What Matters Most 1 John 2:12-17|Pastor Daniel Reese

will be in First John this morning, First John

chapter two. Or as we continue to go through

the book of First John together, we're in week

three. Give you time to turn there. Sina and

I have been to New York several times throughout

our marriage together. We've been all over that

city. We've experienced most of what it has to

offer. We've had a good time. There is this section

in New York. I'm sure if you've been there, I'm

sure you know it. There's a section in New York

City called Times Square, where there is every

kind of billboard and advertisement that you

can imagine. Sounds like I'm in a hole. I blame

Matthew. Don't be looking back. It's not Brandy,

it's Matthew. Keep talking. You know how to make

the situation better? Everybody turn around and

look at Matthew right now. Just fixes everything.

So in Times Square, I'm just gonna deal with

it. You are as well. All right, let them figure

this out But in Times Square, there is every

kind of billboard advertisement imaginable I'm

sure you've heard the stories where like to rent

one of those things to advertise in Times Square

It's a exorbitant amount of money to advertise

in that part of the city But companies are going

to pay it They're gonna fork over the money because

they want to get your attention Now, I don't

like Times Square, personally. It's stimulation

overload for me. There's way too many people

in a small space. Everything seems to be more

expensive in that area. If your shop is in Times

Square, it's going to be more expensive. And

what we've experienced when we've eaten down

there or shopped down there, it's really not

any better than anywhere else. It's actually

probably worse. Now, I would prefer to never,

ever live in New York, but if I had to live in

New York... Are we good? I'm about to turn it

off, which would affect our live stream. If I

had to live in New York, I would not want to

live by Times Square. I would not want to live

in that part of the area. It's just not who I

am. I prefer a different kind of life. Not as

flashy, not as appealing to the masses probably.

Now, there are so many songs and movies about

New York that people begin to think that living

there is the goal. Achieving what you can have

there is the goal, right? We hear songs about

it. It's the concrete jungle, right, where dreams

are made of. Those streets will make you feel

brand new. I want to be a part of it. New York,

New York. That is the American dream that has

been built into our culture so that even though

we might not actually live in New York, we still

spend our time and our energy chasing things

that we think are going to bring us success or

joy. We spend so much time chasing things. chasing

success, chasing acceptance or security, comfort

or pleasure. That's what we spend so much time

and energy doing. But John reminds us that not

everything we chase is worth the cost. Some things

will simply not last. Some loves are misplaced.

Some devotions are destructive to us. So as we

read this passage together, Let's focus on what

John is telling us and how we should live and

what we should love. All right, so we're gonna

start in first John chapter two. We're gonna

read, start in verse 12. If you're willing and

able, we'd love for you to stand as we honor

the Lord's word together. I am writing to you

little children because your sins are forgiven

for his namesake. 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.

I write to you young men because you were strong

and the word of God abides in you and you have

overcome the evil one. 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.

For all that is in the world, the desires of

the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride

of life is not from the Father, but it is from

the world. And the world is passing away along

with its desires, but whoever does the will of

God abides forever. Let's pray. Father, as we

look at this text, As we navigate through it,

as we understand it, I pray that you will open

up our hearts and ears to hear from you. Help

us see how we should live our lives. Help us

see what we need to be chasing. Help us see what

matters most in this world. I pray all these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. So if you look at

this text, you'll notice pretty quickly that

John is writing to three distinct groups of people.

He's writing to children. He's writing to fathers

and he's writing to young men. Now, I don't want

you ladies to check out and think that this has

nothing to do with you. He's only writing to

the male gender. That's that's not what's happening

in this text. Instead, I want you to think about

all these groups of people as a various stage

of our spiritual walk with the Lord. And we all

fit into one of these three categories. All right.

And so Listen to see which group you fit in.

Let's look at the first group and John Verses

12 and 13 John writes that the little children

have their sins forgiven and that they know the

father This is where it all begins. This is the

starting point forgiveness and relationship If

you're in Christ your sins are forgiven not because

you earned it, but John says for his name's sake

If you are in Christ, that's who you are. That's

grace. You are forgiven. Not because of anything

you've done. That's the gospel. You are known.

You are understood. You are loved. This is where

we have to start. Some of us fall into this category

because we are new to the faith. We are new to

Jesus. And we might not know much. We might not

know all these intricacies of different doctrines

and theologies, but this is where we are. We

are new creations in Christ. Now, I remember,

some of you might relate to this, I remember

when Sina and I first started having babies,

I was just... Proud. For no reason at all. I

was just so proud. I would say things about my

children like, this is my daughter. Like I am

so proud of her. I'm holding her in my hands

like this. Or this is my son. I just love him

so much. Now as a parent, you understand exactly

what I mean. You understood the reality of that.

Thankfully, nobody ever asked me why I was so

proud. Because the reality is they had never

done anything. Like the only thing that they

were good at was spitting up on me or pooping

their pants. Like I'm not necessarily proud of

that aspect of it. That's not a lot to brag about.

But I was proud of my children because they were

mine. They didn't have to do anything to earn

my love except be in existence. That's who they

are. Now since they've gotten older and they

have for sure done things, said things, or handled

situations that have made me proud of them, but

it didn't change my love for them at all. If

they get all A's or they fail every class, that

doesn't change my love for them. If one of them

gets nominated for Student of the Week and the

other doesn't, it does not change my love for

them. I love my children because they are mine.

That is what we all have to understand about

God. We don't earn his love. He gives it to us

because we are his Now I do hope that my life

I live my life in such a way that I make him

proud as a father But it doesn't change my identity

of who I am in Christ And I think sometimes we

think God views us the same way we view we were

viewed as children or maybe even how we raise

our own children. We think we have to do things.

We have to accomplish things. We need to not

embarrass the family. We need to make good decisions

or go get awards or go earn accomplishments and

get all this recognition. And what happens is

we build our entire identity in doing and accomplishing

in order to be accepted. And I think sometimes

we view God that way, that we have to accomplish

things in order for Him to love us. But that's

not how God operates. Our starting point with

Him is acceptance because of what Jesus has done

for us on the cross. So if you are a believer

in Jesus, this is where we start. This is the

foundation. This is what makes us His children,

that we know that our sins are forgiven. and

because we know who God is. But then there's

this second group of people that John addresses,

and it's this group of fathers. Now both times

that he mentions fathers in this text, he says

it's because they have known him from the beginning.

They've known him from the beginning. Now typically,

a father has some maturity to him. Not in all

cases, but a lot of times, a father has some

maturity to him. There's a depth of relationship

that comes with time and it comes with faithfulness.

These believers that he's referring to as fathers

have walked with God long enough to know his

unchanging character. They know that he is faithful.

They've seen storms throughout their life and

yet they still know that God is faithful. This

role would be where we want to end up in our

Christian walk before God takes us home. This

should be our goal in our Christian journey.

We should have a desire to be steady in our faith

and not be swayed by whatever circumstances are

coming our way. There's this show that Cena and

I have watched many times, and in this show there's

this one scene, and his family is driving in

a car, and it's late at night, and everyone is

asleep in the car except the dad, obviously,

because he's driving. This is before Tesla's.

And they're driving down this dark road through

this forest, and you can barely see in front

of the car, maybe 10, 15 feet with the headlights

on. You can barely see what's going on. In the

back seat, one of the kids wakes up and is scared

because he can't see what's in front of him.

He doesn't know what's going to happen. He then

looks at his dad. His dad doesn't say anything,

but his dad just had this calm demeanor, didn't

seem nervous at all, just steady, driving forward.

The dad's calm demeanor brings peace to his boy.

You can tell the dad's done this before. He's

driven this road before. Now later on, the dad

confesses that he was nervous too, but there

was this sense of peace that came about him because

he had done this enough times and he had experience.

Now, if you drive enough roads or you live enough

life, there is a wisdom that comes from that.

There's a wisdom in understanding that. Could

a deer jump out in the middle of the road at

any moment and cause a tragedy? Yes. The Father

can't keep tragedies from happening. But there's

still this peace that comes from walking in this

experience. Someone that has walked with the

Lord for a period of time just has this overwhelming

sense of peace because they know that God has

been faithful to them since the beginning. that

God is never changing. A father has experienced

tragedy. He's experienced hard situations. He's

experienced loss. At the same time, he's experienced

all the good that comes from life as well. So

when something goes wrong in your life, a father

is there to help you walk through it and be that

steady voice of wisdom, be that steady voice

of calming, reminding you who God is and that

he's faithful. We should all strive to be spiritually

mature in our walk with the Lord, just like John

talks about with these fathers. Now the third

group that John mentions is young men. And he

says that they are strong and have overcome the

evil one. This is how he describes them. The

way you become a father is first you have to

go through the process of maturity. Young believers

who are growing in their faith are learning how

to fight real spiritual battles. John says, you've

overcome the evil one. That's a win. He says,

because the word of God abides in you. It's not

your strength, it's God's truth that strengthens

you. That's how you're able to overcome. Now

when I was younger, you know, a teenager or whatever,

I knew that I wanted to be a dad someday. I wanted

to be able to raise a family. I wanted to experience

the joy that comes from seeing children grow.

But thank goodness. I wasn't I didn't have children

when I was 14 or 15 years old that would have

ended badly for all of us right I had a lot of

life to learn before I started having children

So it was a desire of mine to have children But

but I wouldn't have known what I was doing at

that time some days I don't know what I'm doing

now So it would have been much worse back in

the day now as a young believer as a young man

in this text, there's all kinds of battles that

you have to learn how to fight. There's all kinds

of things that you have to learn in order to

gain wisdom. There's all these kinds of trials

and triumphs that you have to learn how to navigate

and how to walk through. So when Sina and I first

got married and we moved to Ohio to start our

first church, we'd been married about six months

at the time. We were both 23 years old and we

thought, hey, this seems like a good idea. Let's

go move to a part of the country away from our

family and start a church in a kind of a difficult

area. And so that that was lacking wisdom. Right.

But some good things happen. But here's what

I learned pretty quick about that situation.

I was unable to really help people when they

came to me for marriage advice. I for sure couldn't

help them at all when it comes to to raising

kids and parenting because I didn't have any.

Now I could tell them what the Bible said about

raising children, about marriage, but it didn't

carry as much weight because I didn't have the

experience behind it. Cena and I were still in

our honeymoon phase for the most part. You remember

those days? We hadn't had any major blow -ups

at that point. Nobody had slept on the couch

yet, if you will. We hadn't really been tested

yet It only been six months and so when somebody

came to me asking for marriage advice because

they were on the verge of divorce The only thing

I could really offer them was to say well God

hates divorce Right because that's all I had

that it's true But it wasn't necessarily what

they wanted to hear in that moment, but now Over

19 years in, I don't know if I've ever had a

marriage discussion with someone who was seeking

help where I haven't been able to relate to what

they are going through. I haven't been able to

offer some sort of advice on how we navigated

a situation. I am now able to use my experience

with God's Word and it carries a lot more weight

as we minister to people because I've lived through

it. I can testify to the fact that God's Word

is true in regards to how I treat my wife. God's

Word is true in regards to how I am supposed

to love her and lead her in that way. But to

be honest, and not to scare anybody away, this

stage, this spiritual stage on your walk is the

most difficult stage. This is the stage where

more people throw in the towel because it's difficult.

Learning life lessons is hard. Sanctification

is hard. Now I've seen so many people over the

years come to faith and the Lord just completely

changes their life. It's like night and day difference.

The Lord just completely changes their life.

But when it comes to growing in knowledge, when

it comes to pursuing the Lord, when it comes

to navigating life, they tend to quit because

the world seems so much better. The world seems

so much easier. So here in this text, John is

giving us a pep talk. Those of us that are in

the young men category, he's giving us a pep

talk. He says, you have overcome the evil one.

Meaning you've heard a call from God, you've

received salvation because of your faith in him.

That is the number one thing the evil one is

trying to stop from happening. And he's saying,

you've overcome him. You've heard the Lord's

voice. This is something that we need to remember

in that daily struggle of walking with the Lord.

And I don't think we dwell on that reality enough.

I don't think we understand what happens at the

moment of salvation. There was a moment where

you surrendered your life to the Lord and he

changed it forever. I mean, that's a huge victory.

That's a huge moment. I don't care how old or

how young you were when it happened. It's a massive

win. You overcame the evil one. So John reminds

the young believers that they are strong, that

the word of God abides in them. Now, when we

think about God's Word being in us, it means

that His teachings have taken root. It's taken

root in our hearts. This goes well beyond just

knowing the difference between right and wrong.

It means that as we follow the Holy Spirit's

direction, we know not only what is right and

wrong, but we also know the path towards abundant

life. We know where he's taking us. It means

that just because something is legal doesn't

mean that it will necessarily honor God. For

instance, you can legally have an affair. No

one's going to throw you in jail for that. You

can legally get sloppy drunk in your basement

on a Tuesday night. Nobody's going to throw you

in jail for that. You can legally have sex outside

of marriage. You can legally treat your spouse

like trash, and there's not a thing the cops

are going to do to you. But as you walk with

the Lord, as you grow closer to Him, as you submit

to His will for your life, there's something

in you that realizes that your behavior does

not honor Him. And those are the lessons that

make it difficult when we are growing in Christ.

But John says, remember you were strong. You

can do it. Remember you've already won a major

battle against the enemy. And then you kind of

learn how to tune out all the other things so

that you can hear the Lord's voice as he's leading

you to abundant life. So what's the common thread?

There's all these different groups of people.

There's these three different groups of people

on their journey. But here's what I need you

to know. Each group is defined by their relationship

with God. John reminds us that our identity is

secure. We are forgiven. We know the Father.

We are victorious through Christ. This assurance

is the foundation of our faith. We don't have

to earn anything. No matter where you are, in

your spiritual journey, whether you're new to

the faith, whether you're growing in strength,

whether you're seasoned in wisdom, God's grace

covers you. Your sins are forgiven, not because

of your works, but because of Jesus' sacrifice.

That's our starting point, and it's a truth that

we must hold fast. So that's the encouragement

part of this passage. But then John shifts, in

verse 15, he shifts to a warning. He says not

to love the world or the things in this world.

And so he's saying this is your identity in Christ.

This is who you are. You are forgiven. You are

strong. You are victorious. This is who you are.

And so he says because of that, don't love the

world. Don't love the things of this world. Now

this isn't about hating creation because we know

that God's world is good. John is talking about

don't love the world system. Don't pursue values

and desires that oppose God's kingdom. He lists

three temptations. The first one is the lust

of the flesh. Now I think when we hear the word

lust, we automatically go straight to sexual

sin. Now that's a part of it for sure, but what

he's talking about is all those things that aren't

good for us. It's the pursuit. of instant gratification

and a lack of self -control. I mean, how many

of us have used the phrase, just this once for

something? How many times have we used that?

Like, I shouldn't have this piece of cake, but

just this once, it's not gonna hurt anything,

or whatever it is we use to justify it. And the

next thing you know, you've finished the piece

of cake, and you feel bad about you and all the

decisions you've made the rest of the day, right?

Now I'm not a very good fisherman, but I have

learned a few things If you just throw a hook

into the water the chances of a fish Biting it

are pretty slim So what you have to do is you

have to cover the hook somehow You put a worm

on it or you put some sort of lure on it and

the goal The goal is for the fish to not be able

to tell That if they were to bite down on that

worm or bite down on that lure it could end their

life We don't want the fish to recognize that

or realize that. Now, most of the time, when

we catch a fish, we unhook it, and then we throw

it back in the water. It still lives. But it

probably has a good scar on its mouth or on its

gill. It receives some sort of damage. Or in

my case, when my children are holding it and

they can't hold it, it flops all over the ground.

It probably has some sort of severe brain damage.

I don't know how that works with fish. But but

hopefully we get it back in the water and it's

it continues to live That that is how lust of

the flesh work That they are appealing but but

they are going to leave some scar tissue at minimum

Or at worst they're going to destroy your life

We don't see the dangers in it we just see something

that's shiny now I've learned that the hard way

I have to be protective of what I look at, because

it's led me down a rabbit hole many times that

I didn't plan on going down. So now I know there

are certain shows, there are certain movies that

I know if I watch them, it's not gonna go well

for me. They might seem harmless, but my wisdom

has shown that that's proven to be dangerous.

If I engage in that activity, it's going to be

dangerous for me. The warning here from John

is to be very wary of anything that offers instant

gratification because it's most likely a lure

that the enemy is waving in front of you to get

your attention. Anything that brings instant

gratification is most likely not from the Lord.

Then he addresses the lust of the eyes. This

is essentially coveting what we see. So many

people are like my nine -year -old. We don't

like taking him to the store. Because if we walk

him through a store, he wants everything. Even

if he already has one back at home. He wants

everything. It doesn't matter that he has one

at home, he wants a new one. And then if you're

like my nine -year -old, you'll begin to rationalize

why it's... The one he has at home is no longer

any good, and he needs a new one. It's a constant

cycle that we are trying to break him of. Now,

he's also the baby of the family, so he has each

and every one of us wrapped around his finger,

so it's proven to be difficult. But if we don't

get a handle on this, if we don't work and pray

that God would change his heart, he's going to

be chasing something his entire life. The lust

of the eyes, as John describes, it's that craving

for what we see. Things that glitter. Things

that have empty promises. They have no lasting

value. And it's not just material goods, it's

the envy we have when we're scrolling through

social media. It's seeing somebody's vacation

pictures. It's seeing somebody's perfect family

portraits. It's seeing that they got a promotion,

or they bought a new house, or whatever it is.

And we forget that all that stuff is filtered

through at whatever, right? I wish I looked young

like her, not realizing that she's probably gone

through 14 different filters before she posts

that thing, right? It's envying that family portrait,

not understanding that behind the scenes, their

life is a wreck. We envy these things. It's like

a mirage in the desert. It looks like it's gonna

satisfy, but it pulls us away from the truth

of God's word. They're temporary, they're fleeting.

John says they're from the world and not from

the Father. And the third warning is to avoid

the pride of life. So this is who you are in

Christ the third warning is do not have pride

in life Now I used to work at a large national

bank My job was to sell financial products in

hopes of making the customers more loyal to the

bank So if I could get you into a checking account,

that's okay But it would be even better if I

could also get you into a savings account or

maybe a credit card or or even better a mortgage

Because if I got you into more products that

would make it less likely that you would leave

our bank and go to another one. Now, my first

quarter, after I got the hang of the system and

how this all worked, my first quarter I was number

three in the nation in sales. It was a proud

moment. It was a good thing. But after that quarter

I set my eyes to become number one the next quarter.

And so I got focused and I set a goal that anybody

that was to come and sit at my desk, even if

you were just coming to argue a charge on your

debit card, my goal was to get you to walk away

with some other product. And so every single

person that came to my desk, I tried to convince

them that they needed this account or they needed

this line item or whatever it was. At the end

of that quarter, I was number one in sales across

the entire company. I was pumped. I could see

the promotions coming. I could see the bonus

that was headed my way. I could see that I was

gonna get a brand new, bigger office. I wanted

all of those things because I'd worked really

hard to get them. But do you know what I got?

I got a certificate and some encouragement to

do even better the next quarter. I mean, it crushed

me. It took all the wind out of my sails. My

entire identity was being the best in the company

and it lasted for less than a week. This is the

pride of life that John is warning us about.

The desire to boast in our achievements, to boast

in our status, to make others look at what we

have built as if it defines our worth. It's the

temptation to measure our value. by job titles

or bank accounts or size of house or whatever.

Maybe it's flaunting a new car. Maybe it's name

dropping connections or running our picture through

a bunch of filters so that we look younger or

more athletic than we are. Scripture says that

that's like a house built on sand. It looks pretty.

It looks like it's okay. But once it comes under

any sort of pressure, it's going to crumble.

It's fleeting. It's not from the Father. God

calls us doesn't matter which category you're

in God calls us to live in a different way True

worth comes from knowing that we are his Love

not for what we do, but we are loved for who

he is When we let go of the of the need to boast

in ourselves and instead find our identity in

Christ, we discover a security that no applause

or recognition can shake. As John reminds us,

the world's pride passes away, but those who

do God's will live forever. So I want to close

by reminding us that this world is not going

to last forever. John tells us in verse 17 that

the world is passing away with all of its desires,

but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Now according to Paul in first Timothy, it is

the desire of God that all men be saved and come

to the knowledge of the truth. Doing God's will

isn't always easy. It means saying no to the

world's temptations. It means saying yes to the

commands of God. It means loving others sacrificially.

It means forgiving others even when it's hard

and seeking his kingdom first. But the reward

is unmatched. It can't be touched. It's a life

that echoes into eternity. That's the reward.

And so as we close, let's hold true to those

facts. This is who we are in Christ. Now, I don't

know what category you fall into. I guess there's

four in reality. There's those that are just

completely unaware of who God is. Maybe you're

here just searching and seeking, and we're so

glad you're here. Maybe others of you are in

that young children part of your spiritual journey.

You're just coming to know Him. You don't know

much, but you know you love God. You know He's

called you. It's a great place to be. Maybe you're

in the young men category and it seems like every

single day is a battle on your spiritual journey

Be reminded that you were strong be reminded

that you've overcome the evil one And maybe there's

some that are just have been fortunate enough

to live life long enough where you just seasoned

in wisdom And it is now your responsibility to

help guide those little children help guide those

young men into spiritual maturity, to show them

the faithfulness of God, to be that steady, steady

voice that points them back to Jesus. Our identity

is in Christ. It's who we are. He saved you because

He loves you. He's proud of you because you're

His. So many of us are like infants and we've

done nothing to make Him proud, but He still

loves us. And if you walk out of here with nothing

else, I hope you'll hear me say that. You are

loved because you are His. And so I'm gonna invite

the worship team back up. We're gonna have time

to respond to the Lord's word tonight, this morning.

So as I pray for us and as we sing one more song,

may you figure out which category you're in.

What stage of journey are you on? Are you living

a life that honors him? Have you failed this

week? It's a perfect opportunity to confess those

things before Him, to make a commitment that

I'm going to change my life this week. I'm going

to stop one bad habit this week, and I'm just

going to pursue Him with everything I have. I'm

going to remind you that we have communion available,

and I encourage you to participate in that. Remember

our risen Savior and what He did for us on the

cross. And as we hold that bread and that juice,

remember His broken body and spilled blood for

you. Puts things in perspective for us. So let

me pray for us and Just trust the Lord the Lord

moves in this place father. I thank you. I Thank

you for our church I Thank you for how you move

and I pray father that your voice will be heard

louder than mine I pray that your voice will

be heard louder than the music. I Thank you for

who we are because of Jesus that we are found

safe and secure in you. We are forgiven because

of what Jesus has done for us. And so God, I

pray that you help us understand where we are

in our spiritual journey. I pray for those young

children and I give you praise that you continue

to save and redeem. And we give you praise for

the salvation that comes. I pray over those young

children that are in that journey. or the young

men that are in the journey, I pray, God, that

you continue to empower them and strengthen them

with the knowledge of your word. And God, give

those of us that are a little more seasoned in

wisdom, give us the courage and obedience to

help disciple and navigate and show what it means

to walk in faithfulness to you. So I gotta pray

that you speak to us as we worship you. It's

in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Thank you for listening

today to 563 Church, a production of Cornerstone

Church, Eldridge, Iowa. For more information

about our church or just getting right with God,

please visit us at 563church .com. You can also

find us on Facebook and Instagram. Have a great

week.