The Way of Life | 1 John 2:12-14

Today's, that Michael will be preaching on, is

1 John 2, verse 12 to 14. Desiree is going to

1 John 2:12–14

read that for us. Enough of that, invite Michael

to come up. 1 John 2, verse 12 to 14, and it's

1 John 2:12–14

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.