Children, Young Men, and Fathers

Have your Bibles with you, turn with you if you would to first John chapter 2. Looking at verses 12 through 14, I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his namesake.

I'm writing you father's because you know him who is from the beginning, I'm writing to you young man because you've overcome the evil one. I write you children because you know the father write you father's because you know who him who is from the beginning I write to you young man because you are strong in the word of God abides in you, and you've overcome the evil one spray that my father, we thank you and praise you for your precious word. Thank you Lord for bringing the youth back safely to listen for the good time in the Lord that they had. We pray father that there's some things might've taken place and in their lives.

During this trip that would have an eternal effect on them things Lord that they would remember and treasure for the rest of their lives. My father, as we look at this passage from verse John tonight. We would pray that you would help us, that we might see the heart of Christ.

As John saw it that we would understand Lord, the, the process of spiritual maturity in which you would have us to go through that war. There are stages in our Christian life that that you take us through and grow us up in, and mature us in our faith and may we see that tonight. May we be motivated by may you take our our lives, Lord, and conform them in the image of Christ be with us now in great power will give you praise and honor and glory for what you do for us. Jesus holy precious name we pray. Amen to be seated in this first message that I preached on this letter back several months ago, I shared with you about the incident that took place with the relationship that John had with the man who live there with him and in Ephesus. The man's name was Karen Theus us.

Rent Theus was a Gnostic and he did not believe that Jesus Christ was fully man. He believed that Jesus was kind of a heavy appearance of a man he was, like a phantom or a ghost, but he was fully God, but he was not fully man. That's heresy.

He also believe that that the way that God saved a person was through his intellect and so the body didn't really matter very much so you could do what you want to with your body. You could see them with your body and and that didn't really have much effect on God.

He didn't really care what you do have your body's. John knew that he had to deal with this man and a deity went to him and talk with him on several occasions trying to tell him the truth he shared with him, he said, look, he said I know Jesus Christ. I walked with him for three years and said I hugged his neck and I took his hand. When we prayed and I was with him at the Lord's supper and I laid my head on his on his chest and said I saw Jesus and I saw him go through times of of being hungry and thirsty and tired. I saw him cut himself and watched them bleed and I saw them on the cross, when he was nailed of that cross and I watched him die. He said don't tell me that Jesus Christ is just come, phantom that he is just some kind of of the ghost that is not true. He is fully man and what you are saying what your teaching is absolute heresy's rent, Theus would not listen. So John cut them off and he would not talk withing and he would not allow the people at his church to talk withing he just completely and totally just cutting off it was time when John was going to a public bathhouse and as he was up making his way over there a got news that's rent Theus was in the bathhouse, so he turned around and went back home and somebody said why did you do that and he said because Riff is as a layer and I'm afraid that God might judge him in the roof my cave-in and I want to be victim of his of his judgment, but in the last sermon that I preached about two weeks ago we dealt with verses like first John chapter 2 verse nine it says this he says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. Now I went on to say, and in that message that hate is not just a desire to kill somebody that you don't like or that you are frustrated with, but hate can beat just like that is so great in your heart that you don't have anything to do with them anymore that you cut yourself off from them that you walk away from them that you will not reconcile with them and just, don't have anything to do with him again after the service had a couple people to ask me about that and they said that they had people that that they knew that call themselves Christians in and said that they had been so offended by these people and so hurt by these people and every time they were randomly continued to get hurt and they said Doug do we have the responsibility to continue to put ourselves in that situation we get hurt.

Over and over and over again and I understand that. I think that we should do everything that we can to reconcile with the brother or sister who we are at odds with but there can come the time and Paul understood that and in the end of first Corinthians chapter miscues me in Romans chapter 12 verse 18 Paul said this, he said, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all sometimes it doesn't depend on you. Sometimes a person will cut you off it and refused to reconcile and no matter what you do, they won't allow you to do that. So the Lord wants us to live in peace and I think those those times may come but how do we deal with this situation with the with John. How do you reconcile what John did with what John said in passages like first John chapter 2 verse nine, first let it be said that John did not hate rent Theus. He cared point he cared for him enough to tell them the truth. He went to them over and over again and encouraged him, telling him what your teaching is heresy.

It is perverted a perversion of the gospel, you need to understand that what you're doing is extremely dangerous and he did that over and over again.

This man was a heretic he was perverting the truth he proved himself to not be a brother in the Lord listen to how Paul said to handle people like that and and people likes rent Theus and Titus chapter 3 verses 10 through 11 he should reject a man that is a heretic. After the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self condemned warning wants then warning twice and he is not repented, then rejecting John himself deals with this in his second appearance epistle and second John nine through 11. He says this, everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive them into your house or giving any greeting whoever brings him takes part in his wicked words.

That's the dilemma that that John is dealing with get standard verses 12 through 14 I think is just kinda interesting. It's almost like he says all right guys, we gotta take a break here would gotta just take a moment to breathe deeply. He's been dealing with some tough stuff PAs been helping people to examine their faith to see if their faith is real. He's been dealing with people who think that it's okay to justify your sin. He is been telling them that it's time to take off the mask is time to fish or cut bait. As they say. The examination for three verses and I look at this kind of like a parenthetical passage passage. We just cannot put up parentheses around it. Now that's nothing wrong with that and I don't think that is out of place at all and I think it's exactly what he say about. I think we need to say that he stopped what he was talking about in this examination of the faith and is, given us some hope he's given us some what we might call an assurance check. I think these people that he is writing to specially those left is the people in his own church.

They need to hear that John the apostle knows that they love Jesus and that they belong to Christ, and I think they need to feel that they need to know it. John shares three truths here about the true believers in the church that he hopes will give them motivation to fight the good fight and to persevere in the faith. You see John's desire is to rip away.

False assurance that there are people that he knows who believe that their Christian to say that there Christians and yet there's no spiritual fruit layer at all and he knows that if there believe in a lot and he wants to deal with them but he also knows his danger of shaking assurance of people who are true Christians and and just making them feel tentative and horrible heard Alexander Baig say one time that when he preaches on first John.

He said it seems like the wrong people get under conviction is a people who should be trembling and shaking when they hear this.

Just go all right on it act like it's no big deal and the Christians who are strong in and who really know the Lord seem oftentimes to get very tentative about their salvation is start doubting their salvation happened in John's church to so John takes her a little break to encourage the true people of God. John addresses the Christians in Ephesus with three titles because him little children, and then young men and then fathers believe that John is making a distinction here concerning levels of spiritual maturity believe that John is teaching us an important lesson concerning how were to view the Christian family.

I remember back about 30 years ago I read an article in the think it's called Raleigh news and Observer have never been able to get that article out of my mind. It was an article that was entitled court takes child away from parents, and I remember I read that the title that not immediately sided with the parents and thought you courts got the right to take kids away from their parents.

Then read a description of what happened there was a couple that was from Dallas Texas and that they were in their late 20s had a little girl. She was two years old and of the little girl had that they would get ready go to bed that night and the little girl had winter diapers, dad didn't have to deal with it. She was crying very uncomfortable and she got chafed and it was cold and and so the father comes in and sees her and she's crying and tells her gets mad at her and just screams at her and tells her to shut up. The little girl then becomes frightened and she cries even louder and the. The father reaches in his pocket, takes out a cigarette and he likes it up and he takes that cigarette and he places it on that little girl's body in several different places Just burns all over body. The little girl is screaming hysterically and the mother comes in and she's mad because little girl screaming and she picks a little girl up and she bites her on the cheek and literally bites a hole in the little girl's cheek.

I remember reading that I was so angry I thought I was gonna pop thought. What in the world is going to happen when that little girl reaches about age 16. She looks in the mirror and she sees these these burns all over body. The scars she sees the hole in her cheek and she knows that her parents did this, what she going to think why did my parents do this to me. How could this happen folks child abuse happens. It's a sin that I don't understand is the sin that I absolutely hate, but it happens in our world today, but I want you know it's not just physical child abuse that happens spiritual child abuse happens it happens within the family of God, where we hurt people by things that we say hurt people buy things that we do and will and we leave them with scars that are just as deep as a child. It's been been physically harmed and that can be a horrible thing. The Colts just bill them sales on people with a gone food spirit of spiritual child abuse of person it's been disappointed by the church or been hurt by the church or embarrassed by the church. It may take them in and just feed on that and and bring great devastation in their lives that should not be of there's a lot of it out there. I personally believe that what John has to say in these three verses will help us to alleviate spiritual child abuse in the church. John tells us here about three levels of spiritual growth and the immaturity and he doesn't.

An interesting manner.

He doesn't give it to us easily.

We have to, dig it out so it gives list look at the three, three of them the night. First he speaks to the little children and he tells them that they have a consciousness of forgiveness. They have a consciousness of forgiveness and and by little children. He doesn't mean kids that are elementary school-age and under the means you Christians.

Christians of that might be any age who just come to know the Lord in their brand-new Christians in the faith is is new in its expression and is very real, but this is not ascended at the net to do with age. Here it has to do with spiritual maturity. Look at verse 12 and then and in verse 13 C. He says I'm writing you little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. In verse 13 C. I write to you children because you know the father is a subjective reality.

In this stage, there's an object of reality.

Look at the object of first Scripture says here their sins are forgiven. They know that their sins are forgiven. I will cherish forever. The memory of my conversion on my conversion was one of those night and day conversions where it was. It was dramatic for me. I went down to Chip Sloan my friends house for a Bible study he went to the gospel message with the us that were in the study and shared with us that our only hope was Jesus Christ that the only way that our sins could be forgiven was to the blood of Jesus Christ washing our sins away so that the, the Lord might declare us forgiven of our sins and righteous in his sight. And I remember going home that night and and going over those verses that he gave us over and over and over again and I was just deeply convicted and finally just 2 o'clock in the morning fell on my my knees before the Lord and cried at Lord I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not sure know how to pray. But in the Best Way in Ohio. I'm asking you to forgive me of my sins on trust and what you did for me on the cross and I'm only trusting that believing Lord that you are my only hope. And I'm surrendering my heart to you and it was like night and day for me. I felt like as I was just kneeling there, that the Lord had just taken a scrub brush and just scrub me on the inside. I knew that I was say the new that I would never be the same again felt like 100 pound burden adjustment dropped off my shoulders and and it was just a just a glorious time. What did I know I knew that I was forgiven. That's what I need is what he's talking about here in in this passage.

This is what little children know objectively. I love the third verse of and can it be my testimony long my prison spirit lay fast bound in sin in nature's night that I defused a quickening real woke the dungeon, playing with light.

My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose went forth and followed the that's my testimony and I knew I didn't do it this anything I did. This is what the Lord did on my behalf. I didn't cite myself into it. Jesus did it. Verse 12 says all right, and you little children for your sins are forgiven for what for his namesake. That last phrase is key for his namesake. We are not forgiven because of our goodness or prior remorse, or because of how hard we tried our diligence to do better. We are saved by the objective reality of Jesus's death on the cross. The basis of our certainty and assurance is what is the finished work of of Christ on the cross. Oftentimes I asked people to question do you know your saved if you died today. Do you know that you go to heaven or your sins forgiven and people so many times will say I hope so. I think so.

I pray so if that's your answer, then you're probably not saved. If you're here tonight and you're asking yourself that question, do I have eternal life. Do I know that if I died the day I would go to heaven and you say, I hope so. I think so.

I pray so that I would question my salvation if I were in your shoes because the Scripture says in in Ephesians chapter 2 verses eight and nine for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. If you're hoping so that you're probably dependent upon yourself. If you know so then what do you know you know this is something that Jesus did on your behalf.

This is something that Christ did for you. He shed his blood for you and you have trusted in that and that alone for your salvation.

You haven't come to grips with all that in my encouragement would you be this wake up wake up and hear the word of God and trust him and him alone to save you through his precious blood.

All right, that's the object of reality. The subjective reality is this that that they have known the father they have known the father and what that means is that they have known God as father is preacher revival service down in York, South Carolina Baptist Church, about 36 years ago and I was getting ready to go to my six-year-old son Mitch said dad can I go with you. I said I'd love to have you come as a come on and say, jumped in the car and we took off together went into York, South Carolina and we went down and sat down the front road and I wanted him. They are where I could see and so Mitch is there in the front row as I got up to preach, and he had a piece of paper in his hand it in a some pencils and and during that whole time I was preaching. He was drawing and so the service was finally ended and I saw and get up and had a picture in his hand and he took it over and he gave it to the pastor.

The church is a friend of mine Ike Patterson and handed it. I and he said this is my dad and you drawn a picture of me and I was standing behind a pulpit at a Bible in one hand in hand up in the air had my mouth wide open and and I I started laughing and he said that's how your son views you views you as a preacher, not a dad and emit that to be funny but it wasn't funny and it hit my heart so hard I thought about that all the way home is all I could think about. I got home I got on my face before God said, Lord, I pray for your anointing over and over and over again in my life.

I want to be the best preacher that I can be the Lord. If I'm a preacher to the exclusion of being a daddy that I'm a failure and I'm ever going to Mitch's room and I walked in I said Mitch how do you perceive me. He said was perceive address it what you think about me.

He said my dad I love you and I'll boiler on the day.

Boy did I need that as a child you look at your father in a different way. As you look at your father when you're an adult as a child, your father is your protector is your provider has your defender is your comforter. He's your encourager that's different when you're at your you're older and you look at him as an a in a different way. I remember my thinking about God radically changed at my conversion before I believe that God was sovereign. I believe that he was creator believe that he was powerful but I thought that he spent most of this time. Just keep in the earth in orbit and and and keeping the tides from going too far in and and and doing those sort of things I really didn't think that he had a whole lot of time for me and I didn't think that he he he spent much time on me unless I was doing some wrong and and then he took the time to whack on me. So that's Kiowa I viewed God at that point time but then when I came to know him as my Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Then I begin to look at Amos is not just as a judge, but as my father. I still respected him as a judge, but I knew him as my father and I feared team but I wasn't afraid of having that's the little child stage is a good stage, but is not the stage we need to stay. John MacArthur said the following about the little children stage. He said much if not most of the evangelical church today falls into this category. They rejoice in the simplicity of their attachment to the father. They sing repetitive worship choruses celebrating their dependence on God, but they really have no love for the rich theology of hands nor the will to discern or distinguish truth from falsehood nor the means by which to do so, they absorbed with feelings preoccupied by temporal concerns and susceptible of worldly temptations.

This date has nothing to do with how long one is been a Christian. It has to do with how much sound doctrine has taken over once thinking tragically, churches cater to people stuck in this infantile stage operating as though it's an acceptable permanent level of spiritual development. The initial stage of spiritual growth isn't in itself negative because it's normal.

New believers lives are marked by exuberant love for the Lord in the sincere desire to praise him and hear his word, but through our ongoing exposure to that word the Lord means to grow us out of that early stage of spiritual childhood into spiritual adulthood. True believers must not be content to stay in the shallows of spiritual immaturity and true churches must not encourage or enable such spiritual status. All right, that's a little child stage or move on after the young man stage. John speaks to them and calls them young men in this stage we see a consciousness of victory over 13 billion verse 14B, I'm writing to you young men because you've overcome the evil one. I write to you young men because you are strong in the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. When a person is converted to Christ. He uses usually knows very little Scripture very little theology and is very little about the schemes and methodology of the enemy. He doesn't know all that hadn't been in the presence of all that to come to an understanding of it. Please feel with joy at raising that child stage is he's got happiness sees his hands covered up in the clouds and and I call that a honeymoon.

It's kind of a time.

We cannot just forge ahead in life it and you seem to be able to live above some of the junk that goes on in the world than after a while the reality of being of the world. Erbium not being of the world, but still be in in the world, hit you right square in the face your head your eyes open to the fact that you're on the battleground of a playground and all of a sudden you see the power of the world the flesh and the devil's temptations begin to comment and you begin to yield to those temptations and you begin to get discouraged and you begin to lose your joy at and it causes you to take your your focus off of Christ. Remember, John is given us an examination in this letter to determine whether were true believers are not and he tells us the importance of keeping the commandments of God. He tells us the importance of of loving the brethren. He tells us the importance of hating the world.

These verses teach us that if we are real Christians than God has the power and his given us the power to carry out these things and to be obedient about six months after my conversion. I became very concerned because unbelievers were attacking my faith and only thing I was fighting them with was my own testimony and I've begin to realize that I was being tempted by Satan in the world of the world the flesh and the devil, and I was falling way too much and given in those temptations.

About that time we moved back to Charlotte and we got to Charlotte we started going to church Calvary Baptist Church. The pastor there was Thurman Stone. He was probably in his early 60s. At that point time a but he was next, a biblical expository preacher and he ate preach the word of God and he explained the word of God in a just a wonderful, wonderful man and so one day I ask a message cannot come by your office and talk a said please delete as I came by his office sat down with Eamon and begin to share with you my dilemma that I was going through these these times were. I felt like is given into temptation way too much and and this is a case list.

Look at the word of God and the end of the Bible to Ephesians 6 put on the whole armor of God, that you might stand against the wiles of the devil is a Doug this is the whole armor of God, he says, very interesting that all the pieces of the armor are defensive pieces except one and is one piece of armor that offenses he said what is it and started looking through their acid is it the sword of the Spirit. He said yeah I said what is that any said what is that and you and I look down in the text. This is the sword of the Spirit is the word of God, we begin to give a just layout Scripture for me about the Bible.

Second Timothy 215 study to show yourself approved in the God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Second Timothy 316 and 17 all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for approved for correction instruction in righteousness at the man of God might be complete, thoroughly furnished and all good works. Hebrews chapter chapter 4 and and in verse 12 of the word of God is quick, and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit in the joints of America is a discerner of the faults the intents of the heart, and I can remember listening to Rev. Stone is he is quoting those verses and I felt something just down in my heart just resonating with what he said. I can remember thinking that's what I want.

I want to be able to have my heart and my mind saturated with the word of God so that I'll be able to fight like he's able to fight and it was just such a sweet sweet time that preacher gave me a love for the word of God like nobody ever else it ever done. And he's gone is with the Lord today that I will always have a place in my heart for him. He excited my soul with the word of God and all that so precious John MacArthur describe the young man stage. This way, he said they go from being weak and needing protection to be in strong and ready to fight for the truth, you can mark them out because they want to go to battle with era.

They want to expose false teaching. They no longer want to talk only of the basics of Christian life.

They want to learn to answer all the doctrinal questions and understand all the features of theology the very peak developing spiritual muscle from this pursuit. In this stage are strong because the word of God abides in you is alive in your heart. Like the third stage is the father stage and in that stage there is a consciousness of intimacy, a consciousness of intimacy. Verse 13 a and 14 a I'm writing you father's because you know him who is from the beginning. I write you father's because you know he him who is from the beginning sounds very similar to what John said about the. The children stage doesn't. He also says that they know the father. There's a huge difference between the way a six-year-old knows his father the way a 50-year-old knows his father is a huge difference when I was six years old.

I knew my dad's actions, but I was 50 years old begin to really know and understand my dad's heart great verse in Psalm 103 verse seven says God made his ways known to Moses, but his acts and the children of Israel, so have two Pete two groups of people here. One is Moses. The other is the children of Israel.

The children of Israel saw God's acts. I saw what God was doing that they saw a God cast the 10 plagues on Egypt. They saw God break the Pharaoh's will.

I so God opened up the Red Sea. They saw the actions of God. But Moses saw God's ways Moses all, not just what God was doing. Moses saw God's heart.

Moses saw God's way.

Moses saw God's glory. And that's the difference between the father stage and the children stage in the father stage their sin, not just what God has done like the kids in the in the children stage their sin. What God is actually in his heart to see in his way. Their sin's glory.

Philippians 310, Paul said that I might know him and the power of his resurrection been made conformable unto his death. This might sound strange to you but I believe it with all my heart. I think it's really impossible to fully come to a great understanding of who God is, without entering into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. I think when you go through a time of trial of persecution, suffering, pain, and you begin to learn that you can depend upon this God that he is going to be with you that his presence is going to get you through whatever you're going through, it will do something to you that nothing on the face of this earth can do you feel is compassion. You sense his purpose in this church. We talk a lot about the sovereignty of God, and you know as long as things are smooth. The essay went smoothly then then we love the sovereignty of God. Don't way. But what about those times when things are tough time when your doctor tells you it's cancer are times when your doctor tells you the operation on the child was not successful in your child and make it the time when a spouse walks out on you and says I found somebody else I'm gone. The time you lose your job you lose your financial security. It's in those times that we learn God's heart. It's in those times that God knocks the rough edges off of us and conforms us in the image of Christ. John MacArthur said this about the father's the ultimate level of spiritual development that God identifies father's is the fullest and most joyful stage for those who walk with the Lord. He says I'm writing you father's because you know him who has been from the beginning, repeating the same idea in verse 14 is describing people who have progressed beyond knowing the truth about the Lord. To truly know in the Lord is the difference between knowing facts about God and actually knowing him intimately.

John is talking about believers who enthralled with God, who live in the wonder love and praise of their heavenly father, much as when they were first saved now with longer experiences of Providence answered prayer, deeper doctrine and truth loaded worship passage were looking at tonight's a parenthesis put a parenthesis of princesses rounded just market off of a yellow pencil around it. John is saying. Take a deep breath, Christian, you're in a battle you belong to him. And because you're his you will grow spiritually. If you really belong to him. He should go through the stages the child stage. The young man stage and in the father stage Sprite heavenly father.

There are steps and stages in the Christian life and whatever stage were and there is an aspect of the truth that speaks specifically and especially to us some basic doctrine for us all in a special word of encouragement. Thank you God for causing your servant.

The apostle John to Paul's at this point to introduce this glorious magnificent parentheses God. We stand on such solid ground. A knowledge of sin forgiven knowledge of how to overcome sin and above the knowledge of yourself. God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit. We love you Lord. Praise you for loving us and say in Jesus name we pray. Amen