Another observation that
I would make here:
-
As you read through this,
-
you never want to say,
-
ok, well, I'm not in two
of these categories.
-
I'm only in the third,
-
and so only what's in that third category
-
applies to me.
-
Listen, I can tell you this.
-
Every single thing said
-
in each of these categories
-
is said of everybody
-
somewhere else in 1 John.
-
In other words,
-
my observation is this.
-
When John addresses "little children,"
-
when he addresses "fathers,"
when he addresses "young men,"
-
he does not mean that what he says
-
about the fathers is only applicable
-
to them and not to you
-
if you're not one of the fathers.
-
You follow what I'm saying?
-
What's true about one here
-
is true about all.
-
1 John will show us clearly
-
that knowing the father,
-
knowing Christ, overcoming the evil one,
-
having the Word of God abiding in you,
-
these are all realities that are true
-
of all Christians.
-
John applies these truths
-
to specific groups that are real
-
and true and valid for the whole church.
-
So you don't want to skip over
any of these verses as though
-
they don't apply to you.
-
What's true in each category is true
-
of every Christian here.
-
That's just an observation.
-
So, now, I think we need
to really ask ourselves,
-
why are these verses here?
-
Now, look, if you're not really acquainted
-
with 1 John;
-
if you just read this letter through
-
over and over and over,
-
I think it will begin to jump out at you
-
that these seem to interrupt the flow.
-
They almost seem misplaced.
-
I mean, I'm thinking about
-
if I'm going to write to somebody
-
and tell them why I'm writing -
-
"I'm writing to you, little children,
-
because your sins are forgiven
for His name's sake."
-
If I'm going to tell somebody
why I'm writing to them,
-
I'm typically going to tell them that
-
at the beginning of the letter.
-
Why am I just going to jump in?
-
And the thing about this,
-
get a feel for the flow here.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Let's read down through these verses
-
and omit v. 12, 13, and 14.
-
We have these tests of true Christianity
-
coming at us one after another
-
after another.
-
I mean, if you just think about 2:3.
-
"By this we know that
we've come to know Him
-
if we keep His commandments."
-
Bang! You're hit with this.
-
Do you keep His commandments?
-
If you keep His commandments,
-
you can know that you know Him.
-
This is a test of true Christianity.
-
"Whoever says 'I know Him,' (v. 4)
-
but does not keep His commandments
-
is a liar and the truth is not in him."
-
Wow! John's being dogmatic about
-
who is in and who is out.
-
"Whoever keeps His Word (v. 5),
-
in Him truly the love
of God is perfected."
-
I mean, he's saying,
-
you need to be those that
-
keep His commandments.
-
You need to be those that keep His Word.
-
"By this we know that we are in Him."
-
How? "Whoever says he abides in Him
-
ought to walk in the same way in which
-
He walked," and if you
don't, you're not true.
-
You're not real.
-
He goes on to talk about
-
this one commandment.
-
Love. "I'm writing you no new commandment,
-
but an old commandment,
that you had from the beginning.
-
The old commandment
is what you have heard.
-
At the same time, it
is a new commandment
-
that I am writing to you,
-
which is true in Him and in you
-
because the darkness is passing away;
-
the true light is already shining."
-
He says this about that commandment:
-
"Whoever says he's in the light
-
and hates his brother is in the dark."
-
You are not true.
-
You are not real.
-
"Whoever loves his brother
abides in the light,
-
and in him there is no
cause for stumbling."
-
"Whoever hates his brother
is in the darkness
-
and walks in the darkness and
does not know where he's going
-
because the darkness has
blinded his eyes."
-
Now you skip over to v. 15.
-
"Do not love the world or
the things in the world.
-
If anyone loves the world,
-
the love of the Father is not in him."
-
Again. He goes right back to the tests.
-
Bang! Bang! Bang!
-
You love the world, you don't know God.
-
The love of the Father is not in you.
-
That means you're lost.
-
"All that is in the world,
the desires of the flesh,
-
the desire of the eyes..."
He goes on in v. 18.
-
"Children, it is the last hour.
As you have heard that antichrist..."
-
In v. 19, "they went out from us
because they were not of us."
-
I mean, what's a good indication
that somebody's not real?
-
They go out from us.
If they go out from us,
-
they're not of us.
-
I mean, he's got these tests -
one after another.
-
Why in the world did he just stop in v. 12
-
and say, "I'm writing
to you, little children,
-
because your sins are forgiven."
-
It's like John, this interrupts the flow
-
of these tests.
-
It's like we're getting this barrage,
-
and then here's all these tests
-
coming at us;
-
shaking us with the reality
-
of true Christianity
-
and John just sort of unexpectedly
-
injects v. 12-14.
-
So what are we supposed to make of this?
-
Well, I think it's clear.
-
I think if you have any pastoral bone
-
in your body,
-
it's clear why he does.
-
Just compare 1 John 2:4 and 1 John 2:12.
-
Compare them.
-
1 John 2:4
-
"Whoever says, 'I know Him,' but does not
-
keep His commandments is a liar
-
and the truth is not in Him."
-
Now, let's do that all over again
-
with me adding this;
-
with you thinking about this.
-
How does this make you feel?
-
"Whoever says I know Him but does not
-
keep His commandments is a liar
-
and the truth is not in Him."
-
How does that make you feel?
-
1 John 2:12
-
"I'm writing to you, little children,
-
because your sins are forgiven
-
for His name's sake."
-
How does that make you feel?
-
Now, I recognize I changed my tone.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
But that's kind of the feel.
-
Why does he stick these in here?
-
I have a feeling he's sticks them in here
-
just because of the rigors of these tests.
-
These tests can shake you.
-
They sift us.
-
John knows this letter is tough.
-
And it is, is it not?
-
I mean, he knows.
-
He's calling people out.
-
He's calling people liars.
-
This is tough stuff.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
What happens when you start
-
telling people, "by this we know
-
that we've come to know Him,
-
if we keep His commandments."
-
I mean, where are your minds going?
-
Man, what does my life look like?
-
I mean, am I keeping His commandments?
-
We just came off
the one about loving.
-
I mean, you start thinking,
-
am I really loving the
brothers and the sisters?
-
Am I really loving them?
-
I mean, any of us that have consciences -
-
our imperfections, our failures,
-
they begin to jump up and down
-
in front of our face
-
and we're saying, ok, we know
-
this isn't perfection;
-
we know that this is a pattern of life,
-
and we're asking ourselves, I hope,
-
trying to ask ourselves honestly,
-
is there an evidence that God has
-
done something in my life
-
and produced this kind of person
-
out of me?
-
I mean, he knows that he is
-
describing true Christianity
-
in terms that are strong.
-
Isn't John dogmatic?
-
If you say you know Him,
-
but this isn't true,
-
you're a liar!
-
He doesn't have much grey area.
-
It's just boom!
-
This or this!
-
This is true or this is true!
-
That's it. Two categories.
-
There's no in-between.
-
And you can come out of these things
-
and feel beat up.
-
And you can imagine,
-
John - what's the reputation
we have of John?
-
He's the one that Christ loved.
-
He was also called
"Boanerges" with his brother.
-
The sons of thunder.
-
This feels kind of thunderous here.
-
But you can imagine John feeling like,
-
perhaps - think about it -
-
preachers know this.
-
You say hard things.
-
You get a feeling when, you know,
-
you're hitting people with hard things.
-
You get that feeling.
-
And undoubtedly, he's feeling,
-
wow, I've been really forceful;
-
I've been intense with people.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
What happens?
-
What happens when you start
-
laying tests out like this?
-
You know another thing preachers know
-
a lot of times is they take out
-
the spiritual shotgun
-
and this thing is full of bird shot,
-
and they aim at a certain person
-
or they've got certain people in mind
-
that this is really applicable to
-
and kaboom!
-
They blow a person off the front row
-
that they did not mean to hit.
-
But that's one of the problems
-
when you speak like this,
-
you have people that sit there
-
who are genuine Christians
-
with very tender consciences.
-
And you start talking like this,
-
and the hardened professing sinner
-
back there in that back row
-
who this is every bit meant for -
-
right over the top of their heads.
-
You shoot them and they've got
-
the bulletproof vest on.
-
It just bounced right off of them.
-
And you blew away sister so-and-so
-
in the third row.
-
And she's feeling crushed,
-
like going out of there thinking,
-
I can never be a Christian.
-
Her failures are there in her face
-
and she's going out.
-
She's wounded.
-
And that's the kind of thing that
-
he recognizes happens.
-
This very kind of thing.
-
As a child of God,
-
you can begin to feel like
-
you're made aware of your weaknesses.
-
You're made aware of your own failures
-
and your own struggles,
-
and John knows.
-
You say hard things like this;
-
strong statements.
-
You end up wounding people
-
and so what he does is
-
he actually interrupts these hard things
-
and he sticks something very comforting
-
and very encouraging right here
-
in verses 12, 13, and 14.
-
He's backing off.
-
He's certainly not backing down
-
from anything that he said.
-
But he's backing down from his
-
rigorous dogmatism
-
as to who's a liar and who's true.
-
He seems to turn aside for a moment
-
of comforting his hearers before he
-
goes back and he resumes again
-
the strong and rigid doctrine
-
that goes back to sifting
the hearts of men.
-
Now, I think the thing we need to ask
-
is well, ok, how are these
verses encouraging?
-
Because here's the thing;
-
here's the thing I'm thinking about.
-
Let's say I have a revelation from God,
-
just like he did.
-
And I know,
-
there are lost people
-
who profess to be Christians in this room.
-
And I come up here
-
and I'm giving you the test.
-
And I begin to lay these tests down.
-
I seek to weed out those who are false.
-
I stress you have no
true fellowship with God
-
if you walk in the darkness.
-
I stress that you're a liar
about knowing Christ
-
unless you keep His commandments.
-
I mean, I'm hitting you hard.
-
I have this revelation from God.
-
I know some of you are not real.
-
But at the same time,
-
I know that I'm likely going to wound
-
some of God's true ones.
-
I don't want that to happen.
-
But I know in trying to get to the others,
-
I've got to speak that strong.
-
But I also know how true Christians
-
are going to deal with this.
-
My question is this,
-
if I'm speaking really strong
-
and you've got sister so-and-so there
-
who is trembling.
-
She feels like I'm weak.
-
There's these doubts that are cropping up.
-
She's questioning.
-
She's wondering: am I true?
-
Am I false?
-
And you know the devil can
take advantage right there too,
-
and say, you're not keeping
His commandments.
-
Think about this time and this time.
-
You're not loving so-and-so.
-
Think about your failures here.
-
He can come right along.
-
That standard is so high,
-
you've never measured up to it.
-
Just listen to how he's talking.
-
Just listen to John's words.
-
And a feeling of
condemnation can creep in.
-
You feel like there's no hope.
-
And here's the thing,
-
if you're a true Christian
sitting out there
-
and you suddenly are flooded
-
by what are unwarranted doubts,
-
by these tests,
-
how is it going to be encouraging to you
-
for me just to interrupt all these
-
strong assertions,
-
and say, "I'm writing
to you, little children,
-
because your sins are
forgiven for His name's sake."
-
I mean, if you've just been shaken
-
to even wondering if you're
truly a child or not,
-
and I come along and I say
"I'm writing to you, little children,"
-
you're saying, yeah, but he
knows some of us aren't true,
-
and I think I'm one of those.
-
So I'm not even in that crowd.
-
How does that comfort me?
-
What does that do for me?
-
How does that help?
-
If your assurance has been shaken
-
by these things,
-
some of you, your assurance
-
should be shaken by these.
-
But if you're genuinely a Christian
-
with a sensitive conscience,
-
the devil's there throwing
accusations at you,
-
if your assurance has been shaken,
-
how does a verse like this
-
rescue you from this?
-
I mean, do you see what I'm saying?
-
If you're already doubting,
-
how does this take away your doubts?
-
Wouldn't you just be minded to say
-
I don't even think I'm in that group?
-
He comes along here
-
and he's really positive
-
that somebody's sins are forgiven
-
for Christ's name's sake.
-
But we can tell by the way he's talking,
-
he already assumes some of us aren't real.
-
And I'm thinking I might
be one of those people.
-
And so when he goes and he starts talking
-
just to the little children,
-
how does that help me?
-
How does that rescue me
-
from my assurance being shaken?
-
Here the Holy Spirit undoubtedly prompts
-
John to back off for a second
-
in order to comfort and encourage
-
the true people of God
-
lest they become overwhelmed
-
by a false sense of condemnation.
-
How does saying this rescue them?
-
If they come away from
these tests with doubts
-
by the highness of the standard,
-
the dogmatism of John,
-
then he just shifts gears
-
and he throws these three verses at us.
-
"I'm writing to you, little children..."
-
Isn't this person just going to conclude
-
that they probably aren't really
-
one of the little children
that John's addressing?
-
And brethren, it happens all the time.
-
The devil is an accuser.
-
And you start setting up things like this.
-
Look, there's not one of us that have
-
loved the brothers and sisters perfectly.
-
There's not one of us that have
kept the commandments perfectly.
-
There's not one of us that is
-
imitating Christ, walking like
Christ walked perfectly.
-
And as soon as we start looking at this
-
and examining this in our life -
-
and these are the tests.
-
You don't want to ignore them.
-
These are God-given tests.
-
These have to be true in your life.
-
You are in one camp or the other.
-
We have to take these things seriously.
-
But as we're sorting through our life,
-
I think any of us that are honest,
-
this makes us feel like
-
this is a high standard.
-
Who can measure up?
-
Does anybody feel like that
-
when you hear these things?
-
(incomplete thought)
-
And I know this.
-
I hear this from Christians.
-
They struggle.
-
They just feel like I don't feel like
-
I'm loving the brethren like I ought to.
-
I don't feel like my life
-
is committed to Christ as it ought to be.
-
I don't feel like there's
a level of purity there
-
that I know there ought to be.
-
Here John, he sees
the Christian struggling,
-
and he interrupts things.
-
Just interrupts by saying,
-
"I'm writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven
-
for His name's sake."
-
Isn't there a possibility that
-
that Christian is just going
to get carried away
-
with their doubts and assume that
-
John's probably not talking about them?
-
You know John knows
-
that there's imposters among us.
-
So he doesn't for a second believe
-
that we're all little children.
-
How does this really help bolster
-
the assurance of the true Christian?
-
That to me is huge,
-
because I'm looking at this
-
and I'm recognizing,
-
we get this.
-
I know we get people that struggle
-
with their assurance,
-
and they need to struggle with it
-
because they're not measuring up.
-
But we get people that get shaken
-
and they ought not to be shaken.
-
They're not ones that God
wants us to weed out.
-
They're His true children.
-
And so I'm really interested pastorally
-
to just examine this and say John,
-
teach me here.
-
Teach me how to help and to comfort
-
the little children when they get shaken.
-
So how does it help?
-
Well, look, to the best
-
that I can decipher here,
-
it helps just this way.
-
If you think about what's being said here.
-
John stops.
-
He looks at the Christian
-
who is feeling condemned;
-
who is feeling overwhelmed;
-
who's seen these tests
-
and is somewhat unsure,
-
and he says, look,
-
walking like Christ walked,
-
walking in the light,
confessing your sins
-
when you sin,
-
keeping Christ's commandments,
-
loving the brethren,
-
are you feeling that
this is way out there?
-
Are you feeling like this is
only for Charles Spurgeon,
-
Amy Carmichael?
-
Only they can live this way.
-
Do you feel like this is just impossible
-
for the average Christian?
-
Do you feel the standard is just too high?
-
And that what he's saying in this letter
-
is just being too dogmatic
-
and there's no hope for you to live
-
up to this standard?
-
The devil's throwing accusations
-
of your failure at you
-
and your own ineptness
-
at loving the brethren?
-
He comes and he says,
-
"I'm writing to you, little children,
-
because your sins are forgiven
-
for His name's sake."
-
You see what he's doing?
-
He's saying, look, you're thinking
-
these things are hard.
-
But he says, I know there's reality
-
among you.
-
I see it.
-
I know it.
-
He says precious children.
-
Let's take your eyes off the tests
-
for a second.
-
Let's just get your eyes off those
-
rigorous tests of true Christianity,
-
and turn your eyes
-
back to the initial wonders
of being a Christian.
-
Just forget your own failures.
-
You are forgiven for His sake.
-
Now you just need to dwell there.
-
It doesn't depend on your performance.
-
Because that's where
tests like that take us.
-
They take us to examining our life.
-
Rightly so.
-
But you can't get away from it.
-
You start looking at your life;
-
you start looking at your failures;
-
you start looking at your performance,
-
and he backs off this for a second.
-
He says, eyes off performance.
-
I want to take you back
-
just to the wonders
-
that you encountered in Christ
-
at the beginning.
-
It does not depend on anything
-
you have done or are doing
-
or will ever do.
-
Forgiveness of sins.
-
It's all about receiving a gift.
-
And it is free. And it is by faith.
-
And you know what?
-
The enemy of your souls may hound you
-
and accuse you and condemn you.
-
That may be true.
-
For your sins and failures,
-
and yes, they're there.
-
But you know what?
-
You can answer the snake.
-
But as much as anything,
-
you can answer your own conscience.
-
I mean here he is and he's saying,
-
I wrote to you because your sins
-
have been forgiven for His sake.
-
For His sake.
-
They haven't been forgiven you
-
for keeping any of these tests.
-
They've been forgiven for His sake.
-
You need to remember that.
-
You need to go back there.
-
Answer that snake every time
-
that he brings up accusations.
-
You bring up the name,
-
the blood, the righteousness
-
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
You know what you do not want to do?
-
You do not want to argue your performance
-
with the devil.
-
Don't do it.
-
Let him back you right into the corner
-
where your eyes have no place to go
-
but back on the Lord Jesus
-
just like in the very beginning.
-
It's for His name's sake.
-
You rely absolutely and utterly
-
upon Jesus Christ and upon Him alone.
-
He is your only hope.
-
You can be sure that
your sins are forgiven.
-
Why? His name is at stake.
-
It's for His name's sake.
-
It must be.
-
And he goes on to say this -
-
and I'm going to deal with these in pairs.
-
If you go down to 1 John 2:13,
-
to the end there,
-
"I write to you, children."
-
This is the second thing he says.
-
To the children - the little children -
-
"because you know the Father..."
-
You know the Father.
-
Brothers and sisters,
-
again, this backing away
-
from these rigorous tests.
-
And it's saying this:
-
I know this.
-
The Spirit is known as
the Spirit of adoption.
-
And as the Spirit of adoption,
-
what does He produce within us?
-
What comes out?
-
What comes forth?
-
What's the cry?
-
Abba, Father.
-
Abba, Father.
-
Again, he backs them off of these tests
-
just to the glories,
-
just to the simplicity.
-
Christian, have you not found
-
that God is no longer some far off force?
-
Some distant, out there God
-
on the horizon?
-
So often, the lost man just has this idea
-
of God either as Santa Claus
-
or is opposed to Him.
-
But it's not that anymore.
-
He's not some old man upstairs.
-
Suddenly, God produces something in you
-
when He saves you that cries,
-
not just "Father," - "Abba."
-
There's an endearment.
-
And it's true. It's real.
-
Do you not find a sweetness in that?
-
It's like he's pulling these Christians
-
back from "you're a liar,"
-
if you don't do this.
-
He's pulling them back in to
-
just come back to the very wonders
-
of the foundations upon which
-
your Christianity is built.
-
You've been brought into this family.
-
And then he says this,
-
1 John 2:13 "I'm writing to you, fathers,
-
because you know Him who
is from the beginning."
-
In 1 John 2:14 where he
addresses the fathers
-
the second time, he says,
-
"I write to you, fathers,
-
because you know Him
who is from the beginning."
-
He says exactly the same thing
-
about the fathers both times.
-
And I don't necessarily think
-
Scripturally speaking that we need to
-
think just of fathers in an age -
-
a physical age sense,
-
but more so the spiritually mature.
-
But think about this, "Him
who was from the beginning"
-
as I pointed out before,
-
this is speaking of Christ.
-
And it's just come back from ideas
-
about your performance
-
and just think.
-
John's saying I know
this is true about you.
-
I can see it.
-
You've been professing to be a Christian
-
for a long time, and I can see.
-
There's an intimacy you have with Christ.
-
I can stand off to the side and watch
-
as some of these glorious lines
-
come off these songs.
-
I'm putting myself in John's position
-
if he could see.
-
He's saying, I know.
-
I can see.
-
I can see it in your eyes
-
when the name of Christ comes up.
-
It's not just some cold, dry,
-
like you think when you're lost
-
about the idea of religion.
-
It was just dry.
-
But the name Christ comes now,
-
there is a sweetness.
-
There is a beauty.
-
He can look and say, I know.
-
You guys have been walking with the Lord.
-
I can see it.
-
You know His voice
-
in a way you used to not know it;
-
His promptings.
-
I see this.
-
Not just knowing His voice,
-
not just knowing His promptings,
-
but knowing His silence.
-
Just coming to know His dealings
-
with His people.
-
He says, I see it.
-
I know it's there.
-
This is spiritual maturity.
-
John says I know,
-
some of you might be shaken
-
by the high standard that I put up.
-
But I look at many of you,
-
I look at your lives,
-
I can see Christ is special to you.
-
I know you are not serving Him the way
-
you want to.
-
I know you're not living the way
-
you know He's worthy of.
-
But I can see your eyes
light up at His name.
-
I can see the pain that you have
-
when He's dishonored.
-
I see that you know Him in a way
-
that the rest of the world
just doesn't know Him.
-
You see, he's bringing these people
-
to a place where he's going to
-
some of the basics;
-
some of the rudimentary realities
-
about our walk,
-
and how we view Christ.
-
How we relate to Christ.
-
And then he says this,
-
he's going to talk to the young men
-
about the devil.
-
1 John 2:13 "I'm writing
to you, young men,
-
because you've overcome the evil one."
-
He says just the same thing,
-
but adds more detail
-
like that bee that he is,
-
he circles back around
-
and deals with it the second time.
-
1 John 2:14 "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."
-
It's like can you imagine?
-
You get all these tests thrown at you.
-
And you're feeling like
-
you've not measured up so perfectly.
-
You feel weak.
-
You feel defeated by
John's high standards.
-
And John says,
-
what are you talking about?
-
I can see you.
-
I know you're not perfect.
-
But weak?
-
When you sit there and talk about
-
your weakness and your failures,
-
it's sheer ignorance.
-
Really?
-
What does he see that we don't see?
-
John says I know you fail,
-
but as I mentioned,
-
the true Christian is going to confess it.
-
I'm writing to you that you don't sin,
-
but when you do,
-
the true Christian is going to find
-
an Advocate in Christ.
-
Their hope is only going to be there,
-
and the propitiatory work of His
-
upon that cross in satisfying God.
-
He says it's ignorance when you talk about
-
weakness like this.
-
That's strength.
-
We look at it as though,
-
well, it's only strength
if we live perfect.
-
He sees strength.
-
He sees triumph over the evil one
-
when we sin and we go to God
-
and we confess it.
-
And we look to the healing blood
-
of Christ.
-
Do you recall what this same John
-
tells us in Revelation 12?
-
How do they overcome the evil one?
-
By the blood of Christ.
-
How does the conquering take place?
-
So much of the conquering is here
-
that when we do fail,
-
when we do sin, where do we go?
-
We go back to the blood.
-
Remember right before that verse,
-
it says he's an accuser of the brethren.
-
You see, it's in his accusations
-
we overcome by the blood.
-
How?
-
Because you don't want to argue
-
performance with the devil
-
How do you overcome?
-
You know what the way
to deal with the devil is?
-
And even the accusations
of your own conscience?
-
It's true. I failed.
-
But let me tell you about the blood.
-
Let me tell you what that was shed for.
-
Devil, I did just fail.
-
I can list lots more failures
in my life than just that one.
-
But let's talk about the blood.
-
Let's talk about what that
accomplishes in my life.
-
These realities are found in Scripture.
-
He's talking to these young men
-
about the fact that this Word of God
-
is abiding in them.
-
And John's saying, I see you out there.
-
I see you that are reading your Bibles.
-
I see you that are affected
by the truths in there.
-
I see those of you that
see the Christ in there.
-
And He's your hope.
-
I see that.
-
I'm writing to you because you're strong;
-
you're not weak.
-
These things may make you feel like that,
-
but you have to recognize,
-
the Christianity that God puts forth
-
is for the average Christian,
-
if we can talk that way.
-
It's not just for the Charles Spurgeon's
-
and for the Amy Carmichael's.
-
This is for us.
-
And what these things look like in reality
-
is the kind of Christianity
-
we're living out in this place
-
by and large, most of us.
-
Those of us that are true.
-
What does it look like?
-
Yes, there's going to be failures.
-
Yes, that's going to be there.
-
Yes, we're going to fall
on our faces at times.
-
We have doubts and things will crop up.
-
And we're not perfect.
-
And we know it and John knows it
-
and the devil knows it.
-
But we don't deny those things.
-
We confess it.
-
We know. We acknowledge we sinned.
-
But devil, you tell me,
-
how do you answer to the blood?
-
Are you going to keep
on with your accusations?
-
It says we conquer him that way.
-
The truth is he has no answer to that.
-
And you know what
happens when you do that?
-
You just overcame the evil one.
-
Really? Wow!
-
See, that's what he's saying.
-
You're strong!
-
You're strong when you do that.
-
John is just looking out at many of us
-
and he's saying, I know your faith.
-
It may be weak,
-
but though it's weak, it clings to Christ.
-
I see you hesitating; I see you at times
-
questioning at the
forcefulness of these tests.
-
Yes, they're forceful.
-
They're strong.
-
Yes, your obedience is not always perfect.
-
Our love is certainly not always perfect.
-
But he says, look, there's evidence;
-
there's evidence of reality.
-
We must not expect this to be easy.
-
Because it's not going to be.
-
We're told to strive to enter in.
-
Many are going to seek to enter in there
-
and they're not going to be able.
-
We must not expect everything
-
in this Christian life to be automatic.
-
A lot of Christians, they become unsettled
-
because they feel like,
-
well, if I truly got saved,
-
this shouldn't be so hard.
-
They just feel like the switch
-
should just get turned off
-
on these lusts and desires of the flesh
-
that wage war against my soul.
-
It's just like, well, if
I was really saved,
-
wouldn't I stop feeling that?
-
Wouldn't I stop feeling
the pull of these things?
-
Well, as the Christian,
-
you battle this with truth.
-
You battle this with the blood.
-
Certainly, if you're born again,
-
you're a new creation.
-
But we know - Peter lets us know,
-
it's still a battle.
-
You're going to face combat.
-
You're going to face conflict,
-
fierce warfare.
-
It's hard.
-
We feel the hardness.
-
We watch others fall away.
-
It may cause us to tremble all the more,
-
but John says I see you there.
-
You have foundations in place.
-
I see there are those
of you that struggle,
-
but you show promise.
-
I write to you because I see those things.
-
Take courage. Take heart.
-
Be brave. Be courageous.
-
Press onward; upward; forward.
-
You may feel weak.
-
But you've got to remember,
-
when you deal with sin by the blood,
-
you overcome a mighty fallen angel.
-
You're showing strength.
-
You show yourself strong.
-
Not in yourself, but in Christ.
-
This seems to be what these three verses
-
are meant to do;
-
just to bring us back
-
to the wonderful glories
-
of being a Christian.
-
Some of these things that are just
-
they're there, they're realities.
-
John can look at them and say,
-
"I'm writing to you, little children,"
-
because I know these things
are true about you.
-
I see these things are true about you.
-
Look, if these things are
not true about you,
-
then Christ bids you -
-
He bids you to seek Him
-
while He may be found.
-
He bids you to cry out to Him.
-
He bids you, like He says,
-
"Come unto Me, all you that labor
-
and are heavy laden."
-
He bids you to plead for mercy
-
in the name of Jesus Christ.
-
He bids you do that.
-
We don't want to give the dogs
-
the children's food.
-
But at the same time,
-
He doesn't want the children all shaken
-
about these things.