Children of the Heavenly Father,
safely in His bosom gather, blest thing that not star in heaven,
such a refuge there was given. God, His own, doth tend and nourish,
In his holy courts they flourish, From all evil things he spares
them, In his mighty arms he bays them. Neither life nor death
shall ever From the Lord his children sever, Unto them his
grace he showeth, And their sorrows all he knoweth. Though he giveth or he taketh,
God his children ne'er forsaketh. is the loving purpose solely
to preserve them pure and holy. our capacities, having worked
long, long, hard hours myself, and then having to come in to
sit and listen. I know the weakness of the flesh.
I need to remember that. Given one man in the Scriptures
that I would like to be like, one man other than our Lord,
God's man. I would like to be like, I might
say, John, the Apostle John. For one thing, the scriptures
call him the disciple whom the Lord loved, beloved to Christ. It seems that
John had a special, special and close relationship with the Lord. He was a lover of Christ, always
close to him, literally close, leaning on his chest there in
that upper room. He was a faithful man. John was
a faithful man. You know, all the disciples left
him, yes, but, John, Stan, John was at the foot of
the cross with him. We forget that fact. John didn't leave
him. Faithful. And therefore, I believe the
Lord made him a ruler over many things. The Lord gave John insight
as he did no other. The Revelation. What a profound
book that he revealed through his servant, John. He was a man
who walked with Christ very closely, and anyone who walks very closely
with Christ walks like Christ. He's a man
like Christ. And I know that, too, from his
writings. Because Christ was a lover of
his people. He loved his people. I love that
scripture. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end. And this is a characteristic
in John's writing here, isn't it? He loved the people, so much
so he called us, us. He called us, because it's the
general epistle, he called us beloved five times throughout
this epistle. Beloved five times. Verse one,
he says, My little children," and we've
seen how he calls us little children, and we shouldn't resent that, should we? Our Lord said, except we be converted
and become as little children, we shall in no wise enter the
kingdom of heaven. We are called little children
to humble us. We need humbling. We need to
be humbled before we the word of God every time. I'll be humbled as little children
and receive the word as little children. He calls us little
children to remind us what our Lord said, except you be converted
and become little children. And he says this in affection.
Show of affection. My little children. There's nothing
more dear and precious than a little child, is there?
Nothing more dear and precious to a parent than little children,
than babies. And he says, I write unto you
little children that you sin not. He talks as a father would
to a child, very plain language. Don't sin. Don't do that. Don't
sin if you do. Son, if you do. Daughter, if
you do. Don't despair. You've got an
advocate. And he's a good one. He's with
the Father. He's the judge's son. He's our
advocate. Jesus Christ, the righteous.
But don't sin. If any man does, though, we have an advocate.
We have an advocate. And he tells us we need not worry,
because this advocate is the propitiation for our sin. Now
jump down to verse 12, and this is where we left off. And he
says, I write unto you, I'm writing unto you, little children. I write unto you. And he said
that in verse 1, he says it here, I write unto you, you, to believers. This all applies to believers
only. I write unto you," see that?
Very plain. I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven, I write unto you, fathers. I
write unto you, young men. Fathers, you've known him, young
men, you've overcome the wicked. I write unto you. Who is he writing
to? Believers. That plain? Chapter 3, verse 1. Behold what
manner of love the Father has bestowed upon him. I write unto you." You see how
clearly it is that God's word is written to his people? That
doesn't apply to everybody without exception. What manner of love
the Father bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God? Who? You little children whose
sins are forgiven, you fathers who have known him, you young
men who have overcome the wicked. Isn't that very clear? So he
says, I write unto you little children, little children, and
this is written to encourage young believers. He's not talking
to little young people, necessarily. In age, he's talking to babes
in Christ. Young believers. Young believers. And young people, actually, if
they believe Christ. And he says, I write unto you
young believers, you babes in Christ, you weaklings. Youngsters,
children are weaklings, aren't they? Weaklings? Well, that's
all right. That's a good place to be. Because
when I'm weak, Paul said, then he's strong. I'm strong. See,
his strength is made perfect in my weakness. Listen to some
fool who called himself a preacher. Some charismatic fool said, I've
got entirely too much weakness in the church today. We need
more power. I thought we got too much power, we need more
weakness. They don't need Christ, you see.
Who's strength? Well, weaklings, babes in Christ,
they have a great need for a great Christ. So as he says here, I
write unto you, babies, because your sins have forgiven you.
He doesn't say, no, you babies ought to grow up. although we
should. He said that in Ephesians 4,
that we should grow up in him in all things. He said, don't
be children in understanding, be children in malice, but not
in understanding. One place he said, you ought
to be men, teachers, but you've come dull of hearing and need
milk all over again. But he doesn't say that here.
John doesn't say that in a derogatory fashion here. He says, little
children, I'm writing unto you, your sins forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. Little
children, like I said, are weak. They feel like they can't do
anything right. Can't do anything right. Well,
he says your sins are forgiven. They're all. Did you hear what
the Lord Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. For his
namesake. You see that? Your sins are forgiven
you. for his name's sake. Whose name's sake? For Christ's
sake. There's a covenant between the
son of David and all his Jonathan's. There's a covenant for his name's
sake. His name's sake. Christ's sake. Because Christ came and took
on the likeness of sinful flesh. Because Christ was made sin for
us. Because Christ bore the awful
wrath and punishment of God for our sin. Because Christ poured
out His soul unto death. Because Christ strove unto blood
against sin. Not His. Ours. Because of that,
your sins are forgiven. They're forgiven. They're gone. They're gone. All forgiven. In spite of all you've done.
young fellow, your sins are forgiven." Isn't that good news? In spite of all you have not
done, that's forgiven too, for his name's sake, for Christ's
sake. Isn't that motive enough to serve
him? Little children, little children. And I say this to little children,
actually. We don't have many in here. We
have a couple. your sinners and you trust Christ, your sins will
be forgiven you, too, for Christ's sake. And what could constrain
us more to forgive others than the fact that God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven us? The love of Christ should constrain
us. The forgiveness and pardon of Christ should constrain us. He said that. Pray. Lord, forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. And he went on to say, for if
you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father
forgive you yours. So what more, what better reason
do we need to forgive others than the fact that He's forgiven
us everything, everything. Youthful foolishness, youthful
ignorance, youthful lusts, and oh, that our young people would
remember their Creator in the day of their youth. I would love for the Lord to
do a real work of grace in the heart of some child in our that
would cause us exceedingly great joy, exceeding great joy. And I can't help but think of
what youthful exuberance and stamina,
how it could be put to such good use for the cause of Christ. You pray that the Lord might
raise up a young Samuel or a young David here. Good thing to pray for with a
young Samuel. They come along every now and
then. Verse 13, I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that
is from the beginning. You have known him. I'm writing
to you, believers, you older men, you fathers, fathers of
the faith, church that you know him. He says you
know him. I write it unto you because you
know him. And that's eternal life. That's
what our Lord said. This is life eternal that they
might know thee. The only true God and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. You have known him that is from
the beginning. You have known God. You have
known God's son. You know who he is. You know
what he did. You know what he's like, you
know whom you have believed, and you are persuaded that he
is able. And you are grounded and settled,
and you are unmovable, and you are unshakable in the faith.
God give us men like that. God give us fathers like that.
I believe there are some. He says, I'm writing to you fathers. And he writes this to encourage
He also, this is an admonition, and I'll be very convicting, fathers
in the faith, fathers in the faith, father
figure. A father figure is a man you
can look up to, a man of exemplary character, a man of exemplary
speech and behavior, a man exemplary in his service and his attitude
and his faithfulness and diligent service and his knowledge. He's a man that children can
look up to. He's a real pattern, a real example
to others, a real example. Someone that can be emulated,
someone that young people can look up to. I remember quite
a few growing up, quite a few men that I could really look
up to and men that I still look up to. Men are still faithful.
They've known him. There's no passing fancy with
him. There's no theological head knowledge that they had. They knew him then and they know
him now. And they know him more than ever. And they're still
with him. They're still walking with him.
That's what I want to be like. When I get 50, when I get 60,
if I get 50, if I get 60, if I get 70. May our young people see me as
remaining faithful." Father, you know him. You know him. I
write unto you. Be an example. We need some leaders,
don't we? We need some leaders. We sure
do. I want to be one. I want you men to be one. Well,
you have known him. And he says, I write unto you,
young men, young men, because you've overcome the wicked Young
men, you have overcome the wicked one. Over in 2 Timothy, chapter
2, look over there real quickly. 2 Timothy, chapter 2. He said, I'm writing to you young
men who trust Christ, who believe Christ, who follow Christ in
a day when there are very few, very few young men doing so. I write unto you, young men,
because you have overcome the wicked one." How's that? Say, I haven't overcome the wicked
one. Well, this is that which overcometh the world, even our
faith. Who is he that overcometh? He
that believeth Jesus is the Son of God. And young men, especially,
are the target. Young men are the targets, objects
of the adversary. Satan, as a roaring lion, walketh
through the earth seeking whom he may devour, and his primary,
principal targets are young men, young fathers. Because that's
the heart of the Church, the heart of the Church, and he assaults
them on every hand. And it's a blessed thing when
there are young men who truly trust Christ and, through faith,
are not walking with this world, but walking with Christ. A rare
thing. A rare thing. 2 Timothy 2, verse 22, he says
to a young man named Timothy, flee youthful lusts. Flee them. Run from them like Joseph. follow
righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on
the Lord out of a pure heart. In another place he said, verse
15, Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In another
place he said unto young Timothy, Be thou an example unto all. Be an example, 1 Timothy to all
believers in word and conversation and love and spirit and faith
and purity. Till I come, give attendance
to reading, exhortation and doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is
in thee." Lord God, I pray that he would raise up faithful
young men in our congregation, and I believe he has, and I hope
that he would raise up more and strengthen the ones that he has. And I prayed to the end a while
ago, and I feel led, and I hope you will too, that the Lord will
raise up a man to preach the gospel here. We need him. We need a man to preach the gospel,
to help out around here. All right, he says, I have written
unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked
one through faith and cry. back in a text. I write unto
you, little children, again, by way of doubly encouraging young
people. I write unto you, little children, because you have known the Father,
too. You have known him, too. You babes in Christ. You say, I don't know the Father
I don't know Christ, I don't know God very well. You don't? Did you see anything of the glory
and the beauty of Christ this morning in that message? Did a young babe in Christ in here see the
glory of Christ in that message this morning? Did you rejoice
in Him? Huh? Did you worship God a little
bit, rejoice in Christ this morning? I believe you know Him. I believe
you know Him. These things are written unto
you. Your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake, because
you have known the Father. Don't despise. Who would despise
a day of small things? And I don't ever want to be guilty
of discouraging weak faith. Weak faith will save you the
same as strong faith. Simple, childlike trust. Well,
that is faith. That is faith. And it really
never rises much above that. Simple, childlike trust in Christ. You say, but I'm such a sinner.
You trust Christ? I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you. For his name is set. And
because you have known him that is from the beginning. And I'll
wind this up. I've written unto you, young
men, because you're strong. You're strong. Or at least ought
to be. Or at least now is the time when
you have that strength. You ought to remember your Creator,
and you have that strength, that stamina, and that You know, the Lord called his
disciples when they were all in their early thirties, didn't
he? Didn't he? Those twelve apostles, all of
them were apparently in their early thirties. Why? They were
young, strong. He sent them out with the gospel.
Because a man gets older, he can't do the things that he did
when he was a young man. How do we need to be strong?
Well, we're strong in the Lord and the power of his might, strong
in his service, strong in his work. You're strong. Now is the
time of strength. Put on strength, he said, the
Word of God said. Put on strength and use it for
something besides your own personal goals and ambitions. Use it for
him. You're strong. Now is the time.
And the Word of God abideth in you. A young man, I remember
my father-in-law one time, a few years back, asked me how old
I was. I said, thirty-five. He said, oh, old to be thirty-five
again. He said, you're in your prime,
physically and mentally. Your faculties, your mental capacities,
your physical capacities, he said, oh, you're in your prime.
Don't waste it. Thirty-five. He says, You are
strong, and the word of God abideth in you. Those young apostles,
boy, they did their finest preaching in those early years. They went
out preaching. The word of God abideth in you,
and you have overcome the wicked woman. I write unto you. And in closing, let's read these
next three verses. Love not the world. Love not
the world. These are the things that are
in the world. Don't pursue the world, or that is the direction
the world's headed. Don't go with the world. Young
people, don't do it. Don't do it. You'll get what
the world's got coming to it. The Lord says he's going to fold
this thing up like a vesture. Be done with it. Love not the
world. These are the things that are
in the world. And I've said this so many times before, it's not
that things, anything wrong with things or possessing things,
it's something wrong, though, when they possess you. And that's
what love is. Love is a possessive thing. Love
possesses you and those whom you love, you want to possess.
And that's the sense of what he's saying there, and I want
to dwell on that more next Sunday morning. But don't love the world. The world hates your God. The
world hates Christ. The world hates everything that's
good and holy and godly. And it's running the opposite
direction. Don't run with them. Neither
of the things that are in the world, the human love of the
world, that is, absolutely has an insatiable desire and craving
and possessive appetite and desire to be in it and with it and of it,
the love of the Father is not in it. All that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, pride of life, that's
not of God, that's of the world. It's of the world. See, the flesh
lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
Pray that God will make you covet the things of God. Verse 17,
the world is going to pass away. It passeth away, that's the present
tense, it's passing away. And the lust thereof, all the
desires are going to come a time when you get old and worn out
and these things aren't going to appeal to you anymore. Oh,
that they were wise and would consider their latter end. Oh,
that they would remember their Creator in the days of their
youth. But, he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. To do the will of God is to believe
his Son, to trust his Son, to follow him, to keep his commandments.
Little children, it's the last time. It's the last time. It's the last time. And we could turn to passages
that make it very clear that these are the very last of the
last days. The little children, it is the
last time, and as you have heard, the Antichrist shall come, even
now are there many Antichrists, and it's in religion. That's
where it is. Whereby we know that it is the
last time. And lastly, look at the last
verse in 1 John. Look at the very last verse. He starts it out. talking to
his little children, spiritual children, and he ends it up in
this way. Little children, keep yourself from idleness. Keep yourself from idleness. Amen. Okay. Stand with me, and I'll dismiss
this in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for these simple, yet profound, yet much-needed words of comfort. Our sins are forgiven us. Encouragement,
we've known Him, that is, from the beginning. And conviction and admonition,
correction. We're strong. Lord, we don't
feel strong. At times we don't act like we
know him. Our sins are ever before us,
but thank you, Lord, that through his namesake they are forgiven. Thank you, Lord, that we are
made strong through weakness. Thank you, Lord, that Christ
is our strength. Thank you, Lord, that we do know
thee, and we ask that you would cause us to know thee more, to
grow in grace in the knowledge of thee. The babes in Christ in our midst,
young believers, give them assurance of their interest in Christ and
their full, complete, final, eternal salvation in him for
his name's sake, for your glory's sake, for their good. Lord, I
pray for the fathers. I pray that you might raise up
faithful, diligent diligent fathers that are examples
to our young men, examples to all of us, leaders in this church
that might instruct our children in the ways of Christ. I pray
for a faithful father. I pray for young men and young
women. Lord, use us now before the world
uses us up. Use us now for thy glory and
thy honor, since now is the strength of the flesh. So use us, Lord,
for your glory. It is our reasonable service
that we present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable
unto God right now. Dear Lord, it is by the mercies
of God we want to present ourselves as such. I pray for this Church,
Lord. Hold it up by your grace, by
your mercy, by your power, by your gospel. Strengthen us by
your word. In Christ's name, we are met
together this day, and we thank you for this word in his name.
Amen.