1 John 2:12-14 : Encouragement Along the Way
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet, was not always the fiery prophet that we see in the Scriptures. If we look at the call of Jeremiah in chapter one of his book, we see Jeremiah say this:
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
His response appears to mirror Moses who said a similar thing:
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
Most scholars think Jeremiah wasn’t quite twenty years old when he was called by the Lord. But what does God say after Jeremiah’s objection because of his age?
8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”
En-courage
God encouraged Jeremiah. Sometimes we miss what this word really means because we neglect removing the prefix -en. It literally means to put courage in someone. It means to give support, confidence, or hope to someone. Or help stimulate someone to develop.
Sometimes we can feel like Jeremiah. We have an excuse of why we can’t do a particular thing God requires of us. Maybe we are too young. Or too introverted. Or too shy. Or not talented enough. Or not smart enough. Or not wise enough. Or not....fill in the blank.
Yet God, through the Apostle John, gives us the Scripture we are going to cover today to encourage us as we walk along the Christian life. Like the way God encouraged Jeremiah to step up and fulfill the calling on his life, God is calling us to do the same. The focus needs to be taken off of our inadequacies and placed on the God who holds everything together. The focus must be placed on the one who is all-powerful and not the one who is powerless, namely us.
Read Full Scripture:
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 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.
14 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.
Prayer
Today we are going to see the different ways that we are encouraged by the aged Apostle John as we walk along the Christian life.
Scripture References: Jeremiah 1:6,8; Exodus 4:10
I. All Believers Can Be Encouraged Because of What Christ Has Done (2:12)
I. All Believers Can Be Encouraged Because of What Christ Has Done (2:12)
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
At first glance, this section of Scripture gives a nice three part outline. We see children mentioned twice, young men mentioned twice, and fathers mentioned twice. Yet, when you get into the Greek it becomes a little more complex. This first word for children is actually different than the word for children we see in verse 13. In verse 12 we get the word teknion (Tek-knee-own). This is translated little children or dear children. This is a common expression that the aged Apostle John gives to the entire congregation through out his letter.
We see this in the following verses among others:
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
And so forth! Obviously, you see a common theme here. Little children continuously refers to the whole congregation regardless of age.
This is important because of what John says after he calls the congregation little children. He states he is writing to them - and we know this writing applies even to us today - that your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
This is an easy statement to gloss over. Yet there is a ton of theology packed into this one statement.
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
There are two groups of people who struggle with accepting the free gift of salvation. The first is those who don’t feel they actually need saved. They think they are good people and don’t need Jesus’ blood to cover anything. These persons must be shown the Biblical standard for good which is perfection and be shown that they fall very short of this perfect standard.
Yet others - struggle with feeling like they are unworthy to be saved. They feel much too insignificant to understand why the God who created the universe would die for them. In a form of false humility, they state that they aren’t worthy of such a gift. They aren’t good enough to be considered for salvation. Sadly, the enemy beats them down to the point that they feel worthless.
The beauty of this verse lies in the last few words - for his name’s sake. Brothers and sisters, our sins are not forgiven because of how good we are. Frankly, Romans 3 tells us that there is no one good - not even one! Obviously apart from Christ of course. If you think of the best person you can imagine other than Christ - apart from Christ - that person is not good according to the Bible. That is because each of us has sin in our lives. We have all broken God’s commands.
Does John write here that our sins are forgiven because of the good work we do?
Or how about we are forgiven because of how nice we are? Or how much we give? Or how great our heart is? Or....fill in the blank.
Of course not. John writes that we are forgiven for his name’s sake.
God’s name stands for His character. We are forgiven because of who Jesus is and what He has done. Not who we are or what we have done. It is through Jesus’ death on the cross and his sacrifice for our sins that we have salvation.
It is so easy for us to become like Jeremiah as we discussed in the introduction. We have excuses for why we aren’t good enough or why we are inadequate for the task at hand. But John reminds us here that we are saved for His name’s sake! We are saved for and because of His glory - not our own. We are saved by His power and not our own. We are saved by His goodness and not our own. Salvation depends on Him and not us.
How liberating is that my friends! Our salvation is not based on our works. We can never be good enough. Our salvation is based on the merit and work of Christ - the goodness of Christ - the perfection of Christ.
Be encouraged believers! Be confident in the God who saved you. Not yourself. But stand firm because you are saved by the God of the universe. Your salvation is sure because His goodness is sure. Stand firm on the truth of Gospel.
Not only does John encourage all believers because of what Christ has done, but he also moves on to encourage the spiritually infant.
Scripture References: 1 John 2:1, 28, 3:7; Romans 3
II.a. Encouragement is Given to All Along the Way: The Spiritually Infant (13)
II.a. Encouragement is Given to All Along the Way: The Spiritually Infant (13)
13 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.
For these next three sub-points we are going to look at the three groups of people given here. The first are the spiritually infant.
As we look at verse 13 look at the last sentence: 13c - I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
As we discussed in verse 12, this word for children in verse 13 is a more typical word used by John that refers to actual infants or very young children. Instead of teknion (Tek-knee-own) that was seen in verse 12, we have the word paidion (Peh-dee-own) here in verse 13.
There are many opinions on whether this refers to actual infants and very young children or spiritual infants meaning new believers. Because infants and toddlers have a hard time grasping the concept of salvation, I find it much more compelling to see this in a spiritual manner! Most conservative Biblical scholars agree with that view as well.
So how does John encourage the spiritually infant? By reminding them of their salvation and relation to God through Christ. He has just reminded all of us that we are saved because of what Christ has done and because of who Christ is. And now he moves on to remind new believers that they have a relationship with and know the Father. The God of the universe is now available to them as a perfect father-child relationship. They can approach Him with confidence through the perfect work of Jesus Christ.
Some of us have had wonderful fathers on earth. They were there for us when we needed them. They were dependable. They taught us how do life. They instilled morals and values in us. I was blessed with a wonderful earthly father who did these things for me. Yet some of us were not given such a blessing. Even the thought of the term father makes some people cringe. The term father may bring up feelings of abandonment, neglect, or even abuse at times. Maybe the thought of your father reminds you of a coldness or distance.
Friends, our Heavenly Father, is perfect. He is perfect love. He is dependable. He never fails. He never breaks a promise. His faithfulness, love, and mercy far surpasses anything we could ever imagine. Please do not allow the failings of your earthly father mar your image of your Heavenly Father.
As we look at our Heavenly Father, we must realize what it means to know Him. To know Him means to be like Him. Children of the Father should mimic what the Father does. Watch any toddler or young child and you will see that they imitate what happens around them. New believers should do the same with the Heavenly Father. They should mimic what they see their Father doing.
Jesus modeled this in a great way. Obviously, he was the most mature and complete Person ever, yet He humbly gave us an example of how believers should act:
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
New believer - this is your command. Even for the mature believers this is your command! Do what your Father does.
We can be encouraged by John because of what Christ has done. We see John encourages the spiritually infant. And now we see John encourage:
Scripture References: John 5:19
II.b. Encouragement is Given to All Along the Way: The Spiritually Young (13-14)
II.b. Encouragement is Given to All Along the Way: The Spiritually Young (13-14)
13 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. 14 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.
13 - .... I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.....
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.
Again, John has seems to have in mind a spiritual dimension to this passage. Obviously, many spiritually young are younger and many spiritually mature are older. Yet, this is not always the case. Spiritual maturity may be vastly different than chronological age at times.
So how does John encourage these developing believers? Verse 13 shows us that he reminds them that they have overcome the evil one. The term evil one here suggests the battle is against the one we see called Satan in the Scripture. Satan is opposed to God and anything good. John wants the reader to understand that this isn’t an abstract concept. This is not a pagan esoteric yin and yang discussion of good and evil. This is a literal concept of God and Satan. Good and evil.
John lets these growing believers, and us today, know that they have overcome the evil one. It is written in a tense that means it has already happened. Isn’t that encouraging friends! If you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus through his death and resurrection and repented of your sins and submitted your life to Him - the victory has been won already! You fight from a position of victory! John even repeats this very statement at the end of verse 14 to remind his readers of this victory!
Brothers and sisters. Why do so many believers walk around in defeat? They seem to be apathetic about the world around them. They see the government legislating infanticide and feel defeated. They see the media preaching false gospel after false gospel and feel defeated. They see our culture and seem to do nothing but complain about how bad it has gotten and where it appears to be going.
I can relate to these struggles, friends. We aren’t to live with rose-colored glasses and ignore the godlessness that is rampant in our society.
But we do not fight from a position of defeat. We fight from a position of victory. Yes, things may get worse on this earth. But that doesn’t change our victory. Yes, we may face further persecutions in the future. But that doesn’t change our victory.
John goes on in verse 14 to admonish the reader to stand strong. He calls out the strength in the maturing believer. This isn’t the kind of strong we see today in our culture. It isn’t about who can bench press the most or throw a huge tire the furthest. The believer has overcome the evil one because they are strong. And they are strong because they abide in the Word of God.
We, as believers, have the Word of God who abides in us. Yes - I used the word ‘Who.’ Jesus Christ, through the Person of the Holy Spirit - indwells us once we become believers. Victory is sealed for us at that point. We can claim victory in Christ. True strength is fully realized in Christ.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
What God truly seals cannot be unsealed. True believers obtain an unending victory through Christ’s work.
So, church, what do we do with this victory? We live in it.
We share the Gospel of Jesus Christ from a position of victory with others. We don’t go with trepidation and fear. We share the Gospel confidently and lovingly - knowing it is the only way to salvation.
We live our lives free from the bondage of sin. We are quick to repent when we do fall and live not in a position of defeat. Christ has paid the full penalty for our sins and we are forgiven.
We live our lives with the fruit of the Spirit as shown to us in Galatians 5:22-23.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
We have love for the Father and for our brothers and sisters. We have joy no matter what the circumstances. We have peace in the midst of good times and bad. We have patience as we wait on the Lord. We are kind. We promote goodness and exude faithfulness. We are gentle and self controlled.
Friends, be encouraged. Stand strong.
John not only addresses the congregation, the spiritually infant, and the spiritually young…he also addresses:
Scripture References: Ephesians 1:13, Galatians 5:22-23
II.c. Encouragement is Given to All Along the Way: The Spiritually Mature (13-14)
II.c. Encouragement is Given to All Along the Way: The Spiritually Mature (13-14)
13 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. 14 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.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning..... 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning....
We see John repeat the same statement twice here - you know him who is from the beginning. As an aside, I haven’t mentioned the change in verb tense that you see in this text yet. John does change from ‘I am writing’ to ‘I write’ to you at the end of verse 13. The change in verb tenses is discussed in a lot of commentaries, but most scholars seem to see this as a stylistic change as the actual meaning is not changed. It functions more as an exclamation point or a highlight than a change of meaning.
Why does he use this reasoning for fathers? Why does John highlight this particular theology in measuring a believer’s maturity. You have known him who is from the beginning.
As we study this idea, we see a depth of such an understanding of Christ. I preached a sermon series before we launched this church on the deity of Christ. It is available on our website if you would like to understand more about that subject. This understanding can be very deep. Christ has been for all time. He was not created, yet he was begotten - or born as a human (John 1:1, 3:16). Understanding the transcendent nature of Christ is a very deep doctrine and entire books are written on this very subject.
Mature believers have a greater depth of theological knowledge, a greater understanding of who Christ is, and a more experienced walk with Christ. John admonishes these mature believers to stand firm on the truth of the Word that they know. They are to use this truth to build up the church and help younger believers mature in the faith.
It is with great sadness that I observe that the American church is in a state of ‘fatherlessness’ in the church today. Yes, there is a lack of actual paternal leadership in the families of so many across our country - even in the church itself. I could preach an entire series of sermons on that problem. But today, John is encouraging the spiritually mature in this passage. As we have seen throughout this Scripture - this is a message of encouragement to the congregation.
When I refer to fatherlessness in our churches today in the context of this Scripture, I am referring to a lack of spiritual maturity in our churches - actually a lack of spiritually mature believers in many of our congregations.
Many of our churches are dying across the country. Even in our area we seem to see a church close its doors fairly frequently. Many of these churches are made up of older members that have a lot of experience and wisdom to bring to the table. Yet, there is a gap in the relationship between these elder believers and the spiritually young. Whether it is music taste, liturgy, worship-style, and other divisions - we have allowed our churches to become segregated based on the secondary and tertiary matters of the church.
This has led to the development of theologically weak, inexperienced, and young churches. Sadly, many of these newer churches struggle to find their way without the experienced leadership and direction of mature and experienced believers. Frankly, they even struggle to stay in bounds with their theology at times.
I pray that this never becomes the case for CrossPointe. Our vision, as a church, is to be an intergenerational church that honors our elders and spiritually mature. I pray that our elders and spiritually mature openly embrace those who are not as far along and mentor them and love on them well. I pray that our church becomes an environment of love for one another despite age or maturity differences. I pray that we love children and are full of grace to the parents raising them. I pray that we respect our older congregational members and are quick to ask for wisdom from them.
Let’s be the church that God has called and created us to be.
Scripture References: John 1:1, 3:16
Conclusion
As we come to a conclusion, be encouraged church. John has encouraged us to remember the great salvation each believer has in Christ. He has encouraged the spiritually infant, young and mature. Wherever you are on your walk with Christ, be encouraged. Keep running the race. And be sure to run with others who can help you along the way. Seek out a mentor. Ask a more spiritually mature believer to meet with you periodically and disciple you. Ask theological questions to them. And also find someone who is less spiritually mature to go to lunch or breakfast and start mentoring them as well. Titus 2 is clear that older women should mentor younger women. We can assume that this obviously applies to older men and younger men as well. Be the church my friends. Embrace community.
If you are here and all of this is all foreign to you. Go back to our first point today and spend some time learning about the great salvation that is offered through Jesus Christ. He came down from heaven and was born as the Person of Jesus Christ - fully God and fully man. He lived a sinless life and gave his life for us on the cross. He rose three days later and now is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. This encouragement is only for those who have put their trust in Christ and repented of their sins. If you want to discuss that more after church please feel free to talk with me.
If you want to discuss finding a mentor, please discuss that with me as well. I’d be happy to facilitate the developing of mentoring relationships.
Prayer
Have a blessed week!